Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optically Probing the Chirality of Single Plasmonic Nanostructures and of Single Molecules: Potential and Obstacles

Circular dichroism (CD) is a standard method for the analysis of biomolecular conformation. It is very reliable when applied to molecules, but requires relatively large amounts of solution. Plasmonics offer the perspective of enhancement of CD signals, which would extend CD spectrometry to smaller amounts of molecules and to weaker chiral signals. However, plasmonic enhancement comes at the cost of additional complications: averaging over all orientations is no longer possible or reliable, linear dichroism leaks into CD signals because of experimental imperfections, scattering and its interference with the incident beam must be taken into account, and the interaction between chiral molecules and possibly chiral plasmonic structures considerably complicates the interpretation of measured signals. This Perspective aims to explore the motivations and problems of plasmonic chirality and to re-evaluate present and future solutions.
Imitation, focus of attention and social behaviours of children with autism spectrum disorder in interaction with
 robots

Many studies have shown that using robot platforms can be effective for teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to compare performance on an imitation task, as well as focus attention levels and the presence of social behaviours of children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children during an imitation task under two different conditions, with robots and human demonstrators. The results suggested that TD children did not imitate more than children with ASD. Children with ASD did not imitate the robot more than they imitated a person, but they showed more focused attention to robots and expressed more social behaviours in interaction with the robots. Behaviours that were significantly more present in ASD children than in TD children included touching the robot in the robot demonstrator condition and focusing on the robot in the person demonstrator condition. This implies a possible preference of children with ASD towards robots rather than towards people.
Engendering a monoculture of the mind: implications for mental health policy development in Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT The contextualization of mental health in a medical context in the age of neoliberalism within a Northern disciplinary context has been generalized to the global South through health management. Though many cultural and social idiosyncrasies shape the understanding of mental health in Saudi Arabia, it has been well documented that, by far, the most decisive influence is religion. Muslim beliefs predominantly structure every aspect of life, including ways of dealing with pathology and stress. Critical discourse theory and post-colonial hybridity theory can help integrate local discourses to alter the “discursive fabric” of mental health and subsequent policy initiatives.
How international short-term mobility experience affects full-degree abroad experience: insights from Chinese students

ABSTRACT Despite an extensive body of literature scrutinising international students’ short-term and long-term mobility experiences, little is known about the connection between the two. To address this gap, this study looks into the perception of a group of Chinese international students on how participation in their short-term mobility (STM) experience affects their navigation of subsequent full-degree experiences. Based on a qualitative investigation into 31 participants, drawing on the ABC theoretical model, this study manifests that penetrating diverse fabrics, the STM experience revealed impacts on the students' preparation for, operating and imagining their long-term study trajectory and beyond. These impacts are embodied in affective, behavioural and cognitive learning gains that are predominantly perceived as positive forces that facilitate navigation of a longer course. The study suggests some implications for stakeholders involved in students’ international mobility programs and concludes with directions for future research.
Are Highly Public Service–Motivated Individuals Immune to Common Causes of Unethical Behavior? Calibrating the Moderating Role of Group Pressure and Competition for Economic Resources

Abstract Previous research has neglected the moderating role of the environment in studying the negative effect of public service motivation (PSM) on unethical behavior. This article investigates whether this effect prevails under group pressure and competition for economic resources. Moreover, it assesses whether these moderating effects can be counterbalanced by activating public values. Using a survey experiment on a sample of citizens in Catalonia (Spain), the results suggest that PSM is vulnerable to group pressure and that the proposed activation of public values does little to neutralize this effect. The discussion addresses the findings and provides directions for future research.
Partition functions in superstring theory and SQCD

In this thesis we apply the methods of partition functions to massive superstring spectra and the moduli spaces, or spaces of zero-energy configurations, of supersymmetric QCD gauge theories. In the first part of this thesis we consider the massive covariant perturbative superstring spectra of compactifications of the type I open superstring preserving 4, 8 or 16 supercharges. There are an enormous number of ways in which the required amount of symmetry can be obtained, but here we concentrate on the ‘universal’ states that are present in every possible compactification preserving that amount of supersymmetry. For each super-Poincare representation we derive the multiplicity generating function, or the power series counting the number of times that representation occurs at each mass level, and from these we derive empirically the stable pattern or leading Regge trajectory that these multiplicity generating functions approach in the limit of large spin. For the mathematically tractable and phenomenologically relevant case of 4 supercharges we also derive these power series analytically and see that they agree with the empirical ones. In the second part we introduce the type of partition functions called Hilbert series, which count the number of algebraically or linearly independent polynomials at each graded level of a graded algebraic structure such as a (graded) ring, module or ideal. In supersymmetric gauge theories the algebraic structure is the chiral ring which is generated by the gauge-invariant operators of the theory. The specific theories we consider are supersymmetric generalizations of QCD, or SQCD, with exceptional or related (by sequence or folding of the Dynkin diagram or Higgsing) gauge groups with specified numbers of flavours of matter in specific representations. We show, as for theories with classical gauge groups, that the moduli spaces are Calabi-Yau manifolds and also demonstrate relations between the Hilbert series of SQCD theories related by Higgsing on one or more flavours of matter in specific representations.
THE SUCCESS FACTORS OF EXTRACT-LOAD-TRANSFORM PROCESS IN DATA INTEGRATION IMPLEMENTATION

The primary purpose of data integration in data warehouse is to consolidate data from various heterogeneous data source. ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) is a traditional approach used to extract, transform and load data from external sources into data warehouse environment. Since there exists limitation on ETL approach, many organization move to ELT (Extract-Load-Transform) approach to improve the loading time and performance. To ensure the success of ELT, then identifying the factors that contribute to this success is important. Yet not many studies have been done in identifying the success factors of ELT approach in organizations so that the process can be performed efficiently and effectively. Therefore identifying the influencing factors that contribute to the success of this process is important. There are various factors proposed in previous studies; however studies focusing on identifying the success factors of ELT approach are missing and this becomes the objective of this paper. Based on the reviews, this study has collected fourteen factors where eight elements are classified under system quality factor and six elements are classified under data quality factors. All these factors will be verified by the domain experts. The success factors proposed in this study could be used as a reference to the system developers in improving the performance of data integration process.
Modified inertial extragradient methods for finding minimum-norm solution of the variational inequality problem with applications to optimal control problem

In order to discover the minimum-norm solution of the pseudomonotone variational inequality problem in a real Hilbert space, we provide two variants of the inertial extragradient approach with a novel generalized adaptive step size. Two of the suggested algorithms make use of the projection and contraction methods. We demonstrate several strong convergence findings without requiring the prior knowledge of the Lipschitz constant of the mapping. Finally, we give a number of numerical examples that highlight the benefits and effectiveness of the suggested algorithms and how they may be used to solve the optimal control problem.
National Identity and Partisan Polarization

National Identity and Partisan Polarization examines how national identity has become a central issue in political and social life across the world. Questions of identity—who should be counted as a “true member” of a society and who deserves assistance from the government—have displaced other social and economic issues across nations in many countries. This study considers the role of identity theoretically and in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Poland, Israel, and Taiwan. Identity varies over time and over countries. Some such as Sweden have a more “inclusive” sense of identity—one does not need to be born in the country or have ancestry to be considered a “true Swede. ” Other countries, such as Austria, France, Hungary, Poland, Israel, and Taiwan, have a more “exclusive” notion of identity—where one was born and a common heritage (race, religion, ethnicity) are seen as essential for seeing others as “true” members of society. “Outsiders” are viewed negatively, often as threatening a national culture and not deserving of government assistance. In the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, the major political parties take opposing positions on identity. In the United States and the United Kingdom, issues of identity have become highly correlated (polarized) with social and economic issues. In the former Communist countries of Hungary and Poland, the dominant parties have taken nationalist positions on identity but favor generous welfare policies for people of their own background. In Israel and Taiwan, social and economic issues have become less important than nationalism.
Time-Energy Uncertainty Relation for a Quantum Clock as a Control Device

A quantum clock working as a control device is examined. The quality of the control process is characterized by the magnitude of deviation of perturbed state from unperturbed state of the controlled system. Uncertainty relations that relate the time duration of the process and energy of the clock to the quality of the control are presented.
Soil moisture-vegetation interaction from near-global in-situ soil moisture measurements

Although the interactions between soil moisture (SM) and vegetation dynamics have been extensively investigated, most of previous findings are derived from satellite-observed and/or model-simulated SM data, which inevitably include multiple sources of error. With the effort of many field workers and researchers in in-situ SM measurement and SM data integration, it is now possible to obtain the integrated in-situ SM dataset in the global range. Here we used the in-situ SM dataset of the International Soil Moisture Network to analyze the anomaly correlation between SM and leaf area index (LAI). We found that positive (negative) correlations exist between SM (LAI) and temporally lagged LAI (SM). The peak correlation and lagging time to reach it (often less than 3 months) depends on climate, land cover and rooting depths. The high SM-LAI anomaly correlation prevails in water-limited regions, e.g. dryland, where plant physiology has strong sensitivity to subsurface water stress. Dynamics of vegetation with deeper maximum rooting depths are not always correlated with SM in deeper soil layers, and vegetation dynamics with shallower maximum rooting depth may strongly correlate with SM in deeper soil layers. Overall, we highlight the potential of the global in-situ SM observation network to analyze the interactions between SM and vegetation dynamics.
Modeling operational cement rotary kiln variables with explainable artificial intelligence methods – a “conscious lab” development

Abstract Digitalizing cement production plants to improve operation parameters’ control might reduce energy consumption and increase process sustainabilities. Cement production plants are one of the extremest CO2 emissions, and the rotary kiln is a cement plant’s most energy-consuming and energy-wasting unit. Thus, enhancing its operation assessments adsorb attention. Since many factors would affect the clinker production quality and rotary kiln efficiency, controlling those variables is beyond operator capabilities. Constructing a conscious-lab “CL” (developing an explainable artificial intelligence “EAI” model based on the industrial operating dataset) can potentially tackle those critical issues, reduce laboratory costs, save time, improve process maintenance and help for better training operators. As a novel approach, this investigation examined extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) coupled with SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) “SHAP-XGBoost” for the modeling and prediction of the rotary kiln factors (feed rate and induced draft fan current) based on over 3,000 records collected from the Ilam cement plant. SHAP illustrated the relationships between each record and variables with the rotary kiln factors, demonstrated their correlation magnitude, and ranked them based on their importance. XGBoost accurately (R-square 0.96) could predict the rotary kiln factors where results showed higher exactness than typical EAI models.
Modelling dark energy

One of the most pressing, modern cosmological mysteries is the cause of the accelerated expansion of the universe. The energy density required to cause this large scale opposition to gravity is known to be both far in excess of the known matter content, and remarkably smooth and unclustered across the universe. While the most commonly accepted answer is that a cosmological constant is responsible, alternatives abound. This thesis is primarily concerned with such alternatives; both their theoretical nature and observational consequences. In this thesis, we will dedicate Chapter 1 to a brief review on the fundamentals of general relativity, leading into the basics of theoretical cosmology. Following this we will recall some of the key observations that has lead to the standard ΛCDM cosmology. The standard model has well known problems, many of which can be answered by the theoretical ideas of inflation. In Chapter 2 we explore these ideas, including a summary of classical field theory in the context of cosmology, upon which inflation is based. This also serves as the groundwork for Chapter 3, where the varied models of dark energy (and their motivations) are discussed many of which are also reliant on field theory (such as quintessence). These notions are combined in a model described in Chapter 4, where we describe our own addition to a scenario that unifies dark energy and inflation. This addition involving a coupling of the inflation field to an additional one alter the way reheating takes place after inflation, removing some of the shortcomings of the original proposal. The analysis is extended in Chapter 5, to include the effect of quantum corrections. There we show that although a cursory analysis indicates a coupling between quintessence and some other field does not necessarily give rise to dangerously large quantum corrections, provided the effects of decoupling are taken into account. We move on in Chapter 6 to examine the basics of cosmological perturbation theory, and derive the general equations of motion for density and velocity perturbations for a system of fluids, allowing for the exchange of energy-momentum. We make use of this in Chapters 7 and 8, were we examine the growth of structure in a universe where energy is exchanged between dark matter and dark energy. In particular, in Chapter 7 we see that a particular form of the interaction can lead to an instability in the early universe, and we derive the condition for this to be the case. In Chapter 8, we discuss how a similar interaction can lead to a mimicry of modified gravity, and relate this directly to cosmological observations. Finally we summarise our conclusions and discuss avenues of future research in Chapter 9.
A Standard Procedure for In Vitro Digestion Using Rumen Fermenters: A Collaborative Study

Simple Summary Knowledge of the nutritive value of feeds is essential to feed animals with adequate diets and to optimize production with minimal environmental impact. In vitro digestibility might be an important source of information for nutritionists, because it is a cheap and fast way to assess information on feed digestion for ruminants, notably when the main objective is to compare feeds or diets. A rumen fermenter is a relatively new type of equipment which improves the operational capacity of in vitro procedures. However, the lack of standardized procedures for in vitro trials using rumen fermenters may compromise the reliability of information obtained, mainly due to the high variability among laboratories. Hence, we proposed and evaluated a standard method for in vitro digestion using rumen fermenters, through a collaborative study involving seven feed analysis laboratories. On average, the method showed adequate performance, where the random variation among laboratories was lower than the random variation within laboratories (i.e., error variation). Considering that in vitro digestibility is an analytical entity that is defined by the method itself, the proposed method was considered reproducible. Our results highlighted that, if the method is followed exactly, its results present adequate levels of repeatability and reproducibility. Abstract Our objective was to propose and evaluate a standard procedure for the evaluation of in vitro dry matter digestibility for ruminant feeds, using artificial fermenters. A collaborative study was performed with seven feed analysis laboratories and four feeds (Tifton 85 hay, corn silage, soybean hulls, and soybean meal). Two types of artificial fermenters were evaluated (DaisyII Ankom and TE-150 Tecnal). Each laboratory received 80 sealed filter bags with samples (20 per feed), eight blank filter bags, a plastic bag with buffer solution reagents, and instructions describing how to conduct a 48 h in vitro assay using an artificial fermenter and how to collect bovine ruminal inoculum. On average, the contribution of laboratory effect to the total random variance was 24%, being less than the contribution of equipment (42%) and error (34%). The repeatability ranged from 3.34 to 5.79%, across feeds. The reproducibility ranged from 5.93 to 8.94% across feeds, which implied Horwitz ratios ranging from 2.94 to 4.10. Due to the specific characteristics of the analytical entity evaluated here, which is defined by the method itself, the proposed method was considered reproducible. The results highlighted that, if the method is followed exactly, its results are precise and present adequate levels of repeatability and reproducibility.
Pyrolysis of four waste biomasses and elucidation of reaction kinetics and pyrolytic products

With the increase of bioenergy crops and the rapid development of agriculture, the total amount of solid waste is increasing rapidly. This study quantified the pyrolytic performance and gaseous products of spent coffee grounds (SCG), Chinese medicine residue (CMR), vinasse (VI) and camellia oil shell (COS) by using (derivative) thermogravimetric ((D)TG), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) and mass spectrometry (MS) analyses. There are two main stages of mass loss: volatilisation of volatiles and continuous decomposition of macromolecules. At a heating rate of 20°C/min, COS has the slowest pyrolysis rate compared to the other three. Model-free methods: Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) were used to calculate the activation energy (E) of samples with different conversion rates (α). SCG and VI have the highest average activation energy (about 240kJ/mol), followed by CMR (200kJ/mol), and COS the lowest (175kJ/mol). FTIR was mainly used to detect functional group types (including hydroxyl, carbonyl, aldehyde and ester groups, etc.), while MS co-detected the characteristics of condensable/non-condensable gases (including H2O, CO2, NOx, SOx, C6H6, C7H8, C9H8 and other major gas emissions, pollutants and hydrocarbons). Nitrogen oxides are produced in the range of 500–800°C. SCG and VI emit more gas pollutants than CMR and COS.
Search for exoplanets around pulsating stars of A-F type in Kepler short-cadence data and the case of KIC 8197761

We searched for extrasolar planets around pulsating stars by examining $\textit{Kepler}$ data for transit-like events hidden in the intrinsic variability. All Short Cadence observations for targets with 6000 K $< T_{\rm eff} <$ 8500 K were visually inspected for transit-like events following the removal of pulsational signals by sinusoidal fits. Clear transit-like events were detected in KIC 5613330 and KIC 8197761. KIC 5613330 is a confirmed exoplanet host (Kepler-635b), where the transit period determined here is consistent with the literature value. KIC 8197761 is a $\gamma$ Doradus - $\delta$ Scuti star exhibiting eclipses/transits occurring every 9.8686667(27) d, having durations of 8.37 h, and causing brightness drops $\frac{\Delta F}{F} = 0.00629(29)$. The star's pulsation spectrum contains several mode doublets and triplets, identified as $l = 1$, with a mean spacing of 0.001659(15) c/d, implying an internal rotation period of $301\pm3$ d. Trials to calculate the size of the light travel time effect (LTTE) from the pulsations to constrain the companion's mass ended inconclusive. Finding planets around $\gamma$ Doradus stars from the pulsational LTTE, therefore, is concluded to be unrealistic. Spectroscopic monitoring of KIC 8197761 revealed sinusoidal radial velocity variations with a semi-amplitude of $19.75 \pm 0.32$ km/s, while individual spectra present rotational broadening consistent with $v \sin i = 9\pm1$ km/s. This suggests that the stellar surface rotation is synchronized with the orbit, whereas the stellar core rotates $\sim$30 times slower. Combining the observed radial velocity variability with the transit photometry, constrains the companion's mass to be $\approx 0.28$ M$_{\odot}$, ruling out an exoplanet hypothesis.