Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Added Mass of Sphere Starting Upward Near Floor

A method for suddenly releasing a buoyant sphere under water and measuring its acceleration was used to get experimental added-mass coefficients a short time after release. To show the effect of a plane boundary, the sphere was released zero to six diameters above a rigid floor. By definition the fluid force on an accelerating object may be divided into two parts — that due to viscosity and that which would occur if the fluid had no viscosity. A work-energy method applied to the boundary layers developing on the sphere and floor gave the viscous force at the instant the acceleration was measured. When this was subtracted from the known total force, the resulting experimental added-mass coefficients ranged from 0.83 (sphere very close to floor) to 0.50 (six diameters away). For the same set of starting positions, potential flow calculations gave coefficients from 0.8030 to 0.5000.
Gaussian Noise Data Augmentation-Based Delay Prediction for High-Speed Railways

Accurately predicting delays for high-speed railways (HSRs) is a challenging yet significant task. The historical operation data of the HSRs, implicating delay derivation rules under the dispatchers’ rescheduling strategies, have sparsity characteristics, resulting in heterogeneous prediction performances under different scenarios. This article proposes a Gaussian noise data augmentation-based delay prediction method to cope with the sparsity. Specifically, the Gaussian noise is added to the original data based on the train operation data characteristics. Then, the delay data rather than the full-state dataset are selected as the training data for different designed machine learning prediction models. Numerous studies based on real HSR operational data from the Beijing Railway Bureau show that the proposed method could significantly improve the prediction accuracy under different scenarios with different machine learning models, verifying the effectiveness of the performance improvement. The relevant results could be significantly helpful for real-time train rescheduling and passenger management, thus improving the emergency response capabilities of HSRs.
A Novel Neural Network with the Ability to Express the Extreme Points Distribution Features of Higher Derivatives of Physical Processes

Higher derivatives are important to interpret the physical process. However, higher derivatives calculated from measured data often deviate from the real ones because of measurement errors. A novel method for data fitting without higher derivatives violating the real physical process is developed in this paper. Firstly, the research on errors’ influence on higher derivatives and the typical functions’ extreme points distribution were conducted, which demonstrates the necessity and feasibility of adopting extreme points distribution features in neural networks. Then, we proposed a new neural network considering the extreme points distribution features, namely, the extreme-points-distribution-based neural network (EDNN), which contains a sample error calculator (SEC) and extreme points distribution error calculator (EDEC). With recursive automatic differentiation, a model calculating the higher derivatives of the EDNN was established. Additionally, a loss function, embedded with the extreme points distribution features, was introduced. Finally, the EDNN was applied to two specific cases to reduce the noise in a second-order damped free oscillation signal and an internal combustion engine cylinder pressure trace signal. It was found that the EDNN could obtain higher derivatives that are more compatible with physical trends without detailed differentiation equations. The standard deviation of derivatives’ error of the EDNN is less than 62.5 percent of that of traditional neural networks. The EDNN provides a novel method for the analysis of physical processes with higher derivatives compatible with real physical trends.
Clicking through the Clickstream: A Novel Statistical Modeling Approach to Improve Information Usage of Clickstream Data by E-Commerce Entities

Success or failure of an E-commerce platform is often reduced to its ability to maximize the conversion rate of its visitors. This is commonly regarded as the capacity to induce a purchase from a visitor. Visitors possess individual characteristics, histories, and objectives which complicate the choice of what platform features that maximize the conversion rate. Modern web technology has made clickstream data accessible allowing a complete record of a visitor’s actions on a website to be analyzed. What remains poorly constrained is what parts of the clickstream data are meaningful information and what parts are accidental for the problem of platform design. In this research, clickstream data from an on-line retailer was examined to demonstrate how statistical modeling can improve clickstream information usage. A conceptual model was developed that conjectured relationships between visitor and platform variables, visitors’ platform exit rate, boune rate, and decision to purchase. Several hypotheses on the nature of the clickstream relationships were posited and tested with the models. A discrete choice logit model showed that the content of a website, the history of website use, and the exit rate of pages visited had marginal effects on derived utility for the visitor. Exit rate and bounce rate were modeled as beta distributed random variables. It was found that exit rate and its variability for pages visited were associated with site content, site quality, prior visitor history on the site, and technological preferences of the visitor. Bounce rate was also found to be influenced by the same factors but was in a direction opposite to the registered hypotheses. Most findings supported that clickstream data is amenable to statistical modeling with interpretable and comprehensible models.
External Auditors' Impact on Corporate Governance of Unlisted Firms: A Developing Country Perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of external auditors on the corporate governance of unlisted firms in Ghana.Design/Methodology: The study adopts a quantitative research survey design approach. Closed-ended questionnaires were distributed to 485 respondents using the purposive and convenience sampling method. Inferential statistics were conducted on the data collected using IBM SPSS Statistic v23.Findings: The study found that the presence of boards, familiarity with corporate governance codes, and adherence to the code of conduct are prevalent in unlisted firms in Ghana. Also, the study found that the role external auditors play in unlisted firms in Ghana has a positive and significant impact on corporate governance.Practical Implications to Business or key stakeholders: The findings of the study highlight the importance of establishing effective boards, adhering to corporate governance codes, and actively engaging external auditors to strengthen governance practices. Stakeholder engagement, training, risk management, and policy enhancements are also crucial in fostering transparency, accountability, and sustainable business growth. Implementing these implications can enhance corporate governance, build stakeholder trust, and promote long-term organizational success.
Current Aspects on the Plastic Nano- and Microparticles Toxicity in Zebrafish—Focus on the Correlation between Oxidative Stress Responses and Neurodevelopment

Simple Summary Recent reports focusing on the extent of plastic pollution have shown that petroleum-based products can currently be found in most marine species, which is a consequence of the immense production and use of plastics. The severe contamination of plastic nano-/microparticles (NPs/MPs) mainly results in immediate negative outcomes, such as organic impairments and tissue damage, as well as long-termed negative effects, such as developmental retardation and defects, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress (OS), metabolic imbalance, mutagenesis, and teratogenesis. We aimed to correlate the possible toxic effects of plastic NPs/MPs in zebrafish models, by focusing on OS and developmental processes, and the size, shape, and doses of the NPs/MPs. We found that plastic NPs/MPs toxic effects could be observed during the entire developmental span of zebrafish in close correlation with OS-related changes. The decreased antioxidant enzymatic defense due to plastic NPs/MPs exposure and accumulation suggests important neurodevelopmental negative outcomes (cognitive abnormalities, neurodevelopmental retardation, and behavioral impairments) and neuronal effects, such as impaired digestive physiology. Abstract Recent reports focusing on the extent of plastic pollution have shown that many types of fibers and polymers can now be found in most marine species. The severe contamination of plastic nano-/microparticles (NPs/MPs) mainly results in immediate negative outcomes, such as organic impairments and tissue damage, as well as long-termed negative effects, such as developmental retardation and defects, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress (OS), metabolic imbalance, mutagenesis, and teratogenesis. Oxidative responses are currently considered the first line molecular signal to potential toxic stimuli exposure, as the oxidative balance in electron exchange and reactive oxygen species signaling provides efficient harmful stimuli processing. Abnormal signaling or dysregulated ROS metabolism—OS—could be an important source of cellular toxicity, the source of a vicious cycle of environmental and oxidative signaling-derived toxicity. As chemical environmental pollutants, plastic NPs/MPs can also be a cause of such toxicity. Thus, we aimed to correlate the possible toxic effects of plastic NPs/MPs in zebrafish models, by focusing on OS and developmental processes. We found that plastic NPs/MPs toxic effects could be observed during the entire developmental span of zebrafish in close correlation with OS-related changes. Excessive ROS production and decreased antioxidant enzymatic defense due to plastic NPs/MPs exposure and accumulation were frequently associated with acetylcholinesterase activity inhibition, suggesting important neurodevelopmental negative outcomes (cognitive abnormalities, neurodevelopmental retardation, behavioral impairments) and extraneuronal effects, such as impaired digestive physiology.
Transgressive Play and the Inherent Limits of Business Growth for China’s LGBTQ Platforms: The Case of a Social Game in Aloha

Since 2016, China’s online LGBTQ platforms, such as Blued and Aloha, have been seeking to increase user acquisition and retention by introducing new functionalities to their interfaces. Although these attempts were promising at first, most of their endeavors proved unsustainable, largely due to the condition in which their businesses operate: a niche audience segment in a winner-take-all mobile market and a highly regulatory market in which LGBTQ content is often made a site for the execution of power. This article investigates the now-defunct role-playing social game Werewolf embedded in Aloha, one of the popular dating apps for queer men in China. By bringing together scholarship on game studies and queer media studies, it is argued that social games embedded in dating apps foster a new form of sexual sociality in which desires become increasingly gamified and intimacy networked, which are essential for queer social media to retain users. Although Werewolf was ultimately closed due to Aloha’s budgetary controls, queer players have emerged as a promising market for their unique engagement in social games. LGBTQ platforms, however, are not the main beneficiary of the queer gaming market because of the winner-take-all mobile ecosystem. The article highlights the inherent limits of “outward” expansion of China’s LGBTQ platforms into the mainstream market and suggests that prioritizing the unaddressed needs of their niche audience through an inward approach may be a more viable strategy for business growth in a mobile ecosystem dominated by a handful of major players.
An extremal function for contractions of graphs

Abstract The function c(p) is defined for positive integers p ≥ 4 by where > denotes contraction. Random graph examples show In 1968 Mader showed that c(p) ≤ 8(p − 2) [log2 (p − 2)] and more recently Kostochka showed that p√(log p) is the correct order for c(p). We present a simple argument showing c(p) ≤ 2.68p √(log2p)(l + ο(l)).
UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF BACTERIAL GENES AND ENZYMES IN ORGANOPHOSPHATE DEGRADATION: A STEP TOWARDS ENHANCED BIOREMEDIATION

The use of Organophosphates (OPs) as pesticides and insecticides increased after world war II, although organophosphates (OPs) are comparatively less persistent in the environment, but are highly toxic to animals. OP toxicity is causing a threat to biodiversity, hence it becomes essential to deal with the degradation of such compounds. Various techniques like photolysis, and chemical degradation have been used for OP degradation but these techniques are not costeffective and require ex-situ treatment, hence bioremediation is considered a potential alternative for OP degradation. Understanding the degradation pathways followed by different bacteria, genes and enzymes involved in such pathways can act as a step towards the development of an effective bioremediation technique for OP degradation. Recombinant biotechnology and protein engineering are used to develop designer bacteria, biocatalysts and enzymes with enhanced activity for OP-degrading bacteria. The present review highlights the bacterial degradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in bioremediation pathways and new approaches for the development of OP bioremediation techniques.
Interhemispheric Asymmetry Due To IMF By Within the Cusp Spherical Elementary Currents

Observations of interhemispheric asymmetry in the cusp region due to the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component have been performed for years, but those observations typically are not simultaneous in both hemispheres and represent an average picture. Simultaneous instantaneous observations in both hemispheres are rare. We have combined four sets of magnetometers in Antarctica to produce equivalent ionospheric currents and current amplitudes at 10 s resolution using the spherical elementary current systems technique. These Antarctica spherical elementary currents are roughly conjugate to the northern hemisphere spherical elementary currents derived over Greenland and North America. We examined five intervals with large interplanetary magnetic field By positive and negative and demonstrate that the equivalent current pattern in opposite hemispheres are asymmetric with respect to one another during IMF By positive with the cusp throat opening towards the dusk in the northern hemisphere and towards the dawn in the southern hemisphere. This configuration reverses for interplanetary magnetic field By negative. In one of these events we examine the rotation of the equivalent currents in real time in the northern hemisphere. We also compare these results with virtual magnetometer predictions from the Space Weather Modeling Framework. Simultaneous spherical elementary currents observations in both hemispheres are important because they allow us to observe the evolution of the cusp throat during changing solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions.
Assessing, Controlling and Understanding Parameter Variations of SiC Power MOSFETs in Switching Operation

Semiconductor manufacturers and researchers have recently revealed that under specific bipolar gate switching conditions SiC MOSFETs exhibit parameter drift dynamics different from those typically observed in static qualification stress tests. In response to this finding, we present an approach for assessing the worst-case drift of data-sheet-relevant electrical parameters in a simple and transparent manner for a large variety of application profiles. We also introduce an empirical model that may explain the drift dynamics observed under gate switching stress; and discuss a recently developed interface characterization technique that has the potential to reveal the nature of point defects at the SiC/SiO2 interface presumably related to the gate switching instability in SiC MOSFETs.
Evaluation of Coffea arabica Cultivars for Resistance to Meloidogyne konaensis

Coffee is an important agricultural crop for the State of Hawaii. Developing new coffee cultivars with resistance to damaging pests and diseases is crucial for improving production and maintaining the profitability of the industry. With the recent discovery of Hemileia vastatrix, coffee leaf rust (CLR), to Hawaii there is a strong interest in replanting with CLR-resistant germplasm. However, when selecting an appropriate cultivar for replanting, susceptibility to other pathogens, such as plant-parasitic nematodes, should be taken into consideration. Meloidogyne konaensis, the Kona coffee root-knot nematode, causes severe destruction of the root system, reducing the yield and causing the mortality of susceptible Coffea arabica cv. Typica trees. Fortunately, resistance to root-knot nematodes has been found in some C. arabica germplasm. In this study, accessions of wild Ethiopian C. arabica and two CLR-resistant C. arabica cultivars, Tupi-HI and Obata, were evaluated for resistance to M. konaensis in a greenhouse bioassay. All Ethiopian accessions retained high levels of resistance, resulting in reproductive factors (Rfs) lower than 1.0, and low root-rot ratings. Tupi-HI was highly susceptible to M. konanensis, with an Rf value of 7.12, whereas Obata was slightly susceptible, with an Rf value of 2.33. Both cultivars had high root-rot ratings, suggesting intolerance to the nematode. Hybridizing Ethiopian C. arabica with Tupi-HI or Obata may result in new elite cultivars, resistant to both H. vastatrix and M. konaensis.
Geometrical patterns of sliding flow formed by collision of viscoelastic fluid jet on a tilted plate

Received 17 November 2014 Abstract Regular geometrical patterns are formed on a sliding flow on a tilted plate when a viscoelastic fluid jet falls down from a nozzle exit to the plate by gravity. A part of the jet near the collision point to the tilted plate is oscillated to the flow direction and/or the horizontal direction by stacking on the plate at a suitable condition and it makes the regular patterns. Several regular, quasi-regular and random patterns are formed on the plate by adjusting the title angle of the plate and the height of the nozzle exit from the collision point at the plate. The pattern maps that are a chart to show the distribution of each pattern according to the nozzle height and the title angle of the plate were drawn and it makes clear that the regular patterns appear the range of the tilt angle from 30 to 60 degrees. The sliding flow velocity on the plate is an important factor for the pattern formation and is also affected by the flow rate, the nozzle diameter and the viscoelastic properties of the fluid. The sliding flow velocity and the period of the pattern are measured for the in-line stacking type and the horizontal stacking type as a representative regular pattern. The border of the in-line stacking type and horizontal stacking type coincides with the critical height for the deformation transmission property on the viscoelastic fluid jet driven by gravity, as reported by Tomita and Takahashi (Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Series B, Vol.56, No.529, 1990). The oscillation period of these regular patterns normalized by relaxation time was evaluated by the dimensional analysis method and an empirical formula to describe the oscillation period of the patterns was presented.
JKR adhesive contact for a transversely isotropic layer of finite thickness

A frictionless contact interaction with a circular area of contact between an arbitrary axisymmetric rigid probe and a transversely isotopic elastic layer deposited on a substrate is studied in the framework of the JKR (Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts) adhesion theory. Under the assumption that the diameter of the contact area is less than the thickness of the elastic layer, the forth-order asymptotic model is explicitly written out. The effect of the layer thickness and the material anisotropy is taken into account via the asymptotic coefficients, which are integral characteristics of the elastic layer and also depend on the boundary conditions at the layer/substrate interface. A special case of an isotropic elastic layer bonded to an isotropic elastic half-space is considered in detail.
Immediate Single Stage Implant-based Breast Reconstruction with or Without TIGR Mesh in Iranian Patients Undergoing Mastectomy: A Quasi-experimental Study

Background: Breast cancer is still a major contributing factor to the burden of the disease worldwide. A single-stage implant-based reconstruction (IBR) lowers tissue morbidity, thus increasing overall aesthetic outcome and patient satisfaction. Objectives: Because of the high price of ADM and the lack of insurance coverage in Iran, we aimed at examining the results of using TIGR® mesh in patients with breast cancer. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Iran (Tehran) from 2016 to 2018. About 140 eligible patients with breast cancer were included and their information was collected and analyzed prospectively during the 3 years that they were referred to the surgery center in Tehran. The reconstruction was performed, as either direct-single staged, Implant + TIGR MESH, or delayed-multistage. Patient satisfaction was calculated after 1 year of follow-up, using Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ) by applying the VAS scale. All statistical analyses were performed at a 95% significance level, using SPSS statistical software version. (Evidence-based medicine level: Level III, a prospective cohort). Results: The results of our study showed slightly more short-term complications than other studies due to the surgical team’s first experience in the surgery. Complications were infection (7.1%), epidermal necrosis (15.9%), and severe capsular contracture (14.2%). Seven patients (6.2%) had full-thickness skin necrosis, and the prosthesis was finally removed. The use of the TIGR Mesh did not increase the rate of complications, and only 5 implant losses in this group and 2 in the tissue expander group were reported. The levels of patients’ satisfaction in IBR and delayed-multistage groups were 44.4% and 12.7%, respectively. Conclusions: Our results showed that placement of TIGR MESH for lower pole support during IBR does not increase the complication rate. Additionally, patients’ satisfaction levels increased compared to traditional methods of reconstruction.