Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integration and Evaluation of Peer Grading in a Graduate-level Engineering Design Course

A peer grading method is developed and integrated into a graduate-level engineering product design course. The objective of the peer grading process is to improve the students' design skillset. Students form teams to work on a design project throughout the course, applying the methods discussed in class to their specific project. Each team submits a project report in phases throughout the semester. The first two phases of the report are peer graded by themselves and two other teams in the class. Teams also grade their graders to ensure accountability and increase grading fairness and high feedback quality. To eliminate potential bias, the entire grading process is blind. Any identifying information in the reports is removed prior to peer grading and a confidential labeling system is integrated for instructor use only. The teams provide cardinal and ordinal grades for each report. To guide the grading process, students are provided with a grading rubric and a detailed report outline which informs students of required report elements. Anonymous peer evaluation of each team member within each group is also required. Thirty-two students complete a survey regarding the peer grading experience at the end of the semester. The survey provides results that qualitatively measure the efficacy of the peer grading method. Qualitative analysis of the survey responses indicate the peer grading method successfully reinforces and improves understanding of engineering design concepts. Proposals for revision and improvement of the peer grading method based on the survey results are also discussed and remain as future work.
Expectations of Students in Turkey in TIMSS 2011 TIMSS 2011 Çalışmasına Katılan Türkiye ’ deki Öğrencilerin Akademik

The present study examined predictive effect of gender, home educational resources, family involvement, and motivational beliefs of self-efficacy and task value in science on students’ academic expectancies. 6331 eight grade students who participated in TIMSS 2011 in Turkey consisted of the sample of the study. Logistic regression analyses results revealed that girls had higher levels of expectations to attain university education than boys. Home educational resources, family involvement, and self-efficacy in science emerged as significant and positive predictors of students’ academic expectations, as well. Some suggestions were provided for science teachers to promote their students’ self-efficacy beliefs and for parents to improve their involvement in schooling.
Light absorption by secondary organic aerosol from α‐pinene: Effects of oxidants, seed aerosol acidity, and relative humidity

It is well known that light absorption from dust and black carbon aerosols has a warming effect on climate while light scattering from sulfate, nitrate, and sea salt aerosols has a cooling effect. However, there are large uncertainties associated with light absorption and scattering by different types of organic aerosols, especially in the near‐UV and UV spectral regions. In this paper, we present the results from a systematic laboratory study focused on measuring light absorption by secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) generated from dark α‐pinene + O3 and α‐pinene + NOx + O3 systems in the presence of neutral and acidic sulfate seed aerosols. Light absorption was monitored using photoacoustic spectrometers at four different wavelengths: 355, 405, 532, and 870 nm. Significant light absorption at 355 and 405 nm was observed for the SOA formed from α‐pinene + O3 + NO3 system only in the presence of highly acidic sulfate seed aerosols under dry conditions. In contrast, no absorption was observed when the relative humidity was elevated to greater than 27% or in the presence of neutral sulfate seed aerosols. Organic nitrates in the SOA formed in the presence of neutral sulfate seed aerosols were found to be nonabsorbing, while the light‐absorbing compounds are speculated to be aldol condensation oligomers with nitroxy organosulfate groups that are formed in highly acidic sulfate aerosols. Overall, these results suggest that dark α‐pinene + O3 and α‐pinene + NOx + O3 systems do not form light‐absorbing SOA under typical atmospheric conditions.
Understanding the Behavior of the Elderly towards Internet Banking in the UK

The rapid development and maturity of Electronic Business has stimulated the adoption of Internet Banking in both the developed and developing economies. This adoption is no doubt a result of not just based on the maturity of the Internet, but its ubiquitous nature. As of 2005, about 73% of households have active Internet connection in the UK. At the same time this huge adoption has raised many social and economic issues that should be addressed. This paper presents an investigation into the behavior of elderly people (age segment 55-65) towards Internet banking in the UK. The research constructs were developed based on the 'Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior' towards providing an understanding of the level of motivations, social influence, perceived usefulness and ease of use for the defined age segment in the UK. Analyzed research output has identified a number of issues that should be addressed in order to increase the involvement of a potential sub-segment of elderly people in e-commerce activities.
Formation and development of shock waves in the solar corona and the near-Sun interplanetary space

At the Sun, shock waves are produced either by flares and/or by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and are regarded as the source of solar energetic particle events. They can be able to generate solar type II radio bursts. The non-radial propagation of a disturbance is considered away from an active region through the corona into the interplanetary space by evaluating the spatial behaviour of the Alfven speed. The magnetic field of an active region is modelled by a magnetic dipole superimposed on that of the quiet Sun. Such a magnetic field structure leads to a local minimum of the Alfven speed in the range 1.2-1.8 solar radii in the corona as well as a maximum of 740 kms −1 at a distance of 3.8 solar radii. The occurrence of such local extrema has important consequences for the formation and development of shock waves in the corona and the near-Sun interplanetary space and their ability to accelerate particles. It leads to a temporal delay of the onset of solar energetic particle events with respect to both the initial energy release (flare) and the onset of the solar type II radio burst.
The evolution of the Galactic bulge from planetary nebulae

Abstract We have used our dataset on the abundances of planetary nebulae (PN) to study the chemical evolution of the Galactic bulge. We have derived several relations involving the chemical abundances and computed three classes of models for the Galactic bulge: (i) one-zone, single-infall models, (ii) one-zone, double-infall models and (iii) multizone, double infall models. We conclude that part of the observational data can be understood in terms of the simpler models, but the full understanding of all observational constraints can only be explained by more complex multizone models.
The SPHINX Cosmological Simulations of the First Billion Years: the Impact of Binary Stars on Reionization★

We present the SPHINX suite of cosmological adaptive mesh refinement simulations, the first radiation-hydrodynamical simulations to simultaneously capture large-scale reionization and the escape of ionizing radiation from thousands of resolved galaxies. Our $5$ and $10$ co-moving Mpc volumes resolve haloes down to the atomic cooling limit and model the inter-stellar medium with better than $\approx10$ pc resolution. The project has numerous goals in improving our understanding of reionization and making predictions for future observations. In this first paper we study how the inclusion of binary stars in computing stellar luminosities impacts reionization, compared to a model that includes only single stars. Owing to the suppression of galaxy growth via strong feedback, our galaxies are in good agreement with observational estimates of the galaxy luminosity function. We find that binaries have a significant impact on the timing of reionization: with binaries, our boxes are $99.9$ percent ionized by volume at $z\approx 7$, while without them our volumes fail to reionize by $z=6$. These results are robust to changes in volume size, resolution, and feedback efficiency. The escape of ionizing radiation from individual galaxies varies strongly and frequently. On average, binaries lead to escape fractions of $\approx 7-10$ percent, about $3.5$ times higher than with single stars only. The higher escape fraction is a result of a shallower decline in ionizing luminosity with age, and is the primary reason for earlier reionization, although the higher integrated luminosity with binaries also plays a sub-dominant role.
Relationship Between Tree Age and Sapwood/Heartwood Width in Populus Tremuloides Michx.

Populus tremuloides Michx. has become a major commercial species within the last decade. The proportion of sapwood and heartwood has a significant impact on various uses. The relationship between tree age and sapwood/heartwood width was studied using 101 trees of Populus tremuloides Michx. The sample trees were grown at various stand densities in the Lakehead University woodlot, Thunder Bay, Ontario. The ages of the trees ranged from 5 to 90 years at breast height. The boundary of sapwood and heartwood was delineated with the IKI technique. Sapwood and heartwood widths were expressed by ring count and by linear measurement. The sapwood basal area was calculated and expressed as the difference between stem basal area and heartwood basal area. It was found that sapwood width (ring count basis) increases with increasing tree age. A curvilinear relation between sapwood width and tree age was found. Sapwood basal area increased linearly with increasing tree age. Heartwood width, both in ring count and linear measurement, showed a positive relationship with tree age. Heartwood started to be formed at age 5. The average rates of sapwood and heartwood expansion were found to be 0.40 and 0.60 ring per year, respectively. It is concluded that tree age is an important factor that affects sapwood/heartwood width and sapwood basal area in P. tremuloides.
Laius: Towards latency awareness and improved utilization of spatial multitasking accelerators in datacenters

Datacenters use accelerators to provide the significant compute throughput required by emerging user-facing services. The diurnal user access pattern of user-facing services provides a strong incentive to co-located applications for better accelerator utilization, and prior work has focused on enabling co-location on multicore processors and traditional non-preemptive accelerators. However, current accelerators are evolving towards spatial multitasking and introduce a new set of challenges to eliminate QoS violation. To address this open problem, we explore the underlying causes of QoS violation on spatial multitasking accelerators. In response to these causes, we propose Laius, a runtime system that carefully allocates the computation resource to co-located applications for maximizing the throughput of batch applications while guaranteeing the required QoS of user-facing services. Our evaluation on a Nvidia RTX 2080Ti GPU shows that Laius improves the utilization of spatial multitasking accelerators by 20.8%, while achieving the 99%-ile latency target for user-facing services.
Microsatellite analysis of pacu broodstocks used in the stocking program of Paranapanema River, Brazil

Monitoring the genetic diversity has fundamental importance for fish stocking programs. This experiment aims to evaluate the genetic diversity in two hatchery stations (A and B) with pacu Piaractus mesopotamicus (Holmberg, 1887) in Andira, state of Parana, Brazil used in stocking programs of Paranapanema River. Six microsatellite loci were amplified using DNA extracted from 60 fin-clipping samples. The broodstock B had the average number of alleles and the mean heterozygosity (alleles: 3.7 and HO: 0.628) higher than the broodstock A (alleles: 3.5 and HO: 0.600). Alleles with low frequency levels were observed in the both broodstocks. The positive coefficients of endogamy in the locus Pme2 (broodstock A: FIS = 0.30 and broodstock B: FIS = 0.20), Pme5 (broodstock B: FIS = 0.15), Pme14 (broodstock A: FIS = 0.07) and Pme28 (broodstock A: FIS = 0.24 and broodstock B: FIS = 0.20) indicated deficiency of heterozygotes. Presence of null allele in the locus Pme2 was detected. The negative estimates in loci Pme4 (broodstock A: FIS = - 0.43 and broodstock B: FIS = - 0.37), Pme5 (broodstock A: FIS= - 0.11), Pme14 (broodstock B: FIS= - 0.15) and Pme32 (broodstock A: FIS = - 0.93 and broodstock B: FIS = - 0.60) were indicating the excess of heterozygotes. Evidence of linkage disequilibrium and lower allelic richness was found only in the broodstock A. Nei's gene diversity was high in both broodstocks. The genetic distance (0.085) and identity (0.918) showed similarity between broodstocks, which reflects a possible common origin. 6.05% of the total genetic variance was due to differences among broodstocks. Recent bottleneck effect in two broodstocks was observed. The results indicated a higher genetic diversity in the two broodstocks and they presented low genetic difference. This was caused by the reproductive management in both hatchery stations, reduction of population size and genetic exchange between the hatchery stations.
Economic uncertainty and fertility postponement: evidence from German panel data

This paper investigates whether economic uncertainty induces a postponement of family formation. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel which provides longitudinal information of economic uncertainty and fertility for the period 1984 to 2004. We employ ‘objective’ measures of uncertainty (unemployment, fixed-term contract, low income) as well as ‘subjective’ measures (the feeling that the personal economic situation is insecure). Our results suggest that there is no clear indication that economic uncertainty generally leads to a postponement of parenthood. More highly educated women tend to postpone family formation when unemployed or when they feel insecure about their personal economic situation. However, women with low educational levels accommodate themselves quite readily with motherhood when subject to labor market insecurities.
Phase Detection with Sub-Nanometer Sensitivity Using Polarization Quadrature Encoding Method in Optical Coherence Tomography

This paper presents a phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (OCT) system that uses the polarization quadrature encoding method in a two-channel Mach-Zehnder interferometer. OCT is a powerful optical signal acquisition method that can capture depth-resolved micrometer-resolution images. In our method, a complex signal is optically generated, and its real and imaginary components are encoded in the orthogonal polarization states of one sample beam; absolute phase information can then be acquired instantaneously. Neither phase modulation nor numerical Fourier or Hilbert transformation to extract phase information is required, thereby decreasing data acquisition rates and processing time. We conducted signal post-processing to select data from the instabilities of reference scanning delay lines; the measured phase sensitivity was as low as 0.23 - , and the corresponding path-difierence resolution was 265pm. A localized surface proflle measurement of a chromium- coated layer deposited on a commercial resolution target surface was conducted. The results conflrmed that successful images can be obtained even with very small optical path difierences using the proposed method.
Financial Markets Banks and Growth: Disentangling the Links

The paper reviews the state of the economic literature on the link between financial development and growth. We first examine the issue of measurement of financial development and the debate on the direction of causality between finance and growth. Next, we extensively discuss the various channels through which the financial sector can affect growth, including the increase in the efficiency of capital allocation, the reduction in information costs, the improvement of risk management, and the support of innovation. The analysis is conducted referring both to the theoretical literature and to the most recent empirical findings. We conclude by drawing lessons for the current debate on the reform of the financial sector in the aftermath of the Great Recession.
Core-shell SiO2/Ag composite spheres: synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic properties

Abstract Core-shell SiO2/Ag composite spheres with dense, complete and nanoscaled silver shell were prepared by using a novel facile chemical reduction method without surface modification of silica at room temperature. The core-shell composites were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The photocatalytic properties towards the degradation of methyl orange (Mo) of the prepared SiO2/Ag composites were also tested. The studies showed that the surface of SiO2 microspheres was homogeneously and completely covered by Ag nanoparticles and the composite exhibited excellent photocatalytic activities. The possible reaction mechanisms for the formation of the silica-silver core-shell spheres were also discussed in this paper.
Nutritional and physical properties of kariya seeds

A b s t r a c t. Nutritional and physical properties of kariya seeds were determined. Proximate analysis showed that kariya kernels contain 17.5, 2.8, 37.5 and 6.5% of crude protein, ash, fat and crude fibre, respectively. The fatty acids were largely made up of myristic, palmitic, stearic and linolenic acids. The angle of repose and coefficient of friction on wood, aluminium and galvanized steel surfaces were 38.22 o , 0.32, 0.34 and 0.35 for the nut and 33.37 o , 0.23, 0.30, 0.31 for the kernel. The rupture force in the longitudinal axis was less than in the transverse direction, and the corresponding values for stiffness and maximum deformation at nutshell rupture were 29.71 and 13.53 N mm -1 , and 3.39 and 4.18 mm, respectively.
Towards a pedagogical model of social justice in engineering education

This paper studies the perceived relationship between engineering and social justice and discusses a pedagogical model for engaging engineering students with social concerns. Engineering faculty were surveyed on their appraisal of different social-justice related constructs and the results indicate they associate engineering more to environmental and ethical responsibility than to public concerns such as peace, public service and gender equality. Student opinions were assessed in a focus group setting. They perceive the importance of addressing social-justice issues and consider that the university provides insufficient opportunities to develop competencies in this area. The model framework offers different pedagogical dimensions and practices that can be included in macro and micro-curricular designs. These practices seek to counter the effects of an engineering culture of disengagement towards social justice concerns.
Fiscal Policy, Institutions, and Economic Growth in Asian Countries: Evidence from Pedroni’s Cointegration Approach

This paper investigates the relationship between fiscal policy, institutions, and economic growth and also the role of the institution in Asian economies between 1982 and 2001 through the application of Pedroni’s Cointegration approach. It examined two different channels through which fiscal policy and institutions can affect long-run economic growth in Asian economies. The first channel is when aggregate of government expenditure, aggregate of other fiscal variables, and the institution affect the real per capita Gross Domestic Production (GDP) and the second channel is to determine the role of institutions on the real per capita GDP. The Pedroni Cointegration result established a long-run relationship between fiscal policy, institution, and economic growth. We found a positive and statistically significant impact of aggregate of government expenditure and aggregate of other fiscal variables and institution on real per capita GDP. We also found that there is a role of institutions on the real per capita GDP. JEL Classification: C23, H30, H50, O47
INDUCTION OF BIMODAL PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH IN MALIGNANT CELLS BY BENZOPHENANTHRIDINE ALKALOIDS AND UKRAIN (NSC-631570)

Selective induction of malignant cell death is one of the major goals of effective and safe chemotherapy. Recent developments in the understanding of programmed cell death (PCD) and apoptosis are expected to provide new leads for safer, more effective chemotherapy. We have investigated whether the semisynthetic alkaloidthiophosphoric acid derivative Ukrain (NSC-631570) could induce apoptosis in human K562 leukemia cells. Results showed that these alkaloids and Ukrain induced two distinct modalities of cell death programs. One modality corresponds morphologically to that of classical apoptosis characterized by blebbing and shedding of membrane vesicles with concomitant 51 Cr release. However, the Ukrain induced apoptosis was not associated with the characteristic nuclear DNA fragmentation. Higher concentrations of Ukrain induced a second cell death modality characterized by cell surface blister formation, high specific 51 Cr release and an apparent increase in cellular DNA content. These two cell death modalities are distinct from each other in that they are interphased by a silent period characterized by normal cell morphology and reduced specific 51 Cr release.
Effectiveness of video assisted teaching on the knowledge and perception on smoking and alcoholism among adolescent boys

Adolescence is a phase of rapid growth and development during which physical, physiological and behavioural changes occur. They constitute more than 1.2 billion worldwide, and about 21% of Indian population. Morbidity and mortality occurring in this age group is mostly due to preventable causes. Adolescent risky behavior often results from their inadequate knowledge and lack of understanding of the risks involved. Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of video assisted teaching on the knowledge and perception on high-risk behaviours among adolescent boys. Materials and Methods: Experimental design was used. By using systematic random sampling 40 students studying from 6, 7 and 8 standard were selected. Results: Maximum number of students were in the age group of 12 years (42.5%). Half of the students were studying in 7 standard (50%), Maximum students were residing at rural areas (60%). Majority of the students 31(77.5%) were Hindus. 12(30%) of the student’s fathers were smokers, 16(40%) of the student’s fathers were alcoholics. The mean knowledge score in the experimental group after the intervention (16.1) was higher than the mean knowledge score before the intervention (9.5). The mean perception score in the experimental group after the intervention (85) was higher than the mean perception score before the intervention (78.8). Conclusion: Smoking prevention is an important issue and healthcare professionals, especially nurses have a major role in helping people to understand the consequences of smoking for their lives.