Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On-site testing of ecstasy tablets 1 RUNNING HEAD: On-site testing of ecstasy tablets The Marquis reaction as a harm reduction element in party atmospheres: an assessment of the on-site testing of ecstasy tablets

Background: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability (sensitivity and specificity) of pill testing (Marquis reaction) in order to detect MDMA in ecstasy tablets. The second aim was to highlight the linear relation between MDMA concentration and the intensity of the Marquis reaction. Methods: Between 2000 and 2001, a total of 66 ecstasy tablets were collected and analyzed using a double-blind procedure involving gas chromatography and the Marquis reaction. The level of agreement between the results of the laboratory analysis and the in situ pill testing was then verified. Results: Pill testing detects MDMA in all tablets containing this substance (sensitivity and specificity = 100%, p<0.00001). The linear trend was also significant (F1,50= p<0.003) and showed that the more intense the Marquis reaction is, the higher the MDMA concentration. Conclusion: This study shows that the Marquis reaction is a very valuable test for the purposes of harm reduction because of the high quality of screening it provides for MDMA in ecstasy tablets. Moreover, due to the linear relation between the MDMA concentration and the Marquis reaction, this test allows workers in the prevention field to communicate more specifically customized harm reduction messages. The present study should be considered as the first stage in the evaluation of this testing.
The role , measurement and delivery of immersion in training environments

Immersion is believed to be a relevant factor in providing an effective training simulation. In this study we consider one influencing factor, the media used. We sought to test whether differences existed in perceived levels of immersion when using a single screen, three screen or a semi-cylindrical projection system. We were also interested in what role the level of perceived immersion played in learning. We also briefly consider the phenomenon of immersion and its measurement.
Enhancement of Lidar Planimetric Accuracy using

become increasingly more common in recent years. Their interaction for accuracy improveserved recently (PARK et al. 2011, BEGER et al. 2011, PARMEHR et al. 2013, GERKE & XIAO 2014). Aerial images have been acquired since the beginning of photography. Over more than a century of development of photogrammetry very sophisticated methods of image processing and data acquisition were elaborated. Aerial images have been the main primary
The effectiveness of arabica coffee (Coffea arabica L) grounds on mortality and growth of Aedes aegypti Larva

Background: Control of Aedes aegypti mosquito by using synthetic insecticides has potential effect to environmental pollution and increase the resistance of target vectors. It is needed to search the proper methods in controlling Aedes aegypti which is environmentally friendly. Materials and Methods: This study used coffee grounds as inhibiting factor in mortality process and inhibiting the growth of Aedes aegypti larva. This study was an experimental design, conducted in JuneAugust 2016 in the laboratory of Environmental Health, Polytechnic of Health Banda Aceh. The doses were 28/liter, 30g/liter, 31g/liter, 33g/liter, and 34g/liter. The mortality data were analyzed by ANOVA, followed by Least Significant Difference (LSD) test and probit test. Growth data were analyzed by using GI (Growth index) and RGI (Relative growth index). Results and Discussion: The results showed that the grounds of arabica coffee was capable of causing the death of Aedes aegypti larva (p=0.00). The treatments with coffee ground also caused a decrease in GI and RGI values, which means that it inhibited the growth of larva.
The Role of Iris Color in Femtosecond Laser-Induced Miosis in Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery

Patients were divided into 3 groups based on iris color: blue (Group 1; N=62), hazel (Group 2; N=48) and brown (Group 3; N=27). Intra operative miosis was graded into 4 categories (from 0 to +3) following FSL use. FSL-induced miosis was observed preoperatively, immediately after FSL use, and immediately before phacoemulsification “shifting time”. FSL suction time and shifting time were also collected
First-principles modeling of ferroelectric oxides Project leader :

Ferroelectrics oxides known as perovskites are very important functional materials used in many technological applications [1], such as transducers, gate dielectrics for MOSFETs, EO modulators, IR detectors and nonvolatile RAMs. The applications of ferroelertrics rely on their special properties to diplay spontaneous electrical polarisation and switching under external electric fields. Due to the practical applications of ferroelectrics, the physics of polarisation in ferroelectrics has been a very active research area since its discovery in the 1920 by Valasek [2]. Good insight of the physical and thermodynamical properties of ferroelectrics can be calculated using the well-known phenomenological Dovonshire-Ginzburg-Landau (DGL) theory [3]. In DGL theory of ferroelectrics, the parameters of the theory is phenomenological in nature, and have to be measured experimentally. This approach used to be one of the most popular theoretical tools in the ferroelectrics research community, and its application in describing ferroelectric effects has been very successful in the past. The Theory Group of School of Physics, USM, has been very active in the theoeritcal research of ferroelectrics since 1990s, and has published extensively, mainly using the DGL approach (see the selected publications as listed in Ref. [4]). However, to capture the atomistic origin of the ferroelectric effects of a chemically-specific crystal, we need to go beyond the phenomenological theory. The research project proposed here aims at investigating ferroelectric properties of crystals with an alternative, powerful approach: the first-principles method.
Using Pupil Dilation to Measure Cognitive Load When Listening to Text-to-Speech in Quiet and in Noise

With increased use of text-to-speech (TTS) systems in realworld applications, evaluating how such systems influence the human cognitive processing system becomes important. Particularly in situations where cognitive load is high, there may be negative implications such as fatigue. For example, noisy situations generally require the listener to exert increased mental effort. A better understanding of this could eventually suggest new ways of generating synthetic speech that demands low cognitive load. In our previous study, pupil dilation was used as an index of cognitive effort. Pupil dilation was shown to be sensitive to the quality of synthetic speech, but there were some uncertainties regarding exactly what was being measured. The current study resolves some of those uncertainties. Additionally, we investigate how the pupil dilates when listening to synthetic speech in the presence of speech-shaped noise. Our results show that, in quiet listening conditions, pupil dilation does not reflect listening effort but rather attention and engagement. In noisy conditions, increased pupil dilation indicates that listening effort increases as signal-to-noise ratio decreases, under all conditions tested.
AN EMA STUDY OF ER-SUFFIXATION IN NORTHEASTERN MANDARIN MONOPHTHONGS

This paper investigates the articulatory characteristics of Er-(diminutive) suffixation in Northeastern Mandarin using an NDI Wave. We compared temporal changes of the tongue configurations at different deciles of the duration of both unsuffixed and Er-suffixed monophthongal stems. In addition, the vowel phoneme /ɚ/ (rhotic schwa) is included for comparison. Results show that, details aside, Ersuffixation predominantly involves a retraction of the tongue body (i.e., a bunched tongue configuration exhibiting a positive value of the Tongue Tip Angle (TTA) index across the board), while a raising of Tongue Tip (TT) is found in the articulation of the rhotic schwa /ɚ/. Diachronically, the Er-suffix is derived via adding the rhotic schwa to a stem. So, the well-known retroflex vs. bunched distinction of /ɹ/ in American English is replicated in Northeastern Mandarin, albeit in a different fashion.
CD 06-006 AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOR OF RECTANGULAR RC COLUMNS DAMAGED BY REBARS CORROSION AND STRENGTHENING THEM WITH FRP

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the structural behavior (strength and ductility) of rectangular RC columns which have been damaged by rebar corrosion. 22 small-scale reinforced concrete columns with dimensions of 160×160 mm in section and 340 mm in height were tested. Ten specimens were conditioned to three levels of accelerated corrosion and six were conditioned to natural corrosion. The specimens were subjected to concentric compression load in order to assess the change of their mechanical properties due to the corrosion effects. Twelve specimens were strengthened with carbon and glass fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP and GFRP) to see the efficiency of different strengthening schemes. Based on this research it was concluded that the damaged columns show less strength and ductility in comparison with two undamaged columns and, FRP wraps could greatly enhance the strength and ductility of damaged specimens.
Evaluation and utilisation of mulberry for poultry production in Japan

Mulberry is an indispensable crop for silkworm production. In Japan, sericulture was such an important industry that mulberry was not used for the other purposes, except sericulture. However, recently with the decline of sericultural industry, mulberry has been re-evaluated for other purposes, such as medicinal, fruit and animal production. This paper reviews its evaluation and utilisation for animal production, with special reference to poultry production in Japan.
Nuclear tones in Hong Kong and British English

This paper contributes data towards a phonological description of intonation in Hong Kong English (HKE), an emergent, ‘nativising’ but under-described variety of English spoken primarily as the second language of L1 Cantonese speakers. We demonstrate choice and realisation of nuclear tones for ten HKE-speaking and ten British English (BrE)-speaking university students. All speakers were recorded undertaking a storytelling task in which different nuclear tones are canonically associated with different types of utterance, e.g., yes/no question and sarcastic statement. New BrE data not only provide a point of comparison, but also demonstrate ways in which form and function of contemporary BrE prosody have changed since the textbook descriptions of the last century. Greatest disparity between the groups is found for ‘tag’ phrases such as in checking, and in the paralinguistic use of rise-fall. Production of target contours ranged from 64 to 86% for the BrE cohort, 43-71% for HKE.
A Qualitative Exploration of Demotivating Factors in English Language Learning among Iranian EFL Learners

Jalil Fathi (Corresponding Author) University of Kurdistan Iran Saeede Torabi Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch Tehran, Iran Korosh Arashpour Islamic Azad University of Sanandaj Iran ABSTRACT Motivation and demotivation have been important and widely discussed topics in Second Language Learning (SLA). Some even believe that raising motivation in language learners should be the first teaching target in foreign language learning. The present study aimed at investigating the demotivating factors among Iranian English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners through qualitative analyses. The participants of the present study were 15 male EFL learners studying at English language institutes in Kermanshah, Iran, and data were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed through content analysis and grounded theory procedure. Based on the analyses demotivating factors were identified as quality of instruction, teacher‟s personality, anxiety, peers‟ behavior, and physical environment. The relative importance of factors based on students‟ attitudes was method of instruction followed by, teacher‟s personality, anxiety, peers‟ behaviors, and finally physical environment.
PRODUCTION AND PERCEPTION OF NORTH AND SOUTH KOREAN VOWELS: A PILOT STUDY

Previous studies have reported that some North Korean and South Korean vowels have undergone changes in different directions after decades of relative isolation. This paper presents a pilot study concentrating on three such pairs of vowels ([ɯ]-[u], [ʌ]-[o], and [e]-[æ]), with a particular interest in examining language standards in each variety by comparing newscasters and regular speakers from each country. Acoustic analyses of vowel spaces confirmed some North-South differences, and a perception test verified that North Korean [ʌ] and [o] are highly confusable to South Korean speakers. Noteworthy in the data, North Korean regular speakers who now reside in South Korea showed some vowel patterns that were different from both North Korean newscasters and South Korean speech.
THE USE OF CT ANALYSIS TO ASSESS THE AGES OF A MODERN HUMAN TOOTH SAMPLE: A COMPARISION WITH DENTAL ATTRITION AND THE LAMENDIN METHOD

pg iii Chapter 1: Introduction pg 1 Tooth Wear Analysis: A Brief History pg 2 The Lamendin Method pg 7 Computed Tomography Scanning pg 10 Hypotheses pg 12 Chapter 2: Materials and Methods pg 13 Analysis for Dental Attrition pg 15 Lamendin Method pg 17 Computed Tomography Scanning pg 20 Chapter 3: Results pg 31 Dental Attrition pg 31 Lamendin Method pg 36 Computed Tomography Scanning pg 39 All Methods Compared pg 42 Chapter 4: Discussion pg 46 Chapter 5: Conclusion pg 53 References Cited pg 54 Appendix 1 pg 58 Appendix 2 pg 61 Appendix 3 pg 64 Appendix 4 pg 67 Appendix 5 pg 71
Powered Two Wheelers

The 2BeSafe project (2-Wheeler Behaviour and Safety) is a collaborative project (co financed by the European Commission) that aims to study the naturalistic behaviour of Powered-Two-Wheeler (PTW) riders in normal and critical riding situations. That includes the interaction between PTW riders and other road users and possible conflicts between them. One of the predominant causes of accidents involving PTWs is that PTWs are often overlooked by other road users. One task of the project lead by BASt therefore deals with possible improvements in conspicuity and the development of recommendations. Particularly using the findings of the studies on conflict situations, promising lighting arrangements to enhance conspicuity of PTWs during the day and at night are selected. An abstract recognizing pattern for PTWs is defined, enabling other road users (e.g. car drivers) to clearly identify riders. Lamps and outfit like lighting configurations of different colours, different helmet lights, reflect / luminescent clothing parts and retro-reflective markings are designed and manufactured. Then, the different solutions are tested in a laboratory setting using experimental motorcycles together with riders to which the equipment is fitted. As result a proposal for a uniform signal pattern or lamp configuration in the front of all motorcycles and riders will be outlined. The contribution first gives a short overview of the topics of the research project that deal with conflicts and their connection with poor conspicutiy and then presents in detail the methods used in the activities concerning solutions for the improvement of conspicuity together with first results.
Ethnicity , Gender Differences and Authority-Exercising Styles in Juvenile Correctional Institutions

Culture-, ethnicityand gender-based variance plays major role in perceptions and positions regarding the education, treatment and shaping of behavior of deviant juveniles. This research examined variables that predict the way Educational Instructors (EI) will perceive the inmates under their care, and the effect that this perception will have on the authority-exercising styles during disciplinary-encounters. Results showed that ethnicity and gender of the EI contributed to their inmates’ perception and authority-exercising style: Arab EI have a higher tendency for a blaming perception of inmates and for using power assertion and withdrawal styles in disciplinary-encounters. Male EI responded more with withdrawal-type intervention and less by providing induction, though no gender differences were found in perception of inmates. The findings highlight the importance of and need for an EI support system that focuses on cultural sensitivity, and for a balanced representation of male and female figures in these institutions.
Winglets: Visualizing Association with Uncertainty in Multi-class Scatterplots

This work proposes <italic>Winglets</italic>, an enhancement to the classic scatterplot to better perceptually pronounce multiple classes by improving the perception of association and uncertainty of points to their related cluster. Designed as a pair of dual-sided strokes belonging to a data point, <italic>Winglets</italic> leverage the Gestalt principle of <italic>Closure</italic> to shape the perception of the form of the clusters, rather than use an explicit divisive encoding. Through a subtle design of two dominant attributes, length and orientation, <italic>Winglets</italic> enable viewers to perform a mental completion of the clusters. A controlled user study was conducted to examine the efficiency of <italic>Winglets</italic> in perceiving the cluster association and the uncertainty of certain points. The results show <italic>Winglets</italic> form a more prominent association of points into clusters and improve the perception of associating uncertainty.
Cross-stream inertial migration of rigid microparticles in a pressure-driven flow of a power-law fluid

Separation and focusing of cells are critical processes in biomedical applications [1-4]. In these applications, the samples of interest are mostly composed of various populations of cells with different sizes, shapes, and properties needed to be isolated, filtered, or sorted. These operations are considered as critical tasks in many areas of biology, biotechnology, and medicine and are used for diagnostic, therapeutic, or biological purposes [5]. There are several techniques that use biochemical markers for separation of cells in a heterogeneous population such as Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) [6] and Magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) [7]. However, because these techniques are complex and require high cost procedures, researchers focus on the development of labelfree strategies, which rely on the intrinsic properties of the cells and the physical properties of the fluid using microfluidic devices. One of the approaches to achieve size-based separation of biological and synthetic particles is based on the inertial cross-stream migration of particles within microchannels with a pressure driven flow. Here we use computational modeling to examine cross-stream migration of microparticles in a microchannel filled with a generalized Newtonian fluid.
Spatiotemporal Neural Processes of Cognition : a review and proposal

Recent developments in cognitive science have emphasized the necessity to see cognition as a phenomenon which emerges from the ongoing interaction between the environment, body and brain (Brooks, 1991; Varela et al. 1991; Hutchins, 1995; Clancey, 1997; Clark, 1997). In part due to the unsatisfactory theoretical and experimental accounts given by computational approaches, this revival is also driven by the extraordinary advances made in the domain of related psychological and biological disciplines such as psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary and developmental sciences, etc. Indeed, by exploring the environmental and bodily processes that play a constitutive role in cognition our theories may sufficiently mature so to make visible the fundamental principles behind intelligent behaviour. In particular, it is increasingly apparent that the high complexity of the environmental/body/brain transaction will require a sufficiently sophisticated framework to explain both simple stimuli induced reactions or thoughts as well as complex continuous mindful behaviours. It should be useful then to adopt a program that sets focus on some of the fundamental solutions found by nature to accomplish this: neural coding. The present paper aims to address two central questions. What are the known constitutive processes of the brain? How can we test their applicability to real world problems? From the pioneering histological observations made by Ramon-y-Cajal in the late 1800’s to the advent of sophisticated brain imaging techniques we have gained a tremendous body of knowledge regarding the role played by the nervous system in cognition. These breakthroughs have stimulated a number of theoretical perspectives on the functional properties of brain structures. In particular early perspectives have
1 EFFECT OF FOLIAGE INOCULATION WITH SPORANGIOSPORES OF VAM FUNGUS PRODUCED IN AXENIC CULTURES ON GROWTH OF PINEAPPLE PLANTLETS DURING THE IN VITRO AND EX VITRO ACCLIMATIZATION STAGES

In this study, pineapple (Ananas comosus cv. Smoth cauun) plantlets were inoculated pre culture by dipping their shoot tips for few seconds in different concentrations of spore (sporangiospore) suspension of the in vitro grown VAM-fungus (onion isolate). Some growth criteria of pineapple plantlets as affected by these treatments were measured twice (after the in vitro and ex vitro acclimatization periods). All inoculation treatments significantly improved plantlet growth (plantlet height, greening degree, number of leaves and number of roots/plantlet as well as root length) compared with the untreated control ones. The lowest spore concentration (0.85 x 10 6 spores/ml) gave the best results in this respect. The VAM-spores germinate well on the leaf surface and their germ tubes grew, ramify and colonize the stomatal openings and its surrounding cells. All structures characterized the VAM-infection i.e. interand intra-cellular aseptate hyphae, vesicles, arbuscules and chlamydospores were extensively seen in leaves, stem and roots of the treated pineapple plantlets. Some of these structures particularly vesicles were seen also in roots of untreated (control) pineapple plantlets. These results concluded the followings. 1) The native “inhabitant” VAM fungi (as the case in control plantlets) had no any visible improvement in plant growth. 2) The external “invader” VAM infection could be induced by air-borne inocula (sporangiospores). 3) The VAM infection occurred systemically in all plant portions. Accordingly, the global term “Vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi” needs to re-revised. The term “Vesicular arbuscular systemic endophytic fungi might be more suitable. The usefulness of foliar application of the in vitro VAM inocula (sporangiospores) for improving growth of pineapple plants during acclimatization was recorded for the first time during this study. Thus, the gateway was broadly opened to applying these beneficial fungi under opened field conditions.