Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Poultry faeces management with a simple low cost plastic digester.

Poultry faeces collected from the research farm of the school of Agriculture, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria, was anaerobically digested for five weeks retention time using a plastic type digester constructed at the FMEnv/ZERI Research Centre and a follow up system set up in Cameroon at the compound of the National Polytechnic Bambui, Bamenda in the North West part of the country with 200 L poultry faeces collected from a private farmer in Bambui village who reported that composted poultry faeces used to fertilized his plantain field generated stem and root rot disease. Following anaerobic digestion of poultry faeces for 37 days in Nigeria, the raw slurries with a very high mean bacterial counts too numerous to count (estimated as above 10,000 cfu per ml) reduced drastically to only 180 cful ml while mean coliform and Escherichia coli counts too numerous to count reduced drastically to 130 and 87 cful ml, respectively. The difference in mean microbial counts from the raw to treated slurries was far more significant than the raw slurry kept on bench and analysed at the end of five weeks as control. Cyst of Eimeria spp and ova of Ascaridia detected in the raw slurries were absent in the anaerobically digested slurry. Seven species of soil pathogenic nematodes detected in a compost pit and from stem and root rot of plantain trees fertilized with the manure at a local farm in Cameroon were not detected after the poultry faeces was anaerobically digested in a pilot plastic digester in a five week retention time. Biogas produced at the end of the process was used as cooking fuel and burnt for 3 h daily for 5 days. The findings showed that the plastic type digester was efficient in disinfecting contaminated poultry faeces while providing biogas and sterile mineralized fertilizer. Key words: Plastic, anaerobic, digester, simple, cheap, poultry, faeces.
Venture Capital in Spain by Stage of Development

This paper examines the investment decisions of 51 Spanish venture capital firms by stage of development. The results showed that venture capitalists ranked evaluation criteria related to the characteristics of the entrepreneurs, manager background, and management team experience as more important than market and product characteristics. Factors affecting the required rate of return were more important for the early‐stage firms than for late‐stage firms. Discounted cash flow analysis is the most frequently used valuation method. Private venture capital firms invest more during late development stages, while public venture capital firms invest more during the early stages. The results can be used by firms seeking venture capital, venture capital firms, consultants, and support agencies that provide capital‐acquisition assistance. By gaining insight into decision criteria and processes, firms can develop better and more targeted materials to attract capital. Venture capital firms can use the information from this study to better understand their decision processes, individually and relative to competitors. Consultants and support agencies can use the information to provide better advice to both firms and venture capital firms. Information is this study could easily be built into training programs for both new and existing businesses. Finally, the results can also be incorporated directly into university courses that include material related to venture capital.
Topography of genetic loci in tissue samples : towards new diagnostic tool using interphase FISH and high-resolution image analysis techniques

I. Koutnáa, S. Kozubekb,∗, J. Žaloudíkc, M. Kozubeka, E. Lukášováb, Pa. Matulaa, E. Bártováb, M. Skalníkováa, A. Cafourkováb and P. Jirsováb aFaculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Botanická 68a, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic b Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 61265 Brno, Czech Republic c Faculty Hospital of Masaryk University, Bohunice, 635 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Stereoscopic Images Generation By Monocular Camera

Stereoscopic 3D displays plays an very important role in future applications. The proposed technique which takes two images or video frames using a monocular camera as input and transforms them into a stereoscopic which makes nice watching . Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and Speed Up Robust Features (SURF) are being used for better result. As SURF algorithm is the fastest descriptor it reduces the time for feature detection. Keywords—SIFT,SURF,steroscope.
Measuring P2P IPTV Systems

P2P IPTV systems start to be very popular on the Internet. Measuring the impact they have on the network and understanding their behavior is an important field. Available applications are based on proprietary solutions, thus traffic analysis is the only feasible way to identify the mechanisms used to get video streams. In this context, during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, we performed an extensive measurement campaign. During this worldwide event, we measured network traffic generated by the most common P2P IPTV applications, namely PPLive, PPStream, SOPCast, an TVAnts. Our observations show that all these applications generate different traffic patterns and use different underlying mechanisms. Each application has its own download policy and maintains a different set of peers. From the traces we collected, we extract several statistics, which help in having a better understanding of the behavior of P2P IPTV systems.
Characteristics of High Performance Organisations

The recent economic downturn has caused tremendous upheaval in the business world. It has spurred many companies to self‐analysis and further organisational improvement. As a result, there is an increasing interest into the factors that determine sustainable organisational success. Managers all over the world are trying out various improvement concepts, seeing mixed results. One likely reason for this is the lack of consensus on the organisational characteristics that lead to high performance. Another reason may be that research into high performance is predominantly conducted in US companies, making it seem less relevant to management practice outside the North American continent. The research study described in this article aimed at identifying the factors which have a positive relation with organisational performance, through a literature review of 290 research studies into high performance and subsequent testing in 1470 organisations worldwide. The research yielded 35 characteristics – grouped into five factors – that have a significant correlation with high performance and seem to be generic for all types of organisations, industries and countries.
INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING Human Patient Simulation in a Pharmacotherapy Course

Objective. To incorporate human patient simulation (HPS) into a pharmacotherapy course and evaluate its impact on students’ satisfaction and mastery of course objectives. Design. Various levels of HPS were used for clinical skills assessments, reinforcement of concepts previously introduced in class, and presentation of simulated patient case scenarios requiring criticalthinking and problem-solving abilities. Pre- and post-simulation examinations and a satisfaction survey instrument were administered. Assessment. Significant improvement was seen in students’ knowledge on post-simulation examinations. On problem-solving skills, the majority of student groups received a final case grade . 95%. Students indicated high levels of satisfaction with the use of HPS in the course and showed increased levels of confidence in their pharmacotherapy/patient care skills. Conclusion. Human patient simulation provided a unique opportunity for students to apply what they learned and allowed them to practice problem-solving skills. Students grew in confidence and knowledge through exposure to realistic simulation of clinical scenarios. Students showed improvement in knowledge and ability to resolve patient treatment problems, as well as in self-confidence.
The Effects of Corporate Ownership Structure on Earnings Conservatism: Evidence from China

This paper investigates the incremental effects of corporate ownership structure on earnings conservatism, examining data of Chinese listed companies. We employ the concept of conditional conservatism to define earnings conservatism and adopt empirical models developed by Basu (1997) and Ball and Shivakumar (2005) to measure the degree of earnings conservatism. Our empirical results show that the earnings of companies with higher non-tradable shares have lower earnings conservatism. Consistent with prior studies, this point demonstrates that the companies with state and concentrated ownership structures are more likely to depend on private communication to reduce information asymmetry and to resolve agency problems internally, thereby creating a low demand for earnings conservatism. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of how companies’ ownership structures affect the properties of earnings in emerging markets and post-Communist markets.
EFFECT OF LEVEL OF RELATIVE HUMIDITY ON FUNGI AND GERMINATION CAPACITY OF PADDY (ORYZA SATIVA L.) GRAINS IN EGYPT

l.u ~~) ~14.t-'- 11 · ~d. ~~ ~ · "il '-' · · · ~ ~ ·u1 LAI ~ -~~ ~· . ~. >' '->"' J.J.I ••. a . ). ) . ~ ~~ i. ~. 1j:i ~~ ~~ ~~JI ~. 1~. ) ~~~,;I~~ r" t ~. u ~'" ~ ~~,; ;\ . "! \ r . w.c. ~~~ . c)ljill u-k /H, \ J ;r\, \ ~! ~~ ~UI ABSTRACT The changes in the composition of paddy grain-borne fungi in the germination capacity, and in the moisture content of paddy grains at various levels of relative hu·midity (r.h.) (~ 0-100%) stored at 20°C for 1, 2, 3 and 4 months, were investigated. The total count of fungi significantly increased with the increase of moisture content and storage periods and the highest counts were estimated at 92% and 100% r.h. after 4 and 3 months, respectively. The preceding increases up in the total counts were mainly related to the flourishing of numerous species such as. Aspergillus candidus, A. sydowii, A. tamarii, A. versicolor, A. flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Fusarium oxysporum and Cladosporium cladosporioides. At all levels, except at~ 0%, of relative humidity the germination capacity of grain decreased slowly or rapidly with the increase of the storage period and the rate of decrease was enhanced with the rise of relative humidity which increased the moisture contents of grains, and complete mortality (100%) was recorded at 92% r.h. after 4 months and at 100% after 3 months, when the moisture contents of paddy grains rose to 21.6%-and 22.6% respectively.
Simulation of elastic moduli of porous media

Summary A simulation method is employed to simulate elastic moduli of porous materials, including error estimation. The ratio of porous elastic moduli to their non-porous counterparts is obtained for isotropic materials with a Poisson’s ratio of ¼. Two cases are modeled: 1) The pores are non-overlapping but otherwise randomly distributed spheres. 2) The pores are randomly distributed (overlapping) spheres. In both cases the pores are empty and uniform in size. The results show that Norris’ differential effective medium theory describes overlapping spheres well, particularly compressional properties, and the Kuster-Toksoz model is moderately accurate for nonoverlapping spheres.
Boundedness in a Biofilm-Chemotaxis Model in Evolving porous Media

The article concerns with a model discribing the growth of a biofilm made by chemotactical bacteria within a saturated porous media and affects the flow through the pores. The underlying model describing this process on the macroscale is derived in [21]. Therein also solvability in a weak sense and boundedness of solutions with high regularity is investigated. This current paper verifies the existence of bounded weak solutions in case of less regularity assumptions on the data.
A Firm's Capacity Utilization and Its Relationship with Foreign Competition in Selected Countries

This study investigates the effects of foreign competition on the level of capacity utilization of a firm using firm-level data of twelve countries. Until recently much of the work on competition and trade had focused on measures of productivity. This paper does not examine the final result of openness and competitive pressures (by measuring productivity) but focuses on the mechanism that would make this possible in the first place, i.e. better use of a firm’ s resources. The results show that capacity utilization is higher for exporter firms. Moreover, increasing the level of exports also affects capacity but at a decreasing rate, indicating that if exporting more than 49 or 51 percent of total sales, capacity utilization starts to go down. Other findings suggest that more flexibility to make factor choices can positively affect capacity utilization. Increasing openness and promoting exports may induce firms to export and therefore use resources more efficienty but policy makers can move beyond reducing barriers to trade and try to build around other incentives that increase capacity utilization. Allowing firms more flexibility to make factor choices by reducing strict labor regulations can positively affect capacity utilization as well as providing training for workers.
Fostering strategic awareness at an organization's boundary

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of strategy messages emanating from both top and middle/supervisory managers regarding five different aspects of strategy on strategic awareness among boundary personnel.Design/methodology/approach – The results come from a survey of bank tellers and customer service representatives within a single large regional bank.Findings – The findings support a differential main effect on strategic awareness among boundary personnel depending on the source of messages, whether top management or middle management. More interestingly, there appears to be an interaction effect between the two sources regarding which will be the dominant information source for boundary personnel.Research limitations/implications – The survey data were collected within a single banking institution at one time point.Practical implications – The results provide useful information concerning the efficacy of messages concerning strategy from middle and top management in organi.
Photocatalytic Disinfection of Legionella pneumophila on Silver-Doped Titania Thin Films

The activities of thin films of titania and silver-doped titania for the photocatalytic disinfection of Legionella pneumophila in aqueous medium were examined and compared with each other. Both photocatalytic films disinfected L. pneumophila under UV irradiation; the Ag-doped film showed a higher activity than the non-doped one. The silver-doped titania film even showed a slight activity in disinfecting L. pneumophila under the absence of UV irradiation. This bactericidal effect in darkness overcomes a weakness of photocatalytic disinfection. Scanning electron micrographs of L. pneumophila after photocatalytic disinfection showed that the cell walls of the bacteria were destroyed in the presence of the thin film of Ag-doped titania. Furthermore, the photocatalytic action caused decomposition of the endotoxin leaked from the dead bacteria.
The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States

Empirical research on cities starts with a spatial equilibrium condition: workers and firms are assumed to be indifferent across space. This condition implies that research on cities is different from research on countries, and that work on places within countries needs to consider population, income and housing prices simultaneously. Housing supply elasticity will determine whether urban success shows up in more people or higher incomes. Urban economists generally accept the existence of agglomeration economies, which exist when productivity rises with density, but estimating the magnitude of those economies is difficult. Some manufacturing firms cluster to reduce the costs of moving goods, but this force no longer appears to be important in driving urban success. Instead, modern cities are far more dependent on the role that density can play in speeding the flow of ideas. Finally, urban economics has some insights to offer related topics such as growth theory, national income accounts, public economics and housing prices.
A Fisher-KPP model with a fast diffusion line in a periodic medium

In this thesis, we present the road-field model with a different reaction term. We take f depending on the density of population v and depending periodically on the variable space y, and we take weaker hypotheses on f. Some similar hypotheses can be found in the model by Berestycki, Hamel and Roques [3], that studies a reactiondi diffusion process in a periodic medium, but has no faster diffusion line. The model we investigate combine the interest in the effects of a transportation network with the need to have a heterogeneous medium, reecting the natural environment [13]. Many of the proofs that we are presenting in this work are combinations and adaptations of the ideas of the three papers [6, 7, 3].
Histological and SEM studies on somatic embryogenesis in rhizome- derived callus of Panax assamicus. Ban.

Somatic embryogenesis is an important technique of plant biotechnology in medicinally important plants. Ginseng which is the common name referred to species of the genus Panax (Araliaceae), has been valued as a potentiating oriental herbal medicine. Somatic embryogenesis of Panax assamicus Ban. was initiated from approximately four-five years old rhizome explant through callogenesis. Highest callus proliferation was observed in MS medium supplemented with 5 mg/L 2,4-D. Eight weeks old callus on being transferred to MS medium supplemented with 5mg/L 2,4-D and 0.5mg/ L BAP in combination showed best result in embryogenic calli which eventually formed somatic embryos. Induction of somatic embryos occurred after 3 months of sub culture in the same medium. Highest germination of somatic embryos occurred in 1/2MS medium incorporated with 1.5mg/L gibberellic acid. To confirm the appearance of the embryo-like structures in greater detail, the structures were observed microscopically by scanning electron microscopy and through histological sections. Complete normal plantlets were regenerated within 4 to 5 months after the induction of somatic embryos Plantlets were acclimatized successfully to ex vitro conditions with the survivability of 70% in the green house.
Intraocular Lens Power Formula Selection Using Support Vector Machines

Purpose - In cataract surgery, the defected lens is replaced with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL). The refraction power of this lens is specified by ophthalmologists before the surgery. There are different formulas that propose the IOL power based on corneal power and axial length. Six common formulas is used in this study and the one which minimizes the postoperative error for a specific patient have to be selected. Methods - Refraction is measured three times at most, during six month after surgery and the best result is considered as postoperative refraction for each patient. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to classify the data to two groups based on axial length and corneal power. Each class needs a formula with a specific tendency toward stronger or weaker IOL lenses according to the feature vector. Results - Experimental tests lead to a nearly diagonal confusion matrix which supports the performance of the proposed method strongly. Mean Absolute Error (MAE) is 0.47 which shows 6% decrease in postoperative refraction error compared to the best reported result. Conclusions - In calculating IOL power, we expect stronger IOL powers for eyes having shorter axial length or weaker corneal power. In the contrary, a weaker IOL power is expected for longer axial length and stronger corneal power. But experimental results show that for the first group, formulas proposing weaker powers win the race for decreased postoperative refraction error while for the second group, formulas leading to stronger powers perform better. This shows that these formulas overestimate and underestimate for marginal cases.
Microbial decomposition processes and vulnerable arctic soil organic carbon in the 21st century

Abstract. Various levels of representations of biogeochemical processes in current biogeochemistry models contribute to a large uncertainty in carbon budget quantification. Here, we present an uncertainty analysis with a process-based biogeochemistry model, the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM), into which detailed microbial mechanisms were incorporated. Ensemble regional simulations with the new model (MIC-TEM) estimated that the carbon budget of the arctic ecosystems is 76.0±114.8 Pg C during the 20th century, i.e., -3.1±61.7 Pg C under the RCP 2.6 scenario and 94.7±46 Pg C under the RCP 8.5 scenario during the 21st century. Positive values indicate the regional carbon sink while negative values are a source to the atmosphere. Compared to the estimates using a simpler soil decomposition algorithm in TEM, the new model estimated that the arctic terrestrial ecosystems stored 12 Pg less carbon over the 20th century, i.e., 19 and 30 Pg C less under the RCP 8.5 and RCP 2.6 scenarios, respectively, during the 21st century. When soil carbon within depths of 30, 100, and 300 cm was considered as initial carbon in the 21st century simulations, the region was estimated to accumulate 65.4, 88.6, and 109.8 Pg C, respectively, under the RCP 8.5 scenario. In contrast, under the RCP 2.6 scenario, the region lost 0.7, 2.2, and 3 Pg C, respectively, to the atmosphere. We conclude that the future regional carbon budget evaluation largely depends on whether or not adequate microbial activities are represented in earth system models and on the sizes of soil carbon considered in model simulations.
EERO KOIVUSALO EPITAXIAL III-V SEMICONDUCTOR NANOWIRES

EERO KOIVUSALO: Epitaxial III-V semiconductor nanowires Tampere University of Technology Master of Science Thesis, 82 pages May 2016 Master of Science (Tech.) Degree Programme in Science and Engineering Major: Engineering Physics Examiners: Doctor of Science (Tech.) Teemu Hakkarainen and Doctor of Science (Tech.) Soile Suomalainen
The thermal history of the intergalactic medium down to redshift z=1.5: a new curvature measurement

According to the photoheating model of the intergalactic medium (IGM), He ii reionization is expected to affect its thermal evolution. Evidence for additional energy injection into the IGM has been found at 3 ≲ z ≲ 4, though the evidence for the subsequent fall-off below z ∼ 2.8 is weaker and depends on the slope of the temperature–density relation, γ. Here we present, for the first time, an extension of the IGM temperature measurements down to the atmospheric cut-off of the H i Lyman-α (Lyα) forest at z ≃ 1.5. Applying the curvature method on a sample of 60 Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) spectra we investigated the thermal history of the IGM at z < 3 with precision comparable to the higher redshift results. We find that the temperature of the cosmic gas traced by the Lyα forest [T(Δ¯)] increases for increasing overdensity from T(Δ¯)∼22670 to 33740 K in the redshift range z ∼ 2.8–1.6. Under the assumption of two reasonable values for γ, the temperature at the mean density (T0) shows a tendency to flatten at z ≲ 2.8. In the case of γ ∼ 1.5, our results are consistent with previous ones which indicate a falling T0 for redshifts z ≲ 2.8. Finally, our T(Δ¯) values show reasonable agreement with moderate blazar heating models.