Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INFLUENCE OF THERMAL MODIFICATION ON COLOUR OF POPLAR (POPULUS X EUR AMERICANA) ROTARY CUT VENEER

This paper presents the results of poplar (Populus x euramericana) veneer colour change caused by one-hour long thermal treatments at temperatures of 190, 200, 210 and 215°C. There were three veneer zones included in this experiment: Veneer from sapwood, veneer from heartwood and veneer from intermediate zone mixed. The measurement results by CIELAB colour system confirmed that there were significant colour differences among the three groups of veneer before thermal treatments. Of all thermal treatments, only the treatment at 210°C contributed to a significant decrease in difference of colour among of all observed veneers. Based on more intensive color change in veneer formats from sapwood, it could be assumed that there were differences in chemical composition between the peripheral and core zones of poplar wood.
Bio-inspired structured boron carbide-boron nitride composite by reactive spark plasma sintering

Nature creates composite materials with complex hierarchical structures that possess impressive mechanical properties enhancement capabilities. An approach to improve mechanical properties of conventional composites is to mimic the biological material structured ‘hard’ core and ‘soft’ matrix system. This would allow the efficient transfer of load stress, dissipation of energy and resistance to cracking in the composite. In the current study, reactive spark plasma sintering (SPS) of boron carbide B4C was carried out in a nitrogen N2 gas environment. The process created a unique core-shell structured material with the potential to form a high impact-resistant composite. Transmission electron microscopy observation of nitrided-B4C revealed the encapsulation of B4C grains by nano-layers of hexagonal-boron nitride (h-BN). The effect of the h-BN contents on hardness were measured using micro- and nano-indentation. Commercially available h-BN was also mechanically mixed and sintered with B4C to compare the effectiveness of nitrided B4C. Results have shown that nitrided B4C has a higher hardness value and the optimum content of h-BN from nitridation was 0.4%wt with the highest nano-indentation hardness of 56.7 GPa. The high hardness was attributed to the h-BN matrix situated between the B4C grain boundaries which provided a transitional region for effective redistribution of the stress in the material.
Brief Review on the Controversies around Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) Production and Palm Oil Consumption

Palm oil from Elaeis guineensis Jacq. of the Arecaceae family is the main traditional cooking oil in most parts of tropical Africa. Oil palm cultivation requires large areas of land and the consumption of crude palm oil from it raises health concerns notably with regards to the incidence of cardiovascular disease and obesity. The industry has therefore been faced with two major controversies. Firstly, palm oil which contains about 50% saturated fatty acids is considered to be unhealthy for human consumption because its saturated fatty acids raise blood LDL cholesterol level and increase the risk of the above mentioned diseases. Secondly, due to its land intensive nature, the oil palm industry is linked to deforestation, climate change and socioeconomic instability. For these reasons, the oil palm industry has been at the forefront of environmental and reputational challenges. This paper briefly presents an overview of these controversies surrounding the oil palm industry, while highlighting the possible outlets for environmentally friendly production processes and improvement strategies for better oil quality.
A dose-response effects of tannic acid and protein on growth performance, caecal fermentation, colon morphology, and β-glucuronidase activity of rats.

The aim of the present work was to study the influence of tannic acid (TA) and protein level in the diet on fermentation in the caecum of rats, activity of bacterial β-glucuronidase, and colon morphology. Twelve groups of six male Wistar rats were given either a control diet free of TA or diets containing 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.5, or 2% TA. Diets contained 10 or 18% of crude protein. Body weight and feed intake were monitored during a 3-week experimental period. Tannic acid reduced protein apparent digestibility and decreased liveweight gain. Both factors affected caecal fermentation and increased volatile fatty acid production. The higher protein level increased the concentration of branched-chain fatty acids. Tannic acid reduced the activity of β-glucuronidase and affected colonic myenteron thickness. These results indicate that TA may have advantageous effects on the gastrointestinal tract if its amount in the diet does not exceed 1.5%.
Will FDI be resilient in this crisis

Although foreign direct investment (FDI) flows have tended to remain resilient during previous crises, they may not behave in a similar fashion during the current crisis. Why? In past crises, the stability of FDI flows was significantly associated with an increase in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), reflecting 'fire-sale FDI'. In the present crisis, by contrast, M&A activity decreased significantly in the last quarter of 2008, and this trend may continue as long as the global crisis constrain the purchasing ability of foreign (acquiring) firms. These developments further illustrate that the nature of the current crisis differs considerably from previous ones, suggesting that certain key lessons from past crisis lessons might not apply in the current context.
Evaluation of the Place of Chemo-Mechanical Caries Removal Method in Dental Education among Turkish Students

Objective: To evaluate the place of chemo-mechanical caries removal (CMCR) methods within the scope of undergraduate education of two different dental faculties which located in close geography but with different socio-economic characteristics. Material and Methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive study totally 130 participants (Ankara: n = 78 and Kirikkale: n = 52) were evaluated. A survey which consisting of 14 questions were conducted by face to face. Data was analyzed using the SPSS software. Frequency distributions and the Chi-Square test were applied. Results: 66.9% of the participants reported that they had knowledge about the chemomechanical caries removal method. 60% had knowledge about the mechanism of CMCR. Thirty-six point two percent of the participants from Ankara stated that they had knowledge about the CMCR mechanism and 40% did not know about any of the methods of CMCR. 52.8% of the respondents indicated that they should be minimally invasive in choosing the CMCR method. The most important reason for not choosing the CMCR method was inadequate method (32%) and takes too much time (32%). Conclusion: Significant differences were found between the students of the two cities regarding the awareness of the CMCR method. In order to overcome this disparity, the curriculum place of the CMCR method needs to be determined precisely and clearly.
THE DECISION OF GOING PUBLIC – WHEN, WHERE AND WHY?

The decisions of the company, in what it concerns financial resources, play a key role in its existence and evolution. Funding through the stock exchange, due to its implications, is especially challenging in the current economic and financial enviroment. By bringing into question the results of relevant studies, we aimed to answer three key questions about the decision of firms to become public: when is the appropriate time, on what market to start selling primary shares and wich are the main implications of this decision? Although a theoretical work, we consider the paper to be of interest due to the whay results of specialized studies were systematized. The overall conclusion is that there are no firm or unanimous answers. Most opinions converge to the idea that the perfect time for a company to become public is when the stock market is growing or marked by optimism. Regarding the question on what market to open to the public investors, most studies recommend international markets due to their size and higher chances of success. However, as any financial decision, the decision to become public involves positive and negative effects. Arguments in favor of the initiative to become public and cons of such an approach are addressed in the same manner, by reference to relevant studies undertaken in the field.
A rate-state model for aftershocks triggered by dislocation on a rectangular fault: a review and new insights

We compute the static displacement, stress, strain and the Coulomb failure stress produced in an elastic medium by a finite size rectangular fault after its dislocation with uniform stress-drop but a non uniform dislocation on the source. The time-dependent rate of triggered earthquakes is estimated by a rate-state model applied to a uniformly distributed population of faults whose equilibrium is perturbed by a stress change caused only by the first dislocation. The rate of triggered events in our simulations is exponentially proportional to the shear stress change, but the time at which the maximum rate begins to decrease is variable from fractions of hour for positive stress changes of the order of some MPa, up to more than a year for smaller stress changes. As a consequence, the final number of triggered events is proportional to the shear stress change. The model predicts that the total number of events triggered on a plane containing the fault is proportional to the 2/3 power of the seismic moment. Indeed, the total number of aftershocks produced on the fault plane scales in magnitude, M, as 10 M . Including the negative contribution of the stress-drop inside the source, we observe that the number of events inhibited on the fault is, at long term, nearly identical to the number of those induced outside, representing a sort of conservative natural rule. Considering its behavior in time, our model does not completely match the popular Omori Law; in fact it has been shown that the seismicity induced closely to the fault edges is intense but of short duration, while that expected at large distances (up to some tens times the fault dimensions) exhibits a much slower decay.
Prosocial and antisocial behavior in preadolescence: Teachers' and parents' perceptions of the behavior of girls and boys

There has been recent emphasis on the importance of investigating prosocial and antisocial behavior simultaneously owing to doubts about whether examining one automatically gives information about the other. However, there has been little empirical research into this question. The present study (based on a large population sample of preadolescents, N = 2,230) simultaneously examines prosocial and antisocial behavior, explicitly including the possibility that children might show prosocial behavior according to one informant and antisocial behavior according to another. When parents and teachers agreed in their judgments, children were distinctly profiled and differed clearly in effortful control, intelligence, academic performance, and several peer nominations and family characteristics. The correlates were more rater-specific for children that were prosocial according to one informant and antisocial according to the other informant. Teachers and parents used different context-dependent criteria for judging children to be prosocial or antisocial. Academic performance and peer relations were related to the teacher's judgment of prosocial and antisocial behavior. By contrast, children's being problematic at home (and thus causing stress for the parents) was related to the parents' judgment.
The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Acoustic and Perceptual Characteristics of Voice

Harger, Devon (M.A., Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences) The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on the Acoustic and Perceptual Characteristics of Voice Thesis directed by Assistant Professor Neeraja Sadagopan Sleep deprivation has been shown as detrimental to several cognitive functions and a predisposing agent to various undesirable health outcomes. Related to communication, sleep deprivation has been briefly explored with vocal function being the major research focus of the speech subsystems. This study aimed to investigate (a) the acoustic changes in participant voices as a function of sleep deprivation and (b) any subjectively perceivable changes in those same voices. Eleven subjects participated in a sleep deprivation study of 18 hours of sustained wakefulness. Six repeated nonwords served as the speech stimuli. Fifteen listeners perceptually rated the voices of these subjects. It was hypothesized that (a) there would be changes in the acoustic measures of subject voices with sleep deprivation indicating a detrimental effect and (b) voices would be rated lower on several perceptual parameters with sleep deprivation. There were few statistically significant results, but the acoustic variables that were significant suggested improvements to vocal functioning rather than detriment based on average shimmer and average harmonics-to-noise ratio. Listener ratings of the voices were variable. Future research on this topic is recommended to clarify and further support outcomes in the existing literature, as well as to offer insight into any connection between sleep disorders and voice disorders characteristic of several etiologies within the scope of practice of speech-language pathology.
Weak lensing in a plasma medium and gravitational deflection of massive particles using the Gauss-Bonnet theorem. A unified treatment

We apply the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to the study of light rays in a plasma medium in a static and spherically symmetric gravitational field and also to the study of timelike geodesics followed for test massive particles in a spacetime with the same symmetries. The possibility of using the theorem follows from a correspondence between timelike curves followed by light rays in a plasma medium and spatial geodesics in an associated Riemannian optical metric. A similar correspondence follows for massive particles. For some examples and applications, we compute the deflection angle in weak gravitational fields for different plasma density profiles and gravitational fields.
Fatty Acid Composition

(51) International Patent Classification: AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BN, BR, BW, BY, C10G 3/00 (2006.01) BZ, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DO, DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, (21) International Application Number: HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IR, IS, JP, KE, KG, KN, KP, KR, PCT/FI201 6/050080 KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME, MG, (22) International Filing Date: MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ, OM, ' February 2016 (09.02.2016) PA, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, QA, RO, RS, RU, RW, SA, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ, TM, TN, (25) Filing Language: English TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, ZA, ZM, ZW.
A Comparison of Item-Fit Statistics for the Three-Parameter Logistic Model

In this article, the Type I error rate and the power of a number of existing and new tests of fit to the 3-parameter logistic model (3PLM) are investigated. The first test is a generalization of a test for the evaluation of the fit to the 2-parameter logistic model (2PLM) based on the Lagrange multiplier (LM) test or the equivalent efficient score test. This technique is applied to two model violations: deviation from the 3PLM item characteristic curve and violation of local stochastic independence. The LM test for the first violation is compared with the Q 1 – G² j and S – G² j tests, respectively. The LM test for the second violation is compared with the Q 3 test and a new test, the S 3 test, which can be viewed as a generalization of the approach of the S – G² j test to the evaluation of violation of local independence. The results of simulation studies indicate that all tests, except the Q 1 – G² j test, have a Type I error rate that is acceptably close to the nominal significance level, and good power to detect the model violations they are targeted at. When, however, misfitting items are present in a test, the proportion of items that are flagged incorrectly as misfitting can become undesirably high, especially for short tests.
Binding of harmane to human and bovine serum albumin: fluorescence and phosphorescence study

The binding of harmane with human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by fluorescence and phosphorescence spectroscopic methods. Quenching of fluorescence of serum albumins by harmane was found to be a static quenching process. The equilibrium constant (K) of complex formation was found to be equal to (5.16±0.28)x10 4 M -1 and (4.32±0.30)x10 4 M -1 for HSA and BSA, respectively. It was found that the interactions of harmane with HSA and BSA were also in the excited triplet state. The determined bimolecular constant or triplet state quenching (kq T )of the proteins studied by harmane was (1.15± 0.10)x10 7 M -1 s -1 and (2.88±0.22)x10 7 M -1 s -1 for HSA and BSA, respectively. Based on the similar value of K and kq T for HSA and BSA, a possible suggestion is that, most probably, the binding site of harmane is located in the drug site 1 in the subdomain IIa.
Status and preliminary assessment of the sea cucumber fishery in Eritrea

In Eritrea, sea cucumbers — especially those from the families Holothuridae and Stichopodidae — form an important part of a multi-species invertebrate fishery. There is no domestic demand for sea cucumber prod ucts and so they are exported. In Eritrea, there are no rules or regulations governing sea cucumber fishing activities, and no reasonable stock status estimates are available. As a result, the sea cucumber fishery faces managerial and technical capacity limitations. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) — through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) — provided funds to the Ministry of Fisheries, State of Eritrea for a preliminary survey of the status of sea cucumber stocks, and a study of the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of sea cucumber fish ing. This report outlines the ecological and biological aspects of Eritrea’s sea cucumber fishery. Eritrea’s northern fishing ground is relatively abundant with diverse species of commercial sea cucumbers. The sea cucumber fishery in Eritrea is relatively better condition than the sea cucumber fisheries in other parts of the Red Sea (e.g. Egypt). The density of animals in offshore and deeper areas is higher than in shallow and nearshore areas. This study shows the habitat preference and depth distribution of commercial sea cucumber species. Length-frequency data for each commercial sea cucumber species, and baseline information for the important sea cucumber fishing grounds, was recorded for comparison with future studies. Finally, monitoring sites were chosen in all of the important fishing grounds, and, permanent monitoring sites will be placed at Green and Dissie islands, which have been proposed as marine protected areas. Based on this study of the sea cucumber fishery, the following recommendations have been made to the Ministry of Fisheries, State of Eritrea: • conduct in-depth research on sea cucumber biology (i.e. growth, reproductive rate, etc.); • develop management strategies specific to the sea cucumber fishery (using a precautionary approach that includes the formulation of a national fishing advisory committee); • develop post-harvest handling and mariculture techniques for stock replenishment; and • formulate regulations to protect wild sea cucumber stocks.
The Stability of Penicillinase-producing Strains of Staphylococcus aureus

SUMMARY: Penicillin-sensitive and penicillin-resistant colonies of Staphylococcus aureus, belonging to the same phage pattern, were found in six out of 200 apparently resistant cultures isolated from infective processes. The in vitro instability of peni-cillinase-producing strains of Staph. aureus was confirmed. It was found that growth with Streptococcus haemolyticus or in the presence of other antibiotics did not greatly influence the natural development of sensitive variants. This process, however, tended to be accelerated by growth at 44°, although some strains did not yield any sensitive variants in spite of prolonged incubation. Some inherited factor is considered to be primarily responsible for the production of penicillinase.
EFFECT OF GROUP MATING SCHEMES ON LAMB GROWTH PERFORMANCE

The study was aimed to determinate the effect of group mating scheme on lamb growth performance. Rams, representing different group mating scheme, were assigned to mate 60-80 ewes per a ram for a 45-day breeding period. In group mating scheme, each ram is placed in a separate pasture with a group of ewes gathered from participating herders involved in group breeding during mating season. The average birth, weaning and post weaning weight for lambs from the group mating of selected rams to selected ewes involved in the study were 4.4, 33.8 and 40 kg for male lambs and, 4.3, 29.8 and 35.7 kg for ewe lambs respectively. These figures indicate that progeny of that group mating scheme were 0.5 to 6.3 kg for male lambs and 0.6-5.5 kg for ewe lambs heavier than progeny of group mating of selected rams to randomly allocated ewes at different age of growth (P <0.05). Mean values of birth, weaning and post weaning weight of progeny for control group mating were lower (P < 0.05) than those of the progeny for all other groups of mating.
Investigation of Soil and Quay Wall Interaction Under Seismic Loading

Optimal design of Quay Walls against seismic forces has become a challenge for engineers. For countries that are placed on the earthquake belt, it is very important to investigate the strength and behavior of quay walls against earthquakes. In this study, the behavior of cantilever concrete quay walls placed on the saturated cohesive soil is studied using finite element method in ANSYS Software. Patterns of the interaction between soil and structure prove to be very complicated. On the other hand, with the consideration of the interactions between soil and structure under the seismic forces, the problem will be made much more complicated. In the present study, height of the quay walls, soil type, strength and duration of the earthquake on the Bending moment against the wall are considered and pressure distributions behind the wall have been investigated.
POLENET/LAPNET teleseismic P wave travel time tomography model of the upper mantle beneath northern Fennoscandia

Abstract. The POLENET/LAPNET (Polar Earth Observing Network) broadband seismic network was deployed in northern Fennoscandia (Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia) during the third International Polar Year 2007–2009. The array consisted of roughly 60 seismic stations. In our study, we estimate the 3-D architecture of the upper mantle beneath the northern Fennoscandian Shield using high-resolution teleseismic P wave tomography. The P wave tomography method can complement previous studies in the area by efficiently mapping lateral velocity variations in the mantle. For this purpose 111 clearly recorded teleseismic events were selected and the data from the stations hand-picked and analysed. Our study reveals a highly heterogeneous lithospheric mantle beneath the northern Fennoscandian Shield though without any large high P wave velocity area that may indicate the presence of thick depleted lithospheric “keel”. The most significant feature seen in the velocity model is a large elongated negative velocity anomaly (up to −3.5 %) in depth range 100–150 km in the central part of our study area that can be followed down to a depth of 200 km in some local areas. This low-velocity area separates three high-velocity regions corresponding to the cratonic units forming the area.