Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Behaviour of long structures in response to tunnelling

This paper presents observations of the response of long structures when exposed to tunnelling activities in London Clay. The type of structures varied from a 100 years old masonry arch tunnel to a more modern reinforced concrete frame structure. The common property shared by these structures is that they are long in comparison to the depth beneath them of the tunnels being constructed. Numerical analyses have also been carried out to back analyse the observed data using the London Clay soil parameters. The model was then extended to include a depth and a structural stiffness variable and demonstrate sensitivity to those factors.
A reinforcement learning technique for enhancing human behavior models in a context-based architecture

A reinforcement-learning technique for enhancing human behavior models in a context-based learning architecture is presented. Prior to the introduction of this technique, human models built and developed in a Context-Based reasoning framework lacked learning capabilities. As such, their performance and quality of behavior was always limited by what the subject matter expert whose knowledge is modeled was able to articulate or demonstrate. Results from experiments performed show that subject matter experts are prone to making errors and at times they lack information on situations that are inherently necessary for the human models to behave appropriately and optimally in those situations. The benefits of the technique presented is two fold; (1) It shows how human models built in a context-based framework can be modified to correctly reflect the knowledge learnt in a simulator; and (2) It presents a way for subject matter experts to verify and validate the knowledge they share. The results obtained from this research show that behavior models built in a context-based framework can be enhanced by learning and reflecting the constraints in the environment. From the results obtained, it was shown that after the models are enhanced, the agents performed better based on the metrics evaluated. Furthermore, after learning, the agent was shown to recognize unknown situations and behave appropriately in previously unknown situations. The overall performance and quality of behavior of the agent improved significantly. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Influence of Flexibility Properties and Friction Laws on Tyre Behaviour

Abstract The paper presents an analysis of tangential interaction between flexural properties of tyres and frictional properties of the tyre-road interface. Using simple models to represent tyre structure and friction, the traction-slip characteristics are derived for various situations of practical interest: a standing tyre subjected to monotonic and oscillatory loading, a stationary rolling tyre and especially that of the transition from standing to steady rolling. To gain deeper insight into the requirements for modelling flexural and the complex friction properties, the study examines the influence of the normal pressure profile, tyre structural properties and friction in the contact region on the overall and detailed characteristics of tyre traction. The analysis presented serves as a basic framework for modelling the complex tyre-road interactions such as that encountered in the snap-start problem of road vehicles.
The Faroe Islands COVID-19 Recreational Football Study: Player-to-Player Distance, Body-to-Body Contact, Body-to-Ball Contact and Exercise Intensity during Various Types of Football Training for Both Genders and Various Age Groups

We determined player-to-player distance, body-to-ball contact, and exercise intensity during three training modalities in various football populations. 213 participants were recruited, ranging from 9-year-old boys to young men and 11-year-old girls to middle-aged women. All groups were analysed with video-filming and GPS-based Polar Pro monitors during three types of football training for 20 min, i.e., COVID-19-modified training (CMT) with >2-metre player-to-player distance, small-sided games (SSG), and simulated match-play with normal rules (SMP), in randomised order. Time spent in a danger zone (1.5 m) per-percent-infected-player (DZ PPIP) ranged from 0.015 to 0.279% of playing time. DZ PPIP for SSG was higher (P < 0.05) than CMT and SMP. The average number of contacts (within 1.5 m) with a potentially infected player ranged from 12 to 73 contacts/hour. SSG had more (P < 0.05) contacts than CMT and SMP, with SMP having a higher (P < 0.05) number of contacts than CMT. Time/contact ranged from 0.87 to 3.00 seconds for the groups. No player-to-player and body-to-ball touches were registered for CMT. Total player-to-player contacts were 264% higher (P < 0.05) in SSG than SMP, ranging from 80 to 170 and 25 to 56 touches, respectively. In all groups, a greater total distance was covered during SMP compared to CMT (38–114%; P < 0.05). All groups performed more high-intensity running (33–54%; P < 0.05) and had higher heart rates during SMP compared to CMT. Different types of football training all appear to exert a minor COVID-19 infection risk; however, COVID-19-modified training may be safer than small-sided game training, but also match-play. In contrast, exercise intensity is lower during COVID-19-modified training than match-play.
Challenges and Prospect of Museum Institutions in the 21st Century in Northern Nigeria

The museum is one institution that accommodates every aspect of human activities and reminds people of their past to present. Most museum collections have been sustained by preserving and documenting natural and cultural heritage. Museum itself serve as an institution of learning, research has been conducted, and entertain different people with diverse cultural background without discrimination. Today, in Northern Nigeria, most people perceived museums as a place of fetish collections are stored rather than a multifunctional institution that deals with many sectors of life. Museums have the capacity to reflect both continuity and change, to preserve and protect cultural and natural heritage while illustrating the expression of the human imagination and the natural world through the exhibition. Museum in the 21st century has completely transformed due to the advancement of science and technology. But, Northern Nigeria is left behind in such technological development. The paper utilized the qualitative method to enable the researcher to explore the challenges and prospects of museum institutions in Northern Nigeria. This paper used primary and secondary methods of data collection. The paper's objective is to explore the significance and identify the role of science and technology in museums and the challenges and prospects. The paper finds that museums are an integral part of the human experience that transformed as time went on. Many museums have centralized collections and exhibition across the globe. But, museums in Northern Nigeria faces a considerable challenge, and the prospect of the institutions is at stake. The paper recommends that museums should explore other avenues to capture audience desire in line with global base practice.
Morel Production Associated with Soil Nitrogen-Fixing and Nitrifying Microorganisms

True morels (Morchella, Pezizales) cultivated in soil are subject to complex influences from soil microbial communities. To explore the characteristics of soil microbial communities on morel cultivation, and evaluate whether these microbes are related to morel production, we collected 23 soil samples from four counties in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, China. Based on ITS and 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing, the alpha diversity analysis indicated that the biodiversity of morel cultivation soil showed a downward trend compared with the bare soil. The results also showed that there were no significant differences in soil microbial communities between OC (bare soil) and OO (after one-year suspension of sowing). This means that, after about one year of stopping sowing, the component and structure of soil that once cultivated morel would be restored. In co-occurrence networks, some noteworthy bacterial microbes involved in nitrogen fixation and nitrification have been identified in soils with high morel yields, such as Arthrobacter, Bradyhizobium, Devosia, Pseudarthrobacter, Pseudolabrys, and Nitrospira. In contrast, in soils with low or no morel yield, some pathogenic fungi accounted for a high proportion, including Gibberella, Microidium, Penicillium, Sarocladium, Streptomyces, and Trichoderma. This study provided valuable information for the isolation and culturing of some beneficial microbes for morel cultivation in further study and, potentially, to harness the power of the microbiome to improve morel production and health.
Proposed Method for Measuring the Thermal Properties of Windows in the New BRANZ Guarded Hotbox

The existing hotbox rig at BRANZ has been used extensively to measure the thermal resistance of most types of insulation as well as built-up panels. These measurements have been made using the ASTM standard C236 (Standard test method for steady-state thermal performance of building assemblies by means of a guarded hotbox). Manufacturers of windows have requested thermal resistance measurements and ratings on their products be done to a recognisable standard. The need for such a capability in New Zealand has increased to a point where the new guarded hotbox currently being developed at BRANZ will be provided with the ability to make thermal resistance measurements on fenestration products such as windows and doors. This paper describes the basis of the testing procedure.
Marketing mobile payment to baby boomers during COVID-19 pandemic: The role of emotional appeal, advertising creativity and perceived value

ABSTRACT Although mobile payment has long been introduced worldwide, adopting the system in the retailing industry among baby boomers has been slow. This study aims to examine the effects of emotional appeal, advertising creativity, and perceived value on the intention to use mobile payment among baby boomers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study posits a conditional indirect moderated mediation model whereby trust acts as the mediator and perceived risk as the moderator. An experimental study 3 × 2 (emotional appeal – low versus high; advertising creativity – low versus high; perceived value – low versus high) between-subject design was conducted to test the posited hypotheses. Data was collected from baby boomers in New Zealand who were recruited via two sampling frames, SurveyMonkey Databases and Baby Boomer Community Facebook. The results confirm the proposed model, except for a conditional indirect effect of the emotional appeal on intention to use relationship. The findings extend the concept of socioemotional selectivity and hierarchy of effect theories.
Green traffic engineering techniques for current and next generation networks

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry is responsible for a non-negligible proportion of the world’s global energy consumption. Unfortunately, the energy usage of the Internet will continue to rise due to the rapid growth in the number of connected devices and bandwidth intensive applications. In addition, networks are nowadays over-provisioned to provide redundancy and to preserve Quality of Service (QoS) during peak periods. This means current networks are designed to handle the “worst-case” scenario in terms of failures and traffic demands. In other words, they are not designed to be energy efficient. However, many works have shown that traffic exhibits diurnal patterns that correspond to business hours and weekends. This observation and the dire need to conserve energy have spurred intense research efforts into green approaches that consolidate traffic onto the minimal number of links/switches/routers during off-peak periods. In particular, researchers have designed many green or energy-aware traffic engineering (TE) techniques that jointly optimize energy savings and QoS constraints such as maximum link utilization, and end-to-end delays. This thesis contains a number of novel green TE techniques. First, it studies green TE techniques in Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks. Approaches in this area aim to establish as many arriving Label Switched Path (LSP) requests as possible while utilizing the minimum number of links/routers. However,
Novel Dormancy Mechanism of Castration Resistance in Bone Metastatic Prostate Cancer Organoids

Advanced prostate cancer (PCa) patients with bone metastases are treated with androgen pathway directed therapy (APDT). However, this treatment invariably fails and the cancer becomes castration resistant. To elucidate resistance mechanisms and to provide a more predictive pre-clinical research platform reflecting tumor heterogeneity, we established organoids from a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model of bone metastatic prostate cancer, PCSD1. APDT-resistant PDX-derived organoids (PDOs) emerged when cultured without androgen or with the anti-androgen, enzalutamide. Transcriptomics revealed up-regulation of neurogenic and steroidogenic genes and down-regulation of DNA repair, cell cycle, circadian pathways and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 host viral entry factors, ACE2 and TMPRSS2. Time course analysis of the cell cycle in live cells revealed that enzalutamide induced a gradual transition into a reversible dormant state as shown here for the first time at the single cell level in the context of multi-cellular, 3D living organoids using the Fucci2BL fluorescent live cell cycle tracker system. We show here a new mechanism of castration resistance in which enzalutamide induced dormancy and novel basal-luminal-like cells in bone metastatic prostate cancer organoids. These PDX organoids can be used to develop therapies targeting dormant APDT-resistant cells and host factors required for SARS-CoV-2 viral entry.
Predicting the life cycle of rice varieties in Texas

Predicting the Life Cycle of Rice Varieties in Texas. (December 2004) Stefphanie Michelle Gambrell, B.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. James W. Richardson The Texas rice industry has undergone many changes over the course of the industry’s existence. Recently, high costs of production and the structure of government payments have contributed to a decreasing trend in rice acreage planted in Texas. While Texas was once the top rice producer in the United States, it now ranks fifth. Despite the fact that Texas has one of the lowest levels of production among rice producing states, it currently maintains the highest per acre yields. One of the major factors in maintaining superior yields is the development of high performance rice varieties and hybrids, which provide increased yields on fewer acres. Research institutions invest a great deal of time, effort, and money towards the development of new varieties every year. Each one of these varieties has a specific set of traits that are believed to be in high demand by producers and processors. However, during the developmental stages, scientists are uncertain as to how each new gerplasm will perform once it reaches the market. This study develops a regression model, which includes competition and the characteristics of a specific variety, to estimate the life cycle of new varieties and hybrids. In addition, simulation techniques are utilized to incorporate risk into the life
GSTO1, GSTO2 and ACE2 Polymorphisms Modify Susceptibility to Developing COVID-19

Based on the close relationship between dysregulation of redox homeostasis and immune response in SARS-CoV-2 infection, we proposed a possible modifying role of ACE2 and glutathione transferase omega (GSTO) polymorphisms in the individual propensity towards the development of clinical manifestations in COVID-19. The distribution of polymorphisms in ACE2 (rs4646116), GSTO1 (rs4925) and GSTO2 (rs156697) were assessed in 255 COVID-19 patients and 236 matched healthy individuals, emphasizing their individual and haplotype effects on disease development and severity. Polymorphisms were determined by the appropriate qPCR method. The data obtained showed that individuals carrying variant GSTO1*AA and variant GSTO2*GG genotypes exhibit higher odds of COVID-19 development, contrary to ones carrying referent alleles (p = 0.044, p = 0.002, respectively). These findings are confirmed by haplotype analysis. Carriers of H2 haplotype, comprising GSTO1*A and GSTO2*G variant alleles were at 2-fold increased risk of COVID-19 development (p = 0.002). Although ACE2 (rs4646116) polymorphism did not exhibit a statistically significant effect on COVID-19 risk (p = 0.100), the risk of COVID-19 development gradually increased with the presence of each additional risk-associated genotype. Further studies are needed to clarify the specific roles of glutathione transferases omega in innate immune response and vitamin C homeostasis once the SARS-CoV-2 infection is initiated in the host cell.
Sociocultural and Psychological Acculturation Strategies of South African International Students in a Flemish University in Belgium

Due to an increase in mobility programs, the number of South African international students is on the rise. Despite this increase there is a lack of research on South African international students. The acculturation challenges of South African international students, studying in Flanders, Belgium in a non-Anglophonic context was investigated. A Photovoice method explored barriers and facilitators in their adjustment process. Participants captured their experiences through a visual lens. Focus groups conducted, utilized images as prompts to the narratives. The data was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. The two main themes identified were related to Sociocultural and Psychological adjustment. We adapted Berry’s bidimensional acculturation model, used it as an overarching framework and merged it with an Ubuntu African perspective. The data suggest that for facets of the host nation superficially rooted and easy to adapt to, participants generally adopted an assimilation strategy. Whereas a separation strategy was adopted for facets of the host nation that were deeply ingrained such as worldviews.
Impact of Visual Packaging Elements of Packaged Milk on Consumers Buying Behavior

This research paper examines the impact of packaging elements on consumer buying behavior. The motivation for carrying out this study is to know how packaging elements impact on consumers buying behavior. In order to know the impact of visual elements packaging on consumers the study was carried out to find the relationship between packaging elements and consumer buying behavior. Visual elements included packaging color, packaging design, packaging material, packaging size and packaging graphics. In this study visual elements of packaging are independent variables and consumer buying behavior is the dependent variable. The findings of the research have revealed that there is a positive correlation between packaging cap (r = .104), rectangular packaging design (r = .062), and convenience in handling (r = .057) with consumer buying behavior in packaging design. However, there is a negative correlation between easy-to-tear pouch packaging (r = -.046) and consumer buying behavior. In packaging material, Tetrapak (r = .137) has a positive correlation with consumer buying behavior, which is significant. On the other hand, glass bottles (r = -.032) and plastic bottles (r = -.039) are negatively correlated with consumer buying behavior. In packaging color brand recognition through color (r = .020), association of green color with packaged milk (r = .019), association of blue color with packaged milk (r = .011) and association of red color with packaged milk (r = .062) are positively correlated with consumer buying behavior. Packaging size of 1.5 liters (r = .044), packaging size of 1 liters (r = .100) packaging size of 500 ml (r = .006) and availability of packaged milk in all sizes (r = .026) are positively correlated with consumer buying behavior. However, packaging size of 250 ml (r = -.044) is negatively correlated with consumer buying behavior. In packaging graphics font style (r = .263) and good packaging graphics (r = .219) shows a positive correlation with consumer buying behavior, which is significant.
Efficiency of Artificial Insemination (AI) Technology in Different dairy Herd Management Systems in the Southern Highland Zone (SHZ) of Tanzania

The objective of the study was to establish the information on the performance of Artificial Insemination (A.I) in different production systems in the Southern Highlands Zone of Tanzania. Three districts namely, Njombe, Mbeya and Mbozi were purposively selected for data collection in smallholder farms and three large scale farms of ASAS, Sao Hill and Kitulo were selected for data collection. Data from 1486 and 163 dairy cow’s records from large and smallholder farms, respectively were used and analyzed using General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of Statistical Analysis System (SAS). The overall number of services per conception (NSC) were 2.49 and 1.39 in smallholder farms and large farms, respectively. In smallholder farms, NSC was influenced by district, breed, parity, AI technician, age at first service, calving to first service Interval (CFSI) (days) and who detect heat. In large farms NSC was influenced by farm location, source of semen and effect of year. First service to conception (FSC) were 43.56% and 72.48% in smallholder farms and large farms, respectively. It was revealed that the value of NSC and FSC under smallholder farms were lower compared to recommended values, indicating inefficiency of AI performance under smallholder farmer’s conditions in SHZ of Tanzania. Contrary NSC and FSC under larger farms were good indicating that AI is efficiency under large farms in SHZ of Tanzania. Hence there is a need to train smallholder dairy farmers on heat detection and good herd management so as to improve dairy reproductive efficiency in the country.
Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Laval Rotor on Plain Journal- and Turbocharger Floating Ring Bearings - The Behavior of High Speed Rotors on Fluid Film Bearings

The first part of this thesis elaborates on two numerical models of different levels of comprehensiveness of a Laval rotor on plain journal bearings. These models are compared to an experiment, capable of rotating at 60 krpm, also devised in this research. Reasonable correlation in terms of whirl and whip behavior has been found. In the second part of the research a floating ring bearing model is developed. As this model is too expensive it is simplified subsequently. Next, the simplified bearing model is coupled to a rotor. The results are compared with an experiment capable of running at speeds up to 200 krpm.