Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Response of Modal Parameters to Damage in CFRP Laminates Using a Novel Modal Identification Method

Nowadays, composite materials are widely used in several industries, e.g. the aeronautical, automotive, and marine, due to their excellent properties, such as stiffness and strength to weight ratios and high resistance to corrosion. However, they are prone to develop Barely Visible Impact Damage (BVID) from low to medium energy impacts (i.e. 1 – 10 m/s and 11 – 30 m/s respectively) that are reported to occur during both service and maintenance, such as bird strike; hailstones and tool drops. Therefore, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques have been developed to allow identifying damage at an early stage, in an attempt to avoid catastrophic consequences. Vibration measurement was conducted on healthy and damaged Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs) specimens. Damage is introduced to the specimen through a static indentation and the work done by the hemispherical indenter measured. This test was mainly for the purpose of damage introduction in the test samples. In this work, the effects of damage on the individual mode were studied to understand the response pattern of the modal parameters. It is intended that the current study will inform the development of a new damage identification method based on the variations between healthy and damaged specimen’s dynamic results. A new modal identification method (“Elliptical Plane”) that uses an alternative plot of the receptance has been developed in this work. The Elliptical Plane method used the energy dissipated per cycle of vibration as a starting point, to identify modal constants from Frequency Response Functions (FRFs). In comparison with the method of inverse, this new method produces accurate results, for systems that are lightly damped with its modes well-spaced. The sine of the phase of the receptance is plotted against the amplitude of the receptance, through which damping was calculated from the slope of a linear fit to the resulting plot. The results show that, there are other relevant properties of the plot that were not yet delve into by researchers. The shape of the plot is elliptical, near the resonant frequencies, whereby both parts of the modal constants (real and imaginary) can be determined from numerical curve-fitting. The method offers a new perspective on the way the receptance may be represented, in the Elliptical Plane, which may bring valuable insights for other researchers in the field. The novel method is
Understanding the importance of eWOM on Higher Education Institutions’ brand equity

ABSTRACT Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are increasingly aware of the importance of brand equity for brand strategy. Earlier research has disregarded the eWOM of HEIs, so this study furthers our understanding of the importance of eWOM on the creation and leverage of HEIs’ brand equity. A qualitative approach was adopted, with semi-structured interviews targeting Higher Education students from the same institution but different nationalities and study programmes. The interviews were transcribed and examined following the principles of thematic content analysis. The findings show that positive eWOM positively influences brand equity, whereas negative eWOM has a minor influence on brand equity. Furthermore, it was found that firm-generated eWOM has equivalent or even more credibility than user-generated eWOM in affecting HEIs’ brand equity. This study contributes to the literature by offering an inductively generated theoretical model to guide future research on the links between eWOM and brand equity in HEIs.
Pengaruh Tingkat Keseriusan Kecurangan, Personal Cost, dan Komitmen Organisasi Terhadap Kecenderungan Melakukan Whistleblowing

This study aims to investigate the factors that influence an individual's tendency to whistleblowing. Specifically, this study focused on the effect of severity of fraud, personal cost and organizational commitment on tendency to whistleblowing. The samples of this study were civil servants of Regional Development Planning Agency (BAPPEDA) Pekanbaru city. This study uses questionnaire to collect the data and uses multiple regression to test the hypothesis. The results of study showed that severity of fraud and organizational commitment have significantly effect on tendency to whistleblowing. But, this study did not find any significant effect among personal cost and tendency to whistleblowing. This means that the civil servants do not consider personal cost as a factor that will influence their intention to take or not take whistleblowing.
REGULATION OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS IN SORGHUM IN RESPONSE TO DROUGHT

Changing climate in combination with growing world populations mean that there is growing need for plants to be grown on land that is currently considered marginal for agriculture. Sorghum is a C4 plant that serves as an important food crop in Africa and India. It is also known to be highly drought tolerant but the mechanisms responsible for this tolerance are unclear. The overall aim of this study was to understand the drought tolerance mechanisms that enable the plant to maintain leaf function for a long time during water deficit. In Chapter 2 of this thesis, I studied the underlying physiological mechanisms for tolerating drought in two sorghum varieties with differing degrees of drought tolerance compared to a closely related species, Zea mays. During progressive drought, the more tolerant sorghum variety Samsorg 17 maintained net CO2 assimilation and photochemistry longest relative to the less tolerant Samsorg 40 and Zea mays. Differences were also seen in stomatal aperture, stomatal density, total chlorophyll content, chl a:b and A/Ci curve responses with maize more affected than the sorghum varieties. In Chapter 3, I identified novel drought tolerance mechanisms in the sorghum varieties. The less tolerant Samsorg 40 lost PsbA (D1) and Rubisco proteins and reengineered its photosynthetic apparatus to accumulate amino acids and sugars in order to maximise survival under drought. Samsorg 17 maintained photosynthetic proteins notably PsbA (D1) and Rubisco and accumulated high constitutive sugar content allowing for the maintenance of transpiration and photosynthesis.The two sorghum varieties had strikingly contrasting approaches of tolerating drought as demonstrated in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, the aim was to characterise biochemical and metabolic changes that occur in response to drought. In particular, to identify sugars that are accumulated constitutively in Samsorg 17 and nitrogen sinks for lost N in Samsorg 40. My findings indicated a contrasting response in terms of sugar content in Samsorg 17 but support for amino acids as N sinks in Samsorg 40 as reported earlier. Sugars, sugar alcohols, lipids, organic acids, heat shock proteins and dehydrins were generally higher or more induced in Samsorg 17 relative to Samsorg 40. Samsorg 40 rather made amino acids. The implications of my findings and future work arising from this study were discussed in detail in the final chapter.In conclusion, in this thesis, it was demonstrated that closely related plants can have mechanistically different physiological and biochemical mechanisms for responding to drought.
ESTABLISHMENT OF BIOTROPHY BY THE MAIZE ANTHRACNOSE PATHOGEN COLLETOTRICHUM GRAMINICOLA : USE OF BIOINFORMATICS AND TRANSCRIPTOMICS TO ADDRESS THE POTENTIAL ROLES OF SECRETION, STRESS RESPONSE, AND SECRETED PROTEINS

OF DISSERTATION ESTABLISHMENT OF BIOTROPHY BY THE MAIZE ANTHRACNOSE PATHOGEN COLLETOTRICHUM GRAMINICOLA: USE OF BIOINFORMATICS AND TRANSCRIPTOMICS TO ADDRESS THE POTENTIAL ROLES OF SECRETION, STRESS RESPONSE, AND SECRETED PROTEINS Colletotrichum graminicola is a hemibiotrophic pathogen of maize that causes anthracnose leaf and stalk rot diseases. The pathogen penetrates the host and initially establishes an intracellular biotrophic infection, in which the hyphae are separated from the living host cell by a membrane that is elaborated by the host, apparently in response to pathogen signals. A nonpathogenic mutant (MT) of C. graminicola was generated that germinates and penetrates the host normally, but is incapable of establishing a normal biotrophic infection. The mutated gene is Cpr1, conserved in eukaryotes and predicted to encode a component of the signal peptidase complex. How can we explain why the MT is normal in culture and during early stages of pathogenicity, but is deficient specifically in the ability to establish biotrophy? To address this, first I characterized the insertion in the 3’ UTR of the MT strain in detail, something that had not been done before. The wild-type (WT) transcript did not differ from predictions, but the MT produced several aberrant transcript species, including truncated and non-spliced transcripts, and the normal one. Aberrant splicing of MT cpr1 was observed both in RNAseq transcriptome data and reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), under different growth conditions and in planta. I also conducted a bioinformatic analysis of other conserved components of the secretory pathway in the MT and WT in planta. One explanation for nonpathogenicity of the MT is that it cannot cope with an increase in secretory activity during infection, and fails to produce necessary pathogenicity factors. With the transcriptome data, I was able to identify effector proteins that were expressed in the WT but not in the MT. Another possible explanation for the MT phenotype is that the MT can’t adapt to stress imposed by the plant. I developed a growth assay to characterize the effect of chemical stressors in vitro. The MT was more sensitive to most stressors, when compared to the WT. The transcriptome data indicates that the genes involved in different stress pathways are expressed in planta in both WT and MT, although very few genes are differentially expressed across the different growth stages.
Herdabilidades e Correlações Genéticas para Peso e Perímetro Escrotal de Machos e Características Reprodutivas e de Crescimento de Fêmeas, na Raça Canchim

The objective of this study was to estimate heritabilities of and genetic correlations among male body weight (BW12) and scrotal circumference (SC12) at 12 months of age, and female body weights at first (BWFC) and second (BWSC) calvings, age at first (AFC) and second (ASC) calvings, adult weight (AW), and mature weight (A) and maturation rate (k) obtained by the use of the Von Bertalanffy model. The restricted maximum likelihood method with an animal model that included the fixed effects of contemporary group and the random effects of animals, was used to estimate the variance and covariance components. The heritability estimates were equal to: 0.37 (BW12), 0.30 (SC12), 0.38 (A), 0.35 (k), 0.12 (AFC), 0.33 (BWFC), 0.04 (ASC), 0.39 (BWSC), and 0.38 (AW). The genetic correlations among BW12 and the female traits were: 0.19 (parameter A), 0.62 (parameter k), -0.58 (AFC), 0.69 (BWFC), -0.56 (ASC), 0.61 (BWSC), and 0.60 (AW). The genetic correlations among SC12 and the female traits were: -0.24 (A), 0.27 (k), -0.47 (AFC), 0.09 (BWFC), -0.67 (ASC), 0.07 (BWSC), and -0.17 (AW). These results indicate that male body weight and scrotal circumference and female weights (BWFC, BWSC and AW) and growth curve parameters A and k have enough additive genetic variation to respond to mass selection. Selection to increase male body weight at 12 months of age should result on favorable correlated changes in AFC, ASC and parameter k of females, but with increases in female body weights (BWFC, BWSC and AW). Selection to increase SC12 should result on desirable correlated responses in AFC, ASC and k, without any considerable change in female adult body weights.
A study on pre pregnancy body mass index and its effect on maternal and perinatal outcome

Background: Obesity is now a major public health problem. It has detrimental effect to mother and fetus. Maternal malnutrition also has a negative impact. Materials and Methods: 500 women with singleton pregnancy and spontaneous conception, who attended antenatal OPD in our tertiary hospital, were included in this study after informed consent. Those with known pre-pregnancy weight, pre pregnancy BMI was calculated using the formula BMI= weight in kilograms/ height in metre square. They were followed up until delivery and their maternal and perinatal outcomes such as anaemia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm labour, past dates, intrauterine growth restriction, low birth weight and neonatal intensive care admission were studied. Results: The mean age of the woman in this study was 24.3 ± 2.4 years. Of these, 14% (n= 70) of women were underweight. 43% (n= 215) of women were of normal BMI. 34% (n= 170) of women were overweight. 9% (n= 45) of women were obese. Maternal complications such as anaemia, preterm labour and intrauterine growth restriction were significantly common in underweight woman. Gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension were more in obese woman. Low birth weight babies were more in underweight woman. Conclusion: Pre pregnancy counselling should be given to woman of childbearing age to maintain normal BMI to prevent maternal and neonatal complications.
The effects of landscape complexity on arable weed species diversity in organic and conventional farming

Summary 1 There is growing concern about declining species diversity in agro-ecosystems caused by agricultural intensification at the field and landscape scales. Species diversity of arable weeds is classically related to local abiotic factors and resource conditions. It is believed to be enhanced by organic farming but the surrounding landscape may also be important. 2 This study assessed the ruderal vegetation, seed bank and seed rain in 24 winter wheat fields to examine the relative importance of organic vs. conventional farming and landscape complexity for weed species diversity. Diversity was partitioned into its additive components: alpha, beta and gamma diversity. Percentage arable land in a circular landscape sector of 1-km radius around each study site was used as an indicator of landscape complexity. 3 Weed species diversity in the vegetation, seed rain and seed bank was higher in organic than in conventional fields. Increasing landscape complexity enhanced species diversity more strongly in the vegetation of conventional than organic fields, to the extent that diversity was similar in both farming systems when the landscape was complex. Species diversity of the seed bank was increased by landscape complexity irrespective of farming system. 4 Overall diversity was largely determined by the high heterogeneity between and within the fields (beta diversity). Only in very few cases could higher weed species diversity in complex landscapes and/or organic farming be related to species dependence on landscape or farming system. 5 Synthesis and applications. Local weed species diversity was influenced by both landscape complexity and farming system. Species diversity under organic farming systems was clearly higher in simple landscapes. Conventional vegetation reached similar diversity levels when the surrounding landscape was complex through the presence of refugia for weed populations. Consequently, agri-environment schemes designed to preserve and enhance biodiversity should not only consider the management of single fields but also of the surrounding landscape.
New Discoveries on the Ecology and Echolocation of the Heart-Nosed Bat Cardioderma Cor with a Contribution to the Phylogeny of Megadermatidae

In this study we report findings in roosting ecology, ectoparasites, echolocation characteristics and the phylogenetic position of Cardioderma cor, an impressive bat species that is distributed throughout the savannas and woodlands of eastern Africa. For individuals caught in Mago National Park, Ethiopia, we recorded broadband frequency-modulated ultrasound signals having very short duration (2 ms) with three harmonic components. The mean peak frequency of the first harmonic was 50.4 kHz and the mean inter-signal interval was 186 ms. Phylogenetic reconstructions of all known species from the family Megadermatidae based on DNA sequences of two mitochondrial and four nuclear genes yielded incongruent topologies (both Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analysis) with only weak support for nodes. The phylogeny that combined all six loci into a species tree was not congruent with any previous inference based on dental or cranial characteristics, but it suggested separate generic status of two Megaderma species. However, additional genetic data are necessary to resolve the phylogeny of Megadermatidae, a group that probably evolved by simultaneous divergence of all five extant lineages.
The Natural Product Sulforaphane Inhibits Breast Cancer Stem Cell Targets in Triple Negative and Trastuzumab-resistant Breast Cancers.

The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis presents a fundamentally different paradigm for cancer treatment. CSCs reflect a small fraction of tumor initiating cells capable of sustained self-renewal and differentiation to form the heterogeneous tumor bulk. In order to cure cancer, it is necessary to eliminate CSCs in addition to differentiated cancer cells to decrease metastasis, reduce recurrence, and improve patient survival. In this chapter, we review signaling pathways which regulate CSCs, including Wnt, Hedgehog, and Notch, as well as interactions of CSCs with the tumor microenvironment. Further, we discuss methods to isolate CSCs and demonstrate ways to identify therapeutic efficacy toward eliminating these cells. Natural products which regulate key signaling pathways with CSCs are also highlighted. Applying the CSC model to breast cancers we identify specific clinical issues which can be addressed by inhibition of these cells. Finally, using the natural product sulforaphane we propose three specific aims which can be used to overcome such issues.
Flora of the Camili Biosphere Reserve Area (Borçka, Artvin, Turkey)

The vascular flora of the Camili Biosphere Reserve Area (Borcka, Artvin) was studied between 2002 and 2005. In the area under review, 990 taxa belonging to 432 genera and 110 families were identified. Of the 990 taxa, 37 Pteridophytes and 953 Spermatophytes were detected. Spermatophytes also contained 7 Gymnospermae and 946 Angiospermae taxa. The richest 3 families are Compositae with 114 taxa (11.5%), Gramineae with 69 taxa (7.0%), and Leguminosae with 59 taxa (6.0%). The richest genera are Veronica L. and Campanula L. (15 taxa), followed by Geranium L. (13 taxa). The rates of taxa included in certain phytogeographical regions were as follows: 48.2% Euro-Siberian, 3.5% Irano-Turanian, 1.9% Mediterranean, and 46.4% multi-regional or of unknown phytogeographic origin. The life form spectrum of the taxa was as follows: hemicryptophytes 359 (36.3%), cryptophytes 272 (27.5%), therophytes 162 (16.4%), chamaephytes 130 (13.1%), phanerophytes 63 (6.4%), and vasicular parasites 4 (0.4%). The endemism ratio is 2.3% (23 taxa). Threat categories were proposed for 73 taxa according to International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List Categories.
Molecular characterization of Campylobacter jejuni in raw poultry meat and ready-to-eat poultry meat products in Northern India.

Campylobacter jejuni â€ to â€ eat poultry meat products have been found important source of transmission of this organism on consumption. In the current study,raw poultry and ready to eat poultry meat product samples at Bareilly part of Northern India were tested for C. jejuni. Total 660 samples of poultry meat and ready â€ to â€ eat poultry meat products were screened for the presence of C. jejuni using both cultural methods as well as PCR assay. Out of the total samples, 126 (19.09%) were confirmed positive by cultural methods, while 149 (22.50%) were confirmed positive by PCR assay. There was also variation in the prevalence of C. jejuni amongst the various ready â€ toeat poultry meat products. This study indicates the need for risk assessment based on microbiological criteria for C . jejuni in poultry meat and ready â€ toeat poultry meat products with strict implementation of provision of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. has been emerged as an important food borne zoonotic bacterial pathogen associated with gastric illness in human beings. Contaminated poultry and ready
Relaxation of the turbulent magnetosheath

In turbulence, nonlinear terms drive energy transfer from large-scale eddies into small scales through the so-called energy cascade. Turbulence often relaxes toward states that minimize energy; typically these states are considered globally. However, turbulence can also relax toward local quasi-equilibrium states, creating patches or cells where the magnitude of nonlinearity is reduced and the energy cascade is impaired. We show, for the first time, compelling observational evidence that this “cellularization” of turbulence can occur due to local relaxation in a strongly turbulent natural environment such as the Earth’s magnetosheath.
Why Do Auditors Fail to Report Material Weaknesses in Internal Controls? Evidence from the PCAOB Data

Auditors routinely fail to disclose material weaknesses prior to a material error (i.e. restatements). One potential reason is that auditors misclassify the severity of identified internal control deficiencies due to complexity in judging the materiality and likelihood of potential related errors. Another reason is that auditors face disincentives to report a material weakness without a clear indication of an existing error. We evaluate these possibilities using a proprietary database on auditor-identified control deficiencies that are not deemed material weaknesses, hence not publicly disclosed. We compare the severity of the control deficiency with the severity of ex-post reporting errors. Even though we find some evidence consistent with auditor and management incentives to misclassify material weaknesses as less serious deficiencies, we generally find that 1) the severity of identified control deficiencies is properly assessed and 2) the auditor is able to provide reasonable assurance about whether financial statements are materially misstated in the presence of identified deficiencies. Our evidence indicates that the inability of auditors to properly identify relevant internal controls is a contributing reason why material weaknesses are not discovered and disclosed prior to material error restatements.