Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spark plasma sintering of electro conductive nanocomposite Al2O3-SiCw-TiC

The method of production nanostructured ceramic Al2 O3 -SiCw-TiC with high operational properties by spark plasma sintering is developed in this work. The obtained nanoceramic material was compared to Al2 O3 -SiCw. The homogenous compound of initial nanostructured powders of different phases and sizes was made by the methods of colloid blending and spraying. The microstructure, hardness, fracture strength, phase’s analysis, electro conductive properties of the samples were researched. The electro conductivity of sintered nanocomposite Al2 O3 -SiCw-TiC enables to process it by electrical discharge machining.
E-HRM: A proposed model based on technology acceptance model

E-HRM provides the HR function with the opportunity to create new avenues for contributing to organizational effectiveness. The topic of E-HRM is certainly not becoming obsolete, and its full potential is still anticipated and therefore academic involvement in the topic needs to grow. Besides, there has been a great deal of research on Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in Malaysia. Less attention is given to examine the relationship between HR roles (strategic partner, change agent, employee champion, and administrative expert) and E-HRM by adoption of TAM. This paper intended to contribute to the Malaysian literature pertaining to this subject. Based on a review of extant literature on E-HRM, HR roles, and TAM, a model is presented and propositions outlined for future empirical testing. Key words: E-HRM, HR roles, strategic partner, change agent, employee champion, administrative expert, technology acceptance model (TAM).
Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and Associated Factors among Workers: The Case of Two Port Companies in Cotonou, Benin (2019)

Article Info Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is developed by a combination of several risk factors, which can increase the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The present study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of MetS and its associated factors among Cotonou Port workers. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted for descriptive and analytical purposes. The administration of the questionnaire was inspired by WHO STEPS, with biological examinations performed. MetS was selected according to the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The data were analyzed using R 3.6. 1 software. Besides, a univariate analysis and a multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determine MetS-associated factors. Results: Our study population consisted of a total of 349 workers aged 23 to 64 years. Besides, the prevalence of MetS was 18.1%. The most common features of the workers were blood pressure ≥ 130/85 mmHg (92.1%) followed by abdominal obesity (76.3%) and glycemia ≥ 1 g/l (65.1%). After multivariate analysis, factors associated with MetS included age > 50 years (ORa = 3.97 CI95% [1.71 – 9.36], p=0.006), alcoholism (ORa = 2.05; CI95% [1.07 4.15], p=0.031), family history of hypertension (ORa = 2.08; CI95% [1.11 4.01], p=0.022) , overweight (ORa = 4.87 CI95% [2.10 12.75], p=0.001) and obesity (ORa = 5.80 CI95% [2.42 15.59], p= 0.001). Conclusion: The MetS frequency is high among Cotonou Port workers. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify the related risks to take adequate preventive measures and to promote the workers' health.
Customization as a business strategy--a barrier to customer integration in product development?

Although it is evident that product development (PD) within most companies does not take place in a vacuum, little is known about the influence that other core company processes may have on the way PD activities are carried out. In the study presented in this paper, we focus on an analysis of the relationship between marketing strategies and the way customers are integrated in PD. An exploratory analysis of three medium sized companies acting in the interior design and the software industries (IT), represent the empirical base. The result of the analysis shows that customization as an overall business strategy may act as a barrier to customer integration in PD, due to the nature of companies' strategies for innovation and for customer relationship management, respectively. Additionally, motivation and capabilities are identified and discussed as two core constructs related to, and antecedents for, customer integration in PD.
The performance of an inspection system for indium tin oxide circuits by using a PDLC/ITO film

An inspection system for indium tin oxide (ITO) circuits has been developed with the use of a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC)/ITO film which was used as a sensing device to locate faulty shut/open circuits. With the power on, the PDLC/ITO film covering the conducting area was changed from translucent state to clear state while those covering the non-conducting area was remain translucent. In this study, simulations and experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed system and study effects of system parameters on the limitation of the proposed system. It is of interest to find that the increase in applied external voltage will improve the capability of identifying conducting area while that will generally degrade the capability of identifying non-conducting area with the range studied.
University professors and early stage research commercialisation: an empirical test of the knowledge corridor theory

In this study, we test the knowledge corridor theory as an explanation of university professors' involvement in the early stages of research commercialisation. A statistical analysis was made of a sample of full professors from the engineering, natural sciences and medical faculties at a large public university in Sweden. The analysis shows that not only entrepreneurial experience but also private sector work experience significantly influence the ability to identify and develop business ideas based on research. Moreover, the analysis shows that research-based business idea generation increases faster for professors with private sector work experience who as well have more time for research in their positions.
A viral protein disrupts vacuolar acidification to facilitate virus infection in plants

Vacuolar acidification is essential for vacuoles in diverse physiological functions. However, its role in plant defense, and whether and how pathogens affect vacuolar acidification to promote infection remain unknown. Here, we show that Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) replicase γa, but not its mutant γaR569A, directly blocks acidification of vacuolar lumen and suppresses autophagic degradation to promote viral infection in plants. These were achieved via molecular interaction between γa and V‐ATPase catalytic subunit B2 (VHA‐B2), leading to disruption of the interaction between VHA‐B2 and V‐ATPase catalytic subunit E (VHA‐E), which impairs the membrane localization of VHA‐B2 and suppresses V‐ATPase activity. Furthermore, a mutant virus BSMVR569A with the R569A point mutation possesses less viral pathogenicity. Interestingly, multiple viral infections block vacuolar acidification. These findings reveal that functional vacuolar acidification is required for plant antiviral defense and disruption of vacuolar acidification could be a general viral counter‐defense strategy employed by multiple viruses.
Implications of the Marginalisation of Social Sciences in the Fight against the Covid 19 Pandemic: A Humanities Perspective

In the history of pandemics that plagued humanity, COVID-19 represents a catastrophic global health crisis. The pandemic has placed a huge burden on health care systems around the globe. Due to its easy transmission from one individual to the other, COVID-19 prevention require large scale behaviour change. Through the recommendations of the WHO, governments across the world have enacted policies of social distancing, national lockdown, wearing face mask, release of inmates from prisons, temporary citizenship to migrants and refugees. In fostering the contingent measures to manage the pandemic between March and December 2020, most governments have consulted epidemiologists, public health experts, virologists among other pure sciences disciplines. However, notably absent, or poorly represented were the insights from social and behavioural scientists. The researchers argue that the absence or marginalisation of social sciences in the battle against the pandemic creates a myriad of gaps among the mechanisms crafted to manage the pandemic. The aim of this paper is to provide the entry points of social scientists in the fight against the pandemic. Through the use of insights of sociology and social work disciplines, the researchers noted that social scientists are involved in behaviour modification, compacting fear and anxiety, promotion of human rights, psychosocial support to vulnerable populations; and understanding the pandemic in the scope of globalisation. In terms of recommendations, we suggest that social workers and sociologists need to depend on the repertoire of their disciplines in order to effect change in different communities during the pandemic and its aftermath.
Improving utilization rate of semi-parallel successive cancellation architecture for polar codes using 2-bit decoding

: Polar codes are the capacity-achieving error-correcting code proved to be a signiﬁcant invention in coding 4 theory. It can achieve channel capacity at inﬁnite code length N due to its explicit code construction. However, the 5 processing complexity along with the higher latency due to successive cancellation (SC) decoding is being a major design 6 issue, which reduces the utilization rate in the decoder architectures. This paper presents a modiﬁed semi-parallel 7 architecture for decoding polar code with a better decoding latency. Precomputation and look-ahead techniques are 8 used to generate two bits in the ﬁnal stage. Pipelined partial-sum unit with a less critical path reduces hardware 9 complexity independent of code length. Hence, the proposed architecture reduces the latency by 2.7 times leads to 10 increase in utilization rate than prior semi-parallel architecture. For a code length of N = 2 10 , the proposed architecture 11 shows 62 . 7% and 94% improved utilization rate than the conventional semi-parallel architecture and 2-bit SC decoder 12 respectively. Compared to the conventional semi-parallel decoder for N = 2 17 , hardware resource such as look-up-tables 13 (LUT) and ﬂip-ﬂops (FF) usage are reduced by 98% in ﬁeld programmable gate array (FPGA) leads to reduction in 14 processing complexity. Hence, very large eﬃcient polar decoders with a high utilization rate can be implemented in 15 FPGA
Electrospun Polyvinyl Alcohol Loaded with Phytotherapeutic Agents for Wound Healing Applications

In this paper, hydroalcoholic solutions of Thymus vulgaris, Salvia officinalis folium, and Hyperici herba were used in combination with poly (vinyl alcohol) with the aim of developing novel poly (vinyl alcohol)-based nanofiber mats loaded with phytotherapeutic agents via the electrospinning technique. The chemical structure and morphology of the polymeric nanofibers were investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The addition of Thymus vulgaris, Salvia officinalis folium, and Hyperici herba extracts to the pure polyvinyl alcohol fibers led to changes in the morphology of the fibers and a reduction in the fibers’ diameter, from 0.1798 µm in the case of pure polyvinyl alcohol to 0.1672, 0.1425, and 0.1369 µm in the case of polyvinyl alcohol loaded with Thymus vulgaris, Salvia officinalis folium, and Hyperici herba, respectively. The adapted Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) method, which was used to determine the total phenolic contents, revealed that the samples of PVA–Hyperici herba and PVA–Thymus vulgaris had the highest phenol contents, at 13.25 μgGAE/mL and 12.66 μgGAE/mL, respectively. Dynamic water vapor measurements were used in order to investigate the moisture sorption and desorption behavior of the developed electrospun materials. The antimicrobial behavior of these products was also evaluated. Disk diffusion assay studies with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were conducted on the developed nanofibers in order to quantify their phytotherapeutic potential.
Global soil organic carbon changes and economic revenues with biochar application

Biochar has been proposed as a promising negative CO2 emission technology to mitigate future climate change with the additional benefit of increasing agricultural production. However, the spatial responses of soil organic carbon (SOC) to biochar addition in cropland are still uncertain, and the economic feasibility of large‐scale biochar implementation remains unclear. Here, we analyzed the response of SOC to biochar addition using 389 paired field measurements. The results show that biochar addition significantly increased SOC by 45.8% on average with large regional variations. Using a random forest model trained with soil, climate, biotic, biochar, and management factors, we found that the response of SOC to biochar addition was mainly dependent on biochar application rates, initial SOC, edaphic (e.g., pH), and climatic (e.g., mean annual precipitation) variables. Combined with the predicted SOC changes to biochar addition on the global cropland, we assessed the revenue of the biochar system based on the current and potential pyrolysis plants in the world using the life‐cycle analysis. Net revenue of the currently existing 144 pyrolysis plants increases with larger plant capacity and higher carbon price. Potential revenue of building new plants is high in regions like America and Europe but low in regions with infertile soil, low crop residues availability, and inconvenient transportation. The global CO2 removal of biochar application is 6.6 Tg CO2e (CO2 equivalent) year−1 with a net revenue of $ 177 million dollars at a carbon price of $ 50 t−1 CO2 for current pyrolysis plants with a biomass‐processing capacity of 20,000 t year−1. Our study provides a full economic assessment of idealized biochar addition scenarios and identifies the locations with maximal potential revenues with new pyrolysis plants.
Prediction of Self-Concept by Trait Anxiety and Basic Values in Childhood Period

DOI: 10.14812/cufej.693790 The aim of this study is to examine the contributions of self-transcendence, conservatives, self-enhancement, openness to change and trait anxiety in predicting the self-concept of individuals in middle childhood. The data of this research were collected from 4 and 5 grade students in middle childhood. A total of 218 students, 108 (49.5 %) female and 110 (50.5 %) male, of the participants of the study. Demographic information form, Pier-Harris Self-Concept Scale, Trait Anxiety Scale and Portrait Values Scale were applied to the participants. The obtained data were tested with hierarchical regression analysis. As a result of the analysis of the data, trait anxiety significantly predicted the unhappiness, anxiety, maladaptive, intellect and love-popularity sub-dimensions of the self-concept. Basic values significantly predicted some sub-dimensions of self-concept. As a result of testing the scores they got in the sub-dimensions of self-concept between boys and girls, while girls scored high in the physical, intellect and popularity sub-dimensions of self-concept, boys got higher scores only in the maladaptive sub-dimension. The results are discussed in the context of trait anxiety and basic values literature Article history: Received Revised Accepted 25.02. 20 31.05. 21 27.10. 21
Motivational Orientations of Learning Japanese as A Foreign Language Among Undergraduates In A Public University In Malaysia

Abstract: Motivation is a key factor in learning a foreign language. This study investigated the instrumental, integrative and attitudinal motivation level of students learning Japanese as a FL in a public university in Malaysia. A survey questionnaire based on Gardner’s (1985) AMTB (Attitude/Motivation Test Battery) and Dornyei’s (1994) Attitudinal Motivation was given to 171 undergraduates. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results of the study indicated that the foreign language learners were generally highly motivated to learn Japanese as a foreign language. Moreover, their integrative and attitudinal motivational levels were similarly high and slightly higher than their instrumental motivation. There were also statistically significant differences among the three subscales of attitudinal motivation viz. teacher-specific, course-specific and group-specific. They were more oriented towards teacher-specific and course-specific attitudinal motivation than group-specific attitudinal motivation. The implications for EFL teachers and curriculum developers are that it would improve foreign language learning courses in future by designing suitable lessons and preparing appropriate materials and activities. Keywords: Attitude, Foreign language learning, Instrumental orientation, Integrative orientations, Motivation
A new approach in modeling AC flashover voltage for polluted insulator

Contamination-driven insulator failure is a problem that incessantly plagues the distribution system. It erodes power quality and diminishes system reliability. Research on insulator pollution is directed primarily to understand the physics of the growth of discharge and to develop a mathematical model, which can predict the critical flashover voltage and current. In this paper a new ac model for flashover voltage has been proposed taking into consideration "equivalent salt deposit density (ESDD)" in place of "resistance per unit length". The salient feature of the proposed model is that it takes into account the selection of an appropriate value of the proposed "pollution severity factor" which varies with the "salt present in the pollution layer" and "width of the pollution channel". The proposed model has been validated against experimental results taken from an experiment carried out on a flat plate model. It has been observed that the modeled results closely follow the experimental curves and can predict rms value of critical flashover voltage with a mean absolute error (MAE) of < 5.00%. The effectiveness of the model was also verified by comparing the modeled results against the experimental and theoretical results of other researchers and good agreement has been obtained.
Pre-service Physics Teachers’ Beliefs about Learning Physics and Their Learning Achievement in Physics

This study investigates pre-service teachers’ beliefs about learning physics and explores how beliefs correlate with learning achievement as evidenced by conceptual understanding and grades in a year-long physics course. To investigate beliefs about learning physics, 14 second-year pre-service teachers in a teacher training program in South Korea completed a Likert-style questionnaire called the Beliefs About Learning Physics Survey (BAPS). To measure learning achievement, final grades for the physic course were obtained and the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was used to assess conceptual understanding. Analysis revealed that pre-service physics teachers’ beliefs about learning physics had a positive correlation with conceptual understanding but not with motivational beliefs. Students’ grades in physics had a positive correlation with cognitive beliefs, regardless of changes in pre- and post-test responses. Implications about how to utilize pre-service physics teachers’ beliefs about learning physics as an epistemological resource for teaching and learning physics are discussed.
Improved cloud detection for the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS): training an artificial neural network on colocated MLS and Aqua MODIS data

Abstract. An improved cloud detection algorithm for the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) is presented. This new algorithm is based on a feedforward artificial neural network and uses as input, for each MLS limb scan, a vector consisting of 1710 brightness temperatures provided by MLS observations from 15 different tangent altitudes and up to 13 spectral channels in each of 10 different MLS bands. The model has been trained on global cloud properties reported by Aqua's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). In total, the colocated MLS–MODIS data set consists of 162 117 combined scenes sampled on 208 d over 2005–2020. A comparison to the current MLS cloudiness flag used in “Level 2” processing reveals a huge improvement in classification performance. For previously unseen data, the algorithm successfully detects > 93 % of profiles affected by clouds, up from ∼ 16 % for the Level 2 flagging. At the same time, false positives reported for actually clear profiles are comparable to the Level 2 results. The classification performance is not dependent on geolocation but slightly decreases over low-cloud-cover regions. The new cloudiness flag is applied to determine average global cloud cover maps over 2015–2019, successfully reproducing the spatial patterns of mid-level to high clouds seen in MODIS data. It is also applied to four example cloud fields to illustrate its reliable performance for different cloud structures with varying degrees of complexity. Training a similar model on MODIS-retrieved cloud top pressure (pCT) yields reliable predictions with correlation coefficients > 0.82. It is shown that the model can correctly identify > 85 % of profiles with pCT < 400 hPa. Similar to the cloud classification model, global maps and example cloud fields are provided, which reveal good agreement with MODIS results. The combination of the cloudiness flag and predicted cloud top pressure provides the means to identify MLS profiles in the presence of high-reaching convection.
Transistor Design and Application Considerations for

Invited Paper Abstract—SiGe HBT transistors achieving over 200 GHz and are demonstrated in this paper. Techniques and trends in SiGe HBT design are discussed. Processing techniques available to silicon technologies are utilized to minimize parasitic resistances and capacitances and thereby establish raw speeds exceeding III-V devices despite the higher mobility in those materials. Higher cur- rent densities and greater avalanche currents, which are required for establishing such high performance, are discussed as they re- late to device self-heating and reliability and the degradation of the devices. Simple circuit results are shown, demonstrating 4.2-ps ring-oscillator delays.
Training Artificial Neural Networks with the Aid of Fuzzy Sets

This article presents a technique of training artificial neural networks (ANNs) with the aid of fuzzy sets theory. The proposed ANN model is trained with field observation data for predicting the collapse potential of soils. This ANN model uses seven soil parameters as input variables. The output variable is the collapsibility (whether the soil is collapsible) or the collapse potential (if the soil is judged collapsible). The proposed technique involves a module for preprocessing input soil parameters and a module for postprocessing network output. The preprocessing module screens the input data through a group of predefined fuzzy sets, and the postprocessing module, on the other hand, “defuzzifies” the output from the network into a “nonfuzzy” collapse potential, a single value. The ANN with the proposed preprocessing and post‐process techniques is shown to be superior to the conventional ANN model in the present study.