Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recent Advances in Hollow Cathode Technology for Plasma-Enhanced ALD—Plasma Surface Modifications for Aluminum and Stainless-Steel Cathodes

Recent designs have allowed hollow cathode gas plasma sources to be adopted for use in plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition with the benefit of lower oxygen contamination for non-oxide films (a brief review of this is provided). From a design perspective, the cathode metal is of particular interest since—for a given set of conditions—the metal work function should determine the density of electron emission that drives the hollow cathode effect. However, we found that relatively rapid surface modification of the metal cathodes in the first hour or more of operation has a stronger influence. Langmuir probe measurements and hollow cathode electrical characteristics were used to study nitrogen and oxygen plasma surface modification of aluminum and stainless-steel hollow cathodes. It was found that the nitridation and oxidation of these metal cathodes resulted in higher plasma densities, in some cases by more than an order of magnitude, and a wider range of pressure operation. Moreover, it was initially thought that the use of aluminum cathodes would not be practical for gas plasma applications, as aluminum is extremely soft and susceptible to sputtering; however, it was found that oxide and nitride modification of the surface could protect the cathodes from such problems, possibly making them viable.
Numerical Investigation of the Behavior of Tip Leakage Flow in a Low-Speed Axial Compressor Rotor at Near-Stall Condition

In the present work, time-accurate simulations were performed to investigate the unsteady flow fields in the tip region of a low-speed large-scale axial compressor rotor at near-stall condition. Firstly, the steady performance characteristic of the rotor was obtained by steady simulations. Secondly, a series of unsteady simulations were carried out to investigate the physical processes as the rotor approaching stall and the role of complex tip flow mechanism on flow instability in the rotor.The characteristics of tip leakage vortex were compared between design condition and near-stall condition. Detailed analyses were then employed to emphasize the development of stall inception and the comprehensions of the internal flow field. Two flow phenomena, spillage at the leading edge and backflow at the trailing edge, are found beyond the flow solution limit, which are both linked to the tip leakage flow. And the breakdown of the tip leakage vortex has been captured.The flow visualization and the quantification of passage blockage expose that the tip leakage vortex and corner vortex contribute most to the total passage blockage. Therefore, they are considered to be the key flow structures contributing to the rotating stall. Further analyses indicate that, in the current rotor, the interaction of the tip leakage flow and the corner vortex is clarified to be the key factor that leads to the rotating stall.In addition, the very initial disturbances of stall inception are discussed. And the interaction of the boundary layer migration on the blade suction side and the tip leakage vortex also plays a significant role in the stall inception.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Single longitudinal mode ridge waveguide 1.3 /spl mu/m Fabry-Perot laser by modal perturbation

The authors introduce a cost effective technique which converts the multi-longitudinal mode output of a 1.3 /spl mu/m ridge waveguide Fabry-Perot laser into a single mode by creating modal perturbations along the length of the ridge. Up to 25 dB side mode supression is measured on their first lasers.
Improving Atmospheric Angular Momentum Forecasts by Machine Learning

Earth angular momentum forecasts are naturally accompanied by forecast errors that typically grow with increasing forecast length. In contrast to this behavior, we have detected large quasi‐periodic deviations between atmospheric angular momentum wind term forecasts and their subsequently available analysis. The respective errors are not random and have some hard to define yet clearly visible characteristics which may help to separate them from the true forecast information. These kinds of problems, which should be automated but involve some adaptation and decision‐making in the process, are most suitable for machine learning methods. Consequently, we propose and apply a neural network to the task of removing the detected artificial forecast errors. We found that a cascading forward neural network model performed best in this problem. A total error reduction with respect to the unaltered forecasts amounts to about 30% integrated over a 6‐days forecast period. Integrated over the initial 3‐days forecast period, in which the largest artificial errors are present, the improvements amount to about 50%. After the application of the neural network, the remaining error distribution shows the expected growth with forecast length. However, a 24‐hourly modulation and an initial baseline error of 2 × 10−8 became evident that were hidden before under the larger forecast error.
A probabilistic model of exposure to ionized fields under HVDC lines in presence of wind

Models of HVDC ionized fields have, traditionally, been based on deterministic approaches, i.e. the exposure variables are defined as single-point estimates. Alternatively, the present work acknowledges the probabilistic nature of these variables and caters for their inherent uncertainties. Randomness in the exposure variables; such as the ambient field intensity and current density, the wind speed, and the object dimensions, is identified and accounted for. A general probabilistic model of exposure, in which the exposure variables are presented in the form of probability distributions, is presented. The model is employed to derive basic exposure severity indices that can be used to quantify the impact of exposure to ionized fields under HVDC lines.
Verification of Punching Shear Provisions for Reinforced Concrete Flat Slabs

ACI Structural Journal, V. 108, No. 5, September-October 2011. MS No. S-2009-282.R2 received June 24, 2010, and reviewed under Institute publication policies. Copyright © 2011, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, including the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors. Pertinent discussion including author’s closure, if any, will be published in the July-August 2012 ACI Structural Journal if the discussion is received by March 1, 2012. Verification of Punching Shear Provisions for Reinforced Concrete Flat Slabs
Negative Permittivity Behavior in Flexible Carbon Nanofibers- Polydimethylsiloxane Films

Flexible electronic devices have recently become a research hotspot due to their potential in different applications. However, there is a lack of studies about flexible metamaterials with negative parameters. In this work, the composite film with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) dispersed in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix is designed to construct flexible metamaterials with negative permittivity, showing excellent mechanical durability and flexibility. The microstructures, mechanical durability, alternating current conductivity ( σ ac ), and permittivity ( ɛ ′ and ɛ ") were investigated and discussed in detail. A transition of conduction mechanism from jumping conduction to metal-like conduction was observed when the CNFs content was improved from 6 to 14 wt%. The CNFs-PDMS film with CNFs content of 14 wt% achieved negative permittivity over the whole frequency, which resulted from the construction of a conductive CNFs network. The equivalent circuit models were used to analyze the impedance ( Z ′ and Z ′′) behavior of the composites to determine the mechanism of negative permittivity. This study will provide theoretical and technical support for the design of flexible metamaterials and promote their practical applications in wearable electronic devices.
COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance among Health Science Students in Morocco: A Cross-Sectional Study

While students in the health sciences occupy pivotal roles in the Moroccan COVID-19 response and vaccination campaigns, factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine acceptability among students have not been reported. This study aimed to determine the willingness and identify predictive attitudes and beliefs of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among health science students in Morocco. A cross-sectional, self-administered online questionnaire was conducted among students of the Mohammed VI University of Health Sciences in Casablanca, Morocco in January 2021. In total, 1272 students participated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Overall, 26.9% of participants reported being willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Between genders, male students were more likely to accept the vaccine. Regarding individual attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 infection, students with greater confidence in COVID-19 information, and higher perceived likelihood and perceived severity of infection were more likely to be willing to get the vaccine. Concerning a COVID-19 vaccine, students who reported lower levels of perceived harm and higher levels of perceived vaccine effectiveness were more willing to get vaccinated. Our findings help guide future efforts to tailor communication and identify strategies to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among students.
Comparison of dietary fibre, β-glucan, resistant and non-resistant starch and in vitro digestibility of commercial extruded dry food of adult dogs

The carbohydrate substances in dog foods can be categorized as digestible (non-resistant starch and disaccharides), absorbable (monosaccharides and sugar alcohols) and fermentable (oligosaccharides, resistant starch and dietary fibre) carbohydrates (NRC, 2006). Carbohydrate content in dog foods is: 46–74% of dry matter (DM) in dry-type, 58–72% DM in semi-moist, and 18–52% DM for wet-type dog foods (Case et al., 2011). Dietary fibre comprises cell wall polysaccharides, non-cellulose polysaccharides and structural non-polysaccharides (lignin) (Englyst, 1989). Resistant starch, oligosaccharides, non-starch polysaccharides and fermentable fibre substances are fermented by enzymes and microorganisms in dog large intestine. Fibre is a complex and diverse group of compounds that are not easily defined or determined (Fahey et al., 1990). Dietary fibre consists of two crucial fractions (soluble dietary fibre (SDF) and insoluble dietary fibre (IDF)), and the ratio of these two fractions changes the property of dietary fibre. The soluble undigested fibres (or insoluble arabinose, xylose, mannose, galactose and uronic acids) can be fermented in the colon, thereby producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) (acetate, propionate and butyrate) at the greatest rate and branched-chain fatty acids at the ABSTRACT. This study aimed to compare the carbohydrate, fatty acids and digestion values of 29 commercial extruded dry-type dog foods produced for large breed adult dogs. In the study, total dietary fibre (TDF) values of dog foods differed significantly among commercial brands and ranged from 19.02 to 38.09% dry matter (DM) (P < 0.05). The average soluble dietary fibre (SDF) and insoluble dietary fibre (IDF) contents of dog foods were 6.27 and 20.09% DM, respectively. The average values of non-resistant starch and β-glucan in dog foods were 30.90 and 0.52% DM, respectively. The average linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid (ALA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in dog foods were 2.21, 0.03 and 0.11% in DM, respectively. The total starch value was positively correlated with the gas production value (r = 0.516) of dog food (P < 0.05). As a result, it has been determined that the resistant starch and β-glucan levels differ in the dog food. EPA + DHA, linoleic and ALA acids were below international standard values in some dog food samples. Although in vitro digestibility of dog food was adversely affected by the increase in IDF and palmitic acid contents; in vitro digestibility of acid contents in dog food was positively affected by the increase in soluble dietary fibre and stearic acids. Received: 8 May 2021 Revised: 1 September 2021 Accepted: 15 October 2021
Weight changes of children in 1 year during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed everyday life. The Korean government urged schools to close as a measure of social distancing, and children and adolescents seemed to gain weight due to home confinement. We aimed to investigate the trends in weight changes in children during the pandemic period. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 139 children aged between 6 and 12 years who visited the pediatric endocrine clinic for regular growth follow-up for 1 year during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed changes in the body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score, and proportion of children who were overweight or obese over a period of 1 year. Results The BMI and BMI z-scores of the 139 children increased significantly over the year. The increase was maximum during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with little change between the third and sixth month of the pandemic. The proportion of children who were overweight or obese increased over time, from 24.5% at the COVID-19 pandemic baseline to 38.1% 1 year later (p < 0.001). Conclusions The COVID-19-related lockdown resulted in significant weight gain in Korean children. Changes in BMI showed different trends depending on the degree of school closure. An overall shift from normal weight to overweight or obesity was observed during the pandemic period.
Essays On Disaster Management Issues Related To Household Preparedness And Public Attention

This dissertation contains an essay on the effects of earthquake exposure on household preparedness in the short and long term and two essays on the predictors of public attention to earthquakes around the world. In Chapter I, I use a difference-in-differences method to estimate the causal effects of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes on people’s preparedness in the short-term (one month after the second earthquake) and long-term (up to 25 months after the second earthquake). I find that people who experienced the earthquakes increase their preparedness by 0.67 standard deviations in the short term. This impact stays positive but declines to 0.42 standard deviations in the long term. In chapter II, I investigate whether people from Western countries pay more attention to earthquakes in Western countries. I use Google Trends data and examine the proportion of Google searches from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for 610 earthquakes across the world over the period of 2006-2016. I find that people in these countries pay on average around 50 percent more attention to earthquakes in Western countries. My results are significant and consistent after controlling for geographical and social characteristics but becomes small and insignificant once I control for GDP per capita of the countries where the earthquake struck. There seems to be a developed country bias rather than a Western country bias. In the final chapter, I measure public attention – using the volume of Google searches – from 18 countries and investigate which factors predict public attention to earthquakes at international level. I focus on 372 earthquakes registered as disasters in The Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) over the period 2004-2018. I find that people pay more attention to earthquakes in richer countries, in more democratic countries, and in countries with which they have more social and cultural similarities. I also find that social and cultural similarities predict more public attention from Western and Latin American countries and less public attention from Arab and Sub-Saharan African countries. While, the findings of the economic and political status of countries are universal and predict more public attention in all four groups of countries.
Construction of Key-dependent S-box for Secure Cloud Storage

As cloud storage systems have developed and been applied in complex environments, their data security has become more prevalent in recent years. The issue has been approached through many models. Data is encrypted and stored in these models. One of the most widely used encryption methods is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). In AES, the Substitution box(S-box) is playing a significant part in imparting the job of confusion. The security of the entire cryptosystem depends on its nonlinearity. In this work, a robust and secure S-box is constructed using a novel method, i.e., fingerprint features-based permutation function. Two stages are considered to construct a strong S-box. Firstly, random numbers are generated from the fingerprint features such as bifurcation and ridge endings of the user transmitting data. Subsequently, the permutation function is adapted on the random numbers (developed in the first stage) to augment the strength of the S-box. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) STS 800-22 test suite is considered to evaluate the randomness of the enhanced fingerprint-based S-box. Also, the robustness of the constructed S-box is tested using cryptographical properties, namely Strict Avalanche Criterion (SAC), Nonlinearity (NL), Differential Approximation (DA) probability and output Bits Independence Criterion (BIC). Later, the cryptographical properties of the proposed S-box are compared with several existing S-boxes. After analyzing the characteristics of the proposed scheme, it is revealed that the newly constructed S-box is powerful, robust, and safe against linear and differential assaults.
NUMERICAL CALCULATIONOF COUPLINGIMPEDANCES FOR KICKERMODULES

Maintaining theimpedance budget isanimportant task intheplanning ofanynewaccelerator facility. Whileestimates fromanalytical computations andmeasurements playacentral role indoing so,numerical calculations have become animportant alternative today. Onthebasis ofthe Finite Integration Technique, wehavedeveloped asimulation tool forthedirect computation ofcoupling impedances infrequency domain.After discussing thespecial features ofourcodeascompared tocommercial programs, we present results forthetransverse andlongitudinal coupling impedances oftheSNSextraction kicker andtheinjection/extraction system oftheheavy-ion synchrotron SIS- 18 atGSI.
Journeys to polyglotism: a case study of French, Spanish, and Japanese tourist guides

The study aimed at discovering the process through which three tourist guides of French, Spanish, and Japanese acquired different foreign languages. The data was taken through in-depth interviews to explore the motivation that drove their language learning, the language interference, the technique they used to self-teach themselves the language, and their immersion in the language’s native country. The recorded interviews were then transcribed and analyzed through data reduction, data display, and verification drawing. The results were then given to the subjects to ensure trustworthiness and to verify the researcher’s interpretation of the interview. The study found that 1) one of the most crucial factors of language learning success was strong motivation, which led to consistency and risk-taking attitude; 2) a significant growth of language mastery took place when the subjects spent extended time in the language’s native country; 3) both formal classroom instruction and informal independent learning were essential for their language improvement; 4) the subjects proactively consulted the native speakers to improve their vocabulary inventory, to correct inaccuracies or to gain new language expressions; and 5) due to the different nature of the languages they were learning, each subject had a diverse view on grammar and language interference. In pedagogical implication, teachers could foster students’ willingness to learn with either instrumental motivation, i.e. by raising awareness of the benefit of foreign language ability, or with integrative motivation, i.e. by raising students’ interest in the culture or people whose language was being studied. Besides, language learners, or language teachers, might reflect on this research to complement formal-classroom learning with a large degree of informal-independent learning.
Investigation of the self-reported aberrant driving behavior of young male Saudi drivers: A survey-based study

ABSTRACT Numerous studies have demonstrated that the human factor is the main contributing factor leading to traffic accidents, followed by vehicle and road factors. In addition, many earlier studies have indicated that young drivers are at a high risk of being killed in traffic accidents around the world. Compared to other age groups, young drivers tend to be over-represented in severe and fatal crashes considering their percentage of the population. One way to improve traffic safety on highways is to improve the driving behavior of drivers, especially teenager drivers. There is a lack of studies that strived to thoroughly examine the driving behavior of young drivers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Thus, this study aims at identifying and quantifying the significant factors associated with the involvement of young Saudi drivers in at-fault crashes. Another objective of this study is to provide in-depth insights concerning the types of traffic violations that young Saudi drivers commit while driving and the main reason(s) that they are involved in risky driving behaviors. The data used for the analyses were obtained from a self-reported questionnaire survey carried out among 242 young drivers in Riyadh, the capital of the KSA. To achieve these goals, the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was adopted using SAS software package. The results indicated that exceeding the speed limit was the main reason for obtaining traffic citations by young Saudi drivers (stated by approximately 73% of participants). Additionally, running late was the main reason for being involved in risky driving behaviors while driving (62%), followed by testing the performance of the car or showing off (18%). Moreover, the results of the SEM model indicated that aggressive violations (pressing the brakes and gas pedal at the same time while driving) was the most significant factor affecting young Saudi drivers' involvement in at-fault crashes between ages 18 and 24, followed by ordinary violations (i.e., driving so close to the car in front that it would be difficult to stop in an emergency) and attitudes toward speeding. Practical suggestions on how to improve the driving behavior of young Saudi drivers and how to reduce their crash risk, along with recommendations for future studies, are also discussed.