Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INFLUENCE OF TACK WELDS DISTRIBUTION AND WELDING SEQUENCE ON THE ANGULAR DISTORTION OF TIG WELDED JOINT

In this paper the influence of tack welds distribution and welding sequence on angular distortion of the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welded joint was tested. Additionally, the effect of welding current on angular distortion was assessed. For research X2CrTiNb18 (AISI 441) stainless steel (2.5 mm thick) was chosen. During research specimens were prepared with different distributions of tack welds. Then they were welded by different welding sequences with the use of different welding current values. After welding the angular distortion of each specimen was measured by using the coordinate measuring machine. In the next step specimens were cut. Cross-sections were polished and the metallographic macroscopic testing was conducted to check the geometry of performed welds. Performed experiments allowed determining the optimal tack weld sequence and welding parameters for welding thin stainless steel sheets.
Precise and Accurate In Situ Determination of Lead Isotope Ratios in NIST, USGS, MPI‐DING and CGSG Glass Reference Materials using Femtosecond Laser Ablation MC‐ICP‐MS

Lead isotope ratio data were obtained with good precision and accuracy using a 266 nm femtosecond laser ablation (fLA) system connected to a multi‐collector ICP‐MS (MC‐ICP‐MS) and through careful control of analytical procedures. The mass fractionation coefficient induced by 266 nm femtosecond laser ablation was approximately 28% lower than that by 193 nm excimer laser ablation (eLA) with helium carrier gas. The exponential law correction method for Tl normalisation with optimum adjusted Tl ratio was utilised to obtain Pb isotopic data with good precision and accuracy. The Pb isotopic ratios of the glass reference materials NIST SRM 610, 612, 614; USGS BHVO‐2G, BCR‐2G, GSD‐1G, BIR‐1G; and MPI‐DING GOR132‐G, KL2‐G, T1‐G, StHs60/80‐G, ATHO‐G and ML3B‐G were determined using fLA‐MC‐ICP‐MS. The measured Pb isotopic ratios were in good agreement with the reference or published values within 2s measurement uncertainties. We also present the first high‐precision Pb isotopic data for GSE‐1G, GSC‐1G, GSA‐1G and CGSG‐1, CGSG‐2, CGSG‐4 and CGSG‐5 glass reference materials obtained using the femtosecond laser ablation MC‐ICP‐MS analysis technique.
A Lightweight Mobile Outdoor Augmented Reality Method Using Deep Learning and Knowledge Modeling for Scene Perception to Improve Learning Experience

ABSTRACT Mobile augmented reality (AR) technology creates realistic learning situations and a strong sense of immersion, which is conducive to enhance learning experience and stimulate learning motivation. However, existing mobile outdoor augmented reality applications generally have a complicated operation process and a mismatch between learning resources and corresponding scenes, which leads to a poor learning experience. Therefore, we propose a lightweight mobile outdoor AR method that combines deep learning and knowledge modeling to perceive learning scenes with a goal to improve learning experience. This method improves the accuracy of scene perception and resources retrieval and provides a convenient mobile AR technology solution for outdoor learning. To evaluate the proposed method, we provide objective criteria to assess the effectiveness of the lightweight object detection model and the learning resources retrieval approach. Simultaneously, we investigate the evaluation of participants majoring in teacher education on the usability of the proposed method by the modified system usability scale questionnaire and net promoter score. Experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves high detection accuracy, good usability, and is of great significance to improve outdoor learning experience.
Medical Electronic Prescription for Home Respiratory Care Services (PEM-CRD) at a Portuguese University Tertiary Care Centre (2014–2018): A Case Study

Home respiratory care (HRC) is the provision of healthcare services at the place of residence of patients or their families, with the aim of meeting needs mainly resulting from chronic respiratory conditions, permanent disability, or terminal illness. In 2016, an innovative electronic prescription system, PEM-CRD, was fully implemented for HRC services in Portugal. To date, no study has addressed the impact of the execution of this digital innovation. For this purpose, we carried out an analysis of the prevalence and number of prescriptions for people with chronic respiratory diseases receiving HRC in the Lisbon metropolitan area, during 2014–2018, using the information obtained from the PEM-CRD database. The data analysis shows that while the number of patients receiving HRC treatment with a prescription has remained stable over the last four years, the number of prescriptions has significantly dropped since 2016 (2016–2018), with consequent paper and processes efficiency. The implementation of the digital Medical Electronic Prescription for Home Respiratory Care tool (PEM-CRD) and consequent dematerialization of these processes has increased the efficiency of prescribing in HRC. Additionally, the possibility of obtaining data through the PEM-CRD allows the monitoring of the evolving prevalence of therapies, improving the health services optimization and allowing reporting on data other than medicines.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLE AND HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Engagement, an important concept in the determination of overall employee output, has become an important factor within the healthcare sector, and in light of various challenges facing employees, such as high workloads and long working hours, engagement also plays a significant role in ensuring improved healthcare output. Meanwhile, leadership, which plays a major role in guiding and influencing employees toward goal achievement, is the driving force behind employee engagement. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the nature of the relationship between three different leadership techniques—transformational, transactional and passive avoidant—and employee engagement in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) healthcare sector. Research has shown that transactional and transformational leadership have the highest level of impact on employee engagement as a result of the role leaders play in the inspiration and stimulation of employees. The methodology applied to examine this statement involved a random selection of 84 health employees from three PNG hospitals: ANGAU Memorial Provincial Hospital, Mount Hagen General Hospital and Port Moresby General Hospital. A correlation analysis of the quantitative research methodology was then applied to evaluate the relationship between key variables in the collected data. A final analysis of results revealed that, within the PNG healthcare sector, transformational and transactional leadership both have a positive relationship with employee engagement, while passive avoidant leadership has a negative relationship with employee engagement.
The Cost of Production in Elicitation Studies and the Legacy Bias-Consensus Trade off

Gesture elicitation studies are a popular means of gaining valuable insights into how users interact with novel input devices. One of the problems elicitation faces is that of legacy bias, when elicited interactions are biased by prior technologies use. In response, methodologies have been introduced to reduce legacy bias. This is the first study that formally examines the production method of reducing legacy bias (i.e., repeated proposals for a single referent). This is done through a between-subject study that had 27 participants per group (control and production) with 17 referents placed in a virtual environment using a head-mounted display. This study found that over a range of referents, legacy bias was not significantly reduced over production trials. Instead, production reduced participant consensus on proposals. However, in the set of referents that elicited the most legacy biased proposals, production was an effective means of reducing legacy bias, with an overall reduction of 11.93% for the chance of eliciting a legacy bias proposal.
External validation and comparison of simple tools to screen for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese community population

Background Various noninvasive tools based on anthropometric indicators, blood lipids, and liver enzymes, etc. have been developed to screen for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with different diagnostic performance and cutoff values among studies. We aimed to validate and compare eight NAFLD-related models developed by simple indicators and to define their cutoff values in Chinese community population. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in a health examination cohort of 3259 people. NAFLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography. General, anthropometric and biochemical data were collected. Fatty liver index (FLI), fatty liver disease index (FLD), Zhejiang University index (ZJU), lipid accumulation product (LAP), regression formula of controlled attenuation parameter (CAP), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), triglyceride and glucose index (TyG), and visceral adiposity index (VAI) were calculated. The accuracy and cutoff points to detect NAFLD were evaluated by area under the receiver operator characteristic curve and the maximum Youden index analysis, respectively. A head-to-head comparison between these models and Decision Curve Analysis (DCA) was conducted. Results In eight noninvasive diagnostic models of NAFLD, AUCs of FLI and FLD for NAFLD were higher than those of other models in the whole (0.852 and 0.852), male (0.826 and 0.824), and female (0.897 and 0.888) population, respectively. DCA showed that FLI, FLD, and ZJU have higher net benefit to screen for NAFLD compared to other models. Conclusions FLI and FLD could be the most accurate and applicable of eight models for the noninvasive diagnosis of NAFLD in both male and female groups.
Crystal Structures of Tetrakis‐(4‐chlorophenylthio)‐butatriene and Tetrakis‐(tert‐butylthio)‐butatriene

Abstract Tetrakis‐(4‐chlorophenylthio)‐butatriene (3a) and tetrakis‐(tert‐butylthio)‐butatriene (3b) were synthesized, and their crystal structures were determined. The compound 3a is monoclinic, space group P21/c, a=6.9785(8), b=8.6803(9), c=22.884(2) Å, β=93.887(6)o, V=1383.0(3) Å3, Z=2. The compound 3b is monoclinic, space group P21/n, a=11.0615(6), b=10.8507(4), c=11.2717(6) Å, β =116.427(2)o, V=1211.5(1) Å3, Z=4. The title compounds 3a and 3b reside on an inversion center so that only half of the molecule is crystallographically unique. Both compounds are not planar. The crystal structures of 3a and 3b have cumulated double bonds. The C7–C8–C8i and C5–C6–C6i angles that show the linearity in both structures, respectively, are 176.4(3)° in 3a and 175.6(2)° in 3b.
A Comparative Study on Adsorbing Gaseous Formaldehyde with Novel Biomass Activated Carbons from Agriculture Wastes at Ambient Temperature

To remove gaseous formaldehyde (HCHO) and rationally utilize agriculture wastes, chemical activation method using ZnCl2 as activating agent was employed to develop high-class biomass activated carbons (BACs) derived from agricultural straws for HCHO removal at ambient temperature. Proximate analysis and ultimate analysis testified that these agricultural straws were appropriate BACs precursors. BACs’ physicochemical properties were characterized by BET, SEM, FTIR and TGA, which demonstrated BACs with large specific surface area had the potential as ideal adsorbents. Systemic tests investigated the effects of activating agent (ZnCl2) and the concentrations of O2 and HCHO on adsorption performances of BACs, and compared them with two commercial activated carbons (CACs). Results showed ZnCl2 brought enormously positive effects but O2 had a prohibitive effect on the adsorption performance. BACs exhibited better performance than CACs, and BACM (BAC derived from maize straw) could obtain more than 80% removal efficiency under 1ppm HCHO after 40h. Desorption and regeneration tests were conducted to evaluate the security of the adsorbent and recycle regenerated adsorbent. The desorption temperature all above 50°C could ensure use security indoors. Saturated BACM through 1 or 2 run regeneration still exhibited better adsorption performance compared with virgin CAC from coal, indicating that the regeneration was significantly meaningful in practical application.
Exploring the Role of Stakeholder Dynamics in Residential Photovoltaic Adoption Decisions: A Synthesis of the Literature

Despite the intensive research on residential photovoltaic adoption, there is a lack of understanding regarding the social dynamics that drive adoption decisions. Innovation diffusion is a social process, whereby communication structures and the relations between sender and receiver influence what information is perceived and how it is interpreted. This paper addresses this research gap by investigating stakeholder influences in household decision-making from a procedural perspective, so-called stakeholder dynamics. A literature review derives major influence dynamics which are then synthesized based on egocentric network maps for distinct process stages. The findings show a multitude of stakeholders that can be relevant in influencing photovoltaic adoption decisions of owner-occupied households. Household decision-makers are mainly influenced by stakeholders of their social network like family, neighbors, and friends as well as PV-related services like providers and civil society groups. The perceived closeness and likeability of a stakeholder indicate a higher level of influence because of greater trust involved. Furthermore, the findings indicate that social influence shifts gradually from many different stakeholders to a few core stakeholders later on in the decision-making process. These insights suggest that photovoltaic (PV) adoption may be more reliably predicted if a process perspective is taken into account that not only distinguishes between different stakeholders but considers their dynamic importance along the process stages. In addition, especially time- and location-bound factors affect the influence strength. This clearly shows the importance of local and targeted interventions to accelerate the uptake.
Lumen: A Case Study of Designing for Sustainable Energy Communities through Ambient Feedback

Within sustainable HCI research, we see a growing interest to study how designing interactive technology can improve the utilisation of renewable energy resources. In this case study, we explore the concept of energy communities and how technology can be designed to support people to cooperate around transitioning to a more sustainable use of electricity. To do so, we designed the Lumen prototype, which aims to support a small energy community in shifting domestic energy-consuming practices to align with times of high availability of sustainable energy. By creating awareness of current and future sustainable energy availability through an ambient feedback display, the Lumen prototype informs households about the community’s consumption patterns. To obtain insights into how people understand and experience an energy community, we conducted a qualitative field study with three Danish households. Through our study, we found sustainable awareness and incentives materialised in the ambient display were amplified by the dynamics of the community. We conclude by discussing future directions for exploring how to design technology for energy communities.
Dielectric relaxation and conductivity studies on (PEO:LiClO4) polymer electrolyte with added ionic liquid [BMIM][PF6]: Evidence of ion–ion interaction

Polymer electrolytes, (PEO:LiClO4)+x IL (1-Buty-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate) with varying concentration of IL; x = 0,5,10,15,20 wt % have been prepared by solution cast technique and characterized by X-Ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetery, FTIR, conductivity and dielectric relaxation measurements in the frequency range of 100 Hz–5 MHz. Temperature dependence of relaxation frequency and conductivity were found to be typical of thermally activated process both at T > Tm and T < Tm. Composition dependence of conductivity, dielectric relaxation, and degree of crystallinity has also been studied. On addition of IL, the degree of crystallinity after a decrease at 5 wt % IL increases slightly at 10 wt % and then finally decreasing. Variation of conductivity and relaxation frequency with composition could only be partly explained on the basis of variation of degree of crystallinity. An additional feature of ion–ion interaction (contact ion pair formation between IL or salt cations and their associated anions) has been invoked which was supported by FTIR studies. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011
Crack propagation studies in strain hardened concrete using acoustic emission and digital image correlation investigations

Abstract The crack formation, propagation and failure mechanism of concrete are very complex. Incorporation of fibers complicates it further, alters the damage characteristics of concrete. There is a consistent effort to impart the strain hardening properties, for which the special type of chemical fibers (Polyvinyl alcohol, PVA) is found to be very promising. Presently, an attempt has been made to understand the damage mechanisms of PVA fibers incorporated concrete (with three fibre dosages (0%, 1%, 2%) subjected to flexural loading using both contact (Acoustic Emission, AE) and noncontact (Digital Image Correlation, DIC) techniques. The advantages of AE which provides information on internal cracking and DIC which provides surface crack characteristics information are suitably exploited in this study. It was found that the combined use of both techniques has the potential to investigate the crack bridging phenomenon, to analyse the damage progression during loading, and to identify the critical failure mechanism and damage classification.
The Innovative Trend Analysis Applied to Annual and Seasonal Rainfall in the Tafna Watershed (Algeria)

Abstract This study analyzes the temporal variability of seasonal and annual rainfall in the Tafna watershed (Northwest Algeria), using a homogeneous monthly rainfall database from 17 stations of 46 years of observation (1970-2015). Possible trends in seasonal and annual variations in rainfall were detected using the innovative trend analysis (ITA), which identifies trends in the low, medium and high values of a series. The results obtained indicate that seasonal rainfall showed a decreasing trend in winter and spring, while increasing trend is detected in summer and autumn. Low and high values categories are the most affected by the decrease in winter, while for spring it is the medium and high values, which are affected. In addition, spring showed the greatest decrease in arithmetic average and standard deviation. On the other hand, summer and autumn, present a growing trend affecting the low and high values, while in autumn, these are the medium and high values. Summer recorded the maximum increase in arithmetic average and standard deviation, and may present a flooding risk in future. Annually, a decreasing trend dominate. Most stations are marked by a decrease in their annual arithmetic means and standard deviation.
Medical Image Segmentation based on Fully Convolutional Network and Minimizing Energy Between Curves

Energy between curves of image has useful for object contour. The edge map is an important task for recognition. The shape that is found by linking between edges will clearly present the useful information of objects. The aim of medical image segmentation is the representation of a medical image into small pieces. In this process, feature extraction must adapt with edge map completely. This paper proposed a solution for medical image segmentation based on fully convolutional network with gradient vector flow snake in bandelet domain. Our approach depends on decomposition in bandelet domain and reconstruction in contour detection by fully convolutional network combining with gradient vector flow snake. To improve the accuracy of the feature's extraction processing, the proposed method detected the edge map in bandelet domain by using fully convolutional network. And its reconstructed objects contour by using gradient vector flow snake combined with the boundary condition. The results of the proposed method have the segmentation clearly with small details of medical images in high-quality and low-quality cases.
The Role of Agricultural Extension in Cocoa Production and Livelihood of Farmers in Meme Division, Cameroon

Agriculture is important not only for its supply of food but also for its provision of raw materials. Cocoa is a lucrative cash crop grown in kumba, Meme Division of Cameroon. Given the importance of the crop to farm communities and the economy of Cameroon, agricultural extension has key roles to enhance production through information dissemination and adoption of innovations. This survey thus assess the role of agricultural extension in cocoa production and the livelihood of farmers in Meme Division. Through simple random sampling technique, 137 farmers were selected from the population of 210 registered cocoa farmers in the study area. A questionnaire made up of open and close ended questions was the instrument for primary data collection. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS and results revealed that 90% of the farmers were married men and 60% were of the age 35-49 years. Also, 74% of the respondents had been into cocoa farming for more Original Research Article Taku et al.; AJAEES, 38(11): 58-65, 2020; Article no.AJAEES. 63085 59 than 10 years, signifying that their livelihood depend on it. A low level of education is observed with 55% of them attaining only primary education. Moreover, 64% are small farm holders with 68% acknowledging use of family labor for production activities. Results further show that agricultural extension plays an essential role in cocoa production as 92% affirmed that extension provided information, knowledge and technical skills for capacity building and empowerment using Farmers Field School (FFS) and Farmers Business School (FBS) approaches. To 96%, extension initiates diffusion and adoption of innovations and organizes credits and market linkages (87%). Another 89%, were confirmative that extension liaise projects under the Program for the Improvement of Competitiveness of Family Agro-Pastoral Farms (with French acronym ACEFA) to accompany the farmers. Conclusively, extension service delivery empowers and ensures livelihood of farmers.
Race, Racial Negativity, and Competing Conceptions of American National Identity

This study explores differences among African Americans, Latinos, and whites regarding which attributes are most important to being truly American and how these competing conceptions relate to an individual’s level of racial animus toward African Americans. Using nationally representative survey data, we first find that Americans of different races vary across six different components of national identity and do so in ways consistent with theorizing on symbolic racism and inter-group conflict. Specifically, Americans place more importance on those components shared with indivduals of the same race. We then analyze how these differing beliefs about national identity influence racial animus. Here, we find robust evidence that individuals who prioritize the ascriptive, exclusive elements of national identity are more racist, while individuals who embrace its most inclusive element are less so. Finally, we reveal that the relationship between conceptions of national identity and racism is moderated substantially by race, and this robust relationship for whites and Latinos is virtually identical.