Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Micro-hardness variation of micro-phases during spheroidisation of AISI4340 steel

Abstract AISI4340 steel is the medium carbon low-alloy steel has got excellent prominence as a construction material. This steel is spheroidised on heating to the intercritical temperature range by different time intervals with the objective of increasing the number and fineness of the spheroids of cementite particles. A 9 hours, spheroidisation shows better spheroids of cementite particles. To study the effect of initial room temperature structure on spheroidisation primary heat treatments like normalising and hardening are carried out for as-bought steel. Tensile property (yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and percentage elongation), hardness (Rockwell C scale) and micro-structural features and micro-hardness of micro-phases (ferrite and cementite) are studied. A continuous reduction in the tensile strength, hardness and improvement in ductility, is observed with the increase in spheroidisation time is observed in all the spheroidisation paths. Also, increased spheroidisation time shows a lesser aspect ratio for spheroids. The micro-structure shows partial spheroidisation in all the conditions with more number of spheroids in normalised condition and finer size in hardened. Drastic reduction in strength and hardness values are observed in the hardened condition during spheroidisation.
The Dimension of Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis of Broadness of Information in Italian Companies

In recent years, sustainability has become one of the key dimensions of business performance. The results obtained in terms of sustainability must be adequately communicated in suitable reports, the quality of which is determined by several factors. One of these, the breadth of information provided, plays a significant role. The aim of this paper is to measure the broadness of non-financial information in sustainability reports and correlate this to some selected variables that refer to corporate governance, i.e., the presence of an internal sustainability committee and of female directors; the characteristics of the report e.g., Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) citation; company features, number of employees, revenues, and Return On Assets ROA. For this purpose, 134 Italian companies were studied and a score based on the conformity of the NFD (non-financial disclosure) with the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standards was created. To test the research hypotheses, univariate analysis and multivariate regression analysis were performed. The results showed different behaviors by the companies in terms of sustainability policies. The GRISC (Global Reporting Initiative Score) has a greater concentration on mean values. Positive correlations were found between GRISC and the presence of an internal sustainability committee, SDG citation in the NFD and company size. This study offers support for policy makers and practitioners as it provides a measure of the breadth of sustainability information and relates this to the variables analyzed. The latter depend on regulatory interventions or company policies which are implemented, or could be implemented, to improve the extent of the NFD.
Journal of Applied Structural Equation Modeling A MODIFIED UTAUT IN THE CONTEXT OF M-PAYMENT USAGE INTENTION IN MALAYSIA

This study revises the existing UTAUT model and incorporates two additional variables, namely trust and convenience. In addition, the literature on the mediating effect of trust and performance expectancy in Malaysia in the context of m-payment usage intention is still limited. This study also attempts to fill the knowledge gap and examine the mediating effect of trust and performance expectancy. A total of 393 usable questionnaires were collected in Malaysia and analysed using IBM Amos version 23. The results show that convenience, trust, effort expectancy and performance expectancy are significant factors that influence the m-payment usage intention for Malaysian. Meanwhile, social influence is an insignificant factor. This study also revealed that both trust and performance expectancy play a significant role to mediate between effort expectancy and m-payment usage intention.
Analysis of Quality of Critical Thinking Skills Test Based on Item Response Theory Using R-Program

This research aims to describe the quality of critical thinking skill test of fluid mechanics material in senior high schools in Makassar City. The emphasis is the content validity aspect, the characteristics of each item for the One-Parameter Logistic (1PL) model, the Two-Parameter Logistic (2PL) model, dan the Three-Parameter Logistic (3PL) model. It is a descriptive quantitative research with the subject of all student responses to the critical thinking skills test of fluid mechanics material at senior high schools in Makassar City. There were 726 student responses. The data were collected online by google form and analyzed by using descriptive quantitative technique. The results showed that the critical thinking skill test of fluid mechanics material had fulfilled the content validity. Analysis of the quality of CTS test items showed that the models of 1PL, 2PL, and 3PL were all consistent, showing that the test items were mostly able to discriminate the high abilitytestees from the low abilitytestees. Of the three logistic model approaches used to estimate the parameters of item difficulty level, item discrimination, and guess factor, the 3PL model is better than the other twomodels.
Human versus Computer Partner in the Paired Oral Discussion Test

A challenge of large-scale oral communication assessments is to feasibly assess a broad construct that includes interactional competence. One possible approach in addressing this challenge is to use a spoken dialog system (SDS), with the computer acting as a peer to elicit a ratable speech sample. With this aim, an SDS was built and four trained human raters assessed the discourse elicited from 40 test takers that completed a paired oral task with both a human and a computer partner. The test takers were evaluated based on the analytic operational oral communication rating scales which included interactional competence, fluency, pronunciation, and grammar/vocabulary. Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated that fluency, pronunciation, and grammar and vocabulary were scored similarly across the two conditions, while interactional competence was scored substantially higher in the human partner condition. A g-study indicated that the computer partner was more reliable in assessing interactional competence, and rater questionnaire and interview data suggested the computer provided a more standardized assessment. Conversely, raters generally favored the human partner, in part because of its perceived authenticity and naturalness.
Indonesian Polyglots: Lived Experiences of Adults Learning Languages Online and Beyond the Classroom

Learning languages independently can be more accessible in today’s online environment. Polyglots, who are speakers of more than three languages, take advantage of this online learning environment to learn even more languages in Indonesia. Using transcendental phenomenology, the researchers interviewed these adult learners on their lived experience with online platforms for learning languages not traditionally spoken or used in daily life in Indonesia. Researchers found that the polyglots reported learning many foreign languages through interactive resources, receptive resources, social media, and authentic resources. Importantly, they held positive attitudes towards online learning platforms and their experiences left them with feelings of helpfulness, enjoyability, even bravery. In many cases, these polyglots often used freely available online resources to learn their foreign languages successfully. Implications include the idea that their language learner experience coupled with online opportunities can lead to successful language learning experiences.
Tariffs, Agricultural Subsidies, and the 2020 US Presidential Election

This paper provides evidence on the unintended effects of US and Chinese agricultural trade policies on the 2020 US presidential election. In response to a series of US tariffs imposed on Chinese goods, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products. The US government then subsidized US farmers by providing direct payments through the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to mitigate the Chinese retaliatory tariffs. Using the universe of actual county-level MFP disbursement data, we assess whether the incumbent strategically manipulated MFP payments in order to win votes in the 2020 presidential election. By defining net MFP as the difference between the MFP payment and the damage of the Chinese retaliatory agricultural tariff at the county level, we document that Republican-leaning counties, not swing states, saw an increase in the net MFP, providing a more nuanced picture of possible strategic manipulation. We then find that US agricultural subsidies overcompensated US voters in ways that led to an increase in the Republican vote share in the 2020 presidential election. Finally, we uncover evidence that China’s retaliatory trade policy and US agricultural policy unexpectedly exacerbated political polarization in the US, especially the rural-urban divide.
Modelling species distributions and environmental suitability highlights risk of plant invasions in western United States

Non‐native invasive plants impact ecosystems globally, and the distributions of many species are expanding. The current and potential distributions of many invaders have not been characterized at the broad scales needed for effective management. We modelled the distributions of 15 non‐native invasive grass and forb species of concern in western North America to define their environmental niches and predict potential invasion risk.
Density and morphology: from the building scale to the city scale

The density of the domestic building stock of London is explored, moving from the scale of individual house and blocks of flats, through larger geographical units, to complete boroughs. The description of the stock is highly detailed and is made using the 3DStock method, which derives building geometry from digital maps and LiDAR (laser measurements from overflying aircraft). This means that accurate estimates of floor areas can be made and used to measure densities as Floor Space Index (FSI) values. Ground coverage or Ground Space Index (GSI) values are calculated from building footprints and land boundaries. The Spacemate tool, devised by Berghauser Pont and Haupt, is used to plot the types and ages of dwellings in terms of FSI, GSI and numbers of storeys. Figures for actual annual gas and electricity consumption are attached to each dwelling. Analysis shows that, in general, energy-use intensities—and especially the intensity of gas use for heating—decrease with increasing density, and with the transition between house types, from detached, to semi-detached, to terraces, to (low-rise) flats. POLICY/PRACTICE RELEVANCE The findings should be of interest to planners and policy-makers concerned with energy use in the domestic stock, and how this may be reduced by fabric measures. The paper provides data on housing densities not previously available in the form of FSI and GSI values. Urban designers and housing architects can gain a fuller understanding of the relation of built form to density, and how these, in turn, affect energy use.
Landslide Hazard and Exposure Modelling in Data‐Poor Regions: The Example of the Rohingya Refugee Camps in Bangladesh

Landslide hazards significantly affect economies and populations around the world, but locations where the greatest proportional losses occur are in data‐poor regions where capacity to estimate and prepare for these hazards is most limited. Earth observation (EO) data can fill key knowledge gaps, and can be rapidly used in settings with lower analytical capacity. In this study, we describe a novel series of methods designed to analyze landslide susceptibility, hazard and exposure in the region in and around the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, where limited data is juxtaposed with a major humanitarian crisis. We demonstrate that a high degree of accuracy is possible even when estimating susceptibility of relatively small landslides. In the context of this example, we also explore how estimates of landslide hazard and exposure are most beneficial to decisions made by humanitarian stakeholders relevant to natural hazards and risk. The unique opportunity to work alongside humanitarian end‐users has allowed us to produce focused products that can be tested while in development. In particular, we stress the importance of communicating the difference between a landslide “early warning system”—for which satellite data may be unsuitable at local scales—and a model that provides relative hazard estimates, where EO may be valuable. The toolbox of methods presented here could be used to generate landslide hazard and exposure maps in other data‐poor regions around the globe.
Proteome-wide identification of S-sulfenylated cysteines in Brassica napus.

Deregulation of reduction-oxidation (redox) metabolism under environmental stresses results in enhanced production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which ultimately leads to post-translational modifications (PTMs) of responsive proteins. Redox PTMs play an important role in regulation of protein function and cellular signalling. By means of large-scale redox proteomics, we studied reversible cysteine modification during the response to short-term salt stress in Brassica napus. We applied an iodoacetyl tandem mass tags (iodoTMT)-based proteomic approach to analyze the redox proteome of Brassica napus seedlings under control and salt-stressed conditions. We identified 1,821 sulfenylated sites in 912 proteins from all samples. A great number of sulfenylated proteins were predicted to localize to chloroplasts and cytoplasm and GO enrichment analysis of differentially sulfenylated proteins revealed that metabolic processes such as photosynthesis and glycolysis are enriched and enzymes are overrepresented. Redox-sensitive sites in two enzymes were validated in vitro on recombinant proteins and they might affect the enzyme activity. This targeted approach contributes to the identification of the sulfenylated sites and proteins in Brassica napus subjected to salt stress and our study will improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the redox regulation in response to salt stress. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Nutrient Supplementation Configures the Bioactive Profile and Production Characteristics of Three Brassica L. Microgreens Species Grown in Peat-Based Media

Brassica L. microgreens are a fresh microscale vegetable crop of high antioxidant value and naturally dense in nutrients without the intervention of biofortification or genetic engineering. A climate chamber experiment on peat-based substrate was set up to test microgreens growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites in response to nutrient supplementation. Microgreens mineral content was analyzed through ion chromatography and total ascorbic acid through UV-Vis spectrophotometry, while carotenoids and phenolic acids were quantified by HPLC-DAD and UHPLC-HRMS, respectively. Brussels sprouts and cabbage yield was only reduced by 10%, while nitrate was reduced by 99% in the absence of nutrient supplementation. Rocket yield was prominently reduced by 47%, with a corresponding nitrate reduction of 118%. Brussels sprouts secondary metabolites were not improved by the absence of nutrient supplementation, whereas cabbage microgreens demonstrated a 30% increase in total ascorbic acid and a 12% increase in total anthocyanins. As for rocket, the absence of nutrient supplementation elicited an extensive increase in secondary metabolites, such as lutein (110%), β-carotene (30%), total ascorbic acid (58%) and total anthocyanins (20%), but caused a decrease in total phenolic acids. It is hereby demonstrated that growing microgreens on a commercial peat-based substrate without nutrient supplementation can be feasible for certain species. Moreover, it might elicit a species-dependent spike in bioactive secondary metabolites.
Study of the utilization of ex-tin mining land for agriculture: analysis of land potential and constraints faced

The reclaimed ex-mining land has the potential for agricultural development. This study aims to analyze the potential of existing tin mining land for agricultural purposes and identify the current ex-mining land status and constraints/problems in its utilization. The study was conducted in Bangka Belitung Province in 2016, with a sample of farmers who took part in ex-tin mining activities and official respondents from various institutions/agencies related to the study. Data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The study results show that in the research site, the tin mining business permit (IUP) area (in 2012) was 473.99 thousand ha and around 7,000 ha of ex-mining land has been reclaimed and allowed for planting food crop commodities. However, the community faces several problems in using the ex-mining land, namely land legal status, soil fertility, farmer resource availability, farmers’ skill in farming on ex-mining land and limited farming capital. The clarity of the legal status of the use of ex-mining land is essential to support community interest and increase the use of ex-tin mining land as well as program support from the government in the form of assistance and infrastructure for farming development.
One step synthesis of Ni/Ni(OH)2 nano sheets (NSs) and their application in asymmetric supercapacitors

Ni(OH)2 is a useful electrode material for electrochemical capacitors, due to its high theoretical specific capacitance and low cost, but its application has been limited by poor electrical conductivity. Hence, we fabricated Ni(OH)2 nano sheets (NSs) with nickel metal NPs via the hydrothermal partial reduction of Ni(II) salt by ethanol in basic medium. The significance of the basic medium (presence of KOH) and other reaction parameters and the mechanism for the formation of Ni/Ni(OH)2 NSs are elaborated. The Ni/Ni(OH)2 NSs have been used as a positive electrode in an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) with a larger voltage window using the activated carbon (AC) as a negative electrode, which resulted in high energy and power densities. By optimizing the mass ratio between AC and Ni/Ni(OH)2 NSs in the fabrication of electrodes, we found a maximum specific capacitance (CS) of 62 F g−1 at 2 mA cm−2 at a voltage of 1.65 V and observed the maximum energy and power densities of 23.45 W h kg−1 and 4598 W kg−1, respectively. The galvanostatic charge–discharge study shows high capacity retention up to 90%, even after 6000 consecutive cycles, which is a noteworthy achievement, considering the ASCs. Moreover, we believe that the presence of nickel metal in Ni/Ni(OH)2 NSs helped to reduce the charge transfer resistance (RCT), which resulted in better performance. These results certainly demonstrate that such Ni/Ni(OH)2 NSs with Ni metal NPs are promising materials for the construction of next generation aqueous ASCs with higher specific capacitance. The synthesis procedure can be applied to other transition metals to synthesize their metal/metal hydroxide composites and enhance their conductive nature, instead of using conductive substrates.
Exploring the Role of Women as Validating Agents for Latino Men in Their Transfer Success

ABSTRACT This phenomenological study explored the ways women served as validating agents for Latino men who had transferred from a community college to a four-year institution. Informed by Rendón’s theory of validation, participants expressed numerous ways in which women figures (e.g., mothers, sisters, significant others) were sources of validation across their pre and post transfer experience. Findings yielded the need for increased involvement of women in men of color initiatives, compensation for emotional labor performed by women, and engagement opportunities for women family members. The authors provide recommendations for research and practice.
Simulation study on lateral minority carrier transport in the surface inversion layer of the p-aSi:H/i-aSi:H/cSi heterojunction solar cell

The theoretical lateral current of the surface inversion layer in a crystalline silicon (cSi) surface for a p-aSi:H/i-aSi:H/cSi heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell was calculated using computer simulation and was compared with the experimental one to study defects/traps at the aSi:H/cSi interface and/or in the cSi surface and to detect the acceptor concentration (N a) in p-aSi:H. To experimentally extract the lateral surface inversion layer current, a field-effect transistor type test element group device was co-integrated with SHJ cells on the same wafer. From the correlation between the experimental and calculated lateral surface inversion layer current, the density of defects/traps (D it) at the aSi:H/cSi interface and/or in the cSi surface and the value of N a were extracted. The calculated lateral surface inversion layer current stayed unchanged for various minority carrier lifetimes in the substrate, suggesting that this method is not suffered from the variation in the material parameters in the substrate.
Confidence intervals for the expected damage in random loadings: Application to measured time-history records from a Mountain-bike

The fatigue damage of a structure is usually estimated by calculating the damage values of a limited number of measured random time-histories. The limited damage values are generally not identical due to the sampling variability. In a recent work, confidence interval expressions have been proposed to bound the expected damage value. The method revealed a good agreement with simulations, thus suggesting its use also with real measurements. The present paper investigates the above-mentioned confidence intervals for expected damage by a real engineering application, in which few measured time-history records, or even only one, are available. This goal is achieved after measuring the random loadings acting on an instrumented Mountain-bike riding in a typical north Italian off-road track. As the whole ensemble of an infinite number of time-histories is not available and the expected damage is thus not known a priori, a sort of calibrator sample damage value, which is computed using a large number of measured time-history records, is used to estimate the expected damage. The obtained results confirm the accuracy of the proposed approach also with real measurements.