Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coarsening Kinetics of a Two Phase Mixture with Highly Disparate Diffusion Mobility

The coarsening kinetics of a two-phase mixture with a large diffusional mo- bility disparity between the two phases is studied using a variable-mobility Cahn- Hilliard equation. The semi-implicit spectral numerical technique was employed, and a number of interpolation functions are considered for describing the change in diffu- sion mobility across the interface boundary from one phase to another. The coarsening rate of domain size was measured using both structure and pair correlation functions as well as the direct computation of particle sizes in real space for the case that the coarsening phase consists of dispersed particles. We discovered that the average size (R) versus time (t) follows theR 10/3 ! tlaw, in contrast to the conventional LSW theory, R 3 ! t, and the interface-diffusion dominated two-phase coarsening,R 4 ! t.
The Moderating Effect of Geographical Scope on the Relationship between Managers' Prior International Knowledge and Working Experience and International Performance in the Malaysian Halal Food Industry

This study investigates the moderating effects of geographical scope level (measured by number of regional bases) on the relationship between managers’ prior international knowledge and working experience and international performance among small and medium enterprises in the Malaysian Halal Food Industry. Previous studies have stressed that experiential knowledge is an essential resource for a firm’s internationalization process from both the traditional Stage Theory based on incremental and international entrepreneurship on born global rapid internationalization perspectives. Unfortunately, most of the studies did not empirically investigate the influence of scope level as a moderator on the relationship between international performance and managers’ prior international knowledge and working experience. The findings of this study reveal that firms that export regionally (lower scope) have lower experiential knowledge and international performance compared to firms that export globally (higher scope). As a result, there are differences in terms of the internal capability among these two types of small and medium enterprises as a source of their competitive advantage in foreign markets.
Identifying the difficulties experienced by year 10 high school students when attempting to solve genetic pedigree problems

Teachers rate genetics as one of the most difficult biology topics for high school students to understand (Finley, Stewart & Yarroch, 1982). It has been observed that some students are able to solve genetics problems using routine algorithmic methods, without understanding the basic underlying concepts (Stewart, 1982). The aim of this study was to identify the procedural errors and conceptual misunderstandings that the students had when attempting to solve genetic pedigree problems. 11 Genetic pedigrees are diagrammatic represent~tions of the members and ancestral relationships in a family (Cummings, 1991). Two male and two female students were selected from each of four Year 10 classes. They were required to solve three genetic pedigree problems, identifying the most likely mode of inheritance for each problem. The interviews were tape~recorded and transcribed, and these were fo11owed up with a debriefing session in which each subjects knowledge of the conceptual basis of these problems was probed. The results showed that many students made similar errors in procedure and many lacked the conceptual knowledge to produce meaningful solutions. The most common procedural error was the failure to falsify aJI. the possible hypotheses, which resulted in students failing to provide complete and conclusive solutions. Other procedural errors included the incorrect use of genotyp1~s. the failure to identity and correctly interpret critical patterns, and the misinterpretation of nonwcritical patterns. The conceptual misunderstandings included the lack of knowledge regarding the meanings of dominant and recessive, and the mechanisms of Xwlinkage.
The contribution of schooling to learning gains of pupils in Years 1 to 6

ABSTRACT By means of a regression-discontinuity approach with multiple cut-off points, the effects of age and schooling on learning gains in English primary schools are estimated. The analyses relate to over 3,500 pupils in 20, predominantly independently funded, schools and focus on 4 different learning outcomes. In order to take into account delayed and accelerated school careers, an intention-to-treat analysis was applied. The findings reveal substantial effects of schooling, which in line with previous studies in English primary education account for about 40% of the total learning gains. The year-to-year gains show a declining trend as the school career progresses. The analyses produce evidence for both decreasing effects of schooling on achievement and a weakening age‒achievement relationship in the higher years of primary education.
Weighing black holes from zero to high redshift

The application of the virial theorem provides a tool to estimate supermassive black hole (BH) masses in large samples of active galactic nuclei (AGN) with broad emission lines at all redshifts and luminosities, if the broad line region (BLR) is gravitationally bound. In this paper we discuss the importance of radiation forces on BLR clouds arising from the deposition of momentum by ionizing photons. Such radiation forces counteract gravitational ones and, if not taken into account, BH masses can be severely underestimated. We provide virial relations corrected for the effect of radiation pressure and we discuss their physical meaning and application. If these corrections to virial masses, calibrated with low luminosity objects, are extrapolated to high luminosities then the BLRs of most quasars might be gravitationally unbound. The importance of radiation forces in high luminosity objects must be thoroughly investigated to assess the reliability of quasar BH masses.
B-splines Coupled with Quadrature Texture to Register Prostate Multimodal Images

Needle biopsy of the prostate is guided by Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) imaging. The TRUS images do not provide proper spatial localiza- tion of malignant tissues due to the poor sensitivity of TRUS to visualize early malignancy. Magnetic Reso- nance Imaging (MRI) has been shown to be sensitive for detection of early stage malignancy and therefore, a novel 2D deformable registration method that overlays pre-biopsy MRI onto TRUS images has been proposed. Method: The registration method involves B-spline de- formations with Normalized Mutual Information (NMI) as similarity measure computed from the tex- ture images obtained from the amplitude responses of the directional quadrature filter pairs. Registration ac- curacy of the proposed method is evaluated by com- puting the Dice Similarity coefficient (DSC) and 95% Hausdorff Distance (HD) values for 20 patient datasets and Target Registration Error (TRE) for 18 patients only where homologous structures are visible in both the TRUS and transformed MR images. Results: The proposed method and B-splines using NMI computed from intensities provide average TRE values of 2.64±1.37 mm and 4.43±2.77 mm respectively. Our J. Mitra*, R. Mart'i, A. Oliver, X. Llad'o, S. Ghose Universitat de Girona,Computer Vision and Robotics Group, Girona, Spain. E-mail: jhimlimitra@yahoo.com, marly@eia.udg. edu, aoliver@eia.udg. edu, llado@eia.udg. edu, soumyaghose@gmail.com J. C. Vilanova Cl'inica Girona, Girona, Spain. E-mail: kvilanova@comg.cat F. Meriaudeau *Universit'e de Bourgogne, Le2i-UMR CNRS 5158, Le Creusot, France. E-mail: fabrice.meriaudeau@u-bourgogne.fr method shows statistically significant improvement in TRE when compared to B-spline using NMI computed from intensities with Student's t-test p = 0.02. The proposed method shows 1.18 times improvement over Thin-plate splines registration with average TRE of 3.11±2.18 mm. The mean DSC and the mean 95% HD values obtained with the proposed method of B-spline with NMI computed from texture are 0.943±0.039 and 4.75 ± 2.40 mm respectively. Conclusions: The texture energy computed from the quadrature filter pairs provides better registration ac- curacy for multimodal images than raw intensities. Low TRE values of the proposed registration method adds to the feasibility of it being used during TRUS guided biopsy.
22 – 25 October 2011 Dialogue system development for an emergency scenario

Dialogue systems are commonly used in callcentres and support the human telephone operators at their work. For the present work, a corpus linguistic study was performed, with the aim of finding patterns in dialogue which can be used to model typical dialogues, and of identifying stimuli which trigger alignment behaviours of particular types in humans. The main focus was set to alignment on the semantic level. A model of the human-computer dialogue is developed and implemented in a prototype dialogue system for an emergency scenario. The dialogue between the human and the computer is handled by two linked finite state automata (FSA): one for the dialogue manager and one for the map traversal.
Fabrication and microstrain evolution of Al-TiB2 composite coating by cold spray deposition

This paper investigates the microstructure evolution of Al-TiB2 coatings prepared by cold spraying. In situ Al-TiB2 composite powders containing uniformly distributed titanium diboride (TiB2) particles with a size range of 5–100 nm in the Al matrix and Al/Al-TiB2 blended powders were used as the cold spray feedstock for coating fabrication on aluminium alloy substrates. The microstructures of the feedstock powders and as-deposited coatings were characterised using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis and X-ray diffraction. Al/Al-TiB2 blended powder coatings, compromising closely packed powder particles, were sprayed to an approximate thickness of 500 µm. Al-TiB2 composite coatings (approximately 50 µm thick) were obtained retaining the microstructure of the composite powders being sprayed and no evidence of detrimental phase transformation was found. However, micro-cracks were found to exist in the Al-TiB2 coating due to the hardly deformable powder particles. Little or no microstrain was revealed in the as-sprayed Al-TiB2 coating, indicating that annealing may have occurred due to the localised adiabatic heating during the spraying process. It is demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate the Al-TiB2 composite coating by cold spray deposition but further improvements to eliminate coating cracking are required.
A KERNEL METHOD BASED ON TOPIC MODEL FOR VERY HIGH SPATIAL RESOLUTION (VHSR) REMOTE SENSING IMAGE CLASSIFICATION

Abstract. A kernel-based method for very high spatial resolution remote sensing image classification is proposed in this article. The new kernel method is based on spectral-spatial information and structure information as well, which is acquired from topic model, Latent Dirichlet Allocation model. The final kernel function is defined as K = u 1 K spec + u 2 K spat + u 3 K stru , in which K spec , K spat , K stru are radial basis function (RBF) and u 1 + u 2 + u 3 = 1. In the experiment, comparison with three other kernel methods, including the spectral-based, the spectral- and spatial-based and the spectral- and structure-based method, is provided for a panchromatic QuickBird image of a suburban area with a size of 900 × 900 pixels and spatial resolution of 0.6 m. The result shows that the overall accuracy of the spectral- and structure-based kernel method is 80 %, which is higher than the spectral-based kernel method, as well as the spectral- and spatial-based which accuracy respectively is 67 % and 74 %. What's more, the accuracy of the proposed composite kernel method that jointly uses the spectral, spatial, and structure information is highest among the four methods which is increased to 83 %. On the other hand, the result of the experiment also verifies the validity of the expression of structure information about the remote sensing image.
Empirical study on the determinants of fiscal vulnerability: evidence for the European Union

The aim of this paper is to study the factors that drive fiscal vulnerability in the European Union countries. For this purpose, we employ a logit model with random effects for a balanced panel comprising of 20 countries and on annual data extracted for 2000-2012. We use as a dependent a dummy variable which takes value of 1 if fiscal policy is assessed as being vulnerable, and 0, otherwise. As explanatories, we use two distinct categories which capture the intrinsic and the exogenous sources of fiscal vulnerability. The results show that higher overall taxation and non-distortionary taxes decrease the likelihood of fiscal policy to be vulnerable, whilst the size of total and of productive government expenditures contribute to an increase in the fiscal vulnerability. Tight fiscal policy has an important contribution to decrease in the fiscal vulnerability. The responsiveness of fiscal policy through discretionary actions also is more likely to reduce fiscal vulnerability than through the automatic response of stabilizers. Improved economic conditions mitigate the risk of one country to become more fiscal vulnerable, whilst large financial sector increase the probability. Tighter control of corruption will lead to a decrease in fiscal vulnerability, while stronger rule of law contributes to growth in fiscal vulnerability.
Identification of Fish in Semilabeo Genus Using Morphological Taxonomy and Molecular Biology Methods

Fish in Semilabeo genus has been listed in high risk of endangerment in the wild and some species in this genus show similar characteristics. A total of 30 fish in Semilabeo genus collected from Ha Giang, Phu Tho provinces and Research Institutes for Aquaculture No1 (RIA1), Viet Nam was classified using morphological taxonomy and molecular biology methods. The results revealed that the morphological analysis identified 2 species in the genus of Semilabeo, S. obscurus (Peters, 1881) and Semilabeo obscurus (Lin, 1881). The molecular method using COI sequences revealed highly similar results between Ha Giang and Phu Tho groups but were differ from the group collected in RIA1. Based on BLAST result, COI gene sequences of samples collected in Ha Giang and Phu Tho were homogenous with those of Semilabeo notabilis species 99-100%, whereas, RIA1 group showed high similarity with Semilabeo obscurus. Besides, genetic distance and Neighbor-Joining tree view using COI indicate the two species: 1) Semilabeo notabilis (Peters, 1881) and 2) Semilabeo obscurus (Lin, 1881). In this study, the two analysis using morphological taxonomy and molecular biology showed the same findings in term of species identification for fish in Semilabeo genus collected in some areas in Viet Nam.
Improving Species Distribution Modelling of freshwater invasive species for management applications

Freshwater ecosystems rank among the most endangered ecosystems in the world and are under increasing threat from aquatic invasive species (AIS). Understanding the range expansion of AIS is key for mitigating their impacts. Most approaches rely on Species Distribution Models (SDMs) to predict the expansion of AIS, using mainly environmental variables, yet ignore the role of human activities in favouring the introduction and range expansion of AIS. In this study, we use five SDM algorithms (independently and in ensemble) and two accuracy measures (TSS, AUC), combined with a null modelling approach, to assess the predictive performance of the models and to quantify which predictors (environmental and anthropogenic from the native and introduced regions) best explain the distribution of nine freshwater invasive species (including fish, arthropods, molluscs, amphibians and reptiles) in a large island (Great Britain), and which species characteristics affect model performance. Our results show that the distribution of invasive species is difficult to predict by SDMs, even in cases when TSS and AUC model accuracy values are high. Our study strongly advocates the use of null models for testing SDMs performance and the inclusion of information from the native area and a variety of both human-related and environmental predictors for a more accurate modelling of the range expansion of AIS. Otherwise, models that only include climatic variables, or rely only on standard accuracy measures or a single algorithm, might result in mismanagement of AIS.
Fuel Use during Exercise at Altitude in Women with Glucose–Fructose Ingestion

ABSTRACT Purpose This study compared the coingestion of glucose and fructose on exogenous and endogenous substrate oxidation during prolonged exercise at terrestrial high altitude (HA) versus sea level, in women. Method Five women completed two bouts of cycling at the same relative workload (55% Wmax) for 120 min on acute exposure to HA (3375 m) and at sea level (~113 m). In each trial, participants ingested 1.2 g·min−1 of glucose (enriched with 13C glucose) and 0.6 g·min−1 of fructose (enriched with 13C fructose) before and every 15 min during exercise. Indirect calorimetry and isotope ratio mass spectrometry were used to calculate fat oxidation, total and exogenous carbohydrate oxidation, plasma glucose oxidation, and endogenous glucose oxidation derived from liver and muscle glycogen. Results The rates and absolute contribution of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation was significantly lower at HA compared with sea level (effect size [ES] > 0.99, P < 0.024), with the relative exogenous carbohydrate contribution approaching significance (32.6% ± 6.1% vs 36.0% ± 6.1%, ES = 0.56, P = 0.059) during the second hour of exercise. In comparison, no significant differences were observed between HA and sea level for the relative and absolute contributions of liver glucose (3.2% ± 1.2% vs 3.1% ± 0.8%, ES = 0.09, P = 0.635 and 5.1 ± 1.8 vs 5.4 ± 1.7 g, ES = 0.19, P = 0.217), and muscle glycogen (14.4% ± 12.2% vs 15.8% ± 9.3%, ES = 0.11, P = 0.934 and 23.1 ± 19.0 vs 28.7 ± 17.8 g, ES = 0.30, P = 0.367). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in total fat oxidation between HA and sea level (66.3 ± 21.4 vs 59.6 ± 7.7 g, ES = 0.32, P = 0.557). Conclusions In women, acute exposure to HA reduces the reliance on exogenous carbohydrate oxidation during cycling at the same relative exercise intensity.
EXPRESSION AND PURIFICATION OF CRY8DA RECOMBINANT PROTEIN AGAINST COLEOPTERAN INSECTS OF BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS IN E. COLI

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is widely used in agriculture for pest control against Lepidoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera orders. It is very difficult to control of Coleoptera pests such as larvae of Scarabaeidae family, which damage the roots of tusf grass and other horticultural and agricultural plants, because they are living in soil where sprayable insecticidal formulation is hard to reach the target insects. The Cry8-type proteins specified to larvae of scarab beetles. The Cry8-type proteins are insecticidal to larvae of scarab beetles. Bacillus thuringiensis Cry8D (Cry8Da, Cry8Db) insecticidal proteins are unique among Cry8 family protein in terms of its insecticidal activity against larvae and adult Scarab beetles, such as Japanese beetle (Anomala cuprea, Popillia japonica). In this study, cry8Da gene encoding nature protein Cry8Da, which were isolated in Vietnam, was expressed in E. coli. The 2031 bp of cry8Da gene is digested from recombinant plasmid pGEM-cry8Da with BamHI va sacI and ligated into pET32a(+) vector treated with the same enzymes. The recombinant plasmids pET32a(+)-cry8Da were expressed in BL21(DE3)LysS strain under induction of IPTG. The highest level for expression of Cry8Da recombinant E. coli has been obtained after induction by 1 mM IPTG at 30 0C for 4 hrs. Recombinant Cry8Da protein has molecular mass about 96 kDa and purified by Ni(2+) affinity chromatography column, concentration 0,45 mg/ml after purification. The expressed recombinant Cry8Da protein was confirmed by Western blot using anti-Cry8Da antibody.
Contribution of the Information Technology Audit in Achieving the Quality of the Electronic Accounting System: Evidence from the Algerian Banking Sector

The banking sector occupies a central position in the economy. This consideration stems from the roles and the responsibilities assumed by this institution. Therefore, the consolidation of the system comprising the banking and other financial institutions by all kinds of technology and information becomes more than a necessity in an attempt to improve the quality of the services provided in one hand and to strengthen the banking organization per se at the other. The latter objective is ensured by different mechanisms. One of these is the auditing mechanism. The paper sheds light on the impact of the information technology audit in increasing the quality of the bank accounting system. The study shows that the acquisition of the modern technology is not based only on feasibility, but in response to the requirement of the competition and the customers' satisfaction.
The African Credit Trap

We put forward a plausible explanation of African financial underdevelopment in the form of a bad credit market equilibrium. Utilising an appropriately modified IO model of banking, we show that the root of the problem could be unchecked moral hazard (strategic loan defaults) or adverse selection (a lack of good projects). We provide empirical evidence from a large panel of African banks which suggests that loan defaults are a major factor inhibiting bank lending when the quality of regulation is poor. We also find that once a threshold level of regulatory quality has been reached, improvements in the default rate or regulatory quality do not matter, providing support for our theoretical predictions.
A comparative study between PMFSM and HEFSM with iron flux bridges for HEV applications

Nowadays, research and development of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) become popular in effort to reduce the pollutant emissions that can cause global warming due to demand of personal transportation. One example of successfully developed electric machines for HEVs is interior permanent magnet synchronous machines (IPMSMs). However, IPMSM design tends to be difficult because the permanent magnet (PM) is embedded in the rotor core and also the distributed armature winding. Therefore, a new machine known as flux switching machine (FSMs) which categorized in three groups is proposed with advantage of robust rotor structure which suitable for high speed applications. Thus, a new structure of 12S-10P PMFSM is introduced and investigated. However, this machine has some drawbacks and influence in term of performances, 12S-10P PMFSM have been transformed to 12S-10P and 12S-14P with additional FEC. In addition, iron flux bridges is introduced, due to the developed C-Type HEFSMs has a problem of separated stator core which lead to difficulty in manufacturing design as well as flux leakage to the outer stator. In this research, performance of PMFSM and HEFSM are analyzed and compared by 2D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using JMAG Designer ver.13. 0, released by Japanese Research Institute (JRI). In order to achieve the target performance, deterministic optimization method is applied to improve the initial design. As a conclusion, HEFSM design has successfully achieved the target and power similar with IPMSM used in Prius „07 specifications. This machine can also be employed in motor with robust condition due to its high mechanical strength as well as high revolution speed such as a hybrid electric vehicle.