Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing Knowledge for Real World Problem Scenarios using 3D Gaming Technology within a Problem-Based Learning Framework

Problem-based learning is an instructional strategy that emphasises active and experiential learning through problem-solving activity. Using gaming technologies to embed this approach in a three-dimensional (3D) simulation environment provides users with a dynamic, responsive, visually engaging, and cost effective learning experience. Representing real world problems in 3D simulation environments develops knowledge and skills that are applicable to their resolution. The Simulation, User, and Problem-based Learning (SUPL) Design Framework was developed to inform the design of learning environments which develop problem-solving knowledge for real world application. This framework identifies design factors relative to the user, the problem-solving task, and the 3D simulation environment which facilitate the transfer, development, and application of problem-solving knowledge. To assess the validity of the SUPL Design Framework, the Fires in Underground Mines Evacuation Simulator (FUMES) was developed to train mining personnel in emergency evacuation procedures at the Challenger gold mine in South Australia. Two groups of participants representing experienced and novice personnel were utilised to ascertain the effectiveness of FUMES as a training platform in this regard. Findings demonstrated that FUMES accurately represented emergency evacuation scenarios in the Challenger mine. Participants were able to utilise existing real world knowledge in FUMES to resolve emergency evacuation problem-solving tasks and develop new knowledge. The effectiveness of the SUPL Design Framework was also demonstrated, as was the need to design learning environments to meet the learning needs of users rather than merely as static simulations of real world problems. A series of generalisable design guidelines were also established from these findings which could be applied to design problem-based learning simulations in other training contexts.
Data mining in biomedical imaging, signaling, and systems

Data Mining of Acoustical Properties of Speech as Indicators of Depression Kumara Shama Ananthakrishna, V. P. Bhandary, K. B. Kumar, and U. C. Niranjan Artificial Neural Network Based ECG Arrhythmia Classification H. Haseena, Paul K. Joseph, and Abraham T. Mathew Human Reflexive Response and its Objective Function Regarding Balance Recovery From Perturbation During Walking Yu Yikemoto, Wenwei Yu, and Rajendra Acharya U Automatic Identification of Epileptic EEG Signals Using Nonlinear Parameters Rajendra Acharya U Data Mining Approach to Classify the Pathological Images in Databases Using Color Image Analysis, Keerthana Prasad, Muktha Pai, and Gopalakrishna Prabhu Discovery of Association Among Diseases in the Upper Gastro Intestinal Tract Using Data Mining Techniques, S. S. Saraf, G. R. Udupi, Santosh D. Hajare Data Analysis Techniques Applied to Metabolomics: Analysis and Classification of Migraine Patterns, Pierangela Giustetto, Filippo Molinari, William Liboni, Cecilia Castro, and Cesare Manetti System Engineering Principles in the Design of Biomedical Systems Oliver Faust, Bernard Sputh, and Rajendra Acharya U Feature Classification Methods for Knowledge Discovery in Mammograms Sumeet Dua and Harpreet Singh Mining of Imaging Biomarkers for Quantitative Evaluation of Osteosrthritis Xian Du and Sumeet Dua Typicality Measure and the Creation of Predictive Models in Biomedicine Mila Kwiatkowska, Krzysztof Kielan, Najib T. Ayas, and C. Frank Ryan Automatic Segmentation Methods and Applications to Biofilm Image Analysis Dario Rojas, Luis Rueda, Homero Urrutia, Alioune Ngom, and Gerardo Carcamo On Clustering Gene Expression Time-Series Signals Numanul Subhani, Luis Ruedal, and Alioune Ngoml Multi-Scale Method For Biomedical Image Segmentation Michael K. Dessauerl and Sumeet Dual
The Effectiveness o f Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) in the Executive Agencies: the Case of the National Bureau Of Statistics (NBS)

This dissertation is a summary of my findings on the effectiveness of open performance review and appraisal system (aPRAS) in the executive agencies, the case study of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The NBS is one of the Governments Executive Agencies established under the Executive Agencies Act No. 30 of 1997 and was officially launched on 26th March, 2009. The hypothesis is premised on the fact that, where as the NBS has 151 permanent and pensionable Staff, about fifty percent of them have not filled the aPRAS Forms as required by the President's Office, Public Service Management. The first possible cause for non compliance or poor compliance to OPRAS implementation is due to lack of training on how to fill in the OPRAS Forms, The second factor may be due to lack of effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism for aPRAS implementation process. I conducted my study for the purpose of substantiating the mentioned factors as well as other causative factors. During the study data collection was done through administering of questionnaires to 50 employees from the NBS. This study used purposive sampling for key employees such as Directors, Heads of Departments and Heads of sections within the NBS. The study revealed that, 59.5% of the respondents ( 25) were within the middle management level, 19.1% of the respondents (8) were within the lower management level, while 21.4% of the respondents (9) were within the top management level. The study also revealed that, the organization did not put in place an action plan for training its Staff at all levels on the importance and how to fill in the OPRAS Forms. This was evidenced by 54.8% of the respondents (23) who indicated that they very much agreed that, the NBS Staff at all levels needed training in OPRAS. This was also supported by 21.4% of the respondents who agreed with the statement. The study reveled further that, the organization lacked an effective mechanism for monitoring implementation of OPRAS. This was evidenced by 60% of the respondents (25) who very much voiced concern on this issue. According to Brian, J (2002), "The essence of management is learning how to achieve results through other people". In view of this, until you learn to make the most of people resources through supervision your success will be limited. Based on the above explanation, it is recommended that, in order to ensure effective employee performance appraisal, employees need to be trained before implementing OPRAS. Furthermore, it is important to put in place monitoring and evaluation mechanism during implementation process
The Rails Way

The Bible for Rails Development: Now Fully Updated for Rails 4.1 When I read The Rails Way for the first time, I felt like I truly understood Rails for the first time. From the Foreword by Steve Klabnik Ruby on Rails 4 is leaner, tighter, and even more valuable to professional web developers. More than ever, it helps you focus on what matters most: delivering business value via clean and maintainable code. The Rails 4 Way is the only comprehensive, authoritative guide to delivering production-quality code with Rails 4. Kevin Faustino joins pioneering Rails developer Obie Fernandez to illuminate the entire Rails 4 API, including its most powerful and modern idioms, design approaches, and libraries. They present extensive new and updated content on security, performance, caching, Haml, RSpec, Ajax, the Asset Pipeline, and more. Through detailed code examples, youll dive deep into the Rails 4 code base, discover why Rails is designed as it is, and learn how to make it do exactly what you want. Proven in dozens of production systems, this books techniques will maximize your productivity and help you build more successful solutions. Youll want to keep this guide by your computeryoull refer to it constantly. This guide will help you Build powerful, scalable REST-compliant APIs Program complex program flows using Action Controller Represent models, relationships, CRUD operations, searches, validation, callbacks, and more Smoothly evolve application database schema via Migrations Apply advanced Active Record techniques: single-table inheritance, polymorphic models, and more Create visual elements with Action View and partials Optimize performance and scalability with view caching Master the highly productive Haml HTML templating engine Make the most of Rails approach to session management Secure your systems with Rails 4s improved authentication and authorization Resist SQL Injection, XSS, XSRF, and other attacks Extend Rails with popular gems and plugins, and learn to write your own Integrate email services with Action Mailer Use Ajax via Rails 4 support for unobtrusive JavaScript Improve responsiveness with background processing Leverage Asset Pipeline to simplify development, improve perceived performance, and reduce server burdens Accelerate implementation and promote maintainability with RSpec
Offset dual-patch microstrip antenna

The characteristics of aperture-coupled dual-patch rectangular microstrip antennas with an air gap between the substrates supporting the two patches are studied experimentally. It is demonstrated that further improvement in input SWR bandwidth can be obtained by offsetting, or allowing a horizontal displacement for, the upper patch with respect to the lower patch. Measurements on gain and radiation patterns are also presented.
Empirical investigation on adoption and adaptation of agile practices

Context: Agile practices have created its own mark on recent software development strategies. The significance of agile core values and principles attracted several organizations towards agile software development. Agile methods incorporate core values & principles, whereas agile practices define how agile methods are implemented in practice. However, it is still unclear, which combinations of agile practices are adopted in practice and how are they adapted. Objectives: In this research, our main aim is to find the combinations of agile practices that are most commonly adopted in practice, which includes identifying the practices which mostly appear together and finding the evidences for adaptations of agile practices. Methods: We have developed a survey to collect empirical evidence regarding agile practice adoption and adaptation. The survey is based on a framework consisting of a set of questions to determine agile practice adoption and adaptation. The framework was validated with researchers and practitioners through interviews. In order to identify the practices and possible adaptations we conducted a literature review. The sample population of the survey includes primarily project managers, developers, agile coaches and system types includes majority of information systems, commercial type of software, outsourced and embedded. Results: We have collected 109 responses with the survey. It is important to make the tradeoff between the length of the survey and quality of the responses, so, we needed to pose many questions with regard to the ways how the practices are tailored/adapted. We found that there are certain practices which were given highest priority and mostly appear together, certain practices appears only with particular combinations of practices. Regarding practice adaptations, the empirical findings show the adaptations of each individual practice. Moreover, regarding employee and customer satisfaction, the results indicate that there is a significant level of satisfied employees and customers with agile software development. A conceptual model of agile practices and performance is developed and presented to make a better understanding of implications for practice. Conclusions: During adoption there are certain set of agile practices that were given higher importance, given highest priority during selection and also mostly appears together. Moreover, there are certain practices which are considered as most important, but are given with less priority during selection by practitioners. Furthermore, the empirical findings supports practice adaption depends on change in context factors. Finally, it is interesting to see that almost all of the stakeholders in agile software development are satisfied with its nature.
Assessing Student Inclination for Language Learning Via Open Distance Learning During Covid-19 Pandemic

At the end of 2019, the world witnessed a coronavirus outbreak, bringing significant challenges to many sectors, including education. This study aims to examine UiTM students' ability to cope with learning English during the Covid-19 pandemic via ODL. The study looked at students' readiness to learn online thoroughly, their efficiency in fulfilling the syllabus requirements, self-motivation, and computer literacy skills. The instrument measured four factors: computer literacy skills, efficiency, learning readiness, and self-motivation with 5-point Likert Scale. Thus, this study computes the sum of item responses over the set of individual items. As for data analysis, the association between these variables was discussed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression to answer the objectives of this study. Correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between student preference to learn English and computer literacy skills, efficiency, learning readiness, and self-motivation. Regression analysis showed that the four independent variables of the study were statistically significant towards students’ preference in taking English courses via ODL. Computer literacy skills contributed the most towards students' preference for ODL for English courses in terms of variable importance.
A Review of the Applications of Biochemicals Interference in Medical Imaging with the Synthesis of Contrast Nanoparticles and Marker Design (PROBE)

One of the main focuses in diagnostic medicine is molecular imaging. Nanoparticles allow us to image different components of a high-contrast molecule efficiently. In this study, various factors that should be considered when synthesizing contrast nanoparticles are discussed. Some of the most important examples are highlighted. This research has been done theoretically and in terms of content analysis method (Content Analysis) by searching for keywords nanotechnology, molecular imaging, drug delivery methods, gene therapy, and contrast nanoparticles in google, PubMed, Science direct, scholar, and Scopus websites. After the search, ten articles were selected from the obtained articles, and this article was written based on them. Most of the report’s nanoparticles produce new contrast agents, especially molecular imaging and cellular processes detection. Have been taken. The advantages of using these nanoparticles are the ability to produce high contrast, ease of integration of multiple properties, long circulation time in the blood, and the ability to carry high-volume materials (such as drugs). The basics and nanoparticle production methods have grown and expanded over the years, so more complex examples of nanoscale contrast agents such as paramagnetic particles, macrophages with quantum dots, quantum dots, machines that can make matter Atomic and molecular parts have been reported. MRI of microemulsions has also been used to examine blood vessels and deliver medication. The use of contrast nanoparticles provides more details about the processes of a disease and its effects. The fabrication of these materials has improved dramatically over the past decade by creating various functions in them. However, there are many areas for biocompatibility, efficacy, specificity, and diagnosis of further diseases. In general, contrast nanoparticles can be synthesized for a specific function, with specific properties to perform a specific program.
Design of a two-layer, capacitively coupled, microstrip patch antenna element for broadband applications

A broadband, contiguous stacked, two-layer, square microstrip patch antenna element design is described which can be used for linear or circular polarization. Single layer microstrip patch theory for the rectangular patch radiator is presented and used as a basis for understanding the two-layer patch configuration. The theory is modified to predict radiation patterns and resonant frequencies of the two-layer microstrip patch antenna element. Experimental results include the radiation patterns, dominant resonant frequencies (TM1 0 mode), return loss (S11 ), and bandwidth for X band elements as a function of dielectric constants, dielectric thicknesses, and patch sizes.
Study on semi‐active tuned mass damper with variable damping and stiffness under seismic excitations

In the present study, a semi‐active tuned mass damper (STMD) with variable damping coefficient and stiffness is evaluated under seismic excitations. Variation of the damping ratio of the STMD is implemented through tracking the displacement of the STMD.If the tracked amplitude of the STMD is increasing, damping ratio of the STMD is set to zero, or else it is set to an appropriate nonzero value. Stiffness of the STMD is tuned through tracking the displacement of the primary structure, which is analyzed using a short‐time Fourier transform‐based control algorithm. Both far‐field and near‐fault ground motions are used to examine the effectiveness of the STMD and the control algorithm. Displacement time history and response (displacement and acceleration) spectra are obtained for the cases of an optimal passive TMD and an STMD. It is found that the STMD with variable damping ratio and frequency can effectively attenuate the seismic responses and outperform the optimal passive TMD. In addition, results are obtained for the case that damage occurs to the primary structure during an earthquake. The study indicates that the STMD controlled by the proposed algorithm can rapidly capture the variation of the structure and remains tuned with the primary structure, whereas the optimal TMD becomes off‐tuned when damage occurs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of Dentifrices Containing Nanohydroxyapatite on Dentinal Tubule Occlusion—A Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Study

This in vitro study evaluated the effects of dentifrices containing nano-hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) on dentinal tubule occlusion and on mineral deposition. Dentin specimens of ten human teeth were submersed for 30 s in 40% citric acid and then randomly divided into four groups (three study groups and one control group). In the study groups, the dentin samples were exposed to three different n-HAp toothpastes: Karex (Dr. Kurt Wolff GmbH & Co. KG, Bielefeld, Germany), Biorepair Plus Sensitive (Coswell SpA, Bologna, Italy), and Dr. Wolff’s Biorepair (Dr. Kurt Wolff GmbH & Co. KG, Bielefeld, Germany); in the control group no toothpaste was applied. All of the samples were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. In the control group all of the samples showed a frank and wide opening of the dentinal tubules, whereas in the study groups different degrees of tubule closure by mineral depositions were observed. Toothpastes containing n-HAp determined a significant occlusion of dentinal tubules and a significant increase of mineral deposition on the dentin surface. All three tested toothpastes showed similar results regarding the degree of dentinal tubule closure. Varying degrees of differences in calcium, phosphate, carbon, and oxygen ion concentrations among the three tested toothpastes were obtained.
Improving Software Organizations: From Principles to Practice

Improving Software Organizations offers a modern perspective on SPI. It outlines and discusses what it takes to move from SPI theory to successful SPI initiatives. Based on the results of the three-year National Danish SPI Initiative, this book draws on the experiences of four world-class companies — Danske Data, Bruel & Kjaer, Ericsson Denmark, and Systematic Software Engineering. It presents a proven roadmap for successful SPI. It distills in-depth studies of these organizations—the strategies, approaches, and specific techniques that yielded tangible results. It presents a comprehensive framework for planning and executing successful SPI projects throughout the project lifecycle. Improving Software Organizations presents the major lessons learned in the four companies. It provides an overview of the theories and models that formed the basis of the SPI initiatives. It also provides an in-depth examination of the four companies? development organizations, how each began the SPI initiative, what mistakes were made, and how they ultimately succeeded. You will learn: The five key principles of the SPI focus on problems, emphasize knowledge creation, encourage participation, integrate leadership, and plan for continuous improvement. How diverse companies adapt standard SPI theory to achieve desired results How to structure learning conditions in SPI initiatives Maturity level assessments, including CMM, BOOTSTRAP, and other customized approaches. Knowledge transfer, customer maturity, and organizational learning Proper paths for carrying out risk assessments. The specifics of implementing a metrics program Tips on improving requirements specification. For each of the five SPI principles, the book offers examples from practice that demonstrate how successful organizations approached the issue. From these examples and the more detailed case studies, you will gain the understanding of how to design, implement, and execute an SPI initiative that is right for your organization
Examining the correlates and antecedents of subjective binge eating episodes in female undergraduates

Binge eating is a core diagnostic feature of several eating disorders; however, controversy exists regarding the extent to which the size of an eating episode is important in the definition of a binge. The present study examined the relationship between subjective binge eating episodes (SBEs: experiencing loss of control while eating relatively small amounts of food) and eating disorder pathology, general pathology, and eating disorder-specific and general cognitive distortions in female undergraduate students (N=116) via self-report measures. In addition, negative affect and stress were examined as proximal antecedents of SBEs using naturalistic prospective monitoring. Findings indicated SBEs are associated with broad markers of eating disorder pathology and aspects of general pathology, and that eating disorder-specific cognitive distortions mediate the relationship between dietary restraint and SBE frequency. In addition, higher levels of negative affect were found to precede SBEs; however, stress was not identified as a statistically significant proximal antecedent. Findings are interpreted in light of methodological limitations, and clinical implications are discussed.