Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lie Group Analysis for Boundary Layer Flow of Nanofluids near the Stagnation-Point over a Permeable Stretching Surface Embedded in a Porous Medium in the Presence of Radiation and Heat Generation/Absorption

This study investigates the influence of thermal radiation and heat generation/absorption on a two dimensional steady boundary layer flow near the stagnation-point on a permeable stretching sheet in a porous medium saturated with nanofluids. The governing partial differential equations with the appropriate boundary conditions are reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations via Lie-group analysis. The resultant equations are then solved numerically using Runge - Kutta fourth order method along with shooting technique. Two types of nanofluids, namely, copper-water and alumina-water are considered. The velocity and temperature as well as the shear stress and heat transfer rates are computed. The influence of pertinent parameters such as radiation parameter Nr, nanofluid volume fraction parameter , the ratio of free stream velocity and stretching velocity parameter a/c , the permeability parameter K1, suction/blowing parameter S, and heat source/sink parameter  on the flow and heat transfer characteristics is discussed. The present study helps to understand the efficiency of heat transfer transport in nanofluids which are likely to be the smart coolants of the next generation.
Teaching in Cyberspace: A Qualitative Approach to e-learning

This qualitative study explored instructors’ reflective perspectives regarding challenges facing during online instruction. Faculty members (N=18) of Virtual University of Pakistan from different campuses (N=04) were selected as a sample and in-depth interviews were carried out in their offices. The texts were coded and analyzed qualitatively by employing Grounded Theory Approach (Creswell, 2003). From the analysis, five main categories were derived regarding challenges in online instruction: hiring of qualified professors, guidance and financial support to enhance enrollment, technology access, lack of persistence among virtual students, communication hindrances between the instructor and student. Moreover, instructors’ perceptions revealed that e-learning should be facilitated in Pakistan, as it is an effective mode of learning in the context of a developing country where majority of virtual students are either working professionals or females of remote areas who cannot join traditional learning system for enhancing their capabilities.
A New Economic Era in Computer Science: DNA Vs Quantum Computing

The increasing rate of growth both of science and technology in our era, renders the forecasts for the development course of each technology, very significant for the strategic development designer of any organism, either this concerns an enterprise or a state or a union of states. Such a technology is the computer technology, which is currently to the limit of its current possibilities and is being prepared to pass into a new era and create a new economic environment. The silicon technology, because of its constructional restrictions, cannot maintain the existing growth rate for more than one decade. “Spintronics” or “molecular electronics” can constitute transient technologies, but the radical change will be the transition from serial to parallel calculating process. Aim of this work is to constitute a useful tool for the forecast of development of the subversive technologies that will bring us to a new era of computer science. DNA computing and Quantum computing are considered as such technologies. The use of such a forecast may result in dramatic changes in the economic map of the companies engaged in information technology, since it will allow an early placement of them in upcoming competitive race.
Analytic Steering: Inserting Context into the Information Dialog

An analyst’s intrinsic domain knowledge is a primary asset in almost any analysis task. Unstructured text analysis systems that apply un-supervised content analysis approaches can be more effective if they can leverage this domain knowledge in a manner that augments the information discovery process without obfuscating new or unexpected content. Current unsupervised approaches rely upon the prowess of the analyst to submit the right queries or observe generalized document and term relationships from ranked or visual results. We propose a new approach which allows the user to control or steer the analytic view within the unsupervised space. This process is controlled through the data characterization process via user supplied context in the form of a collection of key terms. We show that steering with an appropriate choice of key terms can provide better relevance to the analytic domain and still enable the analyst to uncover un-expected relationships; this paper discusses cases where various analytic steering approaches can provide enhanced analysis results and cases where analytic steering can have a negative impact on the analysis process.
IR and XANES spectroscopic studies of humic acids reacting with Cr(III) and Cr(VI)

To elucidate processes of Cr(VI) reduction by humic acids in soils, humic acids reacting with Cr(VI) were characterized using IR and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. It is expected that oxidation of humic acid by Cr(VI) gives rise to the formation of aldehyde, ketone, and carboxyl species. However, no significant increase of IR-bands assignable to these functional groups has been reported. Instead, IR absorption spectra of humic acid oxidized by Cr(VI) show similar features to those of humic acid reacting with Cr(III). Consequently, the types and proportions of functional groups of HA substances did not differ significantly among experimental conditions. The IR spectra of humic acid reacting with Cr(III) and Cr(VI) show increased intensity of IR bands at 3400 cm, 1608 cm, and 1384 cm, with decreased intensity of peaks at 1707 cm and 1236–1250 cm. Those changes suggest the existence of bonding structures of two kinds: hydrated Cr forming an outer-sphere complex with humic acid, and Cr forming an inner-sphere complex with the carboxylate ligand of humic acid. The Cr-K edge XANES spectra of humic acid reacting with Cr(VI) suggest that Cr(III), reduced from Cr(VI), binds with humic acid. No systematic difference of XANES spectra was found with increased amounts of Cr(VI) in experimental solutions. These features are consistent with IR absorption spectra. The fractions of two kinds of binding forms suggested by IR spectra were determined from linear combination fitting using XANES spectra of reference compounds: 50% hydrated Cr(III) adsorbed onto HA electrostatically and the remainder of Cr(III) binding to carboxylic acid of HA. However, with increasing pH of experimental solutions, some Cr precipitates as Cr(OH)3•nH2O in the solid phase. The pH level or Cr concentration must be reduced to prevent production of a Cr(OH)3•nH2O precipitate.
UNIPLANAR SINGLE CORNER-FED DUAL-BAND DUAL- POLARIZATION PATCH ANTENNA ARRAY

A uniplanar corner-fed patch antenna is presented with single-point microstrip feed and single layer substrate. Two orthogonal polarized dominant modes TM010 and TM001 are excited at two difierent frequencies. By utilizing a corner-fed structure, impedance matching for two bands can be adjusted much independently and the small ratio between two operating frequencies is easy to achieve. In addition, this simple and compact structure makes the patch antenna very convenient to form an array. A patch antenna operating at 12.5GHz and 14.25GHz with two linear orthogonal polarizations has been designed. The frequency ratio is only 1.14. The return loss, current distribution and radiation patterns of the patch element are investigated in detail. An 8 by 8 array has been developed, of which gains more than 23.4dBi have been obtained at dual frequencies. Measured results agree well with simulated ones, which validate the proposed structure.
The influence of diabatic heating in the South Pacific Convergence Zone on Rossby wave propagation and the mean flow

The South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ) is a northwest‐southeast oriented precipitation band over the South Pacific Ocean. Latent heat release from condensation leads to substantial diabatic heating, which has potentially large impacts on local and global climate. The influence of this diabatic heating within the SPCZ is investigated using the Intermediate General Circulation Model (IGCM4).
Fabrication of p-type porous GaN on silicon and epitaxial GaN

Porous GaN layers are grown on silicon from gold or platinum catalyst seed layers, and self-catalyzed on epitaxial GaN films on sapphire. Using a Mg-based precursor, we demonstrate p-type doping of the porous GaN. Electrical measurements for p-type GaN on Si show Ohmic and Schottky behavior from gold and platinum seeded GaN, respectively. Ohmicity is attributed to the formation of a Ga2Au intermetallic. Porous p-type GaN was also achieved on epitaxial n-GaN on sapphire, and transport measurements confirm a p-n junction commensurate with a doping density of ∼1018 cm−3. Photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence confirm emission from Mg-acceptors in porous p-type GaN.
Initial testing of a Si:As blocked-impurity-band (BIB) trap detector

We discuss the design, construction, and initial test results of a Si:As blocked-impurity-band (BIB) trap detector. The trap consists of two rectangular BIB devices configured in a v-shaped geometry. This trapping geometry is designed to ideally yield a minimum of 7 bounces before exit for incident light within an f/4 cone with 3 mm clear aperture. The individual BIB devices consist of 70 μm thick active layers with As doping near 1.7×1018 cm-3, and have dark currents of approximately 100 nA at an operating temperature of 9 K. A simple ray-tracing model of the trap, along with data on the quantum yield of typical BIB detector elements, indicates that it is possible to achieve an external quantum efficiency of > 0.99 over the 4 μm to 28 μm spectral range and significant suppression of the etalon fringes present in the spectral responsivity of a single element. We have made initial responsivity measurements of the trap compared to a calibrated 5 mm diameter pyroelectric detector over the 3 μm to 17 μm spectral range using the fiber-coupled output of a Fourier-transform spectrometer. We also discuss the results of comparison measurements between the trap detector and an absolute cryogenic radiometer viewing the output of a calibrated blackbody source at discrete filter bands from 5 μm to 11 μ. In initial testing the performance of the trap is limited by the poor performance of the individual BIB detectors, but the advantages of boosted quantum efficiency and suppressed etalon are realized by the trap.
Volatility Estimation and Stock Price Prediction in the Nigerian Stock Market

This study aimed at understanding the Nigerian Stock Market with regards to volatility and prediction, to this effect the month end stock prices of four major companies from the period January 2005 to December, 2009 was used as proxy. The study made use of the Autoregressive Conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) to estimate and find out the presence of volatility. The study found the presence of volatility in all the four stock prices used, while stock price volatility was then regressed against stock prices to determine their predictability. The results however, revealed that out of the four companies, only two companies’ stock prices were predicted by volatility in their stock prices, while past stock prices predicted current stock prices implying that the market does not follow a random walk. As a result of these, it is recommended that activities of corporate insiders should be properly checked, to reduce the predictability of stock prices, information should be known and made public to all investors. Also policy makers are advised to review their economic policies and should be careful in their use of the Nigerian bourse as a barometer to reflect performance in the general economy as our findings suggests that this could be misleading.
Modeling Cost of Interruption (COI) to Manage Unwanted Interruptions for Mobile Devices

MODELING COST OF INTERRUPTION (COI) TO MANAGE UNWANTED INTERRUPTIONS FOR MOBILE DEVICE Sina Zulkernain Marquette University, 2011 Unwanted and untimely interruptions have been a major cause in the loss of productivity in recent years. It has been found that they are mostly detrimental to the immediate task at hand. Multiple approaches have been proposed to address the problem of interruption by calculating cost of it. The Cost Of Interruption (COI) gives a measure of the probabilistic value of harmfulness of an inopportune interruption. Bayesian Inference stands as the premier model so far to calculate this COI. However, Bayesianbased models suffer from not being able to model context accurately in situations where a priori, conditional probabilities and uncertainties exist while utilizing context information. Hence, this thesis introduces the Dempster-Shafer Theory of Evidence to model COI. Along the way, it identifies specific contexts that are necessary to take into account. Simulation results and performance evaluation suggest that this is a very good approach to decision making. The thesis also discusses an illustrative example of a mobile interruption management application where the Dempster-Shafer theory is used to get a better measurement of whether or not to interrupt.
Environmental 50Hz Magnetic Fields Can Increase Viability of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC)

Introduction Over the last decades, considerable levels of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have been characterized in the living environment. Recent epidemiological studies on occupational and residential exposure to EMF have shown that 50/60 Hz fields, known as extremely low frequencies (ELF), have various biological effects, such as angiogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of environmental 50 Hz magnetic fields at intensities of 3, 6, 15, 46, 110 and 207 mT on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as a significant component of angiogenesis process. Materials and Methods In this study, 43 experimental groups were evaluated, including a control group, 6 sham exposure groups, 18 acute, and 18 chronic exposure groups with different exposure intensities and durations of exposure. Proliferation and viability of HUVECs were examined via cell counting and MTT methods, respectively. Results No significant changes were observed in the proliferation of HUVECs by 50 Hz magnetic field, while the viability of some acute groups was found to increase. These findings confirmed the theory of "biological window" for magnetic fields. Conclusion According to the results of this study, since the 50 Hz magnetic field can effect on viability of HUVECs and these cells play a key role in angiogenesis, 50 Hz magnetic fields at the mentioned intensities probably could be effective in the improvement of angiogenesis process.
Simple procedures to assess and compare the ecological niche of species

Hutchinson's (1957; Cold Spring Harbour Symp Quant Biol 22:415-427) niche concept is being used increasingly in the context of global change, and is currently applied to many ecologi- cal issues including climate change, exotic species invasion and management of endangered species. For both the marine and terrestrial realms, there is a growing need to assess the breadth of the niches of individual species and to make comparisons among them to forecast the species' capabilities to adapt to global change. In this paper, we describe simple non-parametric multivariate procedures derived from a method originally used in climatology to (1) evaluate the breadth of the ecological niche of a species and (2) examine whether the niches are significantly separated. We first applied the statistical procedures to a simple fictive example of 3 species separated by 2 environmental fac- tors in order to describe the technique. We then used it to quantify and compare the ecological niche of 2 key-structural marine zooplankton copepod species, Calanus finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus, in the northern part of the North Atlantic Ocean using 3 environmental factors. The test demonstrates that the niches of both species are significantly separated and that the coldwater species has a niche larger than that of its warmer-water congeneric species.
Histone demethylation and TLR8-dependent crosstalk in monocytes promotes trans-differentiation of fibroblasts in systemic sclerosis via Fra2

Objectives: To investigate whether epigenetic changes can modulate monocytes to produce tissue-inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) via Fra2 (AP-1 family member), a novel downstream mediator promoting fibrogenesis. Methods: AP-1 transcription factors and TIMP-1 expression was measured in monocytes from systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients and healthy controls (HC). Involvement of Fra2 in the regulation of TIMP-1 following TLR8 agonist treatment was investigated using luciferase activity assay and ChIP analysis. Expression of TIMP-1 and Fra2 was determined in response to TLR8 treatment and different histone modifications including 3’deazaneplanocin (DZNep) and apicidin. HC fibroblasts were co-cultured with DZNep plus TLR8-treated HC monocytes. Results: Upregulation of Fra2 was detected in bleomycin-challenged mice and SSc skin biopsies. Enhanced expression of Fra2 and TIMP-1 was correlated in SSc monocytes (p=0.021). The expression of Fra1 was significantly (p=0.037) reduced in SSc monocytes. Inhibiting AP-1 activity reduced TIMP-1 production in TLR8 stimulated HC and SSc monocytes. ChIP experiments revealed binding of Fra-2 to the TIMP-1 promoter. Combination of DZNep plus TLR8 enhanced Fra2 and TIMP-1 expression in HC monocytes, whereas TLR8 plus apicidin repressed Fra2 and TIMP-1 expression. Finally, DZNep plus TLR8-treated HC monocytes induced strong production of α -SMA in dermal fibroblasts, which was inhibited by TIMP-1 blocking antibody. Conclusions: These data demonstrate a novel role of histone demethylation induced by DZNep on Fra2-mediated TIMP-1 production by monocytes in the presence of TLR8 agonist. This consequently orchestrates fibroblasts’ trans-differentiation, a key event in the pathogenesis of SSc.
Characterization of beef consumption in the elderly population in the municipality of Santa Maria - RS, Brazil.

This study aimed to evaluate how the economic and social characteristics influence beef consumption by elderly population from the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Brazil is the second largest producer of beef and has shown an increased consumption of it, mainly due to factors such as changes in the dietary habits and in the socioeconomic conditions. There were applied structured forms for a sample of 138 elderly (70 men and 68 women), with the average age of respondents of 68.4 years. The attributes considered important by the elderly who buy first choice beef were tenderness (42.5%), taste (32.5%), followed by the visible fat (12.5%). Also, the level of education KIRINUS, J.K. et al. Characterization of beef consumption in the elderly population in the municipality of Santa Maria RS, Brazil. PUBVET, Londrina, V. 7, N. 14, Ed. 237, Art. 1564, Julho, 2013. influences negatively the purchase of first choice beef; and positively the level of income of the interviewed elderly. Thus, other variables may influence the purchase of the cuts of first choice and the level of income. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in beef consumption by elderly consumers, placing emphasis on the marketing of products with superior quality.
Metagenomic analysis of phosphorus removing sludge communities

Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) is not well understood at the metabolic level despite being one of the best-studied microbially-mediated industrial processes due to its ecological and economic relevance. Here we present a metagenomic analysis of two lab-scale EBPR sludges dominated by the uncultured bacterium, Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis. This analysis resolves several controversies in EBPR metabolic models and provides hypotheses explaining the dominance of A. phosphatis in this habitat, its lifestyle outside EBPR and probable cultivation requirements. Comparison of the same species from different EBPR sludges highlights recent evolutionary dynamics in the A. phosphatis genome that could be linked to mechanisms for environmental adaptation. In spite of an apparent lack of phylogenetic overlap in the flanking communities of the two sludges studied, common functional themes were found, at least one of them complementary to the inferred metabolism of the dominant organism. The present study provides a much-needed blueprint for a systems-level understanding of EBPR and illustrates that metagenomics enables detailed, often novel, insights into even well-studied biological systems.
Offender Reintegration: A Challenge to the Uniting Reformed Church in SA, Porterville, in its Ministry of Reconciliation, Restoration and Healing to the Released Offender in the Local Community By Mariete

III OPSOMMING . IV DEDICATION . V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . VI LIST OF FIGURES . VII LIST OF TABLES . VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS . IX TABLE OF CONTENTS . X CHAPTER 1: .
Accurate Non-rigid Registration of Lung Images Based on Mutual Information

In clinical diagnosis of lung disease, registration of lung images from different imaging systems can provide a multi-informative image and improve its diagnostic accuracy. In this study, the original lung images were obtained from computed tomography (CT) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). After the decomposition of the images using wavelet transform, a non-rigid registration were proposed, in which CT image was used as the reference image and SPECT image was used as the floating image. In registration, the mutual information between the reference and floating images was calculated in the process of translation, rotation and elastic transformation. At last, the result of the registration was evaluated by the edges of the bone, muscle, thorax and lung tissues in CT and SPECT images. It showed an accuracy registration between lung CT and SPECT images.
Integrating Learner Centeredness and Teacher Performance in a Framework

The study investigated whether learner-centeredness is reflected in teacher performance assessment as applied in a higher education sample. A measure of teachers’ performance anchored on Danielson’s Components of Professional Practice was constructed in three parallel forms. A measure of learner-centeredness with four factors (developing positive interpersonal characteristics, encouraging personal challenge, adopting class learning needs, and facilitating the learning process) was also used. These two instruments were administered to 2,032 college students in 85 classes. Different sets of measurement models were constructed where all factors of the teacher assessment and learner-centered scale are intercorrelated in a measurement model. The measurement models were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results showed that learner-centeredness is reflected in the three forms of the teacher assessment as indicated by their significant paths, p<. 05. The four-factor model, where learner-centered is related to each form of the teacher assessment had the best fit (GFI=.94, TLI=.98, RMSEA=.06). Adequate fit was also established when learnercenteredness is related to separate domains of teacher assessment (GFI=.97, TLI=.99, RMSEA=.04). Results indicated that high performance in the constructed teacher assessment is indicative of learner-centered practices. Theoretical implications of the measurement models about assessment and the teaching-learning paradigm were also discussed.