Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Shot Peening Effect for Steels by Using Fe-based Glassy Alloy Shots

The use of Fe-Co-Ni-Mo-B-Si glassy alloy balls as peening shots was found to cause a significantly enhanced shot peening effect for steel sheets, i.e., the increase in the thickness of the shot region, higher hardness and higher compressive residual stress in the shot region, and the generation of much distinct crater-like pattern on the shot surface in comparison with those for conventional cast steel shots and high speed steel shots. It was also found that the endurance life time of the glassy alloy shots is 8 to 10 times longer than those for the conventional crystalline alloy shots. The enhanced effect was interpreted to originate from unique mechanical properties of the Fe-based glassy alloy shots such as lower Young’s modulus, larger elastic elongation limit and higher tensile strength which cannot be obtained for the conventional crystalline steel shots. The finding of the effectiveness of the Fe-based glassy alloy as peening shots is promising for future applications.
A STUDY OF ANATOLIAN HIGH SCHOOLS ’ 9 TH GRADE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM IN RELATION TO THE CEFR ANADOLU LİSELERİ 9

The aim of this study is to understand the main principles of the CEFR and to what extent Anatolian High Schools’ 9th grade EFL curriculum meet the principles advocated in that document. Hence, document analysis was used as a method to seek answers to the research questions set by a comparative analysis of the CEFR and Anatolian High Schools’ 9 th grade EFL curriculum. As a result of this process, the most prominent principles of the CEFR were determined. During the analysis, these principles were compared with the curriculum. Then, the gains of the curriculum for the five language skills were analyzed through a checklist whose items came from the A2 level descriptors. The results showed that the curriculum embraces 7 out of 9 principles of the CEFR although some remain in the background. Besides, the analysis of the gains for the five language skills showed that there is an unequal distribution in the gains for the five skills.
EXPLORING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF HOME-BASED, VOICE-CONTROLLED INTELLIGENT PERSONAL ASSISTANTS

Title of Thesis: EXPLORING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF HOME-BASED, VOICE-CONTROLLED INTELLIGENT PERSONAL ASSISTANTS Alisha Pradhan, Master of Science, Human-computer Interaction, 2018 Thesis Directed By: Dr. Amanda Lazar, Assistant Professor, College of Information Studies From an accessibility perspective, home-based, voice-controlled intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) have the potential to greatly expand speech interaction beyond dictation and screenreader output. This research examines the accessibility of off-theshelf IPAs (e.g., Amazon Echo) by conducting two exploratory studies. To explore the use of IPAs by people with disabilities, we analyzed 346 Amazon Echo reviews mentioning users with disabilities, followed by interviews with 16 visually impaired IPA users. Although some accessibility challenges exist, individuals with a range of disabilities are using IPAs, including unexpected uses such as speech therapy and memory aids. The second study involved a three-week deployment of Echo Dot, a popular IPA, with five older adults who use technology infrequently. Findings indicate preferences for using IPAs over traditional computing devices. We identify design implications to improve IPAs for this population. Both studies highlight issues of discoverability and the need for feature-rich voice-based applications. The findings of this research can inform future work on accessible voice-based IPAs.
Modelling dielectric elastomer actuators using higher order material characteristics

Dielectric elastomers, a special class of electroactive polymers, have viscoelastic properties that strongly affect their dynamic performance. This paper contributes a high-order linear solid model together with an optimised parameter identification method to aid the selection of the model parameters. The paper also demonstrates that accurate modelling of the viscoelastic characteristics for commonly used dielectric elastomer (DE) material requires additional spring-damper combinations within a standard linear solid model. The effect of key parameters on the system dynamics in the frequency domain is elaborated and used to guide the parameter identification of the models. The increased effectiveness of higher order models that incorporate multiple spring-damper combinations is demonstrated using three experiments; (a) mechanical loading of a stacked sample over 0.01–5 Hz with strain variations up to 50%; (b) mechanical loading of a single-layer sample over 1–100 Hz with strain variations up to 10%; and (c) electrical actuation of a single-layer sample over 1–100 Hz using electric fields up to 20 MV m−1. Silicone and polyacrylate samples were tested to show the effect of viscoelastic properties in the frequency domain. The proposed method of parameter identification is optimised to capture the frequency response.
Agricultural Technology and Poverty Reduction: A Micro-Level Analysis of Causal Effects

Agricultural technology opens great opportunities of increasing food grain production in land scarce countries. But questions are raised about the potential adverse or favourable impact of new technology on economic conditions of the poor. This study is aimed at contributing to the debate about the relative importance of "direct effects" of agricultural technology adoption in poverty alleviation strategies. It does so through an empirical investigation of the relationship between technological change, of the Green Revolution type, and wellbeing of smallholder farm households in two rural Bangladeshi regions. The paper tackles a methodological issue in assessing the "causal effect" of technological change on farm-household wellbeing through the non-parametric p-score matching analysis. It pursues a targeted evaluation of whether adopting a modern seed technology causes resource-poor farmers to improve their income and decrease the propensity to fall below the poverty line. It finds a robust and positive effect of agricultural technology adoption on farm household wellbeing suggesting that there is a large scope for enhancing the role of agricultural technology in "directly" contributing to poverty alleviation.
Changes in Soil Water Content with Ambient Relative Humidity in Relation to the Organic Matter and Clay

Changes in soil water content with increasing ambient relative humidity was examined using model soils prepared by mixing silica sand with different types of organic matter and different types and contents of clays. In this study, we used commercially available hydrophobic and hydrophilic organic matter, and kaolinite and montmorillonite under four levels of relative humidities. Soil water content of all the soils increased with increasing relative humidity. Hydrophilic organic matter, which is reported to decrease the wettability of soils, was found to increase the absorption of water into soils in the vapor form. In model soils without clay, hydrophobic organic matter, which is reported to impede water entry in liquid form (water repellent), was found to have little or no effect on water vapor absorption. In contrast, when the model soils containing 1–2% clays, hydrophobic organic matter slightly decreased the water vapor absorption. Montmorillonite containing samples showed higher water vapor absorption, and therefore, higher water contents compared with those containing kaolinite. The difference in water content between samples containing montmorillonite and kaolinite increased with increasing clay content. Increase in clays with high water absorption capacity was found to make the clay effects on water vapor absorption prominent and to hinder the effects of hydrophobic or hydrophilic organic matter on water vapor absorption. The absorption of water into soils in vapor form was found not to be comparable with previously reported wetting of soils with water, in liquid form. Key words : clay; organic matter; water repellency; water vapor absorption; wettability DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.4038/tare.v13i1. 3130 Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension 13(1) 2010 pp.6-10
Developmental Expectations for the Self and Most Other People: Age Grading in Three Functions of Social Comparison

This study focused on beliefs about one's own compared with other people's development in adulthood. Young, middle-aged, and old adults rated person-descriptive attributes with respect to developmental change throughout adulthood for the self and most other people, controllability for self and other, desirability, degree of self-descriptiveness, relevance as a developmental goal, and typical age-timing of attribute as developmental goal. Various aspects of subjective identification with age groups were also assessed. Findings suggested 3 modes of social comparison: self-assessment reflected in congruence between self and other-ascribed developmental trajectories, self-enhancement involved in more favorable expectations for the self regarding old age, and self-improvement expressed in developmental aspirations toward higher status age groups. The present research addresses adults' conceptions about development in adulthood. Specifically, this research juxtaposes development-related conceptions pertaining to the self and normative conceptions related to "most other people. "1 Previous research on normative conceptions about adult development showed high levels of agreement among adolescents and various adult age groups (J. Heckhausen, 1989; Heckhausen & Baltes, 1991; Heckhausen, Dixon, & Baltes, 1989; Hosenfeld, 1988). Normative conceptions about adult development constitute widely shared common-sense knowledge and thus may provide a normative reference system of development-r elated expectations against which individual developmental trajectories are evaluated. It is common-sense knowledge, for instance, that forgetfulness is likely to increase in old age. Therefore, people entering old age may try to counteract this normative decline by developing their memory skills. Also, incidents of memory failure in older people may more likely be attributed to age, rather than other causes. Normative conceptions about development are widely shared among members of a given society (Hagestad, 1990; Heckhausen & Baltes, 1991; Heckhausen et al., 1989; Neugarten, Moore, & Lowe, 1965). They function as "social constructions of reality" (Berger & Luckmann, 1966) and are resistent to short-lived changes in actual age-chronological timing of life transitions (Modell, 1980). Normative conceptions about development
Simulation of a Floating Gate Device in standard CMOS process for Dosimetry application

The use of floating gate devices for storing digital information is well known. More recently, these devices have been proposed for analogue applications and for use in radiation detection. In this case, the charge generated in the SiO2 due to the ionizing radiation is collected by the floating gate by virtue of the electric field generated by the charge stored in it. This in turn changes some electrical characteristics of the device that can be measured and referred to the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation. A comprehensive device simulation that includes the process of charging the floating gate via tunnelling and the mechanism of charge collection from the SiO2 has been carried out using the process parameters of a standard CMOS 0. 18μm technology. The results suggest that this device could be used as a sensitive integrated dosimeter that allows the fabrication of the readout electronics on the same silicon chip.
Americas Conference on Information Systems ( AMCIS ) December 2002 AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF THE FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SUCCESSFUL REUSE OF OTHERS KNOWLEDGE

The goal of this exploratory research study is to understand factors that affect the likelihood of successfully reusing someone elses knowledge vs. inventing ones own solution. We examine knowledge reuse by scientists and engineers in conjunction with their work processes in order to learn how knowledge is truly reused in the context of the work required. Our findings indicate that there are eight factors that affect the likelihood of successfully reusing others knowledge. We also we suggest knowledge management strategies and knowledge management systems tools that may be helpful in this endeavor. Based on our findings we propose a conceptual model for efficiently finding solutions to problems for which one does not have a ready answer.
The Effect of Indyer as a Means of Communication Among the Tiv People of Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Communication used to form a crucial part of the constituents of social administration of the Tiv society. The Tiv communication as a means of passing information or knowledge from one person or a group of persons to another through the Tiv language, music, dance, symbols and signs was predicated chiefly upon the Tiv indigenous Religious canon. Communication was and is still one of the important aspects of the Tiv social setting among the Kunav Mega Clan of the Tiv people who used different ways to pass information from one entity to another among the populace. Consequently, due to the importance of communication to the people, technological innovations were drastically improved to invent better means or devices of communication and Indyer was invented from the earlier Gbagede and Ilyu. The Indyer was paramount among different means of communication among the Tiv people of Vandeikya and as such any message coming from the beating of Indyer (Indyer i Tan or Kuhan) was considered with grave seriousness. The study looks at the effect of Indyer as a means of communication among the Tiv people of Vandeikya local government area of Benue state, Nigeria. A sample of 363 Tiv people of Vandeikya was drawn using random sampling technique. Apparently, mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while Chi-Square was used in testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study discovered that Indyer has significant effect as a mean of communication among the Tiv people of Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria however, there are potential challenges affecting it. It was recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria should discard the International Intellectual Property Laws such as The Paris Convention and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) and develop its IP laws to be in conformity with indigenous practices and what is obtainable in the Nigerian folds and Christian converts and leaders should accept Indyer as a technological device not a fetish component.
DEGENERATION BY MODULATING P2Y12 OR P2X7 RECEPTORS

(51) Int. Cl. A6 IK3I/70 (2006.01) A6 IK3I/44 (2006.01) A6 IK3I/85 (2006.01) A6 IK3I/47 (2006.01) C4OB 30/06 (2006.01) CI2N 5/07 (2010.01) A 6LX3L/7076 (2006.01) A6 IK3I/37 (2006.01) GOIN33/84 (2006.01) A6 IK 45/06 (2006.01) GOIN33/50 (2006.01) (52) U.S. Cl. CPC . A61 K31/137 (2013.01); A61 K3I/7076 (2013.01); G0IN33/84 (2013.01); A61K 45/06 (2013.01); G0IN33/5044 (2013.01) USPC . 514/47: 514/340; 514/576; 514/311; 506/10; 435/375 (58) Field of Classification Search CPC . C07H 19/20: C07H 19/10; C07H 21/00; A61 K31/70; A61K 3 1/7076; A61K 31/185: A61K 31/12: C07D 413/04: CO7D 401/12: C07D 413/14: CO7D 231/12: C07D 249/08; A01N 41/04; C07C 49/84: CO7C 309/46 USPC . 514/47, 340, 576, 311:506/10; 435/375 See application file for complete search history.
Impact of anthropogenic disturbances on a diverse riverine fish assemblage in Fiji predicted by functional traits

1. Anthropogenic disturbances particularly affect biodiversity in sensitive freshwater ecosystems by causing species loss. Thus, measuring the response of species to multiple disturbances is a key issue for conservation and environmental management. 2. As it is not practical to assess the response of every species in a community, we compared the performance of trait and taxonomic-based groupings of species for their abilities to predict species loss in a threatened freshwater fish assemblage. Specifically, we examined responses of a Fijian freshwater fish assemblage to deforestation, placement of anthropogenic barriers (overhanging culverts) and the presence of introduced cichlids. 3. Species grouped by traits showed more consistent responses to disturbances than taxonomic groups. In particular, species belonging to trait groups that were estuary associated favoured medium-to-hard substrate, while feeding specialists were highly likely to be absent in catchments with high deforestation and overhanging culverts. The presence of introduced cichlids (Oreochromis mossambicus and O. niloticus) had a smaller effect than deforestation and barriers, but was negatively associated with species richness of diadromous species with climbing ability and positively associated with presences of some piscivores. The trait groups also revealed that detritivores, species favouring soft substrate, and those with a broad dietary range were less sensitive to anthropogenic disturbances. 4. Our study indicates that using traits to predict species loss from disturbed environments can aid in detecting the responses of rare species to disturbance. In addition, we provided a method to estimate the consistency of species’ responses to disturbance. This study may ultimately help managers identify the most effective actions for conserving sensitive species that are seldom recorded in surveys.
Design and Characteristic Analysis of Hybrid-Type Levitation and Propulsion Device for High-Speed Maglev Vehicle

This paper deals with the design and characteristic analysis of electro-magnet/permanent-magnet (EM-PM) hybrid levitation and propulsion device for high-speed magnetically levitated (maglev) vehicle. The machine requires PMs with high coercive force in order to levitate the vehicle by only PMs, and propulsion force is supplied by long-stator linear synchronous motor (LSM). The advantages of this configuration are an increasing levitation airgap length and decreasing total weight of the vehicle, because of the zero-power levitation control. Several design considerations such as machine structure, manufacturing, and control strategy are described. Moreover, the levitation and propulsion device for high-speed maglev vehicle has been designed and analyzed usign the electromagnetic circuit and FE analysis. In order to verify the design scheme and feasibility of maglev application, 3-DOF static force test set is implemented and tested. The obtained experimental data using the static tester shows the validity of the design and analysis approaches.
Comparative Analysis of Various Decision Tree Classification Algorithms using WEKA

Classification is a technique to construct a function or set of functions to predict the class of instances whose class label is not known. Discovered knowledge is usually presented in the form of high level, easy to understand classification rules. There is various classification techniques used to classify the data, one of which is decision tree algorithms. This paper presents a comparative analysis of various decision tree based classification algorithms. In experiments, the effectiveness of algorithms is evaluated by comparing the results on 5 datasets from the UCI and KEEL repository. Keywords-classification; weka; decision tree; data mining __________________________________________________*****_________________________________________________
A Direct Estimate of the Initial Concentration of 14C in the Mountain Aquifer of Israel

Five radiocarbon analyses were performed on 5 different sources within Soreq Cave, which was used as a model for the Judea Group Aquifer of Israel (pMC q0 ). The transit time of rainwater through the roof of the cave to sources within it had been determined with tritium. From this information, the year of deposition of rain on the roof of the cave, which later appeared in one of the sources, was estimated and the atmospheric 14C concentration at that time was ascertained (pMC a0 ). The parameter Q = pMC q0 / pMC a0 was found to be Q = 0.60 ± 0.04. This makes it possible to calculate the age of water in any well in the Judea Group Aquifer of Israel by measuring its 14C concentration (pMC qt ) by use of the decay equation and applying Q.
Dynamic Modeling of Apoptosis and its Interaction with Cell Growth in Mammalian Cell Culture

Abstract Caspases are the key mediators of the apoptotic cascade leading to cell death in mammalian cells. Caspase activation in a Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line producing Anti-RhD monoclonal antibody (mAb) in batch culture was simulated and measured experimentally. The model assumes that apoptosis proceeds through one of two independent pathways: the intrinsic pathway and the extrinsic pathway. Induction of the extrinsic pathway is assumed to involve cell-cell signaling by apoptotic (caspase-3 active) cells, while the intrinsic pathway is assumed to be triggered by toxic stress (ammonia). The model parameters were estimated by training the model by a nonlinear constrained optimization method embedded in MATLAB. The model provides a good fit to the experimental observations. In addition, this apoptosis model was integrated with a dynamic model of CHO culture metabolism previously obtained through metabolic flux analysis. The combined model provides good predictions of the measured metabolite profiles thus it can serve for future optimization of the culture.
Genomic sequencing using 454 pyrosequencing and development of an SSR primer database for Lagerstroemia indica L.

Crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.) represent a large group of woody flowing plants. Despite their high ornamental value and popularity, few genomic sequences and marker resources are available for them. Lagerstroemia indica is one of the most widely cultivated crape myrtle species. In this study, we partially sequenced the genome of L. indica using newly updated 454 sequencing technology. Over 1.2 million high-quality reads in a total length of 837.4 Mb were generated. The average read length was 679 bp. Of the reads, 779,744 (63.2%) were assembled into 65,129 contigs covering a physical length of 93.6 Mb and with N50 contig size of 1,648 bp. The contigs were used to recover microsatellites with repeat motifs of 1-6 bp. A total of 33,026 microsatellites were detected. An SSR primer database was established based on the flanking sequences of the detected microsatellites. A PCR survey of subset of these SSR primers revealed that 89.5% amplified successfully,and 66.7% of the loci were polymorphic. The polymorphic information contents of the polymorphic SSRs ranged from 0.08 to 0.79, with an average value of 0.44. This study provided valuable genomic sequences and marker resources for future genetic studies on Lagerstroemia species.