Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Source Specific Risk Assessment of Indoor Aerosol Particles

In the urban environment, atmospheric aerosols consist mainly of pollutants from anthropogenic sources. The majority of these originate from traffic and other combustion processes. A fraction of these pollutants will penetrate indoors via ventilation. However, indoor air concentrations are usually predominated by indoor sources due to the small amount of dilution air. In modern societies, people spend most of their time indoors. Thus, their exposure is controlled mainly by indoor concentrations from indoor sources. During the last decades, engineering of nanosized structures has created a new field of material science. Some of these materials have been shown to be potentially toxic to human health. The greatest potential for exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) occurs in the workplace during production and handling of ENMs. In an exposure assessment, both gaseous and particulate matter pollutants need to be considered. The toxicities of the particles usually depend on the source and age. With time, particle morphology and composition changes due to their tendency to undergo coagulation, condensation and evaporation. The PM exposure risk is related to source specific emissions, and thus, in risk assessment one needs to define source specific exposures. This thesis describes methods for source specific risk assessment of airborne particulate matter. It consists of studies related to workers’ ENM exposures during the synthesis of nanoparticles, packing of agglomerated TiO2 nanoparticles, and handling of nanodiamonds. Background particles were distinguished from the ENM concentrations by using different measurement techniques and indoor aerosol modelings. Risk characterization was performed by using a source specific exposure and calculated dose levels in units of particle number and mass. The exposure risk was estimated by using non-health based occupational exposure limits for ENMs. For the nanosized TiO2, the risk was also assessed from dose-biological responses which had been extrapolated from inhalation studies conducted in mice. The ENM exposure levels were compared with background particle concentrations in order to determine the relevant ENM exposure metrics and exposure scenarios.
Nakagami-K Composite Channel Model in Urban-Rural Conjunction Areas

With the speeding construction process of urbanization in china, the areas with the characteristic of typical urban-rural conjunction gradually increase. Since residential areas, factory areas, farmlands are scattered randomly, varied and complex wireless communication environment is formed. Considering the power wireless communication network planning demands and radio propagation predictions in urban-rural conjunction areas, this paper established a Nakagami-K composite channel model based on combination of the Nakagami distribution and Kdistribution. In this paper, we analyzed envelope distribution characteristics of the model, described the flowchart of the parameter estimation algorithm, and derived expressions of level crossing rate and average fading durations. We verified the validity and accuracy of the improved model according to the measured data and applied the improved model to Chongqing power wireless communication network planning and design. Keywords-component; nakagami-k distribution; composite channel model; nakagami distribution; k-distribution; urban-rural conjunction areas
Sensitivity Analysis of CAPM Estimates: Data Frequency and Time Frame

This study is based on positivism research philosophy and utilizes deductive approach using quantitative data analysis of 117 firms listed at KSE-100 Index from 2005 to 2012. Objective of study is to analyze the predictability of Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) under different data frequencies, time frames and indices. It is found that there is no difference between value weighted and equally weighted index. Six months of daily data, as opposed to recommended five years monthly data provides the best estimates. However, the performance of model can be regarded as poor with 5.3% power to explain difference in returns.
EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT TENNIS SHOES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF RECREATIONAL TENNIS PLAYERS

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of different tennis shoes on the performance of recreational tennis players. Twenty male recreational tennis players participated in the study. Four different tennis shoes were employed and the sequence was randomized for each subject. Three on-court performances (groundstroke, service, and shuttle-run) were chosen and one-way ANOVA with repeated measures (P<0.05) was adopted. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the performances meaning that: (a) different tennis shoes did not have significant effect on the on-court performance of the recreational tennis players; and (b) the recreational tennis players and the shoe manufacturers might overestimate the contribution of the shoe to the on-court performance.
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CFRP AFTER REPEATING RECYCLING BY INJECTION MOLDING METHOD

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) are mainly used for the new frontier in the field of airplane and aerospace applications because of their light weight, high specific strength and high specific rigidity. Nowadays, there are a lot of demands to apply this material in general industrial field to save energy and improve safety of vehicles, manufacturing machines and robots. However, it is still difficult to apply CFRP to such mass produced productions because of high cost, long manufacturing time and the difficulty of secondary processing and recycling. Then, the objective of this study is to establish recycling procedure of CFRP using thermoplastic resin. In this paper, crushed CFRP (CF/EP) is remolded four times by injectionmolding method with polypropylene. Then, it is confirmed that the change of mechanical properties of the recycled CFRP is very small after the repetition of the recycling.
In vivo and in situ cellular image processing and characterization: challenges and solutions

We study the feasibility of 3D virtual histology through in vivo and in situ cellular imaging. A prototype system has been developed based on photodynamic fluorescence signals, confocal endomicroscopy, and FPGA image processing and characterization computing. Experiments in its clinical applications have been conducted, mainly for diagnosis of early-stage mucous cancer. With the fine-grained parallel imaging programs mapped on the FPGA, a stream of focused optical sections of microstructures in the subsurface layers up to 300µm in depth, can be processed online and the extracted features can be visualized seamlessly with the endomicroscopy settings.
MRI-based 3D Model of Spoken Lips

Modeling accurate speech organs are vital to speech synthesis. This paper introduces a construction method for geometric model of spoken lips based on a MRI database. Volume images of articulators were acquired by MRI on one Chinese subject uttering a corpus of sustained articulations. Then 3D models of each organ were annotated from relevant image slices. Finally linear component analysis was used to extract main control parameters from the 3D models of the spoken lips. The result shows that these control parameters could effectively represent the position and motion of spoken lips with a minor reconstruction error (less than 0.15cm). Introduction Articulatory speech synthesizer is promising for various studies and applications [1] [2] [3]. There are two common modeling strategies for constructing articulators’ model: physiologic modeling, and geometric modeling. Physiological modeling implements finite element method (FEM) to simulate the biomechanical properties of soft tissues and embeds muscular structures to drive articulatory model [3] [4]. However, physiological articulatory models heavily depend on the anatomical and biomechanical properties of speech organ, which is not well understood at present. Geometric modeling directly approximates the outline of the vocal tract and the surface of speech apparatuses using rule-based or statistical-characteristic-based methods [5] [6] [7]. The shape of speech apparatuses and the vocal tract can be driven directly by manipulating a set of predefined parameters which is gained from statistical data. Recently, Birkholtz et al. constructed a 3D geometric articulatory model using geometric primitives [8]. However, articulatory models constructed in this method heavily depended on pre-analysis of limited observations, and had a high degree of freedom. Engwall and Badin implemented semi-polar coordinate systems to construct a 3D tongue model [7] [9] [10]. The advantage of the semi-polar system is easily assessing coherence of the short sections of vocal tract among different articulations. However, this method will degrade the coherence of the representative vertices of articulators and inevitably introduce noise into following statistical analysis. In this paper, we proposed a geometric modeling method in Cartesian coordinate system based on a Chinese MRI database. Spoken lips were modeled separately and control parameters of the lips were extracted by Linear Component Analysis (LCA). These parameters are proved of clear physical significance.
Effects of Conversation Content on Viewing Dyadic Conversations

People typically follow conversations closely with their gaze. We asked whether this viewing is influenced by what is actually said in the conversation and by the viewer’s psychological condition. We recorded the eye movements of healthy (N = 16) and depressed (N = 25) participants while they were viewing video clips. Each video showed two people, each speaking one line of dialogue about socio-emotionally important (i.e., personal) or unimportant topics (matter-of-fact). Between the spoken lines, the viewers made more saccadic shifts between the discussants, and looked more at the second speaker, in personal vs. matter-of-fact conversations. Higher depression scores were correlated with less looking at the currently speaking discussant. We conclude that subtle social attention dynamics can be detected from eye movements and that these dynamics are sensitive to the observer’s psychological condition, such as depression.
Direct spectroscopy of a deep two-dimensional photonic crystal microresonator

Photonic crystals based on macroporous silicon with fundamental band gaps in the middle infrared region 3.4‐5.8 mm were fabricated. Scanning probe optical microscopy and laser spectroscopy were combined to examine a deep two-dimensional photonic crystal microresonator based on a single point defect. Two sharp resonances were recorded in the band gap, in excellent agreement with the results of numerical simulations. Such a microresonator with high-quality factors and a subwavelength mode extension could be used for a range of applications including integrated optical gas sensors.
Bryophytes on rocky outcrops in the caatinga biome: a conservationist perspective

In the state of Paraiba, Brazil, there is an abundance of rocky outcrops, which are typical elements of the semi-arid landscape. Those outcrops provide refuge to species with morphological adaptations to stressful climates and to rare communities of plants, including bryophytes. Nevertheless, there have been no studies of bryophytes in such habitats in the state. Therefore, this work aimed to inventory bryophytes on two outcrops in the municipality of Puxinana, in Paraiba, addressing some of the ecological aspects of survival in xerophytic environments. Samples were collected once every two weeks from February 2010 to May 2011. The usual techniques of bryophyte sampling and herbarium preservation were employed. We recorded 21 bryophyte species (six liverworts and 15 mosses), some of which are rare for Brazil. We performed cluster analysis, using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean, based on the Sorensen similarity index. We thus defined three clusters among the studied outcrops and similar areas recorded in the literature. The rocky outcrops proved to be singular in terms of bryophyte species composition, which, as in most xerophytic environments, included light-demanding and generalist species, featuring various morphological adaptations to resist water stress, primarily in terms of their leaf structure. Our results demonstrate the urgent need for additional studies in the state of Paraiba, including floristic, conservation, evolutionary and biogeographic studies.
The Field: Land mobility measures as seen through the eyes of Irish farmers

Ireland’s agriculture is characterised by an ageing farmer population and small average farm sizes. Past policy schemes developed to address these issues have been targeted at accelerating succession and retirement processes in agriculture. Their success however was limited. The process of succession, inheritance and retirement is complex and the decision-making of farm families in these situations is influenced by many factors. In order to develop more successful policies to encourage the early transfer of land and to increase farm sizes a better understanding of these factors is necessary. The paper addresses this question by employing a Neural Network Analysis with data collected through a survey of Irish farmers’ perception on succession and land mobility measures in 2012. The analysis shows that while many farmers in general are in favour of various land mobility measures, they would not consider taking advantage of any of them, which in part could be explained by a large number of farmers being unwilling to totally retire from farming.
/ Document de travail du personnel 2016-2 Agency Costs , Risk Shocks and International Cycles

Council. This research may support or challenge prevailing policy orthodoxy. Therefore, the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and may differ from official Bank of Canada views. No responsibility for them should be attributed to the Bank. www.bank-banque-canada.ca Staff Working Paper/Document de travail du personnel 2016-2 Agency Costs, Risk Shocks and International Cycles
Attaining Root:Crown Balance in Landscape Trees

'Rootshoot ratio' is the term that is often used to describe the relationship between the belowand above-ground portions of plants. It is defined as "the total root system mass divided by the total shoot mass, usually on a dry weight basis" (17). This description of the physical relationship between below- and above-ground parts of plants does not adequately describe the important physiological aspects of the relationship. The term 'root:crown balance' is more complete. In this paper, root:crown balance is considered as the relationship between water and mineral absorption by the root system, and utilization by the crown. The term 'balance' describes the delicate physiological equilibrium between the root system and the above-ground parts of the plants more completely. 'Crown' is used because it describes the entire canopy of large landscape plants more appropriately than 'shoot'. The root:shoot ratio is one component of the root:crown balance. The rootxrown balance is affected by both physical and physiological changes. Physical disruption of the balance is possible by removal of either roots or branches. Physiological changes such as reduced soil moisture uptake, constriction of vascular transport, and excessive transpiration rates can also disrupt the balance. Since reduction of the water supply will have the most immediate and serious effects, reducing the root:crown balance (loss of roots or root function relative to the crown size) has far more serious implications than increasing it. Root:crown balance is under both genetic and environmental control. When genotypes of Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) were compared, seedlings from arid climates had higher root:shoot ratios than did those from more mesic climates, when both are grown under identical conditions (4). Cassava {Manihot eschlenta) clones also show large varietal differences in the root:shoot ratio developed under identical conditions of culture (3). Variations in environmental conditions can also affect the root crown balance, even within the crown of a single tree, von der Heide-Spravka and Watson (18) showed that that the north side of littleleaf linden (Tilia cordata) had 26 percent more root surface area per unit leaf area than the south side. Common arboricultural practices also alter the root:crown balance. Transplanting, root pruning along uplifted sidewalks, and root damage resulting from construction activities are all examples of deliberate root system reduction. Urban trees are commonly planted where development of the root system is limited by the quantity and quality of the soil, and risk of elevated transpiration and water stress is high (7), thus decreasing the root:crown balance.
Design and implementation of a modular deadlock-free routing for a mesh network of transputers

The availability of a reliable routing algorithm for a transputer based parallel system is of elementary importance. The difficulty in designing such an algorithm lies in the occurance of deadlocks in blocking message passing processes. The situation of several processes waiting indefinitly is called deadlock. Deadlock is usually discussed in the multi-programming environment where several processes may compete for a finite number of resources. One way to break this deadlock is for the system to take extreme action and p,reempt the resources held by the processes. In general, detecting and recovering from deadlocks is difficult, and the best strategy is to have policies and strategies that avoid deadlock. The topic of this thesis is the design and implementation of a modular deadlockJree routing algorithm for a two-dimensional mesh, on a network of transputers of any size. Various routing techniques and topologies are first discussed to get a better understanding of the nature of deadlocking. This thesis also describes the difficulties in avoiding deadlock situations. The routing algorithm is implemented on a network of transputers using the OCCAM language. Chapter 1: Introduction Message routing in interconnection networks has been the subject of constant interest in recent years. Various techniques have been used to route a message through a network. Of even a greater interest has been the problem of deadlocking, which can effect communication latency. A deadlock is a situation, in which a set of processes are allowed to hold some resources while requesting others [1]. In order to address the issue of designing routing algorithms, several factors have to be considered such as routing techniques, type of architecture and topologies and flow control strategies. Two major techniques are used in routing: source and distributed routing. Each of the techniques has its advantage over the other and is discussed in detail in this thesis. Another classification of routing is deterministic or adaptive routing. A network consists of many channels and buffers. A flow control strategy deals with the allocation of channels and buffers to a packet as it travels along a path through the network. What action is to be taken when a packet is blocked, depends on the flow control policy. In this chapter, concurrent processing is first introduced. A brief description of various interconnection topologies and switching techniques are then presented.
Growth of CZTS-Based Monograins and Their Application to Membrane Solar Cells

The idea of producing solar cells from powder materials is nearly as old as the history of modern silicon-based solar cells. Just three years after AT&T Bell Lab’s Chapin, Fuller, and Pearson released their first commercially attractive silicon solar cell [1], Hoffman’s Electronics patented a method to produce solar modules from silicon powders [2]. Based on Hoffman’s Electronics’ patents, Ties Siebold te Velde of Philips Company in Eindhoven filed the first patent on monograin membrane devices for radiation detection, use in a solar battery, a LED, etc. [3]. Eighteen further patents had been filed by 1973, specifying methods of membrane production as well as new applications such as the production of printed circuits. Philips continued to produce monograin membrane-based photoconductive elements containing 35–45 μm Cu-doped CdS particles in Hamburg until the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s the technology to produce silicon spheres and insert these into an aluminum foil with appropriately placed holes had been developed at Texas Instruments in order to electrolyze a solution to store light energy as chemical energy in electrolysis products [4]. Growth of CZTS-Based Monograins and Their Application to Membrane Solar Cells
Quantum speedup for active learning agents

Can quantum mechanics help us build intelligent learning agents? A defining signature of intelligent behavior is the capacity to learn from experience. However, a major bottleneck for agents to learn in reallife situations is the size and complexity of the corresponding task environment. Even in a moderately realistic environment, it may simply take too long to rationally respond to a given situation. If the environment is impatient, allowing only a certain time for a response, an agent may then be unable to cope with the situation and to learn at all. Here, we show that quantum physics can help and provide a quadratic speedup for active learning as a genuine problem of artificial intelligence. This result will be particularly relevant for applications involving complex task environments.
Shareholders wealth and mergers and acquisitions (M&As)

We re-examine the abnormal returns (ARs) around merger announcements using a large sample of 8,945 announcements. We estimate the ARs using the Carhart (1997) fourfactor model under the standard ordinary least square (OLS) method and the Glosten et al.'s (1993) asymmetric GARCH specification (hereafter, GJR-GARCH). Under the OLS method, acquirers do not generate significant cumulative ARs (CARs) in line with prior work. Our new results, however, show that under the GJR-GARCH estimation, acquirers generate positive and significant cumulative CARs. We attribute the gains to the use of the GJR-GARCH estimation method, as the GJR-GARCH method is more effective in capturing conditional volatility and asymmetry in the excess returns.
2 How Should We Stress the HumanHeart ?

Cardiac stress testing, whether conducted alone [e.g., exercise electrocardiogram (ECG)] or combined with cardiac imaging, plays a major role in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) by provoking myocardial ischemia and allowing the detection of myocardial perfusion abnormalities that arise from flow-limiting coronary stenosis. Most flow-limiting stenoses would otherwise go undetected, as compensatory dilation of the resistance vessels maintains resting myocardial blood flow within normal limits. During cardiac stress, hyperemic flow varies linearly with perfusion pressure, resulting in reduced myocardial perfusion as stenosis severity increases. This results in disparate distribution of myocardial blood flow and forms the basis for perfusion imaging. Depending on the severity of underlying stenosis and the magnitude of increase in oxygen demand, cardiac stress may induce myocardial ischemia, which would result in angina, ECG and hemodynamic changes, and myocardial contractile dysfunction in addition to perfusion abnormalities. Cardiac stress imaging therefore provides valuable diagnostic information to guide clinical decision making with regard to medical therapy and revascularization. Dynamic exercise and pharmacological stress agents are used for this purpose, with newly developed agents able to overcome some of the limitations of existing methods. How to stress the human heart is a question that can only be answered after a comprehensive understanding of the properties and mechanism of action of the various forms of stress currently available. This chapter is dedicated to the several modalities of cardiac stress used to assess patients with known or suspected CAD undergoing noninvasive cardiac imaging.