Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complexity of Family Businesses in El Salvador: A Structural Equation Model

Family businesses play an important role in sustainable development in Latin American countries, providing economic benefits and leading to a reduction in violence. Until now, family businesses, their characteristics, and the factors that influence their economic development have not been studied in this region. Identifying the appropriate variables contributing to successful family businesses in this region and clarifying the relationships between these variables are important for developing a management model that supports the stability and growth of these businesses and their influence on sustainable development in the region. To this end, this study aims to understand the complexity of family businesses classified as small and medium-sized companies located in San Salvador, El Salvador. This study represents a first approximation and application of this model in one of the representative economies of Latin America. Our literature review allowed us to establish a basic management model incorporating the complexity of family businesses in this regional context. Using a partial least squares structural equation model (SEM-PLS) and a database of 181 family firms, we identify the variables that best explain the management model through the following structures: financial management, business management, family complexity, and company complexity. The results show that in conditions where high interest rates coexist with political conflicts and a complex economic situation, family businesses constitute a pillar for the development of the country towards sustainability. This study has practical implications for entrepreneurs and professionals. This research proposes a management model that allows us to identify the variables that increase or decrease the complexity of family businesses and guides entrepreneurs in taking concrete actions to reduce this complexity. In general terms, this model explains that financial performance depends on business management, the complexity of the family, and the complexity of the company. Finally, based on the results obtained in El Salvador, a clear direction for future research is established, through which it is possible to study the variables that may reduce the complexity of the family and the company in other countries with similar socioeconomic characteristics.
Triantennary GalNAc-Functionalized Multi-Responsive Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Targeted at Asialoglycoprotein Receptor

In recent years, mesoporous silica particles have been revealed as promising drug delivery systems combining high drug loading capacity, excellent biocompatibility, and easy and affordable synthetic and post-synthetic procedures. In fact, the straightforward functionalization approaches of these particles allow their conjugation with targeting moieties in order to surpass one of the major challenges in drug administration, the absence of targeting ability of free drugs that reduces their therapeutic efficacy and causes undesired side effects. In this context, the main goal of this work was to develop a new targeted mesoporous silica nanoparticle formulation with the capability to specifically and efficiently deliver an anticancer drug to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. To this purpose, and as proof of concept, we developed redox-responsive mesoporous silica nanoparticles functionalized with the targeting ligand triantennary N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) cluster, which has high affinity to asialoglycoprotein receptors overexpressed in HCC cells, and loaded them with epirubicin, an anthracycline drug. The produced nanocarrier exhibits suitable physicochemical properties for drug delivery, high drug loading capacity, high biocompatibility, and targeting ability to HCC cells, revealing its biopharmaceutical potential as a targeted drug carrier for therapeutic applications in liver diseases.
A model for static sealing performance of end face seals

The effect of face loading, surface roughness and material properties on the static sealing performance of mechanical face seals is analyzed. The analysis combines the problems of contact and flow between two rough surfaces. The results are compared with available experimental data and are found to be reasonable. Based on many numerical results, a simple empirical expression is derived which enables easy and quick evaluation of the effect of the various parameters on seal performance
Genetic Correlation, Pleiotropy, and Molar Morphology in a Longitudinal Sample of Australian Twins and Families

This study aims to expand our understanding of the genetic architecture of crown morphology in the human diphyodont dentition. Here, we present bivariate genetic correlation estimates for deciduous and permanent molar traits and evaluate the patterns of pleiotropy within (e.g., m1–m2) and between (e.g., m2–M1) dentitions. Morphology was observed and scored from dental models representing participants of an Australian twin and family study (deciduous n = 290, permanent n = 339). Data collection followed Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System standards. Genetic correlation estimates were generated using maximum likelihood variance components analysis in SOLAR v.8. 1.1. Approximately 23% of deciduous variance components models and 30% of permanent variance components models yielded significant genetic correlation estimates. By comparison, over half (56%) of deciduous–permanent homologues (e.g., m2 hypocone–M1 hypocone) were significantly genetically correlated. It is generally assumed that the deciduous and permanent molars represent members of a meristic molar field emerging from the primary dental lamina. However, stronger genetic integration among m2–M1/M2 homologues than among paired deciduous traits suggests the m2 represents the anterior-most member of a “true” molar field. The results indicate genetic factors act at distinct points throughout development to generate homologous molar form, starting with the m2, which is later replaced by a permanent premolariform crown.
Mutant-Firms in the New Economy

This paper is concerned with alternative firm forms such as the M-form and the project-based organization in the New Economy. It is argued that an explanation for the nature and emergence of these alternative firm organizations, called mutants of the firm, must be incorporated into the theory of the firm, to which the paper aims to contribute. The main argument is that, although the New Economy mutant is infused with high-powered incentives to a greater extent than the M-form, authority remains a primordial coordinating device, which is the distinctive mark of a firm. Accordingly, the firm cannot use the coordinating devices in any arbitrary mix, and the author provides reasons for this. As far as the causes of the emergence of the mutants of the firm are concerned, the emphasis is put on two major technological changes, namely those related to the Chandlerian and to the New Economy, and the continuity between them, leading, respectively, to the birth of the M-form and the project-based firm.
Forces in Bracing Elements of Timber Trusses

This book deals with the analysis of the forces acting in bracing of triangular timber trusses of warehouses roofings by computational numerical models based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). Were used the structural analysis software STRAP and consider the operation of bracing in the three-dimensional structure. The maximum force values obtained in the three-dimensional models were compared to the minimum values indicated by the estimation method of the Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 7190:1997, which is based on the lateral instability of the braced element. The values of three-dimensional models are also compared to the methods of Eurocode 5, the South African Standard SABS 0163 and the values proposed by UNDERWOOD (2000), by presenting a similar formulation to the NBR 7190:1997. The models represent usual warehouses with dimensions ranging from 12, 18 and 24 meters wide, 24, 48 and 96 meters length, and 3, 4 and 6 meters column heights. In this context, were analyzed the trusses types: Pratt and Howe, the timber classes: C30 and C50 and the roof types: fiber cement, metal sheets and ceramics tiles – materials most used in Brazil.
Students’ college life adaptation experiences in the accelerated second-degree bachelor of science in nursing program in South Korea

Purpose: South Korea has expanded its accelerated second-degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to resolve its supply-demand imbalance in nursing, although how these students are adapting to and performing in college after admission remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct an in-depth exploration of how Korean accelerated second-degree Bachelor of Science nursing students interact with society and adapt to college life for establishing further supportive educational policies and programs.Methods: Participants comprised 20 South Korean accelerated second-degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing students. The data were collected via online or offline in-depth interviews and analyzed using Strauss and Corbin’s grounded theory and by applying a constant comparative method to achieve theoretical saturation.Results: The core category, derived using open, axial, and selective coding, was “process of the uncharted journey toward a new dream. ” The participants’ college adaptation processes were found to involve three phases: trial and error, adjustment, and acceptance and integration.Conclusion: These findings can be used to develop, apply, test, and improve various support programs for accelerated second-degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and to advance the nursing profession by nurturing a workforce with diverse academic backgrounds and faster college life adaptation.
Review of Research on Vision-Based Parking Space Detection Method

Parking space detection is an important part of the automatic parking assistance system. How to use existing sensors to accurately and effectively detect parking spaces is the key problem that has not been solved in the automatic parking system. Advances in Artificial Intelligence and sensing technologies have motivated significant research and development in parking space detection in the automotive field. Firstly, based on extensive investigation of a lot of literature and the latest re-search results, this paper divides parking space detection methods into methods based on traditional visual features and those methods based on deep learning and introduces them separately. Secondly, the advantages and disadvantages of each parking space detection method are analyzed, compared, and summarized. And the benchmark datasets and algorithm evaluation standards commonly used in parking space detection methods are introduced. Finally, the vision-based parking space detection method is summarized, and the future development trend is prospected.
Miniaturized Hybrid Filter Using Stripline and LC-Loaded SIW Resonators

In this study, a miniaturized hybrid filter based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology with a wide upper stopband and skirt characteristics is presented and analyzed. A third-order highly selective hybrid filter has been implemented, fabricated, and measured by combining two LC resonators and a stripline resonator in closed cavities without extra radiation loss. Good agreement between the EM simulated data and the measured result is observed. The filter exhibits an electrical size of 0.44 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\lambda }_{0}\times \,\,0.64\,\,\lambda _{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> only. The measured in-band minimum insertion loss is around 0.9 dB, and a high stopband rejection up to 2.25 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{0}=10$ </tex-math></inline-formula> GHz) is achieved.
FROM BIM TO POINTCLOUD: AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF LABELED INDOOR POINTCLOUD

Abstract. With the development of deep learning technology, a large number of indoor spatial applications, such as robotics and indoor navigation, have raised higher data requirements for indoor semantic model. However, creating deep learning classifiers requires a large number of labeled datasets, and the collection of such datasets requires a lot of manually labeling proces, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this paper, we propose a method to automatically create 3D point clouds datasets with indoor semantic labels based on parametric BIM model. First, a automatic BIM generation method is proposed through simulating the structure of interior space Secondly, we use a viewpoint-guided labeled point cloud generation method to generate synthetic 3D point clouds with different labels, color information. Especially, noise are also simulated with a gaussian model. As shown in the experiments, the point cloud data with labels can be quickly obtained from existing BIM models, which will largely reduce the complexity of data labeling and improve efficiency. These simulated data can be used in the deep learning training process and improve the semantic segmentation accuracy.
Influence of the Physical Interface on the Quality of Human–Exoskeleton Interaction

Despite exoskeletons becoming widespread tools in industrial applications, the impact of the design of human–exoskeleton physical interfaces has received little attention. This study aims at thoroughly quantifying the influence of different physical human–exoskeleton interfaces on subjective and objective biomechanical parameters. To this aim, 18 participants performed elbow flexion/extension movements while wearing an active exoskeleton with three different physical interfaces: a strap without any degree of freedom, a thermoformed orthosis with one (translation) and three degrees of freedom (translation and rotations). Interaction efforts, kinematic parameters, electromyographic activities, and subjective feelings were collected and examined during the experiment. Results showed that increasing the interaction area is necessary to improve the interaction quality at a subjective level. The addition of passive degrees of freedom allows significant improvements on both subjective and objective measurements. Outcomes of this study may provide fundamental insights to select physical interfaces when designing future exoskeletons.
A Modular, Extensible, and Modelica-Standard-Compliant OpenModelica Compiler Framework in Julia Supporting Structural Variability

Nowadays, industrial products are getting increasingly complex, and time-to-market is significantly shorter. Modeling and simulation tools for cyber-physical systems need to keep up with the increased complexity. This paper presents OpenModelica.jl, a modular and extensible Modelica compiler framework in Julia targeting ModelingToolkit.jl and supporting Variable Structured Systems. We extended the Modelica language with three new operators to support continuous-time mode-switching and reconfiguration via recompilation at runtime. Therefore, our compiler supports the Modelica language and variable structure systems via the aforementioned extensions. To our knowledge, there are no other Modelica tools available that support both standard Modelica and variable structure systems. We evaluated our framework using a standardized benchmark suite, in terms of simulation, compilation and recompilation performance. The results concerning compilation and simulation time performance were compared with the results of running the existing OpenModelica compiler with the same set of models. A custom benchmark was devised to estimate the cost in terms of recompilation when simulating variable structure systems. The performance experiments showed that OpenModelica.jl is currently about four times slower in terms of compilation time when compiling a transmission line model with tens of thousands of equations and variables. The difference in simulation performance between the two compilers was negligable. Furthermore, the impact of recompilation during the simulation was usually small compared with the simulation time for long simulations. The results are promising for a prototype, and we outline approaches to further improve both compilation and simulation performance as future research.
Improvement of PVA-Glucomanan-Acrylamide Hydrogel as Base Material of Immobilization

Hydrogel products are currently widely used in various fields, one of which is agriculture. Most hydrogels are made of synthetic polymers because they have good absorption but are not biodegradable. Glucomannan is a natural polymer that is able to absorb large amounts of water and biodegradable but it is difficult to maintain water content. One method to improve the mechanical properties of hydrogels is by modifying the hydrogels through the formation of an interpenetrating network (IPN) between natural polymers and synthetic polymers. In this study, the IPN hydrogel based on polyvinyl alcohol and glucomannan and acrylamide as a crosslinker was made by combining freeze-thaw and gamma irradiation techniques. The results showed that the hydrogel water absorption after immersion for 24 hours was 311.09% where the weight of glucomannan was 1 g and acrylamide was 0.75 g and the irradiation dose was 30 kGy. The result of cumulative release test of paraquat immobilized into the hydrogel was 12.00% within 10 days. This indicates that the PVA-glucomannan-acrylamide hydrogel can be used as a controlled paraquat release matrix so as to minimize the effect on the overuse of pesticides.
Functionalization of 2D MoS2 Nanosheets with Various Metal and Metal Oxide Nanostructures: Their Properties and Application in Electrochemical Sensors

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDs) have gained considerable attention due to their distinctive properties and broad range of possible applications. One of the most widely studied transition metal dichalcogenides is molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The 2D MoS2 nanosheets have unique and complementary properties to those of graphene, rendering them ideal electrode materials that could potentially lead to significant benefits in many electrochemical applications. These properties include tunable bandgaps, large surface areas, relatively high electron mobilities, and good optical and catalytic characteristics. Although the use of 2D MoS2 nanosheets offers several advantages and excellent properties, surface functionalization of 2D MoS2 is a potential route for further enhancing their properties and adding extra functionalities to the surface of the fabricated sensor. The functionalization of the material with various metal and metal oxide nanostructures has a significant impact on its overall electrochemical performance, improving various sensing parameters, such as selectivity, sensitivity, and stability. In this review, different methods of preparing 2D-layered MoS2 nanomaterials, followed by different surface functionalization methods of these nanomaterials, are explored and discussed. Finally, the structure–properties relationship and electrochemical sensor applications over the last ten years are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the performance of 2D MoS2 with respect to the performance of electrochemical sensors, thereby giving new insights into this unique material and providing a foundation for researchers of different disciplines who are interested in advancing the development of MoS2-based sensors.
Sustainability Gastronomy Tourism in Medan City

This research aims to find out how the current profile of tourism in Medan City is and how is the sustainable development gastronomic tourism in Medan City at this time. The method used by the researcher in this study is qualitative method with observation, interview method: The interviews that will be conducted in this study are interviews with key informants, namely the management of gastronomic tourism in the city of Medan and several stakeholders related to the development of culinary tourism in the city of Medan. Medan, literature study method, documentation method. The objects studied are gastronomic tourism products in the city of Medan the technique sample used convenience sampling. The data analysis technique used in this research is data triangulation. The research results show that the profile of the culinary tourism potential of the city of Medan is: (1) Bolu Meranti, (2) Merdeka Walk, (3) Ramadhan Fair, (4) Bika Ambon, (5) ie Aceh Titi Bobrok, (6) Ucok Durian, (7) Pagaruyung Culinary, (8) Tip Top Restaurant, (9) Ocean Pacific and (10) Amaliun Foodcourt (11) Kesawan Square. This study indicates that the potential for gastronomic tourism in Indonesia is Medan city in general, all of its gastronomic tourism has potential to develop. Meanwhile, the study of Gastronomic Tourism in Medan City is: (1) Developing a Strategy, (2) Sharpening brand power, (3) Promoting Medan Food and Creating the right Route for promotion. This research presents future research directions in the field of sustainable gastronomic tourism.
SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL INFLUENCES ON TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS USING OPEN DATA

Abstract. In this article traffic accidents in Germany are investigated based on different environmental impacting factors. These factors are related to the accident surrounding like road characteristics, weather information, population density as well as POIs. For this purpose different open data source are used, like OpenStreetMap and an open weather API. These input data sources are processed in order to generate different categories of features, describing the on-site situation of an accident. Using the k-means clustering, six clusters were identified. In a consecutive investigation, each cluster is not only described with respect to the feature space but also in regards to their spatial distribution. Based on these findings, a regional comparison is done across the state boarders of Germany.
Cyber Test Form Development and Follow-On Cyber Applications

Abstract : The current project to develop the Cyber Test represents a continuation of the previous work on the Information-Communication Technology Literacy (ICTL) test. The ICTL test was designed to predict success in entry-level training in cyber-related military occupations. Previous research on the ICTL test showed it was and is successful in this regard (Russell and Sellman, 2009, 2010; Trippe and Russell, 2011). The goals of this project are to (a) update and expand the Cyber Test item bank, (b) pilot test the items in an operational setting, and (c) develop additional parallel test forms.
Design Revolution in 3D Printing Processes

Purpose of this case study is to describe the evolution of design processes in 3D printing area, and compare similarities and differences in the ways of working between companies and 3D printing community. The study sheds light to the evolving process phases, the role of designers and customer involvement in the process. This is an inductive case study. Mainly qualitative research methods are used to gather and analyze the data. The study identifies three different design process modes in open design area. The results indicate that companies cannot ignore the development in the open communities because the new ways of working can bring additional benefits to the business. It seems that company driven design and customer driven open design are coming closer to each other in technology and design process perspectives. The study focuses on the fuzzy design area between companies and 3D printing community, which has not been researched much yet.