Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VALUES AND HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIOUR A Comparison of Youth in Hungary and Transylvania

A number of factors have been investigated as important determinants of adolescent healthrelated behaviour among which values occupy a special place. A growing number of studies of adolescents’ health-related behaviours include cultural factors. The main goal of the present study was to investigate how a set of values preferred by youth influence their health-related behaviours using a cross-cultural study design of samples of youth from Szeged, Hungary (N = 160), and Târgu Mures (Marosvasarhely), Transylvania, Rumania (N = 124). Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The following values were investigated: filial piety, familism, machismo, collectivism and fatalism. In addition, four health-related behaviours were measured: smoking, alcohol use, marijuana use and sports activity. Irrespective of culture, female students tend to prefer filial piety, collectivism, whereas male students reported higher scores on machismo. Male students in Hungary tend to report higher levels of marijuana use, whereas males from the Transylvanian sample report a higher engagement in sports activity. Alcohol use is more common among males in both samples. Some important cultural differences in the relationship between values and health-related behaviours may also be detected. Among youth in Hungary, fatalism is related to higher levels of substance use. Machismo, on the other hand, plays a role in higher levels of sports activity in the Transylvanian sample. Finally, preferring social values, such as filial piety, familism and collectivism, may be associated with lower levels of substance use or higher levels of sports activity, that is, a more favourable health behaviour pattern in both samples.
Quantitative design space exploration of routing-switches for Network-on-Chip

Abstract. Future Systems-on-Chip (SoC) will consist of many embedded functional units like e.g. embedded processor cores, memories or FPGA like structures. These SoCs will have huge communication demands, which can not be fulfilled by bus-based communication systems. Possible solutions to this problem are so called Networks-on-Chip (NoC). These NoCs basically consist of network-interfaces which integrate functional units into the NoC and routing-switches which connect the network-interfaces. Here, VLSI-based routing-switch implementations are presented. The characteristics of these NoCs like performance and costs (e.g. silicon area respectively logic elements, power dissipation) depend on a variety of parameters. As a routing-switch is a key component of a NoC, the costs and performance of routing-switches are compared for different parameter combinations. Evaluated parameters are for example data word length, architecture of the routing-switch (parallel vs. centralized implementation) and routing-algorithm. The performance and costs of routing-switches were evaluated using an FPGA-based NoC-emulator. In addition different routing-switches were implemented using a 90 nm standard-cell library to determine the maximum clock frequency, power-dissipation and area of a VLSI-implementation. The power consumption was determined by simulating the extracted layout of the routing-switches. Finally, these results are benchmarked to other routing-switch implementations like Aetheral and xpipes.
Assuring Database Integrity

Database integrity has many facets. Both consistency, the property of a database modeling a possible state of the world, and correctness, the exact correspondence of the data to the state of the world being modeled, are important aspects of integrity. Integrity also includes guaranteeing that meaningful views and changes result from interleaved access to the database occurring in typical transaction processing, a property known as atomicity of transactions. Assuring database integrity requires several mechanisms, including language capabilities, runtime processing, and operational controls. Here we concentrate on the maintenance of consistency, both the means of stating database consistency properties and techniques of efficiently assuring that a database can only change from one consistent state to another. We present a theorem-based method of simplifying integrity constraints at the heart of most techniques for achieving efficient integrity assurance. We argue that these techniques are currently practical enough to be included in database system products in the near future, but that languages used to specify constraints and transactions will have to be of a high level of abstraction, reasonably formal, and uniform in order for this to happen.
Effects of Learning Strategies in Accounting: A Case Study of a Malaysian Pre- University Student

Research has shown that learning strategies affect a student’s academic performance. Motivated by the need to further understand the effects of learning strategies on a student’s performance in an assessment, the study adopted a case study design to provide an explanation from the perspective of a single subject of study, who was an Accounting student in a pre-university level. Data were collected from multiple sources of evidence, namely verbal interviews, the subject's work (artefacts of answer transcripts), as well as tests such as Learning Style Inventory Test and Multiple Intelligence Test. Findings indicated that the subject’s ineffective learning strategies had a major effect on his examination performance, due to a knowledge gap as a result of his inability to focus and remember important information. Minor factors contributing to his underperformance included high school-college transition challenges, inadequate sleep, absence of lecture note-taking and exam stress. The findings provide insights for future research to match a student’s learning strategies with his or her academic performance in similar contexts. The findings also imply that the mapping of students’ learning strategies to their academic performance can be a crucial tool to improve students' learning.
Repeated batch operation of internal loop airlift bioreactor in degrading phenolics as single and mixed substrate by using predominantly Pseudomonas sp

An internal loop airlift bioreactor (ILALR) was developed and studied for biodegradation of phenol and m-cresol as single and mixed substrate system using Pseudomonas sp. under repeated batch operation. The results showed that the culture was able to degrade phenol and m-cresol with a cumulative concentration of 600 mg L -1 each in 13 and 17 h respectively. A maximum of four steps was adopted in the study, with a substrate concentration of 125 mg L -1 for each step. The degradation rates of both the substrates were increased without lag in the degradation profile. The specific growth rates of the culture at various phenol and m-cresol concentrations were fit to Monod model. The biokinetic constants estimated using this model showed good potential of the Pseudomonas sp. in treating phenol and m-cresol in an ILALR under repeated batch mode.
More disposable than ever? Consequences of non-removable batteries in mobile devices

Mobile devices like smart phones, tablet computers and ultraportable laptops are experiencing rapid worldwide market growth and have relatively short lifespans. Recently, embedded (non-removable) batteries were introduced that cannot be replaced by consumers. This study traces the environmental and social consequences of the introduction of embedded batteries throughout the value chain: from the original equipment manufacturers, to the users of mobile devices, to the repair, refurbishment and end-of-life recycling companies. It shows that the introduction of embedded batteries was mainly technology and design-driven, that original owners are hardly aware of embedded batteries (unless they seek to prolong the life of their phones), that embedded batteries have contributed to a thriving but mostly unauthorized repair and refurbishment market and finally that recyclers have difficulties removing the batteries. From a social and environmental sustainability perspective, reintroducing removable batteries is preferable, but the study shows this may not be feasible and examines alternative options.
An adaptive polynomial based forward prediction algorithm for multi-actuator real-time dynamic substructuring

Real-time dynamic substructuring is a novel experimental technique used to test the dynamic behaviour of complex structures. The technique involves creating a hybrid model of the entire structure by combining an experimental test piece—the substructure—with a set of numerical models. In this paper we describe a multi-actuator substructured system of a coupled three mass–spring–damper system and use this to demonstrate the nature of delay errors which can first lead to a loss of accuracy and then to instability of the substructuring algorithm. Synchronization theory and delay compensation are used to show how the delay errors, present in the transfer systems, can be minimized by online forward prediction. This new algorithm uses a more generic approach than the single step algorithms applied to substructuring thus far, giving considerable advantages in terms of flexibility and accuracy. The basic algorithm is then extended by closing the control loop resulting in an error driven adaptive feedback controller which can operate with no prior knowledge of the plant dynamics. The adaptive algorithm is then used to perform a real substructuring test using experimentally measured forces to deliver a stable substructuring algorithm.
Predictors of Likelihood of Adoption of Green Practices in Hotels: The Case of Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria

Despite the high level of awareness of sustainable practices around the globe, and literatures on its adoption in businesses, studies showed very few studies are conducted in less advanced countries like Nigeria. Given the rising consumption of resources, apprehension for the environs and sudden realization among people for practices that are friendlier, the trend is gradually picking up in the Nigerian hotel industry. The hotel is facing challenges accepting green practices due to little information on green practice and its perceived benefits, government inability to enforce regulations on environmental sanitation, and absence of enlightenment promotion of green practice. This study strives to determine factors likely to motivate hotels to adopt innovative ways of operating in Nigeria. Based on Rogers’ theory of innovation diffusion, this study decided to establish perceived innovation characteristics, perceived environmental characteristics, organizational characteristics and stakeholders’ influence as determinants for likely adoption. Data was collected from General Managers of hotels (363 in number) in Abuja and Lagos. Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modelling, the findings indicate all perceived predictors positively correlated to likelihood of adoption.
Customer Satisfaction and Corporate Investment Policies

This paper examines the effect of satisfaction with firms’ products and services on their capital investment policies. Using data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index from 1994 to 2013, the results of the regression models show that firms with higher customer satisfaction will invest more heavily in capital expenditures in the future. The results further show that this positive effect is more pronounced for firms with less growth opportunities or a high cost of capital. This would include those firms with low market-to-book ratios, young and small firms, or firms in more competitive industries. Overall, this study argues that customer satisfaction is an important factor affecting the firm’s investment policy. The findings provide a better understanding of the role of customer satisfaction which can generate growth opportunities, reduce cost and motivate a firm to invest more in capital.
STUDIES ON RELEASE OF KETOROLAC TROMETHAMIN AND INDOMETHACIN FROM OPHTHALMIC HYDROGEL INSERTS

Hydrogels are hydrophilic, three-dimensional networks which are able to imbibe large amounts of water or biolojical fluids, and thus resemble to a large extent biological tissue. The well-tolerated safety and biocompatability of Poly (2 – hydroxyethly methacrylate) and poly (2 -hydroxypropyl methacrylate ) hydrogels especially are evident in their use as contact lens and drug release system. In this study, inserts of water-soluble Ketorolac tromethamin (KT) and waterinsoluble indomethacin (IND) were prepared using hydrogels such as Poly (butyl methacrylate) (pBMA), Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA), and poly (2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (pHPMA), and a plasticizer such as Polyethylene glycol 300 (PEG) by film casting method. Swelling properties of these inserts was determined and they were irradiated with an absorbed dose of 1.2 Mrad by means of a Co60 source. The effects of these parameters on the drug release were examined. The mechanism of drug release was identified by means of the semi-empirical equation developed by Korsmeyer and Peppas. Swelling of the hydrogels and release of drugs from the hydrogels increased with size of side chain, hydroxyl groups on the side chain of the acrylate and using PEG 300 in the formulation, which increase hydrophilicity. Water–soluble KT showed higher release than water–insoluble IND. It was also observed no effect of irradiation dose on the release of drugs from the inserts. Release of KT mainly fit to the Fickian diffusion mechanism, whereas drug release of IND mainly showed the non-Fickian release mechanism according to their n exponent values.
Integrated assessment of cropland soil carbon sensitivity to recent and future climate in the Elbe River basin

Abstract Carbon storage in soils is sensitive to changing climatic conditions, potentially increasing C fluxes from soils to the atmosphere. This study provides an assessment of recent climate variability (1951–2000) and potential future (2001–2055) climate change impacts on soil C storage for croplands in the German part of the Elbe River basin. Results indicate that recently (1991–2000) croplands are a net source of carbon (net annual flux of 10.8 g C m−2 year−1 to the atmosphere). The recent temperature trend for the years 1951–2000 (+0.8 K in summer and +1.4 K in winter mean temperature) alone have already caused a significant net flux of 1.8 g C m−2 year−1 to the atmosphere. Future climate change (2001–2055) derived from regionalised meteorological properties driven by the IPCC-SRES A1 scenario results in an increased net C flux of an additional 4 g C m−2 year−1 in comparison to the reference period (1951–2000). Uncertainties attached to C flux results are estimated with a standard error of 6%. Besides climate-induced alteration of net C fluxes, considerable impacts on groundwater recharge (–45.7%), river flow (–43.2%) and crop yield (–11% to −15% as a basin-wide average for different cereals) were obtained. Recent past and expected temperature changes within the Elbe basin predominantly contribute to the increase of net C fluxes to the atmosphere. However, decreased crop growth (crop yields) and decreased expected water availability counteract even higher net C losses as soil C turnover is reduced through less C input (less crop growth) and drier soil conditions (decrease in water availability). Based on this study, present-day and potential future development of net C fluxes, water components and crop yields were quantified. This allows integrated assessment of different ecosystem services (C storage, water availability and crop yield) under climate change in river basins.
A Method for Determining Scale Factor of CFAR Detector Based on BP Neural Networks

As applying constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detection algorithms, an important task is to determine its scale factor according to given false alarm probability. When analytic expression of scale factor vs false alarm probability is difficult or impossible to be obtained, simulation is adopted traditionally. But the computation of simulation is very large. A method for determining scale factor of CFAR detector based on BP neural networks is proposed in the paper using powerful ability to approximate any non-linear expression. Studies of examples indicate training times of BP neural networks approximating relation between false alarm probability and scale factor can be largely shorten, after nonlinear transformation of natural logarithm is applied to input of BP neural networks. Studies also indicate method for determining scale factor based on BP neural networks can provide high accuracy. Keywords-CFAR, Scale factor, BP neural networks
A Review of the Possible Effects of Physical Activity on Low-Back Pain

Objective: Low back pain (LBP) represents the most prevalent and costly repercussion from musculoskeletal injury in the work place. This review examines the earlier and current research reported on the significance of physical activity on musculoskeletal injuries and LBP, the benefits and limitations of therapeutic exercise, and the potential features of various exercise modalities that may contribute to the secondary and tertiary prevention of low-back pain.
Evaluating pulse-amplitude modulated fluorometry for landscape scale assessment of photosynthetic characteristics

Pulse-amplitude modulated fluorometry (PAM) was evaluated for monitoring the physiological condition of the seagrass, Thalassia testudinum, in Florida Bay. This approach is attractive because it is rapid, non-invasive, and offers quantitative physiological information. Yet, problems arise when expanding sampling from the organismal scale to the landscape scale, due to temporal changes in photophysiology. The magnitude of diurnal variation of photosynthetic characteristics was investigated using Rapid Light Curves (RLC), which measure quantum yield over a range of changing actinic irradiances. In this study, the resulting calculated parameters (alpha and ETRmax) significantly changed diurnally, as was previously found with effective quantum yield. The significance of among basin and year comparisons was also confounded by diurnal variation and rigorous statistical analysis was unable to discern which time of day was best suited for assessing the photophysiological status of T. testudinum. Even though measurements taken with PAM fluorometry exhibited a significant amount of diurnal noise, informative physiological patterns did emerge. The ability to distinguish among basins and see landscape scale trends within the bay gives us an indication that PAM fluorometry may be useful as a monitoring tool. However, in ecosystems where the magnitude of changes are large and occur on much faster timescales than the ecosystem changes that you are trying to measure, the resulting fluctuations may obscure the true physiological signal. Therefore, when using this approach over large spatial and temporal scales diurnal variability must be considered. In order to incorporate the entire temporal and spatial scale two previously proposed methods, the Diel Yield and Diel Rapid Light Curve method, were investigated. Photosynthesis irradiance (P-E) curves were calculating using both methods and the ability of each method to accurately predict the relationship between electron transport and irradiance was explored. It was found that neither method was able to provide consistent estimates of photosynthetic efficiency or capacity. The Diel Yield method frequently produced unrealistic predictions of photosynthetic capacity (rETRmax) and saturation irradiance (Ik). The Diel RLC method produced more reasonable predictions of rETRmax and Ik, but this method had the most difficulty predicting photosynthetic efficiency (alpha) when ambient irradiances were continuously high throughout the day (>Ik). With some further calculations we believe the Diel RLC method can provide an estimate of photosynthetic efficiency and offer a way to reasonably approximate landscape-level photosynthetic characteristics. Because both methods investigated in this study use data generated from RLCs, which have been shown to vary depending on previous light history; diurnal variations do affect estimates of electron transport rates. Therefore, the Diel RLC method does not negate diurnal variation but it does produce a curve that incorporates the changing ambient light environment.
Functional Ability, Participation in Activities and Life Satisfaction of the Older People

This study determined whether the functional ability and participations in activities affect the life satisfaction of the older people. Data were gathered from the 780 older people through survey interview, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale and Life Satisfaction Index for the Third Age Scale. The functional ability, participation in physical activities and activities with formal support networks are statistically significant predictors of life satisfaction among the older people. These variables, when combined explain a statistically significant portion (23.7%) of the variance in their life satisfaction. The older people who have better health status enjoy their lives more than those who have poor health conditions. After reaching the age of sixty, the older people are still capable of working and be active participants in the labor sector. The results have theoretical implications on the activity theory of aging since high levels of participation in the activities mean high levels of life satisfaction.
Amelioration of Decentralized Cipher Text Policy Attribute Based Encryption with Mediator technique by adding Salt

The existing techniques had focused more on the attribute based encryption, cipher text policies and multiple authorities to make the network security more sheltered. But due to the attribute leak problem, these techniques were disabled to protect user’s privacy. To enhance the security level, the proposed system has added salting method into the DCP-ABE-M scheme. Here both the data and user attributes are utilized to avoid attribute leak problem. The proposed system has a decentralized environment which contains multiple authorities who generates secret keys by using user attributes, data attributes and also contains multiple mediators who act as the middleware between user-authority. Both the power’s doesn’t stores any user details or full secret keys in their DB or in system. That is, all the user details and secret key will be hidden. In some cases the different users may use same keywords as their passwords which may leads to rainbow table attack or dictionary attack. To avoid this problem, salting is added into DCP-ABE-M. A unique salt value is added into the passwords which makes the password more strong and different from other passwords. Hence the proposed system enhances the level of security by adding salt value and is more efficient than the previously existing schemes.
GDH pipe break transient analysis of the RBMK - 1500.

Presented in this paper is the transient analysis of a Group Distribution Header (GDH) following a guillotine break at the end of the header. The GDH is the most important component of reactor safety in case of accidents. Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) piping is connected to the GDH piping such that, during an accident, coolant passes from the GDH into the ECCS. The GDH that is propelled into motion after a guillotine break can impact neighboring GDH pipes or the nearest wall of the compartment. The cases of GDH impact on an adjacent GDH and its attached piping are investigated in this paper. A whipping RBMK-1500 GDH along with neighboring concrete walls and pipelines is modeled using finite elements. The finite element code NEPTUNE used in this study enables a dynamic pipe whip structural analysis that accommodates large displacements and nonlinear material characteristics. The results of the study indicate that a whipping GDH pipe would not significantly damage adjacent walls or piping and would not result in a propagation of pipe failures.