Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Organic Acid-induced Synthesis and Characterization of Selenium Nanoparticles

A simple wet chemical method has been developed to synthesize selenium nanoparticles (size 40–100 nm), by the reaction of sodium selenosulphate precursor with different organic acids in aqueous medium, under ambient conditions. Polyvinyl alcohol has been used to stabilize the selenium nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles can be separated from its sol by using a high-speed centrifuge and can be redispersed in aqueous medium with a sonicator. UV-visible optical absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-rays, differential scanning calorimetry, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy techniques have been employed to characterize the synthesized selenium nanoparticles.
Comparison the effects of using different organic acids on gelatin extracted from cultured sea bream (Sparus aurata) scales

Yapilan calismada jelatin ekstraksiyonu icin iki farkli organic asit kullanilmistir. Cupra ( Sparus aurata ) baliklarinin pullari gelatin kaynagi olarak kullanilmistir. Kullanilan organik asitlerin kalite ve jellesme ozellikleri uzerine etkileri incelenmistir. Uretilen jelatinlerin jel dayanim degerlerine, iyi fonksiyonel ozelliklere sahip urunler olduguna ve her iki grupta da yuksek kalitede jelatinlerin elde edildigi belirtilmistir. Elde edilen toplam verim sirasi ile %31,10 (asetik asit), ve %31,19 (propiyonik asit) olarak tespit edilmistir. Sonuclar dogrultusunda, asetik asit kullanilarak elde edilen jelatinin jellesme noktasi 8,9°C degeri ile endustri acisindan daha uygun oldugu gorulmustur. Kopuk olusum kabiliyeti degerleri asetik asit uygulamasi icin 2,8 ve propiyonik asit uygulama grubu icin 3,0 olarak tespit edilmistir. Farkli organic asit kullanimi renk degerlerinde bir farka neden olmamis, tum gruplarda renksiz ve transparan urun eldesi gorulmustur.
Inclusion of zinc in therapeutic regimen can mitigate and/or obviate use of antimicrobials in neonatal calf diarrhea

The wide range of avoidable complications including the usage of high cost antimicrobials, poor owner compliance and immuno compromised state of the diarrheic calves owing to gastrointestinal loss of zinc that arise out of the current trends of neonatal calf diarrhea management enjoins for development and/or adoption of novel therapeutic options that ensure better clinical cure. One newer, sustainable and affordable alternative may be the incorporation of zinc in the therapeutic regimen. This may hasten recovery; reduce morbidity and mortality rates associated with NCD. WHO has long back recommended Zinc supplementation to decrease the duration and severity of infant diarrhea. Yet the same hasn’t been fully evaluated in animal health. The aim of this study was to evaluate in-vitro antimicrobial activity of zinc salts by agar diffusion method against E. coli isolated from diarrheic calves (aged < 28 days), to assess their effect on the colony count and to check therapeutic effectiveness of zinc gluconate either alone or in combination with Sulfamethoxazole & Trimethoprim (Bactrim) in neonatal diarrheic calves. The results indicated the potential inhibitory effect of zinc oxide (ZnO) on the growth of E. coli; zinc chloride (ZnCl2) showing no effect while as zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) favoured the bacterial growth. All zinc-containing formulations tested (ZnO, zinc gluconate and zinc acetate) showed the reduction in fecal colony count; more pronounced and equivalent to ceftriaxone was observed with ZnO. Zinc gluconate administration to neonatal diarrheic calves showed promising therapeutic potential in terms of reduction in the number of days taken for clinical recovery.
Transient Stability Enhancement of Wind Farms using Photovoltaic Solar Plant as STATCOM

The aim of this study is to investigate the improvement of the performances and transient stability of grid connected Squirrel Cage Induction Generator based on Wind Farm (SCIG-WF) by using a new coordinated control between Grid Side Converter (GSC) of the Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) and photovoltaic solar plant converter (PV-SPC) as STATCOM. Thereby, the reactive power required by the SCIG-WF can be supplied either by the DFIGs (during normal condition) and with the PV-STATCOM during grid disturbances. This control strategy can fulfill the grid codes requirement such low voltage ride through capability by ensuring a no uninterrupted operation of the wind farm. The proposed control scheme is simulated by means of MATLAB/Simulink platform, based on a detailed system model. Through the simulated results, we can conclude that the proposed control for PV-SPC to operate as STATCOM is validated and the performances of the system are improved during normal and transient conditions.
Decomposition of surface drifter observations in the Atlantic Ocean

Surface drifter observations are decomposed into mean, seasonal (annual and semiannual) and eddy components via Gauss‐Markov estimation. This approach helps separate seasonal fluctuations and mean values in the observationally‐sparse tropical and South Atlantic, where monthly mean values cannot be calculated at the spatial scale of the major currents. In some regions, large differences are found between these means and those obtained by simple binned averaging. The differences are attributed to inhomogeneous sampling of seasonal variability, and to the inherent bias of Lagrangian observations towards periods of low velocity. The analysis reveals strong seasonal variations of some surface currents, including a significant late spring reversal of the western North Equatorial Counter‐Current.
Extinction cross section of a dielectric strip

The problem of scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave by a dielectric strip is formulated in terms of an uncoupled system of three-part Wiener-Hopf equations by using a set of approximate boundary conditions. The resulting Wiener-Hopf problems are solved approximately for sufficiently large values of the width of the strip by using D.S. Jones' method (1964). An analytical formula is derived for the excitation cross section of the strip under consideration from which numerical values are obtained in specific situations and the results are presented graphically. The radar cross section of the strip is also computed for several special circumstances, and these are presented separately. >
Geographical variability of relationships among black carbon from wildfires, climate and vegetation in Africa

Frequent wildfires emit large amounts of black carbon (BC) into the atmosphere in the semiarid regions of the African continent. This atmospheric BC efficiently absorbs shortwave radiation and thus modifies the climate system on a regional scale. Therefore, it is essential to understand how geographical distribution patterns of BC emissions are controlled by climate and vegetation in these regions. We applied a principal component analysis (PCA) to the correlations between dry season BC emissions observed by satellite and climate variables during the vegeta- tion growing and dry seasons, and to correlations between BC and the leaf area index during the growing season, as independent values. We analysed the burned fraction (BF) in the same way, but its factor loadings did not differ significantly from those of BC in sign or magnitude. During the growing season, the response pattern of vegetation productivity (an index of wildfire fuel loading) to climate variables explained 57.5% of the regional variability in BC emissions. This vegetation productivity was more closely correlated with the geographical distribution patterns of BC emis- sion than climate variables such as temperature during the dry season. The response pattern of vegetation productivity to climate during the vegetation growing season was roughly determined by vegetation parameters such as biome type and tree cover, which are heterogeneously distrib- uted in Africa. Therefore, regional BC emission patterns would differ even if climate change occurred uniformly throughout semi-arid Africa.
Using AFLP-RGA markers to assess genetic diversity among pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) genotypes in relation to major diseases

Resistance gene analog (RGA)-anchored amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP-RGA) marker system was used in order to evaluate genetic relationships among 22 pigeon pea genotypes with varied responses to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic disease. Five AFLP-RGA primer combinations (E-CAG/wlrk-S, M-GTG/wlrk-S, M-GTG/wlrk-AS, E-CAT/S1-INV and E-CAG/wlrk-AS) produced 173 scorable fragments, of which 157 (90.7%) were polymorphic, with an average of 31.4 fragments per primer combination. The polymorphism rates obtained with the five primers were 83.3%, 92.0%, 92.3%, 93.0% and 93.1%, respectively. Mean polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.24 (with E-CAT/S1-INV) to 0.30 (with E-CAG/wlrk-AS), whereas resolving power (RP) values varied from 11.06 (with M-GTG/wlrk-S) to 25.51 (with E-CAG/wlrk-AS) and marker index (MI) values ranged from 5.98 (with M-GTG/wlrk-S) to 12.30 (with E-CAG/wlrk-AS). We identified a positive correlation between MI and RP (r2=0.98, p<0.05), stronger that that observed for the comparison between PIC and RP (r2=0.88, p<0.05). That implies that either MI or RP is the best parameter for selecting more informative AFLP-RGA primer combinations. The Jaccard coefficient ranged from 0.07 to 0.72, suggesting a broad genetic base in the genotypes studied. A neighbor-joining tree, based on the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean, distinguished cultivated species from wild species. The grouping of resistant genotypes in different clusters would help in the selection of suitable donors for resistance breeding in pigeon pea.
Nonlinear Characterization of Rhodamine 610 dye-doped PMMA Thin Films Under 650 nm CW Laser Light Excitation

In this work the nonlinear optical properties for Rodamine 610 (R610) in PMMA doped films with different concentrations with the solvent Chloroform by using a high sensitive method known as Z-Scan technique were studied. Z-scan experiment was performed using CW diode laser at 650 nm with the power output of 45 mW, in two parts. The first part was done using a closed-aperture placed in front of the detector to measure the nonlinear refractive index. In the second part; the aperture in front the detector was removed (open aperture) to measure the nonlinear absorption coefficient. The experimental results for closed aperture show that the dye doped films exhibit negative refractive index (self_defocusing) for the films of concentration 10 -5 and 10 - 4 M, while the film of concentration 10 -6 M exhibits positive refractive index (self-focusing), The results show also that the nonlinear refractive index and the third order nonlinear susceptibility increased with the increasing of the concentration due to the increasing of the film thickness which caused increasing the nonlinear phase shift in the samples. With open aperture z-scan the samples exhibit two photon absorption under the experimental conditions. The effective values of the nonlinear refractive index n2, the nonlinear absorption coefficient β, real and imaginary parts of the third-order optical nonlinearity, χ (3) were evaluated. The results imply that R610 films can be used as a potential
A Compact SPICE Model for Asymmetric Drain Spacer Extension FinFET

Multi-gate devices like FinFETs can be used in the nanometer regime to reduce short channel effects encountered by planar MOSFETs. Along with the scaling advantages, FinFETs face the problem of width quantization. To overcome this, an advanced architecture, Asymmetric Drain Spacer Extension (ADSE) FinFET was proposed. This is a comparatively new device and the modeling and applicability analysis is still in its infancy. Till now no compact SPICE model is proposed for this device which helps circuit designers to analyze its performance at circuit level. This paper is trying to fill that literature gap. In this paper, a new compact SPICE model is proposed for ADSE FinFET. The model was verified against the published results in the literature. Obtained simulation results agreed with the published results from analytical models. This model was later used for the performance analysis of the device at circuit level. This is followed by a comparison of its performance against planar devices at the circuit level. This was done by evaluating the performance of ring oscillator circuit. This was done for a fixed underlap length. The major observations from this analysis are: FinFET is better than MOSFET in terms o f drain current and frequency response and the power dissipation of underlap device is less than that of corresponding device with no underlap. The propagation delay of underlap device is less than that of normal device.
The Relevance of Portfolio Management Core Competencies in Outsourcing Decisions

This empirical paper analyzes the role of investment companies’ core competencies in explaining the growing importance of outsourcing within the mutual fund industry. We demonstrate that management companies tend to allocate portfolios that are not within their core competencies (defined as the main asset classes or investment objectives managed) to subadvisors whose core competency coincides with the outsourced mutual fund. We investigate the efficiency of such decisions in terms of performance, and the findings suggest that selecting a subadvisor according to core competency improves mutual fund performance. We also observe evidence that in-house fund management improves when firms outsource their non-core funds.
Experimental Investigation on four Stroke Single Cylinder C.I. Engine using Diesel and Acetylene with and without AL2O3 Nano Additive

Present experimental work is focused on reducing dependency on petroleum based fuels by using an alternative fuel i.e. acetylene and by improving fuel quality i.e. using Al2O3 nanoparticles in diesel. Previous research work shows that use of acetylene can reduce the emission of exhaust gas and nanoparticle in diesel enhances uniform combustion of fuel. This study is based on finding the performance characteristics and fuel economy of internal combustion engine at different fuel configuration. In the present investigation a four stroke single cylinder diesel engine which is run on dual fuel mode with and without nanoparticle additive with diesel. The engine is also run using nanoparticle additive in diesel and the result is compared with pure diesel condition. This experiments show that at lower acetylene flow rate engine brake thermal efficiency and fuel economy can be increased but at higher acetylene flow rate brake thermal efficiency is reduced. Based on performance and cost analysis acetylene flow rate is optimized to 0.068 kg/h for the engine used.
Genotyping of HLA-class-I by PCR-SSP of Iraqi Breast Cancer Patients

Background: The aetiology of breast cancer is multifactorial, in which genetic predisposition; environmental factors, hormones and even the infectious agents are thought to interact in the manifestation of disease. In this regard, alleles of HLA are important immunogenetic risk factors, but their associations show different frequencies in different populations. Objectives: This study was established to shed light on the possible association of HLA class I alleles with BC in Iraqi female patients. Subjects and Methods: The study included 60 subjects: 30 breast cancer patients, 12 patients with benign breast lesions as first control and 18 apparently healthy subjects as second control. Polymerase chain reaction-specific sequence primers (PCR- SSP) assay was conducted to assess HLA- typing. Results: Out of 95 HLA class I alleles (A= 24; B= 48; C= 23), one allele (HLA- A*0301010107, 09-11N, 13-16 allele) showed a significant variation between breast cancer patients and control groups (healthy and disease controls) (50% vs. 16.6%, OR=5, EF= 0.40, P= 0.041), (50% vs. 8.3%, OR=11, EF=O.45, P=0.024) respectively. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that HLA- A*03010101-07, 09-11N, 13-16 allele may played a role in the etiology of the disease.
GOVERNANCE AND REGULATION OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY: AN INTERNET MARKETING PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of this qualitative study is to establish governance and regulation issues pertaining to Internet marketing approaches within the South African tourism sector. The study focuses on the norms and practices of Internet marketing among small-scale lodging establishments in Bushbuckridge – a small tourist town in northeast South Africa. In-depth interviews were collected from eight participating bed and breakfast (B&B) owners. Findings revealed that, while Internet awareness was quite high, only a few B&Bs utilised the Internet for marketing. Participants cited lack of clear industry guidelines on Internet marketing approaches as well as limited Internet experience, among others, as barriers to adoption. Implications and recommendations of the study are presented within the ambit of the existing literature.
Providing Definitive Learning Direction for Relation Classification System

Deep neural network has adequately revealed its superiority of solving various tasks in Natural Language Processing, especially for relation classification. However, unlike traditional feature-engineering methods that targetedly extract well-designed features for specific task, the diversity of input format for deep learning is limited; word sequence as input is the frequently used setting. Therefore, the input of neural network, to some extent, lacks pertinence. For relation classification task, it is not uncommon that, without specific entity pair, a sentence contains various relation types; therefore, entity pair indicates the distribution of the crucial information in input sentence for recognizing specific relation. Aiming at this characteristic, in this paper, several strategies are proposed to integrate entity pair information into the application of deep learning in relation classification task, in a way to provide definitive learning direction for neural network. Experimental results on the SemEval-2010 Task 8 dataset show that our method outperforms most of the state-of-the-art models, without external linguistic features.
Essays on Social Capital and Economic Growth

In this thesis we present three models to analyze the dynamic relationship between social capital and economic growth. Throughout it is assumed that social capital increases with socialization while it decreases with labor migration. We consider two channels through which social capital affects the economy. First, social capital affects the innovation process (Chapter 2 and 3) and second, it affects the output (Chapter 3). It has also been assumed that the same objective can also be achieved by improving appropriate formal institutions but doing so is costly. Chapter 1 introduces the topic and discusses related literature. Chapter 2 presents a simple model and shows that in the absence of formal institutions, a higher rate of innovation lowers R&D investment as it weakens the existing informal institutions. Social capital declines due to a decline in socialization time and also because of an increase in the labor migration rate. As a result, rise in the rate of growth rate is lower that what would be predicted by a standard growth model (benchmark case). We show that formal institutions need to be developed in response to new technological breakthrough because of its detrimental impact on social capital. Chapter 3 extends the model by adding physical capital into the model and analyzes alternative ways to finance a chosen level of expenditure on formal institutions. We find that financing through lump sum tax is growth maximizing, however, tax on consumption results in highest improvement in welfare. In the case where social capital affects output directly (Chapter 4), we analyze the impact of increase in the rate of innovation and an exogenous improvement in formal institutions financed by lump-sum tax. We find that while both shocks increase the rate at which the economy grows and decrease the stock of social capital; productivity adjusted physical capital and R&D investment declines when innovation rate goes up while they increase when the formal institutions are improved. They both result in long-run welfare gain. More effective formal institutions result in even higher economic growth and long-run welfare gain. Essays on Social Capital and Economic Growth
Developing Ambient Intelligence Applications for the Assisted Living of the Elderly

Ambient Assisted Living is a research area which has emerged to assist individuals in performing their everyday activities with the help of ambient intelligence technology. To accomplish this, technological aspects such as context acquisition, device integration, networking, and social aspects such as accessibility, usability, privacy, and others, play an important role. These aspects become crucial when assisting the elderly, because they present very specific and demanding requirements. In this paper, we present work in some application scenarios conducted within our research group, focused on supporting the elderly. The implementation of these scenarios is possible through the use of our proposed technological infrastructure consisting of hardware and software platforms.
CURRICULUM CONTENT ORGANIZATION AND TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION OF BASIC EDUCATION STUDENTS’ IN RIVERS EAST EDUCATIONAL ZONE OF NIGERIA

A descriptive survey was conducted to investigate the curriculum content organization and teachers’ perception of entrepreneurship education on skills acquisition by Basic Education Students’ in Rivers East Educational zone of Nigeria. Two null hypotheses were stated to guide the study. The population for the study was 16,647 teachers and 19,737 students. Stratified sampling technique was adopted and the total sample size used was 1,664 teachers and 3,328 students bringing the total to 4,992. Two instruments titled “Curriculum Content Organization Questionnaire (CCOQ)” and “Acquisition of Entrepreneurship Skills Questionnaire (AESQ)” was used for data collection. Cronbach alpha reliability estimate was used to test the reliability. Data obtained were analysed using Pearson Product Moment correlation and Chi-square. Results of the study revealed a significant positive relationship between curriculum content organizationand teachers’ perception of entrepreneurship education on the acquisition of entrepreneurship skills by students. These variables had a positive influence on the acquisition of entrepreneurship skills in terms of making poultry feeds, soap and tie and dye of fabrics among the students. There is the need for students to possess entrepreneurship skills for employment generation, self-reliance and improved standard of living in the society. It is however recommended that in the planning and implementation of the curriculum, efforts should be made to make the learning experiences and contents of the curriculum relevant to the needs of the Nigerian society.