Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enriching the Web of Data with Educational Information Using We-Share

This paper presents We-Share, a social annotation application that enables educators to publish and retrieve information about educational ICT tools. As a distinctive characteristic, We-Share provides educators data about educational tools already available on the Web of Data while allowing them to enrich such data with their experience using technology in the classroom. We-Share evaluation entails an empirical study where 23 educators enriched tool descriptions available on the Web of Data out of their own experience. The results suggest that experiential annotations published by educators using We-Share improve the satisfaction and confidence of other educators when discovering and selecting ICT tools. Further, most educators found We-Share an easy-to-use application suitable to share and retrieve information about educational ICT tools.
The absolute magnitude of K0V stars from Hipparcos data using an analytical treatment of the Malmquist bias

We calculate the average absolute magnitude for Hipparcos single K0V stars, using a theoretical curve for the distance-dependent Malmquist bias in the data. This method is shown to be well applicable to stellar data with good parallaxes and gives results in agreement with a previous study that used another treatment of the bias developed in extragalactic astronomy (finding the “unbiased plateau”). In particular, we point out that such a fit, which uses stars in the biased part of the sample, may be less vulnerable to the fluctuations in the unbiased plateau whose definition is also somewhat subjective. We found for K0V stars $M_0=5.8$, with the spread of the luminosity function being 0.3 mag. It is shown that inclusion of Hipparcos non-single stars may underestimate M 0 by about 0.05–0.1 mag. During the study it was found that about 20% of the sample may be mis-classified K0IV stars.
Comparison of Methods for modelling Coronal Magnetic Fields

Four different approximate approaches used to model the stressing of coronal magnetic fields due to an imposed photospheric motion are compared with each other and the results from a full time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code. The assumptions used for each of the approximate methods are tested by considering large photospheric footpoint displacements. We consider a simple model problem, comparing the full nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic evolution, determined with the Lare2D numerical code, with four approximate approaches. Two of these, magneto-frictional relaxation and a quasi-1D Grad-Shafranov approach, assume sequences of equilibria, whilst the other two methods, a second-order linearisation of the MHD equations and Reduced MHD, are time-dependent. The relaxation method is very accurate compared to full MHD for force-free equilibria for all footpoint displacements but has significant errors when the plasma $\beta_0$ is of order unity. The 1D approach gives an extremely accurate description of the equilibria away from the photospheric boundary layers, and agrees well with Lare2D for all parameter values tested. The linearised MHD equations correctly predict the existence of photospheric boundary layers that are present in the full MHD results. As soon as the footpoint displacement becomes a significant fraction of the loop length, the RMHD method fails to model the sequences of equilibria correctly. The full numerical solution is interesting in its own right, and care must be taken for low $\beta_0$ plasmas if the viscosity is too large.
Preparation of a transferrin-targeted M13-based gene nanocarrier and evaluation of its efficacy for gene delivery and expression in eukaryote cells

Bacteriophages are appropriate gene carriers that might be targeted toward target cells using different strategies. Here we prepared a transferrin-targeted M13-based gene nanocarrier (Tf-targeted M13-GFP) and examined its gene delivery and expression efficacy in the AGS cell line. M13 phagemid particles bearing a GFP expression cassette (M13-GFP) were obtained from a recombinant lambda phage through an in vivo excision procedure. Chemical coupling of human holotransferrin molecules (Tf) to the surface of these phagemid particles resulted in Tf-targeted M13-GFP formation, which was then characterized by Phage-ELISA and Cell-ELISA experiments. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis were used for internalization assay and examination of gene delivery/expression efficacies in the human AGS cell line. The ELISA experiments revealed high-density attachment of Tf molecules to the surface of M13-GFP particles and ICC confirmed highly efficient internalization of the Tf-targeted M13-GFP particles into the AGS cells. Moreover, FACS analysis showed significant increase of GFP-positive cell counts in the samples treated with Tf-targeted M13-GFP (8.09%) in comparison with the samples treated with wild M13-GFP (1.2%). We conclude that this strategy might improve phage-mediated gene delivery and expression in eukaryote cells.
Effect of parasitism on food webs: Topological analysis and goodness test of cascade model

In this study, we used Pajek to analyze the effect of parasitism on food webs collected from Carpinteria Salt Marsh (CSM). Results showed that median and mean of generality and vulnerability for predator-prey and parasite-host sub-webs were greater than the reported previously. Inclusion of parasites significantly increased the mean generality and vulnerability of the full food web. Effectiveness of cascade model was tested using CSM and arthropod food webs. The results demonstrated that fitting goodness on the predator-prey sub-web without parasites was lower than that on the full CSM food web. Also, cascade model performed worse in fitting arthropod food webs.
Using of Sintering and Microwave Techniques to Control the Release of Trifluoperazine HCl fromWax Matrix

The very water soluble drug, trifluoperazine HCl was prepared as sustained release carnauba wax matrix tablets using direct compression method.Different amounts of carnauba wax as matrix substance was used to show its effect on drug release. Also sintering as new technique was used in order toretard the drug release from carnauba wax matrix tablets; the granules before compression or the tablets after compression were exposed to 90°C or 120°C for 3 or 5 minutes. Microwave is another technique which was used to prolong the drug release from carnauba wax matrix tablets. The granules before compression or the tablets after compression were exposed to microwave irradiation at 600 watt for 3 or 5 minutes.The results revealed that the release of drug decreased significantly (p<0.05) when the when the amount of carnauba wax was increased. On the other hand, sintering of granules or tablets, exhibited a significant (p< 0.05) drug release retardation when the temperature was increased from 90° C to 120° C.Furthermore, non significant differences (p> 0.05) in drug release was shown at different time of sintering for 90°C or 120°C. The microwave irradiationdirectly on tablets had a significant (p< 0.05) retarding effect on drug release, particularly for tablet exposed to 5 minutes since the drug release prolongedfrom 3hr for unmicroaved tablet to 6 hr for microwaved one.
Matters of Taste: Food and Drink in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Life

Each of the 60 paintings presented is discussed from both an art historical and culinary perspective and is followed by an authentic period recipe. A cookbook accompanying the main volume adapts these recipes for the modern kitchen. Drawn exclusively from American museums, art galleries and private collections, the artworks portray still lifes, Dutch tavern and market scenes, and festive occasions by 45 Dutch artists including such well-known painters as Jan Steen, Adriaen van Ostade and Pieter Claesz and their less famous contemporaries such as Quiringh Gerritsz, van Brekelenkam and Harmen van Steenwijck. The volume also contains essays by Charles T. Gehring and Nancy T. Minty.
Cloud and thermodynamic parameters retrieved from satellite ultraspectral infrared measurements

Atmospheric thermodynamic parameters and surface properties are basic meteorological variables for weather forecasting. A physical geophysical parameter retrieval scheme dealing with cloudy and cloud-free radiances observed with satellite ultraspectral infrared sounders has been developed and applied to data from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS). The retrieved parameters presented herein are from radiance data gathered during the Joint Airborne IASI Validation Experiment (JAIVEx). JAIVEx provided intensive aircraft observations obtained from airborne Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) systems, in-situ measurements, and dedicated dropsonde and radiosonde measurements for the validation of the IASI products. Here, IASI atmospheric profile retrievals are compared with those obtained from dedicated dropsondes, radiosondes, and the airborne FTS system. The IASI examples presented here demonstrate the ability to retrieve fine-scale horizontal features with high vertical resolution from satellite ultraspectral sounder radiance spectra.
A new phytoplasma associated with witches' broom of Cassia italica in Oman

In several Oman locations plants of Cassia italica exhibit witches’ broom symptoms. Samples were collected from four locations, and examined for phytoplasma presence. PCR amplification using ribosomal phytoplasma primers followed by RFLP analyses indicates that the phytoplasmas present in these samples were undistinguishable from each other, but differed from those reported in the literature. RFLP and phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene plus spacer sequence confirmed that the closest phytoplasma relatives were members of the pigeon pea witches’ broom phytoplasma ribosomal group (16SrIX), sharing a 93-97% sequence similarity. Nested PCR experiments using primers amplifying the gene coding for ribosomal protein S3 provided amplification from phytoplasmas detected in C. italica, after sequencing 600 bp in this gene the higher homology showed was 78% with phytoplasmas related to ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium’ and 77% with phytoplasmas belonging to ribosomal group 16SrIX.
Influence of fly ash and decreasing water-powder ratio on performance of recycled aggregate concrete

Investigation results of the combined effect of partial cement replacement with fly ash, and the use of recycled concrete aggregate to improve the sustainability of concrete, are presented in this paper. The compressive strength, capillary water absorption, water permeability, and chloride ion penetration, are analysed by testing nine concrete mixtures, in which the fly ash content and water to powder ratio were varied. The results show that compressive strength slightly decreases as the fly ash content increases, but that this can be compensated by reducing the water to powder ratio.
A Coalition based Agent Design for Heroes of Newerth

Video games have become more and more advanced, yet their artificial intelli- gence components are often a source of criticism. Even though academic AI has come very far, it is rarely seen in video games due to computational complexity. Video games usually use most of their computation time on graphics and physics, and since they require quick response times, the AI is left with scarce resources to use advanced techniques. This project examines the use of case-based reasoning and multi-agent cooperation to improve the existing AI in a commercial video game. The game is called Heroes of Newerth and is developed by S2Games. We focus on making group decisions in this real-time environment which is partially observable. We also use case-based reasoning techniques to improve agents de- cisions. Our goal is to implement an agent with these properties, which is both more challenging and fun to play against.
Neighborhood structure effects on the Dynamic response of soil-structure interaction by harmonic analysis

For realizing the variation of structural dynamic characteristics due to neighbor structure in buildings group, the surface structure is idealized as an equivalent single degree of freedom system with rigid base whose site consists of a single homogeneous layer. Based on the model, a equivalent method on the equivalent seismic excitation is proposed. Then, the differences of seismic response and equivalent seismic input between soil - structure interaction (SSI) system and structure -soil-structure interaction (SSSI) system are investigated by harmonic analysis. The numerical results show that dynamic responses would be underestimated in SSSI system when the forcing frequencies are close to the Natural frequency if the effects of neighborhood structure were ignored. Neighborhood structure would make the translational displacement increase and rocking vibration decrease. When establishing an effective seismic input, it is necessary to consider the impact of inertia interaction.
The empirical relevance of Goodwin’s business cycle model for the US economy

The paper attempts to verify Richard Goodwin's (1967) endogenous business cycle theory which states that the driving forces behind fluctuations are class struggles between capitalists and workers about income distribution. Based on a Marxian profit-led model, non-linear differential equations lead to endogenous cycles in the wage-share-employment-space which can be observed empirically. Applying a bivariate vector autoregressive model we analyze the relationship between real unit labor costs and the employment rate for the US economy over a period from 1948:1 to 2006:4. Granger-causality tests, orthogonalized impulse response functions and forecast error variance decomposition are conducted for the raw data as well as the cyclical components of the Hodrick-Prescott and Baxter-King filter methods. We verify the profit-led character of the US goods market and find that income distribution is driven by labor market dynamics.
Primary School Teachers’ Preferences on the Implementation of Continuing Professional Development Programmes in Malawi

Abstract The study is an analysis of views of Primary School teachers in Zomba Rural Education District in Malawi on their preferences as regards the implementation of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes. The concern of the study was that despite the Government of Malawi putting in place structures to facilitate the implementation of Continuing Professional Development for primary school teachers, teachers have not improved their classroom practices. This study used a mixed method design that collected both quantitative and qualitative data through questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews. In total, 798 teachers, representing 47% of teachers in the district, responded to the questionnaire. The researchers conducted 34 focus group discussions with teachers from various schools and held interviews with 34 head teachers. The study focussed on aspects of CPD implementation such as mode, venue, duration, time of the year, organization, form of recognition, and nature of the CPD programmes. Quantitative data were analysed using a software package known as Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) while the analysis of the qualitative data involved clustering common themes and writing stories and ranking the responses. The results show a gap between preferences of teachers and the way CPD programmes are implemented in the district. This calls for collaboration between CPD programme organizers and teachers.
Climate change and farmers response in rural China

Important external drivers in China such as the rapid economic growth, urbanisation, climate change and a growing awareness of environmental degradation have contributed to a shift in governance structures in general and in water governance structures in particular. These external drivers result in shifting governance, which is also shifting because of more decentralisation, involvement of NGOs and CBOs in China and new opportunities for initiatives for farmers at the local level. These developments have created an enabling environment for farmers to take more initiatives, because they are relatively left behind and need to defend their own interests. In this contribution the economic incentives which play a role in these developments are analysed. Using the multi level governance concept, we will indicate the importance of existing governance structures and analyse the emerging initiatives identified in our research in the Yunnan Province in Southern China. We conclude that farmer's reactions can be classified as passive or active and the active reactions can be interpreted as showing agency, used to advance their own solutions, in a situation where they are not involved in current governance structures, which are not always considered to be effective and as such this is an example of adaptive eco water management.
Pattern-based geostatistical simulation using discrete wavelet transformation

Pattern-based simulation is a growing area within multi-point geostatistical simulation. The successfulness of any pattern based simulation depends on how efficiently a pattern is retrieved from the pattern database. A discrete wavelet-based algorithm is proposed in this paper; this algorithm assists in reducing the dimensionality of the pattern database and preserves maximum pattern information. Wavelets by construction preserve maximum information through a few coefficients termed scaling coefficients. The scaling coefficients of the wavelet decomposed patterns are used for clustering the pattern database and the k-means clustering algorithm is then applied to classify patterns. The proposed algorithm is validated by simulating conditionally and unconditionally sets of categorical and continuous data and analyzing results. The comparative evaluation with filtersim shows that the proposed wavelet-based simulation algorithm performs better in all cases.
Automated Reconstruction of Historic Roof Structures from Point Clouds - Development and Examples

Abstract. The analysis of historic roof constructions is an important task for planning the adaptive reuse of buildings or for maintenance and restoration issues. Current approaches to modeling roof constructions consist of several consecutive operations that need to be done manually or using semi-automatic routines. To increase efficiency and allow the focus to be on analysis rather than on data processing, a set of methods was developed for the fully automated analysis of the roof constructions, including integration of architectural and structural modeling. Terrestrial laser scanning permits high-detail surveying of large-scale structures within a short time. Whereas 3-D laser scan data consist of millions of single points on the object surface, we need a geometric description of structural elements in order to obtain a structural model consisting of beam axis and connections. Preliminary results showed that the developed methods work well for beams in flawless condition with a quadratic cross section and no bending. Deformations or damages such as cracks and cuts on the wooden beams can lead to incomplete representations in the model. Overall, a high degree of automation was achieved.
Improvement of qualitative and quantitative traits in soybean (Glycine Max (L.) Merrill) through gamma irradiation

Gamma irradiation was used at different doses (80, 160 and 240 Gy) on Glycine Max (L.) Merrill cv. Hill homogenous seeds. A single suitable M2 plant was selected and evaluated at M3 and M4 along with its parent and three other varieties as control in RCBD experiment in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University’s experimental field. M-80-709 and M-160-3429 mutant lines were significantly shorter (55.05 and 72.04 cm respectively). Their branch numbers were however significantly more (8.70 and 11.53 respectively) compared to the parent cultivar (80.82 cm and 6.10 respectively) and other genotypes (p≤0.05), when calculated on per plant basis. Besides, the M-160-3429 was characterized by highest grain yield and oil content (38.25 g and 19.22% respectively), in compare with its parent (12.73 g and 19.09% respectively) and all others control cultivars (p≤0.05). The M-160-3429 mutant line with high grain yield and oil content accompanied with some other favorite morphological traits can be considered as a new promising line of soybean for future studies. Results from this study suggested that mutation breeding procedures at the ranges of 80 to 160 Gy is a capable method for breeding higher grain yield including increasing the oil content as well.
Identification of flood-prone areas by integrated remote sensing model

Flood is one of the main natural hazards that normally occurs every year in Malaysia. Flood causes inconveniences to human as well as life, property and financial losses. Floods cause a range of adverse impacts, including human injuries and fatalities, damages to crop, property, and public infrastructure. In this study, the identification of flood prone area has been done by integrated remote sensing images with the Soil Conservation System-Curve Number (SCS-CN). Johor Bahru city centre and Nusajaya of Iskandar Malaysia were selected as a study area since they are involved with the rapid development. A Landsat-5 image has been used in development of elevation model while the hydrological model was utilized to estimate the peak surface runoff. Based on the result, the flood prone areas for Skudai River and the Plentong River have been identified. The rapid changes in landuse has significantly has caused these area classified as high risk of flood areas. The development of this hazard map could be a used as a guideline in planning any development in this areas.
Phylogeographic study of Phyllodoce aleutica (Ericaceae) in the Japanese archipelago

Previous phylogeography on Japanese alpine plants exhibited intra-specific geographic differentiation between populations in central and northern Japan across various taxa. Accordingly, their biogeographic history in the Japanese archipelago was hypothesized that independent coloni- zation into the archipelago occurred at least twice and that populations in central Japan have been persisted with isolation from the northern region. In addition, although northern populations har- boured mostly homogenous genetic structure due to a single expansion history, unique genetic structure was sometimes detected in populations of Tohoku. Such unique genetic structure, but with less consistent tendency, implied that disjunct populations were also persisted in this region. Here, we attempted to examine these biogeographic hypotheses by conducting phylogeographic investigation of Phyllodoce aleutica (Ericaceae). Based on haplotype distribution of chloroplast DNA, populations in central Japan harboured a distinct genetic structure from those in northern Japan. This geographic pattern is consistent with the persistence of isolated populations in central Japan. In addition, populations in Tohoku harboured haplotypes exclusively found in this region, which emphasised the relict populations in this region distinct from other regions. Thus, our study confirmed the north-south differentiation of alpine plants in P. aleutica and suggests the impor- tance of future study focusing on Tohoku region.