Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The emergence of sustainability culture and the sustainability practitioner

In this thesis, I propose that sustainability is a new emergent cultural phenomenon – a new “dreaming” - arising from our conscious and unconscious actions, our relationships and our connection to place. Such a culture of sustainability is essential to support the vision of a sustainable global society. I further propose that the way sustainability is practised, both personally and professionally, has significant potential for fostering the emergence of sustainability culture, and that a mature sustainability culture, in turn, will support our myriad actions towards sustainability. The above propositions have a significant caveat: emergence, as understood in complexity theory, is not predictable. The current unsustainable paradigm of global development is also an emergent phenomenon. Real sustainability is therefore not inevitable, simply because a vision has been articulated, and strategies and actions implemented. I also contend that as sustainability is holistic in conception, it requires a holistic approach to practice, in addition to the mechanistic prescriptions common to much contemporary sustainability practice. To move towards a holistic approach to practice requires a different type of practitioner from the conventional practitioner: more generalist than specialist, drawing on their “inner sustainability culture” when faced with complex sustainability problems, capable of working across scales, open to discovery of new patterns, and mindful of the degree of complexity in any practice setting. In recognition of the need for a new cultural paradigm of sustainability, and drawing on the concept of emergence as described by complexity theory, I have designed this research project to investigate the following four themes: 1. Culture as an emergent quality of complex adaptive socio-technical systems; 2. The connections between human action and emergent system qualities; 3. The prospects for the emergence of a culture of sustainability; and 4. The implications of emergent sustainability culture for the sustainability practitioner. In this thesis, I argue that we need a model of sustainability culture that accommodates the emergence phenomenon and new ways of emergence-based sustainability practice. I therefore propose an Emergence Model of Sustainability Culture to illustrate the relationship between sustainability, culture and the emergence phenomenon, and I articulate four Emergence Patterns for Sustainability Practice as a working framework for emergence-oriented sustainability practice across different generic practice settings in simple, complicated, complex and chaotic space. I hope that sustainability practitioners will find my Emergence Model and Emergence Patterns to be helpful in progressing to a more considered and deeper approach to sustainability practice than contemporary approaches, especially where sustainability problems are complex and difficult. In this way we may continue to develop a culture of sustainability as a new “dreaming” and the practice of sustainability will progress further to service humanity’s compelling need.
Making Humanoid Robots More Acceptable Based on the Study of Robot Characters in Animation

In this paper we take an approach in Humanoid Robots are not considered as robots who resembles human beings in a realistic way of appearance and act but as robots who act and react like human that make them more believable by people. Regarding this approach we will study robot characters in animation movies and discuss what makes some of them to be accepted just like a moving body and what makes some other robot characters to be believable as a living human. The goal of this paper is to create a rule set that describes friendly, socially acceptable, kind, cute. robots and in this study we will review example robots in popular animated movies. The extracted rules and features can be used for making real robots more acceptable.
INVESTIGATION OF RAPID METHODS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF TRUE PURITY AND DRY SUBSTANCE IN FACTORY PRODUCT STREAMS

LABORATORY analysis is an important element in maximising efficiency in the factory. This paper describes investigations into alternative laboratory methods for assessment of true purity and dry substance in pan products. The first method described is for assessing true purity (TP) by measurement of electrical conductivity (EC) at 27 o brix. Investigations showed that the relationship between EC at 27 o brix and TP was linear under a given set of conditions, allowing the use of EC to estimate TP. A comparison between TP analysis, and assessment of TP by the EC method given showed a standard error of prediction (SEP) of 0.83% purity, with 95% of results being within 1.5% purity. As such, the method returned a more accurate reflection of the purity of process materials than apparent purity methods, at the same time requiring a lower level of analytical input and skill, as well as not requiring the use of lead compounds. The second method described involves the assessment of dry substance (DS) through adjustment of refractometer brix for purity. A comparison of laboratory DS analysis to the predictions returned a SEP of 0.28% DS, with 95% of results within 0.52% DS. The methods described will replace routine apparent purity and spindle brix measurement of pan products in the Mulgrave Mill laboratory in 2005. Weekly analysis of TP using conventional methods for assessing sucrose and DS will still be undertaken, and the data used to ensure that prediction equations for assessing TP using EC and DS by adjusted refractometer brix remain valid. The implementation of these initiatives will mean that reasonable representations of the TP and DS in pan products will be available in far shorter timeframes than available from standard analytical methods. The laboratory results yielded will be a better representation of the parameters being measured than those returned by apparent purity and spindle brix analyses that these methods will replace. In addition to these benefits, labour requirements in the laboratory will be reduced, as will waste disposal and workplace health issues related to the use of lead compounds.
Economic impact of dengue in Singapore from 2010 to 2020 and the cost-effectiveness of Wolbachia interventions

The release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes is a promising disease intervention strategy that aims to control dengue and other arboviral infections. While early field trials and modelling studies suggest promising epidemiological and entomological outcomes, the overall cost effectiveness of the technology is not well studied in a resource rich setting nor under the suppression approach that aims to suppress the wild-type mosquito population through the release of Wolbachia-infected males. We used economical and epidemiological data from 2010 to 2020 to first ascertain the economic and health costs of dengue in Singapore, a high income nation where dengue is hyper-endemic. The hypothetical cost effectiveness of a national Wolbachia suppression program was then evaluated historically from 2010 to 2020. We estimated that the average economic impact of dengue in Singapore from 2010 to 2020 in constant 2010US$ ranged from $1.014 to $2.265 Billion. Using empirically derived disability weights, we estimated a disease burden of 7,645–21,262 DALYs from 2010–2020. Under an assumed steady-state running cost of a national Wolbachia suppression program in Singapore, we conservatively estimate that Wolbachia would cost an estimated $50,453–$100,907 per DALYs averted and would lead to an estimated $329.40 Million saved in economic costs over 2010 to 2020 under 40% intervention efficacy. Wolbachia releases in Singapore are expected to be highly cost-effective and its rollout must be prioritised to reduce the onward spread of dengue.
Smart metering and billing: Information to guide household water consumption

Until now householders have received limited information on their water consumption patterns. Smart water metering presents far more detailed information resources and the opportunity to transform the existing flow of information to consumers for improved efficiencies in water usage. However, a balance is needed between delivering current minimal information and the full detail smart metering can provide on time of use and end-uses. It is critical to understand what information is of value to householders. This paper presents results from a recent householder survey at MidCoast Water (NSW) which improves our understanding of the customer perspective on water consumption information.
Extreme low-latitude TEC enhancement and GPS Scintillation at dawn

We report on an extreme ionospheric plasma density enhancement and Global Position- 16 ing System (GPS) scintillation at dawn, observed within the expanding equatorial ion- 17 ization anomaly (EIA). The total electron content (TEC) in central America reached 50 TECu 18 at sunrise, the value almost twice as high as the normal afternoon peak. The enhanced 19 EIA expanded poleward and westward from just below 20 ◦ magnetic latitude (MLAT) 20 to beyond 30 ◦ MLAT at sunrise. The chief ramiﬁcation of the enhanced EIA was strong 21 GPS scintillation which was observed poleward of 30 ◦ northern MLAT and lasted un- 22 til 8:00 local time. In total, the amplitude scintillation and phase ﬂuctuations lasted for 23 ∼ 5 hours at latitudes north of 20 ◦ MLAT in central America. 24 34 reach- 35 ing latitudes
CT contrast agent of Platinum nanodendrites: Preliminary study

Platinum nanodendrites (PtNDs) are high-Z nanomaterials (Z=78) that possess a promising potential to be introduced as a novel contrast agent in diagnostic radiology. The objective of this study is to investigate the performance of PtNDs as contrast agent in computed tomography in term of CT number and CNR. PtNDs of different sizes (29, 36, 42, 52 nm) were prepared into final concentration of 1.0 mM in 3 mL syringes. CT scans were performed on PtND samples, distilled water and iodinated contrast agent arranged in phantom. The scans of each samples were conducted at 0.6 mm slice thickness and 80 kVp setting. CT number and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) were measured and calculated. The attenuation property of PtNDs shows size dependent characteristics, as the smallest PtNDs tested (29 nm) shows the lowest CT number (3.73 ± 0.37), followed by 36 nm PtNDs (21.23 ± 0.77), 42 nm (62.77 ± 2.08) and 52 nm (89.33 ± 4.60). CNR quantification reveals that there are no significant different of CNR values for PtNDs of size 29 nm, 36 nm, and 42 nm (around 24.67 ± 0.25), while 52 nm PtNDs sees drop of CNR (20.14 ± 0.57). Compared to iodinated contrast agent, 42 and 52 nm PtNDs show higher CT number, with slightly reduced CNR. This preliminary study suggests that PtNDs have the potential to be applied as contrast agents for CT imaging. The study also demonstrates that the performance of nanomaterial based contrast agent and x-ray attenuation properties are dependent on nanoparticles size and further study is required to elucidate multiparameter involved.
DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION HPLC METHODS OF THE FLUOROQUINOLONE ANTIBIOTICS - MOXIFLOXACIN HYDROCHLORIDE AND NORFLOXACIN IN SUPPORT OF ADSORPTION STUDY ON NATURAL ZEOLITES

The fluoroquinolone antibiotics have been widely used in human and animal medicine. Residual antibiotics pollution has become one of the most serious environmental and human health problems today. Therefore, it has been a great exigency to develop some efficient and cost-effective treatment methods and technologies for antibiotics removal from industrial and household contaminated water. There is the most used technique - adsorption for the treatment of wastewaters. Due to high cation-exchange ability as well as to the molecular sieve properties, natural zeolites can be used as adsorbents for removal of the above-mentioned antibiotics from wastewaters and in the purification process. The present research concerns the development and validation of new, selective, sensitive and rapid HPLC methods for the quantitative determination of the most frequently used fluoroquinolone antibiotics – moxifloxacin hydrochloride and norfloxacin in aqueous solutions to measure their adsorption on the natural zeolites and for routine analysis of wastewaters. The proposed HPLC methods were validated with respect to robustness (standard solution stability study, membrane filter compatibility test, critical factors effect study using design of experiments - DoE), system suitability test, specificity, linearity-range (over the concentration range of 0.05 to 2000 μg/mL for both antibiotics), precision, accuracy, limits of detection (LOD) and quantitation (LOQ). The LOD and LOQ were 0.01 and 0.05 μg/mL for moxifloxacin hydrochloride and 0.008 and 0.05 μg/mL for norfloxacin, respectively. Adsorption experiment by natural zeolites in static and dynamic conditions was used for sample preparation of both test fluoroquinolone antibiotics.
Transcriptomic and proteomic analysis reveals mechanisms of pre-fertilization barriers during water lily cross breeding

Background In water lily (Nymphaea) hybrid breeding, breeders often encounter non-viable seeds, which make it difficult to transfer desired or targeted genes of different Nymphaea germplasm. We found that pre-fertilization barriers were the main factor in the failure of the hybridization of Nymphaea. The mechanism of low compatibility between the pollen and stigma remains unclear; therefore, we studied the differences of stigma transcripts and proteomes at 0, 2, and 6 hours after pollination (HAP). Moreover, some regulatory genes and functional proteins that may cause pre-fertilization barriers in Nymphaea were identified. Results RNA-seq was performed for three comparisons (2 vs 0 HAP, 6 vs 2 HAP, 6 vs 0 HAP), and the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) was 8,789 (4,680 were up-regulated), 6,401 (3,020 were up-regulated), and 11,284 (6,148 were up-regulated), respectively. Using label-free analysis, 75 (2 vs 0 HAP) proteins (43 increased and 32 decreased), nine (6 vs 2 HAP) proteins (three increased and six decreased), and 90 (6 vs 0 HAP) proteins (52 increased and 38 decreased) were defined as differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses revealed that the DEGs and DEPs were mainly involved in cell wall organization or biogenesis, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) metabolism, hydrogen peroxide decomposition and metabolism, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism, secondary metabolism, secondary metabolite biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Conclusions These results indicated that genes involved in regulation and gene pathways involved in stress response might overlap in the process of pollination process forming the hybridization barrier in Nymphaea. These results indicate that the pollen tube entering stigma tissue was very similar to the process of external injury, further suggesting that these genes involved in defense and stress response were necessary in the early stage of interaction between the pollen and stigma. This study strengthens our understanding of the mechanism of pre-fertilization barriers in Nymphaea at the molecular level, and provides a theoretical basis for overcoming the pre-fertilization barriers in Nymphaea in the future.
Computer-based testing and the Internet: Issues and advances.

About the Editors. List of Contributors. Introduction: The International Test Commission and its Role in Advancing Measurement Practices and International Guidelines (Thomas Oakland). 1. Testing on the Internet: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities in the Field of Occupational Assessment (Dave Bartram). 2. Model-Based Innovations in Computer-Based Testing (Wim J. van der Linden). 3. New Tests and New Items: Opportunities and Issues (Fritz Drasgow and Krista Mattern). 4. Psychometric Models, Test Designs and Item Types for the Next Generation of Educational and Psychological Tests (Ronald K. Hambleton). 5. Operational Issues in Computer-Based Testing (Richard M. Luecht). 6. Internet Testing: The Examinee Perspective (Michael M. Harris). 7. The Impact of Technology on Test Manufacture, Delivery and Use and on the Test Taker (Dave Bartram). 8. Optimizing Quality in the Use of Web-Based and Computer-Based Testing for Personnel Selection (Lutz F. Hornke and Martin Kersting). 9. Computer-Based Testing for Professional Licensing and Certification of Health Professionals (Donald E. Melnick and Brian E. Clauser). 10. Issues that Simulations Face as Assessment Tools (Charles Johnson). 11. Inexorable and Inevitable: The Continuing Story of Technology and Assessment (Randy Elliot Bennett). 12. Facing the Opportunities of the Future (Krista J. Breithaupt, Craig N. Mills and Gerald J. Melican). Index.
Reducing Accidents Through Detection of Black Hole Attack in VANETs

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are upcoming prominent technology in the field of communication with vehicles. It is a combination of mobile and sensor network features. The random change in position of vehicles in VANET made the system more vulnerable to attacks. The most important attack in VANETs to be considered is Black hole attack which increases the chances for packet loss and in turn to accidents. There is a necessity to develop the techniques to detect Black hole attacks and reduce number of accidents. In this paper, a technique called “Detection of Black hole in VANET using AODV (DBVANETuAODV)” is proposed to find and prevent Black hole attack and thereby reducing occurrence of accidents. The proposed solution is implemented using AODV Routing protocol in VANET.The experiments are conducted with SUMO and NS2 simulators to depict network environment in an inexpensive way. The proposed method “DBVANETuAODV” is compared with AODV with black hole and the result shows the proposed method provides a significant improvement.
Photoacoustic Detection of Terahertz Radiation for Chemical Sensing and Imaging Applications

Abstract : The main research objective is the development of photoacoustic sensor capable of detecting weak terahertz (THz) electromagnetic radiation. The feasibility of THz remote sensing is seen in the utilization of Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) cantilever-based sensor. The overall sensing functionality of the detector in development is based on the photoacoustic spectroscopy and direct piezoelectric effect phenomena, as a result of which significant part of investigation has been conducted in the areas of terahertz electromagnetic radiation and its detection. The main focus of this research work was the detector analytical and Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation modeling, involving necessary material properties investigations and adequate selections which were, beside the sensors' geometry considerations, heavily engaged in the device modeling. Five different MEMS detector configurations have been analyzed and modeled as potential THz photoacoustic sensing options: Three configurations of rectangular shape, single piezoelectric layer cantilever-based sensors, Circular membrane sensing configuration and Square membrane sensing configuration. Some level of disagreement was discovered between the analytical and FEM simulated results, which has been analyzed and possible reasons were established. The obtained results indicated that the Square membrane has demonstrated the ability to respond effectively to any radiation level from the entire THz photoacoustic range exhibiting high sensitivity and thus was selected as the best terahertz photoacoustic sensing solution.
Development of Engineering Transfer Program

The engineering transfer program was developed as a cooperative arrangement between the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). The first two years of engineering courses are the same for mechanical, industrial, civil, and metallurgical engineering. The students entering the program can complete their first two years at UTPB and then seamlessly transfer for the third and fourth year into any of the above engineering programs at UTEP.
TCG based approach for secure management of virtualized platforms: state-of-the-art

There is a strong trend shift in the favor of adopting virtualization to get business benefits. The provisioning of virtualized enterprise resources is one kind of many possible scenarios. Where virtualization promises clear advantages it also poses new security challenges which need to be addressed to gain stakeholders confidence in the dynamics of new environment. One important facet of these challenges is establishing 'Trust' which is a basic primitive for any viable business model. The Trusted computing group (TCG) offers technologies and mechanisms required to establish this trust in the target platforms. Moreover, TCG technologies enable protecting of sensitive data in rest and transit. This report explores the applicability of relevant TCG concepts to virtualize enterprise resources securely for provisioning, establish trust in the target platforms and securely manage these virtualized Trusted Platforms.
Simplification of the arc splitting process in numerical gas flow simulations

The behavior of arcs in low voltage switching devices is affected by several interactions. To take the different physical processes into account as detailed as possible , the computational effort is very time intensive, especially if several splitter plates in complex geometries should be analyzed. To utilize arc simulations as a design tool for switching device development, a reduction of the simulation time is desirable. Therefore a method to simplify the pile of splitter plates is studied. The gas dynamic equations are averaged by an approach of a porous material, and for the simplification of the electromagnetic equations of the splitter plates anisotropic material behavior is assumed. So the material parameters of the porous material in pile direction and normal to pile direction are described by parallel and series connections of the temperature and pressure dependent material parameters. In place of the pile of splitter plates a single continuous domain is used. In this paper verifications of submodels for the gas-dynamic and the electric flow in porous media are presented. Furthermore a simulation of a splitting process with several discrete splitter plates is compared with a splitting process in a simplified continuous porous domain.
Action Research at the Interface: Personal-Professional Reflections on the First 20 Years

This is a personal-professional reflection on 20 years of doing Action Research (AR), based on which AR is positioned as being at three different interfaces: the personal-professional; the theory-practice; and the quantitative-qualitative interface. In addition to AR being at those three interfaces, a number of additional key questions are contemplated in this article; questions which appear to have been largely overlooked – or at least under-researched – in spite of their importance. For example, rather than simply assuming that research is an inherently ‘good thing’ to be doing, the question of why we do research is considered, as a valid research question in its own right. Following on from that question, the question of why teachers should become action researchers is also considered. Another key question that is rarely asked but which is explored here relates to time, specifically how much time research requires, and how much time a busy classroom teacher can give to their research. In relation to the collaborative nature of AR, the question of trust is highlighted, as well as the question of who will benefit from the research and how.