Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Dynamic Model of Platform Versioning and the Impact on Cumulative Package Downloads and Costs for Developers

Using the system dynamics methodology, we leverage extant research on digital platforms and Agile development from the information systems and strategic management literatures to create a dynamic framework for considering the effect of digital platform versioning under different levels of market dynamism. We find that the impact of platform versioning release cycle time (RCT) and the scope of platform updates on platform outcomes (number of packages available and number of downloads) depends on market dynamism, sensitivity of users’ utility to app breakage, and value of the platform’s core functionality to the developers. Among other results, we show that smaller, incremental updates of functionality are generally preferable to larger, radical updates, even in dynamic markets. In contrast, longer RCTs are preferred in less dynamic markets, while small to moderate RCTs are preferred in more dynamic markets. We conclude with an agenda for future research.
A second functional D5 fatty acid desaturase in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum

A cDNA with homology to fatty acid desaturases was selected by searching the cDNA data bank of Dictyostelium discoideum (http://www.csm.biol.tsukuba.ac.jp/cDNAproject.html) with conserved histidine box motifs. Using this sequence, genomic DNA encoding the D5 desaturase was amplified from the genomic DNA of D. discoideum, and its desaturase activity was confirmed by the overexpression mutation in D. discoideum and the gain-of-function mutation in yeast. The cloned cDNA is 1565 nucleotides in length, and the deduced aminoacid sequence comprised 467 amino-acid residues containing an N-terminal cytochrome b5 domain that shared 43% identity with cytochrome b5 of Oryza sativa. The whole sequence was 42% identical to the D5 desaturase of Mortierella alpina. This desaturase is a novel member of the cytochrome b5-containing D5 fatty acid desaturase. As we have already reported one other D5 desaturase in Dictyostelium, this organism is the first to be confirmed as having two functional D5 fatty acid desaturase genes. The substrate specificities of the two functional D5 desaturases of D. discoideum were also examined.
Toward efficient and stable quantum dot solar cells : design and characterization

This thesis focuses on the optical and electronic properties of lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) for the development of QD solar cells. Near-infrared active PbS QDs composed of earth-abundant elements have emerged as promising candidates for photovoltaic applications because of the solution-processability and a tunable energy bandgap that covers the optimal bandgap range for single and multi-junction solar cells. However, despite rapid progress, previous QD solar cells still show unsatisfactory efficiency and stability. In this thesis work, room-temperature solution-processed ZnO/PbS solar cells with high efficiencies and unprecedented air-stability have been successfully demonstrated. The major limiting factors in present QD solar cells and potential routes to further improving the device performance have also been elucidated. Owing to the versatile surface chemistry and high surface-to-volume ratio of QDs, the surface ligands play crucial roles in determining the optoelectronic properties. In this work, taking advantage of tunable electronic energy levels in QDs with different ligands, a new device architecture for solar cells has been designed. The architecture employs layers of QDs serving complementary functions, one as the main light absorbing layer and another as an electron-blocking/hole extraction layer. The device shows improved performance as a result of the relative band alignment between these QD layers, as confirmed by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. A device with this architecture reached a certified efficiency of 8.55 %, breaking previous record efficiencies of QD solar cells.
Gains of Mobility for Communication and Sensing in Vehicular Sensor Networks

Gains of Mobility for Communication and Sensing in Vehicular Sensor Networks Waleed Saeed Alasmary Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Toronto 2015 In this thesis, mobility information exchanged among vehicles devices is utilized to improve the communication and sensing in vehicular networks. Mobility usually causes a loss in communications, and can add an additional load in sensing. There have been research attempts to handle such challenges in vehicular networks by addressing them after realizing the mobility impact, or adaptively addressing the problem as the mobility changes. This thesis takes a different approach to enhance communication, and sensing in vehicular networks. The first objective of this thesis is to utilize mobility information in order to enhance communication in vehicular networks by reducing the excessive load on the channel, while preserving the communicated information. The second objective of this thesis is to utilize predicted mobility information in order to enhance sensing in vehicular sensor networks by efficiently providing the sensing metric, with a minimal load on the communication channel. In order to have mobility information, vehicles has to communicate that information. The first part of this thesis examines location awareness in vehicular networks via sparse recovery: that is, how vehicles would know the locations of each other in the vicinity in order to provide the optimized mobile sensing of the first part of the thesis. Locations of vehicles are exchanged periodically via beaconing to make each vehicle aware of the location of nearby vehicles for improved safety, and to provide non-safety services. The amount of data exchanged via periodical beacon broadcast can be extremely large, and the channel can become congested in dense scenarios. We proposed a novel congestion control scheme that minimizes the amount of broadcast data while preserving the location information for each vehicle using compressive sensing. This novel scheme is designed for two different modes that
Class III β -Tubulin Expression in Tumor Cells is Correlated with Resistance to Docetaxel in Patients with Completely Resected Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Objective To assess the relationship between in vitro chemosensitivity evaluated by the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA) and the expression of β -tubulin isotypes in tumors of patients with completely resected NSCLC in order to determine the predictive value of β -tubulin in chemotherapy for NSCLC. Methods Expression of β -tubulin isotypes was immunohistochemically analyzed in a series of 58 tumor samples from patients with completely resected NSCLC. The sensitivity of individual tumors to anticancer agents was evaluated by HDRA. Results Class III β -tubulin expression by tumor cells was significantly correlated with resistance to docetaxel (p=0.0250), but not related with resistance to gemcitabine. Patient characteristics (age, gender, histology, and stage) were not associated with class III β -tubulin expression. Conclusion An abundance of class III β -tubulin in tumor cells could be a biomarker for resistance to docetaxel in patients with completely resected NSCLC.
WELL-POSEDNESS FOR THE THREE DIMENSIONAL STOCHASTIC PLANETARY GEOSTROPHIC EQUATIONS OF LARGE-SCALE OCEAN CIRCULATION

The objective of this paper is to study the well-posedness of solutions for the three dimensional planetary geostrophic equations of large-scale ocean circulation with additive noise. Since strong coupling terms and the noise term create some diﬃculties in the process of showing the existence of weak solutions, we will ﬁrst show the existence of weak solutions by the monotonicity methods when the initial data satisﬁes some “regular” condition. For the case of general initial data, we will establish the existence of weak solutions by taking a sequence of “regular” initial data and proving the convergence in probability as well as some weak convergence of the corresponding solution se-quences. Finally, we establish the existence of weak D -pullback mean random attractors in the framework developed in [11, 25].
The usage of pelvimetry to predict dystocia in cattle

Pelvimetry is the measurement of the dimensions of the pelvis, measured internally or externally, and is typically conducted with the aid of a pelvimeter. Intrapelvic dimensions, namely the intrapelvic height and width, are used to calculate pelvic are a which has a moderate to high degree of heritability. Pelvic area measurements are associated with calving difficulty and have been used by producers to select for heifers to be included in their breeding herd.
Pandemic Robot A concept for robot-based surveillance of inhabitants in elderly and nursing homes during pandemic situations

: Robot-based service platforms are currently estab-lishing themselves as new and affordable variants for suppor-ting care in elderly, retirement and nursing homes. Many are open multifunctional platforms, which can potentially be integrated into such environments, if the necessary infrastructure is available. Furthermore, many services can be realized on these platforms, which can be used to foster distant interactions between inhabitants and care-providers, while simultaneously keeping up the quality of life of the inhabitants. Open mobile robotic platforms allow the extension with adequate new sensors. To detect infectious diseases of residents and healthcare-professionals, optical sensors can be used for the assessment of vital data such as heartrate and heartrate variability, respiratory rate, SpO 2 or temperature. Additionally, you can consider demographic data (age, gender, constitution) of the observed person for the optical assessment, i.e. obtained by facial image analysis. As these mobile platforms are also equipped for telepresence, in case of detecting an infected person, these systems support video conferencing with their built-in cameras and microphones. Finally, the interaction with the electronic care record is necessary to upload all acquired vital data and further relevant information. All the named technologies have been under investigation in the past years and are currently moving from laboratory settings to real-world scenarios. Nevertheless, the smooth integration of all components into one system architecture in combination with (AI-based) data analysis are still open issues.
Antibacterial activities of zinc oxide nanoparticles: a mini review

Highly reactive oxygen species (ROS) are released from the surface of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) which cause damage to the microorganisms. ROS may break down the cell wall and cell membrane of the bacteria leading to the leakage of cell contents causing their death. Antibacterial effect of ZnO NPs synthesized from plants’ extracts has been seen against several grampositive (Bacillus coagulans, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis) and gramnegative bacteria (Shigella dysenteriae, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Bacillus pumilus, Salmonella typhi). Zinc ions (Zn2+) freed from ZnO NPs may attack DNA and proteins of the cell, thus hindering the growth of the bacteria. The negative charge on the surface of some bacteria (E. coli, S. typhi) interacts with positively charged particles in ZnO NPs inhibiting the growth of these bacteria. The rate of antibiotic activity of ZnO NPs depends on size, the concentration of ZnO NPs, and the type of surfactant used in the synthesis of these ZnO NPs. Due to their antibiotic property, ZnO NPs can be used as antibacterial coating of inner surfaces of refrigerators and dishwashers, plastic food containers, in the lining of food cans used for packaging and preservation of food to prevent their spoilage.
Numerical solution to the Gray-Scott Reaction-Diffusion equation using Hyperbolic B-spline

In the present paper, the one-dimensional Gray-Scott Reaction-diffusion equation is solved numerically with the usage of Hyperbolic B-spline along with the differential quadrature method. The hyperbolic B-spline is used to discretize the partial derivatives, by which the ordinary differential equations will be obtained which further are solved with the SSP-RK43 scheme. The efficiency and accuracy of the method are to be checked by using L ∞ and L 2 errors. The obtained numerical results are shown with help of 2D and 3D figures. As a deduction, it is concluded that the method is an efficient and effective technique for elucidating the Gray-Scott Reaction-diffusion equation and likewise for the variety of partial differential equations.
Double Divisor Cordial Labeling of Graphs

In this paper a new variant of divisor cordial labeling (DCL) named double divisor cordial labeling (DDCL) is in-troduced. A DDCL of a graph Gω having a node set Vω is a bijection gω from Vω to {1,2,3,…, |Vω |} such that each edge yz is given the label 1 if 2gω (y)/gω (z) or 2gω (z)/gω (y) and 0 otherwise, then the modulus of difference of edges labeled 0 and those labeled 1 do not exceed 1 i.e; |eg ω (0) — eg ω (1)| ≤ 1. If a graph permits a DDCL, then it is known as double divisor cordial graph (DDCG). In this paper we derive certain general results concerning DDCL and establish the same for some well known graphs.
Bi-Quadratic Varying Deceleration Parameter to Study the Cosmological Model

This paper investigates a cosmological model employing a four-degree function of cosmic time t in the f(R, T) gravity theory using an extended form of deceleration parameter. Under the constraints of flat, diagonal, and Bianchi type-1 metrics, we develop the exact solution of Einstein field equations (EFE). We research early time deceleration and accomplish the definite solution of EFE using an extended form of deceleration parameter, as well as the always super-exponential expansion behaviour of bi-quadratically variable deceleration parameter using a graph. We explore the model’s efficacy by examining the relationship between the deceleration parameter and red shift, which offers a valid result concerning the FRW metric’s consistent homogeneous structure in light of recent cosmological observations.
Green processes applied to nanoparticle technology: synthesis and formulation

Esta tesis esta enmarcada en el ambito del Proyecto SHYMAN (Sustainable Hydrothermal Manufacturing of Nanomaterials). Este proyecto europeo esta financiado por el septimo programa marco para la investigacion y el desarrollo tecnologico. Esta formado por un consorcio de empresas y universidades europeas, entre ellas la Universidad de Valladolid, bajo la direccion de la Universidad de Nottingham en el Reino Unido. En esta tesis se tratan algunos aspectos relacionados con el proyecto SHYMAN, en especial del paquete de trabajo de formulacion, presentando alternativas a los temas tratados en el proyecto, que mantengan la premisa de procesos amigables con el medio ambiente, basados en los principios de la quimica y la ingenieria verde. En primer lugar, en el capitulo 1, se estudia una sintesis alternativa para la obtencion de nanoparticulas en via acuosa, que tambien respeta los principios de la quimica verde, llamada biorreduccion. Este proceso esta basado en la capacidad reductora de ciertos compuestos presentes en el metabolismo de las plantas, las cuales obtienen nanoparticulas metalicas en su interior, como parte de su ciclo vital. En este caso, la biorreduccion se lleva a cabo con extracto de hollejos y semillas de uva, un residuo importante de la industria vinicola, siendo asi revalorizado. A continuacion se desarrollan dos procesos de formulacion de nanoparticulas basados en la tecnologia de fluidos supercriticos, una de las grandes tecnologias verdes, desarrolladas en las ultimas decadas. La formulacion tiene como objetivos principales la proteccion y la mejora de las propiedades fisico quimicas del producto original. Pueden ser alteradas propiedades como la forma, el color, la densidad del lecho, la superficie, la reactividad, propiedades mecanicas, tamano o incluso la higroscopicidad. Para el uso de las nanoparticulas en aplicaciones biomedicas, para la produccion de nuevos materiales, catalisis u otras aplicaciones, en la mayor parte de los casos, es necesario formularlas. En el capitulo 2, se utilizara la tecnica PGSS® (Particles form Gas Saturated Solutions) en la cual el dioxido de carbono se disuelve en un material fundido, seguido por su descompresion a traves de una boquilla, hecho que microniza el material. Asi se obtiene en esta tesis particulas de lipido con nanoparticulas de cobre en su interior, material con aplicaciones biomedicas. En los capitulos 3 y 4, se usara la tecnica SAS (Supercritical Antisolvent process) en el interior de un lecho fluidizado para recubrir nanoparticulas de oxido de titanio de polimero. En el capitulo 3 se realiza un estudio de la fluidizacion de nanoparticulas con dioxido de carbono en estado supercritico y en el 4 se desarrolla el proceso conjunto de recubrimiento, en el cual se bombea una disolucion alcoholica de polimero sobre las particulas del lecho fluidizado, el alcohol se disuelve en el fluido supercritico, precipitando el polimero sobre el material.
Beyond Joint Narrative of the Past: Segregated and Integrated Schools in Eastern Slavonia

Educational systems in post-conflict societies often serve as loci where historical narratives of different groups clash and cause contention. The issue of which or whose version of the past is taught in schools may become, for different communities, a question of their cultural and social survival. Eastern Slavonia serves as a case study to explore how the youths in segregated and integrated schools have been affected by the master historical narratives of the 1990s’ war in Croatia and how this translates into their views of the Self and the Other. It particularly focuses on the official narratives as presented in history textbooks and their interplay with the individual historical narratives of school youths in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia. The findings of the study show that history is relevant to participants’ present lives while production and reproduction of history are not only the purview of historians and elites, but it also happens at the grassroots. Individual narratives about recent history show dissent from official narratives, which is evident in the questioning of the in-group’s responsibility for the wrongs committed against the relevant Other. The purpose of this study is to learn from the grassroots about the ways of dealing with the legacy of contentious past, and how this local knowledge can be used to promote interethnic understanding and toler-ance as well as prevention of future violence. This study aims to contribute to the furthering of conflict resolution capacities through a better understanding of key dynamics of memorialization and reception of historical narratives at the communal level.
Unexplained Increase in Serum Corticosteroid-B Globulin Levels in a Patient with Chronic Thyroi Pituitary Adenoma and Empty Sella finding ditis,

Unexplained high serum corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) concentrations (mean ± SD, 74.1 ± 12.1,ug/dl; normal women, 32.5 ± 5.6 μg/dl) were found in an unmarried woman who was not pregnant or taking exogenous estrogens. She was also found to suffer from subclinical chronic thyroiditis, pituitary adenoma and empty sella. The increased serum CBG concentrations in this patient were not due to any of the factors known to increase CBG. Consistently high basal serum GH levels and unusual GH responses to GH-releasing factor (GRF) and L -dopa were also noted.
Blast vibration monitoring in cemented paste backfill during its curing stage – a case study

An extensive seismic monitoring program was carried out at an underground mine as part of a comprehensive geotechnical study on the behaviour of cemented paste backfill (CPB) used as stope filling material, under a normal production blast environment. The ultimate goal of the study was to investigate potential liquefaction hazard of CPB due to seismic vibrations issuing from nearby blasting operations. The specific objectives of this phase of the investigation were to; (a) characterise the seismic response of both in situ rock and CPB in selected areas as it relates to normal blasting operation in the mine, (b) determine both amplitude and frequency characteristics of the vibrations issuing from both controlled and normal production blasts in the vicinity of backfilled stope, and (c) study the effect of curing time on the vibration characteristics in the backfill. Multiple vibrations sensors in the form of triaxial accelerometers were embedded in both in situ rock and adjacent backfill. The accelerometers employed in the backfill had a maximum amplitude range of 5-10 g and a frequency response of 1-5 kHz; the accelerometers in rock had a maximum range of either 500 or 1,000 g and a frequency range of 1-10 kHz. The range of distance employed from the blasts was 10-100 m. This paper details the changes in the blast vibration characteristics in CPB with curing time (up to 28 days) in terms of vibration amplitude, frequency content, and the changes in both P-wave velocity, and their implication on vibration loads from typical production blasts at the mine.
PROCESS OPTIMIZATION AND MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS FOR SELECTIVE LASER MELTING OF AlSi10Mg

AlSi10Mg is a typical casting alloy which is, due to its high strength/density ratio and thermal properties, highly demanded in aerospace and automotive industries [1]. The alloy combination of aluminium, silicon and magnesium results in a significant increase in strength and hardness which might even reach 300 MPa and 100 HBS, respectively, by applying a proper heat treatment [2]. Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of AlSi10Mg, may be interesting to open new application areas such as heat sinks with complicated geometry [3], and therefore is taken under investigation in this study. The process optimization of SLM for this alloy is not straightforward due to high reflectivity and conductivity of the material. In this study, the main goal is to optimize the process parameters, namely scan speed, scan spacing and laser power, to achieve almost full density and good surface quality taking productivity as a key issue. A relative density up to 99% is achieved with an average roughness (R a ) of about 20 µm measured on horizontal top surfaces while the scanning productivity is about 4.4 mm 3 /s. The reasons spherical and irregular porosity formed are investigated. Moreover, microstructural analysis of the SLM samples is conducted.
Estimation of the size of a spall defect on a rolling bearing outer ring using Instantaneous Angular Speed measurements

The target of this paper is to present an innovative signal processing tool to isolate and to identify the variations caused by a defect on a bearing outer ring. This tool is based on the reconstruction of a filtered version of IAS signal and it is applied on IAS measurements performed on an experimental test bench with artificial bearing defects and on an actual wind turbine.