Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coupled-line metamaterial coupler having co-directional phase but contra-directional power flow

A coupled-line coupler comprising a microstrip line, edge-coupled to a negative-refractive-index line, exhibits co-directional phase but contra-directional Poynting vectors on the lines, leading to backward coupling. A key feature of this coupler is that it can support complex coupled modes. The resulting exponential field decay enables enhanced coupling with moderate line lengths and spacing. An example 3 dB device has been implemented and tested at 3 GHz.
Assessment of Factors Influencing Decision to Outsource Information and Communication Technology by Commercial Banks in Kenya

Information and communication technology outsourcing is a major part of outsourcing decisions by commercial banks operating in Kenya and has registered a rapid growth recently. The study sought to find out the information systems (IS) functions which were outsourced by the banks and rank the factors influencing IS outsourcing decision according to importance. To achieve this, the study adopted an exploratory study in which all the 45 banks in Kenya were studied. The study used self administered questionnaires to collect data, which was analysed using various analytical tools. The study established that commercial banks mainly outsource functions such as systems implementation, network services, software and hardware maintenance, and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) services. The study further established that factors such as cost, desire for quality, size of organization, and business strategy, among others, influenced the banks' decisions to outsource IS functions to a large extent. The study established that the small banks had a higher level of IS outsourcing as compared to large and medium banks. This is attributed to lack of technical capacity and need to deliver quality service at a minimal cost. The study revealed that operational costs was ranked as number one driver of outsourcing decision by commercial banks operating in Kenya followed by the desire for quality and organizational size respectively. The study concluded that though cost was the main driver of outsourcing decision, there existed other factors which were equally important such as desire for quality and business strategy among others.
Fault Tolerant Control for Quad-rotor UAV by Employing Lyapunov-based Adaptive Control Approach

In this paper, an Lyapunov-based adaptive control strategy has been proposed for fault tolerant control of a quad-rotor UAV. A nonlinear six-degree of freedom mathematic model of the quad-rotor UAV is derived first by applying Newton-Euler formalism, and the adaptive laws and control laws based on Lyapunov-based adaptive technique are then developed and applied for quad-rotor UAV in the presence of actuator partial loss of effectiveness faults. Simulation results show the effectiveness of developed adaptive control strategy. Performance comparisons of the quadrotor UAV for different levels of actuator faults under the conditions with/without system parameter uncertainties have been carried out by utilizing the Lyapunov-based adaptive control approach.
Interpretation of lake sediment accumulation rates

The pattern of ancient sediment accumulation in lake basins is usually determined for the sole purpose of obtaining a chronology of the sequence. We develop graphical representations of lake basins and how they fill with sediment in order to make generalisations about sediment patterns which can be used to distinguish those that relate to an aspect of changing environment from those that relate solely to the shape of the basin itself. Our goal is general observations that could lead to more robust interpretation of age–depth models from lake basin sediments. We show that in nearly all circumstances with constant sedimentation, the overall pattern seen at a central core should be one of decreasing rate of sediment accumulation, which tends to be constant towards the top. In most situations, the initial rate of sediment accumulation is particularly high because of the basin shape. Observed rates of sediment accumulation that increase up the core should normally indicate increasing sediment input (either autochthonous or allochthonous). On the other hand, detailed information on basin shape is needed to break decreasing rates of sediment accumulation into components because of basin shape and decreasing sediment input. These considerations show that the pattern of sediment accumulation in a lake basin has intrinsic value as an indicator of environmental change and potential utility in chronology construction, but only when interpreted in the context of basin shape.
INDEXED RANDOM INTERLEAVING TECHNIQUE FOR IDMA SYSTEMS

Interleave division multiple access (IDMA) is a recently proposed technique for multiple access communications, which is known for property of orthogonality amongst its user-specific interleavers. In IDMA systems users are separated by user-specific chip-level interleavers unlike conventional CDMA scheme. The interleavers are therefore referred as the heart of IDMA transceivers. Thus, the interleaver must be carefully designed to ensure good performance, low memory requirements and low computational complexity. Interleaver for IDMA systems are generated using two different approaches, random approach and non-random approach. Both the approaches have distinct characteristics. In random approach Bit error rate is favored and in non-random approach memory requirement is favored. In this paper we propose a new interleaver technique named indexed random interleaver based on random generation approach. Simulation results show that the proposed interleaver gives better average bit error rate performance than conventional random interleaver.
Physico-chemical properties of Dhepa River in Dinajpur District of Bangladesh

Among different water quality parameters dissolved oxygen, transparency, pH, PO 4 -P and depth varied significantly among the sampling sites. The pH value in the present investigation remained a buffer condition (6.50- 7.90). Dissolved oxygen was ranges from 3.80 to 11.60 mg/l throughout the study periods. PO 4 -P concentration was observed highest (0.30 mg/l) in sampling site 2. On the basis of physical, chemical aspects sampling site 3 and sampling site 5 (situated in gosaipur and chandandoho) found in better condition in terms of limnological aspects. However, it could be concluded that Dhepa River will play important role in riverine fisheries and for further fisheries management. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/jesnr.v6i1. 22041 J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 6(1): 59-67 2013
Photoactivation of Ion-exchangeable Trititanate Nanotubes Modified by MS (M = Cd, Zn) Nanoparticles

Ion-exchangable trititanate nanotubes synthesized by the alkali treatment of TiO 2 (anatase) are modified by MS (M = Cd, Zn) nanoparticles via a simple wet chemical process. The obtained samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities of the samples are evaluated upon the oxidation of methyl orange under UV light illumination. Results show that the photoactivation may be caused by the strong coupling between the nanotube and the nanoparticles, which is a direct consequence of the ion exchange property of the trititanate wall structure during the formation of TiO 2 /MS.
Replacement hiring and wages

I structurally estimate on Danish data a general equilibrium partnership model with frictions where not only the worker, but also the firm can continue to search after forming a match (replacement search). The data features low returns to tenure, with a significant fraction of downward wage changes, within and between jobs. If the wage decreases between jobs, it remains persistently low. The framework helps to reconcile these facts with wage dispersion and high labor mobility. The between worker competition induced by replacement search balances the between employer competition, limiting tenure effects and causing occasional wage cuts. At the same time, replacement search widens the margins of a wage negotiation, increasing wage dispersion. Furthermore, the combined process of search by workers and firms induces a pull toward positive sorting, raising wage inequality. Replacement hiring generates wage drops between jobs, as some workers trade lower wages for higher job security, but the effect is weak. Lay-offs tend to involve low ability workers, while high ability workers are hired out of unemployment more quickly and by more productive firms. Finally, the model replicates the negative correlation between the wage and the unemployment probability documented in the data.
Effect of Linseed Oil Supplementation on Hen Day Egg Production, Body Weight, Egg Shape Index, Economics and Egg Quality in Layers

Indian poultry industry is one of the fastest growing segment of the agricultural sector today in India. As the production of agricultural crops has been rising at a rate of 1.5 to 2% per annum while the production of eggs and broilers has been rising at a rate of 8 to 10% per annum today India is world’s fifth largest egg producer and the eighteenth largest producer of broiler. Driving this kind of expansion the contributing factors are International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 11 (2017) pp. 2005-2016 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Markov chain portfolio liquidity optimization model

The international financial crisis of September 2008 and May 2010 showed the importance of liquidity as an attribute to be considered in portfolio decisions. This study proposes an optimization model based on available public data, using Markov chain and Genetic Algorithms concepts as it considers the classic duality of risk versus return and incorporating liquidity costs. The work intends to propose a multi-criterion non-linear optimization model using liquidity based on a Markov chain. The non-linear model was tested using Genetic Algorithms with twenty five Brazilian stocks from 2007 to 2009. The results suggest that this is an innovative development methodology and useful for developing an efficient and realistic financial portfolio, as it considers many attributes such as risk, return and liquidity.
The development of a learning dashboard for lecturers: A case study on a student-centered e-learning environment

Student Centered e-Learning Environment (SCELE) is a Moodle-based learning management system (LMS) that has been modified to enhance learning within a computer science department curriculum offered by the Faculty of Computer Science of large public university in Indonesia. This Moodle provided a mechanism to record students’ activities when engaged in learning with e-Learning software. However, while the software captured the data and presented it adequately, there is room for enhancement and further refinement. The purpose of this research is to investigate and understand lecturer needs as they monitor student activities in SCELE and then develop a learning monitoring tool capable of visualizing and collecting data in a form that facilitates lecturer observation, analysis, and targeting of specific concepts. Theories found within information architecture and information visualization are used as a foundational approach in the development of the application. The result of the research focuses on developing a learning dashboard Moodle plugin that can be easily utilized by lecturers engaging SCELE.
Metabolic Flux Analysis of Hydrogen Production from Rice Starch by Anaerobic Sludge Under Varying Organic Loading

aThe Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment (JGSEE), King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand bDepartment of Agro-Industrial, Food and Environment Technology, Faculty of Applied Science, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok 10800, Thailand cThe Biosensor and Bioelectronics Technology Centre, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok 10800, Thailand npp@kmutnb.ac.th, nipon.p@sci.kmutnb.ac.th
Concentrated Euler flows and point vortex model

This paper is an improvement of previous results on concentrated Euler flows and their connection with the point vortex model. Precisely, we study the time evolution of an incompressible two dimensional Euler fluid when the initial vorticity is concentrated in N disjoint regions of diameter ✏. We show that the evolved vorticity is concentrated in N regions of diameter d, d  b ✏ (b independent of ✏) for any ↵ < 1/2. The connection is obtained as ✏ ! 0. 1 – Introduction and main result In the present paper we study the time evolution of an incompressible inviscid fluid with a planar symmetry, governed by the Euler equation, that in R in term of vorticity reads: @t! (x, t) + (u ·r)! (x, t) = 0 , x = (x1, x2) , (1.1) r · u(x, t) = 0 , (1.2) ! (x, 0) = ! 0 , (1.3) where ! (x, t) = @1u2 − @2u1 is the vorticity and u = (u1, u2) denotes the velocity field. We assume that u decays at infinity and so we can reconstruct the velocity by means of ! as u(x, t) = Z dy K(x− y) ! (y, t) , (1.4) K = r? G , r? = (@2,−@1) , G(x) = − 1 2⇡ log |x| . (1.5)
J SYNTHESIS AND X-RAY CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A COPPER ( II ) COMPLEX WITH PYRIDOXAL-AMINOGUANIDINE ( PLAG ) LIGAND

With the reaction of warm water mixture of pyridoxal hydrochloride (PLHCl), and Aminoguanidine-hydrogencarbonate (AGH2CO3) in presence of Na2CO3·10H2O, pyridoxal-aminoguanidine (PLAG; H2L) was obtained. Ligand and appropriate salt CuCl2 are coordinate, and form the following complex: green-brown, hexa-coordinated, octahedral structure, dimmer-complex Cu(II) formula [Cu(PLAG)(NCS)2]2. This paper presents a synthesis and crystal structure of complex with Schiff-based ligand.
A Basic Study on RF Characteristics of Meander Line Employing Periodic Ground Structure on GaAs MMIC for Application to Miniaturization of RF Components

The meander line employing periodic ground structure (MLEPGS) was fabricated on GaAs substrate for application to miniaturization of RF components on MMIC, and its RF characteristics were thoroughly investigated. The MLEPGS with a length of /8 showed loss less than 0.72 dB up to 20 GHz, which was low enough for application to RF passive components. The MLEPGS showed much higher propagation constant and effective permittivity than conventional meander line. Concretely, the MLEPGS with of 20 μm showed of 1.08~20.85 rad/mm and of 2703~2479 from 1 to 20 GHz, while the conventional meander line showed of 0.18~3.36 rad/mm and of 74.2~64.7 in the same frequency range. According to the result, the size of the /4 transmission line employing the MLEPGS was 0.151 mm2, which was 3.5% of the size of the transmission line employing conventional meander line.
Data on the feeding of a Rana ridibunda population from Sarighiol de Deal, Tulcea County, Romania

We analyzed the trophic spectrum of 86 Rana ridibunda individuals from Sarighiol de Deal, Tulcea County, Romania. The most important preys are represented by the Coleoptera, Diptera and Homeoptera (Cicada). Certain variations in feeding appear during the ontogenetic development, the juveniles feeding the most intensively, in the spectrum of which appear the lipid-rich Ephemeroptera larvae. The food diversity is negatively correlated with the feeding intensity, the males having the maximum diversity. The majority of preys have a terrestrial origin. The presence of different size preys indicates an opportunistic feeding.
Design and Evaluation of an Inductive Powering Unit for Implantable Medical Devices Using GPU Computing

Nowadays inductive powering has become a widely spread technique in existing and emerging implanted medical devices (IMD). The geometry of coils couple plays a key role in the design, optimization and evaluation of a biomedical inductive powering unit (IPU). We have proposed a relatively fast method for an execution of these procedures, which is based on a mutual induction calculation using GPU parallel computing. Generally, our approach is to calculate mutual inductance as a function of uncontrolled (axial distance, lateral distance, inclination) and controlled (coils radii, turns numbers, distance between turns) geometric parameters of a coil couple. Calculated geometric functions in its turn are used in the design and optimization procedure to evaluate an IPU performance (e.g., load power). Achieved time gain of the GPU calculations in comparison with the host CPU computing is up to 80 for sequential summation and up to 8 for parallel computing. Also, it is shown that precision of our method is comparable to the precision of existing electromagnetic field solvers, and at the same time, computation time is substantially less (time gain is about 7 . . . 8 for 2D case and about 100 and higher for 3D case). Additionally, we have verified our method experimentally and shown that results of the calculations are accurate enough to predict real IPU performance. Finally, we have given an example of an IPU design optimization using geometric functions calculated with the help of the proposed method.
INDIRECT MEASUREMENT OF BRIDGE FREQUENCIES BY A HAND-DRAWN CART

The technique presented is an indirect approach for measuring the bridge frequencies, using the vibration sensor mounted on a hand-drawn cart, rather than on the bridge. With this technique, the bridge frequencies can be measured in a rather efficient and mobile way. The dynamic properties of a test vehicle are crucial to successful identification of the frequencies of the bridge traveled by the vehicle. In this study, focus is placed on the elastic properties of the cart wheels and the reliability of bridge frequencies extracted from the test cart. Various tests are conducted for various purposes, including the ambient vibration test, free vibration test, ground dynamic test, and field test. It is demonstrated that the hand-drawn cart presented herein can be reliably used in the field for measuring the bridge frequencies. Furthermore, some qualitative guidelines that are crucial to the development of feasible test vehicles are drawn from the test studies presented herein.
Economic values for production, functional and fertility traits in milk production systems in Southern Brazil

The objective of this study was to predict the economic values for production, functional and fertility traits, as well as to rank them in order of economic importance for milk production systems in southern Brazil. For this, two clusters were formed according to their production and the characteristics considered were: milk production (MP), lactation persistency (LP), milk fat (FAT), milk protein (PROT), somatic cell count (SCC), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), feed intake (Intake), mortality (MORT) and cow weight (CW). Revenue was based on the sale of milk, surplus heifers and cull cows and the actual operating costs were used to calculate profit and gross margin. The profit function used to calculate the economic values was based on a 100-cow farm. The average economic values of the characteristics that affect the profit of the producer were in order: FAT: US $ 3,776.07; PROT: US $ 1,888.03; MP US $ 1,258.69, LP: US $ 1,258.69; CW: US $ 124.03; MORT: US $ -14.30; Intake: US $ -614.01; CI: US $ -1,023.62; AFC: US $ -2,724.29; SCC: US $ -3,146.87. Therefore, the economic values calculated for the volume of milk, fertility, milk quality, disease resistance and feed intake addressed that the use of these traits as selection objectives in breeding programmes should result in an increased profitability for the farmer.
Temperature sensitivity enhancement of nonlinear optical channel waveguide sensors using thermal-stress effect

Temperature sensitivity plays an important role in developing optoelectronic devices such as optical waveguide sensors. Thermal-stress effect can be used to control temperature sensitivity. The solution to estimate the stress induced effective index change in a slab waveguide is extended to estimate the temperature sensitivity of channel waveguide by use of effective index method. The present study demonstrates two different configurations. Temperature sensitivities for the proposed configurations are compared together and with the temperature sensitivity of the linear channel waveguide. The results exhibit that stress can control the thermal sensitivity of the channel waveguide sensors. It is also found that the higher the value of the nonlinear term in the nonlinear-linear-nonlinear structure, the higher is the temperature sensitivity at all values of combination of different thermal-stress gradients. Moreover, the temperature sensitivity has the highest value for the nonlinear-linear-linear structure for all values of combination of different thermal-stress gradients. Keywords: Optical waveguide, thermal-stress, sensor, temperature sensitivity, channel waveguide
Moisture transport through non-porous hydrophilic membranes used in protective clothing

The three-step upright cup method was employed to determine the total moisture transfer resistance and the two air layer resistances on both sides of the membrane. The effective moisture diffusion coefficient in air layer between the membrane and water surface was determined by the regressive method, and the effective moisture diffusion coefficient of membrane was calculated. Experiments were conducted on a non-porous hydrophilic thermoplastic polyester elastomer membrane. The moisture transfer process through the membrane was modeled by using the solution-diffusion model. The effects of membrane microstructure on membrane permeation were analyzed based on the solution-diffusion model and experimental data. The results show that the effective diffusion coefficient can be used to evaluate the mass transfer process through the non-porous hydrophilic thermoplastic polyester elastomer membrane.
Melanin production at 37°C is linked to the high virulent Cryptococcus gattii Vancouver Island outbreak genotype VGIIa.

Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, are the most common causes of fungal infection in the central nervous system of humans and other mammals. C. neoformans causes disease most frequently in immunocompromised hosts whilst C. gattii is a primary pathogen infecting mainly immunocompetent hosts. C. gattii has gained particular importance since it was identified as the cause of an outbreak on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada in 1999. M13 PCR fingerprinting, URA5-RFLP and AFLP analysis identified the outbreak isolates as molecular type VGII/AFLP6 and recognizing two subtypes, VGIIa and VGIIb; with the former being more virulent in a mice virulence model. However, the correlation of the molecular subtype with virulence has not yet been defined. From the three major cryptococcal virulence factors, polysaccharide capsule, growth at 37°C and melanin production, the melanin production of 23 VGIIa and 17 VGIIb globally selected strains was quantified using dopamine or epinephrine as a substrate in a colorimetric assay. A mixed VGIIa/VGIIb population has until now only been found on Vancouver Island, supporting the theory, that the two outbreak genotypes were independently introduced to Vancouver Island. At 37°C, VGIIa strains produced more melanin (OD VGIIa/VGIIb = 0.25 ± 0.18/0.14 ± 0.2, p < 0.001) than VGIIb strains, which is the opposite to the results obtained when tested at 30°C (OD VGIIa/VGIIb = 0.62 ± 0.42/0.80 ± 0.46, p < 0.014) using dopamine as a substrate. The results indicate that VGIIa strains have a greater ability to produce melanin at 37°C, offering more protection, making those strains potentially more virulent when infecting mammalian hosts. Further studies of the correlation between melanin production, molecular subtype of C. gattii and in vivo virulence in animal models are warranted.