Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization, antimicrobial and toxicological properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized from Ocimum gratissimum leaves

Ocimum gratissimum leaves were used in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNps) that were non-toxic and also possessed antimicrobial properties against clinically isolated pathogenic strains. Some bioactive agents in the aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum leaves (AEOgL) were identified. AgNp synthesis was carried out by incubating the AEOgL and 1 mM AgNO3. The brownish colour obtained upon reduction of silver by the AEOgL was observed. The phytochemicals present are tannins, glycosides, sterols, phenols, alkaloid and terpenoids. There was the presence of a surface plasmon resonance from the UV-visible scan. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive Analysis (SEM/EDX) and X-ray diffraction analysis. The SEM/EDX analysis indicated that the morphology of the nanoparticles is of a uniform structure and the size of the AgNp was 20 nm. The AgNps showed excellent antimicrobial activity against clinically isolated multi-drug resistant human pathogens used such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. For most biomarkers in the blood biochemistry analysis, there was no significant difference (p<0.05) between the control and treated groups except for alkaline phosphatase. It can concluded from this study that AgNps synthesized from aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum had antimicrobial properties and is also non-toxic at the dosage used.
Dynamical Sampling with Langevin Normalization Flows

In Bayesian machine learning, sampling methods provide the asymptotically unbiased estimation for the inference of the complex probability distributions, where Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is one of the most popular sampling methods. However, MCMC can lead to high autocorrelation of samples or poor performances in some complex distributions. In this paper, we introduce Langevin diffusions to normalization flows to construct a brand-new dynamical sampling method. We propose the modified Kullback-Leibler divergence as the loss function to train the sampler, which ensures that the samples generated from the proposed method can converge to the target distribution. Since the gradient function of the target distribution is used during the process of calculating the modified Kullback-Leibler, which makes the integral of the modified Kullback-Leibler intractable. We utilize the Monte Carlo estimator to approximate this integral. We also discuss the situation when the target distribution is unnormalized. We illustrate the properties and performances of the proposed method on varieties of complex distributions and real datasets. The experiments indicate that the proposed method not only takes the advantage of the flexibility of neural networks but also utilizes the property of rapid convergence to the target distribution of the dynamics system and demonstrate superior performances competing with dynamics based MCMC samplers.
Visualization of low frequency sound fields in rooms

In room acoustic design and analysis the low frequency behavior is an important quality criterion. Especially in small rooms, where the Schroeder frequency lies high above the limits of electroacoustic reproduction systems, the discrete eigenfrequencies of the room are crucial for the frequency response at a listener position. For about five years a software tool has successfully been used in the design process and for the analysis of studios and other rooms for high quality reproduction and recording of sound material. The approach focuses on the practicability of the modeling and the visualization of room modes. Therefore the method uses simplified boundary conditions, which also allows for a high uncertainty of input data and a largely varying level of detail in the planning process. An overview of the method and its implementation is given. The limitations of the tool and accuracy issues due to the necessary simplifying assumptions are being referred to. Measurements carried out for a recent project are evaluated in that regard, attempting a better estimation of these limitations. Exemplary samples of the application for the design of new studios and the analysis of problematic existent facilities are described.
Effect of graphene oxide on desalination performance of cellulose acetate mixed matrix membrane

In this study, the effect of different amounts of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles on the desalination performance of cellulose acetate (CA) reverse osmosis mixed matrix membranes has been investigated. To investigate the interactions between different parameters and optimize the membrane performances, response surface methodology (RSM) was applied. For a simultaneous enhancement of salt rejection and water flux performances, the analysis by central composite design (CCD) suggested the optimum values of 0.009 wt. % for GO content, 3500 ppm for feed salinity, and 18 bar for applied pressure as significant factors. The membrane, prepared and tested based on the optimal values, was found to have 11.12 l/m2·h permeation flux and 58.08% salt rejection which were in good agreement with the predicted values of 11.42 l/m2·h and 59.53%. It has been revealed that optimization using CCD in the range of the applied experimental parameters is a reliable method for prediction of the CA/GO membranes performance.
Modifying Real Options’ Probability of Exercise

A critical difference between real options and financial options lies in that real option holders, writers, and even external stakeholders can modify the characteristics of real options. Furthermore, exercising a real option can have repercussions onto multiple stakeholders. To modify the exercise probability of real options, one may adjust the strike price, or the level and uncertainty of the underlying process. For example, a government can provide land to an investor such as a manufacturer, a power producer, and a university. This would result into a reduction of the strike of a real call option and an increase in the probability of exercise. Another modification could be to offer future tax credits. This would result into an increase in the present value of the future cash flows and an increase in the probability of exercise. This paper proposes general model-free conditions under which a modification of real options qualitatively increases or decreases the physical exercise probability of real options. We find an analytic solution to the effect of variance change on the probability of exercise. In the second part of the paper, to quantify the exercise probabilities, we propose a general computational framework using the Least-Squares Monte Carlo method for American-style real options. Findings show that an incentive required to promote the exercise of an American-style option before or at maturity is less than that for a European. The paper provides various numerical examples to show that using our framework, a stakeholder, who desires to increase or decrease the exercise probability, may find an optimally parsimonious way of modifying the underlying process or the strike. JEL classification: G12, G31, G32
A Somatosensory Edutainment System Based on Plant Growth Simulation of L-system

In recent years, the somatosensory technology has been used widely in the game industry. Moreover, it is also used widely for the purpose of rehabilitation, motion capture, input/output interfaces, and so on. Meanwhile the development and application of VR and AR have also become a hot trend. In many scenes of virtual reality environments or movies, a large number of plants often appear to present a natural landscape. In the field of Computer Graphics, Lindenmayer system or L-system for short is the mainstream method of simulating the growth of plants. The L-system is a parallel rewriting system which consists of axiom, the number of iteration, angle and production rules. In this paper, we integrate the motion-capture technique of Kinect 2, the plant growth simulation of L-system, and Unity to implement a somatosensory Edutainment System. This system provides users interesting and interactive experience of growing plants in real-time. The user can swing his/her body to control the virtual tree growth in the beginning. After that, the virtual tree will swing its branches as user did, just like the Ents in the fantasy world. Finally, users can wear HTC VIVE HMD to observe their own generated trees. We look forward to increasing users’ awareness and care about the environment through our system.
Applying A Binary Logistic Regression Model To Analyze The Educational Service Quality In The Context Of Globalization. Evidence From Vietnam

This research aims to apply binary logistic regression to analyze the educational service quality in the context of globalization. Survey data was collected from 550 students are studying at the University of FPT, Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, and Gia Dinh Information Technology University in Vietnam. The research model was proposed from the studies of the university service quality. The reliability and validity of the scale were tested Exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The analysis results of binary logistic regression showed that service quality had relationships with Approach Aspect, Facility and Ewom.
A Novel High-Gain Quad-Band Antenna with AMC Metasurface for Satellite Positioning Systems

In this paper, a new design single feed multi-band antenna is presented. The proposed antenna is designed to operate at the 1.278GHz, 2.8GHz, 5.7GHz, and 10GHz frequency bands which cover the Galileo satellite positioning system (1.278GHz), WLAN (2.8GHz), WIMAX (5.7GHz) and the radar applications (10GHz), respectively. The antenna has a compact size, it is printed on an FR4 substrate of dimensions (60mm×27.5mm×1.67mm) placed on a ground plane of 60mm×17.5mm×0.035mm dimensions. To improve the radiation performance of the proposed antenna, an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) was used as a reflector plane with dimensions of 13.5mm × 13.5mm × 1mm. The simulated and measured results are in good agreement and show the significant improvement of the gain value of the multiband antenna with AMC which is a required propriety for novel wireless communications systems.
Environmental Monitoring of Soils of Post-Industrial Mining Areas

The ecological situation in most mining regions of Ukraine is critical, and the closure of unprofitable mining enterprises, mines and cuts creates the environmental problems associated with significant changes in the geological and hydrological environment. The purpose of the work is the environmental monitoring of heavy metals in the soils in the territory of Rozdil State Mining and Chemical Enterprise (SMCE) “Sirka” at the stage of liquidation.The object of the study involves the heavy metals in soils in the territory of Rozdil SMCE “Sirka”. The subject of the study is to evaluate the content of heavy metals and migration aspects in soils. In this work, the parameters of soil pollution with heavy metals were determined experimentally. On the example of Rozdil SMCE “Sirka”, the main problems of the monitoring system of the territory of the mining and chemical enterprise at the stage of liquidation were proven. The influence of the mining and chemical enterprise on the state of environmental pollution (soil, water environment, and waste management status) was also assessed. The ecological balance of the territory is violated due to the fact that the elimination of negative technical manifestations of the enterprise activity was considered unprofitable for a long time. The development of monitoring techniques for man-made landscapes, along with the development of methods for diagnosing the specifics of their functioning and technologies for reclamation, is an integral part of multidisciplinary research on environmental imbalances, which is caused by the transformation of natural landscapes into man-made. The necessity of developing the information-analytical system for the monitoring of the Rozdil State Mining and Chemical Enterprise (SMCE) “Sirka” territory at the stage of liquidation was substantiated. It was established that the monitoring of the territory of the mining and chemical enterprise at the stage of liquidation will allow increasing the level of environmental safety of the territory of the enterprise and the surrounding settlements. Monitoring is one of the main stages of the liquidation and reclamation process and should be carried out at all stages of liquidation. In addition to the monitoring system in the process of liquidation and in the post-reclamation period, the liquidation project should include an environmental analysis of the enterprise activities and environmental forecasting.
Modeling Anaerobic Codigestion of Cheese Whey with Poultry Manure

A mathematical model describing the combined anaerobic digestion of cheese whey with poultry manure is presented. The model distinguishes three enzymatic processes (hydrolysis of proteins, lipids and cellulose, respectively) and six bacterial groups: sugars and amino-acids fermentors, fatty acids oxidisers, acetogens, aceticlastic methanogens and hydrogentrophic methanogens. For the solution of the model (set of non-linear differential equations) a fully implicit finite difference scheme is applied, with the exemption of bacteria increasing rates that are explicitly introduced. The model is proved to be under condition stable (limited time increment required) while the initial conditions that are assumed are critical for its stability, too. The model is validated according to data from an existing pilot unit. Based on this model, co-digestion of whey with poultry manure is further examined. Key-Words: Anaerobic digestion; Codigestion; Modeling; Stability; Cheese whey; Poultry manure;
AN ACCOUNTING METHOD-BASED COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF CONFORMITY TO CERTIFIED ORGANIC STANDARDS FOR SPICES IN TANZANIA

6 1.0 Introduction . 7 2.0 Methodology . 9 2.1 Description of the research area and the organic schemes. 10 2.2 Sampling for farmer interviews. 21 2.3 Data collection. 22 2.4 Cost variables and their quantification . 24 2.5 Valuation of non-recurrent costs. 30 2.6 Farmer revenue . 30 2.7 Consideration of organic farming methods . 30 2.8 Data analysis . 30 3.0 Results and Interpretation. 31 3.1 Comparative statistics for socio-economic variables. 31 3.2 Demographic factors. 33 3.3 Costs, farming methods, and benefits . 36 4.0 Overall Discussion of Results . 51 4.1 Summing up on scheme selection . 51 4.2 Summing up on producer costs . 51 4.3 Summing up on net revenue . 52 4.4 Interpretation of the results. 52 5.0 Concluding Remarks . 52 References . 55 Annex 1 . 59 Annex 2 . 65 Annex 3 . 73 Annex 4(a). 75 Annex 4(b) . 76
Simulation-based evaluation of safety performance of Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems

A number of systems, referred to as Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems (IVSS) or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), are currently under development to enhance the driving task and assist drivers in avoiding collisions. In addition to the research that is necessary to develop the required technology associated with these systems, equally important is the understanding of the safety benefits that may be realized through their introduction. The objective of this research is to present a comprehensive framework for simulation-based evaluation of the safety performance of IVSS. Both the expected reduction of collisions, as well as the potential reduction in their impacts are of interest. A methodology for the simulation-based evaluation of the safety performance of IVSS is developed in this research and the tasks that are required to implement this methodology are discussed.
Carbon vacancy engineering in p+n 4H-SiC diodes by thermal processing

SiC is a wide bandgap semiconductor with exceptional physicaland electronic properties. In later years, research into the realization of real devices have revealed several difficulties, one being the limitation of the carrier lifetime, due to high concentrations of carbon vacancies (VC). Three main methods of reducing the [VC ] (brackets denote concentration) are listed in this thesis. The first (i) near surface ion implantation followed by thermal annealing; the second (ii) thermal oxidation and third being (iii) thermal annealing of carbon-capped samples. p+n-junctions were made using ion implantation of Al-ions into a 10 μm thick, n-type 4H-SiC epitaxial layer. Method (iii) was applied first at 1800 °C for 30 minutes, then 1500 °C for ≈ 3 hours and 1600 °C for 40 minutes. This was to determine if manipulation of the [VC ] was possible in real pn-devices while keeping the device functionality. It was shown, using DLTS-measurements, that a reduction of the [VC ] occurred by at least 2 orders of magnitude. This was achieved by annealing at 1500 °C for ≈ 3 hours under carbon-rich conditions, compared to the post implantation annealed sample at 1800 °C for 30 minutes. In fact, the [VC ] was reduced below the detection limit of our DLTS set-up (1× 1011 cm−3). Thermodynamic equilibrium plays an important role for the result. We assume the generationand annihilation of the VC to be in equilibrium through the epi-layer bulk at the end of all annealing times.
Physiological Effects of Photoselective Nets in Strawberry Plant

Gunes isigindan faydalanma fotoselektif fileler araciligiyla bitki fizyolojisini istenilen dogrultuda degistirmek amaciyla kullanilabilir. Calismamizda farkli renkteki fileleri cilek bitkisinin fizyolojik tepkilerini belirleme amaciyla denenmistir. Calisma 2016 yilinda Selcuk Universitesinde kurulmustur. Kabarla cilek cesidi calisma icin secilmis ve Mayis ayinda 7 litrelik saksilara dikilmistir. Denemeye baslamadan once butun bitkiler disarida yetistirilmis ve duzenli sulanmistir. Golge uygulamasi icin, gunes isigi %40’ lik golgelemeye sahip kirmizi, yesil ve siyah filelerle azaltilmis ve Temmuz-Eylul aylari arasinda (2 ay) golgelenmistir. Calismanin sonunda bazi fizyolojik ve mikroklima ozellikleri degerlendirilmistir. Yesil file en yuksek SPAD degerine (39.79) sahipken kirmizi file en dusuk degere (34.99) sahip olmustur. Fotoselektif netler bitkilerin antosiyanin icerigini kontrole kiyasla artirmistir. Stoma iletkenligi kirmizi filede tam gunes isigina kiyasla %38 azalmistir. En dusuk toprak sicakligi yesil filede belirlenmistir. Renkli fileler hava sicakligini kontrol grubuna gore artirmistir. Sonuc olarak, fotoselektif filelerin radyasyona karsi faydali etkisi kuraklik, asiri isik radyasyonu, tuzluluk gibi cevresel streslerin zararli etkilerini azaltmada kullanilabilir.
Causal inference approaches for dealing with time-dependent confounding in longitudinal studies, with applications to multiple sclerosis research

Marginal structural Cox models (MSCMs) have gained popularity in analyzing longitudinal data in the presence of ‘time-dependent confounding’, primarily in the context of HIV/AIDS and related conditions. This thesis is motivated by issues arising in connection with dealing with time-dependent confounding while assessing the effects of beta-interferon drug exposure on disease progression in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the real-world clinical practice setting. In the context of this chronic, yet fluctuating disease, MSCMs were used to adjust for the time-varying confounders, such as MS relapses, as well as baseline characteristics, through the use of inverse probability weighting (IPW). Using a large cohort of 1, 697 relapsing-remitting MS patients in British Columbia, Canada (1995−2008), no strong association between beta-interferon exposure and the hazard of disability progression was found (hazard ratio 1.36, 95% confidence interval 0.95, 1.94). We also investigated whether it is possible to improve the MSCM weight estimation techniques by using statistical learning methods, such as bagging, boosting and support vector machines. Statistical learning methods require fewer assumptions and have been found to estimate propensity scores with better covariate balance. As propensity scores and IPWs in MSCM are functionally related, we also studied the usefulness of statistical learning methods via a series of simulation studies. The IPWs estimated from the boosting approach were associated with less bias and better coverage compared to the IPWs estimated from the conventional logistic regression approach. Additionally, two alternative approaches, prescription time-distribution matching (PTDM) and the sequential Cox approach, proposed in the literature to deal with immortal time bias and time-dependent confounding respectively, were compared via a series of simulations. The
Management control system, organizational processes and institutional performance of technical training institutions in Kenya

The purpose of this study was to determine the Moderating Effect of Management Control System (MCS) in the relationship between Organisation Processes and Institutional Performance of Technical Training Institutions (TTIs) in Kenya. The study was a cross-sectional survey in nature and used explanatory research design with the population obtained from the TTIs that were registered with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TVETA) by 2015. The main research instrument was a closed-ended questionnaire. The hypotheses in this study were tested using Hierarchical Moderated Multiple Regression (MMR) and the study found that organization processes had a significant positive influence on the institutional performance of TTIs in Kenya. The study findings indicated that the estimated coefficient was 0.555 indicating that organization processes had a significant influence on institutional performance. Further, the study found evidence that (i) MCS moderates the relationship between organizational processes and institutional performance, (ii)) MCS had a moderating effect on the relationship between organizational processes and institutional performance of Technical Training Institutions (TTIs) in Kenya.
ASSESSING THE MODERATING EFFECT OF GENDER ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLE AND JOB SATISFACTION by

Leaders influence and direct people to accomplish organizational goals. They create a vision and inspire others’ desire to achieve the company’s mission. Leadership style has a significant impact on job satisfaction, which can inspire confidence, trust, and support in employees. Employee satisfaction is important because satisfied employees perform more efficiently and the organization, in turn, thrives. By keeping qualified employees satisfied, write-ups, turnover, and violations can be kept to a minimum. Gender can shape how a leader communicates, establishes relationships, and builds rapport with employees. Gender can affect a manager’s power, style of communication, and confidence, which can impact employees’ decision-making styles and jeopardize workplace operations and outcomes. If managers are sensitive to differences between their leadership styles and the styles their employees prefer, they can adjust their communication and behavior to better match the preferences of their employees. However, the influence of gender on perceived leadership style and job satisfaction of front-line employees was unknown. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to assess the moderating effect of gender on the predictive relationship between leadership style and job satisfaction using a stratified, random, and gender-balanced sample of front-line banking employees. Data analysis consisted of a two-way ANOVA. Gender was not found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between perceived leadership style and employee job satisfaction; however, there was a significant relationship between perceived leadership style and employee job satisfaction.