Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Agile Stage-Gate Management (ASGM) for physical products Agile Stage-Gate Management (ASGM) for physical products

We present a qualitative study of Agile Stage-Gate Management (ASGM),: a hybrid new product development methodology that combines Agile and Stage-Gate Management (SGM) approaches for the coordination of new product development. When applied to software projects, Agile is expected to deliver reduced development times, improved resource utilization, and greater financial success. We examine whether ASGM practitioners realize similar outcomes in a sample of global firms developing complex electro-mechanical products (e.g., automobile components, railway propulsion systems, and medical devices). Our grounded theory approach articulates an understanding of ASGM through extensive interviews of experienced professionals. Our thematic analysis supports many expected benefits (i.e., speed to market, innovation enabling), but also does not encourage others, and reveals new pitfalls that deserve recognition (i.e., resource inefficiency). ASGM is not a panacea for all product development. Overall, physical product firms adopting this method can expect reduced development times and higher levels of innovation but will expend more resources to complete development projects, but a dichotomy exists. Physical product developers using ASGM experience a negative impact on project resource efficiency due to the need for dedicated resources, frequent product demonstrations, and duplicative management structures.
Health-benefitting Biologically Active Substances in Edible Apricot Flowers

The nutritive quality of food and the aesthetic aspect contribute to the appearance of consumed food. In this study, apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) flowers were used to determine vitamin C, total phenolic content, flavonoids, antioxidant capacity, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and amygdalin. Vitamin C content fluctuated between 24.97 and 47.35 mg·100 g–1 fresh weight (FW). The results show that all apricot flowers are a good source of phenolic compounds [404.08–768.45 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g FW] and flavonoids [198.76–538.11 mg catechin equivalent (CE)/100 g FW], and have good antioxidant capacity [414.66–1026.18 mg Trolox equivalent (TE)/100 g FW]. A high value of anthocyanins was measured in ‘Vestar’ (28.41 mg·100 g–1 FW) and also in ‘Blenheim’ (13.40 mg·100 g–1 FW). On the contrary, a low value was found in ‘Scout’ (1.60 mg·100 g–1 FW). The highest value of carotenoids was measured in ‘Blenheim’ (6.41 mg·100 g–1 FW), and the lowest in ‘Chuang Zhi Hong’ (1.36 mg·100 g–1 FW). Amygdalin content fluctuated between 110.81 and 419.78 mg·100 g–1 FW. Newly acquired information about the composition and nutritional value of edible flowers give reasons for their consumption.
Polarization-insensitive terahertz spoof localized surface plasmon-induced transparency based on lattice rotational symmetry

In recent years, metasurfaces enabling a slow light effect in the terahertz band have seen considerable achievement. However, most of these advances demonstrated so far are polarization sensitive. In this work, we demonstrate polarization-insensitive terahertz slow light at spoof surface plasmon-induced transparency windows. Two types of metasurfaces based on different lattice layouts, a C2 and a C4 lattice symmetry, are compared. On the one hand, the metasurface with C2 lattice symmetry displayed a 5 ps slow light effect in a transparency window around 0.3 THz. On the other hand, the metasurface with a C4 lattice layout achieves a maximum of 28 ps slow light at 0.3 THz. The coupling coefficient and the damping ratio in the transparency window in the metasurface with C4 lattice symmetry are 5 times higher than in the metasurface with C2 lattice layout. Two eigenmode mode constructive interference introduces a positive group delay in the transparency window in the metasurface with C4 lattice symmetry, whereas the superposition of two eigenmodes in the metasurface with C2 lattice symmetry forms the transparency window without distinct coupling. Our results show that the point group symmetry or lattice structure of a metasurface has a huge impact on the group velocity of terahertz pulses and therefore introduces flexibility in the design of polarization-insensitive slow light devices for terahertz telecommunication application.
Physical properties and electronic structure of LaNi5 compound before and after hydrogenation: An experimental and theoretical approach

The present study deals with the experimental and theoretical approaches of LaNi 5 hydrogen storage alloy. The structural, morphological and hydrogenation characterization of this sample which is synthesized by the arc melting technique were carried out by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and a homemade Sievert’s type apparatus, respectively. The results showed that after several hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles, disproportionation occurs in LaNi 5 . The hydriding kinetic measurements under different applied pressures show that the hydrogen storage capacity (Cwt.%) increases with pressure. However, kinetic analysis at different temperatures under constant and Johnson-Mehl-Avrami, revealed that Cwt. % and hydriding reaction rate are decreased and increased by increasing temperature, respectively. The theoretical study using full potential linearized augmented plane wave plus local orbitals method was also performed to investigate the structural, energetic and electronic properties of LaNi 5 and its saturated hydride (LaNi 5 H 7 ). From the two possible space groups for LaNi 5 H 7 , P6 3 mc was found as the most favorable one. A volume expansion of ~26% was found for its hydride. Other calculated results including the equilibrium atomic positions, bulk modulus and the enthalpy of formation were in good agreement with other theoretical and experimental results. The band structure calculations showed that the valence bands were mainly derived from Ni-3d states, and the bandwidth of the occupied Ni-3d bands in hydride phase was narrower than that of absorption and volume expansion.
Development of SITU: a survey to measure the impact of outreach activities

The Office for Students' (OfS) aims are clear that it wants to increase robust evidence to understand the impact of outreach activities. There are different mechanisms to collate this evidence which outreach departments can use. To support the collection of robust evidence, this paper outlines the development of Students' Intentions towards University (SITU), a survey that practitioners can use as part of evaluating outreach activities such as ad hoc events or intensive interventions. This paper outlines the four stages that were undertaken to develop SITU to ensure a reliable and valid measure was constructed. At each stage, young people (aged 13 to 18) were consulted to ensure the measure was fit for purpose. The final survey comprises 15 items and is a quick, easy-to-administer survey that practitioners can use confidently. It is proposed that the survey will provide a valid data-collection tool to measure the outcome of outreach activities and the paper will be used as a guide for outreach departments to construct their own measures. Further research is required to test the application of the measure.
Cellulose Hydrogels by Reversible Ion‐Exchange as Flexible Pressure Sensors

Inspired by biological camouflage strategy according to the surrounding environment, a facile method to fabricate state‐switchable cellulose hydrogels (fluid, brittle, and rigid hydrogel) driven by Ca2+/Zn2+ ion exchange is reported. The high content of Ca2+ ions leads to the formation of a rigid hydrogel (Gel‐H‐Ca2+) with a great compressive strength (≈2.2 MPa) through coordination cross‐linking network, while Zn2+ ions give the cellulose (Sol‐L‐Zn2+) a fluid state by eliminating the cellulose intermolecular connections, making it possible to obtain injectable and healable hydrogels. Gel‐H‐Ca2+ is highly oriented and anisotropic, and such flexible hydrogel can effectively monitor slight bending and pressure changes of fingers. This cellulose hydrogel will be a promising candidate for bionic and multifunctional sensors.
Survey on Power-Aware Optimization Solutions for MANETs

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) possess numerous and unique characteristics, such as high channel error-rate, severe link-layer contentions, frequent link breakage (due to node mobility), and dissimilar path properties (e.g., bandwidth, delay, and loss rate) that make these networks different from the traditional ones. These characteristics seriously interfere with communication and hence, ultimately degrade the overall performance in terms of end-to-end delay, packet delivery ratio, network throughput, and network overhead. The traditional referenced layered strict architecture is not capable of dealing with MANET characteristics. Along with this, the most important apprehension in the intent of MANETs is the battery-power consumption, which relies on non-renewable sources of energy. Even though improvements in battery design have not yet reached that great a level, the majority of the routing protocols have not emphasized energy consumption at all. Such a challenging aspect has gained remarkable attention from the researchers, which inspired us to accomplish an extensive literature survey on power-aware optimization approaches in MANETs. This survey comprehensively covers power-aware state-of-the-art schemes for each suggested group, major findings, crucial structures, advantages, and design challenges. In this survey, we assess the suggested power-aware policies in the past in every aspect so that, in the future, other researchers can find new potential research directions.
Experimental Evaluation and Modeling of Photocatalytic Oxidation Air Cleaners

Heterogeneous ultraviolet photocatalytic oxidation (UV-PCO), as a promising advanced oxidation technology, has been suggested as an alternative and energy efficient method to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) through the photocatalytic degradation of indoor air pollutants. However, the complicated PCO reaction mechanisms and unexpected intermediates still need to be further explored in order for this technology to be successfully applied in mechanically ventilated buildings. Two main objectives of this study include the development of methodologies to evaluate the performance of PCO systems and the development of a reliable mathematical model to fully simulate the performance of these systems. A pilot four-parallel duct system was set-up to equitably and thoroughly evaluate the performance of UV-PCO air cleaners under the conditions relevant to the actual applications for a wide range of indoor air pollutants. This study investigated the UV-PCO removal efficiency of two types of air filters (fiberglass fibers coated with TiO2 (TiO2/FGFs) and carbon cloth fibers loaded with TiO2 (TiO2/CCFs)) under ultraviolet C (UVC) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) illumination. A systematic parametric evaluation of the effects of various kinetic parameters, such as types of pollutants, inlet concentration, airflow rate, light intensity, and relative humidity that influence the PCO performance, was conducted. In addition, gas-phase ozonation with a variety of chemical compounds was first examined when ozone was produced by VUV. Moreover, the formation of by-products generated from incomplete conversion was investigated to evaluate its impact on IAQ. A time-dependent model was proposed for predicting the performance of an in-duct PCO air cleaner under the conditions relevant to the actual applications. A comprehensive model was developed by integrating light scattering model, reaction kinetic model, mass balance as well as optional ozonation model. The UV-PCO model and the UV-PCO ozonation integrated model were validated with experimental results; there was a good agreement between the model prediction and the experiment result. The relative rate-limiting process between physical interactions and photochemical interactions was fully investigated through simulation analysis. Depending on the physical properties of the catalyst, reactor geometries, operation conditions, as well as environmental conditions, the photochemical reaction occurring on the fixed active sites at the catalyst surface is the dominating process for this PCO system.
The time-spaces of austerity urbanism: Narratives of ‘localism’ and UK neighbourhood policy

This paper examines the impact of urban policy change through an attention to shifting feelings about time and place among those affected by such changes. The focus is the shift from ‘Neighbourhood Renewal’ under the UK Labour Government (1997–2010) to ‘localism’ under the Conservative Coalition Government (2010–2015), as part of its programme of austerity. The article draws on longitudinal research with policy officials and resident-activists in two neighbourhoods in one UK city and examines their narratives about policy change and wider shifting feelings about time and place. From an official perspective, discourses and practices of localism were embraced to an extent, but uncertainty was also present. From the perspective of resident-activists, the changes in policy were experienced as a loss of past services and support, a sense of pessimism about the future, and fragmenting and inequitable trajectories for different localities. Temporalities of crisis were also apparent in responding to the material needs of residents undergoing deepening poverty. The failure of the localism discourse to provide everyday meaning can be seen as an example of the incoherent and fragmented nature of contemporary austerity urban governance. A time–space perspective, in particular focusing on how both policy actors and citizens use narrative to organise their spatial and temporal experiences, therefore offers resources for the wider analysis of urban governance.
Web-Based Interactive Health Record System (WIHRS)

A Web Based Interactive Health Record System (WIHRS) is a digital web-based record of patients presenting in a hospital. The information so generated on patients can then be accessed by medical personnel to provide treatment for them in any health care delivery setting at any location. Analogue ways of record keeping were the traditional way of documenting patients’ information by health information officers. The problems of unavailability of a centralized database system and inability to access patients records and provide prompt treatment to patients at any healthcare centre could be solved by WIHRS. The objective of the paper is to design a WIHRS. The methods included cloud computing model, service model, deployment model and cloud hosting. The web technologies languages such as Hypertext Pre-processor (PHP), Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) and Ajax were deployed to implement the proposed system. The use of WIHRS improves the standard of healthcare to patients with optimal efficiency.
Using Clustered Frames to Classify Videos

This paper presents a semi-supervised learning technique to classify video clips. Usually, many tasks are done by categorizing video clips using deep learning techniques. However, based on the number of online videos today, it is necessary to use high computing power to accomplish this task. The authors propose methods that use Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to create a feature space representing clusters of video frames. The authors then classified them using simple voting, calculating entropy, neural networks, and Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM). The researchers also show finding frame numbers that are used to cluster video frames according to accuracy and training time. The results of this approach are presented based on testing 18 specific classes of real-world datasets from TV-programs containing 912 videos. The authors evaluated the techniques using five-fold cross-validation that our method archived 71.98% of average accuracy. Their computing time was then assessed, which achieved approximately 40 minutes of average computing time. Moreover, the researchers also compared the present proposal to other baseline models, including C3D and CNN-LSTM, and also used scene and action-recognition datasets, namely Hollywood2 to evaluate the technique. The authors archived 93.72% of average accuracy.
NEW INSIGHTS INTO GRAUSA: REINSTATEMENT, DISTRIBUTION AND AFFINITIES OF LOASA ACAULIS (LOASACEAE, LOASOIDEAE)

Santilli, L. ; D. H. Cohen & R. Acuña. 2020. New Insights into Grausa: Reinstatement, distribution and affinities of Loasa acaulis (Loasaceae, Loasoideae). Darwiniana, nueva serie 8(1): 372-388. NEW INSIGHTS INTO GRAUSA: REINSTATEMENT, DISTRIBUTION AND AFFINITIES OF LOASA ACAULIS (LOASACEAE, LOASOIDEAE) 1 Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Área Botánica, Interior Parque Quinta Normal S/N, Casilla 787, Santiago, Chile; santilli.ludovica@gmail.com 2 Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, California, United States of America; dcohen@rsabg.org 3 Universidad de Costa Rica, Escuela de Biología, Apdo 11501-2060, San Pedro de Montes de Oca, Costa Rica; rafael. acuna_cast@ucr.ac. cr (autor corresponsal). Ludovica Santilli1, Dylan H. Cohen2 & Rafael Acuña3 Through the study of the original description, types, herbarium material, fieldwork and molecular evidence, Loasa acaulis is reinstated, lectotypified and transferred to Grausa. Loasa acaulis was previously synonymized under Loasa lateritia. We now consider both as two different species for which a key and descriptions are herein provided. Key floral differences include size, shape, angle and colour of petals, shape of the nectar scales, and attachment position of the dorsal threads. We found no specimens that resembled intermediate floral morphologies. Scanning Electron Microscope studies of mature seeds show a strong affinity between the two species as they lack the outer periclinal walls and incomplete fenestration found in other members of Grausa. Additionally, the characteristic hilar cone of other species of Grausa, is always poorly developed in L. acaulis and G. lateritia. We sequenced five loci (four plastid and one nuclear) and inferred topologies with Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian approaches. Both plastid and nuclear phylogenies placed Loasa acaulis as sister to Grausa lateritia, and distantly related to Blumenbachia and Loasa. Finally, examination of herbarium specimens revealed that Loasa acaulis is not endemic to Chile as previously thought, but also found in adjacent Argentina.
Ink Classification in Hyperspectral Images

Hyperspectral imaging provides vital information about the objects and elements present inside the image. That’s why they are very useful in satellite imagery as well as image forensics. Hyperspectral document analysis (HSDI) can be used for document authentication using ink analysis which can provide sufficient information about the composition and type of ink. In this project, we have implemented HSDI based ink classification technique using Principle Component Analysis for dimensionality reduction and K-means clustering for ink classification. This is unsupervised learning approach and it is very simple and efficient in order to classify limited number of bands. We have used this technique to classify 33 different bands of ink.
Dividend Payout Effects on Firm Performance in Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector

To address the need for more answers regarding effects of dividend payout on firm performance of quoted oil and gas companies in Nigeria, this study set out to ascertain the effect of Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) on Net Profit Margin of quoted oil and gas companies, to determine the effect of Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) on the Return of Asset (ROA) of quoted oil and gas companies as well as to identify the effect of Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) on the Return on Equity (ROE) of quoted oil and gas companies. Accordingly, Ratio Analyses (Dividend Payout Ratio and Profitability Ratio) were adopted as analytical tools for deciphering the relationship between variables in the financial statement of two oil and gas firms (Total Plc and Mobil Plc) to identify fundamental trends and relationships that often cannot be noted by individual inspection of components of the ratio. The research made use of secondary data obtained from financial reports of the companies. The study found that Dividend Payout Ratio had a negative and insignificant effect on firm performance of Mobil Plc and Total Plc in 2017 and 2018, while the results showed significant effect in 2015 and 2016 for Total Plc, and significant effect for Mobil Plc in 2015 but insignificant effect in 2016. Inclusively, the study concluded that payment of dividend and the payout ratio conveys to shareholders that the companies are profitable and financially strong and recommended that managers: devote time to as well as design dividend policies that will enhance financial performance and shareholders’ value; and reduce company total debts to increase financial performance of firms and shareholder value.
EDUCATION 4.0: DEFINING THE TEACHER, THE STUDENT, AND THE SCHOOL MANAGER ASPECTS OF THE REVOLUTION

In this research, it is aimed to determine the school managers’, teachers’ and students’ characteristics of Education 4.0 according to opinions of educational experts. The study, which is a qualitative one, was designed by using basic qualitative research model. Participants of the study consisted of 10 faculty members, selected with snowball sampling method. Data of the study was collected via semi-structured interview form. To analyze data, content analysis technique will be used. It is expected to operationalize Education 4.0 revolution in education system for the case of Turkish Education System. According to findings, open access, individualized education, mental transformation, integration of digital technologies to education, seamless learning environments, lifelong learning, exploratory education and multidisciplinary education are the main components defining Education 4.0. It was found that the main qualities expected from the students of Education 4.0 are cooperation-communication skills, technological skills, learning skills and personal characteristics. The main qualifications expected from the teachers of Education 4.0 are technological skills, guidance skills, lifelong learning skills and personal characteristics. Lastly, the main qualifications expected from the school managers of Education 4.0 are guidance skills, technological skills, learning skills and technical skills.
Comparative analysis of Visual Recognition Capabilities of CNN Architecture Enhanced with Gabor Filter

Convolutional Neural Networks have long been regarded as potent tools for computer vision and deep learning. They have proven to be effective in analysis of visual imagery with increasing accuracy. Another tool which has profoundly impacted the performance of CNN has been the use of Gabor Filters. Herein, comparative analysis survey is performed on the performance of CNN architecture, with and without application of Gabor Layers, on datasets of plant diseases to identify potential in agricultural applications of these mechanisms. The aforementioned dataset consists of 38 flora classes with an additional class to facilitate identification of absence of plants. Hence, it not only conduct a survey of processes concerned with image processing and disease identification but also probe the established theories in plant disease identification through machine learning concepts.