Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How different types of performance management systems affect organizational performance?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between different types of performance management system (PMS) and organizational performance. The main task is based on an empirical typology of PMS to show how the different types of PMS are related to organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach The empirical typology is used on the creation on the sample of Estonian and Finnish firms. Findings The results show that the highest performance out of the four clusters is achieved by firms from strategy-focused multi-level and strategy-focused one-level clusters. They also show the highest quality of the key characteristics of PMS. Firms from the not-strategy-focused one-level cluster have the lowest performance and quality of the key characteristics of PMS. Practical implications The findings give a set of consistent guidelines on how to develop a PMS to achieve high organizational performance in different situations. These give hints, if strategic objectives are important to firm, then for achieving these objectives, also a strong emphasis of strategic aspects in PMS is necessary to gain performance; if the firm suffers from a lack of strategy, the firm should invest on the information aspects of PMS to get more relevant information to increase performance; if the firm, however, decides to move more strategy-oriented, then the strategy aspects of the PMS should get relatively more attention than other aspects in PMS, and they should be developed with care, otherwise performance will suffer. Originality/value This paper shows relations between empirically extracted clusters and organizational performance. The results show that clusters of PMS are systematically associated with the level of performance. Firms with different aspects of PMS do not achieve the equal level of performance. Firms with higher performance inside different PMS types have more desirable characteristics and aspects of PMS.
High-voltage and free-standing poly(propylene carbonate)/Li6.75La3Zr1.75Ta0.25O12 composite solid electrolyte for wide temperature range and flexible solid lithium ion battery

Solid electrolyte is regarded as a perfect way to enhance safety issues and boost energy density of lithium batteries. Herein, we developed a type of free-standing poly(propylene carbonate)/Li6.75La3Zr1. 75Ta0.25O12 composite solid electrolyte for ambient temperature and flexible solid-state lithium batteries. The composite solid electrolyte exhibited excellent comprehensive performance in terms of high ionic conductivity (5.2 × 10−4 S cm−1) at 20 °C, a wide electrochemical window (4.6 V), high ionic transference number (0.75) and satisfactory mechanical strength (6.8 MPa). When evaluated as solid electrolyte for an ambient-temperature solid lithium battery, such a composite electrolyte delivered excellent rate capability (5C) at 20 °C. This superior performance can be comparable to a liquid electrolyte-soaked PP separator-based lithium battery at room temperature. To our knowledge, this is the best rate capability of a solid composite electrolyte for a solid lithium battery at ambient temperature. Moreover, such a composite electrolyte-based flexible LiFePO4/Li4Ti5O12 lithium ion battery delivered excellent rate capability and superior cycling stability. All these fascinating features make poly(propylene carbonate)/Li6.75La3Zr1. 75Ta0.25O12 a very promising all-solid-state electrolyte for flexible solid lithium batteries. Our study makes a big step into addressing the challenges of ambient-temperature solid lithium batteries.
Customer Loyalty: The Difference between Full-Service Carriers and Low-Cost Carriers in Indonesia

The research aimed to look at the differences in customer loyalty on domestic Full-Service Carriers (FSCs) and Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) in Indonesia. The differences were shown from testing the effect of service quality on customer loyalty mediated by customer satisfaction and behavioral intention to use. Respondents were FSCs and LCCs passengers. Samples were taken by purposive sampling. There were 522 respondents for FSCs and 529 respondents for LCCs were observed by distributing questionnaires. Then, the research tested the validity and reliability of the variables using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Composite Reliability (CR), and Average Variance Extracted (AVE). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was also applied to examine the hypothesis. The results show the formation of customer loyalty from service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intention to use on FSCs and LCCs. The most significant factor is the behavioral intention in forming customer loyalty in FSCs and LCCs. Meanwhile, customer satisfaction does not influence customer loyalty for FSCs and LCCs.
Evaluating the Role of the Secondary Energy Minimum in Colloid Deposition and Release in Saturated Porous Media

ii Dedication . iv Acknowledgement . v Vita . vi List of Tables . x List of Figures . xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND . 1 1.1 An introduction into colloidal systems . 1 1.2 Interactions between colloidal particles . 2 1.2. 1 DLVO and XDLVO (extended DLVO) theories . 2 1.2. 2 Colloid stabilization and aggregation . 4 1.3 Environmental behavior of colloidal particles . 5 1.3.1 The existence of colloidal particles in natural environments . 5 1.3.2 Colloid-facilitated transport of pollutants in porous media . 5 1.3.3 Colloid transport and release in saturated porous media . 6 1.3.3.1 Mechanisms inducing colloid deposition during transport . 7 1.3.3.1.1 Heterogeneity . 7 1.3.3.1.2 Straining . 9 1.3.3.1.3 Deposition within the secondary energy minimum . 11 1.3.3.2 Colloid release from saturated porous media . 11 1.3.3.2. 1 Release kinetics . 12 1.3.3.2. 2 The role of transient conditions in ionic strength, pH or flow rate . 13 viii 1.3.3. 3 Other influential factors for colloid deposition and release . 15 1.3.3.4 Mathematical description of colloid transport and release . 17 1.3.3.4. 1 One dimensional transport modeling . 17 1.3.3.4. 2 Colloid filtration theory . 18 1.3.3.4. 3 Colloid deposition under unfavorable deposition conditions . 22 1.4 Research objectives . 23 CHAPTER 2: EVALUATING THE ROLE OF THE SECONDARY ENERGY MINIMUM IN COLLOID DEPOSITION AND RELEASE IN SATURATED POROUS MEDIA: EFFECT OF SOLUTION CHEMISTRY . 29 2.
Investigation of deep cryogenic treatment of Steels for medical tooling applications

Hardened steels, which are resistant to corrosive chemical environments, are quite popular in the medical fields for various tooling applications exposed to low temperature. Using deep cryogenic treatments hardness and corrosion resistance of steel can be significantly improve for better compatibility of steels in biomedical applications. The present investigation examines the microstructure and evaluates hardness values of deep cryogenically heat treated AISI M2 steel. Studies on cryogenically treated tool steel show microstructural changes in the material can influence the life of the tools significantly. Through pertinent analyses of the experimental results this investigation infers that deep cryogenic treatment of AISI M2 steel increases the hardness of specimens marginally with the increase in the number of tempering cycle. The treatment further provides opportunity to exploit the possible use to hardened steels in robotic arms operative at low temperature research labs.
TAGUCHI ORTHOGONAL DESIGN FOR OPTIMIZING A UNIFIED TERNARY PROCESS TO VALORIZE OIL PALM LEAVES FOR NANOCELLULOSE ISOLATION

Oil palm leaves (OPL), as the major component of oil palm biomass, was capitalized for the isolation of nanocellulose (NC) by unified ternary acoustic, chemical- and enzyme-assisted techniques. This study aimed to statistically optimize the extraction parameters via the Taguchi Design for sonication time, duration of enzymatic hydrolysis, the concentration of acid, and the duration of acid hydrolysis, for the highest crystallinity of the isolated NC. The optimum condition required a sonication duration of 20 min, 1 h of acid hydrolysis in 6 M of H2SO4 and 1 h of enzymatic hydrolysis that resulted in the production of NC with a maximum 68.2% crystallinity index, based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. Duration of sonication time and acid hydrolysis was crucial for improving the crystallinity of isolated NC. The reduced C=O and C=C peaks at 1734 cm-1 and 1536 cm-1, respectively, in the Fourier-transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra of isolated NC, confirmed the removal of appreciable amounts of hemicellulose and lignin components in the OPL fibers. FESEM micrographs revealed the needle-like structures of NC with diameters between 21‒24.8 nm. The NC isolation approach presented here offers a promising avenue to ease the use of harsh acids for biomass pretreatment.
Perfect social media image posts: symmetry and contrast influence consumer response

Purpose: Two studies investigate how different structural properties of images – symmetry (vertical and horizontal) and image contrast – affect social media marketing outcomes of consumer liking and engagement. Design/methodology/approach: In Study 1’s experiment, 361 participants responded to social media marketing images that varied in vertical or horizontal symmetry and level of image contrast. Study 2 analyzes field data on 610 Instagram posts. Findings: Study 1 demonstrates that vertical or horizontal symmetry and high image contrast increase consumer liking of social media marketing images, and that processing fluency and aesthetic response mediate these relationships. Study 2 reveals that symmetry and high image contrast improve consumer engagement on social media (number of “likes” and comments). Research limitations/implications: These studies extend theory regarding processing fluency’s and aesthetic response’s roles in consumer outcomes within social media marketing. Image posts’ structural properties affect processing fluency and aesthetic response without altering brand information or advertising content. Practical implications: Because consumer liking of marketing communications (e.g. social media posts) predicts persuasion and sales, results should help marketers design more effective posts and achieve brand-building and behavioral objectives. Based on the results, marketers are urged to consider the processing fluency and aesthetic response associated with any image developed for social media marketing. Originality/value: Addressing the lack of empirical investigations in the existing literature, the reported studies demonstrate that effects of symmetry and image contrast in generating liking are driven by processing fluency and aesthetic response. Additionally, these studies establish novel effects of images’ structural properties on consumer engagement with brand-based social media marketing communications.
Leopard tortoise Stigmochelys pardalis (Bell, 1928) mortality caused by electrified fences in central South Africa and its impact on tortoise demography

ABSTRACT The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is among the most ubiquitously distributed chelonian species in Africa. As with other chelonians, however, the species’ slow growth rate, coupled with low survivorship of juveniles, make it susceptible to declines under regimes of environmental perturbation. Here we studied the impact of electrified fences, a key source of mortality for many South African terrestrial vertebrate taxa, on leopard tortoise mortality in the Free State Province (Jacobsdal district) and Northern Cape Province (Strydenburg district), and its implications for survivorship of this population. Our results show a strong selection bias towards larger (breeding age) individuals that, given the life history of the species, should have strong (negative) consequences for populations. Using data for tortoise populations from other regions as a baseline for survivorship rates in populations unaffected by fencing, we derived a size-structure matrix model to evaluate the impact on population growth rates. Population projections, taking into account variation in survivorship and reproductive rates across and within size classes, indicated substantially higher risk of negative population growth (and eventual extinction) in populations affected by electrified fences. These results confirm that fencing is a conservation problem for the leopard tortoise population in this, and probably other regions, and highlights an urgent need for more intensive regulation of electrified fencing practices among landowners.
Long-Term Electricity Consumption Forecasting in China — Based on a Combined Model of KPCA and Linear Regression

Total electricity consumption is a barometer of a country’s economy. Long-term forecasting of total electricity consumption in the whole society can effectively track a country’s economic development and monitor the implementation of energy conservation and emission reduction policies. How to effectively forecast the long-term total electricity consumption is an important topic in the academic and industrial fields. The combined model of kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) and linear regression (LR) proposed in this paper can accurately predict the changes in total electricity consumption over time, even if the sample size is small. Meanwhile, the model results have strong interpretability and practical value. Further, through the correlation analysis of principal components obtained from KPCA dimensionality reduction, this paper finds that the most important features affecting the total electricity consumption are the economy feature and production efficiency feature. Finally, this paper predicts that China’s total social electricity consumption will reach 1.83 trillion KWH in 2035, which is more optimistic than the prediction of Oxford experts, which is consistent with the reality that China has achieved an overall victory in the fight against COVID-19.
Enhanced Carbon Sequestration in Marginal Land Upon Shift towards Perennial C4Miscanthus × giganteus: A Case Study in North-Western Czechia

Bioenergy crops such as Miscanthus × giganteus are foreseeable as an alternative source to replace fossil fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are also assessed as an environment-friendly solution for polluted, marginal and low-quality agricultural soils. Several studies had been launched on soil organic carbon sequestration potentials of miscanthus culture along with its impacts on restoring soil functionality, most of which focus on the long-term basis of the plant’s cultivation. Nevertheless, information concerning the short term impacts as well as the situation in Czechia is still scarce. In this context, a field experiment was launched in 2017 in a poor-quality agricultural land in the city of Chomutov (North-Western Czechia) to compare the impacts of the perennial C4 miscanthus with an annual C3 forage crop (wheat) on the soil carbon stocks as well as enhancing its functionality. Results through the 0–30 cm soil profile examination showed that miscanthus plants played a role in improving the studied soil physico-chemical (bulk density and soil organic carbon concentrations) and biological (Phospholipid fatty acids stress indicator, basal respiration and fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity) parameters. The naturally occurring δ13C concentrations were used to evaluate the direct plant contribution to the total soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and revealed considerable miscanthus contribution all over the detected soil layers (1.98 ± 0.21 Mg C. ha−1 yr−1) after only 3 growing seasons. It is thus suggested that the C4 perennial miscanthus possess remarkable prospects for SOC sequestration and restoring degraded lands.
Enhanced Performance of LiAl0.1Mn1.9O4 Cathode for Li-Ion Battery via TiN Coating

The present work addresses the issues related to the capacity fading of spinel LiMn2O4, such as Mn leaching and Jahn–Teller distortion and suggests an advanced TiN-coated LiAl0.1Mn1. 9O4 (LAMO) cathode material as an electrode for lithium-ion batteries. TiN coating layers with the same thickness but a different porosity cover the LiAl0.1Mn1. 9O4 electrode via reactive magnetron sputtering, and present promising electrochemical behavior. In contrast with the pristine LiAl0.1Mn1. 9O4, the dense TiN-coated LiAl0.1Mn1. 9O4 electrode demonstrates a remarkable long-term cycling by reducing the contact area of the electrode/electrolyte interface, resulting in structure stabilization.
Influence of Processes on the Properties of Nano-fibrous Fibers of the Electro-spinning Polyamide-6

This study focuses on the influence of electrospinning processes on the properties of electrospun fibres. We have optimised the parameters: distance, voltage, concentration of electrospinning to analyse the influence of these parameters on the properties, in particular the structure and morphology of the nano-fibres. The mass of the required polyamide was measured using an analytical balance and dissolved in formic acid to obtain a homogeneous mixture. The solution was stirred for 24 hours and then cooled and inserted into the syringe to be electro-threaded. The concentration of the solution played a decisive role during the spinning process and influenced in particular the determination of the diameter but also the morphology of the nanofibres. A concentration of 15% PA-6 and a low viscosity solution of 266 mPa allowed us to obtain higher quality fibres. The results obtained by the SEM show that the increase in the electric field causes the fibre diameter to increase from 170nm to 234nm. The structures, nano-fibre morphologies and thermal properties of PA-6 have been characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Defect-free fibres with extremely small diameters and a large specific surface area were produced. Which we will use to manufacture photo deformable textiles. After spinning the flawless fibres, we can continue this study in the near future by adding a fire retardant active ingredient to the polyamide solution, to improve the resistance of the fibres and their morphology.
Kinetics of ketone hydrogenation over supported Ru catalysts

A kinetic investigation of the production of -valerolactone (GVL) via the aqueous phase hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) over supported Ru catalysts was carried out, in order to understand how to better design a hydrogenation catalyst for such biomass catalytic strategies. At temperatures representative of biomass processing, the reaction proceeds first through the reduction of the LA ketone group to its corresponding alcohol, 4-hydroxypentanoic acid (HPA), which subsequently produces GVL via intramolecular esterification in solution. The governing kinetics of LA hydrogenation were found to be insensitive to the identity of the support material on which Ru catalysts were prepared. Conversely the stability of supported Ru catalysts in the aqueous phase were strongly dependent on the choice of support, exhibiting severe sintering of Ru nanoparticles, the extent of which appears to be dictated by the bulk electronegative properties of the support material. The presence of a secondary functional group in LA (i.e., a carboxyl group) does not appear to perturb the activity of Ru sites in water, where LA and its mono-functional ketone analog (2pentanone) hydrogenate at identical rates. LA hydrogenation thus appears kinetically equivalent to that of 2-pentanone. Given the similarity, C3-C5 ketone hydrogenation over Ru/SiO2 in the vapor-phase was examined, alleviating the need to consider solution phase complexities. A single universal microkinetic model for the hydrogenation of ketones over supported Ru catalysts was developed, based on a modified Horiuti-Polanyi-type mechanism involving two distinct surface sites. Through the application of surface lateral interactions to the developed ketone microkinetic model, solvent effects commonly reported for hydrogenations over Ru catalysts are rationalized on the basis of the stabilization of a kinetically relevant transition state. Kinetics of ketone hydrogenation over supported Ru catalysts by Omar Abdelrahman Ali Abdelrahman B.Sc., American University of Sharjah, 2011 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering. Syracuse University December 2016 Copyright © Omar Abdelrahman Ali Abdelrahman 2016
Tough and degradable photopolymers derived from alkyne monomers for 3D printing of biomedical materials

This contribution deals with the synthesis and exploration of alkyne carbonate derivatives as biocompatible building blocks in the thiol–yne photopolymerisation reaction with the aim to facilitate the fabrication of tailor made medical devices by UV based additive manufacturing technologies. It turned out that the investigated alkyne carbonates offer curing rates similar to comparable acrylates, while providing much higher conversion and lower monomer cytotoxicity. Curing the synthesized building blocks in combination with the commercially available thiol pentaerythritol tetra(3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP) leads to networks that degrade in aqueous alkaline and acidic media in a surface erosion manner. Additionally, a selective adjustment of the degradability is feasible by the choice and content of thiol monomers. Notably, monomers containing a tricyclo[5.2. 1.02,6]decane-4,8-dimethanol backbone provide decent thermo-mechanical properties and appropriate impact strengths similar to polylactic acid (PLA). Most importantly, selected thiol–yne formulations were printed successfully with an accuracy of 40 × 40 μm, which seems to be sufficiently high to prints medical devices in appropriate resolution.
Strategic Management Of Public Relations In Islamic Education Institutions To Build Public Image And Increase Public Interest

This study aims to reveal the strategic management of public relations to build an image and increase public interest in An-Nur II Islamic Boarding School of Bululawang, Malang, with sub-focus covering: (1) concept of analysis and planning, (2) implementation process, and (3) evaluation process by PR management of An-Nur II Islamic Boarding School Bululawang, Malang. This study used a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data collection was done through in-depth interview techniques, participatory observation, and documentation. Data analysis techniques included data reduction, data presentation, and concluding. The validity of the findings carried out by extension of participation, source of triangulation techniques, theories, and methods, and perseverance of the observer. The research informants were boarding school caregivers, the person in charge of public relations, public relations of formal and non-formal educational institutions, work units / executive committee of public relations program, santri (students), parents, surrounding communities, and all relevant stakeholders. The results showed the facts obtained as evidence that An-Nur II Islamic Boarding School Bululawang Malang succeeded in building image and increasing public interest through strategic management of public relations, namely: 1) Award of The Best Islamic Boarding School, 2) Increasing new students interest every year, 3) Social empowerment and improvement of the community economy programs.