Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface characteristics of nitrogen and argon plasma immersion ion implantation of Cu-Zr-Al bulk metallic alloy

Plasma Immersion ion implantation (PIII) offers a technique for metallic glasses to improve the surface properties. The (Cu50Zr50)92Al8 bulk metallic glass (BMG) has relatively high glass forming ability (GFA), it is chosen for surface modification experiment. The influences of nitrogen and argon ion implantation on (Cu50Zr50)92Al8 BMG were investigated. After PIII, the surfaces of implanted samples remain amorphous except that ZrO2 formed on the surface. We observed Cu and Al segregation beneath the top oxide layer after ion implantation.
ANALYTICAL VALIDATION OF CLOPIDOGREL IN HUMAN PLASMA THROUGH ULTRAHIGHPERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY-TANDEM MASS SPECTROMETRY

Objective: This study developed a sensitive, selective, and valid method for analyzing clopidogrel in human plasma using liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Methods: The chromatography separation was performed on the waters ACQUITY UPLC Class BEH C18 1.7 μm (2.1 × 100 mm) column, consisting of 0.1% formic acid in water and 0.1% formic acid in acetonitrile (30-70) as the mobile phase, and an isocratic elution with a flow rate of 0.2 mL/minutes. The mass detection was performed using a Waters Xevo TQD equipped with positive electrospray ionization in the multiple reaction monitoring modes. The clopidogrel was detected at m/z 322.086>212.097 and irbesartan as an internal standard at m/z 429.233>207.131. The sample was prepared with protein precipitation method using acetonitrile, vortex mixed for 10 minutes, and centrifuged at 13,000 rpm for 20 minutes. Results: This method showed a linear result at the concentration range of 0.2-10 ng/ml with r≥0.9997. Conclusions: The developed method provides sensitivity, linearity, precision, and accuracy and is suitable for analysis of clopidogrel in human plasma using LC-MS/MS.
A GASVM Algorithm for Predicting Protein Structure Classes

The research methods of protein structure prediction mainly focus on finding effective features of protein sequences and developing suitable machine learning algorithms. But few people consider the importance of weights of features in classification. We propose the GASVM algorithm (classification accuracy of support vector machine is regarded as the fitness value of genetic algorithm) to optimize the coefficients of these 16 features (5 features are proposed first time) in the classification, and further develop a new feature vector. Finally, based on the new feature vector, this paper uses support vector machine and 10-fold cross-validation to classify the protein structure of 3 low similarity datasets (25PDB, 1189, FC699). Experimental results show that the overall classification accuracy of the new method is better than other methods.
Using Subspace Pursuit Method For Radar Image Reconstruction

A compressive sensing based method is proposed for reconstruction of radar image of 3-D geometry in this paper. Using the sparse property of the geometry, compressed sensing performs a low-dimensional, non- adaptive and linear projection to acquire an efficient representation of a compressible signal directly using just a few measurements. In order to characterize the problem sparsely, the delta function is used as the sparse basis function. When testing by the incident plane wave at several different frequency points over wide band, linear equations are constructed following the theory of compressed sensing to recover the range profile of radar image. Subspace pursuit (SP) method is applied to solve the linear equations and the results are used for traditional Back-Projection (BP) imaging method. The physical optics is used to compute the scattering which is considered as the input data for compressed sensing based construction. Numerical results of several geometries show our method is robust and accuracy for radar imaging with sub-sampled data.
Preservation of nucleic acids by freeze-drying for next generation sequencing analyses of soil microbial communities

Aims Soil sample preservation is a challenging aspect in molecular studies on soil microbial communities. The demands for specialized sample storage equipment, chemicals and standardized protocols for nucleic acid extraction often require sample processing in a home laboratory that can be continents apart from sampling sites. Standard sampling procedures, especially when dealing with RNA, comprise immediate snap freezing of soils in liquid nitrogen and storage at −80°C until further processing. For these instances, organizing a reliable cooling chain to transport hundreds of soil samples between continents is very costly, if possible at all. In this study we tested the effect of soil sample preservation by freeze-drying with subsequent short-term storage at 4°C or ambient temperatures compared to −80°C freezing by comparative barcoding analyses of soil microbial communities. Methods Two grassland soil samples were collected in Central Germany in the Biodiversity Exploratory Hainich-Dün. Samples were freezedried or stored at −80°C as controls. Freeze-dried samples were stored at 4°C or ambient temperature. Investigated storage times for both storage temperatures were 1 and 7 days. Total DNA and RNA were extracted and bacterial and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities were analyzed by amplicon 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S (V4-V5 variable region) and 18S (NS31-AM1 fragment) of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) marker genes, respectively. Important Findings Bacterial communities were sufficiently well preserved at the rDNA and rRNA level although storage effects showed as slightly decreased alpha diversity indices for the prolonged storage of freeze-dried samples for 7 days. AM fungal communities could be studied without significant changes at the rDNA and rRNA level. Our results suggest that proper sampling design followed by immediate freeze-drying of soil samples enables short-term transportation of soil samples across continents.
Interpreting the Frames: An Analysis of the Implementation of the New South Wales Visual Art Syllabus, Year 9

The content of US K-12 art education is open to debate. In the past ten years, under the influence of Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE), curriculum writers have expanded the school art experience beyond the processes of art making to include aspects of art history, art criticism, and aesthetics. While this practice reframes the context of art making to inform it historically and theoretically, it falls short of cultural critique, which can also include an incorporation of visual and material culture study. It is imperative that US educators look for other methods of teaching art that include diverse art forms and that reflect the interdisciplinary structure and social concerns of our contemporary culture. This dissertation reviews a State-wide art education curriculum that includes all of the above topics, art making, art history, art criticism, aesthetics, and cultural and theoretical criticism as it occurs within the classrooms of two state run schools in Sydney, Australia. New South Wales (NSW) divides its art education curriculum into conceptual Frames, the subjective, the cultural, the structural, and the postmodern,, in order to direct ways of identifying, investigating, explaining, understanding, and judging works of art (NSW Support Document, 1997, p. 26). The Frames enable art educators and students to find connections between artistic forms, practices, their content, and their context. This research project included a seven week case study, from July 25, until September 8, 2000, of two Year Nine Additional (elective) art classrooms, of two experienced art teachers within have excellent reputations locally. I observed the art teaching methodologies of the two teachers, analyzed the teachers’ interpretation of their subject matter, w hich was chosen from the NSW Interpreting the Frames Syllabus, and recorded student interpretations of these subjects. My question was: How do these two teachers interpret the NSW Syllabus? Do the Frameworks for study present a template for a theoretical understanding of the nature of art making practices, as it claims? Do the teachers interweave aspects of art making with art history, art criticism, and cultural studies, and cultural critique as suggested within the Visual Arts, Years 7-10 Support Document? How do the Frames fit together within a course of study? Or is the Syllabus a written document that is largely ignored in favor of uncritical studio practices? My concluding query is How can NSW art education practices and curriculum inform those of US art educators?
Characterization of the vertical and horizontal patterns of forest canopy structure in natural and managed stands using a new- generation airborne laser scanner (LiDAR)

Understanding the structure and function of forest ecosystems and their interactions with other natural systems at stand, landscape and global scales is fundamental to the development of sustainable forest management practices in British Columbia. In the forests of northwestern North America, forest structure has become a key focus of research because of its significance for biodiversity and ecosystem function. Forest structure can be more directly addressed by silvicultural prescriptions and regulatory policy than other aspects of stand ecology, and thus has become strong management focus as well. Our research project specifically looks at the utility of discrete-return, airborne laser scanning systems (LiDAR) for fine-scale remote measurements of stand structure and its spatial diversity. The main objectives of this research are two-fold: (i) to demonstrate how LiDAR can be used as a reliable source of forest structure information to characterize and update selected forestry attribute data (i.e., heights, basal area, stem density, and volume) on a plot, polygon (stand), and landholdings basis; (ii) to develop new, ecologically relevant LiDAR-based metrics (e.g., structural diversity) that will expand the range of traditional inventory measurements in support of sustainable forest management. The research outlined in this year-end operational report represents the work completed in year two of this three-year project. To-date, we have (i) processed, tiled, and archived LiDAR data collected by Mosaic Mapping Systems Inc. over approximately 80 km of natural forest (Sooke Lake watershed) and Weyerhaeuser-managed timberlands (Shawnigan Lake and Malahat) on southern Vancouver Island, (ii) constructed digital forest cover maps and databases for each of the three areas from existing GIS data, (iii) measured the height, diameter, height to live crown, species, crown class, and live or dead status for over 7,000 trees; collected 5600 LAI-2000 Plant Canopy Analyzer (PCA) gap fraction measurements; and 560 hemispherical photographs from the Sooke Lake watershed. We have recently received existing permanent plot and inventory data from Weyerhaeuser BC Coastal Group to support the inventory component of our study. We believe that this project may have significant impact on the way future operational inventories are undertaken in BC and elsewhere. Findings from this study could help reduce the overall costs of forest inventories, while improving the quality and kinds of new information required by forest managers and scientists today.
Positive surgical margins in nephron-sparing surgery; the great unknown

There is a currently a general trend towards organ-preserving surgery, and urology is no exception. Specifically, nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) has gained general acceptance for T1a renal cell carcinoma (guidelines recommendations). Moreover T1b, T2 and even T3 stage tumors have been included on the nephron sparing list at some centers. An unresolved issue is that of positive surgical margins (PSM), not only their detection but also the implications for follow up and treatment. This paper highlights data available on risk factors for PSM, their clinical relevance, and possible therapeutic consequences. From the surgeon’s viewpoint, NSS is a daring and risky surgical procedure. Urological guidelines stress the importance of NSS, and thus the trend is moving in that direction. Unresolved, however, is the problem of PSM. Trifecta, MIC, and pentafecta are applicable concepts which attempt to define the optimal endpoint of NSS, but further elaboration is necessary. Specifically, research needs to focus less on the concept of definitive margins and more on their identification and avoidance. Although some studies suggest that PSMs do not influence overall survival rate, the basic idea of preserving tissue that is not cancerous leads to further medical, social, and psychological considerations.
EFFECT OF GLUCOSE ON THE SUPPRESSION AND POST-SUPPRESSION REBOUND OF STEREOTYPES A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree

The suppression of unwanted thoughts is an effortful process. An ironic effect of this process is that the unwanted thoughts can become hyper-accessibility after a period of their suppression, known as “post-suppression rebound”. In the present study the impact of providing energy (through a glucose drink) on post-suppression rebound was investigated. One hundred and twenty participants participated in the main study, and another 30 participants served as a baseline group. Half of the participants in the main study were given a drink containing glucose and the other half was given a placebo drink containing an artificial sweetener. All participants wrote a passage about a “day in the life” of a gay male, with half the participants directed to avoid using stereotypes. A subsequent lexical decision task measured activation of stereotypes. Finally, a measure of prejudice was given to account for individual differences. Neither the direction to avoid using stereotypes nor the glucose resulted in lower stereotypicality of the “day in life” passages. Furthermore, response times during the lexical decision task did not differ between any of the main conditions or the baseline condition. However, the combination of both glucose and directed suppression did result in more positive passages, suggesting that the combination assists in reducing negative stereotype usage. Results are discussed in terms of stereotype usage and suppression and prejudice level. Glucose and Post-Suppression Rebound 1 Section 1: Introduction The main aim of this thesis was to replicate and extend a previous study (Galliot, Peruche, Plant, & Baumeister, 2009) that found that giving participants glucose (as opposed to an artificial sweetener) resulted in fewer stereotypes being employed when writing about a gay male. The current study expands on these findings by exploring the effects of glucose on post-suppression rebound. This section will discuss the relevant theories, models, and previous research relating to the current study, prior to discussing the current study. This section starts by describing what stereotypes are and why improving our understanding of when and why they are used can be of potential benefit to reducing the use of stereotypes and improving social interactions. Next, the section will examine what factors and cognitive mechanics are involved in the act of thought suppression, and why the suppression of thoughts may result in a greater activation of those thoughts later on. The section then focuses on previous research that has examined the post-suppression rebound effect with relation to the use and activation of stereotypes. Afterwards, the role that glucose (as a limited cognitive resource) has on tasks involving self-regulation (such as thought suppression) is explored. Lastly, the specific aims and hypotheses relating to the current study are detailed.
Education, Poverty, Political Violence and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?

The paper investigates whether there is a causal link between poverty or low education and participation in politically motivated violence and terrorist activities. After presenting a discussion of theoretical issues, we review evidence on the determinants of hate crimes. This literature finds that the occurrence of hate crimes is largely independent of economic conditions. Next we analyze data on support for attacks against Israeli targets from public opinion polls conducted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These polls indicate that support for violent attacks does not decrease among those with higher education and higher living standards. The core contribution of the paper is a statistical analysis of the determinants of participation in Hezbollah militant activities in Lebanon. The evidence we have assembled suggests that having a living standard above the poverty line or a secondary school or higher education is positively associated with participation in Hezbollah. We also find that Israeli Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank in the early 1980s were overwhelmingly from high-paying occupations. The conclusion speculates on why economic conditions and education are largely unrelated to participation in, and support for, terrorism.
Anomalous uplift and subsidence of the Ontong Java Plateau inferred from CO2 contents of submarine basaltic glasses

The Ontong Java Plateau in the western Pacific is anomalous compared to other oceanic large igneous provinces in that it appears to have never formed a large subaerial plateau. Paleoeruption depths (at 122 Ma) estimated from dissolved H2O and CO2 in submarine basaltic glass pillow rims vary from 1100 m below sea level (mbsl) on the central part of the plateau to 2200–3000 mbsl on the northeastern edge. Our results suggest maximum initial uplift for the plateau of 2500–3600 m above the surrounding seafloor and 1500 ± 400 m of postemplacement subsidence since 122 Ma. Our estimates of uplift and subsidence for the plateau are significantly less than predictions from thermal models of oceanic lithosphere, and thus our results are inconsistent with formation of the plateau by a high-temperature mantle plume. Two controversial possibilities to explain the anomalous uplift and subsidence are that the plateau (1) formed as a result of a giant bolide impact, or (2) formed from a mantle plume but has a lower crust of dense garnet granulite and/or eclogite; neither of these possibilities is fully consistent with all available geological, geophysical, and geochemical data. The origin of the largest magmatic event on Earth in the past 200 m.y. thus remains an enigma.
Achievement effectiveness and equity: the role of tracking, grade repetition and inter-school segregation

Grouping students together according to their ability – in vocational versus academic tracks, in different grades or schools – is frequently denounced as being ineffective and/or a source of additional inequality. Yet very few international studies have evaluated the effects of these practices on educational performance. This study attempts to fill this gap using standardized scores in maths, science and reading literacy at the age of 15 published by the OECD in 2000. Results are that ability grouping has no impact on effectiveness (country mean scores). And the intensity of inequality (within country dispersion of scores) is also hard to predict. It is only for maths that higher inter-school segregation, but not tracking or grade repetition, leads to higher inequality.
7.1 6The Nature of Technological Paradigms: A Conceptual Framework

generated by a separate smart card that the users carry with them, and a dedicated authentication server that holds a database of the users and their password. Virus protection: Most viruses are introduced into office systems on disks transported from homes. Security managers suggest having a policy that prohibits employees from bringing disks from home to use on office PC or setting up a dedicated PC that can be used to screen disks for viruses before they are used at work
Task interpretation and self-regulating strategies in engineering design project: An exploratory study

Design tasks are ubiquitous, complex, ill-structured, and challenging to students and professional engineering designers. Successful designing depends on having not only adequate knowledge but also sufficient awareness and control of that knowledge, known as metacognition. Research suggests that metacognition not only enhances learning outcomes but also encourages students to be self-regulated learners who are metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their learning process. This article evaluates the extent to which students‟ task interpretation of the design project is reflected in their working plans and monitoring/regulating strategies. Butler and Cartier‟s SelfRegulated Learning (SRL) model was used to evaluate the dynamic and iterative interplay between metacognitive and cognitive activity. SRL dimensions such as design process, task management, task value, and criteria of success were evaluated. Twelve freshman engineering students at Utah State University participated in the study while they engaged in an engineering design project for a mechanical engineering course, “Engineering Graphics. ” Students were asked to complete the Engineering Design Questionnaire (EDQ) at the early, middle, and final stages of the project. Data collected were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively using graphical views. In addition, the mean value of each item from the same SRL dimension was compared across SRL episodes (i.e., task interpretation, planning strategies, cognitive strategies, monitoring and fix-up strategies, and criteria). From the analysis, the findings suggest that the level of understanding of the task was clearly reflected in students‟ plans with particular emphasis on getting a good overview of the design task at the early stage of the project. Students were found to be lacking in the areas of planning the methods used and anticipating the time required to solve the design task at the early stage of the project. Overall, students excelled in monitoring and regulating the design process and task management, although lower scores were found on several activities, such as seeking alternative approaches to investigating the problem, design solution, time planning, and the effective use of resources and materials during the project. When regarding their criteria of success, students considered task management issues to be more important than issues relating to the design process. __________
FORMULATION AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF EUDRAGIT ® RS 100 MICROSPHERES CONTAINING LORNOXICAM PREPARED BY EMULSION-SOLVENT EVAPORATION METHOD

The aim of present study was to prepare sustained release Eudragit® RS 100 microspheres containing lornoxicam using emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. The influence of drug concentration, polymer concentration, emulsifier concentration and stirring speed on particle size, shape, % yield, entrapment efficiency and in vitro release characteristics of microspheres were investigated. SEM studies confirmed that microspheres were spherical and uniform in shape. The results showed that % yield, particle size and entrapment efficiency of prepared microspheres was found to be in the range of 68.75±0.82 to 84.83±0.88%, 132.52±5.24 to 214.92±4.24 μm and 65.18±1.66 to 85.28±1.60% respectively. It was found that particle size and entrapment efficiency of microspheres were enhanced with increasing polymer ratio but reduced with increasing stirring speed and surfactant concentration. The in vitro release studies showed that Eudragit® RS 100 microspheres showed sustained effect up to 12 h.