Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Indexing the White House Statements Regarding Snowden and NSA: A Content Analysis of U.S. Elite Newspapers’ Opinion Pieces

The current study aims to advance knowledge about indexing and elite debates by examining and comparing coverage of a complex issue in the official government statements and opinion sections of two elite American news organizations. More specifically, this research examines whether or not The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal used any news frames promoted by The White House regarding the former NSA contactor Edward Snowden and his whistleblowing attempts. Results of the textual analysis of The White House Statements and selected opinion pieces indicate that indexing did not occur and a variety of opinion took place. Listed results fall in the theoretical realm of the indexing hypothesis. The study demonstrated that opinion journalism serves an important role in facilitating debates around salient issues and informing the public about those debates. Indexing the White House Statements Regarding Snowden and NSA: A Content Analysis of U.S. Elite Newspapers’ Opinion Pieces by Elena Sorokina MA, Syracuse University, 2015 MA, Moscow State University, 2012 Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Media Studies Syracuse University June 2015 Copyright © Elena Sorokina 2015 All Rights Reserved Acknowledgments I would like to take this opportunity to thank my committee members for your patience, guidance, insights, and mentorship, that kept me motivated to constantly improve throughout this challenging experience. I appreciate your flexibility and accessibility. Thank you for sharing with me your thoughts, input and pointing me in the right direction required not only for this research study, but also for my professional life in general. It has been honor and pleasure learning from you.
Cyberbullying Intervention Based on Convolutional Neural Networks

This paper describes the process of building a cyberbullying intervention interface driven by a machine-learning based text-classification service. We make two main contributions. First, we show that cyberbullying can be identified in real-time before it takes place, with available machine learning and natural language processing tools. Second, we present a mechanism that provides individuals with early feedback about how other people would feel about wording choices in their messages before they are sent out. This interface not only gives a chance for the user to revise the text, but also provides a system-level flagging/intervention in a situation related to cyberbullying.
Analysis of modified bowtie nanoantennas in the excitation and emission regimes

In this work, we analyze modified bowtie nanoantennas with polynomial sides in the excitation and emission regimes. In the excitation regime, the antennas are illuminated by an incident plane wave, and in the emission regime, the excitation is fulfilled by infinitesimal electric dipole positioned in the gap of the nanoantennas. Several antennas with different sizes and polynomial order were numerically analyzed by method of moments. The results show that these novel antennas possess a controllable resonance by the polynomial order and good characteristics of near field enhancement and confinement for applications in enhancement of spontaneous emission of a single molecule.
Phytochemical constituents of Nelumbo nucifera.

Phytochemical investigation of the MeOH extract of the leaves of Nelumbo nucifera resulted in the isolation of five norsesquiterpenes, four flavonoids, two triterpenes and one alkaloid. Their chemical structures were characterized by spectroscopic methods to be (E)-3-hydroxymegastigm-7-en-9-one (1), (3S,5R,6S,7E)- megastigma-7-ene-3,5,6,9-tetrol (2), dendranthemoside B (3), icariside (4), sedumoside (5), luteolin (6), quercetin 3-0--D-glucuronide (7), quercetin 3-0--D-glucoside (8), isorhamnetin 3-0-rutinoside (9), alphitolic acid (10), maslinic acid (11), and N-methylasimilobine (12). Norsesquiterpenoids (1-5) and triterpenes (10-11) were isolated for the first time from this plant. Compounds 6 and 10-12 exhibited considerable cytotoxicity against four human cancer cell lines in vitro using a SRB bioassay.
Costs of domestic violence: a life satisfaction approach

This paper discusses and estimates the costs of domestic violence using a life satisfaction approach. It draws on a British cross-sectional data set that includes individual self-reported life satisfaction, household income and experienced domestic violence. The paper estimates the costs of domestic violence as the compensating variation of domestic violence resulting from estimating a life satisfaction regression equation. Some attempts to deal with the problem of self-selection into abusive relationships and to account for the endogeneity of household income are discussed and implemented. The results suggest that domestic violence is costed very highly by its victims, with estimates ranging from £27,000 to over £70,000. Hence this paper contributes to the literature on valuing non-marketable goods and discusses the usefulness of a life satisfaction approach when estimating the costs of domestic violence. It claims that, despite its shortcomings, a life satisfaction approach allows for a valuation of domestic violence and answers questions often not answered by other valuation methods.
Damping torque analysis of power systems with DFIGs for wind power generation

A grid-connected double fed induction generator(DFIG) for wind power generation can affect power system small-signal angular stability in two ways: by changing the system load flow condition and dynamically interacting with synchronous generators (SGs). This study presents the application of conventional method of damping torque analysis (DTA) to examine the effect of DFIG's dynamic interactions with SGs on the small-signal angular stability. It shows that the effect is due to the dynamic variation of power exchange between the DFIG and power system and can be estimated approximately by the DTA. Consequently, if the DFIG is modelled as a constant power source when the effect of zero dynamic interactions is assumed, the impact of change of load flow brought about by the DFIG can be determined. Thus the total effect of DFIG can be estimated from the result of DTA added on that of constant power source model. Applications of the DTA method proposed in this study are discussed. An example of multi-machine power systems with grid-connected DFIGs is presented to demonstrate and validate the DTA method proposed and conclusions obtained in this study.
Customer selection for direct marketing : bi-objective optimization using support vector machine

Customer Selection for Direct Marketing: Bi-Objective Optimization Using Support Vector Machine by WANG Qian Master of Philosophy A major challenge in direct marketing is to build a customer-selection model that can help achieve higher response rate and greater profit at the same time. In this study, I adopt a bi-objective optimization (BOO) approach and propose a two-stage method using support vector machine (SVM) and support vector regression (SVR) to maximize response rate and profit simultaneously. To deal with the difficulty of learning models from imbalanced data, synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) is used to generate more balanced datasets. Experiments are conducted on two datasets, a direct marketing dataset and the KDD-98 dataset, to compare the predictive performance of the two-stage BOOSVM with other benchmark methods including logistic regression and the parallel Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA). The results of decile analysis suggest that the proposed two-stage BOOSVM model with SMOTE method is more effective and efficient than the competing models in improving response rate and profitability. DECLARATION I declare that this is an original work based primarily on my own research, and I warrant that all citations of previous research, published or unpublished, have been duly acknowledged. ( WANG Qian ) August 25 2013
Sustainable Development in Malaysia: A Case Study on Household Waste Management

Sustainable development (SD) is a concept which first originated in the 1970s when the developed world undertook massive development project in terms of cutting and clearing forests and constructing high rising buildings and spacious highways. Development of a country is essential to meet the needs of its people and to provide people with the latest infrastructure, high rising buildings and recreation facilities. However, the development process concerns the world community as it affects the natural environment. The ecological balance breaks down and environmental degradation occurs at an alarming rate. Therefore, the world community started thinking about protecting the environment while implementing development activities. Environmental degradation also occurs from intensive industrialization of a country. Therefore, to protect the environment, the world community proposed sustainable development. Sustainable development has three components: economic development; social development; and environmental protection. A sustainable development project requires that in any development project, these three components of SD must be taken into consideration and implemented properly so that the environment is not adversely affected. This paper focuses only on a small aspect of environmental protection, that is, proper management of household waste. This paper discusses how household waste in Malaysia can be converted into vermicompost for use in plantations and agriculture. The production of vermicompost may reduce the amount of organic waste in the country and help to maintain a clean and fresh environment. Vermicompost can also reduce emission of methane gas which causes global warming. Descriptive and analytical research methodology has been applied in this research paper.
INVESTIGATION OF EPOXY POWDER COATED GALVANIZED STEEL SUBSTRATE THROUGH ELECTROSTATIC POWDER COATING SYSTEM

This research deals with the optimization of an electrostatic powder coating by optimizing the combination of total volume of air with the powder output. Generally, the coating’s thickness and uniformity are not at the optimum level. A thicker coating does not necessarily provide a good surface quality. This phenomenon is caused by the insufficient volume of air to support the powder reaching the workpiece. Furthermore, too much air also causes the air to blow off the powder on the workpiece. This research aims to identify the optimum combinations of variable parameters to produce the optimum thickness with the best quality by improving the transfer efficiency and specifically to minimize the amount of powder usage. The evaluation methods used to determine the level of coating quality were thickness measurement, Buchholz indentation test, cross-cut test, color visual and surface structure analysis. The instruments used to evaluate the testing samples were a coating thickness gauge, Buchholz indentor, multi-blade cutting tools, spectrophotometer and Scanning Electron Microscope. The optimum level was found when using the optimum combination of powder output and total air volume, which produced a complete single layer of coating film, having good quality in terms of thickness, adhesion, uniformity, indentation resistance and surface structure.
Observer-Based $\mathcal{H}_{\infty }$ Fault-Tolerant Control for Linear Systems With Sensor and Actuator Faults

In this paper, the design problem of <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal{H}_{\infty }$</tex-math></inline-formula> observer-based fault-tolerant control is considered for three faulty cases: sensor only, actuator only, and both sensor and actuator faults. The observers are designed for estimating both states and faults. To reduce the fault effects on the system, virtual observers are first introduced. Based on the virtual observer, real observers are established because the virtual observers include unmeasurable information of the system. By using the estimated information from the observers, observer-based <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathcal{H}_{\infty }$</tex-math></inline-formula> fault-tolerant controllers are designed. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
PRO-OXIDANT AND ANTI-OXIDANT STATUS IN SENILE CATARACT PATIENTS

Senile cataract is a multifactorial disease, but oxidative stress is considered to be most important risk factor. The aim of our study is to assess the levels of prooxidants by measuring the lipid peroxidation products in the form of the Malondialdehyde (MDA) and the antioxidant enzyme levels like Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in the blood. A case control study was carried out in total number of 50 newly diagnosed cataract cases and 50 age matched controls. MDA, a marker of oxidative stress antioxidant enzymes Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured by enzymatic spectrophotometric method. Significantly increased levels of serum lipid peroxides in the form of MDA (P<0.001) were observed in cataract patients when compared to controls. Significantly decreased levels of SOD, GPX were observed in cataract patients as compared to normal healthy control (p<0.001). In the present study, it was concluded that oxidative stress plays an important role in the onset of senile cataract.
Addressing the Enigma of MCM8 in DNA Replication

MCM8 is a relatively new protein about which little is currently known regarding its function within the cell. Even so, there is controversy surrounding what its role might be in DNA replication. In this chapter, information regarding the role of MCM8 in DNA replication gleaned from studies carried out in different species will be discussed. In addition, sequence differences in the protein, itself, among different species will be presented. This review will focus on MCM8 in three species, Homo sapiens, Xenopus laevis and Drosophila melanogaster, since the bulk of published experimental data was obtained using these organisms.
Molecular characterisation of Heterorhabditis indica isolates from India , Kenya , Indonesia and Cuba

Molecular characterisation of Heterorhabditis indica isolates from India, Kenya, Indonesia and Cuba Colin M. STACK 1, Subbana G. EASWARAMOORTHY 2, Usha K. METHA 2, Martin J. DOWNES 1, Christine T. GRIFFIN 1 and Ann M. BURNELL 1,* 1 The Institute for Bioengineeringand Agroecology, Department of Biology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland 2 SugarcaneBreeding Institute, Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641 007, India
The effect of different plant hormones (PGRs) on multiple shoots of Hypericum retusum Aucher.

Use of Hypericum species have increased in the past few years due to the antidepressant and antiviral activities found in extracts of those plants. As a result of its potential as a pharmaceutical, a new system was developed for in vitro culture of this species. The goal of this investigation was to produce multiple shoot via in vitro techniques for Hypericum retusum Aucher. In vitro germination of the seeds was standardized on Murashige and Skoog (MS) hormone-free medium. Cultures were initiated from shoots inoculated onto MS medium supplemented individually with nine different concentrations of 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and Kinetin (Kn). The highest number of shoots was obtained on medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l -1 BAP (64.25 shoot/explant). Out of all the investigated concentrations of Kn, the best result was obtained on medium supplemented with 1.5 mg l -1 Kn (27.87 shoot/explant). In addition, shoots were cultured separately on the media containing BAP (0.5 mgl -1 ) and Kn (1.5 mgl -1 ) combined with three different auxins (0.25 mgl -1 IAA, IBA, NAA). In view of number and length of shoot the best result was obtained on the medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l -1 BAP + 0.25 mg l -1 IBA (54.12 shoot/explant, 3.36 length of shoot). In the presented study, the use of the BAP alone was the most efficient for shoot propagation. Rooted plantlets were acclimatized and successfully transferred to soil.
Direct-Lyapunov-Based Control Scheme for Voltage Regulation in a Three-Phase Islanded Microgrid with Renewable Energy Sources

In this paper, the local control structure of a microgrid is partially modified by a Lyapunov-based controller. This controller is derived based on direct Lyapunov stability theory (DLST) in order to calculate proper switching functions for the stable operation of the local controller as well as proper local performance of each inverter-based distributed generation (DG) unit. The main contribution is the use of DLST-based controller in a hierarchical primary control structure along with a DC-side voltage regulator. A current-based droop controller is also introduced along with a voltage harmonic compensation technique. The control limits of droop equations are calculated based on steady-state and dynamic capability curve as well as voltage-frequency ellipse curve. The effect of the variations of voltages and circuit parameters on the capability curves are also investigated and the microgrid (MG) steady-state operation area is obtained. In the proposed method, the DC-voltage variations are regulated by an additional voltage control loop based on a current reference correction signal. The above-mentioned approaches are derived thoroughly with mathematical equations. The effectiveness of the designed controllers is verified by a MATLAB/SIMULINK simulation platform (Matlab/Simulink R2014a, Mathworks, Inc.) with harmonically distorted intermittent loads. The results show the appropriate performance of the proposed controllers during both steady-state and transient dynamic conditions.
MALICIOUS URL DETECTION BY DYNAMICALLY MINING PATTERNS WITHOUT PRE-DEFINED ELEMENTS

Detecting malicious URLs is an essential task in network security intelligence. In this thesis, we make two new contributions beyond the state-of-the-art methods on malicious URL detection. First, instead of using any pre-defined features or fixed delimiters for feature selection, we propose to dynamically extract lexical patterns from URLs. Our novel model of URL patterns provides new flexibility and capability on capturing malicious URLs algorithmically generated by malicious programs. Second, we develop a new method to mine our novel URL patterns, which are not assembled using any pre-defined items and thus cannot be mined using any existing frequent pattern mining methods. Our extensive empirical study using the real data sets from Fortinet, a leader in the network security industry, clearly shows the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach. The data sets are at least two orders of magnitudes larger than those reported in literature.
Measuring hairiness in carpets by using surface metrology

Recently, an automatic system for grading appearance retention in carpets using our own scanner and image analysis techniques was proposed. A system for carpets with low pile construction and without color patterns has been developed. Appearance changes in carpets with high pile construction were still not well detected. We present an approach based on surface metrology that extract information given by the hairs on the carpet surface. These features are complementary to the texture features previously explored. By combining both features, we expand the use of the automatic grading system including some carpets types with high pile construction.
Flexible Thermoelectric ZnO–Organic Superlattices on Cotton Textile Substrates by ALD/MLD

The thermoelectric properties of both pristine ZnO and ZnO–organic superlattice thin films deposited on a cotton textile are investigated. The thin films are fabricated by atomic layer deposition/molecular layer deposition, using hydroquinone as the organic precursor for the superlattices. The resulting thin‐film coatings are crystalline, in particular when deposited on a textile substrate with a thin predeposited Al2O3 seed layer. The thermoelectric properties of the ZnO and ZnO–organic superlattice coatings are comparable to those for thin films deposited on conventional inorganic substrates; Al doping can be employed to further improve the thermoelectric properties. The ZnO–organic superlattice thin films moreover show enhanced resistance to mechanical strain. Due to the higher flexibility and lower thermal conductivity in comparison to pristine ZnO thin films, the ZnO–organic superlattice thin films are a possible material platform for flexible thermoelectrics that can be integrated in textiles and applied in wearable electronics.
Slurs, Assertion, and Predication

A multidimensional account of the meanings of slurs holds that a slur has both literal, truth-conditional content (which is neutral) and conventional implicature (which is derogatory). This chapter offers a careful examination of the motivations and commitments for a multidimensional account and argues that the theoretic costs for such a view are prohibitive. One of the primary motivations for a multidimensional account over a purely truth-conditional account is the apparent wide-scoping phenomenon of slurs (e.g., that derogatory content does not seem cancellable under negation). The chapter argues that carefully distinguishing between predication and assertion not only dispels the misconception that the phenomena in question is centrally about scope but also vindicates the purely truth-conditional account as a more general and unified explanation.
Characterization of Feal by Powder Metallurgy Route

Iron aluminum alloy with composition of 30, 35 and 40 at % Al were prepared via powder metallurgy route: mechanical milling, consolidating, sintering. Solid solution Fe (Al) formed after several hours milling, and completely at around 10h from elemental powders. During sintering, phase transformation take place from solid solution Fe(Al) into intermetallic FeAl and carbon impurities from elemental powder lead to an in situ precipitation of κ-AlFe3C0.5 simultaneously. Mechanical properties were improving with higher Fe contents and higher sintering temperature with maximum hardness of 5.5 GPa and maximum yield stress of compression test of 700 MPa in the sample of 30 at %Al, 1 h sintering of 1300°C after 10 h milling. The mechanical properties of sintered samples will be discussed in term of microstructure, precipitate and phase formed after sintering.
Genetic Algorithm Approach for Solving the Falkner–Skan Equation

A novel method based on Genetic Algorithm to solve the boundary value problems (BVPs) of the Falkner–Skan equation over a semi-infinite interval has been presented. In our approach, we use the free boundary formulation to truncate the semi-infinite interval into a finite one. Then we use the shooting method based on Genetic Algorithm to transform the BVP into initial value problems (IVPs). Genetic Algorithm is used to calculate shooting angle. The initial value problems arisen during shooting are computed by Runge-Kutta Fehlberg method. The numerical solutions obtained by the present method are in agreement with those obtained by previous authors. Keywords—Boundary Layer Flow, Falkner–Skan equation, Genetic Algorithm, Shooting method.