Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linking Service- and Capability-Driven Design - Towards a Framework for Designing Digital Businesses

The digitization of the economy and society requires enterprises from all industries to revisit their business models and prepare their organizations for the digital age. The design of "smart" products and services, the involvement of prosumers, and the intensifying interconnection of supply chains are signs of this transformation. Each of these scenarios builds on improved availability and interchangeability of data. In order to successfully transform their business and be able to develop valuable new services, companies require methodological help. To address this need, this paper proposes a service-capability design framework for digital businesses. The framework is developed theoretically based on the literature and earlier research and consists of a meta-model and a high-level reference model. The framework is retroactively applied to a real-world digital use case to demonstrate its validity.
How to visualise a conversation: case-based reasoning approach

At present, the complexity and scale of modern digital conversations between people is at its highest level but there is a gap in how to represent these conversations to a user. As a result, it is often hard for a user to understand the flow of a conversation and make an informed decision over it. However, an aesthetic and efficient visualisation can mitigate this drawback of data representation. In this paper, a case-based approach was proposed for choosing an appropriate visualisation for user’s conversations. A case was formulated as a visualisation of a conversation which a user decided to use for his analysis of the conversation. When a user decides to visualise a new conversation, the most similar visualisation type from previous users’ experiences is selected for the visualisation of the new conversation. In this paper, the cases of visualisations of conversations from the IBM Many Eyes platform were collected and a case-based reasoning approach for choosing a visualisation of user’s conversation was designed. Finally, the work of the proposed approach was tested on a sample email conversation, and then four participants evaluated the appropriateness of the chosen visualisation types in comparison with other eight possible visualisations for the email conversation.
Sphere Localization from a Minimal Number of Points in a Single Image

This paper proposes a new three-point method to locate the spatial sphere center from a single image. In monocular vision system with known intrinsic parameters, the traditional methods of locating the center of a spatial sphere with known radius require fitting its image points to an ellipse from which the sphere center is extracted. The ellipse fitting procedure requires at least five image points whereas the projection ellipse of a sphere essentially is a three-degree-of-freedom problem, which implies that over-parametrization is introduced in ellipse fitting. In this paper, the ellipse is represented with the three coordinates of the sphere center, and then at least three image points on the ellipse are used to construct a set of quadratic equations of the coordinates from which the Gröbner basis method is used to solve for the coordinates. The experimental results show that the three-point method can solve the problem with less than five image points, and when the number of image points increases to five or more, the new method can also improve sphere localization accuracy and have improved robustness.
META DATA EXTRACTION FROM UNSTRUCTURED WIKI TEXTS

The automatic extraction of meta data from wiki articles has to be carried out when saving a new article. The meta data types to extract are known in advance, e. g. as a consequence of an automatic classification of the text. Before the automatic extraction, a training has to be performed. Therefore the system is designed as a classification system, using the possible meta data types as classes. These classes are assigned to natural language expressions which were extracted from the article text. As a test data set, we use some Wikipedia articles and their according DBpedia data, which represent sample meta data. A Named Entity Recognition is used for the retrieval of candidates. Then, semantic, syntactic and lexical features are extracted. For the classification, a decision tree learner, a k-nearest neighbour classifier and a naive bayes classifier are compared.
Durability of Perfluorosulfonic Acid and Hydrocarbon Membranes: Effect of Humidity and Temperature

The effect of humidity on the chemical stability of two types of membranes [i.e., perfluorosulfonic acid type (PFSA, Nafion 112) and biphenyl sulfone hydrocarbon type, (BPSH-35)] was studied by subjecting the membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) to open-circuit voltage (OCV) decay and potential cycling tests at elevated temperatures and low inlet-gas relative humidities. The BPSH-35 membranes showed poor chemical stability in ex situ Fenton tests compared to that of Nafion membranes. However, under fuel cell conditions, BPSH-35 MEAs outperformed Nafion 112 MEAs in both the OCV decay and potential cycling tests. For both membranes, (i) at a given temperature, membrane degradation was more pronounced at lower humidities and (ii) at a given relative humidity operation, increasing the cell temperature accelerated membrane degradation. Mechanical stability of these two types of membranes was also studied using relative humidity (RH) cycling. Due to decreased swelling and contraction during wet-up and dry-out cycles, Nafion 112 lasted longer than BPSH-35 membranes in the RH cycling test.
Printed Eastern Arabic Noisy Numerals Recognition Using Hidden Markov Model and Support Vectors Machine

This research presents a comparison between two methods of learning-classification, the first one is a probabilistic and unsupervised which is the Hidden Model Markov (HMM), while the second is a statistic and supervised that is the Support Vectors Machine (SVM). These techniques are used for printed Eastern Arabic numerals recognition, in different situation: rotated and translated or resized and noisy. In the pre-processing phase we have used the thresholding technique while in the features extraction we exploited the Krawtchouk Invariant Moment (KIM). In fact, in order to make a precise comparison between these two methods, we have introduced two new concepts which are the threshold and the interval of stability of each numeral and for each of these two methods. The simulation results that we obtained demonstrates that SVM is more performing than the HMM technique in this recognition system.
An experience of design education: Integration between design methods and industrial co-operation

Achieving a strict correlation between academic and industrial world is an important development direction in the engineering education field. The authors’ first step along this path was the activation of several courses on methodical design, and the second step was the activation of a tight cooperation with industries, so that students could develop their thesis facing up to real problems. The fundamental advantages of this approach are: a) accustom the students to follow a design method; b) increase students’ ability to find out and to consider “all” the possible solutions for a given problem, with the scope to choose the “best” one; c) increase students’ ability to evaluate solutions’ behaviour; d) possibility for the students to follow the production of the designed or modified machine. From the educational point of view, the two important aspects of this particular work are: a) The cooperation with the industrial world: the design was developed in cooperation with a company specialized in die-cutter machine production. The company realised and now produces a new machine based on this work. b) The application and integration of several design methods.
Study on defluoridation of drinking water by impregnation of metal ions in activated charcoal

Defluoridation of drinking water was carried out by the continuous down flow adsorption mode at room temperature. Five columns were prepared by the impregnation of ZrOCl 2 , CaO, Alum, CaCl 2 and Borax in activated coconut shell charcoal. Known fluoride influent water was run into the column at a constant rate of 4.0 L/h aad a constant level of water was maintained. Samples of the treated water were collected for analysis by the ion selective electrode method. In this study zirconium ion impregnated coconut shell charcoal (ZICSC) showed maximum fluoride uptake and proved to be the most effective defluoridating agent followed by CaO and Alum.
On the Complexity of Subproblems of SAT (New Developments of Theory of Computation and Algorithms)

In this paPer, we show some complexity results of subproblems of Satisfifiability Problem (SAT). We introduce adecision problem that asks if, given a $k$-CNF formula with $n$ variables, there is a satisfying assingment with at most $pn$ variables set to 1. For $k$ $\geq 2$ , we show that (1) when $p=n^{c}$ $(-1<c\leq 0)$ , the problem is $\mathrm{N}\mathrm{P}$-complete, and (2) when $p=\log n/n$ , it is solvable in $O(n^{\log k}|\phi|)$ time for aformula $\phi$ . We also show some results on complexity of aclass of formulas for which we know some information on the number of satisfying assignments.
Investigating brand equity of third-party service providers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply theory and techniques from the services and marketing literature to a supply-chain context consisting of a shipper or seller, a customer or buyer and a third-party logistics service provider (3PL) to investigate corporate brand equity resulting from service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty towards the 3PL. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual model was developed from the literature and tested with Finnish industrial firms using an online survey. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling to examine relationships among the four constructs. Findings – Hypothesised relationships among the four constructs in the conceptual model were supported; however, the relationship between loyalty and corporate brand equity was weak. Research limitations/implications – This investigatory research is based on a one-country sample making transferability and generalisability to other countries difficult. Practical implications – The finding.
A Study on the accessible techniques to classify and predict the risk of Cardio Vascular Disease

--- The health care environment is found to be loaded with information, but deprived in extracting knowledge from the information. This is because of the short of effectual Data Mining tool to determine concealed associations and trends in them. By applying the data mining techniques, important knowledge can be extracted from the health care system. Heart disease is a assemblage of circumstance affecting the arrangement and purpose of heart and has many root causes. Heart disease is the most important cause of fatality in the humankind over past ten years. Research has been made with many hybrid techniques for diagnosing heart disease. This paper deals with an overall appraisal of application of data mining in heart disease prediction.
Low Glycemic Index and Load, Hypo Caloric Diet as an Effective Treatment for Obesity and Hyperlipidemia in Girls with Metabolic Syndrome

Objective: Considering the multiple complications of childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS) at an early age, successful interventions are desperately needed. The aim of the study is to assess the effectiveness of a hypocaloric, low Glycemic Load (GL) and low Glycemic Index (GI) diet on the improvement of obesity and MS-related parameters. Methods: Fifty obese girls, aged 7-16 years, were randomly recruited from the Obesity Clinic of the First Department of Pediatrics, of the University of Athens. Half of the girls were randomly prescribed a 3-month hypocaloric dietary intervention emphasizing on portion control and low GL foods, versus no intervention in the control group. The dietary advice was according to the principles of the Mediterranean diet. Physical activity was kept constant. Anthropometric measurements, fasting blood lipids, glucose and prevalence of MS were assessed before and after the 3-months. Results: The girls in the intervention group exhibited a significant decrease in BMI, BMI z-score, waist circumference, total cholesterol and LDL compared to the control group (all p 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the efficacy of a hypocaloric-low GI/GL diet, incorporating adequate protein and healthy fat, in improving parameters of MS in obese children and adolescents. It suggests a positive role of the reduction in total carbohydrate intake and GI to the decrease in BMI z-score and DBP respectively. Further research is needed to confirm these results in the long-term.
Structural Relationship of Learning Environment, Learning Approaches, and Generic Skills among Engineering Students

This study evaluated structural relationships among learning environment, learning approaches, and generic skills of engineering students. Research instruments used were: (i) an adapted Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), (ii) the Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F), and (iii) a Generic Skills Instrument. Participants were 527 engineering students in eight Malaysian technical institutions. The structural equation model (SEM) was tested using SPSS 17 and AMOS 18 software. Two learning environment elements namely learning community and assessment were shown to have a direct relationship, and three other elements (clear objective, good teaching and learning resources) were indirectly related to generic skills through learning approach. A model of inter-relationship between generic skills (GS), learning approaches (LA) and learning environment (LE) was proposed.
On the collapse condition for a thin-plate subjected to axial compression

Summary In the present study, the collapse behavior of a thin-plate subjected to axial compression is investigated parametrically using the finite element method. It is revealed that the axial collapse of the plate, which has various hardening characteristics, is induced by two dominant factors: the stress limitation of the material and the limitation of in-plane deformation at the side edges of the plate. Then, a simplified collapse condition, which corresponds to two modes, is derived based on the plastic buckling theory and the effective width concept, and the validity of the simplified collapse condition is then verified by the comparison of numerical results obtained using various material and geometric properties.
The Power of Online Proton Transfer Reaction - Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) Measurement of Odorous Emissions from a Pig House

Online monitoring of odorous compounds in the ventilation air was applied in an experimental pig house in Denmark. The measurements were executed by proton-transfer-reaction – mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) while grab samples are used to confirm the identity of the compounds. Sorbent tubes samples were analysed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry analysis (GC-MS) and Tedlar bags samples by gas chromatography – sulfur chemiluminescence detector (GC-SCD). For three target odorants, dimethyl sulfide, propanoic acid and p-cresol, the reproducibility after averaging over 1 hour was in the same order of magnitude for both grab and continuous sampling (<16 %). However, the detailed information on the concentration variations during the day provided by online measurements, can never be obtained by any analytic method requiring sample collection. The results emphasize the importance of a suitable strategy when taking grab samples for odour evaluation, for example for olfactometric measurements. Concentrations of odorants can easily differ by a factor of two within one week with similar weather circumstances and identical pigs.
Psychometric Properties of the Inventário Dimensional Clínico da Personalidade (IDCP) using the Rating Scale Model

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory (DCPI) using Rasch-based person and item analysis. 1281 participants were recruited, between 18 and 90 years of age (M=26.64; SD=8.94), 431 men (33.6%) and 127 (9.9%) patients diagnosed with axis I disorders and/or axis II according to DSM-IV-TR. Results indicated the IDCP scales performed reasonably well, and the usefulness of the analyses presented, demonstrate the Rasch model’s applicability for clinical applications. Among the important tools offered by the Rasch model, we explore the use of the person-item map, which visually presents the intuitively understandable psychological construct along the dimensional scale of the instrument.
Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Simulation and Modeling V. Kachitvichyanakul, U. Purintrapiban, and P. Uthayopas, eds. MEASURING THE VOLATILITY IN U.S. TREASURY BENCHMARKS AND DEBT INSTRUMENTS

As U.S. Treasury securities carry the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, they are free of default risk. Thus, their yields are risk-free rates of return, which allows the most recently issued U.S. Treasury securities to be used as a benchmark to price other fixed-income instruments. This paper analyzes the time series properties of interest rates on U.S. Treasury benchmarks and related debt instruments by modelling the conditional mean and conditional volatility for weekly yields on 12 Treasury Bills and other debt instruments for the period 8 January 1982 to 20 August 2004. The conditional correlations between all pairs of debt instruments are also calculated. These estimates are of interest as they enable an assessment of the implications of modelling conditional volatility on forecasting performance. The estimated conditional correlation coefficients indicate whether there is specialization, diversification or independence in the debt instrument shocks. Constant conditional correlation estimates of the standardized shocks indicate that the shocks to the first differences in the debt instrument yields are generally high and always positively correlated. In general, the primary purpose in holding a portfolio of Treasury Bills and other debt instruments should be to specialize on instruments that provide the largest returns.
COMPREHENSIVE MULTILEVEL SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENT OF DISTRIBUTED INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The paper suggests the multilevel approach to the risk assessment that is based on the system of security metrics and techniques for their calculation. Proposed techniques are based on attack graphs and service dependencies. They allow evaluating security of network topologies, malefactors and attack characteristics, and integral security properties and characteristics calculated on the basis of the cost-benefit and zero-day vulnerability analysis. Classification of these characteristics and separation of the security information on static, dynamic and historical allows defining different assessment levels. The paper considers the main issues and recommendations for using the risk assessment techniques based on the suggested approach.
Implementation and test of fault line selector using zero module current travelling waves

The paper presents the implementation scheme of fault line selector using zero module current travelling waves with the application of a wavelet transform technique. The proposed scheme designs high-speed acquisition unit to achieve sampling current travelling wave signals, uses wavelet multi-resolution analysis to decompose the travelling wave signals, and extracts the local modulus maxima to represent the characteristics of the signals. In the implementation scheme the local modulus maxima of all lines are compared with each other to determine the fault line. In order to test the fault line selector implemented, one filed test has been carried out, which was presented in the paper. The field test result shows that the fault line selector can acquire single-phase-to-ground fault generated zero module current travelling wave information in neutral point non-effectively grounded distribution system and can identify the fault line correctly.
Realistic and verifiable coherent control of excitonic states in a light-harvesting complex

We explore the feasibility of the coherent control of excitonic dynamics in light-harvesting complexes, analyzing the limits imposed by the open nature of these quantum systems. We establish feasible targets for phase and phase/amplitude control of the electronically excited state populations in the Fenna–Mathews–Olson (FMO) complex and analyze the robustness of this control with respect to orientational and energetic disorder, as well as the decoherence arising from coupling to the protein environment. We further present two possible routes to verification of the control target, with simulations for the FMO complex showing that steering of the excited state is experimentally verifiable either by extending excitonic coherence or by producing novel states in a pump–probe setup. Our results provide a first step toward coherent control of these complex biological quantum systems in an ultrafast spectroscopy setup.
Network dynamics in scientific knowledge acquisition: an analysis in three public universities in the state of Bahia

1. Introduction; 2. Reference theoretical frame; 3. Methodological strat-egy; 4. Analysis of the UFBA’s knowledge networks and the role of its Graduation Program on Chemistry; 5. The UFBA’s influence on chemistry knowledge networks at the Uneb and Uesc; 6. The chemistry networks in state of Bahia as a
Implementation and Effects of a Bridge Program to Increase Student Learning and Retention in Engineering Programs

An engineering bridge program was implemented and utilized to assist pre-engineering students at Texas Tech University (TTU) by offering an optional one week course to strengthen their math and problem solving skills, while also providing mentoring and academic support opportunities to the students throughout the academic year following the course. The program has been in effect for over six years, and has had an approximate total enrollment of over 700 students during that time. Enrollment in the bridge program is offered to incoming students that have scored in the range of four to seven on the math placement exam (MPE), and the course is specifically designed to strengthen the student’s understanding of trigonometry and related problem solving. The goal of the research is to determine whether the bridge program has an immediate effect on improving grades in math and engineering classes, and to determine whether the program has a long-term effect on the students by retaining them within the engineering program. The results of the research, based as a comparison between students that did and did not enroll in the bridge program, showed that the students enrolled in the bridge program brought their performance levels up to approximately the same level as the entire engineering college itself, indicating that the program was successful in increasing performance of the target students. Additionally the program showed that students enrolled in the bridge program stayed within an engineering major after their first year at approximately the same rate as the entire engineering college.