Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
To what extent can 'the CSR framework' be adapted to meet the needs of BS 8900?: A qualitative study

The growing global interest in corporate responsibility (CR) and the pressure felt by organisations in all sectors to demonstrate commitment and progress in CR has led to demands for guidelines and standards that can help companies shape their response to CR in a measurable and consistent way. In recent years a number of models and guidance documents have been produced; however companies are still struggling to understand how to approach CR and what mechanisms to use to integrate it into their organisation’s systems. The link between Quality Management Systems and CR has been noted by many authors and a respected model was developed by Castka et al (2004) which combined the systems used in the ISO 9001 accreditation with the requirements of a CR process. Their CSR Framework however does not link to any accredited standards and lacks practical steps for organisations to follow. This study takes the underlying basis of The CSR Framework and combines it with the guidance and structure found in the British Standard for Sustainability, the BS 8900, to create a model for CR integration. Through qualitative case study research of four organisations, the benefits and development areas of this model are discussed in relation to the CR needs of the organisations concerned and the practicalities of using a model to shape the integration of CR.
The Earth Simulator system

The Earth Simulator, developed by the Japanese government's initiative Earth Simulator Project, is a highly parallel vector supercomputer system that consists of 640 processor nodes and interconnection network. The processor node is a shared memory parallel vector supercomputer, in which 8 vector processors that can deliver 8GFLOPS are tightly connected to a shared memory with a peak performance of64GFLOPS. The interconnection network is a huge non-blocking crossbar switch linking 640 processor nodes and supports for global addressing and synchronization. The aggregate peak vector performance of the Earth Simulator is 40TFLOPS, and the intercommunication bandwidth between every two processor nodes is 12.3GB/s in each direction. The aggregate switching capacity of the interconnection network is 7.87TB/s. To realize a high-performance and high-efficiency computer system, three architectural features are applied in the Earth Simulator; vector processor, shared-memory and high-bandwidth non-blocking interconnection crossbar network. The Earth Simulator achieved 35.86TFLOPS, or 87.5% of peak performance of the system, in LINPACK benchmark, and has been proven as the most powerful supercomputer in the world. It also achieved 26.58TFLOPS, or 64.9% of peak performance of the system, for a global atmospheric circulation model with the spectral method. This record-breaking sustained performance makes this innovative system a very effective scientific tool for providing solutions to the sustainable development of humankind and its symbiosis with the planet earth.
A Meta-Analysis of the Flight Simulator Training Research

Abstract : A meta-analysis of flight simulation research was conducted to identify important characteristics associated with the effectiveness of simulator training. A total of 247 articles, research reports, and technical reports were located, of which 26 had sufficient information for statistical meta analysis; 19 involved jet pilot training and 7 involved helicopter pilot training. The major finding was that use of simulators consistently produced improvements in training for jets (relative to aircraft training only). No conclusion about simulator effectiveness for helicopter training could be made due to the small number of experiments available for this analysis. Use of motion cuing added little to the training helicopters, the effects of motion cuing were not able to be analyzed because of an insufficient number of experiments. Conclusions concerning the benefits of motion cuing for both types of aircraft were considered highly tentative due to methods used when conducting motion-related experiments. In general, training outcomes appear to be influenced by the type of task and the amount and type of training. An agenda for future research is provided.
DC Motor Controller Using Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) Algorithm Implementation on PIC

Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) algorithm is one of the controller methods to control a system. In this project, the LQR was implemented on the PIC microcontroller to control the dc motor. The main objective of this controller is to minimize the deviation of the speed of dc motor. Dc motor speed is controlled by its driving voltage. The higher the voltage, the higher the motor speed. The speed of the motor is specifying that will be the input voltage of the motor and the output will be compare with the input. As the result, the output must be the same as or approximately the same as the input voltage. In this project, the LQR algorithm was implemented on the PIC microcontroller so the result can be shown. Before the implementation on the PIC, the dc motor state-space has to be derived. Then, from the state-space, we can design the LQR controller by using the MATLAB software. The stable system is got by tuning the Q and R value that can be seen by the simulation.
Evaluation of Binding Site Comparison Algorithms and Proteometric Machine Learning Models in the Detection of Protein Pockets Capable of Binding the Same Ligand

Non linearities of biological networks present ample opportunity for synergistic protein targeting combinations. Yet, to date, our ability to design multi-target inhibitors and predict polypharmacology binding profiles remains limited. Herein, we present a systematic benchmarking of protein pocket comparison algorithms from the literature, as well as novel machine learning models developed to predict whether two proteins will bind the same ligand. The results demonstrate that previously reported performance metrics from the literature could be inflated due to a bias towards proteins of similar folds when identifying protein capable of binding the same ligand. This observation motivated a more in-depth evaluation of the methods against two subsets of same and cross protein fold comparisons. In a head to head comparison using the cross protein fold subset, we found that the proteometric machine learning models were the best performing models overall.
Monitoring water supply systems for anomaly detection and response

Water supply systems are vulnerable to damage caused by unintended or intended human actions, or due to aging of the system. In order to minimize the damages and the inconvenience for the customers, a software tool was developed to detect anomalies at an early stage, and to support the responsible staff in taking the right decisions to restore the normal situation. The software is designed for water quantity events as well as for water quality events. The model aims to detect events which occur relatively frequently in water distribution systems, like pipe bursts events and water discolouration events. The model does not aim to detect more severe and rare water contaminations.
Thermal Performance Challenges from Silicon to Systems

The demand for high-performance microprocessors has resulted in an escalation of power dissipation as well as heat flux at the silicon level. At the same time, the desire for smaller form-factor chassis and lower silicon operating temperatures is compounding the thermal challenge. Thermal design for a microprocessor can no longer be treated in isolation. Power and performance trade offs and smart circuit-design techniques are required to conserve power consumption. Materials and process improvements in packaging and heat-sink technology are required to minimize thermal resistance. The concurrent development and packaging of all these elements is critical to ensure that from a cost and availability perspective a viable thermal design solution space exists. This paper attempts to address this multidimensional problem, highlighting design and technology challenges encountered in mobile computers, desktops, and servers.
Evaluating the impact of digital filters on the aesthetic appeal of photographs: A crowdsourcing based approach

In particular grouping by aesthetics and quality of the media has brought along new challenges for Computational Aesthetics research such as what makes an image beautiful, what means beautiful and how do you quantify beautiful. to meet those challenges, researchers have tried to come up with several algorithms based in different metrics to bridge the gap between the quantitative aspects of what is called beauty and what people call beauty. In order to fill part of this gap we studied the effect of digital filters in photographic aesthetics so widely used in the social networks nowadays. Taking in consideration the popularity of digital filters among many social network users, it was a surprise to understand that most participants in the experiment preferred the images with no filter. In any case measuring what is beautiful always requires collecting aesthetics scores from people. Doing that collection process in a laboratory environment is the most effective approach. The main reasons are the highly controlled environment that leads to good data quality. The downside is cost, time and restriction of participants to the people available nearby. Therefore another issue addressed in the study was the use of crowdsourcing to minimize time and cost, as well as to expand the scope of participation, in the process of collecting image scores from users. To test that possibility a 4 step process step was designed and implemented. First preference scores were collected in a lab environment over a previous selected dataset. Afterwards the crowdsourcing experiment was planned what included an optimization of the dataset (ground truth dataset). Subsequently three digital filters were then applied to the collection and an online experiment followed to once again collect preference scores. In phase, we developed the experiment in the context of Microworkers and as a Facebook app interface enriched with a playful visual interface. The last step included a process to filter the suspicious participants and check results consistency. The results show that implementing an experiment to collect preferences of image quality in social media is a good methodology for Computational Aesthetics, if appropriate planning and management is adopted.
Measurement, monitoring and control of fluidized bed combustion and gasification

Abstract: The measurement of hydrodynamic phenomena in a fluidized bed for monitoring and control is important, yet difficult. Difficulties arise due to the bed’s opaque nature, chemically aggressive environment, and/or mechanical wear of solids. This chapter briefly reviews several measurement techniques, such as tomography, radiography, optical and capacitance probing. We will focus on pressure (fluctuation) measurements, since this is the only technique that is routinely applied in industrial practice. Pressure fluctuations can give information on dynamic changes in the voidage distribution of a fluidized bed when analyzed with statistical time series methods. The chapter ends with a discussion of the industrial application of monitoring and measurement techniques.
Adolescent Language: Models, Assessment, and Links to Reading

Various models have highlighted the complexity of language. Building on foundational ideas regarding three key aspects of language, our study contributes to the literature by 1) exploring broader conceptions of morphology, vocabulary, and syntax, 2) operationalizing this theoretical model into a gamified, standardized, computer-adaptive assessment of language for fifth to eighth grade students entitled Monster, PI, and 3) uncovering further evidence regarding the relationship between language and standardized reading comprehension via this assessment. Multiple-group item response theory (IRT) across grades show that morphology was best fit by a bifactor model of task specific factors along with a global factor related to each skill. Vocabulary was best fit by a bifactor model that identifies performance overall and on specific words. Syntax, though, was best fit by a unidimensional model. Next, Monster, PI produced reliable scores suggesting language can be assessed efficiently and precisely for students via this model. Lastly, performance on Monster, PI explained more than 50% of variance in standardized reading, suggesting operationalizing language via Monster, PI can provide meaningful understandings of the relationship between language and reading comprehension. Specifically, considering just a subset of a construct, like identification of units of meaning, explained significantly less variance in reading comprehension. This highlights the importance of considering these broader constructs. Implications indicate that future work should consider a model of language where component areas are considered broadly and contributions to reading comprehension are explored via general performance on components as well as skill level performance.
Inverting Generative Black Boxes with Breeder Learning

In the pelletization of particles of carbonaceous material improvements in pellet strength are obtained by applying a first water soluble or swellable thermo-hardening binder and a second binder which is an emulsion of a heavy hydrocarbon in such a way that the concentration of the first binder decreases from the interior to the exterior of the pellet, and the concentration of the second binder increases from the interior to the exterior of the pellet.
An eight-week pulsed electromagnetic field improves physical functional performance and ankle-brachial index in men with Fontaine stage II peripheral artery disease

Introduction: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a highly prevalent but insufficiently studied cardiovascular disease. Apart from exercise training, little evidence supports the use of complementary therapies such as pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) in PAD management despite its favorable cardiovascular effects. Therefore, this study aimed to assess effects of PEMF on treadmill walking performance and ankle-brachial index (ABI) in men with PAD. Material and methods: Thirty male patients aged from 45 to 65 years with Fontaine stage II PAD were assigned to two groups; an experimental and a control group. Exclusion criteria were: Fontaine stage I, III and IV PAD; contraindications to exposure to electromagnetic fields; coronary artery, heart or chest disease; and orthopedic/neurological limitations to treadmill exercise test. Both groups received pharmacological treatment and dietary instructions, but only the experimental group received an eight-week PEMF (frequency: 15 Hz; intensity: 20 Gauss; duration: 60 minutes) three sessions per week. A treadmill graded exercise test (GXT) was performed at baseline and post-intervention. The primary outcomes were walking parameters derived from the GXT (i.e., peak walk distance/walk time and pain-free walk distance/walk time), and the secondary outcome was the ABI. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements in the GXT outcomes compared to baseline and controls (p < 0.01), and a significant increase in the ABI compared to baseline (p < 0.01) that approached significance compared to the controls (p = 0.012). Conclusions: PEMF therapy could be suggested as a beneficially rehabilitative intervention, complementary to pharmacological treatment and dietary advice, that could help improve physical functional performance and ABI in men with Fontaine stage II PAD.
Measuring Acceptance Level of Learning Zone Among Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Students: A Study of the Role Intention to Use as Mediator in the Relationship of Usefulness and Ease of Use Towards User Satisfaction

Changes in technologies have changed our lives. Education field was not exempted from the current technology changes. Technology now plays an important role to improve accessibility in seeking knowledge and wisdom much faster and easier. The changes of Malaysia’s education system and worldwide generally have taken steps to lead the field in using trusted online access to benefit the education sector. Public and private institutions in Malaysia have been taking advantage from ease of internet access to provide its students with more secure and reliable information more effectively. Therefore, this study exploits the technology acceptance model established by Davis (1989) to examine the level of acceptance using Learning Zone as a portal that helps learning process. Technology acceptance model (TAM) established by Davis (1989) has three basic instruments of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU) and user satisfaction (US). However, intention to Use (IU) had been inserted in this study as a mediator to examine whether perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use will have an impact on the intention to use to achieve satisfaction. Students of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) which have access of using Learning Zone have been selected to participate in the study. A total of 391 usable data provide by the respondents is being used to achieve the objectives of the study. Therefore, correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to examine whether perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use will have the impact on user satisfaction. Generally, the correlation analysis shows that there is a significant and strong positive correlation between variables perceived usefulness towards user satisfaction; perceived ease of use towards user satisfaction; and intention to use towards user satisfaction.
Modeling Entrepreneurial Innovation: A Study on Economic Development

Modeling complex concepts, especially in the field of management science, will help researchers to get a better understanding of the relationship between insensible and multidimensional phenomena. The relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development has been repeatedly discussed by researchers. With reference to various research, the impact of innovative entrepreneurial activities on the growth and development of economies is clear to all.This study attempts to provide a mathematical model in support of the accuracy of this relationship. Stochastic processes and probabilistic models have widely been used to perform this modeling.The underlying result of this model is a function by which the exact parameter of entrepreneurial performance can be calculated and also, by applying this model, the relationship between the innovation index and entrepreneurship is justifiable. Also, based on this modeling, the level of entrepreneurship of countries can be ranked based on innovation.
Characterization of fabric appearance based on image analysis

of dissertation entitled: Characterization of fabric appearances based on image analysis, Submitted by Binjie XIN for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Institute of Textiles & Clothing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in June 2009. In order to improve the reliability and reproducibility of quality evaluation and control system, it is necessary to develop some objective methods to evaluate fabric appearance, such as pilling, wrinkling, fuzzy, and so on, instead of subjective methods. In this thesis, we have done the following investigations: 1) the development of effective 3D imaging system for the characterization of fabric surface properties by using the DFPS technology (Dynamic flexible profile scanning technology) and stereo vision technology; 2) the study of illumination effects on pilling evaluation and neural networking modelling of fabric pilling evaluation; 3) the development of objective evaluation system for the appearance evaluation of knitted fabrics before and after washing for the purpose of optimisation of washing process; 4) the development of objective evaluation method for the evaluation of seam puckering appearance by using X-illumination, morphological fractal and Bayes Classifier. Through our experimental results and modeling analysis, it was found that: 1) the new 3D imaging system based on progressive silhouette imaging techniques could be used for the visualization and characterization of textile surface profile and roughness, the system R&R is acceptable for the measurement of surface thickness and roughness, this method is insensitive to the color and texture effects of textile
Analysing the Software Sector in Developing Countries Using Competitive Advantage Theory

1 A. ICT AND SOFTWARE PRODUCTION AS A DEVELOPMENT ISSUE.2 A1. ICT PRODUCTION ANDCONSUMPTION . 2 A2. COMPETING PRIORITIES IN ICT PRODUCTION VS. CONSUMPTION.2 Failure of ICT Initiatives in Developing Countries.3 Services in ICT Production.4 A3. RESEARCHING THE SOFTWARE SECTOR IN DEVELOPMENT . 6 B. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THEORY.7 B1. MEASURINGCOMPETITIVEADVANTAGE . 9 B2. EXPLAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE . 9 Determinants of Competitive Advantage . 9 Influences on Competitive Advantage.12 Competitive Advantage System Dynamics . 13 C. ANALYSING INDIA'S SOFTWARE SECTOR USING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THEORY.15 Overview of the Indian Software Industry.16 C1. DOES THE INDIAN SOFTWARE INDUSTRYDEMONSTRATE ACOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE? 18 C2. BASIC ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.18 Determinants of Competitive Advantage . 18 Influences on Competitive Advantage.24 C3. ADVANCED ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVEADVANTAGE.26 Systemic Analysis of Competitive Advantage . 26 Dynamic Analysis of Competitive Advantage.27 C4. FINDINGS: THECONTRIBUTION OF PORTER'STHEORY . 27 D. REFLECTION AND REVIEW.29 D1. TRACTABLECRITICISMS OF PORTER'STHEORY . 29 Falsifiability of Porter's Theory . 29 Operationalising Porter's Theory.30 The Emphases of Porter's Theory.34 D2. MORECHALLENGINGCRITIQUES OF PORTER'STHEORY . 35 The Role of Government . 35 Upgrading and Innovation.36 The Local and the Global . 37 D3. OVERALL CONCLUSIONS ABOUT COMPETITIVEADVANTAGE THEORY ANDDEVELOPMENT INFORMATICS . 38 REFERENCES . 40
Abortion and the risk of suicide：a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Abortion had been suggested to be associated with the risk of suicide with inconclusive results. The objective of this study was to assess the association by systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods We searched PubMed, EMbase, PsycINFO, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases for all studies investigating the association between abortion and the risk of suicide. We included Studies investigating the association between abortion and the risk of suicide. Two reviewers collected the data and assessed risk of bias of included studies. Outcomes included completed suicide, suicide behavior, and suicidal ideation. Data were analyzed by using Revman5.2 software. Results A total of 13 studies were included in the meta-analysis, including 1 case-control study, 6 cohort studies, and 6 cross-sectional studies. The results of meta-analysis showed that, abortion might be associated with increased risk of completed suicide (OR=3.16, 95CI 2.49 to 3.99, P <0.00001), suicide behavior (OR=1.92, 95CI 1.64 to 2.26, P <0.00001) and suicidal ideation (OR=1.52, 95%CI 1.32 to 1.75, P <0.00001). Conclusions The current meta-analysis suggested that abortion might be associated with increased risk of suicide. Due to the limited quality and quantity of included studies, more high-quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusions.