Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
- Riikka Rautio ON THE STABILITY OF CARBON NANOTUBE AND TITANIA NANOWIRE

Degradation of the support and sintering of catalyst nanoparticles inherently leads to a loss of functionality of catalyst materials in converters and sensors. Malfunction in such devices may lead to serious economic and environmental damage. The quest for novel and sustainable catalyst materials with better durability is thus ongoing. In this thesis, one-dimensional nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and titanium dioxide nanowires are studied and compared to their conventional zero-dimensional counterparts in regard to their structural and functional stability. With the combination of several catalyst nanomaterials and supporting surfaces, aging properties of more than 70 different materials are assessed by the means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analyses. Although CNTs were shown to be thermally the most stable carbonaceous supports for metal nanoparticles, they are, similar to other carbon supports, more sensitive to high temperatures than metal oxide supports and can suffer deactivation by catalytic oxidation and gasification even at moderate temperatures. In addition, the irradiation of the samples with e-beams caused the most dramatic changes in CNT based materials, where nanosized deformities (voids, channels) were formed when either nanoparticles or defects were present. The prepared nanocompositions have been utilized successfully in three different applications including (i) synthesis of hydrogen from ethanol via a steam reforming reaction, (ii) hydrogenation of citral to form value added chemicals and (iii) the application of advanced electrode materials in electric double-layer capacitors. Both CNT and TiO2 nanowire based nanomaterials were shown to outperform their conventional nanoand microparticle based counterparts in the studied catalytic reactions, i.e. in citral hydrogenation and steam reforming of ethanol, respectively. Furthermore, nanostructured CNTs obtained by catalytic partial oxidation of the material showed an increased specific surface area, which could be exploited in supercapacitor electrodes with enhanced specific capacitance.
Production of syndiotactic polystyrene powder for part manufacturing through SLS

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a well-established additive manufacturing (AM) process. While AM originally found its use as rapid prototyping technique, it is nowadays more and more considered for the production of actual end-use parts. A widely acknowledged hindrance in the evolution of this technology is the limited range of materials available for processing with SLS, making the application window rather small. Introducing new materials with the correct morphology and thermal requirements for SLS could broaden this window and give rise to new products. This research aims at identifying such promising materials, considering the relevant requirements for selecting and processing a new material. Considered foremost within this manuscript is the processability of syndiotactic polystyrene from pellet form into spherical particles of 50-90 μm without significantly changing their properties. Regarding processing methods, the focus of this work is on solution based techniques (single phase precipitation, emulsion precipitation) instead of more conventional mechanical processing methods (ball milling) as these are believed to be more accessible and more suitable as a precursor step for a wide range of processing techniques
A New Three Parameter Cubic Equation of State

A new three parameter Equation Of State (EOS) is developed based on well documented data, at three thermodynamic states of the critical point, the normal bubble point and standard condition. Besides these states, the EOS is designed to satisfy the condition of nearly zero Joule-Thomson (JT) coecients at the normal boiling point. Critical properties and densities at the normal boiling point and a standard condition of more than 100 pure uids were used. The new EOS is validated using experimental data and eight (8) of the popular EOSs, namely, SRK, PR, LLS, HK, MNM, SW, PT and ALS. The experimental data for pure uids include 331 data points of vapor pressure covering 12 uids and compressibility at the critical condition of 23 uids. For mixtures, the data includes 129 PVT data points of 12 reservoir uids [seven (7) of them are Sudanese crude oil considered for publication for the rst time and ve (5) from literature]. The new EOS is found to be superior to the existing EOSs in the prediction of PVT properties of mixtures with a grand average percent absolute deviation (AAPD) of 3.18%. It is also comparable to the existing EOSs in the prediction of vapor pressure despite the fact that existing EOSs are developed based on vapor pressure data; the grand average AAPD is 2.0. In terms of compressibility at the critical point with the exception of LLS, the new EOS yields better results than all other EOSs considered in this work.
Terahertz imaging of composite materials in reflection and transmission mode with a time-domain spectroscopy system

A fiber-coupled Terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system based on photoconductive antennas, pumped by a 100-fs fiber laser, has been used to characterize materials in transmission and reflection mode. THz images are acquired by mounting the samples under investigation on an x-y stage, which is stepped through the beam while the transmitted or reflected THz waveform is captured. The samples include a carbon fiber epoxy composite and a sandwich-structured composite panel with an aramid fiber honeycomb core in between two skin layers of fiberglass reinforced plastic. The former has an artificially induced void, and from a comparison of recorded reflected time-domain signals, with and without the void, a simple model for the structure of the composite is proposed that describes the time-domain signals reasonably well.
Water mass distributions and transports for the 2014 GEOVIDE cruise in the North Atlantic

Abstract. We present the distribution of water masses along the GEOTRACES-GA01 section during the GEOVIDE cruise, which crossed the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean and the Labrador Sea in the summer of 2014. The water mass structure resulting from an extended optimum multiparameter (eOMP) analysis provides the framework for interpreting the observed distributions of trace elements and their isotopes. Central Waters and Subpolar Mode Waters (SPMW) dominated the upper part of the GEOTRACES-GA01 section. At intermediate depths, the dominant water mass was Labrador Sea Water, while the deep parts of the section were filled by Iceland–Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) and North-East Atlantic Deep Water. We also evaluate the water mass volume transports across the 2014 OVIDE line (Portugal to Greenland section) by combining the water mass fractions resulting from the eOMP analysis with the absolute geostrophic velocity field estimated through a box inverse model. This allowed us to assess the relative contribution of each water mass to the transport across the section. Finally, we discuss the changes in the distribution and transport of water masses between the 2014 OVIDE line and the 2002–2010 mean state. At the upper and intermediate water levels, colder end-members of the water masses replaced the warmer ones in 2014 with respect to 2002–2010, in agreement with the long-term cooling of the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre that started in the mid-2000s. Below 2000 dbar, ISOW increased its contribution in 2014 with respect to 2002–2010, with the increase being consistent with other estimates of ISOW transports along 58–59° N. We also observed an increase in SPMW in the East Greenland Irminger Current in 2014 with respect to 2002–2010, which supports the recent deep convection events in the Irminger Sea. From the assessment of the relative water mass contribution to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) across the OVIDE line, we conclude that the larger AMOC intensity in 2014 compared to the 2002–2010 mean was related to both the increase in the northward transport of Central Waters in the AMOC upper limb and to the increase in the southward flow of Irminger Basin SPMW and ISOW in the AMOC lower limb.
Application of a high-voltage pumped supply for low-power DRAM

A pumped, regulated V/sub pp/ supply feeding static word-line driver circuits can be exploited in other areas of a DRAM, allowing increased flexibility in architecture and improving performance. A feedback loop sets the V/sub pp/ level to exactly that required to write a full '1' level to the memory cell, independent of process or operating condition. The need for double-boosted nodes is eliminated, making the V/sub pp/ level th highest voltage on the chip and easing voltage stress problems. The V/sub pp/ supply is also employed in a modulated input-threshold world-line repeater, which regenerates the world-line signal to overcome RC delay. Significant area savings can be realized in high-density DRAMs by multiplexing sense amplifiers between adjacent arrays, using n-channel isolation devices controlled by V/sub pp/ level signals. A final use of the regulated V/sub pp/ supply is in an n-channel only output buffer achieving full rail-to-rail swing. <<ETX>>
Phytoconstituents, bioactivity and antioxidant potential of some commercial brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) cultivars of Bangladesh

Comparative phytochemical composition, antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity and antioxidant potentiality of seven brinjal cultivars Solanum melongena L. were determined. Strong presence of carbohydrates, phenolic glycosides and weak presence of alkaloids, falvonoids, tannins, terpenoids, steroids and saponins were recorded in all the brinjal varieties. Antibacterial assay of brinjal extracts showed varying degree of sensitivity against both gram-positive and gramnegative bacteria. In cytotoxicity assay, the LC 50 values ranged between 59.91 to 216.45 mg/ml after 6 hours was an indication of poor cytotoxic potential of brinjal cultivars. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity ranged between 80.79% to 87.64 although the phenolic content was found between 6.082 to 9.292 mg GAE/g among the brinjal cultivars. Jahangirnagar University J. Biol. Sci. 5 (2): 41-50, 2016 (December)
Advanced Modeling and Multi-Objective Optimization of Power Electronic Converter Systems

As a result of the ongoing improvements in the area of power electronics, the penetration of power electronic converter systems into numerous traditional and modern applications has continuously been increasing. A prominent example is the developments in today’s electric power systems towards smart grids featuring high shares of new renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Another example is the growing utilization of electric propulsion in automobiles and aircraft. Both examples are driven by the increased environmental awareness and the demand for higher functionality of the modern society. Based on the observed trends in state-of-the-art applications, it can be expected that the need for enhanced power electronic converter systems with a higher efficiency, reliability and functionality at concurrently lower costs, weight, volume and development time will further increase in the near future. The analysis of the relevant literature shows that the dimensioning and optimization of converter systems is often carried out with a limited scope and focusing on only one or a few performance criteria. This is often a consequence of a missing systematic approach which enables a comprehensive consideration of the inherent trade-offs between different performance measures (e.g. converter volume vs. losses). Furthermore, the employment of such an approach is often prohibited due to incomplete modeling frameworks to quantitatively assess the respective performance measures. Notably, suitable cost models to assess the costs of the typical components in converter systems are rare to find in literature. As a result of these deficits, it is unlikely that the optimal solution (topology, modulation scheme and component dimensioning) for a given application can be found by such limited approaches. The main focus of this thesis is thus set on the derivation of a suitable methodology which enables a systematic multi-objective optimization and comprehensive comparison of power electronic converter systems regarding achievable efficiency, volume, weight and costs. Thereby, a modeling framework is established which allows for the assessment of typical converter components such as semiconductors, inductors, capacitors, cooling systems and printed circuit boards regarding the selected performance measures. In addition to the component models, further models are developed which describe the converter behavior and the resulting current and voltage waveforms in the system depending on the employed modulation scheme and operating point. The models and their parameters are derived based on analytical calculations, simula-
Electrode Material Dependence of Resistance Change Behavior in Ta2O5 Resistive Analog Neuromorphic Device

In a human brain, our closest and very low-power information processor, one neuron transmits electrical signals depending on the electrical stimulation from other neurons. Therefore, it can be regarded as the multi-input one-output system that is the same as an elementary perceptron in the pattern recognition system. In analogy with the actual neurons whose coupling strength varies on a moment-to-moment basis, a flexible control of the weight for each individual input signal is required in order to realize the correct recognition. The analog change of the resistance values observed in the resistance change device is quite suitable for such application. In this contribution, we successfully demonstrate the high-speed analog resistance change in the TiN/TaOx/Ta2O5/TiN resistive analog neuromorphic device (RAND). An introduction of the TiN electrode smoothed the discontinuity in both the resistance switching processes by dc and pulse voltages. On the other hands, digital resistance switching was dominant in TiN/TaOx/Ta2O5/Pt device. We deduce that the electrodes reactivity with oxygen and the interface resistance play a key role for the analog resistance switching. The analog resistance change speed of 200 ns is much faster than the signal transmission speed between neurons and is thought to increase the number of operations per unit energy consumption. By introducing present RAND, the human-brain inspired information processor is expected to become energetically more efficient.
Effects of conformity on success of the firm: The moderated effect of partner diversity on venture capital investments

This study examines the determinants of success through the lens of behavioral conformity and partner attributes beyond the firm’s boundaries. Using longitudinal investment data from 1980 to 2008 on venture capital (VC) in the U.S., we adopted logit models in a panel format with random effects. We find some evidence that investing with similar external partners enhances investment performance. We also explore the crucial role partner diversity plays in moderating behavioral conformity and success of the firm. Accessing divergent forms of external knowledge through inter-firm cooperation should curb a firm’s tendency to engage in exaggerated fashionable compliance and improve the quality of organizations’ decision making and subsequent success.
Drought adaptations in wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) grown in Iran

Wild barley contains a wide genetic diversity and therefore is adaptable to all kinds of harsh environments. The aim of this research was to determine the extent of drought stress adaptation within Hordeum spontaneum L. genotypes from different climates of Iran. From the primary population of 193 genotypes, a core set consisting of 18 genotypes, were selected based on the highest squared Euclidean distance to represent the genetic diversity among wild barley genotypes. The selected genotypes were evaluated for drought stress adaptation. At the beginning of flowering time, two different water treatments; wellwatered (90-100% field capacity) and drought stress (20-30% field capacity) were imposed to the plants. A negative correlation of stress tolerance index with phenological traits and relative water loss was observed. Genotypes with the highest relative water loss under drought stress condition were mainly from Mediterranean and Cool steppe climates and genotypes from desert climates seemed to have better adaptability to drought stress shown by less relative water loss. It seems that genotypes from unpredictable climatic conditions are more adapted to harsh environments.
Large Aperture O I 6300 Å Observations of Comet Hyakutake: Implications for the Photochemistry of OH and O I Production in Comet Hale-Bopp

In previous work (Morgenthaler et al. and Glinski et al.), we proposed a revision to the standard OH photochemistry of van Dishoeck & Dalgarno in order to explain the anomalously bright [O I] 6300 Å emission observed by several instruments in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). In order to test the validity of revisions to the OH photochemistry, we present wide-field Fabry-Pérot [O I] 6300 Å observations of comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) and review similar observations recorded for 1P/Halley and 1989 c1 (Austin). Conventional long-slit spectroscopic observations of several comets in [O I] are also reviewed. The bulk of the evidence suggests that the OH photochemical rates of van Dishoeck & Dalgarno are, on the whole, correct and that the bright [O I] emission observed in Hale-Bopp, particularly at cometocentric distances beyond ~3 × 104 km, was unique to that comet, or possibly any comet with such a large production rate.
Towards Automatic Dialogue Understanding

In this paper we will present work carried out to scale up the system for text understanding called GETARUNS, and port it to be used in dialogue understanding. The current goal is that of extracting automatically argumentative information in order to build argumentative structure. The long term goal is using argumentative structure to produce automatic summarization of spoken dialogues. Very much like other deep linguistic processing systems(see Allen et al.), our system is a generic text/dialogue understanding system that can be used in connection with an ontology – WordNet and other similar repositories of commonsense knowledge. Word sense disambiguation takes place at the level of semantic interpretation and is represented in the Discourse Model. We will present the adjustments we made in order to cope with transcribed spoken dialogues like those produced in the ICSI Berkely project. The low level component is organized according to LFG theory; at this level, the system does pronominal binding, quantifier raising and temporal interpretation. The high level component is where the Discourse Model is created from the Logical Form. For longer sentences the system switches from the topdown to the bottomup system. In case of failure it will backoff to the partial system which produces a very lean and shallow semantics with no inference rules. In a final section we present preliminary evaluation of the system on two tasks: the task of automatic argumentative labeling and another frequently addressed task: referential vs. non-referential pronominal detection. Results obtained fair much higher than those reported in similar experiments with machine learning approaches.
Drought assessment using a multivariate drought index in the Huaihe River basin of Eastern China

Abstract. The Huaihe River Basin having China's highest population density (662 persons per km2) lies in a transition zone between the climates of North and South China, and is thus prone to drought. Therefore, the paper aims to develop an appropriate drought assessment approach for drought assessment in the Huaihe River basin, China. Based on the Principal Component Analysis of precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and runoff, the three latter variables of which were obtained by use of the Xin'anjiang model, a new multivariate drought index (MDI) was formulated, and its thresholds were determined by use of cumulative distribution function. The MDI, the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (sc-PDSI) time series on a monthly scale were computed and compared during 1988, 1999/2000 and 2001 drought events. The results show that the MDI exhibited certain advantages over the sc-PDSI and the SPI in monitoring drought evolution. The MDI formulated by this paper could provide a scientific basis for drought mitigation and management, and references for drought assessment elsewhere in China.
Social, Cultural, and Environmental Drivers of International Students’ Fear of Crime: A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective

This investigation develops and tests an hypothesised Cognitive Behavioral Fear of Crime Model. Mass media reports of crimes against international students have raised public awareness, questions about racially-oriented victimization, and the need for appropriate preventative strategies. Drawing upon Culture Shock Theory, this study proposes that international students are a vulnerable group, showing elevated levels of fear of crime, perceived risk, and avoidance behaviors. Five-hundred and ninety-one international students across four universities participated in either an online or hardcopy questionnaire survey, the measures of which were adapted from related studies. Structural Equation Modelling demonstrates a nonrecursive relationship between perceived risk, fear of crime, and avoidance behavior, supporting cognitive behavioral theory as an appropriate theoretical conceptualization for investigating fear of crime. Results show that young and female international students express significantly higher levels of fear of crime than their older and male counterparts. International students, who report high levels of social disorder and feel as an outsider or that it is difficult to make friends, express elevated perceived risk and fear of crime. Direct victimization, perceived cultural distance, and host attitudes influence fear of crime and avoidance behavior indirectly via perceived risk. Intriguingly, international students' perceived prejudice by local residents is a nonsignificant predictor of perceived risk and fear of crime. Findings suggest the importance of social integration, social disorder, cultural differences, and attitudes of locals when it comes to international students' perceived risk and fear of crime.