Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Devitrification Kinetics and Optical Stability of Optical Fibers at High Temperatures

Reliable sensing and monitoring systems based on optical fibers operating at high temperatures and in harsh environments are of high demand. One of the limitations of such systems is the devitrification of the fused silica based core and cladding glass at elevated temperatures. Crystallites can nucleate on the surface of the cladding and grow into the core. The formation of these crystalline flaws in the optical fiber causes stress concentration and extrinsic optical scattering and in addition leads to decreased mechanical properties and reduced optical stability. Commercial optical fibers of different compositions and core-cladding design were characterized in this study with respect to crystallization rate under various conditions. The optical stability was monitored with an optical spectrum analyzer. The crystallites were characterized with SEM and optical microscopy. The activation energies of crystallization for High OH and Low OH multimode fibers were estimated by measuring the crystal growth rate at different temperatures. The residual stress resulting from the formation of the crystals, which can lead to decreased mechanical performance of the fibers, was characterized with polarized light optical microscopy. The influence of water vapor in the atmosphere on the crystallization rate was determined. The features induced in the attenuation spectra were consistent with hydroxyl (OH) absorption peak. Spectral features such as thermal emission and hydroxyl absorption bands are discussed. The results obtained in this study can be used for selecting optical fibers for high temperature applications. Devitrification Kinetics and Optical Stability of Optical Fibers at High Temperatures Anastasia A. Yakusheva GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Reliable sensing and monitoring systems based on glass optical fibers operating at high temperatures and in harsh environments are in high demand. One of the limitations of such systems is the tendency of glass material to crystallize at elevated temperatures. Crystallites can nucleate on the surface of the fiber and grow inwards, impairing the optical and mechanical properties of the optical fiber. The formation of these crystalline flaws in the optical fiber can decrease the mechanical strength by causing stress concentrations and leading to formation of cracks, and reduce optical stability by causing light to scatter from the crystals. Commercial optical fibers of different compositions and geometry were characterized in this study with respect to crystal growth rate under various conditions, such as different temperatures (400-1350 °C), and different atmospheres (laboratory air and water vapor). The effect of crystals was demonstrated with respect to optical and mechanical performance. The results obtained in this study can be used for selecting optical fibers for high temperature applications.
A Causal Model of The Direct and Indirect Impact of Insecure Attachment Styles on Romantic Relationship Satisfaction Mediated by Emotion Regulation Strategies and Psychological Distress

Influences of emotion regulation strategies (i.e. cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and psychological distress were analyzed along direct and indirect association of insecure attachment styles (i.e., anxiety, avoidance) and romantic relationship satisfaction. N = 1,033 Thai adult participants who presently residing or working in Bangkok and being in romantic relationship were studied. Their age ranged from 18 to 60 years old (mean age 33.40, ±SD 10.72). Thai-translated versions of the instruments Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form (ECR-S), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Outcome Questionnaire (OQ), and Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) were used when collecting data and had achieved sound psychometric properties (i.e. reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity). Study of Path analysis upon SEM revealed that insecure attachment styles affected psychological distress and reduced romantic relationship satisfaction. Also, cognitive reappraisal was found to indirectly affect relationship satisfaction with distress cutback, and that expressive suppression could cushion insecure attachment and safeguard the relationship, despite a distress backfire.
Institutional determinants of credit utilization in the savings and credit cooperatives in Soroti district, Uganda

Rural credit schemes have been espoused as key avenues for reducing rural poverty. Their success, however, continues to be hampered by institutional inefficiencies and poor allocation of loans. This study examined the institutional factors influencing credit utilization in Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) in Soroti district of Uganda. Two hundred fifty seven (257) respondents were randomly selected for study from 13 SACCOs that were purposively selected from the five sub counties which constituted the district. Data were collected in a cross-sectional survey and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). Logit regression was used to determine the institutional factors influencing credit use decisions. Results of descriptive analysis showed that major credit terms used by SACCOs included, collateral (74.5%), quarantorship (70%) and savings (51%). Major incentive offered by the SACCO included gifts (67.4%). However, there was inefficient credit management within the SACCOs with only 25.2% of the respondents receiving training on an annually basis and 29.6% of the respondents being monitored on a quarterly basis. SACCO recovered loans from the members through the sale of collateral (63.2%). Results of the regression analysis showed that access to extension services, collateral requirement, monitoring of loan utilization, saving habits, loan contract characteristics and duration of membership in the SACCO influenced credit utilization. Thus, SACCOs can improve access and utilization of rural credit by organizing rural households into groups and providing extension services. The findings further suggest that mandatory monitoring and training of borrowers on loan utilization would enhance SACCO performance.
A Multiple Slot Cell Scheduling Algorithm for Multicast Switching Systems

In this study, we propose a multicast switching system called the Blocking Reduction Multiple Slot Cell Scheduler (BRMSCS) switch. The BRMSCS switch consists of shared memory banks, a crossbar fabric and the BRMSCS scheduler. Our goals are to relieve the blocking situation in the scheduler and to guarantee freedom from a memory access con ict, that is, no more than two output ports should access di erent cells that come from the same input port. To meet the goals, the BRMSCS scheduler can quickly insert address cells into a scheduling table and ll the scheduling table as full as possible. The simulation results show that the BRMSCS scheduler can e ciently insert the address cells into the con ict free locations of the scheduling table and has the advantage of reducing blocking.
Bed Expansion Behaviour of Cylindrical Particles in a Three-phase Fluidized Bed

The bed expansion profile of a co-current three-phase fluidized bed with an antenna type air sparger have been studied using liquid as the continuous phase and gas as the discontinuous phase. Air, water and ceramic raschig rings of equivalent diameter 0.006864 m are used as the gas, liquid and solid phases respectively. The experiments have been carried out in a 0.1 m internal diameter, 1.88 m height vertical Perspex column. The expanded bed height in the fluidized bed regime has been measured visually. Correlations for bed voidage have been developed. The developed correlation for bed voidage can be used for the sizing of such systems. The bed voidage is a strong function of both the liquid velocity and gas velocity. The experimental values have been compared with those predicted by the correlations and have been found to agree well.
Functional Isometric Weight Training: Its Effects on Dynamic and Static Strength

For the athlete or weight trainer who has reached a strength plateau, finding an optimal training program that will stimulate a further strength increase can be a complex problem. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two squat training programs utilizing the parallel squat and a functional isometric squat on dynamic strength, static strength and power in college males. Ten subjects enrolled in an advanced power weightlifting class were divided equally into two groups—a functional isometric squat group (FIS), or a dynamic squat group (DS). The subjects trained two days per week for a total of eight weeks, which consisted of a two week pre-conditioning and technique learning period followed by a six week “periodized” functional isometric or dynamic squat training program. Changes in dynamic and static strength were measured with a 1 RM parallel squat and knee extension cable tensiometer test, respectively. Power capacity was assessed by a vertical jump test. Statistically, analysis of the data revealed a significant increase (p < 0.01,) in dynamic strength for both groups. The FIS group, however, realized a statistically greater improvement (p < 0.05) than the DS group. Neither group showed changes in static strength. Both groups made a significant increase (p < 0.05) in power, although the DS group had a statisticaly greater improvement (p < 0.01) than the FIS group (p < 0.05). The results seem to indicate that functional isometric squat training is highly effective in increasing leg strength but not as effective as dynamic squat training for improving jump power.
Oaxaca-Blinder Type Counterfactual Decomposition Methods for Duration Outcomes

Existing inference procedures to perform counterfactual decomposition of the difference between distributional features, applicable when data is fully observed, are not suitable for censored outcomes. This may explain the lack of counterfac- tual analyses using target variables related to duration outcomes, typically observed under right censoring. For instance, there are many studies performing counterfac- tual decomposition of the gender wage gaps, but very few on gender unemployment duration gaps. We provide an Oaxaca-Blinder type decomposition method of the mean for censored data. Consistent estimation of the decomposition components is based on a prior estimator of the joint distribution of duration and covariates under suitable restrictions on the censoring mechanism. To decompose other distribu- tional features, such as the median or the Gini coefficient, we propose an inferential method for the counterfactual decomposition by introducing restrictions on the func tional form of the conditional distribution of duration given covariates. We provide formal justification for asymptotic inference and study the finite sample performance through Monte Carlo experiments. Finally, we apply the proposed methodology to the analysis of unemployment duration gaps in Spain. This study suggests that factors beyond the workers' socioeconomic characteristics play a relevant role in explaining the difference between several unemployment duration distribution fea- tures such as the mean, the probability of being long term unemployed and the Gini coefficient.
New records of Uroderma magnirostrum Davis (Mammalia, Chiroptera) from southeastern Brazil, with comments on its natural history

Uroderma magnirostrum Davis, 1968 is reported from four new localities in southeastern Brazil, significantly extending its geographical distribution south and westward. A total of 12 adult specimens collected in areas of Caatinga and Atlantic Forest in the states of Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro, including specimens from the new localities and museum specimens were examined. Females from southeastern Brazil were larger than males in all external measurements analyzed, but after univariate statistical analyses using corrected p values for multiple tests no significant sexual dimorphism was detected. Mean values obtained from this sample fall within the known range documented for the species in both external and cranial measurements, and are similar to those found in specimens from north and northeastern Brazil. The habitats of the new localities of U. magnirostrum in southeastern Brazil ranged from pristine and secondary forests to a small urban park. Uroderma magnirostrum is apparently a rare species in southeast Brazil, which corroborates most previous reports of populations of this bat at other localities.
Major Approaches to Teaching a Foreign Language to Humanities-Based Students in the Context of Cultivating the Subject Component of Their Professional Development

Amid the radical changes taking place in the sphere of higher professional education, what is having increasingly greater value today is the professional and personal development of the nation’s future workforce. Changes taking place in many areas of society are bringing about new requirements for college graduates, with an increasingly greater focus being given to the subject component of their professional development. Thus, there is relevance in exploring various approaches to cultivating a modern model of personality during the process of professional education. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare some of the major approaches to teaching a foreign language in the RESUMEN: En medio de los cambios radicales que tienen lugar en el ámbito de la educación profesional superior, lo que hoy tiene un valor cada vez mayor es el desarrollo profesional y personal de la futura fuerza laboral de la nación. Los cambios que se están llevando a cabo en muchas áreas de la sociedad están dando lugar a nuevos requisitos para los graduados universitarios, con un enfoque cada vez más grande que se le da al componente sujeto de su desarrollo profesional. Por lo tanto, es pertinente explorar diversos enfoques para cultivar un modelo moderno de personalidad durante el proceso de educación profesional. El propósito de este trabajo es analizar y comparar algunos de los context of cultivating students’ subject position. The authors focus on 2 specific approaches to teaching a foreign language: communicative and linguoculturological. The study’s findings help reveal the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, leading to the conclusion that in seeking to achieve the objectives of cultivating students’ subject position by means of a foreign language it is hardly possible to go with one particular approach. In the authors’ view, the most efficient approach is to make harmonious use of certain elements of each of the approaches in a selective or integrated fashion – depending on the situation.
Horizontal Scales of Variability over the Middle Atlantic Bight Shelf Break and Continental Rise from Finescale Observations

AbstractObservations with fine horizontal resolution are used to identify the horizontal scales of variability over the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) shelf break and continental rise. Spray gliders collected observations along two alongshelf transects over the continental rise in March–April 2006 and along 16 cross-shelf transects over the shelf break and continental rise during July–October 2007. Horizontal resolution varied from 1 km or finer over the shelf to 6 km in deep water. These observations allow horizontal thermohaline variability offshore of the MAB shelf break to be examined for the first time. Structure functions of temperature and salinity, the mean square difference between observations separated by specified distances, reveal the horizontal spatial scales in the region. Exponential (e-folding) scales of temperature and salinity increase from 8–13 km near the shelf break to about 30 km over the continental rise. Just offshore of the shelf break, alongshelf structure functions exhibit periodi.
Test for Incremental Value of New Biomarkers Based on OR Rules

In early detection of disease, a single biomarker often has inadequate classification performance, making it important to identify new biomarkers to combine with the existing marker for improved performance. A biologically natural method to combine biomarkers is to use logic rules, e.g. the OR/AND rules. In our motivating example of early detection of pancreatic cancer, the established biomarker CA19-9 is only present in a subclass of cancer; it is of interest to identify new biomarkers present in the other subclasses and declare disease when either marker is positive. While there has been research on developing biomarker combinations using the OR/AND rules, the inference regarding the incremental value of the new marker within this framework is lacking and challenging due to a statistical non-regularity. In this paper, we aim to answer the inferential question of whether combining the new biomarker achieves better classification performance than using the existing biomarker alone, based on a nonparametrically estimated OR rule that maximizes the weighted average of sensitivity and specificity. We propose and compare various procedures for testing the incremental value of the new biomarker and constructing its confidence interval, using bootstrap, cross-validation, and a novel fuzzy p-value-based technique. We compare the performance of different methods via extensive simulation studies and apply them to the pancreatic cancer example.
BİYOLOJİ ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN KULLANDIKLARI ÖĞRETİM YÖNTEMLERİ VE BU YÖNTEMLERİN ÖĞRENCİ BAŞARISINA ETKİLERİ HAKKINDAKİ GÖRÜŞLERİ

Bu calismada, biyoloji ogretmenlerinin kullandiklari farkli ogretim yontemleri ve bu yontemlerin ogrenci basarisina etkileri arastirilmistir. Betimsel bir alan arastirmasi niteligindeki bu calismanin evrenini Erzurum da gorev yapan tum biyoloji ogretmenleri olusturmaktadir. Arastirmanin orneklemi ise, 2008/2009 egitim-ogretim yilinda Erzurum ili merkez ve ilcelerinde calisan 96 biyoloji ogretmeni olarak belirlenmistir. Veri toplama araci olarak anket kullanilmistir. Bu amacla hazirlanan 3 bolumden olusan anket orneklemde yer alan ogretmenine uygulanmistir. Anketin guvenirlik katsayisi 0,70 olarak hesaplanmistir. Anketin degerlendirilmesinde SPSS-15 paket programi kullanilarak frekans, ortalama ve yuzde dagilimlari hesaplanmistir. Ayrica anket sonuclarina lise turu ve mesleki deneyimin etkisinin olup olmadigini belirlemek icin cok yonlu Varyans Analizi uygulanmistir. Elde edilen verilerin degerlendirilmesinde ogretmenlerin sirasiyla duz anlatim, soru-cevap ve gosteri yontemlerini tercih ettikleri belirlenmistir. Ogretmenler ogrenci basarisini artirmak icin laboratuar, soru-cevap ve gosteri yontemlerinin kullanilmasi gerektigi dusunmektedirler. Ogretim amaclari sirasiyla konularin kavratilmasi, analiz ve sentez olarak belirlenmistir. Ogretmenler ogretim yontemlerini tam olarak uygulayamama nedenlerini; siniflarin kalabalik olusu, laboratuar kosullarinin elverissizligi ve okullarin maddi imkan yetersizligi olarak gostermislerdir. Biyoloji ogretiminde yontem secimini etkileyen faktorler arasinda; konunun ozelligi, ogrencide gelistirilmek istenen nitelikler ve maliyet ogretmenler tarafindan en cok secilen faktorlerdir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Biyoloji ogretimi, yontem, basari, ogretmen.
Longitudinal Evidence of Firm Size Effect on Wage Premium and Wage Differential in Korean Labor Market HongYe

This study analyzes the firm size effect on wage de terminant mechanism and wage differential between large firms and small firms. The empirical methodology, based on Fixed Effect estimation, Probit estimation and Oaxaca-Blinder de composition estimation, be utilized to measure wage determinant factors exclude unobservab l characteristics heterogeneity and permits to obtain endowment or discrimination proportion of wage gap. Firm size wage premium mostly be attributed to efficiency wage, compensation wage differential, skill complementarity, monitoring cost, prevent union organization, rent s haring and internal market. However, there are no completely explanatory for firm size wage premiu . Estimated results suggest that more educated employees are easily to be found in large firms, it is consistent with the hypothesis that higher wages paid by large firms can be explained b y efficiency theory. Endowment differential is main reason for wage gap between large firms and sm all firms. Employees have lower turnover rate in large firms than small firms. This phenomen on can be explained by internal labor market theory which means employees have higher probabilit y of promotion and higher costs of turnover in large firms.
Machine learning in neuroimaging: methodological investigations and applications to fMRI

The advent of neuroimaging methods, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) two decades ago, have led to a revolution in neuroscience. These methods enable the non-invasive investigation of human brain function with high temporal and spatial resolution. However, although many insights have been obtained by these methods, they have not yet translated into any non-research applications, for example, with regard to clinical practice. There are two main reasons for this. First, conventional methods, such as the voxel-wise application of linear regression models make unrealistic assumptions that are not compatible with basic neuroanatomical and neurological principles, and present an obstacle to mechanistic interpretation. For example, understanding brain function in terms of isolated local activations neglects the fact that neuronal populations interact with each other through synaptic connections and that cognitive processes rely on synchronized activity in distributed networks. This calls for the application of more sophisticated methods, such as multivariate models, which have been developed in machine learning. Indeed, these models have begun to be used for the analysis of neuroimaging data for approximately one decade. These applications have enabled major advances, and also build bridges to practical applications such as single-subject classification. Nevertheless, even these more sophisticated methods have not yet led to the convincing real-world application of neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI. It brings up the second reason, which is that these models remain descriptive; furthermore, most of the existing methods in machine learning are not specifically tailored to neuroimaging applications. This thesis reports on a collection of methodological advances, some of which finesse existing machine learning methods, others introduce new frameworks such as generative embedding or the conversion of dynamic systems identification into linear regression problems. Collectively, these advances represent a step towards more practically relevant application of machine learning applications neuroimaging, increase the robustness of existing methods, and allow for a novel perspective on existing problems, such as mechanistic interpretations of focal brain activations.
Resonant Turbulence applied to a Low Swirl Burner

Is it possible to optimize the turbulent combustion of a low swirl burner by using resonance in turbulence? To answer that question an active grid with periodically opening and closing holes is constructed and placed upstream of a burner geometry. The presence of this grid introduces large scale turbulent fluctuations to the flow with frequencies related to the driving frequency of the active grid. It is investigated what the optimum frequency is to excite the flow to obtain enhanced turbulence. First results show a response maximum of the eddy dissipation rate when the frequency of the introduced turbulent fluctuations is close to the inverse of the large eddy turn over time, which is also predicted by several numerical and experimental studies.