Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Small-angle X-ray and small-angle neutron scattering investigations of colloidal dispersions of magnetic nanoparticles and clay nanoplatelets

We investigated mixed colloidal dispersions of clay platelets and magnetic nanoparticles using small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering. Our results show that the contribution to the scattering is essentially due to the magnetic nanoparticles. The scattering intensities are proportional to the concentration of magnetic particles, indicating that from the scattering point of view the sample is a colloidal dispersion of non-interacting magnetic objects, although the laponite and magnetic particles clearly interact when the sample textures are observed in an optical microscope. The visually observed phase separation may be characterized as a liquid–gas transition.
Better Means More: Property Rights and High-Growth Aspiration Entrepreneurship

This paper contrasts the determinants of entrepreneurial entry and high-growth aspiration entrepreneurship. Using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) surveys for 42 countries over the period 1998-2005, we analyse how institutional environment and entrepreneurial characteristics affect individual decisions to become entrepreneurs and aspirations to set up high-growth ventures. We find that institutions exert different effects on entrepreneurial entry and on the individual choice to launch high-growth aspiration projects. In particular, a strong property rights system is important for high-growth aspiration entrepreneurship, but has less pronounced effects for entrepreneurial entry. The availability of finance and the fiscal burden matter for both.
Grid Integration of the Small Generation Units in LV Distribution Networks

The integration of a considerable number of small distributed generation units can invert the usual direction of the power flow in the power distribution networks. This situation leads to additional problems as voltage rising, changes of power losses, thermal overloading of the grid components, short-circuit currents increasing or power quality and reliability problems. In these conditions, the power distribution operator should make the grid more flexible to react to the intermittent injections associated with the load variations. These measures have to be put into practice in such a way that grid stability is always ensured and the access to the network is equally fair for all the users. The work deals with the aspects regarding evaluation of the technical impacts of small power generation units integration in the low voltage grids. The presented analysis is based on a methodology that estimates the maximum permissible power injections in the tested LV networks by reference to a CIGRE benchmark one. The analysis results are generated for the case of a real rural LV grid.
Multi-component Polymer Systems Comprising Wood as Bio-based Component and Thermoplastic Polymer Matrices – An Overview

The production of wood-based polymer composites has gained increasing interest in recent years, especially regarding sustainability issues, aiming at the recovery, reuse, and up-cycling of by-products from natural resources exploitation, as well as plastics. Due to their reduced cost, low density, and availability, wood components (fibers, flour) are attractive fillers for thermoplastic polymer matrices used in multi-component systems. Performance of wood-based thermoplastic materials mainly depends on the type and strength of interactions at the polymer-wood interface. Different low polarity polymers (high/low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinylchloride) can be successfully used as matrices in such formulations. Various methods may be applied in order to obtain specified performance attributes of wood-based composites. Addition of appropriate compatibilizing agents, chemical and/or physical modification of the filler in order to improve its compatibility towards the matrix, or a judicious combination of these approaches may be employed. This paper briefly reviews some recent literature data, as well as research results by the authors, aiming at a comparative assessment of the materials properties (structure, thermal, mechanical and water sorption behavior) in correlation with the nature and type of components, processing, recycling options, and environmental impact.
Social Media Interaction’s Sway on Customer and Brand Relationship Management: An Empirical Investigation of Huawei Technologies Marketing Strategy

Social media is a powerful weapon of 21 st century. Customers are using this weapon to get full money back advantages from the brands. A brand also needs to understand the social media interaction and also use it as an opportunity. Now a days different brands are using social media platform for the advertisement of their products and services. Huawei Technologies being studied in this paper is one of that organization which not only comprehend the SMI but also take the full advantage of it. Most of the Huawei brand products are now launched on the social media platforms. Huawei Mate 10 is one of that products. In this paper the impact of SMI on customer relationship management and on brand management has been studied. It has been found that customers find it easier to share their thoughts on social media and their experiences as well. This help the brand to understand the customer’s perception and to meet them which ultimately leads to brand management. Keywords: Social Media Interation (SMI). Brand Management, Customer Relationship, Customers Relationship Management, Brand Equity
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Cardiovascular disease prevention in the slums of Kenya

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A SECURE METHOD OF OPTIMIZED LOW COMPLEXITY VIDEO WATERMARKING

In recent existence numerous video watermarking schemes have been anticipated, but the majority of them are functional to uncompressed video. At this point we propose a blind digital compressed video watermarking scheme for H.264 compressed domain to condense the number of computations.Due to its characteristics of high compressibility, it can acquire immense quality at minor bit rate, and this is the reason why many applications conform H.264 Codec. The planned method elites the macro block performing the Differential Evaluation algorithm further based on the fore determined threshold and the coefficient rarefied for watermark embedding is deployed on the parity of the coefficients after transformation and quantization. The proposed method impede the bit rate increase within a decent end point by selecting appropriate non-zero quantized AC residuals for embedding the watermark. Experimental results flaunt that there is more acceptable control towards bit rate augment and at the same time perceptual quality can be kept in existence even after undergoing different attacks.
Linkage between Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Engagement: Mediation Effect of Organizational Identification

This study employs structural equation modelling technique to examine the direct effect of perceived external corporate social responsibility and perceived internal corporate social responsibility on employee engagement as well as the mediated link through organizational identification. Social exchange theory and social identity theory used to explain the relationships between the variables in this study. It was conducted among 1080 employees of four selected organizations in Iran which are among the main pioneers in performing corporate social activities. The test of research model shows the positive effect of perceived external corporate social responsibility and perceived internal corporate social responsibility on employee engagement. In addition, it confirms that organizational identification has a mediating role in above relationships. The results have also contributed to a better understanding of corporate social responsibility in Iran as a developing country in which corporate social responsibility has recently gained attention and thus there is still a lack of understanding about it. The findings would be useful for managers to have a better insight towards applying corporate social responsibility in line with increasing employees’ identification and engagement.
Feed Forward Neural Network Versus Kernel Regression a Case of Body Mass Index and Body Dimensions

Body mass index is a measure of body fitness and is considered very important in screening body categories that may lead to health problems. Understanding risk factors of obesity provide more insight and nature of policies that can be put up to fight obesity. However, uncertainty regarding most appropriate means by which to define excess body weight remains. It is important to develop models that best calculate Body Mass Index to help reduce the chances of obesity. The objective of this research ismodeling Body Mass Index using Feed Forward Neural Network and Kernel regression. Modeling will be first done using height and weight alone, later 21 body dimensions will be added. The analysis was based on body dimensions data provided by San Jose State University and the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. To determine the best model, Adjusted R2 and Mean Square Error (MSE) were used. From the results of the study, Kernel regression was better in modeling Body Mass Index than Feed Forward Neural Network.
Embedding the DIRECT algorithm in a penalty approach for solving engineering design problems

In this paper we investigate the performance of DIRECT algorithm when solving constrained engineering design problems. For this purpose, the hyperbolic penalty approach is employed and the algorithm is modified in order to preserve feasibility of solutions. The algorithm is illustrated on six well–known engineering problems with promising results. Comparisons with other global optimization solvers are reported and discussed.
Em-SLAM: a Fast and Robust Monocular SLAM Method for Embedded Systems

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is difficult to deploy in the embedded systems due to its high computation cost and stable input requirements. Building on excellent algorithms of recent years, we present Em-SLAM, a monocular SLAM method which is fast and robust in the embedded system. We present Em-SLAM in three stages comprising initial pose estimation, iterative pose optimization and correspondences, and mapping with nearest frame queue. During the first stage, we perform stable initial pose estimation based on the matched ORB features extracted around the selected key points. Regarding initial pose and corresponding key points as input, the second stage of Em-SLAM iteratively optimizes these inputs values by tracking key points in the new frames. At the last stage, we firstly determine keyframes with the help of the proposed nearest frame queue and then design a greedy search algorithm to find matched ORB features between keyframes, which are adopted for compact and robust map reconstruction. Due to the special designs for the embedded systems, Em-SLAM demonstrates a high accurate and fast performance on the embedded system for all SLAM tasks: tracking, mapping and loop closing. We evaluate Em-SLAM on he most popular datasets by comparing with one latest SLAM method.
Design considerations for charge equalization of an electric vehicle battery system

Charge equalization for series connected battery strings has important ramifications on battery life. It enhances the uniformity of the battery cells and hence improves the life of the battery as a whole. A new charge equalization technique for a series string of battery cells has been recently proposed by the authors. The basic technique utilizes a simple isolated DC-to-DC power converter with a capacitive output filter along with a multi-winding transformer. The possibility of integrating the trickle charge function with the charge equalization function is potentially very attractive, as it can lead to an efficient and low cost implementation. <<ETX>>
Towards Autonomic Mobile Network Operators

The vision of future fifth generation networks includes an entire ecosystem mainly composed by several different access technologies, virtualization and cloud/edge computing paradigms. Side by side, it also includes full deployment of machine learning for proactive network management and diagnosis. All those elements of such a complex system are used to host the huge variety of verticals the mobile network will have to support. These premises have enforced the idea that fifth generation will be the last one, while future modifications will just represent software/hardware upgrades of that complex ecosystem. This article envisions the realisation of autonomic mobile network operators as the main element, which will significantly change the intrinsic nature of networks, network operators and humans' role in mobile networks, to establish the actual change to a future generation. After presenting architecture and logical-functional structure of such autonomic operators, the paper shows a possible effective model of that future generation as autonomic multi-agent multi-layer system.
A Bipolar Cockcroft-Walton Voltage Multiplier for Gas Lasers

A bipolar Cockcroft-Walton Voltage Multiplier (CWVM) is proposed as an attractive alternative to the symmetrical Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier for continuous wave gas lasers (e.g. carbon dioxide gas laser). The proposed CWVM formed by combining positive and negative voltage multipliers consisting of equal number of stages and driving in parallel by an ac voltage source. The proposed voltage multiplier needs only one ac power source, therefore there was no need of center taped high voltage transformer, unlike symmetrical voltage multiplier which require center-tape transformer. It possess inherit ability of cancellation of fundamental and higher order odd harmonics of ripple components, unlike the symmetrical CWVM which may generate odd harmonic of ripple in case of any asymmetry of driving voltage. In addition to this the proposed voltage multiplier has faster transient rise and less voltage drop as compared symmetrical CWVM. The experimental and simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of proposed voltage multiplier.
What are you doing while answering your smartphone?

Context awareness is major component of Ambient Intelligence. In fact, Ambient Intelligent environments are designed to combine ubiquity, awareness, intelligence and natural interaction. Awareness is defined as the ability by the system to locate and recognize people and objects, and their intentions. Then, intelligence is the ability of the system to analyze the detected context and to adapt its behavior to people and situations, and to learn over time, in order to provide users with personalized services. These concepts date back to late'90, but nowadays the widespread and ubiquitous availability of mobile devices, equipped with several different sensors, allows to put them into practice in a number of unexpected ways. This work presents a preliminary investigation on the possibility to use some of the smartphone sensors, namely the accelerometer and the gyroscope, to identify the bodily context when the user lifts the device to answer a call. The arm gesture, i.e., the way it is performed, is classified into 4 different states: while standing, sitting, walking or running. This information can be used to trigger context-sensitive system actions.
Detection and Recognition of Diacritical and Punctuation Marks in Real-World Images

Tato práce se zaměřuje na problém detekce a rozpoznání diakritických a interpunkčních znamének v obrazech reálných scén. Navrhuje nové metody pro detekci a rozpoznání těchto pomocných textových symbolů a experimentálně ověřuje jejich úspěšnost. Nově navržené metody jsou integrovány do existujícího systému pro vyhledání a rozpoznání textu v obrazech reálných scén vyvíjeného v rámci Centra pro strojové vnímání na Fakultě elektrotechnické Českého vysokého učení technického v Praze. Tato práce rovněž představuje nové datové sady, speciálně vytvořené pro účely testování úspěšnosti detekce a rozpoznání interpunkčních a diakritických znamének, a diskutuje navrhovanou metodu vyhodnocení úspěšnosti.
Sustainable Design in Strategic Level of Supply Chain Management: A Review

Environmental protection and climate change are issues which have long been debated but only very recently triggered strong international interest. Sustainability of supply chains has emerged as a major theme in both research and practice since the impacts of climate change have made both producers and consumers more cognizant of their decision-making and how their decisions affect the environment. Since implementation of sustainable design have to start at the earliest stage, this study will discuss the application of sustainable design in strategic level in supply chain. Strategic decisions determine the overall direction of company‟s supply chain. They should be made in conjunction with the companies' overall objectives and not biased towards any particular product or regional location. The purpose of this study was to discuss the sustainable design issues in strategic level of supply chain. Literature search will be conducted in this study as the research methodology. The aims of this study are (1) to understand in-depth of sustainable design context; (2) to understand current position of supply chain; (3) to understand current position of strategy level in supply chain; (4) to identify possible aspect in strategic level of supply chain to discuss about sustainable design. Lastly, an agenda will set for continuing research which explores the nexus between sustainability and supply chain.
Evaluation of Machine Learning Algorithms in Recommender Systems: Candidate Recommender Systems in the Staffing Industry

Recommender systems are widely discussed in literature as they provide a solution to problems of information overload in a variety of contexts and application areas. When designing such systems, there are a wide range of options regarding what algorithms, approaches and techniques to use. This study addresses the problem of making key design choices when building candidate recommender systems in the staffing industry. Furthermore, the impact of using a variety of metrics to measure different properties of recommender systems is addressed. The study applies a design research approach, at a company providing an online recruiting platform, in which three different candidate recommender systems are implemented and evaluated. The results show that by varying the design of a candidate recommender system, different properties, such as accuracy, coverage,or diversity of recommendations, can be prioritized. By combining more than one recommender system into a larger system, however, many of the weaknesses of applying any individual approach can be circumvented. Also, broadening the scope of evaluation to include other properties than accuracy increases the ability chose a recommender system that performs in a way that is aligned with the business goals.
VCAM-1 as an Endothelial Factor for Diagnosis of Dementia in Parkinsonâs Disease

Background: Cognitive changes are often reported in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Numerous studies showed that there are changes in the patterns of inflammation when vascular dementia progressed, but the role of inflammation in PD is unknown. Methods: 75 consecutive diagnosed PD patients included. Patients divided into idiopathic PD (n=55) and PDD (n=20) based on DSM–IV criteria for diagnosis of dementia. Serum levels of vascular and inflammatory biomarkers for interleukin-6 (IL-6), high sensitivity-C reactive protein (hs- CRP), soluble intracellular cell adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1) investigated by ELISA assay and compared between PD and PDD. Result: The significant enhancement of the VCAM-1 only found in serum of PDD compared to PD (56/06 ± 58/16 ng/ml vs. 30/43 ± 38/30, P=0/04), even after adjustment age, gender and hypertension (OR=1/01, P=0/05). Cut-off point of VCAM-1 levels was equal to or greater than as 40/14 ng/ml for differentiating dementia in PD from PD without dementia with sensitivity and specificity were 73%, 64%. Conclusion: PDD patients had significant higher levels of VCAM-1 than PD, suggesting the serum levels of VCAM-1 may be a useful marker for PDD diagnosis. Future studies are needed to investigate possible association betweenVCAM-1 levels in PDD in larger sample size.
Promoting linkages between university and enterprises: the case of the Algarve region

Innovation has assumed an increased importance in Regional Development theories. This communication hopes to contribute to the understanding of the Algarve Regional Innovation Systems, a peripheral region in the National and European framework, where an economic growth is supported by Tourism, which leaves it out of the group of poorest regions when the GDPpc indicator is taken in account. A synthesis of the recent Regional Innovation Strategies for the Algarve is presented including the previous experiences of Ettirse and INOVAlgarve. From this late programme emerged CRIA – Regional Centre for Innovation of the Algarve, focused in the promotion, transfer and commercial approach to technology and knowledge in the academy, consolidating the linkages University-Enterprise. This paper tries to understand the actions carried on by this organism and its role in the development of the region.
Terrestrial Study of Bifacial Silicon Heterojunction Solar Modules

In this work, we demonstrate the advantage of bifacial silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar module in energy harvest capabilities through an on-going terrestrial study. Two PV stations built with our bifacial 60-cell standard SHJ modules yield 15% and 18.9% more in Chengdu compared to an n-type monocrystalline silicon reference PV station, mainly due to enhanced insolation through the rear side. In addition, performances of SHJ modules under various circumstances are also investigated. It is shown that bifacial SHJ modules can be widely incorporated with non-conventional applications without significant yield loss.
Nuclear receptor FTZ: partial cloning and expression pattern in fat body of the American cockroach Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) during vitellogensis

The aim of the present study was to understand the importance of the nuclear receptor Fushi tarazu factor 1 (FTZ-F1) in relation to vitellogenin genes expression in the fat body of Periplaneta mericana during the first vitellogenic cycle. Initially, a 342 bp fragment was cloned from the female fat body through degenerate primer RTPCR method. Its sequence analysis revealed high homology with other insects and animals FTZ-F1. In order to find the relation between the P. americana FTZ and vitellogenins, we analyzed the expression pattern of the latter in the fat body during vitellogensis. The PamFTZ transcript was detected during all stages of vitellogenesis in the fat body with a little increase in day 5, preceding the bulk of vitellogenin genes expression. We assumed that nuclear protein FTZ in the hemimetabolous insect, P. americana might functions as a competence factor that facilitates juvenile hormonal activation of gene expression as in holometabolous insect, Drosophila melanogaster.