Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REMOVAL OF METHYL TERT-BUTYL ETHER (MTBE) FROM CONTAMINATED WATER BY PHOTOCATALYTIC PROCESS

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has been commercially used as an octane enhancer to replace tetraethyl lead in gasoline since 1979. The high mobility, water solubility, and resistance to natural attenuation associated with MTBE may result in contamination of ground and surface waters. In this investigation the degradation of aqueous MTBE at relatively high concentrations was studied by UV-vis/TiO2/O2 photocatalytic process. The effect of important operational parameters such as pH, oxygen flow, catalyst loading, and irradiation time were also studied. Methods: Concentration of MTBE and intermediates such as tert-butyl formate (TBF) and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) were measured using a gas chromatograph equipped with flam ionization detector and combined with headspace sampler. Results: The time required for complete degradation increased from 15 to 150 min, when the initial concentration was in- creased from 10 to 500 mg/L. The first order rate constant for degradation of MTBE from the hydroxyl radical was esti- mated to be 0.266 to 0.033 min -1 as the concentration increased from 10 to 500 mg/L. Study on the overall mineralization monitored by total organic carbon (TOC) analysis showed that in the initial concentration of 100 mg/L MTBE, complete mineralization was obtained after 110 min under UV-vis/TiO2/O2 photocatalytic process. Conclusion: The data presented in this paper clearly indicate that UV/TiO2/O2 advanced oxidation process provides an effi- cient treatment alternative for the remediation of MTBE contaminated water.
Electromagnetic field in biological tissue objects

In this paper a method for automatic 3D model building is presented. These models are suitable for investigations of electromagnetic field distribution with Finite Element Method (FEM). Models are made by meshed structures and specific electro- magnetic material properties for each tissue type. Mesh is built according to specific FEM criteria for achieving good solution accuracy. Bioimpedance measurement sys- tem is developed and electromagnetic properties, acquired by the system, are used in 3D FEM model. Achieved models are applied for electromagnetic field distribution investigation.
Influence of Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy on Relationship among Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurial Career Option

The study aimed at exploring the mediating effect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial career option among university students. Smart-PLS (2.0) was used to analysis the data obtained from a sample of 432 students at six federal universities in northern Nigeria. The study found a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurial knowledge and entrepreneurial career option, but the study also found a significant negative relationship between entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial career option. Furthermore, the study found that entrepreneurial self-efficacy significantly mediates the relationship among entrepreneurial knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial career option. The study provided suggestion for future research. Keywords : Entrepreneurial career option, entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial Knowledge, entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial self-efficacy.
A Perspective on Modal Sequent Logic

This paper was drafted in 1981—2 when the first author was lecturing on modal logic for the Philosophy Subfaculty at Oxford University and the second author was visiting Oxford on study leave; it was revised the following year. ^ Both of us had been graduate students of D. S. Scott at Oxford in the 1970's and were impressed by his emphasis on the desirability of isolating the structural properties of a (logical) consequence relation — such as are encoded in the principles (jR), (M), and (T) of [11], [12] —from principles relating to specific connectives. Extending this idea to the case of the modal operators, we found that distinctions between several well-known systems of (normal) modal logic could be reflected at the purely structural level, if an appropriate notion of sequent was adopted. Actually, we work with one notion of sequent in §§1—4 and consider a somewhat more refined version in §5. On later finding that sequents of the latter type had already been used by M. Sato, who, in §3.4 of [10], credits the idea to O. Sonobe, we had some misgivings about publishing the material at full length. That anticipation notwithstanding, however, it appears to us still worth proceeding with a somewhat abridged version of the paper, both so as to highlight the original motivation and also because our treatment and Sato's differ on many points of detail. We should mention that K. Dosen, in [4], also advocates a variation on the traditional idea of what a sequent should look like for the case of modal logic. Though the framework he sets up is quite different from our own, he is in part motivated by similar consideratons (e.g., the concern with 'unique characterization' — see §4 below). Some aspects of our own way of proceeding may be seen (again, in retrospect) as steps in the execution of Belnap's "Display Logic' programme (see [2]), in that the rules (a) of §4 serve
Towards Semi-Dense Indirect Visual-Inertial Odometry

Author(s): Yu, Hongsheng | Advisor(s): Mourikis, Anastasios | Abstract: In this work, we focus on motion estimation in unknown environments using measurements provided by an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a monocular camera. We are interested in estimating the trajectory of a moving platform, a problem typically termed visual-inertial odometry (VIO). Most of existing methods for vision-aided inertial localization rely on the detection and tracking of point features in the images. These approaches greatly reduce the amount of data to process in each image, and are thus suitable for application in resource-constrained systems. However these treatments inevitably discard information that is beneficial for motion estimation, since not all parts of the images are used. Therefore there has been growing interest in direct methods which rely on directly using image intensities for motion estimation. Although this approach makes it possible to use more pixel locations, it also suffers a number of shortcomings (e.g. non-Lambertian surface properties, and the dependence on camera photometric parameters). By contrast we are interested in approaches that rely on geometry of straight lines or image contours rather than raw image intensities (thus the proposed approaches are indirect methods). This enables our algorithms to operate in environments where point features are sparse, while circumventing the shortcomings of direct methods.This thesis is divided into two main parts. We first propose a visual-inertial localization algorithm that employs lines as measurements, in addition to traditional point features. Specifically, a novel parameterization and measurement model for line features are proposed, and we show how line features can be used for self-calibration of the IMU and camera. Our results demonstrate that the proposed approach not only leads to improved localization accuracy in point-feature-poor environments, but also reduces calibration errors compared to the point-only approach. We then propose a method for monocular visual-inertial odometry that utilizes image edges as measurements. We here relax the requirement for having straight lines, and do not employ any assumption on the geometry of the scene. This enables us to use measurements from all image areas with significant gradient. In addition, we have proposed a novel edge parameterization and measurement model that explicitly account for the fact that edge points can only provide useful information in the direction of the image gradient. Through both Monte-Carlo simulations, as well as results from real-world experiments, we demonstrate that the proposed edge-based approach to visual-inertial odometry is consistent, and outperforms the point-based one.
Evaluation of Setup Procedures on Mobile Devices based on Users Initial Experience

Users’ initial perceptions of their competence are key motivational factors for further use. However, initial tasks on a mobile operating system (OS) require setup procedures, which are currently largely inconsistent, do not provide users with clear, visible and immediate feedback on their actions, and require significant adjustment time for first-time users. This paper reports on a study with ten users, carried out to better understand how both prior experience and initial interaction with two touchscreen mobile interfaces (Apple iOS and Google Android) affected setup task performance and motivation. The results show that the reactions to setup on mobile interfaces appear to be partially dependent on which device was experienced first. Initial experience with lower-complexity devices improves performance on higher-complexity devices, but not vice versa. Based on these results, the paper proposes six guidelines for designers to design more intuitive and motivating user interfaces (UI) for setup procedures. The preliminary results indicate that these guidelines can contribute to the design of more inclusive mobile platforms and further work to validate these findings is proposed.
An Analysis of Language Use and Topic Management in Business Decision-Making Meetings

This paper builds on and contrasts with the earlier published framework of DuBabcock (1999) by analyzing the topic management patterns and turn-taking behaviors of ten additional groups of Hong Kong bilingual Chinese in their first- and second-language decision-making meetings. While eight of the ten additional groups matched Du-Babcock’s earlier findings, two groups did not follow the original findings and offered new reasons for such a result. This paper discusses why the topic management patterns and turn-taking behaviors emerged as they did across these ten groups. The paper also suggests implications for international business communication practices and future research. It has become increasingly common in international business contexts for bilinguals at varying second-language competency levels to exchange messages and make group decisions in their first and second languages. Since these bilinguals have actual or potential prominence in international business communication situations, ascertaining (a) whether and how they communicate in their topic management strategy and turn-taking behavior, and (b) whether and how they make decisions in the same or different ways in their first and second languages is of significant and practical importance. A large and rapidly growing segment of these bilinguals speak English as a second or foreign language. This is because English has emerged as the world’s prominent linking language (Crystal, 1997; Kameda, 1996), a genuinely global language (Gilsdorf, 2002, p. 366), in international business communication, and individuals from around the world are learning English in order to fulfill this linking role. Of 75 percent of English-speaking individuals who are second-language users, Chinese bilinguals (including overseas Chinese around the world) constitute the largest and the most rapidly growing segment of “the global English picture” (Crystal, 1997; Kachru, 1992). This phenomenon suggests that English-language speakers of varying competency have the potential to directly communicate with and relay messages to native- or non-native English speakers in international business contexts. Given the uniqueness of the language environment of Hong Kong (see, for example, Du-Babcock, 1999), bilingual Chinese live in a collective culture (Hofstede, 1991) and speak Cantonese (a high-context language) in general and English (a low-context language) with native-English speakers and non-Cantonese speakers in business conversations. As Cantonese and English are spoken concurrently in the workplace, Hong Kong bilingual Chinese cannot help but monitor and unconsciously compare first- and second-language messages when they switch between these two codes. Given its prominence as an international financial center and its pattern of multiple and simultaneous language use, Hong Kong is an ideal research site for a comparison of the first- and second-language business communication practices of Chinese bilinguals.
AN ENERGY-BASED APPROACH FOR DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SUBTLE ENTITIES WITHIN LASER SCANNING POINT-CLOUDS

Airborne laser scans present an optimal tool to describe geomorphological features in natural environments. However, a challenge arises in the detection of such phenomena, as they are embedded in the topography, tend to blend into their surroundings and leave only a subtle signature within the data. Most object-recognition studies address mainly urban environments and follow a general pipeline where the data are partitioned into segments with uniform properties. These approaches are restricted to man-made domain and are capable to handle limited features that answer a well-defined geometric form. As natural environments present a more complex set of features, the common interpretation of the data is still manual at large. In this paper, we propose a data-aware detection scheme, unbound to specific domains or shapes. We define the recognition question as an energy optimization problem, solved by variational means. Our approach, based on the level-set method, characterizes geometrically local surfaces within the data, and uses these characteristics as potential field for minimization. The main advantage here is that it allows topological changes of the evolving curves, such as merging and breaking. We demonstrate the proposed methodology on the detection of collapse sinkholes.
Career indecisiveness and personality in Greek High school students

Career indecisiveness is one of the major career decision-making problems. Research so far has demonstrated its relation to a variety of personality factors. The present study aimed to explore, for the first time, indecisiveness in Greek junior High school students and its relation to personality parameters. Emotional and Personality-related Career decision-making Difficulties (EPCD) and Core self-evaluations scale (CSEs) for the assessment of both career indecisiveness and personality variables were administered to the students. The results showed that the students high in EPCD had not made any decisions concerning further education issues, such as type of senior high school, educational orientation, and future university studies. In contrary, the students of the sample who scored high in CSEs had made decisions on the above mentioned parameters. The results have been discussed in relation to implications for counseling. Key words: Career indecisiveness, educational choice, personality, core self-evaluation, adolescents.
USG guided femoral nerve block vs fascia iliaca compartment block as post-operative analgesia in hip fracture patients

Background: Adequate postoperative analgesia facilitates early mobilization which is important to reduce postoperative morbidity. Here, we intended to compare the efficacy of two different nerve blocks for postoperative pain relief in fractured neck of femur patients.Methods: One hundred and five patients posted either for dynamic hip screw or proximal femoral nail implantation under spinal anaesthesia were randomly allocated to three groups. At the end of surgery, group 1 received femoral nerve block (FNB) and group 2 received fascia iliaca compartment block (FICB) for postoperative pain relief. These blocks were ultrasound guided. Group 3 received no block and acted as control. Patients’ pain was evaluated by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) both at rest and at passive elevation of leg. Rescue analgesia was given when VAS score exceeded 3. Heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure, respiratory rate and total analgesic consumption in first 24 hours were also recorded.Results: Groups 1 and 2 had similar duration of analgesia of around 8 hours (P value = 0.727). Analgesic consumption in both these groups were similar (P value = 0.648). These groups had less pain, less analgesic requirement and more stable haemodynamics as compared to group 3. No adverse effect was seen due to application of block.Conclusions: FICB can be an effective alternative to femoral nerve block, because of its relative simplicity in technique and less invasiveness. Hence FICB holds considerable promise as an effective postoperative analgesia.
On the Calculation of the Solvency Capital Requirement Based on Nested Simulations

Within the European Union, risk-based funding requirements for insurance companies are currently being revised as part of the Solvency II project. However, many life insurers struggle with the implementation, which to a large extent appears to be due to a lack of know-how regarding both, stochastic modeling and efficient techniques for the numerical implementation. The current paper addresses these problems by providing a mathematical framework for the derivation of the required risk capital and by reviewing different alternatives for the numerical implementation based on nested simulations. In particular, we seek to provide guidance for practitioners by illustrating and comparing the different techniques based on numerical experiments.
Synthesis and chemical and structural characterization of hydroxyapatite obtained from eggshell and tricalcium phosphate

The eggshell is a common residue that is usually discarded without giving any use to it. In this paper the results obtained from a proposed procedure to get hydroxyapatite (HA) from eggshell are shown. The HA is a calcium phosphate which has been widely used as implant material due to the close similarity of its composition with the inorganic phase of natural bone. HA generally has a high cost and it is presented as micro and nanostructured bioceramics; the last one is a promising option for tissue engineering nanotechnology. In this study, results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed the hydroxyapatite production exhibiting the characteristic peaks of this material for the cubic phase fcc (111), (102), (211), and for the hexagonal phase hcp (h-211) and (h-322). From the results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), it was possible to determine the active modes of vibration corresponding to hydroxyapatite (Ca10 (PO4)6(OH)2). From the results of scanning electron microscopy, it was determined the topography of the ceramic powder as well as its morphological distribution.
Relative Potency of Internal and External Sources of Financing Nigerian Economic Growth: 1983-2012

The study is aimed at determining the relative potency of internal and external sources of financing economic growth in Nigeria using time series data from 1983 to 2012. Ordinary least square regression method, unit root test, Johansen cointegration test and error correction model were used for the purpose of analyses. Gross national saving, internal debt, grants and foreign investment are stationary at level, gross domestic investment at first difference and gross domestic product at second difference. From the over parameterized ECM, none of the internal and external financing options is significant in explaining economic growth. In the group of internal options, gross national saving, gross domestic investment and internal debt contribute positively to growth in the short and long run, the only exception being gross national saving in the short run. In the group of external options however, only grant contribute positively to growth in the long and short run. Foreign direct investment appears like a wolf in sheep's clothing given its long run negative impact. Finally, growth is a decreasing and an increasing function of external debt in the short and long run respectively. It is noteworthy that a very high constant coefficient implies that there are many factors that actually determine Nigerian gross domestic product outside the model. While the variables of interest are theoretically expected to play significant roles, they fail empirically. A comparison of the two modes shows that internal factors prove to be more reliable in accelerating Nigerian economic growth.
Biodynamic modelling and the prediction of Ag, Cd and Zn accumulation from solution and sediment by the polychaete Nereis diversicolor

Biodynamic modelling has been used to predict bioaccumulated concentrations of Ag, Cd and Zn in the deposit-feeding polychaete Nereis diversicolor from 5 metal-contaminated estuar- ies in SW England and a relatively non-contaminated estuary in SE England. The modelling employed previously measured physiological parameters of bioaccumulation — uptake rate constant, assimilation efficiency (AE) and efflux rate constants after uptake from water and sediment inges- tion — and measured sediment metal concentrations specific for each population. AEs were consid- ered to relate to metals in the organic component of the ingested sediment and ingestion rates were therefore expressed in these terms, with the further assumption that the total sediment metal concen- tration is a proxy for the metal concentration in the sediment organic component. A range of growth rate constants was extracted from the literature, as were concentration ranges of dissolved Ag, Cd and Zn in contaminated coastal waters. The model showed that >99% Cd and >98% Zn accumulated by N. diversicolor is derived from sediment ingestion; more bioaccumulated Ag is derived from solu- tion, the percentage contribution of the dissolved source increasing from 46 to 80% with an increase in Ag dissolved concentration from low to high values for coastal waters. Bioaccumulated metal con- centrations predicted from the model generally showed excellent agreement with independently measured concentrations in field-collected worms, supporting the assumptions made in the model.
Origin of the Overpotential for Oxygen Reduction at a Fuel-Cell Cathode

We present a method for calculating the stability of reaction intermediates of electrochemical processes on the basis of electronic structure calculations. We used that method in combination with detailed density functional calculations to develop a detailed description of the free-energy landscape of the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction over Pt(111) as a function of applied bias. This allowed us to identify the origin of the overpotential found for this reaction. Adsorbed oxygen and hydroxyl are found to be very stable intermediates at potentials close to equilibrium, and the calculated rate constant for the activated proton/electron transfer to adsorbed oxygen or hydroxyl can account quantitatively for the observed kinetics. On the basis of a database of calculated oxygen and hydroxyl adsorption energies, the trends in the oxygen reduction rate for a large number of different transition and noble metals can be accounted for. Alternative reaction mechanisms involving proton/electron transfer to .
Planning and Leveraging Event Portfolios: Towards a Holistic Theory

This conceptual article seeks to advance the discourse on the leveraging and legacies of events by examining the planning, management, and leveraging of event portfolios. This examination shifts the common focus from analyzing single events towards multiple events and purposes that can enable cross-leveraging among different events in pursuit of attainment and magnification of specific ends. The following frameworks are proposed: (a) event portfolio planning and leveraging and (b) analyzing events networks and interorganizational linkages. These frameworks are intended to provide, at this infancy stage of event portfolios research, a solid ground for building theory on the management of different types and scales of events within the context of a portfolio aimed to obtain, optimize and sustain tourism, as well as broader community benefits.