Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utilizing Conceptual Indexing to Enhance the Effectiveness of Vector Space Model

One of the main purposes of the semantic Web is to improve the retrieval performance of search systems. Unlike keyword based search systems, the semantic search systems aim to discover pages related to the query's concepts rather than merely collecting all pages instantiating its keywords. To that end, the concepts must be defined to be used as a semantic index instead of the traditional lexical one. In fact, The Arabic language is still far from being semantically searchable. Therefore, this paper proposed a model that exploits the Universal Word Net ontology for producing an Arabic Concepts-Space to be used as the index of Semantic Vector Space Model. The Vector Space Model is one of the most common information retrieval models due to its capability of expressing the documents' structure. However, like all keyword-based search systems, its sensitivity to the query's keywords reduces its retrieval effectiveness. The proposed model allows the VSM to represent Arabic documents by their topic, and thus classify them semantically. This, consequently, enhances the retrieval effectiveness of the search system.
Factors Influencing Usage of Internet for Academic Purposes Using Technology Acceptance Model

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing the usage of the internet by the university students for academic purposes. This study adopted Technology acceptance model (TAM) as a research framework. The study tests the research framework using structural equation modeling. Three hundred and seventy-eight students from a private Universites in India participated in this study. The findings of this study suggest that the attitude and perceived usefulness of theInternet significantly influence the behavioral intention of the students on using the internet for the academic purposes. The study revealed that the perceived usefulness of the Internet is significantly influenced bythe perceived ease of using the Internet. Findings also demonstrate satisfactory model fit between the model and observed data. The results of this study will be useful for the university authority to enhance the internet sources and services within the campus for its effective and efficient use for academic purposes by the students.
Shear Behavior of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Wide Beams wtihout Stirrups

Twelve simply-supported steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) wide beams without conventional stirrups were tested to investigate their shear behavior. The flexure mode of failure was secured for all of the specimens to allow for shear mode of failure. The variables were fiber volumetric ratio, concrete compressive strength, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and shear span-to-depth ratio. Eight tested beams were steel fiber reinforced concrete wide beams and four beams were reinforced concrete wide beams without steel fiber for comparison purposes. End-hooked steel fibers of volumetric ratio ranging from 0% to 1.25% were used in the specimens. All beams were tested under four-point loading to investigate their behavior in shear, cracking pattern, ultimate capacity and ductility. Test results showed that the shear cracking, the ultimate shear strength and ductility increased with increasing fiber volumetric ratio, decreasing shear span to depth ratio, increasing concrete compressive strength and increasing longitudinal reinforcement ratio. The using of a dose of 0.75% fiber content in the wide beams without shear stirrups was adequate to achieve the ultimate resistance that is the same as the conventional RC wide beam with conventional stirrups. Evaluation of the ultimate shear strength of the SFRC wide beams based on previous models is presented.
All Politics Is (Not) Local: The Structure of Lobbying in North Carolina

As North Carolina becomes more enmeshed in the national and global economy, the local political context might reflect more extra-local ties. Lobbying organizations in the state have significant ties to out-of-state firms, particularly those with offices in Washington, D.C. Examining the structure of lobbying relationships in one state, North Carolina, in terms of both lobbyist-to-client relations and inter-lobbyist relations such as through common clients, this paper assesses the level of relations between local and out-of-state firms. Using social network and standard statistical analysis as well as lobbying data from North Carolina, adjoining states, and federal lobbying data from the U.S. Senate, this project is not only focused on the state level but also on relations between local and national firms. To the best of our knowledge, little research has explored the connections between special interests represented at both the national and state levels. We find that a significant number of lobbying organizations engage in lobbying at the federal level as well as the state level. Moreover, the structure of relations among lobbying organizations appear to exhibit a truncated scale-free distribution of ties in which a small number of organizations garner the majority of ties. Organizations that represent other organizations (as opposed to representing themselves) and that operate at the federal and state levels seem to be the critical nodes in terms of the structure of the overall network.
Promoting Access to the General Curriculum by Teaching Self-Determination Skills

Although participation and progress in the general curriculum is mandated for all students, models to achieve such access often neglect students with more severe disabilities. Promoting self-determination linked to standards is an entry point to ensuring access to the general curriculum for all students, including students with severe disabilities. In this study, middle school students with intellectual disabilities alternately learned problem-solving and study planning skills linked to language arts, science, and social studies standards. Students in both intervention groups showed significantly more capacity on the targeted skill as compared to the alternating control group, and all students achieved goals at better than average levels. Promoting self-determination provides students with disabilities with additional strategies to access the general curriculum.
Linear measurements of facial morphology using automatic aproach

Abstract Introduction Clinical extraoral examination prior to orthodontic treatment includes face analysis (front and profile). Development of computer technology has increased efficacy and simplified this process through automating several steps of the analysis. The aim of this paper was to examine the possibility of automatic determining of linear measurements based on the facial image of a patient. Material and Methods Based on the set of 20 patients in NHP (Natural Head Position) position, three sets of measurements were conducted. Trained orthodontist performed positioning of predefined points on the image of the patient two times with one week apart, after which the points were automatically determined using customized computer software. Based on the position of the points, measurements for bizygomatic distance, upper and lower facial height and full facial height were computed. Three sets of measurements were compared and statistically analyzed. Results showed that computer software produced measurements comparable to measurements obtained by a trained orthodontist. Statistical analysis included calculating mean values and standard deviations, as well as paired two‑tailed T‑test. Differences between measurements ranged from 0.03% to 0.6% suggesting that automatic method can be successfully used. Conclusions The results of this research suggest that it is possible to ease, accelerate and automate work of the orthodontist on the image analysis using suitable software without significant differences in measured values.
A History of European Folk Music

What is meant by folk music the songs of the people melodies marking the pendulum of life and the changing seasons the "joik", narrative song and the ballad the lyric song and the hymn the playing of folk music - equipment and instruments folk-music ensembles movement and dance, song and instrumental music folk music between town and country.
P53 and microRNAs in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

There has been considerable progress in characterising chronic lymphocytic leukemia with respect to the underlying biology and the corresponding clinical presentation. Most patients with CLL live for years without the need for therapy. This does not hold true for patients that exhibit inactivation of the tumour suppressor p53 or, possibly, its pathway members. Deletions of chromosome 17p and mutations of TP53 are the main characteristic of aggressive and refractory disease. In this review we will outline the current understanding of mechanisms known to contribute to dysfunctional p53 and its connection to microRNAs.
Late Weichselian and early Holocene vegetation, climate, and floral migration at Utsira, North-Rogaland, southwestern Norway

A Late-glacial/early Holocene pollen diagram from Utsira is interpreted as showing six main climatic periods: (l) The pleniglacial period from deglaciation (probably before 14,000 BP) to ca. 13,000 BP with an Artemisia pioneer vegetation on disturbed mineral soil. (2) The Bolling (BO) amelioration (ca. 13,000 to ca. 12,300 BP) with a Salix shrub dominance on humus soils. (3) The 'Older Dryas' (OD) deterioration (ca. 12,300 to ca. 12,000 BP) with a recurrence of herb dominance. (4) The Allerod (AL) amelioration (ca. 12,000 to ca. 11,000 BP) with the re-establishment of Salix shrubs. Two minor climatic deteriorations are traced at about 11,750 and 11,300 BP. (5) The Younger Dryas (YD) Stadial (ca. 11,000 to ca. 10,000 BP) with a dominance of Sedum and other mineral-soil herbs. (6) The early Holocene with locally established woodlands of birch, hazel and Populus. July means of 7-to•c in the pleniglacial, 12-t4•c from BO to AL, lOOC in the first half of YD, 12-l4°C in the last half, and at ! east 14-16°C in the early Holocene are indicated. Strong winds may have prevailed throughout the Late-glacial, inhibiting woodland development. In periods of climatic deterioration, colder winters and increased wind activity are suggested as the main factors deleterious to humus-soil vegetation. Boreal-circumpolar, arctic-alpine, and eurasiatic plants dominated the Late-glacial flora.
EFFECTs OF CORN STARCH ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF BROILER CHICKS DURING THE EARLY GROWTH PERIOD by CHRISTOPHER M. RUDE

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of gelatinized starch created during the pelleting process. Effects of gelatinization were first broadly tested to find if either increased or decreased gelatinization levels would increase broiler weight gain and feed efficiency during the starter period, 0 to 21 days of age. Results of the first experiment indicated a decrease (P<0.05) in broiler performance with increased levels of gelatinization, and a significant effect when the inclusion of gelatinized starch in the diet increased from 0 to 35%. A second experiment was conducted using a smaller range, 0 to 21% versus 0 to 35% inclusion of gelatinized starch in the diet and a smaller increment of increase, 3 versus 5%. Results of this experiment confirmed the results of the first experiment, and regression analysis was performed on the data. A linear decrease in body weight gain and quadratic increase in feed:gain (P<0.05) was observed as gelatinized starch was increased from 0 to 21% of the diet. A survey of the literature was conducted showing that most of the simulated levels of gelatinization were larger than those achieved with typical pelleted broiler diets. A third experiment was designed to investigate the levels of gelatinization observed in a pelleted diet and combined with three corn particle sizes, small (466 μm), medium (878 μm), and large (1240 μm), to find if any interactions existed. Chicks fed with the highest gelatinization level of 20%, (7.86% inclusion of pregelatinized starch) had lower body weight gains (P<0.05), and higher feed:gain (P<0.05) compared to chicks fed with 0% gelatinization. Small particle size had the lowest live body weight gain and lowest pen feed intake (P<0.05). There were no interactions found between gelatinization level and particle size (P>0.10). The results demonstrated a negative effect on chick body weight gain and feed efficiency by gelatinization of starch.
A Comparative Study on Sustainable Procurement Practices in Sisal Processing Firms in Nakuru County

Sustainability in business operations continues to attract much attention in the business environment and so is among researchers. This is due to the benefits organizations enjoy when they achieve internal sustainability. While most organizations adopt sustainable business practices for various reasons; to improve performance and to be responsive to stakeholders’ demands, some organizations just adopt these strategies s a formality. In developing countries for instance, most organizations do not take a strategic approach to sustainability in internal business organizations. It is clear that studies need to be conducted on sustainability so that recommendations can be made to management of processing and manufacturing firms to enhance sustainability. This study sought to establish the level to which sisal processing firms in Nakuru County adopt sustainable procurement activities and further compare the level of adoption between the two major sisal processing firms in Nakuru County; Athinai Sisal Estate Lomolo (1962) Ltd. The study adopted a comparative study design and was guided by four objectives; To compare the level Supply Chain Efficiency between Athinai Sisal Estate and Lomolo (1962) Ltd., To compare Supply Chain Risk Management practices between Athinai Sisal Estate Lomolo (1962) Ltd., To compare attention to Stakeholder’s Expectation and Awareness between Athinai Sisal Estate Lomolo (1962) Ltd. And To compare Supply Chain Organizational Policy Commitment between Athinai Sisal Estate Lomolo (1962) Ltd. The study findings revealed that the two firms adopt similar sustainable procurement activities. However, Athinai Sisal Estate was found to adopt these practices at much higher level. The study recommended that the processing and manufacturing organizations build sustainability in the internal business operations and take a strategic approach to sustainability. Sustainability in operations should not be left functional areas. It should be management led and should be a cross the organization. The researchers suggested that further studies should be done on other sustainable business practices such as reverse logistics, just in time and green supply chain management as well as establish the role of these practices in operational and other aspects of organizational performance.
Protecting mammal diversity: opportunities and constraints for pragmatic conservation management in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

A case study is given of a conservation management planning exercise underway in Cat Tien National Park and its surrounding areas in southern Vietnam. The importance of reliable information in this process is demonstrated using the Park's mammalian diversity. Opportunities and constraints to engage the local communities in conservation management planning and implementation are reviewed. The spatial element in protected area management planning is stressed; in some areas strict preservation management regimes are needed to conserve critical biodiversity values while in other areas conservation benefits could be gained from engaging local communities in resource management. Pragmatic conservation management planning decisions address identified threats, to be resolved by re-demarcation of boundaries, resettlement of people, and community-based conservation initiatives. These should result in a more viable Park as well as provide more secure livelihood conditions for the people elsewhere. This case study is put in the context of the wider conservation management debate.
A Novel Adaptive Search Range Algorithm for Motion Estimation Based on H.264

Motion estimation (ME) is very vital to video compression. Due to the adoption of the high precision of motion vector (MV) in H.264 encoder, the computational cost increases rapidly, and ME takes about 60% of the whole encoding time. In order to accommodate the new variable block size motion estimation strategy adopted in H.264, this paper proposes a novel adaptive search range(ASR) algorithm as a optimized part based on UMHexagonS. Not only we utilize the median_MVP and interframe information in our ASR algorithm but also a penalty function is included. Experimental results indicate that our proposed method reduces the computational complexity in a certain degree and enhances encoding efficiency but has few changes in the reconstructed image quality and bit rate.
Document highlighting - message classification in printed business letters

This paper presents the INFOCLAS system applying statistical methods of information retrieval primarily for the classification of German business letters into corresponding message types such as order, offer, confirmation, etc. INFOCLAS is a first step towards understanding of documents. Actually, it is composed of three modules: the central indexer (extraction and weighting of indexing terms), the classifier (classification of business letters into given types) and the focuser (highlighting relevant letter parts). The system employs several knowledge sources including a database of about 100 letters, word frequency statistics for German, message type specific words, morphological knowledge as well as the underlying document model. As output, the system evaluates a set of weighted hypotheses about the type of letter at hand, or highlights relevant text (text focus), respectively. Classification of documents allows the automatic distribution or archiving of letters and is also an excellent starting point for higher-level document analysis.
Effect of intracerebroventricular injection of aqueous extract and essential oil of Pulicaria gnaphalodes on PTZ-induced seizures in male rat

Introduction: Pulicaria gnaphalodes contains terpenoids and flavonoids. Referring to the role of benzodiazepine (BZD) receptor ligands as drug candidates in the treatment of epilepsy, anxiety and sleep disturbances, and since natural flavonoids are among these candidates and hold promise as BZD receptor ligands, this research was done to assess the effects of aqueous extract and essential oil of Pulicaria gnaphalodes on seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). Methods: In this research, male Wistar rats (200±20 g) were injected intracerebroventrically by vehicle, aqueous extract (125, 250 and 500 μg) or essential oil (0.125%, 0.25% and 0.5%) (1 μL volume in each), before intraperitoneal administration of PTZ (80 mg/kg) for induction of seizure. Then, onset times of myoclonic (stages 1, 2 and 3) and tonicclonic (stages 4 and 5) seizures were recorded during 20 minutes after PTZ administration. Data were analyzed by oneway analysis of variance. Results: The results of this study showed that aqueous extract and essential oil of Pulicaria gnaphalodes increase initiation time of PTZ-induced myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizures. Conclusion: Aqueous extract and essential oil of Pulicaria gnaphalodes probably have dose-dependent anticonvulsant property.
DYNAMIC MODELING AND CONSISTENT INITIALIZATION OF SYSTEM OF DIFFERENTIAL-ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS FOR CENTRIFUGAL CHILLERS

For simulation of centrifugal chiller system with differential algebraic equations (DAEs), consistent initial conditions are difficult to obtain due to the two- phase refrigerant cycle and the connections between several components. Existing rigorous initialization methods are generally not suitable for the particular problem of centrifugal chiller simulation. In this paper, the dynamic model of a water-cooled centrifugal chiller is developed in Modelica with Dymola and the TLK/IfT Library (TIL). A direct initialization method is proposed for the consistent initialization for centrifugal chiller. Simulation results have shown the effectiveness of the proposed modeling framework and the initialization method.
Alternative methods for determining the altitude of theodolite observation stations

whale, dolphin,or vessel) is to measure the angles of declination and bearing from the shore stationto the waterline of the target. With a known elevation above sea level, the declina-tion angle can be converted to a distance (Lerczak and Hobbs 1998). Thus distancemeasurement accuracy is a direct function of elevation measurement accuracy. Thedistance, combined with the bearing, provides the polar coordinates from the shorestation to the target object. The polar coordinates can then be converted to Carte-sian coordinates relative to the shore station or into latitude and longitude values.Compass-equipped reticle binoculars can provide acceptable measures of locationin some situations (Yin
Catalytic Cracking of Polyolefins in the Molten PhaseBasic Study for the Process Development of Waste Plastics Liquefaction

The cracking of polyolefins, especially polyethylene in the molten state was effectively catalyzed by the powdery spent FCC (Fluid Catalytic Cracking) catalyst which was dispersed in it. The activation energy of the catalytic cracking of polyethylene was about 74 kJ/mol. The cracked product was naphtha and middle distillate as the major product and gaseous hydrocarbon (C1-C4) as the minor product while little heavy oil was produced. The chemical compositions of the product were: aromatic hydrocarbons, isoparaffins and branched olefins, whereas that of the non-catalyzed products were: n-olefins and n-paraffins with minor amount of dienes with increasing the process time. Additionally, the product pattern shifted from naphtha rich product to kerosene and gas-oil rich product. However, any catalytic product showed low fluid point (< -10 C), while that of the non-catalyzed product was as high as 40 C. Catalyst could process, more than 100 times by weight of polyethylene with fairly small amount (~ 30 wt%) of coke deposition. Spent catalyst gave higher hydrocarbons while fresh catalyst gave gaseous product as the major product. Other polyolefins such as polypropylene and polystyrene were tested on same catalyst to show that their reactivity is higher than that of polyethylene and gave the aliphatic products, alkyl benzenes and C6-C9 iso-paraffins as the major product. Product pattern of the cracked product suggested that the reaction proceeded via the primary reactions making paraffins and olefins which were followed by the isomerization, secondary cracking, aromatization and hydrogen transfer which based on the carbenium ion mechanism.
The Role of Organizational Culture in Knowledge Management in Small Companies

Organizational culture is an important factor influencing knowledge management processes in small companies. Small entities usually have limited resources, both human and financial, to be able to develop advanced knowledge management systems. However, little research has been done so far to investigate the characteristics of organizational culture in small companies, in terms of knowledge management processes. Therefore, the aim of this research is the examination of organizational culture in small Polish companies with the application of a symbolic-interpretive perspective.