Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EXTENDING FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE ON AEROSOL FORMATION BY MEASURING SUB 3 nm IONS AND PARTICLES

This thesis focuses on the experimental characterization of secondary atmospheric nanoparticles and ions during their formation. This work was developed in two distinct and complementary levels: a scientific level, aimed to advance the understanding of particle formation and a more technical level, dedicated to instrument development and characterization. Understanding and characterizing aerosol formation, is important, as formation of aerosol particles from precursor gases is one of the main sources of atmospheric aerosols. Elucidating how aerosol formation proceeds in detail is critical to better quantify aerosol contribution to the Earth's radiation budget. Experimentally characterizing the first steps of aerosol formation is the key to understanding this phenomenon. Developing and characterizing suitable instrumentation to measure clusters and ions in the sub–3 nm range, where aerosol formation starts, is necessary to clarify the processes that lead to aerosol formation. This thesis presents the results of a series of experimental studies of sub–3 nm aerosol particles and ions. It also shows the results of the technical characterization and instrument development that were made in the process. Specifically, we describe three scientific results achieved from chamber experiments. Firstly the relative contributions of sulfuric acid, ammonia and ions in nucleation processes was quantified experimentally, supporting that sulfuric acid alone cannot explain atmospheric observation of nucleation rates. Secondly, the chemical composition of cluster ions was directly measured for a ternary system, where sulfuric acid, ammonia and water were the condensable vapors. In these measurements we observed a decreasing acidity of the clusters with increasing concentration of gas phase ammonia, with the ratio of sulfuric–acid/ammonia staying closer to that of ammonium bisulfate than to that of ammonium sulfate. Finally, in a series of chamber experiments the ion–ion recombination coefficient was quantified at different conditions. The ion–ion recombination coefficient is a basic physical quantity for modeling ion induced and ion mediated nucleation. We observed a steep increase in the ion–ion recombination coefficient with decreasing temperatures and with decreasing relative humidity. This thesis also reviews technical results of: 1) laboratory verification, characterization and testing of different aerosol and ion instruments measuring in the sub–3 nm range; 2) the development of new inlets for such instruments to improve the detection of sub-3 nm particles and ions.
Stochastic Risk Volatility Forecasting in Poultry Agribusiness in Delta State, Nigeria

The dearth of information on financial risk has negative effect on the growth of poultry agribusiness. The purpose of the study was to determine the mean financial risk volatility in poultry agribusiness in Delta state, Nigeria. Six years panel data (2004 – 2009) were collected from 200 poultry farms using structured questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed using ARCH(5,5) Model and Time Response Model. Test of hypothesis using Durbin Watson statistics indicated that there is no volatility clustering of financial returns. The result of ARCH model showed a random walk (i.e. upward and downward swings) of standard error of financial risk with a mean volatility of 7.5% in poultry agribusiness over the 6 years period. Time Response prediction model gave an impression that short run forecast of financial risk volatility in poultry agribusiness is feasible. The study recommends early warning / early mitigate for measures of the short run to manage financial risk in poultry industry.
Adaptive Responses of Birch-Leaved Pear (Pyrus betulaefolia) Seedlings to Salinity Stress

One-year-old birch-leaved pear (Pyrus betulaefolia Bunge) seedlings were subjected to 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mmol/L NaCl solutions for 27 days in order to study the effects of salinity stress on photosynthesis, ion accumulation and enzymatic and non-enzymatic scavenging of reactive oxygen species in the seedlings. The research was performed in a greenhouse using potted trees. Salinity stress reduced photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency of leaves of the pear seedlings, but increased transpiration rates and leaf temperature. Hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion radical contents increased with increasing NaCl concentrations, a phenomena also observed for malondialdehyde, suggesting that leaves of the pear seedlings suffered from oxidative injury. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities quickly responded by increasing when the pear seedlings were subjected to salinity stress. Total protein content in leaves of the seedlings was restrained by salinity stress, whereas ascorbate content increased. Salinity stress reduced glutathione content once the birch-leaved pear seedlings were exposed to a low level (50 or 100 mmol/L) of NaCl, whereas a high level (150 or 200 mmol/L NaCl) of salinity stress stimulated the accumulation of glutathione. Salinity stress increased the accumulation of Na+, Cl-, K+ and Mg2+ in the seedlings, but reduced Ca2+ levels and the ratio of other ions to Na+ except K+/Na+ under 50 mmol/L NaCl conditions. This suggests that leaves of birch-leaved pear seedlings possess the capacity for salt exclusion only under 50 mmol/L NaCl conditions, and Ca2+ does not play a fundamental role as a secondary messenger under salinity stress conditions.
GC-MS Analysis of bioactive components on the bark extract of Alseodaphne semecarpifolia Nees (Lauraceae)

The present study of phytochemical analysis in the bark powder extract with absolute alcohol, the phytochemical compound screened by GC-MS method. In this GC-MS analysis, 28 bioactive phytochemical compounds were identified in stem bark of Alseodaphne semecarpifolia.The 28 compounds predominantly phenolic derivatives are present included Hydrocarbons, Carbohydrates, Fatty Acid, Fatty Acid ester, Alcoholic compounds, Alkaloids, Ketones and Alkenes compounds. These different active phytochemicals have been found to possess a wide range of activities, which may help in the protection against incurable diseases.
CorticosteroidsintheTreatmentofSevereSepsis and Septic Shock in Adults

=53% by random-effects model) and 28/121 (23.1%) vs 24/125 (19.2%) in quasi-randomized trials (RR, 1.05, 95% CI, 0.69-1.58; P=.83). In 12 trials investigating prolonged low-dose corticosteroid treatment, 28-day mortality for treated vs control patients was 236/629 (37.5%) vs 264/599 (44%) (RR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.720.97;P=.02). This treatment increased 28-day shock reversal (6 trials; 322/481 [66.9%] vs 276/471 [58.6%]; RR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02-1.23; P=.02; I 2 =4%) and reduced intensive care unit length of stay by 4.49 days (8 trials; 95% CI, –7.04 to –1.94; P.001; I 2
DETERMINATION OF LAND COVER/LAND USE USING SPOT 7 DATA WITH SUPERVISED CLASSIFICATION METHODS

Land use/ land cover (LULC) classification is a key research field in remote sensing. With recent developments of high-spatial-resolution sensors, Earth-observation technology offers a viable solution for land use/land cover identification and management in the rural part of the cities. There is a strong need to produce accurate, reliable, and up-to-date land use/land cover maps for sustainable monitoring and management. In this study, SPOT 7 imagery was used to test the potential of the data for land cover/land use mapping. Catalca is selected region located in the north west of the Istanbul in Turkey, which is mostly covered with agricultural fields and forest lands. The potentials of two classification algorithms maximum likelihood, and support vector machine, were tested, and accuracy assessment of the land cover maps was performed through error matrix and Kappa statistics. The results indicated that both of the selected classifiers were highly useful (over 83% accuracy) in the mapping of land use/cover in the study region. The support vector machine classification approach slightly outperformed the maximum likelihood classification in both overall accuracy and Kappa statistics.
Alterations in Cardiac Cell-to-Cell Coupling Can Facilitate AF in Old Guinea Pig.

We hypothesize that in addition to atrial structural remodeling the alterations in cardiac cell-to-cell coupling due to the ageing may facilitate induction and persistence of AF. Experiments were conducted on male and female 4-weeks-old and 24-weeks-old guinea pigs (GP). Heart atrial tissue was processed for ultrastructure examination using electron microscopy. Gap junction connexin-43 distribution was detected by in situ immunostaining while the level of Cx43 mRNA and expression of Cx43 protein were determined by real time PCR and western blotting. Expression of mRNA of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2) that is involved in myocardial remodeling was also analyzed. Subcellular examination revealed interstitial fibrosis, flattened adhesive junctions with widened extracellular spaces and lower number of gap junctions in old versus young GP heart atria. The density of Cx43-positive gap junctions was lower in atria of old comparing to young GPs. In parallel, the atrial tissue levels of Cx43 mRNA and Cx43 protein were decreased in old versus young GP. In contrast, mRNA expression of MMP2 was significantly higher in old versus young GP. The changes were more pronounced in old males comparing to females GP. Findings indicate that age-related down-regulation of atrial Cx43, dehiscence of adhesive junctions and up-regulation of MMP-2 can facilitate development of AF in old heart.
Evaluating the policy approaches for tackling undeclared work in the European Union

When tackling the undeclared economy, an emergent literature has called for the conventional rational economic actor approach (which uses deterrents to ensure that the costs of undeclared work outweigh the benefits) to be replaced or complemented by a social actor approach which focuses upon improving tax morale. Evaluating the validity of doing so using 27,563 face-to-face interviews conducted in 2013 across Europe, multilevel logistic regression analysis reveals that both approaches significantly reduce participation in undeclared work. When tax morale is high, however, deterrence measures have little impact on reducing the probability of participation in undeclared work and it is only when tax morale is low that raising the level of deterrents has greater impacts, with increasing the perceived risks of detection in such contexts leading to higher reductions in participation in undeclared work than increasing the perceived punishments. The paper concludes by calling for more nuanced context-bound policy approaches.
Effect of Resistant Cassava Starch on Quality Parameters and Sensory Attributes of Yoghurt

Resistant starch is known to impart a number of health benefits to consumers. It is therefore desirable to increase the content of resistant starch inpopular foods such as yoghurt. Thecurrent research investigated the effect of cassava resistant starch synthesized by heat-moisture treatment of starch from I92/0057 cassava variety onphysico-chemical properties and sensory attributes of yoghurt. Cassava starch rich in resistant starch was incorporated into yoghurt in the proportions of 0, 0.1%, 0.5% and 1%. Corn starch (0.6%) was used as control. Yoghurt was stored at 4 oC for 21 days and the effect of starch modification on resistant starch content, viscosity, syneresis, total solids, acidity, lactic acid bacteria count and sensory properties were determined on weekly basis. Applying cassava starch rich in resistant starch into yoghurt in the proportions of 0.5% and 1% had significantly higher (p≤0.05) resistant starch content of yoghurt reaching 3.40 g/100 g and 5.58 g/100 g on day one and 1.92 g/100 g and 4.47 g/100 g on day 21, respectively. There was a significant correlation (p≤0.05) between resistant starch concentration and the physico-chemical properties of yoghurt. Yoghurt treated with 1% resistant starch enriched cassava starch had the highest viscosity during cold storage which was determined as 2721.5 mPa s, mPa s, 2650.0 mPa s and 1034.5 mPa s at day 1, day 7, day 14 and day 21 respectively and it had the least syneresis (22.25%). Addition of cassava starch rich in resistant starchsignificantly increased (p≤0.05) the total solids content of yoghurtbut did not significantly (P>0.05) change the sensory properties of yoghurt. The application of 1% of resistant starch enriched cassava starch as yoghurt thickener produces significant quantity of resistant starch in yoghurt with acceptable sensory and physico-chemical properties. Current Research in nutrition and Food Science Journal Website:www.foodandnutritionjournal. org ISSN: 2347-467X, Vol. 5, No. (3) 2017, Pg. 353-367
Intra-Individual Variability from a Lifespan Perspective: A Comparison of Latency and Accuracy Measures

Within-task variability across trials (intra-individual variability (IIV)) has been mainly studied using latency measures but rarely with accuracy measures. The aim of the Geneva Variability Study was to examine IIV in both latency and accuracy measures of cognitive performance across the lifespan, administering the same tasks to children, younger adults, and older adults. Six processing speed tasks (Response Time (RT) tasks, 8 conditions) and two working memory tasks scored in terms of the number of correct responses (Working Memory (WM)—verbal and visuo-spatial, 6 conditions), as well as control tasks, were administered to over 500 individuals distributed across the three age periods. The main questions were whether age differences in IIV would vary throughout the lifespan according (i) to the type of measure used (RTs vs. accuracy); and (ii) to task complexity. The objective of this paper was to present the general experimental design and to provide an essentially descriptive picture of the results. For all experimental tasks, IIV was estimated using intra-individual standard deviation (iSDr), controlling for the individual level (mean) of performance and for potential practice effects. As concerns RTs, and in conformity with a majority of the literature, younger adults were less variable than both children and older adults, and the young children were often the most variable. In contrast, IIV in the WM accuracy scores pointed to different age trends—age effects were either not observed or, when found, they indicated that younger adults were the more variable group. Overall, the findings suggest that IIV provides complementary information to that based on a mean performance, and that the relation of IIV to cognitive development depends on the type of measure used.
Manoeuvre generation and control for automated highway driving

A hierarchical, two-level architecture for manoeuvre generation and vehicle control for automated highway driving is presented. The high-level planner computes a manoeuvre in terms of a (X, Y)-trajectory as well as a longitudinal velocity profile, utilizing a simplified point-mass model and linear collision avoidance constraints. The low-level controller utilizes a non-linear vehicle model in order to compute the vehicle control inputs required to execute the planned manoeuvre. Both the high-level planner and low-level controller are formulated based on the model predictive control methodology. Simulation results demonstrates the ability of the high-level planner to compute appropriate, traffic-dependent manoeuvres, that can be tracked by the low-level controller in real-time.
THE ROLE OF INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR CSR COMMUNICATION

This work aims to investigate the roles of new interactive technologies to communicate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). We adopt the case study method and examine three companies that have successfully approached and developed CSR communication campaigns during the last few years. The study shows how companies use interactive technologies, website and traditional communication channels in integrative ways. Interactive technologies allow more interaction, dialogue and experience sharing. It stresses the contribution of web and social media in making CSR issues more pervasive, appealing and interactive.
Presence of exo U and exo S Genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Urinary Tract Infections

Copyright © 2016, Infection, Epidemiology and Medicine; Tarbiat Modares University. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited. Presence of exoU and exoS Genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Urinary Tract Infections
The Returns from Informal Venture Capital Investments: An Exploratory Study

Despite the recent increase in research on informal venture capital there are many aspects of this market for which no information exists. One such issue is exits. This exploratory study is the first to address this issue. It is based on a survey of 38 active business angels in Finland who had made a total of 155 investments; 20 of these investors had made 49 exits. Two aspects are addressed. First, evidence is presented on investment performance and the timing and method of exit. Second, the paper explores differences between those investors with a successful track-record of exits and those with an unsuccessful track-record. Differences are identified in terms of motivations for investing, volume and sources of information on investment opportunities, prior relationship with investee businesses, perception of value-added and employment background. However, conclusions should only be regarded as suggestive in view of the small numbers involved.
Review of IDS Develepment Methods in Machine Learning

Due to the rapid advancement of knowledge and technologies, the problem of decision making is getting more sophisticated to address, therefore the inventing of new methods to solve it is very important. One of the promising directions in machine learning and data mining is classifier combination. The popularity of this approach is confirmed by the still growing number of publications. This review paper focuses mainly on classifier combination known also as combined classifier, multiple classifier systems, or classifier ensemble. Eventually, recommendations and suggestions have also included.
An Empirical Investigation of Compliance and Disclosure Quality Under FRS 36 for Singaporean Listed Firms

Drawing on data from a sample of 168 firms listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) over three consecutive years (2005, 2006 and 2007), this study focuses on the issue of IFRS compliance and disclosure quality. Using the requirements of FRS 36 in relation to goodwill impairment testing as the particular focal point for the analysis, the results of this study demonstrate poor levels of compliance and transparency on the part of SGX listed firms with goodwill in relation to their goodwill impairment testing processes and assumptions. This study adds to the literature by providing insights into this phenomenon from the standpoint of an advanced Asia Pacific region jurisdiction not previously subjected to scrutiny on the dimensions drawn upon for the purposes of this study and through the use of a multi-year research design. The results complement and reinforce the significance of earlier research conducted in relation to the focal phenomenon in Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand and suggest the existence of persistent cross-border difficulties with the implementation of the complex technical provisions of the IFRS goodwill impairment testing regime.
Crack nucleation in solid materials under external load - simulations with the Discrete Element Method

Numerical analysis of cracking processes require an appropriate numerical technique. Classical engineering approach to the problem has its roots in the continuum mechanics and is based mainly on the Finite Element Method. This technique allows simulations of both elastic and large deformation processes, so it is very popular in the engineering applications. However, a final effect of cracking - fragmentation of an object at hand can hardly be described by this approach in a numerically efficient way since it requires a solution of a problem of nontrivial evolving in time boundary conditions. We focused our attention on the Discrete Element Method (DEM), which by definition implies “molecular” construction of the matter. The basic idea behind DEM is to represent an investigated body as an assemblage of discrete particles interacting with each other. Breaking interaction bonds between particles induced by external forces imeditelly implies creation/evolution of boundary conditions. In this study we used the DEM approach to simulate cracking process in the three dimensional solid material under external tension. The used numerical model, although higly simplified, can be used to describe behaviour of such materials like thin films, biological tissues, metal coatings, to name a few.
Agency theory and loan syndications: the case of South Africa.

The market for syndicated loans has grown in the last two decades and is now a major source of funding for corporate organizations. As an important source of capital, an understanding of how this market operates is worth acquiring. Central to syndicated loans are the unique relationships that exist between the borrower, the lead arranger and the participant lenders. An analysis of these relationships and how these relationships affect loan syndications is also critical. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of information asymmetries and the resulting agency problems on loan syndications in terms of volumes and, structure. This paper also explores the role of reputations of the in mitigating the agency problems associated with loan syndications. JEL Classification: G22
The design and development of the Self-Regulated Learning Inventory : A status report

The development of an inventory to measure self-regulated learning is reported. The first step involved the generation of an item pool based on a literature review. A pool of items was developed based on the five identified factors of metacognition, learning strategies, motivation, contextual sensitivity, and environmental utilization and control. A pilot version with 71 items was tested with 305 undergraduates, and one factor, self-regulated learning, was found to account for the largest portion of the variance. In the second version of the inventory, researchers began to construct a model of self-regulated learning in which to ground the construction of the inventory. This version was tested with 96 graduate students, but technical aspects were not entirely satisfactory. Version 3 represents an attempt to improve the technical properties of the inventory and an effort to clarify and sharpen the model. Version 3, which contained 4 subscales, was tested with 219 undergraduates and 62 graduate students. Reliabilities of this version were higher than those of the other versions, and all subscales and total score correlated with grade point average, with the motivation scale showing the strongest relationship. Results support the model and the potential of the inventory as a means of assessing self-regulated learning. (Contains 2 figures, 12 tables, and 14 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************