Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A flatter life-cycle consumption profile

In this paper we report and discuss estimates of life-cycle consumption profiles obtained using microdata for Portuguese households. The estimated profiles are much flatter than the profiles usually reported in the literature for other countries, namely the Netherlands, the UK and the USA. We argue that the high degree of consumption smoothing in Portugal may be related to easier access to credit, a generous social security system and familyties. In addition, we also report estimates of cohort and business cycle effects on consumption. The estimated cohort effects are consistent with the post-war progress in standards of living. The business cycle estimates suggest that the recent debt crisis has had a strong negative impact on household consumption
Professional development needs, support, and barriers: TALIS US new and veteran teachers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT Drawing on 1508 US secondary teachers’ data from Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, this study examines new and veteran US teachers’ needs, support, and barriers for professional development (PD). The results indicated that both veteran and new teachers reported needing PD that addresses implementation of national/state curriculum standards or Common Core standards and technology, teaching students with special needs, and approaches to individualized learning. A larger proportion of each group also reported that they received neither a salary supplement nor non-monetary support for PD activities. However, more new teachers than veteran teachers reported receiving a salary supplement for PD activities outside working hours; veteran teachers reported more barriers for PD participation due to financial cost and lack of incentives and time outside the school contract. This study provided implications for PD design and implementation in the US context.
Language in Malawian universities : an investigation into language use and language attitudes amongst students and staff

It has been suggested that poor and ill-fitting language policies within Africa have led to a majority of its population being unable to effectively engage with education systems within their countries (Djite 2008). Language-in-education policies in Malawi are a prime example of this as Malawi’s language planning has repeatedly been criticised and epitomises the tension between the competing positions of English and the twelve Malawian languages in the country (Kayambazinthu 1998, Moyo 2001, Breton 2003). In 2014 a new language-in-education policy was announced in Malawi, which positioned English as the sole language to be used within education. This has led to increased debate around the appropriateness of English versus Malawian languages for educational purposes (Chiwanda 2014, Gwengwe 2014, see also Miti 2015a). A key criticism of Malawi’s language-in-education policies is that they are not developed based on sociolinguistic evidence (Moyo 2001), despite claims that sociolinguistic studies can play a crucial role in the creation and implementation of successful and beneficial language policies (Kishindo 2008, Mtenje 2013). Through investigating the ways in which the languages in Malawi co-exist within higher education, this study therefore seeks to provide sociolinguistic evidence which can be used to inform the policy debate in Malawi. The sociolinguistic situation in Malawian universities is ascertained through investigating the language attitudes and patterns of language use of individuals within them. Individuals in Malawian higher education have a variety of linguistic repertoires and this study explores: how students and staff make use of their multilingual linguistic repertoires to facilitate teaching, learning, and socialising in their institutions; the attitudes of students and staff towards the suitability of particular languages within higher education; and the impact this could have on educational language policy. The study adopts a linguistic ethnographic approach with methods including: participant observation; participant recording; interviews; and focus groups. Results show that Malawian universities are multilingual environments in which translanguaging occurs in both social and academic contexts. Students and staff show strongly positive attitudes towards the use of English within higher education and generally negative attitudes towards the use of Malawian languages. However, participants also exhibit favourable attitudes towards the use of a flexible language policy which embraces the multilingual reality of students and staff within the universities and allows translanguaging practices to take place.
Investigation of the effect of dipyrone on cells isolated from intervertebral disc tissue

The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of dipyrone, an indispensable analgesic, anti-pyretic and anti-spasmodic used in emergency departments, on nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus cells in vitro. After surgical biopsy, primary cell cultures were prepared from intact intervertebral disc tissues. Dipyrone was administered to the cultures in the experimental groups except for the control group. The data obtained were statistically evaluated. The proliferation was identified to be suppressed via MTT analysis. The gene expression profile of the intervertebral disc cells in the dipyrone-treated groups was significantly changed. The expression of chondroadherin, cartilage oligo matrix protein, interleukin-1β and metalloproteinase (MMP)-19 genes were decreased, but MMP-13 and MMP-7 genes expressions were increased, as determined via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. AO/PI staining revealed that no apoptotic or other type of cell death was detectable after administration of dipyrone does not mean that the drug is innocuous. The occurrence of cellular senescence and/or the halt of cell proliferation may also be important mechanisms underlying the adverse inhibitory effects of dipyrone. Therefore, prior to administering dipyrone in clinical practice, all possible adverse effects of this drug should be considered.
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Consensus in Fractional-Order Multiagent Systems via Sampled Data Over Directed Graph

This paper studies the consensus in fractional-order multiagent systems over directed graph via sampled-data control method. A distributed control protocol using the sampled position and velocity data is designed. By virtue of the Mittag-Leffler function, Laplace transform, and matrix theory, some necessary and sufficient conditions associated with the sampling period, the fractional order, the coupling strengths, and the network structure to obtain consensus of the systems are obtained. Then, some detailed discussions are presented about how to select the sampling period and how to design the coupling strengths to attain the consensus of the systems, respectively. Lastly, some numerical simulation results are illustrated to reflect the availability of the theoretical analysis.
Determination of median lethal dose of ethanolic extract of Sesamum Indicum seeds in adult wistar rats

The aim of this research was to determine the median lethal dose of sesamum indicum seeds in Wistar rats. Methods: Twelve Wistar rats within the ages of five to six weeks and of weights, ranging from (98-160) g of both sexes were used for the experiment. They were categorized into two phases of I and II. Phase I consisted three (3) groups of three (3) animals each. While phase II consisted three (3) groups of one (1) animal each. The phase I group was orogastrically intubated with (10, 100 and 1000) mg/kg body weight of ethanolic extract of sesamum indicum seeds respectively with the aid of a 2ml syringe with an intubation needle of size 24 mounted on it. The animals in phase II were similarly administered 1600, 2900 and 5000mg/kg body weights of the extract respectively and observed for one hour and ten minutes after every two hours for twenty four hours. Result: No mortality or any physical signs of toxicity were observed in any of the groups. Conclusion: The LD50 of ethanolic extract of sesamum indicum seeds is above 5000mg/kg body weight in adult Wistar rats. Key Words: LD50, Sesamum seeds, Wistar rats.
Separation theorems for the extrema of best piecewise monotonic approximations to successive data

ABSTRACT Separation properties of the local extrema of best piecewise monotonic approximations to measurements of a real univariate function are of fundamental importance to the development of efficient algorithms that calculate these approximations. Piecewise monotonic approximation to n data is expressed as the minimization of some strictly convex function of the data errors subject to the restriction that the piecewise linear interpolant to the approximated values consists of at most k monotonic sections, where k is a prescribed positive integer. The major task is to determine automatically the positions of the joins of these sections, which is a combinatorial problem that can require about combinations in order to find an optimal one. We state theorems which prove the remarkable property that the local maxima of optimal approximations with k−1 monotonic sections are separated by the local maxima of optimal approximations with k monotonic sections, and local minima are separated similarly. We describe briefly a suitable technique that makes use of this property and gives the global solution in computer operations. Some numerical results show large gains in efficiency over existing methods. Further, as an illustration, we apply the technique to 39,082 observations of daily sunspots.
The Importance of Sustainability in the Fashion Sector: ADIDAS Case Study

In a society such as the present, characterized by an extremely consumerist lifestyle, the issue of social, economic and environmental sustainability must be taken into account and must become a conditioning element of day-to-day life choices by every business. To be a sustainable business means not only respecting the environment, but also respecting the health of workers and consumers, saving raw materials and economic resources, respecting human rights, rationalizing creative and productive processes, reducing waste, creating new and more transparent ties with communities. This implies a responsible behavior, with the aim to create value for all stakeholders. This is also affecting the fashion industry, where the problem of scarcity of resources and raw materials often leads to new entrepreneurial choices, which based on three important issues: saving, recycling, re-use. This study, using case study, examines the impact of sustainability policies implemented by some company operating in the fashion industry. Starting from these premises, the work intends to describe and analyze the application of the concept of sustainability in the field of fashion industry, focusing in particular on the Adidas case.
Variability tolerant discovery of arbitrary repeating patterns in audio data with template matching

Rather than infinitely innovative, real audio data, like spoken documents or broadcast TV and radio data, is made by many variable patterns that repeat. Discovering the location of such repetitions, hereinafter called motifs, helps inferring structural properties of acoustic data, easing the access through relevant part of the data, or allowing for summarization of massive documents by a collection of few peculiar items. This thesis details our efforts in designing and implementing an unsupervised motif discovery architecture, and show its applicability to a word and near duplicate discovery scenarios. As far as the methodology is concerned, discovery is performed in a totally unsupervised way, which means that no prior acoustic or linguistic knowledge on the data is provided nor information on motif occurrences, length, intra-class variability. Our solution is based on the integration of a sequential data processing technique that exploits local repetitiveness of real streams, and a variant of dynamic time warping to deal with the unknown endpoint location of pattern units within the continuous stream. Building on this architecture, a template matching technique based on the self similarity matrices of speech sequences is introduced and coupled with the DTW-based one, to improve robustness to speech variability. Furthermore, the applicability of the system is demonstrated on a song discovery task on several days of audio stream. To adapt the system to the large occurrence period of songs in real radio channels, techniques for speeding up the computation time are implemented, based on downsampling of feature sequences.
Fake products as an international trade issue: counterfeit of electronic articles / Produtos falsificados como uma questão de comércio internacional: falsificação de artigos eletrônicos

The following paper analyses the impact of counterfeit electronic products, especially considering its impactat the international trade. It has an impact on national security policies, but also on the value of the company’sasset. There are certain measures that could be undertaken in order to inhibit this form of illegal activity, butits implementation can’t be limited to the national level; it has to be a consequence of an international effort toprevent the commerce of this kind of products. If it is only considered at a national level, those kind of policiesare faded not work, because the counterfeit business plays an important role at a multinational scale. It financesmuch kind of illegal activities and act in different forms, including stablished companies in many countries,which try to enable a certain form of legal trade. This paper also considers the consequence of buying illegalelectronic products, including its spare parts and how they affect its working, including its guarantee. It isnot just a question of using an inappropriate product, but also the possibility of damaging the user’s physicalintegrity.
Influence of nitrogen doping on TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by pneumatic spray pyrolysis method

Improving the photon harvesting efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing TiO2 photo-anode has been the major issue since 1991. So it is very important to discover new techniques that will enhance the properties of TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) which will then prevent recombination of the photo-generated electron hole pairs and as well as improving the visible absorption properties of the TiO2. This will in turn improve the performance of the DSSC photo-electrode. The optical, electronic and structural properties of TiO2 NPs rely on factors like morphology, surface area, particle size and the presence of beneficial defects caused by dopants. This study focuses on the fabrication and characterization of nitrogen doped TiO2 (NPs) prepared by pneumatic spray pyrolysis (PSP) technique. The un-doped and nitrogen doped TiO2 NPs were prepared using titanium butoxide as a precursor and urea as the dopant. The morphological and structural properties of PSP synthesized NPs were evaluated using SEM, EDX, Raman Spectroscopy (RS), XRD and FTIR. SEM analysis revealed that the presence of nitrogen dopant results in a significant change in the surface morphology of the PSP synthesized NPs. RS revealed the presence of Raman vibrational modes and symmetry at 158 (Eg(1)), 208 (Eg(2)), 258 (B1g), 255 (B1g) 396 (B1g), 514 (A1g + B1g(2)) and 640 (Eg(3)) belonging to a mixed Anatase-Rutile phase. XRD analysis revealed that the PSP synthesized NPs have particles sizes of 10.90 nm, 11.31 nm, 11.93 nm and 14.14 nm for un-doped TiO2, 0.005 M TiO2, 0.015 M TiO2 and 0.025 M TiO2 NPs respectively. FTIR spectra of the PSP fabricated samples exhibited a peak at 616.22 cm−1 that is assigned to Ti–O vibrational stretching of the anatase phase of TiO2. UV–vis spectroscopy revealed a decrease in energy band gap with increase in dopant level for the TiO2 samples prepared.
Survey of Visual Servoing Control Schemes for Mobile Robot Navigation

In this paper, visual servoing control scheme for mobile robot navigation is discussed. The survey introduces a brief discussion of the subjects of the system under consideration. These subjects include mobile robot platform kinematics, vision systems, visual servoing, mapping, navigation, automatic control, and finally the avoidance techniques used to avoid obstacle during the navigation process. Different vision based navigation systems will be discussed and a comparative study will be given.
Time and freestyle piling: a subjective approach to 3D printing

ABSTRACT This paper considers the influence of 3D printers on the temporality and subjectivity of making by looking at current 3D printing processes through the concept of ‘duration’ that was theorized by the philosopher Henri Bergson. The discussion is contextualized within technological developments at the turn of the twentieth century—specifically, European railways—that changed our perception of time. The foundational ideas of duration are introduced as a response to these developments. The contemporary technological concept of ‘real-time computing’ is presented to contrast with duration and set up an in-depth explanation of the delays inherent to the 3D printing process. These delays are discussed within the discourse of 3D printing and technological innovation, in general. Current maker-3D printer interactions are then critiqued. Finally, an alternative method of 3D printing concrete that is founded on working with its inherent delays is introduced, along with its implications for digital making and the act of making time.
SURVIVAL IN THE FOREST UNDERSTORY: RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE TO DAMAGE IN NATIVE AND INVASIVE WOODY PLANTS

Non-native woody plants from Europe and East Asia have invaded intact, low-light forest understories in Eastern North America. Compared to co-occurring native species, invasive species exhibit greater productivity and resource use efficiency, but the extent to which plants are subject to tradeoffs between productivity and survival is unknown. Herbivory and freezing events are common sources of damage in the forest understory, and non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) and defense compounds support resilience and resistance to damage. In this dissertation, I evaluated the hypothesis that invasive species maintain high productivity at the expense of storage and defense, reducing their survival under severe damage. In the first chapter, I identified differences in seasonal NSC concentrations in 39 species of native and invasive plants and evaluated whether a tradeoff exists between growth and storage. I found no evidence of a growth-storage tradeoff, but native species tended to maintain greater soluble sugar concentrations than invasive species in both stems and roots. However, invasive species had greater root starch during the growing season. In the second chapter, I investigated defense investment in 20 native and invasive species, coupling generalist herbivore feeding trials with leaf defense trait assays. I found that invasive species have higher leaf lignin and nitrogen concentrations than native species, but generalist caterpillars showed no nativity preference, suggesting that invasive species do not benefit from enemy release. In the third chapter, I compared growth and survival responses to varying levels of defoliation in two pairs of native and invasive tree species in the field. Over three growing seasons, I subjected saplings of each species to each of the following treatments: no defoliation control, half defoliation over three years, full defoliation over one year, and full defoliation over two years. Native and invasive species had similar responses to treatments: half defoliation reduced radial growth but did not affect survival, while full defoliation caused greater growth reductions and severe decreases in survival. NSCs in living saplings were not affected by defoliation, suggesting that plants prioritize storage over growth in response to damage. Taken together, these studies show differences in carbon storage and defense in native and invasive woody species, but contrary to my hypothesis, I did not find evidence for direct tradeoffs between growth and survival. Additionally, native and invasive species are equally targeted by generalist herbivores and exhibit similar responses to damage in the forest understory. SURVIVAL IN THE FOREST UNDERSTORY: RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE TO DAMAGE IN NATIVE AND INVASIVE WOODY PLANTS
Sıçan Uterusunda Anöstrus Süresince Epidermal Büyüme Faktörü Reseptörlerinin Dağılımı

Epidermal buyume faktoru reseptorleri (EGFR/ErbB/HER) uterinal hucrelerin proliferasyonu, buyumesi ve farklilasmasinin kontrolunde kritik roller oynar. Bu calismada anostrus donemindeki sicanlarin uterusunda ErbB/HER reseptorlerinin ekspresyonunun ve lokalizasyonunun immunohistokimyasal olarak ortaya koyulmasi amaclandi. Calismamda on adet sican kullanildi. Sican uterusunun farkli katmanlarinda ErbB/HER reseptorlerinin ekspresyonlarinin degisiklikler gosterdigi tespit edildi. Ozellikle, uterus luminal ve bez epitel hucrelerinin, bagdoku ve duz kas hucrelerine gore daha yogun ErbB/HER ekspresyonu gosterdigi belirlendi. Ayrica, ErbB3/HER3 immunreaksiyonunun luminal ve bez epitel hucrelerinin apikal sitoplazmasinda daha yogun oldugu saptandi. Sonuc olarak, bu bulgular EGFR sisteminin uterustaki fizyolojik degisimlerde onemli roller oynadigini ortaya koymustur.
Percepción del cuidado de los adultos mayores hospitalizados -un estudio comparativo entre las regiones del Norte y Centro de Portugal

Objetivo: analizar la relación entre la percepción de los enfermeros sobre el entorno de la atención geriátrica y el su conocimiento y actitudes según el tipo de unidad tomando en cuenta las regiones del Norte y Centro de Portugal. Método: estudio transversal desarrollado con 1068 enfermeros portugueses en cinco hospitales. El instrumento fue Geriatric Institutional Assessment Profile – versión en portugués. Se utilizo la prueba t para muestra independientes cuando fue verificada la supuesta normalidad; de lo contrario, se utilizó la prueba de Mann-Whitney. El nivel de significancia fue del 5 %. Resultados: el perfil de las percepciones de atención geriátrica mostró un patrón relativamente homogénea (no se encontraron resultados estadísticamente significativos). Para la escala de entorno atención geriátrica, solo las unidades de cuidados intensivos y servicios de urgencias presentaron diferencias significativas en todas las subescalas estudiadas (disponibilidad de recursos; cuidado sensible a edad; valores institucionales y continuidad del cuidado), con una percepción más positiva entre los enfermeros en la región Norte. En las escalas de las cuestiones de carácter profesional, solo la escala percepción de la sobrecarga relacionada con comportamientos desconcertantes reveló diferencias significativas entre las regiones en todas las especialidades. Conclusión: los hallazgos sugieren la necesidad de una mayor inversión por parte de los gerentes del los hospitales para promover un entorno de la práctica de enfermería geriátrica que sea compatible con las necesidades específicas de los adultos mayores hospitalizados.