Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Study on the Effects of Salt Concentration Environment on theMechanical Properties of Polyester and Composite Materials

The study investigates the effects of salt concentration on some mechanical properties of thermoset polyester resin without reinforce and polyester resin reinforced with random fiber glass mat. The volume fraction of the composite material varies in (15%, 25%, 35% and 45%). The two types of material were immersed for (40) days in different salt concentrations ratio (15%, 35% and 55%). The environment consists of salt 99.9% and 0.008% magnesium carbonate and potassium iodide. The study depends on the experimental results of impact test and tensile test to describe the mechanical properties of polyester resin and composite material. It is found that the fracture toughness of composite material increases at approximate ratio of (2.9%) while the polyester resin increases at approximate of (2.25%) due to increasing the salt concentration in water with ratio (40%), so that the fracture toughness increases with approximate ratio (3%) due to increase in the volume fraction ratio from (15%) to (45%). The elastic modulus of composite material increases with ratio of (14.9%) and (90.29%) for polyester due to increase in the salt concentration ratio in the water at approximate ratio of (40%). The elastic modulus increases at ratio of (13.73%) , the yield stress of polyester increase at ratio (50.32%) and yield stress of composite material increases at ratio (55%) as a results of increase in the volume fraction ratio from (15%) to (45%).
Effect of personal values on psychological well-being of urban and rural youth

The aim of the present study is to find out the effect of personal values on psychological well-being of urban and rural youth. To serve this objective a sample of 600 youth were selected by stratified random sampling. They were college students aged between 18-21 years. The data was collected from Kolkata and its adjacent areas. A general information schedule, Personal Values Questionnaire by Sherry and Verma (1978) and Psychological Well-Being Scale by Sisodia and Choudhary (2005) were administered on the samples. The findings revealed that the means of dimensions of values like democratic, aesthetic, economic, knowledge, hedonistic and power value and dimensions of psychological well being like satisfaction, efficiency, sociability, mental health, interpersonal relations and over all psychological wellbeing are higher in case of urban youth than rural youth. And for other dimensions of values like religious, social, family prestige and health value the mean values of rural youth are higher than that of the urban youth. But rural youth are not higher in any dimension of psychological well-being than the urban youth. It also showed that there is significant difference between rural and urban youth in terms of values and psychological well-being. There exists significant impact of values on psychological wellbeing of youth. Life satisfactions, efficiency, sociability, mental health, inter personal relations etc. are major components of a person’s psychological well-being that get shaped or influenced by the value system being it an important socio-cultural component.
Is It Feasible Nutritionally to Improve Both Quality and Quantity of Meat Carcasses from Beef Steers

Beef producers are trying to produce not only better quality but also greater quantity of beef in order to meet the preferences of some consumers at a lower cost. This can be accomplished if we understand the factors regulating lipid deposition in intramuscular adipose tissue and the tenderness of meat. Propylene glycol (PG) might be used as a precursor of intramuscular fat synthesis especially in the late period of fattening because adipose tissue in ruminants is thought to mature sequentially in abdominal, intermuscular, subcutaneous and intramuscular depots. The action of cholecalciferol supplementation has been verified in producing more tender meat through the enhancement of calpain activity over the postmortem ageing period. A synergistic effect can be expected if the dietary cation and anion difference (DCAD) technique is used in combination with dietary supplementation of cholecalciferol. In another approach, the optimization of hormonal implant use also may provide similarly marbled beef at a much lower cost.
Consumption Under Noisy Price Signals: A Study of Electricity Retail Rate Deregulation in San Diego

Utility services employ nonlinear tariffs that attempt to convey information on cost convexities. This paper examines how customers respond to noisy and volatile tariffs by measuring deregulated retail rates' impact on electricity consumption in San Diego. When rates doubled in 2000, consumers appear to have reacted more to recent past bills than to current price information. By summer's end, we find consumption fell 6% while lagging price increases. Even months after the utility restored low historic rates customers continued curtailing demand. We conclude that rate structures relying upon lagged wholesale price averages produce delayed responses to scarcities or high costs.
A Study of Sperm Quality Characteristics Changes inDifferent Storage Temperatures above Freezing Point

Introduction: Sperm is very sensitive to temperatures changes as it is capable of changing the sperm characteristics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the optimum storage temperature above freezing point for sperm transportation in order to maintain the good sperm characteristics. Objective: Sperm characteristics such as motility, viability and morphology were evaluated after 1, 2 and 3 hour(s) stored at different temperatures (4? C, 25? C and 37? C). Method: The fresh semen bovine were collected using artificial vagina at Institut Biodiversiti Veterinar Kebangsaan, Jerantut (Pahang). Sperm motility and viability were carried out using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) while sperm morphology was carried out using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Result: The results obtained demonstrated that 25°C has high sperm progressive movement as well as sperm viability compared to 4°C and 37°C. Sperm stored at 25°C showed normal morphological structure whereas there were morphological alteration at storage temperature of 4°C and 37°C. Conclusion: In conclusion, 25? C is the best storage temperature above freezing point to maintain sperm characteristics during sperm transportation.
Multi-GPU Implementation of Machine Learning Algorithm using CUDA and OpenCL

Using modern Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) becomes very useful for computing complex and time consuming processes. GPUs provide high–performance computation capabilities with a good price. This paper deals with a multi–GPU OpenCL and CUDA implementations of k –Nearest Neighbor ( k –NN) algorithm. This work compares performances of OpenCLand CUDA implementations where each of them is suitable for different number of used attributes. The proposed CUDA algorithm achieves acceleration up to 880x in comparison witha single thread CPU version. The common k -NN was modified to be faster when the lower number of k neighbors is set. The performance of algorithm was verified with two GPUs dual-core NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 and CPU Intel Core i7 3770 with 4.1 GHz frequency. The results of speed up were measured for one GPU, two GPUs, three and four GPUs. We performed several tests with data sets containing up to 4 million elements with various number of attributes.
Inter-ethnic tolerance and cross-cultural Communication: its relationship and importance in a Multicultural society

Malaysia is a multi-cultural country, as a result of colonialism and economical geography. Such diversity makes tolerance a requirement for survival. Without tolerance, there can be a lot of tension or even conflict as a result of miscommunication in the society. Literature has demonstrated that effective inter-cultural communication is critical to the establishment of favourable inter-group relations (Gudykunst, 1986; Hall, 1976). This study aims to identify the importance and relationship of inter-ethnic tolerance and inter-cultural communication in multi-cultural Malaysia. A total of 310 undergraduates were involved in this study and the results indicated there is a positive correlation between inter-ethnic tolerance and inter-cultural communication. This study provides statistical evidence on the importance of inter-cultural communication in a multicultural society.
Achieving Robustness and Eco-Efficiency in Sustainability for A Distribution Network

This study investigates managerial insights to facilitate the robust construction of a responsive and sustainable supply chain network. The two goals typically contradict each other because a fast, responsive supply chain may consume sizable resources. A fully optimized supply chain, which operates at minimal cost, may not honor the two indicators simultaneously. Through a mathematical programming model assessing the necessary cost of a supply chain, this study argues that such a dilemma can be reconciled by reallocating stocking items across warehouse locations. Instead of designing an ultimate network to optimize responsiveness and eco-efficiency, the model merely serves as a vehicle for estimating the cost of implementing a nominal supply chain. In the process, the interaction between two performance indicators is clarified. The distribution responsiveness and eco-efficiency indicators comprise stock distribution, transportation link diversity, service level, and life cycle assessment. Understanding the relation between these two indicators helps to determine a cost-effective configuration which achieves eco-efficiency without sacrificing responsiveness. Keywords-location-inventory network; network responsiveness; eco-efficiency; performance robustness
Effects of hadronic potentials on elliptic flows in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Within the framework of a multiphase transport (AMPT) model that includes both initial partonic and final hadronic interactions, we show that including mean-field potentials in the hadronic phase leads to a splitting of the elliptic flows of particles and their antiparticles, providing thus a plausible explanation of the different elliptic flows between $p$ and ${\bar p}$, $K^+$ and $K^-$, and $\pi^+$ and $\pi^-$ observed in recent Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC).
Understanding Producer Strategies: Identifying Key Success Factors of Commercial Farms in 2013

Farm management is a series of complex processes incorporating a variety of dynamic factors, including biological aspects, resource allocation and management, and the management of increasingly complex financial/economic systems, which managers are constantly asked to prioritize and allocate management effort amongst. This work determines which success factors, from five predetermined factors (managing production; managing land, equipment, and facilities; controlling costs; managing output prices; and managing people) commercial producers identified as most important for the success of their operation. A total of 28.6 % of respondents selected controlling costs and 27.3% selected managing production as most important factors. From producer-specific estimates of a mixed logit model, correlations between the success factors were estimated; the strongest correlation observed was the negative relationship between managing production and controlling costs. Implications for self-identified success factors of commercial agricultural producers are far reaching, potentially influencing sales, marketing, and decision support for these operations, as well as driving research and programmatic focus to provide relevant information to these producers moving forward.
What Influences the Growth of Canadian Biotechnology Firms

This chapter examines the influence of firm characteristics on the growth of all Canadian biotechnology firms. Data collected by Statistics Canada from four Biotechnology Uses and Development Surveys (1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005) characterise the size, origin, contracts, IP, collaboration, financing, product development stage, tax credits of Canadian biotechnology firms, while employment data from the Business Register of the organisation provides the size of firms beyond 2005. Results show the importance of collaboration for exploration (knowledge) purposes, the importance of alliances for exploitation (commercialization) purposes for firms with rapid growth. Furthermore, a good product development process that brings products through regulation towards commercialization has a positive impact on firm growth and so does R&D expenses. Catherine Beaudry Polytechnique Montreal, Canada Joël Levasseur Polytechnique Montreal, Canada What Influences the Growth of Canadian Biotechnology Firms?
In search of design synthesis by linking ergonomic evaluation and constraint modelling to attain design for all

To enable designers to ‘design for all’, a sound understanding of the intended users, their anthropometry and mobility is needed. Information is also required regarding users’ abilities and disabilities based on the tasks they are to perform while using the product being designed. Users, each of whom is an individual (and not just a part of the population), have different needs, physical sizes, coping strategies, abilities and disabilities. To use and apply each of these parameters together with the variables of the product and to meet the challenges of ‘design for all’ criteria, it is imperative for the designers to use effective and efficient tools. This paper presents an approach for design synthesis with the objective of determining design parameters of a design that would meet the needs of a specified user population or maximise the percentage accommodation. A new software tool is being developed to assist designers in the product development process. This software is able to suggest design parameters that would maximise user accommodation, after considering all the data sets for individual users. To achieve this, the software utilises capabilities of three very different pieces of software. The first of these is called HADRIAN, which is the prototype software currently under development, by the ‘Design for All’ project group at Loughborough University. HADRIAN provides an integrated database about individual users and can carry out a task analysis for the tasks that the user has to perform when interacting with the product or the environment that is being developed. Mathematical analysis software is used to fit functions to this data so that the SWORDS Constraint Modelling software can be used to find the optimum parameters of the design that would maximise the user accommodation. Issues in the design and implementation of this software system are discussed in the context of simple examples from kitchen design and automated teller machines (ATMs).
Growth, yield and antioxidant profile of pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) leafy vegetable as affected by NPK compound fertilizer

Pumpkin young leaf is an underutilized leafy vegetable in the Southwestern Nigeria. The objective of this study is to provide information on the influence of NPK fertilizer on the agronomic performance and antioxidant concentration of pumpkin leafy vegetable for the purpose of enhancing its cultivation and popularizing its utilization. The experiment was conducted in 2007 and 2008, at the Teaching and Research Farm, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Compound fertilizer, NPK /15:15:15/ was used and added as ring dressing in four levels; 0, 90, 180, 270 kg/ ha-1. Data were recorded for several growth and leaf yield parameters. At the seventh week after planting, the harvested young leaves extracts were analyzed for antioxidant activities and antioxidant phenolic compounds concentration using different antioxidant assays. The significant highest estimates for vine length, leaves number, stem diameter, number of branches and number of tendrils per plant and total young leaf yield were resulted from plants treated with 180 and 270kg/ha-1. It is concluded that 180 kg/ha-1 of NPK fertilizer is required for optimal yield and antioxidant composition of pumpkin leafy vegetable.
Nitrik Oksit Sintaz İzoformlarının Deneysel Diş Hareketi Üzerine Etkileri Effects of Nitric Oxide Synthase Isoforms During Experimental Tooth Movement

Amaç: Kemik yeniden şekillenmesinde birçok sistemik/lokal faktör rol oynamaktadır. Osteoblastlar tarafından üretilen hücreler arası sinyal düzenleyici olan Nitrik Oksit (NO), önemli bir kemik şekillenmesi düzenleyici olarak görevlidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, farklı NO-izoformlarının ortodontik diş hareketi sırasında kemiğin yeniden şekillenmesi üzerine olan etkilerinin incelenmesidir. Gereçler ve Yöntem: Üç farklı NO-sintaz (NOS) inhibitörünün etkilerinin incelenmesi için 66 Sprague-Dawley rat rastgele 11 gruba ayrılmıştır. NOS inhibitörleri (iNOS-inhibitör 1400W-dihydrochloride, eNOS-inhibitör LNIO-dihydrochloride ve nNOS-inhibitör Nωpropyl-L-arginine) üç farklı dozda uygulanmıştır (10, 30 ve 100μg/20μl); geriye kalan iki grup kontrol grubu olarak kullanılmıştır. Bütün gruplarda, mandibular birinci azı dişleri Ni-Ti kapalı sarmal yayları yardımıyla mezial yönde hareket ettirilmiştir. Bulgular: Sonuçlar histomorfometrik olarak incelenmiş ve trabeküler kemik hacmi (BV/TV), trabeküler kemik sayısı (Tr.N) ve trabeküler ayrıklık (Tr.Sep) değerleri, mandibular birinci azı dişlerin interrradikuler alanlarında ölçülmüştür. WinTAS (Trabecular Analyze System, V. 1.2.9) sonucunda, eNOS gruplarında, özellikle 30μg L-NIO dihidroklorid grubunda, BV/TV, Tr.N ve Tr.Sep değerlerinde istatiksel olarak anlamlı değişimler gözlenmiştir. Sonuç: Bulgular, ortodontik diş hareketi sırasında eNOS'un kemik şekillenmesinde rol oynayan birincil izoenzim olduğunu ve optimum dozunun belli bir aralıkta olduğunu göstermektedir. (Türk Ortodonti Dergisi 2012;25:242-256).
Serine Exoproteinases Secreted by the Pathogenic Fungi of Alternaria Genus

Genus Alternaria Ness is ubiquitous, including species found worldwide in association with a large variety of plants. Many species are saprophytes, animal/plant pathogens or postharvest pathogens. Species of the genus are reported to occur in different ecosystems and geographic regions [1-3]. As a plant pathogen, Alternaria has a wide range of hosts ranking 10th in terms of their total number [4]. As postharvest pathogens, Alternaria species contribute to extensive losses of our agricultural output due to spoilage [5].
Iterative multiparameter elastic waveform inversion using prestack Kirchhoff approximation

Elastic Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) is an iterative method that simultaneously uses traveltime and amplitude of the seismic data to recover subsurface elastic properties. To date, despite the advancements in mathematical aspects of FWI, this method has not found much application in commercial seismic data processing, mainly because of its computation cost. Conventional elastic FWI methods require a depth imaging algorithm for forward modeling (e.g., Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD)) and a depth migration for the inversion (e.g., Reverse Time Migration (RTM)). Our aim is to propose a revised “standard strategy” for the inversion of elastic properties from the linearized reflected elastic waves. We use the direct relationship between the scattering potential of the Born approximation with the reflectivity function of the asymptotic Kirchhoff approximation. To estimate the gradient function of algorithm, we implemented the direct inversion strategy of Beylkin and Burridge (1990) to obtain an iterative well-known standard AVO inversion. Both of the forward and inverse operators use prestack time imaging methods that map the migrated P-to-S traveltime to P-to-P traveltime. We obtain two registered volumes in a pseudo-depth eliminating the need of ray tracing for registration issues. For complex structures, one can add ray tracing to the algorithm.
Influencing Factors on Earnings Management, Empirical Evidence from Listed German and Austrian Companies

Purpose – Since the 1960s earnings management has been a widely researched area and became presumably known by the current accounting scandals. This paper aims at empirically showing which factors affect earnings management. Design/methodology/approach – According to former research literature factors are derived, which might influence the companies' earnings management behavior. These factors are the applied accounting standard, the industry sector and the country of official quotation. Although several measurements for earnings management like abnormal accruals or income smoothing exist, this paper is predominantly using the distribution of net income scaled by total assets (RoA) respectively total sales (RoS) as earnings management measure. These earnings management measures have been selected as they can measure the frequency of earnings management in reality and no estimates are necessary. Findings – In general, analyses show that the distribution in earnings management intervals differ from the total population. Most noteworthy is that by adoption of principle-based accounting standards (IFRS/US-GAAP), in case of this study no differences of earnings quality was observable. The other two variables yield in mixed results due to the robustness checks, which indeed questions the scaling variables for data-sets including the financial industries. Research limitations/implications – First, according to the chosen measurement parameter no distinct assertion concerning the reasons for execution or non-execution of earnings management can be deduced. Second, the method of earnings management's identification is not dividable and therefore real-, accounting-, legal- and illegal- earnings management cannot be identified. Third, the research results are just partially generalizable concerning representativity (e.g. other countries, non-market listed companies) and taken for granted just for similar data-sets. Originality/value – Although prior studies presume a rise in earnings quality, which indicates a decrease in earnings management by the adoption of principle-based accounting standards (IFRS/US-GAAP) in comparison to national GAAP, there is no difference or superior accounting standard identifiable through the results.
The Impact of Age and Social Media Preference on Facebook and Instagram Users Reactions to Social Media

III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . IV TABLE OF CONTENTS . V INTRODUCTION . 1 METHODS . 6 PARTICIPANTS . 6 MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE . 9 RESULTS . 10 PRELIMINARY ANALYSES . 10 MAIN ANALYSES . 12 DISCUSSION . 16 REFERENCES . 21 APPENDIX A . 24 CURRICULUM VITAE . 25
Strategy for Sustainable Development and Utilization of Sheep and Goat Resources in Serbia

The aims of this study were to determine the status of small ruminant production in Serbia and to provide projections for their sustainable use with optimal strategy of genetic improvement of sheep and goats in the future. For sustainable sheep and goat production, it is necessary to know a number of biological, technological, organizational and market factors. Number of sheep in Serbia during the past two decades fell by about 20%. This country grows more than 1.7 million sheep. In terms of breed structures, most of the populations are indigenous Pramenka sheep (80%), while the remaining 20% are Tsigai, Merinolandschaf, Ile de France, Pirot improved, Mis sheep, and other less important populations, as well as the crossbreed with foreign and domestic sheep. Interest of goat rearing is constantly increasing in last years for 20-30%. In regard to the breed structure, the least represented are goats of Alpine breed – approx. 2- 3%, White Serbian goat - 15%, different types of crosses – approx. 35% same as goats of low land Balkan type, and approx. 12% of high land Balkan type. Strategy of sheep and goat breeding programs in Serbia is focused on the improvement of indigenous breeds, because they are less demanding, and most importantly, the input is lower and their products have higher quality. Keywords: sheep; goat; sustainable; resources; meat; milk