Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hardening Concrete Exposed to Realistic Curing Temperature Regimes and Restraint Conditions: Advanced Testing and Design Methodology

Early age cracking (EAC) is a well-known problem area when it comes to concrete structures. The driving forces behind EAC are thermal dilation and autogenous deformation, but EAC is also strongly dependent on material and geometrical properties such as hydration heat development, tensile strength, E-modulus, creep, cross-sectional dimensions, and degree of restraint. The current document contains a description of the EAC design methodology that is currently being implemented in Norway. The basis of the methodology is to define and describe the material properties of a given concrete through laboratory testing and succeeding model fitting. The obtained material parameters are then evaluated and calibrated by comparing (1) stress development measured in a Temperature-Stress Testing Machine with (2) stress development calculated by using the obtained material properties and various multiphysical EAC calculation approaches. Special consideration is given to the effect of realistic curing temperature regimes on the various material properties and consequently on the EAC.
CaS Oxidation by Reaction with CO 2 By

Calcium sulphide is an undesirable product from both FBC and topping cycle gasifiers. Unfortunately, its direct oxidation in a FBC environment is made difficult due to the fact that unreacted CaS is protected from further reaction with O2 by formation of a CaSO4 shell. In previous work it was often implied that oxidation of CaS occurred solely by reaction with O2. However, this study shows that CO2 can be an effective oxidant for CaS at temperatures above 600°C. Furthermore, it appears that the principal gas phase products are SO2 and CO, and direct attempts to measure COS using mass spectrometry suggest that its formation is negligible. Somewhat surprisingly SO2/CO molar ratios are in the range of 0.4 to 0.5, which is problematic, if the dominant reaction is CaS+3CO2 =CaO+3CO+SO2, unless CO2 is reacting to form elemental carbon, which appears unlikely, or side reactions occur, leading to a variety of gaseous products. These results also suggest that CO itself has no significant part in the oxidation process at least up to 850°C or more. Reaction with H2O also begins above 600°C, but it is a much less effective oxidant, and experiments with CO2/H2O further support the idea that CO2 is the more important oxidant in that system and might be used to destroy CaS from the topping cycle gasifier.
Essays in Information Technology and Productivity

This dissertation studies the relationship between information technology and productivity in three domains. Chapter 1 examines a mobile software application that allows recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to check their benefit balance. Recipients spend a large majority of benefits before halfway through a benefit deposit cycle. Using an event study, I show that the introduction of the application on average has small but significant impacts around 5% on the ability of recipients to extend the time frame over which they spend benefits within a cycle. These effects are higher for recipients who are new to SNAP, who are highest in the distribution of SNAP benefits, and who have the largest tendency pre-adoption to spend down quickly. The results are consistent with the impact of salience on consumer choice and offer evidence that such software tools may be a cost effective means to support policy goals. Chapter 2 examines the impact of machine learning on public sector productivity in practice. Partnering with Yelp and the City of Boston, we run an experiment to compare an inspector-curated list of restaurants to inspect (i.e. business-as-usual) to a pair of algorithm-created lists based on empirical predictions of which restaurants are most likely to have health code violations. Our goal is to understand the gains from and barriers to implementing predictive algorithms to improve the city’s ongoing inspection operations. We present four main findings. First, even simple algorithms greatly outperform business-as-usual; the city can identify 50% more violations using the same number of inspections. Second, one key barrier to implementing an algorithm in managerial contexts is compliance. In our sample, inspectors were only half as likely to comply with a
Proteome analysis of sesame leaves in response to waterlogging stress at vegetative and flowering stages

Waterlogging, a major environmental stress, impairs plant growth and development and induces synthesis of different proteins. To understand the molecular mechanisms coupled with morpho-physiological alterations underlying waterlogging tolerance, the LTQ-FTICR MS/MS technique was employed to map the proteomes of leaves of sesame grown under control and waterlogged conditions. The waterlogging treatment caused dramatic alterations in morphological and biochemical properties of the leaves of sesame. For proteome analysis, more than 75 reproducible protein spots were identified on 2-DE gels wherein 51 protein spots (≥ 1.5-fold change) were used for analysis by mass spectrometry. Among 51 differentially abundant proteins, 20 were specific to the 10-leaf stage and 31 were specific to the flowering stage. Most of the differentially abundant proteins were involved in group metabolism, and energy and stress defense. Oxygen-evolving enhancer protein 1, ATP synthase subunit, heat shock proteins, glutamine synthetase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and superoxide dismutase were upregulated under waterlogging. However, the photosynthesis- and protein biosynthesis-related proteins (e.g., ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activase, and S-adenosylmethionine synthase 1) were down-regulated under waterlogging. The protein interaction network indicates that energy metabolism- and stress- and defense-related proteins were involved in the protein-protein interaction network, which could form an indispensable network in sesame leaves. To this end, physiological results highlighted the impairment of photosyntheis, which is consistent with results obtained at the proteome level. The upregulation of metabolism-, energy-, and stress defense-related proteins in response to waterlogging stress may provide new insights into the complex mechanisms underlying waterlogging tolerance in sesame.
The Influence of Celebrity Endorser to the Purchase Intention of Medan Napoleon Cake with Brand Image as Intervening Variable

The objective of the research was to analyze the influence of celebrity endorser on purchase intention of Medan Napoleon cake with brand image as intervening variable. The research used associative method. The samples were 100 respondents in Medan who had not purchased Medan Napoleon cake, selected by using simple random sampling. The hypothesis was tested by using t-value test. The result of the research showed that celebrity endorser had positive and significant influence on purchase intention of Medan Napoleon cake, as well as on brand image. Moreover, brand image had positive and significant influence on purchase intention, hence demonstrated that brand image served as the intervening variable between celebrity endorser and purchase intention of Medan Napoleon cake. Keywords—promotion mix, celebrity endorser, brand image, purchase intention.
Towards geologically reasonable lithological classification from integrated geophysical inverse modelling: methodology and application case

Abstract. We propose a methodology for the recovery of lithologies from geological and geophysical modelling results and apply it field data. Our technique relies on classification using self-organizing maps (SOM) paired with geoscientific consistency checks and uncertainty analysis. In the procedure we develop, the SOM is trained using prior geological information in the form of geological uncertainty, the expected spatial distribution of petrophysical properties, and constrained geophysical inversion results. We ensure local geological plausibility in the lithological model recovered from classification by enforcing basic topological rules through a process called post-regularisation. This prevents the three-dimensional lithological model from violating elementary geological principles while maintaining geophysical consistency. Interpretation of the resulting lithologies is complemented by the estimation of the uncertainty associated to the different nodes of the trained SOM. The application case we investigate uses data and models from the Yerrida Basin (Western Australia). Our results generally corroborate previous models of the region but they also suggest that the structural setting in some areas need to be updated. In particular, our results suggest the thinning of one of the greenstone belts in the area may be related to a deep structure not sampled by surface geological measurements and which was absent in previous geological models.
Teachers by accident: on the potential of non-educational video games for incidental foreign language vocabulary acquisition

6 Introduction 7 Background 8 Chapter 1: Approaches to language acquisition 8 Chapter 1.1: A dynamic usage-based approach to language acquisition 8 Chapter 1.2: A dynamic systems theory approach to language acquisition 9 Chapter 2: Factors in foreign language vocabulary acquisition 10 Chapter 2.1: The nature of the lexicon 10 Chapter 2.2: The role of frequency in vocabulary acquisition 12 Chapter 2.3: The role of context in vocabulary acquisition 14 Chapter 2.4: Resources for vocabulary acquisition 16 Chapter 2.5: Dynamic language development 17 Chapter 3: Video games as foreign language vocabulary acquisition environments 19 Chapter 3.1: Terminology and typology: educational versus non-educational video games 19 Chapter 3.2: Factors facilitating incidental vocabulary acquisition from COTS video games 20 Chapter 3.3: Factors inhibiting incidental vocabulary acquisition from COTS video games 23 Chapter 3.4: Statement of purpose 26 Chapter 4: Methodology 28 Chapter 4.1: Participants 28 Chapter 4.2: Materials 29 Chapter 4.3: Procedures 35 Chapter 4.4: Design and analysis 35 Chapter 5: Results 38 Chapter 5.1: Quantitative data: Isdt and chunk completion scores 38 Chapter 5.2: Qualitative data: retrospective questionnaires 41 Chapter 6: Discussion 43 Chapter 6.1: Incidental vocabulary acquisition from COTS video games 43 Chapter 6.2: Factors facilitating incidental FL vocabulary acquisition from COTS video games 43 Chapter 6.3: Factors inhibiting incidental FL vocabulary acquisition from COTS video games 44 Chapter 6.4: Limitations of the study 45 Chapter 7: Conclusion 46 References 47
ANGULAR GEOMETRIC INDICES

Topological indices (TIs) are important tools for analyzing the nature of biological and chemical networks. There are five types of TIs: Degree based TIs, distance based TIs, eigenvalue based TIs, matching based TIs and mixed TIs. Degree based TIs are defined by using classical degree concept in graph theory. The Zagreb and Randi´ c TIs are the most used TIs in literature. An gular geometric graph, geometric degree and angle degree notions have been defined recently in graph theory. The angles between the atoms (vertices) and bonds (edges) are important in biology and chemistry but are not important in graph theory. In this respect, angular geometric graphs, in which the angles within this graph are important and unalterable, represent more realistic model for biological and chemical networks and molecular structures. In this study, we firstly defined angular geometric Zagreb and angular geometric Randic TIs by using geometric degree notion. We compare these novel TIs with their classical degree based counterparts TIs for the prediction of some chemical properties of octanes. It is shown that the newly defined an- gular geometric indices do not give a higher correlation coefficients than their classical counterparts .
Simple synthesis of nanosheets of rGO and nitrogenated rGO

A green and facile approach has been developed for the large-scale synthesis of nanosheets of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and nitrogenated reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO). This has been achieved by direct thermal decomposition of sucrose and glycine at 475 °C in ca. 7 minutes, respectively. The present protocols for synthesizing rGO and N-rGO are simple and environmentally friendly as we do not use any harmful reagents, metal catalysts and solvents. Along with that, this method offers an inexpensive route with high yields to prepare rGO with a high nitrogen content (20–25 atom %). To further improve the properties of the synthesized rGO sheets, hydrogen treatment has been carried out to reduce the oxygen functional groups. Cyclic voltammograms and charge–discharge experiments have been carried out to understand the supercapacitor behavior of rGO and hydrogen treated (H-rGO) samples.
The role of structural pleiotropy in the retention of protein complexes after gene duplication

Gene duplication is one of the most important evolutionary mechanisms for the generation of functional diversity. When a gene is duplicated, the new copy shares all of the ancestral copy’s functions because they encode identical proteins. Therefore, the two proteins, called paralogs, will have the same protein-protein interaction network. However, in the case of the duplication of genes encoding proteins that self-interact (homomers), the new protein will also interact with the ancestral copy, introducing a novel interaction (heteromer) (Kaltenegger and Ober, 2015; Pereira-Leal et al., 2007). As these interactions can have different retention and functional patterns (Ashenberg et al., 2011; Baker et al., 2013; Boncoeur et al., 2012; Bridgham et al., 2008), it is important to understand better how these states are reached and what evolutionary forces favor each of them. In this thesis, I approach these questions by means of in silico simulations of protein evolution after gene duplication by working with high-quality crystal structures from the Protein Data Bank (Berman et al., 2000; Dey et al., 2018). The simulations show that the shared subunits and interfaces lead to these complexes having highly correlated evolutionary trajectories. Thus, the simulations predict that the preservation of only the two homomers or only the heteromer is not likely to happen often. Nevertheless, simulating evolution with selection on only one homomer shows that the neutral homomer is destabilized faster than the neutral heteromer. We compared these predictions against experimental results from the yeast protein-protein interaction network. As suggested by the simulations, the most abundant interaction patterns were either the formation of all three complexes (two homomers and one heteromer) or the formation of only one homomer, with motifs corresponding to two homomers without a heteromer or a heteromer without homomers being rare. Our results highlight the extent of heteromerization between paralogs in the yeast protein-protein interaction network, the underlying mechanisms, and its implications.
MACAUBA PULP OIL BLEACHING USING COMMERCIAL ADSORBENT AND ACTIVATED CARBON FROM ENDOCARP OF THE OWN FRUIT

RESUMO: Macauba Palm ( Acrocomia aculeata ) is a promising source of vegetable oil with production capacity of up to 5000 kg/ha. The refini ng process is essential to impurities removal and also to obtain oil with color more appr eciated by consumers. Covering a literature failing, the aim of this study was to in vestigate the Macauba pulp oil refining focusing at bleaching stage by assessing the temper atur effect and amount of commercial adsorbent. Further was evaluated the use of activat ed carbon produced from the endocarp of own Macauba fruit as a partial replacer of bleachin g earths. Conventional methods were employed and results were analyzed considering blea ching capacity, acidity index and phosphorus content. The use of 6% commercial adsorb ent at 90 C led to a bleaching capacity about 84% while the use of a commercial ad sorbent mixed with activated carbon resulted in a bleaching capacity superior to 90% an d with greater percentage of phospholipids removal.
Isolation and serotyping of foot-and-mouth disease virus in cattle collected from north central, Nigeria

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a disease of socio-economic importance which affects cattle, swine, Sheep, goats, and more than 70 wildlife species causing loss of production and with high mortalities in the young animals.The aim of this study was to isolate and serotype foot-and mouth disease (FMD) viruses collected in north central Nigeria, using the goat tongue cell line (ZZ-R 127). ZZ-R 127 cell line was used for the virus isolation and antigen Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for FMDV serotypes O, A, SAT 1 & SAT 2 was used for the serotyping of the viruses. The ZZ-R 127 continuous cell line yielded rapid results with cytopathic effect (CPE) within 24 hours post inoculation. FMD viruses were isolated from twenty samples (n=20) out of the twenty two (n=22) collected. Antigen capture ELISA (Ag-ELISA) revealed thirteen (n=13) strains of serotype O, three (n=3) strains of serotype A, and four (n=4) strains of serotype SAT 2 with no virus detected in two samples. Therefore, the use of ZZ-R 127 continuous cell line yielded rapid results within 24 hours of post inoculation compared to BHK-21 that may not give result at first passages. The ZZ-R 27 cell line is relatively easy to handle, maintain and cheaper for FMDV diagnosis in endemic countries like Nigeria, compared to bovine thyroid gland (BYT). This study has confirmed the suitability of ZZ-R 127 in the primary isolation of viruses from clinical specimens with less turnaround time to generate results. Therefore, for rapid sensitive and specific laboratory assays, the use of ZZ-R 127 and Ag-ELISA for FMD diagnosis in endemic countries is strongly recommended. Keywords: Isolation, Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus, field samples, cytopathic effect, Nigeria
Preparation of Polyamide 6/CeO2 Composite Nanofibers through Electrospinning for Biomedical Applications

Polyamide 6 (PA6)/CeO2 composite nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning technique. The morphological, structural, and mechanical properties of the PA6/CeO2 nanofibers were investigated by using SEM, XRD, Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and an electronic universal tensile testing machine. SEM images revealed that the nanofibers were well oriented and had good incorporation with CeO2, the average diameter of composite fibers first decreases and then increases with the loading of CeO2. The crystallinity of fibers decreases after the addition of CeO2. The tensile strength of the fibers first increases and then decreases with the increasing concentration of CeO2. The proliferation properties of mouse macrophages and osteoblasts on the PA6/CeO2 nanofibers were analyzed by an in vitro cell compatibility test, the results show that PA6/CeO2 composite fibers is nontoxic to macrophages and osteoblasts and has good biocompatibility.
The Valence IllusionDissertation

The valence illusion hypothesis is developed and states that valence acts as superordinate dimension in impression formation. Valence biases the judgment of perceived characteristics of other human beings. Evaluative Conditioning (EC) is a procedure to isolate and manipulate valence directly and was used in seven experiments to produce desired valence effects. Three experiments were devoted to the question whether EC procedures can account for valence effects in impression formation. Photographs of persons were conditioned with either positive or negative valence. Altering the photographed persons slightly (e.g., adding glasses) after the conditioning phase simulated everyday change in appearance of human beings. Four additional experiments investigated the proposed role of valence in impression formation. In the evaluative rating phase, participants were asked to rate the portrayed persons on a total of ten different characteristics, all of them belonging to the big two of impression formation, agency and communion. Evaluative Conditioning affected valence ratings on altered photographs, and valence did influence the perceived characteristics of photographed human individuals on all tested characteristics. Furthermore, the size of the valence effect can be predicted by the conceptual similarity of one characteristics to likability. Implications and avenues of future research are discussed. Zusammenfassung Das Framework der Valenz Illusion wird erarbeitet und stellt die Hypothese auf, dass Valenz eine übergeordnete Dimension im Bereich der Eindrucksbildung darstellt. Valenz führt zu einer verzerrten Bewertung von Eigenschaften anderer Menschen. Evaluatives Konditionieren ist eine Prozedur um Valenz zu isolieren und zu manipulieren und kam zu diesem Zweck in sieben Experimenten zum Einsatz. Drei Experimente haben dabei untersucht ob Evaluatives Konditionieren dazu geeignet ist, Valenz-Effekte in der Eindrucksbildung von Personen erklären zu können. Portrait-Fotografien von Personen wurden mit entweder positiven oder negativen Stimuli gepaart, wobei Veränderungen in den Stimuli Änderungen von Personen im Alltag simulieren sollten (z.B. das Tragen oder Weglassen von Brillen). Vier weitere Experimente haben die postulierte Rolle von Valenz als übergeordneter Dimension in der Eindrucksbildung untersucht. Nach der Konditionierungsphase wurden die Probanden gebeten die portraitierten Personen auf insgesamt 10 unterschiedlichen Eigenschaften zu bewerten. Evaluatives Konditionieren beeinflusste die Bewertung für alle 10 Eigenschaften. Die Größe dieses ValenzEffektes kann durch die konzeptionelle Ähnlichkeit einer Eigenschaft zur Eigenschaft „Sympathie“ vorhergesagt werden. Implikationen und Hinweise für weiterführende Forschung werden diskutiert.
Organizational factors and quality of accounting information system in Vietnam

The study was conducted to examine the role of organizational commitment and organizational structure factors for the quality of accounting information system (AIS) in enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City. Research samples of 175 people involved those working in accounting positions in different types of company. Research data were collected primarily through a questionnaire (March, 2017 – June, 2017) and then it is used to analyze descriptive statistics and perform hypothesis testing tests through a linear regression analysis with the support of SPSS software. Result shows that the quality of AIS is influenced by organizational commitment and organizational structure. In that, organizational structure factor is more impact.