Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Mechanistic Framework for Foreign Direct Investment in the case of Albania

The aim of this thesis is to investigate if it is possible to predict the outcome of the execution of an FDI initiative in Albania through the use of a mechanistic framework which has been developed as part of this research project. Presented here is a new framework to understand the success or failure of foreign direct investment by investigating the micro-level mechanisms that are common to all FDI ventures. Since an essential component of this framework is the target country where FDI is being pursued, it is imperative that the framework be discussed using a particular country as a case and for the purpose of this work, Albania has been chosen. Most fundamental theories of FDI are macroeconomic in nature and attempt to explain why FDI happens and to what extent it may be expected but none of these theories deals with the matter at a micro-level. As a result even when predictions of a certain level of FDI are made, the reality in terms of achievement is usually very different. The proposed framework identifies the process of FDI in a country, hereafter referred to as HOST, of necessity, to go through an interaction of 3 principal players – the Government (GOVT), the trans-national company acting as a foreign direct investor (TNC) and the Investment Promotion Intermediaries (IPI). FDI is truly facilitated by the interaction of these 3 players through binary interactions, namely GOVT􀃅􀃆IPI, IPI􀃅􀃆TNC and TNC􀃅􀃆GOVT. Tight coupling in these pairs will promote success in FDI and loose coupling will act as a hindrance. The extent of coupling is measured through primary data collected from members belonging to the sets of GOVT, IPI and TNC. The issues or factors in relation to which the extent of the above mentioned binary couplings are estimated are determined based on an analysis of the HOST, the country of Albania, in light of the process flows that have to be endured in order to achieve a successful FDI. This study is not only a framework that can be used to understand the dynamics of FDI at a micro-level, but also to troubleshoot an ill-functioning foreign investment initiative. It also holds a great promise in comparing different countries using a common framework, especially if the TNC and IPI sets are identical. This framework is referred to as the 3 Player framework in this thesis and is the only original contribution proposed here. All other frameworks presented in this work are largely used as vantage points to map some of their aspects of interest to the 3 Player framework.
Lice

18 BACKGROUND: Increasing reliance on non-medicinal interventions to control sea lice in the 19 Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) farming industry imposes a high level of skin mucosal 20 disturbance and indirect health issues. Dietary supplementation with yeast-based MOS 21 products is widely used to support intestinal homeostasis across farmed species. Evidence of 22 their effect on skin mucosa is increasing in aquatic species but it remains inconsistent and 23 someway short of a clear contribution to sea lice management. A tank-based trial was 24 performed to test the effect of a yeast-based MOS functional compound (sMOS) on the skin 25 mucosal layer and its protective effects against sea lice ( Lepeophtheirus salmonis ). 26 RESULTS: The test compound significantly increased skin mucus (+46%) and goblet cell 27 density (+25 %) after 6 weeks of dietary supplementation when positive effects on intestinal 28 villi-length (+10.9 %) and goblet cell density (+80.0 %) were also documented. Following 29 dietary supplementation, a 16.6 % reduction in susceptibility to an acute standard copepodid 30 challenge was measured alongside an earlier increase in skin lysozyme activity widely used as 31 an index of innate immunity. 32 CONCLUSION: The study provides functional evidence that the benefits of dietary sMOS 33 reach beyond the intestine to the skin mucosa. Bolstering of the Atlantic salmon skin barrier 34 and immune functions and the resulting lower susceptibility to sea lice has the potential to 35 reduce the need for delousing interventions and the impact of non-medicinal interventions on 36 the animal’s health and welfare. 37 a key role for the C-Type lectin pathway.
Experimental and Analytical Investigation of the Transient Thermal Response of Air Cooled Data Centers

This work investigates the transient response of the thermal environment in air cooled data centers through experiments, analytical and computational tools. The key thermal characteristics of the various data center components were extracted from a set of experiments. This includes the development of practical experimental procedures for the thermal characterization of servers solely based on air temperature measurements and the transient response of the computer room air handlers. The knowledge of thermal characteristics paves the way for the physics-based lumped-capacitance models. A CFD-based transient simulation of the air temperature field, in which the transient thermal response of the servers was included via user-defined functions failed to predict the time-dependent server inlet temperature with acceptable accuracy and highlighted the need for including the thermal capacitance and heat transfer characteristics of the entire room, not just the servers. Hence, a practical faster-executing hybrid lumped capacitanceCFD/Experimental model was developed to investigate the thermal response of data centers under certain scenarios of cooling interruption, server shutdown and cooling air flow changes. Beyond the servers, the model takes into account the effect of the air volume, the building materials of the room and plenum and the CRAH units. The model is capable of predicting server inlet temperatures to within the experimental uncertainty (±1°C) with inputs that are relatively easy to obtain in a production data center. Experimental and Analytical Investigation of the Transient Thermal Response of Air Cooled Data Centers By Hamza Salih Erden B.S. Istanbul Technical University, 2007 M.S. Syracuse University, 2009 Dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Syracuse University Syracuse, NY, U.S.A. August 2013 Copyright © Hamza Salih Erden, 2013 All Rights Reserved
Surface Mapping using Quadcopter

This thesis studies the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to perform ice management in the Arctic Ocean by gathering information about and physically control the ice environment. Such a system is needed for safety reasons as marine operations are moving further north. In order to gather information about the ice environment, a UAV will be used for surface mapping. The quadcopter Parrot AR. Drone 2.0 will be used as a testbed for implementing proposed strategies for guidance, navigation and control while doing surface mapping using a camera. A guidance and navigation system is designed and implemented using measurements from onboard sensors and the camera system OptiTrack, which is used to measure position, velocity and orientation of the quadcopter. Using these estimated states as parameters and inputs to a proportional-integral-derivative controller, the position will be controlled. Waypoints are calculated according to desired parameters provided by an operator. An autonomous guidance, navigation and control system that moves the drone in a search pattern inside a desired area requested by the operator, is the result of the designed surface mapping strategy. An algorithm that performs object detection and mapping is implemented for the onboard camera to be able to detect objects in the lab setup. Back-projection of a 2D pixel point to respective world coordinates is implemented. C++ is used for all modules. Sub modules are simulated in Matlab and Simulink before tested with the AR. Drone. Simulations and measurements from lab testing are compared for performance evaluation. Results for the overall implementation shows that a UAV platform for doing object mapping is indeed a concept to pursue. However, this lab setup would not be applicable in a real world experiment. The AR. Drone will, due to its weight and limited power, not be able to operate under heavy wind and weather conditions. Also, detection of ice is more complicated than the suggested implementation, due to factors like weather and light reflections. It should be clear that this system design is rather a prototype illustration of a concept than a system to be used.
Immune Checkpoint Inhibition for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Current Landscape and Future Perspectives

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the lack of clinically significant levels of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Owing to the aggressive nature and the emergence of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs, patients with TNBC have a worse prognosis than other subtypes of breast cancer. Currently, immunotherapy using checkpoint blockade has been shown to produce unprecedented rates of long-lasting responses in patients with a variety of cancers. Although breast tumors, in general, are not highly immunogenic, TNBC has a higher level of lymphocyte infiltration, suggesting that TNBC patients may be more responsive to immunotherapy. The identification/characterization of immune checkpoint molecules, i.e., programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1), programmed cell death ligand 1 (PDL1), and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4), represents a major advancement in the field of cancer immunotherapy. These molecules function to suppress signals downstream of T cell receptor (TCR) activation, leading to elimination of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and suppression of anti-tumor immunity. For TNBC, which has not seen substantial advances in clinical management for decades, immune checkpoint inhibition offers the opportunity of durable response and potential long-term benefit. In clinical investigations, immune checkpoint inhibition has yielded promising results in patients with early-stage as well as advanced TNBC. This review summarizes the recent development of immune checkpoint inhibition in TNBC, focusing on humanized antibodies targeting the PD1/PDL1 and the CTLA4 pathways.
Factors that Influence Self-Efficacy in Maintaining Personal Hygiene of Postpartum Mothers

Background: At present the health status of mothers and babies in Indonesia is still low, which is marked by high maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR). Mothers and families must be able to carry out their roles and functions related to postnatal maternal health care and the health of their babies. Mother’s personal hygiene helps reduce the source of infection and increases the feeling of comfort in the mother and thus increase the self-efficacy of postpartum mothers to care for their babies. The purpose of this study is to determine the direct and indirect influence of the role of health personnel, family support, physical conditions, sources of information and social environment to self-efficacy in postpartum mothers in maintaining personal hygiene at Pasir Mulya Health Center of Bogor City in 2017. Methods: This research study used cross-sectional design. The data collection with a total sample of 60 participants was taken from questionnaires. The analysis method used was the Structural Equation Model (SEM) using SmartPLS 2.0. Conclusion: The self-efficacy variable of the postpartum mother in maintaining personal hygiene at Pasir Mulya Health Center of Bogor City was influenced by information source (2.61%), family support (6.39%), physical condition (31.62%), information source (39.40%) and social environment (24.72%). Total direct and indirect influence of self-efficacy of postpartum mother in maintaining personal hygiene was 56.44%. Thestudy showed that when the mother received more information, then the self-efficacy will be higher. If a postpartum mother has high self-efficacy, the personal hygiene will improve as well and lower the maternal and infant mortality rate.
Unmanned Surface Vehicle Human-Computer Interface for Amphibious Operations

Abstract : This report describes a multiyear research effort conducted by SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) investigating Human-Computer Interface (HCI) issues associated with operating unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). An iterative user-design process was used that resulted in the development of an enhanced HCI design. The primary focus of this effort was to investigate improvements to the baseline HCI design of the SPAWAR Multi-Operator Control Unit (MOCU) software to support simultaneous operation of multiple USVs by a single operator. A number of significant design enhancements were made to the baseline HCI as it was adapted to support multiple USVs. The enhancements included integrated visualization of video and graphics combined with multi-modal input and output using synthetic speech output and game-controller input. Significant gains in performance times and error reduction were found with the enhanced design. Following the ONR effort, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) LCS Mission Modules Program Office (PMS 420) supported the development of a prototype HCI design for operation of a single USV. While overall results of simulator-based usability evaluations indicate improved operator performance, the researchers conclude that improvements in on-board sensor capabilities and obstacle avoidance systems may still be necessary to safely support simultaneous operation multiple USVs in cluttered, complex transit environments.
Automated volumetric model construction and dynamic segmentation of the heart ventricles in tagged mri

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in most developed countries, however tagged MRI (tMRI) may facilitate patient diagnosis and treatment planning and thereby lower morbidity. The imaging technique provides in vivo measurement of regional heterogeneity of the myocardium's contraction when the epicardial and endocardial surfaces and tag sheets are segmented. Since the adoption of tMRI has previously been hindered by lengthy analysis time for the epicardial and endocardial surfaces, we have developed a fully automated system which constructs a biventricular model of the heart and dynamically segments the ventricles throughout systole. After acquiring tMRI of our volunteers, we correct surface coil-induced intensity inhomogeneity using a scale based approach. We improve noise suppression by combining inhomogeneity correction and anisotropic diffusion. To extract 2D motion in each image, we apply an approach (called GAMA) based on banks of Gabor filters. We then extract ventricle surface features using statically adaptive, gray scale morphology. From the features, we construct a biventricular patient-specific model of the heart directly from the image data, which provides internal regularization forces. Then we derive 3D model forces from the 2D features and fit the model by balancing forces. We have found excellent agreement between our fitted models and expert delineations and our system replaces the 4 to 17 hours of interactive segmentation with just 1.75 hours of CPU time and it simultaneously fits a biventricular model throughout systole. Our MRI noise suppression is significantly better than previous methods and GAMA recovers all tag information including tag orientation and spacing. Our deformable model approach yields constraints between those of a model-from-data approach and parameter function/statistical modeling approaches and is suitable for processing steady state free precession images and 3D images. Our methods may be used for clinical applications including ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial infarcts, breathing disorders and speech impediments, or used for research applications including brain trauma, genetically engineered mouse hearts, blood flow analysis, and geometric statistical model construction.
Conceptual Design of Reality Learning Media (RLM) Model Based on Entertaining and Fun Constructs

Many eLearning materials (eLM) have been developed for use in education and training. However, studies report that the investments on the courseware projects do not show good returns. Furthermore, the use and perception of teachers and students on eLM, such as courseware on CDs, are very low. In fact, many schools have stopped using courseware in the classrooms. Many factors were identified influencing the disadvantages of courseware implementation in eLearning; nevertheless the way learning content in the eLM is blended and presented to learners is seen as one of the reasons. Existing eLM are found to be not entertaining and not invoking fun, making learners feel bored. In Interaction Design, although many guidelines have stated entertaining and fun as two important design elements, many developers still produced contents that failed to include these elements. One possible reason for this is the nature of fun and entertaining that are difficult to be realized without technical skills and creativity. This leads to the following research questions: (1) How to ensure that learning content is perceived entertaining and invoking fun by the end users? , (2) Can entertaining and fun learning material be effective? , and (3) How to enable instructors especially the non-technically-skilled to produce eLM that are considered entertaining and invoking fun? Answering these questions leads this study to propose a conceptual design model of eLM which is able to ensure content is entertaining and invoking fun as perceived by the end users. Inspired by the famous reality TV shows, the proposed model is called Reality Learning Media (RLM). Therefore, the aim of the study is to propose a conceptual design model of RLM. To accomplish that, four specific objectives are formulated: (1) To determine the components of RLM, (2) To propose the conceptual design model of RLM, (3) To validate the conceptual design model of RLM through prototyping, and (4) To investigate user experience of RLM in terms of entertaining, fun, and effectiveness. Comparative analysis, peer and expert reviews, content analysis, prototyping, and experimental studies are used to accomplish the objectives and aim. General findings show that RLM is perceived entertaining; in fact it is more entertaining than video and courseware. In addition, hypotheses-specific testings using one sample t-Test, independent samples t-Test, and ANOVA reveal that regardless of gender, academic achievement levels, and other eLM experience (before learning with RLM), respondents perceived RLM as entertaining and fun. Not only that, RLM is proven to be effective in delivering learning contents. The main contributions of this study are the concept of reality video that has been put forward, the development of the conceptual design model together with the prototypes of the RLM. Apart from these, the recording techniques for RLM and the validated instrument measuring entertaining and fun are also significant contributions to the body of knowledge.
Combustion Instabilities In Gas Turbine Engines: Operational Experience, Fundamental Mechanisms, and Modeling

Higher operating efficiencies, fewer pollutant emissions, and low capital investment have made gas turbines a dominant technology for a new power generating capacity in the US and worldwide. This book offers gas turbine users and manufacturers a valuable resource to help them sort through issues associated with combustion instabilities. In the last ten years, substantial efforts have been made in the industrial, governmental, and academic communities to understand the unique issues associated with combustion instabilities in low-emission gas turbines. The objective of this book is to compile these results into a series of chapters that address the various facets of the problem. The Case Studies section speaks to specific manufacturer and user experiences with combustion instabilities in the development stage and in fielded turbine engines. The book then goes on to examine The Fundamental Mechanisms, The Combustor Modeling, and Control Approaches.
Increasing the efficiency of anaerobic waste digesters by optimising flow patterns to enhance biogas production

Anaerobic digestion is used to stabilise sewage sludge and produce biogas. Whilst the need to mix digesters is well-recognised, the level of mixing required and its effects on biogas production are not clear. Here, the effects of mixing speed in mechanically-mixed lab-scale digesters on biogas production are considered. For the first time, positron emission particle tracking was used to visualise flow patterns in lab-scale digesters at different mixing speeds. Computational fluid dynamics models were then built to identify the turbulence characteristics. Four lab-scale digesters were run for four months at different mixing speeds and key indicators of digester stability and microbiological population were recorded alongside gas production. Increased mixing speed leads to higher levels of turbulence and in these digesters, increasing the mixing speed reduces the stability of the methane generation process and accordingly has a detrimental effect on the gas production. Similarly, the abundance of methanogenic communities was adversely affected by increasing mixing speeds. However, the unmixed digester produced less biogas than the digester mixed at a low speed, due to uncontrolled digestion. As such, for these digesters, minimal mixing represents the ideal scenario. By considering the velocity gradient in the digester as a surrogate for turbulence, a threshold of 6 8 s-1 was identified. Below this threshold, increased mixing was beneficial but increasing mixing above the threshold was detrimental to digester stability and gas production.
New approaches to improve the performance of the PEM based fuel cell power systems

New Approaches to Improve the Performance of the PEM Based Fuel Cell Power Systems. (August 2004) Woojin Choi, B.S., Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea; M.S., Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Prasad N. Enjeti Dr. Jo W. Howze Fuel cells are expected to play an important role in future power generation. However, significant technical challenges remain and the commercial breakthrough of fuel cells is hindered by the high price of fuel cell components. As is well known, the fuel cells do not provide the robust source characteristics required to effectively follow the load during significant load steps and they have limited overload-handling capability. Further, the performance of the fuel cell is significantly degraded when the CO (Carbon Monoxide) is contained in the hydrogen fuel. In this thesis several new approaches to improve the performance of PEM based fuel cell power systems are discussed. In the first section an impedance model of the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack (PEMFCS) is first proposed. This equivalent circuit model of the fuel cell stack is derived by a frequency response analysis (FRA) technique to evaluate the effects of the ripple current generated by the