Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
“I Wanted a Profession That Makes a Difference”—An Online Survey of First-Year Students’ Study Choice Motives and Sustainability-Related Attributes

Higher education institutions are obligated to facilitate students in the development of sustainability competencies, which enable them to act as “change agents” in their future profession-specific environment. Therefore, students’ study motives, prior knowledge, attitudes, and experiences regarding sustainability should be considered when designing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programmes. The present study compares first-year students in teacher training with first-year students in other study programmes and explores their study choice motives as well as sustainability-related conceptions, engagement and self-efficacy beliefs using a semi-standardised online questionnaire. Results show that the choice of study is dominated by intrinsic factors and the relevance of extrinsic factors differs by degree programmes with lower extrinsic values for the teacher training students. Regarding sustainability, we find simple and often unelaborated concepts. Teacher training students show significantly higher scores than non-teacher training students regarding the sustainability-related behavioural domain and self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, a gender gap increasing with age and with lower sustainability scores for older males could be identified but only for teacher training students. In conclusion, the results show valuable starting points as well as challenges that should be considered when designing target-oriented learning processes in (inter)disciplinary sustainability courses at higher education institutions.
Is There a Relationship between Empowering Chefs and the Culinary Creativity Process?

ABSTRACT The aim of the study is to determine the relationship between the empowering perceptions of chefs and the processes of creativity. In this context, data were collected by applying the survey technique to the working group of 502 chefs in Antalya Region, which is a study area. Among the data analysis methods, canonical correlation analysis (CCA) used in the examination of the structure between the two variable sets was preferred. Of the four canonical variables obtained as a result of CCA, two variables were found to be significant and the interpretations were made taking into account these two canonical variables. In line with the results obtained, it has been determined that the chefs’ finding their job meaningful, valuing their work, having autonomy, and making their own decisions positively contribute to developing creative ideas, evaluating them, and finding solutions to problems. In addition, recommendations were made to practitioners and researchers.
Study of radioactive particle tracking using MCNP-X code and artificial neural network

Agitators or mixers are highly used in the chemical, food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. During the fabrication process, the equipment may fail and compromise the appropriate stirring or mixing procedure. Besides that, it is also important to determine the right point of homogeneity of the mixture. Thus, it is very important to have a diagnosis tool for these industrial units to assure the quality of the product and to keep the market competitiveness. The radioactive particle tracking (RPT) technique is widely used in the nuclear field. In this paper, a method based on the principles of RPT is presented. Counts obtained by an array of detectors properly positioned around the unit will be correlated to predict the instantaneous positions occupied by the radioactive particle by means of an appropriate mathematical search location algorithm. Detection geometry developed employs eight NaI(Tl) scintillator detectors and a Cs-137 (662 keV) source with isotropic emission of gamma-rays. The modeling of the detection system is performed using the Monte Carlo Method, by means of the MCNP-X code. In this work, a methodology is presented to predict the position of a radioactive particle to evaluate the performance of agitators in industrial units by means of an Artificial Neural Network.
Types of politically connected firms and analysts' earnings forecast

PurposeThis study examined the effect of different types of politically connected (PCON) Malaysian firms on analysts' forecast accuracy and dispersion.Design/methodology/approachThe study identified different types of PCON firms according to Wong and Hooy's (2018) classification, which divided political connections into government-linked companies (GLCs), boards of directors, business owners and family members of government leaders. The sample covered the period 2007–2016, for which earnings forecast data were obtained from the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System (IBES) database and financial data were extracted from Thomson Reuters Fundamentals. We deleted any market consensus estimates made by less than three analysts and/or firms with less than three years of analyst forecast information to control for the impact of individual analysts' personal attributes.FindingsThe study found that PCON firms were associated with lower analyst forecast accuracy and higher forecast dispersion. The effect was more salient in GLCs than in other PCON firms, either through families, business ties or boards of directors. Further analyses showed that PCON firms—in particular GLCs—were associated with more aggressive reporting of earnings and poorer quality of accruals, hence providing inadequate information for analysts to produce accurate and less dispersed earnings forecasts. The results were robust even after addressing endogeneity issues.Research limitations/implicationsThis study found new evidence of the impact of different types of PCON firms in exacerbating information asymmetry, which was not addressed in prior studies.Practical implicationsThis study has a significant practical implication for investors that they should be mindful of high information asymmetry in politically connected firms, particularly government-linked companies.Originality/valueThis is the first study to provide evidence of the impact of different types of PCON firms on analysts' earnings forecasts.
Synthesis of cobalt loaded double perovskite Sr2TiFeO6‐δ (STF) as a stable catalyst for enhanced hydrogen production via methane decomposition

In this study, cobalt (Co) loaded Sr2TiFeO6‐δ (STF) double perovskite was synthesized using a modified nitrate combustion method for the application in catalytic decomposition of methane (CH4) for hydrogen (H2) production in a fixed bed reactor. The physicochemical properties of the catalyst were analyzed using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, N2 adsorption‐desorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The catalyst showed a stable crystalline behavior with a uniform dispersion of Co over STF. The different compositions with varying Co loading were tested for methane decomposition at 850°C and constant flow rate. The 5% Co/STF achieving a maximum CH4 conversion of ~95% with an H2 yield of ~49%. Five percentage Co/STF showed excellent catalytic activity and stability for 46.5 hours time on stream without any indication of performance degradation. The spent catalyst was also analyzed using XRD, SEM, and TGA. The carbon deposited is shaped as carbon nanotubes that are a byproduct and also assist in metal exsolution in high‐temperature processes. The use of STF shows the excellent potential showed by perovskites, which are stable in reducing environments, as support materials for methane decomposition.
Spatial and Temporal Vertical Distribution of Chlorophyll in Relation to Submarine Wastewater Effluent Discharges

The vertical distribution of chlorophyll in coastal waters is influenced by a combination of the hydrodynamic environment and different biotic and abiotic processes. The spatial and temporal occurrences of chlorophyll profiles provide a good representation of the changes in the marine environment. The majority of studies in the Adriatic Sea have so far been conducted in areas unaffected by anthropogenic pressure. Our study site is located near two marine outfalls, which are part of the public sewage system. This study aims to characterize the chlorophyll vertical distribution and describe its variability based on the stratification conditions and the presence of a wastewater effluent plume. Based on these conditions, we identified three characteristic scenarios/types of chlorophyll profiles. The first one occurs when the vertical mixing of the water column creates the upwelling of chlorophyll and nutrients to the upper part of the water column. The second and third scenarios occur during stratified conditions and differ by the extent of the effluent plume intrusion. Using modern fluorescence techniques, we identified and described three different vertical chlorophyll profiles, characterizing them according to their physical and biological parameters and processes. For cases with a visible effluent intrusion, we confirmed the importance of the pycnocline formation in keeping the effluent below and maintaining the higher water quality status at the top of the water column.
Issues and Challenges for HVDC Extruded Cable Systems

The improved features of AC/DC converters, the need to enhance cross-country interconnections, the will to make massive remote renewable energy sources available, and the fear of populations about overhead lines have fostered HVDC cable transmission all over the world, leading in the last two decades to an exponential increase of commissioned HVDC cable projects, particularly of the extruded insulation type. Comprehensive surveys of the issues to be faced by HVDC extruded cable systems appeared in the literature some years ago, but they are not so up-to-date, as HVDC extruded cable technology is developing fast. Therefore, the contribution this paper aims at giving is a systematic, comprehensive and updated summary of the main present and future issues and challenges that HVDC cable systems have to face to further improve their performance and competitiveness, so as to meet the growing quest for clean and available energy worldwide. The topics covered in this review–treated in alphabetical order for the reader’s convenience–are accessories, higher voltage and power, laying environment (submarine and underground cables), modeling, multiterminal HVDC, operation and diagnostics, recyclable insulation, space charge behavior, testing, thermal stability, transient voltages.
A new productive framework for point‐based matching of oblique aircraft and UAV‐based images

A novel productive framework for point‐based feature matching of oblique aircraft and UAV imagery is presented. The proposed framework makes use of the powerful AKAZE descriptor for feature extraction and an iterative scheme is developed to construct as many tentative matches as possible. During the iterations, cross checks, together with Lowe’s nearest‐next distance ratio test, are used to filter erroneous matches. In order to extract putative matches from the tentative matches, three robust approaches, including graph‐cut RANSAC, are evaluated along with the epipolar constraint enforced between the two datasets. The developed framework was validated using the ISPRS image orientation benchmark dataset and yielded successful results in terms of matching precision, even for some difficult cases. The results also outperformed the results of previously developed approaches in the same context.
Posthumanist perspectives on transhumanist marketing: More than human genes, more than market promotion

Transhumanism advocates enhancement of current human capacities with new technologies, in pursuit of human improvement and perfection, and thereby creates lucrative marketing opportunities. We use the broader concept of posthumanism, which includes this, but also all the other ways in which humans are enhanced by non-humans. However, our study is not about posthumanism, but about how a posthumanist critique can enhance our analyses and diagnoses. We consider not just technology, but also other species such as our microbiome, in an effort to critically examine transhumanist marketing, and develop analytic tools to better understand it. The limitations are highlighted with an extended example of the marketing of health information in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Transhumanist marketing is distinguished between “ends”, promoting products, and “means”, as ways to facilitate marketing. We offer a typology of motivations for consumption of transhumanist goods and services.
Two-Dimensional Full-Waveform Joint Inversion of Surface Waves Using Phases and Z/H Ratios

Surface-wave dispersion and the Z/H ratio are important parameters used to resolve the Earth’s structure, especially for S-wave velocity. Several previous studies have explored using joint inversion of these two datasets. However, all of these studies used a 1-D depth-sensitivity kernel, which lacks precision when the structure is laterally heterogeneous. Adjoint tomography (i.e., full-waveform inversion) is a state-of-the-art imaging method with a high resolution. It can obtain better-resolved lithospheric structures beyond the resolving ability of traditional ray-based travel-time tomography. In this study, we present a systematic investigation of the 2D sensitivities of the surface wave phase and Z/H ratio using the adjoint-state method. The forward-modeling experiments indicated that the 2D phase and Z/H ratio had different sensitivities to the S-wave velocity. Thus, a full-waveform joint-inversion scheme of surface waves with phases and a Z/H ratio was proposed to take advantage of their complementary sensitivities to the Earth’s structure. Both applications to synthetic data sets in large- and small-scale inversions demonstrated the advantage of the joint inversion over the individual inversions, allowing for the creation of a more unified S-wave velocity model. The proposed joint-inversion scheme offers a computationally efficient and inexpensive alternative to imaging fine-scale shallow structures beneath a 2D seismic array.
Otimização de processos químicos industriais: Avaliação da eficácia do software livre Scilab na resolução de problemas de programação não-linear com restrições

A resolução de problemas de otimização não-linear com restrições de igualdade e desigualdade é uma tarefa difícil e tende a ser ainda mais difícil de ser resolvido quando envolve um grande número de variáveis. Sistemas de energia, controle e plantas industriais são representados por este tipo de problema e com o avanço tecnológico e computacional, é necessário ferramentas eficazes que consiga lidar com as características deste tipo de sistema, resolvendo de maneira eficaz o problema de otimização. Neste trabalho, dois problemas clássicos de otimização não-linear com restrições de processos químicos são resolvidos a partir do software livre Scilab, utilizando a função fmincon, de modo a avaliar o desempenho do algoritmo para a resolução de problemas de programação não-linear restrita. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com as condições ótimas obtidas através do software Matlab. O software livre apresentou um bom desempenho na resolução dos problemas propostos, alcançando resultados eficazes, encontrando condições ótimas que resultaram em um aumento de cerca de 16% na função objetivo para o problema de maximização do retorno do investimento da planta de Williams-Otto, se mostrando uma alternativa eficaz para o desenvolvimento de pesquisas e tecnologias nesta área.
Sinergia e incremento de complejidad

En este trabajo intentaré mostrar en qué medida la complejidad puede suponer una ventaja para la funcionalidad de las estructuras orgánicas y, por tanto, podría ser favorecida por la selección natural. Creo que los argumentos que expondré podrían explicar una tendencia evolutiva general, hacia el progresivo incremento de dicha magnitud. Tales argumentos podrían resumirse en que, en primer lugar, mientras mayor sea el número de elementos que constituyen un sistema, mayor será el número de formas en que estos podrán interactuar; en segundo lugar, mientras mayor sea el número de interacciones posibles, más probabilidades habrá de que se den interacciones sinérgicas(,) que favorezcan la eficiencia funcional del conjunto; y en tercer lugar y dado que la eficiencia funcional es un factor favorecido por la selección natural, la complejidad se incrementará, privilegiada indirectamente por dicha presión selectiva. Antes de profundizar en estos argumentos relativamente simples, me esforzaré en exponer, también del modo más elemental posible y ajustándolas al marco de esta cuestión, las nociones de cada uno de los conceptos fundamentales implicados: complejidad, emergencia, funcionalidad y sinergia, cuya interpretación imprecisa o adecuada a otros contextos, me parece la mayor amenaza a la comprensión de esta propuesta.
Perceived Health, Psychological Distress, and Subjective Well-Being among Older Adults with Parkinson’s Disease: A Cross-Lagged Analysis

A growing aging population leads to a gradual increase in the number of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study examines how perceived health, psychological distress, and subjective well-being evolve in older adults with PD. A cross-lagged study design was employed using data from Waves 4 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In total, 421 older adults diagnosed with PD at baseline (46% women; mean age 74.98 ± 9.05 years) were included in the study and were followed up after a four-year lag. Auto-regressive and cross-lagged associations between the measured variables were examined in reciprocal models. Individual differences in perceived health, psychological distress, and subjective well-being were relatively stable over the 4-year lag. A final reciprocal model with significant cross-lagged effects explained the underlying structure of the sample data well: χ2 (49) = 101.876, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.953, NFI = 0.935, RMSEA = 0.050, and AIC = 241.876. Increased difficulties in fulfilling instrumental activities and a lowered level of subjective well-being were particularly noticeable in older adults with PD during the four-year follow-up. Additional attention should be paid to helping older patients with PD cope better with their functional limitations and improve their sense of well-being.
Prospective randomised control study of dexmedetomidine for controlled hypotension in functional endoscopic sinus surgery

Background: Functional endoscopic sinus surgery is one of the commonly performed Surgeries. Induced hypotension is a method employed in functional endoscopic sinus surgery to reduce blood loss and to improve the visibility of the surgical field. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine infusion on the requirement of Isoflurane to produce controlled hypotension (mean arterial pressure of 60-70 mmHg), quality of the bloodless surgical field, duration of surgery, and the awakening time in patients undergoing Functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Methods: 50 patients were divided into Group D, Group C Group D. After successful tracheal intubation, anesthesia was maintained with 66% nitrous oxide + 33% oxygen + isoflurane titrated to achieve a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 60-70 mmHg. Isoflurane and dexmedetomidine/saline infusion was stopped 10-15 minutes before the end of surgery. The intraoperative surgical field was assessed by using a 6 points Fromme-Boezaart scale.Results: A statistically significant (p<0.001) reduction in intraoperative isoflurane requirement in patients receiving dexmedetomidine infusion (0.387±0.102) in comparison to those receiving placebo (1.7±0.211). Both the group provided better visualization of the surgical field. The duration of surgery was statistically (p=0.004) low in Group D (76.84±14.174) compared to group C (94.1±25.083). The awakening time in min was statistically (p=0.001) low in group D (5.12±1.691) compared to group C (9.72±1.100). Conclusions: Dexmedetomidine infusion helps in achieving a targeted reduction in MAP reduced intraoperative Isoflurane requirement, better bloodless field, and faster awakening in patients undergoing Functional endoscopic sinus surgery.
Which experimental model can sensitively indicate brain death by functional near-infrared spectroscopy?

Brain death is defined as permanent loss of the brain functions. The evaluation of it has many meanings, such as the relief of organ transplantation stress and family burden. However, it is hard to be judged precisely. The standard clinical tests are expensive, time consuming and even dangerous, and some auxiliary methods have limitations. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), monitoring cerebral hemodynamic responses noninvasively, evaluate brain death in some papers published, but there is no discussion about which experimental mode can monitor brain death patient more sensitively. Here, we attempt to use our fNIRS to evaluate brain death and find which experimental mode is effective. In order to discuss the problem, we detected eleven brain death patients and twenty normal patients under natural state. They were provided different fraction of inspiration O2 (FIO2) in different phase. We found that the ratio of ∆[HbO2] (the concentration changes in oxyhemoglobin) to ∆[Hb] (the concentration changes in deoxyhemoglobin) in brain death patients is significantly higher than normal patients in FIO2 experiment. Combined with the data analysis result, restore oxygen change process and low-high-low paradigm is more sensitively.
Advanced treatment of copper smelting wastewater by the combination of internal micro-electrolysis and electrocoagulation

ABSTRACT In this study, a combined process of internal micro-electrolysis (IME)–electrocoagulation was developed at lab scale for treating a real copper smelting wastewater. By IME, 92.4% of Cu, 88.6% of Pb, and 72.2% of Zn were removed after 30 min at an initial solution pH of 3, a Fe/C dosage of 40 g/L, and a Fe/C mass ratio of 1:1. Removal of residual metals by electrocoagulation was affected by wastewater pH and current density. Electrocoagulation with iron/aluminum electrodes at a current density of 5 mA/cm2, electrocoagulation time of 30 min, and pH 8 resulted in 99.3% Cu, 99.5% Pb, and 98.6% Zn removal. The final effluent quality could satisfy the National Discharge Standard of China. This work demonstrates that the hybrid system has the potential to be applied for the advanced treatment of high-strength copper smelting wastewater.
The effect of collector parameters on nanofiber yarns produced by electro yarn spinning machine with conical collector

Abstract In this work, electrospun yarns were produced by a nanofiber yarn spinning machine with a conical collector. In the first part, two different polymers (PAN and PVDF-HFP) were used in nanofiber yarn spinning with two different types of conical collector which are made of stainless steel and aluminium. In the second part, four different types of aluminium collector having different wall thickness and surface properties were used. For all yarns produced, the effect of different parameters has been analyzed in terms of fibre fineness distribution, yarn fineness and yarn linear density, yarn strength and breaking elongation. The results show that yarns produced by using aluminium collector are finer and have higher strength compare to the ones produced by stainless steel collector while PVDF-HFP nanofiber yarns are finer and have higher tensile strength compare to PAN. The results also show that yarns get coarser while fibres get finer as the collector wall thickness is increased in general.