Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kalitate-kudeaketaren paradigma: enpresen kudeaketarako beste moda bat?

During the last years the international impact of t he paradigm or movement of Quality Management has been really remarkable. Many have be en oth the practitioners and the academicians that has underlined the connection bet ween the referred movement and managerial fad and fashions. The aim of this article is to analyze the possible link between that movement and the pattern of managerial fad and fashions. The analysis has been carried out using electronic databases of business information. The results that are resumed in the article seem to show that there is a link between the quality movement and the pattern of managerial fad and fas hion . (*) Artikulu honetan Lehiakortasunerako Euskal Inst itutuarentzat egileak zuzenduriko “Kalitatearen kudeaketa eta lehiakortasuna EAEko en pr setan” txostenean modu laburtuan jasotzen diren zenbait gogoeta beste modu zabalago batean ematen dira. Mila esker Institutuari, eta, bereziki, bertako ikertzailea den Mikel Navarr o i kasleari, aipatu txostena egiteko aukera emateagatik.
T RENDS AND CHALLENGES OF A RABIC C HATBOTS : L ITERATURE REVIEW

Conversational systems have recently garnered increased attention due to advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) and Language Models for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA). However, conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) research focuses primarily on English. Despite Arabic being one of the most widely used languages on the Internet, only a few studies have concentrated on Arabic conversational dialogue systems thus far. This study presents a comprehensive qualitative analysis of critical research works in this domain to examine the strengths and limitations of existing approaches. The analysis begins with an overview of chatbot history and classification, then explores the language challenges encountered when developing Generative Arabic Conversational AI. Rule-based/Retrieval-based and deep learning-based approaches for Arabic chatbots are also examined. Furthermore, the study investigates the evolution of Generative Conversational AI with the advancements in deep-learning techniques. It also comprehensively reviews various metrics used to assess conversational systems.
Effects of Correlated Shadowing on Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

—Cognitive radio networks have been extensively study in the last decade as a way to overcome the scarcity of radio-frequency spectrum, by allowing unlicensed users (secondary users) to access a channel when the license holders (primary users) are not accessing the channel. In this context, spectrum sensing is a key procedure, performed by the secondary users to determine whether the channel is idle or busy. However, decisions regarding the channel state can be corrupted by fading conditions, leading to interference to primary users, or missed transmission opportunities to secondary users. Cooperative spectrum sensing schemes have been proposed as a way to mitigate the effects of fading. Even though Cooperative spectrum sensing in general leads to a higher performance, correlated shadowing may reduce the beneﬁts of cooperation. In this paper we present a survey of techniques designed to mitigate the effects of correlated fading on the performance of cooperative spectrum sensing.
Preparation of inclusion complex between ellagic acid and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

In recent years, the research and discovery of antioxidants of natural origin, such as those found plants, have increased dramatically. Ellagic acid is a bioactive compound found in many fruits and vegetables, which carries many biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and antibacterial activities. However, the low solubility of ellagic acid in water decreases its practical application. In this study, a complex of ellagic acid with hydroxypropyl-cyclodextrin was synthesized in the water-ethanol solvent. The results showed that the solvent with a volume content of EtOH of 20% was the most suitable for complex formation, with complexation yield of 46%. The complex was characterized by FTIR, DSC methods. The infrared spectrum of the complex is similar to that of HP-β-CD, however, the intensity and position of some oscillations in the complex have changed significantly, compared to spectra of EA and HP-β-CD. The sharp adsorbance band at 3475 cm-1 of the O-H bond of EA was not observed in the spectrum of the complex, indicating that the O-H group participated in the bonding and covered by the hollow cavity of the HP-β-CD molecules. The DSC curve of the complex shows that the melting points of EA and HPβCD in the complex are declined in terms of temperature and intensity. This is evidence that there is a complex interaction between EA and HPβCD. The complexation improved the solubility and antioxidant activity of EA. Especifically, the solubility of EA was increased by 3.2 times compared to raw EA; EC50 value of EA was reduced from 5.3x10-5 to 4.9x10-5mol. L-1 after complexation.
Direkta undanträngningseffekter av arbetsmarknadspolitiska åtgärder

I den har artikeln anvands en panel av 260 svenska kommuner for att undersoka den aktiva arbetsmarknadspolitikens direkta undantrangningseffekter under aren 1987‐1996. Jamfort med tidigare studier inom omradet har forfattarna rikare data till sitt forfogande. De finner, for det forsta, att program som innebar subventionerade anstallningar medfor undantrangningseffekter pa omkring 65 procent medan arbetsmarknadsutbildning inte ar forknippad med signifikant undantrangning, for det andra att de flesta programmen tycks oka arbetskraftsdeltagandet, och, for det tredje, att anpassningen till optimal sysselsattning ar trog. En konsekvens av det andra resultatet ar att tidigare studier har overskattat undantrangningens storlek.
Outflow Channels May Make a Case for a Bygone Ocean on Mars

High-resolution elevation data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft have been analyzed recently in Chryse Planitia to test the hypothesis that large outflow channels emptied into an ocean in this region of Mars. Researchers Mihail (Misha) Ivanov (Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry) and James Head (Brown University) collected quantitative MOLA information on channel patterns, continuity, and elevations where those patterns change or disappear into the northern lowlands. Their recently published report describes how the channels end, or become more subtle, at elevations very close to a previously mapped geologic contact interpreted by some to represent a shoreline of an ancient ocean. Ivanov and Head hypothesize that the change in channel topography is consistent with flow of water from a river into a submarine environment with possible deposition of sediments by density currents deep into the North Polar basin.
Wastewater hydroponics for horticulture

Municipal wastewater discharge causes severe environmental pollution and public health risk through improper practices. Centralised wastewater treatment plants are not a viable option to the current problems for wastewater disposal and water scarcity especially in developing countries, remote areas and arid regions. In arid regions all sources of good quality water are committed to domestic needs leaving very little for food production. Places such as Western Australia are faced with extreme conservation pressure on existing surface and groundwater supplies, creating the need for more efficient and sustainable use of freshwater. Properly planned use of domestic wastewater alleviates surface water pollution, conserves valuable water resources and makes use of the nutrients contained in sewage to grow crops. The high nitrogen and phosphorus content of secondary treated wastewater may reduce or eliminate the need for application of chemical fertilizers in agriculture. The major concerns in using wastewater for food production are the concentration of the contaminants and microbial pathogens in the crop though there is a lack of evidence to prove this. Secondary treated effluent from domestic on-site treatment systems could be used to grow crops without the risk of contamination through the method of hydroponics. Due to growing plants in a controlled condition with minimum exposure of edible parts to the wastewater medium, this method ensures maximum use of water with minimum risk to health and environment. The present study is aimed to assess the suitability of secondary treated wastewater from onsite treatment system for hydroponics and to study the plant growth compared to a commercial hydroponics medium.
The effect of antioxidants on the course and prevention of Alzheimer's disease on the example of vitamin E

Introduction and purpose of the workAlzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. A small proportion of cases have a genetic etiology. Other factors that influence the development of Alzheimer's disease include old age, family history of the disease, head trauma, hypertension in middle age, excessive body weight, diabetes, as well as elevated plasma cholesterol levels. In the course of this disease, there is accumulation of β-amyloid and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NETs) phosphorylated tau. Oxidative stress is a significant factor influencing induction in the course of Alzheimer's disease. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of vitamin E on the course and prevention of Alzheimer's disease. State of the knowledgeCurrently, there is no known effective treatment or prevention of Alzheimer's disease. Given the properties of vitamin E, it seems reasonable to conduct research on its possible positive effects in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the role of vitamin E supplementation in the course of this disease. Many of them have shown a positive effect of eating a diet rich in vitamin E or taking this vitamin in the form of supplements on slowing the rate of progression of the disease and reducing the risk of its onset. However, there are also studies in which the role of vitamin E has not been confirmed.SummaryDue to its properties, vitamin E can be considered as a means to reduce the risk of developing and progressing Alzheimer’s disease, but studies conducted so far are ambiguous on this issue. Further analysis should be carried out to confirm the efficacy of vitamin E in Alzheimer’s disease.
A noniterative reconstruction method for the inverse potential problem with partial boundary measurements

In this paper, a noniterative reconstruction method for solving the inverse potential problem is proposed. The forward problem is governed by a modified Helmholtz equation. The inverse problem consists in the reconstruction of a set of anomalies embedded into a geometrical domain from partial or total boundary measurements of the associated potential. Since the inverse problem is written in the form of an ill‐posed boundary value problem, the idea is to rewrite it as a topology optimization problem. In particular, a shape functional measuring the misfit between the solution obtained from the model and the data taken from the boundary measurements is minimized with respect to a set of ball‐shaped anomalies by using the concept of topological derivatives. It means that the shape functional is expanded asymptotically and then truncated up to the desired order term. The resulting truncated expansion is trivially minimized with respect to the parameters under consideration that leads to a noniterative second order reconstruction algorithm. As a result, the reconstruction process becomes very robust with respect to the noisy data and independent of any initial guess. Finally, some numerical experiments are presented showing the capability of the proposed method in reconstructing multiple anomalies of different sizes and shapes by taking into account complete or partial boundary measurements.
Augmentation of spectral efficiency in optical wireless communication networks using grid‐based elephant swarm optimization protocol

The emergence of 5G and 6G technologies has resulted in a faster, more automated, and more intelligent data flow in the digital world. A wide spectrum of optical wireless communication is made available to support 5G and 6G technologies, and it can meet the demands of high‐speed optical wireless communication. Trade‐offs involving latency, power consumption, deployment costs, and hardware/computational overhead have always been a part of 5G/6G technologies. The decline in the trade‐offs indicated above has major implications for networking capacity. The proposed work modulated a new grid‐based communication protocol (GCP) with elephant swarm optimization (ESO) to surpass those issues with optical wireless communication devices. This protocol employs an integrated strategy to split the network and choose the cluster head effectively. Different GCP‐ESO‐related algorithms have been explored. Various components of the OSNs, including network energy usage, cluster, and non‐cluster header nodes, are also calculated using mathematical analysis. The results have been simulated using MATLAB software. The simulation precisely demonstrates that the proposed GCP‐ESO outperforms the emerging MCH‐EOR and RDSAOA‐EECP methods concerning energy consumption (0.46 J), packet loss ratio (PLR) (0.60%), end‐to‐end latency (11.0 s), packet delivery rate (PDR) (99.41%), routing (0.112), the lifetime of the network (3718 s), and throughput (0.989 Mbps).
Reconnaissance study of the uranium and thorium contents of plutonic rocks of the southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Large granitic Cretaceous plutons are exposed along and adjacent to an arcuate belt of igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks in the southeastern Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Reconnaissance studies of these plutons have shown that the Darby pluton has well above average amounts of uranium and thorium (11.2 ppm and 58.7 ppm, respectively), the Kachauik pluton contains average to above average uranium and thorium (5.7 ppm and 22.5 ppm, respectively), and the Bendeleben pluton contains average amounts of uranium and thorium (3.4 ppm and 16.7 ppm, respectively). The three plutons show compositional and textural differences indicative of different source materials that may have controlled the distribution of uranium and thorium. The high uranium and thorium contents of the Darby pluton, similar to those of the Conway Granite of New Hampshire which has been mentioned as a possible low-grade thorium resource, suggest that this pluton may be a favorable area for economic concentrations of uranium and thorium.
Perceived depth control in stereoscopic cinematography

Despite the recent explosion of interest in the stereoscopic 3D (S3D) technology, the ultimate prevailing of the S3D medium is still significantly hindered by adverse effects regarding the S3D viewing discomfort. This thesis attempts to improve the S3D viewing experience by investigating perceived depth control methods in stereoscopic cinematography on desktop 3D displays. The main contributions of this work are: (1) A new method was developed to carry out human factors studies on identifying the practical limits of the 3D Comfort Zone on a given 3D display. Our results suggest that it is necessary for cinematographers to identify the specific limits of 3D Comfort Zone on the target 3D display as different 3D systems have different ranges for the 3D Comfort Zone. (2) A new dynamic depth mapping approach was proposed to improve the depth perception in stereoscopic cinematography. The results of a human-based experiment confirmed its advantages in controlling the perceived depth in viewing 3D motion pictures over the existing depth mapping methods. (3) The practicability of employing the Depth of Field (DoF) blur technique in S3D was also investigated. Our results indicate that applying the DoF blur simulation on stereoscopic content may not improve the S3D viewing experience without the real time information about what the viewer is looking at. Finally, a basic guideline for stereoscopic cinematography was introduced to summarise the new findings of this thesis alongside several well-known key factors in 3D cinematography. It is our assumption that this guideline will be of particular interest not only to 3D filmmaking but also to 3D gaming, sports broadcasting, and TV production.
Group densities of endangered small apes (Hylobatidae) in two adjacent forest reserves in Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia

Small ape habitat is rapidly declining due to anthropogenic activities but the current population status of this endangered primate family in Malaysia remains unknown. Group densities of Hylobates lar and Symphalangus syndactylus in two adjacent forest reserves across the Sungai Yu Ecological Corridor (SYEC) in Merapoh, a critical connectivity area of the Central Forest Spine, were assessed. Vegetation assessment and satellite imagery were used to identify habitat characteristics and fixed-point active acoustic triangulation at six listening areas was conducted to estimate small ape group densities. Small ape habitat quality was high in the forested areas of the SYEC. The mean group density of H. lar across these six areas was 3.55 ± 0.9 groups km-² while the mean group density of S. syndactylus was 2.75 ± 1.0 groups km-². The mean group densities of small apes at SYEC were moderately high, compared with densities at other sites in the region, which suggests that the forests here constitute good habitat for both species, despite some observed anthropogenic disturbances. Both species occurred in all listening areas. A nationwide population census for small apes and regular monitoring to inform conservation planning are recommended. Further improvement to connectivity across the SYEC by installing artificial canopy bridges for arboreal animals is important to support the movement of small apes across habitat fragments in Merapoh.
Effect of feeds on histopathology of gills, skin, liver and kidneys of Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) reared in plastic tanks

Sulem Yong Nina Nindum 1,2 , Tchiedjo Marie Laure D. 1,2 , Essoh Etouke Adrien M. 2 , Mengue Ngadena Y. Sandrine 3,4 , Owona P. Emmanuel 4 , Etchu A. Kingsley 2 , Nola Moïse 1 , Zebaze Togouet Serge H. 1, * 1 Hydrobiology and Environment, Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon. 2 Institute of Agricultural Research for Development, P.O. Box 2123, Yaoundé, Cameroon. 3 Unit of Biology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 755, Yaoundé, Cameroon 4 Animal Physiology, Department of Animal Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon * Corresponding author: zebasehu@yahoo.fr
Online English Classes for Bangladeshi Young Learners during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Voices of the Teachers and Parents

The recent COVID-19 pandemic brought a dramatic change in teaching and learning around the world. Almost all educational institutions shifted to the online mode of teaching so that students do not miss any academic year. In Bangladesh, such a mode of teaching was never introduced at the mass level earlier, and that is why it was quite challenging for teachers to conduct online classes initially. In some cases, teachers who did not have a certain level of technological expertise in using online teaching platforms experienced more issues in conducting classes. This qualitative study highlights the problems that teachers and parents of nine young learners (YLs) faced during their online classes. The focused group discussion among seven English teachers and nine parents revealed that many YLs could not follow the technical instructions of the teachers well, which compelled the parents to sit beside their children constantly. Moreover, this study reports on the experience of teachers in communicating and coordinating with students on online platforms in a developing country where a full-fledged online teaching mode has not been implemented before. Such a reciprocal interaction among teachers, students, and parents in an online platform provides the scope for rethinking the “parental involvement framework of online teaching” in an English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) context, where parents’ digital skills, as well as involvement with the learners’ the learning process, affect students’ academic achievement to a great extent. The findings of the study have implications for planning online English courses for YLs in ESOL contexts such as Bangladesh, where the idea of online teaching is quite new.
KEDUDUKAN DAN FUNGSI DEWAN PENGAWAS SYARIAH DALAM MENGAWASI TRANSAKSI LEMBAGA KEUANGAN SYARIAH DI INDONESIA

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengawasan bank syariah yang dilakukan oleh Dewan Syariah Nasional (DSN) dan Dewan Pengawas Syariah (DPS), serta mencoba menganalisa efektifitas tugas DSN dan DPS dalam mengawasi lembaga keuangan syari’ah yang ada di Indonesia Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kepustakaan, dimana pengumpulan data dilakukan dari berbagai sumber baik berupa buku-buku, majalah, surat kabar maupun dokumen-dokumen yang terkait dengan pengawasan bank syariah. Hasil penelitian ini menggambarkan bahwa pada dasarnya pengawasan bank syariah memiliki dua sistem, yaitu pengawasan dari aspek: (i) kondisi keuangan, kepatuhan pada ketentuan perbankan secara umum dan prinsip kehati-hatian bank, dan (ii) pemenuhan prinsip syariah dalam kegiatan operasional bank. Berkaitan dengan hal itu maka struktur pengawasan perbankan syariah lebih bersifat multilayer yang secara ideal akan terdiri dari sistem pengawasan internal yang dilaksanakan oleh DPS, yang lebih bersifat mengatur ke dalam dan dilakukan agar ada mekanisme dan sistem kontrol untuk kepentingan manajemen dan sistem pengawasan eksternal yang dilakukan oleh DSN yang pada dasarnya untuk memenuhi kepentingan nasabah dan kepentingan publik secara umum. Hasil lainnya adalah fungsi DSN dan DPS belum berjalan secara optimal. Pada saat ini, yang lebih menonjol dalam memberikan teguran-teguran baik bersifat tertulis maupun lisan lebih banyak dilakukan oleh Biro Pengembangan Perbankan Syariah Bank Indonesia daripada DPS sendiri. Padahal, DSN dan DPS mempunyai kewenangan untuk melaksanakan tugasnya sebagai badan pengawas syariah.
GenePro: a cytoscape plug-in for advanced visualization and analysis of interaction networks

MOTIVATION Analyzing the networks of interactions between genes and proteins has become a central theme in systems biology. Versatile software tools for interactively displaying and analyzing these networks are therefore very much in demand. The public-domain open software environment Cytoscape has been developed with the goal of facilitating the design and development of such software tools by the scientific community. RESULTS We present GenePro, a plugin to Cytoscape featuring a set of versatile tools that greatly facilitates the visualization and analysis of protein networks derived from high-throughput interactions data and the validation of various methods for parsing these networks into meaningful functional modules. AVAILABILITY The GenePro plugin is available at the website http://genepro.ccb. sickkids.ca.