Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Managing the online learning revolution in an MBA course:quality assurance through strategic development

As online education becomes more commonplace so does the competition for students and the concomitant need to keep up with technology and best practice. In an environment where massive open online courses (MOOCs) are proving to be a disruptive innovation to university education the impact is shifting the boundaries of online delivery and revolutionising online learning. Despite its rapid rise and relative populist approach there remain uncertainties around notions of student performance, the student experience and overall aspects of academic quality assurance of MOOCs. This is particularly important in a higher education environment characterised by regulatory requirements and driven by international accreditation, both of which tend to apply an increased scrutiny on the delivery of online education. In the business education sphere this appears to culminate in the global MBA market that may soon see direct competition from MOOC providers. This paper considers an approach taken to manage academic quality assurance and delivery of an online MBA course, mostly delivered in an asynchronous environment. It discusses the strategic intent and subsequent steps taken to operationalize its various components. Key elements of the plan include the allocation of staff resources including the appointment of an academic online MBA program leader and a dedicated instructional design team. In addition, a range of support mechanisms and instruments were developed and made available to online instructors to facilitate both the development of the required skillset and continuous improvements. The strategic approach pivots around the development and implementation of quality assurance (QA) mechanisms and audits, over and above the existing QA measures used for face to face delivery such as course reviews and an extensive student feedback mechanism. The additional audits on ‘course delivery against strategic plan’ and ‘instructor engagement’ ensure the implementation of a threshold for online course delivery, facilitates the roll-out of good practice across the program and allows for remedial actions when required. In addition, the online delivery is supported by an electronic lounge in an effort to establish an MBA wide community. It appears that a strategic approach to the delivery of online university education, particularly with an embedded focus on academic quality assurance has not only contributed to the development of a structured and systematic approach and skillset for online instructors but likewise delivered desired outcomes. Ultimately, the education revolution seems to have taken another quantum leap forward, and a focus on quality assurance can only bode well for any provider, particularly when product differentiation becomes crucial.
On linear output feedback for uncertain nonlinear systems

In this paper, we consider a problem of asymptotic output regulation of a class of uncertain nonlinear systems by output feedback. The system under consideration is in the Parametric-Pure-Feedback Form, which does not satisfy the existing conditions such as the triangularity condition or the Lipschitz condition. We propose a linear output feedback controller with a scaling factor, which asymptotically regulates the output of the considered system.
EXPERIENCES IN EVALUATING AND SPECIFYING AERATION EQUIPMENT

To assure adequate aeration capacity in activated sludge plants, aeration systems must be properly selected, specified, and tested. All of this has been made possible by the develop ment of testing methods over a period of years. It has been the experience of the authors that careful specifying followed by compre hensive testing of aeration equipment is well justified. In 16 different aeration tests wit nessed in the past several years, only in seven instances did the aeration equipment pass on the-first try. One aeration system required two retests and another required three. Of the nine that failed the first try, five required major field modification of the equipment. Many consulting firms began requiring performance testing of aeration systems only in the last few years. The performance claims of many aera tion equipment manufacturers have dropped significantly as a result of the testing. This paper will trace the development of aeration theory and the evolution of theory into methods of specifying and testing aeration equipment. While not encompassing all as pects of equipment specifying and testing, it is hoped that some points will be beneficial to both the manufacturer and the design engineer.
Identificación genómica de bacterias ácido lácticas aisladas de las heces del sajino (Pecari tajacu)

El sajino (Pecari tajacu) es una especie de alto valor comercial en el mercado internacional por su carne y cuero. Los animales criados en cautividad se caracterizan por su rusticidad probablemente debido a su microbiota nativa que resulta de gran interés como fuente de probióticos para su manejo en zoocriadero. El objetivo fue identificar molecularmente, la microbiota de las heces del sajino. Siendo la metodología, aislamiento y purificación bacteriana en medio de cultivo selectivo MRS, seguidamente la extracción de ADN dirigida al gen 16S ADNr, PCR, electroforesis, secuenciación y finalmente el análisis bioinformático. Resultando, cepas bacterianas ácido lácticas, Weissella confusa, Weissella cibaria, Pediococcus pentosaceus y Lactobacillus plantarum. Este estudio abre la vía a la “domesticación” de probióticos de especies animales silvestres candidatas para el desarrollo de nuevas actividades pecuarias, en particular en zonas de amortiguamiento de reservas de biosfera.
Broadband matched-field tomography using simplified acoustic systems

Ocean Acoustic Tomography is a remote sensing technique that has been proposed to infer physical properties of the ocean traversed by the sound field. Although its feasibility has been demonstrated, it is still not being used in a systematic way due, in a large extent, to cost and operational difficulties of standard acoustic systems. Current developments of acoustic systems go in the sense of simplifying them, both at the emitting and receiving end. Simplifying an acoustic system may represent a loss or a reduction of the amount of information contained in the observed acoustic field, possibly conducting to degradation in the inversion results. The objective of this thesis is to adapt existing array processing methods to be used in acoustic tomography and geoacoustic inversion taking into account the challenges posed by such simplifications, and to cope with the loss of available information they may represent. Two aspects are exploited with the objective of coping with the reduction of information: one is the development of a broadband data model, and the other is the development of matched-field processors based on that broadband data model, with particular emphasis in highresolution processors. Matched-field based approaches appear to be suitable to work in conjunction with the simplified acoustic systems used to collect several experimental data sets treated herein. Experimental results using simplified acoustic systems, sparse receiving arrays (active mode) on one hand, or an uncontrolled source (passive mode) on the other hand, show that it is possible to produce environmental estimates of the watercolumn and seafloor in close agreement with ground truth measurements. Key-words: Acoustic tomography, simplified acoustic systems, broadband, environmental estimation, coherent processing, highresolution. VII Nome: Cristiano José da Palma Soares Faculdade: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Universidade: Universidade do Algarve Orientador: Doutor Sérgio Manuel Machado Jesus, Professor Associado da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve T́ıtulo da Tese: Tomografia por Ajuste de Campo em Banda-Larga utilizando Sistemas Acústicos simplificados
The superior lateral genicular artery flap for reconstruction of knee and proximal leg defects

Reconstruction of defects around the knee region requires thin and pliable skin. The superior lateral genicular artery (SLGA) flap provides an excellent alternative to muscle-based flaps. The anatomy and the surgical techniques of the SLGA flap were reviewed and the results of cases using the SLGA flap for coverage of knee and proximal leg defects were analyzed. SLGA flaps were performed in two cases and followed up for at least 6 months. Twelve articles on the use of the SLGA flap were also identified. A review of 39 cases showed that the mean diameter of the perforator supplying the skin of the flap was 1.04 mm, while the mean diameter of the SLGA at its origin was 1.78 mm. The mean length of the pedicle measured from the origin of the popliteal artery was 7.44 cm. The average dimensions of the flap were 14.8×6.6 cm with primary closure of the donor site in 61.5% of cases. Of these cases, 38.5% were due to trauma, 23.1% were post-burn complications, 12.8% were defects after resection of tumors, and 10.3% were for ulcers post-bursectomy. The most common complication was flap tip necrosis. All studies reported favorable outcomes with complete wound healing.
Optimization Scheme of Optical Fiber Transmission Network on Qinghai Power Grid

The optical fiber transmission network is an important component of power communication network;it undertakes power dispatching,relay protection,automation of safety production management for power grid and business management.The paper describes the situation of fiber transmission network of Qinghai power and analyses the existing problems in network running,introduces several common network structures of optical fiber transmission network,combinning with the development of power grid of "Eleventh-Five-Year Plan",as well as points out network structure's optimization scheme.
External Costs of Transportation. Case Study: Maritime Transport

A sustainable transport system needs a cost accounting and full cost-pricing systems reflecting economic factors which originate from transport activity inhibiting sustainable development (namely, externalities; spillover effects and non-priced inter-sectorial linkages; public goods; uncompetitive markets; myopic planning horizons and high discount rates; risk and uncertainty, irreversibility and policy failures) (Panaytou, 1992). The evaluation of the impacts of transport enables policy analysis to formulate tools to avoid, reduce or compensate such costs, as well as to make optimal trade-off between environmental protection and other economic and social objectives (Quinet, 2003). In particular, there is a consensus that environmental effects (externalities) should be included in the assessment of projects and policies in order to define effective policy instruments for dealing with pollution entailed by transport. This report defines a comprehensive framework for the assessment of maritime external costs that has been chosen as case study. In order to do so, this report is organized in two sections: (i) identification of all environmental impacts of maritime transport (at sea and in ports) and a detailed analysis for those already studied in previous researches in literature; (ii)Estimation of identified environmental impacts focusing on those related to air pollutants.
Optical Side Channel Attacks on Singlechip

Optical side channel attack is a new kind of method against cipher chips, such as singlechips implementing public cryptographic algorithms. Two kind of optical side channel attacks, active and passive attacks, are presented in this paper. First, we implemented optical fault injection attacks against cipher algorithms running on AT89C52 singlechip, and demonstrated how to exploit secret information under attack. Then, we did photonic emission dependency analysis and revealed the correlation between operation/data and the photonic emission from the AT89C52 singlechip at the instruction level. Our experimental results show that optical side channel attacks pose serious threats to Cipher chips. KEYWORD: Optical side channel attack; Optical Fault Injection Attack; Photonic Emission Analysis; AES; Singlechip; AT89C52
Thermal modeling and management of microprocessors

The most recent, and arguably one of the most difficult obstacles to the exponential growth in transistor density predicted by Moore's Law is that of removing the large amount of heat generated within the tiny area of a microprocessor. The exponential increase in power density and its direct relation to on-chip temperature have, in recent processors, led to very high cooling costs. Since temperature also has an exponential effect on lifetime reliability and leakage power, it has become a first-class design constraint in microprocessor development akin to performance. This dissertation describes work to address the temperature challenge from the perspective of the architecture of the microprocessor. It proposes both the infrastructure to model the problem and several mechanisms that form part of the solution. This research describes HotSpot, an efficient and extensible microarchitectural thermal modeling tool that is used to guide the design and evaluation of various thermal management techniques. It presents several Dynamic Thermal Management (DTM) schemes that distribute heat both over time and space by controlling the level of computational activity. Processor temperature is not only a function of the power density but also the placement and adjacency of hot and cold functional blocks, determined by the floorplan of the microprocessor. Hence, this dissertation also explores various thermally mitigating placement choices available within a single core and across multiple cores of a microprocessor. It does so through the development of HotFloorplan, a thermally-aware microarchitectural floorplanner. Finally, through an analytical framework, this research also focuses on the spatial (size) granularity at which thermal management is important. If regions of very high power density are small enough, they do not cause hot spots. The granularity study quantifies this relationship and illustrates it using three different microarchitectural examples.
ML-SLA-IoT: an SLA Specification and Monitoring Framework for IoT applications

Service level agreement (SLA) is a formal contract between a service provider and a service consumer to guarantee the Quality of service (QoS) expectations, it is used in all areas of information technology, such as Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT), networks and Web services. For IoT applications, the main challenges are: (1) how to describe the SLA terms, such as QoS properties, service levels, penalties in SLA violation, (2) how to monitor these terms, and (3) how to integrate an SLA into all the IoT application layers. Therefore, in this paper, we propose ML-SLA-IoT, a framework for SLA specification and monitoring. It covers the entire layers of an IoT application. It describes precisely QoS levels, provided services, and obligations. It differs from other SLA specification languages in the specification of user preferences, the use of microservices (for reusability, dynamism and ease of integration) and ML-SLA (multi-level metrics and QoS according to existing constraints and user preferences). Furthermore, ML-SLA-IoT monitors SLA terms in an automatic and decentralised manner using smart contracts and blockchain technologies without the intervention of the third-party. Finally, we present a comparative study and experiments with existing solutions regarding to some criteria for SLA specification and monitoring. Our results show that ML-SLA-IoT gives better performance in terms of dynamic pricing, obligation combination, and SLA monitoring.
Baccor, in vitro formation of biofilm in broken endodontic files in radicular canals

The aim of this study to evaluate the biofilm formation of sulfate-reducing bacteria from two microbial species, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (oral and environmental strain) and Desulfovibrio fairfieldensis, in root canals with fractured endodontic files in vitro and the biocorrosive changes that these strains are capable of promoting on the metal surface of endodontic files. Fourteen teeth were included with fractured # 90 Kerr files and inoculants of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans strains and Desulfovibrio fairfieldensis in a modified Postgate E culture medium. The inoculated teeth were evaluated at 28, 41, 51 and 477 days. The biofilm was evaluated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal laser scanning microscope with the fluorophore the Live / Dead® kit. For the 477 day, chemical pickling followed, with subsequent evaluation of the metallic surface of endodontic files in the SEM. In the biofilm analyzes of 28, 51 and 477 days, a mixed biofilm was observed, with a predominance of living cells and areas of corrosion along the entire metallic surface of the file for the last time, contrasting the metallic surface of the control groups. The SRB showed cellular activity both on the metal surface of the file and on the dentin surface of the root canal at the deepest levels of the root canal, apical and medium, promoting biocorrosion along the metal surface of endodontic files.
A Framework for Research on Green Supply Chain Management

The literature on sustainable/green supply chain management (SSCM/GSCM) has been non-uniform in terms of defining constructs, variables, and causal relationships among constructs. This article reviews the impact of SSCM/GSCM on firm performance with a view to identifying the most commonly used practices and proposing new constructs, variables, and construct relationships by drawing from the literature on SSCM/GSCM, reverse logistics, closed-loop supply chains, and strategic management. This article also builds a conceptual framework, grounded in theory, linking GSCM practices with firm performance, and presents propositions that may be tested in future studies on SSCM. Finally, implications of this research for practitioners and researchers are highlighted.
Organizational Issues And Quality In Health Care Under Present-Day Conditions

One of the crucial social benefits is health, which, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, is subject to protection by the state. One of the approaches to the study of the availability and quality of medical care in the Russian Federation is to analyse the activities of polyclinics. In our work, we analysed the organization of medical care delivery using some statistical indicators: the workload of medical personnel, staffing levels and the number of people provided with medical care at the state autonomous health care institution “Engels Municipal Polyclinic No. 3”. When assessing the waiting time for the delivering medical care, the following data were obtained: the timing of consultations of medical specialists does not exceed 14 calendar days from the date of the patient encounter to a medical organization; the waiting time for an appointment by therapists at the moment is slightly longer than the norm and is on average from three to five days. The staffing of district therapists (due to the current epidemic situation (COVID-19)), does not reach 100 and is 76.6 %. At the moment, the polyclinic serves 30 sites, each of which has about 2200 citizens, while the norm is 1700 citizens. One general practitioner of the polyclinic accounts for 5.76 people per hour. Thus, the observance of the basic principles of medical care by the state autonomous health care institution “Engels Municipal Polyclinic No. 3” can be assessed as satisfactory.
Detent Force Reduction of a Tubular Linear Generator Using an Axial Stepped Permanent Magnet Structure

Various methods have been discussed to reduce detent force in a tubular permanent magnet type linear single phase AC generator. In particular, the proposed methods depend on variations of the permanent magnet construction. These methods include two approaches in the form of sloped magnets, and conical magnets in addition to the conventional method of optimizing the magnet length. The undesired detent force ripples were calculated by a two dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM). Moreover, the generated electromotive force in the stator coils was calculated for each configuration of the permanent magnet. The experimental results agreed well with those obtained from the FEM-based simulations. Sufficient reduction in the detent force was achieved over the range of 40% while the root mean square of the output voltage was maintained. It was found that sloping the permanent magnet decreased the detent force and at the same time increased the generated rms voltage of the AC generator. The performance of the designed linear AC generator was evaluated in terms of its efficiency, total weight, losses, and power to weight ratio.
Warming and redistribution of N inputs drive long-term increase in terrestrial N2O emission factor

Anthropogenic nitrogen inputs cause major negative environmental impacts, including emissions of the important greenhouse gas N2O. Despite their importance, changes in terrestrial N loss pathways driven by global change and spatial redistribution of N inputs are highly uncertain. We present a novel coupled soil-atmosphere isotope model (IsoTONE) to quantify terrestrial N losses and N2O emission factors from 1850-2020, initialised using a global dataset of natural soil δ15N, and optimized with a tropospheric timeseries of N2O isotopic composition using a Bayesian framework. N inputs from atmospheric deposition caused the majority (51%) of anthropogenic N2O emissions from soils in 2020. Long-term growth in emissions was driven by fertilization and deposition, however biological fixation caused subdecadal variability in emissions. N2O emission factors (EF) show large spatial variability due to climate and soil parameters. The mean effective global EF for N2O (weighted by N inputs) was 4.3±0.3% in 2020, much higher than the land surface area-weighted mean (1.1±0.1%). Climate change and redistribution of fertilisation have driven an increase in global EF over the past century, which accounts for 18% of the anthropogenic soil flux in 2020. Predicted increases in fertilisation in emerging economies will accelerate N2O-driven climate warming in coming decades, unless targeted mitigation measures focussing on fertiliser management and reduced N deposition are introduced.
Environmentalism and the leisure class

The Storm King Mountain controversy, considered to be the birthplace of the environmental movement, is detailed. New York's Consolidated Edison Co.'s desire to build a reliable 2 million kw pumped storage plant at Storm King to solve the problem of peaking power at bargain rates and to create greater efficiencies in existing systems was thwarted by a small but determined group of wealthy people. Their success was determined by the degree to which they were able to win support among people whose best interests might have been served by supporting the construction of the Consolidated Edison Co. Storm King plant. Among these was the entire government of the city of New York. From the Storm King controversy, the question of where future power is to come must be asked as environmentalists attempt to stalemate practically every conceivable method of producing energy. 1 drawing, 1 map.