Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling black carbon absorption of solar radiation: combining external and internal mixing assumptions

An accurate simulation of the absorption properties is key for assessing the radiative effects of aerosol on meteorology and climate. The representation of how chemical species are mixed inside the particles (the mixing state) is one of the major uncertainty factors in the assessment of these effects. Here we compare aerosol optical properties simulations over Europe and North America, coordinated in the framework of the third phase of the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII), to 1 year of AERONET sunphotometer retrievals, in an attempt to identify a mixing state representation that better reproduces the observed single scattering albedo and its spectral variation. We use a single post-processing tool (FlexAOD) to derive aerosol optical properties from simulated aerosol speciation profiles, and focus on the absorption enhancement of black carbon when it is internally mixed with more scattering material, discarding from the analysis scenes dominated by dust. We found that the single scattering albedo at 440 nm (ω0,440) is on average overestimated (underestimated) by 3–5 % when external (core-shell internal) mixing of particles is assumed, a bias comparable in magnitude with the typical variability of the quantity. The (unphysical) homogeneous internal mixing assumption underestimates ω0,440 by ~ 14 %. The combination of external and core-shell configurations (partial internal mixing), parameterized using a simplified function of air mass aging, reduces the ω0,440 bias to −1/−3 %. The black carbon absorption enhancement (Eabs) in core-shell with respect to the externally mixed state is in the range 1.8–2.5, which is above the currently most accepted upper limit of ~ 1.5. The partial internal mixing reduces Eabs to values more consistent with this limit. However, the spectral dependence of the absorption is not well reproduced, and the absorption Ångström exponent AAE675440 is overestimated by 70–120 %. Further testing against more comprehensive campaign data, including a full characterization of the aerosol profile in terms of chemical speciation, mixing state, and related optical properties, would help in putting a better constraint on these calculations.
The Effect of an Unconscious Auditory Stimulus on Pilot Performance under Varying Instrument Flying Conditions

Human error remains a significant contributing factor with respect to accidents in civil air transportation. It is therefore crucial to establish avenues by which performance on the flightdeck can be enhanced under conditions of distress. The purpose of this study was to examine whether an unconscious auditory stimulus (UAS) could enhance pilot performance under varying instrument flight (IFR) conditions on the aircraft flightdeck. Forty IFR student pilots underwent two eight-minute simulated flights, whereupon they were presented with different IFR weather conditions. During the trial, the experimental group listened to a UAS, whereas the control group listened to white noise (WN). Performance was measured based on the deviation from the localizer (LOC), the glide slope (GS), and the air speed (AS). It was hypothesized that the UAS would assist in enhancing pilot performance under varying IFR weather conditions, and that overall good weather conditions would degrade performance less than poor weather conditions. The results of this experiment did not support the hypotheses. Possible explanations are presented in the discussion section.
The Influence of Capital Structure on the Performance of Manufacturing Companies: Empirical evidence from listed companies in East Africa

This paper evaluates the influence of capital structure on the performance of manufacturing companies listed in various stock exchanges in East Africa. This study used panel secondary data, where the financial statements of 12 manufacturing companies were selected from (2005-2012). Data analysis was done using multiple regression analysis which established the relationship between performance expressed by Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Earnings per Share (EPS) and capital structure which was represented by Long Term Debts to Total Capitalization (LTDTC)/ (gearing), Short Term Debts to Total Assets (STDTA), Long Term Debts to Total Assets (LTDTA), Debt to Equity (TDE) and Interest cover (IC). The study confirmed statistically a significant negative relationship between profitability and capital structure using ROA however the remaining profitability measures ROE and EPS showed insignificant relationship with capital structure. It is recommended that manufacturing companies in East Africa should strive to maintain low leverage so as to be profitable. Keywords: Capital Structure, Performance, Listed Manufacturing Companies
The Poetics of Demythologisation in Kunle Afolayan’s The Figurine

The paper examines the concept of demythologisation as it is expressed in Kunle Afolayan’s film, The figurine (subtitled Araromire). The paper argues that, though some influences of supernatural forces appear potent in the early parts of the film (Araromire Village around 1908), natural coincidence and human action (human orchestration) are more convincingly projected in the latter part of the film (which is set in Lagos around 2001). Examining how Femi Osofisan’s drama demystifies and demythologises sacred matters, the paper argues that Afolayan adopts the same technique of demythologisation in his film, The figurine (Araromire) the same way Osofisan does in most of his plays. However, deriving its premises from certain revelations in the film, the study concludes that Kunle Afolayan’s attempt at demythologisation is a partial success, as certain occurrences in the film are difficult to completely detach from supernatural influence despite their denotation as coincidences.
Chaotic rotation of a towed elliptical cylinder

Abstract In this paper I consider the self-excited rotation of an elliptical cylinder towed in a viscous fluid as a canonical model of nonlinear fluid–structure interactions with possible applications in the design of sensors and energy extraction devices. First, the self-excited ellipse system is shown to be analogous to the forced bistable oscillators studied in classic chaos theory. A single variable, the distance between the pivot and the centroid, governs the system bifurcation into bistability. Next, fully coupled computational fluid dynamics simulations of the motion of the cylinder demonstrate limit cycle, period doubling, intermittently chaotic and fully chaotic dynamics as the distance is further adjusted. The viscous wake behind the cylinder is presented for the limit-cycle cases and new types of stable wakes are characterized for each. In contrast, a chaotic case demonstrates an independence of the wake and structural states. The rotational kinetic energy is quantified and correlated to the vortex shedding and the trajectory periodicity. Chaotic and high-period system responses are found to persist when structural damping is applied and for Reynolds numbers as low as 200.
Mining the gap: evolution of the magnitude gap in X-ray galaxy groups from the 3-square-degree XMM coverage of CFHTLS

We present a catalog of 129 X-ray galaxy groups, covering a redshift range 0.04 \textless z \textless 1.23, selected in the similar to 3 deg(2) part of the CFHTLS W1 field overlapping XMM observations performed under the XMM-LSS project. We carry out a statistical study of the redshift evolution out to redshift one of the magnitude gap between the first and the second brightest cluster galaxies of a well defined mass-selected group sample. We find that the slope of the relation between the fraction of groups and the magnitude gap steepens with redshift, indicating a larger fraction of fossil groups at lower redshifts. We find that 22.2 +/- 6% of our groups at z \textless= 0.6 are fossil groups. We compare our results with the predictions of three semi-analytic models based on the Millennium simulation. The intercept of the relation between the magnitude of the brightest galaxy and the value of magnitude gap becomes brighter with increasing redshift. This trend is steeper than the model predictions which we attribute to the younger stellar age of the observed brightest cluster galaxies. This trend argues in favor of stronger evolution of the feedback from active galactic nuclei at z \textless 1 compared to the models. The slope of the relation between the magnitude of the brightest cluster galaxy and the value of the gap does not evolve with redshift and is well reproduced by the models, indicating that the tidal galaxy stripping, put forward as an explanation of the occurrence of the magnitude gap, is both a dominant mechanism and sufficiently well modeled.
Data Hiding in Audio Signals using Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Huffman Code Algorithm and Low-Bit Encoding

Information security in this era has become very necessary for many aspects of life. The importance of security and privacy of data in the field of data communication has been discussed for many years. The discussion is as a result of the vulnerabilities associated with the use of the Internet and the significant strive computer technology has made in data communication. In this study, a method of audio file protection is proposed using audio steganography, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), Huffman Code Algorithm and low-bit encoding. The novelty and the uniqueness of this proposed mechanism aims to improve the security and secrecy of audio data file transmitted over the untrusted internet medium. Audio files to be transmitted are first compressed to achieve reduced file size using Huffman code algorithm. The compressed audio files are then encrypted using elliptic curve cryptography. The compressed encrypted audio file is therefore embedded in the appropriate frame of the converted audio signal based on the histogram values using low-bit encoding scheme. The proposed system recorded low values of Bit Error Rate (BER) and Mean Square Error (MSE), high values of segmented signal-to-noise ratio (SNRseg), high values of payload capacity which
Voluntary Participation Game Experiments with a Non-Excludable Public Good : Is Spitefulness a Source of Cooperation?

Economic theory predicts that it is impossible to have cooperation in finitely repeated games such as a prisoner's dilemma game without communication. In an experiment on a voluntary participation game with a non-excludable public good that is a version of a Hawk-Dove game, we obderved that evolutionary stable strategies did not appear, but cooperation emerged through a transmutation from the Hawk-Dove game to a game where a dominant strategy outcome is Pareto efficient.
The possible protective role of magnesium on Ciprofloxacin Induced chondrotoxicity on the epiphyseal plate growth of juvenile albino rat : a histological and morphometric study

Background: Ciprofloxacin is one of the most effective antibiotics used in the treatment of many infectious diseases in adults, but it has undesirable toxic effects on the growing cartilage. The present study was designed to detect the toxic effect of ciprofloxacin on growing cartilage in the immature albino rats and the possible protective role of magnesium in prevention of such toxicity. Methods: Seventy rats were used in the current study. They were divided into five groups Group I: control group, group II: ciprofloxacin treated group, group III: magnesium given before ciprofloxacin, group IV: ciprofloxacin with magnesium and group V: magnesium given after ciprofloxacin). The region of the knee joint was prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain for light microscopic examination. Morphometric studies were also done using the image analyzer. Results: ciprofloxacin treated group revealed different changes in the tibial epiphyseal growth plate of juvenile rats in the form of decreased thickness, loss of chondrocytes, karryorrhexis, pyknotic nuclei, interlacunar hemorrhage, irregularity in the columns and myxomatous degeneration. Partial improvement was observed in the group treated with magnesium before ciprofloxacin and in the group treated with magnesium concurrently with ciprofloxacin, meanwhile no improvement was detected in the group treated with magnesium given after ciprofloxacin. Conclusion: The present study concluded that the use of ciprofloxacin in juvenile rats caused epiphyseal plate growth retardation; accordingly the use of this drug in pediatrics should be restricted to carefully selected indications. Owing to its protective role in reducing such chondrotoxic effects, the use of magnesium before (in chronic cases like cystic fibrosis of the lung) and concomitantly with ciprofloxacin is highly recommended.
One step cyclocondensation of (thio)barbituric acid with chalcones in glacial acetic acid and phosphorous pentoxide: Part-I

Some new 5, 7-diaryl-1,5-dihydro (or 1, 2, 3, 5-tetrahydro)- pyrano[2, 3-d] pyrimidin-2, 4-diones (or 2-thioxo-4-ones) (3a-h) have been synthesized in one-step by cyclocondensation of barbituric acid or thiobarbituric acid (1) with arylideneacetophenones (2a-d), in glacial acetic acid in the presence of phosphorous pentoxide. The structures of the compounds 3a-h have been determined by UV, IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass spectral data and elemental analyses. The compounds 3a-h do not seem to be available in the literature Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 51(2), 129-138, 2016
Differential effects of internal and external factors on the development of vocabulary, tense morphology and morpho-syntax in successive bilingual children

The present study investigates the effects of child internal (age/time) and child external/environmental factors on the development of a wide range of language domains in successive bilingual (L2) Turkish-English children of homogeneously low SES. Forty-three L2 children were tested on standardized assessments examining the acquisition of vocabulary and morpho-syntax. The L2 children exhibited a differential acquisition of the various domains: they were better on the general comprehension of grammar and tense morphology and less accurate on the acquisition of vocabulary and (complex) morpho-syntax. Profile effects were confirmed by the differential effects of internal and external factors on the language domains. The development of vocabulary and complex syntax were affected by internal and external factors, whereas external factors had no contribution to the development of tense morphology. These results are discussed in light of previous studies on the impact of internal and external factors in child L2 acquisition.
Economics of biofortification

Micronutrient malnutrition is a serious public health problem in many developing countries. Different interventions are currently used, but their overall coverage is relatively limited. Biofortification-that is, breeding staple food crops for higher micronutrient contents-is a new agriculture-based approach, but relatively little is known about its ramifications. Here, the main factors influencing success are discussed and a methodology for economic impact assessment is presented. "Ex ante" studies from India and other countries suggest that biofortified crops can reduce the problem of micronutrient malnutrition in a cost-effective way, when targeted to specific situations. Further research is needed to corroborate these findings and address certain issues still unresolved. Copyright 2007 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
The role of civic participation in the South African budgeting process

This research contextualizes public participation and participatory budgeting frameworks from a decentralized perspective. It provides an international perspective on public participation initiatives in the budgeting environment by analyzing selected indices and assessments in developed economies (the United Kingdom and New Zealand) and developing economies (Kenya and Tanzania) to determine the participatory framework in relation to the South African budgeting environment. From a budgeting perspective, focused public participation seems sensible. As a government’s primary economic policy tool, the budget has a twofold purpose: translating planned policy objectives and political commit-ments into reality based on the state of existing revenue and structuring income sources to raise additional revenue accordingly. The collection and distribution of funds to meet public needs remain a strategic responsibility of any government. This, however, can only succeed within the context of a proper policy framework that allows for credible policy choices and good governance. Good governance and budget transparency essentially sanction this, while public participation in a government’s budgeting framework fundamentally underscores good governance.
Food Products as Sources of Protein and Amino Acids—The Case of Poland

The aim of this study was to identify the food sources of protein and 18 amino acids (AAs) in the average Polish diet. The analysis was conducted based on the 2016 Household Budget Survey (HBS) on the consumption of food products from a representative sample of 38,886 households (n = 99,230). This survey was organized, conducted and controlled by the Central Statistical Office, Social Surveys and Living Conditions Statistics Department in cooperation with the Statistic Office in Łódź based on the recording of expenditures, quantitative consumption, and revenues in budget books for one month. 91 food products from 13 food categories (e.g., meat and meat products, grain products) consisting of 42 food groups (e.g., red meat, milk, cheese) were analyzed to determine protein and amino acid intake from these products. Three categories delivered 80.9% of total protein (meat and meat products: 38.9%; grain products: 23.9%; and milk and dairy products: 18.1%). The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs: leucine, isoleucine and valine) were delivered mainly by meat and meat products (39.9%; 41.3% and 37.4%, respectively). Meat and meat products were also the most important source for other essential amino acids (EAAs: lysine 49.2%, histidine 46.6%, threonine 44.7%, tryptophan 41.4%, phenylalanine 35.3%, and methionine 44.2%). In terms of the contribution of the non-essential or conditionally essential amino acids to the average Polish diet, most important were grain products (for cysteine: 41.2%; glutamic acid: 33.8%; proline: 34.1%), and meat and meat products (for tyrosine: 38.3%; arginine: 46.1%; alanine: 48.7%; aspartic acid: 41.7%; glycine: 52.5%; serine: 33.6%). Five clusters were identified to assess the impact of socio-demographic and economic factors on the protein supply. The largest impact was observed for respondent education, degree of urbanization, study month, and usage of agricultural land. The shares of animal food in total protein supply amounted to 66.5% in total population and varied from 56.4% to 73.6% in different clusters.
Elevation changes measured on Svalbard glaciers and ice caps from airborne laser data

Abstract Precise airborne laser surveys were conducted during spring in 1996 and 2002 on 17 ice caps and glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago covering the islands of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet. We present the derived elevation changes. Lower-elevation glaciers in south Spitsbergen show the largest thinning rates of ∼ 0.5 m a-1, while some of the higher, more northerly ice caps appear to be close to balance. The pattern of elevation change is complex, however, due to several factors including glacier aspect, microclimatological influences and the high natural annual variability in local accumulation and ablation rates. Anomalous changes were observed on Fridtjovbreen, which started surging in 1996, at the start of the measurement period. On this glacier, thinning (of > 0.6 m a-1) was observed in the accumulation area, coincident with thickening at lower elevations. Asymmetric thinning was found on two ice caps on Nordaustlandet, with the largest values on the eastern side of Vestfonna but the western slopes of Vegafonna. The mean elevation change for all ice masses was -0.19 m a-1 w.e. , which is 1.6 times the net mass-balance value determined for the last 30 years. Using mass-balance sensitivity estimates for Svalbard suggests that the implied increase in negative balance is linked to warmer air temperatures in the late 1990s. Multiple linear regression suggests that mass balance is most closely correlated with latitude, rather than mean altitude or longitude.
Role of various physical and chemical techniques for hollow fibre forward osmosis membrane cleaning

AbstractFouling is an inevitable phenomenon with most of the water treatment systems. Similar to RO, NF and other membrane-based systems, fouling also seriously affects the performance of low-cost forward-osmosis (FO) systems and disturbs the overall efficiency of these systems, and various cleaning practices have been evaluated to restore their designed performances. This study evaluates the performance of various physical and chemical cleaning techniques for hollow fibre forward-osmosis (HFFO) membrane. HFFO membrane was subjected to various fouling conditions using different brackish groundwater qualities and model organic foulants such as alginate, humic acid and bovine serum albumin. Results indicated that physical cleaning affects differently the flux restoration according to the type of foulants (i.e. inorganic or organic) and the crossflow rates play an important role in membrane cleaning in both membrane orientation. The higher cross flow Re values at any particular area seem important for the cl.
Changes in maternal body composition and metabolism of dairy goats during pregnancy

The objective of this study was to evaluate the mobilization of nutrients in goats of different gestation types and pregnancy stages. Forty-four Saanen and Oberhasli goats were studied. The goats of each breed and gestation type (single or twin) were slaughtered at different gestational ages (80, 110, and 140 days of pregnancy), forming a completely randomized design in a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial arrangement (two breeds, three gestational ages, and two types of pregnancy). The slaughter procedure involved separating the empty body, mammary glands, uterus with membranes and fetal fluid, and fetus(es). For the females slaughtered at 140 days of pregnancy, blood was collected to analyze metabolites and hormones every 15 days during gestation. The dry matter (DM) intake was lower in goats with twin pregnancies. The relative daily retention rate of the nutrients in the body was positive at 100 days of pregnancy but became negative at 140 days (-0.18±0.25 g DM kg-1 of maternal body d-1) and did not differ with breed or number of fetuses. Fetal growth in twin pregnancies was 66% higher than in single pregnancies. The highest levels of s-hydroxybutyrate and non-esterified fatty acids were observed beginning at 100 days of gestation. Serum total protein and albumin levels decreased after 125 days of gestation. Serum urea levels were reduced after 80 days of gestation. Plasma 17s-estradiol levels increased with the advance of pregnancy, and IGF-1 was highest between 60 and 80 days of gestation. The maternal metabolism throughout pregnancy does not vary with the type of pregnancy, and pregnant goats need greater nutritional intake during the final third of the gestational period regardless of the breed or type of pregnancy.