Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relation of grades of obesity with left ventricular functions

Background: Obesity is a state of excess adipose tissue mass. It is a complex multifactorial condition which poses major risk for serious diet related chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke. Obesity is associated with atrial and ventricular re-modelling; obese individuals have both eccentric and concentric patterns of left ventricular hypertrophy. Obesity adversely impacts cardiac diastolic function. In a large community based investigation, BMI emerged as a key correlate of impaired diastolic filling indexes. The objective of this study was to evaluate left ventricular dimensions and functions in patients with obesity and to find correlation between left ventricular dimensions and functions with grades of obesity. Methods: The present study was a hospital based study conducted in the Postgraduate Department of Internal Medicine, SMHS Hospital of Government Medical College Srinagar and SKIMS Kashmir. A total of 100 subjects of either gender across a spectrum of body mass were taken up for this study. Results: The mean age was 44.7±11 years. Females (56%) were more than males (44%). The subjects were categorized into four groups which include normal BMI (18%) overweight (32%), obese I (31%) and obese II (19%). The mean BMI of our subjects was 26.8±0.3kg/m 2 . There was no significant change in left ventricular systolic functions. Diastolic abnormality was found in 24% of the subjects. Diastolic abnormalities were more prevalent in subjects with higher grades of obesity 47.4% in obese II and 12.5% in overweight. Conclusions: With increasing grades of obesity, both LV dimensions and volumes were increased and subclinical LV diastolic dysfunction was present in all grades of obesity. Diastolic abnormalities were more prevalent in subjects with higher grades of obesity. Our study provides justification for the idea of obesity as a therapeutic target in prevention of increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases.
VARIABLE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY INFLUENCE ON HYDROMAGNETIC FLOW PAST A STRETCHING CYLINDER IN A THERMALLY STRATIFIED MEDIUM WITH HEAT SOURCE/SINK

This paper examines the variable thermal conductivity influence on MHD flow past a thermally stratified stretching cylinder with heat source or sink. The governing partial differential equations of the flow field are converted to a system of non-linear coupled similarity ordinary differential equations. Employing Shooting technique followed by Runge-Kutta method, the system is solved numerically. The effects of the various physical parameters countered in the flow field on the velocity, temperature as well as the skin friction coefficient and the rate of heat transfer near the wall are computed and illustrated graphically.
Investigation of the reinforcement and stabilisation effect of geogrid layers under railway ballast

Investigation of the reinforcement and stabilisation effect of geogrid layers under railway ballast This paper deals with the issue of the stabilization of railway track geometry. It details the published results in numerous international journals. Having analysed the cited publications the paper deals with a new research topic related to geogrid-reinforced railway ballast. A research team of the Department of Transport Infrastructure and Municipal Engineering at the Szechenyi Istvan University would like to continue working on this research topic.
Slot Array Antennas at V-band based on Inverted Microstrip Gap Waveguide

Recently, gap waveguide technology is introduced as a proper guiding structure for millimeter-systems. The conception of gap waveguide technology can be modeled for theoretical analysis by two parallel plates, a top perfect electric conductor layer and a bottom perfect magnetic conductor layer. This structure stops all modes propagating in all directions except for a quasi-TEM mode when the gap between perfect electric conductor and perfect magnetic conductor plates is smaller than quarter wavelength at an operating frequency. Until now there are already four different visions of this novel conception-groove, ridge, inverted microstrip and microstrip ridge gap waveguides. Among those four structures, the inverted microstrip gap waveguide has same obvious advantages. First of all, it has a uniform bed of nails while the others do not. This uniform pin structure makes the fabrication much easier and cheaper. Secondly, fabrication of microstrip circuitry on PCB by etching is accurate and very low cost. In addition, theories and design principles of microstrip technologies are very well-developed. Therefore, my work in this Lic. thesis is focusing on the theory of inverted microstrip gap waveguide and its applications on millimeter wave array antenna design.
GGE biplot analysis for visualization of mean performance and stability for seed yield in taramira at diverse locations in India

Among different oilseeds, taramira or rocket salad ( Eruca sativa L.) is an important non- edible oilseed crop cultivated in arid and semi-arid parts of India. It is cultivated on marginal areas where sowing gets delayed or cultivation of other crops is not feasible. However, its low yield and varietal instability across environments is not encouraging to make it competitive with other crops. Thus development of genotypes having high seed yield with stable performance is of paramount importance. In the present investigation six genotypes of rocket salad viz., TMB 2006-2, T 27, TMB 2008, RTM 1146, RTM 314 and RTM 1212 were grown at Bawal (Haryana), Bathinda (Punjab), Bikaner (Rajasthan), Jobner (Rajasthan), Sriganganagar (Rajasthan) and Navgaon (Rajasthan) during rabi (post-rainy) season of 2008-09. Data recorded on seed yield were subjected to GGE biplot analyses, which revealed that total sums of squares of variation were 78.73% for environments (E), 7.67% for genotypes (G) and 13.60% for genotype by environment interactions (GE). It was demonstrated that seed yield of RTM 1212> T 27> TMB 2006-2>TMB 2008> RTM 314, while RTM 1146 was lowest yielder. However, RTM 1146 was the most stable genotype across the locations followed by TMB 2006-2 and T 27. RTM 314 and TMB 2006-2 were found to be least stable while RTM 1212 was moderately stable for seed yield. Exploitation of G coupled with GE revealed that RTM 1212 was the winner genotype with respect to its performance at Bikaner, Bathinda, Jobner and Sriganganagar locations while T 27 was identified as the winner genotype at Bawal and Navgaon . GGE biplot analyses also elucidated that owing to its high mean performance, RTM 1212 may prove a better donor over RTM 1146 for transferring stability genes.
Ownership Structure and Corporate Governance andIts Effects on Performance: A Case of Selected Banks in Kenya

This study explored ownership structure and corporate governance and its effects on performance of firms in Kenya with reference to banks. The study revealed that there was no significant difference between type of ownership and financial performance, and between banks ownership structure and corporate governance practices. Further results revealed that there was significant difference between corporate governance and financial performance of banks. However, foreign-owned banks had slightly better performance than domestically-owned banks. This study recommends that corporate entities should promote corporate governance to send a positive signal to potential investors. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) should continue enforcing and encouraging firms to adhere to good corporate governance for financial institutions for efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, regulatory agencies including the government should promote and socialise corporate governance and its relationship to firm performance across industries.
An examination of the chemical structures and in vitro cytotoxic bioactivity of halomon related secondary metabolites from Portieria hornemannii found worldwide

An examination of the chemical structures and in vitro cytotoxic bioactivity of halo-genated monoterpenes isolated from Portieria hornemannii worldwide is presented here for the first time. It is anticipated that this analysis will be of valuable to the natural product chemist working in the field of drug discovery with reference to the rapid identification and possible characterisation of halogenated monoterpene secondary metabolites which demonstrate in vitro cytotoxic bioactivity.
The Settlement Country and Ethnic Identification of Children of Turkish Immigrants in Germany, France, and the Netherlands: What Role Do National Integration Policies Play?

Germany, France, and the Netherlands have pursued different types of integration policies. Using data from a mixed method study, this paper investigates whether and how these differences have affected the settlement country and ethnic identification of the children of Turkish immigrants. The results indicate that integration policies do not affect ethnic identification, but an inclusive policy has a positive impact on settlement country identification. Multicultural policies do not seem to have any effect. Despite processes of exclusion and self-exclusion in all three countries, our respondents have developed a strong connection to their settlement country and in particular to their place of residence.
Economic assessment of biomass gasification technology in providing sustainable electricity in Nigerian rural areas.

Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) in general, and biomass source in particular, remains one of the means of providing sustainable electricity to rural areas in developing countries. This is because of its strategic value in identifying when and where electricity is really required thus, reducing/eliminating the high cost of grid network. The majority of Nigeria's rural dwellers are farmers and use little or none of their residues at the end of the farming season. Nigeria has also been experiencing dwindling power supply at both national and rural level with accessibility representing only 35% and 10% respectively. The rural areas are the most affected causing significant disruption of their socio-economic settings. Considering the enormous biomass resources in these communities, and they constitute approximately 65% of the country's total population, it is feasible to provide sustainable electricity to these communities through Biomass Gasification Technology (BGT). Cost has been found to be the major constraint in adopting RETs. Hence, this paper aims to evaluate and optimise the unit cost of generating electricity through BGT in Nigerian rural areas. Whole Life Costing approach has been used to evaluate various capacities of BGT. The findings reflect that cost/kW of BGT ranges between US{dollar}594(NGN118, 800)-US{dollar}3,604(NGN720,800) for capacities between 125kW-10kW. The Net Present Value(NPV)/kWh of generating electricity has been calculated for several scenarios including 125kW, 100kW, 50kW, 32kW, 24kW and 10kW system capacities under 3 different operational hours (8, 12 and 16), with and without feed-in tariff(FIT) incentive is from US{dollar}0.015-US{dollar}0.11(NGN3.08-N21.79). The only scenario that exceeds the current unit price of generating electricity from fossil fuel source in Nigeria which is averagely US{dollar}0.083(NGN16.50) is 8 hour operation without FIT at 10kW capacity. More so, in the event fuel wood price increases by 50%, 75% and 100%, the average increase in NPV/kWh will be 13%, 20% and 27% respectively.
Sectional speed control system as system to evaluate driver’s behaviour on rural roads

Travel speed remains within the most important factors influencing the road safety. It is not only the severity of a crash that speed affects but velocity is also related to the risk of being involved in a crash. In Poland the problem of speeding drivers is widely common and similarly to other European countries speed is indicated as a dominant cause of accident occurrence. As a response to that many activities have been undertaken to better control drivers’ behaviour. One of the recently implemented prevention measures on chosen national roads in rural areas is a sectional speed control system. First statistics show that within the area of the sectional speed system the average travel speed has decreased. However, these statistics do not consider the presence of other than passenger vehicles in a traffic flow and their possible influence on the average recorded speed. The aim of this paper is to examine driver’s average speed depending on the geometric characteristics and type of a vehicle. Speed surveys were conducted with the use of ANPR (Automatic Plate Number Recognition) cameras. Tested sections included 12 sections of regional and 10 sections of province roads located in Podlaskie voivodship, Poland. During the measurements the traffic flow was composed of trucks, delivery vehicles and passenger cars. These types of vehicles were extracted and average travel speed was calculated for each group. Statistical analysis was performed between separated groups of users in order to evaluate the existence of statistically significant differences and to assess the influence of chosen road parameters and vehicle type on the average speed.
Real-time species distribution models for conservation and management of natural resources in marine environments

Species distribution models in marine environments typically use static variables, partly due to the limited availability of fine-resolution dynamic predictor variables and sufficiently detailed species abundance data. Our aim was to describe and quantify the dynamic coupling between the distribution of marine species (seabirds) and the natural variability of their habitat in real time through the combination of a high-resolution hydrodynamic model, aerial digital surveys and real-time species distribution modelling. We used a 2-step (delta) generalized additive model at 500 m spatial resolution for assessment and prediction of the changing patterns of wintering red-throated divers (RTDs) Gavia stellata in the outer Thames estuary, United Kingdom. Our dynamic species distribution models successfully resolved the major oscillations in the distribution of RTDs and confirmed their tight association with frontal zones where the probability of prey encounter was higher. The relative model standard errors (%) were generally below 30% in the high-density areas. Area under the curve (AUC) values indicated that the models were capable of distinguishing presence from absence about 75% of the time. The predictive power of the achieved distribution models made it possible to accurately identify areas where RTDs were con- centrated. Comparisons between visual aerial and digital stills aerial surveys documented that, in spite of similar patterns, the aerial digital surveys generally recorded significantly higher densities of RTDs than the visual aerial surveys. This study demonstrates how marine distribution models with assimilation of habitat variables from a well-calibrated fine-resolution hydrodynamic model coupled with the use of digital aerial surveys can facilitate the capture of detailed associations between seabirds and their dynamic habitats.
Determining field-aligned currents with the Swarm constellation mission

Field-aligned currents (FAC) are the prime mechanism for coupling energy from the solar wind into the upper atmosphere at high latitudes. Knowing their intensity and distribution is of pivotal importance for the selection of quiet time data at high latitudes to be used in main field analysis. At the same time FACs can be regarded as a key element for studies of magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions. The Swarm satellite constellation, in particular the lower pair, provides the opportunity to determine radial currents uniquely. The computation of FACs from the vector magnetic field data is a straightforward and fast process, applying Ampère’s integral law to a set of four magnetic field values. In this method the horizontal magnetic field components at a quad of measurement points sampled by the two satellites moving side-by-side are interpreted. The presented algorithm was implemented as described here in the Swarm Level-2 processing facility to provide the automatically estimated radial and field-aligned currents. It was tested with synthetic data in the Swarm Level-1b format. The resulting currents agree excellently with the input currents of the synthetic model. The data products are computed along the entire orbits. In addition, the L2 processor calculates also FACs with a 1 Hz time resolution individually from the three single Swarm satellites.
Characterization of the flow field inside a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube using filtered Rayleigh scattering, Laser-2-Focus velocimetry and numerical methods

The design process of aero engines as well as stationary gas turbines is largely dominated by the cost and time efficient methods of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Over the past decade the CFD solver TRACE for Favre- averaged compressible Navier-Stokes equations has been developed at the Institute of Propulsion Technology and has been adopted for research as well as industrial applications. In the context of turbomachinery design, reliable modeling of the turbulent flow phenomena involved is a crucial aspect and one of the major subjects of numerical research in fluid dynamics. Novel approaches accounting for the anisotropy of the Reynolds stress tensor promise an improved accuracy in the simulation of industrially relevant configurations. One key aspect in the development strategy of turbulence models is the direct comparison of computational results with validation data produced from appropriate experimental setups with well-defined geometries and boundary conditions. The Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube (RHVT) was chosen in this respect due to its simple geometry with no moving parts on the one hand and its nevertheless complex 3D flow features on the other hand. To provide suitable experimental data the filtered Rayleigh scattering technique extended by the method of frequency scanning (FSM-FRS) was chosen to characterize the RHVT's averaged flow field, since it is capable of si- multaneously providing planar information on temperature, pressure and flow field velocity (through the Doppler shift). As the reconstruction of a three component velocity field from FSM-FRS data would require the measurement plane to be observed from three independent directions, the point-wise Laser-2-Focus (L2F) technique is applied to provide 2C velocity profiles at discrete positions downstream from the cold exit.
Scattering Properties of Large Irregular Cosmic Dust Particles at Visible Wavelengths

The effect of internal inhomogeneities and surface roughness on the scattering behavior of large cosmic dust particles is studied by comparing model simulations with laboratory measurements. The present work shows the results of an attempt to model a dust sample measured in the laboratory with simulations performed by a ray-optics model code. We consider this dust sample as a good analogue for interplanetary and interstellar dust as it shares its refractive index with known materials in these media. Several sensitivity tests have been performed for both structural cases (internal inclusions and surface roughness). Three different samples have been selected to mimic inclusion/coating inhomogeneities: two measured scattering matrices of hematite and white clay, and a simulated matrix for water ice. These three matrices are selected to cover a wide range of imaginary refractive indices. The selection of these materials also seeks to study astrophysical environments of interest such as Mars, where hematite and clays have been detected, and comets. Based on the results of the sensitivity tests shown in this work, we perform calculations for a size distribution of a silicate-type host particle model with inclusions and surface roughness to reproduce the experimental measurements of a dust sample. The model fits the measurements quite well, proving that surface roughness and internal structure play a role in the scattering pattern of irregular cosmic dust particles.
Short Note Dependency of Near-Field Ground Motions on the Structural Maturity of the Ruptured Faults

Littlework has been undertaken to examine the role of specific long-term fault properties on earthquake ground motions. Here, we empirically examine the in- fluence of the structural maturity of faults on the strong ground motions generated by the rupture of these faults, and we compare the influence of fault maturity to that of other source properties (slip mode, and blind versus surface rupturing). We analyze the near-field ground motions recorded at rock sites for 28 large (Mw 5.6-7.8) crustal earthquakes of various slip modes. The structural maturity of the faults broken by those earthquakes is classified into three classes (mature, intermediate, and immature) based on the combined knowledge of the age, slip rate, cumulative slip, and length of the faults. We compare the recorded ground motions to the empirical prediction equa- tion of Boore et al. (1997). At all frequencies, earthquakes on immature faults produce ground motions 1.5 times larger than those generated by earthquakes on mature faults. The fault maturity appears to be associated with larger differences in ground-motion amplitude than the style of faulting (factor of 1.35 between reverse and strike-slip earthquakes) and the surface rupture occurrence (factor of 1.2 between blind and surface-rupturing earthquakes). However, the slip mode and the fault maturity are dependent parameters, and we suggest that the effect of slip mode may only be apparent, actually resulting from the maturity control. We conclude that the structural maturity of faults is an important parameter that should be considered in seismic hazard assessment.
High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering for Industrial Applications: Deposition of Chromium Films on Inclined Surfaces

High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HIPIMS or HPPMS) is a magnetron sputtering technique that draws increasing interest due to the ability to form droplet-free films out of highly ionized vapor of the target material. Invented by Kouznetsov in 1999 (US patent US6296742), HIPIMS has gone the long way and is nowadays entering the stage of commercial applications. In this work chromium films were deposited by HIPIMS, as well as, by conventional DC magnetron sputtering on a set of substrates with an inclination angle of 0°, 90° and 180° degrees with respect to the target surface normal. The background gas pressure and the average power to the cathode were varied during depositions. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy was used for microstructure characterization of produced films and for the determination of deposition rates. The chromium ion content in the plasma, monitored with optical emission spectroscopy, increases with increasing target peak power. Results reveal also quite dramatic quality difference between films grown on tilted substrates by HIPIMS and by conventional DC sputtering.