Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cost modeling of lithium‐ion battery cells for automotive applications

The purpose of this study was to highlight the technical and economic issues arising in lithium‐ion cells for automotive applications, and to indicate some potential solutions to lower the cost. This topic has already been the subject of some studies, but, although of primary importance, the role on cost of a cell design parameter, the electrode coating thickness, has rarely been described. This study intends to explore particularly the influence of this parameter. To do so, the cost of cells with four positive electrode materials (NMC, NCA, LFP, and LMO), and the same negative electrode material are compared at several electrode thickness. The cost of these cells is computed using an innovative model and varies between 230 and 400 $ per kWh. With the assumptions used, it appears that the potential savings resulting from doubling the electrode coating thickness from 50 to 100 μm at a given porosity represent roughly 25% of the cell cost. The electrode coating thickness emerges as an essential parameter for an unbiased cells cost comparison. This article gives a view of the current lithium‐ion cells costs, and provides guidelines to lower cells cost.
Thermal structure and variability of a shallow tropical reservoir

The structure and mixing dynamics of shallow tropical reservoirs was investigated using data collected in the Kranji Reservoir in Singapore. Water temperature data spanning a 2 month period in 2007 shows that diurnal cycles of stratification and destratification were formed in various locations in the reservoir. Temperature stratification of 0.5°C to 3.5°C was formed during the daylight hours and reduced nightly when cooling occurred. Substantial horizontal redistribution of heat was also observed between the side arms and the main body of the reservoir. The Kranji's dynamics can be summarized in terms of three physical forcing regimes: a solar radiation—dominated regime, a windy regime, and a cold inflow regime. We delineate the three physical forcing regimes by two potentially useful dimensionless numbers that quantify the relative influences of surface heating, wind stirring, and inflow buoyancy fluxes. For most of the measurement period (88% of the data record), the solar radiation—dominated regime characterized the hydrodynamics. In spite of the dominance of solar radiation in setting local stratification, it is shown that Kranji Reservoir is a three‐dimensional system in which there can be significant variations in temperature in the vertical and along‐reservoir directions, as determined by cold inflow events, differential heating, and reservoir releases. Moreover, the data suggest that the dynamical balance of the Kranji system is sensitive to small forcing events, with the timescales of stratification and mixing as short as a day or less.
Truss Spar Vortex Induced Motions: Benchmarking of CFD and Model Tests

Spar production systems are subject to Vortex Induced Motions (VIM) which may impact mooring and riser design. Helical strakes are employed to mitigate VIM. Model tests are typically required to validate the performance of the strakes. This paper will report on the results of benchmarking studies that have been conducted over the past few years to compare model tests with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The paper discusses comparisons of CFD with model tests, “best practices” for the use of CFD for these classes of problems and issues related to turbulence modeling and meshing of problems at large Reynold’s numbers. This work is ongoing.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Effect of genotype × environment interaction on estimations of genetic and phenotypic parameters of common beans.

Genotype x environment interaction effects on estimations of genotypic and phenotypic parameters were studied, based on seed yield of 97 progenies and three test cultivars of common beans at two different locations in Minas Gerais, Brazil. At one location, Patos de Minas, F7 progenies and test cultivars were evaluated using a simple 10 x 10 lattice design, whereas F8 progenies and test cultivars planted at Sete Lagoas at two density rates comprised two independent experiments with the same statistical design as the former. Results indicated the need to evaluate bean progenies at several environments. This was supported by the fact that the narrow sense heritability value, estimated through covariance analysis, was similar to the realized heritability value, and the genetic expected gain estimate was practi-allyequal to the realized gain estima te. Also, selection effectiveness based on the mean over environ+ments, was three times greater than when based on each individual environment.
Genetic transformation of antisense ACC oxidase in Carica papaya L. cv. Sekaki via particle bombardment

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a very important crop in many tropical countries. Climacteric fruits such as papaya are usually harvested once they have reached maturity, which then undergoes rapid ripening during transit and storage. Hence, papaya is highly susceptible to physiological disorders, mechanical damage and fruit over ripening that can cause postharvest losses of papaya production. Therefore, this study was conducted on genetic transformation of antisense ACC oxidase and its effects on papaya fruit ripening. Through anti-sense technology, down regulation of the ACC oxidase gene results in the suppression of ethylene production, thereby delaying fruit ripening that can produce papaya with better quality. Embryogenic callus of Sekaki papaya were bombarded with the pCAMBIA 1301 that contains the antisense ACC oxidase gene driven and flanked by constitutively CaMV35S promoter and NOS terminator also hygromycin (hpt) resistance gene as selectable marker. Helium gas pressure (1350 psi), 1.0 μm gold particle size and two types of parameters manipulated in the bombardment condition were, the number of bombardment (single or double) and the target position (3 cm, 6 cm and 9 cm). Results showed that double bombardment per sample and 6 cm of target position gave the highest percentage of callus survival which is 88% after 4 weeks in a selection medium containing 50mg/l hygromycin. The PCR analysis for antisense ACC oxidase, hpt and Nad5 genes done on the extracted callus genome gave positive results. The remaining bombarded explants are being maintained to obtain viable regenerates for further analyses.
Approximative Full Solutions of Difference Equations

In the study of asymptotic properties of solutions of difference equations, so called generalized solutions are often considered, that is, sequences for which a given equation is satisfied from some starting point. In this paper we establish conditions which allow us to control the starting point. Moreover, we establish conditions which allow us to change some finite terms of generalized solutions so that a full solution is obtained. AMS Subject Classifications: 39A10.
Modeling suspended sediment sources and transport in the Ishikari River basin, Japan, using SPARROW

It is important to understand the mechanisms that control the fate and transport of suspended sediment (SS) in rivers, because high suspended sediment loads have significant impacts on riverine hydroecology. In this study, the SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes) watershed model was applied to estimate the sources and transport of SS in surface waters of the Ishikari River basin (14 330 km 2 ), the largest watershed in Hokkaido, Japan. The final developed SPARROW model has four source variables (developing lands, forest lands, agricultural lands, and stream channels), three landscape delivery variables (slope, soil permeability, and precipitation), two in-stream loss coefficients, including small streams (streams with drainage area 2 ) and large streams, and reservoir attenuation. The model was calibrated using measurements of SS from 31 monitoring sites of mixed spatial data on topography, soils and stream hydrography. Calibration results explain approximately 96% ( R 2 ) of the spatial variability in the natural logarithm mean annual SS flux (kg yr −1 ) and display relatively small prediction errors at the 31 monitoring stations. Results show that developing land is associated with the largest sediment yield at around 1006 kg km −2 yr −1 , followed by agricultural land (234 kg km −2 yr −1 ). Estimation of incremental yields shows that 35% comes from agricultural lands, 23% from forested lands, 23% from developing lands, and 19% from stream channels. The results of this study improve our understanding of sediment production and transportation in the Ishikari River basin in general, which will benefit both the scientific and management communities in safeguarding water resources.
The Effects of PTP-1 B Knockdown on Glucose Uptake and Triglyceride Levels in C 2 C 12 Skeletal Muscle Cells

Background: Insulin resistance is the central defect in obesity and type 2 diabetes. In Lipid accumulation and increased Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase-1B (PTP-1B) gene expression have been reported in muscle insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PTP-1B knockdown on glucose uptake and triglyceride levels in C2C12 cells. Methods: Reducing the expression of PTP-1B in C2C12 myoblasts was performed using the plasmids containing the shRNA against PTP-1B gene. PTP-1B protein level was assessed by western blot. The rate of glucose uptake and the intracellular triglyceride levels were evaluated in the PTP-1B knockdown and normal cells. Results: PTP-1B protein level in PTP-1B knockdown C2C12 cells decreased by 58% compared to the normal cells. Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake was decreased by palmitate in both the control and knockdown cells, whereas PTP1B knockdown cells treated with 0.5 and 0.75mM palmitate remained sensitive to the insulin with about 2.5 and 3-fold, respectively as well as increase in glucose uptake compared to the control cells. Treatment of the cells with 0.5 and 0.75mM palmitate resulted in 1.25 and 1.42 fold increase in triglyceride levels, respectively in the knockdown cells compared to the control cells. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that increased insulin sensitivity in PTP-1B knockdown cells can be partly attributed to increased triglyceride levels within the muscle cells. Thus, reduced PTP-1B gene expression can be a potential therapeutic target for treating insulin resistance, type 2diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
SCA2003-12: A DUAL NETWORK MODEL FOR RELATIVE PERMEABILITY OF BIMODAL ROCKS: APPLICATION IN A VUGGY CARBONATE

Carbonate rocks often present bimodal pore size distributions usually attributed to the presence of vugs, large pores inserted in the porous matrix. This vugular porosity can communicate through the matrix (separated vugs) or it can form an interconnecte d pore system (touching vugs) (Lucia, 1999). These different degrees of interconnectivity confer to the porous medium transport properties very different than the ones characterizing homogeneous samples. In the present work a numerical simulator is presented, that calculates multiphase flow transport properties in vuggy carbonates taking into account their specific pore structure parameters. The complex real pore space is represented as a dual- network model that incorporates information on the primary (matrix) and the secondary (vugs, fractures) porosity and accounts for the connectivity of the secondary porosity. An original methodology is presented to deduce experimentally realistic pore size data to construct the network model taking into account the complex structure of the bimodal rocks. It consists in combining mercury invasion data and NMR measurements on partially saturated samples to deduce small-scale data characterizing pore-body and pore-throat size distributions needed to build the 3-D network model. The methodology has been validated on an outcrop limestone sample presenting a dual porosity. Based on the experimental data a dual pore-network has been constructed. It satisfactorily reproduces the capillary pressure curve, the porosity and the permeability determined experimentally. Through calculations performed with this model it is demonstrated that wetting phase relative permeability is strongly affected by both the vugs and matrix characteristics, while non-wetting phase is mainly controlled by the vuggy system.
The cosmic merger rate of neutron stars and black holes

Six gravitational wave detections have been reported so far, providing crucial insights on the merger rate of double compact objects. We investigate the cosmic merger rate of double neutron stars (DNSs), neutron star-black hole binaries (NSBHs) and black hole binaries (BHBs) by means of population-synthesis simulations coupled with the Illustris cosmological simulation. We have performed six different simulations, considering different assumptions for the efficiency of common envelope (CE) ejection and exploring two distributions for the supernova (SN) kicks. The current BHB merger rate derived from our simulations spans from $\sim{}150$ to $\sim{}240$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ and is only mildly dependent on CE efficiency. In contrast, the current merger rates of DNSs (ranging from $\sim{}20$ to $\sim{}600$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$) and NSBHs (ranging from $\sim{}10$ to $\sim{}100$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$) strongly depend on the assumptions on CE and natal kicks. The merger rate of DNSs is consistent with the one inferred from the detection of GW170817 only if a high efficiency of CE ejection and low SN kicks (drawn from a Maxwellian distribution with one dimensional root mean square $\sigma{}=15$ km s$^{-1}$) are assumed.
Quantum-electrodynamical approach to the exciton spectrum in transition-metal dichalcogenides

Manipulation of intrinsic electron degrees of freedom, such as charge and spin, gives rise to electronics and spintronics, respectively. Electrons in monolayer materials with a honeycomb lattice structure, such as the Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides (TMD’s), can be distinguished according to the region (valley) of the Brillouin zone to which they belong. Valleytronics, the manipulation of this electron’s property, is expected to set up a new era in the realm of electronic devices. In this work, we accurately determine the energy spectrum and lifetimes of exciton (electron–hole) bound-states for different TMD materials, namely WSe2, WS2 and MoS2. For all of them, we obtain a splitting of the order of 170 meV between the exciton energies from different valleys, corresponding to an effective Zeeman magnetic field of 1400 T. Our approach, which employs quantum-field theory (QFT) techniques based on the Bethe–Salpeter equation and the Schwinger–Dyson formalism, takes into account the full electromagnetic interaction among the electrons. The valley selection mechanism operates through the dynamical breakdown of the time-reversal (TR) symmetry, which originally interconnects the two valleys. This symmetry is spontaneously broken whenever the full electromagnetic interaction vertex is used to probe the response of the system to an external field.
GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF MULTI-ENVIRONMENT TRIAL (MET) DATA IN SUNFLOWER (HELIANTHUS ANNUUS L.) THROUGH CLUSTERING AND GGE BIPLOT TECHNIQUE

Multi-environment trial (MET) data of 10 sunflower hybrids were analyzed to: (1) group similar genotypes and similar environments into homogenous groups through cluster analysis, (2) show their interaction with each other through genotype main effects plus genotype x interaction (GGE) biplot graphic display which facilitates the visual evaluation of both the genotypes and environments, and (3) to show the performance of different genotype groups across environments and different environment groups over all genotypes through performance plots. Cluster analysis revealed 5 genotypic and 4 environment groups for seed yield (kg ha -1 ) and five genotypic and 3 environment group for oil content (%). Pooled analysis showed highly significant results (P< 0.01) with Environments, Genotypes and G X E contributing 81.89, 2.59 and 11.12 % for seed yield kg ha -1 and 51.66, 18.11 and 19.2 % for oil content respectively. The GGE biplot was constructed by plotting the primary effect scores of each genotype (as x- axis) and each environment against their respective secondary effect scores (as y-axis). In these biplots, genotypes are represented by numbers and environments by vectors generating from the origin. Biplots can be used to evaluate cultivars for their yield potential and stability and to evaluate trial sites for their discriminating ability and representiveness. Genotypes that are close together viz., G1, G4, G5 and G6 are similar in their yield performance across environments, while adjacent environments (E3, E6 and E7) having acute angle between them, are similar in the way they discriminate among genotypes. High yielding and stable genotypes (G1, G4, G5 and G6) usually tend to be on the bottom right quadrant of the joint plot. Regarding oil content (%), E1 and E5 proved to be closely related due to acute angle between them, in the way they discriminated among genotypes. Genotypes G1, G2, G4, G5, G7 and G10 are similar in their behavior across environments in terms of % oil content.
Green manuring for tropical organic cropping – A comparative analysis

Green manuring is an essential component of tropical organic farming. Field studies evaluated the use of three legumes as in situ or ex situ green manures, along with a nonlegume green manure and a control to ascertain their impacts on soil properties and yields of maize and mung bean grown in major (wet) and minor (dry) seasons. In situ green manuring, especially with legumes, had the most beneficial impact on soil properties, while with ex situ methods, the use of leaves alone improved soil properties. Yields were increased to a greater extent by green manuring in the minor season, and the in situ system proved to be more beneficial. In ex situ green manuring, greater benefits were obtained by the application of leaves alone. The impact of different green manures and their application methods is presented.
Optimal Control of Switching Topology Networks

We present an extension of a previously proposed approach based on the method of moments for solving the optimal control problem for a switching system considering now a continuous external input. This method is based on the transformation of a nonlinear, nonconvex optimal control problem, into an equivalent optimal control problem with linear and convex structure, which allows us to obtain an equivalent convex formulation more appropriate to be solved by high-performance numerical computing. Finally, the design of optimal logic-based controllers for networked systems with a dynamic topology is presented as an application of this work.
Myelodysplastic Syndrome Transient Elastography for the Detection of Hepatic Iron Overload in Patients with Myelodysplastic Syndrome

B ackground: In myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), anemia often leads to red blood cell transfusion dependency and iron overload (IOL). Serum ferritin (SF) is used as a surrogate marker for IOL. IOL can lead to liver failure. Transient elastography (TE) also known as fibroscan is an easy and noninvasive procedure for liver stiffness measurements (LSM). Methods: Sixty patients with either MDS, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia with dysplastic features, acute myeloid leukemia progressed from MDS or myelodysplastic/ myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable were included. All patients underwent a fibroscan, had their SF measured and disease duration calculated. Patients were grouped according to transfusion dependency or independency status. Results: Transfusion dependent patients had significantly higher LSM than those who were transfusion independent (p=0.003). There was no positive correlation between SF and LSM (p=0.103) or time since diagnosis and LSM (p=0.886). Patients with elevated SF did not have significantly higher LSM compared to those with normal SF (p=0.583). Conclusion: These data indicate that transfusion dependency has an impact on liver stiffness in MDS. Longitudinel studies are needed to conclude whether TE is of value in monitoring IOL in MDS.
Histological Study on Testis of Grower and Adult Wistar Rat

The present study was conducted on testes of grower (20-30 days) and adult (50-60 days) Wistar rats having 10 animals in each group. The thickness of tunica albuginea, average diameter of seminiferous tubule and number of Sertoli cells per seminiferous tubule were significantly higher in adults than growers, whereas number of interstitial cells per field were significantly higher in growers than adults of Wistar rat. The reproductive performance of the animals can be better understood by testicular histomorphometry
Symmetry breaking of azimuthal thermo-acoustic modes in annular cavities: a theoretical study

Abstract Many physical problems containing rotating symmetry exhibit azimuthal waves, from electromagnetic waves in nanophotonic crystals to seismic waves in giant stars. When this symmetry is broken, clockwise (CW) and counter-clockwise (CCW) waves are split into two distinct modes which can become unstable. This paper focuses on a theoretical study of symmetry breaking in annular cavities containing a number $N$ of flames prone to azimuthal thermo-acoustic instabilities. A general dispersion relation for non-perfectly-axisymmetric cavities is obtained and analytically solved to provide an explicit expression for the frequencies and growth rates of all azimuthal modes of the configuration. This analytical study unveils two parameters affecting the stability of the mode: (i) a coupling strength corresponding to the cumulative effects of the $N$ flames and (ii) a splitting strength due to the symmetry breaking when the flames are different. This theory has been validated using a 3D Helmholtz solver and good agreement is found. When only two types of flames are introduced into the annular cavity, the splitting strength is found to depend on two parameters: the difference between the two burner types and the pattern used to distribute the flames along the azimuthal direction. To first order, this theory suggests that the most stable configuration is obtained for a perfectly axisymmetric configuration. Therefore, breaking the symmetry by mixing different flames cannot improve the stability of an annular combustor independently of the flame distribution pattern.
Taxation and Venture Capital-Backed Entrepreneurship

In recent years, venture capital has increasingly become a factor in the financing of new firms. We examine how the value of mature firms determines the incentives of entrepreneurs to start up new firms and of venture capitalists to finance and advise them. We examine how capital gains taxes as well as subsidies to start-up costs of new firms affect venture capital backed entrepreneurship. We also argue that dividend and capital gains taxes on mature firms have important consequences for start-up firms as well.