Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Clay Ceramics Based on the Recycling of Industrial Residues – On the Use of Photothermal Techniques to Determine Ceramic Thermal Properties and Gas Emissions during the Clay Firing Process

Since Sumerians about 4000 3000 BC had created ceramics (Heydorn et al., 1989), the ceramic production has worldwide increased, but the methodology has not suffered substantial evolution in relation to the ancient process. Research work continues to a better understanding of the processes involved and tailoring the desired properties of the final product. The most of ceramists has just worried up with the morphological, physical and structural quality of their products (Okada et al., 1986; Dubois et al., 1995; Nastro et al., 2006). However, one of the main ceramics features was not yet well concerned by the community, that is, its thermal behaviour. Urban buildings of equatorial and tropical countries are often subjected to constant solar radiation. Thus, thermal properties play a significant role in the quality of end-products. A better indoor ambient of the houses should be ever pursued. While technological properties of those materials are frequently found in the literature, information about the thermophysical characteristics of red ceramics is very scarce (Alexandre et al., 1999). In the early eighties, a new physical device to generate and detect thermal waves was proposed (Vargas and Miranda, 1988). It has been widely used in last few years as a tool to measure the thermal properties of a large range of materials (Marín et al., 2002; Faria et al., 2005). The photoacoustic (PA) technique via OPC (an open photoacoustic cell) is used to evaluate the thermal diffusivity, an important parameter that determines the light-to-heat conversion efficiency, and furthermore, it allows us to study how heat diffuses through the sample (Perondi and Miranda, 1987). The thermal diffusivity is an intrinsic property of matter. Moreover, it is dependent upon the effects of composition and microstructural variables, as well as processing conditions. Thermal properties are very sensitive to
A new international database on education quality: 1965–2010

The aim of this article is to propose a new database allowing a comparative evaluation of the relative performance of schooling systems around the world. We measure this performance through pupils’ achievement in standardized tests. We merge all existing regional and international student achievement tests by using a specific methodology. When compared with other existing databases, our approach innovates in several ways, especially by including regional student achievement tests and intertemporal comparable indicators. We provide a data set of indicators of quality of student achievement for 103 countries/areas in primary education and 111 countries/areas in secondary education between 1965 and 2010.
Mechanical Characterization of Extrudable Foamed Concrete: An Experimental Study

This paper is focused on the mechanical characterization of foamed concrete specimens with protein-based foaming agent. Unlike classic foamed concrete, a peculiar property of the analyzed foamed concrete is the extrudability, which is achieved via a specific additive in the concrete mix that significantly improves the cohesion and viscosity of the fresh cementitious paste. A broad experimental campaign was conducted to evaluate the compressive strength and the indirect tensile strength of the specimens. The study has comprised three different cement types, two water/cement ratios, three curing conditions and three target dry densities. The variability of the strength values upon the above mentioned factors is discussed. Keywords—Cement type, curing conditions, density, extrudable concrete, foamed concrete, mechanical characterization.
Comparative Phytoremediation of Chromium-Contaminated Soils by Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench

A study was carried out to investigate the potential of alfalfa and sorghum for phytoremediation of soil contaminated chromium. Soil samplings of 0-10 cm depths were taken. The experiment consisted of five treatments in which chromium concentration varied from 0 to 10 mg/kg soil (blank (T1), soil contaminated with 2 mg/kg concentration of chromium (T2), soil contaminated with 4 mg/kg concentration of chromium (T3), soil contaminated with 8 mg/kg concentration of chromium (T4), soil contaminated with 10 mg/kg concentration of chromium (T5). Alfalfa and sorghum were grown for 50 days after seeding in pots containing 5 kg of these soils. Chromium concentrations in soil after phytoremediation by alfalfa were 0.74, 1.16, 2.08, and 4.00 in T2, T3, T4, and T5, respectively. Chromium concentrations in soil after phytoremediation by sorghum were 0.84, 1.36, 2.44, and 5.12 in T2, T3, T4, and T5, respectively. Concentration of chromium in soil in all treatments after phytoremediation by alfalfa was decreased between 60-74%, and after phytoremediation by sorghum was decreased between 51.2-69.5%. The evidence provided by this experiment indicated that alfalfa and sorghum are effective accumulator plants for phytoremediation of chromium, but the potential of alfalfa was more than sorghum for phytoremediation of chromium polluted soils.
Intergovernmental Transfers and Fiscal Effort in Peruvian Local Governments

The purpose of this paper is to identify the causal relationship between intergovernmental transfers and fiscal effort. Empirical evidence from Peruvian municipalities supports a negative relation. The substitution effect is decreasing on the level of municipalities’ expenditure and tends to disappear for high-expenditure localities. Given this phenomenon, devolving responsibilities to sub-national governments might reduce fiscal effort and deteriorate fiscal balance especially among localities with lower fiscal capacity. A possible solution might be the inclusion of fiscal effort indicators in the intergovernmental transfer design.
Densities and diel vertical migration of Mysis relicta in Lake Superior: a comparison of optical plankton counter and net-based approaches

The opossum shrimp, Mysis relicta, is an important prey item for benthic (e.g., deepwater sculpin, Myoxocephalus thompsoni) and pelagic (e.g., kiyi, Coregonus kiyi, bloater, Coregonus hoyi, and rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax) fishes in Lake Superior (Anderson & Smith 1971, Selgeby 1988, Johnson et al. 2004). It is also an important consumer of zooplankton and phytoplankton (Bowers & Grossnickle 1978, Johannsson et al. 1994, Gal et al. 2006). Mysis is known to exhibit classic diel vertical migration (DVM; Hutchinson 1967) in Lake Superior (Bowers 1988) and other lakes (Beeton 1960, Beeton & Bowers 1982), with the majority of the population located high in the water column at night and in deep water, near or on the bottom during the day. The DVM of Mysis appears to be an important, but not exclusive, driver of DVM patterns in coregonids (Eshenroder & Burnham-Curtis 1999, Hrabik et al. 2006, Jensen et al. 2006). Despite the ecological importance of Mysis, the last published estimate of their densities and vertical distribution in Lake Superior was based on vertical net tows conducted at a single location in 1986 (Bowers 1988). Optical plankton counters (OPCs) use a beam of light to count and measure particles passing through an aperture (Herman 1992). They have been used to estimate Mysis density in Lake Ontario (Gal et al. 1999a, Sprules 2000) and zooplankton biomass and size spectra in several of the Great Lakes (Stockwell & Sprules 1995, Stockwell et al. 2002, Yurista et al. 2005, 2006). The newer laser OPC (LOPC) uses a narrow laser beam that allows better performance in high particle densities and direct estimation of flow speed through the aperture by timing the passage of small particles (Herman et al. 2004). It is also capable of generating an image or “shape profile” of larger particles. In this study, we used data from an OPC, an LOPC, and vertical net tows to estimate densities and describe the day/ night vertical distribution of Mysis at a series of stations distributed throughout Lake Superior, and to evaluate the efficacy of using OPC and LOPC for examining DVM of Mysis.
The Occurence of Waterborne diseases in drinking water in Nakaloke Sub-County, Mbale District Uganda

Waterborne diseases are the most prevalent infectious diseases in developing countries especially in the rural areas. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of waterborne diseases in relation to the microbial water quality in Nakaloke sub county Mbale district eastern Uganda. Patient records were collected from Nakaloke health Centre III cover a period of five years (2010-2014). The results showed general distribution of selected waterborne diseases in Nakaloke Sub County. 3045 waterborne cases were reviewed and 1926 cases were found in the selected villages. Diarrhoea is the most common waterborne illness among the population in all villages accounting for 837 cases followed by skin infection with 453, gastroenteritis 258 and dysentery 213, typhoid 148 and cholera 17 respectively. Forty five water samples were collected from three protected springs well for the village of Nakaloke, Kireka and Nandala. The samples were monitored for microbial contamination. Children of age group 0-5 years were found more susceptible to all selected waterborne diseases. Women are more prone to waterborne diseases compared to men, Nakaloke village accounted for the highest incidence than other villages of the study.
Design Modification of Lap Joint of Fiber Metal Laminates (CARALL)

The synergistic effect of properties of metals and fibers reinforced laminates has diverted attention of the world towards use of robust composite materials known as fiber-metal laminates in many high performance applications. In this study, modification of an adhesively bonded joint as a single lap joint of carbon fibers based CARALL FML has done to increase interlaminar shear strength of the joint. The effect of different configurations of joint designs such as spews, stepped and modification in adhesive by addition of nano-fillers was studied. Both experimental and simulation results showed that modified joint design have superior properties as maximum force experienced stepped joint was 1.5 times more than the simple lap joint. Addition of carbon nano-tubes as nano-fillers in the adhesive joint increased the maximum force due to crack deflection mechanism. Keywords—Adhesive joint, carbon reinforced aluminium laminate, CARALL, fiber metal laminates, spews.
A review of organizational control and innovation

The purpose of this paper is to review the effect of organizational control on innovation. Specifically, the effect of three types of organizational control – input control, behavior control and output control on the different types of innovation are studied. We find that behavior control has been studied extensively, followed by input control. However output control has not received much attention in research on organizational control and innovation. Of the various structural variables studied under these control types, four variablesprofessionalization, specialization, centralization and formalization, have been objects of considerable research. Based on the review, we present multiple propositions on the relationship between organizational control and innovation.
A STUDY OF CORONARY DOMINANCE IN POPULATION OF JALGAON REGION OF NORTH MAHARASHTRA BY ANGIOGRAPHIC METHOD

Address for Correspondence: Dr. Prafulla S. Dakhane, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Anatomy, Dr. Ulhas Patil Medical College, Jalgaon Kh. India. Phone No.: +919421794457, +919595359307 E-Mail: dr_dakhane@yahoo.co.in *1 Assistant Professor, 2 Associate Professor. Department of Anatomy, Dr. Ulhas Patil Medical College, Jalgaon Kh. , India. Introduction: The incidence of coronary artery disease is increasing now a day’s all over the world. Dominance pattern of the heart has got important clinical significance in different pathologies. So the present work is undertaken to study the dominance of coronary arteries in population of Jalgaon region of North Maharashtra, India. Aim and objectives: Aim of the present study was to determine dominance pattern of coronary arteries in Jalgaon region and to compare it with other studies. Material and Method: The subjects (n=1000) attending cardiology outpatient department (OPD) at Dr. Ulhas Patil Medical College and Hospital, Jalgaon Kh. formed the study group for this study. Invasive coronary angiography was performed by either femoral or radial route using radio-opaque dye and cineangiograms were taken in different views. Using Schlesinger’s criteria, the coronary dominance was determined Results: In 82.4% of the subjects, right dominance was noted. In 13.3% of the subjects, left dominance was noted. Balanced dominance was noted in 4.3% of the subjects studied. Conclusion: Balanced dominance is significantly less in Jalgaon region of northern Maharashtra when compared with results of most other studies. Similarly right dominance is significantly more in this area when compared with results of most other studies. So it can be concluded that every region carries its own proportions of dominance and detailed studies should be conducted for betterment of human being in each region.
Windfall Gains, Political Economy and Economic Development

Natural resource rents and foreign aid have the character of windfall gains that affect economic outcomes both directly and indirectly. Several studies have shown that the indirect effect typically works via institutions like corruption. In this article, we offer a theoretical framework for a joint analysis of how natural resources and aid potentially affect total output in society through rent seeking activities. We survey the existing evidence on both direct and indirect effects of windfalls and provide some new empirical evidence of the association between aid/natural resources and institutions in a large cross-section of countries. Our results suggest that whereas more aid means less corruption, natural resource rents is positively correlated with corruption, although both relationships are nonlinear.
Mechanical behavior assessment of the Ti6Al4V alloy obtained by additive manufacturing towards aeronautical industry

Nowadays the dynamics of markets, technology advances, and companies’ competition have brought changes in metal processing. Recent technical improvements of additive manufacturing (AM) have shifted the application of these processes from prototyping to the production of end-use parts either as customised or series. The extended geometric flexibility, coupled with the reduced time of production and the improved efficiency in resources utilization inherent of Selective laser melting (SLM) are the characteristics sought by aircraft industry in order to develop and progress. This thesis aims to contribute to the study and analysis of a new strategy of production Selective Laser Melting in the manufacture of metallic components for aeronautical use. Specifically the mechanical characterization of the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V is performed. For this purpose several samples and specimens were manufactured in the SLM equipment of CDRSP (Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development) and the mechanical tests were carried out at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). SLM is an additive manufacturing technique through which components are built by selectively melting powder layers with a focused laser beam. With the proper setting of the SLM process, a relative density above the required value in the aircraft industry (above 99%) is achieved. Specifically in this work, relative densities of around 99.6% were achieved. However the process is characterized by short laser-powder interaction times and localized high heat input, which leads to steep thermal gradients, rapid solidification and fast cooling resulting in a specific microstructure. In order to obtain optimal mechanical properties, heat treatments are necessary due to the original martensitic microstructure. Moreover finishing mechanical process will be required, firstly due to the need of remove the parts from the platform and secondly to decrease the surface roughness.
The origin of scatter in the stellar mass–halo mass relation of central galaxies in the EAGLE simulation

We use the hydrodynamical EAGLE simulation to study the magnitude and origin of the scatter in the stellar mass–halo mass relation for central galaxies.We separate cause and effect by correlating stellar masses in the baryonic simulation with halo properties in a matched dark matter only (DMO) simulation. The scatter in stellar mass increases with redshift and decreases with halomass. At z=0.1, it declines from 0.25 dex atM200,DMO ≈ 1011 M_ to 0.12 dex at M200,DMO ≈ 1013 M_, but the trend is weak above 1012 M_. For M200,DMO < 1012.5 M_ up to 0.04 dex of the scatter is due to scatter in the halo concentration. At fixed halo mass, a larger stellar mass corresponds to a more concentrated halo. This is likely because higher concentrations imply earlier formation times and hence more time for accretion and star formation, and/or because feedback is less efficient in haloes with higher binding energies. Themaximum circular velocity, Vmax, DMO, and binding energy are therefore more fundamental properties than halo mass, meaning that they are more accurate predictors of stellar mass, and we provide fitting formulae for their relations with stellar mass. However, concentration alone cannot explain the total scatter in the Mstar–M200,DMO relation, and it does not explain the scatter in Mstar–Vmax, DMO. Halo spin, sphericity, triaxiality, substructure and environment are also not responsible for the remaining scatter, which thus could be due to more complex halo properties or non-linear/stochastic baryonic effects.
A women’s boom in the boardroom: effects on performance?

This article analyses whether improving gender diversity in boardrooms improves firms’ economic performance. In the context of French CAC40-listed companies between 2008 and 2012, this research uses instrumental variable panel regressions, including production frontier estimates, to arrive at two key results. First, gender diversity in boards depends on firms’ attributes including their previous gender promotion strategies. Second, promoting women in boardrooms has a significant and positive effect on economic performance while accounting for the endogeneity boards’ gender diversity. Gender diversity even reduces corporate inefficiencies and enables firms to come closer to their optimal performance.
Dynamics of dissolved and particulate organic matter during the spring bloom in the Oyashio region of the western subarctic Pacific Ocean

We evaluated the dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) at various stages of the spring bloom in the Oyashio region of the western subarctic Pacific Ocean by means of samples obtained during 3 cruises in April, May, and June 2003. In April, the average concentration (±1 SD) of nitrate plus nitrite ions was 23.3 ± 0.39 µmol l -1 in surface waters, and this decreased to below the detection limit (<0.05 µmol l -1 ) during the bloom period. About 80% of newly accumulated organic carbon was partitioned into POM. Whereas the C:N ratios of bulk DOM ranged from 13 to 20, the average C:N ratio of newly accumulated DOM was 7.3 ± 1.5. The lability of DOM was assessed by seawater culture-type incubation experiments on surface sea- water samples from each observation site. Although the newly accumulated DOM was relatively rich in nitrogen, most of it escaped rapid (d to wk) bacterial consumption in the seawater culture experi- ments.
Synthesis Review on Filariasis and its prevention by phytochemicals

Fi lar ias is is commonly known as e lephantias is . E lephant ias is is a disease that i s character ized by the th ickening of the sk in and underly ing t is sues, especial ly in the legs, male genita ls and female breasts [1] . The other terms used for e lephantias is are E lephantias is Arabum, Bucnemia, Barbadoes leg, Cochin le g and Egyptian sarcocele [2] . Indians were of the fi rs t to have known the disease S l ipada (s l i =elephant, pada = leg), as presented in the Sushruta Samhita. The term was later used by the Roman medical encyclopedist Celsus (ca 30 BC–38 AD). To the Greeks including Hippocrates (ca 460–370 BC), Galen (129–200 AD), and Paulus Aegineta (625–690 AD) the term elephantias is was associated with ambigu ity , imply ing both fi lar ias is and leprosy [3] . I t was not unt i l 807–870 AD that Al i ibn Sahl Rabban al -Tabbari fi rs t descr ibed elephantias is as Daa al -F i l (daa = disease, fi l = elephant) and denoted treatments in F i rdows al -H ikmat (Paradise of Wisdom), the fi rs t ex is tent medical book in medieval Pers ia [4] . Other medieval Pers ian phys ic ians such as Rhazes (ca 865 –925), Akhawayni (? –983), Haly Abbas (930–994), Av icenna (981–1037), and Jorjani (1042–1137) fol lowed al -Tabbari ’s concept of e lephantias is in their medica l books [5] [6] [7] . Al together, the fi rs t authent ic records of e lephantias is and its re lated s igns, symp toms, and t reatment can att r ibuted to ancient India, Greece, and part icular ly medieval Pers ia much earl ier to the 16th century . Th is paper represents the review on F i lar ias is and its prevent ion by phytochemicals .
Subscore Equating and Reporting

The purpose of this study is to address the necessity of subscore equating and to evaluate the performance of various equating methods for subtests. Assuming the random groups design and number-correct scoring, this research analyzed real data and simulated data with four study factors including test dimensionality, subtest length, form difference in difficulty, and sample size. Various traditional and IRT equating methods were considered. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) reporting subscores without equating provides misleading information in terms of score profiles; (2) reporting subscores without a pre-specified test specification brings practical issues such as constructing alternate subtest forms with comparable difficulty, conducting equating between forms with different lengths, and deciding an appropriate score scale to be reported; (3) the best performing subscore equating method, overall, was IRT observed score equating using 3PL with separate calibration (3PsepO) followed by equipercentile equating with presmoothing, and the worst performing method was IRT true score equating using BF with simultaneous calibration (BFT); (4) simultaneous calibration involving other subtest items in the calibration process yielded larger bias but smaller random error than did separate calibration, indicating that borrowing information from other subtests increases bias but decreases random error in subscore equating; (5) IRT observed score equating using BF with simultaneous calibration (BFO) performs the best when a test is multidimensional, form difference is small, subtest length is short, or sample size is small; (6) equating results for BFT and BFO were affected by the magnitude of factor loading and variability for the estimated general and specific factors; and (7) smoothing in general improved equating results.
Apical dominance in Alstroemeria cultured in vitro.

Apical dominance in Alstroemeria is studied to develop an improved propagation protocol for this crop. Four types of explants were prepared: an intact rhizome with two intact shoots (+R+2S), an intact rhizome with two decapitated shoots (+R-2S), a decapitated rhizome with two intact shoots (-R+2S), and a decapitated rhizome with two decapitated shoots (-R-2S). The explants were cultivated on solid MS medium with 9 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP). -R-2S explants showed the highest and +R+2S the lowest axillary-bud outgrowth. Outgrowth in -R+2S and +R-2S explants was intermediate. So, axillary buds are released by removal of the rhizome tip and by removal of the shoot tips. In both decapitated shoots and decapitated rhizomes, application of lanolin with 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA) to the cut end restored apical dominance. This indicates that both tips exert an effect via basipetally transported auxin