Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IMPACTS OF FLY ASH COMPOSITION AND FLUE GAS COPONENTS ON MERCURY SPECIATION

The impact of six fly ash samples on mercury speciation in simulated flue gas was evaluated in this study. A fixed bed reactor system was used to study the catalytic effect of fly ash on mercury oxidation at temperature of 140 °C in simulated flue gas consisting of N2, CO2, O2, NO, NO2, SO2, HCl, and H2O. Mercury was introduced to the reactor using a temperature controlled permeation tube. Elemental and total mercury in the effluent were measured using a semi-continuous atomic fluorescence mercury monitor. Fly ash samples were characterized using SEM-EDAX, XRD, TGA, BET analyzer and particle size analyzer. Mercury uptake tests with different fly ash samples revealed that LOI (Loss On Ignition), surface area, and particle size all had positive effects on mercury oxidation and adsorption. Experiments with pure components showed that alumina (Al2O3), silica (SiO2), calcium oxide (CaO), magnesium oxide (MgO), and titania (TiO2) did not promote mercury oxidation or capture. Ferric oxide (Fe2O3), and unburned carbon were found to have profound effects on mercury oxidation and capture. Unburned carbon is considered the most important fly ash component for mercury oxidation due to much larger presence in fly ash than Fe2O3.Experiments with carbon black and different flue gas composition revealed the importance of the interaction between flue gas and surface on mercury uptake. Oxygen containing surface functionalities did not enhance adsorption or oxidation of mercury by themselves. NO2 and HCl promoted mercury oxidation and adsorption on carbon black. Addition of O2 to HCl containing gas stream significantly improved mercury adsorption and oxidation. SO2 seems to inhibit both mercury oxidation and adsorption. NO and H2O had little impact on mercury oxidation or adsorption in inert gas flow. H2O may inhibit mercury adsorption in early stages of the experiment, but the inhibitory effect diminished over time.
Investigation of the capability of the Compact Polarimetry mode to Reconstruct Full Polarimetry mode using RADARSAT2 data

Recently, there has been growing interest in dual-pol systems that transmit one polarization and receive two polarizations. Souyris et al. proposed a DP mode called compact polarimetry (CP) which is able to reduce the complexity, cost, mass, and data rate of a SAR system while attempting to maintain many capabilities of a fully polarimetric system. This paper provides a comparison of the information content of full quad-pol data and the pseudo quad-pol data derived from compact polarimetric SAR modes. A pseudo-covariance matrix can be reconstructed following Souyris’s approach and is shown to be similar to the full polarimetric (FP) covariance matrix. Both the polarimetric signatures based on the kennaugh matrix and the Freeman and Durden decomposition in the context of this compact polarimetry mode are explored. The Freeman and Durden decomposition is used in our study because of its direct relationship to the reflection symmetry. We illustrate our results by using the polarimetric SAR images of Algiers city in Algeria acquired by the RadarSAT2 in C-band.
Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Internationalisation Strategies: A Descriptive Study in the Spanish Context

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a voluntary competitive strategy that is based upon social, economic, and environmental improvement in which the organisation is involved. Internationalisation, a type of corporate strategy, is a set of processes that help companies to expand globally to achieve the aim of improving their competitive position. Both of the strategies have become more important due to ever increasing globalisation, whose consequences modify economic and business environments, thus causing them to be more dynamic and competitive. This directly affects business management, thus companies increasingly consider the opinion of society, attempting to gain stakeholders’ trust through effective CSR management. In this context, this paper aims to analyse CSR and internationalisation strategies and their possible connection from a theoretical viewpoint. From a practical viewpoint, the relationship between both strategies is analysed while using a sample of Spanish listed companies.
Modelling the winter distribution of a rare and endangered migrant, the Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola

The Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola is one of the most threatened Western Palearctic passerine species, classified as globally Vulnerable. With its breeding grounds relatively secure, a clear need remains for the monitoring and protection of the migration and wintering grounds of this rare and endangered migrant. Recent research has shown that the Aquatic Warbler migrates through northwest Africa in autumn and spring. The wintering grounds are apparently limited to wetlands of sub-Saharan West Africa, with records from only about 20 localities in Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Ghana. Given the lack of knowledge of its whereabouts, we decided to use the available data to predict the wintering distribution of the Aquatic Warbler with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). We used a novel approach to model the distribution of rarely recorded species, which is based on a combination of presence-only and presence‐absence modelling techniques. Using the program BIOMOD, we thus generated four progressively more conservative predictions of where the Aquatic Warbler overwinters in Africa. Whereas the most permissive model predicts the Aquatic Warbler to be found in a latitudinal band stretching from the Senegal river delta all the way to the Red Sea coast, the most restrictive model suggests a much smaller area concentrated within the regions around the Senegal river delta in northern Senegal and southern Mauritania and around the Niger inundation zone in southern Mali and eastern Burkina Faso. Such model predictions may be useful guidelines to focus further field research on the Aquatic Warbler. Given the excellent model predictions in this study, this novel technique may prove useful to model the distribution of other rare and endangered species, thus providing a means to guide future survey efforts.
Optimal FCFS allocation rules for periodic‐review assemble‐to‐order systems

In Assemble‐To‐Order (ATO) systems, situations may arise in which customer demand must be backlogged due to a shortage of some components, leaving available stock of other components unused. Such unused component stock is called remnant stock. Remnant stock is a consequence of both component ordering decisions and decisions regarding allocation of components to end‐product demand. In this article, we examine periodic‐review ATO systems under linear holding and backlogging costs with a component installation stock policy and a First‐Come‐First‐Served (FCFS) allocation policy. We show that the FCFS allocation policy decouples the problem of optimal component allocation over time into deterministic period‐by‐period optimal component allocation problems. We denote the optimal allocation of components to end‐product demand as multimatching. We solve the multi‐matching problem by an iterative algorithm. In addition, an approximation scheme for the joint replenishment and allocation optimization problem with both upper and lower bounds is proposed. Numerical experiments for base‐stock component replenishment policies show that under optimal base‐stock policies and optimal allocation, remnant stock holding costs must be taken into account. Finally, joint optimization incorporating optimal FCFS component allocation is valuable because it provides a benchmark against which heuristic methods can be compared. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 62: 158–169, 2015
Inflation and Unemployment in Switzerland: From 1970 to 2050

An empirical model is presented linking inflation and unemployment rate to the change in the level of labour force in Switzerland. The involved variables are found to be cointegrated and we estimate lagged linear deterministic relationships using the method of cumulative curves, a simplified version of the 1D Boundary Elements Method. The model yields very accurate predictions of the inflation rate on a three year horizon. The results are coherent with the models estimated previously for the US, Japan, France and other developed countries and provide additional validation of our quantitative framework based solely on labour force. Finally, given the importance of inflation forecasts for the Swiss monetary policy, we present a prediction extended into 2050 based on official projections of the labour force level.
Effects of Credit Constraints on Productivity and Rural Household Income in China

Agricultural production is strongly conditioned by the fact that inputs are transformed into outputs with considerable time lags, causing the rural household to balance its budget during the season when there are high expenditures for input purchases and consumption and few revenues. With limited access to credit, the budget balance within the year can become a constraint to agricultural production. As is the case in many developing countries, Chinese rural households have been suffering from a lack of access to capital. While China is one of the biggest countries in terms of rural areas and agricultural production, few studies have focused on the impact of credit on agriculture in China. Using survey data, this study aims to examine how credit constraints currently affect agricultural productivity and rural household income in China. The study findings suggest that under credit constraints, production inputs, along with farmers' capabilities and education, cannot be fully employed. By removing credit constraints, agricultural productivity and rural household income can be improved.
Asset-Building and Microfinance: An Econometric Analysis

The poor’s central resources for livelihoods enhancement are their assets. This emphasizes the need for asset strengthening and accumulation to achieve social transformation and poverty reduction. Poor people rarely speak of income but the management of assets in the form of physical, human, social and environmental as a way to cope with their vulnerability. This paper attempts to carry out an econometric analysis of the how asset-building can be enhanced by the provision of microfinance. The poor have lower assets thus they are disadvantaged by financial exclusion. Results show a statistically positive relationship between microfinance and assets. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013. v4n3p449
Wave energy resource assessment with AltiKa satellite altimetry: A case study at a wave energy site

A simple model to estimate wave power at a coastal site from satellite radar altimetry is proposed. We used data from the AltiKa altimeter on board the SARAL satellite because of its superior performance near the coast. The deep water approximation was applied to our 60 m deep site along with a simple empirical model to estimate wave period, T, from altimeter significant wave height, Hs, and backscattering coefficient, σ0. A known relation between zero‐crossing period, Tz, and wave energy period, TE, was used in combination with Hs to calculate wave power per meter wave crest (P). The annual and seasonal mean values of P using AltiKa parameters largely agreed with known ranges of P at the site. A comparison with shallower sites and sites closer to the coast revealed that for estimation of Tz from AltiKa the water depth could be taken into account and an empirical relation is given.
How much Collaboration? Balancing the Needs for Collaborative and Uninterrupted Work

The proliferation of collaboration platforms in organisations has benefits for knowledge workers in terms of access to knowledge and social resources. However, negative effects, specifically collaborative overload, have only recently been acknowledged and are still rarely considered by companies. Collaborative overload is a multi-faceted construct, which covers downsides, unintended or sideeffects of collaboration platforms and their organisational use. To introduce and explore what we believe is an important phenomenon, we conducted a narrative literature review to contextualise collaborative overload and to provide a structured account of underlying root causes. Based on this, we propose an agenda for future research and derive an initial research framework to clarify and delineate collaborative overload. With this twofold contribution, we aim to provide a frame of reference for the discourse about this important syndrome of modern workplaces.
Romanian Journal of Oral Rehabilitation Vol . 2 , No . 3 , July 2010

Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess the subjective post-therapeutic feedback for a group of patients in order to evaluate the possibility of including in the analysis structure of expert system psycho-behavioral parameters. Methods: 135 patients diagnosed with class I and II Kennedy edentation, aged between 40 and 89 years old, where clinically examined. All patients filled in structured questionnaires focused on psycho-behavioral parameters. Results: Prosthetic treatment in oral rehabilitation improves subjective perception of facial aesthetic (66,86% total and moderate accord), psychological status (71,14% total and moderate accord) and of the social relations (77,47% total, moderate and low accord) but it is not subjective associated with the improving of general health (55,49% disagreement). Conclusions: We can establish statistical support correlation between psycho-behavioral parameters and therapeutic solutions applied in oral rehabilitation, correlation that can be later quantified and use in the development of an expert system.
Non-linearities in returns to participation in Grameen Bank programs

Abstract This paper studies the benefits of participation in micro-finance programs, where benefits are measured in terms of the ability to smooth the effect of seasonal shocks that cause consumption fluctuations. It is shown that although membership in these programs is an effective instrument in combating inter-seasonal consumption differences, there is a threshold level of length of participation beyond which benefits begin to diminish. Returns from membership are modelled using an Euler equation approach. Fixed effects non-linear least squares estimation of parameters using data from 24 villages of the Grameen Bank suggests that returns to participation, as measured by the ability to smooth seasonal shocks, begin to decline after approximately two years of membership. This implies that membership alone no longer has a mitigating marginal effect on seasonal shocks to per capita consumption after four years of participation. Such patterns suggest that the ability to smooth consumption as a function of length of membership, need not accrue indefinitely in a linear fashion.
Improving models of wood density by including genetic effects: A case study in Douglas-fir

De nombreux modeles ont ete publies, mettant en relation chez de nombreuses especes des proprietes du bois avec des caracteres de croissance. A l'echelle de la population d'arbres, on sait que la densite d'un cerne depend significativement de sa largeur et de son âge cambial. Toutefois, la valeur predictive de ce type de relation est generalement faible, a cause de l'existence d'un fort effet « arbre » sur les residus du modele. Nous proposons l'hypothese que cet effet arbre est lie a l'existence d'une variabilite genetique intra-population. Nous avons teste cette hypothese en ajustant un modele lineaire a plusieurs populations de douglas structurees genetiquement, selon des niveaux genetiques differents variant de la provenance au clone. L'ajout d'un parametre genetique au modele permet d'augmenter significativement la qualite predictive du modele, et diminue les residus. Au niveau clone, par exemple, la variance expliquee par le modele passe de 20 a 54 %. Nous en deduisons que la plus grande partie de la variabilite observee pour la relation densite-croissance chez le Douglas est d'origine genetique.
Symplectic Fillings, Contact Surgeries, and Lagrangian Disks

This paper completely answers the question of when contact $(r)$–surgery on a Legendrian knot in the standard contact structure on $S^3$ yields a symplectically fillable contact manifold for $r\in (0,1]$. We also give obstructions for other positive $r$ and investigate Lagrangian fillings of Legendrian knots.
Slippage Effect on the Oscillatory Electroosmotic Flow of Power-Law Fluids in a Microchannel

The oscillatory electroosmotic flow (OEOF) under the influence of the Navier slip condition in power law fluids through a microchannel is studied numerically. A time-dependent external electric field (AC) is suddenly imposed at the ends of the microchannel which induces the fluid motion. The continuity and momentum equations in the and direction for the flow field were simplified in the limit of the lubrication approximation theory (LAT), and then solved using a numerical scheme. The solution of the electric potential is based on the Debye-Hückel approximation which suggest that the surface potential is small, say, smaller than 0:025V and for a symmetric () electrolyte. Our results suggest that the velocity profiles across the channel-width are controlled by the following dimensionless parameters: the dimensionless slip length , the Womersley number, , the electrokinetic parameter, , defined as the ratio of the characteristic length scale to the Debye length, the parameter which represents the ratio of the Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity to the characteristic length scale and the flow behavior index, . Also, the results reveal that the velocity magnitude gets higher values as increases and become more and more nonuniform across the channel-width as the and are increased, so OEOF can be useful in micro-fluidic devices such as micro-mixers.
ENHANCING HEAT TRANSFER RATES BY INDUCING LIQUID-LIQUID PHASE SEPARATION: APPLICATIONS AND MODELING

This paper focuses on heat transfer enhancement during spinodal decomposition, and it provides an updated review as well as a discussion of future developments. The analysis is mainly based on the work of two research groups at Tel-Aviv University (Israel) and at University of Brescia (Italy). We review the theory of spinodal decomposition of liquid–liquid binary mixtures and we discuss the diffuse interface (DI) approach. While mass and momentum equations in the DI approach have been developed and discussed in other works, we also look into the energy equation, which has been only recently investigated. Direct visualizations of both static and flowing mixture during decomposition are provided. Visualizations of the decomposition in a quiescent fluid have been previously reported, while flowing conditions have been analyzed only recently. Interestingly enough, the morphology is rather different during flowing conditions, where the decomposition exhibits a nucleationlike morphology and not the typical bicontinuous structure observed during spinodal decomposition of a quiescent fluid. Enhancement of heat transfer performances is shown in channels (sizes of 0.8 and 2 mm) using an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) mixture. Although different conditions are analyzed, the results show a consistent enhancement of the heat transfer. The paper reports also some new experimental work on the heat transfer for a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) mixture that can be actually used in cooling applications. A coarse-grained model that could be potentially used for the sizing of large-scale equipment is discussed in term of a possible future development that needs to be further investigated and validated.
In vitro growth and development of Dendrobium hybrid orchid

The experiment was conducted to investigate the combined effect of different plant growth regulators and charcoal supplementation in MS medium on growth and development of plantlets regenerated from protocorm like bodies (PLBs) of hybrid orchid. The combination of BAP + NAA, BAP + IAA, BAP + IBA, and IAA + IBA at different concentrations with charcoal supplementation was studied. The result revealed that the use of different growth regulators had significant effect on different parameters studied. The maximum weight of PLBs (5.123 g) was obtained from the combination of BAP + IBA at 1.0 mg/l each. The highest shoot height (3.239 cm) and maximum number of rooted plantlets (4.473) was obtained from 1.0 mg/l each of BAP + NAA combination. The maximum number of leaves (3.490) and the maximum length of leaves (1.946 cm) were obtained from 1.0 mg/l each of BAP + IBA and the highest leaf width (1.166 cm) was obtained from 0.5 mg/l BAP +1.0 mg/l IBA combination. The highest root length was obtained from 0.5 mg/l each of BAP + IAA and the maximum number of regenerated plantlets (20) was obtained from 0.5 mg/l IAA + 1.0 mg/l IBA combination. However, the maximum fresh weight of single shoot (0.219 g) and the maximum number of roots per plantlet (6.300) was obtained from 1.0 mg/I each of IAA + IBA combination. Keywords: Dedrobium ; orchid; hybrid; In vitro growth. DOI: 10.3329/bjar.v35i3. 6457 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 35(3) : 507-514
Knowledge Spillovers and Economic Growth: an empirical analysis for the Netherlands

The importance of knowledge spillovers for achieving innovation and economic growth is widely recognized. It is not straightforward which type of spillovers is most effec- tive: intra-sectoral spillovers or inter-sectoral spillovers. We investigate this controversy using a model of regional growth. The model also deals with the impact of local competi- tion on innovation and growth. The model is e stimated using sectoral data for 40 Dutch regions in the period 1987-1995. We find that local competition is important particularly for economic growth in industry sectors (manufacturing and construction), while diversity, a proxy for inter-sectoral spillovers, is important particularly for growth in service sectors. We find no effect for specialization (a proxy for intra-sectoral spillovers).
Dynamics and Control of a Two-link Manipulator using PID and Sliding Mode Control

A robotic arm having two links is considered in this report for modeling and control. First the dynamic model of the robot is obtained using the so-called Lagrange equation, then a robust control strategy based on the conventional sliding mode control is introduced to control the motion of the robot at specific position for pick and place tasks along with PID control scheme. The results of the two controllers are compared. From the simulation results the SMC is found to be superior to the PID controller in term of fast and robust response yet with higher control input. High join speeds are observed in case of SMC which are related to the high control signals.