Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling wax thickness in single-phase turbulent flow

Oil and gas transport is today a vital part of the industry. Oil cooled during transport in pipelines may precipitate paraffin wax. Precipitated wax may deposit on pipe walls and cause flow restrictions. Deposition models are used to understand and predict deposition of solids. A deposition model can help predict wax problems before a pipe line is set into operation. If the amount of deposited wax is predicted it can help operators to develop removal plans and strategies. A total of 21 wax deposition experiments performed by others were digitized and evaluated. The logarithmic deposition-release model showed a good match with 18 of the experiments. The experiments tested the effect of varying flow rate, temperature or both. Most experiments behaved as expected when flow rate and temperature were varied. The deposition-release model consists of two coefficients, k1 and k2. Both coefficients were evaluated against wall shear stress for the varying rate experiments. The coefficients in the varying temperature series were evaluated against the temperature driving force. Linear trends between most coefficients and physical parameters were found. These linear trends lead to the development of four models that predict wax deposition. The models use either wall shear stress, the temperature driving force or both as an input. All models produce similar results. Each model was based on an experimental series. A study of a real pipeline with wax deposition was also investigated. Temperature and viscosity calculations matched well with values used in the study. The study reported calculated wax thickness based on measurements of pressure drop. The pressure drop method was evaluated and explained. The method does not consider an altered pressure drop due to increased pipe roughness and non-evenly distribution of deposits. Both of these effects will increase the pressure drop. It was found that neglecting these will cause the calculated thickness to be overestimated. Because of the overestimation of thickness it was hard to get an accurate match with models.
Mushrooming Village Community Banks in Tanzania: Is it really making a difference?

Village Community banks have been reported to benefit the poorer men and women in developing countries since their establishment. In Tanzania, VICOBA and other informal financial institutions have reached 27.9% of rural communities who were initially unserved. Much as the grassroots communities have been served by VICOBA few studies have been conducted in Arumeru Distict to evaluate how VICOBA have benefited the poor. It was from this concern that this study was conducted in June 2012 to assess the services, achievements and challenges pertaining to VICOBA in Arumeru District. A sample of 96 respondents was selected for the study. From the study it was found that Village Community Bank members of Muhorere, Mchele mchele and Mwangaza groups have benefited as members and sole owners of the banks. Members have been empowered in different skills and received different services such as soft loans, savings, shares, trainings and social or emergency loans. The banks on the other hand have achieved a lot since their commencement. There has been an expansion of their member base, their stakeholder base and even their capital base. Nevertheless there have been some hurdles encountered such as illiteracy for some members, inadequate capital and lack of bank offices among others.
The Citizen Science Landscape: From Volunteers to Citizen Sensors and Beyond

Within conservation and ecology, volunteer participation has always been an important component of research. Within the past two decades, this use of volunteers in research has proliferated and evolved into “citizen science. ” Technologies are evolving rapidly. Mobile phone technologies and the emergence and uptake of high-speed Web-capable smart phones with GPS and data upload capabilities can allow instant collection and transmission of data. This is frequently used within everyday life particularly on social networking sites. Embedded sensors allow researchers to validate GPS and image data and are now affordable and regularly used by citizens. With the “perfect storm” of technology, data upload, and social networks, citizen science represents a powerful tool. This paper establishes the current state of citizen science within scientific literature, examines underlying themes, explores further possibilities for utilising citizen science within ecology, biodiversity, and biology, and identifies possible directions for further research. The paper highlights (1) lack of trust in the scientific community about the reliability of citizen science data, (2) the move from standardised data collection methods to data mining available datasets, and (3) the blurring of the line between citizen science and citizen sensors and the need to further explore online social networks for data collection.
THERMAL PROPERTIES OF TPD-BASED ORGANIC GLASSES

Glassy materials are condensed matter systems showing physical properties in between solids and liquids and retaining information about the thermal history they have been subjected to and the way they have been prepared. Formally, this implies that their configurational energy landscape is a complex multi-dimensional surface, showing quite a few basins with different depths, widths, and shapes: the system can be trapped in any of them, assuming very unlike physical properties. Recently, it has been demonstrated experimentally that a glassy system can be grown by physical vapor deposition of organic molecules on a substrate. The physics of such organic glasses is enriched by a new feature, namely: the anisotropic molecular structure of the basic building blocks used to assemble the film. TPD-based organic glasses have been generated by atomistic simulations that mimic vapor deposition and their thermal properties have been accordingly calculated. Simulations generate a rational phenomenology, providing robust evidence that heat transfer is not isotropic but, rather, correlated to an inherent molecular property, namely the axial structure of the TPD molecule. Furthermore, we present the first theoretical prediction of the specific heat trend versus temperature, showing in the quantum regime an intriguing anomaly with respect to crystalline systems.
The Effect of Credit Risk and Capital Adequacy on the Profitability of Rural Banks in the Philippines

Abstract This paper examines the credit risk and capital adequacy of the 567 rural banks in the Philippines to investigate how both variables affect bank profitability. Using the Arellano-Bond estimator, we found out that credit risk has a negative and statistically significant relationship with profitability. However, empirical analysis showed that capital adequacy has no significant impact on the profitability of rural banks in the Philippines. It is therefore necessary for the rural banks to examine more deeply if capital infusion would result in higher profitability than increasing debts. The study also implies that it is imperative for the banks to understand which risk factors have greater impact on their financial performance and use better risk-adjusted performance measurement to support their strategies. Rural banks should establish credit risk management that defines the process from initiation to approval of loans, taking into consideration the sound credit risk management practices issued by regulatory bodies. Moreover, rural banks need to enhance internal control measures to ensure the strict implementation of internal processes on lending operations.
Effect of Some Essential Oils on the Quality of UF-Soft Cheese During Storage

The present study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial properties and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of three essential oils extracted from cumin, rosemary and thyme and their mixture and their effect on physicochemical, microbial, rheological and sensorial attributes of ultrafiltrated (UF)-soft cheese. UF-soft cheese was prepared from UF milk retentate with adding 0.1% of these essential oils. The results revealed that the different essential oils had remarkable antimicrobial effect on the growth of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), Bacillus cereus (B. cereus), and Aspergillus niger (A. niger). Among essential oils, thyme oil had the highest antioxidantactivity and antimicrobial effect. Addition of essential oils appeared to affect cheese pH and total volatile fatty acid content during storage period, while total solids and fat contents were slightly affected. Addition of essential oils to retentate resulted in an increment in antioxidant activity and decreased the total bacterial count compared with the control cheese. Sensory evaluation revealed that UF-soft cheese containing essential oils remained acceptable even at the end of storage period. Adding cumin essential oil to UF-soft cheese gained the highest scores for the sensorial attributes.The results concluded that a concentration of 0.1% of essential oils extracted from cumin, rosemary or thyme or their mixture can be used to extend the shelf life of UF-soft cheese for up to 28 days. These essential oils could be successfully used as natural and safe additives in production of UF- soft cheese.
Fusion investing: an innovative approach to asset selection

This research aims to encapsulate the idea by Lee (2003) and Bird and Casavecchia (2007b) by designing an investment strategy that exploits value, fundamental and momentum anomalies. This fusion strategy has underpinnings in the realm of behavioral finance, namely the value-growth phenomenon and the momentum effect. Using data of all shares listed on the Johanesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) in South Africa, those considered value shares are selected. From that sample, those that are fundamentally sound and exhibit winning momentum characteristics are chosen. Nominal returns of the strategy show promising results as the fusion strategy outperformed both active and passive benchmarks chosen, after costs. The coefficient of variation, a simple measure of variability in the mean return, indicates that an investor seeking higher returns (with higher volatility) would invest in the fusion strategy. On a risk adjusted basis, the results were inconclusive based on the Sharpe and Treynor ratios, but fairly promising based on the Sortino ratio. The Sortino ratio shows that the fusion strategy outperforms all benchmarks chosen, except the Absa Select Equity Fund (known as Fund A). Statistical testing shows that the returns of the strategy are significantly different from zero and follow a non-linear data generating process. Although the screening methods are chosen based on prior studies, no published study has utilized these screens in the sequence outlined above.
On the nature of the magnetic Rayleigh–Taylor instability in astrophysical plasma: the case of uniform magnetic field strength

AH would like to thank Drs Adrian Barker, Takeshi Matsumoto and Jack Carlyle for their comments on the manuscript which greatly improved the content of the manuscript. AH would like to thank the anonymous referees for their comments which greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. AH is supported by his STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship grant number ST/L00397X/1.
Delivery of anthropogenic bioavailable iron from mineral dust and combustion aerosols to the ocean

Abstract. Atmospheric deposition of anthropogenic soluble iron (Fe) to the ocean has been suggested to modulate primary ocean productivity and thus indirectly affect the climate. A key process contributing to anthropogenic sources of soluble Fe is associated with air pollution, which acidifies Fe-containing mineral aerosols during their transport and leads to Fe transformation from insoluble to soluble forms. However, there is large uncertainty in our estimate of this anthropogenic soluble Fe. In this study, for the first time, we interactively combined laboratory kinetic experiments with global aerosol modeling to more accurately quantify anthropogenic soluble Fe due to air pollution. Firstly, we determined Fe dissolution kinetics of African dust samples at acidic pH values with and without ionic species commonly found in aerosol water (i.e., sulfate and oxalate). Then, by using acidity as a master variable, we constructed a new empirical scheme for Fe release from mineral dust due to inorganic and organic anions in aerosol water. We implemented this new scheme and applied an updated mineralogical emission database in a global atmospheric chemistry transport model to estimate the atmospheric concentration and deposition flux of soluble Fe under preindustrial and modern conditions. Our improved model successfully captured the inverse relationship of Fe solubility and total Fe loading measured over the North Atlantic Ocean (i.e., 1–2 orders of magnitude lower Fe solubility in northern-African- than combustion-influenced aerosols). The model results show a positive relationship between Fe solubility and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC)/Fe molar ratio, which is consistent with previous field measurements. We estimated that deposition of soluble Fe to the ocean increased from 0.05–0.07 Tg Fe yr−1 in the preindustrial era to 0.11–0.12 Tg Fe yr−1 in the present day, due to air pollution. Over the high-nitrate, low-chlorophyll (HNLC) regions of the ocean, the modeled Fe solubility remains low for mineral dust (
Education and Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Evidence from Senegal

This paper studies the education-employment nexus in the context of Senegal. Using the 2005 Senegal Household Survey, we find that households’ heads with higher education (lower secondary level and above) are less likely to be self-employed but more likely to be working in the public sector. Disaggregation by gender and location (rural vs. urban) does not affect the results. Besides, female headed households with secondary education and above are more likely to be employed in the private sector. The results suggest the importance of steps for extensive promotion of education (especially for an upward revision of the level of compulsory education) in resolving the persistent unemployment problem and improving the job availability in the private sector.
FII and Its Impact on Stock Market: A Study on Lead-Lag and Volatility Spillover

In this paper we examine the information spillover and volatility spill-over relationship for Indian stock market. We cover data during 1992-2011. We examine if there has been an increase in volatility persistence in the Indian stock market on after the process of financial liberalization initiated in India. Further, we examine the shifts in stock price volatility and the nature of events that apparently cause the shifts in volatility. We examine if there has been an increase in volatility persistence in the Indian stock market on after the process of financial liberalization initiated in India. This paper explores to develop alternative models from cointegration, VECM, Variance De-composition Analysis, Granger causality, Block Exogeneity wald test, Impulse Response Analysis and alternative forms of the Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH) or its generalisation, the Generalised ARCH (GARCH) family, to estimate volatility in the Indian equity market return. Bidirectional informational spillover is confirmed. The bidirectional volatility spill-over, persistence and clustering is also confirmed in the sample series. Our findings have implications for policy makers, hedgers and investors. The research contributes to present investment literature for emerging markets such as India.
An Ecological and Economic Assessment of the Nontimber Forest Product Gaharu Wood in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Abstract: Ecological and economic data are essential to the identification of tropical nontimber forest products with the potential for sustainable and profitable extraction in a managed system. We studied the demographic effect and economic returns of harvesting aromatic gaharu wood from fungus‐infected trees of Aquilaria malaccensis Lam. at Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesia, to evaluate the management potential of gaharu wood. Aquilaria malaccensis trees openface> 20 cm in diameter occurred at low preharvest densities (0.16–0.32 ha) but were distributed across five of six forest types surveyed. During a recent harvest, 75% of trees were felled, with harvest intensities ranging from 50% to 100% among forest types. Overall, 50% of trees contained gaharu wood, but trees at higher elevations contained gaharu wood more frequently ( 73%) than trees at lower elevation (27%). The mean density of regeneration ( juveniles> 15 cm in height) near adult trees (3–7 m away) was 0.2/m2, 200 times greater than at random in the forest (10/ha), but long‐term data on growth and survivorship are needed to determine whether regeneration is sufficient for population recovery. Gaharu wood extraction from Gunung Palung was very profitable for collectors, generating an estimated gross financial return per day of US $8.80, triple the mean village wage. Yet, the estimated sustainable harvest of gaharu wood at natural tree densities generates a mean net present value of only $10.83/ha, much lower than that of commercial timber harvesting, the dominant forest use in Kalimantan. Returns per unit area could be improved substantially, however, by implementing known silvicultural methods to increase tree densities, increase the proportion of trees that produce gaharu wood, and shorten the time interval between successive harvests. The economic potential of gaharu wood is unusual among nontimber forest products and justifies experimental trials to develop small‐scale cultivation methods.
Experimental transmission trials by Cacopsylla pyri , collected from Pear Decline infected orchards in Turkey

A study was carried out on the experimental transmission efficiency of the Pear Decline (PD) phytoplasma by Cacopsylla pyri (L.) C. pyri were collected from naturally infected orchards in Bursa province (Plots B1 and B2) and a non-infected orchard in the Hatay-Antakya province (Plot A) of Turkey. C. pyri adults captured from infected orchards were placed directly onto healthy periwinkle plants ( Catharanthus roseus ), whereas the C. pyri from plot A were allowed to feed first on infected pear for two weeks, then transferred to healthy periwinkle plants. Groups of five psyllids per plant were used for transmissison tests and the study was replicated three times. The presence of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri ’ in psyllids and C. roseus plants was checked by nested PCR using P1/P7 and U3/U5 primer pairs. Although C. pyri have a limited host range they were able to survive up to 20 days on periwinkle plants. Insects collected from Bursa province survived 16-20 days whereas insects from Antakya survived 7-12 days on periwinkle plants. Symptoms consisted of yellowing or clearing of the veins in newly infected leaves, and shortening of the internodes of the main stem. The infected plants remained stunted and with small flowers. Results based on the RFLP analysis of infected plants exposed to psyllids from plot B1and B2 indicated that the experimental infection rate of periwinkle plants and psyllids was 33.3% and 16.6%, respectively. No infected periwinkle was found in plants exposed to psyllids from plot A, but the psyllids used for experimental transmission experiments were 33.3 % infected. Transmission trials under controlled conditions showed the capability of C. pyri to transmit PD from infected pears to healthy periwinkles and confirmed their potential as vectors of Ca. P. pyri in Turkey. Keywords: Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri , pear psyllid, transmission efficiency
Sixth Grade Teachers’ Conceptions of Classroom Assessment

This paper explored conceptions that sixth grade teachers hold about classroom assessment and how these conceptions influence their classroom assessment practices. The research was qualitative in nature and employed an instrumental case study approach. Semi-structured interviews, observations and document analyses were used. The study utilized Brown’s [4] conceptual framework on conceptions of assessment. The findings reveal that teachers’ conceptions of assessment are influenced by the social and education context in which they find themselves and that their personal experiences of assessment also influence their conceptions of assessment.
Relation Of Collective Efficacy Beliefs To Group Cohesion And Performance In Student Project Teams

This study extends Bandura’s 1 concept of collective efficacy to the context of student project teams in engineering education. Collective efficacy refers to team members’ beliefs about the ability of their team to perform its tasks effectively. Members of student project teams in an introductory engineering design course completed measures of their teams’ collective efficacy, cohesion, and performance. Course instructors also independently rated each team’s performance. Findings indicated that collective efficacy was strongly related to students’ ratings of their teams’ cohesion and performance, both at the individual and group levels of analysis. Collective efficacy was also moderately related to instructors’ ratings of team performance. We consider the implications of these findings for further research and practice involving team functioning.
Recruitment of native parasitoids to a new invasive host: First results of Dryocosmus kuriphilus parasitoid assemblage in Croatia

Research on recruitment of native parasitoids on the recently introduced invasive species Dryocosmus kuriphilus has been carried out on four sites in 2011 and 2012 in Croatia. In total 15 species of native parasitoids were reared which belong to 5 of 6 chalcid families attacking native oak cynipid gallwasps (Eupelmidae - 2, Eurytomidae - 4, Ormyridae - 1, Pteromalidae - 4 and Torymidae - 4 species). This research has shown that the time lag between introduction of new host and recruitment of native parasitoids is short. Sex ratios for the most abundant parasitoid species appeared to be female-biased and the parasitoid emergence rate for all sites was relatively low. Torymus flavipes was recorded from D. kuriphilus at all sites and in both years and was the most abundant species exploiting the new host. Among other species, especially T. flavipes and Megastigmus dorsalis, which have been reared from D. kuriphilus galls, could provide a good possibility for biological control but further research is needed.