Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Solar photocatalytic treatment of gelatin industry effluent: Performance of pilot scale reactor with suspended TiO2 and supported TiO2

Degradation of gelatin in the effluent by heterogeneous photocatalysis using suspended and supported TiO 2 in falling film photoreactor under natural solar light has been investigated. Suitable weight proportions of slurry comprising fevicol and home-made TiO 2 have been prepared and the fevicol TiO 2 (F-T) film on acrylic sheet is obtained by brush coating. TiO 2 coating containing 10 wt% fevicol is found to be more adherent and efficient for gelatin degradation. This F-T catalyst in the falling film photoreactor has been tested for the treatment of effluent and its efficiency is compared with suspended homemade TiO 2 . The effects of operational parameters such as the amount of TiO 2 , effluent concentration, and initial p H on treatment process by F-T coating as well as by suspended TiO 2 slurry have been analyzed. The F-T film is efficient for repeated treatment of effluent when compared to suspended TiO 2 . Hence this cost effective solar photocatalytic process is widely applicable at industrial scale.
Firm Dynamics, Productivity Growth, and Job Creation in Developing Countries: The Role of Micro- and Small Enterprises

The conventional wisdom on firm dynamics, productivity growth, and job creation in developing countries is based on data that, by design, excludes a vast number of micro- and small enterprises, many of which are informal. Some may not view this exclusion as an issue, on the grounds that the omitted economic units reflect survivorship rather than entrepreneurship. However, the thresholds that determine the truncation of the data are relatively arbitrary, and the firms that are typically excluded are associated with a large share of total employment. This paper assesses the ways in which the conventional wisdom on developing countries would change if micro- and small enterprises were taken into account in the analyses. The assessment shows that micro- and small enterprises account for a greater share of gross job creation and destruction than acknowledged by the conventional wisdom. It also reveals a greater dispersion of firm productivity, a weaker correlation between firm productivity and firm size, and a smaller contribution of within-firm productivity gains to aggregate productivity growth. This assessment points to new directions in the data and research efforts needed to understand the role of micro- and small enterprises and to identify policies with the potential to foster job creation and aggregate productivity growth in developing countries.
Evolution of sediment composition of the coastal Lake San Puoto (Latium, Italy) in the last two centuries

The sediment composition of the coastal Lake San Puoto (Central Italy) was studied to obtain information on its recent environmental evolution (last 200 years). The explorative fieldwork was performed within the framework of the EU-funded PALICLAS Project. Sediment and mass accumulation rates, calculated from 210Pb analysis, show mean values of 0.27 cm y-1 and 0.11 g cm-2 y-1 respectively, with increasing values from 10 cm to the top (i.e. from ca 1960 AD to the present). The evolution of the recent sedimentation of Lake San Puoto is characterized by the interplay of three main components: detrital (either siliciclastic and/or carbonatic), organic-rich and authigenic phases. The first reflects the input from coastal dunes and rocky outcrops; the other two indicate variations in lake productivity. Sedimentological, geochemical, and mineralogical analyses of two cores collected near the center of the lake were used to define five lithological units: i) a laminated unit representing the last eutrophication period, starting ca 1925 AD; ii) a few turbidite layers, probably due to a lowering of the lake level around 1920 AD; iii) a productive phase of the lake, which occurred around the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX century; iv) a coarse siliciclastic sediment interval, possibly deposited following the digging of the channel connecting Lake San Puoto to Lake Lungo; and v) an older unit representing the natural allochthonous detritic sedimentation deriving from the present dune deposits surrounding the lake shores. Metal fluxes were calculated for recent times by means of 210Pb sedimentation rates. Zn, Cu and Pb record considerably higher fluxes above 10 cm depth (i.e. 1960 AD), as confirmed by Al-normalized metal depth profiles. Episodes of eutrophication occurred between 1890 and 1920 and between 1925 and the present.
Volatility forecasting for crude oil futures

This article studies the forecasting properties of linear GARCH models for closing-day futures prices on crude oil, first position, traded in the New York Mercantile Exchange from January 1995 to November 2005. To account for fat tails in the empirical distribution of the series, we compare models based on the normal, Student's t and generalized exponential distribution. We focus on out-of-sample predictability by ranking the models according to a large array of statistical loss functions. The results from the tests for predictive ability show that the GARCH-G model fares best for short horizons from 1 to 3 days ahead. For horizons from 1 week ahead, no superior model can be identified. We also consider out-of-sample loss functions based on value-at-risk that mimic portfolio managers and regulators' preferences. Exponential GARCH models display the best performance in this case. The swings in oil prices that gave investors and traders whiplash in 2004 are not preventing new investors from rushing into oil and other energy-related commodities this year. (…) Ultimately, the rising number of speculator could lead to even more price volatility in 2005, pushing the highs higher and the lows lower. (…) After a generation in the wilderness, the oil futures that are used to make a bet on oil prices have become a bona fide investment, said Charles O'Donnell, who manages Lake Asset Management, a small energy fund based in London. Heather Timmons, The New York Times 1 1 Real money pumps up volatility of oil prices, 7 January 2005.
Estabilidade de suco de laranja (Citrus sinensis) refrigerado, acondicionado em embalagem asseptica

Suco de laranja integral, cultivar Pera Rio, tratado termicamente, refrigerado e acondicionadoassepticamente,em embalagem cartonada tetra-brik foi avaliado em tres temperaturas de armazenamento para definicao da estabilidade. As amostras foram armazenadas a 2°, 12° e 35°C e analisadas periodicamente pelas determinacoes de pH, Brix, acidez total titulavel, acido ascorbico e contagem total de mesofilos. Avaliacoes sensoriais foram realizadas simultaneamente as demais determinacoes, atraves de testes de escala estruturada, avaliando a aceitabilidade das amostras.Observacao: O resumo, na integra, podera ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital Abstract
Enzymatic Wheat Conditioning

This work was aimed to the preliminary development of an enzymatic wheat conditioning process in order to partly hydrolyse the fibre fraction to increase both milling yield and antioxidant capacity of whole flour. Two different commercially available food grade enzyme preparations were selected and used: Viscozyme® L (a complex including several carbohydrase activities) and a 50:50 mixture of Celluclast® BG and Fungamyl® Super AX (a mixture of purified 1,4-β-xylanase and a fungal -amylase). Lab-scale conditioning trials were carried at 16 % final grain moisture, under stirred conditions for 24 h. The investigated process variables were: working temperature (25 °C and 40 °C) and enzyme addition (3 % w/w based on dry weight of wheat, at 25 °C). All the samples and a control (not conditioned grain), were ground in a domestic mill and the flours were analysed to evaluate the influence of the treatment on: friability of bran fraction (flour weight fraction with particle size < 0.5 mm); free glucose and xylose content; total dietary fibre content; total free phenols (expressed as equivalents of ferulic acid based on Folin’s assay) and antioxidant capacity (according to different in vitro test: ABTS, FRAP and ORAC assay). Use of enzymes significantly increased the bran friability since the % of flours with particle size < 0.5 mm was 14 % higher than in the samples conditioned only with water. The free glucose content was 350 % higher in the enzymatically treated flours, while free xylose was detected only in the flour treated with the Celluclast®-Fungamyl® mixture. The total dietary fibre content was decreased by the Viscozyme® treatment. Both the enzymatic treatments improved the antioxidant capacity of flour based on ORAC and FRAP assays, but not the total phenols content and the ABTS-antioxidant capacity. The results showed an effect of the enzymes on the cell wall components, suggesting interesting potential for the development of an enzymatic wheat conditioning process.
Modeling Factors Affecting Student’s Usage Behaviour of E-Learning Systems in Lebanon

This study seeks to explore the factors that influence students’ usage behaviour of e-learning systems. Based on the strong theoretical foundation of the TAM, UTAM and using structural equation modeling (SEM) via AMOS 20.0, this research paper examines the impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit, social influence, and trust on student’s behavioural intention, which is later examined along with facilitating conditions on student’s usage behaviour of e-learning systems. Data was collected from students at two universities in Beirut (capital of Lebanon) using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey between January and March 2015. The results revealed direct positive effect of performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, habit, and trust on student’s behavioural intention to use e-learning explaining around 71% of overall behavioural intention. Meanwhile, behavioural intention and facilitating conditions accounted for 40% with strong positive effects on student’s usage behviour of e-learning systems. However, both effort expectancy and social influence did not impact student’s behavioural intention.
Egy nyolcéves gyermek énekelt és beszélt magánhangzóinak akusztikai jellemzői. Esettanulmány

The differences between adults and children in speaking voice are well known for many languages, while the analysis of adults’ singing voice still has to answer many questions. However, only a few studies are available so far (with a limited amount of information) on changes of Hungarian vowels as a function of age and on the acoustic analysis of singing voice. In addition, the (acoustic) analysis of the sung vowels of children is under-researched not only for Hungarian, but for other languages as well. The present study investigates the spoken and sung versions of an 8-year-old girl’s vowels (i, a, u) in the sequence lV and in three folk songs by measuring the formant frequencies appearing in LPC spectral envelope between F3/f (175 Hz) and F5/f’’ (698 Hz). Our results suggest that no vowel centralization appears as a function of pitch, which seems to be one of the main differences between adult (trained) singers’ and young (non-expert/advanced) singers’ sung vowels. The data also lead to many new questions (e.g. in the topic of children’s vocal efficiency, and vowel-quality production in singing).
Perspectives: Gene expression in fisheries management

Functional genes and gene expression have been connected to physiological traits linked to effective production and broodstock selection in aquaculture, selective implications of commercial fish harvest, and adaptive changes reflected in non-commercial fish populations subject to human disturbance and climate change. Gene mapping using single nucleotide poly- morphisms (SNPs) to identify functional genes, gene expression (analogue microarrays and real-time PCR), and digital sequenc- ing technologies looking at RNA transcripts present new concepts and opportunities in support of effective and sustainable fish- eries. Genomic tools have been rapidly growing in aquaculture research addressing aspects of fish health, toxicology, and early development. Genomic technologies linking effects in functional genes involved in growth, maturation and life history develop- ment have been tied to selection resulting from harvest practices. Incorporating new and ever-increasing knowledge of fish ge- nomes is opening a different perspective on local adaptation that will prove invaluable in wild fish conservation and management. Conservation of fish stocks is rapidly incorporating research on critical adaptive responses directed at the effects of human dis- turbance and climate change through gene expression studies. Genomic studies of fish populations can be generally grouped into three broad categories: 1) evolutionary genomics and biodiversity; 2) adaptive physiological responses to a changing environment; and 3) adaptive behavioral genomics and life history diversity. We review current genomic research in fisheries focusing on those that use microarrays to explore differences in gene expression among phenotypes and within or across populations, information that is critically important to the conservation of fish and their relationship to humans (Current Zoology 56 (1): 157-174, 2010).
A Variance-decomposition Approach to Investigating Multiscale Habitat Associations

Abstract The recognition of the importance of spatial scale in ecology has led many researchers to take multiscale approaches to studying habitat associations. However, few of the studies that investigate habitat associations at multiple spatial scales have considered the potential effects of cross-scale correlations in measured habitat variables. When cross-scale correlations in such studies are strong, conclusions drawn about the relative strength of habitat associations at different spatial scales may be inaccurate. Here we adapt and demonstrate an analytical technique based on variance decomposition for quantifying the influence of cross-scale correlations on multiscale habitat associations. We used the technique to quantify the variation in nest-site locations of Red-naped Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) and Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) associated with habitat descriptors at three spatial scales. We demonstrate how the method can be used to identify components of variation that are associated only with factors at a single spatial scale as well as shared components of variation that represent cross-scale correlations. Despite the fact that no explanatory variables in our models were highly correlated (r < 0.60), we found that shared components of variation reflecting cross-scale correlations accounted for roughly half of the deviance explained by the models. These results highlight the importance of both conducting habitat analyses at multiple spatial scales and of quantifying the effects of cross-scale correlations in such analyses. Given the limits of conventional analytical techniques, we recommend alternative methods, such as the variance-decomposition technique demonstrated here, for analyzing habitat associations at multiple spatial scales.
Translation and Adaptation of the Auditory Behavior in Everyday Life (ABEL) Questionnaire into Persian: A Pilot Study.

Background: Auditory rehabilitation isone of the important tasks of speech-language pathologists. So, it is necessary to know auditory behaviors in order to make some decisions about the children with hearing loss such as determining the effectiveness of the current rehabilitation programs and/or devices. The Auditory Behavior in Everyday Life (ABEL) questionnaire is a valid and reliable assessment tool in English which is developed by Purdy et al. (1995). The aim of this study was to translate and adapt ABEL questionnaire for Persian language. Methods: The ABEL consists of three factors ofauditory-oral, auditory awareness, and conversational/social skills. First, the questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted from English to Persian by an independent Iranian translator. The back translated version was compared with the original one in terms of the semantic/idiomatic equivalence. Then the questionnaire was completed two times by 43 mothers of 4-to-6 year old children with hearing loss who were using either hearing aids or cochlear implants. Finally, the results of the test-retest reliability were statistically compared in order to assess internal consistency. The statistical tests which were used include Cronbach’s Alpha, Spearman correlation, and Pearson correlation tests in significance level of 0.05. Results: There was a significant strength correlation among the items of the factor 1 (Alpha=0.94), factor 2 (Alpha=0.86), factor 3 (Alpha=0.82) and three factors (Alpha=0.96). There was a significant strength correlation at the 0.01 level between the scores of each factor in test-retest include auditory-oral (Spearman’s rho=0.94, P<0.001), auditory awareness (Spearman’s rho=0.92, P<0.001), and conversational/social skills (Spearman’s rho=0.82, P<0.001). Conclusion: The Persian version of ABEL questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of auditory performance development in Persian-speaking children wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants. So, the ABEL questionnaire can be applied by parents/caregivers, clinicians, and researchers in order to appraise children’s auditory behaviors in everyday living.
SEARCH MODELS WITH CONTINUOUS EFFORT UNDER VARIOUS CRITERIA

The purpose of this paper is to make up for lacks of the past researches with respect to basic search models with continuous effort. We suppose a discrete search space composed of n boxes and an exponential·type detection function in each box. First an explicit solution is derived for a detection search game. Secondly we con­ sider an information search problem and propose a sequential method of constructing the optimal policy. Thirdly we consider a certainty search game in which the payoff function is given by the posterior uncertainty with respect to the position of player I (hider) and obtain the solution in the form of a solution of a certain simultaneous equa­ tions. Finally we consider a whereabouts search model and derive the same result as the discrete effort case.
The Monkey's Voyage: How Improbable Journeys Shaped the History of Life

that an irrational school of thought, vicariance theory, dominated biogeography from the 1970s to the 1990s, but that a new theory, chance dispersal, subsequently reclaimed the field. The reality is somewhat different. From the rise of the neodarwinian Modern Synthesis in the early 1940s until now, chance dispersal has been the dominant paradigm in biogeography, and its supporters have occupied all the senior positions in the field. Nevertheless, vicariance began to be taken seriously in the 1970s, and since then it has become widely accepted despite its radical undermining of the traditional theory (Fig. 1). In this review, ‘DeQ’ refers to de Queiroz (2014); numbers cited in brackets refer to page numbers in the book. An earlier review of DeQ’s book concluded: ‘as a history it is sadly incomplete. ’, the author ‘takes most second-hand stories at face value. ’, and ‘the book takes a sometimes uncritical look at its subject’ (Morrison 2014). This uncritical attitude also characterizes much modern biogeography; authors adopt a ‘plug-and -play’ approach, running their data through popular programs and accepting the results without question. A WORLD SHAPED BY MIRACLES
Influence of Pasteurization on Total Phenols Content and Antioxidant Capacity of Prunus persica L. Juices

Peach and nectarine (Prunus persica ) production has an important place in the world, being the most important fruit after apple crops in the European Union. Because the fruits are perishable, it is desirable to valorize them as juice. Seven peaches and three nectarines cultivars grown in the N-W part of Romania were investigated for quality parameters, volatile profile, total phenols content and antioxidant capacity. The volatile composition of peach and nectarine cultivars was determined via the ITEX/GC-MS technique, the main volatile compounds belonging to alcohols and aldehydes. Another objective was to obtain the pasteurised juices from these fruits and to investigate the best time of pasteurisation in order to identify the most valuable cultivar from the perspective of total phenols content and its antioxidant capacity. For a better interpretation of results and a proper discrimination between cultivars, according to the total phenols content and antioxidant capacity, the multivariate analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were applied. The peach cultivars showed the highest content in total phenols compared with nectarine. From peach cultivars, the highest concentration was recorded in ‘Southland’ (47.49 ± 0.14 mg GAE 100 g-1 FW) and from nectarine cultivars in ‘Romamer’ (16.28 ± 0.83 mg GAE 100 g-1 FW). The highest antioxidant capacities were recorded in ‘Southland’ peach in the case of both methods (DPPH and FRAP). The results showed that ‘Southland’ peach and ‘Romamer’ nectarine pasteurised juices are the best from the point of view of total phenolic compounds content with high antioxidant capacity.
Institute for Brain and Neural Systems

Abstract : Detection and identification of partially occluded targets in complex scenes becomes an increasingly important task in light of the latest developments in urban warfare. The construction of a system that can automatically identify selected targets or direct soldiers attention to the locations that may contain suspicious activity can be of great use not only as a tool that can reduce the cognitive workload of the soldier but also as a tool that can alert the soldier to possible threats. Identifying a target in a complex scene is a challenging problem that incorporates several important aspects of vision including: translation and scale invariant recognition, robustness to noise and ability to cope with significant variations in lighting conditions. Identifying an occluded target adds another layer of complexity and this problem can be extremely difficult even for humans. Motion information can be of great help in providing an initial figure-ground segmentation. However, in many situations motion information is not available. In addition, if the input to the system is a video stream then the requirement that the system works in real-time often precludes the use of more sophisticated but computationally involved techniques.
Teaching Writing through the Arts in Urban Secondary Schools: A Case Study

This article explores commonalties between literacy instruction and learning to understand the symbolic languages of the visual and performing arts. A detailed case study of an urban professional development program for secondary arts teachers looks at the learning initiated by writing assignments that prompted students to reflect on arts experiences. Evidence of the effectiveness of integrated arts and literacy instruction is provided by a quasi-experimental study, which showed that the expository writing skills of the students of participating teachers improved significantly.
Institution-Driven Comparative Advantage and Organizational Choice

The theory of the firm suggests that firms can respond to poor contract enforcement by vertically integrating their production process. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms' integration opportunities affect the way contract enforcement institutions determine international trade patterns. We find that the benefits of judicial quality for the exports of contract-intense goods are more muted in industries that have a greater propensity towards vertical integration arrangements with input suppliers. We show that our results are not driven by primitive industry characteristics. Our results confirm the role of judicial quality as a source of comparative advantage and suggest that this depends not only on the technological characteristics of the goods produced but also on the way firms are able to organize the production process.