Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gravitational waves and stability of cosmological solutions in the theory with anomaly-induced corrections

The dynamics of metric perturbations is explored in the gravity theory with anomaly-induced quantum corrections. Our first purpose is to derive the equation for gravitational waves in this theory on the general homogeneous and isotropic background, and then verify the stability of such background with respect to metric perturbations. The problem under consideration has several interesting applications. Our first purpose is to explore the stability of the classical cosmological solutions in the theory with quantum effects taken into account. There is an interesting literature about stability of Minkowski and de Sitter spaces and here we extend the consideration also to the radiation and matter dominated cosmologies. Furthermore, we analyze the behavior of metric perturbations during inflationary period, in the stable phase of the Modified Starobinsky inflation.
Mixed axion/neutralino dark matter in the SUSY DFSZ axion model

We examine mixed axion/neutralino cold dark matter production in the SUSY DFSZ axion model where an axion superfield couples to Higgs superfields. We calculate a wide array of axino and saxion decay modes along with their decay temperatures, and thermal and non-thermal production rates. For a SUSY benchmark model with a standard underabundance (SUA) of Higgsino-like dark matter (DM), we find for the PQ scale fa≲1012 GeV that the DM abundance is mainly comprised of axions as the saxion/axino decay occurs before the standard neutralino freeze-out and thus its abundance remains suppressed. For 1012≲fa≲1014 GeV, the saxion/axino decays occur after neutralino freeze-out so that the neutralino abundance is enhanced by the production via decay and subsequent re-annihilation. For fa≳1014 GeV, both neutralino dark matter and dark radiation are typically overproduced. For judicious parameter choices, these can be suppressed and the combined neutralino/axion abundance brought into accord with measured values. A SUSY benchmark model with a standard overabundance (SOA) of bino DM is also examined and typically remains excluded due at least to too great a neutralino DM abundance for fa≲1015 GeV. For fa≳1015 GeV and lower saxion masses, large entropy production from saxion decay can dilute all relics and the SOA model can be allowed by all constraints.
Component Level Fragility Estimation for Vertically Irregular Reinforced Concrete Frames

ABSTRACT Seismic fragility functions are essential for performance-based seismic design of structures. Global demand parameters, such as peak roof displacement or maximum drift over the height of the building, are commonly used to estimate seismic fragility. However, in case of buildings with vertical irregularities, the global demand parameters may not suffice since maximum demand in such building is mostly concentrated at the level of irregularity. The current study focuses on one of the most common forms of vertically irregular reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, known as open ground story buildings, where irregularity lies at the ground story. Nonlinear dynamic analyses of RC frames subjected to a number of ground motions, each scaled-up for different PGA, are carried out to estimate the component level and global drift demands, also known as engineering demand parameters (EDPs). Seismic fragilities developed for the frames based on both the component and global EDPs are presented. Finally, the importance of component-based fragilities for estimation of seismic fragility of irregular frames is emphasized. The component level EDP-based fragility is found to be effective in predicting the actual damage scenarios in such buildings observed during past earthquakes.
Comparing Accuracy of Three Methods Based on the GIS Environment for Determining Winching Areas

In forestry interventions such as thinning or selection cutting, appropriate road and skid trail networks are essential for efficient forest operations, but also for limiting damage to the residual stand and soil. Recently, multiple studies have shown the advantage of precision forestry and the use of a geographic information system (GIS) in forest road network planning, replacing time-consuming manual measurements and skid trail design directly in the forest. The objective of this research was to test the accuracy of three GIS-based methods, the correct distance method (CDM), real distance buffer method 12 (RDBM12) and real distance buffer method 10 (RDBM10), in estimating the area accessible for winching along skid trails. The study was carried out in two mountain areas, Fibbino and San Martino al Cimino (Italy). All the methods for determining the winching area were based on GIS and digital terrain model (DTM) maps. Additionally, control distances were measured manually in both areas and the results were compared with the distances measured using the GIS methods. The initial results showed that all the methods were useful for determining the winching area in mountain conditions. However, in conclusion, the CDM and RDBM10 methods were more accurate and can be recommended for further use and development.
Electrorheological behaviour of suspensions in silicone oil of doped polyaniline nanostructures containing carbon nanoparticles

Electrorheological fluids have been paying a lot of attention due to their potential use in active control of various devices in mechanics, biomedicine or robotics. An electrorheological fluid consisting of polarizable particles dispersed in a non-conducting liquid is considered to be one of the most interesting and important smart fluids. This work presents the effect of the dopant, camphorsulphonic acid or citric acid, on the electrorheological behaviour of suspensions of doped polyaniline nanostructures dispersed in silicone oil, revealing its key role. The influence of carbon nanoparticle concentration has also been studied for these dispersions. All the samples showed an electrorheological effect, which increased with electric field and nanostructure concentration and decreased with silicone oil viscosity. However, the magnitude of this effect was strongly influenced not only by carbon nanoparticle concentration but also by the dopant material. The electrorheological effect was much lower with a higher carbon nanoparticle concentration and doped with citric acid. The latter is probably due to the different acidities of the dopants that lead to a different conductivity of polyaniline nanostructures. Furthermore, the effect of the carbon nanoparticles could be related to its charge trapping mechanism, while the charge transfer through the polymeric backbone occurs by hopping. Polyaniline/camphorsulphonic acid composite nanostructures dispersed in silicone oil exhibited the highest electrorheological activity, higher than three decades increase in apparent viscosity for low shear rates and high electric fields, showing their potential application as electrorheological smart materials.
A TEST OF STAR FORMATION LAWS IN DISK GALAXIES. II. DEPENDENCE ON DYNAMICAL PROPERTIES

We use the observed radial profiles of the mass surface densities of total, Σg, and molecular, ΣH2, gas, rotation velocity, and star formation rate (SFR) surface density, Σsfr, of the molecular-rich (ΣH2 ⩾ ΣHI/2) regions of 16 nearby disk galaxies to test several star formation (SF) laws: a “Kennicutt–Schmidt (K-S)” law, ; a “Constant Molecular” law, Σsfr = AH2ΣH2, 2; the turbulence-regulated laws of Krumholz & McKee (KM05) and Krumholz, McKee, & Tumlinson (KMT09); a “Gas-Ω” law, ; and a shear-driven “giant molecular cloud (GMC) Collision” law, Σsfr = BCCΣgΩ(1–0.7β), where β ≡ d ln vcirc/d ln r. If allowed one free normalization parameter for each galaxy, these laws predict the SFR with rms errors of factors of 1.4–1.8. If a single normalization parameter is used by each law for the entire galaxy sample, then rms errors range from factors of 1.5–2.1. Although the Constant Molecular law gives the smallest rms errors, the improvement over the KMT, K-S, and GMC Collision laws is not especially significant, particularly given the different observational inputs that the laws utilize and the scope of included physics, which ranges from empirical relations to detailed treatment of interstellar medium processes. We next search for systematic variation of SF law parameters with local and global galactic dynamical properties of disk shear rate (related to β), rotation speed, and presence of a bar. We demonstrate with high significance that higher shear rates enhance SF efficiency per local orbital time. Such a trend is expected if GMC collisions play an important role in SF, while an opposite trend would be expected if the development of disk gravitational instabilities is the controlling physics.
Video Analytic Based Health Monitoring for Driver in Moving Vehicle by Extracting Effective Heart Rate Inducing Features

We propose a novel remote heart rate (HR) estimation method using facial images based on video analytics. Most of previous methods have been demonstrated in well-controlled indoor environments. In contrast, this paper proposes a practical video analytic framework under actual driving conditions by extracting key HR inducing features. In particular, when cars are driven, effective and stable HR estimation becomes challenging as there are many dynamic elements, such as rapid illumination changes, vibrations, and ambient lighting that can exist in the vehicle interior. To overcome those disturbances of HR estimation, the driver face region is first detected and cropped to the region of interest (RoI). Second, the components related to HR are extracted from mixed noisy components using ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD). Finally, the extracted signal is analyzed in frequency domain and smoothed with temporal filtering. To verify our approach, the proposed method is compared with recent prominent methods employing a public HCI dataset. It has been demonstrated that the proposed approach delivers superior performance under driving conditions using Bland-Altman plots.
Development of a new static synthetic apparatus for phase equilibrium measurements

Phase equilibrium data plays a significant role in the design and optimization of industrial separation schemes, such as distillation and absorption units. These separation processes are utilised for the purification of valuable chemicals, which play a pivotal role in daily human life. Separation units are operated at various conditions of temperature and pressure, however it is common for most units to operate in the moderate pressure region (100-500 kPa). On the contrary, there is a lack of phase equilibrium data available in the moderate pressure region, thus prompting an interest in this area. In this study, a new static synthetic cell was tested, and the experimental apparatus was successfully set up and commissioned. Some key features of this design include a total working cell volume of 60 cm3 (which reduces the amount of chemicals required compared to conventional static synthetic cells) and equilibrium is achieved faster. In addition, two high-accuracy Teledyne Isco pumps were utilised for the feed loading, as it is vital that the volume of chemicals dispensed into the cell be accurately determined. The necessary calibrations were conducted and the overall uncertainties were found to be 0.06 K, 0.36 kPa and 0.1 ml for temperature, pressure and volume respectively. The following test systems were measured to determine the reproducibility of the apparatus and to verify the experimental technique: • water (1) + 2-butanol (2) at 323.16 K • n-hexane (1) + 2-butanol (2) at 329.21 K • n-pentane (1) + 1-propanol (2) at 317.18 K • n-pentane (1) + 2-butanol (2) at 303.17 K • n-pentane (1) + ethanol (2) at 303.11 K The test systems measured produced a good fit with the literature data, and thus the experimental apparatus was commissioned. New systems, previously unmeasured in the open literature, were measured in this study. These systems include: • n-hexane (1) + perfluoro-n-heptane (2) at 313.21 and 333.12 K • n-pentane (1) + 2-propanol (2) at 313.11, 323.11 and 333.12 K The data was modelled on Aspen Plus®. Since the method of operation is of the static synthetic type, no analysis of the vapour and liquid phases took place, and instead an algorithm was developed using the combined method (γ-ϕ) together with the method of Barker (1953), to convert the overall composition (zi) to liquid mole fraction (xi). The Wilson and Non-Random Two-Liquid (NRTL) activity coefficient models together with the Ideal Gas law and Hayden O’Connell second virial coefficient were utilised to regress the data. For both the fluorinated and alkane + alcohol systems, the experimental i data produced an excellent fit with the activity coefficient models. For both systems, azeotropes were observed, indicating poor separation of these binary combinations at specific mole fractions. This is due to the boiling point of both components being similar under certain conditions. The calculated pressure residuals were well within the overall combined uncertainty for pressure, whilst the calculated temperature residuals were slightly above the overall combined uncertainty for temperature.
A novel differential fault analysis using two-byte fault model on AES Key schedule

One of the well-known physical attacks, i.e. differential fault analysis (DFA), can break the secret key of cryptographic device by using differential information between faulty and correct ciphertexts. Here, the authors propose a random 2-byte fault model, present a novel DFA on AES key schedule, and show how an entire AES-128 key can be cracked by using two pairs of faulty and correct ciphertexts. By inducing a random 2-byte fault in the first column of 9th round key with discontiguous rows, the authors can obtain 64 bits of AES-128 key using one pair of faulty and correct ciphertexts, two pairs of them can retrieve the entire 128-bit key without exhaustive search. The authors implement the proposed attack on HP Intel(R) Core i5-7300HQ Quad-Core 2.5 GHz CPU, 8G RAM. It takes <2 min on average to break the key. Considering the number of faulty ciphertexts, fault-induced depth, and fault model, authors’ attack is the most efficient DFA as compared to existing schemes on AES-128 key schedule.
Almost periodic functions and representations in locally convex spaces

Properties of diverse classes of almost periodic functions with values in locally convex spaces and of almost periodic representations on locally convex spaces are considered. The well-known criterion for the almost periodicity of weakly almost periodic group representations on Banach spaces (in terms of scalar almost periodicity) is extended to the case of weakly continuous weakly almost periodic representations on barrelled spaces in which the weakly closed convex hulls of weakly compact sets are weakly compact. Applications of this result are indicated and a survey of the current state of some other classical problems in the theory of almost periodic functions (as applied to almost periodic functions with values in locally convex spaces) and modern directions of investigation related to almost periodic functions on groups and finite-dimensional unitary representations of groups are presented. In particular, decomposition problems for weakly almost periodic representations and characterizations of diverse classes of almost periodic functions (including criteria for almost periodicity), existence problems for the mean value, countability conditions for the spectrum of a scalarly almost periodic function, theorems on the integral and the differences of almost periodic functions, and other relationships among strong, scalar, and weak almost periodicity for functions with values in locally convex spaces are treated.
Rolling Resistance Revisited

Rolling resistance defined as energy loss per unit distance is well accepted by the tire science community. It is commonly believed that the dominant part of energy loss into heat is caused by the viscoelasticity of rubber compounds for a free-rolling tire. To calculate the rolling loss (hysteretic loss) into heat, a method based on tire forces and moments has been developed to ease required measurements in a lab or field. This paper points out that, by this method, the obtained energy loss is not entirely converted into heat because a portion of the consumed power is used to compensate mechanical work. Moreover, that part of power cannot be separated out by tire forces and moments–based experimental methods. The researchers and engineers have mistakenly ignored this point for a long time. The finding was demonstrated by a comparative analysis of a rigid, pure elastic, and viscoelastic rolling body. This research mathematically proved that rolling loss into heat is not resolvable in terms of tire forces and moments with their associated velocities. The finite element model of a free-rolling tire was further exercised to justify the concept. These findings prompt revisiting rolling resistance in a new way from the energy perspective. Moreover, an extended definition of rolling resistance is proposed and backward compatible with its traditional definition as a resistive force.
Single machine scheduling problem with stochastic sequence-dependent setup times

In this study, we consider stochastic single machine scheduling problem. We assume that setup times are both sequence dependent and uncertain while processing times and due dates are deterministic. In the literature, most of the studies consider the uncertainty on processing times or due dates. However, in the real-world applications (i.e. plastic moulding industry, appliance assembly, etc.), it is common to see varying setup times due to labour or setup tools availability. In order to cover this fact in machine scheduling, we set our objective as to minimise the total expected tardiness under uncertain sequence-dependent setup times. For the solution of this NP-hard problem, several heuristics and some dynamic programming algorithms have been developed. However, none of these approaches provide an exact solution for the problem. In this study, a two-stage stochastic-programming method is utilised for the optimal solution of the problem. In addition, a Genetic Algorithm approach is proposed to solve the large-size problems approximately. Finally, the results of the stochastic approach are compared with the deterministic one to demonstrate the value of the stochastic solution.
Oil Prices and Global Stock Markets: A Time-Varying Causality-In-Mean and Causality-in-Variance Analysis

This study examines the Granger-causal relationships between oil price movements and global stock returns by using time-varying Granger-causality tests in mean and in variance. We use the daily returns from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) G7 and the MSCI Emerging Stock Market Indexes to distinguish between the effects of daily oil price movements on G7 countries’ and emerging market countries’ stock markets. We further divide the emerging markets into two groups as oil-exporting and oil-importing countries. For the oil market, we use both the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent oil daily price movements. While the Granger-causality-in-mean tests indicate a causal link from WTI oil prices and G7 countries’ stock returns to MSCI emerging countries’ stock returns, the Granger-causality-in-variance tests suggest no causal link from global oil market prices to stock market returns. Nonetheless, a causal link from the G7 countries’ stock returns to the MSCI emerging countries’ stock returns is detected. In addition, G7 countries’ stock market volatility is found to Granger-cause Brent oil price volatility. The time-varying Granger-causality-in-mean and Granger-causality-in-variance tests present new and further insights. A causal relationship between oil price changes and G7 countries’ stock returns is found for some periods during and after the global financial crisis. Time-varying Granger-causality-in-variance test results indicate evidence of causal linkages among oil prices and global stock market returns that are specific only to certain time periods. We also find that there might be a difference between the movements in Brent and WTI oil prices with respect to their Granger-causal effects on oil-importing emerging markets’ stock returns—especially after the global financial crisis. Our results provide further evidence that the effects of oil price movements on stock returns might be different depending on the volatility in the stock markets.
CHEMICAL DETOXIFICATION OF AFB1 IN EXPERIMENTAL QUAILS USING COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE TOXIN BINDERS

AFB1 causes public health hazards by affecting 25% of world's food crops. For optimum production performance from poultry, proper detoxification of AFB1 in feed is mandatory. This study was designed to analyze the chemical detoxification potential of four commercially available toxin binders (activated charcoal, kaolin, vitamin E and selenium, myco-AD) in experimental quails fed with AFB1 added diets. For this purpose, 360 quail birds (divided in 6 groups) were reared in experimental conditions. Positive and negative control groups were fed basal diet and basal diet with 0.5mg/kg AFB1, respectively. Treatment groups were fed 4 different experimental diets with 0.5 mg/kg of AFB1 contamination and chemical binders added according to recommended dose rate. Growth parameters (feed intake, body weight gain &feed conversion ratio), hematology (hemoglobin, hematocrit, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, total leukocyte count), immune response and histopathology of soft organs (liver, kidney, lungs) of all the experimental birds were weekly recorded for 6 weeks and results were analyzed by Repeated Measure of ANOVA and Duncan Multiple Range Test. Results showed significant reduction in all the deleterious effects of AFB1 in all the tested parameters during the course of study. All the toxin binders brought significant changes (P < 0.05) in tested parameters. The active ingredient of Myco AD (Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate, HSCAS) and Vitamin E and selenium were found as better detoxifying agent among the toxin binders used in this study. This study reports the success of commercially available toxin binders as chemical detoxification agent for the quails, an emerging protein source in thickly populated developing countries.
A domain derivative-based method for solving elastodynamic inverse obstacle scattering problems

The present work is concerned with the shape reconstruction problem of isotropic elastic inclusions from far-field data obtained by the scattering of a finite number of time-harmonic incident plane waves. This paper aims at completing the theoretical framework which is necessary for the application of geometric optimization tools to the inverse transmission problem in elastodynamics. The forward problem is reduced to systems of boundary integral equations following the direct and indirect methods initially developed for solving acoustic transmission problems. We establish the Fréchet differentiability of the boundary to far-field operator and give a characterization of the first Fréchet derivative and its adjoint operator. Using these results we propose an inverse scattering algorithm based on the iteratively regularized Gauß–Newton method and show numerical experiments in the special case of star-shaped obstacles.