Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A massive blow for ΛCDM – the high redshift, mass, and collision velocity of the interacting galaxy cluster El Gordo contradicts concordance cosmology

El Gordo (ACT-CL J0102-4915) is an extremely massive galaxy cluster ($M_{200} \approx 3 \times 10^{15}$ $M_{\odot}$) at redshift $z = 0.87 $ composed of two subclusters with mass ratio 3.6 merging at speed $V_{infall} \approx 2500$ km/s. Such a fast collision between individually rare massive clusters is unexpected in Lambda cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) cosmology at such high $z$. However, this is required for non-cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of the merger to match its observed properties (Zhang et al. 2015). Here, we determine the probability of finding a similar object in a $\Lambda$CDM context using the Jubilee simulation box with side length $6 \, h^{-1}$ Gpc. We search for galaxy cluster pairs that have turned around from the cosmic expansion with properties similar to El Gordo in terms of total mass, mass ratio, redshift, and collision velocity relative to virial velocity. We fit the distribution of pair total mass quite accurately, with the fits used in two methods to infer the probability of observing El Gordo in the surveyed region. The more conservative (and detailed) method involves considering the expected distribution of pairwise mass and redshift for analogue pairs with similar dimensionless parameters to El Gordo in the past lightcone of a $z = 0$ observer. Detecting one pair with its mass and redshift rules out $\Lambda$CDM cosmology at $6.16\sigma$. We also use the results of Kraljic & Sarkar (2015) to show that the Bullet Cluster is in $2.78\sigma$ tension once the sky coverage of its discovery survey is accounted for. Using a $\chi^2$ approach, the combined tension can be estimated as $6.43 \sigma$. Both collisions arise naturally in a Milgromian dynamics (MOND) cosmology with light sterile neutrinos.
Data Instance Prior for Transfer Learning in GANs

Recent advances in generative adversarial networks (GANs) have shown remarkable progress in generating high-quality images. However, this gain in performance depends on the availability of a large amount of training data. In limited data regimes, training typically diverges, and therefore the generated samples are of low quality and lack diversity. Previous works have addressed training in low data setting by leveraging transfer learning and data augmentation techniques. We propose a novel transfer learning method for GANs in the limited data domain by leveraging informative data prior derived from self-supervised/supervised pre-trained networks trained on a diverse source domain. We perform experiments on several standard vision datasets using various GAN architectures (BigGAN, SNGAN, StyleGAN2) to demonstrate that the proposed method effectively transfers knowledge to domains with few target images, outperforming existing state-of-the-art techniques in terms of image quality and diversity. We also show the utility of data instance prior in large-scale unconditional image generation and image editing tasks.
Properties of a ceria-based (C6S2G2) solid oxide electrolyte sintered with Al2O3 additive

Ceria-based Al2O3 composite electrolytes were prepared using (CeO2)0.6(SmO1.5)0.2(GdO1.5)0.2 (C6S2G2) and Al2O3 powders, employing sol-gel and low temperature combustion synthesis methods (SGLCS). The influence of Al2O3 content on the sintering behavior and electrical properties was studied. The results showed that electrical properties could be improved by adding 10wt% Al2O3. The sintered density was up to 5.61g/cm3. Most measurements of open circuit voltage (OCV) ranged between 0.8 and 1.2V; an OCV value of 1.15V was obtained at 370oC. The performance of intermediate- temperature solid oxide fuel cells (ITSOFCs) with a properly Al2O3 doped electrolyte was better than when a pure ceria-based one was used. The highest power density was 200mWcm-2.
A facile controllable coating of carbonyl iron particles with poly(glycidyl methacrylate): a tool for adjusting MR response and stability properties

This study is focused on the controllable coating of the carbonyl iron (CI) particles widely applied in magnetorheology. These particles were grafted with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) with narrow polydispersity via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Two types of core–shell particles differing in molecular weights of grafted polymer chains were synthesized. The effect of shell thickness on the thermo-oxidation stability of particles as well as the sedimentation stability of their silicone oil suspensions was evaluated. The successful coating process was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive spectrometry. The differences in the magnetic properties of bare and coated CI particles were clarified through vibrating sample magnetometry. Due to the controllable length of the PGMA grafts, the magnetic properties remain almost the same as those for bare CI. The magnetorheological (MR) behavior of silicone oil suspensions containing 60 wt% of bare CI particles as well as PGMA-coated analogues was investigated in the absence and in the presence of various magnetic field strengths, demonstrating the negligible impact of surface modification on final MR performance. Thus, the grafting of the particles with PGMA negligibly affected magnetic properties but considerably enhanced thermo-oxidation and sedimentation stabilities. Finally, a novel tensiometric method for sedimentation stability measurements of MR suspensions was successfully implemented.
GMM-Based Generative Adversarial Encoder Learning

While GAN is a powerful model for generating images, its inability to infer a latent space directly limits its use in applications requiring an encoder. Our paper presents a simple architectural setup that combines the generative capabilities of GAN with an encoder. We accomplish this by combining the encoder with the discriminator using shared weights, then training them simultaneously using a new loss term. We model the output of the encoder latent space via a GMM, which leads to both good clustering using this latent space and improved image generation by the GAN. Our framework is generic and can be easily plugged into any GAN strategy. In particular, we demonstrate it both with Vanilla GAN and Wasserstein GAN, where in both it leads to an improvement in the generated images in terms of both the IS and FID scores. Moreover, we show that our encoder learns a meaningful representation as its clustering results are competitive with the current GAN-based state-of-the-art in clustering.
Development of standard rating scales for mechanical parameters of texture and correlation between the objective and the sensory methods of texture evaluation

SUMMARY Standard rating scales of hardness, brittleness, chewiness, gumminess, viscosity, and adhesiveness were established for quantitative evaluation of food texture. The scales cover the entire intensity range found in food products and may be expanded at any desired point for greater precision in a narrower range. Each point on the scale is represented by a food product selected on the basis of availability, familiarity, constancy of textural characteristics, and other criteria. Using the developed scales, correlation was good between sensory and instrumental (texturometer and viscosimeter) evaluations of texture.
Fusarium species in grains : dry matter losses, mycotoxin contamination and control strategies using ozone and chemical compounds

i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. iii LIST OF FIGURES . ix LIST OF TABLES . xvii LIST OF EQUATIONS . xxiii LIST OF PLATES . xxiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . xxv 1 LITERATURE REVIEW . 1 1.1 General Introduction . 1 1.2 Post-harvest storage of grains . 4 1.2. 1 Factors affecting storage . 6 1.2. 2 Respiration / Dry matter losses during grain storage . 12 1.3 Fungal species / Mycotoxins of interest . 16 1.3. 1 Mycotoxigenic Fusarium species . 17 1.3. 2 Trichothecenes . 18 1.3. 3 Fumonisins . 20 1.3. 4 Zearalenone . 22 1.3. 5 Other toxins of interest . 22 1.4 Legislative limits for mycotoxins in grains . 24 1.5 Control strategies for the prevention of mycotoxin formation during storage . 27 1.5. 1 Modified atmosphere storage / Fumigation . 28 1.5. 2 Ozone (O3) in grain storage . 30 1.5. 3 Chemical methods for the post-harvest control of mycotoxins . 36 1.5. 4 Physical methods for the post-harvest control of mycotoxins . 41 1.5. 5 Biological methods for the post-harvest control of mycotoxins . 42 1.6 Aim and objectives of the project and thesis structure . 43 2 WHEAT AND MAIZE: DRY MATTER LOSSES AND MYCOTOXIN PRODUCTION BY FUSARIUM SPECIES . 46 2.
The crystal structure of CaSiO3-walstromite, a special isomorph of wollastonite-II

Abstract The crystal structure of CaSiO3-walstromite has been solved and refined by a data set collected in situ from an inclusion in a diamond single crystal (1135 observed reflections, MoKα, Nonius CAD4, R = 3.46). The crystal structure is almost identical to that of walstromite (Ca2BaSi3O9). The replacement of Ba2+ by Ca2+ causes no significant structural changes (ring silicate; according to F. Liebau: dreier single rings). The structural differences to wollastonite-II (Ca3Si3O9) are also relatively small: The Ca positions are almost the same, but the axial Si3O9-ring is isomorphously replaced by the same ring with the inverse axiality. This constitutes a new principle of isomorphous replacement. Based on density functional theory the equation of state has been predicted. This allows us to estimate the remaining pressure of the investigated CaSiO3 inclusion in the diamond to be ≈3 GPa.
Kinetic and Equilibrium Modelling on Copper(II) Removal by Live and Dead Cells of Trichoderma asperellum and the Impact of Pre-Treatments on Biosorption

In this study, the approach is to evaluate the use of Trichoderma asperellum biomass as a biosorbent for Cu2+ removal. Both live and dead cells are investigated. The feasibility of T. asperellum as biosorbent is further explored by pre-treating the cells and evaluating their subsequent Cu2+ removal efficacy. Results revealed that dead cells of T. asperellum attained biosorption equilibrium within the first 10 min of contact with Cu2+ while live cells reached equilibrium after 20 min. Dead cells also absorbed significantly higher amounts of Cu2+ (12.42 mg g−1) compared to live cells (5.69 mg g1). The biosorption mechanism for both live and dead cells of T. asperellum complied with the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic, suggesting monolayer sorption. Pre-treatment of dead cells with alkali solutions (NaOH and laundry detergent) further improved sorption efficacy.
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of 4-aminothiophenol self-assembled monolayers in sandwich structure with nanoparticle shape dependence: Off-surface plasmon resonance condition

A universal metal−molecule−metal sandwich architecture by the self-assembly of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and Au NPs of various shapes interconnected with 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) molecules was presented. These Ag NPs/4-ATP/Au NPs sandwich structures were characterized by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) using an off-surface plasmon resonance condition. Enhancement factors (EF) on the order of 108 for 9b(b2) vibration mode were observed for the 4-ATP self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) in such sandwich structures. The factors are 2 orders of magnitude larger than that on the monolayer of Au NPs of various shapes under similar condition. More importantly, remarkable increase in the intensity of b2 vibrational modes, which is characteristic of the charge transfer (CT) behavior between metal NPs and 4-ATP molecules, was observed in these sandwich structures under 1064 nm excitation. The obtained EF on these sandwich structure for 9b(b2) is larger than that for 7a vibration mode by a factor of ∼102, demonst.
Synthesis of an Oxazole–Pyrrole–Piperazine Scaffold as an α‐Helix Mimetic

The synthesis of nonpeptidic α-helix mimetics based on a tricyclic oxazole–pyrrole–piperazine scaffold is described. The scaffold presents both a hydrophobic surface for recognition and a hydrophilic edge that enhances solubility. The synthesis is highly modular and allows the targeting of a range of protein–protein interactions involving α-helices. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008)
Determination of anatoxin-a and homoanatoxin in blue—green algal extracts by high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography—mass spectrometry

The production of cyanobacterial toxins as anatoxin-a in the UK by blue—green algae such as Oscillatoria and Anabaena flos-aquae is a potential health hazard, especially to animals, birds and fish. A sensitive reversed-phase ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method is described for the measurement of the neurotoxins anatoxin-a (AnTx) and homoanatoxin (HomoAnTx) in the presence of lyophilized algal extract. A base-deactivated C18 column material was used with acetonitrile—phosphate buffer (pH 3) and sodium dodecyl sulfate as ion-pair reagent with ultraviolet detection at 227 nm. Linear calibrations were obtained between 2 and 93 ng on-column for AnTx·HCI and 2–112 ng on-column for HomoAnTx·HCI with limits of detection of 1 and 2 ng on-column, respectively. A sample of Oscillatoria bloom material collected from Loch Insh, Scotland, in 1991 was found by this method to contain approximately 0.8 mg of AnTx·HCl per gram of lyophilized extract. Homoanatoxin was not present. The identity of AnTx was confirmed by the isolation of the AnTx peak by RP-HPLC, its derivatization to N-butylAnTx and its analysis by RP-HPLC and gas chromatography—mass spectrometry.
Evaluation of Genetic Parameters of Milk Yield and some of its Composition with Wool Yield and some of its Physical Traits in Two Breeds of Iraqi Sheep

This study was conducted on two flocks of Awassi (100) and Hamdani (70) ewes during 2009 and 2010 seasons to estimate the genetic parameters for the two breeds, productivity of each breed, heritability, genetic and phenotypic correlation of milk yield and its composition by monthly intervals 15 days post-lambing for 5-6 months, wool yield and some of its physical traits within these two seasons. The results revealed a highly significant effects (p≤ 0.01) for breed on daily milk yield (DMY), greasy fleece weight (GFW), fiber diameter (FD), while the effect of breed was significant (p≤ 0.05) on staple length (SL) only. Heritability estimates for (DMY) and its composition were low for both breeds ranged from (0.11-0.23), while they were low to high for wool yield and traits ranged from (0.150.51). Genetic correlation values for milk and wool traits for both breeds were all highly significant (p≤ 0.01) between positive and negative. Phenotypic correlation values for both breeds were highly significant (p≤ 0.01) for (DMY) with both (GFW) and clean fleece weight (CFW) 0.10,0.15 and 0.11,0.16 for Awassi and Hamdani ewe flocks respectively. While the rest of the values were negative or non significant. Kaywords: Iraqi Sheep, milk and wool yield and traits, genetic parameters ــــــ ــــ ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ ــ ـــــــ ا ةمدقمل ت دع ا مانغلأ هجوي يذلا نلامحلا جاتنلإ ايونس دفست جاعنلا نييلام نأ ذإ جاتنلإا ةيثلاث ةيلحملا 60 % هنم و ءارمحلا موحللا نم ةيلحملا قوسلا ةجاح دسل 25 % فوصـلا جاتنلإ هنم ىقبت امو بيلحلا جاتنلإ هنم نشخلا طبلاو طسبلاو داجسلا ةعانص يف مدختسي يذلا تاينا ) ،غئاصـلاو لازغ 1980 . ( رـكذ اـمك Galal ) 2008 ( يـساوعلاك بيلحلل زيمتملا اهجاتنإ يف ادج ةفورعم يه داجسلا فوصل ةجتنملا تلالاسلا ضعب نأ سويكلاو . نإ بيلحلا جاتنإ وه نوكم ادج مهم و نلاـمحلا ومن ىلع رثؤت يتلاو جاعنلل ةيملأا ةيلباقلا سكعي ، ةيثارولا تاقلاعلا ةفرعمو ىرـخلأا ةيداصتقلاا تافصلا عم بيلحلا تافصو جاتنإ نيب ك جاـتنإ تافـصو فوصلا ادج ةمهم ريس هاجتا ىلع فوقولل يـه له لايجلأا ربع اهلاقتناو ضعبلا اهضعب عم تافصلا هذه دحاو هاجتا يف ةرئاس ) بجوم طابترا ( نيسكاعتم نيهاجتاب مأ ) بلاس طابترا ( ةـطبترملا تاباجتسلاا ةفرعمو ملا ىرخلأا تافصلل باختنلاا نم تافصلل ةعقوت . عت كلذك د ةمهم ةيجاتنلإا تافصلل يثارولا  ىفاكملا تاريدقت مث نمو جاعنلل يرهظملا ءادلأاو جاتنلإا ىلع ريثأتلا يف ةئيبلاو ةثارولا ةمهاسم ىدم ىلع فرعتلا يف اضيأ بيلحلا جوتنمل ةيثارولا ملاعملا ميوقت . 50 لا جاتنإ جمارب مييقتو ىلثملا نيسحتلاو ةيبرتلا جماربو ططخ عضو تقولا نم اريثك رفوي امم لابقتسم نلامح دهجلاو مهنمو مهتاسارد يف نيثحابلا نم ريثك هلوانت ام اذهو ) 2005 ( al., et Saffari و Fogarty et al., (2006) و ) 2007 ( et al., Morgan و ) 2009 ( , et al. Afolayan . قـلطنملا اذـه نمو فرعتلل ةساردلا هذه تءاج ىلع ذه ميق ريياعملا ه تيبثتو اه اذـهب اهتـسارد متي مل يتلاو ةيلحملا مانغلأا ىلع ينادمحلاو يساوعلا يتللاس ىلعو لبق نم بولسلأا .
Compost Curing Reduces Suppression of Plant Diseases

Prolonged curing of compost reduces risks of phytotoxicity but may also have an undesirable effect on suppressiveness against soil-borne diseases. In a previous study, this effect was demonstrated for a compost produced from a mixture of yard waste and biosolids, against Sclerotium rolfsii. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate that similar effects of prolonged curing may be exhibited by additional types of composts and pathosystems. Therefore, we investigated the effect of curing of three types of composts against S. rolfsii and Pythium aphanidermatum. These plant pathogens are subjected to different suppression mechanisms. The prolonged curing was characterized and validated by measurements of a range of chemical and spectroscopic parameters. All three composts were suppressive against both diseases before curing. At high inoculum levels, suppression against P. aphanidermatum was lost for the cured biosolids and straw and manure based compost. Loss of suppression was associated with a decrease in basal and substrate induced respiration. For S. rolfsii suppression was lost with curing for all three composts and was associated with a decrease in dissolved organic carbon and NH4+ concentration, a decrease in pH and an increase in NO3− concentration.
Potential use of pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) and cadmium tolerant bacteria to reduce cadmium toxicity in soil

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal that occurs in the environment naturally and as a pollutant from industrial and agricultural sources. The Cd concentration of agricultural soils in Thailand has increased during the last few decades as a consequence of mining activities. This toxic metal is allocated to edible plant parts and moves into the food chain via rice grains in some provinces in the Northern part of Thailand. Pineapple (Ananas comosus L.) is the most widely cultivated tropical fruit in Thailand and possesses the photosynthetic specialisation of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Since CAM plants are generally tolerant to abiotic stress, it was hypothesised that pineapple would be relatively tolerant to Cd and could potentially be grown as a crop in Cd-contaminated soils. The present study determined the effect of Cd on photosynthetic performance, growth and Cd accumulation in different parts of pineapple. Pineapple plants grown in Cd-contaminated soil did not show any visual symptoms of toxicity and whilst light use efficiency (Fv/Fm) and rates of net dark CO2 uptake were reduced by Cd treatment, biomass reductions were only 14% of control at the highest concentration of Cd (150 mg Cd kg -1 ). Levels of Cd accumulated by pineapple increased as the Cd concentration in soil increased. Pineapple plants took up Cd from the soil, resulting in lower Cd concentrations in the rhizosphere soil compared with the bulk soil. The soil-extractable Cd decreased over time which may have been due to the uptake of Cd by plant and to remaining metal ions becoming more tightly bound with organic materials or root exudates. Calculated as Cd μg per g dry weight, roots accumulated higher amount of Cd than shoots. Short-term and long-term exposure to Cd resulted in a reduction in the numbers and diversity of soil microbes as indicated using plate count and DGGE techniques. The pineapple rhizosphere exhibited increased numbers of bacteria and fungi and a distinct and more diverse bacterial population when compared to bulk soil. Cd pollution of soil reduced both microbial numbers and bacterial diversity of all soil samples. Certain bacteria in the phyla Nitrospirae, Verrucomicrobia, Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi were only present in Cd-contaminated soil. Cd-resistant bacteria were isolated from the rhizosphere of pineapple grown in Cdcontaminated soil and were subsequently used as inoculants in an effort to improve plant growth and reduce Cd toxicity. Nine isolates of Cd-resistant bacteria were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of pineapple. Two bacterial strains, Bacillus firmus and Arthrobacter
Long-Term Follow-Up of Nonsurgical Endodontic Treatments Performed by One Specialist: A Retrospective Cohort Study about Tooth Survival and Treatment Success

Background The main aim of the retrospective cohort study was to evaluate tooth survival after the endodontic treatment over a period of more than 20 years. Moreover, success of the treatment and the correlation between baseline parameters and the outcomes were analyzed, and causes were recorded. Materials and Methods Clinical records (including radiographs) of subjects treated with endodontic procedures (both primary and secondary (nonsurgical retreatment)) were collected and analyzed, covering a period of up to 29 years. Type of the treatment, technique, adequacy of treatment performed, presence of baseline radiolucency, and symptoms at baseline were recorded. Moreover, failure (presence of radiolucency 2 years after treatment) and tooth extraction data and causes of them were recorded. Outcomes were explored by using survival analysis (Kaplan–Meier estimates and survival table analysis) and regression analysis (Cox regression). Results A total of 2,679 endodontically treated teeth were included in the analysis. After 20 years from the treatment, the cumulative survival rate for primary and secondary treatments was 84.10% (80.99%–87.21%) and 89.79% (86.68%–92.90%), respectively. No differences were found between primary and secondary treatments or with regard to the technique adopted. The presence of periapical radiolucency was correlated to higher odds of tooth extraction. Conclusions Despite the limitations of the study, we can assume that the proportion of retained endodontically treated teeth was significantly high over a long-term period.
Serum TNF-α Level Is Associated with Disease Severity in Adult Patients with Immunoglobulin A Vasculitis Nephritis

Background Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is a proinflammatory factor involved in the pathogenesis of immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV). The association between serum TNF-α and disease severity in adult patients with IgAV nephritis (IgAV-N) has been inadequately evaluated. Methods Serum TNF-α was measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay in 53 renal biopsy-proved IgAV-N patients, 53 healthy controls, and 53 IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients. The correlations of clinicopathologic parameters of IgAV-N patients with serum TNF-α were analyzed. Results In this cross-sectional study, the median age of IgAV-N patients was 29 (25-37) years, and 67.9% were female. Serum TNF-α was significantly higher in the IgAV-N group than in the healthy group [7.4 (5.7-9.4) pg/mL vs. 5.9 (5.0, 7.1) pg/mL, P = 0.001], but comparable with sex, age, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) grade-matched IgAN patients. Serum creatinine (P = 0.006) and serum cystatin C (P = 0.001) were positively correlated with serum TNF-α level, while albumin (P = 0.014) and eGFR (P = 0.021) were negatively correlated with serum TNF-α level. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that eGFR (P = 0.007) was an independent clinical predictor of serum TNF-α. Patients with higher pathological classification grade also had higher serum TNF-α. Conclusions Serum TNF-α is associated with renal function and the pathological classification of adult patients with IgAV-N. TNF-α is a potential biomarker for the assessment of IgAV-N severity.