Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of the dynamic properties in rubberized concrete

Throughout the previous years, many efforts focused on incorporating non-biodegradable wastes as a partial replacement and sustainable alternative for natural aggregates in cement-based materials. Currently, rubberized concrete is considered one of the most important green concrete materials produced by replacing natural aggregates with rubber particles from old tires in a concrete mixture. The main benefits of this material, in addition to its importance in sustainability and waste management, comes from the ability of rubber to considerably damp vibrations, which, when used in reinforced concrete structures, can significantly enhance its energy dissipation and vibration behavior. Nowadays, the literature has many experimental findings that provide an interesting view of rubberized concrete's dynamic behavior. On the other hand, it still lacks research that collects, interprets, and numerically investigates these findings to provide some correlations and construct reliable prediction models for rubberized concrete's dynamic properties. Therefore, this study is intended to propose prediction approaches for the dynamic properties of rubberized concrete. As a part of the study, multiple linear regression and artificial neural networks will be used to create prediction models for dynamic modulus of elasticity, damping ratio, and natural frequency.
Observed and projected changes in extreme drought and wet-prone regions over India under CMIP5 RCP8.5 using a new vulnerability index

Past versions of vulnerability index have shown ability to detect susceptible region by assessing socio-economic parameters at local scales. However, due to variability of these vulnerability index respect to socio-economic parameters, cann’t be utilized to predict the susceptibility region. The present endeavor aims to develops a new vulnerable index which identify and predict the spatio-temporal imprint of extreme drought and wet events at various scales 1o×1o in India by analyzing monthly observed and Coupled Model Inter-Comparison Phase 5 (CMIP5) rainfall data at spatial scale of time period pertaining to 1901-2100. New vulnerability index is proposed by consolidating the outcomes of Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) at different time scales such as 3- and 12-month and along with weights of individual grids. The weights of individual grid is calculated through the occurrence of extreme drought and wet events in the recent past which is to include a climate change factor in the proposed index. Based on the spatial distribution of high index values, the expected vulnerable regions concerning extreme drought events will be in Northeast, Northeast Central, East Coast, West, Northwest, Northcentral, and some grids in South part of India. Similarly, vulnerable regions concerning extreme wet events are likely to be in the Northeast, West Coast, East Coast, and some grids in the Peninsular region.Further, a conceptual model is presented to quantify the severity of extreme events. The analyses reveal that on the CMIP5 model data, it is obtained that 2024, 2026-27, 2035, 2036-37, 2043-44, 2059-60, 2094 are likely to be the most prominent drought years in all-India monsoon rainfall and their impact will persist for a longer time. Similarly, the most prominent wet events are predicted to be 2076, 2079-80, 2085, 2090, 2092, and 2099.
Computational Study Of Redox Reactions in Transition Metal Compounds

Redox processes taking place at transition metal (TM) ions embedded in inorganic matrices are industrially important, as they are relevant in many technological applications including heterogeneous catalysis, and hence the present computational study focuses on catalytic redox reactions. Of particular importance for oxidation reactions are the microporous aluminophos- phate catalysts (AlPOs) in which Al ions can be replaced by redox-active TMs. We focus on the aerobic oxidation of linear alkanes catalysed by Mn-doped AlPO-5 and AlPO-34. Firstly we compare the results deriving from the use of different functionals (GGA and hybrid exchange functionals). Calculated reaction and activation energies vary by changing the exchange and correlation functionals used in DFT. The rationale is that redox processes change the electronic configuration and number of d-electrons of the TM ions, and hence are expected to be affected by the self-interaction error (SIE) of local DFT functionals. The orbital-dependent solution obtained by inclusion of exact exchange in hybrid-exchange functionals corrects for the SIE. Since there are no experimental investigations to compare our results, we then calculated the Li intercalation potential of LiMPO4 (M=Mn or Fe) using the same functionals as during the delithiation of LiMPO4, the redox chemistry is the same exploited in MnAlPO-5. Amounts of HF exchange between 20-35%, give Li intercalation potential closer to the experimental value. Moreover, we examine the oxidation of primary and secondary carbon atoms of linear alkanes (propane and hexane), and we compare the energetics in different MnAlPOs. We show that the pore size on AlPO-5 is too large to impose structural constraints while the smaller AlPO framework with the use of a longer alkanes can impose some constraints without, however, reversing the relative reactivity of carbon atoms.
Ecological status of a newly impounded sub-saharan reservoir based on benthic macroinvertebrates community (Burkina Faso, West Africa)

In West Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso, the aquatic ecosystems are under human pressures. Therefore, for long term management of these ecosystems, the managers need baseline data for regular assessment of ecological health condition. In this regard, the structure of the benthic macroinvertebrate community was investigated and the relationship between the environmental variables and biotic indices of the Samandeni reservoir from January to December 2018, after one-year impoundment was explored. The macroinvertebrates were collected with a hand net (25 × 25 cm2 coverage area and 500 μm mesh) according to the multi-habitat sampling method. Key environmental variables such as temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, pH and total dissolve solids (TDS) were measured in situ. High diversity of macroinvertebrates was reported and thirty-four (34) taxa were determined belonging to eight (8) orders dominated by insects (79.41% of all taxa). Good ecological quality of the reservoir was testified by the presence of several sensitive taxa like Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera. The trends of environmental variables also reflect good habitat conditions. The results revealed a strong and negative relationship between some abiotic variables and biotic indices. The finding of this study is of big importance for sustainable management of the Samandeni Reservoir. Key words: Burkina Faso, macroinvertebrates, monitoring, reservoir, status.
Lower incisor changes following non-extraction orthodontic decompensation in Class III surgical cases

The amount of incisor decompensation during pre-surgical orthodontics may affect the outcome of Class III orthognathic cases. The purpose of this study was to assess the lower incisor changes post-orthodontic decompensation in Class III surgical cases and to investigate the amount of crowding as a predictive factor. This was a retrospective study reporting on 22 Class III orthognathic cases. The lower incisor angulation (LIA) and distance of the lower incisor edge to the A-Pogonion line (Li-APo) were measured on pre-treatment and pre-surgical lateral cephalograms whereas crowding was measured on digitised pre-treatment study models. Pearson’s correlation (p <0.05) was used to assess the correlation of crowding with LIA and Li-APo changes, and prediction of the lower incisor decompensation was conducted using linear regression analysis. Results showed lower incisors were retroclined at 79.84° ± 7.08° and positioned ahead of APo line by 6.52 mm ± 2.97 mm at the start of treatment. Pre-surgical LIA and Li-APo were found to increase following orthodontic decompensation to 90.43° ± 5.96° and 10.34 mm ± 3.25 mm, respectively. There was a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.592) between crowding and Li-APo changes which was statistically significant, p value = 0.004, and had a strong predictor with 31.8% predictability. However, LIA showed a weak correlation (r = 0.329) with crowding and was not statistically significant (p = 0.135). Li-APo changes during orthodontic decompensation can be predicted with 31.8% predictability using the formula; Li-APo change = 2.064 + 0.503 (crowding).
Equilibrium Optimizer-Based Robust Sliding Mode Control of Magnetic Levitation System

Magnetic Levitation System (MLS) objective is to levitate objects to the desired height without any contact. MLS is highly nonlinear and inherently unstable. Such a system imposes a challenge when designing robust and high-performance controllers. This paper presents the design of a Sliding Mode (SM) controller with an Integral term called SM-I controller to achieve the desired levitation against nonlinearities and uncertainties of the system. The controller parameters are tuned using the Equilibrium Optimizer (EO) algorithm. The Effectiveness of the proposed controller is validated by simulation results. Simulations are performed for servo tracking with and without perturbations in the MLS parameters. The proposed controller is compared with the conventional SM, LQR, and PID controllers to show its superiority. The results prove that the SM-I is more efficient than the other controllers.
Improvement of Thanaka Powder by Gamma Radiation: Microbial and Chemical Properties

Thanaka powder is made from the stem bark of the Hesperethusa crenulata plant. Most Burmese women use it on the skin of the face as sun protection, a moisturizing agent and acne treatment. For a hygiene purpose, gamma radiation is currently used to control microorganisms and insect contamination in many products. In this experiment, the the effects of gamma radiation on the microbial numeration, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and chemical constituent alterations in Thanaka powder were investigated. Gamma irradiation was applied to powder samples at 5, 10, 15 and 20 kGy. The total bacterial count and total yeast and mold count were decreased with increasing irradiation dose. Gamma irradiation at a dose of 5 kGy was sufficient to reduce the microbial load in the powder to meet the standards of microbial quality for cosmetic products in Thailand. No significant change in the DPPH activity of the Thanaka powder was observed after irradiation. Additionally, the radiation process caused significant increases in total phenolic content, FRAP value and arbutin content. At a dose of 20 kGy, the total phenolic content, FRAP value and arbutin content were significantly higher than the non-irradiated Thanaka powder at 7.45, 9.59 and 16.04%, respectively.
Motherhood Desire as a Stimulant for Fertility Tourism Intention

This paper investigates the relationship between participants’ motherhood desire and travel intention and behaviour, through the mediating role of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behaviour control. The study adopted a questionnaire among a sample representative of females with fertility complications in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in Egypt. In total, 138 questionnaires were gathered and tested using a partial least square structural equation modelling using WarpPLS 7.0. The findings support the proposed model and show that motherhood desire has a positive influence on attitude, subjective norm and perceived behaviour control. Also, we found that the positive effect of TPB dimensions on actual behaviour is subject to females’ intention to visit Egypt for fertility tourism. Besides, the study revealed that attitude partially mediates the link between motherhood, tourists’ revisit intention and tourists’ actual behaviour. This suggests that the positive effect of motherhood desire on tourist revisit intention and actual behaviour is subject to attitude. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we develop an integrative model exploring the relationship between three distinct TPB dimensions and their influence on travel behaviour for childbearing. Such findings hold important implications both for the research community and medical tourism practitioners.
Friction stir welding induced residual stresses in thick steel plates from experimental and numerical analysis

ABSTRACT Friction stir welding induces a relatively low level of deflection, and residual stresses and recent advances in the welding technology has shown that friction stir welding may now be broadly used in steel welding leading to significant improvement of the welding quality for new constructions and repairs. In the present study experimental and numerical analyses of friction stir welding in thick steel plates are performed. A finite element model is developed, based on a new heat input source mathematical formulation, accounting for the welding transient thermo-mechanical process of the friction stir welding-induced residual stresses. The welding-induced residual stresses, estimated by the new developed finite element model, are compared with the experiment. The present study shows that the newly developed heat source finite element model demonstrates an acceptable agreement between the numerical and experimental results. A sensitivity analysis concerning the essential governing parameters predicting the friction stir welding – induced residual stresses is also addressed.
Testosterone Increases the Emission of Ultrasonic Vocalizations With Different Acoustic Characteristics in Mice

Testosterone masculinizes male sexual behavior through an organizational and activational effects. We previously reported that the emission of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in male mice was dependent on the organizational effects of testosterone; females treated with testosterone in the perinatal and peripubertal periods, but not in adults, had increased USV emissions compared to males. Recently, it was revealed that male USVs have various acoustic characteristics and these variations were related to behavioral interactions with other mice. In this regard, the detailed acoustic characteristic changes induced by testosterone have not been fully elucidated. Here, we revealed that testosterone administered to female and male mice modulated the acoustic characteristics of USVs. There was no clear difference in acoustic characteristics between males and females. Call frequencies were higher in testosterone propionate (TP)-treated males and females compared to control males and females. When the calls were classified into nine types, there was also no distinctive difference between males and females, but TP increased the number of calls with a high frequency, and decreased the number of calls with a low frequency and short duration. The transition analysis by call type revealed that even though there was no statistically significant difference, TP-treated males and females had a similar pattern of transition to control males and females, respectively. Collectively, these results suggest that testosterone treatment can enhance the emission of USVs both in male and female, but the acoustic characteristics of TP-treated females were not the same as those of intact males.
Singular value decomposition of the longitudinal ray transform of vector fields in a ball in cone beam coordinates

An analytical singular value decomposition (SVD) of the longitudinal cone-beam transform of solenoidal vector fields in the ball is proposed and described in detail. We exploit the solenoidal vector fields Hn+1,m(n) , Bn+1−2k,m(n) and Cn−2k,m(n) constructed by Derevtsov, Kazantsev and Schuster in (2007 J. Inverse Ill-Posed Problems 15 173–185). Our study technique also corresponds to the work Kazantsev (2015 J. Inverse Ill-Posed Problems 23 173–185) in which the scalar case was considered. The calculations use expansions in orthogonal bipolar spherical harmonics. Also the spherical convolution operator Hilbert type S , coupling integrals of vector spherical harmonics and Clebsch–Gordan coefficients are involved in our study. The exact formulas for the corresponding singular values σ(Hn+1,m(n)) , σ(Bn+1−2k,m(n)) and σ(Cn−2k,m(n)) are obtained and their asymptotic for n → ∞ is studied.
Differing Mechanisms of New Particle Formation at Two Arctic Sites

New particle formation in the Arctic atmosphere is an important source of aerosol particles. Understanding the processes of Arctic secondary aerosol formation is crucial due to their significant impact on cloud properties and therefore Arctic amplification. We observed the molecular formation of new particles from low‐volatility vapors at two Arctic sites with differing surroundings. In Svalbard, sulfuric acid (SA) and methane sulfonic acid (MSA) contribute to the formation of secondary aerosol and to some extent to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). This occurs via ion‐induced nucleation of SA and NH3 and subsequent growth by mainly SA and MSA condensation during springtime and highly oxygenated organic molecules during summertime. By contrast, in an ice‐covered region around Villum, we observed new particle formation driven by iodic acid but its concentration was insufficient to grow nucleated particles to CCN sizes. Our results provide new insight about sources and precursors of Arctic secondary aerosol particles.
High‐efficiency indium gallium nitride/Si tandem photovoltaic solar cells modeling using indium gallium nitride semibulk material: monolithic integration versus 4‐terminal tandem cells

In this work, we present a double‐junction solar cell with a crystalline silicon solar cell as a bottom junction and an indium gallium nitride‐based semibulk‐structured solar cell as a top junction. Using SILVACO Atlas and taking into account polarization effects in III‐N materials, we have shown that 50% of indium is needed to ensure the current matching between the top cell and the bottom cell in 2‐terminal configuration. Such high indium composition is technologically challenging to grow. Thus, we have also modeled a 4‐terminal configuration showing the same performance (i.e. conversion efficiency close to 29%) where only 25% of indium content is needed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cultivating Students’ STEAM Competence in STEAM Education: Constructing Models and Developing Measurement Scale in Chinese primary school

To improve the quality of STEAM education and cultivate STEAM competence, the purpose of this research was designed to examine the students’ experiences in cultivating STEAM competence, which was focused on students’ engaging experience in STEAM education. Through several investigation and questionnaires to achieve this purpose, to construct an analytic hierarchy model and measurement model by employing the analytic hierarchy process and confirmatory factor analysis in R 3.3. 3 and Mplus8.3. Besides, correlation analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and path analysis were also employed. The participants are the researchers, educators, and administrators (Total= 856), as well as the 4th grade to 6th grade students (N=1126). Summarizing the main results: (1) the dimension of students’ STEAM competence (SSC) was established through the analytic hierarchy model, which was practical cognition, interpersonal interaction, and comprehensive influence point to the individual, society, and living world. (2) the criteria and sub-criteria of SSC were modified, corrected, and determined through the analytic hierarchy model and measurement model to construct the SSC scale (SSCs), which was psychological cognition, situated learning, practical inquiry, social communication, rational decision making, creative presentation, and impact assessment. (3) the relationships between each criterion were examined through correlation analysis and path analysis. Finally, the conclusion, significance, limitations, and future work were also discussed to promote the development of students’ STEAM competence. @font-face{ font-family:"Times New Roman"; }@font-face{ font-family:"宋体"; }@font-face{ font-family:"DengXian"; }@font-face{ font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; }p.MsoNormal{ mso-style-name:正文; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0pt; margin-bottom:. 0001pt; text-indent:10.0000pt; mso-char-indent-count:2.0000; padding:0pt 0pt 0pt 0pt ; mso-layout-grid-align:none; layout-grid-mode:char; mso-pagination:none; font-family:'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family:宋体; color:rgb(0,0,0); font-size:12.0000pt; mso-font-kerning:10.5000pt; }p.MsoHeader{ mso-style-name:页眉; margin:0pt; margin-bottom:. 0001pt; text-indent:10.0000pt; mso-char-indent-count:2.0000; border-top:none; mso-border-top-alt:none; border-right:none; mso-border-right-alt:none; border-bottom:none; mso-border-bottom-alt:none; border-left:none; mso-border-left-alt:none; padding:1pt 4pt 1pt 4pt ; mso-layout-grid-align:none; layout-grid-mode:char; mso-pagination:none; text-align:justify; text-justify:inter-ideograph; font-family:'DejaVu Sans'; mso-fareast-font-family:宋体; mso-bidi-font-family:'Times New Roman'; color:rgb(0,0,0); font-size:9.0000pt; mso-font-kerning:10.5000pt; }span.msoIns{ mso-style-type:export-only; mso-style-name:""; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; color:blue; }span.msoDel{ mso-style-type:export-only; mso-style-name:""; text-decoration:line-through; color:red; }div.Section0{page:Section0;}
Rainbow Trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) Cage Culture: Preliminary Observations of Surface Sediment’s Chemical Parameters and Phosphorus Release in Gokcekaya Reservoir, Turkey

This research was conducted in Gokcekaya Reservoir, which is located on the Sakarya River (Ankara, Turkey). Sediment samples were obtained before and after culture periods at a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) farm with a capacity of 950 t·y-1. Total phosphorus (TP: 8.80 ± 0.50 and 9.10% ± 0.20%), total nitrogen (TN: 17.0 ± 0.20 and 17.05% ± 0.10%), organic matter (OM: 14.40 ± 0.40 and 14.60% ± 0.20%), redox potential (327.00 ± 0.08 and 170.00 ± 4.08 mV), water content (97.68 ± 0.28 and 96.38% ± 0.41%) and total organic carbon (TOC: 11.30 ± 0.10 and 13.40% ± 0.10%) were measured before and after the culture period, respectively. The mean rank order of sediment heavy metal was evaluated as Fe > Mn > Ni > Zn > Cr > Cu. The soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations in the sediment pore water were 2.52 ± 0.14 and 7.75 ± 1.18 μg·L-1; ammonium (NH3) was measured as 1.13 ± 0.09 and 1.18 ± 0.06 μg·L-1; nitrite (NO2) was 8.83 ± 0.23, 12.75 ± 0.22 μg·L-1; nitrate (NO3) was elevated at 0.14 ± 0.07 and 0.24 ± 0.02 μg·L-1, and positive phosphorus release remained at low levels: 3.35 μg·m-2d-1 (before the culture period, September 2011) and 11.04 μg·m-2d-1 (after the culture period, April 2012). The data on the sediment and the sediment pore water of the rainbow trout culture in Gokcekaya Reservoir shows that the cage culture in its present condition has no negative effect on sediment quality.