Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of soil properties on ammonia volatilization

Abstract By using a small culture dish located above a large-sized closed dish with soil samples to trap emissions as well as applying multivariate analysis methods, the influence of soil properties on ammonia volatilization and their correlation was studied. The results showed that the ammonia volatilization rates were positively correlated with the soil pH, CaCO3, and total salt contents but negatively correlated with the organic matter content, CEC, and clay content. Of the three negative correlation factors, the CEC was most highly correlated with ammonia volatilization, while among the three positive correlation factors, the pH predominated. These results enabled to assess the magnitude of ammonia volatilization from soils. According to the correlation equation of ammonia volatilization versus pH and CEC, the potential of ammonia volatilization of some soils in China was determined and the soils were divided into four groups. It was concluded that by increasing the application rate of organic matter ammonia volatilization might decrease.
The Enrichment of Heavy Water in a Continuous-Type Inclined Thermal Diffusion Column

Equations of the best angle of inclination and the maximum separation for the enrichment of heavy water in a continuous-type inclined thermal diffusion column have been derived. Considerable improvement in separation was obtained by employing the inclined column instead of using the Clusius-Dickel. 19 references, 4 figures, 3 tables.
In situ Nd isotope analyses in geological materials with signal enhancement and non-linear mass dependent fractionation reduction using laser ablation MC-ICP-MS

To improve the precision and accuracy of in situ Nd isotope analyses in geological samples, high analytical sensitivity and minimized non-linear mass dependent fractionation are desirable. In this study, we investigated the effects of three different cone combinations and the addition of N2 with the guard electrode, either grounded or floating, on the performance of Nd isotope analyses. Signal enhancements (2.5–3 folds) were observed for the Jet sample cone + X skimmer cone and for the standard sample cone + X skimmer cone, which were compared to those of the standard sample cone + H skimmer cone with the addition of N2 at 3 or 6 ml min−1. The influence of a guard electrode on the LA-MC-ICP-MS sensitivity was minimal for dry plasma conditions but became significant in the presence of N2. The addition of 3 or 6 ml min−1 N2 into the carrier gas increased the sensitivity for Nd by a factor of 1.6 with the GE-on mode for the Jet sample cone + X skimmer cone. However, in the GE-off mode, the addition of 2–3 ml min−1 N2 decreased the signal intensity of Nd by a factor of two to three. The makeup gas flow rate was found to have a significant effect on the mass bias stability of Nd isotopes, and this effect was different for different cone combinations. To stabilize the mass bias, measurements at elevated makeup gas flow rates was required for the combination of the X skimmer cone with the standard sample cone or Jet sample cone, at the expense of sensitivity. In notable contrast, the mass bias was stable for the combination of the standard sample cone and H skimmer cone under their corresponding optimum makeup gas flow rates. However, we found that the neodymium isotopes exhibited a large non-linear component at elevated makeup gas flow rates that could not be corrected by the accepted mass fractionation laws. The addition of 3–6 ml min−1 nitrogen to the central gas flow in laser ablation MC-ICP-MS was found to not only significantly enlarge the mass bias stability zone, but also to suppress the non-linear mass dependent fractionation for the combination of X skimmer cone with Jet sample cone or standard sample cone. The accuracy and precision of the developed analytical method for Nd isotope using Jet sample cone + X skimmer cone with the addition of nitrogen has been demonstrated by analyzing a series of reference glasses (JNdi-1 glass, LREE glass, NIST 610) and minerals (apatite, monazite and titanite). Results obtained for 143Nd/144Nd ratios in these reference materials are in excellent agreement with published values, demonstrating the capability of the developed analytical method to be an important tool for providing high-quality in situ Nd isotope data in geological samples.
UV Stability of Poly(Lactic Acid) Nanocomposites

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a biodegradable polyester with great interest because it is produced from renewable resources at low cost, is recyclable to its monomers and is a potential substitute to petroleum-based polymers. The ultraviolet (UV) degradation of polymers has huge importance since the resistance to ageing, especially to UV light, is a key factor for outdoor applications. Therefore, the goal of the present work was to study the effect of the addition of different organic modified montmorillonites (MMT) on the UV stability of PLA. Results showed a higher decrease of intrinsic viscosity, increase of crystallinity and chemical structure changes along degradation time for nanocomposites. Although the photodegradation mechanism is the same as the one previously proposed, the presence of organoclays in the PLA matrix enhances photodegradation.
Antistaling additive effects on fresh wheat bread quality / Efectos de los aditivos antienvejecimiento sobre la calidad del pan fresco

Straight and soured wheat breads formulated with antistaling additives (emulsifiers, hydrocol loids and fungal α-amylase) from white and whole flours were investigated for physico-chemical and sensory characteristics according to a fractionated factorial design, L32 . Quality of formulated fresh breads was related with chemical and physical properties. Additive effects were highly dependent on both the flour type and the breadmaking process used. Most of them performed as initial crumb softeners, effects being more pronounced in whole breads. Hydrocolloids showed similar softening effects to emulsifiers. Chemical parameters of doughs and breads were mainly influenced by the addition of emulsifiers. Antistaling additives also showed some secondary effects on other sensory properties (e.g., flavour and eatability), resulting in different crumb firmness- bread quality relationships. Synergistic and antagonistic interactions between additives were summarized (DATEM*SSL, α-amylase*SSL, α-amylase*HPMC).
Analysis of the Temperature and Pressure Dependence of the Reaction HO + NO2 + M HONO2 + M.

A theoretical analysis of the temperature and pressure dependence of the reaction HO + NO2 + M HONO2 + M is made over the temperature range 50–1400 K and the pressure range 10−4–103 bar where experimental data are available. The treatment accounts for contributions from anharmonicity, centrifugal barriers, angular momentum couplings, and weak collisions. It is shown that broadening factors F(x), with log F(x) ≈ [1 + (log x/N)2]−1 log Fc, x = k1,0/k1,∞, N ≈ 0.75 – 1.27 log Fc (where log = log10), and Fc = 0.40 (±0.02), well represent the calculated falloff curves in the experimental range. Values of k1,0 = [N2] 3.0 × 10−30 (T/300 K)−3.0 cm6 molecule−2 s−1 and k1,∞ = 3.6 × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1, are consistent with experiments over the range 220–400 K. The NASA/JPL policy of using Fc = 0.6 and N = 1 leads to apparent values of k1,0, and k1,∞ which are too low, although experimentally observed parts of the falloff curves can well be reproduced. The IUPAC recommendation of a temperature dependence of Fc ≈ exp(−T/Tc) should also be abandoned because Fc is nearly temperature independent between 50 and 1400 K. The analysis of experimental limiting low pressure rate coefficients k1,0 leads to apparent average energies 〈ΔE〉 transferred per collision of about −160 cm−1 for M = N2, and −80 cm−1 for M = Ar, which are nearly temperature independent over the range 200–400 K for M = N2, and only weakly temperature dependent between 300 and 1400 K for M = Ar. The analysis of k1,0, which leads to 〈ΔE〉, and of k1,∞, however, are markedly influenced by the lack of sufficiently precise information on the interaction potential between HO and NO2. For this reason, the consequences of uncertainties are discussed in detail. Possible contributions of HOONO isomer formation in the reaction are also discussed. It is shown that HOONO yields, at pressures below 1 bar, most probably are smaller than about 2.5% while yields up to 20% are possible at 100 bar. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 33: 878–889, 2001
Isolation and identification of cyclic oligomers of the poly(ethylene terephthalate)–poly(ethylene isophthalate) copolymer

New cyclic oligomers of the copolymer of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene isophthalate) (PEI) were isolated and identified. A condensation polymerization was carried out at a high temperature, and the solid-state polymerization that followed yielded the high molecular weight polymer. The oligomers were extracted from the high molecular weight PET–PEI copolymer and separated with preparative high performance liquid chromatography techniques. Their chemical structures and properties were analyzed and determined by 1H NMR, differential scanning calorimetry, and mass spectroscopy. The oligomers observed at early retention times were a cyclic dimer and cyclic trimers and consisted of [GT]3, [GI]2, [GI]3, [GT]2[GI]1, and [GT]1[GI]2. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 881–889, 2003
Sensory, microbial and chemical effects of a slurry ice system on horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus)

Slurry ice, a biphasic system consisting of small spherical ice crystals surrounded by seawater, was evaluated in parallel with flake ice for the storage of horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus). Storage in slurry ice led to a significant enhancement of shelf life (5 days for flake ice to 15 days for slurry ice), better control of pH and lower counts of total aerobes and proteolytic and lipolytic bacteria, these reaching an average difference between batches of 2, 1.43 and 1.98 log units respectively after 8 days of storage. Storage in slurry ice also involved a significantly slower formation of total volatile basic nitrogen and trimethylamine after 8 days of storage. Staphylococcus xylosus and Proteus penneri were identified as the leading proteolytic and lipolytic organisms in horse mackerel muscle. Storage of horse mackerel in slurry ice enhances the shelf life of this medium-fat fish species through better maintenance of sensory and microbiological quality. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry
Synthesis, Structure, and Magnetic Properties of CaMSi2O6(M= Co, Ni) Compounds and Their Solid Solutions

Abstract The title compounds have been synthesized using a sol–gel route from calcium and transition metal nitrates and tetraethylorthosilicate. A silica excess was used to avoid the formation of parasitic phases. These materials exhibit the clinopyroxene structure where the transition metal build M O 6 octahedra from infinite zigzag chains running in the c axis direction. Magnetic and specific heat measurements demonstrate the existence of ferromagnetic interactions inside the M O 6 zigzag chains that order antiferromagnetically below T N = 9.75 and 20.2 K for M = Co and Ni, respectively. Neutron powder diffraction data allow the determination of the magnitude, m 0 = 3.30 ± 0.15 μ B , and orientation, angle of 41° with the a axis, of the magnetic moments inside the structure.
Foaming, gelling and rheological properties of egg albumen as affected by the housing system and the age of laying hens

Summary The aim of this work was to study the foaming, gelling and rheological properties of albumen as simultaneously affected by the housing system (i.e. conventional cage, organic and barn) and the age of layers (27, 30, 35, 43, 53 and 68 weeks). Significant effects of the two considered factors and of their interactions were found for almost all the studied properties. In particular, with the increasing of the hen age, a loss in albumen consistency and a weakening of the albumen gel structure were observed. As regards the housing system, differences observed, even if statistically significant, were little and unlikely to have a real effect on technological performances of the eggs when used as food ingredients. Significant correlations amongst technological properties of albumen and its pH and protein content were also found.
An Online Multi-Item Auction With Differential Privacy in Edge-Assisted Blockchains

In recent years, the blockchain-based Internet of Things (IoT) has been widely studied and applied, and every IoT device can act as a node in the blockchain. However, these lightweight nodes usually do not have enough computing power to complete the consensus or other computing-required tasks. Edge computing network gives a platform to provide computing power to IoT devices. A fundamental problem is how to allocate limited edge servers to IoT devices in a highly untrusted environment. In a fair competitive environment, the allocation mechanism should be online, truthful, and privacy-preserved. In order to meet these three challenges, we propose an online multi-item double auction (MIDA) mechanism by means of auction theory, where IoT devices are buyers and edge servers are sellers. However, ensuring truthfulness is often contradictory to protecting users’ privacy. The participants’ private information is at risk of being exposed to inference attacks, which may lead to malicious manipulation of the market by adversaries. Thus, we enhance our MIDA mechanism with differential privacy (DP) to protect sensitive information from being leaked. It slightly interferes with the auction results in performance but guarantees privacy protection with high confidence. In addition, we upgrade our privacy-preserved MIDA mechanism such that it adapts to more complex and realistic scenarios. In the end, the effectiveness and correctness of algorithms are evaluated and verified by theoretical analysis and numerical simulations.
Relaxation mechanism of GaP grown on 001 Si substrates: influence of defects on the growth of AlGaP layers on GaP/Si templates

ABSTRACT The mechanical stability of commercial GaP/Si templates during thermal annealing and subsequent growth of GaP and AlGaP using metal-organic chemical-vapour deposition is investigated. Although the as-grown GaP layer of the template originally presents an excellent surface morphology, annealing at temperatures between 645 C to 845 C to remove the native oxide prior to growth leads to plastic relaxation, accompanied by a variety of defects, including a dense grid of micro-twins. These micro-twins detrimentally affect GaP and AlGaP layers grown subsequently on the template.
Stability, Evolution and Switching of Ferroelectric Domain Structures in Lead-free BaZr$_{0.2}$Ti$_{0.8}$O$_3$-Ba$_{0.7}$Ca$_{0.3}$TiO$_3$ System: Thermodynamic Analysis and Phase-field Simulations

Enhanced room-temperature electromechanical coupling in the lead-free ferroelectric system (1− x)BaZr0.2Ti0. 8O3 xBa0.7Ca0. 3TiO3 (abbreviated as BZCT) at x = 0.5 is attributed to the existence of a morphotropic phase region (MPR) containing an intermediate orthorhombic (O) phase between terminal rhombohedral (R) BZT and tetragonal (T ) BCT phases. However, there is ambiguity regarding morphotropic phase transition in BZCT at room temperature while some experiments suggest a single O phase within the MPR, others indicate coexistence of three polar phases (T + R + O). Therefore, to understand thermodynamic stability of polar phases and its relation to electromechanical switching during morphotropic phase transition in BZCT, we develop a Landau potential based on the theory of polar anisotropy. Since intrinsic electrostrictive anisotropy changes as a function of electromechanical processing, we establish a correlation between the parameters of our potential and the coefficients of electrostriction. We also conducted phase-field simulations based on this potential to demonstrate changes in domain configuration from single-phase O to three-phase T +R+O at the equimolar composition with the increase in electrostrictive anisotropy. Diffu∗Corresponding authors Email addresses: ms14resch11003@iith.ac.in (Tushar Jogi), saswata@msme.iith.ac.in (Saswata Bhattacharya) Preprint submitted to Acta Materialia January 11, 2021 ar X iv :2 10 1. 03 06 6v 1 [ co nd -m at . m tr lsc i] 8 J an 2 02 1 sionless phase diagrams and the corresponding piezoelectric coefficients obtained from our model compare well with the experimental findings. Increase in electrostrictive anisotropy increases the degeneracy of the free energy at ambient temperature and pressure leading to decreasing polar anisotropy, although there is an accompanying increase in the electromechanical anisotropy manifested by an increase in the difference between effective longitudinal and transverse piezo-coefficients, d33 and d31. Additionally, application of mechanical constraint (clamping) shows a change in phase stability from orthorhombic (O) (in stress-free condition) to tetragonal (T ) (in clamped condition) with a lower effective piezoresponse for the latter.
Concave-wall turbulent boundary layers without and with free-stream turbulence

Abstract Direct numerical simulations are performed to contrast turbulent boundary layers over a concave wall without and with free-stream turbulence. An adverse pressure gradient near the onset of curvature leads to a sharp decrease in skin friction and intermittent separation. The presence of free-stream turbulence reduces the probability of reverse flow, accelerates the recovery of the boundary layer in the downstream zero-pressure-gradient region, and leads to a sustained and appreciable increase in the skin friction. The forcing also promotes the amplification of coherent Görtler structures in the logarithmic layer of the curved-wall boundary layer. Statistically, the spanwise and wall-normal Reynolds stresses intensify and the radial distance between their peaks increases downstream as the Görtler structures expand. The Reynolds shear stress coefficient also increases in the logarithmic layer, in contrast to a decrease when a flat-plate boundary layer is exposed to free-stream turbulence. In addition, the more coherent and energetic roll motions in the forced flow promote mixing of free-stream and boundary-layer fluids, where the former is seen more often deep within the buffer layer.
Practical limits of error correction for quantum metrology

Noise is the greatest obstacle in quantum metrology that limits it achievable precision and sensitivity. There are many techniques to mitigate the effect of noise, but this can never be done completely. One commonly proposed technique is to repeatedly apply quantum error correction. Unfortunately, the required repetition frequency needed to recover the Heisenberg limit is unachievable with the existing quantum technologies. In this article we explore the discrete application of quantum error correction with current technological limitations in mind. We establish that quantum error correction can be beneficial and highlight the factors which need to be improved so one can reliably reach the Heisenberg limit level precision.
Dynamics of droplets under saturated electrowetting effect

Electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) is a powerful tool in many droplet-manipulation applications with a notorious weakness caused by contact-angle saturation (CAS), a phenomenon limiting the equilibrium contact angle of an EWOD-actuated droplet at high applied voltage. In this paper, we study the spreading behaviours of droplets on EWOD substrates with the range of applied voltage exceeding the saturation limit. We show that the initial contact line velocity and the resulting capillary waves on the droplet surface are not limited by CAS. We establish the relation between the initial contactline velocity and the applied voltage. We also characterise the capillary waves formed on the droplet surface and their self-similar behaviours. We finally propose a theoretical model of the wave profiles taking into account the viscous effects and verify this model experimentally. Our results provide avenues for utilisation of the EWOD effect beyond CAS and have strong bearing on emerging applications such as digital microfluidic and ink-jet printing.
Association between population distribution and urban GDP scaling

Urban scaling and Zipf’s law are two fundamental paradigms for the science of cities. These laws have mostly been investigated independently and are often perceived as disassociated matters. Here we present a large scale investigation about the connection between these two laws using population and GDP data from almost five thousand consistently-defined cities in 96 countries. We empirically demonstrate that both laws are tied to each other and derive an expression relating the urban scaling and Zipf exponents. This expression captures the average tendency of the empirical relation between both exponents, and simulations yield very similar results to the real data after accounting for random variations. We find that while the vast majority of countries exhibit increasing returns to scale of urban GDP, this effect is less pronounced in countries with fewer small cities and more metropolises (small Zipf exponent) than in countries with a more uneven number of small and large cities (large Zipf exponent). Our research puts forward the idea that urban scaling does not solely emerge from intra-city processes, as population distribution and scaling of urban GDP are correlated to each other.