Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vibration in Nuclear Heat Exchangers Due to Liquid and Two-Phase Flow

In order to optimize a steam generator tube bundle support system, it is necessary to understand the differences in vibration behavior of tube arrays subjected to a two-phase flow regime as compared to a single phase flow regime. The relationships discussed in this paper are based on findings derived from a comprehensive vibration testing program which included both water and simulated two-phase (air-water) flow regimes. Tube bundles of various configurations and spacings were tested in crossflow using 3/4 in. (1.9 cm) and 7/8 in. (2.2 cm) o.d. tubes with 36 in. (91 cm) span lengths and as many as 40 tubes per array. Sufficient test loop capacity was provided to drive most test array configurations up to and beyond fluid-elastic instability. Parameters obtained included displacement, effective force coefficients, damping coefficients, Strouhal numbers, and instability constants for various tube array configurations in both liquid and simulated two-phase flow mediums.
Beyond victimhood, towards citizenship: (Re)conceptualising campus climate for LGBTQ+ university students in the Australian context

ABSTRACT Research which attends to LGBTQ+ students’ experiences in Higher Education (HE) asserts that they are more likely to be targets of physical, verbal and symbolic violence than non-LGBTQ+ students, have poorer mental health and wellbeing, and report university settings and systems as generally exclusionary and unsafe. The Australian body of research concerning LGBTQ+ people in HE is developing but remains sparse, relying largely on concepts and empirical evidence from the United States and United Kingdom. While important to understanding LGBTQ+ exclusion in HE as a global phenomenon, we argue that concepts of ‘campus climate’ and ‘harm’ are under-theorised in Australian literature. This obscures a consistent and meaningful analysis of LGBTQ+ student lived experience. As an extension, a focus on LGBTQ+ students as ‘at-risk' means understandings of the everydayness of student life and education remain limited. We suggest that by attending to the particularity of Australian HE settings, we might open our thinking to the possibilities of a global research agenda which sets out to account for similarities and differences among diverse populations while attending to LGBTQ+ students as social citizens. Ultimately, institutional frameworks that deny LGBTQ+ people full participation in university life can be critiqued meaningfully, leading to an evidence-base of equity principles, which can be implemented for LGBTQ+ students in Australia and abroad.
Do changes in maize prices and input prices affect smallholder farmers’ soil fertility management decisions? panel survey evidence from Kenya

ABSTRACT Soil fertility management (SFM) practices such as maize-legume intercropping and organic fertiliser, particularly when used jointly with inorganic fertiliser, have the potential to increase yields and yield response to inorganic fertiliser, improve soil health, and contribute to sustainable intensification (SI). However, relatively little is known about the drivers of adoption of these practices, especially for joint use. Moreover, it has been suggested that African farmers will respond to an increase in the maize price they expect to receive at the next harvest by increasing investment in their soils or altering use of SFM practices in response to input price changes. Yet previous studies largely ignore the role of prices. Using nationwide household panel survey data from Kenya, we estimate the effects of changes in crop and input prices on household use of individual SFM practices and combinations thereof. We find that Kenyan smallholders’ SFM adoption decisions are largely insensitive to changes in expected maize prices. However, when inorganic fertiliser prices rise, farmers are more likely to use organic fertiliser and use less inorganic fertiliser per acre. These results suggest that price policies alone are unlikely to be effective ways to promote SI of maize production in Kenya.
Investigations of two-stage-pseudospark switches for high-current applications

To avoid the lowering of the holdoff voltage due to the electrode erosion in one stage high current pseudospark switches (PSS), a two stage PSS with no axial aperture in the intermediate electrode was tested. For investigations a pulse generator was used generating peak currents up to 120 kA at a maximum voltage of 30 kV with a period length of 5 /spl mu/s of a weakly damped sine wave with 90% current reversal. In comparison with a one stage PSS the breakdown characteristic was shifted to higher pressure. With a free floating intermediate electrode, the device could not be triggered, however, with additional capacities of a few nF between the three electrodes the discharge was ignited. The discharge in the second gap is triggered by the pseudospark discharge in the cathode gap, discharging the auxiliary capacities. Simultaneously, observation of both gaps with fast shutter photography showed an independent movement of the discharges in the two gaps. In the cathode gap as current increases, the discharge moves away from the center to the plane electrode surface as has been observed in the one stage PSS. However, in the anode gap the discharge moves away from the center after a contraction to the center. The two discharges are transmitted to metal vapor arc type discharges as the erosion patterns prove. With this kind of a two stage PSS holdoff voltages exceeding 35 kV would be possible. The characteristic switch data, i.e., delay and jitter, are nearly equal to a one stage PSS. >
Cold‐formed steel columns under L‐D‐G interaction

The paper addresses an experimental programme that is part of an ongoing investigation on the behaviour, strength and design of cold‐formed steel lipped channel columns undergoing mode interaction involving local, distortional and global buckling. The 16 column specimens tested were selected to exhibit either (i) close local, distortional and critical buckling loads (PcrL ≈︁ PcrD ≈︁ PcrG) or (ii) PcrL ≈︁ PcrD (condition ensured via the cross‐sectional dimensions) and PcrG up to around 20 % below or above that value (difference controlled via the column length). The test set‐up, procedure and results are presented and discussed, and the failure load data obtained are used to explore the possibility of developing a design approach based on the direct strength method (DSM).
Automobile Ownership, Households Without Automobiles, and Urban Traffic Parameters: Are They Related?

Most research to date on automobile ownership has concentrated on establishing links between various socioeconomic factors and automobile ownership, without much regard to urban traffic parameters that may affect ownership rates. To address the issue of the effect of traffic parameters on ownership rates, the study takes a twofold approach. First, it investigates whether traffic characteristics and network efficiency parameters influence automobile ownership. Second, it investigates whether not having an automobile (autolessness) is also affected, and to what degree, by these parameters. The results clearly suggest that the variables affecting automobile ownership and autolessness are not the same. It further suggests that traffic network and efficiency parameters do not, on one hand, affect autolessness, but they do, on the other hand, affect the number of automobiles owned by a household. What this seems to imply is that a household’s decision to purchase the first automobile is primarily based on socioeconomic factors, whereas the decision to purchase a second automobile (or more) is largely based on traffic network, efficiency, and transit level-of-service parameters.
Comparison of methods of fertile oestrus induction in female goats outside the physiologic breeding season.

Abstract. The objective of this study was to compare the efﬁciency of different estrus induction protocols in anoestrus goat. Does were assigned to seven groups (A-G). In the group A, the animals (n=25 ) received intravaginal sponges containing 30 mg of ﬂugestone acetate FGA (Chronogest, Intervet) for 12 days and i.m. injection of 500 I.U. of PMSG (Folligon, Intervet) two days before sponges withdrawal. In the groups B(n=10), C (n=10), D (n=10) females received 12,5 mg progesterone (Progesteronum, Polfa Warszawa S.A.) per animal in i.m. injections respectively for 6, 12 or 2 days. Females from groups E (n=10) and F (n=10) received altrenogest (Regumate, Intervet) p.o. for 6 or 12 day. At the end of progestagen treatment the animals from group B, C, D, E, F received 500 I.U. of PMSG i.m. The goats from control group G (n=10) did not received any treatment. During the experiment, a signiﬁcant difference was found in the effectiveness of the oestrus induction among applied methods. Oestrus occurred in 72% of females from group A, 60% from group B, 100% from group C and 20 % of females from group G. Oestrus was not observed in any female of group D, E and F. We concluded that the duration of the progestagen tre-atment signiﬁcantly inﬂuenced the efﬁciency of the oestrus induction protocol in anoestrus goats.
A Highly Sensitive Electrochemical Sensor Based on Electrocatalytic Reduction Effect of Cu2+ on Trace Determination of Malathion in Soil and Other Complex Matrices

The current strategy reports a highly sensitive and selective square wave-cathodic stripping voltammetric protocol for malathion determination. The established method was based on the controlled adsorptive accumulation of malathion in the presence of Cu2+ ions in an aqueous solution of pH 2 onto the hanging mercury dropping electrode (HMDE) and measuring the resulting cathodic peak current of the adsorbed species at −0.42 V versus Ag/AgCl electrode. The low limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) of malathion of the assay were estimated to be 3.1 × 10−10 and 1.03 × 10−9 M with a linear dynamic range of 1.03×10−9 – 2.0 × 10−7 M, respectively. The method was satisfactorily applied and validated for malathion determination in environmental samples. The experimental Student texp and Fexp values did not exceed the tabulated ttab (2.78) and Ftab (6.39) at 95% (P = 0.05) confidence (n = 5), confirming the precision and independence on the matrix. The developed sensing platform for the detection of malathion shows superior performance to conventional electrochemical methods. The proposed sensor offered simple, economical, reproducible, and applicable approach for the determination of malathion in environmental samples.
Inelastic Displacement Ratios of Degrading Systems

Seismic code provisions in several countries have recently adopted the new concept of performance-based design. New analysis procedures have been developed to estimate seismic demands for performance evaluation. Most of these procedures are based on simple material models though, and do not take into account degradation effects, a major factor influencing structural behavior under earthquake excitations. More importantly, most of these models cannot predict collapse of structures under seismic loads. This study presents a newly developed model that incorporates degradation effects into seismic analysis of structures. A new energy-based approach is used to define several types of degradation effects. The model also permits collapse prediction of structures under seismic excitations. The model was used to conduct extensive statistical dynamic analysis of different structural systems subjected to a large ensemble of recent earthquake records. The results were used to propose approximate methods for estimating maximum inelastic displacements of degrading systems for use in performance-based seismic code provisions. The findings provide necessary information for the design evaluation phase of a performance-based earthquake design process, and could be used for evaluation and modification of existing seismic codes of practice.
CurrENT GlOBal THEOriES, TrENdS aNd dEVElOPMENTS iN THE aNalySiS aNd ValuaTiON Of a TarGET COMPaNy

Purpose: the aim of this paper is to perform a thorough, in-depth and current literature review on Mergers & Acquisitions. The emphasis is on the current global theories, global trends and developments within the last 10 years and so in the valuation of a potential takeover of a target company. Discussion: mergers and acquisitions are considered as one of the tools for improving business efficiency. At the same time, a merger and acquisition transaction is justified if there is a synergistic effect. However, recent studies have shown that the most common reasons for an inefficient acquisition are the overestimation of the target company and the synergy effect associated with this acquisition. Thus, the valuation of the target company is the most important aspect at the planning stage of the mergers and acquisitions process. Results: the paper provides a critical review of the literature examining the synergy theory and the development of Tobin’s Q-theory, current global trends in mergers and acquisitions, discounted cash flow analysis, and market multipliers in order to improve the valuation of the acquired company.
Probabilistic Assessment of Deteriorating Prestressed Concrete Box-Girder Bridges under Increased Vehicle Loads and Aggressive Environment

A probabilistic procedure for the assessment of the time-dependent reliability of existing prestressed concrete (PSC) box-girder bridges is presented. These bridges are subject to increased traffic loads and an aggressive environment, which result in structural deterioration such as cracking and corrosion. In this paper, a multiple-peak vehicle load model is proposed based on acquired traffic load data, which cannot be properly described by previous single-peak probability distributions. With the proposed vehicle load model, the maximal vehicle loads during the remaining life of bridges are obtained for evaluating the influence of the increase in traffic loads on bridge reliability. Time-dependent corrosion models are adopted to account for pitting corrosion because of chloride attack as well as uniform corrosion because of concrete carbonation. A degenerated shell element is used for accurate and efficient modeling of the PSC box-girder. Postcracking behaviors of reinforced concrete box-girders, simulated by using different crack models and elements, are compared with laboratory test results. To increase the efficiency of probabilistic analyses, an adaptive importance sampling method in conjunction with the truncated Latin hypercube sampling is used. Application of the proposed methodologies is demonstrated by a case study, in which the time-dependent reliabilities of a deteriorating PSC box-girder bridge are obtained.
CMAR_A_341672 9367..9377

1Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 3Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, GE Healthcare, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Objective: To develop and validate a prognostic nomogram in eastern patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) receiving trans-arterial chemoembolization with drug-eluting beads (DEBTACE). Methods: This retrospective study included 200 patients with training cohort (n = 118) from institution 1 and test cohort (n = 82) from institution 2. All these patients received first-line DEB-TACE between October 2016 and October 2018. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was performed on the training cohort to reveal the independent prognostic factors, and then prognostic nomograms were developed. In order to evaluate the performance of the nomogram comprehensively in both the training and test cohorts, C-index, Kaplan–Meier curve with Log rank test, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calibration plot, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were performed. Results: Tumor number, serum γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) level, and level of PVTT were independent risk factors of prognosis. A nomogram was constructed to predict 6-, 12and 18-month overall survival (OS) based on these identified prognostic factors. C-indexes of the nomogram were 0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79–0.97) in the training cohort and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.75–0.99) in the test cohort. The Kaplan–Meier curve analysis showed that the nomogram was able to separate patients into lowand high-risk subgroups. ROC curves for the nomogram at 6-, 12and 18-month showed satisfied discrimination, with an AUC of 0.765, 0.803 and 0.809 in the training cohort, respectively, and 0.772, 0.724 and 0.746 in the test cohort, respectively. The calibration curve demonstrated good agreement between predicted and actual survival rates in the training and test cohorts. The decision curve showed good performance of the nomogram in terms of clinical application. Conclusion: We developed and validated a nomogram that was accurate and clinically useful in eastern patients with HBV-associated HCC with PVTT who underwent DEBTACE.
Crew Selection for Uninhabited Air Vehicles: Preliminary Investigation of the Air Vehicle Operator (AVO)

Because of the similarity of the AVO console to a desktop flight simulator, a preliminary idea of what aptitude factors would predict success in AVO training might be obtained through a validation study using a desktop flight simulator as the criterion task. In this study, 171 young men and women learned to fly a simulated light aircraft. The participants also took a comprehensive 8-hour battery of computer-based tests. Results indicated that learning was predicted well by general cognitive ability (g)/ working memory (WM) and multilimb coordination. When structural equation modeling was used to distinguish declarative and procedural learning, declarative learning was found to be strongly dependent on g/WM, which is consistent with previous research. That g/WM did not correlate with procedural learning explains why correlations of this ability with learning diminished as instruction moved from a declarative to procedural emphasis. Only multilimb coordination ability was strongly related to procedural learning.
SPECTRAL GAP OF REPLICA EXCHANGE LANGEVIN DIFFUSION ON MIXTURE DISTRIBUTIONS

Langevin diffusion (LD) is one of the main workhorses for sampling problems. However, its convergence rate can be significantly reduced if the target distribution is a mixture of multiple densities, especially when each component concentrates around a different mode. Replica exchange Langevin diffusion (ReLD) is a sampling method that can circumvent this issue. In particular, ReLD adds another LD sampling a high-temperature version of the target density, and exchange the locations of two LDs according to a Metropolis-Hasting type of law. This approach can be further extended to multiple replica exchange Langevin diffusion (mReLD), where K additional LDs are added to sample distributions at different temperatures and exchanges take place between neighboring-temperature processes. While ReLD and mReLD have been used extensively in statistical physics, molecular dynamics, and other applications, there is little existing analysis on its convergence rate and choices of temperatures. This paper closes these gaps assuming the target distribution is a mixture of log-concave densities. We show ReLD can obtain constant or better convergence rates even when the density components of the mixture concentrate around isolated modes. We also show using mReLD with K additional LDs can achieve the same result while the exchange frequency only needs to be (1/K)-th power of the one in ReLD.
Original Contribution Urinary Bisphenol A and Obesity in US Children

Childhood obesity, a major public health problem, can lead to cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Studies have implicated exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), a commonly used chemical, in the development of obesity in adults. However, literature is limited on this association in children. We examined the association between urinary BPA and obesity in children aged 6–18 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003– 2008). The primary exposure was urinary BPA and the outcome was obesity, defined as the ≥95th percentile of body mass index specific for age and sex. We found a positive association between increasing levels of urinary BPA and obesity, independent of age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, physical activity, serum cotinine, and urinary creatinine. Compared with children in the lowest quartile of BPA (<1.5 ng/mL), children in the highest quartile (>5.4 ng/mL) had a multivariable odds ratio for obesity of 2.55 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.65, 3.95) (Ptrend < 0.01). The observed positive association was predominantly present in boys (odds ratio = 3.80, 95% CI: 2.25, 6.43) (Ptrend < 0.001) and in non-Hispanic whites (odds ratio = 5.87, 95% CI: 2.15, 16.05) (Ptrend < 0.01). In a representative sample of children, urinary BPAwas associated with obesity, predominantly in non-Hispanic white boys, independent of major risk factors.
Local and External Moisture Sources for the Arctic Warming over the Barents–Kara Seas

Water vapor is critical to Arctic sea ice loss and surface air warming, particularly in winter. Whether the local process or poleward transport from lower latitudes can explain theArctic warming is still a controversial issue. In this work, a hydrological tool, a dynamical recycling model (DRM) based on time-backward Lagrangian moisture tracking, is applied to quantitatively evaluate the relative contributions of local evaporation and external sources to Barents–Kara Seas (BKS) moisture in winter during 1979–2015. On average, the local and external moistures explain 35.4% and 57.3% of BKS moisture, respectively. The BKS, Norwegian Sea, andmidlatitudeNorthAtlantic are the threemajor sources and show significant increasing trends of moisture contribution. The local moisture contribution correlates weakly to downward infrared radiation (IR) but significantly to sea ice variation, which suggests that the recent-decade increase of local moisture contribution is only a manifestation of sea ice melting. In contrast, the external moisture contribution significantly correlates to both downward IR and sea ice variation, thus suggesting that meridional moisture transport mainly explains the recent BKS warming. The moisture contributions due to different sources are governed by distinct circulation patterns. The negativeArctic Oscillation–like pattern suppresses external moisture but favors local evaporation. In the case of dominant external moisture, a well-organized wave train spanning from across the midlatitude Atlantic to mid–high-latitude Eurasia has the mid–high-latitude components similar to a positive-phase North Atlantic Oscillation with a Ural blocking to the east. Moreover, the meridional shift of the wave train pathway and the spatial scale of the wave train anomalies determine the transport passage and strength of the major external moisture sources.