Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The spatial filtering method for solid particle velocity measurement based on an electrostatic sensor

The spatial filtering method for particle velocity measurement has the advantages of simplicity of the measurement system and convenience of data processing. In this paper, the relationship between solid particles mean velocity in a pneumatic pipeline and the power spectrum of the output signal of an electrostatic sensor was mathematically modeled. The effects of the length of the sensor, the thickness of the dielectric pipe and its length on the spatial filtering characteristics of the sensor were also investigated using the finite element method. As for the roughness of and the difficult determination of the peak frequency fmax of the power spectrum characteristics of the output signal of the sensor, a wavelet analysis based filtering method was applied to smooth the curve, which can accurately determine the peak frequency fmax. Finally, experiments were performed on a pilot dense phase pneumatic conveying rig at high pressure to test the performance of the velocity measurement system. The experimental results show that the system repeatability is within ±4% over a gas superficial velocity range of 8.63–18.62 m s−1 for a particle concentration range of 0.067–0.130 m3 m−3.
Application of abscisic acid (S-ABA) at different stages of ripening on color development of ‘Rubi’ table grape

The color of the berries is an important aspect of the quality of table grapes and crucial for marketing. The ‘Rubi’ table grapes grown in the subtropical climate generally lack color intensity due to the inhibition of anthocyanins by high temperatures during ripening. The exogenous application of abscisic acid (S-ABA) can be used to overcome this problem as the accumulation of anthocyanins in the berry skin is regulated by this plant growth regulator. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of the exogenous application of S-ABA at different stages of ripening on color development in ‘Rubi’ table grapes using the soluble solids (SS) content as a marker of ripening. The study was conducted during two seasons in commercial vineyards. The first trial was conducted in Marialva, Parana, Brazil, during the 2019 summer season crop (harvest in December). S-ABA (400 mg L-1) was exogenously applied at different stages of ripening of ‘Rubi’ table grapes (determined by the SS content of the berries): control (without application); SS = 8-9 ºBrix; SS = 10-11 ºBrix; SS = 8-9 ºBrix (two applications; the second one applied 10 days after the first); and SS = 10-11 ºBrix (two applications; the second one applied 10 days after the first). The second trial was conducted in Cambira, Parana, Brazil, during the 2020 off-season crop (harvest in May). S-ABA (400 mg L-1) was exogenously applied at different stages of ripening of ‘Rubi’ grapes: control (without application); SS = 6-7 ºBrix; SS = 7-8 ºBrix; SS = 9-10 ºBrix; SS = 6-7 ºBrix (two applications; the second one applied 14 days after the first); SS = 7-8 ºBrix (two applications; the second one applied 14 days after the first); and SS = 9-10 ºBrix (two applications; the second one applied 14 days after the first). A randomized block design was used as the statistical model with four replications, and each plot consisted of one vine. The variables analyzed were total anthocyanin contents, color index (CIRG), and color attributes (L*, C*, h°, and ΔE) of berry skin. The total anthocyanin accumulation and color attributes of the berries were evaluated every 10 and 7 days after the first application of S-ABA until harvest in the first and second trials, respectively, and the other variables were evaluated at harvest. In the summer-season crop, when the SS content was 8-11 ºBrix, the application of S-ABA increased the concentration of the total anthocyanins 4 times compared to that in the control, improving berry color development. Furthermore, in the off-season crop, when the SS content was 6-10 ºBrix, the application of S-ABA increased the concentration of total anthocyanins 2-3 times compared to that in the control, improving the color attributes of berries. In both crops, a single application of the plant growth regulator was sufficient to intensify the color of the berries.
Nitrogen‐Induced Changes in Carbon Fluxes Are Modulated by Water Availability in a Temperate Grassland

Carbon fluxes of grasslands could be deeply affected by nitrogen (N) enrichment, however, it remains unclear how other factors modulate the N‐induced changes in carbon fluxes and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we quantified the effects of N addition on net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its two components (gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re)), and how water availability modulates these effects in a temperate grassland, China. We found that N enrichment significantly increased foliar N content of grasses (related to a higher photosynthetic rate), leading to higher aboveground biomass (AGB) and therefore vegetation cover, implying higher photosynthetic leaf area. AGB was further enhanced as root: shoot ratio tended to be reduced by N‐addition. Consequently, GPP was significantly stimulated by N‐addition. Re insignificantly increased with N addition. With N‐induced larger increase of GPP and little change of Re, NEE, which is negative when an ecosystem sequestrates more carbon than it releases to the atmosphere, became more negative. Due to a significant sharper versus a relatively gentler N‐induced increase with increasing water availability for GPP and Re, respectively, the N‐induced reduction of NEE distinctly increased linearly with increasing water availability. The enlarged N‐induced stimulation of GPP and thus NEE at ample water conditions is mainly associated with luxuriant growth of grasses who got extra increase of foliar N content, AGB, and decrease of root: shoot ratio. Our findings facilitate an advanced understanding of carbon fluxes responding to climate change and provide knowledge for management in grassland ecosystems.
Regulation of Epigenetic Modifications in the Placenta during Preeclampsia: PPARγ Influences H3K4me3 and H3K9ac in Extravillous Trophoblast Cells

The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and retinoid X receptor α (RxRα), a binding heterodimer playing a pivotal role in the successful trophoblast invasion, in the placental tissue of preeclamptic patients. Furthermore, we aimed to characterize a possible interaction between PPARγ and H3K4me3 (trimethylated lysine 4 of the histone H3), respectively H3K9ac (acetylated lysine 9 of the histone H3), to illuminate the role of histone modifications in a defective trophoblast invasion in preeclampsia (PE). Therefore, the expression of PPARγ and RxRα was analyzed in 26 PE and 25 control placentas by immunohistochemical peroxidase staining, as well as the co-expression with H3K4me3 and H3K9ac by double immunofluorescence staining. Further, the effect of a specific PPARγ-agonist (Ciglitazone) and PPARγ-antagonist (T0070907) on the histone modifications H3K9ac and H3K4me3 was analyzed in vitro. In PE placentas, we found a reduced expression of PPARγ and RxRα and a reduced co-expression with H3K4me3 and H3K9ac in the extravillous trophoblast (EVT). Furthermore, with the PPARγ-antagonist treated human villous trophoblast (HVT) cells and primary isolated EVT cells showed higher levels of the histone modification proteins whereas treatment with the PPARγ-agonist reduced respective histone modifications. Our results show that the stimulation of PPARγ-activity leads to a reduction of H3K4me3 and H3K9ac in trophoblast cells, but paradoxically decreases the nuclear PPARγ expression. As the importance of PPARγ, being involved in a successful trophoblast invasion has already been investigated, our results reveal a pathophysiologic connection between PPARγ and the epigenetic modulation via H3K4me3 and H3K9ac in PE.
Multicasting Optimization Methods for Multi-beam Satellite Systems using Network Coding

In this paper we propose using Network Coding (NC) techniques to increase the capacity in the forward link of multi-beam satellite systems. In particular, we focus on upcoming multicast applications over satellite systems such as Digital Video Broadcasting over IP Networks oering TV services (DVB-IPTV). Our proposed coding scheme takes advantage of inter-beam interference, usually considered as a waste of capacity. Network coded packets are sent from the Gateway (GW) to the user terminals (UTs) through the latent multiple available routes from beam overlapping. We present a theoretical analysis of the upper-bound of the obtained capacity improvement assuming ideal error-free channel based on the equivalent network graphs. Further, we obtain from simulation the overall performance showing the additional improvement in reliability for users in the inter-beam interference areas. Theoretical analysis and simulation results over a reference 70 beam system show that multicast capacity can improve up to 90% in the inter-beam interference areas while overall reliability can improve up to 25% for admissible multicast transmission delay.
Variation theory applied to students’ conceptions of computer programming

The present work has its focus on university-level engineering education students that do not intend to major in computer science but still have to take a mandatory programming course. Phenomenography and variation theory are applied to empirical data from a study of students’ conceptions of computer programming. A phenomenographic outcome space is presented, with five qualitatively different categories of description of students’ ways of seeing computer programming. Moreover, dimensions of variation related to these categories are identified. Based on this discussion it is suggested how to use patterns of variation in order to support students’ learning of computer programming. Finally, results from a pilot study demonstrate the successful application of two patterns of variation in a computer lab assignment.
Serviceability Limit States Under Wind Load

INTRODUCTION The increasing use and reliance on probability based limit states design methods, such as the recently adopted AISC LRFD Specification, has focused new attention on the problems of serviceability in steel buildings. These methods, along with the development of higher-strength steels and concretes and the use of lighter and less rigid building materials, have led to more flexible and lightly damped structures than ever before, making serviceability problems more prevalent. The purpose of this paper is to focus attention on two important serviceability limit states under wind loads; namely, deformation (including deflection, curvature, and drift) and motion perception (acceleration). These issues are particularly important for tall and/or slender steel and composite structures. A brief review of available information on these subjects will be presented followed by a discussion of current standards of practice, particularly in the United States. Finally, proposed standards will be presented that, hopefully, will focus attention, debate, and perhaps new research efforts on these very important issues in design.
Using Earnings Calls to Understand the Political Behavior of Major Polluters

Abstract The role that private actors play in accelerating or preventing progressive climate policy and true decarbonization is a core research interest of global environmental politics. Yet scholars have struggled to measure the political behavior of multinational firms due to lack of transparency about their activities and inconsistency in reporting requirements across jurisdictions. In this research note, we present a new data source—firms’ earnings calls—that scholars might use to better understand the political behavior of major multinational polluters. To illustrate the value of earnings calls as a data source, we construct an original data set of all earnings calls made between 2005 and 2019 by major oil and gas firms. We then code these transcripts, demonstrating that although firms can be classified as more or less pro-climate, there is little evidence of the industry’s public acceptance of decarbonization. These unique data could permit researchers to explore important questions about climate politics, the evolution of private governance, and the relationship between policy and firms’ political behavior. Moreover, we suggest extensions of our approach, including other multinational industries that are amenable to this type of analysis.
Time-domain modeling, characterization, and measurements of anechoic and semi-anechoic electromagnetic test chambers

We present time-domain techniques for modeling, characterizing, and measuring anechoic and semi-anechoic chambers used for emission and immunity testing of digital devices. The finite difference time-domain (FDTD) approach is used to model and characterize these chambers. In the FDTD model presented here, we discuss methods used to eliminate the need to spatially resolve the fine detail of the absorbing structures; present a differential-operator approach for incorporating both frequency-dependent permittivity and permeability into the time domain; and discuss the effects of gaps and holes in ferrite-tile absorbers on both absorber and chamber performance. Comparisons of the FDTD chamber model with measured data for different chamber sizes are presented. Finally, we discuss and illustrate how time-domain techniques can be used to characterize chambers, predict performance, and diagnose problems with both absorbers and chambers. With time-domain and frequency-domain techniques, we show how the performance of chambers can be significantly altered with only small changes in the type of absorbing structure used, and we illustrate how undesirable modal field distributions can occur inside a chamber when a nonoptimal absorber is used.
Field-Scale Numerical Simulation of SAGD Process With Top-Water Thief Zone

There is a major concern that the existence of thief zones, such as top water and/or a gas cap overlying the oil sand deposit, has a detrimental effect on the oil recovery in the application of the steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) process. The objective of this numerical study is to investigate SAGD performance in the Athabasca oil sands in the presence of a top water zone. The reservoir model, STARS, developed by the Computer Modelling Group (CMG) Ltd., has been previously validated based on a 3D SAGD laboratory experiment with top water that was conducted at the Alberta Research Council (ARC). It is believed that the numerical simulation captured the major mechanism of oil movement from the pay zone into the top water zone, as was observed in the experiment. In the field-scale simulation, SAGD performance in the presence of confined and non-confined top water zones was investigated. The operating strategies under the conditions of non-depleted top water/non-depleted pay zones and depleted top water/non-depleted pay zones were considered. Numerical findings indicated that: (1) there is a detrimental effect of a top water zone on SAGD performance; (2) plugging of a top water zone with oil was not observed in this study for a top water thickness of 8 m; and, (3) operating conditions that lead to a higher pressure difference between the steam chamber and the top water, either by depletion of the top water zone pressure or a higher steam injection pressure, results in a more detrimental effect on the SAGD performance.
Evaluation of the Impact of Fines on the Performance of Lightly Cement-Stabilized Aggregate Systems

The impact of increasing fines content on the performance of unbound (unstabilized) and lightly stabilized aggregate systems was evaluated. The aggregate systems analyzed varied in amount of mineral fines, the moisture state during curing and at the time of testing, and the amount of portland cement used to stabilize the blend. The evaluation was based on measurements of anisotropic resilient properties, permanent deformation, and unconfined compressive strengths of aggregate systems. In addition, the nonlinear anisotropic resilient properties of the aggregate blends were used in a finite element program to determine critical pavement responses. Aggregate systems with higher fines content were, as expected, more sensitive to moisture than control systems with standard fines content. The increase in the fines content in the unbound systems when molding moisture was wet of optimum dramatically diminished the quality of performance. However, the aggregate systems with higher fines benefited considerably from low percentages of cement stabilizer. It was found that with the proper design of fines content, cement content, and moisture, the performance of the stabilized systems with high fines content can perform equivalent to or even better than the systems with standard fines content. This was clearly evinced by enhancing the resilient properties (increase in stiffness and decrease in anisotropy), decreasing the rate and magnitude of permanent deformation, and increasing compressive strength. The beneficial use of mineral fines will result in benefit to the aggregate industry.
B.-Y. Chen’s inequality for pointwise CR-slant warped products in cosymplectic manifolds

Recently, pointwise CR-slant warped products introduced by Chen and Uddin in [14] for Kaehler manifolds. In the context of almost contact metric manifolds, in this paper, we study these submanifolds in cosymplectic manifolds. We investigate the geometry of such warped product and prove establish a lower bound relation between the second fundamental form and warping function. The equality case is also investigated.
Layered Project–Layered Process: Lean Thinking and Flexible Solutions

This article elaborates on lean thinking in design management. Lean philosophy focuses on minimizing waste and maximizing value. We discuss how lean concepts can be understood and how this can affect the design process. In particular, we examine how flexibility can be achieved through the use of a layered design process and a layered building design. The design process has two main outcomes: input to the production and/or construction process, and input to the decision process. These two outcomes have a number of contradictory characteristics. Traditionally, production processes call for early decisions and control of cost, time and risks. Typically, this has been the engineers’ or the contractors’ perspective. In contrast, the decision process typically strives to postpone final commitments and design freeze in order to keep options open. Lean thinking shows that the two approaches do not have to be contradictory. Based on case studies of two hospital projects, we discuss flexibility in the design process and design in relation to lean principles. The article demonstrates the importance of seeing the design process and design model as two integrated parts. Lean thinking can serve as an enabler by focusing on reducing waste and increasing the customer's value.
The COVID-19 pandemic and guesthouses in South Africa: Economic impacts and recovery measures

ABSTRACT The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread throughout the globe, and recovering from the pandemic will be a massive test on economic systems. The pandemic has severely affected the accommodation sector as global travel has come to an almost complete standstill as of April 2020. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the economic impacts of the pandemic on guesthouses in South Africa and the response measures adopted by this sector. Through online surveys, the empirical results show that guesthouse operations were severely disrupted by the pandemic, leading to a critical decline in revenue and a pronounced threat to job security. Despite implementing various response measures and strategies, guesthouses were somewhat concerned about the future of their businesses due to the uncertainty of the pandemic. This research can assist in developing intervention measures to support guesthouses in addressing the economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Loan Guarantees, Bank Lending and Credit Risk Reallocation

We investigate whether government credit guarantee schemes, extensively used after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, led to substitution of non-guaranteed with guaranteed credit rather than fully adding to the supply of lending. We study this issue using a unique euro-area credit register data, matched with supervisory bank data and establish two main findings. First, guaranteed loans were mostly extended to small but comparatively creditworthy firms in sectors severely affected by the pandemic, borrowing from large, liquid and well-capitalized banks. Second, guaranteed loans partially substitute pre-existing non-guaranteed debt. For firms borrowing from multiple banks, the substitution arises from the lending behavior of the bank extending guaranteed loans, whose drop in non-guaranteed lending is about 9 times larger than for other banks that lend to the same firm. Substitution was highest for funding granted to riskier and smaller firms in sectors more affected by the pandemic, and borrowing from larger and stronger banks. Overall, the evidence indicates that government guarantees contributed to the continued extension of credit to relatively creditworthy firms hit by the pandemic, but also benefited banks’ balance sheets to some extent.
Embodied learning via a knowledge concert: An exploratory intervention study

Abstr a ct Background: Music listening can improve acquisition of new knowledge. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the emotional and cognitive effects of a knowledge concert on the attending audience. Methodology: The audience was asked to complete a Visual Analogue Scale (10 cm) before and after listening to the concert, along five variables: Arousal, Degree of happiness, Degree of worry, Daily worries and Benevolence. Follow-up qualitative interviews gathered narratives from the participants. Findings: 228 concert attendees took part in the study by completing the questionnaires (51 percent of the whole audience). Statistically significant changes were observed in the outcome measures for: Arousal (p=0.002), Daily worries (p<0.001) and Degree of happiness (p=0.01). Degree of worry interacted with age (p<0.001). No changes were found for Benevolence (p=0.93). Gender and previous music experiences did not make a difference to feelings evoked by the music. Age, however, was important since younger participants became more worried by the concert than older.Originality: We discuss the potential role of future knowledge concerts that comprise qualities explored, such as mitigating a variety of embodied psychological capacities, including reflection and agency in audiences, facilitating learning about sensitive issues, and potentially also transformation towards prosocial mindsets and behavior.
Statistical and activity-based modeling of university student travel behavior

Abstract This paper conducts a statistical analysis of student travel behavior at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). The data source is the ‘University NHTS’ project launched by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in 2009. Through this empirical study, it has been found that university student travel behavior is different from that of the general population; urban universities have lower percentages of nonmotorized trips than college-town universities; undergraduate students are likely to make more daily trips than graduate students – similarly, on-campus students make more frequent trips than off-campus students; the most frequent student activities are home and academic activities; and student group categories have virtually no impact on daily activity profiles, though activity types do have a dramatic impact on daily activity profiles. Based on these research findings, the paper makes a series of recommendations regarding trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, and activity-based modeling.