Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment and rehabilitation of Central European highway structures | Projects | FP6 | CORDIS | European Commission

The increasing volume of European transport urgently requires an effective road and rail system in Central and Eastern countries. To bring this transport infrastructure up to modern European standards will require an immense investment estimated by the European Commision to be about 100 billion euros, and a long term vision. New motorways will be required with many new bridges. Numerous existing bridges will need to be assessed, and a large portion of them improved or eplaced. The overall goal of the proposed project is to develop ways to raise the standard of the highway structures of NMS and CEEC to the level necessary for their full eomic integration into the EU and for the future development of the Union. The works will focus on the development of technologies and procedures for optimised servation of highway structures, taking into account issues particular to the NMS. This will be achieved by a global ceptual approach which can be summarised as Avoid, Prevent and Harden. Rehabilitation and replacement will be as far as possible avoided by developing better safety assessment methods. Corrosion of reinforcement in crete structures will be prevented with new cepts of localised cathodic protection, and the application of new, cheaper, low alloy steel reinforcement. Advanced materials with very low permeability and high ductility will be used to replace deteriorated crete and waterproofing memebranes, harden structures in critical zones and provide long-term durability. A strong emphasis will be put on pilot applications to demonstrate on real structures, in several countries of the sortium, the applicability of the cepts and techniques set forth. The ARCHES project is part of a cluster of three complementary STREPs which will be coordinated by the CERTAIN coordination action. The purpose of this is to guarantee that Engineers in the field will be informed, trained and will implement the results immediately on completion of the research.
Pacification and Gender in Colonial Africa: Evidence from the Ethnographic Atlas

We combine the date-of-observation found in Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas and a newly-constructed dataset on the date-of-colonization at the ethnic-group level to study the effects of the duration of colonial rule on a variety of political, economic, and social characteristics of ethnic groups in Africa. We find that the duration of colonial rule caused a dramatic shift in gender roles in Africa by increasing the relative status of men in lineage and inheritance systems but also reducing polygyny as a marriage system. A causal role for the duration of colonial rule is confirmed by a difference-in-difference analysis that uses never-colonized ethnic groups as a control group and by an analysis of changes in kinship terminology that tests for within-group changes in descent and inheritance rules. We are able to rule out missionary influence and Islam as mechanisms for these effects.
Prescription Pattern of Drugs in Hypertensive Patients-A Retrospective Study

1 Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria 2 Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria 3 Department of Pharmacognosy and Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria 4 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria
Unsupervised genome-wide cluster analysis: nucleotide sequences of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 are similar to sequences from early 2020

The GISAID database contains more than 1,000,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, including sequences of the recently discovered SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant and of prior SARS-CoV-2 strains that have been collected from patients around the world since the beginning of the pandemic. We applied unsupervised cluster analysis to the SARS-CoV-2 genomes, assessing their similarity at a genome-wide level based on the Jaccard index and principal component analysis. Our analysis results show that the omicron variant sequences are most similar to sequences that have been submitted early in the pandemic around January 2020. Furthermore, the omicron variants in GISAID are spread across the entire range of the first principal component, suggesting that the strain has been in circulation for some time. This observation supports a long-term infection hypothesis as the omicron strain origin.
PROTECTION OF GENETIC RESOURCES OF POMOLOGICAL PLANTS AND SELECTION OF GENITORS WITH TRAITS VALUABLE FOR SUSTAINABLE FRUIT PRODUCTION

In the spring of 2000, two-year-old ‘Jonagored’ apple trees on M.9 rootstock were planted 0.5 x 3.5 meters apart (5714 trees per hectare). The trees were subjected to three different methods of soil management: 1) Herbicide fallow; 2) Mulching with pine bark; and 3) Mulching with non-woven polypropylene. Trees mulched with pine bark and non-woven polypropylene had higher yields than trees treated with herbicide. Trees mulched with pine bark had a significantly higher cumulative yield than those mulched with non-woven polypropylene. Trees mulched with pine bark bore the largest apples. Fruit color was not affected by which method of soil management was used. In 2001 and 2003, apples from trees mulched with pine bark and non-woven polypropylene had higher calcium concentrations and lower potassium/calcium ratios. In 2003, apples from trees mulched with pine bark were firmer at harvest time than apples from trees treated with herbicide or mulched with non-woven polypropylene. In 2001, apples from trees treated with herbicide lost a higher percentage of fruit weight during storage than trees mulched with pine bark. The percentage of apples with bitter pit varied widely from year to year, and did not seem to be affected by which method of soil management was used.
The Role of Persuasion in Deliberative Opinion Change

How does discussion lead to opinion change during deliberation? I formulate and test hypotheses based on theories of persuasion, and examine them against other possible sources of deliberative opinion change. Through detailed analysis of a nationally representative deliberative event I create a full discussion network for each small group that deliberated by recording who said what, the argument quality for what was said, and to whom it was directed. I find that well-justified arguments made in the context of direct engagement between peers are a consistent predictor of opinion change. Individual-level persuasion, not knowledge-driven refinement or extremity, drives most opinion change. These results show that further deliberative research needs to account for persuasion when explaining deliberative opinion change.
Prevalence of SEN Virus Infection among Volunteer Blood Donors in Nyala Teaching Hospital , Southern Darfur State , Sudan

1 Department of Microbiology Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, Alneelain University, Khartoum, Sudan 2 Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Department of Epidemiology, Khartoum, Sudan 3 Department of Microbiology Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, Alneelain University, Khartoum, Sudan 4 Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Department of Epidemiology, Khartoum, Sudan 5 National Blood Transfusion Center, Khartoum, Sudan 6 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
Pulsed-Laser Ablation of Au Foil in Primary Alcohols Influenced by Direct Current

Almost two decades ago, Henglein pioneered the application of laser pulses for the synthesis of nanoparticles (Amendola & Meneghetti, 2009, as cited in Henglein et al., 1993). Since that the pulsed-laser ablation process of a foil performed in liquids is one of the topdown processes of nanomaterials generation. In a nutshell, laser pulses are focused into a metallic target immersed in a particular liquid producing thus nanoparticles dispersions (Amendola & Meneghetti, 2009; Georgiou & Koubenakis 2003; Zhigilei & Garrison, 1999). Noble metal nanoparticles are frequently formed by this approach because of a well-known fact that the as-prepared nanoparticle solutions do not contain any by-products and chemicals remaining from usual bottom-up approaches such as chemical syntheses. Hence, pulsed-laser ablation constitutes a “green” technique of nanoparticles formation. There are several other benefits which make pulsed-laser ablation process attractive. One of them lies in the choice of ablation medium which is usually determined by a further usage of noble metal nanoparticles. So far, numerous papers have been written about pulsed-laser ablation performed in water and in aqueous solutions of simple ions (e.g. Procházka et al, 1997; Srnová et al, 1998; Šišková et al, 2008), surfactants (e.g. Fong et al, 2010), organic molecules (e.g. Darroudi et al, 2011; Kabashin et al, 2003; Mafune et al, 2002; Šišková et al, 2007, 2008, 2011), or even DNA (Takeda et al, 2005). In the literature, there have also been published pulsed-laser ablation processes of metallic foils performed in ionic liquids (Wender et al., 2011), or in a wide range of organic solvents, such as chloroform (Compagninni et al., 2002; Mortier et al, 2003; Šišková et al, 2010), toluene (Amendola et al., 2005), tetrahydrofurane (Amendola et al., 2007), dimethylsulfoxide (Amendola et al., 2007), N,N-dimethylformamid (Amendola et al., 2007), acetonitrile (Amendola et al., 2007), acetone (Burakov et al., 2005, 2010; Boyer et al., 2010; Tarasenko et al, 2005), primary alcohols (Burakov et al, 2010; Compagnini et al, 2002; Simakin et al, 2004; Werner et al, 2008). Another substantial advantage of pulsed-laser ablation process is the possibility to choose (at least in principle) laser wavelength, pulse duration (ns, ps, fs), energy per pulse, and fluence (energy per area). All these parameters distinctly influence the final nanoparticles size, shape, uniformity, and their production efficiency. The reader is referred to the appropriate literature for more details, namely concerning the other advantages and
Verb Phrase Ellipsis with Nominal Antecedents

This paper brings new theoretical and experimental evidence to bear on the classical question of whether Verb Phrase Ellipsis requires a syntactically identical antecedent. We focus on the less studied case of nominal antecedents and argue that they are always grammatical but that the discourse conditions on VPE, namely that it requires a salient alternative in the discourse model, are such that they can only be met by nominal antecedents in those special cases where a noun can express such an alternative. Specifically we focus on the case of ‘polar nouns’ which we show can function as a previously unnoticed type of concealed question, making a polar alternative salient. We provide experimental evidence, based on online acceptability judgments, showing (i) that VPE is judged more acceptable than do it when there is a salient polar alternative in the context, whether it is expressed by a verb or a noun; (ii) that nominal antecedents are judged slightly less acceptable than verbal antecedents in such cases, a difference that can be partly explained by the fact that (iii) nouns are judged less acceptable than verbs when they are forced to express a polar alternative, independently of the ellipsis, suggesting that coercion is involved. In conclusion, we suggest that VPE simply requires accessing an antecedent satisfying the discourse constraints within the discourse model but that the heuristic strategies of the parser make use of all available evidence, including syntactic structure in short term memory, making syntactically identical antecedents easier to find and hence more acceptable.
Existence of nonparametric solutions for a capillary problem in warped products

We prove that there exist solutions for a non-parametric capillary problem in a wide class of Riemannian manifolds endowed with a Killing vector field. In other terms, we prove the existence of Killing graphs with prescribed mean curvature and prescribed contact angle along its boundary. These results may be useful for modelling stationary hypersurfaces under the influence of a non-homogeneous gravitational field defined over an arbitrary Riemannian manifold.
Investigation of the Side Chain Effect on Gas and Water Vapor Transport Properties of Anthracene-Maleimide Based Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity

In the present work, a set of anthracene maleimide monomers with different aliphatic side groups obtained by Diels Alder reactions were used as precursors for a series of polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM) based homo- and copolymers that were successfully synthesized and characterized. Polymers with different sizes and shapes of aliphatic side groups were characterized by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), (nuclear magnetic resonance) 1H-NMR, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis coupled with Fourier-Transform-Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) and density measurements. The TG-FTIR measurement of the monomer-containing methyl side group revealed that the maleimide group decomposes prior to the anthracene backbone. Thermal treatment of homopolymer methyl-100 thick film was conducted to establish retro-Diels Alder rearrangement of the homopolymer. Gas and water vapor transport properties of homopolymers and copolymers were investigated by time-lag measurements. Homopolymers with bulky side groups (i-propyl-100 and t-butyl-100) experienced a strong impact of these side groups in fractional free volume (FFV) and penetrant permeability, compared to the homopolymers with linear alkyl side chains. The effect of anthracene maleimide derivatives with a variety of aliphatic side groups on water vapor transport is discussed. The maleimide moiety increased the water affinity of the homopolymers. Phenyl-100 exhibited a high water solubility, which is related to a higher amount of aromatic rings in the polymer. Copolymers (methyl-50 and t-butyl-50) showed higher CO2 and CH4 permeability compared to PIM-1. In summary, the introduction of bulky substituents increased free volume and permeability whilst the maleimide moiety enhanced the water vapor affinity of the polymers.
From The Gas Pump To Our Hips: The Impact That U.S. Corn-Ethanol Production Has On America's Obesity Epidemic

ii List of Figures iv Acknowledgements v Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Overview and Review of Existing Literature 2.1 The Global Energy Crisis 3 2.2 The Ethanol Market 3 2.3 The Market for Corn 12 2.4 Obesity in America 15 2.5 Summary 16 Chapter Three: Econometric Techniques and Analytical Approach 3.1 Methodology 18 3.2 Data 24 3.3 Analytical Approach 25 Chapter Four: Analysis of Empirical Results 4.1 Stage 1: Ethanol Prices vs. Corn Prices 34 4.2 Stage 2: Corn Prices vs. Food Prices 37 4.3 Stage 3: Food Prices vs. Obesity 49 Chapter Five: Conclusion 5.1 Summary of Results 60 5.2 Sources of Error 62 5.3 Policy Implications 63
Imperfect transparency and the strategic use of information: an ever present temptation for central bankers?

Most economists argue that transparency in monetary policy is desirable because it helps the private sector make better informed decisions. They also argue that a lack of transparency has been a key problem in Europe's monetary policy. Using standard models—where there are also opportunities to use fiscal policy—we show that a lack of transparency will have very different effects depending on whether it represents a lack of political transparency or a lack of economic (or information) transparency. The former allows the central bank to create and exploit a ‘strategic’ reputation to its own advantage. The latter does not. Thus, political transparency helps us understand how monetary policy decisions are made. But economic transparency would reveal what information went into those decisions.
A Cross-Country Stock Return Analysis: Evidence from Japan and United States of America

This study has been employed, descriptive and analytical methods to examine the long-term relationship and causation with country-specific variable; size of stock market (market capitalization in percentage of GDP) and stock traded turnover ratio, as well as macroeconomic variables; inflation rate, GDP growth rate, exchange rate, real interest rate, money supply in percentage of GDP and trade openness. For the examination of empirical evidence, the stock markets of United States of America and Japan have been chosen purposively, for the period of 1980 to 2015. The correlation, regression, cointegration and causality has been examined. The variables have found negative correlation with size, stock traded turnover ratio, inflation rate, GDP growth rate and interest rate. Whereas, the relationship between stock return and money supply, trade openness and exchange rate have found positive relation with stock return. Similarly, size, stock traded turnover ratio, trade openness, money supply and interest rate have significant relationship, but exchange rate, inflation and GDP growth rate have found insignificant relationship. In the context of Japan there has five variables that have long-term relationship with stock return and four variables in the context of United States. Finally, stock return has predictability to size, stock traded turnover ratio, interest rate and GDP growth but other variables. In the other ways round, trade openness has predictability to stock return but other variables.
J an 2 01 8 Quantum theory of charged isolated horizons

We describe the quantum theory of isolated horizons with electromagnetic or non-Abelian gauge charges in a setting in which both gauge and gravitational field are quantized. We consider the distorted case, and its spherically symmetric limit. We show that the gravitational horizon degrees of freedom give rise to the Bekenstein-Hawking relation, with lower order terms giving some corrections for small black holes. We also demonstrate that one can include matter degrees of freedom into the state counting. We show that one can expect (potentially divergent) contributions proportional to the area, as well as logarithmic correction proportional to the horizon charge. This is qualitatively similar to results on matter contributions obtained with other methods in the literature.
Estimation of groundwater recharge and discharge across northern Australia

Groundwater recharge is one of the more difficult components of the hydrological cycle to estimate but one that is becoming increasingly important as Australia turns to groundwater resources for future economic development. Also of concern is groundwater discharge. The extraction of groundwater by pumping inevitably reduces groundwater discharge to rivers where the two are connected. Knowledge of both groundwater recharge and discharge is required for effective management of groundwater resources. Across northern Australia there are few detailed studies investigating groundwater recharge and discharge and none that have applied three independent estimates across 1.2 million km 2 . In this study, groundwater recharge has been estimated by upscaling the results from a 1-D soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer (SVAT) model (WAVES) and a chloride mass balance. Groundwater discharge to surface water has been estimated through baseflow separation of gauged stream flow data. The SVAT model was used at a point scale to develop relationships between rainfall and recharge for different combinations of soil and vegetation types. These relationships were used to upscale recharge across northern Australia on a 0.05° grid using maps of soil, vegetation and annual average rainfall as co-variates. A chloride mass balance requires measurements of chloride deposition and concentration of chloride in groundwater. A review of field studies over the last few decades has provided a relationship between chloride deposition and distance from the coast; this has enabled a raster layer to be developed of chloride deposition across northern Australia. The chloride concentrations in groundwater have been assessed from data collected by the WA, NT and Qld state agencies. The baseflow analysis was conducted on gauged data collected by the WA, NT and Qld state agencies using the Eckhardt (2005) filter and converted to a depth using the catchment area as determined using a digital elevation model. At a point scale both estimates of recharge and the estimate of discharge showed a range of over three orders of magnitude, from less than 1 mm/yr to over 1000 mm/yr. As a gross generalisation, the relative magnitudes between the three methods were as expected from a conceptual point of view: the upscaling of the SVAT model had the greatest recharge; the chloride mass balance method gave less recharge than the upscaling of the SVAT model; and, the groundwater discharge was the lowest of the three estimates. The upscaling of the SVAT model is an estimate of gross recharge (water added to the saturated zone), the chloride mass balance is an estimate of net recharge (gross recharge – ET from GW) and the baseflow is groundwater discharge to surface water which should be less than recharge due to groundwater extraction and ET from the riparian zone. Each technique therefore provides complementary information to assist future groundwater resource planning in northern Australia.
JIM: A time‐dependent, three‐dimensional model of Jupiter's thermosphere and ionosphere

We present the Jovian Ionospheric Model (JIM), a time-dependent, three-dimensional model for the thermosphere and ionosphere of Jupiter. We describe the physical inputs for the hydrodynamic, thermodynamic and chemical components of the model, which is based on the UCL Thermosphere Model of Fuller-Rowell and Rees [1980]. We then present the results of an illustrative simulation in which an initially neutral homogeneous planet evolves for approximately 4 Jovian rotations, under the influence of solar illumination and auroral (electron) precipitation at high latitudes. The model shows that solar zenith angle, auroral activity, ion recombination chemistry and, to a lesser degree, magnetic field orientation, all play a role in forming the dayside and nightside global ionization patterns. We compare auroral and nonauroral/equatorial ionospheric compositions and find the signature of ion transport by fast winds. We also include a localized spot' of precipitation in our model and comment on the associated ionization signatures which develop in response to this To-like aurora. The simulation also develops strong outflows with velocities up to ∼600 m s -1 from the auroral regions, driven mainly by pressure gradients. These pressure gradients, in turn, arise from the differences in chemical composition between the auroral and nonauroral upper thermospheres, as evolution proceeds. This preliminary study indicates a strong potential for JIM in analysis of two-dimensional image data and simulation of time-dependent global events.