Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthesis, Characterization and Swelling Behavior of Gelatin-g-poly(sodium acrylate)/Kaolin Superabsorbent Hydrogel Composites

In the present paper, a novel superabsorbent hydrogel composite based on gelatin have been prepared via graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) in the presence of kaolin powder using methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking agent and ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator. Certain variables of the graft copolymerization (i.e., the monomer, the initiator, and the crosslinker concentration as well as kaolin/gelatin weight ratio) affected on the ultimate water-swelling capacity were optimized. The composite structure was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A new absorption band at 1728 cm—1 in the composite spectrum confirmed kaolin—organic polymer linkage. The effect of kaolin amount and MBA concentration showed that with increase of these parameters, the water absorbency of the superabsorbent composite was decreased. The swelling measurements of the hydrogels were conducted in aqueous salt solutions. Results indicated that the swelling ratios decreased with an increase in the ionic strength of the salt solutions. This behavior can be attributed to `charge screening effect' for monovalent cations, as well as `ionic crosslinking' for multivalent cations. The effect of solutions with different pHs on the swelling of the superabsorbent was also studied and the hydrogels exhibited pH responsiveness, so a swelling—deswelling pulsatile behavior was recorded at pHs 2 and 8. Finally, the swelling kinetics of the synthesized composite with various particle sizes was preliminarily investigated as well.
Building Resilience and Adaptation to Manage Arctic Change

Abstract Unprecedented global changes caused by human actions challenge society's ability to sustain the desirable features of our planet. This requires proactive management of change to foster both resilience (sustaining those attributes that are important to society in the face of change) and adaptation (developing new socioecological configurations that function effectively under new conditions). The Arctic may be one of the last remaining opportunities to plan for change in a spatially extensive region where many of the ancestral ecological and social processes and feedbacks are still intact. If the feasibility of this strategy can be demonstrated in the Arctic, our improved understanding of the dynamics of change can be applied to regions with greater human modification. Conditions may now be ideal to implement policies to manage Arctic change because recent studies provide the essential scientific understanding, appropriate international institutions are in place, and Arctic nations have the wealth to institute necessary changes, if they choose to do so.
Sintering of molybdenum metal powder using microwave energy

Molybdenum is a refractory metal used for high temperature applications. Sintered molybdenum (Mo) with fine microstructures is desired due to its improved mechanical properties. However, the sintering of Mo is not easily achievable by conventional processes. In this work, the author report the results of sintering molybdenum powder to obtain submicron grain size microstructure using microwave energy. As received Mo powder was agglomerated with a mean agglomerate size of 1˙6 μm, but equivalent surface area based on N2 adsorption suggests an average particle size of 200 nm. Sintering was carried out using the as received powder. Samples with densities as high as 98% of theoretical density (TD) were obtained with limited grain growth in <5 min of sintering time in microwaves, compared to 10–20 h in a conventional process. The highlight of this research is achieving 98%TD in 1 min at 1650°C with a submicron grain size.
Non-conjugate Variational Message Passing for Multinomial and Binary Regression

Variational Message Passing (VMP) is an algorithmic implementation of the Variational Bayes (VB) method which applies only in the special case of conjugate exponential family models. We propose an extension to VMP, which we refer to as Non-conjugate Variational Message Passing (NCVMP) which aims to alleviate this restriction while maintaining modularity, allowing choice in how expectations are calculated, and integrating into an existing message-passing framework: Infer.NET. We demonstrate NCVMP on logistic binary and multinomial regression. In the multinomial case we introduce a novel variational bound for the soft-max factor which is tighter than other commonly used bounds whilst maintaining computational tractability.
Effect of small alloying additions on behaviour of rapidly solidified Cu–Cr alloys

AbstractThe mechanical properties of as well as microstructural changes in rapidly solidified ternary Cu–Cr based alloys were studied for various ternary additions. The flow stresses of the binary and various ternary alloys are explained in terms of Orowan strengthening mechanisms. Zirconium, magnesium, and, to a lesser extent, silicon affected the age hardenability of the alloys, refining the chromium dispersion by modifying the precipitation sequence described by Tang. The coarsening kinetics was insensitive to the presence of a third alloying element, showing that these additions did not affect chromium transport within the copper matrix. Nevertheless, these additions influenced the morphology of the chromium particles during coarsening; zirconium tended to keep the particles spherical, while titanium additions increased their aspect ratio. Titanium reduced dramatically the age hardenability of the alloy by provoking heterogeneous nucleation of bcc chromium on small Ti02 particles present in the as cas.
Residual stresses in rolled and machined nickel alloy plates: Synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurement and three-dimensional eigenstrain analysis

Most engineering components made from wrought metallic alloys undergo complex sequences of manufacturing operations. These processing steps frequently include extrusion, forging, or rolling, followed by machining and heat treatment. Since such components will be subjected to service loading as part of engineering assemblies, their durability must be assessed using suitably reliable life prediction models. The present study is aimed at the investigation of a combination of experimental and modelling techniques that involves microstructural investigation, diffraction measurement of residual elastic strains, and finite element simulation of residual stress distributions. Eigenstrain-based modelling approach to the analysis of processing-induced residual stresses has been previously presented in the two-dimensional approximation, i.e. under the assumption that the equivalent permanent plastic strain field induced by processing is equibiaxial. Several different formulations were considered and compared, including plane stress, plane stress, and three-dimensional models. In the present study a further development of the eigenstrain-based analysis approach that incorporates the experimental data obtained from synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements of residual elastic strains in two complementary cross-sections of a forged and machined nickel superalloy plate is reported. The microstructure was assessed using electron backscattered diffraction, and near-surface residual stresses evaluated using laboratory X-ray diffraction. It is found that the results of fully three-dimensional formulation differ from two-dimensional approximations particularly in the vicinity of machined surfaces, having potentially significant implications for durability assessment and fatigue life models.
Resource Allocation in OFDMA Networks With Imperfect Channel State Information

This letter investigates the effect of imperfect channel state information (CSI) on the performance of radio resource management for a downlink multi-user OFDMA system. It is shown that the imperfect CSI introduces a signal-and-power dependent noise term, which makes the symbol error rate (SER) constellation-point dependent, and yields an error floor on the SER. In addition, a two-step multi-user channel, power and constellation allocation algorithm is proposed to maximize the total network throughput.
Seroprevalence of hepatitis C virus among blood donors in Rivers State, Nigeria

summary. Anti‐HCV pre‐transfusion testing among blood donors has not been introduced as a mandatory test in Rivers State, hence the risk of transfusion‐transmitted HCV cannot be fully ascertained. One thousand (1000) apparently healthy blood donors were screened using a rapid second – generation test, the HEP C SPOT HCV assay. An overall prevalence of 2.9% was observed in this study. The highest prevalence (8.1%) was found among adults aged between 26 and 33 years and commercial donors.
A Scalable Cluster-based Parallel Simplifi cation Framework for Height Fields

In this paper, we present a method to interactively render 3D large datasets on a PC Cluster. Classical methods use simplification to fill up the gap between such models and graphics card capabilities. Unfortunatelly, simplification algorithms are time and memory consuming and they allow real-time interaction only for a restricted size of models. This work focuses on parallelizing Rottger's simplification algorithm for height fields but the main ideas can be generalized to other scientific areas. The method benefits from the scalable computating power of clusters. As our results show it, this permits us to achieve a data scaling while maintaining an acceptable frame rate with real-time interaction. Moreover, the scheme can take avantage of tiled-display environments.
Abnormal transient phenomena in the continuous casting process: Part 1

Abstract This paper is the first of a series of two describing online monitoring of the continuous casting machine and the abnormal transient phenomena observed. The present paper, Part 1, pays attention to assessment of the friction between the billet and mould based upon the cam rod force and the electric current intensity of the mould oscillation motor. Information relating to casting parameters before 58 breakouts has been obtained with a monitoring computing program. Almost 40% of the breakouts could have been forecast through assessment of the billet-mould friction force before the breakouts. Transient phenomena in the withdrawal machine have been detected. The jerking of the strand is related to high billet-mould friction; however, other parameters such as the billet cutoff unit and roller bed design also have some effects on this transient phenomenon. Some mechanisms influencing the jerking of the strand are proposed.
QMA/qpoly ⊆ PSPACE/poly: De-Merlinizing Quantum Protocols

This paper introduces a new technique for removing existential quantifiers over quantum states. Using this technique, we show that there is no way to pack an exponential numberof bits into a polynomial-sizequantumstate, in such a way that the value of any one of those bits can later be proven with the help of a polynomial-size quantum witness. We also show that any problem in QMA with polynomialsize quantum advice, is also in PSPACE with polynomialsize classical advice. This builds on our earlier result that BQP/qpoly ⊆ PP/poly, and offers an intriguing counterpoint to the recent discovery of Raz that QIP/qpoly = ALL. Finally, we show that QCMA/qpoly ⊆ PP/poly and that QMA/rpoly = QMA/poly.
The influence of optimisations on the performance of an object relational mapping tool

Object Relational Mapping (ORM or also known as O-R) tools provide a mapping between the object model and the relational model, acting as an intermediary between an object oriented code base, and a relational database. Over the last few years the use of object relational mapping tools have grown. Today their exist many ORM tools for programming languages, like C++ (LiteSQL), Java (Hibernate, Apache OJB), Python (SQLAlchemy), Ruby, PHP, . Net (iBATIS) and Perl to name a few. ORM tools provide an extra layer between the business logic layer and the data layer. It is important that this layer is not a bottleneck. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of this extra layer against the use of object databases that remove the need for this extra mapping layer. During this investigation the impact of certain optimisation techniques on performance was investigated. In this paper we only report on how vendor-recommended optimisation techniques influenced the performance of Hibernate. The OO7 benchmark, tailored to investigate Java based object persistence, was used to create a database; to traverse it; to query it; and to delete and update data. An initial experiment used "out of the box" Hibernate settings with regard to the use of indexes, lazy and eager loading, and caching. The times taken were submitted to Hibernate for comment. The experiment was then re-run, using optimised settings as recommended by the vendor. The extent of improvement is reported.
CD54/intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and major histocompatibility complex II signaling induces B cells to express interleukin 2 receptors and complements help provided through CD40 ligation

We have examined signaling roles for CD54 intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) II as contact ligands during T help for B cell activation. We used a T helper 1 (Th1)- dependent helper system that was previously shown to be contact as well as interleukin 2 (IL-2) dependent to demonstrate the relative roles of CD54, MHC II, and CD40 signaling in the events leading to the induction of B cell proliferation and responsiveness to IL-2. Paraformaldehyde- fixed activated Th1-induced expression of IL-2R alpha, IL-2R beta, and B7, and upregulated MHC II and CD54 on B cells. Anti-CD54 and MHC II mAbs as well as a CD8 alpha-CD40 ligand (L) soluble construct inhibited both the T-dependent induction of Ig secretion, and B cell phenotypic changes. We then compared the effects of activated Th1 cells with that of cross-linking these molecules. Cross-linking of CD54 and MHC II resulted in the upregulated expression of MHC II and of CD54 and B7, respectively, analogous to the effect of fixed activated Th1 cells. B7 expression was further enhanced by co-cross-linking CD54 and MHC II. Cross-linking of CD40 achieved comparable effects. Strikingly, cross- linking ligation of CD54 and MHC II in the presence of IL-5 induced expression of a functional IL-2R on small resting B cells. By contrast CD40 ligation, which induced B cell proliferation, did not induce IL-2 responsiveness. These data show that CD40 ligation is necessary but may not be sufficient for B cell differentiation and identify CD54 and MHC II as contact ligands that can complement CD40 signaling in the generation of T-dependent B cell responses to IL-2.
LEDA: a platform for combinatorial and geometric computing

Combinatorial and geometric computing is a core area of computer science (CS). In fact, most CS curricula contain a course in data structures and algorithms. The area deals with objects such as graphs, sequences, dictionaries, trees, shortest paths, flows, matchings, points, segments, lines, convex hulls, and Voronoi diagrams and forms the basis for application areas such as discrete optimization, scheduling, traffic control, CAD, and graphics. There is no standard library of the data structures and algorithms of combinatorial and geometric computing. This is in sharp contrast to many other areas of computing. There are, for example, packages in statistics (SPSS), numerical analysis (LINPACK, EISPACK), symbolic computation (MAPLE, MATHEMATICA), and linear programming (CPLEX).
Automatic Segmentation of Skin Lesion Images using Evolutionary Strategy

Malignant melanoma has a good prognosis if treated early. Accurate skin lesion segmentation from the background skin is important not only because the shape feature can be directly derived from the process, but also because it can provide a scope for texture analysis. In this paper, we propose an evolutionary strategy based segmentation algorithm to identify the lesion area by an ellipse. It can detect the lesion automatically without setting parameters manually. The method is validated by experiments and comparisons with manually segmentation by an expert and algorithms developed by M. Doshi, et al. (2004).
Spectro-temporal modulations for robust speech emotion recognition

Speech emotion recognition is mostly considered in clean speech. In this paper, joint spectro-temporal features (RS features) are extracted from an auditory model and are applied to detect the emotion status of noisy speech. The noisy speech is derived from the Berlin Emotional Speech database with added white and babble noises under various SNR levels. The clean train/noisy test scenario is investigated to simulate conditions with unknown noisy sources. The sequential forward floating selection (SFFS) method is adopted to demonstrate the redundancy of RS features and further dimensionality reduction is conducted. Compared to conventional MFCCs plus prosodic features, RS features show higher recognition rates especially in low SNR conditions.
BROAD RELATIVISTIC IRON EMISSION LINE OBSERVED IN SAX J1808.4−3658

During the 2008 September–October outburst of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658, the source was observed by both Suzaku and XMM-Newton approximately 1 day apart. Spectral analysis reveals a broad relativistic Fe Kα emission line which is present in both data sets, as has recently been reported for other neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. The properties of the Fe K line observed during each observation are very similar. From modeling the Fe line, we determine the inner accretion disk radius to be 13.2 ± 2.5 GM c−2. The inner disk radius measured from the Fe K line suggests that the accretion disk is not very receded in the hard state. If the inner disk (as measured by the Fe line) is truncated at the magnetospheric radius this implies a magnetic field strength of ∼3 × 108 G at the magnetic poles, consistent with other independent estimates.
Ensuring Domain Conformity by Means of the Topological Functioning Model

Abstract The paper focuses on an open question about ensuring conformity among a domain of system knowledge, an analysis domain, a software design domain, and code. Principles of Model Driven Engineering are used in the research, namely, formal specifications of domains and support of conformity among these specifications with the help of traceability mechanism. Topological Functioning Model (TFM) has a mathematical mechanism for supporting traceability, and, thus, conformity. The main results demonstrate that the TFM holds the central place in a chain of trace links between specifications, and analysis of these links enables verification of domain conformity. The results are theoretical and require additional practical experiments.
A Multi-Sensorial Hybrid Control for Robotic Manipulation in Human-Robot Workspaces

Autonomous manipulation in semi-structured environments where human operators can interact is an increasingly common task in robotic applications. This paper describes an intelligent multi-sensorial approach that solves this issue by providing a multi-robotic platform with a high degree of autonomy and the capability to perform complex tasks. The proposed sensorial system is composed of a hybrid visual servo control to efficiently guide the robot towards the object to be manipulated, an inertial motion capture system and an indoor localization system to avoid possible collisions between human operators and robots working in the same workspace, and a tactile sensor algorithm to correctly manipulate the object. The proposed controller employs the whole multi-sensorial system and combines the measurements of each one of the used sensors during two different phases considered in the robot task: a first phase where the robot approaches the object to be grasped, and a second phase of manipulation of the object. In both phases, the unexpected presence of humans is taken into account. This paper also presents the successful results obtained in several experimental setups which verify the validity of the proposed approach.
iVector Approach to Phonotactic Language Recognition

This paper addresses a novel technique for representation and processing of n-gram counts in phonotactic language recognition (LRE): subspace multinomial modelling represents the vectors of n-gram counts by low dimensional vectors of coordinates in total variability subspace, called iVector. Two techniques for iVector scoring are tested: support vector machines (SVM), and logistic regression (LR). Using standard NIST LRE 2009 task as our evaluation set, the latter scoring approach was shown to outperform phonotactic LRE system based on direct SVM classification of n-gram count vectors. The proposed iVector paradigm also shows comparable results to previously proposed PCA-based phonotactic feature extraction. Index Terms: language recognition, subspace modeling, multinomial distribution.
ADVANCED REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES FOR FORESTRY APPLICATIONS: A CASE STUDY IN SARAWAK (MALAYSIA)

This paper reports the operational implementation of new techniques for the exploitation of remote sensing data (SAR and optical) in the framework of forestry applications. In particular, we present a new technique for standing timber volume estimation. This technique is based on remote sensing knowledge (SAR and optical synergy) and forestry knowledge (forest structure models), proved fairly accurate. To illustrate the application of these techniques, an operational commercial case study regarding forest concessions in Sarawak is presented. Validation of this technique by comparison of the remote sensing results and the database of the customer has shown that this technique is fairly accurate.
Is charity a homogeneous good

In this paper I estimate income and price elasticities of donations to six different charitable causes to test the assumption that charity is a homogeneous good. In the US, charitable donations can be deducted from taxable income. This has long been recognized as producing a price, or taxprice, of giving equal to one minus the marginal tax rate faced by the donor. A substantial portion of the economic literature on giving has focused on estimating price and income elasticities of giving as the received wisdom suggests that a price elasticity greater than unity is indicative of the ‘treasury efficiency’ of the tax deductibility of charitable contributions, as the loss to tax revenue is less than the increase in giving. However, a major limitation of nearly all the previous attempts to identify such effects has been the implicit assumption that charity is a homogeneous good, meaning giving to one type of charity is a perfect substitute for any other and that the causespecific responsiveness of giving to changes in price and income is equal across those causes. If this assumption is violated, then estimates may be biased and policies designed to increase charitable contributions may be sub-optimal. Results suggest that the tax-price of giving only affects giving to religious organisations and that the income effect is invariant over charitable causes.