Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mathematical Modeling of Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Fatty Acids from Trout Powder: Correlation of Mass Transfer Parameters

Supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) has been introduced as an excellent method especially for food and pharmaceutical industries. Trout powder was selected as a source of high amount of valuable materials such as essential fatty acids (FAs). In this work, a mathematical model is introduced to simulate the transitional behavior of the extraction process. This model is able to explain the variation of FAs concentration profile in the bulk and solid phases versus the time of extraction. Effects of main operational parameters such as pressure (280 to 340 bar) and temperature (310 to 326 K) on the extraction yields were investigated in the supercritical fluid extraction system of laboratory scale and the results were compared with that information obtained from the solution of the model. In order to describe solid-solvent interactions, a linear equilibrium relationship was used in the model. Partial differential mass balance equations for the solid and fluid phases were solved numerically using an implicit method. The effective diffusivity into the particle pores and mass transfer coefficient to the bulk phase were the model parameters and they were correlated at different temperatures and pressures by fitting the results of the model to the experiments. The axial diffusivity and equilibrium coefficient of solid-solvent were kept constant in whole range of the operational conditions and they were estimated as the model constants.
Rapid Adsorption of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Solutions by Goethite Nanoadsorbents

Abstract Iron-oxide nanoadsorbents are attractive for wastewater treatment for two important reasons. First, nanoadsorbents can remove contaminants from wastewater rapidly. Second, iron oxide nanoadsorbents can be employed as catalysts for the decomposition of contaminants and thus eliminate sludge formation. This article investigates the use of iron-oxide nanoadsorbents to remove contaminants from wastewater. A later paper considers their use as catalysts for decomposition. In this study, goethite (a type of iron oxide) nanoparticles was employed for the removal of methylene blue from an aqueous solution, using a batch-adsorption technique. Effects of contact time, initial concentration of methylene blue, temperature, and solution pH on the adsorbed amount of methylene blue were investigated. Adsorption was rapid, as equilibrium was achieved within 20 minutes. An external mass transfer model fit adsorption kinetic results well and provided reasonable overall volumetric mass transfer coefficients. Increas.
Optimal Siting and Sizing of Wayside Energy Storage Systems in a D.C. Railway Line

The paper proposes an optimal siting and sizing methodology to design an energy storage system (ESS) for railway lines. The scope is to maximize the economic benefits. The problem of the optimal siting and sizing of an ESS is addressed and solved by a software developed by the authors using the particle swarm algorithm, whose objective function is based on the net present value (NPV). The railway line, using a standard working day timetable, has been simulated in order to estimate the power flow between the trains finding the siting and sizing of electrical substations and storage systems suitable for the railway network. Numerical simulations have been performed to test the methodology by assuming a new-generation of high-performance trains on a 3 kV direct current (d.c.) railway line. The solution found represents the best choice from an economic point of view and which allows less energy to be taken from the primary network.
Offset-Free Model Predictive Temperature Control for Ultrasound-Based Hyperthermia Cancer Treatments

Heating cancer cells over an extended period of time, referred to as hyperthermia, has been proven to enhance the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy without inducing additional toxicity or undesirable side effects, and is therefore considered a highly valuable adjuvant therapy in cancer treatment. In this work, a model predictive control (MPC) setup is developed for improving performance and robustness in regulating the temperature for magnetic-resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) hyperthermia treatments. The proposed control design incorporates a disturbance estimator as encountered in offset-free MPC that is able to remove the steady-state temperature error caused by plant-model mismatch. For the considered healthcare application, such modeling errors are inevitable in practice due to the high variability of tissue properties in patients, some of which even exhibit time- and temperature-dependent behavior due to the body’s thermoregulatory response, combined with the fact that extensive model identification is undesirable in the clinic. The controller’s performance is demonstrated by means of in vivo experiments on a porcine thigh muscle using a clinical MR-HIFU treatment setup.
Expression of α-L-Arabinofuranosidase Genes at Ripening Initiation Potentially Contributes to the Difference in Flesh Juiciness Between Processing and Fresh Tomatoes

Reconstruction of cell wall polysaccharide is necessary for fruit development and ripening. Arabinose is the one of neutral sugars constituting wall polysaccharides and arabinose-containing polysaccharides play an important role in cellular attachment. In this study, expression patterns of α-l-arabinofuranosidase genes were examined in three tomato cultivars, the processing type ‘OSKAR’, fresh market type ‘Ailsa Craig’, and their hybrid ‘Shonan Pomoron Red’, to elucidate the function of α-l-arabinofuranosidase in fruit traits such as shape, growth, firmness, and juiciness. While there was no significant difference in fruit diameter among the cultivars, longitudinal elongation was observed in ‘OSKAR’ with increasing fruit weight. The hybrid ‘Shonan Pomoron Red’ showed intermediate longitudinal growth. Compared to ‘OSKAR’ at the red ripe stage, fruit flesh softened more in ‘Ailsa Craig’ and much water was released from the pericarp disk. The rate of water release in ‘Shonan Pomoron Red’ was intermediate. The α-l-arabinofuranosidase genes, SlArf/Xyl2 , LeXYL1 and LeXYL2 , were highly expressed in the young fruits and SlArf/Xyl1 and LeXYL1 were up-regulated when ripening initiated. However, their expression levels did not appear to cause the difference in fruit traits such as growth rate, fruit shape, and firmness among the cultivars. On the other hand, expression levels of SlArf/Xyl1 , LeARF1 and LeXYL2 were consistent with the rate of water release from ripe fruit. Therefore, α-l-arabinofuranosidase could influence fruit flesh texture and juiciness in fresh market and processing cultivars.
Facial Exposure Quality Estimation for Aesthetic Evaluation

In recent years, computer vision systems have excelled in detection and classification problems. Many vision tasks, however, are not easily reduced to such a problem. Often, more subjective measures must be taken into account. Such problems have seen significantly less research. In this paper, we tackle the problem of aesthetic evaluation of photographs, particularly with respect to exposure. We propose and compare three methods for estimating the exposure value of a photograph using regression: SVM on handcrafted features, NN using image histograms, and the VGG19 CNN. A dataset containing 844 images with different exposure values was created. The methods were tested on both the full photographs and a cropped version of the dataset. Our methods estimate the exposure value of our test set with an MAE of 0.496 using SVM, an MAE of 0.498 using NN, and an MAE of 0.566 using VGG19, on the cropped dataset. Without a face detector we achieve an MAE of 0.702 for SVM, 0.766 using NN, and 1.560 for VGG19. The models based on handcrafted features or histograms both outperform the CNN in the case of simpler scenes, with the histogram outperforming the handcrafted features slightly. However, on more complicated scenes, the CNN shows promise. In most cases, handcrafted features seem to be the better option, despite this, the use of CNNs cannot be ruled out entirely.
Two Competing Mechanisms for the Copper-Free Sonogashira Cross-Coupling Reaction

The mechanism of the copper-free Sonogashira cross-coupling was investigated using a model reaction with differently para-substituted phenylacetylenes and 4-iodobenzotrifluoride as coupling partners and a Pd2(dba)3·CHCl3−AsPh3 catalyst system in methanol. A carbopalladation mechanism was ruled out through a series of experiments in which the equivalent of a carbopalladation reaction intermediate was synthesized by an alternate route, and its conversion to product was monitored. A Hammett correlation study revealed a possible mechanistic changeover when going from electron-rich to electron-poor alkynes in the model reaction. It is advocated that the reaction mechanism changes from a pathway involving a fast proton transfer from a slowly forming cationic Pd complex to a pathway involving a slow proton transfer from a neutral Pd complex on going from electron-rich to electron-poor alkynes. The amine base is believed to act as a base in both pathways and as a nucleophile promoting the formation of the cationi.
Student Perspectives on Educational Helping Instructor–Student Relationships

The instructor–student relationship may be understood as an educational helping relationship. Through interviews with 15 participants enrolled in masters or doctoral programs in education, this qualitative study explored graduate students’ perceptions of educational helping instructor–student relationships over the entirety of their higher education experiences. Participants discussed the structuring of instructor–student relationships in terms of perceived level of care and nurture, family as a metaphor for instructor–student relationships, and the quality of class participation. Implications for practice and research are offered.
Effects of a Multicomponent Exercise Program, a Detraining Period and Dietary Intake Prediction of Body Composition of Frail and Pre-Frail Older Adults from the EXERNET Elder 3.0 Study

The aging of humans is associated with body composition and function deterioration creating a burden on an individual level, but also on a societal one, resulting in an economic burden that is socially unsustainable. This study aimed to evaluate changes in body composition after a 6-month MCT (multicomponent training) and a 4-month detraining period, and to examine the possible influence of energy and macronutrient intake in these changes in frail and pre-frail older adults. A total of 43 participants from the training group (TRAIN) and 28 controls (CON) completed the study protocol. Body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumferences, fat mass, fat free mass and fat mass percentage were recorded, with a bio-electrical impedance analyzer, at baseline, after 6 months and four months after finishing the MCT. A food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate energy intake. Mixed effect models did not show differences between groups. CON showed increases in hip circumference and waist (3.20 ± 1.41 and 3.06 ± 1.66 cm, respectively) during the first 6 months. TRAIN showed decreases in BMI (−0.29 ± 0.14), fat mass (−0.86 ± 0.38 kg), body fat percentage (−0.98 ± 0.36%) and increases in waist circumference (3.20 ± 1.41). After detraining, TRAIN group showed increases in fat mas (1.07 ± 0.30 kg), body fat percentage (1.43 ± 0.31%) and waist (3.92 ± 1.38 cm), and decreases in fat free mass (−0.90 ± 0.30 kg). CON group only showed an increase in body fat (1.32 ± 0.47%). Energy intake was negatively associated with hip circumference in the first six months and fat mass during detraining in CON. Energy intake showed positive associations with fat mass in TRAIN during detraining. Only carbohydrates were negatively related to detraining changes in fat free mass and BMI in CON. In conclusion, the MCT reduces adiposity of frail and pre-frail older people, leading to a maintenance of fat free mass. In addition, these interventions should not be stopped in this population in order to improve health sustainability.
Digital Student Preferences: a study of blended learning in Norwegian higher education

For fall term 2020, institutions of higher education globally were preparing to run courses as online or blended learning due to Covid-19 restrictions. The ideal situation is for a relatively seamless transition from campus-based teaching to blended and/or online. The aim of this study is to examine the experience of a single cohort of students in order to identify trends in student preferences. The research model was mixed-method quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main research question is: What are student preferences for blended learning? The survey and interview results are from trainee teachers in a municipality in Norway in 2018 to 2019. The main research group consisted of 18 respondents from a group of 28 students with a response rate of 64 %. Four students were selected for semi-structured interviews. A clear majority of the students favor the use of blended learning. They experienced little difference in terms of teacher-centred practice and cooperative learning, i.e. traditional lectures and teacher-led tasks. In contrast, student-centred practice and collaborative learning were strongly favored as campus-based. The loss of social cohesion and more productive student-student dialogue and collaboration is clear. In addition, the data implies that lecturing could be effectively delivered online.
The microglial component of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Clarke and Patani review the involvement of microglia in ALS, focusing specifically on evidence for spatiotemporally regulated neurotoxic and neuroprotective roles. Understanding how microglia contribute to the ‘cellular phase’ of ALS promises to advance the development of therapies with a mechanistic rationale.
How different approaches to logging residues handling affected retention of nutrients at poor-soil Scots pine site after clear-cutting? A case study

Biomass nutrient loss and retention were studied at nutrient-poor forest site dominated by Scots pine where two methods of logging residues handling after clear-cutting were compared. The experiment was conducted on nutrient-poor pine-oak forest site on deep sandy-gravel unconsolidated sediments at the altitude of 255 m. There were three treatments established such as (i) control – no harvesting, (ii) whole-tree harvesting with ca. 10% of the slash retained unintentionally on site as processing residues and (iii) stem-only harvesting when small-diameter wood and slash were left on site. The third treatment was found to retain much larger amounts of nutrients in logging residues representing 16% of total above-ground dry mass which accounted for 58% of N, 32% of P, 56% of K, 22% of Ca and 28% of Mg left on site.
Shape sensing and feedback control of the catheter robot for interventional surgery

Purpose This paper aims to present a shape sensing method and feedback control strategy based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor to improve the control accuracy of the robot and ensure the safety of the cardiac interventional surgery. Design/methodology/approach To theoretically describe the shape of the catheter robot, the kinematic model is established by the geometric analysis method. And to obtain the actual shape, a large curvature assemble sensor based on FBG is adopted and a novel simple shape reconstruction model is proposed, which can provide the shape curve and distal position. In addition, the influence of external load on the bending deformation is investigated by experiments. To improve the shape accuracy of the robot, a shape feedback control method is presented to control the catheter robot, which can control the robot to bend into the pre-given desired shape. Findings Experiment results verify the effectiveness of the shape sensing method and the reconstruction model, and the correlation coefficients of three sets of curve in different coordinate directions are 0.9986, 0.9992 and 0.9999. Results of the shape feedback experiment show that the curvature error and direction angle error are 1.42% and 10.3%, respectively. The continuum catheter robot can be controlled to achieve the desired bending shape. Originality/value The shape reconstruction method and feedback control strategy proposed in this paper can improve the control accuracy of the robot to avoid the risk of the collision with the surrounding blood vessels, the tissues and organs.
Dissimilarity weighting for graph-based point cloud segmentation using local surface gradients

Processing of 3D point cloud data is seen as a problem due to the difficulties of processing millions of unstructured points. The point cloud segmentation process is a crucial pre-classification stage such that it reduces the high processing time required to extract meaningful information from raw data and produces some distinctive features for the classification stage. Local surface inclinations of objects are the most effective features of 3D point clouds to provide meaningful information about the objects. Sampling the points into sub-volumes (voxels) is a technique commonly used in the literature to obtain the required neighboring point groups to calculate local surface directions (with normal vectors). The graph-based segmentation approaches are widely used for the surface segmentation using the attributes of the local surface orientations and continuities. In this study, only two geometrical primitives which are normal vectors and barycenters of point groups are used to weight the connections between the adjacent voxels (vertices). The defined 14 possible dissimilarity calculations of three angular values getting from the primitives are experimented and evaluated on five sample datasets that have reference data for segmentation. Finally, the results of the measures are compared in terms of accuracy and F1 score. According to the results, the weight measure W7 (seventh calculation) gives 0.8026 accuracy and 0.7305 F1 score with higher standard deviations, while the original weight measure (W8) of the segmentation method gives 0.7890 accuracy and 0.6774 F1 score with lower standard deviations. BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
Distribution and Abundance of Killer Whales in the Central North Atlantic, 1987-2015

The North Atlantic Sightings Surveys (NASS), covering a large but variable portion of the Central and Eastern North Atlantic, were conducted in 1987, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2015. Sightings of killer whales (Orcinus orca), a non-target species, were relatively rare in the Central Atlantic (Icelandic and Faroese) portions of the survey area. In cases where sighting numbers were insufficient, we pooled sightings over several surveys to derive a distance detection function and used this to estimate abundance using standard Distance Sampling methodology. Uncorrected estimates were produced for all surveys, and estimates corrected for perception bias were produced for the 2001 and 2015 surveys. Killer whales were sighted in all areas but were most common in the eastern part of the survey area. Uncorrected abundance in the NASS core area ranged from a low of 4,736 (95% CI: 1,842–12,176) in 1995 to a maximum of 15,142 (95% CI: 6,003–38,190) in 2001. The low precision of the estimates makes the detection of temporal trends unlikely. In 2007 an extension survey revealed relatively high numbers of killer whales to the east of the survey area, in conformity with Norwegian survey estimates in this area. The NASS and other surveys conducted over the period indicate that killer whales number in the low tens of thousands in the Central and Eastern North Atlantic.
One-pot in situ synthesis of eco-friendly cellulose magnetic nanocomposite (Cf-MNCs) for dye adsorption application

Cellulose-based magnetic nanocomposites (Cf-MNCs) have been introduced using a modified one-pot in situ co-precipitation method using iron salts with various concentrations in the alkali solution. Fabricated nanocomposites investigated for structural and functional properties with different spectroscopic characterization techniques prior to use in dye degradation study. The scanning electron microscopy revealed the morphological structure of the synthesized nanofibers and nanocomposites. The elemental analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry emphasized the presence of Fe elements attributed to the iron salts. The HRTEM analysis showed a destructed cellulose fiber network indicating its arrangement into nanocomposites. Moreover, the crystal properties of the Cf-MNCs were accomplished using x-ray powder diffraction (79.3% crystallinity). The Fourier transform infrared analysis and differential scanning calorimetry gives the idea about the structural and functional changes in the cellulose fibers loaded with iron oxide nanoparticles. The functional adsorption properties of the prepared nanocomposites have been evaluated using methylene blue and Alizarin red S carcinogenic dyes. The dye adsorption of the fabricated Cf-MNCs nanocomposites was found to be 93%. We affirmed that this novel eco-friendly degradable polymer-based nanocomposite has great potential in the field of catalyst fabrication for the degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater.
Adsorption of Lysozyme Using Citric Acid Modified Waste Beer Yeast

To prepare a novel biosorbent, we modified waste beer yeast with citric acid using NaH2PO4 as catalyst in N,N-dimethylformamide. We characterized the absorbent using Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We examined the factors of pH, temperature, adsorption time, initial lysozyme concentration, and NaCl ionic strength on the adsorption capacity. Based on the Langmuir isotherm, the adsorption capacity of lysozyme was 909.09 mg · g−1, 11.06-fold higher than that of the unmodified. When it was eluted by 1.0 mol · L−1 NaCl, the desorption efficiency reached 84.8%. We then used the modified waste beer yeast to separate and purify the lysozyme from egg white, and the lysozyme could be purified in 27.5-fold in a single step with a total enzyme activity recovery of 71.3%. In addition, the regenerated biomass could be used again with little loss of the adsorption capacity. We found that the Langmuir model fitted the lysozyme adsorption isotherm better. Taken together, the modified waste beer yeast can purify lysozyme from chicken egg white in a rapid and cost-efficient way.
Hydrogen Storage: Materials, Kinetics and Thermodynamics

The need for cleaner sources of energy has become a serious need now more than ever due to the rising effects of fossil fuels on the environment. Technological advancement in society today has necessitated the need for fast and robust materials that will match the speed at which society is moving forward. Hydrogen as an alternative source, has garnered a lot of attention due to its zero emission characteristic. In this chapter, a background on hydrogen storage and its impact on the ‘envisaged green environment’ is discussed. Graphene and borohydrides hydrogen storage materials are reviewed extensively and the kinetic models thereof. Furthermore, the reaction mechanism of graphene nanocomposites is also discussed.