Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrological control of dissolved organic carbon dynamics in a rehabilitated Sphagnum-dominated peatland: a water-table based modelling approach

Abstract. Hydrological disturbances could increase dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exports through changes in runoff and leaching, which reduces the potential carbon sink function of peatlands. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of hydrological restoration on hydrological processes and DOC dynamics in a rehabilitated Sphagnum-dominated peatland. A conceptual hydrological model calibrated on the water table and coupled with a biogeochemical module was applied to La Guette peatland (France), which experienced a rewetting initiative on February 2014. The model (eight calibrated parameters) reproduced water-table (0.1<NS<0.61) and pore-water DOC concentrations (2<RMSE<11 mg L−1) in a time series (1 April 2014 to 15 December 2017) in two contrasting locations (rewetted and control) in the peatland. Hydrological restoration was found to impact the water balance through a decrease in slow deep drainage and an increase in fast superficial runoff. Observed DOC concentrations were higher in summer in the rewetted location compared to the control area and were linked to a difference in dissolved organic matter composition analyzed by fluorescence. Hydrological conditions, especially the severity of the water-table drawdown in summer, were identified as the major factor controlling DOC-concentration dynamics. The results of the simulation suggest that the hydrological restoration did not affect DOC loads, at least in a short-term period (3 years). However, it impacted the temporal dynamics of DOC exports, which were the most episodic and were mainly transported through fast surface runoff in the area affected by the restoration, while slow deep drainage dominated DOC exports in the control area. In relation to dominant hydrological processes, exported DOC is expected to be derived from more recent organic matter in the top peat layer in the rewetted area, compared to the control area. Since it is calibrated on water-table and DOC concentration, the model presented in this study proved to be a relevant tool in identifying the main hydrological processes and factors controlling DOC dynamics in different areas of the same peatland. It is also a suitable alternative to a discharge-calibrated catchment model when the outlet is not easy to identify or to monitor.
Expression profiles of myostatin and calpastatin genes and analysis of shear force and intramuscular fat content of yak longissimus muscle.

The main objective of this study was to reveal the expression profiles of two negative regulators, myostatin (MSTN) and calpastatin (CAST) genes, of skeletal muscle growth in highland yaks ( Bos grunniens). mRNA levels of both genes were quantified in different yak tissues by semi-quantitative RT-PCR to reveal the tissue expression pattern, and real-time quantitative RT-PCR was employed to compare the mRNA levels of MSTN and CAST in longissimus muscles of yaks at different ages and adult Yellow cattle. Intramuscular fat (IMF) content, tenderness and pH of longissimus muscle of yaks at different ages and of adult Yellow cattle were also measured. The results showed that MSTN and CAST expressions have tissue specificity and both exhibited a high level in longissimus muscle and a low level in adipose tissue. Yak calves had lower mRNA levels of both MSTN and CAST in longissimus muscle compared with adult yaks. The analysis of meat qual - ity traits of longissimus muscle showed that the shear forces of raw longissimus muscle of yak calves were significantly lower than those of adult yaks and Yellow cattle, no significant difference was found between adult yaks and Yellow cattle of similar age. IMF content in longissimus muscle was lower in yaks than in Yellow cattle. Although yaks were smaller in body size than Yellow cattle, adult yaks showed lower levels of MSTN and similar level of CAST mRNA in longissimus muscle compared to Yellow cattle. These data indicate that the expression of both MSTN and CAST in longissimus muscle differs between adult yaks and yak calves, and the yak longissimus muscle shows a lower IMF content compared to cattle.
NATURAL CONVECTION IN SQUARE ENCLOSURES DIFFERENTIALLY HEATED AT SIDES USING ALUMINA-WATER NANOFLUIDS WITH TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Laminar natural convection of Al2O3 + H2O nanofluids inside square cavities differentially heated at sides is studied numerically. A computational code based on the SIMPLE-C algorithm is used for the solution of the system of the mass, momentum and energy transfer governing equations. Assuming that the nanofluid behaves like a single-phase fluid, these equations are the same as those valid for a pure fluid, provided that the thermophysical properties appearing in them are the nanofluid effective properties. The thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid are calculated by means of a couple of empirical equations based on a wide variety of experimental data reported in the literature. The other effective properties are evaluated by the conventional mixing theory. Simulations are performed for different values of the nanoparticle volume fraction in the range 0-0.06, the diameter of the suspended nanoparticles in the range 25-100 nm, the temperature of the cooled sidewall in the range 293-313 K, the temperature of the heated sidewall in the range 298-343 K, and the Rayleigh number of the base fluid in the range 103-107. All computations are executed in the hypothesis of temperature-dependent effective properties. The main result obtained is the existence of an optimal particle loading for maximum heat transfer, that is found to increase as the size of the suspended nanoparticles is decreased, and the nanofluid average temperature is increased.
SiPM Readout Technique in a High Pressure Xenon Electroluminescent TPC for neutrinoless ββ decay searches

The NEXT-100 experiment aims at searching the neutrinoless double beta decay (ββ0ν) of the 136Xe isotope, using a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) filled with 100 kg of enriched and highly pressurized gaseous xenon. The experiment site is the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) in the Spanish Pyrenees. In the NEXT TPC, the excitation and ionization signals produced by the interaction of charged particles in the xenon gas are both used for the identification of ββ0ν events. The ionization signal, which is proportional to the energy deposited by the particles, is amplified through the electroluminescence process that converts proportionally the charge signal to an optical signal, with intrinsically low statistical fluctuations. This optical signal, read out by Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) and Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs), provides information on the energy and topology of the events that is only possible in gaseous xenon. In this paper, we address the SiPM readout technique of the NEXT experiment, implemented and extensively tested during the last years in the prototype NEXT-DEMO, and its upgrade for the upcoming NEXT physics run with the detector NEXT-WHITE (NEW). The latter, presently being installed at the LSC, is aimed at measuring the two-neutrino double-beta (ββ2ν) decay mode of the 136Xe isotope with 10 kg of enriched xenon. The NEXT-100 detector, which integrates the technological solutions of its smaller scale detector models (DEMO and NEW), will be operated right after the completion of the NEW detector physics program.
SIMULTANEOUS SPECTRO PHOTOMETRIC ESTIMATION OF IRB ESARTAN AND HYDROCHLOROTHIAZIDE IN TABLETS

Two simple, sensitive, rapid, accurate and economic spectrophotometric metho ds were developed for the estimation of Irbesartan and Hydrochlorothiazide in two - component solid dosage form. First method is based on the simultaneous equation, and second method is based on Q analysis (absorbance ratio method). Irbesartan has absorbance maxima at 250 nm, and Hydrochlorothiaz ide has absorbance maxima at 270.6 nm in methanol. In first method, t he linearity was obtained in the concentration range 2 - 36 μ g/ml for Irb e sartan and 1 - 18 μ g /ml for Hydrochlorothiazide. T he concentration of drugs in mixture was determined using simultaneous equations . In the second method, the linearity was obtained in the concentration range of 1 - 24 μ g/ml for both drugs. T he concentrations of the drugs in mixture were determined by using ratio of absorbances at i soa bsorp t ive point and at the λ max of one of the drugs. The results of analy sis have been validated statist ically and by recovery studies.
BIM: postgraduate multidisciplinary collaborative education

BIM technologies and processes are steadily increasing in the design and construction industry. The amount of undergraduate courses delivering BIM based applied and theory courses is also on the rise. These students will be entering a job market where their skillsets in digital modelling and collaborative practice will be in demand. However, existing AEC (architectural, engineering, construction) professionals are recognising the changes happening in the industry. Each domain is influenced and challenged by BIM. The traditional process and workflows will change as BIM adoption grows. AEC professionals are seeking out training and education courses to upskill. Perhaps the greatest challenge faced by professionals seeking to move their work to BIM is the conceptual move away from pushing data out to the stakeholders in a traditional detached procurement process in favour of bringing the stakeholders to the data in a collaborative process. Collaboration is not something that comes easy in a design and construction industry that has its roots in a division of intellectual effort over technical know-how going back over 500 years. For PG (postgraduate) students who have been taught in domain based silos then professionally educated within demarcation boundaries of one’s discipline based on a hierarchical system of design responsibility, the idea of setting this to one side so that you open yourself to a collaborative process is a daunting prospect. Specialist education programmes must be developed to teach such professionals how to collaborate. AEC professionals can take full advantage of the technologies and the integrated collaborative process it promotes. This paper will report findings on a case study of postgraduate multidisciplinary collaborative learning module in the School of Multidisciplinary Technology’s CPD BIM programme in the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Agricultural credit under economic liberalization and Islamization in Sudan

This study uses survey data to examine the operations of the agrarian credit market,formal and informal, in Sudan under conditions of recent economic liberalization and Islamization; the latter does not allow interest rate fixing. In addition to descriptive analysis, the study specifies and estimates a model of farm household participation in the credit market. The survey results show a substantial increase in formal borrowing in agriculture, but relatively low informal credit. Implicit interest rates are found to be high in the formal segment compared with their previous levels, and the levels of formal and informal agrarian rates of interest are comparable. The research concludes that there is a need for enhanced institutional financial intermediation in the agrarian credit market as well as scope for the promotion of savings and credit associations among farmers.
Novel explanation for the shape of the lenticular galaxy bulge and its implication for red spiral galaxy evolution

Aims. According to Hubble’s classification scheme, lenticular galaxies represent an intermediate evolutionary step between elliptical and spiral galaxies. This evolutionary path predicts that the aspect ratios of both lenticular and spiral galaxies should be smaller than the aspect ratios of their E6 or E7 elliptical predecessors. In contradiction to this prediction, observation has demonstrated that the aspect ratio of lenticular galaxies is larger than its immediate elliptical predecessor. In this paper, we suggest a novel explanation for this inconsistency. Methods. The approach described in this paper is primarily based on analytical methods; however, some numerical methods are also used. Results. Our idea comes from theoretical and experimental results, which show that a small increase in the equatorial diameter of an oblate spheroid with an aspect ratio ≤0.6 surprisingly causes its minor axis to also increase. We demonstrate that the same phenomenon occurs in the isodensity contours of elliptical galaxies given by Miyamoto & Nagai (Miyamoto M., & Nagai R., 1975, PASJ, 27, 533) and in a Maclaurin spheroidal mass in response to the gravitational force generated by a circumferential equatorial disk. Conclusions. The result of this paper is our explanation for the transformation of a disky elliptical galaxy into a lenticular galaxy which in response to rotation and equatorial diameter expansion evolves into a red spiral galaxy. This evolutionary path is consistent with the common environmental location of disky ellipticals, lenticular and red spiral galaxies and explains why elliptical galaxies are generally ≤E4. The proposed evolutionary path is opposite to the generally accepted formation of lenticular galaxies from the merger of spiral galaxies.
Modelling seasonal circulation and thermohaline structure of the Caspian Sea

Abstract. The wind- and buoyancy-driven seasonal circulation of the Caspian Sea is investigated for a better understanding of its basin-wide and mesoscale dynamics, mixing and transport. The model successfully reproduces the following basic elements of the circulation: the southward-flowing current systems along the eastern and western coasts, the upwelling along the eastern coast, the cyclonic circulation in the Middle Caspian Sea (MCS), especially in winter, and the cyclonic and anticyclonic cells of circulation in the South Caspian Sea (SCS). The observed seasonal variability of sea level and sea surface temperature (SST) is well reproduced. Mesoscale structures, not always evident from hydrographic observations, are identified.
ANALYSIS OF FUZZY CONTROL SOLUTIONS FOR ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEMS

This paper performs a critical analysis of five fuzzy control solutions dedicated to Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABSs). The requirements in ABS control are clearly stated to help the analysis. The detailed mathematical model of controlled plant is derived and simplified for control design with focus on tire slip control. A new fuzzy control solution based on a class of Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy controllers is proposed. This class of fuzzy controllers combines separately designed PI and PID controllers corresponding to a set of simplified models of controlled plant linearized in the vicinity of important operating points. Simulation results validate the suggested fuzzy control solution in controlling the relative slip of a single wheel.
Self-dual Yang-Mills equations and Taubes' theorem

A functional is defined over the set o(P) of all connections on P by A ^―> l/2-f|F(A)|z V\g\dx,where F(A) = cIA + AaA is curvature of A. A Yang-Mills connection which is a connection giving a critical point of this functional is a solution of the Yang-Mills equation 6AF(A)= ―*°dA°*F(A)=0, that is, the Euler-Lagrange equation of the functional. A connection is said to be self-dual if F(A) satisfies *F―F. From Bianchi's identity every self-dual connection gives automatically a Yang-Mills connection.
Care: actors, relationships, contexts

A¢â¬â¢CareA¢â¬â¢ (or A¢â¬â¢caringA¢â¬â¢) is one of the contested concepts in the study of gender and social politics. As a concept and activity, care covers a number of different relations, actors, and institutional settings, and crosses conventional boundaries. It can pertain to family analysis, but also to labour market and welfare state analysis, to concepts and practices of work and citizenship, to issues of social inclusion and exclusion, and so forth. The article examines some of the crucial passages in the development of A¢â¬â¢care thinkingA¢â¬â¢, viewing them not only as steps in a theoretAÂ­ical process, but also as the outcome of shifts in contexts. Drawing mainly upon the Western European sociological and social policy discourses, and particularly on feminist literature, the following discusses care as a public and private responsibility, as relationships of labour, love and power, as personal responsibilities and social rights, and returns once more to considering care as a feminine dilemma.
Determinants of international tourist choices in Italian provinces: A joint demand–supply approach with spatial effects

Research trying to explain tourism flows and expenditures for different destinations has so far adopted either a tourism-demand or a tourism-supply approach. Whereas on the one hand the former ignores the product specificities (Papatheodorou, 2001), the latter, on the other, fails to take into account the characteristics of the tourist origin markets. In recent years attempts to merge the two views have come from scholars using spatial econometric techniques, i.e. origin-destination models (O-D), which have been able to consider both effects simultaneously (Marrocu and Paci, 2013; Massidda and Etzo, 2012). This paper contributes to this literature by investigating the determinants of the expenditures of foreign tourists in 103 Italian provinces (NUTS 3). We depart from the previous literature in that our dependent variable is not tourist flows but foreign tourist expenditures. This variable, recently made available by the Bank of Italy for the years 1997-2012, is more informative than tourist flows in that it captures not only the number of arrivals but also their contribution to a destination's GDP. The observations of our cross-section database reflect the tourist expenditure for each Italian province from each of the 20 highest spending countries of origin, accounting for 85% of total receipts. Without having to use O-D models, we will disentangle the effects of both demand and supply variables on a province's tourism exports. Among the former ones, per capita GDP levels at origin and a measure of relative price will be considered. Among the latter ones: per capita GDP levels at destination and supply variables such as capacity constraints of tourist accomodations; tourism and transport infrastructures; crime, cultural and environmental capital, climate, settlement structure typology, etc. Moreover, we will take into account the role of the distance between origin and destination, which is also a proxy of transportation costs, and the possible spillover effects originating by the supply variables in contiguous provinces. Following Halleck Vega and Elhorst (2013), spatial effects will be analysed using the spatial lag of some of the independent variables and by parameterizing the spatial matrix W. Moreover, we will use a Poisson pseudo-maximum-likelihood method as suggested by Santos Silva and Tenreyro (2006) since this method is robust to different patterns of heteroskedasticity and provides a natural way to deal with zeros in trade data.
Applying a reverse design modelling technique to partial core transformers

This paper gives an overview of the process of designing partial core transformers using a reverse modelling technique. Modifications are made to full-core equivalent circuit components to accommodate partial core transformers. The model is applied to 50Hz transformers under normal operating temperature applications and also to transformers immersed in liquid nitrogen. It is then used for harmonic frequency analysis of partial core transformers where capacitive components are included. In all cases, comparisons are made between the model calculations and test results of as-built devices.
Enhanced Luminescence of CdSe Quantum Dots on Gold Colloids

We have studied the enhancement of luminescence of (CdSe)ZnS core−shell quantum dots on gold colloids as a function of semiconductor nanocrystal−metal nanoparticle distance. Using a layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte deposition technique to insert well-defined spacer layers between gold colloids and quantum dots, a distance-dependent enhancement and quenching of quantum dot photoluminescence has been observed. The maximum enhancement by a factor of 5 is achieved for a 9-layer spacer (≈11 nm). The efficient quantum dot excitation within the locally enhanced electromagnetic field produced by the gold nanoparticles is evidenced by the observation of the surface plasmon resonance in the photoluminescence excitation spectrum of (CdSe)ZnS nanocrystals.
Enhancement of germination, hyperhydricity control and in vitro shoot formation of Vasconcellea stipulata Badillo

Vasconcellea stipulata has great commercial importance because of its enzymatic activity and as a source for genetic improvement of papaya since it is resistant to the papaya ringspot virus. However, due to its low regeneration by seeds and limited knowledge of its genetic and pharmaceutical properties, this species is not widely cultivated. For propagation, in vitro culture of seeds has been used to address this problem, but hyperhydricity, a physiological disorder, mainly expressed in the developing embryonic axis and specifically associated with this species, is a significant constraint. In order to obtain elite material for culture of V. stipulata, the aim of this work was to increase germination, to control hyperhydricity in embryos and to evaluate the potential to induce morphogenic responses, i.e., shoot formation. Our results showed that it is possible to increase germination up to 53% under in vitro conditions within a short period in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. In addition, hyperhydricity was significantly reduced (50%) in vitro when gibberellic acid concentrations were included on a 1/2 Nitsch and Nitsch nutrient medium, resulting in approximately 80% recovery of viable seedlings. Finally, other plant growth regulators were evaluated and found to trigger shoot formation in axillary buds as well as induce the formation of callus in leaf sections derived of seedlings.
Determining the Isotopic Composition of Nitrate in the River Daugava and Loads of Nitrogen to the Gulf of Riga

The Daugava or Zapadnaya (Western) Dvina River belongs to the Baltic Sea basin. The length of the river is 1,005 km with a drainage area of 87,900 km 2 . It crosses three countries: Russia (323 km and 18,500 km 2 ), Belarus (328 km and 33,100 km 2 ) and Latvia (352 km and 24,700 km 2 ). Water samples were collected at three points with the following coordinates: Kraslava, Daugavpils, and Riga and distance from the river mouth 320, 255, and 20 km respectively. Discharge measurements by use of acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) from a moving boat were also performed in the locations indicated above. Nitrates were extracted from water samples using the ‘ion-exchange resin method’, which involves extracting NO 3 - from freshwater and converting it into solid silver nitrate, which is then analysed for 15 N/ 14 N and 18 O/ 16 O ratios by IRMS. Prior to passing water through an anion-exchange resin precipitation of O-bearing contaminants (mainly sulphate and phosphate) with barium chloride was carried out. The δ 15 N NO3 values of riverine samples varied from 7.1 to 8.6 ‰ in Kraslava, from 7.2 to 8.3 ‰ in Daugavpils, and from 8.1 to 9.0 ‰ in Riga and displayed significant differences between the three sampling points.