Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a Combined Aerobic–Anoxic and Methane Oxidation Bioreactor System Using Mixed Methanotrophs and Biogas for Wastewater Denitrification

We developed a lab-scale aerobic–methane oxidation bioreactor (MOB)–anoxic system, combining a MOB and the aerobic–anoxic denitrification process, and evaluated its potential for advanced nitrogen treatment in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The MOB used biogas generated from a WWTP and secondary-treated wastewater to support mixed methanotroph cultures, which mediated the simultaneous direct denitrification by methanotrophs and methanol production necessary for denitrifying bacteria in the anoxic chamber for denitrification. Compared to the aerobic–anoxic process, the aerobic–MOB–anoxic system with an influent concentration of 4.8 L·day−1 showed a marked increase in the reduction efficiency for total nitrogen (41.9% vs. 85.9%) and PO4−3-P (41.1% vs. 69.5%). However, the integrated actions of high nitrogen and phosphorus consumption are required for methanotroph growth, as well as the production and supply of methanol as a carbon source for denitrification and methane monooxygenase-mediated oxidation of NH3 into N2O by methanotrophs. After three months of continuous operation using actual wastewater, the total nitrogen removal rate was 76.3%, equivalent to the rate observed in a tertiary-advanced WWTP, while the total phosphorus removal rate reached 83.7%.
@twitter Mining #Microblogs Using #Semantic Technologies

In this paper we report about our current and ongoi ng research efforts aiming at knowledge discovery, offline social data mining and social entity extraction based upon semantic technologies. Furthe r we are aiming to provide the scientific architecture paradigm for building s emantic applications that rely on social data. In this early stage our work focus es on data from Twitter 1 as currently most popular and fastest growing microblo gging platform. In the realm of our research we implemented applications l ike Grabeeter 2 for storing searching and caching the social data and STAT infr astructure that uses semantic standards like RDF (SIOC, FOAF), SPARQL and existing semantic services as Sinidice 3 and Linked Data silos as DBPedia 4 or GeoNames 5 as well. They represent parts of novel architecture paradigm for semantic social applications intended to be introduced here.
Optimisation of the Position of Navigational Aids for the Purposes of SLAM technology for Accuracy of Vessel Positioning

The geometric distribution of navigational aids is one of the most important elements to be taken into account in the planning of maritime terrestrial navigation systems. It determines to a large extent the capability of vessels to obtain high-precision position coordinates. Therefore, the optimisation of their location is a key element at the planning stage, in particular on port approach fairways. This article attempts to use computer simulation methods to assess the positioning accuracy of a vessel that follows a constant course and speed on a port approach fairway. The analysis uses a technique based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) Two-Dimensional (2D) Range-Bearing Simultaneous Location and Mapping (SLAM) method. In the simulation experiment conducted, the research object determined its position based on bearing and distance to fixed position beacons, which changed their locations in subsequent passages of the vessel. A geometrically optimal configuration of the terrestrial navigation marking system guaranteeing the highest positioning accuracy was identified as a result of the deliberations. The study analysed more than 20,000 cases of different configurations (locations) of the fixed position beacons, demonstrating that the adopted algorithm can be used successfully in the planning of their deployment in the context of ensuring minimum accuracy requirements for the positioning of navigational signs on port approach fairways and under restricted conditions by navigational marking services, as set out in International Maritime Organization (IMO) Resolutions A915 (21) and A953(22).
Geographic inequities in local higher education opportunities? : identifying college deserts with critical GIS

In a world where one’s future is heavily impacted by having postsecondary education, access to college is a pertinent research topic. Access is a widely researched topic, but only recently has college access been studied specifically. This study proposes a geographic information systems based methodology for quantifying college access at multiple spatial scales. This methodology was implemented with the Python programming language and ArcGIS. A sample of six metropolitan statistical areas were identified and analyzed using the developed methodology. Within this sample, college access varied primarily by socio-economic status although some variation between race/ethnicity was identified. Further research is needed to assess whether these trends are generalizable. Quantification of college access will aid policy-makers to prepare reforms to reduce the inequity of college access.
Experimental investigation of aerodynamic characteristics of bat carcasses after collision with a wind turbine

Abstract. A large number of bat fatalities have been reported in wind energy facilities in different regions globally. Wind farm operators are required to monitor bat fatalities by conducting carcass surveys at wind farms. A previous study implemented the ballistics model to characterize the carcass fall zone distributions after a bat is struck by turbine blades. The ballistics model considers the aerodynamic drag force term, which is dependent upon the carcass drag coefficient. The bat carcass drag coefficient is highly uncertain; no measurement of it is available. This paper introduces a methodology for bat carcass drag coefficient estimation. Field investigation at Macksburg wind farm resulted in the discovery of three bat species: the hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), and evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis). Carcass drop experiments were performed from a dropping platform at finite height, and carcass position time series data were recorded using a high-speed camera. Falling carcasses were subjected to aerodynamic drag and gravitational forces. Carcasses were observed to undergo rotation, often rotating around multiple axes simultaneously, as well as lateral translation. The complex fall dynamics, along with drop from a limited height, prohibit the carcasses from attaining terminal velocity. Under this limitation, the drag coefficient is estimated by fitting a ballistics model to the measured velocity. Multivariable optimization was performed to fit the ballistics model to the measured velocity resulting, in an optimized estimate of the drag coefficient. A sensitivity analysis demonstrated significant variation in the drag coefficient with a small change in initial position, highlighting the chaotic nature of carcass fall dynamics. Based on the limited sample, the bat carcass drag coefficient and terminal velocity were found to be between 0.70–1.23 and 6.63–17.57 m s−1, respectively. The maximum distance carcasses are predicted to fall after impact with a typical utility-scale onshore wind turbine was computed using a 2-D ballistics model. Based on the range of drag coefficients found in this study, hoary and evening bats are estimated to fall within the rotor plane up to a maximum distance of 92 and 62 m, respectively, from the wind turbine tower. The ballistics model of carcasses after being struck by wind turbine blades can be used to obtain fall distributions for bats, guide carcass survey efforts, and correct survey data for limited or unsearched areas.
Improving False Negative Rate in Hypervisor- Based Intrusion Detection in IaaS Cloud

Cloud computing is a computer model that tries to facilitate the users' access based on their request for the information and computing sources. In recent years, making the cloud against the attacks has become significantly important. One of the security methods is the use of intrusion detection systems. In these systems, when a suspicious event that represents an abuse occurs, warning are made to inform the production system managers. Source sharing is the most important part in cloud computing. Therefore, nowadays, cloud providers use the virtualization technology to share the sources, which is available in two levels including virtual machine and hypervisor. In the infrastructure, the cloud virtual machines are shared with other organizations virtual machines as the service. In this paper, it is tried to use the virtualization properties in the hypervisor level and improve the IDS in the infrastructure layer of cloud computing. In fact, genetic algorithm is used to improve IDS.
Determining the Sustainability of a Community Micro Hydro Power System using Real Options Analysis

Micro hydro power is a clean source of renewable energy that has been utilized for remote communities for electricity generation. The technology is mature and operates the same principle as large hydroelectric power plant but with much lower power capacity. Sustainability relies on the financial and other benefits brought about the micro hydro power plant during its operation. Traditional valuation method is often used to valuate micro hydro projects however it does not incorporate uncertainty factors, specifically unpredictable changes in weather. Real Options Analysis, on the other hand, uses both the Black-Scholes Model and Binomial Tree Method which incorporates uncertainty. The valuation obtained through real option analysis represents the net present value of the project with decision flexibility option for the investor. In this study, real options analysis is applied to a micro hydro power plant to identify its financial sustainability. Head and flow rate are obtained to calculate the capital investment, electrical sales, maintenance, and cost of operating nearby agricultural facilities. Traditional financial valuation method revealed a positive outcome making the project financially viable. However, real options analysis provided a contradicting result indicating the implementation of the project should be delayed.
Factors Behind the Changes in Small Towns along the Selangor Northern Corridor Resulting from Spillover of The Klang-Langat Valley Metropolitan Region: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach (CFA)

This article aims to verify the key factors behind the changes in small towns due to the spillover of the Klang-Langat Valley using Exploration Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) approaches. This study is based on the responses of 355 stakeholders from Hulu Selangor, Selangor, selected via random sampling. Likert scale questionnaires ranging from 1 to 5 were used to obtain feedback. Overall, the questionnaire was reliable with an Alpha Cronbach value for each construct greater than 0.7. The obtained data were processed through EFA in order to group the constructs and items for the change factor of small towns. The CFA was undertaken in order to verify the accumulated constructs based on their respective groups. The findings reveal the creation of six constructs: access (5 items), environment (5 items), security (2 items), activity (4 items), neighbourhood (2 items) and infrastructure (2 items). It is thus hoped that the findings of this research can help in identifying factors behind the transformation of small town due to the spillover of the Klang-Langat Valley. Indeed, the transformation is driving both positive and negative impacts on both urban and rural areas through socioeconomic development and ultimately contributing to improved quality of life in line with contemporary globalisation.
How does case-mixing interact with lexical factors in visual word recognition? Implications for lexical organisation

This thesis investigates how different lexical and visual factors interact in reading, providing information on how the reading system is organised. Case-mixing and lexicality were found to be interactive in lexical and nonlexical naming in adult’s reading but additive in children’s. This supports the view that top-down lexical information helps experienced readers in overcoming the visual disruption of case-mixing. Children do not yet have sufficient stored lexical knowledge to enable such a mechanism to function effectively. Upper case disruption was smaller and equal across words and nonwords. This lack of interaction occurs because unlike case-mixing, upper case does not disrupt attentional processes used in reading. Revisions o f the top-down lexical feedback hypothesis are suggested such that lexical information feeds back to an attentional level of visual analysis. Inconsistencies in existing literature prompted investigation of the interaction between case-mixing and frequency. Early data was re-analysed and new experiments designed to favour the effect were run. Case-mixing was additive, not interactive, with frequency. This suggests that case-mixing disrupts an early stage in letter encoding before the construction of the code used to access the lexicon. The first examination o f case-mixing effects on neighbourhood size was carried out. Limited evidence of an interaction was found. Smaller case-mixing effects on words from large neighbourhoods could also be explained by a greater degree o f lexical activation feeding down and aiding words to overcome the disruption caused by case-mixing. Finally, an explanation for the disagreement within the literature on how frequency and regularity interact in children’s reading was sought. A confound with age-of-acquisition (AoA) could be the key. When AoA was controlled regularity affected low frequency words only, but without it, regularity affected high and low frequency words equally. The implications that all four interactions have for the dual-route model of visual word recognition are considered.
Design and Testing Algorithm for Real Time Text Images: Rehabilitation Aid for Blind

There is a possible demand of an assistive device for blind and partially blind people which can assist to read any printed text or book without converting the literature into Braille. This is enable access to text and books easier and reduces the cost of conversion of Braille. Our proposed system can read texts to live video taken from ring based hardware. Than our system will process images extracted from video and will Zone based OCR to convert into computer understandable character which would be corrected using Frequent Pattern tree algorithm and would be set to a text to speech software. The proposed hardware can not only have camera but also having buzzer and vibrator to give physical stimuli to blind user.
A2RMNet: Adaptively Aspect Ratio Multi-Scale Network for Object Detection in Remote Sensing Images

Object detection is a significant and challenging problem in the study area of remote sensing and image analysis. However, most existing methods are easy to miss or incorrectly locate objects due to the various sizes and aspect ratios of objects. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end Adaptively Aspect Ratio Multi-Scale Network (A 2 RMNet) to solve this problem. On the one hand, we design a multi-scale feature gate fusion network to adaptively integrate the multi-scale features of objects. This network is composed of gate fusion modules, refine blocks and region proposal networks. On the other hand, an aspect ratio attention network is leveraged to preserve the aspect ratios of objects, which alleviates the excessive shape distortions of objects caused by aspect ratio changes during training. Experiments show that the proposed A 2 RMNet significantly outperforms the previous state of the arts on the DOTA dataset, NWPU VHR-10 dataset, RSOD dataset and UCAS-AOD dataset by 5.73 % , 7.06 % , 3.27 % and 2.24 % , respectively.
Barriers to Healthy Eating Among High School Youth in Rural Southern Appalachia

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Diet and nutrition play an important role in a child’s health and reduce the risk of numerous health problems including obesity. Dietary habits can be difficult to modify in children, particularly in Appalachia, where access to affordable, healthy foods is limited. Purpose: To examine barriers to healthy eating among Appalachian youth. Methods: In 2013–2014, data were gathered via focus groups and interviews from parents, school personnel, and adolescents (N=99) in six counties across southern Appalachia. Data were analyzed using thematic network analysis. Analysis was completed in 2015. Results: Participants identified multiple barriers to healthy eating among adolescents. Barriers comprised three global themes: cultural norms, school-based nutrition policy and programming, and rurality. Within the individual and home environment, beliefs and practices, time management, and preference for unhealthy foods affected adolescents’ dietary behaviors. Schools faced challenges in terms of translating nutrition policy into practice, providing nutrition education, and engaging stakeholders. Limited socioeconomics and food deserts/swamps were community-level impacts. Implications: Participants discussed how adolescents’ eating behaviors were shaped by social, physical, and environmental factors (e.g., cultural norms, school-based nutrition policy/programming, and rurality). These findings provide important insights into barriers to healthy eating in this population and point to future directions for research and practice. For example, the findings can be used by school personnel to develop ecologic approaches to school-based nutrition programming in Appalachia. Student associations can also use these findings to actively participate in efforts to improve school food offerings.
Long-Term (1986-2015) Crop Water Use Characterization over the Upper Rio Grande Basin of United States and Mexico Using Landsat-Based Evapotranspiration

The evaluation of historical water use in the Upper Rio Grande Basin (URGB), United States and Mexico, using Landsat-derived actual evapotranspiration (ETa) from 1986 to 2015 is presented here as the first study of its kind to apply satellite observations to quantify long-term, basin-wide crop consumptive use in a large basin. The rich archive of Landsat imagery combined with the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model was used to estimate and map ETa across the basin and over irrigated fields for historical characterization of water-use dynamics. Monthly ETa estimates were evaluated using six eddy-covariance (EC) flux towers showing strong correspondence (r2 > 0.80) with reasonable error rates (root mean square error between 6 and 19 mm/month). Detailed spatiotemporal analysis using peak growing season (June–August) ETa over irrigated areas revealed declining regional crop water-use patterns throughout the basin, a trend reinforced through comparisons with gridded ETa from the Max Planck Institute (MPI). The interrelationships among seven agro-hydroclimatic variables (ETa, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), land surface temperature (LST), maximum air temperature (Ta), potential ET (ETo), precipitation, and runoff) are all summarized to support the assessment and context of historical water-use dynamics over 30 years in the URGB.
A comparison of the energy demands of quadrupedal movement training to walking

Background Quadrupedal movement training (QMT) is a novel alternative form of exercise recently shown to improve several fitness characteristics including flexibility, movement quality, and dynamic balance. However, the specific energy demands of this style of training remain unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the energy expenditure (EE) of a beginner-level quadrupedal movement training (QMT) class using Animal Flow (AF) to walking, and to compare EE between segments of the AF class and gender. Methods Participants (15 male, 15 female) completed 60-min sessions of AF, treadmill walking at a self-selected intensity (SSIT) and treadmill walking at an intensity that matched the heart rate of the AF session (HRTM). Indirect calorimetry was used to estimate energy expenditure. Results AF resulted in an EE of 6.7 ± 1.8 kcal/min, 5.4 ± 1.0 METs, and HR of 127.1 ± 16.1 bpm (63.4 ± 8.1% of the subjects' age-predicted maximum HR), while SSIT resulted in an EE of 5.1 ± 1.0 kcal/min, 4.3 ± 0.7 METs, HR of 99.8 ± 13.5 bpm (49.8 ± 6.7% age-predicted maximum HR), and HRTM resulted in and EE of 7.6 ± 2.2 kcal/min, 6.1 ± 1.0 METs, and HR of 124.9 ± 16.3 bpm (62.3 ± 8.2% age-predicted maximum HR). Overall, EE, METs, HR and respiratory data for AF was greater than SSIT (p's < 0.001) and either comparable or slightly less than HRTM. The Flow segment showed the highest EE (8.7 ± 2.7 kcal/min), METs (7.0 ± 1.7) and HR (153.2 ± 15.7 bpm). Aside from HR, males demonstrated greater EE, METs, and respiratory values across all sessions and segments of AF than females. Conclusions QMT using AF meets the ACSM's criteria for moderate-intensity physical activity and should be considered a viable alternative to help meet physical activity guidelines.
Identification and exploration of pharmacological pyroptosis-related biomarkers of ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Its etiology is unclear. Much evidence suggests that the death of abnormal intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) leads to intestinal barrier disruption, and the subsequent inflammatory response plays a vital role in UC. Pyroptosis is a form of programmed inflammatory cell death, and the role of pyroptosis in UC etiology remains to be explored. This study identified 10 hub genes in pyroptosis by gene expression profiles obtained from the GSE87466 dataset. Meanwhile, the biomarkers were screened based on gene significance (GS) and module membership (MM) through the Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis (WGCNA). The following analysis indicated that hub genes were closely associated with the UC progression and therapeutic drug response. The single-cell RNA (scRNA) sequencing data from UC patients within the GSE162335 dataset indicated that macrophages were most related to pyroptosis. Finally, the expression of hub genes and response to the therapeutic drug [5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA)] were verified in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice. Our study identified IL1B as the critical pyroptosis-related biomarker in UC. The crosstalk between macrophage pyroptosis and IEC pyroptosis may play an essential role in UC, deserving further exploration.