Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
KING OF THE HILL? HOW BIOTIC INTERACTIONS AFFECT BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PATTERN AND SPECIES RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

As climate has warmed, many species have moved up mountains as physiological limits to their distributions have ameliorated. These distribution shifts are creating novel communities, begging the question: What happens to species at the tops of mountains as potential antagonists encroach upwards? Theory predicts that upward migrations will cause range contractions for high-elevation species because of novel interactions with encroaching antagonists. My dissertation work is one of the most comprehensive tests of this question to date, using a combination of ecological niche modeling (ENM), experiments, and demographic and trait-based modeling approaches. I created novel ENMs that suggest context-dependency of biotic interactions, where predictions of biotic interactions change from positive to negative over environmental gradients, is common over elevation gradients. Additionally, ENMs suggested the current focus on plant-plant interactions in niche modeling targets the most important biotic interaction for many species. I then constructed space-for-time experiments that transplanted alpine species into novel low elevation plant and mammal communities expected to encroach upwards, as well as into their native high elevation communities. Plant competition was manipulated by vegetation removals and mammals were excluded in a separate factorial experiment using below- and aboveground fencing. In both experiments, low elevation plant and mammal communities suppressed growth of alpine species to a greater extent than those antagonists found in their home range. However, demographic models suggested that environmental factors (e.g. temperature) other than novel plant and mammal communities are more consequential for determining population fate. The experiments validated a novel trait-based model of competitive interactions that can be broadly applied to other systems and conservation needs. My dissertation work found that alpine plants are unlikely to remain “king of the hill” under climate change, in part due to the upward encroachment of novel competitors and intensification of herbivore pressure.
HOURLY TROPOSPHERIC OZONE CONCENTRATION FORECASTING USING DEEP LEARNING

The purpose of this work is to build, train and evaluate a deep learning-based model to forecast tropospheric ozone levels hourly, up to twenty-four hours ahead, using data gathered from the automatic air quality monitoring system in the metropolitan region of Vitória city, Espírito Santo (ES), Brazil. Observational data of air pollutant concentrations and meteorological parameters were used as the input variables of the model once they represented the state of the atmospheric fluid in terms of its properties and chemical composition throughout the time. Several topologies of multilayer perceptron neural networks were tried and evaluated using statistics of the predictions over unseen data. The best architecture was compared with reference models and the results showed that deep learning models can be successfully applied to hourly forecasting of ozone concentrations for urban areas. Once such models are fitted to the data, the forecasting procedure has a very low computational cost, meaning that it can be used as an alternative approach in comparison with numerical modelling systems, which require much more computational power.
Field Trials of Ex Situ Smouldering Treatment (STARx) of Oil Sludge

Growing environmental concern and regulations around petroleum producing and refining facilities, along with the divesting of legacy properties, have necessitated the need for rapid, high capacity, and cost-effective treatment technologies for remediating these sites and their produced wastes. Self-sustained liquid smouldering – known as STAR technology has been studied extensively at small scales and has been proven as an effective in situ remediation technique for heavy hydrocarbons. However, STAR as a large-scale ex situ waste disposal method (STARx) has yet to be demonstrated. Here STARx is evaluated for the first time in soil pile configurations, using an engineered base concept called HottpadTM, at both the prototype (0.35 – 1.3m3) and field (80 – 160m3) scales. The treatment was applied to oily sludge from crude oil tank bottoms and oil water separation processes mixed with sand or soils at concentrations from 4 020 – 115 000mg/kg total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). The relationships between initial soil concentrations, off-gas production, mass destruction rates, cycle times, and peak temperatures provide important insights into the performance and costs of applying the technology at field scale. STARx was shown to successfully destroy the wastes to below laboratory detection limits, with contaminant mass removal efficiencies of greater than 98% being observed. Overall, this work demonstrates for the first time that STARx is a viable large-scale option for hydrocarbon sludge treatment.
First report of the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus Skuse, 1984 (Diptera, Culicidae) in Cordoba (southern Spain). New challenges for the administration and citizens of Cordoba

The first record of the presence of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus in the province of Cordoba is presented. Adults, larvae, pupae and exuviae have been located at different points of housing estates in the northeastern part of the city. One possible origin is the coast around Malaga, much frequented by the citizens of Cordoba. Its detection has been possible due to the programme of monitoring, surveillance and control of hematophagous Dipterans, initiated in 2016 by our research group (Terrestrial Ecology, RNM232) in collaboration with the Sanitation Public Company of Cordoba (SADECO). The arrival of the tiger mosquito in Cordoba is a relevant issue due to its implications for welfare and public health. In addition to the discomfort and injuries caused by its bites, it is a competent vector of non-endemic arboviruses such as Chikungunya fever, Dengue fever and Zika. Therefore, with the information gathered by our group, the SADECO technicians acted appropriately, with the focus being to control it and try to prevent it from spreading and causing public health problems. However, given the large flow of people between Cordoba and the coast around Malaga, a vacation area very popular among the people of Cordoba, it is foreseeable that the inadvertent transport of mosquitoes by car to Cordoba will generate new outbreaks. Therefore, it will be important to continue with the programme of early detection of this invasive species through coordinated work involving researchers from the University of Cordoba, SADECO technicians, and the local and provincial administrations, with the collaboration of neighbourhood associations and the population in general. The information presented in this article is relevant due to its implications for welfare and public health. Journal of the European Mosquito Control Association 37: 28-33, 2019
Influence of using alum sludge as an aggregate on hot mix Asphalt

Alum sludge (AS) is one of the final products from water treatment processes. Handling and disposal of alum sludge has become one of the major economic and environmental concerns. An experimental investigation was examined to study the possible utilization of alum sludge as aggregate substitute in asphalt mixtures for pavement construction applications. Five asphalt mixtures containing various contents of the AS, 0% (reference mix), 30%, 50%, 70% and 100%, as a replacement to the fine aggregate were prepared in this study. The results conducted that alum sludge is a suitable material for producing asphalt mixes that contains of AS ranging from 30% to 50% as partial replacement for fine aggregates to achieve almost all the standard requirements for aggregates in asphalt mixtures.
Research on the Dynamic Characteristics of the High Air Speed Nozzle in Isentropic Flow

The application of microsatellites has been development with the continuous expansion of space missions in resents years. The microsatellites have several characteristics such as light weight, small size and low cost. The platform flotation table is one of the simulation ways on the ground. With the continuous development of space technology, satellite ground simulation platform flotation table as a key technology which attracts lots of researchers. In this paper, the highspeed nozzle has been analyzed based on the research of Laval nozzle. The state of shock waves can be researched by the Laval nozzle and the air speed from the nozzle can be calculated. The flow field of the high speed nozzle has been simulation by the FLUENT software. The nozzle mode has been built by the GAMBIT and the model is meshed in structured grid. The simulation result shows that the air in the nozzle has many speeds in different place. The stable speeds are 390 m/s and 150m/s in the larynx and trailing end position.The maximum are reached into the nozzle and the speed is 578m/s, which is deviated from the theoretical analysis. At the constant pressure of 4 bar, the mass of nozzle flow is 0.000318758 kg/s. The mass of outlet flow is 0.000318798 kg/s, and the calculation error is 10-8. The thrust of the nozzle is also stable at 3ms, and its stability value is 50.1 mN. The maximum force of the outlet is 176 mN before the nozzle reaches stability. The simulation result can guided for the nozzle design and itis more significance for the high precision control and measurement of nozzles.
Creating a Language Archive of Insular South East Asia and West New Guinea

The geographical region of Insular South East Asia and New Guinea is well-known as an area of mega-biodiversity. Less well-known is the extreme linguistic diversity in this area: over a quarter of the world’s 6,000 languages are spoken here. As small minority languages, most of them will cease to be spoken in the coming few generations. The project described here ensures the preservation of unique records of languages and the cultures encapsu-lated by them in the region. The language resources were gathered by twenty linguists at, or in collaboration with, Dutch universities over the last 40 years, and were compiled and archived in collaboration with The Language Archive (TLA) at the Max Planck Institute in Nijmegen. The resulting archive constitutes a collection of multimedia materials and written documents from 48 languages in Insular South East Asia and West New Guinea. At TLA, the data was archived according to state-of-the-art standards (TLA holds the Data Seal of Approval): the component metadata infrastructure CMDI was used; all metadata categories as well as relevant units of annotation were linked to the ISO data category registry ISOcat. This guaranteed proper integration of the language resources into the CLARIN framework. Through the archive, future speaker communities and researchers will be able to extensively search the materials for answers to their own questions, even if they do not themselves know the language, and even if the language dies.
Production of biosurfactants by bacteria isolated from a mine tailing zone in Southern Mexico and their resistance to heavy metals

Tailings generated through mining processes often create leachates containing high concentrations of heavy metals such as As, Fe, Mn, Zn and Pb. These high concentrations of heavy metals result in environ-mental damage such as contamination of soil, groundwater and air, which represents a huge problem for individuals living near mining areas. An alternative for soil metal removal is microbiological processes including the production of biosurfactants, possibly a survival mechanism for adverse conditions of mine tailings and leachates. Moreover, mine tailings are materials that have attracted interest among researchers, because they can be exploited by innovative techniques like phytomining. In this study, we sampled the leachates of the “El fraile” mine tailings and identified 103 bacteria capable of growth on these leachates. We observed that 11 bacteria produce a high amount of biosurfactants and developed the multi-metal tolerance with higher concentration gradient of Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Zn and As. We showed that the bacteria tolerate 853 nM of As and up to 12 nM of Pb, 17 nM of Cd, 10.6 nM of Cu, 22 nM of Fe and 10.5 nM of Zn. We determined that the bacterial isolates clustered within five phylogenetic groups that were very close: Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Artherobacter, Pantoea and Solibacillus groups. A bank of strains resistant to heavy metals and producers of biosurfactants was obtained for future studies on the mechanism of absorption or assimilation of heavy metals and light was shed on the alternative use of these bacteria in bioremediation of metal pollution. Key words: Bacteria, metals, biosurfactants, mine tailings.
Improvements in p/al high efficiency technology, alsi

Objective of this work was to get softly doped and deep emitters in single thermal step. Due to high temperature diffusion, dead layer (electrically inactive) is formed which produces recombination centers and increases saturation current density (Joe). For appropriate choice of selective emitter in order to decrease emitter saturation current density (Joe), it is necessary to have a passivated emitters, i.e. with silicon nitride. We have presented a process which combines with standard technology used for selective emitter formation in a single thermal step which leads to lowly doped and deep emitters. This process is feasible for industrial fabrication of P/Al solar cells. In this process the gettering is higher than conventional process. Surface concentration value ranging from 3.6x1019 cm-3 to 7.2x1019 cm-3 and depth junction values from 0.52 to 0.71 µm for sheet resistance ~100 ? /? has obtained. By deposition of SiNx layer, further improved emitters quality by passivating the surface and we have obtained Joe value as low as 40 fA/cm2. The estimated saturation current density (Joe) is around 30-35fA/cm2 with optimization. First experiment has given Sun-Voc 624 mV, which corresponds to Joe 6.45E-13 A/cm2. This Joe is due to rear emitters (Al-BSF), it can be further improved and theoretically expected is around 650 mV. Process which is used to fabricate selective emitter is feasible to apply for industrial fabrication P/Al silicon solar cells with expected high efficiency.
Preoperative Prediction of Pneumonia after CABG surgery: a retrospective cohort study

Method. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on patients who underwent CABG surgery. Two datasets were used developed in different time periods. Because the datasets contained unique variables, after merging the datasets missing values occurred. Multiple imputation (MI) was applied as a solution for this problem. Prognostic factors were determent by the use of backward elimination. Results. A multivariate analysis was performed and three variables were identified and adopted into the prognostic model, respectively productive cough, FEV 1 ( forced expiratory volume) and recent myocardial infarction. Conclusion. A prognostic model predicting the likelihood of developing pneumonia after CABG surgery has been developed. The benefit of this model is that it can be used in the preoperative period. Therefore interventions can be taken adequately to prevent pneumonia after surgery. Recommendations. A validation study to validated the models’ performance in new individuals.
Research on damage mechanism of K9 glass irradiated by pulsed CO_2 laser based on simulate calculation

ANSYS is a widely-used finite element model analysis software in compute aided engineering.Some critical problems are analyzed in damage of K9 glass by pulsed CO2 laser based on ANSYS from the following aspects:building and meshing of finite-element model,loading of pulsed laser,setting of initial conditions and boundary conditions.The finite element model was established and a numerical analysis was performed to calculate the temperature and stress distribution in K9 glass irradiated by pulsed CO2 laser.The calculation results showed that the damage to K9 glass irradiated by pulsed CO2 laser is thermal stress damage when the laser energy is low,both laser beam radius and pulse width affect the thermal stress considerably,the smaller the width,the better the damage effect,and the larger the radius,the worse the damage effect.
RESEARCH ON CRITICAL STRENGTH OF FROZEN INJURY IN CACIUM-ENRICHED FLY ASH CONCRETE

Most of northern regions have a long winter.Concreting in such regions is usually under minus-temperature,so it is essential to study the performance of concrete under minus-temperature.To obtain green concrete and concreting in minus-temperature,the critical strength of frozen injury of minus-temperature calcium-enriched fly ash concrete and the microstructure are studied in this paper.
Broken filaments detection device for viscose filaments

The paper introduces a method for real-time detecting broken filaments in the process of winding viscose filaments.By illuminating viscose filaments,the broken-filaments will become an enlarged image on the sensitive surface of the photo electricity sensor,and the image will weaken the luminous flux of photoelectric cell,by monitoring the signal,the system can detect and count broken filaments.Based on this concept,designed a kind of device for detecting broken filaments for viscose filaments based on the circuit detecting principle.It used single chip process 89C51 as the host and accomplish broken filaments detection and counting by the circuits of signal processing,counting,power governing,displaying,and implementing and driving.It has been proven by practical running that the device is characterized by reliable and stable operation,compactness and low cost.
Preparation and cycling performance of lauric acid-caprylic acid as cool storage phase change material

Phase change materials( PCMs) for cool storage air-conditioning is a promising technology. Using the cooling curve of PCM to draw the phase diagram and find the eutectic melting point of lauric acid-caprylic acid,the mass ratio of PCM is 21 ∶ 79. The differential scanning calorimetry( DSC) curve shows that the PCM melting temperature is 7. 0 ℃ and the latent heat is 130. 8 kJ / kg,and it can be used as PCM. The charging and discharging performance of the material was tested for 40 times. The DSC curve shows that at the 20th testing times,the PCM melting temperature is 7. 58 ℃,the latent heat is 134. 4 kJ / kg; at the 40th testing times,the PCM melting temperature is 7. 73 ℃,latent heat is 134. 0 kJ / kg. It has good steady performance for cycling and is suitable to be low-temperature phase change materials for cool storage air-conditioning.
Numerical simulation of the casting process with coupled thermal and mechanical effects

An integrated finite difference /finite element method system was developed to simulate the temperatures and stresses during casting,with a contact element method used to study the interaction between the sand mold and the casting and the interaction between the temperature and stress fields.The method includes the coupled stress/deformation and temperature effects and was used to simulate the casting of a stress frame. The simulations show that the temperature distributions are closer to the experimental results than those without the contact elements.
Overall Reproductive Performance of Canadian Dairy Cows: Challenges We Are Facing

To evaluate reproductive performance and quantify factors that may affect it requires accurate data and valid analytical techniques. Unfortunately, many studies have drawn inferences from data on calving interval or herd average days open, both of which suffer from bias, lag, and momentum (Stewart et al., 1994). Other reports have focused on conception risk (CR) as a measure of fertility, but at best this only reflects part of the process of making open cows pregnant, in that it does not account for cows that were not inseminated, or for when insemination occurred. The best available single measure of overall reproductive performance at the herd level is pregnancy risk (PR), commonly called pregnancy rate (LeBlanc, 2005). The pregnancy, insemination, and conception risks in a large sample of Ontario dairy herds over the last six years are presented in Figure 1. There was no significant decrease in any of the parameters over this period. However, a longer time span and further analyses are needed to determine whether there is a trend for decreased pregnancy rate over time, and to measure the associations of physiologic and management influences on reproductive performance.
Recent development of chemical mechanical polishing

The history of chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) is reviewed.The polishing mechanism and application of CMP are summarized.In additiont,he different polishing slurries,such as CeO2,SiO2 and Al2O3 polishing slurries,and their advantages and disadvantages,polishing mechanisms and recent preparation methods are also elaborated.Finallyt,he future prospect of CMP and the development trends of new types of polishing slurry are outlined.
Podocyte Injury Causes Chronic Kidney Disease in the Ercc1 Deficient Mouse Model of Accelerated Aging

In 2013, it was determined by the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) that 32% of the people over 60 had some form of chronic kidney disease (CKD)(1). CKD is often age-associated, but confounding factors make it difficult to separate age-related causes from other factors such as diabetes and hypertension. Animal models can be useful to evaluate aging nephropathy but are costly since they take years. The aim of this thesis was two-fold. First, I used the Ercc1 deficient mouse model of accelerated aging to test the hypothesis that unrepaired DNA damage can cause CKD, similar to that seen as a result of natural aging. Second, I tested the hypothesis that inherent podocyte damage due to Ercc1 deficiency causes the loss of kidney function associated with aging. In order to test this hypothesis, kidneys from the Ercc1-/Δ mouse, a model of a human progeria, and old wildtype (WT) (2-3 yrs) mice were characterized and compared to elucidate the time-course and extent of injury. At one month after birth, Ercc1-/Δ mice develop evidence of podocyte injury, autophagy induction, and a slightly elevated urine albumin-creatinine (ACR) ratio. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) remained comparable to WT mice until 2 months, after which time albuminuria increased significantly, GFR decreased significantly, and podocytes began to display increased IKK expression and chronic NF-κB activation, as seen in old WT kidneys. At this same time, increased LC3 and p62 protein levels indicated a functional breakdown in autophagy. ICAM up-regulation in glomerular capillaries and tubule apical membranes occurred, followed by proximal tubule injury, an increase in myofibroblast-like cells and macrophage infiltration. A podocyte specific knock-out of Ercc1 was created and the results support the hypothesis that inherent podocyte injury drives age-related kidney pathologies. In contrast, a proximal tubule cell specific knock-out of Ercc1 showed no elevation in ACR, and no decrease in GFR throughout the time period tested. This thesis provides mechanistic information as to how aging nephropathy can occur over time as a result of endogenous DNA damage, and provides evidence that the podocyte should be a major target for therapeutic intervention.