Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low temperature specific heat, magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements in Ni-Ti metallic glasses

The authors have measured the low-temperature specific heats in the range 1.5-6 K, the magnetic susceptibilities in the range 77-300 K and the electrical resistivities in the range 2-300 K for four Ni100-xTix (x=40, 55, 65 and 70) metallic glasses. The density of states near the Fermi level is found to be an increasing function of Ti concentration. A detailed comparison has been made on the electronic structure among the four similar metallic glasses Cu-Zr, Cu-Ti, Ni-Zr and Ni-Ti. The Debye temperature theta D in Ni-Ti is found to be the highest among these four systems. The Debye temperature theta D is discussed in relation to the crystallisation temperature Tx and also the characteristic temperature Delta involved in an expression for the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity.
Development and Application of a Dual-Impedance Radial Diffusion Model to Simulate the Partitioning of Semivolatile Organic Compounds in Combustion Aerosols

The fate of semivolatile organic compounds in the atmosphere is largely dependent on their partitioning between the gas phase and sorption to particulate matter. Since real atmospheres have been shown to deviate significantly from gas−particle equilibrium under certain conditions, dynamic mass transfer models are needed to accurately predict partitioning. In this work, a dual-impedance radial diffusion model is presented that is able to simulate the partitioning of deuterated fluoranthene in wood and diesel soot atmospheres generated in a large outdoor Teflon film chamber. It is shown that the dual-impedance model produces significantly better fits to experimental results than a one-layer model and that surface mass transfer is not rate limiting in these systems. The sensitivity of optimized apparent diffusion coefficients to key input parameters is also explored. This work lays the foundation for incorporating dynamic gas−particle partitioning models into larger atmospheric models, such as urban airshed .
Effect of the licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) ethanol extract on growth of Bacillus cereus at the Meju producing stage

The effects of Licorice ethanol extracts, which are natural antibiotic active materials, against the growth of Bacillus cereus and of Licorice extracts on soybean paste were investigated. Licorice extracts had strong effects against the growth of B. Cereus when added at a concentration of 0.05% to the nutrient broth. Licorice extracts were added at the Meju producing stage to investigate its effects against B. cereus and ripening soybean paste. In these experiments, 96% of B. cereus was eliminated in the soybean paste containing Licorice extract concentration of 0.05% compared with soybean paste without Licorice extract. In addition, no B. cereus was detected in soybean paste when Licorice extract at a concentration of 0.4% was added. The amino nitrogen content in samples containing the added Licorice extracts was not much different from the control; thus, the Licorice extract does not appear to affect ripening soybean paste. Consequently, the addition of Licorice extracts to soybean paste holds promise for use as an effective method to eliminate B. cereus from soybean paste.
Impedimetric approach for monitoring bacterial cultures based on the changes in the magnitude of the interface capacitance

A previously reported methodology is applied to monitor the concentration of bacterial suspensions from an incubator using impedance spectroscopy and platinum electrodes. The interface capacitance, commonly fitted as a constant phase element, CPEi, was found sensitive to the suspended bacteria concentration after short exposure times in a wide range of concentrations (from 102 to 107 colony forming units per mL, CFU mL−1) with a limit of detection of 10 CFU mL−1. The effect of the substances released during bacterial growth (enzymes, toxins, exopolysaccharide, etc.) in the CPEi magnitude was found to be negligible and samples only containing cells washed with saline solutions showed results comparable to those obtained using aliquots directly extracted from the bacterial incubator. This impedimetric approach showed correlation with classical microbiological methods for measuring bacterial concentration such as plating onto agar, optical density and fluorescence microscopy. The impedimetric approach was simplified to a single frequency analysis by selecting the optimal frequency for the measurement.
Thin-film heterostructure solid oxide fuel cells

A micro thin-film solid oxide fuel cell (TFSOFC) has been designed based on thin-film deposition and microlithographic processes. The TFSOFC is composed of a thin-film electrolyte grown on a nickel foil substrate and a thin-film cathode deposited on the electrolyte. The Ni foil substrate is then processed into a porous anode by photolithographic patterning and etching to develop pores for gas transport into the fuel cell. A La0.5Sr0. 5CoO3 (LSCO) thin-film cathode is then deposited on the electrolyte, and a porous NiO–YSZ cermet layer is added to the anode to improve the electrode performance. The TFSOFC has stably operated in a temperature ranges as low as 480–570 °C, significantly lower than bulk SOFC’s, and has yielded a maximum output power density of ∼110 mW/cm2 in that temperature range.
Precursor Morphology Controlled Formation of Rutile VO2 Nanorods and Their Self-Assembled Structure

Rutile VO2 nanorods have been synthesized by the precursor morphology controlled formation. The precursor single-crystal VO2 hydrate nanorods have been obtained via the hydrothermal reaction of KOH, V2O5, and hydrazine in a sealed autoclave at low temperature. The reducing agent N2H4 plays a key role in the control of one-dimensional morphology. According to the data of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, rutile VO2 nanorods have been formed when the precursor VO2 hydrate is heated at 340 °C for 1 day in flowing N2 and maintaining the morphology of the precursor. The products have been characterized by means of X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy techniques. It is shown that these rutile VO2 nanorods are self-assembled by VO2 nanocrystalline domains with the same crystallographic direction along the rod axis. The reaction details and featur.
1,3,4-Oxadiazole based liquid crystals

Liquid crystals with 1,3,4-oxadiazole units in the aromatic core have attracted considerable attention due to their rich mesophases, high photoluminescence quantum yields, good electron transporting ability and excellent thermal stabilities. In this feature article, 1,3,4-oxadiazole-based liquid crystals are classified into three categories according to their different molecular shapes and molecular weight: calamitic and discotic monomers, symmetric and non-symmetric dimers, and polymers including main-chain, side-chain and mesogen-jacketed types. The structure–property relationships of this kind of liquid crystal are discussed in-depth, with an emphasis on strategies to devise columnar and biaxial nematic mesophases with a low temperature range.
Rhenium and technetium-99m complexes with coenzyme M (MESNA)

New rhenium and technetium-99m complexes with the monodentate thiol HSCH2CH2SO3Na (coenzyme M, MESNA) have been prepared for radiopharmaceutical purposes. Using the ‘3 + 1’ approach, the anionic rhenium complex [ReO(SCH2CH2SCH2CH2S)(SCH2CH2SO3)]− was prepared in two different ways: (1) reaction of MESNA with the complex [ReO(SCH2CH2SCH2CH2S)Cl]; and (2) reaction of the tridentate ligand S(CH2CH2SH)2 with the MESNA complex [ReO(SCH2CH2SO3Na)4]−. The structure of this ‘3 + 1’ complex was determined by X-ray crystallographic studies, showing the characteristic {ReOS4} coordination around the metal atom. The sulfonate group of the coordinated MESNA is located far from the rhenium metal and near to the sodium cations. Chromatographic analysis of the reaction products after subsequent addition of MESNA and the tridentate ligand to the 99m-Tc gluconate precursor revealed the formation of a mixture of the ‘3 + 1’ technetium complex [99mTcO(SCH2CH2SCH2CH2S)(SCH2CH2SO3)]− and the complex with the monothiol [99mTcO(SCH2CH2SO3Na)4]−. The limited solubility of the ‘3 + 1’ rhenium complex in water may explain the high yield obtained in the rhenium synthesis compared with the lower yield observed in the same reaction with the homologous technetium-99m complexes.
An evaluation through lactating cattle of a bacterial inoculant as an additive for grass silage

Three silages were prepared from herbage treated with either an inoculant (Ecosyl, Imperial Chemical Industries plc) at 3.21 t−1, formic acid (850 g kg−1, Add F BP Chemicals International Ltd) at 2·3 1 t−1, or no additive (control). The herbage used was the first regrowth from perennial ryegrass swards. It was ensiled unwilted, and had mean dry matter and water soluble carbohydrate concentrations at ensiling of 154 and 24·1 g kg−1 respectively. Time course studies showed only minor effects of additive treatment on fermentation patterns within the silo and all three silages had good fermentations. Over an 88 d feeding period, commencing on day 7 of lactation, forty-eight British Friesian cows were used to evaluate the silages in a three-treatment, randomized-block design experiment. The animals were stalled individually, offered the silages ad libitum, and in addition received 5 kg d−1 of a supplement containing 196 g kg−1 crude protein. On the basis of the data recorded during the final 28 d on treatment the animals receiving the inoculant-treated silage consumed 12 and 10% more silage dry matter and produced 2·1 and 2·3 kg d−1 more milk than those given the control and formic acid-treated silages respectively. Over the total experimental period the milk yields were 1957, 1894 and 2094 (±41·3) kg for animals receiving the control, formic acid- and inoculant-treated silages respectively. Animals offered the formic acid treated silage produced milk of significantly higher fat concentration than those given the other two silages. Total ration digestibility studies, conducted with three cows per treatment, indicated no significant differences in digestibility coefficients, nitrogen utilization or metabolizable energy concentrations of the three treatment diets. It is concluded that the higher milk yield recorded with the inoculant-treated silage, and the higher milk fat concentration with the formic acid-treated silage, over that obtained with the control silage, were due to the increases in ME intake of 5 and 16 MJ d−1 for the formic acid and inoculant-treated silages respectively.
Shape extraction of low‐textured objects in video microscopy

Shape from focus is an elegant method that estimates the structure of a 3D object from a video of captured frames using the degree of focus as the principal cue. However, the quality of the estimated structure is vulnerable to scene texture. The effect is particularly pronounced for objects that are smooth relative to the magnification of the optical system. In this paper, the shape estimation process is cast as an inverse problem. We exploit spatial dependencies by modeling the shape of the object with a discontinuity‐adaptive Markov random field wherein the focus measure profile is used to judiciously control the degree of smoothness. The 3D information is obtained by minimizing a suitably derived energy function that preserves fine details of the underlying structure. We show by experimentation on several real‐world specimens that our method yields state‐of‐the‐art performance.
Camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia Kunth McVaugh)

Abstract: Camu-camu is a small wild berry from the Amazon river region which shows sigmoid growth and has an acid and astringent taste and the highest L-ascorbic acid content known in the fruit world. The development of a red skin is the most widely used harvest index. Camu-camu has an apparent climacteric behaviour without a detectable peak of ethylene production. Camu-camu is susceptible to shrivelling, loss of ascorbic acid and, at low temperatures, to chilling injury. For this reason, it is recommended that fruit at the turning or red colour stage be stored at temperatures around 10°C in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). The local fresh fruit market uses MAP with low-density polyethylene bags for short storage periods. The fruit is consumed fresh or in the form of juice, while the pulp is also processed for beverages and lyophilized capsules, or to extract health-promoting compounds.
To Project or Not to Project: In Search of the Pathway to Object Orientation

We study two diﬀerent ways to learn object-oriented programming in higher secondary education: The ﬁrst way is to structure the lessons around an overarching project. First, a smaller object-oriented program is introduced. During the learning process, this program and the associated tasks become more and more complex and diﬃcult in structure and size. In the second way, the individual lessons are structured around various small modules, each introducing new aspects. We call this approach LULUM (Learning Using Little Useful Modules). We evaluated the approaches with two groups of students from a comprehensive school. In addition, we compared these results with those of another group from a grammar school. Our results are as follows: When comparing the two approaches, the LULUM approach has shown to be more successful. The question nevertheless arises as to whether it makes sense to lay a relatively solid foundation in imperative programming before introducing the fundamentals of object orientation.
The effect of particle size and nitric acid uptake on the homogeneous freezing of aqueous sulfuric acid particles

Recent laboratory data on ice freezing from aqueous H2SO4 solutions are used to update our homogeneous ice freezing nucleation algorithm. The effect of particle size on the ice freezing process is demonstrated by calculating and comparing ice freezing curves for different size particles ranging from 0.2 to 4 micron in radius. Using the ice nucleation model we show that liquid water saturation is required above −44°C to activate submicron H2SO4 particles into cloud droplets. A thermodynamic model is used to show that the available laboratory data on ice freezing from ternary H2SO4/HNO3/H2O solutions are insufficient to adequately address the effect of HNO3 uptake on the homogeneous freezing of aqueous H2SO4 particles into ice.
Adsorption of orange G dye on paper mill sludge: Equilibrium and kinetic modeling

SUMMARY In the present study, paper mill sludge (generated as a waste material from paper industries) was investigated as an adsorbent for the removal of orange G dye (an anionic dye) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption capacity of paper mill sludge adsorbent for orange G dye was found to be 62.3 mg/g at 25 o C. The adsorption was studied as a function of contact time, concentration, and pH, by batch method. The adsorption data conform best to the Langmuir model. Three simplified kinetic models viz. pseudofirst-order, pseudo-second-order, and intra-particle diffusion models were tested to fit the experimental data. Kinetic parameters, rate constants, equilibrium sorption capacities and related correlation coefficients, for each kinetic model were determined. It was shown that the present system of orange G dye adsorption on paper mill sludge adsorbent could be well described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Based on the present investigations, it is reasonable to conclude that paper mill sludge can be utilized as low-cost adsorbent in treating colored dye effluents.
Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(phenylene)-Based Anion Exchange Membranes for Alkaline Fuel Cells

Cationic polymer membranes that conduct free anions comprise an enabling area of research for alkaline membrane fuel cells and other solid-state electrochemical devices that operate at high pH. The synthesis of anion exchange membranes based on a poly(phenylene) backbone prepared by a Diels−Alder reaction is demonstrated. The poly(phenylene)s have benzylic methyl groups that are converted to bromomethyl groups by a radical reaction. Cationic polymers result from conversion of the bromomethyl groups to ionic moieties by quaternization with trimethylamine in the solid state. The conversion to benzyltrimethylammonium groups is incomplete as evidenced by the differences between the IEC values measured by titration and the theoretical IECs based on 1H NMR measurements. The anion exchange membranes formed from these polymers have hydroxide ion conductivities as high as 50 mS/cm in liquid water, and they are stable under highly basic conditions at elevated temperatures.
InGaAs/GaAs quantum-dot–quantum-well heterostructure formed by submonolayer deposition

Discrete emission lines from self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots (QDs) grown in the submonolayer (SML) deposition mode have been observed in micro-photoluminescence (PL) spectra at 10 K. For the first time, the SML-grown InGaAs/GaAs QD heterostructure is verified to be a quantum-dot–quantum-well (QDQW) structure, by using high power PL and selective PL with excitation energies below the band gap of the GaAs barriers and temperature dependent PL. As the temperature is increased from 10 to 300 K, a narrowing of the full width at half-maximum at intermediate temperatures and a sigmoidal behaviour of the peak energy of PL band of the SML QD ensemble are observed and attributed to thermally activated carrier transfer between QDs via QW states.
Contributions of Electrokinetics and Bioremediation in the Treatment of Different Petroleum Components

The present study investigated the contributions of electrokinetics (EK) and bioremediation (BIO) in the treatment of different petroleum components by using bio-electrokinetics (BIO-EK) technology with a 2-dimensional (2-D) electric field. The spatiotemporal changes of the contents of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and its components, as well as microbial activity, were determined during remediation. The results demonstrated that the contribution rate of EK showed a significant positive correlation with electric intensity, while that of BIO was the opposite. The efficiency of BIO was stimulated by the electric field in the coupled BIO-EK technology, signifying a synergistic effect between EK and BIO. According to the components analysis, alkanes decreased most intensively compared with other components, indicating that alkanes are more susceptible to both EK and BIO. For n-alkanes, the degradation efficiency was inversely proportional to hydrocarbon chain length. The contribution of EK was higher than that of BIO in the treatment of alkanes, and the contribution of BIO was higher than that of EK in the degradation of aromatics. The use of a 2-D electric field led to enhanced microbial activity compared to BIO alone. The dehydrogenase activity increased significantly during the first 70 days, correlating with extent of TPH degradation.
Synthesis of Aliphatic-Aromatic Copolyesters by a Melting Bulk Reaction Between Poly(butylene terephthalate) and DL-Oligo(lactic acid):

DL-Oligo(lactic acid) (OLA) readily reacts with poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate) (PBT) in the melt leading to the formation of high molecular mass poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate-co-DL-lactide) (BLA) copolymers. The analysis from 1H NMR reveals that transesterification between butylene terephthalate (BT) and lactide (LA) segments during synthesis has occurred. The BLA copolymers are segmented copolyesters with random arrangement, as shown by the sequence structure of BLA copolyester chains and as confirmed by their thermal behavior. The BLA copolyesters show only one melting temperature (Tm), crystallization temperature (Tc), and thermal decomposition temperature (T d) when the reaction between PBT and OLA takes place at 280°C for more than 0.5 h. With increased OLA composition, the Tm, Tc and Td decrease due to fewer aromatic sequences. The copolyester with a PBT/OLA starting molar ratio of 5.9/94.1 is soluble in chloroform, while pristine PBT is only soluble in mixed chloroform/phenol solvent. Conventio.
Fractal Characterization of Spontaneous Co-current Imbibition in Porous Media

Spontaneous capillary imbibition is an important fundamental phenomenon existing extensively in a variety of processes such as polymer composite manufacturing, oil recovery, soil science and hydrology, etc. In this work, analytical expressions for characterizing a spontaneous co-current imbibition process of wetting fluid into gas-saturated porous media are proposed based on the fractal characters of porous media. The mass of imbibed liquid is expressed as a function of the fractal dimensions for pores and for tortuous capillaries, the minimum and maximum hydraulic diameter of pores, and the ratio for minimum to maximum hydraulic diameters, porosity, and fluid properties, as well as the fluid−solid interaction. The imbibed weight predicted by the present model is in good agreement with the available experimental data.
Shape-Controlled Synthesis of 3D Hierarchical MnO2 Nanostructures for Electrochemical Supercapacitors

A simple hydrothermal method has been used to fabricate sea urchin shaped α-MnO2 without using any template and surfactant. When other conditions were kept the same and Al3+ exists in the solution, the product is α-MnO2 nanorods clusters; when Al3+ was substituted by Fe3+ in the solution, the phase of the products was transformed from α-MnO2 to e-MnO2; relatively, the morphology of the product was changed from urchinlike clusters to 3D clewlike. The sea urchin shaped α-MnO2 and α-MnO2 nanorods clusters consist of radially grown single crystalline MnO2 nanorods of ca. 30−40 nm in diameter and ca. 0.87−1.2 μm in length. The 3D clewlike e-MnO2 nanostructures are composed of nanosheets with a thickness of about 17 nm. The electrochemical properties of the prepared MnO2 materials were studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and ac impedance measurements in aqueous electrolyte. 3D clewlike e-MnO2 nanostructures have a specific capacitance of 120 F g−1 and lower charge-transfer resistance. The results indicate tha.
Perspectives on Oncolytic Salmonella in Cancer Immunotherapy—A Promising Strategy

Since the first reported spontaneous regression of tumors in patients with streptococcus infection, cancer biological therapy was born and it evolved into today’s immunotherapy over the last century. Although the original strategy was unable to impart maximal therapeutic benefit at the beginning, it laid the foundations for the development of immune checkpoint blockade and CAR-T which are currently used for cancer treatment in the clinics. However, clinical applications have shown that current cancer immunotherapy can cause a series of adverse reactions and are captious for patients with preexisting autoimmune disorders. Salmonellae was first reported to exert antitumor effect in 1935. Until now, numerous studies have proved its potency as an antitumor agent in the near future. In this review, we summarize the currently available data on the antitumor effects of Salmonella, and discussed a possibility of integrating Salmonella into cancer immunotherapy to overcome current obstacles.
Hall Effect Thruster Plasma Plume Characterization with Probe Measurements and Self-Similar Fluid Models

A characterization of the far-field plasma plume of two Hall effect thrusters was performed by means of a comparison between experimental plasma properties with semianalytical fluid models of the hypersonic plasma plume. A cylindrical Langmuir probe was employed in the experimental investigation of the plumes. Time-averaged measurements of the plasma potential, the electron temperature and density were performed for various operating conditions of the PPS R 100-ML and the PPI thruster. The measured data was then used to fit a simple fluid model that relies on the quasi-selfsimilarity exhibited by hypersonic plasma plumes. Model agrees well with experimental data and the error committed by the selfsimilarity assumption is shown to be small.