Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Various types of polyurethanes in the process of Chemical Recycling

Increasing raw material costs and more stringent regulations have led to more pressure to develop customer-oriented recycling processes for polyurethanes. Furthermore, waste disposal runs into increasing costs for the producers while old methods of disposal are prohibited legally, both in the US and Europe. One way to solve this problem is to develop a well-suited process and plant for a customer specialised procedure to re-use the waste material obtained for each type of polyurethane product. Based on the previously described simultaneous glycolysis and aminolysis of polyurethanes in this paper, we will report on first results on larger scale recycling of some polyurethane products. While we were initially focused on the use of the recycling products (recycling polyols) to produce new types of polyurethanes, e. g. from cold moulded foams sealants or coatings, the philosophy had to be changed to use the recycling polyols as much as possible to produce the same materials as originally. This route was consequently developed further to other polyurethane products and the incorporation of the recycling polyols into original premixes to be reacted with isocyanates.
Explaining De Facto Judicial Independence

Judicial Independence (JI) as factually implemented varies considerably between countries. Since de iure JI is an imperfect predictor of de facto JI, a number of variables that might determine the factual level of judicial independence is theoretically discussed and empirically tested. A distinction between factors that can be influenced in the short run and those that are the result of historical development and are exempt from short-term modification is made. Ascertaining the relative relevance of these two groups of variables promises to be policy-relevant because attempts to make judiciaries more independent within governance programs might be seriously constrained by factors beyond the control of national governments and international organizations.
FLOW VELOCITY AND SURFACE TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT FROM URBAN CANOPY SURFACES BY NUMERICAL SIMULATION

This study investigates the effect of flow velocity and building surface temperature effects on Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient (CHTC) from urban building surfaces by numerical simulation. The thermal effects produced by geometrical and physical properties of urban areas generate a relatively differential heating and uncomfortable environment compared to rural regions called as Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomena. The urban thermal comfort is directly related to the CHTC from the urban canopy surfaces. This CHTC from urban canopy surfaces expected to depend upon the wind velocity flowing over the urban canopy surfaces, urban canopy configurations, building surface temperature etc. But the most influential parameter on CHTC has not been clarified yet. Urban canopy type experiments in thermally stratified wind tunnel have normally been used to study the heat transfer issues. But, it is not an easy task in wind tunnel experiments to evaluate local CHTC, which vary on individual canyon surfaces such as building roof, walls and ground. Numerical simulation validated by wind tunnel experiments can be an alternative for the prediction of CHTC from building surfaces in an urban area. In our study, wind tunnel experiments were conducted to validate the low-Reynolds-number k-ε model which was used for the evaluation of CHTC from surfaces. The calculated CFD results showed good agreement with experimental results. After this validation, the effects of flow velocity and building surface temperature effects on CHTC from urban building surfaces were investigated. It has been found that the change in velocity remarkably affects the CHTC from urban canopy surfaces and change in surface temperature has almost no effect over the CHTC from urban canopy surfaces.
Environmental Stress Effects on Vigor, Mortality, and Growth in Northern Hardwood Forests Along a Pollution-Climate Gradient

Concern exists over the effects of interacting environmental stresses on the ecological integrity of temperate forests. Coincidence of sensitivity to drought, increasing occurrence of defoliation, and elevated pollutant deposition has produced speculation that northern hardwood forests may be susceptible to the increased climatic stresses projected for the Great Lakes region. The objective of our study was to examine relationships among environmental stress factors, vigor, mortality, and growth in northern hardwood forests located along a pollution-climate gradient in the Great Lakes region. Between 1987 and 1993, we quantified climatic variables, pollutant deposition, insect defoliation, and tree vigor and growth at five sites along this gradient. Drought and defoliation occurred to varying degrees during the study period. Symptoms of chronic environmental stress, such as cankers and epicormic branching, were most pronounced at extreme ends of the gradient. Periodic diameter increments decreased for suppressed trees but increased for dominant trees from north to south, primarily related to climatic factors . Variation in annual diameter increments was strongly associated with moisture availability, with diameter growth being greatly reduced during episodic droughts at the more southerly sites. At one site that experienced both drought and defoliation in 1988, worsening crown condition, elevated mortality, and reduced growth were consistent with the effects of acute levels of environmental stress. While most northern hardwood forests in the Great Lakes region are currently healthy, our results provide additional evidence that these forests are sensitive to increased severity of environmental stress, and may experience alterations in mortality and growth if climate changes as some have predicted. 1991; 1991; Pregitzer 1992; al. 1992; Liechty al. 1993; al. 1993; Lane et al. 1993; et al. 1994). Burton et al. (1991) present a full discussion and evaluation of our approach to selecting and intensively studying a small number of similar sites to minimize confounding effects.
A 2D Time Domain DRBEM Computer Model for MagnetoThermoelastic Coupled Wave Propagation Problems

A numerical computer model based on the dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM) is extended to study magneto-thermoelastic coupled wave propagation problems with relaxation times involving anisotropic functionally graded solids. The model formulation is tested through its application to the problem of a solid placed in a constant primary magnetic field acting in the direction of the z-axis and rotating about this axis with a constant angular velocity. In the case of two-dimensional deformation, an implicit-explicit time domain DRBEM was presented and implemented to obtain the solution for the displacement and temperature fields. A comparison of the results is presented graphically in the context of Lord and Shulman (LS) and Green and Lindsay (GL) theories. Numerical results that demonstrate the validity of the proposed method are also presented graphically.
Imaging dense globular clusters like M3 and M15

The objective for this study will be to explore new photometric methods for amateur telescope observations of ‘cluster variables’ and globular clusters using CCD photometry. Amateur telescope photometric observations of ‘cluster variables’ in globular clusters are limited because of dense, crowded star fields. However, with improvements in CCD photometric methods, there are opportunities to observe cluster variables, such as RR Lyrae and SX Phoenicis type stars, through time series analysis of multiple exposures of whole cluster images. Traditional methods for determining light curves in ‘field’ RR Lyrae and SX Phoenicis type stars require selection of comparison and perhaps check stars to perform differential photometry; i.e. subtraction of flux density measures between a non-variable (comparison star) and the variable star as they change in magnitudes over time. We explore the possibility of measuring the variable star's periodicity in areas, or sections of a globular cluster, to sort different stellar type ‘cluster variables’ within each section of the cluster. There are areas or regions of a globular cluster which ‘pulsate’ at a variable rate which is representative of ‘cluster variables’ that make up that region. For example: we have detected different variability periods within the ‘core’ of a cluster compared to the outer circumference areas of the cluster.
Disturbance Distance: quantifying forests' vulnerability to disturbance under current and future conditions

Disturbances, both natural and anthropogenic, are critical determinants of forest structure, function, and distribution. The vulnerability of forests to potential changes in disturbance rates remains largely unknown. Here, we developed a framework for quantifying and mapping the vulnerability of forests to changes in disturbance rates. By comparing recent estimates of observed forest disturbance rates over a sample of contiguous US forests to modeled rates of disturbance resulting in forest loss, a novel index of vulnerability, Disturbance Distance, was produced. Sample results indicate that 20% of current US forestland could be lost if disturbance rates were to double, with southwestern forests showing highest vulnerability. Under a future climate scenario, the majority of US forests showed capabilities of withstanding higher rates of disturbance then under the current climate scenario, which may buffer some impacts of intensified forest disturbance.
COULD WE AUTOMATICALLY REPRODUCE SEMANTIC RELATIONS OF AN INFORMATION RETRIEVAL THESAURUS

A well constructed thesaurus is recognized as a valuable source of semantic information for various applications, especially for Information Retrieval. The main hindrances to using thesaurus-oriented approaches are the high complexity and cost of manual thesauri creation. This paper addresses the problem of automatic thesaurus construction, namely we study the quality of automatically extracted semantic relations as compared with the semantic relations of a manually crafted thesaurus. The vector-space model based on syntactic contexts was used to reproduce relations between the terms of a manually constructed thesaurus. We propose a simple algorithm for representing both single word and multiword terms in the distributional space of syntactic contexts. Furthermore, we propose a method for evaluation quality of the extracted relations. Our experiments show significant difference between the automatically and manually constructed relations: while many of the automatically generated relations are relevant, just a small part of them could be found in the original thesaurus.
Atomic displacement in solids: analysis of the primary event and the collision cascade. Part I: Neutron and positive ion irradiation

A modern, mathematical-physics introduction to the analytical problem of atomic displacement in solids which is both technically adequate and relevant to an introductory graduate students' curriculum in radiation damage theory is reported. The problematic of atomic displacement in solids is introduced didactically, deriving first the primary event (that is, the formation of the primary knock-on atom) and then building on that specific set of results in order to extend their basics to secondary, tertiary and higher-order progeny—the collision cascade—for both neutrons and positive ions, namely, their average damage functions, displacement cross-sections and energy spectra. A comparison of atomic displacement in solids under neutron and positive ion irradiation is discussed in terms of the physical concept of concentration of displaced atoms (or displacement dose).
A Novel Circularly Polarised Antenna with Wide Power and Axial-Ratio Beamwidth by Using Tilted Dipoles

Abstract—A novel circularly polarised antenna with wide 3 dB axial-ratio beamwidth (ARBW) and half power beamwidth (HPBW) is proposed in this letter. By using two pairs of tilted dipoles, the ARBW of the antenna is significantly enhanced to about 160◦ and 162◦ in the XZand Y Z-planes, respectively. Meanwhile, its HPBW is also broadened to above 116◦ in the dual planes. A prototype is manufactured and measured to validate the method. The measured results show that |S11| < −10 dB reaches about 38.8% (1.37 GHz–2.03 GHz), and the AR at broadside bandwidth is 14% (1.51 GHz– 1.74 GHz). The gain of the antenna also keeps above 4.19 dBic. Meanwhile, acceptable agreements can be obtained between the simulated and measured results. As such, the proposed CP antenna with wide beamwidth can be used in various navigation systems.
The finite-length square cylinder near wake

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the near wake of a finite-length square cylinder, with one end mounted on a flat plate and the other free. The cylinder aspect ratio or height-to-width ratio H/d ranges from 3 to 7. Measurements were carried out mainly in a closed-loop low-speed wind tunnel at a Reynolds number Red, based on d and the free-stream velocity of 9300 using hot-wire anemometry, laser Doppler anemometry and particle image velocimetry (PIV). The planar PIV measurements were performed in the three orthogonal planes of the three-dimensional cylinder wake, along with flow visualization conducted simultaneously in two orthogonal planes (Red = 221). Three types of vortices, i.e. the tip, base and spanwise vortices were observed and the near wake is characterized by the interactions of these vortices. Both flow visualization and two-point correlation point to an inherent connection between the three types of vortices. A model is proposed for the three-dimensional flow structure based on the present measurements, which is distinct from previously proposed models. The instantaneous flow structure around the cylinder is arch-type, regardless of H/d, consisting of two spanwise vortical ‘legs’, one on each side of the cylinder, and their connection or ‘bridge’ near the free end. Both tip and base vortices are the streamwise projections of the arch-type structure in the (y, z) plane, associated with the free-end downwash flow and upwash flow from the wall, respectively. Other issues such as the topological characteristics, spatial arrangement and interactions among the vortical structures are also addressed.
Co-integration of Nifty and NASDAQ Composite-An Empirical Investigation

The present study has analysed the long term relationship between Nifty and NASDAQ Composite for the period 01/01/2000 to 19/08/2014. The study has employed certain econometric tools to analyse the behaviour of both the series. The study finds that both the series are not normally distributed. Unit Root Test was applied to test for stationarity of data and was found to be stationary at first difference and not at level form. Using Johansen’s Co-integration test, it was found that there exists no co-integration/long term association between the Indices. Vector Autoregressive Approach (VAR) indicated that the performance of NASDAQ Composite depended upon the lagged terms of Nifty. To further strengthen the findings, Granger Causality test was employed and the results found unidirectional relationship. Nifty was Granger causing NASDAQ Composite. Short term relationship exists between the indices. The key findings of the study explore the scope of portfolio diversification of Investors and Portfolio managers in the absence of a long term relationship. The Indian market continues to be an attractive destination for Foreign Institutional Investors.
Adjective Roles in Estimating a Product Rating in a Product Review

This research work explores consumers’ sentiments through written product reviews. Given a piece of product review, a person likely can tell how much the reviewer likes or dislikes the associated product. This likeness can translate into a numeric scale. For example, reading a product review, one can probably guess how many stars (which is a rating, such as, from 1 through 5) are given by the reviewer to the product. Out of hundreds of words in a particular product review, there might be only few key words that are the key estimators of the reviewer’s likeness. This research work explores those estimator type of words, particularly adjectives and other non-adjectives acting as an adjective in its context. By nature, adjectives are words that describe, qualify, modify and give more information about other words. This fact hints an idea of using adjectives in a product review as an estimator for reviewer’s likeness. Besides those words defined as adjectives by linguistic definition, this work is also interested in other words that might not strictly be adjectives by linguistic definition but play adjective’s role in its corresponding context. This paper reports findings from exploration of the relation between adjectives in a product review and its likeness rating. Experiments are performed on a number of product reviews, book reviews to be specific, from an online bookstore. Keywords-adjectives; text mining; sentiment analysis; natural language processing
A Gene Score Test for Disease Association with Multiple Genes

The traditional method for creating a gene score to predict a given outcome is to use the most statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from all SNPs which were tested. There are several disadvantages of this approach such as excluding SNPs that do not have strong single effects when tested on their own but do have strong joint effects when tested together with other SNPs. The interpretation of results from the traditional gene score may lack biological insight since the functional unit of interest is often the gene, not the single SNP. In this paper we present a new gene scoring method, which overcomes these problems as it generates a gene score for each gene, and the total gene score for all the genes available. First, we calculate a gene score for each gene and second, we test the association between this gene score and the outcome of interest (i.e. trait). Only the gene scores which are significantly associated with the outcome after multiple testing correction for the number of gene tests (not SNPs) are considered in the total gene score calculation. This method controls false positive results caused by multiple tests within genes and between genes separately, and has the advantage of identifying multi-locus genetic effects, compared with the Bonferroni correction, false discovery rate (FDR), and permutation tests for all SNPs. Another main feature of this method is that we select the SNPs, which have different effects within a gene by using adjustment in multiple regressions and then combine the information from the selected SNPs within a gene to create a gene score. A simulation study has been conducted to evaluate finite sample performance of the proposed method.
Mental skills in combat sports – review of methods anxiety evaluation

According to the accurate recognition of John Harasymowicz “fighting reveals different features of human na‐ ture, such as anxiety, aggression, vanity, pride, abilities, physical disposition, and knowledge as well as interde‐ pendence between these features”. In this article particular attention was paid to the phenomenon of anxiety, which arises in different circumstances and almost always has an impact on physical, mental and behavior‐ al health of people, especially athletes. The consequences of its influence are still unknown. Understanding the way how emotions influence the course of sports rivalry is a key element for controlling weaknesses, par‐ ticularly during a fight. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the scientific literature concerning the anxiety phenomenon in combat sports, with particular emphasis on the most commonly used research tools in the psychological analysis of anxiety among combat sports athletes, including the different varieties of this
Virtual sales floor: Consumer’s perception towards microcelebrities sponsored content

Purpose – Since microcelebrities became a matter of interest for brands and researches and just few studies focus on the consumer point of view, the purpose of this study is to explore consumer’s perceptions towards microcelebrities sponsored content. Investigating consumer’s experiences and attitudes towards the microcelebrity, sponsored content, and associated brand. Design/ Methodology/ Approach – Using phenomenology as methodology, semi-structed interviews was used with 6 participants, being 3 females and 3 males. They were selected using purposive and snowballing sampling technique. The data was analysed using Crist & Tanner (2003) hermeneutic interpretive phenomenology method. Findings – Findings indicate consumers consider microcelebrities as a profession, consequently they don’t have a negative attitude towards sponsored content. They prefer when the sponsored content is relevant and provide any type of useful information. Also, if the content matches with the microcelebrity, increases consumer’s positive attitude towards the influential user and brand. Having a direct effect on purchase intention and brand’s acceptance. Research limitation/implications – This study relies on the fitness and health industry, which makes it difficult to generalize the findings across all types of microcelebrities. Also, the study was conducted in Ireland, and may have different findings for changes that occur in different cultures. Originality/value – This study contributes to the understanding of consumers towards microcelebrities sponsored content, providing in-depth information about the context, meaning, and experience. While aims to filled the gap of a qualitative study facilitating a foundation for future researches.
Fixed and Variable Sized Block Techniques for Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication with General Matrix Structures

In this paper, several blocking techniques are applied to matrices that do not have a strong blocked structure. The aim is to efficiently use vectorization with current CPUs, even for matrices without an explicit block structure on nonzero elements. Different approaches are known to find fixed or variable sized blocks of nonzero elements in a matrix. We present a new matrix format for 2D rectangular blocks of variable size, allowing fill-ins per block of explicit zero values up to a user definable threshold. We give a heuristic to detect such 2D blocks in a sparse matrix. The performance of a Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication for chosen block formats is measured and compared. Results show that the benefit of blocking formats depend – as to be expected – on the structure of the matrix and that variable sized block formats can have advantages over fixed size formats. Keywords–Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication; Blocking; Vector Intrinsics
Development and comparison of two models to predict survival rates of young larvae of Stegobium paniceum (L.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) under heat treated temperatures

Predicting mortality or survival rate of insects at heat treatment temperatures is critical for commercial heat treatment of food and storage facilities. Two models were developed to predict the survival rate of young larvae of drugstore beetle, Stegobium paniceum (L.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) under steady state or transient temperature condition: modified fundamental kinetic model and modified complementary log-log transformation model. Published young larvae mortalities and raw data of the temperature history, determined at different heat treatment temperatures, were used to develop these models. The models were verified and compared by using the field data collected in a medium sized mill. Both of the developed models overestimated the insect mortality in the mill when temperature was > 53°C and underestimated insect mortality when temperature was < 50°C. The lowest mean of the absolute difference between the predicted and measured insect mortality in the mill was 16.7±1.1% which was generated by using the modified complementary log-log transformation model. The possible reason of this divergence from the model is discussed. Keywords : Stegobium paniceum (L.), Survival, Heat treatments, Modeling.