Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DRIZZLE RATES AND GIANT SEA-SALT NUCLEI IN SMALL CUMULUS

The generation of large sea-salt particles from whitecaps generated by wind over the ocean is well documented (W oodcock, 1953). It is, however, not clear to what degree these large hygroscopic particles act as condensation nuclei that initiate precipitation in small cumulus clouds (Cu). Blyth et al (2003) suggested that in SCMS (Small Cumulus Microphysics Study) cumuli giant and ultra-giant (UGN; sea-salt particles > than 2-um dry radius) affected the appearance of initial precipitation, while Goeke et al (2007) concluded that sea salt had no effect for the same cumuli. Investigations of small trade-wind cumuli during RICO (Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean) likewise found a negligible effect of sea-salt particles on initial precipitation (ColonRobles et al, 2006; Hudson and Mishra, 2007; Knight et al, 2008). An observational study (Gerber et al, 2008) following the microphysical evolution with height of RICO cumuli found a significant number of large drizzle drops associated with UGN concentrations below cloud base. A simple coalescence parcel model constrained by near cloud-base microphysics was in approximate agreement with the observed “drizzle tail” in the droplet size spectrum near mean cloud top. However, a conclusion could not be reached in this study as to the role of this drizzle in precipitation initiation at cloud base. The present study expands the results given in Gerber et al (2008) by performing a modeling sensitivity analysis where droplet spectra and subcloud sea-salt spectra are varied about measured spectra obtained from RICO flight RF12. Drizzle rates are estimated at 1100 m and ~250 m below cloud top. The goal is to compare these new results to all other RICO flights, and to parameterize the drizzle rate as a function of wind speed over the ocean and incloud droplet concentration.
Molecular Development of Silver Nanoparticles-loaded Poly Acrylic Acid Hydrogel as a Catalyst for Dye Degradation

ABSTRACT: In this study, Ag nanoparticles were loaded successfully into poly acrylic acid hydrogel (PAA) as a matrix to prepare PAA-Ag nanocomposite catalyst. The prepared catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FT‐IR), thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP), and X‐Ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS). The catalyst with NaBH4 was used to degrade some common pollutant dyes such as methyl orange (MO), rhodamine B (Rh. B), and methylene blue (MB) in water. UV-visible spectrophotometer was applied to determine the initial and final concentration of dyes. Some effective factors on degradation such as the amount of catalyst, the initial concentration of dye, time, and pH were investigated. The results demonstrated that the amount of catalyst equals to 0.02 and 0.03 g with 0.01 g of NaBH4 in 50 mL water, are appropriate to completely degrade 50 ppm of MO, Rh. B, and MB, respectively at pH=6.5 in less than 15 minutes.
General boundary conditions for a Dirac particle in a box and their non-relativistic limits

The most general relativistic boundary conditions (BCs) for a `free' Dirac particle in a one-dimensional box are discussed. It is verified that in the Weyl representation there is only one family of BCs, labelled with four parameters. This family splits into three sub-families in the Dirac representation. The energy eigenvalues as well as the corresponding non-relativistic limits of all these results are obtained. The BCs which are symmetric under space inversion P and those which are CPT invariant for a particle confined in a box, are singled out.
The trustree for the visualisation of attribute and spatial uncertainty: usability assessments

Attribute and spatial uncertainty are defined and put into context for this research. This paper then extends on a research programme which has designed a visualisation of attribute and choropleth spatial uncertainty using the Hexagonal or Rhombus (HoR) hierarchical spatial data structure. Using the spatial data model in this fashion is termed – the trustree. To understand this progression, a brief explanation of this research programmes past history must be covered. The New Zealand 2001 census is used as an exemplarity dataset to express attribute uncertainty and choropleth boundary uncertainty (termed spatial uncertainty). An internet survey was conducted to test the usability of the trustree, which was used as a transparent tessellation overlay and a value-by-area (VBA) display within a population choropleth map. Two other visualisation of attribute uncertainty methods – blinking areas and adjacent value were also incorporated into the survey. Participants were required to rank, from 1 to 6, six grid cells which overlaid the uncertainty visualisations, in order from the most accurate to the most uncertain cell, respectively. These ranking results were correlated with the actual ranks, providing a metric of usability for each visualisation method. The blinking areas method was the most effective, followed by adjacent value, VBA trustree and the transparent HoR trustree. The time taken for a participant to rank each visualisation’s cells was collected – there is an 82% correlation between the time taken and the final usability results obtained.
Study of Nutrient Salts, Chlorophyll-a and Physicochemical Condition in El-Mex Bay Water, Alexandria, Egypt

The present work aimed to study the physicochemical parameters and nutrient salts of El Mex Bay area to evaluate its composition since El- Mex Bay exposed to several kinds of human activities and receive different types of industrial pollutants. Various pollutants are dumped daily by industrial, agricultural and domestic sources over Alexandria coasts through several outfalls, El-Mex Bay one of these disposal sites (El-Mex Pumping Station). Surface and bottom water samples were collected seasonally during the period from September (summer) 2012 to April (spring) 2013. Salinity variation appeared in water quality changes, it ranged from 2.25‰ to 38.87‰ and from 26.21‰ to 39.64‰ at the surface and bottom water, respectively. Dissolved oxygen levels indicated poor aeration conditions along the water column, it is lower in most stations at surface layer (ND-3.15 mgl -1 ) than that in the bottom layer (0.79 – 6.28 mgl -1 ). The pH values of the study area at surface ranged (7.05 - 8.73), while at the bottom water ranged (7.18 - 8.45). Inorganic nitrogen species in El-Mex Bay water decreased in the order of NH4 + > NO 3 - > NO2 - . The measured nutrient content varied greatly as follows: NH4 + , 4.73±5.70 to 99.27±72.53 µM; NO 2 - , 0.72±0.43 to 4.34±3.43 µM; NO3 - , 1.33±1.01 to 31.68±24.59 µM Regional and seasonal variations of total nitrogen concentration in El-Mex Bay surface and bottom water ranged from 28.26± 14.87 to 335.12±226.66 µM. The concentrations of reactive phosphate (PO 4 ) and total phosphorus (TP) were in the ranges of 0.05-17.36 µM and 0.11-28.01 µM, respectively. As a result of nutrient enrichment, phytoplankton growth was very intensive, reflected by an abnormally high concentration of chlorophyll-a (annual average: 13.64±10.69 μ g l −1 at surface and 3.96 ±2.42 μg l -1 at bottom water).
Optimal Actuator Location for Semi-Linear Systems

Actuator location and design are important choices in controller design for distributed parameter systems. Semi-linear partial differential equations model a wide spectrum of physical systems with distributed parameters. It is shown that under certain conditions on the nonlinearity and the cost function, an optimal control input together with an optimal actuator choice exist. First order necessary optimality conditions are derived. The results are applied to optimal actuator location and controller design in a nonlinear railway track model.
CHANGES IN THE SUMAMPA STREAMFLOW FLASHINESS IN THE FOREST-SAVANNAH TRANSITIONAL ZONE, MAMPONG-ASHANT, GHANA 1985-2009

The Sumampa stream is located in the Municipal capital of Mampong-Ashanti in the forest-savannah agroecological zone of the Ashanti Region in Ghana. The study investigated the changes in the flashiness of the Sumampa stream as a result of increasing human activities in the catchment by assessing the stream’s pathlength and RichardsBaker’s new flashiness Index (R-B Index), annual and decadal variation in the flashiness Index using daily flow data from 1985 to 2009. The daily flow data was generated from the stream’s daily stage data using the stream’s rating curve developed by the Department of Hydrology, Kumasi, Ghana. The landuse change scenarios and the rainfall trend coupled with 43.8% of catchment land on 5-10 o slope represent a potentially high erosion risk and an important factor to influence flashiness in a fast expanding urban catchment. The stream R-B Index dropped by 12.15% and the flow pathlength by 13.89% in 2000-2009 decade. The total decadal stream discharge also decreased by 35.22% in the 2000-2009 decade. The daily stream flow hydrograph shows a decrease in the stream’s flashiness between 1989 and 2006 after which it increased above the mean period flashiness index. The increase in R-B Index after 2006 was due to rapid expansion and rehabilitation of urban facilities and is regulated by a sharp increase in agricultural activities for livelihood.
Utilization of mouldy sorghum and Cassia tora through fermentation for feed purposes.

Microbial fermentation of mouldy grains brought about by lactic acid bacteria is gaining much significance owing to their ability to inhibit mould growth and detoxify mycotoxins while improving the nutritive value and safety of the product. In the present study the potential of developing a probiotic feed ingredient from a combination of mouldy sorghum and Cassia tora seeds, using spontaneous fermentation was explored. The effect of fermentation at 0, 24 and 36 h on the microflora, ergosterol, mycotoxins and nutritive value, of mouldy sorghum was assessed individually and in combination with C. tora seeds. A reduction in mould counts upto 58 and 96% was observed at 24 and 36 h of fermenting mouldy sorghum. Total plate count increased by 2 fold and Lactobacillus count increased by 4 fold when mouldy sorghum was fermented singly or with C. tora seeds. Fermentation decreased ergosterol by 76%, aflatoxin to non-detectable levels at 36 h of fermentation and fumonisin B1 to non-detectable levels at 24 and 36 h of fermentation of mouldy sorghum. Fermentation resulted in marginal improvement in nutritive value of mouldy sorghum when estimated in terms of proximate principles and mineral elements. Addition of C. tora resulted in considerable increase in nutritive value particularly with respect to protein and mineral elements like iron and calcium in mouldy sorghum.
Modelling Inflation Uncertainty Using EGARCH: An Application to Turkey

This paper uses a EGARCH method to model inflation uncertainty in Turkey. Unlike ARCH and GARCH methods, the EGARCH method both hampers the effect of outlying shocks in the estimation of inflation uncertainty and enables the separate treatment of the negative and positive shocks to inflation. As inflation uncertainty itself may follow a seasonal pattern, the series is subjected to monthly seasonal adjustment. The inflation measure we use in this paper is the monthly CPI inflation and covers the period from 1986:1 to 2000:12. The evidence in the paper shows that monthly seasonality has a significant effect on inflation uncertainty. Moreover, once seasonal effects are accounted for, lagged inflation no longer appears to affect inflation uncertainty.
Effect of packaging with nano-composite clay/LDPE film on the quality of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillet at refrigerated storage

In recent years, application of nanotechnology in the food packaging industry has become more widespread and is progressively being commercialized. Adding nanomaterials improves polymers` barrier properties for gases such as O2 and Co2, and increases UV rays barrier, mechanical strength, stiffness, stability, and heat resistance of the base polymer. In this study, low density polyethylene film (LDPE) with 5 wt % nanoparticles of clay was used as the experimental treatment and low density polyethylene film as control treatment. These films were used for packaging of rainbow trout fillets and keeping them in the refrigerator. Then to investigate the quality of packed fillets, samples were taken in days 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25, and were evaluated using chemical (pH, PV, TBA, TVB-N), microbial (TVC, PTC, LAB, EBC and H2S producing bacteria) and sensory tests. Based on the results, significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between control and experimental treatments in different days. The sensory attributes of rainbow trout fillets correlated well with the microbiological analyses (r=0.91). With regards to sensory scores and the microbiological analysis, the shelf-life of rainbow trout fillets has been determined in the control and experimental treatments, 13 to 15 and 18 to 20 days, respectively.
IRIT @ TREC 2016 Clinical Decision Support Track

In this document, we describe our participation of the IRIT lab to the TREC 2016 Clinical Decision Support track. The goal of the Clinical Decision Support track is to develop the efficient systems to retrieve relevant biomedical articles given a form of patient medical record. To address this task, we propose a neural approach to match the document and the query, with the help of the MeSH thesaurus.
A deep learning method using SDA combined with dropout for bearing fault diagnosis

The fault diagnosis of a rolling bearing is at present very important to ensure the steadiness of rotating machinery. According to the non-stationary and non-liner characteristics of bearing vibration signals, a large number of approaches for feature extraction and fault classification have been developed. An effective unsupervised self-learning method is proposed to achieve the complicated fault diagnosis of rolling bearing in this paper, which uses stacked denoising autoencoder (SDA) to learn useful feature representations and improve fault pattern classification robustness by corrupting the input data, meanwhile employs “dropout” to prevent the overfitting of hidden units. Finally the high-level feature representations extracted are set as the inputs of softmax classifier to achieve fault classification. Experiments indicate that the deep learning method of SDA combined with dropout has an advantage in fault diagnosis of bearing, and can be applied widely in future.
Task dependent muscular volume in unilateral edentulous patients by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Objective: To assess the sequelae of unilateral chewing on muscles of mastication via comparing the approximatemuscular volume (AMV) of the masseter (MM), medial pterygoid (MPM), temporalis (TM), superior and inferior lateral pterygoid muscles (SLPM/ILPM) bilaterally using MRI. Materials and methods: Twenty patients (16 females and 4 males) were selected from outpatient dental clinics of Kaser Al Aini Hospitals, Cairo University, complaining from being unilaterally edentulous for one year or more. Also six fully dentate individuals (2 males and 4 females) were selected as control group. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the masticatory muscles was performed followed by measuring the approximate muscle volume (AMV) for each muscle bilaterally using the planimetry method. Results: Showed increase in the approximate muscular volume (AMV) of the dentate side in both right side and left side edentulous patients. Conclusion: Our study shows the effect of long term unilateral chewing on decreasing the AMV in the nonfunctioning side, suggesting that measuring the approximate masticatory muscle volume using MRI could be helpful in detection of long-term functional disability of each muscle in comparison to adjacent muscles.
Effects of Plant Secondary Metabolites on Methane Production and Fermentation Parameters in In vitro Ruminal Cultures

Enteric fermentation process is of concern worldwide for its contribution to global warming. It is known that ruminant animals, due to natural fermentation process contribute substantially to the increase in methane production. Methanogenesis process represents besides its contribution to greenhouse gases emissions an energy loss to the animal. To reduce ruminal methane productions in an ecologically and sustainable way, many attempts have been initiated, such as: uses of chemicals additives or ionophore antibiotics, defaunation process or immunization against ruminal methanogenesis. In the last years, a new strategy has been evaluated whether plant secondary metabolites can be used as natural additives to reduce ruminal methane emissions. The present study has been conducted to investigate the effects of trans-cinnamic, caffeic, p-coumaric acids and catechin hydrate, four plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) on methane production and fermentation in in vitro ruminal cultures. The four PSMs were added anaerobically in a 6 mM concentration to 100 ml serum bottles containing 500 mg grass hay as a substrate, 10 ml rumen fluid collected from a fistulated sheep before morning feeding and 40 ml 141 DSM culture medium. The bottles were incubated at 39 C. After 24 h, the following variables were measured: total gas volume, pH, methane and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production. The results showed that caffeic (p = 0.058) and p-coumaric (p = 0.052) acids tended to decrease methane production in comparison to control but the decrease was not statistic significantly at α= 0.05. The other two PSMs had no significant effect on methane production. Addition of PSMs did not affected the total gas volume, the pH and VFAs profile (P>0.05) in relation to the control (no PSM added). In conclusion, caffeic and p-coumaric acids in 6 mM concentration showed some promising effects for decreasing ruminal methane emissions without affecting ruminal fermentation parameters but further experiments with other concentrations needs to be done.
Coupled vibration of a concrete pipe pile with saturated soil due to longitudinal loading

This paper considers the longitudinal coupled vibration of an elastic bearing concrete pipe pile with the saturated soil. The outer and inner saturated soil are governed by the dynamic consolidation theory originally presented by Biot. The governing equations of soil are transferred to ordinary differential equations by Laplace transform. The volumetric strain and pore pressure of soil are obtained by directly solving the coupling equations of soil without introducing potential functions. The analytical expressions of the displacements and shear stresses of the soil are then obtained. The pile response is derived on the basis of 1D elastic theory and the perfect contacts between the pile and soils. The displacement and velocity of the pile in time domain are obtained by using numerical inverse transformation. Selected numerical results are presented to portray the influence of the existences of soils, pile geometry and dynamic permeability coefficients of soils on the vibration characteristics of the pipe pile. At last, the displacement response between a pipe pile and solid pile are compared.
Democracy, Economic Freedom and Growth in Transition Economies

Summary This article examines the interrelationships between democracy, economic freedoms, and economic growth. We study 24 post-communist economies over the period 1990–2007, and find that strong democratic institutions are associated with greater economic freedoms and larger public sectors and public deficits. Stronger economic freedoms lead to more rapid growth, but large public sectors and public deficits have adverse effects on growth. We identify trade freedom, monetary freedom and freedom from corruption as the most important indicators of economic freedom for growth in transition countries over the period 1994–2007. Some of the factors associated with faster growth prior to the crisis were associated with greater declines in growth during the first years of the financial crisis (2008–2009).
VISUAL SPACE PERCEPTION MODEL IDENTIFICATION BY EVOLUTIONARY SEARCH

Visual perception of Spaces is relevant for design. Designs, which satisfy perceptual requirements are found based on assessments of perceptual implications. For this purpose a probabilistic model of human visual space perception is used. Focus of this paper is the identification of optimal model parameters, so that the perception model matches the perception of human experimenters. This is accomplished by genetic algorithm, which is an evolutionary optimization method from the domain of computational intelligence, which is able to deal with the probabilistic and discrete nature of the perception model to be identified.
Diversity Strategies Focused on Employees with a Migration Background: An Empirical Investigation Based on Resource Dependence Theory **

* * * In our paper, we develop a typology of diversity strategies through combining elements of strategy research, diversity research, and resource dependence theory. We focus on the question why people with a migration background are (not) employed by organizations. We argue that employment decisions are based on the evaluation of critical resources and the quest to secure their accrual. We identify six diversity strategies, designate each by the importance of respective resources, and derive propositions regarding their relation to competitive strategies. We confront these propositions with empirical data stemming from 500 companies. Correspondence analyses reveal various relationships between diversity and competitive strategies and moderating effects of the company size and the industrial sector. In addition, the robustness of our typology is demonstrated.
Land Transport Sector in Bangladesh : An Analysis towards Motivating GHG Emission Reduction Strategies

Traditionally, road transport has been the dominant mode of transportation in Bangladesh, causing not only a burden on the economy through the import of gasoline, but also aggravating the environment through increased emission of greenhouse gasses. Road based energy-intensive transport system in Bangladesh has mainly evolved in absence of vision for long-term transport policy. Emission of green house gases (e.g. mainly CO,, N20 and CH4) resulting from transport fuel have been estimated in this study. Future transport performance has been projected using a cointegrating econometric model. The model predicts that passenger traffic in Bangladesh is likely to grow at more than 7% per year and freight traffic at more than 17 percent per year during the period 2008-2025. This will cause proportionate increase in energy consumption and CO, emissions. The effects of various policy options aimed at reducing energy consumption and CO2 emission have also been analysed using a scenario approach. The results show that combining modal shift, promoting energy efficiency, switching to CNG and using low emission vehicle can potentially reduce about 40 percent emission from the land transport of Bangladesh.
IMPROVEMENT IN TRIBOLOGICAL PROPERTIES BY IMPROVING GEOMETRY OF REINFORCEMENT PARTICLES

The volume fraction of the heavier Titanium Di-boride particles is controlled by inertial forces upon centrifugal force processing the semisolid composite. Titanium Di-boride particles are modeled as tetrahedron particles subject to a drag force in a Stoke flow. The equation of motion for the particles under the applied centrifugal forces is solved mathematically assuming a Gaussian diameter size distribution with a spatial uniform random distribution of particles in the sample. The effect of the geometry of the particles is also important. It is observed that the Penetration capability of reinforcement particles is dependent on the shape and the geometry of the particles. Drag force is kept at the minimum by adopting tetrahedron shape particles. It is possible to understand and control the experimental conditions to obtain an appropriate functionally-graded aluminum matrix by centrifugal casting for high wear resistance applications.