Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A long-term application of a pilot airlift membrane bioreactor for domestic wastewater treatment [Desalination and Water Treatment, Volume 4 (2009) 212-217]

Current and impending legislation for public health and environmental compliance regarding effluent are becoming very stringent. For unrestricted domestic effluent reuse and environmental friendly disposal, the need for advanced treatment processes has attracted great attention during the last decade. Membrane-based treatment technologies for low quality water have exhibited improved performance as well as a reduction of operating and maintenance expenses. Membrane technology also provides a preferable alternative for wastewater reclamation in small and isolated communities. This study presents a long term study of an airlift membrane bioreactor (MBR) for domestic wastewater treatment using a hollow fibre membrane module of ZW-10 under ambient desert conditions (Kiryat Sde-Boker, Israel). In this system, the crossflow velocity across the membrane surface was induced by a cylindrical draft tube to reduce the membrane fouling. Under optimal operating conditions, the system was stable and efficient without e.
Ecological cooperative adaptive cruise control of over‐actuated electric vehicles with in‐wheel motor in traffic flow

Since electric vehicle with in-wheel motor has advantages in aspects of vehicle dynamics control and energy-efﬁcient control, it has been widely applied in the vehicle platoon in the highway. This paper proposes an optimization and control structure that integrates ecological cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) for the vehicle platoon, and path tracking and ecological control allocation (Eco-CA) for individual vehicle to improve the energy efﬁciency of electric vehicles in trafﬁc ﬂow. First, in the upper layer, the suitable driving mode is selected by ﬁnite-state machine (FSM) based on surrounding environment. Then the path-planner and ecological CACC in the higher layer are proposed to determine the desired path and desired speed and acceleration proﬁle. After that, in the middle layer, longitudinal motion controller and yaw stability controller are integrated to achieve the desired control targets from upper layer. Finally, in the lower layer, each in-wheel motor torque is optimized by Eco-CA subsystem to reduce the energy consumption of driving motor and tyre friction loss. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy can improve the energy efﬁciency and dynamics control performance.
Enhancing gas sensing properties of novel palladium-decorated zinc oxide surface: a first-principles study

Doping and surface engineering of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures are the practical approach in promoting the gas sensing capabilities. However, the mechanism and the factors that affect such improvement are not well understood. We performed the first-principles based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate palladium (Pd) decoration on the gas sensing properties of ZnO (0001) surface. Various Pd loading contents on the ZnO surface have been simulated for the resulting sensing capabilities towards a series of gas molecules. The simulations indicate that the modified ZnO surfaces actively interact with the CO and NH3 gas molecules with great adsorption energies ranging from −1.02 eV to −5.56 eV. Moreover, the most stable structure of the decorated ZnO surface by a three-Pd ring cluster has revealed the drastically enhanced selectivity towards NH3 gas. Hence, surface decoration by Pd atoms could be an effective approach in promoting gas selectivity and sensitivity.
An IOTA-Based Service Discovery Framework for Fog Computing

With the rise in fog computing, users are no longer restricted to only accessing resources located in central and distant clouds and can request services from neighboring fog nodes distributed over networks. This can effectively reduce the network latency of service responses and the load of data centers. Furthermore, it can prevent the Internet’s bandwidth from being used up due to massive data flows from end users to clouds. However, fog-computing resources are distributed over multiple levels of networks and are managed by different owners. Consequently, the problem of service discovery becomes quite complicated. For resolving this problem, a decentralized service discovery method is required. Accordingly, this research proposes a service discovery framework based on the distributed ledger technology of IOTA. The proposed framework enables clients to directly search for service nodes through any node in the IOTA Mainnet to achieve the goals of public access and high availability and avoid network attacks to distributed hash tables that are popularly used for service discovery. Moreover, clients can obtain more comprehensive information by visiting known nodes and select a fog node able to provide services with the shortest latency. Our experimental results have shown that the proposed framework is cost-effective for distributed service discovery due to the advantages of IOTA. On the other hand, it can indeed enable clients to obtain higher service quality by automatic node selection.
The Natural Gas Supply Chain: The Importance of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Natural gas is typically considered to be the cleaner-burning fossil fuel that could play an important role within a restricted carbon budget. While natural gas emits less CO2 when burned than other fossil fuels, its main constituent is methane, which has a much stronger climate forcing impact than CO2 in the short term. Estimates of methane emissions in the natural gas supply chain have been the subject of much controversy, due to uncertainties associated with estimation methods, data quality, and assumptions used. This Perspective presents a comprehensive compilation of estimated CO2 and methane emissions across the global natural gas supply chain, with the aim of providing a balanced insight for academia, industry, and policy makers by summarizing the reported data, locating the areas of major uncertainty, and identifying where further work is needed to reduce or remove this uncertainty. Overall, the range of documented estimates of methane emissions across the supply chain is vast among an aggregation.
Corporate Social Responsibility As a Source of Competitive Advantage in Large Enterprises

The competitive advantage of enterprises in the conditions of market economy is not generated merely by ensuring high quality products and services. Therefore, in their strategies, they need to involve elements such as corporate social responsibility. The aim of the paper is to identify the key sources of competitive advantage of large enterprises. In the empirical research, the hypothesis has been tested to determine if the application of corporate social responsibility by enterprises has a statistically significant effect on gaining competitive advantage in the market. The hypothesis is verified on the basis of the authors’ study of 253 large enterprises operating in Poland by means of exploratory factor analysis, the statistical method of reducing the number of classifying empirical variables, i.e. of discovering a structure in their interrelations. The procedure enabled the selection of the factors with the greatest statistical shares in explaining variability. To this end, the input space was rotated in accordance with the Varimax criterion, with the number of determined factors specified by means of the Kaiser criterion and Cattell’s scree test. The application of an exploratory factor analysis enabled the authors to construct an original factor model of sources of enterprise competitive advantage, with three factors identified: marketing, innovation activity and corporate social responsibility. This indicates that marketing activities, innovation activities and the application of corporate social responsibility are the key sources of competitive advantage in large enterprises operating in the market.
Investigation and comparison of design space for ultra-thin-body GeOI/SOI negative capacitance FETs

Using the concept of design space, we have investigated and compared the subthreshold characteristics of UTB NCFETs with Ge/Si channel. Our results indicate that high permittivity channel is more suitable for NCFET design because of the high Cch. Furthermore, as channel length shrinks, the optimal SS of the NCFET becomes smaller due to the drain coupling (CDIBL). In other words, GeOI NCFETs can achieve lower SS than the Si counterpart due to their higher Cch and CDIBL.
Two and three-particles spatial correlation in weak coupling plasma and applications

ABSTRACT In this work, we studied the pair and triplet correlation functions in plasma composed of particles interacting via the Debye screening potential in the conditions of weak coupling parameter (Γ ≤ 1). The pair correlation functions are analysed numerically and compared to the hypernetted chains data, to the Monte Carlo data and to the results of Abramo and Tosi The triplet correlation functions are also analysed numerically and compared to the Kirkwood superposition approximation. At the end of our work, we give some applications to static structure factor and the dielectric constant. The results are well satisfactory.
Competency Assessment: Diagnostic Methods for Detection of Cryptosporidium, Microsporidia, and Toxoplasma in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Samples

Background: Protozoa have the ability to replace the human lung. Over recent years, the incidence of pulmonary infections caused by these microorganisms has increased, particularly in individuals with an immunodeficiency. The use of appropriate diagnostic methods is particularly important in the identification of parasites in pulmonary secretions. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate and compare PCR-based diagnostic methods with the gold standard method to detect three pathogenic protozoa, including Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium, and Microsporidia in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples obtained from immunocompromised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: A BAL sample of immunodeficient patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was examined by direct microscopy and PCR methods. Results: In this study, we examined 64 patients with immunodeficiency accompanied by COPD. Microsporidia were not identified in the samples. Direct methods identified three and nine cases of Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium, respectively. However, the molecular method identified two and two cases of pulmonary infection with these parasites. Conclusions: Determining the standard diagnostic method for parasites is dependent on factors, such as the type of specimen and the type of parasite. Based on the results of the present study, the direct microscopic method is the optimal diagnostic method for Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium in BAL samples.
Filtration of submicron particles: effect of ionic strength and organic substances

Hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) suspension was used in this study to investigate the effects of aggregate size and solution chemical characteristics on particle removal and headloss development in a deep bed filter. When electrolyte (KCl) concentration in the suspension was increased from 0-80 mM, the size of hematite aggregates in suspension increased from 85 to 990 nM but had no significant effect on zeta potential. It was found that at low KCl concentrations (0-10 mM), the initial removal is governed by surface chemical properties while at higher concentrations (40-80 mM), the effect of particle size (steric effect) predominates. The transient stage filter performance was found to be controlled by the favourable chemical conditions prevailing in the filtration system rather than the size of the particles. Studies of the effect of a natural organic material (fulvic acid) on particle removal indicated that fulvic acid at low concentrations (less than 0.75 mg/L) enhanced particle aggregation and improved filtration efficiency. At concentrations higher than 2 mg/L, it was found to increase the stability of particles thus affecting filtration efficiency.
Direct Fabrication of a CuFeO2/Fe Photocathode for Solar Hydrogen Production by Hydrothermal Method

CuFeO2 is a promising photocathode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting. In this study, a hydrothermal method was used for the first time to directly fabricate CuFeO2 films on an Fe substrate, and the prepared films worked as photocathodes. To enhance the performance of CuFeO2 photocathodes, it is important to optimize their film thickness and surface morphology.
A Quantification Method in Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer Measurement

Quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) has been widely used in the semiconductor industry to monitor plasma radical or ion species, but the signal used in QMS is mostly not quantified. To quantify QMS signals to radical density measurements, the signals should be calibrated by a reference. During this calibrating process, it is important to apply a proper signal proportional coefficient between the signal of QMS and the particle density of the plasma, which is known to be strongly related to the mass of the particle, but is not precisely well known one until now. In this work, we propose a simple approach to obtain reliable signal proportional coefficients of different masses by using with standard gases, which are precisely specified components through gas manufacturing. This approach is expected to raise the reliability of quantifying QMS data, contributing to an advance in plasma database development.
Hormonal regulation of feather development and moult on the level of feather follicles

A sensitive and specific nuclear steroid receptor assay was developed by the stabilization (using sodium molybdenate) and solubilization (using sodium thyocyanate) of receptors, which made it possible to simultaneously measure specific progestin (R5020), androgen (R1s81) and oestrogen (E2) binding sites individually, in feather follicles from secondary remiges and rectrices of domestic geese. Saturation analyses and Scatchard plots showed that each binding site represents a unique type of nuclear receptor with high binding affinity and low capacity for the specific steroid. The presence of a specific, common E2 TEST receptor is also supposed. Three parts of feather follicles were studied separately and among these the papilla and pulp seem to be the most active during feather development, but the role of the follicular wall is also important. The steroid binding capacity is sex dependent in both remiges and rectrices. Castration increases the specific androgen, ovarectomy the specific oestrogen binding sites. A strong positive relationship was shown between plasma level of TEST and P4 and the change in their binding sites in follicles during the moulting process. Five stages of feather development were studied. In the resting follicles androgen (males) or oestrogen (females) receptor dominance is typical. At the onset of moult a bi-phasic increase in progestin binding sites takes place together with an increase in the number of oestrogen receptors. High levels of androgen and oestrogen binding sites are found during the rapid growth of new feathers (differentiation of keratin structures) in the period of maximum pulp size. The results indicate a complex multi-steroidal regulation of feather follicle function.
Creating spaces for emotional justice in culturally sustaining literacy education: Implications for policy & practice

ABSTRACT Drawing from theories of culturally sustaining literacy practices, Black and Latinx Crit, and feminist theories, the authors explore emotional justice as a form of critical social emotional learning to counter the race-neutral emphasis of social and emotional learning focused on universal characteristics and academic aims. They argue that centering the lived experiences of Black and Brown students helps nurture critically conscious subjectivities and opportunities for authentic literacy engagements including students’ reader response, linguistic freedom, and play, among other culturally situated forms of literacy. Their analysis of a Black male student’s literacy experiences and extant language and literacy research centering cultural sovereignty and racial resistance, highlights the role of teachers and school policies as forces that can diminish or exacerbate the well-being of Black and Brown children in schools. The article concludes with recommendations and suggestions for fostering culturally sustaining literacy practices that are emotionally just.
The pricing strategies of online grocery retailers

This paper documents the differences in pricing strategies between online and offline (brick-and-mortar) channels. We collect price data for identical products from leading online grocery retailers in the United States and complement it with offline data for the same products from scanner data. Our findings reveal a consistent pattern: online retailers exhibit higher price dispersion than their offline counterparts. More specifically, online grocers employ price algorithms that amplify price discrimination in three key dimensions: (1) over time (through frequent price changes), (2) across locations (by charging varying prices based on delivery zipcodes), and (3) across sellers (by setting dispersed prices for identical products across rival retailers).
Enhancing Payload Capacity With Dual-Arm Manipulation and Adaptable Mechanical Intelligence

Individual manipulators are limited by their vertical total load capacity. This places a fundamental limit on the weight of loads that a single manipulator can move. Cooperative manipulation with two arms has the potential to increase the net weight capacity of the overall system. However, it is critical that proper load sharing takes place between the two arms. In this work, we outline a method that utilizes mechanical intelligence in the form of a whiffletree. This system enables load sharing that is robust to position deviations between the two arms. The whiffletree utilizes pneumatic tool changers which enable autonomous attachment/detachment. We outline the overall design of a whiffletree for dual-arm manipulation. We also illustrate how this type of mechanical intelligence can greatly simplify cooperative control. Lastly, we use physical experiments to illustrate enhanced load capacity. Specifically, we show how two UR5 manipulators can re-position a 7 kg load. This load would exceed the weight capacity of a single arm, and we show that the average forces on each arm remain below this level and are relatively evenly distributed.
A humidity-based exposure index representing ozone damage effects on vegetation

Surface ozone (O3) is detrimental to plant health. Traditional exposure indexes, such as accumulated hourly O3 concentrations over a threshold of 40 ppb (AOT40), are easy to be derived and widely used to assess O3 damage effects on vegetation. However, the regulation of environmental stresses on O3 stomatal uptake is ignored. In comparison, the dose-based indexes are much more reasonable but require complex parameterization that hinders further applications. Here, we propose a new humidity-based index (O3RH) representing O3 damage effects on vegetation, which can be simply derived using ground-level O3 and relative humidity (RH). Compared with O3 damages to gross primary productivity (GPPd) derived from a process-based scheme over May to October in 2015–2018, the O3RH index shows spatial correlations of 0.59 in China, 0.62 in U.S., and 0.58 (P< 0.01) in Europe, much higher than the correlations of 0.16, −0.22, and 0.24 (P< 0.01) for AOT40. Meanwhile, the O3RH index shows temporal correlations of 0.73 in China, 0.82 in U.S, and 0.81 (P< 0.01) in Europe with GPPd, again higher than the correlations of 0.50, 0.67, and 0.79 (P< 0.01) for AOT40. Analyses of O3RH reveal relatively stable trend of O3 vegetation damages in eastern U.S. and western Europe, despite the long-term reductions in local O3 pollution levels. Our study suggests the substitution of traditional exposure-based indexes such as AOT40 with O3RH for more reasonable assessments of O3 ecological effects.
Generating seamless global daily AMSR2 soil moisture (SGD-SM) long-term products for the years 2013–2019

Abstract. High-quality and long-term soil moisture products are significant for hydrologic monitoring and agricultural management. However, the acquired daily Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) soil moisture products are incomplete in global land (just about 30 %–80 % coverage ratio), due to the satellite orbit coverage and the limitations of soil moisture retrieval algorithms. To solve this inevitable problem, we develop a novel spatio-temporal partial convolutional neural network (CNN) for AMSR2 soil moisture product gap-filling. Through the proposed framework, we generate the seamless daily global (SGD) AMSR2 long-term soil moisture products from 2013 to 2019. To further validate the effectiveness of these products, three verification methods are used as follows: (1) in situ validation, (2) time-series validation, and (3) simulated missing-region validation. Results show that the seamless global daily soil moisture products have reliable cooperativity with the selected in situ values. The evaluation indexes of the reconstructed (original) dataset are a correlation coefficient ( R ) of 0.685 (0.689), root-mean-squared error (RMSE) of 0.097 (0.093), and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.079 (0.077). The temporal consistency of the reconstructed daily soil moisture products is ensured with the original time-series distribution of valid values. The spatial continuity of the reconstructed regions is in accordance with the spatial information ( R : 0.963–0.974, RMSE: 0.065–0.073, and MAE: 0.044–0.052). This dataset can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4417458 (Zhang et al., 2021).
Kidfluencer exposure, materialism, and U.S. tweens’ purchase of sponsored products

ABSTRACT Kidfluencers comprise a relatively new form of advertising to which young adolescents are exposed. Therefore, this study explored the relation between exposure to kidfluencers and the purchase of products found in kidfluencer content among a sample of 300 U.S. young adolescents. Results of a survey revealed that tweens’ exposure to kidfluencers is associated with their purchase of kidfluencer-related products through a desire to emulate kidfluencers, and that materialism moderates this relationship. Findings suggest that kidfluencers may propagate a lifestyle to which tweens aspire that may manifest itself in changes to consumer behavior. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Exposure to advertising, including sponsored content promoted by social media influencers on social networking sites, has the potential to alter youths‘ consumer behaviors and aspirations of fame, especially for youth high in materialism. b. Novel Contributions: Tweenagers‘ exposure to social media influencers who are themselves kids (kidfluencers) is related to their desire to emulate kidfluencers, which is ultimately related to tweenagers‘ purchase of kidfluencer-sponsored products, but only for those at relatively higher levels of materialism. c. Practical Implications: Parents should be aware of and monitor children‘s kidfluencer exposure. Educators should provide media literacy training that incorporates content related to social media influencers. As new media platforms are created/monetized, policymakers should adapt policies related to marketing to children.