Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nota three dimeNsioNal characterizatioN of soil macroporosity by X-ray microtomography

analysis of the soil pore system represents an important way of characterizing soil structure. properties such as the shape and number of pores can be determined through soil pore evaluations. this study presents a three-dimensional (3d) characterization of the shape and number of pores of a sub-tropical soil. to do so, a second generation X-ray microtomograph equipped with a plain type detector was employed. a voltage of 120 kV and current of 80 ma was applied to the X-ray tube. the soil samples analyzed were collected at three different depths (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm). the results obtained allowed qualitative (images) and quantitative (3d) analyses of the soil structure, revealing the potential of the microtomographic technique, as well as the study of differences in soil macroporosity at different depths. macroporosity was 5.14 % in the 0-10 cm layer, 5.10 % in the 10-20 cm layer, and 6.64 % in the 20-30 cm layer. the macroporosity of unclassified pores (UN) was 0.30 % (0-10 and 10-20 cm) and 0.40 % (20-30 cm), while equant pores (eQ) had values of 0.01 % at the three depths under analysis.
Properties and Beneficial Uses of (Bio)Chars, with Special Attention to Products from Sewage Sludge Pyrolysis

Residual sludge disposal costs may constitute up to, and sometimes above, 50% of the total cost of operation of a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and contribute approximately 40% of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with its operation. Traditionally, wastewater sludges are processed for: (a) reduction of total weight and volume to facilitate their transfer and subsequent treatments; (b) stabilization of contained organic material and destruction of pathogenic microorganisms, elimination of noxious odors, and reduction of putrefaction potential and, at an increasing degree; (c) value addition by developing economically viable recovery of energy and residual constituents. Among several other processes, pyrolysis of sludge biomass is being experimented with by some researchers. From the process, oil with composition not dissimilar to that of biodiesels, syngas, and a solid residue can be obtained. While the advantage of obtaining sludge-derived liquid and gaseous fuels is obvious to most, the solid residue from the process, or char (also indicated as biochar by many), may also have several useful, initially unexpected applications. Recently, the char fraction is getting attention from the scientific community due to its potential to improve agricultural soils’ productivity, remediate contaminated soils, and supposed, possible mitigation effects on climate change. This paper first discusses sludge-pyrolysis-derived char production fundamentals (including relationships between char, bio-oil, and syngas fractions in different process operating conditions, general char properties, and possible beneficial uses). Then, based on current authors’ experiments with microwave-assisted sludge pyrolysis aimed at maximization of liquid fuel extraction, evaluate specific produced char characteristics and production to define its properties and most appropriate beneficial use applications in this type of setting.
Description and initial operating performance of the Langley 6-inch expansion tube using heated helium driver gas

A general description of the Langley 6-inch expansion tube is presented along with discussion of the basic components, internal resistance heater, arc-discharge assemblies, instrumentation, and operating procedure. Preliminary results using unheated and resistance-heated helium as the driver gas are presented. The driver-gas pressure ranged from approximately 17 to 59 MPa and its temperature ranged from 300 to 510 K. Interface velocities of approximately 3.8 to 6.7 km/sec were generated between the test gas and the acceleration gas using air as the test gas and helium as the acceleration gas. Test flow quality and comparison of measured and predicted expansion-tube flow quantities are discussed.
Hypersonic Transition Analysis for HIFiRE Experiments

The HIFiRE-1 flight experiment provided a valuable database pertaining to boundary layer transition over a 7-degree half-angle, circular cone model from supersonic to hypersonic Mach numbers, and a range of Reynolds numbers and angles of attack. This paper reports selected findings from the ongoing computational analysis of the measured in-flight transition behavior. Transition during the ascent phase at nearly zero degree angle of attack is dominated by second mode instabilities except in the vicinity of the cone meridian where a roughness element was placed midway along the length of the cone. The growth of first mode instabilities is found to be weak at all trajectory points analyzed from the ascent phase. For times less than approximately 18.5 seconds into the flight, the peak amplification ratio for second mode disturbances is sufficiently small because of the lower Mach numbers at earlier times, so that the transition behavior inferred from the measurements is attributed to an unknown physical mechanism, potentially related to step discontinuities in surface height near the locations of a change in the surface material. Based on the time histories of temperature and/or heat flux at transducer locations within the aft portion of the cone, the onset of transition correlated with a linear N-factor, based on parabolized stability equations, of approximately 13. Due to the large angles of attack during the re-entry phase, crossflow instability may play a significant role in transition. Computations also indicate the presence of pronounced crossflow separation over a significant portion of the trajectory segment that is relevant to transition analysis.
Brucellosis in West and Central Africa: A

This is the peer-reviewed, manuscript version of an article published in Acta Tropica. The version of record is available from the journal site: http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.actatropica. 2017.12. 026. © 2018. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. The full details of the published version of the article are as follows:
A I ] 5 S ep 2 01 4 Simulating Non Stationary Operators in Search Algorithms

In this paper, we propose a model for simulating search operators whose behaviour often changes continuously during the search. In these scenarios, the performance of the operators decreases when they are applied. This is motivated by the fact that operators for optimization problems are often roughly classified into exploitation operators and exploration operators. Our simulation model is used to compare the different performances of operator selection policies and clearly identify their ability to adapt to such specific operators behaviours. The experimental study provides interesting results on the respective behaviours of operator selection policies when faced to such non stationary search scenarios.
Mobile Phased Antenna Array @ 6 GHz with Digitally Tunable Capacitor Phase Shifters

This paper evaluates the performance of the digitally tunable capacitor phase shifter, mounted on a phased antenna array, in the frequency range from 5 to 6 GHz. It is based on the WS1042, a single-chip, fully-integrated tunable RF capacitor featuring four high resolution, tunable MEMS capacitors under control of a MIPI RFFE serial interface. The design of the phased antenna array consists of four quarter wavelength dipoles printed on the short edge of an FR4 substrate. Simulations including 70° and 105° phase shift demonstrated that the array can steer a beam wider than 80° and 100° respectively with a maximum gain of 7 dBi. The measurements, carried out in the MVG SG24, confirm that the prototype allows to reach the same scan angle observed in the simulations, but highlight a significant decrease in gain of 5 dB, due to the loss introduced by the four phase shifters and the port divider.
Development and Properties of Fiber Metal Laminate Used in Aircraft Wing by Using Epoxy-Novolac

The purpose of this study is to reduce weight and to improve the mechanical properties of aircraft wing by using fiber metal laminates (FMLs). They are layered materials based on stacked arrangements of aluminum alloy layers and fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) layers. They have benefits over both aluminum and fiber reinforced composites. In this study, seven layers consist of 2024-T3 aluminum alloy reinforced by carbon and glass fibers bonded using blend of epoxy-novolac as adhesion, were used to produce the Carbon Glass Reinforced Aluminum Laminates (CAGRALLs) as FMLs. The mechanical properties (tensile, flexural, impact and fatigue) of CAGRALLs are experimentally investigated. The results revealed that CAGRALLs give good mechanical properties because of increasing in tensile strength, yield strength, elastic modulus, elongation at fracture, flexural modulus and impact toughness except flexural strength comparing than Carbon with Glass Reinforced Aluminum (CACAGRALLs) and Carbon with Jute Reinforced Aluminum (CAJURALLs) using epoxy. The increasing in layers led to weaken adhesion between layers of FMLs that led to decrease almost mechanical properties. The fabricated CAGRALLs showed higher fatigue strength than Aramid Reinforced Aluminum Laminates (ARALL) and lower density than aluminum alloy 2024-T3 and steel that used in manufacturing of aircraft wing.
Revisiting the Use of Customer Information for CRM

For the past decade, customer relationship management (CRM) has been one of the priorities in marketing research and practice. However, many of the CRM systems did not perform as the companies expected. As such shortcoming could be due to inappropriate data input, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the empirical CRM literature. Along the phases of the CRM process, the authors show which kind of data has successfully proven to achieve the CRM objectives. The study provides researchers with a review of the empirical research on CRM and allows practitioners insights on the usability of customer data for CRM.
Six Flags

Discovery Kingdom is in the northern California Bay Area and is themed after animals. It has 8 roller coasters and many animal exhibits, including many marine animal attractions along with safari animals like lions, giraffes, and elephants, and more. The park was originally an oceanarium that added a land animal park to it, later one it was converted into an amusement park with roller coasters and other small attractions and bought by Six Flags. Discovery Kingdom currently has 8 coasters. There are 7 steel coasters, 2 of which are inverted, while the rest are sit down, including 1 wooden roller coaster. The 8 coasters are: Since Discovery Kingdom did not start out as an amusement park, I believe that the park is lacking a bit in roller coasters, especially since there is only one wooden roller coaster. Also, the park is animal themed and although they name rides after the animals, they do not really theme the rides that much, which is something that is really disappointing. For my project I want to design a sit down wooden roller coaster that has a jungle theme to add to the park. To make it a themed coaster, in the line I will set a premise for the story, saying that you will
Sorption Membranes and Filter for Water Purification and Disinfection in Outdoor Conditions

The aim of this article was to develop a simple, cheap, light, highly efficient sorption membrane and filtering device for the purification of naturally polluted water with application in outdoor conditions. Sorption membranes have been prepared from cellulose pulp using paper and pulp technology. The sorbents were introduced into paper pulp as a filler (as activated carbon) or were chemically grafted to cellulose fibers. The absorption ability of such membranes assembled in a filter device has been investigated. The removal of weighted small mechanical particles, microorganisms, dissolved organic contaminants and colloids, and the undesirable ion impurities by the filter was investigated. Using a 10 × 10 cm filter, purification and disinfection of 18 liters of natural polluted water from a lake was done. Purification of dirty water occurs with gravity from a tank (bucket).
IMPROVEMENT OF PHYTASE BIOSYNTHESIS BY NEW BACTERIAL ISOLATE, PediococcuspentosaceusC4/1A VIA CONTINUOUS CULTIVATION

Phytase enzyme is widely distributed in animals, plants and microorganisms which help in the degradation of phytate. Among the microorganisms, members of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) such as Pediococcus pentosaceus were found to produce phytase enzyme. The production of phytase in this study was identified by qualitative and quantitative enzyme assay. Qualitative assay was done by cultivation of the strains on modified MRS agar which contains MOPS and sodium phytate to observe the presence of clear halo zone, which indicates the enzyme production. Quantitative test was carried out to identify the highest phytase producer by cultivation of all the five isolates in modified MRS broth in shake-flask. The highest phytase producer was then selected and identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus C4/1A for conventional screening process based on medium formulation and culture conditions using Erlenmeyer shake-flask. Different nitrogen sources (peptone with casein, meat extract, yeast extract), carbon sources (glucose, maltose, lactose), different concentration of sodium phytate and inoculum size were determined on phytase production. From the study, yeast extract (20 g/L), glucose (15 g/L), sodium phytate (5 g/L) and inoculum size (5% (v/v)) gave effect on the phytase production by P. pentosaceus C4/1A. Further optimization by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was carried out on phytase production and cell biomass. The standardized protocol for phytase production was carried out in large scale using 2L stirred tank bioreactor. Formulated were used to obtain high phytase activity. Continuous cultivation was then conducted for mass production and to determine the productivity of microbial biomass and production of phytase. Different range of dilution rate (D) was applied for 48 h to study the productivity of the cell and phytase. Secondary data based on phytase production, cell concentration and substrate consumption in small scale and large scale cultivation was developed and compared.
Investigation into the Structural and Thermal Behavior of Bacterial Cellulose Fbers after Biologically Relevant Puriﬁcation

Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on the planet. Historically rooted in the paper industry, advancements in colloidal chemistry, polymer chemistry, and the development of novel saccharification techniques have expanded the commercial applications of cellulose to include the production of liquid crystal displays, use in high strength composites, and biofuels. Despite this renewed interest in cellulosic products, the establishment of cellulose as a global commodity is significantly hindered by the inefficiencies in cellulose liberation and processing. The current model associated with cellulose liberation from lignin and hemicellulose relies on the use of highly basic reagents resulting in significant alterations to cellulose native structure. Laboratory techniques have been developed to attempt to isolate cellulose, while leaving it in its native structure. In this work, we demonstrate how even mild laboratory isolation techniques significantly influence cellulose structure in bacterial cellulose. Furthermore, we propose that bacteria cellulose serves as a model for cellulose as found in plants and animals.
Influence of pH and Carbonate Buffering on the Performance of a Lactate Microbial Fuel Cell

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC’s) contain complex environments where electrochemical, physical and biological events are tightly linked. In this work we present a 1D model partially describing a Shewanella oneidensis MFC that consumes sodium lactate [lactate → acetate + CO2 + 2H + 2e]. The model focuses on the effects of pH on the output of the MFC. Release of protons during lactate consumption is critical for fuel cell performance because they are needed to reduce O2 to water at the cathode. Simultaneously, proton transport affects the pH of the anode compartment and this in turn can affect bacterial metabolic key processes. Often in MFC experiments, a pH buffer is used to protect the biological species, but this affects H transport across the membrane and its availability at the cathode. In our model we consider anodic, proton exchange membrane (PEM) and cathodic subdomains to study pH changes and their effects on different chemical species in their protonated and dissociated forms [lactate and acetate, CO2 buffering system {CO3, CO2, H2CO3 and HCO3}, OH, H, O2 and Na]. CO2, which is present as a by-product of the lactate oxidation, also have pH buffering activity. The rate of lactate consumption used is taken from experiments carried out under aerobic conditions (1). The model predicts significant media acidification during operation of the MFC, which can affect the availability of lactate, pH and proton transport.
D S ] 1 3 M ar 2 01 9 Stochastic Packing Integer Programs with Few Queries ∗

We consider a stochastic variant of the packing-type integer linear programming problem, which contains random variables in the objective vector. We are allowed to reveal each entry of the objective vector by conducting a query, and the task is to find a good solution by conducting a small number of queries. We propose a general framework of adaptive and non-adaptive algorithms for this problem, and provide a unified methodology for analyzing the performance of those algorithms. We also demonstrate our framework by applying it to a variety of stochastic combinatorial optimization problems such as matching, matroid, and stable set problems. This is the final draft of the paper accepted for publication in Mathematical Programming (Series A). A preliminary version of this paper appeared in SODA 2018. Email: takanori.maehara@riken.jp Email: yutaro yamaguchi@ist.osaka-u.ac. jp
Forecasting Economic Activity with Mixed Frequency Bayesian Vars

Mixed frequency Bayesian vector autoregressions (MF-BVARs) allow forecasters to incorporate a large number of mixed frequency indicators into forecasts of economic activity. This paper evaluates the forecast performance of MF-BVARs relative to surveys of professional forecasters and investigates the influence of certain specification choices on this performance. We leverage a novel real-time dataset to conduct an out-of-sample forecasting exercise for U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP). MF-BVARs are shown to provide an attractive alternative to surveys of professional forecasters for forecasting GDP growth. However, certain specification choices such as model size and prior selection can affect their relative performance.
Influence of Abandoning Agricultural Land Use on Hydrophysical Properties of Sandy Soil

Soil water repellency can significantly degrade its agricultural utility and bring aboutnegative environmental consequences (i.e., reduced infiltration capacity, enhanced overland flow,increased erosion rates, and water infiltration occurred in irregular patterns). The presented studyaimed to establish whether excluding albic Podzols from agricultural production and theirspontaneous inhabitation by a pine tree stand affected their hydrophysical properties. Studies withthe application of the water drop penetration time (WDPT) test showed that a change in the landuse increased the potential water repellency of the surface layer (horizon A) and caused itschangeover from strongly repellent class (Class 2) to extremely repellent (Class 5). The relationshipbetween soil moisture content and wettability made it possible to determine the critical soil moisturecontent (CSMC) for the occurrence of the phenomenon of water repellency. It was confirmed thatthe CSMC value increased along with a change in use. For the site under arable use, it was 9–10vol. %, whereas for the site formerly under arable use and currently covered predominantly by apine tree stand, a value in the range of 14–16 vol.% was reached. A laboratory experiment on surfacerunoff of the soil formerly under arable use showed that over half of the rainfall may be transformedinto surface runoff as a result of occurring water repellency. This means that exceeding the criticalsoil moisture content makes the recharge of soil retention difficult and may significantly influencethe water balance of soil, as well as increasing its susceptibility to drought.
Exercise training of dogs with myxomatous valve disease

The present study has the objective of evaluating the effects of exercise training, using moderate intensity walking (60 to 80% of maximum heart rate), from 30 to 50 minutes, three times a week, in alternate days, during eight weeks, on heart rate variability in dogs with myxomatous valve disease (MVD). For that, 20 dogs in stages B1 (1), B2 (14) and C2 (5) of MVD (ACVIM classification) were divided into untrained control group (CG, n=9) and training group (TG, n=11), and assessed at baseline (T0), after four (T1) and eight weeks (T2). Only one B1 and five B2 dogs completed the training program. In the time domain, the rMSSD was greater in TG in T1 (155,5+42,07) and T2 (199,8+83,54) than CG (T1:91,17+35,79 and T2:88,17+57,51). In the frequency domain, the variable High Frequency (HF) increased in TG in T1 (30950+25810) and T2 (40300+33870) when compared to the CG (T1:19090+23210 and T2:18810+22200) and within the group TG in T2 in relation to T0 (29340+20950). The proposed walking protocol is concluded to have increased the rMSSD and HF variables in TG, representing an increase of the parasympathetic tonus, justifying the indication of this therapy in B1 and B2 stages of MVD.
An Improved Micro-Expression Recognition Method Based on Necessary Morphological Patches

Micro-expression is a spontaneous emotional representation that is not controlled by logic. A micro-expression is both transitory (short duration) and subtle (small intensity), so it is difficult to detect in people. Micro-expression detection is widely used in the fields of psychological analysis, criminal justice and human-computer interaction. Additionally, like traditional facial expressions, micro-expressions also have local muscle movement. Psychologists have shown micro-expressions have necessary morphological patches (NMPs), which are triggered by emotion. Furthermore, the objective of this paper is to sort and filter these NMPs and extract features from NMPs to train classifiers to recognize micro-expressions. Firstly, we use the optical flow method to compare the on-set frame and the apex frame of the micro-expression sequences. By doing this, we could find facial active patches. Secondly, to find the NMPs of micro-expressions, this study calculates the local binary pattern from three orthogonal planes (LBP-TOP) operators and cascades them with optical flow histograms to form the fusion features of the active patches. Finally, a random forest feature selection (RFFS) algorithm is used to identify the NMPs and to characterize them via support vector machine (SVM) classifier. We evaluated the proposed method on two popular publicly available databases: CASME II and SMIC. Results show that NMPs are statistically determined and contribute to significant discriminant ability instead of holistic utilization of all facial regions.