Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Steam Cracking : Kinetics and Feed Characterisation

In the present work a mathematical steam cracking furnace model is presented and several kinetic schemes from literature, both molecular and radical, were implemented and validated against data from industrial ethane, propane and naphtha feedstocks processing furnaces. The results showed that, for gaseous feedstocks, the implemented kinetics were able to accurately predict product yields, with the radical scheme superseding the molecular one. Regarding naphtha cracking, however, the implemented radical kinetics from literature seemed to fail at predicting plant data. A steady-state study on alternative diluents relatively to steam was also carried out and it was concluded that there may actually be no difference between diluents if one is not willing to further increase the coil outlet temperature, although helium posed the best alternative if no constraints on temperature exist. At last, since the implementation of kinetic schemes require the molecular composition of the feed and because liquid feedstocks are usually characterised by other indices rather than a detailed hydrocarbon analysis, a feed characterisation model was developed. This model had the objective to determine the molecular composition of naphtha feedstocks given the commercial indices that usually characterise such petroleum fractions. The results, however, showed that the model is not able to accurately determine such compositions, having been concluded that a priori knowledge had to be included to improve its predictions.
The Accuracy of Short-Term Forecast Combinations

This article examines whether combining forecasts of real GDP from different models can improve forecast accuracy and considers which model-combination methods provide the best performance. In line with previous literature, the authors find that combining forecasts generally improves forecast accuracy relative to various benchmarks. Unlike several previous studies, however, they find that, rather than assigning equal weights to each model, unequal weighting based on the past forecast performance of models tends to improve accuracy when forecasts across models are substantially different.
Relationships between Participation in Volunteer-Managed Exercises, Distance to Exercise Facilities, and Interpersonal Social Networks in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study in Japan

This study aimed to examine the factors related to participation in volunteer-managed preventive care exercises by focusing on the distance to exercise facilities and interpersonal social networks. A postal mail survey was conducted in 2013 in Kasama City in a rural region of Japan. Older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) who were living independently (n = 16,870) were targeted. Potential participants who were aware of silver-rehabili taisou exercise (SRTE) and/or square-stepping exercise (SSE) were included in the analysis (n = 4005). A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that social and environmental factors were associated with participation in SRTE and SSE. After adjusting for confounding variables, exercise participation was negatively associated with an extensive distance from an exercise facility in both sexes for SRTE and SSE. Among women, participation in SRTE was negatively associated with weak interpersonal social networks (odds ratio (OR) = 0.57), and participation in SRTE and SSE was negatively associated with being a car passenger (SRTE, OR = 0.76; SSE, OR = 0.60). However, there were no significant interactions between sex and social and environmental factors. Our findings suggest the importance of considering location and transportation to promote participation in preventive care exercise.
Influence of Ball-Burnishing Process on Surface Topography Parameters and Tribological Properties of Hardened Steel

The ball-burnishing process is a particular finishing treatment that can improve selected properties of different materials. In the present study, the ball-burnishing technique was used to investigate the effect of input parameters of processes on selected surface layer features like surface roughness and residual stresses of the 42CrMo4 steel surfaces. The burnishing process was conducted on Haas CNC Vertical Mill Center VF-3 using a tool with tungsten carbide tip. A further objective of our research was to improve tribological properties of the aforementioned steel by the ball-burnishing process. The results of the investigations showed that it was possible to reduce the root mean square height of the surface Sq from 0.522 μm to 0.051 μm and to increase wear resistance compared to ground samples.
Assessing conditions for inter-firm collaboration as a revenue strategy for politically pressured news media

ABSTRACT The struggle to find resilient journalism revenue models is nowhere starker than for exiled or politically pressured news media operating in fragile markets. One route forward is to explore inter-firm collaborations as a modus operandi to achieve more financial resilience through a collaborative approach amongst themselves. This article presents findings from a multi-stakeholder atelier that assessed operational revenue conditions for such media. It presents a co-created definition of collaborative revenue capture, then addresses the conditions and forms for collaborative structures. It conceptualises opportunities in four areas: technology, revenue-based systems, coordinating actions and journalism production. The article adds new knowledge by assessing collaborations as a revenue strategy within the under-researched media development area through a participatory mode of inquiry.
Pathological characteristics of pulmonary toxicity in F344 rats exposed by inhalation to cross-linked water-soluble acrylic acid polymers

Background Recently in Japan, six workers at a chemical plant that manufactures resins developed interstitial lung diseases after being involved in loading and packing cross-linked water-soluble acrylic acid polymers (CWAAPs). Since CWAAPs are not on the list of occupational diseases, the present study examined the lung damage potential of two CWAAPs (CWAAP-A and CWAAP-B) in rats, investigated pathological mechanisms, and established a method to rapidly evaluate the harmfulness of CWAAPs. Methods Using a whole-body inhalation exposure system, male F344 rats were exposed once to 40 or 100 mg/m3 of CWAAP-A for 4 hours or to 15 or 40 mg/m3 of CWAAP-A for 4 hours per day once per week for 2 months (a total of 9 exposures). In a separate set of experiments, male F344 rats were administered 1 mg/kg CWAAP-A or CWAAP-B by intratracheal instillation once every two weeks for 2 months (a total of five doses). Lung tissues, mediastinal lymph nodes, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were collected and subjected to biological and histopathological analyses. Results A single 4-hour exposure to CWAAP caused alveolar injury, and repeated exposures resulted in regenerative changes in the alveolar epithelium with activation of TGFβ signaling. During the recovery period after the last exposure, some alveolar lesions were partially healed, but other lesions developed into alveolitis with fibrous thickening of the alveolar septum. Rats administered CWAAP-A by intratracheal instillation developed qualitatively similar pulmonary pathology as rats exposed to CWAAP-A by inhalation. At 2 weeks after intratracheal instillation, rats administered CWAAP-B appeared to have a slightly higher degree of lung lesions compared to rats administered CWAAP-A, however, there was no difference in these lesions of CWAAP-A and CWAAP-B in rats examined 18 weeks after administration of these materials. Conclusions The present study provides evidence of rat lung pathogenesis after inhalation exposure to CWAAP-A. This study also demonstrates that the lung pathology of rats exposed to CWAAP-A by systemic inhalation was qualitatively similar to that of rats administered CWAAP-A by intratracheal instillation. The use of intratracheal instillation as an adjunct to systemic inhalation is expected to significantly accelerate the risk assessment for a variety of CWAAPs.
EFFECT OF BOTANICAL SEED PRIMING ON SEED QUALITY CHARACTERS IN BLACKGRAM [ VIGNA MUNGO ( L . ) HEPPER ] cv . CO 6

Laboratory experiment was conducted to study the effect of seed priming using botanical leaf extract on seed quality characters of blackgram. The present study will emphasize on the effect of seed priming using various leaf extracts like moringa, prosopis, neem, pungam and arappu on seed and seedling quality characteristics like germination percentage, speed of germination, root length, shoot length, seedling length, dry matter production, vigour index-I and vigour index-II of blackgram CO 6. The results concluded that blackgram seeds should be primed with 1% prosopis leaf extract for 4 hours @ 1/3rd volume of solution to enhance the seed and seedling characteristics under adverse environmental conditions. In addition, blackgram seeds may also be primed with 1% moringa leaf extract to get the similar results.
Development and Standardization of Arabic Version of Quick Speech in Noise Test

Background: Development of Arabic QuickSIN established after the need to speech in noise test using was elevated in the last decade. Objective: The purpose of this study was to Develop and standardize Arabic QuickSIN test that measures the signal-tonoise ratio loss. Patients and Methods: 300 Sentences have words that are not highly predictable from the surrounding context. These sentences were recorded by female talker, presented in four-talker babble in three experiments. Study sample: Fifty normal hearing subjects between the ages of 18-40 years. Results: In the first two experiments, the level of a female talker relative to that of four-talker babble was adjusted sentence by sentence to produce 50% correct scores. In experiment III, those sentences-in-babble that produced either lack of equivalence or high across-subject variability in scores were discarded. These experiments produced 10 equivalent lists, each list consists of six sentences, with one sentence at each signal-to-noise ratio of 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, and 0 decebels. Conclusion: A single QuickSIN list takes approximately one minute to administer and provides an estimate of SNR loss.
5 PLA MELT-BLOWN FIBROUS STRUCTURES FOR POTENTIAL BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

The paper presents results of experiments on formation of nonwoven fabrics from PLA biopolymer. Fibrous structures with parameters advantageous for application as a scaffold for tissue engineering were prepared from polylactide by melt-blown technology. Process optimization enables to obtain ultra-fine fibers. Sizes of pores formed in the material during melt-blown process can be tailored by formation of fibers of defined diameters.
GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION FROM MAGNETICALLY FUNNELED SUPERNOVA FALLBACK ONTO A MAGNETAR

Protomagnetars spun up to millisecond rotation periods by supernova fallback are predicted to radiate gravitational waves via hydrodynamic instabilities for ∼102 s before possibly collapsing to form a black hole. It is shown that magnetic funneling of the accretion flow (1) creates a magnetically confined polar mountain, which boosts the gravitational wave signal, and (2) “buries” the magnetic dipole moment, delaying the propeller phase and assisting black hole formation.
Tissue Proportion, Fibre, and Vessel Characteristics of Young Eucalyptus Hybrid Grown as Exotic Hardwood for Wood Utilization

This study sought to determine selected anatomical properties of young Eucalyptus hybrid species (E. grandis x E. urophylla) grown in Ghana. Images of fibres from macerated wood, and micro–sections produced with microtome were analysed using a compound digital microscope associated with Motic Image Plus Software (MIPS), version 2.0, installed on a computer. Images were initially processed using ImageJ software. Study data were analysed using an R statistical package. The overall mean value for fibre length was 907.67 µm, whereas double fibre wall thickness was 7.76 µm. Both variables had higher mean values in sapwood than in heartwood. Nevertheless, the found values decreased from the butt to the top portion. Statistically, axial and radial positions had no influence on fibre characteristics. In a 1 mm2 of the cross-section, the proportion of fibres was 38%, vessels were 19%, axial parenchyma were 22%, and radial parenchyma were 21% on average. Again, the radial and axial positions had no statistical influence on tissue proportion traits for the young eucalyptus wood. Mean value for vessel area was 9462.04 µm2 , whereas vessel frequency per mm2 was about 14. Vessels were significantly larger in area (range 9982.50 – 13544.41 µm2 ), yet reduced in frequency (range 6 – 17 per mm2 ) for sapwood. In heartwood, vessel area was comparatively smaller (range 6321.15 – 7816.69 µm2 ), whereas their frequency was high (range 15 – 18 vessels per mm2 ). Axial and radial position had statistical influence on vessel frequency and area for the young Eucalyptus grown in a plantation in Ghana.
The use of social networks among university students

The changes that are experienced in technology are influencing various fields as well as educational environments. From this point of view, it is seen that the tools used in educational environments as well as those used by students are diversified depending on the change in technology. Based on the characteristics of learners in the twenty-first century, it is observed that current technology takes part in students’ daily lives. As one of these technologies which use the possibilities of Web 2.0, social networks have been widely used by young generations in various forms in recent years. In general, these environments can be said to be a matter of preference as it offers opportunities such as sharing content, having fun, communicating, creating community, and learning. It is important to understand students' social networking usage purposes and the reasons that may affect them. It is thought that this study will contribute to the educators in terms of learning environments by determining the usage purposes of social networking. In this research, it is aimed to understand the variables that determine the purpose of using social network in undergraduate students’ using social network. The cross-sectional survey design which is among the quantitative research methods has been employed. According to this pattern, data were collected according to the appropriate sampling method. In this process, 549 undergraduate students from various faculties of a public university were identified as study groups. In this study, it is aimed to examine the variables that determine the purpose of using social networking networks of undergraduate students who use social networks. For this purpose, data were collected by means of the personal information form created by the researchers and by the Social Awareness Networks Usage Objectives Scale developed. The results of the research show that there is a difference in favor of women in initiating communication in favor of men and that those who use social networks for a long time share more content and WhatsApp and Instagram are the most widely used social networks. Based on these findings, discussions and recommendations were presented. Key words: Social networks, purpose of social network usage, university students.
Customer experiences of resource integration

It is widely acknowledged that value can be regarded as interactively formed by customers through the integration of a variety of resources. However, it is difficult to find service research that takes these concepts seriously in empirical studies. Consequently, the aim of this thesis is to present an empirically grounded understanding of how customer resource integration takes place in practice and how customers experience their resource integration. By collecting data of public transport customers through qualitative diaries, interviews, and video recordings of situated action in addition to a survey, the thesis draws on script and practice theory. The main contribution of the thesis is an empirically grounded model of customer experience of resource integration, which can be summarized in six propositions: (a) customers can acquire four different types of scripts: generic, incongruent, rigid, or transformative; (b) the script types are implicit parts of interactive value practices, which emerge as navigating and ticketing in the empirical context of public transport; (c) the interactive value practices are constellations of the resource integration activities of identifying, sense-making, and using, which customers focus on to varying extents, depending on their acquired script; (d) during or after interactive value formation customers potentially update their scripts; (e) customer processes, other customers, the physical environment, contact personnel, provider processes, and the wider environment all form the context of the service, but can also be resources that the customer integrates; and (f) the customer experience is a holistic evaluation of the interactive value formation and can be understood as consisting of three dimensions: a cognitive evaluation and two affective evaluations, positive activation and positive deactivation. As such, I reframe the notion of the servicescape in order for it to be more attuned to the perspective of interactive value formation and resource integration.
Simulation of an Asian Dust Storm Event in May 2017

Dust particles in the atmosphere play an important role in air pollution, climate change, and biogeochemical cycles. Some of the dominant sources of dust in mid-latitude regions are in Asia. An intense dust storm engulfed Northern China at the beginning of May 2017, and PM10 mass concentrations of 1500–2000 μg m−3 were measured near the dust source region. We combined numerical simulations, air quality monitoring data, and satellite retrievals to investigate dust emission and transport during this event. We found that the event was closely related to cold front activity, characterized by increased wind speed, which increased dust emission. We improved the dust scheme using a local dust size distribution to better simulate the dust emission flux. We found that accurate parametrization of the dust size distribution was important to effectively simulate both dust emission and ambient particle concentration. We showed that using a local dust size distribution substantially improved the accuracy of the simulation, allowing both the spatial distribution of pollution caused by the dust storm and temporal variability in the pollution to be captured.
Buffer placement in distributed RC-tree networks for minimal Elmore delay

An algorithm is presented for choosing the buffer positions for a wiring tree such that the Elmore delay is minimal. For given required arrival times at the sinks of the wiring tree, the algorithm chooses buffers such that the required departure time at the source is as late as possible. The topology of the wiring tree, a Steiner tree, is assumed to be given, as well as the possible (legal) positions of the buffers. The algorithm uses a depth first search on the wiring tree to construct a set of time/capacitance pairs that correspond to different choices. The complexity of the algorithm is O(B/sup 2/), where B is the number of possible buffer positions. An extension of the basic algorithm allows minimization of the number of buffers as a secondary objective. <<ETX>>
Optimization of the KNN Supervised Classification Algorithm as a Support Tool for the Implantation of Deep Brain Stimulators in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the Subthalamic Nuclei (STN) is the most used surgical treatment to improve motor skills in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) who do not adequately respond to pharmacological treatment, or have related side effects. During surgery for the implantation of a DBS system, signals are obtained through microelectrodes recordings (MER) at different depths of the brain. These signals are analyzed by neurophysiologists to detect the entry and exit of the STN region, as well as the optimal depth for electrode implantation. In the present work, a classification model is developed and supervised by the K-nearest neighbour algorithm (KNN), which is automatically trained from the 18 temporal features of MER registers of 14 patients with PD in order to provide a clinical support tool during DBS surgery. We investigate the effect of different standardizations of the generated database, the optimal definition of KNN configuration parameters, and the selection of features that maximize KNN performance. The results indicated that KNN trained with data that was standardized per cerebral hemisphere and per patient presented the best performance, achieving an accuracy of 94.35% (p < 0.001). By using feature selection algorithms, it was possible to achieve 93.5% in accuracy in selecting a subset of six features, improving computation time while processing in real time.
Science granting councils in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends and tensions

This article documents recent trends in science funding support in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We analyse these trends at the SSA regional level alongside a summary of four case studies of science funding in four Science Granting Councils (SGCs) in East Africa. Our findings support the literature on science funding in SSA regarding low levels of funding, cross-country engagement, and the need for capacity building. However, we also find there are tensions among funding and policy actors around the perceived ways in which investment in science will benefit society. We argue that the narratives and logics of science funders and their roots in ‘Republic of Science’ vs. ‘Embedded Autonomy’ rationales for SGC activity must be more transparent to enable critical engagement with the ideas being used to justify spending.
Development of a Scale to Measure Academic Capital in High-Risk College Students

This study presents a psychometric instrument that measures academic capital in college students. Academic capital is a set of social processes that aid students in acquiring the knowledge and support necessary to access and navigate higher education. This study establishes the validity and reliability of the Academic Capital Scale. In addition to validating the six components of academic capital identified by St. John, Hu, and Fisher (2011), two additional components of academic capital were identified. Providing scholars and practitioners with a measure of academic capital allows institutions to critically examine and restructure their current support programs for high-risk college students.