Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bioaugmentation Treatment of a PAH-Polluted Soil in a Slurry Bioreactor

A bioslurry reactor was designed and used to treat loamy clay soil polluted with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). To this end, biostimulation alone, or combined with bioaugmentation with two bacterial strains (Rhodocccus erythropolis and Pseudomonas stuzeri) previously isolated from the polluted site, was applied. The PAH concentrations decreased notably after 15 days in all of the treatments. The concentrations of the two- and three-ring compounds fell by >80%, and, remarkably, the four- to six-ring PAHs also showed a marked decrease (>70%). These results thus indicate the capacity of bioslurry treatments to improve, notably, the degradation yields obtained in a previous real-scale remediation carried out using biopiles. In this sense, the remarkable results for recalcitrant PAHs can be attributed to the increase pollutants’ bioavailability achieves in the slurry bioreactors. Regarding bioaugmentation, although treatment with R. erythropolis led to a somewhat greater reduction of lighter PAHs at 15 days, the most time-effective treatment was achieved using P. stutzeri, which led to an 84% depletion of total PAHs in only three days. The effects of microbial degradation of other organic compounds were also monitored by means of combined qualitative and quantitative gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) tools, as was the evolution of microbial populations, which was analyzed by culture and molecular fingerprinting experiments. On the basis of our findings, bioslurry technology emerges as a rapid and operative option for the remediation of polluted sites, especially for fine soil fractions with a high load of recalcitrant pollutants.
Specific polyclonal antibodies for the obligate plant parasite Polymyxa - a targeted recombinant DNA approach

Highly specific rabbit polyclonal antibodies for the obligate sugar-beet root parasite, Polymyxa betae, were produced using a novel recombinant DNA approach. Parasite cDNA was selectively isolated from infected roots, expressed in vitro, and the purified protein used to raise antibodies. This produced clean, precisely targeted antibodies, and allowed for rigorous screening of candidate genes and their products at the molecular level prior to animal immunization. This approach selects for genes whose products are highly expressed by the parasite in planta, and five such candidate genes from Polymyxa betae were identified and cloned. Polyclonal antiserum developed using the product of one such gene was found to react specifically with P. betae in sugar-beet roots and with the closely related Polymyxa graminis in barley roots, and to cross-react with Plasmodiophora brassicae in cabbage roots, without the need for further purification. No cross-reaction was detected with protein extracts from potato roots infected by the plasmodiophoromycete Spongospora subterranea. In all cases, there was no interaction with proteins from host plants, or from other microorganisms found in association with uninoculated sugar-beet, barley, cabbage and potato roots.
Adaptive Damping Design of PMSG Integrated Power System with Virtual Synchronous Generator Control

With the continuous development of wind power capacity, a large number of wind turbines connected by power electronic devices make the system inertia lower, which leads to the problem of system frequency stability degradation. The virtual synchronous generator (VSG) control can make wind turbines possess inertia and damping. However, the stochastic dynamic behavior of wind generation results in the stochastic changing of operating condition; this paper presents an adaptive subsynchronous oscillation (SSO) damping control method for the wind generation with VSG control. Firstly, the small signal model of the permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) with VSG is built, and the model of state space is derived and built. The active power of PMSG is selected as the variable parameter vector to establish a polytopic linear variable parameter system model. Then, based on the hybrid H 2 /H ∞ control method, each vertex state feedback matrix is solved by linear matrix inequality, and a subsynchronous oscillation adaptive damping controller with polytope is obtained. Finally, the 4-machine 2-area system connected to two PMSGs with VSG control is used as the test system for time domain simulation. The simulation results demonstrate that the LPV based adaptive damping controller could provide enough damping under the circumstances of wider changes of wind power outputs.
Fiscal Decentralization with a Redistribution Rule vs. Fiscal Centralization

Bu calisma, yonetimlerarasi transfer kuralina sahip mali yerellesme ile mali merkezilesmenin teorik perspektiften karsilastirmasini yapmaktadir. Vatandaslarin, yerel yonetimlerin ve merkezi hukumetin stratejik olarak etkilesimde oldugu bu modelde Markov-perfect Nash dengesi uzerinde calisilmistir. Simulasyon analizleri, yayilma (spillovers) derecesinin ve sermaye hareketliliginin bu karsilastirmada etkili oldugunu gostermistir. Yayilmanin oldugu durumda, mali yerellesmede gorulen refah seviyesinin mali merkezilesmeden yuksek oldugu gorulmustur. Bu durum beklenmeyen bir sonuc olmasina karsin, transfer kuralinin mali yerellesmeye refah acisindan olumlu etkisine isaret etmektedir. Diger yandan, yayilmanin olmasi halinde, mali yerellesme durumunda buyumenin mali merkezilesmeden dusuk oldugu gozlenmistir. Bu durum, transfer kurali ile ortaya konan mali disiplinde hedeflenen vergi oraninin, cok altina dusememesi sebebiyle buyumenin de yukselmesinin engellendigi sonucuna varilabilir. Yayilmanin olmamasi durumunda ise, durumlarin birbiri uzerindeki ustunlugunu belirleyenin sermaye hareketliligi oldugu bulunmustur.
Guaranteeing prescribed performance fast tracking control of air-breathing hypersonic vehicles

This paper investigates a fast-tracking controller with prescribed performance for flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicles subject to uncertain parameters, external disturbances, actuator faults and backlash non-linearity. For the velocity and altitude dynamics, a prescribed performance control scheme is respectively utilized to provide preselected bounds on the transient and steady characteristics of tracking errors, also it can effectively relieve the constraint of scramjet on the angle of attack. A sliding mode exact observer is introduced to estimate the lumped disturbance, meanwhile the analytic differential computation on virtual controllers is avoided in the back-stepping design for altitude tracking. Based on prescribed performance control and sliding mode exact observer, the non-singular fast terminal sliding mode technology is introduced to design a control law, which is capable of ensuring both velocity and altitude tracking errors converge into the prescribed sets in finite-time. Simulations on the high-fidelity air-breathing hypersonic vehicle mode are implemented to highlight the effectiveness of the developed controller.
ADVERSE EFFECT OF PROLONGED FORMALIN FIXATION ON DNA HISTOGRAMS IN PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED TISSUE

In a retrospective analysis of 174 formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded, hepatocellular carcinoma tissue samples, the correlation between the coefficient of variation (CV) as determined by flow cytometry and the duration of formalin fixation (DFF) was investigated. In addition a potential adverse effect of prolonged formalin fixation on CV and fluorescence intensity in paraffin-embedded liver tissue was also investigated prospectively in samples from four patients in which the DFF varied from three days to four weeks. In the retrospective study, there was a significant linear correlation between the CV and DFF (p<0.001), with the CV increasing as the DFF became prolonged. The proportion of samples in which the CV was less than 10.0 was significantly greater (p<0.01) in samples in which the DFF was less than two weeks. In the prospective study, a decrease in fluorescence intensity was observed as the DFF increased. Following two weeks of formalin fixation the fluorescence intensity decreased to 38.1% of the intensity observed in fresh samples. The mean CV was greater than 10.0 in the samples in which the DFF exceeded two weeks. It is concluded that prolonged formalin fixation has an adverse effect on CV. The DFF for flow cytometric analysis of paraffin-embedded tissue should be no greater than two weeks.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF TOURISM ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SOUTH AFRICAN PROVINCES: A PANEL ANALYSIS

The snail-paced growth of South Africa’s economy has become a major concern. If not addressed, it has the ability of causing a technical recession. Despite this economic epidemic, the researchers contend that the tourism sector has a pivotal starring role to play in alleviating the stagnant economic growth in all the South African provinces. Thus, the aim of the study was to explore the role of tourism on economic growth. In achieving the study`s aim, the study employed a panel regression analysis from 1996-2018. The study outcomes show a positive association among infrastructure index, tourism receipts, number of local, international tourists and economic growth. Therefore, the study recommends that the factors of production be shifted to the tourism industry for high productivity.
Intelligent security system detects the hidden objects in the smart grid

Monitoring the general public gathered in large numbers is one of the most challenging tasks faced by the law and order enforcement team. There is swiftly demand to that have inbuilt sensors which can detect the concealed weapon, from a standoff distance the system can locate the weapon with very high accuracy. Objects that are obscure and invisible from human vision can be seen vividly from enhanced artificial vision systems. Image Fusion is a computer vision technique that fuses images from multiple sensors to give accurate information. Image fusion using visual and infrared images has been employed for a safe, non-invasive standoff threat detection system. The fused imagery is further processed for specific identification of weapons. The unique approach to discover concealed weapon based on DWT in conjunction with Meta heuristic algorithm Harmony Search Algorithm and SVM classification is presented. It firstly uses the traditional discrete wavelet transform along with the hybrid Hoteling transform to obtain a fused imagery. Then a heuristic search algorithm is applied to search the best optimal harmony to generate the new principal components of the registered input images which is later classified using the K means support vector machines to build better classifiers for concealed weapon detection. Experimental results demonstrate the hybrid approach which shows the superior performance.
Detecting semantic difference

Semantic discrimination among concepts is a daily exercise for humans when using natural languages. For example, given the words, airplane and car , the word flying can easily be thought and used as an attribute to differentiate them. In this study, we propose a novel automatic approach to detect whether an attribute word represents the difference between two given words. We exploit a combination of knowledge-based and co-occurrence features (collocations) to capture the semantic difference between two words in relation to an attribute. The features are scores that are defined for each pair of words and an attribute, based on association measures, n-gram counts, word similarity, and Concept-Net relations. Based on these features we designed a system that run several experiments on a SemEval-2018 dataset. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model performs better, or at least comparable with, other systems evaluated on the same data for this task.
DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW SPIDER GENERA OF TRECHALEIDAE (ARANEAE, LYCOSOIDEA) FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Abstract Two new genera in the spider family Trechaleidae, Trechaleoides and Paratrechalea, are described. The females of the two known species of Trechaleoides, T. keyserlingi (F.O.P.-Cambridge) (type species) and T. biocellata (Mello-Leitão) are redescribed and their respective males are described for the first time; both are transferred from Trechalea. Two additional previously described species, also both transferred from Trechalea, are herein placed in the genus Paratrechalea are redescribed from their types, i.e., the female of P. ornata (Mello-Leitão) (type species) and male of P. wygodzinskyi (Soares & Camargo). The male of P. ornata is described for the first time. Four new species of Paratrechalea, P. longigaster, P. galianoae, and P. azul from females, and P. saopaulo from males and females are described. The immature specimen historically regarded as the holotype of Trechalea longitarsis (C.L. Koch) and regarded as a mistaken identity, is an unidentified species of Trechaleoides. The female holotype of Trechalea limai Mello-Leitão is confirmed to be lost but is considered to be a member of the genus Paratrechalea based on a study of the original description.
Resource Allocation and Trajectory Optimization for QoE Provisioning in Energy-Efficient UAV-Enabled Wireless Networks

In the past several years, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) have been employed to provide enhanced coverage or relay service to mobile users in a scenario with limited or even no infrastructure since they can be deployed to almost everywhere and can be manipulated at anytime. This paper studies UAV as aerial base station (BS) enabled wireless communication system, where a UAV is dispatched to provide wireless communication service to a set of ground users with difference quality-of-experience (QoE) requirements. In real world, user requirements are randomly and unevenly distributed. In addition, UAV communication coverage and on-board energy are limited and system resources are also limited (e.g., transmission power, spectrum). In order to meet the QoE of all users with limited system resources and limited UAV energy, we jointly optimize user communication scheduling, UAV trajectory, transmit power and bandwidth allocation to maximize energy-efficiency and satisfy user QoE requirement. The formulated problem is mixes integer non-convex and non-concave so it is difficult to solve. In this paper, we solvevv the problem with two steps as follows. Firstly, we transform the objective function into a tractable form. Secondly, we divide the optimal problem into four sub-optimal problems, and then use a powerful iterative algorithm with the Dinkelbach and block coordinate descent to solve the optimal problem. That is to say, the user scheduling, UAV trajectory, transmission power and bandwidth allocation are alternately optimized in each iteration. Extensive simulation results present that our proposed method can obtain higher energy efficiency than that of baselines. Specifically, the energy efficiency obtained by our proposed method is 12.5% higher than the approach that only maximizes throughput.
Using NOMA for Enabling Broadcast/Unicast Convergence in 5G Networks

This paper addresses the challenge of broadcast and unicast convergence by proposing a PHY/MAC (Physical Layer/Medium Access Control) architecture for 5G New Radio (NR). The solution is based on Power domain Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (P-NOMA). The main PHY/MAC configuration parameters have been analyzed theoretically and their impact on the service configurations is presented in this manuscript. The system concept has been translated into a prototype model and different evaluation tests are presented. First, simulations show that the PHY layer performs better than Time Division Multiplexing/Frequency Division Multiplexing (TDM/FDM) choices of current broadband access systems. Second, performance tests using a network simulation tool are described. The results for capacity, latency and reliability demonstrate that the proposed solution offers an excellent broadcast/unicast convergence choice with significant gain values with respect to legacy PHY/MAC alternatives.
Three copies of a single protein II‐encoding sequence in the genome of Neisseria gonorrhoeae JS3: evidence for gene conversion and gene duplication

Gonococci express a family of related outer membrane proteins designated protein II (P.II). These surface proteins are subject to both phase variation and antigenic variation. The P.II gene repertoire of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strain JS3 was found to consist of at least ten genes, eight of which were cloned. Sequence analysis and DNA hybridization studies revealed that one particular P.II‐encoding sequence is present in three distinct, but almost identical, copies in the JS3 genome. These genes encode the P.II protein that was previously identified as P.IIc. Comparison of their sequences shows that the multiple copies of this P.IIc‐encoding gene might have been generated by both gene conversion and gene duplication.
Health Prognosis for Electric Vehicle Battery Packs: A Data-Driven Approach

Accurate, reliable, and robust prognosis of the state of health (SOH) and remaining useful life (RUL) plays a significant role in battery pack management for electric vehicles. However, there still exist challenges in computational cost, storage requirement, health indicators extraction, and algorithm design. This paper proposes a novel dual Gaussian process regression model for the SOH and RUL prognosis of battery packs. The multi-stage constant current charging method is used for aging tests. Health indicators are extracted from partial charging curves, in which capacity loss, resistance increase, and inconsistency variation are examined. A dual Gaussian process regression model is designed to predict SOH over the entire cycle life and RUL near the end of life. Experimental results show that the predictions of SOH and RUL are accurate, reliable, and robust. The maximum absolute errors and root mean square errors of SOH predictions are less than 1.3% and 0.5%, respectively, and the maximum absolute errors and root mean square errors of RUL predictions are 2 cycles and 1 cycle, respectively. The computation time for the entire training and testing process is less than 5 seconds. This article shows the prospect of health prognosis using multiple health indicators in automotive applications.
A Sleeping Mechanism for Cache-Enabled Small Cell Networks With Energy Harvesting Function

In the 5G small cell networks, the network edge has been largely enhanced by the rich network functions, which makes small cell base stations (SBSs) the major energy consumption components. To overcome this challenge, the energy harvesting technology has been attracting researchers’ attention. However, how to exploit the density characteristic of the small cell networks and match the dynamics of the arrival energy to the user requirements are still remained to be investigated. In our work, we propose a sleeping mechanism in the 5G small cell networks with energy harvesting function. In addition, the cooperative caching is jointly considered. Firstly, we formulate the energy consumption minimization problem considering both the energy cost by the SBSs and backhaul. And secondly, to solve the formulated problem, we decompose the original problem into two subproblems, which are the SBS status decision and the cooperative content caching, respectively. Thirdly, the solution which is composed of the binary particle swarm optimization (BPSO) and the linear programming tool, is proposed. Finally, simulation results show that our proposed algorithm has the advantage of reducing the energy consumption compared with other algorithms.
Spectral Efficiency Optimization and Interference Management for Multi-Hop D2D Communications in VANETs

D2D communications are considered as effective means to achieve vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, which can be used to improve the performance in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). In this paper, we investigate the resource allocation and interference management based on clustering mechanism in the D2D communications under-laying VANETs aiming to optimize resource utilization efficiency. Firstly, given the transmission resources of intra-cluster for D2D communications, we design a vehicle clustering algorithm to improve intra-cluster resource efficiency and nullify the intra-cluster interference. Secondly, by analyzing the wireless service in VANETs, a cooperative communication scheme with optimized resource utilization is proposed to maximize intra-cluster spectral efficiency. Thirdly, when uplink spectrums are shared, an interference neutralization (IN) model is developed to manage inter-cluster interference, while each vehicle is equipped with one antenna and there is no extra antenna for interference cancellation. In accordance with the IN model, a cross-layer optimization frame for multi-hop VANETs is proposed to maximize the end-to-end throughput of multiple coexisting communication sessions. To evaluate the performance, we select the method without cooperative communication and IN as a benchmark and compare it against the method with cooperative communication only and the method with both cooperative communication and IN. The simulation results show that the method that uses cooperative communication and IN can dramatically increase the throughput. Furthermore, the throughput gains increase along with vehicle density growing in VANETs.
Antioxidant Fraction from Bark of Dillenia Indica

Barks of various plants have been reported to possess both in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activity. In this study, antioxidant activity of the extract from the barks of Dillenia indica was evaluated by various in vitro methods. The bark of D. indica was extracted with 70% aqueous acetone. The total phenolic content was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method and the antioxidant activity was assayed through various in vitro methods such as antioxidant capacity by phosphomolybdenum method, radical scavenging activity using α, α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl method, hydroxyl radical (•OH) scavenging activity by deoxyribose method, and superoxide anion (O2 •−) scavenging activity by phenazine methosulphate/NADH-nitroblue tetrazolium system. The total phenolic content of the extract as tannic acid equivalents was 54%. The total antioxidant capacity of the extract was found to be 3.12 mmoles/g as equivalent to ascorbic acid at 50 ppm concentration. At 25 ppm concentration, the radical scavenging activity of butylated hydroxyanisole and extract showed 90.9% and 91.0%, respectively. The •OH scavenging activity of the extract was shown to be 53.9% at 100 ppm concentration. At a concentration of 50 μg, the O2 •− scavenging activity of the extract was 31.7% as compared to 47.7% by gallic acid. These results indicated that Dillenia indica barks contained large amount of phenolics and possessed potent antioxidant property.
Integrating LSM Trees With Multichip Flash Translation Layer for Write-Efficient KVSSDs

Log-structured-merge (LSM) trees are a highly write-optimized data structure for lightweight, high-performance key-value (KV) stores. Furthermore, solid-state drives (SSDs) are a crucial component for I/O acceleration. Conventional LSM-over-SSD designs involve multiple software layers, including the LSM tree, host file system, and flash translation layer (FTL), which introduce cascading write amplifications. To manage the write amplifications from different layers, we propose KVSSDs, which are a close integration of LSM trees and the FTL. KVSSDs exploit the FTL mapping mechanism to implement copy-free compaction of LSM trees, and they enables direct data allocation in flash memory for efficient garbage collection. Our design also uses a fine-grained, dynamic striping policy to fully exploit the rich internal parallelism of multichip SSDs. The experimental results indicated that our LSM-SSD integrated design reduced the write amplification by 86% and improved the throughput by 383% compared with a conventional LSM-over-SSD design.