Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interfacial strain effects on lithium diffusion pathways in the spinel solid electrolyte Li-doped MgAl 2 O 4

The (Li,Al)-codoped magnesium spinel $({\mathrm{Li}}_{x}{\mathrm{Mg}}_{1\ensuremath{-}2x}{\mathrm{Al}}_{2+x}{\mathrm{O}}_{4})$ is a solid lithium-ion electrolyte with potential use in all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries. The spinel structure means that interfaces with spinel electrodes, such as ${\mathrm{Li}}_{y}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ and ${\mathrm{Li}}_{4+3z}{\mathrm{Ti}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$, may be lattice matched, with potentially low interfacial resistances. Small lattice parameter differences across a lattice-matched interface are unavoidable, causing residual epitaxial strain. This strain potentially modifies lithium diffusion near the electrolyte-electrode interface, contributing to interfacial resistance. Here, we report a density functional theory study of strain effects on lithium diffusion pathways for (Li,Al)-codoped magnesium spinel, for ${x}_{\mathrm{Li}}=0.25$ and ${x}_{\mathrm{Li}}=0.5$. We have calculated diffusion profiles for the unstrained materials, and for isotropic and biaxial tensile strains of up to $6%$, corresponding to $\left\{100\right\}$ epitaxial interfaces with ${\mathrm{Li}}_{y}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ and ${\mathrm{Li}}_{4+3z}{\mathrm{Ti}}_{5}{\mathrm{O}}_{12}$. We find that isotropic tensile strain reduces lithium diffusion barriers by as much as $0.32\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$, with typical barriers reduced by $\ensuremath{\sim}0.1$ eV. This effect is associated with increased volumes of transitional octahedral sites, and broadly follows qualitative changes in local electrostatic potentials. For biaxial (epitaxial) strain, which more closely approximates strain at a lattice-matched electrolyte-electrode interface, changes in octahedral site volumes and in lithium diffusion barriers are much smaller than under isotropic strain. Typical barriers are reduced by only $\ensuremath{\sim}0.05$ eV. Individual effects, however, depend on the pathway considered and the relative strain orientation. These results predict that isotropic strain strongly affects ionic conductivities in (Li,Al)-codoped magnesium spinel electrolytes, and that tensile strain is a potential route to enhanced lithium transport. For a lattice-matched interface with candidate spinel-structured electrodes, however, epitaxial strain has a small, but complex, effect on lithium diffusion barriers.
Stability Analysis of Uncertain Discrete Systems with two Additive Time Delays

This paper presents new results of stability for discrete systems with two additive time-delays. By using new Lyapunov function; new conditions are established for the asymptotic and or robust stability. The stability of systems with multiple additive delays is also studied. The results are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The conditions are shown, via two examples, to be much less conservative than some existing results.
Fusion of range-based data and image-based datasets for efficient documentation of cultural heritage objects and sites

Nowadays it is possible to measure accurately dense point clouds either with aerial/terrestrial laser scanning systems or with imagebased solutions (namely based on photogrammetric computer vision algorithms such as structure-from-motion (SfM)), from which highly detailed 3D models can be achieved. Besides, direct tools in the form of simple devices such as rulers, compass and plumblines are usually required in simple metric surveys, as well as high-end surveying and geodetic instruments such as robotized imagebased total stations and GNSS (probably to a lesser degree but still required) to set the archaeological/architectural recording project in a global reference frame. With all this gamut of image-based and range-based sensors and datasets (in the form of coordinates, point clouds or 3D models), in different coordinate systems (most of the times local for each device), lack of uniform scale, orientation and levelling, the fusion of data tends to be cumbersome. This paper presents an efficient way to fuse and merge different datasets in the form of point clouds/3D models and geodetic/UTM coordinates. The new developed 3DVEM – Register GEO software is able to handle datasets coming from both direct and indirect methods in order to provide unified and precise deliverables.
on Intelligent Manufacturing and Automation , DAAAM 2014 Aspects of Smart Manufacturing Via Agent-Based Approach

This paper focuses on three different aspects of a multi-agent approach implementation applied in smart manufacturing. Information systems and their internals are considered as a domain of the research. Among a variety of approaches and implementation techniques the following and presented: networks of self-organising heterogeneous agents are used to address problems of increasing server loads, AI techniques (POMDPs) are used to ensure highest possible availability via integrated reasoning, special optimization routines are designed to increase performance of historical access to time series data. Described approaches aim on advanced scalability, high fault-tolerance and low latency execution of a resulting system respectively. Each technique defines a mathematical model that is used to optimize corresponding criteria. For each technique implementation peculiarities and details are included. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of DAAAM International Vienna.
Mutual Insurance Networks in Communities

We study the formation of mutual insurance networks in a model where every agent who obtains more resources gives a fixed amount of resources to all agents who have obtained less resources. The low resource agent must be directly linked to the high resource agent to receive this transfer. We identify the pairwise stable networks and efficient networks. Then, we extend our model to situations where agents differ in their generosity with regard to the transfer scheme. We show that there exist conditions under which in a pairwise stable network agents who provide the same level of transfers are linked together, while there are no links between agents who provide high transfers and agents who provide low transfers.
Base temperatures for germination of selected weed species in Iran.

Loddo D. , Ghaderi-Far F. , Rastegar Z. , Masin R. (2018): Base temperatures for germination of selected weed species in Iran. Plant Protect. Sci., 54: 60–66. Weed emergence models require the estimation of base temperature for germination (tb) that was estimated for abutilon theophrasti, echinochloa crus-galli, amaranthus retroflexus, sorghum halepense, amaranthus albus, and amaranthus hybridus in Iran, to calibrate an existing model called AlertInf. Two statistical procedures were adopted: Model 1 ‒ linear regression of germination rate and Model 2 – probit analysis. Model 1 provided lower tb values. abutilon theophrasti and a. hybridus presented lower tb values (about 4 and 8°C), while the remaining species had values above 10°C. Since the estimated values of tb were in agreement with those adopted for the Alertinf model in Italy, the first step was achieved to adapt AlertInf to Iranian conditions.
Growth and characterization of nitrogen-doped polycrystalline 3C-SiC thin films for harsh environment MEMS applications

Polycrystalline 3C-SiC films, in situ doped with nitrogen, are grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) on 100 mm Si (1 0 0) wafers at 800 °C using methylsilane and ammonia precursors. The effects of NH3 and dichlorosilane precursor, as an additional silicon source, on material properties such resistivity, residual stress, strain, strain gradient as well as crystallinity and surface morphology are investigated. By varying these parameters, the electrical and mechanical properties of the films are optimized for MEMS applications. Films with a resistivity of 0.026 ± 0.001 Ω cm, residual stress of 254 ± 16 MPa and strain of 4.5 × 10−4, corresponding to the biaxial modulus of 564 GPa, and strain gradient of 5.8 × 10−4 µm−1 are achieved.
Customer Service in Rural Banks in Ghana: The Case of Bosomtwe Rural Banks in the Ashanti Region, Ghana

Customer satisfaction occurs when customers’ expectations are met. This study examined the factors that are critical in improving customer satisfaction in rural banks in Ghana. Two random sampling techniques were used to select 300 respondents from four out of ten branches of Bosomtwe Rural Bank Limited in the Ashanti Region of Ghana and structured questionnaire was administered to collect data. Descriptive statistics and probit model were employed in the data analysis. The results showed that there was active youth involvement in the activities of Bosomtwe Rural Bank Limited, all customers were literate and most of the patrons of the bank were males. In general, customers were satisfied with the services provided by the bank. The results of the probit regression analysis indicated that customer satisfaction depends on attention to customer complaints by the staff of the bank, accessibility of the bank to customers, tidiness and cleanliness of banking environment, speed of service delivery and knowledge base of the staff of the bank. These factors were found to have positive effects on customer satisfaction.
Regularly varying time series in Banach spaces

When aspatial process is recorded over time and the observation at a given time instant is viewed as a point in a function space, the result is a time series taking values in a Banach space. To study the spatio-temporal extremal dynamics of such a time series, the latter is assumed to be jointly regularly varying. This assumption is shown to be equivalent to convergence in distribution of the rescaled time series conditionally on the event that at a given moment in time it is far away from the origin. The limit is called the tail process or the spectral process depending on the way of rescaling. These processes provide convenient starting points to study, for instance, joint survival functions, tail dependence coefﬁcients, extremograms, extremal indices, and point processes of extremes. The theory applies to linear processes composed of inﬁnite sums of linearly transformed independent random elements whose common distribution is regularly varying.
Techniken der Ressourcenbeschreibung und -auswahl f¨ ur das geographische Information Retrieval

Die stete Zunahme der Menge an Medienobjek- ten und -kollektionen sowohl im WWW als auch auf privaten Endgerfzu einem starken Bedarf nach ad¨ aquaten Indexierungs- und Such- technologien. Trends wie persMedienar- chive, soziale Netzwerke und mobile Ger¨ ate mit groser Speicherkapazit¨ at sowie Netzwerke mit hoher Bandbreite machen in diesem Kontext ver- teilte L¨ osungen und Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Techno- logien interessant. Hier dient eine Ressourcen- selektion, die auf kompakten Beschreibungen der von den Ressourcen verwalteten Inhalte basiert, dazu, f¨ ur eine bestimmte Anfrage vielverspre- chende Ressourcen zu ermitteln. Neben z.B. tex- tuellen Informationen k¨ onnen diese Zusammen- fassungen auch geographische Informationen der Medienobjekte eines Archivs beschreiben (z.B. wo verwaltete Bilder aufgenommen wurden). Diese Arbeit prund evaluiert verschie- dene Techniken zur Ressourcenauswahl, die auf der Beschreibung der geographischen Daten persMedienarchive basieren. Dabei wird nach in der Neines bestimmten Anfrage- punktes liegenden Medienobjekten gesucht.
ANATOMIC REFERENCE FOR COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY OF THE PARANASAL SINUSES AND THEIR OPENINGS IN THE RAYINI GOAT

Objective- To provide a reference anatomy of the paranasal sinuses of the goat by using computed tomographic modality. Design- Experimented study. Animals- Five male Rayini goats. Procedures- CT images were acquired from the head region perpendicular to the hard palate. CT windows were adjusted as necessary to obtain the optimal image for the paranasal sinuses. The images were studied serially and compared anatomically with two dissected head and intact goat skulls. Results- Maxillary, frontal, palatine, lacrimal and conchal sinuses were identified and labeled according to cheek teeth as landmarks. Conclusion and Clinical Relevance- The results of this study can help better understanding of paranasal sinuses position and their communications in a live animal.
Smoothing Filter-based Intensity Modulation : a spectral preserve image fusion technique for improving spatial details

Image fusion techniques are widely used to integrate a lower spatial resolution multispectral image with a higher spatial resolution panchromatic image, such as Thematic Mapper (TM) multispectral band and SPOT Panchromatic images. However, the existing techniques either cannot avoid distorting the image spectral properties or involve complicated and time-consuming frequency decomposition and re-construction processing. A simple spectral preserve fusion technique: the Smoothing Filter-based Intensity Modulation (SFIM) has thus been developed based on a simpli ed solar radiation and land surface re ection model. By using a ratio between a higher resolution image and its low pass  ltered (with a smoothing  lter) image, spatial details can be modulated to a co-registered lower resolution multispectral image without altering its spectral properties and contrast. The technique can be applied to improve spatial resolution for either colour composites or individual bands. The  delity to spectral property and the spatial textural quality of SFIM are convincingly demonstrated by an image fusion experiment using TM and SPOT Panchromatic images of south-east Spain. The visual evaluation and statistical analysis compared with HSI and Brovey transform techniques con rmed that SFIM is a superior fusion technique for improving spatial detail of multispectral images with their spectral properties reliably preserved.
The average time complexity of probabilistic algorithms for finding generators in finite cyclic groups

Generators of ﬁnite cyclic groups play important role in many cryptographic algorithms like public key ciphers, digital signatures, entity identiﬁcation and key agreement algorithms. The above kinds of cryptographic algorithms are crucial for all secure communication in computer networks and secure information processing (in particular in mobile services, banking and electronic administration). In the paper, proofs of correctness of two probabilistic algorithms (for ﬁnding generators of ﬁnite cyclic groups and primitive roots) are given along with assessment of their average time computational complexity.
Quantification of selenium-tagged proteins in human plasma using species-unspecific isotope dilution ICP-DRC-qMS coupled on-line with anion exchange chromatography

Inductively coupled plasma dynamic reaction cell-quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-DRC-qMS) coupled on-line with anion exchange chromatography (AEC) has been developed for the quantification of selenium-tagged proteins in human plasma. Methane was employed as a reaction gas in the dynamic reaction cell to achieve the determination of 80Se free of spectroscopic interference from 40Ar2+ and 79BrH+. Five selenium species including selenoprotein P (SelP), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), selenoalbumin (SeAlb), and two unknown selenospecies (U1 and U2) in a pooled plasma sample from five healthy people were separated using AEC, and the distribution of selenium in SelP, GPx, SeAlb, U1 and U2 (about 45.5%, 19.1%, 15.1%, 2.9% and 8.1%) was determined by ICP-DRC-qMS using species-unspecific isotope dilution (80Se/77Se). Based on the detection limit (DL) of selenium (0.54 ng mL−1), we estimated that the DLs for SelP and GPx were 0.59 pmol mL−1 and 1.7 pmol mL−1, respectively. Through the stoichiometry of the selenium atom in the selenium-tagged proteins, SelP (2.7 ± 0.1 μg mL−1) and GPx (5.4 ± 0.2 μg mL−1) were successfully quantified.
Strategy for the dynamic study of desertification

The experience of a large project ongoing in Tunisia is used to discuss the different aspects of desertification monitoring with the help of remote sensing. Emphasis is put on performing appropriate field measurements by surface sampling for satellite data calibration. Change detection is linked to simple surface parameters such as brightness, green vegetation cover and soil color. Soi1 surface optical properties are dominant in the signal received by the satellites and show strong potential for long term degradation detection. Long t h e series of Landsat MSS data can be used to detect these surface changes over the last 20 years. As a result of the real-size test done in Tunisia a global methodology for a satellite-based arid land monitoring strategy is proposed for further discussion and development.
Genomes of Sea Microbes

Genomics is the study of the genetic information encoded by all the nucleotides possessed by an organism. For oceanographers, genomics provides detailed information on the many genes that drive biogeochemical activities of ocean-dwelling microbes. Carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation, sulfur gas formation, CO 2 production, and many other critical processes are underlain by the collective action of genes inside individual microbial cells in the ocean environment. In essence, genomics provides access to those genes and serves as an important step toward understanding their role in the ocean environment. The study of genes in the ocean had its start more than a decade ago when the new field of molecular ecology first allowed oceanographers to measure the diversity and distribution of selected protein-encoding genes. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing of nifH genes led the way, providing information on the distribution of nitrogen-fixing organisms in marine environments and investigating the factors that limit their activity (Zehr and Capone, 1996). Similarly, studies of expression patterns of rbcL, the gene encoding a subunit of the major enzyme for carbon fixation, provided some of the first glimpses into cellular-level regulation of a major biogeochemical process in the ocean (Paul, 1996). These molecular oceanography studies were important predecessors to genomic oceanography studies, but they differ in two significant ways. First, the scale of genomics is grander, focusing on all the genes harbored by a marine organism simul-
Start-up evaluation of a peat biofilter treating waste gas contaminated with ethyl acetate by using two strategies: without inoculation and with inoculation

contaminated with ethyl acetate by using two strategies: without inoculation and with inoculation F. J. Álvarez-Hornos, D. Volckaert, V. Martínez-Soria, J. M. Penya-roja, P. Marzal, C. Gabaldón Research Group EnVOC, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Tel: +32 9 264 59 54; fax +32 9 264 62 43; e-mail: Francisco.j.alvarez@uv.es Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Valencia. Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100 Burjassot, Spain.
Linear Diffusion into a Faraday Cage

Linear lightning diffusion into a Faraday cage is studied. An early-time integral valid for large ratios of enclosure size to enclosure thickness and small relative permeability ({mu}/{mu}{sub 0} {le} 10) is used for this study. Existing solutions for nearby lightning impulse responses of electrically thick-wall enclosures are refined and extended to calculate the nearby lightning magnetic field (H) and time-derivative magnetic field (HDOT) inside enclosures of varying thickness caused by a decaying exponential excitation. For a direct strike scenario, the early-time integral for a worst-case line source outside the enclosure caused by an impulse is simplified and numerically integrated to give the interior H and HDOT at the location closest to the source as well as a function of distance from the source. H and HDOT enclosure response functions for decaying exponentials are considered for an enclosure wall of any thickness. Simple formulas are derived to provide a description of enclosure interior H and HDOT as well. Direct strike voltage and current bounds for a single-turn optimally-coupled loop for all three waveforms are also given.
Analysis of Polymer Characteristics Using Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry

The application of mass spectrometry to polymer science has rapidly increased since the development of MALDI-TOF MS. This review summarizes current polymer analysis methods using MALDI-TOF MS, which has been extensively applied to analyze the average molecular weight of biopolymers and synthetic polymers. Polymer sequences have also been analyzed to reveal the structures and composition of monomers. In addition, the analysis of unknown end-groups and the determination of polymer concentrations are very important applications. Hyphenated techniques using MALDI-tandem MS have been used for the analysis of fragmentation patterns and end-groups, and also the combination of SEC and MALDI-TOF MS techniques is recommended for the analysis of complex polymers. Moreover, MALDI-TOF MS has been utilized for the observation of polymer degradation. Ion mobility MS, TOF-SIMS, and MALDI-TOF-imaging are also emerging technologies for polymer characterization because of their ability to automatically fractionate and localize polymer samples. The determination of polymer characteristics and their relation to the material properties is one of the most important demands for polymer scientists; the development of software and instrument for higher molecular mass range (> 100 kD) will increase the applications of MALDI-TOF MS for polymer scientists.
Endogenous Preferential Treatment in Centralized Admissions

We study a model of centralized admissions in which schools are allowed to pre-commit to admitting qualified applicants who rank them as their top choices over more qualified applicants who do not. A less popular school may use the pre-commitment to steal applicants who otherwise would not choose it as their top choice (the stealing motive); a popular school may use the pre-commitment to prevent its own applicants from being stolen (the preemptive motive). We identify the conditions for these two motives to exist. We also clarify the relationship of this phenomenon with that of pre-arrangement of school places. Copyright (c) 2009, RAND.
Defensive role of silibinin against arsenic induced oxidative stress mediated dyslipidemia and neurotoxicity in rats

Arsenic (As) is an environmental toxic metalloid that is present in everywhere such as air, water and soil. Generally, inorganic arsenic has a tendency to be more toxic than organic arsenic. The present study was designed to determine whether oral administration of silibinin (SB), which has been shown to have substantial antioxidant properties, when pre-administered (75 mg/kg body weight) once daily for 4 weeks along with arsenic (5 mg/kg) would prevent arsenic-induced changes in antioxidant defense system, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX),glutathione-S-transferase (GST),glutathione reductase (GR), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), reduced glutathione (GSH), total sulfhydryl groups (TSH) and vitamin C in rat brain regions such as cortex, striatum, cerebellum, hippocampus and brain stem. Our study also examined the effect of SB over arsenic-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and lipid peroxidation level (LPO) and protein carbonyl content (PC) in distinct brain regions of rats. Moreover, As also alters the lipid profiles such as total lipids, phospholipids, cholesterol, cerebrosides and gangliosides in various regions of the brain. Pre-administration of SB restores the altered enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, lipid profiles and also markedly reduced the ROS, LPO, PC and accumulation of As in various regions of the brain. These results suggested that arsenic-induced deficits in antioxidant enzyme activities and increase in ROS production and lipid peroxidation levels in brain regions can be remarkably prevented by pre-administration of SB.