Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soil bacterial communities vary more by season than with over two decades of experimental warming in Arctic tussock tundra

High latitude ecosystems are characterized by cold soils and long winters, with much of their biogeochemistry directly or indirectly controlled by temperature. Climate warming has led to an expansion of shrubby plant communities across tussock tundra, but whether these clear aboveground shifts correspond to changes in the microbial community belowground remains less certain. Using bromodeoxyuridine to label growing cells, we evaluated how total and actively growing bacterial communities varied throughout a year and following 22 years of passive summer warming. We found that changes in total and actively growing bacterial community structures were correlated with edaphic factors and time point sampled, but were unaffected by warming. The aboveground plant community had become more shrub-dominated with warming at this site, and so our results indicate that belowground bacterial communities did not track changes in the aboveground plant community. As such, studies that have used space-for-time methods to predict how increased shrub cover has altered bacterial communities may not be representative of how the microbial community will be affected by in situ changes in the plant community as the Arctic continues to warm.
Identification of significant design factors for diesel spray combustion control through comprehensive experiments with various multi-hole nozzle internal geometries

It is well known that nozzle internal geometries affect the characteristics of diesel spray and combustion. However, despite a number of studies, the effects are difficult to generalize. It is also not clear which spray features are more important for combustion than others. To investigate these subjects, a comprehensive dataset on diesel spray combustion was obtained with 20 variations of multi-hole injector nozzle. The 20 variations had different combinations of orifice diameter, orifice length, sac length and orifice hub-to-tip ratio, which cover the large range of existing production injectors. Vapor penetration, vapor width, ignition delay time, ignition distance and lift-off length were quantified using schlieren and excited-state hydroxyl radical (OH*) chemiluminescence imaging for an isolated plume emerging from these different nozzles. The experiments were conducted with Japanese diesel fuel in a constant-volume diesel spray combustion facility at Sandia National Laboratories. The results were analyzed with response surface and Lasso regression analysis to identify significant design factors for spray combustion. Orifice diameter has large effects on spray combustion. Orifice length, sac length, orifice hub-to-tip ratio and their interactions have effects on spray combustion, but each effect is smaller than the effect of orifice diameter. Vapor penetration is a significant design factor for ignition delay time, ignition distance and lift-off length, while vapor width is not. Lift-off length is well-explained by ignition distance and ignition delay time. Ignition distance should be taken into consideration as a significant design factor for lift-off length as well as ignition delay time.
Development and application of quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics methods with advanced polarizable potentials

Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations are a popular approach to study various features of large systems. A common application of QM/MM calculations is in the investigation of reaction mechanisms in condensed‐phase and biological systems. The combination of QM and MM methods to represent a system gives rise to several challenges that need to be addressed. The increase in computational speed has allowed the expanded use of more complicated and accurate methods for both QM and MM simulations. Here, we review some approaches that address several common challenges encountered in QM/MM simulations with advanced polarizable potentials, from methods to account for boundary across covalent bonds and long‐range effects, to polarization and advanced embedding potentials.
Emergence of Many Mini-Circles from a Coffee Suspension with Mechanical Rotation

Drying of an aqueous suspension containing fine granules leads to the formation of a circular pattern, i.e., the coffee-ring effect. Here, we report the effect of mechanical rotation with drying of an aqueous suspension containing a large amount of granular particles as in the Turkish coffee. It was found that wavy fragmented stripes, or a “waggly pattern”, appear in the early stage of the drying process and a “polka-dot pattern” with many small circles is generated in the late stage. We discuss the mechanism of these patterns in terms of the kinetic effect on micro phase-segregation. We suggest that the waggly pattern is induced through a mechanism similar to spinodal decomposition, whereas polka-dot formation is accompanied by the enhanced segregation of a water-rich phase under mechanical rotation.
High-Commitment Work Practices and the Social Responsibility Issue: Interaction and Benefits

Human Resource Management (HRM) has a potentially vital role to play in addressing the new challenges that companies have to face and in delivering initiatives in the framework of corporate sustainability. Our work attempts to shed light on the strategic role of High-Commitment Work Practices (HCWP) as a Corporate Sustainability (CS) partner and, more specifically, to analyze the implications of their integration on the competitiveness of the firm. With this purpose, we apply a qualitative methodology, using a single case study, to explore and explain why and how the interaction between HCWP and CS takes place. The results show how this interaction encourages the formulation and implementation of new socially responsible organizational initiatives that help the firm to improve its competitive position in the market through the development of employees’ innovative behavior. HCWP integrate with CS initiatives when CS values form part of the mission and strategy of the firm. Also, HCWP support CS deployment, primarily in its internal dimension. In addition, our work reveals that cultural factors such as organizational values and management style, and structural factors like empowerment and teamwork must be jointly considered when adopting a CS strategy aimed at developing innovative behavior and competitive advantage.
Evidences of High Genetic Differentiation among Populations of the Stingless Bee Scaptotrigona depilis (Moure, 1942) in Piauí, Brazil

Introduction Bees of the Meliponini tribe (Hymenoptera, Apidae), known as stingless bees, comprise one of the most important groups of pollinators of the tropical flora (Michener, 2007). Its ecological importance is directly associated to the sustainability of the base of food chains, by promoting the reproduction of different plant species through pollination. They also have a direct impact on the productivity of cultivated plants and, therefore, on small and large-scale agroeconomic development (Slaa et al., 2006). In Brazilian territory, stingless bees were reported as important pollinators of fruit species like annatto, camu-camu, chayote, coconut, cupuaçu, carambola, macadamia, mango and mapati (Heard, 1999). Despite that, native beekeeping focus only on the production of honey, wax, pollen, and propolis, while the importance of these insects for the balance of biological and agricultural chains remains mostly unknown (Toledo-Hernández et al., 2017; Vamosi et al., 2006).
Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks in predicting fair price level in the road construction industry

Running a tender procedure in the construction industry a client expects receiving reasonable prices in the tenders. However, the market competition and the contractors’ will to win a contract to work out a profit, sometimes make the prices far from expected. They can be really low, almost impossible to be kept during the contract execution. Oppositely, the offered prices can be far above a client’s expectation. If they are extremely high, a client has to decide, to accept one of them (even bid-rigging is suspected), or to cancel the procedure. Nevertheless, cancelling a procedure means the considerably postponed the start of the construction. The analysis of almost 400 completed tender procedures (in the Polish road construction industry) and the market trends proved that unexpectedly high prices do not always have to point the collusive behaviours of the offerors. As aforementioned analysis is based on past cases, there is a need to propose the predicting tool, to help clients making decisions in the new tender procedures: to accept the high price as a market-based, or to reject all of the offers as a bid-rigging is suspected. The above-mentioned analysis are based on the simple moving average tool. For predictions the autoregressive tool is proposed – long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks.
Getting to a decision: using structured decision-making to gain consensus on approaches to invasive species control

One of the great challenges with invasive alien species is deciding how to act when a new invasive population is detected. This is partly due to a variety of diverse perspectives on risk perception, objectives, predicted effectiveness of different management actions and uncertainty in likelihood of success for each action. These differences of opinion are largely due to divergent perspectives and experiences among individuals or agencies, and can be overcome with careful consideration, consensus-building and collective action. Structured decision-making (SDM) is a formal method to identify shared goals and facilitate discussion among diverse participants with an aim to collaboratively achieve an outcome in natural resource management. While SDM is used by many agencies to deal with a spectrum of natural resource decision problems, other agencies do not use this process. This article acts as a primer on SDM, discussing key considerations relevant to each step. We reinforce these steps by reporting on a case study using SDM. The problem we address is a non-native smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolumieui Lacépède, 1802) population discovered in Cultus Lake, British Columbia (BC), Canada, in 2018. Smallmouth bass are invasive to BC, and while they may provide a unique and satisfying experience for recreational fishers, they may also exert high predation rates on at-risk sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka and coastrange sculpin Cottus aleuticus endemic to the lake. We report on early successes to this process and how it fostered collaboration and collective action to begin the process of population control for this invasive smallmouth bass population.
A comparative study of meta-heuristics for local path planning of a mobile robot

ABSTRACT Recent trends in path planning have led to a proliferation of studies that find solutions to the path planning problems in an unknown cluster environment. This study aims to find an optimum impact-free path length for a mobile robot with a multi-objective optimization approach. The multi-objective optimization problem is formulated by using path length and a safety aspect as the two objectives. A hybrid population-based optimization algorithm, i.e. the hybrid particle swarm and chemical reaction optimization (HPCRO) algorithm, has been used to obtain a smooth path for the robot in an unknown environment with circular and/or polygonal obstacles. The results of the HPCRO algorithm are then compared with those of genetic algorithms, chemical reaction optimization and particle swarm optimization. Some statistical tests are performed to illustrate the superiority and potential applicability of the hybrid algorithm. The results of the hybrid algorithm are encouraging in terms of cost function value and computational cost.
Extraction and Characterization of Starch from Oak Acorn, Sorghum, and Potato and Adsorption Application for Removal of Maxilon Red GRL from Wastewater

Pure starch has been isolated from different samples: oak acorn, sorghum, and potato using alkali steep and wet-milling procedure. The structure of the extracted starches was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Their physicochemical properties (water content, ash content, pH, amylose content, swelling power, and water solubility index) were determined. The FT-IR spectra of isolated native starches have shown the main bands characterizing the starch. For sorghum starch (SS) and oak acorn starch (OAS), X-ray diffractograms exhibited an A-type diffraction pattern, while potato starch (PS) displayed typical B-type pattern. Compared to sorghum and oak acorn, potato starch has shown the highest level of both swelling power and water solubility index. To estimate the color removal quality of the extracted starches, a sorption of a dye named maxilon red GRL has been carried onto them. The results of equilibrium isotherms in batch adsorption process were analyzed according to the Langmuir and Freundlich model. The characteristic parameters were determined for each model. Furthermore, the effect of initial pH and ionic strength on adsorption capacity was considered, and regeneration studies were carried out.
On the potential yield of wind turbines on high-rise buildings

Urban wind energy has intrigued some investments and applications over the last decade. However, most applications have been unsuccessful, in many cases leaving behind non-rotating wind turbines in the built environment. Research on urban wind energy has also lacked in providing a reliable description of the local flow features small wind turbines are placed in, and the positioning strategy is mostly based on empiricism. This study uses data from a wind tunnel test on the flow pattern above the roof of high-rise buildings to estimate the potential yield of small wind turbines installed in various configurations. The data are collected at a height of 12 m above the flat roof under various wind directions. The capacity factor of a medium-size horizontal axis wind turbine is calculated using power curve data available from the literature. The local wind resource is calculated using the mean wind speed as measured with hot-wire anemometry. The annual energy production of the various configurations is calculated using the climate data available for Firenze (IT) and the orientation of the building with respect to main winds. A rather large variability in the power output of the roof-farm was found for the chosen configuration.
Total X-Ray Emission from the LMC Observed with HaloSat

We constrain the global parameters of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by modeling the first soft X-ray (0.4–6.8 keV) observations of the entire LMC produced in a single pointing with moderate spectral resolution by the HaloSat CubeSat. These data are best fit with the sum of two thermal plasma components in collisional ionization equilibrium and a power law. We find cool (0.210 ± 0.014 keV) and hot (0.89 ± 0.14 keV) components. The total X-ray luminosity of the LMC is (1.08 ± 0.14) × 1039 erg s−1. X-ray binaries make up a large fraction of the emission with a luminosity of (6.0 ± 0.8) × 1038 erg s−1, followed by cool gas from superbubbles, supernovae, and diffuse emission with a luminosity of (3.0 ± 0.3) × 1038 erg s−1. The hot gas from star formation contributes the smallest fraction, with a luminosity of (1.9 ± 0.5) × 1038 erg s−1. We estimate the total volume of the cool gas to be between (0.2–1.2) × 1010 pc3 and the hot gas to be between (1.0–5) × 107 pc3 for filling factors of f = 1 and 0.2. These volumes result in a total thermal energy for the cool gas between (1.4–3) × 1054 erg for electron densities of 0.017–0.04 cm−3, and a thermal energy for the hot gas between (1.7–4) × 1053 erg for electron densities of 0.12–0.3 cm−3. This yields cooling timescales for the cool and hot gas of (1.5–3) × 108 yr and (1.8–6) × 107 yr, respectively.
Transitioning to online teaching: a phenomenological analysis of social work educator perspectives

ABSTRACT Online education in social work has been proliferating and is now ubiquitous due to COVID-19. To optimize instructor pedagogical wisdom and ensure student benefit, critical reflection is needed on the transition to online education. Prior to the pandemic, 17 social work educators were interviewed about their perspectives on the transition from teaching on-the-ground classes to online. This interpretative phenomenological study identified three themes that influenced the educator’s experience: personal qualities, pedagogical beliefs, and macro and institutional factors. It is this unique mix of each participants’ pedagogical beliefs, personal qualities, and macro or institutional factors which influenced the individual educator’s experience of satisfaction. Each educator’s perspective of online teaching is arrived at through calculations of costs and benefits as they balance their own and their students’ needs within the demands and supports of their respective institutions. These perspectives can be characterized by one of four standpoints: mutual benefit, compromised learning, instructor reservations, and incompatibility. Implications include enhancing social work educators’ critical reflexivity while navigating the evolving technological context and providing administrators with points of intervention to support instructors and develop online delivery modes.
FABRICATION OF COMPOSITE COPPER/FLY ASH FOAM WITH EGG YOLK AS FOAMING AGENT

Copper has been widely in many applications such as heat exchangers due to mechanical and physical properties. In this work, the composite foam was fabricated by powder metallurgy method with fly ash powder and egg yolk as a foaming agent and reinforcement, respectively. Mechanical properties of the specimen were characterize using a compaction test. Moreover, observation of the specimen was conducted using the measurement of shrinkage and porosity. The strength of the specimen was obtained in the range 1:1,25 is 0,26 MPa through compaction test. Porosity measurement revealed that maximum and minimum porosities are 88.79 % and 71.53%, respectively. Optical Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscopy observation size of the pores ranging from 21,63μm to 169,7μm. Moreover, some crystalline phase was observed using X-Ray Diffraction Test.
Clinical Significance of Pro-inflammatory Cytokines and Their Correlation with Disease Severity and Blood Coagulation in Septic Patients with Bacterial Co-infection

ABSTRACT Purpose: To evaluate the clinical significance of pro-inflammatory cytokines for disease severity and coagulation in septic patients with bacterial co-infection. Methods: A total of 92 patients with sepsis admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) from January 2017 to August 2020 were enrolled and their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-seven patients (51.1%) had a single infection by Klebsiella pneumoniae or Acinetobacter baumannii (single-infection group), and 45 patients (48.9%) were infected by both species (co-infection group). We compared the clinical characteristics and disease severity among the 92 patients. Disease severity was defined as ICU stay time and 30-day mortality. Plasma concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines and their correlation with disease severity and blood coagulation were analyzed. Results: The 30-day mortality in the co-infection group (35.5%) was significantly higher than in the single-infection group (19.1%). The levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the co-infection group were higher than in the single-infection group. Moreover, high levels of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α were positively correlated with disease severity (Spearman P value < 0.05). High levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were negatively correlated with the platelet count (Spearman P value < 0.05) and positively correlated with prothrombin time, and plasma levels of fibrin degradation product and D-dimer levels (Spearman P value < 0.05 for all). Conclusion: Septic patients with bacterial co-infection had increased plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, a positive correlation between high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increased disease severity and depressed blood coagulation function for septic patients with co-infection was identified.
DETERMINATION OF THE BEST DRYING CONDITIONS FOR GELATIN BASED CANDIES

Bu calismada amac, farkli agirliklardaki jelatin bazli sekerlerde istenen kaliteyi elde etmek icin optimum kurutma ve tavlama surelerini belirlemektir. Firinda kuruma suresi (Firinlama suresi) (12, 16, 20, 24 saat), tavlama suresi (WIP zamani) (0, 24, 48, 72 saat), sekerlerin birim agirligi (2.5 g, 3 g, 6 g) incelenen degisken parametrelerdir. Şekerlerin karakterizasyonu icin Tekstur Profil Analizi, nem icerigi, su aktivitesi, toplam cozunur kati icerik ve NMR Relaksometre deneyleri yapilmistir. En iyi kuruma suresi 2.5 g icin 20 saat, 3 g ve 6 g icin 24 saat olarak bulunmustur. Kurutmadan sonra, birim agirliga gore en iyi tavlama suresi, 2.5 g icin 72 saat, 3 g ve 6 g sekerlemeler icin ise 48 saat olarak belirlenmistir. NMR relaksasyon sureleri olarak tanimlanan T1 ve T2 fiziksel parametrelerle iliskili bulunmustur. Calismanin sonuclari, raf omru boyunca istenen kalite parametrelerini elde etmek ve korumak icin, farkli birim agirlikta olan sekerlemelerin ayri olarak islenmesi gerektigini onermistir.
A Multiparameter Integrated Magnetometer Based on Combination of Scalar and Vector Fields

The diversity of magnetic field information obtained in marine geomagnetic measurements is of great relevance to defining detailed features of the targets. In this article, a solution algorithm based on the combination of scalar and vector fields is proposed. The magnetic direction of the geomagnetic field was obtained by repeatedly applying bias fields, and the multiparameter integrated measurement is realized based on the geometric relationship of the geomagnetic parameters. To make an instrument feasible for undersea measurement, a miniaturized multiparameter magnetometer was constructed within the limited space of a pressure tank, using an Overhauser scalar sensor and a spherical coil for generating bias fields. Test platforms were built to evaluate the scalar sensor and spherical coil. Results from a nonmagnetic laboratory showed that the expanded uncertainty of the scalar sensor was 0.11 nT, whereas the magnetic field generated by the spherical coil had 97% uniformity and completely engulfed the scalar sensor. Moreover, field experiments indicated that the standard deviation of prototype instrument in magnetic direction (3$^{\prime \prime }$) was close to that of declination–inclination magnetometer, whereas its standard deviation in Z-component of 0.24 nT was better than that of a commercial fluxgate magnetometer. It also had markedly better measurement stability, with no temperature drift.