Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation and treatment of waste water effect on groundwater quality (the University of Anbar area as a case study)

This research focuses on studying the impact of different sources of wastewater, such as domestic, industrial, agricultural, etc. upon groundwater. The swamp of contaminated water collection within the Al-Anbar University area was taken as a case study for this research. This swamp has a pond that works as a collection basin for different sources of wastewater mainly domestic waste coming from leakage of contaminated water from the septic-tank of the residential complex of students. This contaminated water will leak over time within the folds of soil due to per-meability and the effect of land attraction and reach the levels of groundwater. The presence of polluted water near groundwater is an environmental hazard and harmful because this leakage water has different diseases and germs, which could pose a danger to human health. Different samples of these sources were taken from different places at different times and some physical, chemical, and biological tests were then conducted. Wastewaters characterization was also investigated in this study to make an assessment for water quality and find out a proper treatment method. Data obtained from this study show different levels of pollutants, which could highly affect groundwater quality. A proper and advanced treatment method was also proposed in this study, depending on the wastewater characterization results. The purpose of this research is wastewater treatment using the physical method with coagulation and Flocculation processes with local coagulants to reduce pollutants impact on groundwater.The results showed the addition of alum at 35 mg/l increased the removal efficiency by 80.7% at the settling time of 60 min, and the addition of 35 mg/l of the lime increased the removal efficiency by 63.9% at the same settling time.It has been proven that the use of alum is more effective than lime for sedimentation suspended matter. The optimum dosage and settling time are 20 mg/l and 60 min respectively.
Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte Ratio and Clinical Outcomes in Cholangiocarcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte ratio (LMR) has shown an association with survival outcomes in several oncological diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the association between LMR and clinical outcomes for cholangiocarcinoma patients. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to assess the association between LMR values and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and time to recurrence (TTR) in cholangiocarcinoma patients. We used Hazard ratio (HR) and their 95% confidence interval (CI) as a measure of effect for the random effect model meta-analysis. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used for quality assessment. The Egger test and funnel plot were developed for approaching publication bias. A total of 19 studies were included in this study (n = 3860). The meta-analysis showed that cholangiocarcinoma patients with low values of LMR were associated with worse OS (HR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.71–0.96; I2 = 86%) and worse TTR (HR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.58–0.86; I2 = 0%). DFS and RFS also were evaluated; however, they did not show statistically significant associations. Low LMR values were associated with a worse OS and TTR.
TO THE THEORETICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE LOSSES IN INDUCTANCE COILS

The article discusses a theory that allows to describe losses in conductors taking into account the skin effect and the proximity effect. The developed theory is applied to inductance coils. In contrast to the classical Butterworth theory the condition of the strong skin effect, which is frequent in practice, is introduced from the very beginning. This approach makes possible to obtain extremely simple formulas, which show that Q-factor of a coil is determined mainly by the diameter of its winding.
S ep 2 01 8 A Relational Formulation of Quantum Mechanics

Non-relativistic quantum mechanics is reformulated here based on the idea that relational properties among quantum systems, instead of the independent properties of a quantum system, are the most fundamental elements to construct quantum mechanics. This idea, combining with the emphasis that measurement of a quantum system is a bidirectional interaction process, leads to a new framework to calculate the probability of an outcome when measuring a quantum system. In this framework, the most basic variable is the relational probability amplitude. Probability is calculated as summation of weights from the alternative measurement configurations. The properties of quantum systems, such as superposition and entanglement, are manifested through the rules of counting the alternatives. Wave function and reduced density matrix are derived from the relational probability amplitude matrix. They are found to be secondary mathematical tools that equivalently describe a quantum system without explicitly calling out the reference system. Schrödinger Equation is obtained when there is no entanglement in the relational probability amplitude matrix. Feynman Path Integral is used to calculate the relational probability amplitude, and is further generalized to formulate the reduced density matrix. In essence, quantum mechanics is reformulated as a theory that describes physical systems in terms of relational properties.
A UBVI AND uvbyCaHβ ANALYSIS OF THE INTERMEDIATE-AGE OPEN CLUSTER, NGC 5822

NGC 5822 is a richly populated, moderately nearby, intermediate-age open cluster covering an area larger than the full moon on the sky. A CCD survey of the cluster on the UBVI and uvbyCaHβ systems shows that the cluster is superposed upon a heavily reddened field of background stars with E(B − V) > 0.35 mag, while the cluster has small and uniform reddening at E(b − y) = 0.075 ± 0.008 mag or E(B − V) = 0.103 ± 0.011 mag, based upon 48 and 61 probable A and F dwarf single-star members, respectively. The errors quoted include both internal photometric precision and external photometric uncertainties. The metallicity derived from 61 probable single F-star members is [Fe/H] = −0.058 ± 0.027 (sem) from m1 and 0.010 ± 0.020 (sem) from hk, for a weighted average of [Fe/H] = −0.019 ± 0.023, where the errors refer to the internal errors from the photometry alone. With reddening and metallicity fixed, the cluster age and apparent distance modulus are obtained through a comparison to appropriate isochrones in both VI and BV, producing 0.9 ± 0.1 Gyr and 9.85 ± 0.15, respectively. The giant branch remains dominated by two distinct clumps of stars, though the brighter clump seems a better match to the core-He-burning phase while the fainter clump straddles the first-ascent red giant branch. Four potential new clump members have been identified, equally split between the two groups. Reanalysis of the UBV two-color data extending well down the main sequence shows it to be optimally matched by reddening near E(B − V) = 0.10 rather than the older value of 0.15, leading to [Fe/H] between −0.16 and 0.00 from the ultraviolet excess of the unevolved dwarfs. The impact of the lower reddening and younger age of the cluster on previous analyses of the cluster is discussed.
The few-atom problem

These lectures contain a theoretical introduction to the few-body problem with short-range resonant binary interactions. In the first part we discuss the effective range expansion for the two-body scattering amplitude emphasizing the role of the resonance width. In the second part we review the Efimov effect for three atoms, describe the difference in between the Efimovian and non-Efimovian regimes, and discuss the dependence of three-body observables on quantum symmetry, mass imbalance, and resonance width. In the third part we derive the Skorniakov and Ter-Martirosian equation and give several illustrative examples of its solution.
Search for pairs of highly collimated photon-jets in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for the pair production of photon-jets$-$collimated groupings of photons$-$in the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. Highly collimated photon-jets can arise from the decay of new, highly boosted particles that can decay to multiple photons collimated enough to be identified in the electromagnetic calorimeter as a single, photonlike energy cluster. Data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.7 fb$^{-1}$, were collected in 2015 and 2016. Candidate photon-jet pair production events are selected from those containing two reconstructed photons using a set of identification criteria much less stringent than that typically used for the selection of photons, with additional criteria applied to provide improved sensitivity to photon-jets. Narrow excesses in the reconstructed diphoton mass spectra are searched for. The observed mass spectra are consistent with the Standard Model background expectation. The results are interpreted in the context of a model containing a new, high-mass scalar particle with narrow width, $X$, that decays into pairs of photon-jets via new, light particles, $a$. Upper limits are placed on the cross section times the product of branching ratios $\sigma \times \mathcal{B}(X \rightarrow aa) \times \mathcal {B}(a \rightarrow \gamma \gamma)^{2}$ for 200 GeV $<m_{X}<$ 2 TeV and for ranges of $ m_a $ from a lower mass of 100 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV, depending upon $ m_X $. Upper limits are also placed on $\sigma \times \mathcal{B}(X \rightarrow aa) \times \mathcal {B}(a \rightarrow 3\pi^{0})^{2}$ for the same range of $ m_X $ and for ranges of $ m_a $ from a lower mass of 500 MeV up to between 2 and 10 GeV.
Linking Bacterial Rhizosphere Communities of Two Pioneer Species, Brachystegia boehmii and B. spiciformis, to the Ecological Processes of Miombo Woodlands

Miombo is the most extensive ecosystem in southern Africa, being strongly driven by fire, climate, herbivory, and human activity. Soils are major regulating and supporting services, sequestering nearly 50% of the overall carbon and comprising a set of yet unexploited functions. In this study, we used next-generation Illumina sequencing to assess the patterns of bacterial soil diversity in two pioneer Miombo species, Brachystegia boehmii and Brachystegia spiciformis, along a fire gradient, in ferric lixisol and cambic arenosol soils. In total, 21 phyla, 51 classes, 98 orders, 193 families, and 520 genera were found, revealing a considerably high and multifunctional diversity with a strong potential for the production of bioactive compounds and nutrient mobilization. Four abundant genera characterized the core microbiome among plant species, type of soils, or fire regime: Streptomyces, Gaiella, Chthoniobacter, and Bacillus. Nevertheless, bacterial networks revealed a higher potential for mutualistic interactions and transmission of chemical signals among phylotypes from low fire frequency sites than those from high fire frequency sites. Ecological networks also revealed the negative effects of frequent fires on the complexity of microbial communities. Functional predictions revealed the core “house-keeping” metabolisms contributing to the high bacterial diversity found, suggesting its importance to the functionality of this ecosystem.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Refractory Crohn’s Disease: Should It Be Considered?

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is widely used in benign and malignant hematological diseases. During the last decade, HSCT, mainly autologous, also gained increasing attention in the treatment of refractory autoimmune diseases. Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease leading to transmural inflammation potentially affecting all parts of the luminal gastrointestinal tract. Despite improving therapeutic options, including various biologics, some patients are refractory to all lines of available conservative therapy, leading to increased morbidity and reduced quality of life. Apart from surgery, HSCT might be a reasonable treatment alternative for refractory CD patients. This review aims to describe the current role of HSCT in CD and discusses the procedure, the correct patient selection, the clinical efficacy from initial remission to following relapse rates, and complications of this treatment.
The State of Big Data Reference Architectures: A Systematic Literature Review

Big Data (BD) is a nascent term emerged to describe large amount of data that comes in different forms from various channels. In modern world, users are the ceaseless generators of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data that if gleaned and crunched precisely, will reveal game-changing patterns. While the opportunities exist with BD, the unprecedented amount of data has brought traditional approaches to a bottleneck, and the growth of data is outpacing technological and scientific advances in data analytics. It is estimated that approximately 75% of the BD projects have failed within the last decade according to multiple sources. Among the challenges, system development and data architecture are prominent. This paper aims to facilitate BD system development and architecture by conducting a systematic literature review on BD reference architectures (RA). The primary goal is to highlight the state of BD RAs and how they can be helpful for BD system development. The secondary goal is to find all BD RAs, describe the challenges of creating these RA, discuss the common architectural components of these RA and the limitations of these RA. As a result of this work, firstly major concepts about RA are discussed and their applicability to BD system development is depicted. Secondly, 22 BD reference architecture is assessed from academia and practice and their commonalities, challenges, and limitations are identified. The findings gained emerges the understanding that RAs can be an effective artefact to tackle complex BD system development.
Lensing by galaxies in CNOC2 fields

We have observed two blank fields of approximately 30x23 arcmin(2) using the William Herschel Telescope. The fields have been studied as part of the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (CNOC2), and spectroscopic redshifts are available for 1125 galaxies in the two fields. We measured the lensing signal caused by large-scale structure, and found that the result is consistent with current, more accurate measurements. We study the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal of three overlapping samples of lenses (one with and two without redshift information), and detect a significant signal in all cases. The estimates for the velocity dispersion of an L*(B)(z=0)=5.6x10(9) h(-2) L-Bcircle dot galaxy agree well for the various samples. The best-fitting singular isothermal sphere model to the ensemble-averaged tangential distortion around the galaxies with redshifts yields a velocity dispersion of sigma(*)=130(-17)(+15) km s(-1), or a circular velocity of V*(c)=184(-25)(+22) km s(-1) for an L*(B) galaxy, in good agreement with other studies. We use a maximum-likelihood analysis, where a parametrized mass model is compared with the data, to study the extent of galaxy dark matter haloes. Making use of all available data, we find sigma(*)=111+/-12 km s(-1) (68.3 per cent confidence, marginalized over the truncation parameter s ) for a truncated isothermal sphere model in which all galaxies have the same mass-to-light ratio. The value of the truncation parameter s is not constrained that well, and we find s(*)=260(-73)(+124) h(-1) kpc (68.3 per cent confidence, marginalized over sigma(*)), with a 99.7 per cent confidence lower limit of 80 h(-1) kpc. Interestingly, our results provide a 95 per cent confidence upper limit of 556 h(-1) kpc. The galaxy-galaxy lensing analysis allows us to estimate the average mass-to-light ratio of the field, which can be used to estimate Omega (m). The current result, however, depends strongly on the assumed scaling relation for s .
Details of Sample Dependence and Transport Properties of URu2Si2

Resistivity and specific heat measurements were performed in the low carrier unconventional superconductor URu2Si2 on various samples with very different qualities. The superconducting transition temperature (TSC) and the hidden order transition temperature (THO) of these crystals were evaluated as a function of the residual resistivity ratio (RRR). In high quality single crystals the resistivity does not seem to follow a T2 dependence above TSC, indicating that the Fermi liquid regime is restricted to low temperatures. However, an analysis of the isothermal longitudinal magnetoresistivity points out that the T2 dependence may be "spoiled" by residual inhomogeneous superconducting contribution. We discuss a possible scenario concerning the distribution of TSC related with the fact that the hidden order phase is very sensitive to the pressure inhomogeneity.
A UNIFIED TIMING AND SPECTRAL MODEL FOR THE ANOMALOUS X-RAY PULSARS XTE J1810−197 AND CXOU J164710.2−455216

Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) are two small classes of X-ray sources strongly suspected to host a magnetar, i.e., an ultra-magnetized neutron star with B ≈ 1014–1015 G. Many SGRs/AXPs are known to be variable, and recently the existence of genuinely “transient” magnetars was discovered. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the pulse profile and spectral evolution of the two transient AXPs (TAXPs) XTE J1810−197 and CXOU J164710.2−455216. Our analysis was carried out in the framework of the twisted magnetosphere model for magnetar emission. Starting from three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations of the emerging spectrum, we produced a large database of synthetic pulse profiles which was fitted to observed light curves in different spectral bands and at different epochs. This allowed us to derive the physical parameters of the model and their evolution with time, together with the geometry of the two sources, i.e., the inclination of the line of sight and the magnetic axis with respect to the rotation axis. We then fitted the (phase-averaged) spectra of the two TAXPs at different epochs using a model similar to that used to calculate the pulse profiles (ntzang in XSPEC) freezing all parameters to the values obtained from the timing analysis and leaving only the normalization free to vary. This provided acceptable fits to XMM-Newton data in all the observations we analyzed. Our results support a picture in which a limited portion of the star surface close to one of the magnetic poles is heated at the outburst onset. The subsequent evolution is driven both by the cooling/varying size of the heated cap and by a progressive untwisting of the magnetosphere.
The surrounding landscape shapes the abundance of Sphaerophoria scripta and Melanostoma mellinum (Diptera: Syrphidae) in Portuguese vineyards

The intensification of urban and agricultural use in the landscape is the major driver of biodiversity loss and the consequent decrease of ecosystem services provided by insects. Syrphids are important ecosystem service providers, including pest regulation, pollination, and matter decomposition. Understanding how the surrounding landscape to crops affects syrphids is essential to implementing strategies to reverse the negative effects of the agricultural landscape's simplification. This study describes the Syrphidae community in Portuguese vineyards and the response of the most abundant species, Sphaerophoria scripta Linnaeus, 1758, and Melanostoma mellinum Linnaeus, 1758, to the landscape composition and configuration within a gradient of distances (500, 1000, and 2000 m) from the sampled vineyards. The presence of seminatural habitats and other crops in the surrounding landscape increased both species at the largest distance, whereas the presence of artificial territory, olive orchards, and vineyards reduce M. mellinum at some of the buffers. Increasing seminatural habitats in the vineyards surrounding landscape (2000 m) and, potentially, introducing nature‐friendly practices in the principal crops around vineyards may favour syrphid abundance.
Comparative Analysis of Vehicle-Based and Driver-Based Features for Driver Drowsiness Monitoring by Support Vector Machines

Driver drowsiness is a serious threat to road safety. Most driver monitoring systems (DMSs) already embedded in vehicles to detect drowsiness use vehicle-based features (i.e., measures) computed by outward-facing cameras for lane tracking or steering wheel angle sensors to analyze lane keeping and steering control behavior. Such DMSs are referred to as indirect DMSs as they monitor drowsiness indirectly through driving performance. In this work, we extend this classical technique by using a driver monitoring camera for tracking driver-based features associated with eye blinking behavior and head movements. We refer to DMSs based only on a driver monitoring camera as direct DMSs as they monitor drowsiness directly through observable driver-based behavioral cues. In this work, we conduct a comparative analysis between an indirect and direct DMS. We also combine vehicle-based and driver-based features to examine the potential of a so-called hybrid DMS. To this end, we use a database collected from 70 participants in driving simulator experiments. The comparative analysis is performed by means of the correlation-based feature selection technique and support vector machines independently. With a balanced accuracy of 87.1%, the direct DMS significantly outperforms the indirect DMS, which reaches a balanced accuracy of only 77.9%. The hybrid DMS achieves a slightly better balanced accuracy of 87.7%. This work motivates the development and use of direct or hybrid DMSs to detect driver drowsiness and increase road safety.
Efficient Simulation of Random Quantum States and Operators

We investigate the generation of quantum states and unitary operations that are ``random'' in certain respects. We show how to use such states to estimate the average fidelity, an important measure in the study of implementations of quantum algorithms. We re-discover the result that the states of a maximal set of mutually-unbiased bases serve this purpose. An efficient circuit is presented that generates an arbitrary state out of such a set. Later on, we consider unitary operations that can be used to turn any quantum channel into a depolarizing channel. It was known before that the Clifford group serves this and a related purpose, and we show that these are actually the same. We also show that a small subset of the Clifford group is already sufficient to accomplish this. We conclude with an efficient construction of the elements of that subset. This thesis is based on joint work with Richard Cleve, Joseph Emerson, and Etera Livine.
Density-dependent response of an ultracold plasma to few-cycle radio-frequency pulses

Ultracold neutral plasmas exhibit a density-dependent resonant response to applied radio-frequency (RF) fields in the frequency range of several MHz to hundreds of MHz for achievable densities. We have conducted measurements where short bursts of RF were applied to these plasmas, with pulse durations as short as two cycles. We still observed a density-dependent resonant response to these short pulses. However, the too rapid timescale of the response, the dependence of the response on the sign of the driving field, the response as the number of pulses was increased, and the difference in plasma response to radial and axially applied RF fields are inconsistent with the plasma response being due to local resonant heating of electrons in the plasma. Instead, our results are consistent with rapid energy transfer from collective motion of the entire electron cloud to electrons in high-energy orbits. In addition to providing a potentially more robust way to measure ultracold neutral plasma densities, these measurements demonstrate the importance of collective motion in the energy transport in these systems.