Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphological insights into the mechanism of catalytic aquathermolysis of crude oil with an easily prepared high-efficiency Fe 3 O 4 -containing catalyst

: Elucidating the underlying structure-performance relationship of Fe 3 O 4 containing catalysts for the aquathermolysis of crude oil is essential for the design of efficient heterogeneous catalysts. Therefore, recyclable Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles (NPs) with different morphology and particle size were first prepared and tested for catalytic aquathermolysis. The easily prepared Fe 3 O 4 NPs with irregular morphology (L-Fe 3 O 4 ) have larger intercrystalline mesopores than oleic acid-modified Fe 3 O 4 NPs. This leads to enhanced mass transfer ability, more accessible active sites and thus better aquathermolysis performance. Moreover, these L-Fe 3 O 4 NPs were loaded on a heulandite support by a scalable co-precipitation method, and this L-Fe 3 O 4 /heulandite catalyst showed very good performance in catalytic aquathermolysis, with a viscosity decrease of extra-heavy crude oil of 85.0%. The underlying structure-performance relationship was systematically investigated by XRD, HRTEM, EDX-mapping, FT-IR, elemental analysis, SARA (saturate, aromatic, resin and asphaltene) analysis and 1 H NMR. The Fe 3 O 4 /heulandite catalyst broke C-S bonds and reduced the resin and asphaltene content of the oil. This work is important for the design of Fe 3 O 4 -containing catalysts in catalytic aquathermolysis.
Networked aspects of lifelong work-integrated learning - the BUFFL case

The increasingly digitalised and continuously changing working life needs a continuous lifelong professional development that preferably is networked and work-integrated. This this study builds upon university teachers' and course participants’ experiences from a technology enhanced project called BUFFL A pilot project that combines truly work-integrated learning with lifelong learning, in a strive to address the contemporary need for continuous professional development. The important aim in the BUFFL project is to develop a model for collaborative, flexible, and lifelong professional development. A new and interesting concept in the BUFFL project was to involve concept of Bringing Your Own Data for activities in course modules. The aim of this study is to describe and discuss the lifelong work-integrated learning in the BUFFL project from a networked learning perspective. Data were gathered from e-mail interviews with teachers, e-mail conversations between teachers, facilitators and course participants, and from course evaluations. Results from the data sources have been grouped into three main themes in an inductive thematic analysis. Findings show that in academia, in industry, and in the in between a potential is found in the form of collaborative learning. A networked collaboration that should involve the theories from academia, combined with real-world-problems in the workplace, to achieve a fruitful meeting between academia and the industry
Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya

Current global trends in population growth, urbanisation and a growing middle-class economy have resulted in increased demand for livestock and products, and more so dairy products. This necessitates the need for livestock producers to respond to the growing demand. However, farmers’ efforts are aggravated by the effects of climate change. The need arises for a sustainable source of fodder to alleviate the situation, while at the same time offering farmers other opportunities to participate in fodder markets through the adoption of climate-smart Brachiaria grass. In this article, the opportunity cost of producing Brachiaria in favour of Napier grass is estimated using household survey data obtained from dairy farmers in Kenya’s drier agroecological zones. The study utilised full-information endogenous switching regression to compute the opportunity cost by comparing the gross margins generated from Napier and Brachiaria grass. The findings reveal that dairy farmers face a higher opportunity cost of their fodder land by producing Napier in favour of Brachiaria , given by the transitional heterogeneity of USD 79.74. Furthermore, the adoption of Brachiaria is determined by the age and experience of farmers in fodder production, by herd size, breed type, perception of milk productivity, group membership, and access to extension services. The results highlight the need for widespread adoption through extension and technical support to farmers. This would also enable farmers to participate in fodder markets and support their livelihood.
Automatic cell type annotation using supervised classification: A systematic literature review

Single-cell sequencing gives us the opportunity to analyze cells on an individual level rather than at a population level. There are different types of sequencing based on the stage and portion of the cell from where the data are collected. Among those Single Cell RNA seq is most widely used and most application of cell type annotation has been on Single-cell RNA seq data. Tools have been developed for automatic cell type annotation as manual annotation of cell type is time-consuming and partially subjective. There are mainly three strategies to associate cell type with gene expression profiles of single cell by using marker genes databases, correlating expression data, transferring levels by supervised classification. In this SLR, we present a comprehensive evaluation of the available tools and the underlying approaches to perform automated cell type annotations on scRNA-seq data.
Competitive Strategies and Performance of Selected Commercial Banks in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

: The study sought to examine the association between competitive strategies and performance of commercial banks in Uasin Gishu County. This research was based on theories of resource based view, open systems, strategic balancing, Porter's five forces model and theory of performance. These theories and variables of the study were related with the help of a conceptual framework. The study adopted descriptive research design. Population for the study comprised of 37 commercial banks and their management staff. The sample size was 34 commercial banks from which 102 respondents who were selected through purposive, stratified and simple random sampling. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. The collected data was coded, cleaned and tabulated through the use of SPSS version 21 software. Descriptive and inferential data analysis including regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was also used to determine whether there is significant relationship between differentiation strategy, cost leadership strategy, focus strategy and product innovation strategy and performance of commercial banks in Uasin Gishu County. The results of the correlation analysis indicated no evidence of multicollinearity among the variables. Regression results indicated that the use of differentiation, cost leadership, focus and product innovation strategies had a positive and statistically significant influence on the performance of commercial banks with coefficients of (B=0.560, p<0.001), (B=0.314 p<0.001), (B=0.254 p<0.001) and (B=0.516 p<0.001) respectively. These results indicate that for each unit adoption of these strategies, there was a corresponding increase in commercial bank performance by the values of the coefficients. Based on the results of this study, therefore, it was concluded that competitive strategies positively impacted the financial results of banking institutions in Uasin Gishu County. The study recommended that commercial bank’s leadership teams should be keen on the use of competitive strategies as the success of a business or strategy primarily depends on the innovativeness, uniqueness, energy and expertise of its management staff.
Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide from Swine-Waste Biogas on a Pilot Scale Using Immobilized Paracoccus versutus CM1

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a toxic and corrosive component that commonly occurs in biogas. In this study, H2S removal from swine-waste biogas using sulfur-oxidizing Paracoccus versutus CM1 immobilized in porous glass (PG) and polyurethane foam (PUF) biofilters was investigated. Bacterial compositions in the biofilters were also determined using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). The biofilters were first tested on a laboratory scale under three space velocities (SV): 20, 30, and 40 h−1. Within 24 h, at an SV of 20 h−1, PG and PUF biofilters immobilized with P. versutus CM1 removed 99.5% and 99.7% of H2S, respectively, corresponding to the elimination capacities (EC) of 83.5 and 86.2 gm−3 h−1. On a pilot scale, with the horizontal PG-P. versutus CM1 biofilter operated at an SV of 30 h−1, a removal efficiency of 99.7% and a maximum EC of 113.7 gm−3 h−1 were achieved. No reduction in methane content in the outlet biogas was observed under these conditions. The PCR-DGGE analysis revealed that Paracoccus, Acidithiobacillus, and Thiomonas were the predominant bacterial genera in the biofilters, which might play important roles in H2S removal. This PG–P. versutus CM1 biofiltration system is highly efficient for H2S removal from swine-waste biogas.
HIGH-VELOCITY LINE FORMING REGIONS IN THE TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA 2009ig

We report measurements and analysis of high-velocity (HVF) (>20,000 km s−1) and photospheric absorption features in a series of spectra of the Type Ia supernova (SN) 2009ig obtained between −14 days and +13 days with respect to the time of maximum B-band luminosity (B-max). We identify lines of Si ii, Si iii, S ii, Ca ii, and Fe ii that produce both HVF and photospheric-velocity (PVF) absorption features. SN 2009ig is unusual for the large number of lines with detectable HVF in the spectra, but the light-curve parameters correspond to a slightly overluminous but unexceptional SN Ia (MB = −19.46 mag and Δm15(B) = 0.90 mag). Similarly, the Si ii λ6355 velocity at the time of B-max is greater than “normal” for an SN Ia, but it is not extreme (vSi = 13,400 km s−1). The −14 days and −13 days spectra clearly resolve HVF from Si ii λ6355 as separate absorptions from a detached line forming region. At these very early phases, detached HVF are prevalent in all lines. From −12 days to −6 days, HVF and PVF are detected simultaneously, and the two line forming regions maintain a constant separation of about 8000 km s−1. After −6 days all absorption features are PVF. The observations of SN 2009ig provide a complete picture of the transition from HVF to PVF. Most SNe Ia show evidence for HVF from multiple lines in spectra obtained before −10 days, and we compare the spectra of SN 2009ig to observations of other SNe. We show that each of the unusual line profiles for Si ii λ6355 found in early-time spectra of SNe Ia correlate to a specific phase in a common development sequence from HVF to PVF.
Parallelized Simulations of Two-fluid Dispersions

Two-fluid dynamics is a challenging subject, rich both in physics and in practical applications, which range from manufacturing to lubricated transport. Mechanisms unique to a flow can be exploited to enhance functionality in applications. For example, density-matching can be used to depress the effect of gravity, or of centripetal acceleration in rotating systems, making it possible to manipulate the locations occupied by the fluid, as well as the shapes of the interfaces between the fluids. Viscosity segregation can be used to promote mixing and demixing, and thus the displacement of one fluid by another (as in the problem of oil recovery), or to segregate one molten plastic from another by encapsulation. The lubrication of one (highly viscous) fluid by another (less viscous) fluid is a particularly important branch of two-fluid dynamics. Many configurations are possible for the flow of two immiscible fluids: layers, fingers, encapsulated regimes, and drops. One of the difficulties in the study of flows of two immiscible fluids is that the domain contains an interface. The interface moves under the effects of the flow and can sometimes undergo severe deformations, including breakup. In the numerical treatment of these flows, we must answer three questions: (1) How do we represent the interface on a mesh? (2) How will the interface evolve in time? (3) How should we apply the boundary conditions on the interface? There are many interface-tracking methods, such as the moving-grid method, the front-tracking method, the level-set method, and the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method. The VOF method provides a simple way to treat the topological changes of the interface, as well as ease of generalization to the three-dimensional case. The interested reader is referred to a recent review article [4] and its references. Our two-fluid code is composed of three parts: a second-order VOF method for tracking the interface, a projection method for solving the Navier–Stokes equations on the MAC grid (to be defined later), and, finally, a continuum method for modeling the interfacial tension.
Magnesium Isoglycyrrhizinate Reduces the Target-Binding Amount of Cisplatin to Mitochondrial DNA and Renal Injury through SIRT3

Nephrotoxicity is the dose-limiting factor of cisplatin treatment. Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate (MgIG) has been reported to ameliorate renal ischemia–reperfusion injury. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect and possible mechanisms of MgIG against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity from the perspective of cellular pharmacokinetics. We found that cisplatin predominantly accumulated in mitochondria of renal tubular epithelial cells, and the amount of binding with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was more than twice that with nuclear DNA (nDNA). MgIG significantly lowered the accumulation of cisplatin in mitochondria and, in particular, the degree of target-binding to mtDNA. MgIG notably ameliorated cisplatin-induced changes in mitochondrial membrane potential, morphology, function, and cell viability, while the magnesium donor drugs failed to work. In a mouse model, MgIG significantly alleviated cisplatin-caused renal dysfunction, pathological changes of renal tubules, mitochondrial ultrastructure variations, and disturbed energy metabolism. Both in vitro and in vivo data showed that MgIG recovered the reduction of NAD+-related substances and NAD+-dependent deacetylase sirtuin-3 (SIRT3) level caused by cisplatin. Furthermore, SIRT3 knockdown weakened the protective effect of MgIG on mitochondria, while SIRT3 agonist protected HK-2 cells from cisplatin and specifically reduced platinum-binding activity with mtDNA. In conclusion, MgIG reduces the target-binding amount of platinum to mtDNA and exerts a protective effect on cisplatin-induced renal injury through SIRT3, which may provide a new strategy for the treatment of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.
Group Testing with Blocks of Positives and Inhibitors

The main goal of group testing is to identify a small number of specific items among a large population of items. In this paper, we consider specific items as positives and inhibitors and non-specific items as negatives. In particular, we consider a novel model called group testing with blocks of positives and inhibitors. A test on a subset of items is positive if the subset contains at least one positive and does not contain any inhibitors, and it is negative otherwise. In this model, the input items are linearly ordered, and the positives and inhibitors are subsets of small blocks (at unknown locations) of consecutive items over that order. We also consider two specific instantiations of this model. The first instantiation is that model that contains a single block of consecutive items consisting of exactly known numbers of positives and inhibitors. The second instantiation is the model that contains a single block of consecutive items containing known numbers of positives and inhibitors. Our contribution is to propose efficient encoding and decoding schemes such that the numbers of tests used to identify only positives or both positives and inhibitors are less than the ones in the state-of-the-art schemes. Moreover, the decoding times mostly scale to the numbers of tests that are significantly smaller than the state-of-the-art ones, which scale to both the number of tests and the number of items.
Body Mass Index and Overall Survival of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma

Simple Summary There is a growing need to clarify the effect of modifiable lifestyle factors such as obesity on outcomes of multiple myeloma (MM). In this paper, we examined the associations between body mass index (BMI) at different periods of life up to the time of diagnosis and overall survival among patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma. The key findings are that BMIs before and at the time of diagnosis were not associated with overall survival in MM, except that a higher BMI at diagnosis was associated with a better overall survival for females, irrespective of race/ethnicity. This is the first evidence that the BMI-survival association may differ by sex. Abstract Obesity is associated with survival in several solid tumors and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but its impact on multiple myeloma (MM) survival is unclear. We examined the associations between body mass index (BMI) at different periods of life up to the time of diagnosis and overall survival (OS) among 563 patients newly diagnosed with MM in 2010–2019. BMI at diagnosis was calculated using measured height and weight from electronic medical records (EMR). BMIs at age 20, maximum during adulthood, and 5 years before diagnosis were calculated using self-reported weights and measured height from EMR. Over a median follow-up of 49.3 months, 191 (33.93%) deaths were identified. We used multivariable Cox proportional-hazards models to examine the associations between BMIs and OS. Height as well as BMI before and at diagnosis was not associated with OS, but there is a U-shape association between weight and OS. Higher BMIs at diagnosis were associated with better OS among females (HR = 0.39 [0.22–0.71]), irrespective of race. In conclusion, our results suggest that BMI at different periods of life up to the time of diagnosis may not be associated with OS in MM, except that a higher BMI at diagnosis was associated with superior OS for females.
Supermode Characteristics of Nested Multiple Hollow-Core Anti-Resonant Fibers

Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) can achieve ultra-high data capacity in optical fiber communication. Several impressive works on multicore fiber (MCF), multi-mode fiber, and few-mode multicore fiber have made significant achievements in MDM. However, none of the previous works can simultaneously maintain the transmission loss, chromatic dispersion (CD), and differential group delay (DGD) at a relatively low level. A nested multiple hollow-core anti-resonant fiber (NMH-ARF) has significant potential for applications in MDM. This study proposes a novel NMH-ARF with its structural design based on the traditional single-core nested anti-resonant fiber. We increased the number of nodes between capillaries. By changing the position of the nested tubes, several interconnected areas form when a single core is separated. We investigated the mode-coupling theory and transmission characteristics of this fiber. This fiber structure showed a low sensitivity to bending and achieved a super-low DGD and a super-low confinement loss (CL) at a wavelength of 1.55 µm while keeping CD relatively low.
Photometric Properties of Network and Faculae Derived from HMI Data Compensated for Scattered Light

We report on the photometric properties of faculae and network, as observed in full-disk, scattered-light-corrected images from the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager. We use a Lucy–Richardson deconvolution routine that corrects an image in less than one second. Faculae are distinguished from network through proximity to active regions. This is the first report that full-disk observations, including center-to-limb variations, reproduce the photometric properties of faculae and network observed previously only in sub-arcsecond-resolution; small field-of-view studies, i.e. that network, as defined by distance from active regions, exhibit higher photometric contrasts. Specifically, for magnetic flux values larger than approximately 300 G, the network is brighter than faculae and the contrast differences increase toward the limb, where the network contrast is about twice the facular one. For lower magnetic flux values, network appear darker than faculae. Contrary to reports from previous full-disk observations, we also found that network exhibits a higher center-to-limb variation. Our results are in agreement with reports from simulations that indicate magnetic flux alone is a poor proxy of the photometric properties of magnetic features. We estimate that the contribution of faculae and network to Total Solar Irradiance variability of the current Cycle 24 is overestimated by at least 11%, due to the photometric properties of network and faculae not being recognized as different. This estimate is specific to the method employed in this study to reconstruct irradiance variations, so caution should be paid when extending it to other techniques.
FvNST1b NAC Protein Induces Secondary Cell Wall Formation in Strawberry

Secondary cell wall thickening plays a crucial role in plant growth and development. Diploid woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is an excellent model for studying fruit development, but its molecular control of secondary wall thickening is largely unknown. Previous studies have shown that Arabidopsis NAC secondary wall thickening promoting factor1 (AtNST1) and related proteins are master regulators of xylem fiber cell differentiation in multiple plant species. In this study, a NST1-like gene, FvNST1b, was isolated and characterized from strawberry. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that the FvNST1b protein contains a highly conserved NAC domain, and it belongs to the same family as AtNST1. Overexpression of FvNST1b in wild-type Arabidopsis caused extreme dwarfism, induced ectopic thickening of secondary walls in various tissues, and upregulated the expression of genes related to secondary cell wall synthesis. In addition, transient overexpression of FvNST1b in wild-type Fragaria vesca fruit produced cells resembling tracheary elements. These results suggest that FvNST1b positively regulates secondary cell wall formation as orthologous genes from other species.
Cavity quantum electrodynamics with quantum dot - photonic crystal nanocavities

High quality factor, small mode volume photonic crystal cavities and single emitter quantum dots are the topic of this dissertation. They are studied as both a combined system with InAs quantum dots grown in the center of a 2D GaAs photonic crystal slab nanocavity as well as individually. The individual studies are concerned with passive 1D silicon photonic crystal nanobeam cavities and deterministic, site-selectively grown arrays of InAs quantum dots. For the combined system, strong light matter coupling in a quantum dot photonic crystal slab nanocavity is discussed. Vacuum Rabi splitting is seen when the interaction strength exceeds the dissipative processes of the coupled system. In order to increase the probability of a spectral matching between cavity modes and quantum dot transitions, a technique for condensing an inert gas onto a sample is used. This can lead to a spectral tuning of up to 4 nm of the cavity mode with minimal change in the cavity quality factor while maintaining cryogenic temperatures down to 4 K. The effect of a large density of quantum dots within a quantum dot photonic crystal slab nanocavity is also addressed. Gain and absorption effects are found to occur, changing the cavity emission linewidth from that of its intrinsic value, as well as lasing with a low number of quantum dots and with high spontaneous emission coupling factors. Additionally, methods for improving the quality factor of GaAs photonic crystal cavities and better understanding different loss mechanisms are discussed.