Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-adaptive preferential flow control using displacing fluid with dispersed polymers in heterogeneous porous media

Abstract Preferential flow that leads to non-uniform displacement, especially in heterogeneous porous media, is usually unwelcome in most practical processes. We propose a self-adaptive preferential flow control mechanism by using dispersed polymers, which is supported strongly by experimental and numerical evidence. Our experiments are performed on a microchip with heterogeneous porous structures where oil is displaced by dispersed polymer microsphere particles. Even though the size of the particles is much smaller than the pore-throat size, the diversion effect by the dispersed microspheres is still proved. Therefore, the plugging effect is not the major mechanism for preferential flow control by dispersed polymers. The mechanisms are further investigated by pore-scale modelling, which indicates that the dispersed polymers exhibit an adaption ability to pressure and resistance in the porous flow field. In such an intelligent way, the displacing fluid with dispersed polymers smartly controls the preferential flow by inducing pressure fluctuations, and demonstrates better performance in both efficiency and economic aspects than the traditional method by simply increasing the viscosity. These insights can be applied to improve techniques in the field, such as enhanced oil recovery and soil wetting.
A chronological review on perceptions of crowding in tourism and recreation

ABSTRACT This study presents a chronological review of methodological and empirical issues of the perceived crowding literature in the contexts of tourism and recreation. A content analysis was performed on 178 empirical articles gathered from online databases and published during the period of 2000–2019. The findings are presented in three sections – specifically, research scope, research methodology, and empirical issues consisting of antecedents and consequences of perceived crowding. The integrative review demonstrates that perceived crowding research is methodologically characterized by (1) a dominance of single-country setting studies mostly sampling visitors as opposed to other units of analysis and (2) an overwhelming number of quantitative studies with high response rates but a lack of sampling method reporting. Regarding the empirical issues, personal factors, external factors, and site-related factors are highly examined as antecedents of perceived crowding. In terms of crowding consequences, satisfaction-related consequences, and behavioural and affective responses constitute the main consequences discussed in the literature. The two substantial contributions of this article to the existing literature are as follows: (a) filling the gap in the relevant body of research with a comprehensive review of empirical articles on the subject and (b) providing theoretical and methodological guidelines for future research.
Compression Behavior of Acetylsalicylic Acid Pellets

AbstractAn instrumented tablet press was used to study the compression behavior of different acetylsalicylic acid (AAS) formulations. Formulations of AAS crystals and uncoated AAS pellets have compression behavior similar to formulations of AAS pellets coated with acrylic resins (Eudragit RS) and mixed with a 20% of microcrystalline cellulose. Formulations of AAS coated pellets without any excipient exhibited a more plastic compression behavior then the other formulations. Matrix tablets of AAS were produced by compression of formulations of AAS coated pellets without any excipients.The drug release profile of the pellets before and after compression was also studied. Microcrystalline cellulose concentrations higher than 15% w/w were required to obtain tablets of coated pellets with drug release profiles similar to the coated pellets before compression. It can be concluded from the present work that compression data of coated particles can be useful to study the possible damage of the film coat of the par.
AgriSens: IoT-Based Dynamic Irrigation Scheduling System for Water Management of Irrigated Crops

In this article, we present the design of an Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based dynamic irrigation scheduling system (AgriSens) for efficient water management of irrigated crop fields. The AgriSens provides real time, automatic, dynamic as well as remote manual irrigation treatment for different growth phases of a crop’s life cycle using IoT. A low-cost water-level sensor is designed to measure the level of water present in a field. We propose an algorithm for automatic dynamic-cum-manual irrigation based on farmer requirements. The AgriSens has a farmer-friendly user interface, which provides field information to the farmers in a multimodal manner—visual display, cell phone, and Web portal. It achieves significant results with respect to different performance metrics, such as data validation, packet delivery ratio, energy consumption, and failure rate in various climatic conditions and with dynamic irrigation treatments. Experimental results show that the AgriSens helps improve the crop productivity by at most 10.21% over the traditional manual irrigation method, expands the network’s lifetime 2.5 times more than the existing system yet achieving a reliability of 94% even after 500 h of operation.
Evaluation of Cd1–x Zn x S as electron transport layer in superstrate and inverted configurations of Sb2Se3 solar cells with n-i-p structure

In this work, we evaluate the role of the ternary compound, Cd1–x Zn x S, as an electron-transport layer (ETL) in the n-i-p structure of antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) solar cells. The incorporation of Zn reduces the amount of Cd and contributes to improving the power-conversion efficiency of the solar cell. On the other hand, the n-i-p structure makes it possible to overcome two issues that impair the efficiency of Sb2Se3 solar cells: the potential barrier due to the rear contact and the low hole concentration in the Sb2Se3 absorber material. In this paper, we present a theoretical work on Sb2Se3 solar cells using the SCAPS 1-D software. The theoretical analysis allows us to understand the impact of the semiconductor parameters on efficiency and also to find the optimal values for an optimized device. The optimal molar composition of the ternary compound is investigated in the superstrate and inverted configurations. Parameters such as the thickness, defect density, and the acceptor concentration of the Cd1–x Zn x S and Sb2Se3 layers are optimized. Also, we analyze the impact of interface-defect density at the hole-transport layer (HTL) (Sb2Se3) and the ETL (Sb2Se3). Following optimization, a power-conversion efficiency (η) of 14.29% is obtained using Cd0.4Zn0. 6S as the ETL and Cu2O as the HTL in the superstrate configuration. This simulation process is expected to guide other experimentalists in the design and manufacture of solar cells.
Linear anionic polyacrylamide as an effective post-fire soil treatment: Understanding the chemistry and physical science

Controlling erosion, reestablishing vegetation, and overcoming the negative effects of hydrophobic soils has long been a challenge following catastrophic wildfire on forested lands and rangelands. A three-year controlled study was recently completed to compare polyacrylamide soil treatment to the traditional cover method using agricultural straw on high severity burned soils of the Red Bull Fire, which burned through the Uinta National Forest near Provo, Utah, in July and August of 2004. Weed free, recycled paper pellets containing polyacrylamide were found to be an effective Burn Area Emergency Rehabilitation treatment option on clay rich soils containing divalent cations (i.e., Ca2+) within the soil matrix. This study showed aerial application of the granular polyacrylamide pellets resulted in an even distribution of the polymer-based product on the soil surface. Through water activation, a blend of water-soluble linear anionic polyacrylamide copolymers are slowly released, which bind with the soil particles, structurally stabilizing the soil. When compared to agricultural straw, polyacrylamide results show improved revegetation, reduced soil hydrophobicity, and reduced soil erosion.
Maximum likelihood estimation-assisted ASVSF through state covariance-based 2D SLAM algorithm

The smooth variable structure filter (ASVSF) has been relatively considered as a new robust predictor-corrector method for estimating the state. In order to effectively utilize it, an SVSF requires the accurate system model, and exact prior knowledge includes both the process and measurement noise statistic. Unfortunately, the system model is always inaccurate because of some considerations avoided at the beginning. Moreover, the small addictive noises are partially known or even unknown. Of course, this limitation can degrade the performance of SVSF or also lead to divergence condition. For this reason, it is proposed through this paper an adaptive smooth variable structure filter (ASVSF) by conditioning the probability density function of a measurement to the unknown parameters at one iteration. This proposed method is assumed to accomplish the localization and direct point-based observation task of a wheeled mobile robot, TurtleBot2. Finally, by realistically simulating it and comparing to a conventional method, the proposed method has been showing a better accuracy and stability in term of root mean square error (RMSE) of the estimated map coordinate (EMC) and estimated path coordinate (EPC).
Growth Per Cycle in Atomic Layer Deposition: Real Application Examplesof a Theoretical Model

In a previous paper, a theoretical model was derived to describe the growth per cycle in atomic layer deposition (ALD) as a function of the chemistry of the growth when compounds are used as reactants. This paper presents examples of how the model can be applied to investigate the mechanisms of real ALD processes. Three processes that represent different classes of compound reactants were selected for study: the trimethylaluminum/water process to grow aluminum oxide, the yttrium 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate (thd)/ozone process to grow yttrium oxide, and the titanium tetrachloride/water process to grow titanium dioxide. The results obtained by applying the model were, in general, consistent with the results obtained through separate investigations of the reaction mechanisms. The model was shown to be a useful tool in investigations of the reaction chemistry of real ALD processes.
Motivações/orientações para o aprendizado de Libras por ouvintes: um estudo de caso

Este trabalho e parte integrante do projeto de pesquisa Libras e Ensino e tem por objetivo apresentar um estudo de caso que discute possiveis motivos que levaram academicos, familiares de surdos, professores da rede basica e outros profissionais a se inscreverem em Cursos Basicos de Lingua Brasileira de Sinais - Libras, oferecidos pela Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS) no primeiro e segundo semestre do ano de 2018. Os dados aqui apresentados foram coletados por meio de questionarios entregues aos participantes. A analise realizada levou em conta a Analise Textual discursiva, bem como as orientacoes motivacionais apresentadas por Dornyei (1998). Como resultados, foi possivel perceber que as motivacoes relacionadas ao aprendizado de uma lingua de sinais podem diferir daquelas relacionadas as linguas orais. Alem disso, evidenciar tais motivacoes pode ser util na preparacao e organizacao de cursos de Libras como segunda lingua para ouvintes.
The relationship between level of sward height reduction in a rotationally grazed sward and short-term intake rates of dairy cows

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between level of sward height reduction (SHR) and short-term intake of herbage by lactating dairy cows offered swards differing in initial bulk density (BD). Three experiments were carried out in which cows were presented with swards representing different levels of SHR (nominally described as ungrazed, low, moderate and high). Experiments 1 and 2 differed with respect to initial sward BD [ungrazed sward 1·7 vs. 2·5 kg dry matter (DM) m−3 respectively]. Experiment 3 investigated the interaction between BD and SHR. In each experiment, sixteen Holstein/Friesian cows (fitted with excreta collection bags) grazed for a 1-h period in 200-m2 plots that had been grazed on the previous day to predetermined sward surface heights (SSH) (= levels of SHR). Herbage intake rates were assessed from changes in live weight, with a correction for insensible weight loss (IWL). Biting rates were recorded from visual observation. High levels of SHR were associated with a significant reduction in SSH, herbage mass and leaf fraction, and a significant increase in sward BD, stem and dead fraction, and DM concentration. Herbage intake, expressed either as DM intake per bite or DM intake per hour, declined as level of SHR increased from low to high. The level of SHR generally had no effect on biting rate. Intake rates varied from 1·9 to 4·4 kg DM h−1, whereas DM intake bite−1 ranged from 0·5 to 1·3 g. Pooled regression analysis identified SSH (P < 0·001; r2 = 0·94) as the principal determinant of DM intake bite−1. The regression equation was not significantly improved by the addition of terms for leaf fraction, BD, or herbage mass. In Experiment 3, a significant interaction between level of SHR and sward BD was observed. It is concluded that the principal factor controlling intake (g DM bite−1 or kg DM h−1), as swards are progressively grazed down, is SSH, but at a high level of SHR, sward BD also influences intake bite−1.
Increasing prevalence and local transmission of non-B HIV-1 subtypes in the French Antilles and French Guiana between 1995 and 2018

Abstract The Caribbean and South American French Overseas Territories (CSAFOT) are the regions most heavily affected by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) epidemic in France. Although dominated by HIV-1 subtype B, the detection of non-B subtypes and the great proportion of HIV-positive persons born abroad demonstrated the potential for local spread of non-B subtype strains in CSAFOT. To reconstruct the epidemiologic dynamics of major non-B subtype clusters spreading in CSAFOT, we conducted phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of 2,523 HIV-1 pol sequences collected from patients living in Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana from 1995 to 2018. A large variety of HIV-1 non-B subtype strains (eight subtypes, twelve CRFs, and multiple URFs) have been introduced in CSAFOT and their prevalence significantly increases over time in Martinique and Guadeloupe. We identified twelve major transmission networks of non-B subtypes (CRF02_AG and subtypes A3, C, D, and F1) that probably arose in Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and mainland France between the late 1970s and the middle 2000s. Phylogeographic analyses support frequent non-B subtype viral transmissions within CSAFOT as well as transatlantic transmission between CSAFOT and mainland France. Domestic transmission networks of non-B subtype variants in CSAFOT comprise both men having sex with men and heterosexual individuals from different age groups. Different HIV-1 non-B subtype variants were sequentially introduced in CSAFOT between the late 1970s and the middle 2000s and are currently spreading through domestic, regional, and/or transatlantic networks of individuals from different age and risk groups.
Orthogonal electrical cardioversion in atrial fibrillation refractory to biphasic shocks: a case series

Abstract Background Biphasic waveform shock has been established as the standard method for cardioversion of atrial fibrillation (AF). Depending on various factors, standard electrical cardioversion for AF may be unsuccessful in some cases, even with biphasic shocks. Case summary We report the safety and efficacy of orthogonal electrical cardioversion (OECV) as an alternative in patients with paroxysmal AF refractory to standard biphasic electrical cardioversion after up to three subsequent shocks of increasing energy and/or two or three initial shocks with maximum energy of 200-Joules. Shocks were delivered with two external defibrillators via two sets of adhesive electrode pads to apply two perpendicular electrical vectors in a simultaneous-sequential mode in antero-lateral and antero-posterior configuration. Five patients, mean age 54.4 ± 11, three with hypertensive heart disease and a body mass index 27.2 ± 2 kg/m2. All individual mean impedance before OECV was 79 ± 5 Ω with a mean peak current applied of 22 ± 4.5 A. Restoration of sinus rhythm with OECV was achieved acutely and sustained in all five patients. No patients developed haemodynamic instability or thromboembolic events. Discussion Double simultaneous shocks in an orthogonal configuration could theoretically decrease the defibrillation threshold through the ability of sequential pulses applying a more efficient and uniform current density. OECV using lower/medium energy may be another useful rescue strategy in AF refractory to standard biphasic shocks.
Antibiotic susceptibilities of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from contact lens storage cases of asymptomatic wearers

The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro antibiotic susceptibilities of various bacteria isolated from contact lens storage cases of asymptomatic wearers. For this purpose, twenty-two bacteria isolates were subjected to in vitro antibiotic susceptibility using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Four ATCC strains of different genus of bacteria were used as control. The results obtained from the current study showed that gentamicin was the most effective antibiotic against all bacteria tested. In addition, all bacteria tested in this study were resistant to ampicillin, methicillin, penicillin G and vancomycin. According to the results continuous monitoring of antibiotic susceptibilities of bacteria isolated from contact lens storage cases of asymptomatic wearers are needed.
Quantitative Gene Expression Analysis of Selected Genes to Screen Drought Tolerance of Selected Hevea Clones

Expansion of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) cultivation to non-traditional areas in Sri Lanka is necessary due to the increase of global demand of natural rubber and limitation of available land in traditional rubber growing areas. To overcome the negative impact of drought stress, which experience in non-traditional rubber growing areas, plants alter their gene expression as an inherent respond strategy. In traditional rubber growing areas, during the period of February to March is considered as wintering period where recorded higher temperature, low rainfall and lower relative humidity (RH%) comparing to the cropping months of October to December. Therefore, wintering period is more over similar to an environmental condition prevailing in non-traditional areas. Stable clones during wintering period can be expected that having more ability to survive in dry areas too. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to select more stress tolerant clones for non-traditional areas and to evaluate the level of drought responsible genes (Catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPX)) expression of selected Hevea clones under wintering stress compared to the cropping months. Quantitative gene expression during wintering period compared to the wintering period was carried out using Bio-Rad thermal cycler. The Livack method was used to calculate fold difference between control and treatment plants. Then paired t-test was done using minitab 17 software. According to the results, all the genes were significantly up regulated in the clone RRISL Centennial 3 during the wintering period and second highest yield dropped percentage (55%) was recorded in this clone. However, HbAPX and HbCAT gene expressions were significantly upregulated while HbGPX gene expression was significantly downregulated in the clone RRISL 203 and highest yield dropped percentage (56%) during wintering period was recorded in this clone. In contrast the clone RRISL 2006, HbAPX and HbCAT gene expressions were significantly down regulated and upregulation of HbGPX gene expression was not significantly at the P≤0.05 level. This results were different from the expression pattern of other two clones and the clone RRISL 2006 showed lowest yield dropped as around 23% during the wintering period. Leaf falling of this clone also delayed compared to the other clones and might be having more drought tolerant ability than the clones RRISL 203 and RRISL Centennial 3. Therefore, this may be some other genes responsible for the situation and should be studied to confirm the results. According to those results, the clones RRISL 203 and RRISL Centennial 3 can be considered as stress susceptible clones compared to RRISL 2006, which can be considered as stress tolerance clone.
Regenerated silk fiber wet spinning from an ionic liquid solution

Regenerated silk fibroin from Bombyx mori silkworms was extruded into fibers from a 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid solvent system; the drawn fibers rinsed in methanol exhibit alignment of the β-sheet crystallites along the fiber axis.
Resiliencia y conservación en Pueblos Mágicos de México. Los casos de Pátzcuaro y Mexcaltitán

The resilience capacity of the Magical Towns has sometimes entered into crisis, affecting their physical and environmental aspects, as well as the daily practices and ways of life of their inhabitants. This work identifies the current context of tension, the tourist functionality of the destinations and the actions that can contribute to promoting sustainable tourism, conserving cultural heritage and fostering policies that contribute to local development. The case studies are Patzcuaro and Mexcaltitan in Mexico.
Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells: Facilitators of Cancer and Obesity-Induced Cancer

Immature myeloid cells at varied stages of differentiation, known as myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), are present in virtually all cancer patients. MDSC are profoundly immune-suppressive cells that impair adaptive and innate antitumor immunity and promote tumor progression through nonimmune mechanisms. Their widespread presence combined with their multitude of protumor activities makes MDSC a major obstacle to cancer immunotherapies. MDSC are derived from progenitor cells in the bone marrow and traffic through the blood to infiltrate solid tumors. Their accumulation and suppressive potency are driven by multiple tumor- and host-secreted proinflammatory factors and adrenergic signals that act via diverse but sometimes overlapping transcriptional pathways. MDSC also accumulate in response to the chronic inflammation and lipid deposition characteristic of obesity and contribute to the more rapid progression of cancers in obese individuals. This article summarizes the key aspects of tumor-induced MDSC with a focus on recent progress in the MDSC field.