Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Whole-Crop Pea-Oat Silages in Dairy Production Effects of Maturity Stage and Conservation Strategy on Fermentation, Protein Quality, Feed Intake and Milk Production

The thesis summarises and discusses six studies, presented as three papers, concerning harvest and treatment of pea-based silages for use in dairy production. The studies were performed at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Research Farm at Robacksdalen, Umea, Sweden (63°35 N, 20°45 E) in 2000 – 2004, using Swedish Red cows housed in a tie-stall barn. Maturity stages and silage treatments (acid addition or wilting) were compared for effects. A laboratory silo experiment with whole-crop pea silages revealed that proteolysis was reduced at later maturity stages, and that both wilting and acid addition reduced proteolysis during ensilage. In the other studies, pea-oat bi-crop silages (seed rate 80:20) were produced. In the first study (18 cows), treatment did not change the intake of silage cut when peas were at the flat pods stage, and acid-treatment was preferable for harvesting at desired maturity stages. In the second study (30 cows), including a 7-day in vitro apparent digestibility study (15 cows), wilting to ≥ 250 g kg dry matter, then adding 6 l acid tonne fresh matter, resulted in good quality silages. Silages harvested when peas were at the pod fill, and oats at the early dough stage gave the overall best intake, digestibility and milk production. Finally, a production experiment (48 cows), including a 7-day in vitro apparent digestibility experiment (18 cows), showed that optimally harvested pea-oat bi-crop silage can replace, and improve, the effect of high-quality grass-clover silage on silage intake, diet digestibility and milk production. Thus, it is recommended to harvest pea-oat bi-crop silage (seed rate 80:20) when the peas are at the pod fill stage, wilt it to ≥ 250 g kg dry matter and then add 6 l acid tonne fresh matter. This silage can replace high-quality grass-clover silage (11.3 MJ metabolisable energy) in diets to high-yielding dairy cows, and mixed peaoat and grass-clover silage (0.50:0.50) has a concentrate-sparing effect.
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, Organic and Inorganic Controlled-release Fertilizers: Effect on Growth and Leachate of Container-grown Bush Morning Glory (Ipomoea carnea ssp. fistulosa) Under High Production Temperatures

This research determined the effects of two commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inocula, organic slow-release fertilizer (OSRF), and inorganic controlled-release fertilizer (ICRF) on plant growth, market- ability and leachate of container-grown Ipomoea carnea N. von Jacquin ssp. fi stulosa (K. Von Martinus ex J. Choisy) D. Austin (bush morning glory) grown outdoors under high temperature summer conditions (maximum container media temperature averaged 44.8 °C). Uniform rooted liners were planted into 7.6-L pots containing a pasteurized substrate (pine bark and sand (3:1, by volume)). The AMF treatment consisted of BioterraPLUS and MycorisePro and a nonin- oculated control (NonAMF). Fertilizer treatments included OSRF (Nitrell 5-3-4 (5N-1.3P-3.3K)) and ICRF (Osmocote 18-7-10 (18N-3.0P-8.3K)). OSRF was tested at three rates: 8.3, 11.9, and 16.6 kg·m -3 , which were respectively, 70%, 100%, and 140% of manufacturerʼs recommended rate, while ICRF was tested at two rates: 3.6 and 7.1 kg·m -3 , which were, respectively, 50% and 100% of manufacturerʼs recommended rate. The P levels were equivalent between 70% and 140% OSRF and, respectively, 50% and 100% ICRF. Greatest growth (leaf, shoot, fl ower bud, and fl ower number; root, leaf, shoot, and total plant dry mass (DM); growth index; leaf area); N, P, and K uptake; leaf chlorophyll; and plant marketability occurred with BioterraPLUS plants at 50% and 100% ICRF rate and MycorisePro at the 100% ICRF rate. Greater plant growth occurred with increasing fertility levels; however, plants at the 140% OSRF (same P level as 100% inorganic SRF) had poorest growth, in part due to high temperature. While AMF enhanced growth of plants with OSRF at all concentrations, better growth and marketability occurred with ICRF than OSRF plants inocu- lated with AMF. AMF plants at the 50% ICRF had comparable or better growth, higher N, P, and K and marketability than NonAMF plants at either 100% OSRF or ICRF. AMF were able to survive under high temperature and colonize plants grown from low to high fertility conditions. AMF inoculation had minimal effect on container leachate (pH and electrical conductivity). However, the larger-sized AMF plants at 100% ICRF rate had greater total leaf tissue N, P, and K, suggesting greater nutrient utilization—thus reduced potential risk for leachate runoff.
A rigorous approach to the Feynman-Vernon influence functional and its applications. I

A rigorous representation of the Feynman-Vernon influence functional used to describe open quantum systems is given, based on the theory of infinite dimensional oscillatory integrals. An application to the case of the density matrices describing the Caldeira-Leggett model of two quantum systems with a quadratic interaction is treated.
The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: What Was Accomplished

At the Law of the Sea Conference we have acquired a vocabulary all our own. We have short forms for referring to concepts, even to groups of people and delegations, and something quite interesting happened one day when my predecessor in office and former president of the conference, Ambassador Amerasinghe, was dictating the draft of a speech to a gathering like this. He said to his secretary, "The coastal states fall into two categories: There are, first of all, those who claim a territorial sea of 200 miles, whom I shall hereafter refer to as the 'territorialists,' and there are other coastal states who have claimed an economic zone of 200 miles, whom I shall hereafter refer to as the 'zonists'. " When the script came back from his secretary it read, "There are two groups of coastal states: On the one hand there are the 'terrorists' and on the other hand there are the 'Zionists'. " I told him
Collaborative Model‐based Systems Engineering for Cyber‐Physical Systems, with a Building Automation Case Study

We describe an approach to the model‐based engineering of cyber‐physical systems that permits the coupling of diverse discrete‐event and continuous‐time models and their simulators. A case study in the building automation domain demonstrates how such co‐models and co‐simulation can promote early cooperation between disciplines within a systems engineering process before the expensive commitment is made to integration in physical prototypes. We identify areas for future advances in foundations, methods and tools to realise the potential of a co‐modelling approach within established systems engineering processes.
LIQUISOLID TECHNIQUE A NOVEL APPROACH TO ENHANCE SOLUBILITY AND BIOAVAILABILITY

Liquisolid technique is a new approach for delivery of drugs through oral route. This technique is suitable for poorly or water insoluble drugs and also for immediate or sustained release formulations. Design of this technique was according to new mathematical model proposed by Spireas et al. The drug is dissolved or dispersed in suitable non-volatile solvent and this liquid medication is converted to free flow powder by using carrier and coating material. To this suitable excipients were added and tabletting by direct compression.
The Gaia-ESO Survey: Stellar radii in the young open clusters NGC 2264, NGC 2547 and NGC 2516

Rapidly rotating, low-mass members of eclipsing binary systems have measured radii significantly larger than predicted by standard models. It has been proposed that magnetic activity is responsible for radius inflation. By estimating the radii of low-mass stars in three young clusters (NGC 2264, NGC 2547, NGC 2516, with ages of 5, 35 and 140 Myr respectively), we aim to establish whether similar radius inflation is seen in single, magnetically active stars. We use radial velocities from the Gaia-ESO Survey (GES) and published photometry to establish cluster membership and combine GES measurements of vsini with published rotation periods to estimate average radii for groups of fast-rotating cluster members as a function of their luminosity and age. The average radii are compared with the predictions of both standard evolutionary models and variants that include magnetic inhibition of convection and starspots. At a given luminosity, the stellar radii in NGC 2516 and NGC 2547 are larger than predicted by standard evolutionary models at the ages of these clusters. The discrepancy is least pronounced and not significant ~10 percent) in ZAMS stars with radiative cores, but more significant in lower-mass, fully convective pre main-sequence cluster members, reaching 30+/-10 percent. The uncertain age and distance of NGC 2264 preclude a reliable determination of any discrepancy for its members. The median radii we have estimated for low-mass fully convective stars in the older clusters are inconsistent (at the 2-3 sigma level) with non-magnetic evolutionary models and more consistent with models that incorporate the effects of magnetic fields or dark starspots. The available models suggest this requires either surface magnetic fields exceeding 2.5 kG, spots that block about 30 per cent of the photospheric flux, or a more moderate combination of both. [Abridged]
A Method of Golf Specific Proprioception to Address Physical Limitations of the Golf Swing

An increasing amount of attention has been placed on sport specific training techniques; yet, very little research has been conducted on golf-specific training programs. Flexor Sports Training Program has been designed to improve golf-specific strength, flexibility, and balance using a proprioceptive approach. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of this program on strength, flexibility, balance, swing mechanics, and golf performance in a group of 17 golfers (12 males and 5 females, average age: 43.3 ± 12.0 years, USGA handicap: 12.5 ± 7.9). After completion of the program, driving distance increased 14.9 yards on average that resulted from changes in swing mechanics, and increased ball and club head speed. Improvements in physical characteristics were bilateral hip flexion and abduction flexibility, bilateral hamstring flexibility, bilateral torso rotation flexibility, bilateral torso rotation strength, lead hip abduction/adduction strength, and balance while standing on the lead leg with eyes open. Changes in swing mechanics included decreased loads on the non-lead foot during the backswing, decreased trunk forward tilt angle during the whole time of the golf swing, decreased trunk side-bending angle during the downswing, and increased shoulder rotational velocity during the downswing. The Flexor Sports Training Program has resulted in significant improvements in unique golf-specific physical characteristics, swing mechanics, and golf performance. The program can be applied to enhance the driving performance of golfers.
Governance as Catalyst to Sustainable Tourism Development: Evidence from North Cyprus

This study argues that sustainable tourism planning cannot be implemented unless institutions restructure their behaviors (i.e., the formal policy process) in close cooperation with the industry’s stakeholders (i.e., informal elements). What is missing in the case of North Cyprus is the concept of governance as distinct from government, which began to manifest when government became an organization apart from citizens rather than a process (Plumptre and Graham, 1999). Therefore, this study investigates the institutions that compromise the policy-making process of governance and its inferential outcomes for the purpose of achieving sustainability. Using a qualitative research strategy, therefore a semi-structured interview questionnaire was administered. Interviewees were targeted within the relevant institutions based on purposive and snowball sampling. The underpinning conceptual framework that guides the methodology is based on the Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI, 2005) with emphasis on the component of ‘social institutional capacity’: governance. The study revealed the need for an institutional overhaul with an embedded process of governance as a new institutional culture. Furthermore, an institutional approach should accompany new practice methodologies for the way the tourism sector consumes places, produces products, and applies a conservation-based ethic to the natural and built environment.
Hepatic Biotransformation of Chlordecone and Induction of Hepatotoxicity in the Cichlid Fish, Pseudetroplus maculatus (Bloch, 1795)

Detoxification mechanism in hepatic tissue after exposure to one of the environmental contaminants, chlordecone, was investigated by analysing certain biotransformation biomarkers of phase I enzyme hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), and Phase II enzymes UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) in the cytosolic and microsomal fractions of liver tissue in the cichlid fish, Pseudetroplus maculatus. Two sublethal concentrations of chlordecone (3.5 and 7μg/L) were exposed to fish for short durations as 24, 72 and 96 h. At the end of treatment period, the activities of EROD, UGT and GGT were increased significantly (P<0.05) in concentration and time-dependent manner when compared to the control groups. The present observation clearly illustrates that chlordecone promoted the activities of biotransformation enzymes in liver in order to eliminate the toxic compound from the body of the animal. The activity of GST was decreased significantly (P<0.05) after chlordecone exposure, which reflects the inability of liver tissue to neutralize the oxygen free radicals generated. Thus the obtained data contribute to a better understanding of chlordecone-induced detoxification mechanism in liver of fish, which further resulted in hepatotoxicity in the cichlid fish, Pseudetroplus maculatus.
( PKM ) C LUSTERING AND B IG D ATA P ROCESSING T OOL ( S PARK )

Due to speedily growth technologies of network communication, the internet has emphasized the need to guarantee the security of sensitive and real-time data passing through networks. Several cryptography methods are considered to build the security mechanism of Big data, but is not sufficient due to the increments of the hacker’s computation ability those cryptography methods are going to be broken down in the nearly future. This paper proposed a novel integrated model lies in use of Parallelizing k-means (PKM) clustering and Apache Spark, a Big data processing tool with reduced feature technique, that can handle abnormal network connections and misplaced data packages which can reduce the overall accuracy of classification and increase the Prediction Time. Five machine learning algorithms are used in the comparison. The proposed model provides superior performance as compared to other two models.
Substrate Coupling Analysis and Noise Reduction Methods

The trend of system-on-a-chip carries on the end of the VLSI era to fulfill the ever-rising demands of electronics industry. As system complexity increases, interconnect becomes the dominant factor over transistor sizes in determining the overall performance. Theoretically, systems-on-a-chip implementations eliminate most packaging interfaces to improve the system-Ievel performance. Manufacturing cost is also reduced by integrating both analog and digital circuits using monolithic CMOS technologies. Unfortunately, substrate coupling is found to be a major obstacle for the advancement of system-on-achip. Accurate predictions of substrate coupling in large-scale systems demand a modeling algorithm with high speed and high resolution, which are difficult to achieve simultaneously. This thesis provides a comprehensive approach towards predicting and preventing substrate noise coupling issues in large systems efficiently. We are primarily interested in modeling the epitaxial-type heavily-doped bulk substrate, that is commonly used in system-on-a-chip designs. An efficient substrate parasitics extraction algorithm based on Delaunay triangulation is proposed. It is optimized for large-scale design applications. Active noise suppression circuits that improve guard band noise insulation efficiency are also developed. SPICE simulation results of circuit layouts comprising the proposed substrate model are compared against those with substrate models generated from Cadence Assura® Substrate Coupling Analysis tool. Various experiments are performed to obtain fabrication-related substrate parameters, measure the circuit performance and validate the modeling results.
PRNU Variance Analysis for Morphed Face Image Detection

In this work, a method to detect morphed face images based on Photo Response Non-Uniformity (PRNU) is presented. More specifically, the variance of PRNU-based features across image cells is estimated to distinguish bona fide from morphed and potentially post-processed morphed face images. The proposed morph detector is shown to be robust against post-processing techniques, which are likely to be applied to conceal the morphing process, e.g. histogram equalisation or image sharpening. Tested on a database of 961 bona fide and 2,414 automatically morphed face images, a detection equal error rate (D-EER) of 10.5% is obtained over all investigated attacks, including unaltered morphed images and various post-processing techniques.
Expression, Purification and Activity Assay of Two New Recombinant Antagonists of Fibrinogen Receptor

The gene sequence of Decorsin which is extracted from a kind of North American leeches was synthesized. Two recombinant proteins, Annexin V plus Decorsin (AnnV-D39) and Annexin V plus the carboxyl terminal 27 amino acid residues of Decorsin(AnnV-D27), were constructed. And a 10 amino acids linker peptide of GGGGSGGGGS was inserted between Annexin V and Decorsin in AnnV-D39. Using pET-28(a+) as an expressing vector, both two recombinant proteins were expressed in E. Coli BL21(DE3) with high efficiency as inclusion bodies. The expression products were purified by DEAE-Cellulose 52 and Sepharose CL-4B chromatography under denaturing condition. Platelet Aggregation Assay (PAA) shows that AnnV-D39 has good anti-platelet aggregation activity. However, AnnV-D27 shows no such activities in any PAA test. AnnV-D39 shows good anti-platelet aggregation activity as a new antagonist of fibrinogen receptor, while Annv-D27 needs re-modification.
Iron and macronutrients in California coastal upwelling regimes: Implications for diatom blooms

The supply of iron, relative to that of the macronutrients nitrate, phosphate, and silicic acid, plays a critical role in allowing extensive diatom blooms to develop in coastal upwelling regimes. The presence or absence of a broad continental shelf influences the supply of iron. The iron input to central California upwelling waters varies spatially and can be characterized by two end‐member regimes. One end member, which includes Monterey Bay and extending north to Pt. Reyes, is an iron‐replete regime where upwelling occurs over a relatively broad continental shelf that results in waters with high concentrations of dissolved and particulate iron (>10 nM) entrained together with high concentrations of nitrate and silicic acid. In these iron‐replete regions, extensive blooms of large diatoms deplete macronutrient concentrations, which results in correspondingly high chlorophyll a concentrations. The other end member, located to the south of Monterey Bay off the Big Sur coast, is an iron‐deplete regime where upwelling is focused offshore of a narrow continental shelf. Upwelled waters in the Big Sur region are characterized by low dissolved and particulate iron concentrations (<1 nM), together with high concentrations of nitrate and silicic acid. Extremely low iron concentrations, unused nitrate and silicic acid, and a low abundance of large diatoms characterize surface waters in these iron‐deplete regions, and thus represent coastal upwelling, high‐nutrient, low‐chlorophyll systems limited by the micronutrient iron.
Regulation of transendothelial low-density lipoprotein transmission by fluid shear stress

The link between atherosclerosis and regions of disturbed flow and low wall shear stress is now firmly established, but the causal mechanisms underlying the link are not yet understood. A crucial factor in the early stages of the disease is the blood-to-tissue transport of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). It is well known that a high level of LDL in the blood is a risk factor for atherosclerosis, but the relationship between flow characteristics and LDL transport are not well understood. In this paper, we use a previously derived similarity solution to obtain the concentration profile of LDL at the endothelium, in an arbitrary vessel geometry, in terms of the wall shear stress. The transendothelial transport of LDL is then evaluated downstream of a backward-facing step. It is found that the LDL concentration changes very little over the region of interest and that the main factor in determining the rate of intimal accumulation of LDL is endothelial macromolecular permeability. It is shown that a previously hypothesised dependence of permeability on the spatial gradient of wall shear stress is not necessary to produce higher LDL accumulation in the region of disturbed flow. Experimental data are required to elucidate the precise relationship between wall shear stress and endothelial permeability and the signalling mechanisms involved. Key terms: arterial intima, atherosclerosis, cholesterol, endothelium, permeability, viscous flow.
Energy of nonlinear internal waves in the South China Sea

Four sets of ADCP measurements were taken in the South China Sea (SCS); these results were combined with previous satellite observations and internal‐tide numerical model results. Analysis suggests that strong internal tides are generated in Luzon Strait, propagate as a narrow tidal beam into the SCS, are amplified by the shoaling continental slope near TungSha Island, become nonlinear, and evolve into high‐frequency nonlinear internal waves (NIW). Internal waves in the SCS have geographically distinct characteristics. (1) West of Luzon Strait the total internal wave energy (Eiw) is 10 × that predicted by Garrett‐Munk spectra (EGM) (Levine, 2002). There is no sign of NIW. (2) Near TungSha Island Eiw = 13 × EGM. Strong nonlinear and high‐harmonic tides are present. Repetitive trains of large‐amplitude NIW appear primarily at a semidiurnal periodicity with their amplitudes modulated at a fortnightly tidal cycle. The rms vertical velocity of NIW shows a clear spring‐neap tidal cycle and is linearly proportional to the barotropic tidal height in Luzon Strait with a 1.85‐day time lag, consistent with the travel time of internal tides from Luzon Strait to TungSha Island. (3) At the northern SCS shelfbreak Eiw = 4 × EGM. Single depression waves are found, but no multiple‐waves packets are evident. (4) On the continental shelf Eiw = 2 × EGM. Both depression and elevation NIW exist.