Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aging of Sand - a Continuing Enigma?

Sand aging, a process during which the engineering properties of clean sands such as stiffness, penetration resistance and liquefaction resistance may exhibit considerable improvement over periods of only weeks to months after deposition and/or densification by different ground improvement processes, has been shown over the past 30 years to be of considerable practical importance. Numerous examples from a range of projects are presented. Chemical, physical-mechanical, and microbiological processes are examined relative to their adequacy for explaining the observed behavior. Although chemical precipitation-cementation reactions had initially been considered a primary cause, the evidence clearly favors a secondary compression-like process during which particle rearrangements and internal interparticle stress changes and redistributions among groups of particles occur, accompanied by only small volumetric compressions. Information about the rate and magnitude of property changes during aging is summarized, and it is seen that there is considerable variability, dependent on the sand type, its initial state, applied stress conditions, and the specific property being measured. Thus, while the case history information may provide useful guidance about how much property change there will be due to aging and how fast it may occur, each case should be evaluated separately by means of field measurements. Further improvement in the understanding and quantification of sand aging may be possible using rate process and discrete element analysis methods.
MAXIMIZATION OF WIND ENERGY CONVERSION USING SLIDING MODE CONTROL TUNED BY LINEARIZED BIOGEOGRAPHY-BASED OPTIMIZATION

A sliding mode controller (SMC) is applied in this paper to control a grid-connected Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) wind turbine for maximization the wind energy conversion and hence reducing the generator losses, the sliding mode controller is a nonlinear controller that implemented here with two Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller. The chattering problem of SMC is rejected here by using a minimum discontinuous controller term for ensuring disturbance rejection. PID controller is a commonly used controller in many industrial applications, while PID controller parameter tuning is a challenging issue which had been done here using a new version of Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO) which is called Linearized Biogeography-Based Optimization (LBBO) algorithm. BBO is one of the latest evolutionary optimization algorithm based on mathematical model of Biogeography; it permits recombination among candidate solutions (habitats) by migration and immigration also a mutation process is being used. The objective function to be minimized is chosen to be the overall copper losses of the DFIG using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The simulation results are compared with Tyreus–Luyben tuning method, Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO). Simulation results shows that the LBBO is an effective tuning method and has better performance compared with GA, and BBO.
Removal of supplemental vitamin A from barley-based diets improves marbling in feedlot heifers

Gibb, D. J., Van Herk, F. H. , Mir, P. S. , Loerch, S. and McAllister, T. A. 2011. Removal of supplemental vitamin A from barley-based diets improves marbling in feedlot heifers. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 91: 669-674. The objective of this research was to determine if removing supplemental vitamin A from barley-based feedlot diets affects animal performance, health, or carcass quality. Six pens per treatment (10 heifers per pen) were randomly assigned to receive zero (-VA) or 3640 (+VA) IU kg-1 dry matter of supplemental vitamin A in barley-based feedlot diets. Initial serum retinol was similar between treatments (28 µg dL-1; P=0.34), but -VA reduced levels by 40% (30 vs. 50 µg dL-1; P<0.001) by day 217. Removal of supplemental vitamin A reduced dry matter intake during the 58 d backgrounding period (6.93 vs. 7.07 kg d-1; P=0.007) and over the 218-d trial (9.18 vs. 9.35 kg d-1; P<0.001), but had no effect on average daily gain during backgrounding (1.22 kg d-1; P=0.46) or over all (1.46 kg d-1; P=0.15). Based on camera grading, -VA increased degree of marbling (480.6 vs. 439.3; P=0.02) without affecting backfat thickness (0.74 cm; P=0.62). Ultrasound measurements were highly correlated with camera grading, but did not detect treatment difference in marbling score (P=0.99). Results from this study show that the removal of supplemental vitamin A increased marbling without affecting backfat, gains, or animal health.
The Mycobacterium tuberculosis homologue of the Mycobacterium avium mig gene is not specifically expressed in the macrophage

With the completion of genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and upsurge in the incidence of M. tuberculosis infection worldwide partly as a result of HIV pandemic, there is need for rationale approach to vaccine and chemotherapy discoveries for M. tuberculosis. The homologue of mig gene of Mycobacterium avium was searched for in the M. tuberculosis database at The Institute of Genomic Research (TIGR), USA and The Sanger Institute, UK. Homologue of the gene was found and comprehensively analysed. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) was carried out on the mig (fadD19) gene homologue and echA19 gene. The result of the RT-PCR showed that the mig gene was at least 2-fold upregulated during intracellular infection of macrophage compared to the broth grown bacilli as opposed to the demonstrated specific expression of mig gene in M. avium infected macrophage. The echA19 gene was also found to be upregulated. (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 11: 173 - 181) Key Words ; macrophage induced gene, mig gene, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
UNIFIED CONTROL OF DC-DC CONVERTERS USING GAIN SCHEDULED DYNAMIC ADAPTIVE CONTROLLER FOR PORTABLE DEVICE APPLICATIONS

The problem considered in this paper is improving the dynamic response of DC-DC converter system with internal parameter uncertainties. The methodology of sliding mode control in existing works is based on Proportional Integral and Derivative Controller (PID). The present work addresses various issues on a unified approach for design and application of pulse-width modulation (PWM) based Digital Adaptive Sliding Mode (ASM) equivalent control technique to buck converter for mobile phones operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM) and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). The controller is gain scheduled to monitor the output loading condition, and adaptively changes the control parameters to give optimal dynamic performance corresponding to any load variations. Further stability is analytically verified using Lyapunov stability criterion and system is proved to be globally asymptotically stable. Finally effectiveness of proposed method is verified by simulation and experiment. Stable steady state response with reduced ripple is obtained.
Perceived Influence of Modern Teaching Methods on Academic Performance among Public Secondary School Students in Port Harcourt Metropolis Rivers State: Implication for Educational Administration

This study was conducted to examine the perceived influence of modern teaching methods on academic performance among secondary school students in Port Harcourt Metropolis in Rivers State. The descriptive survey research design was used. A total of 7, 488 senior secondary school students and 2,019 teachers in the twenty-six (26) public secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State constituted the population of the study. A sample of 630 senior secondary school students were selected through stratified random technique while purposive sampling technique was used to choose the 280 teachers from 14 public secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis. A self structured research instrument titled “Influence of Modern Teaching Methods on Academic Performance Questionnaire” formatted on 4-point Likert rating scale was used for data collection. The instrument was face and content validated by the Researcher‟s Supervisor and an expert (lecturer) in Measurement and Evaluation of Department of Educational Foundations (Rivers State University). A reliability coefficient of 0.83 of the instrument was realized using the test-retest method and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Mean scores and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions while z – test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that the use of collaborative and mobile technology approaches, aspects of modern teaching methods, facilitate high academic performance among secondary school students. Based on the findings, the Researcher recommended amongst others that: management of secondary schools board, teachers, principals and educational curriculum planners should ensure modern teaching methods are effectively and always integrated into teaching-learning practices for the students to acquire the 21 st century skills and competencies for life-long learning and survival in the globalized workplace setting.
Deconcentration pattern of port system: Case in Southern Vietnam

The shortage of research in Vietnam port evolvement is uncontroversial although a huge amount of investment is observed to upgrade both quantity and quality. This study examines the port system performance, in the context of spatially concentration ratio, in Southern Vietnam for the period 2007-2016, by using prevailing indicators for spatially concentration assessment including concentration ratios (CR), the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI), the Gini coefficient, the Lorenz curve and shift-share analysis (SSA), a trend of deconcentration is described in Southern Vietnam port system, since the traditional ports to new deep-water ports. Also, driving forces of this shifting would be discussed in detail. Implications from this study would enable not only port administrators, port operators but also shipping lines, cargo owners, logistics service providers to comprehensively understand the growth of the port system in Southern Vietnam.
Changeling Cattle and Magical Cows: Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Irish Folklore

Opposition between evidence-based science and improvable religious belief is assumed in Western intellectual tradition. By contrast, Native American theorists argue that religion constitutes part of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which this paper argues exists in European contexts. Irish tales of changling cattle encoded vital data for survival; such folktales or Local Cautions describe human difficulties that follow ecologically inappropriate actions. Other narratives concern interconnections whose significance transcends individual health to include threats to the health of the planetary system; such folktales can be categorized as Global Omens. This paper urges analysis of European folktales and folk rituals as traditional environmental texts.
Biais cognitifs dans la visualisation d’information: implications pour l’évaluation Cognitive Biases in

English Abstract —Humans are often known to make poor or irrational decisions that manifest themselves as cognitive biases , but very few studies explored if these biases could persist when using visualization tools that support decisions. Most previous studies focused on biases related to information either not properly communicated or understood e.g. a user that could not compute a known risk or identify an unknown risk (uncertainty). In this talk, we would like to discuss our ﬁndings in another type of bias, called attraction effect in which users that were almost 100% accurate in selecting good alternatives using a visualization, were nonetheless irrationally inﬂuenced by the presence of irrelevant data. The main implication of these ﬁndings is that the current evaluation methods of visualizations in decision support that focus on data understanding may not be sufﬁcient to ensure decision quality.
Effect of wheat genotype on the phenotype of wheat × jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica) hybrids

Abstract Jointed goatgrass is a troublesome weed in winter wheat in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Wheat and jointed goatgrass (JGG) can cross and produce hybrids in the field that can serve as a potential bridge for gene migration between the two species. To determine the potential for gene movement it is important to be able to identify hybrids in the field. To study the effect of wheat genotype on hybrid phenotype, reciprocal crosses were made between JGG and two common wheat cultivars: ‘Brundage 96’, ‘Hubbard’, a common-type advanced breeding line: ‘87–52814A’, and a club wheat cultivar: ‘Rhode’. Hybrids and parents were measured for plant height, spike length, flag leaf length, flag leaf width, and number of spikelets. Reciprocal effects were nonsignificant for all characteristics measured, indicating that hybrid morphology was not affected by the direction of the cross. Hybrids were different from their wheat parents for spike length, plant height, and flag leaf width. Hybrids produced from each of the wheat parents were uniform in phenotypic characters. Spikes were intermediate in circumference (size) from crosses between JGG and common wheat lines; however, club wheat × JGG crosses resulted in spikes that were more similar to common wheat. Spike size and flag leaf width for all hybrids also were intermediate between their parents. Hybrids differed in spike size and awn characteristics because of unique characteristics of the wheat parent. Based on these results, it should be possible to identify hybrids in the field accurately, regardless of the wheat parent or direction of the cross unless the parent is a club wheat. Nomenclature; Jointed goatgrass, Aegilops cylindrica Host. , AEGCY; winter wheat, Triticum aestivum L.
Condition-dependent mate assessment and choice by peahens: implications for sexual selection

Condition-dependent mate choice is thought to affect the strength and direction of sexual selection. Although there is ample evidence of this from studies that experimentally manipulate female condition, few studies to date have examined condition dependence of natural mate choice wherein females interact with a pool of available males. We examined mate assessment by free-living Pavo cristatus peafowl, focusing on 3 measures of the choosing female’s condition: mass condition (scaled mass index), ectoparasite load, and white blood cell (WBC) count. Females with greater mass condition were more active on peacock leks, approaching and visiting males more often, and spending more time near the males they visited. Condition did not affect the total number of males visited or the probability that a female would visit a male that she had already approached. Peacock mating success is strongly correlated with the iridescent colors of the eyespots on their train, suggesting that color signals are a major focus of female choice. Here, we show that females in better condition (higher mass condition and lower WBC count) allocate a greater proportion of their visit time to the most iridescent males displaying on leks. Our results provide evidence of strong condition-dependent effects on female mate assessment and choice in the absence of experimentally induced stress. We suggest that condition-dependent mate choice may help maintain variation in sexually selected male color traits.
Ecological immunology: life history trade-offs and immune defense in birds

There has been considerable recent interest in the effects of life-history decisions on immunocompetence in birds. If immunocompetence is limited by available resources, then trade-offs between investment in life-history components and investment in immunocompetence could be important in determining optimal life-history traits. For this to be true: (1) immunocompetence must be limited by resources, (2) investment in life-history components must be negatively correlated with immunocompetence, and (3) immunocompetence must be positively correlated with fitness. To gather such empirical data, ecologists need to be able to measure immunocompetence. We review techniques used to measure immunocompetence and how they are applied by ecologists. We also consider the components of the immune system that constitute immunocompetence and evaluate the possible consequences of measuring immunocompetence in different ways. We then review the empirical evidence for life-history tradeoffs involving immune defense. We conclude that there is some evidence suggesting that immunocompetence is limited by resources and that investment in certain life-history components reduces immunocompetence. However, the evidence that immunocompetence is related to fitness is circumstantial at present, although consistent with the hypothesis that immunocompetence and fitness are positively correlated. We argue that future work needs to examine the fitness effects of variation in immunocompetence and suggest that artificial selection experiments offer a potentially important tool for addressing this issue.
An Oral Small Molecule VEGFR2 Inhibitor, Apatinib, in Patients with Recurrent or Refractory Cervical Cancer: A Real World Study

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of apatinib, an oral antiangiogenic drug, in patients with recurrent or refractory cervical cancer as salvage treatment, we retrospectively analyzed the medical records of recurrent or refractory cervical cancer patients admitted to the National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Hunan Cancer Hospital, from October 1, 2016, to December 31, 2017. Patients who progressed within 6 months after the last treatment were given apatinib orally at a dose of 250 mg daily until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Twenty-nine patients were enrolled in our retrospective study. Up to February 1, 2019, the median follow-up time was 18 months. The median progression-free survival was 128 days (95% confidence interval (CI): 20–540 days), and the median overall survival was 9 months (95% CI: 4–23 months). The longest period of apatinib administration was 540 days. No complete response was observed, 5 (17.2%) patients achieved partial response, and 11 (37.9%) achieved stable disease. The objective response rate and disease control rate were 17.2% and 55.1%, respectively. The most common adverse events were hypertension (G1, 65.5%, 19/29), mucositis (G1, 55.2%, 16/29), hand-foot syndrome (G1-2, 44.8%, 13/29), and proteinuria (G1-2, 20.7%, 6/29). Grade 3 proteinuria occurred in only one patient (3.4%, 1/29). Apatinib single-agent use might be an effective and tolerable choice as salvage therapy for patients with recurrent or refractory cervical cancer.
Bazi Bitki Ekstraktlarinin Antimikrobiyal Etkilerinin Arafltirilmasi

Ozet: Bu califlmada, Kahramanmarafl ve Hatay yoresinden toplanan Parmelia furfuracea (L). Zopf. (Liken), Crocus chrysanthus (Herbert) Herbert (Cidem), Rumex scutatus L. (Kuzukula¤i), Myrtus communis L. subsp. communis Ic: Sibth. & Sm. (Mersin), Asphodelus aestivus L. (Cirifl) Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb. (Karanfil) bitki ekstrelerinin antimikrobiyal aktiviteleri arafltirilmifltir. Elde edilen ekstrelerin antimikrobiyal etkisi Disk Difuzyon metoduna gore Bacillus megaterium DSM 32, Bacillus subtilis IMG 22, Bacillus brevis FMC 3, Escherichia coli DM, Klebsiella pneumoniae FMC 5, Enterobacter aerogenes CCM 2531, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50071, Staphylococcus aureus COWAN 1, Listeria monocytogenes SCOTT A, bakterileri ve Candida albicans CCM 314, Saccharomyces cerevisiae WET 136 mayalari uzerinde denenmifltir. Califlmada kullanilan bitki ekstreleri Parmelia furfurace (L) Zopf. (Liken), Myrtus communis L. subsp. communis Ic: Sibth. and Sm, Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb. ) test edilen mikroorganizmalarin geliflmelerin deiflik oranlarda engellemifltir (9-38 mm inhibisyon zonu). Dier bitki ekstrelerinin antimikrobiyal etkilerinin olmadi¤i tespit edilmifltir. Anahtar Sozcukler: Parmelia furfuraceae, Crocus chrysanthus, Rumex scutatus, Myrtus communis susbp. communis, Asphodelus aestivus , Eugenia caryophyllata , Antimikrobiyal Aktivite. The Investigation of Antimicrobial Effect of Some Plant Extract Abstract: The Parmelia furfuracea (L) Zopf. (Liken), Crocus chrysanthus (Herbert) Herbert (Cidem), Rumex scutatus L. , (Kuzukula¤i), Myrtus communis L. subsps. communis Ic: Sibth. and Sm. (Mersin), Asphodelus aestivus L. (Cirifl) Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb. (Karanfil) which were collected from Kahramanmarafl and Hatay region have been investigated in respect of their antimicrobial and antifungal activities against different test organisms (Bacillus megaterium DSM 32, Bacillus subtilis IMG 22, Bacillus, brevis FMC 3, Escherichia coli DM, Klebsiella pneumoniae FMC 5, Enterobacter aerogenes CCM 2531, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50071, Staphylococcus aureus COWAN 1, Listeria monocytogenes SCOTT A, bacteria and Candida albicans CCM 314 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae WET 136 by the Disc Diffusion Methods. The growth of the microorganisms which are used in this study have been inhibited by the extracts of Myrtus communis subsp. communis, Eugenia caryophyllata. However, the extract of Myrtus communis subsp. communis, Eugenia caryophyllata. However, the extract of Myrtus communis sbsp. communis didn't prevent the growth of the E. coli DM, K. pneumoniae FMC 5 and E. aerogenes CCM 2531, The extract of the Parmelia furfuraceae hasn't been effective on the growth of the E. coli DM. C. albicans CCM 314 and S. cerevisiae WET 136 by the Disc Diffusion Methods.
Energy Efficiency Optimization in Radar-Communication Spectrum Sharing

Energy efficiency, possibly coupled with cognition-based and spectrum-sharing architectures, is a key enabling technology for green communications in 5G-and-beyond standards. In this context, the present paper considers a multiple-input multiple-output communication system cooperatively coexisting with a surveillance radar: the objective function is the communication system energy efficiency, while radar operation is safeguarded by constraining the minimum received signal-to-disturbance ratio for a set of range-azimuth cells of the controlled scene, and no time synchronization between them is assumed. The degrees of freedom are the transmit powers of both systems, the space-time communication codebook, and the linear filters at the radar receiver. The resulting optimization problem is non-convex, due to both the objective function and the presence of signal-dependent interference (clutter): we develop a block-coordinate-ascent approximate solution and offer a thorough performance assessment, so as to elicit the merits of the proposed approach, along with the interplay among the achievable energy efficiency, the density of scatterers in the environment, and the size of the set of protected radar cells.
Thermal analysis of Double Stator Switched Reluctance Machine (DSSRM) Using Finite Element Method

Double Stator Switched Reluctance Machine (DSSRM) is known as a new Switched Reluctance Machine (SRM) having two stators and one rotor. This machine enjoys a short magnetic flux path and high power/torque density. DSSRM is a non conventional machine yielding limited information about heat dissipation, thereby making thermal analysis an essential stage for this new machine. This study, using finite element method (FEM), employs the two dimensional (2-D) thermal analysis of Double Stator Switched Reluctance machine (DSSRM) in order to observe real heat distribution in the parts of the machine. Electromagnetic losses forming the heat source are calculated. A 2-D thermal analysis is done to observe the temperature distribution and maximum temperature for a rotation speed of 1000 RPM. Accordingly, simulation results for an 8/6 DSSRM are presented.