Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of aqueous pH and ionic strength on the wettability of quartz in the presence of dense non-aqueous-phase liquids

The location, distribution, and migration of non-aqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs) in porous media are strongly influenced by the wettability of aquifer solids. Changes in wettability can significantly affect capillary pressure, rela tive permeability, residual saturation, and fluid displacement potential. In this study, mineral wettability by DNAPLs was evaluated as a function of aqueous pH and ionic strength for a water−DNAPL−quartz system. Contact angle and DNAPL−water interfacial tension, which is related to contact angle, were experimentally determined for trichloroethylene and carbon tetrachloride in aqueous solutions of varying pH and ionic strength. Both DNAPLs exhibited the fol lowing results: Contact angles were at a maximum near the pH of the point of zero surface charge of quartz (pH ∼ 2) and decreased as pH and ionic strength were increased. DNAPL−water interfacial tension was invariant with respect to pH and ionic strength (up to 0.1 M). Observed variations in contact angle yield calculated cha.
Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles by a Bacillus sp. of marine origin

This study was aimed to explore the nanoparticle synthesizing properties of a silver resistant Bacillus sp. isolated from a marine water sample. The 16SrDNA sequence analysis of the isolate proved it as a Bacillus strain. Very interestingly, the isolate was found to have the ability to form intracellular silver nanoparticles at room temperature within 24 hours. This was confirmed by the UV-Vis absorption analysis which showed a peak at 430 nm corresponding to the plasmon absorbance of silver nanoparticles. Further characterization of the nanoparticles was carried out by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The presence of silver nanoparticles with the size less than 100 nm was confirmed. These particles were found to be extremely stable as confirmed by the TEM analysis after three months of purification. So, the current study is the demonstration of an efficient synthesis of stable silver nanoparticles by a marine Bacillus strain.
Comparable Initial Engagement of Intracellular Signaling Pathways by Parathyroid Hormone Receptor Ligands Teriparatide, Abaloparatide, and Long‐Acting PTH

Multiple analogs of parathyroid hormone, all of which bind to the PTH/PTHrP receptor PTH1R, are used for patients with osteoporosis and hypoparathyroidism. Although ligands such as abaloparatide, teriparatide (hPTH 1‐34 [TPTD]), and long‐acting PTH (LA‐PTH) show distinct biologic effects with respect to skeletal and mineral metabolism endpoints, the mechanistic basis for these clinically‐important differences remains incompletely understood. Previous work has revealed that differential signaling kinetics and receptor conformation engagement between different PTH1R peptide ligands. However, whether such acute membrane proximal differences translate into differences in downstream signaling output remains to be determined. Here, we directly compared short‐term effects of hPTH (1‐34), abaloparatide, and LA‐PTH in multiple cell‐based PTH1R signaling assays. At the time points and ligand concentrations utilized, no significant differences were observed between these three ligands at the level of receptor internalization, β‐arrestin recruitment, intracellular calcium stimulation, and cAMP generation. However, abaloparatide showed significantly quicker PTH1R recycling in washout studies. Downstream of PTH1R‐stimulated cAMP generation, protein kinase A regulates gene expression via effects on salt inducible kinases (SIKs) and their substrates. Consistent with no differences between these ligands on cAMP generation, we observed that hPTH (1‐34), abaloparatide, and LA‐PTH showed comparable effects on SIK2 phosphorylation, SIK substrate dephosphorylation, and downstream gene expression changes. Taken together, these results indicate that these PTH1R peptide agonists engage downstream intracellular signaling pathways to a comparable degree. It is possible that differences observed in vivo in preclinical and clinical models may be related to pharmacokinetic factors. It is also possible that our current in vitro systems are insufficient to perfectly match the complexities of PTH1R signaling in bona fide target cells in bone in vivo. © 2020 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
The effect of heat and of solvents on thin films of metal

In the Bakerian Lecture of 1857,* on “ Experimental Relations of Gold and other Metals to Light,” Faraday described a series of experiments which were designed to throw light on the structure and behaviour of metals in their most attenuated forms. Probably the most remarkable of these experiments were those in which leaves and films of gold and silver supported on glass were changed by a temperature much below the melting point of the metal from a moderate translucence to clear transparence and from high metallic reflecting power to comparative deadness. These remarkable experiments seem practically to have dropped out of sight during the past 45 years for, so far, I have found no reference to this particular phenomenon in the papers of more recent workers on the reflecting and absorbing powers of thin metal films, and many physicists to whom I have shown these Faraday films have received them as a novelty.
Data mining for cryptocurrencies price prediction

Electronic payments is something that is currently in high demand by investors today, but transactions are often constrained due to various problems, especially from third parties. For this reason, cryptocurrency emerged, which is one of the solutions for conducting electronic payment transactions. Some types of cryptocurrency that are most in demand by investors are bitcoin, ethereum, and ripple. The fluctuation value of cryptocurrency is very difficult to predict so that investors often experience losses when making transactions. This study aims to predict cryptocurrency prices such as bitcoin, ethereum and ripple using data mining algorithms. The data mining algorithm used in this prediction process is K-NN, Neural Network, SVM, Linear Regression, Random Forest and Decision Tree. Data mining modeling is done by dividing the dataset into each type of commodity and then analyzed using each algorithm. The results of this study indicate that the accuracy value obtained from some data mining algorithms is good enough to predict cryptocurrency prices
Changes in hematological profile of male albino rats after acephate administration

The present study was designed to evaluate the possible adverse effects of acephate, an organophosphate insecticide, on hematological parameters in male albino rats. Acephate was administered orally to rats at either 25, 50, or 75 mg/kg bwt/day for 30 days. Data showed a significant decrease in total erythrocyte count, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit value; however, an increase in total leukocyte count was noted. The levels of blood sugar and blood urea were significantly elevated when administered by acephate. There were no significant changes in mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration for all doses. Thus, obtained results collectively revealed that acephate administration produced significant alterations in hematological parameters in dose-dependent manner.
Sex Classification via 2D-Skeletonization

Sex classification is a challenging open problem in computer vision. It is useful from statistics up to people recognition on surveillance video. So far, the best performance can be achieved by using 3D cameras, but this approach requires the use of some especial hardware. Other 2D approaches achieve good results on normal situations but fail when the person wears loose clothing and carries bags or the camera angle changes as they rely on calculating borders, silhouettes, or the energy of the person in the image. This work aims to provide a novel sex classification methodology based on the creation of a virtual skeleton for each individual from 2D images and video; then, the distances between some points of the skeleton are measured and work as input of a sex classifier. This improves the results since clothing, bags, and the camera angle affect little the skeletonization process.
Ab initio configuration interaction study of the low‐lying electronic states of MgH

Ab initio configuration interaction calculations have been performed on the X 2Σ+, A 2Π, and B′ 2Σ+ states of MgH. Numerical values for the potential curves have been obtained for 23 internuclear distances between 2.2 and 9.5 a0. Dipole and transition moment functions have also been calculated. Spectroscopic constants obtained from the calculated potential curves are found to be in good agreement with experimental data; the maximum errors in Re, De, Te, and ωe are 0.003 nm, 0.09 eV, 0.05 eV, and 38 cm−1, respectively. The calculated band absorption oscillator strength for the X–A transition of 0.161 is believed to have ±20% accuracy.
The Role of Diabatic Heating in Ferrel Cell Dynamics

The Ferrel cell consists of the zonal mean vertical and meridional winds in the midlatitudes. The continuity of the Ferrel circulation and the zonal mean momentum and heat budgets imply a collocation of the eddy‐driven jet and poleward eddy heat flux maxima, under certain assumptions, including the negligibility of diabatic heating. The latter assumption is questioned, since midlatitude storms are associated with latent heating in the midtroposphere. In this study, the heat budget of the Ferrel cell in both hemispheres is examined, using the JRA55 reanalysis data set. The diabatic heating rate is significant close to the center of the Ferrel cell during winter and at the ascending branch during summer in both hemispheres. The interannual variability shows a positive correlation between the diabatic heating rate in the midlatitude midtroposphere and the latitudinal separation between the eddy heat flux and the eddy‐driven jet maxima during winter in both hemispheres.
Reliability assessment method of DC protection system based on hierarchical modeling

The structure of DC transmission system is complexity, and the characteristics differ from components to components. It is difficult to adopt a single reliability assessment method for HVDC transmission protection system to be comprehensive, rapid and accurate. A reliability assessment method based on hierarchical modeling is proposed. At first the structure of DC transmission protection system is analyzed. It is divided into system layer, module layer and component layer. Then according to the characteristics of each layer, appropriate assessment methods are selected to assess each layer of the protection system. And corresponding reliability index is set the to realize the connection between each layer. Taking a DC transmission project as an example, the comprehensive reliability assessment of the protection system is carried out. Thereby the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed method is validated.
A reliable methodology for high throughput identification of a mixture of crystallographic phases from powder X-ray diffraction data

Because the inherent complexity of zeolites together with the use of high throughput technology make the performance of existing solutions for the automatic identification of mixture of crystallographic phases questionable, an adequate full profile search-match approach is presented, and its reliability is clearly demonstrated and illustrated on the very complicated case of the zeolite ITQ-33.
Conversion of rare earth elements to molecular oxide ions in a dynamic reaction cell and consequences on their determination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The behaviour of rare earth elements (REEs) ions within a dynamic reaction cell (DRC) pressurized with oxygen was investigated, in order to explore their determination at m/z +16 by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Under the optimized conditions, the conversion of REEs to molecular monoxide ions was nearly quantitative (>96%), with the exception of Tm (78%), Eu (11%) and Yb (6%). Moreover, the formation of dioxide ions was generally lower than 1%. According to these results, a new method for the determination of REEs in digests from geological samples was developed. After microwave-assisted acid digestion, the solutions were directly analyzed by ICP-MS, determining REEs at m/z +16. The interferences due to dioxide and un-reacted ions were carefully evaluated by taking into account the actual concentration of REEs in sediment samples. In addition, the possible interferences due to other constituents of sediments (e.g. barium) were considered. The accurate determination of Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er and Tm was achieved, as demonstrated by the analysis of both certified reference materials and Antarctic marine sediment samples, using ICP sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) for comparison. On the other hand, Eu, Gd, Yb and Lu could not be measured by the O-atom addition approach and their separate determination in the standard mode using mathematical correction is hence necessary to obtain the complete REE pattern. The quantification limits (10 times the standard deviation of 10 procedural blanks) were at least two orders of magnitude lower than the REEs concentrations in sediment samples. Precision of the procedure ranged from 1.6% to 6.4%.
Application of various metrics to assess the program code quality

This article discusses the main metrics for assessing the quality of program code. The results of the study of various metrics for assessing the quality of a software product are demonstrated. Previous displays the results of applying different metrics on an example of program code for calculating the values systems s linear algebraic equations Gauss method languages Pascal and C ++. Conclusions on the use of various metrics are formulated.
Precipitation cloud identification based on faster-RCNN for Doppler weather radar

Precipitation clouds are visible aggregates of hydrometeor in the air that floating in the atmosphere after condensation, which can be divided into stratiform cloud and convective cloud. Different precipitation clouds often accompany different precipitation processes. Accurate identification of precipitation clouds is significant for the prediction of severe precipitation processes. Traditional identification methods mostly depend on the differences of radar reflectivity distribution morphology between stratiform and convective precipitation clouds in three-dimensional space. However, all of them have a common shortcoming that the radial velocity data detected by Doppler Weather Radar has not been applied to the identification of precipitation clouds because it is insensitive to the convective movement in the vertical direction. This paper proposes a new method for precipitation clouds identification based on deep learning algorithm, which is according the distribution morphology of multiple radar data. It mainly includes three parts, which are Constant Altitude Plan Position Indicator data (CAPPI) interpolation for radar reflectivity, Radial projection of the ground horizontal wind field by using radial velocity data, and the precipitation clouds identification based on Faster-RCNN. The testing result shows that the method proposed in this paper performs better than the traditional methods in terms of precision. Moreover, this method boasts great advantages in running time and adaptive ability.
Interaction of fragmented double-stranded DNA with carbon nanotubes in aqueous solution

Aqueous suspensions of ultrasonically fragmented double-stranded (fds-) DNA and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been investigated by UV- and IR-absorption, NIR-emission and Raman spectroscopy. According to gel-electrophoresis, the lengths of the polymer fragments were 100–500 base pairs. Analysis of IR and UV data indicates the presence of both double-stranded (ds) and single-stranded (ss)-regions in the fragments. SWNT complex with DNA was revealed by NIR-emission and Raman spectroscopy. It turned out that fds-DNA is less efficient in holding nanotubes in the aqueous solution than ss-DNA. From the UV-data, the character of the helix-coil transition is seen to be like that for fds-DNA off and on nanotube, however, DNA thermostability increased in this latter case. The effective charge density on the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone of the fds-DNA:SWNT hybrid was less than that of DNA alone. Spectroscopic data can be explained by a model in which the formation of hybrids starts due to the interaction between untwisted ss-regions of DNA and the nanotube: the strands wrap on the tube and thus create an ‘anchor’ for the whole polymer. The ds-part of the polymer is located close to the nanotube.
Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning based on Value Distribution

Reinforcement learning in a multi-agent setting is very important for real-world applications, but it brings more challenges than those in a single-agent environment. In the multi-agent setting, the agent generally has a bias of overestimation on the value function. In our work, we pay attention to the issue of overestimation bias with continuous actions in the multi-agent learning environment. We propose a method to reduce this bias by adopting the distributional perspective on reinforcement learning. We combine it within the framework of off-policy learning Actor-Critic and propose a novel approach Multi-Agent Deep Distributional Deterministic Policy Gradient (MAD3PG). We empirically evaluate it in three competitive and cooperative multi-agent settings. Our results show that in a series of difficult motor tasks the agents trained by MAD3PG significantly outperforms existing benchmark.
Low‐Stress Silicon Nitride Platform for Mid‐Infrared Broadband and Monolithically Integrated Microphotonics

Implementation of mid-infrared (mid-IR) chip-scale microphotonic circuits is critical to advancing the science for applications such as (i) ultra-fast telecommunications that require wider bandwidth and (ii) integrated biochemical sensors which can fi nger-print using infrared absorption signatures. Though substantial progress has been made in the development of light sources and detectors, a monolithic mid-IR Si-CMOS-compatible platform remains a challenge. Here we experimentally demonstrate a sophisticated mid-IR microphotonics platform adopting engineered Si-rich and low-stress silicon nitride (SiN x ) thin fi lms where an extensive infrared transparency up to λ = 8.5 μ m is achieved. Furthermore, because of the designed low-stress property, the SiN x deposition is able to reach a thickness > 2 μ m that signifi cantly reduces mid-IR waveguide loss to less than 0.2 dB/cm. We show directional couplers functioning over a broad infrared spectrum, thus enabling monolithic mid-IR multiplexing schemes for integrated linear and nonlinear photonics leading to sophisticated label-free sensing.
BioBlu App: Tecnologia Assistiva para auxiliar o ensino de Genética Clássica a deficientes visuais

A person with visual impairment faces several challenges throughout his life. One of these can be observed in the school context, where the resource of illustrations can be used to teach some common subjects, for example, in genetics. Thus, this article presents a tool to assist the teaching and learning process of genetics for people with visual impairment. The application was built with the participation of the discipline's teacher and a visually impaired student. The results show a good acceptance by users, being an alternative method of supporting student learning, contributing to their quality of life. Resumo. A pessoa com deficiência visual enfrenta vários desafios ao longo de sua vida. Um destes, pode ser observado no contexto escolar, onde o uso recorrente de ilustrações para o ensino de algumas disciplinas é comum, por exemplo na Genética. Assim, este artigo apresenta uma ferramenta para auxiliar o processo de ensino e aprendizagem da Genética para pessoas com deficiência visual. A aplicação foi construída com a participação de docente da disciplina e aluno com deficiência visual. Os resultados evidenciam uma boa aceitação pelos usuários, sendo um método alternativo de apoio a aprendizagem do aluno, contribuindo para sua qualidade de vida.
LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CULTIVATION ON PARTICLE SIZE AND WATER-RETENTION CHARACTERISTICS DETERMINED USING WETTING CURVES

Short-term (i.e., seasonal) variations are expected with some soil physical properties, whereas other properties, such as particle size, are considered static. However, less is known about long-term (i.e., decadal) variations in properties, such as particle-size fractions and water-retention characteristics, caused by continuous annual cultivation. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of land use (i.e., undisturbed virgin prairie vs. cultivated agriculture) and years of continuous annual cultivation on soil particle-size fractions and water-retention characteristics determined using soil wetting curves. Particle-size fractions (i.e., 0.05–2 mm, 0.002–0.05 mm, and <0.002 mm representing sand-, silt-, and clay-sized fractions, respectively) were determined on soil samples collected in 1987 and 2001 from the 0- to 10-cm depth along a transect across four adjacent fields representing a range from 0 to 44 years under continuous annual cultivation. Soil wetting curve data, obtained from a dewpoint potentiameter by re-wetting air-dried, crushed, and sieved soil, were fit by nonlinear regression to determine modeled water-retention characteristics for the native prairie and cultivated agricultural soil from samples collected in 2001. Particle-size fractions and water-retention characteristics were significantly affected by land use and years under continuous cultivation. The sand-sized fraction decreased and the clay-sized fraction increased significantly for the agricultural soil that had been annually cultivated the longest. Results indicate that long-term changes in particle-size fractions can occur following decades of continuous annual cultivation and that the effects of tillage on soil-water-retention characteristics can be ascertained after removing the confounding effects of initial differences in soil and pore structure by using soil wetting curves.
Spannungskopfschmerzen: Prinzipien der Counterstrain-Behandlung

Das Counterstrain-Konzept (Entspannen durch Positionieren) ist ein einfaches palpatorisch erfahrbares Konzept aus der Osteopathie. Es eignet sich auch zur Behandlung akuter und subakuter Schmerzzustände im Kopf-Nacken-Bereich. Viele Tenderpunkte (TP) stimmen in ihrer Lokalisation mit Akupunkturpunkten überein. Daher können Akupunkteure aufgrund ihrer Kenntnis der Lage der Akupunkturpunkte dieses Konzept einfach umsetzen. Ein wenig Übung ist jedoch erforderlich.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity of g-C3N4/KTaO3 Composites under Visible Light Irradiation

Novel graphitic carbon nitride/KTaO3 (g-C3N4/KTaO3) nanocomposite photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized via a facile and simple ultrasonic dispersion method. Compared to either g-C3N4 or KTaO3, the composite photocatalysts show significantly increased photocatalytic activity for degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The increased photocatalytic performance of the composite could be attributed to the enhanced photogenerated charge carrier separation capacity. Moreover, it is observed that is the main active species in the photocatalytic degradation of RhB using the g-C3N4/KTaO3 composite photocatalysts.