Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anthraquinones from the Roots of Kniphofia insignis and Evaluation of Their Antimicrobial Activities

Sequential extraction using a cold maceration method and column chromatographic separation of the roots Kniphofia insignis headed to the isolation of three anthraquinones: one monomeric anthraquinone (1) and two dimeric anthraquinones (2 and 3). It was further purified by Sephadex LH-20 and recrystallized. The structures of these compounds were established based on the spectroscopic analyses including NMR (1H-NMR and 13C-NMR and infrared) and comparison with reported literatures. In an in vitro antimicrobial assay of the crude extracts, the isolated compounds were made against four bacterial strains (S. aureus ATCC 25923, B. subtilis ATCC 6633, E. coli ATCC 35218, and P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853) and Fusarium spp. fungal strain. In the crude extracts of chloroform, substantial antimicrobial activity was seen with the highest activity against B. subtilis (16 mm) and E. coli (22 mm). Meanwhile, compound 1 has a better zone of inhibition with 14 mm against P. aeruginosa, whereas compound 2 showed better activity (13 mm) against Fusarium spp. fungal strain.
Effective Atomic Numbers and Electron Densities of BaO-Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 Glass System: Theoretical Calculation

In this work, the mass attenuation coefficients, the effective atomic numbers and the effective electron densities of BaO-Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 glass have been studied at 662 keV using WinXCom program. The result show that the mass attenuation coefficients increased with increasing of BaO concentration, reflecting that more photon is attenuated. The effective atomic numbers and the effective electron densities are similar trend with mass attenuation coefficients, reflecting that more virtual electron when higher BaO concentration and more interaction will be occurred in glass matrices.
Aerosol radiative forcings induced by substantial changes in anthropogenic emissions in China from 2008 to 2016

Abstract. Anthropogenic emissions in China play an important role in altering the global radiation budget. Over the past decade, the strong clean-air policies in China have resulted in substantial reductions of anthropogenic emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and primary particulate matter, and air quality in China has consequently improved. However, the resultant aerosol radiative forcings have been poorly understood. In this study, we used an advanced global climate model integrated with the latest localized emission inventory to quantify the aerosol radiative forcings by the changes of anthropogenic emissions in China between 2008 and 2016. By comparing with multiple observation datasets, our simulations reproduced the considerable reductions of sulfate and black carbon (BC) mass loadings reasonably well over eastern China (the key region subject to stringent emission controls) during the period and accordingly showed a clear decline in both aerosol optical depth and absorption aerosol optical depth. The results revealed a regional annual mean positive direct radiative forcing (DRF) of +0.29 W m−2 at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) due to the reduction of SO2 emissions. This positive aerosol radiative forcing was comprised of diminished sulfate scattering (+0.58 W m−2), enhanced nitrate radiative effects (−0.29 W m−2), and could be completely offset by the concurrent reduction of BC emissions that induced a negative BC DRF of −0.33 W m−2. Despite the small net aerosol DRF (−0.05 W m−2) at the TOA, aerosol–radiation interactions could explain the surface brightening in China over the past decade. The overall reductions in aerosol burdens and associated optical effects mainly from BC and sulfate enhanced the regional annual mean downward solar radiation flux at the surface by +1.0 W m−2 between 2008 and 2016. The enhancement was in general agreement with a long-term observational record of surface energy fluxes in China. We also estimated that aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcings may have played a dominant role in the net aerosol radiative forcings at the TOA in China and over the northern Pacific Ocean during the study period. This study will facilitate more informed assessment of climate responses to projected emissions in the future as well as to sudden changes in human activities (e.g., the COVID-19 lockdown).
A design of broadband dual circularly polarized antenna

In this article, a broadband dual circularly polarized (CP) antenna with simple structure and high gain is designed. A metal ridge septum with the shape of the cascade of a rectangle and a triangle is embedded into the square waveguide to excite CP wave, which is presented through analysis and simulation. By feeding the antenna at the two positions with respect to the symmetrical position of the septum, it can form the right‐handed circularly polarized (RHCP) and left‐handed circularly polarized (LHCP) wave, respectively. To verify the design, a prototype of the antenna is fabricated and measured. The measured and simulated results coincide with each other. According to the simulation and measurement, the designed antenna can work well within a relative bandwidth of 64% from 8.5 to 16.5 GHz. The proposed dual CP antenna has the simple configuration and good performance, and it can be a good candidate antenna for the broadband communication system.
An Atmospheric Water Balance Perspective on Extreme Rainfall Potential for the Contiguous US

In this study, we examine extremes of atmospheric water balance components through analyses of annual maxima of precipitable water and water vapor transport. Our analyses are grounded in Extreme Value Theory, using the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution as a platform for assessing water balance extremes. Annual maxima of atmospheric water balance terms are computed from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) fields for the 40‐year period extending from 1979 to 2018 on a grid of approximately 0.3‐degree resolution. We assess nonstationarities in the annual maximum time series through tests for monotonic trends. Estimates of the location, scale, and shape parameters for the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution are used to examine the spatial variability of water balance extremes. We focus on estimates of the GEV shape parameter, which dictates the “thickness” of the upper tail of the distribution. Estimates of the GEV shape parameter for precipitable water generally point to bounded distributions, but clusters of unbounded, thick‐tailed distributions are linked to exceptionally large record values of precipitable water associated with tropical cyclones in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic. Larger regions of “thick‐tailed” distributions are found for integrated water vapor transport (IVT). Non‐stationary GEV models are used to examine the impacts of trends on extremes of the atmospheric water balance. Mixtures of rare events associated with tropical cyclones and extratropical cyclones play a central role in analyses of water balance extremes.
Using process mining to improve productivity in make-to-stock manufacturing

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a data-driven procedure to improve productivity in make-to-stock manufacturing. By leveraging recent developments in information systems research, the paper addresses manufacturing systems with high process complexity and variety. Specifically, the proposed procedure draws upon process mining to dynamically map and analyse manufacturing processes in an automated manner. This way, manufacturers can leverage data to overcome the limitations of existing process mapping methods, which only provide static snapshots of process flows. By bridging data and process science, process mining can exploit hitherto untapped potential for productivity improvement. The proposed procedure is empirically validated at a leading manufacturer of sanitary products. The field test leads to three concrete improvement suggestions for the company. This research contributes to the literature on production research by demonstrating a novel use of process mining in manufacturing and by guiding practitioners in its implementation.
The Indigenous Prestice Black-Pied Pig Breed Differs from a Commercial Hybrid in Growth Intensity, Carcass Value and Meat Quality

The study was designed for the comparison of barrows and gilts of two contrasting genotypes in terms of growth ability, carcass value and meat quality. A total of 76 pigs (from 7 ± 1 kg to 95 ± 6 kg) of the indigenous breed Prestice Black-Pied (PB) and the commercial hybrid of Large White × Landrace × Large Whitesireline (CH) were included in this study. The groups were balanced regarding genotype and sex. Live weight at the age of 79 days (p < 0.001), live weight at slaughter (p < 0.01), average daily gain (p < 0.001), weight of carcass and left carcass side (p < 0.05) and ham proportion (p < 0.001) were higher in the CH group. The values of the given parameters were higher in barrows than in gilts. The effect of genotype and sex interaction was observed in lean meat content (p < 0.05) and backfat thickness (p < 0.01). The CH gilts showed the highest lean meat content and the lowest backfat thickness compared to the lowest values in the PB barrows. The value of pH45 (p < 0.01) and intramuscular fat content were higher in the PB group. The lightness (p < 0.001), yellowness (p < 0.01), drip loss (p < 0.05) and protein content were lower in the PB group. Higher values of lightness (p < 0.05), yellowness (p < 0.05) and cholesterol content (p < 0.05) were observed in the boars. Oxidative stability of the meat (malondialdehyde content) was more favorable in the PB pigs. The effect of genotype and sex interaction was confirmed for the pH24 value (the highest value was found in the PB barrows and the lowest in the CH barrows, p < 0.001) and for the dry matter content (lowest in the PB gilts and highest in the CH barrows, p < 0.05). Overall, the PB pigs were characterized by inferior growth and carcass parameters, however, with more favorable parameters for meat quality.
Switched Capacitor DC-DC Converters: A Survey on the Main Topologies, Design Characteristics, and Applications

This work presents a review of the main topologies of switched capacitors (SCs) used in DC-DC power conversion. Initially, the basic configurations are analyzed, that is, voltage doubler, series-parallel, Dickson, Fibonacci, and ladder. Some aspects regarding the choice of semiconductors and capacitors used in the circuits are addressed, as well their impact on the converter behavior. The operation of the structures in terms of full charge, partial charge, and no charge conditions is investigated. It is worth mentioning that these aspects directly influence the converter design and performance in terms of efficiency. Since voltage regulation is an inherent difficulty with SC converters, some control methods are presented for this purpose. Finally, some practical applications and the possibility of designing DC-DC converters for higher power levels are analyzed.
Untersuchung zum Zusammenhang von elterlichem Bildungsniveau und motorischer Entwicklung im Säuglingsalter

Zusammenfassung Der Zusammenhang zwischen dem Bildungsstand der Eltern (Schulund Berufsabschluss) und der Entwicklung des Kindes in den ersten beiden Lebensjahren wurde untersucht. Zusammenhänge zeigten sich für den Verlauf der Schwangerschaft, der Art der Entbindung und der Ernährung des Kindes: Mütter mit höherem Bildungsstand berichteten von weniger Problemen in der Schwangerschaft, wiesen einen niedrigeren Anteil von Kaiserschnittgeburten auf, ihre Kinder waren bei der Geburt seltener untergewichtig (< 2500g) und sie stillten ihre Kinder häufiger und länger als Mütter mit geringerem Bildungsstand. Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Bildungsstand der Eltern und dem Apgar-Index, Körperlänge, Gewicht und BMI bei der Geburt und im Alter von 10 – 12 Monaten (U 6) und hinsichtlich der Beurteilung der Gesundheit und der Entwicklung des Kindes bei der Geburt und im Alter von 14 Monaten konnten nicht nachgewiesen werden. Keine Unterschiede fanden sich zwischen den Kindern von Müttern mit hohem und geringerem Bildungsabschluss beim Erreichen von 14 grobund 4 feinmotorischen Meilensteinen. Wie die meisten körperlichen Merkmale scheint auch die motorische Entwicklung in den ersten beiden Lebensjahren überwiegend von genetischen Faktoren gesteuert zu sein und Umweltfaktoren sind in diesem Alter offensichtlich noch kaum von Bedeutung.
Mux Based Ultra-Low-Power Ternary Adders and Multiplier implemented with CNFET and 45 nm MOSFETs

ABSTRACT This paper presents improved multiplexer-based ultra-low-power ternary Half Adder (HA), ternary Full Adder (FA), and ternary 1-bit multiplier designs. The proposed circuits consume 61–91% lesser power and can be implemented with 10–40% lesser number of transistors, as compared to the other corresponding circuits available in the literature. The reduction in power and transistor count has been achieved through improved multiplexer designs and judicious use of pass transistor logic. CNFETs have low gate capacitance and hence are ideal devices for ultra-low-power VLSI applications; however, CMOS technology is presently the most preferred technology, because of the easy and low-cost fabrication option made available by the well-established CMOS fabrication labs. Keeping this in view, the proposed mux-based ternary half adder has been designed with both 45 nm MOSFETs and CNFETs. The performance of the proposed HA design has been benchmarked with other CNFET HA reported in the literature. The proposed mux-based CNFET ternary HA, FA and 1-bit multiplier have 10–30% lesser propagation delays than the other designs available in the literature. The reduction in the Power Delay Product (PDP) is 85–99% in the proposed mux-based CNFET ternary circuits as compared to the other benchmarked designs.
Optimization of Gum Arabic and Starch-Based Edible Coatings with Lemongrass Oil Using Response Surface Methodology for Improving Postharvest Quality of Whole “Wonderful” Pomegranate Fruit

The effects of edible coatings based on gum arabic (GA) (0.5–1.5%), maize starch (MS) (0.5–1.5%), lemongrass oil (LO) (2–4%), and glycerol (GC) (0.5–1%) developed using response surface methodology (RSM) on “Wonderful” pomegranate fruit were studied. After 42 days of storage (5 ± 1 °C, 95 ± 2% RH) and 5 days at ambient temperature (20 ± 0.2 °C and 60 ± 10% RH), whole fruit were evaluated for weight loss (%) and pomegranate juice (PJ) for total soluble solids (°Brix), titratable acidity (% Citric acid), and antioxidant capacity. The optimization procedure was done using RSM and the response variables were mainly influenced by the concentrations of MS and GA. The optimized coating consisted of GA (0.5%), MS (0.5%), LO (3%), and GC (1.5%) with desirability of 0.614 (0—minimum and 1—maximum). The predicted values of response variables, for the coating were weight loss (%) = 5.51, TSS (°Brix) = 16.45, TA (% Citric acid) = 1.50, and antioxidant capacity (RSA = 58.13 mM AAE/mL PJ and FRAP = 40.03 mM TE/mL PJ). Therefore, the optimized coating formulation is a potential postharvest treatment for “Wonderful” pomegranate to inhibit weight loss and maintain overall quality during storage and shelf-life.
Computational Trends in Solvation and Transport in Liquids - Lecture Notes

edited by Godehard Sutmann, Johannes Grotendorst, Gerhard Gompper, Dominik Marx The majority of chemical reactions including many important industrial processes and virtually all biological activities take place within a liquid environment. Solvents, of which water is certainly the most important, are able to “solvate” molecules, thereby transferring these as “solutes” into the liquid state. Transport processes and solute-solute interactions in the solvent are then supporting structure formation, selforganization or chemical reactions. Solvents are not only able to provide a liquid phase for simple chemical reagents and the much more complex proteins; they have the additional ability to wet extended surfaces such as lipid membranes or metal electrodes, thereby creating interfaces. An in-depth understanding of solvation at a fundamental level of chemistry, physics and engineering is essential to enable major advances in key technologies for environmentally friendly technologies, e.g. to reduce pollution, to increase energy efficiency or to prevent corrosion to name but a few challenges to our modern day society. In biophysics and life sciences, water is the most important and dominant solvent, providing the basic environment for the complexity of life. Therefore, an understanding of solvation is crucial to unravel biological function in a comprehensive way.
Compendium of photovoltaic degradation rates

Published data on photovoltaic (PV) degradation measurements were aggregated and re‐examined. The subject has seen an increased interest in recent years resulting in more than 11 000 degradation rates in almost 200 studies from 40 different countries. As studies have grown in number and size, we found an impact from sampling bias attributable to size and accuracy. Because of the correlational nature of this study we examined the data in several ways to minimize this bias. We found median degradation for x‐Si technologies in the 0.5–0.6%/year range with the mean in the 0.8–0.9%/year range. Hetero‐interface technology (HIT) and microcrystalline silicon (µc‐Si) technologies, although not as plentiful, exhibit degradation around 1%/year and resemble thin‐film products more closely than x‐Si. Several studies showing low degradation for copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) have emerged. Higher degradation for cadmium telluride (CdTe) has been reported, but these findings could reflect a convolution of less accurate studies and longer stabilization periods for some products. Significant deviations for beginning‐of‐life measurements with respect to nameplate rating have been documented over the last 35 years. Therefore, degradation rates that use nameplate rating as reference may be significantly impacted. Studies that used nameplate rating as reference but used solar simulators showed less variation than similar studies using outdoor measurements, even when accounting for different climates. This could be associated with confounding effects of measurement uncertainty and soiling that take place outdoors. Hotter climates and mounting configurations that lead to sustained higher temperatures may lead to higher degradation in some, but not all, products. Wear‐out non‐linearities for the worst performing modules have been documented in a few select studies that took multiple measurements of an ensemble of modules during the lifetime of the system. However, the majority of these modules exhibit a fairly linear decline. Modeling these non‐linearities, whether they occur at the beginning‐of‐life or end‐of‐life in the PV life cycle, has an important impact on the levelized cost of energy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Long-Term Oxbow Lake Trophic State under Agricultural Best Management Practices

A key principle of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) is to improve water quality by reducing agricultural-sourced nutrients and associated eutrophication. Long-term (1998–2016) lake summer trophic state index (TSI) trends of an agricultural watershed with agricultural best management practices (BMPs) were assessed. Structural BMPs included vegetative buffers, conservation tillage, conservation reserve, a constructed wetland, and a sediment retention pond. TSI included Secchi visibility (SD), chlorophyll a (Chl), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN). Summer TSI 1977 was >80 in 1998–1999 (hypertrophic) and decreased over the first 10 years to TSI 1977 ≈ 75 (eutrophic). TSI 1977 decrease and changing TSI deviations coincided with vegetative buffers, conservation tillage, and conservation reserve. The TSI(SD) decrease (>90 to <70) coincided with vegetative buffers and TSI(TP) decrease (>90 to <75) coincided primarily with conservation tillage and the sediment retention pond. TSI(Chl) increase (<60 to >70) coincided with conservation tillage and vegetative buffer. Results indicate watershed-wide BMPs can modestly decrease summer trophic state through increased water transparency and decreased TP, but these changes are off-set by increases in chlorophyll a to reach a new stable state within a decade. Future research should assess algal nutrient thresholds, internal nutrient loading, and climate change effects.
Evaluation of riverbed magnetic susceptibility for mapping biogeochemical hot spots in groundwater‐impacted rivers

Redox hot spots occurring as metal‐rich anoxic groundwater discharges through oxic wetland and river sediments commonly result in the formation of iron (Fe) oxide precipitates. These redox‐sensitive precipitates influence the release of nutrients and metals to surface water and can act as ‘contaminant sponges’ by absorbing toxic compounds. We explore the feasibility of a non‐invasive, high‐resolution magnetic susceptibility (MS) technique to efficiently map the spatial variations of magnetic Fe oxide precipitates in the shallow bed of three rivers impacted by anoxic groundwater discharge. Laboratory analyses on Mashpee River (MA, USA) sediments demonstrate the sensitivity of MS to sediment Fe concentrations. Field surveys in the Mashpee and Quashnet rivers (MA, USA) reveal several discrete high MS zones, which are associated with likely anoxic groundwater discharge as evaluated by riverbed temperature, vertical head gradient, and groundwater chemistry measurements. In the East River (CO, USA), widespread cobbles/rocks exhibit high background MS from geological ferrimagnetic minerals, thereby obscuring the relatively small enhancement of MS from groundwater induced Fe oxide precipitates. Our study suggests that, in settings with low geological sources of magnetic minerals such as lowland rivers and wetlands, MS may serve as a complementary tool to temperature methods for efficiently mapping Fe oxide accumulation zones due to anoxic groundwater discharges that may function as biogeochemical hot spots and water quality control points in gaining systems.
Cluster based nonuniform transformation field analysis: An efficient homogenization for inelastic heterogeneous materials

In this article, the authors propose an efficient numerical homogenization method, the so‐called cluster based nonuniform transformation field analysis (NTFA), for inelastic heterogeneous material. The method enables to predict the effective properties directly from the local constitutive relations for microstructural phases of heterogeneous material, thus no requiring preliminary assumptions and any derivations for the effective constitutive relation as in the conventional NTFA. Evolution of plastic strain field is expressed by combination of nonuniform plastic strain modes evaluated from the nonlinear finite element analysis for training directions previously given and snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition. Eventually, microscopic stress and strain field are represented by scalar reduced variables and plastic strain modes. A simple maximization of minimum distance is proposed in order to choose uniformly distributed training directions on a unit sphere in the load space. Also, scalar reduced variables are directly determined from the integration of local constitutive relation, where material points are compressed into a number of clusters by clustering scheme. Thus, evolution of reduced variables is evaluated by the integration of local constitutive relation only in clusters. Numerical examples that consider material models followed J2 plasticity and pressure‐dependent non‐associated flow rule show that the current approach may predict the effective properties of inelastic heterogeneous material accurately and efficiently. It should be noted that the current approach can be available for material followed not only associated flow rule but also non‐associated flow one.