Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Cattle Slurry with Maize Stalk at Mesophilic Temperature

Anaerobic digestion from batch digester containing varying ratio of mixture of cow slurry and maize stalk was studied at mesophilic temperature (37 o C). Cattle slurry and maize stalks were co-digested at ratios 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 using the percentage volatile solid of each substrate. The experiment was carried out in a laboratory scale batch digester. The digester was fed with cattle slurry-maize stalks mixtures calculated for the selected ratios based on the volatile solid (VS) concentration of the selected substrates. Co-digestion of cattle slurry with maize stalks at ratios 3:1, 1:1 and 3:1 at mesophilic temperature gave biogas yields of 0.426, 0.385 and 0.391m 3 /kgoDM respectively while the methane yields were 0.297, 0.270 and 0.262m 3 CH4/kgoDM respectively. From the fresh mass of the substrate, biogas yields of 0.052, 0.059 and 0.090 m 3 /kgFM were obtained for cattle slurry-maize stalks ratios of 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 respectively while the methane yields from the fresh mass for the same ratios were 0.036, 0.043 and 0.060 CH4/kgFM respectively. Co-digestion of cattle slurry with maize stalks was found to have methane concentrations of 69.66, 70.24 and 66.98% at cattle slurry/maize stalks combinations of 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 respectively. The highest biogas yields (oDM) of 0.426 m 3 /kgoDM was obtained at the mixing ratio of 3:1; therefore the mixing ratio of 3:1 is recommended as the optimal for the co- digestion of cattle slurry with maize stalks at mesophilic temperature.
The brain drain between knowledge-based economies: the European human capital outflow to the US

This paper uses the 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2006 U.S. micro censuses data to document the magnitude and nature of European human capital outflow to the United States. I found that while emigration is about a small number of individuals, the share of Europeans who are leaving is increasing as one moves along the educational distribution and ladder of occupations that matter the most in the knowledge economy. Next, using productivity based brain drain indices it is found that aggregate human capital conveyed by emigrants has increased since the 1990s. Finally, as a better understanding on the nature of human capital embodied in European emigrants, I show that the Europeans earn a positive wage premium relative to the US natives. Moreover, this premium is higher for the most recent expatriates cohorts, providing further evidence that the quality of European emigrants has increased.
The Effect of Velocity Anisotropy on AE Source Locations in a Very Large Granite Sample

Hypocenters of 110 AE (acoustic emission) events were determined in an octagonal prismatic sample of Inada granite under uniaxial compression assuming two kinds of velocity distributions. Compressional wave velocities used in this computation were measured in the same Inada granite as previous ones under uniaxial compression. Comparing AE hypocenters determined assuming a uniform velocity with ones determined assuming velocity anisotropy with axial symmetry, it is clear that the latter distribution corresponds to the final fracture surface better than the former one. And it is clear that it is possible to trace the process of fracture in a rock sample using the space-time distribution of the latter AE hypocenters. However, the fact that the correspondence between the latter AE hypocenters and the final fracture surface is not very good suggests that the velocity distribution may be locally inhomogeneous in the sample.
Cubic spline Numerov type approach for solution of Helmholtz equation

We have developed a three level implicit method for solution of the Helmholtz equation. Using the cubic spline in space and nite dierence in time directions. The approach has been modied to drive Numerov type nite dierence method. The method yield the tri- diagonal linear system of algebraic equations which can be solved by using a tri-diagonal solver. Stability and error estimation of the presented method are analyzed.The obtained results satised the ability and eciency of the method. c
Small-scale fluctuations of the soft X-ray background

We report the detection of the X-ray background fluctuations at small angular scales. ROSAT PSPC archive pointed observations are used to measure the autocorrelation function (ACF) of the background at scales of 0:03 0:3. The pointings have been selected from an area apparently free from galactic contamination and the ACF signal is generated mostly by the extragalactic component of the XRB. At separations below 0:1 known X-ray clusters of galaxies become a substantial source of the background fluctuations. Assuming a power law, the ACF for all the data has a slope of1, but is substantially flatter (with slope of0:6) when pointings containing bright clusters are removed. Flattening of the ACF at small separations could indicate existence of a hot, nonuniformly distributed gas accumulating in wells of gravitational potential. At separations 0:3 0: 4w here the ACF estimates based on the ROSAT pointings and All-Sky Survey are available, both data sets give consistent results.
Dominance not richness determines invasibility of tallgrass prairie.

Many recent studies suggest that more diverse communities are more resistant to invasion. Community characteristics that most strongly influence invasion are uncertain, however, due to covariation of diversity with competition and crowding. We examined separately the effects of species richness and dominance on invasion by an exotic legume, Melilotus officinalis, in intact, native Kansas grassland. We manipulated dominance of C4 grasses by reducing their abundance (i.e. ramet densities) by � /25 and 50%. In addition, richness was reduced by removing species that were mainly rare and uncommon as might be expected with environmental changes such as drought and fragmentation. In both years of the study (2001/2002), invasibility, measured as peak establishment of Melilotus, was not affected by a 3fold reduction in species richness, nor was there an interaction between loss of species and reduced dominance on invasion. In contrast, reductions in abundance of the dominants significantly reduced invasibility of the grassland plots in both years. Because the abundance of dominants was highly correlated with measures of competition (i.e. ratio of dominant biomass to total biomass) and crowding (total stem densities), this pattern was opposite to that expected if competition were indeed limiting invasion. Rather, invasion appeared to be facilitated by the dominant species, most likely because reduced dominance increased environmental stress. Our results suggest that dominance is the key community characteristic determining invasibility, because highly competitive and space-filling species can either enhance or reduce susceptibility to invasion depending on whether dominants create a more competitive environment or alleviate stressful conditions.
RAMS and LCC in the design process of infrastructural construction projects : an implementation case

The implementation of RAMS (acronym for Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in construction industry is in its infancy compared to other industrial sectors. These two concepts can be used within the design of infrastructural construction projects to make a trade-off between performance and costs. RAMS and LCC are methods used to quantify performance and different cost categories such as initial costs, maintenance costs and operational costs. This paper investigates existing models for the implementation of RAMS and LCC in design processes that have been proposed by other researchers. Out of these existing models a suitable model is adopted to test implementation in construction industry to identify problems that are associated with implementation of such a model. The results of the implementation are discussed and conclusions are drawn.
DECREASE OF HARDWARE AMOUNT IN LOGIC CIRCUIT OF MOORE FSM

Method of decrease in the number of PAL macrocells in logic circuit of Moore FSM is proposed. The method is based on simultaneous application of refined state assignment and transformation of the codes of pseudoequivalent states into codes of their classes. The proposed approach permits to decrease the hardware amount without decrease of digital system performance. The results of experiments are shown.
Effect of Water Resources Allocation on Groundwater Environment and Soil Salinity Accumulation under Climate Change

The combined surface and groundwater allocation practice by wells and canals had contributed to the safety of groundwater environment and agriculture sustainable production. The typical area in the People’s Victory Canal irrigation district was taken as a case, drawing together the irrigation district agriculture water consumption and precipitation from 1954 to 2014 in the People’s Victory Canal irrigation district, ratios of surface to groundwater irrigation amount, dynamic of groundwater depth and hydrochemical characteristic of groundwater from 2008 to 2014 in the research area, the relationship between groundwater depth and ratio of surface to groundwater irrigation amount was analyzed, in order to ascertain the influence of precipitation on ratios of surface to groundwater irrigation amount and its effect on soil and groundwater environment. The results indicated that positive correlation between the ratios of surface to groundwater irrigation amount and annual precipitation was appeared, affected by climate change, average irrigation amount from surface in the recent 5 years was 2.90 × 10 cubic meters, accounted for 75.52% of total irrigation amount, on the other hand, decreasing tendency of precipitation was obvious, and groundwater depth dynamic in upstream of the branch canals was more dramatic than downstream because of surface water irrigation infiltration, under the unified condition of water use efficiency, ratio of surface to groundwater irrigation amount was negative correlation with area of the groundwater depth beyond 11 m, meanwhile, groundwater depth demonstrated negative correlation with the ratio of surface to groundwater irrigation amount, moreover, alkaline trend of groundwater hydrochemistry during the normal season in the research area was obvious because of phreatic evaporation and the agricultural irrigation from wells, along with irrigation from surface inflow of Yellow River, quality of groundwater hydrochemistry during the dry season was ameliorative greatly. Consequently, it was very important to the agriculture sustainable production that well-canal combined irrigation patterns alleviated extremely alkaline trend of the groundwater hydrochemistry and played a positive role of root layer soil salinity leaching.
The foundation of knowledge management: a review from conventional and Islamic perspectives

Globalizations bring challenges for an organization to adopt a comprehensive scientific culture in their exploitation of emerging sciences and knowledge. This is vital in order to update its development, and techniques use in taking care of potential human resources for organizational survival and development. This paper is an effort to address the prospect of knowledge management (KM) and postulate an idea for its critical foundation and effective action to overcome any issues in KM application from Islamic perspective, especially in dealing with multi-dimensional aspects and categories of human knowledge, its function and utilization. This is achieved through observing the sources of KM references both in conventional and Islamic literatures. This has been done for accessing the description of knowledge within the theoretical and organizational context. No doubt the issue of knowledge management (KM) represents an ultimate basis of growth and progress, whether at individual or society, as well as organizational level. Hypothetically, when we manage our knowledge, we will be able to consider it’s behavioral and functions in achieving our development, prosperous and growth. Subsequently, it is also intuitive to wonder the vice versa.
Energy-water nexus: An integrated modeling approach

Energy and water are essential for physical, social and economic wellbeing. In recent times, changes to the energy and water industries, brought about by industry reform, environmental considerations and strategies to meet future demand have brought into sharp focus the link between the two - termed energy-water nexus in this paper. The recent emergence of the phenomenon as a critical issue signifies that understanding of the nature of the nexus and models to assist in analyzing it are still being developed. A review of the models indicates that, whilst providing useful tools for localized contexts, the methodologies adopted limit the suitability for policy analysis at an economy-wide level. A more integrated approach, based on input-output analysis, would provide such a framework, and is the basis for an energy-water model presented in this paper. Whilst the model has been developed for New South Wales, Australia, it may be adopted by regions elsewhere, where energy and water industries are being similarly transformed.
Low-temperature (180 °C) formation of large-grained Ge (111) thin film on insulator using accelerated metal-induced crystallization

The Al-induced crystallization (AIC) yields a large-grained (111)-oriented Ge thin film on an insulator at temperatures as low as 180 °C. We accelerated the AIC of an amorphous Ge layer (50-nm thickness) by initially doping Ge in Al and by facilitating Ge diffusion into Al. The electron backscatter diffraction measurement demonstrated the simultaneous achievement of large grains over 10 μm and a high (111) orientation fraction of 90% in the polycrystalline Ge layer formed at 180 °C. This result opens up the possibility for developing Ge-based electronic and optical devices fabricated on inexpensive flexible substrates.
Sustainable farming of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus)

Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.) is a salmonid that is well adapted to cold waters and is commonly farmed in open net cages. A breeding program has enabled a relatively large production in Sweden, providing a continuous supply of fresh fish to the market. Despite expansions and improvements of the Arctic charr farming industry during the last decade, there are still sustainability challenges to overcome. This doctoral thesis explores various methods for improving the sustainability of Arctic charr farming, such as alternative protein sources in the feed, a shortened production cycle through selective breeding and an adaptive feeding management model. A new feed composition, containing a protein mixture with ingredients that are not attractive for human consumption, was evaluated for Arctic charr. The feed consisted of Baltic Sea decontaminated fishmeal (Sprattus sprattus and Clupea harengus), Baltic Sea blue mussel meal (Mytilus edulis) and baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). The new feed resulted in lower growth compared with fish fed a commercial-type control feed, likely due to a reduced digestibility caused by the baker’s yeast. However, a self-selection study revealed a preference for the new feed over the control feed. Additionally, consumers could not distinguish between fish that had been fed the new feed or the control feed. Possible family effects that the new feed may have on growth were also investigated, showing that selection for high growth on a commercial-type feed would also benefit a higher growth capacity on the new feed. Selective breeding of Arctic charr had clear positive effects on growth. After adjusting for changes of environmental factors within the hatchery, the growth improvement from the first generation to the current seventh generation was 11 % per generation and production time has been shortened by ten months. Selective breeding also affected seasonal growth patterns and Arctic charr from the seventh generation grew more during winter than previously, although the largest weight improvement between generations occurred during summer. A new growth capacity, and pattern, demands an adaptive feeding management model so that feed waste and environmental impacts can be minimized. A new model on the digestible energy need of Arctic charr and a seasonal growth capacity factor were developed and can together be used to calculate the daily feed allowance during different periods of the growth season.
Thalkudi (Centella asiatica L.): A Brain Tonic among the Rural and Tribal Communities of Odisha, India

Odisha state of India is rich in biodiversity of medicinal flora. “Thalkudi” (Centella aciatica L.) is a common important traditional herb have been utilizing as brain tonic and purpose of memory enhancer among the tribal group and rural community of different rural and forest divisions of the state. The present study deals with the documentation from the field survey for highlighting the ethnomedicinal properties and pharmacological activity of Thalkudi (Centella asiatica L.).
THE ROLE OF THE TM 2-HAMP JUNCTION IN CONTROL OF THE SIGNALING STATE OF THE ASPARTATE CHEMORECEPTOR

The Role of the TM2-HAMP Junction in Control of the Signaling State of the Aspartate Chemoreceptor of E. coli. (August 2009) Gus Alan Wright, B.S, University of Alabama at Birmingham Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael D. Manson The mechanism of allosteric coupling between the external ligand-binding domain and the internal signaling domain of bacterial chemoreceptors is poorly understood. Genetic, biochemical, and biophysical evidence suggests that transmembrane helix 2 (TM2) undergoes a piston-like displacement of approximately 13 Ångstroms toward the cytoplasm upon the binding of aspartate to the Tar receptor. The signal is then transmitted to the cytoplasmic signaling domain via the HAMP domain, a conserved motif found in all methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs) and most histidine protein kinases (HPKs). HAMP forms a parallel four-helix bundle consisting of a dimer of two amphipathic helices (AS1 and AS2) connected by a flexible linker. The MLLT sequence between residues Arg-214, at the end of TM2, and the conserved residue Pro-219, at the beginning of AS1 of the HAMP domain (the TM2HAMP junction), is predicted to be able to form a helical extension of TM2. We hypothesized that perturbing the native secondary structure and/or the length of the TM2-HAMP junction would disrupt the ability of HAMP to communicate the input signal from TM2 to the kinase-control domain. To test this hypothesis, we designed two
The Design and Linearization of 60GHz Injection Locked Power Amplifier

The RF power amplifier is one of the most critical blocks of transceivers, as it is expected to provide a suitable output power with high gain, efficiency and linearity. In this paper, a 60-GHz power amplifier based on an injection locked structure is demonstrated in a standard 65 CMOS technology. The PA core consists of a cross-coupled pair of NMOS transistors with an NMOS current source. This structure can achieve large output power and high PAE, but with poor linearity performance. In order to improve the linearity, several linearization techniques are investigated, including adaptive biasing and predistortion. The results show that the adaptive biasing technique can enlarge the linear operation region, but results in poor AM-PM performance. By instead using the predistortion technique, the AM-PM performance can be improved, but the linear region only extends slightly. Considering theses two techniques different advantages, we combine them together to improve not only the linear region but also the AM-PM performance. Finally, a common source amplifier is added as the first stage. With proper bias, the linear operation region is then effectively extended by 7.3 dB. This two stage power amplifier achieves large output power, high linearity and high PAE simultaneously. It delivers a gain of 20dB, a Psat of 16.3dBm, a P1dB of 15.41dBm, and a PAE of 30%. (Less)
Communications in Statistics-Stochastic Models , 16 ( 5 ) , 2000 OCCUPATION TIMES IN MARKOV PROCESSES

In a homogeneous finite-state Markov process, we consider the occupation times, that is, the times spent by the process in given subsets of the state space during a finite interval of time. We first derive the distribution of the occupation time of one subset and then we generalize that result to the joint distribution of occupation times of different subsets of the state space by the use of order statistics from the uniform distribution. Next, we consider the distribution of weighted sums of occupation times. We obtain forward and backward equations describing the behavior of these weighted sums and we show how these lead to simple expressions for that distribution.
Online Shopping Behaviours on Apparel Products in a Cameroon Context: Understanding the Relationships between Shopping Orientations, Gender, Online Information Search and Online Purchase Behaviour

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the online apparel shopping behaviours of college students in a Cameroon context which include information search and purchase behavior. Design/Methodology/Approaches: One of the non-probability sampling techniques termed convenience sampling was adopted as the sampling method for this research. As this research focuses on the population of Cameroon college/university students, the sample of this study is local college students who are currently pursuing Diploma or Degree studies. 121 responses have been gathered from college/university students who are currently pursuing diploma or degree courses at Catholic University Institute of Buea, Cameroon. Among these respondents, 46.3% are males (n=56) while 53.7% are females (n=65). Findings: The present research had yielded fruitful results to understand the relationships between shopping orientations, gender, online information search and online purchase behavior on apparel products. To note, the influences of shopping orientations and gender have been found to be more significantly impactful on online information search on apparel products. Originality/Value: This study’s research questions and methods are new to the line of Online Shopping Behaviours on Apparel Products in a Cameroon Context: Understanding the Relationships between Shopping Orientations, Gender, and Online Information Search and Online Purchase Behaviour
Non-intrusive reduced order modelling of multi-fluid flows in oil reservoirs with uncertain rock properties

A novel variable-material non-intrusive reduced order model (NIROM) based on a Smolyak sparse grid interpolation method, a radial basis function (RBF) method and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) has been developed for oil reservoirs with uncertain rock properties. This novel NIROM is constructed by using a two level interpolation method. The first level interpolation is constructed for the rock properties, and the second level is for the fluid dynamics. The NIROM is independent of governing equations, therefore, this method is easy to implement and easy to be extended for other applications as it does not require modifications to the source code. The novelty of this work is the use of the presented Smolyak gird and RBF interpolation based NIROM for oil reservoirs with uncertain rock properties. Another novelty is the use of Smolyak sparse grid to reduce the NR realisations of the reservoir simulator for constructing the NIROM and reduce the computational effort involved in creating the hyperspace of basis functions and coefficients from the snapshots of all the different realisations. The capability of this new NIROM has been numerically illustrated in two multiphase flows in porous media: a reservoir with eight baffles case and a 3D fluvial channel case with 22 uncertainties. By comparing the results of the novel NIROM against the solutions obtained from the high fidelity full model, it is shown that this model can result in a large reduction in the CPU cost (by a factor of about three orders) while much of the details of multiphase flow in porous media are captured. ∗Corresponding author: dh.xiao@imperial.ac. uk