Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Steady state analysis of a three phase indirect matrix converter fed 10 HP, 220 V, 50 Hz induction machine for efficient energy generation

The matrix converter or pulse width modulated frequency changer, invented in the mid-1980s, is a direct power conversion device that can generate a variable voltage and frequency from a variable input source. Industrially, it is applied in adjustable speed control of induction motor drive, power quality conditioner, and traction applications. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the steady state characteristic behavior of an induction machine in terms of its speed and torque when driven by a three phase indirect matrix converter at reduced harmonics. Similarly, projecting an AC-AC matrix converter that ensures a uniform synchronization in frequency and voltage supplies between the three phase wound rotor machine and the transformer's grid voltage supply is discussed in the Scherbius scheme. The different methods of torque calculations pertaining to some selected machine circuit diagrams are presented for comparison and analysis. Emphasis on the torque-speed characteristics of the machine at varied resistance and slip values were graphically analyzed in MATLAB to determine the degree of torque-speed dependence on the rotor resistance and slip. The overall behavior of the machine under motoring, plugging, and regenerative modes was considered in this work, while a detailed Simulink modeling of an indirect matrix converter on the Scherbius drive scheme is also presented for further analysis.
The Regulatory Challenge of Asset Valuation: A Case Study from the Brazilian Electricity Distribution Sector

Given the capital intensity of network utilities, the remuneration of both historic and new investments is a major determinant of consumer prices, typically accounting for around two thirds of total costs. In order to derive the annuity required to sustain infrastructure investments over time, the cost of capital and depreciation rules are applied to the Regulatory Asset Base (RAB), a number which captures the value of all past investments in the company. The RAB used to calculate return on capital and depreciation need not necessarily be the same, as different considerations may arise in measuring the capital stock used in each case. For example, if historic investments were entirely subsidized by the tax-payer, while new investments are to be funded by the private sector, the government may choose to accept a discount on the RAB when calculating a return on historic investments. However, even if this were to be the case, the full value of the RAB should still be used to calculate depreciation charges, ensuring that the capital stock is maintained over time.
Immigration, Culture, and Ethnicity in Transformative Consumer Research

Immigration, culture, and ethnicity (IC&E) research has a lengthy history in consumer research, though most research focuses narrowly on identity (and related topics) and has been done at the individual level of analysis. First, the authors discuss the need for research focused on assessing well-being at the collective level and highlight the important role of social networks and communities in improving consumer well-being and creating effective policy interventions. Next, they explore the utility of the emerging intersectionality conceptual framework for research on well-being and IC&E. They offer specific suggestions for designing policy-oriented research using this approach and illustrate the process by taking a well-regarded IC&E study and reimagining its design using a process-centered approach to intersectionality.
Volatility Spill-over in a Customs Union: The Case of South Africa Sheep Import from Namibia

Prices guide economic agents’ resource allocation and output mix decisions. The extent of price transmission determines the nature of market integration. Volatility spill-over in spatially linked agricultural markets has been investigated, but not across borders. We developed an E-GARCH model which enabled us to explore various properties of price volatility – volatility persistence, asymmetric interference and volatility spill-over. We found the existence of significant volatility spill-over within the South African Customs Union (SACU) using sheep price data in Namibia and South Africa, especially with the introduction of Small Livestock Marketing Scheme (SLMS) in namibia. The results show more stickiness in the retail market than the wholesale market in South Africa (90% and 49%), suggesting a greater impact of price volatility on South Africa consumers than the processors. In terms of volatility spill-over, the asymmetric effect is significant at 5 percent suggesting that these two markets are somewhat integrated, since the incidence of volatility spill-over from Namibia has influenced price information transmission in the South African sheep market. Furthermore, 79 percent of the volatility in the Namibian market is transmitted through sheep meat retail prices to the South African sheep market. The measure of volatility persistence is significant; indicating that 45 percent of the volatility transmitted to the South African sheep market is persistent.
Impact of wind power forecasting error bias on the economic operation of autonomous power systems

Many efforts have been presented in the literature for wind power forecasting in power systems and few of them have been used for autonomous power systems. In addition, some recent studies have evaluated the impact on the operation of power systems and energy markets that the improvement of wind power forecasting can have. In this paper, the value of the information provided to the operators of autonomous power systems about forecasting errors is studied. This information may vary significantly, e.g. it can be only the normalized mean absolute error of the forecast, or a probability density function of the errors for various levels of forecasted wind power, which can be provided either during the evaluation phase of the wind power forecasting tool or by online uncertainty estimators. This paper studies the impact of the level of detail provided about wind power forecasting accuracy for various levels of load and wind power production. The proposed analysis, when applied to the autonomous power system of Crete, shows significant changes among the various levels of information provided, not only in the operating cost but also in the wind power curtailment. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Indian megacities as localities of environmental vulnerability from air quality perspective

Large proportions of the Indian population live in megacities (e.g., Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata), which are vibrant centers of economic opportunities and offering better quality of social life. Due to increasing migration to these cities, Indian megacities are constantly expanding, which subsequently leads to strain on the environment with a range of impacts at local, regional and global levels. During the last few decades the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other air pollutants have increased substantially, resulting in worsening ambient air quality of these cities. With respect to time span the concern over air pollutants has also changed in Indian megacities. Concern over particulate matter, black carbon, NOx and ozone has heightened recently due to their local and regional impacts on air quality and environmental (including public) health and also because they contribute to global climate change. Although authorities have implemented several measures to reduce air pollution and its impacts in Indian megacities, much more is yet to be done to improve their ambient air quality. This paper focuses on major air pollution and GHGs emission issues in Indian megacities and associated problems within the framework of their role in environmental vulnerability.
Simulate Human Saccadic Scan-Paths in Target Searching

Human saccade is a dynamic process of information pursuit. There are many methods using either global context or local context cues to model human saccadic scan-paths. In contrast to them, this paper introduces a model for gaze movement control using both global and local cues. To test the performance of this model, an experiment is done to collect human eye movement data by using an SMI iVIEW X Hi-Speed eye tracker with a sampling rate of 1250 Hz. The experiment used a two-by-four mixed design with the location of the targets and the four initial positions. We compare the saccadic scan-paths generated by the proposed model against human eye movement data on a face benchmark dataset. Experimental results demonstrate that the simulated scan-paths by the proposed model are similar to human saccades in term of the fixation order, Hausdorff distance, and prediction accuracy for both static fixation locations and dynamic scan-paths.
DIAGNOSTIC HYSTEROSCOPY AS A PRIMARY TOOL IN BASIC INFERTILITY WORKUP.

Results:Abnormal hysteroscopic findings were observed in 36 % of infertile cases. Uterine polyps were the most common hysteroscopic abnormalities reported in 12%. Intrauterine adhesions8%, submucus myoma 6%, congenital uterine malformations 6%,chronic endometritis 4% . Postoperative symptoms (nausea – mild lower abdominal pain) were recorded in 32 % of patients that resolved by antiemetic and analgesic . All patients discharched from hospital after 6 hours. No cases postoperative pelvic infection was recorded.
Improving Laboratory Mice Diets to Increase Relevance to Human Populations

Mouse models have been an invaluable resource for biomedical research and have been instrumental for advances in our understanding of biology and human disease. However, in using these models there is the inherent issue of the translatability of research findings to human populations. Some differences between humans and rodents can never be reconciled due to key differences in physiology. However, mice models have evolved over time through innovations in genetics and standardized diets, resulting in reduced variability across experiments. Developing mice diets that more closely emulate what humans eat will help increase the translational fidelity of mouse models to human populations. This review will focus on the role of basal laboratory diets for improving mouse models.
A novel protein fraction isolated from the leaves of Abies webbiana Lindl. Induces apoptosis in lung cancer cells via the intrinsic pathway

The genus Pinaceae is found to be rich in bioactive metabolites is used in Ayurveda for treating respiratory ailments. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of different protein fractions isolated from the leaves of the tree Abies webbiana Lindl, on adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial A549 cells. MTT assay was performed to check the ability of the fraction to induce cell death in cancerous A549 cells and normal NIH3T3 fibroblast cells. Acridine Orange/Ethidium Bromide staining, Hoechst staining and DNA fragmentation assays were performed. RT-PCR studies of pro-apoptotic BAX and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 along with western blot of p-ATM, CHK-2, CDC25A, BAK and BAD were performed. Caspase-9 and 3 activities were determined using calorimetric assays. The fraction at lower concentrations was found to induce cell death in the lung cancer cells. Acridine Orange/Ethidium Bromide staining, Hoechst staining and DNA fragmentation assays were used to confirm the apoptosis inducing ability of the fraction on A549 cells. The transcriptional expression studies of the pro-apoptotic BAX and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2; and the western blot analysis of proteins that regulate apoptosis showed that the fraction upregulated the expression of pro-apoptotic factors and down regulated the expression of anti-apoptotic factors in the cancer cells. Caspase-9 and 3 activities were found to be upregulated in the calorimetric studies. With the above results, it could be concluded that the protein fraction (PF-2) induced apoptosis in the lung cancer cells via the intrinsic or the mitochondrial pathway.
Spatiotemporal analysis shows stable genetic differentiation and barriers to dispersal in the Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis L.)

Genetically structured populations arise when gene flow between groups of individuals is hindered by geographical, behavioural or temporal barriers. The identification of such groups is important for understanding evolution and has large implications for conservation concern. The field of population subdivision has received a lot of interest throughout the years and gained empirical support from a number of species. However, very little is known about population structure at small spatial scales, especially in a highly mobile species such as fish. The main object for my thesis was to further investigate population differentiation, explicitly at small spatial scales in the Eurasian perch. My results show that in this species, genetic differentiation occurs, even at very small spatial scales, both within lakes and in the Baltic Sea. Additionally, the differentiation can be stable over years and thus have a large impact in the evolution of adaptation to different environments. I also found barriers to gene flow that overlapped with the largest change in spring temperature, suggesting a temporal difference in spawning. Morphological differences were found at these small scales as well which indicates that a difference in food resources might be an underlying cause of change. My thesis work shows that the aquatic environment might not be as homogenous as widely thought and that there could be barriers or adaptations to different environments that hinder the fish from genetic panmixia. Slight patterns of isolation by distance (IBD) were found in the Baltic Sea, implying that the distance (i.e. currents) effect the level of differentiation via drifting of larvae and/or small fish. However, I have also theoretically investigated the IBD model of and seen that it is no longer correct when differences in population sizes are introduced. The pattern of IBD can mean high levels of gene flow or no gene flow at all, solely dependent on population size differences and fluctuations. My thesis has resulted in new and important findings regarding the existence and cause of genetic differentiation at very small spatial scales and thus added new knowledge into the field of evolution and speciation. In addition, my results also give insights into the contemporary state of the Eurasian perch and future evolutionary potential.
Constraints on the inner edge of neutron star crusts from relativistic nuclear energy density functionals

The transition density nt and pressure Pt at the inner edge between the liquid core and the solid crust of a neutron star are analyzed using the thermodynami- cal method and the framework of relativistic nuclear energy density functionals. Starting from a functional that has been carefully adjusted to experimental binding energies of finite nuclei, and varying the density dependence of the cor- responding symmetry energy within the limits determined by isovector prop- erties of finite nuclei, we estimate the constraints on the core-crust transition density and pressure of neutron stars: 0.086 fm−3 ≤ nt < 0.090 fm−3 and 0.3 MeV fm−3 < Pt ≤ 0.76 MeV fm−3 [1].
Extracellular peroxidase activity in an experimentally divided lake (Große Fuchskuhle, northern Germany)

Extracellular peroxidases act on aromatic compounds such as humic substances result- ing in the formation of unstable radicals. Most organisms that are known to produce extracellular peroxidases are terrestrial, e.g. the wood-rotting fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium and the Actinobacterium Streptomyces viridosporus. Only few studies focus on the action of these enzymes in the aquatic environment. In this study, the activities of extracellular peroxidases in 2 distinct com- partments of the experimentally divided Lake Grose Fuchskuhle, Germany (an acidic humic rich compartment and an almost neutral eutrophic compartment) and in the catchment area were inves- tigated. Additionally, the effects of pH on extracellular peroxidase activity and of the size fractions of water samples associated with extracellular peroxidase activity were determined. Enzyme activity and the characterisation of the enzymes were assayed by oxididation of 2,2'-azino-di-(3-ethyl- benzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS). In the humic rich compartment, extracellular peroxidase activity was (except for 1 month) significantly higher than in the eutrophic compartment, with high- est activities during fall and winter. In contrast, no peroxidase activity was detected in the catchment area. The pH optimum of extracellular peroxidases was pH 3, and highest activity was detected in the 10 kDa-0.2 µm molecular weight class. Thus we documented the occurrence of extracelluar peroxi- dases in Lake Grose Fuchskuhle and suggest that these enzymes are involved in the degradation of aromatic compounds such as humic substances.
MERCOSUR: The Regional State of South America

In the economic arena of globalization, scholars often speak of countries that have joined together economically to form economic alliances. These usually include NAFTA and the EU, but almost never MERCOSUR. This is unfortunate as MERCOSUR is developing into a major economic bloc. Its impact on the global economy is no longer limited to South America. Just how MERCOSUR differs, for example, from NAFTA and from the EU is the focus of this essay. Some of the problems that remain among the members of this regional state are discussed. However, it is argued that the significance of MERCOSUR as a global network is that it has moved well beyond being a regional state. It has created alliances with Africa, the EU, and China. It has resisted the attempts by the FTAA to create an economic bloc that would unite the Americas from Canada to Chile. MERCOSUR is well on its way to becoming a network society, but it is a society that aligns itself with those that have been disenfranchised by the WTO, the World Bank, and the IMF. Prior to the use of modern electronic technology, countries established trade routes that supplied the metropole with a wide range of materials from its trading partners that were geographically linked. During the Age of Exploration, sea routes provided this link between metropole countries and their colonies. With the rise of the nation-state, governments created economic alliances that encouraged trade with some nations and not with others. This was done by means of treaties, tariff control, and governmental alliances. What makes the modern era different is globalization. This term is usually meant to include liaisons between governmental agencies, nation-states, rather than with countries (geographical regions) or nations (the people of those nation-states). The process of globalization begins with the development of regional-states. The Mercado comum de Sur (MERCOSUR) is such a regional-state. It is composed of a core of countries in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay) that function as an economic super-state. The next stage of economic develop occurs when these regional-states create treaties that align them with other governmental agencies that are beyond their own geographical regions. The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), for example, is composed of the United States, Canada, and Mexico and they function as a regional-state. They want to unite with MERCOSUR to create a larger economic zone that unites the Americas from Canada to Chile. MERCOSUR has resisted this attempt because of past economic experiences that ended in failure for Argentina. However, a similar movement to create a new network with the European Union (EU) exists and it has proved to be successful. This group is called the Mercosur-European Business Forum (MEBF). This new alliance has moved MERCOSUR from being a regional-state into a 56
Polyethersulphone-sodalite (PES-SOD) mixed-matrix membranes: Prospects for acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment

than remediated, but most often prevention is difficult. The industrial revolution has had adverse consequences as well as benefits. For example, countries with past and current mining activities are facing challenges of environmental pollution due to acid mine drainage (AMD). The mining sector in South Africa is one of the main driving forces of the country’s economy. Despite the positive benefits, the serious impact of mining activities on the environment resulting from AMD cannot be over-emphasized (Hughes and Gray 2013). Acid mine drainage has significant effects on environmental sustainability and water security (Evangelou, 1998). AMD is produced by oxidation of sulphide minerals, mostly iron sulphides. This could be natural through the breaking down of sulphides by bacteria, as well as through anthropogenic activity, which is mining (Akcil and Koldas, 2006). Oxidation of sulphides produces sulphuric acid, which in turn leaches out a range of metals from rock and other metal-containing materials. This makes AMD potentially dangerous to the environment, since is not only highly acidic, but also contains high metal concentrations (Singh, 1987). Research and development has been channelled towards source control and mitigation of AMD. Since oxygen and water are required for the formation of AMD, source control is targeted at preventing oxygen and/or water from contacting the sulphide-bearing rock so as to prevent oxidation reactions from producing AMD (Kuyucak 2002; Johnson and Hallberg, 2005; Luptakova et al., 2010; Egiebor and Oni, 2007). Preventing the formation and migration of AMD from its source is not easy. Thus, research activities are now focusing on collection, treatment, and discharge of treated AMD. Treatment techniques can be divided into two categories: active and passive treatments (Johnson and Hallberg 2005). This has been discussed extensively by many authors (Moses et al., 1987; Skousen et al., 1998; Johnson and Hallberg, 2005; Kalin et al., 2006; Egiebor and Oni 2007; Rötting et al., 2011). These days, various methods are employed for the treatment of AMD. Lime (Ca(OH)2 or limestone (CaCO3) treatment is carried out to precipitate the sulphate as gypsum and heavy metals as Polyethersulphone-sodalite (PES-SOD) mixed-matrix membranes: prospects for acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment
Quench Dynamics in a Model with Tuneable Integrability Breaking

We consider quantum quenches in an integrable quantum chain with tuneable-integrability-breaking interactions. In the case where these interactions are weak, we demonstrate that at intermediate times after the quench local observables relax to a prethermalized regime, which can be described by a density matrix that can be viewed as a deformation of a generalized Gibbs ensemble. We present explicit expressions for the approximately conserved charges characterizing this ensemble. We do not find evidence for a crossover from the prethermalized to a thermalized regime on the time scales accessible to us. Increasing the integrability-breaking interactions leads to a behaviour that is compatible with eventual thermalization.