Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of measures to improve the performance of an open loop ground source heat pump system in the chalk aquifer: a case study

A case study documenting the development of a groundwater-fed district heat network in Colchester, UK, is presented. The performance of an open loop groundwater heating and cooling system (also known as a ground source heat pump (GSHP)) is a function of the performance of individual boreholes and interactions between the boreholes. When performance does not meet its design capacity or decreases with time, various measures can be undertaken to improve either the performance of individual wells or the performance of the system as a whole. Output from the first exploration borehole was less than expected, placing the business case for the development in jeopardy. Consequently, refinements to the remainder of the drilling programme were implemented including three to improve the performance of individual wells and two to improve performance of the system in its entirety. Results of these refinements are presented and may be used to inform the design of new open loop groundwater heat pump systems (GSHPs) and/or the rehabilitation of existing systems that have experienced diminished performance. Yields from three wells drilled using the reverse circulation method were more than double those drilled with the direct water flush method. A significant improvement in the performance of abstraction wells due to reinjection was observed. Specific capacity in abstraction wells increased by c. 40% due to reinjection, where the distance between abstraction and reinjection locations was 535–717 m. Allowing an excess pressure of up to 0.2 MPa in the reinjection boreholes meant that reinjection could be achieved with fewer wells. Outputs from abstraction wells were not increased by extending the depth of boreholes from 135 to 200 m or implementing additional acid treatments.
Flight Delay Classification Prediction Based on Stacking Algorithm

With the development of civil aviation, the number of flights keeps increasing and the flight delay has become a serious issue and even tends to normality. This paper aims to prove that Stacking algorithm has advantages in airport flight delay prediction, especially for the algorithm selection problem of machine learning technology. In this research, the principle of the Stacking classification algorithm is introduced, the SMOTE algorithm is selected to process imbalanced datasets, and the Boruta algorithm is utilized for feature selection. There are five supervised machine learning algorithms in the first-level learner of Stacking including KNN, Random Forest, Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, and Gaussian Naive Bayes. The second-level learner is Logistic Regression. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, comparative experiments are carried out based on Boston Logan International Airport flight datasets from January to December 2019. Multiple indexes are used to comprehensively evaluate the prediction results, such as Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1 Score, ROC curve, and AUC Score. The results show that the Stacking algorithm not only could improve the prediction accuracy but also maintains great stability.
Examining CO2 Model Observation Residuals Using ACT‐America Data

Atmospheric CO2 inversion typically relies on the specification of prior flux and atmospheric model transport errors, which have large uncertainties. Here, we used ACT‐America airborne observations to compare CO2 model observation mismatch in the eastern U.S. and during four climatological seasons for the mesoscale WRF(‐Chem) and global scale CarbonTracker/TM5 (CT) models. Models used identical surface carbon fluxes, and CT was used as CO2 boundary condition for WRF. Both models showed reasonable agreement with observations, and CO2 residuals follow near symmetric peaked (i.e., non‐Gaussian) distribution with near‐zero bias of both models (CT: −0.34±3.12 ppm; WRF: 0.82±4.37 ppm). We also found large magnitude residuals at the tails of the distribution that contribute considerably to overall bias. Atmospheric boundary‐layer biases (1–10 ppm) were much larger than free tropospheric biases (0.5–1 ppm) and were of same magnitude as model‐model differences, whereas free tropospheric biases were mostly governed by CO2 background conditions. Results revealed systematic differences in atmospheric transport, most pronounced in the warm and cold sectors of synoptic systems, highlighting the importance of transport for CO2 residuals. While CT could reproduce the principal CO2 dynamics associated with synoptic systems, WRF showed a clearer distinction for CO2 differences across fronts. Variograms were used to quantify spatial correlation of residuals and showed characteristic residual length scales of approximately 100–300 km. Our findings suggest that inclusion of synoptic weather‐dependent and non‐Gaussian error structure may benefit inversion systems.
Microstructural Studies and Material Characterization of Alumina Nanoparticulate Reinforced Functionally Graded Al-12Si (wt.%) alloy, produced using Centrifuge Casting Technique

The current research work discusses the concept of reinforcing alumina nanoparticulate to Al-12Si (wt.%) alloy using a unique casting technique known as centrifuge casting system established in-house at our advanced manufacturing centre. The resulting cast solid cylindrical specimen will be functionally graded along the length of the specimen containing higher percentage of primary silicon and alumina nanoparticulate at the top region than the bottom region, with a gradual transition in between the two regions. The microstructure of the functionally graded Al-12Si (wt.%) alloy, reinforced with 0.5, 1 and 1.5wt. % of alumina nanoparticulate was analysed using “Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)” and the elemental composition of the cast specimens were obtained using “Energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX)”. The outcomes of the EDX analysis confirmed the presence of alumina nanoparticulate in the cast specimens. Further, the mechanical properties of the cast Al-12Si (wt.%) alloy, reinforced with alumina nanoparticulate were studied, and it was found that the specimen with the addition of alumina nanoparticulate showed enhanced mechanical properties when compared with the Al-12Si (wt.%) alloy, without alumina nanoparticulate addition, cast under identical conditions.
Price of Robustness Optimization through Demand Forecasting and Robust Planning Models Integration in Waste Management

Robust optimization can be effectively used to protect production plans against uncertainties. This is particularly important in sectors where variability is inherent the process that must be optimally planned. The drawback is that, in real situations, some information can be added in order to better control the extra-cost resulting from considering the parameter variability. This work investigates how demand forecasting can be used in conjunction with robust optimization in order to achieve an optimal planning considering demand uncertainties. In the proposed procedure forecast is used to update uncertain parameters of the robust model. Moreover the robustness budget is optimized at each planned stage in a rolling planning horizon. In this way the parameters of the robust model can be dynamically updated tacking information from the data. The study is applied to a reverse logistics case, where the planning of sorting for material recycling is affected by uncertainties in the demand, consisting of the waste material to be sorted and recycled. Results are compared with the standard robust optimization approach, using real case instances, showing potentialities of the proposed method.
Line Drawing Extraction from Cartoons Using a Conditional Generative Adversarial Network

Recently, three-dimensional (3D) content used in various fields has attracted attention owing to the development of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies. To produce 3D content, we need to model the objects as vertices. However, high-quality modeling is time-consuming and costly. Drawing-based modeling is a technique that shortens the time required for modeling. It refers to creating a 3D model based on a user’s line drawing, which is a 3D feature represented by two-dimensional (2D) lines. The extracted line drawing provides information about a 3D model in the 2D space. It is sometimes necessary to generate a line drawing from a 2D cartoon image to represent the 3D information of a 2D cartoon image. The extraction of consistent line drawings from 2D cartoons is difficult because the styles and techniques differ depending on the designer who produces the 2D cartoons. Therefore, it is necessary to extract line drawings that show the geometric characteristics well in 2D cartoon shapes of various styles. This paper proposes a method for automatically extracting line drawings. The 2D cartoon shading image and line drawings are learned using a conditional generative adversarial network model, which outputs the line drawings of the cartoon artwork. The experimental results show that the proposed method can obtain line drawings representing the 3D geometric characteristics with a 2D line when a 2D cartoon painting is used as the input.
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera) Larval Hemolymph in Response to Autographa californica Nucleopolyhedrovirus in Differentially Resistant Strains

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) is a kind of pathogen that causes huge economic losses to silkworm production. Although Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) and BmNPV are both baculoviruses, the host domains of these two viruses have almost no intersection in nature. Recently, it has been found that some silkworms could be infected by recombinant AcMNPV through a puncture, which provided valuable material for studying the infection mechanism of baculovirus to silkworm. In this study, comparative transcriptomics was used to analyse the hemolymph of two differentially resistant strains following AcMNPV inoculation. There were 678 DEGs in p50 and 515 DEGs in C108 following viral infection. Among them, the upregulation and downregulation of DEGs were similar in p50; however, the upregulated DEGs were nearly twice as numerous as the downregulated DEGs in C108. The DEGs in different resistant strains differed by GO enrichment. Based on KEGG enrichment, DEGs were mainly enriched in metabolic pathways in p50 and the apoptosis pathway in C108. Moreover, 13 genes involved in metabolic pathways and 11 genes involved in the apoptosis pathway were analysed. Among the DEGs involved in apoptosis, the function of BmTex261 in viral infection was analysed. The BmTex261 showed the highest expression in hemolymph and a significant response to viral infection in the hemolymph of C108, indicating that it is involved in anti-AcMNPV infection. This was further validated by the significantly decreased expression of viral gene lef3 after overexpression of BmTex261 in BmN cells. The results provide a theoretical reference for the molecular mechanism of resistance to BmNPV in silkworms.
Testing the effects of incorporating TOPMODEL into the SSiB4/TRIFFID model and simulation of the response of vegetation dynamics and surface water cycle to climate changes in a subalpine basin of southwestern China

To investigate the response of vegetation dynamics and surface water budget to climate change on a basin scale, the biophysical/dynamic vegetation model SSiB4/TRIFFID was coupled with TOPMODEL (hereinafter referred to as SSiB4T/TRIFFID). The effects of the integration on hydrological simulations were examined and long‐term dynamic simulations of vegetation succession and the water–carbon balance were performed under different climate scenarios for a subalpine basin of southwestern China using SSiB4T/TRIFFID. The coupled model SSiB4T/TRIFFID produces higher soil wetness and evapotranspiration, lower total run‐off and more realistic partitioning of discharges between surface run‐off and base flow. All long‐term simulations for the subalpine basin show that the fraction of vegetation changes from a dominance of C3 grasses to tundra shrubs and then to forests. Annual evapotranspiration in the control run is 388.5 mm year−1 (dominance of C3 grasses), 445.3 mm year−1 (dominance of tundra shrubs) and 388.1 mm year−1 (dominance of forests). Under an increase in temperature by 5°C and in precipitation by 40%, the evapotranspiration of forests is the highest among the three vegetation types. In the humid region, Forest evapotranspiration increases the most with increases in temperature, which results in the role of forests in increasing run‐off changing to having no significant effect on run‐off, and then to reducing run‐off. In regions with water limitation, forest evapotranspiration increases the most as precipitation increases. The effect of forests in reducing run‐off increases with increased precipitation. The spatial variation in the climate exerts an important impact on spatial changes in forest–run‐off relationships.
Study on the Susceptibility of Lncrna PCAT1 Snps and Breast Cancer Risk in the Chinese Population

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between PCAT1-SNPs and breast cancer (BC) susceptibility. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the association between PCAT1-SNPs and BC risk. The relative expression of PCAT1 in different genotypes was detected by qRT-PCR. The binding between the genotype of C/T at rs4473999 locus and miR-149-5p was confirmed by dual luciferase gene reporter assays. The proliferation, migration and invasion of BC cells with dysregulated expression of miR-149-5p was evaluated by CCK8, Scratch and Transwell assay, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed PCAT1-SNPs was related to the susceptibility of BC that rs117117537 (OR:2.413, 95%CI: 1.057–5.508) and rs4473999 (OR:2.137 95%CI: 1.065–4.286) were risk factors of BC when the menopausal age was ≥ 50; The haplotype Grs1551514Trs1551513Crs4473999Crs9656964Trs17762938Crs7823297Trs785003Trs117117537 may increase the risk of BC (OR:1.614 95%CI: 1.116–2.333), and there was an association between genes and reproductive factors (OR:2.487 95%CI: 1.929–3.206). Preliminary functional studies demonstrated that PCAT1 interacted with miR-149-5p when rs4473999 carried wild type C; In addition, the dysregulated enrichment of miR-149-5p may affect the proliferation, invasion and migration of BC cells. Our study shows that PCAT1 gene polymorphism is related to BC susceptibility, PCAT1-rs4473999 C/T genotype may affect the occurence of BC by modulating the interactions with miR-149-5p.
Research on Alternating Equalization Control Systems for Lithium-Ion Cells Charging

Lithium-ion batteries which are used in electric vehicles cannot be charged to their maximum capacity at the end of the charging period, a situation which is caused by inconsistency between the battery cells. This paper takes the 18650 ternary lithium battery as the research object and proposes an alternate equalization control system in the charging process. This system takes SOC consistency to be the equalization variable. Through controlling the relay, this system realizes the alternate recombination between different batteries in order to form a series battery group for charging, which achieves the goal of SOC equalization of the entire battery group. The simulation result of charge equalization, based on Matlab/Simulink, shows that at the end of the charging simulation, the SOC inconsistency of the battery group reduced from 10% to 1%. Finally, an experimental platform was built in order to verify the experiment. During the charge balance experiment, the maximum SOC inconsistency between the batteries reduced from 1.542% to 1.035%. The SOC inconsistency at the end of charging reduced from 1.214% to 0.8%, which represents an improvement of the equalization effect of the control system. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation results, which proves the effectiveness of the system’s ability to control the battery SOC balance during the charging process.
Innovation in SMEs: the role of flexible work arrangements and market competition

Abstract Employee wellbeing is vital for their job satisfaction and motivation to achieve the long-term goals of their employers. Organisations provide flexible work arrangements (FWAs) as one of the strategies for attending to employee wellbeing. Despite the motivating role of FWAs, their links with firm level innovation are rarely considered. This study examines the relationships between FWAs and innovation. It also investigates how the competitive environment in which firms operate moderates the FWA-innovation relationship. Drawing upon a rich longitudinal data of 1513 Australian SMEs, our findings suggest that provision of flexitime and flexi-leave encourage innovation as they provide the mental space and diversity needed for knowledge creation, sharing and exploitation. Moreover, high market competition has limited effect on the positive associations between flexitime and flexi-leave, as FWAs, and innovation but attenuates the relationship between job-sharing and innovation. Our findings imply that SME managers should prioritize the provisions of flexitime and flexi-leave to their employees as these FWAs have pronounced effects on firm-level innovation.
National Trends in Tobacco Smoke Exposure and its Disruption on Vitamin D Levels Among U.S. Population, 2001-2014

Background: Persuasive evidence suggests that tobacco smoking is endocrine-disrupting and may interfere with vitamin D (VD) endocrine systems, but supporting research is limited and results vary greatly.Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2014, was used to evaluate the trends in tobacco smoke exposure among U.S. general participants aged ≥3 yr (n=49338). We examined the linear association between serum cotinine and 25(OH)D concentrations, as well as relationship between tobacco smoke exposure categories (active, passive, non-smoking) with VD status (deficiency, inadequacy, sufficiency, intoxication), and assessed whether specific gender, age (3-11, 12-19, 20-59, ≥60 yr) or ethnicity/race groups were disproportionately impacted.Results: During 2001-2004, the trends of active smoking rates stabilized between 17.2% to 19.6%. Serum cotinine was significantly and inversely associated with 25(OH)D in adult participants (≥ 20 yr). Tobacco smoke exposure, including both active and passive smoking exposure, was associated with increased risk of VD deficiency in adults. Moreover, active smoking of adults was additionally related to enhanced risk of VD inadequacy. These associations showed somewhat gender difference, with consistent and stronger associations observed in female adults. In contrast, effects of tobacco smoke exposure on VD levels were mostly protective or non-significant among children and adolescents aged 3-19 yr.Conclusion: The percentage of U.S. general population with active smoking exposure stabilized over the 14-yr period and was still high. Tobacco smoke exposure may disrupt vitamin D levels. Our results also provided initial evidence of active smoking exposure on VD intoxication, which needs to be further verified.Implication: Convincing studies have linked tobacco use exposure, including active and passive smoking exposure, to dysfunctional VDES accompanied with declined serum levels of VD metabolites. However, evidence on the association between tobacco smoke exposure and VD status was rather limited, and there were no researches to date that estimated their relationship in children and adolescents. This study analyzed national survey data, to evaluate the national trends in tobacco smoke exposure over a decade, and to comprehensively assess the impacts of tobacco smoke exposure on VD levels across specific gender-, age- and ethnicity/race- groups. The evidence suggests that the prevalence of active smoking exposure stabilized over the 14-yr period and was still high. Moreover, tobacco smoke exposure may disrupt vitamin D levels among general population, with age- and gender- differences observed.
Copper Oxide Films Deposited by Microwave Assisted Alkaline Chemical Bath

Copper oxide (CuO) films were deposited onto glass substrates by the microwave assisted chemical bath deposition method, and varying the pH of the solution. The pH range was varied from 11.0 to 13.5, and the effects on the film properties were studied. An analytical study of the precursor solution was proposed to describe and understand the chemical reaction mechanisms that take place in the chemical bath at certain pH to produce the CuO film. A series of experiments were performed by varying the parameters of the analytical model from which the CuO films were obtained. The crystalline structure of the CuO films was studied using X-ray diffraction, while the surface morphology, chemical composition, and optical band-gap energy were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV–Vis spectrophotometry, respectively. The CuO films obtained exhibited a monoclinic crystalline phase, nanostructured surface morphology, stoichiometric Cu/O ratio of 50/50 at%, and band-gap energy value of 1.2 eV.
Segmentation of the Apenninic Margin of the Tyrrhenian Back‐Arc Basin Forced by the Subduction of an Inherited Transform System

The Tyrrhenian back‐arc basin developed at the rear of the E‐ward migrating Apennine fold‐and‐thrust belt, with northward decreasing rollback of the subducting Adria slab leading to northward fading of back‐arc extension. The northern portion of the Tyrrhenian basin is made of thinned continental crust, whereas in the central/southern portion extension eventually evolved to oceanic crust production. In this framework, a long‐lasting debate concerns the existence of a >200 km long transform zone along the 41st parallel, which should separate the two portions of the Tyrrhenian basin. At its eastern termination, a branch of the presumed transform zone enters the Tyrrhenian margin of the Apennine belt and occurs as an accommodation zone made of a ribbon of extensional faults and related basins. This accommodation zone, which separates areas of mutually perpendicular extension directions, is here introduced, described, and named the Ponza‐Alife accommodation zone. Interpretation of seismic lines and new structural and stratigraphic data from this accommodation zone have been used to constrain the pre‐orogenic and syn‐orogenic architecture of the subducting plate and the Plio‐Quaternary back‐arc extensional stage. Our data indicate that the studied zone retraces a deep‐seated transform fault system located in the subducting plate and inherited from an Early Jurassic rifting episode, which caused the lateral juxtaposition of different rift domains in the subducting plate. We propose that during collision and trench retreat, this lateral juxtaposition has controlled differential retreat of the subducting plate across the studied zone, forcing the development of the Ponza‐Alife accommodation zone in the overlying back‐arc basin's margin.