In machine learning, the term “training” is used to describe the procedure of fitting a model to data. In many popular models, this fitting procedure is framed as an optimization problem, in which a loss is minimized as a function of the parameters. In all but the simplest machine learning models, this minimization must be performed with an iterative algorithm such as stochastic gradient descen...

This paper is based on an experimental research that examined the effects of concrete`s major parameters on durability of concrete pavements and curbs under freezing and thawing cycles. These parameters include concrete mix design parameters such as water-cement ratio, fine aggregate percentage and using air entraining admixture and simulating real freeze-thaw cycles that infrastructures underg...

This study presents an experimental X-ray micro-CT study of the freeze-thaw processes in limestone under controlled ambient conditions. The processes weres studied with time-lapse micro-CT and dynamic micro-CT, using the Environmental X-ray CT (EMCT) at the Centre for X-ray Tomography of the Ghent University (www.ugct.ugent.be). The EMCT is a gantry-based system on which full μCT scans were aqu...

the objective of this study was to evaluate the importance of environmental and genetic factors affecting semen quality; sperm volume (sv), sperm concentration (spco), total sperm (ts), fresh sperm motility (fsm), total fresh motile sperm (tfms), post thaw sperm motility (ptsm), total post thaw motile sperm (tptms), number of produced payout (npp), number of fresh motile sperm in each milt ejac...

Freezing and thawing of soils may affect the turnover of soil organic matter and thus the losses of C and N from soils. Here we review the literature with special focus on: (i) the mechanisms involved, (ii) the effects of freezing temperature and frequency, (iii) the differences between arable soils and soils under natural vegetation, and (iv) the hypothesis that freeze-thaw events lead to sign...

The aims of the present study were: (1) to determine the existence of sperm subpopulations with specific motility characteristics in fresh ejaculates from Holstein bulls, (2) to investigate the effects of semen cryopreservation and post-thaw incubation on the distribution of spermatozoa within the different subpopulations, and (3) to evaluate the existence of between-bull variation in the sperm...