Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Selected Earth-Space Rain Attenuation Models for a Tropical Station

The restrained use of millimeter bands is due to severe rain attenuation. Attenuation is caused when rain cells intersects radio wave’s propagation path; resulting in deep fades. The effect of rainfall is more severe in tropical regions characterized by heavy rainfall intensity and large raindrops; hence, rain attenuation analyses are essential to study rain fade characteristics for use in earth-space link budget analysis, for outage prediction resulting from rain attenuation. Tropical regions are particularly challenged with signal outage, necessitating the formulation and development of suitable prediction model(s) for the region. Therefore, extensive knowledge of the propagation phenomena mitigating system availability and signal quality in these bands are required. Daily rainfall data were collected from the Nigerian Meteorological Services for Lagos for spanning January to December 2010. Results showed that although, the ITU-R model out-performed the other prediction models under consideration, none of prediction models matched the measurement data.
An IoT-Based Solution for Monitoring a Fleet of Educational Buildings Focusing on Energy Efficiency

Raising awareness among young people and changing their behaviour and habits concerning energy usage is key to achieving sustained energy saving. Additionally, young people are very sensitive to environmental protection so raising awareness among children is much easier than with any other group of citizens. This work examines ways to create an innovative Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) ecosystem (including web-based, mobile, social and sensing elements) tailored specifically for school environments, taking into account both the users (faculty, staff, students, parents) and school buildings, thus motivating and supporting young citizens’ behavioural change to achieve greater energy efficiency. A mixture of open-source IoT hardware and proprietary platforms on the infrastructure level, are currently being utilized for monitoring a fleet of 18 educational buildings across 3 countries, comprising over 700 IoT monitoring points. Hereon presented is the system’s high-level architecture, as well as several aspects of its implementation, related to the application domain of educational building monitoring and energy efficiency. The system is developed based on open-source technologies and services in order to make it capable of providing open IT-infrastructure and support from different commercial hardware/sensor vendors as well as open-source solutions. The system presented can be used to develop and offer new app-based solutions that can be used either for educational purposes or for managing the energy efficiency of the building. The system is replicable and adaptable to settings that may be different than the scenarios envisioned here (e.g., targeting different climate zones), different IT infrastructures and can be easily extended to accommodate integration with other systems. The overall performance of the system is evaluated in real-world environment in terms of scalability, responsiveness and simplicity.
Putting Context Into a Cultural Perspective: Examining Arab and Jewish Adolescents’ Judgments and Reasoning About Spousal Retribution

In this study, we examined what contextual factors influence adolescents’ judgments and reasoning about spousal retribution. Adolescents were drawn from Central and Northern Israel and consisted of 2,324 Arab and Jewish students (Grades 7-11). The study was set up in a 2 (Arab/Jewish respondent) × 2 (spousal retribution scenarios) factorial design. Our findings suggest that societal and cultural norms may be more powerful contextual variables than group stereotypes in influencing Arab and Jewish adolescents’ evaluations of spousal retribution. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Programmed Death in Bacteria

SUMMARY Programmed cell death (PCD) in bacteria plays an important role in developmental processes, such as lysis of the mother cell during sporulation of Bacillus subtilis and lysis of vegetative cells in fruiting body formation of Myxococcus xanthus. The signal transduction pathway leading to autolysis of the mother cell includes the terminal sporulation sigma factor EςK, which induces the synthesis of autolysins CwlC and CwlH. An activator of autolysin in this and other PCD processes is yet to be identified. Autolysis plays a role in genetic exchange in Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the gene for the major autolysin, lytA, is located in the same operon with recA. DNA from lysed cells is picked up by their neighbors and recombined into the chromosome by RecA. LytA requires an unknown activator controlled by a sensory kinase, VncS. Deletion of vncS inhibits autolysis and also decreases killing by unrelated antibiotics. This observation suggests that PCD in bacteria serves to eliminate damaged cells, similar to apoptosis of defective cells in metazoa. The presence of genes affecting survival without changing growth sensitivity to antibiotics (vncS, lytA, hipAB, sulA, and mar) indicates that bacteria are able to control their fate. Elimination of defective cells could limit the spread of a viral infection and donate nutrients to healthy kin cells. An altruistic suicide would be challenged by the appearance of asocial mutants without PCD and by the possibility of maladaptive total suicide in response to a uniformly present lethal factor or nutrient depletion. It is proposed that a low rate of mutation serves to decrease the probability that asocial mutants without PCD will take over the population. It is suggested that PCD is disabled in persistors, rare cells that are resistant to killing, to ensure population survival. It is suggested that lack of nutrients leads to the stringent response that suppresses PCD, producing a state of tolerance to antibiotics, allowing cells to discriminate between nutrient deprivation and unrepairable damage. High levels of persistors are apparently responsible for the extraordinary survival properties of bacterial biofilms, and genes affecting persistence appear to be promising targets for development of drugs aimed at eradicating recalcitrant infections. PCD in unicellular eukaryotes is also considered, including aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Apoptosis-like elimination of defective cells in S. cerevisiae and protozoa suggests that all unicellular life forms evolved altruistic programmed death that serves a variety of useful functions.
The florence 2D/3D hybrid face dataset

This article describes a new dataset under construction at the Media Integration and Communication Center and the University of Florence. The dataset consists of high-resolution 3D scans of human faces along with several video sequences of varying resolution and zoom level. Each subject is recorded under various scenarios, settings and conditions. This dataset is being constructed specifically to support research on techniques that bridge the gap between 2D, appearance-based recognition techniques, and fully 3D approaches. It is designed to simulate, in a controlled fashion, realistic surveillance conditions and to probe the efficacy of exploiting 3D models in real scenarios.
Nonlinear Analysis, Control, and Modeling of the Two-Phase Flow Dynamics in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) generate clean, renewable power from hydrogen and oxygen with a byproduct of water. When the liquid water produced at the cathode is improperly removed, PEFCs experience unstable operation and power loss. Current techniques for cathode water removal result in excessive parasitic loads on the PEFC that contribute to high system costs. This thesis explores ways to improve the efficiency of PEFC cathode water management by developing a fundamental understanding of the dynamical stability of two-phase air and water flow in parallel cathode microchannels through experiments, analysis, and modeling. The dynamics of an experimental PEFC under varying degrees of cathode water removal were characterized by nonlinear invariants indicative of dynamical complexity and stability, the correlation dimension and Kolmogorov entropy. It was found that low-current operating conditions suffer from chaotic instability and performance loss due to cathode flooding. In order to detect and control dynamical instability in real time, a computationally-efficient reduced order Lyapunov exponent was formulated to indicate stability related to cathode water content. A stabilizing control algorithm was developed using feedback from real-time computation of the reduced order Lyapunov exponent of the PEFC voltage to trigger lowcost cathode pressure pulses. The control was demonstrated to stabilize flooding conditions with minimal parasitic expense for water removal. Two-phase air-water flow structures were visualized and pressure drops were measured in ex-situ microchannels under varying levels of transience. The pressure drops and their
Performance and Return to Sport After Achilles Tendon Repair in National Football League Players

Background: Achilles tendon injuries are common in sports, including football. The purpose of this study was to determine (1) return-to-sport rate in National Football League (NFL) players following Achilles tendon repair, (2) postoperative career length and games per season, (3) pre- and postoperative performance, and (4) postoperative performance compared with control players matched by position, age, years of experience, and performance. Methods: Publicly available records were used to identify NFL players who underwent Achilles tendon repair and matched controls were identified. Ninety-five players (98 surgeries) were analyzed (mean age 28.2 ± 2.8 years; mean 5.5 ± 2 .8 years in NFL at time of surgery). Demographic and performance data were collected. Comparisons between case and control groups and preoperative and postoperative time points were made using paired-samples Student t tests. Results: Seventy-one (72.4%) players were able to return to sport in the NFL at a mean of 339.8 ± 84.8 days following surgery. Thirty-one (32%) Achilles tendon repairs were performed during training camp or preseason. Controls (3.6 ± 2.1 years) had a significantly longer NFL career (P < .05) than players who underwent Achilles tendon repair (2.7 ± 2.1 years). There was no significant difference in games per season in subsequent seasons following surgery compared with controls. Postoperative performance scores were significantly worse (P < .05) for running backs (RBs) (n = 4) and linebackers (LBs) (n = 12) compared to preoperative scores. LBs had significantly worse postoperative performance scores when compared to matched controls (P < .05). Conclusion: Following Achilles tendon repair, less than 75% of players returned to the NFL. Postoperative career length was 1 season shorter than matched controls. No difference was observed in the number of games per season played compared to matched controls. Postoperative performance scores were significantly worse for RBs and LBs compared to preoperative and LBs had significantly worse postoperative performance when compared to matched controls. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective comparative series.
Effects of Competition and Facilitation on Species Assemblage in Two Types of Tropical Cloud Forest

Competition and facilitation between tree individuals are two kinds of non-random processes influencing the structure and functioning of forest communities, but how these two plant-plant interactions change along gradient of resources or environments remains very much a matter of debate. We developed a null model to test the size-distance regression, and assessed the effects of competition and facilitation (including interspecific interactions, intraspecific interactions and overall species interactions) on each adult tree species assemblage [diameter at breast height (dbh) ≥5 cm] across two types of tropical cloud forest with different environmental and resource regimes. The null model test revealed that 17% to 27% tree species had positive dbh-distance correlations while 11% to 19% tree species showed negative dbh-distance correlations within these two forest types, indicating that both competition and facilitation processes existed during the community assembly. The importance of competition for heterospecific species, and the intensity of competition for both heterospecific and overall species increased from high to low resources for all the shared species spanning the two forests. The importance of facilitation for conspecific and overall species, as well as that the intensity of facilitation for both heterospecific and conspecific species increased with increasing low air temperature stress for all the shared species spanning the two forests. Our results show that both competition and facilitation processes simultaneously affect parts of species assemblage in the tropical cloud forests. Moreover, the fact that nearly 50% species assemblage is not detected with our approaches suggest that tree species in these tropical forest systems are assembled with multiple ecological processes, and that there is a need to explore the processes other than the two biotic interactions in further researches.
Initial Antifungal Strategy Reduces Mortality in Critically Ill Patients With Candidemia: A Propensity Score–Adjusted Analysis of a Multicenter Study*

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the empirical therapy with fluconazole or an echinocandin on 30- and 90-day mortality in critically ill patients with candidemia. The outcome of patients in whom the empirical echinocandin was deescalated to fluconazole was also assessed. Design: Retrospective, observational multicenter study. Setting: Medical and surgical ICUs in nine Spanish hospitals. Patients: Adult patients (≥ 18 yr) with an episode of Candida bloodstream infection during ICU admission from January 2011 to April 2016. Interventions: Patient characteristics, infection-related variables, therapeutic interventions, and metastatic complications were reviewed. A propensity score–adjusted multivariable analysis was performed to identify the risk factors significantly associated with 30-day and 90-day mortality. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 294 patients were diagnosed of candidemia in the participant ICUs. Sixty patients were excluded (other antifungals in the primary therapy or the patient died without empirical antifungal therapy). The study group comprised 115 patients who received fluconazole (30-day mortality, 37.4%) and 119 patients treated empirically with an echinocandin (30-day mortality, 31.9%). The use of an echinocandin in the empirical therapy was a protective factor for 30-day (odds ratio, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.16–0.66; p = 0.002) and 90-day mortality (odds ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.27–0.93; p = 0.014) in the propensity score– adjusted multivariable analysis. Deescalation of the empirical echinocandin to fluconazole was not associated with a higher mortality or the occurrence of long-term complications. Conclusions: Empirical use of an echinocandin in critically ill patients with documented candidemia reduces mortality at 30 and 90 days significantly. Deescalation of the empirical echinocandin to fluconazole is safe and effective in fluconazole-susceptible infections.
Characterization analysis of a MR damper

In this paper, it is shown that the MR damper’s power dissipation capacity is determined by the time spent in the pre- and the post-yield damping regimes. This time is determined by its design, by the MR fluid’s rheological behavior and by the type of movement applied to the MR damper. To analyze those working regimes, two types of movement with different amplitudes have been applied to the MR damper at different magnetic field intensities and excitation frequencies. The first movement is an imposed harmonic movement, and in the second, power controlled unrestrained movement is obtained. These unrestrained conditions are equivalent to those the MR damper handles in a real application. For all the analyzed conditions, the obtained results have shown that when a harmonic movement is imposed on the damper, the MR fluid is forced to work in the post-yield regime for the majority of the cycle. In contrast, when the unrestrained response is measured, the pre-yield behavior becomes more significant. As a result, for equal maximum displacement, the MR damper dissipates more power when a harmonic movement is imposed compared to the unrestrained movement.
Characterization of Hand Clenching in Human Sensorimotor Cortex Using High-, and Ultra-High Frequency Band Modulations of Electrocorticogram

Functional mapping of eloquent cortex before the resection of a tumor is a critical procedure for optimizing survival and quality of life. In order to locate the hand area of the motor cortex in two patients with low-grade gliomas (LGG), we recorded electrocorticogram (ECoG) from a 113 channel hybrid high-density grid (64 large contacts with diameter of 2.7 mm and 49 small contacts with diameter of 1 mm) while they executed hand clenching movements. We investigated the spatio-spectral characteristics of the neural oscillatory activity and observed that, in both patients, the hand movements were consistently associated with a wide spread power decrease in the low frequency band (LFB: 8–32 Hz) and a more localized power increase in the high frequency band (HFB: 60–280 Hz) within the sensorimotor region. Importantly, we observed significant power increase in the ultra-high frequency band (UFB: 300–800 Hz) during hand movements of both patients within a restricted cortical region close to the central sulcus, and the motor cortical “hand knob. ” Among all frequency bands we studied, the UFB modulations were closest to the central sulcus and direct cortical stimulation (DCS) positive site. Both HFB and UFB modulations exhibited different timing characteristics at different locations. Power increase in HFB and UFB starting before movement onset was observed mostly at the anterior part of the activated cortical region. In addition, the spatial patterns in HFB and UFB indicated a probable postcentral shift of the hand motor function in one of the patients. We also compared the task related subband modulations captured by the small and large contacts in our hybrid grid. We did not find any significant difference in terms of band power changes. This study shows initial evidence that event-driven neural oscillatory activity recorded from ECoG can reach up to 800 Hz. The spatial distribution of UFB oscillations was found to be more focalized and closer to the central sulcus compared to LFB and HFB. More studies are needed to characterize further the functional significance of UFB relative to LFB and HFB.
Wetting behaviors of phenol- and urea-formaldehyde resins as compatiblizers

Understanding wetting behavior and surface coverage of resins on a wood surface is important to obtain satisfactory adhesion and optimize adhesive application for wood composite manufacturing. Sessile and micro-droplets of urea- and phenol-formaldehyde (UF and PF) resins were generated on wood surfaces to observe wetting behaviors using three directional image generation system and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The generated micro-droplet sizes varied in diameter from 1-100 μm and showed differing wetting behavior based on droplet size and surface conditions. Rougher wood surfaces prevented micro-droplet spreading and resulted in higher contact angles. Contact angles along the fiber direction of the earlywood significantly differed from the angles collected across the fiber direction. Sessile droplet models and dimensionless droplet shape factors (DSF) were used to develop the parameters governing the droplet shape changes from a spherical droplet to an enclosing hemispherical droplet for early- and latewood surfaces. Droplet dispersing areas with earlywood showed 111% with UF and 42% for PF faster changes along the fiber surface as compared to across the fiber surface.
Can otolith elemental signatures record the capture site of Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), a fully marine fish in the Southern Ocean?

Otolith chemistry has been successfully used to reconstruct the environmental history experienced by estuarine-dependent teleost fish, including movement between estuaries and coastal areas. However, application has been more limited in species exposed exclusively to oceanic waters, where gradients in physical and chemical properties are less extreme. To test whether otolith elemental signatures record spatial information in an oceanic species, we sampled otoliths from Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) and used an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) coupled to a laser ablation system to target the outer otolith edges corresponding to the period immediately before capture. Using multivariate analysis of variance and multivariate discriminant analysis, we found that edge signatures discriminated toothfish by geographic region with near complete success: only 5% of fish caught off South America and in the Antarctic were misclassified to sampling areas in the other region. Moreover, edge signatures showed strong differences between sampling areas within each region: fish captured off South America classified to sampling areas therein with 79%–84% success, and Antarctic fish classified to sampling areas therein with 50%–67% success. These results compare favourably with rates of classification for estuarine-dependent fish, demonstrating that otolith elemental signatures can discriminate the geographic provenance of oceanic and estuarine-dependent fish.
A multivariate process capability index that complies with industry requirements

Process capability indices (PCIs) are widely used in production processes in order to evaluate the product quality. Taking into account the benefits of these quality indices, six requirements that a PCI must achieve within production processes are proposed by the authors. According to the current industry requirements, the existing PCIs have limitations. Hence, a new multivariate process capability index (MPCI) is proposed. The proposed MPCI (which complies with all proposed requirements) is compared to other MPCIs from the literature and is validated in a German luxury automobile manufacturing company.
Effects of Nitrogen Addition on the Drought Susceptibility of the Leymus chinensis Meadow Ecosystem Vary with Drought Duration

It is not clear yet how extreme drought and nitrogen (N) deposition influence grassland ecosystem functions when they are considered together, especially in complex field conditions. To explore the response of the Leymus chinensis meadow ecosystem to manipulated extreme drought (45 days), N addition and their interaction, we measured leaf photosynthetic characteristics, aboveground phytomass on the community level and ecosystem C exchange in different treatments at the middle and the end of the drought period. The extreme drought treatment decreased the leaf net CO2 assimilation rate and ecosystem C exchange [gross ecosystem productivity (GEP), ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem CO2 exchange]. In contrast, the N addition treatment increased aboveground phytomass, GEP and net ecosystem CO2 exchange. The effects of N addition on the drought susceptibility of the L. chinensis meadow ecosystem varied with drought severity. The N addition treatment alleviated drought-induced suppression of CO2 exchange at the leaf and ecosystem levels in the middle of the drought period, whereas it exacerbated drought-induced suppression of the CO2 exchange and aboveground phytomass on the community level at the end of the drought period. Given that dominance by L. chinensis is a characteristic of the studied ecosystem, knowledge of the traits of L. chinensis and its response to multiple global change drivers will be crucial for predicting future ecosystem functions. Furthermore, increasing N deposition may affect the response of the L. chinensis meadow ecosystem to further droughts by increasing carbon allocation to roots and therefore root–shoot ratios.