Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of substrate on the growth, nutritional and bioactive components of Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus florida

Mushrooms are increasingly being recognized as important food products for their significant role in human health, nutrition and disease. This study was carried out with the aim of comparing the effect of substrate on growth, determining nutritional and bioactive components of two oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus florida . A completely randomized block design with two treatments replicated three times was done and a laboratory analysis was carried out on the nutritional and bioactive components. The results obtained indicated that the growth and yield of P. ostreatus and P. florida varied widely depending on the kind of substrate used. It was observed that sawdust had the greatest influence on both growth and total yield because it had mean height, weight and pileus length significantly higher than those cultivated on corn cobs. It took least days for pin head formation and maturity period but had the highest number of fruiting bodies produced. P. ostreatus had the highest weight, height and biological yield while P. florida had the least pin head formation, maturity period and number of fruiting bodies. The biological efficiency and moisture content was the highest for sawdust substrate as a whole. The substrate had an effect on the nutritional value as maximum protein (29.45%) was observed on sawdust while minimum (25.12%) on corn cobs. Maximum lipid (4.62%) was observed on corn cobs while minimum (1.97%) was still on corn cobs. Regarding substrate, maximum ash (8.67%) was observed on sawdust while minimum (8.215%) on corn cobs; also maximum crude fibre (16.69%) was observed on corn cobs while minimum (5.08%) was on sawdust. The bioactive components analysis revealed the presence of major bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, polyphenols, saponins, triterpenoids and steroids. Oyster mushroom cultivated on sawdust possesses better growth and nutritional properties than those cultivated on corn cobs. Keywords: Bioactive components, cultivation, nutritional analysis, oyster mushroom
An efficient approach to recognize hand gestures using machine-learning algorithms

Electromyography (EMG) from a subject's upper limb can be used to train a machine-learning algorithm to classify different hand gestures. However, variability in the EMG signal due to between-subject differences can substantially degrade the machine-learning performance. This variation is usually due to the differences in both anatomical and physiological properties of the muscles, levels of muscle contraction, and inherent noises from the sensors. The aim of this study is to develop a subject-independent algorithm that can accurately classify different hand gestures. To minimize the between-subject differences, some selected time-domain EMG features are normalized to the area under the averaged root mean square curve (AUC-RMS). Five adult subjects with ages ranging 20–37 years performed three hand gestures including fist, wave-in, and wave-out for ten to twelve times each. Five machine-learning algorithms, including ¿-nearest neighbor (KNN), discriminant analysis (DA), Naïve Bayes (NB), Random Forest (RF), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were used to classify the three different hand gestures. The results showed that the EMG features were moderately to strongly correlated with the AUC-RMS values. The SVM yielded maximum classification accuracy using the original EMG features (97.56%) which was significantly improved by using the normalized EMG features (98.73%) (p<0.05). The accuracy distribution of all classifiers were found to be closer to mean values when using the normalized EMG features compared to using the original EMG features. The developed approach of classifying different hand gestures will be useful in biomedical applications such as controlling exoskeletons and in certain human-computer interaction settings.
Flow pathways and nutrient transport mechanisms drive hydrochemical sensitivity to climate change across catchments with different geology and topography

Hydrological processes determine the transport of nutrients and passage of diffuse pollution. Consequently, catchments are likely to exhibit individual hydrochemical responses (sensitivities) to climate change, which are expected to alter the timing and amount of runoff, and to impact in-stream water quality. In developing robust catchment management strategies and quantifying plausible future hydrochemical conditions it is therefore equally important to consider the potential for spatial variability in, and causal factors of, catchment sensitivity, as it is to explore future changes in climatic pressures. This study seeks to identify those factors which influence hydrochemical sensitivity to climate change. A perturbed physics ensemble (PPE), derived from a series of global climate model (GCM) variants with specific climate sensitivities was used to project future climate change and uncertainty. Using the INtegrated CAtchment model of Phosphorus dynamics (INCA-P), we quantified potential hydrochemical responses in four neighbouring catchments (with similar land use but varying topographic and geological characteristics) in southern Ontario, Canada. Responses were assessed by comparing a 30 year baseline (1968–1997) to two future periods: 2020–2049 and 2060–2089. Although projected climate change and uncertainties were similar across these catchments, hydrochemical responses (sensitivities) were highly varied. Sensitivity was governed by quaternary geology (influencing flow pathways) and nutrient transport mechanisms. Clay-rich catchments were most sensitive, with total phosphorus (TP) being rapidly transported to rivers via overland flow. In these catchments large annual reductions in TP loads were projected. Sensitivity in the other two catchments, dominated by sandy loams, was lower due to a larger proportion of soil matrix flow, longer soil water residence times and seasonal variability in soil-P saturation. Here smaller changes in TP loads, predominantly increases, were projected. These results suggest that the clay content of soils could be a good indicator of the sensitivity of catchments to climatic input, and reinforces calls for catchment-specific management plans.
Optically transparent and structurally sound silica aerogels: insights from a process study

Optically transparent and structurally sound silica aerogels: insights from a process study Aerogels are internally nanostructured materials characterized with a plethora of unique properties. Monoliths with high optical transparency made of silica aerogels were some of the first and still one of the most important classes of aerogels. Experiments and theory indicate that optical transparency and structural integrity of silica aerogels are negatively correlated. Other than optimal combination of processing conditions during aerogel fabrication can result in either highly transparent but cracked or in crack-free but less transparent and even opaque aerogels monoliths. Results are presented from the study of the relationship between the properties of single-step tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) base-catalyzed silica aerogels and the processing conditions, both at the alcogel preparation step and during the supercritical liquid CO2 drying process. Crack-free aerogel monoliths with good optical transparency were obtained with TMOS:methanol (MeOH) molar ratios of 1:16 and TMOS:ammonia (NH4OH) molar ratios of 1:0.05, CO2-MeOH exchange rates of about 1.25 ml/min, and autoclave decompression rates of 70 KPa/min. Adding glycerol in the sol-gel stage had a positive effect on the aerogel monolithicity but, even without glycerol, crack-free silica aerogels can be obtained by reducing the depressurization rate of the autoclave. A strict control and careful selection of the aerogel's processing conditions within the set of parameters identified will enable the fabrication of structurally sound silica aerogels with good optical properties essential for a number of applications.
Signaling pathways implicated in the cellular innate immune responses of Drosophila

The phylogenetically conserved innate immune systems of insects and other invertebrates employ blood cells (hemocytes) that are functionally reminiscent of vertebrate macrophages, attesting to the importance of phagocytosis and other cell-mediated responses in eliminating various pathogens. Receptorligand binding activates signaling cascades that promote collaborative cellular interactions and the production of pathogen -specific cytotoxic responses. Numerous comparative genetic and molecular studies have shown the cytotoxic effector responses made by cells of the innate immune system to be evolutionarily conserved. Comparative analyses of genomic sequences provide convincing evidence that many of the biochemical processes manifested by immune -activated hemocytes are similar to those made by activated vertebrate macrophages. Included in this genomic repertoire are enzymes associated with reactive intermediates of oxygen and nitrogen, cellular redox homeostasis, and apoptosis, the synthesis of extracellular matrix, cell adhesion and pattern recognition molecules. Surprisingly, little is known of the types of cytotoxic molecules produced by invertebrate hemocytes, and the signaling and transcriptional events associated with their collaborative interactions when engaging pathogens and parasites. This review examines certain aspects of the blood cell-mediated defense responses of Drosophila, and some of the signaling pathways that have been implicated in hemocyte activation, differentiation, and the regulation of hematopoiesis.
COSEISMIC DISPLACEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE 12 NOVEMBER 2017 MW 7.3 SARPOL-E ZAHAB (IRAN) EARTHQUAKE FROM SAR INTERFEROMETRY, BURST OVERLAP INTERFEROMETRY AND OFFSET TRACKING

Abstract. Interferometric wide-swath mode of Sentinel-1, which is implemented by Terrain Observation by Progressive Scan (TOPS) technique, is the main mode of SAR data acquisition in this mission. It aims at global monitoring of large areas with enhanced revisit frequency of 6 days at the expense of reduced azimuth resolution, compared to classical ScanSAR mode. TOPS technique is equipped by steering the beam from backward to forward along the heading direction for each burst, in addition to the steering along the range direction, which is the only sweeping direction in standard ScanSAR mode. This leads to difficulty in measuring along-track displacement by applying the conventional method of multi-aperture interferometry (MAI), which exploits a double difference interferometry to estimate azimuth offset. There is a possibility to solve this issue by a technique called “Burst Overlap Interferometry” which focuses on the region of burst overlap. Taking advantage of large squint angle diversity of ~1° in burst overlapped area leads to improve the accuracy of ground motion measurement especially in along-track direction. We investigate the advantage of SAR Interferometry (InSAR), burst overlap interferometry and offset tracking to investigate coseismic deformation and coseismic-induced landslide related to 12 November 2017 Mw 7.3 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake in Iran.
The Valuation of Long-Term Exchange Options in the German Electricity Market

This paper analyzes the valuation of monthly Physical Transmission Rights (PTRs) on the German-Dutch interconnector. From a …nancial perspective, PTRs are exchange options written on the German and Dutch day-ahead electricity price. We extend the famous exchange option model by Margrabe (1978) and include jumps in the underlying prices. We develop a quasi closed-form solution for our exchange option model and compare its pricing performance to the basic model without jumps for all monthly PTRs between 2001 and 2008. Our results show that the inclusion of jumps signi…cantly reduces the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) between model and market prices. We further show that the inclusion of de-spiked prices into both models also improves their pricing performance. Overall, the empirical results show that monthly PTR options are clearly undervalued compared to model prices and even strictly cheaper than the corresponding futures contracts.
Distributed adaptive fault-tolerant containment control for a class of multi-agent systems with non-identical matching non-linear functions

This study considers the fault-tolerant containment control problem for linear multi-agent systems with external disturbances, non-identical matching non-linear functions and actuator faults containing stuck, outage and loss of effectiveness. A novel method is proposed to estimate the norm of weight vector in fuzzy logic systems rather than the weight vector by using the traditional method. So the difficulty that the actuator with outage or stuck fault cannot work to compensate the unknown non-linear function is solved. Furthermore, different from the traditional fault-tolerant control method to estimate the feedback gain matrix related on the fault, only the ratio of coupling weight to the failure rate is estimated. The merit of the proposed controller is that the number of adaptive parameters is only related to the number of agents, which reduces the adaptive parameters and computational burden considerably. In addition, it is proved that the proposed controller guarantees all the signals in the closed-loop systems are bounded and all followers converge asymptotically to the convex hull formed by the leaders. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Building a field- and model-based climatology of local water and energy cycles in the cultivated Sahel - annual budgets and seasonality

In the sub-Saharan Sahel, energy and water cycling at the land surface is pivotal for the regional climate, water resources and land productivity, yet it is still very poorly documented. As a step towards a comprehensive climatological description of surface fluxes in this area, this study provides estimates of long-term average annual budgets and seasonal cycles for two main land use types of the cultivated Sahelian belt: rainfed millet crop and fallow bush. These estimates build on the combination of a 7-year field data set from two typical plots in southwestern Niger with detailed physically based soil-plant-atmosphere modeling, yielding a continuous, comprehensive set of water and energy flux and storage variables over this multiyear period. In the present case in particular, blending field data with mechanistic modeling makes the best use of available data and knowledge for the construction of the multivariate time series. Rather than using the model only to gap-fill observations into a composite series, model-data integration is generalized homogeneously over time by generating the whole series with the entire data-constrained model simulation. Climatological averages of all water and energy variables, withassociated sampling uncertainty, are derived at annual to subseasonal scales from the time series produced. Similarities and differences in the two ecosystem behaviors are highlighted. Mean annual evapotranspiration is found to represent 82-85% of rainfall for both systems, but with different soil evaporation/plant transpiration partitioning and different seasonal distribution. The remainder consists entirely of runoff for the fallow, whereas drainage and runoff stand in a 40-60% proportion for the millet field. These results should provide a robust reference for the surface energy- and water-related studies needed in this region. Their significance and the benefits they gain from the innovative data-model integration approach are thoroughly discussed. The model developed in this context has the potential for reliable simulations outside the reported conditions, including changing climate and land cover.
Constraining seismic velocity and density for the mantle transition zone with reflected and transmitted waveforms

We examine stacks of several seismic phases having different sensitivities to mantle transition zone structure. When analyzed separately, underside P and S reflections (PdP and SdS) are suggestive of very different structures despite similar raypaths and data coverage. By stacking the radial component of PdP rather than the vertical PdP, we show that this difference does not result from interference from other more steeply inclined phases such as PKP and Ppdpdiff. In general, stacks of P‐to‐S converted phases (Pds) appear to lack evidence of a 520‐km discontinuity when examined without other phases. When these phases and stacked topside P reflections (Ppdp) are analyzed jointly using a nonlinear inversion method, consistent but nonunique, seismological models emerge. These models show that a discontinuity at ∼653 km depth has smaller contrasts in density and velocity than found in most previous studies. A sub‐660 gradient can account for the majority of this difference. A 1.6 ± 0.5% P‐velocity contrast and a 2.2 ± 0.3% density contrast at ∼518 km depth without a S‐velocity contrast can explain the lack of a P520s, together with robust Pp520p and S520S phases. For models parameterized with a finite thickness for each discontinuity, the 410‐km discontinuity is consistently ∼3 times thicker than the 660‐km discontinuity.
Canopy facilitates seaweed recruitment on subtidal temperate reefs

Facilitation through physical stress amelioration has been largely overlooked in subtidal marine ecosystems, where abiotic gradients are perceived to be benign. However, seemingly subtle changes in marine environmental conditions can alter community structure across vast areas, and therefore, the type of interactions and any refuge provided by marine foundation species. This could have substantial implications for community organization. We measured net recruitment rates of subtidal seaweeds under experimentally modified canopy densities, across 1000 km of coastline, to examine the nature of interactions between seaweed canopies and recruits. Contrary to expectations, facilitation, as evidenced by higher recruitment under canopies, was observed throughout all conditions for Scytothalia dorycarpa and under partial canopies at three of four locations for Sargassum spp. , whilst competitive interactions remained prevalent for Sargassum under closed canopies. Supply side dynamics were also of major importance to recruitment success for Scytothalia. For Sargassum, the interaction strength between recruits and the canopy became increasingly positive towards lower latitudes, suggesting the canopy environment was mitigating stress across the latitudinal climate gradient. Synthesis. Positive interactions and stress amelioration play an important and previously unrecognized role in determining the recruitment success and viability of seaweeds in subtidal marine ecosystems. These results challenge long held paradigms about the general importance of canopy competition and force a rethink of how seaweed interactions affect habitat resilience to disturbances in subtidal ecosystems.
Workload-Driven Horizontal Partitioning and Pruning for Large HTAP Systems

Modern server systems with large NUMA architectures necessitate (i) data being distributed over the available computing nodes and (ii) NUMA-aware query processing to enable effective parallel processing in database systems. As these architectures incur significant latency and throughout penalties for accessing non-local data, queries should be executed as close as possible to the data. To further increase both performance and efficiency, data that is not relevant for the query result should be skipped as early as possible. One way to achieve this goal is horizontal partitioning to improve static partition pruning. As part of our ongoing work on workload-driven partitioning, we have implemented a recent approach called aggressive data skipping and extended it to handle both analytical as well as transactional access patterns. In this paper, we evaluate this approach with the workload and data of a production enterprise system of a Global 2000 company. The results show that over 80% of all tuples can be skipped in average while the resulting partitioning schemata are surprisingly stable over time.
Energy balanced routing for latency minimized wireless sensor networks

We present a communication and routing protocol to balance energy consumption among wireless sensor and actuator nodes under the constraint of minimizing end-to-end latency. Minimized and nearly deterministic end-to-end latency allows centralized real time data recording and actuator control. Moreover, defined latency improves security and safety mechanisms to come closer to the trustworthiness of a cable while realizing the advantages of wireless networks. Battery powered or energy harvesting wireless nodes are inevitable to avoid power lines and therefore, we cope with limited energy budgets. In order to balance the communication load among sufficiently supplied nodes, the energy budget is part of the routing path metric. We show that the time domain multiple access scheme is crucial to enable defined latency and improve energy efficiency by avoiding collisions. If the energy distribution among the nodes is known, this novel protocol allows to calculate latency and round-trip time in advance. An asymmetric timing scheme can limit multi-hop latency for either upstream or downstream communication by one superframes (SF) duration. The presented ruleset is able to reconfigure the routing focused on energy constraints of involved nodes.
Comparison of Clinical, Biomechanical, and Histopathological Effects of Various Suture Techniques on Repair of Tendon Rupture by using Autograft

Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of four different suture techniques in the treatment of experimentally modelled tendon injuries with tissue loss with autograft and grafting applications in rabbits. Material and Methods: The study was performed on 30 male mature (2-year-old) New Zealand rabbits with mean body weight of 3.1 kg, divided into three equal groups. A graft measuring 1 cm in length was collected from the m. tibialis cranialis of each rabbit under general anaesthesia. The graft collected from the right tendon was transplanted into the left tendon, and the graft from the left tendon was transplanted into the right tendon. In all groups, a simple interrupted suture was placed on the left tendon as control, a Bunnell-Mayer suture was placed on the right tendon in group I, a Locking-Loop suture in group II, and a Horizontal U suture in group III. Both hindlimbs were bandaged for four weeks. The tendons were assessed biomechanically and histopathologically. Results: According to the results of the tensile testing, the maximum durability of the techniques ranked as follows: Bunnell-Mayer, Horizontal U, Locking-Loop, and control groups. Conclusion: The use of autografts was a good alternative for the treatment of tendon ruptures with tissue loss. Furthermore, even though there were no clinical or histopathological differences, the suture technique can be chosen based on the results of the tensile test.