Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DETECTION OF H2O AND EVIDENCE FOR TiO/VO IN AN ULTRA-HOT EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERE

We present a primary transit observation for the ultra-hot (Teq ∼ 2400 K) gas giant expolanet WASP-121b, made using the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 in spectroscopic mode across the 1.12–1.64 μm wavelength range. The 1.4 μm water absorption band is detected at high confidence (5.4σ) in the planetary atmosphere. We also reanalyze ground-based photometric light curves taken in the B, r′, and z′ filters. Significantly deeper transits are measured in these optical bandpasses relative to the near-infrared wavelengths. We conclude that scattering by high-altitude haze alone is unlikely to account for this difference and instead interpret it as evidence for titanium oxide and vanadium oxide absorption. Enhanced opacity is also inferred across the 1.12–1.3 μm wavelength range, possibly due to iron hydride absorption. If confirmed, WASP-121b will be the first exoplanet with titanium oxide, vanadium oxide, and iron hydride detected in transmission. The latter are important species in M/L dwarfs and their presence is likely to have a significant effect on the overall physics and chemistry of the atmosphere, including the production of a strong thermal inversion.
PortraitGAN for flexible portrait manipulation

Previous methods have dealt with discrete manipulation of facial attributes such as smile, sad, angry, surprise, etc., out of canonical expressions and they are not flexible, operating in single modality. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that supports continuous edits and multi-modality portrait manipulation using adversarial learning. Specifically, we adapt cycle-consistency into the conditional setting by leveraging additional facial landmarks information. This has two effects: first cycle mapping induces bidirectional manipulation and identity preserving; second pairing samples from different modalities can thus be utilized. To ensure high-quality synthesis, we adopt texture-loss that enforces texture consistency and multi-level adversarial supervision that facilitates gradient flow. Quantitative and qualitative experiments show the effectiveness of our framework in performing flexible and multi-modality portrait manipulation with photo-realistic effects. Code will be made public: shorturl.at/chopD.
Effects of African dust deposition on phytoplankton in the western tropical Atlantic Ocean off Barbados

Bioassay incubation experiments conducted with nutrients and local atmospheric aerosol amendments indicate that phosphorus (P) availability limited phytoplankton growth in the low‐nutrient low‐chlorophyll (LNLC) ocean off Barbados. Atmospheric deposition provides a relatively large influx of new nutrients and trace metals to the surface ocean in this region in comparison to other nutrient sources. However, the impact on native phytoplankton is muted due to the high ratio of nitrogen (N) to P (NO3:SRP > 40) and the low P solubility of these aerosols. Atmospheric deposition induces P limitation in this LNLC region by adding more N and iron (Fe) relative to P. This favors the growth of Prochlorococcus, a genus characterized by low P requirements and highly efficient P acquisition mechanisms. A global three‐dimensional marine ecosystem model that includes species‐specific phytoplankton elemental quotas/stoichiometry and the atmospheric deposition of N, P, and Fe supports this conclusion. Future increases in aerosol N loading may therefore influence phytoplankton community structure in other LNLC areas, thereby affecting the biological pump and associated carbon sequestration.
Update on the Treatment of Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma

Platinum-based combination chemotherapy has been the standard of care in the first-line treatment of metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC). Treatment of metastatic disease following progression on platinum-based regimens has evolved significantly in the last few years. Clinical trials are currently ongoing to determine how best to use and sequence these treatments. In this minireview, we will review current first-line treatment options in both cisplatin fit and cisplatin unfit patients and advances in first- and second-line treatments including chemotherapy and immunotherapy. This review reports key findings from the clinical trials especially highlighting the importance of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors in the treatment of bladder/urothelial carcinomas.
Using 14 C and 3 H to understand groundwater flow and recharge in an aquifer window

Knowledge of groundwater residence times and recharge locations is vital to the sustainable management of groundwater resources. Here we investigate groundwater residence times and patterns of recharge in the Gellibrand Valley, southeast Australia, where outcropping aquifer sediments of the Eastern View Formation form an "aquifer window" that may receive diffuse recharge from rainfall and recharge from the Gellibrand River. To determine recharge patterns and groundwater flow paths, environmental isotopes ( 3 H, 14 C, δ 13 C, δ 18 O, δ 2 H) are used in conjunction with groundwater geochemistry and continuous monitoring of groundwater elevation and electrical conductivity. The water table fluctuates by 0.9 to 3.7 m annually, implying recharge rates of 90 and 372 mm yr −1 . However, residence times of shallow (11 to 29 m) groundwater determined by 14 C are between 100 and 10 000 years, 3 H activities are negligible in most of the groundwater, and groundwater electrical conductivity remains constant over the period of study. Deeper groundwater with older 14 C ages has lower δ 18 O values than younger, shallower groundwater, which is consistent with it being derived from greater altitudes. The combined geochemistry data indicate that local recharge from precipitation within the valley occurs through the aquifer window, however much of the groundwater in the Gellibrand Valley predominantly originates from the regional recharge zone, the Barongarook High. The Gellibrand Valley is a regional discharge zone with upward head gradients that limits local recharge to the upper 10 m of the aquifer. Additionally, the groundwater head gradients adjacent to the Gellibrand River are generally upwards, implying that it does not recharge the surrounding groundwater and has limited bank storage. 14 C ages and Cl concentrations are well correlated and Cl concentrations may be used to provide a first-order estimate of groundwater residence times. Progressively lower chloride concentrations from 10 000 years BP to the present day are interpreted to indicate an increase in recharge rates on the Barongarook High.
Effects of Enriched Housing Design on Broiler Performance, Welfare, Chicken Meat Composition and Serum Cholesterol

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of enrichment housing design on performance, selected welfare indicators, chicken meat composition and serum cholesterol concentration of broiler chicken. For this purpose, 480 Ross-308 chicks were assigned to two groups, Control and Test, each with 4 replications. The pens of the Test Group were enriched with perches and sand bedding. At the end of the study, 8 males and 8 females whose live weights were close to the group average from each group were slaughtered. Their blood was collected and serum was separated. For chemical analysis of the chicken meat, whole carcasses of 4 males and 4 females, and half of the breast and left thigh from the remaining 4 males and 4 females were collected. In the carcass group, whole carcass with its bones was minced, whereas in the other groups breast and tight meat were separated from the bones and minced in a meat grinder, homogenized with an electronic mixer, then flash frozen (-40 °C, 8–10 h) and stored (-20 °C, 3–4 weeks) until analysed. There was no significant difference between the groups in body weight, daily weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion and survivability. Litter moisture of the sand bedding was lower than that of the wood shavings. Contact dermatitis of hocks was reduced in the Test Group (P < 0.05). Length, width, bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of the left tibiotarsus were similar between groups. The protein ratio of thigh meat was higher (P < 0.01), and fat ratio of the meat was lower (P < 0.05) in the Test Group. Enriched housing design increased serum HDL cholesterol level and decreased thigh meat cholesterol level (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it was found that housing enriched with perches and sand bedding in addition to wood shavings bedding improved broiler welfare and meat quality. Broiler chickens, environmental enrichment, housing design, performance, welfare, meat quality, serum cholesterol
A Robust Load Frequency Control Scheme for Power Systems Based on Second-Order Sliding Mode and Extended Disturbance Observer

This paper proposes a new robust load frequency control (LFC) scheme for multiarea power systems based on the second-order sliding mode control and an extended disturbance observer. First, a reduced-order model of the power system LFC is derived. In this model, the load variations and net exchange tie-line power deviations are combined as a lumped disturbance which can be estimated by the extended disturbance observer. Second, a novel sliding surface is designed with the new transformed state variables obtained from the estimated disturbance. The system dynamics can be indicated by sliding surface design using the eigenvalue assignment or the optimal sliding manifold technique. The sliding variable is driven to the sliding surface with a second-order sliding mode algorithm named supertwisting algorithm. The stability of the proposed LFC scheme and the extended disturbance observer is proved using Lyapunov method. The merits of the scheme include faster response speed, stronger robustness against disturbances arising from power system parameter errors, and unmodeled dynamics, and the full consideration of tie-line power flow scheduling variations. Finally, numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of the LFC scheme and reveal its advantages over the state of the arts.
A Pilot Study: The Effects of an Aqueous Extract of Lepidium sativum Seeds on Levels of Immune Cells and Body and Organs Weights in Mice

Garden cress (Lepidium sativum, LS) seeds are used in many different parts of the world for different conditions and ills. Therefore, it was the aim of this study to determine the effects of an aqueous LS seeds extract on the immune system and general health in mice. This represents the first research study on the effects of LS seeds in mice. An aqueous extract of ground LS seeds was orally gavaged to young adult male Swiss Albino mice at a low dose (LD, 0.5 ml, 4 mice) and a high dose (HD, 1 ml, 4 mice) daily for 19-21 days, while control mice (2 mice) received saline solution by oral gavage. Whole blood was collected for a differential complete blood count. Body weights were measured every three days, and the liver, kidneys, spleen, and the combined lungs, heart and thymus were harvested and weighed. Results showed that, compared to the control, there were statistically significant increases in the mean white blood cell count and mean spleen weight for the LD group, while for the HD group the increases tended to significance. The mean body weight for the HD group showed clear increases compared to the control. Mean white blood cell types, red blood cell, and platelet counts; mean hemoglobin concentration; mean total body weight gains; and weights of the organs, except for the spleen, were not significantly different for the LD and HD groups compared to the control. Therefore, it may be concluded that the extract leads to some enhancement of the immune system. It is recommended that further research work may be carried on different concentrations of the extract using additional parameters.
Assimilation of surface soil moisture into a multilayer soil model: design and evaluation at local scale

Land surface models (LSM) have improved considerably in the last two decades. In this study, the Interactions between Surface, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA) LSM soil diffusion scheme is used (with 11 soil layers represented). A simplified extended Kalman filter (SEKF) allows ground observations of surface soil moisture (SSM) to be assimilated in the multilayer LSM in order to constrain deep soil moisture. In parallel, the same simulations are performed using the ISBA LSM with 2 soil layers (a thin surface layer and a bulk reservoir). Simulations are performed over a 3 yr period (2003–2005) for a bare soil field in southwestern France, at the SMOSREX (Surface Monitoring Of the Soil Reservoir Experiment) site. Analyzed soil moisture values correlate better with soil moisture observations when the ISBA LSM soil diffusion scheme is used. The Kalman gain is greater from the surface to 45 cm than below this limit. For dry periods, corrections introduced by the assimilation scheme mainly affect the first 15 cm of soil whereas weaker corrections impact the total soil column for wet periods. Such seasonal corrections cannot be described by the two-layer ISBA LSM. Sensitivity studies performed with the multilayer LSM show improved results when SSM (0–6 cm) is assimilated into the second layer (1–5 cm) than into the first layer (0–1 cm). The introduction of vertical correlations in the background error covariance matrix is also encouraging. Using a yearly cumulative distribution function (CDF)-matching scheme for bias correction instead of matching over the three years permits the seasonal variability of the soil moisture content to be better transcribed. An assimilation experiment has also been performed by forcing ISBA-DF (diffusion scheme) with a local forcing, setting precipitation to zero. This experiment shows the benefit of the SSM assimilation for correcting inaccurate atmospheric forcing.
Preparation of Silver Nano Particles Using Aqueous Solution of Ocimum sanctum and Piper betle and Evaluation of Its Antimicrobial Activity Against Enterococcus faecalis

Enterococcus faecalis is commonly found in a high percentage of root canal failures and it is able to survive in the root canal as a single organism. Silver nano particles (AgNPs) are nano particles of silver between 1 nm to 100nm and are known to have excellent antimicrobial properties thus used as disinfectants. An attempt has been made in this study to evaluate the antibacterial activity of AgNPs prepared by the aqueous extracts of Ocimum sanctum (Thulasi) and Piper betle (betel leaf) against E. faecalis. 9ml of 5mM Silver nitrate was added to 1ml of aqueous extract of plants and incubated at 37C for 24 hrs. The change in colour from yellow to brown indicates the production of Silver nano particles. UV–Vis spectral analysis was done by UV–visible spectrophotometer. UV–Visible absorption between 200 and 800 nm was used. The antibacterial study was done by well diffusion method. The silver nano particles were successfully synthesised from the aqueous extracts of O. sanctum (Thulasi) and P. betle (betel) leaves). The formation of AgNPs was indicated by the peak absorption between 410-450nm in UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The present study showed that the AgNPs prepared from the two plant extracts have anti-bacterial activity against E. faecalis. From the present study it has been concluded that the green synthesized AgNPs has antibacterial activity against E. faecalis and hence can be used for endodontic treatment.
Distinguishing between the effects of stereotype priming and stereotype threat on math performance

Stereotype threat and stereotype priming have both been shown to impair test performance. Although research suggests threat-based concerns distinguish the experience of threat from priming (Marx & Stapel, 2006), it is not clear whether these psychological phenomena impact performance via similar or distinct mechanisms. The current work demonstrates that priming and threat produce distinctive patterns of performance via different mechanisms. Motivation was found to play a proximal role in the effect of stereotype threat on females’ math performance. Threatened females were motivated to disconfirm the negative stereotype, but performed more poorly because they were more likely than controls to use the incorrect, but prepotent conventional solution approach. Gender-math stereotypes do not incorporate the notion that females are motivated to disconfirm stereotypes. Instead the results are consistent with the argument that participants primed with female gender constructs performed poorly because they withdrew effort.
The effect of flow and orography on the spatial distribution of the very short-term predictability of rainfall from composite radar images

The spatial distribution and scale dependence of the very short-term predictability of precipitation by Lagrangian persistence of composite radar images is studied under different flow regimes in connection with the presence of orographic features. Data from the weather radar composite of eastern Victoria, Australia, a 500 × 500 km 2 domain at 10 min temporal and 2 × 2 km 2 spatial resolutions, covering the period from February 2011 to October 2012, were used for the analyses. The scale dependence of the predictability of precipitation is considered by decomposing the radar rainfall field into an eight-level multiplicative cascade using a fast Fourier transform. The rate of temporal development of precipitation in Lagrangian coordinates is estimated at each level of the cascade under different flow regimes, which are stratified by applying a k-means clustering algorithm on the diagnosed velocity fields. The predictability of precipitation is measured by its lifetime, which is derived by integrating the Lagrangian auto-correlation function. The lifetimes were found to depend on the scale of the feature as a power law, which is known as dynamic scaling, and to vary as a function of flow regime. The lifetimes also exhibit significant spatial variability and are approximately a factor of 2 longer on the upwind compared with the downwind slopes of terrain features. The scaling exponent of the spatial power spectrum also shows interesting geographical differences. These findings provide opportunities to perform spatially inhomogeneous stochastic simulations of space–time precipitation to account for the presence of orography, which may be integrated into design storm simulations and stochastic precipitation nowcasting systems.
Dynamic Sectoring with Elevation Optimization Technique in 5G Cellular Networks

The conventional sectoring architecture only considers two-dimensional channel information in its optimization and ignore the information in the elevation domain. In this paper, we dynamically adjust sectoring and elevation angle to dramatically enhance the network capacity by jointly optimizing azimuth and elevation sectoring patterns. To facilitate the optimization process, the optimization function is represented by factor graphs. Belief propagation method is applied to the graphs to obtain the near optimal solutions. Simulation results show that the proposed method can bring 1.77 times capacity improvement and 96% complexity reductions compared to existing schemes.
A Hybrid Approach to Combining Conventional and Deep Learning Techniques for Single-Channel Speech Enhancement and Recognition

Conventional speech-enhancement techniques employ statistical signal-processing algorithms. They are computationally efficient and improve speech quality even under unknown noise conditions. For these reasons, they are preferred for deployment in unpredictable environments. One limitation of these algorithms is that they fail to suppress non-stationary noise. This hinders their broad usage. Emerging algorithms based on deep-learning promise to overcome this limitation of conventional methods. However, these algorithms under-perform when presented with noise conditions that were not captured in the training data. In this paper, we propose a single-channel speech-enhancement technique that combines the benefits of both worlds to achieve the best listening-quality and recognition-accuracy under conditions of noise that are both unknown and nonstationary. Our method utilizes a conventional speech-enhancement algorithm to produce an intermediate representation of the input data by multiplying noisy input spectrogram features with gain vectors (known as the suppression rule). We process this intermediate representation through a recurrent neural-network based on long short-term memory (LSTM) units. Furthermore, we train this network to jointly learn two targets: a direct estimate of clean-speech features and a noise-reduction mask. Based on this LSTM multi-style training (LSTM-MT) architecture, we demonstrate PESQ improvement of 0.76 and a relative word-error rate reduction of 47.73%.
Annual flood sensitivities to El Niño–Southern Oscillation at the global scale

Floods are amongst the most dangerous natural hazards in terms of economic damage. Whilst a growing number of studies have examined how river floods are influenced by climate change, the role of natural modes of interannual climate variability remains poorly understood. We present the first global assessment of the influence of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on annual river floods, defined here as the peak daily discharge in a given year. The analysis was carried out by simulating daily gridded discharges using the WaterGAP model (Water – a Global Assessment and Prognosis), and examining statistical relationships between these discharges and ENSO indices. We found that, over the period 1958–2000, ENSO exerted a significant influence on annual floods in river basins covering over a third of the world's land surface, and that its influence on annual floods has been much greater than its influence on average flows. We show that there are more areas in which annual floods intensify with La Nina and decline with El Nino than vice versa. However, we also found that in many regions the strength of the relationships between ENSO and annual floods have been non-stationary, with either strengthening or weakening trends during the study period. We discuss the implications of these findings for science and management. Given the strong relationships between ENSO and annual floods, we suggest that more research is needed to assess relationships between ENSO and flood impacts (e.g. loss of lives or economic damage). Moreover, we suggest that in those regions where useful relationships exist, this information could be combined with ongoing advances in ENSO prediction research, in order to provide year-to-year probabilistic flood risk forecasts.
Integrated Model for Generating Non Verbal Body Behavior Based on Psycholinguistic Analysis in Human-Robot Interaction

Submissions Integrated Model for Generating Non Verbal Body Behavior Based on Psycholinguistic Analysis in Human-Robot Interaction Amir Aly, Adriana Tapus 56 From Low Level Motor Control to High Level Interaction Skills David Bailly, Pierre Andry, Philippe Gaussier 57 From typical neurocognitive development to neurorehabilitation of autistic children using mobile toy robots Irini Giannopulu 58 Online Language Learning to Perform and Describe Actions for Human-Robot Interaction Xavier Hinaut, Maxime Petit, Peter F. Dominey 59 Infants' perception from the physical relations between objects Lauriane Rat-Fischer, Kevin J. O'Regan, Jacqueline Fagard 60 Hebb-like Learning for the Grounding of High-Level Symbols in Sensorimotor Trajectories Martin F. Stoelen, Davide Marocco, Angelo Cangelosi, Fabio Bonsignorio, Carlos Balaguer 61 An Embodied View on the Development of Symbolic Capabilities and Abstract Concepts Marek Ruciński, Francesca Stramandinoli 62 Active Learning in a Computational Model of Word Learning Maarten Versteegh, Christina Bergmann, Louis ten Bosch, Lou Boves 64 Innate Neonatal Face Preference An Embodied Phenomenon? Nick Wilkinson, Francesco Rea, Katrin Lohan, Giorgio Metta, Gustaf Gredeback 65