Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of ozone exposure on cardiovascular responses in healthy and susceptible humans

Ozone (O3) is a major gaseous component of air pollution in urban environments. Recent epidemiological evidence suggests that O3 exposure may increase cardiovascular morbidity, but the specific biological mechanisms mediating O3associated cardiovascular effects remain to be elucidated. We designed a controlled human exposure study to address the question of whether short-term exposures to ambient levels of O3 cause acute cardiovascular responses as assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) and systemic biomarkers of inflammation and coagulability. Twenty five subjects (15 healthy and 10 asthmatic subjects) were recruited to participate in the study. The subjects were exposed to three conditions (filtered air, 100 ppb O3, and 200 ppb O3) in random order. Exposures were for 4 hours with intermittent exercise (30 min of each hour) at a minute ventilation of 20 L/kg/m2 body surface area. Exercise is used in controlled human exposure studies to simulate outdoor activity levels which involve higher ventilation rates that increase the effective dose of the pollutant. Heart rate variability was measured and blood samples were obtained immediately prior to, immediately after, and 20 h after each exposure period. Bronchoscopy to obtain bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid was performed at 20 h after exposure. We found that intermittent moderate-intensity exercise induced a pro-inflammatory systemic response characterized by increases in peripheral blood leukocyte counts, and C-reactive protein (CRP), monocyte chemotactic protein, and interleukin-6 concentrations. Exercise did not substantially alter levels of fibrinogen, angiotensin-converting enzyme, markers of coagulability, or HRV. We also found that exposure to 200 ppb O3 induced a decrease in lung function, airway injury as manifested by an increase in total BAL protein, and airway inflammation as evidenced by increases in BAL neutrophils, eosinophils, and several pro-inflammatory cytokines. Exposure to 100 ppb O3 caused no decrease in lung function and only mild airway inflammation. Despite the induction of a local lung inflammatory response at 200 ppb, there was little evidence of a systemic inflammatory response to O3, with the exception of a trend toward an increase in serum CRP at 24 h after exposure. Moreover, no evidence of a pro-coagulatory response to O3 exposure was found. Despite this lack of a systemic response, we did find that exposure to 200 ppb O3 induced a significant increase in the normalized low frequency (LF) domain of HRV at both 4 and 24 h after exposure. We also observed non-significant increases in the LF domain with 100 ppb exposure at both the 4-h and 24-h time points. The presence of an exposure-relationship when the LF data at all concentrations and time points were analyzed in a linear regression also supports the role of O3 exposure in the observed increase in LF HRV. To our knowledge this is the first controlled exposure study to find an effect on HRV with O3 alone. The results suggest that short-term exposures to O3 can have acute cardiovascular effects.
Professor—Librarian Team-Teaching: Online Lifelong Training in the University

Abstract The article describes a case study of lifelong e-training for postgraduates delivered jointly by the Carlos III University of Madrid and Spain’s National Library from 2011 to 2017. It addresses course and participant characteristics as well as the results of an assessment aimed to determine both student satisfaction and effective skill transfer to the work environment. This unique professional training initiative may serve as a model in an area where librarians and professors are seldom seen to collaborate in online training on an equal footing.
Observational and Model Evidence for Positive Low-Level Cloud Feedback

Positve Feedback The uncertain effect of feedback between climate and clouds is one of the largest obstacles to producing more confident projections of global climate. Clement et al. (p. 460) examined how clouds, sea surface temperature, and large-scale atmospheric circulation vary in the Northeast Pacific region. Change in cloud coverage was the primary cause of sea surface temperature variations, and clouds provided a positive feedback to temperature variations. Furthermore, regional atmospheric circulation patterns were linked to patterns of cloudiness. One model produced realistic covariability between cloud cover, sea surface temperatures, and atmospheric circulation for the 20th century. Decreased low-level cloud cover in the Northeast Pacific region amplifies increases in sea surface temperatures. Feedbacks involving low-level clouds remain a primary cause of uncertainty in global climate model projections. This issue was addressed by examining changes in low-level clouds over the Northeast Pacific in observations and climate models. Decadal fluctuations were identified in multiple, independent cloud data sets, and changes in cloud cover appeared to be linked to changes in both local temperature structure and large-scale circulation. This observational analysis further indicated that clouds act as a positive feedback in this region on decadal time scales. The observed relationships between cloud cover and regional meteorological conditions provide a more complete way of testing the realism of the cloud simulation in current-generation climate models. The only model that passed this test simulated a reduction in cloud cover over much of the Pacific when greenhouse gases were increased, providing modeling evidence for a positive low-level cloud feedback.
Fast Stereo Matching: Coarser to Finer with Selective Updating

A coarse to fine approach for fast stereo matching is presented. In this approach, a dynamic programming (DP) based algorithm at the top of the pyramid is applied to obtain an initial coarse dense disparity map of high quality and to reduce computational cost. In each finer layer, a new dense disparity map is inherited from the coarser layer by interpolation. The new dense disparity map will be updated only in selected areas, instead of the whole map, according to the local matching cost and the depth difference among neighbouring areas. In this way, the proposed approach is able to obtain a smooth dense disparity map and to preserve discontinuity as well. The approach is evaluated using rectified stereo images and good results are achieved in terms of quality and running speed.
Implementing embodied learning in the classroom: effects on children’s memory and language skills

ABSTRACT The relationship among bodily movements, cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in children is receiving considerable attention in the research community. The embodied learning approach is based on the idea of an inseparable link between body and mind in learning, aiming for teaching methods that promote children’s active engagement in the classroom. This study implements embodied learning as a part of the classroom curriculum in a real classroom environment using motion-based games. A total of 52 elementary students engaged in embodied learning in-class activities for four months. The data-set included standardized pre-post testing for children’s cognitive and academic performance, general learning analytics from games’ usage, interviews, and observations from the teachers involved. Findings showed significant effects both on children’s cognitive abilities (i.e., short-memory skills) and academic performance (i.e., expressive vocabulary). This article contributes to the educational technology community by providing an example of implementing embodied learning via use of motion-based technologies in a real classroom environment.
Evapotranspiration, Yield and Crop Coefficient of Irrigated Maize under Straw Mulch Conditions

Agricultural water use takes up about 70% of the total water consumption in the North China Plain. Thus improvement of the water use efficiency (WUE) in agriculture would play an important role in sustainable water use in the North China Plain. Agronomic water saving measure is one of the most important aspects in watersaving agriculture. Reducing soil water evaporation and optimizing irrigation scheduling are effective methods in improving the farmland WUE. Maize is one of the staple crops in the piedmont of Mt. Taihang in the North China Plain and is usually interplanted into winter wheat field about one week before wheat crop is harvested. At harvest, the wheat straw is left to mulch maize crop so as to reduce evapotranspiration, especially during the earlier growth stages. Maize grows during the rainy months of June to September, and the rainfall usually meets its requirement for growth. In dry years or with interseasonal variability of rainfall distribution, however, irrigation is essential to maintain good maize yield in the region. Due to the fact of a severe shortage of irrigation water in the region, this study aims to examine the effects of numbers of irrigation on maize grain yield, water use efficiency (WUE) and crop coefficient under straw mulch conditions. The results of field trials in the years of 1999 and 2001 showed that total evapotranspiration and WUE of irrigated maize under straw mulch were 390 mm and 22 kg/m3, respectively, with grain yield of about 8000 kg/ha. Maize yield increased with the irrigation numbers and reached the highest 8834 kg/ha and 8010 kg/ha in 1999 and 2001, respectively, when the irrigation was applied four times over the growing season. Irrigation more than four times, however, caused grain yield reduction in both seasons. In contrast, WUE was only slightly decreased with the increase in the numbers of irrigation. Mulching reduced total soil evaporation by 50 mm in the 2001 season measured by microlysimeters. At the early growing stage, crop coefficient of maize with mulching was about 05, which was about 50% lower than that without mulching. The coefficient over the growing season with mulch varied between 03~15 with an average of 10. 
An Empirical Study of the Impacts of Perceived Security and Knowledge on Continuous Intention to Use Mobile Fintech Payment Services

ABSTRACT Financial technology (Fintech) services using emerging technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming more prevalent. The recent proliferation of the mobile payment sector led by innovative mobile Fintech payment services such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay is the most important and fastest growing Fintech services from consumers’ perspective. Although businesses have been making efforts to spread the use of the services, security is crucial in the diffusion of the services. Despite the importance, the role of perceived security in continuous intention to use mobile, Fintech services has not yet been investigated in depth. Thus, this study investigates the relationships between perceived security, knowledge regarding the services, confirmation, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. We propose a research model using an extended post-acceptance model (EPAM) as a theoretical framework in the context of Fintech services. We then validate the model using the data collected from the service users. The analyzed results show that knowledge and perceived security in mobile Fintech services have a significant influence on users’ confirmation and perceived usefulness. However, perceived security does not directly influence users’ satisfaction and continual intention to use. We further find significant relationships among confirmation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and continual intention to use of the services. We discuss theoretical and practical contributions of the study.
Study on the Dynamic Changes and Driving Forces Based on Remote Sensing Images of Land Reclamation in Shenzhen

In this paper,the scope of land reclamation is defined to be below the mean high tide level of the coastal zone.The dynamic changes of reclamation in Shenzhen have been analyzed by extracting single-band images and converting binary Images,on the basis of a series of remote sensing images(MSS,1978),Landsat TM(1986),Landsat TM(1995),Landsat TM(1999),Spot(2004). The reclamation rate of 1978-1985 is 146.31 hm2/a,that of 1986-1994 is 304.55 hm2/a,1995-1998 is 337.16 hm2/a,and 1999-2004 is 273.59 hm2/a.The reclamation rate in Shenzhen was fast,ecperiencing a faster to the fastest period,but it became slowed down recently.This paper not only shows the different rates and distributions,but also discusses the different roles of the four periods of land reclamation in Shenzhen.As the reclamation may induce great changes to the coast zone,it requires serious considerations.Therefore,the driving forces of the dynamic change are analyzed combining with the progress of urbanization of Shenzhen city in the period of 1979-2004.This paper establishes a comprehensive driving forces system of reclamation,including four aspects of change:location,policy,socioeconomy and coastal natural conditions(environmental problems). Shenzhen is near Hong Kong,which is the key factor to improve the reclamation projects of Shenzhen and also the driving force for the development of Shenzhen city in the early years.The changes of the policy and laws of land use in China since 1979 make great profit of reclamation,but the laws of protecting against destroying coastal zone limit the projects of reclamation.In the regression of relationship between the reclamation and the economic factors,it is found that the growth of population improves the reclamation,but the growth of infrastructure investment decreases the reclamation.The coastal natural conditions limit reclamation project.The reclamation has affected the environment of Shenzhen and Hong Kong,limited by the problems of reclamation,the growth of reclamation in Shenzhen has decreased.The system of Shenzhen reclamation is complex but evolves to a more scientific direction.
Evaluating model simulations of 20th century sea-level rise. Part 1: global mean sea-level change

AbstractSea level change is one of the major consequences of climate change and is projected to affect coastal communities around the world. Here, global mean sea level (GMSL) change estimated by 12 climate models from phase 5 of the World Climate Research Programme’s Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) is compared to observational estimates for the period 1900–2015. Observed and simulated individual contributions to GMSL change (thermal expansion, glacier mass change, ice sheet mass change, landwater storage change) are analyzed and compared to observed GMSL change over the period 1900–2007 using tide gauge reconstructions, and over the period 1993–2015 using satellite altimetry estimates. The model-simulated contributions explain 50% ± 30% (uncertainties 1.65σ unless indicated otherwise) of the mean observed change from 1901–20 to 1988–2007. Based on attributable biases between observations and models, a number of corrections are proposed, which result in an improved explanation of 75% ± 38% o.
Development characteristic of Mesozoic and Cenozoic faults and its control over deposition in Chengdao area

In order to investigate the development characteristic of Mesozoic and Cenozoic faults and its control over the deposition in Chengdao area,several seismic sections in this area were analyzed in detail.In Mesozoic,the activity of Chengbei fault,Chengbei 20 fault,Chengbei 30 north fault and their sub-faults developed in Chengdao area take the dominant position,and the main faults generally experience a negative reversion process.In Cenozoic,Chengbei 20 fault stops activity,Chengbei fault and Chengbei 30 north fault keep on developing,and Chengbei 30 south strike-slip fault and some new NE-trending faults start to develop.The deposition of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata in this area is mainly controlled by the development of the main faults.The development characteristics of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic faults in Chengdao area are similar to the other structural units of Jiyang depression.However,the planar combined characteristic of the faults in Chengdao area is different,which results from the closer distance to Tan-lu fault belt and stronger strike-slip effect.
Three-dimensional CFD simulation of the runaway transients of a propeller turbine model

Three-dimensional unsteady CFD simulation method is established to simulate runaway transient of a propeller turbine model. Through three-dimensional turbulent numerical calculation,the spent time and the maximum runaway speed are attained while the generating unit enters runaway state,and the variation of inner flow and varying curves of unit rotate speed,flow rate and the static pressure of measuring points are revealed during the runaway transient. The numerical results of the propeller turbine model show that the maximum runaway speed agrees well with experimental data with error less than 1.5% , and the characteristic parameters vary according to the theoretical performance of high specific speed hydro turbine. Furthermore, flow stability deteriorates rapidly in the draft tube passage as the rotate speed increasing, which is the key source of unit vibration.
Distribution of total,exchangeable and fixed nitrogen in the sediments from shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River

Distribution of total nitrogen(TN),exchangeable nitrogen(EN)and fixed ammonium(F-NH4)and their functions in recycling in sediments from shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were investigated.The results indicated that:① Contents of TN,EN and F-NH4 of 14 lake sediment samples of the studied region were 768.5~5190.6 mg·kg-1,150.92~341.98 mg·kg-1 and 186.5~462.5 mg·kg-1,respectively. ② Exchangeable nitrogen,NH+4-N,NO-3-N and NO-2-N were 150.92~341.98mg·kg-1,145.2~269.4 mg·kg-1,30.3~71.8 mg·kg-1,and 0.32~0.78 mg·kg-1,accounting for 74.61%~85.85%,13.93%~25.15% and 0.17%~0.27% of total exchangeable-Nitrogen,respectively. ③ Exchangeable NH+4-N,NO-3-N and NO-2-N have remarkable positive correlations among them.There is a strong positive correlation between exchangeable ammonium and fixed ammonium. ④ The exchangeable and fixed nitrogen have strong positive correlations with the contents of TN,TP,TOC,CEC,silt and clay of the studied samples,but have strong negative correlations with sand content.In addition,there are positive correlations between the contents of CaO,Fe2O3 and Al2O3 and fixed ammonium.
Damage-dependent bounding surface model for cyclic degradation of saturated clay

Degradation of saturated clay during cyclic loading can be assumed to be caused mainly by two mechanisms,pore water pressure build-up and the damage and remolding of soil fabric.Based on these mechanisms,a damage-dependent bounding surface model for cyclic degradation of saturated clay is proposed using the generalized isotropic hardening rule.In the model,the degree of damage and remolding of soil during cyclic loading is quantified by introducing a damage variable and the size of the bounding surface decreases with damage accumulation to characterize progressive degradation and nonlinear behavior of the saturated clay.By taking the stress reversal point as the generalized isotropic hardening center of the bounding surface as well as the mapping origin,the forms of hardening modulus can be adopted flexibly so as to predict the accumulation of plasticity deformation and pore pressure and the hysteresis property of clay.The cyclic behaviors for undrained one-way cyclic triaxial tests are predicted by the model.Moreover,the effects of the number of cycles,cyclic stress level and consolidation history on the cyclic degradation behaviors are analyzed.The agreement of predicted results with experimental data indicates that the model can realistically simulate the cyclic degradation behaviors of saturated clay.
Remote Sensing Systems on Board Autonomous Miniature Aircraft

Aircraft is an important platform for remote sensing. This paper presents a remo te sensing system onboard autonomous miniature aircraft which has been developed principally for atmospheric sounding. The advantages of this system are summari zed as follows: (1) high flexibility in field experiments with no requirements o f specific runaway and weather conditions for taking off or landing; (2) relativ ely economical cost without any dangers for operators; (3) adequate clarity of t he aerial photo-pictures and video images obtained with quite high resolution; (4) superimposition of GPS information on video imagery. So, this very economica l and flexible system of remote sensing can be used in many fields, for example, in monitoring landuse, grassland phytomass, and weather or geological disasters .
PENGARUH PEMBELAJARAN BERBASIS MASALAH TERHADAP KEMAMPUAN PEMECAHAN MASALAH MATEMATIS SISWA SMA

This research is motivated by the low ability of mathematical problem solving of high school students who need a learning approach to overcome the problem. Alternative approach used is problem-based learning approach. This study aims to examine whether the problem-solving ability of mathematical students using problem-based learning is better than using ordinary learning. The research method used is experimental method. At the end of the learning the two classes were given a test. The population in this study were high school students in SMAN 2 Cimalaka class XI, while the sample consisted of two classes chosen at random. The data collection in this research is a test of five questions, then the scores of mathematical problem solving abilities are analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferential statistic using two difference test average. Based on the results of research, both from data analysis and hypothesis testing, the authors conclude that the problem solving ability of mathematical students using problem-based learning is better than using ordinary learning.
Discriminative Image Representation based on Multi-Cues for Computational Advertising

Image representation is a key step in image advertising recommendations. Traditional image representation methods, based on the local description, generate a histogram of visual words to represent images. However, it is very difficult to establish a discriminative and descriptive codebook with the local description only. Therefore, we propose a novel image representation method by integrating visual saliency, color feature and local description. Moreover, the proposed multi-cues image representation has been applied to a new image advertising scenario, i.e., delivering image advertisements in a list of images, such as the results of an image search. To evaluate our proposal, we have crawled a dataset, named Pop2016, which consists of image lists and advertising images with 31 pop labels. The performance of the advertising recommendations is measured in terms of the precision@n and the mean average precision. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms several traditional methods.
Guarding Against Adversarial Attacks using Biologically Inspired Contour Integration

Artificial vision systems are susceptible to adversarial attacks. Smallintentional changes to images can cause these systems to mis-classify with high confidence. The brain has many mechanisms forstrengthening weak or confusing inputs. One such technique, con-tour integration can separate objects from irrelevant background.We show that incorporating contour integration within artificial vi-sual systems can increase their robustness to adversarial attacks.