Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF AN UPPER LIMIT TEMPERATURE THRESHOLD ON HEAT UNIT CALUCLATIONS, DEFOLIATION TIMING, YIELD AND FIBER QUALITY

Researchers from across the Cotton Belt have come to different conclusions on the optimum defoliation time based on COTMAN and the accumulated heat units from cutout (NAWF=5) method that the program utilizes. Currently daily heat units for cotton are calculated by adding the daily maximum and daily minimum temperature (F), dividing this value by two, and then subtracting by the base temperature of 60F. This method does not include an upper limit temperature threshold. Where daily temperatures exceed 90F and night temperatures are also high, calculated heat units may be overestimated and could possibly explain the differences in defoliation timing recommendations based on accumulated heat units from cutout. A defoliation timing study was implemented to compare the effects of utilizing three upper limit temperature (90F, 95F, and no upper limit) thresholds to calculate heat unit (HU; growing degree units) accumulation past cutout and the subsequent impact on defoliation timing, yield, and fiber quality. The study was conducted at three locations during 2003. Treatments consisted of the three different upper limit temperature thresholds in calculating daily heat units and defoliation at five maturity stages based on 650, 750, 850, 950, and 1050 accumulated HU from date of cutout. Nodes above white flower (NAWF) counts were recorded during bloom until cutout was reached. At the time of defoliation, nodes above cracked boll (NACB) and percent open bolls were recorded. Percent open boll and lint yield were determined at harvest. Lint samples were retained for HVI analysis. There were no differences in lint yield between the three upper limit temperature thresholds at all three of the locations. Two locations saw significant lint yield increases by waiting to defoliate until 950 accumulated heat units from cutout. The other location did not see a significant lint yield increase after 750 accumulated HU from cutout had been reached. Upper limit temperature thresholds failed to explain differences in results of defoliation timing at the three different locations.
PREDICTORS OF ADOLESCENT INVOLVEMENT IN CLIQUES AND GANGS

Objectives. The gangs came to the attention of the authorities because of the criminal nature of some of them. To understand which are the appropriate measures to prevent and reduce gang delinquency, this paper aimed at identifying the predictors of adolescents' belonging to such groups. Material and methods. Relevant articles published between 2010 and 2020, were searched in three access platforms to the scientific literature. The papers based on the quantitative analysis of the data, which evaluated the predictors of the involvement of adolescents aged 14-21 in gangs, were preserved. Results. Resulting in 33 significant articles, with samples between 75-26232 participants, 11 studies had a longitudinal design, the rest being cross-sectional. Most studies were conducted in the USA, and the rest in European, American, African, and Asian countries. Three categories of predictors were distinguished: familial factors (e.g. deficient parenting, domestic violence), personal factors (e.g. trauma history, low level of self-control), social and economic factors (e.g. criminogenic neighborhood, material and financial instability). The most common predictor was the criminogenic neighborhood, identified by 16 studies. There were also highlighted gender differences regarding gang membership, adolescent boys being more likely to be gang members. Conclusions. This systematic review highlighted that the main factors that can compete to adolescent gang involvement are: criminogenic social environment, low level of self-control, dysfunctional family-educational environment, and low socioeconomic level. As research has shown that many of these can be risk factors for violence, it is necessary to develop coping strategies and heal traumas to prevent the formation and maintenance of the antisocial identity of adolescent gangs. Keywords: gang, clique, adolescents, violence.
Deep learning with focal loss approach for attacks classification

The rapid development of deep learning improves the detection and classification of attacks on intrusion detection systems. However, the unbalanced data issue increases the complexity of the architecture model. This study proposes a novel deep learning model to overcome the problem of classifying multi-class attacks. The deep learning model consists of two stages. The pre-tuning stage uses automatic feature extraction with a deep autoencoder. The second stage is fine-tuning using deep neural network classifiers with fully connected layers. To reduce imbalanced class data, the feature extraction was implemented using the deep autoencoder and improved focal loss function in the classifier. The model was evaluated using 3 loss functions, including cross-entropy, weighted cross-entropy, and focal losses. The results could correct the class imbalance in deep learning-based classifications. Attack classification was achieved using automatic extraction with the focal loss on the CSE-CIC-IDS2018 dataset is a high-quality classifier with 98.38% precision, 98.27% sensitivity, and 99.82% specificity.
Audio compression using transforms and high order entropy encoding

Digital audio is required to transmit large sizes of audio information through the most common communication systems; in turn this leads to more challenges in both storage and archieving. In this paper, an efficient audio compressive scheme is proposed, it depends on combined transform coding scheme; it is consist of i) bi-orthogonal (tab 9/7) wavelet transform to decompose the audio signal into low & multi high sub-bands, ii) then the produced sub-bands passed through DCT to de-correlate the signal, iii) the product of the combined transform stage is passed through progressive hierarchical quantization, then traditional run-length encoding (RLE), iv) and finally LZW coding to generate the output mate bitstream. The measures Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and compression ratio (CR) were used to conduct a comparative analysis for the performance of the whole system. Many audio test samples were utilized to test the performance behavior; the used samples have various sizes and vary in features. The simulation results appear the efficiency of these combined transforms when using LZW within the domain of data compression. The compression results are encouraging and show a remarkable reduction in audio file size with good fidelity.
What Do Cooperative Firms Maximize, if at All? Evidence from Emilia-Romagna in the Pre-COVID Decade

The Italian region Emilia-Romagna ranks first among the world’s most important cooperative districts. Using a unique dataset covering all firms registered in the region, we investigate the performance of active firms in the period 2010-18. By focusing on employment, revenue and profits of cooperative firms as compared to conventional firms, we disentangle the differences between the average performance of the two types of companies and detect the presence of a “size effect” driving much of the difference between them. Moreover, our results strengthen previous empirical evidence about the countercyclical role of cooperative firms: they seem to optimize a mixture of employment and profits, assigning a greater weight to the former during downturns and stagnation. Finally, we examine the regional logistics industry and compare also the profitability of employees in the two segments of the sector.
Ultraviolet disinfection of marginal effluents: determining ultraviolet absorbance and subsequent estimation of ultraviolet intensity

The ultraviolet (UV) absorbance characteristics of effluents with a wide range of water quality were measured using direct and integrating sphere spectroscopy. The point source summation (PSS) method was used to estimate the effect of three UV absorbance measurement techniques (filtered direct, unfiltered direct, and unfiltered integrating sphere) on estimation of UV intensity in a UV reactor. Intensity values estimated from the PSS model were compared with direct intensity measurements made with a chemical actinometer. Use of the integrating sphere method for measuring the UV absorbance of the bulk wastewater was validated experimentally with UV absorbance coefficients derived from chemical actinometry. Absorbance coefficient values derived from direct spectroscopy were significantly different from the actinometrically derived absorbance coefficients. Particulates in wastewater both absorbed and scattered UV light, decreasing the overall available UV radiation for disinfection. As compared to the integrating sphere method, use of either filtered or unfiltered direct absorbance to determine the UV intensity with the PSS model provided an overestimate or underestimate of UV intensity, respectively. No significant differences were observed between the chemical actinometry and point source summation methods of estimating UV intensity after accounting for experimental differences.
Theoretical Predictions Versus Environmental Observations on Serpentinization Fluids: Lessons From the Samail Ophiolite in Oman

Thermodynamic calculations provide valuable insights into the reactions that drive the profound fluid transformations during serpentinization, where surface fluids are transformed into some of the most reduced and alkaline fluids on Earth. However, environmental observations usually deviate from thermodynamic predictions, especially those occurring at low temperatures where equilibrium is slowly reached. In this work, we analyzed 138 low‐temperature (<40°C) fluids from the Samail ophiolite in Oman to test thermodynamic predictions with environmental observations. Four fluid types were identified through this work. (i) Type 1 circumneutral (pH 7–9) fluids result from fluid interactions with serpentinized rocks common in the shallow subsurface. (ii) Fluids with pH ranging from 9 to 11 and low Si concentrations are products of intermediate stages of serpentinization. (iii) Type 2 hyperalkaline (pH > 11) fluids approach equilibrium with diopside, and with serpentine and brucite actively forming during advanced stages of serpentinization. Lastly, (iv) most fluids sampled in this work deviate from predicted equilibrium compositions and depict various degrees of mixing between Type 1 and 2 fluids. Mixed fluids fall within the same pH range but have considerably higher dissolved Si than intermediate‐type fluids. Hyperalkaline fluids exhibit variable degrees of mixing despite maintaining pH > 11, implying strong buffering capacity of serpentinization‐generated fluids. Overall, this work demonstrates that predicted and measured compositions of serpentinization‐derived fluids can be reconciled using a combination of equilibrium and fluid‐transport simulations. This work substantiates these calculations as useful tools in exploring serpentinization reactions in continents and perhaps in other low‐temperature environments on Earth and beyond.
The Relationship Between Large Scale Thermospheric Density Enhancements and the Spatial Distribution of Poynting Flux

Large thermospheric neutral density enhancements in the cusp region have been examined for many years. The Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellite for example has enabled many observations of the perturbation, showing that it is mesoscale in size and exists statistically over solar cycle timescales. Further studies examining the relationship with magnetospheric energy input have shown that fine‐scale Poynting fluxes are associated with the density perturbations on a case‐by‐case basis, whilst others have found that mesoscale downward fluxes also exist in the cusp region statistically. In this study, we use nearly 8 years of the overlapping Super Dual Auroral Radar Network and Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment datasets to generate global‐scale patterns of the high‐latitude and height‐integrated Poynting flux into the ionosphere, with a time resolution of 2 min. From these, average patterns are generated based on the interplanetary magnetic field orientation. We show the cusp is indeed an important feature in the Poynting flux maps, but the magnitude does not correlate well with statistical neutral mass density perturbations observed by the CHAMP satellite on similar spatial scales. Importantly, the lack of correlation between mesoscale height‐integrated Poynting fluxes and the cusp neutral mass density enhancement gives possible insight into other processes that may account for the discrepancy, such as energy deposition at finer scale sizes or at higher altitudes than captured.
JULES-CN: a coupled terrestrial carbon–nitrogen scheme (JULES vn5.1)

Abstract. Understanding future changes in the terrestrial carbon cycle is important for reliable projections of climate change and impacts on ecosystems. It is well known that nitrogen (N) could limit plants' response to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and it is therefore important to include a representation of the N cycle in Earth system models. Here we present the implementation of the terrestrial nitrogen cycle in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) – the land surface scheme of the UK Earth System Model (UKESM). Two configurations are discussed – the first one (JULES-CN) has a bulk soil biogeochemical model and the second one is a development configuration that resolves the soil biogeochemistry with depth (JULES-CN layer ). In JULES the nitrogen (N) cycle is based on the existing carbon (C) cycle and represents all the key terrestrial N processes in a parsimonious way. Biological N fixation is dependent on net primary productivity, and N deposition is specified as an external input. Nitrogen leaves the vegetation and soil system via leaching and a bulk gas loss term. Nutrient limitation reduces carbon-use efficiency (CUE – ratio of net to gross primary productivity) and can slow soil decomposition. We show that ecosystem level N limitation of net primary productivity (quantified in the model by the ratio of the potential amount of C that can be allocated to growth and spreading of the vegetation compared with the actual amount achieved in its natural state) falls at the lower end of the observational estimates in forests (approximately 1.0 in the model compared with 1.01 to 1.38 in the observations). The model shows more N limitation in the tropical savanna and tundra biomes, consistent with the available observations. Simulated C and N pools and fluxes are comparable to the limited available observations and model-derived estimates. The introduction of an N cycle improves the representation of interannual variability of global net ecosystem exchange, which was more pronounced in the C-cycle-only versions of JULES (JULES-C) than shown in estimates from the Global Carbon Project. It also reduces the present-day CUE from a global mean value of 0.45 for JULES-C to 0.41 for JULES-CN and 0.40 for JULES-CN layer , all of which fall within the observational range. The N cycle also alters the response of the C fluxes over the 20th century and limits the CO 2 fertilisation effect, such that the simulated current-day land C sink is reduced by about 0.5 Pg C yr −1 compared to the version with no N limitation. JULES-CN layer additionally improves the representation of soil biogeochemistry, including turnover times in the northern high latitudes. The inclusion of a prognostic land N scheme marks a step forward in functionality and realism for the JULES and UKESM models.
Morphology extraction of fetal electrocardiogram by slow-fast LSTM network

The morphology of Fetal Electrocardiogram (FECG) plays an important role in the early diagnosis of fetal health condition. However, it is intractable to extract the clean morphology of FECG signals, which are usually contaminated by Maternal ECG (MECG) and various noises. To extract the clean morphology of FECG signals from noninvasive abdominal ECG records, a high-performance and high-efficient two-stage Slow-Fast Long Short Term Memory (SFLSTM) based architecture is proposed. The MECG elimination and the FECG enhancement are realized by the elaborately designed slow LSTM and fast LSTM to filter out the MECG and the residual noise components, respectively. Qualitative and quantitative experiments are conducted on the records from two public databases. The experimental results show that our proposed MECG elimination and FECG enhancement schemes improve the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) by 3.09 dB and 1.81 dB, respectively. The proposed fast LSTM reduces the amountof computation by approximately 50%, without any degradation in performance. Our proposed method may leverage the noninvasive FECG monitoring for the early detection of fetal heart diseases.
On the measurement of the bend elastic constant in nematic liquid crystals close to the nematic-to-SmA and the nematic-to-NTB phase transitions

ABSTRACT We propose to measure the ratio of the bend elastic constant over the splay elastic constant of a nematic phase by using an optical method based on the measurement of the birefringence of homeotropic/planar hybrid samples. This method is compared to the classical measurements using the Freedericksz transition under AC electric field and its advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Both methods are applied to the measurement of and close to the nematic-to-SmA phase transition of the liquid crystal 8CB and the nematic-to-NTB phase transition of the mixture 8CB + 50 wt% CB7CB. The role of flexoelectricity in these measurements is analysed, as well as the role of the pretilt angle and the anchoring energy of the molecules on the plates limiting the samples. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Laboratory study of the collection efficiency of submicron aerosol particles by cloud droplets – Part I: Influence of relative humidity

Abstract. A new In-Cloud Aerosol Scavenging Experiment (In-CASE) has been conceived to measure the collection efficiency (CE) of submicron aerosol particles by cloud droplets. In this setup, droplets fall at their terminal velocity through a 1 m high chamber in a laminar flow containing aerosol particles. At the bottom of the In-CASE chamber, the droplet train is separated from the aerosol particle flow – droplets are collected in an impaction cup, whereas aerosol particles are deposited on a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. The collected droplets and the filter are then analysed by fluorescence spectrometry since the aerosol particles are atomised from a sodium fluorescein salt solution (C20H10Na2O5). In-CASE fully controls all the parameters which affect the CE – the droplets and aerosol particles size distributions are monodispersed, the electric charges of droplets and aerosol particles are controlled, and the relative humidity is indirectly set via the chamber's temperature. This novel In-CASE setup is presented here as well as the first measurements obtained to study the impact of relative humidity on CE. For this purpose, droplets and particles are electrically neutralised. A droplet radius of 49.6±1.3 µm has been considered for six particle dry radii between 50 and 250 nm and three relative humidity levels of 71.1±1.3 %, 82.4±1.4 % and 93.5±0.9 %. These new CE measurements have been compared to theoretical models from literature which adequately describe the relative humidity influence on the measured CE.
Effects of black carbon morphology on brown carbon absorption estimation: from numerical aspects

Abstract. In this work, we developed a numerical method to investigate the effects of black carbon (BC) morphology on the estimation of brown carbon (BrC) absorption using the absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) methods. Pseudo measurements of the total absorption were generated based on several morphologically mixed BC models, then the BrC absorption was inferred based on different BC AAE methods. By investigating the estimated BrC absorption at different parameters, we have demonstrated under what conditions the AAE methods can provide good or bad estimations. As recent studies have shown that both externally and internally mixed BC still exhibits a relatively small fractal dimension value, the AAE = 1 method is still a reasonable method to estimate the BrC absorption as the AAE of fluffy BC does not deviate significantly from 1. However, the deviation between the “true” and the estimated BrC mass absorption cross section (MAC) should also be carefully considered as sometimes the MAC deviation estimated using the AAE = 1 method can reach a value that is comparable to the true BrC MAC for internally mixed particles. The Mie AAE method can just provide relatively reasonable estimations for small particles, and the BrC absorption deviations estimated using the Mie AAE methods are rather substantial for large particles. If the BC core still exhibits a fluffy structure, the deviation between the true and the estimated BrC MAC can reach 4.8 and 5.8 m 2 /g for large externally and internally mixed particles, respectively. Even for a compact BC core, the BrC MAC deviation estimated using the Mie AAE method can reach approximately 2.8 m 2 /g when the BC size is large. By comparing the AAE of spherical BC and detailed BC models, we found that the AAE does not deviate significantly from 1 if BC presents a fluffy fractal structure, while it varies considerably with particle size if BC exhibits a spherical structure, and the AAE value of spherical BC can vary from a negative value to approximately 1.4. The precalculated wavelength dependence of AAE (WDA) method does not necessarily improve the estimations. In many cases, the WDA method even provides a worse estimation than the BC AAE =1 and Mie AAE methods. Our results showed that the WDA does not deviate significantly from 0 if the BC core presents a fluffy structure, while the WDA of spherical BC can vary significantly as the particle size changes. The deviation between the true and the estimated BrC MAC using the WDA method can reach approximately 9 m 2 /g for externally mixed particles, which is far more than BrC MAC itself. As recent studies have shown that BC commonly exhibits a fluffy structure but not a spherical structure, the estimation of BrC absorption based on the AAE method should carefully consider the effects of BC morphologies.
What asylum and refugee policies do Europeans want? Evidence from a cross-national conjoint experiment

The protection of asylum seekers and refugees has become one of the most politically divisive issues in the European Union, yet there has been a lack of research on public preferences for asylum and refugee policies. This article analyzes which policies Europeans prefer and why. We advance a theoretical framework that explains how asylum and refugee policies that use limits and conditions enable individuals to resolve conflicting humanitarian and perceived national interest logics. Using an original conjoint experiment in eight countries, we demonstrate that Europeans prefer policies that provide refugee protection but also impose control through limits or conditions. In contrast to the divisive political debates between European Union member states, we find consistent public preferences across European countries.