Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On Leaf BRDF Estimates and Their Fit to Microfacet Models

Remote sensing provides high accuracy/precision for quantifying forest biophysical parameters needed for ecological management. Although the significant impact of bidirectional scattering distribution functions (BSDFs) on remote sensing of vegetation is well known, current forest metrics derived from sensor data seldom take leaf BSDF into account, and despite the importance of BSDF effects, leaf directional scattering measurements are almost nonexistent. Previous studies have been limited in the spectral coverage and resolution of observed electromagnetic radiation and lacked models to interpolate all source-sensor angles beyond measurements. This study captured deciduous broadleaf bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) from the visible through shortwave infrared spectral regions (350–2500 nm) and accurately modeled the BRDF for extension to any illumination angle, viewing zenith, or azimuthal angle. We measured biconical directional reflectance factor of leaves from three species of large trees, Norway maple (Acer platanoides), American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and northern red oak (Quercus rubra). We then fit the data through nonlinear regression to physical, microfacet BRDF models, resulting in normalized root-mean-square errors of less than 8%, averaged across all wavelengths (excluding low signal-to-noise spectral regions). We extracted leaf physical parameters, including the index of refraction and a relative physical roughness from the microfacet models delineating the three species. The implications for forestry remote sensing are important, as rigorous models to represent leaves allow for the creation of more accurate forest scenes for radiative transfer modeling. Such accuracy enables higher fidelity sensor evaluations and data processing algorithms.
Exploring the Influence of Organizational Context on Cross-boundary Information-Sharing Initiatives: The Case of the Saudi’s Government Secure Bus

This study addresses the organizational factors influencing cross-boundary information sharing (CBIS) initiatives within the context of Saudi Arabia (SA). The study starts by synthesizing the pertinent literature toward implementing an integrated model for the organizational factors influencing CBIS. A qualitative research approach was used to guide the research and the data was collected using interviews and documentation. The study shows that the adoption of the Government Secure Bus (GSB), implemented to facilitate information sharing between government agencies in SA, is influenced by nine factors identified by previous research. These factors include goals and interests of participating organizations, trust, executive support, risks, costs, benefits, authority and hierarchical structures, organizational culture, and leadership. Additionally, the study pointed to three additional factors that influence GSB adoption. The additional factors include mimetic pressures, e-government transformation measurement, and organizations’ perception of data quality.
Prediction of the Development of Pulmonary Fibrosis Using Serial Thin-Section CT and Clinical Features in Patients Discharged after Treatment for COVID-19 Pneumonia

Objective To identify predictors of pulmonary fibrosis development by combining follow-up thin-section CT findings and clinical features in patients discharged after treatment for COVID-19. Materials and Methods This retrospective study involved 32 confirmed COVID-19 patients who were divided into two groups according to the evidence of fibrosis on their latest follow-up CT imaging. Clinical data and CT imaging features of all the patients in different stages were collected and analyzed for comparison. Results The latest follow-up CT imaging showed fibrosis in 14 patients (male, 12; female, 2) and no fibrosis in 18 patients (male, 10; female, 8). Compared with the non-fibrosis group, the fibrosis group was older (median age: 54.0 years vs. 37.0 years, p = 0.008), and the median levels of C-reactive protein (53.4 mg/L vs. 10.0 mg/L, p = 0.002) and interleukin-6 (79.7 pg/L vs. 11.2 pg/L, p = 0.04) were also higher. The fibrosis group had a longer-term of hospitalization (19.5 days vs. 10.0 days, p = 0.001), pulsed steroid therapy (11.0 days vs. 5.0 days, p < 0.001), and antiviral therapy (12.0 days vs. 6.5 days, p = 0.012). More patients on the worst-state CT scan had an irregular interface (59.4% vs. 34.4%, p = 0.045) and a parenchymal band (71.9% vs. 28.1%, p < 0.001). On initial CT imaging, the irregular interface (57.1%) and parenchymal band (50.0%) were more common in the fibrosis group. On the worst-state CT imaging, interstitial thickening (78.6%), air bronchogram (57.1%), irregular interface (85.7%), coarse reticular pattern (28.6%), parenchymal band (92.9%), and pleural effusion (42.9%) were more common in the fibrosis group. Conclusion Fibrosis was more likely to develop in patients with severe clinical conditions, especially in patients with high inflammatory indicators. Interstitial thickening, irregular interface, coarse reticular pattern, and parenchymal band manifested in the process of the disease may be predictors of pulmonary fibrosis. Irregular interface and parenchymal band could predict the formation of pulmonary fibrosis early.
Efficacy of the Rotary Instrument XP-Endo Finisher in the Removal of Calcium Hydroxide Intracanal Medicament in Combination with Different Irrigation Techniques: A Microtomographic Study

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of the rotary instrument XP-endo Finisher for the removal of Ca(OH)2 aided by different irrigation regimens. Methods: Sixteen double-rooted upper premolar human teeth were selected for the study. Thirty-two canals were prepared using a ProTaper Next rotary system up to X3. Then, the canals were filled with Ca(OH)2. The volume of Ca(OH)2 inside the canals was measured by microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). After that, the teeth were randomly allocated into two experimental groups, i.e., A and B (n = 16 canals). In group A, Ca(OH)2 was removed using the master apical file (X3). In group B, Ca(OH)2 was removed using a XP-endo finisher. In half of both groups (n = 8), syringe irrigation (SI) was used, while passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI) was used for the other half. After removal, the remaining volume of Ca(OH)2 was measured. All data were statistically analyzed using two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test. Results: The percentages of remaining Ca(OH)2 in the apical thirds of all canals were significantly higher as compared with the middle and coronal thirds in all groups (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between different files and techniques (p > 0.05). Clinical Significance: This study presents a new method for the removal of Ca(OH)2 from root canals.
A comparison of methods for determining proximate carbon fractions of forest litter

Ten forest litters with decomposition state varying from 16.6 to 100% weight remaining were partitioned into sub-samples; each subsample was analyzed for proximate carbon fractions using one of two chemical analysis procedures (forage fiber and forest products analyses). Proximate carbon fractions from the simpler forage fiber techniques accurately estimated extractives, cellulose, lignin, and acid-hydrolyzed carbohydrates (R2 > 0.83) determined by the more complex forest products analyses. Decomposition state accounted for most of the residual variance and significantly improved predictive equations for lignin and extractives. The relationship between proximate carbon fractions from the different techniques also varied somewhat among wood, hardwood leaves, and conifer leaves; however, variations were minor relative to the overall trend. Equations developed can be used to extend data availability for developing and validating decomposition models.
Pharmacy leadership during emergency preparedness: Insights from the Middle East and South Asia

Disclaimer: In an effort to expedite the publication of articles related to the COVID-19 pandemic, AJHP is posting these manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time.
Approaching High-Accuracy Side Effect Prediction of Traditional Chinese Medicine Compound Prescription Using Network Embedding and Deep Learning

In this paper, we realize high-accuracy side-effect prediction of Traditional Chinese Medicine Compound Prescription by introducing network embedding and deep learning. A random walk network that could efficiently interpret the information in the prescription is established from a conventional Bag-of-Word network. After the validation of this random walk network, the highest prediction accuracy reaches 0.908 where a simple five-layer artificial neural network is implemented, rendering this method is promising for Traditional Chinese Medicine side-effect prediction and other medicines with a similar structure such as the compound drugs.
INFLUENCE OF IRRADIANCE ON THE FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF PHYTOPLANKTON 1

Eight species of marine phytoplankton commonly used in aquaculture were grown under a range of photon flux densities (PEDs) and analyzed for their fatty acid (FA) composition. Fatty and composition changed considerably at different PFDs although no consistent correlation between the relative proportion of a single FA and μ or chl a · cell−1 was apparent. Within an individual species the percentage of certain fatty acids covaried with PFDs, growth rate and/or chl a · cell−1. The light conditions which produced the greatest proportion of the essential fatty acids was species specific. Eicosapentaenoic acid. 20:5ω3 increased from 6.1% to 15.5% of the total fatty acids of Chaetoceros simplex Ostenfield grown at PFDs which decreased from 225 μE · m−2· s−1 to 6 μE · m−2· s−1, respectively. Most species had their greatest proportion of 20: 5ω3 at low levels of irradiance. Conversely, docosahexaenoic acid, 22:6ω3, decreased from 9.7% to 3.6% of the total fatty acids in Pavlova lutheri Droop as PFD decreased. The percentage of 22:6ω3 generally decreased with decreasing irradiances. In all diatoms the percentage of 16:0 was significantly correlated with PFD, and in three of five diatoms, with growth rate (μ). Results suggest that fatty acid composition is a highly dynamic component of cellular physiology, which responds significantly to variation in PFD.
The nature and causes of annual fluctuations in numbers of Aphis fabae Scop. on field beans (Vicia faba)

SUMMARY Experiments for nine successive years showed that Aphis fabae Scop. populations on mid-March-sown field beans were either large with peak densities between late June and mid-July or very small with peak densities in early August. It is concluded that the largest populations develop when many plants have been colonized by primary migrants from Euonymus europaeus and temperature and radiation are above average during June and early July, as in the year 1957. Cold, dull weather slows multiplication and decreases the size of the peak population even when there is a large initial colonization, as in 1954. The peak population may also be less than predicted from the initial colonization when natural enemies are exceptionally abundant in early June, as in the year 1960. Yield losses of mid-March-sown crops in years of large A. fabae populations ranged from 53 % in 1954 (peak population of 1260 aphids per plant) to 100% in 1957 (6920 aphids per plant). Small summer populations with peak densities of about 0·2–85 aphids per plant developed on mid-March-sown plots in years when fewer than about 6% of the plants were colonized by primary migrants. Yield losses ranged from 6·3–13·6%. Three years' experiments indicated that crops sown in late April or May are relatively lightly infested in years when large populations develop on mid-March-sown crops. Conversely, they may be relatively heavily infested when the populations on these crops are small, as in 1955 when temperatures and sunshine during July and early August were above average. Small and large early summer populations tend to alternate in successive years. The alternation is upset by hot, sunny weather during July and August, and perhaps September and October, which compresses the population cycle Thus the large and small populations expected from this alternation in 1956 and 1960 developed instead during exceptionally fine weather in late summer 1955 and 1959, converting 1956 and 1960 to years of small and large populations respectively.
Evaluating the Code Encryption Effects on Memory Fault Resilience

In most safety-critical systems, the robustness and the confidentiality of the application code are crucial. Such code is generally stored into Non-Volatile Memories (NVMs) that are prone to faults (e.g., due to radiation effects). Unfortunately, faults affecting the instruction code result very often into Silent Data Corruption (SDC). This condition lets faults remain undetected and it can lead to undesiderable errors that may compromise the system functionality. Thus, it is desirable that the system is able to detect faults affecting the code memory. To overcome this issue, designers often resort to expensive error detection/correction mechanisms. Furthermore, they also adopt memory encryption techniques to prevent unauthorized, hence malicious, access to the code or to protect it from any unauthorized copy. In this paper, we show that the presence of memory encryption alone is able to strongly reduce the probability of SDC, without the need of implementing expensive error detection. We have performed some experiments on the OpenRISC1200 microprocessor in order to evaluate the impact on reliability stemming from different encryption methods.
Variation in root morphology and anatomy among accessions of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) with different genetic backgrounds

Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) has genetic diversification of root characteristics, but this variation has not been elucidated fully with reference to the genetic background. To clarify the differences in root anatomical and morphological traits among different varietal groups of cultivated rice, we analyzed four anatomical traits (root thickness, stele transversal area, total transversal area and number of late metaxylem vessels) and two morphological traits (root length index and ratio of deep rooting) in 59 accessions. A previous principal-coordinate analysis study using data on 179 restriction fragment length polymorphisms classified these accessions into three varietal groups: 13 japonica, 21 indica-I, and 25 indica-II. Based on a principal-components analysis of the six traits, the japonica group had wide variation in root anatomy compared to the two indica groups. In particular, japonica upland rice was characterized by a larger stele and xylem structures. By contrast, the two indica groups had wide variation in root morphology compared to the japonica group. Of the two indica groups, on average, the indica-I accessions had deeper, thicker roots than the indica-II accessions. Our results demonstrate that the japonica and indica groups contain different genetic diversity with respect to their root characteristics.
EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FOR FACTORS MAINTAINING PLANT SPECIES DIVERSITY IN A NEW ENGLAND SALT MARSH

Understanding the processes that maintain species diversity patterns is vital for conserving and managing communities. In this paper, we examine the effect of plant species interactions on the maintenance of plant species number across intertidal zones characterized by different soil conditions in a New England salt marsh community. In this system, plant species number is low in the high intertidal and lower middle intertidal, and high in the upper middle intertidal. To understand the causes of this unimodal pattern of change in species diversity, we experimentally tested for the influence of competition, facilitation, and physical factors across this physical gradient. We established plots with and without plant neighbors, transplanted plant species into these plots, and measured mortality, leaf area, and flower number for a single growing season. We found that competition plays a more important role in the high intertidal habitat by decreasing leaf area and flower production and causing 100% mortality of one of the species tested. In contrast, physical factors are critical in the lower middle intertidal, causing 100% mortality of three of the four species tested, with or without neighbor interactions. In the upper middle intertidal, direct positive interactions were important to the higher species number. Three of the four species had 100% mortality without neighbors but minimal mortality or leaf area loss with neighbors. These positive effects were due to one particular facilitator species, Juncus gerardi L. , which ameliorates the soil conditions that develop in its absence thus allowing other species to co-occur. Without Juncus, our data predict that plant species number would not be as high in the upper middle intertidal. We show that the rise in species number in the upper middle intertidal is dependent on three co-occurring conditions: the absence of a competitive dominant, less harsh physical conditions than the lower middle intertidal, and the presence of a facilitator species.
Efficient NAS Parallel Benchmark Kernels with CUDA

NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPB) are one of the standard benchmark suites used to evaluate parallel hardware and software. There are many research efforts trying to provide different parallel versions apart from the original OpenMP and MPI. Concerning GPU accelerators, there are only the OpenCL and OpenACC available as consolidated versions. Our goal is to provide an efficient parallel implementation of the five NPB kernels with CUDA. Our contribution covers different aspects. First, best parallel programming practices were followed to implement NPB kernels using CUDA. Second, the support of larger workloads (class B and C) allow to stress and investigate the memory of robust GPUs. Third, we show that it is possible to make NPB efficient and suitable for GPUs although the benchmarks were designed for CPUs in the past. We succeed in achieving double performance with respect to the state-of-the-art in some cases as well as implementing efficient memory usage. Fourth, we discuss new experiments comparing performance and memory usage against OpenACC and OpenCL state-of-the-art versions using a relative new GPU architecture. The experimental results also revealed that our version is the best one for all the NPB kernels compared to OpenACC and OpenCL. The greatest differences were observed for the FT and EP kernels.
THE INFLUENCE OF FEEDING LEVEL DURING LACTATION ON THE OCCURRENCE AND ENDOCRINOLOGY OF THE POSTWEANING ESTRUS IN SOWS

Two experiments were performed with 78 second parity Lacombe sows to determine the influence of nutrition on reproductive performance. During a lactation of 35 d sows were fed daily either 3 (L) or 6 kg (H) of a diet having 16% crude protein and 12.5 MJ DE kg−1. For exp. 1, six L- and six H-fed sows were given an intravenous injection of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) at 21 d of lactation and blood was sampled at −30, −10, 0, 10, 20, 30, 45, 90 and 120 min from the time of injection. Prestimulation luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were lower for L-fed than for the H-fed sows (1.34 ± 0.1 vs. 1.93 ± 0.2 ng mL−1' P < 0.02). Peak LH levels achieved after UnKH injection, however, did not differ significantly (5.0 ± 0.6 and 5.8 ± 0.5 ng mL−1 for L and H sows, respectively). In exp. 2, 38 sows were fed the H and 40 fed the L level of feed throughout a 5-wk lactation. As expected, low-level feeding in lactation resulted in a greater body weight and backfat loss (17.4 ± 1.6 vs 41.2 ± 2.3 kg and 3.2 ± 0.4 vs.
Sublethal effects of essential oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume on life expectancy (ex) and age-specific fertility (mx) of two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is one of the most important pests of agricultural products that have a global distribution. Now, the control is dependent on the use of chemical pesticides. The effects of the sublethal concentrations (LC10 and LC25) of the essential oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum were evaluated on some parameters of the life table of the pest, at the constant temperature of 30 °C, relative humidity of 40 ± 5% and photoperiod of 16L: 8D. Our results showed that the essential oil of cinnamon is effective on female adult stage. Lethal concentration at which 50% mortality (LC50) for the essential oils is from C. zeylanicum on female adult mite was 23.39 μl/L air. Sublethal concentrations of the essential oil of C. zeylanicum also impair the natural biology of the mite. Concentrations of sublethal of essential oil decreased age-specific fertility (mx) of T. urticae compared with the control. Sublethal concentrations (LC10 and LC25) have reduced the life expectancy (ex) in egg stage. Sublethal effects of the essential oil of C. zeylanicum and its impact on T. urticae management are discussed.
Multiobjective Grey Prediction Evolution Algorithm for Environmental/Economic Dispatch Problem

The environmental/economic dispatch (EED) problem, as one of the most important optimization problems in power systems operations, is a highly constrained, nonlinear, multiobjective optimization problem. Multiobjective evolutionary algorithms have become effective tools for solving the EED problem. To obtain higher quality Pareto solutions for EED as well as further improve the uniformity and diversity of the Pareto set, this paper proposes a novel multiobjective evolutionary algorithm, namely multiobjective grey prediction evolution algorithm (MOGPEA). The MOGPEA first develops a novel grey prediction evolution algorithm (GPEA) based on the even grey model (EGM(1,1)). Unlike other evolutionary algorithms, the GPEA considers the population series of evolutionary algorithms as a time series and uses the EGM(1,1) model to construct an exponential function as a reproduction operator for obtaining offspring. In addition, the MOGPEA adopts two learning strategies to improve the uniformity and diversity of the Pareto optimal solutions of the EED. One is a leader-updating strategy based on the maximum distance of each solution in an external archive, and the other is a leader-guiding strategy based on one solution of each external archive. To validate the effectiveness of the MOGPEA, a standard IEEE 30-bus 6-generator test system (with/without considering losses) is studied with fuel cost and emission as two conflicting objectives to be simultaneously optimized. The experimental results are compared with those obtained using a number of algorithms reported in the literature. The results reveal that the MOGPEA generates superior Pareto optimal solutions of the multiobjective EED problem. Matlab_Codes of this article can be found in https://github.com/Zhongbo-Hu/Prediction-Evolutionary-Algorithm-HOMEPAGE.
Inhibition of Enzyme Secretion in Plant Pathogens by Mepanipyrim, a Novel Fungicide

Abstract Mepanipyrim, N -(4-methyl-6-prop-1-ynylpyrimidin-2-yl) aniline, strongly affected the infection process of Botrytis cinerea , a causative fungus of gray mold diseases. Mepanipyrim did not inhibit the activity of host-cell wall degrading enzymes (cutinase, pectinase, cellulase) of B. cinerea , which play an important role in the infection process. However, it prevented the secretion of these enzymes, leading to their intracellular accumulation. Secretory repression of host-cell wall degrading enzymes is assumed to cause depression of infectious activity and it is suggested to be an important mechanism in mepanipyrim disease control. Mepanipyrim also prevented the secretion of lipase, protease, and invertase of B. cinerea . The results suggest that mepanipyrim affects the intracellular transport process of secretory proteins.