Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen Mineralization in Humid Tropical Forest Soils: Mineralogy, Texture, and Measured Nitrogen Fractions

Chemical and physical stabilization of soil organic matter by the interaction of organic compounds with soil clay minerals may affect N mineralization in tropical forest soils. Nitrogen mineralization rates during long-term incubation were determined on soils of several mineralogies collected from native forests in Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. Amounts of N mineralization were related to soil mineralogy, texture, and N fractions in order to determine the effects of these soil components on N mineralization and to evaluate measurements of these components for their use as potential N availability indices. Allophanic soils produced higher cumulative levels of mineralized N and had higher initial levels of several N fractions than soils with smectitic, oxidic, and kaolinitic mineralogies. This mineralogical effect was attributed to greater initial N stabilization in allophonic soils followed by greater N release after the addition of nutrient solution during incubation. Total soil N had the strongest correlation with N mineralization among the N measurements considered in this study. The active N pool, as calculated by a two-pool regression model of cumulative mineralized N, had the highest positive relationships with NH 4 + -N evolved in a 1-wk anaerobic incubation and soluble N. The stable N pool had the strongest correlations with total N and light-fraction N. The relationships between soluble N or NH 4 + -N evolved after a 1-wk anaerobic incubation and N mineralization were affected by soil mineralogy, which suggests the need for further evaluation of potential N availability indices for the effects of soil mineralogy.
PREDICTING THE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF CHISEL PLOW USING NEURAL NETWORK MODEL

This study examines the capability of an artificial neural network (ANN) approach using a backpropagation-learning algorithm to predict performance parameters for a chisel plow at three field sites with differing soils. The draft force, effective field capacity (EFC), fuel consumption rate (FC), overall energy efficiency (OEE), and rate of plowed soil volume (SVR) were predicted at varying plowing speeds, plowing depths, soil moisture contents, soil bulk densities, soil texture indexes, and tractor powers. Collected field data was divided into a training set (for predicting the required parameters) and testing set (for model validation). For the ANN algorithm, the number of hidden layers, neurons, and transfer functions were varied to construct different ANN architectures, which were then verified using various statistical criteria, such as mean absolute error. The results showed that an ANN with one hidden layer and 15 neurons was ideal. The developed ANN model predicted the draft force, EFC, FC, OEE, and SVR of the chisel plow with a mean absolute error of 3.23 kN, 0.80 hah, 3.04 Lh, 2.78% and 1.06 m h, respectively in the testing phase.
Space-time-resolved quantum electrodynamics description of Compton scattering

The standard method for approaching quantum electrodynamic (QED) field theory uses a perturbative S-matrix approach. This approach is explicitly nondynamical and provides only a one-time, static map between an initial state to be evolved by the “full propagator” of a bona-fide interacting field theory and an asymptotically equivalent effective initial state to be evolved by the “free propagator” of the corresponding noninteracting field theory. We provide a detailed derivation of a nonperturbative and dynamical approach to QED that allows one to study the space-time dynamics of electron-photon interactions directly. As an example of this method, we compute the time-resolved dynamics of Compton scattering for a system with a nontrivial spatial structure in only one dimension while restricting to the case of a single electron and at most one photon. This approach retains the massless photon of quantum electrodynamics in contrast to previous approaches that resorted to using massive bosons [T. Cheng, E. R. Gospodarczyk, Q. Su, and R. Grobe, Ann. Phys. 325, 265 (2010)] to represent the photon. The dynamics of Compton scattering are illustrated using joint probability distributions that evolve in time. This information is compared to that provided by the S matrix.
Comparison of well diffusion, disc diffusion and broth dilution methods for antimicrobial activity of Andrographis paniculata herbal gel against acne-associated pathogen

Aims: Acne is a common skin disease among teenagers and also affects other ages. It occurs when the oil and dead skin cells plug into the hair follicles and causing pimples or whitehead. Although antibiotics have been used for many years in treating acne, the widespread use of it has led to the development of bacterial resistant, which resulted in unsuccessful treatment. Thus, in this study, Andrographis paniculata (AP) herbal formulation gel is proposed in order to determine its effectiveness in treating acne. Three different methodologies were used to compare the antimicrobial effect of A. paniculata herbal gel against acne-associated pathogens. Methodology and results: Well diffusion, disc diffusion and broth dilution methods were applied to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of AP herbal gel at concentrations of 1.5% (w/w), 2.5% (w/w) and 5.0% (w/w) onto selected pathogens associated with acne which consisted of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Propionibacterium acnes and Candida albicans. Among the three methods, broth dilution showed the best antimicrobial effect towards all microorganisms used. AP herbal gel at concentration 2.5% (w/w) showed the optimum antimicrobial effect of S. aureus and C. albicans, while 5.0% (w/w) exhibited the best antimicrobial activities for P. acnes and S. epidermidis. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Broth dilution method appears to be a reliable method for the determination of antimicrobial effects for the pathogens tested. In addition, AP herbal formulation gel has great potential to treat acne effectively.
Social Capital and Its Impacts on Prison Life: Is Visitation a Conduit?

This paper examines how social capital prior to incarceration may contribute to experiences during incarceration and whether visitation allows social capital to have protective effects. We investigate, too, whether disadvantages experienced during incarceration by racial and ethnic minorities, women, and individuals in poverty can be explained in part by reduced social capital. We test these ideas using national-level survey data from state prison inmates and a series of regression and mediation analyses. Three main findings emerge: (1) Pre-prison social capital reduces in-prison deviance and improves optimism about reentry. (2) Social capital operates through visitation to reduce social isolation. (3) There is some limited evidence that group disparities in in-prison experiences can be explained by inequalities in social capital.
Low Temperature NOx Decomposition Using Electrochemical Reactor

We attempted to fabricate and evaluate a new electrochemical reactor with an additional NOx adsorption layer on a multilayer catalytic cathode and investigated a cell operating method to achieve a low temperature operation. To clarify the capability of a NOx adsorption layer, we carried out the NOx decomposition measurements of the cell. As a result, NOx adsorption layers have improved the NOx decomposition properties though the current values of each cell were almost the same. The NO decomposition by a GDC (10mol% Gd doped CeO2) -based cell with a Pt/K/Al2O3 adsorbent took onset around 225°. It was clarified that the starting temperature and the efficiency of the NOx decomposition are heavily dependent on the adsorptivity of NOx adsorbent and the cell operating voltage mode.
Coumarins and Polar Constituents from Eupatorium triplinerve and Evaluation of Their α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activity

In our study of antidiabetic compounds from the leaves of Eupatorium triplinerve Vahl. (Asteraceae), ten compounds were isolated from the methanol leaf extract. They were determined to be β-sitosterol (1), stigmasterol (2), β-sitosterol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), ayapanin (4), ayapin (5), thymoquinol 5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), thyrsifloside (8), (E)-4-methoxymelilotoside (9), and kaempferol 3,7-di-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (10) by using ESI-MS, 1D (1H-, 13C-, DEPT) and 2D NMR (HSQC, HMBC, and NOESY) techniques. This is the first report of water-soluble compounds from E. triplinerve and compounds 6–10 were isolated for the first time from E. triplinerve. NMR profiling and HPLC analysis are fast and reliable methods to screen phytochemicals in plant samples. Due to their high concentrations in the leaf extracts of E. triplinerve, coumarins 4 and 5 could be fast screened by NMR profiling and RP-HPLC-PDA analysis. In the in vitro test for α-glucosidase inhibition of compounds 4–9, compounds 4, 5, and 7 showed the enzymatic inhibition of 40%, 46%, and 81%, respectively, at 256 μg/mL. An IC50 value of 58.65 ± 1.20 μg/mL (302 μM) was calculated for compound 7 which is lower than that of the positive control acarbose (IC50 197.33 ± 2.51 μg/mL; 306 μM).
Automatic prediction of treatment outcomes in patients with diabetic macular edema using ensemble machine learning

Background This study aimed to predict the treatment outcomes in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) after 3 monthly anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections using machine learning (ML) based on pretreatment optical coherence tomography (OCT) images and clinical variables. Methods An ensemble ML system consisting of four deep learning (DL) models and five classical machine learning (CML) models was developed to predict the posttreatment central foveal thickness (CFT) and the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). A total of 363 OCT images and 7,587 clinical data records from 363 eyes were included in the training set (304 eyes) and external validation set (59 eyes). The DL models were trained using the OCT images, and the CML models were trained using the OCT images features and clinical variables. The predictive posttreatment CFT and BCVA values were compared with true outcomes obtained from the medical records. Results For CFT prediction, the mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and R2 of the best-performing model in the training set was 66.59, 93.73, and 0.71, respectively, with an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.90 for distinguishing the eyes with good anatomical response. The MAE, RMSE, and R2 was 68.08, 97.63, and 0.74, respectively, with an AUC of 0.94 in the external validation set. For BCVA prediction, the MAE, RMSE, and R2 of the best-performing model in the training set was 0.19, 0.29, and 0.60, respectively, with an AUC of 0.80 for distinguishing eyes with a good functional response. The external validation achieved a MAE, RMSE, and R2 of 0.13, 0.20, and 0.68, respectively, with an AUC of 0.81. Conclusions Our ensemble ML system accurately predicted posttreatment CFT and BCVA after anti-VEGF injections in DME patients, and can be used to prospectively assess the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapy in DME patients.
Multilevel Selection on Offspring Size and the Maintenance of Variation

Multilevel selection on offspring size occurs when offspring fitness depends on both absolute size (hard selection) and size relative to neighbors (soft selection). We examined multilevel selection on egg size at two biological scales—within clutches and among clutches from different females—using an external fertilizing tube worm. We exposed clutches of eggs to two sperm environments (limiting and saturating) and measured their fertilization success. We then modeled environmental (sperm-dependent) differences in hard and soft selection on individual eggs as well as selection on clutch-level traits (means and variances). Hard and soft selection differed in strength and form depending on sperm availability—hard selection was consistently stabilizing; soft selection was directional and favored eggs relatively larger (sperm limitation) or smaller (sperm saturation) than the clutch mean. At the clutch level, selection on mean egg size was largely concave, while selection on within-clutch variance was weak but generally negative—although some correlational selection occurred between these two traits. Importantly, we found that the optimal clutch mean egg size differed for mothers and offspring, suggesting some antagonism between the levels of selection. We thus identify several pathways that may maintain offspring size variation: environmentally (sperm-) dependent soft selection, antagonistic multilevel selection, and correlational selection on clutch means and variances. Multilevel approaches are powerful but seldom-used tools for studies of offspring size, and we encourage their future use.
Variations in mineralogy of dust in an ice core obtained from
northwestern Greenland over the past 100 years

Abstract. Our study is the first to demonstrate a high-temporal-resolution record of mineral composition in a Greenland ice core over the past 100 years. To reconstruct the past variations in the sources and transportation processes of mineral dust in northwestern Greenland, we analyzed the morphology and mineralogical composition of dust in an ice core from 1915 to 2013 using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS). Analysis of the SEM-EDS reveals that the ice core dust mainly consisted of silicate minerals and the composition varied substantially on multi-decadal and inter-decadal scales, suggesting that the geological origin of the ice core minerals changed periodically during the past 100 years. The multi-decadal variation trend differed among mineral types: kaolinite generally formed in low- or middle-latitude areas were abundant in the colder periods (1950 to 2000), whereas mica, chlorite, feldspars, mafic minerals, and quartzes formed in arid, high-latitude, and local areas were abundant in the warmer periods (1915 to 1949 and 2005 to 2013). This indicates that the multi-decadal variation of the relative abundance of the minerals can be attributed to the local temperature changes in Greenland. The trajectory analysis shows that the minerals were mainly transported from the western coast of Greenland in the two warming periods, which was likely due to an increase of dust sourced from local ice-free areas. On the other hand, the abundant kaolinite was likely derived from old sediments at higher latitudes in North America, rather than from low and middle latitudes.
Minimum Snow/Ice Extent over the Northern Circumpolar Landmass in 2000–19: How Much Snow Survives the Summer Melt?

A novel satellite image processing technique developed at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing has been utilized to produce annual time series of the minimum snow/ice (MSI) extent over the northern circumpolar landmass area (9,000 km × 9,000 km) for 2000–19. The information has been derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer 10-day clear-sky composites generated at 250-m spatial resolution over the April–September period. Derived interannual variations agree very well with the warm-season average surface air temperatures from the European reanalysis (ERA5). The region-average correlation coefficient is −0.78. The total MSI extent demonstrated a statistically significant declining trend equal to −1,477 km2 yr−1. Results have been compared with data from the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI 6.0). The comparison points to a significant contribution of minimum seasonal snow cover relative to RGI glacierized areas. Quantitative estimates obtained for the first time showed that the region-average snow extent that survives the summer melt and resides outside of RGI area can be as high as 15% (or 53 × 103 km2) while in the northern Canadian Arctic it can reach 41% (or 43 × 103 km2). The derived MSI time series data can be recommended to the glacier and land-cover scientific community as a source of validation data and annual updates of snow and ice maps over the northern circumpolar landmass.
Interface recombination parameters of atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 on crystalline silicon

We measure the energy-dependent interface recombination parameters at the c-Si/Al2O3 interface using the frequency-dependent conductance technique. The hole capture cross section σp = (4 ± 3) × 10−16 cm2 is energy-independent, whereas the electron capture cross section σn shows a pronounced energy dependence and decreases from (7 ± 4) × 10−15 cm2 at midgap over two orders of magnitude toward the conduction band edge Ec. The capture cross section ratio at midgap is highly asymmetric with σn/σp = 5–70. The interface state density Dit is of the order of 1 × 1011 eV−1 cm−2 at midgap. Besides the main defect, a second type of defect with a capture cross section below 10−19 cm2 is resolved near the valence band edge. Numerical calculations of the injection-dependent effective surface recombination velocity using the measured interface recombination parameters show an excellent agreement with experimental data measured using the photoconductance technique.
Second Language Learners’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of Delayed Immediate Corrective Feedback in an Asynchronous Online Setting An Exploratory Study

Online language courses that rely on asynchronous teacher-learner communication face a practical problem when it comes to the provision of immediate corrective feedback by the teacher in oral interaction tasks. In this learning context, learners can still communicate synchronously and record their interaction without the teacher being present, but feedback by the teacher will be delayed in time. Research indicates that the effectiveness of feedback decreases as the time between the error and the correction increases and that immediate feedback is more effective (Arroyo & Yilmaz, 2018; Shintani & Aubrey, 2016). In this exploratory study conducted at an online university, we implemented a novel type of feedback we referred to as delayed immediate corrective feedback (DICF) and analyzed second language learners’ and teachers’ perceptions regarding its effectiveness and usefulness. Our goal was to assess the feasibility of implementing this type of feedback in our context and, ultimately, in other contexts where communication between teachers and learners takes place asynchronously. DICF was provided by teachers orally via screencast video. Learners and teachers’ perceptions were collected via two separate questionnaires. The results showed that teachers and learners responded positively to DICF and several potential benefits were identified. Les cours de langue en ligne qui s’appuient sur la communication asynchrone enseignant-apprenant rencontrent un probleme pratique quand vient le temps de fournir de la retroaction corrective immediate par l’enseignant lors des tâches d’interaction orale. Dans ce contexte d’apprentissage, les apprenants peuvent toujours communiquer de maniere synchrone et enregistrer leur interaction sans que l’enseignant soit present, mais la retroaction de l’enseignant sera decalee dans le temps. La recherche indique que l’efficacite de la retroaction diminue au fur et a mesure que le temps entre l’erreur et la correction augmente, et que la retroaction immediate est plus efficace (Arroyo & Yilmaz, 2018; Shintani & Aubrey, 2016). Dans cette etude exploratoire menee aupres d’une universite en ligne, nous avons mis en place une nouvelle forme de retroaction, que nous avons appelee retroaction corrective immediate retardee (RCIR), et nous avons analyse les perceptions des apprenants de langue seconde et des enseignants quant a son utilite et a son efficacite. Notre objectif etait d’evaluer la faisabilite de mettre en place ce type de retroaction dans notre contexte, et par extension, dans d’autres contextes ou la communication entre apprenants et enseignants se passe de maniere asynchrone. La RCIR a ete fournie oralement par des enseignants a l’aide de videos d’ecrans. Les perceptions des apprenants et des enseignants ont ete recueillies dans deux questionnaires distincts. Les resultats ont montre qu’apprenants et enseignants ont reagi a la RCIR de maniere positive et plusieurs avantages potentiels ont ete identifies.
Temporal evolution of the radial plasma emissivity profile in HIPIMS plasma discharges

High power impulse magnetron sputtering (HIPIMS) is a plasma vapour deposition technique used for deposition of dense coatings. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of a HIPIMS plasma discharge, time- and wavelength-resolved measurements of the light emitted from the plasma were performed. Lateral images of the HIPIMS plasma were recorded using an ICCD camera with a gate width of 1 µs. For each picture, Abel inversion was performed to compute the radial emissivity profile of the plasma. Band-pass interference filters were used to isolate the desired wavelength in order to observe lines of ions and neutrals of metal and argon (Ar) in HIPIMS plasma discharges with an aluminium (Al), titanium (Ti) or chromium (Cr) target in Ar atmosphere. The result is the temporal evolution of the radial emissivity profile of metal and gas neutrals and singly charged ions.
Evaluation of Targeted Yield Precision Model for Soybean and Toria Crops on Farmers' Fields under Sub-Humid, Sub-Tropical, Northwestern Himalayas

Twenty seven on farm trials were conducted on soybean (Glycine max L.) and toria (Brassica campestris L. ssp oleifera) on farmers' fields during 2003–2006 to verify targeted yield precision models for achieving specific yield targets in the sub-humid, sub-tropical, northwestern Himalayas. Experimental results revealed that grain yield, as well as additional yield gains and additional net profits over the farmers' practice, were higher in targeted yield precision modeled treatments compared to conventional fertilizer recommendations. The cost ratio was also found to be higher (>10) in each targeted yield-led treatment in both of the oilseeds compared to other fertilizer recommendation approaches. The targeted yield precision model for fertilizer recommendations were found to be more precise over other conventional approaches to achieve targeted yields besides higher profits. Studies further revealed that targeted yield approach could work effectively up to 1.5 and 2.0 t ha−1 of targeted yields in soybean and toria crops, respectively, under the sub-humid, sub-tropical, northwestern Himalayas.
Nitrous oxide emissions from soil amended with glucose, alfalfa, or corn residues

Abstract Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions result from the nitrification and denitrification processes, the latter strongly affected by soil organic carbon (C) derived from plant residues. This study addressed two questions: (1) does plant residue C become less available to denitrifiers after a period of aerobic incubation, and (2) do plant residues with smaller particle sizes provide C for higher rates of N2O production due to a faster decomposition rate? Nitrous oxide fluxes from soil amended with alfalfa or corn residues, or glucose were measured in the laboratory using a gas flow‐through chamber system. Soil amended with these C substrates was also subjected to a 5‐d aerobic preincubation treatment. The significance of particle size on C availability was studied by comparing N2O released from soil amended with ground (particle size <1 mm) and large pieces (5‐cm lengths) of alfalfa residues. A 5‐d aerobic preincubation of soil amended with plant residues resulted in reduced N2O production during a subsequent anaerobic period. Results suggested that, due to consumption of the most available substrate, remaining C in plant residues is less available to denitrifiers after a period of aerobic incubation. Higher N2O losses were found with large alfalfa particles than with ground alfalfa.