Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Satellite-Based Estimation of Carbon Dioxide Budget in Tropical Peatland Ecosystems

Tropical peatland ecosystems are known as large carbon (C) reservoirs and affect spatial and temporal patterns in C sinks and sources at large scales in response to climate anomalies. In this study, we developed a satellite data-based model to estimate the net biosphere exchange (NBE) in Indonesia and Malaysia by accounting for fire emissions (FE), ecosystem respiration (Re), and gross primary production (GPP). All input variables originated from satellite-based datasets, e.g., the precipitation of global satellite mapping of precipitation (GSMaP), the land surface temperature (LST) of the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), the photosynthetically active radiation of MODIS, and the burned area of MODIS fire products. First, we estimated the groundwater table (GWT) by incorporating LST and precipitation into the Keetch–Byram Drought Index (KBDI). The GWT was validated using in-situ measurements, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 24.97 cm and an r-squared (R2) of 0.61. The daily GWT variations from 2002 to 2018 were used to estimate respiration (Re) based on a relationship between the in situ GWT and flux-tower-observed Re. Fire emissions are a large direct source of CO2 from terrestrial ecosystems into the atmosphere and were estimated by using MODIS fire products and estimated biomass. The GPP was calculated based on the MODIS GPP product after parameter calibration at site scales. As a result, averages of long-term (17 years) Re, GPP, FE, and NBE from whole peatlands in the study area (6°N–11°S, 95–141°E) were 66.71, 39.15, 1.9, and 29.46 Mt C/month, respectively. We found that the NBE from tropical peatlands in the study area was greater than zero, acting as a C source. Re and FE were influenced by El Niño, and the value of the NBE was also high in the El Niño period. In future studies, the status of peatland degradation should be clarified in detail to accurately estimate the C budget by applying appropriate algorithms of Re with delineations of types of anthropogenic impacts (e.g., drainages and fires).
The myth of knowledge within a robust nutrition online training course

The purpose of this paper was to develop a predictor model for an online nutrition course on sugar reduction. The proposed model is based on health knowledge, healthy behavior, social support, self-efficacy, attitude and the health belief model in relation to people’s behavior within a Facebook group. Subsequently, the model can be used to design a robust online training course for human resources, thereby reducing the training costs which managers have experienced as being expensive. ,A single pre-post experimental group design was used. Pre and post data were collected from 100 Facebook users using an online questionnaire, within a three-week intervention. ,The results show a significant difference between pre- and post-test scores of health knowledge and healthy behavior, indicating an effective intervention. In addition, perceived barriers, attitude, self-efficacy and emotional support were significant predictors of the healthy behavior model, predicting 70 percent of healthy behavior. However, knowledge had no significant relationship with any of the three dependent variables (self-efficacy, attitude and healthy behavior) proposed. ,This model has proved to be an effective intervention which can be used in online training of human resources, because the content of the training is known from the predictor model, thereby greatly reducing the training cost, since everything is done online. Moreover, the provided model and predictors show that the content to be delivered in the training program is not knowledge but perceived barriers, attitude, self-efficacy and emotional support. ,This study is one of the first to propose an integrative model that suggests attitude and self-efficacy as key predictors of healthy behavior whereas knowledge is not.
An End-To-End Bayesian Segmentation Network Based on a Generative Adversarial Network for Remote Sensing Images

Due to the development of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs), great progress has been made in semantic segmentation recently. In this paper, we present an end-to-end Bayesian segmentation network based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) for remote sensing images. First, fully convolutional networks (FCNs) and GANs are utilized to realize the derivation of the prior probability and the likelihood to the posterior probability in Bayesian theory. Second, the cross-entropy loss in the FCN serves as an a priori to guide the training of the GAN, so as to avoid the problem of mode collapse during the training process. Third, the generator of the GAN is used as a teachable spatial filter to construct the spatial relationship between each label. Some experiments were performed on two remote sensing datasets, and the results demonstrate that the training of the proposed method is more stable than other GAN based models. The average accuracy and mean intersection (MIoU) of the two datasets were 0.0465 and 0.0821, and 0.0772 and 0.1708 higher than FCN, respectively.
Trends in the National and Regional Transitional Dynamics of Land Cover and Use Changes in Romania

The crucial importance of land cover and use changes, components of the ‘global changes’, for the worldwide sustainable and resilient development results from their negative influence on ecosystem services, biodiversity, and human welfare. Ongoing debates concerning whether the global drivers are more important than the local ones or which are the most prominent driving forces and effects are still ongoing at the global level. In Europe, the patterns of land cover and use changes differ between the west and the east. Property restitution was an important driver of change in Eastern Europe and especially in Romania. This study aimed to look at the land cover and use changes in Romania by their transitional dynamic using Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) data in an attempt to identify long-term spatially and temporally consistent trends. Although generally inconsistent, the results indicate that deforestation and urbanization tend to prevail over other changes, and the development of agriculture slows its pace. Such findings are consequences of unplanned development associated with little environmental awareness. The presence of hotspots where land cover and use changes seem to be clustered can be seen as a feature of ex-socialist countries undergoing economic transition.
Discovery and Analysis About the Evolutionof Service Composition Patterns

Service ecosystems, consisting of various kinds of services and mashups, usually keep evolving over time. Existing works on the evolution of service ecosystems focus on either evaluating the impacts of single services’ changes on the usage of services and the stability of the whole ecosystem, or discovering co-occurrence relationship between services, but fail to disclose any knowledge from the aspect of the evolution of service composition patterns. Based on our previous work, this paper moves one step further, revealing the latent service composition trends in a service ecosystem and providing more distinct explanation of different topic evolution patterns. A novel methodology, named Extended Dependency-Compensated Service Co-occurrence LDA (EDC-SeCo-LDA), is developed to calculate the directed dependencies between different topics and build topic evolution graph. The evolution trend Journal of Web Engineering, Vol. 18 7, 579–626.
Cross-Comparison between Landsat 8 (OLI) and Landsat 7 (ETM+) Derived Vegetation Indices in a Mediterranean Environment

Landsat 8 is the most recent generation of Landsat satellite missions that provides remote sensing imagery for earth observation. The Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images, together with Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared sensor (TIRS) represent fundamental tools for earth observation due to the optimal combination of the radiometric and geometric images resolution provided by these sensors. However, there are substantial differences between the information provided by Landsat 7 and Landsat 8. In order to perform a multi-temporal analysis, a cross-comparison between image from different Landsat satellites is required. The present study is based on the evaluation of specific intercalibration functions for the standardization of main vegetation indices calculated from the two Landsat generation images, with respect to main land use types. The NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), NDWI (Normalized Difference Water Index), LSWI (Land Surface Water Index), NBR (Normalized Burn Ratio), VIgreen (Green Vegetation Index), SAVI (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index), and EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) have been derived from August 2017 ETM+ and OLI images (path: 188; row: 32) for the study area (Basilicata Region, located in the southern part of Italy) selected as a highly representative of Mediterranean environment. Main results show slight differences in the values of average reflectance for each band: OLI shows higher values in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength for all the land use types, while in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) the ETM+ shows higher reflectance values. High correlation coefficients between different indices (in particular NDVI and NDWI) show that ETM+ and OLI can be used as complementary data. The best correlation in terms of cross-comparison was found for NDVI, NDWI, SAVI, and EVI indices; while according to land use classes, statistically significant differences were found for almost all the considered indices calculated with the two sensors.
A LSTM Algorithm Estimating Pseudo Measurements for Aiding INS during GNSS Signal Outages

Aiming to improve the navigation accuracy during global navigation satellite system (GNSS) outages, an algorithm based on long short-term memory (LSTM) is proposed for aiding inertial navigation system (INS). The LSTM algorithm is investigated to generate the pseudo GNSS position increment substituting the GNSS signal. Almost all existing INS aiding algorithms, like the multilayer perceptron neural network (MLP), are based on modeling INS errors and INS outputs ignoring the dependence of the past vehicle dynamic information resulting in poor navigation accuracy. Whereas LSTM is a kind of dynamic neural network constructing a relationship among the present and past information. Therefore, the LSTM algorithm is adopted to attain a more stable and reliable navigation solution during a period of GNSS outages. A set of actual vehicle data was used to verify the navigation accuracy of the proposed algorithm. During 180 s GNSS outages, the test results represent that the LSTM algorithm can enhance the navigation accuracy 95% compared with pure INS algorithm, and 50% of the MLP algorithm.
Adaptive Near-Infrared and Visible Fusion for Fast Image Enhancement

Near-infrared (NIR) band sensors capture digital images of scenes under special conditions such as haze, fog, overwhelming light or mist, where visible (VS) band sensors get occluded. However, the NIR images contain poor textures and colors of different objects in the scene, on the contrary to the VS images. In this article, we propose a simple yet effective fusion approach that combines both VS and NIR images to produce an enhanced fused image that contains better scene details and similar colors to the VS image. The proposed approach first estimates a fusion map from the relative difference of local contrasts of the VS and NIR images. Then, the approach extracts non-spectral spatial details from the NIR image and finally, the extracted details are weighted according to the fusion map and injected into the VS image to produce the enhanced fused image. The proposed approach adaptively transfers the useful details from the NIR image that contributes to the enhancement of the fused image. It produces realistic fused images by preserving the colors of the VS image and constitutes simple and non-iterative calculations with $\mathcal {O}(n)$ complexity. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is experimentally verified by comparisons to four different state-of-the-art VS-NIR fusion approaches in terms of computational complexity and quality of the obtained enhanced fused images. The quality is evaluated using two-color distortion measures and a novel aggregation of several blind image quality assessment measures. The proposed approach shows superior performance as it produces enhanced fused images and preserves the quality even when the NIR images suffer from loss of texture or blurriness degradations, with acceptable fast execution time. Source code of the proposed approach is available online.
DDDT_A_233283 4053..4063

Xiang Wang Yu Wang 2 Yiyi Zhu 1 Luxia Yan 1 Liandong Zhao 1 1Department of Neurology, Xuzhou Medical University Affiliated Hospital of Huaian, Huai’an, Jiangsu Province 223002, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Pukou Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210000, People’s Republic of China Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a leading cause of dementia, becomes a serious health issue for individuals and society around the world. AD is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and the loss of large numbers of neurons. To date, there is no effective treatment for AD, and thus, to enhance neurogenesis in the AD brain may be a therapeutic strategy. RAS signaling pathway involves in synaptic plasticity and memory formation, which is overexpressed in brains with AD. This study used Aβ1-42-injected mice (Aβ1-42-mice) as the AD model to investigate the effects of S-trans, trans-farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS), a synthetic Ras inhibitor, on the impairment of neurogenesis and the spatial cognitive deficits. Materials and methods: AD model mice were manufactured through intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ1-42. Morris water maze (MWM) was performed to evaluate the capacity of spatial memory, and Nissl staining was applied to assess neuronal damage in the hippocampus CA1. Immunohistochemistry of 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU), BrdU/neuronal nuclei (NeuN), and doublecortin (DCX) were used to detect progenitor cell proliferation, maturation, and neurite growth, respectively. And the expression levels of RAS, ERK/ERK phosphorylation (p-ERK) and CREB/CREB phosphorylation (p-CREB) were detected by Western blot. Results: The results demonstrated that FTS could prevent Aβ1-42 to impair survival and neurite growth of newborn neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) in Aβ1-42-mice. Furthermore, behavioral indexes and morphological findings showed that FTS improved the learning and spatial memory abilities of Aβ1-42-mice. In addition, FTS could inhibit the levels of hippocampal p-ERK and p-CREB activated by Aβ, which is the underlying molecular mechanism. Conclusion: In conclusion, these findings suggest that FTS as a RAS inhibitor could be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of AD.
Physics-Based Scenario Modeling for Earthquake-Soil-Structure Interaction of Buildings

To this date, earthquake-soil-structure interaction (ESSI) studies have used detailed models of near surface geology (Yang et al., 2003; Jeremić et al., 2012), with input motions such as planar incident waves or scaled recorded ground motions. There has been no direct inclusion of physics-based finite fault synthetic ground motion in ESSI study cases which simultaneously include nonlinear site and structural response. Ideally a complete ESSI model should include the following: (a) physical model of the source rupture process, (b) propagation of waves through the heterogeneous crust, (c) nonlinear site response, and (d) a detailed structural model of the infrastructure of interest. The domain reduction method (DRM, Yoshimura et al., 2003) reduces the computational demand by replacing the wave propagation inside the crust to only a small neighborhood of interest around the structure, and by applying consistent forces as boundary conditions. These forces are computed from the predicted earthquake wave field, which can be obtained using any method that solves the wave equation at a coarser resolution. Presented is a method which (i) uses the UCSB broadband ground motion simulation method (Schmedes et al., 2013; Crempien and Archuleta, 2015) to produce "scenario" ground motions for analysis, and (ii) uses DRM to input these seismic motions to a model of site and structure. The method is applied to a simple site model which include buildings with different dynamic and geometric properties on the free surface. The structural response and performance metrics such as interstory drift-ratio, maximum floor accelerations, etc., are compared with current modeling strategies.
“The relationship between Job Autonomy, Job Satisfaction and the mediating role of Job Crafting”

Job satisfaction has always been a matter of interest for both employees and employers, because of its profound effects and consequences. Autonomy is a predictor of job satisfaction and becoming more prominent in the workplace. In addition, job autonomy provides the perfect conditions for employees to craft their jobs. The purpose of this study is to further investigate to which extent the relationship between job autonomy and job satisfaction exists. It was also hypothesized that job crafting mediates this relationship between job autonomy and job satisfaction. The study used a cross-sectional design and data was collected from Dutch employees (N=372) in organizations in multiple industries. The results showed a small but significant positive effect between job autonomy and job satisfaction (r=.271, p < .01). Contrary to expectation, no significant mediation effect of job crafting was not found. However, this study did find a partial mediation of increasing job resources (subscale of job crafting) in the relation between job autonomy and job satisfaction.
Analyzing the Online Reputation and Positioning of Airlines

The aim of this study is to propose a methodology to define the positioning of airlines in terms of their online reputation measured with quantitative variables and applied in the airline industry. Reviews shared on the Internet give key information about service quality and value as perceived by customers. To carry out the empirical study, we obtained the information available on TripAdvisor about airlines in Europe, the USA, Canada, and other countries in America, differentiating also between airlines that follow a low-cost strategy and those that do not apply it. The results show that there is a significant difference in key service quality variables between airlines in the different geographical areas studied on the one hand, and the low-cost strategy applied on the other. The variables to be used to conduct the positioning analysis in the airlines are determined. They also show that the methodology has relevant practical implications and provides tools to further develop research related to the online reputation and strategic positioning of airlines.
Degeneration Exists along the Entire Length of the Supraspinatus Tendon in Patients with a Rotator Cuff Tear

Background: The purposes of the study were to examine rotator cuff tendon degeneration with respect to harvesting location, to determine a rationale for debridement of the torn end, and thus, to determine adequate debridement extent. Methods: Twenty-four patients with a full-thickness rotator cuff tear were included in the study. Tendon specimens were harvested during arthroscopic rotator cuff repair from three locations; from torn ends after minimal regularization of fraying (native end group, NE group), from torn ends after complete freshening of the frayed end (freshened end group, FE group), and from the macroscopically intact portion just distal to the musculotendinous junction (musculotendinous junction group, MTJ group). Control samples were harvested from patients admitted for surgery for proximal humerus fracture. Harvested samples were evaluated using a semi-quantitative grading scale. Results: Mean total degeneration scores in the NE group (13.3 ± 3.21), the FE group (12.5 ± 2.30), and in the MTJ group (10.8 ± 3.10) were significantly higher than those in the normal control group (5.0 ± 2.87; all p Conclusions: Tendon degeneration exists throughout the entire tendon to the macroscopically intact portion of full-thickness rotator cuff tear. Therefore, aggressive debridement to grossly normal appearing, bleeding tendon is unnecessary for enhancing healing after repair.
The Waning Gotong-Royong: Assessing the Intergenerational Decline of Social Trust in the Contemporary Indonesia Society

This study aims to investigate the level of differences in the intergenerational social trust in the context of a society in Indonesia – linked to the traditional value of Gotong Royong. The study uses data from the 5th edition of the Indonesia Family Live Survey (IFLS), which was published in 2014 and involving about 24,662 respondents spread across 13 provinces in Indonesia. The variables used are 1) Age variable which is divided into 3 generations (baby boomers’ generation, x generation, and Millennial generation), 2) social trust variables which include a) measure the level of individual trust in their neighbors b) measure the level of individual trust in people of the same ethnic group. c) measure the level of individual trust in people of the same religion. The ANOVA test for data shows a downward trend in the level of social trust between baby boomers, generation X, and millennials; which means it is explained as a change in the value of cooperation in the rapid transformation of Indonesian society.
Genetic Aspects of Some First Lactation Traits of Holstein Cows in Egypt

Data on first lactation records of 696 pure Holstein cows presenting 73 sires and 565 dams raised at El-yoser private farm, 51 km south east of Alexandria, between 1995-2005 were utilized to study the genetic aspects of first lactation total milk yield (TMY), 305-days milk yield (305-DMY), lactation period (LP), first service period (FSP) and days open (DO). The least squares analysis with unequal subclass numbers indicated that the overall means of TMY, 305-DMY, LP, FSP and DO were 10341.8 kg, 8455.4 kg, 391.2 day 127.0 day and 181.4 day, respectively. Genetic and phenotypic parameters and breeding values for studied traits were estimated by MTDFREML with multiple-traits animal models. Heritability estimates were 0.44, 0.42, 0.48, 0.28 and 0.54 for TMY, 305-DMY, LP, FSP and DO, respectively. The genetic correlations were positive ranging from 0.03 to 0.35 except that between TMY and DO was negative (-0.31). Correlations among all traits were highly significant except those between TMY and FSP (0.03) and between LP and DO (0.05) were not significant. The breeding values for TMY, 305-DMY, LP, FSP and DO of cows ranged between -3474.0 and 4416.7and -2567.2 and 2332.0 kg, and between -59.1 and 109.7, -42.0 and 32.3 and -48.0 and 33.7 days, respectively. The corresponding values for dams were between –3582.2 and 5088.1 and -2964.8 and 2368.5 kg, and between -74.7 and 99.3, -19.5 and 18.5 and -27.4 and 16.0 days, respectively. The breeding values for sires were between 4012.3 and 2824.1 and -3069.0 and 1536.5 kg, and between -80.7 and 80.3, -16.1 and 15.1 and -14.7 and 19.9 days for the respective traits. The genetic trends estimated by the regression of sires breeding values on time were negative and nonsignificant for all traits under investigation. Selection with high emphasis on TMY likely will not affect reproductive efficiency since its genetic correlations with FSP and DO approached zero or were mildly negative. Also, the results indicate the need for designing an effective selection programme to improve performance traits of cows in this herd.