Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deep learning-based dead pine tree detection from unmanned aerial vehicle images

ABSTRACT Understanding the spatial distribution of dead pine trees (DPTs) in mountainous areas is vital for diseased wood cleanup and the prediction of pine wilt disease. The study induced a deep learning (DL) model of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for the DPT detection using unmanned aerial vehicle images. Two thousand manually labelled DPT and Non-DPT samples were collected to train (80%) and optimize (20%) the CNNs of AlexNet and GoogLeNet, and 768 samples from other three areas were used to predict the categories in Jinjiang, Fujian, southeastern China. The same dataset was used to compare the classification accuracy between CNNs and the traditional template matching (TM) method. In addition, the potential factors influencing the overall accuracy of the DL model for DPT detection were evaluated. Training results of AlexNet and GoogLeNet showed an accuracy of over 93.30% and 97.38% respectively for the top-1 test after the final training iteration. For the DPT classification in the prediction areas of pure forests, the TM method showed the 56–65% of overall accuracy while CNNs showed 65–80%. CNNs-based DPT detection was more accurate than the traditional TM method. Terrains and red broadleaf trees influence the CNNs-based DPT detection from aerial visible-images in mixed artificial forest and peaks areas.
A New Transformerless Quadratic Boost Converter with High Voltage Gain

ABSTRACT This paper presents a new single-stage, nonisolated dc to dc boost converter with quadratic voltage gain for low and medium power applications. The attractive features of the topology are that it is having a simple structure with a single switch and its gain is twice that of a conventional quadratic boost converter (CQBC). The fact that it utilizes a single switch makes the practical implementation of the converter easy, as only one gate pulse is needed to control the switch. The other advantage of the proposed converter is that coupled inductor is not used in this topology. The coupled inductor is helpful in increasing the gain of the converters but at higher duty ratios the energy trapped in leakage inductance can increase the stress across the switch. The converter operates in continuous current mode (CCM) which makes it an attractive choice for renewable energy applications. The topology is compared with other existing topologies of quadratic gain converters. The efficiency of the proposed converter is determined by incorporating switching and conduction losses of various components through power loss data given in datasheet of MOSFET and diodes using PLECS which is a simulation software specially designed for carrying out the loss analysis of power electronics converters. A 100 W prototype of the proposed converter is developed in the lab. The experimental results closely agree with simulation and theoretical results.
A Simple and Energy-Efficient Flooding Scheme for Wireless Routing

In many wireless networks, such as ad hoc, sensor, and delay-tolerant networks, the destination node is determined from the source node by the flooding process. Flooding efficiency is important for nodes, because they are driven by limited batteries. In this paper, we propose a simple flooding scheme to transmit a route request (RREQ) message based on the remaining power of its own node without using control packets and complex calculations. We applied the proposed scheme to ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol as an example and carried out computer simulations (ns3). The results showed that the proposed scheme was superior to conventional schemes in static and mobile scenarios. First, we showed the limit of node density that causes the decrease of throughput in the proposed scheme and that the proposed scheme was superior in terms of energy efficiency (bits/J), including throughput and energy consumption. Next, as the number of flooding times is made uniform in the proposed scheme, all nodes will have almost the same battery replacement time. As a result, when the nodes are static, the lifetime in the proposed scheme is longer than that in the conventional scheme.
Effects of Low Pressure Storage on Fruits Quaity

Effects of the low pressure storage on the keeping quality of fruit were studied with tomato, peach, satsuma mandarine and apple fruits. These fruits were stored using closed and aerated types of storage. Tomato and peach fruits were stored at 90 and 30 Torr in the closed type and at 380, 190 and 76 Torr in the aerated type. Satsuma mandarine and apple fruits were stored at 380, 190 and 76 Torr in both closed and aerated types. Normal pressure storage was used as control. Storage temperature was 11--12°C with tomato and peach fruits, and 6-7°C with satsuma mandarine and apple fruit. Effects of low pressure on respiration and ethylene production of apple fruits were also studied. 1. Weight loss In all kinds of fruits, weight loss was less in the storage of closed type and greater in that of aerated type than in the normal pressure storage, and wilting of the skin was found at 190 and 76 Torr in the storage of aerated type. 2. Fruit firmness and coloring of the skin In the storage of closed and aerated types, softening was retarded in tomato, peach and apple fruits and coloring of the skin and yellowing of the skin ground color were also retarded in tomato and peach fruits. While, in satsuma mandarine fruit, rind puffing, pitting and yellowing of the albedo were found at 76 Torr in the storage of aerated type. 3. Sugar content and acidity With tomato fruit, increase in the sugar content and decrease in the acidity were retarded in the low pressure storage of both closed and aerated types. With peach and apple fruits, decrease in the sugar content was retarded in the storage of aerated type, and with apple fruit, flesh browning and consequently, decrease in the acidity were found in that of closed type. 4. Ethanol content With peach and apple fruits, ethanol content increased in the storage of closed type but was retarded in that of aerated type. With satsuma mandarine fruit, high ethanol content was found at lower pressures in the storage of aerated type. 5. Respiration and ethylene production With apple fruit, accumulations of CO2 and C2H4 were much less in the low pressure storage than normal pressure storage. Evolutions of them after transferred to the normal pressure storage were lower in the fruit which had been stored at lower pressures. Thus, with tomato, peach and apple fruits, the storage at 190-76 Torr proved to be effective in retardation of over ripening, although with satsuma mandarine fruit, it showed no clear effect.
The use of machine learning in sport outcome prediction: A review

The increase in the volume of structured and unstructured data related to more than just sport events leads to the development and increased use of techniques that extract information and employ machine‐learning algorithms in predicting process outcomes based on input but not necessarily output data. Taking sports into consideration, predicting outcomes, and extracting valuable information has become appealing not only to sports workers but also to the wider audience, particularly in the areas of team management and sports betting. The aim of this article is to review the existing machine learning (ML) algorithms in predicting sport outcomes. Over 100 papers were analyzed and only some of these papers were taken into consideration. Almost all of the analyzed papers use some sort of feature selection and feature extraction, most often prior to using the machine‐learning algorithm. As an evaluation method of ML algorithms, researchers, in most cases, use data segmentation with data being chronologically distributed. In addition to data segmentation, researchers also use the k‐cross‐evaluation method. Sport predictions are usually treated as a classification problem with one class being predicted and rare cases being predicted as numerical values. Mostly used ML models are neural networks using data segmentation.
Ekman dynamics variability along the southern coast of Java revealed by satellite data

ABSTRACT It has been widely known that the coastal upwelling along the southern coast of Java is generated by southeasterly wind which induces offshore Ekman Mass Transport (EMT) during southeast monsoon. However, the variability of EMT has not been fully described in previous studies. The present study investigated the variability of Ekman dynamics which consist of EMT and Ekman Pumping Velocity (EPV) along the southern coast of Java, based on remotely sensed data. We demonstrated the incongruity between the distribution of southeasterly wind speed and sea surface temperature (SST) during southeast monsoon which is related to the distribution of Ekman dynamics. Offshore EMT at the western region of the southern coast of Java is stronger than offshore EMT at the eastern region. However, stronger offshore EMT at the western part is inhibited by downwelling EPV while weaker offshore EMT at the eastern part is accelerated by upwelling EPV. Consequently, SSTs at the eastern parts are lower than those at the western parts. Thus, the changes of offshore EMT intensity from eastern to western parts are balanced by their EPV distributions which explain the incongruity between the distribution of wind speed and SST during southeast monsoon. On an interannual timescale, the combination of La Niña and negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events tends to weaken offshore EMT and EPV which reduce the intensity of Chl-a bloom and SST cooling during southeast monsoon season. Furthermore, ENSO has a less significant impact on the Ekman dynamics variability than IOD.
Introgressive hybridization in cultured tilapia stocks in the Philippines.

Tilapia populations, assumed by culturists to be Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, were sampled from five farms and one research center around Laguna de Bay, Philippines and their identity were investigated by starch gel electrophoresis of polymorphic and monomorphic isozymes and by isoelectric focusing of sarcoplasmic protein markers. A reference stock of O. mossambicus from natural waters was similarly examined.Data from morphological characters were inconclusive. However, from 20 biochemical loci investigated, five isozyme and two sarcoplasmic protein loci were found to be reliable species specific markers and from this evidence the introgressive hybridization by O. mossambicus was found in all the assumed Nile tilapia populations. The percentage of pure O. niloticus individuals with no O. mossambicus biochemical markers ranged from 0-40 between populations. Individuals heterozygous for all the biochemical marker loci (assumed to be F1 hybrids) were rare. The mean percentage frequency of O. mossambicus marker alleles in the six populations was 13.6 (range 8.2 to 17.9). Their genic variabilities, indicated by proportion of polymorphic loci (P=0.30 to 0.40) and mean expected heterozygosity (He=0.047 to 0.104), were almost all higher than published values for Egyptian O. niloticus (P=0.18, He=0.061). For the Philippine O. mossambicus examined and for wild Egyptian fish, the respective values of P and He were 0.10 and 0.021 compared to 0.05 and 0.002. For the six Philippine O. niloticus populations, the ratios of observed to expected heterozygosities (Ho:He) were all>1.000 (range 1.021 to 1.103). The importance of conservation of tilapia genetic resources, the need to ascertain the identity of farmed and experimental populations, the provision of single species and hybrid seed for culturists and future approaches to genetic improvement are discussed relative to these results,
Design of the IBM z15 microprocessor

The latest-generation IBM Z processor provides enhanced performance and compute capacity compared to its IBM z14 predecessor. This article describes some of the major improvements in both process and design including out-of-order load-and-store sequencing, single-instruction multiple-data and floating point enhancements, a new modulo arithmetic engine for accelerating elliptic curve cryptography, a hardware sort accelerator, and a workflow that modernized the development of these features. Outside of the central processing unit (CPU), the cache sizes have increased on all levels, and each processor chip now contains 12 CPUs. System topology changes have been introduced allowing up to five drawers to exist in a fully populated system. The processor cache subsystem includes numerous improvements in the area of fetch, store, and cache management policies aimed at speeding up both traditional data serving workloads and highly virtualized environments alike.
Geographic Variation of Germination, Growth, and Mortality in Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum): Common Garden and Reciprocal Dispersal Experiments

If current temperature trends continue and increase as predicted by general circulation models, the persistence and migration of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) at its northern limit will become crucial to its continued existence in North America. Specifically, anthropogenic warming may affect germination success and growth of sugar maple. To evaluate this potential limitation, our study addresses two questions. The first involves a growth chamber: Do temperatures at and above (1°, 7°, and 14° C) sugar maple's optimal germination temperature affect its germination? The second involves a common garden: Do sugar maple germination and subsequent growth and mortality rates show evidence of geographic variation under current climatic conditions? While sugar maple germinated successfully at 7° C in the lab, field results suggest that other environmental variables may limit its future establishment as climate changes. Germination of seeds from sugar maple's northern range limit was significantly reduced under warmer conditions, and subsequent seedling mortality rates were significantly increased when grown at a more southerly latitude. Local adaptation was evident with respect to germination, survival, and growth in the field. Ultimately, results from this study further the understanding of how predicted anthropogenic climate change may affect the regeneration of sugar maple in the future.
Physiological and Behavioral Responses to Vocalization Playback in Mice

In mice, the caller’s production of social vocalizations has been extensively studied but the effect of these vocalizations on the listener is less understood, with playback studies to date utilizing one vocalization category or listeners of one sex. This study examines how several categories of mouse vocalizations affect listeners of both sexes to better understand the communicative functions of these vocal categories. We examined physiological and behavioral responses of male and female CBA/CaJ mice to playback of four social vocalization categories: ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs), low-frequency harmonic calls, mid-frequency vocalizations, and noisy calls. Based on the conditions under which these calls are emitted, we hypothesized that playback of these vocal categories would have differential effects on the listeners. In females, playback of all four vocalization categories increased stress hormone levels (corticosterone), but only the non-USV categories increased corticosterone in males. The magnitude of corticosterone increase in non-USV trials was greater in females than in males. In open field tests, all four vocal categories decreased central ambulation in males and females, indicating an increase in anxiety-related behavior. Further, we found that the proportions of USVs emitted by subjects, but not their overall calling rates, were affected by playback of some vocal categories, suggesting that vocalization categories have different communication content. These results show that, even in the absence of behavioral and acoustic contextual features, each vocal category evokes physiological and behavioral responses in mice, with some differences in responses as a function of the listener’s sex and playback signal. These findings suggest that at least some of the vocal categories have distinct communicative functions.
Study Protocol for the COVID-19 Pandemic Adjustment Survey (CPAS): A Longitudinal Study of Australian Parents of a Child 0–18 Years

Background The COVID-19 pandemic presents significant risks to the mental health and wellbeing of Australian families. Employment and economic uncertainty, chronic stress, anxiety, and social isolation are likely to have negative impacts on parent mental health, couple and family relationships, as well as child health and development. Objective This study aims to: (1) provide timely information on the mental health impacts of the emerging COVID-19 crisis in a close to representative sample of Australian parents and children (0–18 years), (2) identify adults and families most at risk of poor mental health outcomes, and (3) identify factors to target through clinical and public health intervention to reduce risk. Specifically, this study will investigate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increased risk for parents’ mental health, lower well-being, loneliness, and alcohol use; parent-parent and parent-child relationships (both verbal and physical); and child and adolescent mental health problems. Methods The study aims to recruit a close to representative sample of at least 2,000 adults aged 18 years and over living in Australia who are parents of a child 0–4 years (early childhood, N = 400), 5–12 years (primary school N = 800), and 13–18 years (secondary school, N = 800). The design will be a longitudinal cohort study using an online recruitment methodology. Participants will be invited to complete an online baseline self-report survey (20 min) followed by a series of shorter online surveys (10 min) scheduled every 2 weeks for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., estimated to be 14 surveys over 6 months). Results The study will employ post stratification weights to address differences between the final sample and the national population in geographic communities across Australia. Associations will be analyzed using multilevel modeling with time-variant and time-invariant predictors of change in trajectory over the testing period. Conclusions This study will provide timely information on the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on parents and children in Australia; identify communities, parents, families, and children most at risk of poor outcomes; and identify potential factors to address in clinical and public health interventions to reduce risk.
Synthesis and Anti-Rhinovirus 1B Activity of Oxazolinylflavans

Two series of flavans were synthesized, the first substittued at 4′ and/or 6 position with chlorine and cyano groups, and the second one with chlorine and/or oxazoline rings. The new compounds were tested in vitro against human rhinovirus 1B (HRV 1B) infection of HeLa cells by measuring the effect on the development of viral cytopathic effect and plaque formation. The compounds including both chlorine and cyano groups were the most active; 4′-(4,5-dihydro-2-oxazolyl)-6-chloroflavan was the most potent inhibitor among the oxazoline derivatives.
Neurological Symptoms as Initial Manifestation of Covid-19 – An Observational Study

Background: Respiratory system involvement and fever are considered as a cardinal manifestation of Covid-19 infection for the screening of case detection. We (India) are into the fourth month of Covid-19 and cases are still rising, this could mean that fever and respiratory symptoms may not be the only initial symptoms. Therefore, we intend to investigate whether neurological symptoms can precede the cardinal symptoms. Methods: Totally, 391 Covid-19 RTPCR positive hospitalized patients were enrolled. All included subjects were presented with a questionnaire pertaining to systemic symptoms. For analysis of the chronology of symptoms, the study population was sub-grouped according to onset of their systemic involvement e.g., (1) Fever (2) Respiratory symptoms (3) Neurological symptoms (4) Gastrointestinal symptoms. Results: New-onset neurological symptoms were found in 106 (27.1%) out of 391 patients irrespective of their chronology to the onset of other symptoms. Of these 106 patients, altered taste (33.1%), altered smell (24.5%), and headache (22.6%) were the most common neurological symptoms. However, 38 (9.7%) subjects recognized neurological symptoms, as the initial manifestation of their illness. Mean duration of neurological symptoms before the onset of respiratory symptoms or fever was 2 ± 1.57 days. Conclusion: New-onset headache, altered taste, and smell were the most common neurological symptoms. In the context of the current pandemic, a high index of suspicion should be kept in patients presenting with these symptoms even in the absence of fever and respiratory symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study from India comparing chronology of neurological symptoms with cardinal symptoms.
“Calcified Clot March” after Intravenous Thrombolysis

Thrombus migration in the intracranial circulation is a rare phenomenon and is seen mostly in the cases of middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion. [1] Though this phenomenon has been reported to occur more frequently after intravenous (IV) thrombolysis, some studies disprove the same. [2,3] Most of the literature available suggests that the thrombus migration is associated with fragility of thrombus resulting in failure to achieve thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (TICI) 3 recanalization. Spontaneous migration of the calcified thrombus is still rarer. We report a case of an elderly male patient who presented with complaints of acute onset of left upper limb weakness due to the occlusion of superior division of the right MCA by a calcified embolus lodged at the origin of superior division. Repeat imaging after IV thrombolysis revealed the distal migration of the calcified embolus. We describe this phenomenon as “calcified clot march” sign.
Spinal Tuberculosis Treatment: An Enduring Bone of Contention

Spinal tuberculosis is the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis. It is of great importance to neurologists because of the potentially devastating complication of paraplegia, which may set in during active disease or the healed phase. Due to the deep-seated nature of the disease, definitive diagnosis is often challenging. There is no clear consensus on the appropriate duration of therapy for spinal tuberculosis, with various guidelines recommending treatment from as short as 6 months to up to 18 months. In this article, we present a critical appraisal of the evidence on the same. In our opinion, the duration of antitubercular therapy needs to be individualized and the decision to terminate therapy should be multifactorial (clinical, radiological, pathological/microbiological where possible) rather than being enmeshed within any particular guideline.