Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance of Cloud 3D Solvers in Ice Cloud Shortwave Radiation Closure Over the Equatorial Western Pacific Ocean

For retrieving cloud optical properties from satellite images or computing these properties from climate model output, computationally efficient treatments of cloud horizontal inhomogeneity include the Monte Carlo Independent Column Approximation (McICA) and the Tripleclouds method. Computationally efficient treatment of cloud horizontal radiation exchanges includes the SPeedy Algorithm for Radiative TrAnsfer through CloUd Sides (SPARTACUS). As a test to derive properties from satellite images, we collocate Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud retrievals with near‐nadir Cloud and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) footprints in July 2008 over an equatorial western Pacific Ocean region to compare the performance of the McICA, Tripleclouds, and SPARTACUS solvers to the conventional plane‐parallel homogeneous (PPH) treatment. PPH overestimates cloud albedo, and the three solvers effectively reduce overestimation with root mean square error of shortwave upwelling irradiance decreasing between 15.72 and 18.53 W m−2, or about 22%–25%. Although cloud top variability does not get fed into the simulations, all three solvers also reduce the effect of cloud top variability on cloud albedo. Entrapment (energy reflected downward from clouds) and horizontal radiation transfer have opposite effects on the SPARTACUS cloud albedo simulation. The net effect depends on the cloud vertical extent, the unawareness of which limits the performance of the SPARTACUS solver.
Auditory and visual mental imagery in musicians and non-musicians

Mental imagery plays an important role in various contexts of life, involving cognitive resources such as memory, learning, spatial representation, and reasoning. The vividness of mental images depends on different factors, including personal expertise in a certain field. For instance, musicians have been found to possess better auditory imagery abilities than non-musicians for both musical and non-musical sounds. Only a few studies have tried to find out if this advantage is selective for auditory stimuli, however, with contradictory results so far (i.e., some studies supporting an advantage for mental imagery in general and some supporting an advantage for auditory mental imagery in particular). This study therefore investigated auditory and visual mental imagery in individuals with and without formal musical training. Thirty-six formally trained musicians, 33 self-taught musicians, and 33 non-musicians completed two questionnaires assessing the vividness of their auditory and visual mental imagery. They also completed measures of aptitude for music and general cognitive abilities. Both groups of musicians reported greater vividness of auditory (non-musical) imagery, but not visual imagery, than non-musicians. Thus musical experience, regardless of the type of training undergone by musicians, is linked to superior self-reported auditory mental imagery for everyday sounds, but not mental imagery in general.
Putting Geographical Information Science in Place – Towards Theories of Platial Information and Platial Information Systems

Place is a concept that can hardly be formally captured at the moment, as it is unclear how instances of places can formally be represented and how conclusions about places can practically be drawn by technological means. Geographical Information Science scholars hence tend to use the term ‘Place’ even when, in fact, they presume a paradigm similar to the one assumed for Geometrical Space. As a result, Space and thematic information is mostly treated separately, and the richness and variety of Place descriptions in terms of identities, affective states, affordances, and further aspects that have been discussed in Geography since a long time are not (yet) reflected well in corresponding discussions in Geographical Information Science. This article reviews the ongoing debate and outlines directions of how to extend it much beyond the currently assumed spatial paradigm towards platial information. Thereby, possible approaches and future prospects as well as limitations of Theories of Platial Information and Platial Information Systems are explored. The agenda laid out and discussed in this article aims to set a frame of reference for a re-focussing of the ongoing discourse on platial information and stimulate future developments towards a Platial Information Science.
Dynamic Property of Cross-Laminated Woods Made with Temperate Seven Species

1) In this study, cross-laminated wood panels were manufactured with four softwoods and three hardwoods with the goal of efficiently predicting the static strength performance using dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE) and simultaneously revealing the dynamic performance of cross-laminated wood panels. The effect of the density of the species on the dynamic MOE of the laminated wood panels was investigated. Moreover, the static bending strength performance was predicted nondestructively through the correlation regression between the dynamic MOE and static bending strength performance. For the dynamic MOE, the paralleland cross-laminated wood panels composed of oriental oak showed the highest value, whereas the laminated wood panels composed of Japanese cedar showed the lowest value. In all types of paralleland cross-laminated wood panels, the density dependence was confirmed, and the extent of the density dependence was found to be greater in the P⊥ and C⊥ types with perpendicular-direction laminae in the faces than in the P∥ and C∥ types with longitudinal-direction laminae in the faces. Our findings confirmed that a high correlation exists at a significance level of 1% between the dynamic modulus and static bending modulus or bending strength in all types of laminated wood panels, and that the static bending strength performance can be predicted through the dynamic MOE.
New compostable tubes for the production of high quality seedlings of three species of Mimosa spp

Obtaining high-quality native species seedlings and sustainable alternatives for seedling production are currently some of the bottlenecks for successful restoration plantings in degraded ecosystems. This study evaluated the survival and vigor of seminal seedlings of Mimosa flocculosa, M. micropteris and M. incana, produced in three containers (110 cm3 and 55 cm3 polypropylene tubes and 58 cm3 SISBGC type biocompostable container) for ecological restoration purposes in the phytogeographic region of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest. Survival, total height, stem diameter, shoot and root dry biomass, sturdiness quotient, Dickson’s quality index and technical efficiency were evaluated. Survival percentages were higher for the three Mimosa species throughout all evaluations and in the three containers, with an average over 95 %, demonstrating the viability of the seedling production protocol used. Although the 110 cm3 tube favored larger seedling growth, especially in M. flocculosa, the SISBGC tube showed similar efficiency for M. micropteris and M. incana. We conclude that a good performance in the nursery, associated with the bio-decomposition characteristics, makes SISBGC an excellent alternative for producing native seedlings for ecological restoration purposes.
Hate speech analysis as a function of ideology: Emotional and cognitive effects

Hate speech is a major problem, especially in the political environment, where it generates polarization and social conflict. There are no experimental laboratory studies that have analyzed the mechanisms of action of hate speech using biometric records to evaluate the implicit negative emotion caused by these discourses, despite the essential importance of emotion in this problem. This work investigates the interaction between the ideology of the source and the audience (progressive vs. conservative) and the type of message (hate vs. non-hate) on cognitions (perception of the veracity of the message and the source) and negative emotion (biometric and self-reported). Biometric emotion was assessed by recording heart rate variability and electrodermal response. The results highlight the importance of evaluating implicit biometric responses that reveal inaccessible data with other methodologies: conservatives show more emotion in their biometric records than in self-reported ones. With these measures, hate desensitization effects are also detected in both audiences. With self-reported measures, more negative emotion is detected in progressive audiences only when the source is contrary to their ideology; on the other hand, conservatives show less negative emotion in all cases. These results are interpreted as a consequence of normative pressure and endogroup cognitive biases. El discurso de odio constituye un importante problema, especialmente en el entorno político, donde genera polarización y conflicto social. No existen trabajos experimentales de laboratorio que hayan analizado sus mecanismos de acción empleando registros biométricos para evaluar la emoción negativa implícita provocada por estos discursos, a pesar de la importancia esencial de la emoción en este problema. El objetivo de este trabajo es investigar, en una muestra universitaria, la interacción entre la ideología del emisor y el receptor (progresista vs. conservador) y el tipo de mensaje (odio vs. no-odio) sobre las cogniciones (percepción de credibilidad del mensaje y del emisor) y la emoción negativa (biométrica y auto-informada). La emoción biométrica se evaluó mediante registros de la variabilidad intercardíaca y la respuesta dermoeléctrica. Los resultados destacan la importancia de evaluar las respuestas biométricas implícitas que revelan datos inaccesibles con otras metodologías: los conservadores muestran mayor emoción en sus registros biométricos que en los auto-informados. También se detectan, con estas medidas, efectos de desensibilización del odio en ambas audiencias. Con medidas auto-informadas, se detecta mayor emoción negativa en las audiencias progresistas solo cuando el emisor es contrario a su ideología. En cambio, los conservadores manifiestan menor emoción negativa en todos los casos. Se interpretan estos resultados como consecuencia de la presión normativa y de sesgos endogrupales de conformidad.
Graph Representation Learning Beyond Node and Homophily

Unsupervised graph representation learning aims to distill various graph information into a downstream task-agnostic dense vector embedding. However, existing graph representation learning approaches are designed mainly under the node homophily assumption: connected nodes tend to have similar labels and optimize performance on node-centric downstream tasks. Their design is apparently against the task-agnostic principle and generally suffers poor performance in tasks, e.g., edge classification, that demands feature signals beyond the node-view and homophily assumption. To condense different feature signals into the embeddings, this paper proposes PairE, a novel unsupervised graph embedding method using two paired nodes as the basic unit of embedding to retain the high-frequency signals between nodes to support node-related and edge-related tasks. Accordingly, a multi-self-supervised autoencoder is designed to fulfill two pretext tasks: one retains the high-frequency signal better, and another enhances the representation of commonality. Our extensive experiments on a diversity of benchmark datasets clearly show that PairE outperforms the unsupervised state-of-the-art baselines, with up to 101.1% relative improvement on the edge classification tasks that rely on both the high and low-frequency signals in the pair and up to 82.5% relative performance gain on the node classification tasks.
Preparation of PbTiO3-CdS nanocomposite material and its microstructure and photocatalytic properties

In order to explore the influence of the ferroelectric surface on the structure and properties of semiconductor oxides, the growth of CdS nanocrystals was regulated and controlled by taking single-crystal perovskite PbTiO3 nanosheets as the substrate through a simple hydrothermal method. Through composition design, a series of PbTiO3-CdS nanocomposite materials with different loading concentrations were prepared, and their microstructure and photocatalytic properties were systematically analyzed. Studies show that in the prepared product, CdS nanoparticles selectively grow on the surfaces of PbTiO3 nanosheets, and their morphology is affected by the exposed surfaces of PbTiO3 nanosheets. There is a clear interface between the PbTiO3 substrate and CdS nanoparticles. The concentration of the initial reactant and the time of hydrothermal reaction also significantly affect the crystal morphology of CdS. Photocatalysis studies have shown that the prepared PbTiO3-CdS nanocomposite material has a significant degradation effect on 10 mg/L of Rhodamine B aqueous solution. The degradation efficiency rises with the increase of CdS loading concentration. When degrading 10 mg/L Rhodamine B aqueous solution, the PbTiO3-CdS sample with a mass fraction of 3% can reach a degradation rate of 72% within 120 min.
Elite Polarization in South Korea: Evidence from a Natural Language Processing Model

Abstract This study analyzes political polarization among the South Korean elite by examining 17 years’ worth of subcommittee meeting minutes from the South Korean National Assembly's standing committees. Its analysis applies various natural language processing techniques and the bidirectional encoder representations from the transformers model to measure and analyze polarization in the language used during these meetings. Its findings indicate that the degree of political polarization increased and decreased at various times over the study period but has risen sharply since the second half of 2016 and remained high throughout 2020. This result suggests that partisan political gaps between members of the South Korean National Assembly increase substantially.
The role of user perceptions of intelligence, anthropomorphism, and self-extension on continuance of use of personal intelligent agents

ABSTRACT Personal Intelligent Agents (PIAs), such as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, are different from traditional information systems. They possess unique design features and are increasingly available through various technological devices. Due to PIAs’ relative novelty, little is known about the determinants of their continued use. An investigation into PIAs’ characteristics and their impact on users’ post-adoption evaluations is expected to have theoretical and practical implications for PIA design and sustained usage. Our research model integrates perceptions of intelligence, anthropomorphism, and self-extension into the unified model of information technology continuance. Our findings show the key role of perceived intelligence of the PIA on continuance intention and indicate that hedonic perceptions of the agent become less important during post-adoption. Our results also highlight the role of perceived ownership and personalisation as antecedents of perceived self-extension.
Cervical cancer in women living in South Africa: a record linkage study of the National Health Laboratory Service and the National Cancer Registry

Introduction In countries with high HIV prevalence, it is important to understand the cervical cancer (CC) patterns by HIV status to ensure targeted prevention measures. We aimed to determine the factors associated with CC compared to non-infection related cancer in women living in South Africa. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of women aged 15 years and older diagnosed with CC and non-infection related cancer in the South African public health sector from 2004 to 2014. The National Cancer Registry provided data on cancer, whilst HIV status was determined from routinely collected HIV related data from the National Health Laboratory Service. We explored the association of HIV infection, age, ethnicity and calendar period with CC compared to non-infection related cancer. Results From 2004 to 2014, 49,599 women were diagnosed with CC, whilst 78,687 women had non-infection related cancer. About 40% (n = 20,063) of those with CC and 28% (n = 5,667) of those with non-infection related cancer had a known HIV status. The median age at CC diagnosis was 44 years (interquartile range (IQR): 37–52) and 54 years (IQR: 46–64) for HIV positive and negative women, respectively, and for non-infection related cancer, 45 years (IQR: 47–55) and 56 years (IQR: 47–66) for HIV negative and positive women, respectively. Diagnosis of CC was associated with HIV positivity, Black ethnicity, earlier calendar period (2004–2006) and the ages 30–49 years. In comparison with Black women, the odds of CC were 44% less in Coloured women, 50% less in Asian women and 51% less in White women. Conclusions HIV positive women presented a decade earlier with CC compared to HIV negative women. A large proportion of women with CC were unaware of their HIV status with a disproportionate burden of CC in Black women. We recommend women attending CC screening facilities to be offered HIV testing so that recommendations for their follow-up visits are given according to their HIV status.
Impact of risk disclosure on the volatility, liquidity and performance of the UK and Canadian insurance companies

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of risk disclosure practices (voluntary, mandatory and risk disclosure index) on stock return volatility, market liquidity and financial performance for insurance companies in the UK and Canada, before and after the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. Design/methodology/approach The panel data analysis covers 14 insurance companies in the UK and 12 in Canada over a six-year period, three years before and three years after the implementation of IFRS. The authors collected risk disclosure data manually from the annual reports and analyzed it through QSR NVivo software for each country. The other variables are secondary data collected from Thomson Reuters Eikon and Datastream. Findings The results reveal that mandatory risk disclosure practices positively influence stock return volatility for UK insurers but not Canadian ones. Moreover, both mandatory and voluntary risk disclosures increase market liquidity for UK insurers. The outcomes also show a negative influence of risk disclosure practices on financial performance for both the UK and Canadian insurers. The adoption of IFRS enhances the impact of risk disclosure practices in both countries on market liquidity and financial performance. Research limitations/implications The findings rationalize the impact of risk disclosure practices on volatility, liquidity and financial performance of UK and Canada insurers, and the effect of IFRS in triggering those results. Practical implications The findings highlight the diverse effects of voluntary and mandatory risk disclosure practices in enhancing market discipline and mitigating information asymmetry problems to investors. Regulators and policymakers could rely on the findings to amend and develop disclosure standards more frequently to assure their effectiveness. The authors also offer insights to managers to determine the levels of mandatory and voluntary disclosure practices and disclosure strategies to gain their stakeholders’ confidence. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature of risk disclosure in the insurance industry for both the UK and Canada where scarce studies are conducted. It also offers interesting implementations to investors, managers and policymakers.
The rejection and acceptance of Muslim minority practices: A person-centered approach

In Western societies, generalized prejudice and anti-Muslim sentiments can be major drivers of the rejection of Muslim religious practices. However, people can also reject such practices for other reasons, such as concerns about civil liberties or the secular nature of the state. With national samples of German and Dutch majority members (N = 3,703), we used a multiple-acts-multiple-actors design to simultaneously examine attitudes toward four religious practices of three religious groups. Latent profile analysis revealed a subgroup of people that used a double standard and more strongly rejected Muslims than Christians and Jews engaging in the same practices (discriminatory rejection, 16.3%). However, four other subgroups responded to the practices independently of religious group (equal acceptance, 18.3%; equally moderate, 35%; equal rejection, 17.3%; and partial equal rejection, 13.1%). The five subgroups differ on key psychological correlates and self-reported reasons for rejection. We conclude that a multiple-acts-multiple-actors design provides a more nuanced understanding of how majority members evaluate Muslim minority practices in Western nations.
Glucosinolates and its Role in Mitigating Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Brassicaceae

Abiotic stresses such as increase in daily mean temperature, changed patterns of precipitation, increase in episodes of drought and floods in future are faced by the plants and pose threats to crop production and food security. Induction of secondary metabolites by several abiotic stress conditions can be helpful in the crop protection against biotic stress and can be a major link between biotic and biotic stress. Plants also face threats by injury caused by herbivores and insects that chew on plants. Plant develops, coordinates and combines defence mechanism to cope with the challenges caused by the injuries. The plant family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae) includes some of the world’s most economically important crops; especially members of the genera Brassica L. Brassicaceae vegetables are a good source of secondary metabolite that is Glucosinolates. Which are responsible for characteristic flavour and odour, when degraded. Glucosinolates and their degradation products play important roles in stress tolerance, plants respond to abiotic and abiotic stress by systematically accumulating higher levels primary and secondary metabolites for increasing their resistance. Glucosinolates play important role and have a relation with biotic and abiotic stress in Brassica plant family, as they can act as a signalling molecules and affect the physiology of plant.
Hierarchically Assembled Plasmonic Metal-Dielectric-Metal Hybrid Nano-Architectures for High-Sensitivity SERS Detection

In this work, we designed and prepared a hierarchically assembled 3D plasmonic metal-dielectric-metal (PMDM) hybrid nano-architecture for high-performance surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensing. The fabrication of the PMDM hybrid nanostructure was achieved by the thermal evaporation of Au film followed by thermal dewetting and the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of the Al2O3 dielectric layer, which is crucial for creating numerous nanogaps between the core Au and the out-layered Au nanoparticles (NPs). The PMDM hybrid nanostructures exhibited strong SERS signals originating from highly enhanced electromagnetic (EM) hot spots at the 3 nm Al2O3 layer serving as the nanogap spacer, as confirmed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. The PMDM SERS substrate achieved an outstanding SERS performance, including a high sensitivity (enhancement factor, EF of 1.3 × 108 and low detection limit 10−11 M) and excellent reproducibility (relative standard deviation (RSD) < 7.5%) for rhodamine 6G (R6G). This study opens a promising route for constructing multilayered plasmonic structures with abundant EM hotspots for the highly sensitive, rapid, and reproducible detection of biomolecules.