Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of diverse agronomic traits in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) germplasm lines to use in crop improvement

A chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) collection consisting of 445 Kabuli‐type collected from different locations of Iran was evaluated based on six qualitative and 14 quantitative morphological descriptors. Chickpea accessions were widely varied in plant height, the number of pods per plant, plant dry weight, 100‐grain weight, grain yield, and harvest index. Grain yield was positively correlated with the number of pods per plant (r = 0.39**), pod fertility percentage (r = 0.42**), dry weight per plant (r = 0.88**), and harvest index (r = 0.30**). The highest value for the Shannon–Weaver diversity index was observed in growth habit (0.98) and leaf color (0.88). The first and second components of the principal component analysis (PCA) explained 17.97% and 16.20% of the total variations, respectively. The cluster analysis results revealed that the accessions with higher pod, leaflet, and peduncle length were grouped in cluster I, whereas cluster II indicated the dominant contribution for the number of pods per plant, plant dry weight, and grain yield. The highest phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) were observed for grain yield per plant (44.3% and 48.3%), the number of pods per plant (44.3% and 45.1%), and dry weight per plant (44.4% and 44.8%). The heritability estimates were also more significant for the number of pods per plant, plant dry weight, and harvest index. These accessions might be used in the chickpea breeding programs to expand high‐yielding Kabuli‐type cultivars with a broad genetic base.
A Pilot Study on the Use of Low Doses of CBD to Control Seizures in Rare and Severe Forms of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy

Due to its anticonvulsant properties, cannabidiol can be supportive as an adjuvant therapy in the management of drug resistant epilepsy. This retrospective observational study evaluates the intensity and frequency of the seizures of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy that have been treated with antiepileptic medication associated with CBD in low doses for at least 12 months. Thirty-four patients were included in the study. The most frequent diagnosis of epilepsy was focal symptomatic epilepsy and Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (35.2%). During the follow-up, there was a statistically significant decrease in the seizure frequency (t student p < 0.001). A high proportion of patients, 16, concluded the study with a total control of the seizures reaching a 100% improvement, 12 reported ≥ 75% improvement, 3 ≥ 50%, and 2 ≥ 25%; only 1 patient had an improvement of less than 25%. This is the first Latin American study that demonstrates that long-term CBD added to the usual drugs significantly reduces the frequency, duration, and type of seizures in the different etiologies of epilepsy, being especially effective on the seizures that are the most incapacitating, improving the quality of life of the individual and their family.
Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

In light of global climate change and the biodiversity crisis, making cities more resilient through an adjusted design of urban green and blue spaces is crucial. Nature-based solutions help address these challenges while providing opportunities for nature experiences, and providing cultural ecosystem services that support public health. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated stressors highlighted the interrelated socio-ecological services provided by nature-based solutions like urban green and blue spaces. This pan-European study therefore aimed to enhance the socio-ecological understanding of green and blue spaces to support their design and management. Using an online survey, green and blue space preferences, usage, and pandemic-related changes in greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were examined. Greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were associated with respondents' (N = 584 from 15 countries) geographical location, dominant type of neighbourhood greenspace and greenspace availability during the pandemic, but not greenspace perceptions or sociodemographic background. Greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were generally high;however, Southern Europeans reported lower greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies both before and during the pandemic than Northern Europeans. Many Southern Europeans also reported having few neighbourhood greenspaces and low greenspace availability during the pandemic. The most common outdoor recreational activity among respondents before the pandemic was walking or running with the most frequently stated purpose of time spent outdoors being restorative in nature (i.e. relaxing or calming down). Most Europeans had positive perceptions of green and blue spaces with preferences for structurally diverse and natural or unmanaged green elements. This highlights the importance of accessible green and blue spaces both in everyday life and during times of crisis. Stakeholders, their preferences, and regional and cultural differences should be included in the co-design of urban green and blue spaces to maximize their potential for both people and nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Effects of Salinity and Temperature on the Flexibility and Function of a Polyextremophilic Enzyme

The polyextremophilic β-galactosidase enzyme of the haloarchaeon Halorubrum lacusprofundi functions in extremely cold and hypersaline conditions. To better understand the basis of polyextremophilic activity, the enzyme was studied using steady-state kinetics and molecular dynamics at temperatures ranging from 10 °C to 50 °C and salt concentrations from 1 M to 4 M KCl. Kinetic analysis showed that while catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km) improves with increasing temperature and salinity, Km is reduced with decreasing temperatures and increasing salinity, consistent with improved substrate binding at low temperatures. In contrast, kcat was similar from 2–4 M KCl across the temperature range, with the calculated enthalpic and entropic components indicating a threshold of 2 M KCl to lower the activation barrier for catalysis. With molecular dynamics simulations, the increase in per-residue root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF) was observed with higher temperature and salinity, with trends like those seen with the catalytic efficiency, consistent with the enzyme’s function being related to its flexibility. Domain A had the smallest change in flexibility across the conditions tested, suggesting the adaptation to extreme conditions occurs via regions distant to the active site and surface accessible residues. Increased flexibility was most apparent in the distal active sites, indicating their importance in conferring salinity and temperature-dependent effects.
Fixed-Time Consensus for Multiple Mechanical Systems With Input Dead-Zone and Quantization Under Directed Graphs

This paper is concerned with the fixed-time consensus tracking control for uncertain multiple mechanical systems under general directed communication graphs. The considered systems are governed by mechanical dynamics that contain not only input quantization, but also asymmetric dead-zone nonlinearity as well as unknown external disturbances. By employing a nonlinear decomposition between the system input and the control signal, the major difficulty for the coupling between the quantized input and dead-zone nonlinearity is resolved. On the basis of this, an adaptive fixed-time control strategy is designed by utilizing the technique of adding a power integrator. Rigorous proofs show that the consensus errors can converge to an arbitrarily small range centered at zero in a preassigned time, where the settling time has no connection with the initial conditions. Therefore, we can preassign the convergence time according to the requirement of the task. In the end, a simulation example is presented to validate the efficiency of the designed methodology.
The Age of the Globular Cluster M68

Relying on the accurate color-magnitude diagram (CMD) presented by Walker in 1994, we use the fitting of moderately hot horizontal-branch models to the observed CMD to derive suitable information regarding both cluster reddening and distance modulus and to discuss theoretical predictions constraining the absolute age of the metal-poor Galactic globular cluster M68. As a first step, we show that such a procedure, when based on an "old" theoretical evolutionary scenario, agrees with similar evaluations already given in the literature, predicting an age of the order of 13-14 Gyr for the cluster. We show that adopting updated theoretical models, which include all recent improvements in the input physics and in which element diffusion is taken into account, decreases current estimates of the age of M68 to 10 Gyr. Possible sources of errors in our estimate are briefly discussed in light of recent results from the HIPPARCOS satellite. The relevance of comparing M68 with other metal-poor Galactic globular clusters is finally discussed, suggesting that the age of M68 could perhaps represent the common age of all these clusters and weakening considerably current claims for a conflict with cosmological ages.
Nonlinear modeling, analysis, and control of instruments using rotating unbalanced mass actuators

Abstract : Attitude control for balloon and space-borne gamma ray and x-ray telescopes is divided into two areas: scanning and pointing. Currently, the telescope is pointed using an auxiliary control system (ACS) consisting of the standard CMG's, reaction wheels or torque motors and scanning is accomplished using the RUM (rotating unbalanced mass) actuator. The research conducted for this dissertation is motivated by the prospect of simplifying or eliminating the ACS by using a pointing control scheme incorporating RUM devices for pointing actuation.
Mesoscale Fluctuations in Scalars Generated by Boundary Layer Convection

Abstract This study has determined energy spectra of turbulent variables in large eddy simulations of the penetrating dry convective boundary layer (microscale convection). The simulated domain has a large aspect ratio, the horizontal size being roughly 16 times the boundary layer depth. It turns out that both the turbulent velocities and the potential temperature exhibit “classic” energy spectra, which means that the dominant contribution to the variance originates from a scale of the order of the boundary layer height. Surprisingly, the authors find that energy spectra of passive scalars in the convective boundary layer can behave completely differently from the velocity and temperature spectra. Depending on the boundary conditions of the scalar, that is, the surface flux and the entrainment flux, the spectrum is either classical in the aforementioned sense or it is dominated by the smallest wavenumbers, implying that the fluctuations are dominated by the largest scales. Loosely speaking the results can.
CP Puppis - No ordinary old nova

We present spectrophotometric data for the old nova CP Puppis (Nova Puppis 1942) that demonstrates the simultaneous existence of two distinct periods for the system. We find that the photometric period of 0.06834(7) day is 11 percent longer than the spectroscopic period. We also present Doppler tomographic images of CP Pup that indicate the existence of an accretion disk in the system. Finally, we interpret the observational evidence in terms of a DQ Herculis model and an SU Ursae Majoris model for CP Pup. While the evidence mildly supports both interpretations, it is insufficient for us to conclusively classify CP Pup as either a DQ Her system or an SU UMa system.
Rothamsted Repository Download

[ 1 ] What is the most appropriate sampling scheme to estimate event-based average throughfall? A satisfactory answer to this seemingly simple question has yet to be found, a failure which we attribute to previous efforts’ dependence on empirical studies. Here we try to answer this question by simulating stochastic throughfall fields based on parameters for statistical models of large monitoring data sets. We subsequently sampled these fields with different sampling designs and variable sample supports. We evaluated the performance of a particular sampling scheme with respect to the uncertainty of possible estimated means of throughfall volumes. Even for a relative error limit of 20%, an impractically large number of small, funnel-type collectors would be required to estimate mean throughfall, particularly for small events. While stratification of the target area is not superior to simple random sampling, cluster random sampling involves the risk of being less efficient. A larger sample support, e.g., the use of trough-type collectors, considerably reduces the necessary sample sizes and eliminates the sensitivity of the mean to outliers. Since the gain in time associated with the manual handling of troughs versus funnels depends on the local precipitation regime, the employment of automatically recording clusters of long troughs emerges as the most promising sampling scheme. Even so, a relative error of less than 5% appears out of reach for throughfall under heterogeneous canopies. We therefore suspect a considerable uncertainty of input parameters for interception models derived from measured throughfall, in particular, for those requiring data of small throughfall events.
Anisotropic Neutrino Radiation in Rotational Core Collapse

We have done a series of two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the rotational collapse of a supernova core and estimated the anisotropy of neutrino radiation from nonspherical neutrino spheres. We have employed a realistic equation of state and approximated electron captures and neutrino transport by the so-called leakage scheme. We have calculated heating rates outside the neutrino sphere, assuming that neutrinos are emitted isotropically from each point on the neutrino sphere. We have found that neutrinos heat matter near the rotational axis more strongly than those near the equatorial plane. This might induce a globally anisotropic explosion.
Brydes whale (balaenoptera edeni) sounds collected from autonomous hydrophones in the eastern tropical Pacific, 1999–2001

An array of seven autonomous hydrophones, deployed within 12 N 8S and 95 110W, continuously recorded the frequency band 1–110 Hz from November 1999 to November 2001. Four low frequency sound types were observed, similar to Brydes whale vocalizations previously reported [E. Oleson et al., Mar. Mammal. Sci. 19, 407–419 (2003)]. Two averaged 2.5‐s duration and were commonly high amplitude sounds that exceeded the sampling frequency. Both had a distinct tone averaging 18.6 and 25.4 Hz, respectively, several frequency‐modulated higher tones that resembled harmonics but were not, and often an initial short broad band pulse which overlapped the tonal components. Two were lower amplitude sounds that typically began with a single constant‐frequency upper tone, averaging 36.6 Hz, 1.1‐s duration, and 28.7 Hz, 1.1‐s duration, respectively. Sometimes, an overlapping lower tone followed 0.7 s later, lasting 1.6 s and averaging 21.4 and 15.3 Hz, respectively. Occasionally the upper and lower tones alternated two or more.
University Students’ Attitudes towards Perceived Family Support in Individual Musical Instrument Education

Education promotes mental, physical and emotional development of individuals. In particular, music education has a great impact on an individual’s personal development in terms of self-recognition and self-actualization of the individual. One of the most significant factors in the development of the individual is their family. The family support is crucial in terms of education as well as in all aspects of life. This study is aimed to determine university students’ attitudes towards perceived family support in individual musical instrument education and to analyze the differences in family support in this context. A set of different variables for the perceived family support in individual instrument education of the university students studying in music education undergraduate programs were examined in the study. Three different variables were identified, including gender, undergraduate level and university where the students receive education. This descriptive study is based on a correlational survey model. The study sample consists of 216 students studying in music education programs in 2021-2022 academic year. 120 (55.6 %) of the students are female while 96 (44.4 %) of them are male. When the perceived family support of music education students in terms of instrument education was examined, it was concluded that there was no significant relationship between the gender of the students in the dimensions of the families’ valuing instrument education and their involvement in the process. However, there was no significant relationship in the dimension of the families’ valuing instrument education while there was a significant relationship in their involvement in the process. Considering the perceived family support of the students studying in the music education program in terms of instrument education, the responses of the students indicated a positive relationship.
Reliable Contrastive Learning for Semi-Supervised Change Detection in Remote Sensing Images

With the development of deep learning in remote sensing (RS) image change detection (CD), the dependence of CD models on labeled data has become an important problem. To make better use of the comparatively resource-saving unlabeled data, the CD method based on semi-supervised learning (SSL) is worth further study. This article proposes a reliable contrastive learning (RCL) method for semi-supervised RS image CD. First, according to the task characteristics of CD, we design the contrastive loss based on the changed areas to enhance the model’s feature extraction ability for changed objects. Then, to improve the quality of pseudo labels in SSL, we use the uncertainty of unlabeled data to select reliable pseudo labels for model training. Combining these methods, semi-supervised CD models can make full use of unlabeled data. Extensive experiments on three widely used CD datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that our semi-supervised approach has a better performance than related methods. The code is available at https://github.com/VCISwang/RC-Change-Detection.
Correlation of Tibial Torsion With Lower Limb Alignment and Femoral Anteversion in Patients With Patellar Instability

Background: Alignment and rotation of the lower extremities have been suggested to be predisposing pathologic factors for patellar instability. Purpose: To elucidate the relationship between the lower limb alignment and lower extremity rotation in patients with patellar instability. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Included were 83 patients with patellar instability. Computed tomography scans and standing full-leg radiographs were used to measure the tibial tuberosity–trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance, mechanical femorotibial angle (mFTA), mechanical lateral distal femoral angle (mLDFA), mechanical medial proximal tibial angle (mMPTA), femoral torsion, and tibial torsion of the different segments. The relationships between femoral torsion, tibial torsion of the different segments, and the mFTA, mLDFA, and mMPTA were evaluated. The levels of tibial torsion and femoral torsion in patients with varus, normal, or valgus alignment were compared with 1-way analysis of variance and chi-square test. Results: The total tibial torsion was significantly associated with total femoral anteversion (r = 0.329; P = .002) and mFTA (r = –0.304; P = .005). There were no significant correlations between mFTA and TT-TG distance or femoral anteversion. Compared with patients with valgus malalignment, patients with varus malalignment tended to have higher tibial torsion. Conclusion: Tibial torsion was associated with leg axis alignment and femoral anteversion in patients with patellar instability. Patients with patellar instability, especially those with concurrent leg axis deformities, should undergo further radiological imaging so that tibial torsion can be assessed and a diagnosis of torsion deformity made early in the treatment pathway and the proper surgical plan formulated.
Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Culture Promotes the Performance of Fattening Sheep by Enhancing Nutrients Digestibility and Rumen Development

Paraprobiotics are potential agents for improving animal health and performance. This experiment investigated the effect of dietary supplementation of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) culture (YC) on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen development and microbiome of fattening sheep. Ninety male Hu sheep weighed 38 ± 1.47 kg were randomly assigned to three treatments: CON diet (basal diet), LYC diet (basal diet supplied with 10 and 20 g/d yeast culture at the early and late stages, respectively), and HYC diet (basal diet supplied with 20 and 40 g/d yeast culture at the early and late stages, respectively). Treatments (LYC or HYC) were sprinkled on the feed surface according to the required dosage before feeding the basal diet to each sheep throughout the trial. The trial included early (60 days) and later (30 days) fattening periods. The results showed that average daily gain and feed efficiency were higher (p < 0.05) in the LYC group compared with CON in later and whole stages. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were higher (p < 0.05) in LYC and HYC compared with CON. The retained N, the utilization efficiency of N and the biological value of N were higher (p < 0.05) in LYC compared with CON and HYC. Rumen NH3-N was higher (p < 0.05) in LYC and HYC. The papillary height of the rumen was higher (p < 0.05) in LYC when compared with CON and HYC, whereas rumen wall thickness and muscular layer thickness were higher (p < 0.05) in HYC compared with CON and LYC. The dressing percentage of LYC and HYC was higher (p < 0.05) compared with CON. The diversity, richness and structure of rumen microbiota showed no significant difference (p > 0.05); however, still observed remarkable increases in the relative abundance of several specific genera including Succiniclasticum and Fibrobacter with increasing doses of yeast culture. In addition, at the ASV level, ASV83, ASV123 (Succiniclasticum), and ASV148, ASV250 (Fibrobacter) were increased in YC groups. In conclusion, we confirmed that the supplementation of YC in diet could improve the growth and slaughter performance of fattening Hu sheep through improving nutrient digestion, especially nitrogen utilization, rumen microbial environment and the development of rumen epithelium, which proves the benefits of paraprobiotics in animal production.