Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accuracy of Wearable Trackers for Measuring Moderate- to Vigorous-Intensity Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The evidence base regarding validity of wearable fitness trackers for assessment and/or modification of physical activity behavior is evolving. Accurate assessment of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) is important for measuring adherence to physical activity guidelines in the United States and abroad. Therefore, this systematic review synthesizes the state of the validation literature regarding wearable trackers and MVPA. Methods: A systematic search of the PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Cochrane Library databases was conducted through October 2019 (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018103808). Studies were eligible if they reported on the validity of MVPA and used devices from Fitbit, Apple, or Garmin released in 2012 or later or available on the market at the time of review. A meta-analysis was conducted on the correlation measures comparing wearables with the ActiGraph. Results: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria; all used a Fitbit device; one included a Garmin model and no Apple-device studies were found. Moderate to high correlations (.7–.9) were found between MVPA from the wearable tracker versus criterion measure (ActiGraph n = 14). Considerable heterogeneity was seen with respect to the specific definition of MVPA for the criterion device, the statistical techniques used to assess validity, and the correlations between wearable trackers and ActiGraph across studies. Conclusions: There is a need for standardization of validation methods and reporting outcomes in individual studies to allow for comparability across the evidence base. Despite the different methods utilized within studies, nearly all concluded that wearable trackers are valid for measuring MVPA.
Nitrification in sludge-amended Michigan forest soils

Significant net nitrification occurred in cores receiving surface applications of anaerobically digtested municipal sludge (22.3 g N m −2 ). Core NO 3 -N contents at 8 wk were 4.7, 5.3, 4.9, and 2.0 g m −2 for aspen, northern hardwoods, oak, and pine forest types, respectively. Net nitrification did not occur during 8-wk incubations of untreated control cores or cores receiving surface applications of sludge sterilized by freeze-drying (24.5 g N m −2 ) or liming (25.7 g N m −2 ), suggesting that the nitrifiers responsible for net nitrification in cores receiving the anaerobically digested sludge were added with the sludge
Treatment of Oily Wastewaters Using the Microfiltration Process: Effect of Operating Parameters and Membrane Fouling Study

This work focuses on the treatment of oily wastewater using the cross-flow microfiltration (MF) process to determine the effect of different operating parameters such as transmembrane pressure (TMP) and cross-flow velocity on the separation performance and to study the mechanism of membrane fouling during microfiltration of oil in water emulsions. In this regard, the permeation flux and oil rejection of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane in a flat-frame MF module for separation of 3000 ppm oil/water emulsions were measured. The results indicated that the permeate flux increased by an enhancement in both TMP and cross-flow velocity, while the oil rejection decreased. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the individual effect of TMP and cross-flow velocity is more important than the interactional effect of these operating parameters on the permeate flux and oil rejection. The results of fouling modeling revealed that the membrane fouling mechanism was affected by the applied TMP. The cake filtration model dominates the fouling mechanism at lower operating pressures. The fouling mechanism was changed from the cake formation to intermediate pore blocking and then to standard pore blocking as the TMP varied from 1 to 3 bar. Finally, a five-step procedure was used for cleaning the oil/water fouled membranes.
Chemical and morphological changes on silver surfaces produced by microwave generated atomic oxygen

Silver surfaces, useful in space applications because of their high conductivity and reflectivity, can be corroded by the gases and ultraviolet radiation present in the earth’s upper atmosphere. At shuttle altitudes (200–700 km), the atmosphere mainly consists of neutral atomic oxygen whose flux is about 1015 atoms/cm2 sec. On exposure to such a high flux, silver surfaces are strongly oxidized, and after prolonged exposure, the oxide layer formed is flaked off. A real‐life time characterization of the oxidation of silver in space is not practical. To understand this process, it is necessary to study it under controlled laboratory conditions. In the present work, an attempt has been made to examine and understand the influence of atomic oxygen on the amount of erosion/corrosion of silver surfaces. A special emphasis has been given to studying the formation of oxides of silver, when exposed to atomic oxygen. Thin films and high purity foils of metallic silver were exposed in a microwave powered atomic oxyge.
Arsenic-bearing new mineral species from Valletta mine, Maira Valley, Piedmont, Italy: I. Grandaite, Sr2Al(AsO4)2(OH), description and crystal structure

Abstract The new mineral species grandaite, ideally Sr2Al(AsO4)2(OH), has been discovered on the dump of Valletta mine, Maira Valley, Cuneo province, Piedmont, Italy. Its origin is related to the reaction between the ore minerals and hydrothermal solutions. It occurs in thin masses of bright orange to salmon to brown coloured crystals, or infrequently as fan-like aggregates of small (<1 mm) crystals, with reddish-brown streak and waxy to vitreous lustre. Grandaite is associated with aegirine, baryte, braunite, hematite, tilasite, quartz, unidentified Mn oxides and Mn silicates under study. Grandaite is biaxial (+) with refractive indices α = 1.726(1), β = 1.731(1), γ = 1.752(1). Its calculated density is 4.378 g/cm3. Grandaite is monoclinic, space group P21/m, with a = 7.5764(5), b = 5.9507(4), c = 8.8050(6) Å, β = 112.551(2)°, V = 366.62(4) Å3 and Z = 2. The eight strongest diffraction lines of the observed X-ray powder diffraction pattern are [d in Å, (I), (hkl)]: 3.194 (100)(2̄11), 2.981 (50.9)(020), 2.922 (40.2)(1̄03), 2.743 (31.4)(120), 2.705 (65.2)(112), 2.087 (51.8) (1.23), 1.685 (24.5)(321), 1.663 (27.7)(132). Chemical analyses by electron microprobe gave (wt.%) SrO 29.81, CaO 7.28, BaO 1.56, Al2O3 7.07, Fe2O3 2.34, Mn2O3 1.88, MgO 1.04, PbO 0.43, As2O5 44.95, V2O5 0.50, P2O5 0.09, sum 96.95; H2O 1.83 wt. % was calculated by stoichiometry from the results of the crystal-structure analysis. Raman and infrared spectroscopies confirmed the presence of (AsO4)3- and OH groups. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 9 O a.p.f.u. , in agreement with the structural results, is (Sr1.41Ca0.64Ba0.05Pb0.01)Σ=2.11(Al0.68Fe3+0.14Mn3+0.12Mg0.13)Σ=1.07 [(As0.96V0.01)Σ=0.97O4]2(OH), the simplified formula is (Sr,Ca)2(Al,Fe3+)(AsO4)2(OH) and the ideal formula is Sr2Al(AsO4)2(OH). The crystal structure was solved by direct methods and found to be topologically identical to that of arsenbrackebuschite. The structure model was refined on the basis of 1442 observed reflections to R1 = 2.78%. In the structure of grandaite, chains of edge-sharing M3+ octahedra run along [010] and share vertices with T5+ tetrahedra, building up [M3+(T5+O4)2(OH, H2O)] units, which are connected through interstitial divalent cations. Grandaite is named after the informal appellation of the province where the type locality is located. The new mineral was approved by the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (IMA2013-059). The discovery of grandaite and of other members of the group (description still in progress) opens up the possibility of exploring the crystal chemistry of the brackebuschite supergroup.
The Egan Problem on the Pull-in Range of Type 2 PLLs

In 1981, famous engineer William F. Egan conjectured that a higher-order type 2 PLL with an infinite hold-in range also has an infinite pull-in range, and supported his conjecture with some third-order PLL implementations. Although it is known that for the second-order type 2 PLLs the hold-in range and the pull-in range are both infinite, this brief shows that the Egan conjecture is not valid in general. We provide an implementation of the third-order type 2 PLL, which has an infinite hold-in range and experiences stable oscillations. This implementation and the Egan conjecture naturally pose a problem, which we will call the Egan problem: to determine a class of type 2 PLLs for which an infinite hold-in range implies an infinite pull-in range. Using the direct Lyapunov method for the cylindrical phase space we suggest a sufficient condition of the pull-in range infiniteness, which provides a solution to the Egan problem.
Simultaneous Preconcentration of Copper, Nickel and Cobalt In Water By Coprecipitation-Flotation For Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Abstract A method is described for the simultaneous flotation separation and determination of μg-levels of copper (II), nickel (II) and cobalt (II) in water. Copper, nickel and cobalt in a 1000-ml sample of water are coprecipitated with hydrated zirconium oxide at pH 9.1±0.1. The precipitate is floated with the aid of a surfactant solution and small air bubbles, separated and dissolved in dilute hydrochloric acid. The contents of these elements are determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The method is applied to the determination of low μg/1 levels of copper, nickel and cobalt in fresh water.
Multilevel Recognition of UAV-to-Ground Targets Based on Micro-Doppler Signatures and Transfer Learning of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used in different scenarios. The need for intelligent and accurate recognition of targets using UAV-based radars is increasingly urgent. As unique information of targets, micro-Doppler characteristics have become an important basis for target recognition. For three typical ground targets including pedestrians, wheeled vehicles, and tracked vehicles, the micro-Doppler modulation of the UAV vibration on echo signals is analyzed first in this article. Second, the singular value decomposition (SVD) is adopted to suppress ground clutter and environmental noise. In order to decrease the computation and increase the contrast, all colored time–frequency diagrams of micro-Doppler signals are transferred into grayscale images. Third, a multilevel target recognition method based on the transfer learning of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) is proposed. The first-level recognition is designed to accurately distinguish pedestrians, wheeled vehicles, and tracked vehicles, while the purpose of the second-level of recognition is to determine the three states of pedestrians including stepping, walking, and jogging. At last, experiments are carried out using a designed Doppler radar to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results indicate that the method in this article not only avoids the complex feature extraction process, but also has higher accuracy and better robustness.
Level of Cultural Self-Efficacy of Academic Librarians and Associated Socio-demographic Factors at the Library of Universitas Negeri Padang

This study aims to measure the cultural competence of Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP) librarians and determine the sociodemographic factors that influence their cultural competencies. We use the self-efficacy paradigm to find out cultural competence in this study and adopt Cultural Self-Efficacy Scale Adolescences (CSES-A) as research instrument. Obtained data were processed using descriptive statistical analysis to determine the level of librarian’s cultural self-efficacy. Then, a non-parametric analysis is performed to determine the association between gender and cultural self-efficacy, followed by regression analysis to determine the association of age, education level, and length of employment with cultural self-effication. The analysis showed that the mean score of cultural self-efficacy of UNP librarian's is 7.833 (standard deviation= ± 1.673) which male’s cultural self-efficacy score is higher than female’s. Further, we also found that age has a significant relationship with cultural self-efficacy, yet education level and length of employment do not have significant association with cultural self-efficacy. Based on interviews, UNP librarians try to provide the best service to foreign students despite language barriers, and they expect English language training facilities and internships at libraries that are active in foreign languages to improve their cultural competence.
Antibacterial efficiency of composite nano-ZnO in biofilm development in flow-through systems

Abstract Biofouling and its control is an acute problem in all water-flowing systems. Inorganic nanoparticles (np) such as zinc oxide (ZnO) exhibit strong antibacterial activities on a broad spectrum of bacteria even when mixed within polymers. Most research until now tested the antibacterial ability only in static conditions. The current research studied the ability of ZnO np to suppress bacterial attachment and biofilm development under flowing conditions, either embedded in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or entrapped in polyacrylamide gel. The composite ZnO np films were characterized by high resolution- scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and their antibacterial abilities were evaluated using inhibition zone in agar plates and direct contact in liquid media. In all cases studied, bacterial adhesion was significantly prevented, while the control sample showed biofilm development. Interestingly, a lower antibacterial activity was found in all cases under flowing condit.
Robust Cubature Kalman Filter for SINS/GPS Integrated Navigation Systems With Unknown Noise Statistics

to the vehicle’s severe maneuver and abnormal measurements of GPS in practical applications, the statistic of process noise in SINS/GPS integrated navigation system may be unknown and the measurement noise may not follow the Gaussian distribution, which results in a deteriorated performance for the conventional cubature Kalman filter. To address this issue, we propose in this paper a new robust cubature Kalman filter based on the adaptive information entropy theory. In the proposed filter, the process uncertainty and non-Gaussian measurement noise are simultaneously suppressed based on a new constructed cost function using the maximum correntropy and residual orthogonal principle based weighted least squares technology, which is independent of noise distribution and more insensitive to the non-Gaussian noise. Moreover, a multiple-channel adaptive strategy for the better process uncertainty suppression is given. Furthermore, some improvements are proposed to avoid the numerical problem and implement the proposed robust filter effectively. Extensive simulation and car-mounted experiment demonstrate that the proposed filter can achieve higher estimation accuracy and better robustness as compared with the related state-of-the-art methods.
Brazilian version of the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory for Parkinson’s disease

Abstract Introduction: The multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI) has not been applied in Brazilian Parkinson`s disease (PD) population due to the lack of validation. Objective: The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt, to validate, and investigate the psychometric properties of Brazilian version of the MFI in PD. Method: Idiopathic PD individuals (N = 90) were recruited. The MFI was translated into Brazilian Portuguese using established forward-backward translation procedures, and the psychometric properties were evaluated. All individuals were assessed by socio-clinical questionnaire, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS Part I-IV), Hoehn-Yahr disability scale (HY), hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), fatigue severity scale (FSS), Parkinson Fatigue Scale (PFS-16) and MFI-PD/ BR with retest of the MFI-PD/BR after seven days. Results: The adaptation phase kept the same items of original MFI-PD. No data missing, floor nor ceiling effects were found. The overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the 20 items was 0.81, ranging from 0.73 to 0.81 for each of the five subscales. Bland and Altman analysis showed no systematic differences between assessments. The intraclass correlation coefficient test-retest was higher or equal 0.70 (p < 0.01) for the MFI-PD/BR score, which was moderately correlated with the HADS, MDS-UPDRS score (motor examination, motor and non-motor experiences of daily living and motor complications), FSS and PFS-16. It was revealed the MFI-PD/ BR > 55 points as cut-off point to indicate fatigued subjects with accuracy of 0.84 (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The MFI-PD/BR can be considered a valid and reproducible instrument for assessing PD-related fatigue.
PREDICTIVE-DESCRIPTIVE MODELS FOR GAS AND SOLUTE DIFFUSION COEFFICIENTS IN VARIABLY SATURATED POROUS MEDIA COUPLED TO PORE-SIZE DISTRIBUTION: I. GAS DIFFUSIVITY IN REPACKED SOIL

The soil gas and solute diffusion coefficients and their dependency on soil total porosity (&PHgr;), fluid-phase (air or water) contents, and pore-size distribution largely control chemical release, transport, and fate in soil. The diffusion coefficients hereby play a key role in both local and global environmental issues including spreading, biodegradation and volatilization of hazardous chemicals at polluted soil sites, and soil uptake, production, and emission of greenhouse gases. In a series of papers, we present new advances in describing and predicting the gas and solute diffusion coefficients in variably saturated porous media, carefully distinguishing between repacked and undisturbed media. Also, we establish direct links between gas and solute diffusivity and pore-size distribution, with further links to pore continuity and tortuosity. In this first paper, a porosity correction term is added to a recently presented model for predicting gas diffusivity in repacked soil. The obtained POrosity-Enhanced (POE) model assumes that increased &PHgr; creates additional interconnectivity between air-filled pores. The POE model is tested against data for 18 repacked soils ranging from 0 to 54% clay, including new data measured in this study for both noncompacted and compacted, high-porosity soils. The POE model accurately predicts gas diffusivity across a wide &PHgr; range up to 0.75 m3 m−3, whereas the original model is accurate only for &PHgr; up to 0.55 m3 m−3. A unifying, two-parameter function for gaseous phase pore continuity (fg) is suggested. The fg function illustrates developments in gas diffusivity models during the last century, including assumptions behind the increasingly precise prediction models for repacked soil. Last, the POE model is coupled with the widely used van Genuchten (vG) soil-water characteristic model, hereby establishing an accurate and predictive link between soil gas diffusivity and pore-size distribution. The closed-form POE-vG gas diffusivity model is highly useful to evaluate effects of pore-size distribution and soil type on gas diffusivity and gas transport in repacked soil systems.
Nanostructured TiO2 thin films for field emission and sensor applications

Thin films consisting TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a cost effective ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique on Si(100) and glass substrates at temperatures of 350 and 450 °C. The films were found to be anatase phase of TiO2 from GIXRD and Raman studies. Effect of substrate temperature on growth process was monitored using FESEM technique. The substrate temperature influenced the morphology of the films and also on the field emission properties. The asdeposited semi-conducting TiO2 films were investigated for the utilization of alcohol sensor at room temperature.
Twitter-based economic policy uncertainty index for Chile

In this paper, we develop a daily-frequency measure of economic uncertainty for Chile employing information that was obtained from Twitter accounts using web scraping techniques and following closely the methodology proposed by Baker et al. (2016). Our proposed measures, called DEPU and DEPUC, aim to capture the level of generaldisagreement —a proxy for economic uncertainty— in topics such as the economy, economic policies, uncertainty about particular events, and the current economic situation in Chile. Both indices, available from 2012 onwards, show significant hikes that coincide with several local and international episodes that provoked extraordin ary levels of economic uncertainty in Chile, especially after the events around the civil protests in mid-October 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March 2020. An empirical exercise reveals that the proposed measures are significant determinants of the nominal exchange rate dynamics, especially when the magnitude of this variable is high and a week after the shock occurs. When the exchange rate is low, on the contrary, the impact of uncertainty on this variable is quantitatively smaller for any forecasting horizon. These features, and others discussed in the paper, highlight the usefulness of the proposed metric as an additional indicator that policymakers can incorporate into their monitoring toolkit
Prospects of organic saffron kitchen gardens as a source of phytochemicals for boosting immunity in common households of semi-arid regions: A case study of trans-Himalayan Kashmir valley

Saffron grows well in arid regions with well drained sandy soil, under warm and dry summers. It requires minimal irrigation, mostly during critical stages prior to flowering. Currently, saffron is faced with a number of challenges, especially outside Iranian region. The few prominent ones are lack of good-quality corms as seed material, poor soil fertility, lack of assured irrigation, increased urbanization on saffron land, and rampant adulteration. Initiatives are needed to reverse the declining trend by its cultivation in non-traditional sites like in arid as well as semi-arid regions. Instead of spending huge amount on large irrigation projects for big areas especially when financial resources are a constraint, a good alternative strategy is introduction and popularization of organic saffron in kitchen gardens. This would ensure small-scale cultivation as it would be easier to assure irrigation during critical growth stages, and hence supply of good quality genuine saffron for in-house consumption, and also increase awareness about organic agriculture. Herein we present a first report on the establishment of organic saffron kitchen gardens by women in their households, and successful cultivation of saffron in non-traditional semi-arid trans-Himalayan regions of Kashmir valley.
Fluorescence quantum efficiency dependent on the concentration of Nd3+ doped phosphate glass

Thermal-Lens (TL) for fluorescence quantum efficiency (η) characterizations in a new phosphate glass matrix doped with Nd3+ were performed. η studies were accomplish in function of Nd3+ concentrations (0.5-3 x 1020 ions/cm3). In addition, fluorescence quenching was studied by measuring the concentration dependence of the fluorescence lifetime. The results obtained by TL and fluorescence lifetime techniques are in good agreement, and corroborate with the theory for an energy transfer process involving a pair of ions, in which the main process occurring is cross-relaxation (CR).