Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Granier's Thermal Dissipation Probre (TDP) method for measuring sap flow in trees : theory and practice

Granier sap flow system is one of the most commonly used techniques for measurements of whole-tree water use in ecophysiological and forest hydrological studies. However, in the literature there is not one paper that exclusively reviews the Granier method. In this paper, we recapitulate the theoretical basis of the Granier sap flow system and review recent developments in calibration and modification of the sensor probes. Practical issues, such as the determination of the non-flow signal values, natural thermal gradient, wounding effect, reversed sap flow pattern and extrapolation of individual measurement of sap flux density to whole-tree sap flow, are discussed in detail. In the perspectives, new approaches are put forward to use the strong coupling between photosynthesis and transpiration or canopy conductance, via the measurement of 13C discrimination, to estimate whole-canopy carbon assimilation. (Resume d'auteur)
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Physical Therapy in Patients with Chronic Cervical Disc Hernia Associated with Fibromyalgia

Aim: Fibromyalgia is a disease that is characterized by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain, sleep disorders, fatigue and decreased pain threshold. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effect of physiotherapy on pain, depression and neck functions in patients with chronic cervical disc hernia accompanied by fibromyalgia. Materials and Methods: In total, 20 chronic cervical disc hernia patients who were diagnosed with fibromyalgia according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology diagnostic criteria and 20 chronic cervical disc hernia patients without fibromyalgia were included in our study. Visual analogue scale (VAS), Beck depression inventory (BDI), and neck disability index (NDI) were performed to evaluate pain, depression and neck functions respectively. Patients were evaluated before therapy, immediately after therapy, and at 1-month control follow-up. Results: In both groups, VAS, BDI and NDI scores were significantly decreased in the period after therapy and at 1-month control follow-up compared to the pre-treatment period. No statistical difference was observed between two groups in terms of VAS, BDI and NDI scores before and after treatment. However, we found that VAS, BDI and NDI scores of cervical disc hernia patients with fibromyalgia were significantly higher than cervical disc hernia patients without fibromyalgia before treatment, after treatment and at 1-month control follow-up. Conclusion: We demonstrated that the effect of physical therapy on pain, depression, and neck function was the same in the group with fibromyalgia compared to the group without fibromyalgia.
Status of English speaking skills in Turkish ELT departments: A nationwide survey

The situation of spoken English in both formal and informal settings in Turkey seems to be far from satisfactory. Additionally, the legal arrangements devoted to ameliorate this predicament have proven unsuccessful as far as an acceptable level of competence is concerned. The present study aimed to investigate the situation of English speaking skills at the English Language Teaching (ELT) departments in Turkey, in attempts to attain a descriptive outline for the problems, perceptions, needs, and solutions proposed by lecturers and pre-service teachers. To achieve this, a questionnaire and semi-structured interview were administered to the lecturers and pre-service teachers at seven ELT departments across Turkey, with one department from each of the seven geographical regions. The results indicated that although they had been studying English for more than 6 years, a great majority of the participants could not speak English as proficiently as they were supposed to do. It was also revealed that the participants had difficulty achieving fluency and maintaining confidence when speaking English mainly because they had no appropriate contexts that would allow them to master English speaking skills. On the other hand, an extensive policy change in foreign language education was the most commonly proposed solution.
Sex-Specific Population Differences in Resting Metabolism Are Associated with Intraspecific Variation in Sexual Size Dimorphism of Brown Anoles

Sexual size dimorphism can vary in direction and magnitude across populations, but the extent to which such intraspecific variation is associated with sex and population differences in underlying metabolic processes is unclear. We compared resting metabolic rates (RMRs) of brown anole lizards (Anolis sagrei) from two island populations in the Bahamas (Eleuthera and Great Exuma) that differ in the magnitude of male-biased sexual size dimorphism. Whereas females from each population exhibit similar growth rates and body sizes, males from Great Exuma grow more quickly and attain larger body sizes than males from Eleuthera. We found that these population differences in growth of males persisted in captivity. Therefore, we predicted that males from each population would differ in RMR, whereas females would not. Consistent with this prediction, we found that RMR of males from Eleuthera was higher than that of males from Great Exuma, particularly at higher temperatures. As predicted, RMR of females did not differ between populations. Despite this apparent sex-specific trade-off between growth rate and RMR at the population level, we found a positive relationship between growth rate and RMR at the individual level. The fact that Great Exuma males maintain lower RMR than Eleuthera males, despite their greater absolute growth rates and the positive relationship between RMR and growth rate across individuals, suggests that Great Exuma males may have lower baseline metabolic demands and/or greater growth efficiency than Eleuthera males. Our results call attention to sex-specific divergence in metabolism as a potential mechanism for intraspecific divergence in sexual size dimorphism.
Reference medical datasets (MosMedData) for independent external evaluation of algorithms based on artificial intelligence in diagnostics

The article describes a novel approach to creating annotated medical datasets for testing artificial intelligence-based diagnostic solutions. Moreover, there are four stages of dataset formation described: planning, selection of initial data, marking and verification, and documentation. There are also examples of datasets created using the described methods. The technique is scalable and versatile, and it can be applied to other areas of medicine and healthcare that are being automated and developed using artificial intelligence and big data technologies.
Comparison of soil biological properties and soil bacterial diversity in sugarcane, soybean, mung bean and peanut intercropping systems

Aims Sugarcane intercropping with soybean (Glycine max (Linn.) Merr. ), mung bean (Vignaradiata (Linn.) Wilczek) and peanut (Arachishypogaea Linn.) as well as a sugarcane monoculture were conducted to study the impacts of intercropping on soil biological characteristics and bacterial diversity. Methods The soil samples were collected from twelve random sites and mixed well at the experimental farm of the Guangxi South Sub-tropical Agricultural Science Research Institute, Longzhou, China. Traditional analysis methods and modern high-throughput sequencing technology was used to compare and analyze the soil enzyme activity, microbial biomass, soil cultivable microorganisms and other biological traits and bacterial diversity.Results The results showed that soil cultivable microorganisms, the activities of soil enzymes and microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus were all significantly improved by intercropping with soybean and mung bean. Additionally, soil bacterial diversity and richness in sugarcane fields were also significantly enhanced by intercropping with soybean and mung bean. In addition, soil bacterial community structures in sugarcane fields can be altered by intercropping with different legumes. Proteobacteria, a high-nutrient-tolerant bacterial assemblage, became the dominant bacteria in the sugarcane-soybean and sugarcane-mung bean intercropped soils. Twenty four, 28, 26 and 27 dominant soil bacterial genera were found after the sugarcane-soybean, sugarcane-mung bean, sugarcane-peanut and sugarcane monoculture treatments, respectively.Conclusions Sugarcane-mung bean intercropping suggested to be the most promising system for regaining and improving soil fertility and soil heath and facilitate agriculture intensification of sugarcane.
Daily Variations In Wet Deposition And Washout Rates Of Potentially Toxic Elements In Moscow During Spring Season

For the first time, the wet deposition and washout rates of soluble forms of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) were estimated in rains during the spring AeroRadCity experiment in Moscow. Rains are an important factor in reducing atmospheric pollution with PTEs in Moscow. Due to the resuspension of contaminated particles of road dust and urban soils, industrial and traffic impact, waste and biomass burning, rainwater is highly enriched in Sb, Pb, Se, Cd, and S, and less enriched in P, Ba, As, W, Mn, Sn, Na, Co, Ni, and Be. Significant wet deposition (μg/m2 per event) and washout rates (μg/m2 per hour) of PTEs were revealed during the public holidays in May which corresponded to the elevated aerosol content due to predominant air advection from southern and south-western regions in this period. During continuous rains, the level of PTEs wet deposition sharply decreases on the second and subsequent days due to the active below-cloud washout of aerosols during the initial precipitation events. We show that the length of the dry period and aerosol content before the onset of rain determines the amount of solid particles in rainwater, which leads to an increase in rainwater pH, and strongly affects wet deposition and washout rates of PTEs of mainly anthropogenic origin (W, Zn, Bi, Cd, Sb, Ni, B, S, K, and Cu). At the same time rainfall intensity contributes to an increase in wet deposition and washout rates of Se, As, B, Cu, Sb, S, Cd, Ba, Rb, and K. The obtained results provide a better understanding of atmospheric deposition processes and can be useful in assessing the urban environmental quality.
Conventional Type II photoinitiators as activators for photoinduced metal-free atom transfer radical polymerization

A novel methodology for photoinduced metal-free Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) by using conventional Type II photoinitiators such as benzophenone, thioxanthone, isopropyl thioxanthone and camphorquinone as sensitizers is presented. These sensitizers efficiently activate the ATRP of vinyl monomers when used in conjunction with co-initiators and alkyl halides under light irradiation. DFT calculations were performed to reveal mechanistic aspects and showed that the initiation of the controlled ATRP reaction pathway from the triplet state is energetically favoured for all sensitizers. In the case of benzophenone, however, the hydrogen abstraction pathway, which leads to free radical polymerization, is a possible side reaction. The strategy applied was proved to yield polymers with narrow molecular distribution. The chain-end fidelity of the polymer obtained was approved by chain extension and block copolymerization experiments, whereas the irradiation dependency of polymerization was confirmed by light on/off experiments.
Alex mean (AlM) location estimator for measure of Center of data

Abstract Computational data analysis is an essential component of modern statistics. The most important challenge in classical statistics was an estimation of the location parameter. In addition, the selection of estimators among potential estimators is another problem in the computational data analysis. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to develop a location estimator that has been modified compared to all common location estimators. In order to ensure the objective of the new estimator, combinations weighted mean (Alex-mean) was developed and computed with R version 3.6. 3. Further, the properties of a good location estimator diagnosed with all location estimators compared to Alex-mean with a COVID-19 new case data set. In addition, the new estimator was compared with mean, median and trimmed-mean based on relative efficiency and bootstrap simulation techniques. The new estimator is better than the mean, median and trimmed-mean of relative efficiency estimated using bootstrap and simulation techniques. The sensitivity graph shows that Alex-mean is insensitive to the outlier and is computed on the basis of all observations. Thus, the researcher suggested that Alex-mean is the good location estimator than all common measures of central tendency since it is undisturbed by extreme values.
On the Development of a New Nonequilibrium Chemistry Model for Mars Entry

This paper represents a summary of results to date of an on-going effort at NASA Ames Research Center to develop a physics-based non-equilibrium model for hypersonic entry into the Martian atmosphere. Our approach for the determination of reaction rate coefficients is to first compute potential energy surfaces based on accurate solutions of the electronic Schrödinger equation and then use quasiclassical trajectory calculations to obtain reaction cross sections and rate coefficients based on these potentials. We have presented new rate coefficients for N2 dissociation and CO dissociation and exchange reactions. These results illustrate shortcomings with some of the rate coefficients in Park’s original T-Tv model for Mars entries and with some of the 30-45 year old shock tube data. We observe that the shock tube experiments of CO + O dissociation did not adequately account for the exchange reaction that leads to formation of C + O2. This reaction is actually the primary channel for CO removal in the shock layer at temperatures below 10,000 K, because the reaction enthalpy for exchange is considerably lower than the comparable value for dissociation. The rate coefficients reported herein should reduce the uncertainty in modeling hypersonic flows expected for entry of heavy spacecraft into the Martian atmosphere.
Resource scheduling approach in cloud Testing as a Service using deep reinforcement learning algorithms

Priyadarsini Karthik, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Chennai, India. Email: priyadarsini.se@velsuniv.ac. in Abstract Many organizations around the world use cloud computing Testing as Service (Taas) for their services. Cloud computing is principally based on the idea of on‐demand delivery of computation, storage, applications, and additional resources. It depends on delivering user services through Internet connectivity. In addition, it uses a pay‐as‐you‐go business design to deliver user services. It offers some essential characteristics including on‐ demand service, resource pooling, rapid elasticity, virtualization, and measured services. There are various types of virtualization, such as full virtualization, para‐virtualization, emulation, OS virtualization, and application virtualization. Resource scheduling in Taas is among the most challenging jobs in resource allocation to mandatory tasks/jobs based on the required quality of applications and projects. Because of the cloud environment, uncertainty, and perhaps heterogeneity, resource allocation cannot be addressed with prevailing policies. This situation remains a significant concern for the majority of cloud providers, as they face challenges in selecting the correct resource scheduling algorithm for a particular workload. The authors use the emergent artificial intelligence algorithms deep RM2, deep reinforcement learning, and deep reinforcement learning for Taas cloud scheduling to resolve the issue of resource scheduling in cloud Taas.
Analisis Pengendalian Kualitas Produk Coil dengan Pendekatan Metode Six Sigma

The cold-rolled coil is a raw material for manufacturing industries such as automotive, household appliances, property, and other industries that use steel plates. The production process during January - June 2020 was not good enough, so that the production process had a defect. The types of defects include stoppage marks, bad trimmer, and over the pickle. This study aims to measure Cpk, and sigma quality levels' process capability and analyze the root causes of low product quality. This study uses the Six Sigma method with the phase Define, Measure, Analyze and Improve. The results showed that Cpk = 1.27, and the sigma value of 3.86. Types of defects that occur are a 72,9% stoppage mark, 17,8% bad trimmer, and 9.3% over the pickle. Recommendations for improvements can be made by conducting training for employees, supervising production employees, periodic maintenance of machines/equipment, and controlling production processes. Six Sigma implementation can identify and improve the quality problems that occur.
Numerical modelling shows an old check‐dam still attenuates flooding and sediment transport

Check dams are an effective and widespread measure for soil and water conservation around the world (e.g., in the Chinese Loess Plateau). However, the quantitative impact of a heavy silted check dam with small remaining storage capacity and large deposition area on river flow and sediment transport during floods remained unclear. In this study, to investigate this impact, a physics‐based distributed hydrological model (the Integrated Hydrology Model, InHM) was employed to simulate runoff and sediment processes during floods in a small catchment with a check dam in the Loess Plateau, considering different heavy rainfalls and check‐dam remaining storages. The model was calibrated and validated against the observed hydrographs and sedigraphs in two flood events and obtained satisfactory modelling performance (the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies > 0.70). The scenario modelling results showed that a heavy silted check dam still remarkably reduced and delayed the peaks of river flow and sediment rate, due to the attenuated surface flow movement and sediment transport on the deposition area. The largest flow peak occurred around the 85% silting stage of the check dam rather than the fully silting stage (100%). Even in the fully silted stage, sediment deposition continually occurred on the deposition area with a maximum deposition of 11,700 t sediment in a heavy‐rainfall scenario and more sediment deposited on the tail‐end regions of the deposition area than other regions after a flood. Moreover, in heavy silted stage backwater on the tail‐end areas and gullies largely attenuated local erosion and promoted sediment deposition, indirectly reducing the total sediment yield of the catchment during flood. These results indicated that numerous ageing check dams built in the Loess Plateau and worldwide are still useful to attenuate flood risk and soil erosion, and sound maintenance and management of the check‐dam will be beneficial to flood and soil erosion control.
Electrical Conductivity of Water in Some Selected Areas of Delta State, Nigeria

The electrical conductivity of water estimates the total amount of solids in it. Hence determines the water quality. The water samples were collected during the raining season from four selected locations of Abraka, Oleh, Ozoro and Warri. The samples were analyzed for electrical conductivity (μs/m), pH, TDS (mg/l), TSS, Turbidity (NTU), Iron content (mg/l), salinity (Cl - ) mg/l, and Nitrate Nitrogen (NO3N) mg/l. The concentrations of investigated parameters in the water samples were within the permissible limits of the world health organization. However, the pH values of river water samples from Oleh call for concern as all water analyzed were acidic, and indicated corresponding high values in electrical conductivity and iron content, thus there is need to periodically examined water for their pH, total iron content, electrical conductivity to avoid health hazards associated with these parameters.
Microsecond Dynamics of Enzymes: A Single-Molecule Study Using Carbon Nanotube Transistors

Molecular motions of proteins and their flexibility determine conformational states required for enzyme catalysis, signal transduction, and protein-protein interactions. However, the mechanisms for protein transitions between conformational states are often poorly understood, especially in the milli- to microsecond ranges where conventional optical techniques and computational modeling are most limited. The goal of this work was to use single-walled carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (SWCNT-FET) as single-molecule biosensors to investigate microsecond dynamics of three enzymes. Low-noise electrical transport measurements were performed in a home-built electrochemical flow cell. To ensure that the output signal was free from external noise across a 200 kHz measurement bandwidth, parasitic capacitance was minimized by tightly integrating electrical components and constraining the liquid within a microfluidic channel. After attaching a single enzyme molecule to the SWCNT sidewall, dynamic changes of conductance through a SWCNT-FET reported conformational motions of an enzyme with a 1.6 $\mu$s resolution. This technique was used to study microsecond dynamics of T4 Lysozyme, Klenow Fragment of DNA polymerase I (KF), and protein kinase A (PKA). Lysozyme closing and opening took on average 37 $\mu$s. The distribution of transition durations was independent of the lysozyme state: either catalytic or nonproductive. The observed symmetry in enzyme opening and closing suggests that substrate translocation occurs while lysozyme is closed. For KF and PKA, the microsecond resolution revealed that the transition duration was 3-5 $\mu$s for both enzymes, about ten times shorter than lysozyme. Additionally, the high-bandwidth recording of KF resolved fast non-catalytic closures. When KF was processing poly(dT)$_{42}$ template KF stayed 2-3 times longer in a closed conformation than when it was replicating poly(dA)$_{42}$. However, the open events of KF were 2-5 times shorter when it was processing poly(dT)$_{42}$ compared to poly(dA)$_{42}$. The results demonstrate SWCNT-FET as a sensitive technique for studying conformational dynamics of biological molecules in the microsecond range.
Glacier–plume or glacier–fjord circulation models? A 2-D comparison for Hansbreen–Hansbukta system, Svalbard

Abstract Up to 30% of the current tidewater mass loss in Svalbard corresponds to frontal ablation through submarine melting and calving. We developed two-dimensional (2-D) glacier–line–plume and glacier–fjord circulation coupled models, both including subglacial discharge, submarine melting and iceberg calving, to simulate Hansbreen–Hansbukta system, SW Svalbard. We ran both models for 20 weeks, throughout April–August 2010, using different scenarios of subglacial discharge and crevasse water depth. Both models showed large seasonal variations of submarine melting in response to transient fjord temperatures and subglacial discharges. Subglacial discharge intensity and crevasse water depth influenced calving rates. Using the best-fit configuration for both parameters our two coupled models predicted observed front positions reasonably well (±10 m). Although the two models showed different melt-undercutting front shapes, which affected the net-stress fields near the glacier front, no significant effects on the simulated glacier front positions were found. Cumulative calving (91 and 94 m) and submarine melting (108 and 118 m) along the simulated period showed in both models (glacier–plume and glacier–fjord) a 1:1.2 ratio of linear frontal ablation between the two mechanisms. Overall, both models performed well on predicting observed front positions when best-fit subglacial discharges were imposed, the glacier–plume model being 50 times computationally faster.