Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic generation control of a two area power system implementing IDDF controller under restructured environment

This paper presents the Automatic generation control of an interlinked power system in a restructured environment. The model consists of a hydro plant, a thermal plant and a diesel plant incorporated in both areas. The Area Control Error (ACE) is minimized with the help of a new controller called the Integral Double Derivative controller (IDDF) employed as a secondary controller in the proposed model. The controller parameters are optimized by a novel optimization scheme called the Lightning Search Algorithm. The proposed model is simulated under two market scenarios. The robustness of the system is also examined under step load perturbations, random loading conditions and parameter variation. The settling time of the IDDF controller is put to comparison with the PID controller and the supremacy is established.
Establishing an adequate dose of acupuncture is essential for clinical trial studies.

Importance A number of recent clinical trials have demonstrated that acupuncture is more effective for treating chronic pain conditions compared to sham and no acupuncture, but some research questions have remained unaddressed and are standing in the way of further progress. Observations and Advances The effectiveness of acupuncture for pain conditions compared to usual care have been demonstrated, which has significantly enhanced the position of acupuncture in multiple pain guidelines following these studies. However, the studies also generated some conflicting results with difficulty in comparing each other. Research examining an adequate dose of acupuncture therapy with optimal intervention parameters and time table has also long been neglected and is now urgent. The dose of acupuncture depends on stimulation parameters: force/intensity and speed/frequency of manual acupuncture (MA) or electroacupuncture (EA) and time table (number of treatment sessions and duration). Various frequencies and intensities of MA and EA stimulation have been utilized in individual research. Different acupuncture treatment sessions (once, twice, three to five times per week) and periods (4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks) have been used in these clinical trials. One clinical trial using one session of needle acupuncture and laser at 12 weeks (8 to 12 treated sessions) did not improve pain in patients with chronic knee pain but similar trials of osteoarthritis knee have significant effects of pain improvement after biweekly sessions of needle acupuncture for 8 weeks of treatment. Conclusions and Relevance Determining a right treatment regimen on correct acupuncture point(s) for acupuncture is a critical first step for acupuncture clinical trials. Appropriate acupuncture parameters such as acupuncture stimulation technique, treatment sessions, and treatment duration must be considered in acupuncture clinical trials. An adequate dose of acupuncture for clinical trials should be established following dose finding workshops for acupuncture before the studies, which not only improve the therapeutic effects of the therapies but also allow the comparisons between trials and between the acupuncture community/practice and trial studies.
Mechanical characterization of the AISI 316L alloy exposed to boriding process

espanolEn este estudio el proceso de borurizacion en polvo sobre un acero inoxidable con bajo contenido de carbono se llevo a cabo a 1273 K durante 4 h de exposicion para obtener una capa de ~57 μm conformada por FeB, Fe2B y otros elementos de aleacion. En primer lugar, la presencia de boruros de hierro formados en la superficie de la aleacion borurada AISI 316L se confirmo por microscopia optica combinada con el analisis de difraccion de rayos X. Despues, se realizo la prueba de microindentacion sensada de Vickers en la capa de boruro de hierro para estimar el comportamiento de la dureza y el modulo de Young. Las pruebas de desgaste por deslizamiento en la aleacion borurada AISI 316L se realizaron de acuerdo con el procedimiento estandar ASTM G133-05, con las siguientes condiciones: distancias de 50 y 150 m, cargas normales de 5 y 20 N, y una velocidad de deslizamiento de 30 mm/s. Finalmente, los resultados mostraron que la presencia de capas de FeB-Fe2B mejoran la resistencia al desgaste alrededor de 41 veces en comparacion con el material no tratado EnglishIn this study, the powder-pack boriding process on low-carbon stainless steel was carried out at 1273 K for 4 h of exposure to obtain a layer around ~57 μm conformed by FeB, Fe2B, and others alloying elements. Firstly, the presence of iron borides formed on the surface of borided AISI 316L alloy was confirmed by optical microscopy combined with the X-ray diffraction analysis. After, the sensed Vickers indentation test was performed on the iron boride layer to estimate the behavior of hardness and Young’s modulus. Sliding wear tests on the borided AISI 316L alloy were performed according to the ASTM G133-05 standard procedure, with the following conditions: distances of 50 and 150 m, normal loads of 5 and 20 N, and a sliding speed of 30 mm/s. Finally, the results showed that the presence of FeB-Fe2B improves the resistance to wear around 41 times compared to the untreated material
Host Range of Hymenoscyphus fraxineus in Slovak Arboreta

The health of 34 different Fraxinus taxa in association with the pathogenic fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus was assessed in four Slovak arboreta. Averaged across all arboreta, nearly one-quarter (24.9%) of all evaluated trees showed ash dieback symptoms. The damage was most serious on the common ash F. excelsior, a native species. The percentage of dead trees did not exceed 2% for all evaluated trees. Generally, ash trees of all ages were affected, though the intensity of the damage varied among the sites. The identity of H. fraxineus was confirmed by conventional PCR targeting the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA, as well as the 18S gene/ITS-2 region of the rDNA operon. In Slovakia, the pathogen has expanded its host range from native species not only to their ornamental cultivars, but also to introduced North American (F. cinerea, F. latifolia, F. pennsylvanica, F. quadrangulata) and Asian (F. bungeana, F. chinensis ssp. rhynchophylla, F. mandshurica) ash species. H. fraxineus was also observed on the previous year’s leaf petioles of the native European species F. ornus, considered a weakly susceptible host. In Slovak arboreta, H. fraxineus was found on 23 Fraxinus taxa; 21 of them represent first records for the country. F. bungeana is recorded as a new host species of H. fraxineus.
Detection of Malicious Social Bots Using Learning Automata With URL Features in Twitter Network

Malicious social bots generate fake tweets and automate their social relationships either by pretending like a follower or by creating multiple fake accounts with malicious activities. Moreover, malicious social bots post shortened malicious URLs in the tweet in order to redirect the requests of online social networking participants to some malicious servers. Hence, distinguishing malicious social bots from legitimate users is one of the most important tasks in the Twitter network. To detect malicious social bots, extracting URL-based features (such as URL redirection, frequency of shared URLs, and spam content in URL) consumes less amount of time in comparison with social graph-based features (which rely on the social interactions of users). Furthermore, malicious social bots cannot easily manipulate URL redirection chains. In this article, a learning automata-based malicious social bot detection (LA-MSBD) algorithm is proposed by integrating a trust computation model with URL-based features for identifying trustworthy participants (users) in the Twitter network. The proposed trust computation model contains two parameters, namely, direct trust and indirect trust. Moreover, the direct trust is derived from Bayes’ theorem, and the indirect trust is derived from the Dempster–Shafer theory (DST) to determine the trustworthiness of each participant accurately. Experimentation has been performed on two Twitter data sets, and the results illustrate that the proposed algorithm achieves improvement in precision, recall, F-measure, and accuracy compared with existing approaches for MSBD.
Ottleya, a new genus of Papilionaceae - Loteae from North America

A new genus, Ottleya gen. nov., is described from North America. The genus Ottleya corresponds to Lotus group Simpeteria of ISELY's (1981) classification and comprises 12 species: O. argyraea comb, nov., O. flexuosa comb. nov., O. grandiflora comb. nov., O. greenei comb. nov., O. intricata comb. nov., O. mearnsii comb. nov., O. nivea comb. nov., O. oroboides comb. nov., O. rigida comb. nov., O. strigosa comb, nov., O. utahensis comb. nov. and O. wrightii comb. nov. restricted to SW part of the USA, N and Central Mexico. Die neue Gattung, Ottleya gen. nov., aus Nordamerika wird beschrieben. Die Gattung Ottleya entspricht der Gruppe Simpeteria der Lotus in der Klassifikation von ISELY (1981) und besteht aus 12 Arten: O. argyraea comb. nov., O. flexuosa comb. nov., O. grandiflora comb. nov., O. greenei comb, nov., O. intricata comb. nov., O. mearnsii comb. nov., O. nivea comb. nov., O. oroboides comb. nov., O. rigida comb. nov., O. strigosa comb. nov., O. utahensis comb. nov. und O. wrightii comb. nov., die im Sudwesten der USA, in Nord-und Mittel-Mexiko zu lokalisieren sind.
Life safety in single-story steel frame buildings, Part II - probabilistic design

This paper aims to investigate the probability of unacceptable consequences from structural fire damage in a typical Scandinavian single-story steel frame building and discusses it in relation to life safety. This paper is a complement to the paper “Life safety in single-story steel frame buildings, Part I – deterministic design” by Sandstrom (2019) which considers the same design philosophy but with a probabilistic design approach. ,The reliability of a single-story steel frame building is investigated by using crude Monte Carlo simulation by including consideration to the fire conditions. ,The investigated building does not meet the safety levels as stipulated by EN 1990 for structural fire damage. However, by including consideration to the fire conditions in the compartment, it is shown that the life safety objective is not compromised by the structural fire damage, i.e. the structure remains intact as long as any individuals/firefighters can survive within the fire area compartment. ,This paper presents practical application of a conceptual paper presenting a general approach to structural fire safety design and the life safety objective.
A Two-Tier Partition Algorithm for the Optimization of the Large-Scale Simulation of Information Diffusion in Social Networks

As online social networks play a more and more important role in public opinion, the large-scale simulation of social networks has been focused on by many scientists from sociology, communication, informatics, and so on. It is a good way to study real information diffusion in a symmetrical simulation world by agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS), which is considered an effective solution by scholars from computational sociology. However, on the one hand, classical ABMS tools such as NetLogo cannot support the simulation of more than thousands of agents. On the other hand, big data platforms such as Hadoop and Spark used to study big datasets do not provide optimization for the simulation of large-scale social networks. A two-tier partition algorithm for the optimization of large-scale simulation of social networks is proposed in this paper. First, the simulation kernel of ABMS for information diffusion is implemented based on the Spark platform. Both the data structure and the scheduling mechanism are implemented by Resilient Distributed Data (RDD) to simulate the millions of agents. Second, a two-tier partition algorithm is implemented by community detection and graph cut. Community detection is used to find the partition of high interactions in the social network. A graph cut is used to achieve the goal of load balance. Finally, with the support of the dataset recorded from Twitter, a series of experiments are used to testify the performance of the two-tier partition algorithm in both the communication cost and load balance.
User Association Strategy for Energy Efficiency and Interference Mitigation of Heterogeneous Networks

The necessity of the use of several mobile services increases every day. This requires the consumption of energy rates. Hence, minimizing the energy and interferences of mobile users are major concerns of Heterogeneous Networks (HetNet). This paper aims to improve the energy of mobile users by minimizing a weighted function. To consider significant weights values, we have exploited the multicriteria AHP method. The cost function represents the cost of users toward available BS. It includes the essential criteria influencing energy consumption. Moreover, we introduce an optimal user association based on their minimal cost values. Simulation results prove that the optimal method has saved more energy and reduced network interferences.
Trait‐based climate vulnerability of native rodents in southwestern Mexico

Abstract Aim Incorporate species’ trait information together with climate projections for associated habitat to assess the potential vulnerability of rodent taxa to climate change. Location Oaxaca State, Mexico. Methods We used a trait‐based approach together with climate exposure models to evaluate the vulnerability of rodent species to projected climate conditions in the study region. Vulnerability was estimated based on three factors: (a) Level of climatic exposure that species are projected to experience across their current statewide range; (b) inherent species‐specific sensitivity to stochastic events; and (c) species’ capacity to cope with climate change effects. We defined species as inherently sensitive if they had any of the following: restricted geographic distribution in Mexico; narrow altitudinal range; low dispersal ability; or long generation length. Results Vulnerability varied depending on the climate change scenario applied. Under the MPI general circulation model and current emissions trends, by 2099, all species evaluated were projected to have some level of threat (vulnerable for at least one factor), with 4 out of 55 species vulnerable for all three factors, 29 for two factors, and 22 for one factor. Six out of ten rodent species endemic to Oaxaca were vulnerable for two or more factors. We found that species with narrow and restricted‐range distributions combined with low adaptive capacity were projected to be particularly vulnerable. Main conclusions By including species‐specific trait information in climate exposure assessments, researchers can contextualize and enhance their understanding about how climate change is likely to affect individual taxa in an area of interest. As such, studies like this one provide more relevant threat assessment information than exposure analyses alone and serve as a starting point for considering how climatic changes interact with an array of other variables to affect native species across their range.
Human disturbance and prey occupancy as predictors of carnivore richness and biomass in a Himalayan hotspot

Carnivores are of high ecological importance and often serve as flagship species for conservation. Yet, the direct and indirect effects of trophic interactions and human disturbance on carnivore communities and the occurrence of their prey in temperate forests remain poorly understood. Here we evaluate the direct and indirect effects of net primary productivity, prey (Muntjac spp) occupancy and human disturbance in shaping carnivore richness and biomass based on camera‐trap data and path analysis. Path analysis indicated that muntjac occupancy and proximity of human settlements were the main factors structuring carnivore communities. Carnivore biomass was directly affected by muntjac occupancy, while carnivore richness increased with distance from the nearest residential site. Muntjac occupancy per se directly depended on net primary productivity. We also identified several indirect effects on carnivore biomass. Increasing distance to the nearest residential site had a positive indirect effect on carnivore biomass that was mediated by increasing carnivore richness. Net primary productivity was positively associated with carnivore biomass indirectly via increasing muntjac occupancy. There were no significant correlations between the occurrence probability of livestock and muntjac. Our results point to the importance of incorporating prey occurrence and human disturbance in modelling biodiversity patterns of carnivore communities. Carnivore conservation management practices should include efforts to stop hunting and to restrict human presence in the core zones of protected areas.
State of the Art of Catalysts for Biodiesel Production

Biodiesel is one of the potential alternative energy sources that can be derived from renewable and low-grade origin through different processes. One of the processes is alcoholysis or transesterification in the presence of a suitable catalyst. The catalyst can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous. This article reviews various catalysts used for biodiesel production to date, presents the state of the art of types of catalysts, and compares their suitability and associated challenges in the transesterification process. Biodiesel production using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis has been studied extensively, and novel heterogeneous catalysts are being continuously investigated. Homogeneous catalysts are generally efficient in converting biodiesel with low free fatty acid (FFA) and water containing single-origin feedstock. Heterogeneous catalysts, on the other hand, provide superior activity, range of selectivity, good FFA, and water adaptability. The quantity and strengths of active acid or basic sites control these properties. Some of the heterogeneous catalysts such as zirconia and zeolite-based catalysts can be used as both basic and acidic catalyst by suitable alteration. Heterogeneous catalysts from waste and biocatalysts play an essential role in attaining a sustainable alternative to traditional homogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production. Recently, high catalytic efficiency at mild operating conditions has drawn attention to nanocatalysts. This review evaluates state of the art and perspectives for catalytic biodiesel production and assesses the critical operational variables that influence biodiesel production along with the technological solutions for sustainable implementation of the process.
Comparison of the technological background of aquaponic systems

Aquaponics is the combined culture of fish and plants in recirculating aquaculture systems, an ecologically sustainable horticultural production technique with long traditions. The objective of this study is to compare flood-and- drain, and the water crossflow system and examine the differences in the water quality, fish yield and plant growth parameters for Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and basil (Ocimum basilicum). During the study, water quality parameters of two treatments were compared in temperatures, pH, EC and NO3¯N were significantly different (p <0.05). Leaf area of the basil plants grew to an average of 20.37 cm2 (± 9.02 cm2). The plants’ biomass production was significantly different (p< 0.05) in the two systems. The biomass production showed lower yield, 458.22 g (± 214.59 g) in the constant flow system that in the flood- and- drain system 692.9 g (± 175.82 g). Fish Growth parameters were better in constant flow system (FCR 5.48 g/g ± 0.19). However, the specific growth rate (SGR) demonstrated that fish grew faster in flood- and- drain system 1.38 %/day (± 0.29).
Effects of Salt Stress after Late Booting Stage on Yield and Antioxidant Capacity in Pigmented Rice Grains and Alleviation of the Salt-Induced Yield Reduction by Exogenous Spermidine

Abstract Pigmented rice is receiving much attention due to the large amounts of bioactive compounds and various health benefits.However, little information is available on its agronomic and physiological aspects. This research aimed to explore the effects of salinity on yield and grain quality of pigmented rice and the modulation of salinity responses by exogenous application of spermidine (Spd). Four cultivars of rice were grown in pots until the early booting stage. Thereafter, the plants were sprayed with 1 mM Spd for 7 successive days before being irrigated with 25 mM NaCl instead of tap water until maturity. Grain yield, yield components and harvest index in all rice cultivars were negatively affected by this salinity stress. Pretreatment with Spd dramatically improved yield and yield components of salt-treated plants, particularly the salt-sensitive cultivar. The major yield components which were improved and contributed most to the dramatic increase in seed yield were the number of filled grains per panicle and panicle fertility. Moreover, Spd pretreatment resulted in an increase in K+/Na+ ratio in rice grains. Salt stress increased nutritional quality of mature grains, i.e., total phenolic content, anthocyanins, proanthocyanins and antioxidant activities (evaluated by FRAP, DPPH and ABTS assays) in all rice cultivars. Furthermore, all aspects of health-promoting nutritional characters were further enhanced by Spd pretreatment. Thus foliar spraying of Spd to rice plants prior to salt application improved grain yield as well as nutritional quality of colored rice grains in relation to total phenolics, flavonoid pigments and antioxidant capacities.
Colonization of maize silks by Fusarium graminearum, the causative organism of gibberella ear rot

One of the most economically important diseases of maize in Canada is gibberella ear rot caused by Fusarium graminearum Schwabe (teleomorph = Gibberella zeae (Schw.) Petch). Understanding how the fungus becomes established will help in developing effective strategies to reduce the incidence of this disease. This study investigates the infection process of F. graminearum on maize silks using both a wild-type F. graminearum as well as a strain transformed with a gene from jellyfish to constitutively express green fluorescent protein. Immature ears of maize were inoculated in the field with wild-type F. graminearum and harvested at specific times post infection, and the silks were stained with Chlorazol Black E for examination. In addition, uninoculated ears were excised, placed on water agar in large Petri dishes, and the silks inoculated with a suspension of macroconidia of the transformed fungus. The progress of fungal growth was then monitored using microscopy. Germination of conidia was observed 4–6 h a.