Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observed and Predicted Precipitation Changes in Pakistan Using Ground Observations, Satellite Data and Model Projections with Special Focus on Winter and Pre-Monsoon Precipitation

This study utilizes ground, satellite and model data to investigate the observed and future precipitation changes in Pakistan. Pakistan Meteorological Department’s (PMD) monthly precipitation data set along with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) monthly dataset TRMM_3B43 (0.25˚x0.25˚ resolution) have been used to evaluate rainfall trends over the climatic zones of Pakistan through Man-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator for the time period 1978-2018. Community Climate System Model (CCSM4) projections have been employed to explore the projected changes in precipitation till 2099. Furthermore, TRMM and CCSM4 projections have been correlated and validated using Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Bias Error (MBE). There is a good correlation between TRMM and PMD ground observation at all stations of the country for all seasons, with correlation coefficient values ranging from 0.89 (November) to 0.97 (July and August). The study shows a decreasing trend in winter precipitation in all zones of the country with a significant decrease over western mountains i.e. zone C of the country. During 2008-2018, a sharp decrease in winter precipitation is observed as compared to the baseline value of 1978-2007 in all climatic zones. There seems to be a shift in precipitation from winter towards pre-monsoon season as pre-monsoon precipitation in last 11 years increased in all zones except Zone C. Coherently, there is a decrease in area affected by winter precipitation and an increase in area for pre-monsoon precipitation. Future precipitation estimates from CCSM4 model for RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 over-estimate precipitation in most parts of the country for the first 9 observed years (2010-2018) and predict a rise in precipitation by 2099 which is more pronounced in the northern and western Pakistan while a decrease is predicted for the plains of the country, which might have negative consequences for agriculture.
Boosting Serotonin Increases Information Gathering by Reducing Subjective Cognitive Costs

Serotonin is implicated in the valuation of aversive costs, such as delay or physical effort. However, its role in governing sensitivity to cognitive effort, for example, deliberation costs during information gathering, is unclear. We show that treatment with a serotonergic antidepressant in healthy human individuals of either sex enhances a willingness to gather information when trying to maximize reward. Using computational modeling, we show this arises from a diminished sensitivity to subjective deliberation costs during the sampling process. This result is consistent with the notion that serotonin alleviates sensitivity to aversive costs in a domain-general fashion, with implications for its potential contribution to a positive impact on motivational deficits in psychiatric disorders. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Gathering information about the world is essential for successfully navigating it. However, sampling information is costly, and we need to balance between gathering too little and too much information. The neurocomputational mechanisms underlying this arbitration between a putative gain, such as reward, and the associated costs, such as allocation of cognitive resources, remain unclear. In this study, we show that week-long daily treatment with a serotonergic antidepressant enhances a willingness to gather information when trying to maximize reward. Computational modeling indicates this arises from a reduced perception of aversive costs, rendering information gathering less cognitively effortful. This finding points to a candidate mechanism by which serotonergic treatment might help alleviate motivational deficits in a range of mental illnesses.
Stochastic geometry based dynamic fractional frequency reuse for OFDMA systems

Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) has been acknowledged as an efficient Interference Management (IM) technique, which offers significant capacity enhancement and improves cell edge coverage with low complexity of implementation. The performance of cellular system greatly depends on the spatial configuration of base stations (BSs). In literature, FFR has been analyzed mostly with cellular networks described by Hexagon Grid Model (HGM). HGM is neither tractable nor scalable to the dense deployment of next generation wireless networks. Moreover, the perfect geometry based HGM tends to overestimate the system's performance and not able to reflect the reality. In this paper, we use the stochastic geometry approach; FFR is analyzed with cellular network modeled by homogeneous Poisson Point Process (PPP). PPP model provides complete randomness in terms of BS deployment, which captures the real network scenario. A dynamic FFR scheme is proposed in this article, which take into account the randomness of the cell coverage area described by Voronoi tessellation. It is shown that the proposed scheme outperforms the traditional fixed frequency allocation schemes in terms of capacity and capacity density.
Ball-Nose Vehicle's Atmospheric Parameters Estimation Based on Airflow Velocity

The airflow velocity over blunt sphere is used to calculate ball-nose vehicle's atmospheric parameters about angle of attack, angle of sideslip and flight speed. A final model satisfying compressible flow is developed, and the expressions for atmospheric parameters is derived from three strategically selected sensors' velocity. The expressions of atmospheric parameters are verified through Fluent stimulation. The result of stimulation demonstrates a good accuracy of angles and flight speed, and the system has a good real-time performance.
Target location based on range-difference information from a multistatic radar system

This paper describes a new method for locating a short range target based on range-difference information from a T-R/sup 4/ multistatic radar system using an FMCW signal. Formulae for the target location are derived independent of transmitter position coordinates, which is very suitable for applications that require a flexible transmitter. Performances are simulated with the present algorithm and the results are presented for various conditions.
Matter Element Digraph Based Workflow Modeling

Virtual enterprise or e-manufacturing is an advanced and effective manufacturing mode to modern manufacturing enterprises. In these modes, business process has been extended to outer enterprises, i.e. inter organization workflow. In order to achieve a efficient tool for workflow modeling with both simplicity and semantics, matter element is applied to construct a matter element digraph, in which a node is matter element. Then manufacturing service based workflow model can be dynamically changed or composed by matter element transformation. A case is studied to explain the approach presented in this paper.
Model of thin-film microstrip line for circuit design

An equivalent-circuit model for the thin-film microstrip line (TFMSL) is presented in this paper. Its elements are calculated using closed-form expressions and, thus, this model can easily be implemented in common circuit design tools. For typical TFMSL dimensions, it holds from DC up to the submillimeter-wave frequency range. The model is validated by comparison to electromagnetic full-wave simulation data. Typical errors of phase constant and characteristic impedance are below 2% and 3%, respectively. Regarding attenuation, deviations below 8% are found.
Determination of Canopys Average SPAD Readings Based on the Analysis ofDigital Images

Chlorophyll meter SPAD (Soil Plant Analysis Development) is one of the most popular tools used to monitor the N Status of rice (Oryza Sativa L.) but its high price limits it from being widely adopted. Digital imaging analysis used to detect nitrogen offers a promising, inexpensive substitute at canopy level. And the present study evaluated rice canopy SPAD readings by analyzing digital images captured with a domestic digital camera. A field experiment was conducted in 2011 using a completely randomized split-plot design, with main-plot treatments of six N fertilizer application rates and subplot treatments of different plant densities. To remove the image backgrounds, the images were segmented and a dark green color index (DGCI). The index, which is derived from values of hue, saturation, and brightness (HSB), was used to assess the greenness of the rice canopy. The DGCI was significantly correlated with average SPAD readings rice canopy at each growth stage, but the regression lines were different from each other. This might be caused by different lighting conditions, which lead us to conclude a calibration is indispensable when using a digital camera for the diagnosis of a plant’s nitrogen status.
Bortezomib-Induced Reversible Cardiomyopathy: Recovered With Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy

Bortezomib (BTZ) is a proteasome inhibitor (PI) used for the treatment of several hematologic malignancies, including multiple myeloma (MM), and various lymphomas including mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). It acts via disruption of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway which plays a major role in regulating cell cycle and inhibiting synthesis of nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-KB). The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is also important in maintaining the integral signaling in cardiac myocytes. By inhibiting this system, BTZ induces cellular apoptosis in cancer cells, and possibly the cardiomyocytes. BTZ-induced cardiotoxicity in monotherapy and combination treatments is not well described in the literature. We observed a series of three patients who developed cardiotoxicity after treatment with BTZ. All patients had echocardiograms every 3 months until recovery to assess ejection fraction (EF) and global longitudinal strain (GLS). Two of the patients had a cardiac MRI (CMR) conducted during follow-up to assess for late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). The median age of our patients was 55 years (range 37-74). Two of them had MM, while one patient had MCL. Table 1 demonstrates patient demographics, past medical histories, and the cumulative dose and duration of BTZ therapy. Of the three patients, only one had a heart failure exacerbation at diagnosis. The other two patients were diagnosed with asymptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction on routine pre-transplant echocardiograms. Most importantly, all three patients had improvement or normalization of cardiac function with discontinuation of BTZ and initiation of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) for heart failure. The median duration to recovery was 5 months (range 3-13). One patient had underlying non-compaction cardiomyopathy, and although EF did not normalize, it recovered to his previous baseline. All 3 patients had improvement in GLS. Two patients underwent CMRI at the time of cardiomyopathy diagnosis and neither of them had any late gadolinium enhancement. Since there was no routine pre-treatment echocardiogram, using the GLS trend to detect subclinical cardiac dysfunction was not possible. This case series demonstrates that BTZ-induced cardiomyopathy is potentially reversible with discontinuation of the drug and early initiation of GDMT. Further studies are needed to determine the ideal surveillance strategy for BTZ-induced cardiomyopathy.
Digital peak current mode control of isolated current‐fed push‐pull DC‐DC converter with slope compensation

The isolated current‐fed push‐pull dc‐dc converter has some practical advantages such as improved cross regulation characteristics, reduced output noise, and good overall efficiency. Although detailed insight on this converter is available in the literature, the use of digital peak current mode with slope compensation control methodology has not been explicitly presented. This paper discusses digital peak current mode control of a current‐fed push‐pull converter with a novel double digital pulse‐by‐pulse current limiting scheme. Push‐pull topology is implemented on the primary side of an isolation transformer in a dc‐dc bidirectional converter. Achieving this control solution of isolated push‐pull converter is attractive especially in controlling battery power flow in smart micro‐grids. By using a digitally controlled push‐pull converter, the ability to change controller parameters and the use of droop control methods for storage are easier. Furthermore, current mode control provides capability of equal current sharing between parallel converters and eliminates the transformer saturation problem that is common in push‐pull topology. Using continuous time model of the converter, a Type II compensator is designed and implemented in discrete time domain. Digital slope compensation is applied to eliminate the high frequency oscillations caused by current feedback loop. The control method and slope compensation are implemented on STM32F303 mixed‐signal microcontroller. On‐chip analog comparator disabled the PWM output if the sensed current exceeds the reference current until next PWM cycle. The digital controller performance is confirmed by 13 W hardware implementation including fast transient response and stable operation.
How do Snow Partridge (Lerwa lerwa) and Tibetan Snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus) coexist in sympatry under high‐elevation conditions on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau?

Abstract The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has the highest elevations of all biodiversity hotspots. Difficulties involved in fieldwork at high elevations cause challenges in researching mechanisms facilitating species coexistence. Herein, we investigated Snow Partridge (Lerwa lerwa) and Tibetan Snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus), the only two endemic Galliformes on the QTP, to understand species coexistence patterns and determine how they live in sympatry for the first time. We assembled occurrence data, estimated habitat suitability differences and the underlying factors between two species at different scales using ecological niche models. Niche overlap tests were used to investigate whether niche differences between these species allow for their coexistence. We found that elevation was the most important factor determining habitat suitability for both species. At the meso‐scale, two species have similar ecological niches with their suitable habitats lying predominantly along ridge crests. However, ridge crests were more influential for habitat suitability by L. lerwa than for that of T. tibetanus because the latter species ranges further afield than ridge crests. Thus, differences in habitat suitability between these species lead to habitat partitioning, which allows stable coexistence. At the macro‐scale, temperature and precipitation were major factors influencing habitat suitability differences between these species. Tetraogallus tibetanus extended into the hinterland of the QTP and occurred at higher elevations, where colder and drier alpine conditions are commonplace. Conversely, L. lerwa occurred along the southeastern margin of the QTP with a lower snow line, an area prone to rainy and humid habitats. Niche overlap analysis showed that habitat suitability differences between these species are not driven by niche differentiation. We concluded that the coexistence of these two pheasants under high‐elevation conditions could be an adaption to different alpine conditions.
Reconfigurable Disk-like Microswarm under a Sawtooth Magnetic Field

Swarming robotic systems, which stem from insect swarms in nature, exhibit a high level of environmental adaptability and enhanced tasking capabilities for targeted delivery and micromanipulation. Here, we present a strategy that reconfigures paramagnetic nanoparticles into microswarms energized by a sawtooth magnetic field. A rotary-stepping magnetic-chain mechanism is proposed to address the forming principle of disk-like swarms. Based on programming the sawtooth field, the microswarm can perform reversible transformations between a disk, an ellipse and a ribbon, as well as splitting and merging. In addition, the swarms can be steered in any direction with excellent maneuverability and a high level of pattern stability. Under accurate manipulation of a magnetic microswarm, multiple microparts with complicated shapes were successfully combined into a complete assembly. This reconfigurable swarming microrobot may shed light on the understanding of complex morphological transformations in living systems and provide future practical applications of microfabrication and micromanipulation.
Global Optimization Based on Weighting-Integral Expected Improvement

Balancing the global exploration and the local exploitation has received particular attention in global optimization algorithm. In this paper, based on Kriging model an infill sample criteria named weighting-integral expected improvement is proposed, which provides a high flexibility to balance the scope of search. Coupled with this infill sample criteria, a strategy is proposed that on each iteration step, the infill sample point was selected by the urgency of each search scope. Two mathematical functions and one engineering problem are used to test this method. The numerical experiments show that this method has excellent efficiency in finding global optimum solutions.
Novel Sources of Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici Race 3 Among Solanum pennellii Accessions

Fusarium wilt of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), caused by fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol), is one of the most important diseases in tomato production. Three races of the pathogen are described, and race-specific resistance genes have been applied in commercial tomato cultivars for controlling the disease. Race 3 (Fol3) threatens tomato production in many regions around the world, and novel resistance resources could expand the diversity and durability of Fol resistance. The wild tomato species, Solanum pennellii, is reported to harbor broad resistance to Fol and was the source of two known Fol3 resistance genes. In this study, we evaluated 42 S. pennellii accessions for resistance to each fusarium wilt race. F1 plants, developed from crossing each accession with the Fol3 susceptible line ‘Suncoast’, were evaluated for Fol3 resistance, and BC1F1 plants were screened to determine the likelihood that Fol3 resistance was based on a novel locus (loci). Nearly all accessions showed resistance to Fol3, and many accessions were resistant to all races. Evaluation of F1 plants indicated a dominant resistance effect to Fol3 from most accessions. Genetic analysis indicated 24 accessions are expected to contain one or more novel Fol3 resistance loci other than an allele near the I-3 locus. To investigate genetic structure of the S. pennellii accessions used in this study, we genotyped all 42 accessions using genotyping by sequencing. Approximately 20% of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci were heterozygous across accessions, likely due to the outcrossing nature of the species. Genetic structure analysis at 49,120 unique SNP loci across accessions identified small but obvious genetic differentiations.
Surveying the Factors that Influence Maintainability

We want to explore and analyse design decisions that influ- ence maintainability of software. Software maintainability is important because the effort expended on changes and fixes in software is a major cost driver. We take an em- pirical, qualitative approach, by investigating cases where a change has cost more or less than comparable changes, and analysing the causes for those differences. We will use this analysis of causes as input to following research in which the individual contributions of a selection of those causes will be quantitatively analysed.
Human Factors Analysis Model of Flight Crew Members Based on Bayesian Network in China Civil Aviation Incidents

In order to figure out the human factors impact of flight crew members in incident deduction, a human factors analysis model of flight crew members based on a Bayesian network is established. After comparing CH scoring function and BIC scoring function, and comparing the K2 search algorithm and the hill-climbing search algorithm for model optimization, the Bayesian network analysis model is established by using 10 years of flight crew members' error data in China civil aviation incidents. The Bayesian network analysis model shows the probability distribution of flight crew members' errors in civil aviation incidents analysis, which is useful for analyzing and reducing flight crew members' errors.
Comparison of Synthetic Membranes to Heat-Separated Human Epidermis in Skin Permeation Studies In Vitro

In recent years, the study of dermal preparations has received increased attention. There are more and more modern approaches to evaluate transdermal formulations, which are crucial in proving the efficacy of a formulation. The aim of this study was to compare permeation across innovative synthetic membranes (Strat-M and Skin PAMPA membranes) and heat-separated human epidermis (HSE, gold standard membrane) using four different dermal formulations. The Strat-M and Skin PAMPA membranes were designed to mimic the stratum corneum layer of the human epidermis. There have also been some publications on their use in dermal formulation development, but further information is needed. Drug permeation was measured using formulations containing diclofenac sodium (two hydrogels and two creams). The HSE, Strat-M, and Skin PAMPA membranes proved to be significantly different, but based on the results, the Strat-M membrane showed the greatest similarity to HSE. The permeation data of the different formulations across different membranes showed good correlations with formulations similar to these four, which allows the prediction of permeation across HSE using these synthetic membranes. In addition, Strat-M and Skin PAMPA membranes have the potential to select and differentiate a dermal formulation containing diclofenac sodium as an early screening model.
Influence of anodizing surface treatment on the aging behavior in salt-fog environment of aluminum alloy 5083 to fiber reinforced composites adhesive joints

ABSTRACT The present work aims to evaluate how an innovative and eco-friendly anodizing process with tartaric-sulfuric acid (TSA) bath and a pore widening in an aqueous solution of NaOH 0.1 M can improve the durability in marine environment of co-cured adhesive joints between an aluminum alloy (AA 5083) and fiber (i.e., glass or basalt)-reinforced composite substrates. The aging was carried out by exposing samples to salt-fog spray conditions (5 wt.% NaCl) for 30, 60 and 90 days in a climate chamber, in accordance with ASTM B117. In order to get further insights on the aging behaviour of bonded joints, neat matrix was also exposed to the same environment for 60 days. Quasi-static mechanical tests and morphological analysis through SEM microscope coupled with EDX analyser were carried out to deeper understand how the fracture surfaces change during aging and how this affected the mechanical performances of joints.
Development of Sic Gas Sensor Systems

ABSTRACT Silicon carbide (SiC) based gas sensors have significant potential to address the gas sensing needs of aerospace applications such as emission monitoring, fuel leak detection, and fire detection. However, in order to reach that potential, a range of technical challenges must be overcome. These challenges go beyond the development of the basic sensor itself and include the need for viable enabling technologies to make a complete gas sensor system: electrical contacts, packaging, and transfer of information from the sensor to the outside world. This paper reviews the status at NASA Glenn Research Center of SiC Schottky diode gas sensor development as well as that of enabling technologies supporting SiC gas sensor system implementation. A vision of a complete high temperature microfabricated SiC gas sensor system is proposed. In the long-term, it is believed that improvements in the SiC semiconductor material itself could have a dramatic effect on the performance of SiC gas sensor systems.