Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relative Phosphorus Phytoavailability of Different Phosphorus Sources

Understanding differences in the phytoavailability of various phosphorus (P) sources should improve matching P additions to plant needs and minimize excessive buildup of bioavailable P, which can degrade aquatic systems. We evaluated relative P phytoavailability (RPP) of different P sources in glasshouse and field studies. Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Fluggae), ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), and a second bahiagrass crop were grown in succession in a P‐deficient soil amended with four sources of P (triple superphosphate (TSP), Boca Raton and Pompano; biosolids, and poultry manure), each applied at two rates in the glasshouse study and to an established bahiagrass pasture in the field. The RPP values estimated from plant P uptake of each organic source of P relative to TSP in the glasshouse were similar for the three croppings and similar to the estimates derived from the field study, but varied for the different P sources. Values ranged from 30% for poultry manure to 85% for Boca Raton biosolids. Boca Raton biosolid P was as readily available as P in TSP and would be classified as a high RPP (>75% RPP) source, but Pompano biosolids and manure would be classified as moderate RPP materials (25–75% RPP). The RPP values observed in manure and Pompano biosolid treatments are consistent with 50% “effectiveness” suggested for biosolid P in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidelines, whereas P bioavailability of Boca Raton biosolids is similar to mineral fertilizer.
Measuring the Subjective Cost of Listening Effort Using a Discounting Task

Purpose Objective measures of listening effort have been gaining prominence, as they provide metrics to quantify the difficulty of understanding speech under a variety of circumstances. A key challenge has been to develop paradigms that enable the complementary measurement of subjective listening effort in a quantitatively precise manner. In this study, we introduce a novel decision-making paradigm to examine age-related and individual differences in subjective effort during listening. Method Older and younger adults were presented with spoken sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at multiple signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). On each trial, subjects were offered the choice between completing an easier listening trial (presented at +20 dB SNR) for a smaller monetary reward and completing a harder listening trial (presented at either +4, 0, −4, −8, or −12 dB SNR) for a greater monetary reward. By varying the amount of the reward offered for the easier option, the subjective value of performing effortful listening trials at each SNR could be assessed. Results Older adults discounted the value of effortful listening to a greater degree than young adults, opting to accept less money in order to avoid more difficult SNRs. Additionally, older adults with poorer hearing and smaller working memory capacities were more likely to choose easier trials; however, in younger adults, no relationship with hearing or working memory was found. Self-reported measures of economic status did not affect these relationships. Conclusions These findings suggest that subjective listening effort depends on factors including, but not necessarily limited to, hearing and working memory. Additionally, this study demonstrates that economic decision-making paradigms can be a useful approach for assessing subjective listening effort and may prove beneficial in future research.
Direct Strain Measurement of Polypyrrole Actuators Controlled by the Polymer/Gold Interface

Electrochemically induced strain and actuation in a polypyrrole/Au/polyimide laminate was measured using a sensitive strain gage during oxidation and reduction (redox) of polypyrrole−ClO4-. The polyimide formed the top layer of the strain gage, allowing direct measurement of strain during redox switching in various electrolytes and potential windows. Strain increased in the order NaCl < NaNO3 < NaClO4. In the NaClO4 solution for oxidizing potentials between 0.1 and 0.5 V vs Ag/AgCl, strain and charge were linearly proportional to voltage. Lower polypyrrole deposition potentials also increased strain. The surface roughness of the Au was varied by electrochemically depositing Au (which we designate EcAu) on top of thermally evaporated Au (EvAu)/polyimide. Greater EcAu deposition times led to greater Au roughness. Strain increased with polypyrrole thickness and Au roughness, which correlated with better adhesion between the polypyrrole and the Au. Au roughness also improved the cycling stability of the actua.
Using data-driven models to estimate the energy use of buildings based on a building stock model

In order to increase the renovation rate in Belgium, an approach is needed to refurbish clusters of buildings rather than individual buildings. To allow for a meaningful clustering of buildings, the energy performance of the existing buildings should be known. Nowadays all energy related data at building level in Belgium are confidential and cannot be shared with municipalities, private institutions or researchers. Crucial information regarding the energy use of the existing buildings is hence lacking to allow for such clustering. Using different machine learning techniques, i.e. decision trees, random forest models and k-NN models, these missing energy data for the buildings of the city of Leuven are predicted.
MICROBIAL BIOMASS CARBON AND ENZYMATIC DEGRADATION OF CARBOHYDRATES BY APPLICATION OF VERMICULITE TO RECLAIMED SUBSTRATES

Abstract: A vegetation experiment was carried out with different amounts of vermiculite mixed with humus depot substrates, tailings pond and mine, in different proportions, and with an application of mineral fertilization and liming. Biomass carbon of microbial origin has the highest values after the addition of 10% vermiculite, simultaneous application of fertilization and liming, and alone fertilization, compared to controls, without ameliorants. The activity of the studied enzymes cellulase, amylase, invertase and catalase increased with increasing concentration of vermiculite, as well as in the combined application of fertilization and liming. The values of microbial biomass carbon and enzymes are highest in the variants with substrates from the mine.
CONLON: A Pseudo-Song Generator Based on a New Pianoroll, Wasserstein Autoencoders, and Optimal Interpolations

We introduce CONLON, a pattern-based MIDI generation method that employs a new lossless pianoroll-like data description in which velocities and durations are stored in separate channels. CONLON uses Wasserstein autoencoders as the underlying generative model. Its generation strategy is similar to interpolation, where MIDI pseudo-songs are obtained by concatenating patterns decoded from smooth trajectories in the embedding space, but aims to produce a smooth result in the pattern space by computing optimal trajectories as the solution of a widest-path problem. A set of surveys enrolling 69 professional musicians shows that our system, when trained on datasets of carefully selected and coherent patterns, is able to produce pseudo-songs that are musically consistent and potentially useful for professional musicians. Additional materials can be found at https://paolo-f.github. io/CONLON/ .
Develop an efficient inoculation technique for Fusarium solani pathogeny assessment in Phalaenopsis orchids

Background: Phalaenopsis is one of the important ornamental plants worldwide. It plays the most significant role in flower exportation in Taiwan. However, the yellow leaf disease caused by Fusarium spp. has reduced the orchid flower yield 10-50% yearly. Varieties resistant to yellow leaf disease associated with Fusarium is urgently needed for orchid growers and breeders, and is the ultimate solution for the long-term goal. To achieve this, phenotyping is the first step and the most necessary information for further studies, such as resistance gene identification, quantitative trait loci identification, and genome-wide association study. Results: The inoculation of Fusarium was performed in either abbreviated stem or detached leaf, and the pros and cons were compared. The former is the general method of phenotyping for estimating the tolerance to yellow leaf disease of Phalaenopsis, but it is time-consuming and spacy, and thus not suitable for the assessment of large numbers of samples. In contrast, the latter not only showed a similar trend of disease severity with time reduced to only one fourth of the former one but also less space needed. Conclusions: This solution allows a better phenotyping approach for the fast detection of yellow leaf disease associated with Fusarium in a large number of Phalaenopsis samples.
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Web News Archives for Crime Prediction

In today’s world, security is the most prominent aspect which has been given higher priority. Despite the rapid growth and usage of digital devices, lucrative measurement of crimes in under-developing countries is still challenging. In this work, unstructural crime data (900 records) from the news archives of the previous eight years were extracted to predict the behavior of criminals’ networks and transform it into useful information using natural language processing (NLP). To estimate the next move of criminals in Pakistan, we performed hotspot-based spatial analysis. Later, this information is fed to two different classifiers for possible identification and prediction. We achieved the maximum accuracy of 92% using K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and 62% using the Random Forest algorithm. In terms of crimes, the results showed that the most prevalent crime events are robberies. Thus, the usage of digital information archives, spatial analysis, and machine learning techniques can open new ways of handling a peaceful and sustainable society in eradicating crimes for countries having paucity of financial resources.
Biological Sulfate Reduction for Treatment of Gypsum Contaminated Soils, Sediments, and Solid Wastes

Solid wastes containing sulfate are an important source of pollution, which can create a lot of environmental problems, especially during disposal management at landfill sites. These solid wastes, such as construction and demolition (C&D) debris and phosphogypsum, cause odor problems and possible health impacts to landfill employees and surrounding residents. These wastes do not only contain high sulfate concentrations, but also contain toxic metals and radioactive compounds. Although these wastes can be reused as soil amendment or to make building materials, a concern has been raised by regulators regarding to the chemical characteristics of the material and the potential risks to human health and the environment. Therefore, use of these solid wastes has been banned in most countries. In addition, soils containing solid sulfate (gypsum), namely gypsiferous soils, have several problems during agricultural development. Reduction of the sulfate content of these solid wastes, soils and sediments by biological sulfate reduction is an option to overcome the previously mentioned problems. The authors review the topics necessary for developing biological sulfate removal technologies from these sulfate rich solid wastes as well as soils and sediment types (i.e., their contamination by sulfate minerals, solid sulfate as an electron acceptor for sulfate reducing bacteria, and sulfate reduction processes both in natural and in bioengineered reactor systems).
The Main Determinants of Capital Inflows in Emerging Market Economies: Does the Exchange Rate Regime Matter?

There is a bulk of literature in analyzing the impacts of exchange rate regimes (ERRs) on capital flows into emerging market economies. However, these studies mainly do not take into account integration and cointegration properties of variables. This paper aims to tackle this important issue by investigating whether ERRs matter for the impacts of the main push (global financial conditions, GFC) and pull (real GDP) factors on capital inflows into emerging market economies. We find that worsening GFC decreases all types of capital inflow except foreign direct investments in case of floating ERR. This impact is statistically significant only for portfolio inflows in case of managed ERR. The pull factor is often positive and statistically significant in determining capital inflows in the long-run only under floating ERRs. These results suggest that the long-run impacts of the main pull and push factors on capital inflows are often magnified under more flexible ERRs.
Electrospinning of Technical Lignins for the Production of Fibrous Networks

Abstract Electrospinning is an effective strategy to produce micron and sub-micron diameter fibrous networks from a variety of polymeric systems. Using seven different technical lignins the effect of lignin structure on fiber formation by electrospinning was studied. Surprisingly, none of the technical lignins could be electrospun into continuous fibers, although beaded fiber formation was observed for the softwood Kraft lignin system at high concentration (>50 wt%). However, the addition of poly(ethylene oxide) dramatically affected the electrospinning behavior and fiber formation. For all of the technical lignins a clear transition from electrospray or beaded fibers to uniform fibers was observed upon addition of poly(ethylene oxide); the lignin concentration dependent on poly(ethylene oxide) content. In all of the systems a linear increase in fiber diameter with increasing lignin concentration was observed. At the same concentration, the various lignin solutions had varying viscosities and different electrospinning behavior, that is, fiber diameter and ability to form uniform fibers, suggesting lignin specific structures and intermolecular interactions are influencing solution properties and electrospinning behavior. In fact, specific viscosity versus concentration plots reveal scaling exponents’, η ∼ c7.4–7.8 consistent with a branched polymer participating in intermolecular interactions such as hydrogen bonding or association complexes.
Proximal hamstring tendon avulsion: state of the art

Complete proximal hamstring tendon avulsions from the ischial tuberosity, though infrequent, are the most severe type of hamstring muscle injury in the field of sport medicine. These serious injuries are commonly associated with a delayed or even misdiagnosis, despite obvious clinical findings. The published literature favours surgical repair even though the studies represent lower levels of evidence. Non-surgical treatment is a viable option for lower physical demand patients. This state-of-the-art article reviews the relevant anatomy, the clinical assessment including specific physical examination signs and diagnostic testing in patients suspected of a proximal hamstring avulsion. Up-to-date evidence is reviewed to address surgical and non-surgical treatment options and outcome assessment. The authors provide a detailed description of what would be considered the current worldwide standard of care; an open, suture-anchor-based repair of the avulsed tendon complex (semitendinosus, long head of biceps femoris and semimembranosus) securely to the ischial tuberosity. Also included are surgical tips and tricks, with advice on postsurgical management and rehabilitation. Future perspectives should involve higher quality, prospective research to better define the indications for surgery, evaluate the emerging role of endoscopic repair and disclose complications along with measuring patient-reported outcomes.
Nonpharmacological Interventions for Pain Management in Lung Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review

Background: The presence of lung cancer is almost always associated with pain, a symptom that causes severe distress in patients. Although many pharmacological methods are available to manage pain in this oncologic population, the medications often cause undesirable sideeffects and inadequate relief. Nonpharmacological interventions can be used as adjuvants to pharmacological interventions in reducing pain and increasing quality of life. Objectives: The purpose of this review is to compare the efficacy of nonpharmacological interventions in reducing pain in lung cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review study guided by the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis Protocol. Interventions identified in the present systematic review have been categorized as physical treatment, technologybased, cognitive behavioral, coping, and coaching. Results: Results indicate that the nonpharmacological interventions such as physical treatment interventions, selfmanagement and coaching interventions, cognitive behavioral interventions, and technologybased interventions or coping skills interventions had limited and shortterm effects on alleviating pain among the patients. However, previous studies have provided limited evidence regarding nonpharmacologic therapy due to the lack of a comparison group, small sample sizes, and lack of longterm followup periods to determine whether sustained effects are feasible. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals should consider additional research on the added advantage of utilizing the nonpharmacological interventions as an adjunct option while managing pain in lung cancer patients.
Reflectance–difference studies of organometallic chemical vapor deposition growth transients on (001) GaAs

Using reflectance–difference spectroscopy to follow surface coverage on a submonolayer scale, alternating trimethylgallium (TMG) and arsine flows to separate their surface‐chemical effects and to eliminate gas‐phase interactions, and low (330–430 °C) temperatures to eliminate gas‐phase pyrolysis, we isolate and identify the different factors that kinetically limit organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) growth on (001) GaAs by their time, pressure, and temperature dependences. When an AsH3‐stabilized surface is exposed to TMG, the relative coverage by Ga‐containing reacted species increases linearly in time to 80% coverage and exponentially thereafter, and exhibits a pressure dependence of classic Langmuir adsorption‐isotherm form. We derive a model that quantitatively describes these features in terms of reversible excluded‐volume chemisorption and subsequent irreversible decomposition of TMG at (001) surface lattice sites. Analysis of the data yields −26 and 39 kcal/mol for the chemisorption en.
The Local Hard−Soft Acid−Base Principle: A Critical Study

The recently proposed local hard−soft acid−base principle characterizes the reactive centers of two systems on the basis of equal Fukui functions or/and equal local softnesses. We make a quantum chemical study of this principle using ab initio and density functional calculations in cases where the global softnesses of the reacting systems are different. We consider reactions of a dimer cluster model of faujasite X-type zeolite with the probe molecules CO, NH3, and H2O.
Study on the Mechanism and Kinetics of the Thermal Decomposition of Ni/Al Layered Double Hydroxide Nitrate

In the paper, the mechanism and kinetics of thermal decomposition of Ni/Al layered double hydroxide nitrate with a Ni/Al molar ratio of 3.0 (NiAl-LDH) were studied by thermogravimetry/differential thermal analysis coupled with mass spectrometry (TG/DTA−MS). The results indicated that the thermal decomposition of NiAl-LDH proceeds in three individual processes, i.e., removal of the physisorbed and interlayer water, dehydroxylation of the layers, and decomposition of the interlayer nitrate ions (denitration). The mechanism and kinetics of dehydroxylation and denitration, which take place simultaneously almost in the same region of temperatures, were separately achieved by only using MS data sets recorded at different heating rates. The dehytroxylation follows a two-dimensional diffusion-controlled mechanism with instantaneous nucleation represented by the first-order Avrami−Erofe’ev equation with an average activation energy of ca. 129.0 kJ·mol−1, while the denitration obeys a three-dimensional diffusion-co.
Design and implementation of a hybrid DPWM under 50 ps resolution based on general‐purpose FPGA

High‐resolution pulse width modulators are used widely in different fields of electrical engineering, such as dimming of light‐emitting diode (LED) lighting, motor control, RF modulators, audio amplifiers, and switch‐mode power supplies. To realize a high‐resolution digital pulse‐width modulator (DPWM) in a limited inner system clock, a simple implementation of a hybrid DPWM with the resolution under 50 ps based on a general‐purpose field‐programmable gate array (FPGA) is described. The multiplexer device implementing the fast carry‐chain path and an AND gate controlling the selection input are used as a delay unit. The manual routing or placement is not required in the proposed approach, which just needs some conditional constraints. Some different conditional constraints influencing the monotonicity and resolution of DPWM are discussed. Finally, a 1 MHz switching frequency DPWM with 40 ps resolution is experimentally demonstrated, with high monotonicity and linearity. Further, a synchronous buck with and without this high‐resolution DPWM is experimentally compared to illustrate the regulation resolution.
Application of Multilayer Perceptron Method on Heat Flow Method Results for Reducing the in-situ Measurement Time

To reduce the impact on climate change, many countries have developed strategies for the building sector with a goal to reduce the energy demands and carbon emission of buildings. As most buildings that exist today will very likely exist in foreseeable future, many buildings will need to undergo major renovations. One of the most important parameters in determining the transmission heat losses through the building envelope is the U-value, i.e., thermal transmittance, and it is simply the rate of heat transfer per unit temperature. Since the U-value is one of the most important parameters regarding building energy performance, envelope elements that do not perform well in terms of transmission heat losses must undergo a renovation processes. The in-situ U-value of building elements is usually determined by the Heat Flux Method (HFM). One of the issues of current application of the HFM is the measurement duration. This paper explores the possibilities of reducing the measurement time by predicting the heat flux rate using a multilayer perceptron (MLP), a class of artificial neural network. The MLP uses two input layers that are the interior and exterior air temperatures, and the output layer that is the predicted heat flux rate. The predicted value is trained by comparing the predicted heat flux rates with the measured values, and by rearranging the neural network parameters (weights and biases) in corresponding neurons by minimizing the mean squared error defined for trained values (measured versus predicted heat flux rates). The use of MLP shows promising results for predicting the heat flux rates for the analyzed cases (4 days HFM results) when the training is performed on 2/3 or 1/2 of the overall measurement time. The application of the MLP could be in reducing the in-situ measurement time when determining heat losses through building elements in shorter time periods.