Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microbial Resource Limitation in Aggregates in Karst and Non-Karst Soils

Karst is a widespread ecosystem with properties that affect the microbial activity and storage and cycling of soil organic carbon. The mechanisms underlying microbial resource availability in karst, which limit the microbial growth and activity in soil aggregates, remain largely unknown. We assessed the microbial resource limitations using exoenzymatic stoichiometry and key extracellular enzyme activities in bulk soil and aggregates in karst and non-karst forest soils. Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen were significantly higher in bulk soil and the aggregate fractions in karst forests. However, the microbial biomass accumulation was higher in finer aggregates than in macroaggregate fractions. This may be attributed to the surface area of finer aggregates that increase the microbial C accumulation. In karst forests, the activity of extracellular enzymes β-d-glucosidase, β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, α-glucosidase, and α-d-1,4-cellobiosidase was two to three times higher in microaggregates (0.053–0.25 mm) and mineral fractions (<0.053 mm) than in macroaggregates. This coincided with the distribution of microbial biomass carbon and phosphorus in finer aggregate fractions. The microorganisms in bulk soil and aggregates in karst forests were largely co-limited by carbon and phosphorus and rarely by nitrogen and only by phosphorus in non-karst soils. The microbial phosphorus limitation in non-karst soils was alleviated in finer soil aggregates, while these fractions reflected slightly higher. microbial C limitations than bulk and other aggregates in karst forests. The patterns of microbial resource limitations in the bulk and aggregate fractions in karst ecosystems reflected the regulation of enzyme activity and soil organic carbon accumulation in finer aggregate fractions but not in other aggregates.
A Novel Framework for Testing High-Speed Serial Interfaces in Multiprocessor Based Real-Time Embedded System

Recent years has seen a tremendous increase in processing requirements of present-day embedded system applications. Embedded systems consist of multiple processing elements (PEs) connected to each other using different types of interfaces. Many complicated tasks are accomplished by embedded systems in varied settings, which may introduce errors during inter-processor communication. Testing such systems is tremendously difficult and challenging from testing non-real time systems. A major part of testing real time embedded systems involves ensuring accuracy and timing in synchronous inter-process communication More specifically, the synchronization and inter-processor communication of real-time applications makes testing a challenging task and due to the demand for higher data rate increases, day-by-day, making testing of such systems even more complex. This paper presents a novel frame work that uses multiple instances of simulators with physical high-speed serial interfaces to emulate any real time embedded system communication. The framework presents a testing technique that detects all faults related to synchronization of high-speed synchronous serial interfaces in a systematic manner. The novelty of our approach is to simulate communication across multiple processors in a simulation environment for detecting and localizing bugs. We verify this framework using a case study consisting of an embedded software defined radio (SDR) system. The test results show the applicability of our approach in fixing bugs that relates to synchronization issues that otherwise are very hard to find and fix in very complicated systems, such as SDR.
Efficacy of antibiotic medication strategy following a bioterrorist attack involving Francisella tularensis

Abstract Francisella tularensis is a virulent bacterium which hijacks the host’s immune response, turning cells usually tasked with killing foreign organisms as nutrient-rich receptacles for rapid multiplication. It is designated a Tier 1 Select Agent by the US CDC due to its potential to cause widespread mortality upon deliberate release. In this study, the key biological mechanisms of host infection are modelled as a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) and solved via discrete event simulation (DES). The efficacy of various medication strategies at the behest of public health authorities are investigated. Without treatment, the median lethal dose – not previously considered in humans – is estimated at approximately 1,000 organisms. Results suggest that fatality can be averted if antibiotics are administered for at least 7 days, no later than 10 days post exposure. In a mass casualty setting, this can reduce symptomatic cases by 18% from the baseline involving no medication. Reductions of 59% are possible if medication can be disseminated no later than 5 days post exposure, mitigating otherwise severe pressure on healthcare services. Novel use of CTMC and DES highlight the potential for OR in the field of immunology, where further opportunities may present in a post COVID-19 world.
A low voltage class-F-1 power amplifier based on bias circuit analysis

ABSTRACT This paper aims to design and fabricate a class-F−1 power amplifier (PA) to act at 2.4 GHz frequency with high power-added efficiency (PAE). For this purpose, a harmonic control network is introduced, which consists of three parts: a harmonic control circuit, a transistor bias circuit, and a suppression circuit. Each part of the harmonic control network is individually designed and finally, they are optimised together in the final amplifier circuit. The fabricated PA results mimic the simulation one. The presented PA has functional specifications like high PAE, the ability to control the second and third harmonics, and a low drain voltage supply of 2.2 V. Due to these excellent features, this PA is suitable for wireless applications.
Neuroscience approach for management and entrepreneurship: a bibliometric analysis

PurposeThis study focuses on the role of individuals in the innovation management process, by concentrating on leaders and associated behaviors. Specifically, Entrepreneurial Leadership (EL) represent one of the most important fields of innovation management that has become increasingly multifaceted and interdisciplinary with its evolution. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine a newly emerging research trend with a new lens that is “neuroscience”. Design/methodology/approachThis paper finds an evidence-based roadmap by reviewing the literature with a quantitative Bibliometric Analysis (BA) employing Co-Citation (Co-C) and bibliographic coupling analysis (BcA) to find linkages between the leadership and entrepreneurship literature and the neuroscience literature.FindingsThis study identifies five promising groups of research areas such as the organizational approach, the biological approach, the cognitive approach, the emotional approach and it identify five future research topics such as dynamic skills in innovation exploitation process, the human aspect of leadership, the building process of leadership, the biological perspective of leadership and the application of neuroscience in the ecosystem. Moreover, we find an evidence-based roadmap for stimulating focused EL within the broad topic of innovation management research, to move the field forward.Originality/valueAlthough the past few years have observed the necessity of review studies on the subsets of biological factors, no reviews have sought to bring those different subsets together into a broader biological perspective. This study provides important indications on the interdisciplinary developments between the neuroscience aspects and EL, as a new emerging paradigm within the broad field of innovation management.
The Interplay of Actors in Political Communication: The State of the Subfield

ABSTRACT In this article, we systematically assess how recent political communication scholarship has empirically demonstrated the interactions of the three main actors: elites, citizens and media. We found that research has focused overwhelmingly on within-actor relationships involving citizens, to the exclusion of elites and media, and concentrated mostly on micro-level processes. Most inter-actor relationships also tended to be moderated than mediated, implying the nature of findings as more exploratory and conditional than confirmatory and causal, and that cases were overdrawn from Western countries. In discussing possible reasons and implications for these findings, we call on scholars to move beyond studying micro-processes related to citizens' cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors, and explicitly anchor them to higher-level societal ramifications; incorporate the investigation of causal processes of inter-actor relationships; and make concrete affirmative actions to de-Westernize political communication research.
Self-nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System of Cilnidipine

Aim: Self-nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems (SNEDDS) are physically stable, isotropic mixtures of oil, surfactant and co-surfactant. The turbulence generated by peristaltic movements of the GIT causes formation of oil-in-water (o/w) nano-emulsions upon dilution. The objective of this study was to improve solubility and oral bioavailability of Cilnidipine by formulating liquid-SNEDDS. Materials and methods: Capmul PG8 NF, Cremophor RH40, and Transcutol HP were selected as oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant. Ternary phase diagrams were constructed to evaluate the nanoemulsification region. A 32 factorial design was employed to optimize L-SNEDDS with droplet size and drug release as responses. SNEDDS of CLN was evaluated for droplet size, self-emulsification time, in vitro drug release, ex-vivo permeation, pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution studies and stability studies. The optimized L-SNEDDS was converted into solid form using β-cyclodextrin nanosponges as adsorbents and evaluated in terms of micromeritics, drug content, scanning electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. Results: The optimized batch exhibited droplet size of 23.70 nm, and in vitro drug release of 95.24 % in 60 min.The in-vivo studies revealed nearly 5.53 folds increase in AUC0-∞ of optimized batch of liquid SNEDDS compared to CLN which can be credited to increase in solubility and dissolution rate. Conclusion: In vivo studies revealed improved pharmacokinetic properties which were attributed to greater surface area and lymphatic absorption leading to circumvention of hepatic first pass metabolism.
Siberia’s largest pulse of kimberlites: U-Pb geochronology of perovskite and rutile from the Obnazhennaya kimberlite and its xenoliths, Siberia craton

ABSTRACT Mantle xenoliths from the Middle-Late Jurassic Obnazhennaya kimberlite are often compared with those from the Udachnaya kimberlite (ca. 367 Ma) to inform the evolution of the Siberia craton. However, there are no direct constraints on the timing of the Obnazhennaya kimberlite eruption. Such uncertainty of the kimberlite age precludes a better understanding of the mantle xenoliths from the Obnazhennaya pipe, and thus also of the evolution of the Siberia craton. This paper reports U-Pb ages for both perovskite from the Obnazhennaya kimberlite and rutile in an Obnazhennaya eclogite xenolith. The fresh perovskite formed during the early stage of magmatic crystallization and yields a U-Pb age of 151.8 ± 2.5 Ma (2σ). Rutile in the eclogite xenolith yields an overlapping U-Pb age of 154.2 ± 1.9 Ma (2σ). Because rutile has a Pb closure temperature lower than the inferred residence temperature of the eclogite prior to eruption, the U-Pb isotope system in rutile was not closed until the host eclogite was entrained and delivered to the surface by the kimberlite and therefore records the timing of kimberlite eruption. These data provide the first direct constraints on the emplacement age of the Obnazhennaya kimberlite and add to the global ‘kimberlite bloom’ from ca. 250–50 Ma as well as to the largest pulse of kimberlite volcanism in Siberia from ca. 171–144 Ma. The timing of this Jurassic–Cretaceous pulse coincides with the closure of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean, but the depleted Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics of 171–144 Ma kimberlites are inconsistent with a subduction-driven model for their petrogenesis. Thus, the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk Ocean may act as a trigger for the initiation of 171–144 Ma kimberlite emplacement of Siberia, but was not the source. Graphical Abstract
Performance Evaluation of Single and Multi-Objective Calibration in Rainfall-Runoff Modelling

Hydrologic modelling is widely used as a tool for making decisions and predictions in planning and managing water resources. Successful application of a hydrologic model depends upon careful calibration and validation using appropriate performance measures in satisfying corresponding performance evaluation criteria. Performance of MIKE 11 NAM rainfall runoff model was assessed using four calibration objectives and their different combinations, as applied to upper Gin catchment, Sri Lanka. The four calibration objectives measured different aspects of hydrograph: good water balance, good overall agreement of the shape of the hydrograph, good agreement for peak flows, and good agreement for low flows. Their numerical performance was measured using four objective functions from which fifteen calibration schemes were formed (four single objective schemes and eleven multi-objective schemes). Using aggregated distance measure, equal weights were assigned to the four objective functions. Shuffled complex evolution algorithm was used to solve the multiple calibration objective problems. Model performance was evaluated using three criteria: Nash- Sutcliffe coefficient (NSE), percent bias (PBIAS) and coefficient of determination (R2). Results revealed significant trade-offs between the objective functions, highlighting that no single calibration objective was able to depict all the aspects of the hydrograph simultaneously. However, multi-objective calibration yielded more accurate and consistent simulations covering different aspects of the hydrograph, simultaneously with overall best performance shown for combination of the four objective functions satisfying all the performance evaluation criteria (NSE=0.56, R2= 0.56, PBIAS=17%), compared to the single-objective calibration. Instead of using R2 alone, use of the corresponding regression slope as a weighing factor of R2 was recommended following further analysis of simulation results.
Energy and Local Safety: How the Administration Limits Energy Security

Energy safety is multifaceted and is not limited only to nuclear plants. The research on local energy safety is not considerable. This article creates new ground by analysing the Polish local energy safety system in the cause–effect context. Consistent with an abductive approach, this paper’s insights have emerged iteratively based on the theory reviewed and the empirical case. The research aimed to determine whether the local administration negatively affected energy security and proposed preventive measures increased limited energy security. The findings show that flawed local government operations reduce local energy safety. Moreover, the State authorities did not recognise the weaknesses of the local energy safety system properly. The findings make two main contributions: first, they contribute to developing energy safety theory; and second, this article contributes to a further contextual diagnosis of the comprehensive energy system and can, in turn, be relevant for its further studies in worldwide context.
Review of: "Parent reports of children’s emotional and behavioral problems in a low- and middle- income country (LMIC): An epidemiological study of Nepali schoolchildren"

This study by Ma et al. (2021) is very well done with good sampling, the use of an internationally comparable instrument, and excellent fieldwork. The efforts needed to obtain reliable data on child and adolescent mental health in a country with the scientific and environmental infrastructure of Nepal should not be underestimated. My review is focused on two main aspects of the paper; the interpretation of the study’s results on the ‘prevalence’ of emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) and the meaning of its association with demographics like cast, ethnicity and child sex.
The Role of High-performance Work Practices and Personality Traits on Employee Innovative Work Behaviors

The purpose of this study is to investigate the aggregate spectrum of human resources practices that drive employee innovative work performance and apply a theoretical lens based on the theory of trait activation. This study is predominantly designed as a quantitative study based on the positivistic paradigm to identify high performance work practices and employee personality traits to enhance the employee innovative work behavior in five-star hotels. Primary data has been collected by distributing a self-administered questionnaire. The sample for this study is drawn from five-star hotels in the capital city of Sri Lanka; 145 responses were analyzed using correlation and SEM bootstrapping. The results indicated that high-performance work practices are positively relating to employee innovative work behaviors in five-star hotels. Further, employee’s personality traits (openness and conscientiousness) indirectly predicted high-performance work practices and innovative work behaviors.
Isolation and characterization of microcrystalline cellulose from cotton stalk waste

An effective method for microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) isolation from cotton stalk is reported. Cotton stalk was subjected to pretreatment and hydrolysis to determine the optimum conditions for isolating cotton stalk MCC (S-MCC). The main purpose of pretreating the cotton stalk with acetic acid was to remove ash. As a result, the ash content was reduced from 5.70% to 1.10%. After acid hydrolysis, the remaining ash was removed. Based on the single factor and orthogonal experiments, the optimum hydrolysis conditions were 85 °C, 1 mol/L HCl, 90 min, and a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:10. The results showed that the reaction temperature and time strongly influenced the yield and size of the S-MCC particles. In addition to the yield, D90 was shown to be a good parameter to represent the degree of cellulose hydrolysis. The S-MCC had an ash content of 0.06%, α-cellulose content of 98.6%, moisture content of 4.64%, degree of polymerization of 146, and crystallinity index of 80.3%. These chemical and physical properties were comparable to those of commercial MCC. Other structural characterizations were determined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy, and compared with commercial MCC.
Pathophysiological regulation of white adipocyte exocytosis of different adiponectin molecular forms

In this thesis we have identified mechanisms involved in the exocytosis of different adiponectin molecular forms in health and in metabolic disease. We have also studied similarities and differences in depot-specific adipocyte adiponectin release. In paper I we show that the physiological regulation of subcutaneous white adipocyte adiponectin exocytosis involves β3 adrenergic receptors (β3ARs) and Exchange Protein directly Activated by cAMP, isoform 1, (Epac1) signalling. Furthermore, we show that adiponectin secretion is disturbed in obesity/type 2 diabetes induced catecholamine resistance due to reduced abundance of the key proteins β3ARs and Epac1. This condition of catecholamine resistance is further associated with a ~50% reduction of circulating high-molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin. In paper II we show that β3AR-activation rapidly triggers the release of HMW adiponectin-containing vesicle whereas insulin induces release of smaller molecular forms, with delayed time-kinetics. We moreover demonstrate that both catecholamine-triggered exocytosis of HMW adiponectin and the insulininduced secretion of smaller adiponectin forms is entirely diminished in adipocytes from obese/type 2 diabetic mice. The equivalent regulation of secretion of different adiponectin molecular forms by catecholamines and insulin was confirmed in human adipocytes, thus defining a novel role of β3ARs in human adipocyte function. In paper III we propose that adiponectin exocytosis is regulated by sympathetic nerve endings, co-releasing noradrenaline and ATP within the adipose tissue. Secretion measurements confirmed that noradrenaline (elevates cAMP), like adrenaline in paper I, triggers adiponectin exocytosis. Extracellular ATP was shown to augment the exocytotic process, largely due to its elevation of intracellular Ca2+. We also show that defect purinergic signalling together with reduced white adipose tissue noradrenaline content likely aggravates the catecholamine resistance observed in paper I and II. Finally we describe regulation of mouse visceral adipocyte adiponectin secretion in paper IV. As demonstrated in subcutaneous adipocytes (paper I-III), visceral adipocyte adiponectin secretion is also stimulated by activation of β3AR and Epac1. In obese/diabetic conditions, visceral adipocytes are likewise unresponsive to stimulation with catecholamines, but the underlying molecular defect does not involve reduced levels of neither β3AR nor Epac1, thus differing from observations in subcutaneous adipocytes. In conclusion, our results suggest that secretory defects in obesity/type 2 diabetes, attributed to catecholamine resistance, underlie the reduced levels of HMW adiponectin in metabolic disease.
Geology differentiation by applying unsupervised machine learning to multiple independent geophysical inversions

Effective quantitative methods for integrating multiple inverted physical property models are necessary to increase the value of information and advance interpretation further to produce interpretable geology models through geology differentiation. Geology differentiation is challenging in greenfield exploration areas where specific a priori geological information is scarce. The main problem is to identify geological units quantitatively with appropriate 3-D integration of these models. The integration of multiple sources of information has been conducted with different unsupervised machine learning methods (e.g. clustering), which can identify relationships in the data in the absence of training information. For this reason, we investigate the performance of five different clustering methods on the identification of the geological units using inverted susceptibility, density, and conductivity models that image a synthetic geological model. We show that the correlation-based clustering yields the best results for the geology differentiation among those investigated by identifying the correlation between physical properties diagnostic of each unit. The result of the differentiation is a quasi-geology model, which is a model that represents the geology with inferred geological units and their spatial distribution. The resulting integrated quasi-geology model demonstrates that individually inverted models with minimal constraints have sufficient information to jointly identify different geological units.