Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of leaf litter and litter plus upper soil extractions in assessing forest floor macroinvertebrate fauna.

Cost-efficient protocols for sampling the soil macrofauna must consider the minimum necessary depth of sampling to reduce the amount of substratum to be processed. In comparing the macro-invertebrate fauna of leaf litter (F loose uppermost topsoil) and of leaf litterF top 3cm of soil in an English woodland (New Forest, Hants) by Winkler extraction, we found no soil specialist species in Coleoptera and Chilopoda which would not be found in litter as well, and a moderate difference in the faunal composition at higher taxa level (10% of the variation explained by sampling protocol). In the litterF soil samples, the number of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera (excluding ants), Diptera, Chilopoda, Diplopoda and Mollusca is significantly higher, often more than two times as high as in litter-only samples indicating that these groups live in both litter and soil with the abundance in top soil not being much lower than in litter. For a rough picture of the composition of major groups of the soil macro-invertebrate fauna of the forest floor, sampling of litter (F loose topsoil) is sufficient. For accurate results on faunal composition and for species inventories based on a low number of samples, the uppermost layer of top-soil should be included in the
Boosting the Performance of Spoofing Detection Systems on Replay Attacks Using q-Logarithm Domain Feature Normalization

Feature normalization strategies help to compensate for the effects of environmental mismatch and are normally incorporated into the feature extraction framework after applying a logarithmic or power function nonlinearity. For spoofing detection systems in the presence of voice conversion and speech synthesis-based spoofing attacks, feature normalization is found to be harmful. However, when it comes to spoofing detection for replay attacks, normalization of features aids to reduce equal error rates significantly. In this work, we use discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based spectral and product spectral features with feature normalization applied in the q-log domain. The q-log function acts as intermediate domain between linear and log domains for normalization of the features. After that, the final features are extracted by applying a principal component analysis technique to the log DFT and product power spectra. Experimental results on the version 2 of second ASVspoof2017 challenge evaluation data show that normalizing features in q-log domain results in relative reduction of equal error rates by approximately 5%. Over all four baseline systems, the DFT spectral features, normalized in the q-log domain, provides an average relative improvement of 28%.
ANALYSIS AND IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCALIZATION AND MAPPING ALGORITHMS FOR MOBILE ROBOTS BASED ON RECONFIGURABLE COMPUTING

Localization and Mapping are fun- damental problems in the field of mobile robotics that have been receiving considerable attention of the scientific community in the last ten years. Most of the work in this area is developed using personal computers and it still a challenge to execute these algorithms on embedded systems. This paper de- scribes the analysis and embedded implementation of particle filter and occupancy grid algorithms, used for localization and mapping respectively. Experi- mental results and performance analysis were ob- tained using the softcore Altera Nios II running on Stratix II FPGA devices.
DOES DIVERSITY EDUCATION MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TEACHER EDUCATION?

This study examined (1) factors influencing pre-service teachers' diversity-related beliefs; (2) sensitivity toward diversity; (3) relationship between personal/professional diversity beliefs; and (4) the effect of diversity-related courses on diversity issues. Participants included junior level students enrolled in a diversity-related course as part of a teacher preparation program. Data collection involved preand post-surveys. Results indicated: (1) The number of diversity courses, cross-cultural experiences, and ability to speak another language correlated with some diversity beliefs; (2) Personally, participants showed high sensitivity to race, ability, gender, and cultural diversity; while professionally, participants demonstrated low gender sensitivity and high sensitivity to race, ability, sexual orientation, cultural diversity, and language; (3) More personal than professional sensitivity on issues of race, ability, gender, and cultural diversity was demonstrated, while participants showed more professional than personal sensitivity to language and sexual orientation; and (4) There was significant change on personal language beliefs over the course of the semester.
Bumpless transfer between advanced controllers with applications to power plant control

This paper deals with bumpless transfer between a number of advanced controllers, e.g. in a gain-scheduling architecture. Linear observer-based controllers are designed for a number of linear approximations of the system model in a set of operating points, and gain scheduling control can subsequently be achieved by interpolating between each controller. We use the Youla-Jabr-Bongiorno-Kucera parameterization to achieve a differentiable scheduling between the controllers. This approach produces a controller as a linear fractional transformation between a controller and a scheduling parameter. In this paper we propose a systematic approach to achieve bumpless transfer between different nominal controllers. The approach is tested on a simple, but highly nonlinear model of a coal-fired power plant.
Asymptotic Genetic Improvement Programming via Type Functors and Catamorphisms

Genetic Improvement Programming (GIP) is an increasingly important technique for software maintenance. It employs Genetic Programming (GP) to optimize human-generated source code for a variety of functional and non-functional properties [1]. For example, it has been successfully used to improve runtime performance [2] of a 50,000 line C++ program. As observed in [3], exploring the space of datatypes is likely to be useful, since it allows (for example) memory to be traded for execution speed. We present a novel semantics-preserving point mutation that operates on algebraic data types (ADTs). The mutation operator replaces a source data structure with a target data structure that is functionallyequivalent but which can have asymptotically superior performance. An ADT [4] is comprised (possibly recursively) of a choice of constructors (denoted by sum), tupling (denoted by product) and higher-order function types (denoted by exponentiation). A simple example of an ADT is the singly-linked list, having two constructors, Nil for the empty list and Cons for the combination of a new element with a list to create a new list. In Scala this is expressed as CList as shown in Fig. 1. The method we employ is general and can in principle be applied to most ADTs.
Antioxidant status of atorvastatin in hypercholesterolemic patients

This study was an attempt to establish the extent of increased oxida- tive stress in hypercholesterolemic patients and to evaluate the effect of ator- vastatin on the oxidative stress and antioxidant status. Blood samples of 15 subjects (age and sex matched) from three groups: group I (healthy subjects), group II (hypercholesterolemic patients with atorvastatin treatment) and group III (hypercholesterolemic patients without any hypolipidemic drug) were taken and centrifuged to separate the plasma, which was used for the determination of vitamin E. The separated cells were washed thrice with 0.90 % w/v cold nor- mal saline and used for the assay of the percentage hemolysis of the RBCs, and the determination of malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase and hemoglobin. The levels of oxidative stress were higher in the hypercholesterolemic in com- parison to the control and atorvastatin group. The levels of antioxidants were higher in the atorvastatin group than in the hypercholesterolemic one but were lower than the controls. From these findings, it was concluded that there is an increase in oxidative stress in hypercholesterolemia but it decreased signifi- cantly after 2 months of atorvastatin therapy and antioxidant status also im- proves in patients taking atorvastatin.
Carbon‐based primary productivity modeling with vertically resolved photoacclimation

Net primary production (NPP) is commonly modeled as a function of chlorophyll concentration (Chl), even though it has been long recognized that variability in intracellular chlorophyll content from light acclimation and nutrient stress confounds the relationship between Chl and phytoplankton biomass. It was suggested previously that satellite estimates of backscattering can be related to phytoplankton carbon biomass (C) under conditions of a conserved particle size distribution or a relatively stable relationship between C and total particulate organic carbon. Together, C and Chl can be used to describe physiological state (through variations in Chl:C ratios) and NPP. Here, we fully develop the carbon‐based productivity model (CbPM) to include information on the subsurface light field and nitracline depths to parameterize photoacclimation and nutrient stress throughout the water column. This depth‐resolved approach produces profiles of biological properties (Chl, C, NPP) that are broadly consistent with observations. The CbPM is validated using regional in situ data sets of irradiance‐derived products, phytoplankton chlorophyll:carbon ratios, and measured NPP rates. CbPM‐based distributions of global NPP are significantly different in both space and time from previous Chl‐based estimates because of the distinction between biomass and physiological influences on global Chl fields. The new model yields annual, areally integrated water column production of ∼52 Pg C a−1 for the global oceans.
Surfactants and the attachment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to 3CR12 stainless steel and glass

Five non-ionic and three anionic surfactants were evaluated using 4’6-diamidino-2-phenylidole (DAPI) staining, scanning electro n microscopy (SEM) and spectrophotometry for their efficacy in preventing adhesion and removing Ps. aeruginosa attached to 3CR12 stainless steel coupons and glass. All the surfactants tested gave more than 90% inhibition of adhesion to the surfaces t ested with no significant difference between the effectivity of the different anionic surfactants (p > 0.18) nor between the effectiv ity of the non-ionic surfactants (p > 0.16). The non-ionic and anionic surfactants resulted in more than 80% and 63% removal of attach ed Ps. aeruginosa cells, respectively. The non-ionic surfactants were significantly more effective in removing attached bacteria, than the anionic surfactants (p < 0.001). The prevention of attachment of Ps. aeruginosa cells to a glass surface, using the surfactants, was also monitored spectrophotometrically. There was no significant difference (p = 0.437) when comparing the DAPI - staining technique with spectrophotometric evaluations.
Al AA 99-4588 ADAPTIVE NEURAL CONTROL FOR MACE II-

The Middeck Active Control Experiment (MACE) is being reflown as MACE II. Its express purpose is to gain on-orbit experience with a variety of adaptive controllers. Over a 9 month period the University of Michigan team has developed a number of neural network based adaptive approaches and taken these approaches from concept to flight software. The control schemes considered, and for which ground test results are presented, are: 1) a baseline classical design, 2) a fast, online, neural identification plus deadbeat control approach and 3) a neural, Hebbian Learning based ‘classical optimizer’ approach. The Hebbian algorithm also includes a Stability Margin Evaluator (SME) that ensures no closed loop unstable controllers are implemented. The classical designs compare well to more complicated, fixed gain designs from the original MACE flight. The online neural identification performs extremely well (ID to noise floor in 60 ms), but non-minimum phase zeros prevent deadbeat control implementation. Finally, the Hebbian Learning algorithm increased the performance of its initializing controller significantly in only 3 minutes without an instability by evaluating and selectively testing some 700 controller gain sets.
Evaluation of different methods to model near-surface turbulent fluxes for a mountain glacier in the Cariboo Mountains, BC, Canada

Abstract. As part of surface energy balance models used to simulate glacier melting, choosing parameterizations to adequately estimate turbulent heat fluxes is extremely challenging. This study aims to evaluate a set of four aerodynamic bulk methods (labeled as C methods), commonly used to estimate turbulent heat fluxes for a sloped glacier surface, and two less commonly used bulk methods developed from katabatic flow models. The C methods differ in their parameterizations of the bulk exchange coefficient that relates the fluxes to the near-surface measurements of mean wind speed, air temperature, and humidity. The methods' performance in simulating 30 min sensible- and latent-heat fluxes is evaluated against the measured fluxes from an open-path eddy-covariance (OPEC) method. The evaluation is performed at a point scale of a mountain glacier, using one-level meteorological and OPEC observations from multi-day periods in the 2010 and 2012 summer seasons. The analysis of the two independent seasons yielded the same key findings, which include the following: first, the bulk method, with or without the commonly used Monin–Obukhov (M–O) stability functions, overestimates the turbulent heat fluxes over the observational period, mainly due to a substantial overestimation of the friction velocity. This overestimation is most pronounced during the katabatic flow conditions, corroborating the previous findings that the M–O theory works poorly in the presence of a low wind speed maximum. Second, the method based on a katabatic flow model (labeled as the KInt method) outperforms any C method in simulating the friction velocity; however, the C methods outperform the KInt method in simulating the sensible-heat fluxes. Third, the best overall performance is given by a hybrid method, which combines the KInt approach with the C method; i.e., it parameterizes eddy viscosity differently than eddy diffusivity. An error analysis reveals that the uncertainties in the measured meteorological variables and the roughness lengths produce errors in the modeled fluxes that are smaller than the differences between the modeled and observed fluxes. This implies that further advances will require improvement to model theory rather than better measurements of input variables. Further data from different glaciers are needed to investigate any universality of these findings.
Pipeline inspection using magnetic induction tomographybased on a narrowband pass filtering method

Pipelines are the most common apparatus in industries; therefore, the need for inspection during the manufacturing, construction and the operation stage is inevitable and invaluable. Magnetic Induction Tomography (MIT) is a new type of tomography technique that is sensitive to the electrical conductivity of objects. It has been shown that the MIT technique is appropriate for imaging materials with high electrical conductivity contrasts; hence, the majority of the MIT systems were designed for detecting metallic objects. In this paper, MIT technique was proposed for pipeline inspection. Structural damages of the outer surface of the pipe were considered in this study. Nonetheless, it is challenging to use the traditional MIT pixel based reconstruction method (PBRM) as a suitable pipelines inspection tool because of the limited resolution. A narrowband pass flltering method (NPFM) of imaging pipe geometry was developed as a suitable image reconstruction method. The proposed method can overcome the resolution limitations and produce useful information of the pipe structure. This paper shows the comparative results from the novel NPFM and from traditional PBRM. While the PBRM fails to detect damages in outer structure of the pipe the NPFM successfully indentifles these damages. The method has been verifled using experimental data from very challenging test samples. It is well known that using a coil array with an imaging region of 100mm the PBRM based MIT can retrieve information with accuracy of about 10mm (about 10%). With proposed NPFM the information on a resolution of 2mm (which is about 2%) can be detected using the same measurement data.
Correction for ‘‘Abnormal integrin-mediated regulation of chronic myelogenous leukemia CD34 cell proliferation: BCR/

Correction for ‘‘A conserved salt bridge critical for GABAA receptor function and loop C dynamics,’’ by Srinivasan P. Venkatachalan and Cynthia Czajkowski, which appeared in issue 36, September 9, 2008, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (105:13604– 13609; first published August 29, 2008; 10.1073/ pnas.0801854105). The authors note that in Fig. 1 the alignment of the nicotinic receptor 1 subunit sequences (Torpedo californica and rat) in the loop C region with the GABAA receptor subunit sequences aligns Y190 and T191 of the former with K196 and K197 of the latter. The alignment should align H186 and W197 of the nicotinic receptor with K196 and K197 of the GABAA receptor. The nicotinic sequence that reads VYYTCCPD 195 should read WKHW.YT 191. The error does not alter the conclusions of this article. The corrected figure and its legend appear below. MEDICAL SCIENCES Correction for ‘‘Abnormal integrin-mediated regulation of chronic myelogenous leukemia CD34 cell proliferation: BCR/ ABL up-regulates the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p27Kip, which is relocated to the cell cytoplasm and incapable of regulating cdk2 activity,’’ by Yuehua Jiang, Robert C. H. Zhao, and Catherine M. Verfaillie, which appeared in issue 19, September 12, 2000, of Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (97:10538–10543; first published September 5, 2000; 10.1073/pnas.190104497). The authors wish to note the following: ‘‘We inadvertently inserted the Western blot from a different experiment (Western blot for Cdk2, following immunoprecipitation of Cdk2 from a different experiment), instead of the correct Western blot for Cdk4, following immunoprecipitation of Cdk4 for the study described in Fig. 3. The correct Western blot for Cdk4-IP/WB: Cdk4 has now been inserted as lane 3 of the figure. In addition, we have added a black line in the Cdk2 kinase assay as well as in the Cdk4-IP/WB: Cdk4 Western blot to indicate that a blank lane was removed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. ’’ This error does not affect the conclusions of the article. The corrected figure and its legend appear below.
Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion. Collected Works. Volume 4

The aim of this paper is to propose an ontology framework for preselected sensors due to the sensor networks’ needs, regarding a specific task, such as the target’s threat recognition. The problem will be solved methodologically, taking into account particularly non-deterministic nature of functions assigning the concept and the relation sets into the concept and relation lexicon sets respectively and vice-versa. This may effectively enhance the efficiency of the information fusion performed in sensor networks.
Improving decision-making activities for meningitis and malaria

Public health professionals are increasingly concerned about the potential impact that climate variability and change can have on infectious disease. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) is developing new products to increase the public health community’s capacity to understand, use and demand the appropriate climate data and climate information to mitigate the public health impacts of climate on infectious disease, in particular meningitis and malaria. In this paper, we present the new and improved products that have been developed for: (i) estimating dust aerosol for forecasting risks of meningitis and (ii) for monitoring temperature and rainfall and integrating them into a vectorial capacity model for forecasting risks of malaria epidemics. We also present how the products have been integrated into a knowledge system (IRI Data Library Map Room, SERVIR) to support the use of climate and environmental information in climate-sensitive health decision-making.
Microwave-assisted polymerizations: Recent status and future perspectives

Microwave heating is frequently used in the synthesis of polymers owing to the precise temperature and pressure control when using monomodal microwave synthesizer. The ever since growing interest in this sort of heating source is expressed by a near-exponential increasing number of publications in this research field every year. This Perspective encompasses the progress of microwave-assisted polymerizations in the past four years with a special focus on controlled and living polymerizations. Furthermore, polymer syntheses under microwave irradiation in ionic liquids as well as the upscaling of microwave-assisted polymerizations are discussed with regard to an energy-saving green process and a potential expansion to industrial applications, respectively.
Image Restoration and Background Separation Using Sparse Representation Framework

In this paper, we introduce patch-based PCA denoising and k-SVD dictionary learning method for the tasks of image restoration and background separation. We carry out an empirical evaluation of the performance of the algorithm in terms of quantity and quality. The results show that both methods appear to be competitive with the state-of-the-art image restoration and background subtraction algorithms, despite its simplicity, especially for high resolution images.
ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF DIFFERENT POLARITY EXTRACTS FROM THREE ORGANS OF MAKRUT LIME (CITRUS HYSTRIX DC) AND CORRELATION WITH TOTAL FLAVONOID, PHENOLIC, CAROTENOID CONTENT

ABSTRACT Objectives: The objectives of this research were to study antioxidant activities from various extracts of three organs of makrut lime (Citrus hystrix) using two methods of antioxidant assays, which were 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC); and correlation of total flavonoid, phenolic, and carotenoid content in various extracts of three organs of makrut lime with IC50 of DPPH antioxidant activities and EC50 of CUPRAC capacities. Methods: Extraction was performed by reflux apparatus using different polarity solvents. The extracts were evaporated using rotary evaporator. Antioxidant capacities were tested using DPPH and CUPRAC assays. Determination of total phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid content performed by ultraviolet-visible and their correlation with IC50 of DPPH scavenging activities and EC50 of CUPRAC capacities were analyzed by Pearson’s method. Results: Ethyl acetate stem extract of makrut lime (ST2) had the lowest IC50 of DPPH scavenging activity 0.6 μg/ml and the lowest EC50 of CUPRAC capacity 123 μg/ml. N-hexane stem extract of makrut lime (ST1) had the highest total flavonoid content (8.7 g QE/100 g), ethyl acetate stem extract (ST2) contained the highest total phenolic content (TPC) (8.3 g gallic acid equivalent /100 g and total carotenoid content (1.8 g BE/100 g). Conclusions: There was negatively high correlation between TPC in peel and stem extracts of makrut lime with their IC50 of DPPH scavenging activity. EC50 of CUPRAC capacity of leaves, peel and stem extracts of makrut lime had negative and high correlation with their total flavonoid and carotenoid content. IC50 of DPPH scavenging activities in leaves, peel and stem extracts of makrut lime had no linear result with EC50 of CUPRAC capacities. Keywords: Antioxidant, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, Cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity, Organs, Makrut lime, Flavonoid, Phenolic, Carotenoid.