Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Invariability of Arctic Top‐of‐Atmosphere Radiative Response to Surface Temperature Changes

Recent studies have used satellite data to estimate the response of top‐of‐atmosphere (TOA) radiative fluxes to surface temperature changes in the Arctic. The satellite‐observed radiative response is indicative of Arctic climate sensitivity that determines future Arctic warming. However, it remains ambiguous whether the satellite‐observed radiative response is invariable because the time period covered by satellite data reflects a rapidly changing transient Arctic climate state with considerable sea ice loss. Using NASA's Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) observations from 2000 to 2018, this study evaluates the invariability of the radiative response by comparing the radiative response of the high sea ice concentration (SIC) period to that of the low SIC period. The results show that the net radiative response remains approximately unchanged regardless of the SIC (−0.19 ± 0.44 and 0.15 ± 0.16 W m−2 K−1 for high and low SIC periods, respectively). In addition, seven of the 11 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) demonstrated that the modeled radiative responses are stable. The ERA‐interim reanalysis estimates show that regionally confined changes in individual radiative feedbacks such as albedo, lapse rate, water vapor, and clouds do not vary considerably. Consequently, we infer that the radiative response in the Arctic may remain stable even under rapid Arctic climate change. Hence, the Arctic climate sensitivity can be quantified with present satellite observations.
Additive regression with Hilbertian responses

This paper develops a foundation of methodology and theory for the estimation of structured nonparametric regression models with Hilbertian responses. Our method and theory are focused on the additive model, while the main ideas may be adapted to other structured models. For this, the notion of Bochner integration is introduced for Banach-space-valued maps as a generalization of Lebesgue integration. Several statistical properties of Bochner integrals, relevant for our method and theory and also of importance in their own right, are presented for the first time. Our theory is complete. The existence of our estimators and the convergence of a practical algorithm that evaluates the estimators are established. These results are nonasymptotic as well as asymptotic. Furthermore, it is proved that the estimators achieve the univariate rates in pointwise, $L^{2}$ and uniform convergence, and that the estimators of the component maps converge jointly in distribution to Gaussian random elements. Our numerical examples include the cases of functional, density-valued and simplex-valued responses, demonstrating the validity of our approach.
Introducing a robotic hand to support lecture‐based courses on mechatronics systems design at the undergraduate level

The education of young mechatronics engineers is crucial for the development of powerful and sophisticated products in a modern marketplace where the best technology is having the greatest economic impact. Therefore, this paper aims to design and introduce a robotic hand to facilitate and accelerate the teaching/learning process when designing mechatronics systems in different undergraduate lecture‐based courses and, consequently, gain more practical experience under a “hands‐on” experience. The results from an evaluation carried out at a Mexican university present the design and implementation of a movement control system for recognition of hand gestures. Quantitative and qualitative data are also provided to demonstrate that students experienced high‐positive perceptions during the evaluation.
Thermal History of the Earth: On the Importance of Surface Processes and the Size of Tectonic Plates

Geochemical constraints on mantle temperature indicate a regular decrease by around 250 K since 3 Ga. However, models of Earth's cooling that rely on scaling laws for thermal convection without strong plates are facing a thermal runaway backwards in time, due to the power‐law dependence of heat loss on temperature. To explore the effect of surface dynamics on Earth's cooling rate, we build a two‐dimensional temperature‐dependent model of plate tectonics that relies on a force balance for each plate and on Earth‐like parameterized behaviors for the motion, creation, and disappearance of plate boundaries. While our model predicts the expected thermal runaway if plate boundaries are fixed, we obtain an average cooling rate consistent with geochemical estimates if the geometry of plate tectonics evolves through time. For a warmer mantle in the past, plates are faster but also larger (and less numerous) so that the average seafloor age and resulting heat flux always remain moderate. The predicted decrease in the number of plates backwards in time is in good agreement with recent plate reconstructions over the last 400 Myr. Our model also gives plate speed and subduction area flux consistent with these reconstructions. We finally compare the effect of parameters controlling mantle viscosity and individual plate speeds to the effect of localized surface processes, such as oceanization and subduction initiation. We infer that studies of Earth's thermal history should focus on surface processes as they appear to be key control parameters.
US Military Deployment and Its Effects on South Korea’s Politics and Economy

Due to the lack of studies on the effects of US troops on an individual host state, we studied the effects of US troops on South Korea’s politics and economy. Based on security enhancement benefits, we hypothesized that USFK would have positive effects on South Korea’s investment, trade, economic growth, and political development. Employing Heo and Ye’s empirical models, we conducted statistical analyses and found that the effects of USFK on South Korea’s trade, democracy level, and economic growth are statistically insignificant and the effect of USFK on investment is negative and statistically significant. These findings need to be cross-validated with a different measure of estimating USFK’s effects because our measure, size of USFK, may not capture its effects completely although there is no other measure.
Experimentation in the Design of Public Policies: The Uruguayan Soils Conservation Plans

Agricultural intensification in Latin America has led to accelerated soil erosion, water pollution and food with pesticide residues, which are all signs of unsustainable development. In Uruguay, agricultural intensification with continuous cropping has threatened the country’s primary natural resource: its soil. At the same time, incentives for further intensification and specialization are high, since particularly soybeans have offered the highest (short-term) economic margins. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion about governance for sustainable development through an in-depth critical examination of the main flagship public policy response in Uruguay to soil degradation: the Soils Use and Management Plans (SUMP). SUMP indeed has managed to change cultivation practices in a more sustainable direction. The analysis shows that the relative success of SUMP is partly due to its experimental policy design which has allowed for collective knowledge construction and reflexive learning. It also shows that Uruguay’s long history of accumulated domestic soil expertise and state intervention rendered trust in the regulative process among producers and ultimately a high degree of acceptance. Nevertheless, while this policy is found innovative and promising, there is still a need for improvement of governance designs, if genuinely sustainable development is to be achieved.
Fertility traits of autochthonous breeds of Mangalitsa, Moravka and Resavka

Objective of this paper was to evaluate phenotypic variability of fertility traits of indigenous breeds of Mangalitsa (Swallow-Belly Strain Mangalitsa–SBSM), Moravka breed (M) and Resavka (R). Indigenous pig populations are usually constituted by a quite low number of active boars and sows. Their pedigree information is lacking or absent, complete phenotypic description is usually not available for most of these populations that are very well adapted to specific local agro-climatic environments. In controlled herds in period of four years, the average age at first farrowing (AFF) was 18.5 months with large variability of 5.9 months for Swallow belly Mangalitsa. Less AFF (14.3 months) and less variability (4.4 months), in relation to SBSM, determined for Moravka breed while for Resavka determined age of 14.7 months with at least variability for this trait from 4.4 months. The average number of piglets born alive (for a period of four years) of SBSM was the lowest from 4.37 to 4.81; in case of M and R, this value was significantly (P<0.001) higher (from 5.75 to 8.17 and for R breed 6.40 to 9.00). With average duration of suckling period (duration of lactation DL) of 52.92 days in the first year for the breed SBSM with the lowest number of reared piglets (NRP=4.10) whereas the DL for M and R breeds was shorter (from 45.75 to 52.03 day) with a higher NRP (from 4.57 to 8.92 reared piglets).
Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress: A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions from A. crassa, Ae. tauschii, and Ae. cylindrica previously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivum cv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression of CAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and GPX and APX genes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well as MnSOD gene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact that Ae. tauschii and Ae. crassa respond better to water deficit stress than Ae. cylindrica and a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation.
L2 transfer of L1 island-insensitivity: The case of Norwegian

Norwegian allows filler-gap dependencies into embedded questions, which are islands for filler-gap dependency formation in English. We ask whether there is evidence that Norwegian learners of English transfer the functional structure that permits island violations from their first language (L1) to their second language (L2). In two acceptability judgment studies, we find that Norwegians are more likely to accept ‘island-violating’ filler-gap dependencies in L2 English if the corresponding filler-gap dependency is acceptable in Norwegian: Norwegian learners variably accept English sentences with dependencies into embedded questions, but not into subject phrases. These results are consistent with models that permit transfer of abstract functional structure. Norwegians are still less likely to accept filler-gap dependencies into English embedded questions than Norwegian embedded questions. We interpret the latter finding as evidence that, despite transfer, Norwegian speakers may partially restructure their L2 English analysis. We discuss how indirect positive evidence may play a role in helping learners restructure.
RESISTANCE OF HELMINTHOSPORIUM SOLANI STRAINS TO SELECTED FUNGICIDES APPLIED FOR TUBER TREATMENT

Helminthosporium solani strains were isolated from potato tubers collected in Russia or taken from imported German and Dutch seed tubers. Sequences of the nuclear ribosomal genes and internal transcribed spacers (ITS) for all 24 tested strains were identical and had 100% similarity to the sequences from GenBank identified as Helminthosporium solani. The obtained molecular data confirmed the morphological identification based on the width and length of conidia, the shape of conidiophores and the colony morphology. Screening for resistance to the fungicides Score 250 SC (active ingredient difenoconazole 250 g/l), Quadris (azoxystrobin 250 g/l), Tecto 500 SC (thiabendazole 500g/l), Zeroxxe (colloidal silver particles (3 g/l) stabilized with amphoteric surfactant) was done. Agar blocks with pure cultures of the fungal strains were placed in the centre of Petri dishes containing malt agar amended with fungicide concentrations of 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 mg/l (accounted for the concentration of the active ingredient). Malt agar free of fungicide was used as the control. 2 Growth inhibition of 50% (EC50) compared to the control was detected based on the doseresponse curves. Difenoconazole (EC50 100 mg/l). Thiabendazole appears to be effective against the sensitive strains of H. solani (EC50 1000 mg/l). The sequence of their β-tubulin gene contained a SNP mutation in the 198 codon or 200 codon, translating to Gln (CAG) instead of Glu (GAG) or Tyr (TAC) instead of Phe (TTC), respectively. Thus, the resistance to thiabendazole of the Russian, European, and American strains had the same genetic background and was conferred by the same mutations.
Time-frequency equivalence using chirp signals for frequency response analysis

Frequency response analysis (FRA) of systems is a well-researched area. For years, FRA has been performed using input signals, which are a series of sinusoids or a sum of sinusoids. This results in large experimentation time, particularly when the system has to be probed at lower frequencies. In this work, we describe a previously unknown time-frequency duality for linear systems when probed through chirp signals. We show that the entire frequency response can be extracted with a single chirp signal by extending the notion of instantaneous frequency to both the input and output signals. It is surprising that this powerful result had not been uncovered given that FRA has been used in multiple disciplines for more than hundred years. This result has the possibility of completely revolutionizing methods used for frequency response analysis. Simulation studies that support the main result are described. While this result is of relevance in multiple areas, we demonstrate the potential impact of this result in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Effect of temperature, light on the growth and lipid accumulation of nannochloropsis oculata.

Nannochloropsis oculata, an micro-algae, has rapid growth rates, the ability to accumulate high levels of lipid and lipid composition suitable for producing biodiesel. In this article, we conducted the effects of temperature as well as light on the growth and the lipid accumulation of microalgae. By means of quantitative analysis showed that under 30C and 9000lux, the population growth with and microalgae lipid accumulation reached the highest value such as drybiomass obtained 460.7mg/l, the amount of crude lipid obtained 59.6mg/l and the total lipid accounted for 12.9% of dry biomass.
Exploration of Specific DNA-Barcodes in Shigella dysenteriae Using In-silico Analysis

Background: Shigella dysenteriae are Gram-negative and non-sporulating bacteria that cause illness in epithelial tissue of the colon and rectum. According to a preliminary analysis, rare or no reports could introduce highly reliable and specific genes, primers, and probes for S. dysenteriae recognition. Thus, it is necessary to detect specific genome parts in S. dysenteriae that could be used in diagnostic laboratories to recognize S. dysenteriae species confidently. Methods: Identification of specific S. dysenteriae genome regions as DNA-barcodes was the main objective of the current study to accrue detection of this species. To this end, S. dysenteriae genome was compared with other Enterobacteriaceae genomes. Results: Results indicated that there is little genetic distance between S. dysenteriae and E. coli, and most of the genes are common between these 2 species. The lowest genome fluidity was observed between S. dysenteriae and Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica. Furthermore, the largest number of orthologous genes was observed between S. dysenteriae and E. coli (O157_H7). All previous markers and virulent genes were also evaluated in the current study. However, no specific DNA barcodes were identified among already identified genes. Additionally, all regions of S. dysenteriae genome were investigated in the current study using specific region identifier programs by comparison with other Enterobacteriaceae strains. Conclusions: Finally, eight specific DNA-barcodes were identified in the current study that could be beneficial for specific recognition of S. dysenteriae strains.
Intestinal Parasites as Potential Factors in the Dynamics of a Fluctuating Forest Grouse Community

Finnish populations of the capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, black grouse Lyrurus tetrix and hazel grouse Tetrastes bonasia have been fluctuating in synchronous cycles. Mechanisms behind these fluctuations are not well known. Parasites may regulate their host population under certain conditions. The Finnish grouse harbour several species of intestinal parasites which may affect the populations. We studied the possibility of parasitic regulation in Finnish forest grouse using intestinal samples from hunted grouse collected in 1995–2000 and annual counts of grouse densities. We found that abundance and prevalence of the nematode Ascaridia compar affected negatively the grouse-community growth rate (all three species combined) and annual survival of grouse. In years of grouse density decline, the prevalence and abundance of A. compar was considerably higher than in other years. On the species level, this dynamic was most clearly seen in the capercaillie. The findings suggest the possibility of parasitic regulation by A. compar in the Finnish forest grouse community.
Nitrogen compounds and enzyme activity in young muruçi (Byrsonima crassifólia L.) plant subjected to water stress.

The objective of this study was to verify the nitrogen compounds and enzyme activity in muruci plants subjected to water stress. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse on 4-month-old seedlings. The experimental design was completely randomized with two water conditions (control and water stress), with 14 repetitions, totaling 28 experimental units. The parameters analyzed were relative water content, nitrate concentrations, ammonia, total soluble amino acids, total soluble proteins, proline and glycine betaine and the activities of the enzymes nitrate reductase (ARN) and glutamine synthetase (GS). The suspension of irrigation (water stress) for 25 days provided significant changes in all parameters. The suspension was sufficient to alter the metabolic and enzymatic pathways of young muru i plants, reducing the relative water content, nitrate concentration and total soluble protein, nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase activity. However, the suspension raised the free ammonium, total soluble amino acids, proline and glycine betaine concentrations in the plant parts. Therefore, these changes indicate that this species is susceptible and can change its metabolic pathways. However, some important enzymes in nitrogen metabolism cannot be activated, compromising the entire process of assimilation of this element in soils with low water availability, contributing to the knowledge about abiotic stresses in murucizeiro plants.
Macromolecular Reactions and Sensory Perception at the Air-Water-Human Interface

During 20th century main concern was to have sanitary water flowing through the tap. In 21st century constant supply of safe drinking water is common at any home in USA. Hence consumers pay attention to aesthetic quality of tap water. Odorous algal metabolites in source water and metals introduced to drinking water due to corrosion of pipes in the distribution system cause taste, odor and color problems, and result in complaints and perception of tap water as unhealthy. Millions of dollars are spent each year by water industry to address and prevent these issues. This research focused on some of the taste-and-odor issues associated with drinking water. First aim was to understand when geosmin, 2-MIB, and nonadienal become detectable, employing two-resistance mass transfer theory to determine the concentration of odorants in bathroom air. Results showed that water temperature and odorant concentration in water play an important role. Next focus was to develop an international odor standard to be used for training of sensory analysis panelists. There are many sensory methods to monitor drinking water to detect the off-flavors however an odor standard has been missing. Hexanal was studied with trained flavor profile analysis panels and was proposed as an ideal odor reference standard to be used for training and sensory assessment of water samples. Main focus was to understand metallic flavor of drinking water caused by iron and copper. It was shown that metallic sensation has taste and retronasal components creating the flavor and humans are very sensitive to it. Occurrence of lipid oxidation in the oral cavity was shown when metals were ingested, that produces carbonyls which are responsible for the metallic flavor. Antioxidants and chelators were investigated to study prevention of lipid oxidation and, chelators were determined to be more effective. Oral epithelial cell cultures were developed as a model for oral cavity to further investigate lipid oxidation and effectiveness of the antioxidants and chelators. This dissertation is a result of inter-disciplinary work and possibly a good example for how problems may be solved by incorporating different methods and point of views from several disciplines.
Genomic Characterisation and Polymorphism Analysis of Candidate Genes for Milk Production Traits and Association Studies in Three Cattle Breeds

In the past decades, various mapping experiments resulted in the detection of several markers affecting milk production traits on bovine chromosome 6. The aim of this study was to identify causative polymorphisms of milk traits using a multiple breed approach. Six selected candidate genes on chromosome 6 in cattle were characterised and screened for polymorphisms. Following this, 50 polymorphisms were genotyped in sires of German Brown, Fleckvieh and German Holstein for investigation in association studies with milk production traits. In particular, associated polymorphisms were obtained for fat- and protein yield. However, since polymorphisms were associated depending on breed, gene and trait under consideration, the causality of associated polymorphisms could not be confirmed.