Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reply on RC2

In this manuscript, Sierra et al. proposed that carbon allocation should be from GPP instead of NPP in ecosystem models since NPP-based models assumed autotrophic respiration only consumed fixed carbon immediately without transit time. They introduced the conceptual development of carbon allocation from NPP, reviewed 18 ecosystem models, and analyzed the distributions of carbon transit time between the two types of modeling schemes. The authors also showed that the NPP-based model conflicted with empirical evidence on plants' age of respired carbon. Overall, I enjoyed reading this paper. The logic of the manuscript is clear, and the presentation of the ideas and perspectives is precise and neat. I agree with the authors that there are many advantages to modeling carbon allocation from GPP. From a modeler's perspective, I found that some statements in the current version of the manuscript may need more discussion. From the perspective of an empirical ecologist, there are still some limitations to using GPP instead of NPP for carbon allocation. Please find my major and specific comments below.
Attrition of Police Officers With Immigrant Background

Recruiting police officers with immigrant backgrounds has a limited effect if many of these recruits leave the police service. The dropout and attrition rates among officers with immigrant backgrounds are also an important indicator of the challenges this group faces when joining the police profession. We investigated police education dropout patterns and attrition rates among police students and officers with immigrant backgrounds. Our study is based on detailed longitudinal data with total coverage of the population, which were previously unavailable for police career studies. Using logistic regression and coarsened exact matching, we analysed administrative registry data covering all individuals admitted to the Norwegian police university college (1995–2010, N = 6570) and all police-educated staff employed in the Norwegian police (1995–2014, N = 7001). Students and police officers with non-Western immigrant backgrounds have a greater tendency to both dropout of education and leave the police service. Prior academic performance can only partly explain these higher educational dropout rates. Female and males with non-Western immigrant backgrounds have similar dropout patterns. Our results provide a rationale for developing policy aimed at not only recruiting, but also retaining police officers with immigrant backgrounds.
Determination of the Geometric Parameters of Electrode Systems for Electrical Impedance Myography: A Preliminary Study

The electrical impedance myography method is widely used in solving bionic control problems and consists of assessing the change in the electrical impedance magnitude during muscle contraction in real time. However, the choice of electrode systems sizes is not always properly considered when using the electrical impedance myography method in the existing approaches, which is important in terms of electrical impedance signal expressiveness and reproducibility. The article is devoted to the determination of acceptable sizes for the electrode systems for electrical impedance myography using the Pareto optimality assessment method and the electrical impedance signals formation model of the forearm area, taking into account the change in the electrophysical and geometric parameters of the skin and fat layer and muscle groups when performing actions with a hand. Numerical finite element simulation using anthropometric models of the forearm obtained by volunteers’ MRI 3D reconstructions was performed to determine a sufficient degree of the forearm anatomical features detailing in terms of the measured electrical impedance. For the mathematical description of electrical impedance relationships, a forearm two-layer model, represented by the skin-fat layer and muscles, was reasonably chosen, which adequately describes the change in electrical impedance when performing hand actions. Using this model, for the first time, an approach that can be used to determine the acceptable sizes of electrode systems for different parts of the body individually was proposed.
Joint Decision-Making Model Based on Consensus Modeling Technology for the Prediction of Drug-Induced Liver Injury

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the major cause of clinical trial failure and postmarketing withdrawals of approved drugs. It is very expensive and time-consuming to evaluate hepatotoxicity using animal or cell-based experiments in the early stage of drug development. In this study, an in silico model based on the joint decision-making strategy was developed for DILI assessment using a relatively large dataset of 2608 compounds. Five consensus models were developed with PaDEL descriptors and PubChem, Substructure, Estate, and Klekota–Roth fingerprints, respectively. Submodels for each consensus model were obtained through joint optimization. The parameters and features of each submodel were optimized jointly based on the hybrid quantum particle swarm optimization (HQPSO) algorithm. The application domain (AD) based on the frequency-weighted and distance (FWD)-based method and Tanimoto similarity index showed the wide AD of the qualified consensus models. A joint decision-making model was integrated by the qualified consensus models, and the overwhelming majority principle was used to improve the performance of consensus models. The application scope narrowing caused by the overwhelming majority principle was successfully solved by joint decision-making. The proposed model successfully predicted 99.2% of the compounds in the test set, with an accuracy of 80.0%, a sensitivity of 83.9, and a specificity of 73.3%. For an external validation set containing 390 compounds collected from DILIrank, 98.2% of the compounds were successfully predicted with an accuracy of 79.9%, a sensitivity of 97.1%, and a specificity of 66.0%. Furthermore, 25 privileged substructures responsible for DILI were identified from Substructure, PubChem, and Klekota–Roth fingerprints. These privileged substructures can be regarded as structural alerts in hepatotoxicity evaluation. Compared with the main published studies, our method exhibits certain advantage in data size, transparency, and standardization of the modeling process and accuracy and credibility of prediction results. It is a promising tool for virtual screening in the early stage of drug development.
Cloud Platforms for Context-Adaptive Positioning and Localisation in GNSS-Denied Scenarios—A Systematic Review

Cloud Computing and Cloud Platforms have become an essential resource for businesses, due to their advanced capabilities, performance, and functionalities. Data redundancy, scalability, and security, are among the key features offered by cloud platforms. Location-Based Services (LBS) often exploit cloud platforms to host positioning and localisation systems. This paper introduces a systematic review of current positioning platforms for GNSS-denied scenarios. We have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of each component of the positioning and localisation systems, including techniques, protocols, standards, and cloud services used in the state-of-the-art deployments. Furthermore, this paper identifies the limitations of existing solutions, outlining shortcomings in areas that are rarely subjected to scrutiny in existing reviews of indoor positioning, such as computing paradigms, privacy, and fault tolerance. We then examine contributions in the areas of efficient computation, interoperability, positioning, and localisation. Finally, we provide a brief discussion concerning the challenges for cloud platforms based on GNSS-denied scenarios.
Fingerprint Recognition Based on Wavelet Transform and Ensemble Subspace Classifier

This paper presents a fingerprint recognition system based on Wavelet transform, multiple domain feature extraction, and Ensemble Subspace Discriminant Classifier. The main contribution of this work is the computation of a set of features that can be used for the classification of fingerprints, and the implementation of an ensemble of discriminant classifiers. First, the review of previous works is presented. Next, a detailed description of the proposed method is elaborated. Finally, it is shown that the proposed system provides the highest accuracy (97.5%) in comparison with other works proposed in the literature using a different type of classifier such as the ensemble subspace discriminant.
Synthesis, Spectroscopic, Thermal, and Catalytic Properties of Eight New Complexes of Metal(II) Formates or Propionates with Imidazole; Relationship between the Carbon Chain Length and Catalytic Activity

In one of our previously published articles, we reported the synthesis, spectroscopic, thermal, and catalytic properties of four new M(II) acetate (where M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) complexes with imidazole. Presented compounds exhibited activity in the reaction on catalytic oxidation of styrene. In this study we have synthesized and investigated properties of analogous compounds, however using formates or propionates of mentioned metal cations instead of acetates. Such an approach allowed us to draw valuable conclusions concerning the relationship between the carbon chain length and catalytic activity, which is an important factor for catalyst modeling. Synthesized compounds have been thoroughly investigated using appropriate analytic techniques: AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrometry), FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), and TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis). Catalytic properties have been studied under the same previous conditions, using GC-FID (GC-chromatograph equipped with FID detector).
A Computer Vision-Based Yoga Pose Grading Approach Using Contrastive Skeleton Feature Representations

The main objective of yoga pose grading is to assess the input yoga pose and compare it to a standard pose in order to provide a quantitative evaluation as a grade. In this paper, a computer vision-based yoga pose grading approach is proposed using contrastive skeleton feature representations. First, the proposed approach extracts human body skeleton keypoints from the input yoga pose image and then feeds their coordinates into a pose feature encoder, which is trained using contrastive triplet examples; finally, a comparison of similar encoded pose features is made. Furthermore, to tackle the inherent challenge of composing contrastive examples in pose feature encoding, this paper proposes a new strategy to use both a coarse triplet example—comprised of an anchor, a positive example from the same category, and a negative example from a different category, and a fine triplet example—comprised of an anchor, a positive example, and a negative example from the same category with different pose qualities. Extensive experiments are conducted using two benchmark datasets to demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed approach.
Using station and mean‐sea‐level pressure values in SYNOP reports to recover, or correct, barometer elevation information

SBF transported a cool, moist air mass from the sea (which provided the moisture supply) over the dry, warm urban cen-tre, which provided triggering mechanism for the moist convection. The UHI was enhanced at the beginning of the process, providing turbulence mixing through the sensible heat flux from the urban surface but weakened after the precipitation occurred. The UHI and urban surface obstructed the westward movement of the SBF and maintained it near the urban centre, providing moisture and energy for the moist convection.
Unresolved Problems in Accessibility and Universal Design Guidelines

FEATURE AT A GLANCE: There are numerous standards, design guidelines, and other resources that relate to the use of technology by people with disabilities. We examined whether such resources met the needs of designers based on typical design processes and design psychology. We conducted a heuristic evaluation of eight resources and then surveyed and interviewed the people who created those resources. Based on our research, we identified five unresolved problems in the creation of guidance: (1) neither the audience nor its needs are clearly defined; (2) the terminology of accessible and universal design is imprecise; (3) there is no universally accepted standard of measurement; (4) enforcement of standards is lax because of their ambiguous nature; and, finally, (5) usability of the guidance is compromised. We provide recommendations for resolving each problem.
Mesophase properties of fluorene-core mesogens and their effects on blue phase liquid crystals

ABSTRACT Two series of fluorene-core compounds were successfully synthesised, one series of compounds have different rigid conjugated structures, and the other series of compounds have different substituted dialkyl chains at the 9-position of fluorene core. The thermotropic mesomorphic behaviours and fluorescence characteristics of the synthesised compounds were investigated. It was found that these derivatives exhibited well fluorescence performance and wide mesophases range up to 196°C. The short dialkyl chains substituted at the fluorenyl 9-position can improve the solubility of the compounds while maintaining the mesogenic properties. It was also found that the fluorene-derived compounds as dopants of chiral nematic liquid crystal can effectively stabilise the double-twisted structure due to the biaxiality of fluorene core, so as to induce the emergence of blue phase or broaden its temperature range. Graphical abstract
The Pragmatic Functions of Facebook Likes on Status Updates: 
Evidence from User Perceptions

This paper examines the pragmatic functions of the like button when users interact with status-updates on Facebook. To collect the data, the researcher asked a friend who happened to be a university professor to write a post on his Facebook account in which he requested his students, colleagues and friends to report to him in a comment when each of them tends to press the like button on a status and for what purpose. The total number of the collected comments is 218. Analysis of the data reveals that in the Jordanian context, the like button is not solely used to show appreciation as originally envisaged by Facebook. Further, the findings indicate that the use of the like button has eventually developed as a graphic pragmatic marker with eight functions and illocutions ranging in purpose from showing unreserved approval and admiration of content to showing mockery of published content. Keywords: Computer-Mediated Communication; Emojis, Gestures; Like; Pragmatic Functions.
Piezoelectric Configuration for Generating Electricity Using Waves Power

This study is aimed at determining the piezoelectric configuration for generating electricity from wave power through the design of a prototype model named Cov-TOTal. The study was carried out in Tomini Bay, Lopo Village, Batudaa Pantai District, Gorontalo Regency, located at approximately ±50 meters from the shoreline, while the piezoelectric construction was arranged in parallel with varying numbers of 28, 70, and 90 pieces. The result showed that the amount of piezoelectric configuration affects the value of the voltage and electric current generated by the Cov-TOTal model. Furthermore, the average electric voltage values were 17.58, 20.76, and 29.85 volts, while the average current was 1.16, 1.73, and 2.01 mA for each piezoelectric amount. Therefore, the largest values of power and electrical energy for each piezoelectric are 16.65 mW and 0.56 joules, 31.82 mW and 1.20 joules, and 44.59 mW and 1.77 joules, respectively. This study concluded that the amount of piezoelectric configuration has a significant effect on the voltage, current, power, and electrical energy produced.
Development of a Flexible Pipe for Pipe-in-Pipe Technology

Pipe-in-pipe technology has been implemented, whereby pipes of one continuous length are laid individually in the existing submarine pipelines belonging to petrochemical complexes in various locations across Japan to construct renovated networks for fluid transportation. Because the pipelines have a number of sharp bends, development of a new pipe with excellent flexibility and lightweight was required to construct such a network. Thus Furukawa Electric, Nippon Steel, and Idemitsu Kosan have jointly developed the pipe thereby succeeded in acquiring a special certification as a flexible pipe for transportation of high-pressure liquefied petroleum gas. The developed pipe has been successfully laid in the existing submarine pipeline (3.3 km in total length) in the Tokuyama Refinery of Idemitsu Kosan in July 2002.
Hydraulic Roughness Coefficients for Native Rangelands

A subfactor‐based regression technique for estimating hydraulic roughness coefficients for shallow overland flow was developed from simulated rainfall/runoff plots originally collected for erosion studies. The data were collected from 14 different native rangeland areas in the western United States. Rainfall was applied at a constant intensity of 65 mm/hr from a rotating‐boom rainfall simulator. Surfaces evaluated ranged from smooth bare soil to gravelly bare soil and sparsely to densely vegetated rangeland areas. A reference table of “effective roughness” coefficients for shallow overland flow is presented with a description of site characteristics. The derived roughness regression equations predict an “effective Darcy‐Wiesbach roughness coefficient” for native rangeland (r2=0.70) that incorporates the effect of raindrop impact, soil texture, random roughness, rocks, litter, and canopy and basal plant cover. The sites evaluated in the paper covered a wide range of vegetation types and included short‐, mi.
Relationship between blood group and gastric carcinoma in Erbil city: A case-control study

Background and objective: Gastric carcinoma can be caused by the interaction between environmental factors and genetic variations. The relationship between ABO blood groups and carcinogenesis or progression of human tumors has been reported by many investigations. This study aimed to understand the correlation between ABO blood groups and the risk of developing gastric carcinoma. Methods: This case-control study included the ABO blood group and rhesus system of 92 patients diagnosed with gastric carcinoma at Erbil city from 2017 to 2019. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. As a control, the blood group from 260 healthy blood donors was collected from Erbil blood bank. Results: Of 92 patients, 58.7% were males, and 41.3% were females. The mean age was 62 (28 - 97) years. Regarding the type of gastric carcinoma, 58.7% were intestinal, and 41.3% were diffuse type. Blood group and rhesus system of patients and control were compared. Blood group O was 47.8% in cases versus 40.8% in control and 42.6% in all participants, followed by blood group A (31.5% of gastric carcinoma patients and 26.5% of control with a total of 27.8% of all participants). Regarding the Rhesus system, 92.4% of cases were Rh+, and 7.6% were Rh- compared with 92.9% Rh+and 7.1% Rh- in control. None of them was statistically significant. Conclusion: There was no statistically significant association between blood groups and gastric carcinoma, although blood group O was more common, followed by A. Keywords: Gastric carcinoma; ABO blood group; Erbil.
Locally Linear Embedding as Nonlinear Feature Extraction to Discriminate Liquids with a Cyclic Voltammetric Electronic Tongue

Electronic tongues are devices used in the analysis of aqueous matrices for classification or quantification tasks. These systems are composed of several sensors of different materials, a data acquisition unit, and a pattern recognition system. Voltammetric sensors have been used in electronic tongues using the cyclic voltammetry method. By using this method, each sensor yields a voltammogram that relates the response in current to the change in voltage applied to the working electrode. A great amount of data is obtained in the experimental procedure which allows handling the analysis as a pattern recognition application; however, the development of efficient machine-learning-based methodologies is still an open research interest topic. As a contribution, this work presents a novel data processing methodology to classify signals acquired by a cyclic voltammetric electronic tongue. This methodology is composed of several stages such as data normalization through group scaling method and a nonlinear feature extraction step with locally linear embedding (LLE) technique. The reduced-size feature vector input to a k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) supervised classifier algorithm. A leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) procedure is performed to obtain the final classification accuracy. The methodology is validated with a data set of five different juices as liquid substances.Two screen-printed electrodes voltametric sensors were used in the electronic tongue. Specifically the materials of their working electrodes were platinum and graphite. The results reached an 80% classification accuracy after applying the developed methodology.
Advancing Performance Assessment for Disposal of Depleted Uranium at Clive Utah - 12493

A Performance Assessment (PA) for disposal of depleted uranium (DU) waste has recently been completed for a potential disposal facility at Clive in northwestern Utah. For the purposes of this PA, “DU waste” includes uranium oxides of all naturally-occurring isotopes, though depleted in U-235, varying quantities of other radionuclides introduced to the uranium enrichment process in the form of used nuclear reactor fuel (reactor returns), and decay products of all of these radionuclides. The PA will be used by the State of Utah to inform an approval decision for disposal of DU waste at the facility, and will be available to federal regulators as they revisit rulemaking for the disposal of DU. The specific performance objectives of the Clive DU PA relate to annual individual radiation dose within a 10,000-year performance period, groundwater concentrations of specific radionuclides within a 500-year compliance period, and site stability in the longer term. Fate and transport processes that underlie the PA model include radioactive decay and ingrowth, diffusion in gaseous and water phases, water advection in unsaturated and saturated zones, transport caused by plant and animal activity, cover naturalization, natural and anthropogenic erosion, and air dispersion. Fate and transport models were used to support the dose assessment and the evaluation of groundwater concentrations. Exposure assessment was based on site-specific scenarios, since the traditional human exposure scenarios suggested by DOE and NRC guidance are unrealistic for this site. Because the U-238 in DU waste reaches peak radioactivity (secular equilibrium) after 2 million years (My) following its separation, the PA must also evaluate the impact of climate change cycles, including the return of pluvial lakes such as Lake Bonneville. The first draft of the PA has been submitted to the State of Utah for review. The results of this preliminary analysis indicate that doses are very low for the site-specific receptors for the 10,000-year compliance period. This is primarily because DU waste is not highly radioactive within this time frame, the DU waste is assumed to be buried beneath zones exposed by erosion, groundwater concentrations of DU waste constituents do not exceed groundwater protection limits with in the 500-year compliance period, and the first deep lake occurrence will disperse DU waste across a large area, and will ultimately be covered by lake-derived sediment.