Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synergistic effect of water-soluble species and relative humidity on morphological changes in aerosol particles in the Beijing megacity during severe pollution episodes

Abstract. Depolarization ratio (δ) of backscattered light is an applicable parameter for distinguishing the sphericity of particles in real time, which has been widely adopted by ground-based lidar observation systems. In this study, δ values of particles and chemical compositions in both PM2.5 (aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm) and PM10 (aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm) were concurrently measured on the basis of a bench-top optical particle counter with a polarization detection module (POPC) and a continuous dichotomous aerosol chemical speciation analyzer (ACSA-14) from November 2016 to February 2017 at an urban site in Beijing megacity. In general, measured δ values depended on both size and sphericity of the particles. During the observation period, mass concentrations of NO3- in PM2.5 (fNO3) were about an order of magnitude higher than that in PM2.5−10 (cNO3) with a mean fNO3∕cNO3 ratio of 14±10. A relatively low fNO3∕cNO3 ratio (∼5) was also observed under higher relative humidity conditions, mostly due to heterogeneous processes and particles in the coarse mode. We found that δ values of ambient particles in both PM2.5 and PM2.5−10 obviously decreased as mass concentration of water-soluble species increased at unfavorable meteorological conditions. This indicated that the morphology of particles was changed as a result of water-absorbing processes. The particles with optical size (Dp) of Dp = 5 µm were used to represent mineral dust particles, and its δ values (δDp=5) decreased by 50 % as the mass fraction of cNO3 increased from 2 % to 8 % and ambient relative humidity increased up to 80 %, suggesting that mineral dust particles were likely to be spherical during humid pollution episodes. During the observation, relative humidity inside the POPC measuring chamber was stable at 34±2 %, lower than the ambient condition. Its influence on the morphology was estimated to be limited and did not change our major conclusion. This study highlights the evident alteration of non-sphericity of mineral dust particles during their transport owing to a synergistic effect of both pollutant coatings and hygroscopic processes, which plays an important role in the evaluation of its environmental effect.
Alliance formation and firm performance: an inverse U-shaped relationship?

This research examines a relationship of diminishing returns between a firm's number of alliances and performance. Moreover, as alliance formations increase, negative returns may set in. Rising interdependency between firms, bounded rationality constraints of management, as well as resource overlaps and possible knowledge leakage are expected to overcome the more positive learning effects as alliance experience increases. The excistence of this inverse U-shaped relationship is tested on a sample of 179 firms operating in the pharmaceutical industry from 1990 to 1999. Support for diminishing returns as well as a linear relation are found. The linear model contains a better fit to the data, rejecting a possible inverse U-shaped relationship.
Application of functionalized carbon dots in detection, diagnostic, disease treatment, and desalination: a review

Particularly in recent years, fluorescence carbon dots (CDs) were in the central point of scientist’s focus. However, some difficulties may exist concerning CDs. For example, their targeting by other analytes usually goes wrong due to the absence of specific recognition groups on the surface of CDs. Furthermore, due to low quantum yield, they cannot be conducive to bioimaging. Additionally, they do not have biological functionality that originated from poor interaction with biological agents. For improvement of the luminescence properties and extending of new applications for CDs, the functionalisation of CDs has attracted many interests. Functionalised CDs have promising applications. The present paper has reviewed different published reports considering applications of functionalised CDs. In this comprehensive article, first the functionalisation mechanisms of CDs are discussed. Then, the functionalised CDs for detection applications including biochemical and chemical detections are reviewed. After that, functionalised CDs for diagnostic applications are reviewed. In this part functionalised CDs for fluorescence imaging probes, functionalised CDs for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging and functionalised CDs for photoacoustic imaging probes are discussed. Later, functionalised CDs for disease treatment including drug delivery and photothermal therapy applications are reviewed to elucidate the importance of their function in cancer treatment. Finally, the applications of functionalised CDs for water desalination are reviewed.
Infinitely many solutions for a new Kirchhoff-type equation with subcritical exponent

ABSTRACT In this article, we consider the following new Kirchhoff-type problem: where a and b are positive constants, is a bounded domain with boundary , with if , and if N = 1, 2. We show that the problem possesses infinitely many sign-changing solutions by using combination of invariant sets of descent flow and the Ljusternik–Schnirelman type minimax method. And an example for p = 2 is illustrated our results.
ResNet15: Weather Recognition on Traffic Road with Deep Convolutional Neural Network

Severe weather conditions will have a great impact on urban traffic. Automatic recognition of weather condition has important application value in traffic condition warning, automobile auxiliary driving, intelligent transportation system, and other aspects. With the rapid development of deep learning, deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) are used to recognize weather conditions on traffic road. A new simplified model named ResNet15 is proposed based on the residual network ResNet50 in this paper. The convolutional layers of ResNet15 are utilized to extract weather characteristics, and then the characteristics extracted at the previous layer are shortcut to the next layer through four groups of residual modules. Finally, the weather images are classified and recognized through the fully connected layer and Softmax classifier. In addition, we build a medium-scale dataset of weather images on traffic road, called “WeatherDataset-4,” which consists of 4 categories and contains 4983 weather images covering most of the severe weather. In this paper, ResNet15 is used to train and test on the “WeatherDataset-4,” and desirable recognition results are obtained. The evaluation of a large number of experiments demonstrates that the proposed ResNet15 is superior to traditional network models such as ResNet50 in recognition accuracy, recognition speed, and model size.
Convolutional neural network for detecting anomalies in the control system of a machine-building enterprise

The article is devoted to the study of the possibility of using machine learning methods and the apparatus of neural networks to ensure a given performance and security of the enterprise infrastructure. Continuous monitoring of computer networks and enterprise resource planning systems determines the stability of the enterprise. The infrastructure of any enterprise is gradually expanding and increasing, not only due to the growth of the geography of networks, but also due to the use of equipment from various manufacturers. Therefore, it is important to create intrusion detection and prevention systems with automated monitoring of equipment, processes and user activity. The article describes the use of convolutional neural networks for predicting indicators and technical characteristics of equipment and communication channels. An anomaly detection module structure has been developed for monitoring the operation of the enterprise resource planning system. An example of training data for a neural network is given. The experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Grapho-analytical Analysis of Video Frames of Supersonic Flow Around Two Solid Revolutions using the Digital Image Processing Method

The article is devoted to the study of the geometric laws of intersection of angle shock wave formed during supersonic flow around two axisymmetric solids. An analysis of such an experiment is given by the method of processing photographs (video frames) by the parameter of image intensity. This method allows determining with high accuracy the angle of inclination of shock waves and subsequently identifies the contact points of the shock wave with the surface of the models. The proposed approach to the geometric analysis of supersonic flow around two solids makes it possible to look differently at the interference of shock waves and evaluate the qualitative and quantitative processes that occur during their interaction.
Lunar Irregular Mare Patches: Classification, Characteristics, Geologic Settings, Updated Catalog, Origin, and Outstanding Questions

One of the most mysterious lunar features discovered during the Apollo era was Ina, a ~2 × 3‐km depression composed of bleb‐like mounds surrounded by hummocky and blocky terrains. Subsequent studies identified dozens of similar features in lunar maria, describing them as Irregular Mare Patches (IMPs). Due to the unusual and complex characteristics of IMPs, their specific formation mechanism is debated. To improve our understanding of the nature and origin of IMPs, we undertook an updated search and geological characterization of all IMPs and established a classification approach encompassing the full spectrum of IMPs. We present an updated catalog of 91 IMPs and survey the detailed characteristics of each IMP. We find that the majority of IMPs occur in maria emplaced over three billion years ago, contemporaneous with the peak period of global lunar volcanism. We utilized geologic context information and characteristics to establish two classification schemes for lunar IMPs: (1) geologic context: IMPs are categorized into (a) small shield volcano summit pit floor and flank, (b) linear/sinuous rille interior and adjacent exterior, and (c) typical maria; (2) characteristics: IMPs are classified into (a) “mound + floor” and (b) “pit only” types. We showed the range of characteristics of lunar IMPs was consistent with the waning‐stage magmatic foam formation and extrusion scenario in different environments. Our updated catalog and classification raise several outstanding questions concerning the nature and origin of lunar IMPs. Assessing these questions will improve our knowledge of lunar thermal and geologic evolution.
Irrigation Management for Non-Monsoon Crops In a Major Canal Command in Eastern India under Water Limiting Environment

Acute irrigation water deficit during the non-monsoon (rabi) season in the Hirakud canal command in Eastern India demands efficient irrigation management strategies (IMSs) to sustain the irrigated agriculture. The study was undertaken to analyse the impact of different IMSs – namely full and deficit irrigation, on water use efficiency of different rabi crops and evolve the most efficient IMSs. Various water balance parameters were estimated on daily basis and stage wise crop production function was applied to compute the actual crop yields of five major rabi crops. The best IMSs for wheat, maize, rice, green gram and mustard were found to be 30% deficit irrigation at 14 days interval, 30% deficit irrigation at 7 days interval, 20% deficit irrigation at 4 days interval, 60 mm of irrigation per application at 21 days interval, and 20% deficit irrigation at 7 days interval, respectively. Realizing the scarce water resources and ever rising population, it is highly essential to implement the generated IMSs with a view to bring more area under cultivation and enhance the production potential of the command area.
Statistical calibration of psychometric tests

La psicometria e quella branca della psicologia che si occupa di tradurre in termini numerici le caratteristiche psicologiche della persona o dei suoi comportamenti. Questo approccio ha portato a sviluppare strumenti di misura con l'obiettivo di rendere condivisibili le entita di caratteristiche che altrimenti sarebbero valutabili in un'ottica esclusivamente soggettiva e descrittiva (Stevens, 1951). Per perseguire tale obiettivo occorre considerare che la misura di caratteristiche psicologiche e prevalentemente indiretta ovvero ottenuta mediante inferenza probabilistica piuttosto che attraverso assunzione diretta del dato. Da qui nasce l'esigenza di utilizzare particolari modelli che, nella stessa logica della taratura statistica degli strumenti di misura, si basano sulla inversione di misure indirette.
The Microeconomic Determinants of Demand for Social Security: Evidence from the Algerian Labour Market

The aim of this paper is to identify the determinants of demand for social security. International institutions (World Bank, International Labor Organisation etc.) consider social security to be a human right. However, in Algeria, 73% of workers in the private sector do not have any social insurance coverage (employment survey, ONS, 2013). Risk aversion (Barsky et al., 1997; Freidman, 1973), time discounting (Arrondel et al., 2004; Brown et al., 2013) and the orientation of social value orientations (Murphy et al., 2011) are all potential determinants of demand for social insurance. This paper measures these variables using experimental methods and by means of a survey administered to the active labour force in Algeria. It was found that risk aversion increases demand for social insurance, loss aversion decreases demand, and time discounting has negative effect on the demand for social insurance. In terms of personality, individualistic respondents were less likely to purchase social insurance while pro-social individuals were more likely to demand social insurance.
Optimization Scheme Based on Differential Equation Model for Animal Swarming

This paper is devoted to introducing an optimization algorithm which is devised on a basis of ordinary differential equation model describing the process of animal swarming. By several numerical simulations, the nature of the optimization algorithm is clarified. Especially, if parameters included in the algorithm are suitably set, our scheme can show very good performance even in higher dimensional problems.
Geologic Controls on Source Water Drive Baseflow Generation and Carbon Geochemistry: Evidence of Nonstationary Baseflow Sources Across Multiple Subwatersheds

The contributions and composition of baseflow sources across an extended recession period were quantified for six subwatersheds of varying size in a structurally complex watershed in coastal California using endmember mixing analysis and related to catchment characteristics (e.g., topography, geology, land use, and soil characteristics). Both shallow subsurface and deep groundwater reservoirs were important contributors for streamflow during low flow periods, and the composition of baseflow sources across subwatersheds was directly related to geologic indices. A binary classification of underlying bedrock permeability (e.g., low vs. high) best explained the changes in shallow subsurface water and deeper groundwater inputs through the seasonal recession. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and specific UV absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA254) were used to provide additional insight into endmember characteristics and their contributions to baseflow. Stream water DIC concentrations were broadly controlled by mixing of groundwater and shallow subsurface water endmembers with relatively constant DIC concentrations, while stream water DOC concentrations reflected both spatial and temporal changes in shallow subsurface water DOC. Results from this study show (1) the importance of considering baseflow as a dynamic mixture of water from multiple sources, (2) the effect of geology on source composition at the subwatershed scale during low flow conditions, and (3) the impact of shifting baseflow sources on stream water dissolved carbon concentrations and the utility of using dissolved carbon concentrations to obtain additional insight into temporal variability in baseflow sources.
Classifying and mapping wildfire severity : A comparison of methods

This study evaluates six different approaches to classifying and mapping fire severity using multi-temporal Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The six approaches tested include: two based on temporal image differencing and ratioing between pre-fire and post-fire images, two based on principal component analysis of pre- and post-fire imagery, and two based on artificial neural networks, one using just postfire imagery and the other both pre- and post-fire imagery. Our results demonstrated the potential value for any of these methods to provide quantitative fire severity maps, but one of the image differencing methods (ND4/7) provided a flexible, robust, and analytically simple approach that could be applied anywhere in the Continental U.S. Based on the results of this test, the ND4/7 was implemented operationally to classify and map fire severity over 1.2 million hectares burned in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Northern Great Plains during the 2000 fire season, as well as the 2001 fire season (Gmelin and Brewer, 2002). Approximately the same procedure was adopted in 2001 by the USDA Forest Service, Remote Sensing Applications Center to produce Burned Area Reflectance Classifications for national-level support of Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation activities (Orlemann, 2002).
Robotic Astronomy and its application to the study of gamma-ray bursts

An overview of Robotic Astronomical facilities (especially in Spain) is presented. The study focuses on two aspects: the control software (one of such example being the RTS2 system) and the network of BOOTES robotic telescopes, partly devoted to the study of gamma-ray burst counterparts at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. This potential application of small/medium size robotic telescopes will shed light on the high redshift Universe and should be used for triggering larger size instruments in order to perform more detailed studies of host galaxies and intervening material on the line of sight.
A Global Nearest-Neighbour Depth Estimation-based Automatic 2D-to-3D Image and Video Conversion

The proposed work is to present a new method based on the radically different approach of learning the 2D-to-3D conversion from examples. It is based on lobally estimating the entire depth map of a query image directly from a repository of 3D images (image depth pairs or stereo pairs) using a nearest-neighbour regression type idea.
Multi-state stochastic hotchpotch model gives rise to the observed mesoscopic behaviour in the non-stirred Belousov--Zhabotinsky reaction

Mesoscopic dynamics of self-organized structures is the most important aspect in the description of complex living systems. The Belousov--Zhabotinsky (B--Z) reaction is in this respect a convenient testbed because it represents a prototype of chemical self-organization with a rich variety of emergent wave-spiral patterns. Using a multi-state stochastic hotchpotch model, we show here that the mesoscopic behaviour of the non-stirred B--Z reaction is both qualitatively and quantitatively susceptible to the description in terms of stochastic multilevel cellular automata. This further implies that the mesoscopic dynamics of the non-stirred B--Z reaction results from a delicate interplay between a) a maximal number of available states within the elementary time lag (i.e. a minimal time interval needed for demise of a final state) and b) an imprecision or uncertainty in the definition of state. If either the number of time lags is largely different from 7 or the maximal number of available states is smaller than 20, the physicochemical conditions are inappropriate for a formation of the wave-spiral patterns. Furthermore, a white noise seems to be key for the formation of circular structures (target patterns) which could not be as yet systematically explained in existing models.
Kinematic analysis anthropomorphic gripper with group drive

The advantages of anthropomorphic robotics include the ability to work in a human-oriented environment and the performance of complex tasks that usually only a person can cope with. One of the most important tasks in this area is the development of powerful anthropomorphic grippers. For several reasons anthropomorphic grippers with group drives are promising, in which movement from several joints is performed from one drive. The purpose of the article is a kinematic analysis of one of the possible design of such a gripper. In the article solved the direct and inverse problems of kinematics in an analytical form using the geometric method. The dependences of the Cartesian coordinates of the joints of the fingers on the joint coordinate describing the motion of a group drive were obtained for the solving the direct kinematic problem. The dependences between the joint coordinate of a group drive and desired position of the finger joints or the orientation of its links were obtained for solving the inverse problem of kinematics. The obtained results can be used further for performing dynamic analysis, parametric synthesis of the design and synthesis a control system for an anthropomorphic gripper with group drive.
Investigation of dose related effects of propolis on anxiety and some biochemical parameters with sympathetic skin response and increased T-maze

Amac: Propolisin anti-mikrobiyal, antioksidan, anti-tumor, anksiyolitik ve anti-inflamatuar etkilere sahip oldugu gosterilmistir. Ancak literaturde propolisin anksiyojenik etkisi konusundaki calismalara rastlanilmamistir. Bu calismamizda, soguk stresi olusturulmus sicanlarda propolisin farkli dozlarinin anksiyeteye etkilerinin sempatik deri cevabi (elektrodermal aktivite) ve yukseltilmis T labirent ile arastirilmasi amaclandi. Yontemler: Calismada 40 adet Wistar albino erkek sican kullanildi. Kontrol grubu, dusuk doz (10 mg/kg PRO), orta doz (30 mg/kg PRO) ve yuksek doz propolis (50 mg/kg PRO) gruplari olusturularak, kontrol grubu haric diger gruplara propolis gavaj yoluyla uygulandi. Enjeksiyondan 20 dakika sonra, sicanlarin anksiyete skorlari yukseltilmis T-labirent ile degerlendirildi ve daha sonra da elektrodermal aktiviteleri (EDA) olculdu. Deney sonunda kan orneklerinde, spektrofotometrik olarak malondialdehit (MDA) ile bazi enzimatik ve lipid degerleri olculdu. Bulgular: 10 mg/kg PRO grubunda acik kolda harcanan zamanin yuzdesi ve acik kola giris sayisi, diger gruplara gore daha dusuk bulunurken 30 mg/kg PRO grubunda artis gozlendi. EDA, 30 mg/kg PRO (sirasiyla, P=0,012, P=0,02) ve 50 mg/kg PRO (sirasiyla, P=0,013, P=0,02 gruplarinda kontrole kiyasla daha dusuktu. MDA’nin 30 mg/kg PRO ve 50 mg/kg PRO gruplarinda onemli oranda dusuk oldugu goruldu. 30 mg/kg PRO grubunda AST degeri artis gosterirken ALT degerinde azalmanin oldugu goruldu. Toplam kolesterol ve trigliserit degerleri 50 mg/kg PRO grubunda anlamli olarak dusuktu. HDL degerinin dusuk doz propolisten uygulamasindan itibaren anlamli yukseldigi, LDL degerinin ise sadece 10 mg/kg PRO grubunda anlamli azaldigi oldugu goruldu. Sonuclar: EDA ve T-labirent yontemleriyle elde edilen sonuclara gore dusuk ve orta doz propolis anksiyetik etki yaparken, yuksek doz propolis anksiyolitik etki gostermistir. Ayrica sicanlara soguk stres sonucunda uygulanan propolisin MDA degerlerini orta ve yuksek doz gruplarinda dusurdugu, enzimatik ve lipid degerlerinde ise organizma lehine olumlu degisimlere sebep oldugu goruldu. Dolayisiyla propolisin anksiyeteye iliskin yanitlarinin, doza bagli etkilerine gore degistigi sonucuna varilmistir.