Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface Simpliﬁcation Using Quadric Error Metrics

Nowadays, computer graphics applications often require highly detailed models to provide a convincing amount of realism. However, rendering these models needs a lot of computational power and storing them a signiﬁcant amount of storage space. Since this may prevent real time applications from running smoothly, one may want to decrease the complexity of models in situations where the high level of detail isn’t really necessary. For example, using simpler models for objects that are far away from the observer may speed up rendering signiﬁcantly. Unfortunately, the creation of simpliﬁed models, which still preserve the original shape well, isn’t trivial. Therefore, surface simpliﬁcation has received a lot of attention. Michael Garland and Paul S. Heckbert propose a surface simpliﬁcation algorithm [3] that is claimed to simplify given models fast, while still preserving the shape of the models well. It is able though to change the models topology by iteratively contracting pairs of vertices. It uses a so called Quadric Error Metric to choose pairs for contraction that keep the damage to the original model low.
Vowel Phonological Processes Affecting Syllable Structure in Tshivenḓa

There are different phonological processes across Tshivenḓa linguistics, however, this paper only focuses on vowel processes involving syllable structure or syllabification in Tshivenḓa. When a syllable is affected by any phonological phenomena, it is either reduction, deletion or glide formation that takes place. This study explores three vowel phonological processes affecting syllable structure in Tshivenḓa, namely; vowel deletion, vowel epenthesis and glide formation. The in-depth of this study will add to the literature of Tshivenḓa linguistics and to the knowledge of the scientific study of language. Qualitative data was gathered through the use of phonological field work. The Optimality Theory is the framework underpinning this study.
Clustering Analysis of Normal Strength Concretes Produced with Different Aggregate Types

Abstract Concrete is the most commonly used structural material, which is composed of individual base materials. The compressive strength of concrete is important to understand for activities like construction arrangement, prestressing operations, proportioning new mixtures and quality assurance. Concrete has a problem known as Clustering, which is the unsupervised classification of patterns into clusters. The clustering problem has been addressed by several researchers in many contexts and various disciplines; this shows that clustering uses many areas and is an important step in data analysis. In this study, concrete samples with different aggregate types and normal strength were produced. Clustering analysis was performed on the effect of aggregate species for its mechanical strength. According to the result of clustering analysis, it was found that there were three different groups, the study predicts that clustering is not related to the origins of the rocks but is clustered between the strength of the rocks and the mechanical strengths of the concretes produced within these rocks. The common feature of L, RL and SG aggregates in the first cluster is that it is a sedimentary rock. The aggregate of the concrete in the second cluster is that it is a volcanic superficial rock. The common feature of DO and TB rocks in the third cluster is that it has high density. As a result, it was determined that the clay made in normal class concrete is related to the mechanical strength of rocks.
Response surface methodological approach for optimizing the removal of cadmium from aqueous solutions using pistachio residues biochar supported/non-supported by nanoscalezero-valent iron

Abstract A three-level Box–Behnken model (BBM) under response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the removal of cadmium (Cd) ion by pistachio residues biochar (PRB) and PRB supported by nanoscale zero-valent iron (PRB-nZVI) from aqueous solutions. Optimization experiments were carried out by evaluation of the effect of four variables (initial Cd concentration, initial solution pH, adsorbent dosage, and contact time) at three levels (high, medium, and low), and one category contained two variables (PRB and PRB-nZVI). For this purpose, a total of 58 experimental runs were set and the experimental data were fitted to the empirical second-order polynomial model of a suitable degree. The physical and chemical structure results of the adsorbents confirmed the formation of nZVI (with diameters ~35 nm) on the PRB surface. The results showed that the new composite of biochar (PRB-nZVI) exhibited higher Cd removal efficiency compared with PRB from aqueous solutions. The existence of functional groups and nZVI on the surface of PRB-nZVI could be better than PRB for Cd removal in aqueous solutions by the processes of sorption, precipitation, and co-precipitation. Numerical optimization revealed that the optimum removal (96.58%) was obtained at an initial Cd concentration of 25.99 mg L−1 (pH 6.58), adsorbent dose (PRB-nZVI) of 0.55 g L−1, and contact time of 34.11 min, with desirability of 1. Based on the results, it is recommended that PRB-nZVI can be effectively used for the removal of Cd from a contaminated aqueous solution with varying chemical and physical conditions.
Deficient butyrate-producing capacity in the gut microbiome of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients is associated with fatigue symptoms

Abstract Background: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex, debilitating disease of unknown cause for which there is no specific therapy. Patients suffering from ME/CFS commonly experience persistent fatigue, post-exertional malaise, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances, orthostatic intolerance, fever and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Recent evidence implicates gut microbiome dysbiosis in ME/CFS. However, most prior studies are limited by small sample size, differences in clinical criteria used to define cases, limited geographic sampling, reliance on bacterial culture or 16S rRNA gene sequencing, or insufficient consideration of confounding factors that may influence microbiome composition. In the present study, we evaluated the fecal microbiome in the largest prospective, case-control study to date (n=106 cases, n=91 healthy controls), involving subjects from geographically diverse communities across the United States. Results: Using shotgun metagenomics and qPCR and rigorous statistical analyses that controlled for important covariates, we identified decreased relative abundance and quantity of Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, and Eubacterium species and increased bacterial load in feces of subjects with ME/CFS. These bacterial taxa play an important role in the production of butyrate, a multifunctional bacterial metabolite that promotes human health by regulating energy metabolism, inflammation, and intestinal barrier function. Functional metagenomic and qPCR analyses were consistent with a deficient microbial capacity to produce butyrate along the acetyl-CoA pathway in ME/CFS. Metabolomic analyses of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) confirmed that fecal butyrate concentration was significantly reduced in ME/CFS. Further, we found that the degree of deficiency in butyrate-producing bacteria correlated with fatigue symptom severity among ME/CFS subjects. Finally, we provide evidence that IBS comorbidity is an important covariate to consider in studies investigating the microbiome of ME/CFS subjects, as differences in microbiota alpha diversity, some bacterial taxa, and propionate were uniquely associated with self-reported IBS diagnosis. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that there is a core deficit in the butyrate-producing capacity of the gut microbiome in ME/CFS subjects compared to healthy controls. The relationships we observed among symptom severity and these gut microbiome disturbances may be suggestive of a pathomechanistic linkage, however, additional research is warranted to establish any causal relationship. These findings provide support for clinical trials that explore the utility of dietary, probiotic and prebiotic interventions to boost colonic butyrate production in ME/CFS.
The effects of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, pregnancy smoking and alcohol consumption on molar-incisor hypomineralisation: A negative control study

Objectives: (1) To explore the associations between modifiable maternal pregnancy exposures: pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), pregnancy smoking and alcohol consumption with offspring molar-incisor hypomineralisation (MIH). (2) To explore for the presence of residual confounding using negative control analyses. Methods: This study used data from Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a UK prospective birth cohort. We defined offspring MIH using prospectively collected questionnaire data. We used logistic regression to explore confounder adjusted associations between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy with MIH. We included negative control exposure (paternal BMI, smoking and alcohol around the time of pregnancy) and outcome (offspring dental trauma) analyses to explore for the presence of residual confounding. Results: 5536 mother/offspring pairs were included (297 MIH cases [5.4%]). We found a positive association between maternal mean BMI and offspring MIH (OR per 1-kg/m2 difference in maternal BMI: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.08). In subsequent analyses, we found evidence that this effect was non-linear and being driven by women in the highest BMI quintiles. In negative control analyses, we found no evidence of association between paternal BMI and offspring MIH (OR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.00) and maternal BMI and offspring dental trauma (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.96, 1.02). There was no clear evidence of an association for maternal pregnancy smoking (OR: 0.76, 95%CI: 0.46, 1.22) and alcohol consumption (OR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.56, 1.21) with offspring MIH with results imprecisely estimated. Conclusion: In summary we found evidence of a possible intrauterine effect of high maternal pre-pregnancy BMI on offspring MIH. We did not find robust evidence for an intrauterine effect of maternal pregnancy smoking or alcohol consumption on offspring MIH. Our findings provide further support for women of reproductive age to maintain a healthy weight. Future studies are warranted to explore possible mechanisms on how the pregnancy environment may relate to offspring MIH.
Processing of slow-global auditory regularities causes larger neural responses to heartbeats in patients under minimal consciousness state, compared to unresponsive wakefulness syndrome

Objectives: Determine if contextual processing of auditory regularities (local-global paradigm) modulate the heartbeat-evoked responses (HERs), and if these modulations may provide complementary information to the auditory related potentials to facilitate the diagnose of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). Methods: DOC patients underwent the local-global paradigm to evaluate the cognitive processing of short/long term-auditory regularities. High-density EEG was recorded to evaluate HERs in local, global and overall conditions. Results: The global effect triggers higher HERs, as well as overall higher HER variance appears in minimally conscious patients. The variance and amplitude effects were uncorrelated, indicating different cognitive processes. Discussion: Our results corroborate previous findings on HER variance, a marker able to separate DOC without specific stimulations. HER modulations in response to global auditory irregularities represents a novel neural signature of consciousness access, which may facilitate the bedside diagnosis of state of consciousness with more affordable options to neuroimaging methods.
Global Sky Models can Improve Flux Estimates in Pulsar and FRB Studies

It is commonplace in pulsar and fast radio burst literature to estimate sky temperature by frequency-scaling of the Haslam et al. 408 MHz map. I suggest that this practice should stop, in favor of using readily available global sky models of diffuse foregrounds. This practical change will improve accuracy of pulse flux estimates.
Ultrasonic S-wave responses of single rock joints filled with wet bentonite clay

Clay minerals are prevalent in rock discontinuities and have significant effects on mechanical, hydraulic and seismic properties of rock masses. Understanding seismic behaviours across individual clay-rich rock joints is of great importance in the fields of geology and earth sciences. However, the wave responses of individual clay-rich rock joints have not been well understood until now. This paper reports a laboratory investigation of ultrasonic S-wave propagation and attenuation across single rock joints filled with bentonite clays with varying degree of water saturation. In this study, a series of acoustic measurements were conducted on specimens of the bentonite clay-filled rock joint using a self-developed ultrasonic pulse-transmission test system that equipped with a S-wave transducer pair with a dominant frequency of 250 kHz. Based on the obtained laboratory data, the wave velocity, transmission ratio and the time-frequency-energy distribution of the S-waves transmitted through the bentonite clay-filled joint were calculated and evaluated. The experimental results show that the degree of water saturation of the bentonite clay greatly affects S-wave responses of the filled rock joint. In particular, an increase in the degree of saturation causes a nonlinear decrease in S-wave velocity. In addition, as the water saturation of the bentonite clay increases, the wave attenuation decreases; the minimum wave attenuation is reached at a saturation degree of 71.4% and then the attenuation increases slightly. Additionally, with the increase of the water saturation, the magnitudes of the S-wave energy transmitted across the bentonite clay-filled joint firstly increases and then decreases. The S-wave energy is mostly stored in the frequency range of 150 - 300 kHz regardless of the degree of water saturation of the bentonite clay. This finding indicates that the frequency partition of the transmitted S-waves rarely changes with the changing water saturation. The present work could not only compensate for the lack of laboratory-based research on wave behaviours across clay-rich rock joints but also provides insights into the interpretation of acoustic data from field tests for detecting, characterizing and monitoring rock discontinuities.
Dynamic stability of rock slopes with hexagonal discontinuity pattern

Various regular discontinuity patterns are observed in rock masses and one of the common discontinuity patterns is hexagonal pattern, which is mostly observed in all extrusive volcanic rocks such as basalt, andesite, ryholite and welded tuffs as well as in some sedimentary rocks subjected to desiccation or freezing-thawing processes. In this study, the authors investigate the dynamic stability of rock slope consisting of hexagonal blocks through model tests on shaking table. Experiments indicated that toppling or sliding failures, which may be of active or passive modes occur. Critical acceleration levels can be estimated from the limit equilibrium method with the consideration of results of frictional properties and geometry of model slopes.
Real-time nucleic acid detection via field-effect transistor sensors based on graphite oxide decorated with trimetallic nanocluster of gold, silver, and platinum

Field effect transistor (FET) based sensors are witnessing robust evolutions in the fabrication and characterization for the purpose of biomedical applications. In this article, a graphite oxide FET based sensor is designed, fabricated, and characterized for real-time detection of various concentrations of nucleic acid with a detection limit of 1.28 nM of DNA. This sensor consists of two gold electrodes connected through a channel of graphite oxide. Moreover, the sensor sensitivity is enhanced by decorating the graphite oxide channel with composite trimetallic nanoclusters that include gold, silver, and platinum. The developed sensor is investigated by both simulation and experiment. Both experimental and simulation agree where the current signal is higher for sensors decorated with trimetallic nanoclusters, which indicate higher sensitivity. Moreover, increasing the concentration of DNA results in an increment in the current signal thus the response is proportional to DNA concentration. The results indicate a promising sensor for real-time, reliable, and cost-effective DNA detection.
Characterization of seismic energy during fault-slip induced by fluid injection using coupled and dynamic X-FEM analysis

Fluid injection into a rock mass from industrial processes can lead to reactivation of pre-existing faults at great depths. When the shear behaviour involves dynamic rupture, perceivable seismic events could be induced that may raise public concern. This seismicity can be caused by injection-induced fluid pressure in the rock mass causing slip on faults. This study provides a method to distinguish between aseismic and seismic fault movement induced by anthropogenic fluid injection with the aim of gaining an insight into the difference in seismic source parameters between the two types of fault behaviour, i.e., seismic and aseismic. This was achieved by using a two-dimensional fully coupled fluid and mechanical loading extended finite element model (X-FEM) with a dynamic analysis module. This code considers fluid flow along the fault as well as into the rock mass and uses a directly proportional equivalent injected flow rate into the fault as the input. This model was validated by comparing the resultant pressure and normal and shear displacements calculated at the centre of the fault against observations from a decametre-scale in-situ experiment. The main results were that not only the mechanics of the fault could be simulated using this approach, but the simulation correctly predicted the onset of seismicity and transition to dynamic analysis and at similar seismic magnitudes to observations. In terms of the difference in seismic source parameters between seismic and aseismic fault movements, it was shown that while the seismic shear movement to total shear movement is approximately 1%, the dynamic analysis produces approximately 75% of the total near field energy released in the simulation. This indicates the necessity of distinguishing dynamic and quasi-static shear movements in the numerical simulation of fluid injection-induced seismicity in order to quantify magnitude and seismic energy released accurately and to assess the risk of seismicity properly, since aseismic fault movements do not cause any damage to facilities on the surface. These results are important, since they demonstrate the applicability of this X-FEM approach in accurately predicting the mechanics of fault reactivation and the resultant seismicity, aiding in the design and scheduling of fluid injection and in the optimization of operational parameters.
Electrochemical Degradation of Piroxicam on a Boron‐Doped Diamond Anode: Investigation of Operating Parameters and Ultrasound Synergy

: The electrochemical oxidation of piroxicam, a representative nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, was studied using boron-doped diamond (BDD) as the anode. BDD exhibited superior efficiency in comparison with platinum electrodes in terms of PIR degradation. Removal of PIR follows pseudo-first-order kinetics and the apparent kinetic constants decreased from 0.138 to 0.0369 min -1 as the initial PIR concentration increased from 245 to 975 μg L -1 . Altering of the pH had little effect on electrolysis of PIR with slightly better removal at pH 9. The presence of 10 g L -1 of tert-butanol inhibited PIR removal indicating that its oxidation is caused by electro-generated hydroxyl radicals. Addition of 200 mg L -1 sodium chloride increased the apparent kinetic constant more than ten times from 0.139 to 1.44 min -1 . Similar behavior was observed in the case of bicarbonates and nitrates, possibly due to the generation of selective carbonate radicals and active oxygen species like nitric or nitrous oxides. Experiments were also conducted in various aqueous matrices and it was observed that the presence of humic acid delayed the degradation of PIR, while process efficiency was enhanced in bottled and surface water as well as in wastewater, due to the presence of inorganic ions. Coupling BDD electrolysis with ultrasound (at 14 W L -1 , 20 kHz) increased the reaction rate of PIR destruction and the observed synergy was calculated at S=44.6%.
GIS-based coseismic landslide susceptibility assessment using ensemble learning approach: a case of the 2017.8.8 Jiuzhaigou earthquake event

Exploring more effective landslide susceptibility assessment methods play an important role in mitigating landslide effects. This paper aims to compare the performance of different popular ensemble learning models that combined with GIS system to assess coseismic landslide susceptibility in the 2017.8. 8 Jiuzhaigou earthquake area. Eight influencing factors (slope, elevation, aspect, relief altitude, lithology, peak ground acceleration, distance to river, distance to fault) were considered to construct a spatial database after the Pearson correlation analysis. The 4834 landslides from inventory data are randomly divided into 70% train samples, and 30% validate samples. We construct the random forest (RF), gradient-boosting decision tree (GBDT), and adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), which all three models use decision tree model as basic unit, and utilize the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under curve (AUC) values, Kappa value to validate the performance of three ensemble models. The results indicate that the AdaBoost model achieved the best performance (AUC= 94.4%, Kappa=0.766), outperforming the GBDT (AUC=92.5%, Kappa=0.720), RF (AUC= 93.6%, Kappa=0.756) focused on the validation data. This study can provide an insight into evaluating coseismic landslide susceptibility with high accuracy.
Real-time and Multi-physics Fiber Optic Monitoring of Landslides in Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Accurate and real-time measurement of the evolution of landslides has become a great concern in recent years. Fiber Bragg grating (FBG), as a popular quasi-distributed fiber optic sensing technology, has been successfully applied to geotechnical and geohazard monitoring. In this paper, an FBG-based real-time monitoring system has been developed to capture the multi-physics evolution of creeping landslides. The system was employed to monitor the performance of the Majiagou and Xinpu landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area of China, respectively. The results show that the FBG monitoring system can accurately obtain the variations of ground temperature, soil moisture, and deep displacements, which provides valuable information for evaluating the landslide deformation and failure mechanisms during the operation of the reservoir. In this way, real-time stability analysis and early warning can be achieved.