Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On forecasting night minimum temperatures over New Delhi

Regression equations have been developed to forecast day to day minimum temperatures of New Delhi for the month of January. The minimum temperature has been taken as dependent variable whereas the different weather elements, chosen on physical reasoning, are the independent variables in the equations. Techiques have been evolved to parameterise advection and clouding. The first equation uses only morning data so that forecast can be issued in the forenoon itself. The second and third equations use the evening data as well and arecomparatively better. Both the equations have been tested for independent data of one year and the results have been found very encouraging. Above 80 per cent of the forecast. temperatures for . both the equations lie with in ±2° C of the actual temperatures. The Root Mean Square Error of the forecasts (independent data) based on the equations is less than 1.5 as compared to 2.1 of persistence alone. The main improvement is seen to be in the cases when temperature changes exceed 3 oC from that of previous day.
Clinical Characteristics and Survival Outcomes of Infiltrating Lobular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Study of 365 Cases in China

Purpose The objective of this study was to compare the demographic characteristics, clinicopathological factors and survival outcomes between infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC) and infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) using our single-center database. Methods Seventeen thousand two hundred and three breast cancer patients were treated at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) from January 2000 to December 2017. We identified 365 cases with ILC and 16,838 cases with IDC. The Pearson chi-square test was used to compare tumor characteristics, and the Kaplan–Meier methods were used to perform the survival analysis. Results ILC had some distinctive characteristics from IDC such as older age (ranged from 61 to 80: ILC 26.8% vs IDC 19.9%, P < 0.001; over 80: ILC 1.6% vs IDC 0.8%, P < 0.001), larger tumor size (ranged from 2 to 5: ILC 45.2% vs IDC 37.1%, P = 0.011), much more hormone receptor expression (ILC 92.9% vs IDC 73.0%, P < 0.001), extremely less HER-2 expression (ILC 7.1% vs IDC 25.9%, P < 0.001). The overall survival and disease-free survival of ILC were worse than IDC (5-year OS, ILC 93.6% vs IDC 94.5%, P < 0.001; 5-year DFS, ILC 88.5% vs IDC 91.6%, P = 0.008). It was worth noting that the ILC patients had a worse overall survival than IDC patients after our propensity score matching study (P = 0.037). The univariate analysis concluded that positive HR (hormone receptor), high expression of Ki-67 and higher pathologic tumor stage were poor prognostic markers of ILC. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumor stage was a poor prognostic marker after adjustment for the effects of the above three factors. The most common primary site of metastasis was bone, but the proportion in the ILC group was much higher than that in the IDC group (56.25% vs 36.40%, P = 0.003). Conclusion Compared with IDC, ILC survived worse and was more prone to bone metastasis. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of ILC and specific treatments are needed for further research.
Signal molecules controlling nitrate uptake by roots

ABSTRACT The efficiency of nitrate uptake is a key point to decrease the waste of fertilizer and protect the environment. There are some signal substances participating in the nitrate control system. This paper reviewed the signals, including positive feed-forward and negative feedback signals, controlling nitrate uptake by roots. Firstly, sugar signals are related to photosynthesis and constitute a positive feed-forward signal. Sucrose had been identified as the positive feed-forward signal, and its nature was elucidated. Secondly, reduced N signals are related more generally to growth and constitute negative feedback. It is difficult to pinpoint an amino acid controlling nitrate uptake since they can convert each other. Thirdly, the interaction of two kinds of signal was analyzed. Finally, the current studies of a regulatory network of the signal molecules that control nitrate uptake and nitrate transporters in rice were reviewed. It was beneficial to understand N metabolism control.
Efficient Implementation of An Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem for Cancelable Biometrics

— With the increasing demands for biometric systems in our daily life for automatic identification of individuals, recently iris recognition system has gained a lot of attention attributed to its reliability, uniqueness, difficulty to be imitated and high accuracy in comparison with other available biometric recognition systems. Unfortunately, templates in traditional iris recognition system are unprotected and vulnerable to various threats, such as attacks at the iris reader level or at the database level. Hence, there is a need for developing a system for securing the existing iris recognition system for keeping the original biometrics safe and secure. In this paper, we introduce a hybrid model for protecting iris recognition system through combining an elliptic curve cryptosystem with a new salting-based cancelable iris recognition scheme. The obtained experimental results on CASIA-IrisV3 database proved that the proposed system guarantees a high degree of security and privacy protection without affecting the accuracy.
Recent progress in materials and architectures for capacitive deionization: A comprehensive review

Capacitive deionization is an emerging and rapidly developing electrochemical technique for water desalination across the globe with exponential growth in publications. There are various architectures and materials being explored to obtain utmost electrosorption performance. The symmetric architectures consist of the same material on both electrodes, while asymmetric architectures have electrodes loaded with different materials. Asymmetric architectures possess higher electrosorption performance as compared with that of symmetric architectures owing to the inclusion of either faradaic materials, redox‐active electrolytes, or ion specific pre‐intercalation material. With the materials perspective, faradaic materials have higher electrosorption performance than carbon‐based materials owing to the occurrence of faradaic reactions for electrosorption. Moreover, the architecture and material may be tailored in order to obtain desired selectivity of the target component and heavy metal present in feed water. In this review, we describe recent developments in architectures and materials for capacitive deionization and summarize the characteristics and salt removal performances. Further, we discuss recently reported architectures and materials for the removal of heavy metals and radioactive materials. The factors that affect the electrosorption performance including the synthesis procedure for electrode materials, incorporation of additives, operational modes, and organic foulants are further illustrated. This review concludes with several perspectives to provide directions for further development in the subject of capacitive deionization.
State of the Art on High Voltage Metrology: Past, Present and Future

High voltage measurements are not only significant for reliable transmission of electricity at high voltage potentials but also play a vital role in different realms and various applications. Their most common applications are in power electronics, medical technology, electromagnetic compatibility, particle accelerators, aluminum production, and electronic ignition systems. High Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current (AC) measuring devices for high voltage are extensively used in numerous claims. Precise high voltage measurement techniques are crucial to guarantee these measuring devices’ performance, assess their standard operating procedures and ensure their measurements’ quality. High voltage metrology validates inclusive progresses in science and technology. To comprehensively understand these developments, it is essential to know the high voltage history, its main aspects, and its measuring techniques timeline growth. This state of the art introduces the history and the principles of the high voltage science. Recent measurement techniques and advances in the high voltage metrology are provided. Moreover, future trends in high voltage metrology and precise measurements are discussed.
Validity and Reliability of the Postgraduate Self-Determined Learning Questionnaire (PSLQ)

Abstract: Postgraduate students have to play active roles in self-determined learning, as major agent in their own learning and research activities. There is a lack of validated research instruments to measure self-determined learning among postgraduate students. The Postgraduate Self-Determined Learning Questionnaire (PSLQ) was specifically developed to fill in the gaps. This study aims to examine the validity and reliability of the PSLQ through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The original version of PSLQ has 59 items and it was administered to a sample of 201 postgraduate students from a research-intensive university in Malaysia. The results of EFA revealed that PSLQ measures four distinct factors; learner-centered learning, interactive non-linear learning, double-loop reflection, and capacity development, which accounted for 54.22% of the variance in self-determined learning. The total number of items in PSLQ has been reduced to 42, after 17 items were removed. The instrument demonstrated excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha value of a=. 959. The findings suggest that PSLQ is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to measure self-determined learning among postgraduate students. Implications of the research findings are discussed in this paper. Keywords: Heutagogy, Postgraduates, Reliability, Self-determined learning, Validity
Feature analysis and classification of typical mineral images based on Fourier transform

The identification of minerals in rocks from thin section images is a basic task of geoscience. Compared with traditional manual interpretation, machine recognition is widely used in mineral classification for its advantages of speed and objectivity. It is an important scientific issue to choose which mineral feature to use for automatic classification. Based on this, the texture features of thin mineral images were specially studied in frequency domain. Firstly, the primary texture classification variables were obtained by simulating the radial statistical analysis of images and mineral samples; then, the separability was verified by variance analysis, and the variables were combined based on the factor analysis method; lastly, classification verification of mineral samples was carried out by discriminant analysis. The experimental results show that the low frequency information accounts for about 95% of the energy in the sample spectrum, and the classification efficiency is significantly higher than the test threshold. The total classification accuracy of Texture Contour Factor (TCF) and Texture Detail Factor (TDF) is 89.6%, which is obtained by factor analysis. The results show that the frequency features in the thin section mineral images can effectively reflect the changes of mineral texture and have a good effect on the automatic classification of mineral images.
Design and business model experimentation

A chasm currently exists between business and design, which involves transforming strategic business objectives and market opportunities into actionable design criteria. Poor feedback loops from new product development to strategy formulation hinder organizational learning and perpetuate outdated strategies. Leveraging pioneering theories in business management and design quantification this paper proposes a Design & Business Model Experimentation method for including design up-front in business experimentation. Applying a triple-loop iterative approach four levels of organizational capabilities are aligning business objectives with design criteria. The method leverages design in formulation of business strategies, conducting business model experimentation, while constructing a driver - enabler competitive matrix supporting the translation of business model elements into actionable design quality criteria. These in turn inform business plans and design briefs, providing the core criteria for initiating business-focused concept generation. The work contributes to new product development management and addresses the disconnection between business and design.
Agaricus brunneodiscus, a new species of Agaricus section Rarolentes from India

Agaricus brunneodiscus sp. nov. is described from Kerala State, India, based on morphological and molecular (nrITS) data. This species is characterized by medium-sized basidiomes with a white pileus, a brown centre disc breaking up into squamules, polymorphic cheilocystidia, and basidiospores that are considered large among the members of A. sect. Rarolentes. The macro- and micromorphological characters in conjunction with nrITS-based phylogenetic analysis using Maximum Likelihood (ML) method supported the placement of the new species in Agaricus sect. Rarolentes within Agaricus subg. Spissicaules. Descriptions, photographs and comparisons with phenetically similar species are provided.
A THz Passive Image Generation Method Based on Generative Adversarial Network

A terahertz (THz) passive imager with automatic target detection is an effective solution in the field of security inspection. The high-quality training datasets always play a key role in the high-precision target detection applications. However, due to the difficulty of passive image data acquisition and the lack of public dataset resources, the high-quality training datasets are often insufficient. The generative adversarial network (GAN) is an effective method for data augmentation. To enrich the dataset with the generated images, it is necessary to ensure that the generated images have high quality, good diversity, and correct category information. In this paper, a GAN-based generation model is proposed to generate terahertz passive images. By applying different residual connection structures in the generator and discriminator, the models have strong feature extracting ability. Additionally, the Wasserstein loss function with gradient penalty is used to maintain training stability. The self-developed 0.2 THz band passive imager is used to carry out imaging experiments, and the imaging results are collected as a dataset to verify the proposed method. Finally, a quality evaluation method suitable for THz passive image generation task is proposed, and classification tests are performed on the generated images. The results show that the proposed method can provide high-quality images as supplementary.
A generic assessment tool for evaluating C2 exercises

De ontwikkeling en prototyping van het Command & Control Process Measurement Tool wordt besproken. Deze meetmethode bevat duidelijke prestatie-indicatoren op basis waarvan evaluatoren command & control oefeningen kunnen beoordelen, feedback geven, en de lessons learned bepalen.
A CMOS COMPATIBLE BROADBAND RUTHROFF 1:2 TLT BALUN USING BROADSIDE-COUPLED LINES AND STACKED MICROSTRIP LINES

Implementation of a broadband Ruthroff-type transmission line transformer balun with a 1 : 2 step-up impedance transformation ratio is presented in this letter. The proposed Transmission Line Transformer (TLT) balun was investigated with broadside-coupled lines using three stacked microstrip lines. The proposed balun was formed by cascading one section of modified Ruthroff-type 2 : 1 unbalanced-to-unbalanced TLT with one section of Ruthroff-type 1 : 4 TLT balun in series. The achieved fractional bandwidth of the balun is 192.17% over the frequency range from 1.2 to 6.6GHz, which covers the IEEE 802.11 a/b/g WLAN, WiMAX applications. The measured amplitude and phase imbalances are less than 1 dB and less than 4.51◦, respectively at this frequency range.
The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Zanthoxylum undulatifolium Hemsl. (Rutaceae)

Abstract Zanthoxylum undulatifolium is an excellent economic tree species with important medical value. This study reports the first complete chloroplast genome sequence of Z. undulatifolium. Its whole chloroplast genome is 158,400 bp in length, including a large single-copy (LSC) region of 85,898 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 17,610 bp, and two inverted repeat (IR) regions of 27,446 bp. The chloroplast genome contains a total of 132 genes, comprising 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and eight rRNA genes. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome is 38.46%, with the corresponding values in the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 36.87%, 33.51%, and 42.55%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the sister relationship between Z. undulatifolium and Z. bungeanum.
Finding and Indexing Vehicle Maneuvers From Dashboard Camera Video

A key challenge for self-driving vehicle researchers is to curate massive instrumented vehicle datasets. A common task in their development workflow is to extract video segments that meet particular criteria, such as a particular road scenario or vehicle maneuver. We present a novel approach for detecting vehicle maneuvers from monocular dashboard camera video building upon a deep learning visual odometry model (DeepV2D) to estimate frame-accurate ego-vehicle movement. We leverage image classification and lane line estimation to extend our technique. We classify movement sequences against reference maneuvers using dynamic time warping. We describe, implement, and evaluate classifiers to recognize maneuvers such as turns, lane changes, and deceleration. We show that using deep learning visual odometry to estimate location is superior to consumer-grade high-resolution GPS for this application. We describe and implement a greedy approach to classify maneuvers and evaluate our approach on common road maneuvers. We find an overall AUROC value of 0.91 for turns and 0.84 for all maneuvers in our dataset.
Institutional practices and planning for walking: A focus on built environment audits

Built environment audits, part of the “toolbox” for planning multi-modal urban transport systems, are used to evaluate the walkability of streets. Whereas the methodological features of audits have attracted attention from planning research, little attention has been paid to the institutional contexts where audits are developed and used. Drawing on literature on audit culture in contemporary institutions and on expert interviews with audit developers and professionals in Australia and New Zealand working with walking audits, three questions are addressed: Who uses walkability audits? How are they used? What substantive changes emerge from auditing practice? The knowledge of practice of auditing the built environment for walking is underdeveloped. While planners, engineers and advocates consider built environment audits useful in different ways, of concern is the use of audits to rationalise limited resources already devoted to infrastructure for walking, rather than produce substantive changes to the quality of the built environment for walking.
Multirobot Time-optimal Handling Method Based on Formation Control

From the point of multirobot formation control, and based on architecture of swarm robot system, a kind of multirobot cooperation handling method—Time-optimal Handling Method (TOHM) was designed. Under the case of the shape of the object unknown, the method mainly solved how to find the optimal handling points and the path planning problem of the multirobot arriving at the optimal handling points with the shortest time. The collision avoidance of formation transformation by the proposed method—Stable Time-optimal Path Planning (STOPP) was proved in time-optimal conditions.
Anti-cancer potential of Tetracarpidium conophorum (African walnut) seed oil on prostate carcinogenesis

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of mortality in men worldwide, and dietary fat influence its incidence. This study investigated the effect of feeding Tetracarpidium conophorum seed oil (TCSO) on 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) induced prostate cancer in Wistar rats, the expression of cyclooxygenase2 (COX-2) and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR-ɣ) in the prostatic tissues. The TCSO was extracted with n-hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus and characterized by gas chromatography. Forty-eight male wistar rats (4 weeks old) were divided into three groups of 16 rats each and fed for 12 weeks. Group A and B animals were fed with diet containing TCSO extract. The animals in Groups A and C received intraperitoneally a dose of MCA (150 mg/kg) after 30 days of feeding. Groups A and B rats were fed with diet containing 10% of extracted TCSO throughout the period of the experiment. Results showed that COX-2 activity significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in Group A (0.71±0.07) and B (0.60±0.05) when compared with Group C (1.17±0.10) with increased COX-2 expression. PPAR-gamma activity was significantly increased (p < 0.05) in Group A (1.89±0.13) and B (2.30±0.15) in comparison with Group C (1.16±0.10) which has the lowest PPAR-gamma expression. TCSO extract delayed latency period in Group A where lumps were observed after 4 weeks of 3-methylcholanthrene induction in comparison with Group C where lumps were observed in less than 2 weeks of MCA induction. Gammalinoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid and myristoleic acid were higher in the liver cell membrane of animals in Group A compared to animals in Group C. This work therefore showed that TCSO contains bioactive components that may oppose prostate carcinogenesis induced by MCA.
Quantifying oil palm expansion in Southeast Asia from 2000 to 2015: A data fusion approach

ABSTRACT The fusion of optical imagery with radar data can provide more accurate land cover change analysis of deforestation and tree-based agriculture. Radar data is limited temporally with most geographic areas not covered prior to 2007. This paper presents a new methodology to classify land cover change related to oil palm expansion that takes historic data limitations into account. Our approach utilizes Hansen’s Global Forest Cover data, optical imagery, and texture information, to extract land cover information in Sumatra and Western Malaysia, where historical data is absent. Our method demonstrates how to accurately classify oil palm without radar data with overall accuracies for optical only experiments within 4.4% of optical plus radar classifications. Our results show agricultural land use was the primary driver of land cover change with the largest increase due to oil palm expansion (6.1%). Better estimations of oil palm expansion could be used in sustainable land management policies.
Subjective Holocaust Influence Level and Holocaust Survivors’ Offspring Financial Thinking and Attitude

Abstract This paper expands the discussion on the effect of the subjective Holocaust influence level (SHIL) on the daily financial thinking and attitude of Holocaust survivors’ offspring (HSO). For this purpose, we asked 253 Jewish-Israeli HSO about their financial satisfaction, materialism, income confidence, willingness to save money, generosity, and miserliness, and divided them into three groups based on their SHIL. We find that SHIL affects materialism, income confidence and generosity, but not financial satisfaction or motivation to save money. This paper increases our understanding of how the subjective perceptions of HSO impact the long-term influence of the Holocaust on their lives.