Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-scale data on intertidal macrobenthic biodiversity and environmental features in three New Zealand harbours

Abstract. Understanding how the plants and animals that live in the sea floor vary in their spatial patterns of diversity and abundance is fundamental to gaining insight into the role of biodiversity in maintaining ecosystem functioning in coastal ecosystems, as well as advancing the modelling of species distributions under realistic assumptions. Yet, it is virtually unknown how the relationships between abundance patterns and different biotic and environmental processes change depending on spatial scales, which is mainly due to a lack of data. Within the project Spatial Organization of Species Distributions: Hierarchical and Scale-Dependent Patterns and Processes in Coastal Seascapes at the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand we collected multi-scale and high-resolution data on macrobenthic biodiversity. We found 146 species dominated by bivalves, polychaetes, and crustaceans (>500 µm) that live hidden in marine sandflats and collected point measurements of important environmental variables (sediment grain-size distributions, chlorophyll a concentration, organic content, and visible sandflat parameters) in three large intertidal harbours (Kaipara, Tauranga, and Manukau). In each harbour we sampled 400 points for macrobenthic community composition and abundances, as well as the full set of environmental variables. Using an elaborate sampling design, we were able to cover scales from 30 cm to a maximal extent of 1 km. All data and extensive metadata are available from the data publisher PANGAEA via the persistent identifier https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.903448 (Kraan et al., 2019).
Endogenous Force Transmission Between Epithelial Cells and a Role for α-Catenin

ENDOGENOUS FORCE TRANSMISSION BETWEEN EPITHELIAL CELLS AND A ROLE FOR α-CATENIN Sandeep Dumbali Old Dominion University, 2019 Director: Dr. Venkat Maruthamuthu In epithelial tissues, epithelial cells adhere to each other as well as to the underlying extra-cellular matrix (ECM). E-cadherin-based intercellular junctions play an important role in tissue integrity. These junctions experience cell-generated mechanical forces via apparent adaptor proteins such as beta (β) catenin, alpha (α) catenin and vinculin. Abnormalities in these junctions may result in skin related diseases and cancers. Here, I devised methods to determine the endogenous intercellular force within cell pairs as well as in large epithelial islands. I further ascertained the factors that affect the level of inter-cellular tension. Experiments with pairs of epithelial cells exogenously expressing either of two altered E-cadherin constructs on top of endogenous E-cadherin showed that the inter-cellular tension for these cases was similar to wild type cells. This implied that the endogenous E-cadherin was dominant in setting the level of cell-cell contact tension. To analyze intercellular force transmission within large islands, I extended the traction force imbalance method to large micro-patterned islands. It was shown that colony level intercellular forces exerted at the midline by one half of the colony on the other were tensile in nature and showed significant anisotropy with respect to the midline orientation. Finally, to determine what molecular factors set the level of tension transmitted through single cell-cell contacts, I determined the inter-cellular tension in pairs of cells with perturbed α-catenin. I found that α-catenin knockout not only decreased inter-cellular tension but also the traction forces exerted at the cell-ECM interface. This may be due to roles outside of cellcell junctions for α-catenin. However, α-catenin mutants with altered binding to vinculin binding did not show significant differences in inter-cellular tension compared to wild type cells. Thus, αcatenin is essential for normal levels of intercellular tension, but the forces transmitted at cell-cell contacts are not very sensitive to the level of vinculin at the cell-cell contact in cell pairs. This may be because vinculin can also be recruited to cell-cell contacts by molecules other than α-catenin, such as β-catenin. These results highlight some essential and non-essential molecular factors regulating cell-cell junctional tension level.
Modelling internal combustion engines with dynamic staggered mesh refinement

Modelling internal combustion engines (ICEs) with multidimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is challenging due to the fuel spray, combustion chemistry and moving piston involved. To accurately simulate ICEs as well as to maintain acceptable computational cost, dynamic mesh refinement techniques could be applied. Although modelling ICEs with staggered mesh is ubiquitous in the engine combustion community, the dynamic refinement of staggered mesh in the context of multidimensional engine simulations is not reported in the literatures due to the numerical difficulties in the momentum solution at the gird fine-coarse interface and to deal with moving boundaries. To address these difficulties, we propose a dynamic refinement scheme to cell-by-cell refine the staggered mesh on-the-fly based on the fuel evaporation and thermochemical state in the multidimensional dynamic staggered mesh and it is able to handle the complexity caused by the moving boundaries in engine simulations and momentum solution at the fine-coarse interface in the dynamic mesh. This mesh refinement scheme is then implemented in the widely-used ICEs simulation codes for engine simulations with fuel sprays. A wide variety of computational examples including shock wave, compression, constant volume fuel spray, constant volume fuel spray combustion are first employed to test the scheme and finally, compression ignition combustion engine simulations are conducted with the proposed methodology.
Development of Kraft Lignin and Coating Technique to Prepare Coated Urea Fertilizers with Increased Nutrient Use Efficiency

Coating urea to prepare controlled release N-fertilizer has been considered as an effective way to increase its nutrient use efficiency, thus reduce its waste and the consequent harmful environmental impacts. Inorganic sulphur and synthetic polymers have been used in the industry as coating materials together with utilization of various types of expensive coating equipment which commonly requires also complicated technical setup and controls. As development trends, biopolymers are attention-grabbing to replace the synthetic polymers. Alternative simple coating technique is also desired. So far, polylactic acid (PLA) has been reported as a more promising biopolymer than several synthetic polymers for coating. On the other hand, highly purified industrial softwood kraft lignin (SKL) produced after LignoBoost process is now available in a large quantity, which should also be a promising biopolymer for the coating application. Aiming at increase of the efficiency of PLA-coated urea and development of alternative coating technique to generally make the preparation of control-released fertilizer more effective, economic and environmentally sustainable, in this study, SKL has been used in a PLA-SKL blending form as complex coating material and simple dip-coating technique has been investigated and applied. In order to lower the wettability of PLA-SKL coat layer, four different anhydrides, namely acetic anhydride, palmitic anhydride, lauric anhydride and trifluoroacetic anhydride, were used to esterify SKL to form AcSKL, PaSKL, LauSKL and TFASKL respectively before its utilization. NMR and FTIR analyses showed that the esterification reactions have been completed for AcSKL and PaSKL. LauSKL was partly esterified due to the low charge of lauric anhydride regent, while TFASKL was not esterified expectantly due to the steric hindrance between the three F atoms and polymeric SKL. In order to obtain organically bound nitrogen structure to also create slow-release type of Nfertilizer, Mannich reaction on SKL using diethylamine was also conducted to prepare ManSKL. The reaction was completed as shown by NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. To bring further functionality of metal chelation to open the possibility to also bring essential trace element into the
Environmental effects on community productivity of aquatic macrophytes are mediated by species and functional composition

Environmental variations are rapidly altering plant species and functional composition, which may have consequent influences on ecosystem functioning. We measured species and functional diversity of macrophyte community as well as environmental variables in 1,008 plots in 24 freshwater lakes across Yunnan–Guizhou plateau and Yangtze River in south China. We used generalized multilevel path models to test how the environmental effects on macrophytes productivity directly and indirectly through changes in species and functional diversity. We found distinct species and functional responses to the four groups of environmental variables:water quality, heterogeneity, climate, and topography. Macrophyte communities tended to be high richness and dominated by species with high‐stem dry mass content and long flowering duration at eutrophic, heterogeneous, high altitude, or deepwater habitats. Submersed and annual species with high‐specific leaf area dominated in heterogeneous and high altitude conditions, whereas species with high shoot and leaf dry mass content as well as thin stem and lamina dominated in heterogeneous and low‐altitude conditions. Functional dispersion (FDis) decreased in heterogeneous and high‐altitude habitats and increased at deepwater. These changes in functional composition have subsequently significant influences on community productivity, involving the opposite pathways of positive effects of community‐weighted mean (CWM) traits and negative effects of FDis, ultimately contributing to the observed invariable macrophytes productivity along the tested environmental gradients. Our results provide strong evidences that both species and functional composition mediate the cascading effects of environments on macrophytes productivity.
A 28.16-Gb/s Area-Efficient 60-GHz CMOS Bidirectional Transceiver for IEEE 802.11ay

This article presents a 60-GHz CMOS transceiver designed for IEEE 802.11ay. To reduce the manufacturing cost, an area-efficient bidirectional technique is utilized in this work. The proposed bidirectional amplifier allows the sharing of interstage passive components. A five-stage power-amplifier (PA)-low-noise-amplifier (PA-LNA) designed based on the proposed bidirectional amplifier occupies less than half on-chip area, while staying a similar performance with the conventional standalone PA-LNA. Considering the multiple-in–multiple-out (MIMO) configuration, this work integrates two transceiver elements in the same chip. Thanks to the area-efficient bidirectional circuits, the transceiver in this work only requires 0.96-mm2 core area including the quadrature upconversion and downconversion. The occupied core area for a five-stage PA-LNA is 0.44 mm2. The measured noise figure for the proposed transceiver in RX mode is 5.4 dB at 60 GHz. The measured TX-mode error vector magnitude (EVM) is −26 dB in 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) with an output power of −4.2 dBm. This work realizes a maximum data rate of 28.16 Gb/s in 16-QAM. A 64-QAM two-channel-bonding data rate of 21.12 Gb/s is also achieved by the transceiver with a −22.5-dB TX-to-RX EVM. The power consumptions are 94 mW in TX mode and 105 mW in RX mode.
An overview of Ancillary Services and HVDC systems in European Context

Liberalization of electricity markets has brought focus on the optimal use of generation and transmission infrastructure. In such a scenario, where the power transmission systems are being operated closer to their critical limits, Ancillary Services (AS) play an important role in ensuring secure and cost-effective operation of power systems. Emerging converter-based HVDC technologies and integration of renewable energy sources (RES) have changed the power system dynamics which are based on classical power plant operation and synchronous generator dynamics. Transmission system interconnections between different countries and integrated energy markets in Europe have led to a reduction in the use of energy from non-renewable fossil-based sources. This review paper gives an insight into ancillary services definitions and market practices for procurement and activation of these ancillary services in different control areas within the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). The focus lies particularly on ancillary services from HVDC systems. It is foreseen that DC elements will play an important role in the control and management of the future power system and in particular through ancillary services provision. Keeping this in view, the capability of HVDC systems to provide ancillary services is presented.
Real-Time Reentry Trajectory Planning of Hypersonic Vehicles: A Two-Step Strategy Incorporating Fuzzy Multiobjective Transcription and Deep Neural Network

A two-step strategy is developed for real-time trajectory planning of a hypersonic vehicle (HV) in the reentry phase. The first step generates the optimal trajectory for the HV using a recently proposed fuzzy multiobjective transcription method. In the second step, the optimally generated trajectories are utilized to train a deep neural network (DNN), which is then acted as the optimal command generator in real time. A detailed simulation study is carried out to verify the effectiveness and real-time applicability of the proposed integrated design. The DNN-driven controller is further compared against other optimization-based techniques existing in relative works. Moreover, extension works on the real-time trajectory planning of a six-degree-of-freedom HV model are performed. The results confirm the feasibility and reliability of applying the proposed method for the planning of the HV entry flight path in real time.
Relativistic Plasmoid Instability in Pair Plasmas

The problem of plasmoid instability in relativistic pair plasmas is investigated with a fluid model incorporating kinetic effects through thermal inertia, where both parallel modes and oblique modes are discussed. The dimensionless parameters, Lundquist number and electron skin depth, are found to determine the growth rate of the linear plasmoid instability as well as set the division among different parameter regimes. The onset and cascade of plasmoids are described, with two limits specified: plasmoid instability stemming from a Sweet–Parker-like steady-state current sheet, and the near-ideal limit where the current sheet breaks up on the way to a steady state. The tearing growth rate in evolving current sheets in the near-ideal regime well accounts for the sudden onset of the plasmoid instability. The regimes in between are characterized by modifications to the ideal limit, through which a continuous scaling law is established connecting the two limits. Scaling laws are obtained for the onset as well as the cascading process, and the cascade model in this paper predicts the critical parameters for the onset of plasmoid instability.
Restoring the past glory of Diamond Mining in south India- A plausible case of diamondiferous Wajrakarur kimberlite pipe clusters with geochemical evidences

A plausible case of collective and economical mining of diamondiferous kimberlite deposits of Wajrakarur and adjoining places in Andhra Pradesh, southern India along with the whole-rock geochemical evidences in support of their diamond potentiality are discussed in this article. The kimberlites/lamproites are mantle-derived ultrabasic rocks which rarely carry diamonds from mantle to the earth’s surface through carrot-shaped intrusions referred to as pipes. Even though few hundreds of diamondiferous kimberlite pipes were discovered in India so far, there is no other production unit than Panna diamond mine in the country where primary rock is mined. In ancient India, diamond mining in south India in the Krishna river valley was well-known to the world fascinated by famous gemstones like Koh-I-Noor, Hope, Darya-e-Noor, Noor-ul-ain etc. which were mainly extracted from alluvium or colluvium in Krishna river valley. Having bestowed with more than 45 kimberlite pipes, the Wajrakarur kimberlite field (WKF) forms a favourable region for initiating diamond mining in the country. Geochemically, majority of the WKF show low TiO2 content and considerably high diamond grade (DG) values (>3) except some pipes viz., P-5 (Muligiripalli), P-13 (Tummatapalli) and P-16 (Pennahobilam) are barren due to high TiO2 and ilmenite contents. The TiO2 content (0.66-6.62 wt%) is inversely proportional to the DG (3.33 to 22.13). The DG value of some of the WKF pipes is close to that of Panna (8.36). The cationic weight% values clearly portray the diamondiferous nature of these deposits. The WKF pipes were also proved to be diamondiferous by exploratory drilling and bulk sample processing results by the government organisations. In southern India, due to several reasons, diamond mining has not seen its initiation and impetus till now although it records a considerable number of fertile kimberlite pipes at Wajrakarur, Lattavaram, Chigicherla, Timmasamudram etc. Though the majority of WKF diamondiferous kimberlite deposits in Wajrakarur are small in their areal extent (0.06-4.48 Ha) some of them are large (>10 Ha up to 120 ha). They occur in close proximity to each other offering feasibility for collective mining and winning the precious stone through a central processing unit by deploying the latest processing technologies. The geographic conditions of this region such as availability of human resources, water resources, vast open lands, wind power generation etc. also support to initiate mining of kimberlite pipes in this area. The availability of rough diamonds produced from local mines will make the polishing industry to meet its business needs during circumstances of the shortage of rough stone influx from foreign. Hence, although it demands liberal investments, reviving diamond mining in southern India can be materialised with a meticulous evaluation of these deposits ascertaining profitability. This will certainly help to restore the past glory of diamond mining in the southern part of the subcontinent.
Recent Advances in Breast Imaging, Mammography, and Computer-Aided Diagnosis of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer found in women worldwide; approximately 10 per cent of women are confronted with breast cancer in their lives. Breast cancer can be most efficiently treated if detected at an early stage. This book focuses primarily on the application of computer vision for early lesion identification in mammograms and breast-imaging volumes through computer-aided diagnostics (CAD). Colour illustrations are included in the text, and an accompanying CD-ROM contains other full-colour images.
An Experimental Study of Matrix Dissolution and Wormhole Formation Using Gypsum Core Flood Tests: 1. Permeability Evolution and Wormhole Geometry Analysis

Core flood tests were conducted to study the effect of flow rate on the dissolution of the gypsum rock matrix and the formation of wormholes. An effluent chemistry monitoring system was designed and integrated into a triaxial system to provide continuous effluent concentration measurements, in addition to the pressure and flow measurements during the core flood tests. X‐ray computed tomography (CT) was used to study the geometry of the wormholes after the tests. The core flood tests showed agreement with experiments reported in the literature regarding permeability evolution and wormhole breakthrough. By continuously monitoring the effluent concentration, the effluent chemistry monitoring system advanced the experimental study by showing how the dissolution kinetics evolved with the formation of wormholes. Three‐dimensional topological and morphological algorithms were developed to analyze the CT data and provide quantitative descriptions for the wormhole geometry. The CT analysis showed that higher flow rates resulted in more complex wormhole geometries regarding the number of wormholes and branches.
Optical thermometry based on upconversion luminescence of Yb3+-Er3+ and Yb3+-Ho3+ doped Y6WO12 phosphors.

The Yb3+-Er3+ and Yb3+-Ho3+ co-doped Y6WO12 (YWO) luminescent materials were synthesized successfully using the solid-state reaction method, and their phase purity, upconversion (UC) spectra, and optical temperature sensing properties were studied. Upon 980 nm excitation, the dominant emission peak around 660 nm is found in the YWO:Yb3+,Er3+ sample, which could be attributed to the Er3+F49/2-I415/2 electronic transition. Two green emission peaks of Er3+ appear in the range from 515-575 nm. For the YWO:Yb3+,Ho3+ phosphor, there are three emission peaks found at 548, 667, and 758 nm, which can be ascribed to the (F45,S52)-I58, F55-I58, and (F45,S52)-I57 transitions of Ho3+, respectively. By studying the emission intensity dependence of the pumping power, the result suggests that the two-photon process is involved for all the above emissions. In the temperature range of 293-553 K, the temperature sensing behavior of the typical YWO:10%Yb3+,1%Er3+ and YWO:10%Yb3+,1%Ho3+ phosphors was investigated in detail, and the results have been shown by using the fluorescence intensity ratio technique and decay curves. The above investigations indicate that the present UC phosphors could be promising phosphor materials for temperature sensor.
Effects of Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion on Antioxidant Activities of Individual and Mixed Fruits

Fruits are important part of dietary pattern and correlated with a lower risk of chronic diseases because they contain many natural antioxidants. The gastrointestinal digestion could affect on antioxidant activities of fruits. In this study, we investigate d the effects of simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the antioxidant activities of individual and mixed fruits. In the gastric digestion, the FRAP values of all 11 fruits exhibited a decrease d tendency, and the TEAC values showed an increase d tendency. The TPC exhibited different results in the 11 fresh fruit samples. In fruits combination groups, no notable difference was found on the interaction with the FRAP values, and different interactions were detected with the TEAC values (p < 0.05). The gastric process did not make any difference on the TPC between the fruit combinations, but after the duodenal digestion the TPC of group 4 were notably decreased, and the TPC of groups 5 and 8 were increased (p < 0.05). Therefore, the different fruit extracts have different behaviors in tests of FRAP, TEAC, and TPC after the simulated digestion process. Further researches should be done to help explore the mechanisms of the different interactions. [N A J Med Sci. 2019;12(1):014-020. DOI: 10.7156/najms.2019. 1201014]
Pipe route optimization to avoid undesired vibration by using JuliaFEM

An optimization routine was applied to high pressure fuel pipes to avoid resonance in a heavily vibrating environment. The optimization process and also the natural frequency calculations in every iteration were completely performed with the high-level programming language Julia; the optimization process was performed with the JuMP optimization environment, and the frequencies where calculated with JuliaFEM ﬁnite element method solver platform. The beneﬁt of this kind of embedded implementation is a quick response which yields a pleasant development environment to focus on the essential—the choice of the optimization strategy.