Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cloud-clearing for AIRS radiances using MODIS

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite is a high spectral resolution (ν / ν ∆ =1200, where ν is the wavenumber and ν ∆ is full-width half maximum of a channel) infrared (IR) sounder with 2378 channels. AIRS measures radiances in the IR range 3.74-15.4 μ m, which can be used to estimate the atmospheric vertical temperature and water vapor profiles from the Earth’s surface to an altitude of 40km with a horizontal spatial resolution of 13.5km at nadir. Due to its relatively poor spatial resolution, the chance of an AIRS footprint to be completely clear is less than 10% statistically (Huang and Smith, 2004). One of the important questions is how to effectively perform cloud-clearing (CC) for the AIRS cloudy footprints, while still retaining the single footprint sounding gradient information for numerical weather prediction. Smith et al. (2004) combine Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) IR clear radiances and AIRS cloudy for CC using the traditional single band N approach. In our study, an optimal CC method is developed to retrieve the AIRS clear column radiances by combing the multiband MODIS IR clear radiance observations and the AIRS cloudy radiances on a single footprint basis. The definition of N (Smith, 1968) is used as the basis in the optimal MODIS/AIRS CC formulation, while nine IR
A NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SECONDARY SPM ORIGINATED FROM AUTOMOBILES WITH LAGRANGIAN MODEL

A variety of numerical simulation models of air pollution have been developed in recent years. The Eulerian models are suitable for simulating relatively larger-scale pollution, but unsuitable for simulating smaller-scale phenomena caused by a specified point source. When environmental effects of a specified road construction is assessed, enormous calculation capacity is required to cover a wide range of spatial scale from a road size or building size to urban or mesoscale even if the nesting grid method is used to reduce a calculation load. In contrast, Lagrangian models are suitable for simulating small spatial and time scale phenomena because the model can avoid the obstructive numerical diffusion. The Lagrangian models have never been applied for simulation of pollution with photochemical reactions partly because no interaction among Lagrangian particles can be considered. Nevertheless if a pollution simulation which cover a wide range of spatial and time scales can be divided into the Eulerian and the Lagrangian models according to their strong and weak points, large amount of calculation resources will be reduced. In this study, a Lagrangian model that can simulate behavior of the secondary particles of SPM is developed. The model is equipped with an ordinary photochemical reaction submodel and a sub-model for a series of chemical reaction process of the secondary particles of SPM from generation to deposition. Each Lagrangian particle has the same functions as the box model [1, 2] and the puff. Trajectory of the particle is calculated by a similar manner to the Monte Carlo Simulation. The model is applied to SPM pollution events caused by automobiles in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The validity of the model is checked by comparing with observed data.
Row Spacing Determines Critical Period of Weed Control in Crop : Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) as a Case Study

Accepted: 19 Oct. 2016 To further understand the importance of row spacing as an agronomic practice, a study was conducted to evaluate how levels of row spacing determines the critical period of weed control (CPWC) in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). The experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with eight periods of weed interference as the main plots and three row spacing (60, 75 90 cm) as the subplots with three replications of each treatment combination. Period of weed interference consisted of weed removal for 14, 35, 54, and 77 days after emergence (DAE), and weed infestation for 14, 35, 54, and 77 DAE. Results indicated that the mean yield of cowpea was higher at narrow spacing (60 cm) than at wide spacing (90 cm) under season-long weed infestation plots but no difference in yield was found among the row spacing in the season-long weed removal plots. There was no difference in the beginning of the CPWC among the row spacing. However, 90 cm row spacing requires longer period of weed removal to avoid unacceptable yield loss when compared to 60 cm row spacing. The end of the CPWC coincides with the period of canopy closure by the crop. This finding suggests that it took the crop longer time to close canopy at wide row spacing (90 cm) compare to reduced row spacing. The differences in the duration of weed control intervention in crop row spacing suggest the importance of integrating decisions regarding row spacing and period of weed control in weed management strategies.
Preface: Front edge of submarine mineral resources research in Japan

Copyright © 2016 by The Geochemical Society of Japan. nique to estimate methanogenesis by quantification of coenzyme F430 in marine sediments. In this issue, Kaneko et al. (2016) applied this method and estimated the methanogenic biomass and activities based on the F430 content in marine sediments below seafloor off the Shimokita Peninsula and at the Nankai Trough. As for mineral resources, four types closely associated with each tectonic setting are so far known. The discovery of hydrothermal vents in the late 1970s (Corliss et al., 1979; Edmond et al., 1979) has promoted the investigation and exploration of hydrothermal deposits. Ore deposits consist of sulfide minerals enriched in base and precious metals such as Cu, Pb, Zn, Au and Ag are precipitated from hydrothermal fluid. Hydrothermal fluid circulation system beneath the seafloor is driven by a heat source magma, where the fluid is evolved from seawater by various processes of fluid-mineral interactions. The other three types of mineral resources are formed in oxidative environments on the seafloor. Ferro-manganese crusts with high concentration of Co, Ni, Te, rare earth elements (REEs) and Pt with a thickness of a few cm to 20 cm are ubiquitously located on the slopes of seamounts with a depth of 500 to 5500 m (JAMSTEC press release, 2016). Ferro-manganese nodules with a size of a few mm to a few ten cm, consisting of Fe and Mn oxy-hydroxide with high concentration of Co, Cu and REEs, are found on the deep-sea floor (typically > 5000 m). The REY (rare earth elements and Y)-rich mud is also distributed on the deep-sea floor in the Pacific Ocean (Kato et al., 2011). Survey of active hydrothermal plumes is one of the ways to find potential hydrothermal deposits. In the previous issue, Nakamura et al. (2015) utilized on-board Preface: Front edge of submarine mineral resources research in Japan (Part 2)
Development of Tracking Technologies and its Benefits for Purchasing

The global trends of increasing traffic, shorter delivery times, smaller shipments and lower stock levels within production networks lead to higher synchronization efforts between production and logistics processes. Nowadays it is often a raffle if purchased goods shall be delivered in time because delays mostly occur during transportation processes and the flow of information is operated semi-manually and therefore unreliable so that purchasing departments have to safeguard receipt of goods with lots of effort. By now, research activities in intelligent cargo, which means cargo that can identify, monitor or locate itself, gains in importance and the possibilities for usage expand fast. Using intelligent cargo or track and trace techniques within purchasing processes would be an improvement for the whole production chain. By purchasing intelligent cargo (RFID/GPS-equipped goods) an automated flow of information could be implemented so that process times for reacting after interruptions of the transport process extend, due to an immediate information of the scheduling department about an discrepancy at that moment when the delay or disruption occur. The paper at hand describes and compares different tracking technologies and discusses which consequences a continuous tracking of purchased goods have for sourcing strategies, lot sizes and order intervals. Based on this discussion a SWOTAnalysis is executed to identify development potential of procurement performance in case of running shipment tracking systems. The paper reveals that as with RFID technology in logistics for continuous tracking by GPS several benefits can be identified – but real improvements for business value can only be created in a comprehensive approach in line with changes in sourcing strategies and purchasing processes.
NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence

The need to handle increasingly larger data volumes is one factor driving the adoption of a new class of nonrelational NoSQL databases. Advocates of NoSQL databases claim they can be used to build systems that are more performant, scale better, and are easier to program. NoSQL Distilled is a concise but thorough introduction to this rapidly emerging technology. Pramod J. Sadalage and Martin Fowler explain how NoSQL databases work and the ways that they may be a superior alternative to a traditional RDBMS. The authors provide a fast-paced guide to the concepts you need to know in order to evaluate whether NoSQL databases are right for your needs and, if so, which technologies you should explore further. The first part of the book concentrates on core concepts, including schemaless data models, aggregates, new distribution models, the CAP theorem, and map-reduce. In the second part, the authors explore architectural and design issues associated with implementing NoSQL. They also present realistic use cases that demonstrate NoSQL databases at work and feature representative examples using Riak, MongoDB, Cassandra, and Neo4j. In addition, by drawing on Pramod Sadalages pioneering work, NoSQL Distilled shows how to implement evolutionary design with schema migration: an essential technique for applying NoSQL databases. The book concludes by describing how NoSQL is ushering in a new age of Polyglot Persistence, where multiple data-storage worlds coexist, and architects can choose the technology best optimized for each type of data access.
Morphological and gene-expression characterization of viable heterogeneous circulating tumor cells size-captured and cultured from triple-negative breast cancer mouse models

The goal of the present study was to capture and characterize circulating tumor cells (CTC) from mouse models of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a highly recalcitrant disease. CTCs were captured by size-based filtration from orthotopic nude-mouse models of the human MDA-MB-231-GFP cell line. Subsequently, CTCs were cultured for a 3 months period in vitro. Cyto-morphological analysis with confocal microscopy demonstrated heterogeneity among the CTCs, which alternated between adherent in culture. CTC gene-expression analysis was performed with qPCR for 20 tumor-associated markers from RNA derived from adherent/nonadherent CTCs in culture. Both Fox3p and TWIST1 were highly expressed in non-adherent CTCs. The present study demonstrates the power of size-based CTC isolation from orthotopic mouse models of TNBC and GFP imaging of viable CTC cells in culture, to characterize highly-heterogeneous TNBC CTC.
Neural network based models for estimating the temperature and humidity under greenhouse

This study investigates the utility of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for the estimation of the temperature and the relative humidity, under an experimental greenhouse, as the prime climatic variables for the development and growth of the crop. In this study, we suggested three different neural network training algorithms which are the gradient descent with momentum and adaptive learning rate, Broyden-Fletcher-Golfarb-Shanno (BFGS) quasi-newton back-propagation and resilient back-propagation algorithm. The prediction ability of the developed models was compared in terms of Mean-Squared Error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R 2 ). The obtained results showed that the ANN model formed with 5 neurons on a single hidden layer and trained by using the BFGS algorithm has shown very good correlation between the actual data and the predicted values, with a high coefficient of determination and mean squared error establishing that the developed model was able to estimate the behavior of the temperature and relative humidity under the experimental greenhouse with good performance.
A definition of information

One difficulty faced by students on many information management courses is the lack of any attempt to teach concepts of information. Therefore, if a core module does not fit in with a student’s existing concept of information, it can make it hard for the student to recognise the relevance of that module. This paper addresses that problem by summarising concepts of information, and by presenting a simple model that attempts to unite the various concepts listed. The model is based on the idea that the meaning in a message depends on the context in which the message originated (the authorial context), and the context in which it is interpreted (the readership context). Characteristics of authors, readers and messages are discussed. The impact of the ‘knowledge’ of ‘information’ users, and of their community, is considered. Implications of the model are discussed. A definition of information is suggested, which attempts to encapsulate the nature of information implied by the model.
Solution-Based Phase Saving and Large Neighbourhood Search

Large neighbourhood search, a type of meta-heuristic, has proven to be successful on a wide range of optimisation problems. The algorithm repeatedly generates and searches through a neighbourhood around the current best solution. Thus, increasingly better solutions are found by solving a series of simplified problems, all of which are related to a the current best solution. In this paper, we argue that many of the benefits of large neighbourhood search can be achieved using a combination of three techniques: restarts, dynamic search, and solution-based phase saving. We show that using phase saving based on the best solution found so far during the search, when coupled with activity-based search (VSIDS) and nogood learning, provides a suitable means for effectively generating “neighbourhoods”. The approach is highly effective despite its simplicity, improving the highest scoring solver, Chuffed, in the free category of the MiniZinc Challenge 2017, and can be easily integrated in modern constraint programming solvers. The results are validated on a wide range of benchmarks from the competition library and a comparison is performed against seventeen state-of-the-art solvers.
Rescue Potential of Supportive Embryo Culture Conditions on Bovine Embryos Derived from Metabolically Compromised Oocytes

Elevated non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), predominantly palmitic acid (PA), concentrations in blood and follicular fluid are a common feature in maternal metabolic disorders such as obesity. This has a direct negative impact on oocyte developmental competence and the resulting blastocyst quality. We use NEFA-exposure during bovine oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) as a model to mimic oocyte maturation under maternal metabolic stress conditions. However, the impact of supportive embryo culture conditions on these metabolically compromised zygotes are not known yet. We investigated if the addition of anti-apoptotic, antioxidative and mitogenic factors (namely, Insulin-Transferrin-Selenium (ITS) or serum) to embryo culture media would rescue development and important embryo quality parameters (cell proliferation, apoptosis, cellular metabolism and gene expression patterns) of bovine embryos derived from high PA- or high NEFA-exposed oocytes when compared to controls (exposed to basal NEFA concentrations). ITS supplementation during in vitro culture of PA-exposed oocytes supported the development of lower quality embryos during earlier development. However, surviving blastocysts were of inferior quality. In contrast, addition of serum to the culture medium did not improve developmental competence of PA-exposed oocytes. Furthermore, surviving embryos displayed higher apoptotic cell indices and an aberrant cellular metabolism. We conclude that some supportive embryo culture supplements like ITS and serum may increase IVF success rates of metabolically compromised oocytes but this may increase the risk of reduced embryo quality and may thus have other long-term consequences.
Study of Influences on Total Quality Management and Academic Accreditation Standards Application in Nursing Program at Saudi Universities

Today, educational institutions are compelled to deliver total quality management (TQM) and academic accreditation standards (AAS) application for their consumers to survive in competitive educational markets. Aim of the study: to Study the Influences on Total Quality Management and Academic Accreditation Standards Application in Nursing Program at Saudi Universities. Design: A comparative descriptiveanalytical study was used. Setting: the study was conducted in applied medical sciences college at Shaqra University and applied medical sciences college at Taif University, KSA. Sample: A convenience sample of nursing educators who were participated in the present study, total number were 64 nursing educators recruited in the study. Tools: A Structured interviewing questionnaire and Likert scale. Results: Most of the study samples nursing educators at Shaqra and Taif universities rated the importance for TQM and AAS application for the nursing program institutions as moderate. However, both groups nursing educators different significantly in their rating of TQM and AAS influences related dimensions, including employee involvement (t=3.11, p≤.003), Administrative practices (t=5.10, p≤.001), Organizational characteristics (t=2.22, p≤.03), and program measures (t=2.59, p≤.01), while there were no statistically significant differences in Culture appropriateness and external influences dimensions. Conclusion and Recommendation: A wide range of influences that shape the TQM and AAS application in the nursing programs institutions. Training nursing educators on the concepts and criteria of TQM and AAS through seminars, workshops, publications and guidelines to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of implementing them. Decentralizing of administrative work; encouraging collaborative work; and getting rid of the monotony of hierarchy impeding the entrance to the application of Total Quality Management.
Water, sanitation and drainage: ensuring better provision with limited resources

THE PAPERS IN this issue address a range of topics, including: • initiatives that have improved provision for water or sanitation, or both, for low-income groups, and initiatives that have failed to do so; • the scale and nature of need for water and sanitation, and the tendency for international statistics to overstate the proportion of urban dwellers with provision; • explanations of water stress in large cities, and the possibilities for resolving this problem; • rural–urban perspectives on water use and waste water management, and the importance of urban wastewater for food production and rural livelihoods; and • the importance of “housing finance” initiatives for water and sanitation.
Studying the feasibility of policy reinforcement learning methods for autonomous agents

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) represent a challenging control problem with complex, noisy, dynamics. Nowadays, not only the continuous scientific advances in underwater robotics but the increasing number of sub sea missions and its complexity ask for an automatization of submarine processes. This paper proposes a high-level control system for solving the action selection problem of an autonomous robot. The system is characterized by the use of Reinforcement Learning Direct Policy Search methods (RLDPS) for learning the internal state/action mapping of some behaviors. We demonstrate its feasibility with simulated experiments using the model of our underwater robot URIS in a target following task.
Concurrent Dynamic Visualizations With Expressive Petri Net Representations to Enrich the Understanding of Biological and Pathological Processes: an Application to Signaling Pathways

Dynamic visualizations and expressive representations are needed in systems biology to handle multiple interactions occurring during the biological processes of biopathway representations. Dynamic visualizations allow users an ease of interaction with pathway models. At the same time, representations of biopathways should express how interactions take place. In spite of the fact that diverse databases provide users with pathways, their information and representation are frequently different from each other and show restricted interactions because of their static visualization. An adopted solution is to merge diverse representations to obtain a richer one. However, due to different formats and the multiple links involved in the pathway representations, the merge results frequently in erroneous models and in a tangle web of relations very hard to be manipulated. Instead, this work introduces a concurrent dynamic visualization (CDV) of the same pathway, which is retrieved from different sites and then transformed into Petri net representations to facilitate the understanding of their biological processes by interacting with them. We applied this approach to the analysis of the Notch signaling pathway, associated with cervical cancer; we obtained it from different sources which we compared and manipulated simultaneously by interacting with the provided CDV until the user generated a personalized pathway.
Modeling Growth and Predicting Future Developed Land in the Upstate of South Carolina Report submitted to the Saluda-Reedy Watershed Consortium November 2007

From 1990 through 2000 the amount of developed land in an eight-county region of Upstate South Carolina grew from 222,745 acres to 5 76,336 acres. Under current practices and policies the amount of developed land is anticipated to grow to 1,523,667 acres by the year 2030. Where that growth takes pl ace can have serious impacts and can affect the character of the region. The Upstate co ntains an abundance of natural, environmental, and cultural resources that could be at risk from unmanaged growth. The Strom Thurmond Institute has had previous succe ss modeling future growth of developed land for the area around Charleston, Sout h Carolina. For this study a comparable model, with some improvements, was devel oped to predict where the growth is most likely to occur through the year 2030 for e ight counties in the Upstate region of South Carolina. A geographic information system-ba sed model was developed, combining a binomial logistic regression approach w it expert information provided by informed participants from throughout the region. A map created from the output of the growth model shows what the pattern of developed la n for the study area might look like by the year 2030. These results can give deci sion-makers better information from which to implement good growth policy for the futur e of the region.
Localization in Wave Field Synthesis and higher order Ambisonics at different positions within the listening area

Sound field synthesis methods try to synthesize a desired sound field within an extended listening area. If this task can be complied, the perception of a listener placed within the listening area will not differ from his/her auditory perception within a real sound field. Due to the practical limitation in the number of loudspeakers than can be applied for sound field synthesis methods, the produced sound field is in most cases only indistinguishably from the real sound field in a small area and/or under a certain frequency.