Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the Orchidaceae Diversity in the Pululahua Reserve, Ecuador: Opportunities and Constraints as Regards the Biodiversity Conservation of the Cloud Mountain Forest

The Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve is a protected natural area in the cloud mountain forest of Ecuador, so rich in orchid species despite being a volcanic area still under threat of volcanic activity. A comparative biodiversity study of orchids was carried out in two different sectors, Chaupisacha (CH) and La Reventazón (LR). Data were collected in 1 ha plots in each sector, in which all the orchids found were counted and two individuals of each species were retained. Immature individuals were conserved in a plant nursery until flowering. In CH, there were 922 individuals grouped into 24 genera and 55 species, while LR had 9196 individuals grouped into 26 genera and 46 species; only 14 species were found in both sectors. Different density and diversity indexes were calculated. The density (ind./100 m2) of CH was 0.96, while that of LR was 185.92. Simpson’s diversity (1 − λ) attained CH 0.903 ± 0.01 and LR 0.85 ± 0.01. The orchid diversity measured by the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) was 1.29 for CH, differing significantly from that of LR (H′ 1.02). The medium equity (Jaccard’s J′) found was 0.61 in CH and 90.78 in LR. Limitations as regards the natural dispersion of orchids seemed to favor endemism. Some species, such as Dracula felix and Restrepia guttulate, are threatened with disappearance from the wild or are vulnerable, as is the case for Epidendrum polyanthogastrium. A lack of information on the phenology and anthropic impacts in the area limit the conservation of species, signifying that new protected figures and seed banks are necessary, especially in CH, owing to its high diversity of orchids.
Study of haematology profile & histopathological changes in di-ammonium phosphate induced climbing perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch.)

The current study includes the histopathological and haematopathological alterations induced by chronic (20 days) exposure of the fish Anabas testudineus to a sublethal concentrations (0.092 gm/L) of inorganic fertilizer, Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP). Behaviour response showed in test fishes like lost their natural colouration, loss of equilibrium, jerk movement before death. At haematological levels various parameters were analysed such as Hb, RBC, WBC decreases while in DLC, Neutrophil, Monocytes and Eosinophil values increase. For the histopathological study some vital organs were taken i.e. kidney, liver, intestine, testis and ovary. The present study showed major significant histopathological alteration like vacuolar degenerative changes, necrosis etc. found in liver, intestine, testis, ovary and kidney organs dysfunction in response to DAP toxicity effect in the fish A. testudineus. So, it is suggested that more suitable to culture at water fertilizer, Di-ammonium phosphate concentration of < 0.092 g/l for optimum growth performance. The information will be major role on different levels of responses of organisms with respect to pollutant stress is a necessary pre-requisite for the proper management of fertilizer application in agriculture and aquaculture.
Diagnostic Performance of Atherosclerotic Carotid Plaque Neovascularization with Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound: A Meta-Analysis

Objectives To evaluate the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization. Methods The electronic databases like PubMed, Embase, OVID, and Web of Science were used to search for the relevant studies, which are involved in the evaluation of the diagnostic parameters of QUS for atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization. Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 14.0 were used to estimate the pooled diagnostic value of CEUS. Forest plots, sensitivity analysis, and Deeks' funnel plots were performed on the included studies. Results Ten studies eventually met the final inclusion criteria. For diagnostic performance, CUES showed that the pooled values of sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood odds ratios, negative likelihood odds ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios were 0.83 (95% CI 0.78-0.86), 0.77 (95% CI 0.68-0.84), 3.61 (95% CI 2.59-5.03), 0.23 (95% CI 0.18-0.28), and 16.02 (95% CI 10.02-25.60), respectively. The estimate of the area under curve (AUC) was 0.85 (95% CI 0.82-0.88). Conclusion Our research supported that CEUS had high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic carotid plaque neovascularization. More high-quality prospective multicenter studies focusing on the accuracy of CEUS for carotid atherosclerotic plaque should be performed to verify our conclusions.
Effect of Physical Properties and Chemical Substitution of Excipient on Compaction and Disintegration Behavior of Tablet: A Case Study of Low-Substituted Hydroxypropyl Cellulose (L-HPC)

As final attributes of dosage form largely depend on the properties of excipients used, understanding the effect of physicochemical properties of excipients is important. In the present study, six grades of L-HPC with varying degrees of particle size and hydroxypropyl content and the influence of the grade on compaction as well as disintegration behavior were studied. All grades of L-HPC were compressed at different compression loads to achieve different tablet porosity. Compressibility and compactibility of L-HPC grades were evaluated using a modified Heckel equation and percolation model. Further effects of particle size and hydroxypropyl content of L-HPC on tablet porosity and disintegration time were evaluated using a 32 full-factorial design. From compaction studies, it was found that compressibility of L-HPC largely depends upon the particle size with lower particle size grade showing lower compressibility. Whereas consolidation/bonding behavior of L-HPC is independent of particle size and % hydroxypropyl content. By factorial design, it was found that particle size and % hydroxypropyl content have a significant effect on the disintegration behavior of L-HPC. It was found that smaller particle sizes and higher hydroxypropyl content of L-HPC show longer disintegration time. Thus, careful consideration of excipients selection should be made to achieve desired quality attribute of the product.
Soil Organic Carbon and Nutrients Affected by Tree Species and Poultry Litter in a 17-Year Agroforestry Site

Tree species and fertilization sources may affect the soil organic carbon (SOC) and fertility in agroforestry (AF) systems in temperate regions, but this remains unexplored. This study assesses the longitudinal trends in the SOC and major nutrients in a 17-year AF site established on an Ultisol in Fayetteville, AR. We evaluated how management and fertilization (mineral vs. organic) affect the soil’s physical and chemical properties using the tree species: red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and pecan Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch. Long-term applications of poultry litter increased the soil pH, whereas the Mg and S concentrations decreased compared to the baseline levels (1999). Poultry litter increased the soil P concentration in 53% compared to the baseline levels and reduced the soil C:N ratio. After 17 years, increased Ca, SOC, and N concentrations were observed in the soils under the pecan stands that received poultry litter. Positive correlations occurred between the SOC and N (r = 0.96) as well as the Ca (r = 0.71) and P (r = 0.61) at a soil depth of 0–15 cm. Our findings demonstrated that the changes in SOC and fertility in the AF soils vary according to tree species and fertilization, mostly due to distinctive leaf litter and nutrient inputs. Organic matter accumulation increased the SOC retention and nutrient availability in the temperate AF systems.
Role of Concentrating Solar Power in Integrating Solar and Wind Energy: Preprint

As wind and solar photovoltaics (PV) increase in penetration it is increasingly important to examine enabling technologies that can help integrate these resources at large scale. Concentrating solar power (CSP) when deployed with thermal energy storage (TES) can provide multiple services that can help integrate variable generation (VG) resources such as wind and PV. CSP with TES can provide firm, highly flexible capacity, reducing minimum generation constraints which limit penetration and results in curtailment. By acting as an enabling technology, CSP can complement PV and wind, substantially increasing their penetration in locations with adequate solar resource.
Assessment of acute postoperative pain management and associated factors after elective surgery among adult surgical patients: a prospective cross-sectional study

Background: Appropriate and effective management of acute postoperative pain has been one of the major challenges worldwide and the majority of patients admitted to hospitals still suffer from uncontrolled postoperative pain. Objective: To assess acute postoperative pain management and associated factors after elective surgery among adult patients. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 198 adult surgical patients from February 25/2020 to May 25/2020 with response rate of 96%. Descriptive statistics performed to determine incidence of postoperative pain. Multivariable binary logistics regression was held to identify the associated factors and a P-value <0.05 was considered as significant. Result: Among 190 patients, 100 (52.6%) of patients were inadequately treated at 24 hours of postsurgery. The overall incidence of moderate to severe postoperative pain after elective surgery with in the first 24 postoperative hours was 69.5% [95% confidence interval (CI): 63%–76%]. History of previous surgery [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 3.46, CI: 1.19–10.05], length of incision ≥10 cm (AOR: 5.46, CI: 2.01–14.80), use of nerve block (AOR: 3.00, CI: 1.206–7.46), duration of surgery ≥3 hours (AOR: 3.39, CI: 1.26–9.09), type of surgery (AOR: 3.55, CI: 1.09–11.53) and preoperative anxiety (AOR: 5.40, CI: 2.241–13.05) were significantly associated with moderate to severe postoperative pain. Therefore, the surgical team need to prepare and distribute a standard pain assessment scale as other vital sign sheets and need to take a plan of action to reduce the magnitude of the problem by addressing the risk factors.
Microscopic simulations of high harmonic generation from semiconductors

The semiconductor Bloch equations provide a very versatile and microscopic approach to compute and analyze optical and electronic properties of semiconductors. Here, we focus on high harmonic generation arising from the driving of crystalline systems with very strong optical and Terahertz pulses. Implementing a proper gauge allows us to solve the semiconductor Bloch equations in the length gauge. The length gauge turns out to be advantageous since it converges for a smaller number of bands than the velocity gauge and, in addition, enables a unique distinction between inter- and intraband contributions. Besides odd harmonics polarized parallel to the incoming field our approach also describes even harmonics which originate from the Berry curvature and are polarized perpendicular to the incident field. Next, we demonstrate that the electron and hole collision/recombination dynamics is mainly responsible for the anisotropy of the interband high harmonic generation. Our findings connect the electron/hole backward scattering to van Hove singularities and the forward scattering with critical lines in the band structure and we show that this dynamics can be controlled by properly designed two-color fields. Furthermore, we consider excitonic effects within a two-band model and show that they can strongly enhance the high harmonic emission intensity for suitably chosen incident pulses. When an odd-order harmonic corresponds to the energy of the 1s exciton this harmonic is several orders of magnitude larger than the emission from non-interacting electrons and holes.
Fault detection and power quality analysis of wind turbine system using integrated systems

Growth in the need for electric energy and fossil fuel scarcity endorses renewable energy generation sources. The generation cost of electric power utilizing wind turbines is cost-effective and straightforward compared to other renewable energy sources (RES). Recently, hasty research and developments have been presented in wind turbines (WT) by researchers globally. Although wind-based energy production is more content, planting the WT is challenging. Maintaining the WT from fault incidence is highly crucial. The fault in the WT distresses the power quality of the produced energy. This condensed power quality affects the transmission systems, substations, and loading end of the renewable source. Also, gear malfunctioning is the primary reason for most of the downtime in wind turbines. This work successfully proposed and implemented a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequencing-based control technique to reduce the drive train vibration. Therefore, fault detection and monitoring in WTs play an active part in power production and quality maintenance. In this work, a vibration-grounded WT gearbox fault observing scheme is proposed to increase the power quality. Precisely, a wavelet is executed to chart the vibration gesture. Also, the current sensor gesture is implemented to discover the power quality variances associated with the WT's vibration magnitude.
Bearing behaviors of crushed stone grouting piles

The bearing behaviors and working mechanics of crushed stone grouting piles,a new technique,are studied by model tests and field tests.The technology of the crushed stone grouting piles is that the crushed stone is firstly placed and then the cement grouting is implanted.Compared with the bored unreinforced concrete piles and precast concrete piles,the test results show that the strengths of the piles,the pile side soil and the pile end soil are improved,which make the frictional resistance and tip resistance increase remarkably.The influence of the grouting on the frictional resistance and tip resistance and the sharing condition of load are studied.Some significant conclusions are drown.Furthermore,the test results also show that mud protection makes the bearing of the piles decrease,and the bearing of pile can be improved by post-grouting.The test method and test data are described.The test data and conclusions offer an important basis for the studies on the reinforcement mechanism and calculation method of crushed stone grouting piles.
Broadband Generation of Polarization-Immune Cloaking via a Hybrid Phase-Change Metasurface

Metasurface-enabled cloaking offers an alternative platform to render scatterers of arbitrary shapes indiscernible. However, specific propagation phases generated by the constituent elements for cloaking are usually valid for a single or few states of polarization (SOP), imposing serious restrictions on their applications in broadband and spin-states manipulation. Moreover, the functionality of a conventional metasurface cloak is locked once fabricated due to the absence of active elements. Here, we propose a hybrid phase-change metasurface carpet cloak consisting of coupled phase-shift elements setting on novel phase-change material of Ge2Sb2Se4Te1 (GSST). By elaborately arranging meta-atoms at either 0 or 90 degrees on the external surface of the hidden targets, the wavefront of its scattered lights can be thoroughly rebuilt for arbitrary SOP exactly as if the incidence is reflected by a flat ground, ensuring the targets’ escape from polarization-scanning detections. Furthermore, the robustness of phase dispersion of meta-atoms endows the metasurface cloak wideband indiscernibility ranging from 7.55 to 8.35 µm and tolerated incident angles at least within ±25°. By reversibly switching of the phase states of Ge2Sb2Se4Te1, the stealth function of our design can be turned on and off. The generality of our approach will provide a straightforward platform for polarization-immune cloaking, and may find potential applications in various fields such as electromagnetic camouflage and illusion and so forth.
Computer Vision-Based Geometry Mapping and Matching of Building Elements for Construction Robotic Applications

Robotic automation of construction tasks is a growing area of research. For robots to successfully operate in a construction environment, sensing technology must be developed which allows for accurate detection of site geometry in a wide range of conditions. Much of the existing body of research on computer vision systems for construction automation focuses on pick-and-place operations such as stacking blocks or placing masonry elements. Very little research has focused on framing and related tasks. The research presented here aims to address this gap by designing and implementing computer vision algorithms for detection and measurement of building framing elements and testing those algorithms using realistic framing structures. These algorithms allow for a stationary RGB-D camera to accurately detect, identify, and measure the geometry of framing elements in a construction environment and match the detected geometry to provided building information modeling (BIM) data. The algorithms reduce identified framing elements to a simplified 3D geometric model, which allows for robust and accurate measurement and comparison with BIM data. This data can then be used to direct operations of construction robotic systems or other machines/equipment. The proposed algorithms were tested in a laboratory setting using an Intel RealSense D455 RGB-D camera, and initial results indicate that the system is capable of measuring the geometry of timber-frame structures with accuracy on the order of a few centimeters
A Dynamic Resistive Force Model for Designing Mobile Robot in Granular Media

Locomotion failure is the challenge for wheeled robots applied in granular media, which puts a high demand on the design of wheels. Due to a lack of a mechanical analysis method that can analyze the dynamic interaction between wheel and granular media, it is a challenge to seek design guidance for the wheel geometry. To this end, we introduce a Dynamic Resistive Force Model (DRFM) method suitable for 3D dynamic intrusion. In this method, Granular Resistive Force Theory (RFT) can be extended to 3D RFT smoothly by using granular parameters, and additional velocity terms can describe the effect of intrusion velocity on intrusion force. The relationship between wheel geometry and mechanical properties can be established by performing differential processing on the wheel surface and integrating the force generated by each micro-surface. On this basis, a complete set of solutions is proposed for the design of mobile robot wheels in granular media, and the screw-propelled wheel is taken as an example to optimize it. Theories, simulations, and experiments have all proved that the optimized wheel can produce greater thrust and lift than normal screw-propelled wheel when ensuring the stability of smooth propulsion. The proposed solution and the optimized screw-propelled wheel bring insights for designing mobile robots in granular media.
A new Amazonian species of Allobates Zimmermann & Zimmermann, 1988 (Aromobatidae) with a trilled advertisement call

Background Currently, 58 species are assigned to the genus Allobates, with 70% of its diversity described just in the last two decades, with many additional species likely unnamed. The continuous description of these new species represents a fundamental step for resolving the taxonomy and ensuring the future conservation of the genus. Methods Using molecular, acoustic, and morphological evidences, we describe a new species of Allobates from Teles Pires River region, southern Amazonia, and provide accounts on the population of A. tapajos found sympatrically with the new species. Results The new species is distinguished from its congeners by the coloration of thighs, venter, dorsum, and dark lateral stripe. It has four types of calls, with advertisement calls formed by relatively long trills with a mean duration of 2.29 s ± 0.65, mean of 39.93 notes ± 11.18 emitted at a mean rate of 17.49 ± 0.68 notes per second, and mean dominant frequency of 5,717 Hz ± 220.81. The genetic distance between the new species and its congeners in a fragment of the 16S mitochondrial fragment ranged between 13.2% (A. carajas) to 21.3% (A. niputidea). The sympatric Allobates population fits its morphology and acoustic with the nominal A. tapajos, but presents a relatively high genetic distance of nearly 6.5%, raising questions on the current taxonomy of this species.
Crane Simulator Development Based on Open System and COTS Technology

In order to reduce the potential uncertainty and the development cycle time involved in developing complex large-scale crane simulation system,this paper proposed an approach based on the open system and COTS(Commercial Off-The-Shelf) technologies.The methodological implications to unify the open system and COTS technologies are analyzed and the implementation procedures are predefined.With the successfully-developed prototype system as an example,the paper demonstrates how the proposed approach is applied to ensuring system function optimization and rapid realization in terms of main system modules design and the overall infrastructure design.Another advantage of the approach is that it reserves large predictable enhancement space for the prototype system developed for further product cost reduction and easy product upgrading and updating based on the system scalability and flexibility.
Masculinity Barriers to Ever Completing Colorectal Cancer Screening among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black, and White Men (Ages 45–75)

Disparities in colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality among White, Black, and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) men are attributable to differences in early detection screening. Determining how masculinity barriers influence CRC screening completion is critical for cancer prevention and control. To determine whether masculinity barriers to medical care are associated with lower rates of ever completing CRC screening, a survey-based study was employed from December 2020–January 2021 among 435 White, Black, and AIAN men (aged 45–75) who resided in the US. Logistic regression models were fit to four Masculinity Barriers to Medical Care subscales predicting ever completing CRC screening. For all men, being strong was associated with 54% decreased odds of CRC screening completion (OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.94); each unit increase in negative attitudes toward medical professionals and exams decreased the odds of ever completing CRC screening by 57% (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.86). Black men who scored higher on negativity toward medical professionals and exams had decreased odds of ever screening. Consideration of masculinity in future population-based and intervention research is critical for increasing men’s participation in CRC screening, with more salience for Black men.