Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Larix kaempferi seeds selected by near-infrared spectroscopy for germination and post-germination growth in nursery containers

ABSTRACT Demand for nursery stock of Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) is growing. Containerized seedlings are expected to meet this demand. However, the conventional methods are labor intensive and time consuming because one-year-old bare-root seedlings are transplanted to containers. In this study, we selected seeds using a spectroscope and examined two propagation methods, direct sowing on nursery container (direct sowing) and sowing on a small plug tray followed by transplantation to a container (plug transplant), to shorten the nursery period of 2 years. Germination rate increased in the selected seed when compared with the unselected seed (χ2 test). The days to germinate (DtG) shortened with the use of heavier seeds, and the one-year-old seedlings grew taller as the DtG decreased. However, transplantation from plug trays had negative effects (generalized linear model (GLM) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). On the other hand, large volume cell had positive effects on root collar diameter (GLM and ANOVA). The results revealed that the nursery periods were shortened by using large volume cell, irrespective of the seedling type (direct sowing or plug transplant). Graphical abstract
Red Tide Detection Method for HY-1D Coastal Zone Imager Based on U-Net Convolutional Neural Network

Existing red tide detection methods have mainly been developed for ocean color satellite data with low spatial resolution and high spectral resolution. Higher spatial resolution satellite images are required for red tides with fine scale and scattered distribution. However, red tide detection methods for ocean color satellite data cannot be directly applied to medium–high spatial resolution satellite data owing to the shortage of red tide responsive bands. Therefore, a new red tide detection method for medium–high spatial resolution satellite data is required. This study proposes the red tide detection U−Net (RDU−Net) model by considering the HY−1D Coastal Zone Imager (HY−1D CZI) as an example. RDU−Net employs the channel attention model to derive the inter−channel relationship of red tide information in order to reduce the influence of the marine environment on red tide detection. Moreover, the boundary and binary cross entropy (BBCE) loss function, which incorporates the boundary loss, is used to obtain clear and accurate red tide boundaries. In addition, a multi−feature dataset including the HY−1D CZI radiance and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is employed to enhance the spectral difference between red tides and seawater and thus improve the accuracy of red tide detection. Experimental results show that RDU−Net can detect red tides accurately without a precedent threshold. Precision and Recall of 87.47% and 86.62%, respectively, are achieved, while the F1−score and Kappa are 0.87. Compared with the existing method, the F1−score is improved by 0.07–0.21. Furthermore, the proposed method can detect red tides accurately even under interference from clouds and fog, and it shows good performance in the case of red tide edges and scattered distribution areas. Moreover, it shows good applicability and can be successfully applied to other satellite data with high spatial resolution and large bandwidth, such as GF−1 Wide Field of View 2 (WFV2) images.
A Sustainable Process to Produce Manganese and Its Alloys through Hydrogen and Aluminothermic Reduction

Hydrogen and aluminum were used to produce manganese, aluminum–manganese (AlMn) and ferromanganese (FeMn) alloys through experimental work, and mass and energy balances. Oxide pellets were made from Mn oxide and CaO powder, followed by pre-reduction by hydrogen. The reduced MnO pellets were then smelted and reduced at elevated temperatures through CaO flux and Al reductant addition, yielding metallic Mn. Changing the amount of the added Al for the aluminothermic reduction, with or without iron addition led to the production of Mn metal, AlMn alloy and FeMn alloy. Mass and energy balances were carried out for three scenarios to produce these metal products with feasible material flows. An integrated process with three main steps is introduced; a pre-reduction unit to pre-reduce Mn ore, a smelting-aluminothermic reduction unit to produce metals from the pre-reduced ore, and a gas treatment unit to do heat recovery and hydrogen looping from the pre-reduction process gas. It is shown that the process is sustainable regarding the valorization of industrial waste and the energy consumptions for Mn and its alloys production via this process are lower than current commercial processes. Ferromanganese production by this process will prevent the emission of about 1.5 t CO2/t metal.
Quantification of Total HIV DNA as a Marker to Measure Viral Reservoir: Methods and Potential Implications for Clinical Practice

The focus of this review is to examine the importance of quantifying total HIV DNA to target the HIV reservoir and the clinical implications and challenges involved in its future application in clinical practice. Despite intrinsic limitations, the quantification of total HIV DNA is currently the most widely used marker for exploring the HIV reservoir. As it allows estimating all forms of HIV DNA in the infected cells, total HIV DNA load is the biomarker of the HIV reservoir that provides most of the insights into HIV pathogenesis. The clinical role of total HIV-DNA in both untreated and treated patients is extensively supported by important lines of evidence. Thus, predictive models that include total HIV DNA load together with other variables could constitute a prognostic tool for use in clinical practice. To date, however, this marker has been primarily used in experimental evaluations. The main challenge is technical. Although the implementation of droplet digital PCR could improve analytical performance over real-time PCR, the lack of standardization has made cross-comparisons of the data difficult. An effort by investigators to compare protocols is needed. Furthermore, the main effort now should be to involve the biomedical industry in the development of certified assays for in vitro diagnostics use.
Performance comparison of DS signal matched filter acquisition using median filter and transversal filter as an aiding device in pulsed tone jamming

This paper introduces simulation results of a DS spread spectrum system in which code acquisition is based on a matched filter, a matched filter and a median filter and a matched filter and a transversal filter. The probabilities of detection and false alarms are measured by simulations in pulsed tone jamming with ideal autocorrelation of the spreading code being assumed. The mean acquisition times are calculated based on the measured probabilities. Two kinds of pulsing are used depending on the time the jamming is on: whole bits or only some chips. The effect of pulsed jamming can be decreased efficiently by both cancellation methods. The median filter structure has the best performance compared to the transversal filter structures when the probabilities of false alarm and the mean acquisition times are considered. The transversal filters have better performance when the probability of detection is considered.
Optimum design of waveguide E-plane stub-loaded phase shifters

Broadband low-insertion-loss E-plane stub-loaded rectangular waveguide phase shifters are designed with the method of field expansion into normalized eigenmodes, which includes higher-order mode interaction between the step discontinuities. Computer-optimized three-stub prototypes of 90 degrees differential phase shift with reference to an empty waveguide of appropriate length, designed for R140-band (12.4-18 GHz) and R320-band (26.5-40 GHz) waveguides, achieve typically +or-0.5 degrees phase shift deviation within about 20% bandwidth. For two-stub designs, the corresponding values are about +2.5 degrees /-1 degrees and 17%. Both designs achieve minimum return loss of 30 dB. The theory is verified by measurements of a compact R120-band (10-15 GHz) waveguide phase shifter design example milled from a solid block, showing measured insertion loss of about 0.1 dB and about +2.5 degrees /-0.5 degrees phase error between 10.7 and 12.7 GHz. >
Regularization in Inverse Lithography: Enhancing Manufacturability and Robustness to Process Variations

Inverse lithography, as a mask design tool, has the capability of producing unintuitive patterns with topologies much different from those obtained from either rule-based or modelbased optical proximity correction (OPC). These mask patterns may have the advantage of producing circuit patterns that are otherwise very difficult to achieve; on the other hand, the mask may be too complicated that renders it impossible to manufacture, or that the cost of producing it would be astronomical. There is also good likelihood that the resulting circuit patterns may be severely affected when there are process variations, such as in focus or dose. In this work, we discuss how various regularization techniques may be employed to tackle these two problems: simplifying the mask pattern in an inverse lithography process, and incorporating robustness explicitly in the design algorithm.
Efficient Extraction of the RuBisCO Enzyme from Spinach Leaves Using Aqueous Solutions of Biocompatible Ionic Liquids

Ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) is the most abundant protein on the planet, being present in plants, algae and various species of bacteria, with application in the pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic and food industries. However, current extraction methods of RuBisCO do not allow high yields of extraction. Therefore, the development of an efficient and selective RuBisCOs’ extraction method is required. In this work, aqueous solutions of biocompatible ionic liquids (ILs), i.e., ILs derived from choline and analogues of glycine-betaine, were applied in the RuBisCO’s extraction from spinach leaves. Three commercial imidazolium-based ILs were also investigated for comparison purposes. To optimize RuBisCO’s extraction conditions, response surface methodology was applied. Under optimum extraction conditions, extraction yields of 10.92 and 10.57 mg of RuBisCO/g of biomass were obtained with the ILs cholinium acetate ([Ch][Ac]) and cholinium chloride ([Ch]Cl), respectively. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy results show that the secondary structure of RuBisCO is better preserved in the IL solutions when compared to the commonly used extraction solvent. The obtained results indicate that cholinium-based ILs are a promising and viable alternative for the extraction of RuBisCO from vegetable biomass.
Exact evaluation of the capacity for intensity-modulated direct-detection channels with optical amplifier noises

Based on a rigorous model without approximation, the channel capacity is evaluated numerically for intensity-modulated direct-detection systems dominated by optical amplifier noises. With a discrete probability at zero intensity, the optimal input distribution is both discrete and continuously distributed. For small signal-to-noise ratio less than about 5 dB, the optimal signal is binary on-off keying.
Low power polymeric thermo-optic digital optical switch

Optical switches are essential components in optical network. In order to improve the performance of optical network, the optical switch must address requirements, such as low crosstalk, high extinction ratio, low insertion loss, low power consumption, very fast switching time and insensitive to wavelength and polarization. Digital optical switch (DOS) has become a very attractive component for space switching in multi-wavelength optical communication system application due to its sensitivity for drive power fluctuations, polarization, wavelength, temperature and device geometrical variations. This thesis explores the design of new DOS in order to improve its performance especially in terms of crosstalk and power consumption. Polymeric thermo-optic effect DOS has been developed due to its high thermo-optic coefficient which can support low power consumption devices. Buried square core waveguide is used in this research due to its low fiber to chip coupling loss. In order to ensure the waveguide operates as a single-mode waveguide in the optical communication transmission window, the optimization was done using alternating direction implicit method, finite difference method (FDM) and effective index method. The simulation and optimization of the Y-branch shape are done using finite difference beam propagation method whereas the heater design was optimized by employing FDM to solve the steady state heat transfer equation and scalar Helmholtz equation. The Y-branch shape is a hybrid of modified cosine Sbend branch and linear branch. Effective waveguide heating has been done by using a parabolic heater. With branching angle of 0.299 o and device length of only 5 mm, the simulation shows that the device could exhibit crosstalk of -33 dB at heating power of only 26 mW. In order to further reduce the crosstalk, a variable optical attenuator (VOA) has been designed to be connected to the DOS. The VOA is constructed from cosine S-bend which has low loss (< 0.2 dB) at off state, thus it is suitable to be used in optical switch. The VOA design uses the same material as that of the DOS which is the photo-active ultra violet curable fluorinated resins based on acrylate in order to ensure compatibility. The thermo-optic coefficient of the material is -1.7 ×10 -4 / o C and thermal conductivity is 0.17 W/m o C. The optimized DOS without VOA was fabricated. The crosstalk of -26 dB is achieved at electrical power of 32 mW, and the insertion loss is less than -2.5 dB. In terms of wavelength dependency, the device shows a good performance inside the C-band with fluctuation of the insertion loss value around 0.5 dB.
Improved performance of multi-pulse current and voltage source converters by means of a modified SHE modulation technique

Medium voltage AC drives use multi-pulse, multi-cell or multi-level power converter topologies in order to meet the power quality requirements. In fact, they can easily cancel out low order unwanted harmonics while keeping an even distribution of the load power through out the power semiconductors. Multi-pulse configurations based on active switches are used at the AC/DC stage in order to control the fundamental current component. This allows the control of the power sent to the load while operating at reduced current distortion and unity displacement power factor. For instance, in a 12-pulse configuration, the fundamental component control could be achieved by introducing a chopping angle at the gating pattern as indicated by the selective harmonic elimination technique. Thus, the configuration can handle the fundamental component at expense of the injection of the 11/sup th/ and 13/sup th/ harmonics into the AC system and the 12/sup th/ harmonic to the load, as the lowest unwanted harmonics. This paper proposes that by adding just one extra chopping angle at the gating pattern level, the first unwanted low frequency harmonic is the 24/sup th/. This improvement is achieved without any penalties in the AC waveforms. In general, for a n-pulse converter, the lowest unwanted harmonic is the (2/spl middot/n)/sup th/ harmonic. Simulated and experimental results confirm the theoretical considerations.
Systemic life cycle design error reduction model for construction and engineering projects

Design errors have resulted in a plethora of catastrophic building and engineering failures, and some cases have caused death and injury to workers and members of the public. Despite continued efforts to improve project performance, errors remain a significant problem due to recurrent error- traps that prevail at the people, organisational and project levels. In addressing the need to reduce error, a systemic model that is grounded in practice and the aggregated views of 46 practitioners who were interviewed about the nature and prevention of design errors is proposed. The developed model can be used to identify and mitigate design errors as well as stimulate learning throughout a project's life cycle.
Asymmetric Abel inversion in imaging spectroscopy for tilted TIG arc plasma

Abstract An asymmetric Abel inversion processing system was developed to establish a method for diagnosing arc plasma that has an elliptical cross section and is a non-axisymmetric in the direction perpendicular to the observation direction during an arc welding process. This method was applied to an arc plasma in a tilted tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process. As a result, when this method was applied to the non-axisymmetric intensity distribution due to integration, it was confirmed that the relative error near the central axis and the edge was large regardless of the difference in the cross-sectional shape. In addition, after applying this method to the tilted TIG arc plasma, it was shown that an error of about 350 K occurred in the temperature distribution when emission intensity distribution was converted to the temperature distribution by the Fowler-Milne method. Furthermore, the temperature distribution of the arc plasma obtained in this study was slightly wider than the previous study, while the high-temperature area where the temperature was higher than 14,000 K showed a good agreement with the previous study. Therefore, it was concluded that, by applying this method to the tilted TIG arc plasma, the equivalent result to the three-dimensional emission spectroscopy could be obtained by photographing a tilted arc plasma from two directions.
Meeting nutritional adequacy in the Brazilian population increases pesticide intake without exceeding chronic safe levels

Abstract Achieving nutritional adequacy requires an increase in fresh foods consumption, which may increase pesticide intakes. This study aimed to identify required dietary modifications to achieve nutritional adequacy without exceeding the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for pesticides. Data from the National Dietary Survey 2017–2018 were linked to the pesticide database from the Program on Pesticide Residue Analysis in Food. We performed linear programming models to design nutritionally adequate diets constrained by food preferences for different constraints on pesticide intake at the least cost increment. Nutritional adequacy led to an increase in pesticide intakes without exceeding their ADI. Modifications in diets varied according to the model, but, in general, consisted in an increase in fruits and vegetables, dairy, and seafood, and a reduction in rice, red meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages quantities. In conclusion, meeting nutritional adequacy increases pesticide intake compared to the observed diets, without representing a health concern to consumers.
Occurrence of Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus spp. in Orange Orchards in Thailand

Background: The widespread indiscriminate application of antibiotics to food crops to control plant disease represents a potential human health risk. In this study, the presence of antibiotic-resistant staphylococci associated with workers and orange orchard environments was determined. A total of 20 orchards (orange and other fruits) were enrolled in the study. Trees in the orange orchards were treated with ampicillin on a pre-determined schedule. Environmental samples (n = 60) included soil, water, and oranges; 152 hand and nasal samples were collected from 76 healthy workers. Antibiotic susceptibility profiles were determined for all staphylococcal isolates. Results: This investigation revealed that of the total Staphylococcus spp. recovered from the orange orchard, 30% (3/10) were resistant to erythromycin, 20% (2/10) were resistant to ampicillin, and 20% (2/10) resistant to both erythromycin and ampicillin. Conclusion: The application of antibiotics to orange trees in open production environments to halt the spread of bacterial disease presents risks to the environment and creates health concerns for Thai farmers using those agents. ARB on crops such as oranges may enter the global food supply and adversely affect public health.
An Improved Zhang's Dynamic Water Balance Model Using Budyko‐Based Snow Representation for Better Streamflow Predictions

Understanding the water balance of a catchment in relation to its regional climate forcings and catchment characteristics is critical for predicting current and future water resources amid changing climate and land cover. This study intends to improve Zhang's monthly water balance model (a physics‐based conceptual hydrologic model) that reflects the physical partitioning process of the hydrological cycle at the basin level based on regional climate and catchment characteristics. The existing model does not include snow process and has confronted evident limitations in snow‐affected areas, which is a critical aspect since snowmelt water has been a significant source of water resources for many regions, especially in the temperate and frigid zones. We introduce a snow module based on surface energy balance and Budyko‐limits on melting and combine it with the existing water balance equations. Moreover, monthly parameterization is applied to the model to better explain the time‐varying hydrological characteristics of a catchment. The proposed model involves five different monthly parameters, which determine the physical partitioning process of the hydrological cycle, and they are regionally calibrated and validated under Budyko‐type constraints. The model is applied to 1,210 basins across the continental United States (CONUS), and the simulated streamflow is compared to the observed data. The proposed model significantly outperformed the original model, improving the median NSE by 31% (from 0.51 to 0.67) and increasing the number of catchments with an acceptable NSE by 58%. The spatial variability of the basin characteristics across the CONUS is also investigated based on the calibrated parameters.
Jet Impingement Cooling of Chips Equipped With Multiple Cylindrical Pedestal Fins

Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics on and around a central pedestal and a secondary pedestal, mounted on a flat surface with an impinging jet, are investigated. Surface Nusselt numbers, pressure coefficients (in the form of normalized wall static pressure relative to freestream static pressure), and flow visualization results are given far jet Reynolds numbers of 23,000 and 2300. The dimensionless nozzle-to-surface distance Lid is 2, and the nondimensional height of the central pedestal HID is 0.5. Results are given for different secondary pedestal heights and locations. Spatially averaged Nusselt numbers measured with secondary pedestals employed are 13% to 33% higher than values measured with no secondary pedestal. Local Nusselt numbers and wall pressure coefficients, measured with the secondary pedestal present, are different from values measured with no secondary pedestal, because of flow reattachment and the two counterrotating recirculation zones located between the two pedestals. and small local regions of flow separation and recirculation located on top of the secondary pedestal. As such, the present multiple pedestal data with impinging jets are useful for a variety of electronics cooling arrangements.