Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Action Difference of Lasiodiplodia theobromae on Infecting and Dyeing Poplar Wood in Spatial Growth

Many factors affect the driving force of fungal growth and secretion. To compare the differences of Lasiodiplodia theobromae infected poplar wood, the changes of physical and chemical properties of vertically and horizontally infected poplar wood before and after dyeing were analyzed, and the infection characteristics were studied in this paper. The horizontal infection was more effective than the vertical infection in terms of infection depth, color depth, and microscopic hyphal invasion. The mycelium first intruded into the earlywood tissue and began to secrete a large amount of pigment after twenty days. The crystallinity of mycelium decreased slightly, and the difference in weight loss rate was negligible. The initial contact angle of the dyed specimen on the horizontal infection increased drastically in distilled water, but there was almost no difference between varnish and natural coating. The horizontal infection was more efficient than the vertical infection and had a higher color depth and a better induction effect, which is crucial in future microbial dyeing.
Accent Modeling of Low-Resourced Dialect in Pitch Accent Language Using Variational Autoencoder

Realizing text-to-speech (TTS) system of dialects is useful for personalizing TTS systems. However, TTS for many di-alects of pitch accent languages is not realized because of low-resourced problem. Among many dialects of pitch accent languages, this paper focuses on Osaka dialect of Japanese, one of the most challenging pitch accent languages. For Japanese TTS system, accent labels are known to be necessary as input to synthesize natural speech. In rich-resourced dialect, human-resourced approaches and dictionary-based approaches are often used to annotate accent labels for training and inference, but such approaches are unfeasible and time-consuming for low-resourced dialects. In this paper, we propose accent extraction model that utilizes vector quantized variational autoencoder (VQ-VAE) to prepare accent information from speech, and accent prediction models that utilize decision tree and deep learning techniques to predict accent information from the input text. The models were examined with corpus of Osaka dialect, whose accent labels do not exist. The results showed that accent extraction model succeeded in extracting accent information of Osaka dialect from speech utterances as latent variable. It also showed that the accent of synthesized speech by accent prediction models were not better than baseline, but it had advantages such as interpretability.
Experiential food tourism in Greece: the case of Central Greece

ABSTRACT Many touristic enterprises organize and offer staged experiences in order to achieve client sustainability. The present study aims to examine in which extent the environment aesthetics, emotions, experiential participation, price, and authenticity affect the tourist’s experience on Greek cooking classes. Moreover, is examined the effect of tourist’s experiences that results in their image modification about the touristic destinations. For this study, e-questionnaires were sent to 500 tourists that participated in experiential culinary activities in agrotourism farms in central Greece. 289 useful questionnaires were collected and analysed based on Confirmative Factor Analysis (CFA). This study asserts that tourist’s experiences effect on destination’s image modification indirectly via satisfaction.
A Comparative Analysis of Emissions from a Compression–Ignition Engine Powered by Diesel, Rapeseed Biodiesel, and Biodiesel from Chlorella Protothecoides Biomass Cultured under Different Conditions

The priority faced by energy systems in road transport is to develop and implement clean technologies. These actions are expected to reduce emissions and slow down climate changes. An alternative in this case may be the use of biodiesel produced from microalgae. However, its production and use need to be justified economically and technologically. The main objective of this study was to determine the emissions from an engine powered by biodiesel produced from the bio-oil of Chlorella protothecoides cultured with different methods, i.e., using a pure chemical medium (BD-ABM) and a medium based on the effluents from an anaerobic reactor (BD-AAR). The results obtained were compared to the emissions from engines powered by conventional biodiesel from rapeseed oil (BD-R) and diesel from crude oil (D-CO). The use of effluents as a medium in Chlorella protothecoides culture had no significant effect on the properties of bio-oil nor the composition of FAME. In both cases, octadecatrienoic acid proved to be the major FAME (50% wt/wt), followed by oleic acid (ca. 22%) and octadecadienoic acid (over 15%). The effluents from UASB were found to significantly reduce the biomass growth rate and lipid content of the biomass. The CO2 emissions were comparable for all fuels tested and increased linearly along with an increasing engine load. The use of microalgae biodiesel resulted in a significantly lower CO emission compared to the rapeseed biofuel and contributed to lower NOx emission. Regardless of engine load tested, the HC emission was the highest in the engine powered by diesel. At low engine loads, it was significantly lower when the engine was powered by microalgae biodiesel than by rapeseed biodiesel.
Growth, Chlorophyll, Yield and Tubers Chemical Composition, and Quality Characters of Potato Cv. Spunta as Affected by Planting Dates and Irrigation Regimes

During the two successive seasons of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 the feild experiment was conducted in Al-Aqwaz, Giza Governorate, aiming to study the effect of three planting dates (1st of December, 15th of December and 1st of January) and three irrigation regimes (50, 75 and 100% of the irrigation requirements for each of the selected planting date) on the vegetative growth, chlorophyll, tuber chemical composition (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and calcium), tuber yield and its quality parameters (specific gravity, dry matter, protein and starch). The results showed that there were significant effects for the treatments of planting dates and irrigation regimes on all of the studied characters, in both seasons of study. Also, the effect of irrigation regems was more pronounced comparing with the effect of plantting dates on studied characters. However, The planting on the first of December and/or the irrigation with 100% of the irrigation water requirements were the most satisfactory treatments for exhibiting the most favorable vegetative growth, highest yield as well as tuber quality for potato cv. Spunta planted in Al-Aqwaz, Giza Governorate or any other similar areas.
Mind your p’s and k’s -- Comparing obstruents across TTS voices of the Blizzard Challenge 2013

Obstruent consonants have been investigated in speech quality assessment studies of natural speech, where enhancing their perception has improved overall speech quality. This paper presents a comparative analysis of acoustic-phonetic features of obstruent consonants in synthetic speech. Features for obstru-ent consonants are identiﬁed where TTS systems differ signiﬁ-cantly from a natural human voice, as a function of quality. The synthetic speech voices from the Blizzard Challenge of 2013 are used for this investigation. TTS systems were ﬁrst assigned groups based on their MOS rating (quality) and shared TTS technique (family). Then, acoustic-phonetic features characteristic of contrastive properties in obstruents, were extracted from all systems. While quality differences between low-rated systems and high-rated systems were observed in a large number of features, we report those where statistically signiﬁcant differences (p-val < 0.001) were observed between the systems. Where quality effects were not found, we investigated whether systems of the same family exhibit similar behaviour. Finally, individual systems within a group were examined for their differing inﬂuence on the acoustic-phonetic feature set of obstru-ents. Here, we found that HMM systems with similar MOS ratings do not differ in their acoustic realization of obstruents, while Unit Selection systems showed stronger individual sys-tem variability. Acomparative analysis of obstruent consonants across TTS systems applies techniques from the domain of corpus-phonetics to the task of speech synthesis evaluation. Identifying phonologically relevant acoustic features, may indicate the underlying articulatory process compromised in those systems, that correlates with the distorted acoustics.
Microbial treatment of waxy crude oil for mitigating wax precipitation and improving liquidity

Abstract The wax deposition of crude oil during transportation reduces the inner diameter, blocks the pipeline, and eventually increases the cost of petroleum production. This study reports a paraffin-degrading bacterial strain DG2 isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil. The effect of this strain on the removal of paraffin in crude oil was investigated. DG2, identified as Pseudomonas, produced biosurfactant that reduced the surface tension to 35.7 mN/m−1 and exhibited high emulsification activity. Results of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the waxy crude oil treated by DG2 showed decreased heavy hydrocarbon fractions (C25 and C32). The degradation test revealed that DG2 reduced the wax appearance temperature by 4.16 °C and the viscosity by 23% of the waxy crude oil. These findings indicate that paraffin-degradation strain DG2 may be used for effective paraffin biodegradation.
Do customs and other trade regulatory barriers lead firms to bribe? Evidence from Asia

Corruption has become a big issue in the international trade environment with the increasing number of non-tariff barriers. The cost of corruption in customs administrations around the world has been estimated to be at least USD 2 billion. When stringent regulations become barriers to firms, they sometimes bribe government officials to get things done. Using firm-level data covering 11 Asian countries, this study sets out to quantify the impact of customs and other trade regulatory barriers on the firms’ decision to bribe. Endogenous treatment model has been accommodated to address possible endogeneity problems usually inherited in this kind of observational data. Results provide that in Asia, firms which experience difficulties with customs and other trade regulatory constraints are likely to pay more bribe amounting to 6.4% of their annual total sales than other firms. Enterprises which trust the fair functioning of their judiciary systems and enterprises with high productivity levels are less likely to bribe government officials to get things done. It is, therefore, necessary to implement policies to eliminate administrative inefficiencies especially in customs and minimize trade regulatory constraints to control trade-related corrupt practices.
Correlationship between sensory analysis, major volatile compounds and sugar content in cucumber fruit

Correlationship analysis were done among sensory analysis results, volatile compounds content, and sugar content with 8 cucumber varieties. The results showed that 2E,6Z-nonadienal has significant positive relationship to aroma, sweetness, comprehensive taste and total scores; trans-caryophyllene has significant relationship to sensory scores of aroma, sweetness and comprehensive taste; while 2E-nonenal has no relationship to sensory scores. Hexanal has significant negative relationship to astringent. Soluble sugar contents have significant positive relationship to sugar content and comprehensive taste score.
Secure Online Examination with Biometric Authentication and Blockchain-Based Framework

E-learning has been carried out all over the world and then online examinations have become an important means to check learning effect during the outbreak of COVID-19. Participant authenticity, data integrity, and access control are the assurance to online examination. The existing online examination schemes cannot provide the protection of biometric features and fine-grained access control. Particularly, they did not discuss how to resolve some disputes among students, teachers, and a platform in a fair and reasonable way. We propose a novel biometric authentication and blockchain-based online examination scheme. The examination data are encrypted to store in a distributed system, which can be obtained only if the user satisfies decryption policy. And the pieces of evidence are recorded in a blockchain network which is jointly established by some credible institutions. Unlike other examination authentication systems, face templates in our scheme are protected using a fuzzy vault and a cryptographic method. Furthermore, educational administrative department can determine who the real initiator of malicious behavior is when a dispute arises using a dispute determination protocol. Analysis shows that no central authority is required in our scheme;the collusion of multiple users cannot obtain more data;even if the authorities compromise, biometric features of each user will not be leaked. Therefore, in terms of privacy-preserving biometric templates, fine-grained access, and dispute resolution, it is superior to the existing schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Mathematical Problems in Engineering is the property of Hindawi Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Characteristics and Formation Mechanisms of Sulfate and Nitrate in Size-segregated Atmospheric Particles from Urban Guangzhou, China

Various water-soluble inorganic compounds, including Na+, NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl–, NO3–, PO43– and SO42–, were analyzed in 130 sets of size-segregated (< 0.49, 0.49–0.95, 0.95–1.5, 1.5–3.0, 3.0–7.2 and 7.2–10.0 µm) aerosol samples collected from March 2013 to April 2014 in Guangzhou, China. SO42– was unimodally distributed and peaked during a typical droplet mode (0.49–0.95 µm). However, the distribution of NO3– significantly varied across the four seasons. It was unimodally distributed in summer and autumn, peaking in the coarse mode (3.0–7.2 µm), and bimodally distributed in winter and spring, peaking in the size ranges of 0.49–0.95 µm and 3.0–7.2 µm, respectively. The coarse-mode NO3– was mainly related to the influence of soil/dust. The additional mode during winter and spring was attributable to the formation of ammonium nitrate. Compared to clean days, polluted days favored the formation of SO42– in summer and autumn and NO3– in winter and spring. The sulfur oxidation ratios (SORs) for < 0.49, 0.49–0.95 and 0.95–1.5 µm particles were negatively correlated with the relative humidity (RH) in spring, summer and autumn, respectively. However, the SORs for 0.49–3.0 µm particles were positively correlated with the RH in winter, implying an important contribution from the aqueous oxidation of SO2. Further analysis shows that the SO42– in < 0.49 µm particles was formed primarily through gas-phase photochemical oxidation of SO2 during all four seasons. The formation of NO3– was mainly attributable to heterogeneous reactions for 1.5–3.0 µm particles year-round and homogeneous gas-phase reactions for < 0.49 µm particles in winter. Correlation analysis also indicates a positive influence from biomass burning on the formation of nitrate and sulfate. The average pH of PM3 was calculated to be 2.6–5.6. Thus, the aqueous oxidation of SO2 by NO2 plays a limited role in the formation of sulfate in the atmosphere of Guangzhou.
Cellulase Production Under Solid-State Fermentation by Ethanolic Zygomycetes Fungi: Application of Response Surface Methodology

Background and Objectives: Cellulase is an important enzyme with multiple applications in industries, including food, laundry, pharmaceutical, textile, pulp, paper and biofuel industries. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is a method for cellulase production, which includes several advantages, compared to submerged fermentation. In this study, cellulase was produced by three filamentous fungi, i.e., Mucor indicus, M. hiemalis and Rhizopus oryzae, through SSF on wheat brans. Materials and Methods: Effects of cultivation time, temperature, and moisture content of the culture media on cellulase production were investigated using response surface methodology (RSM). Experiments were carried out using an orthogonal central composite design. Based on the analysis of variance, a quadratic model was suggested as a function of the three variables to express cellulase production. The optimum parameters for cellulase production by the fungi were achieved and the highest cellulase activity was reported. Results: The fungi produced significant amounts of cellulase. Models fitted to the experimental activities of the fungi included high regression coefficients. The optimum media temperature for all fungi was 26.6 oC. For M. indicus and R. oryzae, the optimum moisture content and cultivation time of the media were 71.8% and 33.2 h, respectively. These parameters were respectively reported as 38.18% and 66.81 h for M. hiemalis. The highest cellulase activities by R. oryzae, M. indicus and M. hiemalis were 281, 163 and 188 U per g of dry wheat bran, respectively. The maximum enzyme production was seen in R. oryzae. Conclusions: In conclusion, these three advantageous fungal strains can successfully be used for cellulase production through SSF with relatively high yields, compared to other fungal strains.
A Trust-Based Model for the Adoption of Smart City Technologies in Australian Regional Cities

This paper explores the role of stakeholders’ trust in the adoption of smart city technologies, leading to the identification of the critical determinants for adopting smart city technologies in Australian regional cities. A comprehensive review of the related literature has been conducted. Such a review leads to the development of a trust-based research model for investigating the importance of trust in technology and its adoption. This model is then tested and validated with the use of a structural equation modeling technique on the survey data collected from ICT professionals in Australian regional cities. The study results show that perceived usefulness, perceived external pressure and perceived information security influence trust in smart city technologies. Further analysis highlights the significant relationship between stakeholders’ trust and their intention to adopt smart city technologies. This study is unique, as it is one of a few studies that focus on exploring stakeholders’ trust in the adoption of smart city technologies from the perspective of ICT professionals in Australia. The study results can be used by the government agencies to formulate appropriate policies to enhance the use of smart city technologies in the active pursuit of smart city development in Australia.
Phytonutrient intake and body composition: Considering colors

Background: Being overweight or obese is one of the most harmful risk factors to the health of a population. The cause of obesity is complex and multifactorial, but the primary cause is a nutrient poor diet. Despite excess intake of calories, obese individuals commonly have a lack of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients such as chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanins have all been shown to have anti-obesity effects. National data shows that states in with the lowest intakes of fruit and vegetable intake also have higher obesity rates. The data available depicts that a low fruit and vegetable intake, thus low phytonutrient intake, is correlated with excess adiposity.Methods: Fifty subjects from Thibodaux, Louisiana were randomly selected to participate. Three 24-hour food recalls were used to calculate phytonutrient content of the diets using the phytonutrient index. A food frequency questionnaire was also administered to determine intake of specific phytonutrients (carotenoids, anthocyanins, and carotenoids). Body adiposity was measured using body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and fat percentage. Pearson correlation was used to assess correlations between phytonutrient index and body adiposity measures. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc tests was used to determine differences in PI and phytonutrient intakes among the BMI, waist circumference and percent body fat groups.Results: Participants who met healthy standards for BMI, waist circumference, and fat percentage all averaged much higher PI scores compared to those classified as obese/overweight. The data showed a strong inverse relationship between PI and BMI (r = -0.753, p = 0.00), waist circumference (r = -0.730, p = 0.00), and body fat percentage (r = -0.701, p = 0.00). Higher weekly intakes of chlorophyll, carotenoid, and anthocyanin rich foods had better body composition in comparison to those who consumed less (p<0.05). Conclusion: Results suggest a strong correlation between higher phytonutrient intake and improved body composition. Overall diet quality seems to make the most difference, but phytonutrients are thought to be a key reason for those benefits
Navigation of Underwater Drones and Integration of Acoustic Sensing with Onboard Inertial Navigation System

The navigation of autonomous underwater vehicles is a major scientific and technological challenge. The principal difficulty is the opacity of the water media for usual types of radiation except for the acoustic waves. Thus, an acoustic transducer (array) composed of an acoustic sonar is the only tool for external measurements of the AUV attitude and position. Another difficulty is the inconstancy of the speed of propagation of acoustic waves, which depends on the temperature, salinity, and pressure. For this reason, only the data fusion of the acoustic measurements with data from other onboard inertial navigation system sensors can provide the necessary estimation quality and robustness. This review presents common approaches to underwater navigation and also one novel method of velocity measurement. The latter is an analog of the well-known Optical Flow method but based on a sequence of sonar array measurements.
Comparison of UV Spectrophotometric and HPLC Method for Estimating Canagliflozin in Bulk and Tablet Dosage Form

The aim of the present investigation was to develop, validate and compare a spectrophotometric and a high performance liquid chromatography method for estimating canagliflozin in bulk and tablet dosage form. Spectrophotometry and high performance liquid chromatography were carried out using standard instrumental parameters, which were optimized. Both methods were validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision, robustness, ruggedness and stability according to the ICH guidelines. The optimized ratio of mobile phase in high performance liquid chromatography under low pressure gradient mode was 50:50 % v/v of acetonitrile:orthophosphoric acid (0.01 M), which provide a sharp peak with a short retention time of 4.732 minutes. In spectrophotometric analysis, methanol as a solvent gave adequate molar absorptivity at a λmax of 280 nm. Results indicated that both spectrophotometric and high performance liquid chromatography methods were linear, precise, accurate, rugged and robust with RSD values less than 2 % and percent recovery was within the standard limits (90-110 %). Both the methods were found to be statistically non-significant at 95 % confidence intervals (p<0.05) with respect to each other. The proposed methods were found to be highly effective and could be used for quantification of canagliflozin in bulk and tablet formulations for routine analysis.