Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Threshold friction velocities influenced by standing crop residue in the inland Pacific Northwest, USA

Crop residue is an important factor affecting soil wind erosion. Few studies have tested the effects of crop residue on threshold friction velocities (U*t) which not only controls the initiation of wind erosion events but also the frequency and intensity of erosion events and thus the rate of land degradation. This study measured the threshold friction velocity (U*t) and aerodynamic roughness length (Z 0) in the presence of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), canola (Brassica napus L.), and garbanzo (Cicer arietinum) standing residue arrays to identify the sheltering capability against wind erosion of these different vegetation patterns. The influence of crop residue density and lateral cover (total roughness frontal area to soil surface area) on U*t and Z 0 was tested in a wind‐tunnel. The results indicated U*t increased linearly with residue density for the three residue types and a similar trend was found for Z 0. However, U*t and Z 0 varied among crop residue types at the same residue density or frontal area index (λ). Based on the slope of regression analysis, U*t and Z 0 of garbanzo were 40 and 25% higher than winter wheat and 43 and 119% higher than canola. This study suggested that crop residue type is important in determining U*t and Z 0 when modeling wind erosion.
SPATIALLY SELECTIVE MODIFICATION OF GOLD NANORODS

In this contribution, we present the new approach for plasmon assisted grafting of anisotropic gold nanorods (AuNRs) with spatial selectivity, which was used for creation of nanoparticles with amphiphilic surface. The surface modification was carried out in two stages with implementation of: (I) the plasmon-activated iodonium salt (IS), and (II) the aryl diazonium salt (ADT). The plasmon assisted activation of IS was performed under the illumination of AuNRs with wavelength corresponded to the longitudinal plasmon resonance of AuNRs and resulted in grafting of organic moieties (Ar-(CF3)2) to AuNRs edges. The AuNRs lateral sides remains ungrafted and were further decorated with ADT-COOH. As result of varying substituents in the chemical structures of iodonium and diazonium salts the amphiphilic NPs with spatially divided hydrophobic (grafted to AuNRs edges) and hydrophilic (grafted to AuNRs lateral sides) chemical groups were obtained. Corresponded UV-Vis and Raman measurements confirm the success of AuNRs chemical grafting. As result, the AuNRs with spatially separated chemical moieties were created in very simple way, primarily in solution and without the need of sophisticated technique of NPs mobilization or their surface screening.
The roles and potential of lentil prebiotic carbohydrates in human and plant health

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2020 The Authors, Plants, People, Planet © New Phytologist Trust 1Plant and Environmental Sciences, 270 Poole Agricultural Center, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA 2Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA 3Biodiversity and Crop Improvement Program, International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Rabat-Institute, Rabat, Morocco
Strategy to improving community economic through on-farm agroforestry using community forestry scheme in KPH Yogyakarta

The enhancement of land productivity using the agroforestry mechanism with the scheme of community forestry program has been practiced as a strategy to improve the economic growth of the community surrounding Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan (KPH) or Forest Management Unit of Yogyakarta. This approach is expected to become the solution in reducing deforestation and degradation as impacts of the decreasing quality of forest resources. Forest co-management with the community through a commodity diversification scheme has been practiced for several years. The objective of this research is to understand the economic profile of the farmers’ households who have become part of the program using several parameters. These parameters include the financial feasibility of the agroforestry scheme, the economic contribution from on-farm and off-farm income to farmers’ total income in a specified period, and the discrepancy between farmers’ income, and income per capita as initial input to measure the social-economic level in regional basis. From 100 respondents interviewed, we could provide the following information: (a) the farmers as respondents are categorized into four land share areas, namely (a) ≤ 0.25 Ha (b) 0.26-0.50 Ha (c) 0.51-0.60 Ha and (d) 0.61-1.00 Ha. The average income in Gunungkidul District for (a) Production forest is 1,612,500 IDR (b) Conservation forest is 1,893,750 IDR while the average income in Kulon Progo District for (a) Production forest is 1,568,250 IDR and (b) Conservation forest is 1,612,500 IDR. The income from areas managed by the farmers as stated above represent the economic contribution from the on-farm and off-farm income of the program. The income contribution for farmers from agroforestry within the research remains low (<10%), and the income discrepancies calculated using the Gini Ratio coefficient are (a) 0.38-0.42 for Gunungkidul District and (b) 0.34-0.46 for Kulon Progo District. Both of the regions studied have low to moderate discrepancy levels.
Comparative Study on Optimization Solvers for Implementation of a Two-Stage Economic Dispatch Strategy in a Microgrid Energy Management System

A microgrid energy management system (MEMS) optimally schedules the operation of dispatchable distributed energy resources to minimize the operation costs of microgrids (MGs) via an economic dispatch (ED). Actual ED implementation in the MEMS relies on an optimization software package called an optimization solver. This paper presents a comparative study of optimization solvers to investigate their suitability for ED implementation in the MEMS. Four optimization solvers, including commercial as well as open-source-based ones, were compared in terms of their computational capability and optimization results for ED. Two-stage scheduling was applied for the ED strategy, whereby a mixed-integer programming problem was solved to yield the optimal operation schedule of battery-based energy storage systems. In the first stage, the optimal schedule is identified one day before the operating day; in the second stage, the optimal schedule is updated every 5 min during actual operation to compensate for operational uncertainties. A modularized programming strategy was also introduced to allow for a comparison between the optimization solvers and efficient writing of codes. Comparative simulation case studies were conducted on three test-bed MGs to evaluate the optimization results and computation times of the compared optimization solvers.
Engineering Escherichia Coli Fatty Acid Metabolism for the Production of Biofuel Precursors

Medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs, 6-12 carbons) are potential precursors to biofuels with properties similar to gasoline and diesel fuel but are not native products of Escherichia coli fatty acid synthesis. Herein we engineer E. coli to produce, metabolize, and activate MCFAs for their future reduction into alcohols and alkanes (potential biofuels). We develop an E. coli strain with an octanoate (8-carbon MCFA) producing enzyme (a thioesterase), metabolic knockouts, and the capability to inducibly degrade an essential metabolic enzyme that would otherwise divert carbon flux away from octanoate. We show that this strain can produce octanoate at 12% theoretical yield. To determine limitations on octanoate catabolism that could prevent its conversion into an acyl-CoA thioester activated for later reduction into alcohols and alkanes, we evolve E. coli to grow on octanoic acid as sole carbon source. We show that our fastest growing evolved strain contains mutations that enhance the expression of acyl-CoA synthetase FadD. We then directly mutate the fadD gene and screen for mutations that enhance growth rate on octanoic acid. In-vitro assays show that the mutations we identify increase FadD activity on MCFAs. These results, homology modeling, and further mutagenesis lead us to hypothesize that our mutations enhance FadD activity by aiding product exit. This work develops a technique (inducible degradation of an essential metabolic enzyme) and generates fadD mutants that should be useful for the production of medium chain biofuels and other compounds.
Current status and highlights of the ELI-NP research program

The emergence of a new era reaching beyond current state-of-the-art ultrashort and ultraintense laser technology has been enabled by the approval of around € 850 million worth of structural funds in 2011–2012 by the European Commission for the installation of Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI). The ELI project consists of three pillars being built in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania. This challenging proposal is based on recent technical progress allowing ultraintense laser fields in which intensities will soon be reaching as high as I0 ∼ 1023 W cm−2. This tremendous technological advance has been brought about by the invention of chirped pulse amplification by Mourou and Strickland. Romania is hosting the ELI for Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) pillar in Măgurele near Bucharest. The new facility, currently under construction, is intended to serve the broad national, European, and international scientific community. Its mission covers scientific research at the frontier of knowledge involving two domains. The first is laser-driven experiments related to NP, strong-field quantum electrodynamics, and associated vacuum effects. The second research domain is based on the establishment of a Compton-backscattering-based, high-brilliance, and intense γ beam with Eγ ≲ 19.5 MeV, which represents a merger between laser and accelerator technology. This system will allow the investigation of the nuclear structure of selected isotopes and nuclear reactions of relevance, for example, to astrophysics with hitherto unprecedented resolution and accuracy. In addition to fundamental themes, a large number of applications with significant societal impact will be developed. The implementation of the project started in January 2013 and is spearheaded by the ELI-NP/Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH). Experiments will begin in early 2020.
Optimizing the Use of LIDAR in Wind Farms: Minimizing Life-Cycle Cost Impact of Yaw Error

Yaw error lowers the efficiency and reliability of wind turbines resulting in higher maintenance costs. LIDAR devices can correct the yaw error; however, they are expensive, which creates a trade-off between their costs and benefits. In this study, a stochastic discrete-event simulation model is developed that models the operation of a wind farm. We optimize the net present value (NPV) changes associated with using LIDAR devices in a wind farm to determine the optimum number of LIDAR devices and their associated turbine stay time as a function of number of turbines in the wind farm for specific turbine sizes.
The Effect of U.S. Protectionist Trade Policy on Foreign Ownership: A Study of Korea’s Data Set

Purpose – This study analyzed the effect of the Trump Government’s protectionist trade policies on foreign ownership. Specifically, this study empirically analyzes the hypothesis that foreign ownership will decrease after the Trump Government rather than before the Trump Government. <br><br>Design/methodology – The hypothesis of this study is based on the expectation that US protection trade policy will negatively affect the profitability of Korean companies. The dependent variable in this study is the foreign ownership ratio, and the independent variable is a dummy variable representing before and after the Trump Government. Multiple regression analysis was performed, including the control variables suggested in previous studies related to foreign ownership. <br><br>Findings – As a result, foreign ownership increased after the Trump Government rather than before the Trump Government. This study further analyzes whether the main variables affecting foreign investor’s decision-making are differences before and after Trump Government. The export ratio, profitability and dividends did not differ before and after Trump Government. However, the level of information asymmetry decreased after the Trump Government than before the Trump Government. This suggests that US protection trade policies do not adversely affect the profitability of Korean companies. However, Korean firms are improving their information environment because US protectionist trade policies can lower profitability and negatively impact capital raising. In this regard, the foreign ownership ratio seems to differ before and after the Trump Government. <br><br>Originality/value – This study contributes in that it presents data that US protectionist policies can affect Korean corporate governance. This study has implications from the short-term analysis of US protection trade policy.
Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of Apteryx rowi (Apterygidae: Apteryx)

Abstract The Apteryx rowi has been listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species due to a population combination of habitat loss and predation by introduced mammals. Mitochondrial genome sequence is informative and very useful for systematics and conservation biology studies. Here, we first reported the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of A. rowi by next-generation sequencing (NGS). The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of A. rowi was 17,303 bp in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PGCs), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and 1 control region (D-loop). The overall nucleotide composition of this mitochondrial genome was 31.07% A, 29.43% C, 26.38% T, and 13.12% G, respectively, and the percentage of G + C content was 42.55%. This result provided new molecular biology information to further understand the genetic diversity of the A. rowi, which will help to protect this population.
An experimental energy consumption comparison between trajectories generated by using the cart-table model and an optimization approach for the Bioloid robot

The aim of this article is to present a statistical comparison of the electric energy expenditure between two techniques for the generation of gait patterns in biped robots. The first one is to minimize the sum of the squared torques applied to the joints of the robot, and the second one is based on the cart-table model. For the experiments, we measured the energy delivered by the battery of the robot to the servomotors. We applied the two aforementioned methods for three velocities (0.5, 1.0, and 1.3 m/min). Additionally, each combination of method and velocity was performed by the robot 10 times. The energy expenditure for each method was compared by applying the Wilcoxon test. In all comparisons, the value of p was lower than 0.004, indicating that the differences were statistically significant. The optimization approach leads to a reduction in energy expenditure that ranged from 9.16 % to 13.35 %. The conclusion is that all the effort required to implement an approach that requires a complete dynamic model of the robot allows a significant reduction in energy consumption.
Technological Aspects of Molecular Diagnosis of Bacterial Infectious Diseases

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is continually growing in its application, particularly in the field of molecular diagnosis of disease from clinical specimens. The main focus has been in the detection and identification of pathogens. However, quantitative PCR is increasingly utilized to determine initial pathogen load. A well-designed PCR protocol is required in all of these instances. Just as importantly, in the context of disease diagnosis; is the design of the sample processing methodology. The ideal method should concentrate the DNA and effectively isolate a high-quality DNA product, free of PCR inhibitors, while also being simple, reproducible and safe. The aim of this work is to address the research challenges posed in the preceding paragraph. A previously developed prototype diagnostic system is used to analyze and suggest improvements and an application of the technology is also described. Briefly, the system includes a polystyrene strip that is inserted into a lysis microreactor (LMR) that is fitted with an impeller and temperature control to lyse DNA. The DNA binds noncovalently to the strip and is transferred through a wash step to the thermocycler cuvette for amplification. The research challenges were addressed by the following: 1. An analytical model was developed to determine the efficiency of each process comprising a PCR cycle. Using this model, reaction conditions can be directly linked to the overall yield and initial template concentration can be determined from real-time PCR data. 2. The flow characteristic of the LMR was solved by computational fluid dynamics to determine the DNA capture efficiency as a function of initial position. 3. Improvements to the use of a non-specific strip for DNA binding were explored by attaching target-complimentary oligonucleotides to a surface. 4. The prototype system was evaluated on a bank of frozen clinical stool samples. Samples were tested for Clostridium difficile genomic DNA and the results compared with standard C. difficile testing methods used routinely by a hospital clinical laboratory. The prototype system showed 97.5% concordance with standard testing methods. iv DEDICATION To my husband, Johan Prinsloo and my parents, Stephen and Christa Booth. Niks hiervan sou moontlik wees sonder julle nie! Ek is lief vir julle! v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Progression towards psychosocial well-being in old age

Abstract The impact of the lives of successful people is ineffaceable. Their influence is passed on from generation to generation even after their death. The way they managed to face life’s challenges serves as a benchmark for people who want to approach late life the way they did. This study aims to develop a framework that would guide older adults to achieving a satisfactory late life through certain accomplishments at different stages of life. A deductive approach to theory development was utilized to create a theory that would explain the occurrence of the phenomenon that was observed which is the distinct stage a person goes through prior to reaching a satisfying old age. Secondary analysis was used to analyze the data which were collected from available research studies and literatures. The generation of the theory was built on the readings and discussion about the process of growing old. Axioms were generated to be able to come up with propositions. The following propositions were generated: People go through a process of development that highlights the different ages; success is perceived individually and is equated with development; and interaction with individuals and the environment influences the way humans perceive the stages of life. From the propositions, it was concluded that human life is highlighted with individualized milestones considered as success achieved within specific ages, influenced by individuals and the environment, as people continuously go through the process of development.
An approach to measuring business-IT alignment maturity via DoDAF2.0

: Measuring the business-IT alignment (BITA) of an organization determines its alignment level, provides directions for further improvements, and consequently promotes the organizational performances. Due to the capabilities of enterprise architecture (EA) in interrelating different business/IT viewpoints and elements, the development of EA is superior to support BITA measurement. Extant BITA measurement literature is sparse when it concerns EA. The literature tends to explain how EA viewpoints or models correlate with BITA, without discussing where to collect and integrate EA data. To address this gap, this paper attempts to propose a speci ﬁ c BITA measurement process through associating a BITA maturity model with a famous EA framework: DoD Architectural Framework 2.0 (DoDAF2.0). The BITA metrics in the maturity model are connected to the meta-models and models of DoDAF2.0. An illustrative ArchiSurance case is conducted to explain the measurement process. Systematically, this paper explores the process of BITA measurement from the viewpoint of EA, which helps to collect the measurement data in an organized way and analyzes the BITA level in the phase of architecture development.
Investigations into selective metabolic aspects of bifidobacteria: carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and plasmid biology

Investigations into selective metabolic aspects of bifidobacteria: carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and plasmid biology Author(s) O'Connell, Kerry Joan Publication date 2014 Original citation O'Connell, K. J. 2014. Investigations into selective metabolic aspects of bifidobacteria: Carbohydrate metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and plasmid biology. PhD Thesis, University College Cork. Type of publication Doctoral thesis Rights © 2014, Kerry J. O'Connell http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
The Effects of Virtual Reality Affordances and Constraints on Negative Group Effects during Brainstorming Sessions

Idea generation processes are important for companies to develop new products and services, and brainstorming is a popular method for generating ideas in groups. However, it has been shown that negative group effects can occur during brainstorming sessions, especially since teams today often collaborate from different locations. Therefore, electronic brainstorming systems are needed that foster creativity while reducing negative group effects. We extend the research on electronic brainstorming systems by investigating how virtual reality affordances and constraints influence the occurrence of negative group effects in virtual reality brainstorming sessions. We conduct a qualitative study with 18 participants consisting of virtual reality brainstorming sessions and subsequent interviews. Using the affordance network approach, we explain the occurrence of production blocking and evaluation apprehension. Furthermore, we suggest extending this approach by incorporating constraint-outcome units and discuss whether the notion of affordance actualization can be transferred to constraints.