Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen in crop production: An account of global flows

Human activities have roughly doubled the amount of reactive N that enters the element's biospheric cycle. Crop production is by far the single largest cause of this anthropogenic alteration. Inorganic fertilizers now provide 80 Tg N yr−1 (Tg = 1012 g), managed (symbiotic) biofixation adds about 20 Tg N yr−1, and between 28 and 36 Tg N yr−1 are recycled in organic wastes. Anthropogenic inputs (including N in seeds and irrigation water) now supply about 85% of 170 (151–186) Tg N reaching the world's cropland every year. About half of this input, 85 Tg N yr−1, is taken up by harvested crops and their residues. Quantification of N losses from crop fields is beset by major uncertainties. Losses to the atmosphere (denitrification and volatilization) amount to 26–60 Tg N yr−1, while waters receive (from leaching and erosion) 32–45 Tg N yr−1. These N losses are the major reason behind the growing concerns about the enrichment of the biosphere with reactive N. The best evidence suggests that in spite of some significant local and regional losses, the world's agricultural land accumulates N. The addition of 3–4 billion people before the year 2050 will require further substantial increases of N input in cropping, but a large share of this demand can come from improved efficiency of N fertilizer use.
Human Capital and the Quantity-Quality Trade-Off during the Demographic Transition: New Evidence from Ireland

In this article I measure the child quantity-quality relationship in 1911 Ireland. My analysis shows that sibship size had a strong impact on the probability of school enrollment in both Belfast and Dublin. However, the magnitude of the relationship varied considerably across di fferent cohorts, most noticeably between the two cities. The existence of this relationship shows how the demographic transition played a vital role in the expansion of human capital and is highly consistent with the theoretical foundations of various long-run growth theories.
MODIFIED DECT 3 G PHYSICAL LAYER WITH IMPROVED MULTI – RATE CAPABILITY

The DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) standard is a member of the IMT– 2000 family. The 3rd Generation (3G) DECT physical layer provides multi–level modulation capability for bit–rates going upto 3.5 Mbps. Recently, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) has also been proposed based on the DECT standard [1]. However, DECT is inefficient for providing low bit–rate channels (e.g., 8 kbps for voice) and does not have sufficient granularity in the bit–rates supported, unlike the 3G CDMA standards. We present a novel modification to the DECT physical layer for creating low bit–rate channels as well as for increasing the granularity. An important feature of the proposal is that the 3G DECT radio hardware needs no change – only the software in the radio is new. The new bit–rates are achieved by employing proportionately less bandwidth. The sensitivity too increases likewise. New transmitter and receiver algorithms are developed and issues regarding their implementation are discussed.
TREATMENT DURATION AND EFFICACY OF COUPLED MOTOR RECOVERY PROTOCOLS

of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Exercise and Sport Sciences TREATMENT DURATION AND EFFICACY OF COUPLED MOTOR RECOVERY PROTOCOLS By David A. E. Bolton August 2003 Chair: James Cauraugh Major Department: Exercise and Sport Sciences Motor impairment is a major consequence following stroke. Recovery of movement, particularly in the upper extremity, poses a challenge for rehabilitation specialists and therefore the search to find effective modes of intervention continues. EMG-triggered neuromuscular stimulation studies have demonstrated functional improvements; however, the application of this treatment has lacked standardization. One of the major issues needing resolution is treatment duration of coupled protocols (bilateral movements and active stimulation). The present study addressed treatment duration by comparing motor function over the course of a 4-week (12 hours) treatment period. Training involved EMG-triggered neuromuscular stimulation on the impaired limb coupled with concurrent extension of the unimpaired wrist and fingers. All participants were trained twice per week on average for 120 stimulation trials per session for a total duration of approximately 4 weeks (12 hours).
Ouroboros Crypsinous: Privacy-Preserving Proof-of-Stake

We present Ouroboros Crypsinous, the first formally analyzed privacy-preserving proof-of-stake blockchain protocol. To model its security we give a thorough treatment of private ledgers in the (G)UC setting that might be of independent interest. To prove our protocol secure against adaptive attacks, we introduce a new coin evolution technique relying on SNARKs and key-private forward secure encryption. The latter primitive—and the associated construction—can be of independent interest. We stress that existing approaches to private blockchain, such as the proof-of-work-based Zerocash are analyzed only against static corruptions.
Stereo Matching Algorithm Based on 2D Delaunay Triangulation

To fulfill the applications on robot vision, the commonly used stereo matching method for depth estimation is supposed to be efficient in terms of running speed and disparity accuracy. Based on this requirement, Delaunay-based stereo matching method is proposed to achieve the aforementioned standards in this paper. First, a Canny edge operator is used to detect the edge points of an image as supporting points. Those points are then processed using a Delaunay triangulation algorithm to divide the whole image into a series of linked triangular facets. A proposed module composed of these facets performs a rude estimation of image disparity. According to the triangular property of shared vertices, the estimated disparity is then refined to generate the disparity map. The method is tested on Middlebury stereo pairs. The running time of the proposed method is about 1 s and the matching accuracy is 93%. Experimental results show that the proposed method improves both running speed and disparity accuracy, which forms a steady foundation and good application prospect for a robot’s path planning system with stereo camera devices.
Genome-wide Identification and Structural Analysis of Pyrophosphatase Gene Family in Cotton

Pyrophosphatase is a hydrolytic enzyme that utilizes pyrophosphate as a substrate. H+-PPase, an important proton pump on the vacuolar membrane, plays an important role in regulating cell expansion, H+ electrochemical gradient, and secondary active transport of inorganic ions, organic acids and saccharides. Under low temperature, drought, high NaCl concentration, and hypoxia, H+-PPase gene expression is promoted to maintain the intracellular balance and enhance the ability of stress resistance in plants. The GhVP gene family is a class of H+-PPase genes in Gossypium hirsutum L. The present study identified 13 H+PPase genes from diploid Gossypium raimondii Ulbrich (genome D) and Gossypium arboreum L. (genome A), and analyzed their genetic structures and systematic evolution. The 13 H+-PPase genes, including six and seven from diploid G. arboreum and G. raimondii, respectively, were obtained with GhVP as a reference. The H+-PPase genes belong to a relatively conserved family in plant evolution. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the genes of the same species showed high sequence similarities and relatively close genetic relationships. Gene structural analysis indicated that most of the H+-PPase genes had 7–8 exons, with a few having a variable number (1–14) of exons. By analyzing the conserved domain, the H+-PPase genes showed several relatively conserved structural domains, such as a myristyl site, casein kinase site II, and protein kinase phosphorylation site. These findings provide a basis for the further characterization of the H+-PPase gene function in cotton. Analysis by qRT-PCR showed that a different expression level of gene members in the V-PPase family existed in different tissues; for example, gene expression was highest in leaves and lowest in fibers to suggest that V-PPase expression is tissue-specific. Moreover, with the salt stress intensity increasing, the changes of expression level of the V-PPase genes were different. X. Zhao, X. Lu, Z. Yin, D. Wang, J. Wang, W. Fan, S. Wang, T. Zhang, and W. Ye, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology and Institute of Cotton Research of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China. X. Zhao and X. Lu contributed equally to this work. Received 16 Dec. 2014. Accepted 6 Jan. 2016. Assigned to Associate Editor Peng Chee. *Corresponding author (yew158@163.com). Abbreviations: PPase, pyrophosphatase; JGI, Joint Genome Institute. Published in Crop Sci. 56:1831–1840 (2016). doi: 10.2135/cropsci2014.12. 0832 © Crop Science Society of America | 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Published April 15, 2016
Followership in Higher Education: Academic Teachers and their Formal Leaders

The concept of followership in higher education has been given limited attention despite the fact that followers are key players in the follower/leader equation and that leadership is increasingly seen as vital to improving the student learning experience. This paper explores this concept, reporting on the findings of a qualitative study underpinned by a socio-constructivist framework. Thirty-eight narratives describing the experience of being a follower and interacting with a formal leader were collected from academic teachers in seven institutions worldwide and analysed using inductive content analysis. The richness of the narratives collected illustrates the intricate relationship formed by the followership/leadership interaction. The results affirm the premise that, just as teachers are defined by their students’ learning, leaders are defined by their followers’ engagement. However, some teachers also display a strong reluctance towards the very idea of being a follower in academia where critical and independent thinking form the backbone of all practices. Negotiation, responsibility, and mutual respect appear essential aspects of any form of followership/leadership interaction as it directly or indirectly influences student learning and personal development. The research presented suggests that, in challenging times, academic leaders must attend to the characteristics and needs of their followers.
HOMOLOGY OF SPACES WITH OPERATORS. I

The object of this paper is to study simultaneous invariants of a topological space X and of an abstract group W acting as a group of transformations on X. We assume that W also acts as a group of operators on the coefficient group G. In addition to the ordinary homology groups of X over G we define two "special" ones that we call the equivariant and the residual homology groups. The three kinds of homology groups are connected by homomorphisms which form an exact sequence, that is, a sequence in which each homomorphism has as kernel the image of the preceding homomorphism. The same is done with cohomologies. We use singular homology theory [3](x) throughout; this permits us to drop all finiteness assumptions on W. In this respect our approach seems to differ from the one very successfully used by P. A. Smith [16]. In Chapter I we develop the theory of abstract complexes with operators. In Chapter II we define the special groups for a topological space X and show that if X is a simplicial complex and if W operates on X simplicially, then the special groups can be computed from the simplicial scheme of X. In the last part of Chapter II we define for each (discrete) group W an abstract complex Kw which has W as a group of operators. The equivarient groups of Kw are shown to be isomorphic with the homology and cohomology groups of the group W studied by Eilenberg and MacLane [5, 6, 7] and Hopf [10]. In Chapter III we assume that W operates on X without fixed points and that the ordinary homology groups of X vanish up to a certain dimension. It is then shown that the equivariant and residual groups of the space X are isomorphic with the appropriate groups of the group W. In Chapter IV these results are applied to prove some theorems about continuous mappings of spaces with operators. In Chapter V we take up the homology theory with local coefficient introduced recently by Steenrod [17]. Roughly speaking a homology (or cohomology) group with local coefficients arises whenever the fundamental group tti(X) operates on the coefficient group G. Ii X~ denotes the universal covering space of X, then W—iri(X) operates both on X~ and on G thus giving rise to the equivariant groups of X~. We show that the equivariant
Effects of Qili Qiangxin capsule on renal aquaporin-2 expression in rats with chronic heart failure

Qili Qiangxin is a traditional Chinese medical formulation, which can improve cardiac function, urine volume, and subjective symptoms in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We sought to investigate whether Qili Qiangxin could suppress renal aquaporin-2 (AQP2) expression in a rat model of CHF. High, medium, and low dosages of Qili Qiangxin (1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 g.kg−1.d−1, respectively) were administered intragastrically to rats with CHF. The continuous administration of Qili Qiangxin for 1 week increased urine volume while the indexes of cardiac function were unchanged after treatment for 1 week. Interestingly, after treatment with Qili Qiangxin for 4 weeks, daily urine output, ejection fraction, and fractional shortening values were significantly increased in rats with CHF, with more significant changes in the high dosage group. Levels of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide and renal V2R mRNA, AQP2 mRNA, and protein expression were significantly decreased. Treatment with Qili Qiangxin for 4 weeks can attenuate AQP2 expression in the kidneys and improve the cardiac function in rats with CHF.
Differences in the scope of obstruent voicing assimilation in learners' English as a consequence of regional variation in Polish

The question of what factors, and to what extent, shape the phonetic performance of second language learners has been the subject of much debate (see for instance Ioup & Weinberger 1987 or James & Leather 1987). One factor whose importance has remained, and is likely to remain, relatively unchallenged is the influence of the sound system of learners' native language. This effect is usually referred to as L1 transfer in the ESL/EFL literature, as parameters (speech habits, features, realisations, rules, processes, etc. – specific formulations vary with different approaches) of native language (L1) pronunciation are transferred or carried over to the second (L2, learned) language. In the present study I undertake to investigate if, and how, regional differences in Polish with respect to regressive sandhi voicing assimilation may influence the corresponding aspects of learners' English pronunciation. I will also consider some practical implications of the results for pronunciation teaching.
Persistent Multiple Jets and PV Staircase

Abstract The persistence of multiple jets is investigated with a quasigeostrophic, two-layer, β-plane channel model. Linearly unstable normal modes are found to be capable of qualitatively describing the eddy fluxes of the nonlinear model. For a persistent double jet (PDJ) state, the most unstable normal mode has its largest amplitude located between the two jets, with a downshear tilt that acts to keep the jets separated. The opposite tilt occurs for a double jet state that is intermittent. An analysis of these normal modes, which utilized the concept of counterpropagating Rossby waves (CRWs), suggests that the downshear tilt in the interjet region hinges on the presence of critical latitudes only in the lower layer. This conclusion in turn suggests that the initial generation of the persistent jets requires L/Cgy < r−1, where L is the distance between the wave source (jet) and sink (interjet), Cgy is the meridional group velocity, and r is the linear damping rate. Similar CRW analysis for a conventional.
Domain Adaptation of SRL Systems for Biological Processes

Domain adaptation remains one of the most challenging aspects in the wide-spread use of Semantic Role Labeling (SRL) systems. Current state-of-the-art methods are typically trained on large-scale datasets, but their performances do not directly transfer to low-resource domain-specific settings. In this paper, we propose two approaches for domain adaptation in the biological domain that involves pre-training LSTM-CRF based on existing large-scale datasets and adapting it for a low-resource corpus of biological processes. Our first approach defines a mapping between the source labels and the target labels, and the other approach modifies the final CRF layer in sequence-labeling neural network architecture. We perform our experiments on ProcessBank dataset which contains less than 200 paragraphs on biological processes. We improve over the previous state-of-the-art system on this dataset by 21 F1 points. We also show that, by incorporating event-event relationship in ProcessBank, we are able to achieve an additional 2.6 F1 gain, giving us possible insights into how to improve SRL systems for biological process using richer annotations.
Measuring Global Oceans and Terrestrial Freshwater From Space

Radar altimetry has revolutionized oceanography by providing global measurements of ocean surface topography (OST [e.g., Fu and Cazenave, 2001]). Long-term measurements of large-scale circulation and heat storage of the global oceans have led to discoveries such as the effects of changes in ocean circulation on climate (e.g., El Nino and La Nina). A critical limitation, however, is the 200- to 300-kilometer spacings between satellite orbital tracks, which are unable to resolve the currents and oceanic mesoscale processes that contain 90% of the kinetic energy of the oceans. In contrast to ocean observations, surface freshwater measurements are limited mostly to in situ networks of gauges that record water surface elevations at fixed points along river channels. Globally, the spatial and temporal distribution of water stored on the land surface and moving through river channels is known only crudely. Furthermore, water movement in wetlands and across floodplains throughout the world is essentially unmeasured, significantly limiting our understanding of flood processes.
Micronucleus test and comet assay in erythrocytes of the Amazonian electric fish Apteronotus bonapartii exposed to benzene

In this study we address the genotoxicity and putative mutagenic effects of benzene (BZN) in the erythrocytes of the electric fish Apteronotus bonapartii (Gymnotiformes, Apteronotidae) using the micronucleus test (MN) and comet assay, under controlled laboratory conditions. Electric fish were collected in the Solimoes River, Manaus-AM, Brazil, and the specimens were exposed to 10 and 25 ppm concentrations of BZN, in 150L tanks. Blood samples were collected at 0 (T0), 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours of exposure. For the concentration of 10 ppm BZN, the number of comets was significantly higher than T0 levels after exposure of 48 hours, whereas the nuclear abnormalities (including MN) did not show any increase in relation to the controls (T0) up to 96 hours. For the 25 ppm BZN, MN rates presented a significant increase after 72 hours, whereas other types of nuclear abnormalities increased in frequency after various exposure times, ranging from 24 to 72 hours. The number of comets increased significantly from 24 hours onwards for 25 ppm BZN. Both assays also showed a gradual increase in the number of damaged cells after longer exposure periods, indicating a time-dependent effect, especially at the highest BZN concentrations tested. This investigation reinforces the potential use of the endemic South American electric fish as a suitable genotoxicity biological model for biomonitoring purposes in the Amazon. Keywords: Comet assay, Micronucleus test, Apteronotus bonapartii, Benzene, Biomonitoring, Electric fish, Amazon
Database-Backed Scene Completion

Ever have an almost-perfect photo? Maybe it’s that photo of the beach that your dweeb uncle stepped in front of, or that wedding photo ruined by the donut truck driving in the background. Scene completion is the task of taking a photo and replacing a particular region of that photo with an aesthetically sensible alternative. In this work we demonstrate our implementation of a method originally implemented by Hayes & Efros which produces interesting scene completions utilizing a very large database of images.
Ellipsometric and spectrophotometric investigations of porous silica thin films produced by Sol–Gel method

The work presents the optical properties of porous silica thin films prepared by TEOS sol–gel method. The films were deposited onto glass substrate using dip-coating technique. The spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements have been performed to determine the optical constants of the films. This technique also enabled evaluation of the depolarization for the investigated layers. Additionally, the spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance and reflectance by the use of integrating sphere and reflectance probe have been made with the aim of possible application of the films as antireflective coatings.
Analysis of Open Stub Resonator and its Application in Dual Isolation Band of SPDT Switch Design

In this paper, an analysis of open stub resonator is presented and its application in dual isolation band of Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switch is proposed. A mathematical model and the characteristic of the bandstop of the resonator were analyzed and discussed. The open stub resonator was implemented using the microstrip transmission line and able to switch between bandstop and allpass responses. Frequency bands of 2.3 and 3.5 GHz were chosen to demonstrate the dual isolation band in the switch design. The performance results of the SPDT switch showed that the isolation was greater than 30 dB, return loss was greater than 10 dB and insertion loss less than 2 dB at the center resonant frequency of 2.3 and 3.5 GHz. The potential application of the proposed dual isolation band of SPDT switch is for multi band RF front-end system such as WiMAX, LTE, WiFi and HyperLAN. Full Text: PDF DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/ijece.v6i6. 11495
THE ROLE OF SEATBACK AND HEAD RESTRAINT DESIGN PARAMETERS ON REAR IMPACT OCCUPANT DYNAMICS

Although typically classified as AIS 1, whiplash injuries continue to represent a substantial societal problem with associated costs estimated at over $5 billion annually in the US. The primary objective of this study was to determine the effects of seatback and head restraint design parameters on occupant response in rear impact. Rear impact sled tests were conducted using the Hybrid III mid-sized male (50M) dummy seated in a modified production seat, which allowed for the adjustment of recliner stiffness, seatback cushion stiffness, and head restraint height. Instrumentation provided measurements of neck forces and moments, head motion relative to the torso, seatback rotation, and head contact. An on-board digital video camera recorded dummy kinematics. Results from this study indicate that the risk of whiplash injury is not simply related to head restraint position, but is dependent on a combination of factors related to both head restraint and seatback design. For the covering abstract see ITRD E825082.