Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comprehensive Geographic Networks Analysis: Statistical, Geometric and Algebraic Perspectives

Using complex network analysis methods to analyze the internal structure of geographic networks is a popular topic in urban geography research. Statistical analysis occupies a dominant position in the current research on geographic networks. This perspective mainly focuses on node connectivity, while other perspectives, such as geometric and algebraic perspectives, can provide additional insights into network structure. Using 11 different real-world geographic networks as examples, this study examines geographic networks from statistical, geometric, and algebraic perspectives. The following are some of the paper’s new findings: (1) When viewed statistically, geometrically, and algebraically, geographic networks have completely different properties. The statistical perspective describes both local and global connectivity; the Ricci curvature in the geometric perspective can assess the network’s development potential as well as describe its transmission capability, and the algebraic perspective can capture the global network topology other than connectivity; (2) Networks are qualitatively and quantitatively classified from three perspectives. The classification results are in accordance with the topological robustness experiment results, which indicate that an analysis from many angles has a lot of practical relevance; (3) Statistical indicators are better than Ricci curvature in identifying essential nodes in networks from a geometric standpoint, whereas the latter is better at detecting significant edges. Overall, studying geographic networks from various perspectives may provide new insights into their understanding.
Survey of Automated Fare Collection Solutions in Public Transportation

Public transportation is expensive to operate and maintain and is often unsatisfactory. The attractiveness of public transportation can be enhanced by making it more seamless, which, in turn, would reduce financial constraints and inefficiencies. The adoption of mobile devices for ticketing solutions is promising. However, current solutions are often inflexible and require manual interactions that produce evanescent data. Therefore, using leading-edge technologies and infrastructure, it is desirable to develop a solution to fully automate fare collection. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive literature review to understand the state of public transportation and to facilitate the development and implementation of automated fare collection solutions. First, we discuss existing mobile technologies and their common ticketing implementations. Second, we provide a predictive behavior model with sensor analytics to better understand customer needs. Finally, we highlight how machine learning can harness transactional ticketing data to create valuable business intelligence. Overall, developing and implementing automated fare collection solutions in urban transportation is expected to have a significant positive impact on customer experiences, the emergence of new business models and the reduction of pollutant emissions.
Average Performance of OMP and Thresholding Under Dictionary Mismatch

This paper studies the performance of OMP in comparison to Thresholding in the case in which only a perturbed version of the generating dictionary is known. Both theory and numerical simulations show that simple Thresholding is a viable alternative to OMP in applications where only a perturbed version of the generating dictionary is given, such as dictionary learning.
Machine Learning-Based Angle of Arrival Estimation for Ultra-Wide Band Radios

This letter analyzes the feasibility of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) for accurate ultra-wideband (UWB) angle of arrival estimation that is robust against hardware imperfections. To this end, a uniform linear array with four antenna elements is leveraged and a DCNN approach is proposed and compared with traditional approaches, such as MUSIC and phase difference of arrival estimators, for different environments, number of available channel impulse responses, and polarization mismatches, in terms of absolute value of error and computational complexity. The proposed approach outperforms the traditional approaches up to 80° error reduction at a computational complexity increase of only 10% compared to MUSIC.
Study on Forest Management Plan Based on Forecast of the Carbon Sequestration and Comprehensive Value

Carbon sequestration by the forest and its products can help to reduce carbon dioxide. However, when trees age, they will release the carbon accumulated in the body. So it raises the problem that how to make trees into products at the appropriate amount and time and make an effective forest management plan. Firstly, "DBH-Biomass-carbon sequestration" model is developed to calculate the amount of carbon sequestration of a tree at different ages. Then we predict the total carbon sequestration of a forest in the next 100 years, assuming that the age distribution of a forest obeys a normal distribution, and the best cutting time for a tree is when its marginal carbon sequestration is zero. Besides carbon sequestration, we introduce ecological, economic, and social dimensions to evaluate the comprehensive value of forests, and use the multi-objective planning model to obtain the optimized annual deforestation plan which take ecological, economic, and social dimensions into account. Finally, we select Tianshan Spruce Forest to apply the above models. The results show that the carbon sequestration of spruce began to decline after the age of 21. compare two management plans, one is to cut down spruce trees older than 21 years old every year and the other is to neither cut nor plant, we find that the forest carbon sequestration amount in 100 years for plan one and two is 4571t and 1728t, respectively.
Simulation of Nonlinear Tracked Vehicle Suspension with ADAMS

Based on the structure and componential properties of tracked vehicle suspension, a nonlinear half-vehicle model with 8 DOFs is used to simulate the suspension. It also provided ways and means of establishing and analyzing the model with the ADAMS. A time domain road input construction method is proposed, and the influence of the track is considered. Simulation results under the representative velocity and road input proved that the model can simulate the geometrical nonlinearity of the suspension very well, even when some road wheels bounce off the ground. Based on this model, the optimum suspension damping and stiffness coefficients under different running conditions can be work out with the optimize function of ADAMS.
‘The Minister Wants it’: Self-Politicisation and Proxy Politics among Senior Civil Servants

In this article, I ask how senior civil servants (SCSs) practice functional politicisation. The literature suggests that they balance responsiveness with astuteness towards ministers, while maintaining neutral competence. However, functional politicisation is prone to affect this balance. Drawing on 160 h of ethnographic shadowing in Dutch government, I show three faces of functional politicisation; while directly advising ministers, in the preparation of policy advice and while working in the public eye. The findings suggest that senior civil servants actively try to align their fellow civil servants with their version of the minister’s wishes. This practice of ‘proxy politics’ calls for a shift in functional politicisation research from political ‘skills’ to ‘authority claims’ among senior civil servants. I conclude with urgent implications for politicisation theory and civil service practice.
A Review of Organic Waste Treatment Using Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens)

The increase in solid waste generation is caused primarily by the global population growth that resulted in urban sprawl, economic development, and consumerism. Poor waste management has adverse impacts on the environment and human health. The recent years have seen increasing interest in using black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, as an organic waste converter. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) feed voraciously on various types of organic waste, including food wastes, agro-industrial by-products, and chicken and dairy manure, and reduce the initial weight of the organic waste by about 50% in a shorter period than conventional composting. The main components of the BSFL system are the larvero, where the larvae feed and grow, and the fly house, where the adults BSF live and reproduce. It is essential to have a rearing facility that maintains the healthy adult and larval BSF to provide a sufficient and continuous supply of offspring for organic waste treatment. The BSF organic waste processing facility consists of waste pre-processing, BSFL biowaste treatment, the separation of BSFL from the process residue, and larvae and residue refinement into marketable products. BSFL digest the nutrients in the wastes and convert them into beneficial proteins and fats used to produce animal feed, and BSFL residue can be used as an organic fertilizer. This review summarizes the BSFL treatment process to provide an in-depth understanding of the value of its by-products as animal feed and organic fertilizer.
Removal of Cd2+ in water by FeSO4 magnetic modified eggshell adsorbent

Cadmium content in the environment if exceeded would cause significant harm to human health. In this study, a FeSO 4 and magnetism modified method was used to prepare an eggshell magnetic adsorbent (BC-FM) to adsorb cadmium in water. Through material characterization and a series of experiments on the adsorption of Cd 2+ , the adsorption characteristics and mecha- nism were studied. Characterization showed that the specific surface area and total pore volume of BC-FM were increased after modification, and the magnetic functional group Fe–O (γ-Fe 2 O 3 ) was successfully attached to the surface of BC-FM. Compared with the original adsorbent (BC), the adsorption capacity of BC-FM was greatly improved, and their equilibrium adsorption capaci- ties were respectively 4.82 and 47.33 mg g –1 . Pseudo-second-order kinetics equation and Langmuir adsorption isotherm fit the adsorption process well. pH and the presence of Mg 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cu 2+ and Zn 2+ had great influence on its capacity to absorb Cd 2+ . The main adsorption mechanisms were surface adsorption, strong electrostatic interaction and complexation of oxygen-containing functional groups and compounds containing Fe. BC-FM was easy to separate from water and has good reuse performance. After 5 cycles of adsorption–desorption, the adsorption capacity of Cd 2+ still reached 81.9% of that of fresh adsorbent.
Modeling and Sliding-Mode Control for Launch and Recovery System in Predictable Sea States With Feasibility Check for Collision Avoidance

This article investigates a deterministic sea wave prediction-based noncausal control scheme for the launch and recovery (L&R) from a mother ship of small rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs) for maritime rescue missions. The proposed control scheme achieves an automatic hoisting process ensuring that no collisions occur between the RHIB and mothership hull by using the cable tension force as the manipulated control input. A state-space model of the L&R system is established for the first time where the wave forces and external disturbances such as wind acting on both the mothership and the small boat are fully considered. A fast and safe recovery is ensured by a fixed-time convergent sliding-mode controller, which shortens the cable length to a target value with zero terminal velocity at a predefined time instant subject to unknown disturbances and model mismatches. Since the overall dynamics of the swing angle is underactuated, a feasibility check is proposed to avoid collisions between two vessels and overlarge angular velocities by determining a proper time instant to initiate the hoisting process. To cope with the model mismatch and the external disturbance, the constraints on the swing angle and angular velocity are tightened to ensure safety. The stability of the proposed controller is proven and details of the feasibility check are given. The fidelity of the model and the effectiveness of the proposed scheme are demonstrated in simulation where a realistic sea wave is applied.
Visual Analytics of Multivariate Intensive Care Time Series Data

We present an approach for visual analysis of high‐dimensional measurement data with varying sampling rates as routinely recorded in intensive care units. In intensive care, most assessments not only depend on one single measurement but a plethora of mixed measurements over time. Even for trained experts, efficient and accurate analysis of such multivariate data remains a challenging task. We present a linked‐view post hoc visual analytics application that reduces data complexity by combining projection‐based time curves for overview with small multiples for details on demand. Our approach supports not only the analysis of individual patients but also of ensembles by adapting existing techniques using non‐parametric statistics. We evaluated the effectiveness and acceptance of our approach through expert feedback with domain scientists from the surgical department using real‐world data: a post‐surgery study performed on a porcine surrogate model to identify parameters suitable for diagnosing and prognosticating the volume state, and clinical data from a public database. The results show that our approach allows for detailed analysis of changes in patient state while also summarizing the temporal development of the overall condition.
Adaptive Ascent Control of a Collaborative Object Transportation System Using Two Quadrotors

The paper focuses on the issue of collaborative control of a two quadrotor (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle QDR) system. In particular, two quadrotors perform the task of horizontally transporting a long payload along a predefined trajectory. A leader–follower method is used to synchronize the motion of both QDRs. Conventional PD controllers drive the motion of the leader QDR-L to follow a predefined trajectory. To control a follower QDR-F drive, in the case of indoor applications, a Position Feedback Controller approach (PFC) can be used. To control the QDR-F, the PFC system uses the position information of QDR-L and the required accurate tracking cameras. In our solution, outdoor applications are considered, and usage of the Global Positioning System (GPS) is needed. However, GPS errors can adversely affect the system’s stability. The Force Feedback Controller approach (FFC) is therefore implemented to control the QDR-F motion. The FFC system assumes a rigid gripping of payload by both QDRs. The QDR-F collaborative motion is controlled using the feedback contact forces and torques acting on it due to the motion of the QDR-L. For FFC implementation, the principle of admittance control is used. The admittance controller simulates a virtual “mass-spring-damper” system and drives the motion of the QDR-F according to the contact forces. With the FFC control scheme, the follower QDR-F can be controlled without using the QDR-L positional feedback and the GPS. The contribution to the quality of payload transportation is the novelty of the article. In practice, one of the requirements may be to maintain the horizontal position of the payload. In this paper, an original solution is presented to minimize the horizontal position difference of both QDRs. A new procedure of the transfer admittance controller adaptation according to the mass of the transported payload is designed. The adaptive admittance FFC system is implemented in a Matlab-Simulink environment. The effectiveness of its trajectory tracking and horizontal stabilization functions for variations of the payload mass are demonstrated by numerical calculations.
Estimating Reservoir Storage Variations by Combining Sentinel-2 and 3 Measurements in the Yliki Reservoir, Greece

Inland water resources are facing increasing quantitative and qualitative pressures, deriving from anthropogenic causes and the ongoing climate change. The monitoring of reservoirs is essential for sustainable management and preparation against water scarcity and extreme events, such as droughts. This research, relying on the Sentinel-2 and 3 missions, attempts to demonstrate the efficiency of combining remotely sensed water level and water area estimations, in order to estimate the water storage variation of Yliki reservoir. The case study is conducted in one of the few sufficiently monitored reservoirs in Greece, enabling a direct comparison of the proposed methodology results with in situ observations. Moreover, this research work proposes a weekly time interval for pairing level and area estimations, instead of shorter time intervals. The results strongly demonstrate the efficiency of remote sensing in the production of empirical level–area–storage (L–A–S) curves. Correlation to in situ monitored storage- and satellite-derived water level, area stand for 98.81% and 99.27% respectively. Water storage variation is estimated and compared to the observed time series, resulting in an RMSE of 1.28% of the reservoir capacity and a correlation of 96.14%. The empirical L–S relationship underestimates storage, while the A–S relationship overestimates storage when compared to the existing L–A–S curve.
Tearas Feollon: Tears and Weeping in Old English Literature

This contribution surveys the range of images of weeping in Old English literature, concentrating particularly on weeping due to suffering, grief and unhappiness, and on tears of compunction, but examining other types of weeping as well, including supplicatory and sympathetic weeping (these latter are found in prose but not in poetry). Taking account of contemporary theory, the study understands weeping to be a physical manifestation of distress, but also to function as a social gesture, as reflected in the circumstance that most weeping in Old English is public rather than private. It is noted that saints do not normally weep in the literature despite the suffering they typically endure, and also that in traditional Old English poetry weeping is seen as not appropriate for men, or at least for men in the prime of life. Some of the most interesting instances of weeping in Old English, however, are to be found in episodes that appear to contradict or problematize such expectations, as is illustrated by the examination of a number of relevant examples. The references to weeping cited in this study are in the majority of cases based on Latin models, and reflect the wider Christian literary tradition in the early Middle Ages, rather than being specific to Anglo-Saxon England; but, in both religious and secular works, Old English writers are shown to be thoughtful and imaginative in their treatment of weeping and to deploy images of it to forceful emotive effect.
Seed Menus: An integrated decision‐support framework for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert

Abstract The combination of ecosystem stressors, rapid climate change, and increasing landscape‐scale development has necessitated active restoration across large tracts of disturbed habitats in the arid southwestern United States. In this context, programmatic directives such as the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration have increasingly emphasized improved restoration practices that promote resilient, diverse plant communities, and enhance native seed reserves. While decision‐support tools have been implemented to support genetic diversity by guiding seed transfer decisions based on patterns in local adaptation, less emphasis has been placed on identifying priority seed mixes composed of native species assemblages. Well‐designed seed mixes can provide foundational ecosystem services including resilience to disturbance, resistance to invasive species, plant canopy structure to facilitate natural seedling recruitment, and habitat to support wildlife and pollinator communities. Drawing from a newly developed dataset of species distribution models for priority native plant taxa in the Mojave Desert, we created a novel decision support tool by pairing spatial predictions of species habitat with a database of key species traits including life history, flowering characteristics, pollinator relationships, and propagation methods. This publicly available web application, Mojave Seed Menus, helps restoration practitioners generate customized seed mixes for native plant restoration in the Mojave Desert based on project locations. Our application forms part of an integrated Mojave Desert restoration program designed to help practitioners identify species to include in local seed mixes and nursery stock development while accounting for local adaptation by identifying appropriate seed source locations from key restoration species.
In Vitro Cytotoxic Activity and Phytochemical Characterization (UPLC/T-TOF-MS/MS) of the Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) Rind Extract

Reusing food waste is becoming popular in pharmaceutical industries. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) rind is commonly discarded as a major solid waste. Here, the in vitro cytotoxic potential of watermelon rind extracts was screened against a panel of human cancer cell lines. Cell cycle analysis was used to determine the induction of cell death, whereas annexin V-FITC binding, caspase-3, BAX, and BCL-2 mRNA expression levels were used to determine the degree of apoptosis. VEGF-promoting angiogenesis and cell migration were also evaluated. Moreover, the identification of phytoconstituents in the rind extract was achieved using UPLC/T-TOF-MS/MS, and a total of 45 bioactive compounds were detected, including phenolic acids, flavonoids aglycones, and their glycoside derivatives. The tested watermelon rind extracts suppressed cell proliferation in seven cancer cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner. The cytotoxicity of the rind aqueous extract (RAE) was higher compared with that of the other extracts. In addition to a substantial inhibitory effect on cell migration, the RAE triggered apoptosis in HCT116 and Hep2 cells by driving the accumulation of cells in the S phase and elevating the activity of caspase-3 and the BAX/BCL-2 ratio. Thus, a complete phytochemical and cytotoxic investigation of the Citrullus lanatus rind extract may identify its potential potency as an anticancer agent.
Developing management capability within a horizontal supply chain in performance measurement deployment and evolution: a Dynamic Capabilities and Goal Theory perspective

Abstract Complex collaboration in rapidly changing business environments create challenges for management capability in Utility Horizontal Supply Chains (UHSCs) involving the deploying and evolving of performance measures. The aim of the study is twofold. First, there is a need to explore how management capability can be developed and used to deploy and evolve Performance Measurement (PM), both across a UHSC and within its constituent organisations, drawing upon a theoretical nexus of Dynamic Capability (DC) theory and complementary Goal Theory. Second, to make a contribution to knowledge by empirically building theory using these constructs to show the management motivations and behaviours within PM-based DCs. The methodology uses an interpretive theory building, multiple case-based approach (n = 3) as part of a USHC. The data collection methods include, interviews (n = 54), focus groups (n = 10), document analysis and participant observation (reflective learning logs) over a five-year period giving longitudinal data. The empirical findings lead to the development of a conceptual framework showing that management capabilities in driving PM deployment and evolution can be represented as multilevel renewal and incremental Dynamic Capabilities, which can be further understood in terms of motivation and behaviour by Goal-Theoretic constructs. In addition, three interrelated cross-cutting themes of management capabilities in consensus building, goal setting and resource change were identified. These management capabilities require carefully planned development and nurturing within the UHSC.