Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Different Drying Methods and Slice Thickness on The Quality of Porang (Amorphophallus Muelleri) Chips

Porang (Amorphophallus muelleri) is a type of tuber that has a high glucomannan content. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of slice thickness on the quality of porang tuber chips using the Green House Effect (GHE) method by pretreatment with 0.15% sodium metabisulfite solution immersion. The slice thickness treatment was carried out at three levels, including 4 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm, while the drying treatment was carried out with two types, which are the GHE drying method and the conventional drying method using sunlight. The results of the research on porang chips on brightness, moisture content, glucomannan content, ash content, and calcium oxalate content showed that the thickness of the slices had an effect on the quality of the chips. The thicker the slices of the porang chips, the darker the color of the porang chips. The thicker the slices of the porang chips, the higher the water content of the chips. The amount of glucomannan (%) in porang chips goes down as the slices get bigger.
Brain circuits for retching-like behavior

ABSTRACT Nausea and vomiting are important defensive responses to cope with pathogens and toxins that invade the body. The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is important for initiating these responses. However, the molecular heterogeneities and cellular diversities of the NTS occlude a better understanding of these defensive responses. Here, we constructed the single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of NTS cells and found multiple populations of NTS neurons that may be involved in these defensive responses. Among these, we identified Calbindin1-positive (Calb1+) NTS neurons that are molecularly distinct from Tac1+ neurons. These Calb1+ neurons are critical for nausea and retching induced by cereulide; an emetic toxin secreted by Bacillus Cereus. Strikingly, we found that cereulide can directly modulate vagal sensory neurons that innervate Calb1+ NTS neurons, a novel mechanism distinct from that for nausea and retching induced by Staphylococcal enterotoxin A. Together, our transcriptomic atlas of NTS neurons and the functional analyses revealed the neural mechanism for cereulide-induced retching-like behavior. These results demonstrate the molecular and cellular complexities in the brain that underlie defensive responses to the diversities of pathogens and toxins.
Technological Innovations in Agriculture for Scouting Halyomorpha Halys in Orchards

In this paper, we illustrate the technological innovations we implemented in a test-bed field to automate the bug scouting process. Our work is motivated by the invasive global pest Halyomorpha halys (HH), whose damages have a huge economic impact for fruit orchards. We propose the automation of the time- and labor-intensive process of the HH scouting, traditionally performed by phytosanitary operators. We then describe the selection criteria that led to the hardware architecture designed consisting of a UAV, an RGB vision chip, a new ad hoc trap, and micro-climate stations. We also look for recognition algorithms based on deep learning models that can learn to recognize the HH after a training based on a dataset of images. Our very preliminary results show that the performances of UAV deep learning algorithms trained on artificial datasets are not satisfactory when tested on real images. However, very satisfactory results were obtained from the stationary ad hoc trap monitoring system running on the edge.
The influence of trees and grass on outdoor thermal comfort in a hot‐arid environment

The effects of vegetation on human thermal stress in a hot‐arid region were tested in two semi‐enclosed urban spaces with various combinations of mature trees, grass, overhead shading mesh and paving. The index of thermal stress was calculated hourly from measured meteorological data in the studied sites to evaluate thermal comfort in the different spaces based on radiative and convective pedestrian–environment energy exchanges and sweat efficiency, and expressed on a thermal sensation scale ranging from ‘comfortable’ to ‘very hot’. The efficiency of water use in providing improved comfort was gauged for each of the vegetative landscaping treatments by comparing the total evapotranspiration with the reduction in thermal stress, both expressed in terms of their values in equivalent energy. While conditions in a paved, unshaded courtyard were found to be uncomfortable throughout the daytime hours (with half of these hours defined by severe discomfort), each of the landscape treatments made a clear contribution to improved thermal comfort. With shading, either by trees or mesh, discomfort was reduced in duration by over half and limited in maximum severity when the shading was placed above paving. When combined with grass, both shading mechanisms yielded comfortable conditions at all hours. In both cases, the effect of trees was more pronounced than that of the mesh, but by a small margin. With unshaded grass, ‘hot’ conditions in the courtyard were restricted to a short period in mid‐afternoon, a considerable improvement over unshaded paving, attributable mainly to the lower radiant surface temperatures. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society
Isostatic response of the lithosphere with in-plane stress: Application to central Australia

The relation between gravity and topography in central Australia cannot be described by a conventional isostatic response function, whether it assumes local or regional compensation or whether the crust behaves as an elastic or viscoelastic medium. In particular, the response function exhibits considerable anisotropy. Hence a theory for isostatic response has been developed for a crust in mechanical equilibrium of surface loads, buoyancy, and in-plane forces and subject to erosion, sedimentation, and stress relaxation. The observed north-south response function exhibits extreme isostatic overcompensation at some wavelengths, and this can be fully explained by the Viscoelastic plate model with in-plane compression. The observed east-west response function is consistent with models of regional or local isostatic compensation. The response function implies an effective flexural rigidity of (5–10)×1022 N m, an effective Maxwell relaxation time of 25–50 m.y. , an in-plane compression of 125–150 MPa, and an erosion time constant of about 200 m.y. These parameters assume that the model evolved over a period of about 700 m.y. and are wholly consistent with the evolutionary model developed from geological observations.
Amphibole from the Moine Nappe in Skye

SIRS,—In a recent paper by Matthews and Cheeney (1968, p. 20) a number of analyses of co-existing garnet, biotite, hornblende and epidote from gneisses are presented and discussed. The analysis of hornblende 95052, which is an aluminotschermakite (Leake 1968), is of particular interest. Matthews and Cheeney calculate this analysis to a basis of 23 (O) but as Borg (1967) has convincingly shown the unsatisfactory nature of using 23 (O) as a basis for calculating amphibole formulas, the ions have been recalculated to the more usual basis of 24 (O, OH) (Table 1). The analysis then gives Si 6-21, Al[4] 1-79 and Al[6] 1-26 which is the
An Active Snubber Circuit for High-Capacity DC Chopper to Achieve Soft-Switching Operation for Offshore Wind VSC-HVdc System

The dc chopper (DCC) is the key equipment to realize the fault ride through (FRT) of the offshore wind voltage source converter based high voltage direct current (VSC-HVdc) system. In the existing projects, the solid-state switch is directly connected in parallel with the metal oxide varistor. However, the FRT process lasts for several seconds and the solid-state switch operates at high frequency. The hard-switching operation results in an increase in the number of switches and the limited usage capacity, respectively. In this letter, an active snubber circuit for high-capacity DCC is proposed to achieve soft-switching operation. By actively controlling the capacitor discharge by thyristor, the turn-off voltage and the loss under the multipulse condition are reduced. Furthermore, the working process of the active snubber circuit is analyzed and the parameter selection method is proposed. Finally, the 2 kV/600 A equivalent experimental platform is built, and the experimental results show that the turn-off overvoltage is eliminated, and the turn-on loss and turn-off loss of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) are reduced by 78%, which verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Effects of a GIS Course on Self-Assessment of Spatial Habits of Mind (SHOM)

This study identified five subdimensions of spatial habits of mind—pattern recognition, spatial description, visualization, spatial concept use, and spatial tool use—and created an inventory to measure them. In addition, the effects of GIS learning on spatial habits of mind were investigated. Pre- and post-tests were conducted at the beginning and end of a semester-long GIS course. The results suggest that the inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring spatial habits of mind. Analysis of student responses revealed that completion of a GIS course enhanced their spatial habits of mind. It is believed that this research is relevant to a wide range of disciplines whose practitioners are interested in spatial literacy.
Size‐resolved and chemically resolved model of atmospheric aerosol dynamics

A three-dimensional, size-resolved and chemically resolved aerosol model is developed. Gas-to-particle conversion is represented by dynamic mass transfer between the gas and aerosol phases. Particle-phase thermodynamics is computed by a new thermodynamic model, Simulating Composition of Atmospheric Particles at Equilibrium 2. The aerosol model is applied to simulate gas and aerosol behavior in the August 27-29, 1987, episode in the South Coast Air Basin of California. The assumption that volatile inorganic species such as NH 4 NO 3 are at instantaneous, local equilibrium is examined.
Research on interactions between different operating modes of piezoelectric motors

This paper explores interactions between multiple operating modes of piezoelectric motors. The developed motor can operate in the second-order in-plane bending modes (I), the third-order in-plane bending modes (II) and the first-order out-of-plane bending modes (III). These working modes excited separately and simultaneously, can be manipulated electronically. Each of the vibrational modes can both be driven by applying single-phase and two-phase voltages to piezoelectric ceramic plates. In order to produce all the vibration states, the structural parameters of stator were strictly designed to harmonize two eigenfrequencies of each type of vibrational modes by using finite element software ANSYS. Displacement characteristics of stator driving particles under all vibration states were calculated to evaluate mutual effects of different operating modes. Simulation results reveal that the superposition of I and II corresponds to a mode with lower resonance frequency and larger vibration amplitude in stator body. For the designed motor, the conjunction of modes I and II actually forms the first-order in-plane vibrational mode B01. Therefore, the response displacement of stator driving points reaches the maximum value when modes I and II are conjointly actuated by supplying single-phase excitation voltage under the premise of undistorted three-dimensional motion trajectory. The motor performances under that condition were also investigated experimentally. The dimension of the fabricated prototype motor is 10 mm × 10 mm × 20 mm. The stall torque is 0.2 N·m under 200 V single-phase excitation, when the motor operates in modes I and II simultaneously. The maximum no-load speed is 74 r min−1. Compared with separate actuation of vibrational modes I and II, mechanical properties of the prototype motor are significantly improved.
Development and validation of a positive youth development scale in Hong Kong

The development of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) is outlined in this paper. The CPYDS assesses 15 aspects of positive youth development, including bonding, resilience, social competence, emotional competence, cognitive competence, moral competence, behavioral competence, self-determination, self-efficacy, spirituality, positive view of the future, positive self-identity, prosocial involvement, prosocial norms, and recognition for positive behavior. Based on a Well Adjustment Group (N=162) and a Poor Adjustment Group (N=264), the present findings showed that the CPYDS and its subscales possess acceptable internal consistency. Except the Self-Efficacy Subscale, the CPYDS total and subscale scores were able to discriminate the two groups. While the CPYDS total and subscale scores were positively related to thriving, wellness assessment and life satisfaction measures, they were negatively related to substance abuse, delinquency, and behavioral intention to engage in problem behavior. The present findings provide support for the reliability and validity of the CPYDS to assess positive youth development in the Chinese culture.
Crystal structure, stable isotopes (δ18O), and development of sea ice in the Ross, Amundsen, and Bellingshausen seas, Antarctica

The crystal structure and oxygen isotopic composition of ice cores obtained from floes at the end of summer in the eastern Ross Sea, the Amundsen Sea, and the western Bellingshausen Sea were investigated to determine the ice growth processes and conditions that contribute to sea ice development in the eastern Pacific sector of the southern ocean. The isotope data indicate that a moderate amount of snow contributes to the development of the sea ice. However, even the combined use of isotopes and crystal structure analysis does not unambiguously explain the means by which all of the snow is entrained in the ice. Nevertheless, it seems clear that much of the snow is contained in granular snow-ice that results from seawater flooding of floes and the base of the snow cover. The snow cover in the Ross-Amundsen region was as much as 2 m deep and supported by 7- to 8-m-thick floes primarily composed of frazil ice. In the Bellingshausen region the snow cover and the floes were thinner than in the Ross-Amundsen region. The Bellingshausen cores were composed primarily of multiple layers of frazil and congelation ice. In addition, in both regions there were numerous tipped or inclined blocks of congelation ice and layers of rafted nilas in the cores. The data indicate that the sea ice develops by multiple mechanisms in a turbulent environment.
Using stable isotopes of water in evapotranspiration studies

The use of stable isotopes to estimate evapotranspiration (ET) fluxes from vegetated areas is increasing. By complementing conventional net flux measurements (gradient or eddy correlation techniques), isotope analyses can allow partitioning ET between its gross components, soil evaporation and leaf transpiration. Isotopic analyses of atmospheric water vapour above canopies can also constrain, or provide alternatives for estimating ET. A brief discussion of the isotope approach is aimed at highlighting some of the uncertainties that require further research. We also demonstrate first, the application of combined concentration and isotopic gradient analysis of atmospheric water vapour above crop fields in order to estimate ET fluxes and its gross components (soil evaporation was estimated at 1.5-3.5% of mid-day ET flux in a mature wheat field). Second, we demonstrate the potential in monitoring δ ss -δ I. , the difference between predicted and measured leaf water δ 18 O values, as an indicator of seasonal variations in canopy-scale transpiration in a desert ecosystem (linear correlation between this indicator and conventional ET measurements was observed). Improving our analytical capabilities for high-precision isotopic analysis of very small water vapour samples was a limiting factor in the above applications and a method for pyrolysis and on-line 18 O analysis of 0.2-2 μL water samples is described.
Detecting water quality parameters in the Norfolk Broads, U.K., using Landsat imagery

Abstract The water quality parameters chlorophyll-a, total phosphorus, Secchi disk depth, suspended solids, salinity and temperature in the Norfolk Broads have been studied using Landsat TM data. An empirical approach of relating TM data with ground referenced data for these parameters through regression analysis was employed. Significant relationships were established between them. These models were used to predict and map these parameters in 27 or the Norfolk Broads. All the predicted values are consistent with the available general knowledge about these Broads
Atmospheric blocking in a general circulation model

Diagnostics from ECHAM climate simulations are presented in this thesis. The focus is on a flow phenomenon in the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere that challenges the simulation capabilities of atmospheric GCMs. With their partly irregular incidence, block¬ ing highs contribute significantly to the variability in a frequency range that is positioned between the variability due to cyclones and due to climate fluctuations. The distinctive feature of the present study is the availability of multi-year integrations of high resolution (T106 spectral resolution, corresponding to a maximal grid spacing of 125 km). Blocking-like flow situations in sequences of 500 hPa geopotential heights are identified by a meridional gradient criterion. It is found that the ECHAM models (mark 3 and 4) capture the distinct annual cycles of the blocking activity in the two main blocking sectors of the Northern Hemisphere. However, the models simulate too few blocked days in win¬ ter. This underestimation is attributed to model biases of the high resolution flow which is too zonal particularly over the northeastern Atlantic. Despite a larger zonal bias, the T106 model is generally superior to the T42 resolution in terms of blocking frequencies. Individual blocking cases in the high resolution simulations share many features of real events. Multiple incursions of low-latitude air, advected by strong southerlies, and homogenization of low potential vorticity air inside the blocking high are displayed in the sequences of maps from four cases distributed over the seasons. Perpetual January simulations (T42) with gradually reduced orography have been con¬ ducted. The impact of the GWD is similar to truncating the mountain heights. Removal of the mountains leads to a weaker Asian anticyclone and to an intensification of the Icelandic low. The more uniform zonal winds in the no-mountain simulations give less blocking days. Orography above a certain threshold seems sufficient to trigger large scale Rossby wave breaking resulting in dipole blocks. The truncated orography excites almost exclusively broad ridge events. Finally, the North Atlantic oscillation index and blocking frequencies have been extracted from a Twentieth Century integration to document the role of internally generated interannual and decadal atmospheric variability.
Emissions from international shipping: 1. The last 50 years

[1] Seagoing ships emit exhaust gases and particles into the marine boundary layer and significantly contribute to the total budget of anthropogenic emissions. We present an emission inventory for international shipping for the past five decades to be used in global modeling studies with detailed tropospheric chemistry. The inventory is a bottom-up analysis using fuel consumption and fleet numbers for the total civilian and military fleet including auxiliary engines at the end of 2001. Trend estimates for fuel mass, CO 2 , NO x , and other emissions for the time between 1950 and 2001 have been calculated using ship number statistics and average engine statistics. Our estimate for total fuel consumption and global emissions for the year 2001 is similar to previous activity-based studies. However, compared to earlier studies, a detailed speciation of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) and particulate matter is given, and carbon monoxide emissions are calculated explicitly. Our results suggest a fuel consumption of approximately 280 million metric tons (Mt) for the year 2001 and 64.5 Mt in 1950. This corresponds to 187 (5.4) Tg CO 2 (NO x ) in 1950, and 813 (21.4) Tg CO 2 (NO x ) in 2001. From 1970 to 2001 the world-merchant fleet increased rapidly in terms of ship numbers, with a corresponding increase in total fuel consumption. The fuel consumption estimates are compared against historical marine bunker fuel statistics, and our emission estimates are related to emission budgets of other transport modes. Global ship emissions are distributed geographically according to global vessel traffic densities of the AMVER (Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue system) data set for the year 2000. This work also sets the basis to develop future emission scenarios based on average-fleet emission indices in part 2 of this study.
Using social media and personality traits to assess software developers’ emotional polarity

Although human factors (e.g., cognitive functions, behaviors and skills, human error models, etc.) are key elements to improve software development productivity and quality, the role of software developers’ emotions and their personality traits in software engineering still needs to be studied. A major difficulty is in assessing developers’ emotions, leading to the classic problem of having difficulties understanding what cannot be easily measured. Existing approaches to infer emotions, such as facial expressions, self-assessed surveys, and biometric sensors, imply considerable intrusiveness on developers and tend to be used only during normal working periods. This article proposes to assess the feasibility of using social media posts (e.g., developers’ posts on Twitter) to accurately determine the polarity of emotions of software developers over extended periods in a non-intrusive manner, allowing the identification of potentially abnormal periods of negative or positive sentiments of developers that may affect software development productivity or software quality. Our results suggested that Twitter data can serve as a valid source for accurately inferring the polarity of emotions. We evaluated 31 combinations of unsupervised lexicon-based techniques using a dataset with 79,029 public posts from Twitter from sixteen software developers, achieving a macro F1-Score of 0.745 and 76.8% of accuracy with the ensemble comprised of SentiStrength, Sentilex-PT, and LIWC2015_PT lexicons. Among other results, we found a statistically significant difference in tweets’ polarities posted during working and non-working periods for 31.25% of the participants, suggesting that emotional polarity monitoring outside working hours could also be relevant. We also assessed the Big Five personality traits of the developers and preliminarily used them to ponder the polarities inferences. In this context, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion were frequently related to neutral and positive posts, while Neuroticism is associated with negative posts. Our results show that the proposed approach is accurate enough to constitute a simple and non-intrusive alternative to existing methods. Tools using this approach can be applied in real software development environments to support software team workers in making decisions to improve the software development process.