Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping Above-Ground Carbon Stocks at the Landscape Scale to Support a Carbon Compensation Mechanism: The Chocó Andino Case Study

(1) Background: Tropical Mountain forests (TMF) constitute a threatened major carbon sink due to deforestation. Carbon compensation projects could significantly aid in preserving these ecosystems. Consequently, we need a better understanding of the above-ground carbon (AGC) spatial distribution in TMFs to provide project developers with accurate estimations of their mitigation potential; (2) Methods: integrating field measurements and remote sensing data into a random forest (RF) modelling framework, we present the first high-resolution estimates of AGC density (Mg C ha−1) over the western Ecuadorian Andes to inform an ongoing carbon compensation mechanism; (3) Results: In 2021, the total landscape carbon storage was 13.65 Tg in 194,795 ha. We found a broad regional partitioning of AGC density mediated primarily by elevation. We report RF-estimated AGC density errors of 15% (RMSE = 23.8 Mg C ha−1) on any 10 m pixel along 3000 m of elevation gradient covering a wide range of ecological conditions; (4) Conclusions: Our approach showed that AGC high-resolution maps displaying carbon stocks on a per-pixel level with high accuracy (85%) could be obtained with a minimum of 14 ground-truth plots enriched with AGC density data from published regional studies. Likewise, our maps increased precision and reduced uncertainty concerning current methodologies used by international standards in the Voluntary Carbon Market.
Investigation on growth and development of 42 kDa chitinase transgenic peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivar L14 under in vivo condition

The purpose of this study was to assess the growth and development of chitinase transgenic peanuts against phytopathogenic fungi including lines WTA-2 containing the Chi42 gene, S1A-15 containing the syncodChi42-1 gene and S2A-12 containing the syncodChi42-2 gene. The present results show that the peanut lines containing two optimized genes derived from the Chi42 wild-type gene of Trichoderma asperellum SH16, S1A-15 (syncodChi42-1) and S2A-12 (syncodChi42-2) seemed to grow stronger and produce a higher number of mature pods, weight of 100 pods and weight of 100 seeds than line WAT-2 with the Chi42 gene and non-transgenic control. Moreover, lines S1A-15 and S2A-12 also resulted in higher seed quality in terms of lipid and protein content than in comparison to the WTA-2 line and the control. These findings suggest that chitinase transgenic peanuts containing one of two synthetic genes in peanut roots could be a promising candidate for peanut production against phytopathogenic fungi.
Design and Optimization of a Compact Microstrip Filtering Coupler With Low Losses and Improved Group Delay for High-Performance RF Communication Systems

In this paper, a compact filtering coupler is presented using a new microstrip configuration. To improve the frequency response, achieve good phase balance and reduce the losses of the proposed coupler, an optimization method is used along with a mathematical analysis method. Our coupler works at 1.9 GHz, which is suitable for 5G and GSM applications. The working frequency range of our designed coupler is from 1.84 GHz to 2.11 GHz, where it has a fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 13.7%. The phase and magnitude imbalances are only $0.029^{o}$ and 0.08 dB, respectively, making it suitable for applications in microwave components, communication and radar systems. The maximum group delays at the direct and coupling ports are 1.9 ns and 2.3 ns, respectively. This is an advantage because most of the previously reported microstrip couplers have not addressed the group delay improvement. The other advantages of our coupler are its filtering frequency response and a good isolation factor of -42 dB around the operating frequency. The proposed structure is mathematically analyzed and optimized. It is fabricated and measured to verify the simulation results and the proposed mathematical analysis. The results show that all mathematical analysis, simulation and measurement results are in good agreement. The experimental results confirm its performance in terms of low losses, low group delay and low phase and magnitude imbalances. Therefore, the presented design offers a significant improvement over the traditional couplers, which generally suffer from the large size, high group delay and poor phase and magnitude balances.
Fluid‐structure interaction with fully coupled mesh generation

The modeling and simulation of fluid‐structure interaction (FSI) involve the two‐way coupling of a fluid flow and a deforming structure. The fluid exerts a load on the structure, the structure deforms, and, hence, the fluid flow changes, which leads to an altered loading on the structure. To accomplish this coupling, the fluid domain has to be updated after each time step, leading to a change in the fluid mesh. Various mesh update methods have been presented where an initial mesh is generated and then updated after each time step. Each method comes with different levels of complexity and has its own advantages and disadvantages. Herein, FSI simulations with fully integrated mesh generation, rather than updates, are proposed. Instead of updating the mesh at each time step, a new mesh for the fluid domain is generated based on the deformation of the solid domain. An advanced structured meshing algorithm, based on a block structure, enables this integrated mesh generation approach. An initial set of coarse‐scale conforming blocks is generated by the user, representing the topology and rough initial position of the solid and the fluid. Further information is the exact geometry at the boundary and the deformed position of the fluid‐structure interface, plus grading information to obtain a high‐quality fluid mesh. Transfinite maps are used to generate elements inside the blocks with any desired resolution and order.
A Combinatorial Algorithm for the Multi-commodity Flow Problem

This paper researches combinatorial algorithms for the multi-commodity flow problem. We relax the capacity constraints and introduce a penalty function $h$ for each arc. If the flow exceeds the capacity on arc $a$, arc $a$ would have a penalty cost. Based on the penalty function $h$, a new conception, equilibrium pseudo-flow, is introduced. Then we design a combinatorial algorithm to obtain equilibrium pseudo-flow. If the equilibrium pseudo-flow is a nonzero-equilibrium pseudo-flow, there exists no feasible solution for the multi-commodity flow problem; if the equilibrium pseudo-flow is a zero-equilibrium pseudo-flow, there exists a feasible solution for the multi-commodity flow problem and the zero-equilibrium pseudo-flow is the feasible solution. At last, a non-linear description of the multi-commodity flow problem is given, whose solution is equilibrium pseudo-flow. Besides, the content in this paper can be easily generalized to minimum cost multi-commodity flow problem.
A Systematic Review of the Recent Techniques Commonly Used in the Diagnosis of Mycoplasma bovis in Dairy Cattle

Early detection of Mycoplasmal mastitis is greatly hampered by late seroconversion, slow growth of Mycoplasma organisms, intermittent shedding, and the high cost of diagnostic tests. To improve future diagnostic development, examining the available techniques is necessary. Accordingly, the present study systematically reviewed M. bovis diagnostic studies published between January 2000 and April 2023 utilizing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol. The protocol registration was performed according to the Open Science Framework (osf.io/ug79h), and the electronic search was conducted in the World Catalog, Mendeley, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, Google Scholar, Prime Scholar, and PubMed Central databases using a Boolean operator and inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of the 1194 pieces of literature retrieved, 67 studies were included. Four broad categories of up to 16 diagnostic approaches were reported: microbial culture, serological, DNA-based, and mass spectrometry. Overall, DNA-based techniques were the most published (48.0%), with recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) as the most promising user-friendly, equipment-free techniques. On the other hand, mass spectrometry was reported as the least utilized (2.9%) given the high equipment cost. Though costly and laboratory-allied, DNA-based techniques, particularly PCRs, were reported as the most rapid and specific approach.
Reconstruction of the Bronze Age of the Caspian Steppes: Life styles and life ways of pastoral nomads

This volume presents a synthesis of existing work on the Bronze Age of the Caspian Steppes. In particular Natalia Shishlina evaluates the data for funeral rites and their material culture, identifying different cultures and proposing a chronology for cultural change in the region. The study also evaluates the economic cycle and production alongside this data.
A holistic framework for forestry and rural road detection based on satellite imagery and deep semantic segmentation

The role of forest and rural road network is very important and multifaceted for: a) the exploitation of forests/fields and movement of the staff involved in their management and protection, b) access to existing technical facilities, c) tourism and recreation and d) harvesting and transport of products. Hence, it is important to systematically record and monitor the network status, including its road segment status and important Points of Interest. Since in most cases, such detection and monitoring procedures require manual and tedious procedures, the INFOROAD project (https://inforoad.karteco.gr/) (Project code: KMP6-0079153), implemented under the framework of the Action “Investment Plans of Innovation” of the Operational Program “Central Macedonia 2014 2020”, that is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Greece”, is developing an innovative methodology and tools for automated extraction, mapping and status monitoring of forest and rural road network, by combining remote sensing data with state-of-the-art deep learning approaches. Specifically, automated procedures will be developed for: a) road extraction, b) road network graph detection and c) road segment condition monitoring, from very high-resolution multispectral satellite images using innovative semantic segmentation and classification based on deep learning. From a research perspective, these problems are very challenging, as forest and agricultural roads – as opposed to asphalt roads - exhibit more significant surface and texture variations, while only few related datasets exist. For this reason, additional data, which is necessary for the training and evaluation of the deep learning algorithms, will also be collected, e.g., by UAVs equipped with RGB cameras that can also provide accurate DSM information, manual inspection or other free sources. The associated dataset that will be created for the pilot application of the project in Seich-Sou Forest, Thessaloniki, will be made freely available to boost future research on the field. The display and management of this information by relevant stakeholders (forest authorities, public, etc.) will be performed by an online Geographical Information System (WebGIS).
Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies

Sustainability reporting (SR) has been identified as a rapidly expanding area of modern corporate reporting. It is crucial in the current setting to explore the elements determining the quality of SR in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the study aims to identify the factors influencing the quality of SR in Sri Lanka. The sample of the study consists of ten commercial banks in Sri Lanka listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange. Secondary data was acquired from each commercial bank's annual reports over a six-year period from 2016 to 2021 in conducting the study. The quality of SR was evaluated using content analysis. This study applied the comprehensive approach developed by Permatasari, Gunawan, and El-Bannany (2020) to measure the quality of SR. Profitability, leverage, company size, and sustainability committee were the independent variables of the study. This analysis reveals that the most important elements influencing SR quality are company size, profitability, leverage, and the sustainability committee. Furthermore, the current study contributes significantly to expanding knowledge in the field of SR.
A novel laser melting sampler for discrete, sub-centimeter depth-resolved analyses of stable water isotopes in ice cores

We developed a novel laser melting sampler (LMS) for ice cores to measure the stable water isotope ratios (δ18O and δD) as temperature proxies at sub-centimeter depth resolutions. In this LMS system, a 2 mm diameter movable evacuation nozzle holds an optical fiber through which a laser beam irradiates the ice core. The movable nozzle intrudes into the ice core, the laser radiation meanwhile melts the ice cylindrically, and the meltwater is pumped away simultaneously through the same nozzle and transferred to a vial for analysis. To avoid isotopic fractionation of the ice through vaporization, the laser power is adjusted to ensure that the temperature of the meltwater is always kept well below its boiling point. A segment of a Dome Fuji shallow ice core (Antarctica), using the LMS, was then demonstrated to have been discretely sampled with a depth resolution as small as 3 mm: subsequent analysis of δ18O, δD, and deuterium excess (d) was consistent with results obtained by hand segmentation within measurement uncertainties. With system software to control sampling resolution, the LMS will enable us to identify temperature variations that may be detectable only at sub-centimeter resolutions in ice cores.
Testing the Mixture of Distributions Hypothesis Using "Realized" Volatility

The mixture of distributions hypothesis (MDH) posits that price volatility and trading volume are determined by the same information arrival rate. Existing studies that test MDH have the problem that both the information arrival rate and volatility are unobservable. Recent work (e.g. Andersen, Bollerslev, Diebold and Ebens (2001)) suggests that intraday returns can be used to construct estimates of daily return volatility that are more precise than those constructed using daily returns. In a way realized volatility becomes observable. Conducting a number of indirect tests of MDH we find that every conclusion based on the daily squared return is reversed when using realized volatility based on intraday returns. Hence, the mixed evidence on MDH in the existing literature can in part be attributed to the use of poor realized volatility measures.
Research on Simultaneous Measurement of Magnetic Field and Temperature Based on Petaloid Photonic Crystal Fiber Sensor

In this paper, we propose and design a magnetic field and temperature sensor using a novel petaloid photonic crystal fiber filled with magnetic fluid. The PCF achieves a high birefringence of more than 1.43 × 10−2 at the wavelength of 1550 nm via the design of material parameters, air hole shape and the distribution of the photonic crystal fiber. Further, in order to significantly improve the sensitivity of the sensor, the magnetic-fluid-sensitive material is injected into the pores of the designed photonic crystal fiber. Finally, the sensor adopts a Mach–Zehnder interferometer structure combined with the ultra-high birefringence of the proposed petaloid photonic crystal fiber. Magnetic field and temperature can be simultaneously measured via observing the spectral response of the x-polarization state and y-polarization state. As indicated via simulation analysis, the sensor can realize sensitivities to magnetic fields and temperatures at −1.943 nm/mT and 0.0686 nm/°C in the x-polarization state and −1.421 nm/mT and 0.0914 nm/°C in the y-polarization state. The sensor can realize the measurement of multiple parameters including temperature and magnetic intensity and has the advantage of high sensitivity.
Growth Performance and Ruminal Fermentation in Lambs with Endoparasites and In Vitro Effect of Medicinal Plants

We investigated growth performance and ruminal fermentation associated with gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) Haemonchus contortus in lambs and in vitro ruminal fermentation of mallow, chamomile, fumitory, wormwood (Herbmix), and chicory using inoculum from GIN-infected lambs. Twelve lambs were equally divided into two groups: uninfected animals (CON) and animals infected (INF) with approximately 5000 third-stage larvae derived from the MHCo1 strain of GIN H. contortus. Two lambs per group were killed on days 48, 49, and 50 after infection and ruminal content was collected separately from each lamb. Batch cultures of ruminal fluid from CON and INF were incubated for 24 h in vitro with 0.25 g meadow hay, Herbmix, and chicory using an in vitro gas production technique. Daily weight gain was relatively lower in the INF than the CON group, but not significantly (72.6 vs. 130.1 g/day). The ruminal populations of protozoa, bacteria, total Archaea, Methanobacteriales, and Methanomicrobiales were significantly higher in the INF than in the CON group. The substrates affected the concentrations of n-butyrate, iso-butyrate, n-valerate, iso-valerate, ammonia-N, total gas, and methane (p < 0.001) in vitro. GIN infection affected fermentation and microbial population in the rumens of the lambs, and chicory was a promising substrate to modulate ruminal fermentation in vitro.
Parameter sensitivity and optimization of a catchment-scale hydrologic model across Sweden

Understanding of the timing and spatial patterns of the fluxes of water is a vital part of any hydrologic-nutrient transport model. To investigate hydrological and nutrient transport interactions, the Baltic Nest Institute (BNI) has implemented the catchment simulation model (CSIM) in the Baltic Sea drainage basin (BSDB). This study focuses on the application of the CSIM model across Sweden as a part of the Baltic Sea drainage basin with specific focus on parameter sensitivity and optimization/calibration. To this end, the spatiotemporal hydrology parameter sensitivity of the CSIM model is explored. In addition, potential improvement over the existing base model parameter calibration is considered using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimization method.The CSIM model parameters show remarkable spatial and temporal (seasonal scale) variation in Sweden. Several regions and watersheds are rather insensitive to the parameters of the CSIM model. Further, the spatial parameter sensitivity emphasizes the relevance of site-specific calibration of the model. The temporal sensitivity analysis clearly shows distinct sensitivity variations in the northern-boreal basins relative to the southern-temperate basins. The annual and seasonal optimization results show that the GA could improve model performance particularly when considering season-specific values for the most sensitive parameters in the CSIM model.Moreover, the optimization outcomes highlighted that the CSIM model, like any hydrological model, faces parameter uncertainties and the concept of equifinality should be considered in the optimization process. This consideration can help to assess the uncertainties that the CSIM model derives from either formulation (structure) or data (calibration).
Promising Markers in the Context of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells Subpopulations with Unique Properties

The heterogeneity of the mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) population poses a challenge to researchers and clinicians, especially those observed at the population level. What is more, the lack of precise evidences regarding MSCs developmental origin even further complicate this issue. As the available evidences indicate several possible pathways of MSCs formation, this diverse origin may be reflected in the unique subsets of cells found within the MSCs population. Such populations differ in specialization degree, proliferation, and immunomodulatory properties or exhibit other additional properties such as increased angiogenesis capacity. In this review article, we attempted to identify such outstanding populations according to the specific surface antigens or intracellular markers. Described groups were characterized depending on their specialization and potential therapeutic application. The reports presented here cover a wide variety of properties found in the recent literature, which is quite scarce for many candidates mentioned in this article. Even though the collected information would allow for better targeting of specific subpopulations in regenerative medicine to increase the effectiveness of MSC-based therapies.
Spatial segregation between the native Tropical mockingbird and the invader Chalk-browed mockingbird (Passeriformes: Mimidae) along a Neotropical natural-urban gradient

Congeneric species have similarities in phenotypic and ecological traits. The sympatry of conge-neric species constitutes an opportunity for studies on coexistence. Two bird species of Mimidae, the native Tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus Oberholser, 1919, and the restinga invader Chalk-browed mockingbird, Mi-mus saturninus (Lichtenstein, 1823), currently occur in sympatry across the sandy-coastal ecosystem (restinga) of Espírito Santo state, Southeastern Brazil. We studied the spatial distribution of Tropical mockingbird and Chalk-browed mockingbird to understand the degree of competition across a preserved and urban gradient. We sampled 1,451 sampling units across a preserved and urban landscape in a coastal area of southeastern Brazil. The best-fitting model for abundance (Punctual Abundance Index) included urbanization index, distance from the coast, and distance from the closest protected area, which explained 63% and 97% of the abundance of Tropical mockingbird and Chalk-browed mockingbird, respectively. The species exhibited a segregated spatial pattern at small scale, indicating that both species are avoiding one another. Chalk-browed mockingbird showed ecological plasticity in modified environments, whereas Tropical mockingbird was more sensitive to urbanization. We suggested that the coexistence of these species is associated with resource partitioning. Monitoring Tropical mockingbird populations may be a proxy for the assessment of habitat quality and restoration success in the highly threatened restinga ecosystem.