Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the characters of runoff and sediment in Tuweihe River Basin

Tuweihe River is a more sediment river in Helong area located in middle of the Yellow River.By analyzing the hydrology data such as precipitation,runoff and sediment,this paper emphasized on prior discussing change of precipitation,runoff and sediment before and after in 70 decade in 20~(th) century,consided that the gross volume of precipitation,runoff and sediment before in 70 decade were large than after in 70 decade,the trend was gradual fine in coarse sediment,the relationship between sand and water in River Basin has been changed compared with the savageness state.
Experience in Intention to Buy: Engagement as a Mediation in Retail Skincare Product

The emergence of the number of skincare cosmetic retailers in Salatiga, Central Java, is one of the factors in which the percentage of women who are aware of the importance of skin health is increasing, especially since the causes of skin problems are currently various. It makes one of the retailers in Salatiga, namely G&G skin care cosmetics store, need to strengthen relationships with their customers to survive and achieve business excellence amid a competitive skincare market. This research was lifted from the curiosity of researchers regarding the significant influence of brand experience on the intention to buy products through G&G stores by using brand involvement as mediation. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires to 100 respondents who had made purchases at G&G cosmetics retail at least once. The sample used in this research is judgmental sampling. The structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method with Partial Least Square (PLS) was applied in this study. Then, the result of this study shows that brand experience has a significant effect on the intention to buy a product, with the three indicators of brand involvement as mediation. Moreover, the results also show that G&G retail skincare brands need to increase their activation in brand engagement to attract and maintain relationships with their consumers in the long term.
Changes in Leaf Functional Traits Driven by Environmental Filtration in Different Monsoon Tropical Forest Types

Disturbances have created heterogeneous habitats for secondary and old-growth forests. Under the assumption that ecologically similar species have similar functional traits, numerous studies have attempted to use trait-based approaches to infer the abiotic and biotic factors that drive variations in community composition across different forests. However, the relative importance of these drivers in monsoon forests remains poorly understood. In this study, we randomly selected 86 plots and classified them into three forest types according to environmental factors: 1—secondary forests: secondary forest habitats at high elevation; 2—ecotone forests: general recovery and elevation; and 3—old growth forests: old growth at low elevations. We then compared the species and six leaf functional trait variations across the three forests and assessed their relationships with 15 environmental factors. The results showed that secondary and ecotone forests with a conservative strategy, exhibiting high dry matter content and leaf carbon content, tended to persist in stressful habitats, such as nutrient-poor soil, whereas old growth forests invested in trait values related to rapid resource acquisition with high specific leaf area, leaf nitrogen content, leaf phosphorous content, and leaf potassium content. Species with functional trait values between the secondary, ecotone, and old growth forests had clear signatures of their different strategies to persist in assemblages under distinct and opposite environmental filters. These plots were classified into three forest types according to environmental factors: (1) secondary forest at high elevation; (2) ecotone forests at general elevation; and (3) old growth forests at low elevation. Recovery time and elevation, followed by soil nutrients and light capture, were the most important factors shaping species and functional trait variations across forests. These results have demonstrated that environmental filters select plant species with distinct traits and ecological strategies. Acquisitive traits indicate higher competitive ability and faster resource acquisition for forest species that occur in areas with high soil fertility. Meanwhile, conservative traits promote the resistance of secondary species to environmental stressors in low soil fertility, suggesting that analyzing leaf functional-based trait variations to understand plant ecological strategies along an environmental gradient may improve understanding of forest dynamics in tropical monsoon forests.
Effect of ultra-sonication, vacuum drying, and carbon coating on the super-capacitive behavior of Ti3C2T x MXene

Ti3C2T x MXene has attracted a considerable attention in energy devices, such as lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors. This study investigated the effects of ultra-sonication and drying conditions on the structure and electrochemical performance of Ti3C2T x MXene-based supercapacitor electrode, where a significant improvement in the super-capacitive behavior of the sample that was sonicated and vacuum-dried at 80 °C has been observed. Ti3C2T x nano-sheets were obtained by aluminum etching of Ti3AlC2 MAX-Phase followed by the rinsing and drying post-treatment to derive Ti3C2T x MXene layers. The rinsed layers were then dried using four different conditions: 1-in the air at 25 °C, 2-in the air at 80 °C, 3-in a vacuum at 25 °C, 4-in a vacuum at 80 °C. It was observed that the specific capacitance at different scan rates of the vacuum-dried samples was, on average, 30% more than that of air-dried ones. Meanwhile, the samples dried at 80 °C have exhibited a 60% increase in the specific capacitance compared to the samples dried at 25 °C. Besides drying parameters, the effect of ultra-sonication of MXene layers before drying on their electrochemical performance has also been investigated. Generally, the specific capacitance of delaminated layers was higher than that of non-delaminated ones. However, we have noticed that ultra-sonication deteriorates the capacitive stability of the samples over time. To further improve the supercapacitor electrodes, carbon coating was performed on the sample with the best electrochemical performance (sonicated and vacuum-dried at 80 °C), through a hydrothermal glucose decomposition method. The specific capacitance of the carbonized sample was 117.19 F g−1 at the scan rate of 2 mV s−1, which is 35% more than that of the pristine MXene. The MXene structures were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared and thermogravimetric analysis. The electrochemical characteristics of the electrodes were investigated via cyclic-voltammetry, charge–discharge test, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Spatial small area analyses of disease risk around sources of environmental pollution: modelling tools for a system using high resolution register data

The overall aim of this study was to further develop the existing small area system in estimation of regional variation of disease risk around a putative source of environmental pollution. The more specific aims were i) to search advanced statistical methods, suitable for the system; ii) to implement the methods as a part of the system; iii) to evaluate the use of register data; and iv) to test and validate epidemiological methods within the system. The data stored in the system are aggregated into 500 m × 500 m squares. High spatial resolution is informative when local variation is studied but brings up methodological challenges due to the autocorrelation and the sparseness of data (low population counts and low number of cases). The development of methodology was illustrated with the case studies on relative risk of cancer in a rural municipality with the problems in drinking water, and in a vicinity of a former waste site, a former asbestos mine, and a polluted river. In a simple case, the relative risk of cancer was estimated with the Poisson regression model with the regional effects. As a more sophisticated model, the hierarchical Markov model was exploited. The hierarchical Markov model as such turned out to be inconsistent with sparse high resolution data. Three constraining methods to improve the behaviour of the model were suggested. Due to the demanding calculation of the hierarchical Markov model, an extension of the Poisson regression model based on the change-point model was exploited as another simpler method. The effect of adjustment for the socioeconomic status and the choice of the reference area as confounding factors were investigated. Also the different standardizing methods were compared in the estimation of the relative risk. The system with high resolution data is useful in rapid estimation of relative risk around a putative source of pollution. The strength of the system is that the study area can be defined freely with an accuracy of 500 metres. However, if data tends to be sparse, the classical methods, like standardized incidence ratios (SIR) or Poisson regression models, may give uncertain estimates. This can be overcome by using smoothing methods. Secondly, if data is doubted to be spatially autocorrelated, the classical methods may give incorrect results, and some more sophisticated methods are needed. In this thesis some useful statistical methods were suggested to solve the problems mentioned.
Outbreak of Pandoraea commovens Infections among Non–Cystic Fibrosis Intensive Care Patients, Germany, 2019–2021

Pandoraea spp. are gram-negative, nonfermenting rods mainly known to infect patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Outbreaks have been reported from several CF centers. We report a Pandoraea spp. outbreak comprising 24 non-CF patients at a large university hospital and a neighboring heart center in Germany during July 2019–December 2021. Common features in the patients were critical illness, invasive ventilation, antimicrobial pretreatment, and preceding surgery. Complicated and relapsing clinical courses were observed in cases with intraabdominal infections but not those with lower respiratory tract infections. Genomic analysis of 15 isolates identified Pandoraea commovens as the genetically most similar species and confirmed the clonality of the outbreak strain, designated P. commovens strain LB-19-202-79. The strain exhibited resistance to most antimicrobial drugs except ampicillin/sulbactam, imipenem, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Our findings suggest Pandoraea spp. can spread among non-CF patients and underscore that clinicians and microbiologists should be vigilant in detecting and assessing unusual pathogens.
Microbiological analysis and assessment of the Biotechnological potential of Lactobacillus sp. and Pediococcus sp. strains isolated from Togolese traditional Zea mays fermented food

A majority of traditional fermented products consumed in Africa are processed by natural fermentation of cereals, tuber, fruits, or fish, and are particularly used as weaning foods for infants and dietary staples for adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of “ Akpan ”, “ Kom ” and “ Emakumè ” by using standard microbiological methods. We used Biochemistry and molecular biology methods to identify presumptive lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains and their biotechnological proprieties screened. The count of germs in CFU/g of Total Mesophilic Aerobic Microorganisms; Staphylococcus aureus , Total coliforms, fungi and LAB shows that the analysed samples are good for consumption (AFNOR, 1996). LAB strains were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum , Lactobacillus fermentum , Pediococcus pentosaceus and Pediococcus acidilactici . Lactobacillus fermentum shown better acidification and antioxidant activity. Pediococcus pentosaceus produced high lactic acid and showed better proteolytic activity. Pediococcus acidilactici produced high exopolysaccharide while the best amylolytic activity was observed by Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus fermentum . The mix culture of these strains into “ Emakoumè ”, “ Akpan ” and “ Kom ” guaranties better microbiological and nutritional quality of these feeds.
A CFAR Detection Method of Ship Wakes in SAR Images

This paper presents a Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) detection approach of ship wakes for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images based on the technique of "adjacent pixels summing (APS)" . The key of this method is using the APS strategy to perform Radon transform over the subimage approximately. The CFAR detection algorithm, which uses statistical hypothesis testing on probability model in transform space, is then developed. The effectiveness of this algorithm is demonstrated by the test results of simulating wake images and actual SAR images of ship wakes.
Individual Differences in Body Mass, Biological Sex, and Physical Fitness Affecting Human-Exoskeleton Interactions

Prior research investigating human-exoskeleton interactions showed significant variabilities among users in their physical, physiological, and cognitive responses associated with exoskeleton use. Individual exoskeleton users’ varying anthropometric and demographic characteristics may lead to large inter-individual variability. This study examined the impacts of exoskeleton users’ body mass index (BMI), sex, and physical fitness on perceived exoskeleton fit, exoskeleton-related pain, and physical and cognitive task performances while wearing upper- and lower-body exoskeletons. The results indicated that participants with higher BMI were more likely to experience pain with an upper-body exoskeleton. Sex differences were also observed, with men experiencing more pain when using a lower-body exoskeleton. Frequent physical activity and cardio training were positively correlated with pain experienced with an upper-body exoskeleton. While the impacts were not universal across different exoskeleton types, the current findings offer insights into the potential causes of individual variability in human-exoskeleton interactions.
Dissolution window of carbonate rocks and its geological significance

Box-shaped variation curves of dissolution rates of carbonate rocks in CO_2 aqueous solution were obtained from simulated dissolution experiments designed with simultaneously changing temperature and pressure. It shows that the dissolution of carbonate samples increases with rising temperature from the very beginning and then forms a box-like plateau when the temperature reaches 60-120℃and pressure reaches 13-31 MPa.The curves indicate that the dissolution rate of carbonate rocks in CO_2 aqueous solution remains high within a certain burial depth range(the so-called dissolution window) of the carbonate rocks.When the depth is beyond the upper bound of the range,the dissolution rate declines rapidly and reaches the lowest point(only a little bit higher than that at room temperature) at the depth of about 4 000 meters(150℃,41 MPa). The experiment and its results bear great significances for a better understanding of carbonate reservoirs and a more accurate prediction of favorable exploration targets.
DOBRE-2 WARR profile: the Earth's upper crust across Crimea between the Azov Massif and the northeastern Black Sea

Abstract The DOBRE-2 wide-angle reflection and refraction profile was acquired in June 2007 as a direct, southwestwards prolongation of the 1999 DOBREfraction'99 that crossed the Donbas Foldbelt in eastern Ukraine. It crosses the Azov Massif of the East European Craton, the Azov Sea, the Kerch Peninsula (the easternmost part of Crimea) and the northern East Black Sea Basin, thus traversing the entire Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone centred on the Kerch Peninsula. The DOBRE-2 profile recorded a mix of onshore explosive sources as well as airguns at sea. A variety of single-component recorders were used on land and ocean bottom instruments were deployed offshore and recovered by ship. The DOBRE-2 datasets were degraded by a lack of shot-point reversal at the southwestern terminus and by some poor signal registration elsewhere, in particular in the Black Sea. Nevertheless, they allowed a robust velocity model of the upper crust to be constructed along the entire profile as well as through the entire crust beneath the Azov Massif. A less well constrained model was constructed for much of the crust beneath the Azov Sea and the Kerch Peninsula. The results showed that there is a significant change in the upper crustal lithology in the northern Azov Sea, expressed in the near surface as the Main Azov Fault; this boundary can be taken as the boundary between the East European Craton and the Scythian Platform. The upper crustal rocks of the Scythian Platform in this area probably consist of metasedimentary rocks. A narrow unit as shallow as about 5 km and characterized by velocities typical of the crystalline basement bounds the metasedimentary succession on its southern margin and also marks the northern margin of the northern foredeep and the underlying successions of the Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone in the southern part of the Azov Sea. A broader and somewhat deeper basement unit (about 11 km) with an antiformal shape lies beneath the northern East Black Sea Basin and forms the southern margin of the Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone. The depth of the underlying Moho discontinuity increases from 40 km beneath the Azov Massif to 47 km beneath the Crimea–Caucasus compressional zone.
Private-by-Design: Towards Personal Local Clouds

Recent trends of cloud computing for managing, storing, and processing data have made possible blending information from heterogeneous sources that is available at anytime and everywhere. However, recent large-scale information leakage of users' data have raised concerns in guaranteeing their privacy. Many users are not fully aware of the privacy risk in sharing their data, what information others can infer from the different data items, how data is handled by cloud providers and web applications, and how persistent sensitive data is.In this paper we discuss the need to design new personal clouds with privacy guaranteed by design and we stress the importance of locality in scope and availability to guarantee privacy. We argue that users must always have control over their data without the need to delegate the management of their sensitive information to public cloud providers. We define the models that drive the design of a new system. Then we present our system along with the technical challenges and directions to reconcile security, usability, and privacy with the existing infrastructures.
Patterns of harvest: investigating the social-ecological relationship between huckleberry pickers and black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum Dougl. ex Torr.; Ericaceae) in southeastern British Columbia

For centuries the wellbeing of rural communities has depended on the health and resilience of local food systems. Over the last century many factors have contributed to declines in the availability and use of important traditional foods. In this thesis I have used black huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) as a case study through which I explore the varying roles humans play in influencing the health of a wild forest food. Black huckleberry is one of the most sought after wild berries in British Columbia (BC). Over the past few decades huckleberry pickers and forest managers have expressed concerns over the decreasing quality and availability of these berries. To understand the different roles humans play in the ecology of black huckleberry I interviewed 17 longtime huckleberry pickers and participated in berry picking trips – in the East Kootenay region of southeastern BC. I also reviewed the academic literature on huckleberry ecology. I found that huckleberry pickers have a deep knowledge of factors affecting the health of huckleberry patches. They identify both shifting social-economic and ecological conditions in their local forests as intrinsically linked with declining huckleberry availability and health. In contrast, the scientific literature primarily focuses on ecological conditions and forest management practices, ignoring or downplaying the relationship of berry pickers to huckleberry ecology and overall quality. There are significant cultural differences between the berry pickers’ and the scientists’ views of the factors impacting the health of the berry patch. I argue that an effective approach to addressing the problem of declining quality and availability must include the valuable insights berry pickers have on how social-ecological factors affect berry health. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Supervisory Committee . ii Abstract . iii Table of
Analysis of Non-linear Relationship of PM2.5 Mass Concentration with Aerosol Extinction Coefficient and RH in Hefei, China

Optical remote sensing of PM 2.5 concentration complements ground-based in situ sampler observations and depends on aerosol extinction-to-mass conversion and meteorological factors. Based on Mie scattering theory, we derived a non-linear analytical expression among the PM 2.5 mass concentration, aerosol extinction coefficient, and hygroscopic factor. We analyzed 1-year data of aerosol size distribution, PM 2.5 , visibility, and relative humidity (RH) and refined the exponential factors for improving PM 2.5 estimated from the aerosol extinction coefficient in Hefei, China. Aerosol size distribution data on adjacent days were used to approximate the hygroscopic factors of the aerosols. The measured PM 2.5 in 2020 was used to refine the exponential factors relevant to the large aerosol extinction coefficient and RH in the analytical function. Next, we evaluated the derived PM 2.5 from aerosol extinction with the tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM), which independently observed PM 2.5 in January 2021; their comparisons indicated good consistency and strong correlation with a linear correlation coefficient of R 2 = 0.76. Finally, by applying the analytical function of PM 2.5 and aerosol extinction, we obtained the spatial and vertical distribution of PM 2.5 from the NASA/CALIPSO-observed aerosol extinction profiles, which showed reasonable agreement and good correlation with the TEOM-measured PM 2.5 in several major cities in Anhui Province, China.
Live vs. Video Skill Assessments in Healthcare: Are the formats comparable?

The recent pandemic created a major transition of healthcare services and education from live to virtual platforms; however, there is little guidance on potential differences between live and virtual formats for assessing technical skills. We conducted a systematic literature review searching PubMed, OVID, CINAHL, APA PsychInfo, and Web of Science to identify articles published between 1995 and 2022 focused on comparisons between live and video formats for assessing technical skills in healthcare. Initially, 2,040 articles were identified; after screening, 14 articles remained for data extraction. Four articles demonstrated higher agreement among raters for live format, one demonstrated higher agreement for video format, one article had mixed results, and eight reported no differences. We present the overall findings along with some human factors considerations including standardization of technical requirements to bridge the gap between live and video assessments found in the literature.