Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Singular value-based reduction of fuzzy rule base with non-singleton support

Applies a singular value based method for the reduction of fuzzy rule base with non-singleton support. The method characterizes membership functions by the conditions of sum normalization (SN), non-negativeness (NN), and normality (NO), and conducts singular value decomposition on a matrix comprising rule consequents and support factors. The singular values serve to indicate the important components to keep, and the orthogonal matrices can be tailored to yield linear combinations to form membership functions for the reduced set. Membership functions as obtained generally satisfy the SN and NN conditions but not the NO, in which case close-to-NO solution would be adopted.
The introduction of the desk displacement ventilation concept

This paper introduces the research at a new type of task conditioning concept, the desk displacement ventilation concept. The total research comprises several phases, in which the measurement and calculation of indoor airflows play a major role: 1, Literature res~arch on velocity measurement techniques. 2. Experimental tests of different velocity measurement techniques, in particular the Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) technique. 3. Measurements at a full·scale experimental set-up of an office-model, equipped to operate according to the desk displacement ventilation concept. 4. Comparison with Computational Fluid Dynamics-simulations. After the introduction of the new desk displacement ventilation concept, this paper reports on phases one and two of this research project. A theoretical analysis of the PTVtechnique shows its suitabillity for indoor airflows. Two PTV'experiments underline the quantitative and qualitative possibilities. The generation of sufficient and consistently neutrally buoyant soap bubbles, which are used as tracer particles, still requires a technical solution.
A novel MobileNet with selective depth multiplier to compromise complexity and accuracy

In the last few years, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have demonstrated good performance while solving various computer vision problems. However, since CNNs exhibit high computational complexity, signal processing is performed on the server side. To reduce the computational complexity of CNNs for edge computing, a lightweight algorithm, such as a MobileNet, is proposed. Although MobileNet is lighter than other CNN models, it commonly achieves lower classification accuracy. Hence, to find a balance between complexity and accuracy, additional hyperparameters for adjusting the size of the model have recently been proposed. However, significantly increasing the number of parameters makes models dense and unsuitable for devices with limited computational resources. In this study, we propose a novel MobileNet architecture, in which the number of parameters is adaptively increased according to the importance of feature maps. We show that our proposed network achieves better classification accuracy with fewer parameters than the conventional MobileNet.
By land and by tree: Pollinator taxa diversity of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids

There are approximately 30,000 species in the family Orchidaceae, with some species growing terrestrially and others growing as epiphytes. Though the pollination biology of many of these species is not well known, there has been a diversity of taxa recorded as orchid pollinators. Insects, birds, and even a record of a mammal species have been documented as successful pollinators, while some orchids are able to reproduce without the use of a pollen vector. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of orchid pollination tactics, with references to more specific studies of each, and to analyze a large subset of publications to determine differences in pollinator taxa and specificity between epiphytic and terrestrial orchid genera. This review examines pollination data from over 400 orchid species, including 74 epiphytic and 83 terrestrial orchid genera. Two pollinator taxa, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera (Class: Insecta), were found to pollinate significantly more terrestrial than epiphytic orchid genera, while other taxa showed no significant differences. Hymenoptera were the dominant taxa of pollinator in regards to the overall number of species recorded; however, based on species interaction webs that were built, the Lepidoptera (Class: Insecta) have stronger interactions with the orchid species they pollinate, suggesting a more specific relationship between the two.
Point cloud restoration via 2D projection and inpainting

The presence of noise, displacement of points, and empty spots in a raw Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) point cloud are common phenomena caused by reflective surfaces or objects. Typical approaches to solve this problem are either avoid or cover the reflective areas or to manually remove the erroneous data in post processing. This can help clean the point cloud structure but will cause sparsity issues. To combat this, in this paper, we introduce a two-step process to perform point cloud restoration. Instead of removing noise, this approach can restore the points to the closest surface which they may belong to. Next, to fill out empty spots, we introduce a technique called point cloud inpainting, which involves interpolating points in 2D then mapping it back to 3D for flat surfaces. The point cloud then becomes more photorealistic and easier to use for other computer vision tasks.
Low-Dose Dioxin Reduced Glucose Uptake in C2C12 Myocytes: The Role of Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress and Insulin-Dependent Calcium Mobilization

Chronic exposure to some environmental polluting chemicals (EPCs) is strongly associated with metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance is a major biochemical abnormality in the skeletal muscle in patients with metabolic syndrome. However, the causal relationship is inconsistent and little is known about how EPCs affect the insulin signaling cascade in skeletal muscle. Here, we investigated whether exposure to 100 pM of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD) as a low dose of dioxin induces insulin resistance in C2C12 myocytes. The treatment with TCDD inhibited the insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4). The low-dose TCDD reduced the expression of insulin receptor β (IRβ) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 without affecting the phosphorylation of Akt. The TCDD impaired mitochondrial activities, leading to reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and the blockage of insulin-induced Ca2+ release. All TCDD-mediated effects related to insulin resistance were still observed in aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-deficient myocytes and prevented by MitoTEMPO, a mitochondria-targeting ROS scavenger. These results suggest that low-dose TCDD stress may induce muscle insulin resistance AhR-independently and that mitochondrial oxidative stress is a novel therapeutic target for dioxin-induced insulin resistance.
Acehnese Traditional Food: The Potency of Community Economic Development in Lhokseumawe - Indonesia

Traditional food is a form of community culture that manifests its natural resources. It has various values; biological, economic, and social value. This study aims to analyze the potency of community economic development through traditional food based on public consumption. This research was conducted using a mixed-method approach through descriptive analysis. The informants were producers, sellers, and consumers of traditional Acehnese foods, which determined by a snowball. Researchers distributed questionnaires to 30 respondents who live in three districts, namely Banda Sakti, Muara Satu, and Muara Dua. The results showed that Bhoi and Seupet cakes are the most popular cakes consumed by people in Lhokseumawe. Therefore, the study highlights that these traditional cakes have the good economic potential to be developed.
Assessment of the Toxic Effects of Heavy Metals on Waterbirds and Their Prey Species in Freshwater Habitats

Waterbirds may be a good indicator of harmful metal levels in aquatic environments. Waterbirds’ organs and tissues were tested for the presence of pollutants, such as metals. However, very few reports describe the use of bird feathers and their prey in metal analysis. In the present research, seven metals were measured in the tissue, kidney, liver, and feathers of the Indian pond heron, the black-crowned night heron, and their prey species, including crabs, prawns, molluscs, and fishes from a freshwater lake. Metals were examined using an ECIL-4141-double beam atomic absorption spectrophotometer (DB-AAS). Metal concentrations differed considerably in the tissue, kidney, liver, and feathers of the Indian pond heron and black-crowned night heron (p < 0.001). Indeed, this research discovered a good correlation between the metals of prey species and the tissues, kidneys, liver, and feathers of waterbirds that were tested. The regression model explained that the Cyprinus carpio influence the accumulation of metals about 98.2% in tissues, Macrobrachium rosenbergii and Cyprinus carpio around 86.3% in the kidney, the Labeo rohita almost 47.2% in the liver and Labeo rohita nearly 93.2% on the feathers of the Indian pond heron. On the other hand, the Mystus vittatus, Cyprinus carpio, Labeo rohita influence about 98.8% in tissue, the Claris batrachus and Tilapia mossambica around 93.3% in kidney, the Mystus vittatus, Cyprinus carpio, about 93.2% in liver and the freshwater crab (Travancoriana schirnerae), freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and a fish (Cyprinus carpio) nearly 93.2% in feathers in the black-crowned night heron. This research evaluated metals in the dead carcasses of waterbirds, a non-invasive biomonitoring technique for pollution. Overall, the investigation revealed that the lake is severely contaminated with metals. Therefore, the management and protection of aquatic habitats, particularly freshwater lakes, should be enhanced to rescue wild species that rely on aquatic ecosystems and to ensure that people have access to clean drinking water.
Assessing the Bacterial Communities Composition from Differently Treated Agarwood via 16S rRNA Gene Metabarcoding

Agarwood (Aquilaria sinensis) is one of the most important resin-containing plants used to produce agar around the world and it is a precious herbal medicine usually combined with other herbs. In this study, we used the Illumina sequencing technique to explore the agarwood bacterial community structure from four different incense formations of agarwood, including healthy agarwood, drilling agarwood, liquid fermentation agarwood, and insect attack agarwood. Our results showed that 20 samples of three different incense-formation methods of agarwood and healthy agarwood acquired 1,792,706 high-quality sequences. In-depth investigation showed that when the diversity of agarwood bacterial species was higher, the agarwood incense quality was higher as well. Among healthy agarwood, drilling agarwood, fermentation agarwood, and insect attack agarwood, the bacterial community structure had significant changes. Natural agarwood, such as insect attack agarwood, kept more bacterial community structure, and the incense quality was better. Furthermore, we observed that in the healthy agarwood, Amnibacterium and Delftia were the predominant bacteria. Actinoplanes, Bordetella, and Sphingobacterium were the dominant bacteria in the drilling agarwood. Additionally, Pelagibacterium and Methylovirgula were some of the main bacteria in the fermentation liquid agarwood and the insect attack agarwood, while Cellulomonas and Aeromicrobium were the dominant bacteria. This research provides a basis for further research into the underlying mechanisms of incense production, as well as the bacterial community applications of agarwood production.
Stability of Nonlinear Impulsive Systems: Self-Triggered Comparison System Approach

This article presents a new approach to the problem of globally asymptotical stability for nonlinear impulsive systems by utilizing self-triggered impulsive control (STIC), where impulse instants are determined by a well-designed self-triggered mechanism, which is based on the comparison approach. Different from event-triggered impulsive control strategy in which the triggering conditions need to be continuously or periodically monitored to determine whether an impulse should be generated, our proposed STIC strategy does not require those monitoring because it can utilize the measurable information to predict the next impulse instant. Based on the proposed STIC strategy, some Lyapunov-based sufficient conditions for globally asymptotical stability are derived by adopting the comparison approach. Moreover, we prove that the Zeno behavior can be excluded from our results. Specifically, we apply the theoretical results to resolve the STIC problem for a class of nonlinear systems, where two different cases are fully considered, that is, state-based STIC and output-based STIC. For each case, the design method of STIC strategy is given in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is verified by two numerical examples and their simulations.
Global hot-star wind models for stars from Magellanic Clouds

We provide mass-loss rate predictions for O stars from Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. We calculate global (unified, hydrodynamic) model atmospheres of main sequence, giant, and supergiant stars for chemical composition corresponding to Magellanic Clouds. The models solve radiative transfer equation in comoving frame, kinetic equilibrium equations (also known as NLTE equations), and hydrodynamical equations from (quasi-)hydrostatic atmosphere to expanding stellar wind. The models allow us to predict wind density, velocity, and temperature (consequently also the terminal wind velocity and the mass-loss rate) just from basic global stellar parameters. As a result of their lower metallicity, the line radiative driving is weaker leading to lower wind mass-loss rates with respect to the Galactic stars. We provide a formula that fits the mass-loss rate predicted by our models as a function of stellar luminosity and metallicity. On average, the mass-loss rate scales with metallicity as dMdt sim Z^0.59. The predicted mass-loss rates are lower than mass-loss rates derived from Halpha diagnostics and can be reconciled with observational results assuming clumping factor Cc = 9. On the other hand, the predicted mass-loss rates either agree or are slightly higher than the mass-loss rates derived from ultraviolet wind line profiles. The calculated P v ionization fractions also agree with values derived from observations for LMC stars with Teff < 40 000 K. Taken together, our theoretical predictions provide reasonable models with consistent mass-loss rate determination, which can be used for quantitative study of stars from Magellanic Clouds.
Assessing the Load, Virulence and Antibiotic-Resistant Traits of ESBL/Ampc E. coli from Broilers Raised on Conventional, Antibiotic-Free, and Organic Farms

Poultry is the most likely source of livestock-associated Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) and plasmid-mediated AmpC (pAmpC)-producing E. coli (EC) for humans. We tested the hypothesis that farming methods have an impact on the load of ESBL/pAmpC-EC in the gut of broilers at slaughter. Isolates (n = 156) of antibiotic-free (AF), organic (O), and conventional (C) animals were characterized for antibiotic susceptibility and antibiotic resistance genes. Thirteen isolates were whole-genome sequenced. The average loads of ESBL/pAmpC-EC in cecal contents were 4.17 Log CFU/g for AF; 2.85 Log CFU/g for O; and 3.88 Log CFU/g for C type (p < 0.001). ESBL/pAmpC-EC isolates showed resistance to antibiotic classes historically used in poultry, including penicillins, tetracyclines, quinolones, and sulfonamides. Isolates from O and AF farms harbored a lower proportion of resistance to antibiotics than isolates from C farms. Among the determinants for ESBL/pAmpC, CTX-M-1 prevailed (42.7%), followed by TEM-type (29%) and SHV (19.8%). Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), belonging to ST117 and ST349, were identified in the collection. These data confirm the possible role of a broiler as an ESBL/AmpC EC and APEC reservoir for humans. Overall, our study suggests that antibiotic-free and organic production may contribute to a reduced exposure to ESBL/AmpC EC for the consumer.
Evaluation of In-Service Vocational Teacher Training Program: A Blend of Face-to-Face, Online and Offline Learning Approaches

Teacher education has a large and favorable impact on a teacher’s performance. Effective training brings improvement in the productivity and performance of employees due to the acquisition of new knowledge and skills. The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission organized an in-service vocational teachers’ training program through blended learning approaches in Pakistan. This study aimed at finding out the effectiveness of that in-service vocational teachers’ training program. The four levels of the Kirkpatrick model were used as the theoretical framework. A survey approach was used to collect data from 629 in-service vocational teachers who took part in the training program through blended learning approaches. Partial least square structural equation modeling was applied to find the hierarchal relationship among the four levels of the Kirkpatrick model. The results of the current research revealed that trainees were satisfied at all four levels of the Kirkpatrick model, including the reaction, learning, behavior and results. A hierarchal relationship between the four levels of the Kirkpatrick model was also found for the evaluation of the training program. The direct effect of the reaction had a positive and significant relationship with learning, learning with behavior and behavior with the results. The results of the specific indirect relationship among the four levels clearly depicted that behavior was mediated through learning and the results, learning was mediated through the reaction and behavior and behavior was mediated through the reaction and results. This study is useful for vocational education institutions and skill development policymakers to design in-service training programs for in-service teachers. Future studies can be conducted about the adaptation of instructions for the in-service vocational teachers’ training program through blended learning approaches.
CN and HCN in Dense Interstellar Clouds

We present a theoretical investigation of CN and HCN molecule formation in dense interstellar clouds. We study the gas-phase CN and HCN production efficiencies from the outer photon-dominated regions (PDRs) into the opaque cosmic-ray-dominated cores. We calculate the equilibrium densities of CN and HCN and of the associated species C+, C, and CO, as functions of the far-ultraviolet (FUV) optical depth. We consider isothermal gas at 50 K, with hydrogen particle densities from 102 to 106 cm-3. We study clouds that are exposed to FUV fields with intensities (at 1000 Å) from 1 × 10-18 to 1 × 10-14 ergs s-1 cm-2 Hz-1 sr-1, or 20 to 2 × 105 times the mean interstellar FUV intensity. We assume cosmic-ray H2 ionization rates ranging from 5 × 10-17 s-1 to an enhanced value of 5 × 10-16 s-1. We also examine the sensitivity of the density profiles to the gas-phase sulfur abundance.
Conformation and Structure of Hydroxyethyl Cellulose Ether with a Wide Range of Average Molar Masses in Aqueous Solutions

The solution properties of a water-soluble chemically modified cellulose ether, hydroxyethyl cellulose (HeC), were examined using static light scattering (SLS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-to-wide-angle neutron scattering (S-WANS), small-to-wide-angle X-ray scattering (S-WAXS) and viscometric techniques at 25 °C. The examined HeC samples had average molar substitution numbers ranging from 2.36 to 2.41 and weight average molar masses (Mw) that fell within a wide range from 87 to 1500 kg mol−1. Although the relationship between the determined radius of gyration (Rg) and Mw was described as Rg ∝ Mw~0.6, as is observed usually in flexible polymer solutions in good solvents, the observed scattering vector (q) dependencies of excess Rayleigh ratios were well interpreted using a rigid rod particle model, even in high-Mw samples. Moreover, the ratios of the formed particle length (L) evaluated assuming the model for rigid rods to the determined Rg showed the relationship LRg−1 ~ 3.5 irrespective of Mw and were close to those theoretically predicted for rigid rod particle systems, i.e., LRg−1 = 12. The observed SLS behavior suggested that HeC molecules behave just like rigid rods in aqueous solution. As the L values were not simply proportional to the average molecular contour length calculated from the Mw, the chain conformation or structure of the formed particles by HeC molecules in aqueous solution changed with increasing Mw. The q dependencies of excess scattering intensities observed using the S-WANS and S-WAXS experiments demonstrated that HeC molecules with Mw less than 200 kg mol−1 have a diameter of ~1.4 nm and possess an extended rigid rod-like local structure, the size of which increases gradually with increasing Mw. The observed Mw dependencies of the translational and rotational diffusion coefficients and the intrinsic viscosity of the particle suspensions strongly support the idea that the HeC molecules behave as rigid rod particles irrespective of their Mw.
Characteristics of an Electrohydrodynamic Jet Induced by Electrochemical Injection and Field-Enhanced Dissociation in a Blade-Plane Geometry

Although the issue of charge formation mechanisms is a major area of interest within the field of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flows, no attempt has been made to quantitatively investigate theoretical models from the perspective of electrode processes. This article aims to provide a novel simulation model considering both electrochemical injection and field-enhanced dissociation. The concentration-dependent Butler–Volmer (B–V) equation describing the nature of the electron transfer process is employed for the first time as a charge injection law applicable to dielectric liquids, in which the injection current density depends not only on the potential drop across the thin layer between the electrode and the outer Helmholtz plane (OHP) of the electrical double layer (EDL) but also on the concentration of the reactant next to the electrode. The results show that the electrochemical injection plays a key role in producing the flapping charge density, while the field-enhanced dissociation mechanism is vital for stabilizing the jet. The movement, amalgamation, and dissipation of vortex pairs on both sides of the charge density can be detected by the ${Q}$ -criterion. The temporal evolution of the axial concentration of charges can infer the formation time of homocharge or heterocharge zones. The range and amplitude of the electric force density are in accordance with conclusion drawn by experimental studies. It is hoped that these findings can provide an original support for improving the performance of EHD pumps.