Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Information Theoretic Learning: Renyi's Entropy and Kernel Perspectives

This book presents the first cohesive treatment of Information Theoretic Learning (ITL) algorithms to adapt linear or nonlinear learning machines both in supervised or unsupervised paradigms. ITL is a framework where the conventional concepts of second order statistics (covariance, L2 distances, correlation functions) are substituted by scalars and functions with information theoretic underpinnings, respectively entropy, mutual information and correntropy. ITL quantifies the stochastic structure of the data beyond second order statistics for improved performance without using full-blown Bayesian approaches that require a much larger computational cost. This is possible because of a non-parametric estimator of Renyis quadratic entropy that is only a function of pairwise differences between samples. The book compares the performance of ITL algorithms with the second order counterparts in many engineering and machine learning applications. Students, practitioners and researchers interested in statistical signal processing, computational intelligence, and machine learning will find in this book the theory to understand the basics, the algorithms to implement applications, and exciting but still unexplored leads that will provide fertile ground for future research.
Joint Assimilation of Surface Temperature and L‐Band Microwave Brightness Temperature in Land Data Assimilation

Soil moisture and soil temperature are tightly coupled variables in land surface models. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the joint assimilation of soil moisture and land surface temperature data in a land surface model on soil moisture and soil temperature characterization. Three synthetic tests evaluated the joint assimilation of surface temperature (measured by MODIS) and brightness temperature (from L‐band) into the Community Land Model using the local ensemble transform Kalman filter (LETKF). The following three tests were performed for dry and wet conditions: (i) assimilating surface temperature observations only; (ii) assimilating brightness temperature observations only; and (iii) assimilating both surface temperature and brightness temperature observations. The results show that the joint assimilation of surface temperature and brightness temperature results in the best characterization of soil moisture and soil temperature profiles under dry conditions. The assimilation of surface temperature contributed to an improved characterization of soil moisture profiles under dry conditions. For the dry period, brightness temperature assimilation resulted in improved prediction of sensible and latent heat fluxes, whereas surface temperature assimilation improved only the prediction of latent heat flux. Under wet conditions, the joint assimilation scheme cannot outperform the single brightness temperature assimilation. Neither the estimation of soil moisture and soil temperature profiles nor the estimates of the turbulent fluxes were improved by joint assimilation (compared with assimilation of brightness temperature only) under wet conditions.
Neuropsychological Assessment of Children with Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities are a heterogeneous and common group of disorders that have a relevant impact on children’s academic function. The most common learning disorders consist of dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia or other non-verbal learning disorders. These disorders are commonly associated with neurological or behavioral disorders such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders. Understanding of cognitive and mental problems of children with learning disorders is an interesting challenge, and various approaches have been applied for their study, including medical, genetic, educational, epidemiologic and experimental psychologist. Nowadays, clinical neuropsychological approach, which is based on neurocognitive models, is one of the best existing models for description and interpretation of learning disorders. This approach assumes that there is a strong relationship between the various learning deficits and brain functioning. This paper consists of a descriptive review about components of a specialized neuropsychological approach that can be applied for the assessment of children with learning disabilities.
Environmental Forcing of Red Tides in the Southern Benguela

The Southern Benguela cape upwelling plumes have inshore wind shadows prone to red tides in late summer. Their intensity and coverage are estimated by satellite fluorescence measurements in the period 1997–2012 and qualified by in situ reports. High satellite fluorescence cases are identified at daily to seasonal time scales, and characteristics of the upper ocean and lower atmosphere are studied using third generation reanalyses. A dominant feature is easterly winds over the Cape Peninsula (34°S, 18°E) induced by a ridging anticyclone-coastal low weather pattern. Over Cape Columbine (33°S), there is a wind shadow with cyclonic wind and current shear. Composite atmospheric profiles reveal a 4°C temperature inversion near 500 m that traps a coastal wind jet >6 m/s below 200 m. The composite shelf oceanography shows a relic upwelling plume below 10 m overtopped by warmer water near the coast, providing the thermal stratification needed for biotic aggregation. Data from the IPSL5 coupled climate model over the period 1980–2080 indicates that environmental conditions favoring red tides may become more frequent.
Impact of horizontal resolution and the advantages of the nested domains approach in the prediction of tropical cyclone intensification and movement

Received 14 December 2008; revised 16 February 2009; accepted 17 March 2009; published 4 June 2009. [1] The prediction of the intensification and movement of the Orissa Super Cyclone (OSC-1999) was studied using the National Center for Atmospheric Research MM5 mesoscale atmospheric model. A case study of the OSC has been chosen as it is noted to be the most intense cyclone over the Bay of Bengal of this century. Experiments were made with a single domain (1D), with two-way interactive nested two domains (2D), and with three domains (3D). The model was integrated for 5 days, and the model-predicted intensity and track positions were compared with observations. Results indicate that the enhancement of resolution produces higher intensity and does not influence the track of the storm. The nested 2D and 3D experiments produce cyclone track closely agreeing with the observations, while the 1D experiments show the deviation of the track toward north and northeast after 48 h, thus with increasing errors. Differences in the simulations with single and nested domains indicate that simulated atmospheric circulation on the eastern parts of the domain contribute to the deviation of the track in the 1D experimentandthesuccessfulsimulationwith2Dand3Dexperimentsisduetothetwo-way interactive approach of the nested domains.
The impact of self-perceived burden, caregiver burden, and dyadic coping on negative emotions in colorectal cancer patient-spousal caregiver dyads: a dyadic analysis

Objective To explore the correlation between dyadic coping, self-perceived burden, caregiver burden, and anxiety/depression in colorectal cancer patient-spousal caregiver dyads. Methods This study surveyed 200 colorectal cancer patient-spousal caregiver dyads from August 2022 to December 2022. It evaluated self-perceived burden (only for patients), caregiver burden (only for spousal caregivers), dyadic coping, anxiety, and depression. It analyzed data through Pearson’s correlation and the actor–partner interdependence mediation model. Results Self-perceived burden and caregiver burden were significantly associated with the anxiety/depression of both individuals in colorectal cancer patient-spousal caregiver dyads; patients’ dyadic coping was associated with self-perceived burden and caregiver burden; caregivers’ dyadic coping was only associated with patients’ dyadic coping and depression. There was an actor–partner mediating effect of self-perceived burden between dyadic coping and anxiety/depression, but there was only a partner-mediating effect of caregiver burden between dyadic coping and anxiety/depression. Conclusion This study confirmed the interrelationship between self-perceived burden, caregiver burden, dyadic coping, anxiety, and depression. Self-perceived burden and caregiver burden mediated the relationship between dyadic coping and anxiety/depression in colorectal cancer patient-spousal caregiver dyads. This suggests dynamic interventions for self-perceived burden and caregiver burden can be implemented to improve anxiety/depression in both partners based on maintaining healthy dyadic coping between colorectal cancer patient-spousal caregiver dyads.
A FLAT DILATOMETER TO OPERATE IN GLACIAL TILLS

The Marchetti flat dilatometer is a simple to operate in-situ testing device that was designed for use in clays, silts, and sands. A new dilatometer has been developed for use in a greater variety of soil types, in particular glacial tills. This probe is more robust than the Marchetti dilatometer because it uses a rigid piston instead of a flexible membrane to load the soil. The new dilatometer is also a research dilatometer incorporating a displacement transducer and pressure transducer. This allows an applied pressure displacement curve to be produced. Tests have been carried out at several sites to compare results from the two dilatometers, check the robustness of the new dilatometer, and produce data to establish new correlations.
The private sector's role in Colombia to achieving the circular economy and the Sustainable Development Goals

The circular economy (CE) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are two well-known initiatives to address issues like social injustice, environmental pollution, and resource scarcity. While these two initiatives have received the support of the Colombian government through plans and strategies, little is known about the involvement of private companies. The aim of this study was to examine the CE and SDGs' implementation in the Colombian private sector. The entities linked with the United Nations Global Compact served as the study population, which was assessed by a semi-structured survey whose data was handled by descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Findings indicate that 75% of the entities are supporting the SDGs and adopting the CE model simultaneously. The food and transportation sectors show the highest levels of alignment towards CE, followed by mining and manufacturing. Waste management is the most implemented type of CE practice (65%), while supply chain management is the least (20%). The SDGs that receive the most attention are SDG 17, SDG 6, SDG 16, and SDG 12. Conversely, SDG 2 and SDG 5 receive the least support.
Water vapor density effect on measurements of trace gas mixing ratio and flux with a massflow controller

One configuration in measurements of trace species in the atmosphere uses a massflow controller to regulate airflow through a device that traps the species of interest. Because the flow controller is calibrated with dry air, correction should be made to account for the density effect of water vapor in the ambient air. A common type of massflow controller regulates the flow by measuring temperature difference along a heated tube. It is shown that for these units the true mixing ratio Sc (ratio of mass of trace species c to mass of dry air) is related to the apparent mixing ratio Sc (measurement before correction), as Sc = (1+1.85r)Sc, where r is water vapor mixing ratio of the ambient air, typically varying in the range 0–0.04. Correction should also be made to the surface-air flux measured with such an apparatus in conjunction with micrometeorological flux gradient or relaxed eddy accumulation method and flux chambers; this involves a correction term proportional to surface evaporation rate and for some measurement configurations the same scale factor (1+1.85r) as for Sc. Examples are given for gaseous mercury to illustrate the magnitude of these corrections. No correction is needed if moisture is removed from the airstream before it enters the massflow controller.
6D Object Pose Estimation Based on Cross-Modality Feature Fusion

The 6D pose estimation using RGBD images plays a pivotal role in robotics applications. At present, after obtaining the RGB and depth modality information, most methods directly concatenate them without considering information interactions. This leads to the low accuracy of 6D pose estimation in occlusion and illumination changes. To solve this problem, we propose a new method to fuse RGB and depth modality features. Our method effectively uses individual information contained within each RGBD image modality and fully integrates cross-modality interactive information. Specifically, we transform depth images into point clouds, applying the PointNet++ network to extract point cloud features; RGB image features are extracted by CNNs and attention mechanisms are added to obtain context information within the single modality; then, we propose a cross-modality feature fusion module (CFFM) to obtain the cross-modality information, and introduce a feature contribution weight training module (CWTM) to allocate the different contributions of the two modalities to the target task. Finally, the result of 6D object pose estimation is obtained by the final cross-modality fusion feature. By enabling information interactions within and between modalities, the integration of the two modalities is maximized. Furthermore, considering the contribution of each modality enhances the overall robustness of the model. Our experiments indicate that the accuracy rate of our method on the LineMOD dataset can reach 96.9%, on average, using the ADD (-S) metric, while on the YCB-Video dataset, it can reach 94.7% using the ADD-S AUC metric and 96.5% using the ADD-S score (<2 cm) metric.
Energy from the desert : very large scale photovoltaic systems : socio-economic, financial, technical and environmental aspects

Energy from the Desert: Feasibility of Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems Background and Concept of VLS-PV ? World Energy Issues ? Environmental Issues ? An Overview of Photovoltaic Technology ? World Irradiation Database ? Concept of VLS-PV ? VLS-PV Case Studies ? General Information ? A Preliminary Case Study of VLS-PV Systems in World Deserts ? Gobi Desert ? Sahara Desert ? Middle East ? Scenario Studies and Recommendations Energy from the Desert: Practical Proposals for Very Large Scale Photovoltaic Systems Introduction ? The Mediterranean Region ? The Middle East Region ? The Asian Region ? The Oceania Region ? Desert Region Community Development ? Conclusions and Recommendations ? Bibliography, Index
Reconstruction of Holocene Precipitation Patterns in Europe Using Pollen and Lake-Level Data

Abstract Lake-level data can be used to refine palaeoclimate reconstructions based on pollen data. This approach is illustrated for the European Holocene. Estimates of P-PET (precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration) were first inferred from modern pollen analogues. The pollen-based estimates were then compared with the status of lakes within a 5° radius. Analogues with P-PET anomalies inconsistent with the lake-level changes were rejected. The "constrained" sets of analogues were used to estimate continental-scale patterns of annual mean temperature and annual precipitation at 3000-yr intervals. Estimated temperature anomalies differed only slightly from the unconstrained reconstructions. Estimated precipitation anomalies, however, showed improved spatial coherence and increased regional contrast and were occasionally reversed in sign. The effect of the constraint was to impose a rational selection among almost equally similar modern pollen analogues with similar temperatures but widely varying moisture regimes. The resulting maps showed clear, spatially coherent patterns of change in precipitation as well as temperature, suitable for comparison with climate-model results. Further improvement of these maps will become possible as a more extensive coverage of lake-level data is obtained.
Maximum entropy spectral analysis of climatic time series revisited: Assessing the statistical significance of estimated spectral peaks

[1] One of the most often used methods in the spectral analysis of climatic time series is the parametric method of maximum entropy based on an autoregressive model. The method of maximum entropy is particularly appealing because of its high resolution and its good performance with short time series. Its main drawback is that the statistical significance of the spectral peaks is difficult to assess; consequently, there is a risk of accepting spurious peaks as having a physical origin. We propose to use a computer intensive method, the permutation test, for assessing the statistical significance of the spectral peaks, showing its implementation and the results using simulated and real data. With the simulated data we illustrate the applicability to a short time series but with rich signal content, while with the time series of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) we illustrate how it may be used in the estimation of the spectrogram.
Strain e Strain Rate longitudinal por meio do speckle tracking bidimensional em gatos domésticos sadios e não sedados

Echocardiography has become one of the most important diagnostic methods in veterinary cardiology. Thus, new tools incorporated into echocardiography such as tissue Doppler and, more recently two-dimensional speckle tracking has been assisting in the definitive diagnosis, as well as in determining the prognosis of cardiac diseases. The speckle tracking is a wellestablished and validated tool in human medicine and is used in several heart diseases. In veterinary medicine its use has been demonstrated in dogs and horses. However, its use is recently applied to veterinary, given that, there is little species being studied with speckle tracking. Regarding felines, there is little or even absence of information about the use of this tool in domestic cats. Thus, the present work aimed to demonstrate the use of the two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography, in order to establish preliminary reference range and the technique in healthy non-sedated cats. For this purpose, were used 30 clinically healthy non-sedated cats, which were obtained the systolic blood pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG), and Doppler echocardiography. Three to 5 consecutive heart cycles using a continuous monitoring ECG were stored in digital format on a workstation for off-line analysis. Cine loops were acquired from left apical four chamber view and 6 measurements using speckle tracking software were obtained in two different Cine loops (3 measurements for each Cine loop) at end-systole for all studied variables and then average was calculated. Myocardial longitudinal function was evaluated and the variables longitudinal Strain (%) Strain Rate (1/s), velocity (cm/s) and displacement (mm) were obtained, showing the values -15.65 ± 5.46, -1.80 ± 0.59, 1.41 ± 0.87, 1.27 ± 0.80, respectively. Thus, the present study helps in the better understanding of myocardial function in cats.
A Fractional-Order Wireless Power Transfer System With Misalignment and Detuning Tolerance

For wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, parameter fluctuations and misalignment of coils will lead to frequency detuning, which will, in turn, affect system performance and output accuracy. In general, the conventional frequency-tuning strategies rely on adjustable capacitors or inductors, which increase the control complexity or require additional modules. Therefore, this article proposes a fractional-order WPT system with adjustable fractional order. The proposed system with misalignment and detuning tolerance can provide a constant current (CC) or constant voltage (CV) output. First, based on the coupled mode theory, the frequency and output characteristics are analyzed. Then, a frequency-tuning strategy based on the fractance element is proposed. Operation modes and equivalent impedance of the fractance element are analyzed. On this basis, control strategies of CC and CV are designed for the transmitter and receiver, respectively, Finally, an 864-W prototype is set up to validate the proposed frequency-tuning strategy and control strategy. The proposed system has robustness to misalignment and parameter fluctuations, which can improve efficiency and output accuracy.
Evidence for long‐term cooling of the upper atmosphere in ionosonde data

While several model estimates predict cooling of the upper atmosphere as a result of increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases, direct observational evidence of such a trend is scarce and partly susceptible, because the relevant data series do not cover sufficiently long time periods. We study the long‐term data set from the ionosonde station at Sodankylä (67.4°N, 26.7°E), which has been operated during almost 4 solar cycles. We find a close to linear decrease in the altitude of the F2 layer peak during the last 39 years, when the effect of solar cycle variations is removed from the data. This local trend is qualitatively consistent with the model predictions of a cooling of the lower thermosphere.
The intergenerational transmission of participation in collective action: The role of

In this study we examined the intergenerational transmission of collective action from parents to children. Using a mixed-method approach combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, we analyzed data from 100 dyads of activist parents in Chile (involved in the mobilizations against the dictatorship during the 80’s) and their adult children (N=200). The quantitative analysis addressed the role of conversations about politics in the family. The results provided evidence of a direct association between those conversations and the frequency of participation in conventional and radical actions by the children, and an indirect association via children’s knowledge about parental involvement in past social movements. The qualitative phase, which used interviews and thematic analysis on a subsample of 24 dyads (N=48), confirmed the role of political conversations, but also revealed the influence of other factors such as cultural consumption and joint political participation. This phase allowed the identification of factors that facilitate or hinder family transmission. Overall, the study highlights the relevance of family as a critical site of socialization that enables the intergenerational transmission of protest.
An examination of the distribution of snow on sea‐ice

Abstract Snow on sea‐ice is an integral, yet poorly understood, component of the ocean‐sea‐ice‐atmosphere interface. Snow exerts a significant control on both shortwave and conductive fluxes due to its high albedo and low thermal conductivity. Parameters pertaining to snow distribution and/or thickness are hard to model and/or to measure using geospatial techniques. In terms of Arctic hydrology, we consider three aspects of snow important to understanding processes operating within the ocean‐sea‐ice‐atmosphere interface: i) the average magnitude of snow thickness on sea‐ice; ii) the spatial distribution of snow as a function of location and ice type; and iii) the seasonal evolution of both magnitude and distribution. In this paper we focus on the second aspect; distribution. The distribution patterns of snow over first‐year (FYI), multiyear (MYI) and rubble (RI) sea‐ice were evaluated at 15 sites, sampled during two years of field research in the Canadian Arctic. A geostatistical technique known as the va.