Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bean Cuisine: The Potential of Citizen Science to Help Motivate Changes in Pulse Knowledge and Consumption

Pulses, or the dry, edible seeds of non-oilseed legumes (e.g., chickpeas, cowpeas, dry beans, dry peas, and lentils), are uniquely positioned to simultaneously benefit human and environmental well-being, all while being affordable and important to diverse cultural food traditions around the world. Despite the benefits they can provide, pulses are dramatically under-consumed. One key barrier preventing higher intake among consumers is a lack of familiarity with how to prepare and regularly incorporate pulses into meals. To address this barrier and actualize findings from our laboratory, we created the Bean Cuisine, a 2-week cuisine (i.e., meal plan) with 56 pulse-centric recipes corresponding to 14 unique breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner ideas. Each meal category was largely interchangeable, i.e., the order of the breakfast recipes is not important, and one could be swapped for another if a different order were preferrable to a consumer. Fifty-six citizen scientists were recruited to provide feedback on the Bean Cuisine. Free response feedback related to project participation was very positive, and common themes included changes in pulse consumption and cooking behaviors, increased awareness of pulse variety and versatility, and positive perceptions of citizen science. Overall, participation in the Bean Cuisine citizen science project helped create pulse advocates, empowering participants to advance the well-being of their communities through pulses.
Multiresolution and Model Choice

We consider various settings of the nonparametric regression problem where for given data y1, . , yn at time points t1, . , tn we require an approximation f that is simple and close to the data. Most approaches develop first an algorithm that takes the data and some additional parameters like bandwidth and kernel function for kernel estimators. In a second step another method is developed for choosing the additional parameters, very often based on minimizing error criteria on test beds like cross-validation. Typically these methods do not produce simple approximations for complex data sets. In this talk we study approaches that work the other way round and define first a criterion for approximation, giving rise to a set of functions each being an adequate model for the data. In a second step we aim to find a particular simple function among them and try to minimize measures such as the number of local extreme values. The multiresolution criterion has turned out to be useful for defining approximation. Given noisy data y1, . , yn we require a function f to satisfy
Modelling Soil Compaction Parameters Using an Enhanced Hybrid Intelligence Paradigm of ANFIS and Improved Grey Wolf Optimiser

The criteria for measuring soil compaction parameters, such as optimum moisture content and maximum dry density, play an important role in construction projects. On construction sites, base/sub-base soils are compacted at the optimal moisture content to achieve the desirable level of compaction, generally between 95% and 98% of the maximum dry density. The present technique of determining compaction parameters in the laboratory is a time-consuming task. This study proposes an improved hybrid intelligence paradigm as an alternative tool to the laboratory method for estimating the optimum moisture content and maximum dry density of soils. For this purpose, an advanced version of the grey wolf optimiser (GWO) called improved GWO (IGWO) was integrated with an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), which resulted in a high-performance hybrid model named ANFIS-IGWO. Overall, the results indicate that the proposed ANFIS-IGWO model achieved the most precise prediction of the optimum moisture content (degree of correlation = 0.9203 and root mean square error = 0.0635) and maximum dry density (degree of correlation = 0.9050 and root mean square error = 0.0709) of soils. The outcomes of the suggested model are noticeably superior to those attained by other hybrid ANFIS models, which are built with standard GWO, Moth-flame optimisation, slime mould algorithm, and marine predators algorithm. The results indicate that geotechnical engineers can benefit from the newly developed ANFIS-IGWO model during the design stage of civil engineering projects. The developed MATLAB models are also included for determining soil compaction parameters.
The Impact of Urban Home Gardens on The Mental Well-Being of Women in The Greater Jakarta Area

Promoting positive mental health is of utmost importance, especially in today's urban context, as recognized by the World Health Organization. However, the scarcity of green spaces in urban areas presents challenges for fostering a connection with nature. To address this gap, this study investigates the distinctive contribution of urban home gardens to the mental well-being of women in the Greater Jakarta Area. Through an online survey, participant backgrounds and mental well-being were assessed using the WEMWBS scale. Validity and reliability were established using Pearson's product-moment correlation and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. The study unravels several influential factors, including garden interaction (visit frequency and duration) and size. Crucially, it advances the literature by shedding light on the original contribution of urban home gardens to mental well-being. Notably, women who visit their urban home garden more than seven times a week and spend over two hours per day in their garden report the highest levels of mental well-being. These findings highlight the unique role of urban home gardens in promoting mental well-being among urban women. Consequently, they hold implications for policymakers and practitioners aiming to enhance mental well-being and foster access to green spaces in urban areas.
Optimal heat stress metric for modelling heat‐related mortality varies from country to country

Combined heat and humidity is frequently described as the main driver of human heat‐related mortality, more so than dry‐bulb temperature alone. While based on physiological thinking, this assumption has not been robustly supported by epidemiological evidence. By performing the first systematic comparison of eight heat stress metrics (i.e., temperature combined with humidity and other climate variables) with warm‐season mortality, in 604 locations over 39 countries, we find that the optimal metric for modelling mortality varies from country to country. Temperature metrics with no or little humidity modification associates best with mortality in ~40% of the studied countries. Apparent temperature (combined temperature, humidity and wind speed) dominates in another 40% of countries. There is no obvious climate grouping in these results. We recommend, where possible, that researchers use the optimal metric for each country. However, dry‐bulb temperature performs similarly to humidity‐based heat stress metrics in estimating heat‐related mortality in present‐day climate.
Effect of Stir-Frying on Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Oat Protein Isolates

The heat treatment required for the deactivation of enzymes was carried out on crop species such as oats. Stir-frying, a frequently employed method for enzyme inactivation to preserve their desirable shelf life, can result in diminished nutritional value and protein degeneration. The mechanism by which stir-frying affects the oat protein remains largely unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the physicochemical and functional properties of the extracted oat protein isolates (OPI) at different stir-frying durations (0, 10, 20, and 30 min) at a temperature of 230 °C. The findings of this study demonstrated that stir-frying led to a decrease in the content of amino acids (AA), potentially attributed to the involvement of certain amino acids in the Maillard reaction. As the time of stir-frying increased, the secondary structure of OPI underwent changes: specifically, β-turns transformed into β-sheets. The process of protein denaturation and redistribution of chemical bonds resulted in an increase in the disulfide bond content of OPI, leading to aggregation, large particle size, and reduced digestibility. However, the water retention properties, foaming properties, and emulsification properties of OPI showed improvement. These findings provide valuable insights for the controlled and precise processing of oats and highlight the potential of OPI as a functional food.
Intraseasonal and interannual variability of sea temperature in the Arabian Sea Warm Pool

Abstract. The Arabian Sea Warm Pool (ASWP) is a part of the Indian Ocean Warm Pool, formed in the Arabian Sea before the onset of the Indian summer monsoon. The ASWP has a significant impact on climate change in the Indian Peninsula and globally. In this study, we examined the intraseasonal and interannual variability of sea temperature in the ASWP using the latest Simple Ocean Data Assimilation (SODA) reanalysis dataset. We quantified the contributions of sea surface heat flux forcing, horizontal advection, and vertical entrainment to the sea temperature using the mixed-layer heat budget analysis method. We also used a lead–lag correlation method to examine the relationship between the interannual variability of the ASWP and various large-scale modes in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. We found that the ASWP formed in April and decayed in June; its formation and decay processes were asymmetrical, with the decay rate being twice as fast as the formation rate. During the ASWP development phase, the sea surface heat flux forcing had the largest impact on the mixed-layer temperature with a contribution of up to 85 %. Its impact was divided into the net surface heat flux (0.41–0.50 ∘C per 5 d) and the shortwave radiation loss penetrating the mixed layer (from −0.08 ∘C per 5 d to −0.17 ∘C per 5 d). During the decay phase, the cooling effect of the vertical entrainment on the temperature variation increased (from −0.05 ∘C per 5 d to −0.18 ∘C per 5 d) and dominated the temperature variation jointly with the sea surface heat flux forcing. We also found that the ASWP has strong interannual variability related to the basin warming of the Indian Ocean. The lead–lag correlation indicated that the ASWP had a good synchronous correlation with the Indian Ocean Dipole. The ASWP had the largest correlation coefficient at a lag of 5–7 months of the Niño3. 4 index, showing the characteristics of modulation by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). When the El Niño (La Niña) event peaked in the winter of the previous year, the ASWP that occurred before the summer monsoon was more significant (insignificant) in the following year.
Unveiling the Dispersion Kernel in DSC-MRI by Means of Dispersion-Compliant Bases and Control Point Interpolation Techniques

In DSC-MRI the presence of dispersion affects the estimation, via deconvolution, of the residue function that characterizes the perfusion in each voxel. Dispersion is descibed by a Vascular Transport Function (VTF) which knolewdge is essential to recover a dispersion-free residue function. State-of-the-art techniques aim at characterizing the VTF but assume a specific shape for it, which in reality is unknown. We propose to estimate the residue function without assumptions by means of Dispersion-Compliant Bases (DCB). We use these results to find which VTF model better describes the in vivo data for each tissue type by means of control point interpolation approaches.
Modeling of paired zero-inflated continuous data without breaking down paired designs

ABSTRACT Paired data have been widely collected in the efficiency studies of a new method against an established method in environmental, ecological and medical studies. For example, in comparative fishing studies, ability of catching target species (fish catch) or reducing the catch of non-target species (fish bycatch) is usually investigated through a paired design. These paired fish catches by weight are generally skewed and continuous, but with a significant portion of exact zeros (no catch). Such zero-inflated continuous data are traditionally handled by two-part models where the zero and positive components are handled separately; however, this separation generally destroys paired structure, and thus may result in substantial difficulty in characterizing the relative efficiency between two methods. To overcome this problem, we consider compound Poisson mixed model for paired data with which the zero and non-zero components are characterized in an integral way. In our approach, the clustering effects by pair are captured by incorporating relevant random effects. Our model is estimated using orthodox best linear unbiased predictor approach. Unlike two-part models, our approach unifies inferences of zero and positive components. Our method is illustrated with analyses of winter flounder bycatch data and ultrasound safety data.
Recent inorganic carbon increase in a temperate estuary driven by water quality improvement and enhanced by droughts

Abstract. Estuaries are an important contributor to the global carbon budget, facilitating carbon removal, transfer, and transformation between land and the coastal ocean. Estuaries are susceptible to global climate change and anthropogenic perturbations. We find that a long-term significant mid-estuary increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of 6–21 µmol kg−1 yr−1 (1997–2020) in a temperate estuary in Germany (Elbe Estuary) was driven by an increase in upper-estuary particulate organic carbon (POC) content of 8–14 µmol kg−1 yr−1. The temporal POC increase was due to an overall improvement in water quality observed in the form of high rates of primary production and a significant drop in biological oxygen demand. The magnitude of mid-estuary DIC gain was equivalent to the increased POC production in the upper estuary, suggesting that POC is effectively remineralized and retained as DIC in the mid-estuary, with the estuary acting as an efficient natural filter for POC. In the context of this significant long-term DIC increase, a recent extended drought period (2014–2020) significantly lowered the annual mean river discharge (468 ± 234 m3 s−1) compared to the long-term mean (690 ± 441 m3 s−1, 1960–2020), while the late spring internal DIC load in the estuary doubled. The drought induced a longer dry season, starting in May (earlier than normal), increased the residence time in the estuary and allowed for a more complete remineralization period of POC. Annually, 77 %–94 % of the total DIC export was laterally transported to the coastal waters, reaching 89 ± 4.8 Gmol C yr−1, and thus, between 1997 and 2020, only an estimated maximum of 23 % (10 Gmol C yr−1) was released via carbon dioxide (CO2) evasion. Export of DIC to coastal waters decreased significantly during the drought, on average by 24 % (2014–2020: 38 ± 5.4 Gmol C yr−1), compared to the non-drought period. In contrast, there was no change in the water–air CO2 flux during the drought. We have identified that seasonal changes in DIC processing in an estuary require consideration when estimating both the long-term and future changes in water–air CO2 flux and DIC export to coastal waters. Regional and global carbon budgets should therefore take into account carbon cycling estimates in estuaries, as well as their changes over time in relation to impacts of water quality changes and extreme hydrological events.
Teaching English as a Third Language to Minority Adult Learners in Norwegian Secondary Schools

The aim of this study was to explore English teachers’ teaching techniques perceived as important when teaching English as a third language (L3) to minority adult students in secondary schools. Using a quantitative research approach, 95 teachers from two districts in the Viken county of Norway completed a 15-item questionnaire titled. Perceived Strategies for English Teaching Scale and an open-ended question about ways of teaching vocabulary for effective English teaching to support students learning in their classrooms. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and t-tests were used to analyse the data. The results showed that teaching vocabulary, reading, and grammar, among others, were strategies considered as important in teaching English. Reflecting on teachers challenging roles in teaching English as L3 to minority adult learners with varied English knowledge a collaborative teaching strategy was found to be very useful. The respondents also identified certain ways of teaching vocabulary to support students learning. Implication for further research is discussed. Keywords: Norway, English teaching, minority students, teaching strategies
Changes in Coleopteran assemblages over a successional chronosequence in a Mexican tropical dry forest

Coleopterans are the most diverse animal group on Earth and constitute good indicators of environmental change. However, little information is available about Coleopteran communities’ responses to disturbance and land-use change. Tropical dry forests have undergone especially extensive anthropogenic impacts in the past decades. This has led to mosaic landscapes consisting of areas of primary forest surrounded by pastures, agricultural fields and secondary forests, which negatively impacts many taxonomic groups. However, such impacts have not been assessed for most arthropod groups. In this work, we compared the abundance, richness and diversity of Coleopteran morphospecies in four different successional stages in a tropical dry forest in western Mexico, to answer the question: How do Coleopteran assemblages associate with vegetation change over the course of forest succession? In addition, we assessed the family composition and trophic guilds for the four successional stages. We found 971 Coleopterans belonging to 107 morphospecies distributed in 28 families. Coleopteran abundance and richness were greatest for pastures than for latter successional stages, and the most abundant family was Chrysomelidae, with 29% of the individuals. Herbivores were the most abundant guild, accounting for 57% of the individuals, followed by predators (22%) and saprophages (21%) beetles. Given the high diversity and richness found throughout the successional chronosequence of the studied tropical dry forest, in order to have the maximum number of species associated with tropical dry forests, large tracts of forest should be preserved so that successional dynamics are able to occur naturally.
Temperature-induced shift of the exciton absorption band in InP/ZnS quantum dots

Using the second-order derivative spectrophotometry method, we have determined the energy of optical transitions of colloidal InP/ZnS core-shell quantum dots at room temperature: E1 = 2.60 eV corresponds to a first exciton absorption peak of the InP core, E2 = 4.70 eV appears to meet the processes in the ZnS shell. We have investigated E1(T) temperature dependence within 6.5 – 296 K range for the first time. The obtained experimental data have been approximated by means of a linear model and Fan’s expression. Also, it has been shown that the interaction between excitons and longitudinal acoustic phonons causes the energy E1 to change with temperature. In this case, the peak’s FWHM remains invariant and amounts to 0.39 eV, which indicates the inhomogeneous broadening character and a high degree of static disorder in the ensemble of the quantum dots studied.
Turbulence Observations in Cobble-Bed Rivers

Improving descriptions of natural stream flow fields is a critical step in restoring aquatic ecosystems. Current methods used for evaluating aquatic habitat rely on simplified representations of the flow field. These methods can be improved by incorporating important spatial and temporal flow field variations and more advanced habitat metrics. However, knowledge of velocity and turbulence distributions in natural streams is limited to laboratory derived empirical equations. Further, only limited experiments have been conducted in natural streams. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the adequacy of existing empirical relationships for describing natural stream flow fields and to investigate spatial distributions of flow variables. In this research, acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) measurements were conducted at the reach scale (approximately 5 stream widths) in two cobble-bed streams. The measurements encompassed riffle, pool, and run stream units. The results showed that velocity distributions were adequately predicted with the log-law for all stream units and transverse locations. However, empirical turbulence intensity and turbulent kinetic energy equations inadequately described measured values. This was likely due to turbulence generation from stream banks, bedforms, obstructions, and other stream features.
Investigation of Blood Biochemical Parameters as Predictors of the Severity of Early Toxicosis in Pregnant Women

Early toxicosis is a frequent phenomenon that accompanies the first trimester of pregnancy. Occurs, as a rule, from the second to the twelfth-fifteenth week of gestation. Usually, early toxicosis consists of hypersalivation, general weakness, nausea, and frequent vomiting, which manifest disorders of the autonomic and central nervous systems. Early toxicosis is a multifactorial disease that includes a cumulative group of gestational complications. The pathogenesis of early toxicosis has many etiological causes, among which the predominant importance is given to the effect of chorionic gonadotropin on the mother's body. In particularly severe and difficult-to-control cases, electrolyte disorders occur in women, and alkalosis develops. Today there are no generally accepted standards for diagnosing the severity of gestosis, but doctors actively use clinical and laboratory criteria, referring to the generally accepted parameters of the functional state of the cardiovascular system, liver
Stabilizing discrete-time linear systems

In this paper, we consider the problem of stabilizing discrete-time linear systems by computing a nearby stable matrix to an unstable one. To do so, we provide a new characterization for the set of stable matrices. We show that a matrix $A$ is stable if and only if it can be written as $A=S^{-1}UBS$, where $S$ is positive definite, $U$ is orthogonal, and $B$ is a positive semidefinite contraction (that is, the singular values of $B$ are less or equal 1). This characterization results in an equivalent optimization problem with a feasible set on which it is easy to project. We propose a very efficient fast projected gradient method to solve the problem in variables $(S,U,B)$. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to other approaches.