Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of sowing dates and plant densities using CSM-CROPGRO-Soybean for soybean maturity groups in low latitude

Abstract Crop models can be used to explain yield variations associated with management practices, environment and genotype. This study aimed to assess the effect of plant densities using CSM-CROPGRO-Soybean for low latitudes. The crop model was calibrated and evaluated using data from field experiments, including plant densities (10, 20, 30 and 40 plants per m2), maturity groups (MG 7.7 and 8.8) and sowing dates (calibration: 06 Jan., 19 Jan., 16 Feb. 2018; and evaluation: 19 Jan. 2019). The model simulated phenology with a bias lower than 2 days for calibration and 7 days for evaluation. Relative root mean square error for the maximum leaf area index varied from 12.2 to 31.3%; while that for grain yield varied between 3 and 32%. The calibrated model was used to simulate different management scenarios across six sites located in the low latitude, considering 33 growing seasons. Simulations showed a higher yield for 40 pl per m2, as expected, but with greater yield gain increments occurring at low plant density going from 10 to 20 pl per m2. In Santarém, Brazil, MG 8.8 sown on 21 Feb. had a median yield of 2658, 3197, 3442 and 3583 kg/ha, respectively, for 10, 20, 30 and 40 pl per m2, resulting in a relative increase of 20, 8 and 4% for each additional 10 pl per m2. Overall, the crop model had adequate performance, indicating a minimum recommended plant density of 20 pl per m2, while sowing dates and maturity groups showed different yield level and pattern across sites in function of the local climate.
Dendritic Platinum–Copper Alloy Nanoparticles as Theranostic Agents for Multimodal Imaging and Combined Chemophotothermal Therapy

Theranostic nanoparticles that possess multiple diagnostic modalities and allow spatiotemporally controlled therapies can significantly improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce adverse effects. Here, an intelligent and biocompatible theranostic formulation is developed based on dendritic platinum–copper alloy nanoparticles (DPCN) for cancer therapy. DPCN have excellent photothermal effect, and can load anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin in their porous structure and release the loaded drugs in response to near infrared light or moderate acidic stimulus. They also inherently have multimodal imaging modalities. Upon the guidance of photoacoustic imaging, DPCN‐mediated photothermal treatment efficiently inhibits tumor growth in vivo. Furthermore, doxorubicin‐loaded DPCN completely suppress the tumor growth even under a low treatment temperature, which avoids hypothermia‐induced damage to normal tissues. Our study develops an excellent theranostic nanoparticle with inherent multimodal imaging and therapeutic modalities for chemophotothermal cancer therapy.
FindCmd: A personalised command retrieval tool

The command line interface is a crucial way of interacting with Linux, many programs such as ls, pwd and netstat are used on it and it is also the primary way to access a server remotely. However, the command line interface is not user friendly and thus it is difficult to use; there are many programs and users do not know which one is appropriate for finishing their task. To help users find useful commands efficiently, the authors propose FindCmd that retrieves commands based on the local data and user familiarity with commands. Then the local command data are collected including user manual such as man , info and strings extracted from the binary ELF (executable and linkable format) file. Based on the characteristics of local data, an enhanced command retrieval framework is proposed. In addition, the authors marginally decreased the priority of familiar commands when retrieving commands since users tend to use command retrieval tool to find an unfamiliar command. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first local tool for personalised command retrieval. In the evaluation section, the authors compare FindCmd with retrieval tools apropos and howdoi ; our experimental results show that FindCmd outperforms the other two tools in
Impact of Distortion on Local Radiomic Analysis of Quadriceps Based on Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data

This study investigates the impact of the MRI distortion that appears between 3D T1 Dixon Water-only images and both spoiled gradient echo and multi-echos T2 weighted spin-echo images when sequentially acquired. Recent studies focusing on radiomic features locally computed on muscle heads or bone marrow segmentations require precise corrections of the bias field and the distortion. Our results suggest that classically used rigid registration are not optimal for such fine study and that deformable registration should be preferred to limit significant error in radiomic feature extraction. However, from our experiments on our data, no significant change in radiomic statistic is observed whatever segmentation correction approach was applied. This indicates that radiomic features are not sensitive to segmentation refinement when considering large 3D regions.
Can TMT vertical pay disparity promote firm innovation performance? The moderating role of CEO power and board characteristics

PurposeBased on the tournament theory and the principal agent theory, this study aims to empirically investigate how top management team (TMT) vertical pay disparity (the pay disparity between the CEO and non-CEO executives) influences firm innovation performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study empirically tested the hypotheses based on a sample of listed high-tech companies in China during the period between 2007 and 2018.FindingsTMT vertical pay disparity promotes innovation performance; CEO power undermines the positive effect of TMT vertical pay disparity on innovation performance; the negative moderating effect of CEO power is mitigated by board age and gender and educational levels, whereas the proportion of female directors has no such effect at any significant level.Originality/valueThis study uniquely contributes to the theoretical and empirical development of tournament theory and the principal agent theory.
Identity of Things: Applying concepts from Self Sovereign Identity to IoT devices

Identity is a crucial property of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Due to rapid growth and high numbers of similar devices, reliable identification of those devices is a problem. The origin and history of an IoT device is especially important in security-relevant environments. Our research addresses this issue by proposing an approach based on blockchain and decentralised identifiers (DID). It is inspired by the concepts of self-sovereign identity (SSI) and bootstrapping of remote secure key infrastructures (BRSKI). Devices are equipped by the manufacturer with an identity stored in a trusted execution environment (TEE) and secured by a blockchain. This identity can be used to trace back the origin of the device. During the bootstrapping process on the customer side, the identity registration of the device is updated in the blockchain. This process is performed by a so-called registrar. Smart contracts prevent unsolicited transfer of ownership and track the history of the device. Besides proof of origin and device security our concept can be used for device inventory and firmware upgrade. A prototype implementation was realised to validate the concept. All six use cases have been implemented and tested using an Ethereum blockchain infrastructure. JSON Web Tokens (JWT) have been used as signed artefacts to transfer information between the stakeholders. This enables an asynchronous communication needed for example in an environment with no direct internet access. Such an infrastructure can be provided by an independent association and can be used by all manufacturers. Depending on the environment a registration of devices can be optional or mandatory.
Exploring the dynamics of slack in extreme contexts: A practice-based view

Organizations that operate in extreme contexts have to develop resilience to ensure the reliability of their operations. While the organizational literature underlines the crucial role of slack when facing unanticipated events, a structural approach to slack says little about the concrete ways in which organizational actors produce and use this slack. Adopting a practice-based perspective during a 14-month ethnographic study in a French Critical Care Unit, we study the slack practices, which consist in gathering, arranging and rearranging resources from both inside and outside the medical unit. This permanent process is captured in a dynamic model connecting situations, their evolutions and slack practices. Our research highlights the importance of situational slack production practices to ensure resilience. We also argue that these micro-practices are constitutive of the context in which actors are evolving. Finally, we discuss why these slack practices, although essential for ensuring resilience, can be endangered by the New Public Management context.
Otimização de Reservoir Computing com PSO: Parâmetros Globais, Arquitetura e Pesos

Resumo—Reservoir Computing (RC) é um paradigma de Redes Neurais Artificiais com aplicações importantes no mundo real. RC utiliza arquitetura similar às Redes Neurais Recorrentes sem a necessidade de treinar os pesos da camada intermediária (reservoir), além de utilizar uma função de regressão linear simples no treinamento da camada de saída. Entretanto, sua utilização pode ser computacionalmente onerosa e diversos parâmetros influenciam sua eficiência, fazendo com que seja necessário pesquisar alternativas para aumentar sua capacidade. Este trabalho tem o objetivo de utilizar o PSO e duas de suas extensões na tarefa de otimizar os parâmetros globais, arquitetura e pesos do reservoir de RC, na previsão de séries temporais. Os resultados alcançados mostraram que a otimização de Reservoir Computing com PSO, bem como com as suas extensões selecionadas, apresentaram desempenho satisfatório para todas as bases de dados estudadas.
A Novel Method for Stride Length Estimation Using Wireless Foot Sensor Module

This work presents a novel method for the estimation of stride length (SL) from inertial sensor-based wireless foot sensor module (WFSM). SL variability is a widely used and clinically relevant spatial gait parameter. This work proposes and validates a novel method for computing SL by measuring the foot inclination angle and single-axis acceleration measured from WFSM. The foot inclination angle is used for detecting gait events as well as for gravity compensation to estimate the real acceleration of the foot. This approach thus requires minimum input information, i.e. foot angle trajectory and acceleration in only sagittal plane. The results are validated on a cohort of healthy subjects against a standard gait analysis platform. A set of trial data on 10 healthy volunteers were also analysed for outdoor walking to evaluate the performance against previously reported works. The proposed approach has the potential for applications involving real-time gait measurements.
Revisiting Optimal Investment Strategies of Value-Maximizing Insurance Firms

Abstract We study capital management and investment decisions of a value-maximizing insurance firm with a broad ownership base in a discrete-time setting. We highlight that the valuation measure used to determine the value of the cash flows to shareholders should reflect two economically sound requirements: market-consistency and indifference to idiosyncratic risk. We provide a rigorous construction of this economic valuation measure and use it to derive the optimal capital-management and investment strategies that realize the economic value of the firm. Our objective is to shed light on the controversial question of whether insurers should invest in liquidly-traded risky assets. Decomposing firm value into net tangible value, default option value, and franchise value, we find that whether or not taking investment risk is optimal essentially depends on how the tradeoff between the impact of investment risk on the owner’s option to default and on the firm’s franchise value resolves. A variety of numerical examples illustrates how changes in the regulatory and financial environment can result in materially different optimal investment strategies.
Scale dependency of joint species distribution models challenges interpretation of biotic interactions

Separating the biotic and abiotic factors controlling species distributions has been a long‐standing challenge in ecology and biogeography. Joint species distribution models (JSDMs) have emerged as a promising statistical framework towards this objective by simultaneously modelling the environmental responses of multiple species and approximating species associations based on patterns in their (co‐)occurrences. However, the signature of biotic interactions should be most evident at fine spatial resolutions. Here, we test how the resolution of input data affects the inferences from JSDMs.
An Improved MPPT Method Based on Fuzzy Logic Controller for a PV System

This paper proposes, implements and incorporates a new maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for controlling photovoltaic systems (PV). The structure and characteristics of conventional hill-climbing based MPPT are analysed. Moreover, the simplicity of its implementation in the environment of the MATLAB software is dues to using the C-block in order to simulate the algorithm and the PV system. The proposed fuzzy logic controller (FLC) based on the variable step-size hill-climbing MPPT method provides a rapid and precise convergence to the maximum power point (MPP) under normal and varying weather conditions in comparison with the conventional hill-climbing method. The simulation results are provided in order to validate the performance and feasibility of the proposed controller, while taking into consideration different conditions for the solar irradiation operation.
The significant impact colloidal nanothermite particles (Fe2O3/Al) on HMX kinetic decomposition

ABSTRACT HMX is one of the most powerful energetic materials; however, HMX experience low sensitivity and high activation energy. Whereas ferric oxide particles can act as catalyst for HMX decomposition with change in its decomposition kinetics from C-N bond cleavage to hydrogen atom abstraction; ferric oxide can induce vigorous thermite reaction with aluminum particles. Consequently, thermite particles can catalyze HMX decomposition, and enhance its decomposition enthalpy. This study reports on the fabrication and of ferric oxide nanoparticles of 5 nm particle size. Ferric oxide NPs and aluminum nanoplates of 100 nm were effectively integrated into HMX via co-precipitation technique. Elemental mapping was performed using EDAX detector; uniform dispersion of nanothermite particles was confirmed. Nanothermite particles experienced enhanced HMX decomposition enthalpy by 53%, with decrease in decomposition temperature by 13°C. The impact of nanothermite particles on HMX kinetic decomposition was evaluated using two different analysis models including differential isoconversional method of model-free Friedman analysis, and integral isoconversional method of Ozawa. Thermite nanoparticles demonstrated drastic decrease in HMX activation energy by 24 and 30% using Friedman and Ozawa models, respectively. The developed colloidal nanothermite particles demonstrated superior catalytic effect with enhanced decomposition enthalpy.
Influence of land use and tillage depth on dynamics of soil microbial properties, soil carbon fractions and crop yield after conversion of short‐rotation coppices

The effect of conversion of short‐rotation coppices (SRCs) to agricultural land on soil organic carbon (SOC), soil microbial properties and crop yield is largely unknown. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of subsequent land use and tillage depth after conversion of SRCs on (i) total SOC (ii) soil C fractions with differentiation of total harvest residues and woody harvest residues from SRC and maize by 13C analysis and (iii) dry matter and N yield of grassland and maize. For this purpose, field trials were established after conversion of SRCs at three sites in Germany and cultivated with maize and grassland with shallow (5 cm), medium (15 cm) and deep tillage depth (30 cm). Crops were sampled for 5 yrs, and soil samples were collected at a depth of 0–5, 5–15 and 15–30 cm. Amount of total carbon and soil carbon fractions immediately and 4 yrs after conversion of SRC were compared. Tillage depth had no effect on dry matter yield of maize and grassland. The amount of woody harvest residues decreased over time following conversion at all sites irrespective of land use or tillage depth, but SOC decreased only at one site. Microbial biomass was particularly sensitive to land use, but microorganisms reacted differently to tillage depth depending on the soil conditions. Our results reveal that decomposition of woody harvest residues is rapid and that effects of tillage and land use on different soil C‐pools are site specific.
ARTful: A model for user‐defined schedulers targeting multiple high‐performance computing runtime systems

Global schedulers are components in parallel runtime libraries that distribute the application's workload across physical resources. More often than not, applications showcase dynamic load imbalance and require customized scheduling solutions to avoid wasting resources. Some libraries lack support for user‐defined schedulers and developers resort to unofficial extensions that are harder to reuse and maintain. We propose a global scheduler software design, entitled ARTful model, to create user‐defined solutions with minimal alterations in the runtime library. Our model uses a component‐based design to separate components from the runtime library and the scheduling policy implementation. The ARTful modeldescribes the interface of a portable scheduler library, allowing policies to operate on different runtime libraries. We study the overhead induced by our design through our ARTful library implementation metaprogramming‐oriented global scheduling library using workload‐aware scheduling policies. We experiment with two different policies from OpenMP and Charm++ runtime systems, also presenting evaluations of the policies outside of their original library context. We observe that our portable schedulers can sometimes perform decisions faster than their native counterparts with negligible overhead in the execution times of synthetic applications and molecular dynamics kernels.
LED lighting threatens adult aquatic insects: Impact magnitude and distance thresholds

1. Artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasing globally, and changing in quality due to the installation of white LED street lighting. ALAN is a threat to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, yet important knowledge gaps exist regarding the magnitude of impacts and how these vary between habitats and levels of exposure. The disturbance of aquatic habitats by ALAN is of particular concern as human settlements and activities are often located near waterbodies, and many aquatic species are sensitive to ALAN. 2. Focusing on adult aquatic insects, an experimental approach was employed in the riparian zone of a structurally simplified river within a dark rural landscape. Two studies were used to (a) estimate the magnitude of the capture effect of white LED lamps and (b) to explore how captures at lamps vary with their distance from the river, and define any distance thresholds. Both studies sampled mayflies (Ephemeroptera), caddisflies (Trichoptera) and true flies (Diptera) repeatedly during mid-to-late summer using modified flight intercept traps positioned adjacent to portable LED lamps. In Study A, lit traps were
Does party ambivalence decrease voter turnout? A global analysis

Does party ambivalence, that is, simultaneously evaluating positively more than one political party, decrease turnout? The extant literature on this question is limited to the American case, and findings are rather mixed. Using the data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project, this paper provides a first large-scale comparative analysis of the ambivalence-turnout nexus in 46 countries. Based on two different ambivalence measures, I show that party ambivalence is more prevalent in multiparty systems and that a substantial portion of citizens are ambivalent. Moreover, ambivalence, on average, reduces turnout by at least 4.5 percentage points across countries. Importantly, however, this is not the case for every country. Whether ambivalence decreases voter turnout is conditioned by macro-level factors. More specifically, ambivalence tends to dampen turnout in (1) polarized contexts, (2) parliamentary systems, (3) voluntary voting countries, and (4) less fragmented systems.
Carbonized Lignin as Sustainable Filler in Biobased Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) Polymer for Injection Molding Applications

Light weight and sustainability are the key drivers in the development of novel biobased thermoplastic compounds for automotive applications. This paper reports the engineering properties of thermoplastic compound consisting of a novel bioresourced carbon filler in combination with partially biobased poly(trimethylene terephthalate). The bioresourced carbon filler, which was derived from lignin residue of cellulosic ethanol production, has a clear advantage in terms of density compared to glass fiber and other minerals, and shows potential for weight reduction with 7% lower density at 20% filler content. Polymer processing conditions were optimized in terms of thermomechanical properties, and use of a reactive chain extender additive was studied for improving the performance of the compound. At the optimized conditions, good dimensional stability, 89% increase in heat deflection temperature, 60% increase in flexural modulus, and 14% increase in flexural strength was attained in comparison to neat PTT poly.
Credibility assessment in context: the influence of intergroup bias and the context of the crime

ABSTRACT The current study examined how the context of the crime and the ethnic affiliations of the suspects and participants influenced credibility assessments with respect to in- and out-group suspects. The 200 participants, half Israeli-Jewish and half Israeli-Arab, assessed the credibility of an alibi statement provided be either an Israeli-Jewish or an Israeli-Arab suspect accused of vandalism in either an ethnic-based or neutral-based context. The results indicate that the context of the crime moderated the effect of intergroup bias on credibility assessment among Israeli-Arab participants (out-group members). Under both crime contexts, Israeli-Jewish suspects were perceived as less credible than Israeli-Arab suspects. However, for Israeli-Arab, the effect of intergroup bias was stronger in the ethnic-based context than in the neutral-based context. Overall, the results suggest that Israeli-Arab group might have felt threatened by the ethnic-based context, which could have increased the group bias in their judgments, as compared to the Israeli-Jewish group.