Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urban evapotranspiration of green spaces in arid regions through two established approaches: a review of key drivers, advancements, limitations, and potential opportunities

ABSTRACT Urban Evapotranspiration (ET) plays a crucial role in controlling irrigation water demand. The estimation of urban ET is difficult because of high spatial variability of urban surfaces. This paper reviews the two most commonly used approaches pertaining to advancements, limitations, and opportunities in arid regions. The two approaches include the landscape coefficient and surface energy balance approach. The key advancements include the standardization of the basic models and consideration of the spatial variability of the atmospheric advection effects. Two key limitations have been highlighted including oversimplification of microclimate effects in the models and lack of precise estimation of water requirement for mixed landscapes. Furthermore, several opportunities to address the existing limitations are discussed including the coupling numerical models, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)-based technologies for ET estimates, detection of mixed landscapes using various vegetation indices, and quantification of the atmospheric effects. This study highlights different dimensions and modeling techniques to estimate urban ET.
Growth and Chemical Composition of Pistachio Affected by Salinities and Depths of Water Table

Pistachio may be grown around the central desert of I.R. Iran with adverse conditions such as shallow saline water tables, which limit its growth and production. The effects of saline (13 dS m−1) and non-saline (0.5 dS m−1) shallow water table depths of 30, 60, 90, and 120 cm under irrigated and not irrigated conditions on growth and chemical composition of a local pistachio cultivar (Badami–Zarandi) were studied in a greenhouse experiment. The results indicated that appropriate growth of pistachio may occur at water table depth of 60 cm under irrigated condition. Only at this depth, the difference in plant growth between irrigated and not irrigated conditions were significant, and low plant growth was obtained at not irrigated condition. At saline water table (13 dS m−1) and not irrigated condition water table depth should be kept below 60 cm for normal pistachio production.
Solid Particle Erosion of a Limestone Target Surface under Controlled Conditions

This work focuses on the erodent capability of yttria-stabilized zirconia beads impacting on a limestone target surface. The target surface was used as the cap of a hardened steel vial clamped on a SPEX Mixer/Mill 8000. The vial three-dimensional swing results in repeated bead impacts that cause the material removal from the target surface. The mass loss varies linearly with the number of beads, which allowed estimating the mass lost per bead per impact. It amounts approximately to 70 ng, a value that compares fairly well with the one of about 80 ng estimated from the volume of the indents left on the target surface by individual impacts. Experimental findings indicate that the methodology developed can be reliably utilized to investigate solid particle erosion under highly reproducible and controllable experimental conditions.
Destination choice of asylum applicants in Europe from three conflict-affected countries

ABSTRACT From the early 2010s onward, the number of asylum seekers in Europe has gradually increased, with 2015, in particular, experiencing a significant rise. These asylum seekers have mainly come from conflict-affected countries. In 2015, for instance, Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis accounted for the top three nationalities of first-time asylum applicants in the European Union. This study uses count data on Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers in 25 European countries over the sample period of 2001 to 2016 and investigates their destination choice within a framework of generalised linear models for modelling count data. The explanatory variables include economic and cultural factors, which the results show significantly, influenced the flows of asylum seekers. For instance, a high level of income per person employed in a European country was a common pull factor for Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers. The three groups of asylum seekers also shared a common preference for cultures in which people were individualistic, long-term orientated and tolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas.
Different Amino Acids Inhibit or Promote Rhizome Proliferation and Differentiation in Cymbidium goeringii

The proliferation and differentiation of rhizomes are crucial for the propagation of Cymbidium species. We systematically assessed the effects of different concentrations of 20 amino acids on the proliferation and differentiation of C. goeringii rhizomes. Rhizome proliferation rates were significantly higher in media with 2.0 mmol·L−1 cysteine, 0.5 mmol·L−1 arginine, 0.2 mmol·L−1 asparagine, 1.0 mmol·L−1 proline, and 0.5 mmol·L−1 lysine compared with those in the control. Additionally, 1.0 mmol·L−1 tyrosine, 0.5 mmol·L−1 asparagine, and 0.2 mmol·L−1 aspartate were beneficial for rhizome differentiation. Furthermore, two combinations of amino acids, 0.5 mmol·L−1 arginine + 1.0 mmol·L−1 proline and 0.5 mmol·L−1 arginine + 2.0 mmol·L−1 cysteine, resulted in proliferation rates of 3.05 and 3.01, respectively, after 60 days. The highest differentiation rate (5.39 after 60 days) was observed in media with 0.5 mmol·L−1 asparagine + 0.2 mmol·L−1 aspartate. This study demonstrated that certain combinations of amino acids can effectively promote the proliferation and differentiation of rhizomes during the rapid propagation of C. goeringii.
The functioning of families of teens with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.

OBJECTIVES Comparison of the functioning of families of teens (13-16 years) with the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). METHODS Assessment using the Family Assessment Questionnaire in three groups of adolescents growing up in biological families: (1) ADHD/ODD group (n = 40), (2) ADHD group (n = 40) and (3) group C (control group) adolescents (n = 40) who have not used psychological or psychiatric care in the past or at present. RESULTS Mothers, fathers and adolescents from the ADHD/ODD group scored significantly lower in all important aspects of family functioning compared to the control group. In the ADHD group, less favorable mother's and father's assessment was shown for all areas of family functioning compared with the control group. Adolescents' assessment in the dimension of "Role performance", "Emotionality", "Affective involvement", and "Control" was also lower. The ADHD/ODD group participants and their parents rated the functioning of the family lower compared with the ADHD group: mothers - in all described areas, teenagers - in most of the described areas except the dimension of "Control", and fathers - in most areas except the dimension of "Emotionality". CONCLUSIONS The functioning of families of patients with ADHD and ODD, and families of patients with ADHD significantly differs in all or most of the examined dimensions compared with families of people without diagnosis, while the functioning of families of patients with ADHD and oppositional defiant patients can be described as more abnormal than that of families of ADHD patients.
Monopulse Antenna Based on Singular Spoof Surface Plasmon Polariton Structure for Angle Measurement

Direction finding and target tracking make demanding requirements on the measurement of incoming angles of electromagnetic waves. A monopulse antenna, based on the singular symmetric spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure, is proposed for high-accuracy angle sensing. The singular SSPP structure is composed of periodic corrugated grooves for the confinement of the electromagnetic fields. Due to the microstrip–coplanar waveguide transition, the fields along both sides of the SSPP add constructively to form the endfire beam at the sum port and destructively to form the null radiation in the endfire direction at the difference port. An optimization based on the team progress algorithm is adopted to facilitate this antenna design. A prototype is designed and fabricated to validate the design principle, and measured results agree with the simulation. The proposed antenna shows a wide bandwidth ranging from 5.0 GHz to 7.5 GHz for both the sum and difference ports with the return loss greater than 10 dB, realizing a relative bandwidth of 40%. The isolation for the sum and difference ports is higher than 21 dB, and the null depth is larger than 20 dB over the entire operating range, which is favorable for the high accuracy angle sensing and measurement. This monopulse antenna has broad prospect in angle measuring systems such as direction finding and radar tracking scenes.
Skin‐Integrated Vibrohaptic Interfaces for Virtual and Augmented Reality

Haptic technology involves the use of electrical or mechanical means to stimulate afferent nerves or mechanoreceptors in the skin as the basis for creating sensations of physical touch that can qualitatively expand virtual or augmented reality experiences beyond those supported by visual and auditory cues alone. An emerging direction in this field involves the development of platforms that provide spatiotemporal patterns of sensation to the skin across not only the fingertips, but to any and all regions of the body, using thin, skin‐like technologies that impose negligible physical burden on the user. This review highlights the biological basis for skin interfaces of this type and the latest advances in haptics in the context of this ambitious goal, including electrotactile and vibrotactile devices that support perceptions of touch in form factors that have potential as skin‐integrated interfaces. The content includes a discussion of schemes for integrating these stimulators into programmable arrays, with an emphasis on scalable materials and designs that have the potential to support soft interfaces across large areas of the skin. A concluding section summarizes the potential consequences of successful research efforts in this area, along with key multidisciplinary challenges and associated research opportunities in materials science and engineering.
Determination of boron in plants by emission spectroscopy with the nitrous oxide-hydrogen flame

Boron is readily determined in plant ash solutions, following extraction into chloroform of the chelate formed with 2-ethylhexane-1,3-diol, by means of the nitrous oxide-hydrogen flame and conventional flame photometers. Boron in concentrations as low as 8 p.p.m. in the dried plant material can be determined with a relative standard deviation of about 4 per cent. The boron oxide (BOx) band emission intensity at 518·2 or 547·6 nm is measured with wide slits. Recorder read-out and zero suppression are desirable. Results on several samples by this and four colorimetric methods are given. The large signal strengths obtained make this method superior to atomic-absorption techniques.
Organometallic molecular precursors for low-temperature MOCVD of III-V semiconductors

Metallorganic chemical vapor deposition is a practical technique for the preparation of III-V epitaxial layers used in the fabrication of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. The usual Ga and As sources for GaAS epitaxy are Ga(CH3)3 and AsH3, respectively. However, the use of these precursors has some disadvantages related to the toxicity and storage of arsine, stoichiometry control problems, carbon incorporation and unwanted side reactions. Several groups of researchers have investigated alternative sources of both the group III and group V elements. A review of these new organometallic precursors is presented in this paper. However, because group III and group V elements form Lewis acid-base adducts in the CVD reactor, we have investigated the attractive idea of using this class of compounds as single starting material. Several adducts have been successfully used for epitaxial growth of GaAs. Moreover, to avoid loss of stoichiometry due to dissociation of the adduct, the ability of organometallic molecules which feature a covalent bond between the group III and group V elements has also been investigated. These covalent compounds are probably formed in the MOCVD reactor using alkyl group V compounds containing acidic hydrogen R3-nMHn (M equals As, P; n equals 1.2). These new precursors are also briefly reviewed.
Opening Pandora's Box: Everything We (Do Not) Know About the Global Strategy

Global strategy research is rapidly increasing in quantity but is found in divergent literature and disciplines. Now is the time to offer a comprehensive review that identifies, synthesizes, and integrates previous research and highlights knowledge gaps and the way forward. This methodical literature search helped to identify 338 articles in the Web of Science database published until 2018. Using a systematic and in-depth content analysis using bibliometric techniques, the authors reviewed the articles and identified the main theories used and the methodological guidelines in these articles. This review helps to identify significant knowledge gaps in terms of theoretical orientation and core content. The main contributions of this paper are to outline and summarize a multilevel analysis of emerging global strategy literature, integrate and extract potential theoretical contributions in this field, and indicate directions for future research.
An evaluation of a novel approach for clustering genes with dissimilar replicates

Abstract Clustering the genes is a step in microarray studies which demands several considerations. First, the expression levels can be collected as time-series which should be accounted for appropriately. Furthermore, genes may behave differently in different biological replicates due to their genetic backgrounds. Highlighting such genes may deepen the study; however, it introduces further complexities for clustering. The third concern stems from the existence of a large amount of constant genes which demands a heavy computational burden. Finally, the number of clusters is not known in advance; therefore, a clustering algorithm should be able to recommend meaningful number of clusters. In this study, we evaluate a recently proposed clustering algorithm that promises to address these issues with a simulation study. The methodology accepts each gene as a combination of its replications and accounts for the time dependency. Furthermore, it computes cluster validation scores to suggest possible numbers of clusters. Results show that the methodology is able to find the clusters and highlight the genes with differences among the replications, separate the constant genes to reduce the computational burden, and suggest meaningful number of clusters. Furthermore, our results show that traditional distance metrics are not efficient in clustering the short time-series correctly.
Formalising theories of human decision-making for agent-based modelling of social-ecological systems: practical lessons learned and ways forward

Incorporating representations of human decision-making that are based on social science theories into social-ecological models is considered increasingly important – yet choosing and formalising a theory for a particular modelling context remains challenging. Here, we reflect on our experiences of selecting, formalising and documenting psychological and economic theories of human decision-making for inclusion in different agent-based models (ABMs) of natural resource use. We discuss the challenges related to four critical tasks: How to select a theory? How to formalise a theory and how to translate it into code? How to document the formalisation? In this way, we present a systematic overview of the choices researchers face when including theories of human decision-making in their ABMs, reflect on the choices we made in our own modelling projects and provide guidance for those new to the field. Also, we highlight further challenges regarding the parameterisation and analysis of such ABMs and suggest that a systematic overview of how to tackle these challenges contributes to an effective collaboration in interdisciplinary teams addressing socio-ecological dynamics using models.
Commensal fungi and their cell‐wall β‐glucans direct differential responses in human intestinal epithelial cells

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) are the first to encounter luminal antigens and play an active role in intestinal immune responses. We previously reported that β‐glucans, major fungal cell‐wall glycans, induced chemokine secretion by IEC lines in a Dectin‐1‐ and Syk‐dependent manner. Here, we show that in contrast to β‐glucans, stimulation of IEC lines with Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae did not induce secretion of any of the proinflammatory cytokines IL‐8, CCL2, CXCL1, and GM‐CSF. Commensal fungi and β‐glucans activated Syk and ERK in IEC lines. However, only β‐glucans activated p38, JNK, and the transcription factors NF‐κB p65 and c‐JUN, which were necessary for cytokine secretion. Furthermore, costimulation of IEC lines with β‐glucans and C. albicans yielded decreased cytokine secretion compared to stimulation with β‐glucans alone. Finally, ex vivo stimulation of human colonic mucosal explants with zymosan and C. albicans, leads to epithelial Syk and ERK phosphorylation, implying recognition of fungi and similar initial signaling pathways as in IEC lines.
Spatial Concentration of Tourism – a Case of Urban Supremacy

ABSTRACT Tourism growth on the national level in Sweden is being concentrated to the three main urban centres. The question is if the same trend is discernible within Swedish regions. If so, tourism as a tool in regional transformation and for alleviating spatial disparities has a weak basis. The strategy to strengthen the competitiveness of each region/local community based on the Tourism Led Growth Hypothesis but is questioned. Urban hierarchy and centrifugal forces are often overlooked. Data on overnight stays between 2008 and 2016 are analysed for four regions in central Sweden: Dalarna, Värmland, Gävleborg, and Jämtland. Results indicate that there is an ongoing concentration to regional urban centres and that destination competitiveness is directly linked to an urban supremacy. Thus, tourism growth is primarily a concern for urban areas and, which contradicts the traditional notions of tourism policy in Sweden, where tourism is regarded as a remedy for declining regions.
Shockwave Characteristics of Streamer Propagation in Insulating Liquids under Positive Lightning Impulse

This paper presents an experimental study focusing on the quantitative analyses of spatial characteristics of Mach-cone shaped shockwaves generated by streamers in a mineral oil and a synthetic ester in a fixed 12 mm needle-plane gap under positive lightning impulse. The influences of voltage level and liquid type are investigated. Results showed that Mach-cone shaped shockwaves are always observed ahead of actively propagating streamer channels. In the mineral oil, instantaneous streamer velocities undergo initial bursts before gradually decreasing and stabilizing at around 2 km/s. Shockwave pressures decrease from 6–8 GPa upon the streamer initiation to around 4 GPa as streamer propagates to a longer distance. Compared to the mineral oil, the initial bursts of instantaneous streamer velocities and shockwave pressures are lower in the synthetic ester. Investigated voltage levels from initiation to near breakdown do not impose significant effects on the observed shockwave parameters. In addition, the appearance of Mach-cone shaped shockwave is found to be an effective indicator of actively propagating streamer channel which can be used as a tool to quantify streamer main branches.
Efek Durasi Waktu Ekstraksi dan Fraksinasi terhadap Aktivitas Antioksidan Daun Bakau Api-Api Putih (Avicennia marina)

Api-api putih ( Avicennia marina ) merupakan salah satu jenis bakau yang melimpah di Indonesia dan dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai sumber antioksidan alami. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan pengaruh waktu ekstraksi dan fraksinasi daun A. marina terhadap aktivitas antioksidannya. Serbuk daun A. marina dimaserasi dengan pelarut etil asetat pada durasi waktu ekstraksi selama 1, 2, 3, dan 4 hari. Sementara itu, fraksinasi ekstrak etil asetat dilakukan dengan kolom kromatografi secara isokratik. Aktivitas antioksidan dari ekstrak kasar dan fraksi-fraksi dianalisis dengan metode DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl). Hasil analisis menunjukkan perlakuan selama satu hari merupakan durasi waktu ekstraksi terbaik untuk mendapatkan rendemen ekstrak (1,65±0,01 %) dengan aktivitas antioksidan tertinggi (IC50 186,67±2,82 ppm). Eluen pengembang terbaik untuk fraksinasi ekstrak etil asetat adalah campuran eluen etil asetat: n-heksana (3:7), yang menghasilkan delapan fraksi. Namun, fraksinasi menurunkan aktivitas antioksidan pada fraksi-fraksi, dibandingkan dengan ekstraknya. Hal ini diduga disebabkan oleh efek sinergis antar senyawa dalam ekstrak. Penelitian lebih lanjut dapat dilakukan untuk isolasi senyawa aktif yang terdapat ekstrak etil asetat daun bakau A. marina . ABSTRACT Grey mangrove ( Avicenia marina ) is one of the abundant types of mangrove in Indonesia, which can be used as a natural antioxidant source. This study aimed to determine the effect of extraction duration and fractionation on the antioxidant activity of A. Marina leaves. A. marina leaves powder was macerated by ethyl acetate solvent for 1, 2, 3, and 4 days. Meanwhile, fractionation was carried out using column chromatography with an isocratic method. The antioxidant activity of crude extracts and fractions was analyzed by DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) method. The result showed that one-day treatment was the optimum extraction duration to obtain the extract’s yield (1.65±0.01%) with the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 186.67±2.82 ppm). The best eluent in fractionation was a mixture of ethyl acetate: n-hexane (3:7) eluents, which produced eight fractions. However, fractionation reduced the antioxidant activity of fractions, compared to the crude extract. This might have happened because of the synergistic effect among compounds in the extract. Further research can be carried out to isolate the active compounds in the A. marina leaves extract.
Failure analysis on a water pump based on a low-cost MEMS accelerometer and machine learning classifiers

This work presents a failure diagnosis tool for a water pump using a low-cost MEMS accelerometer. It was inserted three types of failures: rotor blade (new and damaged), pump soleplate tightness (stiff or loose), and cavitation, in this case on three conditions: none, incipient and severe, totaling twelve fault combinations. These conditions were tested under two different speeds to perform the diagnosis, totaling twenty-four tests. In all cases, the vibration signals from axes X, Y, and Z were acquired. Some features extracted from the vibration spectra from X-axis were used to compose the dataset. These data were analyzed employing logistic regression, a linear support vector machine (SVM), and an artificial neural network multilayer perceptron (ANN-MLP). We compared these three techniques of machine learning and evaluated which one was able to obtain the most accurate result. Using the ANN-MLP, the system was able to detect all three types of failures inserted, with about 100% of accuracy on the rotor blade condition, 92% for anchorage faults, and about 99% accuracy on cavitation state. As a conclusion, it is demonstrated that this classifier algorithm can be used to process the data from the low-cost MEMS accelerometer in predictive maintenance as an accurate tool.