Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stitching of 3D ultrasound datasets for the determination of large thyroid volumes – phantom study part II: mechanically-swept probes

AIMS To investigate the feasibility and accuracy of 3D-US extended field of view volumetric analyses acquired with mechanically-swept ultrasound probes with different measurement methods for large volume thyroid phantoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifteen thyroid phantoms with different shapes (regular, nodular, thickened isthmus) and volumes (50-400 mL) were created. Two different mechanically-swept US probes were used for the separate scanning of the left and right lobes: convex and linear probe. After specific modifications, the 3D-US datasets were stitched together to an extended field of view using predefined landmarks. Volumetric analyses were performed by conventional ellipsoid model and manual tracing methods. The correspondence of measured and reference volumes was calculated using Pearson's correlation coefficients and limits of agreement according to Bland and Altman. RESULTS The C-probe proved feasible for the acquisition and processing of the three-dimensional ultrasound extended field of view images; very high levels of agreement (correlation coefficients for volume analyses: 0.9843-0.9992) were observed for all shapes and volumes investigated. The manual tracing method showed superior results in comparison to the ellipsoid model, but was more time consuming. The linear probe was only applicable for the 50 mL phantoms due to its limited field of view. CONCLUSIONS The investigated mechanically-swept convex probe was suitable for the three-dimensional ultrasound extended field of view stitching of large volume thyroid phantoms. Accurate volume analyses could be carried out. The mechanically-swept linear probe is limited to a maximum of 50 m.
STUB LOADED LOW PROFILE LOOP PATCH ANTENNA ON A FINITE GROUND PLANE

A small 1.7 cm 3 one-turn loop patch antenna located 2.5 mm above an 18 × 38 mm 2 ground plane separated by a dielctric substrate with a relative permittivity of 9.8 is presented. A chip balun is used to accomplish the balanced feed for the loop antenna. By the use of a thin matching transmission line it is possible to chance the resonant frequency. The best performance is obtained, when the matching line has a length of a quarter of a wavelength. In addition the thin matching line also improves the impedance match, and it is thus possible to obtain a 9.6% bandwidth at the resonant frequency of 1.45 GHz.
Forest resource governance and the devolution of power through co-management approach: policy vs practice

In recent years co-management has been widely used as a strategy to address the challenges related to protected area governance, and devolution of power, management responsibility and empowerment of actors are recognized as central to this approach. This study examines the extent to which present co-management arrangements in Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (RKWS), Bangladesh has achieved devolution of power, responsibility and resource use rights and what are the prevailing gaps between policy and practice. Lockwood’s good governance principles and Agrawal and Ribot’s power decentralization framework were adopted to analyse the governance reform process and present mechanism of power sharing at study site. Our findings reveals that, co-management program has been helpful in advancing forest conservation goals, reducing corruptions, creating social networks, changing the attitude of stakeholders and minimizing resource related conflicts. But unlike many cases around the world, outcomes of this decentralization process have not been systematically positive with regard to devolution of power and management responsibility from state to local co-management organizations. Additionally, this process is struggling to offer a meaningful reciprocal partnership between state and local community due to unequal power relations and top-down accountability mechanisms. Legislative and executive powers are still withheld by the state and important controls over decision making process were retained by government agencies. There is no proper arrangement regarding the sharing of benefits arising from co-management and this governance reform has failed to have a significant impact on the socio-economic development of the local communities. This paper concludes by pointing out that though co-management has showed its potential for solving some of the pressing contemporary forest governance challenges of Bangladesh, it is still operating as like a foster child of government without any legal policy backup and state’s support which has limited the devolution process and its outcomes. It is recommended that, policy interventions, capacity building of local actors, identifying context specific enabling conditions, enhancing downward accountability, and a shift from centralized regulatory frameworks are required for ensuring equitable and democratic power sharing process.
Genomic binding dynamics of PBAF are regulated via select chromatin states

ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes such as PBAF mediate changes in chromatin structure, leading to regulation of transcriptional bursting. PBAF is targeted to genomic loci by histone acetylation. Despite extensive in vitro studies, how these chromatin remodelers rapidly bind and discriminate genomic targets in vivo remains unclear. Therefore, we sought to understand how the PBAF complex interacts with different chromatin states using live-cell single molecule fluorescence microscopy. Dual color tracking revealed that PBAF binds H3.3 marked chromatin within actively transcribed regions for faster time periods relative to binding to HP1α containing heterochromatin. Notably, elevation of histone acetylation levels increased the frequency of PBAF revisiting to genomic foci as defined by clustered binding. Furthermore, deletion of six bromodomains within the BAF180 subunit of PBAF reduced chromatin target search efficiency, clustered binding activity, and anchoring to the genome. These findings suggest that acetyl-lysine dependent clustered binding of PBAF to select genomic loci may facilitate rapid chromatin remodeling in actively transcribed regions. Our work also indicates that the dynamics of PBAF mediated chromatin state alterations proceed at fast timescales that may fine-tune transcription regulation.
Effects of Aeration Mode on the Composting of Diesel- Contaminated Soil

Aeration is a critical operational parameter for aerobic composting processes. Three intermittent aeration modes were compared with the continuous aeration mode with respect to the degradation rate of diesel oil in a composting process for contaminated soil. Intermittent aerations were more effective treatment methods for the degradation of both total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and normal alkanes than was continuous aeration. The most active degradation of diesel oil (as TPH) among the intermittent aeration experiments occurred for the 1 h aeration/3 h rest experiment. Until day 15, which is a commonly practiced composting period, the first-order kinetic constants of the 1 h aeration/3 h rest experiment and continuous aeration were 0.134/day and 0.121/day, respectively. As a result of an ANOVA test (p ≤ 0.05), there was no significant difference observed in the first-order degradation rate constants between the continuous and intermittent aeration modes. Considering its energy efficiency, intermittent aeration is preferable over continuous aeration. A sufficient oxygen concentration (> 5 %) for the aerobic degradation of diesel oil was supplied in each of the intermittent aeration modes tested in this study.
A SITE-BASED PRACTICAL IMPROVISATION FOR THE ANALYTICAL DETERMINATION OF ASPECT RATIO

'Aspect Ratio', a commonly used indicator to describe typical urban geometry is computed as the average ratio of the building heights ‘H’ to the canyon width 'W'. Its determination techniques in the present urbanization scenario is bound by certain assumptions which falter as most cities across globe does not project a well-planned street profile. An urban canyon factor is of most significance in climatic and air quality studies. The study showcases how the standard assumptions cited in literatures for Urban Morphological Analysis cannot apply to most urban canyons in any townships that have evolved rampantly. The present research recommends a rationally feasible methodology of analytically ascertaining and representing Aspect Ratio for variant street canyons. The research objective envisaged selection of 3 random locations encompassing heterogeneous street canyon geometries. At each of these locations its land-use pattern and road network was mapped for a radius of 250m by supervised-classification to assist in extracting the canyon geometry features, namely building height and road width across all the streets. The revised methodology judiciously delves upon when stations also have plots without pre-defined boundaries for creation of layouts. The logic encompasses complete dimensional analysis, and accounts for all four directions, the dynamic road width and building length measured along street about each focal point. The present research recommends this technique for a study of any magnitude; and encompassing just a street or even an entire city; as it’s practically applicable to any site condition and does away with errors due to the ‘idealistic’ assumptions.
Total differential cross sections for Ar–CH4 from an ab initio potential

Total differential cross sections for the Ar–CH4 scattering complex at ECM=90.1 meV were obtained from converged close-coupling calculations based on a recent ab initio potential computed by symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT). Agreement with experiment is good, which demonstrates the accuracy of the SAPT potential.
Yield loss assessment in common bean due to anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum) under sub temperate conditions of North-Western Himalayas

Investigation on yield loss assessment in common bean due to anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum) was conducted under field conditions using different cultivars having variable resistance (Baspa, resistant; Him-1, moderately resistant; Local, susceptible; Jawala, highly susceptible). Field experiments revealed maximum disease in terms of incidence and severity on highly susceptible cultivar Jawala under both the situations of infection (seed borne infection and background contamination). The disease drastically affected the growth parameters and yield components in cultivar Jawala causing significant reduction in yield of both the crops raised from infected seed (75%) and under background contamination (57.24%). Seed borne infection caused more yield losses than background contamination. The pod infection had direct effect on seed yield as severity on pods ranging from 3-9 (0-(scale) caused 10.52-57.76 per cent reduction in number of seeds per pod and 21.93-68.77 per cent reduction in seed weight per pod. However, the determinate cultivars showed more reduction in yield as compared to indeterminate type, though both were susceptible.
Investigation of the Flow Field inside a Drainage System: Gully - Pipe - Manhole

Gully drop connected with manhole is one crucial structural part in several urban drainage systems. This paper analyses the flow pattern and flow hydraulics of a gully-manhole drainage structure. Analysis is done numerically using computational fluid dynamics CFD tools OpenFOAM®. Data from the Dual Drainage / Multi Link Element installation (DD-MLE) at the University of Coimbra hydraulic lab is used to validate the numerical simulations. The experimental model setup consists of a 0.5 m wide channel, a 0.6 × 0.24 × 0.32 m (L × W × D) gully, a gully outlet with an 80 mm diameter pipe and a manhole of 1 m diameter with a 300 mm inlet and outlet pipe connected. The flow pattern is observed under drainage flow conditions with different surcharge heights of the manhole. It has been observed that the intercepted flow through the gully decreases with the increase of surcharge in the manhole. The shear stress at the gully floor is found much higher than that of manhole floor. This indicates the probability that bigger sediment particle can be transported through gully but will remain deposited at the manhole floor. The flow pattern in the manhole changes with the change of surcharge height. The flow through the manhole inlet seems to disperse less at higher surcharge.
Time-of-flight measurement of the temperature of cold atoms for short trap-probe beam distances

We analyse the time-of-flight method of measuring the temperature of cold trapped atoms in the specific case of short distances of the probe beam from the trap centre and finite atomic cloud size. We theoretically examine the influence of the probe beam shape and its distance from the initial position of the cloud on the temperature evaluation. These results are then verified with a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation and applied to our experimental data to show that the proposed procedure allows accurate and reliable determination of the temperature.
From ecology to genetics and back: the tale of two flounder species in the Baltic Sea

Recent years have brought the realization that evolutionary changes driven by selection can occur in ecological time scales. However, recent evolutionary events can be hard to detect and may easily go unnoticed. For harvested species, such cryptic diversity may lead to suboptimal management. These points are illustrated by the two flounder species in the Baltic Sea. Although early ecological studies identified two ecotypes of European flounder (Platichthys flesus) based on spawning differences, genomic studies only recently demonstrated that they were reproductively isolated species, P. flesus and P. solemdali, separated through rapid ecologically driven speciation. These morphologically indistinguishable species are harvested within a mixed-stock fishery. In the northern Baltic Sea flounder landings have declined since the mid-1980s, with a drop in the Gulf of Finland (GoF) being particularly dramatic (∼90%). Genetic analyses of historical otolith samples from GoF catches have revealed that back in 1983 the fishery unknowingly targeted primarily P. flesus, whereas thereafter almost exclusively P. solemdali. Hence, the case of two flounder species illustrates (i) how ecological studies stimulated genetic investigations leading to discovery of ecological speciation and (ii) how cryptic species turnover discovered with genetic tools in turn improved ecological understanding with benefits to management and conservation.
Semilocalizations of exact and leftextensive categories

Dans cet article on demontre qu'une categorie C a limites projectives finies est une semilocalisation d'une categorie exacte ssi dans C il existe des coegalisateurs de relations d'equivalence qui soient universels. On caracterise egalement les categories localement distributives comme etant les semilocalisations de categories lextensives. Enfin on montre que les semilocalisations des categories exactes et extensives (pretopos) sont exactement les categories a limites projectives finies avec coegalisateurs de relations d'equivalence universelles, sommes finies universelles, et paires coegalisatrices de monomorphismes universelles; ces categories sont appelees ici semipretopos.
Wind Power System for Domestic Installations

This paper describes the simulation and testing of a low power wind system including a vernier reluctance magnet machine (VRMM), used as a direct-driven generator. The aim is to propose the design and control of the electrical part of a domestic wind power installation. We want in particular investigate the benefits and limitations due to the use of the VRMM in this system. This characteristic has led the Region to support projects concerning wind energy, notably for domestic installations of low power range (about 10 kW). The LEM tries therefore to bring improvements in this type of wind energy conversion chains, including horizontal or vertical axis turbines. Our work focuses especially on the generator and its association with AC/DC converters. We first present the structure and working equations of the VRMM and the AC/DC converters associated with it. Equations used to model VRMM and PWM rectifier in a d,q rotating frame are then detailed. A Simulink model of the system including the wind turbine is proposed. We show simulation results : we compare two methods used to drive the VRMM in order to reach the maximum power point of the turbine. 2. The energy conversion chain A. Utilization of produced energy In order to support innovation in wind energy, French electricity national supplier EDF purchases electricity produced by wind turbines at attractive prices : even for low power installations, it can be more interesting to sale produced energy rather than to use it directly. For this reason, we foresee a grid connection of the power system. Independently of these financial aspects, low power wind turbines are meant for autonomous utilization, especially in locations where grid can not be installed. A storage system, essential for this application, must therefore be associated with the system. The design of a test bench is also presented. In this one, the wind turbine is emulated by a DC machine. The drives of the DC machine and of the VRMM are realized with the help of a D-Space board. With this bench, we study the association of VRMM with two different AC/DC converters. We finally foresee the later developments of the system.
Challenges in reconciling observations and theory of the brightest high-energy flare ever of 3C 279

Recent high-energy missions have allowed keeping watch over blazars in flaring states, which provide deep insights into the engine powered by supermassive black holes. However, having a quasar caught in a very bright flaring state is not easy requiring long surveys. Therefore, the observation of such flaring events represents a goldmine for theoretical studies. Such a flaring event was captured by the INTEGRAL mission in June 2015 while performing its (as of today) deepest extragalactic survey when it caught the prominent blazar 3C~279 in its brightest flare ever recorded at gamma-ray energies. The flare was simultaneously recorded by the Fermi gamma-ray mission, by the Swift mission, by the INTEGRAL mission and by observations ranging from UV, through optical to the near-IR bands. The derived snapshot of this broad spectral energy distribution of the flare has been modeled in the context of a one-zone radiation transfer leptonic and lepto-hadronic models constraining the single emission components. The derived parameters of both models challenge the physical conditions in the jet. However, very recently published very-high-energy (VHE) data at TeV energies are very close to our lepto-hadronic model.
Social Influences on Creativity: Interactive Effects

In a test of the Fitrinsic motivation hypothesis of creativity, women did an artistic creativity task with either the expectation of receiving a reward or no expectation of reward. Reward was crossed with choice in task engagement, such that half of the reward subjects contracted to do the task in order to receive reward, and half simply received the reward as a bonus. As expected, reward and choice interacted significantly; the lowest creativity was exhibited by subjects who had contracted with the experimenter to do the task in order to receive reward.
Fertility control to mitigate human–wildlife conflicts: a review

Abstract. As human populations grow, conflicts with wildlife increase. Concurrently, concerns about the welfare, safety and environmental impacts of conventional lethal methods of wildlife management restrict the options available for conflict mitigation. In parallel, there is increasing interest in using fertility control to manage wildlife. The present review aimed at analysing trends in research on fertility control for wildlife, illustrating developments in fertility-control technologies and delivery methods of fertility-control agents, summarising the conclusions of empirical and theoretical studies of fertility control applied at the population level and offering criteria to guide decisions regarding the suitability of fertility control to mitigate human–wildlife conflicts. The review highlighted a growing interest in fertility control for wildlife, underpinned by increasing numbers of scientific studies. Most current practical applications of fertility control for wild mammals use injectable single-dose immunocontraceptive vaccines mainly aimed at sterilising females, although many of these vaccines are not yet commercially available. One oral avian contraceptive, nicarbazin, is commercially available in some countries. Potential new methods of remote contraceptive delivery include bacterial ghosts, virus-like particles and genetically modified transmissible and non-transmissible organisms, although none of these have yet progressed to field testing. In parallel, new species-specific delivery systems have been developed. The results of population-level studies of fertility control indicated that this approach may increase survival and affect social and spatial behaviour of treated animals, although the effects are species- and context-specific. The present studies suggested that a substantial initial effort is generally required to reduce population growth if fertility control is the sole wildlife management method. However, several empirical and field studies have demonstrated that fertility control, particularly of isolated populations, can be successfully used to limit population growth and reduce human–wildlife conflicts. In parallel, there is growing recognition of the possible synergy between fertility control and disease vaccination to optimise the maintenance of herd immunity in the management of wildlife diseases. The review provides a decision tree that can be used to determine whether fertility control should be employed to resolve specific human–wildlife conflicts. These criteria encompass public consultation, considerations about animal welfare and feasibility, evaluation of population responses, costs and sustainability.
Back-calculation of Asphalt Pavement Modulus based on Gene Expression Programming

This paper explored the gene expression programming (GEP) to model the back-calculation of asphalt pavement structure for surface layer modulus, base modulus and subgrade modulus, and obtained the function expression correspondingly. Then comparatively analyzed the deviation between theoretical modulus and back-calculation modulus. The motivation theory deflection data used in the analysis was developed from the finite element method under the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) load. Finally, the result showed that it had good precision using GEP algorithm to back-calculate the modulus of asphalt pavement structure layer. The method could not only effectively overcome the shortcomings of traditional method and lowly be affected by initial value, but also could obtain the aim function expression and be convenient for engineering application.
Spatial competition between shopping centers FEP WORKING

We study competition between two shopping centers (department stores or shopping malls) located at the extremes of a linear city. In contrast with the existing literature, we do not restrict consumers to make all their purchases at a single place. We obtain this condition as an equilibrium result. In the case of competition between a shopping mall and a department store, we find that the shops at the mall, taken together, obtain a lower profit than the department store. However, the shops at the mall have no incentives to merge into a department store (both sides would lose). It is the department store that has incentives to separate itself into a shopping mall (both sides win).