Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predictions of Biomass Change in a Hemi-Boreal Forest Based on Multi-Polarization L- and P-Band SAR Backscatter

Abstract Above-ground biomass change accumulated during four growth seasons in a hemi-boreal forest was predicted using airborne L- and P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) backscatter. The radar data were collected in the BioSAR 2007 and BioSAR 2010 campaigns over the Remningstorp test site in southern Sweden. Regression models for biomass change were developed from biomass maps created using airborne LiDAR data and field measurements. To facilitate training and prediction on image pairs acquired at different dates, a backscatter offset correction method for L-band data was developed and evaluated. The correction, based on the HV/VV backscatter ratio, facilitated predictions across image pairs almost identical to those obtained using data from the same image pair for both training and prediction. For P-band, previous positive results using an offset correction based on the HH/VV ratio were validated. The best L-band model achieved a root mean square error (RMSE) of 21 t/ha, and the best P-band model achieved an RMSE of 19 t/ha. Those accuracies are similar to that of the LiDAR-based biomass change of 18 t/ha. The limitation of using LiDAR-based data for training was considered. The findings demonstrate potential for improved biomass change predictions from L-band backscatter despite varying environmental conditions and calibration uncertainties.
Experimental Determination of Calcite Solubility in H
 2
 O‐KCl‐NaCl‐LiCl Solutions at 700°C and 8 kbar

Understanding the interactions between calcite and aqueous solutions is important when studying the deep carbon cycle. The present study investigates the solubility of calcite in salt-H2O fluids at 700 °C and 8 kbar. The investigated salts included NaCl, KCl, LiCl, and CsCl. All experiments were conducted in a piston cylinder apparatus. The results show that calcite solubility increases with increasing concentration of any individual salt. The data were successfully fit to simple functions of the square of salt mole fraction. At a given salt concentration, the solubility enhancement increases with decreasing salt cation size. Experiments in the fluids with mixtures of multiples of salts were used to derive simple relations that can be used to predict calcite solubility in a wide range of salt solutions at the studied conditions. The results provide a basis for extending this approach to different pressures, temperatures, and salt compositions.
Monitoring Wheat Leaf Rust and Stripe Rust in Winter Wheat Using High-Resolution UAV-Based Red-Green-Blue Imagery

During the past decade, imagery data acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), thanks to their high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions, have attracted increasing attention for discriminating healthy from diseased plants and monitoring the progress of such plant diseases in fields. Despite the well-documented usage of UAV-based hyperspectral remote sensing for discriminating healthy and diseased plant areas, employing red-green-blue (RGB) imagery for a similar purpose has yet to be fully investigated. This study aims at evaluating UAV-based RGB imagery to discriminate healthy plants from those infected by stripe and wheat leaf rusts in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), with a focus on implementing an expert system to assist growers in improved disease management. RGB images were acquired at four representative wheat-producing sites in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Diseased leaf areas were determined based on the digital numbers (DNs) of green and red spectral bands for wheat stripe rust (WSR), and the combination of DNs of green, red, and blue spectral bands for wheat leaf rust (WLR). WSR and WLR caused alterations in the typical reflectance spectra of wheat plants between the green and red spectral channels. Overall, good agreements between UAV-based estimates and observations were found for canopy cover, WSR, and WLR severities, with statistically significant correlations (p-value (Kendall) < 0.0001). Correlation coefficients were 0.92, 0.96, and 0.86 for WSR severity, WLR severity, and canopy cover, respectively. While the estimation of canopy cover was most often less accurate (correlation coefficients < 0.20), WSR and WLR infected leaf areas were identified satisfactorily using the RGB imagery-derived indices during the critical period (i.e., stem elongation and booting stages) for efficacious fungicide application, while disease severities were also quantified accurately over the same period. Using such a UAV-based RGB imagery method for monitoring fungal foliar diseases throughout the cropping season can help to identify any new disease outbreak and efficaciously control its spread.
Detection of heavy metal ions using a water‐soluble conjugated polymer based on thiophene and meso‐2,3‐dimercaptosuccinic acid

This work reports the synthesis of a new water-soluble conjugated polymer, which interacts specifically with heavy metal ions such as lead and mercury. In order to produce such a material, the fluorescent properties of polythiophene, which constitutes the polymer backbone, were combined with the chelating capacity of meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid, which forms the side-chain of the conjugated polymer. Thus, the new polymer acts as chemical complexing agent, the fluorescence of which is quenched in the presence of heavy metal ions. A possible explanation of the mechanism of such a variation is also discussed. The system presented is envisaged to be used as a sensor for heavy metal ions that appear as pollutants in the environment.
The Effect of Climate Change-Induced Temperature Increase on Performance and Environmental Impact of Intensive Pig Production Systems

This study examined climate change impacts (CCI) on productivity of pig production systems, their resource use, environmental impacts and the relevance of potential adaptation options. The impact of increasing temperature and temperature-humidity index (THI) on performance of pigs in confined housing systems was analysed by a meta-analysis. Using climate data for an Austrian site for the period 1981 to 2010, different scenarios (cold year, warm year, hot year, worst case scenario) were modelled and compared. Although significant differences between thermoneutral and heat stress conditions were detected for the analysed traits of growing and finishing pigs, overall performance, resource use (cumulative energy demand) and environmental impacts (global warming, acidification and eutrophication potential) per kg of live mass for finished pigs and reared piglets did not significantly differ between most scenarios. Elements of pig production systems resilient to CCI, which were not considered under performance and environmental impacts (LCA), were addressed in a system analysis that was based on literature and expert knowledge. The most important detected system elements are plants and animals with an appropriate genetic potential, securing the access to inexpensive feed, including land for feed production, securing water supply and the implementation of health plans and measures against diseases associated with CCI.
The Effect of a Composite Nanostructure on the Mechanical Properties of a Novel Al-Cu-Mn Alloy through Multipass Cold Rolling and Aging

An effective approach composed of solution treatment, multipass cold rolling and aging was developed to improve the strength and ductility of novel Al-Cu-Mn alloys. This approach increased the yield strength by 214 MPa over that of the conventional peak-aged samples while maintaining a good elongation of 8.7%. The microstructure evolution was examined by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). During postaging, deformed structures underwent a considerable decrease in dislocation density and typical dislocation network structures were formed. At the same time, highly dispersed nanoprecipitates and extensive ultrafine grains and nanograins were generated. These nanoprecipitations enabled effective dislocation pinning and accumulation during tension deformation. Therefore, composite nanostructures containing ultrafine grains, nanograins, dislocation network structures and nanoprecipitates were responsible for the simultaneous increases in strength and ductility. This paper provides a new understanding of designing composite nanostructure materials for achieving high strength and good ductility that is expected to be used for other age-hardenable alloys and steels.
Pulsed Gate Switching of MoS2 Field‐Effect Transistor Based on Flexible Polyimide Substrate for Ultrasonic Detectors

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) semiconductors have closely been studied for potential applications in detectors, optoelectronics, and flexible electronics due to its high electrical and robust mechanical performance. Herein, the first experimental study of the high‐speed ultrasound wave detection by the combinational structure of flexible MoS2 field‐effect transistor (FET) and piezoelectric device based on polyvinylidene fluoride trifluoro ethylene P(VDF‐TrFE) is reported. The proposed flexible MoS2 based FET device exhibits maximum mobility of 18.12 cm2 Vs−1, high on/off current ratio of ≈105, high robustness over mechanical tests, and excellent gate‐pulsed switching behavior at different frequencies (10, 100, and 500 kHz), thus, utilized as supporting electronics to detect ultrasound wave at high‐speed. The ultrasound waves are applied to the self‐assembled piezoelectric device under different power scales (0 ≈ 1.5 W cm−2) and the transfer curve of the proposed FET is analyzed. The results show a clear detection of ultrasound waves with high stability and excellent linearity in terms of threshold voltage (Vth) shift and drain current (Ids) under different power levels. Also, the pulsed gate‐switching behavior is analyzed and the ultrasound detection with high stability is observed at high‐speed switching, thus, enabling the development of applications in high‐speed electronic devices and biomedical imaging tools.
Phenotypic factors associated with lamb live weight and carcass composition measurements in an Irish multi-breed sheep population1

Abstract Understanding the phenotypic factors that affect lamb live weight and carcass composition is imperative to generating accurate genetic evaluations and further enables implementation of functional management strategies. This study investigated phenotypic factors affecting live weight across the growing season and traits associated with carcass composition in lambs from a multibreed sheep population. Four live weight traits and two carcass composition traits were considered for analysis namely; birth, preweaning, weaning, and postweaning weight, and ultrasound muscle depth and fat depth. A total of 427,927 records from 159,492 lambs collected from 775 flocks between the years 2016 and 2019, inclusive were available from the Irish national sheep database. Factors associated with live weight and carcass composition were determined using linear mixed models. The heaviest birth, preweaning, and weaning weights were associated with single born lambs (P < 0.001), however by postweaning, there was no difference observed in the weights of single and twin born lambs (P > 0.01). Breed class affected lamb live weight and carcass composition with terminal lambs weighing heaviest and having greater muscle depth than all other breed classes investigated (P < 0.001). Lambs born to first parity dams were consistently lighter, regardless of time of weighing (P < 0.001), while dams lambing for the first time as ewe lambs produced lighter lambs than those lambing for the first time as hoggets (P < 0.001). Greater heterosis coefficients (i.e., >90% and ≤100%) resulted in heavier lambs at weaning compared with lambs with lower levels of heterosis coefficients (P < 0.001). A heterosis coefficient class <10% resulted in lambs with greater muscle depth while recombination loss of <10% increased ultrasound fat depth (P < 0.001). Results from this study highlight the impact of multiple animal level factors on lamb live weight and carcass composition which will enable more accurate bio-economic models and genetic evaluations going forward.
Brewing of Chinese rice wine from rice roasted using superheated steam

The roasting of rice using superheated steam for brewing Chinese rice wine, saves energy and reduces environmental pollution. Three types of rice were adopted for studying rice gelatinization. The superheated steam achieved the best gelatinization under 200 °C. Meanwhile, the degree of gelatinization was the same when the heating period was within 20–40 s. The gelatinization parameters were strongly related to the gelatinization effect. Roasting influenced the properties of nonwaxy rice and waxy rice differently. The brewing of roasted rice was optimal when the raw materials were fed in batches. This produced rice wine with a lower amino acid N content and a lighter flavour. Copyright © 2012 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling
Microsilica and Waste Glass Powder as Partial replacement of Portland Cement: Electrochemical Study on the Corrosion Performance of Steel Rebar in the Blended Concrete

Today, steel reinforced concrete has been extensively used as building material which is typically exposed to corrosive media, causing corrosion of steel rebar. Here, a partial replacement by microsilica (MS) and Waste Glass Powder (WGP) in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were used to produce reinforced concrete and its effects were investigated on corrosion resistance of carbon steel rebar in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements were used to study the electrochemical corrosion behavior of carbon steel rebar. The absorption results revealed that the mixtures containing 10% MS and 10% WGP (10MS10WGP) considerably improved water absorption of concrete structure. Partial replacement of OPC by MS, either with or without WGP, revealed a significant increase in both one and four-week compressive strengths. The electrochemical results indicated that the 10MS10WGP specimen has higher value of corrosion resistance than the other samples. The surface of 10MS10WGP shows low corrosion products and thin pits which can be related to the decrease of water absorption and Cl ion permeability into the concrete structure.
Long‐term effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization on soil aggregate stability and aggregate‐associated carbon and nitrogen in the North China Plain

Funding information National Science and Technology Support Program, Grant/Award Number: 2015BAD06B01 Abstract Soil aggregates and carbon storage are important in soil conservation, nutrient supply, and climate change mitigation. The long-term responses of aggregate-associated organic C (OC) and nitrogen (N) in surface versus subsoil to N and P fertilization remain unclear. We examined the effects of different N and P fertilization rates on aggregate stability and the associated soil OC (SOC) and N in the North China Plain through a 35-yr double-crop field experiment, hypothesizing that higher rates of mineral fertilizer would promote aggregate stability and increase C/N ratios in large macroaggregates. The OC and N were highest in the silt + clay fraction, accounting for 34 to 48% of bulk SOC and 28 to 47% of bulk soil N at 0 to 20 cm, and 38 to 62% of bulk SOC and 40 to 62% of bulk soil N at 20 to 40 cm. After 35 yr, N + P fertilization increased SOC (16–35%) and N (21–27%), especially the 540 kg N + 67.5 kg P treatment; the N + P fertilizer also increased the OC and N of the macroaggregate, microaggregate, and silt + clay fractions at 0 to 20 cm. The N + P fertilizer treatments increased bulk soil C/N ratios; the C/N ratios of large macroaggregates decreased. Nitrogen and P fertilizer did not affect aggregate stability. Long-term N and P fertilization increased SOC concentrations, and altered OC and N distributions in aggregates. Quantifying the impacts of long-term fertilization strategies on organic matter sequestration and soil stabilization is important.
Two Decades of Touchable and Walkable Virtual Reality for Blind and Visually Impaired People: A High-Level Taxonomy

Although most readers associate the term virtual reality (VR) with visually appealing entertainment content, this technology also promises to be helpful to disadvantaged people like blind or visually impaired people. While overcoming physical objects’ and spaces’ limitations, virtual objects and environments that can be spatially explored have a particular benefit. To give readers a complete, clear and concise overview of current and past publications on touchable and walkable audio supplemented VR applications for blind and visually impaired users, this survey paper presents a high-level taxonomy to cluster the work done up to now from the perspective of technology, interaction and application. In this respect, we introduced a classification into small-, medium- and large-scale virtual environments to cluster and characterize related work. Our comprehensive table shows that especially grounded force feedback devices for haptic feedback (‘small scale’) were strongly researched in different applications scenarios and mainly from an exocentric perspective, but there are also increasingly physically (‘medium scale’) or avatar-walkable (‘large scale’) egocentric audio-haptic virtual environments. In this respect, novel and widespread interfaces such as smartphones or nowadays consumer grade VR components represent a promising potential for further improvements. Our survey paper provides a database on related work to foster the creation process of new ideas and approaches for both technical and methodological aspects.
Consumers’ awareness of the EU’s protected designations of origin logo

Purpose – Protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) products form the core of the European Union (EU) quality food policy. Low and fragmented logo recognition perils the entire plan. This work aims to provide a “classification” of European consumers as regards logo awareness based on generic demographic and socio-economic characteristics and to test hypotheses relating PDO awareness with the purchasing behaviour of consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The work utilises publicly available pan-European databases collected from Eurobarometer in four rolling surveys from 2012 to 2017. The statistical analysis exploits the spatially nested nature of the data. Findings – The “logo aware” consumer is distinctively different from the average representative European consumer. A range of demographic, human capital and socio-economic characteristics and behavioural and attitudinal traits differentiate the consumers who are aware of the logo. Country and region effects are vital. Research limitations/implications – Benefits of large and representative samples accrue by utilising available Eurobarometer surveys. This comes at a cost. The individual researcher has no control over the questions included in the questionnaire. Practical implications – Consumer classification forms the basis of awareness-raising strategies. It reveals the numerous segments of aware and non-aware consumers and opens a discussion about tools andmethods to reach out to the European consumer. Originality/value – This analysis holds an exact pan-European perspective and incorporates consumers’ characteristics, behaviour, attitudes and country and region effects.
Surface Plasmon Spectroscopy of Nanosized Metal Particles

The use of optical measurements to monitor electrochemical changes on the surface of nanosized metal particles is discussed within the Drude model. The absorption spectrum of a metal sol in water is shown to be strongly affected by cathodic or anodic polarization, chemisorption, metal adatom deposition, and alloying. Anion adsorption leads to strong damping of the free electron absorption. Cathodic polarization leads to anion desorption. Underpotential deposition (upd) of electropositive metal layers results in dramatic blue-shifts of the surface plasmon band of the substrate. The deposition of just 0.1 monolayer can be readily detected by eye. In some cases alloying occurs spontaneously during upd. Alloy formation can be ascertained from the optical absorption spectrum in the case of gold deposition onto silver sols. The underpotential deposition of silver adatoms onto palladium leads to the formation of a homogeneous silver shell, but the mean free path is less than predicted, due to lattice strain in t.
DYNAMICS OF COPPER OXIDATION INVESTIGATED BY IN SITU UHV-TEM

To bridge the gap between information provided by surface science methods (adsorption of up to ~a few monolayers of oxygen) and that provided by bulk oxidation studies (typically, an oxide layer of a few microns or thicker), the initial stages of metal oxidation ¾ from nucleation to coalescence ¾ are being investigated by in situ ultra-high vacuum transmission electron microscopy (UHV-TEM). The aims of this thesis research are to gain basic insight into the complex kinetics and energetics of nano-oxide formation during the initial stages of oxidation, and fundamentally understand the distribution, stability, and morphological evolution of oxide islands since controlled oxidation is a processing tool for creating nanostructure patterns on surfaces. A systematic in situ study was carried out of the dynamic responses of Cu thin films to variations in thermodynamic variables such as temperature, oxygen pressure, strain, and crystallographic orientation. The main findings of the experiments include: 1) the universality of oxygen surface diffusion model, 2) formation of completely different oxide structure from oxide islands (disks, nanorods, dome, container pyramids) to disordered networks and almost uniform layer growth by altering the oxidation temperature and substrate orientation, 3) creation of nano-indentation arrays on metal surfaces by reducing the oxide arrays. The in situ UHV-TEM measurements of shape and size evolution of the oxides were used to gain fundamental insights into the complex kinetics and energetics of oxidation and reduction. Models based on the surfaces and strain during oxidation explained quantitatively the formation of some of the novel oxide nano-structures. A wealth of surface processes were discovered that reveal how each surface and thermodynamic condition needs to be considered for fundamentally understanding and controlling oxidation behavior.
Model-Based Definition and Enterprise: State-of-the-art and future trends

Model-Based Definition (MBD) is being adopted by the manufacturing industry as a single source for all product information in place of conventional 2D drawings. This paper aims to review the current literature on Model-Based Definition (MBD) and Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) to recognize the main contributions towards the development and implementation of MBD and explore its various perspectives. The publications encompassing technology and applications of MBD are categorized into seven domains. These domains are lifecycle information; design, discrete part manufacturing, and inspection; assembly; maintenance, repair, and overhaul; process planning; engineering change management; and contemporary aspects of digital product definition. The major outcomes of research literature, in these domains, are reviewed and future research directions are identified and formulated. Additionally, the paper highlights the issues and challenges associated with the realization of MBE by the manufacturing industry. These issues are categorized into technical, management, and certification categories. The prevalent issues in each of these categories are further discussed and analyzed.