Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF UNGULATES ON PERFORMANCE, ABUNDANCE, AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TWO MONTANE HERBS

Herbivores highly reduce the performance of many plant species. However, little empirical information exists on the real effect that these organisms have on plant populations. With a long-term (seven-year) ungulate exclusion experiment in two areas of southeastern Spain, I demonstrated that these organisms can affect not only individual performance, but also the population dynamics and spatial structure of two short-lived monocarpic herbs, Erysimum mediohispanicum and E. baeticum. There was between-year and among-microhabitat variability in damage, with plants growing under shrubs being less damaged than those growing in open sites. Ungulates consumed flowers and fruits, severely decreasing plant reproductive output. The postdispersal seed predation rate increased after ungulates were excluded, presumably as a consequence of the relaxation of competition between seed predators and ungulates. The effect of ungulates on Erysimum early establishment was nonsignificant, although >50% of Erysimum seedlings died due to ungulate trampling. The exclusion experiment also revealed that, as a consequence of their impact on seed production, ungulates affected the population dynamics of their host plants; their removal produced a significant increase in the abundance of the two studied plant species. Furthermore, habitat distribution of plants was also influenced by the activity of ungulates. In control plots, most Erysimum individuals grew under the canopy of co-occurring shrubs. In contrast, a dramatic spatial redistribution of plants occurred in ungulate-excluded plots, where they started to colonize open sites. Consequently, the spatial structure of the plants excluded from ungulates significantly differed from that in control plots and became statistically similar to the structure expected according to the cover of every microhabitat. Finally, this experiment revealed that, for plants inhabiting heterogeneous landscapes, abundance and spatial structure are tightly related. Thus, I found that abundance increased in ungulate-excluded plots due not to a general and homogeneous increase, but to a significant increase in those microhabitats inaccessible to ungulates in control plots. These findings suggest that herbivory effects on plants are intricate, affecting not only their performance or population dynamics, but also their habitat distribution and niche structure.
Synthesis, characterization and biocompatibility evaluation of hydroxyapatite - gelatin polyLactic acid ternary nanocomposite

Objective(s): The current study reports the production and biocompatibility evaluation of a ternary nanocomposite consisting of HA, PLA, and gelatin for biomedical application.Materials and Methods: Hydroxyapatite nanopowder (HA: Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) was produced by burning the bovine cortical bone within the temperature range of 350-450 oC followed by heating in an oven at 800. Synthesis of the ternary nanocomposite was carried out in two steps: synthesis of gelatin-hydroxyapatite binary nanocomposite and addition of poly lactic acid with different percentages to the resulting composition. The crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), while major elements and impurities of hydroxyapatite were identified by elemental analysis of X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Functional groups were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Morphology and size of the nanocomposites were evaluated using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Biocompatibility of nanocomposites was investigated by MTT assay. Results: XRD patterns verified the ideal crystal structure of the hydroxyapatite, which indicated an appropriate synthesis process and absence of disturbing phases. Results of FTIR analysis determined the polymers’ functional groups, specified formation of the polymers on the hydroxyapatite surface, and verified synthesis of nHA/PLA/Gel composite. FESEM images also indicated the homogeneous structure of the composite in the range of 50 nanometers. MTT assay results confirmed the biocompatibility of nanocomposite samples.Conclusion: This study suggested that the ternary nanocomposite of nHA/PLA/Gel can be a good candidate for biomedical application such as drug delivery systems, but for evaluation of its potential in hard tissue replacement, mechanical tests should be performed.
The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation in Relationship Between Criticism and Cigarette Smoking Among Male Adolescents

Background: Tobacco use is one of the major preventable causes of death in the world and is one of the most prevalent public health problems in Iran. Cigarette cravings are influenced by various psycho-social factors. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate craving a cigarette based on perceived criticism by parents, dose of usage, and emotional self-regulation in adolescents. Patients and Methods: This study was performed as a cross-sectional self-reported questionnaire and structural equation modeling. A sample of 350 male students were randomly selected from different high schools in Isfahan. Three questionnaires including Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC), emotion regulation inventory, and Perceived Criticism Measure (PCM) were employed. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square, correlation coefficient, and structural modeling tests. Results: The results of this study showed that 34.4% of students had experienced smoking more than 20 cigarettes throughout their lifetime. There was a significant correlation between emotional reappraisal (r =- 0.48), expressive suppression (r = -0.58), and perceived criticism (r = 0.56) with cigarette cravings (P < 0.001). In addition to direct effect, perceived criticism through the emotional self-regulation and dose of usage had indirect effects on nicotine cravings. A total of 61% of variance in cravings towards nicotine was explained by the variables. Conclusions: In total, the results of this study revealed that high levels of smoking tendency in students is a crucial issue; therefore, students’ psychological problems such as negative experiences is associated with criticism by parents, adaptive emotion-regulation strategies, and prevention of smoking. Cautions regarding adverse health and social consequences of smoking to students should be taken into consideration by authorities and families.
Avaliação química, nutricional e fatores antinutricionais do feijão preto (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) irradiado

Mesmo o Brasil sendo o maior produtor de feijao, e necessario importar para suprir a grande demanda interna, que e agravada pelas grandes perdas por infestacoes durante o armazenamento. Para combater estas perdas o processo de irradiacao dos feijoes e uma alternativa. Foram avaliadas as alteracoes que ocorreram em graos de feijao preto crus e cozidos irradiados nas doses de 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 e 10kGy e avaliadas a quantidade de ferro, taninos e acido fitico, a digestibilidade da proteina e a disponibilidade de ferro. Para o teor de ferro em graos cozidos nao houve variacao (media de 118,17mg/Kg). Os teores encontrados de taninos para o cru nao variaram com a intensidade radioativa, nao sendo possivel deteccao nos cozidos. Quanto ao teor de acido fitico, ocorreu diminuicao da quantidade com aumento da irradiacao nos graos crus ate dose 8kGy. A digestibilidade da proteina diminuiu nos feijoes crus com o aumento da irradiacao. Ocorreu crescente aumento na disponibilidade de ferro nos feijoes crus irradiados (exceto na dose 8kGy), que nao varia das doses 4 e 6kGy. Os resultados encontrados neste trabalho mostram que o processo de irradiacao nao compromete o valor nutricional do feijao preto.
Eingebetteter Test zur hochgenauen Defekt-Lokalisierung

Moderne Diagnosealgorithmen können aus den vorhandenen Fehlerdaten direkt die defekte Schaltungsstruktur identifizieren, ohne sich auf spezialisierte Fehlermodelle zu beschränken. Solche Algorithmen benötigen jedoch Testmuster mit einer hohen Defekterfassung. Dies ist insbesondere im eingebetteten Test eine große Herausforderung. Der Partielle Pseudo-Erschöpfende Test (P-PET) ist eine Methode, um die Defekterfassung im Vergleich zu einem Zufallstest oder einem deterministischen Test für das Haftfehlermodell zu erhöhen. Wird die im eingebetteten Test übliche Phase der vorgeschalteten Erzeugung von Pseudozufallsmustern durch die Erzeugung partieller pseudo-erschöpfender Muster ersetzt, kann bei vergleichbarem Hardware-Aufwand und gleicher Testzeit eine optimale Defekterfassung für den größten Schaltungsteil erreicht werden. Diese Arbeit kombiniert zum ersten Mal P-PET mit einem fehlermodell-unabhängigen Diagnosealgorithmus und zeigt, dass sich beliebige Defekte im Mittel wesentlich präziser diagnostizieren lassen als mit Zufallsmustern oder einem deterministischen Test für Haftfehler.
A Numerical Study of Unsteady Cavitation on A Hydrofoil

The unsteady turbulent cavitation on a hydrofoil with finite span and NACA-0015 section is studied numerically. For the computations, a two-phase flow approach based on homogeneous mixture approximation is adopted in which liquid-vapor mixture is modeled as an inter-penetrating continuum with the phase compositions represented by volume-fraction and the inter-phase mass transfer computed using a finite-rate model derived from bubble dynamics. An implicit, finite-volume based projection algorithm was developed that couples velocity, phase compositions, and pressure. Turbulence is modeled using Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), large eddy simulation, and RANS/LES hybrid approaches. A suite of multiphase computational fluid dynamics (MCFD) solvers was built using OpenFOAM, an object-oriented, open-source CFD tool-kit, being validated for steady and unsteady cavitating flows on hydrofoils and marine propulsors. The large eddy simulation (LES) and the RANS/LES hybrid results on the hydrofoil closely reproduced the salient features of the unsteady sheet/cloud cavitation such as the breakup of sheet cavity by re-entrant jet, and the formation and collapse of cloud cavity. The lift and drag force predictions in a range of cavitation number were also found to be in good agreement with the experimental data in terms of the mean values, the root-mean-square values, and the spectral contents.
Geographical General Regression Neural Network (GGRNN) tool for geographically weighted regression analysis

This paper presents a new geographically weighted regression analysis tool, based upon a modified version of a General Regression Neural Network (GRNN). The new Geographic General Regression Neural Network (GGRNN) tool allows for local variations in the regression analysis. The algorithm of the GRNN has been extended to allow for both globally independent variables and local variables, restricted to a given spatial kernel. This mimics the results of Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) analysis in a given geographical space. The GGRNN tool allows the user to load geographic data from the Shapefile into the underlying neural networks data structure. The spatial kernel can be either a fixed radius or adaptive, by using a given number of neighboring regions. The Holdout Method has been used to compare the fitness of a given model. An application of the tool has been presented using the benchmark working-age deaths in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan. Standardized residual maps produced by the GGRNN tool have been compared with those produced by the GWR4 tool for validation. The tool has been developed in the . Net C# programming language using the DotSpatial open source library. The tool is valuable because it allows the user to investigate the influence of spatially non-stationary processes in the regression analysis. The tool can also be used for prediction or interpolation purposes for a range of environmental, socioeconomic and public health applications.
Simplifying privacy protection

There are many barriers to data access and data sharing, especially in the domain of machine learning on health care data. Legal constraints, such as HIPAA, protect patient privacy but slow access to data and limit reproducibility. We provide a description of an end-to-end system called Kung Faux Pandas for easily generating de-identified or synthetic data which is statistically similar to real data but lacks sensitive information. This system focuses on data synthesis and de-identification narrowed to a specific research question to allow for self-service data access without the complexities required to generate an entire population of data that is not needed for a given research project. Kung Faux Pandas is an open source publicly available1 system that lowers barriers to HIPAAand GDPR-compliant data sharing for enabling reproducibility and other purposes.
Salt Tolerance of Soybean Varieties (Glycine max L. Merrill) During Germination and Later Growth1

ACCUMULATION of salts in the irrigated soils of western United States often results in reduction of seed germination and planet growth, Plant genera and species may differ widely in salt tolerance but, for most crops, varietal differences in salt tolerance are very small. Approximately a third of the soils of the Imperial Valley of southern California are excessively saline and are usually cropped to the more salt tolerant crop species. Ogasa (12) found ~:hat seed germination of soybean variety ~KO 561’ was inhibited by a 0.2% NaC1 solution at 30° C. but it was necessary to increase the concentration to 0,3% NaC1 to cause inhibition at 15° C. The data of Uhvits (15) show that at osmotic pressures greater than atmospheres, alfalfa seed germination in solution cultures was retarded considerably more by concentrations of NaC1 than by mannitol presumably because of the toxic effect of the salt. Rudolfs (13) found seed water absorption in 15 hours was decreased 9% when the osmotic pressure of the germinating solution was increased from 0 to 7 atmospheres with addition of NaC1. Ayers and Hayward (2) showed that salt tolerance during seed germination is not always positively correlated with that of the crop during later growth. The first physiological reaction of plants immediately after an increase in soil salinity is reduced entry of water in roots (3, 9). Reduced growth, which is not yet clearly understood, follows. Reduced growth is evident in reduced height and development of smaller, darker green leaves (6, 8, lo). The characteristic chloride toxicity symptoms for peach, citrus, and a number of other trees are incipient chlorosis accompanied by drying and browning of the leaf beginning at the margin of the apex. The minimal levels of chloride accumulation associated with leaf burn o.f several fruit trees ranged from 5,000 ppm ~co 18,000 ppm chloride (4). Leaves of field, vegetable, and forage crops which usually showed no specific chloride injury in salinized soil ranged from 17,750 ppm to 53,000 ppm chlorides. Bernstein and Ayers (5) found no relation between chloride content and salt tolerance in green beans. In their studies, 6 varieties of green beans all accumulated large amounts of chloride. Although barley (1) and co~ton (11) were considered highly salt tolerant, varietal differences in salinity effects on seed yield were reported. Salt decreased the vegetative portions of barley and wheat relatively more than that of the grain (1). The ’Lee’ soybean variety was rated moderately salt tolerant in studies at the U.S. Salinity Laboratory at Riverside, California, a in 1955. In this study, seed yields were reduced 50% when the electrical conductivity of the saturation extract of the soil, (ECe) was 9 millimhos/cm. Oil percentage decreased and protein percentage increased slightly. Preliminary studies with 50 soybean strains adapted to
Siren: Interface for Pattern Languages

This paper introduces Siren, a hybrid system for algorithmic composition and live-coding performances. Its hierarchical structure allows small modifications to propagate and aggregate on lower levels for dramatic changes in the musical output. It uses functional programming language TidalCycles [13, 14] as the core pattern creation environment due to its inherent ability to sustain uninterrupted audio output even with an incorrect syntax. Borrowing the best from Tidal, Siren augments the pattern creation process by introducing various interface level features: a multi-channel sequencer, local and global parameters, mathematical expressions, and pattern history. It presents new opportunities for recording, refining, and reusing the playback information with the pattern roll component. Subsequently, the paper concludes with a preliminary evaluation of Siren in the context of user interface design principles [18], which originates from the cognitive dimensions framework for musical notation design [6, 20].
An Implicit-Explicit Computational Method Based on Time Semi-Discretization for Pricing Financial Derivatives with Jumps

This paper considers pricing European options under the well-known of SVJ model of Bates and related computational methods. According to the no-arbitrage principle, we first derive a partial differential equation that the value of any European contingent claim should satisfy, where the asset price obeys the SVJ model. This equation is numerically solved by using the implicit- explicit backward difference method and time semi-discretization. In order to explain the validity of our method, the stability of time semi-discretization scheme is also proved. Finally, we use a simulation example to illustrate the efficiency of the method.
Dynamic Analysis of Fractional-Order Fuzzy BAM Neural Networks with Delays in the Leakage Terms

In this paper, based on the theory of fractional-order calculus, we obtain some sufficient conditions for the uniform stability of fractional-order fuzzy BAM neural networks with delays in the leakage terms. Moreover, the existence, uniqueness and stability of its equilibrium point are also proved. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the validity and feasibility of the proposed results.
Contextualising Idiomatic Gestures in Musical Interactions with NIMEs

This paper introduces various ways that idiomatic gestures emerge in performance practice with new musical instruments. It demonstrates that idiomatic gestures can play an important role in the development of personalized performance practices that can be the basis for the development of style and expression. Three detailed examples – biocon-trollers, accordion-inspired instruments, and a networked intelligent controller – illustrate how a complex suite of factors throughout the design, composition and performance processes can inﬂuence the development of idiomatic gestures. We argue that the explicit consideration of idiomatic gestures throughout the life cycle of new instruments can facilitate the emergence of style and give rise to performances that can develop rich layers of meaning.
Modeling of Performance of a Standard Vehicle Air Conditioning System Re-Designed for Heating Vehicle Seats via Fuzzy Logic

This study presents Fuzzy Logic model of performance of a vehicle air conditioner system modified for heating vehicle seats by using data obtained from an experimental work. Back and seating temperatures of the seat were recorded for 15 minutes for compressor speeds ranging from 500 rpm to 1600 rpm with 100 rpm intervals. Input parameters were selected as compressor speed and time while output parameters were back and seating surface temperatures of the vehicle seat for the Fuzzy Logic model. Twelve levels of revolution and ten levels of time were selected for the fuzzyfication process. Seven back temperature levels and eleven seat temperature levels were determined for output. Totally 120 supervision rules that define relation between system input and output were determined. The measured data that were yielding totally 4320 points for back and seating surfaces were also found by Fuzzy Logic. Determination coefficient was used for the comparison of experimental and fuzzy logic results. Surface temperatures were also estimated with fuzzy logic for intermediate values of the experimental data. The highest temperatures on the surfaces of the seat were observed between 5 and 10 minutes of the thermal process because of the heat transfer from the live test subject to the seat. The highest temperature was obtained for 1600 rpm while the lowest temperature is obtained for 500 rpm. The correlation between model results and experimental data are satisfactory. As a conclusion, fuzzy logic is found a proper tool for rapid decision making in vehicle thermal comfort systems. The model can be modified in the future in order to be adapted into a smart vehicle thermal comfort system. The first time presented experimental data and their Fuzzy Logic application constitute a reference for the future works.
Fabrication of Bioactive High Porous Hydroxyapatite Ceramics

The main subject of this study was to produce a net shaped micro porous hydroxyapatite ceramics. For this aim, initially fabrication of hydroxyapatite powder was achieved by a thermal extraction method which is inexpensive processing route. Phase determination of the yield of the process was carried out by X-ray diffraction method. Replica technique was used to produce a reticulated structure from hydroxyapatite powder. The foams were produced with various rates of additive as binder and additive-free compositions. After the HAp daubed on surfaces of substrate polymer was fired and sintered in the process at > 1100°C. The obtained ceramic foam was characterized using optical microscopy. The preform exhibited different pore sized structures depending binder rate and sintering temperature. As a result, hydroxyapatite preforms was produced with high porosity and their properties were improved by adding the binder which supports biocompability of HAp.
Effects of Fluridone Treatment on Seed Germination and Dormancy-associated Gene Expression in an Ornamental Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch)

1United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu 183-8509, Japan 2Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321-8505, Japan 3Bioscience Education and Research Center, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321-8505, Japan 4Faculty of Agriculture, Papua University, Manokwari 98314, Indonesia 5Faculty of Innovative Agricultural Management, Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand