Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gas-particle partitioning of polyol tracers in the western Yangtze 
River Delta, China: Absorptive or Henry's law partitioning?

Abstract. Gas-particle partitioning of water-soluble organic compounds plays a significant role in the formation and source apportionment of organic aerosols, but is poorly characterized. In this work, gas- and particle-phase concentrations of isoprene oxidation products (C5-alkene triols and 2-methylterols), levoglucosan, and sugar polyols were measured simultaneously at a suburban site of the western Yangtze River Delta in east China. All target polyols were primarily distributed into the particle phase (85.9–99.8 %), and their average particle-phase fractions were not strictly dependent on vapor pressures. Moreover, the measurement-based partitioning coefficients (Kp,OM) of isoprene oxidation products and levoglucosan were 102 to 104 times larger than their predicted Kp,OM based on the equilibrium absorptive partitioning model. These are likely attributed to the hygroscopic properties of polyol tracers and high aerosol liquid water (ALW) concentrations (~20 µg m−3) of the study location. Due to the large gaps (up to 107) between measurement-based effective Henry's law coefficients (KH,e) and predicted values in pure water (KH,w), the gas-particle partitioning of polyol tracers could not be depicted using Henry's law alone either. The regressions of log (KH,w/KH,e) versus molality of major water-soluble components in ALW indicated that sulfate ions ( salting-in effect ) and water-soluble organic carbon can promote the partitioning of polyol tracers into the aqueous phase. These results suggest a partitioning mechanism of enhanced aqueous-phase uptake for polyol tracers, which partly reveals the discrepancy between observation and modeling of secondary organic aerosols.
Implications of Disease in Shrimp Aquaculture for Wild-Caught Shrimp

We investigate whether supply shocks in shrimp aquaculture caused by disease increase prices of wild-caught shrimp in the US Gulf of Mexico, using Gulf prices and US shrimp imports from Ecuador, Thailand, and Indonesia. Many studies have shown that shrimp markets are cointegrated, meaning relative prices tend not to diverge substantially or for long periods. We also find cointegration, and we evaluate a vector error correction model for structural breaks to determine whether the most significant changes in the price relationships coincide with the timing of disease crises in aquaculture. Gulf prices fell steadily throughout the early 2000s because of innovations in shrimp aquaculture, however, early mortality syndrome (EMS) caused a major disruption in aquaculture starting around 2011. Our results indicate that EMS may have precipitated a disturbance to the long-run relationship of our prices, suggesting that disease may have offered temporary benefits to the US shrimp fishery.
Automatic Speaker Adaptation Assessment Based on Objective Measures for Voice Banking Donors

Speech is the most common way of communication. People who have lost total or partially their ability to speak might ben-eﬁt from the use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices and the use of Text-to-Speech (TTS) tech-nology. One problem that arouses is that the synthetic voices included in these devices might be impersonal and not accurate to the user terms of age, accent or even gender. Therefore, voice banking has become a good alternative to standard commercial voices. In our voice banking strategy, people with healthy voice (donors), or the user itself before losing his or her own voice, provide the recordings to obtain a new synthetic voice using adaptation techniques. In this way, a wide catalog of synthetic voices is provided to the potential user. However, because there is no control over the recording process, the ﬁnal quality of the synthetic voice is very variable. In this paper, we propose a method to assess the result of the adaptation using objective measures. The results show that this strategy can be an alternative to subjective evaluation to select the best donated voices for the voice bank.
Demographic Processes Allow Echinochloa crus-galli to Compensate Seed Losses by Seed Predation

The effect of weed management that targets the seed stage on subsequent life stages is largely unknown. Post-dispersal seed predation reduces the number of seeds from the soil surface before the seeds contribute to the seedbank. Density-dependent processes can mitigate the effect of seed predation in subsequent life stages. In this study, we tested if (i) targeting the seed stage affects the subsequent seedling stage; (ii) if density-dependent mortality in subsequent life stages partly compensates seedling abundance; and (iii) if the magnitude of final seed production depends on seed predation. We fully parameterized a model for the summer-annual weed Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv. Field data from three maize fields in north-eastern Germany were obtained, in the presence or absence of seed predation and different population levels of the weed species. Seeds of E. crus-galli were applied in autumn and the number of seedlings, adult plants, and seed production per m2 was determined the following season. Seed predation reduced the number of seedlings. Density-dependent mortality during the seedling stage increased fecundity with decreasing seedling density, and, thus, compensated for lower numbers of seedlings. The final level of seed production per m2 did not depend on seed predation and initial population densities, but differed among fields. We conclude, solely targeting the seed stage can scarcely limit the population growth of E. crus-galli.
Paper-based ELISA diagnosis technology for human brucellosis based on a multiepitope fusion protein

Background Brucellosis, as a serious zoonotic infectious disease, has been recognized as a re-emerging disease in the developing countries worldwide. In china, the incidence of brucellosis is increasing each year, seriously threatening the health of humans as well as animal populations. Despite a quite number of diagnostic methods currently being used for brucellosis, innovative technologies are still needed for its rapid and accurate diagnosis, especially in area where traditional diagnostic is unavailable. Methodology/Principal findings In this study, a total of 22 B cell linear epitopes were predicted from five Brucella outer membrane proteins (OMPs) using an immunoinformatic approach. These epitopes were then chemically synthesized, and with the method of indirect ELISA (iELISA), each of them displayed a certain degree of capability in identifying human brucellosis positive sera. Subsequently, a fusion protein consisting of the 22 predicted epitopes was prokaryotically expressed and used as diagnostic antigen in a newly established brucellosis testing method, nano-ZnO modified paper-based ELISA (nano-p-ELISA). According to the verifying test using a collection of sera collected from brucellosis and non-brucellosis patients, the sensitivity and specificity of multiepitope based nano-p-ELISA were 92.38% and 98.35% respectively. The positive predictive value was 98.26% and the negative predictive value was 91.67%. The multiepitope based fusion protein also displayed significantly higher specificity than Brucella lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigen. Conclusions B cell epitopes are important candidates for serologically testing brucellosis. Multiepitope fusion protein based nano-p-ELISA displayed significantly sensitivity and specificity compared to Brucella LPS antigen. The strategy applied in this study will be helpful to develop rapid and accurate diagnostic method for brucellosis in human as well as animal populations.
The Effects of Pine Tree Sawdust on the Volume Compressibility of Expansive Soils

Expansive soils are very important natural geological materials used in the geotechnical applications in the worldwide. After compacting, they are used as hydraulic barriers in earth structures, such as core of earth fill dams, landfill liners, and etc. However, these soils have some defects from technical points of view. To remove the defects, one of the soil improvement methods is mixing of these soils with granular materials. In this study, pine tree sawdust was used as granular additive material to stabilize the expansive soils. The effects of pine saw dust on the volume compressibility of expansive soils were investigated by using experimental studies under laboratory conditions. The test results showed that the pine saw dust positively affected the geotechnical properties in term of volume compressibility manner. As a consequently, the geotechnical properties of the expansive soil when blended with pine tree sawdust indicates that the pine tree sawdust is a good modification material for this problematic soil.
Mixed Feelings Enhance the Effectiveness of Luxury Advertising

The complexity of luxury brand imagery creates challenges for managers when selecting appeals for luxury branding strategies. Against this backdrop, the present research studies the potential of mixed emotional appeals in enhancing the persuasiveness of luxury advertising. Across two experimental studies, this research shows that luxury brand advertising featuring mixed emotional appeals of happiness and sadness (vs. happiness alone) will enhance higher levels of purchase intentions. Furthermore, this effect is driven by narrative transportation. In doing so, this research offers an innovative theoretical viewpoint on the effect of mixed emotional appeals on consumer selection. Managerially, these findings provide implications for marketing practitioners and industry professionals in developing effective marketing communication strategies for luxury brands.
Hydrogen sulfide and potassium synergistically induce osmotic stress tolerance through regulation of H+-ATPase activity and sugar metabolism in tomato seedlings

Potassium (K) is an essential macronutrient which is known to regulate key metabolic processes, modulate enzyme activity and plays a decisive role in osmotic adjustment in plants. Present work evaluates the role of K in the regulation of endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) signaling in modulating the tolerance of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. Mill.) seedlings to osmotic stress. The findings reveal that exposure of seedlings to 15% (w/v) polyethylene glycol 8000 (PEG) led to a substantial decrease in leaf K content which was associated with reduced H+-ATPase activity. Exogenous application of K to the stressed seedlings significantly improved endogenous K content. Treatment with sodium orthovanadate (SOV, PM H+-ATPase inhibitor) and tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA, K channel blocker) suggests that exogenous K stimulated H+-ATPase activity that further regulated endogenous K content in tomato seedlings subjected to osmotic stress. Moreover, reduction in H+-ATPase activity by hypotaurine (H2S scavenger) substantiates the role of endogenous H2S in the regulation of H+-ATPase activity. Elevation in endogenous K content enhanced the biosynthesis of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) through enhancing the synthesis of cysteine, the H2S precursor. Synergistic action of H2S and K effectively neutralized osmotic stress by regulating sugar metabolism that resulted in osmotic adjustment, as witnessed by reduced water loss and improved hydration level of the stressed seedlings. Cross talk of H2S and K also assisted the seedlings in the activation of antioxidant enzymes that controlled the generation of reactive oxygen species and led to the protection against oxidative stress. The integrative role of H2S and K signaling was validated using hypotaurine (H2S scavenger) and TEA (K channel blocker) which weakened the protection against osmotic stress induced impairments. In conclusion, exogenous K and endogenous H2S regulate H+-ATPase activity which plays a decisive role in the maintenance of endogenous K homeostasis. Thus, present work reveals that K and H2S crosstalk is essential for modulation of osmotic stress tolerance in tomato seedlings.
Biochar and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Play Different Roles in Enabling Maize to Uptake Phosphorus

The addition of biochar alters soil habitats and has an active effect on the symbiotic relationship between plants and mycorrhizal fungi. However, it is still unclear whether this effect alters the strategy of phosphorus uptake by plants. Therefore, pot experiments were conducted in order to investigate the effects of mycorrhizal colonization and biochar addition on plant growth, phosphorus absorption, and rhizosphere Olsen-P supply in maize under two moisture conditions—60% field water capacity (FWC) and 40% FWC. It was found that the addition of biochar increased the colonization rate of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and all the addition treatments significantly improved maize biomass, peroxidase (POD) activity, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate (Pn), plant height, leaf area, shoot phosphorus content, and phosphorus uptake by maize under the two moisture conditions. In addition, biochar had significant effects on root morphology under both water conditions, whereas AMF only showed significant effects under water stress. In contrast, phosphatase activity and microbial activity were higher in the AMF inoculation treatment than in the biochar addition treatment, and the trend was more significant under water stress. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that root morphology, rhizosphere microbial activity, phosphatase activity, available phosphorus content, and shoot phosphorus content had significant positive correlations. It was concluded that biochar aids plant uptake of phosphorus mainly by regulating root morphology and plant phosphorus content, whereas the large mycelium of AMF enhances microbial activity and phosphatase activity, thereby enabling more efficient phosphorus uptake by maize, especially under conditions of water stress.
Mitigating Injection‐Induced Seismicity Along Basement Faults by Extraction: Application to 2016–2018 Pohang Earthquakes

The risk of induced earthquake is considered as the major obstacle for sustainable subsurface energy activities. As a mitigation approach, mechanistic risk assessment can be essential to minimize the potential of seismic hazard. Coupled hydro‐mechanical modeling approach is integrated with geomechanical analysis to better assess the occurrence of seismicity induced by injection and/or extraction, which will provide a basis to update operational conditions (e.g., number and location of mitigating wells, rate and duration of operations) for mitigating earthquake nucleation. The Coulomb stability analysis and seismicity rate estimates from this generic study indicate that simultaneous extraction can relieve injection‐induced pore‐pressure buildup, but also transfer and accumulate elastic energy along the faults. Field‐scale simulation with variation in well design for the Pohang EGS site, South Korea, show that multiple wells aligned across a preexisting fault form gradients of pressure and stress fields normal to the fault, which can enhance the direct impact of diffusion process and poroelastic stressing on the fault stability perturbation. Our mechanistic study suggests multiphysics‐oriented mitigation strategies that consider (1) possible mechanical deformation, caused by hydro‐mechanical coupling effects, and (2) proper configuration of well operations based on site‐specific geological characteristics.
3–20-GHz GaN MMIC Power Amplifier Design Through a COUT Compensation Strategy

This letter presents the design approach for a compact, single-stage, wideband MMIC power amplifier. A method is proposed to compensate for the output capacitance of the active device over a frequency range as wide as possible, with minimum impact on the achievable output power, which leads to a two-element compensating network. A three-section transformer is then adopted for a real-to-real transformation. The CW characterization shows the output power higher than 32 dBm and the drain efficiency between 35% and 45%, over a fractional bandwidth of 148%, from 3 to 20 GHz.
Dietary diversity and practice of pregnant and lactating women in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract The dietary diversity of pregnant and lactating women remains unacceptably poor in resource‐limited countries such as Ethiopia. Despite the presence of inconsistent and inconclusive small‐scale studies, it is difficult to portray an actual picture of dietary diversity and dietary practices of women in Ethiopia. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of dietary diversity, dietary practice, and dietary patterns of pregnant and lactating women in Ethiopia. Electronic and gray literature sources were explored. A total of 3,256 articles were found, of which 38 were included in the final analysis. The data were analyzed by using STATA version 15. The pooled estimates were presented using random‐effects models due to considerable heterogeneities among studies. In this study, 16,412 pregnant and lactating women were included. The pooled prevalence of low, medium, and high dietary diversity scores of pregnant women was 37.1%, 41.55%, and 39.3%, respectively. Likewise, low, medium, and high dietary diversity scores of lactating women were 50.31%, 41.22%, and 9.1%, respectively. The mean dietary diversity of pregnant and lactating women was 3.99 ± 0.20. Regarding the minimum dietary diversity, 56.6% of pregnant women and 50.21% of lactating women were found to have inadequate dietary diversities. Two‐third (65.7%) of pregnant women were found to have poor dietary practice. Starchy foods were the main staple foods of study subjects, whereas organ meats were least consumed food types. The dietary diversity score, minimum dietary diversity, and dietary practices of women are suboptimal and below WHO and FAO recommendations. This could lead to both macro‐ and micronutrient deficiencies. Policymakers, program managers, healthcare workers, and stakeholders need to redesign nutrition promotion and intervention programs to alleviate this issue.
The Mediating Impact of SMEDAN Initiative on the Relationship Between CSFs and SMEs' Success: A Conceptual Paper

Nigeria's federal government, after the oil boom of the 1970s, created policies, including the SMEDAN initiative, to trigger socio-economic development through entrepreneurship and small business development. Notwithstanding the importance of SMEs' socio-economic development and the Nigerian government's effort to support entrepreneurship and SMEs development, SMEs fail within the first five years. There is not enough information that can be used by SME owners/managers to develop best business practice policies to mitigate SMEs' failure and trigger socio-economic development. Critical success factor (CSFs) provides information that can be used to develop the best business practice to mitigate SMEs failure. Researchers stated that for owners/managers of SMEs to use CSFs models, they must replicate studies in new geographical areas or new industries. There is no CSFs model for the Nigerian location. The purpose is to position a CSFs model that can be used as information by owners/managers of SMEs to develop the best business policies to mitigate SME failures in Nigeria. This paper presents a thesis concepts where the researcher used a mixed research approach to position a CSFs model that can provide the information that can be used by owners/managers to mitigate SMEs failure and trigger socio-economic development. Mitigating SMEs' failure in Nigeria will reduce unemployment and poverty, which might trigger socio-economic development as envisaged by the federal government. This conceptual paper revealed the findings of the pilot study for the thesis were it was revealed that five variables impact SMEs' success in Jigawa State, Nigeria.
Monitor Potential Attack Locations in a Specific Area within DTN Network

In this paper will discuss and examine message transmission from the attacker process within the scope of Delay Tolerance Networks (DTNs). DTNs are a new area of research that can be developed in networking. Delay-tolerant networks are those networks that may not have a complete path between networks end-to-end via direct links and may be under development for a long time. As part of the improvement, we will compare a survey of DTN routing protocols with a real region area, and then taking into account the possibilities of detecting the presence of areas of weakness that lead to penetration, which will occur in the nodes while on the move. In this study, we will use the ONE simulator to track messages within nodes.
Optimization of a Small Wind Power Plant for Annual Wind Speed Distribution

This article presents a method to adjust the elements of a small wind power plant to the wind speed characterized by the highest annual level of energy. Tests were carried out on the basis of annual wind distributions at three locations. The standard range of wind speeds was reduced to that resulting from the annual wind speed distributions in these locations. The construction of the generators and the method of their excitation were adapted to the characteristics of the turbines. The results obtained for the designed power plants were compared with those obtained for a power plant with a commercial turbine adapted to a wind speed of 10 mps. The generator structure and control method were optimized using a genetic algorithm in the MATLAB program (Mathworks, Natick, MA, USA); magnetostatic calculations were carried out using the FEMM program; the simulations were conducted using a proprietary simulation program. The simulation results were verified by measurement for a switched reluctance machine of the same voltage, power, and design. Finally, the yields of the designed generators in various locations were determined.
Financial constraints and global value chain participation: Firm-level evidence from India

This paper explores the relationship between financial constraints and firm participation in global value chains (GVC). We use a rich firm-level data belonging to the Indian manufacturing sector for the period 2001–2016. Controlling for endogeneity and sample selection bias, our empirical outcome reveals a negative impact of financial constraint on firm GVC participation. We also find that inter-firm trade credit fosters firm participation in GVCs. Our findings also highlight that firms dependent on external finance find it challenging to participate in GVCs. Further, sub-sample analysis shows a significant effect of financial constraints in the case of small firms. Finally, we find that firms that are relatively more financially constrained are more likely to become a part of GVC (GVC starters) during the study period. Our findings have strong policy implication on the lines of promoting GVC participation for Indian manufacturing firms and hence remains of interest for policymakers.