Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microwave Holographic Imaging of Nonmetallic Concentric Pipes

Recently, nonmetallic materials, which are resilient to corrosion, low cost, and lightweight, have been exploited in many industrial sectors such as oil and gas field. A common application of them is in the form of pipes. Despite the advantages, these pipes can be damaged by delamination, defects, holes, and erosion, which may lead to major production failures or even environmental catastrophes. To prevent these issues, nondestructive testing (NDT) of these pipes is required to replace these components in a timely manner. Due to the fact that the traditional NDT methods are mostly effective for metallic pipes, microwave holographic imaging is proposed for inspection of multiple concentric nonmetallic pipes. Besides, standardized minimum norm (SMN) is used to mitigate the depth biasing problem in the proposed imaging technique. To reduce the complexity of the imaging system, we aim at using the narrowest possible frequency band using an array of receiver antennas. The performance of the proposed NDT method is validated through simulation and experimental data in two scenarios including the antennas placed outside the pipes and inside the pipes.
Operational Space Model Predictive Sliding Mode Control for Redundant Manipulators

This article presents a novel robust centralized controller for impedance control and reference tracking of redundant manipulators. The proposed approach takes advantage of the robustness properties of sliding mode control (SMC) and the prediction capabilities of model predictive control (MPC). SMC theory is employed to compensate unmodeled system dynamics and disturbances, ensuring accurate tracking and enforcement of a desired end-point impedance during interaction with the environment. Differently from other schemes, the sliding manifold is expressed directly in the task space and the approach is generalized to redundant manipulators by projection of the manifolds into joint space. Chattering attenuation is provided by a second-order integral sliding mode control law. These features are exploited by the MPC to guarantee motion and actuation constraint fulfillment based on the nominal feedback linearized robot model. A formal analysis of the control system is given along with the relevant proofs. The resulting model predictive sliding mode controller is able to cope with delays acting on the control input torque. The effectiveness of the approach is validated in simulation on a 4-DOF planar robot, and its viability on real platforms through experiments on a 7-DOF prototype ABB YuMi robot arm.
Reciprocity in Repeated Emotion Game Experiments: Analyses of a Game-Theoretic Econometric Model

We conducted three treatments of human-computer repeated emotion game experiments and set up a game-theoretic econometric model to measure the impact of emotional reciprocity on behavior at the group level when self-interest is impossible. We found that the subjects still gave feedback in response to the opponent’s friendliness (unfriendliness), even if their behaviors could not change their expected payoffs. The subjects’ willingness to be altruistic increased in the level of altruism in the environment. However, when the opponent did not respond to their behaviors, the subjects’ willingness to be altruistic was lower than their opponents, especially when the opponents behaved more altruistically.
Electrochemical Fingerprint of CuS-Hexagonal Chemistry from (Bis(N-1,4-Phenyl-N-(4-Morpholinedithiocarbamato) Copper(II) Complexes) as Photon Absorber in Quantum-Dot/Dye-Sensitised Solar Cells

The main deficit of quantum dot/dye-sensitised solar cells (QDSSCs) remains the absence of a photosensitiser that can absorb the entire visible spectrum and increase electrocatalytic activity by enhancing the conversion efficiency of QDSSCs. This placed great emphasis on the synthesis route adopted for the preparation of the sensitiser. Herein, we report the fabrication of hexagonal copper monosulfide (CuS) nanocrystals, both hexadecylamine (HDA) capped and uncapped, through thermal decomposition by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and a single-source precursor route. Morphological, structural, and electrochemical instruments were used to assert the properties of both materials. The CuS/HDA photosensitiser demonstrated an appropriate lifetime and electron transfer, while the electron back reaction of CuS lowered the electron lifetime in the QDSSCs. The higher electrocatalytic activity and interfacial resistance observed from current density-voltage (I–V) results agreed with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results for CuS/HDA. The successful fabrication of hexagonal CuS nanostructures of interesting conversion output suggested that both HDA capped and uncapped nanocrystals could be adopted in photovoltaic cells.
High and Low Fluences of α-Particles Induce a G1 Checkpoint in Human Diploid Fibroblasts

The effects of exposure to high and very low fluence α-particles on the G1 checkpoint were investigated in human diploid fibroblasts irradiated and released from density-inhibited confluent cultures by the use of the cumulative labeling index method. Transient and permanent arrests in G1 occurred in fibroblast populations exposed to mean doses as low as 1 cGy, suggesting that nontraversed bystander cells may contribute to the low dose response. In cells exposed to high fluences, the G1 checkpoint is at least as extensive as in γ-irradiated cells. In contrast toγ -irradiated cells, neither repair of potentially lethal damage nor a reduction in the fraction of cells transiently or permanently arrested in G1 were observed in cells held in confluence for 6 h after α-particle irradiation. Studies with isogenic wild-type, p53–/–, and p21Waf1–/– mouse embryo fibroblasts exposed to either γ or α-particle radiation revealed a total lack of G1 arrest in either p53–/– or p21waf1–/– cells, indicating that the G1 checkpoint in wild-type cells is p53-dependent and that p21Waf1 fully mediates the role of p53 in its induction. In contrast to human cells, mouse embryo fibroblasts do not undergo a permanent G1 arrest. Except under conditions favoring potentially lethal damage repair, a comparable expression pattern of p53, p21Waf1, and other cell cycle-regulated proteins (pRb, p34cdc2, and cyclin B1) was observed in α-particle or γ-irradiated human fibroblasts.
Authentication-Based Secure Data Dissemination Protocol and Framework for 5G-Enabled VANET

The amalgamation of Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) with the Internet of Things (IoT) leads to the concept of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). IoV forms a solid backbone for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which paves the way for technologies that better explain about traffic efficiency and their management applications. IoV architecture is seen as a big player in different areas such as the automobile industry, research organizations, smart cities and intelligent transportation for various commercial and scientific applications. However, as VANET is vulnerable to various types of security attacks, the IoV structure should ensure security and efficient performance for vehicular communications. To address these issues, in this article, an authentication-based protocol (A-MAC) for smart vehicular communication is proposed along with a novel framework towards an IoV architecture model. The scheme requires hash operations and uses cryptographic concepts to transfer messages between vehicles to maintain the required security. Performance evaluation helps analyzing its strength in withstanding various types of security attacks. Simulation results demonstrate that A-MAC outshines other protocols in terms of communication cost, execution time, storage cost, and overhead.
Semi-supervised Consensus Clustering Based on Frequent Closed Itemsets

Semi-supervised consensus clustering integrates supervised information into consensus clustering in order to improve the quality of clustering. In this paper, we study the novel Semi-MultiCons semi-supervised consensus clustering method extending the previous MultiCons approach. Semi-MultiCons aims to improve the clustering result by integrating pairwise constraints in the consensus creation process and infer the number of clusters K using frequent closed itemsets extracted from the ensemble members. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-art semi-supervised consensus algorithms.
Umstellung von Cinacalcet auf Etelcalcetid

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die Gabe von Kalzimimetika ist eine der am häufigsten angewendeten Behandlungen für die Therapie des sekundären Hyperparathyreoidismus (sHPT) bei Dialysepatienten. Ein hoher PTH-Spiegel (PTH: Parathormon) ist mit einer höheren Morbidität und Mortalität verbunden. In dieser Studie wurden die Hämodialysepatienten im Universitätsklinikum Burgos (Spanien) in Behandlung mit Cinacalcet auf Etelcalcetid umgestellt. Vor der Therapieumstellung wurden für ca. 10 Tage keine Kalzimimetika verabreicht („Auswaschphase“). Die PTH-, Phosphat- und Kalzium-Werte wurden wöchentlich kontrolliert. Cinacalcet (mittlere Dosis 210 mg/Woche) und Etelcalcetid (mittlere Dosis 7,5 mg/Woche) zeigten sich gleich effektiv zur Senkung der PTH-Werte. Die PTH- und Kalzium-Werte waren nach 11 Wochen Etelcalcetid-Therapie signifikativ niedriger als nach nur einer Woche Behandlung. Es ergaben sich weder schwere Hypokalzämien noch relevante QTc-Verlagerungen während der Studie. Zusammenfassend erscheint Etelcalcetid eine therapeutische Alternative für Patienten mit Polypharmazie zu sein.
Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles from aqueous extracts of sweet lime fruit and callus tissues possess variable antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials

Abstract Different plant extracts have been utilized for biological synthesis of metal nanoparticles. However, no published literature compares the antimicrobial potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) derived from extracts of mature fruit juice (SLF-AgNPs) versus callus (SLC-AgNPs) tissue of same plant. These SLF- and SLC-AgNPs exhibited variable physical and biological properties. Distinct UV-Vis absorption peak (at 250 nm) for SLF-AgNPs indicated formation of small-sized monodisperse particles. Both SLF-AgNPs (5 to 35 nm) and SLC-AgNPs (3 to 270 nm) exhibited quasi-spherical shapes. The FT-IR spectra showed occurrence of shared peaks at 3335, 1647, and 1080 cm−1 while SLC specific peaks at 1065, 1042 and 1017 cm−1. The SLF-AgNPs possessed higher DPPH free radical scavenging potential. These nanoparticles also showed better antibacterial and antimycotic action epitomized as higher inhibition zone diameters compared to SLC-AgNPs. This work can be furthered to identify predominant mechanism for improved antimicrobial potential of the synthesized AgNPs.
Avances en manipulación robótica submarina mediante segmentación y seguimiento visual

espanolEn este articulo se presenta un sistema robotico semiautomatico que utiliza vision, reconstruccion 3D, segmentacion, estimacion de objetos, interfaces hombre-robot (HRI) y planificacion del agarre para mejorar el estado del arte en manipulacion submarina mediante funciones autonomas y capacidad de supervision. En primer lugar se obtiene una reconstruccion en 3D del objeto. A continuacion, se utilizan metodos basados en RAN- SAC (RANdom SAmple Consesnsus) y estimacion de supercuadricas (SQ) para obtener la geometria subyacente de los objetos a manipular para presentar una reconstruccion de la escena al usuario. Despues, se lleva a cabo la especificacion de la manipulacion de forma autonoma. El usuario puede entonces validar o ajustar el resultado del sistema y proceder a ejecutar el agarre. El sistema ha sido probado satisfactoriamente en diferentes condiciones, tanto en simulacion como en entornos reales. EnglishThis paper presents a semi-autonomous robotic system which uses vision, 3D reconstruction, segmentation, object estimation, human-robot interface (HRI) and grasp planning in order to improve the underwater manipulation state-of-the-art using autonomous functionalities and supervision capabilities. Firstly, a 3D reconstruction of the object is obtained. Afterwards, RAN-SAC (RANdom SAmple Consensus) and superquadrics (SQ) estimation based methods are used to calculate the underlying geometry and pose of the objects to be manipulated in order to show a reconstruction of the scene to the user. Next, the grasp specification is carried out autonomously. Then, the result can be validated or tuned by the user to execute the grasp. The system has been successfully tested in different conditions both in simulation and in real environments.
Drivers and Frequency of Forest Visits: Results of a National Survey in the Czech Republic

The general objective of the study was to assess the main drivers for visiting the forest and the frequency of the visits in the Czech Republic. A nationwide collection of data of the sociological research as part of The Market & Media & Lifestyle Research Project was carried out every year in the Czech Republic under the licensed cooperation with Kantar Media. The project is unique by the large scope of the questions in the questionnaires and by the high number of respondents. A total of 8794 Czech inhabitants aged 12 years and above from all the regions were involved in the survey in 2018. Information about the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of all the respondents were obtained. In the closed questions, the respondents reported the frequency of the forest visits and its drivers. The main driver for visiting the forest was just to go for a walk or just to enjoy the outdoors, especially during their holidays or weekends, amounting to 79% of the inhabitants. Meditation and relaxation as well as sport in the forest, were also considered as important motives for forest recreation. On the contrary, 95% of the visitors did not practice game hunting, although game has a long tradition in the Czech Republic. Improvement on managing the forest for recreation should focus on participatory forest management to find a consensus between the public and forest stakeholders. Common decisions may help set up forest recreational goals with positive impacts on forest ecosystem services.
A pedagogia mista como alternativa para a prática pedagógica

Este artigo, de natureza teorica, busca apontar a pedagogia mista como uma alternativa de pratica pedagogica que valoriza a aprendizagem de todos os sujeitos, independentes de sua classe social. Para isso, recorremos aos conceitos da teoria do sociologo Basil Bernstein sobre os codigos linguisticos e as contribuicoes de Vygotsky acerca da formacao dos conceitos cientificos.
The Use of LSTM Neural Networks to Implement the NARX Model. A Case Study of EUR-USD Exchange Rates

The paper focuses on financial data forecasting in terms of one-step-ahead nonlinear model with exogenous inputs. The main aim is the development of a methodology to forecast the exchange rate between EURO and US Dollar. The prediction task is carried out by two recurrent neural networks, the standard NARX neural network and a LSTM-based approach. The exogenous inputs consist of historical trading data and three widely used technical indicators, namely a variant of moving average, the Upper Bollinger Frequency Band and the Lower Bollinger Frequency Band. In order to obtain accurate forecasting algorithms, the exogenous inputs are filtered using the well-known Gaussian low-pass filter. The quality of each method is evaluated in terms of both quantitative and qualitative metrics, namely the root mean squared error, the mean absolute percentage error, and the prediction of change in direction. Extensive experiments point out that the most suited forecasting method is based on the proposed LSTM neural network for NARX model.
Seasonal variation in genital and body size, sperm displacement ability, female mating rate, and male harassment in two calopterygid damselflies (Odonata: Calopterygidae)

Sperm competition is a pervasive force. One adaptation is the male ability to displace the rivals' sperm that females have stored from previous copulations. In the damselfly, Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis asturica, males with wider aedeagi displace more spermathecal sperm. The present study documents that the same mechanism operates in another damselfly, Hetaerina americana. However, this genital width in both species decreases along the season, but late-emerging females have more sperm displaced than early-emerging females. Because territorial males mated more and were larger in body and genital size than nonterritorial males, late-season females mated with considerably larger males with respect to female size and this produced higher sperm displacement. Assuming female benefits from storing sperm but that such benefit does not prevail if males displace sperm, it is predicted that, along the season, females will mate less and male harassment (in terms of male mating attempts and oviposition duration) will increase. These predictions were corroborated. In H. americana, it was also tested whether spermathecal sperm became less viable along the season. The results obtained did not corroborate this. This is the first evidence indicating that season affects sperm displacement ability and female mating frequency due to changes in male body and genital size. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 815–829.
(Marsupialia: Macropodidae: Thylogale) in New Guinea reflects both geological and climatic events during the Plio-Pleistocene

Aim Alternative hypotheses concerning genetic structuring of the widespread endemic New Guinean forest pademelons (Thylogale) based on current taxonomy and zoogeography (northern, southern and montane species groupings) and preliminary genetic findings (western and eastern regional groupings) are investigated using mitochondrial sequence data. We examine the relationship between the observed phylogeographical structure and known or inferred geological and historical environmental change during the late Tertiary and Quaternary. Location New Guinea and associated islands. Methods We used primarily museum specimen collections to sample representatives from Thylogale populations across New Guinea and three associated islands. Mitochondrial cytochrome b and control region sequence data were used to construct phylogenies and estimate the timing of population divergence. Results Phylogenetic analyses indicated subdivision of pademelons into ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ regional clades. This was largely due to the genetic distinctiveness of north-eastern and eastern peninsula populations, as the ‘western’ clade included samples from the northern, southern and central regions of New Guinea. Two tested island groups were closely related to populations north of the Central Cordillera; low genetic differentiation of pademelon populations between northeastern New Guinea and islands of the Bismarck Archipelago is consistent with late Pleistocene human-mediated translocations, while the Aru Islands population showed divergence consistent with cessation of gene flow in the mid Pleistocene. There was relatively limited genetic divergence between currently geographically isolated populations in subalpine and nearby mid-montane or lowland regions. Main conclusions Phylogeographical structuring does not conform to zoogeographical expectations of a north/south division across the cordillera, nor to current species designations, for this generalist forest species complex. Instead, the observed genetic structuring of Thylogale populations has probably been influenced by geological changes and Pleistocene climatic changes, in particular the recent uplift of the north-eastern Huon Peninsula and the lowering of tree lines during glacial periods. Low sea levels during glacial maxima also allowed gene flow between the continental Aru Island group and New Guinea. More work is needed, particularly multi-taxon comparative studies, to further develop and test phylogeographical hypotheses in New Guinea.
Impact of Cloud Ice Particle Size Uncertainty in a Climate Model and Implications for Future Satellite Missions

Ice particle size is pivotal to determining ice cloud radiative effect and precipitating rate. However, there is a lack of accurate ice particle effective radius (Rei) observation on the global scale to constrain its representation in climate models. In support of future mission design, here we present a modeling assessment of the sensitivity of climate simulations to Rei and quantify the impact of the proposed mission concept on reducing the uncertainty in climate sensitivity. We perturb the parameters pertaining to ice fall speed parameter and Rei in radiation scheme, respectively, in National Center for Atmospheric Research CESM1 model with a slab ocean configuration. The model sensitivity experiments show that a settling velocity increase due to a larger Rei results in a longwave cooling dominating over a shortwave warming, a global mean surface temperature decrease, and precipitation suppression. A similar competition between longwave and shortwave cloud forcing changes also exists when perturbing Rei in the radiation scheme. Linearity generally holds for the climate response for Rei related parameters. When perturbing falling snow particle size (Res) in a similar way, we find much less sensitivity of climate responses. Our quadrupling CO2 experiments with different parameter settings reveal that Rei and Res can account for changes in climate sensitivity significantly from +12.3% to −6.2%. By reducing the uncertainty ranges of Rei and Res from a factor of 2 to ±25%, a future satellite mission under design is expected to improve the climate state simulations and reduce the climate sensitivity uncertainty pertaining to ice particle size by approximately 60%. Our results highlight the importance of better observational constraints on Rei by satellite missions.
Evaluation of integrated nitrogen and phosphorous management using the TT biplot method in soybean

To investigate the effects of integrated nutrient management on oil, protein, grain yield and some traits of soybean, we conducted a factorial experiment involving 4 bio-fertilizer (no inoculation, inoculation with Barvar-2, inoculation with Biosoy and dual inoculation with Biosoy and Barvar-2) and 3 chemical fertilizer levels (no chemical fertilizer, 66 kg ha-1 diammonium phosphates + 50 kg ha-1 urea, 132 kg ha-1 diammonium phosphates + 100 kg ha-1 urea) with 100% chemical fertilizer (200 kg ha-1 diammonium phosphates + 150 kg ha-1 urea) as control base in a randomized complete block with four replications at the research farm of the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Iran. Analysis of variance showed that treatment combinations affected most of the traits (P>0.01). We used the biplot analysis as the treatment ? trait (TT) biplot to determine the best treatment combinations and traits. The first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) explained 94 and 96% of the total variant of the standardized data in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Accordingly, application of Biosoy and 150 kg ha-1 urea + 200 kg ha-1 diammonium phosphate significantly increased stem height at harvest, number of grains per plant, biomass, hundred-grain weight, oil and protein yield, protein percent and grain yield compared to the other treatment combinations. The results showed that there were positive correlations between these traits. Also, non-inoculated plants and no chemical fertilizer treatments significantly increased oil percent. The results indicate that higher-yielding treatment combinations had lower oil percent. The biplot was used for ranking of treatment combinations based on a single trait. These study results suggest that bio-fertilizers had a positive influence on soybean and that they could diminish the use of chemical fertilizers. The study reveals that the TT biplot was able to graphically show the interrelationships between traits and support visual comparison of treatments.