Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal valorization of organic-biological byproducts from the primary sector with a focus on composting

Maintaining and increasing soil quality and fertility in a sustainable way is an important challenge for modern agriculture. The burgeoning bioeconomy is likely to put further pressure on soil resources unless they are managed carefully. Compost has the potential to be an effective soil improver because of its multiple beneficial effects on soil quality. Additionally, it fits within the bioeconomy vision because it can valorize biomass from prior biomass processing or valorize biomass unsuitable for other processes. However, compost is rarely used in intensive agriculture, especially in regions with high manure surpluses. The aim of this research is to identify the barriers to on-farm composting and the application of compost in agriculture, using a mixed method approach for the case of Flanders. The significance of the 28 identified barriers is analyzed and they are categorized as market and financial, policy and institutional, scientific and technological and informational and behavioral barriers. More specifically, the shortage of woody biomass, strict regulation, considerable financial and time investment, and lack of experience and knowledge are hindering on-farm composting. The complex regulation, manure surplus, variable availability and transport of compost and variable compost quality and composition are barriers to apply compost. In conclusion, five recommendations are suggested that could alleviate certain hindering factors and thus increase attractiveness of compost use in agriculture.
Design and Analysis of Reconfigurable Resonant Converter With Ultrawide Output Voltage Range

In this article, a reconfigurable isolated dc/dc converter is proposed suitable for a wide output voltage range of 180–1500 V for efficient onshore charging in maritime applications. The proposed circuit concept can also fulfill the requirements of other heavy-duty battery charging applications, especially those operating within the shore environment—such as straddle carriers, forklifts, reach stackers, and terminal tractors. The circuit topology consists of two interleaved LLC resonant converters each connected to a three-winding transformer. Through the use of additional circuitry, the topology can be adapted to operate at peak efficiency in three output voltage ranges. Furthermore, the topology is able to alleviate the current and voltage stresses on the semiconductor devices in comparison to the conventionally employed LLC resonant converters. The operation of the circuit is explained and its steady-state model is developed. In order to validate the performance of the converter, an 11-kW prototype is designed, tested, and analyzed. The experimental results attest that the proposed reconfigurable resonant converter is able to achieve an extremely wide output voltage range while maintaining a high power transfer efficiency.
Innate immune cell activation after HIV-1 vaccine administration is associated with increased antibody production

The RV144 Thai phase III clinical trial’s canarypox–protein HIV vaccine regimen showed modest efficacy in reducing infection. We therefore sought to determine the effects of vaccine administration on innate cell activation and subsequent associations with vaccine-induced immune responses. RV306 was a randomized, double-blind clinical trial in HIV-uninfected Thai adults that tested delayed boosting following the RV144 regimen. PBMC collected from RV306 participants prior to and 3 days after the last boost were used to investigate innate immune cell activation. Our analysis showed an increase in CD38+ mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, CD38+ invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, CD38+ γδ T cells, CD38+, CD69+ and HLA-DR+ NK cells 3 days after vaccine administration. An increase in CD14-CD16+ non-classical monocytes and CD14+CD16+ intermediate monocytes accompanied by a decrease in CD14+CD16- classical monocytes was also associated with vaccine administration. Inclusion of ALVAC-HIV in the boost did not further increase MAIT, iNKT, γδ T, and NK cell activation or increase the proportion of non-classical monocytes. Additionally, NK cell activation 3 days after vaccination was positively associated with antibody titers of HIV Env-specific total IgG and IgG1. Vδ1 T cell activation 3 days after vaccine administration was associated with HIV Env-specific IgG3 titers. Finally, we observed trending associations between MAIT cell activation and Env-specific IgG3 titers and between NK cell activation and TH023 pseudovirus neutralization titers. Our study identifies a potential role for innate cells, specifically NK, MAIT, and γδ T cells, in promoting antibody responses following HIV-1 vaccine administration.
The sensitivity of West Antarctica to the submarine melting feedback

We use an ice sheet model with realistic initial conditions to forecast how the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica responds to recently observed rates of submarine melting. In these simulations, we isolate the effects of a positive feedback, driven by submarine melt in new ocean cavities flooded during retreat, by allowing the present climate, calving front and melting beneath existing ice shelves to persist over the 21st century. Even without additional forcing from changes in climate, ice shelf collapse, or ice cliff collapse, the model predicts slow, sustained retreat of West Antarctica, driven by the marine ice sheet instability and current levels of ocean‐driven melting. When observed rates of melting are included in new subglacial ocean cavities, the simulated sea level contribution increases, and for sufficiently intense melting it accelerates over time. Conditional Bayesian probabilities for sea level contributions can be derived but will require improved predictions of ocean heat delivery.
Development of Tpack-Based in Creative Products and Entrepreneurship to Improve the Learning Outcomes of Office Automation Governance at SMK Al-Ma’sum Stabat

Learning resources are an important component in the learning process and greatly affect the quality of the process and student learning outcomes. Based on the results of field observations, it was found that there were problems with the limited learning resources available in schools, especially the unavailability of textbooks for students, so teachers could only use the teacher's handbook in the learning process which led to low student learning outcomes. The purpose of this research is to develop and implement learning resources in the form of TPACK-based E-books on creative products and entrepreneurship subjects to improve learning outcomes for class XII students majoring in office management automation at SMK Al-Ma'sum Stabat. This research is a research and development with the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation). This research was conducted at SMK Al-Ma'sum Stabat, with a population in class XII majoring in office management automation. The results of this study are based on assessments carried out by validation experts and user responses obtained an average percentage of 88,38% in the "very feasible" category so it is concluded that the developed TPACK-based E-book meets the eligibility requirements (valid) to be used as a learning resource creative product and entrepreneurship subjects in class XII marketing promotion media materials majoring in office management automation. The average learning outcomes of the experimental class was 85.00 and that of the control class was 71.35, obtained by the independent t-test with sig. 0,00 < 0,05 and the media can help students understand the material presented. So it can be concluded that the TPACK-based E-book on creative products and entrepreneurship subjects that was developed is effectively used to help improve the learning outcomes of class XII students majoring in office management automation at SMK Al-Ma'sum Stabat
Seasonal controls of aragonite saturation states in the Gulf of Maine

The Gulf of Maine (GoME) is a shelf region especially vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) due to natural conditions of low pH and aragonite saturation states (Ω-Ar). This study is the first to assess the major oceanic processes controlling seasonal variability of the carbonate system and its linkages with pteropod abundance in Wilkinson Basin in the GoME. Two years of seasonal sampling cruises suggest that water-column carbonate chemistry in the region undergoes a seasonal cycle, wherein the annual cycle of stratification-overturn, primary production, respiration-remineralization and mixing all play important roles, at distinct spatiotemporal scales. Surface production was tightly coupled with remineralization in the benthic nepheloid layer during high production seasons, which results in occasional aragonite undersaturation. From spring to summer, carbonate chemistry in the surface across Wilkinson Basin reflects a transition from a production-respiration balanced system to a net autotropic system. Mean water-column Ω-Ar and abundance of large thecosomatous pteropods show some correlation, although patchiness and discrete cohort reproductive success likely also influence their abundance. Overall, photosynthesis-respiration is the primary driving force controlling Ω-Ar variability during the spring-to-summer transition as well as over the seasonal cycle. However, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) dissolution appears to occur near bottom in fall and winter when bottom water Ω-Ar is generally low but slightly above 1. This is accompanied by a decrease in pteropod abundance that is consistent with previous CaCO3 flux trap measurements. The region might experience persistent subsurface aragonite undersaturation in 30–40 years under continued ocean acidification.
Determining tree height and crown diameter from high-resolution UAV imagery

ABSTRACT Advances in computer vision and the parallel development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) allow for the extensive use of UAV in forest inventory and in indirect measurements of tree features. We used UAV-sensed high-resolution imagery through photogrammetry and Structure from Motion (SfM) to estimate tree heights and crown diameters. We reconstructed 3D structures from 2D image sequences for two study areas (25 × 25 m). Species composition for Plot 1 included Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) together with European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), whereas Plot 2 was mainly Norway spruce and Scots pine together with scattered individuals of European larch and Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.). The involved workflow used canopy height models (CHMs) for the extraction of height, the smoothing of raster images for the determination of the local maxima, and Inverse Watershed Segmentation (IWS) for the estimation of the crown diameters with the help of a geographical information system (GIS). Finally, we validated the accuracies of the two methods by comparing the UAV results with ground measurements. The results showed higher agreement between field and remote-sensed data for heights than for crown diameters based on RMSE%, which were in the range 11.42–12.62 for height and 14.29–18.56 for crown diameter. Overall, the accuracy of the results was acceptable and showed that the methods were feasible for detecting tree heights and crown diameter.
Social and ecological factors alter stress physiology of Virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

Abstract Living in a rapidly changing environment can alter stress physiology at the population level, with negative impacts on health, reproductive rates, and mortality that may ultimately result in species decline. Small, isolated animal populations where genetic diversity is low are at particular risks, such as endangered Virunga mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). Along with climate change‐associated environmental shifts that are affecting the entire population, subpopulations of the Virunga gorillas have recently experienced extreme changes in their social environment. As the growing population moves closer to the forest's carrying capacity, the gorillas are coping with rising population density, increased frequencies of interactions between social units, and changing habitat use (e.g., more overlapping home ranges and routine ranging at higher elevations). Using noninvasive monitoring of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) on 115 habituated Virunga gorillas, we investigated how social and ecological variation are related to baseline FGM levels, to better understand the adaptive capacity of mountain gorillas and monitor potential physiological indicators of population decline risks. Generalized linear mixed models revealed elevated mean monthly baseline FGM levels in months with higher rainfall and higher mean maximum and minimum temperature, suggesting that Virunga gorillas might be sensitive to predicted warming and rainfall trends involving longer, warmer dry seasons and more concentrated and extreme rainfall occurrences. Exclusive use of smaller home range areas was linked to elevated baseline FGM levels, which may reflect reduced feeding efficiency and increased travel efforts to actively avoid neighboring groups. The potential for additive effects of stress‐inducing factors could have short‐ and long‐term impacts on the reproduction, health, and ultimately survival of the Virunga gorilla population. The ongoing effects of environmental changes and population dynamics must be closely monitored and used to develop effective long‐term conservation strategies that can help address these risk factors.
Flexible On-Line Reconfiguration of Multi-Core Neuromorphic Platforms

Neuromorphic architectures are emerging not only for real-time simulation of brain-scale biological neural networks but also to support innovative brain-inspired computational paradigms. In both domains there is an increasing demand for flexibility in terms of network configuration and runtime redesign of network parameters and simulated neurons models. Due to the intrinsically high parallelism of these architectures and complexity of the interconnect, broadcasting updates to the cores is time consuming. Hence, static solutions where the network is reloaded from an external host instead of being reconfigured are highly inefficient. To address these requirements, we designed an Application Command Protocol (ACP). The proposed protocol provides a mechanism to remotely trigger the execution of high-level op-codes by the cores and manage their application memory, and supports a more flexible computational model and memory management. We worked on SpiNNaker, a multi-core globally-asynchronous locally-synchronous platform running Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) simulations. We demonstrated ACP in two SNN applications: i) SNN configuration, where simulation data are efficiently generated through ACP in the memory of computing nodes and ii) SNN reconfiguration, where ACP is used to change SNN network parameters at runtime and to easily switch from learning to test phase in a SNN classification application.
Litter decomposition and nutrient dynamics of three woody halophytes in the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt

ABSTRACT Litter decomposition is a crucial biogeochemical process for C and nutrient cycling in nutrient-constrained environments, but the controlling factors on litter decomposition in an extremely arid desert region such as the Taklimakan Desert are relatively unknown. To evaluate the litter decomposition and nutrient dynamic characteristics, five primary litter types of three woody halophytes (Haloxylon ammodendron, Calligonum arborescens, and Tamarix ramosissima) along the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt were monitored in litterbags during 420 days, when placed on the soil surface and buried by sand, respectively. The results indicated that the decomposition rate decreased in the order of assimilative branches of H. ammodendron (HA, 0.94), branches of T. ramosissima (TB, 0.55), assimilative branches of C. arborescens (CA, 0.53), seeds of C. arborescens (CS, 0.41), and old branches of H. ammodendron (HB, 0.21) in the surface placement. In contrast, the litters buried by sand displayed a significantly accelerated decomposition rate (F = 12.28, P < 0.01), which were 1.3, 1.8, 1.3, 2.3, and 2.8 times of that at surface placement for HA, TB, CA, CS, and HB, respectively. Decomposition of the litters was primarily affected by initial content of C and K, lignin and cellulose in both placements, and varied among decomposition stages and conditions. The old branches of H. ammodendron and branches of T. ramosissima presented P accumulation in both placements, whereas nutrients (N, P, K) and C showed a release pattern during the litter decomposition process, which was influenced by initial litter contents and decomposition rate.
A Pharmacological Investigation of the TMEM16A Currents in Murine Skeletal Myogenic Precursor Cells

TMEM16A is a Ca2+-activated Cl− channel expressed in various species and tissues. In mammalian skeletal muscle precursors, the activity of these channels is still poorly investigated. Here, we characterized TMEM16A channels and investigated if the pharmacological activation of Piezo1 channels could modulate the TMEM16A currents in mouse myogenic precursors. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings combined with the pharmacological agents Ani9, T16inh-A01 and Yoda1 were used to characterize TMEM16A-mediated currents and the possible modulatory effect of Piezo1 activity on TMEM16A channels. Western blot analysis was also carried out to confirm the expression of TMEM16A and Piezo1 channel proteins. We found that TMEM16A channels were functionally expressed in fusion-competent mouse myogenic precursors. The pharmacological blockage of TMEM16A inhibited myocyte fusion into myotubes. Moreover, the specific Piezo1 agonist Yoda1 positively regulated TMEM16A currents. The findings demonstrate, for the first time, a sarcolemmal TMEM16A channel activity and its involvement at the early stage of mammalian skeletal muscle differentiation. In addition, the results suggest a possible role of mechanosensitive Piezo1 channels in the modulation of TMEM16A currents.
Design of Fast Response Back-Illuminated 3-D Composite Electrode Silicon Detector Utilizing the RIE-Lag Phenomenon

In this paper, a back-incidence 3D Composite Electrode Silicon Detector (3DCESD) is proposed and simulated. The electrode structure comprises 70% trench-like and 30% column-like features, achieved through a single etching step utilizing the RIE-lag phenomenon of the Bosch process. The performance of the 3DCESD device is influenced by the structural parameter ${S}$ . Comparative simulations were conducted using TCAD. The overall electric field and weighting potential of 3DCESD are significantly optimized. MIP and continuous pulse laser were performed separately under bias voltages of –50V and –5V. The 3DCESD exhibits notable advantages, including rapid response speed, high charge collection efficiency, minimal inhomogeneity, and low power consumption.
An Approximate Dynamic Programming Approach to Vehicle Dispatching and Relocation Using Time-Dependent Travel Times

The imbalance between vehicle supply and on-demand customers has been a long-standing challenge for central ride-sourcing platforms. Current literature usually bases the design of dispatching and relocation strategies on the time-independent traffic condition (speed) assumption to reduce the problem dimension while uncertain demand and travel time subject to traffic congestion can significantly affect the optimal solutions. Therefore, we first propose a network-level traffic state estimation algorithm using functional data analysis. Then a multi-stage decision model is proposed to address the matching and repositioning of a centralized platform controlling a fleet of vehicles. Further, the customer spatial-temporal uncertainty is considered under the formulation of a stochastic programming problem. Then, an Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP) based approach is developed for solving the multi-stage decisions efficiently. Our algorithm is evaluated in a designed simulator based on NYC yellow taxi data and the Manhattan road network. Simulation results show that the total profit can be enhanced compared with traditional time-independent traffic assumption strategies and several decision strategies.
The effect of insulin resistance in the association between obesity and hypertension incidence among Chinese middle-aged and older adults: data from China health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS)

Background and aims Obesity and insulin resistance are well-known important risk factors for hypertension. This study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of the triglyceride-glucose index (TyG) in the association between Chinese visceral obesity index (CVAI) and hypertension among Chinese middle-aged and older adults. Methods A total of 10,322 participants aged 45 years and older from CHARLS (2011–2018) were included. Baseline data were collected in 2011 and hypertension incidence data were gathered during follow-up in 2013, 2015 and 2018. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed to investigate the association of CVAI and TyG with the incidence of hypertension. Additionally, mediation analyses were conducted to evaluate the mediating role of the TyG index in the relationship between CVAI and hypertension. Subgroup analysis was also performed. Results A total of 2,802 participants developed hypertension during the follow-up period. CVAI and TyG index were independently and significantly associated with hypertension incidence. Increasing quartiles of CVAI and TyG index were associated with high hypertension incidence in middle-aged and older adults. The TyG index was identified as a mediator in the relationship between CVAI and hypertension incidence, with a mediation effect (95% confidence interval) was 12.38% (6.75, 31.81%). Conclusion Our study found that CVAI and TyG were independently associated with hypertension incidence. TyG played a partial mediating effect in the positive association between CVAI and hypertension incidence.
Young people's attitudes towards and knowledge about the environment : An analysis based on TIMSS-data

Le present article analyse l'attitude des jeunes par rapport a l'environnement, ainsi que le niveau de connaissance de la problematique de l'environnement. Il fait appel aux resultats de la recherche TIMSS (Third International Mathematics & Science Study, 1996) en tant que base de reflexion. Il accorde une importance particuliere a la Norvege.