Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Safe and Effective Use of Plant-Based Diets with Guidelines for Health Professionals

Plant-based diets, defined here as including both vegan and lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets, are growing in popularity throughout the Western world for various reasons, including concerns for human health and the health of the planet. Plant-based diets are more environmentally sustainable than meat-based diets and have a reduced environmental impact, including producing lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Dietary guidelines are normally formulated to enhance the health of society, reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and prevent nutritional deficiencies. We reviewed the scientific data on plant-based diets to summarize their preventative and therapeutic role in cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis. Consuming plant-based diets is safe and effective for all stages of the life cycle, from pregnancy and lactation, to childhood, to old age. Plant-based diets, which are high in fiber and polyphenolics, are also associated with a diverse gut microbiota, producing metabolites that have anti-inflammatory functions that may help manage disease processes. Concerns about the adequate intake of a number of nutrients, including vitamin B12, calcium, vitamin D, iron, zinc, and omega-3 fats, are discussed. The use of fortified foods and/or supplements as well as appropriate food choices are outlined for each nutrient. Finally, guidelines are suggested for health professionals working with clients consuming plant-based diets.
Study of maximum power tracking techniques and control of DC/DC converters for photovoltaic power system

As the electric power supplied by solar arrays depends on the insolation, temperature and array voltage, it is necessary to control the operating points to draw the maximum power of the solar array. The object of this paper is to investigate the maximum power tracking algorithms which were often used to compare the tracking efficiencies for the system operating under different controls. Besides, different type DC/DC converters were designed to evaluate the converter performance. A simple method which combines a discrete time control and a PI compensator is used to track the maximum power points (MPPs) of the solar array. The implementation of the proposed converter system was based on a digital signal processor (DSP) and the experimental results are presented.
Phase noise and timing jitter in oscillators with colored-noise sources

Phase noise or timing jitter in oscillators is of major concern in wireless and optical communications, being a major contributor to the bit-error rate of communication systems, and creating synchronization problems in other clocked and sampled-data systems. This paper presents the theory and practical characterization of phase noise in oscillators due to colored, as opposed to white, noise sources. Shot and thermal noise sources in oscillators can be modeled as white-noise sources for all practical purposes. The characterization of phase noise in oscillators due to shot and thermal noise sources is covered by a recently developed theory of phase noise due to white-noise sources. The extension of this theory and the practical characterization techniques to noise sources in oscillators, which have a colored spectral density, e.g., 1/f noise, is crucial for practical applications. In this paper, we first derive a stochastic characterization of phase noise in oscillators due to colored-noise sources. This stochastic analysis is based on a novel nonlinear perturbation analysis for autonomous systems, and a nonlocal Fokker-Planck equation we derive. Then, we calculate the resulting spectrum of the oscillator output with phase noise as characterized. We also extend our results to the case when both white and colored-noise sources are present. Our treatment of phase noise due to colored-noise sources is general, i.e., it is not specific to a particular type of colored-noise source.
Design of single guide RNA for CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome engineering in rice – for semi-dwarfism and thermo-sensitive genic male sterility

CRISPR/Cas9 causes high precision genome editing in an efficient manner. By designing an 18 to 20 nucleotide ‘spacer’ which is immediately followed by the protospacer adjacent motif, the Cas9 can be directed to cause double stranded breaks in a genome. The CRISPR plasmid pRGEB32 has been optimized to edit plant genomes. We designed sgRNAs to target the TMS5 and SD1 gene of rice using CRISPR-PLANT, an online platform for designing guide RNAs. The efficiency of the sgRNAs were assessed for various parameters such as GC content, potential off-target activity and specificity. The sgRNAs were cloned into the pRGEB32 plasmid background, transformed to competent E. coli and finally mobilized to AGL-1 strain of Agrobacterium. This protocol could be utilized to develop transformation ready CRISPR constructs in a short-time.
Alpine community recruitment potential is determined by habitat attributes in the alpine ecosystems of the Himalaya‐Hengduan Mountains, SW China

Abstract The fragility and sensitivity to climate change of alpine ecosystems make it difficult to maintain the stability of their plant communities. Thus, it is important to determine which plant propagules are stored in the soils in order to understand community recruitment potential, especially under different environmental conditions. Based on a soil seed germination and seedling cultivation experiment, we aimed to identify differences in the soil seed attributes between three typical habitat types in the alpine subnival ecosystems of the Himalaya‐Hengduan Mountains and hence to predict the community recruitment potential of each of these different communities. We found that the seed assemblages in the soils differed between habitats. The most abundant taxa were from the genera Saxifraga, Kobresia, Arenaria, Polygonum, Draba, and Viola, while the taxa with lowest abundance were Apiaceae, Campanulaceae, Circaea, Crassulaceae, and Gentiana. Different habitats exhibited variable soil seed richness, diversity, and density. However, the patterns differed between study sites. Specifically, at Baima (BM) and Shika (SK) snow mountains, soil seed richness, diversity, and density were generally highest in grassland, followed by rock bed and bare ground. In contrast, on Jiaozi (JZ) snow mountain, the rock bed supported the highest soil seed richness and density, followed by grassland and bare ground. These results suggest that the attributes of habitats and communities can both affect the accumulation of soil seeds. Bare ground supports the lowest seed diversity and density but also harbors the most empty niches. We, therefore, predict that, once the thermal conditions become suitable as a result of global warming, this habitat has the potential to see greater changes than grassland and rock bed in terms of community recruitment.
Factors affecting the plastic shrinkage cracking of high-strength concrete

Tests were developed to quantify parameters affecting the plastic shrinkage cracking of high-strength concrete of 28-day cube strength in excess of 70 MPa. The parameters measured were tensile stress–strain performance during the first 5 h after mixing and negative pore pressure development and free shrinkage during the first 24 h. Eight high-strength mixes were used containing a variety of supplementary cementing materials such as microsilica, pulverised fuel ash, granulated slag and metakaolin. Two types of superplasticers were included. Plastic shrinkage cracking was assessed using restrained ring tests in which measurements were taken using sealed samples and samples exposed to wind. The research has shown that there is no simple relationship between early age stress–strain curves, negative pore pressure, early age shrinkage and macrocracking in adverse conditions but two factors were always present when plastic cracking was observed, these being microsilica and wind.
TDOA-Based Localization Algorithms for RFID Systems Using Benchmark Tags

This paper considers a localization problem in time difference of arrival (TDOA)-based radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. To estimate the position of a target tag, this paper suggests three localization algorithms that use benchmark tags. The benchmark tags are the same type as the target tag, but either the locations or distance of the benchmark tags are known. Two algorithms use the benchmarks for auxiliary information to improve the estimation accuracy of the other localization algorithms such as least squared estimator (LSE). The other one utilizes the benchmarks as essential tags to estimate the location. Numerical tests show that the localization accuracy can be improved by using benchmark tags especially when an algorithm using the LSE is applied to the localization problem. Furthermore, this paper shows that our benchmark algorithm is valuable when the measurement noise is large.
Evaluation of botanical powders on pulse beetle, Callosobruchus chinensis (Linn.) in green gram (Vigna radiata)

Nine botanical plant powders like Neem, Tulasi, Notchi, Adhathoda, Bitter gourd, Black pepper, Turmeric, Ginger and Sweetflag were treated against pulse beetle, C. chinensis . After 24, 48 and 72 HAR of C. chinensis , the botanical powders like Turmeric and Ginger exhibited to be the maximum numbers of adults were oriented in green gram (13.00 & 15.33, 11.33 & 12.33, 9.66 & 10.00). Whereas, minimum number of adults oriented was recorded in Sweetflag, Notchi and Neem treated seeds (3.66, 5.00 & 7.00), (3.33, 4.00 & 5.33, 2.00) and (2.00, 2.66 & 4.00). Longevity was recorded to be high in male and female observed in Turmeric and Ginger 6.00, 7.33 and 7.00 and 8.33 respectively. Short longevity period was observed in Sweetflag treated seeds; whereas in male it was 1.33 and in female was 2.66 followed by Notchi and in Neem the longevity period of male and female was 2.33, 3.33 and 4.00, 5.00 respectively, while in control the longevity period of male and female was 10.00 and 11.33 days.
A Design of 45-Degree Dual-Polarization Broadband Plane Station Antenna

A new broadband planar dual-polarization base station antenna is proposed, the antenna consists of two broadband plane coplanar base station antenna units, and so it has features of plane antenna. Two broadband plane station antenna units can, respectively, form double polarization in the direction. We analyzed the relative positions between the two antenna units and their effects on the performances of the antenna, especially for the influence of isolation. Broadband antenna has the characteristics of the broadband station antenna, and bandwidth is also guaranteed. The measured results show that the antenna can obtain 45% relative bandwidth, and 30 dB isolation degree also can be got, and the radiation performance is also good. Measurement results confirmed that the antenna gain can be guaranteed among 48% relative bandwidth, 15 dB of gain is got among bandwidth of 1.69–2.78 GHz, the isolation degree of different polarization method can reach 30 dB, and the measurement gain of two polarization methods of antenna both can reach 8.5 dBi.
High-Resolution Direct Push Sensing in Wetland Geoarchaeology - First Traces of Off-Site Construction Activities at the Fossa Carolina

Wetland environments, with their excellent conservation conditions, provide geoarchaeological archives of past human activities. However, the subsurface soil is difficult to access due to high groundwater tables, unstable sediments, and the high cost of excavation. In this study, we present a ground-based non- and minimal-invasive prospection concept adapted to the conditions of wetlands. We investigated the Fossa Carolina in South Germany, a canal that was intended in 792/793 AD by Charlemagne to bridge the Central European Watershed. Although the resulting Carolingian banks and the fairway with wooden revetments are very imposing, archaeological traces of off-site construction activities have not been identified hitherto. Based on a geophysically surveyed intensive linear magnetic anomaly parallel to the Carolingian canal, we aimed to prove potential off-site traces of Carolingian construction activities. In this context, we built up a high-resolution cross-section using highly depth-accurate direct push sensing and ground-truthing. Our results showed the exact geometry of the canal and the former banks. Thus, the magnetic mass anomaly could be clearly located between the buried organic-rich topsoil and the Carolingian banks. The thermoluminescence dating showed that the position of the magnetic mass anomaly reflected Carolingian activities during the construction phases, specifically due to heat exposure. Moreover, we found hints of the groundwater supply to the 5-metre wide navigable fairway.
Mitochondrial Redox Metabolism: The Epicenter of Metabolism during Cancer Progression

Mitochondrial redox metabolism is the central component in the cellular metabolic landscape, where anabolic and catabolic pathways are reprogrammed to maintain optimum redox homeostasis. During different stages of cancer, the mitochondrial redox status plays an active role in navigating cancer cells’ progression and regulating metabolic adaptation according to the constraints of each stage. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation induces malignant transformation. Once vigorous cell proliferation renders the core of the solid tumor hypoxic, the mitochondrial electron transport chain mediates ROS signaling for bringing about cellular adaptation to hypoxia. Highly aggressive cells are selected in this process, which are capable of progressing through the enhanced oxidative stress encountered during different stages of metastasis for distant colonization. Mitochondrial oxidative metabolism is suppressed to lower ROS generation, and the overall cellular metabolism is reprogrammed to maintain the optimum NADPH level in the mitochondria required for redox homeostasis. After reaching the distant organ, the intrinsic metabolic limitations of that organ dictate the success of colonization and flexibility of the mitochondrial metabolism of cancer cells plays a pivotal role in their adaptation to the new environment.
Application of an Entropy-Assisted Optimization Model in Prediction of Agonist and Antagonist Muscle Forces

Many existing optimization based biomechanical models fail to predict antagonist muscle activity. Some optimization models predict such a cocontraction, but either lack a compelling physiological basis or are computationally formidable. The current study takes advantage of the flexible definition of entropy as a scientific measure, and utilizes it in the objective function of an optimization formulation to construct a new optimization model for predicting agonist and antagonist muscle forces. In this model, the objective function of a nonlinear program consists of a weighted sum of two components: a linear or nonlinear term favoring agonist muscle exertions (reciprocal inhibition), and the entropy term enforcing cocontraction. The concept of the current optimization model is based on recent findings in neurophysiology that there exist two separate central nervous systems for generation of two motor patterns: agonist contraction and agonist-antagonist cocontraction.
Reducing identified parameters of measurement-based composite load model

Summary form only given. Load model is one of the most important elements in power system simulation and control.This paper investigates the possibility on reducing the number of composite load model parameters to be identified from field measurements. The paper first shows that direct application of the IEEE load motor parameters in the composite load model may be inadequate on describing the load dynamics over different operating status. Then the perturbation method is used to derive the trajectory sensitivities of the equivalent motor parameters, based on which the reduction on the identified parameters of the composite load model is presented. Two cases are studied to illustrate the validity of the reduction method. It is shown that the reduction does not lose the model capability on describing the load dynamics. The reduction on the number of identified parameters not only provides a possible way to solve the multi-valued load model problem based on the current practices on measurement-based load modeling, but also facilitates building of the load model with more components included in it. Meanwhile, the proposed strategy significantly enhances the efficiency of the load modeling work.
Harmonic distortion in high-speed differential A/D converters

The brief discusses the harmonic distortion introduced by the differential input adapter commonly used in flash and folding A/D converters operating without sample and hold. A distributed model of the adapter is proposed, which provides physical insight and allows quantitative evaluation. Moreover, a technique based on a feedforward compensation is presented. It provides a significant reduction of the harmonic distortion with a small increase of the die area.
Ultra-broadband high-resolution microdroplet spectrometers for the near infrared.

By stabilizing the evaporation dynamics of a microliter fluorocarbon droplet, we demonstrate a fast-scan optofluidic Fourier transform (FT) spectrometer on the tip of an optical fiber operating in the 1000-2000 nm window with a resolution of 3.5 cm-1 (i.e., <1 nm at 1560 nm). Compared with other FT near-infrared (NIR) small-scale spectrometers reported in the literature, the fluorocarbon droplet spectrometer shows the largest wavelength span and span/resolution ratio, allowing spectral analysis of broadband or narrowband radiation to be easily performed. Our results open the way for the practical application of droplet spectrometers as advanced optofluidic NIR analyzers with small size and low cost that are capable of operating in harsh environments, even in the absence of electrical power sources.
MRP system performance under lumpy demand environments

Material requirements planning (MRP) systems are deemed to deal with master schedules with lumpy demand patterns better than any other production scheduling system. Past studies have advocated important advantages of using MRP systems. The objective of this paper is to look into the impact of patterns of demand lumpiness on the performance of MRP systems by a simulation study. Results show that there is an important threshold point in terms of degree of lumpiness at which MRP system performance starts to deteriorate in the operating conditions considered. If master production schedules (MPS) can be controlled by manufacturers, MRP users should exercise caution to introduce demand lumpiness in MPS to improve system performance. If not, MRP users should then examine the given lumpiness and choose an appropriate lot-sizing rule that has been shown to take advantage of the effect of demand lumpiness.
Industry application of zero-speed sensorless control techniques for PM synchronous motors

This paper presents the state of the art in the area of industrial applications of sensorless control for permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drives. A new emerging technology is becoming mature to come to the market, based on high-frequency signal injection, that makes it possible to achieve zero-speed operation without increasing the complexity and the cost of the system. After an overview of major theoretical principles of sensorless control of PMSMs, the paper focuses on the practical implementation of one of the previously described high-frequency injection techniques in both salient and nonsalient PM machines. Experimental results are presented, including useful hints for practical implementation.
Cultural Differences in Understanding Social Capital – Wasta and Social Capital

Wasta (in the Arabic literature wasta) means “intercession” or “mediation”. This concept covers a wide range of social activities. In the West it is known as clientelism, due to the existence of an informal relationship between the client (requestor of Wasta-demanding interest) and the possessor. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Wasta in an Arabic country through the three dimensions of the social capital (structural, cognitive, relational). To achieve this aim a theoretical research method was used to analyze Wasta. As a social mechanism in an Arabic country, Wasta can be considered an example of social capital, due to the fact that it contains the structural, cognitive and relational dimensions of the social capital mentioned in the literature.
Application of Optimal Design on Twin Die Stacked Package by Reliability Indicator of Average SED Concept

This paper deals with the optimal design for a twin die stacked package. Firstly, the numerical model is built up in terms of a three-dimensional slice model along the diagonal direction of the package. The material behavior of the solder balls is a consequence of the viscoplastic property which can be described by the Anand's model. Secondly, the Darveaux model is applied to predict the solder ball reliability of the stacked die package under a cyclic temperature loading. Since simulation analysis found an obvious relation is found between the fatigue life of the solder ball and the distribution of the accumulated strain energy density (SED) on the critical solder ball of the package through the simulation analysis, the average value of the strain energy density for all solder balls is adopted as the optimization indicator of reliability. With such a viewpoint, the critical solder ball position can be ignored, and accordingly an efficient analysis can be obtained. Finally, the Box-Behnken regression model is adopted to construct all the experiments. Each experiment analyzes the reliability of the package under varying parameters. Subsequently, the pattern search algorithm is applied to search for optimal factors. Through optimal analysis with the fatigue reliability indicator of an average SED, the fatigue life is found to be 59% lower than that of the original design. The fatigue life had clearly improved and the lowest ball fatigue life is found to be 2.859 times longer than the original one.
Embracing a New Conceptual Framework for the Statistical Measurement of Illicit Financial Flows

• New opportunities for curbing illicit financial flows can arise through the use of better methodologies for customs fraud detection and improved resource governance with regard to metals that will be in high demand for low-carbon technologies. Economic Development in Africa Report 2020: Tackling Illicit Financial Flows for Sustainable Development in Africa argues that tackling illicit financial flows is essential in order for countries in Africa to strengthen domestic resource mobilization, boost hard and soft infrastructure investment and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Illicit financial flows from Africa are large and growing: in 2010–2018, Africa lost at least $220 billion linked to the export of extractive resources, compared with $40 billion in 2000–2009. The lack of internationally comparable data and conceptual clarity as to what constitutes illicit financial flows and how to measure them have been major challenges in designing policies to curb such flows. This policy brief examines illicit financial flows linked to the export of extractive resources from Africa, methodologies to measure them and their relationship to the new conceptual framework for the statistical measurement of illicit financial flows as part of the measurement of progress towards Goal 16, target 16.4. It highlights opportunities to curb illicit financial flows using improved methodologies for customs fraud detection and to enhance resource governance with regard to metals that will be in high demand for the battery-storage technology needed in the transition to a low-carbon future.