Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nucleation events in the continental boundary layer: Influence of physical and meteorological parameters

Abstract. The relationship between nucleation events and numerous physical and meteorological parameters was analysed using data collected at the Station for Measuring Forest Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations (SMEAR II) in Hyytiala, Finland. To do this, measurements of solar radiation (ultraviolet [UV], global, photosynthetically active radiation [PAR], net, reflected global radiation and reflected PAR), gas concentrations, temperature, humidity, wind direction, horizontal and vertical wind speed, horizontal and vertical wind variances and particle concentrations were collected over a 4 year period. For the year 1999 a detailed analysis of data were completed by examining parameters in order to determine the physical and meteorological conditions favourable to the formation of new particles. A comparison of different wavelength bands during the bursts of new particles led to the suggestion, that UV-A solar radiation seems to be the most probable radiation band concerning the photochemical reactions involved in the production of condensable vapours. Furthermore a high correlation between the daily curves of UV-A irradiance and the concentration of 3 - 5 nm particles was found throughout the year and examples will be given for two days. During the whole year the concentration of H2O is very low at times nucleation occurs compared to the average of the corresponding month. Especially in June and July many non-event days with high solar irradiance show high amounts of water molecules. To combine these results a "nucleation parameter" was calculated for the year 1999, by dividing UV-A solar radiation by the concentration of H2O and temperature. Throughout the year nearly all nucleation event days reach a value of the "nucleation parameter" of at least 5.4 x 10-25 W m molecules-1 K-1. Non-event days with high values (> 2.7 x 10-25 W m molecules-1 K-1) are mostly accompanied by high concentrations of existing particles.
Methods of Estimating Forest Biomass: A Review

Forest plays a special role in carbon sequestration and thus mitigating climate change. However, the large uncertainty in biomass estimation is unable to meet the requirement of the accurate carbon accounting. The use of a suitable and rigor method to accurately estimate forest biomass is significant. Moreover, the world is increasingly facing the conflicting pressures of economic growth and environmental protection. Improving energy structure and vigorously developing biomass energy has become the develop‐ ment trend of energy utilization in the future. As energy plant is characterized by a large net accumulation of biomass. Therefore, the scientific evaluation of the size and potential of energy from plant also requires a suitable method for estimating biomass. Here, we reviewed the estimate methods, including allometric equation, mean biomass density, biomass expansion factor, geostatistics, etc. For each method, we will present back‐ ground, rational, applicability, as well as estimation procedure by exemplifying a case. In this chapter, we argued that the new developed technique such as geo‐statistics and remote sensing technique (e.g. LIDAR) would be the key tools to improve forest biomass estimation accuracy. However, prior to this, spatial variation of forest biomass at various levels should be explored using multi‐source data and multi‐approaches.
Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University

A major decision at the time of hearing aid fitting and dispensing is the amount of amplification to provide listeners (both adult and pediatric populations) for the appropriate compensation of sensorineural hearing impairment across a range of frequencies (e.g., 160–10000 Hz) and input levels (e.g., 50–75 dB sound pressure level). This article describes modern prescription theory for hearing aids within the context of a risk versus return trade-off and efficient frontier analyses. The expected return of amplification recommendations (i.e., generic prescriptions such as National Acoustic Laboratories—Non-Linear 2, NAL-NL2, and Desired Sensation Level Multiple Input/Output, DSL m[i/o]) for the Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) and high-frequency audibility were traded against a potential risk (i.e., loudness). The modeled performance of each prescription was compared one with another and with the efficient frontier of normal hearing sensitivity (i.e., a reference point for the most return with the least risk). For the pediatric population, NAL-NL2 was more efficient for SII, while DSL m[i/o] was more efficient for high-frequency audibility. For the adult population, NAL-NL2 was more efficient for SII, while the two prescriptions were similar with regard to high-frequency audibility. In terms of absolute return (i.e., not considering the risk of loudness), however, DSL m[i/o] prescribed more outright high-frequency audibility than NAL-NL2 for either aged population, particularly, as hearing loss increased. Given the principles and demonstrated accuracy of desensitization (reduced utility of audibility with increasing hearing loss) observed at the group level, additional high-frequency audibility beyond that of NAL-NL2 is not expected to make further contributions to speech intelligibility (recognition) for the average listener.
Assessment of changes in macular structural retinal layers in patients with pathological myopia

Background/aim This study aimed to examine changes in the thickness of individual macular retinal layers in eyes with pathological myopia (PM) and to compare the thickness of each retinal layer between the PM and control groups to gain insights into retinal perfusion. Materials and methods The study included 51 eyes in the PM group and 51 eyes in the control group. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to measure the thickness of each retinal layer in the central fovea, parafoveal, and perifoveal regions. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) was used to evaluate the retinal capillary density. Results In the PM group, the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), and inner nuclear layer (INL) were thicker than in the control group (p = 0.004, p = 0.027, p = 0.020, and p < 0.001, respectively), whereas the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and photoreceptor layer (PRL) were thinner (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively). In other regions, the RNFL was thicker in the myopic group, whereas the GCL, IPL, INL, and ONL were thinner. OCT-A did not reveal any significant difference between the groups in terms of radial capillary plexus density (p = 0.381); however, the densities of the other plexuses were lower in the PM group. Conclusions The results showed alterations in the thickness of retinal layers and capillary plexus density in PM. Thus, assessment of the thickness of individual retinal layers may serve as an indicator of vascular diseases that affect the circulation of the retina and choroid.
A machine learning technique for Android malicious attacks detection based on API calls

Android malware is widespread and it is considered as one of the most threatening attacks recently. The threat is targeting to damage access data or information or leaking them; in general, malicious software consists of viruses, worms, and other malware. Current malware attempts to prevent being detected by any software or anti-virus. This paper describes recent Android malware detection static and interactive approaches as well as several open-source malware datasets. The paper also examines the most current state-of-the-art Android malware identification techniques including identifying by comparative evaluation the gaps between these techniques. As a result, an API-based dynamic malware detection framework is proposed for Android to provide a dynamic paradigm for malware detection. The proposed framework was closely inspected and checked for reliability where meaningful API packages and methods were discovered.
Seasonal Stability and Dynamics of DNA Methylation in Plants in a Natural Environment

Organisms survive in naturally fluctuating environments by responding to long-term signals, such as seasonality, by filtering out short-term noise. DNA methylation has been considered a stable epigenetic mark but has also been reported to change in response to experimental manipulations of biotic and abiotic factors. However, it is unclear how they behave in natural environments. Here, we analyzed seasonal patterns of genome-wide DNA methylation at a single-base resolution using a single clone from a natural population of the perennial Arabidopsis halleri. The genome-wide pattern of DNA methylation was primarily stable, and most of the repetitive regions were methylated across the year. Although the proportion was small, we detected seasonally methylated cytosines (SeMCs) in the genome. SeMCs in the different contexts showed distinct seasonal patterns of methylation. SeMCs in CHH context were detected predominantly at repetitive sequences in intergenic regions. Additionally, we found that CHH methylation within AhgFLC locus showed a seasonal pattern that was negatively associated with changes in gene expression. Gene-body CG methylation (gbM) itself was generally stable across seasons, but the levels of gbM were positively associated with seasonal stability of RNA expression of the genes. These results suggest the existence of two distinct aspects of DNA methylation in natural environments: sources of epigenetic variation and epigenetic marks for stable gene expression.
Presentation Attack Detection Using a Tiny Fully Convolutional Network

Fingerprint authentication is widely used thanks to its simple process and low cost, but it is vulnerable to fake fingerprints. Many researchers have been working on presentation attack detection to ensure the security of fingerprint systems. However, the existing studies only focus on improving the detection accuracy, and let processing time and memory requirement be out of focus. Hence, it is difficult to integrate the existing algorithms to embedded and mobile systems. This paper proposes a method to detect presentation attacks using a small fully convolutional network. The proposed network is designed using the structure of the fire module of SqueezNet. The use of the fire module results in a network which has around 0.5 million parameters. The proposed network is trained using images of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$32\times 32$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$48\times 48$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, or <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$64\times 64$ </tex-math></inline-formula> pixels. Since the network has no fully connected layer, it can interfere with images of any size. This advantage helps to improve the detection rate and allows the proposed algorithm to be easily integrated into fingerprint systems. The experiments show an average detection error of 1.43%, which is comparable with the state-of-the-art accuracy, while the processing time and memory requirement are much reduced.
Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University

Several alternative ear-canal measures are similar to absorbance in their requirement for prior determination of a Thévenin-equivalent sound source. Examples are (1) sound intensity level (SIL), (2) forward-pressure level (FPL), (3) time-domain ear-canal reflectance (TDR), and (4) cochlear reflectance (CR). These four related measures are similar to absorbance in their utilization of wide-band stimuli and their focus on recording ear-canal sound pressure. The related measures differ from absorbance in how the ear-canal pressure is analyzed and in the type of information that is extracted from the recorded response. SIL and FPL have both been shown to be better as measures of sound level in the ear canal compared to sound pressure level (SPL) because they reduced calibration errors due to standing waves in studies of behavioral thresholds and otoacoustic emissions. TDR may be used to estimate ear-canal geometry and may have the potential to assess middle-ear pathology. CR reveals information about the inner ear that is similar to what is provided by other types of otoacoustic emissions and may have theoretical advantages that strengthen its interpretation.
A Prospective Study Comparing Subperiosteal Versus Subdural Drain After Burr-hole Drainage of Chronic Subdural Hematoma

Aims: The aim of our study was to perform a comparison between the efficacy of subperiosteal drain and subdural drain, and to evaluate any differences in terms of functional outcome in the treatment of symptomatic CSDH. Materials and Methods: The interventional, prospective, comparative study was undertaken in Department of Neurosurgery of Medica Institute of Neurological Diseases (MIND) in Medica Superspecialty Hospital, Kolkata, between 1 st November 2019 to 30 th April 2021, with set inclusion and exclusion criteria. Primary outcome was based on recurrence with 6 months. Secondary outcomes were incidence of re-operation and complications. 44 cases were distributed according to computer generated random numbers for the insertion of either drain following evacuation of CSDH. The data were analysed with SPSS software for windows version 21.0. Results: Our study has shown good outcomes in both groups at 3 months and 6 months. P values of Glasgow outcome score at discharge, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months were 0.064, 0.39, 0.54 and 0.31; none of them were statistically significant. Conclusion: Our study revealed that both SDD and SPD were safe and equally effective in treating symptomatic CSDH with no difference in final outcome. Complete radiological resolution of hematoma was observed in both SDD and SPD groups at 6 months follow up. However, large sample size and controlled study may be done in future for further analysis.
THE CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN CANADA: A Review of the Evidence

This paper reviews various competing theories of structural unemployment and considers whether they may be used to explain any of the rise in unemployment experienced by Canada during the most recent economic cycle. The central message that emerges is that one should take into account multiple possible structural explanations when forming judgments about the non-accelerating- inflation rate of unemployment (the NAIRU). Furthermore, the degree of uncertainty associated with existing empirical work suggests that one should allow for a range of NAIRU estimates in reaching an understanding of economic developments. A balanced assessment of the available methodologies suggests that the NAIRU has risen somewhat during the 1990s, mainly because of a steep rise in the rate of payroll taxation. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that this rise in the NAIRU is likely to be temporary, both because the payroll tax effect ought to be digestible over time and because some reforms to the unemployment insurance system have already been implemented.
A Systematic Fuzzy-based Framework for Synthesis and Optimization of an Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) for Oil Palm Industry

Cultivation of oil palm are commonly held in rural, which had caused the sustainability of rural areas become increasingly important and challenging due to the growth of challenges in environment and economical aspects in the industry. The development of sustainability in rural areas are very limited while environmental sustainability becomes one of the important issues within the process engineering industry, where reuse, recycle and recover the wastewater and nutrient are always being encouraged. To address this issue, the concept of Eco-Industrial Park (EIP) could be adopted where resources allocation and exchange could be done among the involved parties to ensure sufficient utilities and resources are fulfilled in the rural areas and then further promote environmental and economic sustainability. To ensure EIP is feasible, optimum resources allocation and exchange should be pre-determined to know the expected minimum profit of parties involved before any decisions made on the development of EIP in rural area while maintaining minimum carbon dioxide emission for environmental sustainability. A systematic framework is required to guide decision makers in solving this complicated problem. There are limited research works focused on the development of a systematic framework for the synthesis of an oil palm industry based EIP that involving nutrient recovery from the wastewater treatment. This leads to the objective of this work to develop a systematic framework to synthesize an oil palm industry based EIP considering the nutrient recovered from wastewater treatment. This framework also served as a guidance in determining the optimum resources allocation and exchange based on decision-making factors (e
Mar-Effects of supplementing a direct-fed microbial containing Enterococcus faecium 669 on performance, health, and metabolic responses of preweaning Holstein dairy calves

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Enterococcus faecium 669 supplementation on performance, health, parasitological, microbiological, and hematological responses of preweaning dairy calves. Forty-two newborn Holstein female calves (initial body weight [BW] 44 ± 4.5 kg) were used in the present study. At birth, calves were ranked by initial BW and assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups: (1) whole milk (CON; n = 21) and (2) whole milk with the addition of direct-fed microbial Ent. faecium 669 (DFM; n = 21). During the entire experimental period (63 d), DFM was daily-fed at a rate of 2.5 × 10 9 cfu/head. All calves were offered a mixture of a starter feed and wheat straw for ad libitum consumption. Supplement intake was evaluated daily, whereas calves were weighed on a weekly basis from d 0 to weaning (d 63). Diarrhea was assessed once a day, and fecal and blood samples were collected for microbiological, parasitological, and hematological responses. All data were analyzed with SAS using calf as the experimental unit. A treatment × week interaction was observed for BW, as DFM-supplemented calves were heavier than CON cohorts on d 56 (+ 4.7 kg) and at weaning on d 63 (+ 4.8 kg). A similar interaction was observed for average daily gain (ADG) and dry matter intake (DMI), with greater ADG for DFM-supplemented calves from d 35 to 42, greater ADG and DMI from d 49 to 56, and greater DMI from d 56 to weaning. Moreover, diarrhea occurrence tended to be lower, whereas rectal temperature was 0.2°C lower for DFM-supplemented calves. Treatment × day interactions were observed for the occurrence and counts of Eimeria spp. , as DFM-supplemented calves tended to have a reduced number of positive observations on d 42 of the study versus CON, and a significant reduction in positive animals from d 21 to 42 was observed in the DFM group but not in CON calves. For Cryptosporidium spp. , no treatment effects were observed on overall occurrence (%), but DFM-supplemented calves had a greater count of oocyst per gram versus CON. No treatment × day interaction or main treatment effects were observed for any of the blood variables analyzed herein, exception being monocytes concentration. In summary, preweaning Ent. faecium 669 supplementation improved performance, diarrhea occurrence, and reduced the number of calves positively-detected for Eimeria spp.
Aedes albopictus in Memphis, Tennessee (USA): an achievement of modern transportation?

Une femelle adulte d'A. (Stegomyia) albopictus a ete capturee a Memphis; Tennessee, le 2/06/1983. Hypothese sur le transport de ce moustique, vecteur de dengue en Asie, Afrique et Oceanie
Replacement of Cheesecloth with Polyamide Plastic Micro-filters in the Manufacturing of Fresh White Boiled Cheese and Pasteurized White Brined Cheese

Cheesecloth used in cheese manufacturing has technical problems; provides low cheese yield and is difficult to clean and disinfect. The present study investigated the effect of substituting cheesecloth with multiple artificial polyamide plastic micro-filters (PPMFs) on the properties of fresh white boiled cheeses (FWBC) and pasteurized white brined cheeses (PWBC) and their whey. Whey was strained by either traditional cheesecloth (control; C) or by one of the PPMFs with different pore sizes (PPMF10, PPMF20, PPMF40, PPMF57 and PPMF 75). The yields of FWBC were 19.46%, 17.13 %, and 14.98% for PPMF10, PPMF20, and PPMF40, respectively. Slightly lower yields were obtained for the PWBC, and the control had the lowest yield (~11.1%). Using PPMFs with increased pore size in both cheeses reduced the total solids, fat, and protein contents. In the whey, reversed trends in the relationship were observed, indicating a loss of solids as fat and protein during the straining. Microbial analysis showed that PPMF cheeses had lower mesophilic aerobes and LAB counts than those of the control. Yeasts, molds, and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected (˂10 log cfu/g) in treatments or the control. In general, FWBC maintained lower microbial counts than PWBC, which was associated with the final boiling step in the FWBC. Cheesecloth maintained the highest microbial counts which would be indicative of the protective effect of cheesecloth on the bacterial cells and their spores. The customary cleaning procedure was not sufficient to eliminate microbial cells from the cheesecloth therefore could represent a source of contamination for cheeses. Acidity (as lactic acid) resulted from the growth of LAB, and PPMFs produced similar or better cheeses in terms of sensory analysis attributes compared to the control.
Crop and landscape factors affecting variation in composition and behaviour of the pollinator community in field bean crops

The global decline in pollinators is likely to negatively affect the yield of insect pollinated crops such as field beans (Vicia faba). To understand the impact of such declines it is important to investigate how the abundance, composition and behaviour of the pollinator community relates to crop yield. We observed pollinators (specifically Bombus spp. and Apis mellifera) foraging in field bean fields. Some bees actively pollinated flowers whereas others robbed the nectar without actively pollinating the flowers. As legitimate foraging visits are more likely to pollinate the crop, we explored infield and landscape scale factors affecting this variation in behaviour. Infield factors included sowing time (winter/spring) and plant density. Landscape factors were the area of flower-rich habitat, and of mass-flowering crops within 1 km of the bean field. We also explored how the abundance and behaviour of different functional groups (short-tongued bumblebees, long-tongued bumblebees or honeybees) responded to these factors. Finally, we assessed how the abundance and behaviour of these pollinators affected field bean yield. Pollinators were more abundant in bean crops that were spring sown and where there was a smaller area of mass-flowering crops in the landscape. Functional groups varied in their predominant foraging behaviour and in how their behaviour was influenced by external factors. There was no relationship between pollinator abundance and bean yield however the proportion of pollinators legitimately foraging was negatively related to yield. Our findings align with previous research in suggesting that the benefits of insect pollinators for field beans are context specific. Additional work is required to develop pollinator conservation measures that will facilitate crop pollination.