Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Continental Hydrologic Intercomparison Project, Phase 1: A Large‐Scale Hydrologic Model Comparison Over the Continental United States

High‐resolution, coupled, process‐based hydrology models, in which subsurface, land‐surface, and energy budget processes are represented, have been applied at the basin‐scale to ask a wide range of water science questions. Recently, these models have been developed at continental scales with applications in operational flood forecasting, hydrologic prediction, and process representation. As use of large‐scale model configurations increases, it is exceedingly important to have a common method for performance evaluation and validation, particularly given challenges associated with accurately representing large domains. Here, we present phase 1 of a comparison project for continental‐scale, high‐resolution, processed‐based hydrologic models entitled the Continental Hydrologic Intercomparison Project (CHIP). The first phase of CHIP is based on past Earth System Model intercomparisons and comprised of a two‐model proof of concept comparing the ParFlow‐CONUS hydrologic model, version 1.0 and a NOAA US National Water Model configuration of WRF‐Hydro, version 1.2. The objectives of CHIP phase 1 are: (a) describe model physics and components, (b) design an experiment to ensure a fair comparison, and (b) assess simulated streamflow with observations to better understand model bias. To our knowledge, this is the first comparison of continental‐scale, high‐resolution, physics‐based models which incorporate lateral subsurface flow. This model intercomparison is an initial step toward a continued effort to unravel process, parameter, and formulation differences in current large‐scale hydrologic models and to engage the hydrology community in improving hydrology model configuration and process representation.
Theoretical/Experimental Study of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor Treating Domestic Wastewater

This work reports a theoretical and experimental study to evaluate the fluid dynamic of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor (UASB), treating domestic wastewater in a pilot scale. Simulations were developed using the Ansys CFX 10.0. For validating the numerical results, an experimental study was conducted by monitoring the total concentration of suspended solids in the effluent and pressure along the reactor. The comparative analysis between the numerical and experimental results of the pressure and sludge concentration in the outlet of the reactor presented few differences, being considered satisfactory.
Effect of silver and silica nanoparticles on the larvae of pink stem borer Sesamia cretica Lederer, 1857 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) 
and maize plants Zea mays Linneaus, 1753

This study was aimed to evaluate the toxicological and biological effects of three nanoparticles (silver, hydrophilic and hydrophobic silica) at four concentrations (100, 200, 400 and 800 ppm) against 1 instar larvae of Sesamia cretica Lederer, 1857 and its effects on some maize characters. Each concentration and control was repeated 4 times (10 larvae/replicate). Larvae were fed on treated stem maize and mortality rate was recorded. After treatment with LC50 values, the survival larvae were collected and the larval duration, pupal duration, pupal weight, pupation percentage and adult longevity were recorded. Seedling maize plants were sprayed with three concentrations (50, 100 and 200 ppm) at 4 categories (every 1, 3, 7 and 14 days) to detect the effect of nanoparticles on leaf area, extended height and leaf chlorophyll content. Results showed that hydrophilic silica nanoparticle was the most effective, followed by silver nanoparticle then hydrophobic silica nanoparticle with LC50 121.19, 405.71 and 416.82 ppm, respectively. All nanoparticles led to increase in larval durations, reduction of egg number per female and decrease of eggs hatchability rate. All nanoparticles caused positive effect on leaf area, extended height and chlorophyll content. These nanoparticles may be recommended to control S. cretica with positive effects on plant characters.
Effect of design-based learning on elementary students computational thinking skills in visual programming maker course

ABSTRACT Recently there has been a change in elementary curricula to focus on computational thinking, however, a good curriculum needs to be matched with good learning or teaching strategies. This study explores design-based learning (DBL) in elementary students to examine the development of computational thinking and to support knowledge construction in designing final products. An experimental design was used with 64 students; divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group used a DBL approach with worksheets aimed at students designing their own final product design, while the control group was taught by the traditional approach with worksheets for redoing, practicing and designing their final product. Pre and posttests were used for data collection and evaluation scheme developed to score the final product. The finding showed no significant difference in the development of computational thinking between the two groups. However, there was a significant difference in designing the final product between the two groups. Therefore, DBL supported elementary students in designing the final product although redesigning curricula by integrating both teaching methods is suggested for the greater achievement of computational thinking.
Transcriptomic and Anatomic Profiling Reveal Etiolation Promotes Adventitious Rooting by Exogenous Application of 1-Naphthalene Acetic Acid in Robinia pseudoacacia L.

The process of etiolation contributes significantly to vegetative propagation and root formation of woody plants. However, the molecular interaction pattern of different factors for etiolated adventitious root development in woody plants remains unclear. In the present study, we explored the changes at different etiolation stages of adventitious root formation in Robinia pseudoacacia. Histological and transcriptomic analyses were performed for the etiolated lower portion of hypocotyls to ascertain the adventitious root responses. We found that the dark-treated hypocotyls formed roots earlier than the control. Exogenous application of NAA (0.3 mg/L) stimulated the expressions of about 310 genes. Among these, 155 were upregulated and 155 were downregulated. Moreover, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in multiple pathways, including the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, metabolic pathway, plant hormone signal transduction, starch and sucrose metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and carbon metabolism. These pathways could play a significant role during adventitious root formation in etiolated hypocotyls. The findings of this study can provide novel insights and a foundation for further studies to elucidate the connection between etiolation and adventitious root formation in woody plants.
Optimal JPEG Quantization Table Fusion by Optimizing Texture Mosaic Images and Predicting Textures

The JPEG standard allows the use of a customized quantization table; however, it is still challenging to find an optimal quantization table timely. This work aims to solve the dilemma of balancing computational cost and image-specific optimality by introducing a new concept of texture mosaic images. Instead of optimizing a single image or a collection of representative images, the conventional JPEG optimization techniques can be applied to the texture mosaic image to obtain an optimal quantization table for each texture category. We use the simulated annealing technique as an example to validate our framework. To effectively learn the visual features of textures, we use the ImageNet pre-trained MobileNetV2 model to train and predict the new image's texture distribution, then fuse optimal texture tables to come out with an image-specific optimal quantization table. Our experiment demonstrates around 30% size reduction with a slight decrease of FSIM quality but visually indistinguishable on the evaluation datasets. Moreover, our rate-distortion curve shows superior and competitive performance against other prior works under a high-quality setting. The proposed method, denoted as JQF, achieves per image optimality for JPEG encoding with less than one second additional timing cost.
Up-scaled synthesis process of sulphur-based thermoelectric materials

The scale up of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) for the consolidation of large square monoliths (50 × 50 × 3 mm3) of thermoelectric materials is demonstrated and the properties of the fabricated samples compared with those from laboratory scale SPS. The SPS processing of n-type TiS2 and p-type Cu10.4Ni1. 6Sb4S13 produces highly dense compacts of phase pure material. Electrical and thermal transport property measurements reveal that the thermoelectric performance of the consolidated n- and p-type materials is comparable with that of material processed using laboratory scale SPS, with ZT values that approach 0.75 and 0.35 at 700 K for Cu10.4Ni1. 6Sb4S13 and TiS2, respectively. Mechanical properties of the consolidated materials show that large-scale SPS processing produces highly homogeneous materials with hardness and elastic moduli that deviate little from values obtained on materials processed on the laboratory scale. More generally, the process described in this paper is a promising way to produce high performance thermoelectric materials with square geometry, specifically required for thermoelectric device production.
Comparison of six decision aid rules for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in elderly patients presenting to the emergency department with acute chest pain.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of different strategies for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the elderly in real-life clinical practice. METHODS Patients older than 70 years presenting to the emergency department with chest pain were included. The performance of six decision aid rules (T-MACS, HEART, EDACS, TIMI, GRACE, and ADAPT) and solo troponin T strategy for diagnosing AMI was evaluated by calculating sensitivity, specificity, odds ratios, negative and positive predictive values. RESULTS A total of 250 patients, with a mean age of 78.5 years, were enrolled. Forty-eight patients (19.2 %) had an acute myocardial infarction in a 30 day follow-up period. The sensitivity for ruling-out AMI was 100 % for T-MACS, HEART, and ADAPT; 97.9 % for EDACS, 93.8 % for TIMI, and 81.3 % for GRACE and solo TnT strategy. For ruling-in AMI, the specificity was 97.5 % for T-MACS, 95 % for TIMI, 83.2 % for HEART, 81.7 % for GRACE, and 46 % for ADAPT. CONCLUSION T-MACS decision aid had the best performance for rule-out and rule-in diagnostics of AMI. Risk stratification of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome based on decision aid rules can be used in real-life practice, even in the population of the elderly (Tab. 6, Fig. 1, Ref. 17).
Reduced High-Latitude Land Seasonality in Climates with Very High Carbon Dioxide

Observations of warm past climates and projections of future climate change show that the Arctic warms more than the global mean, particularly during winter months. Previous work has attributed this reduced Arctic land seasonality to the effects of sea ice or clouds. In this paper, we show that the reduced Arctic land seasonality is a robust consequence of the relatively small surface heat capacity of land and the nonlinearity of the temperature dependence of surface longwave emission, without recourse to other processes or feedbacks. We use a General Circulation Model (GCM) with no clouds or sea ice and a simple representation of land. In the annual mean, the equator-to-pole surface temperature gradient falls with increasing CO2, but this is only a near-surface phenomenon and is not caused by the change in total meridional heat transport, which is virtually unaltered. The high-latitude land has about twice as much warming in winter than in summer, whereas high-latitude ocean has very little seasonality in warming. A surface energy balance model shows how the combination of the smaller surface heat capacity of land and the nonlinearity of the temperature dependence of surface longwave emission gives rise to the reduced seasonality of the land surface. The increase in evaporation over land also leads to winter amplification of warming over land, although amplification still occurs without it. While changes in clouds, sea ice, and ocean heat transport undoubtedly play a role in high-latitude warming, these results show that enhanced land surface temperature warming in winter can happen in their absence for robust reasons.
A new dual‐input high step‐up DC–DC converter with reduced switches stress and low input current ripple

In this paper, a novel structure of non-isolated dual-input ultra-high step-up DC–DC converter with low voltage stress across semiconductor elements and low input current ripple is suggested. In the presented converter, when the power switches are turned-OFF, two inputs inductors become series and the input current ripple will be reduced. This topology beneﬁts from the superiorities of voltage multiplier cell and coupled inductor. The voltage conversion ratio can be controlled by coupled inductor turns ratio and duty cycle of power switches. So, the voltage conversion ratio of the suggested structure is ﬂexible. Using the voltage multiplier cell not only increases the voltage gain, but also the voltage stress across power switches and diodes is decreased. In order to conﬁrm the presented structure performance, the theoretical study includes operation principle and steady-state analysis, and simulation results are provided. Also, the suggested converter has been compared with other similar converters versus voltage gain, efﬁciency, number of components, maximum voltage across switches and diodes. Finally, a 350 W experimental prototype of the converter is built to shows the effectiveness of the presented converter.
Condicionantes contextuales, familiares e individuales de la resiliencia en las familias de etnia gitana en Canarias

Tradicionalmente el Pueblo Gitano ha encontrado en el seno familiar su mayor fortaleza para adaptarse a un medio adverso. Este estudio empirico con metodologia cuantitativa explora la contribucion respectiva del contexto (calidad del vecindario y apoyo social), del sistema familiar (coherencia y adaptabilidad) y del individuo (bienestar subjetivo) sobre la resiliencia de las figuras parentales desde una perspectiva psicosocial y comunitaria. Los participantes fueron 95 familias de etnia gitana residentes en las Islas Canarias y 16 tecnicos del ambito social, cuyas respuestas a los cuestionarios fueron sometidas a analisis estadisticos descriptivos y un modelo de regresion. Las familias viven en vecindarios desfavorecidos debido a su baja formacion, el empleo precario y los escasos apoyos formales recabados. Las figuras parentales perciben un buen nivel de cohesion familiar y de bienestar subjetivo.El modelo de regresion sobre la resiliencia muestra la contribucion negativa de la problematica social del vecindario, y la contribucion positiva de los ingresos economicos estables, vivir en un barrio inclusivo, disfrutar de cohesion familiar y de bienestar subjetivo.En conclusion, las familias de etnia gitana presentan fortalezas y potencialidades que, junto con los apoyos comunitarios apropiados, garantizan una resiliencia normalizadora sobre aquellos valores familiares que permitieron su supervivencia en tiempos dificiles.
Kinect Azure–Based Accurate Measurement of Dynamic Valgus Position of the Knee—A Corrigible Predisposing Factor of Osteoarthritis

(1) Dynamic knee valgus is a predisposing factor for anterior cruciate ligament rupture and osteoarthritis. The single-leg squat (SLS) test is a widely used movement pattern test in clinical practice that helps to assess the risk of lower-limb injury. We aimed to quantify the SLS test using a marker-less optical system. (2) Kinect validity and accuracy during SLS were established by marker-based OptiTrack and MVN Xsens motion capture systems. Then, 22 individuals with moderate knee symptoms during sports activities (Tegner > 4, Lysholm > 60) performed SLS, and this was recorded and analyzed with a Kinect Azure camera and the Dynaknee software. (3) An optical sensor coupled to an artificial-intelligence-based joint recognition algorithm gave a comparable result to traditional marker-based motion capture devices. The dynamic valgus sign quantified by the Q-angle at the lowest point of the squat is highly dependent on squat depth, which severely limits its comparability among subjects. In contrast, the medio-lateral shift of the knee midpoint at a fixed squat depth, expressed in the percentage of lower limb length, is more suitable to quantify dynamic valgus and compare values among individual patients. (4) The current study identified a new and reliable way of evaluating dynamic valgus of the knee joint by measuring the medial shift of the knee-over-foot at a standardized squat depth. Using a marker-less optical system widens the possibilities of evaluating lower limb functional instabilities for medical professionals.
Healthy Lifestyles in Italian and Latvian University Students, According to Demographics, Nationality, and Study Specialty with Special Reference to Sport Studies

: This study compares lifestyle behaviour of Italian and Latvian university students, with special reference to sport students, to assess if there are differences for gender, age, university or studies specialties. An online questionnaire investigating healthy lifestyle habits and 8 wellness dimensions has been compiled by 155 (43,9 % females) respondents from Italy (all having Italian nationality) and 132 from Latvia (76,5 % females, all having Latvian nationality) The responses were collected between April and December 2020. Presence of smokers in our sample is negligible. The questionnaire showed a good internal consistency (Cronbach α =.933). On the total group, statistically significant differences in all the dimensions regarding age, gender, study specialty and university. Physical activity was associated with healthier lifestyle choices. Geographical differences were found (eating and sleeping behaviours, alcohol awareness) as well as socio-economic differences. Female students showed being more stressed than males. Occupational wellness increased by age. Sport students showed more health awareness. Many of the differences found between males and females in the total group disappeared when comparing only sport students of the two universities.
Therapeutic effects, immunogenicity and cytotoxicity of a cell penetrating peptide-peptide nucleic acid conjugate against cagA of Helicobacter pylori in cell culture and animal model

Background and Objectives: Helicobacter pylori causes several gastrointestinal diseases, including asymptomatic gastritis, chronic peptic ulcer, duodenal ulcer, lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), and gastric adenocarcinoma. In recent years, failure to eradicate H. pylori infections has become an alarming problem for physicians. It is now clear that the current treatment strategies may become ineffective, necessitating the development of innovative antimicrobial compounds as alternative treatments. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, a cell-penetrating peptide-conjugated peptide nucleic acid (CPP-PNA) was used to target the cagA expression. cagA expression was evaluated using RT-qPCR assay after treatment by the CPPPNA in cell culture and animal model. Additionally, immunogenicity and toxicity of the CPP-PNA were assessed in both cell culture and animal models. Results: Our analysis showed that cagA mRNA levels reduced in H. pylori-infected HT29 cells after treatment with CPPPNA in a dose-dependent manner. Also, cagA expression in bacterial RNA extracted from stomach tissue of mice treated with PNA was reduced compared to that of untreated mice. The expression of inflammatory cytokines also decreased in cells and tissue of H. pylori-infected mice after PNA treatment. The tested CPP-PNA showed no significant adverse effects on cell proliferation of cultured cells and no detectable toxicity and immunogenicity were observed in mice. Conclusion: These results suggest the effectiveness of CPP-PNA in targeting CagA for various research and therapeutic purposes, offering a potential antisense therapy against H. pylori infections.
Optimizing number of spots and cluster size of a high‐throughput communication satellite payload

In this paper, the number of spots and cluster size of a high‐throughput satellite (HTS) is optimized by minimizing the satellite mass in the conceptual design phase. An innovative procedure for deriving the total mass of the payload and relevant power supply subsystem as a function of the number of spots and cluster size is presented. For estimating the size and electrical power consumption, the general block diagram of an HTS payload is planned. A direct radiating phased array as the multiple‐beam antenna is used, and its synthesis technique is described briefly. Accordingly, the number of subarrays and elements in each subarray as functions of the number of spots are derived in the presence of orthogonal beams while neglecting the grating lobes. A block diagram for the new generation HTS payloads with digital signal processors for beam forming and data regeneration is presented. The procedure for determining the number of spots and cluster size is extended to the new generation very HTSs with 100 s Gbps link capacity. Conceptual design examples of HTSs with microwave beam forming network and transparent transponder in C‐band, Ka‐band, and for very HTSs with digital beam forming network and regenerative transponder in Ka‐band are provided.
Study on Microstructural Deformation of Working Sn and SnSb Anode Particles for Li-Ion Batteries by in Situ Transmission X-ray Microscopy

Sn-containing compounds are potential high-capacity anode materials for Li-ion batteries. They, however, suffer from significant dimensional variations during electrochemical lithiation and delithiation, causing cycling instability. Understanding the dynamics of these deformation processes may provide valuable information in the establishment of viable high-energy anodes. In this paper, the evolution of interior microstructures of two types of Sn-containing particles, including Sn and SnSb, during initial cycles of electrochemical lithiation/delithation has been revealed by in situ synchrotron transmission X-ray microscopy, complemented by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction to provide phase information. The microstructures and deformation rates are shown to depend on particle composition, size, and alloy stoichiometry with Li. During first lithiation, both particles exhibit core (metal)–shell (lithiated compounds) interior structures. Initial formation of a dense surface layer containing LixSn phases o.