Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Post-Disaster Resilience Optimization for Road–Bridge Transportation Systems Considering Economic Loss

After a disaster, the recovery sequence of damaged bridges in a road–bridge transportation system greatly influences system restoration time and total economic loss. In this paper, the skew of recovery trajectory is introduced to evaluate the average restoration time, and the total economic loss is extended to consider the indirect loss, such as the energy consumption of detours or the emergency service fee. So, the post-disaster resilience optimization model is constructed by minimizing the total economic loss. The improved genetic algorithm is developed to obtain the optimal recovery scheme for damaged bridges by considering the recovery sequence and repair modes. The composition and influence factors of total economic loss are analyzed through three experiments. The experimental results show that the indirect loss accounts for approximately half of the economic loss, while the higher price of emergency service promotes the reduction of indirect loss using the expedited modes to repair damaged bridges. Moreover, to minimize the total economic loss, it is essential to design the optimal recovery scheme (repair sequence and repair mode) wisely to balance the conflicts between indirect loss and direct loss.
Water quality of North Carolina streams

Water-quality data for selected sites in the Cape Fear River basin collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are analyzed and interpreted in this report. Emphasis is given to the Cape Fear River at Lock 1 near Kelly, where data are most complete. Other data included in the report were collected from the Cape Fear River at Lillington, the Haw River nearthe Jordan Dam, and the Deep River at Moncure. Available data indicate that concentrations of dissolved oxygen at study sites are almost always within U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criteria; however, on two sampling dates, the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the Cape Fear at Lock 1 fell slightly below the 5.0 mg/L recommended for fish populations. Measurements of pH from all stations were frequently below the lower limit of 6.5 pH units recommended for protection of freshwater aquatic life. Major dissolved ions detected are sodium and bicarbonate. Sodium concentration averages 8.6 mg/L and bicarbonate averages 17.5 mg/L at Lock 1. Concentrations of dissolved substances and suspended sediment decrease in the downstream direction, presumably because the more heavily populated part of the basin is near the headwaters of the system. Heavy metals, with the exception of mercury, rarely exceed Environmental Protection Agency criteria for the protection of aquatic life. Concentrations of mercury in the Haw River exceeding the recommended 0.20 ng/L needed to protect aquatic life have frequently been reported by other authors. Several of the most toxic metals, arsenic, cadmium, and cobalt, are about five times more concentrated in water from the Haw River site than from other study sites in the basin. Iron and manganese frequently exceed North Carolina waterquality standards. Available nitrogen averages 1.21 mg/L and available phosphorus averages 0.21 mg/L at Lock 1. Nuisance algal growths have not been identified as a problem in the river. Comparisons of water-quality data for baseline (natural) and present conditions indicate that more than 50 percent of most dissolved substances and over 80 percent of certain forms of nitrogen and phosphorus result from development. Over the past 25 years, increases in concentrations of specific conductance, dissolved magnesium, dissolved sodium, dissolved potassium, dissolved sulfate, dissolved solids, and total nitrite plus nitrate nitrogen were detected in the Cape Fear River at Lock 1. Values for pH and dissolved silica are decreasing. Concentrations of most dissolved constituents at Lock 1 are increasing. These increases are statistically related to increases in population and manufacturing employment in the basin but are unrelated to agricultural activity.
Synthesis and characterization of Fulvestrant and Paclitaxel conjugates with polyamidoamine dendrimer fourth generation

Introduction and aim. Poorly soluble anticancer drugs can be attached covalently into biologically inert macromolecule in order to administrate a drug as water soluble form. It was proven that covalent linkers, for instance amide or carbamate bonds are susceptible to hydrolysis. Thus the attached drug can be released from the conjugates in tissue, specifically within the targeted cell. We aimed at construction of water soluble conjugates of Fulvestrant and Paclitaxel with PAMAM G4 dendrimer. In order to obtain water soluble conjugates the amine groups were substituted with R-glycidol. Material and methods. Polyamidoamine dendrimer of fourth generation was synthesized and examined by detailed NMR analysis in water and in DMSO. The conjugates were covalently linked to amine groups of PAMAM after activation of Fulvestrant 17-OH group with 4-nitrophenylchloroformate and activation of end-carboxyl group of Paclitaxel succinate. Results. The method of binary conjugate PAMAMG4-Fulvestrant-Paclitaxel synthesis was elaborated and the product was characterized by physicochemical methods. Conclusion. The glycidylated PAMAMG4-Fulvestrant-Paclitaxel conjugate is better soluble in water than unconverted drugs.
An online home-based exercise program improves autonomic dysfunction in breast cancer survivors

Introduction: Exercise interventions for breast cancer survivors have proved their potential to improve clinical, physical, and psychosocial outcomes. However, limited studies have explored exercise effects on autonomic dysfunction and the measurement of exercise tolerance and progression through daily heart rate variability (HRV). Purpose: To analyze the effects of a 16-wk exercise intervention on the autonomic modulation of breast cancer survivors, as well as to examine the evolution of daily measured HRV and its interaction with exercise sessions in this population. Methods: A total of 29 patients who had undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy were randomly assigned to the exercise group or to the control group. The exercise intervention was delivered remotely through online meetings and consisted of supervised training resistance and cardiovascular exercise 3 times per week. During the intervention all patients measured their HRV daily obtaining the napierian logarithm of the root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (lnrMSSD) and the napierian logarithm of the standard deviation of the interbeat interval of normal sinus beats (lnSDNN) values at four moments: day 0 (the morning of the training sessions), 24, 48, and 72 h after exercise. Results: The results revealed a significant interaction between group and months during the intervention period for lnrMSSD and lnSDNN (p < 0.001). Additionally, there were significant differences in lnSDNN recovery time between months (p < 0.05), while differences in lnrMSSD become apparent only 24 h after exercise (p = 0.019). The control group experienced a significant decrease in both variables monthly (p < 0.05) while exercise group experienced a significant increment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: HRV is daily affected by exercise training sessions in cancer patients. Although results strongly support the role of exercise as a post-chemotherapy and radiotherapy rehabilitation strategy for breast cancer survivors to improve autonomic imbalance, further research is necessary to validate these initial findings.
Statistical uncertainty analysis in an ensemble of global climate models

This PhD thesis examines several ensembles of general circulation models from a statistical point-of-view. These models not only play a central role in detection and attribution studies on climate change, but also often serve as basis for projections and adaptation planning for policy makers. While scientific consensus points to human activities as the primary cause of the observed 20 century warming, the details of future climate change remain uncertain. Apart from an agreement on the positive sign of future temperature change, all climate models disagree to a certain extent, depending on the variable, time horizon and spatial scale considered. While this disagreement is not a problem in itself, quantifying uncertainty from an ensemble of simulations whose performance and model dependence are not well identified remains challenging. Model evaluation is often performed on a grid-point basis despite the fact that models are known to often be unreliable at such small spatial scales. A first study examines how different spatial and temporal scales affect the robustness of temperature and precipitation projections. One finding suggests that increasing the native resolution of a model does not substantially improve the simulation of present-day global mean annual temperature. Another finding is the preservation of small spatial scale model bias until the end of the century, when the deviations from the observations are considered independently from the present-day global bias. This justifies the common practice to focus on anomalies from a control simulation rather than absolute values. The second study investigates why the predicted amount of global warming by different general circulation models is so difficult to constrain by the observations. The comparison between these state-of-the-art climate models with another ensemble made of a single model whose parameters have been perturbed suggests that parameter calibration plays an important role. As model calibration might have used all the information contained in the observation, then model climate sensitivity cannot be constrained a second time by the same observation. Moreover, if model parameters are tuned, this might give a false impression of validity for present-day while systematic biases could appear in the future. The third study focuses on the relationships between general climate models from a statistical point of view. We find that models from the same institutions generally share similar behavior even after significant development. As a consequence, considering the climate models as independent is not justified and multi-model averages are probably biased towards certain model designs.
Potential Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary tsunami deposit in the intra-Tethyan Adriatic carbonate platform section of Hvar (Croatia)

An exceptional 47-m-thick succession of Maastrichtian to Paleocene inner-platform carbonates is exposed on the Dalmatian island of Hvar (Adriatic Sea, Croatia) in a seaside locality called Majerovica. The middle part of this succession is an ~5-m-thick intraformational massive deposit, which is underlain by well-bedded peritidal inner-platform limestones containing latest Maastrichtian rudists and shallow-water benthic foraminifera. This deposit includes a polygenic, matrix-supported carbonate breccia characterized by ripped-up platform limestone lithoclasts, up to boulder sized, and polygenic microbreccia in a muddy matrix. The microbreccia contains rare small intraclasts of pelagic mudstone containing terminal Maastrichtian planktonic foraminifera. The deposit is overlain in turn by mudstone containing a planktonic foraminiferal association belonging to the P0 and Pα zones of the basal Paleogene, and by shallow-water muddy limestones containing planktonic foraminifera belonging to the P1 zone. While facies suggest that the deposit was emplaced over the inner platform by a single large tsunami, the biostratigraphic assessment of this section and the presence of enhanced concentrations of platinum group elements, such as iridium, in the topmost part of the massive deposit lend support to the hypothesis that this tsunamite is related to the Chicxulub impact in Yucatan. This is potentially the first case of a tropical carbonate platform sedimentary succession recording the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary event, which provides a new constraint for modeling both the western Tethyan paleogeography and the catastrophic aftermaths of the Chicxulub impact at the end of the Mesozoic Era.
Candidate locations for SPS rectifying antennas

The feasibility of placing 120 Satellite Power System (SPS) rectifying antenna (rectenna) sites across the U.S. was studied. An initial attempt is made to put two land sites in each state using several land site selection criteria. When only 69 land sites are located, it is decided to put the remaining sites in the sea and sea site selection criteria are identified. An estimated projection of electrical demand distribution for the year 2000 is then used to determine the distribution of these sites along the Pacific, Atlantic, and Gulf Coasts. A methodology for distributing rectenna sites across the country and for fine-tuning exact locations is developed, and recommendations on rectenna design and operations are made.
High accurate detection method for aortic valve opening of seismocardiography signals

Accurately detecting the aortic valve opening (AO) peaks of seismocardiography (SCG) is a challenging problem due to interference of other morphological inflection points. In this paper, a high accurate method is proposed to extract AO peaks based solely upon the SCG data. The raw SCG signal is purified by a simple first order interference cancellation method, resulting in a reduced number of modes to be decomposed. The purified SCG signal is then decomposed into a series of quasi-orthogonal modes by successive variational mode decomposition (SVMD) without any prior about the number of modes. Considering the pulsatile nature of the AO signal, a waveform factor criterion is proposed to reconstruct the AO signal based on the pulsatile level of each mode. A seventh power law detector is designed to amplify the AO peak and suppress spurious peaks. The publicly available combined measurement of electrocardiogram (ECG), breathing and seismocardiograms (CEBS) database is exploited to verify the performance of the proposed method. We show that the average sensitivity of our technique is 99.02%, the prediction rate is 99.06%, and the detection accuracy is 98.10%, which is superior to several state-of-the-art methods. In addition, compared with the ECG reference value, the instantaneous heart rate extracted by the proposed method is in good agreement with that of the ECG, e.g., the maximum average absolute error percentage is as low as 2.11 and the maximum average value relative error is about 0.03, further demonstrating that the proposed method can achieve accurate estimates of heart rate with an accelerometer alone.
Dual-Polarized Filtering Antenna Based on a Second-Order SIR Filter

This letter presents a simple structure wideband dual-polarized filtering magneto-electric dipole (ME-dipole) antenna. It consists of four horizontal patches, four pairs of vertical patches and two feeding metal lines. Each vertical patch has a stepped-impedance structure. To approximate the antenna structure, a second-order stepped-impedance-resonator (SIR) filter is used as the equivalent circuit. By investigating the transmission characteristic of this equivalent circuit, the radiation nulls of the antenna structure can be predicted. Based on this method, a simple structure filtering antenna with three intrinsic radiation nulls is developed. Without adding extra filtering circuits or parasitic elements, the proposed antenna exhibits a bandpass-type realized gain response. For demonstration, a single-polarized antenna is proposed, and its operating mechanism is studied by using an equivalent circuit analysis method. Then, a dual-polarized one is fabricated and measured. The measured results show that the proposed antenna has an impedance bandwidth of 45.0% and an average in-band realized gain of 8.5 dBi. In addition, better than 20 dB out-of-band suppression levels and three controllable radiation nulls are realized. Good agreement can be observed between the simulation and measurement results.
Advances on apple production under semiarid climate: N fertigation -

The fertilizing management for apple tree is essential, especially for nitrogen, one of the most important nutrients affecting fruit yield. Thus, an experiment an experiment was conducted in 2012 and 2013 to evaluate the fruit production, yield and leaf chlorophyll of ‘Princesa’ and ‘Eva’ apples as a function nitrogen fertigation under Brazilian semiarid conditions. The experimental design consisted of randomised blocks, with treatments distributed in a factorial arrangement 2 x 4, corresponding to apple cultivars (Eva and Princesa); and nitrogen doses (160, 120, 80 and 40 kg of N ha-1), with four replications and three plants. Calcium nitrate was used and nitrogen source (15.5% of N) with applications twice a week during 40 days, reaching 12 fertilizing performances through irrigation water. The following variables were evaluated: i) fruit production per plant (kg plant-1); ii) fruit yield (t ha-1); iii) number of fruits per plant; iv) leaf chlorophyll meter readings (index); and v) leaf nitrogen concentration (g kg-1). Princesa apple cultivar if compared to ‘Eva’ presents a better fruit production performance under in Brazilian semiarid. Furthermore, nitrogen doses fertilized through irrigation water have no effect on fruit production of Eva and Princesa apple cultivars during the first production cycle.
The Effect of Product Quality and Store Atmosphere on Puchase Decisions mediated By Purchase Intention as Intervening Variable (Study at Café Ma’Ani Rengat)

This study aims to determine the effect of product quality and store atmosphere on purchase decisions mediated by purchase intention as intervening variable. The type of research conducted is quantitative research with primary data using questionnaire as an instrument to prove the result of the research. The population in this study is all the customers of Café Ma’Ani Rengat. To test the hypothesis in this study is using path analysis with Statistical Program for Social Science (SPSS) 20. The sampling method used a non-probability sampling method with purposive sampling technique (102 respondents). The result of the study indicate that product quality and store atmosphere have a significant ang positive effect on purchase intention. Product quality and store atmosphere have a positive and not significant effect on purchase decision. Product quality and store atmosphere have a positive significant effect towards purchase decision through purchase intention. And purchase intention has a positive significant effect towards purchase decision.
Enhancing Force Control of Prosthetic Controller for Hand Prosthesis by Mimicking Biological Properties

Prosthetic hands are frequently rejected due to frustrations in daily uses. By adopting principles of human neuromuscular control, it could potentially achieve human-like compliance in hand functions, thereby improving functionality in prosthetic hand. Previous studies have confirmed the feasibility of real-time emulation of neuromuscular reflex for prosthetic control. This study further to explore the effect of feedforward electromyograph (EMG) decoding and proprioception on the biomimetic controller. The biomimetic controller included a feedforward Bayesian model for decoding alpha motor commands from stump EMG, a muscle model, and a closed-loop component with a model of muscle spindle modified with spiking afferents. Real-time control was enabled by neuromorphic hardware to accelerate evaluation of biologically inspired models. This allows us to investigate which aspects in the controller could benefit from biological properties for improvements on force control performance. 3 non-disabled and 3 amputee subjects were recruited to conduct a “press-without-break” task, subjects were required to press a transducer till the pressure stabilized in an expected range without breaking the virtual object. We tested whether introducing more complex but biomimetic models could enhance the task performance. Data showed that when replacing proportional feedback with the neuromorphic spindle, success rates of amputees increased by 12.2% and failures due to breakage decreased by 26.3%. More prominently, success rates increased by 55.5% and failures decreased by 79.3% when replacing a linear model of EMG with the Bayesian model in the feedforward EMG processing. Results suggest that mimicking biological properties in feedback and feedforward control may improve the manipulation of objects by amputees using prosthetic hands. Clinical and Translational Impact Statement: This control approach may eventually assist amputees to perform fine force control when using prosthetic hands, thereby improving the motor performance of amputees. It highlights the promising potential of the biomimetic controller integrating biological properties implemented on neuromorphic models as a viable approach for clinical application in prosthetic hands.
Assessing transboundary air pollution and joint prevention control policies: evidence from China

This study addresses the pressing issue of transboundary air pollution, an environmental concern characterised by the dispersion of pollutants across administrative boundaries. Prior research in this area has lacked an in-depth examination of the efficacy of cooperative environmental policies in managing this challenge. To address this gap, our study first evaluates transboundary sulphur dioxide pollution across 31 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020 utilising the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model. Following this, we apply a staggered Difference-in-Difference model to gauge the impact of the joint air pollution prevention and control policies adopted by China for high-priority provinces. Our analysis revealed an imbalance in emissions and transboundary pollution levels across provinces. Provinces such as Shandong, Shanxi, and Tianjin face the most severe transboundary SO2 pollution, whereas the highest SO2 emissions were noted in Shandong, Inner Mongolia, and Hebei. The implementation of the joint pollution prevention and control policy resulted in a significant reduction in SO2 emissions and transboundary SO2 pollution by factors of 10.60 and 9.70, respectively, when compared to other provinces. These findings provide valuable insights for shaping environmental cooperation policies and identifying priority provinces for mitigating air pollution.
The sequestration sink of soot black carbon in the Northern European Shelf sediments

To test the hypothesis that ocean margin sediments are a key final repository in the large‐scale biogeospheric cycling of soot black carbon (soot‐BC), an extensive survey was conducted along the ∼2,000 km stretch of the Swedish Continental Shelf (SCS). The soot‐BC content in the 120 spatially distributed SCS sediments was 0.180. 130.26% dw (median with interquartile ranges), corresponding to ∼5% of total organic carbon. Using side‐scan sonar constraints to estimate the areal fraction of postglacial clay sediments that are accumulation bottoms (15% of SCS), the soot‐BC inventory in the SCS mixed surface sediment was estimated at ∼4,000 Gg. Combining this with radiochronological constraints on sediment mass accumulation fluxes, the soot‐BC sink on the SCS was ∼300 Gg/yr, which yielded an area‐extrapolated estimate for the Northern European Shelf (NES) of ∼1,100 Gg/yr. This sediment soot‐BC sink is ∼50 times larger than the river discharge fluxes of soot‐BC to these coastal waters, however, of similar magnitude as estimates of atmospheric soot‐BC emission from the upwind European continent. While large uncertainties remain regarding the large‐scale to global BC cycle, this study combines with two previous investigations to suggest that continental shelf sediments are a major final repository of atmospheric soot‐BC. Future progress on the soot‐BC cycle and how it interacts with the full carbon cycle is likely to benefit from14C determinations of the sedimentary soot‐BC and similar extensive studies of coastal sediment in complementary regimes such as off heavily soot‐BC‐producing areas in S and E Asia and on the large pan‐Arctic shelf.