Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Plant Leaves Disease Classification Using Feed Forward and Cascade Forward Neural Network

This paper describes the analysis of plant leaves disease classification using feed forward neural network (FFNN) and cascade forward neural network (CFNN). Features play a vital role for any classification which is one of the deciding factors for the performance of classification accuracy. Initially, the features for classification is extracted from the segmented image after the processing of segmentation using Particle swarm optimization (PSO). This paper mainly focus on extraction of features such as color, shape and texture. Then, the extracted features are trained by the neural networks such as FFNN and CFNN and also the performance is analyzed for different disease affected plant leaves using confusion matrix. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of the proposed approach producing comparable classification accuracy of plant leaves with disease. KeywordsFeatures extraction, color image segmentation, particle swarm optimization, feed forward neural network, cascade forward neural network, confusion matrix.
The Present situation of natural grassland resource in Guizhou Province and its development and utilization strategy

The general condition,grassland type,forage resource and its nutriention value in Guizhou Province were discussed.Based on advantages of developing agriculture-grazing combined industry due to its rich water and heat resource,deficiencies of lower quality and scattered grassland as well as steep slope,poor soil layer and serious erosion,the utilization strategy was presented to provide reference for decision making in grassland animal husbandry development.
Segmented Curved-Voxel Occupancy Descriptor for Dynamic-Aware LiDAR Odometry and Mapping

Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) employing 3-D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data constitutes an indispensable perception technology for geospatial sensing of the surrounding environments. Nevertheless, the existence of dynamic objects can substantially impair sensing performance. This article proposes a novel egocentric descriptor named segmented curved-voxel occupancy descriptor (SCV-OD), which serves as the backbone for constructing a dynamic-aware and LiDAR-only SLAM in a tight-coupled and consistent manner. Assisted with LiDAR intensity and geometric features, the object segmentation module clusters curved voxels into objects and recognizes potential dynamic (PD) objects as prior knowledge. Then, in the object tracking module, PD objects are tracked through curved-voxel overlay, and high dynamic (HD) objects are removed according to the object overlap ratio. The aforementioned two modules are closely coupled to mutually compensate for accuracy loss by sharing the same SCV-OD. Finally, the voxelized generalized iterative closest point (VGICP)-based LiDAR mapping module optimizes LiDAR poses by considering dynamic objects and results in a global static instance map. We validated the proposed method on the public dataset (KITTI) and our custom dataset. The evaluation results illustrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art (SOTA) LiDAR-only methods in pose estimation and dynamic removal.
Asteroid Rendezvous Missions Using Indirect Methods of Optimal Control

The main contribution of this dissertation is the development of techniques to overcome the difficulty in initializing algorithms based on indirect methods of optimal control and the Pontryagin maximum principle. Moreover, the developed techniques efficiently solve an enormous set of timeminimal and fuel-minimal spacecraft trajectory optimization problems, demonstrating the large scale applicability of the techniques as well as presenting a new approach to trajectory optimization. Using the techniques developed within, a main objective of this dissertation is to assess the feasibility of space missions to a new population of near Earth asteroids which temporarily orbit Earth, called minimoons. We design rendezvous missions to a database of over 16,000 simulated minimoons. As a first approach, the time-minimization rendezvous problem is investigated. The Circular restricted three-body problem is used to model the gravitational effects of the Earth and Moon on the spacecraft. Continuation-based techniques which rely on the knowledge of an existing solution are used to initialize the algorithms. For a spacecraft with 1 Newton maximum thrust, our methods successfully compute locally time-minimal transfers to over 96% of the 16,923 simulated minimoons, with transfer times on the order of one month. For a sample of 250 minimoons, continuation techniques further reduce the maximum thrust as low as 0.1 Newtons with transfer times less than four months. The time-minimal results give some understanding of a lower bound for the transfer times, but have high fuel requirements. To improve the results and investigate fuel constraints, the fuelminimization problem is investigated. The spacecraft is assumed to start on a Halo orbit around the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrangian point. The Circular Restricted Four-Body Problem is used to model the gravitational effects of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, and the mass variation of the spacecraft is modeled. The structure of the control is fixed to three boosts, and the transfer times are constrained to be less than six months. Again indirect methods are employed to identify fuel-minimal transfers, and a continuation-based “cloud” technique is developed to overcome the initialization difficulty. For a spacecraft with 22 Newton maximum thrust and 230 second specific impulse, our methods produce rendezvous missions with delta-v values under 500 meters per second for over 30% of the simulated asteroids, and for some transfers delta-v values less than 100 meters per second. Most importantly, the work presented in this dissertation strongly suggests that minimoons are accessible via spacecraft at low cost and should continue to be investigated.
Effect of Combined High-Pressure Homogenization and Biotechnological Processes on Chitin, Protein, and Antioxidant Activity of Cricket Powder-Based Ingredients

The main objective of this work was to evaluate the combined effect of a biotechnology process, based on selected yeast strains, and a high-pressure homogenization (HPH) treatment on the microbiological quality, structural organization of proteins, chitin content, and antioxidant activity of a mixture of cricket powder (Acheta domesticus) and water. Compared to untreated samples, the cricket matrix treated with HPH four times at 180 MPa promoted the growth of the inoculated Yarrowia lipolytica and Debaryomyces hansenii strains. HPH did not affect the concentration of chitin; however, the combination with microorganisms tended to reduce the content. Although the antioxidant activity increased from 0.52 to 0.68 TAC mM/TE after a 48 h incubation in the control, it was further improved by the combination of HPH and D. hansenii metabolism, reaching a value of 0.77 TAC mM/TE. The combination of the two approaches also promoted a reduction in the intensity of bands with molecular weights between 31 and 21.5 kDa in favor of bands with a lower molecular weight. In addition, HPH treatment reduced the number of accessible thiols, suggesting protein structure changes that may further impact the technological properties of cricket powder.
Wind and Current Forcing Combine to Drive Strong Upwelling in the Agulhas Current

AbstractStrong upwelling events inshore of the Agulhas Current close to 33.5°S are investigated. These events are important to the exchange of shelf and slope waters, potentially enhancing primary productivity and advecting larvae offshore. Using hydrographic observations, this study shows that a wind-driven upwelling event and a current-driven upwelling event can each advect central waters more than 130 m upward, resulting in a maximum 9°C cooling at 50-m depth over the continental shelf and surface cooling greater than 4°C. The authors use satellite data to assess the frequency and forcing mechanisms of similar cold events from January 2003 through December 2011, defining cold events as days when the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly is significantly correlated with a local current or wind forcing. The authors identify 47 events with an average length of 2.2 days and SST anomaly of −1.6°C, corresponding to an average 13 days of surface cold events along the Agulhas Current front per year. This study.
The double-edged sword of personality in shaping craftsmanship spirit: an investigation of conscientiousness and openness to experience

Background Craftsmanship is associated with various positive outcomes at both individual and organizational level, and thus has attracted scholarly attention on examining its antecedents. While craftsmanship can be shaped by both contextual factors and personal traits, existing research has dominantly focused on the former, leaving the latter less examined. Such a lack of examination limits our understanding of craftsmanship in workplace. Objective Following the view that individuals’ intrinsic desire to do the job as the core of craftsmanship, we define craftsmanship spirit (CS) as an individual’s psychological state of feeling competent, transcendent, and valuable during work, which evolves as an individual’s skills and knowledge expand. We then draw on the classic dispositional literature to explore how individuals’ personality traits (conscientiousness and openness to experience) shape the development of CS differently (i.e., the initial level and the developmental trajectory), and test our theory using a latent growth modeling (LGM) approach. Methods We conducted a four-round on-site questionnaire survey with participants who were employees at a large manufacturing company in China. The final sample consists of 746 matched respondents. Data analysis was performed in Mplus 8.3. Results Empirical results confirm our hypotheses that both conscientiousness and openness to experience have a positive effect on the initial level of CS. Besides, conscientiousness has a negative effect on the subsequent growth of CS. However, the proposed negative effect of openness to experience on the subsequent growth of CS was not supported when the other four personality traits were considered simultaneously. Conclusion This study reveals that conscientiousness and openness to experience have an important effect on CS. Specifically, both conscientiousness and openness to experience are associated with a high level of CS, and the former is associated with low growth of CS. This study not only broadened our understanding on the antecedents of CS, but also provided a dynamic perspective to understand CS in workplace.
Subjective Assessment of Urban Quality of Life Indices, Case Study: Yazd , 2011-2012

Urban quality of life represents more than the private “living standards” and refers to all the elements of the conditions in which people live, that is, all their needs and requirements. In economic literature, urban quality of life is usually assessed through the standard revealed-preference approach, which defines a QOL index as the monetary value of urban amenities. This paper proposes an innovative methodology to measure urban QOL with special highlight on subjective criteria. According to this methodology, urban QOL is usually measured through subjective criteria resulted from monitoring and assessing citizens’ perceptions from and satisfaction with urban life or using objective criteria derived from secondary data and it is rarely assessed using both of these two criteria. This methodology is applied to derive QOL indices for the city of Yazd. In this study, 400 families were selected from among the chosen neighborhoods using two-step clustering method. Statistical methods such as factor analysis, Friedman test and Kruskal–Wallis were used for measuring and comparing residents’ satisfaction with life quality indices. The results of the studies showed that satisfaction level with quality of life in Yazd was at a relatively low level. On the other hand, the highest dissatisfaction rate of the residents of Yazd was with utility, facilities, services and transportation. It can be concluded that appropriate strategies should be considered separately in each of the mentioned fields in order to promote the QOL in city of Yazd.
The quality of urban spaces in Valletta and their relevance to tourism

The quality of urban spaces is dependent on numerous factors involving the physical attributes of buildings, spaces and street patterns but also on other factors relating to the psychology of place. In this paper, Valletta’s urban spaces are discussed using a model from urban design literature. The discussion also considers the interrelationship between the City and the sea, and notes how the visual connection to the sea is one of several elements which could potentially contribute to urban quality. Urban spaces are also relevant to regeneration and therefore this paper refers to regeneration projects for Valletta, including several involving urban spaces. The paper concludes with a few observations on some urban spaces in Valletta.
Direct Exposure to Outdoor Air Pollution Worsens the Functional Status of Stroke Patients Treated with Mechanical Thrombectomy

Background The effect of air pollutants on the functional status of stroke patients in short-term follow-up is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of air pollution occurring in the stroke period and during hospitalization on the functional status of patients undergoing mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Methods Our study included stroke patients for which the individual-level exposure to ambient levels of O3, CO, SO2, NO2, PM2.5, and PM10 during the acute stroke period was assessed. The correlations between the air pollutants’ concentration and the patients’ functional state were analyzed. A total of 499 stroke patients (mean age: 70) were qualified. Results The CO concentration at day of stroke onset was found to be significant regarding the functional state of patients on the 10th day (OR 0.014 95% CI 0–0.908, p = 0.048). The parameters which increased the risk of death in the first 10 days were as follows: NIHSS (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.15–1.42; p < 0.001), intracranial bleeding (OR 4.08; 95% CI 1.75–9.76; p = 0.001), and SO2 concentration on day 2 (OR 1.21; 95% CI 1.02–1.47; p = 0.03). The parameters which increased the mortality rate within 90 days include age (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.02–1.13; p = 0.005) and NIHSS (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.19–1.63; p < 0.001). Conclusions Exposure to air pollution with CO and SO2 during the acute stroke phase has adverse effects on the patients’ functional status. A combination of parameters, such as neurological state, hemorrhagic transformation, and SO2 exposure, is unfavorable in terms of the risk of death during a hospitalization due to stroke. The risk of a worsened functional status of patients in the first month of stroke rises along with the increase in particulate matter concentrations within the first days of stroke.
Elevated CO2 alters the structure of the bacterial community assimilating plant‐derived carbon in the rhizosphere of soya bean

Elevated CO2 (eCO2) increases rhizodeposits, which in turn alters the soil microbial community. However, it is not really known how the microbial community metabolizes plant‐derived carbon (C) in the rhizosphere under eCO2, especially in agricultural soils. This study used a 13CO2 labelling technique combined with DNA‐stable isotope probing (SIP) to fractionate the 13C‐DNA and 12C‐DNA from the rhizosphere of soya bean plants (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Suinong 14) grown for 54 days under ambient CO2 (aCO2) (390 ppm) or eCO2 (550 ppm). The DNA fractions were then subjected to Illumina Miseq sequencing. The results showed that eCO2 decreased the richness and diversity of the 13C‐assimilating bacterial community compared to aCO2 (p < 0.05). Elevated CO2 decreased the abundances of genera, including Pseudarthrobacter, Gaiellales_uncultured, Microlunatus, Gemmatimonas, Gemmatimonadaceae_uncultured, Ramlibacter, Massilia, Luteimonas, Acidobacteriaceae_uncultured, Bryobacter and Candidatus_Solibacter. These genera were probably fast‐growing bacteria and sensitive to labile C. In contrast, eCO2 stimulated the growth of genera Novosphingobium, Acidimicrobiales_uncultured, Bacillus, Flavisolibacter and Schlesneria, which were able to assimilate complex C compounds. Moreover, the increased population of Novosphingobium under eCO2 might have accelerated electron flow from the oxidation of organic C. Correspondingly, eCO2 did not affect the concentration of the dissolved organic C but increased the plant‐derived 13C in the rhizosphere. These results indicated that an eCO2‐induced increase in non‐labile C in rhizodeposits contributed to the increase in population size of a number of the plant‐C‐metabolizing genera that might become the mechanism for the turnover of fresh C in the rhizosphere, modifying the soil C cycle under eCO2 environments.
Anatomy of a late spring snowfall on sea ice

Spring melt initiation is a critical process for Arctic sea ice. Melting conditions decrease surface albedo at a time of high insolation, triggering powerful albedo feedback. Weather events during melt initiation, such as new snowfalls, can stop or reverse the albedo decline, however. Here we present field observations of such a snow event and demonstrate its enduring impact through summer. Snow fell 3–6 June 2014 in the Chukchi Sea, halting melt onset. The snow not only raised albedo but also provided a significant negative latent heat flux, averaging ‐51 W m−2 from 3 to 6 June. The snowfall delayed sustained melt by 11 days, creating cascading impacts on surface energy balance that totaled some 135 MJ/m2 by mid‐August. The findings highlight the sensitivity of sea ice conditions on seasonal time scales to melt initiation processes.
Significant Promising Effects of Bariatric Surgery on the Biochemical Control of Glycemia and Lipidemia in Diabetic Patients in Western Saudi Arabia: A Tertiary Center Experience and a Retrospective Study

Background: The prevalence of obesity has increased globally and is associated with many comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes and fatty liver and cardiovascular diseases. Bariatric surgery is considered an effective intervention for achieving weight loss and controlling lipidemia and glycemia. Objectives: This Saudi retrospective observational study evaluates the clinical and biochemical benefits following bariatric surgery to obese diabetic patients. Methodology: After gaining ethical committee approval, data was collected from the patients' medical records at a tertiary medical center (King Fahad General Hospital, Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia). The total sample size was 61 patients, of whom 78.33% (n=48) had a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater (obese class III). Results: Following bariatric surgery, there were statistically significant reductions (p<0.001) in BMI and HbA1C (decreased from 45.53±7.791 kg/m2 and 7.9±1.82% to 33.42±6.18 kg/m2 and 6.06±1.35%, respectively, after surgery). Likewise, significant reductions (p<0.001) occurred to serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides that decreased from 234.4±26.7 mg/dl, 152.2±19.4 mg/dl, and 187.3±24.6 mg/dl to 158.4±17.3 mg/dl, 95.6±15.7 mg/dl, and 132.5±19.5 mg/dl, respectively. Interestingly, serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) significantly increased (p<0.001) from 43.8±6.2 mg/dl to 52.3±4.6 mg/dl. Using the novel clinical therapeutic index, bariatric surgery decreased BMI by about 26.6%. Using the novel biochemical therapeutic index, bariatric surgery decreased HbA1C, serum total cholesterol, serum LDL cholesterol, and serum triglycerides by about 22.99%, 32.42%, 37.18%, and 29.26%, respectively, while serum HDL increased by about 19.4%. Conclusion: Bariatric surgery is an effective intervention for obese diabetic patients resulting in weight loss, better control of diabetes and hyperlipidemia, and the metabolic profile. It is also recommended in Saudi Arabia for the high prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus.
Fluctuations, gene circuit architecture and stem cell quiescence

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GISAT. Análisis de la identificación biométrica actual mediante el electrocardiograma.

Subject recognition based on physical features, that could be unique and inimitable between subjects, have been in society from almost a century. For instance, fingerprint has been used as an identification method in many tasks covering from police investigation, as a traditional use in forensic, to personal security integrated in laptops or mobile phones. These biometric identification methods have continued progressing in order to recognise subjects through features such as retinal scaner, face, or the electric signal of heart (electrocardiogram). Along this study, many procedures, that can be used in order to biometrical identification based on electrocargiogram, are described. From a basic explanation of these recognition methods, we deep towards describing especifcally three of the most representative studies in each one of non-fiducial based techniques. Beyond that, we also proceed to reconstruction and verification of each one of them, through the use of an open, free, and accesible database that could serve as a reference for training and standarisation of these methods. Final results are similar to those obtained in original papers, thus concluding that the methods can be easily extrapolated to wider database and can be implemented in real-time systems.
A comparison of the climates of the Medieval Climate Anomaly, Little Ice Age, and Current Warm Period reconstructed using coral records from the northern South China Sea

For the global oceans, the characteristics of high-resolution climate changes during the last millennium remain uncertain because of the limited availability of proxy data. This study reconstructs climate conditions using annually resolved coral records from the South China Sea (SCS) to provide new insights into climate change over the last millennium. The results indicate that the climate of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, AD 900–1300) was similar to that of the Current Warm Period (CWP, AD 1850-present), which contradicts previous studies. The similar warmth levels for the MCA and CWP have also been recorded in the Makassar Strait of Indonesia, which suggests that the MCA was not warmer than the CWP in the western Pacific and that this may not have been a globally uniform change. Hydrological conditions were drier/saltier during the MCA and similar to those of the CWP. The drier/saltier MCA and CWP in the western Pacific may be associated with the reduced precipitation caused by variations in the Pacific Walker Circulation. As for the Little Ice Age (LIA, AD 1550–1850), the results from this study, together with previous data from the Makassar Strait, indicate a cold and wet period compared with the CWP and the MCA in the western Pacific. The cold LIA period agrees with the timing of the Maunder sunspot minimum and is therefore associated with low solar activity. The fresher/wetter LIA in the western Pacific may have been caused by the synchronized retreat of both the East Asian Summer Monsoon and the Australian Monsoon.