Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parent-adolescent Communication on Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters and Associated Factors among Secondary and Preparatory School Students in Robe Town, Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia, 2017

Background Adolescents is the transition from childhood to adulthood . Which is a time of opportunity, but also one of risk. In Ethiopia, sexual and reproductive health problems of adolescents are increasing from time to time related to many parents not feeling happy to discuss sexual matters in addition to early sexual commencement among adolescents. Objective This study was intended to assess parent-adolescent communication on sexual and reproductive health matters and associated factors among secondary and preparatory school students in Robe Town, Bale Zone, South East Ethiopia, 2017. Methods Institution based cross sectional study was conducted among 394 secondary and preparatory school students in Robe town from April 10-25, 2017. Simple random sampling technique was used. Data was obtained through the use of a self administered questionnaire and supplemented by focus group discussion with parents. Data was entered using Epi Data 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS 20. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were done. Data quality was assured through careful questionnaire design, pretest and training. Results One hundred eighty six (47%) of the study participants had discussed at least two SRH issues with their parents. Grade eleven students were about nearly five times more likely discussed on sexual and reproductive matters with their parent compared with grade nine students (AOR: 4.88, 95% CI: 1.76, 13.54). Those living with relatives were 3.13 times less likely discussed as compared to those students are living with both parents (AOR: 0.32, 95%CI: (0.12, 0.80) and the odds of discussion on SRH matters is 2 times higher among females compared with their counterpart (AOR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.25, 3.26). Conclusions Communication on sexual and reproductive health matters between adolescent and parent was low. Majority of student preferred to discuss with their peers than parent. Being ashamed, parents lack of communication skill and parent knowledge on SRH issues were the major reasons mentioned by the students for not discussing about SRH matters with their parents. Therefore; comprehensive family life education needs to be initiated for the students and parents. Sexual information exchange between peers needs to be strengthened.
Quantifying forest residual biomass in Pinus halepensis Miller stands using Airborne Laser Scanning data

The estimation of forest residual biomass is of interest to assess the availability of green energy resources. This study relates the Pinus halepensis Miller forest residual biomass (FRB), estimated in 192 field plots, to several independent variables extracted from Airborne Laser Scanner (ALS) data in Aragón region (Spain). Five selection approaches and four non-parametric regression methods were compared to estimate FRB. The sample was divided into training and validation sets, composed of 144 and 48 plots, respectively. The best-fitted model was obtained using the Support Vector Machine method with the radial kernel. The model included three ALS metrics: the 70th percentile, the variance of the return heights, and the percentage of first returns above mean height. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) after validation was 8.85 tons ha−1. The influence of point density, scan angle, canopy pulse penetration, terrain slope, and shrub presence in model performance was assessed using graphical and statistical approaches. Point densities higher than 1 point m−2, scan angles lower than 15°, canopy pulse penetration over 25%, and terrain slopes under 30% generated a smaller variability in mean predictive error (MPE) values, thus increasing model accuracy in 0.56, 1.94, 1.44, and 5.47 tons ha−1, respectively. Shrub vegetation caused greater variability in MPE values but slightly decreased model accuracy (0.10 tons ha−1). No statistically significant differences were found between the categories in the influencing variables, except for canopy pulse penetration. The mapping of Pinus halepensis Miller FRB using the best-fitted model summed up a total of 3,627,021.25 tons, which equals to 1,584.91 thousand tonnes of oil (ktoe).
Methane Hydrate Stability and Potential Resource in the Levant Basin, Southeastern Mediterranean Sea

To estimate the potential inventory of natural gas hydrates (NGH) in the Levant Basin, southeastern Mediterranean Sea, we correlated the gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ), modeled with local thermodynamic parameters, with seismic indicators of gas. A compilation of the oceanographic measurements defines the >1 km deep water temperature and salinity to 13.8 °C and 38.8‰ respectively, predicting the top GHSZ at a water depth of ~1250 m. Assuming sub-seafloor hydrostatic pore-pressure, water-body salinity, and geothermal gradients ranging between 20 to 28.5 °C/km, yields a useful first-order GHSZ approximation. Our model predicts that the entire northwestern half of the Levant seafloor lies within the GHSZ, with a median sub-seafloor thickness of ~150 m. High amplitude seismic reflectivity (HASR), correlates with the active seafloor gas seepage and is distributed across the deep-sea fan of the Nile within the Levant Basin. Trends observed in the distribution of the HASR are suggested to represent: (1) Shallow gas and possibly hydrates within buried channel-lobe systems 25 to 100 mbsf; and (2) a regionally discontinuous bottom simulating reflection (BSR) broadly matching the modeled base of GHSZ. We therefore estimate the potential methane hydrates resources within the Levant Basin at ~100 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) and its carbon content at ~1.5 gigatonnes.
Mobile learning in higher education: a glimpse and a comparison of student and faculty readiness, attitudes and perceptions

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee members for their guidance and support during this process. To Dr. Yiping Lou, whose high expectations challenged me and whose constant encouragement helped me develop from student to scholar. To Dr. Eugene Kennedy, whose support and reassurance gave me the confidence to accomplish my goals. And, to Dr. Loren Marks and Dr. Keena Arbuthnot whose exceptional advice always kept me grounded. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the love and support of my family. To my husband, Veysel, thank you for supporting me through the late nights, always keeping me positive, and never letting me give up. To my mother, who has always been my biggest cheerleader, thank you for being my soundboard throughout this process and for always believing in me. To my brother, Andrew, thank you for making me laugh during times of stress. And, to my daughter Katie, who was born in between chapter 3 and 4, thank you for keeping me smiling while writing chapters 4 and 5. I would also like to thank my professors, my colleagues in the educational technology program, my friends, and my extended family for keeping me motivated throughout my journey as a doctoral student.
Alternating contraction and extension in the Southern Central Andes (35°–37°S)

The Andes are thought to be formed through discrete contractional stages separated by periods of little to no orogenic construction. This paper analyzes the intervals between the main contractional phases that built the Southern Central Andes between 35° and 37°S in order to determine whether they were characterized by neutral, contractional or extensional conditions. During an interruption in orogenesis between the Late Cretaceous and the Miocene shortening phases, two extensional stages are recorded through the opening of a series of intra- and retro-arc basins. U-Pb dating of detrital zircons in a sample collected from the Los Ángeles unit, a syn-extensional volcano-sedimentary succession located at ∼35°40'S along the Chile and Argentina international border, provided a maximum depositional age of 67.1 +2.4/−0.9 Ma. This age, in association with evidence of regional crustal thinning, suggests a previously unrecognized extensional phase during latest Cretaceous times. Limited shortening succeeded this extensional event and was followed by a second extensional episode during late Oligocene and earliest Miocene times. While the first extensional event was restricted to the core of the Late Cretaceous orogen, the second episode affected a wide area ranging between the present forearc and retroarc areas. A structural section across the Malargüe fold-thrust belt at ∼36°S indicates inversion of normal faults where extension was focused and new thrust generation in areas not affected by extensional deformation. Our data reveal that the growth of the Southern Central Andes is the product of a complex alternation of contractional and extensional phases, with inherited structures playing a role in their tectonic evolution. A comparison with other Cordilleran orogenic systems such as the Puna-Altiplano plateau, the northern Peruvian Andes and the North American Sevier-Laramide orogenic belt, suggests that extensional deformation in the Southern Central Andes responds better to changes in plate kinematics, rather than to localized events within a continuous contractional setting.
Characterizing Boreal Peatland Plant Composition and Species Diversity with Hyperspectral Remote Sensing

Peatlands, which account for approximately 15% of land surface across the arctic and boreal regions of the globe, are experiencing a range of ecological impacts as a result of climate change. Factors that include altered hydrology resulting from drought and permafrost thaw, rising temperatures, and elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been shown to cause plant community compositional changes. Shifts in plant composition affect the productivity, species diversity, and carbon cycling of peatlands. We used hyperspectral remote sensing to characterize the response of boreal peatland plant composition and species diversity to warming, hydrologic change, and elevated CO2. Hyperspectral remote sensing techniques offer the ability to complete landscape-scale analyses of ecological responses to climate disturbance when paired with plot-level measurements that link ecosystem biophysical properties with spectral reflectance signatures. Working within two large ecosystem manipulation experiments, we examined climate controls on composition and diversity in two types of common boreal peatlands: a nutrient rich fen located at the Alaska Peatland Experiment (APEX) in central Alaska, and an ombrotrophic bog located in northern Minnesota at the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment. We found a strong effect of plant functional cover on spectral reflectance characteristics. We also found a positive relationship between species diversity and spectral variation at the APEX field site, which is consistent with other recently published findings. Based on the results of our field study, we performed a supervised land cover classification analysis on an aerial hyperspectral dataset to map peatland plant functional types (PFTs) across an area encompassing a range of different plant communities. Our results underscore recent advances in the application of remote sensing measurements to ecological research, particularly in far northern ecosystems.
Minimum time optimal control simulation of a GP2 race car

In this work, optimal control theory is applied to minimum lap time simulation of a GP2 car, using a multibody car model with enhanced load transfer dynamics. The mathematical multibody model is formulated with use of the symbolic algebra software MBSymba and it comprises 14 degrees of freedom, including full chassis motion, suspension travels and wheel spins. The kinematics of the suspension is exhaustively analysed and the impact of tyre longitudinal and lateral forces in determining vehicle trim is demonstrated. An indirect optimal control method is then used to solve the minimum lap time problem. Simulation outcomes are compared with experimental data acquired during a qualifying lap at Montmeló circuit (Barcelona) in the 2012 GP2 season. Results demonstrate the reliability of the model, suggesting it can be used to optimise car settings (such as gearing and aerodynamic setup) before executing track tests.
Multimodel Analysis of Future Land Use and Climate Change Impacts on Ecosystem Functioning

Land use and climate changes both affect terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we used three combinations of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and Representative Concentration Pathways (SSP1xRCP26, SSP3xRCP60, and SSP5xRCP85) as input to three dynamic global vegetation models to assess the impacts and associated uncertainty on several ecosystem functions: terrestrial carbon storage and fluxes, evapotranspiration, surface albedo, and runoff. We also performed sensitivity simulations in which we kept either land use or climate (including atmospheric CO2) constant from year 2015 on to calculate the isolated land use versus climate effects. By the 2080–2099 period, carbon storage increases by up to 87 ± 47 Gt (SSP1xRCP26) compared to present day, with large spatial variance across scenarios and models. Most of the carbon uptake is attributed to drivers beyond future land use and climate change, particularly the lagged effects of historic environmental changes. Future climate change typically increases carbon stocks in vegetation but not soils, while future land use change causes carbon losses, even for net agricultural abandonment (SSP1xRCP26). Evapotranspiration changes are highly variable across scenarios, and models do not agree on the magnitude or even sign of change of the individual effects. A calculated decrease in January and July surface albedo (up to −0.021 ± 0.007 and −0.004 ± 0.004 for SSP5xRCP85) and increase in runoff (+67 ± 6 mm/year) is largely driven by climate change. Overall, our results show that future land use and climate change will both have substantial impacts on ecosystem functioning. However, future changes can often not be fully explained by these two drivers and legacy effects have to be considered.
Effect of Mineral Nitrogen Fertilization and Compost on Stevia Yield and its Profitability.

Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) was recently introduced to Egyptian agriculture in order to produce a natural sweetener (Steviol glycosides ) instead of sugar (Sucrose) to cover some of the lack of sugar production, which reached annually about 0.8 million ton. So, a field experiment was carried out at Mallawi Agriculture Research Station , Minia Governorate , Egypt, during two successive seasons (2014 and 2015) to study the effect of different levels of mineral N fertilization and compost on yield and its quality of stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) under Middle Egypt conditions. The experimental design was a split plot in three replicates and the main plot were devoted N fertilizer levels ( 40, 60 and 80 kg N fed) while compost levels (0, 3 and 6 ton fed) were allocated in the sub plot. The obtained results revealed that N fertilizer level and/or compost level had a significant effect on plant height (cm) , fresh and dry leaves weight (g plant) , N, P& K contents of stevia leaves and N uptake kg fed, dry leaves yield kg fed , stevioside (St %), rebaudioside A (Rb%), stevioside yield (kg/fed) and rebaudioside A yield (kg fed), the remained nutrients ( N,P & K (ppm) and OM % ) in the soil post-harvest of stevia in two growing seasons, except P% of leaf in the 2 season for N fertilization. A significant interaction was scored between N fertilizer level and compost rate with regard to plant height (cm) , fresh and dry leaves weight (g plant) , N % of stevia leaves and N uptake kg fed , dry leaves yield kg fed , stevioside (St %), rebaudioside A (Rb%), stevioside yield (kg fed) and rebaudioside A yield (kg fed) of stevia in the two growing seasons. From the present study , it may be concluded that the application of 60 kg mineral N fertilizer + 6.0 ton compost fed was the best treatment for improving the yield and quality of stevia and is advisable to achieve the highest values of rebaudioside A (298.99 and 297.74 kg fed) ,and net profit of stevia.
An invertebrate-based index to characterize ecological responses to flow intermittence in rivers

Intermittent streams occur across global regions, and are increasingly recognized to support high bio-diversity and perform important ecological roles within catchments. New tools are needed to better characterize biotic responses to the full spectrum of environmental conditions that occur in these dynamic systems, because the biological indices developed to assess ecological responses to flow in perennial rivers may be inaccurate in intermittent streams. We present the Monitoring Intermittent Streams index (MIS-index), a new biological index that can be used to assess invertebrate responses to environmental changes spanning flowing, ponded and drying states. As well as fully aquatic taxa, the index includes semi-aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates from marginal habitats, which are collected during the standard surveys used by regulatory agencies to assess ecological quality. We explore how including these taxa within an index informs our understanding of aquatic–terrestrial invertebrate community responses to changing habitat composition, as intermittent streams transition from lotic to lentic then drier conditions. We explain the development of the MIS-index and explore its performance compared with other indices. We suggest index combinations that can be used to detect different aspects of ecological responses to variation in instream conditions, and highlight the advantages of including semi-aquatic and terrestrial taxa. We call for researchers to test the performance of the MIS-index across a wide range of intermittent stream types, to enable its development into an internationally applicable tool for the holistic assessment of ecological responses to changing hydrological conditions including drying.
Seroprevalence of Co-Infections Among Blood Donors in A Blood Bank of A Tertiary Health Care Centre

INTRODUCTION: Transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) like HIV, HBV, HCV, syphilis and malaria are major problems associated with blood transfusion practices. Because of shared modes of transmission, co-infection with HIV, HBV and HCV is a significant occurrence, particularly in areas where these viruses are endemic and even amongst apparently healthy subjects like blood donors. Hence the study was undertaken to analyze the prevalence and patterns of co-infections among voluntary and replacement donors in our geographical area METHODS: The present study was carried out in Blood bank of S.N Medical College, Bagalkot from July 2012 to June 2013. Two ml of blood sample was collected in labeled pilot tube at the time of collection of blood from donor tubing of blood bag. Serum was separated. The samples were tested for HIV, HBV, HCV, Malaria and Syphilis. RESULTS: Out of the 8187 blood donors, 7461 (91.13%) were replacement donors and remaining 726 (8.87%) were voluntary donors. Co-infection was seen in 8 (0.09%) donors. CONCLUSION: Co infections are more common among replacement donors. Since co infected individuals are at greater risk of hepatotoxicity following treatment with antiviral drugs, care should be taken to detect all infections among otherwise healthy donors.
Solar photovoltaic panels significantly promote vegetation recovery by modifying the soil surface microhabitats in an arid sandy ecosystem

The arid sandy areas have great potential for producing solar power, and a large number of solar photovoltaic (PV) power (SPP) stations have been set‐up in these regions across the world. Construction of SPP at large scale certainly changes the land surface with consequences on the local ecosystem. However, few studies have focused on these impacts. This study explored the influence of SPP on vegetation by modifying microhabitats. The soil water content (SWC), evaporation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), soil and air temperature (AT), vegetation coverage, biomass, and species richness were measured under different positions of the SPP and outside. The results showed that SWC in the station was much higher than that observed outside the SPP, and the evaporation in the SPP was lower than outside (P < .05). The PAR below the PV panel line zone is much lower than the interval (IT) zone. The surface coverage, biomass, and species richness were significantly higher in the SPP than outside the IT zone and outside the SPP (P < .05). The AT under the panel was 1.67 times lower than above during the plant growing season. The microhabitat index has a high correlation with biomass, coverage, and species richness. PV panels could impact microhabitat in arid sandy areas and accelerate vegetation recovery progress and quality. The SPP construction would not only supply clean energy but also bring unintended ecological benefits in the future.
Scaling of total evaporative water loss and evaporative heat loss in birds at different ambient temperatures and seasons

Endothermic animals exchange heat with the environment via four modes: conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation). Evaporation is of significant ecological interest. Evaporation from an animal always results in a decrease in the temperature of the surface from which the evaporation occurs. Therefore, evaporation is oneway transfer which causes heat loss from the organism. Biological evaporation always implies loss of water which is a vital resource for nearly all biochemical processes. Evaporation is the loss of heat via the loss of body mass.1 First guidance for the direct weighing method to determine evaporative water loss was obtained from the studies of Hutchinson and Sykes2 and Hutchinson3 on evaporation in domestic fowl. Robert С Lasiewski, Alfredo L Acosta and Marvin H Bernstein using new techniques and equipment, invented new methods different from the original method. A major disadvantage of the direct weighing method is that it does not permit the simultaneous determination of the energetic cost of evaporative cooling by monitoring oxygen consumption or carbon dioxide production, as is possible in the open flow method. As previous studies have shown,4–7 it is possible to determine evaporative heat loss from the ratio (q) between heat production (RM) (determined by the rate of oxygen consumption) and body mass loss (Dm) at various ambient temperatures (TA): q=RM/Dm. High water loss necessitates regular water ingestion through drinking, consuming water in food, and metabolic water production. The method is based on the law of conservation of mass where the total mass of the reactants equals the total mass of the products leading to the insight that the relations among quantities of reactants and products typically form a ratio of positive integers (stoichiometry). The method uses the metabolic rate (oxygen consumption) of the bird at thermo neutral ambient temperatures (TA), respiratory quotient (RQ), the loss of body mass and the energetic equivalent of the loss of body mass (q) as the ratio between heat production and the loss of body mass. It is known that the loss of mass in bird exposed to controlled conditions is due to three major factors:8–10