Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multilayer Sparse Least Squares Migration=Deep Convolutional Neural Network

We recast the multilayered sparse inversion problem as a multilayered neural network problem. Unlike standard least squares migration (LSM) which finds the optimal reflectivity image, neural network least squares migration (NNLSM) finds both the optimal reflectivity image and the quasi-migration-Green's functions. These quasi-migration-Green's functions are also denoted as the convolutional filters in a convolutional neural network (CNN) and are similar to migration Green's functions. We show that the CNN filters and feature maps are directly related to the migration Green's functions and reflectivity distributions. Thus, we provide for the first time a physical interpretation of the filters and feature maps in deep CNN in terms of the operators for seismic imaging. The advantage of NNLSM over standard LSM is that its computational cost is significantly less and it can be used for denoising coherent and incoherent noise in migration images. Its disadvantage is that the NNLSM reflectivity image is only an approximation to the actual reflectivity distribution. However, the approximate reflectivity image can be used as a superresolution attribute image for high-resolution delineation of geologic bodies.
Newspapers coverage of the Egyptian January 25 Revolution: a framinganalysis

APA Citation Ibrahim, E. (2012). Newspapers coverage of the Egyptian January 25 Revolution: a framing analysis [Master’s thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt. edu/etds/1006 MLA Citation Ibrahim, Ekram. Newspapers coverage of the Egyptian January 25 Revolution: a framing analysis. 2012. American University in Cairo, Master's thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain. https://fount.aucegypt. edu/etds/1006
Humor Perception Strategies in L1 and L2 at Different Learning Stages

: This study explored the processing strategies of translation-equivalent humor in L1 and L2 by junior high, senior high school students and university sophomores. Think-aloud protocol was used to reveal their processing strategies. The results show that the types and frequency of strategies for L1 and L2 joke processing were quite different, with much more strategies used for L2 joke processing, indicating that L1 humor processing involves more automatic intuitive thinking while L2 humor processing involves more controlled reflective thinking mode. The findings also suggest that L2 humor perception involves initial encoding, incongruity detection and reinterpretation processes, providing evidences for Comprehension-Elaboration Theory.
Effects of exposure to carbon nanomaterials on soil microbial communities: A global meta‐analysis

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) are extensively employed in diverse fields and will inevitably be discharged into the soil to affect the soil microbial community. Numerous related studies have investigated the effects of exposure to CNMs on soil microbial communities, yet a consensus on their effects still needs to be discovered. This study conducted a global meta‐analysis by synthesizing 474 pairs of experiments from 20 screened publications in the literature from 2000 to 2022. The findings indicate that: exposure to CNMs significantly reduced microbial biomass carbon (MBC) by 17.02% and increased soil Shannon index by 2.63% (p < 0.05), which had no significant effect on soil microbial community composition and only reduced the proportion of Proteobacteria by 6.83%. The type of CNMs was one of the important influencing factors. The exposure to multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) significantly reduced the soil MBC (p < 0.05). It reduced the proportion of Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria in soil, which had less effect on soil microbial diversity and was more suitable as a crop growth promoter. The exposure of single‐walled carbon nanotubes exhibited a comparable impact on soil microbial biomass as MWCNTs while significantly increasing soil microbial diversity. The exposure of fullerene (C60) had no significant effect on soil microbial biomass but significantly decreased microbial diversity (p < 0.05). In addition, soil pH, CNMs exposure dose, and exposure time significantly affect the effects of CNMs (p < 0.05). This research recommends that CNMs be used in high pH soil with high electrical charge intensity while avoiding exposure doses exceeding 1000 mg/kg and limiting exposure time to 50–100 days to minimize long‐term exposure effects on the soil. MWCNTs are less toxic to microbial communities compared with the other CNMs and are more suitable as crop growth promoters. In conclusion, CNMs show great potential for promoting agricultural production.
ABCC1, ABCG2 and FOXP3: Predictive Biomarkers of Toxicity from Methotrexate Treatment in Patients Diagnosed with Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis

Background: Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most extensively used drugs in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis (PS). However, it frequently must be suspended owing to the toxicity in certain patients. Objective: To evaluate the influence of ABCC1, ABCG2, and FOXP3 in the development of MTX toxicity in PS. Methods: Retrospective cohort study with 101 patients. Five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using real-time polymerase chain reaction with TaqMan probes. Results: Patients carrying ABCC1 rs2238476-AG genotype (AG vs. GG: OR = 8.04; 95% CI = 1.48–46.78; p = 0.015); FOXP3 rs376154-GT and GG genotypes (GT vs. TT/GG: OR = 3.86; 95% CI = 1.17–13.92; p = 0.031) and ABCG2 rs13120400-T allele (T vs. CC: OR = 8.33; 95% CI = 1.24–164.79; p = 0.059) showed a higher risk of developing more than one adverse effect. The toxicity analysis by subtypes showed that the ABCC1 rs2238476-AG genotype (AG vs. GG: OR = 8.10; 95% CI = 1.69–46.63; p = 0.011) and FOXP3 rs376154-GT genotype (OR = 4.11; 95% CI = 1.22–15.30; p = 0.027) were associated with the appearance of asthenia. No association of the other ABCC1 polymorphisms (rs35592 and rs246240) with MTX toxicity was found. Conclusion: ABCC1, ABCG2, and FOXP3 polymorphisms can be considered to be risk biomarkers of toxicities in PS patients treated with MTX.
Resting-state EEG alpha rhythm spectral power in children with specific language impairment: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE This study investigated EEG alpha rhythm spectral power in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and compared it to typically developing children to better understand the electrophysiological characteristics of this disorder. Specifically, we explored resting-state EEG, because there are studies that point to it being linked to speech and language development. METHODS EEG recordings of 30 children diagnosed with specific language impairment and 30 typically developing children, aged 4.0-6.11 years, were carried out under eyes closed and eyes open conditions. Differences in alpha rhythm spectral power in relation to brain topography and experimental conditions were calculated. RESULTS In the eyes closed condition, alpha rhythm spectral power was statistically significantly lower in children with specific language impairment in the left temporal (T5) and occipital electrodes (O1, O2) than in typically developing children. In the eyes open condition, children with SLI showed significantly lower alpha rhythm spectral power in the left temporal (T3, T5), parietal (P3, Pz), and occipital electrodes (O1, O2). There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in relation to the relative change (the difference between average alpha rhythm spectral power during eyes closed condition and average alpha rhythm spectral power during eyes open condition divided by average alpha rhythm spectral power during eyes closed condition) in the alpha rhythm spectral power between the conditions. CONCLUSION Lower alpha rhythm spectral power in the left temporal, left, midline parietal, and occipital brain regions could be a valuable electrophysiological marker in children with SLI. Further investigation is needed to examine the connection between EEG alpha spectral power and general processing and memory deficits in patients with SLI.
Spatial Population Genetics: It's About Time

Many important questions about the history and dynamics of organisms have a geographical component: How many are there, and where do they live? How do they move and interbreed across the landscape? How were they moving a thousand years ago, and where were the ancestors of a particular individual alive today? Answers to these questions can have profound consequences for our understanding of history, ecology, and the evolutionary process. In this review, we discuss how geographic aspects of the distribution, movement, and reproduction of organisms are reflected in their pedigree across space and time. Because the structure of the pedigree is what determines patterns of relatedness in modern genetic variation, our aim is to thus provide intuition for how these processes leave an imprint in genetic data. We also highlight some current methods and gaps in the statistical toolbox of spatial population genetics.
Environment and child well-being: A scoping review of reviews to guide policies

Background: Acting on social determinants is the most effective, efficient, and fairest strategy to improve population health and health equity. Because of their vulnerability and dependence, children are particularly exposed to the deleterious effects of their living environment. Taking these issues into account in the development of public policies and identifying levers for action are crucial. The objective of this scoping review of reviews is to identify the main environmental determinants on children’s health and development, and their mechanisms of effect, to be addressed by public policies. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of reviews in accordance with the method developed by Arksey and O’Malley, and Levac and colleagues’ methodology advancement and the PRISMA guideline. Inclusion criteria were identified with the PICos (population-phenomena of interest-context-study design) framework. We used the PubMed database and conducted a thematic analyze. Results: Forty-seven articles were selected. Their analysis allowed us to identify five categories of interdependent environmental determinants of child health: i) urban design ii) contaminants, iii) parenting environment, iv) social conditions, v) climate change. Together and in a systemic way, they act on the health of the child. Conclusion: The review carried out allows us to propose a pragmatic framework for clarifying the effects of the physical, social, and economic environment on children’s health and wellbeing.
GestARLite: An On-Device Pointing Finger Based Gestural Interface for Smartphones and Video See-Through Head-Mounts

Hand gestures form an intuitive means of interaction in Mixed Reality (MR) applications. However, accurate gesture recognition can be achieved only through state-of-the-art deep learning models or with the use of expensive sensors. Despite the robustness of these deep learning models, they are generally computationally expensive and obtaining real-time performance on-device is still a challenge. To this end, we propose a novel lightweight hand gesture recognition framework that works in First Person View for wearable devices. The models are trained on a GPU machine and ported on an Android smartphone for its use with frugal wearable devices such as the Google Cardboard and VR Box. The proposed hand gesture recognition framework is driven by a cascade of state-of-the-art deep learning models: MobileNetV2 for hand localisation, our custom fingertip regression architecture followed by a Bi-LSTM model for gesture classification. We extensively evaluate the framework on our EgoGestAR dataset. The overall framework works in real-time on mobile devices and achieves a classification accuracy of 80% on EgoGestAR video dataset with an average latency of only 0.12 s.
Advances in Phytonanotechnology: A Plant-Mediated Green Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Using Phyllanthus Plant Extracts and Their Antimicrobial and Anticancer Applications

Nanoparticles and nanotechnology developments continue to advance the livelihood of humankind. However, health challenges due to microorganisms and cancerous cells continue to threaten many people’s lives globally. Therefore, new technological interventions are of great importance. The phytochemicals present in medicinal plants are suggested as biocompatible, cost-effective, and regenerative sources that can be utilized for the green synthesis of nanoparticles. Different plant extracts with various phytochemical constituents can form nanoparticles with specific shapes, sizes, and optical properties. This review focuses on advances in green nanotechnology and provides details on reliable synthetic routes toward medically and biocompatible relevant metallic nanoparticles. We cover a wide range of applications that use phytonanoparticles with an in-depth look at what makes these materials interesting. The study also provides details of the literature on the interventions made in phytonanotechnology for the production of plant-mediated synthesis and capped metallic nanoparticles and their applications in various industries. It was observed that a variety of plants have been well studied, and detailed findings have been reported; however, the study of Phyllanthus is still in its early stages, and more needs to be uncovered.
Activeness: A Novel Neural Coding Scheme Integrating the Spike Rate and Temporal Information in the Spiking Neural Network

In neuromorphic computing, the coding method of spiking neurons serves as the foundation and is crucial for various aspects of network operation. Existing mainstream coding methods, such as rate coding and temporal coding, have different focuses, and each has its own advantages and limitations. This paper proposes a novel coding scheme called activeness coding that integrates the strengths of both rate and temporal coding methods. It encompasses precise timing information of the most recent neuronal spike as well as the historical firing rate information. The results of basic characteristic tests demonstrate that this encoding method accurately expresses input information and exhibits robustness. Furthermore, an unsupervised learning method based on activeness-coding triplet spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) is introduced, with the MNIST classification task used as an example to assess the performance of this encoding method in solving cognitive tasks. Test results show an improvement in accuracy of approximately 4.5%. Additionally, activeness coding also exhibits potential advantages in terms of resource conservation. Overall, activeness offers a promising approach for spiking neural network encoding with implications for various applications in the field of neural computation.
Health-Related Quality-of-Life Profile of Pediatric Patients with β Thalassemia after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Matched hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a feasible and curative treatment in pediatric patients with beta thalassemia major (β-TM). However, little data are available regarding patients and their parents’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after the procedure. As such, we investigated the HRQoL of pediatric patients with β-TM after HSCT compared to that of patients treated with blood transfusions and iron chelation. The health-related quality of life of 43 β-TM pediatric patients and 43 parents were evaluated using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). A total of 25 patients underwent HSCT: 15 from a sibling and 10 from an HLA-matched donor. The median follow-up time from HSCT was 5 years (range 1–13 years). The mean ages at the survey were 10.1 years (range 5–15) and 9.6 years (range 5–15) for transfused and transplanted patients, respectively. A significant reduction in HRQoL was reported in the group of transfused patients compared with that of patients transplanted in the following PedsQL domains: children’s and parents’ physical functions, Δ = −15.4, p = 0.009 and Δ = −11.3, p = 0.002, respectively; children’s and parents’ emotional functioning, Δ = −15.2, p = 0.026 and Δ = −15.2, p = 0.045, respectively; child’s and parents’ school functioning, Δ = −25, p = 0.005 and Δ = −22.5, p = 0.011, respectively; total child and parents scores, Δ = −14.5, p = 0.004 and Δ = −13.2, p = 0.005, respectively. The results of a multivariable analysis showed that the HSCT procedure was significantly associated with a higher total child PedsQL score (adjusted mean difference = 15.3, p = 0.001) and a higher total parent PedsQL score (adjusted mean difference = 14.1, p = 0.006). We found no significant difference in the HRQoL measured after sibling or unrelated human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched HSCT. Finally, a significant positive correlation across all the PedsQL domains was found between the scores reported by the children and those reported by their parents. In conclusion, our study shows that HSCT in pediatric patients with β-TM is associated with a good overall HRQoL profile. This information further supports physicians when counseling patients and their parents before the HSCT procedure.
In vivo imaging of patients with chronic pruritus of unknown origin reveals partial sweat duct obstruction with partial itch resolution upon retinoid treatment

Background Chronic pruritus of unknown origin (CPUO) is poorly understood and lacks effective treatment options. Objectives We aimed to elucidate abnormalities in the sweat apparatus of patients with CPUO, and to assess efficacy and safety of treatment with systemic retinoids. Methods An initial case–control study included 20 affected patients and five healthy controls, for whom heat and sweating were induced, either through a standardized exercise protocol or ingestion of hot water. In vivo high-definition optical coherence tomography, whole-body starch-iodine testing, and skin biopsy for immunofluorescence staining were done to evaluate for sweat duct obstruction. A subsequent retrospective cohort analysis included 56 patients with CPUO, seen at an Itch subspecialty clinic of a single tertiary referral centre, who failed conventional treatments and were treated with isotretinoin and/or acitretin from May 2014 to November 2020. Treatment response to retinoids was defined as a sustained reduction in itch score of ≥2/10. Safety was assessed by proportion stopping treatment due to side effects. Results In vivo imaging in 19 (95%) patients revealed features of partial keratinaceous sweat duct obstruction with statistically significant luminal dilatation compared to controls. Immunofluorescence studies of three patients’ paired lesional/non-lesional biopsies revealed dermcidin accumulation within sweat glands coupled with dermcidin leakage in itchy skin. Fifty-six patients (mean [SD] age 55.2 [17.5] years, 69.6% male) were treated with systemic retinoids. Mean (SD) duration of itch was 116.3 (140.4) months and mean (SD) itch score was 8.2 (1.8). Forty-one (73.2%) initially received isotretinoin, and 15 (26.8%) acitretin. At three months, mean itch score reduced by 2.38 (95% CI -3.2 to −1.6, p < 0.0001). Thirty-eight (67.9%) had a sustained response. Eight (14.81%) achieved an itch score of 0 or 1, with four stopping treatment for a mean (SD) of 318.5 (291.2) days without relapse. Eight (14.3%) stopped or switched retinoid due to adverse effects, with similar incidences between both retinoids, the commonest being dryness. Conclusion Based on novel findings from physiological imaging studies identifying partial keratinaceous sweat duct obstruction in CPUO, we instituted systemic retinoid treatment to address the underlying pathology. In patients who failed conventional therapies, the treatment appears effective and safe.
Steroid Response Following Dropless Cataract Surgery Using Subconjunctival Triamcinolone

Purpose To assess the rates of postoperative steroid response following dropless cataract surgery using a subconjunctival depot of triamcinolone versus conventional cataract surgery using topical prednisolone. Patients and Methods We reviewed consecutive cataract surgery cases performed by a single surgeon to determine the likelihood of steroid response, defined as intraocular pressure (IOP) 50% above baseline or IOP > 24 mmHg postoperatively, excluding the first 72 hours. Logistic regression models were performed including baseline characteristics as exposures in the model and steroid response as the outcome. Main outcome measures were the proportion of eyes developing steroid response, risk factors for developing steroid response, and duration of steroid response. Results Of the 150 dropless and 218 conventional cases, 26 eyes developed steroid response (15 dropless and 11 conventional cases [10% vs 5%, P=0.096]). Risk factors for steroid response included dropless surgery (OR=2.43, 95% CI=1.03–6.02], P=0.046) and prior diagnosis of glaucoma (OR=7.18, 95% CI=2.66–19.22], P<0.001). Baseline IOP, age, sex, race, and axial length did not increase risk for steroid response. Of the eyes with steroid response, more dropless cases had an IOP elevation ≥30 days (9/15 eyes vs 1/11 eyes; P=0.008), including one patient with refractory IOP elevation in the dropless group who required urgent bilateral trabeculectomy for IOP control. Conclusion Dropless cataract surgery increases the risk of prolonged steroid response postoperatively. Patients with glaucoma have an increased risk of steroid response and may not be good candidates for dropless cataract surgery with subconjunctival triamcinolone.
About Local Projection Impulse Response Function Reliability

I compare the performance of the vector autoregressive (VAR) model impulse response function estimator with the Jorda (2005) local projection (LP) methodology. In a Monte Carlo experiment, I demonstrate that when the data generating process is a well-specified VAR, the standard impulse response function estimator is the best option. However, when the sample size is small, and the model lag-length is misspecified, I prove that the local projection estimator is a competitive alternative. Finally, I show how to improve the local projection performance by fixing the lag-length at each horizon.
“Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable”: Adolescent Girls’ Experiences of an Extended Outdoor Adventure Program

This study examined the impacts of long-term exposure of outdoor adventure programming (OAP) for adolescent girls. This qualitative study shares the stories of the 8th grade students at the French Broad River Academy for girls, which is a private middle school that integrates OAP into its curricula located in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. Students reflected on what OAP has meant to them during their 2.5 years at the school. Photo-elicitation methods were used to capture these experiences. Girls took pictures of their outdoor experiences over the course of their final semester and then used these pictures as a prompt to tell their stories during focus group interviews. Emergent themes from the focus group interviews included: Relationship & Community, Perseverance & Resiliency, Enjoyment & Finding Beauty in Nature, Leadership & Confidence, and Individual Growth. This study indicates that adolescent girls’ participation in OAP can build self-confidence, increasing their likelihood of a bright future.