Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Early prediction of crop production using drought indices at different time‐scales and remote sensing data: application in the Ebro Valley (north‐east Spain)

This Letter shows the results of early crop prediction from combined use of AVHRR‐NDVI data and drought indices at different time‐scales. The study was carried out in an agricultural municipality located in the Middle Ebro valley, one of the most arid regions in Europe. The methodology proposed here has allowed the prediction of wheat and barley production in February, four months before harvest. Moreover, the predictive models created have explained 88% and 82% of the temporal variability of wheat and barley production, respectively. This procedure could be very useful for managing crop production at a municipal level. Moreover, insurance companies could take advantage of the early prediction of crop losses, which are very frequent in this drought‐affected area.
The Magneto–Mechanical Hyperelastic Property of Isotropic Magnetorheological Elastomers with Hybrid-Size Magnetic Particles

Isotropic magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) with hybrid-size particles are proposed to tailor the zero-field elastic modulus and the relative magnetorheological rate. The hyperelastic magneto–mechanical property of MREs with hybrid-size CIPs (carbonyl iron particles) was experimentally investigated under large strain, which showed differential hyperelastic mechanical behavior with different hybrid-size ratios. Quasi-static magneto–mechanical compression tests corresponding to MREs with different hybrid size ratios and mass fractions were performed to analyze the effects of hybrid size ratio, magnetic flux density, and CIP mass fraction on the magneto–mechanical properties. An extended Knowles magneto–mechanical hyperelastic model based on magnetic energy, coupling the magnetic interaction, is proposed to predict the influence of mass fraction, hybrid size ratio, and magnetic flux density on the magneto–mechanical properties of isotropic MRE. Comparing the experimental and predicted results, the proposed model can accurately evaluate the quasi-static compressive magneto–mechanical properties, which show that the predicted mean square deviations of the magneto–mechanical constitutive curves for different mass fractions are all in the range of 0.9–1. The results demonstrate that the proposed hyperelastic magneto–mechanical model, evaluating the magneto–mechanical properties of isotropic MREs with hybrid-size CIPs, has a significant stress–strain relationship. The proposed model is important for the characterization of magneto–mechanical properties of MRE-based smart devices.
Pruning terms and techniques aﬀect vigour and ﬂower formation of Ukrainian sweet cherry cultivars

: Excessive tree vigour and late entrance into full production, inherent to sweet cherry trees, are major challenges in the intensive cultivation of this crop. Possible ways to reduce the vigour and stimulate ﬂower induction include shifting the term of pruning and reducing its severity. However, the reaction of the trees may diﬀer depending on speciﬁc cultivar, soil and climatic conditions. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the eﬀect of various tech­ niques and terms of pruning on young sweet cherry trees in order to adapt the intensive cultivation technology to the arid conditions of southern Ukraine. The results showed a strong cultivar­speciﬁc reaction to various pruning treat­ ments. Pruning young sweet cherry trees in late summer contributed to a reduction of trunk and canopy indices by 11­22% on one of the cultivars and an increase in the number of ﬂowers per tree by 1.4­1.7 times on both cultivars, compared to dormant pruning. Low severity pruning reduced 1­year­old shoot length by 9­25% and increased the number of ﬂowers by 1.5­2.5 times com­ pared to more aggressive pruning. The eﬀect of pruning treatments on tree vigour was more pronounced during the ﬁrst and second
Prediction of Voice Outcomes After Hemithyroidectomy Using Skin Electrode Intraoperative Neuromonitoring

Background and Objectives This study focused on predicting voice outcomes following hemithyroidectomy using skin electrode intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM). Subjects and Method The study involved 82 patients who underwent hemithyroidectomy. During the surgery, the researchers recorded skin IONM values for the vagus nerve and recurrent laryngeal nerve. Voice quality evaluations were conducted before the surgery and at various intervals after the surgery (one week, one month, three months, six months, and one year) using the multidimensional voice program (MDVP), voice handicap index (VHI), and the grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain (GRBAS) scale. The study aimed to correlate perioperative skin IONM values with subjective and objective voice outcomes.Results The VHI scores increased up to three months post-surgery, with statistically significant changes observed at one week post-surgery. The GRBAS scale scores also increased significantly at one month post-surgery. Similar trends were observed in the MDVP data, including a decrease in the maximum pitch between one week and three months post-surgery. Additionally, the study found that lower delta-V values (difference between the preoperative and postoperative signal amplitude of vagus nerve stimulation) were associated with higher F0 values at one week and three months post-surgery, while jitter and noise-to-harmonic ratio were higher in the group with higher delta-V values at three months post-surgery.Conclusion Greater differences between the preoperative and postoperative signal amplitude of vagus nerve stimulation during surgery were linked to worse postoperative voice outcomes. Voice parameters worsened for up to 3 months after hemithyroidectomy but showed signs of recovery afterwards. These findings offer insights into predicting and managing voice outcomes after hemithyroidectomy.
Enhancing Oil and Gas Sector Attractiveness: The Use of Local Content Policies to Offset Regressive Tax Tools in the Design of Upstream Contracts (Case Study of the Democratic Repu...

The oil and gas industry is facing big challenges towards its future. Among these challenges is listed the trendy energy and economy decarbonization as the core of a fast-pacing energy transition. This particular challenge threatens huge amount of oil and gas reserves throughout the world to remain ‘in limbo’, thereby causing the weakening of the oil and gas sector’s attractiveness which is translated through the scarcity of financing options for exploration and production activities. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with its big oil and gas potentials faces, beyond this general and crucial context, the threat of a wild competition within the sub-Saharan Africa’s market of petroleum licenses as a result of abundant new discoveries in the Southern and East regions of the continent. However, the DRC, compared to its competitors, suffers a considerable competitive disadvantage due to the geographic isolation of the major part of its resources, implying costly investments to develop oil and gas reserves within its national territory. Therefore, the design of an efficient fiscal regime matching the country’s objectives to create a sustainable wealth from the exploitation of its resources appears as the optimal strategic response to these challenges. This research proposes to the DRC a contractual framework that incentivizes E&P activities without selling off its resources. The proposed framework, labelled as the ‘ Local content based-contract model ’, is a tax system that integrates neutral local content variables in replacement of regressive petroleum tax instruments so as to alleviate investments risks for oil and gas companies and help the DRC to convert quite directly its resources into a real socio-economic development.
Income Inequality and the Poverty of Youth in the Douala Metropolis of Cameroon

 Abstract — More and more youth are doubtful of making a satisfactory labour market transition because of the present global economic instability and this is more so in Africa of the Sahara and metropolis like Douala. We use the explanatory sequential mixed method: in the first phase we randomly administered 610 questionnaires in the Douala metropolis respecting the population size of each division and its gender composition. We constructed the questionnaire using the desired values for living a comfortable life in Douala. In the second phase, we purposefully selected and interviewed 50 poor youth in order to explain in detail the initial quantitative results. We obtain the following result: The modal income class is 24,000-74,000 frs Central Africa Franc (CFA) and about 67% of the youth of the Douala metropolis earn below 75,000 frs CFA. They earn only 31.02% of the total income. About 85.7% earn below 126,000 frs CFA and about 92.14% earn below 177,000 frs CFA. The poverty-line is estimated at 177,000 frs CFA per month based on the desired predominant values in Douala and only about 9% of youth earn this sum, therefore, 91% of the youth are poor. We discovered that the salary a youth earns influences his level of poverty. Low income earners eat once or twice per day, rent low-standard houses of below 20,000 frs, are dependent and possess very limited durable goods, consult traditional doctors when they are sick, sleep and gamble during their leisure time. Intermediate income earners feed themselves either twice or thrice per day, eat healthy meals weekly, possess more durable goods, are independent, gamble and drink during their leisure time. High income earners feed themselves at least thrice per day, eat healthy food daily, inhabit high quality and expensive houses, are more stable by living longer in their neighbourhoods, like travelling and drinking during their leisure time. Unsalaried youth, are students, housewives or unemployed youth, they eat four times per day, take healthy meals daily, weekly, fortnightly or occasionally, are dependent or homeless depending on whether they are students or unemployed youth. The situation of the youth can be ameliorated through investing in the productive sector and promoting entrepreneurship as well as formalizing the informal sector
Weakening effect of water on gravel-soil in Three Gorges Reservoir area

The average particle gradation can be obtained after sieving the local gravel-soil from the Three Gorges Reservoir area,and then its experimental particle gradation is designed with replacement method.According to the feature of gravel-soil,the water content of sample is controlled by granule soil content and sampled under the same vertical pressure.The following conclusions are drawn on the shear strength and parameter of gravelly soil with different water contents and different rock contents: with different water contents,the critical rock content with changed strength will be different;with different rock contents,c value changes little with water content,while ? value changes remarkably;the internal friction angle changes with different rock contents,probably reducing by 3°-10° or so,when gravelly soil changes from the original condition to its saturation.These conclusions uill to be a basis for estimating the carrying capacity reduction of overpass and roadbed after the Three Gorges Reservoir filling.
Repeated electromagnetic induction measurements for mapping soil moisture at the field scale: validation with data from a wireless soil moisture monitoring network

Abstract. Electromagnetic induction (EMI) measurements are widely used for soil mapping, as they allow fast and relatively low-cost surveys of soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). Although the use of non-invasive EMI for imaging spatial soil properties is very attractive, the dependence of ECa on several factors challenges any interpretation with respect to individual soil properties or states such as soil moisture (θ). The major aim of this study was to further investigate the potential of repeated EMI measurements to map θ, with particular focus on the temporal variability of the spatial patterns of ECa and θ. To this end, we compared repeated EMI measurements with high-resolution θ data from a wireless soil moisture and soil temperature monitoring network for an extensively managed hillslope area for which soil properties and θ dynamics are known. For the investigated site, (i) ECa showed small temporal variations whereas θ varied from very dry to almost saturation, (ii) temporal changes of the spatial pattern of ECa differed from those of the spatial pattern of θ, and (iii) the ECa–θ relationship varied with time. Results suggest that (i) depending upon site characteristics, stable soil properties can be the major control of ECa measured with EMI, and (ii) for soils with low clay content, the influence of θ on ECa may be confounded by changes of the electrical conductivity of the soil solution. Further, this study discusses the complex interplay between factors controlling ECa and θ, and the use of EMI-based ECa data with respect to hydrological applications.
Comptes Rendus Mécanique

In both continuous and discrete settings, Laplace operators appear quite commonly in the modeling of natural phenomena, in several context: di ff usion, heat propagation, porous media, fluid flows through pipes,electricity.Inthesecontexts,thediscreteLaplaceoperatorenjoysallthepropertiesofitscontinuous counterpart, in particular: self-adjointness, variational formulation, stochastic interpretation, mean value property,maximumprinciple,. Inafirstpart,wegiveadetaileddescriptionofthecorrespondencebetween these mathematical properties and modeling considerations, in contexts where the continuous and the discrete settings perfectly match. In a second part, we describe a pathological situation, in the context of granular crowd motion models. Accounting for the non-overlapping constraint between hard discs leads to a particular operator acting on a field of Lagrange multipliers, defined on the dual graph of the contact network. This operator is defective in a certain sense: although it is the microscopic counterpart of the macroscopic Laplace operator, this discrete operator indeed lacks some properties, in particular the maximum principle. We investigate here how this very defectivity may explain some paradoxical phenomena that are observed in crowd motions and granular materials, phenomena that are not reproduced by macroscopic models. Résumé. Aux niveaux continu et discret, l’opérateur de Laplace intervient de façon très courante dans la modélisation de phénomènes naturels, dans de nombreux contextes: di ff usion, propagation de la chaleur, milieux poreux, écoulement de fluides dans des conduits, électricité. Dans ces contextes, le laplacien discretpossèdetouteslespropriétésdesonpendantcontinu:caractèreauto-adjoint,structurevariationnelle, interprétation stochastique, propriété de la valeur moyenne, principe du maximum, . Dans une première partie,nousproposonsunedescriptiondétailléedesliensentrecespropriétésetlesaspectsdemodélisations, dans des contextes où les notion continues et discrètes se correspondent parfaitement. Dans une seconde partie, nous décrivons une situation pathologique, dans le contexte de la modélisation de foules d’un point de vue granulaire. La prise en compte de la contrainte de non recouvrement entre grains rigides conduit à un opérateur particulier qui agit sur les champs de multiplicateurs de Lagrange, définis sur le graphe dual du réseau de contacts. Cet opérateur est déficient dans un certain sens : bien qu’il apparaisse comme le pendant discret du laplacien continu, il ne vérifie pas certaines des propriétés usuelles du laplacien, en particulier le principe du maximum. Nous explorons comment cette déficience permet d’expliquer certains e ff ets paradoxaux observés en mouvements de foules, que les modèles continus ne reproduisent pas.
Plant Response and Grape Composition of Vitis vinifera L. cv Tannat in Different Climatic Regions

In wine production, the typical characteristics of variety, defined by its place of their origin, contribute to the development of distinctive and unique wines. In the current study, we analyzed the effect of the environment using vine response and grape composition as indicators. Four cv. Tannat vineyards in three different climatic regions of Uruguay with similar soil conditions were studied in 2008 and 2009. Vines grafted onto SO4 (Vitis berlandieri  Vitis riparia) rootstock and were trained on a trellis system. Weather information was obtained from weather stations (MMO standards). At each vineyard, we recorded: yield per plant, pruning weight, leaf area and pre-dawn leaf water potential. We analyzed sugars, total acidity and pH, polyphenolic potential, organic acids and berry weight. Analysis of variance, Pearson correlations and discriminant analysis were carried out. The climate factors with the highest discriminant weight were water balance, degree days (>10 °C) of maturation and rainfall during the vegetative growth period. Plant response allowed us to discriminate between vineyards regardless of the year and was consistent with climate. Exposed leaf area and length of maturation period were the indexes with the highest values, followed by leaf water potential and grape yield. The total anthocyanin content, sugar contents and their daily accumulation, and acid composition statistically separate regions regardless of the year. We concluded that plant response and grape composition were strongly influenced by water supply and thermal conditions during ripening.
The relationship between profitability and cash flow in Jordanian banks

The relevance of this study lies in the importance of the two variables – profitability and cash flow – for the financial performance of banks, as well as the unique characteristics of the Jordanian banking sector. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between profitability and cash flow in Jordanian banks and to identify potential factors that influence this relationship. The study methods are to employ a quantitative research method, using financial data from Jordanian banks over a period (2008–2019), Granger causality tests are used to describe the link between cash flow and profitability. The study results show a significant link between profitability and cash flow in Jordanian banks. Specifically, the study finds that a one percent increase in cash flow results in a 0.27 percent increase in profitability. The Adj-R2 for the three cash flow models is 11.4%, 17.3%, and 20.4%, respectively. Conversely, the Adj-R2 for the three models’ earnings are 21.4%, 21.5%, and 22.3%, respectively. However, the magnitude of the link seems to be weaker in Jordanian banks compared to banks in other countries. The study concludes that cash flow from operating is an important factor in improving the profitability of Jordanian banks.
How Much Speech Data Is Needed for Tracking Language Change in Alzheimer’s Disease? A Comparison of Random Length, 5-Min, and 1-Min Spontaneous Speech Samples

Introduction: Changes in speech can act as biomarkers of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While shorter speech samples would promote data collection and analysis, the minimum length of informative speech samples remains debated. This study aims to provide insight into the effect of sample length in analyzing longitudinal recordings of spontaneous speech in AD by comparing the original random length, 5- and 1-minute-long samples. We hope to understand whether capping the audio improves the accuracy of the analysis, and whether an extra 4 min conveys necessary information. Methods: 110 spontaneous speech samples were collected from decades of Youtube videos of 17 public figures, 9 of whom eventually developed AD. 456 language features were extracted and their text-length-sensitivity, comparability, and ability to capture change over time were analyzed across three different sample lengths. Results: Capped audio files had advantages over the random length ones. While most extracted features were statistically comparable or highly correlated across the datasets, potential effects of sample length should be acknowledged for some features. The 5-min dataset presented the highest reliability in tracking the evolution of the disease, suggesting that the 4 extra minutes do convey informative data. Conclusion: Sample length seems to play an important role in extracting the language feature values from speech and tracking disease progress over time. We highlight the importance of further research into optimal sample length and standardization of methods when studying speech in AD.
Effect of Radopholus similis, Pratylenchus araucensis, Meloidogyne spp. and their interaction on Musa AAB ‘Dominico Hartón’ seedlings

Abstract The effect of Radopholus similis, Pratylenchus araucensis, Meloidogyne spp. , and their interaction was evaluated in seedlings of Musa AAB ‘Dominico Hartón’. The study was conducted in a nursery in Palestina, Caldas department, Colombia. Forty-day-old plantain seedlings were infected separately with 750, 1,500, 2,250 and 3,000 of each species of nematodes/plant. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the damage of R. similis, P. araucensis, Meloidogyne spp. and the mixture of 750 R. similis + 750 P. araucensis + 750 Meloidogyne spp. compared with the mixture of different proportions (1,500, 2,250 and 3,000 of each species of nematodes). Noninfected plants were included as a control treatment, for a total of 17 treatments in a randomized complete block design with ten replications. Twelve weeks after inoculation, all nematodes, both alone and in combination, reduced (p < 0.05) plantain dry root and shoot weight. In two experiments, R. similis, P. araucensis, and Meloidogyne spp. alone, each with a population density of 3,000, reduced (p < 0.05) root dry weight by 32.5%, 9.5% and 49%, respectively, and decreased (p < 0.05) shoot dry weight by 21.5%, 23%, and 31.5%, respectively, compared to the control. The interaction of nematodes with the lowest population decreased root (33%) and shoot (21%) weight. We conclude that the growth of ‘Dominico Hartón’ seedlings was affected by plant-parasitic nematodes, but the greatest damage occurred with concomitant nematode infection.