Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of The United Nations in Promoting Conflict Resolution in The Escalation of Intrastate Mali Conflict Instability (2018- 2022)

The instability of the conflict in Mali has increased for four years since 2018. The increase in violence, military coups, political instability, humanitarian crises, and terrorism has forced the United Nations to increase its strength in pushing for the implementation of peace agreements in the Mali intrastate conflict. This research was conducted using qualitative methods with secondary data to see the role of the United Nations in encouraging the resolution of the intrastate conflict in Mali during the period of instability for the last four years. In the analysis, this study finds that through a mandate renewed every year, the United Nations adopts its role to encourage conflict resolution with the dynamics of conflicts from 2018 to 2022. Over the past four years, the role of the United Nations as an international organization to encourage the implementation of resolutions to the conflict in Mali focuses on several things, namely; (1) Overseeing Mali’s political transition, (2) Strengthening security for civilians and peacekeepers through international cooperation, (3) Acting as government assistance to promote human rights and law enforcement, and (4) Encouraging the progress of the 2015 peace agreement in Mali to achieve the maximum target. Keywords: Conflict Resolution, Intrastate Conflict, International Organization, Mali, United Nations
Pulsed X‐Ray Radiation Responses of Solarization‐Resistant Optical Fibers

The transient radiation‐induced attenuation (RIA) of two different versions of pure‐silica‐core (PSC) multimode optical fibers (so‐called “solarization‐resistant” fibers) exposed to nanosecond 1 MeV X‐ray pulses are investigated. On‐line RIA spectra measurements at both room temperature (RT) and liquid nitrogen temperatures (LNT) in the range 1–3.5 eV are performed. Following the RIA kinetics, the properties of the metastable defects that are bleached just after the pulse are discussed. The spectral decomposition of the RIA is performed using known Gaussian bands associated to point defects absorbing in this spectral range. For both fiber types, the generation and the post‐irradiation kinetics of the self‐trapped holes (STHs) that are the main contributor to the transient RIA are investigated particularly. Moreover, thanks to the measurements performed at low temperatures the complex temperature dependence of the kinetics of self‐trapped holes and some chlorine‐related species is characterized.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Genomic Healthcare Utilization, Patient Activation, and Intrafamilial Communication of Risk among Females Tested for BRCA Variants: A Mixed Methods Study

Simple Summary Decision-making on intrafamilial communication of Breast Cancer gene (BRCA) risk and subsequent cascade screening is complex and affected by individual, interpersonal, and healthcare system-related factors. There is a paucity of evidence on factors affecting intrafamilial risk communication, especially among ethnically and racially diverse individuals tested for BRCA variants. A deep understanding of multi-level factors affecting communication is needed to reap the full potential of cascade screening for improving health outcomes. This study provides findings to guide theory-driven, multi-level interventions to enhance the utilization of genomic healthcare for diverse people. Abstract This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of genomic healthcare utilization, patient activation, and intrafamilial risk communication among racially and ethnically diverse individuals tested for BRCA variants. We employed an explanatory, sequential, mixed-methods study guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior. Participants completed an online survey, including sociodemographic, medical history, and several validated instruments. A subset of participants participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. A total of 242 women were included in the quantitative analyses. The majority of survey participants identified as non-Hispanic white (NHW) (n = 197, 81.4%) while 45/242 (18.5%) identified as black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). The NHW participants were more likely to communicate genetic test results with healthcare providers, family, and friends than BIPOC participants (p < 0.05). BIPOC participants had lower satisfaction with testing decisions and significantly higher ratings of personal discrimination, fatalism, resilience, uncertainty, and lower patient activation scores (p < 0.05). Participants with higher education, greater satisfaction with testing decisions, and lower resilience are more likely to communicate BRCA test results with family members through the mediating effect of patient activation. Bridging disparities to ensure that genomic healthcare benefits all people may demand theory-driven, multi-level interventions targeting the individual, interpersonal, and healthcare system levels.
Functional assessment and evaluation of health problems with the cervical spine among dental assistants and hygienists

Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the mobility of the cervical spine, pain and function according to Neck Disability Index (NDI) scores among dental assistants and hygienists. Comparison between dental professionals and a control group was also performed. Methods In the study, 338 dental assistants and hygienists with a mean age of 35.8 were evaluated. Of these, 195 were measured with the CROM 3 device, and 143 with a classic tape measure, for the range of motion of their cervical spine. A non-dental professional group consisting of 60 women (whose work was not related to repetitive movements of cervical spine) was also tested, 30 with the CROM 3 device, and 30 with a classic tape measure. The dental and control groups were also surveyed with the NDI questionnaire and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results Dental assistants and hygienists had significantly reduced functional ROM in all directions in comparison to the control group. Among the 338 volunteers form the study group the VAS pain score was higher than in the control group. NDI scores were also worse in the study group, compared to the control group. Functional results in all subgroups of the NDI questionnaire were better in the control group. Among dental workers the cervical spine typically demonstrated significantly greater mobility in right-rotation, resulting from the position occupied at the unit at which they work. Conclusions Our findings confirm a decrease in the mobility of the cervical spine, lower functional scores involving various everyday activities and greater intensity of pain among dental assistants and hygienists in comparison to participants whose work does not involve cervical spine overuse.
An Algorithm for Land Surface Temperature Retrieval Using Three Thermal Infrared Bands of Himawari-8

This paper presents a method for estimating the land surface temperature (LST) from Himawari-8 data. The Advanced Himawari Imager onboard Himawari-8 has three thermal infrared bands in the spectral range of 10 – 12.5 μm. We developed a nonlinear three-band algorithm (NTB) that makes the best use of these bands to estimate the LST. The formula of the algorithm includes 10 coefficients. The optimum values of these coefficients were derived using a statistical regression method from the simulated data, as obtained by a radiative transfer model. The simulated data sets correspond to a variety of values of LST, as well as surface emissivity, type and season of temperature and water vapor profiles. Viewing zenith angles (VZAs) from 0° to 60° were considered. For the coefficients obtained in this way, we verified the root-mean-square error (RMSE) in terms of the VZA, LST and precipitable water dependence. We showed that the NTB can accurately estimate the LST with an RMSE less than 0.9 K compared with the nonlinear split-window algorithm developed by Sobrino and Romaguera (2004). Moreover, we evaluated the sensitivities of the LST algorithms to the uncertainties in input data by using the dataset independent of the dataset used to obtain coefficients. Consequently, we showed that the NTB has the highest robustness against the uncertainties in input data. Finally, the stepwise LST retrieval method was constructed. This method includes a simple cloud mask procedure and the land surface emissivity estimation. The LST product was evaluated using in-situ data over the Tibetan Plateau, and the validity was confirmed.
GPR Target Detection by Joint Sparse and Low-Rank Matrix Decomposition

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) uses electromagnetic waves to image, locate, and identify changes in electric and magnetic properties in the ground. The received signal comprises not only the target echoes but also strong reflections from the rough, uneven ground surface, which impair subsurface inspections and visualization of buried objects. In this paper, a background clutter mitigation and target detection method using low-rank and sparse priors is proposed for GPR data. The radar signal is decomposed into the sum of a low-rank component and a sparse component, plus noise. The low-rank component captures the ground surface reflections and background clutter, whereas the sparse component contains the target reflections. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated on real radar signals collected from buried landmines and improvised explosive devices. The experimental results show that the proposed method successfully removes the background clutter and estimates the target signals.
Point Cloud Compression Based on Joint Optimization of Graph Transform and Entropy Coding for Efficient Data Broadcasting

The worldwide commercialization of fifth generation (5G) wireless networks are pushing toward the deployment of immersive and high-quality VR-based telepresence systems. Among them, 3D object is generally digitized and represented as point cloud. However, realistically reconstructed 3D point clouds generally contain thousands up to millions of points, which brings a huge amount of data. Therefore, efficient compression of point cloud is an essential part to enable emerging immersive 3D visual communication. In point cloud compression, the graph transform is an effective tool to compact the energy of color signals on the voxels in the 3D space. However, as the eigenbasis of the graph transform is obtained from the graph Laplacian of the constructed graph, the corresponding eigenvalues will be related to the probability distributions of the transformed coefficients, which finally affect the coding efficiency of entropy coding for the quantized coefficients. To overcome the interdependence between graph transform and entropy coding, this paper proposes a jointly optimized graph transform and entropy coding scheme for compressing point clouds. Firstly, we modify the traditional graph Laplacian constructed on the geometry of the point clouds by multiplying a color signal-related matrix. Secondly, we theoretically devise the expected rate and distortion induced by quantization on the graph transformed coefficients. Finally, we propose a Lagrangian multiplier based algorithm to derive the optimum scaling matrix given a quantization parameter. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate that the proposed joint graph transform and entropy coding scheme can significantly outperform its transform coding based counterparts in compressing the color attribute of point clouds.
Using some Organic Manure Sources and Biofertilizers to Improve Growth and Productivity of Manfalouty Pomegranate Trees

The current investigation was executed at in a private the Orchard, located at El-Grayb Sahel Selim district, Assiut Governorate, Egypt, to study the effect of different organic manure sources and bio-form fertilizers on growth and fruiting of Manfalouty pomegranate trees during 2021 and 2022 seasons. The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized block design with four replications and it consisted of nine treatments, including fertilizing trees with 50% of mineral nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and the other 50% being given in the form of organic fertilizer, chicken manure, compost, cattle manure, or sugar cane vinasse, with or without bio fertilization. The results can be summarized as follow:
IMPACT OF RUMEN JUICE TRANSFAUNATION ON BEHAVIORAL ACTIVITIES, PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS AND KIDNEY FUNCTION IN FATTENING LAMBS

Rumen juice transfaunation (RT) has been suggested as one of the effective ways to improve the performance and health of the host. This study's objective was to investigate the effect of RT on behavior, performance and kidney function of fattening lambs. Twelve male lambs were divided into three groups at random: controls (CON, n = 4): lambs were given one liter of normal saline, (Ts, n = 4): lambs received 1 liter of sheep ruminal juice and (Tc, n = 4): lambs received 1 liter of cattle ruminal juice, once throughout the study. Each lamb was caged in a single pen with alive weight of 20.7 (±1.95) and the experiment lasted six weeks. The instantaneous scan sampling approach was used to record behavioral observations on days 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 15, 16, 30, 31 and 45 & 46 after rumen fluid transfauntion; production parameters and kidney function were measured every week. Rumen juice transfaunation resulted in a significant decrease in chewing pen fixtures behavior especially in Ts and feed conversion ratio in both (Ts and Tc) at first and second weeks, however a significant increase in body weight in both (Ts and Tc) at third, fifth and sixth week compared to control lambs. There was no significant effect on the serum creatinine and urea levels. In conclusion, the current results indicate that RT has a beneficial effect on fattening lamb’s behavior and performance; therefore it can be used in intensive fattening sheep farms.
Colluding Against Workers

Empirical models of labor market competition usually assume that employers set wages non-cooperatively, despite ample evidence of collusive wage-setting agreements. We propose an identification approach for labor market collusion that relies on production and cost data, and use it to study how employer collusion affected wage markdowns of 227 Belgian coal firms between 1845 and 1913. We are able to detect collusion through the 1897 coal cartel, an observable shock to collusion, without ex-ante knowledge of its timing, and find that it explains the fast growth in markdowns after 1900. JEL classification codes: N33, J42, L40
Effect of Psychological Preparation on Coping Strategies of children Undergoing Endoscopy

: Background: Nowadays endoscopies become routine clinical procedures which produce intense anxiety, stress and dissatisfaction for children. Purpose: to evaluate the effect of psychological preparation on coping strategies of children undergoing endoscopy. Research design: A quasi experimental design. It was conducted at endoscopy unit of National Liver Institute Menoufia University. Sample: A convenient sample of 22 children who had liver diseases and undergoing endoscopy. Instruments: five data collection instruments were used; characteristics structured questionnaire, Physiological evaluation sheet, Children’s Coping Strategies Checklist (CCSC), Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (SSTAI) and Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) Score. Results: there was highly statistical significant difference in coping between study and control group on posttests (p  .001). As well, there was highly statistical significant difference in anxiety level between study and control group on posttest (p  .01). Conclusion: children in the study group who are engaged in psychological preparation exhibited more effective coping strategies, lower anxiety level on posttests than patients in the control group. Recommendations: The study recommended that psychological preparation should be importantly integrated in endoscopic units as a routine care to enhance children ' coping strategies and lower the negative consequences of this stressful experience.
The exponent of convergence of a finite Blaschke product.

This paper describes the iteration theory of finite Blaschke products using the techniques of Fuchsian groups. In particular the Julia set is shown to decompose into points of conical approach and parabolic points. We also use the hyperbolic geometry of the unit disc to describe the construction and properties of conformal measures on the Julia set.
CFD analysis of ventilative cooling in a generic isolated building equipped with ventilation louvers

This study presents Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of indoor airflow in order to assess the air exchange efficiency and heat removal in a naturally ventilated generic isolated building. The building has a window on both the windward and leeward facade to allow cross-ventilation. First, isothermal steady Reynolds- Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) CFD simulations were performed to validate the numerical model using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) experiments from literature. Subsequently, non-isothermal steady RANS CFD simulations were conducted to assess the velocity and temperature fields, the air exchange efficiency and the heat removal effectiveness. For both cases a grid-sensitivity analysis was conducted to limit the discretization errors. The CFD simulations were performed for wind direction perpendicular to the building facade with the window opening. Four different window configurations were considered; three with ventilation louvers with different slat angles (0°, 30° and 45°), and one without louvers. The results showed that the configurations with ventilation louvers with an slat angle of 30° and the configuration without louvers have the best performance with respect to ventilative cooling. This configuration had the highest air exchange efficiency (> 51%) and heat removal effectiveness (> 78%). Paper_ID647
Timing and effectiveness of media frames reporting the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract This article analyses media frames employed by the Nigerian media in reporting events of the COVID-19 pandemic. It determines the linguistic choices that shaped the intentions of the media and how they aligned with the timing and effectiveness that impacted the thoughts and actions expressed by Nigerians. Agenda setting theory, framing theory and speech act theory elucidated the media practice of consciously selecting words or expressions for creating frames of news reports to achieve their desired intentions of controlling public perceptions of events regardless of the authenticity. This study adopted a mixed-method research methodology. Data were obtained from Nigerian online media reports on COVID-19, and also from a questionnaire to collect quantifiable data from 500 respondents in Nsukka metropolis in Nigeria using cluster and purposive random sampling techniques. We adopted Austin’s speech act (1962) and Bateson’s (1972) framing theories as theoretical frameworks to analyse our data. We observed the domination of frames involving assertive, declarative and directive speech acts in the Nigerian media reports to create a ‘death-sentence’ image about COVID-19 and to evoke greater belief in their stories, and fear among the public. However, with unfolding events not matching the media frames, Nigerians began to doubt the media and the government. This development showed that such media frames had outlived their effectiveness and needed to change to retain the public’s attention after their ‘optimum effectiveness duration’ had expired. The failure to change them made the public develop their counter-frames. The study, therefore, advocates a constant change of news frames to retain public attention and a review of Bateson’s framing theory to reflect societal and environmental impacts on frame effectiveness.
Carbohydrate intake in young female cross-country skiers is lower than recommended and affects competition performance

Purpose (1) To evaluate if energy availability (EA), macronutrient intake and body composition change over four training periods in young, highly trained, female cross-country skiers, and (2) to clarify if EA, macronutrient intake, body composition, and competition performance are associated with each other in this cohort. Methods During a one-year observational study, 25 female skiers completed 3-day food and training logs during four training periods: preparation, specific preparation, competition, and transition periods. A body composition measurement (bioimpedance analyzer) was performed at the end of the preparation, specific preparation, and competition periods. Competition performance was determined by International Ski Federation (FIS) points gathered from youth national championships. Results EA (36–40 kcal·kg FFM−1·d−1) and carbohydrate (CHO) intake (4.4–5.1 g·kg−1·d−1) remained similar, and at a suboptimal level, between training periods despite a decrease in exercise energy expenditure (p = 0.002) in the transition period. Higher EA (r = −0.47, p = 0.035) and CHO intake (r = −0.65, p = 0.002) as well as lower FM (r = 0.60, p = 0.006) and F% (r = 0.57, p = 0.011) were associated with lower (better) FIS-points. CHO intake was the best predictor of distance competition performance (R2 = 0.46, p = 0.004). Conclusions Young female cross-country skiers had similar EA and CHO intake over four training periods. Both EA and CHO intake were at suboptimal levels for performance and recovery. CHO intake and body composition are important factors influencing competition performance in young female cross-country skiers.
Gut microbial diversity and immunological effects of antibiotics on Spodoptera littoralis feeding on different diets

Insect gut microbes played important roles in host feeding, digestion, immunity, growth, and development. The use of antibiotics to remove or inhibit gut bacteria is a commonly used method to study the bacterial gut function of insects. In the present study, the effects of different concentrations of antibiotic mixture on the biological aspects, diversity of the midgut bacteria, and immunity of S. litoralis larvae were examined. The larvae were reared on three different diets. The results indicated that administration of the antibiotic mixture at concentrations ranging from 62 to 500 μg/mL significantly increased the survival rate within the three diets. While the pupal eight was significantly decreased in all diets. The number of midgut bacteria was significantly reduced with the increase of antibiotic concentrations. The gut bacterial diversity of S. litoralis larvae was surveyed and comprised of Bacilli and Gammaproteobacteria on larvae reared on the three diets. While Betaproteobacteria restricted only within the midgut of larvae reared on castor bean leaves. Also, when larvae reared on a diet amended with 500 µg/mL of antibiotic mixture, the midgut bacteria disappeared, and a reduction of cellular immunity occurred. Finally, the results conﬁrm that the use of antibiotics could develop control strategies to get rid of harmful insects without damaging of environment or beneficial organisms by removing the midgut bacteria of pest that are responsible for increasing the