Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Connections: The Use Social Associations With Migratory Background Make of ICT to Build Social Capital for Newcomers’ Social Integration

Psychological studies in the field of migration attest that social integration is enhanced by social capital. Communities of origin and the ones of resettlement play different role in the promotion of newcomers’ social integration. Nevertheless, researches highlighted that connections between migrants and resettlement communities are the hardest to be established. By reinforcing existing ties and generating new connections among communities, information and communication technologies (ICT) represent a resource for the creation of migrants’ social capital. The article presents two case studies addressing the use that a refugee- and a migrant-led association make of ICT to develop social capital aimed at fostering newcomers’ social integration. An ethnographic approach was adopted, and qualitative data have been collected. Results show that in the associations ICT are aimed at easing connections within migrants and between migrants and the resettlement community by directly fostering the establishment of social ties and by spreading positive narratives about migration. Through the empowerment of refugees and migrants, ICT emerge as tools that lay the foundations for the promotion of social cohesion.
The Circular Economy and Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste Recycling Strategies

Densely populated areas with large incoming populations have difficulty achieving high separate collection rates of municipal solid waste. The manuscript analyzes the link between biowaste collection and circular economy requirements as a fulfilment of the recycling rates and using biogas as a sustainable energy source. Three biowaste collection scenarios and three technical scenarios for its treatment are considered. The first scenario assumes only composting for biowaste treatment, the next includes also anaerobic digestion. In the years 2020–2050, the separate biowaste collection level will increase, depending on the scenario, from 26.9 kg/inh. up to 148.1kg/inh. By 2030, the quantity of biogas generated from biowaste can grow to almost 9 million m3/year, enabling the production of renewable energy at annual levels of almost 17 GWh and 69 TJ. Using the third scenario, the quantity of biogas generated grows more than twice (in 2035). If the capture rate of biowaste increases from 15% to 20% and then to 25%, the quantity of biogas generated grows by, respectively, 65% and more than 100%. Unfortunately, none of the scenarios enables the required municipal solid waste recycling rates in 2030 (60%) and 2035 (65%), which demonstrates the significant need to develop more effective separate collection systems, including biowaste. Methodology applied in the paper can be used for other cities and regions trying to meet circular economy demands.
A Study on Growth and Performance of Dairy Sector in Nepal

Dairy sector has been a vector in providing dairy products to the urban population and pull the urban capital into the rural areas. Dairy industries have been successful in creating a strong network between the dairy farmers and the consumers and have been established as a bridge between the urban and rural trade across the country. The entire dairy chain is dependent upon milk production. At present, Nepal contributes approximately 0.247% of the world's total milk production. Nepal's milk output is estimated to be 2.05 million metric tons. The per capita availability of milk in Nepal is around 158.9 grams per day, which is far below than the value recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). The current milk production should be raised by 4 percent so as to meet the WHO recommended minimum value of 250 gm per day per-capita milk consumption by the year2025.The dairy sector in Nepal is the most important sub sector in Nepalese livestock production. Almost 28% of the national GDP comes from the agriculture and livestock sector. However, the share of dairy sector in agricultural GDP of Nepal is 8% of the national GDP. Beside contributing to the GDP, the agriculture sector also provides employment to the two-thirds of the country’s population. The cooperative sector in Nepal has been in the emerging state and is playing an important role in socioeconomic development of millions of rural families.
Scaling Laws for Regional Stratification at the Top of Earth's Core

Seismic and geomagnetic observations have been used to argue both for and against a global stratified layer at the top of Earth's outer core. Recently, we used numerical models of turbulent thermal convection to show that imposed lateral variations in core‐mantle boundary (CMB) heat flow can give rise to regional lenses of stratified fluid at the top of the core while the bulk of the core remains actively convecting. Here, we develop theoretical scaling laws to extrapolate the properties of regional stratified lenses measured in simulations to the conditions of Earth's core. We estimate that regional stratified lenses in Earth's core have thicknesses of up to a few hundred kilometres and Brunt‐Väisälä frequencies of hours, consistent with independent observational constraints. The location, thickness, and strength of the stratified regions would change over geological time scales in response to the slowly evolving CMB heat flux heterogeneity imposed by mantle convection.
Determinants of Labor Productivity in Malian Firms

This article identifies the determinants of labor productivity of Malian firms using 2007-2015 panel data. These data were collected by the World Bank in 2016 from industrial companies and services. The Hausman test made it possible to choose the composite error panel model for the estimation. The results indicate that there is a positive correlation between capital intensity, commodity imports and labor productivity. Labor productivity decreases with the number of years the manager has spent at the head of the company, the use of new information and communication technologies, and the purchase of fixed assets. We also find that formal firms seem to have higher productivity when confronted with stronger local informal competition. Overall, 79.5 percent of companies reported power outages. Power outages have a negative impact on labor productivity.
Clinicoradiopathological features and prognosis according to genomic alterations in patients with resected lung adenocarcinoma

Background We investigated the clinicoradiopathological features and prognosis according to genomic alterations in patients with surgically resected lung adenocarcinoma. Methods Patients who underwent surgical resection for pathologic stage I, II, or IIIA lung adenocarcinoma between 2009 and 2016 and for whom results regarding EGFR mutation, ALK immunohistochemistry (IHC), and KRAS mutation were available were included. Clinicoradiopathological characteristics, genomic alterations, and disease-free survival were analyzed retrospectively. Results Of 164 patients, 86 (52.4%) were female and 94 (57.3%) were never-smokers. The most common imaging patterns were part-solid lesion (67.7%) followed by solid (26.2%) and non-solid (6.1%) lesions. EGFR mutation, ALK IHC, and KRAS mutation were positive in 95 (57.9%), 9 (5.5%), and 11 (6.7%) patients, respectively. EGFR mutation positivity was associated with female sex, never-smoker, subsolid pattern on radiological examination, and acinar or papillary predominant histologic subtype. ALK IHC positivity was associated with longer maximal diameter, advanced stage, solid pattern on radiological examination, solid predominant histologic subtype, and distant metastasis during follow-up. KRAS mutation positivity was associated with male sex, smoker, solid pattern on radiological examination, and invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma on histologic analysis. In multivariable analysis, ALK IHC positivity and lymph node involvement were independently associated with recurrence. However, solidity was not an independent risk factor for recurrence. Conclusions Genomic alterations are associated with clinicoradiopathologic features in patients with resected lung adenocarcinoma. Identifying genomic alterations could help to predict the prognosis of early-stage lung adenocarcinoma.
Potential Impact of Climate Change on the Forest Coverage and the Spatial Distribution of 19 Key Forest Tree Species in Italy under RCP4.5 IPCC Trajectory for 2050s

Forests provide a range of ecosystem services essential for human wellbeing. In a changing climate, forest management is expected to play a fundamental role by preserving the functioning of forest ecosystems and enhancing the adaptive processes. Understanding and quantifying the future forest coverage in view of climate changes is therefore crucial in order to develop appropriate forest management strategies. However, the potential impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems remain largely unknown due to the uncertainties lying behind the future prediction of models. To fill this knowledge gap, here we aim to provide an uncertainty assessment of the potential impact of climate change on the forest coverage in Italy using species distribution modelling technique. The spatial distribution of 19 forest tree species in the country was extracted from the last national forest inventory and modelled using nine Species Distribution Models algorithms, six different Global Circulation Models (GCMs), and one Regional Climate Models (RCMs) for 2050s under an intermediate forcing scenario (RCP 4.5). The single species predictions were then compared and used to build a future forest cover map for the country. Overall, no sensible variation in the spatial distribution of the total forested area was predicted with compensatory effects in forest coverage of different tree species, whose magnitude and patters appear largely modulated by the driving climate models. The analyses reported an unchanged amount of total land suitability to forest growth in mountain areas while smaller values were predicted for valleys and floodplains than high-elevation areas. Pure woods were predicted as the most influenced when compared with mixed stands which are characterized by a greater species richness and, therefore, a supposed higher level of biodiversity and resilience to climate change threatens. Pure softwood stands along the Apennines chain in central Italy (e.g., Pinus, Abies) were more sensitive than hardwoods (e.g., Fagus, Quercus) and generally characterized by pure and even-aged planted forests, much further away from their natural structure where admixture with other tree species is more likely. In this context a sustainable forest management strategy may reduce the potential impact of climate change on forest ecosystems. Silvicultural practices should be aimed at increasing the species richness and favoring hardwoods currently growing as dominating species under conifers canopy, stimulating the natural regeneration, gene flow, and supporting (spatial) migration processes.
Gas injection test of remolded saturated soil with consolidation

Abstract Investigation of gas migration in saturated soil is of great theoretical and practical significance in marine science and engineering. The transport of gas bubbles in soil and its effects on soil physical and mechanical properties can be further studied. Gas injection and permeability tests were conducted using a self-developed oedometer with gas injection and water infiltration. Before the gas injection test, the remolded saturated soil was consolidated in an oedometer device to an effective vertical stress of 100 kPa. Gas injection tests were then performed to investigate the transport mechanism of bubbles in saturated soil and the changes in water permeability after gas injection. The results show that it is difficult for gas to migrate through capillary invasion and fracturing from the pore scale owing to the high gas entry pressure in fine-grained sediments. Hence, initial gas migration mechanism in pore scale is elastic-plastic expansion. The scale of cavities expands from micron to millimeter during gas injection, and gas pressure for fracturing reduces with the expansion of cavities. The fracturing initiated in millimeter scale and gas invades further into the soil. Interconnections of cavities and cracks resulting in an increasing of drainage rate and coefficient of permeability.
Clinical And Epidemiological Features Of Bacterial Vaginosis

The review article presents the epidemiological characteristics of bacterial vaginosis, data on the lability of the composition of the vaginal microflora, including the species number of lactobacilli, depending on the ethnicity of the woman and the geographical area of residence. Literature data on factors affecting the composition of vaginal microbiocenosis, the most frequently detected types of bacteria in bacterial vaginosis, are presented.
Diethylhexyl phthalate induces teratogenic effects through oxidative stress response in a chick embryo model.

Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is known as a persistent environmental pollutant. However, the possible effects of DEHP on human neural tube defects (NTDs) remain elusive. We set out to investigate the exposure of DEHP in human and explore the association of DEHP and NTDs. The level of DEHP in maternal urine was measured and analyzed by GC-MS. To further validate the results in human NTDs, chick embryos were used as animal models. Viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, oxidative stress indicators and apoptosis were detected in DEHP-treated chick embryos. Our research revealed that the detection ratio of positive DEHP and its metabolites in maternal urine were observed dramatically higher in NTDs population than that in normal controls (P < 0.01, P < 0.05, respectively). Moreover, DEHP treatment (10-6 M) led to developmental toxicity in chick embryos via accelerating oxidative stress response and cell apoptosis, and changing the level of oxidative stress-related indicators. Moreover, high dose choline (100 μg/μl) could partially restrain the toxicity effects induced by DEHP. Our data collectively imply that the incidence of NTDs may closely associate with DEHP exposure, which disturbs the development of neural tubes by enhancing oxidative stress.
The Ovulation Rate, Plasma Leptin Concentration, and Litter Size of a Local Ewe Breed Kept in a Barn Versus Those Kept under an Overhead Shelter

The effect of housing system on ovulation rate, leptin concentration, body weight, condition score and litter size of Żelażnieńska ewes was investigated. The observations were carried out during three successive years on 36 ewes between 2 and 4 years of age. The animals were divided into groups: the experimental group kept in a cold environment under an overhead shelter, and the control group kept in a warm barn. In both groups were ewes with similar age and reproductive performance nearing that of the flock. The average litter size was 1.53 and 1.59, respectively. This difference was not significant. The observation was carried out on the same ewes each year; thus, ewe age varied from 2 to 6 years. The ovulation rate was tasted by laparoscopy (L) on 16 September and 5 October. Blood was taken from each ewe after feeding one day before laparoscopy. The lower number of corpus lutea (p ≤ 0.01) and leptin concentration (p ≤ 0.01) at first L compared with second L was confirmed. The highest litter size (1.8) was shown by ewes at the age of 4 years (p ≤ 0.01). The Pearson correlation of ewe age and plasma leptin concentration was noted (p ≤ 0.05). The Spearman correlation of the condition score with ewe body weight (p ≤ 0.01) and with ewe age (p ≤ 0.05) was confirmed. Żelaźnieńska sheep may be housed in semiopen sheds with no negative impact on their reproduction. This may encourage breeders to develop this branch of livestock production avoiding the high expenses of construction of massive, warm barns.
Early bud induction through cane regulation and gibberellic acid (GA3) treatment in grape (Vitis vinifera L.) cv. ‘Fantasy seedless’

Grape, though a temperate crop, is well adopted in sub tropics and tropics. In management of this crop, pruning is an important tool. Gibberellins are plant hormones that govern growth and direct several developmental processes including stem elongation, germination, dormancy, flowering, sex expression and leaf and fruit senescence. 25 canes per vine exhibited the earliest bud burst (4.65) than the other treatments and the maximum days taken for bud burst in canes regulated 50 canes per vine and control (7.56) respectively. The similar trend of bud burst was recorded during second season (2019) of growth. In pooled results, significantly, the earliest bud burst was recorded with respect to 25 canes per vine (4.41) where as bud burst occurred late (7.30 and 7.50) in control and 50 canes per vine respectively. In interaction effect of first year (2018), the earliest bud burst (3.89) was recorded in treatment 25 canes per vine with 30 ppm of GA3 which was statically on par with 25 canes per vine with 40 ppm of GA3 (4.22) and bud burst delayed in the treatment 50 canes per vine without GA3 treatment (7.89).
A new species of the genus Coulteria (Leguminosae) in the Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley, Mexico

A taxonomic review of Coulteria (Leguminosae) species present in the flora of Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley was carried out as part of the treatment of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of this area. Coulteria rosalindamedinae is described and illustrated as a new species, it is endemic from the study area, and morphologically related to C. pumila. A comparative table, photographs of C. rosalindamedinae and C. pumila, are presented as well as key for their taxonomic identification.
Prevalence and clinical correlates of psychiatric morbidity among caregivers of patients attending a psychiatric hospital in North India

Background: Consequent to the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in present day world, their caregivers form an important group in the public health. Research on the physical and psychological well-being of caregivers is being carried worldwide with varied results. Psychological health of these caregivers is usually ignored both by these persons themselves and the health-care providers. The objective of the study was to screen for psychiatric morbidity among caregivers of patients attending a psychiatric hospital in North India, and to study the clinical correlates of the same.Methods: A total of 205 patients and their caregivers were consecutively recruited over a one month period. Sociodemographic and clinical information of patients was obtained either from the hospital records or from the caregiver. Scoring of the patient’s global assessment of functioning (GAF) was done by clinicians. The caregivers were administered a sociodemographic questionnaire, general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Zarit Burden interview. The presence of psychiatric morbidity was confirmed by a consultant psychiatrist.Results: Among the caregivers, 32.2% had GHQ scores of 3 and above. Majority of caregivers in this study were females (59.0%) while as majority of the patients were males (61.9%). Factors associated with psychiatric morbidity among caregivers include the high level of subjective burden of care, low level of functioning, and comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions.Conclusions: The study reveals a high level of psychiatric morbidity among the caregivers of patients with mental health problems.
Low-Complexity based TDE Method for OFDM Signal in Higher Time-Varying Fading Channels

: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal would be damaged significantly by inter-carrier interference (ICI) in higher time-varying fading channels. The ICI leads to fatal degradation of bit error rate (BER) performance due to the loss of orthogonality among subcarriers. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a high accuracy time-domain channel impulse response (CIR) estimation method and low-complexity based time-domain equalization (TDE) method for solving the simultaneous equations instead of using an inverse matrix calculation which can achieve better BER performance and lower computation complexity even in higher time-varying fading channels. The salient features of proposed method are to employ a time-domain training sequence (TS) in the estimation of channel impulse response (CIR) instead of using pilot subcarriers in the frequency domain and to employ the time domain equalization (TDE) method with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation instead of using a conventional frequency domain equalization (FDE) method. This paper also proposes a low-complexity iterative method for solving the simultaneous equations instead of using an inverse matrix calculation, which remains the computation complexity up to 7.8% of inverse matrix calculation with the same BER performance but achieves the BER performance when compared with the conventional method. This paper presents various simulation results in higher time-varying fading channels (vehicle speed ≈ 381 km/hrs) to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method as compared with conventional FDE and TDE methods
Weak Stripe Angle Determination by Quantitative x-ray Magnetic Microscopy

High-resolution scanning transmission x-ray microscopy (STXM) can provide quantitative access to local magnetization canting angles relative to the surface. We use this cutting-edge microscopy technique to probe the weak stripe magnetic texture hosted by a 180-nm-thick Co 40 Fe 40 B 20 layer. We report a full set of measurements of the weak stripe canting angle, as well as a method that uses only a single-impinging-direction x-ray beam to extract the angle. This method also allows the spatial profile to be extracted with 30 nm resolution, and the canting angle versus applied field can be measured. Combining these information, the macroscopic magnetization versus applied field loop on a complex spin texture can be reconstructed in an unprecedented way and shows undoubtedly that flux closure domains exist. These results show that the presence of flux closure domains, at the surface of such a thick film, is difficult to demonstrate by means of the STXM technique. Beyond the characterization of the weak stripe angle, this quantitative x-ray magnetic microscopy can be used to study the local textures hosted in all materials exhibiting some circular x-ray magnetic dichroism.
Categorical representations of decision-variables in orbitofrontal cortex

The brain creates internal representations of the external world in the form of neural activity, which is structured to support adaptive behavior. In many cortical regions, individual neurons respond to specific features that are matched to the function of each region and statistics of the world. In frontal cortex, however, neurons display baffling complexity, responding to a mixture of sensory, motor and other variables. Here we use an integrated new approach to understanding the architecture of higher-order cortical representations, and use this approach to show that discrete groups of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) neurons encode distinct decision variables. Using rats engaged in a complex task combining perceptual and value guided decisions, we found that OFC neurons can be grouped into distinct, categorical response types. These categorical representations map directly onto decision-variables of a choice model explaining our behavioral data, such as reward size, decision confidence and integrated value. We propose that, like sensory neurons, frontal neurons form a sparse and over complete population representation aligned to the natural statistics of the world – in this case spanning the space of decision-variables required for optimal behavior.