Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New properties of the V-line Radon transform and their imaging applications

This paper reports on new aspects of the so-called V-line Radon transforms (RTs) complementing those reported in an earlier work. These new properties are nicely uncovered and described with Cartesian coordinates. In particular, we show that the V-line RT belongs to the class of RTs on curves in the plane which can be mapped onto the standard RT on straight lines and thereby are fully characterizable and invertible. Next, we show that the effect of geometric inversion on the V-line RT is to produce a new RT on a pair of supplementary circular arcs, which provides a new access to image reconstruction in the so-called Norton's modality of Compton scatter tomography, a front runner in the race for alternatives to current emission imaging.
The Effects of Peeling, Splitting and Drying on Ginger Quality andOil/oleoresin Content

Farmers in Nigeria are handling and processing their ginger using primitive practices inherited from ancient traditions resulting in poorly and unhygienically processed ginger. This is because there is little information on ginger handling and processing. There is the need to improve the traditional methods of processing and drying for better quality and appearance of the dried ginger. In a series of experiments conducted in 2003, four processing treatments: wholeunpeeled, split-unpeeled, whole-peeled and split-peeled and four drying methods: sun, solar, natural air and fire-heat drying were investigated on their effects on the appearance, aroma/flavour, pungency and the ginger oil/oleoresin yield of dried ginger. Whole-unpeeled samples sufficiently dried by fire-heat drying, giving a smoky-burnt aroma and a pronounced pungent smell. The analysis of the ginger oil/oleoresin contents in the four treatment samples shows that the highest yield of 2.0% was from the whole-unpeeled samples dried by fire-heat drying. The use of fire-heat drying to dry whole-unpeeled ginger not only will reduce quality deterioration, but help to alleviate farmers from the high labour-intensive operations of peeling, slicing and sun drying.
“For the times they are a-changin ’” Gauging Uncertainty Perception over Time

: This paper deals with the problem of deriving consistent time-series from newspaper content-based topic models. In the first part, we recapitulate a few our own failed attempts, in the second one, we show some results using a twin strategy, that we call prototyping and seeding . Given the popularity news-based indicators have assumed in econometric analyses in recent years, this seems to be a valuable exercise for researchers working on related issues. Building on earlier writings, where we use the topic modelling approach Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) to gauge economic uncertainty perception, we show the difficulties that arise when a number of one-shot LDAs, performed at different points in time, are used to produce something akin of a time-series. The models ’ topic structures differ considerably from computation to computation. Neither parameter variations nor the accumulation of several topics to broader categories of related content are able solve the problem of incompatibleness. It is not just the content that is added at each observation point, but the very properties of LDA itself: since it uses random initializations and conditional reassignments within the iterative process, fundamentally different models can emerge when the algorithm is executed several times, even if the data and the parameter settings are identical. To tame LDA’s randomness, we apply a newish “prototyping” approach to the corpus, upon which our Uncertainty Perception Indicator (UPI) is built. Still, the outcomes vary considerably over time. To get closer to our goal, we drop the notion that LDA models should be allowed to take various forms freely at each run. Instead, the topic structure is fixated , using a “seeding” technique that distributes incoming new data to our model’s existing topic structure. This approach seems to work quite well, as our consistent and plausible results show, but it is bound to run into difficulties over time either.
Impact of Escalating Heat Waves on Students’ Well-Being and Overall Health: A Survey of Primary School Teachers

Children in developing countries such as India will experience severe consequences of climate change. Primary school students, in particular, are the most vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, such as heat waves intensifying due to climate change. This will adversely impair their development, well-being, and learning outcomes. However, significant research gaps exist in understanding and mitigating children’s vulnerabilities. There is an urgent need for a deeper understanding of the impact of heat waves on children’s health and well-being in India. Further, the discussion on the state of heat safety in Indian primary schools is limited. This study addresses these gaps by surveying 335 primary school teachers in seven Indian cities. The data gathered from the field survey offers a better understanding of classroom experiences and challenges encountered by children and teachers during heat waves. It underscores several aspects of students’ vulnerability to heat exposure and its adverse impact on their health, such as absence from school, physical symptoms of heat distress, etc. Furthermore, it highlights the pressing need for classroom heat risk management in light of climate change and makes several policy prescriptions in primary schools.
Causal Effects of Blood Lipid Traits on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), have become a global health problem with a rapid growth of incidence in newly industrialized countries. Observational studies have recognized associations between blood lipid traits and IBDs, but the causality still remains unclear. To determine the causal effects of blood lipid traits, including triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) on IBDs, two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were conducted using the summary-level genome-wide association study (GWAS) statistics of blood lipid traits and IBDs. Our univariable MR using multiplicative random-effect inverse-variance weight (IVW) method identified TC (OR: 0.674; 95% CI: 0.554, 0.820; p < 0.00625) and LDL-C (OR: 0.685; 95% CI: 0.546, 0.858; p < 0.00625) as protective factors of UC. The result of our multivariable MR analysis further provided suggestive evidence of the protective effect of TC on UC risk (OR: 0.147; 95% CI: 0.025, 0.883; p < 0.05). Finally, our MR-BMA analysis prioritized TG (MIP: 0.336; θ^MACE: −0.025; PP: 0.31; θ^λ: −0.072) and HDL-C (MIP: 0.254; θ^MACE: −0.011; PP: 0.232; θ^λ: −0.04) for CD and TC (MIP: 0.721; θ^MACE: −0.257; PP: 0.648; θ^λ: −0.356) and LDL-C (MIP: 0.31; θ^MACE: −0.095; PP: 0.256; θ^λ: −0.344) for UC as the top-ranked protective factors. In conclusion, the causal effect of TC for UC prevention was robust across all of our MR approaches, which provide the first evidence that genetically determined TC is causally associated with reduced risk of UC. The finding of this study provides important insights into the metabolic regulation of IBDs and potential metabolites targeting strategies for IBDs intervention.
Engine combustion network (ECN): characterization and comparison of boundary conditions for different combustion vessels

The Engine Combustion Network (ECN) is a worldwide group of institutions using combustion vessels and/or performing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, whose aim is to advance the state of spray and combustion knowledge at engine-relevant conditions. A key activity is the use of spray chamber facilities that operate at high-temperature, high-pressure conditions typical of diesel combustion, which are operated at specific target conditions in order to leverage research capabilities and advanced diagnostics of all ECN participants. The first target condition, called "Spray A," has been defined with detailed ambient (900 K, 60 bar, 22.8 kg/m(3), 15% oxygen) and injector (common rail, 1500 bar, KS1.5/86 nozzle, 0.090-mm orifice diameter, n-dodecane, 363 K) conditions. Establishing and improving these experimental boundary conditions in unique facilities throughout the world represents a major step forward in the establishment of high-quality, quantitative data sets for engine spray combustion. This paper is a review of the methodology to characterize and control the ambient and fuel-injector boundary conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, composition) as offered by six different participating institutions of the ECN, each targeting the Spray A conditions and quantifying experimental uncertainty. Constant-pressure flow (CPF) and constant-volume preburn (CVP) chambers with various ambient gas composition are compared for the first time. Experimental diagnostics include the use of fast-response, radiation-corrected thermocouples for spatially resolved gas and fuel-injector temperature, laser-induced phosphorescence for surface temperature, and high-speed transducers for pressure. With guidance about the uncertainty and variation that exists between facilities, simplified models are then employed to understand how these boundary condition variations may affect aspects of spray combustion. Ambient gas and fuel temperature effects on liquid- and vapor-phase penetration are examined with established one-dimensional models. Chemical kinetics modeling in single- or multi-zone reactors is used to predict the influence of different preburn environments on the major and minor species present in the ambient gas at the start of injection, and their subsequent effect on spray ignition. This review article provides recognition of the challenge in creating well-controlled high-temperature, high-pressure environments, and identifies which boundary condition variations are expected to have the highest impact on spray combustion.
Wake flow in a wind farm during a diurnal cycle

ABSTRACTThe atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) undergoes substantial changes in its structure and dynamics in the course of a day due to the transient nature of forcing factors such as the surface fluxes of heat and momentum. The non-stationary nature of the mean wind and turbulence in the ABL, associated with the diurnal cycle, can in turn affect the structure of wind turbine wakes and their effects on power losses within wind farms. In this research, large-eddy simulation is used to study the evolution of the turbine wakes and their effects on power losses inside an idealised finite-size wind farm in the course of a full diurnal cycle. The simulation results show a strong effect of atmospheric stability on the wind farm wakes and associated power losses. During the day, the positive buoyancy flux and associated turbulence production lead to a relatively high turbulence level in the background ABL flow, which enhances turbulent mixing and wake recovery. In contrast, during the night, the relatively low tur.
Genetic diversity and breed identification of Chinese and Vietnamese local chicken breeds based on microsatellite analysis

Abstract South Asia and Southeast Asia are the origins of domestic chickens and are rich in poultry genetic resources, resulting in many unique local chicken breeds. However, with the rapid intensification of poultry farming worldwide, many local chicken breeds are threatened with extinction. In response to China’s “One Belt, One Road” policy, it is imperative to strengthen the conservation and breeding of local chicken breeds in China and Vietnam. This study characterized 18 microsatellite molecular genetic markers to analyze the genetic diversity of 21 local chicken populations in southern China (Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces) and Vietnam, breed identification tags for microsatellite loci were constructed. The results showed that a total of 377 alleles were detected in all breeds, and the most alleles (44) and the highest polymorphic information content (0.7820) were detected at the LEI0094 locus. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) content of the whole population was 0.65, indicating moderate polymorphism. The genetic diversity of the whole population was rich, except for two loci MCW0111 and MCW0016, that showed heterozygote excess at microsatellite loci, and the population had high genetic differentiation. The Vietnamese breeds showed low pairwise fixation coefficient (FST) and Nei’s standard genetic distance (DS) between them. According to the neighbor-joining dendrogram constructed by DS and the analysis of population genetic structure using the structure program, Longshengfeng chicken, Yunlong dwarf chicken, Tengchong white chicken, Xiayan chicken, and Daweishan mini chicken are similar, and Xishuangbanna game fowl, Wuding chicken, and Lanping silky chicken are similar to Yanjin black-bone chicken. In addition, excluding Dongtao chicken, other Vietnamese breeds are clustered together, indicating that the southern chicken breeds are closely related and have experienced better breeding. Overall, the whole population is rich in genetic resources, and the chicken breeds in the three regions are genetically close because of geographical factors and human activities. Dongtao chicken in Vietnamese, Chinese Yunnan local chicken breeds (Gallus gallus spadiceus), and red jungle fowl chickens (Gallus gallus) may have the same origin. We also constructed unique microsatellite molecular markers for 20 cultivars using 15 microsatellite loci. This study provides valuable insights to facilitate breed identification, improve cultivar protection, and new germplasm construction.
Retrieving the Root-Zone Soil Moisture from Surface Soil Moisture or Temperature Estimates: A Feasibility Study Based on Field Measurements

Abstract The bulk soil water content must be estimated accurately for short- and medium-term meteorological modeling. A method is proposed to retrieve the total soil moisture content as well as the field capacity from observed surface parameters such as surface soil moisture or surface temperature. A continuous series of micrometeorological and soil water content measurements was obtained in southwestern France over a fallow site in 1995. In addition, the database includes measurements of the surface temperature and soil moisture profiles within the top 5-cm soil layer. The surface soil moisture measurements are available twice a day during two 30-day intensive observing periods in spring and autumn 1995. Once calibrated, the ISBA (Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere) surface scheme is able to properly simulate the measured surface variables and the bulk soil moisture. Then an assimilation technique is applied to analyze the field capacity and the total soil water content from the surface.
Development of the well-being scale for urban elderly tourists who travel in the countryside for summer health

ABSTRACT Rural summer health tourism for the urban elderly (RSHTUE) is developing in China. RSHTUE tourists are predominantly urban elderly who stay in the countryside for a long time during the summer. This study first obtained the initial dimensions and item lists of the RSHTUE tourist well-being scale from the literature and interview data. Then, the expert panel method was applied to determine the initial scale. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to obtain an 8D 28-item RSHTUE tourist well-being scale. This scale can be used to support subsequent theoretical studies and guide the RSHTUE's development practice.
The enhanced future Flows and Groundwater dataset: development and evaluation of nationally consistent hydrological projections based on UKCP18

Abstract. This paper details the development and evaluation of the enhanced future FLows and Groundwater (eFLaG) dataset of nationally consistent hydrological projections for the UK, based on the latest UK Climate Projections (UKCP18). The projections are derived from a range of hydrological models. For river flows, multiple models (Grid-to-Grid, PDM (Probability Distributed Model) and GR (Génie Rural; both four- and six-parameter versions, GR4J and GR6J)) are used to provide an indication of hydrological model uncertainty. For groundwater, two models are used, a groundwater level model (AquiMod) and a groundwater recharge model (ZOODRM: zooming object-oriented distributed-recharge model). A 12-member ensemble of transient projections of present and future (up to 2080) daily river flows, groundwater levels and groundwater recharge was produced using bias-corrected data from the UKCP18 regional (12 km) climate ensemble. Projections are provided for 200 river catchments, 54 groundwater level boreholes and 558 groundwater bodies, all sampling across the diverse hydrological and geological conditions of the UK. An evaluation was carried out to appraise the quality of hydrological model simulations against observations and also to appraise the reliability of hydrological models driven by the regional climate model (RCM) ensemble in terms of their capacity to reproduce hydrological regimes in the current period. The dataset was originally conceived as a prototype climate service for drought planning for the UK water sector and so has been developed with drought, low river flow and low groundwater level applications as the primary objectives. The evaluation metrics show that river flows and groundwater levels are, for the majority of catchments and boreholes, well simulated across the flow and level regime, meaning that the eFLaG dataset could be applied to a wider range of water resources research and management contexts, pending a full evaluation for the designated purpose. Only a single climate model and one emissions scenario are used, so any applications should ideally contextualise the outcomes with other climate model–scenario combinations. The dataset can be accessed in Hannaford et al. (2022): https://doi.org/10.5285/1bb90673-ad37-4679-90b9-0126109639a9.
CONVERGENCE RATES IN THE LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS

and let SN = Ek-l aN,k(Xk - EXk). Early work in probability dealt with the convergence (almost everywhere and in probability) to zero of the sequence AN. More recent work has dealt with the convergence to zero of sequences of the form SN under various assumptions on the coefficients aN,k and the distributions of the XN's. In most cases the assumptions made about the XN's have been not much stronger or weaker than the assumption of a finite upper bound on their ,yth absolute moments for some 'y > 1. The classical result giving exponential convergence rates in the law of large numbers was established by Cram6r [6] (see also [4]) and states that if the XN'S are identically distributed, and if their common moment generating function is finite in some interval about the origin, then for each e > 0 there exists 0 'e 2p . Baum, Katz, and Read [3] investigated this ex
The epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales in a single center in Oman

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are a global public health threat associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Objectives: The study aims to describe the epidemiology, microbiology and outcome of patients with CRE infection or colonization during an active surveillance program and to determine the risk factors for the acquisition of such organisms in a single center in Oman. Method: A retrospective case–control study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in 2015 and 2016. Cases included patients who had a positive screening or clinical sample for CRE and controls included patients who were screened during the same period and never had a positive screening or clinical sample for CRE. Risk factors analyzed were demographics, comorbidities, instrumentation, and antibiotic exposures. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows (version 11.5). Variables of interest were analyzed by univariate analysis, and those of significance were analyzed by logistic regression. Results: Seven hundred and twenty-eight cases were detected from active surveillance screening, and clinical samples and 749 controls were included. Males comprised 417 (57.3%) cases and females 311 (42.7%). The majority of CRE cases were adult patients (88%, n = 644) compared to 12 % (n = 84) paediatric. The total number of CRE screenings was 8,431 samples in 2015 with a positivity rate of 4.2% and 10,231 samples in 2016 with a positivity rate of 3.6%. The annual incidence rate of CRE was 0.8 per 100 admissions in 2015 and 0.76 per 100 admissions in 2016. The annual incidence density was 1.90 and 1.89 per 1000 patient days for both years, respectively. Healthcare-associated acquisition was 99.5%, and only 0.5% was attributed to the community. The most common sites of infections were urine and wound comprising 29% each. Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 578, 79%) was the predominant organism followed by Escherichia coli (n = 101, 14%). CRE acquisition was significantly associated with the presence of a urinary catheter (odds ratio [OR]: 7.3; confidence interval [CI]: 4.6–11.6; P < 0.0001 or central line (OR: 3.5; CI: 2.068–6.011; P < 0.001), intubation (OR: 0.5; CI: 0.264–0.947; P < 0.034), antibiotic exposure (OR: 4.5; CI: 3.101–6.586; P < 0.0001), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR: 0.5; CI: 0.297–0.852; P = 0.011). In addition, history of a local and an abroad hospital admission significantly increased the risk of CRE acquisition (respectively, local OR: 10.97; CI: 7.878–15.301; P < 0.000, abroad OR: 12.4; CI: 6.597–23.617; P < 0.0001). Overall mortality was 23.1 and 52.3% among bacteremia cases. Conclusion: The annual incidence of CRE acquisition is high with a high mortality rate. A multifaceted strategy to control the spread of CRE is fundamental, considering the specific epidemiology of CRE related to our institution and country.
Sharp maximal estimates for BMO martingales

We introduce a method which can be used to study maximal inequalities for martingales of bounded mean oscillation. As an application, we establish sharp Φ-inequalities and tail inequalities for the one-sided maximal function of a BMO martingale. The results can be regarded as BMO counterparts of the classical maximal estimates of Doob.