Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consistent Trends in Dry Spell Length in Recent Observations and Future Projections

We identify global observed changes in dry‐spell characteristics that are consistent with future projections and involve common physical drivers. Future projections of longer dry spells in the dry season increase vegetation water stress and can negatively impact perennial vegetation. Lengthening dry season dry spells of up to ∼2 days per decade over South America and southern Africa and shortening of similar magnitude over West Africa display a qualitatively consistent pattern to future projected changes under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 2‐4.5 intermediate greenhouse gas emissions scenario. By combining a range of present‐day climate model experiments, recent trends are linked with both natural and human‐caused drivers. Longer dry season dry spells over South America are associated with relative warming of North Atlantic sea surface temperatures and amplified warming over land compared with adjacent oceans; both of which are projected to continue under further warming, suggesting a common driver for recent trends and future projections.
Comparison of the Use of SQUID and Hall Effect Sensors in Nondestructive Testing

In equipment for nondestructive testing using eddy currents, two magnetic sensors (Hall effect and SQUID) have been tested and compared. In parallel with experiments, a simple and efficient numerical analysis was developed. The two sensors were shown to be real competitors, since each has advantages and drawbacks. The numerical model also proved to be quite reliable.
Discrete Modelling of Deterministic Size E Ect of Normal-Strength And Ultra-High Performance Concrete Under Compression

: Size effect of heterogeneous granular materials under tensile loading is well known and the subsequent size effect laws are widely available in the scientific literature. On the contrary, size effect in compression is scarcely studied, which, especially for concrete, is more significant for its brittle failure mode in absence of adequate confinement. This paper investigates the deterministic size effect in compression of two types of concrete: a normal strength concrete and an ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). The Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) is selected to determine the compressive strength of a broad range of sizes utilizing experimental-based calibrated data sets. The simulated tests include both cylinders and prisms with the diameter/width range from 150 mm to 600 mm for normal strength concrete and from 50 mm to 200 mm for UHPC. The investigated slenderness ratio ranges from 1 to 16. It is found that the simulated strength show no size effect under low friction loading, and the magnitude of size effect decreases with rising slenderness ratio under high friction loading. The size effect laws available in the literature are investigated by testing the compressive strength data and found with limitations. A new compressive size effect law formula named CSEL3D is proposed in terms of diameter and slenderness ratio for the deterministic size effect in compression. The correlation by CSEL3D for the studied strengths is above 0.99, which shows its excellent ability in describing and predicting the size effect behavior in compression for both concretes and shapes.
Ensuring equitable, inclusive and meaningful gender identity- and sexual orientation-related data collection in the healthcare sector: insights from a critical, pragmatic systematic review of the literature

Abstract In several countries, no gender identity- and sexual orientation-related data is routinely collected, if not for specific health or administrative/social purposes. Implementing and ensuring equitable and inclusive socio-demographic data collection is of paramount importance, given that the LGBTI community suffers from a disproportionate burden in terms of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there exists no systematic review addressing the methods that can be implemented in capturing gender identity- and sexual orientation-related data in the healthcare sector. A systematic literature review was conducted for filling in this gap of knowledge. Twenty-three articles were retained and analysed: two focussed on self-reported data, two on structured/semi-structured data, seven on text-mining, natural language processing, and other emerging artificial intelligence-based techniques, two on challenges in capturing sexual and gender-diverse populations, eight on the willingness to disclose gender identity and sexual orientation, and, finally, two on integrating structured and unstructured data. Our systematic literature review found that, despite the importance of collecting gender identity- and sexual orientation-related data and its increasing societal acceptance from the LGBTI community, several issues have to be addressed yet. Transgender, non-binary identities, and also intersex individuals remain often invisible and marginalized. In the last decades, there has been an increasing adoption of structured data. However, exploiting unstructured data seems to overperform in identifying LGBTI members, especially integrating structured and unstructured data. Self-declared/self-perceived/self-disclosed definitions, while being respectful of one’s perception, may not completely be aligned with sexual behaviours and activities. Incorporating different levels of information (biological, socio-demographic, behavioural, and clinical) would enable overcoming this pitfall. A shift from a rigid/static nomenclature towards a more nuanced, dynamic, ‘fuzzy’ concept of a ‘computable phenotype’ has been proposed in the literature to capture the complexity of sexual identities and trajectories. On the other hand, excessive fragmentation has to be avoided considering that: (i) a full list of options including all gender identities and sexual orientations will never be available; (ii) these options should be easily understood by the general population, and (iii) these options should be consistent in such a way that can be compared among various studies and surveys. Only in this way, data collection can be clinically meaningful: that is to say, to impact clinical outcomes at the individual and population level, and to promote further research in the field.
Impact of Flexibility on Vertical Jump, Balance and Speed in Amateur Football Players

Muscle strength, power, balance and speed assume decisive roles in football performance. This study aims to investigate whether lower limb flexibility, particularly the hip flexors and knee extensor and flexor muscles, are correlated with vertical jump performance, balance and speed in adult football players. A sample of 22 male amateur football players (age: 22.3 ± 3 years; height: 175.4 ± 7.4 cm; weight: 74.9 ± 11.6 kg; BMI: 24.2 ± 2.6 kg/m2) were assessed for lower limb flexibility, vertical jump, balance and speed. Results indicated that vertical jump ability is moderately correlated with left knee extensors flexibility (ρ = −0.426; p = 0.048), which did not occur on the right side. There were no statistically significant correlations between vertical jump and knee flexors flexibility (ρ = 0.330; p = 0.133). In balance, the reaching distance on the right side presented a moderate and statistically significant correlation with the knee flexors flexibility (ρ = 0.411; p = 0.040), which was not observed on the left side. Velocity was not correlated with the knee extensors flexibility (right: ρ = 0.360; p = 0.100; left: ρ = 0.386; p = 0.076), or with the knee flexors flexibility (ρ = −0.173; p = 0.440). In conclusion, the influence of flexibility on vertical jump ability, balance and speed appears to exist. Further research should seek to clarify the associations between these abilities.
Technostressors and service employees outcomes: a longitudinal study

ABSTRACT This study determines the impact of technostress creators on employee wellbeing dimensions and employee engagement. This study also examines the moderating role of mindfulness and optimism to use technology between technostress creator and employee wellbeing. A longitudinal research design was adopted to collect the data from 286 government employees involved in public dealing during two waves of COVID-19 in Pakistan. The data were assessed using structural equation modeling and Hayes’ method to test mediation and moderation. The study findings shed important light on the role of personal resources in reducing stress over a time period. The results conclude that technostress creators negatively influence employee wellbeing dimensions and employee engagement in both waves. Also, personal resources, i.e. mindfulness and optimism to use technology, dampen the negative association of technostress creators on employee wellbeing. One of the significant limitations of this research is collecting the data from employees working in public offices only, whereas this study fills an essential gap by exploring the role of technostressors using a longitudinal study design.
Additive manufacturing technology in spare parts supply chain: a comparative study

Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology has the potential to significantly improve supply chain dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of AM on spare parts supply chain. Three supply chain scenarios are investigated in this paper, namely conventional supply chain, centralised AM-based supply chain and distributed AM-based supply chain. Based on system dynamics simulations, this paper specifically compares three supply chain scenarios, in terms of total variable cost and carbon emission. The results show the spare part supply chain utilising AM is indeed superior to the traditional one in sustainable performance. It is also expected that AM can facilitate the spare parts supply chain to achieve more economic benefits along with its development. To our knowledge, this paper is one of the early studies that explores the impact of AM on supply chain performance and quantitatively examines the superiority of utilising AM in spare parts supply chain. Some suggestions are also provided to help managers adopting AM in their spare parts supply chains.
Changes in Phenolic Acids and Antioxidant Properties during Baking of Bread and Muffin Made from Blends of Hairless Canary Seed, Wheat, and Corn

Phenolic acids are the major polyphenols in cereal grains and they undergo changes in their composition and structure during processing. This study investigated changes in phenolic acids and antioxidant properties during baking of bread and muffin made from hairless canary seed (HCS), Phalaris canariensis L. , alone or in blends with corn and wheat. The changes were monitored after dry mixing, dough/batter formation, and oven baking. Phenolic acids were quantified in products using HPLC and antioxidant activity was based on DPPH, ABTS, and ORAC assays. Eight phenolic acids were primarily present in the bound fraction extracts, while only a few phenolic acids were detected in the free or unbound fraction extracts. Ferulic was the dominant phenolic acid in wheat, corn, and HCS followed by p-coumaric acid but the latter was extremely high in HCS compared to wheat and corn. After baking, bound phenolic acids decreased in breads and muffins, while the unbound phenolic acids increased. Dough preparation resulted in about 5–13% reductions in bound ferulic acid in addition to 2–9% after oven baking with a total reduction of about 10–20% subject to bread formulation. On the contrary unbound ferulic acid increased by 48–307% after dough preparation and 138–225% after oven baking with a total increase 273–495%. Similarly, muffin-making process resulted in 26–30% reductions in bound ferulic acid after batter preparation and 4–7% after oven baking with reductions of 34–37% in muffins, while the unbound ferulic acid increased by about 35–105% and 9–29%, respectively, with a total increase 47–116%. The baking process resulted in improved DPPH, ABTS, and ORAC antioxidant activities in breads and muffins despite the initial reductions after dough preparation. In general, baking process resulted in tangible increases in unbound phenolic acids which eventually could improve their bioavailability and bioactivity.
Review: inactivation of very heat-resistant spores of Bacilus sporothermodurans by high pressure treatment combined with others treatments

ABSTRACT Bacillus sporothermoduras spores are known to be very resistant to ultra heat treatment. It is able to germinate and growth in the final product causing the non-sterility of UHT milk. Indeed, the currently used methods for the preservation of dairy products are often not sufficient for the destruction of all the spores potentially present. Faced with the constraint of altering the organoleptic and nutritional quality of milk by increasing the temperature and/or the duration of the treatment, in order to inactivate the highly heat-resistant spores, it has therefore become essential to develop other processes more effective in completely inactivating these spores without modifying the organoleptic characteristics of the product. The use of non-thermal methods offers an interesting alternative to conventional thermal treatments. They inactivate microorganisms, in particular bacterial spores, while preserving the organoleptic and nutritional qualities of the treated product. As a result, they have received special attention in recent years. Consequently, this review aimed to summarize the related investigation on the inactivation of heat-resistant spores of Bacillus sporothermodurans by non-thermal methods.
TiO2 coated optical fibers for distributed real-time pH monitoring in wellbore conditions

pH is a critical parameter for wellbore integrity and geochemical monitoring in wells for oil and gas production, CO2 storage, H2 subsurface storage, and geothermal systems. In situ real-time pH monitoring in subsurface wells is of significant value for wellbore integrity monitoring and predictive analysis of well component deterioration such as casing steel corrosion and cement carbonation. However, harsh environments in subsurface wells have limited many commonly used pH sensors. We have previously demonstrated optical fiber pH sensors coated with metal oxide-based sensing materials such as TiO2, which offer stability at high pressures and temperatures. In this study, we demonstrated TiO2 coated optical fibers for real-time distributed pH monitoring based on backscattered light interrogation. TiO2 coated optical fibers were tested under ambient conditions and wellbore relevant conditions at elevated temperatures. TiO2 coating was deposited on the optical fibers through a facile sol-gel method. TiO2 coated optical fibers have shown promising pH sensing results under elevated temperatures and high pH conditions, making them suitable for wellbore cement monitoring.
A preliminary evaluation of WRF (ARW v4.1.1)/DART (Manhattan release v9.8.0)-RTTOV (v12.3) in assimilating satellite visible radiance data for a cyclone case

Satellite visible (VIS) radiance data contain rich cloud information that are increasingly assimilated for improving cloud and precipitation forecasting of numerical weather prediction models. Recently, the Data Assimilation Research Testbed 10 (DART), a widely used data assimilation resource that supports the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, was facilitated with an interface for the Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV), which supports radiance assimilation from visible (VIS) to microwave wavelength channels. This study evaluates the WRF (ARW v4.1.1)/DART (Manhattan release v9.8.0)-RTTOV (v12.3) system for assimilating the radiance data of channel 2 (0.55 ~ 0.75 μm) of the Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager (AGRI) onboard FY-4. Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) were performed for a cyclone 15 case. The results indicate that assimilating VIS radiance data improves cloud forecast skills in general. Best results were achieved for the data assimilation (DA) experiment with dense observations and high updating frequency. The best results could capture the “eye” structure of the cyclone system and significantly improves cloud water path and cloud coverage simulations. Nevertheless, three main problems were revealed. The first is its inability to improve cloud vertical distribution such as layered structures and cloud phases; The second is the its inability to influence atmosphere thermodynamic state 20 variables positively; The third is a waste of up to 50% observations during the filtering processes. cloud forecasting skills were found for dense observations with high updating frequency, and with cloud state variables ( 𝒙 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 ) as the cycling variables. For the data assimilation of dense and high-frequency observations, the atmosphere thermodynamic state variables ( 𝒙 𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒐𝒔 ) should not be taken as the cycling update variables because the adjustments of 𝒙 𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒐𝒔 by VIS radiance DA introduce negative influences on cloud simulations.
Increased amphiregulin expression by CD4+ T cells from individuals with asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection

There is an urgent need to be able to identify individuals with asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection, so their risk of progressing to VL and transmitting parasites can be managed. This study examined transcriptional markers expressed by CD4+ T cells that could distinguish asymptomatic individuals from endemic controls and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients.
Retail Technology Acceptance Model for online at offline (O@O): Comparing different generations of data analysis techniques

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to examine consumers’ intentions to use retail technologies and to identify factors that affect their decision by extending the Technology Acceptance Model. This study employs Regression and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling to test the same construct in the proposed model, and the results were compared to find out similarities and differences. The result shows that depending on the consumers’ shopping orientation profile, they evaluated a technology differently. Also, depending on the types of technology, the factors that significantly affect consumers’ intentions to use are different. For an unfamiliar technology, consumers need to evaluate before confirming their intention to use (i.e. the mediating effect of evaluation between consumer’s profile and intention to use). Not all technologies require high usefulness for high intention to use, contrary to previous research. The PLS-SEM analysis was more appropriate than the regression for a newly developed model.
Has Cosmetic Surgery and Its Marketing Had A Damaging Impact on Beauty Standards?

This study explores a range of different factors and their influence on beauty standards in the east compared to in the west. A detailed literature review has been carried out, as well as a primary survey of 100 participants. The results indicate that the media and the marketing for cosmetic surgery and procedures had the most significant impact.
‘Musical effort’ and ‘musical pleasantness’: a pilot study on the neurophysiological correlates of classical music listening in adults normal hearing and unilateral cochlear implant users

Abstract Objective This pilot case-control study is aimed to estimate ‘musical effort’ and ‘musical pleasantness’ in adults normal hearing (NH) and Unilateral Cochlear Implant (UCI) users via neurophysiological indices and a cognitive-behavioural approach. Methods 7 NH and 7 UCI subjects underwent electroencephalographic (EEG) recording with two EEG indices, Approach Withdrawal (AW) and Workload (WI), and behavioural tests conducted during a forced-choice musical emotion recognition task performed in quiet and noise in two emotional conditions. Results Musical effort in terms of WI did not vary between conditions and groups. Inversely, for AW, statistically significant differences in noisy conditions were observed between groups, indicating a difficulty for the patients in discriminating the musical pleasantness in noise. However, self-reported data suggest the ability of UCI to cognitively evaluate the stimulus in terms of both auditory difficulty and pleasantness. Conclusion Findings suggest the possible relevance of the Cochlear Implant in supporting the patients’ effort in listening to music in noise, allowing a pleasant enjoyment in the quiet condition. Overall, this study appears worthy of interest and paves the way for further investigation by providing data on the neurophysiological perception of music.
New generation free trade agreements as a driver of institutional change: A case of Vietnam

Institutional change, which, according to new institutional economics, is a precondition to economic development, is caused by several forces. In addition to destiny defined as ‘path dependence’, strategic choice understood as overall policy direction of the country, there are external forces named as ‘switchmen’, which might have decisive impact on the direction of the institutional change. This political economy analysis investigates the role of ‘new-generation free trade agreements’ (NGFTAs) as ‘switchmen’ in the process of institutional change using the case of Vietnam. Vietnam was selected as it is the fastest integrating developing country in Asia and a participant in most regional economic integration projects. The paper focuses on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) as the most advanced trade agreements ever concluded between developed and developing economies. Findings are based on selected ‘new generation’ provisions of the CPTPP and EVFTA, confirming the ‘switchmen’ role of the agreement in institutional change and the new institutional arrangement of Vietnam. Thus, despite the political constellations and stakeholders’ interests, NGFTAs are the decisive impulse for profound institutional change in Vietnam, which would not be possible without NGFTA commitments.
Improvement of lateral shoulder impact response of a multi-body pedestrian model

ABSTRACT The interaction of the shoulder complex of the pedestrian and the striking vehicle strongly influences the responses and injury risk of the head, neck and torso during vehicle-to-pedestrian impacts. While the current MADYMO facet pedestrian model met the shoulder force corridor provided by ISO9790, the kinematics of its shoulder complex during a lateral blunt impact has not been evaluated. In this study, this model was evaluated relative to more detailed and newly available cadaveric responses under lateral shoulder impact, and exhibited much higher shoulder impact force and displacement. To improve the biofidelity of the shoulder complex, a component level validation was performed on its upper arm model based on component-level upper arm compression test data by maximising ISO rating scores between the cadaveric and the model responses. After the improvement of the arm model, the updated pedestrian model showed improved biofidelity based on ISO rating scores on shoulder impact force, displacement and shoulder deflection under lateral shoulder impact conditions. Finally, under a 20 km/h sedan-to-pedestrian lateral impact, the 15% higher head relative impact velocity was observed for the updated pedestrian model, which demonstrated the strong influence of the shoulder complex on the pedestrian head response.