Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging Participative Approaches for Urban Regeneration in Chinese Megacities

The rapid development of Chinese megacities in the last decades have been mainly characterized by top-down planning and large-scale urban development and redevelopment, as well as by using place-making as a tool for city branding. This approach has also been used in other countries and has been constantly criticized for replacing old neighborhoods. In recent years, alternative development modes and participative approaches in urban regeneration practices have emerged in cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen. This paper investigates participative urban regeneration cases in Yangpu District, located in Shanghai, and the Dalang subdistrict in Shenzhen. Both case studies are located at the urban-rural interface, where past industrialization processes have resulted in complex sociospatial conditions. The primary focus was to analyze the governance aspects in the cases, such as the enabling factors that allow the participative approach to emerge in these projects and their governance model. This paper concludes on the importance of civil society organizations and the incorporation of social objectives in emerging participative regeneration practices.
Recent Evidence from Spanish Regions

How Do Very Open Economies Absorb Large Immigration Flows? Recent Evidence from Spanish Regions In recent years, Spain has received unprecedented immigration flows. Between 2001 and 2006 the fraction of the population born abroad more than doubled, increasing from 4.8% to 10.8%. For Spanish provinces with above-median inflows (relative to population), immigration increased the high school dropout population by 24%, while only increasing the number of college graduates by 11%. We study the different channels by which regional labor markets have absorbed the large increase in the relative supply of low educated (foreign-born) workers. We identify the exogenous supply shock using historical immigrant settlement patterns by country of origin. Using data from the Labor Force Survey and the decennial Census, we find a large expansion of employment in high immigration regions. Specifically, most industries in high-immigration regions experienced a large increase in the share of loweducation employment. We do not find an effect on regions’ sectoral specialization. Overall, and perhaps surprisingly, Spanish regions have absorbed immigration flows in the same fashion as US local economies. JEL Classification: J2, F1, O3
Meta-analysis of Continual Learning

We propose a novel meta-analysis to study the relationship between properties of task sequences and the performance of continual learning algorithms. Our analysis makes use of recent developments in task space modeling as well as correlation analysis to specify and analyze the properties we are interested in. As a case study, we apply our meta-analysis to study two properties of a task sequence: total complexity and sequential heterogeneity. The findings from our analysis suggest directions for improving continual learning benchmarks and methods.2
FACTORS AFFECTING WHISTLEBLOWING INTENTION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Corporate scandals around the world have raised concern over ethicality of the accountancy profession. Accounting students are future accountants and auditors who are held accountable for the public confidence. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the factors affecting whistleblowing intention of final year accountancy undergraduates. Applying the Moral Intensity Model, the study explores how magnitude of consequences, social consensus, and proximity affect whistleblowing intention. Besides, fear of retaliation is an additional variable to extend the study based on Moral Intensity Model. The results suggest that magnitude of consequence (MC), social consensus (SC) and proximity (PX) have a significant relationship with whistleblowing intention (WI). This study aimed to fill up Malaysia’s whistleblowing research gap in academic world and practically, to improve the coverage of ethics in tertiary education. Keyword: Magnitude of consequence (MC), social consensus (SC) and proximity (PX) and whistleblowing intention (WI)
Determination of Zinc Levels in Cord Blood and Its Possible Effects on the Fetus

This study was conducted in order to determine the zinc level in the cord blood of the pregnant women who applied for birth to Karabük Private Medikar Hospital and to examine the possible effects of zinc on the fetus. The sample of the study was made up with face-to-face questionnaire method of 50 pregnant women who applied to the hospital for giving birth, who did not have understanding and speaking problems, who could speak and understand Turkish and who accepted the study. The collection of cord blood samples for research; cord blood was obtained by umbilical cord clamping during the new-born intensive care unit (if there is no health problem of the new-born) by taking 5-10 ml of blood from the arterial part of the cord and slowly transferring it to trace element tubes (without EDTA). The level of zinc in cord blood was analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) Graphite System Method. Also, the relationship between cord blood zinc level and independent variables showed nonparametric distribution, therefore, the data obtained were evaluated with percentage, arithmetic mean, frequency distributions and Kruskal Wallis H Test and Mann Whitney U Test were used for comparisons. The mean age of the pregnant women was found to be 30.08. in this research. The mean zinc level of cord blood was found to be 97.71 μg/dl in our study. A moderate, positive way and statistically significant relationship was found between maternal age and zinc level (rs=0.34; p<0.05). Also, in the results of correlation analysis which was conducted for determine the relationships between the zinc levels in the cord blood and the baby's weight, height, head circumference, week of birth and Apgar values; there was no statistically significant correlation (p>0.05) among of baby's weight (p = 0.566), height (p = 0.554), head circumference (p = 0.767), birth week (p = 0.104), 1st minute apgar score (p = 0.166), 5th minute apgar score (p = 0.089).
Strain hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) for crack width control in reinforced concrete beams

Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) is an innovative material which, due to the special material composition and the addition of fibres, exhibits a controlled microcracking behaviour under tensile stresses. As such it might be a promising material for improvement of durability of concrete structures. An experimental study was performed aiming to investigate the cracking behaviour of reinforced concrete beams enhanced with SHCC layers in the beam tension zone (hybrid SHCC - concrete beams). Specimens with SHCC layers of different thickness were tested. The hybrid SHCC/concrete beams were compared to regular reinforced concrete (control) beams with the same dimensions and rebar position. Specimens were tested in four-point bending while Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and an image analysis software package (ImageJ) were used to evaluate crack pattern development and crack widths. In the experiments, hybrid beams showed better cracking behaviour compared to control beams, whereas also a higher bending moment capacity was found. The thicker the SHCC layer, the higher the load capacity is. More importantly for the aim of this study, composite beams with a 70 mm SHCC layer showed a better crack width control compared to the reference beams. The maximum crack width exceeded 0.3 mm at approximately 64 kN load, whereas in the control beam it exceeded 0.3 mm at 35 kN load. In hybrid beams with a 30 mm SHCC layer, the benefits were much lower, as expected. The study indicates that by using a combination of conventional concrete and advanced concrete (SHCC in this case), possibly optimal design of reinforced concrete structures could be achieved by eliminating the crack width as governing design parameter and thus saving on reinforcement needed for crack width control.
Use of the MPQ questionnaire to track changes in the effectiveness of multicultural communication of exchange students

This paper investigated the influence of an Erasmus semester abroad on students’ multicultural personality as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). The five dimensions of multicultural effectiveness (Cultural Empathy, Openmindedness, Social Initiative, Flexibility and Emotional Stability) were assessed among 142 participants. Statistical analyses revealed that students scored significantly higher on the dimension of Cultural Empathy and marginally lower on the dimension of Emotional Stability. The Erasmus semester did not effect a significant change in the other MPQ dimensions, contrary to the expectations. Additionally, the influence of age, gender and number of known languages on the MPQ scores was investigated. A linear regression analysis revealed that age correlated positively with Openmindedness, Emotional Stability and the total MPQ score. Female participants scored lower on Emotional Stability than males. The number of known languages was unrelated to the MPQ dimensions. In summary, the increased Cultural Empathy suggests that a semester of immersion in a different culture increases a student’s ability to empathise with the feelings, thoughts and behaviours of members of other cultures. The Erasmus semester did not produce a significant shift in the other dimensions related to multicultural effectiveness.
TFT Compact Modelling

This paper reviews the major developments in thin-film transistor (TFT) modeling for the computer aided design (CAD) and simulation of circuits and systems. Following the progress in recent years on oxide TFTs, we have successfully developed a Verilog-AMS model called the CAMCAS model, which supports computer aided circuit simulation of oxide-TFTs, with the potential to be extended to other types of TFT technology families. Also reviewed are the features of SPICE and Verilog-AMS models and their comparison in terms of development complexity and execution speed. This is aimed at providing a guideline for researchers in the CAD area while enabling the choice of platform to implement their models.
DEBRIS FLOW MODELLING WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE MESHLESS METHODS

Debris flows represent some of the most relevant phenomena in geomorphological phenomena. Due to the potential destructiveness of such flows, they are the target of a vast amount of research. Numerical work traditionally focuses on unresolved single-phase solvers with modified rheological considerations, usually derived from simplified theoretical frameworks or experimental data. Due to the flow characteristics, both time and spatially resolved data are difficult to compile in an experimental set-up. The DualSPHysics meshless numerical implementation based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics is expanded with a Distributed Contact Discrete Element Method in order to explicitly solve the fluid and the solid phase. This represents a resolved model, were no adhoc formulations are used concerning the momentum exchanges between the phases. The model is validated for buoyant flows and wet solid-solid interactions, using both analytical and experimental data. Implementation is done using optimized algorithms for massively parallel architectures. An experimental set-up for stony debris flows in a slit check dam is reproduced numerically, with retention curves being derived and compared. The results show similar quantities of retained solid material, indicating that the model seems to provide reliable results and can provide both meaningful industry solutions and new research prompts regarding debris flows.
Metadata of the chapter that will be visualized in SpringerLink

Pseudospin-1 systems are characterized by the feature that their band structure consists of a pair of Dirac cones and a topologically flat band. Such systems can be realized in a variety of physical systems ranging from dielectric photonic crystals to electronic materials. Theoretically, massless pseudospin-1 systems are described by the generalized Dirac-Weyl equation governing the evolution of a three-component spinor. Recent works have demonstrated that such systems can exhibit unconventional physical phenomena such as revival resonant scattering, superpersistent scattering, super-Klein tunneling, perfect caustics, vanishing Berry phase, and isotropic low energy scattering. We argue that investigating the interplay between pseudospin-1 physics and classical chaos may constitute a new frontier area of research in relativistic quantum chaos with significant applications. Chapter 13 Pseudospin-1 Systems as a New Frontier for Research on Relativistic Quantum
Empirical Investigation of Exports and Economic Growth: Evidence from Sane Countries, 1980-2016

This study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds test technique to cointegration to investigate the relationship between exports and economic growth in SANE countries (South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt) from 1980 to 2016. The results of the long-run relationship revealed that exports had a positive and insignificant relationship with economic growth in South Africa and Egypt. Nevertheless, exports had a positive and significant relationship with economic growth in Algeria and Nigeria. Furthermore, the causality results showed that while a uni-directional causality from exports to real GDP per capita growth rate exists for Nigeria and Egypt, a one-way causality runs from real GDP per capita growth rate to exports for South Africa. This indicates that an export-led growth (ELG) hypothesis is valid for Nigeria and Egypt. However, evidence of a growth-led export (GLE) hypothesis was found for South Africa. Nevertheless, no evidence of either an ELG hypothesis or GLE hypothesis was found for Algeria. The study, therefore, recommends that the Nigerian and Egyptian governments should continue with export-led development strategies, in order to sustain the export-led growth strategy, there is need for diversification of exports in South Africa and Algeria, the South African government should continue with growth-led development strategies, in order to sustain the growth-led export strategy, and the spate of political instabilities should be discouraged through democratic ideals with a view to attracting foreign investors in the export sector.
CS229 Final Project-Improving LiDAR Point Cloud Classification of Urban Objects

LiDAR point cloud classification is hugely important for autonomous driving applications. In this study, we attempt to improve classifications of the Sydney Urban Objects Dataset by experimenting with data augmentation methods and modifying architectures for VoxNet, a deep learning model which previously had good performance on this dataset. We were able to improve the F1 score by 3.32% by removing outlier points from the raw point cloud and improve the F1 score by 4.75% after adding an additional Max Pool layer to the original VoxNet architecture.
Pestivirus Infections in Semi-Domesticated Eurasian Tundra Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus): A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Serological Study in Finnmark County, Norway

Members of the Pestivirus genus (family Flaviviridae) cause severe and economically important diseases in livestock. Serological studies have revealed the presence of pestiviruses in different cervid species, including wild and semi-domesticated Eurasian tundra reindeer. In this retrospective study, serum samples collected between 2006 and 2008 from 3339 semi-domesticated Eurasian reindeer from Finnmark County, Norway, were tested for anti-pestivirus antibodies using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a subset of these by virus neutralization test (VNT). A seroprevalence of 12.5% was found, varying from 0% to 45% among different herding districts, and 20% in western Finnmark, as compared to 1.7% in eastern Finnmark. Seroprevalence increased with age. Pestivirus-specific RNA was not detected in any of the 225 serum samples tested by real-time RT-PCR. Based on VNT results, using a panel of one bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) strain and two border disease virus (BDV) strains, the virus is most likely a reindeer-specific pestivirus closely related to BDV. A characterization of the causative virus and its pathogenic impact on reindeer populations, as well as its potential to infect other domestic and wild ruminants, should be further investigated.
Hepatitis B virus seromarkers among HIV infected adults on ART: An unmet need for HBV screening in eastern Ethiopia

Progression of chronic HBV to cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease (ESLD), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is more rapid in HIV positive individuals than those with HBV alone; however, the distribution of HBV seromarkers in HIV infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is not well described. To address this problem, we assessed the distribution of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) and hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) among HIV infected adults on ART in Eastern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2017 to February 2018. Socio-demographic, behavioral and health related factors, and clinical data were collected using questionnaire and checklist. Plasma samples were tested for HBsAg, anti-HBc and anti-HBs seromarkers using ELISA. Data were double entered into EpiData 3.1, cleaned, exported to and analyzed using STATA 13. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis were conducted and statistical significance was decided at p≤0.05. A total of 901 participants were included and the prevalence of HBsAg was found to be 11.7% [95%CI (10, 14)]. Among the co-infected, 47.6% were also positive for anti-HBc, of which 58% were on an ART containing tenofovir (TDF). Among those screened for the three seromarkers, 38.1% were negative for all and 21% were positive only for anti-HBc (IAHBc). Being single, history of genital discharge and taking ART with TDF combination were significantly associated with HBV co-infection (p≤0.05). There is high burden HBV co-infection among individuals on ART. The unmet need of HBV screening prior to ART initiation leaves many co-infected individuals without appropriate management including therapy, close monitoring or vaccination when indicated, impacting disease prevention.
Abdominal wall morphometric variability based on computed tomography: Influence of age, gender, and body mass index

Ventral hernia surgery does not usually account for the individuality of the abdominal wall anatomy. This could be both because medical imaging is rarely performed before surgery and because data on abdominal wall variability are limited. The objective of the present study was to perform an exhaustive morphometric analysis of abdominal wall components based on computed tomography (CT) scans.
Associations of Residential Greenness with Diabetes Mellitus in Chinese Uyghur Adults

Greenness exposure is nominated as a potential beneficial factor for health, but evidence is limited on its diabetes effects. We conducted a cross-sectional study between May and September 2016 in rural areas of northwestern China, including 4670 Uyghur adults, to explore the associations between residential greenness and fasting glucose levels and diabetes prevalence. Fasting glucose levels were determined, and information on covariates was collected by questionnaire. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) were calculated to assess greenness levels. Generalized linear mixed models were applied to evaluate the associations of greenness with fasting glucose levels and diabetes prevalence. The prevalence of diabetes was 11.6%. We found that living in rural areas characterized by increased amounts of greenness was associated with reduced diabetes prevalence (e.g., NDVI1000m: OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.86, 0.99). Stratified analyses showed that the protective effects of greenness on diabetes prevalence were found only in women (NDVI1000m: OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.82, 0.99). However, none of the interaction was statistically significant. Our study suggests that greater residential greenness levels were associated with a lower odds ratio of diabetes prevalence in Xinjiang Uyghur adults. Further well-designed longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings.
In vivo acute toxicity and anti-gastric evaluation of a novel dichloro Schiff base: Bax and HSP70 alteration

Abstract Chlorine is shown to possess anti-gastric ulcer activity, since it can inactivate Helicobacter pylori, which is regarded as one of the most common risk factors for causing gastric problems. In the current study, the gastroprotective property of a novel dichloro-substituted Schiff base complex, 2, 2′- [−1, 2-cyclohexanediylbis(nitriloethylidyne)] bis(4-chlorophenol) (CNCP), against alcohol-induced gastric lesion in SD rats was assessed. SD rats were divided into four groups, i.e. normal, ulcer control, testing, and reference groups. Ulcer area, gastric wall mucus, and also gastric acidity of the animal stomachs were measured. In addition, antioxidant activity of CNCP was evaluated and its safe dose was identified. Immunohistochemistry staining was also carried to evaluate two important proteins, i.e. Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). Moreover, the activities of super oxide dismutase and catalase, as well as the levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were also measured. Antioxidant activity of CNCP was approved via the aforementioned experiments. Histological evaluations showed that the compound possesses stomach epithelial defense activity. Additionally, periodic acid-Schiff staining exhibited over-expression of HSP70 and down-expression of Bax protein in the CNCP-treated rats. Moreover, CNCP caused deceased MDA level and elevated PGE2 level, and at the same time increased the activities of the two enzymes.
Simulating the route of the Tang-Tibet Ancient Road for one branch of the Silk Road across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

As the only route formed in the inner Qinghai-Tibet plateau, the Tang-Tibet Ancient Road promoted the extension of the Overland Silk Roads to the inner Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Considering the Complex geographical and environmental factors of inner Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, we constructed a weighted trade route network based on geographical integration factors, and then adopted the principle of minimum cost and the shortest path on the network to simulate the ancient Tang-Tibet Ancient Road. We then compared the locations of known key points documented in the literature, and found a significant correspondence in the Qinghai section. However, there was a certain deviation between the key points recorded in Tibetan section and the simulated route; we found that the reason is the relative oxygen content (ROC) became a limited factor of the choice of the Tibetan section road. Moreover, we argue that the warm and humid climate and the human migration to the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau were the fundamental driving forces for the formation of the Tang-Tibet Ancient Road.