Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arabic Cyberbullying Detection: Enhancing Performance by Using Ensemble Machine Learning

Cyberbullying is a prevalent threat nearing Arab adolescents and youth around the world. As the internet and smart devices are taking more and more space in the lives of youth, interest in finding solutions for hindering cyberbullying is rising. Interest in Arabic Natural Language Processing techniques is also taking a big part in current research works. A lot of research work nowadays is presenting solutions for the automatic detection of cyberbullying. However, very scarce solutions are prevailing for cyberbullying in Arabic language content. Cyberbullying detection solutions employ Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing techniques. Lately, Ensemble Machine learning techniques had been contemplated as means of enhancing the classification of machine learners. Thus, this paper presents a solution for Arabic Cyberbullying detection. The solution presented hereby uses Ensemble Machine Learning techniques to achieve an enhancement over a previous work presented by the authors in the realm of Arabic Cyberbullying detection. The enhancements are assessed by means of performance measures - that is Precision, Recall and F-Measure.
Public Service Media in a Digital Media Environment: Performance from an Audience Perspective

For decades, public service broadcasting has played an important role in the provision of news and information in many European countries. Today, however, public service media (PSM) are confronted with numerous challenges, including the need to legitimise their role in an increasingly digital media environment. Against this background, this study examines the audience perspective on the topic with an international comparative approach. It analyses the population’s assessment of, and attitudes towards, the performance of PSM. The aim is to identify what relevance is attributed to PSM by the public in the digital age and how they see PSM’s role in comparison to other more recent (digital) media offerings. An online survey was conducted in three specifically selected countries: Germany, France, and the UK. Overall, the findings show that respondents attribute a clear role to PSM and distinguish it from other media offerings in the increasingly digital media environment. They rate the information quality offered by PSM as higher than that of most other media offerings. Respondents are more likely to value social media platforms for entertainment purposes than PSM. The findings also reveal differences in the evaluation of PSM depending on PSM news use, interest in news, political interest, as well as on demographic variables. On the other hand, differences between the individual countries overall were surprisingly small, pointing to the fact that PSM across the countries sampled are—with deviations—perceived to be performing better than (most) other media, despite being confronted with changes and challenges in their environment.
Determinants of Virologic Failure among Adult HIV Patients on First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy at Waghimra Zone, Northern Ethiopia: A Case-Control Study

Introduction. The primary goal of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is to reduce the viral load in HIV-infected patients to promote quality of life, as well as to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality. A high rate of virologic failure was reported in Waghimra Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, in viral load assessment conducted among HIV-infected patients on ART in the Amhara region. However, there is limited evidence on the determinants of virological failure in the study area. This study aimed to identify the determinants of virological failure among HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy in Waghimra zone, Northern Ethiopia, 2019. Methods. An institutional-based unmatched case-control study was conducted from May 21 to June 30, 2019. Cases were people living with HIV (PLHIV) on ART who had already experienced virological failure; controls were those without virological failure. Data were extracted from 92 cases and 184 controls through chart review using a pretested and structured checklist. The data were entered using Epi Info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify factors associated with virological failure, and variables with a value <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results. This study revealed that poor adherence to ART (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.17, 8.31), taking ART for longer than five years (AOR = 3.11, 95% CI: 1.17, 8.25), having drug toxicity (AOR = 3.34, 95% CI: 1.54, 7.23), age of PLHIV ≥ 35 years (AOR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.29,4.64), and recent CD4 count <200 cells/mm³ (AOR = 3.06, 95% CI: 1.52, 6.13) were factors associated with virologic failure. Conclusion and Recommendation. This study showed that poor adherence to treatment, longer duration on ART, experiencing drug toxicity, older age, and recent CD4 <200 cell/mm³ are factors that increase the risk of virologic failure.
Parameter Estimation Accuracy of the Effort-Moderated Item Response Theory Model Under Multiple Assumption Violations

As low-stakes testing contexts increase, low test-taking effort may serve as a serious validity threat. One common solution to this problem is to identify noneffortful responses and treat them as missing during parameter estimation via the effort-moderated item response theory (EM-IRT) model. Although this model has been shown to outperform traditional IRT models (e.g., two-parameter logistic [2PL]) in parameter estimation under simulated conditions, prior research has failed to examine its performance under violations to the model’s assumptions. Therefore, the objective of this simulation study was to examine item and mean ability parameter recovery when violating the assumptions that noneffortful responding occurs randomly (Assumption 1) and is unrelated to the underlying ability of examinees (Assumption 2). Results demonstrated that, across conditions, the EM-IRT model provided robust item parameter estimates to violations of Assumption 1. However, bias values greater than 0.20 SDs were observed for the EM-IRT model when violating Assumption 2; nonetheless, these values were still lower than the 2PL model. In terms of mean ability estimates, model results indicated equal performance between the EM-IRT and 2PL models across conditions. Across both models, mean ability estimates were found to be biased by more than 0.25 SDs when violating Assumption 2. However, our accompanying empirical study suggested that this biasing occurred under extreme conditions that may not be present in some operational settings. Overall, these results suggest that the EM-IRT model provides superior item and equal mean ability parameter estimates in the presence of model violations under realistic conditions when compared with the 2PL model.
Biogeochemical evidence for chemosymbiosis in the fossil record

Chemosymbiotic invertebrates obtain nutrition from harbouring bacteria that oxidize reduced chemicals to produce energy for carbon fixation. This allows the animals to thrive in the extreme conditions of the deep sea, because the high concentrations of sulphide (thiotrophy) and methane (methanotrophy) at cold seeps and hydrothermal vents can be utilized by the symbiotic bacteria. This research investigates whether the key role of chemosymbiosis in shaping modern deep sea ecosystems can be traced through geological time, by using the stable isotope composition (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of organic matter in invertebrate shells. Shell-bound organic matter (SBOM) was isolated using various shell removal techniques, and method comparison suggests that the original isotopic signal is least affect by using EDTA or acetic acid. Multi-isotope analysis of SBOM obtained from (deep sea) molluscs and brachiopods confirms that the main types of chemosymbiosis can be differentiated from non-symbiotic heterotrophic nutritional strategies. In particular chemosymbiotic SBOM δ13C is characteristically depleted, with defined ranges for the presence of either methanotrophic or thiotrophic symbionts across environmental settings. In suspected thiotrophic taxa from ancient cold seeps, the preservation of this modern range (SBOM δ13C -35‰ to -29‰) is limited to young subfossil specimens, but the upper threshold is only exceeded in pre-Pliocene samples. Moreover, the protected intra-crystalline SBOM pool retains a distinct δ13C signal up to the Miocene, and available δ34S and δ15N data of intra-crystalline SBOM do not overlap between heterotrophy and thiotrophy. For methanotrophy (δ13C -65‰ to -36‰ at modern cold seeps) a residual δ13C biosignature does appear to be present in total SBOM from Miocene samples. This encouraging finding, together with the discovery of intra-crystalline original proteins in a fossil of Cretaceous age, suggests that future work on other well-preserved specimens could trace the evolution of chemosymbiosis deep into geological time.
Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) as a case study for locating cryptic and data‐poor marine fishes for conservation

When seeking to conserve data‐poor species, we need to decide how to allocate research effort, especially when threats are substantial and pressing. Our study provides guidance for sampling marine fishes that are particularly difficult to find – those species that are cryptic or rare and or where little information exists on local distribution (data‐poor). We used our experience searching for seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) in Thailand to evaluate two search strategies for marine conservation: (1) determining relative abundance and (2) searching for presence/absence with detection probabilities. Our fieldwork indicated that using the presence/absence framework was more likely to lead to inferences that seahorses could be found in the site than when using the relative abundance framework. This realization would support a commonsense approach, where presence/absence with detection probabilities is centrally important to marine conservation planning for cryptic and or data‐poor marine species.
Does Local Ownership of Vacant Land Reduce Crime?

Abstract Problem, research strategy, and findings Urban vacancy presents myriad concerns for American legacy cities, including cyclical disinvestment, property value and tax revenue decimation, increased crime, and high management costs. To address these problems, the City of Chicago (IL) has sold more than 1,200 vacant city-owned parcels in distressed communities for $1 through its Large Lots Program since 2014. Program buyers must be same-block landowners, although they are not required to live nearby. In this study we estimate the true distance between buyers and their parcels and perform a block-level difference-in-differences analysis to explore whether the program reduces crime. We find that same-neighborhood buyers have purchased 69% of parcels. Overall, sales reduce block-level crime rates by 3.5%, but sales to neighborhood residents decrease crime rates by 6.8%. These findings are agnostic to what buyers actually do with their land and could be enhanced with a better understanding of which owners achieve productive reuse. Takeaway for practice Side yard programs seek solutions to urban vacancy via decentralized community reinvestment but have so far been relatively untested. We demonstrate that Chicago’s Large Lots Program has reduced crime while providing reinvestment and wealth-building opportunities. However, attention should be paid to how program rules and outreach efforts affect how “local” parcel buyers are. More research is needed to evaluate the broader impacts of side yard programs, such as on wealth building and community redevelopment.
Screening for Folate Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria from Colostrum and Characterization of their Probiotic Potential

Folate represents an essential nutritional component in human diet and involved in many metabolic pathways, its deficiency results in disorders like megaloblastic anemia and neural tube defects. The present study reports screening of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with additional benefit towards folate production and their characterization for probiotic potential. 64 LABs isolated from human colostrums were subjected for further screening for extracellular folate production. Fourteen LAB isolates belonging to species L. plantarum(12) and L. rhamnosus(2) had folate production beyond 40μg/L, with highest being in L. plantarum CKR26 (74.2±2.8μg/L). These isolates were further characterized for the probiotic properties. Four L. plantarum isolates namely CKR5, CKR8, CKR12 and CKR28 confirmed to posses good probiotic potential. All four isolates exhibited broad spectrum of antibacterial activity towards eight bacterial pathogens tested and two among them CKR8 and CKR12 also had antifungal activity. Both CKR5 and CKR12 strains had relatively high folate production (58.6±3.8μg/L and 56.5±3.4μg/L) but CKR12 and CKR28 had additional antifungal activity. So, all the four folate producing L. plantarum strains can find their application as food supplement for adults and can also be included in weaning foods for infants, which aid in utilizing novel food products to provide natural folate.
Acetylcholine-dependent phasic dopamine activity signals exploratory locomotion and choices

Dopamine neurons from the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) switch from tonic to phasic burst firing in response to reward-predictive cues and actions. Bursting is influenced by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which are not implicated in reinforcement learning, but rather in exploration and uncertainty-seeking. The leading model assigns these functions to tonic dopamine firing. To investigate this paradox, we recorded the activity of VTA dopamine neurons during a spatial decision-making task. When reward was certain, mice adopted a stereotyped behavior, and dopamine neurons signaled reward. When confronted with uncertain rewards or a novel environment, mice exhibited exploration. Modulation of phasic, but not tonic, dopamine activity predicted uncertainty-seeking and locomotor exploration. Deletion of nAChRs disrupted the influence of uncertainty and novelty on dopamine firing and behavior, sparing reward signaling and learning. Hence, nAChR modulation of dopamine neurons can influence cognitive functions on a short timescale, through the modulation of phasic, synchronous bursting.
APPRAISAL OF MAJOR DETERMINANTS OF RICE PRODUCTION AND FARMERS’ CHOICE OF RICE IDEOTYPES IN SOUTH SUDAN: IMPLICATIONS FOR BREEDING AND POLICY INTERVENTIONS

SUMMARY Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important staple crop in South Sudan. Current rice consumption in the country is approximately 23,000 mg year−1 of which more than 75% is imported. We investigated farmers’ perceived rice production and productivity constraints and choice of rice ideotypes across rainfed and irrigated rice agro-ecologies in South Sudan to guide breeding and policy interventions. Data were gathered through participatory rural approaches and a formal structured survey involving 136 rice farmers from major rice growing areas of South Sudan. Farmers generally cultivated old rice varieties with low yields varying from 0.4 to 1.6 mg ha−1. Pair-wise ranking based on respondents score indicated yield, early maturity, cooking and eating quality, nutritional importance and drought tolerance as the most desirable traits of rice ideotypes. Further, imported rice varieties were best ranked for their sweet and appealing taste, rich aroma, grain shape and size, swelling capacity and non-stickiness during cooking. Major perceived constraints to rice production were unreliable rainfall, poor access to credit facilities, poor soil and water management practices, poor rice storage facilities, inadequate and poor processing machines as well as limited technical skills in rice production. The results show a need for integration of farmers’ and stakeholders’ preferences in variety development process and the desirability of releasing site-specific rice cultivars given the differences in bio-physical, socio-cultural and farmers preferences across major rice growing areas of South Sudan.
Learning to Place Objects Onto Flat Surfaces in Upright Orientations

We study the problem of placing a grasped object on an empty flat surface in an upright orientation, such as placing a cup on its bottom rather than on its side. We aim to find the required object rotation such that when the gripper is opened after the object makes contact with the surface, the object would be stably placed in the upright orientation. We iteratively use two neural networks. At every iteration, we use a convolutional neural network to estimate the required object rotation, which is executed by the robot, and then a separate convolutional neural network to estimate the quality of a placement in its current orientation. Our approach places previously unseen objects in upright orientations with a success rate of 98.1% in free space and 90.3% with a simulated robotic arm, using a dataset of 50 everyday objects in simulation experiments. Real-world experiments were performed, which achieved an 88.0% success rate, which serves as a proof-of-concept for direct sim-to-real transfer.
Impacts of the Arctic-midlatitude teleconnection on wintertime seasonal climate forecasts

The impact of the Arctic on midlatitude weather and climate is still in scientific debate. The observation-based analysis, however, shows frequent concurrences of Arctic warming with extreme cold in the midlatitudes, and vice versa. This teleconnection could aid in seasonal climate forecasts for the midlatitudes. This study assessed the forecast skill of Arctic temperature and the Arctic-midlatitude teleconnection patterns in operational seasonal climate forecast models based on their wintertime forecast archives. Further, the impact of the Arctic-midlatitude teleconnection on the midlatitude forecast skill is evaluated. The results revealed that most climate forecast models have the capability to simulate the overall pattern of Arctic-midlatitude teleconnection for both the eastern Eurasian and North American regions. However, this is little converted to practical forecast skill in midlatitude likely due to poor capabilities in forecasting Arctic temperatures. Idealized analysis (assuming a perfect forecast of Arctic temperature) showed that considerable forecasting improvements could be achieved, and further improvements are possible with accurate simulations of the Arctic and its teleconnection patterns. These results highlight the importance of better predictions of the Arctic conditions in seasonal forecasts that are not just limited to their own region but extend to midlatitude weather and climate as well.
The Interaction of Current Sheets with a Shock Wave and Particle Acceleration

We investigate the interaction of a shock wave with multiple current sheets using a 2D hybrid simulation. We set the separation between current sheets at 25c/Wi and the thickness longer than the ion inertial length. While the current sheets are stable upstream, they become unstable to the tearing instability since the thickness becomes shorter than the ion inertial length after they interact with the shock wave. Magnetic islands produced by the instability evolve into larger islands through coalescence and the electromagnetic fields become turbulent far downstream. We also observe that the number of energetic particles increases with distance away from the shock wave and that the increase corresponds to the evolution of the current sheets.
On a consistent rod theory for a linearized anisotropic elastic material: I. Asymptotic reduction method

An asymptotic reduction method is introduced to construct a rod theory for a linearized general anisotropic elastic material for space deformation. The starting point is Taylor expansions about the central line in rectangular coordinates, and the goal is to eliminate the two cross-section spatial variables in order to obtain a closed system for displacement coefficients. This is first achieved, in an ‘asymptotically inconsistent’ way, by deducing the relations between stress coefficients from a Fourier series for the lateral traction condition and the three-dimensional (3D) field equation in a pointwise manner. The closed system consists of 10 vector unknowns, and further refinements through elaborated calculations are performed to extract bending and torsion terms and to obtain recursive relations for the first- and second-order displacement coefficients. Eventually, a system of four asymptotically consistent rod equations for four unknowns (the three components of the central-line displacement and the twist angle) are obtained. Six physically meaningful boundary conditions at each edge are obtained from the edge term in the 3D virtual work principle, and a one-dimensional rod virtual work principle is also deduced from the weak forms of the rod equations.
The Impact of Protein Binding on Antibacterial Activities of Antibiotics is more than Predicted by Considering its Numerical Value Alone: Impact of Preparative and Incubation Methods on Different Pharmacodynamic Endpoints of ß- Lactams, Macrolides, or Fluoroquinolones Against Gram-positive and Gram-

Objectives: Protein binding decreases antibacterial activities as the free fraction only crosses membranes thus reaching intracellular targets. However, serum components may also increase antibacterial activities. Therefore, the effect of serum proteins on activities of s-lactams, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones was examined. Several preparation- and cultivation-conditions were examined as some preparative methods like freeze-thawing of sera may cause artifacts. Furthermore, previous studies have indicated that data may vary depending on the endpoints studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to avoid an impact of methodological factors on the data generated and to analyse the activities of the study drugs by examining different static- or dynamic endpoints. Methods: Bacteria were grown in Brain Heart Infusion Broth (BHI), plus 50% of either fresh inactivated, pH 7.2, or fresh inactivated- , pH 7.2 or 8.2, frozen inactivated-serum, pH 8.2 as compared to BHI without any supplementations, pH 7.2 or 8.2, and BHI plus 45 g/L albumin. MICs of faropenem, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, moxifloxacin, and levofloxacin were determined and kill-kinetics were recorded following exposure to constant or fluctuating drug concentrations simulating serum pharmacokinetics of the agents. Kill-rates and areas under the bacterial kill curves were calculated. Results: Albumin and inactive serum increased MICs and reduced kill-rates of the agents studied in conformity with their protein binding, whereas active serum increased the activities of the agents. MICs and kill-rates did not change in parallel. The impact of protein binding in decreasing order was: MICs>kill-rates in time-kill experiments>kill-rates in kinetic-simulations. Macrolides and fluoroquinolones but not s-lactams were more active at an alkaline- than neutral pH. Use of frozen sera caused alkalinization of media, thus generating artifacts. Conclusions: The impact of serum proteins on antibacterial activities is strongly dependent from three factors: the methods applied to prepare the serum pool, the incubation conditions, and the enpoints studied.