Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of antibodies to H5 and H9 subtypes of influenza viruses in wild birds in Zaria, Nigeria

Avian influenza has impacted negatively on poultry production in Nigeria. The aim of this study was to determine the status of avian influenza virus (AIV) antibodies in wild birds to provide early warning of an outbreak. One hundred and forty-six sera from five different species of wild birds were tested for antibodies to avian influenza A viruses (H5 and H9) using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) tests. An overall seroprevalence of 3.4% (5/146) was recorded in the study area. Seroprevalence of 6.67% (2/30) was recorded in speckled pigeons (Columba guinea) and Village weavers (Ploceus cucullatus) respectively and 3.33% (1/30) in Cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis). No antibodies were detected in laughing doves (Spilolepia senegalensis) and African silver bill (Euodice cantans). The serological detection of AIV subtypes H5 and H9 by HI showed the exposure of these birds to the two subtypes. The result from this study indicates evidence of the presence of H5 and H9 AI viruses in wild birds in Zaria, Kaduna State. Therefore, comprehensive surveillance of influenza A involving wild birds’ population and H5 as well as H9 subtype is recommended. This is necessary in order to know the actual status of these strains in the poultry population in Nigeria in view of their zoonotic and economic importance.
Parametric modelling of rainfall return periods in south-western Nigeria: Survival analysis approach

Background: Rainfall is the main source of water on the earth’s surface. It infiltrates and percolates deep into the soil for groundwater recharge. Rainfall patterns, amounts, durations, and intensities can vary daily, monthly, annually, and spatially. It is therefore important to accurately estimate rainfall return periods, which can be employed in hydraulic design and flood control measures. Methods: This research considered the survival analysis approach for the prediction of rainfall return periods including intensity, and months during which these would occur in south-western Nigeria. Twenty years’ of annual rainfall data were obtained from three metrological stations and these were subjected to nine different probability plotting position methods. Results from the plotting positions was further subjected to four survival models using five years of censor time. The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) was used to determine the best-fitting model for the dataset. Results: The Laplace probability plotting position in conjunction with the log-logistic distribution best describes the datasets, since it gave the lowest AIC value of 22.53. The log-logistic distribution is also suitable for the prediction of return period from the Weibull probability plotting position since the AIC values were 6.934 and -4.332 respectively. The Hirsh plotting position in conjunction with the Weibull distribution is also suitable for the description of the dataset. Conclusion: The established parametric models are suitable for the accurate prediction of return periods of peak rainfall events during any month of the year.
Evaluation of the effects of photobiomodulation (808 nm) on pain and quality of life of diabetic neuropathy patients

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is one of the main complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), responsible for a high morbimortality rate and burdening public health resources. Photobiomodulation has proven to be effective in relieving pain, reducing the inflammation, and improving vascularization. We report an evaluation of the effectiveness of photobiomodulation for the relief of pain and to improve the quality of life in patients with diabetic neuropathy. A total of 30 diabetic volunteers with DN were randomly divided into three groups: control, photobiomodulation (PBM), and placebo (P-PBM). Those in Group control were instructed to take diabetic neuropathy medication for 30 days. The PBM group received laser photobiomodulation treatment with the following protocol: three sessions per week for 30 days, totaling 12 applications (wavelength, 808 nm; energy density, 12 J/cm²). in the of following nerves: tibial medial plantar, own plantar digital, common plantar digital, superficial fibular, deep fibular, sciatic, saphenous, and common fibular. Patients in the P-PBM Group were submitted to the PBM protocol, but with the device switched off. Before and after applying the therapeutic protocols, all volunteers were subjected to pain evaluations. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the groups (p < 0.05). The PBM group confirmed an analgesic effect directly related to the use of the photobiomodulation, whilst the patients in group control and P-PBM, did not present significant results. The study demonstrated that laser photobiomodulation is effective in significantly reducing pain and improving the quality of life of patients with diabetic neuropathy.
Impact of national media reporting concerning COVID-19 on stock market in China: empirical evidence from a quantile regression

ABSTRACT Using daily data from 20 January 2020 to 31 July 2020, we investigate the impact of national media crisis communication on stock market returns in China by employing the quantile regression method. By using Xinwen Lianbo (新闻联播) as a proxy for national media, we introduce two variables that can capture Xinwen Lianbo’s COVID-19 attention and tone. The results show a significant positive/negative impact of the media’s COVID-19 focus on contemporaneous stock market returns at high/low quantiles of daily returns. The impact of media’s tone toward COVID-19’s impact on contemporaneous daily stock market returns is also negative at low quantiles of daily returns. Xinwen Lianbo’s impact is mainly concentrated in the more contemporaneous overnight return rather than the intraday return. More serious cases of COVID-19 will aggravate (weaken) the impact of the national media’s tone at the lower (higher) quantile of overnight return. Finally, we explain our results by referring to psychology and cognition theory, including mood priming theory, mood as information theory and mood effects on the processing style model.
Role of grouping in the development of an overall maintenance optimization framework for offshore wind turbines

The reliability and maintenance of offshore wind turbines present new challenges that demand novel, optimal, but at the same time cost effective, strategies to handle them. Wind turbines are installed in arrays and the combination of these arrays is called a wind farm. Owing to the wind loads and atmospheric conditions it is expected that certain wind turbines on the wind farm will behave similarly as they are located in close proximity. These similarities in the wind turbines need to be exploited at the wind farm level. To address this issue, a method is proposed to group different activities at both the intra and inter wind turbines at a wind farm level. Different kinds of tasks could be grouped together, such as inspection, preventive replacement at the wind farm level to share the access and travel costs from one wind turbine to another. To undertake these tasks, a hybrid approach of using the block replacement policy and condition-based model has been adopted to exploit the strengths of each approach. Moreover, using such a hybrid approach at the wind farm level, which groups different activities together, will act as a decision support tool that favors having an optimal strategy. By grouping different tasks at the wind farm level in conjunction with the hybrid approach will be advantageous by addressing the issues of access, logistics, transportation and weather in an efficient way. Moreover, this grouping of activities will to help optimize the frequency of visits to the wind farm and reduce the hazards related with risks and safety.
Translating Narrative Space in Children’s Fiction Bronze and Sunflower From Chinese to English

Translating narrative space is a necessity due to its fundamental role in children’s literature. To date, studies have shown that efforts to examine the strategy in rendering the space issues in children’s literature translation remain scarce. Responding to that, the paper aims to explore how narrative space is transferred from one language to another. The theoretical framework is based on Ryan et al.’s model of narrative space and Baker’s framing strategies. A qualitative approach is designed to study the renowned Chinese children’s literature Bronze and Sunflower and its English version. A total of 146 examples are purposively selected as the samples. The findings show that selective appropriation is the most frequently used framing strategy. Also, it is observed that the translator prefers to omit some repeated settings and descriptions of spatial frames even though the source text elaborates them, consequently softening the sense of space in the target context. The findings may provide new insights into a better understanding of spatial issues in the translation of children’s literature.
The Impact of IR 4.0 on Circular Economy and Operational Performance to Spur Financial Performance: A Game Changer Strategy

The digital technologies from Industrial Revolution (I.R.) 4.0 create capabilities that positively impact organizational performances. Technology is a new frontier, and academicians, researchers, and business managers are still trying to understand its full potential. The current empirical research is an endeavor in the same direction in the context of Pakistan. The development of the hypothesis basis on the literature review to test IR 4.0, circular economy (C.E.) practices, operational performance (O.P.), and economic performance (E.P.). For hypothesis testing, the study five hundred and forty business organizations were selected as potential respondents. SEM technique is used to answer the developed hypothesis. The results reveal that IR 4.0 supports C.E. practices and O.P. while both support E.P.
Features of cytogenetic effects in oncological patients during radiotherapy with prior radiation exposure

Background. Radiotherapy can be used numerous times for treating oncological patients as one of the most effective ways of fighting against cancer. However, there is limited data on the effect of prior radiation exposure on the further development of cytogenetic alterations under the influence of radiological factors. Primary radiation treatment, as well as the second one, is an example of a complex scenario of fractionated irradiation, examination of which is of fundamental and practical importance for understanding complex processes of formation and elimination of cytogenetic markers of radiation exposure for further improvement of biodosimetry system and development of personalised radiotherapy. Purpose. To determine the nature of changes of radiation-induced cytogenetic alterations and genomic disorders in patients with lung, head and neck cancer during radiotherapy on the background of prior radiation exposure. during radiotherapy with prior radiation exposure. Materials and methods. 29 oncological patients with lung, head and neck cancer were examined. 16 of them received radiotherapy for the first time, and 13 – for the second. We studied chromosome aberration frequency and genomic disorders during external beam radiation therapy by cytogenetic test. Results. In the patients pre-irradiation level of cytogenetic injuries exceeded spontaneous level. In addition, chromosome aberration frequency in the patients, who had received prior radiation exposure, was significantly higher than those who had not been treated with radiotherapy. It depended on the period between radiotherapy treatment courses. The increase in level of radiation-induced cytogenetic injuries during the whole radiotherapy treatment course of patients was observed, regardless of prior therapeutic exposure. Under quite a high level of chromosome damage in the group of secondary patients at the beginning of the treatment, chromosome aberration increase rates were higher than in the group of the primary patients. The distribution of markers of radiation exposure over cells during radiotherapy was overdispersed according to Poisson statistics in both of the groups. The changes in the frequency of genomic disorders were mostly of fluctuating nature. Conclusions. In the secondary patients, the level of cytogenetic indexes before radiotherapy exceeded the indexes of the primary patients. The level of chromosome damage increased during the radiotherapy treatment course in both primary and secondary patients, but at different rates. The additional genotoxic effect of reirradiation manifested itself only in a greater maximum quantity of aberrations per aberrant cell in the secondary patients. In terms of increased rates of cytogenetic injuries, a more significant genotoxic effect from the second radiotherapy on the background of prior radiation exposure was not detected.
Transformational Leadership, Procedural Justice, and Emotion of Indonesia Civil State Apparatus: Does It Matter?

This study aims to uncover the effect of transformational leadership toward procedural justice and it’s impact on the positive emotions of Indonesia Civil State Apparatus (CSA). This study used respondents which located in Jakarta, Makassar, Palu, and Ambon. As such as we know, perceptions of transformational leadership and procedural justice in government environmental can variably by employees. Thus, it will have the tendency to affect positive emotions. Preventing the bias response, the Social Desirability Response (SDR) test was conducted. Sample size in this study was 572 respondents by a survey. purposive sampling technique was used to gain respondents. This study gives an evidence that transformational leadership in government agency could explain and predict procedural justice which perceived by CSA. Subsequently, procedural justice could affect CSA positive emotions. This study proved that transformational leadership could explain and predicting organizational citizenship behavior as a whole.
A Systematic review on soft skills development among university graduates

In order to be employed, an individual needs to not only have the required knowledge but also a skill set that would allow the individual to perform the task well. Both the required knowledge and the skill set needed can be obtained from tertiary education at universities and higher institutions. However, it seems that graduates are lacking in that skill set, namely, soft skills. This paper is a systemic review on what soft skills employers value and yet are lacking among graduates and what are the roles of universities and the government pertaining to this issue. The findings have shown that the graduates are lacking soft skills that are highly valued by the employers. To overcome this issue,, universities and the government has a part to play in order to build and develop the nation’s human capital.
Towards Accurate Loop Closure Detection in Semantic SLAM With 3D Semantic Covisibility Graphs

Loop closure is necessary for correcting errors accumulated in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) in unknown environments. However, conventional loop closure methods based on low-level geometric or image features may cause high ambiguity by not distinguishing similar scenarios. Thus, incorrect loop closures can occur. Though semantic 2D image information is considered in some literature to detect loop closures, there is little work that compares 3D scenes as an integral part of a semantic SLAM system. This letter introduces an approach, called SmSLAM+LCD, integrated into a semantic SLAM system to combine high-level 3D semantic information and low-level feature information to conduct accurate loop closure detection and effective drift reduction. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated in testing results.
Shear-Strain Rate in Metal Cutting and Its Effects on Shear-Flow Stress

A relationship is derived from which the average shear-strain rate in the shear zone, during orthogonal as well as oblique cutting, may be calculated if the average shear-zone thickness is known. A method of determining the average shear-zone thickness is described, which involves the use of a mechanism that stops the cutting process practically instantaneously and thus “freezes” the process of chip formation. The variation of the shear-zone thickness and of the shear-strain rate with the normal rake angle, the inclination angle, the feed, and the cutting speed when dry-machining SAE 1015, 118 Bhn seamless-steel tubing is determined. The average shear-zone thickness is found to vary from 0.0007 to 0.007 in. and the average shear-strain rate from 2500 to 212,000 per sec. The shear-flow stress in the shear zone is calculated and found to be 2⅓ to 3¼ times the static shear-flow stress of approximately 26,000 psi. The effect of the shear-strain rate on the shear-flow stress in the shear zone is analyzed and it is found that an increase in the shear-strain rate is accompanied by a significant increase in the shear-flow stress.
The Role of Job Demands in Moderating the Relationship between Servant Leadership and Job Satisfaction: A Study on Civil Apparatus in Five Major Cities in Indonesia

This research aims to reveal the effect of job demands in moderating the relationship between servant leadership and civil apparatus’ job satisfaction. This study involved 200 respondents who spread across Jakarta, Makassar, Medan, Semarang, and Surabaya, using convenience sampling technique. The data of this research were obtained through online surveys. The multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the moderating variable according to the statistical rules. To process the data analysis, we used IBM SPSS 23. The results showed that servant leadership had a positive effect on civil apparatus’ job satisfaction. However, job demands do not moderate the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction.
From the Local Economy to the Global Market. Municipal-Level Spatial Economic Modelling of International Trade for Brazil

International trade is one of the key spheres of economic policy. It is crucial for a country to understand the dynamics of its export markets to create a coherent strategy to improve its position in global markets. Research in this field is particularly interesting for both economists and policy makers. However, due to a lack of data, most of the well-established literature is focused on the national level. Therefore, there is little evidence on the influence of local characteristics on export markets. This research aims to evaluate the influence of regional factors on the competitiveness of firms in international markets, focussing on the importance of agglomeration economies and location, among other local factors. To identify this influence, this paper studies the case of Brazil. This country offers rich disaggregated information that allows this type of research and displays enormous differences across rural and urban areas. Given these differences, the assumption of homogeneous effects is too restrictive. Therefore, to study the patterns across different territories around the country, Geographically Weighted Generalized Linear Model (GWGLM) method is applied. The results indicate an interaction between location and the influence of several local characteristics such as human capital, the degree of development and the local economic structure. This relationship creates virtuous circles in a few locations where urban agglomerations create a suitable environment for firms, while opposite patterns appear in other locations. JEL codes: F14, R11 and R12
Three-dimensional numerical simulation of multi-physical coupled environment during electromagnetic propulsion

Electromagnetic propulsion technology is a new propulsion technology which uses electromagnetic force to push objects into high or ultra-high speed. However, during propulsion, the armature and launch load are affected by harsh multi-physics environment. The coupled effect was often ignored or over idealized in previous numerical simulations, which leads to large errors between simulation and experiment. In this paper, a three-dimensional multi-physics coupling environment simulation model is established. The distribution of electromagnetic field, structure field and temperature field in armature from static to high speed are effectively calculated. Moreover, the coupled effect between physical fields and the influence of key parameters on the simulation results are revealed. In conclusion, this model can reproduce the physical field distribution of armature and rail during electromagnetic propulsion. The time-varying resistance and inductance and the velocity skin effect (VSE) are the key parameters affecting armature movement. This method reveals a feasible path for the simplification of multi-physical model and the mitigation of extreme environment.
Evaluating Predictive Models of Software Quality

Applications from High Energy Physics scientific community are constantly growing and implemented by a large number of developers. This implies a strong churn on the code and an associated risk of faults, which is unavoidable as long as the software undergoes active evolution. However, the necessities of production systems run counter to this. Stability and predictability are of paramount importance; in addition, a short turn-around time for the defect discovery-correction-deployment cycle is required. A way to reconcile these opposite foci is to use a software quality model to obtain an approximation of the risk before releasing a program to only deliver software with a risk lower than an agreed threshold. In this article we evaluated two quality predictive models to identify the operational risk and the quality of some software products. We applied these models to the development history of several EMI packages with intent to discover the risk factor of each product and compare it with its real history. We attempted to determine if the models reasonably maps reality for the applications under evaluation, and finally we concluded suggesting directions for further studies.