Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neighbourhood-level socioeconomic status and prevalence of teacher-reported health disorders among Canadian kindergarten children

Background The evidence on the association between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) and health disorders in young children is scarce. This study examined the prevalence of health disorders in Canadian kindergarten (5–6 years old) children in relation to neighborhood SES in 12/13 Canadian jurisdictions. Methods Data on child development at school entry for an eligible 1,372,980 children out of the total population of 1,435,428 children from 2004 to 2020, collected using the Early Development Instrument (EDI), were linked with neighborhood sociodemographic data from the 2006 Canadian Census and the 2005 Taxfiler for 2,058 neighborhoods. We examined the relationship using linear regressions. Children’s HD included special needs, functional impairments limiting a child’s ability to participate in classroom activities, and diagnosed conditions. Results The neighborhood prevalence of health disorders across Canada ranged from 1.8 to 46.6%, with a national average of 17.3%. The combined prevalence of health disorders was 16.4%, as 225,711 children were identified as having at least one health disorder. Results of an unadjusted linear regression showed a significant association between neighborhood-level SES and prevalence of health disorders (F(1, 2051) = 433.28, p < 0.001), with an R2 of 0.17. When province was added to the model, the R2 increased to 0.40 (F(12, 2040) = 115.26, p < 0.001). The association was strongest in Newfoundland & Labrador and weakest in Ontario. Conclusion Our study demonstrated that the prevalence of health disorders among kindergarten children was higher in lower SES neighborhoods and varied by jurisdiction in Canada, which has implications for practice and resource allocation.
Improving the estimations of transect length and width for underwater visual surveys of targets on or near the seabed

Demersal marine organisms may be surveyed visually using cameras deployed on a submersible vehicle, e.g. a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). For estimating animal densities along visual transects, the sampled area may be calculated from the products of transect distance and width. In this study, distance was measured relative to submerged pipeline features of known length using: 1) speed estimates from a Doppler velocity log (DVL); and 2) position estimates from an ultra-short baseline (USBL) acoustic system. DVL estimates of distance were within 0.8 to 1.0% of known feature lengths ranging from 6.01 to 1520.53 m, respectively. USBL estimates of distance were less accurate, ranging from 3.2 to 5.0% over the same distances, and positively biased compared to DVL estimates. Also, transect-width estimates were compared using: 1) calibrated laser metrics; and 2) measurement of camera orientation and optical properties. Both methods produced similar estimates of transect width, and thus area (r21⁄4 0.81), but width varied with camera altitude and orientation, and increased with seabed relief. Therefore, an assumption of constant transect width may bias estimates of sampled area, and estimates of animal density and abundance, particularly when surveying over seabeds with variable relief. To minimize these biases, practical methods are described to quantify transect distance and width throughout surveys using standard survey equipment and analytical methods.
Fearing the Fed : How Wall Street Reads Main Street

We provide strong evidence of persistent cyclical variation in the sensitivity of stock returns to macroeconomic news announcement (MNA) surprises. When the economy is significantly below trend (output gap is large and negative) and interest rates are not expected to go up, the stock return sensitivity to news is large. On the other hand, stock returns hardly react to news during periods when the economy is near trend (output gap is small) and interest rates are expected to rise. A monetary regime-switching model is shown to have implications consistent with this evidence. Taken together, the phase of the economy and interest rate expectations are key determinants of the cyclicality of the response of the stock market. JEL Classification: G12, E30, E40, E50.
Role of Calcium Supplementation on Pregnancy Induced Hypertension Outcomes

Background: Pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH), is an important cause of both maternal and perinatalmorbidity and mortality. Low dietary calcium (Ca) intake represents a factor associated with an increasedincidence of hypertensive disease in general and in pregnant population in most low and middle income countries.Ca supplementation has the potential to reduce adverse gestational outcomes of PIH.Aim: To assess the effects of low-dose Ca supplementation on PIH outcomes.Method: A single- blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted in January through March, 2021. A totalnumber of 66 pregnant women with PIH at their 20th week of gestation attended maternal care outpatient inBaghdad Medical City were assigned randomly in two groups those received Ca supplementation 500 mg/day vsnone and follow up both groups till delivery for outcomes.Results: A significant reduction in diastolic blood pressure mean (93.28 mmHg vs. 88.62 mmHg, P= 0.015) andalmost significant reduction in systolic blood pressure mean (149.65 mmHg vs. 142.58 mmHg, P= 0.051) in theparticipants after receiving Ca supplements. Pre eclampcia (10.3% vs. 45.9%, P = 0.002), Low birth weight (6.9%vs. 40.5%, P = 0.002), Pre term delivery (10.3% vs. 43.2%, P=0.003), and admissions to neonatal intensive care unit(10.3% vs. 45.9%, P = 0.002) were significantly lower in the intervention group.Conclusion: Ca supplementation of 500 mg daily started at 20th week of gestation associated with reduction ofmaternal blood pressure, pre-eclampcia, preterm delivery, low birth weight and admission to neonatal intensivecare unit especially in a low dietary Ca intake mothers.
Customer Requirements on Digital Application in Energy Sectors for B2B Customers (a Part of Quality Function Deployment Analysis on My Pertamina for Business)

This study is willing to reveal what are the B2B customers requirement for My Pertamina for Business digital application that they have been using. They are also leaded to evaluate the application performance and reveal what are the resistances in using the application. Literature review and interview are conducted. Seven respondents are involved in the study. They come from three different customer clusters, that are aviation, retail and industrial and marine. The results reveal that customer requirements of B2B customer from digital application in energy sectors are 1) price Simulation, 2) ordering product to create sales order, 3) monitoring tax invoice, 4) monitoring withholding tax slip, 5) the relevance of the displayed energy product to the customer needs, 6) providing many function in one application, 7) connected to direct debit of bank system, 8) connected to other digital platform, 9) forecasting the fuel price, 10) monitoring invoices, 11) energy related news portal and 12) contact center to buy other energy products; 13) reward and discount; and 14) playing entertainment platform such as online game and podcast. Overall performance of the application satisfy the customers but point 7,8,9,10,11,12 and 14 of customer requirements are not fulfilled yet. Dealing with the customer resistance in using the application are slow response of customer complain handling, inaccurate information related to drum stock in the application and in the aviation fuel terminal, and less updated of monitoring Credit/Debit Reversal notes
Comparing cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity levels between third- and fifth-year medical students in a South African university

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as sedentary behaviour, decreased physical activity (PA), and low cardiorespiratory fitness lead to an increased and accelerated risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Medical students tend to adopt sedentary lifestyles due to a demanding curriculum. This may have a negative effect on CVD risk factors and cardiorespiratory fitness levels of medical students. Objectives To compare physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness levels in a cohort of third- and fifth-year undergraduate medical students in a South African university. Methods Data from 123 third-year and 139 fifth-year medical students in the Graduate Entry Medical Programme (GEMP) at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, were collected. Measurements included CVD risk factors, height, weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity vital signs and pre-participation health screening questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were presented as mean ± standard deviation or median [interquartile range] depending whether the data were normally distributed or not. Results Both groups had low cardiorespiratory fitness when compared to norm values (GEMPI VO2 peak was 29.1 ± 5.9 ml.kg-1.min-1 and GEMPIII VO2 peak was 30.0[11.0] ml.kg-1.min-1). Most participants did not meet WHO physical activity requirements (GEMP I: 72%; GEMP III: 78%). There were significant differences in BMI (p=0.046), diastolic blood pressure (p=0.034) and VO2 peak (p=0.00001) between students meeting and not meeting WHO physical activity requirements (p<0.05). Conclusion Third- and fifth-year medical students at a South African university fail to meet recommended WHO physical activity levels and are below cardiorespiratory fitness norms. Therefore, medical institutions should promote and implement targeted physical activity interventions to reduce the prevalence of low fitness levels and the associated health hazards among their students.
An Ultra-Energy-Efficient Reversible Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata 8:1 Multiplexer Circuit

Energy efficiency considerations in terms of reduced power dissipation are a significant issue in the design of digital circuits for very large-scale integration (VLSI) systems. Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is an emerging ultralow power dissipation approach, distinct from traditional, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, for building digital computing circuits. Developing fully reversible QCA circuits has the potential to significantly reduce energy dissipation. Multiplexers are fundamental elements in the construction of useful digital circuits. In this paper, a novel, multilayer, fully reversible QCA 8:1 multiplexer circuit with ultralow energy dissipation is introduced. The power dissipation of the proposed multiplexer is simulated using the QCADesigner-E version 2.2 tool, describing the microscopic physical mechanisms underlying the QCA operation. The results show that the proposed reversible QCA 8:1 multiplexer consumes 89% less energy than the most energy-efficient 8:1 multiplexer circuit previously presented in the literature.
Chronology of a late Neolithic Age site near the southern coastal region of Fujian, China

An archaeological site at Anshan in the coastal area of Fujian province, southern China, was excavated in 2007, 2009 and 2015. Abundant artefacts including adzes, cores, bronze fishhook, pottery and bone arrowheads are found in the aeolian sediments. The aim of this article is to understand the geomorphological backdrop and process of Anshan site, and the coupling relationship between human activity and environmental evolution. In this study, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique was employed to establish the chronological framework of the site. Samples from the top and bottom of cultural layer yield OSL ages ranging from 1.4 to 6.1 ka, providing a systematic geochronological evidence for the development of ‘Anshan culture’ in coastal area of southern Fujian province and eastern Guangdong province. In the meantime, there is a clear link between the varying regional sea levels, the chronology of regional wind-sand deposition and the period of Anshan culture since the mid-Holocene.
Halogenated acetaldehydes in water: A review of their occurrence, formation, precursors and control strategies

Abstract Haloacetaldehydes (HALs) are considered the third largest group of identified disinfection by-products (DBPs) by weight in drinking water. Toxicological studies demonstrated that HALs are highly cytotoxic compared to other DBPs. This paper reviews and updates the current information on the analysis, occurrence, formation and control of HALs in source water, drinking water, and recreational waters based upon the last 20 years of peer-reviewed research. An update of the analysis of HALs and a comprehensive overview of HAL occurrence in various water types are followed by a series of discussions on its formation and precursors, as well as the control and removal of HALs in water. The manuscript concludes by identifying research needs that should be addressed in future research.
Discovery and Geological Significance of Neoproterozoic Metamorphic Granite in Jimo, Shandong Province, Eastern China

During the 1:50000 regional geological survey in Jimo, east Shandong Province, Paleoproterozoic metamorphic supracrustal rocks and Neoproterozoic metamorphic plutonite were newly discovered. These rocks displayed inclusions which had occurred in the Mesozoic granite, and the main lithologies are schist, granulite, marble, and granitic gneiss. Geochemical analyses suggest that Neoproterozoic metamorphic plutonite are characterized by high‐K, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous. They are enriched in LILE and depleted in HFSE, with moderately enrichment of LREE, weak fractionation of LREE from HREE and negative Eu anomalies. The surface age of plutonic rocks in the survey area is 770.2±2.4 Ma, representing the age of magma crystallization, which is agreement with the the Neoproterozoic magmatic event after Rodinia supercontinent in the northern margin of Southern China continental block. In addition, the age of sporadic distribution (298 Ma and 269 Ma) is mixed zircon age, representing the rocks experienced metamorphism in Indosinian period. According to the associated mineral assemblages, and the characteristic metamorphic minerals and temperature pressure conditions, four metamorphic facies were identified, including amphibolitic, epidote amphibolite, greenschist, and mid‐high pressure greenschist. Analysis of tectonic setting suggests that granitic gneiss is formed in an extensional environment and was involved from the continental margin magmatic arc to intraplate environment. Jimo is distributed in the east of Zhuwu fault, and has the same Spatial distribution location with the Weihai uplift UHP metamorphic belt rocks. The metamorphic rocks in Jimo area have similar geochemical characteristics of elements, tectonic setting and retrograde metamorphism with that in the Sulu UHP metamorphic belt. Therefore, Zhuwu fault may be the boundary fault of Sulu UHP metamorphic belt.
Unsupervised Learning for Depth Estimation in Unstructured Environments

Environment perception through deep computation in unstructured environments is important for the construction of autonomous navigation systems. Most research focuses on navigation in structured scenes, including indoor mobility and driving along roads, while neglecting to consider unstructured environments, which often contain diverse heights and distributions. In addition, existing depth estimation algorithms based on deep learning often need to complete training under the supervision of Ground truth, and GT data with a large number of labels are not always easy to obtain. To tackle this issue, this paper proposes an unsupervised stereo depth estimation method for processing UAV navigation images in an unstructured environment. The method contains a primitive U-shaped CNN network architecture for processing such scenes. The feature extraction layer of the network is based on the YOLOv3 residual structure, and additional attention modules help the network enhance its ability to perceive image features. Finally, depth estimation experiments on the unstructured environments dataset Mid-Air further demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed method.
Boardroom Matter Unveiled: Navigating Expertise, Education, Gender, and Corporate Reputation in Malaysia

In the bustling corridors of corporate Malaysia, the boardroom emerges as a symphony of strategic decision-making, where its members’ expertise, educational backgrounds, and gender intricately weave the narrative of a company’s reputation. This study delves into the nuanced connection between boardroom expertise, educational backgrounds, and board gender, exploring their symbiotic role in shaping the reputational tapestry of Malaysian publicly listed companies using the new proxy for reputation. Earlier research indicated that the composition of boards can reliably predict a company’s strong reputation. However, there is a notable scarcity of evidence regarding how these variables influence the novel approach to measuring reputation. This becomes especially pertinent when considering the transparency of corporate reputations in developing countries such as Malaysia. The present investigation gathered secondary data from company annual reports spanning 2017 to 2020, employing content analysis over this four-year period. A self-designed checklist for corporate reputation was utilized for measurement. The findings have shown that board expertise, board education, and board gender significantly influence a company’s reputation. The results furnish valuable support and evidence for companies in Malaysia and other developing nations, emphasizing the importance of incorporating more educated, experienced, and female directors into their strategies for effective reputation management.
Mechanisms of ringwoodite formation in shocked meteorites: Evidence from L5 chondrite Dhofar 1970

The formation of the high‐pressure compositional equivalents of olivine and pyroxene has been well‐documented within and surrounding shock‐induced veins in chondritic meteorites, formed by crystallization from a liquid‐ or solid‐state phase transformation. Typically polycrystalline ringwoodite grains have a narrow range of compositions that overlap with those of their olivine precursors, whereas the formation of iron‐enriched ringwoodite has been documented from only a handful of meteorites. Here, we report backscattered electron images, quantitative wavelength‐dispersive spectrometry (WDS) analyses, qualitative WDS elemental X‐ray maps, and micro‐Raman spectra that reveal the presence of Fe‐rich ringwoodite (Fa44‐63) as fine‐grained (500 nm), polycrystalline rims on olivine (Fa24‐25) wall rock and as clasts engulfed by shock melt in a previously unstudied L5 chondrite, Dhofar 1970. Crystallization of majorite + magnesiowüstite in the vein interior and metastable mineral assemblages within 35 μm of the vein margin attest to rapid crystallization of a superheated shock melt (>2300 K) from 20─25 GPa to ambient pressure and temperature. The texture and composition of bright polycrystalline ringwoodite rims (Fa44‐63; MnO 0.01─0.08 wt%) surrounding dark polycrystalline olivine (Fa8‐14; MnO 0.56─0.65 wt%) implies a solid‐state transformation mechanism in which Fe was preferentially partitioned to ringwoodite. The spatial association between ringwoodite and shock melt suggests that the rapidly fluctuating thermal regimes experienced by chondritic minerals in contact with shock melt are necessary to both drive phase transformation but also to prevent back‐transformation.
Acoustic observations of near‐bed sediment concentration and flux statistics above migrating sand dunes

A coherent Doppler profiler was used to measure coincident time series of velocity (u,w), sediment mass concentration (c), and sediment grain size (d), above mobile sand dunes in unidirectional flow (∼1 m/s, ∼1 m water depth). The measurements are used to extract statistical distributions of sediment concentration and flux just above the bed. Observed mass fluxes (uc,wc) were well fit by quasi‐exponential distributions, at all positions along the dune profile, similar to previous observations of single‐particle momenta for bed load over flat beds. Observed concentrations of moving particles were well fit by negative‐binomial distributions, also similar to previous observations over flat beds. These probability distributions relate to two recent stochastic theories, previously derived and verified for uniform flow over flat beds. It is hypothesized that these theories may also be used as a local approximation in natural‐scale flows with bed forms.
Anàlisi del potencial de mercat de la carn procedent de porcs mascles sencers com a alternativa a la castració quirúrgica

Surgical castration of piglets is a common practice in farms to avoid boar taint (androstenone and skatole) in meat, and to improve its sensory quality. The European Commission is planning to ban surgical castration by 2018 for animal welfare purposes. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the effect that a possible banning of castration would have on the Spanish pig sector. Three studies were performed: study the prevalence of boar taint in different Spanish regions; study the stakeholder’s opinion regarding the possible banning of castration; study different masking strategies for androstenone. The results showed that one out of ten entire male pigs may present high levels of boar taint, banning castration would be a problem for high quality production but not for conventional production, and breaded with garlic and parsley and fried and vacuum cooking may be useful to mask androstenone in meat. La castracio quirurgica dels garrins es una practica molt utilitzada pels productors per evitar l’olor sexual (androstenona i escatol) en la carn, i per millorar-ne la qualitat sensorial. La Comissio Europea preten eliminar la castracio quirurgica a partir de l’any 2018 per motius de benestar. L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi es analitzar l’efecte que tindria aquesta prohibicio sobre el sector porci espanyol. Es van realitzar 3 estudis: estudiar la prevalenca d’olor sexual en diferents comunitats autonomes; estudiar l’opinio del sector sobre la possible prohibicio de la castracio; estudiar estrategies d’emmascarament d’androstenona. Els resultats mostren que 1 de cada 10 porcs mascles sencers poden presentar nivells alts d’olor sexual, que la prohibicio de la castracio seria problematica per a la produccio d’alta qualitat pero no per a la convencional, i que l’arrebossat amb all i julivert i fregit i la cuina al buit poden ser estrategies utils per emmascarar l’androstenona en la carn.
Uncertainty-Aware Learning With Label Noise for Glacier Mass Balance Modeling

Glacier mass balance (MB) modeling is crucial for understanding the impact of climate change on Earth’s freshwater resources and sea-level rise. Recent works have shown the benefit of using machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) methods to better capture the nonlinearities in the system than commonly used temperature-index models. However, when relying on remote sensing products for training, the presence of data noise is a challenge for these methods, and therefore quantifying the uncertainty becomes essential. In this work, we produce a tabular dataset consisting of annual MBs for 1000 glaciers over 20 years with meteorological and topographical input features. Using this dataset, we systematically study various uncertainty estimation methods and their impact on the quality of the predictions. Our experimental results show that ensemble methods are promising for capturing the uncertainty in the data: their predictions are more accurate, more robust against label noise, and better calibrated. In particular, the multilayer perceptron (MLP) ensemble coupled with an explicit noise model shows an increase of up to 5.5% in the explained variance and is much less affected by the gradually injected label noise: the average mean absolute error (MAE) increases at a rate twice smaller. For reproducibility, code and data are available at https://github.com/dcodrut/oggm_smb_dl_uq.