Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VARIATIONS IN ELEMENTAL AND RADIOMETRIC CONCENTRATIONS OF SOILS AROUND A MINING SITE IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Soil samples from a mine site in Ijero, Ekiti State South-west Nigeria, were investigated for their elemental and radionuclides ( 40 K, 232 Th and 238 U) concentrations to assess the contaminations levels. Twenty (20) soil samples were randomly collected using Dutch stainless steel Auger around the mine sites but largely dictated by the miners activities and locations. Elemental and radioactivity ( 40 K, 232 Th and 238 U) components of the soils were determined using particle induced X-ray emission and Gamma spectrometers respectively. To assess the level of contamination and the possible anthropogenic impact, the pollution indices and the geo-accumulation indices of some elements were calculated. Twenty-six elemental (Na, Mg, Al, Si, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Zr, Nb, Cd, Sn, Ba, Nd, Bi, Pb, Pa, Th and U) concentrations were quantified. Average concentrations of these toxic elements; V (327 μg g -1 ), Cu (276 μg g -1 ), Nb (806 μg g -1 ), Cd (785 μg g -1 ), Pb (394 μg g -1 ), Th (473 μg g -1 ) and U (500 μg g -1 ) were particularly high, exceeding recommended values. Activity concentrations of the radionuclides ranged from 1 to 3, 4 to 10 and 415 to 15520 kBq kg -1 for 232 Th, 238 U, and 40 K respectively with an average exceeding world limit which could lead to possible radiological consequences. Geo-accumulation and the pollution risk factor studies revealed that Pb could pose significant potential health risk to the miners and ecosystem.
Deriving a Frozen Area Fraction From Metop ASCAT Backscatter Based on Sentinel-1

Surface state data derived from spaceborne microwave sensors with suitable temporal sampling are to date only available in low spatial resolution (25–50 km). Current approaches do not adequately resolve spatial heterogeneity in landscape-scale freeze–thaw processes. We propose to derive a frozen fraction instead of binary freeze–thaw information. This introduces the possibility to monitor the gradual freezing and thawing of complex landscapes. Frozen fractions were retrieved from Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT, C-band) backscatter on a 12.5-km grid for three sites in noncontinuous permafrost areas in northern Finland and the Austrian Alps. To calibrate the retrieval approach, frozen fractions based on Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR, C-band) were derived for all sites and compared to ASCAT backscatter. We found strong relationships for ASCAT backscatter with Sentinel-1 derived frozen fractions (Pearson correlations of −0.85 to −0.96) for the sites in northern Finland and less strong relationships for the Alpine site (Pearson correlations −0.579 and −0.611, including and excluding forested areas). Applying the derived linear relationships, predicted frozen fractions using ASCAT backscatter values showed root mean square error (RMSE) values between 7.26% and 16.87% when compared with Sentinel-1 frozen fractions. The validation of the Sentinel-1 derived freeze–thaw classifications showed high accuracy when compared to in situ near-surface soil temperature (84.7%–94%). Results are discussed with regard to landscape type, differences between spring and autumn, and gridding. This article serves as a proof of concept, showcasing the possibility to derive frozen fraction from coarse spatial resolution scatterometer time series to improve the representation of spatial heterogeneity in landscape-scale surface state.
Effects of perceived retail crowding: a meta-analytic study

ABSTRACT We performed a meta-analysis to understand the crowding construct in the retail context. The systematic review identified 535 studies, of which 69 were present in the analysis conducted, generating 504 quantitative relationships. Our meta-analysis indicated that the perception of crowding generates many negative feelings, a few positive feelings, minimal perceived value, low attractiveness of the environment and low short- and long-term consequent behaviours. At the methodological level, it was found that student samples and experiments tend to produce a stronger impact on the relationship between crowding and satisfaction. It was also found that the effect of crowding perception on customer satisfaction differed according to cultural influence. Finally, the results did not demonstrate an influence of the type of density (human vs spatial) on the relationship between retail crowding and satisfaction.
Critical success factors for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) infrastructure and housing projects in Kenya

Abstract Despite the emergence of studies on critical success factors (CSFs) for public-private partnerships (PPPs) implementation within developing countries, there is a paucity of studies that examine CSFs barriers within the context of developing countries, particularly the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) such as Kenya. This paper aims to investigate the perceptions of Kenyan public and private stakeholder’s concerning the CSFs to the implementation of PPPs in infrastructure and housing projects. A quantitative approach using survey-based questionnaire is adopted. CSFs identified from literature review were empirically tested by data collected using a sample survey of 27 Kenyan stakeholders. Response data was subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics. Results show that “acceptance and support given by the community”, “project feasibility”, “the laws, regulations and guidelines put in place”, “available financial market” and “having a well organised and committed public agency” were the highly ranked CSFs. In contrast, “effective and enough resource allocation and management”, “transparency and equity in the procurement process”, and “proper and efficient training of employees” were the least ranked CSFs. These findings can be used as a road-map for the successful implementation of PPPs, provides insights on the CSFs of PPPs in infrastructure and housing projects across the Kenyan construction sector.
Lifting Activity Assessment Using Kinematic Features and Neural Networks

Work-related low-back disorders (WLBDs) can be caused by manual lifting tasks. Wearable devices used to monitor these tasks can be one possible way to assess the main risk factors for WLBDs. This study aims at analyzing the sensitivity of kinematic data to the risk level changes, and to define an instrument-based tool for risk classification by using kinematic data and artificial neural networks (ANNs). Twenty workers performed lifting tasks, designed by following the rules of the revised NIOSH lifting equation, with an increasing lifting index (LI). From the acquired kinematic data, we computed smoothness parameters together with kinetic, potential and mechanical energy. We used ANNs for mapping different set of features on LI levels to obtain an automatic risk estimation during these tasks. The results show that most of the calculated kinematic indexes are significantly affected by changes in LI and that all the lifting condition pairs can be correctly distinguished. Furthermore, using specific set of features, different topologies of ANNs can lead to a reliable classification of the biomechanical risk related to lifting tasks. In particular, the training sets and numbers of neurons in each hidden layer influence the ANNs performance, which is instead independent from the numbers of hidden layers. Reliable biomechanical risk estimation can be obtained by using training sets combining body and load kinematic features.
Evolutionary Differentiation in Morphology, Vocalizations, and Allozymes Among Nomadic Sibling Species in the North American Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) Complex

The highly variable North American red crossbill complex has presented one of the most controversial problems in avian systematics. Although crossbills wander nomadically and breed all year, they have not become homogenized in bill and body size. This study suggests that this crossbill complex contains several distinctive sibling species that breed sympatrically and show ecological differences.
The effect of organizational memory on organizational agility

Intellectual capital includes what employees know and the agility to search and retrieve knowledge (organizational agility). Organizational agility could be seen as the result of using validated routines and protocols (knowledge application), but also as the result of using unproven theories, rumors, colloquial expressions, or sayings (counter-knowledge), which means that organizational memory may enable both the application of good knowledge and the mitigation of counter-knowledge. This study examines the links between a firm's organizational memory, counter-knowledge, knowledge application, and organizational agility. ,Using SmartPLS 3.2. 8 in a sample of 112 companies, the following questions were addressed: Does the improvement of organizational memory result in the growth of organizational agility? Does the growth of counter-knowledge and knowledge application at the same time hinder the enhancement of organizational agility? ,The results support that organizational memory not only enhances the application of gained knowledge but also allows the spreading of rumors, gossip, and inappropriate or false beliefs (counter-knowledge). Furthermore, results support that the knowledge that emerges from the development in parallel or simultaneous of counter-knowledge and knowledge application provides bad references, which will lead to a degradation of organizational agility. ,When supporting organizational agility, managers should be conscious of the urgency of counteracting the misuse of counter-knowledge. ,These findings make an important contribution to what is potentially a barrier to innovation and creativity, helping managers overcome the problems associated with misunderstandings or wrong assumptions derived from counter-knowledge.
Heritable silencing mechanisms in mouse development

English) In early embryo development pluripotent cells differentiate into many distinct differentiated cell types. These are characterised by having particular sets of active and inactive genes (the epigenome), that need to be maintained through cell division for the perseverance of cell identity. The epigenome of a given cell type is not established in a single step in the early embryo. Rather, it appears to undergo a maturation process, becoming more restricted and stable as development proceeds. Understanding how heritable gene activation and gene silencing are established and maintained is a key question in biology. Using embryonic stem (ES) cells and the X inactivation process as model systems I have investigated mechanisms of heritable gene silencing in early embryonic development. Using two different ES cell lines I also investigated whether nuclear transcriptional compartmentalisation is a general feature of heritable gene silencing. Previous work has demonstrated that in contrast to active genes, transcriptionally silent genes often localise to discrete heterochromatic compartments in the nucleus of lymphocytes and other haematopoietic cells. Importantly, this targeting has been implicated in the maintenance of gene silencing, giving rise to a model for gene regulation that takes into account the nuclear position of a given gene. I studied the nuclear localisation of the developmentally regulated genes Oct4, Rexl, and Dnmt3b (active in undifferentiated ES cells), and Cyclin Dl (activated upon differentiation), in relation to pericentric heterochromatin during ES cell differentiation. I found that whilst silenced alleles showed an increased tendency to be associated with pericentric heterochromatin, the effect was relatively weak compared with results reported for lymphocytes. This data may indicate that nuclear localisation to heterochromatic domains is utilised to a lesser degree in early development, perhaps reflecting genome plasticity prior to terminal differentiation. I then went on to investigate the role of Eed-Enxl Polycomb Group complex in X inactivation. The Polycomb proteins are key regulators of heritable gene silencing in a species as diverse as plants and mammals. Previous studies have shown that the Eed-Enxl Polycomb Group complex has a role in imprinted X inactivation specifically in trophectoderm. I found that Eed-Enxl is also involved in random X inactivation in ES cells and in the embryo proper. The complex is temporally regulated, localising to the inactive X only in early development/differentiation stages. Localisation occurs coincident with Xist RNA accumulation, and precedes early N-terminal histone modifications. Analysis of an XY ES cell line carrying an Xist transgene demonstrated that ectopic Xist RNA expression is sufficient to recruit Eed-Enxl complexes to their targets. Analyses of eed mutant mice demonstrated that Eed-Enxl complexes are required to establish histone H3 methylation at lysine 9 (K9) and at lysine 27 (K27) on the inactive X. H3-K9/K27 methylation was
Batik-DG: Improved DeblurGAN for Batik Crack Pattern Generation

As a traditional handcraft in China, batik is valuable for both decoration and fashion design due to its unique crack pattern. However, previous researches on batik crack pattern generation remain space in promoting verisimilitude. In recent years, Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) show great ability in realistic image generation, and DeblurGAN performs well in image deblurring task, showing good potentiality in image generation. In this paper, we improve DeblurGAN for batik crack pattern generation by several methods. First, transposed convolution is replaced with resize-convolution. Second, Hybrid Dilated Convolution (HDC) is added to the network. Third, RaLSGAN is utilized instead of WGAN-GP, and several additional loss functions such as L1, L2 and so forth are tested respectively. Our network is trained on BIFT-Batik dataset and performs well to some degrees both in visual verisimilitude and IQA indexes including PSNR and SSIM. We name our network as Batik-DG (Batik-DeblurGAN).
Determination and behaviour of thidiazuron in tobacco and soil samples under open fields and laboratory conditions

ABSTRACT A simple and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for the determination of thidiazuron (TDZ), a plant growth regulator, in soil, tobacco leaf (fresh, cured), stem, and root. The detection limits of TDZ ranged from 0.03 μg/kg to 0.15 μg/kg, and the limits of quantification ranged from 0.1 − 0.5 μg/kg. The average recoveries of TDZ in soil, tobacco leaf (fresh, cured), stem, and root were between 75.39% and 98.51% with intra-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) between 1.06% and 4.91% and inter-day RSDs between 1.49% and 7.52%. The valid method was used to determine the amount of TDZ residues in tobacco and soil samples under open field and laboratory conditions. Field experiments were carried out in six agricultural sites of China, and the results showed that the half-lives of TDZ were 9.76 − 12.60 days and 2.04 − 4.81 days in soil and fresh tobacco leaves, respectively. The terminal concentration of TDZ in cured tobacco leaves was <0.50−7.46 μg/kg. Foliage spray and root irrigation experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions. The results indicated that TDZ can be transferred upward and downward in tobacco plants. The transfer factor (TF) of the root irrigation was approximately 10 times of TF of the foliage spray.
Adaptive Real-Time Offloading Decision-Making for Mobile Edges: Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework and Simulation Results

This paper proposes a novel dynamic offloading decision method which is inspired by deep reinforcement learning (DRL). In order to realize real-time communications in mobile edge computing systems, an efficient task offloading algorithm is required. When the decision of actions (offloading enabled, i.e., computing in clouds or offloading disabled, i.e., computing in local edges) is made by the proposed DRL-based dynamic algorithm in each unit time, it is required to consider real-time/seamless data transmission and energy-efficiency in mobile edge devices. Therefore, our proposed dynamic offloading decision algorithm is designed for the joint optimization of delay and energy-efficient communications based on DRL framework. According to the performance evaluation via data-intensive simulations, this paper verifies that the proposed dynamic algorithm achieves desired performance.
Effect of Drip Lateral Spacing and Irrigation Amount on Tomato and Onion Crops Cum Water Productivity at Kobo Girrana Valley, Ethiopia

Irrigation system in Kobo-Girrana valley is extensively developed into modern drip irrigation. Tomato and onion are among the major vegetables grown under drip irrigation. However, the drip lateral spacing was fixed to 1m for all irrigated crops. This leads to low crop water productivity, loss of land, less net return income and un-optimized irrigation production. An on-station experiment was conducted to determine the effects of drip line spacing and irrigation amount on yield, irrigation water use efficiency and net return income. The experimental treatments were: two lateral spacing of single (0.5 and 1m) row and double (1 and 2m) row corresponding to onion and tomato test crops and three irrigation amounts (pan coefficients /Kp/ = 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2). The experimental design was factorial arranged in RCBD. The experimental results revealed that there was an interaction effect between the lateral spacing and irrigation amounts on marketable yield and water productivity of the test crops. Application of 0.8 Kp with 2m lateral spacing and 1.2 Kp with 1m lateral spacing provided relatively higher marketable yield of tomato and onion respectively. Similarly, high water productivity was recorded with same irrigation depths and spacing. This result generally revealed that one lateral design for each two plant rows gave high net income than the one lateral design for each one plant row for drip irrigated fresh marketable yield of onion and tomato.
Equity Term Structures without Dividend Strips Data

We use a large cross-section of equity returns to estimate a rich affine model of equity prices, dividends, returns and their dynamics. Using the model, we price dividend strips of the aggregate market index, as well as any other well-diversified equity portfolio. We do not use any dividend strips data in the estimation of the model; however, model-implied equity yields generated by the model match closely the equity yields from the traded dividend forwards reported in the literature. Our model can therefore be used to extend the data on the term structure of discount rates in three dimensions: (i) over time, back to the 1970s; (ii) across maturities, since we are not limited by the maturities of actually traded dividend claims; and most importantly, (iii) across portfolios, since we generate a term structure for any portfolio of stocks (e.g., small or value stocks). The new term structure data generated by our model (e.g., separate term structures for value, growth, investment and other portfolios, observed over a span of 45 years that covers several recessions) represent new empirical moments that can be used to guide and evaluate asset pricing models.
Crecimiento y características de canal en corderas tratadas con clorhidrato de zilpaterol durante primavera y verano

Se utilizaron 44 corderas Dorper x Pelibuey con peso vivo promedio de 24.56±0.70 kg para evaluar el efecto del clorhidrato de zilpaterol (CZ) sobre el comportamiento productivo y algunas caracteristicas de canal en epocas de primavera (n=24) y verano (n=20), bajo condiciones aridas del noroeste de Mexico. En cada epoca, las corderas fueron colocadas en corraletas individuales y divididas en dos grupos para ser alimentadas sin CZ (SCZ) o con 10 mg de CZ/ animal/dia (CCZ) durante 32 dias. Posteriormente, todas las corderas fueron sacrificadas. La informacion se sometio a un analisis de varianza con un diseno de bloques completamente al azar con arreglo factorial 2x2. Las corderas CCZ de primavera presentaron mayor (P 0.05) por efecto del CZ; contrariamente, el peso de canal caliente y fria, y la area del musculo Longissimus dorsi fueron mayores (P<0.05) en corderas CCZ. Solamente consumo de alimento y area del musculo Longissimus dorsi fueron afectados (P<0.01) por epoca. En conclusion, las altas temperaturas registradas en verano limitan el funcionamiento de CZ para mejorar el crecimiento y la eficiencia alimenticia de corderas de pelo finalizadas en corral, pero no las caracteristicas de canal.
Prevalence of Otitis Media with Effusion in Children of Damietta Governorate (Egypt)

Background: Otitis media with effusion is a prevalent disease of pediatrics. It is usually a self-limiting disease. However, it may be complicated by serious consequences. The early detection and the determination of actual prevalence could help in planning for preventive interventions. Aim of the work: To determine prevalence of otitis media with effusion and the risk factors associated with this disease. Patients and methods: The study included all patients younger than 16 years of age, who attended the outpatient clinic of otorhinolaryngology department (Al-Azhar Faculty of Medicine, New Dameitta), during the period from August 2016 to August 2018. In this work, 2338 patients were included (1351 males and 987 females). For each child, the demographic data were collected and documented. All attended children were submitted to an ear, nose and throat examination; both ears were examined by an otoscope (pneumatic) and tested with tympanometry by the same investigator. Results: The disease was diagnosed in 124 children (5.3%). The mean age of studied children was 9.13±2.83 years (range 4-15). The most common affected age was 4 years (15%) followed by 6 years (13.1%), then 15 years (6.3%). The condition was significantly associated with low socioeconomic class, smoking exposure and past frequent upper respiratory tract infection. Conclusion: The prevalence of OME in 4-15 years old children in Damietta Governorate was 5.3%, elevated to 15% at the age of 4 years. The low social state, exposure to smoking and frequent infections of upper airway were the most common associated risk factors.
Language Training and Refugees' Integration

Social and economic integration of refugees are key to their personal fulfillment and to producing positive effects in the host country. We evaluate the impact of a reform that expanded and improved early language classes to refugees in Denmark while also temporarily lowering welfare benefits for a subgroup of them. The policy change applied to those who obtained refugee status in Denmark on or after January 1, 1999. Using a regression discontinuity design around the cutoff date we find that employment and earnings gradually diverged for the treated group after completion of the language program. The effect was significant and resulted in four percentage points permanently higher employment and almost USD 2,510 in extra yearly earnings over eighteen years. We do not find temporary or permanent labor market effects of cutting welfare benefits, but we find evidence of temporarily higher property crime when refugees received lower benefits. We also find that children of refugees who received enhanced language classes were more likely to complete lower secondary school and less likely to commit crime.