Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Moderating effect of loneliness on the relationship of housing instability and food insecurity with smoking behavior

ABSTRACT Loneliness is a public health concern associated with individuals adopting various coping mechanisms to counter stressors. Stressors like social determinants of health (SDoH) risks (housing, food) have been associated with smoking. This study examines the role of loneliness on the relationship of SDoH risks with smoking. A cross-sectional study utilizing 2019 Ohio Medicaid Assessment Survey data was conducted. Multiple weighted logistic regressions were conducted to analyze the associations of loneliness and SDoH risks with smoking. Also, two models tested for the independent moderating effect of loneliness with food insecurity and housing instability on smoking. Of the 29,495 individuals who completed the loneliness questionnaire, 18% were identified as being lonely. Also, 20% and 16% of respondents reported food insecurity and housing instability respectively. Food insecurity (OR=2.10; CI=1.87–2.35), housing instability (OR=1.50; OR=1.33–1.68), and loneliness (OR=1.43; CI=1.27–1.60) were associated with greater odds of smoking. Loneliness buffered the relationship between housing instability and smoking behavior (ORinteraction=1.37; CI=1.06–1.78). In conclusion, SDoH risks and loneliness are associated with smoking. Loneliness has a moderating effect on the relationship between housing instability and smoking. These findings highlight the complex relationship of factors associated with smoking. A multi-faceted approach involving providers, health systems, local organizations, and payers is necessary.
Wavelets: a new tool for the resonant grounded power distribution systems relaying

This paper introduces wavelets and shows that they may be efficient and useful for power distribution relaying. The wavelet transform of a signal consists in measuring the "similarity"between the signal and a set of translated and scaled versions of a "mother wavelet". The "mother wavelet" is a chosen fast decaying oscillation function. Wavelets are used to analyse transient earth faults in a 20 kV resonant grounded network as generated by EMTP. It is shown that wavelets may be employed for analysing records to study efficiently the faulted network. Moreover, this new technique can actually be implemented in real time for protection devices. Thus, it is suitable for application to protective relays.
Measurement and analysis of tyre and tread block dynamics due to contact phenomena

This paper deals with the dynamic behaviour of tyres and it is aimed at describing their dynamic features in the frequency band above 1 kHz, a range difficult to manage due to measurement noise and to the unreliability of numerical models, where the main influence is that of tread and blocks. Measurements have been made possible by fixing three three-axial micro-electro-mechanical system accelerometers on the liner and exciting the tyre under test by means of a dedicated test bench, suitably designed and constructed. Different kinds of tests have been considered in this research and described in the present paper. All of them show that a strong link exists between contact phenomena and tyre response in the frequency band over 1 kHz. This field is dominated by the tread and block dynamic responses. Furthermore, it is shown that vibrations of a sliding tyre give contributions in that frequency range for the above-mentioned reasons. It is thought that the study of the tyre behaviour over 1 kHz, though affected by significant uncertainties, can provide a proper knowledge to improve breaking effectiveness.
Total Carbon Stock and Potential Carbon Sequestration Economic Value of Mukogodo Forest-Landscape Ecosystem in Drylands of Northern Kenya

Carbon sequestration is one of the important ecosystem services provided by forested landscapes. Dry forests have high potential for carbon storage. However, their potential to store and sequester carbon is poorly understood in Kenya. Moreover, past attempts to estimate carbon stock have ignored drylands ecosystem heterogeneity. This study assessed the potential of Mukogodo dryland forest-landscape in offsetting carbon dioxide through carbon sequestration and storage. Four carbon pools (above and below ground biomass, soil, dead wood and litter) were analyzed. A total of 51 (400 m) sample plots were established using stratified-random sampling technique to estimate biomass across six vegetation classes in three landscape types (forest reserve, ranches and conservancies) using nested-plot design. Above ground biomass was determined using generalized multispecies model with diameter at breast height, height and wood density as variables. Below ground, soil, litter and dead wood biomass; carbon stocks and carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) were estimated using secondary information. The CO2eq was multiplied by current prices of carbon trade to compute carbon sequestration value. Mean ± SE of biomass and carbon was determined across vegetation and landscape types and mean differences tested by one-way Analysis of Variance. Mean biomass and carbon was about 79.15 ± 40.22 TB ha and 37.25 ± 18.89 TC ha respectively. Cumulative carbon stock was estimated at 682.08 TC ha; forest reserve (251.57 TC ha) had significantly high levels of carbon stocks How to cite this paper: Leley, N. C. , Langat, D. K. , Kisiwa, A. K. , Maina, G. M. , & Muga, M. O. (2022). Total Carbon Stock and Potential Carbon Sequestration Economic Value of Mukogodo Forest-Landscape Ecosystem in Drylands of Northern Kenya. Open Journal of Forestry, 12, 19-40. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojf.2022. 121002 Received: October 3, 2021 Accepted: November 19, 2021 Published: November 22, 2021 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access
Response of advanced bipolar processes to ionizing radiation

Ionizing radiation induced gain degradation in microcircuit bipolar polysilicon and crystalline emitter transistors is investigated. In this work, /sup 60/Co irradiation testing was performed on bipolar test structures. The effects of collector bias, dose rate, and anneal temperature are discussed. Major differences in the radiation response of polysilicon emitter transistors are demonstrated as a function of dose rate. The worst-case gain degradation occurs at the lowest dose rate complicating hardness assurance testing procedures. The dose rate and anneal data suggest that MIL-STD-883B Test Method 1019.4 is non-conservative for polysilicon emitter transistors, which show enhanced radiation hardness over the crystalline emitter transistors. >
Intermediate Diaphragm and Temporary Bracing Practice for Precast Concrete Girder Bridges

AbstractIntermediate diaphragms are used in precast concrete girder bridges for three primary reasons: (1) to prevent torsional girder rotations during girder erection and deck placement operations, (2) to increase vertical load distribution between girders, and (3) to transfer and spread horizontal impact loads from an overheight vehicle to adjacent girders. Significant variation currently exists in intermediate diaphragm specifications between states. The importance of bracing girders after erection and during construction is widely accepted as essential. Although it is clear that intermediate diaphragms have some effect on bridge performance, the benefit is considered by some to be negligible. Increasing numbers of states have adopted permanent steel or temporary intermediate diaphragm alternatives in place of traditional cast-in-place concrete. Wide variations are found between states regarding the configuration, spacing, and transverse alignment of diaphragms. This article presents a detailed survey .
New data on gersdorffite and associated minerals from the Peloritani Mountains (Sicily, Italy)

Abstract. Gersdorffite, ideally NiAsS, and associated minerals from Contrada Zillì (Peloritani Mountains, Sicily, Italy) have been characterized through electron microprobe analysis and X-ray diffraction. Primary minerals, hosted in quartz veins, are represented by gersdorffite, tetrahedrite-(Fe), and chalcopyrite with minor pyrite and galena. Rare aikinite inclusions were observed in tetrahedrite-(Fe) and chalcopyrite. Gersdorffite occurs as euhedral to subhedral crystals, up to 1 mm in size, with (Sb,Bi)-enriched cores and (Fe,As)-enriched rims. Its chemical composition is (Ni0.79−0.95Fe0.18−0.04Co0.04−0.01)(As0.90−1.03Sb0.10−0.00Bi0.02−0.00)S0.98−0.92. It crystallizes in the space group P213, with unit-cell parameters a=5.6968(7) Å, V=184.88(7) Å3, and Z=4, and its crystal structure was refined down to R1= 0.035. Associated tetrahedrite-(Fe) has chemical formula (Cu5.79Ag0.07)Σ5. 86(Cu3.96Fe1.59Zn0.45)Σ6. 00(Sb3.95As0.17Bi0.03)Σ4. 15S13.06, with unit-cell parameters a= 10.3815(10) Å, V=1118.9(3) Å3, and space group I-43m. Its crystal structure was refined to R1=0.027. Textural and crystallographic data suggest a polyphasic crystallization of gersdorffite under low-temperature conditions.
Torque blending and wheel slip control in EVs with in-wheel motors

Among the many opportunities offered by electric vehicles (EVs), the design of power trains based on in-wheel electric motors represents, from the vehicle dynamics point of view, a very attractive prospect, mainly due to the torque-vectoring capabilities. However, this distributed propulsion also poses some practical challenges, owing to the constraints arising from motor installation in a confined space, to the increased unsprung mass weight and to the integration of the electric motor with the friction brakes. This last issue is the main theme of this work, which, in particular, focuses on the design of the anti-lock braking system (ABS). The proposed structure for the ABS is composed of a tyre slip controller, a wheel torque allocator and a braking supervisor. To address the slip regulation problem, an adaptive controller is devised, offering robustness to uncertainties in the tyre–road friction and featuring a gain-scheduling mechanism based on the vehicle velocity. Further, an optimisation framework is employed in the torque allocator to determine the optimal split between electric and friction brake torque based on energy performance metrics, actuator constraints and different actuators bandwidth. Finally, based on the EV working condition, the priorities of this allocation scheme are adapted by the braking supervisor unit. Simulation results obtained with the CarSim vehicle model, demonstrate the effectiveness of the overall approach.
Hyperglycaemia, diabetes mellitus and COVID-19 in a tertiary hospital in KwaZulu-Natal

Background: Despite a substantial diabetes mellitus (DM) burden, there are few data regarding the relationship between DM and hyperglycaemia on COVID-19 severity and outcome in African populations. This study aimed to describe this relationship in the local context, and to determine whether our data correlated with observations made globally. Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients admitted to King Edward VIII Hospital with COVID-19 during June–September 2020 was undertaken. The sample was subdivided into three cohorts: DM; hyperglycaemia only (HO); and neither DM nor hyperglycaemia (NDNH). Patients living with DM (PLWD) were further subdivided into those with hyperglycaemia (PLWDH) versus normoglycaemia (PLWDN). Comparisons were made across groups. Results: The 236 participants enrolled comprised 79 with DM, 22 with HO, and 135 with NDNH. Half of patients with HO, 26.6% of PLWD and 15.6% of NDNH died. A log-rank test revealed significantly lower survival rates for those with HO compared with PLWDN (p = 0.001) and NDNH (p = 0.002). PLWDH also had significantly lower survival rates when compared with these two groups (p = 0.018 and p = 0.039 respectively). PLWD were significantly more likely to receive steroids (odds ratio [OR] 2.03) and oxygen therapy (OR 2.93). Patients with HO were significantly more likely to receive mechanical ventilation (MV) (OR 7.7) and die (OR 5.43). Compared with PLWDN, PLWDH were significantly more likely to receive MV (OR 10.83) and die (OR 4.24). When compared with PLWDN, patients with HO were significantly more likely to receive oxygen (100% vs. 70.4%), MV (63.6% vs. 3.7%) or die (50% vs. 11.1%). Conclusion: This study concurred with global findings, highlighting the importance of glycaemia as a prognostic marker in patients hospitalised with COVID-19. We recommend that all patients admitted with COVID-19 have a random glucose on admission and strict glycaemic control in those with hyperglycaemia to improve outcomes.
An Exploratory Analysis of Public Health Care Expenditure in Odisha

Health is a critical dimension of human development. Provision of health care facilities for the people is a vital constituent of the development process. An attempt is made here to examine the pattern of public health expenditure in Odisha from 2000-01 to 2017-18, its impact on health outcome, further its relationship with income of the State. Study reveals that total health expenditure as percentage of GSDP is hovering around one per cent. Expenditure on Urban Health Service has been increasing, on the contrary, expenditure on Rural Health Service has declined and expenditure on ‘Medical Education & Training’ remains constant. ‘Allopathic System of Medicine’ soaks up to 75 per cent of expenditure on ‘Medical & Public Health’. It is observed that both GSDP and health care expenditure have statistically significant positive impact on LEB and negative effect on IMR and CDR. However, GSDP has an edge over health care expenditure. There exists a unidirectional causality from Per Capita Health Expenditure to Per Capita Gross State Domestic Product in Odisha.
Combined Experimental and Theoretical Studies: Lattice-Dynamical Studies at High Pressures with the Help of Ab Initio Calculations

Lattice dynamics studies are important for the proper characterization of materials, since these studies provide information on the structure and chemistry of materials via their vibrational properties. These studies are complementary to structural characterization, usually by means of electron, neutron, or X-ray diffraction measurements. In particular, Raman scattering and infrared absorption measurements are very powerful, and are the most common and easy techniques to obtain information on the vibrational modes at the Brillouin zone center. Unfortunately, many materials, like most minerals, cannot be obtained in a single crystal form, and one cannot play with the different scattering geometries in order to make a complete characterization of the Raman scattering tensor of the material. For this reason, the vibrational properties of many materials, some of them known for millennia, are poorly known even under room conditions. In this paper, we show that, although it seems contradictory, the combination of experimental and theoretical studies, like Raman scattering experiments conducted at high pressure and ab initio calculations, is of great help to obtain information on the vibrational properties of materials at different pressures, including at room pressure. The present paper does not include new experimental or computational results. Its focus is on stressing the importance of combined experimental and computational approaches to understand materials properties. For this purpose, we show examples of materials already studied in different fields, including some hot topic areas such as phase change materials, thermoelectric materials, topological insulators, and new subjects as metavalent bonding.
Impedance matrix of an antenna array in a quasi-optical resonator

The power from numerous millimeter-wave solid-state sources can be efficiently combined using quasi-optical techniques. One technique is to place an array of active radiating sources within a quasi-optical resonator. The driving point impedance of each antenna is strongly affected by the presence of all other active antennas as well as by the mode structure and Q of the resonator. The impedance matrix for an array of antennas radiating into a plano-concave open resonator is determined here through use of the Lorentz integral. The resulting expressions include the effect of diffraction loss and are valid for arbitrary reflector spacing, source frequency, array location and geometry. The result can be used for impedance matching of each active source to its antenna, facilitating design of an efficient power combining system. Simulations using the impedance matrix in conjunction with an antenna impedance model are compared with two-port measurements. >
Equivalent Circuit Capacitance of Microstrip Step Change in Width

Calculated results which extend existing data on the capacitance of step discontinuity are presented for w/sub 1/ /H of value 0.1, 0.5,1.0, and 2.0, for relative dielectric constants of 15.1, 9.0, 4.0, and 2.3, and for w/sub 2/ /H in the range 0.1-10.0. The quasi-static method of calculation is used, and the excess capacitance associated with the steps is determined by the solution of the integral equation using Green's functions.
Multimodal Information Fusion Approach for Noncontact Heart Rate Estimation Using Facial Videos and Graph Convolutional Network

Heart rate (HR) is a critical signal for reflecting human physical and mental conditions, and it is beneficial for diagnosing neurological and cardiovascular diseases due to its excellent accessibility. However, traditional HR measurement devices have limited usability and convenience. Recent studies have shown that the optical absorption variation of human skin due to blood volume variation in cardiac cycles can be acquired from facial videos and used to estimate HR in a noncontact manner. However, the advanced noncontact HR estimation approaches are based on a single HR information source, resulting in unsatisfactory estimation results due to noise corruption and insufficient information. To address these problems, this article proposes a multimodal information fusion framework for noncontact HR estimation. First, feature representation maps are used to effectively extract periodic signals from facial visible-light and thermal infrared videos. Then, a temporal-information-aware HR feature extraction network (THR-Net) for encoding discriminative spatiotemporal information from the representation maps is presented. Finally, based on a graph convolution network (GCN), an information fusion model is proposed for feature integration and HR estimation. Experimental and evaluation results of five different metrics on two datasets show that the proposed approach outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches. This article demonstrates the advantage of multimodal information fusion for noncontact HR estimation.
Plasma Phospholipids: A Promising Simple Biochemical Parameter to Evaluate COVID-19 Infection Severity

Background: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide public health problem that has been known in China since December 25, 2019. Phospholipids are structural components of the mammalian cytoskeleton and cell membranes. They suppress viral attachment to the plasma membrane and subsequent replication in lung cells. In the virus-infected lung, phospholipids are highly prone to oxidation by reactive oxygen species, leading to the production of oxidized phospholipids (OxPLs). Objective: This study was carried out to explain the correlation between the level of plasma phospholipids in patients with COVID-19 infection and the levels of cytokine storms to assess the severity of the disease. Methods: Plasma samples from 34 enrolled patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 infection were collected. Complete blood count (CBC), plasma levels of D-dimer, ferritin, C-reactive protein (CRP), cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), phospholipids, secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2)α2, and cytokine storms were estimated, and lung computed tomography (CT) imaging was detected. Results: The CBC picture showed the presence of leukopenia, lymphopenia, and eosinopenia in patients with COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, a significant increase was found in plasma levels of D-dimer, CRP, ferritin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and IL-13 as well as sPLA2α2 activity compared to normal persons. However, plasma levels of phospholipids decreased in patients with moderate and severe COVID-19 infection, as well as significantly decreased in levels of triacylglycerols and HDL-C in plasma from patients with severe infection only, compared to normal persons. Furthermore, a lung CT scan showed the presence of inflammation in a patient with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: This study shows that there is a correlation between plasma phospholipid depletion and elevated cytokine storm in patients with COVID-19 infection. Depletion of plasma phospholipid levels in patients with COVID-19 infection is due to oxidative stress, induction of cytokine storm, and systemic inflammatory response after endothelial cell damage promote coagulation. According to current knowledge, patients with COVID-19 infection may need to administer surfactant replacement therapy and sPLA2 inhibitors to treat respiratory distress syndrome, which helps them to maintain the interconnected surfactant structures.
Studying the Community of Trump Supporters on Twitter during the 2020 US Presidential Election via Hashtags #maga and #trump2020

(1) The study investigated the social network surrounding the hashtags #maga (Make America Great Again, the campaign slogan popularized by Donald Trump during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns) and #trump2020 on Twitter to better understand Donald Trump, his community of supporters, and their political discourse and activities in the political context of the 2020 US presidential election. (2) Social network analysis of a sample of 220,336 tweets from 96,820 unique users, posted between 27 October and 2 November 2020 (i.e., one week before the general election day) was conducted. (3) The most active and influential users within the #maga and #trump2020 network, the likelihood of those users being spamming bots, and their tweets’ content were revealed. (4) The study then discussed the hierarchy of Donald Trump and the problematic nature of spamming bot detection, while also providing suggestions for future research.
Surface Energy Measurement of Asphalt and Its Application to Predicting Fatigue and Healing in Asphalt Mixtures

Cohesive and adhesive bonding within the asphalt—aggregate system are directly related to the surface energy of the asphalt. The thermodynamic changes in the surface energy of adhesion and cohesion are related to the de-bonding of the interface between asphalt and aggregate and to cracks that may occur within the mastic, respectively. However, it is also true that thermodynamic changes in the surface energy are required to heal a fracture between the surfaces of the asphalt and the aggregate or within the mastic. The methodology and testing protocol for measuring the surface energy of asphalt are presented. Both the surface energy of dewetting (fracture) and the surface energy of wetting (healing) can be obtained from the contact angle measurement with the Wilhelmy plate method. Ten asphalts were tested; surface energies varied substantially as a function of asphalt composition and the level of aging to which the asphalt was subjected. By using thermodynamic theory, the adhesion and cohesion bonding energy within the asphaltaggregate systems were further analyzed. This analysis has the potential to select the most compatible asphalt—aggregate combination for mixtures. The surface energy is also a very important parameter in the fatigue and healing analysis of the asphalt pavement.