Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review on: The Impact of Microfinance on Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia

Microfinance has proven to be an effective and powerful tool for poverty reduction . The objectives of this review were to identify factors that affect microfinance and the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction in Ethiopia, respectively. The result of some studies indicated that age, education, time laps between loan application, disbursement, loan size, loan diversion, and repayment period, number of dependents, high interest rate, wealth status, gender, repayment policy, training, and supervision were important variables which had affected microfinance either positive or negative. And also the effects of those variables were depends on the area of studies had taken. This implies the same variables sometimes have different effect at different area. Other objective of this review was the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction. Many researchers believed that the microfinance service is indeed having clear impact: improving the food security situation, the health status, educating the children, creating additional assets (improved housing). Finding of other studies concluded that lack financial sustainability the key element of poverty expansion. Despite the fact those results indicated that the impact of microfinance is inconclusive. Furthermore, the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction indicated that further verification study may be required before concluded.
Periodic Local Multi-way Analysis and Monitoring of Indoor Air Quality in a Subway System Considering the Weekly Effect

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is one of the major concerns to people who spend most of the time in an indoor environment, as many hazardous pollutants are emitted from the buildings or underground spaces, or enter from outside sources through the various vents and other entry/exit points. In particular, the IAQ in subway stations have periodic variations in indoor air pollutants, depending on the numbers of passengers and trains, as well as the previous IAQ. Global and weekly models (divided into weekday and weekend model) have been developed and compared with one another using parallel factor analysis to consider the periodic characteristics, as IAQ shows changeable aspects within a day or the week, owing to differences in the passengers’ travel patterns. The IAQ monitoring results of the weekly model showed that the proposed monitoring method could detect abnormal IAQ conditions in a timely manner when compared to the global model. The proposed monitoring method could identify not only the most active time periods but also the main contaminant sources resulting in the abnormality of the IAQ, based on fault detection.
Feasibility of duty cycling GPS receiver for trajectory-based services

OF THE THESIS Feasibility of Duty Cycling GPS Receiver for Trajectory-based Services by XIAOHAN LI Thesis Director: Prof. Janne Lindqvist Energy efficient localization is important for lots of smartphone applications. The research community has argued that fixed duty cycling of GPS is not a good choice for trajectory-based services concerning route accuracy. In this note, we show that duty cycling of a smartphone GPS receiver achieves considerable energy efficiency without sacrificing much route accuracy. When increasing sampling period to 120 seconds, it saves at least 78% energy in comparison to continuous GPS sampling, while the loss of route accuracy tends to be stable at 0.23 to 0.25.
Evaluation of different analytical and semi-analytical methods for the design of ELF magnetic field shields

The aim of this paper is the evaluation of different analytical methods devoted to the study of shielding of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields with conducting and ferromagnetic materials. In this paper, an extensive analysis of some approaches is presented, by comparing these methods to a numerical one based on a hybrid finite-element method/boundary-element method formulation. The study wants to underline the accuracy of the different techniques, evaluating their limits of validity, depending on physical and geometrical shield parameters.
Social support and self-management among end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis in Indonesia

Background Self-management is the latest multidisciplinary intervention that empowers end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients to be active in maintaining their health status. The implementation of self-management among ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis in Indonesia remains relatively low, contributing to the high prevalence of complications and morbidity. The social cognitive theory proposes that social support is one of the environmental factors affecting health behavior change. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between social support and self-management among ESRD patients undergoing hemodialysis in Indonesia. Design and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 107 ESRD patients selected by consecutive sampling. Data were collected online from four chronic kidney disease communities in Indonesia in June 2020. Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey and Hemodialysis Self-Management Instrument were used to measure patients’ functional social support and selfmanagement levels. Statistical analysis using the Chi-square test was applied to evaluate the association between social support and self-management. Results More than half of the patients had high social support (51%) and good self-management (53%). There was a significant relationship between social support and self-management (p=0.027; α=0.05; odds ratio 95% CI = 2.386). Conclusions Social support is a potential environmental factor that can be modified to enhance health behavior change among ESRD patients in Indonesia, with the specific behavior being selfmanagement. This study recommends functional social support as an integral part of self-management intervention provided through cooperation between health workers, chronic kidney disease community, and patient companions.
Perception of Stress and Styles of Coping with It in Parents Giving Kangaroo Mother Care to Their Children during Hospitalization in NICU

The experience of hospitalization of a newborn in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) may become distressing both for the baby and parent. The study aimed to assess the degree of parental stress and coping strategies in parents giving KMC to their babies hospitalized in NICU compared to the control group parents not giving KMC. The prospective observational study enrolled a cohort of 337 parents of premature babies hospitalized in NICU in 2016 in Eastern Poland. The Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations were used. The level of stress in parents giving KMC was defined as low or moderate. Analysis confirmed its greater presence in the group of parents initiating KMC late (2–3 weeks) compared to those starting this initiative in week 1 of a child’s life. An additional predictor of a higher level of stress in parents initiating KMC “late” was the hospital environment of a premature baby. Task oriented coping was the most common coping strategy in the study group. KMC and direct skin-to-skin contact of the parent with the baby was associated with a higher level of parental stress only initially and decreased with time and KMC frequency.
Facility layout design in a changing environment

Increasing global competition, rapid changes in technology and the necessity to respond quickly to a cost and quality conscious customer have changed the dynamics of facilities planning. Today's manufacturing facility needs to be responsive to the frequent changes in product mix and demand while minimizing material handling and machine relocation costs. In this paper, we present a framework for the design of a dynamic facility which can respond effectively to the changes in product design, mix and volume in a continuously evolving work environment. A genetic algorithm-based heuristic is used for solving the design problem and two test cases are presented to illustrate the use of the methodology.
Effect of Low Magnetic Field on Biomimetic Deposition of Hydroxyapatite on Titanium and BIOLINE Stainless Steel

In this work, we evaluated the effect of a low magnetic field on the deposition of hydroxyapatite (HAp) on different metallic substrates. The substrates studied were titanium and BIOLINE stainless steel SS316LVM with and without Ta and TaN/Ta coatings. Before deposition, the uncoated Ti and SS316LVM substrates were treated with alkali to improve the adhesion of the films prompted to be formed. Next, all substrates (coated and uncoated) were immersed in stimulated body fluid (SBF) at physiological conditions of 37 °C, pH = 7.4, in the presence of magnetic fields from 0.15 T and 0.22 T for 7, 10, and 14 days. The formed films were characterized using SEM, FTIR, and the contact angle. Ti and SS316LVM substrates presented Ca/P relations closer to the stoichiometric HAp. It was demonstrated that in both coatings, Ta and Ta/N, an increase of the bioactivity was obtained. Additionally, our results showed that the application of magnetic fields has a significant effect on the increment in the mass:area ratio of HAp. Finally, the contact angle values were lower than 90°, showing an increase in hydrophilicity with respect to the metallic substrates.
A novel design of compact wideband hexagonal antenna

A novel design of planar hexagonal antenna (PHA) fed by a coplanar waveguide has been presented for wideband applications.The semicircular base to upper and lower side of hexagonal radiator increases the impedance bandwidth. A shorting strip is introduced as a top load to the antenna to achieve compactness. The proposed shorted PHA (SPHA) yields bidirectional radiation pattern in both elevation and azimuth plane. The −10 dB return loss of SPHA exhibits from 1.24 to 20 GHz. The simulated results for various characteristics of the antenna have been shown using finite integration technique based commercial software CST MICROWAVE STUDIO. The simulated and measured return loss characteristics of SPHA are in good agreement. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:1–4, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27276
Advanced glycation end‐products (AGEs) are lower in prostate tumor tissue and inversely related to proportion of West African ancestry

The metabolism of normal prostate relies on glycolysis, with prostate cancer having reduced glycolysis and increased aerobic metabolism. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) accumulate in tissues as a result of age and glycolytic rate. Differential AGE levels were recently observed in prostate cancer tissues. Herein we sought to quantify AGEs in benign and cancer prostate tissue in a diverse cohort of patients.
Investigation of Natural Hazards: Theoretical and Practical Models

Different types of methods needed to determinate risk of natural hazards on the field for different types of hazards. Avalanche and rockfall act the same, get acceleration from gravity depend on slope. It mostly often that they both possible in mountain region around the earth. But behavior of this processes is different and consequences are also different. To predict rockfalls and avalanches we have to create method which can be compared with reality. Compare model versus reality possible in areas with many years of observations. So we can use thisa model to simulate behavior of rockfalls and avalanches in not studied areas.
Diazotrophy as a key driver of the response of marine net primary productivity to climate change

Abstract. The impact of anthropogenic climate change on marine net primary production (NPP) is a reason for concern because changing NPP will have widespread consequences for marine ecosystems and their associated services. Projections by the current generation of Earth System Models have suggested decreases in global NPP in response to future climate change, albeit with very large uncertainties. Here, we make use of two versions of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace Climate Model (IPSL-CM) that simulate divergent NPP responses to similar high-emission scenarios in the 21st century and identify nitrogen fixation as the main driver of these divergent NPP responses. Differences in the way N-fixation is parameterized in the marine biogeochemical component PISCES of the IPSL-CMs lead to N-fixation rates that are either stable or double over the course of the 21st century, resulting in decreasing or increasing global NPP, respectively. An evaluation of these 2 model versions does not help constrain future NPP projection uncertainties. However, the use of a more comprehensive version of PISCES, with variable nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratios as well as a revised parameterization of the temperature sensitivity of N-fixation, suggests only moderate changes of global-averaged N-fixation in the 21st century. This leads to decreasing global NPP, in line with the model-mean changes of a recent multi-model intercomparison. Lastly, despite contrasting trends in NPP, all our model versions simulate similar and significant reductions in planktonic biomass. This suggests that projected plankton biomass may be a much more robust indicator than NPP of the potential impact of anthropogenic climate change on marine ecosystems across model.
Impact of groundwater depth on hydraulic performance and growth of Haloxylon ammodendron in a desert region of central Asia

Anthropogenic withdraw of groundwater and climatic drought limits the water availability for phreatophytic vegetation in arid regions. In this study, a small xeric, phreatophytic tree Haloxylon ammodendron (C.A. Mey.) was investigated to understand the influence of depth to groundwater (DGW) on hydraulic traits and on the trade‐off between drought tolerance and leaf area increment. A suite of traits including leaf water potential, pressure–volume (P–V) curves, Huber value, assimilation branch growth and osmotic regulation substance was measured across five sites with DGW ranges from 3.45 to 15.91 m. Our results indicate that H. ammodendron was subject to greater water stress with increasing DGW, as indicated by decreased predawn (Ψpd) and midday (Ψmd) branch water potential. We also found that growth rate declined as Huber value increased with increasing DGW in the early growing season (EGS). Solute sugar, as a major osmotic substance, drives decreases in osmotic potential at full turgor and thus constrains assimilation branch growth with increasing DGW in EGS. Therefore, osmotic adjustment accompanied with water potential regulation (Ψpd–Ψmd) and plasticity of Huber value allows this phreatophyte to absorb water from deeper soil layers and tolerate drought. However, these adaptive adjustments cannot fully compensate for nonoptimal water conditions as growth rate continued to decrease as DGW increased in EGS and even became negative in the late growing season (LGS) at almost all sites. Greater depth of groundwater had a significant effect on H. ammodendron and may have similar effects for other non‐riparian phreatophytic plants in arid regions.
Synopsis of a clinical practice guideline for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with peritoneal dissemination in Japan; Japan Peritoneal Malignancy Study Group

Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) with peritoneal dissemination have a dismal prognosis because discontinuation of systemic chemotherapy is required for massive ascites or poor performance status. The natural history, diagnosis and treatment of PDAC with peritoneal dissemination have not been fully investigated. We systematically reviewed published information on the clinical diagnosis and treatment of PDAC with peritoneal dissemination using the PubMed database (2000‐2020) and provided recommendations in response to clinical questions. This guideline was created according to the "Minds Clinical Practice Guideline Development Guide 2017". The literature quality and body of evidence were evaluated with the GRADE System and classified into four levels (“strong”, “medium”, “weak”, “very weak”). The strength of each final recommendation was decided by a vote of committee members based on the GRADE Grid method. These guidelines address three subjects: diagnostic, chemotherapeutic, and surgical approaches. They include nine clinical questions and statements with recommendation strengths, evidence levels, and agreement rates, in addition to one “column”. This is the English synopsis of the 2021 Japanese clinical practice guideline for PDAC with peritoneal dissemination. It summarizes the clinical evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of PDAC with peritoneal dissemination and provides future perspectives.
Adaptive Network — Fuzzy Inferencing to Estimate Concrete Strength Using Mix Design

Proportioning of concrete mixes is carried out in accordance with specified code information, specifications, and past experiences. Typically, concrete mix companies use different mix designs that are used to establish tried and tested datasets. Thus, a model can be developed based on existing datasets to estimate the concrete strength of a given mix proportioning and avoid costly tests and adjustments. Inherent uncertainties encountered in the model can be handled with fuzzy based methods, which are capable of incorporating information obtained from expert knowledge and datasets. In this paper, the use of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inferencing system is proposed to train a fuzzy model and estimate concrete strength. The efficiency of the proposed method is verified using actual concrete mix proportioning datasets reported in the literature, and the corresponding coefficient of determination r2 range from 0.970–0.999. Further, sensitivity analysis is carried out to highlight the impact of different mix constitu.
Development and Validation of the Barriers to Care Scale: Assessing Access to Care among Canadian Armed Forces Health Care Providers

ABSTRACT Military health care providers (HCPs) under-access health services. Measures aimed at assessing barriers to care are either limited in scope, do not address barriers to physical healthcare, or are not grounded in theory. The current study developed and validated a measure of barriers to care based on an existing theoretical framework. Forty focus groups were conducted with 182 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) HCPs across Canada focusing on barriers to accessing care. Focus group content was used to develop 52 unique barrier items. The Barriers to Care scale was completed by 1033 CAF HCPs. The sample was randomly split so that both an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) could be conducted. The identified factors were correlated with intent to access care to assess concurrent validity. Results of the EFA and CFA (CFI = .84; TLI = .84; SRMR = .08; RMSEA = .07) suggested an eight-factor model. The alphas of the eight subscales were excellent (> .85). All subscales significantly and negatively correlated with intent to access care. The findings suggest a promising first step toward creating a theory-based, valid, and reliable measure for assessing barriers to care.
Three-dimensional finite difference beam propagation algorithms for photonic devices

Finite difference beam propagation techniques are developed for photonic devices with step-index distributions and arbitrarily large index differences. One technique, the eigenvector expansion method allows large propagation steps along uniform waveguide sections. The second technique, a propagation matrix series expansion method, is particularly suitable for three-dimensional wave propagation simulations. It can easily handle 10/sup 5/ discretization points on personal computers or workstations. The first method employs absorbing boundary conditions while the second utilizes transparent boundary conditions at the edges of the computational windows. The accuracy and applicability of these techniques is demonstrated for several 2-D and 3-D test structures. >
Comparisons of IRI-Based Pavement Deterioration Prediction Models Using New Mexico Pavement Data

The paper investigates the applicability of IRI-based pavement deterioration prediction models, which include four deterministic models for pavement performance prediction (i.e., the NCHRP model, Al-Omari-Darter model, Dubai model, and the NMDOT model used by the New Mexico Department of Transportation). Comparisons of these models are made using the data from both the NMDOT Pavement Management System (PMS) and the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) sites in New Mexico. It is found that the NCHRP and the Dubai models are relatively good tools for pavement performance prediction in New Mexico, while the Al-Omari-Darter model and the NMDOT model do not provide a sound statistical basis. In addition, one probabilistic model for pavement service life prediction, i.e., the survival curve, is also presented. The service life estimated by survival curve is compared with those determined from two approaches — pavement age and traffic loading. The result of traffic loading approach is found to be more reasonable.
The study of temperature regionalization in China using complex networks

Temperature regionalization is important for guiding the development of agriculture and forestry in a region. However, few existing studies are able to objectively regionalize temperature in terms of both the temperature change and temperature difference. In both cases, we use the ERA5 2 m temperature reanalysis dataset to construct the temperature correlation network by traversing the winter anomalies with higher amplitudes for all possible pairs of grid points. On the basis of the temperature correlation network, the first and second‐grade regionalization is performed using the spin glass algorithm and agglomerative hierarchical clustering, respectively. Our results derived from the network topology analysis indicate that there are a few teleconnections in the network and that the nodes are mainly connected to neighbouring nodes. Some nodes in Tibet, Qinghai and western Sichuan Province have independent temperature change, and some nodes in Guizhou and Jiangxi Provinces tend to connect more nodes with an average distance of >500 km. The results of temperature regionalization show that the boundaries of the first‐grade regionalization are consistent with the relief and the distribution of major mountains in China, and the spatial distribution coincides with the four core regions with the highest convergence coefficient of temperature change (TCC) of nodes and 10 regions with relatively high TCC. The second‐grade regionalization is mainly located in the different temperature zones. In contrast to previous works on temperature regionalization, this study provides a new integration framework that further considers both the convergence in the temperature change and the closeness of the temperature between regions and finally objectively regionalizes temperature in China.
Direct Drive Applications: Possible Replacement of Rare-Earth Permanent Magnet Motors

This paper deals with the possibility to replace rare-earth permanent magnet (PM) motors in direct drive applications. According to previous researches, there are alternatives such as surface-mounted PM motors and spoke-type motors adopting Ferrite PMs, synchronous reluctance motors, with or without the assistance of low-energy PMs. Few studies have been carried out to compare all models at once, thus it is hard to choose which type motor is to be preferred as a valid alternative of rare-earth PM motors in direct drive applications. In this paper, the representative candidates listed above are analyzed and the results are compared with that of a rare-earth PM motor, which is considered as a reference motor. Additionally, the demagnetization phenomenon of the motors with Ferrite PMs is deeply analyzed because this kind of PM may be easily demagnetized by the stator flux. Finally, both strengths and weaknesses of each alternative motors are highlighted.