Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Sentinel-2 Multispectral Images to Map the Occurrence of the Cossid Moth (Coryphodema tristis) in Eucalyptus Nitens Plantations of Mpumalanga, South Africa

Coryphodema tristis is a wood-boring insect, indigenous to South Africa, that has recently been identified as an emerging pest feeding on Eucalyptus nitens, resulting in extensive damage and economic loss. Eucalyptus plantations contributes over 9% to the total exported manufactured goods of South Africa which contributes significantly to the gross domestic product. Currently, the distribution extent of the Coryphodema tristis is unknown and estimated to infest Eucalyptus nitens compartments from less than 1% to nearly 80%, which is certainly a concern for the forestry sector related to the quantity and quality of yield produced. Therefore, the study sought to model the probability of occurrence of Coryphodema tristis on Eucalyptus nitens plantations in Mpumalanga, South Africa, using data from the Sentinel-2 multispectral instrument (MSI). Traditional field surveys were carried out through mass trapping in all compartments (n = 878) of Eucalyptus nitens plantations. Only 371 Eucalyptus nitens compartments were positively identified as infested and were used to generate the Coryphodema tristis presence data. Presence data and spectral features from the area were analysed using the Maxent algorithm. Model performance was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve showing the area under the curve (AUC) and True Skill Statistic (TSS) while the performance of predictors was analysed with the jack-knife. Validation of results were conducted using the test data. Using only the occurrence data and Sentinel-2 bands and derived vegetation indices, the Maxent model provided successful results, exhibiting an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.890. The Photosynthetic vigour ratio, Band 5 (Red edge 1), Band 4 (Red), Green NDVI hyper, Band 3 (Green) and Band 12 (SWIR 2) were identified as the most influential predictor variables. Results of this study suggest that remotely sensed derived vegetation indices from cost-effective platforms could play a crucial role in supporting forest pest management strategies and infestation control.
Childhood Adversities and Resistant Behaviors Toward Law Enforcement Officers in a National Sample of State and Federal Inmates

An overwhelming body of literature points to a relationship between experiencing adversity during childhood and later violence in adulthood. This study addresses a gap in existing research by testing of the impact of four prior childhood adversities on resistant behaviors toward law enforcement officers. A four-level ordinal dependent variable measuring passive resistance, verbal resistance, police action resistance, and physical resistance was created using data from the nationally representative, 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities. A generalized ordinal logistic regression model tested the effects of childhood adversities on resistant behaviors toward law enforcement officers. Physical victimization during childhood and adulthood predicted resistant behaviors toward law enforcement officers above and beyond the effects of prior victimization during only childhood and only adulthood. This study found a strong association between prior physical victimization, foster care involvement, and resistant behaviors after adjusting for demographic, situational, and criminal background variables.
Knowledge Aware Conversation Generation with Reasoning on Augmented Graph

Two types of knowledge, factoid knowledge from graphs and non-factoid knowledge from unstructured documents, have been studied for knowledge aware open-domain conversation generation, in which edge information in graphs can help generalization of knowledge selectors, and text sentences of non-factoid knowledge can provide rich information for response generation. Fusion of knowledge triples and sentences might yield mutually reinforcing advantages for conversation generation, but there is less study on that. To address this challenge, we propose a knowledge aware chatting machine with three components, augmented knowledge graph containing both factoid and non-factoid knowledge, knowledge selector, and response generator. For knowledge selection on the graph, we formulate it as a problem of multi-hop graph reasoning that is more flexible in comparison with previous one-hop knowledge selection models. To fully leverage long text information that differentiates our graph from others, we improve a state of the art reasoning algorithm with machine reading comprehension technology. We demonstrate that supported by such unified knowledge and knowledge selection method, our system can generate more appropriate and informative responses than baselines.
The Relative Predictive Contribution and Causal Role of Phoneme Awareness, Rhyme Awareness, and Verbal Short-Term Memory in Reading Skills: A Review

The acknowledgement that educational achievement is highly dependent on successful reading development has led to extensive research on its underlying factors. A strong argument has been made for a causal relationship between reading and phoneme awareness; similarly, causal relations have been suggested for reading with short-term memory and rhyme awareness alike. Here a meta-analysis is presented that seeks to determine spuriousness in these factors' relationships with reading by examining each factor's unique predictive value. The results show that phoneme awareness is the strongest unique predictor. Since the meta-analysis is based on concurrent data, it is unsuited to enlighten time-order relationships, but longitudinal and experimental studies both support the notion of a causal relationship between phoneme awareness and reading, in contrast to rhyme awareness and verbal short-term memory.
A randomised finite element method for elliptic partial differential equations

We consider a randomised implementation of the finite element method (FEM) for elliptic partial differential equations on high-dimensional models. This is motivated by applications where model predictions are essential for real-time process diagnostics. In these circumstances it is imperative to expedite prediction without a significant compromise in the model's fidelity, which in turn relies on the rapid assembly and solution of the associated system of equations typically at the many-query context. Our approach involves converting the solution of the linear, symmetric positive definite FEM system into an over-determined least squares problem, whose solution is then projected onto a low-dimensional subspace. The resulting low-dimensional system can be effectively sketched as a product of two high-dimensional matrices using a parameter-dependent non-uniform sampling distribution, utilising only a small subset of the model's parameters. Although different to the optimal sampling distributions based on the statistical leverage-scores of the rows of the matrices, we show that the distance between them shrinks for an appropriate choice of the projection subspace. For the approximate solution we bound the incurring errors due to the projection, subspace approximation and sketching and show that the overall error is dominated by the condition number of the projected stiffness matrix. Our approach is tested on simulations on the Dirichlet and Neumann problems for the steady-state diffusion equation. The results show that our approach has on average a tenfold improvement on the computational times compared to the classical deterministic framework at the expense of a moderately small approximation error.
Three Dimensional Imaging with the Contrast Source Compressive Sampling

In this paper, a contrast source compressive sensing method for three-dimensional imaging is presented. A fast Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) is used to find the best hyperparameter vector maximizing the cost function of the problem formulated in a multi-task Bayesian Compressive Sensing (MT-BCS) from which the corresponding equivalent currents and the contrast function of the imaged domain are derived. A comparative assessment is reported in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Compositional Power Flow for Networked Microgrids

In this paper, a compositional power flow (ComPF) is devised for networked microgrids to take into account power sharing and voltage regulation between microgrids while preserving data privacy of each microgrid. The main contributions of the ComPF include: 1) devising an advanced-droop-control-based power flow to incorporate distributed energy resources and load droops within microgrids and 2) establishing an adaptive-secondary-control-based compositional power flow scheme to account for power sharing and voltage regulation between microgrids. As an inherently distributed method, the ComPF supports plug-and-play of microgrids and preserves customer privacy.
Argument Mining for Understanding Peer Reviews

Peer-review plays a critical role in the scientific writing and publication ecosystem. To assess the efficiency and efficacy of the reviewing process, one essential element is to understand and evaluate the reviews themselves. In this work, we study the content and structure of peer reviews under the argument mining framework, through automatically detecting (1) the argumentative propositions put forward by reviewers, and (2) their types (e.g., evaluating the work or making suggestions for improvement). We first collect 14.2K reviews from major machine learning and natural language processing venues. 400 reviews are annotated with 10,386 propositions and corresponding types of Evaluation, Request, Fact, Reference, or Quote. We then train state-of-the-art proposition segmentation and classification models on the data to evaluate their utilities and identify new challenges for this new domain, motivating future directions for argument mining. Further experiments show that proposition usage varies across venues in amount, type, and topic.
Memory effect in Yang-Mills theory

We study the empirical realisation of the memory effect in Yang-Mills theory, especially in view of the classical vs. quantum nature of the theory. Gauge invariant analysis of memory in classical U(1) electrodynamics and its observation by total change of transverse momentum of a charge is reviewed. Gauge fixing leads to a determination of a gauge transformation at infinity. An example of Yang-Mills memory then is obtained by reinterpreting known results on interactions of a quark and a large high energy nucleus in the theory of Color Glass Condensate. The memory signal is again a kick in transverse momentum, but it is only obtained in quantum theory after fixing the gauge, after summing over an ensemble of classical processes.
Comparative Study of Word Embeddings Models and Their Usage in Arabic Language Applications

Word embeddings is the representation of the text using vectors such that the words that have similar syntax and semantic will have similar vector representation. Representing words using vectors is very crucial for most of natural language processing applications. In natural language, when using neural network for processing, the words vectors will be fed as input to the network. In this paper, a comparative study of several word embeddings models is conducted including Glove and the two approaches of word2vec model called CBOW and Skip-gram. Furthermore, this study surveying most of the state-of-art of using word embeddings in Arabic language applications such as sentiment analysis, semantic similarity, short answer grading, information retrieval, paraphrase identification, plagiarism detection and Textual Entailment.
Transient Responses of Broadband Low Profile filter-antenna Under Impact of an EMP

The time-domain responses of some broadband low profile microstrip filter-antenna of the complex electrical information system in the presence of an exterior electromagnetic pulses (EMP) is studied in this conference paper. An efficient numerical method based on conformal FDTD method is implanted for studying an EMP coupling with some typical broadband low profile microstrip filter-antennas widely used in the different communication systems. The induced time-domain voltages and currents characteristics of the antenna illuminated by different incident EMPs are shown and compared in detail.
Effectiveness of an educational program for children and their families on asthma control treatment adherence

Abstract Objective: Τo investigate the effect of an asthma care educational program for children and adolescents with asthma, on adherence to asthma control treatment and on clinical indices. Methods: Individuals newly diagnosed with asthma, aged 4–16 years, randomized to the intervention and control group. The participants were monitored for 6 weeks. At baseline, before the initiation of inhaled corticosteroids/long-acting beta2-agonist (ICS/LABA), the intervention group attended the educational program; the control group received the usual care. Both groups were equipped with electronic monitoring devices for measuring adherence. Spirometry, exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FeNO), and asthma control test (ACT) score were measured in both groups in the pre and post-ICS/LABA initiation visit. Results: Seventy-eight participants were enrolled in this study (n = 39 to each group). Median percentage of adherence was 73% for the total sample, and 80% and 68% in intervention and control group, respectively (p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, the program was positively associated with improved adherence (p < 0.001). ICS/LABA had a positive effect on spirometric indices, FeNO, and ACT score, whilst the educational program did not improved significantly the above variables. Conclusions: Establishing and increasing adherence is challenging. An asthma care educational program is associated with greater short-term adherence during a period of active monitoring.
The Efficient BackFi Transmission Design in Ambient Backscatter Communication Systems for IoT

According to the limited communication distance and the low transmission efficiency for massive electronic tags/sensors of traditional or bistatic backscatter technology, the BackFi transmission protocol design with energy harvesting of massive smart multi-hop electronic tags/sensors was investigated in the ambient backscatter communication systems. This paper proposed the large-scale tags/sensors multi-hop communication protocols with energy harvesting under Wi-Fi architecture, where the “CTS-to-self” frame can be used to set the traditional AP/STA to the sensing status without sending, and then, the new defined frame “Multi-RTS” may send the trigger signal to massive tags or sensors with its frame field as “M-RTS” strategy, compressed bitmap, tags/sensors number, and other messages. The tags/sensors shall respond to the sounding signal and give the backscatter signal to AP using energy harvesting. It can be mentioned that the Wi-Fi standard in this paper is based on the IEEE 802.11ah. Finally, AP can collect and modulate the backscatter signal after massive tags/sensors response to the reader. It was worth noting that the multi-hop relay adopts the power splitting way to implement the communication process, where the object function was energy efficiency maximization with the parameters optimization of transmitting power and relay scaling factor. In order to solve the non-convex problem, this paper derived the approximate expression in the high SNR case and achieved the optimal solution via the Lambert $W$ function. The simulation and analysis verified the effectiveness of the proposed schemes and the correctness of the derivations.
Community leaders' attitudes towards and perceptions of suicide and suicide prevention in Ghana

Community leaders can play an important role in suicide prevention because they are potential gatekeepers in resource-poor settings. To investigate their attitudes towards suicide and the role they play when people are in suicidal crisis, 10 community leaders were interviewed in a rural community in Ghana. Thematic Analysis of the interviews showed that leaders held two conflicting views about suicide: health crisis and moral taboo. They also viewed the reasons for suicide as psychosocial strains more than psychiatric factors. Though they viewed suicide as a moral taboo, they maintained a more neutral position in their gatekeeping role: providing support for persons in suicidal crisis more often than exerting a condemnatory attitude. Implications for gatekeeper training are discussed.
Effects of Oral Meloxicam and Topical Lidocaine on Pain associated Behaviors of Piglets Undergoing Surgical Castration

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to find a practical means of reducing pain associated with surgical castration by evaluating the effects of oral meloxicam and topical lidocaine, separately and in combination, on behavioral indicators of pain in piglets. Two hundred thirty-five piglets were surgically castrated between three and seven days of age. Immediately following castration, piglets received one of four treatments: (1) No pain mitigation (C; control; n = 58); (2) NSAID only (M; meloxicam; n = 59); (3) Topical anesthetic (L; lidocaine spray; n = 60); or (4) NSAID and topical anesthetic (X; meloxicam and lidocaine spray; n = 59). Behaviors were recorded by direct observation of individual piglets using five-minute scan samples over a five-hour period, for three days post-castration. Results of the experiment demonstrate the administration of oral meloxicam and topical lidocaine spray at the time of castration under the current methods did not mitigate pain associated with the procedure (P = 0.09; C: 2.1 ± 0.1, L: 2.4 ± 0.1, M: 2.1 ± 0.1 and X: 2.1 ± 0.1).
A Theory of Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Over the Life Cycle

Motivated by the observation that medical care explains only a relatively small part of the SES-health gradient, we present a life-cycle model that incorporates several additional behaviours that potentially explain (jointly) a large part of observed disparities. As a result, the model provides not only a conceptual framework for the SES-health gradient but more generally an improved framework for the production of health. We derive novel predictions from the theory by performing comparative dynamic analyses. More generally, our comparative dynamic method can be applied to models of similar form, e.g., human capital, health deficits, firm investment, to name a few.
Standard model radiative corrections in the pion form factor measurements do not explain the 
aμ
 anomaly

In this letter, we address the question of whether the almost four standard deviations difference between theory and experiment for the muon anomalous magnetic moment $a_\mu$ can be explained as a higher-order Standard Model perturbation effect in the pion form factor measurements. This question has, until now, remained open, obscuring the source of discrepancies between the measurements. We calculate the last radiative corrections for the extraction of the pion form factor, which were believed to be potentially substantial enough to explain the data within the Standard Model. We find that the corrections are too small to diminish existing discrepancies in the determination of the pion form factor for different kinematical configurations of low-energy BABAR, BESS-III and KLOE experiments. Consequently, they cannot noticeably change the previous predictions for $a_\mu$ and decrease the deviations between theory and direct measurements. To solve the above issues, new data and better understanding of low-energy experimental setups are needed, especially as new direct $a_\mu$ measurements at Fermilab and J-PARC will provide new insights and substantially shrink the experimental error.
Bidirectional Search Algorithm for Airport Ground Movement

The air traffic ground movement management is a main problem for airports. The best optimization of ground movements would reduce flight delays and overall travel costs. This article proposes a new routing algorithm to provide the shortest route based on three algorithms that allow a good planning of ground movements. These three algorithms are iterative: they allow you to plan the trajectory of an aircraft one after the other. The three algorithms are guaranteed as a real-time decision support tool for air traffic controllers, but they each have strengths and weaknesses. A first version is described using the classic Dijkstra algorithm, then the classic Dijkstra version has been extended by a bidirectional version. Both algorithms provide an optimal solution, but the cost of computing time remains relatively long despite an improvement with the use of bidirectional Dijkstra. A third A* algorithm is used. The limitation of this one being that it does not guarantee an optimal solution despite a faster calculation time cost. To eliminate the weaknesses of each algorithm studied, a new Hybrid A* algorithm is therefore presented here. It integrates the advantages of each algorithm to reduce computation time and optimize the search for the shortest path while maintaining a minimum execution time to ensure the feasibility of planned trajectories in a reduced time. This model has been expanded to address the feasibility of planned trajectories while avoiding conflicts between aircraft and evaluated on the model of Casablanca airport Med V.
[Association of copy number of SMN1 and SMN2 with clinical phenotypes in children with spinal muscular atrophy].

OBJECTIVE To study the association of copy number of SMN1 and SMN2 with clinical phenotypes in children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). METHODS A total of 45 children with SMA were enrolled. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification was used to measure the gene copy numbers of SMN1 and SMN2. The association of copy number of SMN1 and SMN2 with clinical phenotypes was analyzed. RESULTS Of the 45 children with SMA, 42 (93%) had a homozygous deletion of SMN1 exons 7 and 8, and 3 (7%) had a deletion of SMN1 exon 7 alone. No association was found between SMA clinical types and the deletion types of SMN1 exons 7 and 8 (P>0.05). There was a significant difference in the distribution of SMN2 gene copy numbers between the children with SMA and the healthy children (P<0.05). The children with SMA usually had two or three copies of SMN2 gene, while the healthy children usually had one or two copies of SMN2 gene. There was a significant difference in the distribution of SMN2 copy numbers among the children with different SMA clinical types (P<0.05). The children with two copies of SMN2 gene had a significantly lower age of onset than those with three or four copies. Most of the children with type I SMA had two or three copies of SMN2 gene. Most of the children with type II SMA had three copies of SMN2 gene. Most of the children with type III SMA had three or four copies of SMN2 gene. Children with a higher copy number of SMN2 gene tended to have an older age of onset and better motor function and clinical outcome, and there was a significant association between SMN2 gene copy number and clinical outcome (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The SMN2 gene can reduce the severity of SMA via the dosage compensation effect. SMN2 copy number is associated with the phenotype of SMA, and therefore, it can be used to predict disease severity.