Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health-related quality of life assessment among patients with oesophageal cancer at Tikur Anbessa Specialised Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Background In low-income countries, oesophageal cancer often presents at an advanced stage, leaving patients with limited curative treatment options. Furthermore, palliative treatments such as oesophageal stents or brachytherapy are lacking. This has a detrimental effect on their quality of life. In this study, we investigated the health-related quality of life of patients with oesophageal cancer at a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted at Tikur Anbessa Specialised Tertiary Hospital in Ethiopia. The validated Amharic version of the questionnaire of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire Cancer 30 (EORTC QLQ C-30) and the oesophageal cancer disease-specific questionnaire QLQ-OES18 were used to assess the quality of life of each patient. Results The overall mean score for the EORTC QLQ C-30 was 35.43 (SD 18.04). The mean scores for the functional scales revealed that cognitive function was the highest, whereas role function was the lowest. The symptom scale results showed the highest score for pain and the lowest for diarrhoea. Dysphagia, choking, role functioning and financial difficulty correlated with the quality of life of patients with oesophageal cancer. Conclusion Dysphagia, choking, role functioning and financial difficulty are important factors that affect the quality of life of patients with oesophageal cancer patients. Increasing the availability of palliative treatments for dysphagia to improve the quality of life in patients with oesophageal cancer is recommended.
Satellite Image Processing: Application for Alteration Separation based on U-Statistic Method in Zafarghand Porphyry System (Iran)

The Zafarghand area (as a porphyry Cu deposit) is located in the northeast of Isfahan and southeast of Ardestan, which is a part of the Iran-Central structural zone, and more precisely, it is located in the Urmia-Dokhtar volcanic belt. In the porphyry Cu deposits exploration, identifying and determining the alteration zones is of special importance. The aim of the present study is to identify and highlight the alteration zones of Zafarghand area, with the help of the U-statistic method in the processing of ASTER sensor satellite images. Accordingly, considering the raster nature and digital form of satellite images, the digital number values of each pixel from the image matrices were considered as samples in a systematic network. Finally, the U spatial statistic algorithm was implemented as a moving window algorithm for determining anomaly samples in the set of digital number (DN) values of ASTER satellite image pixels. The results of this technique show that the application of the U-statistic method, considering its structural nature and neighboring samples in decision-making, has been successful and has proven to be very effective in determining the alteration zones in the Zafarghand area.
Effects of simplified group housing on behavior, growth performance and health of preweaned dairy calves on a California dairy.

Most US dairy calves are raised in individual hutches (IH) for biocontainment purposes and to facilitate monitoring and handling of calves. However, individual hutches typically restrict calves' activity and social interactions. Previous studies showed that group housing (GH) is beneficial to calf welfare and is associated with social benefits. The adoption of group housing (GH) on dairies is hindered by several concerns, with the primary concern being the potential for increased transmission of diseases due to heightened calf-to-calf contact. In light of this, our study aimed to compare the behavior, health, and growth outcomes of calves housed in groups of 3 to individually housed (IH) calves during the preweaning period. A total of 42 Holstein heifer calves on a commercial dairy in Northern California were enrolled in groups of 3 to different housing treatments; IH (n = 21) or GH (n = 21) between July and October 2020. Each treatment was composed of 7 groups of 3 calves each. Calves in the GH treatment were housed in groups of 3 from 6 to 10 d until 70 d of age. Individual pens consisted of one polyethylene hutch with a 1.5 m x 1.2 m outside exercise area. Group pens were constructed by assembling 3 polyethylene hutches with a 1.5 m x 3.6 m outside exercise area of wire panel fencing. Calves were weighed and measured for height at birth and weaning. Diarrhea and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) scores were recorded daily throughout the preweaning period. Cumulative incidence and hazard ratios were estimated for BRD and diarrhea for GH and IH. A Mixed model with pen as a random effect was specified to evaluate the effect of treatment. Group-housed calves gained 0.64 ± 0.02 kg/d while IH calves gained 0.65 ± 0.02 kg/d (P = 0.40). Similarly, there was no evidence for treatment differences in withers height gain in GH calves (0.22 ± 0.01cm/d) compared with IH calves (0.21 ± 0.01 cm/d) (P = 0.14). The cumulative incidence of BRD based on California scoring system in GH calves was 75 ± 9.68 compared with 66.66 ± 10.28% in IH calves (P = 0.73). Group-housed calves had a BRD hazard of 1.14 times that of IH calves (95% CI: 1.21-2.40; P = 0.74). The cumulative incidence of diarrhea (fecal score 3) in GH calves was 100% in comparison to 95.20 ± 4.66% in IH calves (P = 0.99). The mean proportion of scan observations of calves feeding on concentrates was significantly higher in GH (0.145 ± 0.004 per h) compared with IH calves (0.076 ± 0.003 per h) during the preweaning period (P < 0.001). The study results provide evidence that this simplified group housing system provides benefits of GH without detrimental short-term impacts during the preweaning period on calf growth and health.
Smith ScholarWorks Smith ScholarWorks

We present a novel approach to morph between two isometric poses of the same non-rigid object given as triangular meshes. We model the morphs as linear interpolations in a suitable shape space S . For triangulated 3 D polygons, we prove that interpolating linearly in this shape space corresponds to the most isometric morph in R 3 . We extend this shape space to arbitrary triangulations in 3 D using a heuristic approach.
The oxygen requirement of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar L.) in the on-growing phase in sea cages

groups during week 2 and 3 due to compensatory feeding in the normoxic feeding period. Present results suggest that 70% O 2 may represent a threshold for reduced growth and that 60% O 2 represents a minimum O 2 saturation considering welfare of Atlantic salmon post-smolts subjected to cyclic hypoxia at 16 °C.
A Game Theoretical Analysis of Distributed Denial-of-Service Defense Incentive

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are becoming more frequent and powerful. Traditional edge defense solutions can no longer keep up, and in-network defense solutions are needed that involve multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to collaboratively defend against the attacks. While collaborative defense solutions are technically more eﬀective at stopping large-scale attacks, the incentives for ISPs to deploy these solutions remain unexplored. In this study, we develop a game theoretic model to capture the economic beneﬁts and costs of deployment for ISPs competing for customers. Through large-scale simulations at the Internet level, we ﬁnd that the majority of ISPs on the Internet have an economic incentive to participate in DDoS defense, driven by competition; and that the severity of DDoS attacks and the level of competition aﬀect an ISP’s charge for ﬁltering DDoS traﬃc for its customers.
The consequences of media multitasking for adolescent development

As media and communication technologies are increasingly integrated in people’s lives, these technologies frequently interfere with face-to-face interactions. This phenomenon – technological interferences during offline conversations (TIDOC) - has primarily been examined among college students and adults. Therefore, our understanding on how often media and communication devices interfere with conversations among adolescents is limited. Moreover, researchers have argued that TIDOC enhances adolescents’ emotional problems. As a first step towards understanding TIDOC among adolescents and its relationship with emotional problems, we conducted a three-wave longitudinal study among 1,440 adolescents (11-15 years, 51% boys). The results showed that TIDOC among adolescents is common. Adolescents particularly engaged in sending text messages, watching television, listening to music, and using social networking sites during offline conversations. Similar to previous cross-sectional studies we found that TIDOC was positively related to emotional problems indicating that adolescents who more often reported TIDOC also reported more emotional problems. However, we found no evidence for the longitudinal relationship between TIDOC and emotional problems.
Regional projections of climate change for the Black Sea – Caspian Sea area in late XXI century

The results of dynamical downscaling of general circulation model INMCM 4 data are described. INMCM 4 model provided data on the atmosphere with 2 × 1.5° spatial resolution and on the ocean with 1 × 0.5° resolution. Two regional climate models ( RegCM 4 and HadRM 3 P ) were used to downscale input data for 1971 – 2000 and 2071 – 2100 periods. Enhanced spatial resolution 25 × 25 km was obtained by downscaling procedure. Main parameters of climate change are presented for the Black Sea and Caspian region at the end of the 21 st century assuming intense anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases in accordance with RCP 8.5 scenario. Climate change in the region, according to the models, is characterized by significant temperature increase in summer (~ 5 °C) and relatively moderate increase in winter (2 – 3 °C). The amount of precipitation is also considerably decreasing (more then by 40%) in the area that corresponds maximum warming (Carpathians and Anatolian peninsula) in spring and summer seasons. In both models total precipitation decrease occurs mainly due to decrease of convective precipitation frequency. Generally, the main reasons for predicted changes in the future climate are the thermodynamic phenomena connected with decreasing relative humidity as well as some circulation features caused by enhanced anti-cyclonic circulation in the region. Obtained numerical estimations of regional climate change are in a good agreement with data from previous studies.
effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: Evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

Composing sentence meaning is easier for predictable words than for unpredictable words. Are predictable words genuinely predicted, or simply more plausible and therefore easier to integrate with sentence context? We addressed this persistent and fundamental question using data from a recent, large-scale ( N = 334) replication study, by investigating the effects of word predictability and sentence plausibility on the N400, the brain’s electrophysiological index of semantic processing. A spatiotemporally fine-grained mixed-effects multiple regression analysis revealed overlapping effects of predictability and plausibility on the N400, albeit with distinct spatiotemporal profiles. Our results challenge the view that the predictability-dependent N400 reflects the effects of either prediction or integration, and suggest that semantic facilitation of predictable words arises from a cascade of processes that activate and integrate word meaning with context into a sentence-level meaning.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Interseismic locking models derived from geodetic data describe slip deﬁcit accumulation on faults, hence indicating the likelihood of future earthquakes. In recent years, locking models have been used to develop dynamic scenarios for potential large earthquakes. However, whether those scenarios are effective in representing the rupture process and ground motion intensity in future earthquakes remains unclear. In this study, we examine the ground motion predictions in locking-based dynamic rupture scenarios by comparing them with the predictions from ground motion models (GMMs) and the observations in a real earthquake. We utilize two locking models as constraints on the stress heterogeneity and obtain synthetic ground motion measures, including the peak ground velocity (PGV) and the peak ground displacement (PGD), through conducting dynamic rupture simulations for M7 earthquakes on the Nicoya megathrust. The predictions are generally consistent with GMMs with some differences in attenuation rate and amplitude in the near ﬁeld ( < 30 km). However, the spatial patterns differ a lot from GMM-based predictions, mainly due to the rupture directivity effect. By comparing with scenarios under homogenous stress conditions, we observe the dependency of earthquake magnitude and rupture directivity on stress heterogeneity. The coseismic slip appears to negatively correlate with stress roughness. Furthermore, the predictions from one locking model capture most of the measurements on the local network during the 2012 Nicoya Mw 7.6 earthquake. Our results underline the necessity of involving rupture dynamics and stress heterogeneities in prescribing the earthquake source and highlight the potential application of locking models in seismic hazard assessment. © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The consequences of media multitasking for adolescent development

Adolescents commonly use media and communication devices during academic activities, a phenomenon known as academic-media multitasking. Although there is first evidence for the short-term effect of academic-media multitasking on academic achievement, support for its long-term effect is lacking. Therefore, we investigated the long-term relationship between academic-media multitasking and academic achievement, and the possible underlying mechanism of academic attention problems using a three-wave longitudinal study among 1,215 adolescents (11-15 years, 52% boys). The findings supported neither a direct nor indirect long-term relationship between academic-media multitasking and subsequent academic achievement scores. However, academic-media multitasking was associated with more subsequent academic attention problems. This study indicates that concerns regarding the long-term impact of academic-media multitasking on academic achievement need to be qualified.
Soil respiration across a variety of tree-covered urban green spaces in Helsinki, Finland

As an increasing share of the human population is being clustered in cities, urban areas have swiftly become the epicentres of anthropogenic carbon (C) emissions. Understanding different parts of the biogenic C cycle in urban ecosystems is needed in order to assess the potential of enhancing their C stocks as a cost-efficient means to balance the C emissions and mitigate climate change. Here, we conducted a field measurement campaign over three consecutive growing seasons to examine soil respiration carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) fluxes and soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks at four measurement sites in 5 Helsinki representing different types of tree-covered urban green space commonly found in northern European cities. We expected to find variation in the main drivers of soil respiration – soil temperature, soil moisture, and SOC – as a result of the heterogeneity of urban landscape, and that this variation would be reflected in the measured soil respiration rates. In the end, we could see fairly constant statistically significant differences between the sites in terms of soil temperature but only sporadic and seemingly momentary differences in soil moisture and soil respiration. There were also statistically significant 10 differences in SOC stocks: the highest SOC stock was found in inactively managed deciduous urban forest and the lowest under managed streetside lawn with common linden trees. We studied the impacts of the urban heat island (UHI) effect and irrigation on heterotrophic soil respiration with process-based model simulations, and found that the variation created by the UHI is relatively minor compared to the increase associated with active irrigation, especially during dry summers. We conclude that, within our study area, the observed variation in soil temperature alone was not enough to cause variation in soil respiration
Reversible Multipurpose Watermarking Algorithm Using ResNet and Perceptual Hashing

To effectively track the illegal use of digital images and maintain the security of digital image communication on the Internet, this paper proposes a reversible multipurpose image watermarking algorithm based on a deep residual network (ResNet) and perceptual hashing (also called MWR). The algorithm first combines perceptual image hashing to generate a digital fingerprint that depends on the user’s identity information and image characteristics. Then it embeds the removable visible watermark and digital fingerprint in two different regions of the orthogonal separation of the image. The embedding strength of the digital fingerprint is computed using ResNet. Because of the embedding of the removable visible watermark, the conflict between the copyright notice and the user’s browsing is balanced. Moreover, image authentication and traitor tracking are realized through digital fingerprint insertion. The experiments show that the scheme has good visual transparency and watermark visibility. The use of chaotic mapping in the visible watermark insertion process enhances the security of the multipurpose watermark scheme, and unauthorized users without correct keys cannot effectively remove the visible watermark.
REVIEW ON STATUS OF INVASION AND INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF FALL ARMYWORM (SPODOPTERA FRUGIPERDA)

Fall armyworm is a polyphagous, transboundary invasive pest that invaded India in May 2018. They have a wide host range, the potentiality to establish rapidly and are highly migratory. Spread and establishment of this pest are enhanced during the monsoon season of the country with favourable climate and temperature. However, climatic conditions of India favour the outbreaks of pests such as FAW in many maize grown areas. It causes considerable injuries to maize by feeding on leaf whorls, ears and tassel which often leads to total yield loss. This pest demands meticulous and stepwise plan for its management. This review emphasizes an introductory pathway of the invasive pest, biology, lifecycle, status, and management of fall armyworm in India. It includes adoption of IPM methods of pests’ control, which is the integration of biological, cultural, physical, chemical, and technological approaches. Control of this invasive pest requires early monitoring, scientific research, and management strategy with awareness, knowledge, and technical support to Indian farmers
SmartLite: A DBMS-based Serving System for DNN Inference in Resource-constrained Environments

Many IoT applications require the use of multiple deep neural networks (DNNs) to perform various tasks on low-cost edge devices with limited computation resources. However, existing DNN model serving platforms, such as TensorFlow Serving and TorchServe, are resource-intensive and require high-performance GPUs that are often not available on low-cost edge devices. In this paper, we propose SmartLite, a lightweight DBMS that addresses these challenges by storing the parameters and structural information of neural networks as database tables and implementing neural network operators inside the DBMS engine. SmartLite quantizes model parameters as binarized values, applies neural pruning techniques to compress the models, and transforms tensor manipulations into value lookup operations of the DBMS to reduce computation overhead. Experimental results show that SmartLite requires 98% less memory while achieving about a 134% performance speedup compared to Torch-Serve. Our proposed solution addresses the challenges of running multiple DNN models on low-cost edge devices and provides a significant contribution to the field of IoT applications.
Forestry applications of UAVs in Europe: a review

ABSTRACT Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or remotely piloted aircraft systems are new platforms that have been increasingly used over the last decade in Europe to collect data for forest research, thanks to the miniaturization and cost reduction of GPS receivers, inertial navigation system, computers, and, most of all, sensors for remote sensing. In this review, after describing the regulatory framework for the operation of UAVs in the European Union (EU), an overview of applications in forest research is presented, followed by a discussion of the results obtained from the analysis of different case studies. Rotary-wing and fixed-wing UAVs are equally distributed among the case studies, while ready-to-fly solutions are preferred over self-designed and developed UAVs. Most adopted technologies are visible-red, green, and blue, multispectral in visible and near-infrared, middle-infrared, thermal infrared imagery, and lidar. The majority of current UAV-based applications for forest research aim to inventory resources, map diseases, classify species, monitor fire and its effects, quantify spatial gaps, and estimate post-harvest soil displacement. Successful implementation of UAVs in forestry depends on UAV features, such as flexibility of use in flight planning, low cost, reliability and autonomy, and capability of timely provision of high-resolution data. Unfortunately, the fragmented regulations among EU countries, a result of the lack of common rules for operating UAVs in Europe, limit the chance to operate within Europe’s boundaries and prevent research mobility and exchange opportunities. Nevertheless, the applications of UAVs are expanding in different domains, and the use of UAVs in forestry will increase, possibly leading to a regular utilization for small-scale monitoring purposes in Europe when recent technologies (i.e. hyperspectral imagery and lidar) and methodological approaches will be consolidated.
Optimised CSO screening: A UK perspective

Les directives du Royaume-Uni sur le traitement des rejets de deversoirs d'orage et des autres rejets urbains de temps de pluie se concentrent sur l'elimination de la pollution visuelle, ce qui a dicte l'utilisation massive des systemes de degrillage. La majorite des systemes de degrillage disponibles dans le marche utilisent des composants electro-mecaniques pour eviter les depots et l'encrassement. Cependant, etant donnees les conditions difficiles en reseau d'assainissement, cela est loin d'etre l'ideal. Ce travail presente le systeme Hydro-Jet Screen , un systeme de degrillage des rejets de deversoirs d'orage auto-nettoyant, qui fonctionne sans partie mecanique mobile et ne necessite pas d'alimentation electrique. Le systeme utilise uniquement un mecanisme d'entretien hydraulique inverse, et est par consequent ideal pour une utilisation dans l'environnement des reseaux d'assainissement.