Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From Increased Exercise to Reductions in Emotional Eating and Weight/Waist Circumference: Refining Theory-Driven Psychosocial Targets for Treating Obesity

Overwhelmingly poor results beyond the short term suggest advances in treating obesity through behavioral means are required. Research on psychosocial intervention targets is particularly important. Because of possible widespread impacts crossing socioeconomic and racial/ethnic lines, methods that can effectively be disseminated in a large-scale and economical manner are also needed. This research assessed women participating in community-administered obesity treatments with similar curricula that were either manual-based (n = 39) or in-person-based (n = 44). Along with conclusions that emotional eating is relevant, especially in women, the paradigms of social cognitive theory, self-regulation theory, the mood-behavior-model, and coaction theory guided analyses of psychosocial predictors of weight/body composition changes. Both treatment formats were associated with significant improvements in exercise, mood disturbance, self-regulation of exercise and eating, emotional eating, weight, and waist circumference, with significantly greater improvements associated with the in-person format. Tests of model-fitting indicated that baseline–Time 2 change terms were the better predictor of the subsequent variable in planned regression models, except the self-regulation factors where Month 3 scores were strongest. Increased exercise predicted a reduction in mood disturbance. The path from mood→self-regulation of exercise→self-regulation of eating→emotional eating was significant, along with the direct path from (exercise-associated) changes in mood→emotional eating. Emotional eating reduction significantly predicted reduced weight and waist circumference over 6 and 12 months. The relation between mood and self-regulation supported the mood-behavior-model, whereas the prediction of self-regulation of eating by exercise-related self-regulation affirmed coaction theory. Findings may be used to inform further research and applications targeting psychosocial changes within behavioral obesity treatments.
Inequality in the Distribution of Air Pollution Attributable Mortality Within Canadian Cities

Recent studies have identified inequality in the distribution of air pollution attributable health impacts, but to our knowledge this has not been examined in Canadian cities. We evaluated the extent and sources of inequality in air pollution attributable mortality at the census tract (CT) level in seven of Canada's largest cities. We first regressed fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) attributable mortality against the neighborhood (CT) level prevalence of age 65 and older, low income, low educational attainment, and identification as an Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) or Black person, accounting for spatial autocorrelation. We next examined the distribution of baseline mortality rates, PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, and attributable mortality by neighborhood (CT) level prevalence of these characteristics, calculating the concentration index, Atkinson index, and Gini coefficient. Finally, we conducted a counterfactual analysis of the impact of reducing baseline mortality rates and air pollution concentrations on inequality in air pollution attributable mortality. Regression results indicated that CTs with a higher prevalence of low income and Indigenous identity had significantly higher air pollution attributable mortality. Concentration index, Atkinson index, and Gini coefficient values revealed different degrees of inequality among the cities. Counterfactual analysis indicated that inequality in air pollution attributable mortality tended to be driven more by baseline mortality inequalities than exposure inequalities. Reducing inequality in air pollution attributable mortality requires reducing disparities in both baseline mortality and air pollution exposure.
Computational Study of the Flow of Newtonian Fluid Through A Straight Channel and Lid-Driven Cavity

This article aims to introducenumerical study of two different incompressible Newtonian fluid flows. The first type of flow is through the straight channel, while the second flow is enclosed within a square cavity and the fluid is moved by the upper plate at a specific velocity. Numerically, a Taylor-Galerkin\ pressure-correction finite element method (TGPCFEM) is chosen to address the relevant governing equations. The Naiver-Stoke partial differential equations are usually used to describe the activity of fluids. These equations consist of the continuity equation (conservation of mass) and the time-dependent conservation of momentum, which are preserved in Cartesian coordinates. In this study, the effect of Reynolds number (Re) variation is presented for both problems. Here, the influence of Re on the convergence rate and solution behavior is provided. Findings display that, there is a significant impact of Re upon the temporal convergence rates of velocity and pressure. As well, the rate of convergence increases as the values of Re are risen. For the cavity problem, one can infer that, as the Reynolds number rises, the size of the vortex is reduced.
Bacterial Diversity and Antibiotic Resistance Genes Associated with the Different Farming Systems of Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon) in Bangladesh

Microbial community inhabiting the intestine of the shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and their surrounding environments (e.g., water and sediment) is considered as a key contributing factor for the sustainable farming of shrimp. Indiscriminate application of antibiotics in aquaculture is a growing concern due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB), more specifically the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The present study investigates the microbiome composition and 19 ARGs from four different shrimp farming systems; (i) cluster, (ii) extensive, (iii) semi-intensive, and (iv) improved extensive in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. In doing so, the study applied advanced 16S rRNA-based metagenomic sequencing to study the bacterial composition. Moreover, gene specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed to detect the ARGs in shrimp, water, and sediments of different farming systems. In the current study, bacteria from the phylum Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were predominant among the samples (n = 12) collected from the different farming systems followed by Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Cyanobacteria. Firmicutes was the predominant phylum in the gut of shrimp cultured in the cluster (relative abundance 53.33%) and semi-intensive (relative abundance 59.2%) culture systems. Results indicated that the bacterial community structure was significantly ( p < 0.05 ) distinct among gut, sediment, and water samples as well as the farming systems. The shared operational taxonomic unit (OTU) in the sediment sample (16,495) was nearly double than the gut (7,931) and water (8,513) bacterial communities. The improved extensive farming system showed 1,289 (11.05%) shared OTUs among gut, sediment, and water followed by semi-intensive (6.87%), cluster (6.27%), and extensive (5.46%) farming system. Among the tested ARGs, sul1, cat, gyrA(C), tetA, tetC, tetX, ere(A), vanR, and dfrA1 were predominant in water and sediment samples. Semi-intensive farming system had the highest prevalence of ARGs (21.05%) while the lowest prevalence was found in extensive (5.26%) farming system. Overall, the study provides a comprehensive scenario of bacterial composition and growing emergence of ARGs in shrimp farming of Bangladesh. Therefore, the production strategy must focus on the alternatives of antibiotic for shaping the shrimp cultivation technique more sustainable.
Antibacterial and Bioactive Properties of Methanol and Ethanol Extracts of the Materia medica Garcinia kola (heckel)

This paper investigated the antibacterial properties of methanol and ethanol extracts of bark, leaves, pod, root and seed of Garcinia kola using appropriate standard techniques. Data obtained show that the methanol extract from samples of Garcinia kola contain higher percentage concentration of phytochemicals than ethanol. Saponins (4.20±0.04) occurred highest in the bark, alkaloids (1.54±0.81) in the seed, tannins (1.96±0.17) in the pod, flavonoids (0.92±0.14) in the leaves, while the root contain highest percentage of phenol (0.44±0.11). It was observed that the bark extract of Garcinia kola was more effective in inhibiting the growth of Pseudomonas auraginosa, Esherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus when compared with the extract from the leaves, pod, root and seed. The inhibition of the test extract was higher in extract from the bark, followed by the seed, root, pod and the least zone of inhibition was found in the leaves extracts. The variation in the antibacterial activities is presumed to be due to different active compounds present in the extract. Concentrations of essential organic compounds occurred most in the seed with carbohydrates been dominant, while lipids remains the least concentrated. The appreciable concentrations of phytocompounds detected in the samples of the studied bioresource, coupled with the medicinal potentials are an indication of the plant effectiveness in nutraceutical applications.
Transit-oriented development versus car-oriented sprawl: the story of Tokyo and Adelaide

The increasing urban sprawl has highlighted the importance of planning paradigm to promote sustainability of communities through land use-transportation solutions. Two case studies: Adelaide and Tokyo located in the Asia-Pacific area and both from developed countries are selected for the study of interactions between urban structure and transport issues. Tokyo is well known as one of largest and densest cities and one of the best public transit serviced cities in the world. In contrast, Adelaide is known as one of the low density cities and one of the most car dependent cities. This paper specifically examines three main questions. (a) In which ways does urban form differs between Adelaide and Tokyo? (b) What are the influences of urban form on transport issues including travel behaviour and greenhouse gas emissions? (c) What are the policy implications for overcoming car dependency concerns in Adelaide? This paper is organised in three sections: section one introduces the spatial structure of two case areas; section two compares two case areas in terms of transport issues and in the last section the potential implications of snapshot comparisons for metropolitan Adelaide are discussed. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214666.
“I am his pawn, his slave and his property”: A stylistic analysis of the abuse of women in Amma Darko's beyond the horizon

In Beyond the horizon, Amma Darko uses words in unique ways to bring the subject of gender representations and the abuse of women to the fore. Employing a stylistics framework of analysis, this study investigates the text’s parallelisms and deviations, and interprets and uncovers the implied and underlying meanings of issues related to the abuse of women in the novel. The analysis reveals how through patterned repetitions of words and sentences, as well as some language deviations in the text, men abuse women physically, emotionally, sexually and economically. The paper shows that through the use of patterned repetition of words and sentences, and deviations such as metaphor and simile, Darko reveals the struggles of and unequal relationships between the “pawn”, “slave” and “property” (largely represented by Mara) on one hand, and the “master”, “lord” and “pimp” (represented by Akobi, Oves and Osey) on the other hand.
Decentralized User Allocation and Dynamic Service for Multi-UAV-Enabled MEC System

With the promising techniques and mobile applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, the mobile edge computing (MEC) paradigm has been widely utilized to support the massive data processing and meet the computation demand of mobile devices. However, the service coverage is limited by the static servers. Therefore, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with high mobility are deployed as aerial base stations (BS) to assist ground users to offload the task and process the data on edge. In this article, we introduce a decentralized user allocation and dynamic service scheme to assign the UAV deployment for a multi-UAV MEC system, which incorporates the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) technology into a two-layer training framework. The continuous action, including the UAV trajectory and bit allocation of offloading, is first optimized in the lower layer, while the upper one concentrates on the discrete action space for the user allocation. In particular, we develop a constraint reward function that considers the communication quality in the lower layer to accomplish efficient communication. The well-trained neural network is embedded in the upper layer to provide rapid feedback for the upper environment. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves superior performance than the baseline methods in terms of the user energy consumption.
Physical processes in coastal stratocumulus clouds from aircraft measurements during UPPEF 2012

Abstract : The objective of this thesis was to perform the initial analysis of aircraft measurements from the field campaign of the Unified Physical Parameterization for Extended Forecast (UPPEF 2012). We examined the general characteristics of the observed stratocumulus-topped boundary layers and identified cases for future in-depth studies. We first determined the boundary layer heights from all sounding profiles. The results indicated the sharp westward increase of boundary layer height is limited to 200 km offshore with an average slope of 2m per kilometer. Substantial west-east spatial variability of thermodynamic properties is also observed from vertical profiles. The sea surface temperature (SST) in the region varied significantly. Near surface measurements over the warm and cold SST regions for three cases were analyzed and compared. This research found that the small scale variability in the SST resulted in significant variation in the surface exchange of sensible and latent heat fluxes, and wind stress. Such variability makes it difficult to correctly parameterize surface fluxes. The presence of cool downdrafts in the upper cloud layer is evident in the joint probability density distribution and buoyancy flux profiles. The results from this research will guide future cloud parameterization scheme development in forecast models.
Musician-Advantage on Listening Effort for Speech in Noise Perception: A Dual-Task Paradigm Measure

Background and Objectives Speech in noise (SIN) perception is essential for effective day-to-day communication, as everyday conversations seldom transpire in silent environments. Numerous studies have documented how musical training can aid in SIN discrimination through various neural-pathways, such as experience-dependent plasticity and overlapping processes between music and speech perception. However, empirical evidence regarding the impact of musical training on SIN perception remains inconclusive. This study aimed to investigate whether musicians trained in South Indian classical “Carnatic” style of music exhibited a distinct advantage over their non-musician counterparts in SIN perception. The study also attempted to explore whether the listening effort (LE) associated in this process was different across musicians and non-musicians, an area that has received limited attention. Subjects and Methods A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving two groups comprising 25 musicians and 35 non-musicians, aged 18-35 years, with normal hearing. In phase 1, participants’ musical abilities were assessed using the Mini-Profile of Music Perception Skills (Mini-PROMS). In phase 2, SIN abilities were tested using the Tamil phonemically balanced words and Tamil Matrix Sentence Test at -5 dB, 0 dB, and +5 dB SNR. Phase 3 tested LE using a dual-task paradigm including auditory and visual stimuli as primary and secondary tasks. Results Fractional logit and linear regression models demonstrated that musicians outperformed non-musicians in the Mini-PROMS assessment. Musicians also fared better than non-musicians in SIN and LE at 0 dB SNR for words and +5 dB SNR for sentences. Conclusions The findings of this study provided limited evidence to support the claim that musical training improves speech perception in noisy environments or reduces the associated listening effort.
Evaluation of the heat balance components over the Baltic Sea using four gridded meteorological databases and direct observations

In this paper, which reports on part of the BALTEX project, various components of the heat balance over the Baltic Sea are calculated using a number of gridded meteorological databases. It is the heat exchange between theBaltic Sea surface and the atmosphere that is of interest. The databases have different origins, comprising synoptic data, data re-analysed with a 3D assimilation system, an ocean model forced with gridded synoptic data, ship data and satellite data. We compared the databases and found that the greatest variation between them is in the long- and short-wave radiation values. However, considerable upward long-wave radiation is followed by considerable downward short-wave radiation, so the total radiation component is partly compensated for in the total budget. The variation in the total heat transport in the databases therefore appears smaller (1.5 ′ 3 W m - 2 ) as the average and one standard deviation. The turbulent heat fluxes estimated from satellite data have very low values; this can largely be explained by the method of calculating air temperature, which also produces an unrealistic stratification over the Baltic Sea. The ERA40 data was compared with measured values: there, we found a certain land influence even in the centre of the Baltic proper. The indicated turbulent heat fluxes were too large, mainly in the fall and winter, and the sensible heat flux was too large in a downward direction in spring and summer.
The commercial exploitation of shrimp Palaemon serratus (Pennant) in Ireland

Palaemon serratus is at the northern limit of its range in the British Isles. In ireland it is most abundant in the southwest where it has been commercially fished since the mid-1970s. Landings in recent years have averaged between 200 and300 tonnes annually with an estimated export value of £2—3 m. These landings represent a three-fold expansion over those of the previous decade. The biology of the species was investigated over a 12 month period in Bantry Bay using commercial gear. At most times of the year there is a bimodal length frequency distribution and the life expectancy is interpreted as 2 years. Condition factor does not vary much during the year in males and immature females but the larger females put on up to 30% weight in the autumn. The reproductive cycle in Bantiy resembles that in the south of England rather than that in north Wales, these two locations providing earlier studies of the species. The largest females come into berry in October and egg carriage within the population continues into the following summer; in May, a second group of smaller females, belonging to the 0 age group, carries eggs. Corroborative evidence for this interpretation is provided by the size of the ova and their developmental state. There would appear to be an influx of shrimp to Bantry Bay which builds up from May and declines after January but cohort and gender migrations are unclear. Catch per unit offishing effort (cpue) is estimatedfrom the weight of a consignment of shrimp delivered to aprocessor. Such data are variable but they are also consistent and stable over the short-term and throughout the range of shrimp fisheries. A time seriesfrom 1977 to 1994 suggests a 36% decline; the significance of this is not known. Shrimpfishing takes place during the autumn and winter months. In the southeast landings are taken throughout the year but those outside the periodAugust to January, inclusive, do not exceed 8% of the total. In the southwest only 3% of landings are made outside these months, while in Connemara none was reported Mechanical grading in the factory is explored as a means of reconstructing age profiles. Two patterns of exploitation are described: that of the southwest and southern coast has a larger proportion of 0 group shrimp which may reach 40% by numbers of the total landings; in Connemara the proportion of 0 group shrimp is much smaller. Attempts are made to find some method ofpredicting aspects of the catch from biological and sea temperature data. There is a suggestion that a large brood year is influential in producing a successor whose size is estimated 2 years later. The sustainability of the shrimp fishery is unknown and two precautionary measures are suggested as the basis of a management regime: enlarging the mesh size to improve the exploitation pattern and limiting the fishing season.
Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c) and Future Physical and Mental Functional Health in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk Population-Based Study

Little is understood about the relationship between glycated haemoglobin and future functional health in the general population. In this work, we aimed to assess if glycaemic control is associated with future physical and mental functional health at 18-month follow-up in a UK general population, in those with and without diabetes. This work was a cross-sectional study. Between 1995 and 1997, participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer, Norfolk, attended a health check including blood testing for haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire. Eighteen months later, self-reported physical and mental functional health were assessed using short form-36 (SF-36). Outcomes of interest included physical and mental component summary (PCS and MCS, respectively) scores of the SF-36. A total of 7343 participants (56% women, mean (SD) 58.1 ± 9.5 years) were eligible to be included, of whom 167 had prevalent diabetes. In our linear regression analysis, a higher HbA1c (mmol/mol) was found to be associated with a poorer PCS score (coefficient −0.15 (p < 0.0001)) at follow-up. After adjustment for comorbid conditions, including obesity, this association was no longer statistically significant. A higher HbA1c (mmol/mol) was associated with a better MCS score at follow-up; this finding was significant when adjusted for comorbid conditions (coefficient 0.029 (p < 0.05)). Our findings suggest that the association between a higher HbA1c and poorer physical functional health is explained by a higher BMI and comorbidity status in a general population. While higher HbA1c was found to be associated with higher mental functional health at follow-up, the magnitude of this association was small. Healthy responder bias and unmeasured confounding variables may have influenced this result; thus, it should be interpreted with caution.