Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Urbanization on the Dynamics of the Urban Vegetation Coverage Index (VCI) in Erechim (RS)

Vegetation fragments located in urban perimeters provide better environmental conditions for biological diversity and human well-being. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Vegetation Coverage Index (VCI) of the urban perimeter of Erechim, RS, between years 2010 and 2015. Mapping was carried out using World View 2 and Pleiades satellites images with spatial resolution of 0.5 m. Significant difference was found between VCI values of 2010 and 2015, as well as a decrease in the recommended rate in the range of 30% per neighborhood. Due to the influence of increased urbanization, there was reduction of 229.98 hectares in the vegetation coverage area of the urban perimeter during the study period. The expansion of urban areas reduced vegetation fragments and has contributed in an effective manner to the disordered occupation of the city, generating negative impacts to the environment and to the quality of life of the local population.
Comment on “Nature of the Seismic Lithosphere‐Asthenosphere Boundary within Normal Oceanic Mantle from High‐Resolution Receiver Functions” by Olugboji et al.

The significance of sediment reverberations on receiver functions of broadband OBS data is discussed. In particular, the data analyzed by Olugboji et al. recently in this journal show such effects which need to be carefully modeled. We also suggest that the LQ‐coordinate rotation for the receiver function analysis should be avoided for OBS data.
Physical Anthropology

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative brain disorder after Alzheimer's disease. Due to the complex etiology of PD, there is possibility that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in PARKIN gene could be associated with the disease and lead to the pathogenesis by genoenvironmental interactions. Role of PARKIN polymorphisms as risk factors varies in different populations among various ethnic groups. Indian populations, known for their rich diversity, are not included in the genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the global survey for all the genes associated with PD. Further detailed study in this field will give a greater insight to analyze the haplotypic and Linakage Disequilibrium (LD) and decipher the pathogenesis of PD patterns in this region. A total of 1000 individuals belonging to ten ethnic populations of India were included in the present study. Five PARKIN gene polymorphisms (rs1801474, rs72480421, rs1801582, rs1801334 and rs35125035) were screened by PCR and sequencing. The present study shows that the rs72480421 (His200Gln) is monomorphic for all populations. Five major haplotypes accounted for almost all chromosomes (90-98%) in all populations studied. LD was more fragmented across PARKIN locus in all populations. The haplotype diversity and the fragmented LD across PARKIN gene in all populations of the present study suggest the existence of frequent recombination within the large introns of the PARKIN gene.
Effectiveness and User Perception of an In-Vehicle Voice Warning for Hypoglycemia: Development and Feasibility Trial

Background Hypoglycemia is a frequent and acute complication in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and is associated with a higher risk of car mishaps. Currently, hypoglycemia can be detected and signaled through flash glucose monitoring or continuous glucose monitoring devices, which require manual and visual interaction, thereby removing the focus of attention from the driving task. Hypoglycemia causes a decrease in attention, thereby challenging the safety of using such devices behind the wheel. Here, we present an investigation of a hands-free technology—a voice warning that can potentially be delivered via an in-vehicle voice assistant. Objective This study aims to investigate the feasibility of an in-vehicle voice warning for hypoglycemia, evaluating both its effectiveness and user perception. Methods We designed a voice warning and evaluated it in 3 studies. In all studies, participants received a voice warning while driving. Study 0 (n=10) assessed the feasibility of using a voice warning with healthy participants driving in a simulator. Study 1 (n=18) assessed the voice warning in participants with T1DM. Study 2 (n=20) assessed the voice warning in participants with T1DM undergoing hypoglycemia while driving in a real car. We measured participants’ self-reported perception of the voice warning (with a user experience scale in study 0 and with acceptance, alliance, and trust scales in studies 1 and 2) and compliance behavior (whether they stopped the car and reaction time). In addition, we assessed technology affinity and collected the participants’ verbal feedback. Results Technology affinity was similar across studies and approximately 70% of the maximal value. Perception measure of the voice warning was approximately 62% to 78% in the simulated driving and 34% to 56% in real-world driving. Perception correlated with technology affinity on specific constructs (eg, Affinity for Technology Interaction score and intention to use, optimism and performance expectancy, behavioral intention, Session Alliance Inventory score, innovativeness and hedonic motivation, and negative correlations between discomfort and behavioral intention and discomfort and competence trust; all P<.05). Compliance was 100% in all studies, whereas reaction time was higher in study 1 (mean 23, SD 5.2 seconds) than in study 0 (mean 12.6, SD 5.7 seconds) and study 2 (mean 14.6, SD 4.3 seconds). Finally, verbal feedback showed that the participants preferred the voice warning to be less verbose and interactive. Conclusions This is the first study to investigate the feasibility of an in-vehicle voice warning for hypoglycemia. Drivers find such an implementation useful and effective in a simulated environment, but improvements are needed in the real-world driving context. This study is a kickoff for the use of in-vehicle voice assistants for digital health interventions.
STUDY OF PHYTOPLANKTONS BIODIVERSITY AND CORRELATION COEFFICIENT IN HARSOOL-SAVANGI DAM, DISTRICT AURANGABAD, INDIA.

- The present study concerns seasonal variations, correlation coefficient and biodiversity indices of phytoplankton during January to December 2009 in the Harsool-Savangi dam, Aurangabad [M.S] India. A total of 35 taxa were recorded of which 15 were Chlorophyceae, 7 Bacillariophyceae, 7 Cyanophyceae and 6 Euglenophyceae. We present correlation coefficient, percentage wise compositions, biodiversity indices and population density of these phytoplanktons taxa. Maxima were recorded at the north site in summer and minima at the south site during the monsoon. Correlation coefficient indicates show high significant positive and negative relationship (p < 0.01 level) and also show significant positive and negative relationship (p < 0.05 level).
Research Protocol Addressing Maternal Mental Health among Black Perinatal Women in Atlanta, Georgia: a CBPR Approach

Background: Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are the most common complication of pregnancy, affecting up to 1 in 5 childbearing women, with higher rates among low-income minority women. One in seven women suffer from perinatal depression. This study aimed to (1) assess the mental and emotional health challenges of underserved Black perinatal women in Atlanta, Georgia (GA) and (2) examine local priorities and sources of care for mental health among underserved women in Atlanta, GA. Methods: A community-based participatory research partnership between Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) and the Center for Black Women’s Wellness (CBWW)’s Atlanta Healthy Start Community Action Network (AHSI-CAN) conducted a mixed-methods study to examine the mental/emotional health challenges of underserved Black women in Atlanta, GA. Questionnaires were completed with Black perinatal women (n=345). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Black perinatal women (n=5), health care professionals (n=9) and outreach workers (n=3) to gather perspectives regarding local priorities for maternal mental health care in their communities. Interviews are still being conducted due to delays and impact of COVID-19. Results: More women reported at least one mental health challenge after pregnancy when compared to prior to pregnancy (i.e., 71% vs 32%). Many women reported (73%) being asked about their emotional and mental health, however, only 16% were queried by an obstetrician. Further preliminary descriptive statistics on other PMADs risk factors are reported. This paper describes the procedures that were implemented to complete this study. Conclusions: This study addresses critical gaps in current knowledge about PMADS among Black women. Preliminary analyses indicate that PMADS are alarmingly high among this sample of Black perinatal women in Atlanta, GA. The knowledge gained from this formative research will provide researchers and community-based organizations (CBOs) with relevant data that will inform approaches and models to address Black maternal mental health.
Financial Development and Openness: Evidence from Panel Data

This paper addresses the empirical question of whether trade and financial openness can help explain the recent pace in financial development, as well as its variation across countries in recent years. Utilising annual data from developing and industrialised countries and dynamic panel estimation techniques, we provide evidence which suggests that both types of openness are statistically significant determinants of banking sector development. Our findings reveal that the marginal effects of trade (financial) openness are negatively related to the degree of financial (trade) openness, indicating that relatively closed economies stand to benefit most from opening up their trade and/or capital accounts. Although these economies may be able to accomplish more by taking steps to open both their trade and capital accounts, opening up one without the other could still generate gains in terms of banking sector development. Thus, our findings provide only partial support to the well known Rajan and Zingales hypothesis, which stipulates that both types of openness are necessary for financial development to take place.
Protecting Copyright Ownership via Identiﬁcation of Remastered Music in Radio Broadcasts

—In radio broadcasting, the crucial task of monitoring becomes evident for protecting musical work copyrights and ensuring the fair distribution of royalties. Manual monitoring, due to its time-consuming and unreliable nature, necessitates an automated approach. The challenges in automated monitoring arise mainly from the practice of broadcast stations remastering songs before airing. These alterations introduce complexities that complicate the identiﬁcation process for existing music identiﬁ-cation techniques. This paper tackles this challenge by exploring the feasibility of employing computer vision techniques on STFT spectrograms from ongoing audio streams. The objective is to identify similar spectrogram representations by comparing them with previously registered key features extracted from STFT spectrograms generated for original song tracks. This aims to unveil the identity of content being broadcast on radio and, consequently, safeguard the rightful ownership of copyrighted songs. The proposed approach achieved an accuracy of over 97% for tempo alterations up to 20% and over 95% accuracy for pitch alterations up to 20%.
Scholarly Commons @ Baptist Health South Florida Scholarly Commons @ Baptist Health South Florida

Background: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a local ablation technique utilizing high voltage, low energy direct current to create nanopores in cell membrane which disrupt homeostasis and leads to cell death. Previous reports have suggested IRE may have a role in treating borderline resectable and unresectable Stage 3 pancreatic tumors. Methods: Patients with Stage 3 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) will be enrolled in either a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial (RCT) or a multicenter registry study. Subjects enrolled in the RCT must have no evidence of disease progression after 3 months of modified FOLFIRINOX (mFOLFIRINOX) treatment prior to being randomization to either a control or IRE arm. Post-induction and post-IRE treatment for the control and IRE arms, respectively, will be left to the discretion of the treating physician. The RCT will enroll 528 subjects with 264 per arm and include up to 15 sites. All subjects will be followed for at least 24 months or until death. The registry study will include two cohorts of patients with Stage 3 PDAC, patients who received institutional standard of care (SOC) alone and those treated with IRE in addition to SOC. Both cohorts will be required to have undergone at least 3 months of SOC without progression prior to enrollment. The registry study will enroll 532 patients with 266 patients in each arm. All patients will be followed for at least 24 months or until death. The primary efficacy endpoint for both studies will be overall survival (OS). Co-primary safety endpoints will be 1) time from randomization or enrollment in the registry to death or new onset of Grade 4 adverse event (AE), and (2 high-grade complications defined as any AE or serious AE
Dynamic emissivity modulating thermoregulating fabric using metallic particles

: Maintaining comfort using photonic thermal management textiles can potentially decrease the energy cost for heating and cooling in residential and office buildings. We propose a thermoregulating fabric comprised of a high emissivity bottom layer and a metal-particle polymer composite on top to modulate emissivity and provide dynamic and passive thermal comfort. With detailed numerical modeling we demonstrate a wide dynamic ambient setpoint temperature window of > 7.25 ¡C, with the wearer staying comfortable in the range between 18.5 and 25.75 ¡C. This thermoregulating performance indicates a vital energy-saving potential and paves the way to a more sustainable society.
Detection of the endangered Tasmanian Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae castanops using passive acoustic monitoring

The Tasmanian Masked Owl ( Tyto novaehollandiae castanops ) is endangered, primarily due to on-going habitat loss, though significant knowledge gaps in its ecology and spatial distribution have hindered conservation actions. Over the past 30 years, survey techniques for Masked Owls have largely relied on the detection of calls in response to call playback. Both passive point count and active call playback surveys suffer from high false absence rates for the Masked Owl, a species described as rarely vocal even when present. We trialled passive audio monitoring with autonomous recording units to develop an efficient standardised survey technique for this species. We used these recorders to establish the species’ presence and examine its detectability within a ~400 hectares study area in north-western Tasmania, where habitat suitability is considered to be low. We developed an automated recognition algorithm for the species screech call to analyse >5,500 hours of recordings over 144 nights from five recorders between June and November 2021. We quantified detection rates at the site-level and over the study area, as well as the frequency and timing of calling each night and over the study period. Across all sites the nightly detection rate of the Tasmanian Masked Owl was 38.9%. Nightly detection rates varied between sites (range: 0 – 43.4%) as did the timing and frequency of calling. Our study demonstrates the efficacy of acoustic monitoring to establish the presence-absence of the Tasmanian Masked Owl, and to assess habitat use at an ecologically relevant spatial scale. Our study provides a platform to markedly increase our understanding of the Tasmanian Masked Owl’s distribution and spatial ecology, allowing a more evidence-based approach to conservation planning and decision-making.
Optimal Design of a Cable-driven Wrist Prosthetic Device

- The amputation of a limb is a disabling condition that affects millions of people worldwide. This situation bolsters the necessity of devices that help the integration of those individuals into society. However, the design of such mechanisms faces many issues for their simple implementation, such as the reduced space to add actuators while maintaining an aesthetical design. This situation increases the complexities of manufacturing high dexterity upper arm prostheses. Thus, a cable-driven wrist prosthesis (CDWP) is proposed to solve these issues. Besides, the Anti-Parallel-based local Transmission Index is presented as a performance index to optimize the device's dimensions. Ultimately, by applying the methodology proposed in this article, researchers would be able to dimension the proposed CDWP for a wide range of patients
Innovative drug carrier systems containing graphene

: Research on graphene and graphene oxide have increased in recent years due to their properties, which give advantages for drug delivery systems. They have hexagonal and two dimensional-2D structures with one atom thick. Drug delivery systems which include these molecules are able to go into cells and reach tissues and organs. Additionally, a high amount of drugs can be loaded due to their large surface area. Graphene oxide has functional groups that gain more ability to adsorption than graphene. Both of them are used for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes including medical imaging. They also both have antibacterial activity and graphene oxide has stronger activity than graphene. Due to its structural properties graphene oxide is more preferred in drug delivery studies. In this review studies of graphene and graphene oxide containing drug delivery systems have been overviewed.
The impact of climate change on urbanization: A case study on two Egyptian Governorates (Dakahlia and Ismailia)

Urbanization is formed through the development of cities, making them a centre for transport, trade and information flow. A close link between urbanization and economic growth appears by attracting residents to cities that provide diverse opportunities for education and work, especially in the sectors of Industry and services. Urbanization can be planned or spontaneous. Each has its determinants; planned urbanization might have disparate economic, social, and climate determinants. However, if urbanization is unplanned, its main determinants are internal migration and natural increase. Climate change, including the scarcity of precipitations, heat stress, and moisture level change, might harm agriculture and push agricultural labour to migrate to urban areas. Additionally, studying the impact of climate change is scarce at the level of the Egyptian Governorates. Our study aims to estimate the effect of heat stress, moisture level, and precipitation on the urbanization degree (percentage of the urban population). The analysis will be focused on two Egyptian governorates (Dakahlia and Ismailia) from 2000 to 2020. The chosen Governorates include urban and rural areas. The analysis will draw on the compiled data on climate conditions from the Annual Bulletin of Environment Statistics, CAPMAS. The data on the urbanization degree are pooled from the Statistical Year Book, CAPMAS. We will use Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) to estimate the plausible impact of climate change in the two governorates under study. The results show that maximum temperature and humidity significantly affect urbanization in Dakahlia. However, the effect of the lagged values of urbanization is the only significant variable in the Ismailia model. For future research, the study will be extended to cover the remaining Egyptian Governorates, including rural and urban areas .
Procedural Component Framework Implementation and Realisation for Creation of a Coherent Multi-disciplinary Conceptual Knowledge-based Holocene-prehistoric Inventory of Volcanological Features Groups

— This paper presents the results of the procedural component framework implementation and realisation for creation of a coherent multi-disciplinary conceptual knowledge-based Holocene-prehistoric inventory of worldwide volcanological features groups. The goal is the creation of a sustainable framework of components, which can be employed for multi-disciplinary integration of knowledge contexts, especially from prehistory and archaeology. The component framework has to enable further coherent conceptual knowledge contextualisation and georeferenced symbolic representation. This paper provides the results on experiences of sustainable component integration and practical procedural implementations and realisations. Future research will address the creation of a component framework for a Holocene-prehistoric inventory of worldwide volcanological features, which enables coherent conceptual knowledge integration and contextualisation with prehistorical and archaeological knowledge resources.
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP STYLES ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN UGANDAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the three leadership styles which include transformational leadership style, transactional and laissez-faire leadership style on organizational performance using Kyambogo University as a case study. Specifically, the study aimed at addressing three objectives; first to examine the influence of transformational leadership style on organizational performance, secondly to examine the influence of transactional leadership style on organizational performance and thirdly to examine the influence of laissez-faire leadership style on organizational performance. The study employed a desk method using secondary data. Basing on the past studies conducted by various scholars on different types of organizations including Universities regarding the influence of leadership styles on organizational performance, it was found that both transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style and laissez-faire leadership style had a positive and significant influence on organizational performance. The researcher argued that these similar findings may as well apply to Kyambogo University since some of the previous studies were conducted also in a University setting. The researcher concluded by recommending that people in the leadership position in any kind of organization need to study the different kind situation or environment that they are operating in apply the kind of leadership style that fit the situation at hand owing to the fact that a given leadership style may succeed in a particular situation yet the same style of leadership might fail in another operating environment.
Impact of Health Education on Kindergarten Teachers: An Intervention Study

: The purpose of the study was to explore the extent of kindergarten teachers knowledge and evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention education program delivered to a group One hundred and sixty female Kindergarten Teachers in 15 schools in Elmaadi and Helwan educational Governorates from 2021-2022. Cairo-Egypt. Stage I : preliminary study and Intervention. The data was collected by an interview questionnaire including the socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about Nutrition, communicable diseases and first aid. Stage II : To clarify the impact of the intervention program three months later Pre-test results showed that high percentage of kindergarten teachers had insufficient knowledge about nutrition, infectious diseases and first aid. A significant increase in overall knowledge and attitude was detected among them after attending health education sessions. A highly significance difference was found between pre-test and posttest results (p<0.001). In conclusion: According to our results of the pre-test of our study showed that high percentage of kindergarten teachers had insufficient of knowledge about nutrition, infectious diseases and first aid. A significant increase in overall knowledge and attitude was detected among them after attending health education sessions (p<0.001).