Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Engaging the African Academic Diaspora: How Ready Are Universities in Africa?

While academic discussions on the negative effects of intellectual brain drain have been widely documented in the literature, the recourse to the academic diaspora as a resource to revitalise higher education institutions in Africa is recent. This recent positive consideration of the academic diaspora has largely been driven by academics in the African Diaspora, a reaction to the increased visibility of the African Diaspora generally as an economic resource to develop Africa, as attested by the African Union’s recognition of the Diaspora as its 6th region. The persisting challenges to fully benefit from diaspora intellectual resources seem to lie on the lack of clear policy and thought from the African political and university leadership to embrace this alternative more sustainably. Equally lacking are detailed studies mapping the terrain of academic cultures within universities in Africa, and the readiness of African institutions to embrace the academic diaspora. This article attempts to provide such a perspective. The article reports data from a background study in which the author participated, regarding engagements between African Diaspora academics and African universities. The data is complemented by information gleaned from policy documents of universities in East Africa, to unravel their readiness to embrace the academic diaspora in terms of their strategies. Alors que les discussions academiques sur les consequences nefastes de la fuite des cerveaux ont ete largement documentees dans la litterature, le sujet du recours a la diaspora academique pour revitaliser l’enseignement superieur en Afrique n’est apparu que recemment. Ce sont les universitaires de la diaspora africaine qui sont a l’origine de cette vision positive de la diaspora academique, une reaction a la reconnaissance croissante de la diaspora comme ressource economique pour le developpement de l’Afrique. Ceci a ete notamment atteste par l’Union Africaine qui a reconnu la diaspora comme sa sixieme region. Le manque de politiques claires de la part des autorites politiques et academiques pour profiter plus durablement des ressources intellectuelles de la diaspora empeche cependant de beneficier pleinement de cette possibilite. On manque egalement d’etudes detaillees sur la culture academique des universites africaines et sur leur volonte d’inclure la diaspora academique. Cet article propose une telle perspective. Il presente les donnees d’une etude de fond, a laquelle l’auteur a participe, sur les interactions entre les universitaires de la diaspora africaine et les universites africaines. Ces donnees sont completees par des informations glanees dans les documents strategiques d’universites de l’est africain, pour determiner leur volonte d’inclure la diaspora academique dans leur strategie.
Understanding and Comparing Factor-Based Forecasts

Forecasting using `diffusion indices' has received a good deal of attention in recent years. The idea is to use the common factors estimated from a large panel of data to help forecast the series of interest. This paper assesses the extent to which the forecasts are influenced by (i) how the factors are estimated, and/or (ii) how the forecasts are formulated. We find that for simple data generating processes and when the dynamic structure of the data is known, no one method stands out to be systematically good or bad. All five methods considered have rather similar properties, though some methods are better in long horizon forecasts, especially when the number of time series observations is small. However, when the dynamic structure is unknown and for more complex dynamics and error structures such as the ones encountered in practice, one method stands out to have smaller forecast errors. This method forecasts the series of interest directly, rather than the common and idiosyncratic components separately, and it leaves the dynamics of the factors unspecified. By imposing fewer constraints, and having to estimate a smaller number of auxiliary parameters, the method appears to be less vulnerable to misspecification, leading to improved forecasts.
Clade identification of symbiotic zooxanthellae of dominant sclerectinian coral species of intertidal pools in Hengam Island

Zooxanthellae of reef-building corals are unicellular dinoflagellates of the Symbiodinium genus, which has an important role in bleaching phenomenon. Symbiodinium and their coral hosts are sensitive to environmental stresses that include salinity, high temperatures, low temperatures, extreme light levels and turbidity. Tidal pools have harsh conditions due to lack of nutrients, food and pronounced changes in physical conditions such as pH, salinity and temperature, hence the study of symbiotic zooxanthellae on coral reefs of tidal pool seems to be necessary. Samples of five coral species that include Siderastrea savignyana, Coscinaraea columna, Anomastrea irregulariis, Cyphastrea serailia, Psammocora superficialis were collected at intertidal pool of Hengam Island in the northern Persian Gulf. Partial 28S nuclear ribosomal (nr) DNA of Symbiodinium were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then PCR products were analyzed by the phylogenetic analyses of the LSU DNA sequences based on PAUP and Clustal X software. The results showed that there are at least two clades of Symbiodinium from Hengam Island. Clade D was detected from 3 of the coral species while clade C was found in 2 species only. This study showed dominance of clade D at intertidal pool in Hengam Island and the dominance of clade D might be explained by the high environmental stresses for the Persian Gulf.
Restoring Consistency after Network Partitions

The software industry is facing a great challenge. While systems get more complex and distributed across the world, users are becoming more dependent on their availability. As systems increase in size and complexity so does the risk that some part will fail. Unfortunately, it has proven hard to tackle faults in distributed systems without a rigorous approach. Therefore, it is crucial that the scientific community can provide answers to how distributed computer systems can continue functioning despite faults. Our contribution in this thesis is regarding a special class of faults which occurs whennetwork links fail in such a way that parts of the network become isolated, such faults are termed network partitions. We consider the problem of how systems that have integrity constraints on data can continue operating in presence of a network partition. Such a system must act optimistically while the network is split and then perform a some kind of reconciliation to restore consistency afterwards. We have formally described four reconciliation algorithms and proven them correct. The novelty of these algorithms lies in the fact that they can restore consistency after network partitions in a system with integrity constraints and that one of the protocols allows the system to provide service during the reconciliation. We have implemented and evaluated the algorithms using simulation and as part of a partition-tolerant CORBA middleware. The results indicate that it pays oﬀ to act optimistically and that it is worthwhile to provide service during reconciliation.
A Method for Improving CNN-Based Image Recognition Using DCGAN

Image recognition has always been a hot research topic in the scientific community and industry. The emergence of convolutional neural networks(CNN) has made this technology turned into research focus on the field of computer vision, especially in image recognition. But it makes the recognition result largely dependent on the number and quality of training samples. Recently, DCGAN has become a frontier method for generating images, sounds, and videos. In this paper, DCGAN is used to generate sample that is difficult to collect and proposed an efficient design method of generating model. We combine DCGAN with CNN for the second time. Use DCGAN to generate samples and training in image recognition model, which based by CNN. This method can enhance the classification model and effectively improve the accuracy of image recognition. In the experiment, we used the radar profile as dataset for 4 categories and achieved satisfactory classification performance. This paper applies image recognition technology to the meteorological field.
hep – th / 0101143 EFI-2001-03 KCL-MTH-01-02 Discrete torsion orbifolds and D-branes II

The consistency of the orbifold action on open strings between D-branes in orbifold theories with and without discrete torsion is analysed carefully. For the example of the C/ZZ2 × ZZ2 theory, it is found that the consistency of the orbifold action requires that the D-brane spectrum contains branes that give rise to a conventional representation of the orbifold group as well as branes for which the representation is projective. It is also shown how the results generalise to the orbifolds C/ZZN × ZZN for which a number of novel features arise.
Characterization of 42 Microsatellite Markers from Poison Ivy, Toxicodendron radicans (Anacardiaceae)

Poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans, and poison oaks, T. diversilobum and T. pubescens, are perennial woody species of the Anacardiaceae and are poisonous, containing strong allergens named urushiols that cause allergic contact dermatitis. Poison ivy is a species distributed from North America to East Asia, while T. diversilobum and T. pubescens are distributed in western and eastern North America, respectively. Phylogreography and population structure of these species remain unclear. Here, we developed microsatellite markers, via constructing a magnetic enriched microsatellite library, from poison ivy. We designed 51 primer pairs, 42 of which successfully yielded products that were subsequently tested for polymorphism in poison oak, and three subspecies of poison ivy. Among the 42 loci, 38 are polymorphic, while 4 are monomorphic. The number of alleles and the expected heterozygosity ranged from 1 to 12 and from 0.10 to 0.87, respectively, in poison ivy, while varied from 2 to 8 and, from 0.26 to 0.83, respectively in poison oak. Genetic analysis revealed distinct differentiation between poison ivy and poison oak, whereas slight genetic differentiation was detected among three subspecies of poison ivy. These highly polymorphic microsatellite fingerprints enable biologists to explore the population genetics, phylogeography, and speciation in Toxicodendron.
T‐Cell Differentiation to T Helper 9 Phenotype is Elevated by Extremely Low‐Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Via Induction of IL‐2 Signaling

Owing to the development of information technology and the electronics industry, and the increase in the use of electronic products, an increasing number of people are exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in daily life. There has been concern about the effects of EMFs on the human body. Th9 cells, which are characterized by the generation of interleukin‐(IL‐9), are a recently defined subset of T helper (Th) cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of extremely low‐frequency (60 Hz) EMFs, such as those generated by household power sources, at 0.8 mT intensity on CD4+ T cells. The exposure of CD4+ T cells to such EMFs under Th9‐polarizing conditions increased IL‐9 secretion and gene expression of transcription factors that are important for Th9 development. The expression of GATA3 increased in the early stage, and the phosphorylation of STAT5 and STAT6, which regulate the expression of GATA3, increased. In addition, EMFs increased the expression of IL‐2 by the T cells. In conclusion, the differentiation of CD4+ T cells to the Th9 phenotype was increased by exposure to extremely low‐frequency EMFs, and this appeared to be dependent on the IL‐2 signaling pathway. Furthermore, co‐cultures of EMF‐exposed Th9 cells and mast cells showed an increased expression of mast cell proteases, FcεR1α, and mast cell‐derived inflammatory cytokines compared with co‐cultures of non‐EMF‐exposed Th9 cells and mast cells. Our results suggest that EMFs enhance the differentiation of CD4+ T cells to the Th9 phenotype, resulting in mast cell activation and inflammation. Bioelectromagnetics. 2019;40:588–601. © 2019 Bioelectromagnetics Society.
Rewiring cellular metabolism via the AKT/mTOR pathway contributes to host defence against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human and murine cells

Cells in homeostasis metabolize glucose mainly through the tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation, while activated cells switch their basal metabolism to aerobic glycolysis. In this study, we examined whether metabolic reprogramming toward aerobic glycolysis is important for the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Through transcriptional and metabolite analysis we show that Mtb induces a switch in host cellular metabolism toward aerobic glycolysis in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The metabolic switch is TLR2 dependent but NOD2 independent, and is mediated in part through activation of the AKT‐mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway. We show that pharmacological inhibition of the AKT/mTOR pathway inhibits cellular responses to Mtb both in vitro in human PBMCs, and in vivo in a model of murine tuberculosis. Our findings reveal a novel regulatory layer of host responses to Mtb that will aid understanding of host susceptibility to Mtb, and which may be exploited for host‐directed therapy.
Traffic, Drugs, Mental Health, and Disinfectants: Changes in Sewage Sludge Chemical Signatures During a COVID-19 Community Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic and related shutdowns have caused changes in everyday activities for many people, and signs of those changes are present in the chemical signatures of sewage sludge produced during the pandemic. We analyzed primary sewage sludge samples from a wastewater treatment plant in New Haven, CT USA collected between March 19 and June 30, 2020. This time period encompassed the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial statewide stay at home order, and the first phase of reopening. We used liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry and targeted and suspect screening strategies to identify contaminants in the sludge. We and found evidence of increasing opioid, cocaine, and antidepressant use, as well as upward trends in chemicals used in disinfectants and sunscreens during the study period. Benzotriazole, an anti-corrosion chemical associated with traffic pollution, decreased through the stay-at-home period, and increased during reopening. Hydroxychloroquine, a drug that received significant attention for its potential to treat COVID-19, had elevated concentrations in the week following the implementation of the United States Emergency Use Authorization. Our results directly relate to nationwide reports of increased demand for fentanyl, antidepressants, and other medications, as well as reports of increased drug overdose deaths during the pandemic. Though wastewater surveillance during the pandemic has largely focused on measuring SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations, chemical analysis can also show trends that are important for revealing the public and environmental health effects of the pandemic.
An Explanation and Illustration of Cluster Analysis for Identifying Hospitality Market Segments

Hierarchical clustering methods are presented using a simplified example. The article describes and explains six steps in the cluster analysis process: variable selection, data management, selection of clustering methods, deriving cluster solutions, validating results, and interpreting results. The article concludes by giving the reader an example of how each of the steps was processed in the identification and description of three market segments based on entertainment preferences. The purpose of the article is to encourage increased usage of this valuable means of revealing market niches by researchers in the field of hospitality.
From the Big Five to the Big Four? Exploring extinction accounting for the rhinoceros

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a possible framework for extinction accounting which builds on but also extends significantly the existing GRI guidelines relating to species identified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List as under threat of extinction. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses disclosures relating to rhinoceros conservation and protection produced by top South African-listed companies in order to assess the current state of “extinction accounting”. Following this analysis, the authors explore and discuss a potential framework for extinction accounting which may be used by companies to demonstrate their accountability for species and disclose the ways in which they are working alone, and in partnerships, to prevent species extinction. Findings Corporate disclosures relating to rhinoceros may be interpreted as emancipatory. The authors identify several disclosure themes dealing with rhinoceros in integrated and sustainability reports of large South African companies and on their websites. Contrary to initial expectations, there is evidence to suggest corporate awareness of the importance of addressing the risk of this species becoming extinct. Research limitations/implications The authors have relied on public corporate disclosures and would like to extend the work further to include interview data for a further paper. Practical implications An extinction accounting framework may be applied to corporate accounting and accountability for any species under threat of extinction. The framework may also be considered for use as a tool for institutional investors as well as NGO engagement and dialogue with stakeholder companies. Social implications The rhinoceros has, from the analysis, significant cultural, heritage, eco-tourism and intrinsic value. Developing and implementing an emancipatory extinction accounting framework to prevent extinction will have a substantial social and environmental impact. Originality/value This is the first attempt to the knowledge to explore accounting for extinction and a possible extinction accounting framework. It is also the first attempt to investigate accounting and accountability for the rhinoceros.
Urban change detection by comparing SAR images at different resolutions and polarimetric modes

Today, the variety of remote sensing satellites increases the interest of combining images of different types to satisfy the needs of earth monitoring with a better reactivity. In this context, this article aims to demonstrate the feasibility of change detection between a high resolution SAR image and a polarimetric SAR image. It highlights the interest of this configuration for change detection but also the analysis of these change areas through to the polarimetric information. The approach is applied to the case of urban areas.
Effect of Inlet Morphology and Wave Action on Pollutant Pathways and Sediment Dynamics in a Coastal Stream

Hydrodynamics and water renewal of intermittent coa stal streams are highly variable, at various time scales, due to the very active morphod ynamic behavior of their inlets. Due to this strong dynamics, the pathways of water-born e materials – and the consequences of contaminated discharges – can depend strongly on the morphology and environmental conditions. Predicting the fate of contaminants in these systems requires coupled numerical models accounting for the major physical and water quality processes. We aim at improving the understanding of the impact of inlet morphology and wave action on the pollutant and sediment pathways of th ese small coastal systems, based on a suite of calibrated and validated coupled models. T wo analyses, based on particle simulations, are presented to assess sediment dynam ics and pollutant pathways for several conditions. Results show that waves have a major effect on the fate of waterborne materials in the estuary. Wave-induced curren ts sweep away materials coming out of the estuary, while wave-induced setup has a prof ound effect on tidal propagation, water levels and velocities in the estuary, promoti ng he upstream transport of pollutants. 1 National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, Av. do B rasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisbon, Portugal; {aoliveira, afortunato, mguerreiro, xbertin, nbrune au, mfrodrigues, pfreire, lsimoes, gdodet, amendes}@lnec.pt. 2 Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Ca mpo Grande, Ed. C6, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; {rtaborda, candrade, amasilva, cm antunes}@fc.ul. pt. 3 CIMA, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Ed. 7, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal; cloureiro@ualg.pt.
European Society of Hypertension Scientific Newsletter: Update on Hypertension Management 2016; 17: Nr. 63 Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Elderly and Octogenarians Behandlung von Bluthochdruck bei älteren und sehr alten Patienten

Epidemiology and pathophysiology in elderly and old patients Hypertension in the elderly (those over the age of 65 years) is an increasing public health concern [1]. Raised blood pressure, especially systolic pressure, confers a significant cardiovascular risk and should be actively treated in elderly patients, at least up to the age of 80 years. Even in the very old, (those above the age of 80 years) hypertension is a dominant risk factor, although it is yet unclear whether treatment prolongs life, even if it prevents stroke and heart failure. The prevalence of hypertension approaches or even exceeds 50% in people aged 70 and above [2]. Most elderly people with hypertension have isolated systolic hypertension, defined as systolic pressure greater than 140 mm Hg and diastolic pressure less than 90 mm Hg [3, 4]. Systolic hypertension is a more potent risk factor than increases in diastolic pressure. Sluggish baroreceptor function and reduced cardiovascular sensitivity to catecholamines make the elderly more sensitive to natural or drug-induced falls in blood pressure.
ROOT HAIR DEFECTIVE SIX‐LIKE4 (RSL4) promotes root hair elongation by transcriptionally regulating the expression of genes required for cell growth

Summary ROOT HAIR DEFECTIVE SIX‐LIKE4 (RSL4) is necessary and sufficient for root hair elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Root hair length is determined by the duration for which RSL4 protein is present in the developing root hair. The aim of this research was to identify genes regulated by RSL4 that affect root hair growth. To identify genes regulated by RSL4, we identified genes whose expression was elevated by induction of RSL4 activity in the presence of an inhibitor of translation. Thirty‐four genes were identified as putative targets of RSL transcriptional regulation, and the results suggest that the activities of SUPPRESSOR OF ACTIN (SAC1), EXOCSYT SUBUNIT 70A1 (EXO70A1), PEROXIDASE7 (PRX7) and CALCIUM‐DEPENDENT PROTEIN KINASE11 (CPK11) are required for root hair elongation. These data indicate that RSL4 controls cell growth by controlling the expression of genes encoding proteins involved in cell signalling, cell wall modification and secretion.