Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From Raindrops to Insights: AI Empowers Hyperlocal Rain tracking in Ghana

This paper illustrates the development and application of an AI-based system aimed at addressing the critical need for accurate and accessible meteorological data among farmers in Northern Ghana. Due to climate change, irregularities in the rainy season pose a significant challenge to determining optimal crop planting times. Recognizing the importance of rainfall data for effective crop management, our system automates the process of data collection and interpretation using Computer Vision models. The innovation lies in the use of locally available resources: rain gauges made from plastic bottles. The system processes images of these gauges, shared via WhatsApp, to automatically measure and visualize the rainfall data. This solution not only enhances the scalability and reliability of the existing manual method but also represents a sustainable approach to addressing community-driven needs in regions with limited resources.
Photoacoustic microscopy with 2-(cid:1) m transverse resolution

We present a new-generation optical-resolution confocal photoacoustic microscope, consisting of a 0.25–numerical aperture optical microscope objective and a 75-MHz center-frequency spherically focused ultrasonic transducer. Experiments veriﬁed that this microscope has a transverse resolution of 2 (cid:1) m , which is the highest to our knowledge among all photoacoustic imaging systems. In situ imaging of mouse ears shows the feasibility of resolving individual red blood cells in microvessels using the current system.
Edinburgh Research Explorer Cross-chain payment protocols with success guarantees

In this paper, we consider the problem of cross-chain payment whereby customers of different escrows—implemented by a bank or a blockchain smart contract—successfully transfer digital assets without trusting each other. Prior to this work, cross-chain payment problems did not require this success, or any form of progress. We introduce a new speciﬁcation formalism called Asynchronous Networks of Timed Automata to formalise such protocols. We present the ﬁrst cross-chain payment protocol that ensures termination in a bounded amount of time and works correctly in the presence of clock drift. We then demonstrate that it is impossible to solve this problem without assuming synchrony, in the sense that each message is guaranteed to arrive within a known amount of time. Yet, we solve an eventually terminating weaker variant of this problem, where success is conditional on the patience of the participants, without assuming synchrony, and in the presence of Byzantine failures. We also discuss the relation with the recently deﬁned cross-chain deals.
HEIR: A Uniﬁed Representation for Cross-Scheme Compilation of Fully Homomorphic Computation

—We propose a new compiler framework that automates code generation over multiple fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) schemes. While it was recently shown that algorithms combining multiple FHE schemes (e.g., CKKS and TFHE) achieve high execution efﬁciency and task utility at the same time, developing fast cross-scheme FHE algorithms for real-world applications generally require heavy hand-tuned optimizations by cryptographic experts, resulting in either high usability costs or low computational efﬁciency. To solve the usability and efﬁciency dilemma, we design and implement HEIR, a compiler framework based on multi-level intermediate representation (IR). To achieve cross-scheme compilation of efﬁcient FHE circuits, we develop a two-stage code-lowering structure based on our custom IR dialects. First, the plaintext program along with the associated data types are converted into FHE-friendly dialects in the transformation stage. Then, in the optimization stage, we apply FHE-speciﬁc optimizations to lower the transformed dialect into our bottom-level FHE library operators. In the experiment, we implement the entire software stack for HEIR, and demonstrate that complex end-to-end programs, such as homomorphic K-Means clustering and homomorphic data aggregation in databases, can easily be compiled to run 72 – 179 × faster than the program generated by the state-of-the-art FHE compilers.
Creating Safe Corridors for Urban Air Mobility

—Personal air transportation on short to medium distances, so-called Urban Air Mobility (UAM), is an emerging trend in modern aviation. Risk mitigation approaches based on no-ﬂight zones over city centers are not suitable for the upcoming UAM as the small aircraft are expected to ﬂy in urban environments. Therefore, further approaches of risk-aware planning are needed. Since such planning can be computationally exhaustive, common low-risk areas used in risk-aware trajectories can be determined and used in a roadmap to support risk-aware planners. Determination of such safe corridors is not well-studied within the UAM domain, but a similar task of road centerlines estimation from GPS tracks is studied in the trafﬁc domain. Thus, we propose to elaborate on the applicability of the existing methods in the UAM domain.
Interpersonal Trust, Organizational Culture and Turnover Intention Interpersonal Trust, Organizational Culture and Turnover Intention in Hotels: A Cross Level perspective in Hotels: A Cross Level perspective

The aim of the present study was to understand the influence of interpersonal trust and organizational culture on employees’ turnover intention. The data of the study were collected from 252 hotel employees in Turkey. Study results showed that both affective trust and cognitive trust were negatively related to hotel employees’ turnover intention. Furthermore, clan organizational culture, adhocracy organizational culture
A missense mutation in PFAS (

A candidate mutation in the sex hormone binding globulin gene was proposed in 2013 to be responsible for the MH1 recessive embryonic lethal locus segregating in the Montbéliarde breed. In this follow-up study, we excluded this candidate variant because healthy homozygous carriers were observed in large-scale genotyping data generated in the framework of the genomic selection program. We fine mapped the MH1 locus in a 702-kb interval and analyzed genome sequence data from the 1,000 bull genomes project and 54 Montbé-liarde bulls (including 14 carriers and 40 noncarriers). We report the identification of a strong candidate mutation in the gene encoding phosphoribosylformylg-lycinamidine synthase ( PFAS ), a protein involved in de novo purine synthesis. This mutation, located in a class I glutamine amidotransferase–like domain, results in the substitution of an arginine residue that is entirely conserved among eukaryotes by a cysteine (p.R1205C). No homozygote for the cysteine-encoding allele was observed in a large population of more than 25,000 individuals despite a 6.7% allelic frequency and 122 expected homozygotes under neutrality assumption. Genotyping of 18 embryos collected from heterozygous parents as well as analysis on nonreturn rates suggested that most homozygous carriers died between 7 and 35 d postinsemination. The identification of this strong candidate mutation will enable the accurate testing of the reproducers and the efficient selection against this lethal recessive embryonic defect in the Montbéliarde breed.
A Study on the Construction of College English Context Vocabulary Teaching Based on Hands-Off Data-Driven Learning in China

Hands-off data-driven learning is a data-based, student-oriented learning model characterized by inquiry and discovery. English context vocabulary teaching is the key to English teaching in colleges and an important indicator to evaluate the quality and level of college English teaching, which is a language teaching paradigm focusing on the language environment. Combining the two approaches can give students a more realistic, practical, and meaningful language learning experience. This paper analyzes the vocabulary learning level of two non-English major undergraduate classes at Southwest University of Political Science and Law before and after the application of the context experiment. The positive effect of context vocabulary teaching in the control groups is verified by comparing and analyzing the influence of context teaching based on hands-off data-driven learning on their scores and learning results between the experimental and control groups. It shows that the combination of context in English vocabulary teaching with hands-off data-driven learning can help to improve students’ ability to understand, absorb, and apply English vocabulary.
dis-Milk nutrition and childhood epilepsy: An ex vivo study on cytokines and oxidative stress in response to milk protein fractions

We present a pilot study on the effects of milk protein fractions [α S1 -casein (CN), α S2 -CN, κ-CN, β-CN, and a mix of α-lactalbumin (α-LA) and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG)] from different animal species (bovine, ovine, and caprine) on pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative status in cultured peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells from children with generalized epilepsy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained by density gradient from blood of 10 children with generalized epilepsy (5 males; mean age 33.6 ± 5.4 mo) and 10 controls (5 males; mean age 35.6 ± 6.8 mo). Children with epilepsy were grouped according to cytokine levels as follows: children with epilepsy having low levels of cytokines not different from those of control children (LL-EC); children with epilepsy having cytokine levels at least 5-fold higher (medium levels) than those of control children (ML-EC); and children with epilepsy having cytokine levels at least 10-fold higher (high levels) than those of control children (HL-EC). The production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-10, IL-6, and IL-1β was studied in cultured PBMC incubated with α S1 -CN, α S2 -CN, κ-CN, β-CN, and a mix of α-LA and β-LG from bovine, caprine, and ovine milks. The levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) and catalase activity were assessed in cultured supernatant. In the HL-EC group, β-CN from small ruminant species (ovine and caprine) induced the highest levels of TNF-α, whereas PBMC incubated with α S2 -CN from ovine milk and the mix of β-LG and α-LA from all tested milk species had the lowest levels of TNF-α. Within the HL-EC group, production of IL-1β was higher for bovine and ovine α S2 -CN fractions and lower for caprine and ovine β-CN and κ-CN. In the HL-EC group, IL-6 was higher in cultured PBMC incubated with α S2 -CN from bovine and ovine milk than from caprine milk. The cytokine IL-10 did not differ among milking species. The highest levels of ROS/RNS were found after incubation of PBMC with the β-CN fraction in bovine milk. Catalase activity was higher in PBMC cultured with β-CN isolated from bovine and caprine milk and with α S1 -CN from ovine milk.
Speci ﬁ cations of qPCR based epigenetic immune cell quanti ﬁ cation

Objectives: Immune monitoring is an important aspect in diagnostics and clinical trials for patients with compromised immune systems. Flow cytometry is the standard method for immune cell counting but faces limitations. Best practice guidelines are available, but lack of standardization complicates compliance with e.g., in vitro diagnostic regulations. Limited sample availability forces immune monitoring to predominantly use population-based reference intervals. Epigenetic qPCR has evolved as alternative with broad applicability and low logistical demands. Analytical performance speci ﬁ cations (APS) have been de ﬁ ned for qPCR in several regulated ﬁ elds including testing of genetically modi ﬁ ed organisms or vector-shedding. Methods: APS were characterized using ﬁ ve epigenetic qPCR-based assays quantifying CD3 + , CD4 + , CD8 + T, B and NK cells in light of regulatory requirements. Results: Epigenetic qPCR meets all speci ﬁ cations including bias, variability, linearity, ruggedness and sample stability as suggested by pertinent guidelines and regulations. The assays were subsequently applied to capillary blood from 25 normal donors over a 28-day period. Index of individuality (IoI) and reference change values were determined to evaluate potential diagnostic gains of individual reference intervals. Analysis of the IoI suggests bene ﬁ ts for individual over population-based references. Reference change values (RCVs) show that changes of approx. Fifty percent from prior measurement are suggestive for clinically relevant changes in any of the 5 cell types. Conclusions: The demonstrated precision, long-term stability and obtained RCVs render epigenetic cell counting
Recent Advances in Endometrial Cancer [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with yearly rates continuing to increase. Most women present with early stage disease; however, advanced disease carries a grave prognosis. As a result, novel therapies are currently under investigation for the treatment of endometrial cancer. These advances include a better understanding of the genetic basis surrounding the development of endometrial cancer, novel surgical therapies, and new molecular targets for the treatment of this disease. This review explores the literature regarding these advancements in endometrial cancer
Inﬂuence of Carbohydrate Source and Buffer on Rumen Fermentation Characteristics, Milk Yield, and Milk Composition in Early-Lactation Holstein Cows

The effects of concentrate to forage ratio and sodium bicarbonate (buffer) supplementation on intake, ruminal fermentation characteristics, digestibility coefﬁ-cients, milk yield, and milk composition were examined in 4 cannulated Holstein cows (100 ± 20 d in milk). A 4 × 4 Latin square design with 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments was implemented for 3-wk experimental periods. The 4 treatments were a 50:50 concentrate to forage ratio with 1.2% of dry matter (DM) and without added buffer and a 75:25 concentrate to forage ratio with (1.2% of DM) and without (0% of DM) buffer. The forage component of the ration was a 50:50 mixture of alfalfa and barley and triticale silage, and diets were fed ad libitum as a total mixed ration. Although feed intake was not inﬂuenced by treatments, substantial treatment differences were observed for milk yield and milk composition. Cows fed high-concentrate diet had lower ruminal pH, ruminal acetate, and butyrate concentrations, whereas propionate concentrations were signiﬁcantly elevated. The addition of buffer, at both levels of concentrate inclusion, resulted in elevated total volatile fatty acids and acetate concentrations. We concluded that altering the forage concentrate ratio in the diet of lactation cows inﬂuenced milk yield and milk composition, but the addition of buffer to the diet prevented the elevation in trans -C 18:1 fatty acids in milk fat, and related milk fat depression, associated with feeding high-concentrate diets.
Data Security Using Vigenere Cipher and Goldbach Codes Algorithm

— Vigenere chipper is one standard cryptographic algorithm, this algorithm very simple to use substitution as in Caesar cipher to encode the message text. One disadvantage of an extended vigenere key cipher which can determine by using a method, the method kasiski. in vigenere cipher, phrases 4/E: in the ciphertext generated from the encryption process so that the method kasiski can determine the encoded text. Goldbach codes algorithm is an algorithm for compression, which will be used to address the weaknesses in vigenere cipher. In this paper will try to discuss security with vigenere ciphertext, then ciphertext produced will be processed again using algorithms Goldbach codes. By applying the algorithm, Goldbach codes the result from the course of securing data using vigenere Chipper becomes harder to guess the original text despite using methods kasiski due to be acquired is the message of a different character.
Fermentative profile and nutritive value of maize, legume and mixed silage

The partial substitution of maize by tropical legumes for the production of silage has aroused interest, for bringing benefits of increasing the crude protein content of corn-only silage, constituting an important alternative for the production of food in a more sustainable way. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of addition 30% tropical legumes on the fermentative characteristics and nutritive value of maize silage. The experimental design was entirely randomized with three replications. The treatments consisted of the following silages: Maize; Stylosanthes cv. Campo Grande, Stylosanthes cv. Bela: Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan cv. BRS Mandarim), maize + 30% Campo Grande; maize + 30% Bela and maize + 30% Pigeon pea, totaling 21 experimental silos. The results show that exclusive legume silage without preservatives present fermentative losses that compromise the silage quality. Addition of 30% legumes to maize silage improves the nutritional quality of the silage without compromising its fermentation profile. Stylosanthes cv. Campo Grande and Bela are the most recommended locations for maize silage. Thus, a mixed silage of maize and legumes is an alternative to improve the crude protein content of exclusive maize exclusive silage, greater sustainability, and reduced fermentative losses of legume silages.
The turning of ecological change in the Yellow River Basin

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) as a source of the oldest world cultures, flows through vast arid and semi‐arid regions of China. Its fragile vegetation is suffering the obvious effect from regional climate change, and easily turns from a critical state into qualitatively different modes of change, which implies significant impacts on humans and ecosystems. Our results show that in the period of 1982–2015, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) appeared significantly discontinuous changes by stagnant warming and strengthening wetting, especially in the central YRB (104.5°–111° E, 35.5°–38° N). The NDVI in this region shifted from slowly increasing (5.42 × 10−4 a−1) to rapidly increasing (5.13 × 10−3 a−1) around 2003, called the turning point (TP). Such shift change is mainly a result of increased moderate rain, with frequency trend changed from 0.083 times·a−1 to 0.324 times·a−1. Meanwhile, these changes on vegetation led to a reversal of the gross primary productivity (GPP) from decreasing to increasing. Such results indicated the vulnerable ecosystem of the central YRB has played a positive contribution to the carbon balance, and more sustainable management of vegetation is required for the ecological development and engaging adaptive strategy.
On the Prevalence and Roles of Proteins Undergoing Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation in the Biogenesis of PML-Bodies

The formation and function of membrane-less organelles (MLOs) is one of the main driving forces in the molecular life of the cell. These processes are based on the separation of biopolymers into phases regulated by multiple specific and nonspecific inter- and intramolecular interactions. Among the realm of MLOs, a special place is taken by the promyelocytic leukemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs or PML bodies), which are the intranuclear compartments involved in the regulation of cellular metabolism, transcription, the maintenance of genome stability, responses to viral infection, apoptosis, and tumor suppression. According to the accepted models, specific interactions, such as SUMO/SIM, the formation of disulfide bonds, etc., play a decisive role in the biogenesis of PML bodies. In this work, a number of bioinformatics approaches were used to study proteins found in the proteome of PML bodies for their tendency for spontaneous liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS), which is usually caused by weak nonspecific interactions. A total of 205 proteins found in PML bodies have been identified. It has been suggested that UBC9, P53, HIPK2, and SUMO1 can be considered as the scaffold proteins of PML bodies. It was shown that more than half of the proteins in the analyzed proteome are capable of spontaneous LLPS, with 85% of the analyzed proteins being intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and the remaining 15% being proteins with intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDPRs). About 44% of all proteins analyzed in this study contain SUMO binding sites and can potentially be SUMOylated. These data suggest that weak nonspecific interactions play a significantly larger role in the formation and biogenesis of PML bodies than previously expected.
WBI Studies

Spaying of female dogs is a widespread practice, performed primarily for population control. While the consequences of early spaying for health are still being debated, the consequences for behaviour are believed to be negligible. The current study focused on the reported behaviour of 8981 female dogs spayed before 520 weeks (ten years) of life for reasons other than behavioural management, and calculated their percentage lifetime exposure to gonadal hormones (PLGH) as a proportion of their age at the time of being reported to the online Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). We found that 23 behaviours differed between entire and spayed dogs, of which 12 were associated with PLGH and 5 with age-at-spay (AAS). Two behaviours, chewing and howling, were significantly more likely in dogs with longer PLGH. In contrast, longer PLGH was associated with significantly reduced reporting of 10 (mostly unwelcome) behaviours. Of these, one related to fearfulness and three to aggression. The current data suggest that dogs’ tendency to show numerous behaviours can be influenced by the timing of spaying. They indicate how female dog behaviour matures when gonadal hormones are allowed to have their effect. The differences reported here between undesirable behaviours of spayed and entire dogs were in the range of 5.33% and 7.22%, suggesting that, for some dogs, partial or complete denial of maturation may reduce howling and chewing and improve retrieval and recall, but have other undesirable consequences. Veterinarians may take these data into account to discuss the risks and benefits of spaying with clients, and the timing of the procedure.
Determinants of audit fees in the consumer goods industry listed on the Indonesia stock exchange

This paper aims to demonstrate the effects of company size, public accounting firm size, independence of the board of commissioners, size of the board of commissioners, and company risk on audit fees. The population used in this study are companies in the consumer goods industry sub-sector listed on the IDX in 2019-2022. Sample withdrawal using a purposive sampling technique with certain criteria then the data was analyzed by multiple linear regression. It is clear from the result of the analysis that the independence of the board of commissioners and the size of the board of commissioners have a positive effect on audit fees. While other variables such as company size, public accounting firm size, and company risk do not affect audit fees.
Data Visualization for Mental Health Monitoring in Smart Home Environment: A Case Study

Mental health care and monitoring are important. Advancements in smart home sensing technology also make tracking people's activities easy in the home, enabling the monitoring of mental health more effectively. Some related works have demonstrated the possibilities of mental health monitoring using sensor data collected in smart homes. However, there is a lack of prior research on how to effectively utilize smart home data visualization to help people understand how their everyday behaviors are related to their mental health status. This poster presents a case study on data visualization for mental health monitoring in a smart home environment. Our web-based application allows users to browse their self-reported mental health states and home activities and visualize the correlation between mental health states and home activities.