Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strategies for the domestication of Ricinodendron heudelotii: Evaluation of variability in natural populations from Cameroon

Ricinodendron heudelotii, an indigenous fruit tree species to humid lowlands of West and Central Africa, has been identified through user surveys to have high potential for improving the nutrition and income of rural poor. Kernels from the fruit of the species, commonly known as “ndjanssang”, constitute one of the most traded non-timber forest products in Cameroon. As a result, the species is currently subject of considerable domestication research in Cameroon.In an attempt to assess the variability available in natural populations, R. heudelotii fruits were collected from 64 trees in three villages (Elig-Nkouma, Boumnyebel and Ngoulemakong) in the humid lowlands forest zone of Cameroon. The measurement of six fruit, nut and kernel characteristics revealed that the species exhibited considerable morphological (fruit, nut and kernel) variability throughout the studied areas. Highly significant differences (P < 0.001) were recorded between trees in fruit mass (19.36 to 46.67 g), fruit length (37.26 to 52.10 mm) and width (28.82 to 38.71 mm), nut mass (3.17 to 5.98 g), nutshell mass (2.16 to 3.86 g) and kernel mass (1.01 to 2.12 g). Continuous variation was observed in each of these traits. Mean fruit mass, fruit length, fruit width, nut mass, shell mass and kernel mass differed significantly between villages. Another morphological characteristic of importance is the ease of kernel extraction. Some R. heudelotii varieties with self-cracking nutshells were observed. For instance, shells of boiled nuts of Tree 8 at Elig-Nkouma were found to be self-cracking, although they were the heaviest among the sampled trees (3.86 g with an overall mean of 3.00±0.048 g in the three villages), indicating that the self-cracking trait is not related to a thin shell. Kernels from the same tree were also the heaviest (2.12 ± 0.08 g), indicating that this tree could be closed to an ideotype for the development of potential cultivars. The weak relationships observed between fruit and nut traits indicate that kernel trait prediction from fruit traits is not possible. The results of this study open opportunities for selecting varieties of this local fruit species and have important implications for the domestication of the species.
QUANTITATIVE EROSION CONTROL ON HIGHLY ERODIBLE LANDS: A SELECTION OF TOOLS BASED ON THE REVISED UNIVERSAL SOIL LOSS EQUATION

The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation has been used extensively as a tool in assessing soil erosion issues for many years, especially in rural environments. This paper takes the Equation and applies it to non-rural sites, such as urban construction sites, highways, waste disposal sites and open-cut mining sites. It shows how the equation can be used as a soil conservation management tool to achieve a degree of objectivity not evident previously. It is particularly useful in quantifying erosion hazards.
IoT-ID3PAKA: Efficient and Robust ID-3PAKA Protocol for Resource-Constrained IoT Devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology that has become popular in many applications, such as transportation, agriculture, healthcare, industrial automation, robotics, etc. IoT devices are interconnected via the Internet, and secure message communication between them is a challenging task. An authenticated key agreement (AKA) protocol can solve such an issue. This article designed and implemented an identity-based three-party AKA (IoT-ID3PAKA) protocol to establish a shared session key among three IoT devices. The current state-of-the-art identity-based 3PAKA (ID-3PAKA) protocols are unsuitable for resource-constrained IoT devices because almost all of them undergo various security attacks and require higher execution and communication overheads. The provable security of the proposed IoT-ID3PAKA protocol relies on the hardness assumption of the elliptic curve-based computational Diffie–Hellman problem. The execution time of IoT-ID3PAKA for the security levels: 80, 112, 128, 192, and 256 bits on a Raspberry Pi 4 device is estimated and compared with the existing ID-3PAKA protocols.
What motivates food workers to adhere with WHO guidelines to combat the COVID-19? A social cognitive theory perspective

Background COVID-19 has become a public health emergency and pandemic of global concern, and the hundreds of millions of foodborne illnesses that occur each year also wreak havoc on human lives, society and the economy. Promoting workers in food service establishments to adhere to the hygiene practices in the WHO guidelines is a two-birds-one-stone strategy in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and limiting the occurrence of foodborne illness. The aim of this study was to determine the drivers that motivate workers to adhere to hygiene practices based on social cognitive theory. Methods The cross-sectional survey targeting food workers using face-to-face interviews was conducted from July to September 2022. Stratified random sampling and convenience sampling were employed to locate survey sites and respondents, respectively. The survey uses a credible questionnaire evaluated by multiple reliability and validity measures. Binary logistic regression was employed to identify significant determinants of adherence to WHO-initiated hygiene practices. Results A total of 900 workers were interviewed and 609 valid questionnaires were received. The study showed that the average correct rate of knowledge about hygiene practices was only 51.09%, that perceived non-adherence to hygiene practices was most likely to result in lower customer satisfaction and the spread of COVID-19, and that only about 11.7% of the workers always adhered to hygiene practices. Three of the cognitive dimensions in the personal factors, self-efficacy, risk perception, and knowledge, had significant positive effects on adherence practices. Among the demographic variables, there were significant differences in adherence practices differing by income level and place of residence. Conclusion It was found that workers’ knowledge of the WHO-initiated hygiene practices is insufficient and that the frequency of adherence to hygiene practices is poor and require improvement. The significant drivers and effects of demographic variables provide evidence-based guidance to identify priority intervention information and populations to improve worker hygiene practices.
Assessing the role of precursor cyclones on the formation of extreme Greenland blocking episodes and their impact on summer melting across the Greenland ice sheet

A 30 year climatology of North Atlantic cyclones from 1979 to 2008 is examined within the context of extreme Greenland blocking and accelerated surface melting across the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS). A distinct class of North Atlantic cyclones, known as precursor cyclones, was identified as any extratropical cyclones originating to the west of Greenland blocks prior to the peak of blocking intensity. Composite map analysis reveals that precursor cyclones contributed to a significant intensification of extreme Greenland blocking episodes (GBEs) through the process of upper level wave amplification. Across all seasons, most extreme GBEs are associated with multiple precursor cyclones prior to peaking in intensity, and a majority of these cyclones have continental rather than oceanic origins. Over both the western and eastern sectors of Greenland, daily meltwater production simulated by the Modèle Atmosphérique Régional regional climate model is greater during extreme GBEs accompanied by precursor cyclones compared to extreme GBEs lacking a precursor cyclone. Based on an analysis of air parcel trajectories and North Atlantic SST anomalies, enhanced surface melting during the summer, particularly over southern and western Greenland, is strongly linked to the combination of vigorous adiabatic warming generated by subsiding air within the blocking anticyclones and warm air advection supplied by the precursor cyclones. With the increased frequency of extreme GBEs accompanied by precursor cyclones observed during a strong positive phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, recent long‐term increases in GrIS surface melting can be partially attributed to the interaction of these atmospheric and oceanic processes.
Coastal Dunes changes from 1966 to 2001 in the de La Plata River, Uruguay

Hereby we present a historical reconstruction of the coastal landscape for an area of the dune system of Rio de la Plata in Uruguay. In order to achieve our purpose, we performed an analysis of photographs taken of the area in the years 1966, 1976, 1982, 1987, 1994 and 2001, which were loaded to a geographic data system. For a long period of time we detected an increment and advancement of the vegetation coverage towards the coast. Based on a logistic regression, we inferred a transmission pattern predicting that the system would achieve a maximum of 85% coverage via a model of cyrtoid phenomenon. These results make sense once we consider management plans for the restoration of degraded areas, which have been afforested in the past century with the purpose of disrupting the sand dune dynamics and facilitating urban development. Currently, those areas are densely populated with increasing reports of housing and infrastructure destruction due to beach loss and the invasion of exotic species. Our approach incorporates the historical vision of the landscape as a tool for the restoration of degraded ecosystems, and at the same time proposes certain strategies for the management and control of Acacia longifolia, which constitutes the main exotic species that has invaded and modified the dune system of coastal Rio de la Plata.
Mucosal Microbiome in Patients with Early Bowel Polyps: Inferences from Short-Read and Long-Read 16S rRNA Sequencing

Simple Summary Changes in the gut microbiome are associated with bowel cancers, however, less is known about the microbiome during the pre-cancerous bowel polyp stage. This study compared two DNA sequencing technologies to identify the gut microbiome from mucosa of colonoscopy patients diagnosed with bowel polyps or without bowel polyps. We found that different sequencing technologies and bioinformatic pipelines impact on bacterial taxonomy assignments. Overall, there were only minor differences in gut microbiome communities between participants with bowel polyps and those without. However, Ruminococcus gnavus, a bacteria commonly associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was shown to be more abundant in participants with polyps, despite participants with IBD being exclude from this study. This paper adds to our knowledge of the gut microbiome associated with bowel neoplasia. Abstract Numerous studies have correlated dysbiosis in stool microbiota with colorectal cancer (CRC); however, fewer studies have investigated the mucosal microbiome in pre-cancerous bowel polyps. The short-read sequencing of variable regions in the 16S rRNA gene has commonly been used to infer bacterial taxonomy, and this has led, in part, to inconsistent findings between studies. Here, we examined mucosal microbiota from patients who presented with one or more polyps, compared to patients with no polyps, at the time of colonoscopy. We evaluated the results obtained using both short-read and PacBio long-read 16S rRNA sequencing. Neither sequencing technology identified significant differences in microbial diversity measures between patients with or without bowel polyps. Differential abundance measures showed that amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) associated with Ruminococcus gnavus and Escherichia coli were elevated in mucosa from polyp patients, while ASVs associated with Parabacteroides merdae, Veillonella nakazawae, and Sutterella wadsworthensis were relatively decreased. Only R. gnavus was consistently identified using both sequencing technologies as being altered between patients with polyps compared to patients without polyps, suggesting differences in technologies and bioinformatics processing impact study findings. Several of the differentially abundant bacteria identified using either sequencing technology are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases despite these patients being excluded from the current study, which suggests that early bowel neoplasia may be associated with a local inflammatory niche.
Dual comb integrated path DIAL lidar for gas monitoring: design and experimental implementation

We report on the design of a dual comb-based fiber lidar system for Integrated Path Differential Absorption (IPDA) measurements. The system relies on the Dual Comb Spectroscopy (DCS) technique using the lidar return from a hard target. Frequency combs are generated by means of electro-optic modulators. The working principle and architecture of the dual comb lidar are detailed. We present a proof of concept of the lidar system and demonstrate the measurement of a water-vapor absorption line, utilizing a diffuse (non-cooperative) hard target located 200 meters away from the emitter.
INFLAMMABILITIES OF MEDITERRANEAN SPECIES

SUMMARY Flammability parameters of the main forest species of the French Mediterranean ecosystem have been measured during more than a decade. The flammability measurement method is described and the main flammability parameters are defined. Ignition delay decreases quickly at the beginning of summer and then varies according to dryness index, both flammability parameters are related to the amount of rain and the number of days between rainfall and flammability measurement. The variations of the flammability parameters of herbs, shrubs and trees are compared. Shrubs like Erica arborea or Thymus vulgaris present a high or fairly high increment of their flammability marks from spring to fall, some others like Cytisus triflorus remain at a low level even if the season is dry. Quercus ilex and Pinus halepensis flammability marks are not significantly different. Two or three years old pine needles (Pinus pinaster) are more inflammable than one year old needles. Flammability marks of deciduous trees like Castanea sativa or Quercus pubescens always increase in fall and winter. Abies cephalonica or Cedrus atiantica needles are less inflammable than Quercus sp. leaves although these species are conifers. Exponential model describes the relation between ignition delay and dryness index, specific equations have been established. Flammability parameters can be used as wildfire occurrences alarms, during 1989 and 1990 summers, Erica arborea flammability parameters give better predictions than normalised vegetation index collected by N.O. A.A. satellite.
The Cooling Effect of Green Strategies Proposed in the Hanoi Master Plan for Mitigation of Urban Heat Island

This study aims to assess the impacts of land use changes brought by the Hanoi Master Plan on its urban climate using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), focusing on the cooling effect of the green strategies that were proposed in the master plan. The results show that even after implementing the master plan, the peak air temperature in the urban areas still remains at the same level of 41°C. However, the expansion of built-up areas largely increases the UHI intensity and raises the nocturnal air temperatures in the built-up areas. The centralized green spaces proposed in the master plan is seen to be insufficient to mitigate UHIs compared to the equally distributed green spaces. The urban air temperature in Hanoi is increased when the westerly or south-westerly Foehn winds flow over the city during the daytime. In contrast, relatively strong and cool southerly winds prevail during the night-time and contribute to reduction in the nocturnal air temperature in the city.
Perioperative Adverse Outcome and Its Predictors After Emergency Laparotomy Among Sigmoid Volvulus Patients: Retrospective Follow-Up Study

Background Acute sigmoid volvulus is a surgical emergency with closed-loop obstruction of the colon that often requires emergency laparotomy, which is associated with a multitude of post-operative complications. Although sigmoid volvulus is the main cause of intestinal obstruction in Ethiopia, local studies of its management outcomes are limited. Objective To assess the magnitude and predictors of adverse perioperative outcomes of emergency laparotomy for acute sigmoid volvulus in the Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (DMCSH), Amhara region, Ethiopia in 2023. Methods This was a retrospective follow-up study. Descriptive statistics were used to measure perioperative outcomes and other study variables. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify the predictors of adverse surgical outcomes. Associations were considered significant at p < 0.05 (95% confidence interval). Results In total, 170 study participants were enrolled, with a response rate of 91.4%. Forty-nine patients (28.8%) developed perioperative adverse outcomes. Pneumonia (29 patients, 28.1%), surgical site infection (19 patients, 18.4%), and wound dehiscence (10 patients, 9.7%) were the most common complications. Pre-operative shock [AOR: 3.87 (95% CI: (1.22, 12.28))], pus or fecal matter contamination of the peritoneum [AOR: 4.43 (95% CI: (1.35, 14.47)], and a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score [AOR: 2.37 (95% CI: (1.05, 5.34))] were identified as predictors of perioperative adverse events. Conclusion The perioperative adverse outcomes in this study were higher than those reported in Ethiopian national and global reports following emergency laparotomies. Hypotension at presentation, pus and/or fecal matter contamination of the peritoneum, and higher ASA scores are strong predictors of increased perioperative adverse outcomes. Therefore, healthcare providers and institutions involved in the delivery of emergency surgical care should emphasize the importance of early surgical intervention, adequate resuscitation, and patient monitoring to improve perioperative outcomes.
Multi-objective optimization for 3D printed origami crash box cell based on artificial neural networks and NSGA-II

: Composite structures are increasingly used in the automotive industry due to their lightweight and specific energy absorption capabilities, while 3D printing is also widely used in industry because of their high efficiency and high precision. Recently, the Origami crash box (OCB) has been proposed as an energy absorber for automobiles because of their low initial peak load and high average load. Experiments and theory have shown that the energy-absorbing effect of OCB will change significantly with the change in size. Since OCB is composed of multiple OCB cells, therefore, it is necessary to develop a model that can predict the energy absorption effect according to scale change of OCB cell. And this model is utilized to optimize the size to maximize its energy absorption capability while reducing the initial peak force. This paper explores the energy absorption effect of 3D printed OCB, which is made of carbon fiber-reinforced nylon in the same wight and thickness with a stable surface area of 14400mm 2 . The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model which used Mean Squared Error (MSE) to measure its accuracy is established to predict high non-linear behavior of OCB cell at different size. And then the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) in which initial Peak Crush Force (PCF) and Energy Absorption (EA) are used as optimization metrics, is applied to complete the multi-objective optimization. The utilized ANN model precisely predicts the variation of load capability with displacement in different size of OCB cell with an MSE as 0. 046kN², energy error as 5.97J and PCF error as 0.17kN. A configuration of OCB is generated by NSGA-II shows superior performance than standard OCB cell. In terms of prediction, there is a 13.5% decrease in PCF, reducing it from 2.75 kN to 2.38 kN, while EA experiences a 7.8% increase, rising from 34.5 J to 37.2 J. In experimental results, PCF exhibits a 14% reduction, decreasing from 3.08 kN to 2.65 kN, while EA shows a 14.3% increase, climbing from 30.61 J to 35 J.
Nanosizing of Lavender, Basil, and Clove Essential Oils into Microemulsions for Enhanced Antioxidant Potential and Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activities

Plant essential oils (EOs) possess significant bioactivities (antibacterial and antioxidant) and can be substituted for potentially harmful synthetic preservatives in the food industry. However, limited water solubility, bioavailability, volatility, and stability limit their use. Therefore, the goal of this research was nanosizing lavender essential oil (LEO), basil essential oil (BEO), and clove essential oil (CEO) in a microemulsion (ME) to improve their physicochemical attributes and bioefficacy. Tween 80 and Transcutol P were utilized for construction of pseudoternary phase diagrams. It was observed that the concentration of EOs had a great impact on the physicochemical and biological properties of MEs. A spherical droplet of MEs with a diameter of less than 20 nm with a narrower size distribution (polydispersity index (PDI) = 0.10–0.27) and a ζ potential of −0.27 to −9.03 was observed. ME formulations were also evaluated for viscosity, conductivity, and the refractive index. Moreover, the impact of delivery systems on the antibacterial property of EOs was assessed by determining the zone of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration against two distinct pathogen classes (S. aureus and E. coli). Crystal violet assay was used to measure the growth and development of biofilms. According to bioefficacy assays, ME demonstrated more efficient antibacterial activity against microorganisms at concentrations lower than pure EOs. CEO ME had superior activity againstS. aureus and E. coli. Similarly, dose-dependent antioxidant capacity was noted for MEs. Consequently, nanosized EO formulations with improved physicochemical properties and enhanced bioactivities can be employed in the food processing sector as a preservation agent.
Design, Analysis and Implementation of Semantic Web Applications

: Semantic Search Engine (SSE) has been developed to improve Kumbotso Teacher Educator Journal (KUTEJ) search engine, the software architecture implement an applications in the Semantic Web, based on designs and implementation specified in the Semantic Search Method (SSM). This architecture relies heavily on the ontology that structure underlying data for the purpose of comprehensive and transportable machine understanding. Therefore, the success of the Semantic Web depends strongly on the proliferation of ontology. Ontology model has been used in defining the concept and the association about the SSM.
Conceptualizing a Socio-technical Model for Evaluating AI-driven Technology

Socio-technical models have been developed to address challenges inherent to complex systems. The goal of this paper was to conceptualize a comprehensive socio-technical model, integrating technological and measurement-based dimensions of AI technology with socio-technical dimensions. This model addresses current limitations in operationalizing AI-driven technology interventions in complex adaptive environments. Building off of previous models, eight dimensions were identified to account for factors influencing the success of AI-driven technology interventions in complex, adaptive organizations, including hardware and software; content; user interface; people; workflow and communication; organizational policies, procedure, and culture; external rules, regulations, and forces; and measurement and monitoring. This model provides new avenues of thinking regarding socio-technical dimensions for adopting AI-driven technology by organizations and how these can be accounted for in AI-driven technology interventions and research.