Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pesticide Traders' Perception of Health Risks: Evidence from Bangladesh

As pesticide traders are important sources of information about the health impacts of pesticides, a crucial understanding of their perception is necessary to guide further pesticide information dissemination efforts through this channel. To this end, a 2003 survey of 110 Bangladeshi pesticide traders was conducted with questions on the pesticides in stock, knowledge and training in pesticide use and handling, sources of information, protective measures, and health effects. A two-equation bivariate probit model was initially estimated for health impairment and trader perception with health effects as an endogenous regressor in the perception equation. Results indicate that pesticide toxicity, exposure in terms of number of years spent in the pesticide business, trader's age (experience), and the interaction between the most harmful pesticides and training received in pesticide use and handling were the significant determinants of health impairment status. Risk perception was determined by actual health impairment status, pesticide toxicity, the average number of hours spent in the shop per day, training, and the interaction term between highly toxic substances and training. The evidence suggests that the current information content may not be effective, and thus training programs should be revised with a greater emphasis on health hazards and averting behavior.
Trends and determinants of domestic private investment in Ethiopia: Time series analysis

Abstract The Ethiopian Investment Commission was established to formulate suitable investment policy with good investment climate that enables investors to operate in a more macroeconomic friendly environment. Despite all efforts, domestic private investment in Ethiopia is still in its early stages. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the trends and determinants of domestic private investment in Ethiopia using a time series data over the period 1992–2022. To meet its goal, the study employed an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach through E-views version 12. The findings show that domestic private investment was negatively and significantly affected by the inflation rate, public investment, and real effective exchange rate over a period of both the short- and long-run. While domestic credit to the private sector, foreign direct investment, real GDP and trade openness were found to have positive and significant effect on domestic private investment in long run. Unemployment rate was found to have positive and significant effect in short run but insignificant in long run. Annual interest rate was found negative significant effect in short run but insignificant in long run. While total government expenditure was insignificant in both short and long run. Inflation has a negative relation with domestic private investment in both short and long run, therefore the study suggested that policymakers should recognize the cause for fluctuations in inflation and keep in a stable manner.
Influencing factors uncertainty of profile control and gray association analysis

In order to study the influencing factors for profile control,the profile control measures were regarded as gray system.By the gray association analysis method,the association degree of different influencing factors with the profile control effect was analyzed,and the main influencing factors were determined.The results of profile control of 29 wells in recent three years of Dongxin Oilfield were analyzed with gray association method.Seven factors were selected.The factors in order of decreasing influencing degree are water cut,well group connectivity,profile control times,profile control agent volume,permeability variation coefficient,crude oil viscosity and well group reserves.
Evaluating permafrost definitions for global permafrost area estimates in CMIP6 climate models

Global permafrost regions are undergoing significant changes due to global warming, whose assessments often rely on permafrost extent estimates derived from climate model simulations. These assessments employ a range of definitions for the presence of permafrost, leading to inconsistencies in the calculation of permafrost area. Here, we present permafrost area calculations using 10 different definitions for detecting permafrost presence based on either ground thermodynamics, soil hydrology, or air–ground coupling from an ensemble of 32 Earth system models. We find that variations between permafrost-presence definitions result in substantial differences of up to 18 million km2, where any given model could both over- or underestimate the present-day permafrost area. Ground-thermodynamic-based definitions are, on average, comparable with observations but are subject to a large inter-model spread. The associated uncertainty of permafrost area estimates is reduced in definitions based on ground–air coupling. However, their representation of permafrost area strongly depends on how each model represents the ground–air coupling processes. The definition-based spread in permafrost area can affect estimates of permafrost-related impacts and feedbacks, such as quantifying permafrost carbon changes. For instance, the definition spread in permafrost area estimates can lead to differences in simulated permafrost-area soil carbon changes of up to 28%. We therefore emphasize the importance of consistent and well-justified permafrost-presence definitions for robust projections and accurate assessments of permafrost from climate model outputs.
The Key Role of Cyclic Electron Flow in the Recovery of Photosynthesis in the Photobiont during Rehydration of the Lichen Cladonia stellaris

Lichens are poikilohydric organisms and an important part of the ecosystem. They show high desiccation tolerance, but the mechanism of dehydration resistance still needs to be studied. The photosynthesis recovery of the photobiont in rehydrated lichen Cladonia stellaris after 11-year desiccation was investigated by simultaneously monitoring both photosystem I and II (PSI and PSII) activities. The responses of the photochemical efficiency and relative electron transport rate (rETR) of PSI and PSII, and the quantum yield of the cyclic electron flow (CEF) were measured using a Dual-PAM-100 system. PSI recovered rapidly, but PSII hardly recovered in C. stellaris during rehydration. The maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) was generally very low and reached about just 0.4 during the rehydration. These results indicated that PSII had restored little and was largely inactivated during rehydration. The quantum yield of PSI recovered quickly to almost 0.9 within 4 h and remained constant at nearly 1 thereafter. The results showed that the activation of the CEF in the early stages of rehydration helped the rapid recovery of PSI. The quantum yield of the CEF made up a considerable fraction of the quantum yield of PSI during rehydration. A regulated excess energy dissipation mechanism and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) also recovered. However, the small extent of the recovery of the NPQ was not enough to dissipate the excess energy during rehydration, which may be responsible for the weak activity of PSII during rehydration. The results indicated that both CEF and NPQ were essential during the rehydration of the photobiont in C. stellaris. The methods used in the measurements of chlorophyll a fluorescence and P700+ absorbance changes in this study provided a speedy and simple way to detect the physiological characteristics of the photobionts of lichen during rehydration. This work improves our understanding of the mechanism behind lichen’s desiccation tolerance.
U–Pb and Sm–Nd geochronology of the Kızıldağ (Hatay, Turkey) ophiolite: implications for the timing and duration of suprasubduction zone type oceanic crust formation in the southern Neotethys

Abstract The Kızıldağ (Hatay) ophiolite in Turkey represents remnants of the southern Neotethyan ocean and is characterized by a complete ocean lithospheric section. It formed in a fore-arc setting above a N-dipping intraoceanic subduction zone, and represents the undeformed, more northerly part of the same thrust sheet that also forms the Baer–Bassit ophiolite to the south. The ophiolite was emplaced southwards from the southerly Neotethyan ocean in Maastrichtian time. U–Pb and Sm–Nd dates are used to constrain the crystallization age and duration of magmatic activity of the Kızıldağ ophiolite. U–Pb dating yielded ages of 91.7 ± 1.9 Ma for a plagiogranite and 91.6 ± 3.8 Ma for a cumulate gabbro. The cumulate gabbro also yielded a Sm–Nd isochron age of 95.3 ± 6.9 Ma. The measured ages suggest that the oceanic crust of the Kızıldağ ophiolite formed in a maximum time period of 6 Ma, and that the plagiogranite may have formed later than the gabbroic section. The U–Pb zircon ages from the Kızıldağ ophiolite and the cooling age of a metamorphic sole beneath the Baer–Bassit ophiolite are indistinguishable within the analytical uncertainties. This indicates the presence of young and hot oceanic lithosphere at the time of intraoceanic subduction/thrusting in the southern Neotethys. The U–Pb zircon ages from the Kızıldağ, the Troodos and the Semail ophiolites overlap within analytical uncertainties, suggesting that these ophiolites are contemporaneous and genetically and tectonically related within the same Late Cretaceous southern Neotethyan ocean.
Mineralogy, Pedology and Remote Sensing: A Multi- scaled Approach to Potassium Deficiency Risk in California Vineyards

1. Develop and modifying map of benchmark sites on landscapes for sampling. 2. Collect soil samples, characterize, and measure reflectance within stratified landscapes of Woodbridge-Lodi Wine Grape District (WLWGD). 3. Analyze spectral data and compare to collaborators' x-ray diffraction and potassium fixation analyses. 4. Classify images, when available, by applying spectral models within GIS-stratified images of WLWGD and Carneros District. 5. Additional soil characterization with validation samples collected within image classes. 6. Analyze spectral data of validation samples, refine spectral predictive models for minerals and potassium fixation. 7. Repeat image classification in both districts with refined models. Objectives 1 to 3 were addressed in 2007 with objectives 4 to 7 to be addressed during 2008 through acquisition of hyperspectral images of the wine districts. The results to date have demonstrated a spectral relationship to the minerals within the geomorphic regions and the predictive ability of mineral spectroscopy for potassium fixation.
Design Optimization of Feeding Networks with a Special Size for Self-Interference Cancellation

This letter introduces an effective self-interference cancellation (SIC) for improving isolation between transmit (Tx) ports and receive (Rx) ports of an in-band full-duplex antenna with feeding networks (FNs). A significant isolation improvement is realized by replacing the traditional FNs of the antenna with SICFNs. The coupling between Tx and Rx ports is canceled in the FNs due to the specific power ratios and phase difference. Though a Python optimization procedure, the optimal values of the key parameters of the SIC FNs can be determined. To validate the proposed SIC technique, the prototype consisting of two four-element antenna arrays and four SICFNs designed with the technique is fabricated. The results of measurements performed in an anechoic chamber show an isolation improvement of 15 dB at 3.6 GHz, while only 0.3 dB gain loss for the antenna array as a sacrifice is observed.
Inversion of a hyper-extended rifted margin in the Southern Central Range of Taiwan

Seismic reflection and wide-angle data acquired across, south, and west of Taiwan show that extended to hyper-extended continental crust of the Chinese continental margin is present more than 200 km south of the shelf and is subducting at the Manila Trench. Furthermore, crustal-scale tomographic velocity models show that this crust is underthrusted to ∼15 km depth below the accretionary prism, where it then is structurally underplated to the base of the prism. We document an increasing volume of accreted crust from south to north, and in our northern transect high-velocity material of the accretionary prism can be directly linked to outcrops of Central Range basement rocks. In map view the Central Range of Taiwan is clearly contiguous with the Hengchun Peninsula and Hengchun submarine ridge to the south. Accordingly, we propose a new model in which the Central Range forms directly from the accretionary prism, including the basement core, which originates from subducted, and then accreted, extended to hyper-extended continental crust.
Symptom Burden of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Attending the Westmead Breathlessness Service: Prevalence, Associations, and Sex-Related Differences

Purpose Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease resulting in a range of symptoms including breathlessness. “Symptom burden” describes the severity and impact of multiple symptoms in an individual and is best quantified using validated symptom instruments but is not routinely measured in clinical practice. Therefore, we wanted to assess overall symptom burden in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD and find associated independent predictors. Patients and methods A single-centre cross-sectional study of patients with COPD who attended the Westmead Breathlessness Service between March 2017 and May 2022 was conducted. We obtained baseline demographic data, lung function, assessed quality of life (CAT), anxiety/depression (HADS), and measured symptom burden (CMSAS). We compared variables between men and women using unpaired t tests or Mann–Whitney tests for continuous variables, and Fisher’s exact tests for categorical variables. We used multiple regression to look for independent predictors of overall symptom burden. Data were analysed using Stata/IC 15.1. Results Eighty-nine patients with COPD, mean age 72.6 years, 55% male, mean FEV1 32% predicted, reported an average of 8.9 symptoms including 6.9 physical and 1.6 psychological symptoms. The most common physical symptoms were shortness of breath (100%) and lack of energy (80%), and the most common psychological symptoms were worrying (65%) and feeling anxious (61%). Median CMSAS total score was higher in women than men (1.34 versus 1.04, respectively; p=0.03) with more women experiencing nervousness (p=0.011) and anxiety (p=0.005). Female sex (p=0.003), HADS-Anxiety (p=0.0001), and HADS-Depression (p=0.0001) were independently associated with total CMSAS score in a multiple linear regression model and explained 63% of total CMSAS variability. Conclusion Very high physical and psychological symptom burden exists among patients with severe COPD. Anxiety, depression, and female sex were independently associated with increasing symptom burden. Identifying and understanding sex differences for COPD symptoms, and interventions targeting anxiety and depression may help to reduce overall symptom burden within this population.
Exploring the Impact of Students Demographic Attributes on Performance Prediction through Binary Classification in the KDP Model

During the course of this research, binary classification and the Knowledge Discovery Process (KDP) were used. The experimental and analytical capabilities of Rapid Miner's 9.10. 010 instructional environment are supported by five different classifiers. Included in the analysis were 2334 entries, 17 characteristics, and one class variable containing the students' average score for the semester. There were twenty experiments carried out. During the studies, 10-fold cross-validation and ratio split validation, together with bootstrap sampling, were used. It was determined whether or not to use the Random Forest (RF), Rule Induction (RI), Naive Bayes (NB), Logistic Regression (LR), or Deep Learning (DL) methods. RF outperformed the other four methods in all six selection measures, with an accuracy of 93.96%. According to the RF classifier model, the level of education that a child's parents have is a major factor in that child's academic performance before entering higher education.
Validation of Satellite Precipitation Adjustment Methodology From Seven Basins in the Continental United States 1

Tobin, Kenneth J. and Marvin E. Bennett, 2012. Validation of Satellite Precipitation Adjustment Methodology From Seven Basins in the Continental United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 221‐234. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011. 00604.x
Phasic and repetitive self-touch differ in hemodynamic response in the prefrontal cortex–An fNIRS study

Introduction Each individual touches the own body several 100 times a day. While some researchers propose a self-regulatory function of self-touch, others report that self-touching increases nervousness. This controversy appears to be caused by the fact that researchers did not define the kind of self-touch they examined and actually, referred to different types of self-touch. Thus, kinematically defining different types of self-touch, such as phasic (discrete), repetitive, and irregular, and exploring the neural correlates of the different types will provide insight into the neuropsychological function of self-touching behavior. Methods To this aim, we assessed hemodynamic responses in prefrontal brain areas using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and behavioral responses with NEUROGES®. Fifty-two participants were recorded during three specific kinematically types of self-touch (phasic, irregular, repetitive) that were to be performed on command. The recently developed toolbox Satori was used for the visualization of neuronal processes. Results Behaviorally, the participants did not perform irregular self-touch reliably. Neurally, the comparison of phasic, irregular and repetitive self-touch revealed different activation patterns. Repetitive self-touch is associated with stronger hemodynamic responses in the left Orbitofrontal Cortex and the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex than phasic self-touch. Discussion These brain areas have been reported to be associated with self-regulatory processes. Furthermore, irregular self-touch appears to be primarily generated by implicit neural control. Thus, by distinguishing kinematically different types of self-touch, our findings shed light on the controverse discussion on the neuropsychological function of self-touch.
Feasibility Studies of Treated Used Cooking Palm Oil as Precursor for Bio-Lubricant

The non-renewability and and non-biodegradability of petroleum based lubricants as well as the environmental impacts their waste contributes to the environment has caused the search for a substitute for precursor of lubricant formulation. The food security issue has caused major concerns on how vegetable oil could replace petroleum based product lubricants. This paper reports the feasibility studies of kinematic viscosity, friction and wear properties of treated used cooking palm oil as precursor for development of new bio-lubricant. The treated used cooking palm oil displayed a comparable value of kinematic viscosity of 43.6cSt, coefficient of friction of 0.126 and 122µm which is almost similar to the value of fresh cooking palm oil. Treated used cooking palm oil is seen to be a suitable candidate for precursor of bio-lubricant formulation, However, some additives may need to be added as to increase the tribological properties for treated used cooking oil to be used as a bio-lubricant.
Learning Deep Scene Curve for Fast and Robust Underwater Image Enhancement

Learning-based approaches inspired by the scattering model for enhancing underwater imagery have gained prominence. Nevertheless, these methods often suffer from time-consuming attributable to their sizable model dimensions. Moreover, they face challenges in adapting unknown scenes, primarily because the scattering model's original design was intended for atmospheric rather than marine condition. To address these obstacles, we begin by investigating the inherent differences in imaging characteristics between atmospheric and marine conditions based on statistical distributions. Building on these observations, we introduce an efficient and effective algorithm called Deep Scene Curve, abbreviated as DSC. This method comprises two essential steps: scene-irrelevant zero-mean adjustment and scene-oriented hyperparameter estimation. The first step transforms scene features into a unified zero-mean space, thereby reducing interference from scene-specific attributes. In the second step, we employ a lightweight neural network to estimate scene-oriented hyperparameters for a defined pixel-level curve based on underwater observations. This approach enables us to generate a deep curve that excels in both adaptability and efficiency, as substantiated by extensive experiments. Notably, our method achieves a significant 56% improvement in average inference time while reducing FLOPs by 92% compared to existing techniques. Furthermore, our extensive experiments in low-light image enhancement tasks highlight the potential advantages of DSC.
An improved high-order rotated staggered finite-difference algorithm for simulating seismic waves in heterogeneous viscoelastic media

By comparing the standard and staggered grid methods, a high-order rotated staggered grid algorithm has been developed for simulating seismic wave propagation in heterogeneous viscoelastic or transverse isotropic media. Numerical simulation results show that, staggered high-order staggered FD method is better than staggered pseudo-spectral method in modelling heterogeneous anisotropic or viscolastic media. Based on the algorithm, a uniform random function is used to establish random models with two kinds of components, i. e. , clays and pure sandstones. These two media consist of various synthetic shale sand formations and are simulated for various clay contents. Elastic wave velocities and attenuations for various clay contents are simulated properly at the frequency around 10 kHz to 100 kHz. The numerical results show that our developed algorithms can be used for modelling composite media for studying elastic wave attenuation and velocity variation. The modelling analyses demonstrate that, the more the clay particles in the models, the more reflected backscattering produced when the wave length is around equal to the 10 times of the minimum size of the clays.
Evaluating near infrared spectroscopy for field prediction of soil properties.

This paper demonstrates the application of near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (NIR-DRS) measurements as part of digital soil mapping. We also investigate whether calibration functions developed from a spectral library can be used for rapid characterisation of soil properties in the field. Soil samples were collected along 24 toposequences in the Pokolbin irrigation district, ~7 km2 of predominantly agricultural land in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. Soil samples at 2 depths: 0–0.10 and 0.40–0.50 m were collected. The soil samples were scanned using NIR under 3 different conditions: field condition, dried unground, and dried ground. A separate spectral library containing soil laboratory measurements was used to develop functions to predict 3 main soil properties from NIR spectra (total C content, clay content, and sum of exchangeable cations). The absorbance spectra were found to be different for the 3 soil conditions. The field spectra appear to have higher absorbance, followed by dried unground samples and then dried ground samples. Although most spectral signatures or peaks were similar for the 3 soil conditions, field samples appear to have higher absorbance, particularly at 1400 nm and 1900 nm. The convex hull of the first 2 principal components of the soil spectra is an easy tool to evaluate the similarity of spectra from a calibration set to an observation. For field prediction, samples need to be calibrated using field samples. Finally, this study shows that NIR-DRS measurement is a useful part of digital soil mapping.