Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Saving resources and the climate? A systematic review of the circular economy and its mitigation potential

To achieve the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, transformative actions are needed. The circular economy (CE) is one concept that gained popularity in recent years, with its proclaimed selling point to combine economic development with benefits to businesses, society, and the environment. However, definitions of CE diverge, applications appear across vastly different settings, and overall there is a lack of understanding of how much CE strategies can contribute to climate change mitigation (mitigation). We systematically screened 3244 records in Web of Science and Scopus, restricted to papers in English. We then selected studies against pre-determined eligibility criteria that, had to (1) refer explicitly to CE or closely related concepts (e.g. performance economy, cradle-to-cradle, material or product efficiency); and (2) refer to a climate change mitigation potential. We identified 341 studies, summarized, and grouped into six sectors (industry, waste, energy, buildings, transport, and agriculture). These sectors are not completely mutually exclusive, but partially overlapping. Nonetheless, sectoral classifications relate to existing categorizations and map well with international assessments of climate change mitigations, such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Our review sets out to summarize the results of the scientific literature on the extent to which CE strategies can contribute to mitigation. Even though our query explicitly required a consideration of climate change, only 10% of all studies contributed insights on how the CE can support mitigation. We find that the highest saving potential is evidenced in the industry, energy, and transport sector; mid-range savings in the waste and building sector; and lowest gains are to be expected in agriculture. The majority of studies investigate incremental measures claiming but not demonstrating climate change mitigation. Most studies indicate potential but implementation remains weak. Assessments should move from attributional to consequential analysis to avoid misleading policy makers.
Late Pleistocene environments of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming-Montana, USA

Abstract Limited numbers of high-resolution records predate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) making it difficult to quantify the impacts of environmental changes prior to peak glaciation. We examined sediments from Last Canyon Cave in the Pryor Mountains of Montana and Wyoming to construct a >45 ka environmental record from pollen and stable isotope analysis. Artemisia pollen was hyper-abundant at the beginning of the record. Carbon isotope values of bulk organic matter (>40 ka) showed little variation (-25.3 ± 0.4‰) and were consistent with a arid C3 environment, similar to today. After 40 cal ka BP, Artemisia pollen decreased as herbaceous taxa increased toward the LGM. A significant decrease in δ13C values from 40–30 cal ka BP (~1.0‰) established a new baseline (-26.6 ± 0.2‰), suggesting cooler, seasonally wetter conditions prior to the LGM. These conditions persisted until variation in δ13C values increased significantly with post-glacial warming, marked by two spikes in values at 14.4 (-25.2‰) and 13.5 cal ka BP (-25.4‰) before δ13C values dropped to their lowest values (-26.9 ± 0.2‰) at the onset of the Younger Dryas (12.8 ka). These results provide insights into late Pleistocene conditions and ecological change in arid intermontane basins of the Rocky Mountains.
College Students’ Entrepreneurial Mindset: Educational Experiences Override Gender and Major

Entrepreneurship education has been popularly adopted in higher education contexts. Although evidence-based implementations of such education are widely acknowledged as beneficial, valid assessments of it are sparse. One possible outcome of entrepreneurship education is a change in students’ entrepreneurial mindset, which can be measured by the recently validated College Students’ Entrepreneurial Mindset Scale (CS-EMS). However, this scale awaits evidence regarding measurement invariance. This study aims to (1) examine measurement invariance of the CS-EMS; (2) compare the latent and observed means across groups based on gender, major, and educational experiences; and (3) investigate the conditional effects of the three grouping variables. Using data from 317 Korean college students’ survey responses, we conducted sequential tests of factorial invariance and latent mean comparisons using multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis. Additionally, the conditional effects of the gender, major, and educational experiences were tested by structural equation modeling. The results indicate that strict invariance held for the groups compared by either gender or educational experiences, while scalar invariance held between the engineering and non-engineering groups. While the male, engineering, and educational experience groups generally scored higher on both the latent and observed sub-scales, the results of the conditional effects of grouping variables indicated that educational experiences mattered most. One practical implication for the educators is that the CS-EMS is a promising assessment tool for addressing the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education, especially when the targeted educational goals are any of its sub-constructs.
Knowledge, attitudes and prevention practices regarding HIV/AIDS among barbers in Ho municipality, Ghana

Barbering poses risks of HIV transmission if it is not conducted in a hygienic manner. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and prevention practices regarding HIV transmission among barbers in the Ho Municipality, Ghana. A cross-sectional design was employed in Ho Municipality, and data were collected from 121 participants and analysed using Stata version 13.0 at the significance level of 0.05. Knowledge was low (63.6%) and was associated with attitude [COR=4.37 (95% CI: 1.98–9.62); p<0.001] and with level of education [COR=4.92 (95% CI: 1.70–14.21); p=0.003]. Attitude was inadequate (58.7%) and was associated with level of education [COR=3.47 (95% CI: 1.18–10.14); p=0.023]. Poor prevention practice was high (87.6%) and was associated with work experience [COR=20.72 (95% CI: 3.86–111.05); p<0.001] and location of operation [COR=4.92 (95% CI: 1.60–15.14); p=0.006]. Programmes aimed at improving knowledge, attitudes and practices should focus on Barbers in urban communities, those without any formal education, and those with less than five years work experience.
Sexual Reproduction in Pocillopora damicornis at High Latitude off South Africa

Sexual reproduction in Pocillopora damicornis was studied off Durban in South Africa (29°S), close to its southern most distribution in Africa. This was compared with P. damicornis reproduction on tropical reefs to ascertain how corals may adapt their reproduction on marginal reefs. Monthly gametogenesis was correlated with SST, light intensity, and day length. P. damicornis proved to be a hermaphroditic broadcast spawner in South Africa and had a higher fecundity than its tropical counterparts. However, its gamete development was slow (6-7 months) and confined to the warmer months of the year at this high latitude. Its reproductive pattern was similar to that found in this species in south Western Australia (32°S). Spawning in P. damicornis off South Africa occurred at the end of the summer and was inferred from the disappearance of mature gamete in April 2008. No correlation was found between monthly mean gamete diameter and light intensity or day length, but the increase in gamete size was correlated with a rise in SST, suggesting that this parameter regulates its spawning. The lower SST at high latitude may account for its extended gametogenesis and late spawning.
OIL PRODUCTS CONSUMPTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN CAMEROON HOUSEHOLDS: AN ASSESSMENT USING ARDL COINTEGRATION AND GRANGER CAUSALITY ANALYSIS

This study identifies the factors accoun table for the historical growth trends in kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption in Cameroon households, thereby quantifying their short- and long-run effects for the period 1994-2014. ARDL bound test and Granger-causality following Toda-Yamamoto procedure under an augmented VAR framework are estimated. Empirical results validate the presence of a long-run equilibrium relationship on one hand between kerosene consumption, prices, income, and urbanization; and on the other hand between LPG consumption, prices, income, and urbanization. Prices, income and urbanization have significant positive impact on kerosene and LPG consumption both in the short- and long-runs, with evidence of high degree of fuel substitution from kerosene to LPG. Granger causality test show that there exists bidirectional causality between LPG consumption and income at the 5% significance level, whereas there is no causality between kerosene consumption and income. This means that an increase in LPG consumption affects economic growth with feedback effect. Consequently, supporting energy policies aimed at increasing LPG consumption while reducing kerosene consumption is achievable in Cameroon. Other captious policy measures and sensitive issues such as market liberalization, energy accretion programs and market competitiveness to upgrade availability, accessibility, distribution and extension of energy services are discussed.
Phenolic and Fatty Acid Profile, and Protein Content of Different Walnut Cultivars and Genotypes (Juglans regia L.) Grown in the USA

ABSTRACT Total phenol, phenolic compound, total oil, fatty acid, protein contents of walnut kernels from nine different cultivars and six genotypes grown in the USA were investigated. Total phenolic content was found to range from 540.08 to 1067.81 mg GAE/100 g dw, with three cultivars containing a value of or over 1000 mg GAE/100 g dw. A total of seven phenolic compounds were quantified, and their quantity were greatly varied among the cultivars/genotypes. Ellagic acid was the most abundant phenolic compound, varying from 20.03 to 97.23 mg/kg. Total oil component ranged from 53.17% to 65.92% with an average value of ca. 60%. As a saturated fatty acid type, myristic, palmitic, stearic, and arachidic acid; as an unsaturated acid type, linoleic, linolenic acid, oleic, and palmitoleic acid were quantified. Palmitic acid was the predominant saturated fatty acid compound and ranged from 5.74% to 9.49%; linoleic acid was the predominant unsaturated fatty acid compound and ranged from 58.96% to 66.07%. Protein content percentage was notably varied among cultivars and genotypes, ranging from 13.57% to 25.72% with an average value of ca. 21%. These results indicate that the walnut kernel is a good source of fat, phenolics, and proteins, and its abundance are greatly cultivar/genotype-dependent.
An Enhanced Percolation Method for Automatic Detection of Cracks in Concrete Bridges

As cracks on concrete bridges become severer and more frequent, methods of detecting cracks on concrete bridges have aroused great concern. Conventional methods, e.g., manual detection and equipment-aided detection, suffer from subjectivity and inefficiency, which increases demands for an accurate and efficient method to detect bridge cracks. To this end, we modify the existing percolation method and propose an enhanced percolation method, which detects cracks of concrete bridges automatically. The modification includes three improvements, which are (1) employing photo expansion to eliminate boundary effects, (2) varying shape factors to increase the accuracy of percolating unclear cracks, and (3) decreasing the number of neighbouring pixels to form candidate sets. Combined with the above three improvements, three versions of enhanced percolation methods utilizing three different shape factors are put forward. The numerical experiment on detecting cracks in 200 images of the bridge surface demonstrates the outperformance of the enhanced percolation method in precision, recall, F-1 score, and time compared with traditional detecting methods. The proposed method can be generalized on the application of detecting other types of bridge diseases, which is an advantage for designing, maintaining, and restoring infrastructures.
The Origin Of Varanus: When Fossils, Morphology, And Molecules Alone Are Never Enough

One of the many interesting questions in evolutionary studies of varanid lizards is the origin of the genus Varanus. The fossil record indicates the earliest emergence of this genus on Gondwana, although the remains of early varanid lizards have been discovered in Laurasia. The relationships among extant Varanus can generally be inferred using molecular phylogenetic techniques, although several attempts to generate a phylogeny of Varanus have used morphological characters. We identify two key-regions of global dispersal for varanid lizards that may be used to test hypotheses on the origin of this genus in a phylogeographic framework. The landmass currently connecting Africa and Asia as well as the Lesser Sunda Islands in southern Wallacea may have facilitated intercontinental radiation of varanid lizards, which are distributed in Africa, Asia, and Australia. We consider that an integrated approach such as phylogeography might better explain the origin of this charismatic lizard group than any single analytical method. Biawak, Vol. 4 No. 4. 2010. P: 117-124
Interpreting biological variation: seeds, populations and sensitivity thresholds

Abstract Seeds offer a unique perspective from which to view biology. An individual seed is an autonomous biological entity that must rely on its own resources (and resourcefulness) to persist after dispersal and to time its transition to germination and seedling growth to coincide with environmental opportunities for survival. At the same time, seed biology in agriculture and ecology is determined largely by the behaviours of populations of individual seeds. The percentage of seeds in a population that is in a particular state (e.g. dormant, germinated, dead) at a given time is a fundamental metric of seed biology. This duality of individual diversity underlying consistent population-wide behaviour patterns can be described quantitatively using population-based threshold (PBT) models. While conceptually simple, these models are highly flexible and can describe the wide diversity of responses of seed populations to temperature, water potential, hormones, oxygen, light, ageing and combinations of these factors. This seed behaviour is linked to respiratory rates of individual seeds, indicating that basic metabolic processes within seeds vary among individuals in accordance with PBT principles. Looking more broadly across microbial, plant and animal biology, examples of cellular diversity in hormonal sensitivity, gene expression, developmental responses and signalling abound. This variation often is termed ‘noise’, and analysis efforts are focused on extracting mean signals from this variation to understand regulatory pathways. However, extension of the PBT approach to the cellular and molecular levels suggests that population sensitivity distributions and recruitment phenomena may underlie many fundamental biological processes. Thus, concepts and quantitative approaches developed for the analysis of seed populations can be applied across biological scales from molecules to ecosystems to interpret inherent biological variation and provide mechanistic insights into the nature of biological regulatory systems.
Effect of Mass Multiplication Media on Sporulation, Field Efficacy and Shelf Life of Beauveria bassiana against Rhizome and Pseudostem Weevils of Banana

The pseudostem weevil, Odoiporus longicollis (Olivier) and rhizome weevil Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) are considered as major insect pests of banana in all the countries of the world. Studies were made on the virulence of the fungal pathogen Beauveria bassiana against these pests in relation to the mass production media and also the method of application under field conditions. Among the various methods, spraying the conidia spore suspension of B.bassiana 17-6 and immersion of the weevils in spore suspension recorded 100% adult mortality of both pseudostem and rhizome weevils in 6 days. Use of rice chaffy grains recorded maximum spore production (6 × 10 10 CFU g -1 ) and significant mortality. Of the different methods of application, traps swabbed with rice chaffy grain formulation registered higher degree of weevil catch reduction in infestation levels and yield of banana than the maize formulation. Our study showed that the use of 17-6 isolate of B.bassiana has potential as a biological control agent of rhizome and pseudostem weevils.
Canine and human dirofilariosis in Slovakia (2005–2015)

In the past several years in particular, climatic changes but also various anthropogenic factors have caused canine dirofilariosis to gradually expand from endemic foci situated in southern European countries to formerly unaffected areas of central and eastern Europe. In Slovakia, Dirofilaria repens was for the first time detected in dogs in 2005, and since then over 4,000 dogs have been investigated and several epidemiological factors have been considered. The first long-term epidemiological research presented here revealed the mean prevalence in individual regions between 2.0% in northern Slovakia and more than 25.0% in the southwestern part of the country with D. repens confirmed as a dominant causative agent. Canine dirofilariosis occurred more often in animals older than 3 years, in dogs of large and giant breed size and short-haired animals. The infection was significantly more prevalent in animals kept in rural areas in comparison to urban environments. Counts of microfilariae in dogs ́ peripheral blood reached the highest levels in May and August. Moreover, an experiment that traced daily microfilarial periodicity in two infested dogs showed the same tendency with peak of circulating mf recorded at 4 a.m. and minimal mf counts at 4 p.m. The first human case of dirofilariosis in Slovakia was diagnosed in 2007, two years after the infection had been observed in Slovak dog population. Since then, ten human cases caused by D. repens have been registered at Institute of Parasitology SAS: seven subcutaneous, two ocular and one pulmonary, but it is likely that a lot of cases are undiagnosed seeing that this infection is still omitted by physicians. Seven of the patients were males and three of them were females; the age of patients varied between 15 and 72 (mean 49). Only two of them lived in northern part of Slovakia, the rest eight affected people came from southern regions of the country considered to be an endemic area for canine dirofilariosis.
Molecular mechanisms of cancer cachexia-induced muscle atrophy

Muscle atrophy is a severe clinical problem involving the loss of muscle mass and strength that frequently accompanies the development of numerous types of cancer, including pancreatic, lung and gastric cancers. Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by a continuous decline in skeletal muscle mass that cannot be reversed by conventional nutritional therapy. The pathophysiological characteristic of cancer cachexia is a negative protein and energy balance caused by a combination of factors, including reduced food intake and metabolic abnormalities. Numerous necessary cellular processes are disrupted by the presence of abnormal metabolites, which mediate several intracellular signaling pathways and result in the net loss of cytoplasm and organelles in atrophic skeletal muscle during various states of cancer cachexia. Currently, the clinical morbidity and mortality rates of patients with cancer cachexia are high. Once a patient enters the cachexia phase, the consequences are difficult to reverse and the treatment methods for cancer cachexia are very limited. The present review aimed to summarize the recent discoveries regarding the pathogenesis of cancer cachexia-induced muscle atrophy and provided novel ideas for the comprehensive treatment to improve the prognosis of affected patients.
Wireless Sensor Networks: Applications and Challenges

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) allow innovative applications and involve non-conventional models for the design of procedures owing to some limitations. Due to the necessity for low device complication and low consumption of energy, an appropriate equilibrium among communication and signal processing abilities should be instituted. This stimulates an enormous effort in research actions, standardisation procedure, as well as manufacturing investments on this aspect since the preceding years. Therefore, this chapter aims at presenting a summary of WSNs machineries, foremost applications and values, structures in WSNs project, and the developments drawn from some evidence and meta-data-based survey and assessments. Precisely, some applications, such as those based on ecological monitoring, and design approaches that emphasise a real implementation are discussed briefly. The trends and conceivable developments are outlined. Emphasis is given to “the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15. 4 technology” that enables several applications of WSNs. Hence, it is anticipated that this chapter would serve as an introductory aspect on the applications and challenges of WSNs for persons interested in WSNs.
Cultivating Identities in a Place Called Home: Intersectional, Ever Changing Identities of Vietnamese American Youth in Culturally Sustaining Spaces

Educators and scholars have been advocating for culturally sustaining pedagogies in the classroom that extends, honors, and sustains the cultures and backgrounds of our growing Students of Color population. Moving beyond pedagogies in classrooms, I examine culturally sustaining spaces in culture clubs and community-based organizations and how they cultivate the identity development and sense of belonging of Vietnamese American high school students. I find that these students have complex identities that are intersectional and ever changing, existing outside the Black-White binary. Vietnamese culture clubs provide a space that allows students to belong and express their identity in a positive way, but with curriculum as colonizer (Goodwin, 2010), schools have not yet become a place of belonging for all students. Communitybased organizations provide alternative spaces that center the experiences of Vietnamese American students, allowing them to engage with their complex identities in a place that becomes like a home.