Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urban Heritage Conservation of China’s Historic Water Towns and the Role of Professor Ruan Yisan: Nanxun, Tongli, and Wuzhen

Between the 13th and the 19th century, hundreds of water towns flourished in China along the Grand Canal and to the south of the Yangtze river, the latter being the focus of this paper. Despite their long history, water towns still lack a comprehensive account of their urban history and development, yet they have become world famous as tourist destinations. Initially branded under titles such as the “Venice of the East” or the “Venice of China”, they are visited nowadays, for their own sake and not as surrogates of Venice, by millions of Chinese tourists. Focusing on the urban form and heritage of the three historic water towns of Nanxun, Tongli and Wuzhen, and on their conservation planning as promoted by Professor Ruan Yisan since the mid-1980s, the aim of this paper is twofold. On one hand, the aim is to identify and examine, through personal observation and secondary sources, the urban patterns and morphology of these places; on the other hand, to explore through his publications the impact of Professor Ruan Yisan—a (if not the) key figure -- in their conservation and tourist development. The paper’s broader aim is to contribute to a more systematic analytical approach towards the urban form of Chinese historic water towns as a basis for further research and heritage conservation planning.
Deposition of Organic and Black Carbon: Direct Measurements at Three Remote Stations in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau

Carbonaceous matter in the atmosphere has an important influence on climate change. Currently, the deposition of carbonaceous matter is one of the largest uncertainties in the climate system. This phenomenon is common in remote regions, such as the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. In this study, for the first time, we reported in situ measurements of wet and dry deposition rates of carbonaceous matter at three remote stations: Nam Co, Lulang, and Everest. The results showed that the annual wet deposition rates of water‐insoluble organic carbon (WIOC) and black carbon (BC) were 60.2 and 5.8 mg·m−2·year−1, 330 and 34.6 mg·m−2·year−1, and 47.0 and 2.6 mg·m−2·year−1 at the Nam Co, Lulang, and Everest stations, respectively. Seasonal variations in the wet deposition rates of WIOC and BC were controlled by precipitation amount and their atmospheric concentrations. In addition, the wet scavenging ratios of WIOC and BC at Nam Co Station were close to those observed in other remote areas. The total BC deposition at Nam Co Station (15.3 mg·m−2·year−1) was higher than that from chemical transport models, implying a dominant role of dry deposition of BC in the total deposition at this station and an urgent need to improve the aerosol deposition in models for the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. It was found that the deposition rates of carbonaceous matter in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau had large spatial variation; thus, high‐resolution models need to be applied in the future.
Testing for changes in light emissions from certified International Dark Sky Places

The International Dark-Sky Places (IDSP) program of the International Dark-Sky Association is a voluntary certification in which communities commit via legislative changes to move towards more sustainable lighting that reduces light pollution. As over 115 IDSP have now been certified, it is interesting to ask the extent to which this certification results in reduced light emissions. In this paper, we compared trends in upward light emission of 98 communities located in or near IDSP to those of 98 similarly sized communities further away from the IDSP, using a night lights observing satellite (the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day-Night Band). The current dataset is not sufficient to distinguish the hypothesis that IDSP certification results in a lower rate of change in upward light emissions from the null hypothesis that IDSP certification has no impact. This result is with regard to upward light emissions only: it is possible that certification has resulted in decreases in night sky brightness that the satellite is not able to observe.
Predictors of Cardiovascular Health Promotion

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States (US), and underrepresented racial-ethnic groups experience cardiovascular health disparities in access to care, preventive services, and medical treatments. In Mexican-Americans, the burden of CHD is equal, if not greater than that of non-Hispanic whites. A health-promoting lifestyle can largely reduce cardiovascular risk and/or delay disease progression. Hence, the purpose of this study is to identify predictors associated with cardiovascular health-promoting lifestyle behaviors in Mexican-American women. A descriptive cross-sectional study design targeted Mexican-American women residing in the Philadelphia area. A sample of 128 women, at least 18 years old and free of CHD, was enrolled. Analyses consisted of correlations and multiple linear regressions to determine the influence between knowledge of CHD and associated risk factors, perceived health status, acculturation level, and menopausal status on cardiovascular health promotion. Spanish surveys were used for data collection. A mild positive correlation was found between perceived health status and cardiovascular health-promoting lifestyles (r=.495, p=.001) and also with knowledge levels of CHD and risk (r=.305, p=.001). In adjusted models, cardiovascular health promotion was only associated with perceived health status (b=.112, 95% CI=.058-.165, p<.001). Demographic variables that also supported heart-healthy lifestyles were: increased age (b=.009, p =.050); post college versus less than five years of formal schooling (b=-.327, p=.038); and needing reading assistance (b=-.373, p=0.002). Study findings reveal a relatively young sample of Mexican-American women who preferred to speak Spanish, regardless of birth country, length of US residency, or acculturation level. These women perceived they could influence the present, when it becomes necessary, but maintained a positive health outlook. Study findings thus broaden existing knowledge of cardiovascular health promotion in underserved ethnic populations and add depth to the prevailing health disparity paradigm that affects Hispanic healthcare in the US today. Enhanced understanding fosters future development of sex-specific and culturally-sensitive strategies to promote heart-healthy lifestyles and effectively eliminate health disparities in this growing cohort of women. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Nursing First Advisor Kathleen McCauley, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN, FAHA Second Advisor Anne Keane, EdD, RN, CRNP, FAAN This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/200 Third Advisor Norma G. Cuellar, DSN, RN
Context aware evidence based medicine retrieval using ubiquitous computing

Health care professionals are extremely busy personnel who usually search, retrieve and interpret electronic medical records and literature based on previous cases to support their clinical decision-making. However, they must be very selective due to the increasing information overload. It is possible develop a system to classify this information and use it for training. The system could allow the users to introduce or delete information and also rate it, according to the situation or case that is presented to the trainees, and they could cross check this information. The system could be enriched daily with the information generated by participant doctors and hospitals. We have developed a prototype to retrieve medical information from the EMR and using the context in which the information was requested from the repository created to store the relevant documents related to the treatments using a PDA or similar device such as smart-phones, a tablet pc or laptops through wirelessly.
Large Uncertainties in Estimation of Tropical Tropopause Temperature Variabilities Due to Model Vertical Resolution

Tropopause temperature (TPT) is a useful indicator and a key component of climate change. Well simulating its value and seasonal‐to‐decadal variability by climate models is still challenging. How the vertical resolution influences the representation of TPT and its response to a climate forcing is largely unknown. This study investigates TPT responses to sea surface temperatures using a series of model simulations in various vertical resolution. With high vertical resolution (HV‐Res), the model gives a better representation of tropical TPTs in absolute values and seasonal variations. The corresponding changes in TPTs associated with sea surface temperature anomalies (El Niño–Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation) are 30% stronger and more realistic in the HV‐Res model. Such improvements may get benefits from better representations of equatorial waves with more realistic structure and stronger interannual variations. A proper vertical resolution is therefore essential to well simulate the stratosphere‐troposphere coupling and should be used in climate change assessment.
Regional tsunami hazard assessment for selected communities on Kodiak Island, Alaska

We assess potential tsunami hazard for the following seven coastal communities on Kodiak Island, Alaska: Akhiok, Chiniak, Karluk, Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, Ouzinkie, and Port Lions. The primary tsunami hazard for these communities is considered to be near-field, with a major threat originating from tsunamigenic earthquakes along the Alaska–Aleutian megathrust. We numerically model tsunamis generated by nine different megathrust earthquakes, analyze tsunami wave dynamics, and develop tsunami hazard maps for the seven communities. The hypothetical tsunami scenarios examined simulate Mw 9.0 megathrust earthquakes with a slip distribution in the 5–54 km (3–34 mi) depth range along the Alaska–Aleutian megathrust. The maximum runup heights are 14 m (46 ft) in Akhiok, 31 m (102 ft) in Chiniak, 11 m (36 ft) in Karluk, 18 m (59 ft) in Larsen Bay, 27 m (89 ft) in Old Harbor, 26 m (85 ft) in Ouzinkie, and 34 m (112 ft) in Port Lions. Results presented here are intended to provide guidance to local emergency management agencies in initial tsunami inundation assessment, evacuation planning, and public education for mitigation of future tsunami hazards.
A Stochastic Model to Analyze and Predict Transmission Dynamics of Tuberculosis in Ede Kingdom of Osun State

In this study the stochastic process model for estimating the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) infection in Ede kingdom (Ede North and Ede South Local Government Areas) of Osun State was carried out. The probability generating function approach was used to solve the associated birth process model to obtain the estimate of TB incidence. Also time series analysis was carried out using JMulti software to predict future incidence rate of the disease in the study area. Based on Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model, the autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation methods and a suitable model to forecast TB infection was obtained. The goodness of fit was measured using the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC). Having satisfied all the model assumptions ARIMA (0,1,1) model with standard error, 6.37086 was found to be the best model for the forecast. It was observed that the forecasted series were close to the actual data series
Bacterial Community on a Guyot in the Northwest Pacific Ocean Influenced by Physical Dynamics and Environmental Variables

Bacterial communities in sediments of the Caiwei Seamount, a typical guyot located in the northwest Pacific Ocean, were investigated. A total of 727,879 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences were retrieved from eight sediment samples of the top (mean depth = 1,407 m) and the base (mean depth = 5,525 m) of the guyot through pyrosequencing of V6 hypervariable region and clustered into 32,844 operational taxonomic units. Abundant‐weighted UniFrac metric partitioned bacterial assemblies into two categories (the top community and the base community) by principal coordinates analysis, consisting with the grouping of sampling stations by environmental variables. Differences in depth and physicochemical properties of the surrounding environment (e.g., concentrations of dissolved oxygen and geochemical elements) between the top and the base of the guyot may cause this partition of bacterial communities, whereas the typical fluid flow around the guyot may potentially contribute to the bacterial dispersal and environmental homogeneity along the same layer, resulting in the similarity of bacterial community structure within the same region (the top or the base). The surface sediment on the top of the guyot harbored the bacterial communities with greater diversity and evenness, represented by Gamma‐ and Deltaproteobacteria involved in sulfur cycling. At the base of the guyot, Gammaproteobacteria related to sulfur‐oxidizing and Chloroflexi functioning in the decomposition of refractory organic matter dominated, suggesting that the redox condition at the interface of the sediment and the water can influence bacteria‐mediated elemental cycling, eventually shaping the physicochemical and geological characteristics of a guyot.
GERAÇÃO DE ENERGIA ELÉTRICA A PARTIR DO APROVEITAMENTO DO BIOGÁS GERADO POR (RESIDUOS SÓLIDOS URBANOS) RSU NO SERTÃO DE ALAGOAS.

Este trabalho visa estimar o potencial de aproveitamento da biomassa que e obtido da materia orgânica, sendo ele gerado pelos residuos solidos urbanos e a partir disso calcular o Potencial Energetico gerado entre os anos de 2010 a 2021. A pesquisa foi realizada em oito municipios de Alagoas, sendo eles: de Agua Branca, Canapi, Delmiro Gouveia, Inhapi, Mata Grande, Olho d’Agua do Casado, Pariconha e Piranhas que sao os municipios que integram o Consorcio Regional de Residuos Solidos do Sertao de Alagoas. O destaque se dara para Delmiro Gouveia – AL, localizada no Sertao de Alagoas, fazendo divisa com os estados de Pernambuco, Bahia e Sergipe. A metodologia seguira de uma pesquisa bibliografica com abordagem quantitativa. Para auxiliar a discussao e fundamentar a analise, foram utilizados como fundamentacao teorica Pecora (2006), Pavan (2010), dentre outros que estudam sobre o aproveitamento do biogas.
Helicobacter pylori, stomach cancer and its prevention in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Infection with Helicobacter pylori is the strongest modifiable risk factor for stomach cancer. Nine out of 10 people who develop stomach cancer in the distal part of the stomach have been infected with H. pylori. Infection of the gastric mucosa with H. pylori most commonly occurs during childhood and if not treated can cause chronic inflammation and gastric carcinogenesis. Stomach cancer is a major contributor to the ethnic gap in cancer incidence and mortality in New Zealand, with Māori and Pacific peoples having three to six times higher rates of stomach cancer than New Zealand Europeans. Infection with H. pylori is the main driver of this inequity. Testing asymptomatic individuals with non-invasive tests (serology, stool or C-urea breath tests), and treating those who are infected with H. pylori using antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors has been found to be effective in reducing stomach cancer incidence, with an estimated one-third reduction in risk. A programme based on this approach is likely to be cost-effective in New Zealand, and pro-equity particularly if targeted towards Māori and Pacific peoples. However, there are substantial gaps in our knowledge base that must be filled before such a programme can be considered.
Passive Seismic Ambient Noise Surface Wave Tomography Applied to Two Exploration Targets in Ontario, Canada

Summary As mineral exploration seeks deeper targets and targets under cover, the need for low cost and low impact subsurface imaging is increasingly important. A recent addition to the toolbox of geophysical methods is ambient noise surface wave tomography (ANSWT) which produces an S-wave velocity image of the subsurface using naturally occurring seismic signals from waves, oceans, trains, etc. - no active controlled seismic sources required. In this presentation, we provide a brief introduction of the ANSWT method and review two recent projects: Marathon Phase III and Schumann Lake, both projects located in Ontario, Canada.
Air Quality Optimization for the Total Life -Cycle of Buildings

 Abstract: Problem Definition: Building construction and operation have wide and long -term effects on air pollution status especially in the developing countries. For the building, most of the air pollution prevention and mitigation practices are dealing with its materials and operating systems as sources of air pollution regarding to the ways of production, transportation, construction, and related behaviours during building operation. So the different decision makers related to the building project delivery stages PDS (from pr e-studies, site selection, investment study, TOR, schematic design, construction drawings & specifications, bidding, construction, operation, renovations and demolishing at last) most of them are individually concerning air pollution issues with different levels of
Bioecologia de illex coindetii (verany, 1839) (cephalopoda, ommastrephidae) de las aguas de Galicia

Esta memoria recoge el primer estudio detallado de la biologia y ecologia de illex coindetii del atlantico noreste. En ella se estudian la reproduccion, crecimiento, relaciones troficas y explotacion de la especie. El muestreo se baso en el estudio de 5311 ejemplares que se obtuvieron mensualmente entre noviembre de 1991 y octubre de 1992 de las descargas de los puertos de burela y riveira. Todos los resultados obtenidos por primera vez para illex coindetii de la plataforma de galicia, se discuten y comparan con los observados por otros autores en estudios sobre las principales especies del genero illex de otras areas geograficas.
Rapid and Sensitive Analysis of Hormones and Other Emerging Contaminants in Groundwater Using Ultrasound-Assisted Emulsification Microextraction with Solidification of Floating Organic Droplet Followed by GC-MS Detection

Ultrasound-assisted emulsification microextraction with solidification of floating organic droplet (USAEME-SFOD) has been applied to isolate hormones and other emerging contaminants from groundwater samples. Simultaneously with the extraction process, derivatization in the matrix was carried out using acetic anhydride. Quantification of studied organic pollutants was done through gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Hormones included β-estradiol (E2), estrone (E1), and diethylstilbestrol (DES). Other compounds belonged to groups of pharmaceuticals (diclofenac (DIC)), antiseptics (triclosan (TRC)), preservatives (propylparaben (PP) and butylparaben (BP)), sunscreen agents (benzophenone (BPH), and 3-(4-methylbenzylidene)camphor (3MBC)), repellents (N,N-diethyltoluamide (DEET)), industrial chemicals (bisphenol A (BPA), 4-t-octylphenol (4OP), 4-n-nonylphenol (4NP)). A non-toxic and inexpensive 1-undecanol was successfully used as the extraction solvent. Volume of extractant and derivatization agent, ionic strength, and time of extraction were optimized. Very low limits of detection (LoD) ranging from 0.01 to 5.9 ng/L were obtained. Recoveries ranged from 90% to 123%, with relative standard deviation being lower than 17%. The developed procedure was used to determine target compounds in groundwater collected at municipal waste landfills as well as in groundwater from wells distant from sources of pollution.
Driver Glance Behaviour in Intersection Crashes: A SHRP2 Naturalistic Data Analysis

Road traffic crashes are one of the biggest problems in modern history. Over recent years, several attempts have been made to gain an in-depth understanding of crashes and their causation. The introduction of unobtrusive data collection methods in the form of naturalistic driving studies has given traffic safety researchers an unprecedented level of insight into the vehicle and driver during these safety critical situations. This research was started with the aim of utilising this data from naturalistic driving studies to reconstruct crashes in intersections to gain a better understanding of the driver’s gaze behaviour. This was done by first developing a toolbox within the software environment of MATLAB. The toolbox used the vehicle kinematic data from the naturalistic driving study SHRP2 or the Second Strategic Highway Research Project. The toolbox was designed to transform the driver’s gaze from vehicle coordinates to intersection coordinates. The target vehicle was approximated into the simulation environment with the help of the video data and manual annotation. Factors such the driver’s gaze directions, eyes on target and intersection gaze timings were obtained. Well known psychological models such as the Situational Awareness, SEEV model and the more recent Predictive Processing model were evaluated to understand the findings. The results of the research showed that drivers in most of the events analysed had possibly seen and continued tracking the threat from the theoretical point of no return until the crash itself. These results were intriguing in that the drivers were not observed to engage in evasive manoeuvres until too late. A hypothesis was developed with the help of the predictive processing model to understand and explain this behaviour.
Pressure and Composition Effects on Sound Velocity and Density of Core‐Forming Liquids: Implication to Core Compositions of Terrestrial Planets

A compositional variety of planetary cores provides insight into their core/mantle evolution and chemistry in the early solar system. To infer core composition from geophysical data, a precise knowledge of elastic properties of core‐forming materials is of prime importance. Here, we measure the sound velocity and density of liquid Fe‐Ni‐S (17 and 30 at% S) and Fe‐Ni‐Si (29 and 38 at% Si) at high pressures and report the effects of pressure and composition on these properties. Our data show that the addition of sulfur to iron substantially reduces the sound velocity of the alloy and the bulk modulus in the conditions of this study, while adding silicon to iron increases its sound velocity but has almost no effect on the bulk modulus. Based on the obtained elastic properties combined with geodesy data, S or Si content in the core is estimated to 4.6 wt% S or 10.5 wt% Si for Mercury, 9.8 wt% S or 18.3 wt% Si for the Moon, and 32.4 wt% S or 30.3 wt% Si for Mars. In these core compositions, differences in sound velocity profiles between an Fe‐Ni‐S and Fe‐Ni‐Si core in Mercury are small, whereas for Mars and the Moon, the differences are substantially larger and could be detected by upcoming seismic sounding missions to those bodies.
Demographic and Human Development in the Middle East and North Africa

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Engelhardt, H. , Schulz, F. , & Büyükkeçeci, Z. (2018). Demographic and Human Development in the Middle East and North Africa. (Population and Family Studies, 2). Bamberg: Staatsinstitut für Familienforschung an der Universität Bamberg (ifb); Universität Bamberg, Fak. Sozialund Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Professur für Demografie. https:// doi.org/10.20378/irbo-50993