Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technology and Its Impact on Income of Smallholder Farmers in Chiro District West Hararghe Zone, Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia

The importance of agricultural technology in enhancing production and productivity can be realized when yield increasing and technologies are widely been used and diffused. Standing from this logical ground, this paper aimed at identifying the factors affecting agricultural technology adoption decision and examining the impact of adoption on household’s income in chiro district west Hararghe zone, Oromia national regional state, Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data was used; primary data was collected through structured questionnaire administered on 97 randomly selected smallholder farmers and secondary data was collected from published and unpublished document related to this topic. For data analysis purpose both Probit and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression models were employed. From the total 97 respondents 80 of them were adopted improved agricultural Technology while the left were not adopted improved agricultural technology in the study area. The regression result revealed that agricultural technology adoption has a positive and significant effect on household income by which adopters are better-offs than non-adopters. The probit regression result revealed that gender of the household head; access to irrigation, credit service; extension service and income of the household head significantly affect adoption of improved agricultural technology in the study area. From these finding researchers recommend that government should encourage small scale irrigation, credit service and extension service in the study area.
Changes in NDVI and human population in protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT Understanding the Tibetan Plateau’s role in environmental change has gained increasing scientific attention in light of warming and changes in land management. We examine changes in greenness over the Tibetan Plateau using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling Study (GIMMS3g) to identify significant changes over the entire plateau, six ecoregions, and protected areas based on a multiyear time series of July imagery from 1982 to 2015. We also test whether there have been changes in human populations in protected areas. There has been relatively little change in mean NDVI over the Tibetan Plateau or ecoregions, however, there were significant changes at the pixel level. There are sixty-nine protected areas on the Tibetan Plateau; sixty-two protected areas had no significant change in mean NDVI and seven protected areas experienced a significant increase in NDVI. There has been an increase in population within protected areas from 2000 to 2015; however, mean populations significantly increased in two protected areas and significantly decreased in four protected areas. Results suggest a slow greening of the Tibetan Plateau, ecoregions, and protected areas, with a more rapid greening in northern Tibet at the pixel level. Most protected areas are experiencing minor changes in NDVI independent of human population.
Cluster-based Alpha-Beta Search for Real-Time Strategy Games

From an artificial intelligence point of view, Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game has been proven to be one of the most challenging areas. Due to the huge action state space, partial observability and real time property, the previous AI solutions are sill low in terms of speed. In this paper, we propose a Cluster-based Alpha-Beta Considering Durations (CABCD) algorithm that searches the optimal action for each unit based on the cluster. When the improved algorithm is applied to large RTS games, the enormous branching factors are significantly reduced. The approach is evaluated in StarCraft I, and outperforms competing methods promisingly.
Testing the Depths to 1.0 and 2.5  km/s Velocity Isosurfaces in a Velocity Model for Japan and Implications for Ground‐Motion Modeling

In the Next Generation Attenuation West2 (NGA‐West2) project, a 3D subsurface structure model (Japan Seismic Hazard Information Station [J‐SHIS]) was queried to establish depths to 1.0 and 2.5 km/s velocity isosurfaces for sites without depth measurement in Japan. In this article, we evaluate the depth parameters in the J‐SHIS velocity model by comparing them with their corresponding site‐specific depth measurements derived from selected KiK‐net velocity profiles. The comparison indicates that the J‐SHIS model underestimates site depths at shallow sites and overestimates depths at deep sites. Similar issues were also identified in the southern California basin model. Our results also show that these underestimations and overestimations have a potentially significant impact on ground‐motion prediction using NGA‐West2 ground‐motion models (GMMs). Site resonant period may be considered as an alternative to depth parameter in the site term of a GMM.
Impacts of AOD Correction and Spatial Scale on the Correlation between High-Resolution AOD from Gaofen-1 Satellite and In Situ PM2.5 Measurements in Shenzhen City, China

Satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) is widely used to estimate surface PM2.5 concentrations. Most AOD products have relatively low spatial resolutions (i.e., ≥1 km). Consequently, insufficient research exists on the relationship between high-resolution (i.e., <1 km) AOD and PM2.5 concentrations. Taking Shenzhen City, China as the study area, we derived AOD at the 16-m spatial resolution for the period 2015–2017 based on Gaofen-1 (GF-1) satellite images and the Dark Target (DT) algorithm. Then, we extracted AOD at spatial scales ranging from 40 m to 5000 m and applied vertical and humidity corrections. We analyzed the correlation between AOD and PM2.5 concentrations, and the impacts of AOD correction and spatial scale on the correlation. It was found that the DT-derived GF-1 AOD at different spatial scales had statistically significant correlations with surface PM2.5 concentrations, and the AOD corrections strengthened the correlations. The correlation coefficients (R) between AOD at different spatial scales and PM2.5 concentrations were 0.234–0.329 and 0.340–0.423 before and after AOD corrections, respectively. In spring, summer, autumn, and winter, PM2.5 concentrations had the best correlations with humidity-corrected AOD, uncorrected AOD, vertical and humidity-corrected AOD, and uncorrected AOD, respectively, indicating a distinct seasonal variation of the aerosol characteristics. At spatial scales of 1–5 km, AOD at finer spatial scales generally had higher correlations with PM2.5 concentrations. However, at spatial scales <1 km, the correlations fluctuated irregularly, which could be attributed to scale mismatches between AOD and PM2.5 measurements. Thus, 1 km appears to be the optimum spatial scale for DT-derived AOD to maximize the correlation with PM2.5 concentrations. It is also recommended to aggregate very high-resolution DT-derived AOD to an appropriate medium resolution (e.g., 1 km) before matching them with in situ PM2.5 measurements in regional air pollution studies.
Microbial Mats of Shark Bay, Western Australia, and Their Role in Biodegradation of Oil Spills

Shark Bay is considered as a unique assembly of environments and biota, and has been classified as a World Heritage site, thus granting its international protection. However, this does not exempt it from being subjected not only to a likely major petroleum spill from the exploration and production industry activities in the North of Western Australia, but also other hydrocarbon pollutants from recreational boats or commercial vessels passing crossing surrounding regions, i.e. Carnarvon or Exmouth. Therefore, making of Shark Bay a high-risk environmental region (AMSA, 2012).
The scale-invariant properties of the citation-based performance of internationally co-authored articles

The aim of this paper is to determine the scale-invariant properties of the citation-based performance of internationally co-authored articles on Management Information Systems (MIS). A total of 20, 485 articles which received a total of 432,386 citations were analyzed. Collaborative articles accounted for 83 percent of the papers. Citation-based performance and international collaborative papers exhibited a power-law correlation with a scaling exponent of 1.28 ± 0.05. Citations to MIS articles increased 21.28 or 2.42 with a doubling of the number of internationally collaborative papers. The scaling exponent for the power-law correlation for domestic collaborative papers was 1.22 ± 0.04 indicating that citations grew by 21.22or 2.32 times when the number of domestic papers doubled. MIS articles published through international collaboration show a stronger Matthew Effect than those published through domestic collaboration. International collaborative papers were further analyzed by global regions. The papers that were internationally collaborative with authors being from different global regions have a scaling exponent for the power-law correlation with citation-based performance of 1.25 ± 0.06. This exponent shows that citations grew 21.26±0.06 or 2.37 times when the number of these inter-regional papers doubled. Those papers that were internationally collaborative with the authors being from the same global region (intra-regional) have a scaling exponent for the power-law correlation with citation-based performance of 1.56 ± 0.14. This performance demonstrates that citations grew 21.56±0.14 or 2.94 times when the number of intra-regional papers doubled. This indicates that the Matthew Effect is stronger for intra-regional collaborative papers than for inter-regional ones.
A community-based survey of malaria and its prevention in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT Background: The fight against malaria has been effective globally and Saudi Arabia is in the stage of malaria pre-elimination to nearly complete elimination. Aim: The current study assesses the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards the prevention of malaria among the residents of the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire that was developed and distributed among 600 randomly selected households (≥18 years) from 11 sub-regions located in Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. The collected data were analyzed using Stata 15. Results: The majority of respondents were aware that malaria is a deadly disease transmitted by mosquito bites. They were familiar with malaria symptoms and common source of information. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) was the most popular preventive measure, practiced by 68.2% of respondents, followed by repellent and mosquito bed nets. Most respondents indicated that they would prefer to seek malaria treatment from healthcare facilities (80.3%) instead of pharmacy or other alternatives. The level of knowledge about malaria and its prevention differed significantly among various age and educational groups; however, no significant difference was observed across genders. Conclusions: There is appreciable knowledge about malaria symptoms, its transmission, and preventative methods among this Saudi Arabian population but there nevertheless remains a need for increased awareness of effective malaria prevention practices in certain areas. The outcome of the study highlights a growing need for generating innovative local strategies to improve preventative practices in order to meet malaria elimination goals.
Assessing the Resilience of Leeward Maui Reefs to Help Design a Resilient Managed Area Network

of 2018. The surveys were conducted as a collaborative effort with DAR, The Nature Conservancy, and community organizations. This report presents findings from meeting these project objectives: 1) assess benthic cover comparisons among sites and depths, 2) complete resilience assessment including relative resilience and rankings for two depths, 3) conduct analyses that determine the primary drivers of differences in resilience between sites, and 4) develop a framework for using the resilience analysis outputs to identify and prioritize potential management actions to support the resilience of coral reefs in Maui.
Variabilidad genética poblacional de la trucha Yaqui (Oncorhynchus sp.) en la región de Mesa Tres Ríos, Sonora, México

La trucha Yaqui pertenece a un grupo de truchas nativas no descritas del género Oncorhynchus del Noroeste de México. Estudios morfológicos y moleculares postulan a la trucha Yaqui como una nueva especie exclusiva para las cuencas de los ríos Yaqui, Mayo y Casas Grandes y, evolutivamente muy cercana a la trucha arcoíris, Oncorhynchus mykiss. El conocimiento de su historia natural es escaso. Se estudió la variabilidad genética poblacional y su estatus de conservación en su distribución en Sonora en la región de Mesa Tres Ríos. Se muestrearon seis arroyos de aguas frías (localidades) en la región de Mesa Tres Ríos en dos vertientes geográficas en la búsqueda de estructura genética poblacional. Se analizaron 61 secuencias completas de la región control del ADN mitocondrial. Se obtuvieron nueve haplotipos, tres de ellos se encontraron en ambas vertientes de las localidades del área estudiada. Los resultados mostraron una baja diferenciación genética poblacional (Fst = 0.08035) y un moderado número de migrantes por generación (Nem = 5.72), que resulta en una falta de estructura poblacional y sustenta la hipótesis de una sola población de trucha Yaqui en las vertientes muestreadas de la región de Mesa Tres Ríos, Sonora.
Degradation of Particulate Organic Carbon in the Kolyma River

Along with rising air temperatures in the Arctic, ground temperatures in permafrost (i.e. perennially frozen ground) are rising globally (Biskaborn et al., 2019). The accelerated thaw of permafrost releases permafrost carbon (PF-C) that has been locked in permafrost soils since the last glacial period. The potential remineralisation of PF-C to greenhouse gases can contribute to further climate warming (Schuur et al., 2015). Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mobilised from the old Yedoma outcrops on the banks of the Kolyma River is shown to be highly labile in aquatic systems (Mann et al., 2012; Vonk et al., 2013). Yet, vulnerability of particulate organic carbon (POC), released in much higher quantities from these Pleistocene deposits, to biodegradation is not known (Guo et al., 2007). The focus of this study is to quantify degradation of POC in the Kolyma River. Particulate organic carbon in the Kolyma River is older than DOC (Frey and McClelland, 2009; McClelland et al., 2016), especially in the summer months, thus serving as a good tracer for abrupt permafrost thaw (i.e. river bank erosion and thermokarst). We incubated whole-water samples collected in July 2018 in a constant turbulent flow to mimic the ambient river conditions (Richardson et al., 2013) and quantified the loss of POC over 10 to 14 days. The incubation was carried out in the dark and the room temperature was on average 16 oC, which is close to the surface water temperatures measured in the Kolyma River in July (12.5–15.9 oC). We used carbon isotopes (∆ 14 C,  13 C) to trace age and changes in POC composition during degradation. We also quantified DOC loss during the whole-water incubation, as well as in an additional pre-filtered (DOC only) incubation experiment that served as a control. To characterise compositional changes of DOC we analysed colored and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (CDOM and FDOM) and used parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) to interpret the data (Murphy et al., 2013).
River channel width controls blocking by slow-moving landslides in California's Franciscan mélange

Abstract. To explore the sensitivity of rivers to blocking from landslide debris, we exploit two similar geomorphic settings in California's Franciscan mélange where slow-moving landslides, often referred to as earthflows, impinge on river channels with drainage areas that differ by a factor of 30. Analysis of valley widths and river long profiles over ∼19 km of Alameda Creek (185 km2 drainage area) and Arroyo Hondo (200 km2 drainage area) in central California shows a very consistent picture in which earthflows that intersect these channels force tens of meters of gravel aggradation for kilometers upstream, leading to apparently long-lived sediment storage and channel burial at these sites. In contrast, over a ∼30 km section of the Eel River (5547 km2 drainage area), there are no knickpoints or aggradation upstream of locations where earthflows impinge on its channel. Hydraulic and hydrologic data from United States Geological Survey (USGS) gages on Arroyo Hondo and the Eel River, combined with measured size distributions of boulders input by landslides for both locations, suggest that landslide derived boulders are not mobile at either site during the largest floods (>2-year recurrence) with field-measured flow depths. We therefore argue that boulder transport capacity is an unlikely explanation for the observed difference in sensitivity to landslide inputs. At the same time, we find that earthflow fluxes per unit channel width are nearly identical for Oak Ridge earthflow on Arroyo Hondo, where evidence for blocking is clear, and for the Boulder Creek earthflow on the Eel River, where evidence for blocking is absent. These observations suggest that boulder supply is also an unlikely explanation for the observed morphological differences along the two rivers. Instead, we argue that the dramatically different sensitivity of the two locations to landslide blocking is related to differences in channel width relative to typical seasonal displacements of earthflows. A synthesis of seasonal earthflow displacements in the Franciscan mélange shows that the channel width of the Eel River is ∼5 times larger than the largest annual seasonal displacement. In contrast, during wet winters, earthflows are capable of crossing the entire channel width of Arroyo Hondo and Alameda Creek. In support of this interpretation, satellite imagery shows that immobile earthflow-derived boulders are generally confined to the edges of the channel on the Eel River. By contrast, immobile earthflow-derived boulders jam the entire channel on Arroyo Hondo. Our results imply that lower drainage area reaches of earthflow-dominated catchments may be particularly prone to blocking. By inhibiting the upstream propagation of base-level signals, valley-blocking earthflows may therefore promote the formation of so-called “relict topography”.
IMPACT CRATERING - A Geological Process on the Planets

Exploration of space in recent years has highlighted the importance of impact cratering as a geological proces operating on terestrial planetary bodies. This review outlines some aspects of the process and summarizes the key observational data available on impact cratering. It ilustrates how the preserved cratering histories of the planets can provide important information on the nature and evolution of planetary surfaces.
System identification and HSDBC-optimized PID control of a portable lower-limb rehabilitation device

The present paper introduces a novel portable leg rehabilitation system (PLRS) that is developed to provide the user with the necessary rehabilitation exercises for both the knee and ankle in addition to the portability feature to overcome the hardships associated with both effort and cost of hospitals and rehabilitation clinics’ steady sessions. Prior realizing the actual prototype, the proposed configuration was visualized using SolidWorks including its main components. Aiming to control the developed system, and given the fact that tuning controller parameters is not an easy task, Hybrid Spiral-Dynamics Bacteria-Chemotaxis (HSDBC) algorithm has been applied on the proposed control strategy in order to obtain a satisfactory performance. The obtained system performance was satisfactory in terms of desired elevation and settling time.
Scales of Population Dynamics, Ecology and Diversity of Planktonic Foraminifera and their Relationship to Particle Flux in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic: Cruise No. M140, 11.8.2017-5.9.2017, Mindelo (Cabo Verde)-Las Palmas (Spain) - FORAMFLUX

Cruise M140 combined sampling of plankton, mineral dust and other particles in the water column with recovery of data and samples from long-term observational platforms (sediment traps and dust-collecting buoys). The aim of the cruise was to provide new observations to improve our understanding of the ecology of planktonic foraminifera as important carriers of paleoceanographic proxies and to investigate how mineral dust deposition and the production of marine snow and biogenic particle ballast vary in space and time and how they affect the marine biological pump. To this end, the cruise followed a transect in the central western Atlantic between oligotrophic waters of the subtropical gyre and the productive coastal waters off Mauretania affected by coastal upwelling. To characterise population dynamics, ecology and physiology of planktonic foraminifera, we obtained a series of fourteen vertically resolved plankton net profiles along the cruise track, together with profiles of physical and chemical properties of the ambient water masses. Live foraminifera extracted from these profiles were used to quantify photosynthetic activity of selected species and determine their photoadaptation. High-resolution spatial and temporal sampling of the upper 300 m over 24 hours was carried out at two locations (recovering 41 and 46 vertical profiles), allowing the characterisation of patchiness and daily vertical migration of planktonic foraminifera. Moorings with sediment traps monitoring the seasonal and short-term variability of particle fluxes and buoys monitoring atmospheric dust deposition in the region were successfully recovered in the central Atlantic (M3), south of Cabo Verde (M1) and off Mauretania (CB and CBi) and redeployed in the latter two regions to continue the monitoring. Short-term variability of sizes and types of sinking particles in the water column were characterised in each of the monitoring regions with drifting sediment traps and in the Cape Blanc region off Mauretania also with continuous vertical particle camera profile. All aims of the cruise have been met – the plankton sampling and particle characterization studies were carried out successfully and all moorings and buoys could be recovered and/or redeployed as planned.
Lymphocytic Colitis and Collagenous Colitis: A Review of Clinicopathologic Features and Immunologic Abnormalities

Lymphocytic colitis (LC) and collagenous colitis (CC), 2 histologic forms of microscopic colitis, were recognized as rare disease entities 4 decades ago. An increasing body of evidence accumulated in the past 40 years reveals increasing incidence and prevalence rates, a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, and several histologic variants. Although several recent randomized clinical trials confirmed the efficacy of oral budesonide in treating LC and CC, disease relapse after a short-duration treatment is common. Despite their common clinical presentations and well-defined histologic diagnostic criteria, there are only few studies on the immunologic abnormalities in colonic tissue. The aim of this review is to (1) familiarize the pathologists in general practice with histomorphology of LC and CC, including the rare histologic variants and the clinical implication associated with these 2 diagnoses, (2) summarize the data from recent randomized clinical trials of oral budesonide, and (3) review immunological studies on colonic tissue. Overall, immunologic abnormalities of colonic tissue seem to explain for the histomorphologic features and the clinical symptomatology of LC and CC. Advances in the understanding of the underlying immunologic abnormalities in the colonic tissue may help develop novel and effective therapies for these 2 diseases.