Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A HIVE model for regional integrated environmental risk assessment: A case study in China

ABSTRACT Regional environmental risk assessment has been a significant means of environmental management and decision-making. To assess the regional integrated environmental risk at a nationwide scale, a new index system named the Hazard, Intensity, Vulnerability, and Effectiveness (HIVE) model was designed and evolved from previous researches. The HIVE model consisted of a relatively complete framework with accessible indexes related to environment and social economy, and it considered different risk sources, pathways, and receptors as well as the influence of the risk control. As an important segment of the assessment process, a simple gridding information diffusion method was also proposed to assess the diffusion effect of risk factors in nationwide rivers. Taking China as a case study, this study calculated the environmental risk value of every sub-unit. Through the clustering function of Statistical Package for Social Sciences and the visual representation of a geographic information system, the study area was divided into nine zones that were visualized on maps according to their different risk levels and risk characteristics. This study also identified the dominant factors of each zone, which could provide the foundation for regional environmental management. Moreover, the results implied some significant correlations between risk system components and the regional social economy in China.
Mesure de la parasitémie palustre et évaluation du seuil pathogène en région de forte transmission permanente

Une méthode d’évaluatmn de la parasitémie simple, rapide et peu coûteuse est proposée pour les enquêtes épidémiologiques de prévalence ou de morbidité en région d’endémie palustre à transmission permanente. La densité parasitaire est mesurée sur frottis à partir du nombre d’hématies obtenu par micro-hématocrite. La formule permettant d’établir la parasitémie est explicitée et justifiée par une étude statistique montrant que la lecture de 75 à 100 champs microscopiques au grossissement x 100 est suffisante au sein d’une population exposée. Le seuil pathogène de la parasitémie palustre pour Phmodium falciparum est déduit de la comparaison des parasitémies individuelles par groupes d’âge chez 1 163 sujets en bonne santé et 534 consultants. Chez les enfants, la limite de parasitémie pathogène se’ situe entre 3 000 et 6 000 trophozoïtes par mm3 de sang. Chez l’adulte, ce seuil semble être inférieur à 1000 trophozoïtes par mm3 de sang. Dans un contexte morbide, de telles parasitémies doivent faire retenir le diagnostic de paludisme.
Financial Investment Recommendation in Coastal Areas Based on Improved Clustering Algorithm

ABSTRACT Huang, Y.L. , 2020. Financial investment recommendation in coastal areas based on improved clustering algorithm. In: Al-Tarawneh, O. and Megahed, A. (eds.), Recent Developments of Port, Marine, and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 110, pp. 215–218. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Based on the full analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional K - means and BIRCH clustering algorithms, an improved incremental clustering algorithm based on the core tree is proposed. The optimal global parameters Eps and MinPts are adaptively calculated according to the KNN distribution and mathematical statistics to avoid manual intervention in the clustering process so as to realize the full automation of the clustering process. By improving the seed selection method for regional query, no missing operation is needed to effectively improve the efficiency of clustering. The algorithm can helps financial users to make reasonable financial investment strategies in coastal areas, to a certain extent, reduce the financial investment risk, with strong practical significance.
A Simple Microfluidic Device for Automated, High-Throughput Measurement Of Morphology of Stored Red Blood Cells

Stored red blood cell (sRBC) morphology is currently scored manually by technicians in a slow labor intensive process prone to error. This project proposes a way to simplify, automate, and expedite the morphology scoring process by using a novel microfluidic device that I designed to facilitate the flow of a single layer of red blood cells (RBCs). The appearance of this flow allows for the capture of a series of high clarity images captured via digital camera coupled to a microscope that are ideally suited for image analysis algorithm-based morphological scoring. During storage, RBCs heterogeneously shift from the form of discocyte to the reversibly altered form of discoechinocyte as storage lesion progresses. Beyond this level of degradation, the cell assumes the form of a spheroechinocyte or spherocyte and becomes irreparably damaged. The microfluidic device and image analysis algorithm developed in this research classified the individual morphology of 5000 RBCs taken from storage into the physiologically relevant category of either “discocyte,” “reversibly changed,” or “irreversibly changed. ” This process took only 15 minutes. The accuracy in classification was verified as 92.6% in a separate trial when compared against classification of the same sample images via manual inspection. The morphological distribution of the RBC population remained consistent in both cases. The findings of this project suggest that microfluidic device assisted automated image analysis can provide a quick and effective way to quantitatively estimate the viability of a sRBC population and the extent of storage lesion endured. This technology could provide augmented RBC storage and transfusion research capabilities and have clinical applications, such as the ability to conveniently differentiate between the transfusion qualities of two sRBC units of the same age. A SIMPLE MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE FOR AUTOMATED, HIGH-THROUGHPUT MEASUREMENT OF MORPHOLOGY OF STORED RED BLOOD CELLS A THESIS SUBMITTED ON THE 15TH DAY OF APRIL, 2013 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING OF THE SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING OF TULANE UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE BY __________________________________ MATHEW I. TRISCOTT APPROVED: ______________________________ SERGEY S. SHEVKOPLYAS, PH.D. DIRECTOR ______________________________ DAMIR B. KHISMATULLIN, PH.D. ______________________________ WALTER L. MURFEE, PH.D.
Mothers' and Sons' Cognitive and Emotional Reactions to Simulated Marital and Family Conflict.

This study examined cognitive and emotional reactions to family discussions as experienced by sons and mothers from homes with physically aggressive (PA), verbally aggressive (VA), and low-conflict (LC) marital relationships. Boys of PA couples demonstrated more self-interference, self-distraction, and arousal and less criticism than did other sons in reaction to stimulated parental conflict. Boys of LC parents were more optimistic about family conflict and articulated more ideas concerning family structure and how conflict "should" proceed than did other sons. PA mothers made more positive evaluations and offered more autocratic suggestions than did VA mothers. Also, LC mothers, compared with both conflictual groups, made more democratic statements in response to low-conflict situations. These results indicate that marital conflict experienced in the home may influence sons' and mothers' appraisals of family and marital interactions. Language: en
Intelligent Data Placement on Discrete GPU Nodes with Unified Memory

With increasing heterogeneity, the importance of data organization within a compute node has grown immensely. Recently, industry vendors have introduced technology that can present a unified shared address space for multiple physical pools of memory. In this paper, we leverage unified memory technology and characterize the performance trade-offs of host and device placement across a range of hybrid application design patterns. We perform a Roofline analysis to establish fundamental performance bounds in collaborative applications and then develop an analytical model that makes profitable placement decisions at the individual data structure level. We integrate the placement model into a runtime system and enable transparent data placement in CUDA/C++ applications. Preliminary experiments yield the following results: (i) placement policies have significant performance impact across hybrid application design paradigms (ii) placement decisions are impacted by the sparsity of data access, page re-migration, amount of latency hiding opportunities and design specific attributes such as the number of pipeline stages, and (iii) intelligent data placement can improve node performance by up to 5x on applications with sparse access patterns.
Biopesticide Research and Product Development in Africa for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security – Experiences From the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe)

Arthropod pests and vectors constrain the livelihood opportunities of people in Africa by debilitating production of crops and livestock and through transmission of vector-borne diseases. In the absence of effective alternative management options to tackle these pests and vectors, there is extensive dependence on synthetic pesticides for their management on crop and livestock systems, with significant negative impacts on animal and human health, and the environment. Biopesticides are effective and environmentally sustainable alternatives to synthetic pesticides. At the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), the Arthropod Pathology Unit (APU) was established for effective biopesticide research-for-development (R4D), underpinned by a large repository of arthropod pathogens, protocols for lab bioassays and field efficacy testing, and an effective public-private partnership to generate new biopesticide products. The focus of icipe's APU has gradually transformed from basic to applied research leading to innovative, commercial products. Among the insect pathogens, greater focus has been placed on fungi, especially Metarhizium anisopliae, against key crop and livestock pests. Presently, three biopesticides based on M. anisopliae strains researched by icipe have been commercialized by Real IPM (Thika, Kenya) and are used on 132,994 ha in sub-Saharan Africa, with registration of additional products against animal ticks and the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda pending. Our R4D activities on arthropod pathogens increasingly include bacteria, microsporidia, entomopathogenic nematodes and viruses. Recently, icipe is expanding R4D toward plant endophytes and rhizosphere inhabitants. The Centre also embarked on understanding the diversity, roles and possible exploitation of insect symbionts in key plant pest and disease vectors. In addition, key entomopathogens of reared insects for human food and animal feed need to be identified and controlled through high hygiene standards during rearing. Further, research is aimed at integrating biopesticides not only with other integrated pest management (IPM) technologies but also with pollination services.
Influence of Lane Width on Semi- Autonomous Vehicle Performance

In the medium-term, the number of semi-autonomous vehicles is expected to rise significantly. These changes in vehicle capabilities make it necessary to analyze their interaction with road infrastructure, which has been developed for human-driven vehicles. Current systems use artificial vision, recording the oncoming road and using the center and edgeline road markings to automatically facilitate keeping the vehicle within the lane. In addition to alignment and road markings, lane width has emerged as one of the geometric parameters that might cause disengagement and therefore must be assessed. The objective of this research was to study the impact of lane width on semi-autonomous vehicle performance. The automatic lateral control of this type of vehicle was tested along 81 lanes of an urban arterial comprising diverse widths. Results showed that the semi-autonomous system tended to fail on narrow lanes. There was a maximum width below which human control was always required—referred to as the human lane width—measuring 2.5 m. A minimum width above which automatic control was always possible—the automatic lane width—was established to be 2.75 m. Finally, a lane width of 2.72 m was found to have the same probability of automatic and human lateral control, namely the critical lane width. Following a similar methodology, these parameters could be determined for other vehicles, enhancing the interaction between autonomous vehicles and road infrastructure and thus supporting rapid deployment of autonomous technology without compromising safety.
Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua: engaging Māori rural communities in health and social service care

Research on collaboration between health and social service organisations and professions often views collaboration from the narrow perspective of being between practitioners from different professions at a set point in time. This is often also focused on issues of efficacy and does not address the role of identity, values, and practices, or “culture” within collaboration, an important aspect when engaging with indigenous populations. This study presents a Kaupapa Māori qualitative case study in a small rural community, which highlights how western culture has permeated within and across a health care system. Recommendations are made to guide Crown and other western health and social service organisations and practitioners in first understanding the ongoing history of people and place, and its impact on health and social practice, and how to engage with Māori in a way that affirms, enables, and where requested supports a for Māori by Māori approach to wellbeing.
Embrace the Organisation Unconscious: The Next Steps for Change Leaders and Organisation Development Practitioners

The move from an ‘A-rational’ world to the rational can be traced to the seventeenth century, in particular to the contribution of Rene Descartes, who advocated what is now known as the Cartesian view, which deifies the rational, the objective and the measurable. The problem with this advocacy was that all aspects of what did not seem rational got marginalised. This marginalisation has led, over the last couple of centuries, to a sense of disenchantment, fragmentation and ‘exclusionary processes’ in society, organisations and in general all human systems. Carl Jung’s pioneering work on the unconscious offers us a way out of this by beckoning us to revisit and reimagine the ‘A-rational’ in a way that brings vibrancy and aliveness to organisations. By envisaging the ‘Organisation Psyche’ and by learning to work with aspects of the ‘Organisation Unconscious’, such as the ‘Organisation Shadow’ and ‘Symbolic Complexes’, it may be possible to discover new integrative paths for change leaders and organisation development (OD) practitioners alike, to adopt to bring in a new sense of endeavour, volition and adventure for organisations and their agents.
What Type of School Leadership Makes Teachers Want to Stay?

The purpose of this study is to identify different types of school leadership as perceived by teachers and to test the extent that these types predict teacher retention. School leadership varies by perception, context, and may influence a teacher’s decision to leave their current school or the profession. Four statistically different types of leadership were found using teachers’ perceptions of principal and shared leadership behaviors. Teachers who perceived less principal leadership were more likely to leave their school. Teachers who reported more frequent principal and shared leadership were more likely to stay in their current school the following year.
Rationale for BPRS use in routine clinical practice: quantitative assessment of psychopathology, consistent with clinical sense

Summary The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) is expected to provide a valuable instrument for routine evaluation of the patient's status and correct interpretation of concentrations measured during therapeutic monitoring of antipsychotic drugs. Inpatient files were searched for information relative to acute episodes and BPRS items were scored every 10 days until discharge from the hospital according to a retrospective scheme. Eighty patients were included, who met DSM III criteria for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Clusters of symptoms that tend to appear together were identified through principal components analysis and are in keeping with factors described previously. Differences with respect to diagnosis further suggest that such clusters convey clinically relevant information. The time course of haloperidol action was also investigated: an average 51 % improvement was observed over the first 10 days, while the proportion of patients showing a 50% or larger BPRS decrease at the time of discharge reached 90%. The prominent contribution of changes in positive, florid symptoms to global improvement is also described. Finally, association of clinical improvement with a shorter period of hospitalization is shown. These results indicate that the BPRS represents a level of abstraction compatible with the way clinicians communicate and that its introduction into routine practice may allow for better description of the course of illness
Using Artificial Potential Field Theory for a Cooperative Control Model in a Connected and Automated Vehicles Environment

Artificial potential field (APF) theory has been extensively applied in traffic path planning as an efficient method to avoid collision. However, studies in collision avoidance based on APF theory only considered the movement of single vehicle. In this paper, a vehicle cooperative control model for avoiding collision in the connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) environment is presented, using APF theory. The proposed model not merely guarantees the travel safety of vehicles in avoiding collision, but also promotes driving comfort and improves traffic efficiency. To verify the cooperative control model, simulations of four scenarios are designed and compared with the human driving environment. Five indicators are selected to evaluate the results, that is, time–space diagram, time mean speed (TMS), the rate of large deceleration time (large deceleration is that deceleration larger than –2 m/s2), the inverse time-to-collision ( TTC − 1 ), and lane-changing times. According to the simulation results, the cooperative control model could alleviate the capacity drop and increase the TMS to improve traffic efficiency, reduce the rate of the large deceleration time to promote driving comfort, and decrease TTC − 1 to promote safety in small and large input flow rates. The results reveal the proposed model is significantly superior to the human driving environment whether in free or congested situations, except for the lane-change times, which are slightly larger.
Bio-chemical characterization of a β-mannanase from Bacillus licheniformis HDYM-04 isolated from flax water-retting liquid and its decolorization ability of dyes

A β-mannanase was purified from the bacteria, Bacillus licheniformis HDYM-04, which was a high β-mannanase-producing strain (576.16 U mL−1 at 48 h during fermentation). The optimal temperature and pH for this enzyme activity were 60 °C and 8.0, respectively. The enzyme activity was significantly enhanced by Co2+, Mg2+, K+, Ba2+ and Na+ while inhibited by β-mercaptoethanol, DTT, SDS, Tween and EDTA. It was also noticed that the enzyme did not lose its activity in a wide interval such as high NaCl concentration (5 mol L−1) and high urea concentration (5 mol L−1). When amino acid residues were modified with NEM, N-AI and NBS, the enzyme activities significantly decreased. CD spectra demonstrated that the secondary structure of β-mannanase consists of 0% α-helix, 27.9% β-sheet, 24.4% turn and 47.7% random coil. CD spectra also supported that β-mannanase was stable under temperature and pH variation. Ten structurally different dyes could be effectively decolorized by β-mannanase within 24 h, in which Congo red (100%), malachite green (100%), titan yellow (98.6%) and phenol red (91%) had high decolorization rates. This property showed the compound's potential application in textile and paper-making industries to decolorize redundant dyes on them.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia in adolescents with comorbid psychiatric disorders: A clinical pilot study

Background: Insomnia is common in adolescents and often comorbid with psychiatric disorders. This study evaluated changes in insomnia, sleep, and comorbid symptoms following cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) in adolescents with comorbid psychiatric disorders and chronic pain. Methods: In this non-controlled clinical pilot study, participants (n = 23, 78% female) were recruited from adolescent psychiatry and pediatric pain clinics. Assessments of self-reported insomnia, sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, total sleep time, sleep efficiency and depression, anxiety, functional disability, and pain intensity were completed at pre- and post-intervention and 3 months follow-up. Results: From pre- to post-intervention, statistically significant improvements were found for insomnia symptoms (p < .001; d = 1.63), sleep onset latency (p < .001; d = 1.04), wake after sleep onset (p < .001; d = 0.38), total sleep time (p = .015; d = 0.22), sleep efficiency (p < .001; d = 1.00), depression (p < .001; d = 0.87), and anxiety (p = .001; d = 0.31). Only eight participants reported data at follow-up with maintained improvements for all measures. Conclusion: This study provides support that insomnia symptoms and sleep can improve following CBT-I delivered in a clinical setting and that co-occurring psychiatric symptoms can be reduced. The results should be interpreted with caution due to the uncontrolled conditions and limited sample size. Well-powered clinical trials are needed to validate the suggested effects.
Decoding Dishevelled-Mediated Wnt Signaling in Vertebrate Early Development

Dishevelled proteins are key players of Wnt signaling pathways. They transduce Wnt signals and perform cellular functions through distinct conserved domains. Due to the presence of multiple paralogs, the abundant accumulation of maternal transcripts, and the activation of distinct Wnt pathways, their regulatory roles during vertebrate early development and the mechanism by which they dictate the pathway specificity have been enigmatic and attracted much attention in the past decades. Extensive studies in different animal models have provided significant insights into the structure-function relationship of conserved Dishevelled domains in Wnt signaling and the implications of Dishevelled isoforms in early developmental processes. Notably, intra- and inter-molecular interactions and Dishevelled dosage may be important in modulating the specificity of Wnt signaling. There are also distinct and redundant functions among Dishevelled isoforms in development and disease, which may result from differential spatiotemporal expression patterns and biochemical properties and post-translational modifications. This review presents the advances and perspectives in understanding Dishevelled-mediated Wnt signaling during gastrulation and neurulation in vertebrate early embryos.