Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Integrating climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction at local level: How to combine modern science and local knowledge to reduce communities’ vulnerability

A regional joint action plan aimed at integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation incorporating discussions among the different stakeholders is under development. At a national level, these efforts are complemented by the implementation (Tonga) or the preparation (Cook Islands) of joint action plans combining disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation measures. The optimization of the deployment of human, financial and technical resources is a developing trend in the Pacific region, leading to the organisation of the joint Pacific climate change round table and Pacific disaster management platform in 2013 and the launch of a Pacific joint action plan in 2016. Despite the relatively straightforward process of preparing the joint policies, implementation at national and local level raises several issues. At local level, disaster risk committees often exist, but they are not equipped to deal with long term adaptation to climate change. Moreover, in some cases, the local knowledge used during disaster response could lose its relevance because of climate change and the impact on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. In order to reduce the vulnerability of communities to both natural hazards and climate change, the local governance will need to overcome long held biases to integrate local knowledge with information provided by modern science and technology.
A 20–43-GHz Low Phase Variation VGA With Feedforward Signal Suppression and Impedance-Invariant Techniques in 65-nm CMOS

A variable gain amplifier (VGA) featuring wide bandwidth and low phase variation is presented for the new generation phased arrays supporting multiple-frequency bands simultaneously. In this article, the mechanism of phase variation in common-source (CS) CMOS amplifier cell is investigated in detail. As revealed by this analysis, the parasitic capacitor ${C} _{\text {gd}}$ and the magnetic coupling among inductors as well as parasitic capacitors in layout inducing by interconnection lines are some of the key factors that generate feedforward signal, which leads to the phase variation. The other is the inconstant input and output admittance that result in phase deviation over a wideband region. To achieve low phase variation over broadband for CMOS CS VGA, an innovative phase compensation method based on feedforward signal suppression (FSS) and impedance-invariant techniques is proposed. Specifically, the active cross-coupling neutralization topology is employed to suppress the feedforward signal generated by ${C} _{{\text { gd}}}$ . Meanwhile, an isolation enhancement layout approach aiming at mitigating the inductive coupling and parasitic capacitors in layout is proposed. Besides, a control circuit based on the impedance-invariant technique is developed to minimize the impedance variation. As a result, a low phase variation VGA with broadband phase compensation is achieved. The measured gain control range is 23 dB, with a 3-dB bandwidth of 20–43 GHz and a peak gain of 15 dB. The measured phase variation is <2° in 18–36 GHz and <6° across 18–45 GHz. The noise figure and input-referred ${P} _{\text {1 dB}}$ are 5.5 dB and −18 dBm in the maximum gain state, respectively. The measurement also shows the proposed VGA has good robustness against the variation of supply and temperature. The VGA consumes 30.8 mW from a 1.1-V voltage supply. The chip is fabricated in a standard 65-nm CMOS process and the core area is 0.34 mm2.
Comparison of Corticosterone Concentrations in Dermal Secretions and Urine in Free-Ranging Marine Toads (Rhinella marina) in Human Care

Corticosterone concentrations have been measured in amphibians by collecting blood or urine samples. However, blood sampling is invasive, and urine can be difficult to collect. A novel method of swabbing the skin of an amphibian has been utilized in numerous species but has not been verified in marine toads (Rhinella marina). This pilot study tested dermal swabs as a noninvasive method for collecting and measuring dermal corticosterone secretions. Swabs were used to collect dermal secretion samples from sixty-six free-ranging marine toads collected on Zoo Miami grounds. The subsequent day the toads were shipped to the North Carolina Zoo where dermal samples were collected again. Additional dermal and urine samples were collected on days 9, 15, 32, and 62 under human care to measure corticosterone concentrations. There was no significant correlation (P ≥ 0.05) noted between corticosterone concentrations reported in dermal swabs and those in urine samples at all four of the euthanasia time points or between the corticosterone concentrations reported in either urine or dermal swabs and the weight of the toads. Dermal swab concentrations (ng/mL) were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) on the day of capture (0.64 ± 0.03) and the day of arrival (0.67 ± 0.03) than on day 15 (0.47 ± 0.03). The urine corticosterone concentrations decreased while the toads were in human care with a significant decrease (P ≤ 0.05) between days 9 (0.45 ± 0.07) and 32 (0.21 ± 0.06). This study demonstrated that dermal swabs can be used to collect marine toad corticosterone concentration samples.
Prediction of diabetic patients in Iraq using binary dragonfly algorithm with long-short term memory neural network

Over the past 20 years, there has been a surge of diabetes cases in Iraq. Blood tests administered in the absence of professional medical judgment have allowed for the early detection of diabetes, which will fasten disease detection and lower medical costs. This work focuses on the use of a Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) neural network for diabetes classification in Iraq. Some medical tests and body features were used as classification features. The most relevant features were selected using the Binary Dragon Fly Algorithm (BDA) Binary version of the selection method because the features either selected or not. To reduce the number of features that are used in prediction, features without effects will be eliminated. This effects the classification accuracy, which is very important in both the computation time of the method and the cost of medical test that the individual will take during annual check ups.This work found out that among 11 features, only five features are most relevant to the disease. These features provide a classification accuracy up to 98% among three classes: diabetic, non diabetic and pre-diabetic.
A Spatiotemporal Detection and Tracing Framework for Human Contact Behavior Using Multicamera Sensors

Social distancing and contact tracing are effective nonpharmaceutical means to ensure public safety and control the rapid spread of infectious diseases. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors can provide reliable data sources for contact tracing, especially in urban public areas. However, existing contact tracing studies mainly use 2-D coordinates or distances to detect direct contact between people and lack indirect contact behavior modeling and sensing in urban 3-D environments. Additionally, an efficient storage and spatiotemporal search method is required to find unsafe contact cases from the large amount of data collected by IoT sensors. This article proposes an innovative spatiotemporal detection and tracing framework for both direct and indirect contact behavior using multicamera sensors. A multicamera coordinate conversion model (M-CCM) is designed to achieve camera calibration and 3-D trajectory aggregation based on a spatiotemporal constraint strategy. Using the aggregated 3-D trajectories, this method further defines several fine-grained characteristics of both direct and indirect contact behavior. A contact graph is designed to model and represent contact activities, which supports efficient spatiotemporal searching and tracing of unsafe contact activities. We have verified the performance of the proposed framework using both a public data set and our data set. Experiments demonstrate that the 3-D trajectory coordinate conversation accuracy was 0.2 m using the proposed M-CCM. The social distance and contact time detection precision and recall are 80% and 93%, respectively, for close contact (<1.5 m). Furthermore, the contact graph can reduce the memory space for monitoring data storage and support efficient spatiotemporal contact tracing.
Overview of the ARM/FIRE Water Vapor Experiment (AFWEX)

An overview of the ARM/FIRE Water Vapor Experiment (AFWEX) is given. This field experiment was conducted during November-December 2000 near the central ground-based Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site in north central Oklahoma, and was sponsored jointly by the ARM, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE), and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) programs. Its primary goal was to collect accurate measurements of upper-level (~8 to 12 km) water vapor near the ground-based ARM site. These data are being used to determine the accuracy of measurements that are made regularly from the ARM site. Relevant scientific interests include the effect of upper-level water vapor on outgoing longwave (LW) radiation, the formation of cirrus clouds, and validation of operational satellite-based products. The experiment included in situ, active, and passive sensors aboard two high altitude aircraft that flew over the heavily instrumented ground-based ARM site. This abstract describes the motivation and basic goals of the project, the experimental design, atmospheric conditions encountered during the experiment, and some preliminary findings.
Prevalence of major infectious diseases in backyard chickens from rural markets in Morocco

Background and Aim: Raising backyard chickens is a common practice in Morocco, mainly in rural or periurban areas. Constraints due to devastating avian diseases have been recognized as a major limiting factor in backyard poultry production. Consequently, these flocks could potentially be implicated as reservoirs for poultry diseases. However, there is a considerable lack of information on disease prevalence in this production system, and the risk represented by these small flocks remains under debate. This study aimed to estimate the seroprevalence and identify related risk factors of a range of bacterial and viral pathogens of outstanding importance for the economy and public health in backyard poultry in Morocco. Materials and Methods: A total of 712 sera samples and 258 cloacal swabs were collected from 712 backyard chickens from 15 rural markets in the Khemisset and Skhirat-Temara provinces. None of the sampled chickens received any vaccination. Sera samples were screened for antibodies against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and low pathogenic avian influenza H9N2 subtype (LPAI H9N2) using a hemagglutination-inhibition test, against bursal infectious disease virus (IBDV) and infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and against Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) using a rapid serum agglutination test. Swab samples were compiled into 86 pools and submitted for molecular detection using real-time reverse-transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: The seroprevalences in backyard chickens for NDV, LPAI H9N2, IBDV, IBV, MG, and MS were 52.1% (371/712), 63.5% (452/712), 84.7% (603/712), 82.2% (585/712), 58% (413/712), and 74.8% (533/712), respectively. Based on the RT-PCR results, 2.3% (2/86), 62.8% (54/86), 2.3% (2/86), 63.9% (55/86), 40.7% (35/86), and 29.1% (25/86) of the pools were positive for NDV, H9N2 LPAI, IBDV, IBV, MG, and MS, respectively. Multiple coinfections (H9N2-IBV-MG), (H9N2-IBV-MS), or (IBV-MG-MS) were observed in 15.1%, 8.5%, and 8.5% of the tested samples, respectively. Conclusion: The results show that backyard chicken flocks and rural markets have the potential to serve as reservoirs or amplifiers for poultry pathogens and could pose a risk to the commercial poultry sector. This highlights the need for a comprehensive and adapted vaccination plan for backyard chickens, and extension of efforts to increase flock owners’ awareness of avian diseases and incite the implementation of biosecurity measures at the farm level.
Clinical and Morphological Features of Dysplasia and Early Gastric Cancer in the Patients with Autoimmune Gastritis

Аim: to analyze a series of cases of dysplasia and early gastric cancer developed in patients with autoimmune gastritis (AIG), and to identify their clinical and morphological features.Materials and methods. The study included six cases of detection of early gastric cancer on the background of AIG. Four out of six patients underwent endoscopic treatment, and in three out of six cases patients underwent endoscopic mucosectomy with dissection in the submucosal layer. One patient underwent endoscopic surgery in 2017, he continues annual dynamic follow-up without signs of tumour recurrence. A female patient with type 1 neuroendocrine tumour and mild dysplasia is awaiting treatment.Results. In five out of six patients with AIG, the localization of lesions prevailed in the stomach body, while all detected tumours were early ones, and according to the immunophenotype — of a gastric type. The presented cases of tumours were not accompanied by hyperplasia of neuroendocrine cells directly in the area of the tumour itself, but only in the surrounding gastric mucosa. Additionally, several cases of early gastrointestinal stromal tumours were found, which were characterized by low proliferative activity and had small sizes.Conclusion. The predominance of pseudopyloric metaplasia in the surrounding mucosa allows us to consider pseudopyloric metaplasia as a potentially significant change in the gastric mucosa of patients with AIG that may precede the development of gastric cancer.
Focusing through scattering media by transmission matrix measurement using co-axial configuration of SLM

Transmission matrix is one of the methods to focus light through scattering media. To measure complex transmission matrix, four-step phase shifting is often used. Here we propose co-axial configuration method to derive phase distribution of output field. In the proposed method, ordinary and extraordinary polarization states are used as a reference wave and an object wave. This method utilizes the maximum projection area of a spatial light modulator (SLM), hence, improves the focusing power.
The Effect of Fear of COVID-19 Infection and Anxiety on Loneliness: Moderated Mediation Effects of Gratitude

Objective This study was conducted to identify factors related to loneliness during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and focused on how the fear of COVID-19 infection affects loneliness and the conditional effect of gratitude as a moderator in the relationship among the fear of COVID-19, anxiety, and loneliness. Methods For the analysis of this study, a survey was conducted among 1,500 individuals aged 19 to 69 years living in three metropolitan areas in South Korea. Questionnaires included sociodemographic data, psychological experience and stress associated with COVID-19, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale–7, UCLA Loneliness Scale–3, and Gratitude Questionnaire–6. An analysis was conducted by applying SPSS PROCESS macro models 4 and 7. Results First, anxiety mediated the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 infection and loneliness. Second, the effect of the fear of COVID-19 infection on loneliness through anxiety was moderated by gratitude. The higher the gratitude, the more the fear of COVID-19 infection is buffered in the path to anxiety, and the lower the indirect effect on loneliness. Conclusion This suggests that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, interventions for psychological problems such as anxiety and loneliness can be carried out through gratitude, a significant protective variable.
Electrospun Poly(L-Lactic Acid)/Gelatin Hybrid Polymer as a Barrier to Periodontal Tissue Regeneration

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and PLLA/gelatin polymers were prepared via electrospinning to evaluate the effect of PLLA and gelatin content on the mechanical properties, water uptake capacity (WUC), water contact angle (WCA), degradation rate, cytotoxicity and cell proliferation of membranes. As the PLLA concentration increased from 1 wt% to 3 wt%, the tensile strength increased from 5.8 MPa to 9.1 MPa but decreased to 7.0 MPa with 4 wt% PLLA doping. The WUC decreased rapidly from 594% to 236% as the PLLA content increased from 1 to 4 wt% due to the increased hydrophobicity of PLLA. As the gelatin content was increased to 3 wt% PLLA, the strength, WUC and WCA of the PLLA/gelatin membrane changed from 9.1 ± 0.9 MPa to 13.3 ± 2.3 MPa, from 329% to 1248% and from 127 ± 1.2° to 0°, respectively, with increasing gelatin content from 0 to 40 wt%. However, the failure strain decreased from 3.0 to 0.5. The biodegradability of the PLLA/gelatin blend increased from 3 to 38% as the gelatin content increased to 40 wt%. The viability of L-929 and MG-63 cells in the PLLA/gelatin blend was over 95%, and the excellent cell proliferation and mechanical properties suggested that the tunable PLLA/gelatin barrier membrane was well suited for absorbable periodontal tissue regeneration.
Absolute and relative abundance estimates of Australian east coast humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

The humpback whales that migrate along the east coast of Australia were hunted to near-extinction in the 1950s and early 1960s. Two independent series of land-based surveys conducted over the last 25 years during the whales’ northward migration along the Australian coastline have demonstrated a rapid increase in the size of the population. In 2004 we conducted a survey of the migratory population as a continuation of these series of surveys. Two methods of data analysis were used in line with the previous surveys, both for calculation of absolute and relative abundance. We consider the best estimates for 2004 to be 7,090 ± 660 (95% CI) whales with an annual rate of increase of 10.6 ± 0.5% (95% CI) for 1987 – 2004. The rate of increase agrees with those previously obtained for this population and demonstrates the continuation of a strong post-exploitation recovery. While there are still some uncertainties concerning the absolute abundance estimate and structure of this population, the rate of annual increase should be independent of these and highly robust.
Serum Levels of S100B Protein and Myelin Basic Protein as a Potential Biomarkers of Recurrent Depressive Disorders

Nowadays, nervous tissue damage proteins in serum are considered promising drug targets and biomarkers of Mood Disorders. In a cross-sectional naturalistic study, the S100B, MBP and GFAP levels in the blood serum were compared between two diagnostic groups (patients with Depressive Episode (DE, n = 28) and patients with Recurrent Depressive Disorder (RDD, n = 21)), and healthy controls (n = 25). The diagnostic value of serum markers was assessed by ROC analysis. In the DE group, we did not find changed levels of S100B, MBP and GFAP compared with controls. In the RDD group, we found decreased S100B level (p = 0.011) and increased MBP level (p = 0.015) in comparison to those in healthy controls. Provided ROC analysis indicates that MBP contributes to the development of a DE (AUC = 0.676; 95%Cl 0.525–0.826; p = 0.028), and S100B and MBP have a significant effect on the development of RDD (AUC = 0.732; 95%Cl 0.560–0.903; p = 0.013 and AUC = 0.712; 95%Cl 0.557–0.867; p = 0.015, correspondingly). The study of serum markers of nervous tissue damage in patients with a current DE indicates signs of disintegration of structural and functional relationships, dysfunction of gliotransmission, and impaired secretion of neurospecific proteins. Modified functions of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes are implicated in the pathophysiology of RDD.
Analytical modeling and experimental verification of coupling between transmission lines in gap-waveguides

We present measurement results of the data-rate throughput inside a reverberation chamber of a commercial USB dongle operating in 2x2 MIMO spatial multiplexing configuration. A simple and accurate theory is provided by which the measured throughput can be accurately explained. The theory is based on a recently published digital threshold receiver model.
Interpreting Ground-penetrating Radar for Archaeology

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has become one of the standard tools in the archaeologist's array of methods, but users still struggle to understand what the images tell us. In this book-illustrated with over 200 full-color photographs-Lawrence Conyers shows how results of geophysical surveys can test ideas regarding people, history, and cultures, as well as be used to prospect for buried remains. Using 20 years of data from more than 600 GPR surveys in a wide array of settings, Conyers, one of the first archaeological specialists in GPR, provides the consumer of GPR studies with basic information on how the process works. He show how the plots are generated, what subsurface factors influence specific profiles, how the archaeologist can help the surveyor collect optimal data, and how to translate the results into useable archaeological information.
Discussion on Ecological Development and Governance Technology of Urban Land

New urbanization is the only path to modernization and an important way to solve the problems of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. The premise of ecotype city construction is to make our land cleaner, healthier and safer. Land is the foundation of urban construction and sustainable development, so how to save, intensively, and efficiently use land to make new space for rural urbanization development. This article summarizes the comprehensive development and governance technology of urban land ecology through literature analysis and years of engineering practice. Taking the Shichuan River Comprehensive Development Project in Fuping, Shaanxi Province, China as an example, it provides a detailed introduction to the new model of land ecological remediation promoting the future construction of new rural areas and urbanization in China, with the aim of providing theoretical basis and technical guidance for the construction of new urbanization in China.