Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crowd Simulation in Virtual Cities by Tracking Pedestrians

In this paper, we propose a modeling method for a crowd simulation model in 3D virtual cities, which realizes the transition among spots and the interaction among walkers and environments, with accurate pedestrians’ tracking data. We first modeled pedestrians in an urban area, and we analyzed the tracking data. As the results of the analysis, we got the knowledge that the transition probabilities have a dependence on some spots which a pedestrian passed by, and that the interaction was able to be got by reproducing the 2D tracking data to the 3D virtual city. Based on the results of the analysis, we made the model concrete and constructed the hierarchical simulation model. Finally, we implemented the simulation model, and confirmed that the crowds in the urban area could be reproduced by the transition probabilities and the interactions.
Can Clean Energy Projects Help the Poor? Evidence from the PV Projects in China

The objective of this paper is therefore to capture to which extent clean energy project have led to poverty alleviation, based on solar photovoltaic (PV) projects data for years 2015 (pre-PV) and 2019 (post-PV) for rural counties in China. Complementary to existing studies, we explore the influence of PV projects on sustainable development benefits for rural and further introduce the projects designation event into the model to analyze the long-run effects across host counties. Through the difference-in-differences (DID) approach by adopting the propensity score matching (PSM), the results show that with the promotion of PV projects, although the total income of rural residents has somewhat rose, growing income inequality coincides with the significant differences in benefits among groups. For poverty-stricken block group the economic beneﬁts are relatively smaller while the negative effects on income equality are less explicit than those for the other groups. Moreover, a substantial increase in income is evident during the periods before the implementation of PV projects. Meanwhile, the growing income gap is long-run and appears only after projects have been carried out. Foreseeably, the promotion of PV projects may be a potential challenge to address relative poverty.
The predictive value of HRMRI and MRI in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic plaques in middle cerebral artery of patients

Objective: To study the predictive value of high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic plaques in middle cerebral artery (MCA) of patients. Methods: A total of 62 patients admitted to our hospital from December 2017 to May 2019 who were diagnosed with atherosclerosis and located in the brain artery were selected, among whom 32 patients were in group A with HRMRI, and the other 30 patients were in group B with MRI. The detection rate, misdiagnosis rate and missed diagnosis rate, postoperative neurological function and limb recovery SSS (Scandinavian stroke scale) score, Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) score, postoperative quality of life (QL-index), expression levels of hs-cTnT, hsCRP and HCY, and total effective rate of the two groups were detected and compared. The postoperative predictors of patients were analyzed. Results: Compared with group B, group A had higher detection rate, lower misdiagnosis rate and missed diagnosis rate, lower SSS and FMA scores, higher QL-INDEX score, lower expression levels of hscTnT, hs-CRP and HCY, and higher total effective rate. Detection rate and expression levels of hs-cTnT, hs-CRP and HCY were the postoperative predictors of patients. Conclusion: HRMRI is more accurate than MRI in predicting the diagnosis of atherosclerotic plaques in MCA of patients, and the accurate diagnostic effect is more helpful to the postoperative curative effect and recovery of patients. Detection rate and expression levels of hs-cTnT, hs-CRP and HCY can be used as prognostic factors.
Grammatical Errors of Analysis in Writing E-Mail Committed by Reservation Staff at PT. Destination Asia Bali 2015/2016

This study aimed at (i) To analyze the compatibility of the emails written by the staffs of PT. Destination Asia Tour & Travel with the format of formal email, (2) to analyze the types of errors committed by the reservation staff at PT. Destination Asia Tour & Travel, (3) to find out the sources of errors committed by the reservation staff at PT. Destination Asia Tour & Travel. This study was designed as a descriptive qualitative study. The data were collected by using research instruments such as analytical error analysis rubric, interview and observation sheet. The collected data were analyzed descriptively. From the data analysis it was found that (i) most of the emails have been written formally, almost all of the staff violated the element of formal email regarding to the non-contraction use in the email; (ii) all of the staff committed 16 (19%) errors of omission, 12 (14%) errors of addition, 47 (55%) errors of malformation and 10 (12%) errors of disordering; and (iii) the errors made by the staffs are caused by some factors namely staff’s incomplete knowledge, absence of knowledge, forgetting, language interference, over generalization and false concept hypothesized. Based on the conclusion of this study, it was suggested to the travel agent to provide their staffs an intensive course especially to improve their competence in writing formal email.
Acoustic Scattering Processes for Target Discrimination (2016)

Scattering by partially exposed objects breaking through an interface is profoundly di! erent from scattering by the same objects in a free field environment. The presence of the interface both adds additional scattering paths, and can strongly modify or remove preexisting paths, depending upon the level of exposure and grazing angle. Acoustic scattering by partially exposed spheres and cylinders through an interface is considered in the time and frequency domains. Scattering from a handball (a rubber, hollow spherical shell) is also considered, and results are compared to those from solid spheres. Experimentally acquired results are compared to several theoretic models, including the Kirchho! approximation, partial wave series solutions, ray theory, and finite element simulations. The Kirchho! approximation has previously been applied to backscattering from a rigid cylinder at a free surface [K. Baik and P.L. Marston, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 33, 386-396 (2008)], and the analogous process for a rigid sphere is developed here. Scattering path contributions are identified based on timing models and frequency content, and target elastic resonances and interference phenomena are discussed. Two di! erent interfaces are considered in experiments and models: an air-water interface (free surface) and a sand-water interface. Comparisons and distinctions are made between the results at the two interfaces, which are shown to become similar in the low grazing angle limit. Smooth, continuous transitions in scattering amplitude are shown to correlate with scattering path coupling points becoming exposed as the target is lowered through the interface. Scattering in the low target exposure limit is shown to be dominated by Franz wave contributions (surfaceguided, non-elastic waves). This contrasts with high exposure and free field scattering signatures from spheres and cylinders, in which the Franz contribution is highly diminished and is not a significant contributor. Bistatic scattering from free field spheres and cylinders is also considered, in the context of understanding the bistatic scattering paths from these targets at partial exposure through an interface. Results from this work have direct applications to understanding the scattering from partially exposed objects resting on or buried within a seafloor environment. Dissertation document URL and document ID are unavailable at the time of this report.
Antioxidant Potentials, Phytochemical Profiles and Ameliorating Effects of Senna siamea Extract on Arsenic-Induced Hepato-Renal Damage

This study evaluated the in- vitro antioxidant, phytochemical constituents and hepato-renal protective efficacy of Senna siamea methanolic extract in arsenic-induced oxidative stress. The results of this study show that S. siamea has strong antioxidant potentials against 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2’azinobis (3 ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acids) (ABTS) radicals. The extract scavenges nitric oxide radicals and has strong ferric reducing power. It also inhibited the induction of lipid peroxidation and α-amylase activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Administration of arsenic to rats induced a significant increase in the levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, cholesterol, urea, creatinine, and triglycerides in the plasma, while it decreased superoxide dismutase, glutathione and catalase activities in the liver and kidney. It also significantly reduced the levels of white blood cells, red blood cells, platelet and lymphocytes in the blood. However, rats pretreated with S. siamea extract before arsenic administration significantly reversed all these arsenic-induced changes. Histological observations showed varying degrees of liver damage in the arsenic group that was un­treated, while the pre-treatment with S. siamea extract significantly improved the general histoarchitecture of the liver. The phytochemical constituents of the extract were determined, the gas-chromatography analysis revealed the possible presence of oxalic acid, barakol, kaempferol, betulin while total phenolics content, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre are in considerable amount in the plant This study demonstrated that S. siamea extract has antioxidant potentials and ameliorates arsenic-induced hepato-renal toxicity, the effectiveness of S. siamea as a medicinal plant could be due to the presence of various phenolics and antioxidant compounds in the plant.
Towards a practice-based approach to public innovation – Apollonian and Dionysian practice-approaches

This paper discusses how a practice-based approach to public innovation can provide an alternative, critical means of looking at public innovation. It unravels two ways practices can exist in relation to public innovation: Apollonian and Dionysian practice approaches. The Apollonian practice-approach is purposeful, speaking of the actors’ plans and interests and the rules of the game. In contrast, the Dionysian is a more spontaneous, bricolage-like approach to innovation that gathers people in an open space of innovation. Given these contrasting approaches further illustrated through two case vignettes, the paper argues that public innovation transpires not only through purposeful practices and plans but also more contextual public services changes. Research needs to capture both of these approaches and explore their impact on innovation. The paper concludes by outlining a research strategy for investigating practice-approaches in public service innovation and how a practice-based approach can add to our understanding of public service innovation. This article belongs to the Special Issue Public sector Innovation - Conceptual and Methodological Implications Guest Editors: Oddbjørn Bukve (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences), Ann Karin Tennås Holmen (University of Stavanger) and Maria Røhnebæk (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences)
Saliva Iron Levels to Assess Iron Status in Children

BACKGROUND: Iron plays an essential role in the process of neurotransmitter synthesis and neuron myelination. Iron deficiency impacts low cognitive performance, even involved in long-term effects even though iron deficiency has been overcome. Given the impact caused by iron deficiency, it is necessary to monitor the status of iron in the body. Diagnostic tests carried out so far use blood specimens taken with invasive method. This creates fear for the child because of the pain it causes. AIM: This study aims to obtain a non-invasive alternative diagnostic test in detecting iron deficiency in children using saliva as an examination specimen. METHODS: The design of this study was case control, with a sample of elementary school children aged 9–12 years and for women who had not experienced menstruation. The sample consisted of 40 people who were taken randomly and grouped into iron deficiency and normal. Determine the group of iron deficiency and normal was based on the results of an examination of serum iron levels. Next, saliva samples were taken to determine saliva iron levels. The characteristics of the sample data were obtained through a questionnaire, while the measurement of serum iron levels was carried out by the spectrophotometric method, and the measurement of saliva iron levels was carried out by the ELISA method. Data were analyzed using Spearman’s test. RESULTS: Based on serum iron measurements, it was found that the mean serum iron levels in children with iron deficiency were lower than normal children (38.153 ± 8.99 q/dL vs. 79.198 ± 14.2219 q/dL), on the contrary, on examination of iron levels, it was found that in children with iron deficiency, saliva iron levels were higher than in normal children (5.745 ± 3.04 q/dL vs. 2,576 ± 1.43 q/dL). The correlation test results showed a significant negative correlation between serum iron levels and moderate iron levels (p = 0.000, r = –0.518). CONCLUSION: Saliva iron levels can be used as an alternative non-invasive diagnostic test to assess children’s iron status.
Kenaf plant pest and disease detection using faster regional based convolutional neural network

Kenaf plant is a fibre plant whose stem bark is taken to be used as raw material for making geo-textile, particleboard, pulp, fiber drain, fiber board, and paper. The presence of plant pests and diseases that attack causes crop production to decrease. The detection of pests and diseases by farmers may be a challenging task. The detection can be done using artificial intelligence-based method. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are one of the most popular neural network architectures and have been successfully implemented for image classification. However, the CNN method is still considered a long time in the process, so this method was developed into namely faster regional based convolution neural network (RCNN). As the selection of the input features largely determines the accuracy of the results, a pre-processing procedure is developed to transform the kenaf plant image into input features of faster RCNN. A computational experiment proves that the faster RCNN has a very short computation time by completing 10000 iterations in 3 hours compared to convolutional neural network (CNN) completing 100 iterations at the same time. Furthermore, Faster RCNN gets 77.50% detection accuracy and bounding box accuracy 96.74% while CNN gets 72.96% detection accuracy at 400 epochs. The results also prove that the selection of input features and its pre-processing procedure could produce a high accuracy of detection.
Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Job Performances with the Mediation Impact of Occupational Stress

This study investigates the impact of emotional intelligence on the job performance of the banking employees in Sri Lanka with the mediation impact of occupational stress. The quantitative approach uses the confirmatory survey method, and it was verified. The data has been analyzed by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The confirmatory factor analysis results, RAMSEA=0.089, CFI=0.920, and χ2/df, =3.437, show that the proposed conceptual model fit. The findings reveal that emotional intelligence has a direct effect of 0.385 on job performance and an indirect effect of 0.023 through the mediatory path of occupational stress, resulting in a total effect of 0.408, which is significant (p<0.05). Therefore partial mediation can be observed. Even though higher emotional intelligence leads to higher job performance, this positive impact is lowered due to the partial mediation effect of occupational stress. Therefore, it can be stated that to improve the banking employees' performance, and emotional intelligence can be used as a human resource management strategy.
Validity and reliability testing of home care stroke quality indicators

It is disconcerting that until today there are no agencies or research to recommend the appropriate indicators of home nursing care of stroke patients according to Indonesian conditions. Hence, this research aimed to verify the validity and reliability of quality indicators of home nursing care for stroke patient that resulted from Delphy process. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out for validity and reliability testing with data collected from 350 respondents. Based on the value of loading factors, 62 indicators were declared valid and five indicators were invalid. This study successfully proved the validity of 62 indicators of quality home care for stroke patients. Further research is needed to pilot project this indicator in a larger area.
THE IMPACTS OF MICROPLASTIC POLLUTION ON FRESHWATER FISHES IN JAPAN’S KOMAOI RIVER AND TAMA RIVER

In recent years, environmental pollution caused by microplastics (MP) has become a global issue, yet only a few studies have considered MP pollution of freshwater fish, in contrast to the substantial research done on seawater fish. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine MP pollution of river fish. To this end, we obtained Ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis) from Tama River Tokyo and Ugui (Tribolodon Hakonensis) from Komaoi River, Hokkaido. We also collected MP samples from the river water in both locations in order to examine the relationships of MP pollution between fishes and river water. Our findings were as follows. In the Komaoi River, MPs were detected in 2 out of 8 Ugui with 0.25 particles on average and up to 1 particle per individual. In the Tama River, MPs were detected in 2 out of 2 Ayu with 4 particles on average and up to 4 particles per individual. Thus, the MP pollution in the Ayu was higher than in the Ugui. In addition, the MP numerical concentrations in the Tama and Komaoi Rivers were 3.75 and 0.50 particles/m, respectively. Together, these facts show that the MP pollution in the Tama River was greater than that in the Komaoi River and consequently had a greater tendency within its fish.
Review of Medicinal Applications , Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Properties of Aristea ecklonii

Background: Aristea ecklonii is a perennial herb widely used as herbal medicine in southern Africa. Plants used as traditional medicines to treat various human diseases and illnesses play an important role in the primary healthcare of local communities in developing countries. Purpose: The current study critically reviewed the medicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological properties of A. ecklonii. Methods: Literature on medicinal uses, phytochemical and pharmacological properties of A. ecklonii was collected from multiple internet sources including Elsevier, Google Scholar, SciFinder, Web of Science, Pubmed, BMC, Science Direct, and Scopus. Additional information was also obtained from pre-electronic sources such as books, book chapters, theses, scientific reports and journal articles obtained from the university library. Results: This study revealed that A. ecklonii is used as an ornamental plant, protective charm, and herbal medicine for internal sores, cough, fever, syphilis, shingles, and venereal diseases. Ethnopharmacological research identified quinones and sterols from leaves and rhizomes of A. ecklonii. The crude extracts of A. ecklonii and the compound plumbagin isolated from the species exhibited antibacterial and antifungal activities. Conclusion: Aristea ecklonii should be subjected to detailed phytochemical, pharmacological, and toxicological evaluations aimed at correlating its medicinal uses with its phytochemistry and pharmacological properties.
Analgesic Effects of the Cressa Cretica Extract on Induced Neuropathic Pain in Rats, and the Potential Role of Opioid Receptors

Background: Damages to the peripheral fibers of sensory nerve cells and central neurons cause neuropathic pain. Manifestations of neuropathic pain occur in various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, chemotherapy, and as the side effects of some medications. Cressa cretica has long been used in traditional medicine for pain control. This study was conducted to determine the role of opioid receptors in the analgesic effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of C. cretica in an experimental model of neuropathic pain. Methods: The hydroalcoholic extract of C. cretica was prepared, and its total phenolic and flavonoid contents were standardized. Painful peripheral neuropathy was induced in rats by Chronic Constriction Injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. To evaluate the effects of the extract, the animals were orally given C. cretica extract (300 mg/kg), gabapentin (70 mg/kg) or normal saline (4 mL/kg) on days 3, 7, 14, and 21 after surgery, and behavioral tests were performed 45 minutes after taking the medications. To evaluate the role of the opioid receptors, Naloxone (1 mg/kg, IP) was given to rats treated with the extract 30 minutes after the extract and then the behavioral tests were performed after 15 minutes. Results: The hydroalcoholic extract of C. cretica attenuates neuropathic pain induced by CCI in rats. The extract works acutely and chronically, depending on the dosage and duration of use. Conclusion: The hydroalcoholic extract of C. cretica reduces CCI-induced neuropathic pain in rats, and Naloxone, as an opioid receptor antagonist, inhibits this effect.
Morphofunctional and Hematological Characteristics of Health in Students from the Northern and Southern Regions of Kazakhstan

The study aimed at investigating morphofunctional and hematological features of the first-year students’ health condition. The health status for a total of 400 first-year students, who arrived for studying from the northern region (North Kazakhstan) and the southern region (Turkestan, Kyzylorda), was estimated during the study. The morphological (BMI, vital lung capacity, etc.) and hematological (the total number of red blood cells, white blood cells, the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood, etc.) indicators of the health status were investigated. By comparing the condition of physical health in students from both regions, a significant difference in main morphofunctional and hematological indices has been established. The functional indicators of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems were higher in students from the southern region, which reflects a good adaptive reaction to studying at a university, as well as new climatic and geographical conditions. Students from the southern region were reported to have lower red blood cell amounts and diagnosed with mild anemia compared to those from the northern region. Therefore, constant monitoring of the health condition among youth is required to develop effective tactics for the students’ smooth adjusting to living in new climatic conditions.