Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Land and water conservation technologies for building carbon positive villages in India

Continuous and unabated land degradation in India is a threat to agricultural sustainability while increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and precipitation intensification are going to further aggravate degradation in future. The timely adoption of integrated land and water conservation technologies minimises erosion and provides significant adaptation and mitigation co‐benefits. The objectives of this study were to assess the mitigation potential of soil and water conservation technologies and also the feasibility of making villages carbon positive. The extent of minimisation of soil loss due to soil conservation technologies ranges from 0.10 to 21.65 Mg ha−1 yr−1, while carbon emissions minimised range from 0.73 to 158.77 kg ha−1 yr−1. Emission minimisation from various water management technologies in rice ranges from 73.0 to 507.9 kg CO2 equivalents ha−1 yr−1. Agroforestry practices can sequester 8.64 to 52.77 Mg CO2 ha−1 yr−1 besides enhancing system productivity, arresting soil erosion and carbon loss through erosion. Integration of multiple technologies in a farming system further enhances the adaptation and mitigation benefits. Adoption of conservation technologies resulted in a net carbon balance of 0.05–1.23 CO2 Mg ha−1 yr−1 in 9 villages in India, indicating net positive carbon balance due to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration. Building carbon positive villages is a potential approach for preventing land degradation, while enhancing productivity, mitigating climate change and realising the sustainable development goals. Building capacities of communities and establishing institutions in villages are essential for upscaling and maintaining of soil and water conservation structures and community assets in the village. Furthermore, prioritisation and scaling of location specific land and water conservation technologies hold the key to establish carbon‐positive villages.
Designing Supply Chain Contracts by Means of Aggregate Models

The vast majority of the existing papers on supply chain c ontracts analyse these contracts based on a highly aggregate model description of the supply chain. Recognizing t he high complexity of real (supply chain) sys- tems, such models can naturally only be rough approximations of reality. We explore the aggregation error made when using an aggregate model in order to optimize a supply chain contract which is subsequently applied to a more detailed (real) system. Based on a numerical anal ysis it is shown that the design of supply chain contract s by means of an aggregate planning model may lead to significant suboptimalities.
A new TRNSYS component for parabolic trough collector simulation

ABSTRACT This study describes and evaluates a new simulation component for parabolic trough collectors (PTCs). The new simulation component is implemented in the TRNSYS software environment by means of new Type that is suitable for integration into the calculation of a whole concentrating solar thermal plant, in order to evaluate the energy production of a PTC. The main advantage of the new Type is that is derived from experimental data available on efficiency Test Reports, according to the current European and International standards, rather than the theoretical approach considered in the existing parabolic trough component of TRNSYS library. The performance of the new Type has been validated with real experimental data obtained from the DISS solar test loop in Plataforma Solar de Almería, Spain. The paper describes the modelling approach, presents the comparison of simulation results with measurements taken at the DISS facility and evaluates the results.
Measuring Adhesion Between Modified Asphalt Binders and Aggregate Minerals: Use of Particle Probe Scanning Force Microscopes

Adhesion between asphalt binders and aggregates is important to the performance of asphalt mixtures. Polymeric modifiers are added to improve the performance of different binders. Thus, it is essential to characterize quantitatively the adhesion between modified binders and aggregates. In this study, a scanning force microscope with particle probes was used to measure the adhesion between the control binder PG 64-22 and three modifications using styrene–butadiene rubber, polyphosphoric acid, and styrene–butadiene–styrene. Unit surface energies were used to distinguish the adhesion between modified binders. Results showed that the adhesion between alumina particles and binders increased as weight percentages of the modifier increased. However, no monotonic trends were observed for the adhesion between silica or calcium carbonate particles and binders. The surface morphologies of the modified binders were different from those of the control binder as a result of modifications.
Compact ultrawideband patch antenna based on multiple‐mode resonance and surface plasmon wave

A novel compact ultrawideband (UWB) pattern‐etched microstrip patch antenna is proposed. The microstrip antenna has two layers consists of a meshed top patch and a patterned bottom ground plane generating multiple‐mode resonance and surface plasmon wave. The proposed antenna is designed on the cheap FR4 substrate with compact size of 28 × 32 × 0.794 mm3. The simulated impedance bandwidth covers from 3.3 to 12 GHz for S‐parameter of less than −10 dB level. The measured return loss falls from 3.75 to 6.15 GHz and from 7.2 to 10.6 GHz. The antenna gain is generally higher than 1.7 dBi with the peak gain of 5.8 dBi. From the simulation and measurement results, it is observed that the proposed antenna has good radiation characteristics and ultrabandwidth for potential UWB applications. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:456–459, 2017
Improvement of the accuracy in thickness during flying gauge change in tandem cold mills

To satisfy the recent demand for the remarkably increasing yield of strip in continuous tandem cold rolling, higher accuracy of strip thickness along the rolling direction is most important and effective. For this purpose, automatic gauge control (AGC) systems must be optimized.For the No. 3 tandem cold mill (TCM) in the Chiba works, in which sheet gauge is mainly rolled, new AGC systems have been developed and applied without revamping the equipment of the mill, thus reducing the off-gauge length by half.
The Role of Fruits and Insects in the Nutrition of Frugivorous Bats: Evaluating the Use of Stable Isotope Models 1

We estimated the relative contribution of fruits and insects as sources of dietary protein in two species of Neotropical frugivorous bats (Artibeus jamaicensis and Sturnira lilium) using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. An insectivorous species (Pteronotus parnellii) was also included for comparison. We found constant patterns in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition in blood that separated the two species of frugivorous bats from the insectivorous bat. When we used these isotopic values (combined with those of dietary fruits and insects) to estimate the percent contribution of fruits and insects to the diet of the bats, we obtained different results, depending on assumptions and model adopted. We tested models using both 8“N and 8′3C results simultaneously and separately and further used diet‐tissue fractionation factors of 3%o for nitrogen and 1 and 3.5%o for carbon. We found that a carbon‐based model with a diet‐blood enrichment factor of 3.5%o produced the most parsimonious results. The model estimated that A. jamaicensis and S. lilium obtained most of their protein requirements from fruits, whereas P. parnellii fed mostly on insects. No sexual or seasonal variations in the diet of the two frugivorous species were detected. We found no evidence that the diet of sexually active females differed from that of nonsexually active females in the two species of frugivorous bats. We suggest that future studies better define isotopic fractionation between diet and tissues of bats using captive rearing and controlled diets.
The Periodic Characteristics of Harmonic Measurement Errors with the Initial Sampling Time

Abstract The stability and consistency of harmonic amplitude measurement is very important for power quality analysis and assessment. Some random factors may influence the measurement results in the real world, for example the initial sampling time. In this paper, we put this view a little forward, and prove that the amplitude errors with DFT method change periodically with the initial-sampling time, and DFT method “may” give relatively worse results, with the window which has better characteristics. To mitigate this random influence and to achieve more stable measurement precision, the well known shifting window average DFT, which is based on expectation calculation, is adopted. The effectiveness of this method and its recursive mode has been tested on several simulated signals and measured signals generated by Electrical Power Standards Fluke 6100A.
Prevalence of Nocturnal Enuresis Among Children and Its Association With the Mental Health of Mothers in Northern Saudi Arabia

Background Nocturnal enuresis (NE) is troubling for children and their families. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of NE, its associated health problems, and the outcome of the provided management among children aged 6-18 years and to assess the impact of NE on the mental health of mothers in Northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Arar, Northern Saudi Arabia, among children aged 6-18 years old. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire including a Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Means ± standard deviations (SDs) were used to represent quantitative data, and frequencies and percentages were used to represent qualitative data. Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess the association of NE with perceived stress. Results A total of 420 participants were included in this study. Nocturnal enuresis was reported in 24% of the respondents’ children. Around 51% of the mothers know about the causes of NE. Nocturnal enuresis caused embarrassment and social shame to 71% of the mothers. Two-thirds (66%) of the mothers wake up the child at night for urination. Three-quarters (76%) of the participants reported improvement on decreasing fluid intake before sleeping. Of the mothers, 19% perceived low stress, 78% perceived medium stress, and 3% perceived high stress. NE was associated with a higher risk of stress (adjusted odds ratio (OR): 2.14; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-4.37). Conclusion About a quarter of the children suffer from NE, of which a large proportion of mothers face embarrassment and shame. There was a significant association between NE and a higher level of stress. Mothers of children with NE should be provided with counseling and social support to ensure good mental health.
Testing availability, positioning, promotions, and signage of healthier food options and purchasing behaviour within major UK supermarkets: Evaluation of 6 nonrandomised controlled intervention studies

Background Governments are increasingly looking for policies to change supermarket environments to support healthier food purchasing. We evaluated 6 interventions within major United Kingdom grocery stores, including availability, positioning, promotions, and signage strategies to encourage selection of healthier products. Methods and findings Nonrandomised controlled study designs were used, except for one intervention that was rolled out nationwide using a pre/post within-store design. Store-level weekly sales (units, weight (g), and value (£)) of products targeted in the interventions were used in primary analyses using multivariable hierarchical models and interrupted time series (ITS) analyses. Stocking low fat chips next to regular chips was associated with decreases in sales of regular chips (units) in intervention versus control stores (−23% versus −4%; P = 0.001) with a significant level change in ITS models (P = 0.001). Increasing availability of lower energy packs of biscuits was associated with increased sales but reduced sales of regular biscuits in intervention versus control stores (lower energy biscuits +18% versus −2%; P = 0.245; regular biscuits −4% versus +7%; P = 0.386), although not significantly, though there was a significant level change in ITS models (P = 0.004 for regular biscuits). There was no evidence that a positioning intervention, placing higher fibre breakfast cereals at eye level was associated with increased sales of healthier cereal or reduced sales of regular cereal. A price promotion on seasonal fruits and vegetables showed no evidence of any greater increases in sales of items on promotion in intervention versus control stores (+10% versus +8%; P = 0.101) but a significant level change in ITS models (P < 0.001). A nationwide promotion using Disney characters was associated with increased sales of nonsugar baked beans (+54%) and selected fruits (+305%), with a significant level change in ITS models (P < 0.001 for both). Shelf labels to highlight lower sugar beverages showed no evidence of changes in purchasing of lower or higher sugar drinks. These were all retailer-led interventions that present limitations regarding the lack of randomisation, residual confounding from unmeasured variables, absolute differences in trends and sales between intervention versus control stores, and no independent measures of intervention fidelity. Conclusions Increasing availability and promotions of healthier alternatives in grocery stores may be promising interventions to encourage purchasing of healthier products instead of less healthy ones. There was no evidence that altering positioning within an aisle or adding shelf edge labelling is associated with changes in purchasing behaviours. Trial registration https://osf.io/br96f/.
A Factor H-Fc fusion protein increases complement-mediated opsonophagocytosis and killing of community associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus employs a multitude of immune-evasive tactics to circumvent host defenses including the complement system, a component of innate immunity central to controlling bacterial infections. With antibiotic resistance becoming increasingly common, there is a dire need for novel therapies. Previously, we have shown that S. aureus binds the complement regulator factor H (FH) via surface protein SdrE to inhibit complement. To address the need for novel therapeutics and take advantage of the FH:SdrE interaction, we examined the effect of a fusion protein comprised of the SdrE-interacting domain of FH coupled with IgG Fc on complement-mediated opsonophagocytosis and bacterial killing of community associated methicillin-resistant S. aureus. S. aureus bound significantly more FH-Fc compared to Fc-control proteins and FH-Fc competed with serum FH for S. aureus binding. FH-Fc treatment increased C3-fragment opsonization of S. aureus for both C3b and iC3b, and boosted generation of the anaphylatoxin C5a. In 5 and 10% serum, FH-Fc treatment significantly increased S. aureus killing by polymorphonuclear cells. This anti-staphylococcal effect was evident in 75% (3/4) of clinical isolates tested. This study demonstrates that FH-Fc fusion proteins have the potential to mitigate the protective effects of bound serum FH rendering S. aureus more vulnerable to the host immune system. Thus, we report the promise of virulence-factor-targeted fusion-proteins as an avenue for prospective anti-staphylococcal therapeutic development.
Future changes in the risk of compound hot and dry events over China estimated with two large ensembles

Under the context of global warming, compound dry and hot events (CDHEs) will increase and bring serious losses to society and the economy. The projection of CDHEs is of great significance for policy-making and risk assessment. In this paper, two large ensemble simulations, CanESM2-LE and CESM-LE, are used to estimate the risk of extreme CDHEs under different warming scenarios in China. First, the biases of the model in the simulation of the temperature and precipitation over the China region are corrected, and the index of CDHEs is established based on a copula function. The results show that extreme CDHEs will occur more often in China with the increase in global warming and the more severe extreme CDHEs are, the greater the risk will be in the future with higher uncertainties. Events that would be attained once every 50 and 100 years in the current climate from CESM-LE (CAanESM2-LE) will be 1.2/1.6 (1.1/1.5) times and 1.3/2.3 (1.5/2.0) times more likely to occur in a 1.5°C/2.0°C warmer climate, respectively. Northwestern China will experience the greatest increase in the risk of extreme CDHEs. Extreme CDHEs expected once every 100 years in the current period over NW China are expected to occur approximately every 5 and 4 years under a 4.0°C warmer world in CanESM2-LE and CESM-LE, respectively.
Ten simple rules for making a software tool workflow-ready

1 Department of Computer Science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2 Melandra Limited, Stockport, United Kingdom, 3 Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 4 Research IT, IT Services, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 5 Meise Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium, 6 Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, 7 VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent, Belgium, 8 Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, 9 Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab), Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Beneficial impacts of neuromuscular electrical stimulation on muscle structure and function in the zebrafish model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) allows activation of muscle fibers in the absence of voluntary force generation. NMES could have the potential to promote muscle homeostasis in the context of muscle disease, but the impacts of NMES on diseased muscle are not well understood. We used the zebrafish Duchenne muscular dystrophy (dmd) mutant and a longitudinal design to elucidate the consequences of NMES on muscle health. We designed four neuromuscular stimulation paradigms loosely based on weightlifting regimens. Each paradigm differentially affected neuromuscular structure, function, and survival. Only endurance neuromuscular stimulation (eNMES) improved all outcome measures. We found that eNMES improves muscle and neuromuscular junction morphology, swimming, and survival. Heme oxygenase and integrin alpha7 are required for eNMES-mediated improvement. Our data indicate that neuromuscular stimulation can be beneficial, suggesting that the right type of activity may benefit patients with muscle disease.
Job burnout among Israeli healthcare workers during the first months of COVID-19 pandemic: The role of emotion regulation strategies and psychological distress

The current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has elicited widespread concerns and stress. Arguably, healthcare workers are especially vulnerable to experience burnout during these times due to the nature of their work. Indeed, high prevalence of burnout was found among healthcare workers during the outbreak. However, the individual differences predicting burnout among healthcare workers during the pandemic have been understudied. The aim of the current study was, therefore, to identify risk and protective factors contributing to the severity of burnout among healthcare workers, above and beyond levels of current psychological distress. The survey was distributed online during the period April 13–28, 2020, approximately two months after the first COVID-19 case was identified in Israel. Ninety-eight healthcare workers completed an online survey administered cross-sectionally via the Qualtrics platform that included questionnaires assessing habitual emotion regulation strategies (i.e., trait worry, reappraisal, and suppression), psychological distress, COVID-19 related concerns, and burnout. A hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that only trait worry and psychological distress were significant predictors of job burnout among healthcare workers. These findings highlight the role of maladaptive emotion regulation tendencies, specifically trait worry, in job burnout among healthcare workers. These findings have implications for both the assessment and treatment of healthcare workers. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for practice.
A study into the benefits of developing talent management within the public sector : the case of Abu Dhabi Police General Head Quarters, UAE

This research examines the importance of developing Talent Management programmes at Abu Dhabi Police Department to develop and build a talent pool as a key human resource. It assesses the relevance of Talent Management and makes recommendations on how to develop an integrated Talent Management programme in the public sector in order to achieve the mission objectives of the government. It seeks to find out the challenges and obstacles that hinder the development of Talent Management within the Abu Dhabi Police Department, UAE. It critically evaluates the current HR practices in terms of attracting, developing, recruiting and retaining employees. While managing and developing employee potential in the UAE has recently been put at the top of the government agenda, this study examines the workforce challenges facing the UAE where foreign manpower is excessively high, to determine what are the strategies and vision of the decision makers regarding Talent Management. This study adopted mixed methods. The rationale for adopting a quantitative and qualitative research approach is based on the purpose of the study, the nature of the problem and research questions. Quantitative data are collected through a questionnaire involving managers at the AD Police Department. This will be supported by qualitative data using semi-structured interviews to provide rich descriptive data to support the quantitative data. The findings of this study have practical implications as they help raise awareness amongst the decision makers within the police force of the need for developing Talent Management capabilities. They will also make a valuable contribution to knowledge through reviewing and expanding the literature on Talent Management programmes, and provide an opportunity for researchers to undertake further studies which could be useful for different organisations wishing to develop Talent Management programmes.