Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do fuel treatments reduce fire severity? Evaluating treatment effectiveness in the 2006 Tripod Complex fires

Do fuel treatments reduce fire severity? Evaluating treatment effectiveness in the 2006 ABSTRACT: The 2006 Tripod Complex fires burned over 70,000 ha of dry mixed conifer forests in north-central Washington State. Recent fuel treatments burned in the wildfire offered an opportunity to quantitatively evaluate if fuel treatment effectively mitigated fire severity. We quantified the relative effect of two common fuel treatments: mechanical thinning only (thin) and mechanical thinning followed by prescribed burning (thinRx). Fire severity was markedly different between the two treatments. Over 57% of trees survived in thinRx units versus 19% in thin and 14% in control units. Considering only large-diameter trees (> 20 cm dbh), 73% survived in thinRx units versus 36% in thin and 29% in control units. Logistic regression models demonstrate significant reductions in the log-odds probability of tree mortality under both treatments with a much greater reduction in thinRx units. They also suggest that three years following the fire, large-diameter trees are at greater risk of mortality in either thin or control units than in thinRx units. Other severity measures, including maximum bole char, percentage crown scorch, and burn severity index, are significantly lower in thinRx units than thin and control units. There were no significant differences in fire severity measures between thin and control units. This study provides strong quantitative evidence that without treatment of surface fuels, thinning alone is not a viable surrogate for prescribed fire in these dry, mixed conifer forests. In contrast, thinning followed by prescribed burning to reduce surface fuels appears to be an effective strategy for mitigating wildfire severity. Given the similar findings to other studies, our results should be applicable to many dry forests with low to mixed-severity fire regimes in the western United States.
An Ambient-temperature Collection and Stabilization Device Performs Comparably to Flash-frozen Collection for Stool Metabolomics in Infants

Background: Stool metabolites provide essential insights into the function of the gut microbiome. The current gold standard for collection and storage of stool samples for metabolomics is flash-freezing at -80°C which can be inconvenient and expensive. Ambient temperature collection of stool is more practical, however no available methodologies adequately preserve the metabolomic profile of stool. A novel sampling kit (OMNImet.GUT; DNA Genotek, Inc.) was introduced for ambient temperature collection and stabilization of feces for metabolomics; we aimed to test the performance of this kit vs. flash-freezing.Methods: Stool collected from an infant’s diaper was divided into two aliquots: 1) flash-frozen and 2) stored in an OMNImet.GUT tube at ambient temperature for 3-4 days. Samples from the same infant were collected at 2 different time points to assess metabolite changes over time. Subsequently, all samples underwent metabolomic analysis by liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Results: Paired fecal samples (flash-frozen and ambient temperature) from 16 infants were collected at 2 time points (n= 64 samples). Similar numbers of metabolites were detected in both the frozen and ambient temperature samples (1126 in frozen, 1107 in ambient temperature, 1064 shared between sample types). Metabolite abundances were strongly correlated between collection methods (median Spearman correlation Rs=0.785 across metabolites). Hierarchical clustering analysis and principal component analysis showed that samples from the same individuals at a given time point clustered closely, regardless of the collection method. Repeat samples from the same individual were compared by paired t-test, separately for the frozen and OMNImet.GUT. The number of metabolites in each biochemical class that significantly changed (p<0.05) at timepoint 2 relative to timepoint 1 was similar in flash-frozen versus ambient temperature collection. Changes in microbiota modified metabolites over time were also consistent across both methodologies. Conclusion: Ambient temperature collection and stabilization of stool in the OMNImet.GUT device yielded comparable metabolomic results to flash freezing in terms of 1) the identity and abundance of detected biochemicals 2) the distinct metabolomic profiles of subjects and 3) the biochemical signature of microbiome development over time. This method potentially provides a more convenient, less expensive home collection option for stool metabolomic analysis.
Gingival Health Status in Children with And Without Cleft Palate: A Case Control Study

Gingival Health Status in Children with And Without Cleft Palate: A Case Control Study P. Kuzhalvaimozhi, Vignesh Ravindran, Subhashini.V. C Research Associate, Saveetha Dental college and hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077. Email: 151401037.sdc@saveetha.com Senior lecturer, Department of Pediatric and Preventive dentistry, Saveetha Dental college and hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077. Email: vigneshr.sdc@saveetha.com Tutor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental college and hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai 600077. Email: subhashinivc.sdc@saveetha.com
Multifunctional Composite Structures

Abstract : In this project, computational tools were developed that help in designing and analyzing multi-functional composite structures that have sensing and actuation capabilities. Magnetic actuation of composite structures using built-in or embedded electromagnetic devices was studied. The main application of interest is micro air vehicle wings that are designed to flap to generate thrust and lift. Computational tools were developed to design and analyze such structures actuated by magnetic forces. Coupled magnetostatic-elastostatic analysis capability was implemented into a pre-existing software (named IBFEM) developed at the University of Florida that can perform finite element analysis without the need for generating mesh. After a systematic comparison of several actuator designs, it was concluded that a coil actuator built into composite structures is an ideal means for actuation of composite structures. A conceptual design of a flapping wing vehicle was developed. A method for sensing load application and damage in composite structures by determining change in resistivity/conductivity was also studied. An algorithm for solving inverse problem to determine average resistivity values in composite structures was demonstrated.
Sleepy driving in truck drivers: Insights from a self-report survey

Background: There is increasingly more evidence to indicate that many Australian truck drivers may be working while sleepy. However, relatively little is known about their sleepiness-related experiences or why sleepy drivers continue to drive. Aims: This study examined the subjective experience of sleepiness and the motivation of truck drivers at work, with particular focus on the behaviour of persevering with driving despite being sleepy. Method: Two hundred and fifty-five Australian professional truck drivers (245 males, 10 females, mean age of 43.60 years, average of 19.11 years experience) completed a self-report survey that was distributed at Australian truck stops and transport organisations. Drivers were asked to report on a variety of sleepiness-related experiences during the previous three months of their work. Results: The results revealed that 49% of drivers felt too sleepy to drive on at least half of their trips, while 40% reported falling asleep while driving at least once in the previous three months of work. A regression analysis indicated that several psychosocial factors were related to sleepy driving behaviour (i.e. continuing to drive when sleepy). These included impaired judgement, perceived work and social pressures, driver attitudes, and, most notably, perceived lack of control over work schedule. The frequency of sleepy driving was also associated with reported occurrences of impaired driving performance, dozing off whilst driving, near misses, and perceived accident risk. Conclusions: These findings provide new direction for further investigations of truck driver attitudes and behaviour, as well as the management of driver sleepiness.
Evaluation of Elastomeric Polymers Used for External Reinforcement of Masonry Walls Subjected to Blast

Abstract : Terrorist attacks have become increasingly common and severe. The weapon of choice Is the easily and cheaply made bomb. Most injuries and deaths occurring in bomb attacks are caused by flying debris due to the fragmentation of walls and windows. Many buildings in use today are comprised of unreinforced masonry walls that cannot withstand the load produced by even small explosive devices. Therefore, a critical need has arisen to strengthen walls In a timely and cost-efficient manner.
The effect of educational intervention based on health belief on improvement of metabolic indices of patients with diabetes type II living in rural areas

Background: Nowadays, diabetes is one of the most common health problems worldwide that may cause severe side effects on the circulatory system, nervous system, kidneys, eyes, and feet. Health care education makes patients involved in caring and it is one of the main measures to attenuate the load of the disease on health system. The present study is an attempt to survey the effect of health belief-based educational intervention on improvement of metabolic indices in patients with diabetes type II in rural areas of Kermanshah-Iran. Methods: The study was carried out as a clinical trial in 2018 on 48 individuals grouped into intervention and control groups (each with 24 members) randomely. The participants were patients with diabetes type II visiting rural comprehensive services centers of Pave-Kermanshah-Iran. They were selected randomly so that visitors to Shamshir Village clinic of were selected as the intervention group and the patients in Serias and Darebaian villages’ centers were selected as the control group. Data gathering was done using demographics questionnaire and a metabolic indices checklist before and three months after the educational intervention. The participants in the intervention group were grouped into two groups of 12-15 members and the intervention was conducted based on health belief model in six sessions each for 60 minutes. Data analyses were done using SPSS (v.24) and descriptive statistics and Squared Chi test, Wilcoxon test, Mann Whitney test, independent t-test, and paired t-test. Findings: Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographics and diabetes metabolic indices (P>0.05). However, after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of glycated hemoglobin (p=0.038) and fasting blood glucose level (P=0.006). The difference between the two groups was not significant in terms of BMI (p=0.301), cholesterol level (p=0.797), triglyceride (p=0.439), lipoprotein with low density (p=0.157), and lipoprotein with high density (p=0.664). Conclusion: The results showed that health belief-based educational intervention was effective in decreasing blood glucose level in diabetic patients. It is recommended using this approach as a part of therapeutic intervention and disease control in diabetic patients.
MAC and Routing Protocols for Mobile Underwater Acoustic Sensor Swarms

Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UW-ASNs) have recently been proposed as a way to explore and observe the ocean, which covers two-thirds of the Earth's surface. In particular, we consider a SEA Swarm (Sensor Equipped Aquatic Swarm) architecture for short-term ad hoc real-time aquatic exploration, such as oil and chemical spill monitoring, submarine detection, and surveillance, by deploying drifting sensor nodes (e.g., UCSD Drogues) to the venue of interest that form a swarm and move as a group with the ocean oceanic current. Each sensor monitors local underwater activities and reports critical data or events in real-time using acoustic multi-hop routing to a distant data collection center, e.g., surface buoys or Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). As SEA Swarm architecture adopts acoustic links as a means of communication, it is accordingly confronted with long propagation delays, low bandwidth, and high transmission power consumption. To put SEA Swarm architecture into practical use and alleviate these limitations, we propose the Delay-aware Opportunistic Transmission Scheduling (DOTS) algorithm to increase channel utilization by harnessing both temporal and spatial reuse. Extensive simulation results show that DOTS outperforms existing solutions, S-FAMA, DACAP, and CS-ALOHA in a line topology, in a highly competitive medium access star topology, and in a random topology with an underwater mobility by harnessing temporal and spatial reuse. Furthermore, in a SEA Swarm architecture, a sensor cloud that drifts with water currents and enables 4D (space and time) monitoring of local underwater events such as contaminants, marine life and intruders, is escorted at the surface by drifting sonobuoys that collect the data from underwater sensors via acoustic modems and report it in real-time via radio to a monitoring center. Thus, to realize SEA Swarm architecture, designing an efficient anycast routing algorithm for reliable underwater sensor event reporting to any one of the surface sonobuoys is imperative. Major challenges are the ocean current and the limited resources (bandwidth and energy). We address these challenges and propose two hydraulic pressure based anycast routing protocols, namely HydroCast and VAPR, which exploit the measured pressure levels to route data to surface buoys. The proposed routing protocols are validated via extensive simulations.
Decrease of Electrical Consumption During Periods of Peak Load Into the National Grid by Improving T

Improving the thermal insulation of building envelope translates into reduced consumption of electrical energy used for air conditioning during the summer months, especially in hot regions such as region of Ouargla. In this paper a study of the thermal behavior and optimization by numerical simulation of a brick containing phase change material (PCM) is realized. Actual weather conditions of temperature and solar radiation in the region of Ouargla are used as boundary conditions. Several parameters affecting the efficiency of thermal insulation of brick as: the type of PCM, the geometry of the container of the PCM, the effect of surface / volume ratio and location of the PCM in the brick are optimized. The results show that the improved brick reduces 86.87% of the heat flux entering to the internal environment and therefore, the same portions of electrical energy used by air conditioning are reduced. Consequently the peak consumption of this energy into the national grid during periods of peak load is decrease. KeywordsThermal insulation, Phase Change Material (PCM), building comfort, latent heat, bricks, hot and dry climates. Introduction (Heading 1) Nomenclature: CFD Computational fluid dynamics Cp specific heat at constant pressure (kJ/kg °C) H length of the brick in the y direction (cm) h enthalpy of the material (kJ/kg) hin convective heat transfer coefficient in indoor wall of brick (kW/m°C) hout convective heat transfer coefficient in outdoor wall of brick (kW/m°C) href reference enthalpy (kJ/kg) HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning k thermal conductivity (kW/m°C) L length of the brick in the x direction (cm) Lfus latent heat of fusion (kJ/kg) LHTES Latent heat thermal energy storage PCM phase change material S heat generation (kW/m3) T temperature (K) Tliquidus melting temperature (K) Tref reference temperature (K) Tsolidus solidification or freezing temperature (K) ui fluid velocity (m/s) Cartesian coordinate liquid fraction density (kg/m)
A Longitudinal Evaluation of the Med-Cor Program's Efforts To Improve Minority Students' Postsecondary Educational Opportunities and Health Career Participation. Part B: Graduate Follow-Up Study.

The Medical-Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting (Med-COR) program is a project sponsored jointly by the University of California School of Medicine and the Los Angeles Unified School District. The program, which was organized to serve 4 inner city schools, has expanded to serve 42 middle schools and 34 high schools. The Med-COR program's major goals are to improve student academic performance and study skills, familiarize students with various health-related fields to increase the number of minorities employed in the medical field, and encourage the successful completion of postsecondary education. A 5-year longitudinal and cross-sectional evaluation is being conducted as a retrospective study of current 12th graders enrolled in Med-COR (n=108 in 2000-2001) and a prospective study of 8th graders entering Med-COR in Fall 2001. This report presents findings from the retrospective study. Almost 91% of the student respondents stated that they have a college plan, and a large majority (83%) had already applied to a college. No significant differences in educational outcomes were found for Med-COR program students and nonselected applicants, possibly because sample students from both groups were high ability students. More than half the respondents planned to continue their educations in medical and health-related fields, and about half indicated that they benefited from Med-COR presentations on a variety of topics. Data collected from the students and the program's learning facilitators indicate that the program is meeting its objectives, but some recommendations are made for program improvement, especially with regard to the use of staff time. Three appendixes list participating schools, provide student survey results, and contain learning facilitator survey data. (Contains 5 figures, 10 tables, and 5 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. A LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF THE MED-COR PROGRAM'S EFFORTS TO IMPROVE MINORITY STUDENTS' POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND HEALTH CAREER PARTICIPATION PART A: RETROSPECTIVE STUDY Ebrahim Maddahian, PhD U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
Thales Alenia Space France antennas: recent achievements and future trends for telecommunications

This paper describes recently developed or under development telecommunication Flight Model Space Antennas at Thales Alenia Space France. It concerns the most relevant products for CIEL 2, W2A and GLOBALSTAR 2 programs. They all correspond to multi- beam antenna subsystem operating in L, S and Ku-bands. (5 pages)
Leishmaniasis: A neglected tropical disease

Leishmaniasis refers to a diverse spectrum of clinical syndromes caused by infection with protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania . They are widely distributed across the tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions in 88 countries, 72 of which are in developing areas of the world. The diagnosis and treatment of the different syndromes produced by these parasites are particularly difficult in developed and non-endemic countries because of poor knowledge of clinical symptoms, diagnostic possibilities, and available treatment options. This article highlights the biology, life cycle, diagnostic, chemotherapeutic, and strategies to control Leishmaniasis.
Modular care and service packages for independent living elderly

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how modularity manifests in a service context, more specifically in the provision of care and services to independently living elderly.Design/methodology/approach – Four case studies provide insight into the specification of relevant components and their subsequent assembly into a customized package of care and services.Findings – In all cases, component specification and package construction take place in two phases: partly before and partly during care delivery. Early client involvement allows for a combination of standard components that have a lower level of customization, whereas late client involvement allows for adaptation of these components resulting in a higher level of customization. The paper proposes that modularity theory should distinguish between the creation of modular offerings in care provision versus their creation in goods production, since the findings are the exact reverse of the state‐of‐the art knowledge in manufacturing modularity.Re.
Cytochrome cM Is Probably a Membrane Protein Similar to the C Subunit of the Bacterial Nitric Oxide Reductase

Cytochrome cM was first described in 1994 and its sequence has been found in the genome of manifold cyanobacterial species ever since. Numerous studies have been carried out with the purpose of determining its function, but none of them has given place to conclusive results so far. Many of these studies are based on the assumption that cytochrome cM is a soluble protein located in the thylakoid lumen of cyanobacteria. In this work, we have reevaluated the sequence of cytochrome cM, with our results showing that its most probable 3D structure is strongly similar to that of the C subunit of the bacterial nitric oxide reductase. The potential presence of an α-helix tail, which could locate this protein in the thylakoid membrane, further supports this hypothesis, thus providing a new, unexpected role for this redox protein.
Identifying Business Processes for, and Challenges to, Electronic Supply Chain Management: A Case Study in a Small Business in North–West Tasmania, Australia

This case examines the business practices of a small company in NorthWest Tasmania and identifies problems and challenges for electronic supply chain management (ESCM). The company is adopting ESCM to increase the speed of invoice production and to improve the accuracy of inventory control in its current supply chain management (SCM) system. The case study provides detailed analysis of the company, its merchandise and its experience of implementing ESCM. The analysis begins with an examination of current business practices, human resources, the information system, and issues related to customers, suppliers, products, and inventory control. Using this information, the case study examines how the company processes and fulfils sales orders, updates its inventory, and handles the receipt of ordered goods. The case concludes with a summary of the shortcomings of the companys current SCM system and the main challenges the business faces in implementing ESCM. This study forms part of a larger ongoing investigation being conducted into SCM within small and medium sized businesses in NorthWest Tasmania.