Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of building information modelling and related technology in the Cape Town urban centre

The significant improvement of technology in recent times has provided an opportunity for construction firms to invest in innovative technology. In South Africa the construction industry seems reluctant to deviate from their traditional ways of delivering construction projects. It is believed that building information modelling (BIM) and related technology can be a catalyst for change, with information replacing documents and knowledge becoming an asset. Hence, this research investigates to what extent construction personnel feel innovative technology can stimulate building production to ensure that building projects are completed within timeframes and budgets and what issues influence a construction firm’s decision to invest in these technologies. Both qualitative and quantitative survey methods are employed in data collection. Content analysis and descriptive statistics techniques are used in analysing the data. This research gives a clear indication that construction personnel feel BIM and related technology can have a positive impact on building production processes and that cost, risk and logistics are factors to consider when implementing new technology. It is concluded that construction firms utilising these technologies will have a competitive advantage over others that ignore it.
Analyzing the impact of changing software requirements: a traceability-based methodology

Software undergoes change at all stages of the software development process. Changing requirements represent risks to the success and completion of a project. It is critical for project management to determine the impact of requirement changes in order to control the change process. We present a requirements traceability based impact analysis methodology to predictively evaluate requirement changes for software development projects. Trace-based Impact Analysis Methodology (TIAM) is a methodology utilizing the trace information, along with attributes of the work products and traces, to define a requirement change impact metric for determining the severity of a requirement change. We define the Work product Requirements trace Model (WoRM) to represent the information required for the methodology, where WoRM consists of the models Work product Information Model (WIM) for the software product and Requirement change Information Model (RIM) for requirement changes. TIAM produces a set of classes of requirement changes ordered from low to high impact. Requirement changes are placed into classes according their similarity. The similarity between requirement changes is based on a fuzzy compatibility relation between their respective requirement change impact metrics. TIAM also identifies potentially impacted work products by generating a set of potentially impacted work products for each requirement change. The experimental results show a favorable comparison between classes of requirement changes based on actual impact and the classes based on predicted impact.
First-Void Urine Microbiome in Women with Chlamydia trachomatis Infection

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the agent of the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide. Until now, little information is available about the microbial composition of urine samples during CT urethritis. Therefore, in this study, we characterized the microbiome and metabolome profiles of first-void urines in a cohort of women with CT urethral infection attending an STI clinic. Methods: Based on CT positivity by nucleic acid amplification techniques on urine samples, the enrolled women were divided into two groups, i.e., “CT-negative” (n = 21) and “CT-positive” (n = 11). Urine samples were employed for (i) the microbiome profile analysis by means of 16s rRNA gene sequencing and (ii) the metabolome analysis by 1H-NMR. Results: Irrespective of CT infection, the microbiome of first-void urines was mainly dominated by Lactobacillus, L. iners and L. crispatus being the most represented species. CT-positive samples were characterized by reduced microbial biodiversity compared to the controls. Moreover, a significant reduction of the Mycoplasmataceae family—in particular, of the Ureaplasma parvum species—was observed during CT infection. The Chlamydia genus was positively correlated with urine hippurate and lactulose. Conclusions: These data can help elucidate the pathogenesis of chlamydial urogenital infections, as well as to set up innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF FIBER LOSS AND DISPERSION EFFECTS IN OPTICAL NETWORKS

In this paper the transmission limitations due to the fiber loss and dispersion in optical networks have been investigated, theoretically and experimentally, for three different fibers. An approach for computing the maximum allowable transmission distance imposed by the fiber loss and dispersion as a function of bit rate has been developed. It is found that fiber loss is the dominant factor that determine maximum allowable transmission distance at low bit rate. However, as the bit rate increases, fiber dispersion rather than fiber loss is the factor which determines the maximum allowable transmission distance. By comparing the three fibers under study, it is found that, 850nm fiber is the worst in terms of transmission distance, while the 1550nm has superiority over the 1330nm for bit rate 9.5Gb/s the 1330nm fiber is better in terms of bit rate and transmission distance. Experimental results for the three fibers (850nm, 1300nm and 1550nm) show a good agreement between the analytical and experimental.
Deteksi Kerumunan Menggunakan Metode Fully-Convolutional Network pada Kamera Drone

Abstrak—Pada masa pandemi virus COVID-19 pemerintah menetapkan peraturan yang mengharuskan masyarakat untuk menerapkan beberapa protokol kesehatan. Salah satunya adalah menghindari kerumunan dan menjaga jarak. Untuk membantu pengawasan kepatuhan masyarakat terhadap protokol tersebut pada area yang luas, diperlukan sebuah sistem monitoring untuk memantau adanya kerumunan dengan menggunakan drone. Video yang direkam menggunakan kamera drone diproses menggunakan metode FullyConvolutional Network (FCN) dengan menggabungkan loss function untuk tugas klasifikasi yang menentukan kerumunan atau tidak dan loss function untuk tugas regression yang menghitung kepadatan berdasarkan rata rata clustering coefficient. Penelitian ini mengimplementasikan metode FCN dengan input berupa rangkaian gambar yang diambil dari video sehingga menghasilkan output berupa keputusan apakah sejumlah orang dalam gambar itu berkerumun atau tidak. Data latih yang digunakan adalah VisDrone Dataset dan P-DESTRE Dataset yang terdiri dari rangkaian gambar yang direkam menggunakan drone yang diterbangkan dengan ketinggian rata-rata dengan mengambil contoh video berisi kerumunan dan bukan kerumunan. Hasil pengujian terbaik didapatkan menggunakan pre-trained model 5 dimana memiliki 2 keluaran yaitu 1 klasifikasi dan 1 regresi yaitu memiliki akurasi klasifikasi sebesar 0,978 sedangkan mean ablosute error untuk regresinya sebesar 0,141.
Cognitive and behavioural factors contributing to distress in LGBTQ+students: a prospective mediation study

Abstract We applied a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) model of psychological distress and examined cognitive and behavioural predictors and mediators of depression, anxiety and suicidality among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and other sexual or gender minority (LGBTQ+) students. LGBTQ + university students (N = 385) completed questionnaires at baseline, 1 and 2 months. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the relationship between baseline negative beliefs (about the self, others and the future) and depression, anxiety and suicidality 2 months later, via cognitive and behavioural response mediators (perseverative thinking, avoidance and self-compassion) assessed at 1 month. The final model demonstrated acceptable fit: χ 2 (16) = 73.36, p < . 001, comparative fit index (CFI)=0.96, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI)=0.93, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.09 (90% CI [0.07–0.12]), standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR) = 0.04, accounting for significant variance in depression/anxiety (48%) and suicidality (27%). For depression/anxiety, negative beliefs had a direct effect and an indirect effect via perseverative thinking and avoidance. For suicidality, negative beliefs had a direct effect. A cognitive behavioural conceptualization may improve our knowledge of the psychological mechanisms involved in depression, anxiety and suicidality in LGBTQ + students. Negative beliefs about the self, others or the future, perseverative thinking, and avoidance are promising targets for prevention and treatment.
SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS REVEAL MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES IN ASIAN DELTAS FROM 1986 TO 2018

Abstract. Asian deltas are densely populated and richly bio-diversified regions with significant social, economic, ecological and environmental importance across the globe. These low-lying and fertile floodplains support substantial food production. Because of sediment supply reductions, sea-level rising, subsidence, and frequent storm surges, many deltas are rapidly sinking and shrinking, which will threaten survival of millions of populations. It’s of great significance to monitor the delta morphological evolution and understand the relationship between their shoreline migrations and sediment supplies. However, quantifying the delta morphological changes is challenging due to its nature of high dynamics. In this study, we developed a methodology integrated by a time-series algorithm of water frequency and a spatial analysis to track the morphological changes of 11 major Asian deltas from 1986 to 2018.The results show that the deltas of Yellow, Yangtze, Pearl, Red, Mekong, Ganges-Brahmaputra, and Chao Phraya have experienced a net land gain at the total of 1829.3 km2, with China’s three major deltas accounting for 73 percent of all. The deltas of Mahanadi, Irrawaddy, Indus, and Godavari-Krishna have undergone a net land loss at the total of 295.1 km2, of which the Indus River Delta accounted for 65 percent. Most of the shorelines in the Yangtze River Delta were constantly advancing seaward at a rate of over 30 m/year, whereas, many ones in the rest of Asian deltas were significantly being eroded at a rate of over 20 m/year. These changes in delta morphology are closely related to sediment supplies and management policies. These results also suggest that rational wetland reclamation with auxiliary projects of ecological restoration can enhance the deltaic ability of sustainable development.
Understanding Crash Risk Using a Multi-Level Random Parameter Binary Logit Model: Application to Naturalistic Driving Study Data

This study presents a framework to employ naturalistic driving study (NDS) data to understand and predict crash risk at a disaggregate trip level accommodating for the influence of trip characteristics (such as trip distance, trip proportion by speed limit, trip proportion on urban/rural facilities) in addition to the traditional crash factors. Recognizing the rarity of crash occurrence in NDS data, the research employs a matched case-control approach for preparing the estimation sample. The study also conducts an extensive comparison of different case-to-control ratios including 1:4, 1:9, 1:14, 1:19, and 1:29. The model parameters estimated with these control ratios are reasonably similar (except for the constant). Employing the 1:9 sample, a multi-level random parameters binary logit model is estimated where multiple forms of unobserved variables are tested including (a) common unobserved effects for each case-control panel, (b) common unobserved factors affecting the error margin in the trip distance variable, and (c) random effects for all independent variables. The estimated model is calibrated by modifying the constant parameter to generate a population conforming crash risk model. The calibrated model is employed to predict crash risk of trips not considered in model estimation. This study is a proof of concept that NDS data can be used to predict trip-level crash risk and can be used by future researchers to develop crash risk models.
‘I can do things that others can’t’: Civic policing as weaponized volunteering in eThekwini, South Africa

In this article, we analyse civic policing in post-apartheid South Africa as a form of ‘weaponized volunteering’. We use ‘weaponized volunteerism’ as a conceptual lens to refer to practices that rest on the potentiality and/or willingness to use physical violence or to harness the physical violence of others under the guise of ‘volunteer work’. By drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted by both authors in eThekwini, South Africa, we show that by framing civic policing as weaponized volunteerism, we are able to analyse the violence at the core of policing and underline the varied ways that violence work is harnessed and expanded through civic policing, in the interest of civic and state actors. This, in turn, allows us to explore the continuum between state and civic violence, which is often directed towards similar groups and individuals.
Most Efficient Design Methodology of DC-Contact MEMS Shunt Switch

Design of electronics circuit is an indispensable requirement for any high speed, high throughput, digital system, and DSP or Control System. The primary issues in design are area, delay, at the same time low power consumption. Optimization of several devices for their speed, high density & power is deal with low- voltage & low power application, which is overcome by incorporating MEMS. This paper is mainly presents the designing methodology of DC-Contact MEMS Shunt Switch with efficient graph of isolation and reduces the return loss.
Validation of service concepts for oil drilling by simulation

We wish to validate various service concepts for oil drilling. A Monte Carlo Simulation is used to generate failure data. We calculate functions for the cost of hiring technicians, purchasing spare parts, fuel, and automobiles for each year of the service period. We also calculate a function for the availability of the wells. We optimize the number of technicians to hire each year in order to maximize the availability while minimizing cost and considering different strategies with respect to spare parts.
Source Identification and Apportionment of Potential Toxic Elements in Soils in an Eastern Industrial City, China

The extensive pattern of economic growth has an inestimable negative impact on the ecological environment, which causes the soil pollution problem to become increasingly prominent. In order to improve the effectiveness and rationality of prevention and control of heavy metal pollution in regional soil, it is necessary to understand the current situation of pollution, identify pollution sources and clarify future pollution risks. In this paper, an industrially developed city in eastern China was taken as the study region. The positive matrix factorization model (PMF) model and Unmix model was applied to identify and apportion the pollution sources of soil potential toxic elements after evaluating the ecological risk of soil potential toxic elements. The PMF model identified six factors, including single source and composite source. The Unmix model also identified six sources, including sources of nature, industrial discharge and traffic emissions. The comparison between the two models showed that Hg and Ni pollution, as well as Cr enrichment in the study region, were related to the industrial discharge from enterprises and factories. Cd pollution was related to traffic emission sources. Cu and Zn pollution were related to the multiple sources mixed with soil parent material, traffic emissions and industrial discharge from electronic enterprises. Pb pollution was related to natural sources (e.g., soil pH) but also to industrial sources (e.g., industrial wastes discharge). Enrichment was related to soil parent material and agricultural inputs. Our study also implies that soil heavy metal pollution or enrichment in the study region was mainly from anthropogenic sources and supplemented by natural sources.
Perception of Boundary and Prominence in Spontaneous Japanese: An RPT Study

Traditional studies on prosody argue that prominence is highly tied to changes of F0 but recent perceptual research of utterance-level prosodic prominence using Rapid Prosody Transcription (RPT) shows that perception strategy is much more complex, as it involves not only phonetic cues but also phonological, semantic and information cues. This paper considers Japanese in the RPT framework. Since it is a mora-timed pitch language and uses pitch both for lexical accent and utterance-level prosody, it is expected that Japanese has a different perception strategy from some Indo-European languages that use pitch movement for utterance-level prosody only. It is also expected that our study will provide concrete data for the hot topic in Japanese literature, ‘Does focal prominence reset a phrase boundary? ’, based on the utterance-level perception experiment. We will show that (i) contra literature on Japanese focus, acoustic features of F0 and intensity are not strong prominence cues in Japanese, (ii) perceived prominence is strongly tied to pitch movement and its location in an utterance, and (iii) not only content words but also function morphemes get highlighted in Japanese. Perception strategies vary among languages, as predicted.
Influence of surface roughness and Wettability of novel surface on nucleate boiling performance in deionised water at atmospheric pressure

Pool boiling is one of the very suitable techniques for an efficient thermal management system dealing with two phases. The present work deals with the experimental exploration of critical heat flux for safety concern and heat transfer coefficient related to the performance point of view in nucleate boiling regime of pool boiling system. The copper substrate was coated with porous copper nano particles by sputtering technique to the thicknesses of 250 nm, 500 nm and 750 nm. The surface characteristics of the copper nano coated surfaces have been analysed as a result of wettability, surface roughness and microstructure. The contact angle goniometer, stylus profilometer, X-ray diffractometer and scanning electron microscope have been employed to analyze the surface structure. The maximum augmentation of critical heat flux was 59% for the thickness of 750 nm as compared to plain copper substrate. A 99% increase in the heat transfer coefficient was achieved for 750 nm thickness surface in comparison with the plain copper surface. The tremendous augmentation in critical heat flux and heat transfer coefficient was achieved due to wetting and rewetting properties of the deionized water on the copper nano coated surfaces. The capillary action on the copper nano structure improves the fluid supply to the test surface and removes the heat at low wall superheat than the plain copper surface. The average roughness of the copper nano coated surface augments the heat transfer area which tends to enhance the performance factor significantly.
In vitro Antimicrobial Activity Profile of Modified Pyrimidine Nucleosides Derivatives

Background: The increase in prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) is currently a serious threat, thus there is a need for new classes antimicrobial compounds to combat infections caused by these ARB. The growth inhibition ability of derivatives of the components of nucleic acids has been well-characterized but not for its antimicrobial characteristics. Aims: To evaluate in vitro antimicrobial activity profile of modified pyrimidine nucleosides derivatives. Methodology: Modified nucleosides arabinofuranosylcytosine (cytarabine, ara-C), [1-(2',3',5'-tri-O-acetyl-β-D-ribofuranosyl)-4-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)]uracil (TTU), and nucleotides cytarabine-5′-monophosphate (ara-CMP), and O2,2′-cyclocytidine-5′-monophosphate (cyclocytidine monophosphate, cyclo-CMP) were synthetized and subsequentially checked for antibacterial activity. Bacterial cells characteristics were assessed by antiproliferative and the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) assays. Results: It was found that modified nucleosides ara-C, and TTU, and nucleotides ara-CMP, and cyclo-CMP were able to inhibit Escherichia coli, Sarcina lutea, Bacillus cereus, and Proteus mirabilis strains in a time and dose dependent manner via killing kinetics assay. Gram-negative (E. coli and P. mirabilis) bacteria stains were more sensitive to the exposure of TTU and cyclo-CMP and less sensitive to the exposure of ara-C and ara-CMP compared to gram-positive ones. The most effective cells growth inhibitor for gram-positive strains (S. lutea, B. cereus) was ara-CMP with ED50 = 5.2•10-5 M and 3.1•10-4 M, respectively. Sarcina lutea appeared to be the most sensitive bacteria strain to the exposure of all studied compounds. It was demonstrated that studied modified pyrimidine nucleosides derivatives enhanced the production of intracellular ROS over time (validated via DCFA-DA probe assay). Conclusion: This study has revealed the mechanism of action of cytarabine, cyclocytidine monophosphate, and TTU as an antimicrobial agent for the first time, and has shown that these pyrimidine derivatives enhanced might be able to combat infections caused by Escherichia coli, Sarcina lutea, Bacillus cereus, and Proteus mirabilis in the future.
Identification of the Transcriptional Biomarkers Panel Linked to Pathological Remodelling of the Eye Tissues in Various HD Mouse Models

Ocular abnormalities are becoming associated with a spectrum of pathological events in various neurodegenerative diseases. Huntington’s disease (HD) is just such an example of a fatal neurological disorder, where mutated genes (CAG trinucleotide expansions in the Huntingtin gene) have widespread expression, leading to the production of mutant Huntingtin (mHTT) protein. It is well known that mutant HTT protein is prone to form toxic aggregates, which are a typical pathological feature, along with global transcriptome alterations. In this study, we employed well-established quantitative methods such as Affymetrix arrays and quantitative PCR (qPCR) to identify a set of transcriptional biomarkers that will track HD progression in three well-established mouse models: R6/2, R6/1, and HdhQ150. Our array analysis revealed significantly deregulated networks that are related to visual processes and muscle contractions. Furthermore, our targeted quantitative analysis identified a panel of biomarkers with some being dysregulated even at the presymptomatic stage of the disease, e.g., Opn1mw, Opn1sw, and Pfkfb2. Some of the deregulated genes identified in this study have been linked to other genetic ocular disorders such as: GNAT2, a source of achromatopsia, and REEP6, linked to Retinitis pigmentosa. It may thus be a useful platform for preclinical evaluations of therapeutic interventions.
2022 Systemic lupus erythematosus remission in clinical practice. Message for Polish rheumatologists

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complicated multiorgan disease and can lead to organ damage and increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The strategy of management while avoiding complications, especially caused by chronic glucocorticoid therapy, improves outcomes. Different definitions of the treatment goal in different configurations of lupus activity indexes have appeared over the years. In 2021 the definition of remission and recommendations for its achievement were published and it become a way to implement a treat-to-target strategy. The main goal of treatment has become DORIS (definition of remission in SLE) remission and the alternative LLDAS (low lupus disease activity state). Prolonging remission with clinical and immunological lupus activity restrictions and minimizing or stopping steroid doses reduced flares and damage accrual. The analysis and neutralization of poor prognosis predictive factors in lupus could be the most beneficial for less morbidity and mortality and better quality of life.