Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of Multivariate Techniques for Spatial Drought Modelling using Satellite Rainfall Estimate in Fiji

Monitoring hydrological extremes is essential for developing risk-mitigation strategies. One of the limiting factors for this is the absence of reliable on the ground monitoring networks that capture data on climate variables, which is highly evident in developing states such as Fiji. Fortunately, increasing global coverage of satellite-derived datasets is facilitating utilisation of this information for monitoring dry and wet periods in data sparse regions. In this study, three global satellite rainfall datasets (CHIRPS, PERSIANN-CDR and CPC) were evaluated for Fiji. All satellite products had reasonable correlations with station data, and CPC had the highest correlation with minimum error values. The Effective Drought Index (EDI), a useful index for understanding hydrological extremes, was then calculated. Thereafter, a canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was employed to forecast the EDI using sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTa) data. A high canonical correlation of 0.98 was achieved between the PCs of mean SST and mean EDI, showing the influence of ocean–atmospheric interactions on precipitation regimes in Fiji. CCA was used to perform a hind cast and a short-term forecast. The training stage produced a coefficient of determinant (R2) value of 0.83 and mean square error (MSE) of 0.11. The results in the testing stage for the forecast were more modest, with an R2 of 0.45 and MSE of 0.26. This easy-to-implement system can be a useful tool used by disaster management bodies to aid in enacting water restrictions, providing aid, and making informed agronomic decisions such as planting dates or extents.
EBV+ tumors exploit tumor cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic mechanisms to produce regulatory T cell-recruiting chemokines CCL17 and CCL22

The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is involved in the etiology of multiple hematologic and epithelial human cancers. EBV+ tumors employ multiple immune escape mechanisms, including the recruitment of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (Treg). Here, we show some EBV+ tumor cells express high levels of the chemokines CCL17 and CCL22 both in vitro and in vivo and that this expression mirrors the expression levels of expression of the EBV LMP1 gene in vitro. Patient samples from lymphoblastic (Hodgkin lymphoma) and epithelial (nasopharyngeal carcinoma; NPC) EBV+ tumors revealed CCL17 and CCL22 expression of both tumor cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic origin, depending on tumor type. NPCs grown as mouse xenografts likewise showed both mechanisms of chemokine production. Single cell RNA-sequencing revealed in vivo tumor cell-intrinsic CCL17 and CCL22 expression combined with expression from infiltrating classical resident and migratory dendritic cells in a CT26 colon cancer mouse tumor engineered to express LMP1. These data suggest that EBV-driven tumors employ dual mechanisms for CCL17 and CCL22 production. Importantly, both in vitro and in vivo Treg migration was effectively blocked by a novel, small molecule antagonist of CCR4, CCR4-351. Antagonism of the CCR4 receptor may thus be an effective means of activating the immune response against a wide spectrum of EBV+ tumors.
Compound Projection Learning for Bridging Seen and Unseen Objects

Zero-shot Learning (ZSL) aims to transfer knowledge from seen image categories to unseen ones by leveraging semantic information. It is generally assumed that the seen and unseen objects share a common semantic space. Most of existing ZSL methods focus on how to connect the visual space and the semantic space. However, since there are some visual distribution differences between seen and unseen objects, the projection function learned by those seen classes is biased when transferring knowledge to unseen classes. We argue that, although the unseen objects are class-agnostic, the visual distribution information of unseen samples can be generated by exploiting semantic features. In this paper, we propose a Compound Projection Learning (CPL) model to transfer knowledge from seen to unseen objects by exploiting the information of both seen and class-agnostic samples. With the projected semantic representation by CPL, effective constraints such as projection loss and semantic reconstruction loss can be explored for seen and unseen objects, respectively, such that the semantic ambiguity across seen and unseen objects is reduced. Additionally, we utilize a similarity network to further explore the inter-class relationship by employing the labels and the similarities between seen and unseen classes. Extensive experiments on ZSL benchmark datasets show the effectiveness of our proposed approach.
PROCEEDINGS of the HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS SOCIETY 45th ANNUAL MEETING- 2001 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN USER-CENTERED AND COMPANY-CENTERED PERSPECTIVES IN THE DESIGN OF ECOMMERCE WEB SITES

Usability professionals have espoused the use of user-centered design since the field's inception. In the area of web site design, user-centered methods have been used to develop a site's information architecture, screen design, and other factors. However, there is a lack of quantitative data that specifies the expected benefits of using user-centered design methods. This study contrasts two site development processes, one which uses basic user-centered methods to develop the organization and labeling system of an ecommerce web site, and one which uses company-centered methods. The user-centered method used card sorts to organize the site's products and user-defined labels for each product category. The company-centered method used vendor and product categories to organize the contents and benchmarking for the labels. There are significant differences between the sites, with almost nothing in common. This paper will provide an analysis of these differences and present implications for site design.
Phase retrieval and reconstruction of coherent synthesis by genetic algorithm

In the context of diffractive optics, phase retrieval is a heavily investigated process of recreating an entire complex electric field from partial amplitude-only information through iterative algorithms. However, existing methods can fall into local minima during reconstructions or struggle to recover unusual and novel electric field distributions. We present a numerical method based on a global-optimization genetic algorithm that reconstructs non-trivial electric field distributions from single diffracted intensity distributions. Diffraction and propagation of the optical fields over arbitrary distances is modeled through implementation of the angular spectrum technique. Additionally, a coherently-locked laser array system is used as an experimental case-study demonstrating 0. 09π phase reconstruction accuracy of initial laser parameters from single intensity images.
Plasma Amino Acids May Improve Prediction Accuracy of Cerebral Vasospasm after Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Haemorrhage

Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhages (aSAH) account for 5% of strokes and continues to place a great burden on patients and their families. Cerebral vasospasm (CVS) is one of the main causes of death after aSAH, and is usually diagnosed between day 3 and 14 after bleeding. Its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. To verify whether plasma concentration of amino acids have prognostic value in predicting CVS, we analysed data from 35 patients after aSAH (median age 55 years, IQR 39–62; 20 females, 57.1%), and 37 healthy volunteers (median age 50 years, IQR 38–56; 19 females, 51.4%). Fasting peripheral blood samples were collected on postoperative day one and seven. High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) analysis was performed. The results showed that plasma from patients after aSAH featured a distinctive amino acids concentration which was presented in both principal component analysis and direct comparison. No significant differences were noted between postoperative day one and seven. A total of 18 patients from the study group (51.4%) developed CVS. Hydroxyproline (AUC = 0.7042, 95%CI 0.5259–0.8826, p = 0.0248) and phenylalanine (AUC = 0.6944, 95%CI 0.5119–0.877, p = 0.0368) presented significant CVS prediction potential. Combining the Hunt-Hess Scale and plasma levels of hydroxyproline and phenylalanine provided the model with the best predictive performance and the lowest leave-one-out cross-validation of performance error. Our results suggest that plasma amino acids may improve sensitivity and specificity of Hunt-Hess scale in predicting CVS.
IMPROVING GAS DYNAMIC MODELS FOR PNEUMATIC SYSTEMS

AbstractThe present paper deals with the improvement to modelling of pneumatic systems. The thermal air process inside the pneumatic chambers is modelled without using the polytrophic exponent to relate the pressure-density relationship. The model takes into account the real gases behaviour and the thermal constant time for estimating heat transfer. The polytrophic exponent is used only for adjusting the data and to improve the understanding of the system. The validity of this method is demonstrated by experiments.
The role of urban greenspace in children’s reward and punishment sensitivity

ABSTRACT According to Life History Theory, environments with abundant and reliable resources encourage ‘slow’ (deliberative) strategies that are low-risk and focused on long-term outcomes. Arguably, greener neighbourhoods may approximate such environments, especially in urban settings. This study used the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study to investigate the role of greenness of the child’s immediate residential area at ages 9 months and 3, 5, 7, and 11 years in reward and punishment sensitivity, measured using the Cambridge Gambling Task (CGT), at age 11 years. Our sample was the children who lived in urban areas at all five time-points and with data on the CGT at the fifth (n = 5,012). Consistent with Life History Theory, we found that children in the least green areas were more likely to engage in ‘fast’ decision strategies than other children: they showed higher sensitivity to reward (or lower sensitivity to punishment). This association was robust to adjustment for confounders.
The emotional state assessment tool: a brief, philosophically informed, and cross-culturally sensitive measure

ABSTRACT A large empirical literature in psychology has established a two-dimensional model of measuring affect (positive and negative emotion) as well as circumplex-based models. The present series of studies begins with items developed from a philosophical theory of affect, which were iteratively reduced to a 6-factor, 18-item measure of emotional well-being, which provides more arousal-based granularity of positive and negative affect. In study 1 (N = 727), using exploratory factor analysis, we found evidence for the classic two-dimensional structure of affect based on parsimony: 1) positive emotion and 2) negative emotion, in addition to a six-dimensional model closer to circumplex-based approaches based on model fit and other factor analytic criteria, consisting of: 1) cheerfulness, 2) vitality, 3) serenity, 4) sadness, 5) lethargy, and 6) stress. In study 2 (N = 667), using confirmatory factor analysis, we found that the two-factor solution provided inadequate fit, as did other prominent two-factor emotion measures, while the six-factor model provided excellent fit (CFI = .98, RMSEA = .055). The resulting measure, the Emotional State Assessment Tool (ESAT), provides a philosophically grounded, brief, versatile, and more cross-culturally sensitive measure of affect to complement existing measures of affect.
Supervisor's capability and aptitude to supervise Health and Safety (H&S) induction training to site workforces: A case study of the construction industry of Pakistan

Health and Safety (H&S) is a professional approach to substitute harmless and vigorous work conditions for any industry. The construction industry is of utmost importance because it is associated with elevated accident rates compared to the other sectors. To some extent, cultural progression is also reliant on communication among all the groups inside a corporation. Effective communication happens in a construction corporation, among upper management and the employees arbitrated by the supervisors. Therefore, if the construction supervisor's capabilities are ignored, the plans to progress the satisfactory H&S culture may be unsuccessful. The aptitude for conducting H&S induction training to employees is one of the construction supervisor's abilities, and in developing countries, the supervisor's capabilities are ignored. Moreover, the organization's eagerness on H&S, which corresponds to the induction training, is relatively less. The current research reports an examination to analyze how the supervisors possess H&S capabilities and skills to oversee site H&S induction training to workforces successfully. For the analysis, Pakistan's construction industry was targeted, and numerous construction firms were contacted in this regard. The data for the intended objective was accumulated through talks and surveys with site supervisors in construction companies of various extents from all over Pakistan. The outcomes exposed insufficient training, an absence of management dedication, and an inadequate familiarity or usage of visual/audio communication assistance by construction companies in Pakistan. Thus, it is suggested that there is a need for the supervisors to understand the use of multilingual skills and current technologies to assist valuable site H&S induction training that can progress a path towards an optimistic H&S culture.
A CMOS Front-End Hall Sensor Microsystem for Linear Magnetic Field Measurement With Best Tradeoff Between Sensitivity and SNR

A monolithic integrated front-end CMOS Hall sensor microsystem working at the current mode is presented for linear magnetic field measurement. The geometry of the cross-shaped Hall plates is optimized to enable the best tradeoff between current sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by theoretical modeling. Furthermore, a novel current-mode four-phase spinning current method combined with the correlated double sampling demodulation technique is proposed to amplify the weak Hall current signals and to cancel the high offset and noise. Fabricated using a standard 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> low-voltage CMOS technology, it is experimentally demonstrated that a maximum current sensitivity of 6.86%/T and an optimal SNR are achieved when the cross length-to-width (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L/W)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ratio of the Hall plate is about 0.4. At a supply voltage of 3.3 V, the linearity of the Hall sensor microsystem is up to 99.9% in the magnetic field range within ±200 mT. The magnetic field resolution is as low as 100 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{T}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, the residual offset is less than <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$52~\mu \text{T}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and the power consumption is about 15.4 mW.
TOUGH2: A general-purpose numerical simulator for multiphase nonisothermal flows

Numerical simulators for multiphase fluid and heat flows in permeable media have been under development at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory for more than 10 yr. Real geofluids contain noncondensible gases and dissolved solids in addition to water, and the desire to model such `compositional` systems led to the development of a flexible multicomponent, multiphase simulation architecture known as MULKOM. The design of MULKOM was based on the recognition that the mass-and energy-balance equations for multiphase fluid and heat flows in multicomponent systems have the same mathematical form, regardless of the number and nature of fluid components and phases present. Application of MULKOM to different fluid mixtures, such as water and air, or water, oil, and gas, is possible by means of appropriate `equation-of-state` (EOS) modules, which provide all thermophysical and transport parameters of the fluid mixture and the permeable medium as a function of a suitable set of primary thermodynamic variables. Investigations of thermal and hydrologic effects from emplacement of heat-generating nuclear wastes into partially water-saturated formations prompted the development and release of a specialized version of MULKOM for nonisothermal flow of water and air, named TOUGH. TOUGH is an acronym for `transport of unsaturated groundwater and heat` and is alsomore » an allusion to the tuff formations at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The TOUGH2 code is intended to supersede TOUGH. It offers all the capabilities of TOUGH and includes a considerably more general subset of MULKOM modules with added capabilities. The paper briefly describes the simulation methodology and user features. « less
Interpretation of Structural Terrace of Sheets: 303, 304 and 305 using Geophysical Attributes in Parts of Bamenda Massif, Southeastern Nigeria

Perhaps, aeromagnetic geophysical method plays a distinguished role when compared with other geophysical methods in its rapid rate of coverage and low cost per unit area explored. In many sedimentary basins, magnetic anomalies arise from secondary mineralization along fracture planes or fault zones, tectonic contact, etc., which are often revealed on aeromagnetic maps as linear features [1, 2, 3]. Hence, the study uses aeromagnetic and geological data to provide new interpretations (map and section-view) of crustal architecture in parts of Bamenda Massif, South-eastern Nigeria. Different forms of the geophysical methods can be used for extraction of geological properties from subsurface rocks, depending on the conditions and manner of surveying: borehole, airborne, ground etc. Each of these forms has its methodical, instrumental and interpretational peculiarities [4]. In this respect, geophysical data are among one of parameters that contribute to the description of rock properties and their structural relationships. By evaluating such parameters in regard to other known data, both the geologists and geophysicists acquire new insights into the exploration challenges to be solved. This approach may seem obvious, but in practice is seldom applied [5].
High-fructose feeding suppresses cold-stimulated brown adipose tissue glucose uptake in young men independently of changes in thermogenesis and the gut microbiome

Diets rich in added sugars, especially high in fructose, are associated with metabolic diseases such as insulin resistance, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Studies have shown a link between these pathologies and changes in the microbiome and its metabolites. Given the reported associations in animal models between the microbiome and brown or beige adipose tissue (BAT) function, and the alterations in the microbiome induced by high glucose or high fructose diets, we investigated the potential causal link between high glucose or fructose diets and BAT dysfunction in humans. We show that BAT glucose uptake, but not thermogenesis, is impaired by a high fructose but not high glucose diet, in the absence of changes in body mass, the gastrointestinal microbiome, and faecal short-chain fatty acids. We conclude that BAT metabolic dysfunction occurs independently from changes in gut microbiome composition, and earlier than other pathophysiological abnormalities associated with insulin resistance and dyslipidemia during fructose overconsumption in humans.
Pre-service teachers’ motivations to enter the profession

ABSTRACT In this large-scale qualitative study, we use an emergent design to explore pre-service teachers’ (PST) motivations to enter the profession. We open-code 2,798 PSTs responses to the directive, ‘Explain why you decided to become a teacher’, given over the course of a six-year period from one large Texas teacher preparation programme. Using constant comparative analysis, we identified three categories of motivation into the teaching profession: altruism, intrinsic motivation, and socialization influences. Each of these explain why PSTs were motivated—to, by, and from—entering the profession, respectively. However, descriptions of each category differed from findings in previous research, as our study addresses methodological, contextual, and conceptual gaps that have persisted throughout this field. Findings offer implications for increasing the teacher pipeline through targeted recruitment and increased informal teaching experiences.
Applied citizen science in freshwater research

Worldwide, scientists are increasingly collaborating with the general public. Citizen science methods are readily applicable to freshwater research, monitoring, and education. In addition to providing cost‐effective data on spatial and temporal scales that are otherwise unattainable, citizen science provides unique opportunities for engagement with local communities and stakeholders in resource management and decision‐making. However, these methods are not infallible. Citizen science projects require deliberate planning in order to collect high data quality and sustain meaningful community partnerships. Citizen science practitioners also have an ethical responsibility to ensure that projects are not putting the safety of participants at stake. We discuss here how citizen science is being applied in freshwater research, emerging challenges in project planning and implementation, as well as how citizen science is shaping public understanding, policy, and management of freshwaters.
Human Resources Practices in Banks Incorporated in the Kingdom of Bahrain

This study on the HR practices in banks incorporated in Bahrain stemmed from two important aspects; 1) the banking sector being a key sector in Bahrain and 2) the role the HR function plays in the success of the banking sector. The study covered main HR mechanisms like HR strategy and culture, HR and talent planning, recruitment and selection, learning and development, compensation and benefits, performance appraisals and other key support policies. An average of 50% of the banks sampled for this study indicated that ‘most of the time’ their senior managers’ support best HR practices and have a proactive approach to people management. About 33% of the banks indicated that ‘most of the time ‘they are taking proactive measures to retain employees. Though most of the banks (83%) have a formal performance appraisal method for all jobs/levels, only 8% of them indicated that the appraisals were conducted in a professional manner and that the appraisal decisions were fair. Half of the sample banks have a salary range for all jobs, and 33% of them expressed that the compensation and benefits policy is a hybrid; i.e. they pay the highest in the market for some jobs and for others they match the salaries in the market. Overall the findings revealed that the key HR mechanisms as assessed through various dimensions were being implemented ‘most of the time’ or ‘sometimes’ in the sample banks.