Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modélisation du risque d'exposition aux moustiques vecteurs de Plasmodium spp. dans un contexte de lutte anti-vectorielle.

L'accroissement des resistances aux insecticides chez les anopheles vecteurs de Plasmodium sont mises en cause dans la baisse d'efficacite des principales strategies de lutte antivectorielle (LAV) en Afrique. Des techniques de combinaisons d'insecticides, evaluees au Benin, n'ont pas ete plus efficaces pour reduire la morbidite palustre et limiter l'extension des resistances que la strategie preconisee par le Programme National de Lutte contre le Paludisme (moustiquaires impregnee seules). Dans cette these, nous avons cherche a identifier les facteurs operationnels, biologiques et environnementaux pouvant expliquer cet echec. Nous avons modelise le risque d'exposition de l'homme aux piqures de vecteurs en fonction de variables environnementales afin (i) d'identifier les determinants de la presence et de la densite des vecteurs et (ii) d'analyser l'impact des methodes de LAV. Nos resultats ont montre a l'echelle des villages une forte heterogeneite spatio-temporelle de la population vectorielle, caracterisee par des niches ecologiques et comportementales differentes qui a ont pu moduler l'efficacite de la LAV. Nous avons mis en evidence le role vectoriel majeur de An. funestus qui assurait la transmission en saison seche tandis que le taux d'utilisation des moustiquaires diminuait en raison des fortes temperatures et de la baisse de nuisance culicidenne. De plus, nous avons observe des modifications comportementales chez les vecteurs suite a la mise en place de methodes de LAV. Nous faisons donc des propositions pour l'amelioration des methodes actuelles de LAV, pour definir les caracteristiques des futures methodes et pour mieux choisir les methodes a implementer en fonction du facies entomologique.
Stratospheric Meteorological Conditions for the 3-12 Nov 1994

During the ATLAS-3 mission (3–12 Nov 1994), United Kingdom Meteorological Office fields show that the SH vortex was still strong below about 700 K (∼16 hPa), with coherent vortex fragments apparent up to about 1300 K (∼3 hPa). The SH vortex was shifted off the pole toward 270°E throughout ATLAS-3, although its shape varied from day to day. SH temperatures were increasing during ATLAS-3; temperatures below 188 K were last seen 35–45 days before the mission, but were below 195 K as late as 2 Nov 1994. The NH polar vortex had developed at levels above about 550 K (∼35 hPa). Simulated high-resolution potential vorticity (PV) fields clearly show low latitude air being drawn up around the polar vortices in both hemispheres. These fields indicate that meteorological analyses underestimate the amount of atmospheric variability, including the strength of local PV gradients, and small-scale structure. Structure such as that in the simulated fields can result in apparent discrepancies between tracer measurements and PV fields.
Nutraceutical Potential of Leafy Vegetables Landraces at Microgreen, Baby, and Adult Stages of Development

Nutraceutical compounds present in leafy vegetables have gained substantial attention due to the health benefits they offer beyond their nutritional value. The biosynthesis, composition, and concentration of these compounds vary widely among leafy vegetables and carry the influence of genetic, agronomic, and environmental factors. Recently, micro-vegetables are gaining importance among consumers worldwide and are used in gastronomy at different development stages. Another tendency is the utilization of local genetic resources as an integral component of agricultural biodiversity crucial for sustainable production. The present study identifies the nutraceutical potential of 10 leafy vegetables at the microgreen, baby, and adult development stages using local genetic resources from the Spanish Vegetable Genebank (CITA, Aragón). Specifically, two landraces for each of the following crops were used: chard (Beta vulgaris), spinach (Spinacia oleracea), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), borage (Borago officinalis), and chicory (Cichorium intybus). The results reinforce the value of traditional local genetics and demonstrate the potential of these leafy vegetables as a source of functional compounds (fatty acids, vitamin C, carotenoids, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, and tocopherols). The observed variability depending on the crop and the developmental stage recommends the necessity of having a varied diet, since each leafy vegetable product offers a unique nutritional profile.
STS-DGNN: Vehicle Trajectory Prediction via Dynamic Graph Neural Network With Spatial–Temporal Synchronization

Accurate prediction of vehicle trajectories is crucial to the safety and comfort of autonomous vehicles. Although several graph-based models have exhibited substantial progress in acquiring spatiotemporal dependencies among vehicles in the driving environment, the potential for additional exploration in this domain persists. The main reason is that they concentrated on independently capturing the spatial relations and temporal dependencies, neglecting to incorporate the temporal feature into the spatial feature for co-training, which limits their ability to yield satisfactory predictive accuracy. Typically, spatial and temporal correlations are coupled and should be modeled jointly. Inspired by this, a novel dynamic graph neural network with spatial–temporal synchronization (STS-DGNN) for vehicle trajectory prediction is proposed, which constructs the driving scene as dynamic graphs and can jointly extract spatial–temporal features. Specifically, low-order and high-order dynamics of vehicle trajectories are considered collaboratively in a one-stage framework rather than independently modeling the spatial relationship and temporal correlations of vehicles in two-stage models. The proposed model also considers the dynamic nature of graph sequence by utilizing gate recurrent unit (GRU) to update the graph neural network (GNN) parameters dynamically. The spatial–temporal features are subsequently conveyed to convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and processed by a multilayer perceptron (MLP) to generate the ultimate trajectories. Finally, to illustrate the effectiveness of the STS-DGNN model, the model is assessed on three well-known datasets, namely highD, EWAP, and UCY. The results confirm that our model performs better at making predictions than cutting-edge models. The visualization results intuitively explain that our method can extract sophisticated and subtle multivehicle interactions, resulting in accurate predictions.
Road Warriors: Tie-ups. Backups. Gridlock. The American Commute Has Never Been So Painful. Is There Any Solution?

Traffic congestion in the United States has soared largely because road building has been outpaced by population growth, as well as because consumer behavior has changed, including increases in both car ownership and distances between home and workplace. In 2003 alone, Americans spent 3.7 billion hours in traffic. Congestion costs the average commuter 47 hours each year, and free flowing travel is less than half of what it was in the 1980s. Rising numbers of "extreme commuters" travel 90 minutes or more to work every day. Commuting may result in reduced community involvement and leisure pursuits, as well as medical and psychological malaise. In order for congestion to be alleviated, government cooperation and support is necessary, including interaction between federal, state, and local governments. The author discusses congestion mitigation, including expansion of both roads and public transportation, and high-tech traffic management systems, as well as congestion pricing, including tolls and highway leasing to private enterprises. Technological innovations, including sensors and cameras, are highlighted. One system is the Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control system in use in Los Angeles. The author discusses congestion crises and mitigation efforts in a number of cities, as well as congestion's predicted future. Although Los Angeles congestion is among the worst in the nation today, it is estimated that by 2030, conditions will be even worse than present day Los Angeles in eleven urban areas, including Minneapolis and Atlanta. Boxes describe the worst commuter cities and counties nationwide; innovative congestion pricing (known as "cordon tolls") underway in London; and traffic operations in the Houston, Texas, area.
An Efficient and Adaptive Content Delivery System Based on Hybrid Network

Nowadays, Content Delivery Network (CDN) is widely used for its convenience in providing services. However, the increasing demand for bandwidth puts tremendous pressure on CDN. Inspired by the great potential of periodic broadcasting to save bandwidth, we suggest an Efficient and Adaptive Content Delivery System (EACDS) to decrease traffic and shorten video content delivery delays. Specifically, we propose the Peak cutting and Valley filling for VBR (PVV) and the Exhaustive Periodic Broadcasting algorithm (EPB) to process videos and arrange slices with low bandwidth and delay. Furthermore, we introduce an enhanced version of EPB that supports Fast-Forwarding, namely FFB. To effectively deal with the constantly changing Internet, we also demonstrate an adaptive decision model that switches distribution schemes according to the online user scale. Extensive experiments show that the EACDS is excellent in many aspects. The PVV and decision model can save up to 57% of bandwidth and 54.7% of traffic respectively. Compared with some existing schemes, EPB allows the most negligible delay with the same bandwidth, and FFB supports fast-forwarding in periodic broadcasting.
Comparison of thyroid volumes in patients with and without endometrioma

Background/Aim: Endometriosis is a condition characterized by endometrial tissue outside the uterus; it can lead to pelvic pain, although most cases remain asymptomatic. Abnormalities in the immune system have been hypothesized to contribute to development of ectopic endometrial tissues. Endometriosis is a chronic local inflammatory disorder associated with autoimmunity and thyroid disorders. This study aims to compare thyroid gland volumes between patients diagnosed with pathological endometrioma and those undergoing the removal of ovarian cysts for other gynecological reasons. Additionally, the study seeks to identify the coexistence of thyroid disease and determine the threshold value for thyroid volume in cases of endometriosis. Methods: This prospective cohort study included 64 patients who met the defined inclusion criteria. Thyroid volumes were measured in women aged 18–45 with ovarian cysts before surgery. Group 1 comprised individuals with surgically planned endometrioma diagnoses later histologically confirmed after surgery. The control group (Group 2) consisted of women with similar anthropometric characteristics undergoing gynecological surgery for non-endometrioma ovarian cysts. Thyroid volume, functional thyroid hormone levels, tumor markers, and demographic data were compared between the groups. Results: The endometrioma group exhibited a significantly higher thyroid volume. The thyroid volume variable demonstrated a diagnostic performance of 0.863 (0.771–0.956) regarding ROC-AUC in the presence of endometrioma, with a determined cutoff of 7.40. Although patients with endometrioma displayed a notably larger thyroid volume, cases of goiter were not observed. While there was no significant difference in thyroid hormones (serum TSH, T3 levels) between the groups, serum T4 was elevated in the endometrioma group, albeit within the normal laboratory range. All thyroid levels were within the normal range (euthyroid). As anticipated, serum CA-125 and CA19-9 levels were notably higher in the endometrioma group. Pathological reports did not indicate the presence of malignant cysts. Conclusions: Patients with endometriosis experience increased thyroid volume, even without clinical signs of thyroid disease. The potential clinical interplay between thyroid diseases, thyroid volume, and endometriosis warrants consideration during patient follow-ups.
When Branded Consumption Restores Consumers’ Personal Control

As natural disasters and health issues proliferate and alter life situations accordingly, individuals often experience a threat to their personal control. One of the downward coping behaviors is for one to seek structure and order in one’s external environment (e.g., Kay et al., 2009). As a result, consumers alter their consumption behavior to compensate for a lower sense of personal control (e.g., Cutright, 2012). Drawing upon extant literatures of personal control, attribution theory and branded consumption, the current research offers four propositions regarding the instrumental role of branded consumption in restoring consumers’ sense of personal control. The research advances business practitioners’ understanding about consumers’ coping behavior to overcome perceived loss of control. It sheds light on a novel motivation behind branded consumption and thus, helps shape branding and merchandising practices to empower consumers with innovative brand offerings.
Detection of outliers in air pollution from Shijiazhuang using functional data analysis

Air pollution seriously affects the production and life of human society, causing weather and climate to exhibit anomalies. The high variability of such data makes it difficult for traditional methods to accurately detect anomalous values. In order to solve such problems, this paper generalizes the 𝐿∞ depth function according to its easy computational characteristics on high-dimensional data and applies the depth function to the detection of outliers in function data analysis. On simulated data, weighted 𝐿∞ function depth is more robust in estimating the mean function compared to other function depths, with the smallest mean integrated squared error in estimating the mean function, and TPR is more efficient in identifying outliers. This approach is used to identify outliers in the data on air pollution in Shijiazhuang City, and it is compared with the typical boxplot method and other outlier detection techniques based on depth functions. The results show that the weight 𝐿∞ method can identify the most polluted months of 𝑃𝑀10, 𝑃𝑀2. 5, 𝑆𝑂2 and 𝑁𝑂2, confirming the effectiveness of our proposed method. It provides a scientific basis for the improvement of weather regulation and control measures for heavy pollution in Shijiazhuang city.
Biology of GD2 ganglioside: implications for cancer immunotherapy

Part of the broader glycosphingolipid family, gangliosides are composed of a ceramide bound to a sialic acid-containing glycan chain, and locate at the plasma membrane. Gangliosides are produced through sequential steps of glycosylation and sialylation. This diversity of composition is reflected in differences in expression patterns and functions of the various gangliosides. Ganglioside GD2 designates different subspecies following a basic structure containing three carbohydrate residues and two sialic acids. GD2 expression, usually restrained to limited tissues, is frequently altered in various neuroectoderm-derived cancers. While GD2 is of evident interest, its glycolipid nature has rendered research challenging. Physiological GD2 expression has been linked to developmental processes. Passing this stage, varying levels of GD2, physiologically expressed mainly in the central nervous system, affect composition and formation of membrane microdomains involved in surface receptor signaling. Overexpressed in cancer, GD2 has been shown to enhance cell survival and invasion. Furthermore, binding of antibodies leads to immune-independent cell death mechanisms. In addition, GD2 contributes to T-cell dysfunction, and functions as an immune checkpoint. Given the cancer-associated functions, GD2 has been a source of interest for immunotherapy. As a potential biomarker, methods are being developed to quantify GD2 from patients’ samples. In addition, various therapeutic strategies are tested. Based on initial success with antibodies, derivates such as bispecific antibodies and immunocytokines have been developed, engaging patient immune system. Cytotoxic effectors or payloads may be redirected based on anti-GD2 antibodies. Finally, vaccines can be used to mount an immune response in patients. We review here the pertinent biological information on GD2 which may be of use for optimizing current immunotherapeutic strategies.
The Complexity of Angular Resolution

The angular resolution of a straight-line drawing of a graph is the smallest angle formed by any two edges incident to a vertex. The angular resolution of a graph is the supremum of the angular resolutions of all straight-line drawings of the graph. We show that testing whether a graph has angular resolution at least π/ (2 k ) is complete for ∃ R , the existential theory of the reals, for every fixed k ≥ 2 . This remains true if the graph is planar and a plane embedding of the graph is fixed.
Use and Quality of Blood Cultures for the Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana, 2019–2021

Blood Culture and Drug Susceptibility Testing (CDST) remains vital for the diagnosis and management of bloodstream infections (BSIs). While the Ghana National Standard Treatment Guidelines require CDST to be performed in each case of suspected or clinically diagnosed BSI, these are poorly adhered to in the Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH). This study used secondary medical and laboratory records to describe blood CDST requests by clinicians and the quality of CDST processes for the diagnosis of BSI among patients admitted to HTH from 2019 to 2021. Of 4278 patients, 33% were infants. Pneumonia and neonatal sepsis cases were 40% and 22%, respectively. Only 8% (351/4278) had blood CDST requested. Of 94% (329/351) blood CDST processed and reported, only 7% (22/329) were culture-positive, with likely contaminants being recovered from 16% (52/329) of the specimens. The duration from admission to request was 2 days (IQR: 0–5), and Further qualitative studies must be conducted to understand the reasons for low blood CDST utilisation among clinicians and the patient outcomes. Targeted interventions are required to enhance the utilisation of blood CDST by clinicians and the quality of laboratory processes.
Are the oscillations found in magnetized collisional electronegative warm plasma artifact during plasma-surface interaction?

The formation of the sheath and its characteristics are investigated in an electronegative plasma under the impact of an oblique and constant magnetic field. Specifically, the role of the magnetic field and initial conditions of positive ion velocity on the sheath characteristics are uncovered by adopting the Sagdeev potential approach for the determination of the modified Bohm’s criterion. At the sheath edge, the upper and lower components of the positive ion velocity perpendicular to the probe/wall are determined and examined in greater detail. The sheath structure is found to be modified considerably by the initial conditions. If the magnetic field is strong near the sheath edge, then the profile of the positive ion density shows a pulse-like structure for the case when we neglect the x-component (parallel to the wall) of positive ion velocity at the sheath edge. This pulse-like structure disappears when all the components of the positive ion velocity at the sheath edge are included, i.e. the ions are considered to move in any direction but towards the probe. The occurrence or disappearance of pulse-like structures or oscillations completely depend upon the initial conditions. Since in real situations the ions are expected to move in any direction (carrying all their velocity components) and are not aligned only in the direction perpendicular to the wall, these oscillations are artifact in nature. The sheath thickness is observed to be reduced with increasing magnetic field strength and its inclination. In order to better understand the phenomenon, isothermal and adiabatic cases are also discussed.
Differential working memory function between phonological and visuospatial strategies: a magnetoencephalography study using a same visual task

Previous studies have reported that, in working memory, the processing of visuospatial information and phonological information have different neural bases. However, in these studies, memory items were presented via different modalities. Therefore, the modality in which the memory items were presented and the strategy for memorizing them were not rigorously distinguished. In the present study, we explored the neural basis of two working memory strategies. Nineteen right-handed young adults memorized seven sequential directions presented visually in a task in which the memory strategy was either visuospatial or phonological (visuospatial/phonological condition). Source amplitudes of theta-band (5–7 Hz) rhythm were estimated from magnetoencephalography during the maintenance period and further analyzed using cluster-based permutation tests. Behavioral results revealed that the accuracy rates showed no significant differences between conditions, while the reaction time in the phonological condition was significantly longer than that in the visuospatial condition. Theta activity in the phonological condition was significantly greater than that in the visuospatial condition, and the cluster in spatio-temporal matrix with p < 5% difference extended to right prefrontal regions in the early maintenance period and right occipito-parietal regions in the late maintenance period. The theta activity results did not indicate strategy-specific neural bases but did reveal the dynamics of executive function required for phonological processing. The functions seemed to move from attention control and inhibition control in the prefrontal region to inhibition of irrelevant information in the occipito-parietal region.
Exploring LoRaWAN Traffic: In-Depth Analysis of IoT Network Communications

In the past decade, Long-Range Wire-Area Network (LoRaWAN) has emerged as one of the most widely adopted Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards. Significant efforts have been devoted to optimizing the operation of this network. However, research in this domain heavily relies on simulations and demands high-quality real-world traffic data. To address this need, we monitored and analyzed LoRaWAN traffic in four European cities, making the obtained data and post-processing scripts publicly available. For monitoring purposes, we developed an open-source sniffer capable of capturing all LoRaWAN communication within the EU868 band. Our analysis discovered significant issues in current LoRaWAN deployments, including violations of fundamental security principles, such as the use of default and exposed encryption keys, potential breaches of spectrum regulations including duty cycle violations, SyncWord issues, and misaligned Class-B beacons. This misalignment can render Class-B unusable, as the beacons cannot be validated. Furthermore, we enhanced Wireshark’s LoRaWAN protocol dissector to accurately decode recorded traffic. Additionally, we proposed the passive reception of Class-B beacons as an alternative timebase source for devices operating within LoRaWAN coverage under the assumption that the issue of misaligned beacons can be addressed or mitigated in the future. The identified issues and the published dataset can serve as valuable resources for researchers simulating real-world traffic and for the LoRaWAN Alliance to enhance the standard to facilitate more reliable Class-B communication.