Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determining Food Security Indicators at Household Level in Drought Prone Areas of the Amhara Region of Ethiopia: The Case of Lay Gaint District, Amhara Regional State.

An area exposed to drought and food insecurity and where many people are suffering to get the minimum daily consumption, identifying the population sub-groups or households frequently affected by chronic and/or transitory food security have paramount importance for policy trust. The general objective of the study was to identify food secure and insecure households and map the food insecure agro-ecological zones using indicators in drought prone areas of the Amhara region by using Lay Gaint district as a case study site. Questionnaire survey, in-depth interview and focus group discussions were the major data collection techniques and both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were employed. The major variables used for the study includes income, expenditure, dietary diversity, coping strategy and dietary energy. The results of the study showed that sampled households in the study area were prone to food insecurity. The per capita kcal result confirms that around 80% of the sampled households were food insecure. HDDS showed that sample households were severely constrained in dietary diversity and were highly dependent on only two food groups (cereals and pulses). The results of kcal intake, DDS and food gap analysis showed that Woina-Dega and Kolla agro-ecological zones were the most food insecure zones in the study district. The result evidenced that food availability is a serious problem in the study area that needs enhancing crop production through the application of agricultural inputs. Moreover non-farm activities that supplement the agricultural income have to be given top priority to minimize severe cash constraints of the study households. Keywords : Income, expenditure, dietary diversity, coping strategy, dietary energy, Ethiopia
Aporte de material decíduo e nutrientes para o solo em plantio de eucalipto e floresta secundária

2Bolsista CNPq; 3 Resumo - Neste trabalho avaliou-se o aporte, a taxa de decomposicao e a liberacao de nutrientes do material deciduo no periodo do verao em areas de floresta secundaria e plantio de eucalipto em Redencao da Serra, SP. Foram instalados dez coletores em cada area, para a avaliacao do aporte de folhedo. Este foi coletado quinzenalmente a partir de dezembro de 2003 durante 75 dias. Parte do folhedo foi acondicionado em bolsas de decomposicao e distribuidas na superficie das areas, sendo coletadas quinzenalmente para avaliacao. A area com eucalipto apresentou maior aporte de fitomassa, menor constante de decomposicao e maior tempo de meia vida. Observou-se maior proporcao da fracao folhas na area de floresta e de galhos na area de eucalipto. No tempo zero, a area de floresta apresentou maiores acumulos de N, K, Ca, Mg e P. E na area de eucalipto, verificou-se a sequencia de N, Ca, K, Mg e P. Ao final dos 75 dias, a area de eucalipto apresentou maiores teores remanescentes de N, P, K e Ca. Para as condicoes climaticas de Redencao da Serra, no verao, a area com eucalipto apresentou maior aporte de fitomassa e teores de nutrientes remanescentes quando comparada com a area de floresta.
The Effect of Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique on Emotional Status among Cervical Cancer Women undergoing Chemotherapy

: Background : Cervical cancer patients treated by chemotherapy are influenced by several concurrent factors that impact patients' physical and psychological health after treatment such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Therefore, the current study aimed to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation techniques on emotional status among cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy. Design : A quasi-experimental design was used to conduct this study. Setting: The study was conducted at the inpatient and outpatient clinics in Sohag Oncology institution. Subject : A purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 100 cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy who were randomly assigned into two equal groups, with 50 cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy in each group (the experimental and control groups). Tools: Two tools were used (I) demographic data of cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy sheet, and (II) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS). Results: The present study revealed that Cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy emotional status (stress, depression, and anxiety levels) in both experimental groups were severe before the implementation of the progressive muscle relaxation technique while these levels became low after implementation. There were highly statistically significant differences and improvements between cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy such as depression, anxiety, and stress levels in both experimental and control groups pre and post-implementation progressive muscle relaxation technique at (P= <0.05). Conclusion: The progressive muscle relaxation technique achieved significant improvements in the emotional status of depression, anxiety, and stress among cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy. Recommendations : Cervical cancer women undergoing chemotherapy should understand the progressive muscle relaxation approach as a straightforward and practical strategy. to improve their emotional
Citizen Science: Probing the Virtues and Contexts of Participatory Research

Citizen science is an increasingly popular activity, from bird counts to amateur water sample collection to air quality monitoring. Researchers and theorists in the field of science and technology studies (STS) have typically applauded these efforts because they make science more participatory, providing an example of the democratization of science, or, at least, more equitable engagement between experts and the lay public. However, a broader review of the literature on citizen science suggests that participation is but one of many virtues that practitioners and observers find in the practices of citizen science. This literature review makes two interventions. First, we discuss the dimensions of citizen science that do not easily fit in a typology or spectrum of participatory practices. We identify seven different virtues claimed of citizen science: increasing scientific data; increasing citizens' scientific literacy and awareness; building community capacity for environmental protection; building more equal relationship between scientists and citizens; filling knowledge gaps and challenging official accounts; driving policy change; and catching polluters. Second, we consider the social and political contexts that often create contradictory situations or dilemmas for citizen scientists. Going forward, a robust framework for the analysis of citizen science would not only address the ways scientific data is collected and put to a particular use, but also situate the project in relation to broader structural forces of scientization, neocolonialism, globalization, and neoliberalization.
Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Patients with medulloblastoma are stratified into ‘‘standard’’ and ‘‘high’’ risk categories based on age at diagnosis, degree of surgical resection, and disease spread. In children older than 3 years of age, the long-term survival can be achieved in approximately 85% of standard risk patients and 70% of high risk patients with a combination of chemotherapy and irradiation. Younger children, particularly infants, are at a significantly higher risk of side-effects of treatment. Despite tremendous progress in the field of molecular biology of medulloblastoma, much remains to be achieved in understanding the pathogenesis, critical pathways responsible for medulloblastoma, and molecular risk stratification, and in devising treatment strategies with even better survival and less long-term sequelae.
Soil moisture variability across different scales in an Indian watershed for satellite soil moisture product validation

Strategic ground-based sampling of soil moisture across multiple scales is necessary to validate remotely sensed quantities such as NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) product. In the present study, in-situ soil moisture data were collected at two nested scale extents (0.5 km and 3 km) to understand the trend of soil moisture variability across these scales. This ground-based soil moisture sampling was conducted in the 500 km2 Rana watershed situated in eastern India. The study area is characterized as sub-humid, sub-tropical climate with average annual rainfall of about 1456 mm. Three 3x3 km square grids were sampled intensively once a day at 49 locations each, at a spacing of 0.5 km. These intensive sampling locations were selected on the basis of different topography, soil properties and vegetation characteristics. In addition, measurements were also made at 9 locations around each intensive sampling grid at 3 km spacing to cover a 9x9 km square grid. Intensive fine scale soil moisture sampling as well as coarser scale samplings were made using both impedance probes and gravimetric analyses in the study watershed. The ground-based soil moisture samplings were conducted during the day, concurrent with the SMAP descending overpass. Analysis of soil moisture spatial variability in terms of areal mean soil moisture and the statistics of higher-order moments, i.e., the standard deviation, and the coefficient of variation are presented. Results showed that the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of measured soil moisture decreased with extent scale by increasing mean soil moisture.
Earthquakes and fault zone structure

The characterization of fault zone structure and its evolution is essential for understanding earthquake mechanics and rupture evolution. Most of our knowledge about fault structure is derived from field studies of ancient faults. By using earthquake locations, we reconstruct the complex structure of a normal fault at a resolution directly comparable with field geological investigations. At the surface conjugate sets of faults are connected with the main fault plane, which with depth shows bending and dilational jogs. Parallel slipping planes occur at the base of the seismogenic volume, and minor synthetic and antithetic structures are widespread. Fault zone thickness ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 km, while the damage density decays exponentially away from the fault plane, with values comparable to those observed on fault outcrops. The strong similarities between seismological and geological images of fault structure indicate that earthquakes have a key role in the evolution of fault architecture.
Commentaries on Viewpoint: Initiating inspiration outside the medulla does produce eupneic breathing

TO THE EDITOR: As the title of this Viewpoint (3) states, “Initiating inspiration outside the medulla does produce eupneic breathing. ” My view is why should it not? Although many experiments have explored the cortical-spinal pathway to phrenic motoneurons, producing the idea that behavioral and metabolic respiratory demands compete at the spinal respiratory motor neurons (5), there is also evidence that medullarygenerated breaths can be modified from structures external to the medulla. Numerous areas of the brain including the cortex have medullary connections (2). For example, brief stimuli applied to the central gray substance of the midbrain and the ventral hippocampus can initiate a phase reversal in respiration from expiration to inspiration (4). These recordings of medullary neurons and phrenic activity show that, after the phase is switched from expiration to inspiration, the inspiration initiated within the medulla is similar in strength and duration to previous inspirations. That the discharge of these medullary neurons is under chemoreflex control has been recognized for many years (1). So, these brief stimuli from outside the medulla simply reset the phase of the medullary respiratory rhythm generator, which continues to operate normally, coupling breathing to metabolic needs via chemoreflex control as the Viewpoint author found.
Multifunctional Soft Gripper With Microneedles and Integrated Sensing for Robotic Fabric Handling

—This study proposes a multifunctional soft robotic gripper for handling fabrics that are unstructured and ﬂexible. The multifunctional ﬁnger design allows the gripper to change its gripping mode between pinching and suction, depending on the air permeability of the fabric. The gripper is able to separate a single fabric from a stack with success rates of 95% and 100% for air-permeable and non-air-permeable fabrics using pinching and suction, respectively. The actuation time is as short as 0.65 s for the two gripping modes. During gripping, the compliant body structure distributes the stress and endures up to 50 N of pressing force at the tip, thus preventing damage to both the fabrics and the gripper. In addition, the integrated air pressure sensor detects the contact and enables control of the pressing force. Before gripping the fabric, the air permeability of the fabric is ﬁrst detected by the pressure sensor in the vacuum regulator, and the gripping mode is then selected accordingly. The proposed gripper demonstrates reliability in performance and structural robustness over 10000 cycles of repeated actuation, showing a high potential in automation of garment manufacturing, in which repetitive and delicate handling of various types of fabrics is one of the key requirements.
Adjusted-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for Estimating Leaf Area Index of Rice

【Objective】Leaf area index (LAI) is an important parameter for describing vegetation canopy structure and community development condition in the terrestrial ecosystem. To improve the estimation accuracy of leaf area index is the main research direction for the remote sensed scholars. 【Method】 In this study the mid and late maturing rice at the different nitrogen fertilizer level was planted in 2004 yr, and the hyperspectral canopy reflectance of mid rice was obtained. The front four bands of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) (i.e. red,near-infrared,blue and green regions) were simulated to develop, and the adjusted-normalized difference vegetation index (ANDVI). A comparison of ANDVI with other VIs, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Green Ratio Index (GRI) and Red-edge Ratio Index (RRI) for estimation of LAI was made. The efficiency of ANDVI was validated with the hyperspectral canopy reflectance data of late maturing rice in 2004. 【Result】Results show that the estimation precision of exponential equation of ANDVI was 63.1%, the root mean square error was 1.771, 【Conclusion】and ANDVI has the potential of monitoring LAI in an extensive area.
Stuck in the Middle: Bridging the Gap Between Design, Evaluation, and Middleware

Middleware is software designed to support the development or operation of other software. A particular middleware system may afford certain styles of applications atop it, and may even determine the features of applications built using it. This poses a challenge: although we have good techniques for designing and evaluating interactive applications, our techniques for designing and evaluating middleware systems intended to support these applications are much less well formed. In this paper, we reflect on case studies of three middleware systems for interactive applications. We look at how traditional user-centered techniques, while appropriate for application design and evaluation, fail to properly support middleware design and evaluation. We present a set of lessons from our experience, as well as opportunities for further work.
Relationship of Drought with Precipitation-Concentration Period and Precipitation-Concentration Degree in Ningxia in Spring,Summer and Fall

Based on the precipitation data from meteorological stations in Ningxia from 1961to 2010,the spring,summer and fall precipitation-concentration period(PCP),precipitation-concentration degree(PCD)and the Z-index are calculated,and their spatio-temporal variations are further studied by using trend analysis,correlation analysis and synthesis analysis.It is found that during the 50 years,the drought grade was increasing in spring,summer and fall,especially in fall.The drought in the central arid area was most serious,followed by the southern mountainous area,and was lightest in the northern area.There was no significant change in PCP during spring and fall,but a slight decrease in summer.The PCD went up and down,respectively,in spring and summer,without obvious change in fall.During the last 10years,the PCD had grown significantly in all the three seasons,while the PCP had been postponed in spring and summer.However,the drought grade was distinctly affected by the time of first soaking rainfall instead of PCD in spring.Early soaking rainfall often led to low drought grade,and vice versa.In summer,the PCD had a greater influence on the drought grade than on PCP.The highly concentrated rainfall will increase the possibility of flood,while the drought will appear more often when PCD is low.The drought grade is affected by both PCP and PCD in fall.High PCD and early PCP imply more floods,otherwise more drought.
International Conference on Intelligent Systems and Knowledge Engineering ( ISKE ) Image Representation Based on Multi-Features

As one kind of popular application in computer vision, image clustering has attracted many attentions. Some machine learning algorithms have been widely employed, such as K-Means, Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF), Graph regularized Non-negative Matrix Factorization (GNMF) and Locally Consistent Concept Factorization (LCCF). These methods possess respective strength and weakness. The common problem existing in these clustering algorithms is that they only use one kind of feature. However, different kinds of features complement each other and can be used to improve performance results. In this paper, in order to make use of the complementarity between different features, we propose an image representation method based on multi-features. Clustering results on several benchmark image data sets show that the proposed scheme outperforms some classical methods. Keywords-K-Means; Non-negative Matrix Factorization; Concept Factorization; Multi-Features; Clustering
Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Cardiomyocytes A Methods Overview

Since human embryonic stem cells were first differentiated to beating cardiomyocytes a decade ago, interest in their potential applications has increased exponentially. This has been further enhanced over recent years by the discovery of methods to induce pluripotency in somatic cells, including those derived from patients with hereditary cardiac diseases. Human pluripotent stem cells have been among the most challenging cell types to grow stably in culture, but advances in reagent development now mean that most laboratories can expand both embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells robustly using commercially available products. However, differentiation protocols have lagged behind and in many cases only produce the cell types required with low efficiency. Cardiomyocyte differentiation techniques were also initially inefficient and not readily transferable across cell lines, but there are now a number of more robust protocols available. Here, we review the basic biology underlying the differentiation of pluripotent cells to cardiac lineages and describe current state-of-the-art protocols, as well as ongoing refinements. This should provide a useful entry for laboratories new to this area to start their research. Ultimately, efficient and reliable differentiation methodologies are essential to generate desired cardiac lineages to realize the full promise of human pluripotent stem cells for biomedical research, drug development, and clinical applications. (Circ Res. 2012;111:344-358.)
Towards modelling of loess-paleosol sequence formation

A simple modelling approach of loess-paleosol sequences combining both local insolation (as represented by a combination of precession and obliquity; p-0.5t) and a global climate signal (represented by the LR04 benthic oxygen isotope stack) is presented. Aim is the combination of these signals and the setting of threshold values to mimic loess-paleosol formation in the Pannonian Basin. As a good fit dies not necessarily imply a causal link, results require critical discussion.
Interplay between epigenome and 3D chromatin structure

Epigenetic mechanisms, primarily mediated through histone and DNA modifications, play a pivotal role in orchestrating the functional identity of a cell and its response to environmental cues. Similarly, the spatial arrangement of chromatin within the three- dimensional (3D) nucleus has been recognized as a significant factor influencing genomic function. Investigating the relationship between epigenetic regulation and 3D chromatin structure has revealed correlation and causality between these processes, from the global alignment of average chromatin structure with chromatin marks to the nuanced correlations at smaller scales. This review aims to dissect the biological significance and the interplay between the epigenome and 3D chromatin structure, while also exploring the underlying molecular mechanisms. By synthesizing insights from both experimental and modeling perspectives, we seek to provide a comprehensive understanding of cellular functions.
Terms of use : Click here Sleep deprivation amplies striatal activation to monetary reward

Psychological Medicine / Volume 43 / Issue 10 / October 2013, pp 2215 2225 DOI: 10.1017/S0033291712002875, Published online: 04 January 2013 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge. org/abstract_S0033291712002875 How to cite this article: B. C. Mullin, M. L. Phillips, G. J. Siegle, D. J. Buysse, E. E. Forbes and P. L. Franzen (2013). Sleep deprivation amplies striatal activation to monetary reward. Psychological Medicine, 43, pp 2215-2225 doi:10.1017/S0033291712002875 Request Permissions : Click here
Terms of use : Click here On the Bollobás – Eldridge Conjecture for Bipartite Graphs

Combinatorics, Probability and Computing / Volume 16 / Issue 05 / September 2007, pp 661 691 DOI: 10.1017/S0963548307008395, Published online: 28 February 2007 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge. org/abstract_S0963548307008395 How to cite this article: B. CSABA (2007). On the Bollobás–Eldridge Conjecture for Bipartite Graphs. Combinatorics, Probability and Computing, 16, pp 661-691 doi:10.1017/S0963548307008395 Request Permissions : Click here
Conjugate divergent margins: an introduction

Abstract The main objective of this book is to provide a global overview of divergent margins based on geological and geophysical interpretation of sedimentary basins along the South, Central and North Atlantic conjugate margins, from plate tectonics and crustal scales to a more detailed description of stratigraphical and structural elements that are responsible for petroleum plays. These themes are complemented by geodynamic concepts based on physical and numerical models, and by comparisons with present-day embryonic margins, which are succinctly discussed in some papers. Supplementary material: Three plate animations of the Atlantic Ocean are available at www.geolsoc. org.uk/SUP18620.