Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Waveform inversion of volcano-seismic signals for an extended source

[1] We propose a method to investigate the dimensions and oscillation characteristics of the source of volcano-seismic signals based on waveform inversion for an extended source. An extended source is realized by a set of point sources distributed on a grid surrounding the centroid of the source in accordance with the source geometry and orientation. The source-time functions for all point sources are estimated simultaneously by waveform inversion carried out in the frequency domain. We apply a smoothing constraint to suppress short-scale noisy fluctuations of source-time functions between adjacent sources. The strength of the smoothing constraint we select is that which minimizes the Akaike Bayesian Information Criterion (ABIC). We perform a series of numerical tests to investigate the capability of our method to recover the dimensions of the source and reconstruct its oscillation characteristics. First, we use synthesized waveforms radiated by a kinematic source model that mimics the radiation from an oscillating crack. Our results demonstrate almost complete recovery of the input source dimensions and source-time function of each point source, but also point to a weaker resolution of the higher modes of crack oscillation. Second, we use synthetic waveforms generated by the acoustic resonance of a fluid-filled crack, and consider two sets of waveforms dominated by the modes with wavelengths 2L/3 and 2W/3, or L and 2L/5, where W and L are the crack width and length, respectively. Results from these tests indicate that the oscillating signature of the 2L/3 and 2W/3 modes are successfully reconstructed. The oscillating signature of the L mode is also well recovered, in contrast to results obtained for a point source for which the moment tensor description is inadequate. However, the oscillating signature of the 2L/5 mode is poorly recovered owing to weaker resolution of short-scale crack wall motions. The triggering excitations of the oscillating cracks are successfully reconstructed.
Role of Cytogenetics and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in the Laboratory Workup of Acute Myeloid Leukemias

Abstract A new understanding of acute myeloid leukemia as a varied group of unique biologic entity has emerged, as a result of the identification of various chromosomal aberrations and their association with clinical prognosis and diagnosis. Following induction treatment, cytogenetic examination can establish the presence of any residual malignant cells, it's recurrence, clonal evolution if any, or the formation of novel abnormalities. The G-banded karyotype has been the gold standard method for detecting all of these aberrations for years. The capacity to examine the entire genome through karyotype analysis quickly enabled the detection of deletions, duplications, and structural rearrangements across every chromosome, and the more frequent ones were associated with particular aberrant clinical symptoms. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a sensitive technology that aids in differential diagnosis or therapeutic planning and provides rapid results. Furthermore, the combination of cytogenetic and molecular profiling enables a more precise evaluation of disease prognosis, diagnosis, classification, risk stratification, and patient treatment. Interphase FISH analysis, in conjunction with G-banded chromosomal analysis, can be used as a major testing tool for the evaluation of hematological neoplasms. For accurate and consistent descriptions of genomic changes identified by karyotyping and FISH, a specified terminology is necessary. The International System for Human Cytogenomic Nomenclature is the main source and provides instructions for documenting cytogenetic and molecular findings in laboratory reports. This review discusses the two methods, karyotyping and FISH, their advantages and limitations, sample requirements, various FISH probes that are used, nomenclature for results reporting, and the necessary quality control measures.
Leveraging Blockchain for a Robust and Scalable Device Identification in LoRaWAN

In Long Range wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) 1.1 networks, end devices must be activated via Over-The-Air Activation (OTAA) to securely send and receive data. Activation involves a two-step process: identification using a unique identifier (DevEUI) and authentication through a Message Integrity Code computed with a pre-shared key. Both DevEUI and pre-shared keys must be provisioned beforehand. We propose a scalable blockchain-based decentralized model to improve the identification of untrusted end devices during LoRaWAN's OTAA without altering the protocol, thus allowing immediate deployment in existing networks. Our approach accommodates corrupted devices and stores data in a distributed, permanent, and publicly auditable manner while facilitating rapid detection and identification of untrusted devices. Adapting blockchain technology to LoRaWAN resource-constrained environment, we design a specific data block structure combined with a “Proof of Identification” (PoI), while maintaining distributed consensus. This approach ensures a robust and scalable LoRaWAN join procedure while enhancing device identification and traceability. Through simulation models that combine our blockchain proposal with LoRaWAN 1.1 OTAA specification, we show improved performance for various metrics, e.g., for 10,000 devices, identification is two times faster using the blockchain.
Palaeomagnetic Pole Positions: A Survey and Analysis

Summary The positions of the pole during different geological periods obtained from studies of the magnetism of rocks are reviewed. For the past 20 million years the results from different continents are in good agreement. For periods prior to this, the results from the same continent are still in broad agreement with one another but not with those from different continents. The meaning of this disagreement is discussed and it is concluded that explanations other than relative movements between continents (continental drift) are not promising.
Mapping Urban Heat Island Areas in Ibadan

Today, across the world many urban areas are experiencing higher temperatures compared to their surrounding rural areas; this difference in temperature is known as Urban Heat Island (UHI). UHI has created temperature hotspots in our urban centers which are known as UHI areas. This study maps Urban Heat Island areas in Ibadan using remotely sensed data for 1984, 2000 and 2011. Land Surface Temperature (LST) and land use land cover characteristics of Ibadan urban were examined. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was computed for the study area. Correlation analysis was performed, and the results reveals that a negative relationship exist between LST and NDVI. Urban Heat Island (UHI) areas were defined using the land use land cover and LST for 1984, 2000 and 2011. The result further reveals that to map UHI areas, maximum LST and LULC conventionally regarded as UHI areas should be used, such as: high density residential areas, commercial/industrial area, and public/educational institution. The result presents an objective approach adopted to give us a detailed view of places that fall under UHI areas and account for their change through the study years. Based on findings, possible mitigation measures as means of controlling the menace of UHI were highlighted for the study area.
From Competition to Inclusion: Assessing the Nature of the South Asian Labour Market from the Perspective of International Core Labour Standards and the Sustainable Development Goals

The textbook construct of a competitive labour market represents an ideal world in which workers and employers have equal bargaining power. Such a construct yields powerful conclusions: Wages are aligned with productivity; employers earn a normal rate of return; there is no involuntary unemployment and working poverty; regulations—such as minimum wages and the presence of unions—impedes the efficient functioning of the labour market. Yet, these conclusions—which have influenced, academic economists, policymakers and redoubtable international agencies—are impaired in the presence of unequal bargaining power of workers and employers. In such circumstances, unscrupulous employers can exploit the vulnerability of workers leading to such deleterious outcomes as working poverty, unsafe working conditions, use of child labour and so forth. This creates the rationale for appropriately designed regulations that seek to create a level playing field between workers and employers and thus facilitate the transition to an ‘inclusive’ labour market.
Quality of Life in Hemodialysis Versus Peritoneal Dialysis Patients in Bahrain

Introduction: Chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease, affect patients' quality of life (QOL). Hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) are renal replacement methods in these patients. This work aimed to study the relationship between QOL scores in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on HD and PD. Methods: This study was done at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), Bahrain, from May to July 2023. A standard QOL index score instrument in Arabic form was used on 76 HD and 38 PD patients. The inclusion criteria included dialysis for at least three months and an age of more than 18 years with no severe morbidities or psychological diseases. Results: The mean age of HD and PD patients was 58.7 ± 11.2 and 55.9 ± 12.1 years, respectively. Thirty-five (46.1%) of the HD patients and 17 (44.7%) of the PD patients were females. In most dimensions, the QOL score of the patients treated with PD was better than that of the HD group. The number of hospital admissions was statistically significantly higher in the HD group (p = 0.007); however, there was no significant difference in the causes of admissions (p = 0.131). In this study, we observed the highest QOL score in the family subscale (93.2 ± 9.2 and 98.6 ± 4.7), followed by the psychological/spiritual subscale (81.1 ± 16.7 and 97.6 ± 3.9) in the HD and PD groups, respectively), but it was statistically significantly higher in the PD group (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our findings show that patients starting PD had better QOL scores in all domains than patients starting HD. Moreover, patients on PD maintained more active social support and ultimately felt better emotional well-being and physical health than those undergoing HD.
Polarization signature analysis of paddy rice in southern China

Rice is one of the three largest food grains in the world. Radar remote sensing has been proven to be an effective tool for rice monitoring. With the emergence of spaceborne polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, research on polarization backscatter behaviors and identification methods for rice are of great significance and attract the attention of remote sensing communities. The Zhazuo area located in Guizhou province of southwest China was selected as the test site for this study. The RADARSAT-2 polarimetric data acquired on four different dates were used to analyze the polarization backscatter behaviors and temporal variation of rice. Identification methods for rice based on polarization combinations and polarization decompositions were developed. The results indicated that HH with HH/HV was the optimal polarization combination for rice identification, with an accuracy of up to 86.65%. Based on the Pauli decomposition, rice can be discriminated effectively, with an accuracy of about 87.00%. Furthermore, using combinations of different polarization decompositions the identification results were greatly improved. The combination of the Pauli decomposition and the parameter β derived from eigenvector-eigenvalue-based decomposition was best for rice identification, with an accuracy of up to 93.51%.
Attenuation and excitation of three-component ground motion in southern California

Abstract Ground motion attenuation with distance and the variation of excitation with magnitude are parameterized using three-component, 0.25 to 5.0-Hz earthquake ground motions recorded in the distance range of 15-500 km for southern California to define a consistent model that describes both peak ground motion and Fourier spectra observations. The data set consists of 820 three-component TERRAscope recordings from 140 earthquakes, recorded at 17 stations, with moment magnitudes between 3.1 and 6.7. Regression analysis uses a simple model to relate the logarithm of measured ground motion to excitation, site, and propagation effects. The peak motions are Fourier velocity spectra and peak velocities in selected narrow bandpass-filtered frequency ranges. Regression results for Fourier amplitude spectra and peak velocities are used to define a piecewise continuous geometrical spreading function, frequency dependent Q ( f ), and a distance dependent duration that can be used with random vibration theory (RVT) or stochastic simulations to predict other characteristics of the ground motion. The duration results indicate that both the variation of the duration data with distance and its scattering decrease with increasing frequency. The ratio of horizontal to vertical component site terms is about √2 for all frequencies. However, this ratio is near unity for rock sites and is larger for soil sites. Simple modeling indicates that the Fourier velocity spectra are best fit by bilinear geometrical spreading of r −1 for r r −1/2 for r > 40 km. The frequency-dependent quality factor is Q ( f ) = 180 f 0.45 for each of the three components and also for the combined three-component data sets. The T 5%-75% duration window provides good agreement between observed and RVT predicted peak values.
Large-scale biodiversity research in the southern taiga, Northern Mongolia

The Khentii Mountains of Northern Mongolia, where the Siberian forest belt borders the steppe, represent a unique and greatly untouched ecosystem. Altogether 15 000 km 2 of primeval forest and grassland are completely protected by law (Mongolian Ministry for nature and environment 1996). Timber exploitation and use of non-timber forest products are permitted in a buffer zone around the core area. Field research is being conducted since 1996 on an established field station in the western Khentii. The aim of the research is to understand the structure of the spatiotemporal heterogeneous forest, its dynamics and the impact of utilisation on the ecology and biodiversity of the forest. To deal with the large map scales, the forest was stratified into different types using a range of vegetation attributes. The types were mapped using a 4 km 2 grid within an area of about 150 km 2 . In order to describe the structure, sample plots were distributed at random within each of the strata. The natural regeneration was studied separately.
Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy and Enteroscopy: A Shoulder-to-Shoulder Race

Traditional methods have their limitations when it comes to unraveling the mysteries of the small bowel, an area historically seen as the “black box” of the gastrointestinal tract. This is where capsule endoscopy and enteroscopy have stepped in, offering a remarkable synergy that transcends the sum of their individual capabilities. From their introduction, small bowel capsule endoscopy and device-assisted enteroscopy have consistently evolved and improved, both on their own and interdependently. Each technique’s history may be told as a success story, and their interaction has revolutionized the approach to the small bowel. Both have advantages that could be ideally combined into a perfect technique: safe, non-invasive, and capable of examining the entire small bowel, taking biopsies, and applying therapeutical interventions. Until the realization of this perfect tool becomes a reality, the key for an optimal approach lies in the right selection of exploration method. In this article, we embark on a journey through the intertwined development of capsule endoscopy and enteroscopy, exploring the origins, technological advancements, clinical applications, and evolving inquiries that have continually reshaped the landscape of small bowel imaging.
Analysis of hydrologic and geochemical time-series data at James Cave, Virginia: Implications for epikarst influence on recharge in Appalachian karst aquifers

Karst aquifers are productive groundwater systems around the world, supplying approximately 25% of the world’s drinking water. However, they are highly vulnerable to contamination due to rapid groundwater transit in the transmission zone (KWI 2006). The epikarst, also known as the subcutaneous zone, is an interface between the soil overburden and the transmission zone. The epikarst is considered a critical zone as it can control hydrologic and geochemical characteristics of recharge to the underlying karst aquifer. The overall goal of this thesis is to utilize time series hydrologic and geochemical data collected at James Cave, Virginia, to examine the influence of epikarst on the quantity, quality, and rates of recharge to aquifers in Appalachian karst. Results of this study indicate a strong seasonality of both the hydrology and geochemistry of recharge. The conceptual model of the epikarst developed in this study identifies three hydrologic seasons: recharge, recession, and baseflow. Seasonality of recharge geochemistry coincides with these three hydrologic seasons. These results have implications for management of karst aquifers. First, recharge to Appalachian karst aquifers is seasonal, reaching a maximum during the winter-early spring; the onset of recharge depends on antecedent climatic conditions. Second, water that infiltrates into the epikarst will have seasonally variable residence times due to changes in hydrologic storage; these variations in attenuation affect geochemical reactions in the epikarst, which can influence recharge quality. Overall, these results point to the complex influence of epikarst on karst recharge, which necessitates collection of long-term and high resolution datasets.
A Low-Latency and Lightweight FPGA-Based Engine for Softmax and Layer Normalization Acceleration

Vector operations such as GELU, softmax, and layer normalization are essential for transformers, but generally consume long latency on general-purpose CPU and GPU due to their low arithmetic intensities and high nonlinearity. In this study, we propose a low-latency FPGA-based architecture for accelerating the vector operations. Specifically, the proposed design includes processing elements for micro-instructions and a controller that decomposes and executes vector operations into in-order low-level instructions effectively. Experiments show that an FPGA implementation of the proposed design achieves a latency of 1.31us for softmax and 3.76us for layer normalization, while consuming 385 DSPs, 16 BRAMs, 71k FFs, and 57k. LUTs.
Correctifs pour la gestion décentralisée des forêts au Cameroun: options et opportunités de dix ans d’expérience

This Policy Brief: (1) outlines recommendations for change and improvement; (2) describes the legal and institutional infrastructure of decentralized forest management in Cameroon; (3) describes how basic mechanisms of decentralized forest management operate in practice; and (4) summarizes the findings of five years of World Resources Institute (WRI)-Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) research on decentralized forestry policy and practice. The decentralization of forestry management in Cameroon has succeeded in providing powers to local actors and enabling them to establish community forests, council forests and communitymanaged hunting zones, and to have access to forestry fees. The impacts of this transfer of power on local democracy, equity, living standards, poverty alleviation, social vulnerability and environmental sustainability are, however, weak. There is enormous room for improvement. This brief formulates recommendations with a view to transforming the promise of decentralized forest management in Cameroon into action and positive outcomes on the ground, notably poverty reduction.
Consensus Statement on the Diagnosis and Management of Functional Abdominal Pain (FAP) and Related Disorders in Children

Functional Abdominal Pain (FAP) related to Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs) pose a common yet underdiagnosed challenge in paediatric healthcare, which can exert a detrimental toll on children's mental well-being. Unfortunately, these disorders often go unrecognized, leading to a lack of appropriate diagnostic testing and suboptimal management and follow-up. Expert consultations and existing evidence were utilised to formulate consensus guidelines for the holistic management of paediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders. FGIDs warrant significant attention in the medical community due to their prevalence and profound impact on the quality of life of the children. Diagnosis, investigation, management, and ongoing monitoring are critical aspects of addressing FGIDs effectively. By nurturing a strong patient-physician relationship, considering a range of biological and psychosocial interventions, parental counselling, physicians can offer a more holistic approach to managing FGIDs in paediatric patients. This consensus strategy on diagnosis and management of FAP can help alleviate symptoms, improve outcomes, and ultimately enhance the overall well-being of affected children.
Test Images for Training Convolutional Neural Networks for Image Contrast Assessment

In the paper the construction of test images for the training of convolutional neural networks for image contrast automatic assessment is considered. The test image database is formed by using a random number generator at a given coefficient of filling the image with pixels with a given brightness (from 0 to 255), the remaining pixels have a brightness value of 255. This method of construction makes it possible to estimate the global absolute contrast of test images for training the convolutional neural network to assess the contrast of images. A convolutional neural network is constructed to train it on the constructed test images and to verify its functioning on real test images of the database TID2013. The structure and parameters of the neural network are presented, as well as the results of training and test image accuracy.
QRISK3 underestimates the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with COPD

Background Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The extent to which the excess CVD risk is captured by risk factors in QRISK, a widely used CVD risk scoring tool, is not well studied. Methods We created an incidence cohort of diagnosed COPD patients from the United Kingdom (UK) Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database (January 1998–July 2018). The outcome was a composite of fatal or non-fatal CVD events. Sex-specific age-standardised incidence ratios (SIR) were compared with values for the UK primary-care population. The observed 10-year CVD risk was derived using the Kaplan-Meier estimator and was compared with predicted 10-year risk from the QRISK3 tool. Results 13 208 patients (mean age 64.9 years, 45% women) were included. CVD incidence was 3.53 events per 100 person-years. The SIR of CVD was 1.71 (95% CI 1.61 to 1.75) in women and 1.62 (95%CI 1.54–1.64) in men. SIR was particularly high among patients younger than 65 years (women=2.13 (95% CI 1.94 to 2.19); men=1.86 (95% CI 1.74 to 1.90)). On average, the observed 10-year risk was 52% higher than QRISK predicted score (33.5% vs 22.1%). The difference was higher in patients younger than 65 years (observed risk 82% higher than predicted). Conclusion People living with COPD are at a significantly heightened risk of CVD over and beyond their predicted risk. This is particularly the case for younger people whose 10-year CVD risk can be >80% higher than predicted. Risk scoring tools must be validated and revised to provide accurate CVD predictions in patients with COPD.