Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Paradigm misplaced? Antarctic marine ecosystems are affected by climate change as well as biological processes and harvesting

Abstract A recent review by Ainley et al. has suggested that recent investigations of the ecological structure and processes of the Southern Ocean have “almost exclusively taken a bottom-up, forcing-by-physical-processes approach relating individual species' population trends to climate change”. We examine this suggestion and conclude that, in fact, there has been considerable research effort into ecosystem interactions over the last 25 years, particularly through research associated with management of the living resources of the Southern Ocean. Future Southern Ocean research will make progress only when integrated studies are planned around well structured hypotheses that incorporate both the physical and biological drivers of ecosystem processes.
Acute Appendicitis in a Double Appendix: A Case Report

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common non-traumatic emergency surgical pathologies, and appendix duplication is a congenital defect that is challenging to diagnose. It is often discovered incidentally during laparoscopy or laparotomy. If a double appendix or other associated anomalies are not detected, complications can be severe and potentially fatal. There are few cases of appendicular duplication. We report the incidental discovery of a double appendix in a 36-year-old man who came to the emergency department complaining of sharp right iliac fossa pain for three days and other features of appendicitis. During surgery, it was surprisingly discovered that he had two appendices. Both were inflamed, and an appendectomy was done for both of them. This case emphasizes the significance of this condition as a misdiagnosis might result in serious, potentially fatal consequences for the patient in addition to other health and legal issues.
A Hybrid Movies Recommendation System Based on Demographics and Facial Expression Analysis using Machine Learning

—Cinemas and digital platforms offer an extensive array of content requiring tailored filtering to cater to individual preferences. While recommender systems prove invaluable for this purpose, conventional movie recommendations tend to emphasize specific attributes, leading to a reduction in overall accuracy and reliability. Notably, the extraction process of facial temporal attributes exhibits a suboptimal level of accuracy, thereby influencing the classification of attributes and the overall accuracy of the recommendation system. This article introduces a hybrid recommender system that seamlessly integrates collaborative filtering and content-based methodologies. The system takes into account crucial factors such as age, gender, emotion, and genre attributes. Films undergo an initial categorization based on genre, with a subsequent selection of the most representative genres to ascertain group preferences. Ratings for these selected movies are then predicted and organized in descending order. Employing Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) models, the system achieves real-time extraction of facial attributes, particularly enhancing the accuracy of emotion attribute extraction through sequential processing. The CNN model demonstrates a commendable 55.3% accuracy score, the LSTM model excels with a 59.1% score, while the combined CNN and LSTM models showcase an impressive 60.2% accuracy. The performance of the recommendation system is rigorously evaluated using standard metrics, including precision, recall, and F1-measure. Results underscore the superior performance of the proposed system across various testing scenarios compared to the established benchmark. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that the precision of the benchmark marginally surpasses the proposed system in the age groups of 8-14 and 15-24.
The capture depth of the dominant bycatch species and the relationship between their catch rates and the sea surface temperature

On the basis of the data collected on a pelagic longline vessel from November 18, 2012 through March 31, 2013 in the fishing area of the Indian Ocean (2°47′N~8°13′S,62°18′E~ 67°49′E), the capture depth of the dominant bycatch species and the relationship between their catch rates and the sea surface temperature were analyzed. The results showed that (1) blue shark (Prionace glauca) mainly inhabited the water layer of 80~160m, the water layer with the highest catch rate was 120~160m, followed by 80~120m, the catch rate of remaining water layers was low; (2) swordfish (Xiphias gladius) mainly inhabited the water layer of 80~200m, the catch rate of this water layer increased at first then decreased, the catch rate in the water layer of 120~160m was the highest and much higher than that of other water layers; (3) blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) was mainly caught in the water layer of 80~200m, the catch rate of this water layer was high, and the catch rate peaked in the water layer of 160~200m. The catch rate in the water layer of 200~280m was low, and decreased with depth; (4)striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) was caught in the water layer of 80~200m, no striped marlin was caught in other water layer, the catch rates decreased with depth; (5) crocodile shark was caught in the water layer of 200~320m, no crocodile shark was caught in other water layer, the catch rates increased with depth; (6)the catch rates of blue shark increased with the increasing of the sea surface temperature, peaked at 30.1~30.5°C; the catch rates of swordfish and blue marlin peaked at 29.6~30°C; the catch rates of striped marlin were high at 29.6~31°C and peaked at 30.1~30.5°C; the catch rates of crocodile shark peaked at 30.6~31°C. This study suggested that the depth of the pelagic longline hook should be deployed deeper than 160m and shallower than 280m or avoid operation in the area where the sea surface temperature is higher than 29.6°C to reduce the bycatch of blue shark, swordfish, blue marlin and striped marlin.
Designing adaptive online support for problem-based learning

This paper describes the work-in-progress of a novel solution to the problem of designing an LMS course structure that supports students in a problem-based learning course. The students come with a wide variety of prior experience in the field, they need to learn a set of complex skills that build on each other, they need to work partially asynchronously, and the design solution needs to be scalable. A lean weekly structure is proposed that is embedded with the synchronous teaching, intricately connected to a parallel hub of support material whose design allows students to construct their own bespoke learning journey. The course design draws on cognitive load theory to direct student attention only to what will be useful to them at any point in the course, and the support materials themselves follow universal design for learning principles to cater for a wide range of student learning needs.
GNSS-R Ocean Wind Speed Retrieval Algorithm Based on Fusing Frequency-Domain Information

Ocean surface wind speed is important for numerical prediction of the marine environment, marine disaster monitoring, sea–steam interaction, meteorological prediction, climate research, and so on. At present, ocean surface wind speed retrieval models extract DDM features from the delay-Doppler domain, the angle of which is single, where certain detail information cannot be effectively extracted from the image. To improve the accuracy of wind speed retrieval, starting from the feature extraction, this letter proposes a frequency-informed neural network (FINN)-based wind speed retrieval. First, the wind speed retrieval model based on the delay-Doppler domain and frequency domain is constructed, based on the extraction of features from the DDM delay-Doppler domain, the features from the DDM frequency domain are also extracted, so the wind speed retrieval is performed separately by extracting features from different angles. Then, a multimodel fusion scheme based on dynamic weights is designed, which can dynamically weight submodels according to different input samples, and realize the dynamic fusion of delay-Doppler-domain retrieval results and frequency-domain retrieval results. Finally, the improved gradient loss (IG Loss) function is proposed. Contrast experiments and ablation studies prove that the present algorithm has excellent retrieval performance.
Prevalence of dengue fever in Saudi Arabia: Jeddah as a case study

Dengue fever is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including Saudi Arabia. Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) transmits dengue and many other diseases, including chikungunya and Zika. This study provides an overview of dengue fever in Saudi Arabia since the first case was recorded in the early 1990s. In addition, it focuses on the epidemiological situation in Jeddah as a case study to study the spatial distribution of dengue cases using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques over 5 years, from 2019 to 2023. The first recorded case in Saudi Arabia was in October 1993; however, daily data indicates that 2023 is a major epidemic year. The number of infections has reached 4099 so far during the first half of the year, which indicates a significant increase compared to previous years. GIS analysis has unveiled the locations of high infection rates across multiple municipalities, commonly called hotspots, and identified areas where dengue cases remain relatively low. The Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) tool was used to determine the severity of infection in different areas of Jeddah. The study concluded that factors such as temperature, rainfall, and septic tanks in areas that lack a proper sanitation network are the most contributing factors to the spread of disease vectors and, thus, dengue. Winter rainfall creates conducive breeding environments for dengue mosquito vectors, increasing transmission rates. On the other hand, summer heat accelerates the mosquito life cycle and enhances viral replication, heightening the risk of dengue transmission.
Impacts of drought at various time scales on the productivity of agricultural crops grown in the Czech Republic

This study evaluated the effect of moisture conditions at various lags on the eleven agricultural crops mainly growing in the Czech Republic and in Central Bohemian region. The agro-databases contain yearly region-level logs of spring wheat, winter wheat, spring barley, winter barley, winter rye, oats, oilseed rape, maize, sugar beet, potatoes and grapevine as reported by the Czech Statistical Office for the period 1961-2012.Various lags that might be considered for the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) calculation can be related to different drought types in a region. The SPEI was used to quantify the moisture conditions for each month of the year and 12 accumulated lags during the period 1961-2012 (from January 1961 to December 2012). In this study, the SPEIbase is based on the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith estimation of potential evapotranspiration from CRU with spatial resolution of 0.5olat x 0.5olon. The gridded data of the SPEI time series have been downloaded to climatological station coordinates from the Czech Republic and over Central Bohemian domain. The impact of the SPEI interannual variability on yield of agricultural crops was evaluated by means of parametric correlations using the Pearson coefficient with a significance threshold of p <0.05.
Direct-Sequence-CDMA in Highly Sensitive Indirect Time-of-Flight Distance Sensor

This work presents the application of Direct-Sequence Code-Division-Multiple-Access (DS-CDMA) to tackle the primary problem of simultaneous multi-access of a shared light channel in an indirect Time-of-Flight measurement system based on on-off-keyed (OOK) lasers and highly sensitive single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). A theoretical model of the generalized sensor system, possibly suffering from multi-path propagation, is devised for the general application of DS-CDMA. The particular choice of Gold codes is argued to not only enable multi-access but even allow for multi-path resolution down to the sampling time of the utilized digital correlator. It also increases the unambiguously detectable range by three orders of magnitude in comparison to trivial continuous square-wave modulation. Simulations and successive experimental data reveal the proposed improvements compared to trivial square-wave modulation, whilst showing an expected degradation in precision. However, still a precision below 1.5 mm is reached. A novel interleaving procedure of the codes is postulated and verified to recover the precision originally experienced upon trivial modulation.
Assessing adherence to hypertension medications and its impact on blood pressure control: A community-based observational study

Background: Hypertension is a prevalent cardiovascular condition requiring effective medication management for blood pressure control. Aims and Objectives: The aim is to explore the relationship between adherence to hypertension medications and its impact on blood pressure control among a diverse population. Materials and Methods: A participant cohort of 500 adults, with a mean age of 56 years, was examined for their adherence to hypertension medications and blood pressure control outcomes. Adherence was assessed through self-report questionnaires and pill count analysis, while blood pressure control was defined as systolic blood pressure below 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressurebelow 90 mmHg. The statistical analysis included logistic regression with adjustments for potential confounding variables. Results: The participant cohort displayed a balanced gender distribution and predominantly managed hypertension through multi-drug regimens. Around 65% reported high medication adherence, confirmed by pill count analysis. Notably, 55% achieved the defined blood pressure control target, indicating effective management. A robust association was observed between high adherence and improved blood pressure control (adjusted odds ratio=1.65, 95% confidence interval: 1.28–2.12, P<0.001). Participants with high adherence were 1.65 times more likely to attain target blood pressure control than those with lower adherence, with a high level of statistical significance. Conclusions: This study highlights the crucial link between medication adherence and blood pressure control in hypertensive individuals. High adherence increases the likelihood of optimal blood pressurecontrol, underscoring patient commitment. Tailored interventions and support mechanisms are essential for enhancing adherence and improving hypertension management outcomes.
Effect of irrigation intervals on the yield of three released sugarcane varieties in Nigeria

A field experiment was conducted in 2008-2010 to evaluate irrigation intervals that would improve the production of sugarcane. Effective rainfall was also considered in meeting the sugarcane water requirements since sugarcane is a long duration crop. The irrigation intervals used were 7, 14 and 21 days and the equivalent soil moisture potentials were 33, 45 and 60 kPa respectively. The results showed that NCS 002, NCS 003 and Co 957 sugarcane varieties performed very well at 7 days irrigation interval. The highest stalk yield was obtained from NCS 002 with a value of 65 t ha -1 . Irrigation at 14 and 21 days intervals led to decline in yield when compared with 7 days irrigation interval. Roots were observed to be deeper at 21 days irrigation interval, signifying deep exploitation of soil moisture because of water stress experienced by the crop. Crop water use was affected by varying irrigation intervals and the highest water use was obtained from the 7 days irrigation interval.
Anaerobic Digestion of Animal Wastes: Factors to Conside r

Cows and calves. Photo by Lynn Betts. All photos this page courtesy of USDA/ARS. Introduction Rising energy prices, broader regulatory requirements, and increased competition in the marketplace are causing many in American agriculture’s livestock sector to consider anaerobic digestion of animal wastes. They view the technology as a way to cut costs, address environmental concerns, and sometimes generate new revenues.
Observations of fluid‐dependent shear‐wave splitting in synthetic porous rocks with aligned penny‐shaped fractures ‡

P‐ and S‐wave velocity and attenuation coefficients (accurate to ±0.3% and ±0.2 dB/cm, respectively) were measured in synthetic porous rocks with aligned, penny‐shaped fractures using the laboratory ultrasonic pulse‐echo method. Shear‐wave splitting was observed by rotating the S‐wave transducer and noting the maximum and minimum velocities relative to the fracture direction. A block of synthetic porous rock of fracture density 0.0201 ± 0.0068 and fracture size 3.6 ± 0.38 mm (measured from image analysis of X‐ray CT scans) was sub‐sampled into three 20–30 mm long, 50 mm diameter core plugs oriented at 0°, 45° and 90° to the fracture normal (transversely isotropic symmetry axis). Full waveform data were collected over the frequency range 500–1000 kHz for both water and glycerin saturated cores to observe the effect of pore fluid viscosity at 1 cP and 100 cP, respectively. The shear‐wave splitting observed in the 90° core was 2.15 ± 0.02% for water saturated and 2.39 ± 0.02% for glycerin saturated, in agreement with the theory that suggests that the percentage splitting should be 100 times the fracture density and independent of the saturating fluid. In the 45° core, by contrast, splitting was 0.00 ± 0.02% for water saturation and −0.77 ± 0.02% for glycerin saturation. This dependence on fracture orientation and pore fluid viscosity is consistent with the poro‐visco‐elastic theory for aligned, meso‐scale fractures in porous rocks. The results suggest the possible use of shear‐ or converted‐wave data to discriminate between fluids on the basis of viscosity variations.
Socioeconomic Implication of Religious Tourism: A Women’s Prospective

Religious tourism in India has witnessed significant growth over the years, with an increasing number of women participating in such travel experiences. Despite the patriarchal and male-dominated orientation of Indian society, women have been actively engaging in religious tours, both as part of group travel and independently. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a noticeable rise in women travelling in small groups or embarking on solo religious journeys. This study aims to explore the socioeconomic implications of religious tourism from the perspective of Indian women. By analysing personal experiences, beliefs, encountered challenges, and proposed solutions, the research sheds light on the economic and social aspects of women's religious tourism in the Indian context. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire administered to female tourists who have independently undertaken religious tours. The study employs an empirical approach to provide insights into the changing dynamics of female participation in religious tourism and offers valuable perspectives for policymakers. The findings reveal significant structural changes taking place in India, particularly concerning the increased participation of women in religious tourism. The study uncovers key insights into the economic and social implications of religious tourism for women, highlighting the challenges they face and their expectations from policymakers. By addressing the previously neglected issues specific to women travellers in previous research, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the motivations and experiences of female tourists.
Active Disturbance Rejection Fractional-Order Independent Control of Time Delay Systems With Application to Air Floating Motion Platform

This article proposes an active disturbance rejection fractional-order controller (ADRFOC) consisting of a fractional-order controller (FOC) and a model-based extended state observer (MESO) for time delay systems, aiming to achieve independent control in terms of servo and regulation. The MESO with model information is employed to estimate and compensate total disturbance, and the FOC achieves optimal tracking performance, which is generated by the Bode’s ideal transfer function plus time delay (BITFPTD). The independent control is verified through mathematical derivation for the proposed active disturbance rejection fractional-order control system, and breaks the inherent servo/regulation trade-off of the proportional-integral–derivative (PID) control system. A systematic analysis design method for the FOC is proposed to satisfy the given frequency-domain specifications and a novel frequency-domain analysis method is clearly exposed to reveal how the external disturbance and measurement noise affect the estimation performance of MESO and dynamic performance of closed-loop system. Experimental validation applied on the air floating motion platform is performed to demonstrate the proposed ADRFOC achieves independent control, and is superior to the typical time-delay ADRC (TD-ADRC) and Skogestad’s internal model control-based PID (SIMC-PID) controller in terms of speed tracking, load disturbance rejection, and robustness to plant parameter variations.
Estimating impact of reintroduced elephant on trees in a small reserve

The reintroduction of elephant (Loxodonta africana) to small game farms and reserves is a growing trend in southern Africa. Issues over elephant conservation in general are controversial. Where poaching is less prolific and elephant are restricted to relatively small regions, the main concern is that elephant could drastically alter their environment by destroying trees with the possibility of decreasing biological diversity. In this paper we show how the analysis of transect data can help assess the impact of newly introduced elephant. Trees utilized by elephant are highlighted. It is found that for the region considered, only Sclerocarya birrea (marula) is being removed at a rate higher than 0.04 per annum (upper limit of annual regeneration). This tree is relatively rare and urgent work is needed to assess its status. Other rare trees should also be studied. the geographical characteristics of the region are fairly homogeneous, but the elephant impact on trees varies from one area to the next. This discrepancy indicates that these differences are due to the overall behavioural characteristics of the elephant. For example, elephant were introduced to the region recently and are still nervous with the effect that they congregate in areas of high tree density for protection. Other possible factors that could contribute to a non-homogeneous pattern of elephant impact on trees are also discussed.