In-work Poverty in Russia: How Determinants Have Changed over the 20 years?

This paper examines the determinants of in-work poverty and estimates the probability of falling into poverty for various groups of the Russian population in 1998 and 2018. Drawing from the representative RLMS HSE cross-sections, we showed that, despite a large-scale reduction in Russian poverty in 1998–2018, the ratio of structural and individual determinants did not change substantially. At the same time, the configuration of structural determinants has changed. In 2018, personal efforts became less crucial in reducing the likelihood of falling into poverty; the job characteristics and settlement inequalities have become eventually prominent. By 2018, women and rural residents were at the highest chance of poverty, although in 1998, men and a predominantly urban population were at risk. The long-term conservation of “bad” jobs in routine labour and the unequal distribution of the gains from de-industrialization between urban and rural areas over the past two decades are seen as the main explanations for the nature of Russian in-work poverty.

Onset and termination of Heinrich Stadial 4 and the underlying climate dynamics

Heinrich Stadial 4 during the last glacial period was marked by severe cooling at northern high latitudes along with the attendant changes in Asian Monsoon (Chinese Stadial 4) and South American Monsoon (South American Stadial 4). Here we present improved constraints on timings of Heinrich/Chinese/South American Stadial 4 onset and termination at sub-centennial precision based on speleothem records. We show that their initial onsets were essentially synchronous (40.20 ± 0.08 thousand years ago) and led the Antarctic warming by ~300 years. The Heinrich/Chinese Stadial 4 termination commenced at 38.34 ± 0.07 thousand years ago following a centennial-scale reduction in the Amazon River runoff and a poleward shift of the Southern Westerly wind belt. These two precursor events may have contributed to a reduced Amazon Plume Region and an enhanced Agulhas salt/heat leakage that led to an abrupt resumption of the Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation eventually triggering the Heinrich/Chinese Stadial 4 termination.

A Lightweight Modulation Classification Network Resisting White Box Gradient Attacks

Improving the attack resistance of the modulation classification model is an important means to improve the security of the physical layer of the Internet of Things (IoT). In this paper, a binary modulation classification defense network (BMCDN) was proposed, which has the advantages of small model scale and strong immunity to white box gradient attacks. Specifically, an end-to-end modulation signal recognition network that directly recognizes the form of the signal sequence is constructed, and its parameters are quantized to 1 bit to obtain the advantages of low memory usage and fast calculation speed. The gradient of the quantized parameter is directly transferred to the original parameter to realize the gradient concealment and achieve the effect of effectively defending against the white box gradient attack. Experimental results show that BMCDN obtains significant immune performance against white box gradient attacks while achieving a scale reduction of 6 times.

Performance of Dynamic Optical Path Networks with Large-scale WBSS-based Optical Cross-connects

In this paper, we have proposed a generalized large-scale optical cross-connect (OXC) architecture utilizing waveband selective switches (WBSS) for realizing future cost-effective, bandwidth-abundant and flexible optical networks. The developed architecture implements multiple WBSSs for each incoming fiber and small size wavelength selective switches (WSSs) for dropping optical paths while simply deploying 1´2 WSSs or 1´2 optical couplers for realizing the adding function. Thanks to the use of WBSSs, which are more cost-effective and simpler devices, the developed architecture enables a significant hardware scale reduction. The WBSS-based OXC, however, suffers from a limited routing capability, which relies on the inner node parameter (i.e., the WBSS number per input fiber) and the waveband granularity of WBSSs. We, therefore, evaluate the hardware scale requirement of our developed architecture in comparison with that of conventional WSS-based OXC. It is verified that a substantial hardware scale reduction can be achieved by using the proposed architecture, especially for high port count OXCs or when applying coarser granular WBSSs. Moreover, we also assess the performance of dynamic optical networks based on the proposed OXC. Numerical simulations show that the network offers a substantial necessary hardware scale reduction at the cost of a small performance offset comparing to that of the network using conventional WSS-based OXC.

Recovery of Iron from Mill Scale by Reduction with Carbon Monoxide

The mill scale is a waste from the iron and steel industry. Due to the high content of iron in the form of oxides, it is an attractive material for the recovery of metallic iron by reduction. The product of mill scale reduction is an iron with a very extended surface and a high affinity for oxygen. The smaller iron particles are, the easier it is for spontaneous rapid oxidation, which can be linked to pyrophoricity. This article presents results of experiments using the TG/DTA thermal analysis method aimed at verifying the possibility of recovering iron from the mill scale by a reduction with carbon monoxide at 850 °C, 950 °C, and 1050 °C, taking into account the phenomenon of secondary oxidation in contact with oxygen from air at temperatures of 300 °C, 350 °C, and 400 °C. Two forms of mill scale were used for tests, in the original state and after grinding to develop the surface.

Can a regional-scale reduction of atmospheric CO₂ during the COVID-19 pandemic be detected from space? A case study for East China using satellite XCO₂ retrievals

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in reduced anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during 2020 in large parts of the world. To investigate whether a regional-scale reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 pandemic can be detected using space-based observations of atmospheric CO2, we have analysed a small ensemble of OCO-2 and GOSAT satellite retrievals of column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of CO2, i.e. XCO2. We focus on East China and use a simple data-driven analysis method. We present estimates of the relative change of East China monthly emissions in 2020 relative to previous periods, limiting the analysis to October-to-May periods to minimize the impact of biogenic CO2 fluxes. The ensemble mean indicates an emission reduction by approximately 10 % ± 10 % in March and April 2020. However, our results show considerable month-to-month variability and significant differences across the ensemble of satellite data products analysed. For example, OCO-2 suggests a much smaller reduction (∼ 1 %–2 % ± 2 %). This indicates that it is challenging to reliably detect and to accurately quantify the emission reduction with current satellite data sets. There are several reasons for this, including the sparseness of the satellite data but also the weak signal; the expected regional XCO2 reduction is only on the order of 0.1–0.2 ppm. Inferring COVID-19-related information on regional-scale CO2 emissions using current satellite XCO2 retrievals likely requires, if at all possible, a more sophisticated analysis method including detailed transport modelling and considering a priori information on anthropogenic and natural CO2 surface fluxes.

Ayurvedic Management Successfully Reduces Dose of L-Dopa and Remission of Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease – (A Case Report)

<strong>Background and Aim:</strong> Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition of motor nervous system. The symptoms of PD are similar to <em>KampaVata</em> (a disease of <em>Vata Dosha</em>) such as <em>Karapadatala kampa</em> (tremors in hands and foot), <em>Dehabhramana</em> (postural instability), <em>Nidrabhagna</em> (insomnia) and <em>Matiksheena</em> (dementia) referred by Ayurvedic classics. The most effective management of PD in Allopathic system is dopamine replacement therapy but long-term use of L-Dopa is associated with motor complications. Available medications for PD provides only symptomatic relief and there is no treatment proven to cure the disease or delay its progression. The present case report is a known case of young onset asymmetric Parkinsonism who was on 700mg L-Dopa, managed with Ayurveda therapies. The line of treatment included <em>Vatanulomana</em> (pacifying morbid VataDosa), <em>Srotoshodhana</em> (clearing of the obstructed bodychannels) and <em>Rasayana</em> (rejuvenation). <strong>Management and results:</strong> It included both internal and external Ayurveda therapies. Therapies were performed every year for around 20 days in 3 consecutive years. The assessment was done by Parkinson’s disease questionnaire 39 and Schwab and England Activities of daily Living scale. Reduction in the dose of L-Dopa, improvement in tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, regaining the perception of taste and smell was observed at the end of 3 years of treatment. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The dose of L-Dopa was reduced from 700mg to 100mg/day and the quality of life improved.

Three Decades of Land Cover Change in East Africa

Population growth rates in Sub-Saharan East Africa are among the highest in the world, creating increasing pressure for land cover conversion. To date, however, there has been no comprehensive assessment of regional land cover change, and most long-term trends have not yet been quantified. Using a designed sample of satellite-based observations of historical land cover change, we estimate the areas and trends in nine land cover classes from 1998 to 2017 in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia. Our analysis found an 18,154,000 (±1,580,000) ha, or 34.8%, increase in the area of cropland in East Africa. Conversion occurred primarily from Open Grasslands, Wooded Grasslands, and Open Forests, causing a large-scale reduction in woody vegetation classes. We observed far more conversion (by approximately 20 million hectares) of woody classes to less-woody classes than succession in the direction of increasing trees and shrubs. Spatial patterns within our sample highlight regional land cover conversion hotspots, such as the Central Zambezian Miombo Woodlands, as potential areas of concern related to the conservation of natural ecosystems. Our findings reflect a rapidly growing population that is moving into new areas, with a 43.5% increase in the area of Settlements over the three-decade period. Our results show the areas and ecoregions most impacted by three decades of human development, both spatially and statistically.