Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organisational citizenship behaviour’s antecedents as predictors of job satisfaction: Empirical evidence from banks in emerging economies

It was imperative to determine the impact of antecedents of organisational citizenship behaviour of altruism and conscientiousness on job satisfaction in the banking sector since this strategic sector has been experiencing employee job dissatisfaction-related challenges as evidenced by high staff turnover. The reviewed literature focused on the effect of Organ’s (1998) organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) dimensions of altruism and conscientiousness and employee job satisfaction. The article adopted a positivist philosophy and the explanatory research design since it sought to establish cause and effect relationships between the two constructs. The target population was 150 and a sample of 109 participants was used. A simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants. A Likert scale questionnaire was employed to collect data electronically due to the COVID-19 pandemic movement restrictions. The study findings were that both altruism and conscientiousness have a positive and significant impact on job satisfaction in the banking sector. Thus, it was recommended that the banking sector should create workplace environments that foster OCB to enhance employee job satisfaction. This study was critical since banks are a strategic sector (Bonga, Chirenje, & Mugayi, 2019), particularly in emerging economies as providers of start-up and working capital to both public and private organisations.
Entrepreneurship through Multidisciplinary Learning: A Cooperative Procedural Framework for Implementation

Governments and higher education institutions around the world have expressed a strong opinion that entrepreneurship among students must be enhanced to address the concern of graduate employability post-pandemic. Supporting this agenda, the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia has launched a national Entrepreneurship Action Plan and a guide for Entrepreneurship Integrated Curriculum in 2021. While teaching entrepreneurship in higher education has gained great acceptance, transforming a traditional university to nurture student entrepreneurs is still challenging. A key challenge is to transform faculty-centric learning into multidisciplinary learning so that students from different disciplines can work cooperatively to enhance the success of an entrepreneurship venture. Hence, a design-based study has been conducted at a private university in Malaysia, with a cooperative procedural framework developed and improved through two cycles of implementation over one year period. The study was participated by academics and students from more than six disciplines including computing, design, business, bioscience, culinary art, and communication. The proposed framework highlights the importance of intentional alignment among the curriculum of collaborating courses, the mindset of collaborating academics and students, as well as the supporting ecosystem. The framework has expanded the practical knowledge of multidisciplinary learning implementation by detailing the practical steps to ensure its effective implementation. The proposed framework could be extremely helpful for institutions that are struggling to implement multidisciplinary learning across faculties, supporting the entrepreneurship agenda of the institutions.
Wildfire Smoke Clean Air Centers: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities for Improvement from California Practitioner and Community Perspectives

Abstract As wildfire risk is projected to increase across most of the world, exposure to wildfire smoke is a growing global health issue. Clean air centers (CACs), public buildings designated to provide improved air quality to the public during a wildfire smoke event, have emerged as a community-oriented public health response to smoke. Some experts see CACs as the most effective way to reduce population exposure to wildfire smoke. Yet how and why smoke-vulnerable groups utilize CACs, as well as how CACs may be improved to meet their needs, is not well understood. Here, we explore these questions through exploratory interviews with two groups of stakeholders in California CAC development: practitioners and members of a community vulnerable to wildfire smoke. Our findings suggest that a gap remains between California’s CACs and the needs of vulnerable groups. By comparing community and practitioner perspectives, we identify opportunities to close this gap.
Hierarchical multiscale model for biomechanics analysis of microfilament networks

The mechanisms of force generation and transference via microfilament networks are crucial to the understandings of mechanobiology of cellular processes in living cells. However, there exists an enormous challenge for all-atom physics simulation of real size microfilament networks due to scale limitation of molecular simulation techniques. Following biophysical investigations of constitutive relations between adjacent globular actin monomers on filamentous actin, a hierarchical multiscale model was developed to investigate the biomechanical properties of microfilament networks. This model was validated by previous experimental studies of axial tension and transverse vibration of single F-actin. The biomechanics of microfilament networks can be investigated at the scale of real eukaryotic cell size (10 μm). This multiscale approach provides a powerful modeling tool which can contribute to the understandings of actin-related cellular processes in living cells.
Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles: A Promising Solution for Controlling the Growth of Gentamicin-Resistant Uropathogenic Escherichia coli

of this study to investigate the antibacterial effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) on strains in 100 out of 250 urine samples, antibiotic susceptibility was evaluated against six antibiotic classes (with emphasis on aminoglycosides) by disk diffusion method according to CLSI-2020 guidelines. The presence of aac (6’)-Ie-aph (2’’) gene in isolates was investigated by PCR. Antibacterial properties and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of zinc oxide nanoparticles were evaluated by agar well diffusion and broth microdilution assays, respectively. Findings: Among 100 E. coli isolates, the highest and lowest antibiotic resistance rates were observed against tetracycline (70%) and ofloxacin (10%), respectively. Of 30 gentamicin-resistant E. coli isolates, 17 (56.5%) isolates harbored the aac (6’)-Ie-aph (2’’) gene. In agar well diffusion assay, 22 (74%) gentamicin-resistant isolates were eliminated by zinc oxide nanoparticles at a concentration of 150 mg/L, while ZnONPs at 300 mg/L could eliminate all gentamicin-resistant isolates. Furthermore, ZnONPs could inhibit all bacteria at a concentration of 200 μg /mL (MIC 90 ≥ 100). Conclusions: Spread of the aac(6’)-Ie-aph(2’’) gene could increase gentamicin resistance among E. coli strains causing UTI. Given the favorable antibacterial effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles in vitro , the clinical application of these nanoparticles in the treatment of UTIs caused by multidrug-resistant E. coli could be investigated in future studies.
A 12-Bit Current-Steering DAC With Unary- Splitting -Binary Segmented Architecture and Improved Decoding Circuit Topology

This article presents a “three unary bits +five splitting bits + four binary bits” segmented 500-MS/s current-steering digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The proposed splitting decoding method is between the unary decoding and binary decoding, in terms of number of switched elements. It can optimize the differential nonlinearity and output glitches of DAC, with a more simplified circuit scale than unary decoding method. Due to the data-transmission topology, both the proposed thermometer and splitting decoders feature lower transistor count and occupy less area than other competitors. Their low latency accommodates to fast synchronization control of current source switches and its beneficial to the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) improvement of DAC. When implemented in a 0.18-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS process, the 12-bit DAC occupies an active area of 536 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}\,\,\times \,\,340\,\,\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, with the proposed decoders occupying only 28 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}\,\,\times \,\,75\,\,\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The DAC dissipates 17.20 mW at 500 MS/s with a 1.8-V analog supply and a 1.2-V digital supply. The differential and integral nonlinearities are measured to be 0.28 and 1.16 LSB, respectively. The DAC also features SFDRs of 68.83 and 62.06 dB for input signals of 6.34 and 239.74 MHz, respectively.
Penetration Depth of Propylene Glycol, Sodium Fluorescein and Nile Red into the Skin Using Non-Invasive Two-Photon Excited FLIM

The stratum corneum (SC) forms a strong barrier against topical drug delivery. Therefore, understanding the penetration depth and pathways into the SC is important for the efficiency of drug delivery and cosmetic safety. In this study, TPT-FLIM (two-photon tomography combined with fluorescence lifetime imaging) was applied as a non-invasive optical method for the visualization of skin structure and components to study penetration depths of exemplary substances, like hydrophilic propylene glycol (PG), sodium fluorescein (NaFl) and lipophilic Nile red (NR) into porcine ear skin ex vivo. Non-fluorescent PG was detected indirectly based on the pH-dependent increase in the fluorescence lifetime of SC components. The pH similarity between PG and viable epidermis limited the detection of PG. NaFl reached the viable epidermis, which was also proved by laser scanning microscopy. Tape stripping and confocal Raman micro-spectroscopy were performed additionally to study NaFl, which revealed penetration depths of ≈5 and ≈8 μm, respectively. Lastly, NR did not permeate the SC. We concluded that the amplitude-weighted mean fluorescence lifetime is the most appropriate FLIM parameter to build up penetration profiles. This work is anticipated to provide a non-invasive TPT-FLIM method for studying the penetration of topically applied drugs and cosmetics into the skin.
Korovkin type theorem for iterates of certain positive linear operators

In this paper we prove that if T : C [0,1] ! C [0,1] is a positive linear operator with T (e0) = 1 and T (e1) e1 does not change the sign, then the iterates T m converges to some positive linear operator T 1 : C [0,1] ! C [0,1] and we derive quantitative estimates in terms of modulii of smoothness. This result enlarges the class of operators for which the limit of the iterates can be computed and the quantitative estimates of iterates can be given.
On an extremal problem in graph theory

G ( n;l ) will denote a graph of n vertices and l edges. Let f 0 ( n, k ) be the smallest integer such that there is a G ( n;f 0 (n, k )) in which for every set of k vertices there is a vertex joined to each of these. Thus for example f o = 3 since in a triangle each pair of vertices is joined to a third. It can readily be checked that f o = 5 (the extremal graph consists of a complete 4-gon with one edge removed). In general we will prove: Let n > k , and then f 0 ( n, k ) = f(n, k) .
Toward 10 nm half-pitch in extreme ultraviolet lithography: results on resist screening and pattern collapse mitigation techniques

Abstract. Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is considered to be the most promising option to continue with the downscaling of integrated circuits in high-volume manufacturing. One of the main challenges, however, is the development of EUV resists that fulfill the strict sensitivity, resolution, and line-edge roughness specifications of future nodes. Here, we present our EUV resist screening results of a wide range of EUV resists in their developmental phase from our collaborators from around the world. Furthermore, we have carried out extensive experiments to improve the processing parameters of the resists as well as to identify the optimal wafer pretreatment methods in order to optimize the adhesion of the resist to the substrate. We show that even though significant improvements in performance of chemically amplified resists have been achieved, pattern collapse is still the major process-limiting factor as the resolution decreases below 14 nm half-pitch.
A Series Solution for SH Wave Scattering by Irregularly Shaped Surface Topographies

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a series solution for studying the ground motion of twin-peaks hill, double triangular hills, and hill-canyon composite topography. The propagation medium of SH wave is linearly elastic, isotropic, and homogeneous. A flexible multi-region-matching technique (MRMT) and complex function method are adopted to construct the wave field expression in each sub-region. To solve the unknown coefficients in the wave field expressions, Fourier series expansion method in the complex domain is adopted. Finally, some typical numerical examples are calculated to analyse the influence of the topography shape parameters, wave number, and the incident angle on ground motion.
Impact of the 24 September 2011 solar radio burst on the performance of GNSS receivers

Intense solar radio bursts occurring at the L‐band frequencies can significantly impact the performance of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers in the sunlit hemisphere of the Earth. An intense solar radio burst occurred on 24 September 2011, with a maximum power of 110,000 solar flux units (10−22 W/m2/Hz) at 1.415 GHz. This manuscript aims to contribute insight on the impact of this solar radio burst on the performance of the GNSS receivers in the European and Latin American sectors. Maximum reductions of 11.0, 22.0, and 10.0 dB Hz in the carrier‐to‐noise density ratio (C/N0) of the GPS L1C/A, L2P, and L2C signals, respectively, were observed. The C/N0 reduction is modulated by the local solar incidence angle for the GPS L1C/A and L2P signals, whereas such modulation was not observed for the GPS L2C signal. The solar radio burst also had an adverse effect on the recorded GNSS pseudorange and carrier phase data, thereby causing positioning errors, which are also presented herein.
Political Solutions to Discriminatory Behavior

Discriminatory treatment of minorities by public authorities remains a serious challenge and breaks with the central principles of impartiality. However, little research examines how discrimination can be reduced through political means. This article argues that discrimination occurs when the perceived marginal cost of serving a minority citizen exceeds the funding per user and/or when excess of demand forces the provider to prioritize which citizens to serve. This also suggests that increasing the funding per user and increasing supply to meet demand might reduce differential treatment. These predictions are tested in a high school enrollment system where the funding is linked to the number of students enrolled. Unique, fine-grained administrative data show that minority applicants are 9 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in their preferred high school. More importantly, an administrative reform shows how increasing the supply-side flexibility and pay per user cuts the difference in half.
Sentiment-Aware Deep Recommender System With Neural Attention Networks

With the advent of web technology, user-generated textual reviews are becoming increasingly accumulated on many e-commerce websites. These reviews contain not only the user comments on different aspects of the products but also the user sentiments associated with the aspects. Although these user sentiments serve as vital side information for improving the performance of recommender systems, most existing approaches ignore to fully exploit them in modeling the fine-grained user-item interaction for improving recommender system performance. Thus, this paper proposes a sentiment-aware deep recommender system with neural attention network (SDRA), which can capture both the aspects of products and the underlying user sentiments associated with the aspects for improving the recommendation system performance. Particularly, a semi-supervised topic model is designed to extract the aspects of the product and the associated sentiment lexicons from the user textual reviews, which are then incorporated into a long short term memory (LSTM) encoder via an interactive neural attention mechanism for better learning of the user and item sentiment-aware representation. Furthermore, a co-attention mechanism is introduced to better model the fine-grained user-item interaction for improving predictive performance. The extensive experiments on different datasets showed that our proposed SDRA model can achieve better performance over the baseline approaches.
REMARKS ON FIXED POINTS OF INVOLUTIONS OF ORDER n > 2 IN HILBERT SPACES

Suppose that C is a nonempty bounded closed and a convex subset of a Hilbert space H and T: C —> C is A:-lipschitzian or uniformly A;-lipschitzian mapping which has the property that, for some n > 1, T n is the identity. The author determines a function ko(n) > 1 such that for k < fco(n) mapping T has a fixed points in C.
The Determinants of User Acceptance of Mobile Medical Platforms: An Investigation Integrating the TPB, TAM, and Patient-Centered Factors

Mobile medical platforms (MMPs) can make medical services more accessible and effective. However, the patient-centered factors that influence patients’ acceptance of MMPs are not well understood. Our study examined the factors affecting patients’ acceptance of MMPs by integrating the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), and three patient-centered factors (i.e., perceived convenience, perceived credibility, and perceived privacy risk). Three hundred and eighty-nine Chinese respondents were recruited in this study and completed a self-administered online questionnaire that included items adapted from validated measurement scales. The partial least squares structural equation modeling results revealed that perceived privacy risk, perceived credibility, and perceived ease of use directly determined the perceived usefulness of an MMP. Perceived convenience, perceived credibility, and perceived usefulness significantly affected the patients’ attitudes toward MMPs. Perceived usefulness, attitude, perceived privacy risk, and perceived behavioral control were important determinants of the patients’ behavioral intentions to use MMPs. Behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control significantly influenced perceived effective use. Perceived credibility and perceived ease of use significantly affected perceived convenience. However, social influence had no significant effect on attitude and behavioral intention. The study provides important theoretical and practical implications, which could help practitioners enhance the patients’ use of MMPs for their healthcare activities.
Development and validation of a prognostic model related to pyroptosis-related genes for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma using bioinformatics analysis

Background Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal malignant tumors worldwide, and a larger number of ESCC patients have unsatisfactory overall survival (OS) rates. While pyroptosis participates in the development of a variety of malignancies, the function of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in ESCC is still obscure. The aim of this study was to construct the pyroptosis-related prognostic model for ESCC, which will be developed to stratify the risk hazards of ESCC patients and to provide theoretical evidence for individualized treatment. Methods RNA-seq data of ESCC were download from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were used to explore the potential biological functions or pathways. OS was considered as the primary prognosis outcome in this study. The riskscore was constructed by Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) Cox regression analysis. The pyroptosis-related prognostic model was constructed based on all independent prognostic factors and verified by C-index, Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and Calibration curves, and the role of the riskscore in ESCC immunotherapy was evaluated by the Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) algorithm. Results The current study found 31 differentially expressed PRGs (P<0.001), and functional enrichment analysis showed these PRGs were enriched in positive regulation of cytokine production, interleukin-1 beta production. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were applied to validate that the riskscore based on four prognostic PRGs (HMGB1, IL-18, NLRP7, and PLCG1) was an independent prognostic factor for ESCC, and the C-index of prognostic model related to the riskscore (C-index =0.705) was higher than that of tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage (0.620). The low-risk group showed a better efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Conclusions The riskscore related to PRGs was one of the independent prognostic factors for ESCC. Moreover, the prognostic model related to the riskscore could be used to predict the OS of ESCC patients effectively. However, there still were several limitations in this study, such as no external validation sample. In summary, our data provides a novel perspective in exploring the potential prognostic biomarkers of ESCC.
Quantum annealing with antiferromagnetic transverse interactions for the Hopfield model

We investigate quantum annealing (QA) with antiferromagnetic transverse interactions for the generalized Hopfield model with k-body interactions. The goal is to study the effectiveness of antiferromagnetic interactions, which were shown to help us avoid problematic first-order quantum phase transitions in pure ferromagnetic systems, in random systems. We estimate the efficiency of QA by analyzing phase diagrams for two cases where the number of embedded patterns is finite or extensively large. The phase diagrams of the model with finite patterns show that there exist annealing paths that avoid first-order transitions at least for 5 ≤ k ≤ 21 ? > . The same is true for the extensive case with k = 4 and 5. In contrast, it is impossible to avoid first-order transitions for the case of finite patterns with k = 3 and the case of extensive number of patterns with k = 2 and 3. The spin-glass phase hampers the QA process in the case of k = 2 and extensive patterns. These results indicate that QA with antiferromagnetic transverse interactions is efficient also for certain random spin systems.