Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
School of Computer Science and Statistics Amobile exam proctoring system with deep-learning-based human action recognition

The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented students from congregating to take traditional in-person exams, shifting the attention of pedagogical institutions to online exam systems accessed remotely. This research surveys previous review papers on human action recognition to confirm the feasibility of obtaining action features from spatiotemporal data sets such as videos. This research reviews multiple state-of-the-art deep models and optimisation methods under the premise of achieving a balance between performance, function and resource demand constraints of mobile devices. Then a deep learning model is developed to classify the behaviour of examinees to a series of activities, approved or prohibited by the exam holder. The model evaluation carefully considers themodel performance inmachine learning classificationmetrics and computational performance. Experimental results show that the proposedmodel achieved over 90% accuracy over 12 exam-related action categories with 23.6M parameters, making it possible to run inference smoothly on most modern mobile phones. Finally, this research concludes with a discussion of model design and optimisation experiences with possible directions for future research in this area.
Innovating Clinical Trials for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Development of effective treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been hampered by disease heterogeneity, a limited understanding of underlying pathophysiology, and methodologic design challenges. We have evaluated 2 major themes in the design of pivotal, phase 3 clinical trials for ALS—(1) patient selection and (2) analytical strategy—and discussed potential solutions with the European Medicines Agency. Several design considerations were assessed using data from 5 placebo-controlled clinical trials (n = 988), 4 population-based cohorts (n = 5,100), and 2,436 placebo-allocated patients from the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PRO-ACT) database. The validity of each proposed design modification was confirmed by means of simulation and illustrated for a hypothetical setting. Compared to classical trial design, the proposed design modifications reduce the sample size by 30.5% and placebo exposure time by 35.4%. By making use of prognostic survival models, one creates a potential to include a larger proportion of the population and maximize generalizability. We propose a flexible design framework that naturally adapts the trial duration when inaccurate assumptions are made at the design stage, such as enrollment or survival rate. In case of futility, the follow-up time is shortened and patient exposure to ineffective treatments or placebo is minimized. For diseases such as ALS, optimizing the use of resources, widening eligibility criteria, and minimizing exposure to futile treatments and placebo is critical to the development of effective treatments. Our proposed design modifications could circumvent important pitfalls and may serve as a blueprint for future clinical trials in this population.
Aligning Silhouette Topology for Self-Adaptive 3D Human Pose Recovery

Articulation-centric 2D/3D pose supervision forms the core training objective in most existing 3D human pose estimation techniques. Except for synthetic source environments, acquiring such rich supervision for each real target domain at deployment is highly inconvenient. However, we realize that standard foreground silhouette estimation techniques (on static camera feeds) remain unaffected by domain-shifts. Motivated by this, we propose a novel target adaptation framework that relies only on silhouette supervision to adapt a source-trained model-based regressor. However, in the absence of any auxiliary cue (multi-view, depth, or 2D pose), an isolated silhouette loss fails to provide a reliable pose-specific gradient and requires to be employed in tandem with a topology-centric loss. To this end, we develop a series of convolution-friendly spatial transformations in order to disentangle a topological-skeleton representation from the raw silhouette. Such a design paves the way to devise a Chamfer-inspired spatial topological-alignment loss via distance field computation, while effectively avoiding any gradient hindering spatial-to-pointset mapping. Experimental results demonstrate our superiority against prior-arts in self-adapting a source trained model to diverse unlabeled target domains, such as a) in-the-wild datasets, b) low-resolution image domains, and c) adversarially perturbed image domains (via UAP).
Diverse Ownership Structure and its implications on firms’ Cash holding- Evidence from Listed Consumer Goods from Nigeria Stock Exchange NSE

This study critically observed diverse ownership structure and its implications on firms’ cash holdingEvidence from listed consumer goods from Nigeria Stock Exchange NSE. The annual reports of sampled 20 consumer goods firms from 2014 to 2018 were extracted and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, Haussmann test that accepted correlation random effect and regression analysis. Results found that three out of the four explanatory variables of state (STOWNER), family (FAOWNER), and block ownership (BLOWNER) have significant positive impact: while institutional ownership (INSOWNER) has a weak positive insignificant impact on cash holding of consumer goods firm. But, the overall result showed that multiple ownership structure explains about 56.26% of cash holdings in consumer firms in Nigeria. The study recommends that companies’ management policy should consider incorporating state, family and block ownership structure since they say that cash is king. Therefore when enough cash is available and properly managed, profitability is always made possible. Moreover, literature of cash holding supports its motives of transaction, preventive, investment opportunities, capital structure, dividends and default.
Trace Metals Determination of Soils in Mechanic Workshops using Three Sample Sites in Enugu Metropolis

This study was on the determination of Trace metals of soils in mechanic workshops. The soil samples used for the analysis were collected from three mechanic workshops (Abakpa, Onuato and Amechi) in Enugu metropolis. The soil samples were collected form each sites by digging the sites to a depth of 15cm and were stored in a clean polyethylene bag before taken to the laboratory for analysis. During the analysis, the samples were air dried in the oven at 105°c and were pulverized and homogenized with 2mm sieve. 2 grams of each pulverized and dried sample were weighed into 250ml beaker and were digested with 20ml of 50% hydrochloric acid on a hot plate until 2/3 of the content were remaining/clear solution. The digested samples were filtered into a 100ml volumetric flask and made to mark with deionized water. The digested samples were analyzed for trace metals using Atomic Absorption spectrometer (AAS). The result gotten from the analysis showed that the concentration of lead, chromium, nickel, and cadmium in soil sample from Abakpa was 1.46, 1.56, 0.74 and 0.14 respectively. The sample from Onuato contains 0.91, 0.31, 0.08 and 0.05 respectively while that of Amechi road was 6.67, 2.34, 1.26 and 0.59 respectively. These figure as was expressed in milligram per litre (mg/1) were compared with the WHO standard which is 0.05mg/l in all and was found to be greater. This concludes that mechanic workshops contribute to trace metals bio availability in the soil.
Molecular Classification to Prognosticate Response in Medically Managed Endometrial Cancers and Endometrial Intraepithelial Neoplasia

Simple Summary Uterine cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer. The treatment for women with a newly diagnosed uterine cancer is surgery to remove the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, and lymph nodes. For women who desire future pregnancy or are not healthy enough to undergo surgery with hysterectomy, treatment with hormonal therapy, using the levonorgestrel intrauterine device (IUD), is an option. Response rates to this type of therapy are promising and range between 50% and 88%. This project explores a molecular classification scheme and applies it to women with uterine cancer and pre-cancer who opt for treatment with an IUD. Evaluating the genetic alterations underlying tumor development can identify patients who would be more or less likely to respond to treatment with IUDs. Additionally, this knowledge can help physicians counsel women with uterine cancer who may be interested in non-surgical options about her odds of having her cancer respond to a hormonal treatment. Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether molecular classification prognosticates treatment response in women with endometrial cancers and endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia (EIN) treated with levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS). Methods: Patients treated with LNG-IUS for endometrial cancer or EIN from 2013 to 2018 were evaluated. Using immunohistochemistry and single gene sequencing of POLE, patients were classified into four groups as per the Proactive Molecular Risk Classifier for Endometrial cancer (ProMisE): POLE-mutated, mismatch repair-deficient (MMRd), p53 wild type (p53wt), and p53-abnormal (p53abn). Groups were assessed relative to the primary outcome of progression or receipt of definitive treatment. Results: Fifty-eight subjects with endometrioid endometrial cancer or EIN treated with LNG-IUS were included. Of these, 22 subjects (37.9%) had endometrial cancer and 36 subjects (62.1%) had EIN. Per the ProMisE algorithm, 44 patients (75.9%) were classified as p53wt, 6 (10.3%) as MMRd, 4 (6.9%) as p53abn, and 4 (6.9%) as POLE-mutated. Of the 58 patients, 11 (19.0%) progressed or opted for definitive therapy. Median time to progression or definitive therapy was 7.5 months, with p53abn tumors having the shortest time to progression or definitive therapy. Conclusions: Molecular classification of endometrial cancer and EIN prior to management with LNG-IUS is feasible and may predict patients at risk of progression.
Cluster Change-Based Intrusion Detection

—The paper presents a network intrusion detection approach that ﬂags malicious activity without previous knowledge about attacks or training data. The Cluster Change-Based Intrusion Detection approach ( C2BID ) detects intrusions by monitoring host behavior changes. For that purpose, C2BID deﬁnes and extracts features from network data, aggregates hosts with similar behavior using clustering, then analyses how hosts move between clusters along a period of time. This contrasts with previous work in the area that stops at the clustering step. We evaluated C2BID experimentally with an evaluation dataset and a real-world dataset, obtaining better F-Score than previous solutions.
Graphical Models in Heavy-Tailed Markets

Heavy-tailed statistical distributions have long been considered a more realistic statistical model for the data generating process in ﬁnancial markets in comparison to their Gaussian counterpart. Nonetheless, mathematical nuisances, including nonconvexities, involved in estimating graphs in heavy-tailed settings pose a signiﬁcant challenge to the practical design of algorithms for graph learning. In this work, we present graph learning estimators based on the Markov random ﬁeld framework that assume a Student-t data generating process. We design scalable numerical algorithms, via the alternating direction method of multipliers, to learn both connected and k -component graphs along with their theoretical convergence guarantees. The proposed methods outperform state-of-the-art benchmarks in an extensive series of practical experiments with publicly available data from the S&P500 index, foreign exchanges, and cryptocurrencies.
Comparative Prevalence of Asymptomatic Intestinal Bleeding and Helicobacter pylori Infection among Adolescents in South Eastern Nigeria

Helicobacter pylori has been deeply implicated in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and duodenal ulcer. Proper diagnosis and determination of risk factors for acquiring this infection is pertinent in containing it. The study was aimed at determining the prevalence of asymptomatic intestinal bleeding and Helicobacter pylori infection among adolescents of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The research was a cross sectional study, carried out among students of Ebonyi State University. Samples were randomly collected from 420 students. The blood samples were analyzed for the presence of Helicopter pylori antibody by chromatographic immunoassay while the faecal samples were analyzed for the presence of blood using faecal occult blood test kit. Out of the 420 subjects, 349 were positive of either H. pylori antibody, intestinal bleeding or both while 71 were negative, 303 (72.1%) were Helicopter Pylori seropositive and 134 (31.9%) were positive of faecal occult blood test, whereas, 88(21.0%) were positive of both Helicopter pylori and faecal occult blood. The males were found to be significantly more exposed to Helicopter pylori (p<0.05). Participants within the ages of 20 years and below were found to be significantly more susceptible to Helicobacter pylori infection (p<0.05). A significant association was found between sources of drinking water as risk factor and seropositivity of Helicopter pylori antibody (p<0.05). In conclusion, the high prevalence of positivity recorded in this study constitute a problem of public health concern. The need for proper screening and diagnosis are therefore advocated for better management of intestinal bleeding.
Composition and in vitro Antioxidant Capacity of Swedish Bitters *

Bitters are generic term that denotes all bitter liquors and herbal bitters. They are produced from herb and root extracts, from the narcotic components of (primarily) tropical and subtropical plants and spices. They are usually dark in colour and valued for their ability to promote appetite and digestion. Bitters are made from numerous groups of chemical compounds extracted from the herbs and roots (medicinal plants) that have the common characteristics of a bitter taste and act to increase the vital energy centres of the body. The results of this study indicate that Swedish bitters possess high amounts of phytochemicals like alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, phenols, saponins and cyanogenic glycosides. Swedish bitters contain significant amounts of Na, K, P, Ca, Mg, Zn, Mn, Fe, and Cu, while Pb, Cr, and Se were not detected. Swedish bitters have IC 50 values for 50% ABTS inhibition of 18.68mg/ml indicating that the bitters have a relatively high antioxidant capacity as claimed by the producers of the bitters.
OAEM_A_299139 51..56

1Department of Adult Health Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia; 2Department of Pediatric and Child Health Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Debre Tabor University, Debre Tabor, Ethiopia Background: Oxygen therapy is a medical treatment and prescribed to prevent or treat hypoxemia. Based on a WHO report every year at least 1.4 million deaths occur due to the lack of supplemental oxygen therapy and inappropriate administration of oxygen. Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice of nurses on supplemental oxygen therapy in Debre Tabor General Hospital, 2019. Methods: Data was collected using structured questionnaires that measure nurses’ knowledge and practice regarding supplemental oxygen therapy. Data were entered using Epi Data version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the association between independent and outcome variables. Results: Only one-third of nurses had a good practice on supplemental oxygen administration. Nurses who had good knowledge of supplemental oxygen administration were 12-times (AOR=12.25, 95% CI=6.48–32.93) more likely to have a good practice of supplemental oxygen administration than those who had poor knowledge of supplemental oxygen administration. Conclusion: There is a clear knowledge and practice gap among nurses working in Debre Tabor General Hospital. The knowledge and practice level of nurses in the study area is low compared with others. The possible factors were identified; such as lack of supplemental oxygen therapy training, absence of supplemental oxygen administration standard guidelines, workload, and inadequate supply of oxygen and delivery devices.
Implicit Semantic Response Alignment for Partial Domain Adaptation

Partial Domain Adaptation (PDA) addresses the unsupervised domain adaptation problem where the target label space is a subset of the source label space. Most state-of-art PDA methods tackle the inconsistent label space by assigning weights to classes or individual samples, in an attempt to discard the source data that belongs to the irrelevant classes. However, we believe samples from those extra categories would still contain valuable information to promote positive transfer. In this paper, we propose the Implicit Semantic Response Alignment to explore the intrinsic relationships among different categories by applying a weighted schema on the feature level. Speciﬁcally, we design a class2vec module to extract the implicit semantic topics from the visual features. With an attention layer, we calculate the semantic response according to each implicit semantic topic. Then semantic responses of source and target data are aligned to retain the relevant information contained in multiple categories by weighting the features, instead of samples. Experiments on several cross-domain benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our method over the state-of-the-art PDA methods. Moreover, we elaborate in-depth analyses to further explore implicit semantic alignment.
Effect of soil-structure interaction on seismic response of a seismically isolated highway bridge pier

This study is dedicated towards conducting seismic performance evaluation of a seismically isolated highway bridge pier incorporating the soil-interaction, subjected to low to medium far field earthquake ground accelerations. Laminated rubber bearings (LRB), manufactured using high damping rubber material, are used in the seismic isolation of the bridge pier. In seismic performance evaluation of the pier, nonlinear dynamic analysis using a standard direct time integration approach has been carried out by incorporating the nonlinear mechanical behaviour of the isolation bearing, pier and footing-soil. A visco-elasto-plastic rheology model of LRB, a bilinear force-displacement relationship for pier and an equivalent linear model for footing-soil interaction are employed in the analysis for realizing their mechanical behaviour under seismic excitations. The equivalent linear model used for understanding the soil-structure interaction between footing and its surrounding soil comprises linear translational spring and dashpot components. The seismic responses of the bridge pier considered in the performance evaluation are footing displacement, pier displacement, bearing displacement and deck displacement. The analyses results have revealed that soil-structure interaction effects may be neglected in the seismic analysis of seismic-isolated bridges constructed on stiff/very hard soil; however, the soilstructure interaction effects need to be carefully considered for bridges constructed in soft soil conditions.
The Relationship of Fisherfolks Characteristics to Technologies Adoption in Niger Delta, Nigeria.

This study examined the relationship of fisherfolks characteristics to technologies adoption in Niger Delta, Nigeria. The instrument for the study was structured questionnaire and interview schedule. The instrument was administered to one thousand fishers in four different states of the Niger Delta. The data collected were analyzed using chi-square (X 2 ) with coefficient of contingency (C). The tested null hypothesis showed that there was no significant difference in the relationship between technologies adoption and personal characteristics of respondents. It was found that occupation has a significant role to play on technologies adoption. The greater percentage of the fish farmers had either primary or secondary education. Occupation of the respondents made it even easier for the agricultural agencies to design and impart fisheries development and management techniques to the fishers. The annual income of the respondents played a significant role in the perceived technologies adoption as it endued them with the predisposition for profitability. The high cost of most of the fish production and processing machinery constitute a major hindrance to the acquisition of the readily available machinery. Lack of credit facilities was the major problem faced by fisher folks in Niger Delta. The level of education of the respondents impacted on their perception of the technologies adoption of recommended practices. It is pertinent to develop appropriate gender friendly machines to take care of the constraints experience during fishing operations irrespective of the sex of the operators.
Community Awareness of Assistance Dog Public Access Rights among Australian Adults

Assistance dogs fill a wide variety of disability assistance roles. In many jurisdictions, assistance dogs have the legal right to enter public places with their handlers, including those that are typically off-limits to pet animals. Unfortunately, unlawful denial of access to these places is common, which may be due to lack of understanding about these access rights. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine awareness of assistance dog public access rights among the general population of Australian adults. An online survey was completed by 328 Australian residents, only six of whom had ever lived with an assistance dog. Analyses were primarily descriptive. About half (51%) worked in an environment in which occasional encounters with an assistance dog and handler team would be possible, but most participants reported rarely or never encountering an assistance dog in their community or workplace. Nonetheless, awareness of assistance dog public access rights was generally high, with nearly all participants aware that ‘pet dog’ is not a synonym for assistance dog, and that assistance dogs have the legal right to access shopping centres and public transport. Awareness was lower for limitations on these access rights, such as gatekeepers’ (i.e., people who determine whether a person enters their premises) right to ask for evidence that the dog is an assistance dog, and the right to deny access to a dog that is not well-controlled. Women had significantly higher knowledge about this topic than men, and age was positively correlated with knowledge, but both had weak effect sizes. Future educational campaigns should aim to increase awareness of assistance dogs’ legal rights and obligations, to reduce the likelihood of unlawful access denials in the future.
Phytochemical Analysis of Senna occidentalis Leaves

This study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical composition of Senna occidentalis leaves. The quantitative phytochemical analysis was carried out with spectrophotometric method.The results of the quantitative phytochemical composi tions revealed the presence of tannins , phenols , flavonoids , alkaloids, glycosides , terpenoids , steroids and saponins at the concentrations of 4241.15±0.035 mg/100g, 2705.32±0.01 mg/100g, 661.77±0.004 mg/100g, 724.37±0.004 mg/100g , 116.29±0.003mg/100g,18.43±0.01mg/100g, 28.83±0.01mg/g and 14.36 ±0.004 mg/g respectively in Senna occidentalis leaves. The results indicate that Senna occidentalis leaves are good source of phytochemicals and this may inform the use in ethno medicine.