Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EXAMINING THE ADOPTION OF BLENDED LEARNING AMONG MALAYSIAN ACADEMICIANS

To date, there are a growing number of higher learning institutions in Malaysia begin to adopt blended learning as a new teaching method in tandem with Malaysia Education Blueprint 2025. For centuries, a traditional method of teaching is now described as a passive teaching mode because they discourage students from critically filtering the delivered information. For this purpose, the present study intends to examine the effects academicians’ interest, ICT facilities, perceived ease of use and adequate training on the system adoption. Evidently, the result shows that academician interest, adequate training and perceived ease of use are the main important determinant in adopting the blended learning approach among Malaysian academicians. This study contributes to present literature on blended learning effectiveness particularly in Malaysian context. The outcomes obtained can benefit all lecturers, students as well as management of the university and indirectly enhanced the quality of the university itself. Abstrak Sehingga kini, semakin banyak institusi pengajian tinggi di Malaysia mula menggunapakai pembelajaran gabungan sebagai kaedah pengajaran baru selaras dengan Pelan Pendidikan Malaysia 2025. Selama berabad-abad, kaedah pengajaran tradisional kini digambarkan sebagai mod pengajaran pasif kerana ianya tidak menggalakkan pelajar daripada menapis maklumat yang dihantar secara kritis. Untuk tujuan ini, kajian ini berhasrat untuk mengkaji kesan ahli akademik, kemudahan ICT, kemudahan penggunaan yang mudah dan latihan yang mencukupi ke atas penggunaan sistem. Jelas sekali, hasilnya menunjukkan minat ahli akademik, latihan yang mencukupi dan kemudahan penggunaannya adalah penentu penting utama dalam mengadaptasi pendekatan pembelajaran gabungan dalam kalangan ahli akademik Malaysia. Kajian ini menyumbang untuk menyampaikan literatur berhubung dengan keberkesanan pembelajaran gabungan terutamanya dalam konteks Malaysia. Hasil yang diperoleh dapat memberi manfaat kepada semua pensyarah, pelajar serta pengurusan universiti dan secara tidak langsung meningkatkan mutu universiti itu sendiri.
Yablo Without Gödel

We prove Yablo’s paradox without the diagonal lemma or the recursion theorem. Only a disquotation schema and axioms for a serial and transitive ordering are used in the proof. e consequences for the discussion on whether Yablo’s paradox is circular or involves self-reference are evaluated. yablo ’s paradox in arithmetic Yablo (1985, 1993) formulated his paradox as an innite list of sentences. One way to state the paradox is the following: For all k > , Sk is not true. (S) For all k > , Sk is not true. (S) For all k > , Sk is not true. (S)
Congenital Cataracts in Preterm Infants: A Review

A congenital cataract is one of the most treatable causes of visual impairment during infancy. Preterm infants who are born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy need special care, including proper age documentation, preoperative assessment, and monitoring postoperatively for at least 24 hours. Management of cataracts in preterm infants is critical as regards the timing of cataract surgery and the challenges associated with cataract surgery and posterior segment management for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). This narrative review aims to provide comprehensive insight and up-to-date clinical research findings regarding the pathophysiology and management of congenital cataracts in preterm infants.
On long time behavior of Moore-Gibson-Thompson equation with molecular relaxation

A third order in time nonlinear equation is considered. This particular model is motivated by High Frequency Ultra Sound (HFU) technology which accounts for thermal and molecular relaxation. The resulting equations give rise to a quasilinear-like evolution with a potentially degenerate damping [23]. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to provide a brief review of recent results in the area of long time behavior of solutions to of MGT equation, (2) to provide recent results pertaining to decay of energy associated with the model accounting for molecular relaxation which is locally distributed.
Interaction of acoustic waves with optomechanical resonators and oscillators

We experimentally study acoustic excitation of a radiation pressure coupled optomechanical resonators above and below self-sustained oscillation threshold. First we demonstrate injection locking of a radiation pressure driven microtoroidal optomechanical oscillator (OMO) via acoustic waves by locking its phase and frequency to a piezoelectric transducer (PZT). We characterize the injection locking process and show that even without proper acoustic impedance matching, the OMO can be locked to the PZT and tuned over 17 kHz with only -30 dBm of RF power driving the PZT. As opposed to the previously reported techniques, injection locking of OMO via acoustic waves does not require optical power modulation or physical contact with the OMO and it can be easily implemented on various platforms to lock different types of OMOs independent of their size and structure. The high efficiency, simplicity and scalability of the proposed approach paves the road toward a new class of photonic systems that rely on synchronization of several OMOs to a single or multiple RF oscillators with applications in optical communication, metrology and sensing. Next we study the acousto-optical response of the same optomechanical resonator below oscillation threshold optical power level. We show that in this regime the reduced damping due to radiation pressure may be used for high sensitivity detection of acoustic waves. We analyze the performance of radiation pressure coupled optomechanical resonators as acousto-optical transducers and explore their potential advantages over other optical and piezoelectric transducers in applications where high sensitivity, low power consumption and small size are critical.
A material-based core–shell bioactive compound of mixed oxide phases with TiC on carbon black particles for bone augmentation in oral and maxillofacial surgery

Augmentation of a bone defect with bone graft materials for oral and maxillofacial surgery is a challenge for researchers. Bone substitutes (autograft, allograft, xenograft) have several drawbacks such as risk of infection, limitation of harvest sites and amount of graft material, risk of donor site morbidity, and pain. Over the last decade, various kinds of synthetic materials have been used in order to improve bone augmentation without any risk of disease transmission and overcome an additional operation. However, the bioactivity of these synthetic materials is still challenging due to inadequate bone cell response for augmentation. Here, we synthesized core–shell with a porous structure of mixed oxide phases with titanium carbide on carbon black particles to treat bone loss for oral and maxillofacial surgery. Core–shell bioactive compounds were fabricated via molten salt synthesis followed by thermal treatment in air at different temperatures. The phase composition and morphology of the product powders were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, and TEM. The particles were cultured with osteoblast cells to evaluate the biological functions. The results demonstrated that TCBs250 with a high proportion of titanium oxides had the highest surface roughness, porosity, hydrophilicity, and biological response. Finally, TCBs250 is a promising bioactive material for augmentation or regeneration of bone in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Interpreting trends in graphs: A study of 14 and 15 year olds

Interpreting graphically displayed data is an important life skill. This thesis examines some of the problems that 14 and 15 year olds encounter when interpreting trends in cartesian graphs. A survey of errors made by 144 pupils is discussed, which shows that two of the most difficult aspects of graph work are interpreting changes in gradients, and inter-relating the graph with its context. A detailed analysis of individual pupils interpretations of changes in gradients shows that pupils conceptions of gradient can be classified according to whether they have an 'iconic' or an 'analytical' origin. iconic descriptions are concerned with the structure, shape or position of the curve, whereas analytical descriptions are concerned with more abstract notions, such as the angle or steepness of the curve, and rate of increase. The results indicate that the occurrence of different kinds of conceptions is influenced by both the form of the graph and its context. In another study, the pupils were given two structurally isomorphic graph interpretation tasks. The results of this investigation also show that the context of a graph in relation to its structural form, has a profound influence upon the way that pupils interpret it. Interpretations are described, in which the influence of metaphors, knowledge from everyday life experience and anthropomorphic reactions can be seen. Pictorial accounts show how conceptions from some of these sources are brought into the pupils interpretations.
Composite $T^2$ test for high-dimensional data

We consider high-dimensional location test problems in which the number of variables p may exceed the sample size n. The classical T 2 test does not work well because the contamination bias in estimating the covariance matrix grows rapidly with p. Unlike most existing remedies abandoning all the correlation information, the composite T 2 test developed here makes use of them in a practical and efficient way. Under mild conditions, the proposed test statistic is asymptotically normal, and allows the dimensionality to almost exponentially increase in n. The test inherits certain appealing features of the classical T 2 test and does not suffer from large bias contamination. Due to incorporating much correlation information, the proposed test can deliver more robust performance than existing methods in many cases. Simulation studies demonstrate the validity of asymptotic analysis.
Risk-Based Approach for Selecting Company Key Performance Indicator in an Example of Financial Services

Risk management is a highly important issue for Fintech companies; moreover, it is very specific and puts forward the serious requirements toward the top management of any financial institution. This study was devoted to specifying the risk factors affecting the finance and capital adequacy of financial institutions. The authors considered the different types of risks in combination, whereas other scholars usually analyze risks in isolation; however, the authors believe that it is necessary to consider their mutual impact. The risks were estimated using the PLS-SEM method in Smart PLS-4 software. The quality of the obtained model is very high according to all indicators. Five hypotheses related to finance and five hypotheses related to capital adequacy were considered. The impact of AML, cyber, and governance risks on capital adequacy was confirmed; the effect of governance and operational risks on finance was also confirmed. Other risks have no impact on finance and capital adequacy. It is interesting that risks associated with staff have no impact on finance and capital adequacy. The findings of this study can be easily applied by any financial institution for risk analysis. Moreover, this study can serve toward a better collaboration of scholars investigating the Fintech activities and practitioners working in this sphere. The authors present a novel approach for enhancing key performance indicators (KPIs) for Fintech companies, proposing utilizing metrics that are derived from the company’s specific risks, thereby introducing an innovative method for selecting KPIs based on the inherent risks associated with the Fintech’s business model. This model aligns the KPIs with the unique risk profile of the company, fostering a fresh perspective on performance measurement within the Fintech industry.
Mixed-Phase Clouds: Progress and Challenges

AbstractMixed-phase clouds represent a three-phase colloidal system consisting of water vapor, ice particles, and coexisting supercooled liquid droplets. Mixed-phase clouds are ubiquitous in the troposphere, occurring at all latitudes from the polar regions to the tropics. Because of their widespread nature, mixed-phase processes play critical roles in the life cycle of clouds, precipitation formation, cloud electrification, and the radiative energy balance on both regional and global scales. Yet, in spite of many decades of observations and theoretical studies, our knowledge and understanding of mixed-phase cloud processes remains incomplete. Mixed-phase clouds are notoriously difficult to represent in numerical weather prediction and climate models, and their description in theoretical cloud physics still presents complicated challenges. In this chapter, the current status of our knowledge on mixed-phase clouds, obtained from theoretical studies and observations, is reviewed. Recent progress, along with.
Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) Versus Helical Tomotherapy (HT) in Esophageal Cancer: A Comparative Analysis

Purpose/Objectives: Definitive chemoradiation is an accepted alternative treatment in the management of esophageal cancer in patients who are not candidates for surgery. The location of esophagus poses a challenge because of its close proximity to the critical organs. Various modern techniques of radiation planning offer the advantage of better dose conformality and increased sparing of organs at risk. This study aims to compare the dosimetric parameters of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT) and Helical Tomotherapy (HT) planning techniques in radical radiotherapy for esophageal cancer patients. Materials/Methods: A total of 38 patients of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma with clinical staging cT2-T4/N0-N2/M0 planned for definitive chemoradiation were enrolled from June 2021 till November 2022. CT simulation was done with intravenous and oral contrast, and contouring of tumor volumes and organs at risk were done according to RTOG contouring guidelines. All patients were planned for a total dose of 50.4Gy in 28 fractions. Radiation plans of IMRT and HT were generated for each patient. Dosimetric parameters of PTV D98, D2, Dmean, V95, V110, Homogeneity Index (HI) and Conformity Index (CI) were noted for both the plans. Organs at risk (OAR) parameters such as Lung (V20, V30, V5, Dmean), Heart (V25, V30, Dmean), Spinal Cord Dmax, Larynx (Dmax, Dmean) and Liver Dmean were noted. All parameters of the two different planning techniques were compared and analyzed using SPSS software v23 with paired t-test.Results: The coverage of the PTV in IMRT and HT was similar in terms of PTV V95 and PTV D98. The regions receiving more than 107% and 110% of the prescribed dose was significantly higher in IMRT compared to HT, on assessing V107, V110 and D2 (p=0.001). HI was similar in both the groups, but the CI was significantly better in HT compared to IMRT (0.9 ± 0.02 vs 1.03 ± 0.01; p=0.002). Doses to the lungs, heart and liver were similar between the two groups. IMRT had higher spinal cord (39.1 ± 3.2 vs 34.2 ± 5.5; p=0.001) and laryngeal dose (9.6 ± 5.5 vs 5.6 ± 3.7; p=0.009) compared to HT.Conclusion: HT offers better dose conformality and uniformity when compared to IMRT with lesser dose to spinal cord and larynx. As this is a dosimetric study, a larger sample size and patient follow up is essential for clinical correlation and assessment of benefit of different radiation modalities.
Raised Maternal Homocysteine Levels in Antenatal Women at 10 to 14 Weeks of Gestation and Placenta-Mediated Complications: A Cohort Study

Background Placenta-mediated complications, such as preeclampsia, placental abruption, and fetal growth restriction, can indeed lead to significant maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Early detection and management of these conditions are crucial to ensuring optimal outcomes for both the mother and baby. However, there have been inconsistent correlations found between maternal homocysteine levels and placenta-related problems in various studies. Therefore, prospective research based on data pointing to a role for hyperhomocysteinemia in placenta-mediated complications will open doors for early detection and management of these complications. Thus, this study aims to determine if a higher risk of placenta-mediated problems is connected with a higher maternal plasma homocysteine content between 10 and 14 weeks of gestation. Methodology An observational prospective cohort study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, consisting of all the antenatal women between 10 and 14 weeks of gestation attending outpatient departments or inpatients admitted in labor rooms or wards having singleton pregnancies. Along with socio-demographic information and detailed history, a clinical examination was performed, and blood samples were collected to determine plasma homocysteine levels. Results As per the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve), the cut-off value taken was <5 for the low level of serum homocysteine, 5 to 15 micromol/L for the normal value, and >15 micromol/L for a raised serum homocysteine level. The cutoff value for our study was 45 micromol/L with a sensitivity of 78.33%, a specificity of 91.67%, a positive predictive value of 90.38%, and a negative predictive value of 80.88% with a diagnostic accuracy of 85%. This means that, for most of the women included in the present study, those who developed placenta-mediated complications had serum blood homocysteine levels of 45 micromol/L or more at 10-14 weeks of gestation. Conclusion Women with high homocysteine levels in the late first trimester had more placenta-mediated complications, such as abruption, pre-eclampsia, restricted fetal growth, and recurrent pregnancy losses, compared to women with a normal level of homocysteine in the late first trimester. Therefore, measuring blood homocysteine levels in pregnancy may be helpful as a diagnostic test for the early detection of high-risk individuals for placenta-mediated complications.
Body mass estimate of Anancus arvernensis (Croizet and Jobert 1828): comparison of the regression and volumetric methods

In this contribution, we estimate the possible living body mass (BM) of the anancine gomphotheriid Anancus arvernensis, by testing a recently proposed volumetric method based on hyper‐realistic in vivo 3D reconstructions and comparing the results with the BM obtained by using regression formulas. The analysis, conducted starting from two articulated skeletons, showed that the performance of regression formulas varies considerably from taxon to taxon, with plausible estimates obtained only when the mean of all the formulas on the individual bones is available and considered. Differently, formulas applied to single bones can lead to underestimations or overestimations of up to 300%, with BM ranging from 54 kg to 26 metric tonnes. By using the volumetric method, the in vivo reconstruction of Anancus arvernensis made it possible to estimate a BM between 5.2 and 6 t, a figure close to that of an extant adult male African elephant. The obtained results show that estimating BM in terrestrial tetrapods from single or fragmented bones might lead to highly improbable and misleading conclusions. Thus, in the presence of adequately complete mounted skeletons, it is always preferable and recommended to estimate the BM using the volumetric approach, which is based on an in vivo 3D reconstruction.
Macro-modeling of spot weld strength and failure: Formulation and identification procedure based on pure and mixed modes of loading

Purpose This paper aims to propose a macro modeling approach to simulate the mechanical behavior and the failure of spot welded joints in structural crashworthiness computations. Design/methodology/approach A connector element is proposed to simulate the behavior and failure of spot weld joints. An elastic-plastic damageable model is used to describe the non-linear response and rupture. The connector model involves several parameters that have to be defined. Some are directly identified based on mechanical interpretations and experimental tests characteristics. The remaining parameters are identified through a finite element model updating approach using Arcan tests. Resulting from a sensitivity analysis, an original two steps optimization methodology, using the Modes I and II Arcan tests results sequentially, has been implemented to identify the remaining model parameters. Findings The numerical results for Arcan tests in mixed Modes I/II are in a good agreement with the experimental ones. The model is also validated on tensile pull-out, single lap shear and coach-peel tests. Originality/value By comparison with previous published results, the proposed model brings a significant improvement. The main innovative aspects of this work are as follows: the proposed formulation, a reduced number of parameters to optimize, an original sequential optimization methodology based on physical and mechanical analyses and a mesh size independent connector element.
Outage Probability Oriented Secrecy Rate Optimization for Finite-Alphabet Inputs

This letter aims at investigating the secrecy outage probability (SOP) performance and formulating an associated precoder optimization problem to maximize the achievable secrecy rate (SR) for finite-alphabet inputs. As a passive eavesdropper is taken into account, we derive that: 1) the phase of the optimal precoder is orthogonal to that of the channel spanning from the transmitter to the intended receiver; 2) the modulus of the optimal precoder vector also has a linear correlation to that of the mentioned channel. Benefited from these findings, the original optimization problem is simplified to one only related to a pair of scalars, which thus dramatically reduces the computational complexity. Our simulation results finally verify the effectiveness of the proposed precoder design scheme.
Distribution and ecology of Equisetum variegatum (Variegated Horsetail) (Equisetaceae) on the Sefton Coast sand-dunes, north Merseyside, UK

A 2022 survey of Equisetum variegatum Schleich. Ex F. Weber & D. Mohr (Equisetaceae) (Variegated Horsetail) on the Sefton Coast sand-dunes, north Merseyside, found the plant in 19 of 28 known sites for the species. Most extant localities were in relatively young, calcareous dune-slacks and scrapes with short vegetation close to the shore, having ground-water-gley or peaty-gley soils with a high pH. Quadrats in vegetation supporting E. variegatum had a total of 78 vascular taxa, 20 of them being regionally or nationally notable and 10 Red-listed. There were only four non-native species. TABLEFIT analysis found that five UK National Vegetation Classification (NVC) dune-slack communities were represented, the most frequent being SD15: Salix repens-Calliergon cuspidatum dune-slack, followed by SD16: Salix repens-Holcus lanatus dune-slack. However, statistical fits to recognised NVC vegetation types were often poor. Loss of E. variegatum from nine sites was considered to be due to overgrowth by coarse vegetation and scrub, while 11 sites appeared to be imminently threatened by scrub development. Management practices that could assist conservation of E. variegatum and other notable plants in the Sefton dunes are discussed.
Spherical limits for Riesz potentials of functions in central generalized Orlicz-Morrey spaces on the unit ball

ABSTRACT We introduce central generalized Orlicz–Morrey spaces on the unit ball, and study the weighted behavior of spherical means for Riesz potentials of functions in those spaces. We also treat Orlicz–Morrey–Sobolev functions which are monotone in the punctured unit ball in the sense of Lebesgue.