Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of gaseous void on bipolar charge transport in layered polymer film

This paper describes a hybrid algorithm to study the effect of a gaseous void on bipolar charge transport in layered polymer film. This hybrid algorithm uses a source distribution technique based on an axisymmetric boundary integral equation method to solve the Poisson equation and a fourth order Runge–Kutta (RK4) method with an upwind scheme for time integration. Iterative stability is assured by satisfying the Courant–Friedrichs–Levy stability criterion. Dynamic charge mapping is achieved by allowing conducting and insulating boundaries and material interfaces to be represented by equivalent free and bound charge distributions that collectively satisfy all local and far-field conditions. This hybrid technique caters to bipolar charge injection, field-dependent mobility transport, recombination, and trapping/de-trapping in the bulk and at material and physical interfaces. The resulting charge map is the taxonomy of the different charge types and their abundance, and presents a dynamic view of the temporal and spatial distributions. The paper is motivated by images of breakdown experiments that point to the role of gaseous void in delamination growth. For the test configuration, the high field at the edge of the gaseous void act as a sink first for positive and then negative charge. The net effect is to increase delamination stress at the edge leading to further growth of the defect and increasing the potential for partial discharge within the void.
The analytic construction of D-optimal designs for the two-variable binary logistic regression model without interaction

Candidate locally D-optimal designs for the binary two-variable logistic model with no interaction, which comprise 3 and 4 support points lying in the first quadrant of the two-dimensional Euclidean space, were introduced by Haines et al. (D-optimal designs for logistic regression in two variables. In: Lopez-Fidalgo J, Rodrigez-Diaz JM, Torsney B, editors. MODA8 – advances in model-oriented designs and analysis. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag; 2007. p. 91–98). The authors proved algebraically the global D-optimality of the 3-point design for the special case in which the intercept parameter is equal to−1.5434. However for other selected values of the intercept parameter, the global D-optimality of the proposed 3- and 4-point designs was only demonstrated numerically. In this paper, we provide analytical proofs of the D-optimality of these 3- and 4-point designs for all negative and zero intercept parameters of the binary two-variable logistic model with no interaction. The results are extended to the construction of D-optimal designs on a rectangular design space and illustrated by means of two examples of which one is a real example taken from the literature.
Finding the non-dominated Pareto set for multi-objective simulation models

This article considers a multi-objective Ranking and Selection (R+S) problem, where the system designs are evaluated in terms of more than one performance measure. The concept of Pareto optimality is incorporated into the R+S scheme, and attempts are made to find all of the non-dominated designs rather than a single “best” one. In addition to a performance index to measure how non-dominated a design is, two types of errors are defined to measure the probabilities that designs in the true Pareto/non-Pareto sets are dominated/non-dominated based on observed performance. Asymptotic allocation rules are derived for simulation replications based on a Lagrangian relaxation method, under the assumption that an arbitrarily large simulation budget is available. Finally, a simple sequential procedure is proposed to allocate the simulation replications based on the asymptotic allocation rules. Computational results show that the proposed solution framework is efficient when compared to several other algorithms in terms of its capability of identifying the Pareto set.
Representations of Nonstandard Poincaré Hopf Algebras

Let 𝔭 q (1 + 1) be a nonstandard Poincaré Hopf algebra, we characterize all finite dimensional completely E-semisimple modules of 𝔭 q (1 + 1). We also classify all finite dimensional E-semisimple modules of 𝔭 q for a special quotient algebra of 𝔭 q (1 + 1). Moreover, the decomposition of tensor product of two finite dimensional E-semisimple indecomposable modules is obtained.
Country corruption and abnormal book-tax differences: a multilevel analysis

This study seeks to investigate whether perceived corruption, which is characteristic of the institutional environment of many countries, is related to abnormal book-tax differences (ABTDs) for publicly held firms around the world. We have applied multilevel modeling to 170,543 observations for 99 countries from 2012 to 2018. Our research hypothesis proposes a positive association between ABTDs and countries' perceived corruption, and it was not rejected for the total sample and countries which have adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These results suggest that in countries which have adopted the IFRS, managers are opportunistically using the greater flexibility resulting from the internationalization of accounting standards to practice corruption, and this may also possibly be influenced by the poor local institutional environment in terms of fighting corruption. This study contributes to the literature by offering new perspectives on how the business environment is affected by country characteristics, and employs multilevel modeling, which is the most accurate technique for samples with grouped structures.
Evidence for thermal mechanisms in laser-induced femtosecond spin dynamics

Recent pump-probe experiments using powerful femtosecond lasers and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism have opened a debate on the origin of the magnetization modification on the femtosecond time scale. We show a quantitative agreement between femtosecond optical pump-probe experiments and thermal micromagnetic modeling in nickel, which reveals a predominant thermal demagnetization mechanism. Magnetic fluctuations are introduced in the system as spin-flip processes due to scattering mechanisms in the electron system. In our model the Landau-Lifshitz-Bloch equation for a macrospin (containing the statistically averaged magnetic fluctuations) is coupled to the electronic temperature of the two-temperature model whose parameters are extracted from the measured reflectivity. We show that the demagnetization and the magnetization recovery time slow down as the laser pump fluence is increased and identify the longitudinal relaxation as a key factor for the observed behavior.
On Calibrating Brightest Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars as Age Indicators: The Bulge Globular Cluster NGC 6553 and the Age of M32

Bright asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars can be used as an age indicator for stellar populations that are too far away for their main-sequence turnoffs to be reachable. However, the method requires an empirical calibration, as the brightness of the AGB termination depends on both age and metallicity in ways that cannot be predicted from first principles. In this Letter, we present an attempt at providing such a calibration for old, near-solar metallicity populations. For this purpose, we use the bulge, metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6553, combining available Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical photometry with near-IR data. HST observations have indicated the cluster to be nearly as old as halo globular clusters (Ortolani et al.), and here we use the same data to determine the reddening and distance of the cluster. When we combine these observations with the IR data, we obtain the absolute K-band and bolometric magnitudes of the brightest AGB stars in the cluster. It turns out that these brightest stars are nearly as bright as the brightest AGB stars in the dwarf elliptical galaxy M32, and we conclude that no appreciable age difference between the globular cluster and M32 is required to account for the brightest stars in this galaxy.
Look-Ahead Training with Learned Reflectance Loss for Single-Image SVBRDF Estimation

In this paper, we propose a novel optimization-based method to estimate the reflectance properties of a near planar surface from a single input image. Specifically, we perform test-time optimization by directly updating the parameters of a neural network to minimize the test error. Since single image SVBRDF estimation is a highly ill-posed problem, such an optimization is prone to overfitting. Our main contribution is to address this problem by introducing a training mechanism that takes the test-time optimization into account. Specifically, we train our network by minimizing the training loss after one or more gradient updates with the test loss. By training the network in this manner, we ensure that the network does not overfit to the input image during the test-time optimization process. Additionally, we propose a learned reflectance loss to augment the typically used rendering loss during the test-time optimization. We do so by using an auxiliary network that estimates pseudo ground truth reflectance parameters and train it in combination with the main network. Our approach is able to converge with a small number of iterations of the test-time optimization and produces better results compared to the state-of-the-art methods.
Concept of older person autonomy: phenomenological study of the opinion of specialist nurses

Abstract Background: The concept of autonomy is composed of several components, making it a multidimensional concept. This includes cognitive ability, intellectual ability, emotional intelligence, social situation, and physical ability skills. This study aimed to describe the experiences attributed to the meaning of the concept of autonomy, by specialist nurses. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study was carried out, according to the Giorgi method. Eighteen nurses were recruited at a hospital in Portugal. Data were collected through individual interviews. Results: The 18 specialist nurses work on average as nurses for 16years and are specialist nurses; for an average of 5.9years, most are specialist nurses in rehabilitation nursing. From the data analysis, six themes emerged: ability to do, ability to resolve, decision ability, cognitive ability, social integration, and emotional intelligence. Conclusions: Most professionals perceive the concept as the ability to perform activities of daily living and the ability to make decisions, especially concerning informed consent. It is necessary to raise awareness of the breadth of this concept since the quality of life and dignity of the elderly person depends on autonomy.
The clinical course and risk factors in COVID-19 patients with acute kidney injury

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) has the most prevalent complications in COVID-19 patients. A variety of factors is involved in the disease progression and its associated outcomes. The present study aimed at both examining the correlated clinical features of COVID-19 disease and AKI and evaluating its clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: In the present retrospective study, 102 COVID-19 patients that encountered AKI were enrolled and categorized into three AKI stages. Basic and clinical characteristics, clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory and imaging findings, and treatment approaches were examined. Then, clinical outcomes as well as the factors associated with the mortality of patients were evaluated. Results: Diabetes was the only significant clinical characteristic among the patients (P = 0.004). An increasing trend was observed for neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (P = 0.027) and potassium (K) (P = 0.006), and a decreasing trend was seen for hemoglobin (P < 0.001), albumin (P = 0.005), and calcium (P < 0.001) factors at higher stages of AKI. Secondary infection (P = 0.019) and hypoproteinemia (P = 0.018) were the most significant clinical outcomes. Chronic obstructive lung disease (OR = 1.362, P = 0.007), renal replacement therapy (OR = 2.067, P = 0.005), lung consolidation (OR = 0.722, P = 0.032), and bilateral pulmonary infiltration (OR = 4.793, P = 0.002) were the factors associated with mortality rate of COVID-19 patients with AKI. Conclusion: AKI, as an important complication of COVID-19, that can predict the higher mortality rate as well as the laboratory and clinical characteristics should receive more due consideration in order to employ proper preventive or supportive treatment approaches that are the pivotal key to reduce the mortality rate in target patients.
Effects of social networking services on academic performance and self-esteem: A cross-sectional study among medical students

Background: Social networking services (SNS) are a subcategory of social media that provide a useful tool for an individual's practical life and social relations. Since the impact of SNS on students' lives is a relatively neglected topic, we aimed to investigate the effect of social media on academic performance and self-esteem. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 373 medical students distributed across different academic years. Data was collected and analyzed using measures of central tendency to describe numerical variables, while frequencies and percentages were used for categorical variables. Pearson's chisquared test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test, and the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to identify relationships between the variables. All P values < 0.05 were considered significant using a 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error. Results: The majority of our sample believed that SNSs were useful, and 37.5% believed that social media positively affected their academic performance. However, no significant relationship was found between the time spent on social media and the students' grade point average (GPA). Conversely, there was a significant relationship between students' perceived addiction to social media and their self-worth, along with a positive correlation between GPA and self-esteem. Conclusion: Almost half of our participants agreed that social media is a helpful method for finding useful information. Nevertheless, excessive usage has been found to have a harmful effect on the students' health and self-esteem.
The impact of dental fear on the dental attendance behaviors: A retrospective study

Objective: The aim is to investigate the causes of dental fear and its impact on dental attendance behaviors. Materials and Methods: A short questionnaire was distributed to participants at different dental clinics and by emails to evaluate their perceptions of dental fear. The questionnaire contained questions related to gender and age group. The remaining part of the questionnaire investigated the causes of dental fear and its impact on dental visits. Results: A total of 2264 participants aged 18 years and above agreed to complete the questionnaire. There were 1177 (52%) male participants and 1095 (48%) female participants. There was a response rate of approximately 60%. Drilling tooth devices and their sounds was the option that caused the highest dental fear among the participants who had it (n = 248; 37.7%). Pain was the second most frequently chosen option to cause dental fear (n = 165; 25%). Around 70% (n = 1257) of the participants who had dental fear overcame their fear and decided to seek treatment when they experienced annoying pain. At the same time, 18% (n = 323) of them sought the treatment when they experienced slight pain and 10% (n = 180) sought the treatment once they noticed a large carious lesion. Conclusion: People from both genders responded similarly to dental fear, and age was not found to be a significant factor in individuals' reactions to dental treatment. The sounds of teeth-drilling devices and related sounds may be responsible for the dental fear, as reported by many people. People with dental fear are more likely to avoid regular dental visits.
Prognostication of COVID-19 patients using ROX index and CURB-65 score - A retrospective observational study

Objectives: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) disease has overwhelmed the healthcare infrastructure worldwide. The shortage of intensive care unit (ICU) beds leads to longer waiting times and higher mortality for patients. High crowding leads to an increase in mortality, length of hospital stays, and hospital costs for patients. Through an appropriate stratification of patients, rational allocation of the available hospital resources can be accomplished. Various scores for risk stratification of patients have been tried, but for a score to be useful at primary care level, it should be readily available at the bedside and be reproducible. ROX index and CURB-65 are simple bedside scores, requiring minimum equipment, and investigations to calculate. Methods: This retrospective, record-based study included adult patients who presented to the ED from May 1, 2020 to November 30, 2020 with confirmed COVID-19 infection. The patient's clinical and demographic details were obtained from the electronic medical records of the hospital. ROX index and CURB-65 score on ED arrival were calculated and correlated with the need for hospitalization and early (14-day) and late (28-day) mortality. Results: 842 patients were included in the study. The proportion of patients with mild, moderate and severe disease was 46.3%, 14.9%, and 38.8%, respectively. 55% patients required hospitalization. The 14-day mortality was 8.8% and the 28-day mortality was 20.7%. The AUROC of ROX index for predicting hospitalization was 0.924 (p < 0.001), for 14-day mortality was 0.909 (p < 0.001) and for 28-day mortality was 0.933 (p < 0.001). The AUROC of CURB-65 score for predicting hospitalization was 0.845 (p < 0.001), for 14-day mortality was 0.905 (p < 0.001) and for 28-day mortality was 0.902 (p < 0.001). The cut-off of ROX index for predicting hospitalization was ≤18.634 and for 14-day mortality was ≤14.122. Similar cut-off values for the CURB-65 score were ≥1 and ≥2, respectively. Conclusion: ROX index and CURB-65 scores are simple and inexpensive scores that can be efficiently utilised by primary care physicians for appropriate risk stratification of patients with COVID-19 infection.
Mucormycosis and diabetes in the times of COVID-19: A Mumbai-based observational study

Background: There is a significant increase in the number of mucormycosis cases in the setting of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study was undertaken to understand the clinical profile of such patients and the risk factors associated with increased mortality of this already deadly infection. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted by including microbiologically confirmed cases of mucormycosis with the background of COVID-19 infection (COVID-19–associated mucormycosis [CAM]). Data was segregated into those of survivors versus non-survivors and the two groups were analyzed for various risk factors. Early and late CAM were also compared. Results: The case fatality rate was 21.73% (5/23 patients). Case fatality in early CAM was 33.3% versus 9.1% in late CAM. Rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (P = 0.01) and cranial nerve involvement (P = 0.0482) were associated with increased mortality. Diabetes and poor glycemic control were the common factors in all patients. Early CAM patients were more likely to have orbital or cerebral involvement (P = 0.0065). Patients having chronic liver disease had a higher risk of mortality (P = 0.0395). Sequential treatment or concurrent dual drug therapy with a combination of antifungal drugs was independently associated with better survival (P = 0.0395). The average duration of treatment with amphotericin-b required for cure by survivors was 29.05 ± 17.05 days. The average duration of treatment with isavuconazole/posaconazole for survivors was 50.32 ± 25.23 days. Conclusion: Early CAM had a higher case fatality rate. Patients had better recovery rates with sequential or dual antifungal treatment. The raised incidence and mortality in the COVID-19 pandemic is probably related to the COVID-19–induced immunosuppression with associated diabetes and excessive use of steroids.
Factors influencing adherence to self-care practices among patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus from Saurashtra region of Gujarat: A conclusive research

Background: It is commonly understood that diabetes self-care practice is critical in the management of the disease. However, the magnitude and determinants of self-care practices are not well evaluated at the community level. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 178 type 2 DM patients. Self-care practices were evaluated for the last seven days and each item was scored from 0 (none of the days in a week) to 7 (all 7 days were followed). Results: Adherence to medication (89.3%) and blood glucose monitoring (65.2%) were relatively higher than other domains. Factors associated with dietary adherence were secondary level education and above (OR = 22.1, 95% CI = 6.85 to 71.3), physician or endocrinologist treating doctors (OR = 3.36, 95% CI = 1.24 to 11.32), joint and three-generation family (OR = 3.32, 95% CI = 1.23 to 8.92) and upper and middle socioeconomic class (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.1 to 6.2). Good glycemic control was significantly associated with dietary adherence (OR = 6.81, 95% CI = (2.71 to 17.16), medication adherence (OR = 4.59, 95% CI = 1.3 to 16.24) and regular exercise (OR = 3.65, 95% CI = 1.62 to 8.19). Conclusion: There is need to develop structured diabetes self-care education programs with involvement of private practitioners as a majority of the patients consult private practitioners for treatment. Health educators might have to place emphasis on self-care education to patients as well as caregivers belonging to low socioeconomic class and having lower education.
Mortality in patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) and its clinicoradiological and laboratory correlates: A retrospective study

Aim: To delineate and analyze the mortality from COVID -19 in our institute during the devastating second wave of pandemic. Settings and Design: A retrospective cohort analysis. Methods and Materials: A comprehensive mortality analysis of 142 laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-infected deceased patients from our hospital's medical records was done. These patients presented with severe disease at the time of admission and were managed in intensive care units. Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical Package for Social Sciences software, IBM manufacturer, Chicago, USA, version 21.0 was used. Results: The number of deceased males (82, 62.6%) was higher than females (53, 37.3%). Median age of deceased patient was 57 (44.25–69.75) years. Most frequent comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (42, 29.6%) and hypertension (41, 28.9%). Most common symptoms being shortness of breath (137, 96.5%), fever (94, 66.2%) and cough (73, 51.4%). Median peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2) at time of admission was 86% (77.25–90). Median time interval from symptom onset to admission in hospital was 3 (2.25–5) days. Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio was more than 5 in 117 (90.7%) patients. Complications seen were acute respiratory distress syndrome in 82.3%, acute liver injury in 58.4%, acute kidney injury in 26.7%, sepsis in 13.3% and acute cardiac injury in 12% patients. The median high-resolution computed tomography score was 20 (17–22). Conclusions: Male and elderly patients with underlying comorbidities had poorer outcome and involvement of multiple organ systems was common. A short time interval between symptom onset and admission/mortality, particularly encountered was worrisome.