Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Average Blood Glucose Greater Than 140 mg/dL on Adverse Patient Outcomes in Adult Medical/Surgical Patients

ABSTRACT Background: In hospitalized patients, hyperglycemia is defined as blood glucose greater than 140 mg/dL. Hyperglycemia can lead to the development of nosocomial infections as well as cardiovascular events. Despite these risks, current guidelines recommend blood glucose be maintained between 140-180 mg/dL. Previous studies have shown that elevated blood glucose levels are associated with increased patient mortality. However, these studies assessed blood glucose at a single point in time. Objective: The primary objective of this study is to determine the impact of average blood glucose >140 mg/dL on a composite outcome of intensive care unit transfer, death, length of stay > 4 days, development of nosocomial infection, or new cardiovascular event (myocardial infarction [MI], ischemic stroke, deep vein thrombosis [DVT], pulmonary embolism [PE], or new onset heart failure) occurring during patient admission. Methods: This single centered, randomized, case-control, retrospective chart review sorted adult medical/surgical patients into two groups, average blood glucose ≤140 mg/dL or >140 mg/dL, of 120 patients each. Results: Forty-seven (39.2%) patients in the >140 mg/dL group experienced the primary composite outcome versus 27 (22.5%) patients in the ≤140 mg/dL group (p=0.005). Secondary outcomes found that patients with diabetes in the >140 mg/dL group were more likely to experience the primary outcome than those in the ≤140 mg/dL group (41 (48.8%) vs 3 (13.6%) p=0.003). Conclusions: This study found that medical/surgical patients with an average blood glucose >140 mg/dL may be at an increased risk of developing adverse patient outcomes.
Do Saharan Dust Intrusions Affect the Incidence and Severity of COVID-19 in Spain?

Scientific evidence suggests that Saharan dust intrusions in Southern Europe contribute to the worsening of multiple pathologies and increase the concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants. However, few studies have examined whether Saharan dust intrusions influence the incidence and severity of COVID-19 cases. To address this question, in this study we carried out generalized linear models with Poisson link between incidence rates and daily hospital admissions and average daily concentrations of PM10 and NO2 in nine Spanish regions for the period from February 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020. The models were adjusted by maximum daily temperature and average daily absolute humidity. Furthermore, we controlled for trend, seasonality and the autoregressive nature of the series. The variable relating to Saharan dust intrusions was introduced using a dichotomous variable, NAF, averaged across daily lags in ranges of 0–7 days, 8–14 days, 14–21 days and 22–28 days. The results obtained in this study suggest that chemical air pollutants, and especially NO2, are related to the incidence and severity of COVID-19 in Spain. Furthermore, Saharan dust intrusions have an additional effect beyond what is attributable to the variation in air pollution; they are related, in different lags, to both the incidence and hospital admissions rates for COVID-19. These results serve to support public health measures that minimize population exposure on days with particulate matter advection from the Sahara.
Triangulation of qualitative and quantitative approaches for the study of gay bears' food intake in São Paulo, Brazil

PurposeThe authors aimed to triangulate food intake data obtained by two qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and participant observations) and one quantitative method (food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ)). The purpose of this paper was to analyze the kind of data each method produced and how these different pieces of information are methodologically related to the characteristics and limitations of different methods used and theoretically connected to participants' identities and masculinities.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis was based on data from an ethnographic study; whose participants were 35 men who self-identified as gay bears. The participants' food intake was investigated through participant observations, in-depth interviews and an FFQ.FindingsThe qualitative methods indicated an overconsumption of meat and beer and a rejection of fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables, as diacritical signs of the bears' identity. The FFQ showed a major consumption of minimally processed food, with fruits and vegetables being eaten more than meat. The authors proposed that the participants have compartmentalized their many habitual intakes and assessed one of them, separately, according to the method used (what was being asked and the context of that moment). Additionally, the authors connected these two patterns of habitual intake to the participants' identities and masculinities, questioning the existence of a constant hegemonic masculinity among this group.Originality/valueThe triangulation of methods employed in the present study is seldom addressed in the literature. This approximation provided a rich discussion regarding the connections between eating, sexuality, gender and identity, through a novel methodological and theoretical lens.
The Blended Learning Experiences Of Students With Specific Learning Difficulties: A Qualitative Case Study Located In One British Higher Education Institution

ABSTRACT Blended learning (BL) has been widely adopted across the higher education (HE) sector, with a growing body of literature exploring its impact on both students and faculty. However, to date, few studies have examined how students with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) experience BL. This paper presents the results of a qualitative case study investigating the BL experiences of students with SpLDs in a British HE institution. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with six participants revealed five major themes regarding the BL experience of students with SpLDs: (1) clarity of purpose and instruction; (2) ease of use; (3) accessibility; (4) fear of ‘getting it wrong’ in online spaces and (5) interaction and staff engagement. The findings underscore the significance of addressing these areas in order to increase the efficacy of BL to meet the learning needs of students with SpLDs.
Calculation of electronic properties of paramagnetic Cu–Ni alloys using APW method in the virtual-crystal approximation

The density of electron states, electronic heat capacity γ(x), and the coefficient of absolute electron-diffusion thermoelectric power S(x) were calculated as functions of concentration for disordered paramagnetic Cu 1-x Ni x alloys in the Schoen's virtual-crystal approximation using the augmented-plane-wave method. The calculations were performed over the whole concentration range at 0.1 intervals. The non-self-consistent muffintin potential was constructed based on the Rothaan-Hartree-Fock atomic wave functions and contained an exchange correction that satisfied the virial theorem. The calculated results are compared with experimental data.
AFTER EARTHQUAKE IN SIGI: CAN SOCIAL SUPPORT AFFECT CAREER DECISION SELF-EFFICACY?

An earthquake struck Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia in 2019, and Sigi Regency was one of the most affected areas. Based on a psychological perspective, studies were significant to understand how earthquakes impacted Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This study aimed to examine the effect of social support on CDSE (Career Decision Self-Efficacy). As many as 141 high school students as the earthquake victims in Sigi filled out the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale Short-Form (CDMSES-SF) and Adolescent Social Support Scale (ASSS). The data were analyzed using the multiple regression approach in IBM SPSS Software Version 23.00. The findings showed that teachers’ social support successfully enhanced CDSE. Also, CDSE was significantly affected by social support received from peers. On the other hand, this study confirmed that there was no significant effect of parents’ social support on CDSE. The results contributed to the career counseling program for high school students by taking into account teachers’ and peers’ social support.
Al-implanted on-axis 4H-SiC MOSFETs

In this paper, the impact of temperature and time stress on gate oxide stability of several multi-implanted and epitaxied 4H-SiC nMOSFET is presented. The oxide layer was processed under a rapid thermal process (RTP) furnace. The variation of the main electrical parameters is shown. We report the high quality and stability of such implanted MOSFETs, and point out the very low roughness effect of the on-axis-cut sample. Particularly, in the best case, effective channel mobility (μfe) overcomes 20 cm2.V−1.s−1 at 300 °C for a channel length of 12 μm, which is very encouraging for implantation technology. Starting from 200 °C, the apparent increase of the μfe peak of the MOSFET ceases and tends to saturate with further temperature increase. This is an indication of the potential of MOSFETs built on on-axis substrates. Thus, starting from the real case of an implanted MOSFET, the global purpose is to show that the electrical performance of such an on-axis-built device can tend to reach that of the ideal case, i.e. epitaxied MOSFET, and even overcome its electrical limitation, e.g. in terms of threshold voltage stability at high temperature.
Youth Involvement In Various Forms Of Social Activity Manifestation

Activity is the most important resource for the development of both the individual and society. Due to their social status and age characteristics, youth is a group whose activity is increasing. However, what kind of vector this activity will take (antisocial or prosocial) depends on a number of objective and subjective factors, tools for involving young people in society. We conducted an online survey among the youth of the Chelyabinsk region in order to understand the involvement of youth in various communities (media communities, formal, informal associations, self-government bodies) acting as agents of involving youth in social activity. We chose a number of constructive forms of youth participation and examined them in order of increasing share of proactivity (participation in youth projects, participation in solving community problems, discussing current problems and youth programs, disease prevention, implementing our own social projects), we studied how much they are in demand by youth with taking into account gender and place of residence. The results of the study show that more than two-thirds of young people turn to online media communities and only about a third to formal youth associations. Young people often display forms of social activity (participation in youth projects) and are less involved in forms related to proactivity, while rural youth are more often included in the manifestation of both active and proactive forms. The study has a number of limitations; it is necessary to correlate the obtained data with the data based on other research methods.
High‐resolution global climate simulations: Representation of cities

Ensemble runs of high‐resolution (~10 km; N1280) global climate simulations (2005–2010) with the Met Office HadGEM3 model are analysed over large urban areas in the south‐east UK (London) and south‐east China (Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing region). With a focus on urban areas, we compare meteorological observations to study the response of modelled surface heat fluxes and screen‐level temperatures to urbanization. HadGEM3 has a simple urban slab scheme with prescribed, globally fixed bulk parameters. Misrepresenting the magnitude or the extent of urban land cover can result in land‐surface model bias. As urban land‐cover fractions are severely under‐estimated in China, this impacts surface heat‐flux partitioning and quintessential features, such as the urban heat island. Combined with the neglect of anthropogenic heat emissions, this can result in misrepresentation of heat‐wave intensities (or cold spells) in cities. The model performance in urban areas could be improved if bulk parameters are modelled instead of prescribed, but this necessitates the availability of local morphology data on a global level. Improving land‐cover information and providing more flexible ways to account for differences between cities (e.g., anthropogenic emission; morphology) is essential for realistic future projections of city climates, especially if model output is intended for urban climate services.
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Enhance Soil Key Enzymes, Plant Growth, Seed Yield, and Qualitative Attributes of Guar

Guar is an economically important legume crop that is used for gum production. The clean and sustainable production of guar, especially in newly reclaimed lands, requires biofertilizers that can reduce the use of mineral fertilizers, which have harmful effects on human health and the environment. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of biofertilizers produced from Bradyrhizobium sp. , Bacillus subtilis, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), individually or in combinations, on microbial activity, and nutrients of the soils and the guar growth and seed quality and yield. The application of biofertilizers improved shoot length, root length, number of branches, plant dry weight, leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll content, and nutrient uptake of guar plants compared with the control plants. Moreover, the application with biofertilizers resulted in an obvious increase in seed yield and has improved the total proteins, carbohydrates, fats, starch, and guaran contents in the seeds. Additionally, biofertilizer treatments have improved the soil microbial activity by increasing dehydrogenase, phosphatase, protease, and invertase enzymes. Soil inoculation with the optimized doses of biofertilizers saved about 25% of the chemical fertilizers required for the entire guar growth stages. Our results could serve as a practical strategy for further research into integrated plant-microbe interaction in agriculture.
Collaboration in crowdsourcing contests: how different levels of collaboration affect team performance

ABSTRACT With the advances in internet technologies and the emergence of crowdsourcing, organisations are now increasingly looking outside their boundaries for solving problems. Yet, the success of crowdsourcing depends on high-quality participation of crowdsourcing individuals and teams. In recent studies, examining the effect of simultaneous collaboration and competition mechanisms on individual and team performance in crowdsourcing has received considerable attention. But, none of these studies examined how different levels of collaboration affect team performance in crowdsourcing contests. In this paper, using a rich data set from a crowdsourcing platform, Kaggle.com, we study how team discussion-forum performance and solution-sharing performance affect its performance in online crowdsourcing contests. Our results suggest that team’s discussion-forum performance and solution-sharing performance have significant effect on its competition performance. Our findings offer valuable theoretical and managerial implications for researchers and crowdsourcing sponsors who want to improve teams’ performance in crowdsourcing contests.
Effect of Grinding Time on the Particle Size Distribution Characteristics of Tuff Powder

We study the grinding dynamic behavior and particle size distribution (PSD) characteristics of tuff powder. With the analysis of particle size and data of activity test, the results indicate that tuff powder is easy to be ground for the coarsegrained while is difficult for the fine-grained. It is feasible to quantitatively express the milling process of tuff powder by Divas-Aliavden milling dynamic equation. The milling speed and the milling time are negatively correlated, and the grinding efficiency is minimized after 60 min. Equivalent particle size (EPS) is positively linearly correlated with the logarithm of grinding time, while specific surface area (SSA) is inversely correlated, both of them have a highly linear correlation. The PSD of tuff powder, which complies well with the Rosin-Rammler-Bennet (RRB) distribution model, has typical fractal characteristics, and its fractal dimension is also positively correlated with the milling time.
Panax ginseng ameliorate toxic effects of cadmium on germ cell apoptosis, sperm quality, and oxidative stress in male Wistar rats

Abstract Panax ginseng is known to potentiate the immune system via its antioxidant properties. Cadmium as an environmental pollutant has destructive effects on body organs especially the reproductive system. This study investigated the effects of P. ginseng extract against cadmium-induced testicular toxicity in rats. In this experimental study, 50 male adult rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: A significant decrease was observed in sperm count and viability in the cadmium group versus the control group. Ginseng extract could repair these defects. Increases in apoptotic germ cells due to cadmium were significantly reduced by ginseng extract. Our results demonstrated that P. ginseng extract reduces cadmium-induced testicular toxicity, via anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic processes.
The role of national service in enhancing employability skills of tertiary graduates in Ghana: a case of national service personnel in the Central Region

PurposeOne of the means to enhance the employability skills of tertiary graduates transiting into the job market has been the compulsory national service instituted by the Government of Ghana. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the contribution of the mandatory national service to enhance the employability of tertiary graduates in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the longitudinal descriptive survey design to sample 375 national service personnel (2018 and 2019 batches) of 13,874 service personnel posted to the Central Region of Ghana, and 31 employers.FindingsThe study found human relation, communication and experience to enter the job market were perceived higher by tertiary graduates in Ghana. It was also found that the preferred employers amongst tertiary graduates were the government, multinational companies and public schools. Skills mismatch between the acquired skills of tertiary graduates and the skills required by employers was also found. Responsible factor identified was the posting of personnel for national service without considering their academic background and future job aspirations. Tertiary graduates transiting into the job market after the national service preferred to be employed by the government because of the lack of entrepreneurial skills.Practical implicationsTherefore, it was recommended that the national service secretariat post national service personnel to organisations that reflect personnel's career aspiration.Originality/valueThis is original research carried out by the researchers and was not sponsored by any organisation/institution.
Non-Destructive VIS/NIR Reflectance Spectrometry for Red Wine Grape Analysis

A novel non-destructive method of grape berry analysis is presented that uses reflected light to predict berry composition. The reflectance spectrum was collected using a diode array spectrometer (350 to 850 nm) over the 2009 and 2010 growing seasons. Partial least squares regression (PLS) and support vector machine regression (SVMR) generated calibrations between reflected light and composition for five berry components, total soluble solids (°Brix), titratable acidity (TA), pH, total phenols, and anthocyanins. Standard methods of analysis for the components were employed and characterized for error. Decomposition of the reflectance data was performed by principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA). Regression models were constructed using 10x10 fold cross validated PLS and SVM models subject to smoothing, differentiation, and normalization pretreatments. All generated models were validated on the alternate season using two model selection strategies: minimum root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP), and the "oneSE" heuristic. PCA/ICA decomposition demonstrated consistent features in the long VIS wavelengths and NIR region. The features are consistent across seasons. 2009 was generally more variable, possibly due to cold weather affects. RMSEP and R2 statistics of models indicate that PLS °Brix, pH, and TA models are well predicted for 2009 and 2010. SVM was marginally better. The R2 values of the PLS °Brix, pH, and TA models for 2009 and 2010 respectively were: 0.84, 0.58, 0.56 and: 0.89, 0.81, 0.58. 2010 °Brix models were suitable for rough screening. Optimal pretreatments were SG smoothing and relative normalization. Anthocyanins were well predicted in 2009, R2 0.65, but not in 2010, R2 0.15. Phenols were not well predicted in either year, R2 0.15-0.25. Validation demonstrated that °Brix, pH, and TA models from 2009 transferred to 2010 with fair results, R2 0.70, 0.72, 0.31. Models generated using 2010 reflectance data did not generate models that could predict 2009 data. It is hypothesized that weather events present in 2009 and not in 2010 allowed for a forward calibration transfer, and prevented the reverse calibration transfer. Heuristic selection was superior to minimum RMSEP for transfer, indicating some overfitting in the minimum RMSEP models. The results are demonstrative of a reflectance-composition relationship in the VIS-NIR region for °Brix, pH, and TA requiring additional study and development of further calibrations.
Optimal Scheduling of Non-Convex Cogeneration Units Using Exponentially Varying Whale Optimization Algorithm

This paper proposes an Exponentially Varying Whale Optimization Algorithm (EVWOA) to solve the single-objective non-convex Cogeneration Units problem. This problem seeks to evaluate the optimal output of the generator unit to minimize a CHP system’s fuel costs. The nonlinear and non-convex characteristics of the objective function demands a powerful optimization technique. The traditional Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA) is improved by incorporating four different acceleration functions to fine-tune its performance during exploration and exploitation phases. Among the four variants of the proposed WOA, the emphasis is laid on the EVWOA which uses the exponentially varying acceleration function (EVAF). The proposed EVWOA is tested on six different small-scale to large-scale systems. The results obtained for these six test systems, followed by a statistical study highlight the supremacy of EVWOA for finding the best optimal solution and the convergence traits.
In search of a mechanism: Mediating the perceived parental support–delinquency relationship with child empathy

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine whether empathy is capable of mediating the relationship between perceived parental support and juvenile delinquency. This hypothesis was tested in a path analysis of 3,865 (51% male) Australian schoolchildren (mean age = 12.4 years at first wave) using three waves of data with two years between each wave. The dependent variable (juvenile delinquency) was regressed onto cross-lagged independent and mediating latent variables (perceived parental support and empathy). As predicted, the pathway running from perceived parental support to empathy to delinquency was significant, the pathway running from empathy to perceived parental support to delinquency was nonsignificant, and the difference between the two pathways was significant. These findings indicate that parental support, as perceived and reported by the child, is instrumental in promoting empathy, which, in turn, may protect the youth against future delinquency.