Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic recognition of parasitic products in stool examination using object detection approach

Background Object detection is a new artificial intelligence approach to morphological recognition and labeling parasitic pathogens. Due to the lack of equipment and trained personnel, artificial intelligence innovation for searching various parasitic products in stool examination will enable patients in remote areas of undeveloped countries to access diagnostic services. Because object detection is a developing approach that has been tested for its effectiveness in detecting intestinal parasitic objects such as protozoan cysts and helminthic eggs, it is suitable for use in rural areas where many factors supporting laboratory testing are still lacking. Based on the literatures, the YOLOv4-Tiny produces faster results and uses less memory with the support of low-end GPU devices. In comparison to the YOLOv3 and YOLOv3-Tiny models, this study aimed to propose an automated object detection approach, specifically the YOLOv4-Tiny model, for automatic recognition of intestinal parasitic products in stools. Methods To identify protozoan cysts and helminthic eggs in human feces, the three YOLO approaches; YOLOv4-Tiny, YOLOv3, and YOLOv3-Tiny, were trained to recognize 34 intestinal parasitic classes using training of image dataset. Feces were processed using a modified direct smear method adapted from the simple direct smear and the modified Kato-Katz methods. The image dataset was collected from intestinal parasitic objects discovered during stool examination and the three YOLO models were trained to recognize the image datasets. Results The non-maximum suppression technique and the threshold level were used to analyze the test dataset, yielding results of 96.25% precision and 95.08% sensitivity for YOLOv4-Tiny. Additionally, the YOLOv4-Tiny model had the best AUPRC performance of the three YOLO models, with a score of 0.963. Conclusion This study, to our knowledge, was the first to detect protozoan cysts and helminthic eggs in the 34 classes of intestinal parasitic objects in human stools.
Critical thinking, dynamic capabilities, and project performance: empirical evidence in the continuous improvement project domain

Most continuous improvement (CI) initiatives fail, and most proposals discovering critical success factors of CI focus on the organisational level. There is little empirical evidence supporting these factors at the CI project level. Moreover, current suggestions do not show a dominant set of factors influencing the performance of the CI project. This study empirically investigates the relationships between critical thinking (CT), dynamic capabilities (DC), and project performance (PP) in the CI project domain. The sample consists of 64 projects (unit of analysis), one per organisation. We use PLS-SEM in R and control organisational factors (a binary variable representing top management commitment to the CI project). CT is positively related to DC, and DC is positively related to PP. Unlike previous works, our model focuses not on traditional ‘soft’ organisational factors or ‘hard’ project factors but cognitive factors (CT) and higher-order routines (DC) at the project level. This study extends the current explanation of why CI projects fail or succeed by incorporating CT (of the project team member) as an indirect antecedent of PP through the development of DC of the CI project. Managers and researchers on quality/project/operations management can find valuable insights in this paper to favour future CI initiatives.
The Great Lakes shape nocturnal bird migration in southern Ontario

Coastlines in marine areas are known to influence use of the airspace as a habitat by migrating birds, but less is known about how the complex configuration of the Great Lakes influences bird migration patterns. If birds alter their migration in response to the lakes, they may become concentrated in specific areas, which should receive particular attention from a conservation perspective. In this study, we examined the effects of these lakes on flight directions and densities of nocturnally migrating birds in southern Ontario, Canada, using data from two Canadian weather surveillance radars for three years in autumn (2009–2011) and two years in spring (2010–2011). On nights of high migration intensity, we estimated migration directions and bird densities 2.5 and 6 hours after sunset, using a sampling design that tested specific hypotheses about the lake effects at different scales. We found that the Great Lakes influenced migration patterns, with many birds flying along a NE–SW corridor, in autumn passing between Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario and then likely crossing Lake Erie. In spring, most birds passed over the eastern half of Lake Erie and then flew northeast between Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario. These concentration areas had estimated densities of migrating birds up to 4 times those in other areas. Although some birds flew across the middle of the lakes, many birds appeared to follow routes that minimize the flight distance over water. This was particularly evident later in the night when migration directions shifted even more to avoid crossing lakes. These concentration areas include some of the most heavily developed lands in southern Ontario. To obtain better spatiotemporal information that can be used to guide conservation in this region, we further analyses of radar data at a finer and over a longer time interval using refined algorithms. lac Ontario. Nous avons déterminé que ces zones de concentration présentaient des densités d'oiseaux migrateurs jusqu'à 4 fois supérieures à celles d’autres zones. Bien que certains oiseaux aient traversé le milieu des lacs, beaucoup d'entre eux semblaient emprunter des routes qui minimisaient la distance de vol au-dessus de l'eau. Ce constat était particulièrement évident plus tard dans la nuit, lorsque les directions de migration se déplaçaient encore plus pour éviter de traverser les lacs. Ces zones de concentration chevauchent certains secteurs parmi les plus urbanisés du Sud de l'Ontario. Afin d'obtenir de meilleures informations spatio-temporelles visant à guider la conservation dans cette région, nous recommandons de faire d'autres analyses des données radar à une échelle plus fine et sur un intervalle de temps plus long en utilisant des algorithmes raffinés.
Thermal transport properties of monolayer GeS and SnS: A comparative study based on machine learning and SW interatomic potential models

Phonon transport properties of two-dimensional materials can play a crucial role in the thermal management of low-dimensional electronic devices and thermoelectric applications. In this study, both the empirical Stillinger–Weber (SW) and machine learning interatomic potentials are employed to investigate the lattice thermal conductivity of monolayer GeS and SnS through solving the phonon Boltzmann transport equation. The accuracy of the two types of interatomic potentials and their performance for the evaluation of thermal conductivity are verified by analyzing phonon harmonic and anharmonic properties. Our results indicate that the thermal conductivity can be predicted more accurately with a machine learning approach, while the SW potential gives rise to an overestimated value for both monolayers. In addition, the in-plane anisotropy of thermal transport properties existing in these monolayers can be confirmed by both potential models. Moreover, the origins of the deviation existing in calculated thermal conductivities, including both the effects of interatomic potential models and monolayer compositions, are elucidated through uncovering the underlying phonon transport mechanisms. This study highlights that in contrast to the machine learning approach, more careful verification is required for the simulation of thermal transport properties when empirical interatomic potential models are employed.
Investigations on Concentric Gravity Wave Sources Over the Brazilian Equatorial Region

Observations of concentric gravity waves (CGWs) in the OH airglow emission over the Brazilian equatorial region are presented. An all‐sky imager installed at São João do Cariri [7.4°S, 36.5°W] was used to acquire near‐infrared OH images. Using over 19 years of observational data from 2000 to 2019, more than 1,052 clear sky nights of airglow data were acquired with a total of 25 observed CGW cases. Three CGW events were selected for this study. These waves had small‐scale characteristics and well‐defined concentric structures. The selected CGW events showed horizontal wavelengths λH ∼ 31.9, 42.5, and 30.9 km, horizontal phase speeds cH ∼ 49.2, 57.6, and 74.1 m/s, and periods τ ∼ 10.8, 12.3, and 7.0 min, respectively. The CGW structures were well defined, with coherent wave patterns expanding concentrically from the source point, with the observed events having semi‐circle or arc‐like and semi‐elliptical shapes. We found the occurrence of the CGWs to coincide with the seasons of intense tropospheric convective activity and low background winds. This suggests little or no wave breaking, critical level absorption, and filtering or reflection, thereby allowing the CGWs to propagate up to the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region. Using backward ray tracing, we also found the positions and times where and when the ray paths reached the tropopause. The tropopause positions and times of two of the CGW events coincide with active convective systems with cold cloud top temperatures. However, the tropopause position of one of the 3 CGW events did not coincide with any active convective system, suggesting that this CGW was most likely generated in‐situ.
Ciprofloxacin-Loaded Silver Nanoparticles as Potent Nano-Antibiotics against Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have demonstrated numerous physicochemical, biological, and functional properties suitable for biomedical applications, including antibacterial and drug carrier properties. In the present study, the antibiotic, ciprofloxacin (CIP), was loaded onto AgNPs, which were synthesized via the chemical reduction method, thereby enhancing CIP’s antibacterial activity against Gram-negative (Acinetobacter baumannii and Serratia marcescens) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial strains. Polyethylene glycol–400 (PEG) was used to prepare an AgNPs-PEG conjugate with enhanced stability and to act as the linker between CIP and AgNPs, to produce the novel nanocomposite, AgNPs-PEG-CIP. The prepared AgNPs and their conjugates were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, zeta potential analysis, and dynamic light scattering techniques. The inhibitory activity of AgNPs and their conjugates on the growths of pathogenic bacteria was assessed using the well-diffusion method. The results showed the enhanced antibacterial effects of AgNPs-CIP compared to CIP alone. The AgNPs-PEG-CIP nanocomposite showed excellent inhibitory effects against bacterial isolates, with its inhibition zones diameters reaching 39, 36, and 40 mm in S. aureus, A. baumannii, and S. marcescens, respectively. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of fogNPs and their conjugates and their antibiofilm effects were also determined. The antioxidant potentials of AgNPs and their conjugates, tested via their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging ability, showed that the activity increased with increasing AgNPs concentration and the addition of the PEG and/or CIP. Overall, according to the results obtained in the present study, the new nanocomposite, AgNPs-PEG-CIP, showed the highest antibacterial, antibiofilm, and antioxidant activity against the pathogenic bacteria tested, compared to CIP alone. The preparation has high clinical potential for prospective use as an antibacterial agent.
Post-Harvest Behavior of Different Lettuce Cultivars and their Cut Form sunder Different Storage Conditions

— The four leaf type lettuce cultivars i.e. GKL-1, GKL-2, GKL-3 and Chinese Yellow were evaluated for postharvest behavior during storage. The harvested fresh leaves of different lettuce cultivars were processed into two forms i.e. whole leaf form and cut form (5x3 cm) and were stored at two storage conditions i.e. refrigerated storage (5±1°C) and ZECC (9-15°C). Results revealed that whole leaf form of lettuce cultivars stored in refrigerated condition recorded minimum changes in physico-chemical parameters. With the advancement of storage period decrease in per cent moisture, ascorbic acid and polyphenol content was observed in all treatments irrespective of cultivars, forms and storage conditions. The maximum per cent browning and decay was observed in ZECC storage which was minimum in refrigerated storage.The whole leaf form of lettuce cultivar Chinese Yellow recorded shelf life of 15 days when stored at refrigerated storage (5±1 0 C), whereas other cultivars (GKL-1, GKL-2 and GKL-3) recorded shelf life of 12 days. Whole leaf form of Lettuce cultivars stored in ZECC condition recorded shelf life upto 6 days while fresh-cut lettuce recorded shelf life of 3 days in ZECC. Fresh-cut lettuce recorded accelerated physiological loss in weight, moisture loss with increase in browning and decay percentage. Decrease in per cent moisture, ascorbic acid and polyphenol content with increase in physiological loss in weight was recorded in all treatments over the period of storage irrespective of cultivars, forms and storage conditions. The whole leaf form of lettuce cultivar Chinese Yellow recorded minimum changes in physico-chemical parameters and controlled enzymatic browning which maintained sensorial marketable quality and enhanced acceptability of lettuce leaves up to 15 days when stored at refrigerated storage (5±1°C).
Error Analysis in Spoken English among Grade 12 Students

This study aimed to identify and categorize the errors in spoken English among Grade 12 students based on the Linguistic Category Taxonomy of classification of errors by Dulay et al. (1982). Mixed sequential explanatory research design was used in the study. Participants were chosen from the two Senior High School strand offered at Aguinaldo T. Repiedad Sr. Integrated School using stratified random sampling. Recorded utterances from the picture-description and interview were analysed for errors using frequency count, mean rank, percentage and Mann-Whitney U Test to determine the major errors and the significant differences of these errors when participants were grouped according to academic track and exposure to English-related media. Results showed that students committed more errors in syntax and articulation of consonant sounds. Moreover, they have difficulty with noun and verb inflections in terms of its morphological component. Additionally, in terms of its syntactical component, the three highest number of errors recorded were on verb, preposition, and noun usage. On the oth er hand, the students’ Senior High School track/strand or exposure to English-related media have no direct influence on the extent of errors the students committed in their utterances. Based on the results, it is recommended that English instruction be strengthened especially in teaching grammar and pronunciation and use authentic and relevant assessment tools when teaching to allow students to practice oral fluency of the target language.
Performance Analysis of Particle Swarm Optimization Approach for Location Area Planning in Cellular Network

— Location Area (LA) planning has critical impact on the quality of service objectives. The goal of LA planning is to partition the network into a given number of location areas such that the total paging cost and handoff (update) cost is minimized. The problem is characterized by the tradeoff between the updates overhead and the paging cost. Accordingly, the tradeoff between these two factors must be optimized in such a way that the total cost of paging and updating can be minimized along with the link cost. This paper addresses the LA planning problem by developing Particle Swarm Optimization based approach for solving it. The proposed approach is implemented and evaluated with other meta-heuristic approaches.The performance of the approach is investigated and evaluated with respect to the solution quality on different data sets and network sizes. Experimental work demonstrated the performance evaluation in terms of different degree of mobility and paging loads. Potential improvement is achieved over other meta-heuristic based approaches. Moreover, the approach is applied to an existing network layout with real data, and the potential improvement is achieved in terms of paging and location update
Narrow Operators on Function Spaces and Vector Lattices

Narrow operators are those operators defined on function spaces which are "small" at signs, i.e. at {-1,0,1}-valued functions. Numerous works and research papers exist on these, but no coherent monograph yet to place them in context. This book gives comprehensive treatment of narrow operators. It starts with basics and then systematically builds up the case. It also covers geometrical applications and Gaussian embeddings.
EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF A SWIRL BURNER FOR PROPULSION APPLICATIONS: INFLUENCE OF THERMAL AND FLUID DYNAMIC FIELD ON POLLUTANT EMISSIONS

— Non-premixed swirl burners are widely used in technical appliances (such as propulsion, gas turbines, boilers) by virtue of high flame stability, mainly due to the generation of a central recirculation region characterized by efficient mixing between the reactants and rapid homogenisation of the combustible mixture. Swirl motion imparted to the air flow presents a strong influence upon combustion features (i.e.: flame morphology, thermal and fluid dynamic field) and pollutant emissions. In spite of the wide use, many aspects of swirling reacting flows still have to be thoroughly investigated: experimental measurements are difficult owing to high turbulence levels and possible onset of instability phenomena and, consequently, numerical simulation of this flow typology is far to provide reliable results, especially at high Reynolds number of the reacting flow. This paper presents the experimental results obtained comparing different natural gas injection typologies in a swirl burner. Particularly, both co-axial and radial (i.e.: transverse) injection, with respect to the rotating air stream, have been characterised through different techniques: particle image velocimetry and laser Doppler anemometry for flow field analysis, temperature measurements by thin thermocouple and pollutant emissions measurement at the exhaust. The results put into evidence that, although the global mixing process is mainly governed by the swirling air stream, in the region close to the reactants efflux the fuel injection procedure plays an important role for flame stabilization and development in the primary mixing zone of the device. Moreover, the general behaviour of the two different injectors (mainly as for pollutant emissions) seems to reflect the generation of two different flame typologies: a partially premixed one for the radial injector and a purely diffusive flame for the axial one.
Accumulation of Aluminium in the Tissue of Giant Fresh Water Prawn (Macrobrachium Rosenbergii De Man) Exposed to Acidic Water Contaminated with Aluminium Salt

Aluminium is known as competitive trivalent and its occurance in an acidic environment causes ionic disturbances in aquatic invertebrates and crustaceans. An investigation was conducted to determine the accumulation of aluminium in the tissue of giant fresh water prawn (M. rosenbergii de Man) exposed to acidic water (pH 5.0) and more alkaline media (pH 6.5) contaminated by aluminium salt (0.3 mg/l of nominal concentration of Al). A static test with regular water exchange was employed during the experiment. The first moulting was recorded in all treatments at the first week of the investigation. Normal moulting period, i.e. 6 – 8 days after the first moulting was observed in 55% of prawns in the media with normal pH (pH 6.5). A longer period, more than 10 days, was needed by prawn in the media at pH 6.5 with 0.3-mg/l aluminium, pH 5.0 and at pH 5.0 with 0.3 mg/l aluminiun. The third moulting was only recorded at prawn in media at pH 6.5. The elevated aluminium in the acidic media caused the highest mortality rate and there was no mortality recorded at normal pH. Most of the mortality was observed before and soon after moulting. aluminium. The decrease of calcium concentration in the prawn’s tissue was always followed by the increase of concentration of aluminium significantly (P < 0.01). This suggests that the aluminium interfers the intake of calcium from the media by the prawn. However the magnesium intake was not affected. As a conclusion, the elevated level of aluminium in the acidic media increased the accumulation of aluminium in the prawn’s tissue and influenced the moulting behaviour of the tested prawn by interfering the absortion of calsium and magnesium, i.e. decreasing the calcium and increasing the magnesium concentrations in the prawn tissue.
Improving Students Speaking Ability in Class Through the Role Play Technique

This research is designed as a research on improving students’ speaking ability in class to the second semester of the seventh grade class A students of SMP Negeri 3 Meliau in academic year 2012-2013. In this research the researcher used Role play as technique in teaching speaking. The method of this research is called“ A Classroom Action Research”. The subject of this research was seventh grade class A students of SMP Negeri 3 Meliau in academic year 2012-2013 consist of 38 students. The data of this research were collected by using measurement technique that was a performance test to measure students’ achievements. The findings of this classroom action research showed that speaking ability in class increases by using Role play technique. Based on data analysis the mean score of the students on the first cycle is 57.24 that qualified poor to average, and the mean score of the students on the second cycle is 66.18 that is qualified average to good. It means that action hypothesis the using Role play technique to improve students’ speaking ability in class is proved.
Joint Interference and Phase Alignment among Data Streams in Multicell MIMO Broadcasting

For the problem of channel state information (CSI) delay and error, this paper proposes a joint interference and phase alignment algorithm based on Bayesian estimation and power allocation among data streams for multicell, multiple-input multiple-output broadcast channels (MIMO-BC). Firstly, the sender obtains the best estimate of the current CSI through Bayesian estimation. Secondly, the interference suppression matrix is designed by maximizing the ratio of the desired signal power to the intercell interference plus noise ratio (SINR) in the forward link, and in the reverse communication, by maximizing the SINR design precoding. Further, the water-filling algorithm is combined to optimize power allocation among data streams. Finally, the phase alignment is used to rotate the interference between data streams into the signal space of the target receive data stream, thereby enhancing the received power of the target data stream. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has certain performance advantages over other algorithms, whether it is ideal CSI or delay and error CSI.