Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
State-Based Decoding of Continuous Hand Movements Using EEG Signals

Recently, the advent of the non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) for continuous decoding of upper limb motions opens a new horizon for motor-disabled people. However, the performance of discrete-decoding BCIs based on discriminating different brain states are still more robust. In this study, we aimed to cascade a discrete state decoder with a continuous decoder to enhance the prediction of hand trajectories. EEG data were recorded from nine healthy subjects performing a center-out task with four orthogonal targets on the horizontal plane. The pre-movement data of each trial has been used for training a binary discrete decoder which identifies the axis of the movement based on common spatial pattern (CSP) features. Two non-parametric continuous decoders based on Gaussian process regression (GPR) have been designed for continuous decoding of hand movements along each axis using the envelope features of EEG signals in six frequency bands. In addition to those four principal orthogonal targets, some targets at random directions on the horizontal plane were recorded to evaluate the generalizability of the proposed model. The discrete decoder attained the average binary classification of 97.1% for discriminating movement along the x-axis and y-axis. The proposed state-based method achieved the mean correlation coefficient of 0.54 between actual and predicted trajectories for principal targets over all subjects. The trajectories of random targets were also decoded with a mean correlation of 0.37. The generalizability of the proposed paradigm proved by the findings of this study could open new possibilities in developing novel types of neuroprostheses for rehabilitation purposes.
Gut Dysbiosis and Blood-Brain Barrier Alteration in Hepatic Encephalopathy: From Gut to Brain

A common neuropsychiatric complication of advanced liver disease, hepatic encephalopathy (HE), impacts the quality of life and length of hospital stays. There is new evidence that gut microbiota plays a significant role in brain development and cerebral homeostasis. Microbiota metabolites are providing a new avenue of therapeutic options for several neurological-related disorders. For instance, the gut microbiota composition and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity are altered in HE in a variety of clinical and experimental studies. Furthermore, probiotics, prebiotics, antibiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation have been shown to positively affect BBB integrity in disease models that are potentially extendable to HE by targeting gut microbiota. However, the mechanisms that underlie microbiota dysbiosis and its effects on the BBB are still unclear in HE. To this end, the aim of this review was to summarize the clinical and experimental evidence of gut dysbiosis and BBB disruption in HE and a possible mechanism.
Implications of using Likert data in multiple regression analysis

Practical contribution and significance of the study is that it has provided information and insight on how much information is lost due to bias, and the extent to which accuracy is compromised in using Likert data in linear regression models in education and social science research. It is recommended that researchers and practitioners should recognize the extent of the bias in ordinary least-squares regression models with Likert data, resulting in substantial loss of information. For variable importance, the relative Pratt index should be used given that it is robust to Likert conditions and response distributions. Finally, when interpreting reported regression results in the research literature one should recognize that the reported R-squared values are underestimated and that the Pearson correlations are also typically underestimated and sometimes substantially underestimated. T A B L E OF CONTENTS
Increasing Sales Through Social Media Marketing: The Role of Customer Brand Attachment, Brand Trust, and Brand Equity

This study examined the impact of social media marketing on online purchase intention, with brand attachment, brand trust, and brand equity acting as mediating factors. The problem addressed in this research is the lack of understanding regarding the reasons for low adoption of online shopping in Iran despite the increasing popularity of the internet, and the originality lies in exploring the factors and proposing and testing a conceptual model that influence Iranian customers’ decision to buy online. To conduct an empirical case study, we selected Digikala, the largest online two-sided marketplace platform in Iran. To gather data from a representative sample of Digikala customers, a simple random sampling method was utilized. An online survey questionnaire was administered to 363 participants, ensuring a diverse range of respondents were included in the study. A partial least squares method was used to analyze the data using the structural equation modelling (SEM) method by SmartPLS software. The results of the research study demonstrated that social media marketing creates positive changes in brand equity, customer attachment to the brand, brand trust, and online purchase intent over time. Online purchase intention, brand trust, and customer brand attachment were positively influenced by brand equity. The level of customer brand attachment affected brand trust and online purchase intent in a positive way. An increase in brand trust led to a significant increase in online purchase intentions. An online purchase intention, customer brand attachment, and brand trust of a brand were influenced positively by brand equity during social media marketing. Social media marketing impacted online purchase intentions positively and significantly through customer brand attachment. Social media marketing improved online purchase intentions when brand trust is positive and significant. Several factors contributed to the effect of social media marketing on online purchase intentions, including brand trust. This leads us to conclude that social media marketing enhances online purchase intent through the creation of brand attachments, brand trust, and brand equity among customers.
The Time-Varying Effects of Oil Shocks on the Trade Balance of Saudi Arabia

This study aims to analyze the impact of oil shocks on the external balance of Saudi Arabia, as one of the largest net oil-exporting countries. To this end, a time-varying parameter vector autoregression model (TVP-VAR) is estimated by using quarterly data covering the period between 1991: Q1 and 2021: Q4. We find that identifying the source of shocks plays an important role in understanding the time-varying impact of shocks on its economy. Our findings indicate that the global oil production shocks excluding Saudi Arabia have a negative and significant impact on the trade balance and are greater than the impact of the Saudi oil production shocks, which is not significant for most of the period. In addition, we found that oil price shocks have more profound and much greater impacts than global and domestic oil supply shocks. This may be attributed to the fact that oil price shocks are more than oil supply shocks, and supply shocks are linked to oil price shocks. However, impulse responses show that the effects of oil shocks are volatile over time and their effects are generally more pronounced during and immediately after global shocks. Our findings have serious implications for the trade balance of Saudi Arabia, particularly in the low and volatile oil price environment.
Hybridization of Particle Swarm Optimization with Variable Neighborhood Search and Simulated Annealing for Improved Handling of the Permutation Flow-Shop Scheduling Problem

Permutation flow-shop scheduling is the strategy that ensures the processing of jobs on each subsequent machine in the exact same order while optimizing an objective, which generally is the minimization of makespan. Because of its NP-Complete nature, a substantial portion of the literature has mainly focused on computational efficiency and the development of different AI-based hybrid techniques. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has also been frequently used for this purpose in the recent past. Following the trend and to further explore the optimizing capabilities of PSO, first, a standard PSO was developed during this research, then the same PSO was hybridized with Variable Neighborhood Search (PSO-VNS) and later on with Simulated Annealing (PSO-VNS-SA) to handle Permutation Flow-Shop Scheduling Problems (PFSP). The effect of hybridization was validated through an internal comparison based on the results of 120 different instances devised by Taillard with variable problem sizes. Moreover, further comparison with other reported hybrid metaheuristics has proved that the hybrid PSO (HPSO) developed during this research performed exceedingly well. A smaller value of 0.48 of ARPD (Average Relative Performance Difference) for the algorithm is evidence of its robust nature and significantly improved performance in optimizing the makespan as compared to other algorithms.
An application of the Poisson distribution

READERS of Lidstone’ s Notes on the Poisson frequency distribution (J.I.A. Vol. LXXI, p. 284) may be interested in an application of this distribution which I recently had occasion to make in the course of a practical investigation. During the flying-bomb attack on London, frequent assertions were made that the points of impact of the bombs tended to be grouped in clusters. It was accordingly decided to apply a statistical test to discover whether any support could be found for this allegation. An area was selected comprising 144 square kilometres of south London over which the basic probability function of the distribution was very nearly constant, i.e. the theoretical mean density was not subject to material variation anywhere within the area examined. The selected area was divided into 576 squares of 1⁄4 square kilometre each, and a count was made of the numbers of squares containing 0, 1, 2, 3, . , etc. flying bombs. Over the period considered the total number of bombs within the area involved was 537. The expected numbers of squares corresponding to the actual numbers yielded by the count were then calculated from the Poisson formula :
Readiness for Interprofessional Education Among Health Profession Students in a University in the United Arab Emirates

Introduction Inter-Professional Education (IPE) is an educational engagement between students from two or more professions possibly leading to better collaboration among them in the future workplace. Several organizations have advocated, developed, and updated guidelines for IPE. Objective This study was aimed at assessing the medical, dental, and pharmacy students’ readiness toward interprofessional education (IPE), and to identify the association between readiness and the demographic profile of students in a university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire-based exploratory study involving 215 medical, dental, and pharmacy students at Ajman University, UAE, using convenience sampling. The survey questionnaire (Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale, RIPLS) had a total of 19 statements. The first 9 items were related to “teamwork and collaboration”, items 10–16 were related to “professional identity”, and the remaining three (items 17–19) were related to “roles and responsibilities”. The individual statements’ median (IQR) scores were calculated and the total scores were compared with the demographic characteristics of the respondents with suitable non-parametric tests at alpha=0.05. Results Altogether, 215 undergraduate students (medical (n= 35)), pharmacy (n=105), and dental (n=75) responded to the survey. The median (IQR) score for the 19 individual statements was ‘5 (4–5)’ for 12 of the statements. The total scores and domain-specific scores (teamwork and collaboration, professional identity, and roles and responsibilities) according to respondents’ demography showed significant differences only in the case of the educational stream with professional identity score (p=<0.001), and the total RIPLS score (p=0.024). Further, post hoc pairwise comparison showed a significant difference between medicine-pharmacy (p<0.001), and dentistry-medicine (p=0.009), for professional identity, and medicine-pharmacy (p=0.020) for the total RIPLS score. Conclusion A high readiness score among students offers the possibility of conducting IPE modules. A favorable attitude can be considered by curriculum planners while initiating IPE sessions.
The degree of utilisation and the slow adjustment of capacity to demand: reflections on the US Economy from the perspective of the Sraffian Supermultiplier

The purpose of this paper is to show that the Sraffian Supermultiplier demand-led growth model with an exogenous normal degree of capacity utilisation can be used to analyse the long-lasting reduction in the average actual degree of capacity utilisation in the US economy since the early 2000s. We follow the concept of normal degree of utilisation proposed by Ciccone and we use a simple version of the Supermultiplier model in which the adjustment of capacity to demand is slow. We show this in two steps. First, we examined the data for the industrial sector for the US economy and found no relevant change in the average-to-peak indicators, which could indicate a general reduction in the normal degree of capacity utilisation. Second, we made two simulations based on our simple Sraffian Supermultiplier model to demonstrate that (i) the process of convergence of actual utilisation to its given normal degree is slow and the model is compatible with long and lasting deviations between actual and normal utilisation after large shocks, and (ii) that successive decreases in output growth rates in the US economy since the begin of the 2000s, combined with a flexible accelerator mechanism, could explain the decrease in average utilisation.
Studies on Cucumber Production Using Substrate Culture under North Sinai Conditions

A wide range of soilless cultivation techniques have been developed and introduced for intensive cropping systems and for boosting the crop yield of many vegetables, mainly in greenhouses. Adoption of some local natural by-products to be utilized as a substrate growing medium to overcome soil-related problems appeared to be a promising project. Therefore, greenhouse experiments were conducted at the Baloza Experimental Station of the Desert Research Center (DRC), North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, during the two consecutive winter growing seasons of 2016–2017 and 2017–2018. These experiments aimed to investigate the effects of seven growing substrate culture treatments of separated or mixed sand obtained from sand dunes and date palm tree residues (Karenna) on plant vegetative growth, flowering, fruit yield and quality traits, and fruit nutritional values of cucumber plants ( Cucu-mis sativus L.) Filial-1 hybrid 1101. Crop evapotranspiration reference (ETc) and water use efficiency (WUE), as well as treatment feasibility, were also studied. The experiment was set up in a complete randomized block design with three replicates. The obtained results strongly indicated that growing substrate media containing 25% sand (S) from sand dunes mixed with 75% grinded Karenna (Kg) of date palm (1 S + 3 Kg) significantly recorded the superiority of all studied characters of plant vegetative growth, number of flowers, fruit set, yield and its com - ponents, as well as fruit N, P and K contents, compared with other growing substrate medium treatments. On the contrary, the worst values of all studied parameters were achieved when sand was used alone (100% S) as a growing media. Furthermore, the highest water use efficiency and net income values were also attained by the 1 S + 3 Kg media treatment relative to the other growing substrate medium treatments.
Interplanetary magnetic clouds: Sources, properties, modeling, and geomagnetic relationship

We present a review of interplanetary magnetic clouds, whose structures are usually those of very large magnetic flux ropes (of ∼ 1/4 AU diameter at 1 AU) possessing intense axial magnetic fields and relatively cool internal proton plasma. The review covers the clouds' solar sources, their average solar wind characteristics (based primarily on IMP-8, ISEE 3, and WIND spacecraft data), their interactions with the Earth's magnetosphere, and their tendency (about 1/2 the time) to drive interplanetary shock waves and under what conditions. The clouds are analyzed according to a force free, cylindrically symmetric, flux rope model, which provides fundamental cloud properties, such as cross-sectional size, axial attitude, axial field intensity, and field handedness, as well as the spacecraft's closest approach distance, and a quantitative means of evaluating the quality of the model's fit to field data. All of these and other relevant quantities are reviewed statistically for many clouds from both the active and quiet parts of the solar cycle and the results compared. A natural by-product of cloud modeling is the ability to estimate the axial magnetic flux carried by the cloud. Such an estimate can be compared to an estimate of the solar source flux for a candidate region on the Sun for a check of flux consistency and a confirmation of the specific cloud-source relationship. Using a carefully chosen subset of WIND magnetic clouds, a profile of a generic cloud in terms of scalar quantities (field intensity, density, speed, proton thermal speed, and proton plasma beta) is produced and discussed. One of the most dramatic consequences of magnetic clouds arises from their interaction with Earth's magnetosphere, since there is a high probability of this coupling causing geomagnetic storms, one of the elements of space weather.
MD Test of a Ballistic Optics

The ballistic optics is designed to improve the understanding of optical errors and BPM systematic effects in the critical triplet region. The particularity of that optics is that the triplet is switched off, effectively transforming the triplets on both sides of IR1 and IR5 into drift spaces. Advantage can be taken from that fact to localize better errors in the Q4-Q5-triplet region. During this MD this new optics was tested for the first time at injection with beam 2.
Reverse magnetostructural transformation and adiabatic temperature change in Co- and In-substituted Ni-Mn-Ga alloys

A careful characterization of the magnetocaloric effect in Co-substituted Ni-Mn-Ga Heusler alloys, based both on direct and indirect methods, is presented. In the present paper, adiabatic temperature change values (�T ad )u p to 1.6 K in 1.9 T were measured across the magnetostructural transformations. The studied samples, with similar
One-Week Elderberry Juice Treatment Increases Carbohydrate Oxidation after a Meal Tolerance Test and Is Well Tolerated in Adults: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Obesity in the United States continues to worsen. Anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables provide a pragmatic dietary approach to slow its metabolic complications. Given American diet patterns, foods with high anthocyanin content could address dose-response challenges. The study objective was to determine the effect of 100% elderberry juice on measures of indirect calorimetry (IC) and insulin sensitivity/glucose tolerance in a placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover pilot study. Overweight and obese adults were randomized to a 5-week study which included 2 1-week periods of twice-daily elderberry juice (EBJ) or sugar-matched placebo consumption separated by a 3-week washout period. Following each 1-week test period, IC and insulin sensitivity/glucose tolerance was measured with a 3 h meal tolerance test (MTT). Treatment differences were tested with linear mixed modeling. A total of 22 prospective study volunteers (18 F/4 M) attended recruitment meetings, and 9 were analyzed for treatment differences. EBJ was well tolerated and compliance was 99.6%. A total of 6 IC measures (intervals) were created, which coincided with 10–20 min gaseous samplings in-between MTT blood samplings. Average CHO oxidation was significantly higher during the MTT after 1-week EBJ consumption (3.38 vs. 2.88 g per interval, EBJ vs. placebo, p = 0.0113). Conversely, average fat oxidation was significantly higher during the MTT after 1-week placebo consumption (1.17 vs. 1.47 g per interval, EBJ vs. placebo, p = 0.0189). This was in-line with a significantly lower average respiratory quotient after placebo treatment (0.87 vs. 0.84, EBJ vs. placebo, p = 0.0114). Energy expenditure was not different. There was no difference in serum glucose or insulin response between treatments. This pilot study of free-living volunteers describes significant change in IC but not insulin sensitivity with an EBJ intervention. Controlled feeding and increased sample size will help determine the utility of EBJ on these outcomes.
Barriers and facilitative factors in the provision of first-responder services to persons bereaved following a drug-related death: A qualitative study

Aim: To broaden our knowledge from the perspective of municipality first-responder services of what prevents and what facilitates the provision of professional assistance to the bereaved after a drug-related death during the acute phase. Method: A reflexive thematic analysis was applied in six focus group interviews with 27 first-responder personnel in Norway. Results: The acute phase presented a challenging and complex support situation. We identified two main barriers: failure to initiate services and difficulties meeting with bereaved persons who use drugs. Facilitative factors were associated with competence and proactive cooperation. We discuss the findings in light of associated stigma, disenfranchised grief and an ecological approach to public services. Conclusion: First-responder professionals must understand drug-related death as a potentially traumatising event and initiate the procedures set out in the national guidelines. To achieve this, first-responder health and welfare services must become more knowledgeable about drug-related loss and bereavement, acute grief reactions and the need for psychosocial follow-up.
Efficacy of Acacia nilotica bark extract as an alternative to antibiotics in broilers challenged with Escherishia coli from 15 to 28 days

: The present experiment was conducted to compare the effect of Acacia nilotica bark extract and antibiotic on different biological parameters in broilers challenged with E. coli . Five hundred 2-week-old broiler chicks were divided into five treatments (Cont, NC, PC, AN-BE3, and AN-BE5) with ten replicates per treatment (10 chicks per replicate), and the experiment was extended over 2 weeks. All chicks, except that of Cont were challenged with E. coli (10 7 CFU/bird). Cont: basal diet only; NC: challenged with E. coli ; PC: NC + Zinc Bacitracin 50 mg/kg diet; AN-BE3: NC + A. nilotica bark extract supplementation 0.3%; AN-BE5: NC + A. nilotica bark extract supplementation 0.5%. At the end of the experiment, one bird per replicate was selected randomly and slaughtered for sampling regarding blood biochemistry, intestinal morphology and cecal digesta. Weight gains in Cont, PC, and AN-BE5 were statistically similar but higher than that of NC. Similarly, feed conversion ratios in Cont, PC, and AN-BE5 were statistically similar but better than that of NC. The highest (p < 0.05) levels of blood glucose was observed in Cont (278.06 mg/dL) and the lowest in AN-BE5 (225.70 mg/dL). Concentrations of ALT and AST were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in PC and A. nilotica bark extract supplemented groups than the other groups. Antioxidant status of birds in PC and A. nilotica bark extract supplemented groups was comparable and better than those of NC and Cont treatments. Villus heights in PC (1063.25 µm) and AN-BE5 (1061.63 µm) were similar but higher than those of Cont (1026.50 µm) and NC (1014.75 µm). In addition, counts of Coliform and C. perfringens were significantly reduced in PC and A. nilotica bark extract supplemented groups. A. nilotica bark extract could be an alternative to antibiotics in boilers challenged with E. coli.