Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Machine Learning to Forecast Progression from Cognitively Normal to Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) affects approximately 50 million individuals worldwide and is estimated to rise to 152 million by 2050. There is currently no treatment for AD that halts the progression from cognitively normal (CN) and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD. The ability to predict disease progression will allow for early treatment. While Machine Learning (ML) has been successful in diagnosing the cognitive state, further improvement is necessary for predicting progression. In this study, Random Forest and Bagging Decision Tree Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) was utilized to ascertain the cognitive state and forecast progression. Clinical diagnoses, demographics, and post-processed PET and MRI scans used in this study were obtained from the Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS). The findings suggest that aging and lower levels of education are associated with higher risk. The study found that ML using post-processed MRI and PET scans, particularly RFE ML, is effective in diagnosing cognitive states with 90% accuracy. It can predict progression from CN to MCI or AD with 85% accuracy, which is significantly higher than the average reported in literature. Patients with progression from CN to AD were distinguished by elevated amyloid deposition, hippocampus and amygdala atrophy, left accumbens atrophy, thinning of the left hemisphere temporal, and enlarged inferior lateral ventricles. The study demonstrated that RFE ML is effective in diagnosing and predicting the progression of AD. Future studies will concentrate on identifying the specific regions of amyloid plaque that have the most significant impact on cognitive state and progression.
Polarization-resolved optical response of plasmonic particle-on-film nanocavities

Placing a metal nanoparticle atop a metal film forms a plasmonic particle-on-film nanocavity. Such a nanocavity supports strong plasmonic coupling that results in rich hybridized plasmon modes, rendering the cavity a versatile platform for exploiting a wide range of plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy applications. In this paper, we fully address the polarization-resolved, orientation-dependent far-field optical responses of plasmonic monomer- and dimer-on-film nanocavities by numerical simulations and experiments. With polarization-resolved dark-field spectroscopy, the distinct plasmon resonances of these nanocavities are clearly determined from their scattering spectra. Moreover, the radiation patterns of respective plasmon modes, which are often mixed together in common dark-field imaging, can be unambiguously resolved with our proposed quasi-multispectral imaging method. Explicitly, the radiation pattern of the monomer-on-film nanocavity gradually transitions from a solid spot in the green imaging channel to a doughnut ring in the red channel when tuning the excitation polarization from parallel to perpendicular to the sample surface. This observation holds true for the plasmonic dimer-on-film nanocavity with the dimer axis aligned in the incidence plane; when the dimer axis is normal to the incidence plane, the pattern transitions from a solid spot to a doughnut ring both in the red channel. These studies not only demonstrate a flexible polarization control over the optical responses of plasmonic particle-on-film nanostructures but also enrich the optical tool kit for far-field imaging and spectroscopy characterization of various plasmonic nanostructures.
Exploring predictive performance: A reanalysis of the geospace model transition challenge

The Pulkkinen et al. (2013) study evaluated the ability of five different geospace models to predict surface dB/dt as a function of upstream solar drivers. This was an important step in the assessment of research models for predicting and ultimately preventing the damaging effects of geomagnetically induced currents. Many questions remain concerning the capabilities of these models. This study presents a reanalysis of the Pulkkinen et al. (2013) results in an attempt to better understand the models' performance. The range of validity of the models is determined by examining the conditions corresponding to the empirical input data. It is found that the empirical conductance models on which global magnetohydrodynamic models rely are frequently used outside the limits of their input data. The prediction error for the models is sorted as a function of solar driving and geomagnetic activity. It is found that all models show a bias toward underprediction, especially during active times. These results have implications for future research aimed at improving operational forecast models.
CHINESE PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ VIEWS OF THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS

Scientific and technological research is important to everyone because their results affect humanity worldwide. Although science and technology bring many benefits to humanity, individuals and societies can face the negative consequences of science and technology. To prevent and solve the negative consequences of research in these fields, it is important to educate scientists and engineers to have social responsibility. However, no research has addressed pre-service science teachers’ views of social responsibility in literature. Therefore, this study aimed to explore Chinese pre-service science teachers' views on the social responsibility of scientists and engineers. The research participants were 194 pre-service science teachers. A social responsibility instrument was administered for data collection. The results showed that participants had high mean scores in five areas of social responsibility and a good awareness of the role of scientists and engineers in addressing problems and risks related to human, environmental, and societal impacts. However, they had lower mean scores in three areas requiring action or involvement. In addition, the results did not show statistical differences by gender or grade level. In light of our findings, we conclude pedagogical and practical implications for teachers and researchers in teaching social responsibility. Keywords: pre-service science teachers, science education, social responsibility, social responsibility of scientists and engineers, quantitative research
Fixed Effects versus Random Effects Estimation of Dynamic Panel Data Models

This paper proposes new GMM estimators for the panel AR(1) model when the ratio of the variance of the individual effects to the variance of the idiosyncratic errors is large. First, we present a necessary condition for large N, fixed T consistency of any Fixed Effects or Random Effects estimator for this model. This condition is also sufficient for consistency of the FE estimators, which only depend on differences of the data. Next we show that RE estimators can still be consistent when the data is mean-stationary and the ratio of the variances is infinite. For instance, when T&gt;3, the 2-step optimal System estimator is consistent provided that the elements of the weight matrix are consistently estimated. We argue that the RE Quasi ML estimator can be used for this purpose. The commonly used 1-step and 2-step System estimators are inconsistent in this case. We also propose local asymptotic approximations to the distributions of RE GMM estimators that are more accurate than conventional approximations when the data are mean-stationary and the ratio of the variances is large and we discuss conditions for redundancy of the moment conditions that include levels of the data. Finally, we conduct a Monte Carlo study into the finite sample properties of various estimators and related confidence intervals, and to illustrate the usefulness of our new System estimator we revisit the growth study of Levine et al. (2000).
Fake News Detection in Tweets: Challenges and Adaptations imposed by the COVID-19

Misinformation has plagued citizens’ lives, especially on social networks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proliferation of competing narratives and dissemination of false or inaccurate news about the pandemic has reached such a state that led the World Health Organization to classify it as an infodemic. However, few resources are available to combat misinformation in this new and evolving domain, especially considering how social networks allow the rapid spreading of false narratives. In this case, the lack of resources, such as methods, tools, and reliable information on the virus, hinders our ability to combat this misinformation. In this work, we investigate the application of Text Analysis methods to help health-related scientific communicators produce educational material to combat misinformation. This study was conducted in association with the Scientific Communication sector of FIOCRUZ, a health research institution in Brazil, aiming to monitor COVID-19-related fake news and produce educational material to combat misinformation in a weekly manner due to the ephemeral nature of COVID-19 misinformation in social media. As the main findings of this work, we provide (1) a pipeline for automatically collecting and analyzing news and social media posts regarding COVID-19 in orderto provide science communicators with a weekly contextualized view of topics related to COVID-19 in social media; (2) we analyzed the effect of different resources and methods in the analytical tools employed in this work for detecting health-related misinformation in the Portuguese language, and finally, (3) we provided to journalists and science communicators in FIOCRUZ computational tools to automatically monitor COVID-related misinformation in social media, focusing on Twitter, aiming to contribute to definition of the weekly science communication agenda of the institution. Indeed, we indicate the type of resources to combat misinformation in the pandemic, and our approach can handle the detection of misinformation on Twitter social networks within the COVID-19 domain.
Host-Centric Social Connectedness of Migrants in Europe on Facebook

Extant literature has explored the social integration process of migrants settling in host communities. However, this literature typically takes a migrant-centric view, implicitly putting the burden of a successful integration on the migrant, and trying to identify the factors that lead to integration along various dimensions. In this paper, we flip this point of view by studying the attributes of natives that govern their propensity to form social ties with migrants.We do so by using anonymous and aggregate social network data provided by Facebook’s advertising platform. More specifically, we look at factors that influence the propensity for a likely-to-be non-Muslim Facebook user to have at least one social connection to a Facebook user who celebrates Ramadan. Given that, in the European context, following Islam is predominantly tied to a migration background, this gives us a lens into cross-cultural native-migrant connectivity. Our study considers demographic attributes of the host population, such as age, gender, and education level, as well as spatial variation across 30 European cities. Our findings suggest that young, educated, and male Facebook users are relatively more likely to build cross-cultural ties, compared to older, less educated, and female Facebook users. We also observe heterogeneity across the analyzed cities.
Coping with informal fish vending constraints and resilience implications among urban-based women fish vendors in Dar es Salaam

The aim of this study is to examine threats related to informal fish vending business among urban-based women and to propose strategies for overcoming the threats. Specifically, the study ascertains the threats associated with the fishing business and strategies for coping and the capacity to cope. Based on the multi-layered social resilience framework, this study used a qualitative design and a sample size of 30 participants obtained both randomly and purposively. The findings revealed that threats experienced by the vendors include stigma, fish scarcity, higher fish prices, inadequate business capital, various forms of gender-related violence such as sexual harassment, lack of legal status, and various forms of crime including robbery, theft, and pickpocketing. Findings further indicated that vendors managed to develop both reactive and proactive strategies for coping with the threats. Reactive strategies include joining small self-helping groups popularly known as Village Community Banking (VICOBA) and soliciting family and relative support against insecurity threats. Proactive strategies include securing business financing from credible institutions, business diversification and adopting new kinds of business, business registration and licensing, searching for and participating in education and capacity-building programs, as well as business advocacy. It is recommended that government support, provision of education, and access to credit, should be considered in supporting women fish vendors to cope with the threats in their fishing business activities.
Sero-Epidemiology and Evaluation of First Self-Prepared Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Vaccine in Cattle of Punjab, Pakistan

This study was undertaken to determine the sero-epidemiology and the efficacy of the first self-prepared BVDV vaccine in cattle. In a cross sectional survey (2020–2021) conducted in 5 agro-climatic zones of Punjab, a total of 1000 serum samples from 100 dairy herds were collected and the sero-prevalence was estimated using an Ab capture ELISA assay. Inactivated BVDV vaccine was also prepared using local isolate (MK084980) and tested for induction of humoral immune response in comparison with commercial vaccine in experimental cattle calves. Calves of group A (n=5) and B (n=5) were vaccinated with self-prepared and commercial vaccines respectively followed by boosting 30 days post primary vaccination, while group C was kept as non-vaccinated control group. Blood samples were taken from each group after every 2 months up to one year post vaccination and tested through Ab capture ELISA. Overall, 23.7% sero-positivity of BVDV was observed in 5 agro-climatic zones with highest in the low-intensity zone (34%) followed by rice wheat (27%), cotton-wheat (21%), mixed-crop (19%) and lowest in the rain-fed zone (17.5%). Quarantine practices, housing management, abortion and parity were found the potential risk factors significantly associated (p<0.05) with BVDV prevalence while breeding system exhibited non-significant association with BVDV (p>0.05). In vaccine trial, self-prepared vaccine proved to be equally effective as commercial vaccine although higher (p>0.05) antibody titer (s/p values) were noted in group B as compared to group A. Throughout the experiment, antibody titer of vaccinated groups remained significantly higher (p<0.05) than group C. Both the vaccinated groups showed protective ELISA antibody titers (S/P value) at 4 months post vaccination that persisted up-to 10 th months followed by decline indicated the need of revaccination on annual basis. This study first time confirmed the circulation of BVDV in all the 5 agro-climatic zones of Punjab and may be vaccinated preferably with self-prepared vaccine due to cost effectiveness and usage of local vaccinal virus.
Characterization, variability and long‐term trends on local climate in a Mexican tropical dry forest

Based on 40 years of meteorological data, we characterized and analysed long‐term climatic trends in the Chamela‐Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Pacific coast of central Mexico. The region is still covered by a large proportion of well‐preserved tropical dry forest, characterized by a short period of rain and a dry season of around 8 months. We found a sustained temperature increase which is likely driven by global climate change. An increasing trend in rainfall was also found, but the trend was detected only during the wet season. Correspondingly, an increase in runoff during the rainfall season was also detected; this seems to be linked with an increasing number of intense rainfall events, rather than an increase in the total number of rainy days. El Niño years are likely to present below average precipitation during the wet season and above average precipitation during the dry season. The opposite is expected during La Niña years, when tropical cyclones are likely to come closer to the coast and cause intense rainfall events during the hurricane season. As many of the studied variables are likely to change under climate change scenarios, our results highlight the need to understand the expected impacts of global climate change on tropical dry forests. In particular, it is necessary to monitor changes in water availability to anticipate its consequences for the forest and the human communities that depend on it.
Applying Stakeholder and Self-Efficacy Theories to Classify Organizational Citizenship Behavior Antecedents

Most studies about organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) focus on particular actions that employees, supervisors, or owners of organizations should exhibit. To encourage OCB in service-oriented Filipino organizations, this paper proposes a classification of OCB antecedents collected from the literature in theory and industry practice. By using the stakeholder and self-efficacy theories, the proposed four clearly defined categories point out whether these antecedents are employee-led, leader-led, organization-led, or HR-led initiatives. Since it would be burdensome for an individual to know all the factors that may influence OCB, categorizing these antecedents will help the individual to identify the behavioral aspects that he or she has control over. Managerial implications are also discussed.
Efficacy of long -term integrated plant nutrient management on importan soil properties of an Inceptisol

A long-term field experiment conducted since 1972 on Vertic Ustropep indicated that application of 10 t ha-1 of farmyard manure along with 100 per cen NPK recorded significantly lower bulk density. Farm yard manure application wit 100 per cent inorganics increased the hydraulic conductivity, water stable aggregates porosity and water holding capacity. There was increase in CEC, organic carbon an total N content of soil due to incorporation of organics with inorganics. There wa no marked changes in soil pH and EC due to various treatments. Available major and micronutrients increased significantly when organics was incorporated along with inorganic sources of nutrients
The Effect of Digital Picture Series Media on Simple Essay Writing Skills in Elementary Schools

This study aims to determine the effect of digital series picture media on simple essay writing skills in the Indonesian language subject for third-grade students at SDN Tawangrejo II Pandaan, classified as low. The research method used in this study is quantitative with a pre-experimental design, specifically the one-group Pre-Test-Post-Test design. The subjects of this study were 32 third-grade students. The sampling technique used in this study was saturated sampling. The data collection technique used in this study was a test to measure third-grade students' simple essay writing skills. The test was conducted with a Pre-Test and a Post-Test. The test consisted of writing a simple essay based on five indicators. The data analysis technique differed significantly between the Pre-Test and Post-Test results. This was indicated by the hypothesis test using the paired sample t-test with a significance value of 0.000, which means the sig value < 0.05. Therefore, the null hypothesis (H0) is rejected, and the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is accepted. The use of digital series picture media significantly affects simple essay writing skills.
Arthroscopic Single-Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using the Quadrupled Hamstring Tendon Graft: A Single-Institution Experience From North-Eastern India

Background There is a lack of literature regarding the arthroscopic approach to a single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using the quadrupled hamstring tendon graft in the north-eastern Indian population. Methodology A prospective, single-center study was planned for patients with ACL tears according to the eligibility criteria and with a defined surgical protocol. Patients were followed up from the preoperative period for at least one year, and knee function was evaluated using the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee score and the Lysholm knee score. Results A total of 29 patients were followed up for a mean of 14.6 months (12-22 months). The mean age of patients was 26.83 ± 7.50 years, with a male:female ratio of 4.8:1 and almost equal involvement of both knees. There was statistically significant improvement (p<0.001) in results in the Lachman test, anterior drawer test, pivot shift test, IKDC score, and Lysholm score. No intraoperative or postoperative complications were found in the present study. Discussion The study shows that arthroscopic anatomical single-bundle ACL reconstruction using quadrupled hamstring tendon grafts is a minimally invasive, safe, and effective procedure that provides anteroposterior and rotational stability and good to excellent functional outcomes.
A Vector Approach to Regression Analysis and Its Implications to Heavy-Duty Diesel Emissions

An alternative approach is presented for the regression of response data on predictor variables that are not logically or physically separable. The methodology is demonstrated by its application to a data set of heavy-duty diesel emissions. Because of the covariance of fuel properties, it is found advantageous to redefine the predictor variables as vectors, in which the original fuel properties are components, rather than as scalars each involving only a single fuel property. The fuel property vectors are defined in such a way that they are mathematically independent and statistically uncorrelated. Because the available data set does not allow definitive separation of vehicle and fuel effects, and because test fuels used in several of the studies may be unrealistically contrived to break the association of fuel variables, the data set is not considered adequate for development of a full-fledged emission model. Nevertheless, the data clearly show that only a few basic patterns of fuel-property variation affect emissions and that the number of these patterns is considerably less than the number of variables initially thought to be involved. These basic patterns, referred to as ''eigenfuels,'' may reflect blending practice in accordance with their relative weighting in specific circumstances. The methodology is believed to be widely applicable in a variety of contexts. It promises an end to the threat of collinearity and the frustration of attempting, often unrealistically, to separate variables that are inseparable.