Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pupils’ Academic Self-efficacy in Subject-specific and Integrated Curriculum Instruction

ABSTRACT This article reports on a pilot study on the academic self-efficacy (ASE) of 245 Finnish pupils when studying according to a subject-specific curriculum for one week and an integrated curriculum the following week. The data consisted of selected items from the Class Maps Survey and self-reported grades of L1 and mathematics and were analysed using latent growth curve modelling and multivariate linear regression analysis. According to the results, the mathematics grades were associated with the level of and change in ASE: pupils reporting lower skills had lower self-efficacy at the beginning of the study. During the first week, ASE increased similarly among all skills groups; during the second week, only the math grades positively predicted variation across all pupils in rate of change in ASE. The increase in ASE during the second week was faster among pupils with low or good math grades than the pupils with higher math grades.
The geometry of representational drift in natural and artificial neural networks

Neurons in sensory areas encode/represent stimuli. Surprisingly, recent studies have suggested that, even during persistent performance, these representations are not stable and change over the course of days and weeks. We examine stimulus representations from fluorescence recordings across hundreds of neurons in the visual cortex using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging and we corroborate previous studies finding that such representations change as experimental trials are repeated across days. This phenomenon has been termed “representational drift”. In this study we geometrically characterize the properties of representational drift in the primary visual cortex of mice in two open datasets from the Allen Institute and propose a potential mechanism behind such drift. We observe representational drift both for passively presented stimuli, as well as for stimuli which are behaviorally relevant. Across experiments, the drift most often occurs along directions that have the most variance, leading to a significant turnover in the neurons used for a given representation. Interestingly, despite this significant change due to drift, linear classifiers trained to distinguish neuronal representations show little to no degradation in performance across days. The features we observe in the neural data are similar to properties of artificial neural networks where representations are updated by continual learning in the presence of dropout, i.e. a random masking of nodes/weights, but not other types of noise. Therefore, we conclude that a potential reason for the representational drift in biological networks is driven by an underlying dropout-like noise while continuously learning and that such a mechanism may be computational advantageous for the brain in the same way it is for artificial neural networks, e.g. preventing overfitting.
ESG as a Measure of Credit Ratings

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures on credit ratings given to non-financial institutions by the largest credit rating agencies according to economic sector divisions. The hypotheses were as follows: a strong negative impact on non-financial institutions’ credit rating changes will result from ESG risk changes, and the reaction of credit rating changes will vary in different sectors. Panel event models were used to verify these hypotheses. The study used data from the Thomson Reuters Database for the period 2010–2020. The analysis was based on the literature on credit rating determinants and on papers and reports on COVID-19, ESG factors, and their impact on credit rating changes. Linear decomposition was used for the analysis. To verify these hypotheses, long-term issuer credit ratings presented by Moody’s and Fitch for European companies listed on these stock exchanges have been used. In the analyses, financial and non-financial factors were also considered. The results suggested that, within the last year, the methodology presented by credit rating agencies has changed, and ESG factors are one of the basic measures that are used to verify credit rating changes, especially those related to the pandemic.
Comparative Study of Undergraduate and Practicing Engineer Knowledge of the Roles of Problem Definition and Idea Generation in Design

combination that is more difficult to offshore. In this study, knowledge of the roles of problem definition and idea generation in engineering design is assessed over time: subjects are assessed before any college-level engineering, during their engineering education, and five or more years after starting to practice engineering. The primary assessment instrument involves subjects critiquing a proposed design process; their critiques are then analysed to determine what they know about the roles of problem definition and idea generation in design. Results show that no significant learning about problem definition occurs until an undergraduate’s senior year, with large gains also made after graduation by practicing engineers. For idea generation, students learn a significant amount while enrolled in an introduction to engineering course, but lose this knowledge later during the curriculum.
Measuring the Effects of Economic Crisis on Users’ Perceptions of Public Transport Quality

Research was conducted to measure the effects of the economic crisis on public transport quality, user satisfaction, and transit demand. The survey used in this research extended a research effort that began in 2008; the survey aimed to analyze the variability of users’ satisfaction within different public transport systems. The survey was conducted in Athens, Greece, from November 2012 to January 2013, during the peak of the country's economic recession. The content of the questionnaire that was used for the needs of the survey was similar to that of 2008 so that the results would be comparable. Passengers were asked to rate how important a series of metro and bus attributes were, their level of satisfaction with those attributes, their overall satisfaction with the main public transport operator they used, and the increase or decrease of their individual demand for public transport. A factor analysis was first performed to identify potential common patterns between the individual importance attributes. Ordered logit models were then estimated with the overall satisfaction as a response variable. Results of the analysis were then compared with the findings of the earlier (precrisis) research; this comparison revealed interesting adaptations in users’ perceptions of the public transport operators’ quality. Moreover, a hybrid choice and latent variable model was estimated to explore the overall satisfaction of the respondents. Finally, a demand model was developed; this model revealed the characteristics that led to the increase (or decrease) of public transit demand in the past 5 years.
MOVPE-grown millimeter-wave InGaAs mixer diode technology and characteristics

The merits of InGaAs-based millimeter-wave mixer diodes are explored experimentally and theoretically. Schottky junctions on InGaAs exhibit barriers (/spl phi//sub b/) in the neighborhood of 0.25 eV. The high mobility of InGaAs contributes to the low n/sup +/ sheet resistances of 1.9-5 /spl Omega//square for 1-/spl mu/m n/sup +/ InGaAs layers (n/sub s/=1.5/spl times/10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/, /spl mu//sub n/=1800 cm/sup 2//V/spl middot/s) grown with our in-house Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) system, The design, material growth, fabrication, and characterization of InGaAs integrated mixer/antennae are reported. Pt plating technology, adapted here for InGaAs Schottky contacts, has improved the ideality factor (/spl eta/) and yield relative to conventional evaporated Pt. With 810 /spl mu/W of local oscillator power, applied to the diode, and zero DC bias, an integrated InGaAs mixer/antenna demonstrated an excellent diode performance of 199 K RF input double-sideband noise temperature with a corresponding single-sideband (SSB) conversion loss (L/sub c/) of 5.0 dB at LO, RF, and IF frequencies of 94 GHz, 94 GHz/spl plusmn/1.4 GHz, and 1.4 GHz, respectively. Likewise, the diodes in an InGaAs subharmonic integrated mixer/antenna demonstrated an equivalent RF-port double-sideband (DSB) noise temperature (T/sub mix/) of 1058 K and single-sideband conversion loss of 10.2 dB at 180 GHz with a 90-GHz LO power (PLO) of 1.6 mW. Compared to GaAs diodes with RF coupling and IF losses removed, the single-ended InGaAs noise temperature results were within 46-100 K of those for state-of-the-art GaAs mixer diodes while requiring significantly less LO power.
Structure Analysis Loaded by Interior Blast Effect

The paper determines the parameters of the explosion wave excited by a terrorist charge and assumption of the building structure of a railway station based on dynamic analysis. Certain simplified methods according to various publications, according to our own experimental results and according to 3D computations based on detailed calculation modelling of the interior of the room are compared to determine the explosive effects. Equivalent static analysis was applied to the dynamic response of the structural elements of the selected room. The damage caused to these structural elements is weighted on the basis of the angle of failure of the central axis / surface, and on the basis of the limit stress state of these structures.
Approximate methods for uncertainty analysis of water distribution systems

Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) has been commonly applied for uncertainty analysis of model predictions. However, when modelling a water distribution system under unsteady conditions, the computational demand of MCS is quite high even for a reasonably sized system. The aim of this study is to evaluate alternative approximation schemes and examine their ability to predict model prediction uncertainty with less computational effort. Here, MCS is compared with a point estimation method, the first-order second-moment (FOSM) method, and a quasi-MCS method, Latin hypercube sampling (LHS). Hydraulic and water quality simulations are performed using EPANET and the evaluated model outputs are nodal pressure, water age and chlorine concentration. Six input parameters, pipe diameter and roughness coefficient, nodal spatial and temporal demands and bulk and wall decay coefficients, are considered. To examine the effect of the magnitude of input uncertainty on model output, three uncertainty levels are evaluated. The study is performed for a real system with 116 pipes and 90 nodes. Results demonstrate that LHS provides very good estimates of the predicted output range for steady and unsteady conditions compared with MCS, while FOSM did well for steady conditions but poorly for some periods in the extended-period simulation for chlorine concentration.
Reflection and transmission fields in tilted wire medium interface

The reflection and transmission coefficients for plane wave incident fields are presented for the interface of a wire medium where the direction of the wires are at an angle with respect to the interface. In general, the reflection problem is divided into two polarizations. For ordinary fields, the reflection from the wire medium interface is like the reflection from an isotropic dielectric medium. For extraordinary fields, which is considered in this study, due to spatial dispersion there exist two transmitted eigenfields in the wire medium and the reflection is more complicated requiring an additional boundary condition. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 1991–1994, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24491
Cultural Competence of Turkish Nurses and Nursing Students: An Integrative Literature Review

Introduction: Turkish population is characterized by its great cultural diversity, thus, Turkish nurses and nursing students often interact with patients of different cultural backgrounds from theirs. Cultural competence is needed to provide qualified contemporary nursing care. This study aimed to explore the literature on the cultural competence of Turkish nurses and nursing students. Methodology: The Whittemore and Knafl review methodology was used to extract, summarize, and synthesize data of 15 primary research articles published between January 2011 and January 2021. The search was done in the Turkish Academic Network and Information Center—ULAKBIM (PubMed, TRDizin, DergiPark). Results: Three themes were identified: cultural competence, cultural-related problems, and importance of training on transcultural nursing. Discussion: Appropriate educational courses on transcultural nursing should be implemented in Turkish nursing schools as well as in continuing education programs for Turkish nurses.
Can a combination of interventions accelerate outcomes to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals for young children? Evidence from a longitudinal study in South Africa and Malawi.

BACKGROUND This study aimed to identify possible entry points for interventions that can act as development accelerators for children and adolescents in South Africa and Malawi. METHODS This study was a secondary data analysis. Data were sourced from the Child Community Care longitudinal study which tracked child wellbeing outcomes among 989 children (4-13 years) and their caregivers affected by HIV and enrolled in community-based organizations in South Africa and Malawi. We examined associations between five hypothesised accelerating services/household provisions- measured as access at baseline and follow-up and twelve child outcomes that relate to indicators within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework. We calculated the adjusted probabilities of experiencing each SDG aligned outcome conditional on receipt of single, combined or all identified accelerators. RESULTS The results show household food security is associated with positive child education and cognitive development outcomes. Cash grants were positively associated with nutrition and cognitive development outcomes. Living in a safe community was positively associated with all mental health outcomes. Experiencing a combination of two factors was associated with higher probability of positive child outcomes. However, experiencing all three accelerators was associated with better child outcomes, compared to any of the individual factors by themselves with substantial improvements noted in child education outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Combined delivery of specific interventions or services may yield greater improvements in child outcomes across different developmental domains. It is recommended that multiple support avenues in combination like improving food security and safe communities, as well as social protection grants, should be provided for vulnerable children to maximize the impact.
Genomic Landscapes of Epstein-Barr Virus in Pulmonary Lymphoepithelioma-Like Carcinoma

Pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (pLELC) is a rarely distinctive subtype of primary lung cancer closely associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Here, we gave the first overview of pLELC-derived EBV at the level of genome, methylation and transcription. ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with multiple malignancies, including pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (pLELC), a particular subtype of primary lung cancer. However, the genomic characteristics of EBV related to pLELC remain unclear. Here, we obtained the whole-genome data set of EBV isolated from 78 pLELC patients and 37 healthy controls using EBV-captured sequencing. Compared with the reference genome (NC_007605), a total of 3,995 variations were detected across pLELC-derived EBV sequences, with the mutational hot spots located in latent genes. Combined with 180 published EBV sequences derived from healthy people in Southern China, we performed a genome-wide association study and identified 32 variations significantly related to pLELC (P < 2.56 × 10−05, Bonferroni correction), with the top signal of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) coordinate T7327C (OR = 1.22, P = 2.39 × 10−15) locating in the origin of plasmid replication (OriP). The results of population structure analysis of EBV isolates in East Asian showed the EBV strains derived from pLELC were more similar to those from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) than other EBV-associated diseases. In addition, typical latency type-II infection were recognized for EBV of pLELC at both transcription and methylation levels. Taken together, we defined the global view of EBV genomic profiles in pLELC patients for the first time, providing new insights to deepening our understanding of this rare EBV-associated primary lung carcinoma. IMPORTANCE Pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (pLELC) is a rare, distinctive subtype of primary lung cancer closely associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Here, we gave the first overview of pLELC-derived EBV at the level of genome, methylation and transcription. We obtained the EBV sequences data set from 78 primary pLELC patients, and revealed the sequences diversity across EBV genome and detected variability in known immune epitopes. Genome-wide association analysis combining 217 healthy controls identifies significant variations related to the risk of pLELC. Meanwhile, we characterized the integration landscapes of EBV at the genome-wide level. These results provided new insight for understanding EBV’s role in pLELC tumorigenesis.
Occurrence, diversity and distribution of Trypanosoma infections in cattle around the Akagera National Park, Rwanda

Background African Trypanosomiases threaten the life of both humans and animals. Trypanosomes are transmitted by tsetse and other biting flies. In Rwanda, the African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) endemic area is mainly around the tsetse-infested Akagera National Park (NP). The study aimed to identify Trypanosoma species circulating in cattle, their genetic diversity and distribution around the Akagera NP. Methodology A cross-sectional study was carried out in four districts, where 1,037 cattle blood samples were collected. The presence of trypanosomes was determined by microscopy, immunological rapid test VerY Diag and PCR coupled with High-Resolution Melt (HRM) analysis. A parametric test (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean Packed cell Volume (PCV) and trypanosomes occurrence. The Cohen Kappa test was used to compare the level of agreement between the diagnostic methods. Findings The overall prevalence of trypanosome infections was 5.6%, 7.1% and 18.7% by thin smear, Buffy coat technique and PCR/HRM respectively. Microscopy showed a low sensitivity while a low specificity was shown by the rapid test (VerY Diag). Trypanosoma (T.) congolense was found at a prevalence of 10.7%, T. vivax 5.2%, T. brucei brucei 2% and T. evansi 0.7% by PCR/HRM. This is the first report of T.evansi in cattle in Rwanda. The non-pathogenic T. theileri was also detected. Lower trypanosome infections were observed in Ankole x Friesian breeds than indigenous Ankole. No human-infective T. brucei rhodesiense was detected. There was no significant difference between the mean PCV of infected and non-infected animals (p>0.162). Conclusions Our study sheds light on the species of animal infective trypanosomes around the Akagera NP, including both pathogenic and non-pathogenic trypanosomes. The PCV estimation is not always an indication of trypanosome infection and the mechanical transmission should not be overlooked. The study confirms that the area around the Akagera NP is affected by AAT, and should, therefore, be targeted by the control activities. AAT impact assessment on cattle production and information on the use of trypanocides are needed to help policymakers prioritise target areas and optimize intervention strategies. Ultimately, these studies will allow Rwanda to advance in the Progressive Control Pathway (PCP) to reduce or eliminate the burden of AAT.
The SERC Flood Channel Facility

SYNOPSIS The Paper describes a new large central experimental facility which has recently been built to investigate the hydraulic behaviour of rivers and flood alleviation channels when they flow in an out-of-bank condition. The SERC flood channel facility is jointly funded by the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and Hydraulics Research Ltd (HR), on whose premises the facility has been built. A five-year research programme has been identified and will be supported by the SERC together with a contribution from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). The authors outline the need for such a facility in flood channel research, the background to the design, construction and instrumentation of the facility, and give brief details of the initial phase of the research programme, which involves four university research teams. It is hoped that the SERC flood channel facility will be a focus for other experimental researchers and will bring together theoreticians, numerical modellers and experimentalists concerned with river channel hydraulics. At present seven UK universities are involved in the SERC Working Party on Flood Channels, along with representatives from HR, MAFF and consultants.
An analytical solution for the collection efficiency of solar-cell emitters with arbitrary doping profile

An analytical expression consisting of a rapidly converging integral series is derived to calculate the collection efficiency of solar-cell emitters in steady state. This general expression applies to emitters which feature an arbitrary doping profile and heavily doped regions. It does not rely on a particular description of the relation between minority-carrier transport parameters and doping density. It is shown that most of the earlier approximations are included in the solution. To demonstrate the advantages and feasibility of this approach, calculation results are compared with approximate and numerical solutions, and with exact solutions when available. >
Analysis of propagation characteristics of whispering gallery modes in a dielectric disk or a curved rectangular dielectric waveguide

The finite-element method is applied to the analysis of whispering gallery modes in curved optical waveguides. Numerical examples for whispering gallery modes in a dielectric disk with rough boundaries are given. It is demonstrated that the whispering gallery modes and the normal guided modes in a curved rectangular dielectric waveguide are analyzed consistently with this approach, and that the normal guided mode approaches the whispering gallery mode with the increase of waveguide width. The minimum width of the rectangular waveguide needed to support a whispering gallery mode is evaluated. >
Effect of Rivet Hardness and Geometrical Features on Friction Self-Piercing Riveted Joint Quality

Conventional magnesium alloys, due to their low ductility, have a poor self-piercing rivetability. Cracks always occur when the magnesium sheet is placed at the bottom layer, which brings great challenge to the use of the magnesium alloys. In this paper, friction self-piercing riveting (F-SPR) process was adopted to join 1 mm thick aluminum alloy AA6061-T6 to 2.2 mm thick magnesium alloy AZ31B, and the effect of rivet hardness and key geometrical features on joint formation were studied systematically. The experimental results showed that using rivets with a hardness of 190 HV, the top aluminum sheet could be well pierced and a larger rivet shank flaring value would be formed between rivet shank and the bottom magnesium. The effect of the rivet’s geometrical features, including ribs under shoulder and inclination angle under shoulder, were examined using two evaluation criteria, i.e., rivet shank flaring value and remaining thickness, and found that the rivet with no ribs and 10 deg inclination angle under shoulder is suitable for joining 1 mm AA6061-T6 to 2.2 mm AZ31B in F-SPR process. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4029822]