Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Algebra: An Approach via Module Theory

This book is designed as a text for a first-year graduate algebra course. The choice of topics is guided by the underlying theme of modules as a basic unifying concept in mathematics. Beginning with standard topics in groups and ring theory, the authors then develop basic module theory, culminating in the fundamental structure theorem for finitely generated modules over a principal ideal domain. They then treat canonical form theory in linear algebra as an application of this fundamental theorem. Module theory is also used in investigating bilinear, sesquilinear, and quadratic forms. The authors develop some multilinear algebra (Hom and tensor product) and the theory of semisimple rings and modules and apply these results in the final chapter to study group represetations by viewing a representation of a group G over a field F as an F(G)-module. The book emphasizes proofs with a maximum of insight and a minimum of computation in order to promote understanding. However, extensive material on computation (for example, computation of canonical forms) is provided.
Evolution of Level I Fieldwork during an International Pandemic: Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Virtual Simulation-based Level I Fieldwork

Abstract Fieldwork education is an essential component of occupational therapy (OT) curriculum; yet national shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic have affected fieldwork availability. To combat the shortage, some academic programs implemented simulation-based Level I fieldwork experiences. The objective of this research study was to compare the perceived knowledge, confidence, and attitude of OT students that completed a virtual simulation-based Level I fieldwork to those that completed a traditional Level I fieldwork. This study involved a sample of 26 doctorate of OT students that completed a traditional or virtual simulation-based Level I fieldwork. Students completed pre-and-post fieldwork surveys regarding their perceived knowledge, confidence, and attitude. Mann Whitney and Wilcoxin signed rank tests were used for comparative analysis. There was no statistically significant difference in knowledge or confidence between the two groups (p = .734, p = .303). Students that completed a virtual simulation-based fieldwork experienced increased attitude (p = .021) and both groups experienced an increase in perceived knowledge (p = .012, p = .003) following their fieldwork experience. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding the utilization of simulations in OT curricula and proposes an alternative Level I fieldwork model to assist with the national shortage of fieldwork availability.
Inhibition of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated and RAD3-Related (ATR) Overcomes Oxaliplatin Resistance and Promotes Antitumor Immunity in Colorectal Cancer.

Although many patients with colorectal cancer initially respond to the chemotherapeutic agent oxaliplatin, acquired resistance to this treatment remains a major challenge to the long-term management of this disease. To identify molecular targets of oxaliplatin resistance in colorectal cancer, we performed an shRNA-based loss-of-function genetic screen using a kinome library. We found that silencing of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated and RAD3-related (ATR), a serine/threonine protein kinase involved in the response to DNA stress, restored oxaliplatin sensitivity in a cellular model of oxaliplatin resistance. Combined application of the ATR inhibitor VE-822 and oxaliplatin resulted in strong synergistic effects in six different colorectal cancer cell lines and their oxaliplatin-resistant subclones, promoted DNA single- and double-strand break formation, growth arrest, and apoptosis. This treatment also increased replicative stress, cytoplasmic DNA, and signals related to immunogenic cell death such as calreticulin exposure and HMGB1 and ATP release. In a syngeneic colorectal cancer mouse model, combined administration of VE-822 and oxaliplatin significantly increased survival by promoting antitumor T-cell responses. Finally, a DNA repair gene signature discriminated sensitive from drug-resistant patients with colorectal cancer. Overall, our results highlight the potential of ATR inhibition combined with oxaliplatin to sensitize cells to chemotherapy as a therapeutic option for patients with colorectal cancer. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings demonstrate that resistance to oxaliplatin in colorectal cancer cells can be overcome with inhibitors of ATR and that combined treatment with both agents exerts synergistic antitumor effects.Graphical Abstract: http://cancerres.aacrjournals. org/content/canres/79/11/2933/F1.large. jpg.
Strategic Orientation and Innovation of Telecommunication Firms in Rivers State

This study empirically investigates the nexus between strategic orientation and innovation of telecommunication firms in Rivers State. Data were collected through cross-sectional survey on five (5) major telecommunication firms. Data retrieved from 120 representatives was analyzed via Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient, with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27. The findings revealed that strategic orientation is significantly related to innovation. It was concluded that, all dimensions of the exogenous variable should be encouraged. All of which is to achieve high level of innovation. Thus, the study recommends that: Management should adopt the most modern technologies, use the technologies to have an edge over competitors and allocate resources for investment in latest technologies. Also, management should always dialogue and main a good relationship with customers, improve total quality customer service, attend promptly to customers, freely share market information and be vigilant with after sale service. Furthermore, Management should encourage employee learning and knowledge acquisition, frequently acquaint employees with the vision and mission of the organisation, as well as listen to opinions from employees.
Speech De-warping: Unsupervised Pre-training for Data-Efficient Text-to-Speech on Low Resource Languages

Neural text-to-speech (TTS) models can synthe-size natural human speech when being trained on large amounts of transcribed speech. However, collecting such large-scale transcribed data is expensive. In this paper, we propose an un-supervised pre-training method for reducing the amount of paired data required to train a sequence-to-sequence TTS model, utilizing large untran-scribed speech data. The main idea is to pre-train the model to reconstruct de-warped mel-spectrograms from warped ones. For semantically meaningful warping/de-warping, we train a self-supervised phoneme segmentation model and use the segments to warp the spectrograms in a pseudo phoneme level. In addition, as a byproduct of our pre-training process, we can optionally leverage the segment-based data augmentation in fine-tuning stage to further improve the data-efficiency. We empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in a low-resource language scenario, achieving outstanding performance compared to various baselines.
KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE UTILIZATION OF FEMALE CONDOMS BY FEMALE SEX WORKERS IN CALABAR MUNICIPALITY, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Background: Consistent and appropriate use of female condom is the most effective way of preventing HIV/AIDs transmission and unplanned pregnancies. Studies suggest that women are more likely to get infected with Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) than men and they bear the brunt of the consequences associated with unplanned pregnancies and STDs, however there are existing gaps in the knowledge and use of female condoms by female sex workers in Nigeria, hence the need to explore this intervention. Method: A descriptive survey design was employed using a pretested and validated semi-structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge and use of female condoms by 205 purposively selected female sex workers. Data was analyzed using SPSS and results were presented as frequencies and percentages. Results: Majority, 125 (60.9%) of the respondents were single, and 57 (27.8%) of them were between 21-29 years. 145 (70.8%) of them attended secondary school, and 115 (56.1%) of them had heard of the female condom. Of these 115 subjects, 57 (49.6%) of them stated that the female condom was a barrier contraceptive method, however, only 11 (9.5%) of them were of the opinion that the female condom can prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Conclusion: The introduction of the female condom, the use of which is largely controlled by the female was to empower women to have dual protection from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. Its utilization however is dependent on knowledge. Therefore, considering the fact that sex workers are critical in the global fight to eliminate HIV/AIDS, efforts at promoting the acceptability and accessibility of the female condom among female sex workers through targeted education and social marketing interventions should be up-scaled.
The determination of the natural radioactivity of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K in sediments of Bahr Al-Najaf Reservoir wetland /Iraq

Soil is one of the most significant natural sources of ionizing radiation to which humans are exposed, as natural radionuclides (such as uranium-238 nuclear series and thorium-232) are present in soil which affects human health by one way or another. Therefore, this study aimed to studied the natural radioactivity of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K in ten sites of Bahr Al-Najaf reservoir-Iraq sediments, to determine the concentration of 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 K in using NaI(Tl) 3"×3" system. The results showed that the radioactivity of 40 K ranged between (428±4.83 - 309±4.1) Bq/Kg, 238 U ranged between (8.45±0.36 - 3.7±0.24) Bq/Kg, 232 Th ranged between (4.61±0.26 - 0.01±0.002) Bq/Kg, and Radium equivalent ranged between (39.62±0.71 - 30.2±0.6) Bq/Kg. The Absorbed dose rate in air ranged between (20.892±0.354 - 16.000±0.300) nGy.h-1. By comparing the experimental results with the globally standard, results found that effectiveness of radiation concentrations of the samples studied within the globally range.
Not Just Women’s Work: Recruiting Men to Occupational Therapy

Abstract Compared to women, men are less likely to become occupational therapists (OT). To have a more diverse workforce, and to relate to various patient groups, reasons men do not enter the field of OT must be better understood. Our study compares men and women in their familiarity with OT and desire to work in the field. Data were gathered using an online, self-report survey administered to students at a public university in the southeast. The sample included 334 undergraduate students who were in majors that often serve as feeder programs to OT graduate programs. The average age was 19.8 years (SD = 3.84). A majority of the students were women (80.1%). Ratings of familiarity with OT or interest in OT were generally low, with no significant differences between men and women. Women were more likely to endorse a calling orientation (i.e., work brings fulfillment to life) to their work, while men were more likely to endorse a career (i.e., advancement indicates achievement) or job orientation (i.e., the job is a means to an end). Career orientation predicted a greater interest in entering healthcare for men, but not women. More broadly, men and women may be interested in healthcare for different reasons, and this information needs to be utilized in marketing the profession. ABSTRACT Compared to women, men are less likely to become occupational therapists (OT). To have a more diverse workforce, and to relate to various patient groups, reasons men do not enter the field of OT must be better understood. Our study compares men and women in their familiarity with OT and desire to work in the field. Data were gathered using an online, self-report survey administered to students at a public university in the southeast. The sample included 334 undergraduate students who were in majors that often serve as feeder programs to OT graduate programs. The average age was 19.8 years ( SD = 3.84). A majority of the students were women (80.1%). Ratings of familiarity with OT or interest in OT were generally low, with no significant differences between men and women. Women were more likely to endorse a calling orientation (i.e., work brings fulfillment to life) to their work, while men were more likely to endorse a career (i.e., advancement indicates achievement) or job orientation (i.e., the job is a means to an end). Career orientation predicted a greater interest in entering healthcare for men, but not women. More broadly, men and women may be interested in healthcare for different reasons, and this information needs to be utilized in marketing the profession.
Identifying the Research and Trends in STEM Education in Pakistan: A Systematic Literature Review

Although STEM is an essential feature of 21st-century education and learning, there is a lack of awareness about it in Pakistan, especially at the K-12 and tertiary levels. Recently many initiatives have been launched across Pakistan to create more interest in STEM education. In order to assist in raising the level of STEM awareness in Pakistan, this study sought to examine the current state of research and identify recent contributions and gaps in the literature. A systematic literature review was conducted using 22 research papers from five renowned databases. Results produced limited research in this area, with the majority being descriptive and only four being interventional studies. Regrettably, no research explored the engineering component of STEM education. Trends indicate that STEM education research has experienced a downward trend in Pakistan. The observed decline may have occurred due to a lack of understanding among Pakistani researchers regarding the importance of STEM education. Additionally, we identified the current gaps in research on STEM education and subsequently provided recommendations for future research.
Capital Budgeting and Health Sector Performance in South West Nigeria

This study examined the relationship between budgeted capital and health sector performance in South West Nigeria. The study adopted statistical tools to analyse the data that were sourced from the approved budget estimates of the six South Western States. The descriptive statistics showed that on an average level, all the selected capital expenditures contributed approximately 99.9% to their capital budgetary allocations. Jarque-Bera test statistics reveals that capital budgetary allocation and all other variables were normally distributed. The covariance analysis showed that all the variables were significant with a positive association with capital budgetary allocation. Based on the findings, the study concludes that there is poor allocation of budget for health sector and water resources, while expenditure on environmental sanitation was significant at 5%. The study recommends that government should increase the intervention budgetary allocation to health sector for general well-being of citizens.
Detection of perillyl alcohol and its metabolite perillic acid in postsurgical glioblastoma tissue after intranasal administration of NEO100: illustrative case

BACKGROUND Intranasal delivery of NEO100, a pharmaceutical-grade version of the natural monoterpene perillyl alcohol (POH), is undergoing clinical phase IIa testing as a treatment for glioblastoma (GBM). However, so far there is no evidence that intranasal delivery of NEO100 indeed results in POH reaching intracranial malignancies in a patient. OBSERVATIONS After surgical removal of her recurrent GBM tumor, a patient received daily intranasal NEO100 therapy for more than 3 years before a second recurrence emerged. At that time, a final dose of NEO100 was given shortly before the tumor tissue was surgically removed, and the tissue was processed for high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of POH and its primary metabolite, perillic acid (PA). Both molecules could readily be detected in the tumor tissue. LESSONS This is the first demonstration of POH and PA in brain tumor tissue from any patient. It reveals that intranasal administration of NEO100 is a valid approach to achieve delivery of this agent to a brain tumor. In view of the noninvasive and safe nature of this method, along with tentative indications of activity, our findings add confidence to the notion that intranasal administration of NEO100 holds potential as a new treatment option for brain-localized malignancies.
Role of global aberrant alternative splicing events in papillary thyroid cancer prognosis

Background: Alternative splicing events have been increasingly reported for anomalous perturbations in various cancers, including papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Methods: Integration analysis of RNA sequencing and clinical information were utilized to identify survival associated splicing events in PTC. Then, several prognosis-related splicing events were submitted to develop moderate predictors for survival monitoring by using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator model. In addition, several biomedical computational algorithms were conducted to identify pathways enriched by genes with prognostic splicing events and construct regulatory network dominated by splicing factors. Results: Survival analysis in 496 PTC patients indicated that TNM stage, tumor stage, distant metastasis and tumor status were significantly correlated with PTC patients' progression-free interval. 2799 splicing events were identified as prognostic molecular events. Functional enrichment analysis suggested that prognostic splicing events are associated with several energy metabolism-related processes. Based on these prognostic events, several prognostic signatures were developed. The final prognostic signature acted as an independent prognostic factor after adjusting for several clinical parameters. Interestingly, splicing regulatory network was constructed to display potential regulatory mechanisms of splicing events in PTC. Conclusions: Our analysis provides the status of splicing events involved in the progression and may represent an underappreciated hallmark of PTC.
Homotopy Optimization and ANN Modeling of Millimeter-Wave SIW Cruciform Coupler

The development of millimeter-wave and terahertz (THz) passive components such as couplers and filters is an intimidating task because of underlying ultrasensitivity of electrical performances to geometric dimensions and processing tolerances. It is a common practice for us to use an integrated optimizer of commercial electromagnetic (EM) software packages for the design and optimization of such geometric parameters. However, those optimizers may fail to achieve a desired performance if initial variables are not in a range close enough to the optimal solution. In this article, we introduce an homotopy approach to optimizing the geometric parameters of a $D$ -band cruciform coupler based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technique in conjunction with an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Starting from a set of initial variables, a homotopy optimization is set to search for an optimum solution. The ANN technique is adopted as the surrogate in place of a usual time-consuming EM model to accelerate the homotopy optimization process of the cruciform coupler. We propose a feed-forward computational formulation inspired by the fundamental transmission line impedance equation. Such a transmission line knowledge-based feedforward network results in a faster convergence with better accuracy than its conventional counterpart. To demonstrate the homotopy optimization method based on the ANN model, an example of multiparameterized cruciform coupler design is detailed. This cruciform coupler with optimized geometric dimensions is simulated, fabricated, and measured. Measured and simulated results validate the combined ANN model and homotopy method. An equivalent lumped-element circuit model of the cruciform coupler is also proposed in this work. An ANN model development technique is described how to extract the equivalent circuit parameters for given coupler specifications. Extracted circuit parameters in connection with the desired coupler performance are then compared with published results which verify the ANN model development algorithm.
Electret Properties of Layered Structures Based on Low Density Polyethylene Films

Electret charge storage and transport have been studied in layered low-density polyethylene structures by means of thermally surface potential decay and recovery. It has been found that during charge decay in layered polyethylene structures, the homocharge is transported through the polymer layers with retrapping in the deep traps located at the inner interface. Double- or multilayer film structures can be an interesting tool to study processes of charge storage and transport in polymers. Especially the role of interfaces can be in this way highlighted and studied in a controlled manner.
Low Leakage Current and High Breakdown Field AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs Using PECVD-SiNx as a Gate Dielectric

In this paper, SiNx film deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was employed as a gate dielectric of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). We found that the NH3 flow during the deposition of SiNx can significantly affect the performances of metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) HEMTs. Compared to that without using NH3 flow, the device with the optimized NH3 flow exhibited three orders of magnitude lower gate leakage current, two orders of magnitude higher ON/OF drain current ratio, and an increased breakdown field by 69%. In addition, an in situ N2 plasma surface treatment prepared prior to SiNx deposition can further improve DC performances of MIS-HEMTs to a very low gate leakage current of 10−9 mA/mm and a high ON/OFF drain current ratio up to 109 by reducing the interface state density. These results demonstrate the great potential for using PECVD-SiNx as a gate dielectric in GaN-based MIS-HEMTs.
Changes in Aerosols, Meteorology, and Radiation in the Southeastern US Warming Hole Region During 2000-2019

Surface air temperatures in the southeastern United States (SEUS) that did not change from the climatological mean from 1900 to 2000 have increased since the year 2000. Analyzed herein are factors modulating the surface air temperatures in the region for a 20-year period (2000 to 2019) using space- and surface-based observations, and output from a reanalysis model. The 20-year period is segregated into two decades, 2000-2009 and 2010-2019 corresponding to different tropospheric chemical regimes. Changes in seasonal and decadal averages are examined. The later decade experienced higher average surface air temperatures with significant warming during summer and fall seasons. Decadal and seasonal averages of cloud properties, column water vapor, rain rates, and top-of-atmosphere outgoing longwave radiation did not exhibit statistically significant differences between the two decades. The region experienced strong warm and moist advection during the winter months and very weak advection during the summer months. The later decade exhibited higher low-level moisture advection during the winter months than the earlier decade with insignificant changes in the temperature advection between the two decades. The later decade had significantly lower aerosol dry and liquid water mass during all seasons, along with lower aerosol optical depth (AOD), higher single scattering albedo and lower top-of-the-atmosphere outgoing shortwave radiation during cloud-free conditions in the summer season. Collectively these results suggest changes in the aerosol direct radiative forcing to be responsible for warming during summer months that experiences weak advection and highlight seasonal differences in the temperature controlling mechanisms in the region.