Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effectiveness of Online Education during Covid 19 Pandemic—A Comparative Analysis between the Perceptions of Academic Students and High School Students from Romania

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted normal activities such as going to school, moving education online. Based on data gathered through a survey (N = 784), this paper analyses students’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of online education in a period when this type of education is the only available option. Although several studies suggest that online education can be as effective as traditional education which requires attendance, few studies have focused on learner satisfaction with online instruction, particularly in the transition to online learning from traditional approaches. The results indicate that students react differently to online education, and their reaction is based on their proficiency in using online tools, their ability to technically access online courses, and the instructors’ manner in conducting learning activities.
Multimodal Approach to Predict Neurological Outcome after Cardiac Arrest: A Single-Center Experience

Introduction: The aims of this study were to assess the concordance of different tools and to describe the accuracy of a multimodal approach to predict unfavorable neurological outcome (UO) in cardiac arrest patients. Methods: Retrospective study of adult (>18 years) cardiac arrest patients who underwent multimodal monitoring; UO was defined as cerebral performance category 3–5 at 3 months. Predictors of UO were neurological pupillary index (NPi) ≤ 2 at 24 h; highly malignant patterns on EEG (HMp) within 48 h; bilateral absence of N20 waves on somato-sensory evoked potentials; and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) > 75 μg/L. Time-dependent decisional tree (i.e., NPi on day 1; HMp on day 1–2; absent N20 on day 2–3; highest NSE) and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis were used to assess the prediction of UO. Results: Of 137 patients, 104 (73%) had UO. Abnormal NPi, HMp on day 1 or 2, the bilateral absence of N20 or NSE >75 mcg/L had a specificity of 100% to predict UO. The presence of abnormal NPi was highly concordant with HMp and high NSE, and absence of N20 or high NSE with HMp. However, HMp had weak to moderate concordance with other predictors. The time-dependent decisional tree approach identified 73/103 patients (70%) with UO, showing a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 100%. Using the CART approach, HMp on EEG was the only variable significantly associated with UO. Conclusions: This study suggests that patients with UO had often at least two predictors of UO, except for HMp. A multimodal time-dependent approach may be helpful in the prediction of UO after CA. EEG should be included in all multimodal prognostic models.
Ferromagnetic Resonance and Antiresonance in Composite Medium with Flakes of Finemet-Like Alloy

Propagation of microwaves is studied in a composite material containing flakes of Fe-Si-Nb-Cu-B alloy placed into an epoxyamine matrix. The theory is worked out, which permits to calculate the coefficients of the dynamic magnetic permeability tensor and the effective magnetic permeability of the transversely magnetized composite. The measurements of magnetic field dependences of the transmission and reflection coefficients were carried out at frequencies from 12 to 38 GHz. Comparison between calculated and measured coefficients were conducted, which show that the calculation reproduces all main features of the resonance variations caused by ferromagnetic resonance and antiresonance. The dissipation of microwave power was calculated and measured. It is shown that the penetration depth of the electromagnetic field increases under antiresonance condition and decreases under resonance.
Theoretical Analysis for Tire Cavity Resonance inside Deformed Stationary Tire

Tire cavity resonance is one source of noise inside cars. In the case of a deformed tire, this resonance splits into horizontal and vertical modes around the fundamental mode in the range of 180-280 Hz. The frequency difference between these two modes is derived theoretically using Thompson theory and modeling the tire cavity as a stepped tube. However, theoretical and experimental results do not agree in cases of substantial deformation. In this study, we expand the theory by using a multiple-stepped-tube model. The model geometrical parameters and the difference between the two modes are measured using a multi-microphone system. For the tire conditions of the tire load of 5 kN and the internal pressure of 200 kPa, the result of the expanded theory agrees with the experimental results comparing to other theories.
How non-executive strategy professionals in multi-business firms strategize

Purpose – This paper expands theory on strategists by investigating how non-executive strategy professionals in multi-business firms strategize. In focus is the strategizing of two groups of non-executive strategy professionals: a corporate strategy team and eleven business strategists employed in each of the incorporated units. Design/methodology/approach –A case study designwas employed to explore privileged accessed data to gain first-hand in-depth qualities of strategists’ work. The design was characterized by phenomenon driven immersed participatory insider research with retrospective reflection and theorizing. Data includes strategies, interview data, calendars, meeting minutes, workshop material and observational field notes. Findings – Non-executive strategy professionals in multi-business firms are either employed at the corporate center or in the peripheral businesses. Based on this location and their individual experiences they assume an exclusive content or an inclusive process strategizing orientation. In practice, the groups strategize tightly together. Research limitations/implications – Case studies are useful in explorative research providing thick descriptions. While empirically rich, the results of this study are limited by the context of one single case. Future research is encouraged to confirm, contradict and refine the results presented. Practical implications – The insights from this study can help organizations regarding how to employ strategy professionals in multi-business firms. Originality/value – This paper contributes to a recognized need to explore strategists’ work. In contrary to the majority of existing research, focusing on senior management and/or strategy formulation, this paper highlighted non-executive strategy professionals’ strategizing.
MOUSSE: Multi-Omics Using Subject-Specific SignaturEs

Simple Summary Modern profiling technologies have led to relevant progress toward precision medicine and disease management. A new trend in patient classification is to integrate multiple data types for the same subjects to increase the chance of identifying meaningful phenotype groups. However, these methodologies are still in their infancy, with their performance varying widely depending on the biological conditions analyzed. We developed MOUSSE, a new unsupervised and normalization-free tool for multi-omics integration able to maintain good clustering performance across a wide range of omics data. We verified its efficiency in clustering patients based on survival for ten different cancer types. The results we obtained show a higher average score in classification performance than ten other state-of-the-art algorithms. We have further validated the method by identifying a list of biological features potentially involved in patient survival, finding a high degree of concordance with the literature. Abstract High-throughput technologies make it possible to produce a large amount of data representing different biological layers, examples of which are genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and transcriptomics. Omics data have been individually investigated to understand the molecular bases of various diseases, but this may not be sufficient to fully capture the molecular mechanisms and the multilayer regulatory processes underlying complex diseases, especially cancer. To overcome this problem, several multi-omics integration methods have been introduced but a commonly agreed standard of analysis is still lacking. In this paper, we present MOUSSE, a novel normalization-free pipeline for unsupervised multi-omics integration. The main innovations are the use of rank-based subject-specific signatures and the use of such signatures to derive subject similarity networks. A separate similarity network was derived for each omics, and the resulting networks were then carefully merged in a way that considered their informative content. We applied it to analyze survival in ten different types of cancer. We produced a meaningful clusterization of the subjects and obtained a higher average classification score than ten state-of-the-art algorithms tested on the same data. As further validation, we extracted from the subject-specific signatures a list of relevant features used for the clusterization and investigated their biological role in survival. We were able to verify that, according to the literature, these features are highly involved in cancer progression and differential survival.
Individual Differences in Attention and Intelligence: A United Cognitive/Psychometric Approach

Process overlap theory (POT) is a new theoretical framework designed to account for the general factor of intelligence (g). According to POT, g does not reflect a general cognitive ability. Instead, g is the result of multiple domain-general executive attention processes and multiple domain-specific processes that are sampled in an overlapping manner across a battery of intelligence tests. POT explains several benchmark findings on human intelligence. However, the precise nature of the executive attention processes underlying g remains unclear. In the current paper, we discuss challenges associated with building a theory of individual differences in attention and intelligence. We argue that the conflation of psychological theories and statistical models, as well as problematic inferences based on latent variables, impedes research progress and prevents theory building. Two studies designed to illustrate the unique features of POT relative to previous approaches are presented. In Study 1, a simulation is presented to illustrate precisely how POT accounts for the relationship between executive attention processes and g. In Study 2, three datasets from previous studies are reanalyzed (N = 243, N = 234, N = 945) and reveal a discrepancy between the POT simulated model and the unity/diversity model of executive function. We suggest that this discrepancy is largely due to methodological problems in previous studies but also reflects different goals of research on individual differences in attention. The unity/diversity model is designed to facilitate research on executive function and dysfunction associated with cognitive and neural development and disease. POT is uniquely suited to guide and facilitate research on individual differences in cognitive ability and the investigation of executive attention processes underlying g.
Evaluating Anticancer and Immunomodulatory Effects of Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis and Gamma-Tocotrienol Supplementation in a Syngeneic Mouse Model of Breast Cancer

Nutrition can modulate host immune responses as well as promote anticancer effects. In this study, two nutritional supplements, namely gamma-tocotrienol (γT3) and Spirulina, were evaluated for their immune-enhancing and anticancer effects in a syngeneic mouse model of breast cancer (BC). Five-week-old female BALB/c mice were fed Spirulina, γT3, or a combination of Spirulina and γT3 (Spirulina + γT3) for 56 days. The mice were inoculated with 4T1 cells into their mammary fat pad on day 28 to induce BC. The animals were culled on day 56 for various analyses. A significant reduction (p < 0.05) in tumor volume was only observed on day 37 and 49 in animals fed with the combination of γT3 + Spirulina. There was a marked increase (p < 0.05) of CD4/CD127+ T-cells and decrease (p < 0.05) of T-regulatory cells in peripheral blood from mice fed with either γT3 or Spirulina. The breast tissue of the combined group showed abundant areas of necrosis, but did not prevent metastasis to the liver. Although there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) of MIG-6 and Cadherin 13 expression in tumors from γT3-fed animals, there were no significant (p > 0.05) differences in the expression of MIG-6, Cadherin 13, BIRC5, and Serpine1 upon combined feeding. This showed that combined γT3 + Spirulina treatment did not show any synergistic anticancer effects in this study model.
Development and Validation of an End-to-End Simulator and Gas Concentration Retrieval Processor Applied to the MERLIN Lidar Mission

In the context of MERLIN (MEthane Remote LIdar missioN), a French–German spatial lidar mission dedicated to monitoring the atmospheric methane content, two software programs have been developed: LIDSIM (LIDar SIMulator) and PROLID (PROcessor LIDar). The objectives are to assess whether the instrument design meets the performance requirements and to study the sensitivity of this performance to geophysical parameters. LIDSIM is an end-to-end mission simulator and PROLID is a retrieval processor that provides mole fractions of methane in dry air, averaged over an atmospheric column. These two tools are described in this paper. Results of the validation tests and the first full orbit simulations are reported. Merlin target performance does not seem to be reachable but breakthrough performance is reached.
Assessment of Referrals and Hospitalizations in the Hospital Transformed into COVID-19 Facility in Poland during the “Spring Wave” of the Epidemic in 2020—A Cross-Sectional Study

The study aimed to evaluate hospitalizations in a COVID-dedicated facility during the “spring wave” of the epidemic in 2020 in Poland and analyze changes in access to hospital treatment in the country in the early phase of the pandemic. We investigated all referrals and admissions to the Ministry of Interior and Administration hospital in Białystok from 14 April to 14 August 2020. A total of 238 patients were referred to the hospital (with a median age of 64.5 years; IQR, 44–78), most commonly with fever (n = 151; 63.5%). Only 135 (56.7%) were admitted (5.5% of the number hospitalized in the same period in 2019). SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed in 42 (17.7%) cases. Older people with concomitant diseases and disabilities dominated. Seventeen patients (12.6%) required ICU treatment, and 19 (14%) died. Based on the National Health Fund data, we also examined changes in the rate of hospitalizations in Poland and in selected Polish COVID/ and non-COVID hospitals between February and August 2019 and 2020. The number of hospitalizations in Poland decreased dramatically in comparison to 2019. A very low hospitalization rate, significantly lower than in structurally similar non-COVID hospitals, was observed in transformed hospitals. Better use of hospital resources was observed when the hospital was semi-transformed and had the flexibility to adapt to epidemiological needs. The study seems to confirm that the system of transformed COVID hospitals resulted in unused healthcare resources and limited patient access to medical services in the early period of the epidemic. As a consequence, systemic modifications allowing the maximization and adequate use of the Polish healthcare system’s limited resources have been implemented.
The Phenotypic Spectrum of 15q13.3 Region Duplications: Report of 5 Patients

Chromosome 15q13.3 microduplications are associated with a wide spectrum of clinical presentations ranging from normal to different neuropsychiatric conditions, such as developmental delay (DD), intellectual disability (ID), epilepsy, hypotonia, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia. The smallest region of overlap for 15q13.3 duplications encompasses the Cholinergic Receptor Nicotinic Alpha 7 Subunit (CHRNA7) gene, a strong candidate for the behavioral abnormalities. We report on a series of five patients with 15q13.3 duplications detected by chromosomal microarray. The size of the duplications ranged from 378 to 537 kb, and involved the CHRNA7 gene in all patients. The most common clinical features, present in all patients, were speech delay, autistic behavior, and muscle hypotonia; DD/ID was present in three patients. One patient presented epileptic seizures; EEG anomalies were observed in three patients. No consistent dysmorphic features were noted. Neuroimaging studies revealed anomalies in two patients: Dandy–Walker malformation and a right temporal cyst. 15q13.3 duplications are associated with various neuropsychiatric features, including speech delay, hypotonia, ASD, and ID, also present in our patient group. Our study brings detailed clinical and molecular data from five ASD patients with 15q13.3 microduplications involving the CHRNA7 gene, contributing to the existing knowledge about the association of 15q13.3 duplications with neuropsychiatric phenotypes.
Opportunities and Barriers for Adoption of a Decision-Support Tool for Alzheimer’s Disease

Clinical decision-support tools (DSTs) represent a valuable resource in healthcare. However, lack of Human Factors considerations and early design research has often limited their successful adoption. To complement previous technically focused work, we studied adoption opportunities of a future DST built on a predictive model of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) progression. Our aim is two-fold: exploring adoption opportunities for DSTs in AD clinical care, and testing a novel combination of methods to support this process. We focused on understanding current clinical needs and practices, and the potential for such a tool to be integrated into the setting, prior to its development. Our user-centred approach was based on field observations and semi-structured interviews, analysed through workflow analysis, user profiles, and a design-reality gap model. The first two are common practice, whilst the latter provided added value in highlighting specific adoption needs. We identified the likely early adopters of the tool as being both psychiatrists and neurologists based in research-oriented clinical settings. We defined ten key requirements for the translation and adoption of DSTs for AD around IT, user, and contextual factors. Future works can use and build on these requirements to stand a greater chance to get adopted in the clinical setting.
E↵ects of Dietary Quebracho Tannin on Performance Traits and Parasite Load in an Italian Slow-Growing Chicken (White

Tannins have shown numerous biological activities and are very appreciated in food animal production, especially for their antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antivirus e↵ects. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the e↵ect of two levels of dietary Quebracho tannin (QT) on growth and performance traits, and possible e↵ects on intestinal parasite load in Italian White Livorno pullets. A 140-day trial was carried out on 180 35-day-old females, fed on two levels of dietary QT inclusion: 0%, 1% and 2%. Birds were reared under free-range conditions. Dietary Quebracho tannin may be used up to 1% in growing female White Livorno chickens without any adverse e↵ects. The results observed in this study on the use of dietary QT at 2% might have not reflected the real e↵ect on performance traits due to the initial inclusion of dietary QT at 3%. Nevertheless, by reducing QT to 2%, a progressive normalization of body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio was observed, resulting in compensatory growth. QT was demonstrated to drastically reduce fecal outputs of Nematodes eggs (Ascaridia spp. and Heterakis spp.) and Coccidia oocytes (Eimeria spp.). The inclusion of 2% produced highly dry droppings.
Job Demands and Negative Outcomes after the Lockdown: The Moderating Role of Stigma towards Italian Supermarket Workers

The Job Demands-Resources model hypothesises that some variables (especially personal and social resources/threats) moderate the relationship between job demands and work outcomes. Based on this model, in this study we examine the role of stigma towards customers as a moderator of the relationship between job demands and a series of work outcomes: that is, fatigue, burnout, and satisfaction. We advance that the relationships between work demands and outcomes should be influenced by the employee’s perceptions regarding resources and constraint. In particular, we hypothesised that social stigma towards customers can represent a reliable moderating variable. Hypotheses were tested among 308 Italian supermarket workers in five supermarkets in the same chain, just after the end of the Italian lockdown caused by COVID-19. Results showed that stigma towards customers moderates the relationship between job demands and the consequences on the professional quality of life. The implications of these findings for the JD-R model are discussed.
Prevalence of High Resilience in Old Age and Association with Perceived Threat of COVID-19—Results from a Representative Survey

Little is known about resilience in old age and its manifestation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of high resilience in the German old age population. We further examine the socio-demographic correlates and whether high resilience reflects on older adults’ perception of the threat posed by COVID-19. The data were derived from a representative telephone survey of n = 1005 older adults (≥65 years) during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Assessments included socio-demographic variables, the perceived threat of COVID-19, and high resilience (Brief Resilience Scale; cutoff: ≥4.31). The association between high resilience and threat from COVID-19 was analyzed using ordinal logistic regression. The study sample had a mean age (SD) of 75.5 (7.1) years, and n = 566 (56.3%) were female. The estimated prevalence of high resilience was 18.7% (95% CI = [16.3; 21.2]). High resilience was more prevalent in the younger age group and participants with higher education levels. High resilience was significantly associated with a lower perception of threat from COVID-19. The results of the representative survey in the German old age population showed that one out of five adults aged 65 years and older had high resilience. Older adults with high resilience tended to feel less threatened by COVID-19. Further research on resilience in old age is needed to support vulnerable groups in the context of care.
PSYCHOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN PORTUGAL: PERFORMANCE IN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTES

The Polytechnic Institutes are training spaces of professional nature that integrate the higher education subsystem of Portugal. The expansion and democratization policies for higher education in Portugal required the expansion of academic support actions and hospitality for polytechnic institutes students. Thus, the presence of psychologists has been progressively implemented in the support services for higher education students in Portugal. This qualitative study aimed to map the performance of psychologists in higher education at the Polytechnic Institutes to characterize the practical actions developed by these professionals. It was also intended to broaden the debate on the contributions of school psychology in non-university training spaces, considering the specificities and the diverse demands of the academic community in Portugal. To this end, interviews were conducted with psychologists working in these contexts. Results show that the individualized interventions ́ approach is still prevalent. However, there are also records of the expansion of psychologists' work in the context of Polytechnic Institutes through programs for the development of transversal competences and for supporting the student ́s entry into the labor market.