Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supervision of Chinese social work students during field practice: Harmonising a student-focused, egalitarian approach with traditional teaching and learning

This article explores the extent to which approaches to supervision developed outside of China fit with Chinese cultural approaches to learning and teaching. Qualitative data were collected from students and supervisors from three different regions in China. The findings suggest that a student-focused, egalitarian approach is fundamental to promote students’ learning at the current developmental stage of the social work profession in China. This approach is in conflict to some degree with the deeply rooted traditional teacher-centred, authoritative teaching and learning style. This study illustrates how a student-focused, equalitarian approach could be applied to alleviate such a tension.
First and Second Order Wave-Current Interactions for Floating Bodies

The influence of current in sea-keeping problems is felt not only for first order quantities such as wave run-ups in front of the structure, but also mainly for second order quantities. In particular, the wave drift damping (which is expressed as the derivative of drift force with respect to the current) is of special interest for mooring systems. The interaction effects of a double-body steady flow on wave diffraction-radiation is studied through a decomposition of the time-harmonic potential into linear and interaction components. A boundary integral method is used to solve the first order problem. Ultimately, a far-field method is proposed to get access to second order drift forces.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Botulinum Neurotoxin Therapy in the Clinical Management of Laryngeal Dystonia

Laryngeal dystonia (LD), or spasmodic dysphonia (SD), is a chronic, task-specific, focal movement disorder affecting the larynx. It interferes primarily with the essential functions of phonation and speech. LD affects patients’ ability to communicate effectively and significantly diminishes their quality of life. Botulinum neurotoxin was first used as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of LD four decades ago and remains the standard of care for the treatment of LD. This article provides an overview of the clinical application of botulinum neurotoxin in the management of LD, focusing on the classification for this disorder, its pathophysiology, clinical assessment and diagnosis, the role of laryngeal electromyography and a summary of therapeutic injection techniques, including a comprehensive description of various procedural approaches, recommendations for injection sites and dosage considerations.
Constrained Cooperative Control for High-Order Fully Actuated Multiagent Systems With Application to Air-Bearing Spacecraft Simulators

This article is concerned with the constrained cooperative control for high-order fully actuated multiagent systems (HOFAMASs) subject to input saturation and prescribed performance. A predictive control scheme is given to achieve constrained cooperation among HOFAMASs. In this scheme, an incremental HOFA (IHOFA) prediction model is constructed by using a Diophantine equation to replace a reduced-order one. A cost function, investigating the cooperative performance and the constraints on input saturation and prescribed performance, is optimized by multistep output predictions so that the optimal constrained cooperative controllers are developed to satisfy the consensus requirement and given constraints. The further discussion gives a condition of stability and consensus, which is convenient to check and extend in practice. Simulated and experimental results of formation control for air-bearing spacecraft simulators are shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the provided scheme.
STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT OF LIMIT OF A FUNCTION IN VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

The authors report on a study which used the APOS theory to examine vocational high school students’ understanding of limit of functions. The limits of real functions were taught to computer technology, electricity-energy, electronics and automation, construction, and machinery-metal technology programs students at a vocational high school in Kocaeli University in Turkey. It is given the analysis of students’ responses to four types of questions on limits of real functions; limits of split-functions, limits at infinity of rational functions, limits of functions not defined at a point, and continuity of real functions. As a main finding of the study, vocational high school students find difficult to understand the limits of real functions. Also, it suggests that this is possibly the result of many students not having appropriate mental structures at the process, object and schema levels.
A model of ultrashort laser pulse absorption in solid targets

A model for ultrashort laser pulse absorption and solid target heating has been developed. It combines a description of laser light absorption in the skin layer with a simple model of plasma heating. Heat wave propagation into the cold target material is the only loss mechanism balancing energy deposition due to absorption. An absorption coefficient is derived from the plasma conductivity and includes a description of physical processes responsible for collisional and collisionless skin layer absorption mechanisms. Comparison with recent femtosecond laser pulse interaction experiment data show good agreement over a wide range of pulse intensities. For laser intensities above 1016 W/cm2 plasma hydrodynamical expansion, which is neglected in our model contributes to a discrepancy between the calculated absorption and experimental data.
Destination Competitiveness and Human Development: The Compelling Critical Force of Human Agency

The study investigates whether governance and human agency act as intervening factors in the context of destination competitiveness and human development. This study employs the capability approach—that is, operationalizing human agency from an empowerment (feminist) perspective—and employed a case study research strategy to highlight the criticality of context. The results point to a bidirectional relationship between destination competitiveness and human development. Findings support three requisites: empowering people through occupational opportunities, promoting tourism toward sustaining human development, and placing agency over governance regarding public resource allocation. Surprisingly, results indicated that governance is lacking in the relationship between destination competitiveness and human development. Future research should concentrate on investigating urban versus rural destinations and gender roles, and in disaggregating employement indices to further understand the nature and forces of such relationships.
Virtual and Augmented Reality versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Physiotherapy: A Systematic Review

The use of virtual worlds in health-related education is increasingly popular, but an overview of their use in physiotherapy education is still needed. The aim of this review was to analyse the use of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) compared to traditional methods for teaching physiotherapy. A systematic review was performed up to October 2022 in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycInfo. The quality appraisal and risk of bias were assessed by the Joana Briggs Institute checklist and the Cochrane Collaboration’s RoB Tool 2.0, respectively. A total of seven randomised and non-randomised controlled studies were included, involving 737 students. VR/AR-based teaching approaches included simulation and virtual worlds, and were conducted through immersive head-mounted displays, AR-based applications, and 3D visualisations. Three studies were focused on teaching anatomy content, two on clinical decision making skills, and the rest were focused on pathology, physiotherapy tasks or exercise performance, and movement analysis of lower limbs. Inconclusive results were found in terms of learning satisfaction and academic performance, showing VR/AR-based teaching models to be equally effective as traditional methods for teaching physiotherapy. We encourage researchers and teachers to include games in their VR/AR-based teaching approaches to enhance interaction and active learning in physiotherapy education.
Coxiella burnetii and Bartonella Endocarditis Diagnosed by Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing

(1) Background: Culture-negative endocarditis is challenging to diagnose. Here, we retrospectively identified 23 cases of Coxiella burnetii and Bartonella endocarditis by metagenomic next-generation sequencing. (2) Methods: Twenty-three patients with culture-negative endocarditis were retrospectively enrolled from Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (n = 23) between April 2019 and December 2021. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing was performed on blood (n = 22) and excised cardiac valvular tissue samples (n = 22) for etiological identification, and Sanger sequencing was performed for pathogenic diagnostic verification. The demographic and clinical data of the 23 patients were obtained from hospital electronic health records. (3) Results: A total of 23 male patients (median age, 56 years (interquartile range, 16)) with culture-negative endocarditis were diagnosed with Coxiella burnetii (n = 21) or Bartonella (n = 2) species infection by metagenomic next-generation sequencing. All patients underwent cardiac surgery. The resected tissue exhibited both a significantly higher number of unique suspected pathogen read-pairs and more unique pathogen read-pairs than the blood specimens. The results of Sanger sequencing tests on all remaining tissue and blood specimens were positive. Oral doxycycline was added to the antibiotic regimen for at least 1.5 years according to etiology. A total of 21 patients (91%) were discharged, and 20 patients were healthy at the 21-month (interquartile range, 15) follow-up visit. One patient exhibited endocarditis relapse with the same pathogen from inadequate antibiotic administration. The last 2 patients (9%) developed septic shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome postoperatively and died shortly after discharge. (4) Conclusions: CNE caused by C. burnetii and Bartonella species is challenging to diagnose and exhibits poor outcome due to delayed treatment. In response, mNGS, characterized by high sensitivity and rapid results, is an effective alternative for the etiological identification of C. burnetii and Bartonella endocarditis.
Methylation of TET2 Promoter Is Associated with Global Hypomethylation and Hypohydroxymethylation in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

(1) Background: It is widely accepted that aberrant methylation patterns contribute to the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Ten–eleven translocation (TET) methylcytosine dioxygenase is an essential enzyme of which there are three members, TET1, 2, and 3, involved in hydroxymethylation, a newly uncovered mechanism of active DNA methylation. The epigenomes of gene transcription are regulated by 5-hydroxymethylcytocine (5-hmC) and TETs, leading to dysregulation of the immune system in SLE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the global hydroxymethylation status in SLE peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and to explore the role of TETs in changing the patterns of methylation. (2) Methods: We collected PBMCs from 101 SLE patients and 100 healthy donors. TaqMan real-time polymerase chain-reaction assay was performed for the detection of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC), 5-hmC, and TET2 mRNA expression and single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. The methylation rates in different CpG sites of TET2 promoters were examined using next-generation sequencing-based deep bisulfite sequencing. Putative transcription factors were investigated using the UCSC Genome Browser on the Human Dec. 2013 (GRCh38/hg38) Assembly. (3) Results: 5-mC and 5-hmC were both decreased in SLE. The mRNA expression level of TET2 was notably high and found to be correlated with the levels of immunologic biomarkers that are indicative of SLE disease activity. The analysis of methylation rates in the TET2 promoter revealed that SLE patients had significantly higher and lower rates of methylation in TET2 105146072-154 and TET2 105146218-331, respectively. (4) Conclusions: TET2 may play an important role in 5-mC/5-hmC dynamics in the PBMCs of SLE patients. The epigenetic modification of TET2 promoters could contribute to the pathogenesis of SLE and the intensity of the immunologic reaction.
The polar cusp from a particle point of view: A statistical study based on Viking data

We present results from the particle measurements made on board the Viking satellite. For the period of interest the Viking orbits covered at high latitudes the whole dayside sector. Data from the Viking V-3 particle experiment acquired during the Polar Region Outer Magnetospheric International Study period (March 15 to June 15, 1986) have been used to study the extension of the cusp and cleft in magnetic local time and invariant latitude, and furthermore, their dependence on solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field parameters. The study is limited to the MLT range from 0900 to 1500 and to invariant latitudes (ILAT) from 74° to 82°. This region is divided into bins of size (15 min MLT × 0.2° ILAT). We concentrated on the region where magnetosheath solar wind plasma penetrates more directly into the magnetosphere and is measured at Viking altitudes (≈13,000 km). This region is called the “cusp proper” (Lundin et al., 1988; Newell and Meng, 1989), to be distinguished from a broader region denoted the cleft, where more energetic particles are observed. Statistically, we find the cusp proper to extend from invariant latitudes of 75° to 82° and magnetic local times from 0930 to 1400 MLT. The width in ILAT is found to be on average ≈2° and in MLT ≈ 2 hours. It is shown that a clear correlation exists between the densities in the cusp proper calculated from the Viking V-3 experiment in the cusp proper and those in the solar wind calculated from IMP 8 measurements. It is also shown that the position of the cusp proper in MLT depends on the sense of the By component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF By), giving a well-defined displacement of the region of maximum occurrence toward earlier MLTs for IMF By 0.
Juvenile survival curves in a solitary ground squirrel with a prolonged hibernation: effects of individual characteristics, environment, and maternal investment

Abstract Juvenile survival is a key life-history influence on population dynamics and adaptive evolution. We analyzed the effects of individual characteristics, early environment, and maternal investment on juvenile survival in a large solitary hibernating rodent—yellow ground squirrel Spermophilus fulvus using Cox mixed-effects models. Only 48% of weaned pups survived to dispersal and 17% survived to hibernation. Early life expectancy was primarily determined by individual characteristics and, to a lesser extent, by the early environment. The strongest and positive predictor of juvenile survival was body mass which crucially affected mortality immediately after weaning. Males suffered higher mortality than females after the onset of dispersal; however, the overall difference between sexes was partly masked by high rates of mortality in the first days after emergence in both sexes. Later emerged juveniles had lower life expectancy than the earliest pups. The overall effect of local juvenile density was positive. Prolonged lactation did not enhance juvenile survival: Pups nursed longer survived shorter than the young nursed for a shorter period. Our findings support the hypothesis that females of S. fulvus cannot effectively regulate maternal expenditures to mitigate the effects of unfavorable conditions on their offspring. The strategy to deal with seasonal time constraints on life history in female S. fulvus suggests an early termination of maternal care at the cost of juvenile quality and survival. This female reproductive strategy corresponds to a “fast-solitary” life of folivorous desert-dwelling S. fulvus and other solitary ground squirrels with prolonged hibernation.
Magneto‐Fluid‐Mechanic Channel Flow. I. Experiment

An experiment is described in which fully developed turbulent channel flow of mercury was investigated in the presence of a uniform transverse magnetic field. The channel test section was constructed from an electrical insulator and was rectangular in cross section. The flow was studied in the range of Reynolds numbers: 58 000–180 000, based on channel equivalent diameter. Hartmann number was varied between zero and values sufficiently high to change the flow from turbulent to laminar at the corresponding Reynolds number. Skin friction coefficients were deduced from static pressure measurements along the length of the channel. Velocity profiles were obtained from traversing probe total head measurements.
Severe ocular alkali injury managed with an externally sutured amniotic membrane and customized symblepharon ring

Alkali injuries are ocular emergencies that require immediate evaluation and therapy to preserve vision. Severe alkali injuries can result in long-term vision-threatening sequelae including symblepharon, corneal ulceration, corneal scarring, limbal stem cell deficiency, xerophthalmia, cicatricial changes of the eyelid and adnexa, glaucoma, uveitis, and permanent vision loss. Treatment is aimed at neutralizing the pH, controlling inflammation, and restoring the ocular surface. Here, we present the case of a 35-year-old male who sustained direct ocular exposure to sodium hydroxide, resulting in significant corneal and conjunctival epithelial defects despite aggressive initial medical therapy. The patient subsequently received a large, externally sutured amniotic membrane (AM) with a customized symblepharon ring to promote healing. The corneal and conjunctival defects resolved, and at 4 months after the initial injury, the patient's visual acuity had improved to 20/25. Clinicians should be aware of the various surgical techniques to place an AM transplantation and identify the best strategy based on clinical findings and the extent and severity of the injury.
A continuum model for flow-induced crystallization of polymer melts

A macroscopic, continuum model based on the Hamiltonian/Poisson Bracket formalism, combined with the Avrami equation, is developed to simulate flow-induced crystallization of polymer melts in homogeneous flow fields under isothermal conditions. The model predicts crystallization kinetics as well as rheological and rheooptical behavior of semicrystalline systems. The amorphous phase is modeled as a modified Giesekus fluid and the crystalline phase is approximated as a collection of multibead rigid rods that grow and orient in the flow field. The two phases are coupled with crystallinity via the dissipative Poisson brackets. The input parameters of the model can be obtained from experiments. Orders of magnitude reduction in induction times and enhancements in crystallization rates are predicted to occur under flow. Critical deformation rates are captured above which induction times sharply decrease. Calculations show increases in stiffness and strain hardening of the semicrystalline system via dramatic increases in the system stresses during crystallization. Moreover, for the temperature range studied, hydrodynamic forces dominate the undercooling effect in the regime of high deformation rates. The simulations also predict more rapid induction of crystallization following cessation of flow relative to quiescent crystallization.A macroscopic, continuum model based on the Hamiltonian/Poisson Bracket formalism, combined with the Avrami equation, is developed to simulate flow-induced crystallization of polymer melts in homogeneous flow fields under isothermal conditions. The model predicts crystallization kinetics as well as rheological and rheooptical behavior of semicrystalline systems. The amorphous phase is modeled as a modified Giesekus fluid and the crystalline phase is approximated as a collection of multibead rigid rods that grow and orient in the flow field. The two phases are coupled with crystallinity via the dissipative Poisson brackets. The input parameters of the model can be obtained from experiments. Orders of magnitude reduction in induction times and enhancements in crystallization rates are predicted to occur under flow. Critical deformation rates are captured above which induction times sharply decrease. Calculations show increases in stiffness and strain hardening of the semicrystalline system via dramatic incr.
Numerical study of radiation effect on MHD transient mixed-convection flow over a moving vertical cylinder with constant heat flux

In this paper, a numerical analysis to study thermal radiation effect on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) unsteady mixed-convection flow over a moving vertical cylinder with constant heat flux through a porous medium in the presence of transversal uniform magnetic field has been performed. The boundary layer equations are transformed into a linear algebraic system by a Crank–Nicolson type of implicit finite-difference method. The stability condition of the scheme was studied. Numerical results are presented with various sets of parameters for both air and water. The results show many interesting effects on velocity, temperature and concentration profiles on local as well as average shear stress, rate of heat and mass transfer. Also, the velocity and temperature profiles are compared with the available results in the literature and it is found to be in good agreement. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optical polarimetry of infrared excess stars

We present UBRVI polarimetry measurements for a group of 38 IRAS infrared excess stars and complement these observations with V -band data taken from the literature for 87 additional objects. After correcting the observed values by the interstellar contribution, we find that 48% of the analyzed sample has polarization excess. In addition, the polarization of these stars may correlate with infrared color excesses, particularly at 60 and 100 μ m. We caution, however, that poor IRAS data quality at longer wavelengths affects this correlation. We analyze the wavelength dependence of the linear polarization of 15 polarized objects in relation to Serkowski's empirical interstellar law. We find that for 6 to 7 objects (depending on the interstellar model) the measured polarization differs significantly from the empirical interstellar law, suggesting an intrinsic origin. We analyze the polarimetry distribution of IRAS infrared excess objects in relation to the Exoplanet host stars (i.e., stars associated with at least one likely planetary mass object). The corresponding polarimetry distributions are different within a high confidence level. Finally, we compare the metallicity distributions of F and G IRAS infrared excess, Exoplanet host and field main sequence stars, and find that F-G IRAS infrared excess objects have metallicities quite similar (although not identical) to field main sequence stars and significantly different from the Exoplanet host group.