Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intentional Youth Development Activities and Peer Effects in a Gang Prevention Program

We analyze the impact of group activities targeting Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and peer effects on the risk and protective factors associated with gang involvement among youth participating in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) Prevention program. We compare the impact of targeted and non-targeted activities in decreasing Internal Risk, External Risk, and Family Norms Risk, as measured by a standardized questionnaire. We show that targeted activities are effective in decreasing Internal Risk and that activities focusing on Emotional Management are the most beneficial. Since targeted activities involve group interactions, we investigate the impact of peer network effects on outcomes using both a linear-in-means model and dynamic mode decomposition with control (DMDc). Our analysis suggests that peer network effects contribute to beneficial changes in risk and protective factors above and beyond the skill-building content of the activities.
Information gap in INEC communications and its influence on vote buying outcome in 2023 gubernatorial election in Delta State, Nigeria

The hallmark of democracy is regular elections. The education of voters before elections must be effective and efficient. This study on the knowledge gap in elections identifies potential ineffective voter education strategies that result in the success of vote-buying, a hotly debated and viral topic in today's conversation on the conduct of elections in Nigeria. The research method employed for the study was survey. Copies of the questionnaire were utilized to collect information, which was then analyzed using basic descriptive statistical techniques. The study, which is based on theories of the State and Clientelism, aims to ascertain the degree to which INEC, NGOs, and other Government agencies educated the electorates before the 2023 elections as well as the level, if any, of vote-buying in the Delta state governorship elections. The results demonstrate that there is a lack of effective and efficient voters' education, and this has a detrimental influence on citizens' trust and confidence in Nigeria's electoral system, resulting in a variety of electoral manipulations. Before elections, the report suggested voter education to inform the people.
SEED: An Effective Model for Highly-Skewed Streamflow Time Series Data Forecasting

Accurate time series forecasting is crucial in various domains, but predicting highly-skewed and heavy-tailed univariate series poses challenges. We introduce the Segment-Expandable Encoder-Decoder (SEED) model, designed for such time series. SEED incorporates segment representation learning, Kullback-Leibler divergence regularization, and an importance-enhanced sampling policy. We tested our model on the 3-day ahead single-shot prediction task on four hydrologic datasets. Experimental results demonstrate SEED’s effectiveness in optimizing the forecasting process (10-30% of root mean square error reductions over state-of-the-art methods), underlining its notable potential for practical applications in univariate, skewed, long-term time series prediction tasks.
Prevalence and risk factors of plantar fasciitis amongst the population of Al Jouf region: a cross-sectional study

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of plantar fasciitis (PF) among the population of Al Jouf region in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design and used data from a sample of 665 people living in the Al Jouf region of Saudi Arabia. After guaranteeing their confidentiality, the participants answered a validated self-administered questionnaire. Results: The study primarily consisted of adults aged less than 40 years (63.3%, n=421), with a predominance of females (58.6%, n=390), majority of them were singles (50.4%, n=335), with university education (72.0%, n=479) and 42.3% (n=281) were employed. The study established 12% (n=80) prevalence rate of PF among the population of Al Jouf, Saudi Arabia. In terms of comorbidities, 9.3% (n=62) participants had obesity, while 8.3% (n=55) had diabetes, Further, tobacco use or diseases associated to tobacco use affected 3.3% (n=22). Conclusion: The study established 12% prevalence rate of PF among the population of Al Jouf region in Saudi Arabia. Comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular illnesses were risk factors for the development of PF. Plantar fasciitis was found to be more common in people who were 40–65 years old, obese, and employed in jobs that required 3–6 hours of standing or 3–12 hours of walking. Conversely, being a man was associated with a lower incidence of PF.
Validation of Gambling Related Cognitions Scale-Iranian Version (GRCS-IR)

Background: The change in gambling forms, a wide variety of advertising methods, the access to gambling, as well as the increase in participation in online gambling have made it important to know and investigate gambling, particularly as pathological gambling leads to psychological and physical damage. Methods: The present study investigated the factor structure of the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS) proposed by Raylu and Oei in addiction. The study sample included 574 participants (40.2% male, 59.8% female) between 18 and 56 years of age. The instruments used in the present study included the GRCS, the South Oaks Gambling Screen Questionnaire (SOGS), the Victorian Gambling Screen (VGS), and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Findings: A 5-factor GRCS model provided the best fit to the data, and gambling-related cognitions were a strong predictor of disordered gambling among adults. All subscales presented good internal consistency and scalability. The findings showed that the total score of the GRCS-IR was significantly different among men and women. Conclusion: The findings of this study confirmed that the Iranian version of the GRCS-IR is an effective multidimensional instrument that accurately measures cognitive distortions related to gambling. Consequently, it can be utilized as a valuable tool for assessing GRC (Gambling Related Cognitions) to understand the severity of pathological gambling and has the potential capacity to measure treatment outcomes.
Seal turns into reservoir: Sudair equivalents in outcrops, Al Jabal al-Akhdar, Sultanate of Oman

The Lower Triassic Sudair Formation represents the deposits of an epeiric carbonate-evaporite-siliciclastic platform. It is widely known as top seal for the underlying Khuff reservoir in some of the largest hydrocarbon accumulations in the world (e.g. the North Dome and the Ghawar field). Towards the seaward edge of the platform however, in northeast Oman for example, the sealing anhydrites and shales pinch out. Dolomite layers turn increasingly grainy, forming up to 8 m-thick individual grainstone bodies. Thus, on a regional scale, a top seal turns laterally into a potential reservoir. This paper outlines facies, depositional environment and stratigraphic architecture of the Middle Mahil Member, the outcrop equivalent of the Sudair Formation in northeast Oman. The Middle Mahil, some 260 m thick, is made up of just a few facies types: argillaceous, muddy, microbially-laminated, graded, and cross-bedded dolomites. These represent tidal flat, backshoal and shoal environments. Facies are arranged in regular sequences; the smallest units being 2–5 m thick cycles. A clear hierarchical organization of sequences is apparent with bundling of 4–8 cycles into cycle sets, and 2–3 cycle sets forming depositional sequences. The lower third of the Middle Mahil is dominated by rather muddy textures, the middle part is grain-dominated and the upper part again is muddier with a higher percentage of microbial laminites. The maximum grainstone thickness is observed in the middle of the Middle Mahil, at the interpreted zone of maximum flooding. Overall the Middle Mahil shows “layer-cake” type architecture over distances of 4–8 km. Grainstone layers are laterally continuous at this scale. Pinching and swelling geometries of grainstones are widespread. Grainstones gradually increase in thickness towards the northeast, the direction of the seaward platform edge. Mapping of Middle Mahil grainstones suggest excellent reservoir potential in such platform margin settings. The observations from Oman provide a calibration point to explorationists targeting the Lower Triassic carbonate sequence in the Middle East.
Olive Oils with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)

The consumers’ demand for excellence in agricultural products has led to the introduc‐ tion of certification labels. Among others, the European Commission enforces two types of certification labels: protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) (EEC, No. 2082/92). Olive oil, as a typical high‐value agricultural product, is included in PDO/PGI labeling. The latter constitutes a great motivation for a considerable range of consumers, as it is considered to be associated with high‐quality olive oil. However, a misunderstanding and/or unawareness of PDO/PGI and “organic” certification labels is often observed. Limited investigations in PDO/PGI olive oils demonstrated lower occurrence and lower levels of agrochemical residues compared to conventional olive oils. Future investigations are required in this field, in order to confirm that the better cultivation and industrial processes associated with PDO/PGI certification result in lower levels of agrochemicals in the final products. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry will play a vital role in the traceability of PDO/ PGI olive oils and the confirmation of their geographical origin and authenticity.
Exploring retro-cue effects on visual working memory: insights from double-cue paradigm

In the realm of visual working memory research, the retro-cue paradigm helps us study retro-cue effects such as retro-cue benefit (RCB) and retro-cue cost (RCC). RCB reflects better performance with cued items, while RCC indicates poorer performance with uncued items. Despite consistent evidence for RCB, it’s still uncertain whether it remains when previously uncued items are cued afterward. Additionally, research findings have been inconsistent. This study combines prior experiments by controlling the proportion of cue types and the number of memory items. Besides, using a CDA index to assess the status of items after the cue appeared. Results showed better performance under the double-cue condition (involving two cues pointing inconsistently with only the second cue being valid) compared to the neutral-cue condition, and better performance under the single-cue condition compared to double-cue. EEG data revealed that after the appearance of the second cue in the double-cue condition, there was a significant increase in CDA wave amplitude compared to the single-cue condition. Behavior results suggests that RCB occurs under double-cue but to a lesser extent than the single-cue. And EEG outcomes indicates that individuals did not remove the uncued item from their visual working memory after the first cue. Instead, they kept it in a passive state and then shifted it to an active state after the appearance of the second cue.
Prevalence and prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma in alcohol-associated liver disease: a retrospective study of 136 571 patients with chronic liver diseases

To explore the incidence of alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), evaluate possible synergisms between alcohol and well-known risk factors associated with HCC and establish a nomogram to predict alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD)-related HCC risk.A database of 136 571 inpatients in the Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2002 to 2018 with chronic liver disease was established. Data were collected by medical records review. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the independent high-risk factors associated with HCC, and then were incorporated into a novel nomogram. Afterward, the new established model was validated using external cohort by receiver operating characteristic curves analysis. For external cohort, 1646 patients with ALD admitted to our hospital from 2019 to 2021 were included. ALD was diagnosed on the basis of a history of sustained heavy alcohol intake greater than 40 g/day for men and 20 g/day for women for >5 years, clinical evidence of liver disease and supporting laboratory abnormalities.Over the last 17 years, trends showed obviously increases in ALD. ALD-related HCC experienced a significant increase from 5.8% to 30.7%, whereas hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC declined from 77.6% to 52.0%. In patients with ALD-related HCC (5119), 3816 (74.54%) cases had HBV infection, 493 (9.63%) cases had hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, 71 (1.39%) cases were coinfected with both HBV and HCV, and 739 (14.44%) cases had neither HBV nor HCV infection. Drinking years (OR 1.009, 95% CI (1.000 to 1.017)), age (OR 1.060, 95% CI (1.051 to 1.069)), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.314, 95% CI (1.123 to 1.538)), HBV infection (OR 4.905, 95% CI (4.242 to 5.671)), liver cirrhosis (OR 4.922, 95% CI (3.887 to 6.232)) and male sex (OR 17.011, 95%CI (2.296 to 126.013)) were associated with increased risk of HCC in patients with ALD. A nomogram had a concordance index of 0.786 (95% CI 0.773 to 0.799) and had well-fitted calibration curves. These results were successfully validated both in the internal cohort and external cohort.The prevalence of ALD and ALD-related HCC has been increased dramatically. The nomogram model established here with its high accuracy and easy-to-use features achieved an optimal prediction of HCC development in patients with ALD, which can help clinicians to develop an individualised and precise treatment strategy.
Axonal Lysosomal Assays for Characterizing the Effects of LRRK2 G2019S

Simple Summary Axons are highly elongated extensions of neurons that transmit electrical impulses to their connecting targets and are integral for neuronal function. In neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, axons degenerate early in the disease course, breaking essential connections, leading to the development of clinical phenotypes over time. Thus, developing a better understanding of axonal pathology is crucial. For this reason, we used patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to generate neurons which were then used to develop assays to characterize how neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease might affect axons. We show that LRRK2 G2019S, which is one of the most common known mutations causing Parkinson’s disease, subtly affects axonal function and the injury response. Our assays could be used in the future to better understand axonal degeneration and test potential therapeutics for their ability to protect axons against degeneration. Abstract The degeneration of axon terminals before the soma, referred to as “dying back”, is a feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Axonal assays are needed to model early PD pathogenesis as well as identify protective therapeutics. We hypothesized that defects in axon lysosomal trafficking as well as injury repair might be important contributing factors to “dying back” pathology in PD. Since primary human PD neurons are inaccessible, we developed assays to quantify axonal trafficking and injury repair using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons with LRRK2 G2019S, which is one of the most common known PD mutations, and isogenic controls. We observed a subtle axonal trafficking phenotype that was partially rescued by a LRRK2 inhibitor. Mutant LRRK2 neurons showed increased phosphorylated Rab10-positive lysosomes, and lysosomal membrane damage increased LRRK2-dependent Rab10 phosphorylation. Neurons with mutant LRRK2 showed a transient increase in lysosomes at axotomy injury sites. This was a pilot study that used two patient-derived lines to develop its methodology; we observed subtle phenotypes that might correlate with heterogeneity in LRRK2-PD patients. Further analysis using additional iPSC lines is needed. Therefore, our axonal lysosomal assays can potentially be used to characterize early PD pathogenesis and test possible therapeutics.
Kalman-Like Filter for Event-Triggered Remote State Estimation Over an Additive Noise Channel

This letter studies the design of the Kalman-like filter for the event-triggered remote state estimation system over an additive noise channel. The triggering decisions are unavailable for the remote estimator. A Kalman-like filter in the minimum mean square sense is proposed by imposing a joint Gaussian assumption. In the proposed filter, the scaling matrix can adaptively change with the triggering decisions. The proposed filter is shown to be the Kalman filter in an extreme transmission case. The closed-form expression of the expected communication rate and the asymptotic bound of the expected error covariance are given. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed filter with less available information.
Differences in the Influence of Fundamental Analysis on Stock Returns Between Mining Sector and Consumer Goods Sector

This study explores variations in the fundamental factors impacting stock returns by focusing on two sectors: the mining sector and the consumer goods sector. The financial metrics analyzed include Price Earning Ratio (PER), Return on Assets (ROA), and Earning Per Share (EPS). The sample comprises the financial reports from 2018 to 2022 for 12 companies, evenly split between 6 mining sector companies and 6 consumer goods sector companies listed on the LQ45 of the Indonesian Stock Exchange. The findings reveal dissimilar effects of financial analysis on stock returns in the mining and consumer goods sectors. In the mining sector, the combined influence of PER, ROA, and EPS is positive but insignificant on stock returns. Conversely, in the consumer goods sector, PER exhibits a positive and significant impact, ROA shows a negative and insignificant effect, and EPS has a positive yet insignificant effect.
Assessment of Erythrocyte Osmotic Fragility and Its Determinants, and Comparison of Hematological Indices Among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients on Follow-Up at Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia

Background Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases worldwide. Approximately 9.3% of the general population was estimated to have DM globally in 2019. Erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) in hyperglycemic patients is expected to increase and determine the rate of erythrocyte hemolysis. Purpose This study aimed to assess erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF) and its determinants and to compare hematological indices among T2DM patients on follow-up at the Jimma Medical Center (JMC), Jimma, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study involving 124 participants (each 62) of T2DM patients and controls was conducted from October to November 2020 using a structured questionnaire. 5 mL of venous blood was drawn to assess OF, complete blood count, and blood glucose levels. EOF was investigated using a series hypotonic solution of NaCl. The supernatant of the centrifuged sample was transferred to cuvette test tubes, and the hemolysis stage was read on a spectrophotometer. The collected data were coded and entered into Epi-data Version 3.1. The analysis was performed using SPSS Version 23. Results Compared with non-diabetic controls, patients with T2DM had significantly increased EOF. FBG >126mg/dl (AOR=7.741, 95% CI: 1.562–38.360), PPBG >200 mg/dl (AOR=7.576, 95% CI: 1.519–37.791), RDW (AOR=4.558, 95% CI: 1.136–18.284) were significantly associated with abnormal EOF. A statistically significant increase in total white blood cells and absolute neutrophil counts (P < 0.001) were observed in T2DM patients. From RBC indices, red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were significantly increased in T2DM patients (P < 0.001). Conclusion This study suggests that EOF was greater in patients with T2DM than in non-diabetic controls and was determined by FBG, PPBG, and RDW. The study also demonstrated that hematological index alterations were higher in T2DM subjects than in non-diabetic controls.
Improving Health through Sustainable and Healthy Urban Food System Policy in Nigeria

Diet-related diseases and mortalities are assuming epidemic proportions globally. It is more worrisome in the Global South, especially in Africa, where the healthcare system is not resilient to the public health burden. There is a growing effort around the world to foster urban food system policies that would checkmate the failing health of the public and ensure improved quality of life. However, these efforts seem non-existent in many African regions. Therefore, there is a need for heightened efforts in these areas to address the food system and ensure a global healthy society. This study identified Nnewi, Nigeria, in sub-Saharan Africa, a typical urban area in Nigeria, and analyzed the public health challenges attributed to the non-existent food system policy and poor nutritional practices. The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact model, which has been successfully implemented in many cities, was adopted to propose a sustainable food system policy for Nnewi. Key policies proposed include autonomous local government power, government-assisted programs, clean and sustainable amenities, agricultural reforms, nutrition education, and reductions in food wastage to achieve a circular economy. An evaluation tool for implementing the food system policy was also developed. Overall, implementing the food system policies proposed herein would improve the quality of life of Nnewi residents. Other urban areas could also adopt similar food system policies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of a healthy and resilient global society.
The effect of auditor switching, audit opinions, and financial distress on audit delay

Mining companies are among the Indonesian capital market's most popular or sought-after sectors. As companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (Bursa Efek Indonesia-BEI), they are also obliged to provide regular financial reports. An independent auditor will review this financial report. The process of auditing financial statements until the final report by an independent auditor is called audit delay. Audit delay is the time required to carry out an audit from the end of the financial year until an independent auditor completes the audit report. Researchers in this study looked at the possibility that audit delays were caused by factors such as auditor switching, audit opinion, and financial distress. Mining business actors on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (Bursa Efek Indonesia-BEI) are the subjects of this research. This research used non-probability sampling and purposive sampling to obtain 140 research samples. Non-participant observation is used to get this data. To analyze the data using multiple linear regression with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. The research results show that auditor switching has no impact on audit delay. In the case of audit delay, it does not matter whether the auditor changes or not. On the other hand, audit delay can occur due to the audit opinion given by the auditor, especially if the argument is unreasonable. Last, audit delays are exacerbated if the company experiences financial distress, whether caused by internal or external factors. The reason is that when auditors carry out audits on companies experiencing financial distress, they will be more careful, and of course, it will take a long time.