Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sparsity-Based Two-Dimensional DOA Estimation for Co-Prime Planar Array via Enhanced Matrix Completion

In this paper, the two-dimensional (2-D) direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation problem is explored for the sum-difference co-array (SDCA) generated by the virtual aperture expansion of co-prime planar arrays (CPPA). Since the SDCA has holes, this usually causes the maximum virtual aperture of CPPA to be unavailable. To address this issue, we propose a complex-valued, sparse matrix recovery-based 2-D DOA estimation algorithm for CPPA via enhanced matrix completion. First, we extract the difference co-arrays (DCA) from SDCA and construct the co-array interpolation model via nuclear norm minimization to initialize the virtual uniform rectangular array (URA) that does not contain the entire rows and columns of holes. Then, we utilize the shift-invariance structure of the virtual URA to construct the enhanced matrix with a two-fold Hankel structure to fill the remaining empty elements. More importantly, we apply the alternating direction method of the multipliers (ADMM) framework to solve the enhanced matrix completion model. To reduce the computational complexity of the traditional vector-form, sparse recovery algorithm caused by the Kronecker product operation between dictionary matrices, we derive a complex-valued sparse matrix-recovery model based on the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding (FISTA) method. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Childhood in Late Preterms: Comparison to Early Preterms and Term-Born Controls

Background: Late preterm (340–366 weeks gestational age [GA]) infants may have abnormal pulmonary development and possible exercise physiology parameters. We aim to assess the effect of late prematurity on exercise capacity in childhood and to compare it to early preterm (EP) (born < 300 GA), and to term healthy control (TC) (>370 week GA). Methods: Late preterm and early preterm (7–10 years) completed a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) and spirometry and were compared to EP and to TC. Results: Eighty-four children (age 9.6 ± 1.0 years, 48% girls) participated. Twenty-one former LP were compared to 38 EP (15 with Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) [EP+], 23 without BPD [EP−]) and to 25 TC children. Peak oxygen uptake (peakV̇O2) was statistically lower than in the TC, but within the normal range, and without difference from the EP (LP 90.2 ± 15.1%, TC 112.4 ± 16.9%, p < 0.001; EP+ 97.3 ± 25.5%, EP− 85.4 ± 20.8%, p = 0.016 and p < 0.001, respectively, when compared with TC). Lung function (FEV1) was lower than normal only in the EP+ (75.6 ± 14.9% predicted, compared with 12.5 ± 87.8 in EP−, 87.5 ± 16.9 in LP and 91.0 ± 11.7 in TC). Respiratory and cardiac limitations were similar between all four study groups. Conclusions: This study demonstrated lower exercise capacity (peakV̇O2) in former LP children compared with healthy term children. Exercise capacity in LP was comparable to that of EP, with and without BPD. However, the exercise test parameters, specifically peakV̇O2, were within the normal range, and no significant physiological exercise limitations were found.
The First Human Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia Cell Line with Naturally Infected Episomal HPV18 Genome

Persistent infection with high-risk HPV leads to cervical cancers and other anogenital cancers and head and neck carcinomas in both men and women. There is no effective drug fortreating HPV infection and HPV-associated carcinomas, largely due to a lack of models of natural HPV infection and the complexity of the HPV life cycle. There are no available cell lines from vulvar, anal, or penile lesions and cancers in the field. In this study, we established the first human cell line from vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) with naturally infected HPV18 by conditional reprogramming (CR) method. Our data demonstrated that VIN cells possessed different biological characteristics and diploid karyotypes from HPV18-positive cancer cells (HeLa). Then, we determined that VIN cells contained episomal HPV18 using approaches including the ratio of HPV E2copy/E7copy, rolling cycle amplification, and sequencing. The VIN cells expressed squamous epithelium-specific markers that are different from HeLa cells, a cervical adenocarcinoma cell line. When cultured under 3D air–liquid interface (ALI) system, we observed the expression of both early and late differentiation markers involucrin and filaggrin. Most importantly, we were able to detect the expression of viral late gene L1 in the cornified layer of ALI 3D culture derived from VIN cells, suggesting quite different HPV genomic status from cancer cells. We also observed progeny viral particles under transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in ALI 3D cultures, confirming the episomal HPV18 genome and active viral life cycle in the new cell line. To our knowledge, this is the first human VIN cell line with naturally infected HPV18 genome and provides a valuable model for HPV biology studies, HPV-associated cancer initiation and progression, and drug-screening platforms.
Nanolipogel Loaded with Tea Tree Oil for the Management of Burn: GC-MS Analysis, In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation

The GC-MS analysis of tea tree oil (TTO) revealed 38 volatile components with sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (43.56%) and alcohols (41.03%) as major detected classes. TTO efficacy is masked by its hydrophobicity; nanoencapsulation can address this drawback. The results showed that TTO-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN1), composed of glyceryl monostearate (2% w/w) and Poloxamer188 (5% w/w), was spherical in shape with a core-shell microstructure. TTO-SLN1 showed a high entrapment efficiency (96.26 ± 2.3%), small particle size (235.0 ± 20.4 nm), low polydispersity index (0.31 ± 0.01), and high negative Zeta potential (−32 mV). Moreover, it exhibited a faster active agent release (almost complete within 4 h) compared to other formulated TTO-SLNs as well as the plain oil. TTO-SLN1 was then incorporated into cellulose nanofibers gel, isolated from sugarcane bagasse, to form the ‘TTO-loaded nanolipogel’ which had a shear-thinning behavior. Second-degree thermal injuries were induced in Wistar rats, then the burned skin areas were treated daily for 7 days with the TTO-loaded nanolipogel compared to the unmedicated nanolipogel, the TTO-loaded conventional gel, and the normal saline (control). The measurement of burn contraction proved that TTO-loaded nanolipogel exhibited a significantly accelerated skin healing, this was confirmed by histopathological examination as well as quantitative assessment of inflammatory infiltrate. This study highlighted the success of the proposed nanotechnology approach in improving the efficacy of TTO used for the repair of skin damage induced by burns.
Investigation of Academic Achievement and Self-Regulation of Students in Flipped Classroom

This study aims to seek the effect of flipped classroom method on students’ academic achievement in computer programming lessons and to find out the correlation between flipped classroom method and variables affecting self-regulatory learning skills (i.e., self-efficacy, anxiety, satisfaction, interactive learning environments, usability, and self-regulation). A pre-test and post-test control group quasi-experimental design was used in this study. Participants are 252 vocational college students registered to the electronics and communication technology department at a state university in Balıkesir, Türkiye. Computer programming achievement test and self-regulation scale which was developed by [1] and adapted to Turkish by the researcher were used as data collection tools. The findings of the study revealed that flipped classroom group has outperformed the traditional classroom in terms of academic achievement. Additionally, significant and positive correlations were found between academic achievement and variables affecting self-regulation for flipped classroom method while there is a significant and negative correlation between academic achievement and anxiety.
A note on the evidence of the gravitomagnetic field of Mars

According to general relativity, the gravitomagnetic Lense–Thirring force of Mars would secularly shift the orbital plane of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft by an amount of 1.5 m, on average, in the cross-track direction over 5 years. The determined cross-track post-fit residuals of MGS, built up by neglecting just the gravitomagnetic force in the dynamical force models and without fitting any empirical cross-track acceleration which could remove the relativistic signal, amount to 1.6 m, on average, over a 5 year time interval spanning from 10 February 2000 to 14 January 2005. The discrepancy with the predictions of general relativity is, thus, about 6%.
Naked Singularities in Self-Similar Gravitational Collapse: Stability Properties of the Cauchy Horizon

The background of this thesis is the cosmic censorship hypothesis, which states that the gravitational collapse of physically reasonable matter should not result in the formation of naked singularities. In the absence of a proof of this hypothesis, much effort has been directed towards examining spacetimes which contain naked singularities, in an attempt to determine the nature of the cosmic censor. One area of particular interest is the study of perturbations in naked singularity spacetimes. Should perturbations of a spacetime diverge on the Cauchy horizon associated with the naked singularity, then this spacetime can be ruled out as a serious counter-example to cosmic censorship. In this thesis we examine the behaviour of general linear perturbations of the class of self-similar Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi spacetimes which contain a naked singularity. The perturbations naturally split into two classes, odd and even parity, which we consider in turn. For the odd parity perturbation, we first identify a single gauge invariant scalar which describes the perturbation and obeys an inhomogeneous wave equation. We then show that a perturbation which evolves from initially regular data remains finite on the Cauchy horizon. Finiteness is demonstrated by considering the behaviour of suitable energy norms of the perturbation (and pointwise values of these quantities) on natural spacelike hypersurfaces. For the even parity perturbations, we first show that a particular average of the state variable describing the perturbations generically diverges at the Cauchy horizon. Using this, we show that the L^p-norm of the perturbations also diverges, for 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞. This divergence has a characteristic form that depends only on the background spacetime. By combining these results with an extension of odd parity methods, as well as some theorems from real analysis, we can demonstrate that the perturbations generically diverge pointwise on the Cauchy horizon. A general perturbation is a sum of odd and even perturbations; our results therefore indicate that a general perturbation diverges on the Cauchy horizon. This result supports the cosmic censorship hypothesis.
Factors Affecting Health Care Professionals’ Adherence to COVID-19 Precautionary Measures

Objective COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international concern. There is still no definitive cure for this highly transmittable illness. Immunization and breaking the chain of infection is the only successful approach to mitigate its spread. Our study explored the adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and its associating factors among Health Care Professionals (HCPs) working in Saudi Arabia. Methods For this cross-sectional study, an online survey was conducted from December 01, 2020, to March 31, 2021, among 978 HCPs in Saudi Arabia. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of demographic information, COVID-19 preventive behaviors, knowledge, attitude, fear, and risk. Mann–Whitney U-test, Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis, Spearman correlation, and binary logistic regression tests were used in data analysis. Results Most of the HCPs were Saudi nationals (86.9%), females (63.1%), age group 20–29 years (42.3%), Middle Eastern ethnicity (82.5%), and working in the government sector (80.8%). A 52.2% of the participants were compliant with COVID-19 preventive behavior. The most and the least compliant preventive behaviors were “wearing masks” (88.8% compliance) and “keeping social distancing” (60.7% compliance). Preventive behavior was significantly higher in HCPs having a) more knowledge of COVID-19 (U=104849; p 0.001); b) positive attitude (U=84402; p 0.001); c) higher fear (U=103138; p less than 0.001) and d) nursing profession (p 0.01). COVID-19 knowledge (p<0.001), attitude (p<0.001), and fear (p<0.001) contributed significantly to the prediction of preventive behavior compliance. A unit increase in COVID-19 knowledge, attitude, and fear scores raised the odds of being compliant with preventive behavior by factors of 2.34, 1.87, and 1.53 respectively. Conclusion About half of the study participants were compliant with COVID-19 preventive behavior. Preventive behavior is significantly higher among HCPs having more knowledge of COVID-19, more fear, a positive attitude, and the “nursing” profession. Having more knowledge, a positive attitude, and more fear of COVID-19 may increase the likelihood of being compliant with preventive behavior.
Strain Effect on Energy Gaps of Armchair Graphene Nanoribbons

We report a first-principles study on electronic structures of the deformed armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs). The variation of the energy gap of AGNRs as a function of uniaxial strain displays a zigzag pattern, which indicates that the energy gaps of AGNRs can be effectively tuned. The spatial distributions of two occupied and two empty subbands close to the Fermi level are swapped under different strains. The tunable width of energy gaps becomes narrower as increasing the width of AGNRs. Our simulations with tight binding approximation, including the nearest neighbor hopping integrals between $\pi$- orbitals of carbon atoms, reproduce these results by first-principles calculations. One simple empirical formula is obtained to describe the scaling behavior of the maximal value of energy gap as a function of the width of AGNRs.
Using Popular Culture Resources to Build Affective Leadership Skills

This paper discusses an autodidactic approach for strengthening one’s leadership skill set, in an informal, lower cost manner through intentional consumption of, and reflection on, popular culture resources. This paper posits that popular culture is rife with learning opportunities for affective skill building to be used alongside more formal leadership trainings and professional development. This paper provides a concrete example of the application of popular culture lessons to strengthen one’s leadership skills, such as empathy, listening, giving feedback, and dismantling biases to create a positive and inclusive work environment. Drawing on books, podcasts, television shows and movies, the paper provides a model for matching engagement with all types of media to intentional reflection to strengthen one’s leadership skills.
Analysis of lipid classes and the fatty acid composition of fresh and the salted fish, Alburnus tarichi

Abstract This study was carried out to determine the distribution of total, phospholipid and triacylglycerol fatty acid composition in salted and fresh fish of pearl mullet. Fatty acid analyses were performed in muscle tissues of the fish samples. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), Omega-3 (n-3), Omega-6 (n-6) which are important for health, were determined in the analyses. The distribution of total and TAG fatty acids in males and females was similar. It was determined that the changes were in the Phospholipid. N-3/n-6 ratio showed a similar distribution in both female and male individuals. In particular, the results obtained may benefit the fisheries industry, nutritionists and researchers, as the nutritional value of the fish is high.
The Pongola Bush: Tree diversity assessment in a KwaZulu-Natal forest patch

recruitment rate of small stemmed individuals and few large individuals. This pattern is consistent with the disturbance history of the site, with limited recruitment of certain species, mainly limited to early successional species. The Pongola Bush forest is particularly diverse in terms of tree species: 41 species were recorded, and it is estimated from the species area curve that there may be 70 tree species present. Conservation implications: This survey is the first formal tree diversity survey conducted on the Pongola Bush which may assist future research and conservation strategies.
Microwave impedance of YBa2Cu3O7-δ high-temperature superconductor films in a magnetic field

The temperature, field, and intensity (amplitude) dependences of the surface impedance of magnetron-sputtered YBa2Cu3O7−δ quasi-single-crystal films on a sapphire substrate with a CeO2 buffer layer were measured. The measurements were performed with a coplanar resonator at 5.25 GHz in a weak constant magnetic field 0<B<12 mT in the temperature range 13 K <T<80 K. They made it possible to obtain the surface resistance and penetration depth versus the temperature and the magnetic field strength and to determine the contribution of Abrikosov vortices to the impedance. The cases with a frozen magnetic field and zero-field cooling with the field subsequently switched on at temperatures below the critical value were investigated separately. A substantial difference in the behavior of the high-frequency response of the vortices in these two cases was found. The Coffey-Clem and Brandt theories were used to study the linear response and the critical state model the nonlinear response of the vortices.
Numerical investigation and modelling of controllable parameters on the photovoltaic thermal collector efficiency in semi-humid climatic conditions

ABSTRACT Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal (PV/T) systems are energy-generation systems that transform thermal irradiance into both electrical and thermal energy at the same time. Hybrid photovoltaic thermal systems consist of a photovoltaic panel connected to a thermal collector. The main objective of this paper is to find the optimal operating conditions that can be controlled to decrease the photovoltaic panel temperature in order to improve the electrical and thermal performance of PV/T systems. In this work, we proposed the 3D numerical model that is implemented within the COMSOL Multiphysics program to study the PV/T system. The experimental input data being used in this research study reflects a typical Algerian area with semi-humid climate conditions. We study the effect of water velocity, pipe length, diameter, thickness and inlet fluid temperature on the electrical and thermal performance using the design of experiments (DOE) method. Further, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to identify which of these effects impact the most the photovoltaic thermal and electrical efficiencies, the response surface methodology (RSM) is employed to describe how these effects are interacting. Based on ANOVA analysis, the following factors are reported to be important: water velocity, pipe diameter, pipe length and the inlet fluid temperature. Further, there is a significant interactions between water velocity, pipe length and pipe diameter. Among the operating conditions being calculated using the RSM, the optimal one is found when water velocity, pipe length, pipe diameter, pipe thickness and inlet water temperature have the following values, 0.05 m/s, 7.27 m, 0.01 m, 0.0008 m and 10°C, respectively. The corresponding thermal, electrical and overall efficiency were found around 80.73%, 12.87% and 93.60%, respectively. The proposed simulation model provides a reliable framework to study, improve and predict PV/T systems performance whilst ensuring low computational time.
Specificity of the Associations between Indices of Cardiovascular Health with Health Literacy and Physical Literacy; A Cross-Sectional Study in Older Adolescents

Background and Objectives: Cardiovascular health status (CVHS) is an important determinant of health, while it is theorized that health literacy (HL) and physical literacy (PL) could be directly related to CVHS. The aim of this study was to evaluate gender-specific associations between PL and HL and indices of CVHS in adolescence. Materials and Methods: The participants were 247 adolescents (177 females) from Split-Dalmatia county in Croatia who were tested on HL, PL, and CVHS (physical activity level (PAL) and lipid profile). The lipid profile included total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins, non-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and low-density lipoproteins. Gender-stratified multivariate cluster analysis (K-means clustering) was used to group participants into three homogenous groups on the basis of their HL and PL, while differences between clusters in CVHS were evidenced by analysis of the variance and consecutive post-hoc tests. Results: The lipid profile was better in girls with higher HL scores. Additionally, clusters consisting of participants with a better PL were characterized by higher PAL. We have found no evidence that HL is associated with PAL, while PL was not associated with the lipid profile. Conclusions: HL was specifically associated with direct indicators of health status (lipid profile) in girls, while PL was associated with PAL as a particular behavioral health indicator in both genders. The study highlights the necessity of including education of HL and PL in schools.
Solutions of Discrete, Two-Person Games

Abstract : This paper proposes to investigate the structure of solutions of discrete, zero-sum, two-person games. For a finite game-matrix it is well known that a solution (i.e., a pair of frequency distributions describing the optimal mixed strategies of the two players) always exists. Moreover, the set of solutions is known to be a convex polyhedron, each of whose vertices corresponds to a submatrix with special properties. In Part I of the paper a fundamental relationship between the dimensions of the sets of optimal strategies is proven, and devote particular attention to the set of games whose solutions are unique. Part II solves the problem of constructing a game-matrix with a given solution. A number of examples and geometrical arguments are interspersed to illustrate the theory, and Part III describes the solutions of some matrices with special diagonal properties.
Fiscal and monetary policy rules in Brazil: empirical evidence of monetary and fiscal dominance

Based on the hypothesis that the rules of monetary and fiscal policy in Brazil may have been subject to different regimes, the present study applies the Leeper model (1991 and 2005) to identify the chronology of policy regimes in terms of their active and passive character. The policy rules are estimated using the Markov-switching model, with a monthly database from November 2002 to December 2015, in which the regimes are endogenously determined. The results obtained indicate that fiscal dominance occurred in 2010 and between 2013 and 2014, while monetary dominance marked much of 2003 and the period 2005–2007. The model also seeks to explain why the inflation rate continued to rise during 2015 even though Central Bank of Brazil took an active monetary policy stance that year.