Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of principals’ leadership styles on teachers’ commitment in Vietnam

In recent years, styles of transformational and transactional leadership have become an important area of research because of its significant impact on teachers’ outcomes such as commitment, job satisfaction, self-efficacy. However, the relationships between transformational and transactional leadership styles of school principals and teachers’ organizational commitment have been rarely investigated in the educational context in Vietnam. This study aimed to determine how transformational and transactional leadership styles influence the organizational commitment of Vietnamese high school teachers. The study employed two standardized surveys to collect data from 387 teachers at 24 public high schools in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The results of correlation coefficient analyses indicated that teachers’ organizational commitment was positively influenced by transformational leadership and negatively influenced by transactional leadership. In addition, the results of multiple regression analyses showed that the organizational commitment of teachers was predicted by all components of both leadership styles of principals. The present study suggested that school leaders might combine both transformational and transactional leadership styles in their leadership practices to improve teachers’ organizational commitment.
Utilizing Electronic Dictionaries: Voice from Vietnamese EFL Learners

Vocabulary is a crucial part of effective communication. This aspect is closely related to dictionaries, the most popular type of which is electronic dictionaries (EDs). Different studies have taken a strong interest in exploring EDs and their role in language learning, but few have been done in the Vietnamese context. This study is going to examine Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language Learners' perceptions and practices of EDs, from which suggestions are made for their effective use. The research took place at a university in Vietnam, with the participation of 12 English majors. The study used a semi-structured interview to collect qualitative data with the utilization of thematic analysis. The results found that Vietnamese EFL learners use monolingual and bilingual electronic dictionaries very often, both inside and outside the classroom. The purposes for their use are also varied, two primary ones of which are checking meaning and practicing pronunciation. Moreover, it was found that they have a positive attitude towards EDs with different beneficial elements. They also addressed a few problems using EDs and made some recommendations for better use.
A Subset of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Pemetrexed Show 18F-Fluorothymidine “Flare” on Positron Emission Tomography

Simple Summary Thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibitors have remained among the most effective chemotherapies used in the treatment of various cancer types. Imaging of tumour proliferative activity while on antifolates has been studied with 3′-deoxy-3′-[18F]fluorothymidine positron emission tomography (18F-FLT PET) imaging. The aim of this study was to use 18F-FLT PET/CT imaging to understand the basis of early drug action with the antifolate drug pemetrexed on TS inhibition. While every patient showed a global change in the plasma marker of TS inhibition after drug administration, tumour TS inhibition was selective and patients who showed a tumour change in the imaging biomarker had a greater therapy response and longer overall survival following a combination treatment including pemetrexed. The study findings implicate the potential use of 18F-FLT PET/CT to understand the basis of drug action in other studies involving TS inhibitors. Abstract Thymidylate synthase (TS) remains a major target for cancer therapy. TS inhibition elicits increases in DNA salvage pathway activity, detected as a transient compensatory “flare” in 3′-deoxy-3′-[18F]fluorothymidine positron emission tomography (18F-FLT PET). We determined the magnitude of the 18F-FLT flare in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients treated with the antifolate pemetrexed in relation to clinical outcome. Method: Twenty-one patients with advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) scheduled to receive palliative pemetrexed ± platinum-based chemotherapy underwent 18F-FLT PET at baseline and 4 h after initiating single-agent pemetrexed. Plasma deoxyuridine (dUrd) levels and thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) activity were measured before each scan. Patients were then treated with the combination therapy. The 18F-FLT PET variables were compared to RECIST 1.1 and overall survival (OS). Results: Nineteen patients had evaluable PET scans at both time points. A total of 32% (6/19) of patients showed 18F-FLT flares (>20% change in SUVmax-wsum). At the lesion level, only one patient had an FLT flare in all the lesions above (test–retest borders). The remaining had varied uptake. An 18F-FLT flare occurred in all lesions in 1 patient, while another patient had an 18F-FLT reduction in all lesions; 17 patients showed varied lesion uptake. All patients showed global TS inhibition reflected in plasma dUrd levels (p < 0.001) and 18F-FLT flares of TS-responsive normal tissues including small bowel and bone marrow (p = 0.004 each). Notably, 83% (5/6) of patients who exhibited 18F-FLT flares were also RECIST responders with a median OS of 31 m, unlike patients who did not exhibit 18F-FLT flares (15 m). Baseline plasma TK1 was prognostic of survival but its activity remained unchanged following treatment. Conclusions: The better radiological response and longer survival observed in patients with an 18F-FLT flare suggest the efficacy of the tracer as an indicator of the early therapeutic response to pemetrexed in NSCLC.
DIGITALIZATION OF SUSTAINABLE INTEGRATED PROPERTY MANAGEMENT FOR AFFORDABLE STRATA HOUSING

The main problem faced by the joint management building (JMB) in the management of strata buildings is in the aspect of taking action against residents who refuse to pay the building management fee. The management of JMB itself faces problems in the proper way of managing the building management system and facilities, financial systems and community-based communication systems. In addition to the building management system which is still operated manually, the management of financial management fee collection is still implemented in a separately. Moreover, dissatisfaction of residents in terms of delayed in corrective maintenance management action of strata buildings, correlate to poor fee payment and further put pressure on the sustainable continuity of strata housing management. Digitalization of sustainable integrated property management which includes aspects of financial management, dissemination of communication within the community and safety and security in the management of affordable strata housing needs to be given special attention. This study proposes a framework for digitalization of sustainable integrated property management for affordable strata housing that the system is able to harmonize various aspects of the needs of strata residents to create a strata liveable life. This will then will be realized through the development of web-based system for the purpose of commercialization of sustainable integrated property management system for affordable strata housing that beneficial for the well-being of strata building residents as well as the JMB.
Distinct Types of Electron Distribution Functions in Magnetotail Reconnection: Implications for Particle Energization

Magnetic reconnection converts energy stored in magnetic fields to plasma kinetic energy by accelerating and heating the plasma, and is believed to be the underlying mechanism of many energetic phenomena in space. Electron distribution functions exhibit the effects of electron energization by the reconnection process. Using CLUSTER data, we have studied electron distributions in the inflow and outflow regions of magnetotail reconnection. Based on comparisons of CLUSTER measurements with PIC simulation results, we discuss the energization mechanisms. The inflow electron distributions can be characterized by their temperature anisotropy into three distinct categories: (1) anisotropic with Tepara>Teperp, (2) isotropic with Tepara=Teperp, and (3) hybrid with a lower energy anisotropic population exhibiting Tepara>Teperp with a higher energy isotropic population. The first two categories are likely associated with different temporal stages of reconnection while the third category may result from reconnection onset within the plasma sheet. Electron distributions show distinct anisotropic features in different regions throughout the reconnection exhaust. Near the electron diffusion region (EDR), distributions exhibit a temperature anisotropy of Teperp>Tepara. The electron distribution becomes isotropic between the EDR and magnetic field pile-up region. The parallel and perpendicular components of the distribution function in the pile-up region are enhanced in different ways by different mechanisms. Acceleration by the reconnection electric field during electrons' meandering orbits in the EDR, curvature and $\nabla B$ drift forces, and pitch angle scattering all contribute to form the distinct anisotropic structures of the distributions. In an effort of understanding a special type of dense electron distribution in the exhaust region, we explore the 3D structure of reconnection. The 3D magnetic field reconstruction shows that the dense distribution is associated with 3D magnetic nulls. Electron energization in 3D reconnection requires further investigation.
Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) in Sports—A Comparison between a CGM Device and Lab-Based Glucose Analyser under Resting and Exercising Conditions in Athletes

The objective of this pilot study was to compare glucose concentrations in capillary blood (CB) samples analysed in a laboratory by a validated method and glucose concentrations measured in the interstitial fluid (ISF) by continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) under different physical activity levels in a postprandial state in healthy athletes without diabetes. As a physiological shift occurs between glucose concentration from the CB into the ISF, the applicability of CGM in sports, especially during exercise, as well as the comparability of CB and ISF data necessitate an in-depth assessment. Ten subjects (26 ± 4 years, 67 ± 11 kg bodyweight (BW), 11 ± 3 h) were included in the study. Within 14 days, they underwent six tests consisting of (a) two tests resting fasted (HC_Rest/Fast and LC_Rest/Fast), (b) two tests resting with intake of 1 g glucose/kg BW (HC_Rest/Glc and LC_Rest/Glc), (c) running for 60 min at moderate (ModExerc/Glc), and (d) high intensity after intake of 1 g glucose/kg BW (IntExerc/Glc). Data were collected in the morning, following a standardised dinner before test day. Sensor-based glucose concentrations were compared to those determined from capillary blood samples collected at the time of sensor-based analyses and subjected to laboratory glucose measurements. Pearson’s r correlation coefficient was highest for Rest/Glc (0.92, p < 0.001) compared to Rest/Fast (0.45, p < 0.001), ModExerc/Glc (0.60, p < 0.001) and IntExerc/Glc (0.70, p < 0.001). Mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) and standard deviation (SD) was smallest for resting fasted and similar between all other conditions (Rest/Fast: 8 ± 6%, Rest/Glc: 17 ± 12%, ModExerc/Glc: 22 ± 24%, IntExerc/Glc: 18 ± 17%). However, Bland–Altman plot analysis showed a higher range between lower and upper limits of agreement (95% confidence interval) of paired data under exercising compared to resting conditions. Under resting fasted conditions, both methods produce similar outcomes. Under resting postprandial and exercising conditions, respectively, there are differences between both methods. Based on the results of this study, the application of CGM in healthy athletes is not recommended without concomitant nutritional or medical advice.
Taming the waves: sine as activation function in deep neural networks

Most deep neural networks use non-periodic and monotonic—or at least quasiconvex— activation functions. While sinusoidal activation functions have been successfully used for specific applications, they remain largely ignored and regarded as difficult to train. In this paper we formally characterize why these networks can indeed often be difficult to train even in very simple scenarios, and describe how the presence of infinitely many and shallow local minima emerges from the architecture. We also provide an explanation to the good performance achieved on a typical classification task, by showing that for several network architectures the presence of the periodic cycles is largely ignored when the learning is successful. Finally, we show that there are non-trivial tasks—such as learning algorithms—where networks using sinusoidal activations can learn faster than more established monotonic functions.
Prognostic Value of Creatinine Levels at Admission on Disease Progression and Mortality in Patients with COVID-19—An Observational Retrospective Study

Introduction: Acute kidney disease and chronic kidney disease are considered conditions that can increase the mortality and severity of COVID-19. However, few studies have investigated the impact of creatinine levels on COVID-19 progression in patients without a history of chronic kidney disease. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of creatinine levels at hospital admission on COVID-19 progression and mortality. Methods: We performed a multicenter, observational, retrospective study involving seventeen COVID-19 Units in the Campania region in southern Italy. All adult (≥18 years) patients, hospitalized with a diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by a positive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction on a naso-oropharyngeal swab, from 28 February 2020 to 31 May 2021, were enrolled in the CoviCamp cohort. Results: Evaluating inclusion/exclusion criteria, 1357 patients were included. Considering in-hospital mortality and creatinine value at admission, the best cut-off point to discriminate a death during hospitalization was 1.115 mg/dL. The logistic regression demonstrated that factors independently associated with mortality were age (OR 1.082, CI: 1.054–1.110), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) (OR 1.341, CI: 1.178–1.526), and an abnormal creatinine value at admission, defined as equal to or above 1.12 mg/dL (OR 2.233, CI: 1.373–3.634). Discussion: In conclusion, our study is in line with previous studies confirming that the creatinine serum level can predict mortality in COVID-19 patients and defining that the best cut-off of the creatinine serum level at admission to predict mortality was 1.12 mg/dL.
Magnetopause Dynamics at Saturn as Observed by Cassini

The occurrence and impacts of magnetopause processes at outer planets, particularly magnetic reconnection and the Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability (KHI), remains unresolved. From a list of 2,114 magnetopause crossings at Saturn spanning the full duration of the Cassini mission, magnetic field and low‐energy plasma properties are analyzed for each crossing to determine the likelihood of particular dynamical processes at Saturn's magnetopause. Using Cassini magnetic field data, crossings are categorized as (a) those with signatures of possible magnetic reconnection, (b) those near/inside a magnetopause surface wave or vortex arising from KHI, and (c) those during quiescent conditions (i.e., lacking signatures indicative of magnetic reconnection or KH waves). Of magnetopause crossings with valid intervals on both sides of the boundary, nearly half of the crossings met criteria for signatures of reconnection, with little dependence on local time or latitude of the magnetopause crossing location. Crossings identified as associated with KHI are found to more likely occur toward the dawn sector as compared to other local times, but with both flanks likely being quasi‐unstable to the instability. Magnetopause properties for crossings with available low‐energy electron data from Cassini are further explored to provide insight into the local plasma conditions that may be conducive to magnetic reconnection and/or KH waves. This investigation reveals that certain dynamics along the magnetopause of Saturn may be more prevalent than previously considered, and provides a basis for a more comprehensive understanding of magnetopause dynamics and plasma transport at the outer planets.
EWGP: entropy-weighted Gabor and phase feature description for head pose estimation

Estimating focus of attention of individuals highly depends on head pose. This paper proposes an entropy weighted Gabor-phase feature description (EWGP) for head pose estimation. Gabor features represent robustness and invariability in different orientation and illuminance. However, this is not enough to express the amplitude character in images. Instead, phase congruency functions well in amplitude expression. Both illuminance and amplitude vary in terms of different regions. We regard entropy information as vote to evaluate the two aforementioned features. More specifically, entropy is represented for the randomness and content of information. We aim to utilize entropy as weight information, to fuse Gabor and phase matrix in every region. The proposed EWGP represents dramatically different when comparing to other feature matrix in datasets Pointing04. Experimental results demonstrates our case is superior to state of the art feature matrix.
Circular Shift of Loop Body - Programme Transformation, Promoting Parallelism

The article deals with the programme transformation executing the circular shift of loop body statements. It can be used for vectorizing or parallelizing. This becomes possible due to the fact that when the order of loop body statements is changed, some of the bottom-up arcs become top-down arcs. Besides, sometimes loop carried dependence arcs are substituted by loop independent ones. It should be pointed out that in executing the circular shift the number of loop iterations is reduced by one. The transformation can be used both independently and in conjunction with other transformations promoting parallelism. These could be "forward substitution", "scalar expansion", "privatization", "array expansion", etc. The transformation under consideration in this article can be used both in hand parallelization and added to a paralleling (optimizing) compiler. Moreover, the application of the transformation results in the equivalent code only for the loops where loop unrolling is the equivalent transformation. Thus, they can contain nested loops, if statements and other programming language statements.
Financial Ratios, Corporate Governance, and Macroeconomic Indicators in Predicting Financial Distress

Purpose: This study analyzed the effect of financial ratios, corporate governance, and macroeconomic variables on financial distress. This research was conducted during the covid-19 pandemic when many companies experienced difficulties due to activity restrictions during the pandemic. Theoretical framework: Prolonged financial difficulty can lead to the company's insolvency. As a result, understanding the company's health status is critical. Internal company factors, such as the firm's financial situation and company management, as reflected in corporate governance, and external company factors, such as macroeconomic conditions, can all influence the occurrence of financial hardship in the company. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study uses a sample of property and real estate sector companies listed on the Indonesia stock exchange. The model used was 270 observations. This research is a quantitative approach using a logistic regression test. The unit of analysis in this study is property, real estate, and building construction sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, where each company is undoubtedly influenced by internal company factors, namely financial ratios and corporate governance, and external factors, namely macroeconomics. Findings: The results showed that the relevant financial ratios are sales total assets and retained earnings to total assets. At the same time, the corporate governance included in the model is director size and macroeconomic variables in the form of inflation entering the financial distress model. The accuracy of the model in classifying its observations is 84.1%. Research, practical & social implications: The implication of this study's results is that financial ratios, governance, and macroeconomic indicators can be used as a benchmark to detect the possibility of financial distress. Originality/Value: This research was conducted in the real estate industry during the Covid-19 pandemic when many companies experienced financial difficulties. This research combines financial ratios, corporate governance, and macroeconomics that impact the possibility of financial distress. This research is different because it combines financial ratios that reflect company performance, governance practices, and macroeconomic indicators to predict bankruptcy.
Cognitive neuroscience perspective on memory: overview and summary

This paper explores memory from a cognitive neuroscience perspective and examines associated neural mechanisms. It examines the different types of memory: working, declarative, and non-declarative, and the brain regions involved in each type. The paper highlights the role of different brain regions, such as the prefrontal cortex in working memory and the hippocampus in declarative memory. The paper also examines the mechanisms that underlie the formation and consolidation of memory, including the importance of sleep in the consolidation of memory and the role of the hippocampus in linking new memories to existing cognitive schemata. The paper highlights two types of memory consolidation processes: cellular consolidation and system consolidation. Cellular consolidation is the process of stabilizing information by strengthening synaptic connections. System consolidation models suggest that memories are initially stored in the hippocampus and are gradually consolidated into the neocortex over time. The consolidation process involves a hippocampal-neocortical binding process incorporating newly acquired information into existing cognitive schemata. The paper highlights the role of the medial temporal lobe and its involvement in autobiographical memory. Further, the paper discusses the relationship between episodic and semantic memory and the role of the hippocampus. Finally, the paper underscores the need for further research into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying non-declarative memory, particularly conditioning. Overall, the paper provides a comprehensive overview from a cognitive neuroscience perspective of the different processes involved in memory consolidation of different types of memory.