Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Contributing to African American and African Caribbean Students’ Sense of Belonging and Retention in the First Year of College at a Predominately White Institution in the Northeast

This study examined and compared the perceived experiences of African American and African Caribbean students during their first year of college at a predominately White institution (PWI) through the lens of Astin’s theory of student involvement, Tinto’s theory of student departure and Ogbu’s theory of cultural ecology. This study explored the intersectionality of students’ racial and ethnic identifies to further uncover their shared experiences, as well as the difference aspects of their college environment, to help them develop a sense of belonging as African American and African Caribbean students. The study explored precollege characteristics and environmental and institutional factors that contributed to the retention of these two populations. A qualitative research methodology captured the experiences of 12 participants, through face-toface individual interviews, to gain insight into the lived experiences of these two groups and to understand how African American and African Caribbean students develop a sense of belonging at a PWI. The study examined implications for the retention and college completion of African American and African Caribbean students as well as future approaches to increase the retention rates among these populations. Results show that there are distinct differences for African American and African Caribbean students especially related to precollege factors, socioeconomic status, and social and academic integration. Recommendations were made for colleges and universities including understanding the differences between different Black students’ experiences, accommodating students’ needs based on precollege characteristics, and more recruitment of Black faculty and staff. Document Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Jennifer Schulman Second Supervisor Janet Lyons Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/373 Factors Contributing to African American and African Caribbean Students’ Sense of Belonging and Retention in the First Year of College at a Predominately White Institution in the Northeast
Protective Effects of Inulin on Stress-Recurrent Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition of the digestive tract and is closely associated with the homeostasis of the gut microbiota. Inulin, as a natural prebiotic, displays anti-inflammatory activity and maintains equilibrium of the intestinal microbiota. In this study, our research aimed to explore the potential of inulin in enhancing intestinal immunity and reducing inflammation in stress-recurrent IBD. In this study, a co-culture intestinal epithelium model and a stress-recurrent IBD mouse model was used to examine the protective effects of inulin. It was observed that inulin digesta significantly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression (CXCL8/IL8 and TNFA) and increased MUC2 expression in intestinal epithelial cells. In vivo, our findings showed that Inulin intake significantly prevented IBD symptoms. This was substantiated by a decrease in serum inflammatory markers (IL-6, CALP) and a downregulation of inflammatory cytokine (Il6) in colon samples. Additionally, inulin intake led to an increase in short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in cecal contents and a reduction in the expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress markers (CHOP, BiP). Our results highlight that inulin can improve stress-recurrent IBD symptoms by modulating microbiota composition, reducing inflammation, and alleviating ER stress. These findings suggested the therapeutic potential of inulin as a dietary intervention for ameliorating stress-recurrent IBD.
The Vertical Structure of Radiative Heating Rates: A Multimodel Evaluation Using A-Train Satellite Observations

We assess the vertical distribution of radiative heating rates (RHRs) in climate models using a multimodel experiment and A-Train satellite observations, for the first time. As RHRs rely on the representation of cloud amount and properties, we first compare the modeled vertical distribution of clouds directly against lidar–radar combined cloud observations (i.e., without simulators). On a near-global scale (50°S–50°N), two systematic differences arise: an excess of high-level clouds around 200 hPa in the tropics, and a general lack of mid- and low-level clouds compared to the observations. Then, using RHR profiles calculated with constraints from A-Train and reanalysis data, along with their associated maximum uncertainty estimates, we show that the excess clouds and ice water content in the upper troposphere result in excess infrared heating in the vicinity of and below the clouds as well as a lack of solar heating below the clouds. In the lower troposphere, the smaller cloud amount and the underestimation of cloud-top height is coincident with a shift of the infrared cooling to lower levels, substantially reducing the greenhouse effect, which is slightly compensated by an erroneous excess absorption of solar radiation. Clear-sky RHR differences between the observations and the models mitigate cloudy RHR biases in the low levels while they enhance them in the high levels. Finally, our results indicate that a better agreement between observed and modeled cloud profiles could substantially improve the RHR profiles. However, more work is needed to precisely quantify modeled cloud errors and their subsequent effect on RHRs.
Factors Affecting the Use and Understanding of Nutrition Labeling on Food Labels among Nepalese Youths

Nutrition labeling, crucial for informing consumers about food content, faces significant gaps in Nepal's regulatory framework. These gaps impact how the nutritional information is understood and used by consumers, contributing to challenges like obesity and chronic diseases in the country. This study aims to uncover the factors affecting the use and understanding of nutrition labeling on food labels among Nepalese youths. Conducted through a cross-sectional approach, this research involved administering a structured questionnaire to 225 participants in June 2023, targeting regular consumers of packaged foods. Data analysis, employing both descriptive and multivariate principal component analysis using SPSS 25, revealed that 24% of respondents always read nutrition labeling on food labels in packed food items. The Principal Component Analysis identified four key factors affecting the use and understanding of nutrition labeling: "perception of the nutritional information", "motivations in dietary decisions", "awareness" and "health priority interest in nutritional attributes". These factors collectively explained over 54% of the variance in the data, as validated by the scree plot and Kaiser Criterion. The study underscores the necessity of initiatives aimed at enhancing the accessibility, clarity, and appeal of nutritional labeling on food labels in packaged food products. Such initiatives are pivotal for policymakers, educators, and marketers striving to encourage healthier dietary practices among Nepalese youths.
Cholangiocarcinoma Malignant Traits Are Promoted by Schwann Cells through TGFβ Signaling in a Model of Perineural Invasion

The term cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) defines a class of epithelial malignancies originating from bile ducts. Although it has been demonstrated that CCA patients with perineural invasion (PNI) have a worse prognosis, the biological features of this phenomenon are yet unclear. Our data show that in human intrahepatic CCA specimens with documented PNI, nerve-infiltrating CCA cells display positivity of the epithelial marker cytokeratin 7, lower with respect to the rest of the tumor mass. In an in vitro 3D model, CCA cells move towards a peripheral nerve explant allowing contact with Schwann cells (SCs) emerging from the nerve. Here, we show that SCs produce soluble factors that favor the migration, invasion, survival and proliferation of CCA cells in vitro. This effect is accompanied by a cadherin switch, suggestive of an epithelial–mesenchymal transition. The influence of SCs in promoting the ability of CCA cells to migrate and invade the extracellular matrix is hampered by a specific TGFβ receptor 1 (TGFBR1) antagonist. Differential proteomic data indicate that the exposure of CCA cells to SC secreted factors induces the upregulation of key oncogenes and the concomitant downregulation of some tumor suppressors. Taken together, these data concur in identifying SCs as possible promoters of a more aggressive CCA phenotype, ascribing a central role to TGFβ signaling in regulating this process.
Efficient Privacy-Friendly and Flexible Wearable Data Processing With User-Centric Access Control

With the advent of cloud computing and the vast amount of data produced by IoT wearable devices, outsourcing computation has become a widespread practice in providing health services to individuals and society. Conventional approaches typically focus on either secure data processing or fine-grain access control. Nevertheless, only a few existing solutions consider secure fine-grain access control over the encrypted computational results. Notably, these solutions overlook different data access request needs (e.g., needs of data owners and requesters to access data of a single or multiple data owners) and data owners’ access control. In addition, they almost exclusively focus on data aggregation operations, neglecting multiplication and division operations on encrypted data, which are fundamental operations with significant importance in various application scenarios. In this paper, we present efficient and privacy-preserving schemes for multiplication and division operations with fine-grain data-sharing and user-centric access control capabilities, called SAMM and SAMD, respectively. We utilise a multi-key Paillier homomorphic cryptosystem to allow privacy-preserving computation of data from both single and multiple data owners. Additionally, we integrate ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption to enable fine-grain sharing with multiple data requesters based on user-centric access control. Through formal security analysis, we demonstrate that these schemes ensure data confidentiality and authorisation. Moreover, the computational cost and communication overhead of our proposed schemes are thoroughly analysed, and our experimental results indicate that these schemes outperform existing state-of-the-art solutions in terms of efficiency, making them well-suited for use in modern IoT wearable healthcare systems.
Stresses and Drag in Turbulent Bed Load From Refractive Index‐Matched Experiments

We report steady open‐channel flow experiments that resolve the internal dynamics of turbulent bed load layers at subgrain diameter resolution. Optical access is gained by using materials of matched refractive index, and a laser light sheet is scanned across the medium to capture both the solid and liquid motions over a 3‐D volume. The imaging measurements yield vertical profiles of granular concentration, solid and liquid mean velocity, and velocity fluctuation statistics including the granular temperature and the Reynolds stress. This makes it possible to determine all principal contributions to the momentum balance of each phase. In particular, experimental profiles are obtained for the stresses and interphase drag force. They are used to test constitutive relationships derived from kinetic theory, turbulence theory, and fluidization cell experiments.
CIVA Modelling Module for Zonal Discrimination Method Part 2-System Qualification Aspects

Automatic Ultrasonic Testing (AUT) systems for pipeline girth weld inspections are usually subjected to a qualification process. This process consists of assessment of performance capabilities including detection, sizing, temperature range and repeatability. One of the most demanding qualification programmes is described in DNV ST-F101 Appendix E [1]. With the introduction of the AUT module in the 2023 edition of CIVA simulation software, the incorporation of metamodeling allows users to predict detection reliability via probability of detection (POD) and sizing accuracy of the zonal discrimination method (ZDM) using amplitude apportioning. Part 1 of this project demonstrated the ability of CIVA to simulate the calibration block and strip chart output. In Part 2 we illustrate the techniques that can be used to predict POD and sizing accuracy as might be done in a system qualification. Results compare well to field data.
Extreme Physical Phenomena During The Trojan War

The Homeric Epic, Iliad, describes the Trojan War’s events during a period of only seven days around Patroclus’ death. These events are initiated after Athena’s appearance as a shooting star. During this period, the poet describes in detail various physical phenomena, which attributed to the gods. Zeus’ thunderbolts in a clear sky, ‘divine’ screams, a fallen thunder stone inducing odor of sulphur, sporadic yellow, red and dark clouds appearing out of nowhere, red droplets are falling from the sky, river Xanthus is flooding and turns into red, Hephaestus’ ‘flames’ ignite fires, whereas seismic activity and raising of the sea level are recorded. The above phenomena can be explained as a consequence of the local weather’s circumstances and landscape peculiarities, as well as due to the partial solar eclipse’s manifestation, which occurred during the same period. We analysed all these descriptions in detail and we concluded that an intense astronomical phenomenon like a meteor shower including some fireball’s explosions is indicated by the poet, in parallel with the Trojan War’s combats. This is in accordance with the mythological account of a comet’s appearance during Troy’s fall, because meteor showers produced by the remnants of the comets, when they approach to
Underthrusting and duplexing beneath the northern Tibetan Plateau and the evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen

The Cenozoic Qilian Shan thrust belt is the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, which developed in part due to progressive India-Asia convergence during Himalayan-Tibetan orogeny. Available geologic observations suggest that this thrust belt started deforming shortly after initial India-Asia collision at 60–55 Ma, and thus its kinematic development is intrinsically related to the construction and evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we present new field observations from a geologic traverse across the Qilian Shan to elucidate the style of deformation across the active thrust belt. In particular, we infer protracted out-of-sequence deformation here that is consistent with this thrust system remaining a stationary northern boundary to the Tibetan Plateau since the early Cenozoic. We present a lithosphere-scale model for this region that highlights the following: (1) coupled distributed crustal shortening and underthrusting of the North China craton beneath Tibet, which explains the spatial and temporal distribution of observed crustal shortening and thickness, (2) this underthrusting exploited the south-dipping early Paleozoic Qilian suture paleo–subduction mélange channel, and (3) development of a lower-crustal duplex at the lithospheric underthrusting ramp. This last inference can explain the relatively high elevation, low relief, and thickened crust of the central Qilian Shan, as well as the comparative aseismicity of the region, which experiences fewer earthquakes due to less upper-crustal faulting. Both the northern and southern margins of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen appear to have developed similarly, with continental underthrusting and crustal-scale imbrication and duplexing, despite vastly different climatic and plate-velocity boundary conditions, which suggests that the orogen-scale architecture of the thrust belt is controlled by neither of these forcing mechanisms. Instead, strength anisotropies of the crust probably control the kinematics and style of deformation, including the development of northern Tibet, where thrust systems are concentrated along pre-Cenozoic suture zones.
Optimization of electronic sensors based on the connection structure of double rotors with circular arc end teeth

To analyze the mechanical performance of the arc end tooth connection structure, the optimization of electronic sensors based on the connection structure of double rotors with circular arc end teeth was studied. By designing and optimizing the structural dimensions of the arc end tooth, the relative position of the grinding wheel and the workpiece was determined, and the optimal electromagnetic actuator size, as well as the number and installation position of the optimized sensors, were obtained. The experimental results showed that the relative error of the rigid vibration mode of the arc end tooth double rotor connection structure was controlled within 10 %. At high speeds, the electromagnetic actuator had a significant control effect on the vibration of the centrifugal machine shaft. It diminished the vibration amplitudes in the X and Y directions by 37.6 % and 30.2 %, respectively. By optimizing the double rotor connection structure with circular end teeth and electronic sensors, effective control of the relative error of rigid vibration modes has been achieved, leading to significant reduction of the centrifugal shaft's vibration at high speeds. In addition, the sensor layout was optimized to enable real-time equipment vibration monitoring, ensuring equipment safety and stability. These achievements not only enhance the mechanical performance of the rotor system, but also provide important guarantees for the stability of the mechanical system.
EFFECT OF DIETARY MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTATION FORMS AND LEVELS ON BROILER CHICKS PERFORMANCE AND SOME CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of magnesium supplementation forms and levels to the diet of broiler chicks on performance and some carcass traits. One day old of 180 broiler chicks (Arbor Acres plus) were allocated randomly into 6 treatment groups of 30 chicks each (2 sources x 3 doses factorial experiment). The distribution of birds was random. Each form of magnesium was added to the basal diet at doses 0, 60 and 120 mg Mg/kg diet. The study lasted for 35 days. Results showed that, birds fed the control diet that was supplemented with inorganic magnesium recorded an enhancement (P<0.05) in body weight gain, feed intake and feed /gain ratio (feed conversion). Adding the highest supplementation level of Mg (120 mg Mg/ kg diet) to broiler diet recorded significant improvement (P≤0.01) in body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion. No significant differences were observed in weights of live body, carcass, giblets and proportions of dressing and giblets due dietary treatments.
Jellyfish Inspired Underwater Systems and Technologies

Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) have long been in use but increasingly there has been a wave of biomimetic robots taking over the duties and functions of traditional vehicles. A robotic jellyfish, inspired by the species Aurelia aurita was developed and characterized. In addition to the body of the main robotic vehicle, supporting technologies were developed including polymeric artificial muscles, hydrogel-based artificial mesoglea, and an inclinometer inspired by the jellyfish statocyst organ. Through multiple versions, the vehicle was able to attain an order of magnitude increase in proficiency from 0.022 s -1 to 0.21 s -1 and robustness not found in initial prototypes. A polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel reinforced with ferritin nanoparticles was found to accurately mimic the stress and strain characteristics of natural Aurelia mesoglea while maintaining a high water content similar to the animal. In addition, the optical properties were shown to be controlled by water to DMSO ratio. A five layer PPy-Au-PVDF-Au-PPy actuator stored in 0.5M KCl solution actuated at 4 VDC potential and produced an impressive 90% tip deflection. In addition, the rate of change was extremely high at 50% deflection of initial actuator length per second. The artificial jellyfish statocyst was found to produce the required highly linear voltage divider output. This sensor will provide the vehicle with biomimetic selfawareness of its own body position. Future directions are proposed for the biomimetic robotic jellyfish such as on-board power and computing, multi-material mesoglea with a dermal layer, a MEMS-based statocyst, and polymeric muscles with increased force production and time response.
Are Simulated and Observed Twentieth Century Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature Trends Significant Relative to Internal Variability?

Historical trends in the tropical Pacific zonal sea surface temperature gradient (SST gradient) are analyzed herein using 41 climate models (83 simulations) and 5 observational data sets. A linear inverse model is trained on each simulation and observational data set to assess if trends in the SST gradient are significant relative to the stationary statistics of internal variability, as would suggest an important role for external forcings such as anthropogenic greenhouse gasses. None of the 83 simulations have a positive trend in the SST gradient, a strengthening of the climatological SST gradient with more warming in the western than eastern tropical Pacific, as large as the mean trend across the five observational data sets. If the observed trends are anthropogenically forced, this discrepancy suggests that state‐of‐the‐art climate models are not capturing the observed response of the tropical Pacific to anthropogenic forcing, with serious implications for confidence in future climate projections. There are caveats to this interpretation, however, as some climate models have a significant strengthening of the SST gradient between 1900 and 2013 Common Era, though smaller in magnitude than the observational data sets, and the strengthening in three out of five observational data sets is insignificant. When combined with observational uncertainties and the possibility of centennial time scale internal variability not sampled by the linear inverse model, this suggests that confident validation of anthropogenic SST gradient trends in climate models will require further emergence of anthropogenic trends. Regardless, the differences in SST gradient trends between climate models and observational data sets are concerning and motivate the need for process‐level validation of the atmosphere‐ocean dynamics relevant to climate change in the tropical Pacific.