Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinant Factors of Voluntary or Mandatory Vaccination against COVID-19: A Survey Study among Students at Albanian University

Introduction: The world faced serious health and socioeconomic issues with the advent of COVID-19. Along with handwashing, social distancing, and the wearing of masks, vaccination was considered by medical authorities as a key way to curb the spread of the virus. One of the measures that have been proposed to increase vaccinations is the mandatory policy. The purpose of this study was to compare the determinants of voluntary and mandatory vaccination among students at Albanian University. Methodology: This cross-sectional study, conducted by means of an online survey, was conducted among students enrolled at the private Albanian University, Tirana, Albania during the last week of the winter semester, 7–14 February 2022. Results: In sum, 878 students participated in this study, among whom 612 (69.7%) were females and 266 (30%) were males. Of the participants, 506 (57%) were enrolled in medical science (MS) and 372 (42.3%) were in the non-medical science (Non-MS) group. A total of 773 (88%) were vaccinated against COVID-19, and 105 (11.8%) were not vaccinated. A total of 466 (53%) reported voluntary vaccination, and 412 (46.9%) reported mandatory vaccination. Among the students who were vaccinated voluntarily, 266 (57%) were from the MS group and 200 (42.9%) were from the Non-MS group. A total of 237 (57.5%) of students in the mandatory vaccination group were from the MS group, and 175 (42.4%) were from the Non-MS group. Conclusions: Vaccine safety and efficacy were hindering factors in vaccination. Additionally, based on the results of this study, the students felt encouraged by the academic staff to vaccinate. This clearly demonstrates that the staff does not lack the skills to enhance students’ knowledge about the risk of infectious diseases and the importance of vaccination. Therefore, to influence students’ attitudes as much as possible toward vaccination, comprehensive educational programs, including modifications of existing curricula, should be considered.
Accurate prediction of multicaloric response and thermodynamics in FeRh

Stoichiometric B2 FeRh exhibits several phase transformations, including a martensitic one at a cryogenic temperature [Phys. Rev. B 97, 014202 (2018)] and a metamagnetic transition at 353 K from antiferromagnet (AFM) with (111) spin ordering to a ferromagnet (FM), yielding multicaloric, i.e., magneto-, elasto-, and baro-caloric, responses. With its chemical simplicity, FeRh serves as a wonderful fruit fly in the materials genome discovery of caloric systems. Applying estimators for thermodynamic quantities, we predict the metamagnetic transition at 346 K and calculate the associated caloric properties, including isothermal entropy and isentropic temperature changes, in a quantitative agreement with experiment.
Differentiation of greenhouse gases in corporate science-based targets improves alignment with Paris temperature goal

Companies are increasingly setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets to align with the 1.5 °C goal of the Paris Agreement. Currently, companies set these science-based targets (SBTs) for aggregate GHGs expressed in CO2-equivalent emissions. This approach does not specify which gases will be reduced and risk misalignment with ambitious mitigation scenarios in which individual gas emissions are mitigated at different rates. We propose that companies instead set reduction targets for separate baskets of GHGs, defined according to the atmospheric lifetimes and global mitigation potentials of GHGs. We use a sector-level analysis to approximate the average impact of this proposal on company SBTs. We apply a multiregional environmentally extended input output model and a range of 1.5 °C emissions scenarios to compare 1-, 2- and 3-basket approaches for calculating sector-level SBTs for direct (scope 1) and indirect (scope 2 and upstream scope 3) emissions for all major global sectors. The multi-basket approaches lead to higher reduction requirements for scope 1 and 2 emissions than the current single-basket approach for most sectors, because these emission sources are usually dominated by CO2, which is typically mitigated faster than other gases in 1.5 °C scenarios. Exceptions are scope 1 emissions for fossil and biological raw material production and waste management, which are dominated by other GHGs (mainly CH4 and N2O). On the other hand, upstream scope 3 reduction targets at the sector level often become less ambitious with a multi-basket approach, owing mainly to substantial shares of CH4 and, in some cases, non-CO2 long-lived emissions. Our results indicate that a shift to a multi-basket approach would improve the alignment of SBTs with the Paris temperature goal and would require most of the current set of companies with approved SBTs to increase the ambition of their scope 1 and scope 2 targets. More research on the implications of a multi-basket approach on company-level SBTs for all scope 3 activities (downstream, as well as upstream) is needed.
SiC detectors for radiation sources characterization and fast plasma diagnostic

Semiconductor detectors based on SiC have been investigated to characterize the radiations (photons and particles) emitted from different sources, such as radioactive sources, electron guns, X-ray tubes and laser-generated plasmas. Detectors show high response velocity, low leakage current, high energy gap and high radiation hardness. Their high detection efficiency permits to use the detectors in spectroscopic mode and in time-of-flight (TOF) approach, generally employed to monitor low and high radiation fluxes, respectively. Using the laser start signal, they permit to study the properties of the generated plasma in vacuum by measuring accurately the particle velocity and energy using pulsed lasers at low and high intensities. Possible applications will be reported and discussed.
Inheritance of seed coat color and heritability of agronomic characters of F2 population of reciprocal crosses between Fore Belu and Local Sabu mungbean varieties

Abstract. Mau YS, Ndiwa ASS, Bunga W, Abidin Z, Harini TS, Oematan SS, Roefaida E, Taloim A, Gadji A, Risnawati M, Nana RA. 2023. Inheritance of seed coat color and heritability of agronomic characters of F2 population of reciprocal crosses between Fore Belu and Local Sabu mungbean varieties. Biodiversitas 24: 2647-2656. Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) R.Wilczek) is an important pulse crop well adapted to the agro-climatic conditions of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. However, the productivity of mungbean in East Nusa Tenggara is low (~0.5 t ha-1). Plant breeding programs can overcome this problem by assembling superior varieties. This study aimed to determine the genetic control of seed coat color and heritability of agronomic traits of F2 population of reciprocal crosses between Fore Belu and Local Sabu mungbean varieties. The observed data included seed coat color and agronomic traits. Seed coat color was subjected to chi-square analysis while agronomic traits were subjected to a simple statistical analysis. The results showed that seed coat color was controlled by one co-dominant gene. The plant heights of F2 fell between the two parental means while the number of pods and seed weight fell below the two parental means. The F2 values range was wide and the maximum F2 values were above the parental means. The phenotypic and genetic variability was wide while either the phenotypic diversity or genetic diversity was moderate to high. The heritability values of the six observed traits were high. The highest was observed on the harvesting date (0.92 and 0.94 for reciprocal crosses), whereas the lowest was on seed weight per plant (0.50 and 0.58 for reciprocal crosses).
Initial Effect of Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Treatment in a Patient with Löwe Syndrome

Objectives: Löwe syndrome (the oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Löwe, OCRL, OMIM #309000, ORPHA: 534) is a very rare multisystem X-linked disorder characterized by ocular, kidney and nervous system anomalies. Case presentation: We present the first Bulgarian genetically confirmed patient with OCRL. The patient had facial dysmorphism, cryptorchidism, congenital cataracts, nystagmus, delayed physical and mental development, and poor nutritional status. He had severe rickets, metabolic acidosis, hypokalaemia, hypophosphataemia, and low IGF-1 levels at the age of three, in addition to his developmental delay. The molecular-genetic analysis reported a pathogenic variant c.1124A>G, p.H375R in the OCRL gene. This variant was inherited from the mother, who was a carrier. Following the diagnosis of OCRL, treatment with potassium citrate, phosphate, and calcitriol was initiated, along with an increase in caloric intake. Following general physical and biochemical improvement, therapy with rhGH started 4 years ago, and current results are presented. Conclusions: The patient with Löwe syndrome who was presented with a 6-year follow-up demonstrates the complexity of rare disease cases and the value of multidisciplinary care together with growth hormone treatment for better results in these patients.
Designing engobe coatings for ceramic bricks

This paper reports research into the development of compositions of engobe coatings for ceramic bricks and investigating the influence of technological production factors on their physical and mechanical properties. The results of this work make it possible to solve the task of expanding the range and improving the operational properties of building ceramics. The data obtained have made it possible to establish physicochemical processes occurring during the formation of the phase composition and structure of engobe coatings. This has revealed the possibilities for designing engobe for various types of ceramic bricks, which differ in technological parameters of production and operational properties. The charge compositions were designed in a three-component system "refractory clay – quartz sand – cullet", taking into account the possibility of their practical implementation in large-tonnage production. It has been established that the most important condition for obtaining high-quality products is the correlation of shrinkage and temperature coefficients of linear expansion of the ceramic shard and engobe coating. To prevent various defects, these indicators should vary by no more than 10 %. The crystal-phase composition of engobe is represented by b-quartz and a small amount of devitrite, which are evenly distributed in a vitreous dense layer of coating on the surface of the ceramic shard. Distinctive features of the results relate to the fact that a solution to the problem of designing engobe coatings for ceramic bricks has been proposed and the physicochemical bases of production have been highlighted. This paper also suggests ways to achieve coordination of finely dispersed coatings with coarse-grained ceramic masses by shrinkage and thermal processes. The results reported here could be applied in typical production of face, clinker, and in some cases – ordinary brick or ceramic stone with firing temperatures of 950–1150 °C
Genetic diversity of the genus Citrus in Tomini Bay coastal areas, Indonesia based on morphological characters

Abstract. Kandowangko NY, Febriyanti. 2023. Genetic diversity of the genus Citrus in Tomini Bay coastal areas, Indonesia based on morphological characters. BIodiversitas 24: 2938-2952. Citrus plants are one of the fruit plants that are widely consumed by the community, both for food, health, and customs. The existence of Citrus plants in the coastal area of Tomini Bay only grows wild and has not been cultivated intensively. Lack of information on the diversity of citrus and the use of Citrus plants that are not balanced with cultivation actions will threaten the existence of these Citrus plants. This research aims to provide information about the morphological characteristics of the genus Citrus in the coastal area of Tomini Bay. The plant materials used were 39 accessions consisting of 7 species. Descriptive methods and diversity index calculations as well as analysis of phenetic consanguinity data were applied in this study. The results showed that all Citrus accessions have morphological diversity ranging from stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds that are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. The diversity index (H’) was equal to 0.8103 which was categorized as low. The 39 Citrus accessions were divided into two main clusters with a similarity index of 64.3%. The findings of this study are expected to be useful in Citrus breeding and conservation programs in the future.
Quantitative analysis of relative geolocation accuracy of the TerraSAR-X enhanced ellipsoid corrected product

Abstract. High-resolution commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites with resolutions of several meters have recently been used for effective disaster monitoring. One study reported the earthquake’s displacement using the pixel matching method with both pre- and postevent TerraSAR-X data, with a validated accuracy of ∼30 cm at global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Earth observation network (GEONET) reference points. However, it is insufficient to determine the accuracy using analysis of only a couple of data points per orbit. In addition, the errors were not reported because the number of data samples was too small to discuss the statistics. In order to better understand displacement accuracy, we analyzed displacement features using the pixel matching method to evaluate the relative geolocation accuracies of the TerraSAR-X product. First, we used fast Fourier transform oversampling 16 times to develop the pixel matching method for estimating the displacement at the subpixel level using the TerraSAR-X StripMap dataset. Second, we applied this methodology to 20 pairs of images from the Tokyo metropolitan area and calculated the displacement for each image pair. Third, we conducted spatial and temporal analyses in order to understand the displacement features. Finally, we evaluated the displacement accuracy by comparison with GEONET and solid earth tide data as a reference.
Shortterm optical variability of 4C 29.45

: We observed the flat-spectrum radio quasar 4C 29.45 in the BVRI optical bands for 39 nights from February 2022 to July 2022 with the T60 telescope at T¨UB˙ITAK National Observatory (TUG) in Turkey. In this study, we aimed to study flux, color, and spectral variability on short timescales. The object was in an active (bright) phase with an average optical R-band brightness of 14.7 mag and was variable in the BVRI bands throughout the monitoring period. We analyzed the flux variability during our observation period, and the variability amplitudes in V, R, and I bands were determined to be 220%, 208%, and 209%, respectively. Optical spectral energy distributions of 4C 29.45 were derived from the observational data of 33 nights, indicating spectral indices ranging from 1.032 to 1.573. We found modest correlations between optical light curves, and between R-band light curve and spectral indices, suggesting that the time lag ranges from several hours to days. Investigation on relation between spectral and color indices versus R-band magnitude revealed achromatic trend during the bright phase of 4C 29.45 in the first half of 2022. Our periodicity search suggested that the periodicity would be larger than 100 days, and no significant signal for periodicity was found for short timescales.
Motion Planning with Monte Carlo Random Walks

This thesis applies the Monte Carlo Random Walk method (MRW) to motion planning. We explore different global and local restart strategies to improve the performance. Several new algorithms based on the MRW approach, such as bidirectional Arvand and optimizing planner Arvand*, are introduced and compared with existing motion planning approaches in the Open Motion Planning Library (OMPL). The results of the experiments show that the Arvand planners are competitive against other motion planners on the planning problems provided by OMPL.
Unhealthy Foods and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Consumption Among Bangladeshi Adolescents and Their Sociodemographic Determinants: Findings From a Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Consumption of savory crispy or fried snacks (SCFS), sugary snacks (SS), and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) is associated with an increased prevalence of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. We aimed to estimate the consumption of SCFS, SS, and SSB among adolescent males and females in Bangladesh and to report the factors associated with their consumption using data from a nationwide cross-sectional survey. Methods: We interviewed 4,907 adolescent males and 4,865 females for the seven-day recall on intake of SCFS, SS, and SSB from 82 randomly selected clusters from rural, non-slum urban, and slum areas. Sociodemographic and anthropometry data were also collected. Results: Consumption of SCFS, SS, and SSB for ≥7 times per week was reported by 11.6%, 28.9%, and 25.6% of the males and 4.9%, 24.8%, and 20.7% of the females, respectively. The weekly mean frequency of SCFS, SS, and SSB intake increased after adjustment for potential confounders among females with higher maternal education and for SCFS and SSB among males with the highest level of father’s education. Increased intake of SS and SSB for both males and females was associated with dwelling in a female-headed household. SCFS intake was higher among both males and females from the richest households. Nutritional status, both overweight and obesity, and underweight, was not associated with a more frequent intake of SCFS and SS among males and females; however, a lower frequency of intake of SSB was observed among overweight and obese males. Screen time (television viewing: none, up to 1 hour, and more than 1 hour) was not associated with consumption of SCFS and SSB among both males and females. Conclusion: Consumption of unhealthy snacks and drinks is high among adolescents in Bangladesh and needs to be addressed through policy and program measures to abate the epidemic of obesity and associated NCD.
Implication of Taylor’s hypothesis on measuring flow modulation

A convective velocity must be specified when using Taylor’s frozen eddy hypothesis to relate temporal and spatial fluctuations. Depending on the quantity of interest, using different convective velocities (i.e. time-mean velocity, global convective velocity, etc.) may lead to different conclusions. Often, using Taylor’s hypothesis, the relation between temporal and spatial fluctuations is simplified by assuming a temporally averaged velocity as the convection velocity. In flows where turbulence fluctuations are much smaller than the mean flow velocity, the above treatment does not bring in much error (at least for short periods of time). However, when turbulence fluctuations are comparable to the mean velocity, using a constant convective velocity for fluid motions of all scales can sometimes be problematic. In the context of wall-bounded flows, turbulence fluctuations are comparable to the mean flow in the near-wall region, and as a result, using a constant global convective velocity for converting temporal signals to spatial ones distorts the spatial eddies. Although such distortion will not significantly affect measurements of flow quantities including central moments and power spectra, the significance of amplitude modulation is largely overestimated. Here, we show that if temporal hot-wire data are to be used for studying spatial amplitude modulation, the local fluid velocity must be used as the local convective velocity. The impact of amplitude modulation on power spectra and skewness are reconsidered using the proposed correction.
Predictors of Methamphetamine-Induced Psychosis: A Comparison of Socio-Demographic Factors, Clinical Factors and Psychopathology with Acute Episode Schizophrenia

Methamphetamine is an illicit psychostimulant that can produce psychotic symptoms similar to those seen in a primary psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. During an acute episode, the symptoms of methamphetamine-associated psychosis (MAP) can be difficult to distinguish from those of schizophrenia, making a correct diagnosis difficult. This distinction is crucial to understanding the cause of the illness, but very few studies have been conducted to assess these differences. The aim of this study was to determine the differences between the demographic and clinical characteristics and psychopathology of patients diagnosed with methamphetamine-associated psychosis and schizophrenia. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 201 patients who had acute psychosis and were admitted to the psychiatric ward of a general hospital in the Klang Valley. 94 patients were diagnosed with methamphetamine-associated psychosis and 107 with schizophrenia. Significant differences were found in some domains. Multiple logistic regression revealed that patients with methamphetamine-associated psychosis were more likely to be in a younger age group (odds ratio, OR =0.89, 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.80-0.99), have a family history of drug dependence (OR =16.91, 95% CI: 1.02-279.06), have no family history of mental illness (OR =0.04, 95%
Whole-Genome Identification of Regulatory Function of CDPK Gene Families in Cold Stress Response for Prunus mume and Prunus mume var. Tortuosa

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPK) are known to mediate plant growth and development and respond to various environmental changes. Here, we performed whole-genome identification of CDPK families in cultivated and wild mei (Prunus mume). We identified 14 and 17 CDPK genes in P. mume and P. mume var. Tortuosa genomes, respectively. All 270 CPDK proteins were classified into four clade, displaying frequent homologies between these two genomes and those of other Rosaceae species. Exon/intron structure, motif and synteny blocks were conserved between P. mume and P. mume var. Tortuosa. The interaction network revealed all PmCDPK and PmvCDPK proteins is interacted with respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). RNA-seq data analysis of cold experiments show that cis-acting elements in the PmCDPK genes, especially PmCDPK14, are associated with cold hardiness. Our results provide and broad insights into CDPK gene families in mei and their role in modulating cold stress response in plants.
Learning Outcomes and Student’s Self-Regulation in Mathematics Using Online Interactive Multimedia

The policy of studying at home requires students to organize their learning. The ability of students to manage their own learning is also known as self-regulation learning (SRL) ability. Interactive multimedia in learning is expected to help students manage their learning independently. This study aims to describe student’s SRL ability and learning outcomes in mathematics learning with the help of interactive multimedia. It is also to analyze the relationship between SRL and student learning outcomes after learning mathematics with the help of interactive multimedia. This research is descriptive that involved 274 of 7th grader students. Data were collected using tests and questionnaires. The data analysis technique used descriptive statistics and simple linear regression. The results showed that the students' average SRL in the medium category and student learning outcomes were enough. Student self-regulation learning has a positive effect on learning outcomes. Thus, interactive multimedia makes students more independent in learning to increase their self-regulation learning abilities and ultimately improve their learning outcomes. Therefore, to foster students' SRL skills, teachers can use interactive multimedia as an alternative media in learning mathematics.