Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Awareness of COVID-19: What do Pakistanis perceive? A Large Survey of 1200 Residents

Background: The Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has created havoc globally as countries worldwide struggle to combat this pandemic. Since prevention and social isolation are known to be the only ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this has created challenges among the lower-middle income countries (LMIC) including Pakistan, as it battles between an under-resourced healthcare, an economic shutdown, and widespread myths and misconceptions. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and perceptions regarding COVID-19 as public understanding is vital to help facilitate the control of this outbreak. Methods: A pre-validated online questionnaire was distributed among the general population of Pakistan from 1st to 12th June 2020. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using SPSS v25. Adequate knowledge was assigned as a score of >4 (range: 0-8) and good perception as a score of >3 (range: 0-5). Chi‑square test was used to determine the significance of difference in knowledge and perception of COVID-19 among socio-demographics. Logistic regression analysis was run to identify factors associated with adequate knowledge and perception. P < 0.05 was considered as significant.Results: A total of 1200 respondents participated in this study with a wide range of age groups and education. Majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge (93.3%) with a mean score of 6.59 ± 1.35, and good perception (85.6%) with a mean score of 4.29 ± 0.82. Significant differences in knowledge and perception were observed among genders, age groups, education and between students and employees in the healthcare and non-healthcare department. A multivariable analysis revealed an advanced degree and a female gender to be significant predictors of adequate knowledge and perception. Conclusions: Albeit the surge of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, the participants demonstrated an overall adequate knowledge and good perception towards COVID-19. Perhaps, a potential hint towards noncompliance practices in following preventive protocols requires further educational interventions that target safe health practices and complications of this infection.
An Online Survey: Assessing Anxiety Level among General Population during the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, is grappling with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) catastrophe as cases continue to rise. This situation induces uncertainties and changes in daily life, leading to uneasiness among the population, which may trigger anxiety symptoms. AIM: This study aimed to analyze the factors associated with the anxiety level among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 267 adults from June 10, 2020, to June 15, 2020, the transition phase week after Large-scale Social Restriction of Indonesia. The survey was conducted online using a Google Form distributed through social media (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter). Respondents over 18 years old, who agreed to participate in this study, were asked to complete the questionnaire by clicking the link. The anxiety level was measured by the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. RESULTS: The results of this study showed a significant correlation between age (p = 0.010), education (p = 0.039), personal income (p = 0.034), media exposure (p < 0.01), physical activity (p < 0.01), and anxiety diagnosis (p < 0.01) with the anxiety level among general people. However, ordinal logistics regression revealed that only respondents living in the city (odds ratio [OR] = 2.476) and people with clinician-anxiety diagnosis (OR = 5.116) were more likely to experience anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. CONCLUSION: According to the obtained results, age, education level, average income per month, media exposure, physical activity, and anxiety diagnosis correlated with anxiety incidence, whereas risk factors of anxiety included current residence and anxiety diagnosis.
What's Wrong with Annuity Markets?

We show that the supply of life annuities in the U.S. is constrained by interest rate risk. We identify this effect using annuity prices offered by U.S. life insurers from 1989 to 2019 and exogenous variations in contract-level regulatory capital requirements. The cost of interest rate risk management accounts for at least half of the average life annuity markups or eight per- centage points. The contribution of interest rate risk to annuity markups sharply increased after the great financial crisis, suggesting new retirees' opportunities to transfer their longevity risk are unlikely to improve in a persistently low interest rate environment.
Nano research for investigating the effect of SWCNTs dimensions on the properties of the simulated nanocomposites: a molecular dynamics simulation

This research investigates the effect of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) dimensions in terms of diameter on the mechanical properties (longitudinal and transverse Young\'s modulus) of the simulated nanocomposites by molecular dynamics (MDs) method. MDs utilized to create nanocomposite models consisting of five case studies of SWCNTs with different chiralities (5, 0), (10, 0), (15, 0), (20, 0) and (25, 0) as the reinforcement and using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as the common matrix. The results show that with increasing of SWCNTs diameter, the mechanical and physical properties increase. It is important that with the increasing of SWCNTs diameter, density, longitudinal and transverse Young\'s modulus, shear modulus, poisson\'s ratio, and bulk modulus of simulated nanocomposite from (5, 0) to (25, 0) approximately becomes 1.54, 3, 2, 1.43, 1.11 and 1.75 times more than (5, 0), respectively. Then to validate the results, the stiffness matrix is obtained by Materials studio software.
Effect of High Sulfur Diet on Rumen Fermentation, Microflora, and Epithelial Barrier Function in Steers

Simple Summary Effect of high sulfur diet on digestion and morphology of the ruminant gastrointestinal tract was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that, though sulfur level had little effect on rumen fermentation and most of the rumen microbials, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) pop-ulation and sulfur metabolism had been changed, which led to inhibit methane emission. How-ever, high sulfur in the diet could increase risk of inflammation of rumen epithelium. Abstract These experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of excessive sulfur on rumen fermentation, microflora, and epithelial barrier function in steers through in vitro gas production and animal feeding experiments. Nine and four levels of sulfur addition were evaluated in in vitro ruminal fermentation and animal feeding experiment, respectively. The results showed that increasing the level of sulfur in substrates decreased the total gas and methane production linearly, while increasing the production of hydrogen sulfide gas (p < 0.01). Volatile fatty acid concentrations, especially that of butyric acid, were increased by extra sulfur (p < 0.01). Sulfur content in the diet had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on most of the rumen microbes, except for Desulfovibrio, one of the major sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in the rumen, whose population increased by adding extra sulfur (p < 0.001). The changes in the morphology of rumen epithelium and thickening of the total epithelial layer were mainly attributed to the increase in the acanthosis cell layer and stratum basale (p < 0.05). Further, the relative expressions of two tight junction protein regulating genes, CLDN-1 and TJP1, were reduced (p < 0.05). Excessive sulfur in the diet can change the type of rumen fermentation, sulfate metabolism and SRB population, and the rumen epithelial barrier function. The results of this study demonstrated that sulfur can be used as a methane inhibitor with the mechanism that SRB competitively used protons to produce hydrogen sulfide. However, a higher level of sulfur in the diet could increase the inflammatory reaction of the rumen epithelium which may affect nutrient absorption.
Detection of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) in Hyalomma ticks collected from Mauritanian livestock

Background: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) belongs to the Nairovididae family in the Orthonairovirus genus and is an emerging tick-borne virus. It is endemic in most parts of Africa, Asia, as well as southern Europe, and can cause severe hemorrhagic symptoms in humans with high fatality rates (5-30 %). Methods: Hyalomma ticks were collected from four different livestock herds (cattle and camel) from Mauritania in 2018. The tick species was determined morphologically and confirmed on a molecular level by using cytochrome oxidase 1 gene marker (CO1). For the detection of CCHFV, ticks were tested individually with a one-step multiplex real-time RT-qPCR. Subsequently, the S-segment of all positive samples were sequenced to determine the CCHFV genotype.Results: Overall, 39 of 1,523 ticks (2.56 %) collected from 63 cattle and 28 camels were tested positive for CCHFV. Three Hyalomma (H.) species were identified. The highest prevalence of CCHFV was found in Hyalomma rufipes (5.67 %; 16/282), followed by H. dromedarii (1.89 %; 23/1,214) and H. impeltatum (0 %; 0/21). Positive ticks were found on only 6 out of 91 host animals. Sequence analysis of the positive samples revealed the presence of two different CCHFV lineages (Africa I and Africa III). Conclusions: This study reveals a CCHFV prevalence of 2.56 % in Hyalomma ticks collected from camels and cattle in Mauritania. The true prevalence of unfed ticks may however be lower since a considerable number of ticks may have been passively infected during the ingestion of the blood meal by co-feeding or viremia of the host. The study shows that tick control measures should be implemented, especially in the examined areas.
The COX10-AS1/miR-641/E2F6 Feedback Loop Is Involved in the Progression of Glioma

Glioma is the most common primary tumour of the central nervous system and is considered one of the greatest challenges for neurosurgery. Mounting evidence has shown that lncRNAs participate in various biological processes of tumours, including glioma. This study aimed to reveal the role and relevant mechanism of COX10-AS1 in glioma. The expression of COX10-AS1, miR-641 and E2F6 was measured by qRT-PCR and/or western blot. Clone formation assays, EdU assays, Transwell assays and tumour xenograft experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of COX10-AS1, miR-641 and E2F6 on glioma proliferation, migration and invasion. Luciferase reporter assays, RNA pull-down assays and ChIP assays were conducted to analyse the relationship among COX10-AS1, miR-641 and E2F6. We demonstrated that COX10-AS1 was upregulated in glioma tissues and cell lines, which was related to the grade of glioma and patient survival. Next, through functional assays, we found that COX10-AS1 influenced the proliferation, migration and invasion of glioma cell lines. Then, with the help of bioinformatics analysis, we confirmed that COX10-AS1 regulated glioma progress by acting as a sponge of miR-641 to regulate E2F6. Moreover, further study indicated that E2F6 could promote COX10-AS1 expression by binding to its promoter region. Taken together, the data indicated that COX10-AS1 acts as an oncogene in combination with COX10-AS1/miR-641/E2F6 in glioma, which may be beneficial to the diagnosis and treatment of glioma.
Low-pressure hydrogen plasmas explored using a global model

Low-pressure hydrogen plasmas have found applications in a variety of technology areas including fusion, neutral beam injection and material processing applications. To better understand these discharges, a global model is developed to predict the behaviour of electrons, ground-state atomic and molecular hydrogen, three positive ion species (H+, H2+ ? >, and H3+ ? >), a single negative ion species (H−), and fourteen vibrationally excited states of molecular hydrogen (H2(υ=1 ? >–14)). The model is validated by comparison with experimental results from a planar inductively coupled GEC reference cell and subsequently applied to the MAGPIE linear helicon reactor. The MAGPIE reactor is investigated for a range of pressures from 1 to 100 mTorr and powers up to 5 kW. With increasing power between 50 W and 5 kW at 10 mTorr the density of all charged species increases as well as the dissociative fraction while the electron temperature remains almost constant at around 3 eV. For gas pressures from 1–100 mTorr at an input power of 1 kW, the electron density remains almost constant, the electron temperature and dissociative fraction decreases, while H3+ ? > density increases in density and also dominates amongst ion species. Across these power and pressure scans, electronegativity remains approximately constant at around 2.5%. The power and pressure determines the dominant ion species in the plasma with H3+ ? > observed to dominate at high pressures and low powers whereas H+ tends to be dominant at low pressures and high powers. A sensitivity analysis is used to demonstrate how experimental parameters (power, pressure, reactor wall material, geometry etc) influence individual species’ density as well as the electron temperature. Physical reactor changes including the length, radius and wall recombination coefficient are found to have the largest influence on outputs obtained from the model.
Toroidal polarization vortices in tightly focused beams with singularity

In this paper, we numerically investigated tight focusing of cylindrical vector beams of the second order using Richards-Wolf formulae. It was shown that intensity rings where the Poynting vector was equal to zero appeared not only in the focal plane but also in nearby planes. For example, a lens with numerical aperture NA=0.95 was shown to generate periodical toroidal vortices with a 0.8-m period along the z-axis at a distance of about 0.45 m from the axis. The vortices were generated pairwise, with the closest-to-focus vortex having clockwise helicity and the subsequent being anticlockwise. The vortices were also characterized by saddle points. When focusing an optical beam passed through a narrow annular aperture, no toroidal vortices were observed.
Problems and causes of marginal nutrient availability in winery wastewater treatment

Winery wastewater treatment plants generally face severe nutrient deficiency, and therefore conventional technologies and supplementary nutrient dosing strategies may fail. The purpose of the paper is to show how traditional way of dosing N-source for marginal availability to nutrient deficient influents results in poorly settling activated sludge regardless of the application of aerated or non-aerated selectors. External N-source calculated for marginal availability resulted in nutrient deficiency due to the relatively high yield experienced (0.7 g biomass COD/g substrate COD). In the fully aerated system with overall N-deficiency, rapidly increasing overproduction of extracellular polysaccharide was experienced, leading to SVI (Sludge Volume Index) values up to 600 cm3 g−1. In the system with the non-aerated selector, initial nutrient deficiency could only be detected in the second reactor. Since neither overgrowth of floc-forming GAOs (Glycogen Accumulating Organisms) nor denitrification could be exper.
Enhanced Chemoselective Hydrogenation through Tuning the Interaction between Pt Nanoparticles and Carbon Supports: Insights from Identical Location Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Ultrasmall-sized platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) (∼1 nm) supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with nitrogen doping and oxygen functional groups were synthesized and applied in the catalytic hydrogenation of nitroarenes. The advanced identical location transmission electron microscopy (IL-TEM) method was applied to probe the structure evolution of the Pt/CNT catalysts in the reaction. The results indicate that Pt NPs supported on CNTs with a high amount of nitrogen doping (Pt/H-NCNTs) afford 2-fold activity to that of Pt NPs supported on CNTs with oxygen functional groups (Pt/oCNTs) and 4-fold to that of the commercial Pt NPs supported on active carbon (Pt/C) catalyst toward nitrobenzene. The catalytic performance of Pt/H-NCNTs remained constant during four cycles, whereas the activity of the Pt/oCNTs was halved at the second cycle. Compared with Pt/oCNTs, Pt/H-NCNTs exhibited a higher selectivity (>99%) in chemoselective hydrogenation of halonitrobenzenes to haloanilines due to the electron-rich chemical .
Estimated Impact of COVID-19 on Water Needs and Volume and Quality of Wastewater

The effects of safety measures against COVID-19 on drinking water consumption and wastewater generation were analyzed using information from international organizations and recently published newspapers from 7 countries. The analysis indicated that in the countries that apply measures like frequent hand washing and massive disinfection leads to a 20% rise in the consumption of drinking water, and an increase in wastewater in the order of 15 to 18%. Additionally, the associated excessive use of surfactants and disinfectants, such as sodium hypochlorite and quaternary ammonium, will likely result in a worsening of the quality of wastewater, with an expected negative impact on the environment and aquatic organisms. The situation might be worse in countries where no or inadequate wastewater treatment systems exist.
Potential prospects for carbon dots as a fluorescence sensing probe for metal ions

The significance and importance of carbon-based NPs and their promising applications were a strong inspiration for this work. An inexpensive and easy synthesis of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) has been carried out by using easily-available biomass such as wheat (Triticum), rice (Oryza sativa), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and sorghum. The as-prepared particles have better-controlled stability and luminescence activities as CQDs without using any external template. The well-defined emission properties of CQDs further encouraged the investigation of their role for sensing chromium (Cr3+) ions in aqueous media. Compared to the response to other metal ions, the fluorescence emission (photoluminescence) of CQDs shows significant enhancement in the presence of Cr3+ ions, with a limit of detection of 6 × 10−7 to 13 × 10−7 M and a linear range of 20 μM. The practicality of use and the average recovery of Cr3+ ions in the presence of different CQDs were also tested in water from different sources, such as tap water, buffer, distilled water and sewage water. The present route offers a simple, rapid, cost-effective and non-toxic means to determine metal ion impurities with improved selectivity and sensitivity.
Did Accrual Earnings Management Decline and Real Earnings Management Increase Post-SOX? A Re-examination and Replication

A widely cited paper, Cohen, Dey, and Lys (2008, hereinafter CDL), examines accrual (AEM) and real earnings management (REM) pre- and post-Sarbanes Oxley and provides evidence that, in the period immediately following SOX, accruals management declined and was substituted by REM. We re-visit CDL and ask whether CDL's main results extend to recent periods. We find AEM declines in the period immediately after SOX, but the results are sensitive to some research design choices. We also find AEM continues to decline in recent years, suggesting that the components of SOX were largely successful in constraining AEM. We also find REM and AEM behave as substitutes in the period preceding SOX, but contrary to CDL, we show the substitution effect significantly weakens post-SOX. Finally, we are unable to replicate CDL's samples and some of their results.
Peculiarities of regression model design based on neural networks

In this article a neural-network regression model for prediction of the bacterioplankton abundance according to physicochemical parameters of the environmental conditions is considered and some of the peculiarities of its development are described. A particular case of small and very heterogeneous data sample, typical for biological applications, is analysed. To solve this problem, a number of multi-layer feed-forward neural networks with different architectures are studied. The regression results are estimated on the base of determination coefficient and standard deviation of predicted values in the test sample. The effect of the dropout, applied to one of the hidden layers, on learning process and obtained results is analysed.
Enhancing Brand Loyalty through Brand Architecture Strategy

The concept of brand loyalty is a well-known topic of great interest for branding and marketing researchers due to its importance in gaining sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). Literature is prolific of works pertaining to branding architecture strategy and brand loyalty. In the current era, most of the powerful brands are aspired to achieve brand loyalty goal, hence the organizations and marketers should focus on the elements of branding which will assist the organization to achieve not just sustainable competitive advantage, but also sustainable brand loyalty among its customers. There are all together three (3) branding architecture strategies namely monolithic strategy, standalone strategy and lastly, endorsed strategy. The objective of this conceptual paper is to provide insight on the relationship of brand architecture strategies on brand loyalty.
Social Presence and Educational Technologies in an Online Distance Course in Finnish Higher Education – A Social Constructivist Perspective

This paper analyses the interplay of social presence and educational technology, from a social constructivist perspective, to question the current determinism prevailing in the literature. Taking an online distance course implemented in Finland as its case, the study reveals how students negotiate the way they share visual cues and personal background and experiences. Thereby, it critically examines the impetus to create more social presence through visual cues and personal information, by highlighting some of the ethical implications. Moreover, the study reveals that text-based online discussions occurring in forums provides more space for students to participate in discussions than webinars, despite being negatively perceived by students. The study also shows how students and instructors’ practices have the potential to re-shape the way technologies are used in online distance education, to eventually reach more equity between students’ and teachers’ presences.
Economic indicators of nitrogen fertilization in sunflower cultivars

Sunflower is one of the most important oilseeds in the world. However, cultivation in semi-arid regions requires analysis of production costs and profitability, ensuring effective decision-making, focused on farming procedures and techniques. In two agricultural crops, 2016 and 2017, experiments were conducted to evaluate the economic indicators of sunflower cultivars (‘Aguará 06’, ‘Altis 99’, ‘Multissol’ and ‘BRS 122’) submitted to nitrogen (N) doses (0; 30; 60; 90 and 120 kg ha-1) via fertirrigation under semi-arid conditions. The net margin corresponded to the increase of N doses, reaching a maximum net margin in the 2016 harvest of R$ 366.89 ha-1 at the dose of 81 kg ha-1 of N for ‘BRS 122’; R$ 577.41 ha-1 with 118 kg ha-1 of N for ‘Multissol’; and for ‘Aguará 06’ (R$ 2,124.00 ha-1) and ‘Altis 99’ (R$ 976.66 ha-1) at the dose of 120 kg ha-1 of N. In the 2017 harvest, ‘BRS 122’ obtained R$ 190.90 ha-1 in the dose of 83 kg ha-1 of N and ‘Multissol’ reached R$ 657.50 in the dose of 85 kg ha-1 of N; the cultivars ‘Aguará 06’ (R$ 1,078.00 ha-1) and ‘Altis 99’ (R$ 957.14 ha-1) in the dose of 120 kg ha-1 of N. The rate of return and the profitability index were positive for all cultivars in both crops.