Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Concept Cartoons on Kindergarten Pupils’ Numeracy and Science Performance in Sagnarigu-Tamale, Ghana

This study sought to establish the effect of Concept Cartoons on Kindergarten Pupils’ Numeracy and Science Performance at a demonstration primary school in Sagnarigu-Tamale, Ghana using the experimental research design. The population of the study was 100 KG-2 A and B Pupils in the school. A purposive sampling technique was used to select an intact class of 58 pupils that had difficulty in participation and performance in natural science and numeracy. A pre-test was conducted to determine the initial performance of pupils before the intervention that was done through teaching with the support of the concept cartoons. The analysis of the first two objectives involved mean scores and standard deviation. Pre-test and post-test scores were analysed to address the two objectives. The study established that the use of concept cartoons significantly improved the pupils’ achievement in natural science and numeracy lessons. Therefore, the use of concept cartoons as a teaching aid is a powerful approach to improve the performance of pupils in sciences and numeracy. The study recommended that teachers of sciences and numeracy in early primary education ought to use the concept cartoon approach in order to improve the performance of pupils in the su
Stress, cognitive appraisal, and burnout in social workers of residential child care

Stress and burnout are global epidemics that may cause negative consequences for workers and organizations. Social workers of residential child care are especially at risk, due to the inherent characteristics of their work. Subsequently, this study aimed to analyse these professional’s stress, cognitive appraisal, and burnout. The sample included 92 social workers (90.2% female and 9.8% male) with ages between 25 and 64 years old (M = 38.08; SD = 7.91). The evaluation protocol included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Stress Questionnaire for Health Professionals, the Primary and Secondary Cognitive Appraisal Scale, and the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results indicated that 58% of professionals assumed high levels of general stress, and that physical fatigue and cognitive weariness were the burnout dimensions with higher values. The combination of sociodemographic variables, stress factors and cognitive appraisal were important to explain the burnout experience and can contribute to design interventions directed to these professionals.
The antecedents of teaching styles in multicultural classroom: teachers’ self-efficacy for inclusive practices and attitudes towards multicultural education

ABSTRACT The present study aimed to contribute to the understanding of the antecedents of teaching styles in multicultural classrooms. In particular, research has investigated whether teachers’ attitudes towards multicultural education played a mediating role in the relationships among teachers’ efficacy for inclusive practices and motivating teaching styles (autonomy supportive and structuring) and demotivating teaching styles (controlling and chaotic). Participants included 474 in-service teachers, 100 males (21.1%) and 374 females (78.9%), with an average age of 38.05 years (SD = 7.03), who were recruited from several high schools located in Sicily (Italy). Results of the SEM analysis showed that teachers’ attitudes towards multicultural education mediated the association between teachers’ efficacy for inclusive practices and (de)motivating teaching styles. Furthermore, teachers’ efficacy for inclusive practices was a direct positive predictor of motivating teaching styles, while teachers’ multicultural attitudes were a direct predictor of (de)motivating teaching styles. This study highlighted the importance of teachers’ attitudes towards multicultural education and self-efficacy for inclusive education as antecedents of teaching styles in multicultural classrooms with practical implications in the school context.
Going for broke: Self-compassion, risky decision-making, and differences in problem gambling severity among undergraduates

ABSTRACT Although self-compassion is adaptive in coping with past mistakes, few studies have examined its relationship to future risks. In gambling, self-compassion toward possible losses could lead to greater or lesser risk-taking, and the direction of this relationship could depend on the presence of problem gambling. Across 3 laboratory studies, using multi-level modeling, this research tested how self-compassion relates to the progression of risk-taking in gambling games, and whether problem gambling severity moderates this relationship. Results showed that self-compassion has little relationship to gambling decisions by those with no signs of problem gambling already, and that higher self-compassion is associated with more risk-taking by those with any prior signs. The findings reveal a complex relationship of self-compassion to risk and well-being.
Moderating role of transformational leadership in the relationship between work conflict and employee performance

Abstract This study aims to test the role of transformational leadership in moderating the relationship between work conflict and employee performance at Railway Company. The sample in this survey is 150 employees of a railway company’s operations management center selected using a non-random sampling method. The data were collected through an online survey through WhatsApp and email. Partial Least Square–Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was implied to explain the relationship among the conceptualized variables in this study. The results revealed a negative relationship between. The results show that there is a negative link between work conflict and employee performance. In addition, transformational leadership has been found to negatively ease the relationship between work conflict and employee performance. This study also finds that there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee performance. Based on the results, this study therefore concluded that transformational leadership is a variable conceptualized to partially ease the relationship between work conflict and employee performance. This study also describes the theoretical and practical implications, as well as future research opportunities.
Developed Graphene/Si Schottky Junction Solar Cells Based on the Top-Window Structure

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)-graphene has potentially been integrated with silicon (Si) substrates for developing graphene/n-Si Schottky junction solar cells prepared with the top window structure. However, there are drawbacks to prepared devices such as complex silicon dioxide (SiO 2 )-etching steps, low ﬁll factors and stability of doped devices. In this work, SiO 2 patterns are simply formed using a sputtering process rather than the previous complex method. Additionally, the ﬁll factor for prepared devices is developed by using transferred residue-free multi-graphene layers. The usage of 3 graphene layers improves the power conversion eﬃciency ( PCE ) to 7.1%. A recorded PCE of around 17% with a ﬁll factor of 74% is achieved by the HNO 3 dopant. To overcome the issue of stability, Poly(methyl methacrylate) as an encapsulated layer is introduced. Hence, the doped devices show great stability for storage in air for 2 weeks, and devices recovered about 95% of their eﬃciency. This work shows that the developed fabrication process is suitable to develop simple, low cost, stable and eﬃcient graphene/Si Schottky solar cells.
Investigation on the Effects of Interconnect RC in 3nm Technology Node Using Path-Finding Process Design Kit

With the continuous development of front-end-of-line (FEOL) technology, the development of interconnection processes at nanoscale process nodes is becoming important. We conducted a post-layout circuit simulation to consider the effect of parasitic R and C components of middle-of-Line (MOL) and back-end-of-line (BEOL) on the circuit performance. We constructed a process design kit (PDK) for path-finding to analyze the circuit layout in a 3nm technology node based on gate-all-around FET (GAA-FET). It consists of the spice model library that satisfies the 3nm power performance area (PPA) target, and the layout versus schematic (LVS), parasitic extraction (PEX) model that checks whether the layout and schematic match, extracts the RC values in the FEOL MOL and BEOL areas. Subsequently, the effect of the interconnection on complex logic circuits (RO, full adder) was confirmed using PDK. As a result of quantifying the effects of FEOL, MOL, and BEOL on the circuit, circuit degradation due to the RC of MOL and BEOL accounts for more than 60%. Furthermore, we introduced the air spacer process as a way to improve the circuit performance by reducing the CMOL owing to the reduction in the dielectric constant of the spacer. When an air spacer is introduced, based on 9-stages FO1 INV RO with k = 7 at VDD = 0.7V, under iso-speed condition, the active power decreases by 30%, 35% when k is 3.3, 1.65, respectively. Under iso-power condition, frequency increases by 9%, 11% when k is 3.3, 1.65, respectively. And based on full adder with k = 7 at VDD = 0.7V, Under iso-speed conditions, the active power decreases by 47%, 58% when k is 3.3, 1.65, respectively. Under iso-power conditions, the delay decreases by 14%, 20% when k is 3.3, 1.65, respectively. PDP decreases by 22%, 32% when k is 3.3, 1.65, respectively. EDP decreases by 31%, 44% when k is 3.3, 1.65, respectively. In conclusion, in this work, we provide a guide for determining the BEOL load and developing an improved wiring process.
Corporate governance and the performance of manufacturing firms in Ghana: Does ownership structure matter?

Abstract This study investigates the moderating role of ownership structure in the nexus between corporate governance and the financial performance of manufacturing firms in Ghana. The study uses GLS regression to analyze a panel dataset of 7 manufacturing firms over 14 years. We find a positive and significant effect of board size, audit committee independence, and size on firm performance. We, however, find a negative relationship between board remuneration and performance. We observe that block ownership moderates the relationship between board size, board independence, and the financial performance of manufacturing firms. Block shareholdings of the listed manufacturing firms in Ghana play a significant moderating role in the corporate governance-firm performance nexus. This study provides key insights into the influence of block shareholders on corporate governance activities and the eventual impact on the financial performance of manufacturing firms in Ghana, a phenomenon that has not been examined in the literature.
The Potential Role of Urinary Microbiome in Benign Prostate Hyperplasia/Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Historically, urine in the urinary tract was considered “sterile” based primarily on culture-dependent methods of bacterial detection. Rapidly developing sequencing methods and analytical techniques have detected bacterial deoxyribonucleic acid and live bacteria in urine, improving our ability to understand the urinary tract microbiome. Recently, many studies have revealed evidence of a microbial presence in human urine in the absence of clinical infections. In women, fascinating evidence associates urinary tract microbiota with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). However, the association between urinary tract microbiota and men with LUTS, particularly those with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), has not been established. In addition, the identification of the proinflammatory cytokines and pathogens responsible for the clinical progression of BPH is still underway. This review article aimed to address microbiome-related evidence for BPH. Further studies are required for a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the urogenital microbiome and BPH pathogenesis to facilitate the development of preventive and therapeutic approaches for male LUTS.
Concurrent Receding Horizon Control and Estimation Against Stealthy Attacks

In this article, we consider a game-theoretic framework for cyber-physical systems, where a defender develops a mitigation strategy against an intelligent attacker who exploits the system's uncertainty to remain undetected. The goal of the defender is to optimize a performance cost constructed specifically to account for robustness against stealthy attacks so that the system is regulated. Conversely, the goal of the attacker is to disrupt the system's performance by leveraging its significant information advantage against the defender. Both players implement their policies in a moving horizon fashion, according to the principles of receding horizon control. However, because the defender has no access to the full state of the system, it concurrently employs receding horizon estimation to overcome this limitation. Rigorous theoretical analysis shows that such a concurrent policy can guarantee closed-loop boundedness, despite the stealthy attacks and the information disadvantage. Simulations verify and clarify these findings.
From biomass to wearable devices: laser-induced graphene derived from lignin for ultrasensitive sensing

Laser-indued graphene (LIG) is 3D porous structure with many promising properties. Lignin-based precursor has shown its unique properties in generating high quality LIG among various organic carbon-based substrates. In this study, we explored LIG derived from lignin for an ultrasensitive strain sensor for the first time. The main procedures included the precursor preparation, laser writing process, sensor fabrication, sensitivity test to strains and vibrations, and performance test on human body. The results demonstrated an excellent performance of our strain sensors with high accuracy and ultrasenstivity, suggesting the promising future of lignin valorization into LIG and futher wearable devices.
GalPaK3D: A BAYESIAN PARAMETRIC TOOL FOR EXTRACTING MORPHOKINEMATICS OF GALAXIES FROM 3D DATA

We present a method to constrain galaxy parameters directly from three-dimensional data cubes. The algorithm compares directly the data with a parametric model mapped in x , y , λ ? > coordinates. It uses the spectral line-spread function and the spatial point-spread function (PSF) to generate a three-dimensional kernel whose characteristics are instrument specific or user generated. The algorithm returns the intrinsic modeled properties along with both an “intrinsic” model data cube and the modeled galaxy convolved with the 3D kernel. The algorithm uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach with a nontraditional proposal distribution in order to efficiently probe the parameter space. We demonstrate the robustness of the algorithm using 1728 mock galaxies and galaxies generated from hydrodynamical simulations in various seeing conditions from 0. ″6 to 1. ″2. We find that the algorithm can recover the morphological parameters (inclination, position angle) to within 10% and the kinematic parameters (maximum rotation velocity) to within 20%, irrespectively of the PSF in seeing (up to 1.″2) provided that the maximum signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) is greater than ∼3 pixel−1 and that the ratio of galaxy half-light radius to seeing radius is greater than about 1.5. One can use such an algorithm to constrain simultaneously the kinematics and morphological parameters of (nonmerging) galaxies observed in nonoptimal seeing conditions. The algorithm can also be used on adaptive optics data or on high-quality, high-S/N data to look for nonaxisymmetric structures in the residuals.
Transfer EEG Emotion Recognition by Combining Semi-Supervised Regression with Bipartite Graph Label Propagation

Individual differences often appear in electroencephalography (EEG) data collected from different subjects due to its weak, nonstationary and low signal-to-noise ratio properties. This causes many machine learning methods to have poor generalization performance because the independent identically distributed assumption is no longer valid in cross-subject EEG data. To this end, transfer learning has been introduced to alleviate the data distribution difference between subjects. However, most of the existing methods have focused only on domain adaptation and failed to achieve effective collaboration with label estimation. In this paper, an EEG feature transfer method combined with semi-supervised regression and bipartite graph label propagation (TSRBG) is proposed to realize the unified joint optimization of EEG feature distribution alignment and semi-supervised joint label estimation. Through the cross-subject emotion recognition experiments on the SEED-IV data set, the results show that (1) TSRBG has significantly better recognition performance in comparison with the state-of-the-art models; (2) the EEG feature distribution differences between subjects are significantly minimized in the learned shared subspace, indicating the effectiveness of domain adaptation; (3) the key EEG frequency bands and channels for cross-subject EEG emotion recognition are achieved by investigating the learned subspace, which provides more insights into the study of EEG emotion activation patterns.
Effect of acellular dermal matrix thickness and surface area on direct-to-implant breast reconstruction

Background The use of an acellular dermal matrix is advantageous for direct-to-implant breast reconstruction after skin-preserving mastectomy, but is associated with postoperative complications, especially increased seroma. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether acellular dermal matrix surface area and thickness are associated with an increased risk of seroma. Methods This retrospective chart review was based on the medical records of patients who underwent submuscular direct-to-implant breast reconstruction from January 2011 to June 2018 by a single surgeon. The acellular dermal matrices were divided into groups according to surface area and thickness (group I, thin and small; group II, thin and large; group III, thick and small; and group IV, thick and large). The drainage volume and period were analyzed between the groups using an analysis of variance. The factors influencing drainage were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients. Results Of the 219 cases of direct-to-implant breast reconstruction (217 patients), 77, 63, 42, and 37 were in groups I, II, III, and IV, respectively. A large acellular dermal matrix resulted in a larger drainage volume, longer drainage period, and more complications. The drainage volume increased as the body mass index (r=0.217; P<0.01), mastectomy volume (r=0.358; P<0.01), and implant volume (r=0.385; P<0.01) increased. There was no difference in drainage volume, drainage period, and complications depending on the thickness and manufacturer of the acellular dermal matrix. Conclusions In direct-to-implant breast reconstruction, the use of a larger acellular dermal matrix, not a thicker acellular dermal matrix, increases the drainage volume and period, thereby resulting in a greater risk of seroma or infection.
The Investigation of Electrical Characteristics for Carbon Nano-Tubes as Through Silicon Via in Multi-Layer Stacking Scheme With an Optimized Structure

Through silicon via (TSV) is the key technology for 3-D integrated circuits (3-DICs) which could vertically stack homogeneous or heterogeneous dies with the high performance and density. To evaluate the electrical characteristics of TSV at the high-frequency transmission, the skin effect and surface roughness effect are necessary to be considered. However, these effects would significantly result in the TSV equivalent resistance under the high operating frequency. Thus, it is important to investigate the carbon nano tubes (CNTs) TSV which has less skin effect intrinsically. In this work, we analyze the advantage of CNTs as TSV compared to the conventional filling materials such as copper (Cu). Furtherly, we also propose the equivalent circuit model of TSV and its multi-layer structure to simulate the electrical behaviors with different TSV pitch, height, diameter, and stacking layers by using ANSYS designer and high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS). Based on the frequency-domain analysis, it can be found that CNTs TSV has the lower frequency-dependent loss than Cu due to the lower equivalent resistance. In a summary, CNTs could be a promising TSV filling material at the high-speed transmission frequency based on our study.
Four spheres of student-teachers’ professional identity formation through learning about curriculum development

ABSTRACT Teachers’ professional identity is multifaceted and fluctuating, and while it is formally developed during initial teacher preparation, it is influenced by experiences before and beyond teaching programmes. The aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a module on language curriculum development may influence the professional identity formation of international and UK student-teachers enrolled in a master’s programme in teaching English to speakers of other languages at a UK university. The study was carried out with 30 student-teachers in 2021, and data were collected from an ecological perspective as data sets came from the regular module delivery. Findings show that the student-teachers articulated four spheres of professional identity. Located in the past, the language learner identity helped them reflect on good practices. Their present student-teacher identity was characterised by their acknowledgement of language education as a research-informed area. Drawing on these two spheres, they displayed two future spheres of professional identity: teacher identity and curriculum developer identity. The latter demonstrates that the module not only enabled the participants to imagine a new career path but also helped them reflect on their anticipatory agency and self-efficacy.
Outer electron radiation belt dropouts : Geosynchronous and ionospheric responses.

The study of outer radiation belt dynamics has been ongoing for over 5 decades. Outer radiation belt dropouts involve the rapid lost of electron fluxes at the main phase of a storm and subsequent recovery. The characteristics of the dropouts are many and varied. This study examines the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and the ionospheric responses during Stream Interface (SI) and Magnetic Cloud (MC) events, using a combination of ground based and satellite instruments. SIand MC-driven dropout events were inspected from summary plots of the Synchronous Orbit Particle Analyser (SOPA) instruments from the year 1996 to 2007. Comprehensive studies were done on six selected events. Analysis of the data from the instruments indicate that SIs and MCs are important lost drivers with significant differences in GEO and ionospheric environment. To validate the data and test for consistent response of the events, the Superposed Epoch Analysis (SEA) technique was used. The ground based measurements also revealed how the absorption peaks in the ionosphere correlated with dropouts and geophysical activity. Ionospheric absorption during SI associated dropouts was enhanced for 5 < L < 6, while significant peaks in ionospheric absorption extended to lower L during MC driven dropouts. Wave-particle interactions and southward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF-Bz) are apparent causes for the precipitation. This analysis showed that, within the confines of the selected events, SI driven dropouts were more dominant at the declining phase of the solar cycle while the MC driven dropouts were more dominant during solar maximum.