Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do plants in an office improve perceptions of wellbeing and work effectiveness? The case of a call centre

Numerous empirical studies based on attention restoration theory have shown that plants in the workplace have the potential to have a positive impact on the wellbeing and effectiveness of workers. This study examines the impact of introducing plants into a call centre environment on the employees. A repeated-measures design with a sample of 32 call centre employees revealed a significant improvement in physical measurements of indoor environmental quality but no significant improvements in employees’ perceptions. These results are discussed in the context of the call centre work environment.
Effects of suckling on milk yield and milk composition of dairy cows in cow–calf contact systems

Abstract In this research communication I show the effect of various cow–calf contact systems on milk yield and milk composition during the periods when calves where allowed to suckle their dams and after the calves were separated in comparison to cows that were only machine milked throughout their lactation. Analyses were based on four different experiments, but conducted at the same research station and under comparable housing and feeding conditions. Nursing dams had contact to their calves during the whole day, during night-time or only twice per day shortly before milking. A control group of cows that had no contact to their offspring was part of every experiment. Data of the regular monthly milk recordings were analysed with linear mixed models. Results showed a significant effect of the suckling system on the machine milk yield over the whole lactation. While cows with night-time contact reached the milk production level of the control cows, cows with whole day or short-time contact still produced less milk after the calves were separated. Fat content was always lower during the suckling period but not afterwards. The significantly higher milk protein content in dams with calf contact requires further investigation. Somatic cell count in milk of nursing dams was slightly increased, probably due to the exposure of the teats to frequent suckling in addition to machine milkings. In conclusion, cow–calf contact systems influence the performance of cows during and after the suckling period but to varying degrees depending on the system adopted.
The wits appraisal in a Saudi population sample

Since the inception of cephalometric radiographs following introduction of the clinical use of craniostat by Broadbent, many analyses have been produced to assist orthodontic clinicians and research workers. Such analyses include those of Bjork, Wylie, Down, Ballard, Riedel, Steiner, Ricketts and Tweed. All of these analyses had been produced to assess skeletal and dental and soft tissue pattern. One of the most widely used and the simplest method to determine anteroposterior relationship of maxilla and mandible was ANB angle. It had been suggested by Riedel and used by Steiner. The interpretation of this angle was influenced by three factors: the anteroposterior position of point nasion, sella-nasion line, and the rotational effect of the jaws. To eliminate the influence of these factors, another diagnostic aid has been suggested by Jacobson in 1975. It was called wits appraisal (due to the University of the Witwaterstand, South Africa). The method entails drawing perpendiculars from points A and B on the maxilla and the mandible, respectively to the occlusal plane. The occlusal plane was defined as the line drawn through the overlap of the mesiobuccal cusps of the first molars and the buccal cusps of the first premolars (Fig. 1). Jacobson used a sample of twenty-one adult males selected on the basis of excellence of occlusion. It was found that point BO was approximately 1 mm. ahead of point AO. The calculated mean reading was 1.17 mm with standard deviation 1.9 (range, -2 to 4 mm.). In 1
Examination of middle-school students’ physical education and sports course values in terms of several variables

This study aims to examine the ‘values education’ given in middle-school physical education and sports courses in terms of several variables. The research group consists of a total of 1600 students (795 female, and 805 male), studying in 16 central middle-schools (100 students from each school) affiliated to Tokat Provincial Directorate of National Education in 2018-2019 academic year. “Physical Education and Sports Course Value Scale” was used as a data collection tool. As data analysis in research; demographic variables were evaluated in frequency and percentage. Normality assumptions of the sub-dimensions were examined through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Mann-Whitney test was used in the analysis of categorical variables whose level of sub-dimensions was 2. Kruskal-Wallis test was used for variables with more than 2 levels. The level of significance is set at 0.05. Middle-school students’ value mean scores for “Sports Culture” was determined as X = 13.4625, “Healthy Life and Nutrition” value mean score was X = 9.2056, “Solidarity” value mean score was X = 7.9425, “Respect” value mean score was X=12.8294, “National Culture and Unity” value mean score was X = 22.2819, and “Awareness” value mean score was X = 32.4688. Significant differences were determined between the students' value scores according to their gender, class, doing-not doing sports status, and family income levels. This study had determined that the students’ value scores for physical education and sports course were high. It was observed that female students generally had higher value scores than male students, and their value scores decreased as their grade level increased. It has been determined that students who do sports have higher value scores compared to students who do not do sports, and as students’ families income increases, their value scores also increase. According to the findings, it may be said that Physical Education and Sports Course has a very important and effective role in gaining values.
Prior-Guided Image Reconstruction for Accelerated Multi-Contrast MRI via Generative Adversarial Networks

Multi-contrast MRI acquisitions of an anatomy enrich the magnitude of information available for diagnosis. Yet, excessive scan times associated with additional contrasts may be a limiting factor. Two mainstream frameworks for enhanced scan efficiency are reconstruction of undersampled acquisitions and synthesis of missing acquisitions. Recently, deep learning methods have enabled significant performance improvements in both frameworks. Yet, reconstruction performance decreases towards higher acceleration factors with diminished sampling density at high-spatial-frequencies, whereas synthesis can manifest artefactual sensitivity or insensitivity to image features due to the absence of data samples from the target contrast. In this article, we propose a new approach for synergistic recovery of undersampled multi-contrast acquisitions based on conditional generative adversarial networks. The proposed method mitigates the limitations of pure learning-based reconstruction or synthesis by utilizing three priors: shared high-frequency prior available in the source contrast to preserve high-spatial-frequency details, low-frequency prior available in the undersampled target contrast to prevent feature leakage/loss, and perceptual prior to improve recovery of high-level features. Demonstrations on brain MRI datasets from healthy subjects and patients indicate the superior performance of the proposed method compared to pure reconstruction and synthesis methods. The proposed method can help improve the quality and scan efficiency of multi-contrast MRI exams.
Toward a Revised Beaufort Equivalent Scale

Using individual observations from the COADS Compressed Marine Reports 5 (CMR5), separate objective analyses of estimated and measured wind spe climatology for the global oceans during the period 1970-89 is produced. Fields o annual mean estimated/measured wind speeds are used to analyze the performanc four current Beaufort equivalent scales: a) WMO Code 1100, b) CMM-IV, c) Cardone and d) Kaufeld. This analysis identifies major biases in these scales and a method proposed to correct individual estimated wind observations in COADS. The sensitivity of this new method on different seasons, decades and individual oceans is discussed is shown that this new method produces consistent estimates of measured/estima annual mean wind speeds over the global oceans with much reduced bias compared calculations based on previous Beaufort equivalent scales. When compared to the o WMO Code 1100 Beaufort scale estimates, our method produces higher climatologic wind speeds over the global oceans and removes the long term artificial trend, with th magnitude of such corrections higher in the boreal summer.
Effect of Humic Acid and Indole Butyric Acid on Vegetative Growth and Nutritional Status of Jatropha curcas Seedlings

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) as a commercially viable biofuel crop is recognized as a promising feedstock for biodiesel production. In addition, its high resistance to drought and salinity. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of IBA and Humic acid at different concentrations on the vegetative growth characteristics and the mineral status of jatropha curcas plants. A pot experiment was carried out in the greenhouse of the National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt. The seeds of Jatropha were sown and transplanted at pots and were received seven treatments at different concentrations and combinations of IBA and humic acid. These materials were used as 2 and 4 g /L for IBA, while, HA were applied at 100 and 200 ppm solely and in combinations. The plants were then grown in a partially shaded greenhouse for three months during two successive seasons of 2015 and 2016. Results reveal that all treatments significantly promote the vegetative growth characters of Jatropha seedlings compared with untreated ones (control). These promotive effect was increased by decreasing the applied materials concentrations wither they were used individually or in combinations. The greatest values of seedling height, stem height and diameter, number of leaves/seedling and leaf area as well as fresh and dry weight of Jatropha seedlings were obtained by treatment No. 6 (2 g/L Hu + 100 ppm IBA). On the other hand, doubling the concentration of both humic acid and IBA substances (2 g/L HA + 100 ppm IBA) scored the greatest value of chlorophyll pigments content. These promotive effect of humic acid (HA) and Indole butyric acid (IBA) with their combination at low doses were reflexed positively on both macro and trace elements as well the developmental growth during the third month whereas, they scored the highest significant value in this respect . Finally, promotive effect can be achieved on the vegetative growth parameters and minerals of Jatropha seedlings with the applications of both humic and indole butyric acid in combination at 2 g/L Hu + 100 ppm IBA.
Stability of beliefs in mathematics education: a critical analysis

The field of mathematics education has assumed for too long that stability is an inherent and definable characteristic of beliefs. In this article we explore the validity of this claim through the critical analysis of 92 journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters. Using a stringent definition of what it means for a belief to be stable we conclude that the body of research on mathematical beliefs is inconsistent in its use of this construct. The aggregated results of our analysis also indicate that stability and instability are not mutually exclusive characteristics of beliefs.
NF-κB Inhibition Suppresses Experimental Melanoma Lung Metastasis

Background: Although novel therapeutic regimens for melanoma continue to emerge, the best current clinical response rate is still less than 60%. Moreover, antimelanoma treatments contribute to toxicities in other vital organs. In this study, we elucidate the therapeutic advantages of siRNA targeting melanoma NF-κB canonical signaling pathway with a peptide-based gene delivery nanoplex system. Methods and Results: In vitro treatment of melanoma B16-F10 cells was used to demonstrate delivery and efficacy of anti-NF-kB siRNA to cell cytoplasm with a 55 mn peptide-based gene delivery system. NF-κB (p65) knockdown was validated both at mRNA and protein levels by using RT2-PCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence cellular staining. Canonical p65 mRNA was reduced by 82% and p65 protein was reduced by 48%, which differed significantly from levels in control groups. In vivo treatment of a melanoma lung metastasis mouse model with 3-serial i.v. injections of p5RHH-p65 siRNA nanoparticles retarded growth of lung metastasis within one week by 76% (p=0.003) as compared to saline control treatments. Conclusion: Inhibition of melanoma NF-κB (p65) with systemically-delivered siRNA effectively impedes the growth and progression of experimental melanoma lung metastasis.
kPAM 2.0: Feedback Control for Category-Level Robotic Manipulation

In this letter, we explore generalizable, perception-to-action robotic manipulation for precise, contact-rich tasks. In particular, we contribute a framework for closed-loop robotic manipulation that automatically handles a category of objects, despite potentially unseen object instances and significant intra-category variations in shape, size and appearance. Previous approaches typically build a feedback loop on top of a realtime 6-DOF pose estimator. However, representing an object with a parameterized transformation from a fixed geometric template does not capture large intra-category shape variation. Hence we adopt the keypoint-based object representation proposed in [13] for category-level pick-and-place, and extend it to closed-loop manipulation policies with contact-rich tasks. We first augment keypoints with local orientation information. Using the oriented keypoints, we propose a novel object-centric action representation in terms of regulating the linear/angular velocity or force/torque of these oriented keypoints. This formulation is surprisingly versatile – we demonstrate that it can accomplish contact-rich manipulation tasks that require precision and dexterity for a category of objects with different shapes, sizes and appearances, such as peg-hole insertion for pegs and holes with significant shape variation and tight clearance. With the proposed object and action representation, our framework is also agnostic to the robot grasp pose and initial object configuration, making it flexible for integration and deployment. Video demonstration, source code and supplemental materials are available on https://sites.google. com/view/kpam2/home.
Sound Event Detection by Consistency Training and Pseudo-Labeling With Feature-Pyramid Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks

Due to the high cost of large-scale strong labeling, sound event detection (SED) using only weakly-labeled and unlabeled data has drawn increasing attention in recent years. To exploit large amount of unlabeled in-domain data efficiently, we applied three semi-supervised learning strategies: interpolation consistency training (ICT), shift consistency training (SCT), and weakly pseudo-labeling. In addition, we propose FP-CRNN, a convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) which contains feature-pyramid (FP) components, to leverage temporal information by utilizing features at different scales. Experiments were conducted on DCASE 2020 task 4. In terms of event-based F-measure, these approaches outperform the official baseline system, at 34.8%, with the highest F-measure of 48.0% achieved by an FP-CRNN that was trained with the combination of all three strategies.
Authoritarian media and diversionary threats: lessons from 30 years of Syrian state discourse

Abstract Scholars have long argued that leaders manipulate foreign policy, sometimes even initiating wars in order to enhance their domestic political position. But diversionary wars are relatively rare given the high costs of conflict. In this project, we examine data from major Syrian daily newspapers over a 30-year period (1987–2018) to explore how autocratic regimes use diversionary rhetoric. We find that before the 2011 Arab Uprisings, Syria's state-controlled media concentrated on Israel as a security and political threat. Emphasis on Israel as a diversionary threat decreased during peace negotiations between Syria and Israel, probably in a bid to prepare the Syrian public for normalization of bilateral relations. After 2011, scrutiny of Israel—and other long-standing topics of state discourse—was displaced by discussion of foreign plots and conspiracies against the Syrian state. Our analysis illustrates how authoritarian regimes make use of diversionary strategies as well as how political shocks generate discontinuities in authoritarian rhetoric.
Correlation of Serum PSA with Gleason Score and Gleason Group Grade in Patients with Prostate Adenocarcinoma at Sokoto North-Western Nigeria

Introduction: Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is the first-line test in the screening of prostate cancer, its increase depends on differentiation of tumour cells. Gleason grading is one of the most powerful predictors of biological behaviour and when combined PSA with Gleason score and clinical stage. It improves the prediction of the pathological stage for prostate carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine the association between serum PSA concentration and the new (2016 modified) Gleason grade group of tumour among patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective, study of all diagnosed prostate adenocarcinoma over a 4 year period (January 2014 to December 2017) in the Department of Histopathology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital. Biodata and other relevant information were retrieved for the study. Result: One hundred and eighteen prostate adenocarcinoma were diagnosed within the study period. The peak age group was 61-70years accounting for 48.3%. The youngest age was 47years and the oldest age was 96 years. Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma accounted for 48.3%, well-differentiated accounted for 27.2%, moderate to poorly differentiated 17.8% and moderately differentiated accounted for 6.7%. According to the 4 tier group grading system. The group grade 5 with serum PSA above 50.0ng/ml accounted for 43.5% while the same group grade with serum PSA less than 4.0ng/ml accounted for 4.3%. The mean serum PSA was 43.18 ± 40.22 with the range from 1.10 to 270.ng/ml. Conclusion: This study shows that there is a weak positive correlation that is not statistically significant between serum PSA levels and newly introduced (2016) Gleason group grade of prostatic carcinoma.
Examining the Relationship between Epistemic Beliefs (Justification of Knowing) and the Belief in Conspiracy Theories

In times of fake news and alternative facts, a differentiated approach to (scientific) knowledge becomes increasingly important. In light of current events, namely the covid19-pandemic, understanding epistemic beliefs and their effect on dealing with misinformation and conspiracy theories is especially relevant. This study therefore explored relationships between epistemic beliefs (how individuals perceive knowledge and science, as well as scientific knowledge within specific research areas) and beliefs in covid19-related conspiracy theories.
Awareness and Practice of Tooth Replacement among Elderly Ghanaian Adult within the Greater Accra Metropolis

Original Research Article Background: Tooth loss affects the oral function, physical appearance, psychological well-being and social life of a person. The use of dental prosthesis therefore becomes necessary. However, the full acceptance and use of this treatment plan has not been fully realized due to factors such as limited knowledge on oral care and tooth replacement, poverty, dental anxiety, sociodemographic location and the beliefs of people. Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine the awareness and practice of tooth replacement among older Ghanaian adults. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 consenting participants of age 50 years and above living in the Accra Metropolitan District in Ghana. The participants were selected using random sampling technique. The collected data were responses of structured questionnaire asking participants about the awareness and practices of tooth replacement. Data was captured using Microsoft Access and analyzed using descriptive statistics (to obtain means and frequencies) and Chi square tests from the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 22.The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: The prevalence of tooth loss and total edentulism was 66.0% and 3.0% among participants respectively. There was 90.0% awareness on tooth replacement among participants and 82.0% responded positively towards the practice of tooth replacement. This study revealed that 18.0% of subjects have utilized dental prosthesis of which 94.4% opted for removable dentures. Conclusion: Tooth loss and awareness on tooth replacement were high among majority of participants. The use of dental prostheses was low among participants. Majority of participants perceived dental prosthesis as not necessary and moreover financial constraint was a key reason for nonuse of prosthesis among participants. Increased education and improved socioeconomic status is therefore necessary to enhance the practice of tooth replacement among elderly Ghanaian adults.
Does Brand Extension in Hotel Chains Affect the Buying Decisions of Customers?

DOI: 10.21276/sjebm.2018. 5.1. 6 Abstract: Brand extension is a marketing tool that involves using of a wellestablished or known brand name to introduce a new set of product either in a line or category extension. The fact that hotels are increasing and expanding makes competition more intensely among them. These allow hotels to examine ways of differentiating themselves from their competitors and in the same way allow them to have a competitive advantage in the market. The research problem is to analyze if the brand extension strategy adopted in selected hotel chains in Northern Cyprus affects the buying patterns of customers and if it also influences brand loyalty and brand equity on customer hotel brand identification. The sample of the study involves those tourist visiting Northern Cyprus hotels. Non-probability convenience sampling technique is used to collect data that was used as a survey instrument. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20 based on the questionnaires. The use of tables, percentages, frequencies, bar charts and mean were used to sum up the demographics of respondents. To test the relationship between the hypotheses, the measurement technique that was used is Pearson Correlation and ANOVA. The research findings indicate the brand extension practiced by selected hotels in North Cyprus affects the buying decisions of customers. Customers having a positive attitude towards the parent brand of a hotel transfer this attitude to the extension, through previous knowledge and service quality which influences their purchase decision. The perceived fit and similarity between the hotel brand and its extension helps customers to view the brands as the same concerning the service quality and also increasing the value of the major hotel brand. This motivates customers to patronize the hotel brand. Customer brand loyalty leads to hotel brand equity at the long run. Brand extension strategy is therefore a marketing tool that can be utilized by managers of hotels to improve their productivity, stay ahead of competitors, allow large market share, increase the company‟s portfolio, delight customers, gain more loyal customers and increase sales and profits.