Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sphericity measurements by the radial method: I. Mathematical fundamentals

Traditionally, form errors of spherical components have been assessed on the basis of roundness profiles measured in several randomly selected cross-sections. However, such evaluation is superficial, especially if there are significant local irregularities. A new concept was thus developed at the Kielce University of Technology to enable measurement of spherical specimens along some predefined paths so that the surface is densely covered with a grid of points. This approach assumes that measurements can be performed using a typical radial roundness measuring instrument equipped with a special mechanism for controlled positioning of a measured element. This work discusses the assumptions of the new concept and describes a mathematical model of sphericity measurement by the radial method.
A global gridded ocean salinity dataset with 0.5° horizontal resolution since 1960 for the upper 2000 m

A gridded salinity dataset with high resolution is essential for investigating global ocean salinity variability and understanding its role in climate and the ocean ecosystem. In this study, a new version of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics gridded salinity dataset with a higher resolution (0.5° by 0.5°) is provided by using a revised ensemble optimal interpolation scheme with a dynamic ensemble. The performance of this dataset is evaluated using “subsample test” and the high-resolution satellite-based data. Compared with the previous 1° by 1° resolution IAP product, the new dataset is more capable of representing regional salinity changes with the meso-scale and small-scale signals (i.e., in the coastal and boundary currents regions), meanwhile, maintains the large-scale structure and variability. Therefore, the new dataset complements the previous data product. Besides, the new dataset is compared with in situ observations and several international salinity products for the salinity multiscale variabilities and patterns. The comparison shows the smaller magnitude of mean difference and Root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) in basin scale for the new dataset, some differences in strength and fine structure of the “fresh gets fresher, salty gets saltier” surface and subsurface salinity pattern amplification trends from 1980 to 2017, a broad similarity for the salinity changes associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and a consistent salinity dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean (S-IOD). These results support the future use of gridded salinity data.
A survey of public perception, knowledge and factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine acceptability in five communities in Ghana

Summary Objective The present study assessed the public's perception and Knowledge about COVID-19 and factors that could affect vaccine acceptability in Ghana. Design We carried out a cross-sectional population-based study. A structured questionnaire was used to capture data on socio-demographic information, knowledge, and the public's perception of COVID-19 infection, as well as COVID-19 vaccine acceptability from consented participants. Factors affecting vaccine acceptability in Ghana were explored. Robust ordinary least square linear regression analysis was adopted to assess factors associated with vaccine acceptability. Setting Five communities (Labone, Lartebiorkoshie, Old Fadama, Chorkor, and Ashiyie) in Accra in the Greater Accra district were selected. Participants WHO modified cluster-sampling method was applied to select households of 997 participants in the five communities. Results Most respondents were males (57.6%), and the median age of participants was 30 years. The study participants demonstrated a good knowledge of COVID-19 and had high perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed that the highest educational level, marital status, self-rated Knowledge of COVID-19, Knowledge of COVID-19 definition, Knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms, and perception of the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly associated with vaccine acceptability. Self-reported impact of COVID-19 lockdown/movement restrictions on agriculture and job as a source of livelihood was associated with vaccine acceptability. Conclusion Higher subjective and objective knowledge of COVID-19 increases vaccine acceptability scores significantly thus, education on COVID-19 and the vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 infection must be intensified to improve vaccine acceptability in Ghana, especially among those with lower educational backgrounds. Funding None declared
Predictability of the Stable Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Abstract The partial differential equation set for the horizontally homogeneous nocturnal boundary layer under first-order closure is discretized and truncated to a two-layer system. This system can be treated as a coupled four-layer ordinary differential equation set Using techniques of nonlinear dynamics, including numerical continuation and nonlinear stability analysis, characteristics of the solutions are developed. The bifurcation diagrams show classic S-shaped behavior so that the equations support multivalued solutions for certain values of external parameters. Both stable and unstable solution regimes exist with multiple, stable limit points. The results have strong implications for the predictability of the stable boundary layer in that even slight changes in initial conditions (or perturbations) would lead to quite different solutions in terms of temperature and wind speed for the regions of multivalued solutions. Practically, this means that predictions of frost or pollution dispersion may not .
Self-Healing Hydrogels Fabricated by Introducing Antibacterial Long-Chain Alkyl Quaternary Ammonium Salt into Marine-Derived Polysaccharides for Wound Healing

The development of hydrogels as wound dressings has gained considerable attention due to their promising ability to promote wound healing. However, in many cases of clinical relevance, repeated bacterial infection, which might obstruct wound healing, usually occurs due to the lack of antibacterial properties of these hydrogels. In this study, we fabricated a new class of self-healing hydrogel with enhanced antibacterial properties based on dodecyl quaternary ammonium salt (Q12)-modified carboxymethyl chitosan (Q12-CMC), aldehyde group- modified sodium alginate (ASA), Fe3+ via Schiff bases and coordination bonds (QAF hydrogels). The dynamic Schiff bases and coordination interactions conferred excellent self-healing abilities to the hydrogels, while the incorporation of dodecyl quaternary ammonium salt gave the hydrogels superior antibacterial properties. Additionally, the hydrogels displayed ideal hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility, crucial for wound healing. Our full-thickness skin wound studies demonstrated that QAF hydrogels could result in rapid wound healing with reduced inflammatory response, increased collagen disposition and improved vascularization. We anticipate that the proposed hydrogels, possessing both antibacterial and self-healing properties, will emerge as a highly desirable material for skin wound repair.
Radiation and scattering features of patch antennas with bianisotropic substrates

The analysis of patch antennas residing in cavities filled by general inhomogeneous and lossy bianisotropic substrates is presented. The theoretical study is based on a variational formulation associated with the boundary value problem under analysis, and a hybrid finite element-boundary integral method is employed to solve the electromagnetic field inside and outside cavities numerically. Initially, the general formulation presented is applied to some particular cases known in the literature. Then, the main scattering and radiation features of cavity backed patch antennas with chiral, anisotropic, and bianisotropic materials are presented. Particularly, it is shown that complex media allow for frequency control and for a reduced antenna size at a given operating frequency.
Hybrid cross-linkable polymer/sol-gel waveguide modulators with 0.65 V half wave voltage at 1550 nm

The authors report on a hybrid cross-linked electro-optic (EO) polymer/sol-gel Mach-Zehnder waveguide modulator with a half wave voltage (Vπ) of 0.65V at 1550nm. The low Vπ was achieved by a design that (1) combines both physical vertical tapers in the sol-gel core and photobleached index tapers in the EO polymer and (2) reduces the thickness of the device to 8μm. These combined physical and index tapers result in improved optical mode confinement in the EO polymer with low adiabatic optical transition loss. The reduced thickness results in a larger field across the EO polymer for the same voltage, enabling a lower Vπ.
Determinants of handwashing behaviour among primary school teachers in a district of Ghana

ABSTRACT Background: Hand hygiene practise is an effective school-based measure for infectious disease prevention, especially in developing countries. School children model their behaviour through the observation of significant others, including teachers. However, little is known about the handwashing behaviour and factors influencing the handwashing practises of teachers at the primary school level in Ghana. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted among 214 primary school teachers, recruited by convenience sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire which were designed based on selected constructs in the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Health Belief Model. Data analyses was done with the aid of STATA software, version 14.0. To identify determinants of hand washing with soap (HWWS) among participants, correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were used. Results: The participants’ mean SD age was 34.7 7.6 years, ranging from 20 to 51 years. The majority were males (87.9%). The majority (84.0% and 86.0%) of the teachers, respectively, reported HWWS practises after using the toilet and before eating with bare hands. A correlation was found between reported HWWS practise and toilet use (r = 0.64; p = 0.001) and eating with bare hands (r = 0.84; p = 0.001). A multiple linear regression analysis found that knowledge (p = 0.001), attitude toward HWWS (p = 0.002), and teachers’ perception of the severity of diarrhoea (p = 0.009) were determinants of teachers’ reported HWWS behaviours. Conclusion: Teachers’ perceptions of their susceptibility to and severity of diarrhoea, and their knowledge and attitude towards HWWS at critical times should be focus areas for handwashing programmes to achieve the desired outcomes.
The effects of anatomical information and observer expertise on abnormality detection task

This paper presents a novel study investigating the influences of Magnetic Resonance (MR) image anatomical information and observer expertise on an abnormality detection task. MRI is exquisitely sensitive for detecting brain abnormalities, particularly in the evaluation of white matter diseases, e.g. multiple sclerosis (MS). For this reason, MS lesions are simulated as the target stimuli for detection in the present study. Two different image backgrounds are used in the following experiments: a) homogeneous region of white matter tissue, and b) one slice of a healthy brain MR image. One expert radiologist (more than 10 years' experience), three radiologists (less than 5 years' experience) and eight naïve observers (without any prior medical knowledge) have performed these experiments, during which they have been asked different questions dependent upon level of experience; the three radiologists and eight naïve observers were asked if they were aware of any hyper-signal, likely to represent an MS lesion, while the most experienced consultant was asked if a clinically significant sign was present. With the percentages of response "yes" displayed on the y-axis and the lesion intensity contrasts on the x-axis, psychometric function is generated from the observer' responses. Results of psychometric functions and calculated thresholds indicate that radiologists have better hyper-signal detection ability than naïve observers, which is intuitively shown by the lower simple visibility thresholds of radiologists. However, when radiologists perform a task with clinical implications, e.g. to detect a clinically significant sign, their detection thresholds are elevated. Moreover, the study indicates that for the radiologists, the simple visibility thresholds remain the same with and without the anatomical information, which reduces the threshold for the clinically significant sign detection task. Findings provide further insight into human visual system processing for this specific task, and this study provides the foundation for a series of studies investigating numerical observer modeling to be designed, with the ultimate aim of investigating the medical image quality assessment approach by addressing the perspective of radiologist diagnostic performance.
Variational Quantum Hydrodynamics

In the strictly classical limit, Λ = 0 while systems with Λ > 0.3 should be considered as strongly-quantum mechanical. For example, the de Boer ratio for Ar clusters ΛAr ≈ 0.03. As such, quantum effects in Ar clusters and liquids play an insignificant role. However, for Ne, ΛNe ≈ 0.1 and quantum mechanical effects may be important at low temperatures. In this chapter we present our development of a Bohmian trajectory-based approach for computing the quantum mechanical structure, energetics, and thermodynamics of multi-atom systems. These systems are important test cases for both theoretical and computational studies since they are at the crossing point between mesoscopic and microscopic length scales. Hence, quantum confinement and delocalization effects may yet play an important role their structure and properties. From a computational point of view, these are particularly challenging systems since they have too many degrees of freedom to be tackled by more standard basis set approaches Furthermore, many of their interesting quantum properties are only manifest at very low temperature making them challenging systems for path∗Corresponding author
New Times, New Ways: Exploring the Self-Regulation of Sport during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Relationship with Nostalgia and Well-Being

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has negatively affected individuals’ participation in sport activities, while sport participation is an important regulator of well-being. The current study investigated the effects of the nostalgia for sport activities and self-regulation of sport activities on subjective well-being. A total of 302 responses were collected from participants who had engaged in sport activities before the lockdown period. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings showed that nostalgia positively affected the self-regulation of sport and subjective well-being. In addition, self-regulation of sport was positively associated with subjective well-being. Based on the findings of this study, policymakers can implement interventions that promote an individual’s feelings of nostalgia, as it might lead them to engage in sport or promote self-regulation.
Characterization of BV6-Induced Sensitization to the NK Cell Killing of Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma Spheroids

Although the overall survival in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) has increased over the last decades, the most aggressive subtype of alveolar RMS is in dire need of novel treatment strategies. RMS cells evade cell death induction and immune control by increasing the expression of inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), which can be exploited and targeted with stimulation with Smac mimetics. Here, we used the Smac mimetic BV6 to re-sensitize RMS spheroids to cell death, which increased killing induced by natural killer (NK) cells. Single BV6 treatment of RMS spheroids did not reduce spheroidal growth. However, we observed significant spheroidal decomposition upon BV6 pre-treatment combined with NK cell co-cultivation. Molecularly, IAPs s are rapidly degraded by BV6, which activates NF-κB signal transduction pathways in RMS spheroids. RNA sequencing analysis validated NF-κB activation and identified a plethora of BV6-regulated genes. Additionally, BV6 released caspases from IAP-mediated inhibition. Here, caspase-8 might play a major role, as knockdown experiments resulted in decreased NK cell-mediated attack. Taken together, we improved the understanding of the BV6 mechanism of RMS spheroid sensitization to cytotoxic immune cells, which could be suitable for the development of novel combinatory cellular immunotherapy with Smac mimetics.
Evaluating innovation in studio physics

In 1993, Rensselaer introduced the first Studio Physics course. Two years later, the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was used to measure the conceptual learning gain 〈g〉 in the course. This was found to be a disappointing 0.22, indicating that Studio Physics was no more effective at teaching basic Newtonian concepts than a traditional course. Our study verified that result, 〈gFCI,98〉=0.18±0.12 (s.d.), and thereby provides a baseline measurement of conceptual learning gains in Studio Physics I for engineers. These low gains are especially disturbing because the studio classroom appears to be interactive and instructors strive to incorporate modern pedagogies. The goal of our investigation was to determine if incorporation of research-based activities into Studio Physics would have a significant effect on conceptual learning gains. To measure gains, we utilized the Force Concept Inventory and the Force and Motion Conceptual Evaluation (FMCE). In the process of pursuing this goal, we verified the effectiveness.
Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Properties of Writing Readiness Inventory Tool in Context (WRITIC)

This article describes the translation and cultural adaptation process of the WRITIC (Writing Readiness Inventory Tool in Context) into European Portuguese. We examined the content and convergent validity, test-retest, and interrater reliability on the norm-referenced subdomain of the Portuguese (PT) WRITIC Task Performance (TP). To establish content validity, we consulted six experts in handwriting. Internal consistency was found with 70 children, test-retest reliability with 65, inter-rater reliability with 69, and convergent validity with 87. All participants were typically developing kindergarten children. Convergent validity was examined with the Beery–Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery™VMI-6) and the Nine Hole Peg-Test (9-HPT). On content validity, we found an agreement of 93%, a good internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.72, and an excellent test-retest and inter-rater reliability with ICCs of 0.88 and 0.93. Correlations with Beery™VMI-6 and 9-HPT were moderate (r from 0.39 to 0.65). Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of WRITIC into European Portuguese was successful. WRITIC-PT-TP is stable over time and between raters; it has excellent internal consistency and moderate correlations with Beery™VMI-6 and 9-HPT. This analysis of the European Portuguese version of WRITIC gives us the confidence to start the implementation process of WRITIC-PT in Portugal.
Measuring the lifecycle of baryonic matter in the Large Magellanic Cloud with the Spitzer SAGE-LMC survey

Abstract The recycling of matter between the interstellar medium (ISM) and stars are key evolutionary drivers of a galaxy's baryonic matter. The Spitzer wavelengths provide a sensitive probe of circumstellar and interstellar dust and hence, allow us to study the physical processes of the ISM, the formation of new stars and the injection of mass by evolved stars and their relationships on the galaxy-wide scale of the LMC. Due to its proximity, favorable viewing angle, multi-wavelength information, and measured tidal interactions with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the LMC is uniquely suited for surveying the agents of a galaxy's evolution (SAGE), the ISM and stars. The SAGE-LMC project is measuring these key transition points in the life cycle of baryonic matter in the LMC. Here we present a connective view of the preliminary quantities estimated from SAGE-LMC for the total mass of the ISM, the galaxy wide star formation rate and the current stellar mass loss return. For context, we compare these numbers to the LMC's stellar mass.
The right ventricle in tetralogy of Fallot: adaptation to sequential loading

Right ventricular dysfunction is a major determinant of outcome in patients with complex congenital heart disease, as in tetralogy of Fallot. In these patients, right ventricular dysfunction emerges after initial pressure overload and hypoxemia, which is followed by chronic volume overload due to pulmonary regurgitation after corrective surgery. Myocardial adaptation and the transition to right ventricular failure remain poorly understood. Combining insights from clinical and experimental physiology and myocardial (tissue) data has identified a disease phenotype with important distinctions from other types of heart failure. This phenotype of the right ventricle in tetralogy of Fallot can be described as a syndrome of dysfunctional characteristics affecting both contraction and filling. These characteristics are the end result of several adaptation pathways of the cardiomyocytes, myocardial vasculature and extracellular matrix. As long as the long-term outcome of surgical correction of tetralogy of Fallot remains suboptimal, other treatment strategies need to be explored. Novel insights in failure of adaptation and the role of cardiomyocyte proliferation might provide targets for treatment of the (dysfunctional) right ventricle under stress.
Assessing Digital Elevation Model Uncertainty Using GPS Survey Data

AbstractThe use of terrain and elevation data is critical for a number of applications in science and engineering. Typically, the quality of digital elevation models (DEMs) is assessed using external and independent point data sources to arrive at an overall RMS value for the errors. The utility of such a single-valued overall assessment depends on the spatial extent of the area under consideration and the terrain variability (both over time and space), as well as the application requirements. This paper aimed to understand the suite of parameters that are important to consider in deriving a DEM error budget. Specifically, terrain slope, land-cover type, information loss, and data measurement schemes were investigated. A region in western Canada spanning the Rocky Mountains was used to numerically quantify errors using two Global Positioning System (GPS) datasets: precise point positioning (PPP) profiles and GPS on benchmarks. Three digital elevation models [Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflec.