Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are Early Warning Models Still Useful Tools for Bank Supervisors‘

This paper attempts to answer two timely important research questions. Has the accuracy of statistical early warning models declined in recent years as the economic environment faced by banks has become more volatile‘ Has it become necessary to frequently re-specify or re-estimate these models to produce reasonably accurate forecasts of bank risk‘ To answer these questions a set of Cox proportional hazard composite CAMELS downgrade models are estimated for a sample of low-risk community banks at five different yearend dates in the past (1997-2002) and are used to produce out-of-sample risk estimates for in five future periods (2002-2006). When the models are used to identify the 500 riskiest banks in each forecast year, the conventional Type I and Type II error rates are in the low- to mid-30 percent range in all of the forecast years, including the most recent one. Forecast accuracy does not consistently or sharply decline with model age, indicating frequent re-specification or re-estimation is unnecessary. In addition, the supplemental analysis of forecast accuracy indicates that a considerable number of banks categorized as type II errors by the models in each forecast period appear to be high risk ex post. The implication is that the "true" Type II error rates of the models are lower than the conventional figures reported in the tables.
Comparison of advanced imputation algorithms for detection of transportation mode and activity episode using GPS data

ABSTRACT Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies have been increasingly considered as an alternative to traditional travel survey methods to collect activity-travel data. Algorithms applied to extract activity-travel patterns vary from informal ad-hoc decision rules to advanced machine learning methods and have different accuracy. This paper systematically compares the relative performance of different algorithms for the detection of transportation modes and activity episodes. In particular, naive Bayesian, Bayesian network, logistic regression, multilayer perceptron, support vector machine, decision table, and C4.5 algorithms are selected and compared for the same data according to their overall error rates and hit ratios. Results show that the Bayesian network has a better performance than the other algorithms in terms of the percentage correctly identified instances and Kappa values for both the training data and test data, in the sense that the Bayesian network is relatively efficient and generalizable in the context of GPS data imputation.
Investigation of magnetron sputtered Ni@Cu/WS2 as an electrode material for potential supercapattery devices

The supercapattery, a hybrid device with both capacitive and battery characteristics, owing to its excellent energy, capacity and power capabilities has broadly been recognized as an eminent energy storage device. With such fascinating features, it still craves for efficient electrode materials to improve energy storage performance. Our study presents the electrochemical analysis of magnetron sputtered pristine tungsten disulfide (WS2) and WS2 anchored over copper (Cu) interfacial layer by employing nickel foam as a current collector. To probe the structural composition, surface morphology and elemental analysis of sputtered materials, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy are utilized. By employing three‐electrode cell configuration the deposited electrodes are then examined for electrochemical characterizations. The optimal electrode Ni@Cu/WS2 (S2) in this assembly revealed a specific capacity (Qs) of 357 C/g at 3 mV/s and 247.4 C/g at 0.5 A/g. Relying on the electrochemical performance, S2 is further utilized for asymmetric architecture (hybrid device), and hence attained Qs of 185.8 C/g and divulged high energy (Ed) and power (Pd) of 43.9 Wh/kg and 425 W/kg, respectively. Furthermore, for cyclic performance at a high current density js of 8 A/g, the device exhibited efficient stability performance of 98.1% against 4500 consecutive galvanostatic charge discharge (GCD) cycles. Moreover, by applying the semi‐empirical approach, a device is assessed for capacitive and diffusive contribution, with maximum contribution of 36.93% and 93.68% against potential scan rates of 100 and 3 mV/s, respectively. All the intriguing results attained via magnetron sputtered S2 vibrantly increase its worth as an electrode material for practical hybrid device applications.
Daily Model of Xco2 Based on Orbital Observations for the State of São Paulo – Brazil

Background: Understanding the behavior of carbon dioxide (CO2) it is crucial to create strategies to deal with climate change. Several space missions were designed to monitor this and other greenhouse gases and studies at global and large regional scales were developed using these remote sensing tools. However, there is still a time gap in orbital data, since the revisit time of a satellite at the same location for this type of observation is not daily. Daily measurements of CO2 can be made using Eddy Covariance technique, although this type of study is at a very local scale. In this study, we aimed to build a daily model to estimate the natural CO2 in the atmosphere.Results: The data was retrieved from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), NASA-POWER and, Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS) and consist in a time-series from 2015 to 2019. To summarize the most relevant factor we used the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) after we performed the Pearson’s Correlation and apply descriptive statistics in the significant variables (p < 0.05). The model was construed using the stepwise regression method and the selected model was defined by the lowest RMSE in training (~0.6 ppm). The most related variables with Xco2 were Global Radiation (Qg), Sun Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) and, Relative Humidity (RH), all these factors were negatively correlated with the CO2 concentration. The model has the best perform with the Qg and RH (RMSE = 0.47 ppm, R2 = 0.44, p < 0.01). Conclusion: In summary, the cycle of atmospheric CO2 in the state of São Paulo has higher average values during April to October, and the lowest averages of Xco2 were usually observed between December to March and the inverse behavior was observed for SIF 757, Global Radiation (Qg) and Relative Humidity (RH). Concerning the daily model, despite the differences between the spatial observations, the model derived here was capable to estimate the cycle of atmospheric CO2 using only meteorological data.
The Influence of Intravaginal Gestagens Treatment on the Morphological Features and Endometrial Steroid Hormone Receptors Content during Anestrus Type II in Dairy Cattle

Background: Gestagens are the most widely used therapy in anestrus type II. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the vaginal progesterone inserts therapy in anestrus type II in cows. Methods: The study was conducted on 33 cows. Progesterone (PR) and estrogen (ER) receptors expression in endometrium was assessed on a molecular level based on mRNA tissue expression. Additionally, blood 17ß-estradiol and progesterone levels were evaluated. Results: A decrease in mRNA expression of A and B PR and ER α was noted in treated and untreated animals. In the treated group, an increase of ERß mRNA expression was observed, while a decreased was found in untreated animals. There was increased PR, ERα and ß expression in endometrial tissue in treated cows, and decreased expression of these factors in untreated cows. In the treated group, recurrence of ovarian cyclicity was noted in 52% of animals and pregnancy was obtained in 34.8% of them, while in the untreated group, recurrence did not occur. In the control group, spontaneous recurrence of ovarian cyclicity was not observed. An increase of PR expression was correlated with increased proliferation of endometrial cells. Conclusions: It seems likely that the endometrium is well developed and ready for placentation after removing the exogenous source of progesterone and preventing the recurrence of cyclicity of ovaries.
Study of clinical presentations of lung cancer in tertiary level hospital

Background: Lung cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed worldwide. It is also the leading contributor to cancer-related mortality, resulting in around 1.38 million cancer deaths per year worldwide. The aim and objective of the study was to study the clinical presentations including paraneoplastic manifestations and metastatic effects of lung cancer and to identify reasons for delay in diagnosis of lung cancer.Methods: Hospital based observational study was conducted on 100 consecutive cases.Results: Mean age of the cases with lung cancer was 56.36 years and 30% of the cases. Male predominance was seen with 63% males to 37% females. Tobacco smoking was present in 59% cases while exposure to second hand smoke and biomass fuel was seen in 11% and 9% patients. Most common presenting symptoms were cough (22.21%), chest pain (16.13%), fever (14.37%), dyspnea (11%) and hemoptysis (5.22%). Most common type of lung tumor was Adenocarcinoma (53%) followed by Small cell carcinoma (22%) and Squamous cell carcinoma (19%). Mutation analysis by molecular testing where possible in 76.66% NSCLC cases and showed with RAS (26.19%), EGFR (23.8%), ALK1 (11.9%) and ROS (4.7%) mutation. Stage I and II of lung cancer was seen in 17% cases while stage III and IV was seen in 39% and 44% cases respectively.Conclusions: Present study shown tobacco smoking as the most common risk factor in the causation of lung cancer (59%) followed by passive smoking (11%) and biomass fuel exposure (9%). Mortality in the present study was 72% in 2 years of follow up and Median survival in the study was 11 months. We recommend high index of suspicion in the high-risk groups as smokers and those with chronic respiratory diseases to avoid delay in diagnosis.
Biodegradation Potential of Bacillus sp. PAH-2 on PAHs for Oil-Contaminated Seawater

Microbial degradation is a useful tool for inhibiting or preventing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) widely distributed in marine environment after oil spill accidents. This study aimed to evaluate the potential and diversity of bacteria Bacillus sp. PAH-2 on Benzo (a) anthracene (BaA), Pyrene (Pyr), and Benzo (a) pyrene (BaP), their composite system, aromatic components system, and crude oil. The seven-day degradation rates against BaA, Pyr, and BaP were 20.6%, 12.83%, and 17.49%, respectively. Further degradation study of aromatic components demonstrated PAH-2 had a high degradation rate of substances with poor stability of molecular structure. In addition, the degradation of PAHs in crude oil suggested PAH-2 not only made good use of PAHs in such a more complex structure of pollutants but the saturated hydrocarbons in the crude oil also showed a good application potential.
Design and Manufacturing of Complex Optics: The Dragonfly Eye Optic

The ''Design and Manufacturing of Complex Optics'' LDRD sought to develop new advanced methods for the design and manufacturing of very complex optical systems. The project team developed methods for including manufacturability into optical designs and also researched extensions of manufacturing techniques to meet the challenging needs of aspherical, 3D, multi-level lenslet arrays on non-planar surfaces. In order to confirm the applicability of the developed techniques, the team chose the Dragonfly Eye optic as a testbed. This optic has arrays of aspherical micro-lenslets on both the exterior and the interior of a 4mm diameter hemispherical shell. Manufacturing of the dragonfly eye required new methods of plunge milling aspherical optics and the development of a method to create the milling tools using focused ion beam milling. The team showed the ability to create aspherical concave milling tools which will have great significance to the optical industry. A prototype dragonfly eye exterior was created during the research, and the methods of including manufacturability in the optical design process were shown to be successful as well.
Assessment of the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Lebanese shoppers towards food labeling: The first steps in the Nutri-score roadmap

Background: Food labeling is a fundamental educational tool for advocating for public awareness. It emphasizes knowledge of the nutrient content of food and thus directs the choice towards the healthiest food products. This cross-sectional survey aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding nutrition label use in Lebanon through a valid questionnaire. Methods: Overall, 768 participants (mean age: 30.8 ±12, males: 60.2%) were recruited randomly between February and May 2020. We used word of mouth and social media to recruit our sample population. Results: Social media was the most accessed tool to attain nutrition information by responders (39.8%). More than half the participants expressed positive attitudes to check information related to sugars (66.4%), vitamins (64.9%), total fats (61.7%), proteins (59.1%), and calories (58.7%) on the food label. Expiry date, price, and brand name were the top three considerations while reading food labels. About half (46.5%) reported to “always” look at the food label. Responders reported reading labels related primarily to sugars (44.3%), calories (38.8%), and total fats (36.8%). The optimal total KAP score was 46; our findings revealed a mean KAP score of 14.46 ±7 (31.4%). When categorizing the KAP scores, 15% had high scores, and 85% scored low. Spearman’s coefficients showed positive correlations between knowledge-attitude, knowledge-practice, and attitude-practice scores, with p<0.001. The regression analysis revealed that gender, age, BMI, residency area, educational level, university degree, health and diet statuses, and activity level were significant predictors of the KAP score. Being on a diet had the highest odds (OR=3.107, CI=1.904-5.072, p<0.001). Conclusion: The low awareness of food labels leads Lebanese people to choose unhealthy food options. A planned educational program is recommended to ease the interpretation of these labels.
Counselling Immigrants: Recommendations for School Counsellors in Turkey

ABSTRACT Immigration is a common phenomenon among people throughout history. While some people willingly move to other places for better opportunities, many move reluctantly due to conflicts, wars, and other undesirable conditions. Despite immigrants’ successes and contributions to society, they are inevitably confronted with different distinctive individual, social, and systemic difficulties. The purpose of this literature review article is to provide a comprehensive description of immigration, issues immigrants face, immigrant students’ perceptions of their school counsellors, and school counsellors’ perceptions of working with immigrants in the context of Turkey. This article provides critical recommendations to school counsellors about how to improve their services to effectively meet the needs of immigrants, which will positively contribute to their healthy integration into society.
Contaminants in the cow's milk we consume? Pasteurization and other technologies in the elimination of contaminants

Cow's milk is currently the most consumed product worldwide. However, due to various direct and indirect contamination sources, different chemical and microbiological contaminants have been found in cow's milk. This review details the main contaminants found in cow's milk, referring to the sources of contamination and their impact on human health. A comparative approach highlights the poor efficacy and effects of the pasteurization process with other methods used in the treatment of cow's milk. Despite pasteurization and related techniques being the most widely applied to date, they have not demonstrated efficacy in eliminating contaminants. New technologies have appeared as alternative treatments to pasteurization. However, in addition to causing physicochemical changes in the raw material, their efficacy is not total in eliminating chemical contaminants, suggesting the need for new research to find a solution that contributes to improving food safety.
Analysis of Flavonoid Levels in Tin (Ficus carica Linn) Fruit

Tin fruit is an essential source of bioactive components such as phenol, benzaldehyde, and flavonoids due to the antioxidant properties. Analysis of flavonoid levels on Tin (Ficus carica Linn) fruit was carried out using Uv-Vis spectrophotometry. This study aimed to determine the total flavonoid levels found in Tin (Ficus carica Linn) fruit with a variety of samples of raw, half-ripe, and riped. Extraction of chemical content in Tin (Ficus carica Linn) was carried out by maceration method with ethanol 70%. Total flavonoid levels of the extracts sample were determined through absorption measurements at a wavelength of 520 nm and 700 nm. The results showed that total flavonoid levels in raw, half-ripe, and ripe fruits are 5.778 × 103, 3.056 × 103, and 3.707 × 103 mg/L, respectively, or equivalent to 17334 × 103, 9.168 × 103, and 11.121 × 103 mg/100g, respectively.
Glucosinolates, Ca, Se Contents, and Bioaccessibility in Brassica rapa Vegetables Obtained by Organic and Conventional Cropping Systems

In northwest Spain and Portugal, there is a long tradition of cultivating B. rapa subsp. rapa to obtain turnip greens and turnip tops. Brassica rapa L. subsp. rapa (turnip greens and turnip tops) were grown under conventional and organic conditions in two Farms in southern Spain. Glucosinolatescontents were higher in Brassicas grown under conventional conditions than those grown under organic ones. Average Ca total and bioaccessible contents ranged between 14.6–23.4 mg/g; 8.9–12.0 mg/g for turnip greens and 6.4–8.9 mg/g; 4.3–4.8 mg/g for turnip tops. According to these concentrations, an intake of 100–200 g (fresh weight) of the studied Brassica rapa fulfills Ca dietary reference intakes (DRI) (considering the total content data) and complies with 72–100% Ca DRI percentage (considering the bioaccessible data). Se concentrations ranged between 0.061–0.073 µg/g and 0.039–0.053 µg/g for turnip greens and turnip tops respectively. Se bioaccessibility values were high, with percentages of around 90%. Finally, the total glucosinolate content ranged between 13.23–21.28 µmol/g for turnip greens and 13.36–20.20 µmol/g for turnip tops. In general, the bioaccessibility of the total glucosinolates analyzed in this study was high, with mean values of around 73% and 66% for turnip greens and turnip tops, respectively. Brassica rapa vegetables grown under both organic and conventional conditions in southern Spain are an excellent dietary source of Ca, Se, and glucosinolates with a high bioaccessibility.
Dark-TRACER: Early Detection Framework for Malware Activity Based on Anomalous Spatiotemporal Patterns

As cyberattacks become increasingly prevalent globally, there is a need to identify trends in these cyberattacks and take suitable countermeasures quickly. The darknet, an unused IP address space, is relatively conducive to observing and analyzing indiscriminate cyberattacks because of the absence of legitimate communication. Indiscriminate scanning activities by malware to spread their infections often show similar spatiotemporal patterns, and such trends are also observed on the darknet. To address the problem of early detection of malware activities, we focus on anomalous synchronization of spatiotemporal patterns observed in darknet traffic data. Our previous studies proposed algorithms that automatically estimate and detect anomalous spatiotemporal patterns of darknet traffic in real time by employing three independent machine learning methods. In this study, we integrated the previously proposed methods into a single framework, which we refer to as Dark-TRACER, and conducted quantitative experiments to evaluate its ability to detect these malware activities. We used darknet traffic data from October 2018 to October 2020 observed in our large-scale darknet sensors (up to /17 subnet scales). The results demonstrate that the weaknesses of the methods complement each other, and the proposed framework achieves an overall 100% recall rate. In addition, Dark-TRACER detects the average of malware activities 153.6 days earlier than when those malware activities are revealed to the public by reputable third-party security research organizations. Finally, we evaluated the cost of human analysis to implement the proposed system and demonstrated that two analysts can perform the daily operations necessary to operate the framework in approximately 7.3 h.
Relationships between Agile Work Practices and Occupational Well-Being: The Role of Job Demands and Resources

Agile work practices have been adopted by most software development organizations and by many large organizations from other industries. The introduction of agile work practices is assumed to positively affect work characteristics and, in turn, well-being of employees. So far, there is only very little and methodologically limited empirical research on this topic. Based on job demands–resources theory, we developed and tested a model on the direct and indirect relationships between agile work practices, job demands and resources, and occupational well-being. Data were provided by 260 employees working in agile development teams who participated in two surveys that were approximately six weeks apart. Results of structural equation modeling provided support for the hypothesized model, suggesting that agile work practices have a negative indirect effect on emotional fatigue through lower job demands. At the same time, agile work practices also had a positive indirect effect on emotional engagement through higher job resources. Our research contributes to the literature by integrating agile work practices with job demands–resources theory, bridging an important gap between research and practice. Overall, the findings suggest that the implementation of agile work practices may have a positive impact on occupational well-being by improving employees’ perceptions of key work characteristics.
SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Background: From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, new SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged that potentially affect transmissibility, severity, and immune evasion in infected individuals. In the present systematic review, the impact of different SARS-CoV-2 variants on clinical outcomes is analyzed. Methods: A systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020. Two databases (PubMed and ScienceDirect) were searched for original articles published from 1 January 2020 to 23 November 2021. The articles that met the selection criteria were appraised according to the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Results: Thirty-three articles were included, involving a total of 253,209 patients and 188,944 partial or complete SARS-CoV-2 sequences. The most reported SARS-CoV-2 variants showed changes in the spike protein, N protein, RdRp and NSP3. In 28 scenarios, SARS-CoV-2 variants were found to be associated with a mild to severe or even fatal clinical outcome, 15 articles reported such association to be statistically significant. Adjustments in eight of them were made for age, sex and other covariates. Conclusions: SARS-CoV-2 variants can potentially have an impact on clinical outcomes; future studies focused on this topic should consider several covariates that influence the clinical course of the disease.