Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamics of the Baroclinic Rossby Waves Regulating the abyssal South China Sea

Intraseasonal fluctuation with periods of ∼90 days in the South China Sea (SCS) basin is investigated based on an array of 7 subsurface moorings. In the deep layer, the 90-day fluctuation is revealed to contribute significantly to the variability in the current, accounting for ∼69% of the subinertial variance. This fluctuation propagates westward along the mooring section with a phase speed of ∼4.6 cm s-1. In the upper layer, the fluctuation also propagates westward with a similar phase speed, but with opposite phase to that of the deep layer. These results suggest that the 90-day fluctuation regulating the abyssal SCS should be the first mode baroclinic Rossby wave. A set of experiments based on a two-layer dynamic model reveal that both the local wind-stress curl and the flow originating from the North Pacific through the Luzon Strait contribute to drive the 90-day fluctuation in the deep SCS, while the latter plays the dominant role.
Diagnostic Reliability of the American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System in Royal Commission Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: The American College of Radiology Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (ACR TI-RADS) classified and predicted the risk of thyroid nodule malignancy with ultrasound scan scoring system. AIM: Hence, we aimed to investigate the value of the combined use of ultrasound ACR TI-RADS scoring and ultrasound-guided thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) based on the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (TBSRTC) for assessing the accuracy tests of diagnosing low and high-risk thyroid nodules of ACR TI-RADS. METHODS: We enrolled 392 patients with thyroid nodules who underwent ultrasound scanning and scoring using the ACR TI-RADS classification along with ultrasound-guided thyroid FNAC and scoring with TBSRTC. The two methods were grouped as low and high risk of malignancy to evaluate the accuracy of ACR TI-RADS. RESULTS: Three hundred and ninety-two patients were enrolled in the study. The mean (Standard deviation [SD]) age was 46.03 (13.96) years, 332 (84.7%) were females and the mean (SD) of body mass index was 31.90 (22.32) kg/m2 and Vitamin D 17.65 (11.15) nmol/L. The mean (SD) for thyroid function test was 5.37 (44.16) mmol/L for thyroid-stimulating hormone, 1.48 (1.49) ng/dL for free thyroxine (FT4), and 2.69 (0.70) nmol/L for free triiodothyronine (FT3). Most of the participants were euthyroid (63.8%), but 28.6% had hypothyroidism and 7.7% had hyperthyroidism. The accuracy tests of ACR TI-RADS in relation to TBSRTC, were sensitivity (87.8%), specificity (65.2%), positive predictive value (29.8%), and negative predictive value (97%). The area under the curve = 0.590, 95% CI = 0.530–0.650, p ˂ 0.006. CONCLUSION: ACR TI-RADS is a simple, practical, and reliable scoring system for assessing thyroid nodule; it has a better overall diagnostic performance and the ability to exclude unnecessary FNAC with high negative predictive value.
A New Approach to Inhibiting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: In Vitro, Ex Vivo and In Vivo Antiangiogenic Effect of BthTx-II, a PLA2-Asp-49 from Bothrops jararacussu Venom

Phospholipases A2 (PLA2) represent a superfamily of enzymes widely distributed in living organisms, with a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities and therapeutic potential. Anti-angiogenic strategies have become one of the main tools in fighting cancer. In this sense, the present work reports the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis induced by Asp-49 BthTX-II using in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo approaches. We demonstrate that BthTx-II inhibited cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), as well as caused a reduction in the levels of endothelial growth factor (VEGF) during in vitro angiogenesis assays. BthTx-II was also able to inhibit the sprouting angiogenic process, by the ex vivo germination assay of the aortic ring; in addition, this toxin inhibited the migration and proliferation of HUVEC in co-culture with triple-negative breast cancer cells (e.g., MDA-MB-231 cells). Finally, in vivo tumor suppression and anti-angiogenic activities were analyzed using MDA-MB-231 cells with Matrigel injected into the chorioallantoic membrane of chicken embryo (CAM) for 7 days treatment with BthTx-II, showing a considerable reduction in vessel caliber, on the size and weight of tumors. Together, these results suggest an important antiangiogenic and antitumor role for BthTx-II, as a potential prototype for the development of new tools and antitumor drugs in cancer therapy.
Exploring Older Adults’ Adoption and Use of a Tablet Computer During COVID-19: Longitudinal Qualitative Study

Background As mobile computing technology evolves, such as smartphones and tablet computers, it increasingly offers features that may be particularly beneficial to older adults. However, the digital divide exists, and many older adults have been shown to have difficulty using these devices. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified how much older adults need but are excluded from having access to technologies to meet essential daily needs and overcome physical distancing restrictions. Objective This study sought to understand how older adults who had never used a tablet computer learn to use it, what they want to use it for, and what barriers they experience as they continue to use it during social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a series of semistructured interviews with eight people aged 65 years and older for 16 weeks, investigating older novice users’ adoption and use of a tablet computer during the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19. Results Participants were gradually yet successfully accustomed to using a tablet computer to serve various daily needs, including entertainment, social connectedness, and information-seeking. However, this success was not achieved through developing sufficient digital skills but rather by applying the methods they were already familiar with in its operation, such as taking and referring to instruction notes. Conclusions Our findings imply that older adults without digital literacy can still benefit from a digital device for quality of later life if proper traditional methods they are already familiar with are offered in its use.
Effect of methane flow rate on gas-jet MPCVD diamond synthesis

The paper describes synthesis of diamonds by the method of gas-jet deposition with microwave activation of precursor gases. This method involves the use of a supersonic jet for delivering the components activated in the discharge chamber to the substrate located in the deposition chamber. A series of experiments was carried out with different amounts of methane supplied at a hydrogen flow rate of 8000 sccm. The obtained samples of diamond coatings were studied by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The temperature of the mixture and the intensities of H, CH, and C2 lines in the plasma of the discharge chamber were measured by optical emission spectroscopy. The values of pressure and temperature in the discharge chamber were used to estimate the composition of the mixture. Thus, the numerical dependences of the molar concentrations of CH3, CH, C2 and C2H2 on the initial concentration of methane have been obtained. These dependences are in qualitative agreement with the dependences of the intensities of H, CH, and С2 lines. The numerical-experimental study performed allows us to conclude that the optimal value of methane concentration in the supplied mixture for the gas-jet deposition method in the considered range of parameters is about 1%.
The Effect of Board Independence, Board Size, and Ceo Duality on Jordanian Firm Performance

Board of director characteristics plays a major role in the firms’ performance. From those characteristics, board independence, the board size, and CEO duality were found to be effective in many studies. Therefore, this particular study is an examination of the relationships between three antecedents; board independence, the board size, and CEO duality; and the firms’ performance among the Jordanian listed firms. This study is composing a predictive model of Tobin’s Q based on three BoD antecedents as the independent variables. The regression model has the board independence, board size, and CEO duality as predictors of Tobin’s Q. This article is based on quantitative methods that used regression-based analysis for secondary panel data in the context of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The time span is 10 years from 2008 to 2018 and 180 firms from the non-financial sector are included. The results revealed that the three relationships in the proposed model were found to be significant with board size having the highest negative impact, followed by CEO duality the board independence and both have a positive impact. The study can explain 62.64% of Tobin’s Q variance based on three corporate governance variables that are based on the board of directors' structure. In the future, adding more corporate governance variables such as ownership structure, board meetings, and audit committees will contribute to the proposed conceptual framework.
Intravascular Large B-Cell Lymphoma Diagnosed by Open Brain Biopsy and Achievement of Remission After Early Initiation of Chemotherapy: Case Report

A 60-year-old man presented with progressive disturbance of consciousness. His father had died of malignant lymphoma, while his mother and sister died of acute leukemia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multiple high-intensity lesions in the bilateral cerebral hemispheres on diffusion-weighted images. Serum soluble interleukin 2 receptor was 5,640 U/mL. Screenings of blood antibodies known to rise in autoimmune diseases were all normal. Cerebrospinal fluid examinations demonstrated slight elevation of protein and glucose, while the oligoclonal band and myelin basic protein were not elevated. Biopsies of bone marrow and random skin did not show any malignant features. His consciousness gradually deteriorated over a week, with lesions in his right frontal, left temporal, and bilateral parietal lobes shown to be growing. Therefore, open brain biopsy was performed, and one block of the right frontal lesion was harvested. Histological examination revealed atypical large cells only in the capillaries. Although immunohistochemical examinations showed positive staining for CD20, they were negative for CD3. Histopathological diagnosis was intravascular large B-cell lymphoma. After undergoing six cycles of intravenous chemotherapy with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone, his consciousness and neurological symptoms improved, and he appeared to achieve remission. Two years later, there have been no apparent recurrences, and the brain lesions have disappeared.
Adaptive Multimodal Emotion Detection Architecture for Social Robots

Emotion recognition is a strategy for social robots used to implement better Human-Robot Interaction and model their social behaviour. Since human emotions can be expressed in different ways (e.g., face, gesture, voice), multimodal approaches are useful to support the recognition process. However, although there exist studies dealing with multimodal emotion recognition for social robots, they still present limitations in the fusion process, dropping their performance if one or more modalities are not present or if modalities have different qualities. This is a common situation in social robotics, due to the high variety of the sensory capacities of robots; hence, more flexible multimodal models are needed. In this context, we propose an adaptive and flexible emotion recognition architecture able to work with multiple sources and modalities of information and manage different levels of data quality and missing data, to lead robots to better understand the mood of people in a given environment and accordingly adapt their behaviour. Each modality is analyzed independently to then aggregate the partial results with a previous proposed fusion method, called EmbraceNet+, which is adapted and integrated to our proposed framework. We also present an extensive review of state-of-the-art studies dealing with fusion methods for multimodal emotion recognition approaches. We evaluate the performance of our proposed architecture by performing different tests in which several modalities are combined to classify emotions using four categories (i.e., happiness, neutral, sadness, and anger). Results reveal that our approach is able to adapt to the quality and presence of modalities. Furthermore, results obtained are validated and compared with other similar proposals, obtaining competitive performance with state-of-the-art models.
Microfinance and the Role of Accounting in Supporting Family-Resilience-Based Women’s Empowerment

This action research aims to explore the issues of microfinance and women’s empowerment in urban Indonesia, and the role of accounting on the issues. Drawing on critical accounting theory, this study employs feminism and empowerment theory based on Foucault’s work to investigate the activities of female micro-entrepreneurs who are members of a Sharia cooperative. The study was conducted using an action research method for eight months with observation and interviews with 40 female micro-entrepreneurs. It is found that the lending scheme applied in the cooperative follows the principle of family resilience. In this context, the empowerment is not aimed at women only, but also at the family as the subject. The female entrepreneurs gain benefits from the microfinance initiatives and hence perceive themselves as being empowered. The cooperative loans transform them into neoliberal agents and the family resilience programs act as a shield to avoid the negative impact of their success on the gender relations in the family and as a reminder that their success also comes from the family’s support. This study also found that the simple accounting system introduced to the women is perceived to be useful in enhancing their financial skills to support small businesses. How microfinance initiatives empower women has been studied extensively in previous research; however, how accounting can play a significant role in the process has rarely been investigated in the extant literature.
Investigating Problem-Solving Skills of Students Having Professional Music Training in Terms of Multiple Variables

The present study aims to investigate the problem-solving skills of the students getting professional music training. For this study, the problem-solving inventory was administered to participants from two different universities in Turkey. Participants’ problem-solving skills were assessed in relation to the overall inventory and subscales, and the differences based on grade level, gender, and universities were examined using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results revealed that participants occasionally used their problem-solving skills, rarely felt confident in their problem-solving skills, and occasionally performed the behaviors in the subscales of approach-avoidance and personal control. The grade level differentiated music students’ problem-solving skills in the overall scale and approach-avoidance subscale. It is also found that there are no significant differences in students’ problem-solving skills based on gender. However, the participants’ universities led to significant differences in the approach-avoidance subscale. The results were discussed considering the literature, and the recommendations were suggested due to the results.
Essential Work of Fracture and Evaluation of the Interfacial Adhesion of Plasticized PLA/PBSA Blends with the Addition of Wheat Bran By-Product

In this work biocomposites based on plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA)–poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) matrix containing wheat bran fiber (a low value by-product of food industry) were investigated. The effect of the bran addition on the mechanical properties is strictly correlated to the fiber-matrix adhesion and several analytical models, based on static and dynamic tests, were applied in order to estimate the interfacial shear strength of the biocomposites. Finally, the essential work of fracture approach was carried out to investigate the effect of the bran addition on composite fracture toughness.
Stability and Hopf bifurcation analysis in a Lotka–Volterra competition–diffusion–advection model with time delay effect

In this paper, we consider a classical two-species Lotka–Volterra competition–diffusion–advection model with time delay effect. By utilizing the implicit function theorem, we obtain the existence of at least one spatially nonhomogeneous positive steady state under some conditions on parameters. By analyzing the corresponding characteristic equation, we show the local stability of this spatially nonhomogeneous positive steady state and the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation from it. When there is no time delay, we also study the global stability of the positive steady state. Based on the idea of Chen et al (2018 J. Differ. Equ. 264 5333–5359), the stability and direction of Hopf bifurcation are derived by introducing a weighted inner product associated with the advection rate. Finally, numerical simulations are carried out to verify the theoretical analysis results.
The relationship between protective factors and common mental disorders among female urban slum dwellers in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background On the African continent, many people live in conditions of adversity known to be associated with the onset of mental disorders, yet not all develop a mental disorder. The prevalence of common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety in the general population of Nigeria is comparatively low. Prevalence data of mental disorders in slum settings in Nigeria is sparse. There is a need to better understand the relationship between protective factors and the occurrence of common mental disorders in the Nigerian slum context. This study aimed to describe the relationship between protective factors and the occurrence of common mental disorders among female urban slum dwellers in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods and findings A cross sectional household survey of 550 women was conducted in slum settlements in Ibadan, Nigeria. Interviewer administered questionnaires were completed to elicit information on protective factors (social connectedness, self-esteem, social support, resilience) and common mental disorders (depression, anxiety and stress). The DASS-21 was used to measure common mental disorders and protective factors were measured using the Social Connectedness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Resilience scale and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale. A multivariable logistic regression model was employed to examine associations while adjusting for relevant confounders. Common mental disorders were reported by 14.0% of the respondents. Resilience and social support were found to be protective against reporting symptoms of common mental disorders. Women who reported higher levels of social support and resilience were less likely to report common mental disorders (OR:0.96, 95% CI 0.93, 0.98) and (OR:0.95, 95% CI 0.91, 0.99) respectively. Women who were 65 years and older were also less likely to report the occurrence of common mental disorders (OR:0.38, 95% CI 0.15, 0.98) compared to those aged 18–34 years. Conclusion Social support and resilience appear to be protective against common mental disorders among these respondents. Further research should be conducted to explore the pathways through which protective factors reduce the likelihood of the occurrence of common mental disorders. This would be important in the development of mental health interventions.
Knowledge, perceptions and practices on antibiotic use among Sri Lankan doctors

Introduction Prescribers have a major role in preventing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through appropriate prescribing. However, in countries like Sri Lanka, where continuous professional development is not mandatory for license renewal and antimicrobial stewardship is not implemented, prescribing practices go largely unchecked. Objectives To identify the knowledge on antibiotic use and practices related to antibiotic prescribing among Sri Lankan doctors. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020. We used a validated, pretested Google-form based questionnaire with multiple choices, single best answer questions, polar questions (Yes/No) and five-point Likert scale questions. The Google-sheet generated was used for data analysis. Knowledge and practice scores were calculated. Results Of the 262 respondents, 40.1% were males. Majority (61.8%) were aged 25–35-years and in medical practice for 0–5 years (48.9%) while 46.2% had or were engaged in post graduate studies. Knowledge scores ranged from 98.31% to 46.55% [mean:71.27% (SD±10.83); median:71.18% (IQR 64.4–79.7)]. Most (98.09%) obtained ≥50 marks while 45.8% scored more than the mean. The practice scores ranged from 100% to 0% [mean:65.33% (SD±18.16), median:66.67% (IQR53.3–80)]. The majority (81.3%) scored ≥50 in the practice score while 52.3% achieved more than the mean practice score. The knowledge score and the practice score differed significantly (p<0.001, related sample Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) but the knowledge and practice scores were significantly correlated [Spearman correlation, p<0.001, r = 0.343 (Bias corrected 95% CI 0.237–0.448)]. Knowledge scores and the practice scores were significantly higher in those with or undergoing postgraduate training. Conclusions While the knowledge and practice scores were high, and knowledge and practice scores were correlated, the practices score was lower than that of knowledge indicating the need to encourage correct practices through means other than solely promoting knowledge.
Study on the characteristics of induced airflow and particle dispersion based on the multivariate two-factor model

To examine the diffusion characteristics of airflow and dust particles, a multi-factor and multi-level physical self-developed testing system is established. In this study, bunker height, chute angle, feeding speed, coal granularity, and belt speed are selected as independent variables, and airflow velocity and dust concentration are the response variables. The two-factor interactive model is established to analyze the primary and secondary relationship between the independent variables and the response variables. The results demonstrate a denser contour distribution of three-dimensional curved surfaces, suggesting an obvious interaction between the factors. The bunker height increases from 0.75 m to 1.15 m, the maximum increment of the induced airflow velocity at the outlet of the guide chute is observed to be 0.35 m/s, meanwhile, and with the increase in the feed speed from 2t/h to 8t/h, the increment of the induced airflow velocity at the outlet of the guide chute is recorded to be 51%. The coal granularity and bunker height depicted the highest influence on induced air velocity and dust concentration, and the feeding speed proved to be the secondary parameter. This two-factor interactive model can accurately forecast the actual values with a deviation of the calculated values limited to 9%. These research results support the existing research and provide a theoretical foundation to guide the dust control at belt conveyor transfer stations.