Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Instructor Exchange as a Continuous Professional Development Activity: Are we Ready to Change?

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) has been conducted through different activities for more than three decades in the field of education. However, due to various reasons, institutions have encountered major issues in the application processes of commonly accepted CPD activities, leading to modification of existing and creation of new forms of activities in line with contextual requirements and needs. With this in mind, this study aimed to explore the process and outcomes of a new form of CPD activity, namely instructor exchange, specifically developed for a School of Foreign Languages in one of the top-tier state universities in Turkiye employing a qualitative case study methodology. Analyse-apply-evaluate cycle was followed in the study considering contextual factors of the institution including but not limited to the requirements of international accreditation. Data was collected from 22 English instructors through classroom exchanges, semi-structured interviews and document analysis, followed by creation of themes according to participants’ responses. For the development of the form used in semi-structured interviews, a comprehensive literature review was conducted and expert opinion and advice were obtained. Following the exchange activity, interviews were conducted by 10 of the whole population of participating instructors. The results indicated that the instructor exchange activity helped instructors to improve themselves professionally despite some challenges and it is possible to implement this activity as a school-wide practice. The emerging themes may be used to bring a new dimension to design future CPD activities based on instructors’ suggestions.
Single-particle properties and pseudogap effects in the BCS-BEC crossover regime of an ultracold Fermi gas above Tc

We investigate strong-coupling effects on normal-state properties of an ultracold Fermi gas. Within the framework of $T$-matrix approximation in terms of pairing fluctuations, we calculate the single-particle density of states (DOS), as well as the spectral weight, over the entire BCS\char21{}Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) crossover region above the superfluid phase-transition temperature ${T}_{\text{c}}$. Starting from the weak-coupling BCS regime, we show that the so-called pseudogap develops in DOS above ${T}_{\text{c}}$, which becomes remarkable in the crossover region. The pseudogap structure continuously changes into a fully gapped one in the strong-coupling BEC regime, where the gap energy is directly related to the binding energy of tightly bound molecules. We determine the pseudogap temperature ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ where the dip structure in DOS vanishes. The value of ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ is shown to be very different from another characteristic temperature ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}\ensuremath{\ast}}$ where a BCS-type double-peak structure disappears in the spectral weight. While one finds ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}g{T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}\ensuremath{\ast}}$ in the BCS regime, ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}\ensuremath{\ast}}$ becomes higher than ${T}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ in the crossover region and BEC regime. Including this, we determine the pseudogap region in the phase diagram of ultracold Fermi gases. Our results would be useful in the search for the pseudogap region in ultracold $^{6}\text{L}\text{i}$ and $^{40}\text{K}$ Fermi gases.
Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Is Associated with a More Favorable Left Ventricular Geometry in Patients with End-Stage Kidney Disease

Introduction. The aim of the study was to examine the impact of adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet (MD) on left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and cardiac geometry in chronic kidney disease patients on dialysis (CKD-5D), given the high prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity in this population. Methods. n = 127 (77 men and 50 women) CKD-5D patients (69 on hemodialysis and 58 on peritoneal dialysis) with a mean age of 62 ± 15 years were studied. An MD adherence score (MDS) (range 0–55, 55 representing maximal adherence) was estimated with a validated method. Echocardiographic LVH was defined by LV mass index (LVMI) > 95 g/m2 in women and >115 g/m2 in men. Based on LVMI and relative wall thickness (RWT), four LV geometric patterns were defined: normal (normal LVMI and RWT), concentric remodeling (normal LVMI and increased RWT > 0.42), eccentric LVH (increased LVMI and normal RWT), and concentric LVH (increased LVMI and RWT). Results. Patients with LVH (n = 81) as compared to patients with no LVH (n = 46) were older in age (66 ± 13 vs. 55 ± 16 years; p < 0.001) had lower MDS (24 ± 2.7 vs. 25 ± 4.3; p < 0.05) and higher malnutrition-inflammation score (5.0 ± 2.7 vs. 3.9 ± 1.9; p < 0.05), body mass index (27.5 ± 4.9 vs. 24.1 ± 3.5 kg/m2; p < 0.001), prevalence of diabetes (79% vs. 20%; p < 0.05), coronary artery disease (78% vs. 20%; p < 0.05) and peripheral vascular disease (78% vs. 20%; p < 0.01). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for all factors mentioned above, each 1-point greater MDS was associated with 18% lower odds of having LVH (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.69–0.98; p < 0.05). MDS was inversely related to LVMI (r = −0.273; p = 0.02), and in a multiple linear regression model (where LVMI was analyzed as a continuous variable), MDS emerged as a significant (Β = −2.217; p < 0.01) independent predictor of LVH. Considering LV geometry, there was a progressive decrease in MDS from the normal group (25.0 ± 3.7) to concentric remodeling (25.8 ± 3.0), eccentric (24.0 ± 2.8), and then concentric (23.6 ± 2.7) group (p < 0.05 for the trend). Conclusions. The greater adherence to an MD is associated with lesser LVH, an important cardiovascular disease risk factor; MD preserves normal cardiac geometry and may confer protection against future cardiac dysfunction in dialysis patients.
Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate and Hearing Impairment in Japan: A Longitudinal Analysis Using Large-Scale Occupational Health Check-Up Data

Several longitudinal studies have examined associations between renal dysfunction and hearing impairment. Here, we explored the longitudinal association between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and hearing impairment among the working-age population in Japan. Participants were 88,425 males and 38,722 females aged 20–59 years, without hearing impairment at baseline (2013), who attended Japanese occupational annual health check-ups from 2013 to 2020 fiscal year. eGFR was categorized into four groups (eGFR upper half of ≥90, lower half of ≥90 (reference), 60–89, and <60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Low- and high-frequency hearing impairment were assessed using data from pure-tone audiometric testing. A Cox proportional hazards model was applied to estimate hazard ratio (HR) values for hearing impairment. Low eGFR did not increase the risk of low- or high-frequency hearing impairment. For males, multivariable-adjusted HR of high-frequency hearing impairment was 1.16 (95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.34) for the upper half of the ≥90 mL/min/1.73 m2; however, this positive association between high eGFR and high-frequency hearing impairment did not appear to be robust in a number of sensitivity analyses. We conclude that, among the Japanese working-age population, eGFR was not generally associated with hearing impairment in people of either sex.
Effects of data preprocessing on detecting autism in adults using web-based eye-tracking data

ABSTRACT Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, often associated with social and communication challenges and whose prevalence has increased significantly over the past two decades. The variety of different manifestations of ASD makes the condition difficult to diagnose, especially in the case of highly independent adults. A large body of work is dedicated to developing new and improved diagnostic techniques, emphasising approaches that rely on objective markers. One such paradigm is investigating eye-tracking data as a promising and objective method to capture attention-related differences between people with and without autism. This study builds upon prior work in this area that focussed on developing a machine-learning classifier trained on gaze data from web-related tasks to detect ASD in adults. Using the same data, we show that a new data pre-processing approach, combined with an exploration of the performance of different classification algorithms, leads to an increased classification accuracy compared to prior work. The proposed approach to data pre-processing is stimulus-independent, suggesting that the improvements in performance shown in these experiments can potentially generalise over other studies that use eye-tracking data for predictive purposes.
Evaluation of Metabolism of a Defined Pesticide Mixture through Multiple In Vitro Liver Models

The evaluation of exposure to multiple contaminants in a mixture presents a number of challenges. For example, the characterization of chemical metabolism in a mixture setting remains a research area with critical knowledge gaps. Studies of chemical metabolism typically utilize suspension cultures of primary human hepatocytes; however, this model is not suitable for studies of more extended exposures and donor-to-donor variability in a metabolic capacity is unavoidable. To address this issue, we utilized several in vitro models based on human-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived hepatocytes (iHep) to characterize the metabolism of an equimolar (1 or 5 µM) mixture of 20 pesticides. We used iHep suspensions and 2D sandwich cultures, and a microphysiological system OrganoPlate® 2-lane 96 (MimetasTM) that also included endothelial cells and THP-1 cell-derived macrophages. When cell culture media were evaluated using gas and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry methods, we found that the parent molecule concentrations diminished, consistent with metabolic activity. This effect was most pronounced in iHep suspensions with a 1 µM mixture, and was lowest in OrganoPlate® 2-lane 96 for both mixtures. Additionally, we used ion mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) to screen for metabolite formation in these cultures. These analyses revealed the presence of five primary metabolites that allowed for a more comprehensive evaluation of chemical metabolism in vitro. These findings suggest that iHep-based suspension assays maintain higher metabolic activity compared to 2D sandwich and OrganoPlate® 2-lane 96 model. Moreover, this study illustrates that IMS-MS can characterize in vitro metabolite formation following exposure to mixtures of environmental contaminants.
A DETECTION OF BARYON ACOUSTIC OSCILLATIONS FROM THE DISTRIBUTION OF GALAXY CLUSTERS

We calculate the correlation function of 79,091 galaxy clusters in the redshift region of , selected from the WH15 cluster catalog. With a weight of cluster mass, a significant baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak is detected on the correlation function with a significance of . By fitting the correlation function with a ΛCDM model curve, we find Mpc, which is consistent with the Planck 2015 cosmology. We find that the correlation function of the higher mass sub-sample shows a higher amplitude at small scales of , which is consistent with our previous result. The two-dimensional correlation function of this large sample of galaxy clusters shows a faint BAO ring with a significance of , from which we find that the distance scale parameters on directions across and along the line of sight are and , respectively.
Abundances of lithium, oxygen, and sodium in the turn-off stars of Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae

Context. 47 Tuc is among the most metal-rich Galactic globular clusters and its metallicity is similar to that of metal-poor disc s tars and open clusters. Like other globular clusters, it display s variations in the abundances of elements lighter than Si, which is generally interpreted as evidence for the presence of multiple stella r populations. Aims. We aim to determine abundances of Li, O and Na in a sample of of 110 turn-off (TO) stars, in order to study the evolution of light elements in this cluster and to put our results in persp ective with observations of other globular and open clusters, as well as with field stars. Methods. We use medium resolution spectra obtained with the GIRAFFE spectrograph at the ESO 8.2m Kueyen VLT telescope and use state of the art 1D model atmospheres and NLTE line transfer to determine the abundances. We also employCO 5 BOLD hydrodynamical simulations to assess the impact of stellar granulation on the line formation and inferred abundances. Results. Our results confirm the existence of Na-O abundance anti-cor relation and hint towards a possible Li-O anti-correlation in the TO stars of 47 Tuc. At the same time, we find no convincing ev idence supporting the existence of Li-Na correlation. The obtained 3D NLTE mean lithium abundance in a sample of 94 TO stars whereLi lines were detected reliably,h A(Li)3D NLTEi= 1.78± 0.18 dex, appears to be significantly lower than what is observed in oth er globular clusters. At the same time, star-to-star spread in Li abundance is also larger than seen in other clusters. The highest Li abu ndance observed in 47 Tuc is about 0.1 dex lower than the lowest Li abundance observed among the un-depleted stars of the metal-poor open cluster NGC 2243. Conclusions. The correlations/anti-correlations among light element abundances confirm t hat chemical enrichment history of 47 Tuc was similar to that of other globular clusters, despite the h igher metallicity of 47 Tuc. The lithium abundances in 47 Tuc, when put into context with observations in other clusters and field stars, suggest that stars that are more metal-rich than [Fe/H]∼ −1.0 experience significant lithium depletion during their lifetime on the m ain sequence, while the more metal-poor stars do not. Rather strikingly, our results suggest that initial lithium abundance with whi ch the star was created may only depend on its age (the younger the star, the higher its Li content) and not on its metallicity.
Accurate design of porous g-C3N4+x with greatly extended visible-light response for enhanced photocatalytic performance and mechanism insight for environmental remediation

Nitrogen-rich graphite carbon nitride has attracted considerable attention due to its low band gap and widespread potential application. Herein, a series of porous g-C3N4+x materials are developed by pyrolysis of 3-amino-1, 2, 4-triazole (C2H4N4) and mesoporous silica template (KIT-6). The pore diameters can be precisely tuned by controlling the proportion of C2H4N4 and KIT-6. A variety of characterizations were conducted to analyze the correlation between structure and photocatalytic performance toward the degradation of rhodamine B. It was found that, the synthesized porous g-C3N4+x exhibited a narrower band gap of 1.43 eV, which significantly extended its visible-light responsive range. Moreover, the enhanced N content and adjustable porous diameter effectively increased the separation efficiency of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. Therefore, remarkably improved photocatalytic activity was achieved, which was 5.2 times higher than that of bulk g-C3N4+x , and presented super stability as well. Additionally, the possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed and verified. These findings shed light on a new facile way to fabricate high-performance photocatalytic materials and provided new opportunities for environmental remediation.
ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVITY OF PLAYGROUNDS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN MALAYSIA

Playing is one of the most crucial physical activities for children's development worldwide. Due to the unsuitability of the playground's design and the available play equipment, children with disabilities (CwDs) frequently experience difficulties when playing, especially at public playgrounds, amusement parks, and other recreational areas. They have consistently been mistreated and ignored in several ways. When designing and developing a playground, the accessibility and inclusivity of the space are crucial factors that should be considered. in preparing playgrounds for Children with Disabilities (CwDs). Two objectives are highlighted in this study, 1) to determine the criteria of accessible and inclusive playgrounds for disabled children in Malaysia and 2) to investigate the current accessibility and inclusivity of playgrounds for children with disabilities in Malaysia. The research methodology used is the qualitative method by using semi-structured interviews with caregivers of disabled children. The findings from the study conclude that most of the public playgrounds designed in Malaysia (even including inclusive playgrounds for Children with Disabilities (CwDs)) have still not met the needs of children with disabilities. The findings from this study hopefully will ensure that disabled children in Malaysia have the accessibility to play in inclusive playgrounds happily in the future.
Search for gravitational wave ringdowns from perturbed black holes in LIGO S4 data

According to general relativity a perturbed black hole will settle to a stationary configuration by the emission of gravitational radiation. Such a perturbation will occur, for example, in the coalescence of a black hole binary, following their inspiral and subsequent merger. At late times the waveform is a superposition of quasi-normal modes, which we refer to as the ringdown. The dominant mode is expected to be the fundamental mode, l=m=2. Since this is a well-known waveform, matched filtering can be implemented to search for this signal using LIGO data. We present a search for gravitational waves from black hole ringdowns in the fourth LIGO science run S4, during which LIGO was sensitive to the dominant mode of perturbed black holes with masses in the range of 10 Msun to 500 Msun, the regime of intermediate-mass black holes, to distances up to 300 Mpc. We present a search for gravitational waves from black hole ringdowns using data from S4. No gravitational wave candidates were found; we place a 90%-confidence upper limit on the rate of ringdowns from black holes with mass between 85 Msun and 390 Msun in the local universe, assuming a uniform distribution of sources, of 3.2 x 10^{-5} yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} = 1.6 x 10^{-3}yr^{-1} L_{10}^{-1}, where L_{10} is 10^{10} times the solar blue-light luminosity.
Leptoquark model to explain the B-physics anomalies, RK and RD

We show that a model with a scalar leptoquark of hypercharge $Y=1/6$ which includes the light right-handed neutrinos, can successfully describe both of the $B$-physics anomalies, $R_K^{\rm exp} R_D^{\rm SM}$. We discuss the corresponding low energy effective theory and, after using the known experimental data as constraints, we show that the model is viable and that it offers several predictions which can be tested experimentally.
Diffractive production of jets at high-energy in the QCD shock-wave approach

In view of future phenomenological applications, we study the impact factor for the photon to quark, antiquark and gluon transition within Balitsky's shock-wave formalism. The aim of the present program is to extend existing results beyond approximations discussed in the literature. We present our results of the real contribution, and report on recent progress in calculating the virtual contributions for the photon to quark, antiquark transition.
A CHANDRA STUDY OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM IN 50 GALAXY CLUSTERS

To investigate the spatial distribution of the intracluster medium temperature in galaxy clusters in a quantitative way and probe the physics behind it, we analyze the X-ray spectra from a sample of 50 clusters that were observed with the Chandra ACIS instrument over the past 15 years and measure the radial temperature profiles out to 0.45r500. We construct a physical model that takes into consideration the effects of gravitational heating, thermal history (such as radiative cooling, active galactic nucleus feedback, and thermal conduction), and work done via gas compression, and use it to fit the observed temperature profiles by running Bayesian regressions. The results show that in all cases our model provides an acceptable fit at the 68% confidence level. For further validation, we select nine clusters that have been observed with both Chandra (out to ≳0.3r500) and Suzaku (out to ≳1.5r500) and fit their Chandra spectra with our model. We then compare the extrapolation of the best fits with the Suzaku measurements and find that the model profiles agree with the Suzaku results very well in seven clusters. In the remaining two clusters the difference between the model and the observation is possibly caused by local thermal substructures. Our study also implies that for most of the clusters the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium is safe out to at least 0.5r500 and the non-gravitational interactions between dark matter and its luminous counterparts is consistent with zero.
A Nanobody-Based Immunoassay for Detection of Ustilaginoidins in Rice Samples

Ustilaginoidins are a class of bis-naphtho-γ-pyrone mycotoxins produced by the pathogen Villosiclava virens of rice false smut, which has recently become one of the most devastating diseases in rice-growing regions worldwide. In this research, the nanobody phage display library was established after an alpaca was immunized with the hemiustilaginoidin F-hapten coupled with bovine serum albumin (BSA). Heterologous antigen selection and combing trypsin with competition alternant elution methods were performed for nanobody screening. Two nanobodies, namely, Nb-B15 and Nb–C21, were selected for the establishment of indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ic-ELISAs). For Nb–B15 and Nb-C21, their IC50 values were 11.86 μg/mL and 11.22 μg/mL, and the detection ranges were at 3.41–19.98 μg/mL and 1.17–32.13 μg/mL, respectively. Two nanobodies had a broad spectrum to quantify the contents of total ustilaginoidins in rice samples according to cross-reactivity. The recognition mechanisms of Nb-B15 and Nb-C21 against ustilaginoidin A were elucidated by molecular modeling and docking. The key amino acid sites for the binding of Nb–B15 or Nb–C21 to ustilaginoidin A were mainly located in the FR1 and CDR1 regions. As Nb-B15 was superior to Nb–C21 in the aspects of protein expression, ELISA titer, and tolerance to organic solvents, it was selected for application in the detection of actual contaminated rice samples. The total ustilaginoidin contents of rice samples were analyzed by Nb–B15-based ic–ELISA and HPLC-DAD, between which the results were found to be consistent. The developed immunoassay based on the nanobody from the alpaca can be employed as a rapid and effective method for detection of total utilaginoidins in contaminated rice samples.