Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of cleaners in establishing and maintaining essential environmental conditions in healthcare facilities in Malawi

Healthcare facility (HCF) cleaners play an important role in preventing healthcare-acquired infections and promoting a safe and clean healthcare environment. There is little evidence describing cleaner roles in HCFs in low-income countries and factors facilitating and constraining their roles and responsibilities. We analyzed qualitative and quantitative data from 57 in-depth interviews with cleaners in 44 government-run HCFs in Malawi. Cleaner constraints included inadequate training on infection prevention and control (IPC), personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene, and waste management; insufficient PPE and hand hygiene resources; assignment of tasks that are unrelated to core responsibilities and their job description; risk of work-related injuries; and disrespect and stigma from medical staff, patients, and guardians. Facilitators included the positive collaboration and communication with medical staff, high job satisfaction, and a positive working attitude. We recommend the provision of more robust IPC, PPE, hand hygiene, and waste management trainings (including orientation and refresher). PPE resources must be made available to ensure HCF cleanliness and to keep cleaners, staff, patients, and guardians safe. Clearly defined job descriptions for cleaners will clarify their roles, describe bounds of their work, and ensure cleaners are viewed as essential frontline workers who ensure the safety of staff and patients.
Is “Not Trading” Informative? Evidence from Corporate Insiders’ Portfolios

Abstract Some individuals, e.g., those holding multiple directorships, are insiders at multiple firms. When they execute an insider trade at one firm, they may reveal information about the value of all—both the traded insider position and not-traded insider position(s)—the securities held in their “insider portfolio. ” We find that insider “not-sold” stocks outperform “not-bought” stocks. Implementable trading strategies that buy not-sold stocks following the disclosure of a sale earn alphas up to 4.8% per year after trading costs. The results suggest that even insider sales that are motivated by liquidity and diversification needs can provide value-relevant information about insider holdings.
The Extent of Expression of Thyroid Transcription Factor 1, Cytokeratin 7, and Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Background: New forms of genetic alteration were developed giving a new era of lung adenocarcinoma (AdC) with diverse clinical and pathological features. Aim and Objectives: The aim is to investigate the ALK-rearranged gene as one of these genetic alterations in AdC. The role of TTF-1 and CK7 is to exclude the metastases. Material and Methods: Paraffin-embedded 50 AdC specimens were cut into 4-mm thick sections and stained with the primary antibody, using an anti-TTF-1 antibody, (all at a 1:200 dilution, mouse monoclonal antibody; Dako, Denmark), anti-CK 7 antibody (DAKO, Carpentaria, CA), and the rabbit monoclonal anti- ALK antibody (D5F3) (Ventana, USA). Positive reactivity was considered as brown nuclear immunostaining for TTF-1 and cytoplasmic for CK 7and both cytoplasmic and nuclear for ALK. Results: The median age was 56±2, with male to female ratio 7:3. Forty-four cases revealed a mixed pattern (88%), with focal intraluminal mucin. Forty-one cases (82%) were positive for TTF-1, of these; weak (13; %), moderate (16; %) and strong (12; %). Regarding CK7; 48 cases (96%) were positive; weak (7 cases; 14.5; %), moderate (18 cases; 37.5%) and strong (23 case; 47.9 %) of the positive cases. Regarding D5F3; five cases (10%) were positive; weak (1 case; 20 %), moderate (2 cases; 40 %) and strong (2 cases; 40%) out of the positive cases. Four ALK-positive cases were male and ALK-positive patients ranged from 42-55 years with median 48. Conclusion: Despite the incidence of ALk-AdC is uncommon, it might be suspected in lesions of lower age group especially with mucinous foci.
A Multi-scale Edge Detection Method of Steel Strip Surface Defects Online Detection System

The image edge of steel strip surface defects cannot be detected exactly on-line at present.It is a serious problem to be solved.A wavelet-based maximum modulus algorithm is therefore proposed for edge protection,which can coordinate well the edge detection precision and denoising effect to extract the surface defect edges on multi-scale.Experimental results showed that the new algorithm can exclude well the fault detect edge from detection with the particulars of defect edge kept up,thus providing better edge detectivity for the subsequent online processing in surface defect detection,such as image auto-segmentation,defect identification,etc.
Using an ensemble learning approach in digital soil mapping of soil pH for the Thompson-Okanagan region of British Columbia

Abstract Information on the spatial distribution of soil pH is essential for assessing soil quality and soil productivity. Digital soil mapping (DSM) is commonly used to predict soil characteristics over various types of landscapes. Over the past decade, researchers have made progress using machine learning techniques to provide reliable predictions of soil properties with limited data. DSM studies often use a single learning approach, which is constructed with a machine learner that systematically extracts soil–environment relationships from a large database, whereby a fitted model is used to predict soil information in an unmapped area. The practice of using an ensemble learning approach, especially one that combines several base learners, has rarely been tested in DSM. We developed a workflow for using an ensemble learning algorithm to predict soil properties for the Thompson-Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada. Here, we focused on soil pH and tested a variety of base learners. Base learners with high prediction accuracies were then used to construct a SuperLearner (SL) to extract the complex relationships between soil properties and environmental variables. The fitted SL was then used to predict soil properties at 25 m spatial resolution at three depth intervals (0–5, 5–15, and 15–30 cm). Prediction accuracies were assessed using an independent test dataset, which indicated that the SL had a similar prediction accuracy to the best individual base learners. Using the heterogeneous ensemble learning approach with a weighted average stacked generalization process eliminated the need to choose the best base learner.
RISK MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES AND INSURANCE BUYING BEHAVIOUR: EVIDENCE FROM SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

Risk management techniques are important metrics in safeguarding the lives and property of mankind. They influence the behavioural attitude of people to perceive the image of insurance as an intangible, inseparable, variable, and transferable product. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the effects of risk management techniques on insurance buying behaviour, with specific reference to the perceptions of selected SMEs in Lagos, Nigeria. The study adopted a cross- sectional survey research design. The study population consisted of the total number of registered SMEs recorded in Lagos State at 11,666.Thus, a single-stage cluster sampling technique was employed in the questionnaire distribution and data collection processes. Two hundred and forty-three (243) respondents were used in the study. The statistical technique employed was simple regression. This study confirms the importance of risk management techniques in the behavioural evaluation of insurance purchases in Lagos, Nigeria. It is recommended that insurance providers in Nigeria should attempt to tailor insurance products in a lovable and affordable manner to SMEs’ operators/owners in a bid to improve on their behavioural risk attitudes. More so, interest should be placed on impressive risk management communication and ideal risk financing techniques among SMEs’ owners/operators.
Membraneless Piezoelectric MEMS speakers based on AlN Thin Film

Ahmed Fawzy Abstract This paper reports piezoelectric aluminium nitride (AlN) based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) speakers. We introduce a novel geometry of micro speakers based on AlN to meet the requirements of modern applications such as phones, tablets, laptops, and in-ear applications. We introduce the principle, design, and characterization results. The speakers were fabricated on cavity silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate and characterized by using an electroacoustic tester. This paper considers the acoustic performance of the speakers. The results show that the speakers gave us a high sound pressure level (SPL) of more than 78 dB for circle geometry when applying 2 volts on the electrodes. These results are equal for PZT MEMS speakers moreover AlN opens the door to integrate the speakers and the ASIC on the same chip. The size of the different geometries’ speakers isn’t exceeded 3mm × 3mm. These geometries offer a breakthrough in acoustic performance, a frequency response, and low power consumption
PERFORMANCE OF THE RICE VARIETY EGYPTIAN HYBRID-1UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PHOSPHORUS FERTILIZER AND ORTHOPHOSPHORIC ACID AS FOLIAR SPRAY

A field experiment was conducted in 2014 and 2015 consecutive seasons at the farm of Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt to study the performance of the variety rice Egyptian hybrid-1 (EHR1) under different phosphorus fertilizer levels, i.e. control (P1), 18 (P2), 36 (P3) and 54 (P4) Kg P2O5 ha -1 and 2% orthophosphoric acid as foliar spray. The treatments were applied at different periods, namely control (without foliar spray) (F1), foliar spray with 2% of orthophosphoric acid at mid tillering (MT) period (F2), at late booting (LB) period (F3) and at MT + LB periods (F4). The experimental design was split plot where the main plots were arranged in randomized complete blocks with four replications. The phosphorus levels were allocated in the main plots, while sub-plots were received foliar applications with 2% orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4). The studied characters plant height, number of tillers hill -1 , panicle length, panicle weight, number of panicles hill -1 , number of filled grains panicle -1 , number of unfilled grains panicle -1 , 1000-grain weight, grain yield t ha -1 , straw yield t ha -1 and phosphorus uptake kg ha -1 . All studied characters increased with all treatment as compared with the control. Application of either 36 or 54 kg P2O5 ha -1 gave the same highest values of the studied characters except empty grains panicle -1 which reached the maximum under the control. A significant increase in each of plant height (cm), number of tillers hill -1 , number of panicles hill -1 , panicle weight, panicle length, number of filled grains panicle -1 , grain and straw yields and P uptake was observed in both seasons. Spray of the tested cultivar with 2% orthophosphoric acid at MT or at MT plus LB gave the greatest values for all studied characters, except the F3 treatment (spray one time at late booting) which gave the least as compared to the other sprayed treatments because the plant had the required amount at this time. The results revealed that the combination of 36 or 54 kg P2O5 ha -1 along with foliar 2% H3PO4 at MT (mid tillering) treatment produced the same greatest values of grain yield and most of growth and yield attributes without any significant difference between them. From economical point of view, the combination of 36 kg P2O5 ha -1 with 2% H3PO4 sprayed at MT was the best combination because it produced the highest grain yield and saved one third of phosphorus fertilizer.
Social Relation that Triggers the Use of Code-Switching in the Novel the Architecture of Love by Ika Natassa

The research aimed to find out the influencing factors that caused the characters and the narrator in the novel ‘The Architecture of Love’ to do code-switching and discover how the social relation between the characters and the narrator affected the use of code-switching. Novels written by bilingual authors were frequently used as objects of analysis in code-switching research. However, most research only focused on the code-switching performed by the characters in the novels. Rarely had the attention been given to the authors or the narrators of the story. A descriptive text analysis method and library research were used to analyze the dialogues and narratives found in this novel. Results show that the reasons for most of the code switch used in the dialogues and narratives are the intentions of clarifying the speech content for the interlocutors and when talking about a particular topic. The social relation of the character shows that they treat each other as friends that have equal social status. A similar relation is also found between the writer and the readers. It can be implied that the social relation between the characters does affect the use of code-switching.
Chemical and Technical Investigations on Soil Characterization and Silicic Acid Preparation

Physicochemical Characteristics of three soil samples collected from Qaser Bin Ghashir region, south of Tripoli, Libya have been investigated in terms of soil permeability, density ( 𝜌 ), water content (WC), organic content (OC), dissolved salts content (DS), and inorganic ash content (IAC) as-well-as the reaction towards mineral acids and bases. Silicic acid Si (OH) 4 was successfully prepared from sandy soil sample in a considerable amount and the mechanistic equations were proposed for three possible preparation routes of the acid. Results show that sandy sample is the most permeable and reliable soil for the water penetration and silicic acid preparation respectively. Values of pH and the reaction between soil samples and mineral acids proof that the alkalinity nature of the samples. Chemical composition of the investigated samples were determined and were found to vary from the sample to another and from content to other according to the origin and nature of the soil.
Exemplar-Based Early Event Prediction in Video

Observing a video stream and being able to predict target events of interest before they occur is an important but challenging task due to the stochastic nature of visual events. This task requires a classiﬁer that can separate the precursory signals that lead to the events and the ones that do not. However, a naïve approach for training this classiﬁer would require seeing many examples of the target events before a model with high precision can be obtained. In this paper, we propose a method for early prediction of visual events based on an ensemble of exemplar predictors. Each exemplar predictor is associated with an instance of the target event, being trained to separate the target event from negative samples. The exemplar predictors can be calibrated and integrated to create a stronger predictor. Experiments on several datasets show that the proposed exemplar-based framework outperforms other methods, yielding higher precision given fewer training samples. Our code and datasets can be found at github.com/cvlab-stonybrook/EnEx.
DiemBFT v4: State Machine Replication in the Diem Blockchain

This report describes the 4 th version of the algorithmic core of Diem consensus, named DiemBFT, which is responsible for forming agreement on ordering and ﬁnalizing transactions among a conﬁgurable set of validators. The main goal of this report is to improve the latency of previous versions. We recognize that in the presence of a failed leader the view synchronization protocol of previous versions requires a quadratic number of messages. DiemBFT embrace this design choice and adopt a quadratic view-change of failed leaders, which enables it to commit blocks in two steps instead of three in the steady state. Additionally, DiemBFT incorporates a leader reputation mechanism that provides leader utilization under crash faults while making sure that not all committed blocks are proposed by Byzantine leaders. Leader utilization guarantees that crashed leaders are not elected, preventing unnecessary latency delays. Finally, DiemBFT formalizes the “safety isolation” guarantees. It encapsulates the correct behavior by participants in a “tcb”-able module of constant memory footprint, allowing it to run within a secure hardware enclave that reduces the attack surface on participants.
P o S ( E P SH E P 2 0 2 1 ) 5 3 2 New results on semileptionic H decays from the Belle experiment

This proceeding summarizes the recent measurements of semileptonic 1 → D decays from the Belle experiment. These analyses use the full data set collected at the Υ(4() resonance at KEKB accelerator complex with a center-of-mass energy of √ B = 10.58 GeV, which contains an integrated luminosity of 711 fb−1 and corresponds to 772 million Υ(4() → ̄ events. In the sector of inclusive decay, the partial branching fraction of → -Dla decays and the CKMmatrix element |+D1 | aremeasuredwith hadronic tagging. The first measurement of differential branching fractions of → -Dla are shown as a function of different kinematic variables in this contribution as a preliminary result. For the exclusive mode, the branching fraction of + → c+c−la including both resonant and non-resonant contributions is measured for the first time. The preliminary results on the branching fractions of + → [la and + → [ (′)la in the full @2 range are also presented.
Underwater Demonstrator for Autonomous In-Orbit Assembly of Large Structures

The PULSAR project aims to develop keytechnologies to enable the autonomous assembly of large structures in space. Similar to industrial applications, the assembly process relies on robotic systems capable of assembling modular elements to form a complex structure. However, the in-space assembly provides exceptional challenges necessitating innovation in fields such as free-floating manipulation and autonomous robotics. This paper provides details on the PULSAR project and, more specifically, on a hardware-in-the-loop demonstrator dLSAFFE, developed to show the assembly process of a large telescope mirror in a micro-gravity environment.
The Effect of Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Easiness towards Behavioral Intention to Use Fintech by Indonesian MSMEs

The research aimed to test how are Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) acceptance towards financial technology fintech). The number of MSME that using fintech is still need to be maximized. MSMEs were chosen as research object due to their numerous contribution in gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore, it was considered important to understand MSME’s notion to use fintech in their business operation, which is wellknown that financial technology could give a lot of services which may improve MSMEs performance. The research adopted the technology acceptance model (TAM) theory to determine the effect of the variable perceived of usefulness and perceived ease of use on behavioral intention to use fintech services by MSME entrepreneurs. Technology acceptance model had been the most widely applied model to measure and analyze a technology's use and acceptance. The descriptive quantitative research was applied. The analysis using multiple linear regression tests on 60 respondents. Respondents were managers of MSMEs who use financial technology services in their business operations in any form. Classical assumption testing was carried out to meet the requirements of multiple linear regression analysis. The data met the criteria for multiple linear regression. The results reveal that perceived of usefulness and perceived ease of use variables simultaneously affect the behavioral intention to use financial technology services. Partially, perceived of usefulness affects behavioral intention to use, as well as the perceived ease of use affects behavioral intention to use financial technology services.
Establishing a marine monitoring programme to assess antibiotic resistance: A case study from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region

The World Health Organization considers antimicrobial resistance as one of the most pressing global issues which poses a fundamental threat to human health, development, and security. Due to demographic and environmental factors, the marine environment of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region may be particularly susceptible to the threat of antimicrobial resistance. However, there is currently little information on the presence of AMR in the GCC marine environment to inform the design of appropriate targeted surveillance activities. The objective of this study was to develop, implement and conduct a rapid regional baseline monitoring survey of the presence of AMR in the GCC marine environment, through the analysis of seawater collected from high-risk areas across four GCC states: (Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates). 560 Escherichia coli strains were analysed as part of this monitoring programme between December 2018 and May 2019. Multi-drug resistance (resistance to three or more structural classes of antimicrobials) was observed in 32.5% of tested isolates. High levels of reduced susceptibility to ampicillin (29.6%), nalidixic acid (27.9%), tetracycline (27.5%), sulfamethoxazole (22.5%) and trimethoprim (22.5%) were observed. Reduced susceptibility to the high priority critically important antimicrobials: azithromycin (9.3%), ceftazidime (12.7%), cefotaxime (12.7%), ciprofloxacin (44.6%), gentamicin (2.7%) and tigecycline (0.5%), was also noted. A subset of 173 isolates was whole genome sequenced, and high carriage rates of qnrS1 (60/173) and blaCTX-M-15 (45/173) were observed, correlating with reduced susceptibility to the fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporins, respectively. This study is important because of the resistance patterns observed, the demonstrated utility in applying genomic-based approaches to routine microbiological monitoring, and the overall establishment of a transnational AMR surveillance framework focussed on coastal and marine environments.
Epigenetic clock acceleration is linked to age-at-onset of idiopathic and LRRK2 Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous movement disorder with highly variable age-at-onset. DNA methylation (DNAm) age is an epigenetic clock that could reflect biological aging. Studies of DNAm-age acceleration (difference between DNAm-age and chronological age) are pertinent to neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease), for which aging is the strongest risk-factor. We assessed DNAm-age in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (n=96) and a longitudinal LRRK2 cohort at four time-points over a 3-year period (n=220), including manifesting (n=91) and non-manifesting (n=129) G2019S-carriers. A highly variable age-at-onset was observed in both the idiopathic cohort (26-77 years) and manifesting G2019S-carriers (39-79 years). Increased DNAm-age acceleration was significantly associated with younger onset in idiopathic and LRRK2-related Parkinson's disease, suggesting that every 5-year increase in DNAm-age acceleration is linked to about 6-year earlier onset. At an individual level, DNAm-age acceleration remained steady over a 3-year period for most G2019S-carriers, indicating that it might serve as a stable biomarker of biological aging. Future studies should evaluate the stability of DNAm-age acceleration over longer time-periods, especially for phenoconverters from non-manifesting to manifesting subjects. In conclusion, DNAm-age acceleration is linked to disease onset, and could be used in disease-modifying clinical trials of prodromal Parkinson's disease.