Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Factor Analysis to Assess Route Construction Priority for Common Duct Network in Taiwan

This study identifies the critical variables for determining route construction priorities (RCP) in a common duct network (CDN) using expert interviews and questionnaire surveys. Statistical analysis is also conducted to check the validation and verification of the survey results. Furthermore, factor analysis is employed to derive 24 priority determinant variables and classify them into five groups, including utility agency, traffic condition, local government, infrastructure project, and site condition. The paired comparison method is then employed to determine the weightings of the five groups. It is found that the utility agency is the most important factor while the site condition is the least important one in determining RCP for a CDN. An assessment model for ranking the RCP in a CDN is developed. A six-route CDN in northern Taiwan is analyzed using the proposed model, with multiple viewpoints being considered to ensure the objectivity of the analytical results.
Investigations on the Wound Healing Potential of Tilapia Piscidin (TP)2-5 and TP2-6

Wound healing is a highly orchestrated process involving many cell types, such as keratinocytes, fibroblasts and endothelial cells. This study aimed to evaluate the potential application of synthetic peptides derived from tilapia piscidin (TP)2, TP2-5 and TP2-6 in skin wound healing. The treatment of HaCaT keratinocytes with TP2-5 and TP2-6 did not cause cytotoxicity, but did enhance cell proliferation and migration, which could be attributed to the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor signaling. In CCD-966SK fibroblasts, although TP2-5 (31.25 μg/mL) and TP2-6 (125 μg/mL) showed cytotoxic effects, we observed the significant promotion of cell proliferation and migration at low concentrations. In addition, collagen I, collagen III, and keratinocyte growth factor were upregulated by the peptides. We further found that TP2-5 and TP2-6 showed pro-angiogenic properties, including the enhancement of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) migration and the promotion of neovascularization. In a murine model, wounds treated topically with TP2-5 and TP2-6 were reduced by day 2 post-injury and healed significantly faster than untreated wounds. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that both TP2-5 and TP2-6 have multifaceted effects when used as topical agents for accelerating wound healing.
Measuring the Effects of the Global Tax Reform - Evidence from High-frequency Data

Over 140 countries agreed on a fundamental global corporate tax reform in 2021. The new framework includes a consumer-location-based profit taxation (Pillar 1) and a global minimum tax rate of 15% (Pillar 2). Using high-frequency asset price movements around the main events of the reform’s consensus process, we identify heterogeneous effects on individual companies’ and industries’ valuations as well as on countries’ public finances. We document that the stock prices of companies with a high share of foreign earnings and high levels of intangible assets like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. drop significantly within minutes after the regulatory events. The price responses are persistent and grow in magnitude when focusing on longer time windows. At the country level, we document significant increases in credit default risk for countries like Ireland, Luxembourg, or small tax havens which attract disproportionately large amounts of companies’ profits under the current tax system. Collectively, our findings suggest that market participants expect the reform to impose significant costs on companies that pay relatively low taxes under the current system and reallocate a significant share of global corporate tax revenues to less developed countries with large consumer markets. set out. Further, the effects strongly depend on behavioral responses of global companies with respect to their profit shifting activities and countries with respect to their tax rate policy. Recent theoretical work (Johannesen, 2022) suggests investment hub countries will increase their statutory corporate tax rates. Under such a scenario, low income countries will expect an increase in corporate tax revenue by 2-4%. The effect for investment hub countries depends on companies profit shifting activity and could be negative or positive. in tax competition impacts firm values. Furthermore, we provide the first macroeconomic evidence on potential tax revenue reallocation effects induced by a global tax reform. Our results have important policy implications as regulators currently seek to set out the specific rules for implementing the reform and policymakers consider domestic policy changes to counteract the potential impact on their tax revenues. Our results also inform future research on the real effects of companies’ responses to the reform.
The Advent of a New Era in Digital Healthcare: A Role for 3D Printing Technologies in Drug Manufacturing?

The technological revolution has physically affected all manufacturing domains, at the gateway of the fourth industrial revolution. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has already shown its potential in this new reality, exhibiting remarkable applications in the production of drug delivery systems. As part of this concept, personalization of the dosage form by means of individualized drug dose or improved formulation functionalities has concentrated global research efforts. Beyond the manufacturing level, significant parameters must be considered to promote the real-time manufacturing of pharmaceutical products in distributed areas. The majority of current research activities is focused on formulating 3D-printed drug delivery systems while showcasing different scenarios of installing 3D printers in patients’ houses, hospitals, and community pharmacies, as well as in pharmaceutical industries. Such research presents an array of parameters that must be considered to integrate 3D printing in a future healthcare system, with special focus on regulatory issues, drug shortages, quality assurance of the product, and acceptability of these scenarios by healthcare professionals and public parties. The objective of this review is to critically present the spectrum of possible scenarios of 3D printing implementation in future healthcare and to discuss the inevitable issues that must be addressed.
‘What Determines Socio-Economic Status and What Reflects It?’—Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling Approach

A pertinent question that remains unaddressed in literature is that ‘what reflects socio-economic status (SES) and what determines it? ’ This is because in some studies income, education, consumption expenditure, health status etc. have been used as proxy indicators of SES, whereas, there are some other studies which consider these as the determinants of SES. In this context, this article has attempted to make a clear distinction between the determinants and indicators of SES. As a determinant of SES, we have certain factors, extensively used in literature and as an indicator of SES, Sen (1999) idea of freedom has been used. Partial least square-structural equation modelling has been applied to estimate our model.
The Ava bracelet for collection of fertility and pregnancy data in free-living conditions: An exploratory validity and acceptability study

Objective To evaluate the validity and acceptability of the Ava bracelet for collecting heart rate, sleep, mood, and physical activity data among reproductive-aged women (pregnant and nonpregnant) under free-living conditions. Methods Thirty-three participants wore the Ava bracelet on their non-dominant wrist and reported mood and physical activity in the Ava mobile application for seven nights. Criterion validity was determined by comparing the Ava bracelet heart rate and sleep duration measures to criterion measures from the Polar chest strap and ActiGraph GTX3 + accelerometer. Construct validity was determined by comparing self-report measures and the heart rate variability ratio collected in the Ava mobile application to previously validated measures. Acceptability was evaluated using the modified Acceptability of Health Apps among Adolescents Scale. Results Mean absolute percentage error was 11.4% for heart rate and 8.5% for sleep duration. There was no meaningful difference between the Ava bracelet, ActiGraph, and construct a measure of sleep quality. Compared to construct measures, Ava bracelet heart rate variability had a significant low negative correlation (r:−0.28), mood had a significant low positive correlation (r : 0.39), and physical activity level had a significant low (rlevel of physical activity: 0.56) to moderate positive correlation (rMET−minutes/week: 0.71). The acceptability of the Ava bracelet was high for fertility and low for pregnancy tracking. Conclusion Preliminary evidence suggests the Ava bracelet and mobile application estimates of sleep and heart rate are not equivalent to criterion measures in free-living conditions. Further research is needed to establish its utility for collecting prospective, subjective data throughout periods of preconception and pregnancy.
A Nationwide Survey of Dementia Prevalence in Long-Term Care Facilities in Taiwan

Background: As the average life expectancy of global citizens has increased, the prevalence of dementia has increased rapidly. The number of patients with dementia has increased by 6.7 times, reaching 300,000 in the past three decades in Taiwan. To realize the latest actual situation, the need for institutional care for elderly patients with dementia, and also a reference basis for government agencies to formulate dementia-related care policies, we investigated the institutional prevalence of dementia. Methods: We randomly sampled 299 out of the 1607 registered long-term care facilities including senior citizens’ institutions, nursing homes, and veteran homes in every administrative region of Taiwan. Then, a two-phase survey including MMSE screening, CDR, and clinical confirmation was conducted on each subject from 2019 to 2020. Results: Among 5753 enrolled subjects, 4765 from 266 facilities completed the examinations with a response rate of 82.8%. A total of 4150 subjects were diagnosed with dementia, 7.4% of whom had very mild dementia. The prevalence of all-cause dementia, including very mild dementia, was 87.1% in all facilities, 87.4% in senior citizens’ institutions, 87.1% in nursing homes, and 83.3% in veteran homes. Advanced age, low education, hypertension, Parkinsonism, respiratory disease, stroke, and intractable epilepsy were associated with dementia risk. Conclusions: We show that in an aged society, the prevalence of all-cause dementia in long-term care institutions can be as high as 87.1%. This study was completed before the outbreak of COVID-19 and provides a precious hallmark for future epidemiological research. We recommend that the long-term care policy in an aged society needs to take into account the increasing high prevalence of dementia in the institution.
Mind-Body Practice, Personality Traits, and Cognitive Performance: A 10-Years Study in US Adults

It is widely established that physical activity is associated with better cognitive outcomes, and accumulating evidence suggests that mind-body practice (MBP, e.g., movement therapies such as yoga) may yield similar benefits. Personality is related to both daily activities and cognition, but its role in the association between MBP and cognition is not well understood. Using data from waves 2 and 3 (2004–2014) of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, the current study examines bidirectional temporal associations between personality traits, MBP, and cognition in healthy adults (N = 2050). We applied a cross-lagged regression analysis to examine bidirectional effects between MBP, Big Five personality traits, and two cognitive domains (episodic memory and executive function) and controlled for relevant variables (sociodemographic factors, health, and functional status) at wave 2. MBP at baseline was independently associated with more favorable change in episodic memory, but not in executive function, both before and after including control variables. Also, episodic memory and executive function at baseline were related to increase in MBP. The findings show that MBP and cognitive function predict each other over time. There is also some evidence for cognition and personality associations over time; however, personality traits are not related to subsequent MBP.
Response of learning analytics to the online education challenges during pandemic: Opportunities and key examples in higher education

Emerging technological advancements can play an essential role in overcoming challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a promising educational technology field, Learning Analytics (LA) tools or systems can offer solutions to COVID-19 pandemic-related needs, obstacles, and expectations in higher education. In the current study, we systematically reviewed 20 papers to better understand the responses of LA tools to the online learning challenges that higher education students, instructors, and institutions faced during the pandemic. In addition, we attempted to provide key cases in which LA has been effectively deployed for various purposes during the pandemic in the higher education context. We found out several prominent challenges for stakeholders. Accordingly, learners needed of timely support and interaction, and experienced difficulty of time management. Instructors lacked pedagogical knowledge for online teaching. In particular, individual and collaborative assessment have been a challenge for them. Institutions have not been ready for a digital transformation and online teaching. In response to these challenges, LA tools have been deployed for the following opportunities: monitoring, planning online learning process, fostering learners’ engagement and motivation, facilitating assessment process; increasing interaction, improving retention, being easy to use. Understanding these promises can also give insight into future higher education policies.
Learning-Based Path Planning Algorithm in Ocean Currents for Multi-Glider

In practical application studies of glider formations, ocean currents are a major influencing factor in their path planning. The purpose of this paper is to solve the path planning problem of glider formations in time-varying ocean currents and establish gliders, glider formation, and ocean current models based on existing data. The Doc-CNN architecture is tailored to conform to the operation and environment characteristics of gliders in practical application. After experiments, the algorithm of the improved architecture can be used in the path planning task of glider formation. The algorithm architecture is compared and tested on two datasets, grid maps and ocean maps. Doc-CNN has an advantage over architecture without being tailored to glider characteristics and makes full use of known global information and local information collected by gliders themselves. The results show that the path planning problem of glider formation in ocean currents can be solved by using Doc-CNN.
Reconstruction of chronic tibialis anterior tendon ruptures using a free anterior half of a peroneus longus tendon autograft: A technical note

Purpose: Chronic rupture of the tibialis anterior (TA) tendon is rare. Several reconstruction techniques have been introduced. However, to the best of our knowledge, the use of a free anterior half of a peroneus longus tendon (AHPLT) autograft has not been reported for reconstruction of TA tendon rupture. This study aimed to describe the surgical technique and present the clinical outcomes of reconstruction of the chronic TA tendon ruptures using an AHPLT autograft. Methods: Between September 2013 and April 2019, five patients with chronic TA tendon rupture were surgically treated by reconstruction using an AHPLT autograft. The AHPLT could be easily harvested percutaneously with a tendon stripper from the ipsilateral lower leg around the reconstruction site. The study included four men and one woman, with a mean age of 43.8 (range: 23–65) years. Results: At a mean follow-up period of 42.8 (range; 12–70) months, the mean Foot Function Index value significantly improved from 53.6 ± 19.8 preoperatively to 25.8 ± 20.8 postoperatively (p = .04). None of the patients had morbidities (such as nerve injury, delayed tendon ruptures, or tenosynovitis) around the AHPLT donor site. Three patients were very satisfied, two patients were satisfied, and one patient was fair with the results. Conclusions: Reconstruction of chronic TA tendon ruptures using a free AHPLT autograft could be successfully performed with satisfactory clinical outcomes and minimal donor site morbidities. Future studies with a larger population size and a comparative group are warranted to confirm these findings.
Structural Characterization of Mannoglucan Isolated from Ophiocordyceps sobolifera and Its Antioxidant Activities

A novel polysaccharide structure (PS-T80) was collected from Ophiocordyceps sobolifera biomass and characterized via a combination of chemical and spectral analyses. Employing high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), the average molecular weight is proven to be 7.4 × 104 Da. Furthermore, a sugar composition analysis of the obtained polysaccharide suggests two main sugars, β-d-glucose and α-d-mannose, at a molar ratio of 2:1, respectively, in the backbone. The structure analysis unveils that PS-T80 is a mannoglucan, possessing the repeating unit of [→3)-β-d-Glcp-(1 → 3)-α-d-Manp-(1 → 3)-β-d-Glcp-(1→]n. Such a configuration could be considered a novel polysaccharide. Impressively, in vitro antioxidant tests revealed that PS-T80 has a promising antioxidant activity. These results demonstrate that the obtained PS is a potential bioactive material for biomedical applications.
The Welfare Effects of Formal and Informal Financial Access in the Gambia: A Comparative Assessment

The aim of this study was to comparatively assess the impact of formal and informal finance on household welfare in the Gambia. The Gambia 2015 to 2016 Integrated Household Survey (IHS3) data was analyzed using Stata software version 17.0 to assess the impact of access to the various forms of finance on household food and non-food consumption expenditures, education expenditure, total income, and a subjective assessment of welfare. The study found that access to either formal or informal finance has some deleterious impacts on welfare, with the negative impacts from formal finance being generally lesser than those from informal finance, signaling that the different forms of finance have near-varying repercussions on household welfare. Access to and conditions of formal finance should be improved by removing or making less stringent the requirements, most of which are hard for households to meet.
High-frequency filtering for low-temperature thermal transport studies in nanostructures

Filtering of external unwanted RF-noise and thermal noise generated at the high-temperature parts of the measuring circuit is essential for successful measurements of thermal transport of nanostructures at low temperatures. This is because of thermal decoupling of the systems, i.e. the extreme weakness of thermal conduction at sub-Kelvin temperatures, leading easily to overheating even with excess power in sub pW range. We have started to improve the noise filtering in our cryogenic dilution refrigerators, which can reach a base temperature of ~ 50 mK. The miniature low-pass filters were made from special RF sealing compound Eccosorb CR124, stainless steel powder of grain size 50 μm and a typical low-temperature epoxy (Stycast). Measured cut-off frequency is at 1 MHz, low enough to cut most of the radiated RF power.
From Scrum to Solo: How Small Is Too Small a Team to Still Call It Software Engineering?

Software engineering practices have historically been oriented towards teams of varying size and the justification for their use made in terms of team operations. However, much software development is also carried out by individuals without such a team context. They may be solo developers working as independents, sometimes part-time entrepreneurs or they may indeed be embedded in a 'team' but they are the only software developer in a mixed bunch. The latter is common in scientific organisations such as CSIRO. Some of today's 'Agile' development processes can be adapted to the solo developer and yield a significant improvement in productivity and risk control. In particular, version control, test-driven development and continuous delivery are beneficial practices. This presentation will make the case that 'software engineering' can be applied to an activity carried out by an individual and provide details on the practices that work. It includes discussion of the 'diary-driven development' lightweight approach to documentation and providing a technique of introspection to help 'peer-review yourself'. The experience reported on also covers what happens when you try to take these techniques successfully applied by an individual and scale them up for adoption by a typical small team. Adding relevance to a non-technical management audience, the presentation looks at these practices from a risk-mitigation viewpoint. It will help validate them as worthwhile for solo developers and debunk the idea that 'software engineering is only for big teams'.
Taxonomic review of living planktonic foraminifera

Abstract. Applications of fossil shells of planktonic foraminifera to decipher past environmental change and plankton evolution require a robust operational taxonomy. In this respect, extant planktonic foraminifera provide an opportunity for benchmarking the dominantly morphological species concepts and classification of the group by considering ecological, physiological and genetic characters. Although the basic framework of the taxonomy of extant planktonic foraminifera has been stable for half a century, many details have changed, not the least in light of genetic evidence. In this contribution, we review the current taxonomy of living planktonic foraminifera, presenting a comprehensive standard that emerged from the meetings and consultations of the SCOR/IGBP Working Group 138 “Planktonic foraminifera and ocean changes”. We present a comprehensive annotated list of 50 species and subspecies recognized among living planktonic foraminifera and evaluate their generic and suprageneric classification. As a result, we recommend replacing the commonly used names Globorotalia menardii by G. cultrata and Globorotalia theyeri by G. eastropacia, recognize Globorotaloides oveyi as a neglected but valid living species, and propose transferring the three extant species previously assigned to Tenuitella into a separate genus, Tenuitellita. We review the status of types and designate lectotypes for Globoturborotalita rubescens and Globigerinita uvula. We further provide an annotated list of synonyms and other names that have been applied previously to living planktonic foraminifera and outline the reasons for their exclusion. Finally, we provide recommendations on how the presented classification scheme should be used in operational taxonomy for the benefit of producing replicable and interoperable census counts.