Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teachers’ Views About the Intricacies of Learner-On-Teacher Violence and the Implications for School Leadership

Despite a global concern and interest in researching school violence, little is known about the nature of violence perpetrated by learners against the teachers. The in loco-parentis status of teachers position them in a situation where they are expected to address various challenges that learners encounter. These challenges include, inter alia, school violence. However, teachers are sometimes victims of violence that they experience from their own learners. Thus, school violence is a complicated phenomenon. This paper is intended to add to the debates about school violence with a focus on physical violence and threats of violence perpetrated by learners against teachers and the leadership implications thereof. The paper uses eco-systemic theory to interpret and explain the said violence. I used semi-structured interviews to generate data from 12 teachers and 2 principals. The participants were purposely selected from two South African high schools. The findings revealed that learner-on-teacher violence in general and physical as well as threats of violence in particular are complicated in that they occur within the parameters of interconnected systems and subsystems. The paper argue that it is imperative for principals and other teachers to provide a vision and direction for non-violent relationships between learners and teachers.
The Association Between Congestive Heart Failure and One-Year Mortality After Surgery in Singaporean Adults: A Secondary Retrospective Cohort Study Using Propensity-Score Matching, Propensity Adjustment, and Propensity-Based Weighting

Background Although congestive heart failure (CHF) is considered a risk factor for postoperative mortality, reliable quantification of the relationship between CHF and postoperative mortality risk is limited. We aimed to investigate the association between CHF and 1-year mortality after surgery in a large cohort of the Singaporean population. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, the study population included 69,032 adult patients who underwent surgery at Singapore General Hospital between 1 January 2012 and 31 October 2016. The target independent and dependent variables were CHF and 1-year mortality after surgery, respectively. Propensity score was estimated using a non-parsimonious multivariable logistic regression model. Multivariable adjustment, propensity score matching, propensity score adjustment, and propensity score-based weighting Cox proportional-hazards regression were performed to investigate the association between CHF and 1-year mortality after surgery. Results The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) in the original cohort was 1.39 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.20–1.61, P < 0.001). In additional propensity score adjustment, the HR between CHF and 1-year mortality after surgery was 1.34 (95% CI: 1.15–1.56, P < 0.001). In the propensity score-matched cohort, the multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed participants with CHF had a 54% increased risk of 1-year mortality after surgery (HR 1.54, 95% CI: 1.19–1.98, P < 0.001). The multivariate-adjusted HR of the inverse probability of treatment-weighted and standardised mortality ratio-weighted cohorts was 1.34 (95% CI: 1.10–1.62, P = 0.004) and 1.24 (95% CI: 1.17–1.32, P < 0.001), respectively. Conclusion CHF is an independent risk factor for 1-year mortality after surgery in patients undergoing surgery. Depending on the statistical method, patients with CHF had a 24–54% increased risk of 1-year all-cause mortality after surgery. This provides a reference for optimising clinical decision-making, improving preoperative consultation, and promoting clinical communication.
Molecular Phylogeny and Adaptive Mitochondrial DNA Evolution of Salmonids (Pisces: Salmonidae)

Salmonids are composed of anadromous and freshwater fishes, which is an important model for studying adaptive evolution. Herein, 49 salmonid complete mitochondrial genomes and those of two outgroups were used to infer a robust phylogeny for the family Salmonidae. The BI and RAxML phylogenetic trees based on 13 concatenated mitochondrial protein-coding genes showed well-supported nodes, and topologies were highly congruent. The concatenated 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes, ND2, ND3, and ND5 genes were shown to have significantly larger dN/dS ratios in anadromous species than in freshwater species of Salmonidae, but the CYTB gene had significantly smaller dN/dS in anadromous species. The FEL analysis identified positively selected sites and negatively selected sites in each mitochondrial protein-coding gene separately. The RELAX program revealed that the ATP8 and CYTB genes supported intensified selection of the anadromous lineages. Our results demonstrated the phylogeny of Salmonidae and explored the mitochondrial DNA evolution pattern between anadromous and freshwater salmonids.
Learn to Machine Learn via Games in the Classroom

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms are increasingly being adopted to create and filter online digital content viewed by audiences from diverse demographics. From an early age, children grow into habitual use of online services but are usually unaware of how such algorithms operate, or even of their presence. Design decisions and biases inherent in the ML algorithms or in the datasets they are trained on shape the everyday digital lives of present and future generations. It is therefore important to disseminate a general understanding of AI and ML, and the ethical concerns associated with their use. As a response, the digital game ArtBot was designed and developed to teach fundamental principles about AI and ML, and to promote critical thinking about their functionality and shortcomings in everyday digital life. The game is intended as a learning tool in primary and secondary school classrooms. To assess the effectiveness of the ArtBot game as a learning experience we collected data from over 2,000 players across different platforms focusing on the degree of usage, interface efficiency, learners' performance and user experience. The quantitative usage data collected within the game was complemented by over 160 survey responses from teachers and students during early pilots of ArtBot. The evaluation analysis performed in this paper gauges the usability and usefulness of the game, and identifies areas of the game design which need improvement.
Improving muscle strength and physical function in older people living with sarcopenia and physical frailty: Not all exercise is created equal

Exercise is an increasingly widely used treatment for older people across a range of clinical conditions including sarcopenia and physical frailty. Whilst exercise can have many benefits for older people, adaptations to exercise are specific to the exercise mode that is performed and not all exercise is created equal. The correct type of exercise, at the correct dose, needs to be prescribed to maximise effectiveness in treating sarcopenia and physical frailty where maintaining or improving muscle strength and physical function represent key aims. Resistance exercise (RE) is the most potent approach to improving muscle strength and physical function and should be prioritised within exercise programmes delivered to this group. Resistance exercise programme design should be underpinned by the fundamental principles of exercise prescription in order to deliver an appropriate and individualised exercise dose to maximise the potential of RE as a treatment for older people living with sarcopenia and physical frailty.
Influence of Utero-cervical Angle and Cervical Length on Labor Induction

Background: Successful labor induction is clearly related to the state of the cervix. The utero-cervical angle and cervical length represent novel ultrasonographic markers. Aim: To assess the relationship between utero-cervical angle and cervical length and satisfactory response to labor induction. Methods: Prospective cohort study was conducted in Al-Elwyia Maternity Teaching Hospital for a period of six months; 100 cases were enrolled in the study, and a pre-labor induction measurement of utero-cervical angle and cervical length using transvaginal ultrasound scanning was followed up till the end of labor to estimate the rate of success of induction of labor. Results: 65 patients had successful induction of labor and 35 failed to do so. No differences were found in demographic data and previous obstetric history. Short cervical length and wide utero-cervical angle were found in successful induction of labor. A significant negative correlation was found between utero-cervical angle and labor duration. At the cutoff point of 97.5 degrees of utero-cervical angle, the sensitivity was 83.12%, specificity was 71.4%, positive predictive value was 84.38%, negative predictive value was 69.45% and the accuracy was 88%. At a cutoff point of less than 29.5 mm of cervical length, the sensitivity was 92.3%, specificity was 80%, positive predictive value was 89.55%, negative predictive value was 84.84% and the accuracy was 88%. Conclusion: Utero-cervical angle and cervical length may be independent predictors of successful induction of labor.
Stolonicaulon: A Section-Puzzle within Marsupella (Gymnomitriaceae, Marchantiophyta)

Marsupella sect. Stolonicaulon is not speciose and is a commonly neglected section within the genus, which currently includes three species with somewhat similar morphologies (wiry shoots with distanced leaves) and distributions in the mountains of tropical and subtropical regions (SE (Southeast) Asia, the Venezuelan Andes, and the high mountains of SE Brazil). After studying materials that were found to be dissimilar to the “traditional” Marsupella that were collected in the last decade by the authors of this article, it was found that these plants belong to three new-for-science species, and all of these species should be included in Marsupella sect. Stolonicaulon. The newly described species have expanded the boundaries of morphological variability, not only for the section itself, but also for the genus based on two findings: (1) the leaves of Marsupella sect. Stolonicaulon can be either appressed and entire or spaced and deeply divided (thus, the plants could occasionally be similar to Cephaloziella or Anastrophyllum); (2) some species of the section possess regular underleaf production. The first discovery of regular underleaves in Marsupella, as noted in two of the three newly described taxa, is the main morphological novelty described in this paper. The development of regular underleaves is a presumable relict character that brings Marsupella closer to Nardia, which was recently transferred to the Gymnomitriaceae and occupies an isolated position within its own subfamily, Nardioideae.
A Systematic Review of Associations between Energy Use, Fuel Poverty, Energy Efficiency Improvements and Health

Energy use in buildings can influence the indoor environment. Studies on green buildings, energy saving measures, energy use, fuel poverty, and ventilation have been reviewed, following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The database PubMed was searched for articles published up to 1 October 2020. In total, 68 relevant peer-reviewed epidemiological or exposure studies on radon, biological agents, and chemicals were included. The main aim was to assess current knowledge on how energy saving measures and energy use can influence health. The included studies concluded that buildings classified as green buildings can improve health. More efficient heating and increased thermal insulation can improve health in homes experiencing fuel poverty. However, energy-saving measures in airtight buildings and thermal insulation without installation of mechanical ventilation can impair health. Energy efficiency retrofits can increase indoor radon which can cause lung cancer. Installation of a mechanical ventilation systems can solve many of the negative effects linked to airtight buildings and energy efficiency retrofits. However, higher ventilation flow can increase the indoor exposure to outdoor air pollutants in areas with high levels of outdoor air pollution. Finally, future research needs concerning energy aspects of buildings and health were identified.
Number of topic-vehicle shared features influences the aptness of metaphors

ABSTRACT This study investigated whether the number of topic-vehicle shared features influences readers’ evaluation of metaphor aptness. Experiment 1 compared the number of topic-vehicle shared features on metaphor aptness. A two topic-vehicle shared features condition showed a higher aptness rating than a one topic-vehicle shared feature condition. Experiments 2 and 3 compared the number of topic-vehicle shared features and unique features on metaphor aptness. The two topic-vehicle shared features condition showed a higher aptness rating than the one topic-vehicle shared feature and the one vehicle/topic unique feature and two unique features condition. There were differences in aptness between the metaphor and simile in a one topic-vehicle shared feature and a one topic/vehicle unique feature condition. Therefore, topic-vehicle shared features determine the aptness of metaphors, and the effect of topic/vehicle unique feature mixed with topic-vehicle shared features were different between metaphors and similes.
Hyperspectral Sensing of Plant Diseases: Principle and Methods

Pathogen infection has greatly reduced crop production. As the symptoms of diseases usually appear when the plants are infected severely, rapid identification approaches are required to monitor plant diseases at early the infection stage and optimize control strategies. Hyperspectral imaging, as a fast and nondestructive sensing technology, has achieved remarkable results in plant disease identification. Various models have been developed for disease identification in different plants such as arable crops, vegetables, fruit trees, etc. In these models, important algorithms, such as the vegetation index and machine learning classification and methods have played significant roles in the detection and early warning of disease. In this paper, the principle of hyperspectral imaging technology and common spectral characteristics of plant disease symptoms are discussed. We reviewed the impact mechanism of pathogen infection on the photo response and spectrum features of the plants, the data processing tools and algorithms of the hyperspectral information of pathogen-infected plants, and the application prospect of hyperspectral imaging technology for the identification of plant diseases.
Parallel Coordinates-based Visualization of Covid-19 Data

The number of COVID-19 cases has been continuously increasing worldwide since the beginning of 2020. A lot of efforts have been made in identifying, predicting, and mitigating this deadly virus infection. This requires gaining insight into large collections of the related data, which are multivariate in nature involving many variables/attributes. Here we develop a parallel coordinates system to visualize the COVID-19 data in an interactive manner considering all variables, including location and time. The challenges with this approach include mapping many variables of different types (parallel axes) and occlusion associated with highly cluttered data lines. We adopt several functionalities to make our parallel coordinates plot useful, such as two-level axes representation, axes reordering and scaling, data filtering, highlighting, and brushing. A detailed visualization of COVID-19 data reveals several interesting features. For instance, hard-hit countries, including USA and India, had gone through 2 or 4 episodes (waves) of virus infection as shown by large daily new cases followed by high daily deaths in two or three weeks. Such temporal trend is not clear in some other countries, including Brazil. Furthermore, correlations between the vaccination and the infection do not consistently imply a positive impact of the vaccination over time. Other factors, such as social interaction, under-vaccination, and adaptive spreading nature of the virus seem to play role in the continued high level of COVID-19 infection worldwide.
Associations of Musical Activities and Positive Affect With Fear of Childbirth: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Background Fear of childbirth is a prevalent issue among women, with a wide range of interventions to dispel it. Here we explored a novel and beneficial intervention and one possible influence mechanism of it. Methods The cross-sectional study recruited 1,053 pregnant women from one tertiary-grade A class hospital between March to August 2021. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, a self-made musical activities questionnaire, the Positive affect subscale, and the Childbirth Attitudes Questionnaire. We parceled the eight musical activities into three items by item parceling methodology. The associations of musical activities and positive affect with fear of childbirth were evaluated by a structural equation modeling approach. Results Our analyses demonstrated the effectiveness of musical activities, which was notably correlated with the increase in positive affect (β = 0.309, P < 0.01). On the contrary, positive affect predicted a decrease in fear of childbirth (β = −0.085, P = 0.019). Additionally, positive affect mediated the effect of musical activities on fear of childbirth (β = −0.026, P = 0.030). However, the direct effect of musical activities on fear of childbirth was not found (β = 0.029, P = 0.514). Conclusions Relying on musical activities alone may not be adequate to alleviate the fear of childbirth, and positive affect played a pivotal role between musical activities and fear of childbirth. The results showed that musical activities would be an effective non-pharmaceutical way to alleviate the fear of childbirth and positive affect can not be ignorant in future childbirth fear reduction programs.
Does Short Selling Affect Corporate Payout Policy Evidence from China

ABSTRACT Using China’s short-selling pilot program as an exogenous shock, we provide evidence that removal of short selling constraint has significantly increased firms’ dividend payout. This positive effect is more pronounced for firms with weak monitoring and firms with more information opacity, suggesting that short selling plays an important governance role in investor protection and information disclosure. This association is robust to a series of robustness checks. Furthermore, we find that firms with active short selling activities are more likely to increase the dividend payout, small firms or big firms both show significant increase in dividends after introduced into pilot list, but the effect is weaker for those engaged in repurchase shares. Overall, this study sheds light on the role of short-selling on firms’ payout policy in the emerging market.
Do Labor Unions Affect Income Smoothing Through R&D Management?

ABSTRACT Using the firm-level labor union data unique to Korea, this study examines the influence of labor unions on firms’ income smoothing activities through R&D expense adjustment. We show that unionized firms have greater extent of income smoothing through R&D adjustment, suggesting that labor unions impose pressure on management to smooth out fluctuation in earnings path. Also, we find evidence that the positive association between labor union and income smoothing via R&D expense is significant only for non-chaebol firms. These findings add to the existing literature on the impact of labor unions, one of important stakeholders, on firms’ accounting choices and financial reporting behavior.
Identification of miRNA–mRNA Pairs in the Alzheimer’s Disease Expression Profile and Explore the Effect of miR-26a-5p/PTGS2 on Amyloid-β Induced Neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s Disease Cell Model

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and the most common type of dementia. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been extensively studied in many diseases, including AD. To identify the AD-specific differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs, we used bioinformatics analysis to study candidate miRNA–mRNA pairs involved in the pathogenesis of AD. These miRNA–mRNAs may serve as promising biomarkers for early diagnosis or targeted therapy of AD patients. In this study, based on the AD mRNA and miRNA expression profile data in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), through differential expression analysis, functional annotation and enrichment analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis, miRNA–mRNA regulatory network, protein–protein interaction network, receiver operator characteristic and Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and other analysis, we screened the key miRNA–mRNA in the progress of AD: miR-26a-5p/PTGS2. Dual-luciferase and qPCR experiments confirmed that PTGS2 is a direct target gene of miR-26a-5p. The expression of miR-26a-5p in the peripheral blood of AD patients and AD model cells (SH-SY5Y cells treated with Aβ25–35) was up-regulated, and the expression of PTGS2 was down-regulated. Functional gain -loss experiments confirmed that PTGS2 protects AD model cells from damage by inhibiting proliferation and migration. However, the expression of miR-26a-5p promotes the proliferation of AD model cells. It is further found that PTGS2 is involved in the regulation of miR-26a-5p and can reverse the effect of miR-26a-5p on the proliferation of AD model cells. In addition, through network pharmacology, qPCR and CCK-8, we found that baicalein may affect the progression of AD by regulating the expression of PTGS2. Therefore, PTGS2 can be used as a target for AD research, and miR-26a-5p/PTGS2 can be used as an axis of action to study the pathogenesis of AD.
Aligning multiple choice assessments with active learning instruction: More accurate and equitable ways to measure student learning

Abstract In response to geoscience education research and calls for the need to reform STEM teaching in higher education, many geoscience faculty are adopting research-based pedagogies to improve student learning in their courses. Our own effort to reform our introductory geology course included daily student-centered activities and other reforms we expected would result in improved student performance, but did not. This paper describes our evaluation of student performance on multiple choice questions (MCQs), which are the largest component of student grades in the course. Student scores were highest on MCQs that were aligned with the style in which students learned material and that required students to interact with the question (active questions) rather than just regurgitating information (passive questions). We also examined whether the style of MCQs impacted student scores equitably and found that the grades of all students would have improved if we had asked MCQs that were aligned and active, and the improvements were equitable, but final grades remain biased.
A Chebyshev Transformer-Based Microstri-to-Groove-Gap-Waveguide Inline Transition for MMIC Packaging

The gap waveguide technology has become an alternative to millimeter- and submillimeter-wave electronic circuit packaging thanks to the loss reduction associated with its use. In this paper, a simplified design of an inline transition between a microstrip and a groove gap waveguide (GGW) operating at the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$W$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-band is presented. The transition consists of a tapered microstrip line and a Chebyshev adapter that couple the quasi-TEM mode of the microstrip line to the so-called vertical mode of the GGW. The simplicity of this design makes this transition appropriate for monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) packaging at millimeter frequencies and above. The simulation results have been experimentally validated in the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$W$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-band. A good performance has been achieved, resulting in a return loss better than 10 dB and a mean insertion loss lower than 2 dB.