Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the Spanish Version of Technostress Scale (RED/TIC) in Ecuadorian Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background Although the use of technology is a trend, since the COVID-19 pandemic, its use has been exacerbated, especially in educational processes, causing techno-stress among teachers. Purpose In order to contribute to the lack of validated and adapted instruments in Latin America, this study aimed to analyze the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the Spanish version of the technostress scale in a large sample of Ecuadorian teachers. Methods A non-probabilistic intentional sample of 2850 teachers (mean age 40 years, SD= 9.65; 65% female) from various schools throughout the Ecuadorian territory was surveyed online using a cross-sectional design. Data analysis included exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), factorial invariance, assessment of internal consistency, sex differences in technostress scale scores and convergent validity. Results The EFA yielded a structure of four factors: skepticism, fatigue, anxiety and inefficiency. Through CFA, the hierarchical model that included a general factor and four nested factors had a better fit, and that model remained invariant across sex, age and public and private institutions. Total omega value (ω) was 0.962 for the total scale and hierarchical omega values (ωh) were 0.886 for the general factor, as well as 0.30, 0.22, 0.12 and 0.21 for the respective nested factors (skepticism, fatigue, anxiety and inefficiency). Moreover, the Resources, Experiences, Demands for Information and Communication Technologies (RED/TIC) scores were significantly higher among women, although effect sizes of comparison of those sex differences were very small. Finally, the RED/TIC scores correlated with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Conclusion The RED/TIC scale has adequate psychometric properties in primary and high school teachers, and its use in that population is supported, which provides a valuable tool for the evaluation and detection of technostress in teachers and facilitates the investigation of this multifactorial phenomenon in Latin America.
Late Pleistocene Seismic Stratigraphy of the Mississippi Fan

The Mississippi Fan comprises a minimum of seven individual depositional units, called fan lobes. The two most recent fan lobes, penetrated during DSDP Leg 96, were deposited during the late Wisconsin glacial. The morphology of the youngest fan lobe is dominated by a channel-overbank complex which traverses nearly its entire length. Systematic downfan changes in the nature of the channel system, distribution of the seismic fades, and seafloor gradient suggest division of the youngest fan lobe into four major regions: canyon, upper fan, middle fan, and lower fan. Two of these regions—the middle fan and the lower fan—were drilled during Leg 96. The seismic character of the continental slope adjacent to the canyon is similar to that of the upper fan because of the influence of diapiric activity and the erosional/depositional processes within the channel complex. South of the diapirs, however, the seismic character of the upper fan becomes more compatible with the middle fan. This change reflects the transition from an erosional mode in the canyon area to a predominantly aggradational mode downfan. The middle fan is characterized by an aggradational channel located along its apex. This leveed channel system is highly sinuous and migratory in nature. The channel fill, drilled at Sites 621 and 622, consists of a zone of high-amplitude reflectors (channel-lag deposits) in its lower part overlain by semitransparent to transparent reflections (silts and muds). Seismically, the fine-grained overbank sediments (Sites 616, 617, and 620) are characterized by laterally extensive, structureless, transparent zones (north of the channel) or by predominantly discontinuous, parallel reflectors (south of the channel). The lower fan region can be subdivided into two areas. In its upfan area (Sites 623 and 624), randomly scattered, buried channels suggest frequent shifting, infilling, and abandonment. The extension of discontinuous, parallel reflectors from these channels suggests lateral distribution of sediment by nonchannelized turbidity currents. In its downfan portion (Sites 614 and 615), the modern channel is barely discernible morphologically and bifurcates before terminating. Seismically, this area consists of continuous parallel to discontinuous parallel reflectors.
An Adaptive Variational Outlier-Robust Filter for Multisensor Distributed Fusion

The fusion accuracy of distributed fusion algorithms may degrade in multisensor measurements with unknown noise and outliers. To tackle the problem, an improved adaptive feedback covariance intersection (IAFCI) fusion algorithm based on the modified slide window variational outlier-robust adaptive Kalman filter (MSWVRAKF) is proposed. To estimate unknown noise covariance and eliminate outliers, an MSWVRAKF is proposed. The algorithm devises a simplified slide-window variational adaptive filter according to the Student’s t distribution, which treats the Student’s t distribution as the approximation of the posterior distribution to eliminate the effect of outliers. The adaptive factor is introduced into this algorithm to realize the tradeoff between measurement and prediction. Moreover, an IAFCI fusion algorithm is developed with respect to multisensor information fusion with uncertain noise. The simulations verify that the improved fusion algorithm outperforms other existing filtering and fusion algorithms.
Molecular, Cellular, and Technical Aspects of Breast Cancer Cell Lines as a Foundational Tool in Cancer Research

Breast cancer comprises about 30% of all new female cancers each year and is the most common malignant cancer in women in the United States. Breast cancer cell lines have been harnessed for many years as a foundation for in vitro analytic studies to understand the use of cancer prevention and therapy. There has yet to be a compilation of works to analyze the pitfalls, novel discoveries, and essential techniques for breast cancer cell line studies in a scientific context. In this article, we review the history of breast cancer cell lines and their origins, as well as analyze the molecular pathways that pharmaceutical drugs apply to breast cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Controversies regarding the origins of certain breast cancer cell lines, the benefits of utilizing Patient-Derived Xenograft (PDX) versus Cell-Derived Xenograft (CDX), and 2D versus 3D cell culturing techniques will be analyzed. Novel outcomes from epigenetic discovery with dietary compound usage are also discussed. This review is intended to create a foundational tool that will aid investigators when choosing a breast cancer cell line to use in multiple expanding areas such as epigenetic discovery, xenograft experimentation, and cancer prevention, among other areas.
Development of a monoclonal antibody and a lateral-flow device for the rapid detection of a Mucorales-specific biomarker

Mucoromycosis is a highly aggressive angio-invasive disease of humans caused by fungi in the zygomycete order, Mucorales. While Rhizopus arrhizus is the principal agent of mucoromycosis, other Mucorales fungi including Apophysomyces, Cunninghamella, Lichtheimia, Mucor, Rhizomucor and Syncephalastrum are able to cause life-threatening rhino-orbital-cerebral, pulmonary, gastro-intestinal and necrotising cutaneous infections in humans. Diagnosis of the disease currently relies on non-specific CT, lengthy and insensitive culture from invasive biopsy, and time-consuming histopathology of tissue samples. At present, there are no rapid antigen tests that detect Mucorales-specific biomarkers of infection, and which allow point-of-care diagnosis of mucoromycosis. Here, we report the development of an IgG2b monoclonal antibody (mAb), TG11, which binds to extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) antigens of between 20 kDa and 250 kDa secreted during hyphal growth of Mucorales fungi. The mAb is Mucorales-specific and does not cross-react with other yeasts and molds of clinical importance including Aspergillus, Candida, Cryptococcus, Fusarium, Lomentospora and Scedosporium species. Using the mAb, we have developed a Competitive lateral-flow device that allows rapid (30 min) detection of the EPS biomarker in human serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), with a limit of detection (LOD) in human serum of ~100 ng/mL serum (~224.7 pmol/L serum). The LFD therefore provides a potential novel opportunity for detection of mucoromycosis caused by different Mucorales species.
Self-Management Through Social Support Among Emerging Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND Emerging adulthood is a unique developmental stage, which may affect individuals' self-management behaviors, social support, and the relationship between these two constructs. Among older adults, social support has been shown to improve self-management behaviors for individuals with chronic conditions; however, this relationship has not been examined with emerging adults (age 18-29 years) who have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between two conceptualizations of social support (received and perceived availability of social support) and IBD-related self-management behaviors among emerging adults with IBD. METHODS A convenience sample of emerging adult IBD individuals (currently prescribed medication to manage IBD) were recruited through ResearchMatch, Facebook, and word of mouth. The study was guided by key elements of the individual and family self-management theory. Participants responded to demographic and condition-specific questionnaires: the Inventory of Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood, the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors, the Medical Outcomes: Social Support Survey, the Medication Adherence Report Scale, and the Dietary Screener Questionnaire. RESULTS Emerging adults with high received informational support reported greater medication adherence compared to those with low received informational support when controlling for biological medications, time since diagnosis, symptom frequency, and feeling in-between adolescence and adulthood. Neither type of social support was associated with diet modification. DISCUSSION Received informational social support, medication type, time since diagnosis, symptoms, and emerging adulthood factors have the potential to influence medication adherence. Received informational social support interventions, such as patient-to-patient or group-based mentoring, may serve to improve medication adherence among emerging adults with IBD.
GUS Expression in Gladiolus Plants Controlled by Two Gladiolus Ubiquitin Promoters

Ubiquitin represents a conserved family of genes that is involved in many metabolic processes. The most commonly used promoter for genetic engineering of cereal monocots is the maize ubiquitin promoter because it directs high levels of expression in most plants’ tissues, but this promoter results in low levels of expression in Gladiolus. Several ubiquitin promoters were isolated from Gladiolus to find one that directs higher levels of expression than the maize ubiquitin promoter in Gladiolus. Two ubiquitin promoters isolated from Gladiolus, GUBQ2 and GUBQ4, are characterized here for their levels of expression and tissue-specific location of expression when transformed into Gladiolus. Gladiolus cv. ‘Jenny Lee’ plants were transformed with the uidA gene coding for -glucuronidase (GUS) expression under control of either the GUBQ2 or GUBQ4 ubiquitin promoters. Five plant lines with either the GUBQ2 or GUBQ4 promoter were confirmed to be independently transformed by Southern hybridization. Two plant lines each contained one copy of pGUBQ2, and the other lines with either promoter were multicopy. There was a range in the levels of GUS expression. One of the GUBQ4 lines appeared to be silenced as GUS was not expressed in their young leaves, young roots, and callus derived from the plants. Levels of GUS expression were higher in young roots than in young shoots and callus with the GUBQ2 promoter. Three of the four expressing lines with GUBQ4 showed the highest levels of GUS expression in callus followed by roots. Histochemical staining showed that GUS was expressed throughout the leaves and roots of Gladiolus plants transformed with either GUBQ2 or GUBQ4. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Front-End Development for Radar Applications: A Focus on 24 GHz Transmitter Design

The proliferation of radar technology has given rise to a growing demand for advanced, high-performance transmitter front-ends operating in the 24 GHz frequency band. This paper presents a design analysis of a radio frequency (RF) transmitter (TX) front-end operated at a 24 GHz frequency and designed using 65 nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology for radar applications. The proposed TX front-end design includes the integration of an up-conversion mixer and power amplifier (PA). The up-conversion mixer is a Gilbert cell-based design that translates the 2.4 GHz intermediate frequency (IF) signal and 21.6 GHz local oscillator (LO) signal to the 24 GHz RF output signal. The mixer is designed with a novel technique that includes a duplex transconductance path (DTP) for enhancing the mixer’s linearity. The DTP of the mixer includes a primary transconductance path (PTP) and a secondary transconductance path (STP). The PTP incorporates a common source (CS) amplifier, while the STP incorporates an improved cross-quad transconductor (ICQT). The integrated PA in the TX front-end is a class AB tunable two-stage PA that can be tuned with the help of varactors as a synchronous mode to increase the PA bandwidth or stagger mode to obtain a high gain. The PA is tuned to 24 GHz as a synchronous mode PA for the TX front-end operation. The proposed TX front-end showed an excellent output power of 11.7 dBm and dissipated 7.5 mW from a 1.2 V supply. In addition, the TX front-end achieved a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 47% and 1 dB compression point (OP1dB) of 10.5 dBm. In this case, the output power is 10.5 dBm higher than the linear portion of the response. The methodologies presented herein have the potential to advance the state of the art in 24 GHz radar technology, fostering innovations in fields such as autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, and remote sensing.
Weakly Supervised Solar Panel Mapping via Uncertainty Adjusted Label Transition in Aerial Images

This paper proposes a novel uncertainty-adjusted label transition (UALT) method for weakly supervised solar panel mapping (WS-SPM) in aerial Images. In weakly supervised learning (WSL), the noisy nature of pseudo labels (PLs) often leads to poor model performance. To address this problem, we formulate the task as a label-noise learning problem and build a statistically consistent mapping model by estimating the instance-dependent transition matrix (IDTM). We propose to estimate the IDTM with a parameterized label transition network describing the relationship between the latent clean labels and noisy PLs. A trace regularizer is employed to impose constraints on the form of IDTM for its stability. To further reduce the estimation difficulty of IDTM, we incorporate uncertainty estimation to first improve the accuracy of noisy dataset distillation and then mitigate the negative impacts of falsely distilled examples with an uncertainty-adjusted re-weighting strategy. Extensive experiments and ablation studies on two challenging aerial data sets support the validity of the proposed UALT.
Gender-Specific Effects of Short Sprint Interval Training on Aerobic and Anaerobic Capacities in Basketball Players: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study compared the effects of a 6-week short sprint interval training (sSIT) on male and female basketball players' bio-motor abilities, aerobic fitness, and anaerobic power. Using a randomized controlled trial design, 40 basketball players of similar training backgrounds were randomly assigned to two training groups of females (n = 10) and males (n = 10) or two control groups of females and males (each of 10). The training groups performed 3 sets of 10 × 5-second all-out interval running, with a 1:3 work-to-recovery ratio, and a 3-minute rest between sets. The players were evaluated for bio-motor abilities, including muscular power assessed through the vertical jump, agility measured using a T-test and Illinois change of direction (COD) test, and maximal sprint speed measured by a 20-meter sprint test. Also, aerobic fitness was assessed by evaluating maximum oxygen consumption (V̇O2max) through the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (Yo-Yo IR 1) test before and after the 6-week training period. After the intervention, both training groups (females and males) demonstrated significant improvements in vertical jump (effect size [ES] = 1.29, 1.06, respectively), peak power output (ES = 1.27, 1.39), T-test (ES = -0.56, -0.58), Illinois COD test (ES = -0.88, -1.1), 20-m sprint (ES = -1.09, -0.55), Yo-Yo IR1 performance (ES = 2.18, 2.20), and V̇O2max (ES = 2.28, 1.75). Gender did not exhibit any significant impact on the extent of changes observed over time. The results of this study suggest that adaptations in aerobic fitness and bio-motor abilities measured in this experiment in response to sSIT are similar across genders, and gender differences should not be a major concern when implementing sSIT in basketball players.
Transcriptome‐wide analysis reveals GYG2 as a mitochondria‐related aging biomarker in human subcutaneous adipose tissue

Abstract Subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), a vital energy reservoir and endocrine organ for maintaining systemic glucose, lipid, and energy homeostasis, undergoes significant changes with age. However, among the existing aging‐related markers, only few genes are associated with SAT aging. In this study, weighted gene co‐expression network analysis was used on a transcriptome of SAT obtained from the Genotype‐Tissue Expression portal to identify biologically relevant, SAT‐specific, and age‐related marker genes. We found modules that exhibited significant changes with age and identified GYG2 as a novel key aging associated gene. The link between GYG2 and mitochondrial function as well as brown/beige adipocytes was supported using additional bioinformatics and experimental analyses. Additionally, we identified PPARG as the transcription factor of GYG2 expression. The newly discovered GYG2 marker can be used to not only determine the age of SAT but also uncover new mechanisms underlying SAT aging.
Tapered-slot radiation-traveling wave mechanism inspired extreme wideband efficient antenna with ultra-low SLL

ABSTRACT The manuscript proposes a radiation-inspired tapered-slot-traveling wave mechanism rooted in the combined profile of an efficient extreme wideband (EWB) antenna with ultra-low side-lobe level (SLL), operating in 1–50 GHz. The proposed antenna design, proximity coupled by a transmission line section (50 Ω) followed by differential dual-stub (stethoscope kind), uses two broad banding techniques – The first part of the profile is designed according to the radiation profile of a tapered slot and the second profile section comprises a tapered director (funnel kind) along with an array of reflectors on either side of the flared throat. A comprehensive mathematical analysis of both tapered profiles along with the relationship of different dimensional parameters of the geometry to arrive at an optimized compact and efficient design is narrated. Further, the gain is improved from 8 dB to 12.5 dB by introducing the director and the reflectors. The measured result of the antenna is extreme wideband with high peak gain, ultra-low SLL (Max. −51.0 dB), radiation efficiency (89−94%), improved XPD (−33 dB and below), and good transient response when compared to other state-of-art EWB tapered antenna designs. The proposed antenna is a potential sensor for high resolution/precision, imaging/positioning, and energy harvesting applications.
Assessing Freshwater Microbiomes from Different Storage Sources in the Caribbean Using DNA Metabarcoding

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the technique of DNA metabarcoding have provided more efficient and comprehensive options for testing water quality compared to traditional methods. Recent studies have shown the efficacy of DNA metabarcoding in characterizing the bacterial microbiomes of varied sources of drinking water, including rivers, reservoirs, wells, tanks, and lakes. We asked whether DNA metabarcoding could be used to characterize the microbiome of different private sources of stored freshwater on the Caribbean Island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Two replicate water samples were obtained from three different private residential sources in Antigua: a well, an above-ground tank, and a cistern. The bacterial microbiomes of different freshwater sources were assessed using 16S rRNA metabarcoding. We measured both alpha diversity (species diversity within a sample) and beta diversity (species diversity across samples) and conducted a taxonomic analysis. We also looked for the presence of potentially pathogenic species. Major differences were found in the microbiome composition and relative abundances depending on the water source. A lower alpha diversity was observed in the cistern sample compared to the others, and distinct differences in the microbiome composition and relative abundance were noted between the samples. Notably, pathogenic species, or genera known to harbor such species, were detected in all the samples. We conclude that DNA metabarcoding can provide an effective and comprehensive assessment of drinking water quality and has the potential to identify pathogenic species overlooked using traditional methods. This method also shows promise for tracing the source of disease outbreaks due to waterborne microorganisms. This is the first study from small island countries in the Caribbean where metabarcoding has been applied for assessing freshwater water quality.
On-Metal UHF Tag Antenna Design Using Concentric Step-Impedance Rings

A compact planar tag antenna, which is designed using two closely placed concentric step-impedance rings, is presented for metal-mountable applications in the UHF RFID passband. The tag antenna can be easily constructed using a flexible polyimide and a foam substrate with a dimension of 40 mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times40$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\times3.32$ </tex-math></inline-formula> mm (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.122\lambda \times 0.122\lambda \times 0.010\lambda$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). Narrowing the line width of the rings are found to be useful for increasing the antenna resistance and reactance, and a conjugate matching condition is achievable between the antenna and the microchip. The proposed tag antenna can read a maximum read distance of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim 15$ </tex-math></inline-formula> meters with an effective isotropic radiated power of 4 W. In this design, the two intercoupled stepped-impedance rings are cascaded concentrically. An inductive stub is utilized for bringing down the tag resonant frequency. A transmission line model has been constructed to design the tag antenna, and a detailed analysis has been performed to understand the resonance properties. It is important to note that the proposed tag antenna’s operating frequency is stable, and it is not easily altered by the backing metallic object.