Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Black Faculty Happiness: A Qualitative Ode to Black Faculty Voices, Success, and Retention at Predominantly White Research Universities

The author shares counter narratives of eleven Black faculty members employed at predominantly white research universities in the United States focusing on their experiences with happiness within their academic role. The researcher builds the study advancing a more nuanced view of the Black faculty experience. Counter storytelling was specifically used to exhibit Black faculty members’ self-description of happiness while affording them an opportunity to highlight experiences which produced feelings of happiness. This narrative exploration serves as a clarion call to Black faculty to recognize, embrace, and foster components of their academic roles that yield happiness. The author offers university leadership suggestions for the retention of Black faculty and urges for a relentless striving for racially equitable environments.
How Generative Adversarial Networks Promote the Development of Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Survey

In current years, the improvement of deep learning has brought about tremendous changes: As a type of unsupervised deep learning algorithm, generative adversarial networks (GANs) have been widely employed in various fields including transportation. This paper reviews the development of GANs and their applications in the transportation domain. Specifically, many adopted GAN variants for autonomous driving are classified and demonstrated according to data generation, video trajectory prediction, and security of detection. To introduce GANs to traffic research, this review summarizes the related techniques for spatio-temporal, sparse data completion, and time-series data evaluation. GAN-based traffic anomaly inspections such as infrastructure detection and status monitoring are also assessed. Moreover, to promote further development of GANs in intelligent transportation systems (ITSs), challenges and noteworthy research directions on this topic are provided. In general, this survey summarizes 130 GAN-related references and provides comprehensive knowledge for scholars who desire to adopt GANs in their scientific works, especially transportation-related tasks.
Modelo Multi-Codec Baseado em Spatio-Temporal Deformable Fusion para Melhoria de Qualidade de Vídeos Comprimidos

Vídeos comprimidos geralmente sofrem com efeitos visuais que prejudicam a qualidade percebida pelo usuário. Atualmente, diferentes arquiteturas de aprendizado profundo têm se mostrado eficientes para o problema de melhoria de qualidade em vídeos. No entanto, a maioria delas é treinada e validada usando vídeos gerados por um único padrão de codificação de vídeo. Este artigo propõe um novo modelo baseado na arquitetura Spatio-Temporal Deformable Fusion (STDF), proporcionando ganhos de qualidade para vídeos comprimidos por diferentes padrões. Os resultados demonstram que ao considerar diferentes padrões e configurações de codificação de vídeo no treinamento do modelo, um aumento significativo na melhoria de qualidade é alcançado, com um incremento médio de PSNR de até 0,382 dB.
Genomic Regions Associated with Resistance to Three Rusts in CIMMYT Wheat Line “Mokue#1”

Understanding the genetic basis of rust resistance in elite CIMMYT wheat germplasm enhances breeding and deployment of durable resistance globally. “Mokue#1”, released in 2023 in Pakistan as TARNAB Gandum-1, has exhibited high levels of resistance to stripe rust, leaf rust, and stem rust pathotypes present at multiple environments in Mexico and Kenya at different times. To determine the genetic basis of resistance, a F5 recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population consisting of 261 lines was developed and phenotyped for multiple years at field sites in Mexico and Kenya under the conditions of artificially created rust epidemics. DArTSeq genotyping was performed, and a linkage map was constructed using 7892 informative polymorphic markers. Composite interval mapping identified three significant and consistent loci contributed by Mokue: QLrYr.cim-1BL and QLrYr.cim-2AS on chromosome 1BL and 2AS, respectively associated with stripe rust and leaf rust resistance, and QLrSr.cim-2DS on chromosome 2DS for leaf rust and stem rust resistance. The QTL on 1BL was confirmed to be the Lr46/Yr29 locus, whereas the QTL on 2AS represented the Yr17/Lr37 region on the 2NS/2AS translocation. The QTL on 2DS was a unique locus conferring leaf rust resistance in Mexico and stem rust resistance in Kenya. In addition to these pleiotropic loci, four minor QTLs were also identified on chromosomes 2DL and 6BS associated with stripe rust, and 3AL and 6AS for stem rust, respectively, using the Kenya disease severity data. Significant decreases in disease severities were also demonstrated due to additive effects of QTLs when present in combinations.
MODELING THE TOTAL ENERGY COSTS OF RESISTANCE EXERCISE: A WORK IN PROGRESS

We present an aerobic and anaerobic, exercise and recovery energy cost model of intermittent energy costs utilizing task (work, Joules) as opposed to rate (per minute) measurements. Low to moderate intensity steady state exercise energy costs are typically portrayed as the volumetric rate at which oxygen is consumed (VO2 L min–1), where a proportionate upward climbing linear relationship is profiled with an increasing power output; add to this the concept of the anaerobic threshold and energy costs increase with more intense aerobic exercise in disproportion to VO2 L min–1 measurements. As a per task function, intermittent work and recovery bouts contain a combined estimate of total costs, that is as kJ or kcal (not kJ.min-1 or kcal.min-1). Adopting this approach to describe single and multiple sets of resistance training, the model that emerges for intermittent resistance exercise portrays linearity between equivalent work and total energy costs that differs proportionately among conditions – “continuous” muscular endurance vs. Intermittent higher load strength work, moderately paced vs. slower and faster conditions, smaller vs. larger working muscle masses and failure (fatigue) vs. non-failure states. Moreover, per kcal (or kJ) of total energy costs, work (J) is more inefficient with a greater load and lower repetition number as opposed to lower resistance with an increased number of repetitions. The concept of energy costs Rusing disproportionately with increased or prolonged work does not appear to apply to resistance exercise.
The Intention of Inhaled Medication Adherence Scale (IMAS): The Development of a New Instrument for Assessing Inhaled Medication Adherence Among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Using Theory of Planned Behavior

Purpose Inhaled medication adherence is an important issue for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) because adhering to inhaled medications could substantially improve their health. However, patients with COPD may not be always adhere to the prescribed inhaled medications. Therefore, understanding the underlying reasons for patients with COPD adhering to inhaled medications is important. The present study used Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework to develop the Intention of Inhaled Medication Adherence Scale (IMAS) and assess its psychometric properties. Patients and Methods After reviewing papers using the TPB to design psychometric scales and the TPB scale development guidelines, 28 items were generated for expert evaluation. Eight experts reported that the 28 items all had good content validity (content validity index ranged from 0.88 to 1.00 at item-level; and from 0.981 to 0.987 at scale-level) comprising four factors. Following initial development, 235 patients with COPD (mean age 73.12 years; 93.6% males) completed the IMAS via interview with a respiratory therapist and a research assistant. The four-factor structure of the IMAS was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results Nine IMAS items were removed because of low factor loadings or offending estimates. The 19-item IMAS was confirmed as having a four-factor structure supported by the CFA results (comparative fit index=1.00; Tucker-Lewis index=1.00; root mean square error of approximation=0.00; standardized root mean square residual=0.06). Conclusion The 19-item IMAS had satisfactory psychometric properties in construct validity. The 19-item IMAS is an instrument that could help healthcare providers understand potential factors associated with adherence to inhaled medications among people with COPD.
Experimental identification of an azimuthal current in a magnetic nozzle of a radiofrequency plasma thruster

The azimuthal plasma current in a magnetic nozzle of a radiofrequency plasma thruster is experimentally identified by measuring the plasma-induced magnetic field. The axial plasma momentum increases over about 20 cm downstream of the thruster exit due to the Lorentz force arising from the azimuthal current. The measured current shows that the azimuthal current is given by the sum of the electron diamagnetic drift and E×B drift currents, where the latter component decreases with an increase in the magnetic field strength; hence the azimuthal current approaches the electron diamagnetic drift one for the strong magnetic field. The Lorentz force calculated from the measured azimuthal plasma current and the radial magnetic field is smaller than the directly measured force exerted to the magnetic field, which indicates the existence of a non-negligible Lorentz force in the source tube.
The role of non-numerical information in the perception of temporal numerosity

Numerosity perception refers to the ability to make rapid but approximate estimates of the quantity of elements in a set (spatial numerosity) or presented sequentially (temporal numerosity). Whether numerosity is directly perceived or indirectly recomputed from non-numerical features is a highly debated issue. In the spatial domain, area and density have been suggested as the main parameters through which numerosity would be recomputed. In the temporal domain, stimuli duration and temporal frequency could be similarly exploited to retrieve numerosity. By adapting a psychophysical technique previously exploited in the spatial domain, we investigated whether temporal visual numerosity is directly perceived. Adult participants observed sequences of visual impulses sampled from a stimulus space spanning several levels of temporal frequency and duration (and hence numerosity), and then reproduced the sequence as accurately as possible via a series of keypresses. Crucially, participants were not asked to reproduce any particular property (such as number of impulses) but were free to choose any available cue (such as total duration, or temporal frequency). The results indicate that while the overall sequence duration was barely considered, numerosity and temporal frequency were both spontaneously used as the main cues to reproduce the sequences, with a slight but significant dominance of numerosity. Overall, the results are in line with previous literature suggesting that numerosity is directly encoded, even for temporal sequences, but a non-numerical feature (temporal frequency) is also used in reproducing sequences.
Heart rate estimation from ballistocardiogram signals processing via low-cost telemedicine architectures: a comparative performance evaluation

Medical devices (MDs) have been designed for monitoring the parameters of patients in many sectors. Nonetheless, despite being high-performing and reliable, they often turn out to be expensive and intrusive. In addition, MDs are almost exclusively used in controlled, hospital-based environments. Paving a path of technological innovation in the clinical field, a very active line of research is currently dealing with the possibility to rely on non-medical-graded low-cost devices, to develop unattended telemedicine (TM) solutions aimed at non-invasively gathering data, signals, and images. In this article, a TM solution is proposed for monitoring the heart rate (HR) of patients during sleep. A remote patient monitoring system (RPMS) featuring a smart belt equipped with pressure sensors for ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals sampling was deployed. A field trial was then conducted over a 2-month period on 24 volunteers, who also agreed to wear a finger pulse oximeter capable of producing a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal as the gold standard, to examine the feasibility of the solution via the estimation of HR values from the collected BCG signals. For this purpose, two of the highest-performing approaches for HR estimation from BCG signals, one algorithmic and the other based on a convolutional neural network (CNN), were retrieved from the literature and updated for a TM-related use case. Finally, HR estimation performances were assessed in terms of patient-wise mean absolute error (MAE). Results retrieved from the literature (controlled environment) outperformed those achieved in the experimentation (TM environment) by 29% (MAE = 4.24 vs. 5.46, algorithmic approach) and 52% (MAE = 2.32 vs. 3.54, CNN-based approach), respectively. Nonetheless, a low packet loss ratio, restrained elaboration time of the collected biomedical big data, low-cost deployment, and positive feedback from the users, demonstrate the robustness, reliability, and applicability of the proposed TM solution. In light of this, further steps will be planned to fulfill new targets, such as evaluation of respiratory rate (RR), and pattern assessment of the movement of the participants overnight.
Workplace Negative Gossip Atmosphere and Employees’ Cyberloafing Behaviors: Effects and Mechanisms

Most previous studies of workplace gossip pay attention to its impacts on the target of gossip, but few focus on how audience of gossip in the workplace may be influenced when workplace gossip happens. This study adopts audience-centric perspective to understand workplace negative gossip, proposes the construct of “workplace negative gossip atmosphere” (WNGA), and studies how employees’ perception of WNGA influence their behaviors (cyberloafing). Based on the theory of social information processing and ego depletion theory, this study proposes a dual path model under the “cognitive-emotional” framework. The data analysis software STATA 15.1 is used to analyse 243 employee data collected at 3 time points, and hierarchical regression analyses are conducted to to examine the model. Results show that: 1) WNGA positively influences employees’ cyberloafing behaviors; 2) Employees’ cognitive trust and emotional exhaustion play mediating roles between WNGA and cyberloafing behaviors, respectively. 3) Task interdependence is a moderator that changes both the relationship between WNGA and cognitive trust, and the relationship between WNGA and emotional exhaustion. This study broadens the research thinking in the field of workplace negative gossip and cyberloafing, and also offers some management suggestions for organizations.
An effective variational model for simultaneous reconstruction and segmentation of blurred images

The segmentation of blurred images is of great importance. There have been several recent pieces of work to tackle this problem and to link the areas of image segmentation and image deconvolution in the case where the blur function κ is known or of known type, such as Gaussian, but not in the case where the blur function is not known due to a lack of robust blind deconvolution methods. Here we propose two variational models for simultaneous reconstruction and segmentation of blurred images with spatially invariant blur, without assuming a known blur or a known blur type. Based on our recent work in blind deconvolution, we present two solution methods for the segmentation of blurred images based on implicitly constrained image reconstruction and convex segmentation. The first method is aimed at obtaining a good quality segmentation while the other is aimed at improving the speed while retaining the quality. Our results demonstrate that, while existing models are capable of segmenting images corrupted by small amounts of blur, they begin to struggle when faced with heavy blur degradation or noise, due to the limitation of edge detectors or a lack of strict constraints. We demonstrate that our new algorithms are effective for segmenting blurred images without prior knowledge of the blur function, in the presence of noise and offer improved results for images corrupted by strong blur.
Multiplication-free 8×8 2D DCT architecture using algebraic integer encoding

A novel architecture for a 2D 8×8 discrete cosine transform (DCT) is presented. The architecture uses a new algebraic integer encoding of a 1D radix-8 DCT that allows the separable computation of a 2D 8×8 DCT without any intermediate number representation conversions. This is a considerable improvement on previously introduced algebraic integer encoding techniques. Using this encoding scheme, an entire 8×8 2D DCT-SQ (scalar quantisation) algorithm can be implemented with only 24 adders.
A REVIEW STUDY ON AN INTEGRATED METHOD FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RE-DEVELOPMENT OF WATERFLOODED FIELDS

: The purpose of this article is to develop a specific integrated method to solve the emerging problems of re-development of a flooded oil field. The following methods were used in the study: analysis, generalization, mathematical modeling and experiment. The result is a comprehensive method that can improve the efficiency and economics of post-development waterflooding. A feasibility study of the flow chart of measures to improve the efficiency of field re-development made it possible to create a comprehensive methodology for choosing stimulation methods and modern technologies that increase the efficiency of both production wells and oilfield equipment. The studies were carried out on the example of the Uzen deposit. This study showed that silica gel is the most effective technology for the development of low-permeability reservoirs in the studied field. In addition, the use of a composition of silicate microgel systems, polymers, and surfactants has been shown to improve the geological characteristics of the combined systems and the properties of the oil.
Improved estimators of variance components with smaller probability of negativity

A linear model with two variance components is considered, one variance component (say, σ 1 2 ≥0) corresponding to a random effect, and a second variance component (say, σ 2 >0) corresponding to the experimental errors. A class of invariant quadratic estimators (IQEs) is characterized, having uniformly smaller mean-squared error (MSE), and uniformly smaller probability of negativity, compared with the analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) estimator of σ 1 2
Fatty Acid-Activated Proton Transport by Bisaryl Anion Transporters Depolarises Mitochondria and Reduces the Viability of MDA-MB-231 Breast Cancer Cells

In respiring mitochondria, the proton gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane is used to drive ATP production. Mitochondrial uncouplers, which are typically weak acid protonophores, can disrupt this process to induce mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in cancer cells. We have shown that bisaryl urea-based anion transporters can also mediate mitochondrial uncoupling through a novel fatty acid-activated proton transport mechanism, where the bisaryl urea promotes the transbilayer movement of deprotonated fatty acids and proton transport. In this paper, we investigated the impact of replacing the urea group with squaramide, amide and diurea anion binding motifs. Bisaryl squaramides were found to depolarise mitochondria and reduce MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell viability to similar extents as their urea counterpart. Bisaryl amides and diureas were less active and required higher concentrations to produce these effects. For all scaffolds, the substitution of the bisaryl rings with lipophilic electron-withdrawing groups was required for activity. An investigation of the proton transport mechanism in vesicles showed that active compounds participate in fatty acid-activated proton transport, except for a squaramide analogue, which was sufficiently acidic to act as a classical protonophore and transport protons in the absence of free fatty acids.
Estrogen Receptor β Isoforms Regulate Chemotherapy Resistance and the Cancer Stem Cell Population in Prostate Cancer Cells

Estrogen receptor beta 1 (ERβ1) is a ligand-activated nuclear receptor, which has been shown to maintain tissue differentiation in the normal prostate, and regulate androgen response and increase expression of tumor suppressors in prostate cancer cell lines. There are three shorter isoforms of ERβ expressed in the human prostate, ERβ2, ERβ4, and ERβ5, which have already been implicated in chemotherapy resistance and disease progression, suggesting a possible oncogenic role. Their ligand-binding domain (LBD) is truncated, so they are unable to activate canonical ERβ1 signaling pathways; however, they were shown to participate in hypoxic signaling and to induce a gene expression signature associated with stemness and hypoxia. To elucidate the role of the truncated ERβ isoforms in prostate cancer, we created a knockout of all isoforms, as well as a truncation of the LBD, to remove the function of ERβ1. We showed that the removal of all isoforms leads to a decrease in the expression of cancer stem cell (CSC)-associated genes, decreased chemotherapy resistance, and a decrease in the CSC population, based on sphere formation ability and SORE6 (CSC reporter) activity, while removing the LBD function only had the opposite effect. Our results suggest a more aggressive phenotype in prostate cancer cell lines expressing ERβ variants.
Needs for help and received help for those bereaved by a drug-related death: a cross-sectional study

Background and aims: Individuals bereaved after sudden and unexpected deaths can benefit from professional help to cope after the loss, and the bereaved call for proactive, early and flexible help from professional services. Most drug-related deaths (DRDs) happen suddenly and unexpectedly. DRDs are a significant public health issue, yet few studies have examined DRD-bereaved people’s needs and experiences with professional help. This article investigates the needs for help and received help reported by DRD-bereaved family members and friends, and suggests improvements in services based on the findings. Data and method: A heterogeneous convenience sample of DRD-bereaved family members and close friends (n = 255) were recruited for a survey from February to December 2018. Descriptive analyses were conducted for experiences with professional help, chi-square analyses to find predictors for help needs and received help, and logistic regression analysis to find predictors for satisfaction with the help provided. Results: Most DRD-bereaved individuals reported a need for professional help after the death regardless of family relation to the deceased, and about half of the participants received help. Nearly half of them were satisfied with the help. Our results indicated higher satisfaction with help among older bereaved, and the participants who received help from a crisis team or psychotherapist. The latter was particularly stated for younger participants. Few participants with children in the family reported that the children had received help, and less than one-third were satisfied with this help. Conclusion: The study shows that younger age groups and children need particular recognition, and a family perspective from services is essential. When assessing the help needs of the DRD-bereaved, relations of both psychological and biological closeness should be recognised. Help efforts should be tailored according to established knowledge of the provided help that bereaved populations deem effective.