Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two years COVID-19 pandemic: Development of university students' mental health 2020–2022

Background The literature indicates a negative impact on the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains unclear if this negative impact persists even after lockdown measures are lifted. The current study therefore investigates the mental health status of students by drawing on two previous studies the present study seeks to investigate differences in the mental health status across three time points. Methods A cross-sectional, anonymous online survey among students of six universities was conducted between April and May 2022 (N = 5,510). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, hazardous alcohol use and eating disorders as well as social and emotional variables were assessed utilizing standardized instruments. Risk- and protective factors for severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms were investigated using multiple regression models. Differences in e.g., symptoms of depression across three time points were assessed with one-way analysis of variance. Results More than one third of students exhibited clinically relevant symptoms of depression (35.5%), hazardous alcohol use (33.0–35.5% depending on gender) or anxiety disorder (31.1%). Taken together, almost two out of three (61.4%) students reported clinically relevant symptoms in at least one of the aforementioned symptom patterns, while almost one fifth of students reported suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm (19.6%). Higher perceived stress and loneliness significantly predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, while resilience and social support were identified as protective factors. Compared to 2020 and 2021, levels of depressive symptoms were significantly reduced in 2022, levels of hazardous alcohol consumption showed a small but significant increase from 2021 to 2022. Worryingly, prevalence of suicidal ideation was the highest yet, being significantly higher than in 2020 (14.5%) and 2021 (16.5%). Conclusion These results confirm previous results that the pandemic had and still has a negative impact on the mental health of university students. The present study broadens this view by the fact that some areas seem to recover quicker, while others seem to increase worryingly. Especially the persistent rise in suicidal ideation from 2020 to 2021 and to 2022, a constant reduction in reported social support and associated perceived loneliness is concerning. The claim for low-threshold and accessible mental health support for university students remains the same as in the beginning of the pandemic.
Effects of interpersonal sensitivity on depressive symptoms in postgraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Psychological capital and sleep quality as mediators

Background This study aimed to examine depressive symptoms associated with interpersonal sensitivity, sleep quality, and psychological capital among postgraduate students during static campus management after the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods Research data were obtained during static campus management (10–19 April 2022) after the reappearance of COVID-19 in cities in eastern China. We collected data through an online questionnaire, and the anonymous self-reported questionnaire included the Patient Health Questionnaire, the interpersonal sensitivity subscale of Symptom Checklist-90, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. analysis of variance was performed using t-test and ANOVA. The PROCESS macro was used to determine the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and depression, together with the independent and serial mediating role of psychological capital and sleep quality. Results A total of 2,554 postgraduate students were included in this study. The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms was 30.97, 6.58, and 1.45%, respectively. Interpersonal sensitivity was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (direct effect = 0.183, p < 0.001). Between interpersonal sensitivity and depressive symptoms, psychological capital and sleep quality played a single mediating role (indirect effect = 0.136 and 0.100, p < 0.001, respectively) and a chain mediating role together (indirect effect = 0.066, p < 0.001). Conclusion Interpersonal sensitivity has a significant influence on depression among Chinese graduate students. Psychological capital and sleep quality may not only independently mediate the relationship between interpersonal sensitivity and depression, but also co-play a chain-mediating role in the pathway from interpersonal sensitivity to depression. Positive psychological interventions and sleep guidance may be beneficial in alleviating depressive symptoms.
Career and life development intervention for non-engaged youth: Evaluating the Hong Kong Benchmarks (Community) Pilot Program

In our study, aimed at examining the effectiveness and impact of the Hong Kong Benchmarks (Community) Pilot Program, a career and life development (CLD) intervention program targeting non-engaged youth (NEY) in Hong Kong, we employed a pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design to compare changes in career-related competencies between a pilot group (N = 289) and a comparison group (N = 160). We also conducted five focus group interviews with the leaders of nongovernmental organizations, social workers, NEY, parents, and employers to explore the program’s impacts on the CLD service provisions. Our quantitative results indicate that the piloting group showed greater improvement in two career-related competencies—youth career development competency and career and life development hope—than the comparison group. Meanwhile, our qualitative results suggest both the benefits and difficulties experienced by stakeholders in the program. The findings thus provide preliminary evidence of the Hong Kong Benchmarks (Community) Pilot Program’s positive impacts on NEY and other important stakeholders. The implications of expanding the existing program and theorizing the community-based benchmark approach are also discussed.
System analysis based on the migration- and invasion-related gene sets identifies the infiltration-related genes of glioma

The current database has no information on the infiltration of glioma samples. Here, we assessed the glioma samples’ infiltration in The Cancer Gene Atlas (TCGA) through the single-sample Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (ssGSEA) with migration and invasion gene sets. The Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA) and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were used to identify the genes most associated with infiltration. Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the major biological processes and pathways. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were used to screen the key genes. Furthermore, the nomograms and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the prognostic and predictive accuracy of this clinical model in patients in TCGA and the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA). The results showed that turquoise was selected as the hub module, and with the intersection of DEGs, we screened 104 common genes. Through LASSO regression, TIMP1, EMP3, IGFBP2, and the other nine genes were screened mostly in correlation with infiltration and prognosis. EMP3 was selected to be verified in vitro. These findings could help researchers better understand the infiltration of gliomas and provide novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of gliomas.
The effect of surface nucleation modulation on the mechanical and biocompatibility of metal-polymer biomaterials

The deployment of hernia repair patches in laparoscopic procedures is gradually increasing. In this technology, however, understanding the new phases of titanium from the parent phase on polymer substrates is essential to control the microstructural transition and material properties. It remains a challenging area of condensed matter physics to predict the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of metals on polymer substrates from the molecular scale due to the lack of understanding of the properties of the metal-polymer interface. However, this paper revealed the mechanism of nucleation on polymer substrates and proposed for the first record a time-dependent regulatory mechanism for the polymer-titanium interface. The interconnection between polymer surface chain entanglement, nucleation and growth patterns, crystal structure and surface roughness were effectively unified. The secondary regulation of mechanical properties was accomplished simultaneously to satisfy the requirement of biocompatibility. Titaniumized polypropylene patches prepared by time-dependent magnetron sputtering technology demonstrated excellent interfacial mechanical properties and biocompatibility. In addition, modulation by low-temperature plasma metal deposition opened a new pathway for biomaterials. This paper provides a solid theoretical basis for the research of titanium nanofilms on medical polypropylene substrates and the medical industry of implantable biomaterials, which will be of great value in the future.
Characterizing viscoelastic properties of human melanoma tissue using Prony series

Melanoma is the most invasive and deadly skin cancer, which causes most of the deaths from skin cancer. It has been demonstrated that the mechanical properties of tumor tissue are significantly altered. However, data about characterizing the mechanical properties of in vivo melanoma tissue are extremely scarce. In addition, the viscoelastic or viscous properties of melanoma tissue are rarely reported. In this study, we measured and quantitated the viscoelastic properties of human melanoma tissues based on the stress relaxation test, using the indentation-based mechanical analyzer that we developed previously. The melanoma tissues from eight patients of different ages (57–95), genders (male and female patients), races (White and Asian), and sites (nose, arm, shoulder, and chest) were excised and tested. The results showed that the elastic property (i.e., shear modulus) of melanoma tissue was elevated compared to normal tissue, while the viscous property (i.e., relaxation time) was reduced. Moreover, the tissue thickness had a significant impact on the viscoelastic properties, probably due to the amount of the adipose layer. Our findings provide new insights into the role of the viscous and elastic properties of melanoma cell mechanics, which may be implicated in the disease state and progression.
Public participation in urban design with augmented reality technology based on indicator evaluation

Decision-making processes in traditional urban design approaches are mainly top-down. Such processes have defects including not only taking a long time to examine design results but also leading to irreversible impacts after design implementation. Policymakers and researchers stress the importance of collaborating with different stakeholders in the process of urban design policy and guideline making in order to minimize these negative impacts. However, introducing public participation into urban design from the bottom up is challenging, especially when the process involves abstract urban design concepts such as indicators. This paper explores a new workflow aimed at enhancing public participation to cooperate in urban design work with the help of a newly designed platform tool powered by mobile augmented-reality technologies. The platform is intuitive to use and displays scenes of potential urban design results by superimposing the virtual models onto real-world environments on mobile devices. The public stakeholders are provided with this platform on-site to evaluate the initial values of urban design indicators by interacting with the prototype design along with an immersive experience. They can also grow familiar with the concepts of the given indicators during this process, which helps them better understand the implications of guidelines in future published urban design drafts and estimate the potential results. Their feedback is collected, which can help urban designers further optimize the indicators in urban design guideline making in order to improve their rationality. This process of urban design involving public participation is repeatable, which makes it possible to continuously adjust the design results. A user study was conducted to examine the platform’s usability and its ability to enhance public familiarity with the concepts of given indicators and their willingness to participate in urban design evaluation. The study also attests to the possibility of a workflow that integrates public feedback with the urban design process.
Special Issue: Physical Geography in the Maya Lowlands

We studied species composition and spatial distributions of tree species, and the underlying topography and soil, in subtropical forests of northwest Belize, a region in the Maya Lowlands. Our goal was to learn how much the spatial distributions of species vary and are predictable over the landscape. The study was done in old-growth, subtropical moist forest on limestone-derived topography and soil. We identified to species all trees ≥10 cm DBH in 209 400-m plots. For each plot, we characterized topographic setting and analyzed soil nutrients and texture.We recorded 3,984 individual trees of∼140 tree species and used the 3,775 individuals of the 69 species occurring in ≥5 plots in multivariate analyses, including Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS). NMS showed that 73% of the variation in species composition per plot was associated with the first three ordination axes. Sixteen out of the 34 quantitative variables we measured were correlated at R > 10% with the axes. Of the categorical variables, Topographic Class was strongly associated with species composition, and USDA Texture Class less so. Of the 69 focal tree species, the abundances of 21 were correlated at R > 10% with one or more axes of the NMS ordination. Importantly, these 21 species accounted for 68% of all individual trees sampled in the 209 plots. Twenty-three species were indicators of particular topographic and soil classes. We conclude that patterns of tree species distribution are strongly and predictably associated with different topographic and soil conditions in this landscape. In the past, the ancient Maya could have used this type of predictable plant–soil relationship to optimize their agriculture. In the future, our results are a basis for predicting local shifts in tree species distributions due to climate change. Corresponding author: Sheila E Ward, Urbanización Villa Nevárez, 1057 Calle 8, San Juan 00927, Puerto Rico. Email: sheila.emily. ward@gmail.com
Rigorous analysis of probe-fed printed annular ring antennas

This paper presents calculated and measured results for the input impedance and radiation performance of probe-fed printed annular ring antennas. Geometries featuring stacked rings as well as shorting posts are considered. A numerical model is presented that is based on a full-wave spectral-domain moment-method solution. In this solution, a specialized attachment mode-expansion function is used to model the connection between the probe feed and the printed ring. Measured results are presented and compare well with the theory. Annular rings are found to have certain advantages over circular and rectangular microstrip antennas.
Fast data Encoding and Deconding Algorithms

Data compression has been widely applied in many data processing areas. Compression methods utilize variable-length codes with shorter codewords assigned to symbols or groups of symbols that appear in the data frequently. Fibonacci, Eliasdelta, and Elias-Fibonacci codes are representatives of these codes, and are often utilized for the compression of numbers. The time consumption of encoding as well as decoding algorithms is important for some applications in the data processing area. In this case, the efficiency of these algorithms is extremely important. Some works related to fast decoding of variable-length codes have been published in recent years. Fast encoding algorithms for these codes have not yet been studied. In this work, we introduce fast encoding and decoding algorithms. Our fast encoding algorithms are up to 12.5× faster than conventional bit-oriented algorithms and our decoding algorithms are up-to 8.9× faster than the conventional decoding algorithms.
Optimal PID controller design with Kalman filter for Qball-X4 quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle

In this paper, we used a Qball-X4 quad-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which was developed by the Quanser Company as the experimental platform. First, a fundamental mathematical model of the Qball-X4 quad-rotor UAV was built and a simulation model was set up based on the proposed mathematical model; then, a double closed-loop optimal proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller based on integral of time multiplied by absolute error (ITAE) indices was designed according to the model structure. In consideration of the possible system error and data delay, we designed a corresponding Kalman filter, which can estimate the target trajectory and be put before the proposed PID controller to ensure their validity. Finally, simulation results of the system with presented PID controller and Kalman filter were shown to verify their effectiveness.
Weibull lagged effect step-stress model with competing risks

ABSTRACT In many survival analysis studies, failure can come from one of several competing risks. Additionally, where survival times are lengthy, researchers can increase stress levels to cause units to fail faster. One type of accelerated testing is a step-stress test where the increase is presented in quantum jumps at predetermined time points. If the impact of the increase is not immediately attained, an interim lag period is modeled. In this article, we propose a two-competing risk step-stress model with a lag period where each independent risk follows a Weibull lifetime distribution, the interim lag period is linear, and the attainment point is assumed known. We obtain the maximum likelihood estimators and the observed information matrix; we construct confidence intervals and provide estimates of coverage probabilities using large sample theory, percentile bootstrap, and bias-corrected accelerated (BCa) bootstrap methods.
Sentiment Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccination in Bangla Language with Code-Mixed Text from Social Media

The vaccination program which helps avert pandemics is facing new hurdles, including the emergence of hazardous new virus strains and public distrust. Analyzing the sentiment expressed in social media interactions related to vaccines may aid the health authority in implementing public safety procedures and guide the government in developing appropriate policies. The purpose of this research is to identify the public sentiments toward the COVID-19 vaccination in Bangladesh from social media comments. Comments posted on social media platforms often mix formal and informal language known as code-mixed text and do not adhere to any particular grammatical standards. In addition, the Bangla language lacks computational models and annotated resources for sentiment analysis. To overcome this, we created CoVaxBD, a Bangla-English code-mixed and sentiment-annotated corpus of Facebook comments. This paper also proposes a model for sentiment analysis based on the multilingual BERT. It achieves a validation accuracy of around 97.3 % and a precision score of approximately 97.4%.
Robust and potential applications of memristors

Memory design with low power is highly in demand wherein low supply voltages are in trend. Research is already ongoing in subthreshold region as the technique to achieve less power and energy. Researchers have made lot of efforts in finding the potential applications of memristors in different areas of engineering field right from the existence of the basic titanium oxide based memristor where few of the applications is investigated in this paper. Power reduction is one of the major advantage achieved using non-volatile memories. Another application investigated is usage of memristor in oscillator as well as digital circuits. Ability to store previous information being non-volatile, good scalability, reduced leakage, low power dissipation and compatibility of memristors with CMOS technology are the various advantages obtained in applications of memristors.
Exposure to Tritiated Moisture and Decontamination of Components for ITER Remote Maintenance Equipment

ABSTRACT Typical materials and elements such as carbon steel, grease lubricant, electric cable and AC servomotor for the ITER remote maintenance equipment were exposed to a tritiated moisture environment to choose the appropriate materials from the viewpoint of tritium contamination / decontamination and to contribute to the structural and maintenance design of the remote maintenance equipment. After the test samples were exposed, the concentrations of tritium adsorbed on the samples were measured and decontamination experiments using gas purges with three different moisture concentrations were performed. It was found that metallic oxidized layer (Fe3O4 coated on S45C, slightly rusted SS400, rusted Cu of electric connector of the AC servomotor) adsorbs larger amount of tritiated moisture. Grease lubricant was highly contaminated in proportion to the exposed surface area of the pasted layer. Cable jacket (cross-linked polyethylene) was also highly contaminated in spite of hydrophobicity. This is probably because the jacket contains the filler “white carbon (SiO2·nH2O)” which adsorbs large amount of moisture. Internal parts of the AC servomotor were contaminated in the same level as the outer surface, because tritiated moisture goes into the inside through the sealing gap between casing and brackets.
Intelligent detection method of rail transit abnormal events based on multi-scale computing

In recent years, public events have occurred in public places in the field of rail transit, which has aroused social concern. As a typical public emergency, human body falls on platforms and other places is the biggest safety hazard. The detection of abnormal human behavior in the abnormal events of rail transit is an important part. Among them, the skeleton extraction technology of human 3D point clouds under the condition of limited resources is the basis and difficulty of point cloud technology research. In the process of exploring and developing new methods, this thesis has programmed them and analyzed and evaluated their results.