Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Work from Home: Lessons Learned and Implications for Post-pandemic Workspaces

The experience of working from home (WFH) has evolved due to the COVID-19 response. A concurrent mixed-methods approach was used to assess the experiences and needs of WFH during COVID-19 pandemic across eight countries. Input concerning office workspace modifications was also explored. Participants (n = 82) were from Asia, Europe, and North America. Participants were working from home more and indicated they were somewhat satisfied with WFH and saw no change in productivity. The most common experience was feeling distracted while others experienced focus or calmness. Most participants were challenged by the lack of appropriate furniture and equipment, as well as being distracted by technology and communication. Participants most frequently used dedicated workspaces and outdoor views. They preferred workspaces with natural light, neutral colours, and natural ventilation. Participants reported better thermal comfort and air quality when compared to their pre-pandemic office but less access to necessary equipment, collaboration, and communication. WFH during the pandemic challenged how people worked and shifted their experience of home interiority. The key outcomes show support for hybrid work options as well as design strategies offered for accommodating home offices in the future.
Preliminary Study on the Protective Effects and Molecular Mechanism of Procyanidins against PFOS-Induced Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion Impairment in INS-1 Cells

This study aimed to investigate the effects of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) exposure on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) of rat insulinoma (INS-1) cells and the potential protective effects of procyanidins (PC). The effects of PFOS and/or PC on GSIS of INS-1 cells were investigated after 48 h of exposure (protein level: insulin; gene level: glucose transporter 2 (Glut2), glucokinase (Gck), and insulin). Subsequently, the effects of exposure on the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity were measured. Compared to the control group, PFOS exposure (12.5, 25, and 50 μM) for 48 h had no significant effect on the viability of INS-1 cells. PFOS exposure (50 μM) could reduce the level of insulin secretion and reduce the relative mRNA expression levels of Glut2, Gck, and insulin. It is worth noting that PC could partially reverse the damaging effect caused by PFOS. Significantly, there was an increase in ROS after exposure to PFOS and a decline after PC intervention. PFOS could affect the normal physiological function of GSIS in INS-1 cells. PC, a plant natural product, could effectively alleviate the damage caused by PFOS by inhibiting ROS activity.
Fabrication of PA-PEI-MOF303(Al) by Stepwise Impregnation Layer-by-Layer Growth for Highly Efficient Removal of Ammonia

NH3 is a typical alkaline gaseous pollutant widely derived from industrial production and poses great risks to humans and other biota. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have excellent adsorption capacities relative to materials traditionally used to adsorb NH3. However, in practice, applications of MOFs as adsorbents are restricted because of its powder form. We prepared a polyamide (PA) macroporous polyester substrate using an emulsion template method and modified the surface with polyethylenimine (PEI) to improve the MOF growth efficiency on the substrate. The difficulty of loading the MOF because of the fast nucleation rate inside the PA macroporous polyester substrate was solved using a stepwise impregnation layer-by-layer (LBL) growth method, and a PA-PEI-MOF303(Al) hierarchical pore composite that very efficiently adsorbed NH3 was successfully prepared. The PA-PEI-MOF303(Al) adsorption capacity for NH3 was 16.07 mmol·g−1 at 298 K and 100 kPa, and the PA-PEI-MOF303(Al) could be regenerated repeatedly under vacuum at 423 K. The NH3 adsorption mechanism was investigated by in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and by performing two-dimensional correlation analysis. Unlike for the MOF303(Al) powder, the formation of multi-site hydrogen bonds between Al–O–Al/C–OH, N–H, –OH, C=O, and NH3 in PA-PEI-MOF303(Al) was found to be an important reason for efficient NH3 adsorption. This study will provide a reference for the preparation of other MOF-polymer composites.
Direct Cell Reprogramming and Phenotypic Conversion: An Analysis of Experimental Attempts to Transform Astrocytes into Neurons in Adult Animals

Central nervous system (CNS) repair after injury or disease remains an unresolved problem in neurobiology research and an unmet medical need. Directly reprogramming or converting astrocytes to neurons (AtN) in adult animals has been investigated as a potential strategy to facilitate brain and spinal cord recovery and advance fundamental biology. Conceptually, AtN strategies rely on forced expression or repression of lineage-specific transcription factors to make endogenous astrocytes become “induced neurons” (iNs), presumably without re-entering any pluripotent or multipotent states. The AtN-derived cells have been reported to manifest certain neuronal functions in vivo. However, this approach has raised many new questions and alternative explanations regarding the biological features of the end products (e.g., iNs versus neuron-like cells, neural functional changes, etc.), developmental biology underpinnings, and neurobiological essentials. For this paper per se, we proposed to draw an unconventional distinction between direct cell conversion and direct cell reprogramming, relative to somatic nuclear transfer, based on the experimental methods utilized to initiate the transformation process, aiming to promote a more in-depth mechanistic exploration. Moreover, we have summarized the current tactics employed for AtN induction, comparisons between the bench endeavors concerning outcome tangibility, and discussion of the issues of published AtN protocols. Lastly, the urgency to clearly define/devise the theoretical frameworks, cell biological bases, and bench specifics to experimentally validate primary data of AtN studies was highlighted.
Influence of interstripe gain on crosscoupled-mode operation in twin-stripe lasers

Cross-coupled-mode operation in a twin-stripe laser is analyzed with particular concern for interstripe gain. When the interstripe gain of a twin-stripe laser is high, cross-coupled-mode operation is obtained with a cavity longer than the coupling length of the twin-stripe waveguide. The far-field pattern is single peaked and deflected to the low carrier density side. These characteristics are in contrast to those of the previous model without interstripe gain. >
Flexural behavior of different types of steel-concrete composite decks with perfobond rib or head stud shear connectors

With the advent of long-span bridges, steel-concrete composite decks are increasingly concerning structures to address the fatigue problem, wear of the surfacing, and corrosion of the steel decks. The different types of ribs result in the variety of the cross-sections of the composite decks. Thus, the flexural behavior of different types of steel-concrete composite decks with perfobond rib (PBL) or head stud shear connectors was investigated in this study. The different types of composite decks included steel-concrete composite decks (SCCDs), open-rib stiffened steel-concrete composite decks (OSCCDs), and U-rib stiffened steel-concrete composite decks (USCCDs). For this purpose, the static flexural tests of two USCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors were conducted. Parametric analyses were also carried out via finite element models to investigate the effects of the number of ribs, the thickness of the ribs, the thickness of the steel plate, the thickness of the concrete slab, and the spacing of the shear connectors on the flexural behavior of the SCCDs, OSCCDs, and USCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors. The results indicated that the types of ribs showed significant influence on the flexural behavior of the composite decks. For the same type of shear connector, the flexural behavior of the USCCDs was significantly higher than that of the SCCDs and OSCCDs. Compared with the SCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors, the initial stiffness and ultimate load of the USCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors were increased by 314.2% and 354.5%, 62.2%, and 89.3%, respectively. The flexural behavior of the composite decks with PBL connections was larger than that of the composite decks with head stud shear connectors for one type of composite deck. The thickness of the concrete slab showed the highest impact on the flexural behavior of the composite decks, followed by the thickness of the rib, the number of ribs, and the spacing of the shear connector. The thickness of the steel plate showed a slight influence on the flexural behavior of the composite decks. The ultimate load of three types of composite decks with PBL or head stud shear connectors was increased by more than 46.5% when the thickness of the concrete slab increased from 80 mm to 120 mm. The reduction stiffness method considering the slip effect was proposed to accurately predict the elastic deflections of three types of composite decks. This study can provide some reference for the design and engineering application of the different types of composite decks.
Remote Sensing from Different Sources for Crop Growth Monitoring in the Area of the Lower Northern Mississippi

Remote sensing monitoring of crop growth began from airborne photography to assist in crop pest management and has evolved into monitoring from satellites, manned aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and ground-based systems for crop production process modeling, optimization, and control. In recent years, for crop growth remote sensing monitoring, apart from satellites, manned aircrafts, and ground-based systems, UAVs have been developed and widely used for low-altitude remote sensing of crop fields to uniquely provide a cost-effective, flexible tool for field crop growth remote sensing. Additionally, their data create a critical layer between all other remote sensing platforms. This paper overviews the use of remote sensing from difference sources, especially airborne remote sensing from manned aircraft and UAVs, to monitor crop growth in the area of the lower northern Mississippi from the Mississippi Delta to the Black Prairie, one of the most important agricultural areas in the U.S. In this paper, three sites typical in the area are demonstrated for remote sensing monitoring of crop growth, and the issues and challenges are identified and discussed for future opportunities to integrate remote sensing data from different sources to improve crop monitoring in this area and surrounding areas.
The effect of signal probability on the slope of the receiver operating characteristic given by the rating procedure

Signal detection theory (SDT) requires that the slope of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) is independent of the probability of signal and noise. But it has been shown that when the rating procedure is applied to detection, the slope of the receiver operating characteristic may increase as a function of the probability of the signal (Schulman & Greenberg, 1970). This presents a serious problem for signal detection theory. This problem is examined in relation to a recent theory of criterion setting (Treisman & Williams, 1984), and an explanation for the effect of signal probability on ROC slope is derived which is compatible with SDT. Further data on the relation between signal probability and ROC slope are reported.
Robust Bioinformatics Approaches Result in the First Polygenic Risk Score for BMI in Greek Adults

Quantifying the role of genetics via construction of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) is deemed a resourceful tool to enable and promote effective obesity prevention strategies. The present paper proposes a novel methodology for PRS extraction and presents the first PRS for body mass index (BMI) in a Greek population. A novel pipeline for PRS derivation was used to analyze genetic data from a unified database of three cohorts of Greek adults. The pipeline spans various steps of the process, from iterative dataset splitting to training and test partitions, calculation of summary statistics and PRS extraction, up to PRS aggregation and stabilization, achieving higher evaluation metrics. Using data from 2185 participants, implementation of the pipeline enabled consecutive repetitions in splitting training and testing samples and resulted in a 343-single nucleotide polymorphism PRS yielding an R2 = 0.3241 (beta = 1.011, p-value = 4 × 10−193) for BMI. PRS-included variants displayed a variety of associations with known traits (i.e., blood cell count, gut microbiome, lifestyle parameters). The proposed methodology led to creation of the first-ever PRS for BMI in Greek adults and aims at promoting a facilitating approach to reliable PRS development and integration in healthcare practice.
Perinatal Depressive Symptoms among Pregnant Employees in Taiwan

This was a longitudinal study of perinatal depressive symptoms among females employed in a large electronics manufacturer in Taiwan, conducted from August 2015 through October 2016. We used questionnaires to collect data on perceived job strain, social support, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores at three perinatal time-points (pregnancy, delivery, and return to the workplace). Of the 153 employees who agreed to participate, 82 completed the three stages. The prevalence of perinatal depressive symptoms for the three stages was 13.7%, 16.8%, and 15.9%, respectively. The incidence at 3 weeks after childbirth and 1 month after returning to the workplace was 11.0% and 6.8%, respectively. During the third trimester of pregnancy, sleep problems (odds ratio [OR] = 6.2, 95% confidence Interval [95% CI] = 2.1–19.3), perceived job strain (OR = 4.4, 95% CI = 1.5–14.3), and lack of support from family or friends (OR = 7.0, 95% CI = 1.3–40.8) were significant risk factors. Sleep problems (OR = 6.0, 95% CI = 1.7–23.5) and lack of support from family or friends (OR = 27.6, 95% CI = 4.1–322.3) were associated with an increased risk of perinatal depressive symptoms at 3 weeks after childbirth. After returning to the workplace, perceived job strain (OR = 18.2, 95% CI = 2.2–435.7) was a significant risk factor. These findings could provide insight about early symptom detection, and more studies to clarify the association would be worthwhile.
Reduced-Order Observer Based H í Controller Design for Two Nonstandard Problems

This paper presents some methods to design the Luenberger reduced-order Hi compensator for two nonstandard cases. These are the design problems in which the direct feed-through matrices, from control inputs to controlled outputs and from disturbances to measured outputs, do not satisfy the standard Hi assumptions. In the previously developed approaches for nonstandard problems, at least one of the mentioned assumptions needs to be satisfied. The proposed approaches need to solve only one Riccati equation. The methods are developed based on the bounded real lemma. A numerical example is included to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Fifth supplement to the catalogue of observed periods of Ap stars

New data on the periods of Ap stars with references are presented (Table 1). 21 further stars are introduced for which a periodic variability has recently been discovered or for which it was known before but it was not reported in previous issues of this catalogue. For many stars also present in previous issues of the catalogue new determinations of the periods are given. Recently attributed variable star names are also quoted. Table 1, notes to this Table and related references are only available in LaTEX form at the CDS via anonymous ftp 130.79. 128.5 (filename: DS1178.tex).
On the inviscid instability of a circular jet with external flow

The influence of an external flow velocity on the instability of a circular jet has been investigated by means of the inviscid linearized stability theory. The instability properties of spatially growing axisymmetric and first-order azimuthal disturbances show that the external flow inhibits the instability of the circular jet, but increases the unstable frequency range. Similarity considerations lead to the result that, in a first approximation, the disturbed flow field is independent of the external flow velocity, if the axial co-ordinate is contracted by a suitably chosen stretching factor and if the disturbance frequency is reduced by the same factor. It is concluded that the large-scale structure of jet turbulence is modified in the same manner by the external flow.
The beta‐binomial convolution model for 2×2 tables with missing cell counts

This paper considers the beta‐binomial convolution model for the analysis of 2×2 tables with missing cell counts. We discuss maximum‐likelihood (ML) parameter estimation using the expectation–maximization algorithm and study information loss relative to complete data estimators. We also examine bias of the ML estimators of the beta‐binomial convolution. The results are illustrated by two example applications.
Influence of Selected Factors on the Survival Assessment and Detection of Giardia intestinalis DNA in Axenic Culture

Giardia intestinalis is one of the most common food-borne protozoa. The sensitivity of pathogens to physical and chemical factors is the basis for developing measures to reduce the incidence of the population. Several methods are available to detect the presence of G. intestinalis. The study determines the influence of 22 selected factors on the survival assessment and detection of G. intestinalis DNA in trophozoites axenically cultured. The influence of a given factor on the test result was observed in the case of 17 factors (77.3%) in the microscopic method, while only in the case of 3 (13.6%) substances in the real-time PCR method. Prevention of G. intestinalis infections, e.g., by ensuring food and water safety, is a crucial issue affecting public health. The experiment was conducted on trophozoites as the first approach. It is necessary to continue research and observe the epidemiological situation. In future studies, the impact of the studied factors on the survival assessment and detection of Giardia intestinalis DNA in axenically cultured cysts should be determined.
Studies of Performance of Cs2TiI6−XBrX (Where x = 0 to 6)-Based Mixed Halide Perovskite Solar Cell with CdS Electron Transport Layer

The present research work represents the numerical study of the device performance of a lead-free Cs2TiI6−XBrX-based mixed halide perovskite solar cell (PSC), where x = 1 to 5. The open circuit voltage (VOC) and short circuit current (JSC) in a generic TCO/electron transport layer (ETL)/absorbing layer/hole transfer layer (HTL) structure are the key parameters for analyzing the device performance. The entire simulation was conducted by a SCAPS-1D (solar cell capacitance simulator- one dimensional) simulator. An alternative FTO/CdS/Cs2TiI6−XBrX/CuSCN/Ag solar cell architecture has been used and resulted in an optimized absorbing layer thickness at 0.5 µm thickness for the Cs2TiBr6, Cs2TiI1Br5, Cs2TiI2Br4, Cs2TiI3Br3 and Cs2TiI4Br2 absorbing materials and at 1.0 µm and 0.4 µm thickness for the Cs2TiI5Br1 and Cs2TiI6 absorbing materials. The device temperature was optimized at 40 °C for the Cs2TiBr6, Cs2TiI1Br5 and Cs2TiI2Br4 absorbing layers and at 20 °C for the Cs2TiI3Br3, Cs2TiI4Br2, Cs2TiI5Br1 and Cs2TiI6 absorbing layers. The defect density was optimized at 1010 (cm−3) for all the active layers.
Analysis of weights in multiple observation tasks

Multiple observation tasks are often used to investigate observers’ abilities to combine information from different sources or observations. This paper discusses a method for assessing the relative weight given to each observation. First, a theorem that derives the relative weights is stated. A technique for estimating relative weights is then illustrated by analyzing data from a multiple‐tone task. In this task, observers listen to a sample of tones drawn from one of two distributions and decide which distribution was sampled. Results show that observers integrate information nonoptimally, attaching greater weight to the first and/or last observations than to observations occurring in the middle of the sequence. The generality of the technique is discussed.
Using canonical correlation analysis to understand the rumen biohydrogenation patterns of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids in the rumen fluid of bovines

The objective of this study was to determine the multivariate relationship among linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and their main rumen biohydrogenation (BH) intermediates and products in bovine rumen fluid using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). A dataset consisting of 1177 observations generated by 107 in vitro rumen incubation systems of pure and mixed linoleic acid (18:2-c9, c12) and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3-c9, c12, c15) was gathered. Two canonical variates were defined: A: composed of the nine main BH intermediates and products (18:2-c9, t11; 18:2-t11, c15; 18:1-t11; 18:1-t9; 18:1-t6; 18:1-c11; 18:1-c6; 18:1-c9; 18:0) of 18:2-c9, c12 and 18:3-c9, c12, c15 and B: composed of 18:2-c9, c12 and 18:3-c9, c12, c15. Two canonical functions between A and B with significant canonical correlations (R1=0.990 and R2=0.738; p <0.01) were obtained. However, only the first function was selected for CCA. Exploration of canonical loadings for first function, revealed the following quantitative significance (absolute value) order for fatty acids (FA) within their respective canonical variates: A: 18:0(0.958)>18:1-t9(0.837)>18:1-c11(0.835)>18:1-c6(0.824)>18:1-t11(0.747)>18:1-c9(0.738)>18:1-t6(0.415)>18:2-t11, c15(0.387)> 18:2-c9, t11(0.239); B: 18:2-c9, c12(0.667)>18:3-c9, c12, c15(0.488). The CCA showed that 18:2-c9, c12 has a greater contribution than that of 18:3-c9, c12, c15 on the production of the aforementioned BH intermediates, in which 18:0, as well as the groups of 18:1 cis and trans-FA were mainly affected.