Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Global perspective and African outlook on additive manufacturing research − an overview

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and advances made globally in medicine, construction, aerospace, and energy sectors are discussed. The paper further explores the current state of AM innovation and development landscape in Africa as a late comer to this area of smart manufacturing. Peer-reviewed and published literature were retrieved from Scopus database from 2005 to 2021 and analysed. In Africa, out of 500 published articles, South Africa has the highest research throughput, whereas about two-thirds of the continent is not actively participating in this burgeoning field. The main AM techniques most widely used are selective laser melting, fused deposition modelling, and direct energy deposition. Globally, there is an interplay of computational (machine learning and mechanistic models) and experimental approaches to understanding the physical metallurgy of AM techniques and processes. Though this trend is consistent with global practices, Africa lags the world in AM technologies, a niche that could leapfrog the manufacturing sector. Thus, Africa need to foster collaborative partnership within and globally to become an active global player in this industry.
Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Prospective Teachers Regarding Classroom Management: Evidence from Two Case Studies

Self-efficacy beliefs play an important role in the development of prospective teachers as effective classroom managers. The purpose of this study was to explore the self-efficacy beliefs of prospective teachers regarding classroom management. This study used a qualitative case study research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with two prospective teachers studying in the teacher training program at a public university. They were selected through purposive sampling. Additionally, data were analyzed using the within-the-case analysis technique. The data analysis revealed that prospective teachers have strong efficacy beliefs regarding classroom management. They were more passionate and enthusiastic about teaching. However, one participant was not confident in implementing strategies related to diversity. Though this is a small-scale study comprising of only two brief case studies, it is hoped that the participants’ detailed descriptions in this study will provide some guidance to school principals, administrations, curriculum developers, teacher trainers, and policymakers.
Novel Biocatalysts Based on Bromelain Immobilized on Functionalized Chitosans and Research on Their Structural Features

Enzyme immobilization on various carriers represents an effective approach to improve their stability, reusability, and even change their catalytic properties. Here, we show the mechanism of interaction of cysteine protease bromelain with the water-soluble derivatives of chitosan—carboxymethylchitosan, N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan, chitosan sulfate, and chitosan acetate—during immobilization and characterize the structural features and catalytic properties of obtained complexes. Chitosan sulfate and carboxymethylchitosan form the highest number of hydrogen bonds with bromelain in comparison with chitosan acetate and N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan, leading to a higher yield of protein immobilization on chitosan sulfate and carboxymethylchitosan (up to 58 and 65%, respectively). In addition, all derivatives of chitosan studied in this work form hydrogen bonds with His158 located in the active site of bromelain (except N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan), apparently explaining a significant decrease in the activity of biocatalysts. The N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan displays only physical interactions with His158, thus possibly modulating the structure of the bromelain active site and leading to the hyperactivation of the enzyme, up to 208% of the total activity and 158% of the specific activity. The FTIR analysis revealed that interaction between N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan and bromelain did not significantly change the enzyme structure. Perhaps this is due to the slowing down of aggregation and the autolysis processes during the complex formation of bromelain with a carrier, with a minimal modification of enzyme structure and its active site orientation.
ClusterValidityIndices.jl: Batch and Incremental Metrics for Unsupervised Learning

ClusterValidityIndices.jl is a Julia package for evaluating the performance of clustering algorithms without the aid of supervised labels. Cluster Validity Indices (CVI) provide a metric of the overor under-partitioning of an arbitrary clustering algorithm with only the original data and labels assigned by the clustering algorithm. Furthermore, there exist formulations of every CVI such that they may run incrementally (i.e. Incremental CVIs, or ICVI), streaming alongside the clustering algorithm and producing the same results as in their batch implementations. Using a standard interface, each CVI in this package can be run with any clustering algorithm to produce a metric of that algorithm’s performance in scenarios where explicit supervised labels do not exist, which is extremely useful in real-world applications where that is often the case.
Is Periodontitis a Risk Factor for Lung Cancer? A Meta-Analysis and Detailed Review of Mechanisms of Association

Background: Numerous studies have explored the correlation of periodontal disease (PD) with the risk of lung cancers, but the findings were inconsistent. Therefore, we did a meta-analysis to ascertain the correlation of PD with the risk of incident lung cancer. Methods: The authors searched relevant studies in databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, and MEDLINE) till November 2020. We registered the study at the International database of Prospectively Registered Systemic Reviews under the CRD42020198119. The summary relative risk (RR) along with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using fixed-effects models. Results: Twelve studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. The pooled analysis revealed that PD was significantly associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (RR 1.71; 95%CI 1.61–1.81; P < 0.01). Subgroup analysis was performed based on gender distribution, geographic location, and type of studies. Conclusion: From this current evidence, PD is a potential risk factor for the development of lung cancer. The risk for incidence of lung cancer is surged twice in the patients with PD, even though age and smoking are controlled in the studies.
Optical design including characteristics of manufactured nanostructures

Micro- and nanostructures enable specific optical functionalities, which rely on diffractive effects or effective medium features, depending on pattern dimension and wavelength. Performance predictions of optical systems which make use of nanostructured materials require having an accurate description of these materials ready to hand within the optical design. At the one hand, nanostructure characteristics which result from rigorous electromagnetic modeling can be used for the optical design. At the other hand, manufactured nanostructures may deviate from their idealized geometry, which will affect the performance of the optical system, wherein these artificial structures will be used. Thus, detailed optical characterization of the micro- or nanostructure functionality is prerequisite for accurate optical design and performance prediction. To this end, several characterization techniques can be applied depending on the scope of the optical design, finally. We report on a general route to include all accessible and required optical information about the nanostructured material within a corresponding model of the nanostructure as a specific optical component which can be used within a ray-trace engine, finally. This is illustrated by a meta-material with asymmetric transmission properties in some more detail.
Impacts of global non-leading teleconnection signals on terrestrial precipitation across the United States

Identification of teleconnection patterns at a local scale is challenging, largely due to the coexistence of non-stationary and non-linear signals embedded within the ocean-atmosphere system. This study develops a method to overcome the problem of non-stationarity and nonlinearity and investigates how the non-leading teleconnection signals as well as the known teleconnection patterns can affect precipitation over three pristine sites in the United States. It is presented here that the oceanic indices which affect precipitation of specific site do not have commonality in different seasons. Results also found cases in which precipitation is significantly affected by the oceanic regions of two oceans within the same season. We attribute these cases to the combined physical oceanic-atmospheric processes caused by the coupled effects of oceanic regions. Interestingly, in some seasons, different regions in the South Pacific and Atlantic Oceans show more salient effects on precipitation compared to the known teleconnection patterns. Results highlight the importance of considering the seasonality scale and non-leading teleconnection signals in climate prediction.
Using SAEM to estimate parameters of models of response to applied fertilizer

Many nonlinear functions have been used to predict crop yield response to applied fertilizer. Accurate estimates of the parameter values are required for the formulation of satisfactory fertilizer dose recommendations. In fertilizer trials, several yield measurements for different fertilizer doses are usually made at the same site and in the same year. Model errors are therefore unlikely to be independent for the same site-year. Nonlinear mixed effects models can be used for yield response data. We evaluated the performance of a recently proposed stochastic approximation of the EM algorithm (SAEM) for estimating the parameters of nonlinear mixed effects models. We used the SAEM method to estimate the parameters of four different nonlinear models, using a real dataset including 37 site-years of yield measurements. We then carried out simulations, to determine the bias and the root mean squared errors of the estimators. We compared the results obtained with SAEM with those obtained using a first-order conditional method. SAEM gave better results in most cases. The estimates produced by SAEM were less biased and less affected by initial values.
Robust visual tracking using multiple cues and improved particle filter

A robust visual tracking method which can be used in complex environments is presented in this paper. The color cue and the shape cue are utilized to represent the target and fused together by democratic integration method. The multi-cue object representation is incorporated into the framework of particle filter which is a powerful probabilistic method for visual tracking. To each sample of the particle filter a mean shift operation is applied, which make the samples more effective such that the number of particles needed is significantly decreased. Unlike regular mean shift, in our method the number of mean shift iterations is limited according to the reliability of the color cue for two purposes. One is to prevent the particles from being misled by mean shift when the color cue is unreliable. The other is to reduce the waste of computation. Experimental results show that our method greatly improves the robustness and reduces the computational cost compared with the state-of-art methods.
A Deep Look at the T-Type Brown Dwarf Binary ϵ Indi Bab with Chandra and the Australia Telescope Compact Array

We present deep observations of the nearby T-type brown dwarf binary ϵ Indi Bab in radio with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and in X-rays with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Despite long integration times, the binary (composed of T1 and T6 dwarfs) was not detected in either wavelength regime. We reached 3 σ upper limits of 1.23 × 1012 and 1.74 × 1012 ergs s-1 Hz-1 for the radio luminosity at 4.8 and 8.64 GHz, respectively; in X-rays, the upper limit in the 0.1-10 keV band was 3.16 × 1023 ergs s-1. We discuss the above results in the framework of magnetic activity in ultracool, low-mass dwarfs.
Literature Survey of Numerical Heat Transfer (2000–2009): Part II

A comprehensive survey of the literature in the area of numerical heat transfer (NHT) published between 2000 and 2009 has been conducted. Due to the immenseness of the literature volume, the survey was split into two parts. Part I covered publications from 2000 to 2004 and was published in Shih et al. [A]. The current work, Part II, covers publications from 2005 to 2009. The journals surveyed in this article include the following: Numerical Heat Transfer (both parts A and B), ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, and, selectively, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids. Numerous NHT–related articles published in other archive journals are referenced by those surveyed herein. It has been observed that graduate students and novice researchers sometimes encounter difficulties in understanding the technical content of research–oriented journal papers. Therefore, another objective of this survey is in an attempt to narrow the gap between the education and research communities. For some topics in this survey, simple examples are presented and solved by using Matlab codes.
Democracia em Xeque: Um Estudo Comparativo sobre Detecção de Code Smells

Existem muitas ferramentas e técnicas diferentes para detecção de code smells. Alguns estudos indicam que as formas de detecção de smells podem variar significativamente mesmo quando aplicadas em um mesmo contexto. Visando avaliar e compreender se alguma forma de detecção automática de code smells provê resultados mais próximos da realidade, nesse artigo é realizada uma investigação quantitativa envolvendo três ferramentas de detecção de code smells e um sistema de votação que combina o uso dessas ferramentas. Todas essas formas de detecção de code smells foram comparadas com um oráculo proposto por especialistas para classificar uma classe como God Class. Por meio do uso de estatística descritiva, os resultados indicaram que a ferramenta JDeodorant apresenta melhor revocação na detecção de God Class quando usada individualmente e que o sistema de votação não gera ganhos significativos.
The sheath at an electrode close to plasma potential

It is shown that a sheath with a monotonic potential profile can exist at all negative voltages on an electrode in a plasma. When the electrode is close to plasma potential it is no longer valid to ignore those electrons which reach the electrode. The velocities with which ions approach the sheath satisfy a 'sheath criterion', which depends upon the potential drop acros the sheath and not just on the electron temperature in the plasma.
TRevPAR as Hotels Performance Evaluation Indicator and Influencing Factors in Portugal

In a global competition current scenario, measuring the performance of hotels is increasingly important for managers who, to take decisions, need management indicators and tools. The most common operating indicators are occupancy rate and RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room). The goal of any hotel is to be as profitable as possible, so they must work on increasing revenues and decreasing costs. To increase revenues the focus has been on revenue management practices, and there is already several software that help hoteliers to define the most appropriate price for each customer. Therefore, managers mostly seek to increase accommodation revenue, however from a total revenue management perspective revenue from other departments must also be considered. The TRevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room) appears as a more comprehensive indicator that takes into account all hotels revenue sources. The purpose of this research is to study and highlight TRevPAR influence factors, since this information have practical implications in the hotel managers’ decision. This methodology was carried out through the analysis of 948 hotels from 2010 to 2017. The sample was obtained by crossing two databases: SABI platform and Portuguese National Tourism Registry (RNET). The tested determining factors were the hotel's location, size, number of stars and services. An original and exhaustive study in terms of services meets the purpose, thus, the influence on TRevPAR was tested on outdoor and indoor pools, tennis, golf, spa, meeting rooms and restaurants.
Infrared and broadband dielectric spectroscopy of PZN-PMN-PSN relaxor ferroelectrics: Origin of two-component relaxation

Dielectric spectra of several solid solutions of $\mathrm{Pb}{\mathrm{Mg}}_{1∕3}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{2∕3}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Pb}{\mathrm{Sc}}_{1∕2}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{1∕2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{Pb}{\mathrm{Zn}}_{1∕3}{\mathrm{Nb}}_{2∕3}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ (PMN-PSN-PZN) relaxor ferroelectrics were investigated in a broad frequency range from $20\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{Hz}$ up to $100\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{THz}$ by a combination of dielectric spectroscopy $(20\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{Hz}\char21{}53\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{GHz})$, time-domain terahertz spectroscopy $(0.1\char21{}0.9\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{THz})$, and infrared reflectivity ($20\char21{}3000\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, $0.6\char21{}90\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{THz}$). The very strong and broad dielectric relaxation observed below phonon frequencies was analyzed in terms of the distribution of relaxation times, using the Tichonov regularization method. This revealed slowing down of the longest and mean relaxation times obeying the Vogel-Fulcher law. The relaxation splits into two components near ${T}_{m}$ and the origin of both components is discussed. The formation of polar clusters below the Burns temperature $(700\char21{}800\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K})$ is manifested by the appearance of dielectric relaxation in the terahertz range and by splitting of the polar modes in the infrared spectra. On heating from low temperatures, the ${A}_{1}$ component of the strongly split ${\mathrm{TO}}_{1}$ mode softens toward the Burns temperature, but the softening ceases near $400\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$, which could be a signature of a polar cluster percolation temperature.
Spontaneous emission control of colloidal nanocrystals using nanoimprinted photonic crystals

The authors report on the fabrication and optical characterizations of two-dimensional photonic crystals fabricated by nanoimprint lithography in a nanocomposite polymer incorporating highly luminescent and red emitting (CdSe)ZnS core-shell colloidal nanocrystals. Photonic crystal structures enhance the light emitted from the quantum sized nanoparticles in the composite layer by slowing the propagation speed of the photons, thus increasing the coupling to the out-of-plane radiative modes. A 200% enhancement of the light collection is achieved compared to an unpatterned sample.
Impact of Farmer Producer Organisations on organic chilli (Capsicum frutescens) production in Telangana

There has been a substantial improvement in the performance of Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in India in several aspects including access to technologies, markets, and value addition to agricultural produce. In this paper, an in-depth analysis has been done to understand the performance of FPOs for organic chilli in Indian state of Telangana based on the primary data collected from 60 farmers associated with FPOs and 60 non-FPO farmers from Siddipet and Janagaon, Telangana. The study employed empirical techniques, viz. tobit model, decomposition analysis and marketing efficiency to evaluate the impact of FPOs. The findings indicate that the input use in production of chilli was much less for the members of FPOs due to adoption of low inputs organic farming practices. Despite a lower yield, the members could realize 13.86% higher gross returns primarily attributed to FPOs providing access to technology and markets. The farmers in the study regions were following three marketing channels for disposal of their produce. The channel that involved FPOs with member farmers on the one end and consumers on the other is found to have the highest marketing efficiency in organic chilli.
Changes in Treatment Patterns and Costs for Lung Cancer Have Not Resulted in Relevant Improvements in Survival: A Population-Based Observational Study in Catalonia

Simple Summary Real-world data collect clinical and economic information from daily clinical practice and can support decisions in the context of health evaluation and management. The aim of our retrospective cohort study was to describe the different approaches used for treating lung cancer in Catalonia in 2014 and 2018 and to assess the associated cost and impact on patient survival until December 2021. Treatment patterns for lung cancer changed in younger patients, and all costs of treatment increased significantly. These changes, mainly related to the use of several novel drugs, such as immunotherapy and targeted therapy, were not associated with an increase in the overall patient survival in the period of time under evaluation. Abstract Objective: Few published studies have described multidisciplinary therapeutic strategies for lung cancer. This study aims to describe the different approaches used for treating lung cancer in Catalonia in 2014 and 2018 and to assess the associated cost and impact on patient survival. Methods: A retrospective observational cohort study using data of patients with lung cancer from health care registries in Catalonia was carried out. We analyzed change in treatment patterns, costs and survival according to the year of treatment initiation (2014 vs. 2018). The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate survival, with the follow-up until 2021. Results: From 2014 to 2018, the proportion of patients undergoing surgery increased and treatments for unresectable tumors decreased, mainly in younger patients. Immunotherapy increased by up to 9% by 2018. No differences in patient survival were observed within treatment patterns. The mean cost per patient in the first year of treatment increased from EUR 14,123 (standard deviation [SD] 4327) to EUR 14,550 (SD 3880) in surgical patients, from EUR 4655 (SD 3540) to EUR 5873 (SD 6455) in patients receiving curative radiotherapy and from EUR 4723 (SD 7003) to EUR 6458 (SD 10,116) in those treated for unresectable disease. Conclusions: From 2014 to 2018, surgical approaches increased in younger patients. The mean cost of treating patients increased, especially in pharmaceutical expenditure, mainly related to the use of several biomarker-targeted treatments. While no differences in overall patient survival were observed, it seems reasonable to expect improvements in this outcome in upcoming years as more patients receive innovative treatments.