Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recommender systems in education: A literature review and bibliometric analysis

This study aims to provide an overview regarding the use of recommender systems in education through a literature review and a bibliometric analysis. In total, 1,622 related documents from Scopus and WoS are examined from 2001 to 2022. The study goes over the literature, presents descriptive statistics about the document collection, and analyzes the thematic evolution of the topic throughout the years. Based on the results, the recency and significance of recommender systems and their potentials in the educational domain were evident. Their ability to take into account learners' unique traits, experiences, skills, and preferences was highlighted. Recommender systems emerged as a learning tool that can empower learners, improve education quality and learning outcomes, increase learners' motivation, engagement, achievements, and satisfaction, and enable learners to be in charge of their own learning. Finally, recommender systems arose as an effective educational tool that can promote and improve adaptive learning and personalized learning.
Real-Time Permittivity Extraction Based on Ultra-Wideband Impulse Radar and Genetic Algorithm for Tunnel Construction Operations

Tunnel construction with tunnel boring machi- nes (TBMs) is frequently hampered by hidden complexities in the tunnel face. This article investigates the feasibility of utilizing impulse ultra-wideband (UWB) radar technology to sense and probe the tunnel face in real-time and alert the operator of potential dangers. This study aims to identify buried objects, such as water mains and gas pipes, concrete structures, and naturally occurring objects like boulders present in the tunnel path. In this study, we considered different test objects extracted from tunnel construction projects in Edmonton and extracted their complex permittivity. A genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to retrieve the buried object’s electrical and physical parameters for near-real-time operations. It is shown that the dielectric constant and the thickness of the buried object are obtained within a maximum error of 14% and 2.5 mm absolute error, respectively. A more complex scenario involving hidden buried oil and sewer pipes in the tunnel face is evaluated. To assess various scenarios, buried pipes containing different fluids are considered, and measured their electrical properties within few seconds. Using the UWB radar, the fluids’ relative permittivity and loss tangents are estimated, along with the pipe’s physical dimensions and dielectric constant. These measurements distinguish the sewer pipe from the oil pipe. This study confirms the capability of UWB impulse radar technology for acquiring real-time geological conditions in tunnel construction.
DO HEIS COMMUNICATE TRUST WELL?

The relationship between trust and information sources for new purchasers of higher education is discussed. A range of sources is evaluated by potential entrants into UK higher education, and indicates that universities tend to be regarded as the most trustworthy when information is directly associated with them and social networks, and friends and student-derived sources the least, along with Key Information Set (KIS) data.
The Value of Ultrasonic Elastography in Detecting Placental Stiffness for the Diagnosis of Preeclampsia: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis evaluated the diagnostic value of ultrasonic elastography in detecting placental stiffness in the diagnosis of preeclampsia (PE). A systematic search was conducted in the EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus database, and PubMed databases to identify studies published before June 2023 using ultrasonic elastography to diagnose PE. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio of ultrasonic elastography for diagnosing PE were calculated, and a summary receiver operating characteristic curve model was constructed. The degree of heterogeneity was estimated using the I2 statistic, and a meta-regression analysis was performed to explore its sources. A protocol was determined previously (PROSPERO: CRD42023443646). We included 1188 participants from 11 studies, including 190 patients with PE and 998 patients without PE as controls. Overall sensitivity and specificity of ultrasonic elastography in detecting placental stiffness for the diagnosis of PE were 89% (95% CI: 85–93) and 74% (95% CI: 51–89), respectively. The I2 values for sensitivity and specificity were 59% (95% CI: 29–89) and 96% (95% CI: 95–98), respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87–0.92). The meta-regression analysis showed no significant heterogeneity. Ultrasonic elastography exhibits good diagnostic accuracy for detecting placental stiffness and can serve as a non-invasive tool for differentially diagnosing PE.
“Truth is like a vast tree” Metaphor use in Gandhi’s autobiographical narration

This article focuses on Gandhi’s use of Biblical metaphor in the English translation of his autobiography “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” (1940). The aim of the analysis is to show how Gandhi appropriated Christian ideology to his own life story when presenting it to an English-speaking audience. Given that metaphor use is “seldom neutral” (Semino, 2008, p. 32), underlying conceptual mappings can be revealing, particularly when the same conceptual frame is employed systematically across a text or discourse situation. Analysis of the English translation reveals a use of Biblical metaphor in the English translation which may constitute a deliberate appropriation of Christian ideology. This article suggests potential motivations for this appropriation, linking the text’s metaphor use to Gandhi’s desire to reform Hinduism and intention to counter the rising tide of Hindu-Christian conversion that threatened the success of his campaign for Indian political and spiritual independence.
North Central Victorian Climate: Past, Present and Future

North central Victoria has experienced significant natural climate change over the past 20 000 years. At the height of the last ice age, the region was colder by 5°C or more with uplands and slopes under subalpine vegetation. Modern vegetation patterns were not established until the early Holocene. The first half of the Holocene was wetter than today, while the second half was affected by a less stable climate influenced by a strengthening El Nino–Southern Oscillation. Climate immediately prior to European occupation may have been wetter than during the historical period. Thus the pre-European climate and land surface influences on regional water balance may have been different to that which is generally assumed. Climate during the historical period was statistically homogenous, but with drier and wetter periods. Modest warming began in the mid 20th century, by about 0.4°C per century from 1950 to 1996. From 1997, maximum temperature has undergone a significant upward step change (p<0.01) of 0.9°C. Rainfall has decreased by 19%, with May–October rainfall undergoing a significant (p=0.05) downward step change from 2000. Maximum temperature is now non-stationary with respect to rainfall and is experiencing an upward trend consistent with climate model projections. These changes are equal to or greater than those projected for 2030, and are significantly affecting agriculture and forestry, ecosystems, fire risk and water resources. Evidence from pre-historic, historic and model projections of future climate for this region suggest that climate change can often be abrupt, with ‘stable’ periods showing considerable decadal variability. Prudent risk management would treat the post 1996 climate as the new baseline and plan for further changes.
DNA DAMAGE: DETECTION STRATEGIES

Even under the best of circumstances, DNA is constantly subjected to chemical modifications. Several types of DNA damage such as SSB (single strand break), DSB (double strand break), CPDs (cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers), 6-4PPs (6-4 photoproducts) and their Dewar valence isomers have been identified that result from alkylating agents, hydrolytic deamination, free radicals and reactive oxygen species formed by various photochemical processes including UV radiation. There are a number of strategies such as PCR (polymerase chain reaction), comet, halo, TUNEL (Terminal deoxyribonucleotidyltransferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling) assay, HPLC-Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry, FISH (Fluorescence in situ hybridization), FCM (Flow cytometry), annexin V labeling, immunological assays including immunofluorescent and chemiluminescence thymine dimer detection, immunohistochemical assay, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Radio immunoassay (RIA), Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electrochemical methods, that are commonly used to detect DNA damage in various organisms. The main aim of this review is to present a brief account of the above mentioned DNA damage detection strategies for the convenience of interested readers.
Impedance Modeling and Stability Analysis of DR-MMC Based Hybrid HVDC for Offshore Wind Farm Integration

The diode rectifier- modular multilevel converter (DR-MMC) based hybrid HVDC system is an attractive topology for integrating large-scale offshore wind power. To investigate the interaction stability of the cascaded DR-MMC converter integrating with offshore wind farms, this article proposes the sequence impedance model considering frequency coupling among DR, MMC, controllers and DR commutation process. Firstly, the frequency interaction between DRs and MMC at the DC side is disclosed. Then, using the equivalent impedance method, frequency-coupling terms that mainly affect impedance characteristics are analyzed. The impacts of wind power curtailments and two reactive power compensation methods on wideband impedance characteristics are revealed. It is shown that the decrease of wind power will weaken the system phase margin. And the reactive power compensation via MMC is more prone to instability than that via AC filters. Besides, the impedance characteristics and stability between DR-MMC and classic MMC systems are compared. The correctness of stability analysis based on the proposed sequence impedance models is validated by simulations in PSCAD/EMTDC.
Prognostic heterogeneity and clonal dynamics within distinct subgroups of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia with TP53 disruptions

TP53 aberrations constitute the highest risk subset of myelodysplastic neoplasms (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The International Consensus Classification questions the blast threshold between MDS and AML. In this study, we assess the distinction between MDS and AML for 76 patients with TP53 aberrations. We observed no significant differences between MDS and AML regarding TP53 genomics. Median overall survival (OS) was 223 days for the entire group, but prognostic discrimination within subgroups showed the most inferior OS (46 days) for AML with multihit allelic state plus TP53 variant allele frequency (VAF) > 50%. In multivariate analysis, unadjusted Cox models revealed the following variables as independent risk factors for mortality: AML (vs. MDS) (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.50, confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–4.4, p = 0.001), complex karyotype (HR: 3.00, CI: 1.4–6.1, p = 0.003), multihit status (HR: 2.30, CI 1.3–4.2, p = 0.005), and absence of hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) (HR: 3.90, CI: 1.8–8.9, p = 0.0009). Clonal dynamic modeling showed a significant reduction in TP53 VAF with front‐line hypomethylating agents. These findings clarify the impact of specific covariates on outcomes of TP53‐aberrant myeloid neoplasms, irrespective of the diagnosis of MDS versus AML, and may influence HCT decisions.
Fault-Tolerant Design Approach Based on Approximate Computing

This article introduces a new fault-tolerant design approach based on approximate computing, called FAC, for designing redundant circuits and systems. Traditionally, triple modular redundancy (TMR) has been used to ensure complete tolerance to any single fault or a faulty processing unit, where the processing unit may be a circuit or a system. However, TMR incurs more than 200% overhead in terms of area and power compared to a single processing unit. Alternative redundancy approaches have been proposed in the literature to mitigate these overheads associated with TMR, but they provide only partial or moderate fault tolerance. Among the alternatives, majority voting-based reduced precision redundancy (MVRPR) may be useful for error-resilient applications such as digital signal processing. While MVRPR guarantees only moderate fault tolerance, the proposed FAC is well-suited for error-resilient applications and ensures 100% tolerance to any single fault or a faulty processing unit, like TMR. In this work, we evaluate the performance of TMR, MVRPR, and FAC for a digital image processing application. The image processing results obtained demonstrate the effectiveness of FAC. Moreover, when the processing unit is implemented using a 28-nm CMOS technology, FAC achieves significant improvements over TMR, including a 15.3% reduction in delay, a 19.5% reduction in area, and a 24.7% reduction in power. Compared to MVRPR, FAC exhibits notable enhancements, with an 18% reduction in delay, a 5.4% reduction in area, and an 11.2% reduction in power. When considering the power-delay product, which reflects energy efficiency, FAC demonstrates a 36.2% reduction compared to TMR and a 27.2% reduction compared to MVRPR. When considering the power-delay-area product, which represents design efficiency, FAC achieves a 48.7% reduction compared to TMR and a 31.1% reduction compared to MVRPR.
Magnesium Sulfate in Pediatric Abdominal Cancer Surgery: Safety and Efficacy in Ultrasound-Guided Transversus Abdominis Plane (US-TAP) Block in Conjugation with Levobupivacaine

Purpose Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) may enhance the effects of local anesthetics when used as an adjuvant in peripheral nerve blocks. Our objective was to evaluate efficiency and safety of utilizing MgSO4 alongside levobupivacaine in bilateral ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (US-TAP) block for postoperative pain in pediatric cancer patients who underwent abdominal surgery. Methodology A randomized double-blinded controlled trial at South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt, included that 40 pediatric patients with Wilms’ tumor or neuroblastoma were randomly allocated to get bilateral (US-TAP) block and divided into two groups; M group: received US-TAP with 0.6 mL/kg levobupivacaine 0.25% + 2 mg/kg MgSO4 and C group: received with 0.6 mL/kg levobupivacaine 0.25% only. FLACC scores (Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolability) were used to evaluate post-operative pain, first analgesic request, total analgesic consumption, adverse effects, as well as hemodynamics were monitored for 24 h and recorded at time points (2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, and 24h). Parent’s satisfaction at discharge, also, was evaluated. Results FLACC score in M group was significantly lower than in C group from 4 h to 24 h with the first analgesic request being longer (15.95 ± 1.99 vs 7.70 ± 0.80 (h); p < 0.001) and lower total analgesic consumption (231.75 ± 36.57 vs 576.00 ± 170.71 (mg); p < 0.001) when comparing M group to C group, respectively. Both groups had insignificant differences regarding hemodynamics, parent satisfaction, postoperative agitation, and side effects except vomiting occurred in two patients in the C group and one patient in the M group. Conclusion We conclude that adding magnesium sulphate as an adjuvant to local anaesthetic in US-TAP block for pain management in pediatric abdominal cancer surgeries resulted in better and longer analgesia, with less consumption of rescue analgesics with no serious side effects.
Effects of food-grade iron(III) oxide nanoparticles on cecal digesta- and mucosa-associated microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in rats

Although iron(III) oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are widely used in diverse applications ranging from food to biomedicine, the effects of IONPs on different locations of gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are unclear. So, a subacute repeated oral toxicity study on Sprague Dawley (SD) rats was performed, administering low (50 mg/kg·bw), medium (100 mg/kg·bw), and high (200 mg/kg·bw) doses of IONPs. In this study, we found that a high dose of IONPs increased animal weight, and 16S rRNA sequencing revealed that IONPs caused intestinal flora disorders in both the cecal digesta- and mucosa-associated microbiota. However, only high-dose IONP exposure changed the abundance and composition of the mucosa-associated microbiota. IONPs increased the relative abundances of Firmicutes, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, Ruminiclostridium_9, Romboutsia, and Bilophila and decreased the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium, and many of these microorganisms are associated with weight gain, obesity, inflammation, diabetes, and mucosal damage. Functional analysis showed that changes in the gut microbiota induced by a high dose of IONPs were mainly related to metabolism, infection, immune, and endocrine disease functions. IONPs significantly elevated the levels of valeric, isobutyric, and isovaleric acid, promoting the absorption of iron. This is the first description of intestinal microbiota dysbiosis in SD rats caused by IONPs, and the effects and mechanisms of action of IONPs on intestinal and host health need to be further studied and confirmed.
“Every Crisis is a Time for opportunity”: Immigrant-Refugee Leadership Perspectives in the COVID-19 Era

ABSTRACT The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately affected immigrant and refugee communities, along with community-based ethnic organizations (CBEOs) serving these communities. Our study explored the impact of COVID-19 on immigrant and refugee communities and the CBEOs serving them by conducting in-depth interviews with CBEO leaders (N = 7). Six salient themes emerged: heightened organizational strain; COVID-19’s exacerbation of social issues; loss of community wealth; barriers to COVID-19 information; immigration policies, vulnerability, and structural barriers; and a path to better opportunities.
The Evolution Study of Positive Corona in Atmospheric Air Based on the Combination of Light Radiation and Discharge Current

Clarifying the transition process between various corona stages is helpful to ensure a stable corona application and prevent destructive failure of power equipment. This article investigated the current waveform evolution of positive corona for a needle-plate configuration under a slow ramp voltage, and the light radiation was detected synchronously by the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM). Positive corona before spark discharge has four stages with increasing applied voltage, i.e., burst pulse stage, Hermstein’s glow stage, streamer stage, and breakdown streamer stage. The current pulse magnitude (CPM) representing the discharge intensity and the SiPM magnitude representing the light radiation intensity exhibit different relationships at these stages. In addition, the current waveforms exhibit distinctive shapes at four stages. To explain the evolution of the current waveform, a hydrodynamic simulation model considering photoionization in a 2-D axisymmetric geometry is proposed. According to the simulation results, the streamer onset criterion of Meek is fulfilled when the local electric field strength is high enough to attract secondary avalanches into the area of the initial electron avalanches. As the streamer approaches the cathode, the current spike at the breakdown streamer stage is caused by the surge of the electron multiplication factor rather than the secondary electron emission from the cathode.
Brief Communication Y-Chromosomal Evidence for a Founder Effect in Mbya ´-Guaranõ ´ Amerindians from Northeast Argentina

To assess the paternal history of the Mbya ´-Guarano ´ Amerindi- ans of northeast Argentina, we examined the genetic variation in seven Y- chromosome loci: the binary marker M3 at locus DYS199, and six short tandem repeats (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, and DYS393). The most striking finding is the high frequency among the Mbya ´- Guarano ´ of Q3 lineages with the usually rare alleles DYS391*11 and DYS393*11, which could be the result of a founder effect, given the recent history of the population. The Mbya ´-Guarano ´ are the southernmost representatives of the Tupo ´-Guarano ´ lan- guage group. Archeological evidence suggests that they migrated in prehistoric times (probably around a.d. 1000) from the Amazonian region, settling in the subtropical forests close to the Parana ´, Uruguay, and Paraguay rivers, constitut- ing what is now known as Guarano ´ society (Galvez 1995). The Mbya ´-Guarano ´ of the province of Misiones, northeast Argentina, have a total population of about 4,800 (unpublished data from the Direccion de Asuntos Guarano ´es). Only the groups living in the most inaccessible locales maintain to some extent the tradi- tional way of life, based on the agricultural practice known as roza, tumba y quema (cut, chop, and burn), which is used to clear large areas of forest and prepare them for agricultural purposes. Most of the other groups live in small settlements of a few families and follow a simple nomadic life, with an economy based on fishing, hunting, the gathering of wild products, and, to some extent, horticulture (Serrano 2000). In addition, many of them work on the yerba mate ´ (Ilex paraguariensis) plantations and have other occasional jobs. In contrast to other native American populations of Argentina, which have been widely studied, little is known about the genetic characteristics of the 1
Provably Secure Asymmetric PAKE Protocol for Protecting IoT Access

Pake allows two parties who share a memorable password to securely establish a strong secret key. It has been deployed in many applications around us, such as iCloud service, Wi-Fi access, etc., to provide security assurance for us. In this article, we present a secure and efficient asymmetric PAKE (aPAKE) protocol for protecting the access to the resource-constraint Internet of Things (IoT). Besides the general passive and active attacks, the new aPAKE protocol provides resilience to the offline dictionary attack, and the server compromise attack such that an adversary cannot impersonate the client to the server even if it has compromised the corresponding server and obtained the stored password file. The new aPAKE protocol is detailed in the elliptic curve setting in this article, while it is also compatible with the multiplicative group over a finite field. The security proof for the new aPAKE protocol is carried out in the widely accepted acrshort BPR security model under the basic acrshort CDH security assumption, which implies that our new aPAKE protocol has certain security advantages over some others whose security proofs need to be based on some stronger security assumptions. In addition, the new aPAKE protocol has computational efficiency and ease-of-implementation advantages over some existing aPAKE protocols whose constructions require the use of the hash-to-curve (H2C) function, and the performance evaluation results have definitely shown this fact.