Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ethical Leadership and Employee Creative Behaviour: A Case Study of a State-Owned Enterprise in South Africa

Purpose: The aim of this explanatory study was to critically understand how ethical leadership impacts employee creative behaviour as well as the creative behaviour dimensions, in a South African transport and logistics State Owned Enterprise. Theoretical framework: Leaders set the tone which has a major effect on the organizational climate and the organizational approach and the moral facet of leadership is significant because of the leader’s impact on employees and organizational conduct. Thus, this study is underpinned by the style of leadership which is ethical, since the autocratic style is often seen as lacking ethical conduct. Method: The quantitative method was chosen since a deductive approach was needed to interpret the data. The target population comprised middle and executive managers representing the leaders and low-level managers representing followers and referred to as the employees. Although a sample of 348 employees (followers) was generated using the Raosoft (2004) sample size calculator. The data from 160 respondents comprising managers and employees was collected using predeveloped questionnaires. and analysed through structural equation modelling and multiple regression techniques conducted with the Smart PLS statistical software. The reliability of the research instrument was measured using Cronbach tests, and composite reliability. Validity was also confirmed using lower-order and higher-order construct validity tests. Results and conclusion: It was confirmed that ethical leadership has a significant positive influence on employee creative behaviour, as well as with each of the creative behaviour dimensions namely: idea exploration, idea generation, and idea championing. Originality/value: The influence of ethical leadership on employee creative behaviour in South African SOEs is also not fully understood and large private corporates and government entities have been rocked by corporate governance scandals, resulting in the call for ethical leadership to save companies from collapse and astounding costs from a financial, social and human perspective. No research was conducted on the topic in South African state-owned enterprises and thus the new knowledge generated would contribute to improving leadership and making the enterprises more innovative and thus improve performance.
Galaxy and structure formation in dynamical and coupled dark energy

In this thesis I study the effects of different Dark Energy models on galaxy formation via numerical simulations. I investigate systems around and be- low Milky-Way masses and describe the effects of dark energy at galactic and sub-galactic scales. Firstly, I analyze high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations of three disc galaxies in dynamical dark energy models. While overall stellar feedback remains the driving mechanisms in shaping galaxies, the effect of the dark energy parametrization plays a larger role than pre- viously thought. Secondly, I broaden the galaxy sample by simulating a 80 Mpc/h side cube of our universe using the same dynamical dark energy mod- els. I show that resolution is a crucial ingredient so that baryonic feedback mechanisms can enhance differences between cosmological models. Thirdly, I investigate the effects of dynamical dark energy on dwarf mass scales. I find that there is more variation from object to object (due to the stochasticity of star formation at these scales) than between the same object in different cosmological models, which makes it hard for observations to disentangle different dark energy scenarios. In the second part of this thesis I investi- gate the effects of coupled dark energy models on galactic and sub-galactic scales via dark matter only high-resolution simulations. I find that coupled models decrease concentrations of (Milky-Way-like) parent haloes and also reduce the number of subhaloes orbiting around them. This improves the agreement with observations and, hence, makes these cosmologies attractive alternatives to a cosmological constant.
Deterministic Signal Processing Techniques for OFDM-Based Radar Sensing: An Overview

In this manuscript, we analyze the most relevant classes of deterministic signal processing methods currently available for the detection and the estimation of multiple targets in a joint communication and sensing system employing orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. Our objective is offering a fair comparison of the available technical options in terms of required computational complexity and accuracy in both range and Doppler estimation. Our numerical results, obtained in various scenarios, evidence that distinct algorithms can achieve a substantially different accuracy-complexity trade-off.
The formation and evolution of dust in semi-analytic models of galaxy formation

The formation and evolution of galaxies is an interesting subject to study because it incorporates astrophysics from all scales, from the initial perturbations in the early universe creating the large scale structures that produce galaxies, right down to the evolution of stellar populations and their manipulation of the host galaxy. Simulations of galaxy formation allow us to test the various physical recipes against that which is observed in order to build a true and proper picture of what is happening in the real universe. L-Galaxies is a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation built on top of the merger trees from the Millennium dark matter simulation, and is constrained to match certain key observations at low redshift by applying a Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) method to constrain the free parameters. In using the model to make high redshift predictions of the stellar mass function, UV luminosity function and star formation rate distribution function we found that the model starts to deviate from observational constraints at the highest redshifts, particularly in high mass galaxies. In the case of the UV luminosity function, this is because the current dust model is calibrated at low redshift and lacks sophistication in that it only depends on the cold gas mass and the density of metals. To improve on this we implement a physically motivated dust model that traces the formation of dust from stellar sources, such as in the stellar winds of AGB stars and in the supernovae remnants of massive stars, the growth of dust inside molecular clouds, and the destruction of dust due to supernovae explosions. The model is fully integrated into L-Galaxies such that the evolution of dust is included in all the recipes relevant to the formation and evolution of galaxies, including: star formation; radiative feedback; cooling and reheating; and both major and minor mergers. Our results show a good fit to observations of the dust mass in galaxies both in the local universe and out to high redshift and we note a similar conclusion as in the literature that dust growth inside molecular clouds is not only necessary but the dominant source of the dust mass in these galaxies. However, stellar sources of dust can not be neglected as molecular clouds must first be seeded by dust grains in order for accretion to occur. This could be important in the very early universe, perhaps for the first galaxies that will hopefully be observed by JWST in the future, because these galaxies may not have had sufficient time to seed their molecular clouds and as such the dust produced by these stellar sources would be important for calculating the galaxies true observed luminosity. We finish by discussing the limitations of the model and discuss areas for possible improvement as well as the next steps in using this to better predict the luminosity of galaxies in future models.
Implementation of Trajectory Planning Algorithms for Track Serving Mobile Robot in ROS 2 Ecosystem

: In this paper, our goal is to present the autonomous cone placing robot developed at SzéchenyiIstván University (Gy ő r, Hungary) and the main steps and parts of its design and preparation. Within this, rather complex task-sequence, we discuss the logic of software operation (embedded in the ROS 2 ecosystem), the main issues of environmental representation and we focus especially on the trajectory planner part of the entire system. The implemented algorithms-including our own innovative ideas are Dijkstra, A *, Hybrid A *, DWA and Elastic band.
Bayesian Threshold Regression for Current Status Data with Informative Censoring

In some biomedical studies, there is interest in making inferences about a time to event distribution but the exact time of the event is unknown. For instance in carcinogenicity studies in animals, tumors are not discovered until the time of examination and hence time to tumor is left censored; this is known as current status data. Sometimes, the examination time is not independent of the event time. For example, in an animal study, an exam may have occurred because the animal died due to a cause related to tumor development. In this case, survival analysis methods which assume independent censoring would result in biased inferences. To address this issue, we propose a Bayesian approach which jointly models time to event and time to censoring using latent Wiener processes which fail once they hit a boundary value. Using data augmentation, we sample the unobserved event time and values of the latent processes for those subjects who do not experience an event. Informative censoring is accounted for also by modeling time to censoring using latent health process. Sometimes multivariate current status data also arise, e.g., tumors can develop in multiple organ sites in carcinogenicity studies. Examination time occurring at natural death could be affected by these different types of tumors which may intrinsically correlate with each other. We propose a multivariate Bayesian approach to accommodate multiple left censored events driven by different latent Wiener processes. We use ii a random effect shared by the drifts of the processes underlying the events of interest to model the correlation of the event times. The censoring process is modeled using a latent Wiener process whose time scale is affected by the occurrence of an event thus accounting for dependent censoring. Our models are conceptually appealing and do not require the assumption of proportional hazards of some standard methods. In simulation studies, we found that the proposed informative censoring models provide more accurate estimates of regression coefficients than the independent censoring models when the data do not satisfy the assumption of independent censoring. We applied our methods to data from National Toxicology Program studies.
Study on the Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Extracts from Wild and in vitro Raised Endangered Medicinal Plant Ephedra gerardiana

Ephedra gerardiana is an important medicinal plant known for its tremendous medicinal potential since ages. The plant has been utilized in the treatment of several ailments. The plant possesses several biologically active phytoconstituents which are responsible for its medicinal value. The present study was conducted to identify such phyto-compounds through GC-MS study and also to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the plant. Methanolic extract of wild plant and in vitro raised plantlet were utilized for determining antioxidant value and GC-MS analysis. In vitro raised plants exhibited enhanced production of flavonoids with prominent antioxidant activity as compared to the mother plant. On the contrary, the level of tannin was found to be higher in the mother plant. GC-MS study revealed the presence of a total of 34 and 43 phyto-compounds in mother and in-vitro raised plants respectively. 9-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (24.66%), 9-octadecenoic acid, 1,2,3 propanetriyl ester (10.75%), Phytol (8.8%) and 2(5H)- Furanone, 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl (7.41%) were major compounds found in mother plant and Morpholine (28.93%), 9-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (20.45%), Hexadecanoic acid, 2-Hexadecen-1-ol (16.16%) were major compounds found to be present in methanolic extract of the wild plant
Post-peninitial Accent in Kashaya: AnAlternative to Initial Extrametricality

Perhaps the most significant feature of the basic Kashaya (Oswalt 1961, 1988) stress pattern, from a typological perspective, is the location of its accent on the post-peninitial syllable. While previous analyses (Buckley 1994, 2009) have employed initial extrametricality to derive the accent’s location— designating the initial syllable as extrametrical and then constructing iambs from left to right—we argue that the evidence suggests an approach based on a trisyllabic stress window: the accent is oriented towards the word’s right edge but cannot move any further to the right than the third syllable. Our account adopts the approach to trisyllabic stress windows provided by Relation-Specific Alignment (RSA; Hyde 2008, 2011) constraints. Before presenting the analysis of Kashaya in fuller detail, we briefly discuss the RSA formulation, which differs in several respects from the more familiar Generalized Alignment (GA; McCarthy and Prince 1993) formulation. (For a more detailed presentation, see Hyde 2011.) Like GA constraints, RSA constraints prohibit misalignment, but they only do so when the misaligned categories occur in a specific configuration. In the RSA schemas in (1), ACat1 and ACat2 are the categories being aligned and SCat is the “separator” category, the category whose intervention between the relevant edges of the aligned categories constitutes misalignment. An RSA constraint is violated whenever the categories identified in the set to the left of the slash occur in the configuration indicated to the right of the slash.
Event-triggered consensus of non-linear multi-agent systems with sampling data and time delay

The sampled-data based event-triggered strategy for consensus of leader-following multi-agent systems with the input-delay and non-linear dynamics is studied. A novel event-triggered transmission strategy is proposed, where the controller of each agent updates and the sampled-data of each agent transmits to its neighbours' only at the agent's own triggering time instants. The measurement errors are defined based on the state information of the local neighbourhood and leader to design the event triggering scheme, and this scheme reduces the number of event triggering times, the controller updating and communications between agents. Moreover, in the proposed event triggered control strategy, the Zeno-behaviour is avoided. The control protocol and event triggering scheme can be simply designed by solving an LMI condition to achieve leader-following consensus asymptotically. The effectiveness of the proposed results is demonstrated via a numerical example.
ANALYSIS OF ADAPTIF LOCAL REGION IMPLEMENTATION ON LOCAL THRESHOLDING METHOD

Thresholding is a simple and effective technique for image segmentation. Thresholding techniques can be grouped into two categories, global thresholding and local thresholding. All local threshold method generally begins with determining thresholds in each pixel by checking the area centered on the pixel, using a box shape (x, y) which is fixed by the size of the neighborhood "b". If the neighborhood is very small, then the algorithm will be sensitive to noise and excessive segmentation occurs. Whereas, if the size of the neighborhood is very large then the algorithm will apply resemble the global threshold method. In this study, we propose a method of calculation of Local Adaptive Region, to determine the value of each pixel that is flexible neighborhoods, where each pixel has values different neighborhoods based on the value of the standard deviation region. Adaptive method on the local region thresholding consists of several processes, namely: Image Enhancement, Adaptive Local Region and thresholding. Based on evaluation of ME, image result of threshold using the Adaptive Local Region method, giving an average ME smallest value, that is 16.99% at Niblack method and 19.46% at Sauvola method. And on evaluation of the RAE, image result of threshold using the Adaptive Local Region method, giving an average RAE smallest value, that is 15.26% at Niblack method and 25.58% at Sauvola method. In addition, the results of trials with various noise variance represent that the method of Adaptive Local Region resistant to noise.
Sources of PM2.5 Oxidative Potential during Haze and Non-haze Seasons in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Dithiothreitol (DTT) assay is an acellular technique used to investigate the oxidative potential (OP) of chemical substances bound on PM, which may potentially lead to oxidative stress after exposure. In this study, the source contributions of 16 high priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and 10 species of water-soluble inorganic ions bound on PM 2.5 and their OP were investigated using DTT assay. The 24-hr ambient PM 2.5 samples were collected throughout 2018–2019 and the analyzed OP was compared during haze episodes, which generally occurs in the dry season, and non-haze rainy season in the Chiang Mai-Lamphun basin. During haze episodes, DTTv activity was positively correlated with 4–5 rings PAHs including fluoranthene (Fla) pyrene (Pyr), benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), chrysene (Chr), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF) and benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF) with coefficient ranging from 0.327 to 0.545, p = 0.002 to 0.009 (Pearson’s correlation). Inorganic ions, particularly NH 4+ , SO 42– , and NO 3– , which are the tracers of secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA), were positively correlated with DTTv activity (r = 0.394 to 0.659. p = 0.000 to 0.047; Spearman’s correlation). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) indicated the biomass burning factor had the highest contribution (57.9%) to PM 2.5 during haze episodes, followed by SIA (26.2%), and vehicle exhausts (7.8%). Furthermore, multiple linear regression (MLR) showed that biomass burning was the highest contributor to DTTv (43.0%). These results suggest that during haze episodes, higher levels of PM 2.5 and its chemical compositions play a crucial role on OP, particularly DTTv activity, which may induce oxidative stress in human body.
Response of the Glutathione (GSH) Antioxidant Defense System to Oxidative Injury in Necrotizing Enterocolitis

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a neonatal intestinal disease associated with oxidative stress. The targets of peroxidation and the role of the innate intestinal epithelial antioxidant defense system are ill-defined. We hypothesized that oxidative stress in NEC correlates with oxidized GSH redox potentials, lipid peroxidation, and a dysfunctional antioxidant system. Methods: Intestinal samples from infants +/− NEC were generated into enteroids and incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and hypoxia to induce experimental NEC. HPLC assayed GSH redox potentials. Lipid peroxidation was measured by flow cytometry. Immunoblotting measured glutathione peroxidase 4 (Gpx4) expression. Results: GSH redox potentials were more oxidized in NEC intestinal tissue and enteroids as compared to controls. Lipid radicals in NEC-induced enteroids were significantly increased. Human intestinal tissue with active NEC and treated enteroid cultures revealed decreased levels of Gpx4. Conclusions: The ability of neonatal intestine to mitigate radical accumulation plays a role in its capacity to overcome oxidative stress. Accumulation of lipid radicals is confirmed after treatment of enteroids with NEC-triggering stimuli. Decreased Gpx4 diminishes a cell’s ability to effectively neutralize lipid radicals. When lipid peroxidation overwhelms antioxidant machinery, cellular death ensues. Identification of the mechanisms behind GSH-dependent enzyme dysfunction in NEC may provide insights into strategies for reversing radical damage.
Happiness Factors in Weight Loss Maintenance

Maintaining weight loss long-term is a difficult challenge for most people. Weight loss is often temporary and results in progressive weight regain. Previous research has focused on extension of weight loss methods and behavioral changes through the weight loss maintenance period without specific attention to skills specific to the maintenance phase. Further, emotional health has largely gone untested for how positive psychology influences successful long-term weight loss. We employed quantitative methodologies with a descriptive design, using individuals who self-attested to losing over 5% of their highest body weight and the Adult Hope Scale to measure participants’ perceptions of their positive motivational state in weight loss maintenance. Calculations of frequencies and percentages, including median and interquartile range where appropriate, were conducted and figures and tables were used to compare demographic statistics. The findings showed that participants scored high on levels of agency (i.e., goal-setting skills) and pathway (i.e., implementation skills) scores with high overall hope scores in relation to their successful long-term weight loss. The findings indicate potential key skills to weight loss maintenance, with positive emotional health skills being indicated as potential healthy markers for positive weight regulation long-term.
The Soft X-Ray Emission in a Large Sample of Galaxy Clusters with the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter

The study of soft X-ray emission of 38 X-ray-selected galaxy clusters observed by the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter indicates that the "soft excess" phenomenon may be a common occurrence in galaxy clusters. Excess soft X-ray radiation, above the contribution from the hot intracluster medium, is evident in a large fraction of sources and is clearly detected with large statistical significance in the deepest observations. The investigation relies on new, high-resolution 21 cm H I observations. The sample selection also features analysis of infrared images to further ensure reliability of results with respect to the characteristics of Galactic absorption. The possibility of background or calibration effects as cause of the excess emission is likewise investigated; a detailed analysis of the distribution of the excess emission with respect to detector position and Galactic H I column density shows that the excess emission is a genuine celestial phenomenon. We find evidence for a preferential distribution of the soft excess emission at distances larger than ~150-200 kpc from the centers of clusters; this behavior may be naturally explained in the context of a nonthermal inverse Compton scenario. Alternatively, we propose that the phenomenon may be caused by thermal emission of very large scale "warm" filaments seen in recent hydrodynamic simulations. This new interpretation relieves the very demanding requirements of either the traditional intracluster "warm" gas and the nonthermal scenarios. We also investigate the possibility of the soft excess originating from unresolved, X-ray-faint cluster galaxies.