Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A qualitative study exploring the experience of moving out of the family home for African Caribbean people with learning disabilities

The way in which people with learning disabilities experience the move out of the family home has not been extensively researched. This is surprising given the fact that Clinical Psychologists who work with people with learning disabilities are often asked to support service users, families and staff around the time of residential transition. The paucity of research is especially evident among people with learning disabilities from minority ethnic communities. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of moving out of the family home for African Caribbean people with learning disabilities. This ethnic group appear to be overrepresented in residential services and are at greater risk of being diagnosed with mental health problems than other ethnic groups. Six African Caribbean people with learning disabilities who had moved out of the family home were interviewed about their experiences of residential transition. The data collected from these semi-structured interviews were then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 2004). Both an individual and group analysis was carried out in order to ensure that individual voices were heard. The group analysis produced three superordinate themes. The first, ‘struggle’, described participants striving for empowerment and autonomy whilst feeling frustrated by their dependency and powerlessness. The second, ‘connectedness’, described participants’ repeated experiences of loss and rejection and their desire to form close relationships and belong to a wider community. Finally the third, ‘appraisal with emotion’, described participants’ anxieties regarding residential transitions in terms of their perceived vulnerability and limited resources as well as a sense of hope about the future. Despite its small sample size, this study offers an insight into the experiences of a hugely under researched population. The findings can also be used to inform the clinical practice of professionals who work with such service users.
Current advancements in the development of bionic organs using regenerative medicine and 3D tissue engineering

ABSTRACT Bio-artificial organs, commonly referred to as bionic organs, are artificial structures that perform the same functions as natural organs. In regenerative medicine, damaged organs are repaired using biological components including growth factors and stem cells. The advancement of tissue engineering, which aims to harness the inherent regenerative potential of human body organs to rebuild normal biological function, has benefited greatly from the use of biomaterials. The rapidly expanding field of regenerative medicine has brought the usage of biomaterials and their functions in the production of new tissue. Organs-on-chips are seen as a concept performer in tissue engineering with significant potential for future ‘clinical trials on a chip’ and a step towards developing customized medicine. With the advancement of 3D printing technology, the manufacturing constraints of biomedical devices have been solved using cutting-edge biomimetic structures. This review covers the areas on bionic organs such as organ on a chip with tissue engineering, bio grafting, 3D bio-printing and the stem cell techniques that are employed in regenerative medicine.
The Future Of Jakarta As A Global Business City After The Relocation Of Indonesia's Capital To Borneo

This research concept paper examines the potential evolution of Jakarta's role as a global business city following the consequential decision to relocate Indonesia's capital to Borneo. The paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the economic, infrastructural, and socio-political dimensions that shape Jakarta's prospects in this new paradigm. Drawing from reputable sources and scholarly insights, the paper provides a structured exploration of the multifaceted implications of the capital relocation and its implications for Jakarta's position as a global business hub.
A Review of the Epigenetic Clock: Emerging Biomarkers for Asthma and Allergic Disease

DNA methylation (DNAm) is a dynamic, age-dependent epigenetic modification that can be used to study interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Environmental exposures during critical periods of growth and development may alter DNAm patterns, leading to increased susceptibility to diseases such as asthma and allergies. One method to study the role of DNAm is the epigenetic clock—an algorithm that uses DNAm levels at select age-informative Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine (CpG) dinucleotides to predict epigenetic age (EA). The difference between EA and calendar age (CA) is termed epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) and reveals information about the biological capacity of an individual. Associations between EAA and disease susceptibility have been demonstrated for a variety of age-related conditions and, more recently, phenotypes such as asthma and allergic diseases, which often begin in childhood and progress throughout the lifespan. In this review, we explore different epigenetic clocks and how they have been applied, particularly as related to childhood asthma. We delve into how in utero and early life exposures (e.g., smoking, air pollution, maternal BMI) result in methylation changes. Furthermore, we explore the potential for EAA to be used as a biomarker for asthma and allergic diseases and identify areas for further study.
Printed Dual-Band Dipole Antenna

The topology of a printed dipole dual-band antenna, which does not require a symmetrical device in its composition is proposed. The antenna is made on two sides of a dielectric plate located above a metal plate - reflector. The arms of the half-wave dipole antenna are made on different sides of the dielectric. A technique is proposed to calculate the antenna for two arbitrarily set central frequencies of matching bands. The absence of a symmetrical device allows to reduce the overall size of the antenna. As an example, a dual-band antenna for Wi-Fi systems was synthesized using the proposed technique. The results of its modeling are presented. The antenna has demonstrated good matching in private Wi-Fi bands of 2.4 and 5.5 GHz. The directivity of the developed dual-band antenna is close to the directivity of a single dipole placed above the reflector. The possibility of separate control by the central frequencies of the antenna matching is shown by the example of the same antenna shows It is assumed to use the antenna as a single emitter, and as part of the antenna array.
Refining PD-1/PD-L1 assessment for biomarker-guided immunotherapy: A review

Anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunotherapy is increasingly crucial in cancer treatment. To date, the Federal Drug Administration has approved four PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining protocols, commercially available in the form of “kits,” facilitating testing for PD-L1 expression. These kits comprise four PD-L1 antibodies on two separate IHC platforms, each utilizing distinct, non-interchangeable scoring systems. Several factors, including tumor heterogeneity and the size of the tissue specimens assessed, can lead to PD-L1 status misclassification, potentially hindering the initiation of therapy. Therefore, the development of more accurate predictive biomarkers to distinguish between responders and non-responders prior to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy warrants further research. Achieving this goal necessitates refining sampling criteria, enhancing current methods of PD-L1 detection, and deepening our understanding of the impact of additional biomarkers. In this article, we review potential solutions to improve the predictive accuracy of PD-L1 assessment in order to more precisely anticipate patients’ responses to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy, monitor disease progression, and predict clinical outcomes.
Comparison of several modulation strategies for the Four Switch Buck-Boost converter

The Four Switch Buck-Boost converter (FSBB) is a widely used topology for DC-DC applications in which isolation is not required. This is mainly due to its bidirectionality, and the ability to operate under a wide range of input and output voltages. There are several modulation strategies for this converter, each one with its strengths and weaknesses.In this paper, several modulators from state of the art are compared, and the losses of the transistors and the inductor are computed. With this information, it is intended to select the best modulator depending on the input and output voltages, output power, and hardware limitations of the designed FSBB.
Monitoring Distracted Driving Behaviours with Smartphones: An Extended Systematic Literature Review

Driver behaviour monitoring is a broad area of research, with a variety of methods and approaches. Distraction from the use of electronic devices, such as smartphones for texting or talking on the phone, is one of the leading causes of vehicle accidents. With the increasing number of sensors available in vehicles, there is an abundance of data available to monitor driver behaviour, but it has only been available to vehicle manufacturers and, to a limited extent, through proprietary solutions. Recently, research and practice have shifted the paradigm to the use of smartphones for driver monitoring and have fuelled efforts to support driving safety. This systematic review paper extends a preliminary, previously carried out author-centric literature review on smartphone-based driver monitoring approaches using snowballing search methods to illustrate the opportunities in using smartphones for driver distraction detection. Specifically, the paper reviews smartphone-based approaches to distracted driving behaviour detection, the smartphone sensors and detection methods applied, and the results obtained.
Anemia is associated with long-term exposure to PM2.5 and its components: a large population-based study in Southwest China

Background: Anemia is linked to PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters of ⩽2.5 μm) exposure, which can increase the risk of various negative health outcomes. It remains unclear which PM2.5 components are associated with anemia and the respective contribution of each component to this association. Objective: This study aimed at investigating the association between PM2.5 and anemia in the general population and to identify the most critical PM2.5 toxic components in this association. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Our study involved a large cohort of 73,511 individuals aged 30–79 from China’s multi-ethnic population. We employed satellite observations and the chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem)to estimate the long-term exposure to PM2.5 and its components. Anemia was defined, according to WHO guidelines, as Hb levels below 130 g/L for men and below 120 g/L for women. Through logistic regression, we investigated the association between PM2.5 components and anemia. By utilizing weighted quantile sum (WQS) analysis, we identified key components and gained insights into their combined impact on anemia. Overall, our study sheds light on the relationship between PM2.5 exposure, its constituents, and the risk of anemia in a large cohort. Results: PM2.5 and three components, nitrate (NIT), organic matter (OM), and soil particles (SOIL), were associated with anemia. Per-standard deviation increase in the 3-year average concentrations of PM2.5 [odds ratio (OR): 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.28], NIT (1.20, 1.06, 1.35), OM (1.17, 1.04, 1.32), and SOIL (1.22, 1.11, 1.33) were associated with higher odds of anemia. In WQS regression analysis, the WQS index was associated with anemia (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.47). SOIL has the highest weight among all PM2.5 components. Conclusions: Long-term exposure to PM2.5 and its constituents is associated with anemia. Moreover, SOIL might be the most critical component of the relationship between PM2.5 and anemia. Our research increases the evidence of the association between PM2.5 and anemia in the general population, and targeted emission control measures should be taken into consideration to mitigate the adverse effects of PM2.5-related anemia.
Rivalry and conflict : European traders and Asian trading networks in the 16th and 17th centuries

The rivalry between the Dutch and Portuguese in Asia is one of the classic themes of the early history of European expansion overseas. Yet it is often forgotten that until the end of the sixteenth century the seafarers and traders of Portugal and The Netherlands were the best of friends and close trading partners in Europe. This collection of essays seeks to explain the abrupt change in the relationship by analyzing the European interaction with the maritime world of Monsoon Asia. Portuguese as well as Dutch interests, political, commercial and personal, became closely interwoven with those of the indigenous rulers, merchants and financiers. The final outcome of the conflict in Asia was mainly determined by the different ways in which both parties were able to cope with the intricacies of Asian politics. 'European Expansion in the Indian Ocean' was far from a one-sided affair and its history can only be understood in terms of the interaction of both Europeans and Asians involved. Contributors: Ernst van Veen, Jacques Paviot, Mafalda Soares da Cunha, Walter Rossa, Joao Paulo Oliveira e Costa, Arie Pos, Francisco Bethencourt, Om Prakash, Pius Malekandathil, Rui Manuel Loureiro, Peter Borschberg, Arend de Roever, Rene Barendse, Marcus Vink, Catia Antunes and George Bryan Souza.
Realizing Uplink MU-MIMO Communication in mmWave WLANs: Bayesian Optimization and Asynchronous Transmission

With the rapid proliferation of mobile devices, the marriage of millimeter-wave (mmWave) and MIMO technologies is a natural trend to meet the communication demand of data-hungry applications. Following this trend, mmWave multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) has been standardized by the IEEE 802.11ay for its downlink to achieve multi-Gbps data rate. Yet, its uplink counterpart has not been well studied, and its way to wireless local area networks (WLANs) remains unclear. In this paper, we present a practical uplink MU-MIMO mmWave communication (UMMC) scheme for WLANs. UMMC has two key components: i) an efficient Bayesian optimization (BayOpt) framework for joint beam search over multiple directional antennas, and ii) a new MU-MIMO detector that can decode asynchronous data packets from multiple user devices. We have built a prototype of UMMC on a mmWave testbed and evaluated its performance through a blend of over-the-air experiments and extensive simulations. Experimental and simulation results confirm the efficiency of UMMC in practical network settings.
TVFL: Tunable Vertical Federated Learning towards Communication-Efficient Model Serving

Vertical federated learning (VFL) enables multiple participants with different data features and the same sample ID space to collaboratively train a model in a privacy-preserving way. However, the high computational and communication overheads hinder the adoption of VFL in many resource-limited or delay-sensitive applications. In this work, we focus on reducing the communication cost and delay incurred by the transmission of intermediate results in VFL model serving. We investigate the inference results, and find that a large portion of test samples can be predicted correctly by the active party alone, thus the corresponding communication for federated inference is dispensable. Based on this insight, we theoretically analyze the "dispensable communication" and propose a novel tunable vertical federated learning framework, named TVFL, to avoid "dispensable communication" in model serving as much as possible. TVFL can smartly switch between independent inference and federated inference based on the features of the input sample. We further reveal that such tunability is highly related to the importance of participants’ features. Our evaluations on seven datasets and three typical VFL models show that TVFL can save 57.6% communication cost and reduce 57.1% prediction latency with little performance degradation.
A 26-GHz CMOS Power Amplifier with Sea-of-Gates Transistor Layout and Systematic Modeling Techniques

A 26-GHz CMOS power amplifier is designed with sea-of-gates transistor layout to improve matching for phased array applications. A systematic modeling technique is proposed and verified to develop the hybrid model for high-frequency simulations. The power amplifier achieves a peak gain of 20 dB with a 9.2-GHz −3-dB bandwidth. At 26 GHz, it can offer a saturated output power of 13 dBm with a peak power added efficiency of 27%. The measured and simulated results are in good agreement.
Comparative studies on the effect of salinity and drought stress on enzymatic antioxidant defense system of two maize (Zea mays l.). varieties

Soil salinization and drought are serious threat to crop productivity and predicted to increase in face of global climate change. Studies have shown that as much as the 12 billion US dollar will be lost globally each year, due to the reduction in agricultural production from drought and salt-affected areas. Maize is an economically important cereal crop affected by high salinity and drought stress, maize seedling was subjected to 50 mM, 100 mM and 150 mM NaCl and 4, 6 and 8 days to emulate high soil salinity and drought stress. Root and mature leaves were harvested after 21 days of sowing. High salinity induced oxidative stress in the root and mature leaves. The root and matured leaves showed increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration at 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl and 4, 6, and 8 days of drought strss. Activities of enzymatic antioxidants, Catylase (CAT, E .C 1.11.1.6) increase in all organs of salt treated maize seedling, while superoxide dismutase (SOD, 1.15.1.1) and peroxidase (POX, E.C. 1.11.1.7) increased specifically in mature leaves. This indicates a possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the systemic signaling from roots to leaves, allowing leaves to activate their defense mechanism for better protection against salt and drought stress.
Structural and functional remodeling of the female Apoe (cid:1) / (cid:1) mouse aorta due to chronic cigarette smoke exposure

Despite a decline in popularity over the past several decades, cigarette smoking remains a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Yet, the effects of cigarette smoking on vascular structure and function are largely unknown. To evaluate changes in the mechanical properties of the aorta that occur with chronic smoking, we exposed female apolipoprotein E-de ﬁ cient mice to mainstream cigarette smoke daily for 24wk, with room air as control. By the time of euthanasia, cigarette-exposed mice had lower body mass but experienced larger systolic/diastolic blood pressure when compared with controls. Smoking was associated with signi ﬁ cant wall thickening, reduced axial stretch, and circumferential material softening of the aorta. Although this contributed to maintaining intrinsic tissue stiffness at control levels despite larger pressure loads, the structural stiffness became signi ﬁ cantly larger. Furthermore, the aorta from cigarette-exposed mice exhibited decreased ability to store elastic energy and augment diastolic blood ﬂ ow. Histological analysis revealed a region-dependent increase in the cross-sectional area due to smoking. Increased smooth muscle and extracellular matrix content led to medial thickening in the ascending aorta, whereas collagen deposition increased the thickness of the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta. Atherosclerotic lesions were larger in exposed vessels and featured a necrotic core overlaid by a thinned ﬁ brous cap and macrophage in ﬁ ltration, consistent with a vulnerable phenotype. Collectively, our data indicate that cigarette smoking decreases the mechanical functionality of the aorta, in ﬂ icts morphometric alterations to distinct segments of the aorta, and accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We studied the effects of chronic cigarette smoking on the structure and function of the aorta in a mouse model of nose-only aerosol inhalation. Our data indicated that exposure to cigarette smoke impairs vascular function by reducing the ability of the aorta to store elastic energy and by decreasing aortic distensibility. Combined with a more vulnerable atherosclerotic phenotype, these ﬁ ndings reveal the biomechanical mechanisms that support the development of cardiovascular disease due to cigarette smoking. for mouse cigarette exposures. Valley assisted in longitudinal hemody- namic measurements.
Phytochemicals and biological activities of Tetrapleura tetraptera seed extracts

Tetrapleura tetraptera, also known commonly as Prekese or Aidan fruit in Ghana and Nigeria, respectively, is noted for its use in herbal preparations. The fruit in particular is employed as an ingredient in traditional medicine and as a spice across West-Africa. The seed, which forms part of the fruit, is discarded together with the spent fruit. This study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical composition as well as the biological activity of the hexane and ethanol extracts of the prekese seed. Our investigation revealed that the extracts contained valuable secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and glycosides. All extracts exhibited mild to good levels of antimicrobial activity against the tested microorganisms. The ethanol extract had a better biological activity compared to the hexane extract. The biological activities of both the hexane and ethanol extracts were lower compared to those of ciprofloxacin and ketoconazole.
Puppy parties and beyond: the role of early age socialization practices on adult dog behavior

: The most common role of a domestic dog in the developed world currently is that of companion. Puppy socialization practices play a large role in the development of well-adjusted adult dogs that display few undesirable behaviors, and which can establish a positive, lifelong relationship with their owner. Age-appropriate socialization practices should begin within a few days of birth, and should extend well into adulthood. These practices should aim to provide exposure to many of the types of experiences, people, and objects that the dog is likely to encounter over the course of its life, in a controlled and pleasant way. Dogs that are appropriately socialized as puppies are less likely to exhibit behavioral problems as adults, including aggression and fearfulness. They are more likely to engage in positive social behaviors with humans, and can learn how to play games with humans better than dogs without proper socialization. However, the evidence in support of puppy socialization classes is less clear. There is some evidence that puppy classes positively impact adult behavior, but other studies show no clear benefit. Since socialization should begin early in a puppy’s life, it is the responsibility of the breeder and the owner. Breeders can ensure that puppies are exposed to age-appropriate experiences while in the litter, and owners must ensure that the dog continues to have varied experiences throughout its life. Veterinarians are also an important part of this process, and are heavily relied upon by owners to provide information about health and behavior. Since veterinarians often see puppies during vaccinations, owners can be educated about proper socialization practices at those visits. Future research should aim to determine the minimum amounts of socialization required for a puppy, and whether there is a maximum amount, beyond which there is no benefit, or even a disadvantage.