Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analyzing an Appropriate Blend of Face-to-Face, Offline and Online Learning Approaches for the In-Service Vocational Teacher’s Training Program

Blended learning approaches are considered as the most viable for the delivery of training to remote areas and accessing learners at a mass level. Blended learning is a combination of different learning approaches to facilitate the learners’ needs. The National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) conducted an in-service vocational teachers’ training program through blended learning approaches in Pakistan. This study aimed to find the appropriate blend of face-to-face, online, and offline learning approaches for the training of in-service teachers in Pakistan. A mixed methods research approach was adopted. A survey collected data from 781 in-service vocational teachers who participated in training programs through blended learning approaches. The ANOVA test was applied to find the difference of the training participants’ attitude toward different modes of learning. It was found that trainees had more positive attitude toward a face-to-face learning approach than online and the online learning approach than offline learning. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with training participants, admission and placement officers, and principals. They also endorsed that face-to-face learning approaches must be given more weight than online, and the online approach should have more weight than the offline approach. This study has practical implications for technical education and vocational training (TVET) institutes in developing countries such as Pakistan to design blended learning approaches for the training of in-service vocational teachers. Future research may be conducted on the effectiveness of in-service vocational education teachers through blended learning.
Sparse Processing for Driver Respiration Monitoring using In-Vehicle mmWave Radar

We investigate non-contact driver's breath-rate monitoring using a compact millimeter-wave (mmWave) in-vehicle radar. The small form-factor mmWave sensor allows deploying multiple antennas in space-constrained automotive applications while also improving the spatial resolution of the radar. We formulate the breathing rate extraction as a sparse and low-rank recovery problem. Our sparse spectral estimation approach then accurately extracts driver respiration rate from highly cluttered and noisy radar measurements. We validate our proposed approach through real-data collected from a 77 GHz TI AWR6843 radar sensor deployed in a driving simulator.
Selenium–Fascinating Microelement, Properties and Sources in Food

Selenium is a micronutrient that is essential for the proper functioning of all organisms. Studies on the functions of selenium are rapidly developing. This element is a cofactor of many enzymes, for example, glutathione peroxidase or thioredoxin reductase. Insufficient supplementation of this element results in the increased risk of developing many chronic degenerative diseases. Selenium is important for the protection against oxidative stress, demonstrating the highest activity as a free radical scavenger and anti-cancer agent. In food, it is present in organic forms, as exemplified by selenomethionine and selenocysteine. In dietary supplementation, the inorganic forms of selenium (selenite and selenate) are used. Organic compounds are more easily absorbed by human organisms in comparison with inorganic compounds. Currently, selenium is considered an essential trace element of fundamental importance for human health. Extreme selenium deficiencies are widespread among people all over the world. Therefore, it is essential to supplement the deficiency of this micronutrient with selenium-enriched food or yeast cell biomass in the diet.
Placental OLAH Levels Are Altered in Fetal Growth Restriction, Preeclampsia and Models of Placental Dysfunction

Previously, we identified elevated transcripts for the gene Oleoyl-ACP Hydrolase (OLAH) in the maternal circulation of pregnancies complicated by preterm fetal growth restriction. As placental dysfunction is central to the pathogenesis of both fetal growth restriction and preeclampsia, we aimed to investigate OLAH levels and function in the human placenta. We assessed OLAH mRNA expression (qPCR) throughout pregnancy, finding placental expression increased as gestation progressed. OLAH mRNA and protein levels (Western blot) were elevated in placental tissue from cases of preterm preeclampsia, while OLAH protein levels in placenta from growth-restricted pregnancies were comparatively reduced in the preeclamptic cohort. OLAH expression was also elevated in placental explant tissue, but not isolated primary cytotrophoblast cultured under hypoxic conditions (as models of placental dysfunction). Further, we discovered that silencing cytotrophoblast OLAH reduced the expression of pro- and anti-apoptosis genes, BAX and BCL2, placental growth gene, IGF2, and oxidative stress gene, NOX4. Collectively, these findings suggest OLAH could play a role in placental dysfunction and may be a therapeutic target for mitigating diseases associated with this vital organ. Further research is required to establish the role of OLAH in the placenta, and whether these changes may be a maternal adaptation or consequence of disease.
Shear stress and oxygen availability drive differential changes in opossum kidney proximal tubule cell metabolism and endocytosis

Kidney proximal tubule (PT) cells have high‐metabolic demands to drive the extraordinary ion and solute transport, water reabsorption, and endocytic uptake that occur in this nephron segment. Increases in renal blood flow alter glomerular filtration rate and lead to rapid mechanosensitive adaptations in PT transport, impacting metabolic demand. Although the PT reabsorbs essentially all of the filtered glucose, PT cells rely primarily on oxidative metabolism rather than glycolysis to meet their energy demands. We lack an understanding of how PT functions are impacted by changes in O2 availability via cortical capillaries and mechanosensitive signaling in response to alterations in luminal flow. Previously, we found that opossum kidney (OK) cells recapitulate key features of PT cells in vivo, including enhanced endocytic uptake and ion transport, when exposed to mechanical stimulation by culture on an orbital shaker. We hypothesized that increased oxygenation resulting from orbital shaking also contributes to this more physiologic phenotype. RNA seq of OK cells maintained under static conditions or exposed to orbital shaking for up to 96 hours showed significant time‐ and culture‐dependent changes in gene expression. Transcriptional and metabolomics data were consistent with a decrease in glycolytic flux and with an increased utilization of aerobic metabolic pathways in cells exposed to orbital shaking. Moreover, we found spatial differences in the pattern of mitogenesis vs development of ion transport and endocytic capacities in our culture system that highlight the complexity of O2‐dependent and mechanosensitive crosstalk to regulate PT cell function.
Synthesis of 4-Hydroxyquinolines as Potential Cytotoxic Agents

The synthesis of alkyl 2-(4-hydroxyquinolin-2-yl) acetates and 1-phenyl-4-(phenylamino)pyridine-2,6(1H,3H)-dione was optimised. Starting from 4-hydroxyquinolines (4HQs), aminomethylation was carried out via the modified Mannich reaction (mMr) applying formaldehyde and piperidine, but a second paraformaldehyde molecule was incorporated into the Mannich product. The reaction also afforded the formation of bisquinoline derivatives. A new 1H-azeto [1,2-a]quinoline derivative was synthesised in two different ways; namely starting from the aminomethylated product or from the ester-hydrolysed 4HQ. When the aldehyde component was replaced with aromatic aldehydes, Knoevenagel condensation took place affording the formation of the corresponding benzylidene derivatives, with the concomitant generation of bisquinolines. The reactivity of salicylaldehyde and hydroxynaphthaldehydes was tested; under these conditions, partially saturated lactones were formed through spontaneous ring closure. The activity of the derivatives was assessed using doxorubicin-sensitive and -resistant colon adenocarcinoma cell lines and normal human fibroblasts. Some derivatives possessed selective toxicity towards resistant cancer cells compared to doxorubicin-sensitive cancer cells and normal fibroblasts. Cytotoxic activity of the benzylidene derivatives and the corresponding Hammett–Brown substituent were correlated.
Noncommutative Generalization of Wilson Lines

A classical Wilson line is a correspondence between closed paths and elements of a gauge group. However the noncommutative geometry does not have closed paths. But noncommutative geometry have good generalizations of both: the covering projection, and the group of covering transformations. These notions are used for a construction of noncommutative Wilson lines. Wilson lines can also be constructed as global pure gauge fields on the universal covering space. The noncommutative analog of this construction is also developed.
Sublingual sufentanil tablet system for postoperative analgesia after gynecological surgery.

BACKGROUND Gynecological procedures are among the most frequent surgical interventions, and effective postoperative analgesia is associated with improved patient comfort. Despite the efficacy of neuraxial analgesia, limitations and potential complications have led to seek new strategies for pain relief. A novel, pre-programmed, non-invasive, hand-held system (Sufentanil Sublingual Tablet System [SSTS]) displayed good results in the orthopedic setting. However, it has never been applied in gynecological procedures. METHODS This retrospective observational case series evaluates receiving SSTS for postoperative analgesia. Data from 42 consecutive patients undergoing open gynecological surgery with Pfannenstiel incision were retrieved from medical charts in two Italian hospitals. RESULTS The mean age was 49±11 years, and mean BMI was 24.4±4.6 kg/m2. We reported effective relief on both static and dynamic pain all along the perioperative period, with good effect on patient's rehabilitation. Postoperative nausea and vomiting is the most common adverse effect, but the incidence was strongly decreased with medical prophylaxis. SSTS was easy to prepare, use and manage by both patients and care providers. CONCLUSIONS SSTS may be an interesting option for postoperative analgesia in gynecologic procedures. The efficacy in the management of dynamic pain is an interesting outcome that needs to be compared with the other standards of pain management, such as neuraxial techniques. Rigorous studies are required to give conclusive evidence, but this is the first report, to our knowledge, of SSTS use in open gynecologic procedures. Our preliminary experience encourages the routine application of SSTS in gynecologic surgery and will help designing future randomized controlled trials on the topic.
Transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer: it’s come a long way and here to stay

Transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) was introduced as a novel technique to deal with rectal cancers. Its transanal approach offered the shortest distance to approach a challenging location, allowing an excellent visualization of the distal resection margin. Since its introduction in 2010, a significant amount of research has been put in to measure its development. In this review, we look at its ancestry, the genesis for its introduction and continued evolution as well as some of the important outcomes in its journey thus far. The importance of a structured and proctored learning journey is also stressed to enable the safe application and development of this technique. Beyond this, the TaTME movement has progressed relentlessly and its utility has been expanded to the management of benign conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, Hartman reversals, and anastomotic strictures. We believe that the continued development and adoption of TaTME worldwide is here to stay.
Atores, território e políticas públicas: notas iniciais sobre a criação da Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia

Esta Nota de Pesquisa tem como objetivo central apresentar os resultados preliminares de uma pesquisa científica em curso que investiga as bases político-institucionais de criação das “novíssimas” universidades federais brasileiras. Uma delas é a Universidade Federal do Sul da Bahia (UFSB), onde a participação de diferentes atores sociais no processo de implementação da política pública que estruturou esta universidade foi essencial para a regionalização de sua estrutura institucional, pedagógica e administrativa. No âmbito da pesquisa qualitativa, foi eleito o estudo de caso como ferramenta metodológica mais adequada, e a Triangulação de Dados e Arena de Atores como técnicas analíticas. Por se tratar de uma pesquisa em andamento, os achados orientam as primeiras conclusões rumo à identificação de que a atuação sociocêntrica foi determinante para que a UFSB assumisse o compromisso com as necessidades e potencialidades locais como princípio para o estabelecimento de suas ações de ensino, pesquisa, extensão e cultura.
Planification de trajectoire et commande pour les robots mobiles non-holonomes

Ce travail propose de nouvelles strategies pour la planification et le controle des robots mobiles non-holonomes, de nouveaux algorithmes sont proposes. Tout d'abord, l'identification des differents modeles cinematiques de robot mobiles est discutee, et le probleme est formule comme l'identification en temps reel du signal de commutation d'un systeme singulier non-lineaire et a commutation. Deuxiemement, sur la base du modele identifie, un algorithme de planification locale est propose, et le contour irregulier de l' obstacle est represente par des segments. La trajectoire est obtenue en resolvant un probleme de commande optimale avec contraintes. Troisiemement, nous appliquons un controleur i-PID pour controler le robot mobile non-holonome avec la perturbation dans les mesures. Un parametre de commutation α est propose en raison de la particularite du systeme non-holonome. En plus de notre algorithme de planification propose, une autre approche de planification en utilisant de champs de potentiels est proposee. La nouvelle fonction de champ de potentiel est en mesure de resoudre les problemes de minima locaux et de produire des forces lisses pour eviter les oscillations. Enfin, une approche de planification cooperative entre robots est proposee en utilisant les informations locales partagees par chaque robot. Le graphe de visibilite est utilise pour generer une serie d'objectifs intermediaires qui assureront aux robots d’atteindre l'objectif final, et un algorithme est propose pour etendre les obstacles et fusionner les obstacles lorsque deux obstacles s'entrecroisent
Constraints associated with cognitive control and the stability-flexibility dilemma

One of the most compelling characteristics of controlled processing is our limitation to exercise it. Theories of control allocation account for such limitations by assuming a cost of control that constrains how much cognitive control is allocated to a task. However, this leaves open the question of why such a cost would exist in the first place. Here, we use neural network simulations to test the hypothesis that constraints on cognitive control may reflect an optimal solution to the stabilityflexibility dilemma: allocating more control to a task results in greater activation of its neural representation but also in greater persistence of this activity upon switching to a new task, yielding switch costs. We demonstrate that constraints on control impair performance of any given task but reduce performance costs associated with task switches. Critically, we show that optimal control constraints are higher in environments with a higher probability of task switches.
General Factor of Personality and Its Relationship with the Dark Triad and Social Intelligence in Slovenian Adolescents

The general factor of personality (GFP) represents the shared variance between personality traits that yield social adjustment and acts as a core personality disposition. In the present study, the existence of GFP in a sample of 249 Slovenian adolescents aged 15–19 years was investigated, and the relationship between GFP, the Dark Triad, and social intelligence was researched. The study used three self-report questionnaires to measure the Big Five, the Dark Triad, and three dimensions of social intelligence. It was found that, in adolescents, GFP exists (although in a somewhat different composition than in previous studies) and is negatively correlated with Machiavellianism and psychopathy and positively correlated with social skills and social awareness. GFP acts as a significant positive predictor of all social intelligence dimensions, and Machiavellianism acts as a significant positive predictor of social information processing and social skills. It can be concluded that GFP and, to a certain extent, perhaps some manipulative tendencies positively predict how an individual functions in society. With these findings, the study contributes to the understanding of the (hierarchical) structure of personality and its association with behavior in social interactions, which is one of the most important developmental tasks in adolescence.
Axin2/Conductin Is Required for Normal Haematopoiesis and T Lymphopoiesis

The development of T lymphocytes in the thymus and their stem cell precursors in the bone marrow is controlled by Wnt signaling in strictly regulated, cell-type specific dosages. In this study, we investigated levels of canonical Wnt signaling during hematopoiesis and T cell development within the Axin2-mTurquoise2 reporter. We demonstrate active Wnt signaling in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and early thymocytes, but also in more mature thymic subsets and peripheral T lymphocytes. Thymic epithelial cells displayed particularly high Wnt signaling, suggesting an interesting crosstalk between thymocytes and thymic epithelial cells (TECs). Additionally, reporter mice allowed us to investigate the loss of Axin2 function, demonstrating decreased HSC repopulation upon transplantation and the partial arrest of early thymocyte development in Axin2Tg/Tg full mutant mice. Mechanistically, loss of Axin2 leads to supraphysiological Wnt levels that disrupt HSC differentiation and thymocyte development.
Investigating the Feasibility of Assessing Depression Severity and Valence-Arousal with Wearable Sensors Using Discrete Wavelet Transforms and Machine Learning

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders, affecting approximately 280 million people worldwide. This condition is defined as emotional dysregulation resulting in persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest and inability to experience pleasure. Early detection can facilitate timely intervention in the form of psychological therapy and/or medication. With the widespread public adoption of wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, it is becoming increasingly possible to gain insights relating the mental states of individuals in an unobtrusive manner within free-living conditions. This work presents a machine learning (ML) approach that utilizes retrospectively collected data-derived consumer-grade wearables for passive detection of depression severity. The experiments conducted in this work reveal that multimodal analysis of physiological signals in terms of their discrete wavelet transform (DWT) features exhibit considerably better performance than unimodal scenarios. Additionally, we conduct experiments to view the impact of severity on emotional valence-arousal detection. We believe that our work has implications towards guiding development in the domain of multimodal wearable-based screening of mental health disorders and necessitates appropriate treatment interventions.
Monitoring the Influence of Industrialization and Urbanization on Spatiotemporal Variations of AQI and PM2.5 in Three Provinces, China

With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, atmospheric pollution research is vital for regional sustainable development and related policies formulated by the government. Previous studies have mainly studied a single evaluation method to analyze the air quality index (AQI) or single air pollutant. This research integrated the Spearman coefficient (SC) correlation analysis, a random search (RS) algorithm and an excellent extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm to evaluate the air pollution influence of industrialization and urbanization (APIIU). Industrialization, urbanization and meteorological indicators were used to measure the influence degree of APIIU on AQI and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), respectively. The main findings were: (1) the APIIU-AQI and APIIU-PM2.5 of Henan Province, Hubei Province and Hunan Province had significant changes from 2017 to 2019; (2) the value of square of determination coefficient of real value (R2), the root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of APIIU-AQI and APIIU-PM2.5 in three provinces predicted by the SC-RS-XGBoost were 0.945, 0.103, 4.25% and 0.897, 0.205, 4.84%, respectively; (3) the predicted results were more accurate than using a SC-XGBoost, RS-XGBoost, traditional XGBoost, support vector regression (SVR) and extreme learning machine (ELM).
Variation of Bio-Morphometric Traits and Antioxidant Compounds of Brassica oleracea L. Accessions in Relation to Drought Stress

Drought tolerance of Brassica crops can be genetically improved by establishing plant ideotypes with improved yield responses associated with agronomic traits and biochemical markers. The objective of this study was to compare 20 Brassica oleracea L. accessions grown under two different water treatments (100% and 35% reintegration of evapotranspiration by irrigation) to select potential tolerant genotypes for organic cultivation based on several agronomic and biochemical parameters measured in response to drought stress. Significant differences were registered for the genotype and the irrigation regime and for their interaction (p < 0.0001 ***). A principal component analysis was performed to summarize the correlations among the analyzed phytochemicals and the stressed and not stressed genotypes and highlighted the importance of the antioxidant compounds as stress biomarkers. The present results showed that drought significantly reduces growth parameters and increases the amount of ascorbic acid and polyphenols compared to the irrigated control. Additionally, the results show that antioxidant metabolism increased by drought in some genotypes while others maintained a good biomass production by increasing the value of growth parameters considered. Based on the average sum of ranks (ASR) of morpho-physiological and biochemical parameters, the genotypes CR, CC, and BH were determined to be the most drought tolerant, whereas CI5, BU, and CV1 were determined to be the most susceptible. Due to the potential of these genotypes, further molecular and cellular research will be carried out to identify the genetic marker associated with the water stress response.