Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Political Interference and Bureaucratic Performance in Pakistan: A Perspective of Civil Servants

This study focuses on Pakistan's bureaucracy and tries to ascertain how political influence on Pakistan's civil service ultimately contributed to the institution's decline. The methods used in this research are entirely qualitative in nature, and it uses relative methodologies to get the desired results. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with current and former civil servants. Political influence has consistently harmed Pakistan's civil service, contributing to its current level of inefficiency. This study aims to find the extent of this connection between politics and Civil Services from the very start of the newborn state. To identify the problem, more literature has been added about the public sector in general and the Civil Service in particular. The research reveals that Political leaders and bureaucrats have certain connections, which is why the civil service is deteriorating over time. To make choices free from outside influence or interference, bureaucrats must be independent.
Arithmetic of Locally Linear Embedding and Its Application

Aiming at the problem of nonlinear dimensionality reduction, local linear embedding (LLE) algorithm was presented. The nonlinear structure in high dimensional data space was exploited with the local symmetries of linear reconstructions. The data points in high dimensional space were mapped into corresponding data points in lower dimensional space under preserving distance between data points. The process of LLE algorithm includes calculating, searching data points or border upon data points, creating data points and calculating right value matrix, and the lower dimensional vectors computed through right value matrix.
Robust Correlation Measures

It is well established that the standard measure of correlation (Pearson’s product-moment) is very sensitive to outliers. It can give extremely misleading results when a few or even a single outlier is present.A number of robust correlation measures have been proposed. We do not consider estimators which require trimming (discarding) of some arbitrary fraction of the data, nor those which require iterative computation. Our overall aim is to find a practical and simple robust measure of correlation which can be recommended to practitioners alongside the classic Pearson and Spearman measures.The well known data sets of Anscombe are used to provide an initial assessment of these estimators. These four data sets were designed to have identical Pearson correlation coefficients as well as identical regression lines and other regression statistics. Nevertheless, visual inspection of their scatter-graphs indicates very different patterns. For data set C, there is a perfect linear relationship for all but one of the data points; whereas for data set D, apart from one outlier, all points have the same x-value and so there is essentially no co-variation or interdependence between the variables. We prefer a robust correlation measure to have a near-zero value for set D, and a high value for set C, with the other two data sets giving an intermediate value.
Five Years Later: Continuing Disparity in the Geographic Density and Distribution of U.S. Dermatologists

Objectives: A discrepancy exists in the geographical distribution of dermatologists across the United States (US). The aim of this study was to reexamine the current geographical density of dermatologists to describe any changes compared to date from 5 and 12 years ago. Methods: Membership data from the 2021 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) database were retrieved to characterize the distribution of dermatologists in 3-digit zip code areas. Results: Out of 712 populated zip codes with dermatologists, 510 (71.6%) had less than 4 dermatologists per 100,000, as compared to 515 (72.3%) in 2016 (– 0.19% CAGR). The dermatologist density of the 100 most populated areas (M = 4.5 dermatologists per 100,000, SD = 3.3) and 100 least populated areas (M = 1.6 dermatologists per 100,000, SD = 6.2) were significantly different (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: This analysis provides continued trends to compare to previous studies performed in 2016 and 2009. The highest and lowest density areas were similar to results from previous studies. The results indicate an enduring and significant maldistribution of dermatologists in the US.
Screening-based Bregman divergence estimation with NP-dimensionality

: Feature screening via the marginal screening ([5]; [7]) has gained special attention for high dimensional regression problems. However, their results are conﬁned to the generalized linear model (GLM) with the exponential family of distributions. This inspires us to explore the suitability of applying screening procedures to more general models, for example without assuming either the explicit form of distributions or parametric forms between response and covariates. In this paper, we extend the marginal screening procedure, by means of Bregman divergence (BD) as the loss function, to include not only the GLM but also the quasi-likelihood model. A sure screening property for the resulting screening procedure is established under this very general framework, assuming only certain moment conditions and tail properties, where the dimensionality p n is allowed to grow with the sample size n as fast as log( p n ) = O ( n a ) for some a ∈ (0 , 1). Simulation and real data studies illustrate that a two-step procedure, which combines the feature screening in the ﬁrst step and a penalized-BD estimation in the second step, is practically applicable to identifying the set of relevant variables and achieving good estimation of model parameters, with the computational cost much less than those without using the screening step.
A gain-scheduled approach to fault-tolerant control for discrete-time stochastic delayed systems with randomly occurring actuator faults

This paper is concerned with the probability-dependent gain-scheduled fault-tolerant control problem for a class of discrete-time stochastic nonlinear delayed systems with randomly occurring actuator faults (ROAFs) by utilizing parameter-based Lyapunov functional. The occurrence of the possible actuator faults is modeled by a random sequence in terms of a time-varying Bernoulli distribution with measurable probability in real time. The nonlinear functions are assumed to satisfy the sector nonlinearities. The purpose of the addressed fault-tolerant control problem is to design a controller with scheduled gains such that, for the admissible ROAFs, nonlinearities, time delays and noises, the closed-loop system is exponentially mean-square stable while preserving a guaranteed H∞ performance. By using the semi-definite programme method, the time-varying fault-tolerant controller is derived which is dependent on the occurrence probability of the actuator faults. Therefore, the main results lead to less conservatism than those obtained by conventional methods with fixed controller gains only. A simulation example is exploited to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design procedures.
Is there any weakness in sports performance in volleyball athletes regarding the correlation between foot posture index and lower limb functional hopping performance?

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between 1RM calf raise, countermovement jump (CMJ), and functional hop performance with foot posture index (FPI). Methods: Twenty-six volleyball athletes were evaluated in this study. Foot posture index was evaluated with six-item criteria; talar head palpation, curves above and below the malleoli, calcaneus inversion/eversion, talonavicular congruence, medial longitudinal arch high, and forefoot abduction/adduction. Single hop, triple hop, crossover hop for distances, medial side triple hop, 90° medial rotation hop, single-leg vertical jump, 6m. timed hop, 1RM calf raise, and CMJ were measured in this study.Results: All measurements were tested on both right and left side. Significant differences were found in single hop (p = 0.016), triple hop (p = 0.005), medial side triple hop (p = 0.001), medial rotation hop (p = 0.020) in single leg vertical jump, and FPI for right and left sides (p < 0.001, p < 0.005). There were significant differences when comparing the limb symmetry indexes (LSI%) calculated from hop tests. When the correlations between FPI and hop tests were found significant, correlation and no significant correlations were found between left side and FPI. Conclusion: This study has shown that young female volleyball players may produce low hop performances due to the asymmetric structure relationship FPI scores. Level of Evidence IV; Therapeutics Studies; Cases Series.
To Study the Correlation of Clinical Severity and Cytokine Storm in COVID-19 Pulmonary Embolism Patients by Using Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) Qanadli Clot Burden Scoring System

Background: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a fatal form of venous thromboembolism (VTE), with an overall untreated mortality of up to 30%. Greater than 50% of patients with lower extremity proximal DVT have concurrent PE at presentation. VTE has been seen in up to one-third of patients with COVID-19 infections requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The objective of this study is to determine the correlation between CT pulmonary angiography, pulmonary embolism clot burden, and the Qanadli scoring system with clinically severe COVID-19 pneumonia and cytokine storm. Material and Method: 153 COVID-19 hospitalized patients who underwent CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for likely PE on pretest probability modified Wells criteria were enrolled. COVID-19 pneumonia was classified as URTI (upper respiratory tract infection), mild, severe, and critical COVID pneumonia. For data analysis, we categorized into two groups: (1) the non-severe group included URTI and mild pneumonia, and (2) the severe group included severe and critical pneumonia. We used the Qanadli scoring system to assess the PE percentages of pulmonary vascular obstruction using CTPA. Results: 41.8% (64) of COVID-19 patients were diagnosed with pulmonary embolism (PE) on CTPA. The majority of 51.6% of pulmonary vascular occlusions using the Qanadli scoring system for pulmonary embolism were at segmental arterial levels. Out of 104 COVID-19 cytokine storm patients, 45 (43%) were associated with pulmonary embolism. Overall, a 25% (16) mortality rate was observed in COVID-19 patients with pulmonary embolism. Discussion: The pathogenesis of hypercoagulability in COVID-19 may include direct endothelial cell invasion by the virus, microvascular inflammation, endothelial exocytosis, and endotheliitis. A meta-analysis of 71 studies to investigate the occurrence of PE on CTPA in COVID-19 patients found 48.6% in ICU settings and 65.3% of patients have clots in the peripheral pulmonary vasculature. Conclusions: There is a significant correlation between pulmonary embolism and high clot burden Qanadli CTPA scores, as well as between the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia and mortality. The association between critically ill COVID-19 pneumonia and pulmonary embolism may result in higher mortality and a poor prognostic marker.
Cubic spline interpolation for solving navigation stochastic differential model

We propose applying cubic spline function to approximate the probability density function of the state of a navigation system.The weak solution of navigation stochastic differential model is described by the Kolmogorov's forward equation which is difficult to be solved.This article approaches its solution through cubic spline interpolation functions to obtain a prior probability density function of the state,and then a posterior probability density function is gained through the Bayes formula.Thus,the most difficult problem in forming cubic spline interpolation is solved.By taking the underwater vehicle integrated navigation system as the background and performing the comparison analysis with the particle filter,the feasibility of solving navigation stochastic differential model by using the cubic spline interpolation is confirmed through simulation experiment.
Voiced Sound Endpoint Detection Based on Circular Autocorrelation Function

To enhance the accuracy and efficiency of endpoint detection,a detection method based on Circular Autocorrelation Function(CACF) is proposed.The method calculates CACF of the speech,defines the loss functions of state and state transforming with the values of CAF and the short-term energy,and decides the voiced endpoints with dynamic programming.Experimental results display several comparisons including that among detections using the traditional Autocorrelation Function(CAF),average magnitude difference function and the CACF,which demonstrate that CACF improves the accuracy and efficiency of endpoint detection and better resists the acoustic noise than the traditional energy and spectral entropy method.
Chromatically encoded high-speed photography of cavitation bubble dynamics inside inhomogeneous ophthalmic tissue

The interaction effect of photodisruption, which is used for dissection of biological tissue with fs-laser pulses, has been intensively studied inside water as prevalent sample medium. In this case, the single effect is highly reproducible and, hence, the method of time-resolved photography is sufficiently applicable. In contrast, the reproducibility significantly decreases analyzing more solid and anisotropic media like biological tissue. Therefore, a high-speed photographic approach is necessary in this case. The presented study introduces a novel technique for high-speed photography based on the principle of chromatic encoding. For illumination of the region of interest within the sample medium, the light paths of up to 12 LEDs with various emission wavelengths are overlaid via optical filters. Here, MOSFET-electronics provide a LED flash with a duration <100 ns; the diodes are externally triggered with a distinct delay for every LED. Furthermore, the different illumination wavelengths are chromatically separated again for detection via camera chip. Thus, the experimental setup enables the generation of a time-sequence of ≤ 12 images of a single cavitation bubble dynamics. In comparison to conventional time-resolved photography, images in sample media like water and HEMA show the significant advantages of this novel illumination technique. In conclusion, the results of this study are of great importance for the fundamental evaluation of the laser-tissue interaction inside anisotropic biological tissue and for the optimization of the surgical process with high-repetition rate fs-lasers. Additionally, this application is also suitable for the investigation of other microscopic, ultra-fast events in transparent inhomogeneous materials.
Improved clustering algorithm for mixture data sets

The k-prototypes algorithm has become popular technique in solving mixed numeric and categorical data clustering problems in different application domains.However,it requires random selection of initial points for the clusters.So it is obvious that outputs are especially sensitive to initial.Different initial points often lead to considerable distinct clustering results.The method of random se-lection is analysed and a method of searching initial starting points is proposed through grouping data sets.Experiments show that new initialization method leads to better accurate and scalable.
“You Asked, I Answered, Now What?”: A White Principal’s Struggle to Confront Race(ism) and Address Black Teacher Retention

After viewing a video about Black teachers’ experiences, Vince Matthews, a White male middle school principal, invited Black teachers to a listening session to learn about their school experiences. He was certain that it would be a short, pleasant meeting because he believed he did not have a racist bone in his body. Instead, four teachers shared stories that revealed patterns of racism within the school. Furthermore, they said they considered leaving the school. Principal Matthews was challenged by how to shift from color evasiveness to centering race in decision-making, move beyond listening to implementing racial equity through policy and practice, and facilitate uncomfortable conversations with White faculty.
Survival Rate, Total Antioxidant Capacity and Malondialdehyde in Drosophila melanogaster Exposed to Bronze Borne Soil Samples in Benin City, South-South Nigeria

Drosophila melanogaster serves as an important research model organism in the fields of genetics and developmental biology. Recent studies have indicated the use of Drosophila in a number of other studies such as metabolic, nanotoxicological and immunological studies. Rearing of fly in the laboratory condition is an important task to work with this organism. To maintain the growth and development of the flies where the components of the food play important roles, this is done by mixing the compounds with fly food in proper concentration. Drosophila used in various toxicological or metabolic studies often involve oral intake of various nanoparticles, pathogens and molecules to study metabolism. This present study aimed at investigating the survival rate, total antioxidants capacity and malondialdehyde levels in Drosophila melanogaster exposed to bronze borne soil sample. A comparative cross-sectional study was matched in the parameters, the work was carried out on bronze borne soil sample collected from various locations; Igun foundry site, environmental and University of Benin to check the total antioxidant and malondialdehyde level, the methods employed was Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Kinetic method (MDA/TBARS). Data were analysed using T test at 0.05 and were represented with the reference range. The result obtained showed that total antioxidant capacity was high in factory bronze soil sample compared to other soil samples which indicate high oxidative stress in Drosophila exposed to it. Total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde shows no significant variation and value. From the study it was observed that the level of total antioxidants capacity (marker for oxidative stress) was significantly higher and malondialdehyde (marker for lipid peroxidation) in Drosophila melanogaster was significantly lower when exposed to bronze borne soil sample. The survival rate of Drosophila melanogaster decreased with exposure to the concentration of bronze borne soil sample with high level of oxidative stress.
Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Aqueous Extract of Typha domingensis Pers. Pollen (qurraid) and Evaluate its Antibacterial Activity

In this study, the aqueous extract of (Typha domingensis Pers.) pollen grain (qurraid) to know its ability to manufacture silver nanoparticles. Qurraid is a semi-solid yellow food substance, sold in Basra markets and eaten by the local population. It is made from the pollen of the T. domingensis Pers. plant after being pressed and treated with water vapor. The Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) reaction was done to identify the active compounds of qurraid aqueous extract. The ability of the aqueous extract of qurraid to manufacture silver nanoparticles was tested, and the construction of silver nanoparticles was inferred by the reaction mixture's color, which ranged from yellow to dark brown. The synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were described by UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and EDX. Then its anti-bacterial activity was estimated by the agar well diffusion method. The findings of the GC-MS analysis of the qurraid aqueous extract showed the major components with their ratio were: 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural with RT% 13.6196, 3-Deoxy-d-mannoic lactone 6.4285,. alpha. -L-lyxo-Hexopyranoside, methyl 3-amino-2,3,6-trideoxy- 4.264, 4H-Pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl- 3.2078, and 1,3-Methylene-d-arabitol 3.1257. The construction of silver nanoparticles was described by spectroscopic methods, where the highest peak was recorded at 400nm by UV-Vis spectrum, which indicates the silver spectrum. The mineral nature of AgNPs was confirmed by XRD analysis, in which the highest peaks were, 111, 300, and 330 were recorded. In addition, the qrdAgNPs nanoparticles were spherical with sizes ranging from 20-70nm. The results of the EDX confirmed that the chemical composition of AgNPs was silver. The ability of the AgNPs was tested against four bacterial species, three of which were Gram-negative Escherichia coli A1, Escherichia coli A2, Alcaligenes faecalis AL1, and the fourth was Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus zanthoxyli B1 , which were identified by traditional and molecular methods using 16SrRNA gene sequencing, antibacterial activity results of AgNPs showed that it increases with increasing of AgNPs concentration, and the most sensitive species to silver particles was Alcaligenes faecalis AL1bacteria.
Intra‐Seasonal Variability in Sediment Provenance and Transport Processes in the Brahmaputra Basin

Sediment composition in modern fluvial settings is commonly assessed regarding spatial but rarely temporal variability, potentially leading to a bias of unknown extent. Here, we present the grain‐size distribution, bulk chemical and mineralogical composition of a time‐series set of 36 suspended sediment samples from the Brahmaputra river, as well as clay and heavy mineral analysis of selected samples. Sampling covers the June–November 2021 period, which included two major flooding events. We show that the two flooding events are characterized by contrasting grain size, with the first event characterized by a grain‐size minimum and the second by a grain‐size maximum. Although grain sizes of the first flood and the period after the second are similar, their compositions differ significantly, highlighted by a factor‐two decrease of biotite largely compensated by an increase in quartz. By contrast, the content of garnet, clinopyroxene, sillimanite, and rutile increased compared to epidote and amphibole during the second flood event. By relating the results to spatio‐temporal rainfall and discharge patterns and basin morphology, we conclude that the first flooding primarily mobilized hydraulically pre‐sorted sediments from the exposed sandbars of the floodplains, while those sandbars are already submerged during the second flooding in a single‐channel system, resulting in higher sediment contributions from highland tributaries draining igneous and high‐grade metamorphic rocks. Such temporal variations pose constraints on the interpretation of compositional differences between individual samples regarding sediment provenance and dispersal and should be considered in studies of modern drainage basins as well as ancient sediment routing systems.
Decentralized event-triggered resilient control for a class of networked control systems under denial-of-service attacks

This paper studies the problem of resilient dynamic output-feedback control schemes for continuous-time networked control systems (NCSs). A decentralized hybrid strategy is utilized while network imperfections, external disturbances, and noise are considered. Moreover, during data transmission, a practical denial-of-service (DoS) jamming attack, which periodically disturbs the network channels, is considered. To preserve the network resources, a decentralized event-triggered mechanism is employed to transmit only the sampled signals that are required. It is assumed that outputs and control inputs of each subsystem are transmitted to the corresponding decentralized controllers and actuators, respectively, over the different individual channels based on independent triggering mechanisms. At first, the NCS is modeled as a decentralized hybrid system with exogenous disturbance and noise. Then, sufficient conditions that guarantee the L 2 -stability of the NCS in the presence of external disturbances and noise, which is resilient to periodic DoS attacks, are provided in terms of the linear matrix inequalities. Finally, sufficient conditions are derived to deal with the time-varying delays. It has been demonstrated that the proposed technique can be effectively applied to a well-known continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) as a benchmark example.