Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors Associated with Coping Strategies Due to COVID-19 Pandemic-related Stressors among Omani Adults

Objectives We sought to examine stressors and coping strategies adopted by Omani adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and explore the relationships between coping strategies (avoidant and approach coping) and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods This national cross-sectional survey was conducted throughout Oman between September and December 2020. An online questionnaire was distributed to collect information concerning sociodemographic characteristics, potential stressors experienced during the pandemic, and coping strategies. Results A total of 790 Omani adults submitted completed questionnaires (response rate 88.4%). High, moderate, and low stress were reported by 492 (62.3%), 139 (17.6%), and 159 (20.1%) participants, respectively. Approach coping mechanisms received a higher mean score than avoidant mechanisms (22.01±6.55 vs. 8.88±4.80). Regarding specific coping strategies, planning had the highest mean score (5.15±1.31), followed by acceptance (4.95±1.34), religion (4.56±1.52), and positive reframing (4.28±1.89), while substance use (0.01±0.19) was the least reported followed by humor (0.86±1.43), denial (0.97±1.56), and behavioral disengagement (1.02±1.60). Associations were observed between the different coping strategies and participants’ gender, age, marital status, exercise level, and stress level (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions During a large-scale pandemic, the psychological impact on the general population is significant, even among individuals not infected with the disease. These results underscore the need for a mental health support system in Oman that can address the general population’s needs. Public education on coping strategies and stress management may be helpful.
Antimicrobial Activity Enhancers: Towards Smart Delivery of Antimicrobial Agents

The development of effective treatments against infectious diseases is an extensive and ongoing process due to the rapid adaptation of bacteria to antibiotic-based therapies. However, appropriately designed activity enhancers, including antibiotic delivery systems, can increase the effectiveness of current antibiotics, overcoming antimicrobial resistance and decreasing the chance of contributing to further bacterial resistance. The activity/delivery enhancers improve drug absorption, allow targeted antibiotic delivery, improve their tissue and biofilm penetration and reduce side effects. This review provides insights into various antibiotic activity enhancers, including polymer, lipid, and silver-based systems, designed to reduce the adverse effects of antibiotics and improve formulation stability and efficacy against multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Large‐area monoPoly solar cells on 110 μm thin c–Si wafers with a rear n+poly‐Si/SiOx stack deposited by inline plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition

We present an overview of SERIS' monoPoly technology on screen‐printed, M2‐size (244.4 cm2) n‐type bifacial silicon solar cells with a rear n+:poly‐Si/SiOx passivating contact stack, where the SiOx and n+:poly‐Si layers are fabricated by single‐side inline plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). We demonstrate the application of these stacks on thin (~110 μm) silicon wafers, giving an excellent open‐circuit voltage of 707 mV and an externally verified cell efficiency of 23.2% using commercial screen‐printed and fire‐through metal pastes. A detailed power analysis is presented, with a breakdown of the voltage and current losses. Finally, we share the progress on standard wafers with an efficiency of 23.8% achieved and present the outlook for this technology with a selective passivating contact stack at the front and a full‐area passivating contact stack at the rear.
Enhancement in Charge Carrier Mobility by Using Furan as Spacer in Thieno[3,2-b]Pyrrole and Alkylated-Diketopyrrolopyrrole Based Conjugated Copolymers

The structural alteration of semiconducting polymer backbones can improve the optoelectronic properties of organic semiconductors and enhance field-effect mobilities. In our efforts towards improving the performance of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), we are reporting a donor–acceptor polymer containing thieno[3,2-b]pyrrole (TP) donor and a furan-flanked diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) electron acceptor, which yielded an asymmetric poly(methylthienopyrrolo)furanyl)diketopyrrolopyrrol) P(FDPP-TP) organic semiconducting polymer. The introduction of a furan spacer improved thermally induced crystallinity and molecular packing, as confirmed by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (XRD) and tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (TMAFM). The tested OFET devices gave maximum hole mobility of 0.42 cm2 V−1 s−1 with threshold voltages around 0 V for bottom-gate bottom-contact device configuration.
DIRECT FEEDBACK LINEARIZATION METHOD FOR DESIGNING SSSC NONLINEAR CONTROL LAW

The three-order dynamic model of the Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) is set up, in which the dynamic regulating process of the voltage magnitude and angle in the ac side of the inverter in the SSSC and the dynamic changing character of the capacitance voltage in the dc side of the SSSC are considered. The nonlinear controller of the SSSC collaborated with the excitation system of generators is designed according to the direct feedback linearization(DFL) theory. The controller has stronger robustness because of using the dynamic feedback compensation strategy. The simulation model of the controller is built based on the MATLAB SINMULINK and the programming technique of its S-Function,the transient process of simple systems with the SSSC and the dynamic regulating process of line active power are simulated. The digital simulation verifiesd that the controller can effectively control the line active power and obviously enhance the system transient stability.
Cardiotoxicity assessment of 31 herbal formulae by activity of hERG potassium channel in HEK 293 cells

Objectives: Drug-induced blockade of the human ether-à-go-go related gene (hERG) potassium ion channel causes acquired long QT syndrome, which is known to cause cardiac arrhythmias and be fatal. To establish safety evidence of herbal formulae, we evaluated the effects of 31 herbal formulae on hERG channel activity.Methods: The current through hERG channel was measured by changing the membrane voltage before and after treatment with 31 herbal formulae in HEK 293 cell overexpressing hERG channel using a whole-cell patch clamp system. The current-voltage curves and the activity curves were fitted, and the hERG activity and 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) according to each herbal formula were calculated.Results: Chokyungjongok-tang, Oncheong-eum, and Cheongsangbangpung-tang strongly inhibited the hERG activity, with IC50 values of 67.67, 141.2, and 296.3 μg/mL, respectively. Yeonkyopaedok-san, Eunkyo-san, Ukgan-san gajinphibanha, Daegunjoong-tang (except Oryzae gluten), Insamyangyoung-tang, Banhahubak-tang, SokyungHwalhyul-tang, Jodeung-san, Hyeonggaeyeongyo-tang, and Bangkeehwangkee-tang weakly inhibited hERG activity, with IC50 values ranging from 400 to 1000 μg/mL. The other 18 herbal formulae showed very weak hERG activity inhibition of less than 50% at the highest concentration (1000 μg/mL). Conclusion: This study provided safety information on cardiotoxicity by cardiac arrhythmia risk assessment of herbal formulae, and is expected to be a reference data for predicting the safety and risk of herbal formulae.
Microstructural evolution, metallurgical reactions, and the mechanical properties of pure titanium and carbon steel sheets bonded via hot-roll diffusion with a nickel interlayer

ABSTRACT This study investigated the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of titanium-carbon steel bi-metallic composite sheets fabricated via hot-rolling diffusion with a nickel interlayer at temperatures of 800, 850, or 900°C. Scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed layers of NiTi2, NiTi, and Ni3Ti phases at the Ti-Ni interface. We also observed interfacial σ + β Ti and β-Ti phases. Note that the carbon steel-Ni interface revealed no reaction layers or intermetallic compounds under any of the processing temperatures. The highest shear strength (∼470 MPa) was obtained at a processing temperature of 850°C. The highest peel strength (∼21 N/mm) was obtained at a processing temperature of 900°C. Lower bonding temperatures were shown to reduce bond strength by hindering atomic diffusion, whereas higher bonding temperatures led to the formation of excessive intermetallic compounds. Both conditions resulted in joint failure at the Ti-Ni interface and extensive cleavage planes with various alignments on fracture surfaces. Overall, a hot-rolling temperature of 850°C provided the optimal tradeoff between interfacial bonding strength and ductility.
T-Drive: Enhancing Driving Directions with Taxi Drivers' Intelligence

GPS-equipped taxis uses the sensor device to detect the road surface, and taxi drivers are usually experienced with finding the fastest route to reach the destination based on their knowledge. This takes much time and rough routes are generated. In this paper, we process the smart driving directions from the historical dataset collected from large number of taxis. In our approach, we propose a time-dependent landmark graph, where the landmark is denoted as node is a road segment frequently traversed by taxis, to model the intelligence of taxi drivers. We have used a Variance-Entropy-Based Clustering approach to estimate the distribution of travel time between source and destination in different time slots. We also calculate the distance taken to travel the location. Based on this, we design a two-stage routing algorithm to compute the practically fastest route. We build our project based on a real-world trajectory dataset generated by over 33,000 taxis in a period of 3 months and evaluate the system by conducting both synthetic experiments and in-the-field evaluations. As a result, 60-70% of the routes suggested by our method are faster than the competing methods, and 20% of the routes share the same results. On average, 50% of our routes are at least 20% faster than the competing approaches.
A Review of Environmentally Friendly Approaches in Fire Extinguishing: From Chemical Sciences to Innovations in Electrical Engineering

After the invention of fire, the fight against fire probably started, and it has been going on for thousands of years. During this time, the aim has always been to extinguish the fire as soon as possible and to produce fire-resistant materials. Symmetry plays an important role in reducing problems, as it is a common feature of modern life. Multidimensional signal processing has many applications, an example of which is the use of appropriately timed acoustic waves to extinguish flames. This article provides a brief review of issues related to the use of acoustic waves for flame suppression based on studies in the literature. In addition, measurement results available in the literature obtained using a high-power acoustic extinguisher are discussed as a review of the scientific literature. Furthermore, we provide the latest information on the situation of flame retardants, including the latest innovations in basic sciences. In this sense, from intrinsically fire-resistant materials to flame-retardant additives and nanocomposites, new processes and applications are briefly mentioned.
Impact of German Students’ Digital Readiness for Online- Learning on Factors of Challenges and Mediating Role of German Teachers’ Support at Foreign Languages Universities in Myanmar during COVID- 19 Pandemic: Perspectives from Developing Country

The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between German students’ digital readiness for online learning, their challenges and the support of German teachers at Foreign Languages Universities in Myanmar. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted educational institutions across the world. In Myanmar, all the learning methods shifted to online instruction. However, there are a limited number of factors that influence students’ online learning. Some of these include digital readiness and support from teachers. In addition, several challenges exist regarding their educational backgrounds. The data for this research were collected through conducting in-depth interviews with German teachers (n=10) and surveys of German students (n=112). This study took an exploratory mixed-method design. In qualitative analysis, the constructivist grounded theory method is used for data collection and the data analysis is also described and justified by Charmaz (2014) as a general guide. In the quantitative analysis, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics through SPSS 27.0. Findings reveal that German students faced a limited number of challenges and the level of German student’s digital readiness and teachers’ support positively impacted on these factors of challenges for online learning during Covid-19 pandemic. The data analyzed showed that each of their challenges varied according to their perceptions and readiness to technology integration. To sum up, this research offers factors of challenges which significantly correlate with digital readiness and teachers’ support during the corona-crisis in developing country.
Improvement of Anchorage Performance of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Cables

Prestressed concrete composed of steel materials is increasingly used in various social infrastructures, such as bridges (cables), nuclear containment structures, liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks, and structural reinforcements. This study aimed to substitute the steel in bridge cables with fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) to prevent the damage caused by the performance degradation of corroded prestressed steel. An optimized single-anchorage system was derived by applying multiple variables, such as the surface treatment, number of insert layers, and sleeve processing companies, to improve the maximum load and bonding with the anchorage system sleeve using the carbon FRP (CFRP) cable. The B-L-4 specimen (sleeve specifications of company B, longitudinal surface treatment, and four insert layers) was determined to be the optimized single-anchorage system. When the tensile test was conducted after applying the optimized single-anchorage system to the three- and seven-multi-anchorage systems, the tensile performances of B-L-4 were 100 and 95% of the one-multi-anchorage system, respectively. Considering that the problems associated with the construction of three- and seven-multi-anchorage systems have been addressed, these systems can be applied to actual bridges in the future, and can significantly benefit their maintenance.
Child Anthropometrics and Neurodevelopment at 2 and 3 Years of Age Following an Antenatal Lifestyle Intervention in Routine Care—A Secondary Analysis from the Cluster-Randomised GeliS Trial

Maternal characteristics around pregnancy may influence obesity risk and neurodevelopment in children. To date, the effect of antenatal lifestyle interventions on long-term child development is unclear. The objective was to investigate the potential long-term effects of an antenatal lifestyle intervention programme conducted alongside routine care on child anthropometrics and neurodevelopment up to 3 years of age. Mother-child pairs from the cluster-randomised GeliS trial were followed up to 3 years of age. Data on child anthropometrics in both groups were collected from routine health examinations. Neurodevelopment was assessed via questionnaire. Of the 2286 study participants, 1644 mother-child pairs were included in the analysis. Children from the intervention group were less likely to score below the cut-off in Fine motor (p = 0.002), and more likely to have a score below the cut-off in Problem-solving (p < 0.001) compared to the control group at 3 years of age. Mean weight, height, head circumference, body mass index, and the respective z-scores and percentiles were comparable between the groups at 2 and 3 years of age. We found no evidence that the lifestyle intervention affected offspring development up to 3 years of age. Further innovative intervention approaches are required to improve child health in the long-term.
In Silico Drug Design of Benzothiadiazine Derivatives Interacting with Phospholipid Cell Membranes

The use of drugs derived from benzothiadiazine, a bicyclic heterocyclic benzene derivative, has become a widespread treatment for diseases such as hypertension, low blood sugar or the human immunodeficiency virus, among others. In this work we have investigated the interactions of benzothiadiazine and four of its derivatives designed in silico with model zwitterionic cell membranes formed by dioleoylphosphatidylcholine, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine and cholesterol at the liquid–crystal phase inside aqueous potassium chloride solution. We have elucidated the local structure of benzothiadiazine by means of microsecond molecular dynamics simulations of systems including a benzothiadiazine molecule or one of its derivatives. Such derivatives were obtained by the substitution of a single hydrogen site of benzothiadiazine by two different classes of chemical groups, one of them electron-donating groups (methyl and ethyl) and another one by electron-accepting groups (fluorine and trifluoromethyl). Our data have revealed that benzothiadiazine derivatives have a strong affinity to stay at the cell membrane interface although their solvation characteristics can vary significantly—they can be fully solvated by water in short periods of time or continuously attached to specific lipid sites during intervals of 10–70 ns. Furthermore, benzothiadiazines are able to bind lipids and cholesterol chains by means of single and double hydrogen-bonds of characteristic lengths between 1.6 and 2.1 Å.
Unraveling the Tropaeolum majus L. (Nasturtium) Root-Associated Bacterial Community in Search of Potential Biofertilizers

Although Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium) is an agriculturally and economically important plant, especially due to the presence of edible flowers and its medicinal properties, its microbiome is quite unexplored. Here, the structure of the total bacterial community associated with the rhizosphere, endosphere and bulk soil of T. majus was determined by 16S rRNA amplicon metagenomic sequencing. A decrease in diversity and richness from bulk soil to the rhizosphere and from the rhizosphere to the endosphere was observed in the alpha diversity analyses. The phylum Proteobacteria was the most dominant in the bacteriome of the three sites evaluated, whereas the genera Pseudomonas and Ralstonia showed a significantly higher relative abundance in the rhizosphere and endosphere communities, respectively. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (236 PGPB) were also isolated from the T. majus endosphere, and 76 strains belonging to 11 different genera, mostly Serratia, Raoultella and Klebsiella, showed positive results for at least four out of six plant growth-promoting tests performed. The selection of PGPB associated with T. majus can result in the development of a biofertilizer with activity against phytopathogens and capable of favoring the development of this important plant.
Amino Acid Complexes of Zirconium in a Carbon Composite for the Efficient Removal of Fluoride Ions from Water

Amino acid complexes of zirconia represent an entirely new class of materials that were synthesized and studied for the first time for the decontamination of fluoride ion containing aqueous solutions. Glutamic and aspartic acid complexes of zirconia assembled with thin carbon (stacked graphene oxide) platelets deriving from graphite oxide (GO) were synthesized by a two-step method to prepare adsorbents. The characterization of the complexes was carried out using infrared spectroscopy to determine the functional groups and the types of interaction between the composites and fluoride ions. To reveal the mechanisms and extent of adsorption, two types of batch adsorption measurements were performed: (i) varying equilibrium fluoride ion concentrations to construct adsorption isotherms at pH = 7 in the absence of added electrolytes and (ii) using fixed initial fluoride ion concentrations (10 mg/L) with a variation of either the pH or the concentration of a series of salts that potentially interfere with adsorption. The experimental adsorption isotherms were fitted by three different theoretical isotherm equations, and they are described most appropriately by the two-site Langmuir model for both adsorbents. The adsorption capacities of Zr-glutamic acid-graphite oxide and Zr-aspartic acid-graphite oxide are 105.3 and 101.0 mg/g, respectively. We found that two distinct binding modes are combined in the Zr-amino acid complexes: at low solution concentrations, F− ions are preferentially adsorbed by coordinating to the surface Zr species up to a capacity of ca. 10 mg/g. At higher concentrations, however, large amounts of fluoride ions may undergo anion exchange processes and physisorption may occur on the positively charged ammonium moieties of the interfacially bound amino acid molecules. The high adsorption capacity and affinity of the studied dicarboxylate-type amino acids demonstrate that amino acid complexes of zirconia are highly variable materials for the safe and efficient capture of strong Lewis base-type ions such as fluoride.
EXTREME VALUES OF THE RANKIN–SELBERG 
$\boldsymbol {L}$
 -FUNCTIONS

Abstract In this paper, we study the extreme values of the Rankin–Selberg L-functions associated with holomorphic cusp forms in the vertical direction. Assuming the generalised Riemann hypothesis (GRH), we prove that $$ \begin{align*} \underset{T^{\delta}\leq t\leq T}{\max}\bigg\lvert L\bigg(\frac12+it,f\times f\bigg)\bigg\rvert \geq\exp\bigg(C\sqrt{\frac{\log T\log\log\log T}{\log\log T}}\bigg) \end{align*} $$ with $C\leq \mathscr {X}\sqrt {1-\delta }$ , where $\mathscr {X}:=({2}/{\pi })\int _{0}^{\pi /3}\sin ^2\xi \,d\xi $ and $0\leq \delta <1$ .
Robust Control of Manipulators Using the Computed Torque plus H∞ Compensation Method

A new robust control scheme called the computed torque plus H∞ compensation method is developed to control a robotic manipulator with payload and actuator uncertainties. The method linearises and decouples the nonlinear and coupled dynamic equations of a manipulator by the computed torque approach. Then the remaining uncertainty is compensated by the H∞ control technique. In the H∞ control synthesis process the technique of internal weight is applied to select the proper weights. Simulation results indicate that the computed torque plus H∞ compensation method indeed exhibits better tracking performance than computed torque alone.