Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Individual Variability in the Semantic Processing of English Compound Words

Semantic transparency effects during compound word recognition provide critical insight into the organization of semantic knowledge and the nature of semantic processing. The past 25 years of psycholinguistic research on compound semantic transparency has produced discrepant effects, leaving the existence and nature of its influence unresolved. In the present study, we examined the influence of semantic transparency and individual reading experience on eye-movement behavior during sentence reading. Eye-movement data were collected from 138 non–college-bound 16- to 26-year-old speakers of English in a sentence-reading task representing a total of 455 different compound words. Measures of individual differences in reading experience were collected from the same participants and consisted of standardized assessments of exposure to printed materials, vocabulary size, and word recognition skill. Statistical analyses revealed facilitatory effects of both Modifier-Compound and Head-Compound transparency throughout the eye-movement record. Moreover, the study reports interactions between Head-Compound transparency and measures of reading experience. Readers with a small amount exposure to printed materials and a limited vocabulary size exhibited slower processing in late eye-movement measures when reading highly transparent compounds relative to opaque compounds. The opposite effect was observed for readers with a relatively large amount of exposure to printed materials and a relatively larger vocabulary size, such that highly transparent compounds facilitated lexical processing. To account for the results, the authors posit a trade-off between 2 cognitive mechanisms, which is modulated by individual reading experience; that is, the benefit of semantic coactivation of closely related concepts, and the cost of discriminating between those concepts.
Determination of the Firing Temperature of Ancient Ceramics by Measurement of Thermal Expansion

THE thermal expansion method for determining firing temperatures1–3 is based on the assumption that, when clays are fired, shrinkage occurs as a result of various sintering processes such as vitrification. Consequently when a clay ceramic is heated up from room temperature (see Fig. 1) it typically exhibits a reversible expansion, characteristic of its mineralogical composition, until temperatures comparable with the original firing temperature are reached. With continued increase in temperature the ceramic begins to contract because superimposed on the reversible expansion there is an irreversible shrinkage associated with resumption of sintering (that is, the firing of the ceramic is being continued beyond the point reached during the original firing). The temperature (Ta) at which a net shrinkage is first observed should therefore provide an indication of the original firing temperature (Te) of the ceramic.
Effects of Dry-, Wet- and Freeze-grinding Pretreatment Methods on the Physicochemical Properties of Maitake Mushroom (Grifola frondosa) Superfine Powders

The dendritic caps and stipes of maitake mushrooms (Grifola frondosa) were pretreated by dry-, wet-, or freeze-grinding followed by jet milling to produce superfine powders. The effects of the pretreatment grinding conditions on the physicochemical properties of these powders were investigated. Compared to the dry and wet processes, the freeze-grinding pretreatment effectively reduced particle sizes (cap, 6.75 μm; stipe, 5.76 μm) and produced narrow and uniform particle size distributions. For cap or stipe, For the same material (cap or stipe), powders from the freeze-grinding pretreatment exhibited higher values of specific surface area, bulk density, water holding capacity, but worse color values than the dryand wet-ground powders. For the same grinding pretreatment method, cap powders exhibited higher values for the water solubility index and mobility than stipe powders. For the same environmental humidity, the Halsey model showed the best goodness-of-fit for the moisture sorption isotherms of the superfine powders.
Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

This article overviews the second phase of a two-phase study which examined experiences of health and social exclusion among mothers experiencing homelessness in Ontario, Canada. A critical discourse analysis was employed to analyze the policy document, Realizing Our Potential: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2014–2019. In nursing, analysis of policy is an emerging form of scholarship, one that draws attention to the macro levels influencing health and health promotion, such as the social determinants of health, and the policies that impact them. The clear neo-liberal underpinnings, within the strategy, with a focus on productivity and labor market participation leave little room for an understanding of poverty reduction from a human rights perspective. Further, gender-neutrality rendered the poverty experienced by women, and mothers, invisible. Notably, there were a lack of deadlines, target dates, and thorough action and evaluation plans. Such absence troubles whether poverty reduction is truly a priority for the government, and society as a whole.
The Effect of Gene Flow on Coalescent‐based Species‐Tree Inference

Abstract. — Most current methods for inferring species‐level phylogenies under the coalescent model assume that no gene flow occurs following speciation. Several studies have examined the impact of gene flow (e.g., Eckert and Carstens 2008; Chung and Ané 2011; Leaché et al. 2014; Solís‐Lemus et al. 2016) and of ancestral population structure (DeGeorgio and Rosenberg 2016) on the performance of species‐level phylogenetic inference, and analytic results have been proven for network models of gene flow (e.g., Solís‐Lemus et al. 2016; Zhu et al. 2016). However, there are few analytic results for a continuous model of gene flow following speciation, despite the development of mathematical tools that could facilitate such study (e.g., Hobolth et al. 2011; Andersen et al. 2014; Tian and Kubatko 2016). In this article, we consider a three‐taxon isolation‐with‐migration model that allows gene flow between sister taxa for a brief period following speciation, as well as variation in the effective population sizes across the species tree. We derive the probabilities of each of the three gene tree topologies under this model, and show that for certain choices of the gene flow and effective population size parameters, anomalous gene trees (i.e., gene trees that are discordant with the species tree but that have higher probability than the gene tree concordant with the species tree) exist. We characterize the region of parameter space producing anomalous trees and show that the probability of the gene tree that is concordant with the species tree can be arbitrarily small. We then show that there is theoretical support for using SVDQuartets with an outgroup to infer the rooted three‐taxon species tree in a model of gene flow between sister taxa. We study the performance of SVDQuartets on simulated data and compare it to three other commonly‐used methods for species tree inference, ASTRAL, MP‐EST, and concatenation. The simulations show that ASTRAL, MP‐EST, and concatenation can be statistically inconsistent when gene flow is present, while SVDQuartets performs well, though large sample sizes may be required for certain parameter choices.
Clinical Evaluation of Measuring the ACT during Elective Cardiac Surgery with Two Different Devices.

Unfractionated heparin is the mainstay of anticoagulation during cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) due to its low cost, quick onset, and ease of reversal. Since over 30 years, the activated clotting time (ACT) has been used to assess the level of heparin activity both before and after CPB. We compared two different methods of measuring the ACT: i-STAT, which uses amperometric detection of thrombin cleavage, and Hemochron Jr, which is based on detecting viscoelastic changes in blood. We included 402 patients from three institutions (Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Groote Schuur, Cape Town, South Africa; University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland) undergoing elective cardiac surgery on CPB in our study. We analyzed duplicate samples on both devices at all standard measuring points during the procedure. The correlation coefficient between two Hemochron and two i-STAT devices was . 9165 and . 9857, respectively. The within-subject coefficient of variation (WSCV) ranged from 8.2 to 13.6% for the Hemochron and from 4.1 to 9.1% for the i-STAT. We found that the number of occasions where one of the duplicate readings was >1,000 seconds while the other was below or close to the clinically significant threshold of 400 seconds were higher for the Hemochron. We found the i-STAT to systematically return higher measurements. We conclude that the i-STAT provides a more reliable test for heparin activity and assesses safe anticoagulation during cardiac surgery on pump. The fact the that the i-STAT reads higher than the Hemochron leads to the recommendation to validate the methods against each other before changing devices.
Polystyrene-fluorohectorite nanocomposites prepared by melt mixing with and without latex precompounding : Structure and mechanical properties

Sodium fluorohectorite (FH) was dispersed in polystyrene (PS) by direct melt blending with and without a master batch composed of PS and FH and produced by latex compounding. FH was not intercalated by PS when it was prepared by direct melt compounding. In contrast, FH was well dispersed (mostly intercalated) in PS via the PS-latex-mediated predispersion of FH following the master-batch route. The dispersion of FH was studied with transmission and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques and discussed. The nanocomposites produced by the master-batch technique outperformed the directly melt-compounded microcomposites with respect to stiffness, strength, and ductility according to dynamic mechanical analysis and static tensile tests. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007
MoS2 nano-flake doped polyvinyl alcohol enabling polarized soliton mode-locking of a fiber laser

By inserting a MoS2 nano-flake doped ultrathin polyvinyl alcohol film (PVA:MoS2 nano-flake) into a non-polarized Er-doped fiber laser (EDFL), the hybrid mode-locking of an EDFL system with nonlinear saturable absorption (NSA) and weak nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) effects is demonstrated. The dominating mechanism responsible for the effect of intracavity polarization angle detuning on the evolution of hybrid mode-locking is investigated. In the EDFL without NSA, the weak NPR induces a polarization dependent loss (PDL) that is sinusoidally changed by varying the oriented angle of intracavity polarization with an extinction ratio of 3.6 dB, which inevitably perturbs the mode-locking stability owing to the intrinsic birefringence fluctuation. The PVA:MoS2 nano-flake based NSA film nonlinearly increases the transmittance by 2% enlarging the peak intensity of the pulse up to 20 MW cm−2, corresponding to an equivalent self-amplitude modulation (SAM) coefficient of 2.75 × 10−2. By incorporating both the weak NSA and NPR mechanisms in the EDFL cavity, the polarization angle dependent extinction ratio of the residual NPR induced PDL effect can be reduced to 1.9 dB. This NSA/NPR hybrid mechanism greatly stabilizes and optimizes the mode-locking behaviour of the EDFL by up-shifting the additive SAM coefficient beyond the mode-locking threshold, as elucidated from the modified Haus master equation. The stabilization on the passively mode-locked EDFL pulse relies strictly on inserting the PVA:MoS2 nano-flake based NSA even with a weak NSA at the initial stage, and the pulsewidth shortening is optimized to 330 fs by properly detuning the oriented angle of intracavity polarization to precisely achieve both the additive SAM and the enhanced self-phase modulation (SPM) effects at the second stage.
GATA factor genes in the Drosophila midgut embryo

The Drosophila GATA factor gene serpent (srp) is required for the early differentiation of the anterior and posterior midgut primordia. In particular, srp is sufficient and necessary for the primordial gut cells to undertake an epithelial-to-mesenchimal transition (EMT). Two other GATA factor genes, dGATAe and grain (grn), are also specifically expressed in the midgut. On the one hand, dGATAe expression is activated by srp. Embryos homozygous for a deficiency uncovering dGATAe were shown to lack the expression of some differentiated midgut genes. Moreover, ectopic expression of dGATAe was sufficient to drive the expression of some of these differentiation marker genes, thus establishing the role of dGATAe in the regulation of their expression. However, due to the gross abnormalities associated with this deficiency, it was not possible to assess whether, similarly to srp, dGATAe might play a role in setting the midgut morphology. To further investigate this role we decided to generate a dGATAe mutant. On the other hand, grn is expressed in the midgut primordia around stage 11 and remains expressed until the end of embryogenesis. Yet, no midgut function has been described for grn. First, here we report that, as for dGATAe, midgut grn expression is dependent on srp; conversely, dGATAe and grn expression are independent of each other. Our results also indicate that, unlike srp, dGATAe and grn are not responsible for setting the general embryonic midgut morphology. We also show that the analysed midgut genes whose expression is lacking in embryos homozygous for a deficiency uncovering dGATAe are indeed dGATAe-dependent genes. Conversely, we do not find any midgut gene to be grn-dependent, with the exception of midgut repression of the proventriculus iroquois (iro) gene. In conclusion, our results clarify the expression patterns and function of the GATA factor genes expressed in the embryonic midgut.
Rolling resistance and tyre/road noise on rubberised asphalt pavement in Poland

The paper presents results of tyre/road noise and rolling resistance measurements performed on stone mastics asphalt (SMA) that contains rubberised asphalt, developed and produced by a refinery in Poland. Bituminous binder was modified with polymer and addition of crumb rubber. The first observations of asphalt mixture with the new kind of modified bitumen used on the field section are presented. Rolling resistance of passenger car tyres was measured by test trailer R2 Mk.2. Tyre/road noise was measured by a Tiresonic Mk.4 trailer using the close proximity method. Measurements were performed for 50 and 80 km/h and the results obtained on test and reference sections covered with conventional SMA 11 were compared.
Classical Pathway of Complement Activation: Longitudinal Associations of C1q and C1-INH With Cardiovascular Outcomes The CODAM Study (Cohort on Diabetes and Atherosclerosis Maastricht)—Brief Report

Objective— The classical complement pathway has been assigned both protective and pathological effects in cardiovascular disease (CVD), but human data are lacking. We determined the associations of the pattern recognition factor C1q and the regulator C1-INH (C1-inhibitor) with incident CVD, carotid intima–media thickness, endothelial dysfunction, and low-grade inflammation. Approach and Results— Baseline concentrations of C1q and C1-INH were measured in the CODAM study (Cohort on Diabetes and Atherosclerosis Maastricht; n=574; 61% men; age, 60±7 years). The 7-year incidence of CVD in participants free of CVD at baseline was evaluated using logistic regression analyses (n=342; 73 cases). The lowest incidence of CVD was observed in the middle tertile of C1q (Tlow compared with Tmiddle: odds ratio, 2.38 [95% confidence interval, 1.14–4.95]; Thigh compared with Tmiddle: odds ratio, 1.96 [95% confidence interval, 0.94–4.07]). C1-INH was not associated with CVD. During the 7-year follow-up period, C1q and C1-INH were not, or inconsistently, associated with carotid intima–media thickness or with biomarker scores reflecting endothelial dysfunction and low-grade inflammation. Conclusions— Our results suggest a nonlinear association between C1q and incident CVD. This supports the concept that early steps in classical pathway activation may have both protective and pathological effects on human CVD.
An investigation of white matter integrity and attention deficits following traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between white matter tracts and multiple aspects of attention and working memory deficits in a relatively acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) sample. Method: Neuropsychological measures of attention and working memory were administered to 20 participants with complicated mild-to-very severe TBI and 20 control participants. Tract-based spatial statistics was used to assess fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of white matter tracts for 15 TBI participants and 20 controls. Results: When compared to controls, participants with TBI were found to have lower FA (p < 0.001) and higher MD (p < 0.001) values in the majority of white matter tracts. TBI participants were also slower to complete tasks including Trail Making Test, Hayling, computerized Selective Attention Task, n-back and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (p < 0.001), when compared to controls. When controlling for age and estimated premorbid intelligence, slowed information processing speed following TBI was found to be associated with FA values in the corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi, corona radiata and cerebral white matter. Conclusion: The results highlight the widespread damage associated with TBI, as well as the impact of these alterations on information processing speed.
New kids on the block: an analysis of modern blockchains

Half a decade after Bitcoin became the first widely used cryptocurrency, blockchains are receiving considerable interest from industry and the research community. Modern blockchains feature services such as name registration and smart contracts. Some employ new forms of consensus, such as proof-of-stake instead of proof-of-work. However, these blockchains are so far relatively poorly investigated, despite the fact that they move considerable assets. In this paper, we explore three representative, modern blockchains---Ethereum, Namecoin, and Peercoin. Our focus is on the features that set them apart from the pure currency use case of Bitcoin. We investigate the blockchains' activity in terms of transactions and usage patterns, identifying some curiosities in the process. For Ethereum, we are mostly interested in the smart contract functionality it offers. We also carry out a brief analysis of issues that are introduced by negligent design of smart contracts. In the case of Namecoin, our focus is how the name registration is used and has developed over time. For Peercoin, we are interested in the use of proof-of-stake, as this consensus algorithm is poorly understood yet used to move considerable value. Finally, we relate the above to the fundamental characteristics of the underlying peer-to-peer networks. We present a crawler for Ethereum and give statistics on the network size. For Peercoin and Namecoin, we identify the relatively small size of the networks and the weak bootstrapping process.
Amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) in tissue repair process

Synthetic biomaterials submitted to new structural technologies have become ideal for the recovery of traumatized bone tissues and some bone substitutes such as bioactive glass, β‐Tricalcium phosphate (β‐TCP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) are being used in areas of tissue defects. For this study, ACP was produced in the form of fibers and then submitted to cytotoxicity testing. A sample of ACP was inserted into the mandibular region of a patient with a lost implant so after removal and curettage, the remaining bone site was filled with the ACP biomaterial. Preliminary cytotoxicity test was negative. After 15 weeks of healing, a titanium implant was inserted at the site. Clinical and radiographic follow‐up was conducted for 12 months and sequential radiographic analyses revealed tissue formation resembling spongy bone. Images under immunohistochemistry demonstrated efficient deposition and osteoconduction of the newly deposited tissue. Residual portion of the CaO:P2O5 outer layers served as a substrate for osteoid matrix deposition, aiding growth, and the results of fiber absorption favored maturation of the new bone tissue.
Stainless steel coupled with carbon nanotube-modified epoxy and carbon fibre composites: Electrochemical and mechanical study

The aim of this work is the study of the electrochemical and mechanical behaviour of stainless steel (SS304) adhesively bonded with carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced epoxies to either SS304 or carbon-reinforced composites substrates. For metal to metal (MtM) joints, the shear strength of nano-reinforced adhesives was studied using single lap shear specimen geometries. The lap shear strength was improved by almost 50% and the highest shear strength appeared for 0.6% CNT weight content in the adhesive. The metal to composite joint performed altogether better compared to the MtM joint, although the CNT inclusion had an adverse effect on the lap shear strength attributed to the physical property change of the epoxy. Although the incorporation of CNTs was found to increase the galvanic effect, it also enhanced corrosion protection, as the modified adhesives exhibited increased resistance to uniform corrosion and localised corrosion and prevented the electrolyte from reaching the substrate.
Analysis of the effect of a stress raiser on the strength of a UD flax/epoxy composite in off-axis tension

The effect of stress raisers in the form of a slit-like notch and an open circular hole on the tensile strength of a quasi-UD flax-fiber-reinforced composite is studied experimentally. A finite fracture mechanics approach is applied to determine the intralaminar fracture toughness of the composite and to predict the strength in the presence of stress concentration. Reasonably good agreement of the notch effect predicted using finite fracture mechanics with a coupled strength and toughness fracture criterion and test results is demonstrated.
Fabrication of an Electrochemical Sensor for Glucose Detection using ZnO Nanorods

An electrochemical glucose sensor based on zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods is fabricated, characterized and tested. The ZnO nanorods are synthesized on indium titanium oxide (ITO) coated glass substrate, using the hydrothermal sol-gel technique. The working principle of the sensor under investigation is based on the electrochemical reaction taking place between cathode and anode, in the presence of an electrolyte. A platinum plate, used as the cathode and Nafion/Glucose Oxidase/ZnO nanorods/ITO-coated glass substrate used as anode, is immersed in pH 7.0 phosphate buffer solution electrolyte to test for the presence of glucose. Several amperometric tests are performed on the fabricated sensor to determine the response time, sensitivity and limit of detection of the sensor. A fast response time less than 3 s with a high sensitivity of 1.151 mA cm^-2mM^-1 and low limit of detection of 0.089 mM is reported. The glucose sensor is characterized using the cyclic voltammetry method in the range from -0.8 – 0.8 V with a voltage scan rate of 100 mV/s.