Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of a mechanical loading device for studying the load dependent transport of solutes across articular cartilage in a micro-CT chamber

The present project focused on the design and development of a mechanical loading device that allows the convection studies in cartilage within a micro-CT chamber. A plastic-made device was designed and build in order to ensure the successful operation in the micro-CT. Besides that it allowed the monitoring of the tissue material properties by incorporating a load cell. The later experimental procedure indicated that 10% compression seems to have a beneficial effect on the solutes penetration across articular cartilage. Therefore a clinically applicable tool was developed that includes the convection in a diagnostic method for the first time
Dynamic price discovery in the European wheat market based on the concept of partial cointegration

Understanding the pricing process in agricultural spot and futures markets is important for every market participant. In this article we analyse price discovery in the European wheat market based on the partial cointegration approach recently introduced by Clegg and Krauss (2017). Partial cointegration allows for not only transient but also persistent shocks to the long-run equilibrium relationship between two or more variables. By combining the concept of partial cointegration with state space modelling we are able to generate time-variant price discovery metrics that allow for shifts in the long-run relationship between futures and spot prices, for example due to changes in the quality composition of the wheat harvest from year to year, or due to changes in the specification of the futures contact. We find that price discovery is in general dominated by the futures market but that the spot market takes on greater significance for the pricing process during phases of higher price volatility. We also find evidence that the persistent shocks the long-run relationship between spot and futures prices estimated by the partial cointegration method are affected by the availability of high-quality wheat on the spot market.
REFLECTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS FOR SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

The purpose of this study is to analyze the perceptions of the administrators in terms of their environmental awareness. This study is based on their knowledge, attitude and behavior. Besides, this study also aimed to determine the differences of environmental awareness based on race and gender, and to identify the relationship between knowledge, attitude and behavior towards environmental awareness among the administrators. This study involved 50 administrators in one of the districts in Johor. The survey method was used in data collection, and the questionnaire developed by other researchers was modified to match with the characteristics of the present research subjects. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that the environmental awareness in terms of attitude was at a high level, whereas the awareness from the aspects of knowledge and behavior were at a moderate level. In addition, it has been found that there was no significant difference in environmental awareness between gender-based on knowledge, attitude and behavior. The result also indicated that there was no significant difference in environmental awareness among races in knowledge. Also no significant difference was discovered in terms of attitude and behavior. Apart from that, the correlation analysis revealed that the awareness of attitude and behavior were positively correlated. On the contrary, the awareness of knowledge was negatively correlated with attitude as well as behavior. In conclusion, the present findings demonstrate that the administrator aware of the importance of environmental conservation.
Storm‐induced energization of radiation belt electrons: Effect of wave obliquity

New Cluster statistics allow us to determine for the first time the variations of both the obliquity and intensity of lower‐band chorus waves as functions of latitude and geomagnetic activity near L∼5. The portion of wave power in very oblique waves decreases during highly disturbed periods, consistent with increased Landau damping by inward‐penetrating suprathermal electrons. Simple analytical considerations as well as full numerical calculations of quasi‐linear diffusion rates demonstrate that early‐time electron acceleration occurs in a regime of loss‐limited energization. In this regime, the average wave obliquity plays a critical role in mitigating lifetime reduction as wave intensity increases with geomagnetic activity, suggesting that much larger energization levels should be reached during the early recovery phase of storms than during quiet time or moderate disturbances, the latter corresponding to stronger losses. These new effects should be included in realistic radiation belt simulations.
Green Synthesis, Characterization and Antibacterial Activity of ZnO Nanoparticles

In the present study, mehendi extract (Lawsonia inermis) was used for phytosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using 0.1 M Zn(NO3)2 as precursor under alkaline condition using NaOH with vigorous stirring for 2 h. ZnO NPs obtained were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, XRD, SEM and TEM that showed change in shape and size. Hexagonal particles were formed due to plant extract relative to the rod shaped particles in absence of plant extract. Further the antibacterial property of ZnO NP synthesized by green method was more effective than those synthesized in absence of plant extract. The antibacterial activity study of both the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles reveals that the nanoparticles synthesized using mehendi extract are more effective than the particle synthesized without mehendi extract. Thus, the use of leaf extract as capping agent would improve the antibacterial property of ZnO nanoparticle. However, bacteriocidal effect of these nanoparticles varies with respect to the organism tested.
Percutaneous microwave ablation for HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Efficacy, safety, and survival.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a poor prognosis if managed late. Percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) emerged as one of the top therapeutic decisions for non-surgical patients. The aim of the present study aim was to evaluate the efficacy, side effects, and survival after MWA of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC tumors with spectrum sizes up to 5 cm. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty-nine patients with early HCC were treated in the Hepatology Department using percutaneous MWA. Patients were assessed for side effects and efficacy that includes the rate of complete ablation, primary or de novo recurrence, and survival. RESULTS Complete ablation was achieved in 57 (96.6%) patients treated by MWA, with a minor complication rate of 3.3% (n=2) including liver abscess formation and abdominal skin burn. The ablation rates in lesions <3 versus 3-5 cm were not different. Of the patients, 3 (5%) had primary recurrence in the treated HCC tumors, de novo lesions (secondary recurrence) developed in 8 (13.5%, 5 of them >3 cm), and 2 (3.3%) had malignant portal vein thrombosis. The survival rates were 95.4% and 69% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. CONCLUSION Percutaneous MWA had achieved a safe and effective treatment with good overall survival in patients with HCV-related HCC.
Convective Rainfall in Amazonia and Adjacent Tropics

Hourly rainfall estimates from integrated satellite data are used to build a dynamically based climatology of convectively generated rainfall across South America, including tropical, sub-tropical and oceanic regions. Herein, we focus on 0S to 15S, including greater Amazon and NE Brazil leeward of the South Atlantic Ocean. Emphasis is placed on rainfall resulting from organized convective regimes, which are known to produce the majority of seasonal rainfall in various parts of South America and other continents. The statistical characteristics of individual events are quantified and examined with respect to regional atmospheric conditions. Among the factors considered are steering winds and wind shear, convective available potential energy (CAPE), sea and land breezes, and the occurrence of transient disturbances such as Kelvin Waves and Easterly Waves. Forcing and convective triggering mechanisms are inferred from the diagnosis of systematic patterns as evidenced in the continental diurnal cycle and longer periods of natural variability. The episodes of organized convection are analyzed in terms of their duration, span, phase speed, starting and ending time, starting and ending longitude, month and year through frequency distribution analysis. Most episodes of organized convection tend to move westward across the Amazon Basin. Descriptive statistics indicate average phase speed of westward and eastward episodes of convection in the Amazon basin at -11.8 m.s-1 and 13.0 m.s-1, respectively. Eastward propagating systems are influenced by northeastward moving cold fronts in Southern South America and tend to trigger and to organize convection across the Amazon Basin. Hourly rainfall analyses indicate that convection over the Amazon region is often organized.
Magnetic excitations in quasi-one-dimensional helimagnets: Magnon decays and influence of interchain interactions

We present a comprehensive study of the magnetic properties of the long-range-ordered quasi-one-dimensional ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ systems with a newly developed torque equilibrium spin-wave expansion approach, which can describe the spin Casimir and magnon decay effects in a unified framework. While the framework does not lose generality, our discussion will be restricted to two representative systems, each of which has only one type of interchain coupling (${J}_{3}$ or ${J}_{4}$) and is referred to as the ${J}_{3}$ or ${J}_{4}$ system, respectively. In spite of the long-range spiral order, the dynamical properties of these systems turn out to be highly nontrivial due to the incommensurate noncollinear spin configuration and the strong quantum fluctuation effects enhanced by the frustration and low dimensionality. Both the systems show prominent spin Casimir effects induced by the vacuum fluctuation of the spin waves and related modification of the ordering vector, Lifshitz point position, and sublattice magnetization. In addition to these static properties, the dynamical behaviors of these systems are also remarkable. Significant and spontaneous magnon decay effects are manifested in the quantum corrections to the excitation spectrum, including the broadening of the spectrum linewidth and downward renormalization of the excitation energy. Furthermore, the excitation spectrum appears to be very sensitive to the types of the interchain coupling and manifests three distinct features: (i) the magnon decay patterns between the ${J}_{3}$ and ${J}_{4}$ systems are very different, (ii) the renormalized spectrum and the overall decay rate of the ${J}_{3}$ and ${J}_{4}$ systems show very different sensitivity to the magnetic anisotropy, and (iii) there is a nearly flat mode in the renormalized magnon spectrum of the ${J}_{4}$ system along the X-M direction. By adjusting the strength of magnetic anisotropy and varying the approximation scheme, it is revealed that these striking distinct features are quite robust and have deep connection with both the spin Casimir and the magnon decay effects. Thus these special consequences of the interchain coupling on the spin-wave dynamics may serve as a set of probes for different types of interchain couplings in experiments. Finally, to guide experimental measurements such as inelastic neutron scattering in realistic materials and complement our theoretical framework, we develop an analytical theory of the dynamical structure factor within the torque equilibrium formulism and provide explicit results of the quasi-one-dimensional ${J}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{J}_{2}$ systems.
The interrelationship between clinical and immunity variables in epilepsy

Summary Introduction The role of cellular immunity in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, as an interaction between immunity and clinical and neurobiological variables is not properly understood. Aim The aim of the current study was to investigate the possible relationship between epilepsy forms, gender, focus localization, lateralization, handedness and cellular immunity with seizures frequency, their severity and length of therapeutic remission in partial forms of epilepsy. Material and methods Ninety two patients (38 men and 54 women) were included in the study. Symptomatic epilepsy was diagnosed in 40 patients and the cryptogenic form was diagnosed in 52 patients. The amount of different lymphocyte clusters were evaluated and they were transformed into nominal variables for MANOVA analysis. MANOVA was used for the analysis of the interrelationship between nominal fixed factors (epilepsy forms, gender, handedness, and focus laterality, and immunity variables) and dependent variables (remission and seizure frequency and their severity). Results Simple partial seizure (SPS) and complex partial seizure (CPS) frequencies were under the influence of interaction between immune and neurobiological variables. SPS, and in particular sensory SPS, were associated with CD4/CD8 ratio, gender, left temporal focus and handedness. The highest frequencies of SPS were revealed in cases of low CD4/CD8 ratio combined with left temporal focus, female gender and left-handedness. The maximal CPS frequency was observed in patients with a left frontal focus combined with a high B-lymphocyte level. The more severe seizures were revealed in left-handers with low CD8 and high CD4/CD8 ratio and in frontal left focus and a high T-lymphocyte level. There was a correlation between CD4 cell level and length of remission. Conclusion The complex multifarious connections between neurobiological, immune and clinical variables in patients with partial forms of epilepsy really exist.
Can we do better explanations? A proposal of user-centered explainable AI

Artificial Intelligence systems are spreading to multiple applications and they are used by a more diverse audience. With this change of the use scenario, AI users will increasingly require explanations. The first part of this paper makes a review of the state of the art of Explainable AI and highlights how the current research is not paying enough attention to whom the explanations are targeted. In the second part of the paper, it is suggested a new explainability pipeline, where users are classified in three main groups (developers or AI researchers, domain experts and lay users). Inspired by the cooperative principles of conversations, it is discussed how creating different explanations for each of the targeted groups can overcome some of the difficulties related to creating good explanations and evaluating them.
AWARE MOBILE MAINTENANCE TERMINAL FOR NOISY ENVIRONMENTS

Maintenance workers in the oil and process industry have typically had minimal IT support, relying on paper-based solutions both for the information they need to bring into the field and for data capture. This paper proposes a mobile context aware system for maintenance work based on electronically tagged equipment and handheld wireless terminals with a multimodal user interface. Particular attention has been given to voice interaction in noisy industrial scenarios, utilising the PARAT earplug. A proof-of-concept demonstrator of the system has been developed. The paper presents the demonstrator architecture and experiences gained through this work.
Idiopathic Spasmodic Torticollis : Pathophysiology and Treatment S

Idiopathic spasmodic torticollis (1ST) is the most common type of primary dystonia encountered in clinical neurology. Although not life threatening, it adversely affects the work ability and social life of those afflicted. This review will summarize the information currently available on the pathophysiology and treatment of 1ST and its relationship to other dystonic states. Special emphasis will be placed on articles published since the review on spasmodic torticollis by S. Lai in this Journal in 1979. '
Joint Modeling of Multivariate Survival Data With an Application to Retirement

The Cox proportional hazards model has been pervasively used in many social science areas to examine the effects of covariates on timing to an event. The standard Cox model is intended to study univariate survival data where there is a singular event of interest, which can only be experienced once. However, we may additionally wish to explore a number of other complexities that are prevalent in survival data. For example, an individual may experience events of the same type more than once or may experience multiple types of events. This study introduces innovations in recurrent (repeatable) event analysis, jointly modeling several endogenous survival processes. As an example and an application, we simultaneously model two types of recurrent events in the presence of a dependent terminal event. This model not only correctly handles different types of recurrent events but also explicitly estimates the direction and magnitude of relationships between recurrences and survival. This article concludes with an example of the model to examine how the timing of retirement is associated with the risks of multiple spells of employment and childbearing. The theoretical discussions and empirical analyses suggest that the multivariate joint models have much to offer to a wide variety of substantive research areas.
“I do not want to poach pupils from other schools” – German primary schools and their role in educational choice processes

Within the German education system, primary schools underlie the ideal of a comprehensive and local school. However, this perception is changing: Increasingly, parents are carefully selecting the “right” primary schools for their children, and in some federal states, school catchment areas have been abolished to encourage “responsible competition” among schools. Whereas most studies on school choice focus on parents’ educational strategies, this paper analyses the role of primary schools within this choice process. It notes the divergent ways in which primary schools – depending on the social geography of the city and their position within the educational market – respond to these policy changes and the changing parental demands confronting them.
Modeling Soil Organic Carbon with DNDC and RothC Models in Different Wheat-Based Cropping Systems in North-Western India

ABSTRACT The performance of DNDC (DeNitrification-DeComposition) and RothC (Rothamsted Carbon model) in simulating soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in soils under rice (Oryza sativa L.) – wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.) – wheat and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) – wheat cropping systems was evaluated on field and regional scale. Field experiments consisted of N, NP, NK, PK, NPK, FYM, N + FYM, NPK + FYM, and control (UF) treatments. DNDC and RothC over-estimated SOC storage by 0.35–1.16 Mg C ha−1 (6–21%) in surface layer with manure application, compared with inorganic fertilizer treatments by 1.01–1.16 Mg C ha−1 (14–18%). Although RothC only slightly over-estimated SOC stocks, DNDC provided a better match for measured versus simulated SOC stocks (R 2 = 0.783*, DNDC; 0.669*, RothC, p < .05). Model validation on independent datasets from long-term studies on rice–wheat (R 2 = 0.935**, DNDC; R 2 = 0.920**, RothC, p < .01) and maize–wheat (R 2 = 0.895** for DNDC and R 2 = 0.967** for RothC, p < .01) systems showed excellent agreement between measured and simulated SOC stocks. On a regional scale, change in SOC storage under Scenario 1 (NPK) was significant up to 8 years of simulation, with no change thereafter. In Scenario 2 (NPK + FYM), DNDC simulated SOC storage after 10 years was 2.0, 0.4, and 1.4 Mg C ha−1 in three systems, respectively. Amount of C sequestered in silt + clay fraction varied between 0.31 and 0.97 kg C 10 years−1 (Mg silt + clay)−1 under Scenario 1, and between 0.78 and 2.67 kg C 10 years−1 (Mg silt + clay)−1 under Scenario 2.
RESPONSE OF CONTRASTING COCKSFOOT VARIETIES TO SUMMER MOISTURE AVAILABILITY IN A MEDITERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT

The responsiveness to water availability in summer and the effect of summer drought were assessed in a Mediterranean environment on both temperate and Mediterranean cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) materials. Three consecutive evaluation phases were contemplated: i) under rainfed conditions from autumn to spring; ii) under contrasting moisture conditions in the following summer; and iii) under rainfed conditions in the subsequent autumn-spring season to assess the effect of the previous summer treatments. The ability to become summer dormant under conducive conditions, such as in Mediterranean germplasm, proved a plant pre-requisite for survival under drought. All the “summer-active”, temperate varieties did not survive drought stress. Mediterranean materials showed a facultative dormancy behaviour in that they responded to moisture availability in summer. There was evidence that selection for such responsiveness was effective, as shown by a variety selected from Mediterranean germplasm also considering this criterion. Forcing summer growth by preventing dormancy had little detrimental effect on subsequent autumn recovery of Mediterranean improved varieties but more evidence is required on this aspect.
Job satisfaction in a chemical factory

Subjective well-being is regarded as an important goal given the positive outcomes thereof for individuals. Job satisfaction is an important indicator of the subjective well-being of individuals. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the use of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) for diff erent language groups working in a chemical factory, and to investigate the relationship between job satisfaction and demographic variables. The study was carried out with a sample (N = 583) representing diff erent job levels in a chemical factory. The 20-item MSQ and a biographical questionnaire were administered. The results confi rmed that job satisfaction consists of two internally consistent factors, namely extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction. The factorial invariance of the MSQ was confi rmed for African languages and an Afrikaans and English group. Language was the only demographic variable that statistically signifi cantly predicted extrinsic job satisfaction. Intrinsic job satisfaction was statistically signifi cantly predicted by two demographic variables, namely age and qualifi cation.
Opportunistic Utilization of Dynamic Multi-UAV in Device-to-Device Communication Networks

In this paper, we investigate the problem of opportunistic UAV transmission in D2D communication networks. UAVs are supposed to help transmissions of D2D users when they are employed to perform flying missions with given trajectories. On one hand, users can select appropriate UAVs as real-time relays according to the topology in the sky at different moments. On the other hand, due to flight characteristics, UAVs can receive the uploading data when they are approaching transmitters, and then offload the data to corresponding receivers in the appropriate later time. Users need to select and adjust transmission modes dynamically, including multi-UAV selection, time allocation of data loading and offloading, as well as the competition of channel access. We design a hierarchical game model to analyze the complicated relationship among devices. Specifically, a predictable dynamic matching market is constructed to address the issue of UAV selection and time allocation, while the problem of channel access is studied by the congestion game. After that, distributed algorithms are proposed and the properties of convergence are discussed. Simulation results confirm that the effective opportunistic UAV transmission approach can improve the global network significantly, while unreasonable optimization approaches may lead to the decline of the transmission performance.