Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D total variation denoising in X-CT imaging applied to pore extraction in additively manufactured parts

X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) plays an important role in non-destructive quality inspection and process evaluation in metal additive manufacturing, as several types of defects such as keyhole and lack of fusion pores can be observed in these 3D images as local changes in material density. Segmentation of these defects often relies on threshold methods applied to the reconstructed attenuation values of the 3D image voxels. However, the segmentation accuracy is affected by unavoidable X-CT reconstruction features such as partial volume effects, voxel noise and imaging artefacts. These effects create false positives, difficulties in threshold value selection and unclear or jagged defect edges. In this paper, we present a new X-CT defect segmentation method based on preprocessing the X-CT image with a 3D total variation denoising method. By comparing the changes in the histogram, threshold selection can be significantly better, and the resulting segmentation is of much higher quality. We derive the optimal algorithm parameter settings and demonstrate robustness for deviating settings. The technique is presented on simulated data sets, compared between low- and high-quality X-CT scans, and evaluated with optical microscopy after destructive tests.
Assessing risk in Dam projects using AHP and ELECTRE I

The sources of risk are likely to exist in construction projects, especially during their operation. Dams are projects that face risks. Risk management may help to assess them. Little has been discussed about the risk assessment in dams with the use of multicriteria analysis. This research is related to risk assessment in the operation of earth-fill dams with the use of two multicriteria methods. Specifically, the risks of three specific dam projects, in the Prefecture of Trikala (Greece) are examined, using the AHP and ELECTRE I. For each dam, the most likely risk of dam failure is different. The risk due to internal erosion in dams is a common finding of both methods, when examining the risks factors for the three dams as an aggregate. The conclusion resulting from the resolution of both methods is that the first dam is more exposed to risk.
Fine mapping of goat polledness variant in six Chinese native breeds

Background The genetic mechanism of goat polledness has been studied for decades, but identifying causative variants and functional genes remains challenging. Results Using a genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified a significant striking locus for polledness in two different goat breeds. To reduce the linkage disequilibrium among variants for localizing causative variants in the finer region, we sequenced 79 goats from six Chinese native breeds (Jining Gray, Matou, Guizhou black, Yunnan black bone, Chaidamu, and Ujumqin) and identified 483.5 kb CNV (150,334,567-150,818,099) translocated into the previously identified 11.7 kb polled intersex syndrome region, which was consistent with previous research using intersex goat populations. Within the 483.5 kb CNV, a ~322 bp horn-specific element, similar to the superfamily of tRNA-derived families of SINEs, located at the first intron of the ERG gene was identified. The results of the GO enrichment analysis showed that the Horn-SINE element-associated genes were involved in both nervous system and head development. Finally, we used RNA sequencing to investigate gene expression profiles in the horn bud and skin tissues of horned and polled goats. We identified 1077 and 1222 differentially expressed genes between the horn bud and skin tissue in polled and horned goats, respectively. We also identified 367 differentially expressed genes in horn buds between polled and horned animals, and found that the two CNV-related genes, ERG and FOXL2, were upregulated in the horn bud of polled goats. Gene functional enrichment analysis demonstrated that the downregulated genes in the horn bud of polled goats were enriched in skeletal system development, whereas the upregulated genes were significantly overexpressed in muscle tissue development. Conclusions Broadly, this study describes a novel structural variant responsible for polledness/intersex traits and contributes to the discovery of molecular mechanisms underlying the development and regulation of the polledness trait.
Quality of Different Papaya Cultivars Grown in the Greenhouse throughout the Year in Subtropical Regions

Harvest time is one of the factors affecting postharvest fruit quality. Under the subtropical condition, greenhouse cultivation allows a year-round harvest. However, the crop should meet the quality and the marketing criteria for overall customer satisfaction. This study aims to determine the impact of the harvest season on the quality characteristics of papaya fruit. For this purpose, two different cultivars (Sel-42 and Tainung) were grown in the greenhouse and harvested in the winter, the summer, the spring, and the autumn of two years. Sampling was carried out at the same visual maturity stage at each season. The two cultivars had soft fruit flesh almost throughout the year, although the fruit harvested in the winter had a better visual appeal in terms of color. Both fruit cultivars harvested in the autumn had higher soluble solids and lower acidity. The highest concentrations of total phenolic content and L-ascorbic acid were observed in the spring and summer season harvested fruits although there was no significant difference between those (P > 0.05). It was concluded that the growth in the greenhouse minimizes the harvest season effects on papaya fruit quality. Thus, greenhouse cultivation is recommended for a higher quality product, especially in a subtropical climate.
The Non-Erythropoietic EPO Analogue Cibinetide Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis In Vitro and Increases Bone Mineral Density in Mice

The two erythropoietin (EPO) receptor forms mediate different cellular responses to erythropoietin. While hematopoiesis is mediated via the homodimeric EPO receptor (EPOR), tissue protection is conferred via a heteromer composed of EPOR and CD131. In the skeletal system, EPO stimulates osteoclast precursors and induces bone loss. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still elusive. Here, we evaluated the role of the heteromeric complex in bone metabolism in vivo and in vitro by using Cibinetide (CIB), a non-erythropoietic EPO analogue that exclusively binds the heteromeric receptor. CIB is administered either alone or in combination with EPO. One month of CIB treatment significantly increased the cortical (~5.8%) and trabecular (~5.2%) bone mineral density in C57BL/6J WT female mice. Similarly, administration of CIB for five consecutive days to female mice that concurrently received EPO on days one and four, reduced the number of osteoclast progenitors, defined by flow cytometry as Lin−CD11b−Ly6Chi CD115+, by 42.8% compared to treatment with EPO alone. In addition, CIB alone or in combination with EPO inhibited osteoclastogenesis in vitro. Our findings introduce CIB either as a stand-alone treatment, or in combination with EPO, as an appealing candidate for the treatment of the bone loss that accompanies EPO treatment.
Effect of Microstructure and Texture on the Macroscopic Piezoelectric Response of Ferroelectric Barium Titanate and PZN—PT Films

A two-dimensional (2D) plane-strain finite element method (FEM) model of polycrystalline film wherein the film thickness is much greater than the microstructure is presented. A finite element based solution for the rigorous homogenization problem to quantify the microstructural features, such as orientation and spatial distribution of crystallographic grains on the global piezoelectric response of unclamped polycrystalline ferroelectric films is implemented. The homogenized material parameters of the piezoelectric films are calculated using the FEM by the solution of the coupled equilibrium electrical and mechanical fields in the linear domain. The dependence of macroscopic electromechanical properties on domain orientation and texture of single-crystalline as well as polycrystalline ferroelectric BaTiO3 and PZN—PT films are demonstrated based on this model. The orientation dependent anisotropy of homogenized electromechanical moduli of polycrystalline and single-crystalline films are examined. The polycrystalline films can be improved in their out-of-plane global piezoelectric behavior by engineering microstructures that favor {111} texture in the case of BaTiO3 and {001} texture in the case of PZN—PT.
Interaction Mechanism and Loss Analysis of Mixing between Film Cooling Jet and Passage Vortex

The interaction between the film-cooling jet and vortex structures in the turbine passage plays an important role in the endwall cooling design. In this study, a simplified topology of a blunt body with a half-cylinder is introduced to simulate the formation of the leading-edge horseshoe vortex, where similarity compared with that in the turbine cascade is satisfied. The shaped cooling hole is located in the passage. With this specially designed model, the interaction mechanism between the cooling jet and the passage vortex can therefore be separated from the crossflow and the pressure gradient, which also affect the cooling jet. The loss-analysis method based on the entropy generation rate is introduced, which locates where losses of the cooling capacity occur and reveals the underlying mechanism during the mixing process. Results show that the cooling performance is sensitive to the hole location. The injection/passage vortex interaction can help enhance the coolant lateral coverage, thus improving the cooling performance when the hole is located at the downwash region. The coolant is able to conserve its structure in that, during the interaction process, the kidney vortex with the positive rotating direction can survive with the negative-rotating passage vortex, and the mixture is suppressed. However, the larger-scale passage vortex eats the negative leg of the kidney vortices when the cooling hole is at the upwash region. As a result, the coolant is fully entrained into the main flow. Changes in the blowing ratio alter the overall cooling effectiveness but have a negligible effect on the interaction mechanism. The optimum blowing ratio increases when the hole is located at the downwash region.
Study on the property and reuse of coal gangue in Liupanshui, Guizhou Province, China

This paper investigates the distribution of coal gangue dumps and their reuse status in four counties of Liupanshui prefecture: Zhongshan, Shuicheng, Panxian and Liuzhi. Coal gangue reuse programme was developed for the prefecture after testing the physical and chemical properties of the waste material.
A long way to go: gender and diversity in land use science

ABSTRACT Female scientists and researchers with diverse cultural backgrounds, especially of the Global South, are underrepresented in scientific systems. This is also the case for land use science and even for research teams researching in Global South countries. To assess trends in gender parity, ethnic diversity and intersectionality in this field, we conducted a meta-analysis based on systematic literature review that included 316,390 peer-reviewed journal articles. We found that 27% of all authors between 2000–2021 represented women. Ethnicity representation was biased towards White researchers (62%) followed by Asian (30%), Hispanic (6%) and Black (2%) researchers. Intersection of inequalities further underrepresented Black and Hispanic women when author positions were considered, giving Black women 0.6% chance of becoming first authors in land use science in comparison to 19.3% chance of White women. Supportive actions to empower women are needed to reduce intersectional inequalities and to achieve the sustainable development goals.
Effects of axial tension and reduced air pressure on the radial thermal conductivity of a strained conductor

Analysis of the radial flow of heat in a multilayer stranded conductor carrying current indicates that most of the heat is conducted through the very thin air gaps at the contracts between strands in adjacent layers and through the triangular or rectangular voids between layers. The theory predicts that, with constant current, the radial temperature difference increases as the axial tension decreases, and as the air pressure decreases. To confirm these predictions, a length of 91/4.04-mm AAC conductor was tensioned within a vacuum chamber, and the temperature of each layer of wires was measured for various total currents. It was found that the radial temperature difference increased with increasing resistive power loss per unit length, with decreasing axial tension, and with decreasing air pressure. The effective radial thermal conductivity is independent of the power loss, and increases with increasing axial tension and increasing air pressure. The calculated effective gap at the contacts is 0.5 to 0.9 mu m. >
Arching in granular materials with particular reference to inclined mine stopes

Determination of stress distribution, giving due consideration to arching mechanism within minefill stopes, is of great importance because of its influence on the ground stability, ore recovery and cost effectiveness. Most previous studies on stress determination and arching effects have been applied to vertical stopes, whereas research is lacking on inclined stopes. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of inclination on arching action on stress distributions, with particular interest on the stress distribution at the base and on the side walls of the stope. Three separate modeling techniques are carried out to achieve the goal of the study, which are numerical, analytical and experimental methods. The studies develop analytical solutions from Marston's theory for inclined stopes with parallel and non-parallel walls, incorporating arching effects within the backfill, and propose a new analytical method developed from Pascal's triangle and binomial series for vertical stress determination in vertical and inclined minefill stope. Good agreement is seen between the two analytical methods for vertical and inclined stopes. The results show that with the same overburden pressure yz and base width B, the stress magnitude experienced by fill material can vary significantly with wall inclination. It is shown that lateral earth pressure coefficient, K and interfacial friction angle, δ has significant influence on vertical stress profile. K and δ should be taken as either K = K₀ and δ = 2/3 (0) or K = Kₐ and δ = (0) to better describe the state of stress within the minefills in underground stopes. A laboratory model is designed to simulate mine backfilling in an inclined stope and determine the average vertical stress at any depth within the fill. Stope inclination, wall roughness, relative density and aspect ratio are varied independently to study their influence on the stress distribution and arching effects. The highest vertical stress is observed at inclination about 80⁰ to the horizontal and shear stress experienced by the footwall increases with increasing stope inclination and wall roughness. The average interfacial friction angle can be used in analytical expression to predict the vertical stress within a stope with dissimilar wall characteristics. The study undertaken has also developed approximate solutions for the stress distribution within inclined stopes based on FLAC simulation. Three separate models are conducted in the simulation. They are laboratory model stope, a prototype minefill stope, and laboratory stope incorporated into rock mass to simulate minefill environments. There is good agreement among the analytical, numerical and the laboratory model results. Lateral earth pressure coefficient, K is better described by Kₐ for inclined minefill stopes.
Sent out or sent home: understanding racial disparities across suspension types from critical race theory and quantcrit perspectives

ABSTRACT Although in-school suspensions may be viewed as less severe than out-of-school suspensions, both discipline consequences limit students’ access to learning opportunities and are negatively associated with a range of educational outcomes. Moreover, if sending students out of class perpetuates the same racial disparities as sending them home, this practice does not realize the equity goals of discipline reforms over the last decade. Our study draws on Critical Race Theory and QuantCrit to understand racial discipline gaps across in-school and out-of-school suspensions using data from students and schools in one large district. Results of multilevel regression models indicate similar racial disparities in both suspension types, suggesting neither approach is equitable. These findings illustrate the limits of race-neutral policies in mitigating exclusionary discipline gaps. Addressing the thorny issues that contribute to racial disparities will likely require greater resources for high quality implementation of school-wide culture change initiatives that are explicitly anti-racist.
Fiber-Wireless (FiWi) Broadband Access Networks in an Age of Convergence: Past, Present, and Future

After describing the beginnings and state of the art of integrated fiber-wireless (FiWi) broadband access networks in great detail, we briefly review recent progress and point to various ongoing research activities, including the design of energy-efficient “green” FiWi access networks, advanced survivability techniques, and integration of wireless and fiber optic sensors, towards realizing adaptable, dependable, and ecoconscious future-proof broadband access networks based on both wireless and shared passive fiber media. Furthermore, we discuss service, application, business, and operation related aspects, which motivate access technology to move into a substantially different direction in the long run than continued capacity provisioning. Given that most 4G cellular mobile network researches so far have been focusing on the achievable performance gains in the wireless front-end only without looking into the details of backhaul implementations and possible backhaul bottlenecks, we identify open key research challenges for FiWi broadband access networks. We explore ways of how they can be deployed across relevant economic sectors other than telecommunications per se, taking major paradigm shifts such as the Third Industrial Revolution, Energy Internet, smart grid, and explosion of mobile data traffic in today’s cellular networks into account.
Economic Basis of Digital Banking Services Produced by FinTech Company in Smart City

The accelerated urbanization rate results in the birth of the Smart City concept, presupposing the more efficient use of digital technologies for the benefit of inhabitants and businesses. The idea of digital banking is one of the key issues in a smart city concept. The research should demonstrate that the efficient and effective way to produce such kind of services is to use the fintech companies’ facilities. Many researchers study fintech from a technological point of view, the contribution of fintech to general banking, the level of satisfaction of customers with fintech products. However, there is a gap in studying the economic basis of these companies. The research aims to determine the economic basis for the projects implemented by the fintech company and to determine the source of the efficiency of these companies in financial operations compared to the conventional bank. It has additional importance since the analysis of research devoted to technological solutions demonstrates a certain lacuna in the economic substantiation of such smart solutions. The results of this study are based on the implementation of traditional Cost-Benefit and Total Cost of Ownership analyses and include the developed cost and income functions, calculated Benefit/Cost ratio, and demonstrated the source of efficiency of fintech company compared to a traditional bank. Therefore, the activities of a fintech company in the area of digital banking received the economic ground, and this fact decreases the gap between intuitive comprehension of the necessity of the introduction of smart solutions in practice and the economic substantiation of this process.
Reduced Levels of ABCA1 Transporter Are Responsible for the Cholesterol Efflux Impairment in β-Amyloid-Induced Reactive Astrocytes: Potential Rescue from Biomimetic HDLs

The cerebral synthesis of cholesterol is mainly handled by astrocytes, which are also responsible for apoproteins’ synthesis and lipoproteins’ assembly required for the cholesterol transport in the brain parenchyma. In Alzheimer disease (AD), these processes are impaired, likely because of the astrogliosis, a process characterized by morphological and functional changes in astrocytes. Several ATP-binding cassette transporters expressed by brain cells are involved in the formation of nascent discoidal lipoproteins, but the effect of beta-amyloid (Aβ) assemblies on this process is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated how of Aβ1-42-induced astrogliosis affects the metabolism of cholesterol in vitro. We detected an impairment in the cholesterol efflux of reactive astrocytes attributable to reduced levels of ABCA1 transporters that could explain the decreased lipoproteins’ levels detected in AD patients. To approach this issue, we designed biomimetic HDLs and evaluated their performance as cholesterol acceptors. The results demonstrated the ability of apoA-I nanodiscs to cross the blood–brain barrier in vitro and to promote the cholesterol efflux from astrocytes, making them suitable as a potential supportive treatment for AD to compensate the depletion of cerebral HDLs.
Modeling SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Mice Using Lentiviral hACE2 Vectors Infers Two Modes of Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a severe global pandemic. Mice models are essential to investigate infection pathology, antiviral drugs, and vaccine development. However, wild-type mice lack the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) that mediates SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells and consequently are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. hACE2 transgenic mice could provide an efficient COVID-19 model, but are not always readily available, and practically restricted to specific strains. Therefore, there is a dearth of additional mouse models for SARS-CoV-2 infection. We applied lentiviral vectors to generate hACE2 expression in interferon receptor knock-out (IFNAR1−/−) mice. Lenti-hACE2 transduction supported SARS-CoV-2 replication in vivo, simulating mild acute lung disease. Gene expression analysis revealed two modes of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection: one in response to the exposure of mouse lungs to SARS-CoV-2 particles in the absence of productive viral replication, and the second in response to productive SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our results infer that immune response to immunogenic elements on incoming virus or in productively infected cells stimulate diverse immune effectors, even in absence of type I IFN signaling. Our findings should contribute to a better understanding of the immune response triggered by SARS-CoV-2 and to further elucidate COVID-19.