Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Concrete Box Beam Risk Assessment and Mitigation: Volume 2—Evaluation and Structural Behavior

Adjacent prestressed box beam bridges account for approximately 25% of Indiana’s bridge population. In fact, over 4,000 of Indiana’s bridges are box beams. Unfortunately, adjacent box beams have a history of poor long-term performance including premature deterioration and failures. Leaking joints between box beams allow chloride-laden water to migrate through the superstructure and initiate corrosion. The nature of this deterioration leads to uncertainty of the extent and effect of deterioration on structural behavior. The objective of this research is to develop recommendations for the inspection, load-rating, and design of adjacent box beam bridges. This research focuses on the following: correlating visual damage to internal deterioration, understanding the capacity of deteriorated beams, understanding the live load distribution of adjacent boxes, developing procedures to estimate the remaining capacity of deteriorated beams, and providing recommendations for the design of the next generation of adjacent box beam bridges. A review of the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) standards and bridge design manuals was conducted to track the historical development of box beams in Indiana. The INDOT database of box beam bridges was also analyzed for trends in deterioration. To supplement the database analysis, a series of bridge inspections were conducted to further identify the common types and potential causes of deterioration. These inspections identified a series of deteriorated box beams with common deterioration that were subsequently acquired for experimental testing. Experiments were conducted to determine the extent of deterioration and effect of deterioration on structural capacity. In addition, load tests were conducted on an in-service bridge to investigate live-load distribution. The research is presented in two volumes. Volume 1 presents the evolution and performance of box beam bridges in Indiana while Volume 2 presents the evaluation and structural behavior of deteriorated box beams.
Output Robustness of Probabilistic Boolean Control Networks With Respect to One-Bit Perturbation

Robustness is an important property for the analysis of network systems. In this article, we investigate the ability of probabilistic Boolean control networks (PBCNs) to keep output tracking to a constant reference signal under one-bit perturbation, and it is briefly termed as output robustness thereafter. Considering the output robustness of PBCNs, the traditional approaches in the preceding literature are disabled. To this end, we use the strongly connected components to characterize the invariant subset. The salient advantage of this approach is that the obtained invariant subset is equipped with a minute structure. Then, a component digraph is constructed. Based on it, two necessary and sufficient criteria are, respectively, derived for finite-time and asymptotic output tracking of PBCNs. Moreover, one-bit perturbation is classified into three categories with respect to different influence on the output tracking. Finally, a biological example demonstrates the availability of our theoretical results.
The effect of customer satisfaction on their loyalty by mediating the mental image of the brand and trust using structural equations in the Banking Industry (Case study: Pasargad Bank)

By improvement of technology and more competitive market conditions in various manufacturing and service sectors, a loyal customer is the main asset of any organization. Nowadays, in the banking sectors, due to increasing competition and the emergence of various types of financial and credit institutions, the customer has gained more status and value, and being oriented in banks according to a fundamental principle. In fact, customers are the intangible assets of banks, and the durability of banks depends on customer’s satisfaction and trust. Therefore, paying attention to customer loyalty and identifying factors that can lead to improved customer loyalty has become an essential requirement for banks. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of customer satisfaction on their loyalty by mediating the mental image of the brand and trust in the branches of Pasargad banks in Tehran. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of method and is due to the study of the simultaneous effect between several correlation variables. The statistical population in this study is all customers of Pasargad Bank branches in Tehran, 384 of who were studied by simple random sampling. The required information was analyzed through a questionnaire using descriptive and consequential statistical methods using SPSS and LISREL software. The results of path analysis using structural equations show that customer satisfaction affects the mental image of the brand, customer trust and loyalty and also, the effect of the mental image of the brand on customer trust and loyalty was confirmed and finally trust on customer loyalty also has an impact.
Deep Learning Based User Association in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Due to the high splitting-gain of dense small cells, Ultra-Dense Network (UDN) is widely regarded as a promising networking technology to achieve high data rate and low latency in 5G mobile communications. In UDNs, user association is an open NP-hard problem due to the high computational complexity. In this paper, we study the user association problem from a deep learning perspective. We propose a U-Net based deep learning scheme aimed at intelligently associating user equipments(UE) to the competing Macro Base Stations (MBS) and small Base Stations (SBS). We formulate the user association problem as a constrained combinatorial optimization problem and employ a cross-entropy algorithm to obtain its asymptotically optimal solution for labelling in supervised learning. We define a differentiable loss function by combining the Mean Squared Errors(MSE) criterion and the fairness and load balancing constraints for the supervised deep learning framework. We first train the U-Net based learning model and then evaluate the accuracy of the proposed scheme. Simulation results show that the proposed U-Net scheme approaches the asymptotically optimum Genetic Algorithm (GA) scheme in terms of minimum rate gain and sum rate gain, whereas outperforms the latter with significantly reduced computation time and robustness to network scales.
Effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management: a perspective article

This paper aims to discuss the effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management practices and outlines a three-pronged research agenda to stimulate knowledge development in the hotel sector. ,This paper is based on an overview of the relevant literature on hotel marketing and management and the hotel guest behavior. The authors also investigated hospitality service trends to propose a research agenda. ,This paper presents a research agenda from three dimensions – artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, hygiene and cleanliness and health and health care. First, different types of AI (mechanical, thinking and feeling) might open up distinct research streams at the intersection of health crises and hotel management, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this paper recommends that researchers move beyond typical perspectives on the antecedents and outcomes of hotel hygiene and cleanliness to delve into guests’ perceptions of the cleanliness of specific hotel surfaces. Furthermore, a more in-depth analysis is warranted about the evolving relationship between hotels and the health-care sector. ,The recommended research areas are intended to advance the knowledge base to help hotels recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The suggested research streams are expected to provide actionable insights to promote the development and sustainability of the hotel sector. ,This paper appears to be a frontier study, critically examining possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotel marketing and management practices and how hoteliers may respond to such challenges to recover after this pandemic.
Sustainable Platform Economy: Connections with the Sustainable Development Goals

The platform economy is growing exponentially while creating expectations for its potential to contribute to a sustainable development. However, research aimed at showing the potential contribution of each platform’s business model to sustainable development is needed. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are driving the policy agenda, but it remains unclear how far they encourage a sustainable platform economy. First, this article aims to study how each different type of platform contributes to sustainable development. Second, it analyses if and how the factors that contribute to the sustainable design of platforms are considered in SDGs. The paper departs from a framework of sustainable democratic qualities of the platform economy that considers governance, economic sustainability, technological and data policies, social responsibility, and external impact dimensions. The study is based on an empirical analysis of 60 platforms. The results show that a sustainable design of a platform economy promotes sustainable development. Furthermore, the contributions of the sustainable dimensions of a platform to SDGs are mainly connected to the impact and responsibility and the economic model, but governance and data dimensions are not present in the SDGs. This suggests that SDGs should improve their digital perspective to intertwine better with the sustainable platforms.
Opportunity in Crisis: The Role of Universal Design for Learning in Educational Redesign.

The COVID-19 pandemic initiated an unprecedented shift in special education practice from brick-and-mortar instruction to online learning This manuscript explores factors related to the shift and argues the COVID-19 disruption creates an opportunity for systemic educational reform The Universal Design for Learning framework is presented as a means to proactively anticipate learner variability while redesigning an education system to meet the diverse needs of students with learning disabilities Issues surrounding FAPE in online instruction, digital inequity, and socioeconomic status are addressed The article concludes with an example of how an online course, developed using the framework and supported with multiple technologies, can benefit students with learning disabilities (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Preliminary Study of Proton Radiography Imaging Qualities Using GEANT4 Monte Carlo Simulations

Abstract Proton radiography imaging qualities have been studied using Monte Carlo simulations. A specific phantom, made of different common tissues, was implemented for simulations using the Massachusetts General Hospital treatment proton beam, pure 230- and 490-MeV proton beams, and a pure 100-keV X-ray beam. Along with spatial resolution, the signal-to-noise ratio and the contrast-to-noise ratio were specified and compared for each tissue type and geometry, using filtered radiographs taking into account only primary proton interactions, both primary and secondary proton interactions, and both contributions while performing angular and energetic cuts. This work particularly highlights the faculty for proton radiography to image both low- and high-density tissues. This could play an important role in diagnosing specific tumor types, such as lung cancer, for which conventional radiography operates poorly.
SMAPGAN: Generative Adversarial Network-Based Semisupervised Styled Map Tile Generation Method

Traditional online map tiles, which are widely used on the Internet, such as by Google Maps and Baidu Maps, are rendered from vector data. The timely updating of online map tiles from vector data, for which generation is time-consuming, is a difficult mission. Generating map tiles over time from remote sensing images is relatively simple and can be performed quickly without vector data. However, this approach used to be challenging or even impossible. Inspired by image-to-image translation (img2img) techniques based on generative adversarial networks (GANs), we proposed a semisupervised generation of styled map tiles based on the GANs (SMAPGAN) model to generate styled map tiles directly from remote sensing images. In this model, we designed a semisupervised learning strategy to pretrain SMAPGAN on rich unpaired samples and fine-tune it on limited paired samples in reality. We also designed the image gradient L1 loss and the image gradient structure loss to generate a styled map tile with global topological relationships and detailed edge curves for objects, which are important in cartography. Moreover, we proposed the edge structural similarity index (ESSI) as a metric to evaluate the quality of the topological consistency between the generated map tiles and ground truth. The experimental results show that SMAPGAN outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) works according to the mean squared error, the structural similarity index, and the ESSI. Also, SMAPGAN gained higher approval than SOTA in a human perceptual test on the visual realism of cartography. Our work shows that SMAPGAN is a new tool with excellent potential for producing styled map tiles. Our implementation of SMAPGAN is available at https://github.com/imcsq/SMAPGAN.
COVID-19 macabre nightmare in Brazil: between denials and ravings O pesadelo macabro da Covid-19 no Brasil: entre negacionismos e desvarios/ COVID-19 macabre nightmare in Brazil: between denials and ravings La pesadilla macabra de Covid-19 en Brasil

Abstract The text discusses the difficulties to face COVID-19 raised by the speech and the actions defended by the federal government In contrast to the governments of countries that have achieved effective results in controlling the pandemic, representatives of the Brazilian government, among which the President of the Republic stands out, are continually disqualify publicly both risks and the adoption of scientifically based prevention measures, in particular social isolation, defending, in its place, the so-called ‘herd immunity’ The reiterated argument is that there is an opposition between the preservation of the economy and life, the former being a priority Such manifestations are accompanied by constraints on state and municipal governments in carrying out locally defined preventive measures This attitude expresses contempt for human life and an acute disregard for the socially most vulnerable population, which, in countries with chronic inequalities, such as Brazil, suffer the most serious effects of an epidemic
EFFECTS OF WEATHER PATTERN ON THE YIELD OF WHITE YAM (DIOSCOREAE ROTUNDATA) IN THE NORTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA ECOLOGICAL ZONE OF NIGERIA: THE CASE STUDY OF TARABA STATE

This research evaluated the effects of weather patterns on the yield of three selected white yam cultivars 'Yalzo', 'Jajetin' and 'Dan Anacha' in Ardo-kola LGA, Taraba State. The experiment was conducted during the 2016/2017 growing season along Sunkani - Bali highway opposite College of Agriculture Jalingo Taraba State. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Complete Block Designed (RCBD) using 3 replications. The meteorological data were collected from Taraba State University Jalingo, meteorological station throughout the growing season. Based on weather patterns during the cropping season, highest rainfall was recorded in the month of August with the total of 175mm and decreases toward October. There is inverse relationship with rainfall and Maximum temperature, Minimum temperature and sunshine hours, while Relative Humidity showed a direct relationship with rainfall. Correlation result showed that, almost all the climatic elements correlates positively with (Tuber bulking) yam yields with relative humidity and soil temperature displaying highly positive correlation with yam yield at 0.01 probability level. Variation in yield of yam revealed that, there is a variation in the number of tuber per plant, tuber length, and total number of tuber per plot, weight of tuber per plot and tuber yield per hectare at P=0.05, number of stem node at P=0.01. It also revealed that cultivar 1 (Yalzo) proved to be the Cultivar that has the highest yield per plot and per hectare and responded well with the prevailing climatic condition of the Study Area, followed by jajetin (C2) and then by Dan onicha (C3). It is recommended that, cultivation of Yalzo should be promoted in the study area and early planting be encouraged by famers in order to improve the cultivation of yam in the study area.
Clinically Significant Fatigue in Adult Leukemia Patients: Prevalence, Predictors, and Impact on Quality of Life

Background Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a common distressing symptom in leukemia patients. CRF becomes clinically significant fatigue (CSF) when adversely affects health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and warrants further workup, referrals, and treatment. Objective: To assess the prevalence and predictors of CSF and assesses its impact on HRQoL in adult leukemia patients. Method Analysis was performed on 168 leukemia patients. The primary study outcomes were CSF (score ≥4) as measured by the fatigue numerical rating scale and HRQoL using a validated Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia (FACT-Leu) scale. Result The prevalence of CSF was 89 (53%), with a mean score of 6.66±2.02. About 106 (63.1%) of leukemia patients had poor Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) (102.61±23.50). Overall, FACT-Leu mean score indicated that study participants had poor HRQoL (114.70±29.67). There was a statistically significant difference in HRQoL between the patients with CSF 104.89±28.82 and Non-CSF 125.76±26.71, p<0.001. Poor appetite (odd ratio: 3.02 [95% CI: 1.33-6.85]) was statistically significant predictors (p<0.010) of CSF. Dependence on caregiver (odd ratio: 3.31 [95% CI: 0.41-0.75]) and having non-CSF (odd ratio: 5.22 [95% CI: 2.44-11.19]) were found statistically significant predictors of good HRQoL. Conclusion CSF is prevalent among leukemia patients, and adversely affects their HRQoL. Holistic assessment and supportive care are needed to reduce the burden of CSF and improve leukemia patients HRQoL.
Prevalence of insomnia and relationship with depression, anxiety and stress among Jazan University students: A cross-sectional study

Abstract Insomnia, a common sleep disorder, is a public health concern, as it can lead to physical and mental exhaustion. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of insomnia and the common associated risk factors among students at Jazan University, in the Jazan region of southwestern Saudi Arabia. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 712 students. A pre-designed, structured questionnaire was used to collect the relevant information pertaining to the study variables. The overall prevalence of insomnia in the study was 19.3%. There was no significant difference in prevalence between males and females (p-value = 0.5). Participants from health colleges had greater prevalence of insomnia than those from art and Islamic colleges and science colleges (p-value = 0.03). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were significant risk factors for insomnia (p-value = 0.005, 0.000, 0.000, respectively). Insomnia is widely prevalent among Jazan University students. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, together with a noisy environment around the sleeping area, are important correlates. Screening for mental illnesses among university students is highly recommended.
Cytomorphological, histopathological and immunohistochemical observations on the histiocytic origin of canine transmissible venereal tumour

The cytogenic origin of canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) still remains unknown. Resulting from paucity of information on the histiocytic phenotypic features and behaviours of CTVT, this study was undertaken to show some uncommon cytomorphological features of CTVT and its immunoreactivity with S-100 protein. Nine cases of CTVT were investigated (6 females and 3 males) using nine fine needle aspirates for cytology and four biopsy samples for histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Cytology revealed CTVT cells with pale basophilic, fine granular cytoplasm and distinct intra-nuclear (3/9) and intra-cytoplasmic (9/9) vacuolations. Erythrophagocytosis by a giant binucleated CTVT cell in one dog and nuclear budding in 2 dogs were observed. Histopathology showed loose sheets and cords of uniformly round to ovoid cells with slight indistinct eosinophilic cytoplasm and a tendency towards glandular as well as syncytial formation. Nuclei were large and round with a single centrally placed nucleolus. The mitotic index was high. Immunohistochemistry of the four biopsy samples revealed negative immunoreactivity to pan-cytokeratin, actin and desmin but positive immunoreactivity with vimetin and S-100 proteins. This is the first report in which CTVT showed erythrophagocytosis, nuclear budding and positive immunoreactivity to S-100 protein. Based on these cytomorphological and immunohistochemical features, we conclude that CTVT is of histiocytic/dendritic origin. Keywords : Cytology, histopathology, Histiocytic origin, immunohistochemistry, Transmissible Venereal Tumour
A Passivity-Based Framework for Stability Analysis and Control Including Power Network Dynamics

The ongoing efforts by many countries worldwide to increase the share of renewable energy sources in power generation has changed the nature of existing power grids and introduced numerous stability-related issues. To address these problems, more extensive and detailed stability analysis studies are therefore needed. Driven by this need, in this article, we present a passivity-based framework for stability analysis and control design that allows more accurate modeling of both the network and the power system components while facilitating the derivation of completely decentralized stability results. In particular, the proposed approach relies on the formulation of the network as a dynamical multivariable system, which is shown to be passive, even when the network’s dynamic and lossy nature are taken into account. The application of decentralized passivity conditions on bus dynamics is then further exploited, together with the incorporation of more accurate dynamical models for the power system components, to guarantee the asymptotic stability of the interconnected system. Moreover, we discuss the opportunities provided by the proposed approach regarding the incorporation of higher order dynamics, the derivation of significant stability results in a completely decentralized manner and the design of effective distributed control mechanisms. These opportunities are finally verified through the design of a demand-side voltage droop controller and several dynamic simulations on two typical test systems.
Cadmium and Health: A Toxicological and Epidemiological Appraisal

This book contains the following chapters: Respiratory Effects. Renal Effects. Effects on Bone, on Vitamin D, and Calcium Metabolism. Other Toxic Effects. Carcinogenic and Genetic Effects. Critical Organs, Critical Concentrations, and Whole Body Dose-Response Relationships. General Summary and Conclusions and Some Aspects of Diagnosis and Poisoning. Appendix.