Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on Model and Tests of Sheet Pile Wall with a Relieving Platform

A new type of retaining wall, the sheet pile wall with a relieving platform, is introduced in this paper. Based on the prototype retaining wall with a height of 12 meters, the model tests with a geometric similarity ratio of 7 are designed and we focus on the model production and analysis on the test results. Some comparative analyses between the measured values and the calculation values by using the theoretical calculation method and finite difference method are carried out, including Earth pressure behind the wall, prepile resistance force, the bending moment, and the deformation of rib pillars in the retaining wall. The results show that Earth pressure behind the wall has a linear increase with the depth and lies between Rankine Earth pressure and Earth pressure at rest. Moreover, the prepile resistance force can be approximated by the m method, and the bending moment can be also used for approximate calculation by the m method and is larger than the results calculated by the finite difference method. It is also observed that there is a zero-displacement point on the pile bottom, and the Earth pressure above the point behind the pile develops from Earth pressure at rest to the active Earth pressure; the Earth pressure under the point behind the pile develops from Earth pressure at rest to the passive Earth pressure. Therefore, the Earth pressure behind the bottom wall is larger than the calculated value by the Rankine theory. Finally, the displacement of the rib pillars is greater than the calculated results using the finite difference method and exceeds the standard requirements, owing to the failure of the retaining wall, and the unloading board needs to be constructed to improve the retaining wall’s behaviour. These findings verify the model’s credibility and provide an underpinning for studying the behavior of the retaining wall.
Genetic structure of the South European toothcarp Aphanius fasciatus (Actinopterygii: Cyprinodontidae) populations in the Mediterranean basin with a focus on the Venice lagoon

ABSTRACT The genetic structure of Aphanius fasciatus populations has been analysed using two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers (16S rRNA and D-loop) obtained from specimens collected in nine sites from the Venice lagoon, Comacchio saltworks and Corsica. Available GenBank sequences were also included, in order to extend the results on a Mediterranean scale. Genetic polymorphism within the Venice lagoon was very low, with most of the specimens analysed (66% for 16S rRNA and 83% for D-loop) sharing the same haplotype for either of the two markers. The genetic homogeneity found within the Venice lagoon may be the consequence of the northward migration of southern Adriatic populations after the Last Glacial Maximum: mismatch analysis showed indeed clear signs of a rapid demographic and spatial expansion. To explain this genetic homogeneity other hypotheses were also suggested, such as adaptation to the high variability of brackish water habitats, and artificial introductions. On a Mediterranean scale, phylogenetic analyses showed the presence of five distinct geographical lineages: Aegean Sea, Greek coast of the Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea and Southern Sicily. Analysis of molecular variance revealed a genetic partitioning mainly due to differences between groups presumably due to late Miocene geological events, while less polymorphism was present within groups and populations.
Morfologia funzionale delle parti boccali di Penthaleus major (Dugés) (Eupodoidea: Penthaleidae)

FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF PENTHALEUS MAJOR (DUGES) MOUTHPARTS (EUPODOIDEA: PENTHALEIDAE) The functional morphology of Penthaleus major (Duges) mouthparts has been studied by means of light microscope, scanning and trasmission electron microscopes. The movable digit with its basal sclerite, cheliceral, pharyngeal and infracapitular muscles are described and illustrated. The chelicerae present protractors and retractors muscles of the stylets and depressors muscles of the II cheliceral article. The muscles of the pharynx are represented by dorsal dilatators. The lateral lips show two slips of muscles. A hypothesis about the feeding mechanism has been expressed and a comparison with other groups of mites has been made. Key words: Prostigmata, gnathosoma, musculature, basal sclerite, feeding mechanism. E stato condotto uno studio sulla muscolatura delle parti boccali di un acaro Penthaleidae, il Penthaleus major (Duges), utilizzando il microscopio luce, quello elettronico a scansione e a trasmissione. Sono stati osservati e descritti il digitus mobilis ed il relativo sclerite basale, i muscoli dei cheliceri, quelli della pompa faringeale e delle labbra laterali. La muscolatura dei cheliceri risulta costituita dai muscoli protrattori e retrattori degli stiletti e da tre muscoli dorso-ventrali depressori del secondo articolo chelicerale. Per la pompa faringeale e stato individuato un gruppo di muscoli dilatatori dorsali mentre per le labbra laterali sono stati descritti due muscoli adduttori delle stesse. Infine e stata formulata un’ipotesi circa il comportamento trofico dell’acaro ed una successiva comparazione con le strutture descritte per altri gruppi di acari. Parole chiave: Prostigmata, gnatosoma, muscolatura, sclerite basale, meccanismo trofico.
Critical Thinking Performance Increases in Psychology Undergraduates Measured Using a Workplace-Recognized Test

Background: Higher education institutions and universities aim to provide students with a range of transferable skills that enable them to become more thoughtful and effective employees, citizens, and consumers. One of these skills is critical thinking. Objective: The aim of the present research was to examine whether taking a psychology degree is concomitant with students’ increase in critical thinking skills when students are not explicitly taught critical thinking. Method: Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional design and Study 2 a longitudinal design. The Watson and Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA, UK) was used to measure critical thinking. Results: For both studies, the overall scores of WGCTA, as well as scores of the subtest of Recognition of Assumptions, were significantly higher for final-year than for first-year students. Conclusion: From the findings, we conclude that the levels of critical thinking by final-year psychology students may be enhanced. Teaching implications: We propose that teaching other aspects of critical thinking such as Evaluation of Arguments and Interpretation, as measured by this test, could be beneficial in further developing psychology students’ overall critical thinking performance.
On the Fluidity of Institutional Change: Complex Interrelations Between Multiple Types of Institutional Work During the Serbian Transition

To extend the understanding of institutional change at the societal level, we explore the way in which multiple types of institutional work are interrelated, and how the interrelations affect both the institutional change and its outcome. Through an in-depth study of the Serbian transition between 2000 and 2008, our findings reveal first that this specific context expands the range of institutional work, for example, the pressure and capitalization work performed by the Mafia, tycoons, and opportunistic politicians in our case. Second, we highlight four complex characteristics of the interrelations between multiple types of institutional work: feedback loops, non-linearity, emergent properties, and discontinuity. We contribute to the neo-institutional literature by showing the importance to attend to the interrelations between multiple types of institutional work performed by different actors, as to understand institutional change, its fluidity, complexity, and its outcome.
Effects of low-molecular-weight heparin and unfractionated heparin on traumatic disseminated intravascular coagulation

Purpose: To explore the effects of unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) on traumatic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Methods: A total of 77 cases of severe trauma (APACHE II score: 5 – 10) with DIC were collected and randomly assigned to one of three groups: LMWH treatment - 26 cases were subcutaneously injected with LMWH (75–150 units/kg/d); UFH treatment - 25 cases were subcutaneously injected with UFH (100 – 250 units/kg/d); control - 26 cases supplemented with blood coagulation factor only. Daily mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU), hospitalization time, bleeding rate, thrombin time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and levels of fibrinogen, antithrombin III (ATIII), and D-dimer were recorded and analyzed. Results: In ICU, LMWH and UFH treatments resulted in lower mortality than in the control group. In addition, hospitalization time was longer in patients treated with LMWH and UFH than in control patients. No significant differences were found between LMWH-treated and control patients in terms of bleeding rate, but UFH-treated patients had lower bleeding rates than control patients. Multifactor analysis indicate a strong relationship between ATIII levels and bleeding rate. Conclusion: The results indicate that low-dose UFH and LMWH are effective options for the treatment of DIC. Keywords : Trauma, Disseminated intravascular coagulation, Unfractionated heparin, Low-molecularweight heparin, Fibrinogen, Antithrombin
Semi-Supervised Background Subtraction Of Unseen Videos: Minimization Of The Total Variation Of Graph Signals

Recently, several successful methods based on deep neural networks have been proposed for background subtraction. These deep neural algorithms have almost perfect performance, relying in the availability of ground-truth frames of the tested videos during the training step. However, the performance of some of these algorithms drops significantly when tested on unseen videos. In this paper, concepts of semi-supervised learning are introduced in the problem of background subtraction for unseen videos. We propose a new algorithm named Graph-BGS-TV, this method uses: Mask R-CNN for instances segmentation; temporal median filter for background initialization; motion, texture, and intensity features for representing the nodes of a graph; k-nearest neighbors for the construction of the graph; and finally a total variation minimization algorithm to solve the problem of background subtraction. GraphBGS-TV is tested in the change detection dataset, outperforming unsupervised and supervised methods in the challenges “PTZ” and “shadows”.
Social media as a tool of knowledge sharing in academia: an empirical study using valance, instrumentality and expectancy (VIE) approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that determine the knowledge exchange intention and behavioural nature of academics by the help of social media tools in the Indian higher education. Design/methodology/approach This study has used valance–instrumentality–expectancy (VIE) theory to determine the knowledge exchange behaviour of academics. The study has considered the effects of knowledge contributor (KC) and knowledge seeker (KS) as moderators. The model has been validated by using a survey with 320 usable respondents. Findings The results highlight that if the stakeholders of higher education institutions feel the deficits of knowledge exchange, they realize importance of knowledge sharing and use social media to increase effect of knowledge exchange. Besides, perceived usefulness impacts on the use of social media for knowledge exchange by the concerned stakeholders. Moreover, it is observed that experience of the use of social media impacts the use of this tool for knowledge exchange. Research limitations/implications The use and application of VIE theory have successfully been able to interpret the factors affecting use of social media for knowledge exchange in higher educational institutes. The use of VIE theory has also been able to explain the proposed model better as the model could achieve a high explanative power (87%). Practical implications This study has provided meaningful insights to the practitioners and policymakers to realize how the stakeholders of the higher education institutions in India can be motivated to feel the need of sharing of knowledge and how they can use social media with ease for this purpose. Originality/value Not much research has been conducted with regard to the usage of social media as a tool for knowledge sharing in higher education sector in India. In that sense, this study is a novel attempt to undertake such research.
The Interband Cascade Laser

We review the history, development, design principles, experimental operating characteristics, and specialized architectures of interband cascade lasers for the mid-wave infrared spectral region. We discuss the present understanding of the mechanisms limiting the ICL performance and provide a perspective on the potential for future improvements. Such device properties as the threshold current and power densities, continuous-wave output power, and wall-plug efficiency are compared with those of the quantum cascade laser. Newer device classes such as ICL frequency combs, interband cascade vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, interband cascade LEDs, interband cascade detectors, and integrated ICLs are reviewed for the first time.
Insights into the planetary dynamics of HD 206893 with ALMA

Radial substructure in the form of rings and gaps has been shown to be ubiquitous among protoplanetary discs. This could be the case in exo-Kuiper belts as well, and evidence for this is emerging. In this paper, we present ALMA observations of the debris/planetesimal disc surrounding HD 206893, a system that also hosts two massive companions at 2 and 11 au. Our observations reveal a disc extending from 30 to 180 au, split by a 27 au wide gap centred at 74 au, and no dust surrounding the reddened brown dwarf (BD) at 11 au. The gap width suggests the presence of a 0.9MJup planet at 74 au, which would be the third companion in this system. Using previous astrometry of the BD, combined with our derived disc orientation as a prior, we were able to better constrain its orbit finding it is likely eccentric ($0.14^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$). For the innermost companion, we used radial velocity, proper motion anomaly, and stability considerations to show its mass and semimajor axis are likely in the ranges 4–100MJup and 1.4–4.5 au. These three companions will interact on secular time-scales and perturb the orbits of planetesimals, stirring the disc and potentially truncating it to its current extent via secular resonances. Finally, the presence of a gap in this system adds to the growing evidence that gaps could be common in wide exo-Kuiper belts. Out of six wide debris discs observed with ALMA with enough resolution, four to five show radial substructure in the form of gaps.
Biodegradability and ecotoxicity of polyurethane foams: A review

Abstract Polyurethane foams, are highly demanded in many applications and their use is increasing incessantly. Besides these traditional applications, recently polyurethane foams with different morphologies have been used in environmentally-oriented applications as biofilters for waste air and water treatments, microporous sorption materials, carriers of bio-catalyst (enzyme) in biotechnologies and lightweight packing materials with high surface area for cell attachment and biofilm development, etc. For these applications it is important that polyurethane foams are not toxic, bio-based and capable of decomposing in the environment. Therefore, there is a huge potential for conducting research focused on biodegradation of newly developed bio-foams and their ecotoxicological impacts and thus to make valuable contribution in solving environmental and resource depletion problems of the world. This review gives an overview about environmental degradation of polyurethane foams with special accent to their biodegradation behavior and ecotoxicity. The paper is organized as follows: (1) polyurethane foams are shortly introduced together with their current recycling options, (2) innovative approaches in producing of bio-based and biodegradable polyurethane foams are mentioned, (3) possible ways of environmental degradations of polyurethane foams are present, (4) aspects of polyurethane foam biodegradation are discussed in details and finally (5) ecotoxicity of polyurethane foams is also mentioned. Graphical abstract
Increased Autoimmune Responses to Oxidative Specific Epitopes in Bipolar Disorder Type 1 and Major Depression: Towards A Data-Driven, Mechanistic Model of Mood Disorders

Major depression is accompanied by increased IgM-mediated autoimmune responses to oxidative specific epitopes (OSEs). Nevertheless, these responses have not been examined in bipolar disorder type 1 (BP1) and BP2. IgM responses to malondialdehyde (MDA), phosphatidinylinositol, oleic acid, and azelaic acid were determined in 35 healthy controls, and 101 mood disorder patients, namely 47 major depressed (MDD), 29 BP1, and 25 BP2 patients. We also measured serum total peroxides, IgG to oxidized LDL (oxLDL), IgM to nitroso-adducts, and IgM/IgA directed to lipopolysaccharides (LPS). IgM responses to OSEs were significantly higher in MDD and BP1 as compared with controls and higher in MDD than in BP2. Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis showed that 57.7% of the variance in the clinical phenome of mood disorders was explained by number of episodes, IgM directed to OSEs and nitroso-adducts, IgG to oxLDL, and peroxides. There were significant specific indirect effects of IgA/IgM to LPS on the clinical phenome, which were mediated by peroxides, IgM OSEs, and IgG oxLDL. Using PLS we have constructed a data-driven nomothetic network which ensembled causome (increased plasma LPS load), adverse outcome pathways (namely neuro-affective toxicity), and clinical phenome features of mood disorders in a data-driven model. Based on those feature sets, cluster analysis discovered a new diagnostic class characterized by increased plasma LPS load, peroxides, autoimmune responses to OSEs and nitroso-adducts, and increased phenome scores. Using the new nomothetic network approach, we constructed a mechanistically transdiagnostic diagnostic class indicating neuro-affective toxicity in 74.3% of the mood disorder patients. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 16 September 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202009.0347. v1
Utilizing the TTOP model to understand spatial permafrost temperature variability in a High Arctic landscape, Cape Bounty, Nunavut, Canada

Ground surface and permafrost temperatures in the High Arctic are often considered homogeneous especially when viewed at the scale of climate and environmental models. However, this is generally incorrect due to highly variable, topographically redistributed snow cover, which generates a substantial degree of ground thermal heterogeneity. The objective of this study is to describe and spatially model the variability in the ground thermal regime within the Cape Bounty Arctic Watershed Observatory (CBAWO), Nunavut, Canada, using the TTOP model, for current conditions in addition to a series of future climate change scenarios. While observed air temperature was mostly uniform, annual mean ground surface and permafrost temperatures across the paired watersheds were estimated to range between −3.8 to −13.8°C and −3.9 to −14°C, respectively, similar to the −5 to −15°C magnitude and range identified from boreholes across the High Arctic. The spatial models showed higher ground surface temperatures in topographic hollows (slope bases and stream channels), and lower temperatures in areas of topographic prominence (hilltops and plateaus) following the spatial pattern of snow accumulation and redistribution. Under projected climate change, the models predicted areas with the coldest permafrost to have the largest magnitude of warming (about 9°C), while areas of warm permafrost became closer to 0°C (warming 4–7°C). This thermal heterogeneity may have implications for ground instability such as permafrost‐related mass movements, hydrological connectivity, biogeochemical cycling, and microbial activity, which influence water quality and contaminant mobility.
Effect of reintroduced manual mowing on biodiversity in abandoned fen meadows

Abstract Wetlands have recently become of high environmental interest. The restoration effects on habitats like fens are one of the main topics of recent restoration ecology, especially due to their interconnection with other ecosystems. We studied the manual mowing effect on abandoned fen using the response of three study taxa: diurnal butterflies, flower-visiting beetles and vascular plants. Our results showed that butterflies seems to be quickly-responding indicator taxon for evaluation and that restored management had a positive effect on both species richness and composition of this insect group. The results indicated that the manual mowing effect could be rapid. In comparison with the surrounding landscape, we found that: (i) the manually mowed site was most similar to strictly protected area, (ii) some species of high conservation value could reach higher abundance in restored than protected site, and (iii) manual mowing could bring a new type of habitat (i.e., spatial heterogeneity) compared to the other management types (abandonment, conservation and agri-environmental mowing). The main implication seems to be optimistic for practice: The manual mowing of long-term abandoned fen is leading to the creation of habitat with high conservation value in a relatively short time.
Comparison of phosphorus efficiency among spring oilseed rape cultivars in response to phosphorus deficiency

ABSTRACT Crops that acquire phosphorus more efficiently could reduce some of the environmental problems of fertilizers. We conducted two experiments to evaluate seven spring oilseed rape cultivars for their relative efficiency to use or acquire P under conditions of deficiency (4.6 mg Olsen P kg−1) and P application (80 mg P kg−1). Based on biomass, P content, P acquisition and use efficiency, cultivars were categorized as efficient responsive, non-efficient responsive, efficient non-responsive and non-efficient non-responsive. We also measured and compared root diameter, root surface area and total root length in two selected cultivars, and found that the Dalgan cultivar, which was efficient in P acquisition, was also an efficient accumulator of biomass under the P deficiency, and that P acquisition was related to higher Ca uptake. The responsible mechanism for P efficiency was suggested to be higher P uptake, which prompts the formation of larger root systems and improves plant access to soil P.