Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of track model formulations for simulation of dynamic vehicle–track interaction in switches and crossings

This paper compares different track model formulations for the simulation of dynamic vehicle–track interaction in switches and crossings (S&C, turnouts) in a multi-body simulation (MBS) environment. The investigations are an extension of the S&C simulation Benchmark with the addition of a finite element model of a 60E1-760-1:15 turnout. This model constitutes a common reference from which four different track formulations are derived: co-running, modal superposition, finite element incorporated into the MBS model and finite element coupled to MBS using a co-simulation approach. For the different track models, the difference in modelling technique, results, simulation time, and suitability for different simulation tasks is compared. A good agreement is found between the different track model formulations for wheel–rail contact forces and rail displacements. This study found a better agreement between co-running and structural track models compared to previous studies in the prediction of wheel–rail contact forces. This appears to be due to the increased complexity of co-running track model used in this study together with a tuning of the co-running track model to the reference model in a wider frequency range. For the reader interested to reproduce the results in this paper, the reference track model is available for download.
Structural anther mimics improve reproductive success through dishonest signaling that enhances both attraction and the morphological fit of pollinators with flowers

Numerous studies have identified traits associated with pollen mimicry, however, the processes underlying floral deception remains poorly documented for these structures. We studied the importance of attraction and mechanical fit of anther mimics in Tritonia laxifolia (Iridaceae) and their relative contributions to reproductive success. To determine anther mimics role in pollinator attraction, we offered bees’ binary preferences to flowers painted with UV absorbent and reflecting paint. We also conducted preference experiments between flowers with excised anther mimics and unmanipulated controls, from which mechanical fit was assessed using single visits. Anther mimics effects on female reproductive success was determined using similar treatments, but on rooted plants. Bees preferred UV absorbent over UV reflecting anther mimics. Preference for flowers with and without the three-dimensional structures was equal. Single visits resulted in more pollen deposition on unmanipulated controls over flowers with their anther mimics excised, which was directly linked to pollen-collecting behaviour. Controls with unmanipulated anther mimics experienced more seed set than those with their anther mimics excised. This study provides insights into pollinator-mediated selection on deceptive floral signals and shows that three-dimensional anther mimics increases reproductive success through both attraction and pollen collecting behaviours that improves the fit between flowers and pollinators.
NURSE RELATED CHALLENGES FACED BY DIPLOMA LEVEL NURSES BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER UPGRADING TO BACCALAUREATE LEVEL AT A LEVEL 5 HOSPITAL

Purpose: Personal development and pursuance of higher education in nursing is considered important for the nurses to stay abreast in the dynamic medical world and promote excellence in practice. In a world with emerging complex diseases, there is high demand for a highly skilled and critically thinking nurse. At the Baccalaureate level or higher to match international standards. Determine nurse related challenges that determine whether a nurse enrolls in a diploma to degree nursing program, their performance during the program and their decision to hold on to the end Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional design, carried out among a randomly sampled population of 220 nurses who work in the hospital. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires from a simple random sample of 140 nurses. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 22.0. Measures of central tendency mean and range were used. The findings have been presented in form of figures, tables, pie-charts and narrative texts. Results: A total of 120 participants filled questionnaires representing an 85% response rate. 78% (n=93) were female, and 22% (n=27) were male, Chi-square analysis showed that there was significant correlation in some factors like the designation of a nurse impacted the motivation to upgrade (x2=20.96, df=12, p=0.05) and nursing officers III (n=46, 48.8%) were motivated to upgrade to higher education levels. Family responsibilities of the nurses affected their decision or process of upgrading (x2=6.752, df=6, p=0.03). Conclusion: Lack of motivation and difficulty balancing work and study were found to be the major nurse related challenges of upgrading. These factors should be looked into in order for the nursing fraternity to be able to serve the patient better thus having better patient outcomes. Recommendations: This study recommended that the nurse should be self-motivated to upgrade in the nursing career, the employer to provide favorable shifts in order to nurse to have life balance and policies on career progression and remuneration should be promoted
Heat Transfer Modeling of Oriented Sorghum Fibers Reinforced High-Density Polyethylene Film Composites during Hot-Pressing

A one-dimensional heat transfer model was developed to simulate the heat transfer of oriented natural fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites during hot-pressing and provide guidance for determining appropriate hot-pressing parameters. The apparent heat capacity of thermoplastics due to the heat of fusion was included in the model, and the model was experimentally verified by monitoring the internal temperature during the hot-pressing process of oriented sorghum fiber reinforced high-density polyethylene (HDPE) film composites (OFPCs). The results showed that the apparent heat capacity of HDPE accurately described its heat fusion of melting and simplified the governing energy equations. The data predicted by the model were consistent with the experimental data. The thermal conduction efficiency increased with the mat density and HDPE content during hot-pressing, and a higher mat density resulted in a higher mat core temperature. The addition of HDPE delayed heat transfer, and the mat had a lower core temperature at a higher HDPE content after reaching the melting temperature of HDPE. Both the experimental and simulated data suggested that a higher temperature and/or a longer duration during the hot-pressing process should be used to fabricate OFPC as the HDPE content increases.
miR166h Directed Cleavage of Target Upon PGPR Inoculation Under Drought Stress and Tissue-Specific Expression Analysis Under Abiotic Stresses in Chickpea.

Legumes are an indispensable food after cereals with extensive production across the world. The legume production is imposed with limitations and has been augmented by various environmental stresses. The symbiotic relations between legumes and rhizobacteria have been an intriguing topic of research in view of their roles in plant growth, development and various stress responses. Recent advances on gene networks involving plethora of evolutionarily conserved miRNAs have been investigated pertaining to their roles in plant stress responses. The interaction between plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strain Pseudomonas putida RA, MTCC5279 and abiotic stress responsive miRNAs have previously been studied with roles in abiotic stress mitigation by modulating stress responsive miRNAs and their target genes. The present studyis an investigation involving the role of RA in abiotic stress responsive miR166h for drought mitigation in tolerant desi chickpea genotype. miRNA166 directed cleavage of its target, ATHB15 has been drifted of drought treated plantlets upon RA inoculation using 5´RLM-RACE analysis. Drought stressed chickpea plants when inoculated with growth promoting rhizobacteria, RA, the inverse correlation in expression patterns were noticed in miR166h and its validated target, ATHB15. Tissue-specific expression patterns in 15 days old chickpea seedlings including leaves, shoot and roots when exposed to salinity, drought and abscisic acid at different time points indicated the role of miR166 in different abiotic stress response. In view of the results, validation and functional characterization of such interactions involving stress responsive miRNAs along with microbial stress management techniques could be an important technique for crop improvement.
Towards ML-Based Diagnostics of Laser–Plasma Interactions

The power of machine learning (ML) in feature identification can be harnessed for determining quantities in experiments that are difficult to measure directly. However, if an ML model is trained on simulated data, rather than experimental results, the differences between the two can pose an obstacle to reliable data extraction. Here we report on the development of ML-based diagnostics for experiments on high-intensity laser–matter interactions. With the intention to accentuate robust, physics-governed features, the presence of which is tolerant to such differences, we test the application of principal component analysis, data augmentation and training with data that has superimposed noise of gradually increasing amplitude. Using synthetic data of simulated experiments, we identify that the approach based on the noise of increasing amplitude yields the most accurate ML models and thus is likely to be useful in similar projects on ML-based diagnostics.
Cognitive and Affective Empathy and Its Relationship to Proactive and Reactive Aggression in Vietnamese Adolescents

While aggression is considered as one of the most common behavior problems among adolescents, empathy can be a predictor of prosocial behaviors and underlines different implications for aggression in children. Empirical studies had proved that there was a negative correlation between empathy and aggression in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, the vast majority of studies on the relationship between aggression and empathy has been well documented in the literature with Western samples. The current study aims to examine the aggression-empathy association in Vietnamese adolescents and to explore whether or not aggression can be predicted by empathy and self-control. A total of 1,236 adolescents aged 12-13 years from 3 regions of Vietnam were asked to answer the survey package including the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, the Basic Empathy Scale and the Self-Control Questionnaire. Findings revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in aggression and empathy scores for gender, in which female adolescents showed a higher level of aggression and empathy than that of male ones. There was a strong negative relationship between aggression and empathy. Aggression can be predicted by empathy and self-control. Of the two variables, empathy was a better predictor of aggression (beta = -.42) than self-control (beta = -.37). The results add more valuable evidence to the existing literature on the relationship between aggression and empathy in a diverse population, and proved the role of education in enhancing empathy for adolescents in general and those with high levels of aggression in particular in school settings.
Attitudes towards Olive Oil Usage, Domestic Storage, and Knowledge of Quality: A Consumers’ Survey in Greece

Consumption of unbranded olive oil obtained in bulk has previously been reported to be very high in Greece, underlining the need to investigate knowledge regarding its health attributes and storage practices, two areas that can affect oil quality. This study aimed to investigate Greek consumers’ use and choice of olive oil, their knowledge about its quality, as well as domestic storage practices of olive oil. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a representative sample of 857 Greek households that consume olive oil, using a previously validated questionnaire. Most participating households use olive oil produced by themselves or by their extended family or friends (60.3%), and only 27.4% purchase branded olive oil, while 57% reported using extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Only 38.4% of the respondents reported optimal domestic storage practices to maintain olive oil quality, with a significant greater percentage of non-producers group compared to olive oil producers. In all areas of Greece, the higher the knowledge of olive oil quality, the higher the probability of consumers selecting EVOO and perceiving olive oil price as low. The present survey highlights the need to heighten consumers’ knowledge of olive oil attributes and correct storage practices and awareness about branded EVOO and its superior quality.
The Unique Properties of Placental Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: A Novel Source of Therapy for Congenital and Acquired Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devasting condition with no reliable treatment. Spina bifida is the most common cause of congenital SCI. Cell-based therapies using mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCS) have been largely utilized in SCI. Several clinical trials for acquired SCI use adult tissue-derived MSC sources, including bone-marrow, adipose, and umbilical cord tissues. The first stem/stromal cell clinical trial for spina bifida is currently underway (NCT04652908). The trial uses early gestational placental-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (PMSCs) during the fetal repair of myelomeningocele. PMSCs have been shown to exhibit unique neuroprotective, angiogenic, and antioxidant properties, all which are promising applications for SCI. This review will summarize the unique properties and current applications of PMSCs and discuss their therapeutic role for acquired SCI.
Can a Wastewater Treatment Plant Power Itself? Results from a Novel Biokinetic-Thermodynamic Analysis

The water–energy nexus (WEN) has become increasingly important due to differences in supply and demand of both commodities. At the center of the WEN is wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), which can consume a significant portion of total electricity usage in many developed countries. In this study, a novel multigeneration energy system has been developed to provide an energetically self-sufficient WWTP. This system consists of four major subsystems: an activated sludge process, an anerobic digester, a gas power (Brayton) cycle, and a steam power (Rankine) cycle. Furthermore, a novel secondary compressor has been attached to the Brayton cycle to power aeration in the activated sludge system in order to increase the efficiency of the overall system. The energy and exergy efficiencies have been investigated by varying several parameters in both WWTP and power cycles. The effect of these parameters (biological oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen level, turbine inlet temperature, compression ratio and preheater temperature) on the self-efficiency has also been investigated. It was found here that up to 109% of the wastewater treatment energy demand can be produced using the proposed system. The turbine inlet temperature of the Brayton cycle has the largest effect on self-sufficiency of the system. Energy and exergy efficiencies of the overall system varied from 35.7% to 46.0% and from 30.6% to 33.55%, respectively.
Textural analysis and emplacement conditions of well-preserved Orosirian felsic volcanic rocks of Northern Amazon Craton, Brazil

Located in the Amazon Craton, the Uatumã magmatism (1.89-1.87 Ga) consists in one of the oldest Silicic Large Igneous Provinces (SLIPs) on Earth. For a long time, the access to these deposits in the northern Amazon Craton (Erepecuru–Trombetas Domain) has been set back for volcanological studies due to dense vegetation cover and the absence of roads. Recent studies identify two Orosirian volcanic units in the region: the Iricoumé Group (1.89-1.87 Ga) related to the Uatumã magmatism, and the Igarapé Paboca Formation (1.99-1.94 Ga), associated to an older magmatism. Both units are widespread in the Erepecuru–Trombetas Domain and include effusive and explosive deposits. In this paper, we apply textural analyses and rheological estimations to determine the eruption and emplacement conditions of these two volcanic sequences. Textural analyses were carried out through fieldwork and petrography, including a systematic classification of lavas and volcaniclastic rocks. Rheological parameters were determined using geochemistry data to obtain melt viscosity (η) and temperature, zircon saturation (TZr), liquidus (TL), and glass transition temperatures (TG), for anhydrous and hydrous compositions. Textural analyses indicate the predominance of volcaniclastic facies with abundant eutaxitic and parataxitic textures. Rheological estimations reveal TL of 1020ºC, TZr 650-905ºC, and TG 640-753ºC for anhydrous Iricoumé Group melts. Eruptive viscosity estimations range from 8.4 to 11.7 log η (Pa.s). Igarapé Paboca melts present higher temperatures, with TL of 1050ºC, TZr 710-880ºC, and TG 670-740 ºC. Modeling using hydrous compositions indicate that minute amounts of water can strongly affect the rheology of the studied melts, reducing η, TL, TZr, and TG. The petrographic features indicative of hydrous magma reinforces the role of H2O as a controlling agent in the fragmentation of Iricoumé and Igarapé Paboca melts. The pyroclastic samples are marked by elevated ∆TZr - TG relationships indicative of high emplacement temperatures above the TG. Our results indicate that the high temperatures and the presence of network-modifier cations in the studied melts favored the development of extensive welded ignimbrites associated with low-eruption columns, likely developed in fissural and/or caldera systems.
Perceptive Advanced Car-driver Drowsiness Monitoring Neuro-Embedded System

Thanks to significant progress in automotive technologies, car makers are equipping next-generation cars with ad-hoc designed Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The term "ADAS" includes embedded devices and sensors designed to improve car driving safety including rain sensors, twilight sensors, and more. Recently, particular interest has been put into the so-called “Perceptual Advanced Driver Assistance Systems”. A perceptual ADAS solution is a car driver assistance system based on the perceptual-physiological monitoring of the car driver. Specifically, a perceptual ADAS leverages the continuous monitoring of the driver's physiological status (attention level, fatigue, etc.) in order to early detect such risky scenarios to be alerted. The author has carried out many scientific studies which have confirmed that a proper processing of the car driver’s PPG signal allows a robust and fast characterization of the driver's level of attention. More in detail, the author proposes an embedded perceptual ADAS system performing a novel and patented PPG signal processing called hyper-filtering and inspired by the well-known hyper-spectral approach usually applied to 2D images. The proposed approach is able to reliably determine the driver’s attention status in a range of 10-15 secs PPG data buffering. The proposed method has been validated on a large clinical trial of subjects whose driving dynamics have been properly assessed.
Endophytic Fungi as Potential Bio-Control Agents against Root Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in Banana

A Survey was conducted in 12 districts of Assam to collect 92 healthy banana root samples. A total of 55 fungal isolates were successfully isolated from commercial banana cultivars. The culture filtrates were extracted from 55 endophytic fungal isolates and screened against root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in vitro and pot culture studies. Among them, five fungal isolates viz., EF4, BF7, BF27, BF28 and BF35 showed 100% inhibition of egg hatching and 96.33 to 81.33% juvenile mortality of M. incognita with an exposure period of 72h when compared to other isolates and control. On paddy seed treatment with endophytic fungi of five promising isolates, two isolates viz., BF7 and BF28 significantly enhanced germination percentage (82.67%, 73.33%) and vigour index (62.91, 47.24%), respectively. The selected five endophytic fungal isolates were evaluated for their efficacy against M. incognita in banana under pot culture conditions. The study revealed that culture filtrates of BF7 and BF28 significantly reduced the soil and root nematode population, number of adult females, egg masses and root gall index of M.incognita compared to untreated control. The isolates BF7 and BF28 also significantly increased the growth parameters viz., pseudostem height, root length and pseudostem girth. These promising endophytic fungal isolates viz., BF7 and BF28 were identified as non-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum strains (Accession no. MN567668) and (Accession no. MN567710), respectively by PCR -18S rRNA of ITS region of gene sequence and phylogenetic tree construction.
Effect of Different Corticosteroid Regimens on the Outcome of Severe COVID-19-Related Acute Respiratory Failure. A Retrospective Analysis

Background: Systemic corticosteroids are associated with reduced mortality in COVID-19-related acute respiratory failure; however, the type and dose has not yet been established. Objectives: To compare the outcomes of dexamethasone vs. methylprednisolone, along with the effects of rescue, short-term, high-dose boluses of corticosteroids. Methods: Before/after and case/control retrospective analysis of consecutive critically ill COVID-19 subjects. Subjects were initially given dexamethasone; however, after review of the local protocol, methylprednisolone was suggested. A three-day course of 1000 mg/day of methylprednisolone was administered in the case of refractory hypoxemia within the first 10 days of treatment. Propensity score-adjusted comparisons were performed. Results: A total of 81 consecutive subjects were included (85% males, 60 ± 10 years, SAPS II 27 ± 7, SOFA 4 [IQR 3, 6] points) and 51 of these subjects (62.9%) received dexamethasone and 29 (35.8%) had methylprednisolone. The groups were well matched for age, comorbidities, and severity at admission. No differences were found in the duration of ICU stay, hospital mortality, or infectious complications between the groups. A total of 22 subjects (27.2%) received a rescue bolus; these subjects had a significantly lower oxygenation, a higher driving pressure, and an increased ventilatory ratio during the first ten days. Short-term/high-dose boluses were associated with higher hospital mortality, longer mechanical ventilation and ICU and hospital stay, and more infectious complications. A subgroup of subjects who received the boluses had significantly improved oxygenation and lower hospital mortality. Conclusions: We were unable to find any difference between dexamethasone or methylprednisolone on the explored outcomes; high-dose boluses of corticosteroids were associated with a worse outcome. However, a subgroup of subjects was identified in whom the high-dose boluses seemed beneficial.