Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with valence electron energy loss spectroscopy for the nanoscale mapping of the elastic properties of Al–Li–Cu alloys

The stress and strain play an important role in strengthening of the precipitation‐hardened Aluminum (Al) alloys. Despite the determination of relationship between the mechanical properties and the precipitation existing in the microstructure of these alloys, a quantitative analysis of the local stress and the strain fields at the hardening‐precipitates level has been seldom reported. In this paper, the microstructure of a T8 temper AA2195 Al alloy is investigated using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (AC‐STEM). The strain fields in Al matrix in the vicinity of observed precipitates, namely T1 and β′, are determined using geometric phase analysis (GPA). Young's modulus (Ym) mapping of the corresponding areas is determined from the valence electron energy loss spectroscopy (VEELS) measured bulk Plasmon energy (Ep) of the alloys. The GPA‐determined strains were then combined with VEELS‐determined Ym under the linear theory of elasticity to give rise the local stresses in the alloy. The obtained results show that the local stresses in Al matrix having no precipitates were in the range of 138 ± 2 MPa. Whereas, in the vicinity of thin and thick T1 platelet shape precipitates, the stresses were found to be about 202 ± 3 MPa and 195 ±3 MPa, respectively. The stresses measured in the vicinity of β′ spherical shape precipitates found out to be 140 ± 3 MPa which was near to the local stress value in Al matrix. Our findings suggest that the precipitate hardening in T8 temper AA2195 Al alloy predominantly stems from thin T1 precipitates.
Prevalence and Correlates of Alcohol Consumption among Hill-Tribe Adolescents below the Legal Drinking Age—A Community-based Cross-Sectional Study in Northern Thailand

Alcohol drinking has been prevalent among various hill tribes of northern Thailand due to their distinctively different lifestyles, traditions, cultures and beliefs than the general Thai population; the majority of these traditions involve annual rounds of customary rituals that make alcohol abundantly accessible to all age groups. To study the prevalence and predictors of alcohol use, a community-based analytical cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2017–September 2018 among 480 sampled adolescents aged 12 through 18 years drawn by stratified random sampling. A proprietary questionnaire developed by the researchers was used to collect the data which were analyzed using binary logistic regression. The prevalence of alcohol use in the previous 30 days was 46.7%. Drinking predictors were: having at least a drinking parent, drinking peers, ever been sent to buy alcohol, smoking, cordial relationship with peers, gambling, family violence experience, stress and leisure time company. Therefore, our results suggest that prevention interventions should be designed with a focus on discouraging parents from sending children to buy alcohol and drinking or smoking in their presence; to reduce both social and commercial access to alcohol, age limits should be imposed on alcohol intake at all ceremonious events, while strictly reinforcing the law that prohibits selling alcohol to minors.
Not just an information-delivery tool. An ethnographic study exploring Danish GPs’ perspectives on and experiences with the relational potential of email consultation

Abstract Objective To explore GPs’ perspectives on and daily experiences with the relational potential of email consultations. Design Qualitative study with data from participant observation and semi-structured interviews Setting General practice setting in Denmark Subjects Practice personnel from four clinics were observed and 16 GPs (seven women and nine men, between 35 and 70 years of age) interviewed. Field notes and interview data were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Main outcome measures Main themes and subthemes reporting GPs’ perspectives on and experiences with the relational potential of email consultations. Results The analyses showed that due to perceived interpretational shortcomings, the GPs generally experienced email consultation as unsuitable for communication about relational, socio-emotional and sensitive matters. In doctor–patient relationships founded on mutual knowledge and trust, the email consultation was however used as a supportive communication channel, as a way for the patient to express emotions and affect and for the GP to proactively show interest and compassion towards the patient. Conclusion Email consultations were highly context-variant. Within continuing relationships and in conjunction with face-to-face consultations, email consultation was used for supportive communication holding the potential for maintaining, strengthening and/or dissolving the GP-patient relationship. Therefore, email consultation is not simply an information-delivery tool but also holds more explicit relational potentials. KEY POINTS Overall, the GPs perceived email consultation as unsuitable for non-medical, relationship-oriented purposes. Nonetheless, the GPs experienced that email consultations oftentimes comprised communication about relational and socio-emotional issues. Knowledge of the patient was a vital factor for the GP’s comfort in and acceptability of relational functions of email consultation. Email consultation is not simply an information-delivery tool as it holds the potential for maintaining, strengthening and/or dissolving the GP-patient relationship.
The Behavior of Gold Metallized AlN/Si- and AlN/Glass-Based SAW Structures as Temperature Sensors

Thin AlN piezoelectric layers have been deposited on high resistivity Si and glass substrates by reactive RF magnetron sputtering, in order to manufacture one-port gigahertz operating surface acoustic wave (SAW)-type resonators to be used as temperature sensors. The growth morphology surface topography, crystallographic structure, and crystalline quality of the AlN layers have been analyzed. Advanced nanolithographic techniques have been used to manufacture structures having interdigitated transducers with fingers and finger interdigit spacing width in the range of 250–170 nm. High resonance frequency ensures the increase of the sensitivity, but also of its normalized value, the temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF). The resonance frequency shift versus temperature has been measured in the −267°C−+150°C temperature range, using a cryostat setup adapted for on wafer microwave measurements up to 50 GHz. The sensitivity and the TCF were determined in the 25 °C–150 °C temperature range.
Effects of sitagliptin on ß-adrenoceptor mediated relaxation in streptozotocin-diabetic rat aorta

Background/aim Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors, a class of oral antidiabetic drugs, have been shown to be protective on the vascular system because of their antiinflammatory, antiatherosclerotic, and vasodilatory effects. ß 2-adrenoceptors (ß 2-ARs) mediate the vasorelaxation in the aorta. However, ß 3-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxation has not been studied in diabetic aorta yet. Thus, we aimed to study the effect of sitagliptin treatment on ß 2- and ß3-adrenoceptor-mediated relaxations in the diabetic rat aorta. Materials and methods Eight-week old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three groups: control, diabetic, sitagliptin treated diabetic. Diabetes was induced by injection of streptozotocin (35 or 40 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). After 10 weeks of diabetes, some of the diabetic rats were treated with sitagliptin (orally, 10mg/kg/day). ß2- and ß 3-AR-mediated relaxation responses were evaluated by using isoprenaline and CL 316,243, respectively. ß3-AR-mediated relaxation experiments were repeated in presence of L-NAME. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were performed to determine the abundance of ß3-adrenoceptor and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Results The isoprenaline-mediated relaxation response was impaired in the diabetic group and sitagliptin treatment did not improve it. There was no significant change in CL316,243 mediated-relaxation or protein expression of ß 3-ARs among the groups. However, the ratio of phosphorylated eNOS/NOS protein was increased markedly in the sitagliptin treated group, which points the stimulating effect of this drug towards the eNOS pathway. Conclusion Our results indicate that sitagliptin treatment does not alter ß- AR-mediated relaxation in streptozotocin-diabetic rat aorta; however, it significantly stimulates the eNOS pathway. Future studies are needed to clarify the relationship between the eNOS pathway and DPP-4 inhibition.
Examining the criterion and incremental validity of the MMPI-3 Self-Importance scale.

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) is the most recent installment in the MMPI family of instruments. It contains a new scale, Self-Importance (SFI), which was designed to assess grandiosity. Although initial data in the MMPI-3 Technical Manual have been supportive of its construct validity, no published research studies have evaluated this scale to date. The current study examined the internal structure, criterion validity, and incremental validity of the SFI scale in a large sample (n = 645) of university students. The 10 SFI items loaded on one latent factor in a well-fitting model, and item response theory parameters indicated good information coverage across a broad range of the underlying construct. SFI scale scores correlated with several measures of narcissistic personality disorder and grandiose narcissism, but were weakly associated with vulnerable narcissism scales. The SFI scale scores also accounted for incremental variance in a range of criterion measures above and beyond scores of other MMPI-3 Specific Problems scales and the MMPI-3 Personality Psychopathology Five scales. The current finding supported the SFI scale as a distinct and complementary measure of grandiosity for the MMPI-3. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Interleukin-1β Modulation of the Mechanobiology of Primary Human Pulmonary Fibroblasts: Potential Implications in Lung Repair

Pro-inflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1β (IL-1β) are upregulated during early responses to tissue damage and are expected to transiently compromise the mechanical microenvironment. Fibroblasts are key regulators of tissue mechanics in the lungs and other organs. However, the effects of IL-1β on fibroblast mechanics and functions remain unclear. Here we treated human pulmonary fibroblasts from control donors with IL-1β and used Atomic Force Microscopy to unveil that IL-1β significantly reduces the stiffness of fibroblasts concomitantly with a downregulation of filamentous actin (F-actin) and alpha-smooth muscle (α-SMA). Likewise, COL1A1 mRNA was reduced, whereas that of collagenases MMP1 and MMP2 were upregulated, favoring a reduction of type-I collagen. These mechanobiology changes were functionally associated with reduced proliferation and enhanced migration upon IL-1β stimulation, which could facilitate lung repair by drawing fibroblasts to sites of tissue damage. Our observations reveal that IL-1β may reduce local tissue rigidity by acting both intracellularly and extracellularly through the downregulation of fibroblast contractility and type I collagen deposition, respectively. These IL-1β-dependent mechanical effects may enhance lung repair further by locally increasing pulmonary tissue compliance to preserve normal lung distension and function. Moreover, our results support that IL-1β provides innate anti-fibrotic protection that may be relevant during the early stages of lung repair.
Evaluating Keratoconus Progression prior to Crosslinking: Kmax versus the ABCD grading system.

PURPOSE To evaluate the correlation between changes in maximum keratometry (Kmax) and ABC values from the ABCD Progression Display (Pentacam (OCULUS; Wetzlar, Germany)) in progressive keratoconus (KC) and to evaluate whether the ABC changes were able to detect progression earlier than Kmax. SETTING Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano, Milan, Italy. DESIGN Retrospective study. METHODS Seventy-six eyes of 63 patients scheduled for Cross-linking (CXL) with documented progression (Kmax increase of >1 Dioptre) were included. Kmax, ABC values and thinnest point (ThCT) were recorded the day of CXL (T0) and previous follow-up (T-1). In patients without earlier progression in Kmax, follow-up exam (T-2) was used to determine whether any of the ABC parameters reached statistical significance for progression. RESULTS There was a significant, albeit moderate, correlation between the change in Kmax between T0 and T-1 and the change in both A (rho=0.391) and B values (rho= 0.339). There was no significant correlation between the change in Kmax between T0 and T-1 and the change in either C or ThCT. In patients with T-2 exams, 51.6% (16/31) showed a statistically significant change on the ABCD progression display that was not detected with Kmax. CONCLUSIONS Our study showed a significant, but moderate, correlation between the change in Kmax and the change in A and B values in progressive KC. Moreover, more than half of the cases showed documented progression earlier with the ABCD progression display than detected by standard Kmax changes. This study suggests possible changes in progression criteria to allow for earlier intervention.
Dosimetry and Compliance for Wireless Power Transfer Systems in Vehicle

Vehicle electronization has raised compliance concerns regarding standards for the electromagnetic field exposure. The permissible external field levels prescribed in international guidelines/standards are derived from the limit inside the body under the assumption where humans are exposed to a uniform field in free space, resulting in over-conservativeness in most practical scenarios. This study discusses the emitted field strength, dosimetric evaluation, and compliance assessment method for a wireless power transfer (WPT) system implemented in an electric vehicle. The vehicle body is composed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). The effect of post-processing of the internal electric field which is not applied with current crossing skin layers, is mainly discussed, which has been mentioned in the IEEE C95.1 standard-2019. The computational results suggested that the magnetic field strength at the drive’s thigh and buttocks and passenger’s foot is highest because the magnetic field generated by the WPT leaks directly into the cabin from the floor for bodies made of CFRP. The influence of skin-to-skin contact appears at armpit, buttocks and between thigh and buttocks of human model. When both the exclusion of skin-to-skin contact and 99%itle is applied, the coupling factor of each body parts is not smaller than that of using only 99.9%tile. Therefore, the exclusion of skin-to-skin contact does not warrant conservativeness considering the different body parts.
Artificial Intelligence and Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the emerging technologies of today. It provides applications in addition to the traditional computing environments, and is also in affordable smart devices, making AI available everywhere. These affordable devices have built-in capabilities to handle complex computing tasks (edge computing), flexible access to fast network resources, access to cloud-based services to solve complex problems on a collaborative basis, and access to an enormous amount of open and closed data resources. In education, AI contributes in at least two ways: (1) the scope and content of education - what kind of education is needed; and (2) the process of education – support and changes to education and the teacher’s work. In the scope of education, we must consider that AI (and related technologies) will replace some jobs (education will no longer be needed), some jobs will change dramatically (education content must be modified), and a lot of new jobs will be generated (new education must be established). In the process of education – the work itself - AI will have and has the role of reformer and enabler, which also changes the characteristics and division of duties. In this paper we analyze the opportunities and challenges caused by AI in education. Although the focus is on the role of AI, it is difficult to separate it from other technology-driven changes, especially in the discussion about work life.
Response of Wheat and Barley Varieties to Phosphorus Fertilizer, 2010

Phosphorus fertilizer represents a significant portion of the cost of producing small grains. Some evidence exists that there are differences in the ability of small grain varieties to take phosphorus up from the soil and utilize this nutrient in the grain. The objective of this study is to determine if barley and wheat varieties grown in Arizona differ in their response to phosphorus fertilizer. A study was conducted for the second year at the Maricopa Agricultural Center testing the response of 7 barley and 14 wheat (12 durum wheat and 2 bread wheat) varieties to 2 phosphorus rates (0 and 100 lbs P2O5/acre). The grain yield increase due to phosphorus application averaged across varieties in 2010 was 170 lbs/acre for barley (not statistically significant) and 545 lbs/acre for wheat. The grain yield increase averaged across varieties and years was 331 lbs/acre for barley and 577 lbs/acre for wheat. The barley and wheat varieties did not differ in their grain yield increase due to phosphorus fertilizer in 2010. However, based on 2 years of results, we were able to detect differences among wheat but not barley varieties in their response to P fertilizer. The yield response to P fertilizer (100 lbs P2O5/acre) among durum wheat varieties varied from 331 lbs/acre for Alamo to 1063 lbs/acre for Orita. Yecora rojo, a bread wheat, did not respond to P fertilizer.
Online optimal control for nonlinear fin stabilizer system of marine vessels via time-based ADP algorithm

An online optimal control for fin stabilizer system of vessels based on adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) with an unknown system dynamic is developed in this paper. A model network is firstly used to identify the unknown fin stabilizer system dynamic and the optimal control can be obtained by using recorded and current data without knowledge of system dynamic. Then, two neural networks (NN) which are action and critic network are used to approximate the optimal control policy and optimal cost function respectively, two NNs are trained by using current and recorded data of the system and update processing is given for them once at sampling time. The proposed optimal control law can reduce roll motion of vessels at desired value and guarantee all states of the system, control signals and cost function are uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) with desired bounded errors. Simulation results are given to validate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed optimal control policy.
Demand Forecasting Using Artificial Neural Network Based on Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Demand forecasting plays a very significant role in logistics activities due to efficiently guiding various activities and increasing the commercial competitive advantage in a steadily fluctuating business environment. Traditional methods generally employ statistical methods, such as exponential smoothing or auto-regressive integrated moving average methods, to forecast the product demands. However, most researches only consider quantitative data such as time series data. Despite the fact in the real world, there are diverse qualitative data have more effect on product demands. Hence, this study aims to propose different 3 models based on quantitative and qualitative data. Such models consist of model 1, used only qualitative data as input, model 2, used only quantitative data, and model 3, used both of qualitative and quantitative data. A TV demands data set provided by a well-known shopping mall in Thailand is adopted to verify the proposed model. According to the consideration of performance measurement, the finding indicates that model 3 is outstanding. It can be concluded that the qualitative data are very important to demand forecast.
Sensor Fault Detection for Line Regulating Converters supplying Constant Power Loads in DC Microgrids

The objective of this paper is to increase the reliability of DC-DC converters operation, used in DC Microgrids (MG). This paper will determine the design requirements for a Sensor Fault Diagnosis (SFD) strategy for a DC-DC converter intended for DC MG, in order to allow continuous operation during erroneous sensor measurements. The SFD scheme is based on residuals generated by a generalized observer scheme. The observer gains is based on adaptive high-gain observer theory. The generated residuals are compared with thresholds, to detect sensor faults. The SFD scheme for the Line Regulating Converter (LRC) side is validated through simulations on a prototype DC MG system where the sensors are subjected to three types of sensor faults. In this paper, the prototype DC MG system will consist of a battery which is connected to the DC bus through a bidirectional buck/boost converter. A buck converter is used as LRC connected to the DC bus.
Short-term and long-term comparisons of laparoscopy-assisted proximal gastrectomy with esophagogastrostomy by the double-flap technique and laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy for proximal gastric cancer

Background Although proximal gastrectomy (PG) is a recognized surgical procedure for early proximal gastric cancer, total gastrectomy (TG) is sometimes selected due to concern about severe gastroesophageal reflux. Esophagogastrostomy by the double-flap technique (DFT) is an anti-reflux reconstruction after PG, and its short-term effectiveness has been reported. However, little is known about the long-term effects on nutritional status and quality of life (QOL). Methods Gastric cancer patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted PG (LAPG) with DFT or laparoscopy-assisted TG (LATG) between April 2011 and March 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. Body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) were reviewed to assess nutritional status, and the Postgastrectomy Syndrome Assessment Scale (PGSAS)-45 was used to assess QOL. Results A total of 36 patients (LATG: 17, LAPG: 19) were enrolled. Four of 17 LATG patients (24%) were diagnosed with Stage ≥II after surgery, and half received S-1 adjuvant chemotherapy. BW and PNI were better maintained in LAPG than in LATG patients until 1-year follow-up. Seven of 16 LATG patients (44%) were categorized as “underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m2)” at 1-year follow-up, compared to three of 18 LAPG patients (17%; p = 0.0836). The PGSAS-45 showed no significant difference in all QOL categories except for decreased BW (p = 0.0132). Multivariate analysis showed that LATG was the only potential risk factor for severe BW loss (odds ratio: 3.03, p = 0.0722). Conclusions LAPG with DFT was superior to LATG in postoperative nutritional maintenance, and can be the first option for early proximal gastric cancer.