Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experiments on the Micromechanics of Ice using Scanning Electron Microscopy

From both geophysical and engineering perspectives, a comprehensive characterisation of the micromechanical behaviour of ice is desirable. The deformation of ice observed on larger scales, both in the field and laboratory, is controlled by the underlying microstructure of the ice, as well as internal defects incorporated into the microstructure. Thus, to fully understand the deformation behaviour of the sea ice cover across the Arctic Basin, or at a more local scale, interactions between sea ice floes and offshore structures, knowledge of the microstructure of the ice, and its micromechanical response under applied stresses are imperative. We have developed an experimental methodology for in-situ mechanical testing of millimetre-scale ice samples within the chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). This enables the measurement of the stress-strain behaviour of the ice as well as simultaneous real-time imaging of the surface topography, providing a visual indication of the micromechanical processes occurring during deformation. In this paper, we give a description of the experimental methodology, followed by results from preliminary compression tests on freshwater ice samples. Prior to testing, the surface of each sample was imaged, revealing microstructural features such as grain boundaries. Stress-strain curves were obtained for each test in addition to videos of the SEM display during deformation. The SEM imaging revealed various deformation features during the tests, most notably crack initiation and propagation and the eventual failure of the samples. Applying this methodology to saline ice, in conjunction with concurrent mechanical tests on larger scales, we aim to establish empirical scaling relations for sea ice mechanics. These results may then be implemented into basinscale sea ice models as well as models for ice-structure interactions.
Morpho-productive Characteristics of Saanen Goats in the South of Romania

Within the breed pattern of goat livestock exploited at national level, the most important share is represented by rustic non-improved breeds, which, however having an important variability under dimension report, we may state, at the same extent, about productions, especially milk ones. Thus, small productions request crossings, at least infusive ones, with the most performant breeds such as Saanen, whose performances are remarkable in the specialized farms from the origin country. In the present work , the analysis object is constituted by Saanen livestock exploited in Gîrbovi – Ialomiţa, where there were observed the main morpho-productive characteristics of the breed and the performance way, especially milk production, during the whole lactation and its quality, as well as the main body measurements. The main effected somatometric measurements emphasized a conformation, typically dolicomorphic, reflected by the analysed body indexes, on the basis of the average body dimensions such as: live weight 57.375±0.23 Kg, as an average, height at the crupper 67.64±0.38cm, crupper length 69.25±0.41 cm, oblique body length 70.98±0.38 cm, head length 21.35±0.14 cm, head width 14.58±0.18 cm, chest width 18.56±0.15 cm, croup width 20.26±0.14 cm, thoracic perimeter 89.17cm±0.32 cm and cane perimeter 10.52±1.53 cm, resulting a dolicomorph body structure. The total production is as an average of 500.39 litres and the medium milk production during the 212 lactation days of almost 7 months was of about 2.36 L/head/day during the whole lactation and during each month, the average productions were: November 58.05 L, December 70.47 L, January 92.30 L, February 45.10 L, March 86.67 L, April 100.37 L and May 46.42 L. These performances demonstrate a lactation curve with two peaks, representing a certain high milk potential compared to the local breeds, but very much under the performances of this breed in the specialized farms. The milk chemical composition during the latest lactation months were: non-fat dry matter 8.33%, protein 3.27% and fat 3.54%. This case, the high milk potential of the breed may be compared to some non-improved livestock, aspect which shows an exploitation where the feeding and managing conditions are very poor for specialized animals or in the case of the purchased material, it is much more under our expectations.
A New Corneal Remodeling Technique with Laser Asymmetric Keratectomy Using Semi-Cylindrical Ablation Pattern Reducing Regional Asymmetry of Corneal Thickness, Case Series

Laser asymmetric keratectomy using semi-cylindrical ablation pattern (LAK-SCAP) is a new customized corneal remodeling method reducing regional asymmetry of corneal thickness, so could be to avoid and treat conventional laser refractive surgery adverse effects. Three eyes (3 patients) had laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) linked LAK-SCAP (L-LAK-SCAP) to reduce regional asymmetry of corneal thickness and correct refractive errors. On Orbscan map, the cones of the corneas were located in the peripheral side, the corneal thickness imbalance was severe due to the sum of 4 direction differences in corneal thickness >80µm.
Research_9820585 1..12

Centre for Molecular Systems and Organic Devices (CMSOD), State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, 9 Wenyuan Road, Nanjing 210023, China National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Film, CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China School of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, National Biomedical Imaging Center, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics (FSCFE), MIIT Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLoFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Avenue, Changchun 130012, China
Early Serum Progesterone Measurement on 9 Day after Oocyte Retrieval can be used as a Predictor of Fresh Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Cycle Success

BACKGROUND: In intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) infertility treatment cycles, measuring serum Progesterone level at day 9 after oocyte retrieval could be used as a predictor of success. METHODS: Sixty-nine women were prospectively included in this study, treated with fresh embryo transfer ICSI cycles. Progesterone analyses were performed on the day of oocyte pick up (day 0) at serum and follicular fluid, then re-assessment at serum on day 9 after oocyte retrieval. The data were compared to evaluate the correlation among hormones measured on day 0 and day 9 with pregnancy rate. RESULTS: Pregnancy rate of Iraqi women was 22% (n = 15), mean serum progesterone on day 9 among pregnant ladies was (mean ± SD, 39.5 ± 13.0) which was significantly higher than that who failed to get pregnant (mean 23.2 ± 11, p = 0.001), then after adjustment of the baseline readings (day 0) estimated mean = 11.1. The differences were still significant, receiver operating characteristic curve area showed that serum Progesterone on day 9 after pick up can differentiate correctly between those who will conceive and those who will not, with a sensitivity = 0.933 and specificity = 0.519, at cut off point = 22.33 and above, (Area under the curve = 0.822, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Serum progesterone on day 9 could be one of the predictors of endometrial receptivity and pregnancy, which is actually of great value for both doctors and patients during that stressful period till the date of confirmation, which might negatively affect treatment outcome, as well as the psychosocial and pharmacological impact of medication and limited activity for a failed one. Edited by: Ksenija Bogoeva-Kostovska Citation: Kzar SA, Al-Khafajy ZH, Almarayaty SS. Early Serum Progesterone Measurement on 9 Day after Oocyte Retrieval can be used as a Predictor of Fresh Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Cycle Success. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2022 Jan 01; 10(B):36-41. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022. 7882
The Energy Efficiency Gap and Energy Price Responsiveness in Food Processing

This paper estimates stochastic frontier energy demand functions with non-public, plant-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau to measure the energy efficiency gap and energy price elasticities in the food processing industry. The estimates are for electricity and fuel use in 4 food processing sectors, based on the disaggregation of this industry used by the National Energy Modeling System Industrial Demand Module. The estimated demand functions control for plant inputs and output, energy prices, and other observables including 6-digit NAICS industry designations. Own price elasticities range from -0.6 to -0.9 with little evidence of fuel/electricity substitution. The magnitude of the efficiency estimates is sensitive to the assumptions but consistently reveal that few plants achieve 100% efficiency. Defining a “practical level of energy efficiency” as the 95th percentile of the efficiency distributions and averaging across all the models result in a ~20% efficiency gap. However, most of the potential reductions in energy use from closing this efficiency gap are from plants that are “low hanging fruit”; 13% of the 20% potential reduction in the efficiency gap can be obtained by bringing the lower half of the efficiency distribution up to just the median level of observed performance. New plants do exhibit higher energy efficiency than existing plants which is statistically significant, but the difference is small for most of the industry; ranging from a low of 0.4% to a high of 5.7%. 1 This paper was funded by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Analysis while working with Leidos Inc. under contract with EIA (DE-EI0000564) and was prepared while the authors were Special Sworn Status researchers at the Triangle Research Data Center, a member of the Federal Statistical Research Data Center Network under FSRDC Project Number 2173. An earlier draft benefited from comments by Kelly Perl and Peter Gross. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. Any opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Census Bureau or the EIA. All results have been reviewed to ensure that no confidential information is disclosed. 2 Corresponding author: Associate Research Professor, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Box 90989, Durham, NC 27708. E-mail: gale.boyd@duke.edu. 3 Research Associate, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Box 90989, Durham, NC 27708. E-mail: matthew.doolin@duke.edu
Stochastic Adversarial Koopman Model for Dynamical Systems

We present a general model for non-linear dynamical systems that is based on the Koopman theory and combines an Autoencoder with a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). We show that coupling a GAN as an additional loss term during training increases the accuracy of the model predictions, and demonstrate it on test problems in ﬂuid dynamics, combustion, and Li-ion battery systems
Thromboelastometry demonstrates endogenous coagulation activation in nonsevere and severe COVID-19 patients and has applicability as a decision algorithm for intervention

In patients with severe forms of COVID-19, thromboelastometry has been reported to display a hypercoagulant pattern. However, an algorithm to differentiate severe COVID-19 patients from nonsevere patients and healthy controls based on thromboelastometry parameters has not been developed. Forty-one patients over 18 years of age with positive qRT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 were classified according to the severity of the disease: nonsevere (NS, n = 20) or severe (S, n = 21). A healthy control (HC, n = 9) group was also examined. Blood samples from all participants were tested by extrinsic (EXTEM), intrinsic (INTEM), non-activated (NATEM) and functional assessment of fibrinogen (FIBTEM) assays of thromboelastometry. The thrombodynamic potential index (TPI) was also calculated. Severe COVID-19 patients exhibited a thromboelastometry profile with clear hypercoagulability, which was significantly different from the NS and HC groups. Nonsevere COVID-19 cases showed a trend to thrombotic pole. The NATEM test suggested that nonsevere and severe COVID-19 patients presented endogenous coagulation activation (reduced clotting time and clot formation time). TPI data were significantly different between the NS and S groups. The maximum clot firmness profile obtained by FIBTEM showed moderate/elevated accuracy to differentiate severe patients from NS and HC. A decision tree algorithm based on the FIBTEM-MCF profile was proposed to differentiate S from HC and NS. Thromboelastometric parameters are a useful tool to differentiate the coagulation profile of nonsevere and severe COVID-19 patients for therapeutic intervention purposes.
Review on generic methods for mechanical modeling, simulation and control of soft robots

In this review paper, we are interested in the models and algorithms that allow generic simulation and control of a soft robot. First, we start with a quick overview of modeling approaches for soft robots and available methods for calculating the mechanical compliance, and in particular numerical methods, like real-time Finite Element Method (FEM). We also show how these models can be updated based on sensor data. Then, we are interested in the problem of inverse kinematics, under constraints, with generic solutions without assumption on the robot shape, the type, the placement or the redundancy of the actuators, the material behavior… We are also interested by the use of these models and algorithms in case of contact with the environment. Moreover, we refer to dynamic control algorithms based on mechanical models, allowing for robust control of the positioning of the robot. For each of these aspects, this paper gives a quick overview of the existing methods and a focus on the use of FEM. Finally, we discuss the implementation and our contribution in the field for an open soft robotics research.
Bariatric surgery and exercise: A pilot study on postural stability in obese individuals

This study aimed to analyze the changes in postural stability of individuals with obesity after bariatric surgery, and the effect of three months of regular exercise on the static postural stability. Twenty-two subjects (7 females and 15 males) aged 31 to 68 years (Body mass index 35–55 kg.m-2) completed the study. Participants were divided into two groups: one group participated in an exercise program after the bariatric surgery (n = 10; age 48.9 ± 7.5 years; Body mass index 42 ± 5.6 kg.m-2) while the second group did not exercise at all after bariatric surgery (n = 12; age 44.7 ± 13.6 years, Body mass index 42.6 ± 6.0 kg.m-2). Static postural stability was measured using a Tekscan MobileMat pressure plate before and 4 months after the bariatric surgery. The exercise program included exercising three times a week including: one hour of strengthening, one hour of aerobic group exercise and at least one session of individual exercise at home. There were no significant differences in Center of force sway, Center of force ranges and average speed before and 4 months after bariatric surgery. Also, no effect of exercise was found. Post-pre differences of some parameters were negatively related to age (r from—0.46 to—0.72). Further studies are needed to explore this topic in depth.
Research on Chest Disease Recognition Based on Deep Hierarchical Learning Algorithm

Chest X-ray has become one of the most common ways in diagnostic radiology exams, and this technology assists expert radiologists with finding the patients at potential risk of cardiopathy and lung diseases. However, it is still a challenge for expert radiologists to assess thousands of cases in a short period so that deep learning methods are introduced to tackle this problem. Since the diseases have correlations with each other and have hierarchical features, the traditional classification scheme could not achieve a good performance. In order to extract the correlation features among the diseases, some GCN-based models are introduced to combine the features extracted from the images to make prediction. This scheme can work well with the high quality of image features, so backbone with high computation cost plays a vital role in this scheme. However, a fast prediction in diagnostic radiology is also needed especially in case of emergency or region with low computation facilities, so we proposed an efficient convolutional neural network with GCN, which is named SGGCN, to meet the need of efficient computation and considerable accuracy. SGGCN used SGNet-101 as backbone, which is built by ShuffleGhost Block (Huang et al., 2021) to extract features with a low computation cost. In order to make sufficient usage of the information in GCN, a new GCN architecture is designed to combine information from different layers together in GCNM module so that we can utilize various hierarchical features and meanwhile make the GCN scheme faster. The experiment on CheXPert datasets illustrated that SGGCN achieves a considerable performance. Compared with GCN and ResNet-101 (He et al., 2015) backbone (test AUC 0.8080, parameters 4.7M and FLOPs 16.0B), the SGGCN achieves 0.7831 (−3.08%) test AUC with parameters 1.2M (−73.73%) and FLOPs 3.1B (−80.82%), where GCN with MobileNet (Sandler and Howard, 2018) backbone achieves 0.7531 (−6.79%) test AUC with parameters 0.5M (−88.46%) and FLOPs 0.66B (−95.88%).
The Clinical Efficacy of Chemotherapy Combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Cervical Cancer and Its Influence on Cellular Immunity, Serum CEA, and TNF-α

Background This study aims to investigate the clinical efficacy of chemotherapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine in patients with cervical cancer and its effect on cellular immunoglobulin, serum sugar chain antigen 125 (CA125), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Methods Conventional chemotherapy was performed in control and observation groups. Meantime, the observation group received traditional Chinese medicine. Finally, the clinical efficacy, immunoglobulin, serum tumor markers, and serum TNF-α of the two groups were compared. Results Compared with the control group, total effective rate in the observation group was increased. After treatment, serum CD8+, TNF-α, CA125, and CEA levels were reduced in the two groups, and the observation group was higher. In the two groups, CD3+ and CD4+ levels were enhanced after treatment, and the observation group was also higher. Compared with the control group, the immunoglobulin IgG, IgA, and IgM levels increased in the observation group. The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was reduced compared to the control group. Conclusion Chemotherapy combined with traditional Chinese can help improve the clinical efficacy and immunity in patients with cervical cancer. Moreover, the safety and feasibility of the treatment method are relatively high.
The source of financial contagion and spillovers: An evaluation of the covid-19 pandemic and the global financial crisis

This study investigates the reaction of stock markets to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 (GFC) and compares their influence in terms of risk exposures. The empirical investigation is conducted using the modified ICSS test, DCC-GARCH, and Diebold-Yilmaz connectedness analysis to examine financial contagion and volatility spillovers. To further reveal the impact of these two crises, the statistical features of tranquil and crisis periods under different time intervals are also compared. The test results show that although the outbreak’s origin was in China, the US stock market is the source of financial contagion and volatility spillovers during the pandemic, just as it was during the GFC. The propagation of shocks is considerably higher between developed economies compared to emerging markets. Additionally, the results show that the COVID-19 pandemic induced a more severe contagious effect and risk transmission than the GFC. The study provides an extensive examination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the GFC in terms of financial contagion and volatility spillovers. The results suggest the presence of strong co-movements of world stock markets with the US equity market, especially in periods of financial turmoil.
Antioxidant Effects of Irisin in Liver Diseases: Mechanistic Insights

Oxidative stress is a crucial factor in the development of various liver diseases. Irisin, a metabolic hormone discovered in 2012, is mainly produced by proteolytic cleavage of fibronectin type III domain containing 5 (FNDC5) in skeletal muscles. Irisin is induced by physical exercise, and a rapidly growing body of literature suggests that irisin is, at least partially, responsible for the beneficial effects of regular exercise. The major biological function of irisin is believed to be involved in the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis. However, recent studies have suggested the therapeutic potential of irisin against a variety of liver diseases involving its antioxidative function. In this review, we aim to summarize the accumulating evidence demonstrating the antioxidative effects of irisin in liver diseases, with an emphasis on the current understanding of the potential molecular mechanisms.
New Structure Design for 126kV HV Vacuum Circuit Breaker

This paper analyzes the advantages of double breaks under series connection for 126kV HV vacuum circuit breaker. It makes efforts in the break designing to avoid hidden danger brought by voltage-sharing capacitor. Voltage is evenly distributed in the shape of ▽ at the basic break that asks for no voltage-sharing capacitors. Permanent magnetic actuator is used to ensure the synchronization of opening and closing of double breaks. Based on this layout, this paper designs a new actuator and motion system for vacuum circuit breaker optimized by virtual prototype software ADAMS and genetic algorithm. Laboratory tests have proved that the opening and closing speed of the breaker meets the speed standard and that the 126kV HV vacuum circuit breaker is feasible.