Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards adopting off-site construction in housing sectors as a potential source of competitive advantage for builders

ABSTRACT One of significant advancement of techniques in the construction industry is off-site construction (OSC) technique that has existed for long but only recently gaining leverage from the advances in manufacturing. OSC carries much potential and even termed as the modern method of construction. OSC has been identified as an effective solution to address speed expectations and quality issues facing the global construction industry. Particular to the housing sectors such as in Western Australia (WA), implementing OSC holds significant potentials but has also been considered risky by local builders, hence its lower uptake in WA. However, risks are often double-edged and rewards may be waiting for builders willing to take on the risks and become the main OSC providers. This paper presents the findings from a research project aiming to explore OSC adoption as a potential source of competitive advantage through the first mover advantage (FMA). The data collection was designed to capture potentials of gaining competitive advantage based on the existing characteristics of the sector. While confirming the potential of OSC adoption as a source of competitiveness, findings also revealed the barriers and enablers in adopting OSC in WA followed by identifying the critical success factors of OSC adoption in WA to gain competitive advantage. Findings from the data analysis were then aggregated to form a holistic framework showing the interconnectedness between differentiation/focus, cost leadership and FMA. This novel framework is considered the main contribution of the research that can be used to support house builders in gaining competitive advantage by implementing OSC.
East Asia Atmospheric River catalog: Annual Cycle, Transition Mechanism, and Precipitation

An all‐season East Asia Atmospheric River (EA AR) catalog is constructed based on PanLu2.0. The annual cycle of EA AR exhibits eight stages, synchronizing with the seasonal‐to‐subseasonal variation of precipitation and their associated atmospheric steering. Particularly, extension of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) to south China sea, due to the springtime east‐west thermal contrast, steers ARs over Southeast China (SEC), inducing spring precipitation. During the Asian summer monsoon season, the spatial variation of the AR main route echoes the northward displacement of WNPSH, coincides with the prevailing monsoonal wind onset and stepwise propagation of rain belt. The warm moisture‐laden air of the wintertime ARs confronts the dry and cold air over SEC, contributing to the winter precipitation. ARs offer substantial potential predictability of (heavy) precipitation days over the midlatitude from the late spring to early summer, and over SEC and south Japan from late winter to early spring.
Droplet Fate in a Cough Puff

The dynamic and thermodynamic evolution of droplets, in a size range characterizing a cough, has been analysed using basic equations of motion and coupled to the evolution of a spherical cloud puff in which they are supposed to be expired. It has been found that the maximum contamination range of the emitted droplets is controlled by two different mechanisms: surface evaporation and inertia-gravitational settling—with a switching threshold between them for a radius around a few tens of microns. For the smallest droplets, the environmental conditions (the temperature and humidity) are found to be very effective in determining the contamination range, even for weak entrainment in the cloud puff. This last fact could be of some relevance in the seasonal behaviour of air-borne epidemics.
Whitefly biology and morphometry on tomato plants

The present investigation was conducted to study the whitefly biology and morphometry on Tomato Plants. The female and male nymphs of Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) was reared on leaves of potted tomato plants fitted with modified rearing glass vials, at research laboratory, BCKV during 2016-17 at 24-31 0 C temperature and 80-85 % RH, Whitefly had six life stages egg, four nymphal instars and adult. The developmental period of egg and four instars of whitefly were 7.6±0.70, 6.6±0.52, 3.5±0.53, 4.1±0.57, 7.2 ± 0.63 days respectively with total nymphal period was 26.4 ± 1.05 days. Pre-oviposition, oviposition and post oviposition lasted 2.1± 0.57, 3 ± 0.67 and 0.80 ± 0.42 days respectively. Adult longevity lasted for 4.6 ± 0.52 Total life period was 33.00 ± 0.84 days. Average length of egg, 0.18 ± 0.010; 1st instar, 0.26 ± 0.013; 2nd instar, 0.42 ± 0.026; 3rd instar, 0.63 ± 0.025 and 4 instar, 0.78 ± 0.018 mm. Average length of adults was 0.90 ± 0.031 mm respectively.
A Dual Stream Model for Activity Recognition: Exploiting Residual- CNN with Transfer Learning

ABSTRACT Visual content has a protagonist role in this age of data revolution. These days, computer vision research community is fascinated towards application of convolution neural networks and transfer learning for various image and video analysis tasks. Residual connection in CNN can facilitate the training process in the deep networks. This paper investigates and uses deep residual networks with fusion based dual stream pre-trained models for activity recognition from video streams. The architecture is further trained and evaluated using standard video actions benchmarks of UCF-101, HMDB-51 and NTU RGB. Performance of depth-based variants of residual networks is also analysed. The proposed approach not only provides competitive results but also better at exploiting pre-trained model and annotated image data.
Post-Transcriptional Control of Coenzyme Q Biosynthesis Revealed by Transomic Analysis of the RNA-Binding Protein Puf3p

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is a redox active lipid required for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos). How CoQ biosynthesis is coordinated with the biogenesis of OxPhos protein complexes is unclear. Here, we show that the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNA-binding protein (RBP) Puf3p directly regulates CoQ biosynthesis. To establish the mechanism for this regulation, we employed a transomic strategy to identify mRNAs that not only bind Puf3p, but also are regulated by Puf3p in vivo. The CoQ biosynthesis enzyme Coq5p is a critical Put3p target: Puf3p regulates the level of Coq5p and prevents its toxicity, thereby enabling efficient CoQ production. In parallel, Puf3p represses a specific set of proteins involved in mitochondrial protein import, translation, and OxPhos complex assembly — pathways essential to prime mitochondrial biogenesis. Our data reveal a mechanism for post-transcriptionally coordinating CoQ production with OxPhos biogenesis and, more broadly, demonstrate the power of transomics for defining genuine targets of RBPs. HIGHLIGHTS The RNA binding protein (RBP) Puf3p regulates coenzyme Q (CoQ) biosynthesis Transomic analysis of RNAs, proteins, lipids, and metabolites defines RBP targets Puf3p regulates the potentially toxic CoQ biosynthesis enzyme Coq5p Puf3p couples regulation of CoQ with a broader program for controlling mitochondria
SARS CoV-2 infection among patients using immunomodulatory therapies

The risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and disease progression among patients using immunomodulatory therapy is unclear. Accordingly, we implemented an active surveillance project with USA/Canada Infectious Disease specialists via the Emerging Infections Network (EIN) to identify COVID-19 cases occurring in patients who use immunomodulatory therapy and to describe their clinical outcomes. EIN listserv members include 2396 infectious disease physicians in the USA/Canada linked via a moderated listserv. On 8 April via listserv, we requested reports of COVID-19 cases among patients receiving immunomodulatory therapy. Two weekly reminders were later sent and case reports were collected until 22 May. We collected information regarding patient demographics, COVID-19 test results, symptoms, hospitalisation details, complications, treatment, pre-existing conditions, concomitant therapies, and patient outcomes. We conducted descriptive analyses of these patient factors and compared differences between survivors and non-survivors. We grouped immunosuppressive therapies by class (table 1). View this table: Table 1 COVID-19 outcomes among autoimmune patients receiving immunomodulatory therapy Thirty-eight physicians screened over 2500 COVID-19 cases from which 77 (3%) were identified using immunomodulatory drugs. Of these, 52% were female, median age of 60 years (range, 16–84) and 83.1% had autoimmune disease (rheumatoid arthritis (19, 24.7%), ulcerative colitis (5, 6.5%) and sarcoidosis (5, 6.5%) were most common). Comorbidities included hypertension (26, 33.8%), diabetes (19, 24.7%), underlying chronic kidney disease (11, 14.3%) and others. All patients had PCR-confirmed COVID-19. Symptoms included dyspnoea (70.1%), fever (68.8%) and cough (64.9%). At time of COVID-19 diagnosis, 31 (40%) were using biologic therapies including anti tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies (n=16), rituximab (n=6), abatacept (n=2), tocilizumab (n=2) and other (n=5). Among those using non-biologics at baseline (46, 60%), the following therapies were in use: janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors (3, 6.5%), non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) (11, 24%), prednisone alone (5, 11%) or other (27, 59%). Among …
Style and fit customization: a web content mining approach to evaluate online mass customization experiences

PurposeThis study intends to examine consumers' fashion customization experiences through a web content mining (WCM) approach. By applying the theory of customer value, this study explores the benefits and costs of two levels of mass customization (MC) to identify the values derived from style (i.e. shoe customization) and fit customization experiences (i.e. apparel customization) and further to compare the dominating dimensions of value derived across style and fit customization.Design/methodology/approachA WCM approach was applied. Also, two case studies were conducted with one focusing on style customization and the other focusing on fit customization. The brand Vans was selected to examine style customization in study 1. The brand Sumissura was selected to examine fit customization in study 2. Consumers' comments on customization experiences from these two brands were collected through social networks, respectively. After data cleaning, 394 reviews for Vans and 510 reviews for Sumissura were included in the final data analysis. Co-occurrence plots, feature extraction and grouping were used for the data analysis.FindingsThe emotional value was found to be the major benefit for style customization, while the functional value was indicated as the major benefit for fit customization, followed by ease of use and emotional value. In addition, three major themes of costs, including unsatisfied service, disappointing product performance and financial risk, were revealed by excavating and evaluating consumers' feedback of their actual clothing customization experiences with Sumissura.Originality/valueThis study initiates the effort to use web mining, specifically, the WCM approach to thoroughly investigate the benefits and costs of MC through real consumers' feedback of two different types of fashion products. The analysis of this study also reflects the levels of customization: style and fit. It provides an in-depth text analysis of online MC consumers' feedback through the use of feature extraction analysis and word co-occurrence networks.
Is cattle grazing more important than landscape heterogeneity for grasshoppers in Afromontane grassland?

Overgrazing is a major driver of habitat degradation, especially in southern Africa. Although grasshoppers are adapted to and benefit from natural disturbances, such as grazing by indigenous game and burning, we do not know how they respond to heavy cattle grazing, and how this response interacts with different fire regimes. We also do not know whether grasshoppers respond principally to these disturbances, to changes in the vegetation layer, or to larger landscape attributes (e.g. elevation). We addressed these questions in the topographically heterogeneous Central Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. We compared grasshopper assemblages among sites differing in grazing intensity (light, moderate and heavy), fire regime, rocky outcrops and vegetation structure, and attributes of landscape heterogeneity. The local environment (rocky outcrops, bare ground cover, grass height and total vegetation cover) was more important than landscape attributes for all measures of diversity. Grasshopper species richness was best explained by grazing intensity, with the specific response determined by fire regime. Greatest species richness was consistently recorded in heavily-grazed grassland. Thus, we found no evidence in support of the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis. Grasshopper assemblage composition of areas with light grazing was different from those with heavy grazing, but areas with light grazing were similar to those with moderate grazing under all fire regimes. Different suites of grasshopper species were adapted to changes in the local environment, with greatest diversity (Shannon H’) associated with elevated levels of bare ground and sparse vegetation cover. The greatest proportion of rare, endemic and sensitive grasshoppers (incl. Lentula minuta, Machaeridia conspersa and Qachasia fastigiata) was associated with a greater proportion of vegetation cover. The sensitivity of grasshopper assemblages to fire-grazing interactions, and the habitat requirements of different suites of species necessitates consideration of different types (fire and grazing) as well as levels of disturbances when adjusting management practices. We recommend that conservation of rare, endemic and sensitive grasshoppers should be prioritized, as these are most vulnerable to local extirpation.
Spatial design factors associated with creative work: a systematic literature review

Abstract The term “creative space” describes a relatively recent phenomenon of innovative workplace design. Such creative workspaces are becoming popular in industry and academia. However, the impact of specific spatial design decisions on creativity and innovation is not yet fully understood. This paper provides an overview of state-of-the-art research on creative work and learning environments. We conducted a systematic literature search within the Scopus database and identified a total of 73 relevant sources discussing creative spaces within academic, practice, and other innovation environments. Among the included sources are 51 academic publications and 22 sources from company research and illustrative coffee-table books. We analyzed the sources using three lenses of interest: (1) the types of theoretical and practical contributions that are provided, (2) the spatial characteristics that are suggested to be beneficial for creativity and innovation, and (3) the discussed potential of new technologies for designing or researching creative spaces. The results provide in-depth insight into the current state of research on the topic of creative spaces. Practitioners, educators, and researchers can use the presented overview to investigate the possible impact of creative workspace design and identify research gaps that can be filled by conducting further research in the field.
Organic Eu3+-complex-anchored porous diatomite channels enable UV protection and down conversion in hybrid material

ABSTRACT The organic Eu3+-complex [Eu(TTA)3Phen] has been incorporated into the channels of surface-modified frustules from diatoms as a key material to absorb and convert UV-photons to visible luminescence. Systematic investigation results indicate that the organic Eu3+-complex encapsulated in the functionalized diatomite channels exhibits enhanced luminescence and longer lifetime, owning to the Eu(TTA)3Phen complex interacting with its surrounding silylating agents. The organic Eu3+-complex-anchored porous diatomite hybrid luminescent material was compounded with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by using a mini-twin screw extruder to prepare a self-supporting film of the hybrid material. Besides, the UV absorption properties of the composite films were investigated. These films will potentially be related to the UV protection of photovoltaic devices. Graphical abstract
The Effect of Corporate Governance Characteristics on Environmental Performance: The Case of Food and Beverage Sector

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the main Corporate Governance (CG) characteristics on the corporate environmental performance. In addition, it focuses on global food companies as this sector is distinguished by specific characteristics. The sample of the study employs 174 food companies from the Thomson Reuters Global Food & Beverages Price Return Index for 2017. The Environmental Score as calculated by Thomson Reuters is adopted in the proposed model as a proxy of corporate Environmental Performance (EP). A regression analysis is developed in order to investigate the Board Size, the Board Independence and the Board gender composition of Board of Directors (BoD) on EP. The results revealed that the size of the BoD and the presence of women directors on Board have a positive effect on environmental performance. The study assists corporate managers to implement the appropriate Board characteristics in order to enhance their EP and socially responsible investors to identify companies with higher level of EP. This study extends the scope of previous studies by investigating the food and beverage sector and understanding of CG characteristics on EP taking into account innovating index as a proxy of EP.
Placental-expanded, mesenchymal cells improve muscle function following hip arthroplasty

Background No regenerative approach has thus far been shown to be effective in skeletal muscle injuries, despite high frequency and associated functional deficits. We sought to address surgical trauma related muscle injuries using local intraoperative application of allogeneic placenta-derived, mesenchymal-like adherent cells (PLX-PAD), using hip arthroplasty as a standardized injury model, because of the high regenerative and immunomodulatory potency of this cell type. Methods Our pilot phase I/IIa study was prospective, randomized, double blind and placebo-controlled. Twenty patients undergoing hip arthroplasty via a direct lateral approach were injected with 3.0×108 or 1.5×108 PLX-PAD or a placebo into the gluteus medius muscle. Results We did not observe any relevant PLX-PAD-related adverse events at the 2-year follow-up. Improved gluteus medius strength was noted as early as week 6 in the treatment-groups. Surprisingly, until week 26 the low-dose outperformed the high-dose group and reached significantly improved strength compared to placebo, mirrored by an increase in muscle volume. Histology indicated accelerated healing after cell therapy. Biomarker studies revealed that low-dose treatment reduced the surgery-related immunological stress reaction more than high-dose. Signs of late-onset immune reactivity after high-dose treatment corresponded to reduced functional improvement. Conclusion Allogeneic PLX-PAD therapy improved strength and volume of injured skeletal muscle with a reasonable safety profile. Outcomes could be positively correlated with the modulation of early postoperative stress-related immunological reactions. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov (number NCT01525667) and EudraCT (number 2011-003934-16) Funding The study was funded by the Sponsor, Pluristem Therapeutics, the Israeli innovation authority and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Conflict of interest T. Winkler, C. Perka and G.N. Duda are members of a clinical advisory board of Pluristem Ltd for future indications. T. Winkler, C. Perka, G.N. Duda, P. von Roth filed a patent together with Pluristem Ltd. E. Lukasiewicz Hagai, R. Ofir, L. Pinzur and E. Eyal are current or former employees of Pluristem Ltd. T. Winkler, P. Reinke and H. -D. Volk received in the past consulting fees from Pluristem Ltd. but not for this project.
Histomorphogenic changes during uterine development of the Nigerian indigenous breed of dog: A post-natal study

Demand for dog is on an increase because they are used as watchdog, hunting and its breeding serves as a source of income to both rural and urban dwellers. As demand is increases, breeders often mate dogs at premature age thereby causing several complications from conception to birth. This study was aimed at considering the post-natal development of the uterus from histomorphological aspects and to correlate features to attainment of puberty. Hysterectomy was carried out to secure the uterus from Day 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12 and Week 20. This developmental study attempted highlighting some silent microanatomical parameters, including the circular muscle, longitudinal muscle, myometrial glands, blood vessels and epithelial features of the uterus in the Nigerian indigenous bitch. The inner circular muscle and the germinal epithelium were the first microstructures to be observed on day 2 and week 4 of postnatal development respectively. Within these range of development, little or no histological variations occurred. Simple columnar epithelium and longitudinal smooth muscle were seen on the twelfth week. The inner circular muscle and outer longitudinal muscles made up the fundamental component of the smooth muscle. The significant of this study is to indicate histological changes that takes place within the uterus and this finding show some corresponding relationship that exist between age and uterine development, an indicator for determining puberty.
Structural characterization of a novel Lactarius volemus Fr. polysaccharide and its immunity activity in BALB/c mice

Lactarius volemus Fr. has been regarded as a great edible medicinal fungal resource in China. In this study, L. volemus Fr. polysaccharide (LVP) with an average molecular weight of 16.842 kDa was obtained by water extraction. The structure of LVP was characterized to be mannan, and the linkages in the mannan were found to comprise the Manp, (1→4)-α-Man and (1→4,6)-α-Man. Furthermore, intraperitoneal administration of LVP increased the thymus, spleen and liver indices, dose-dependently. Additionally, LVP enhanced the immune response and the phagocytic activities. Pathological evaluations showed that LVP in mice increased the proliferation of red medullary lymphocytes (60–70%). Collectively, these results indicated that LVP might be a potential resource of raw material for further investigations of functional foods.
Antigen Receptor for Chemokines Migration through the Decoy Receptor Duffy CXCL1 Inhibits Airway Smooth Muscle Cell

Airway smooth muscle cell (ASMC) migration is an important mechanism postulated to play a role in airway remodeling in asthma. CXCL1 chemokine has been linked to tissue growth and metastasis. In this study, we present a detailed examination of the inhibitory effect of CXCL1 on human primary ASMC migration and the role of the decoy receptor, Duffy AgR for chemokines (DARC), in this inhibition. Western blots and pathway inhibitors showed that this phenomenon was mediated by activation of the ERK-1/2 MAPK pathway, but not p38 MAPK or PI3K, suggesting a biased selection in the signaling mechanism. Despite being known as a non-signaling receptor, small interference RNA knockdown of DARC showed that ERK-1/2 MAPK activation was signiﬁcantly dependent on DARC functionality, which, in turn, was dependent on the presence of heat shock protein 90 subunit a . Interestingly, DARC-or heat shock protein 90 subunit a –deﬁcient ASMCs responded to CXCL1 stimulation by enhancing p38 MAPK activation and ASMC migration through the CXCR2 receptor. In conclusion, we demonstrated DARC’s ability to facilitate CXCL1 inhibition of ASMC migration through modulation of the ERK-1/2 MAPK–signaling pathway. The Journal of Immunology , 2014, 193: 000–000.