Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BIOPULPING: SEVEN YEARS OF CONSORTIA RESEARCH

This paper provides an overview and status report of a 7-year research effort conducted under the auspices of two sequential consortia involving the Forest Products Laboratory of the USDA Forest Service, the Universities of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and industry. The ultimate objective of the research is to evaluate the technical feasibility of biopulping, defined here as the treatment of wood with lignin-degrading fungi prior to pulping. Research to date has focused on mechanical pulping of loblolly pine and aspen (primarily on energy savings) and paper properties. Results have been promising. Pretreatment of wood chips with appropriate fungi results in significant energy savings during refining and improvement of paper strength properties. Optical properties are diminished, but they can be restored with peroxide bleaching. Current efforts are focused on engineering and scale-up for economic evaluations.
Do Teamwork Guidelines Improve Peer Assessment Accuracy or Attitudes During Collaborative Learning?

Contribution: Students do not naturally give unbiased, accurate peer assessments (PAs). Hence, giving teamwork guidelines to students can improve their cooperation, understanding of one another, PA attitude, and PA accuracy. Background: During collaborative learning, PA can improve students’ autonomy, evaluation, and communication, which often enhances their task performance and learning outcomes. However, student bias, low effort, or imprecision can bias PA. Hypothesis: This study hypothesized that teamwork guidelines can improve students’ collaboration and hence their: 1) PA accuracy and 2) attitudes toward PA. Design/Method: This comparison study examined the 447 PAs and 143 survey responses of 143 university students studying computer science in 49 teams. 58 students received teamwork guidelines and 85 students did not. PAs and teacher assessments (TAs) were analyzed with a multilevel, structural equation model, and survey responses were analyzed with a multivariate outcome, multilevel, and ordered logit regression. Findings: PAs often exceeded TAs of the same student (positive bias), especialy for low-performing students. Compared to other students, students receiving teamwork guidelines gave PAs that resembled TAs more but had a similar positive bias. The relative and absolute differences in peer and TAs (PA – TA, |PA – TA|) mostly differed across teams rather than students. Also, students receiving teamwork guidelines viewed PA as more supportive of their learning, compared to other students without the teamwork guidelines.
Molecular charcterization of lung adenocarcinoma combining whole exome sequencing, copy number analysis and gene expression profiling

ABSTRACT Introduction Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide; lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) corresponds to about 40% of lung cancers. LUAD is a genetically heterogeneous disease and the definition of this heterogeneity is of fundamental importance for prognosis and treatment. Areas covered Based on primary literature, this review provides an updated analysis of multiomics studies based on the study of mutation profiling, copy number alterations and gene expression allowing for definition of molecular subgroups, prognostic factors based on molecular biomarkers, and identification of therapeutic targets. The authors sum up by providing the reader with their expert opinion on the potentialities of multiomics analysis of LUADs. Expert opinion A detailed and comprehensive study of the co-occurring genetic abnormalities characterizing different LUAD subsets represents a fundamental tool for a better understanding of the disease heterogeneity and for the identification of subgroups of patients responding or resistant to targeted treatments and for the discovery of new therapeutic targets. It is expected that a comprehensive characterization of LUADs may provide a fundamental contribution to improve the survival of LUAD patients.
Ranking tailoring variables for constructing individualized treatment rules: An application to schizophrenia

As with many chronic conditions, matching patients with schizophrenia to the best treatment option is difficult. Selecting antipsychotic medication is especially challenging because many of the medications can have burdensome side effects. Adjusting or tailoring medications based on patients' characteristics could improve symptoms. However, it is often not known which patient characteristics are most helpful for informing treatment selection. In this paper, we address the challenge of identifying and ranking important variables for tailoring treatment decisions. We consider a value‐search approach implemented through dynamic marginal structural models to estimate an optimal individualized treatment rule. We apply our methodology to the Clinical Antipsychotics Trial of Intervention and Effectiveness (CATIE) study for schizophrenia, to evaluate if some tailoring variables have greater potential than others for selecting treatments for patients with schizophrenia (Stroup et al., 2003, Schizophrenia Bulletin, 29, 15–31).
On the Placement of Imperfect Sensors in Municipal Water Networks

We consider the problem of optimally placing water quality sensors in municipal water networks under the assumption that sensors may fail. We give a non-linear formulation of the problem, then a linearization of this formulation in the form of a mixed-integer program (MIP). We explore the scalability limits of this formulation, then use it as a bounding procedure for a local search heuristic that optimizes the same objective: minimizing the expected impact of a contamination event. This heuristic can find optimal or near-optimal solutions on networks with over ten thousand junctions. This paper was presented at the 8th Annual Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium which was held with the generous support of Awwa Research Foundation (AwwaRF).
How Principals Balance Control and Care in Urban School Discipline

School discipline has been a site of contention and reform. In this study, we draw from 17 interviews with traditional and charter school principals in one mid-sized urban school district to examine how principals use discipline as a tool to both maintain control and demonstrate care. Our study calls attention to different strategies principals use to establish this balance, including reducing suspensions, moderating “no-excuses” systems, and building positive student–teacher relationships. We also make a theoretical contribution by showing how schools and school leaders respond to competing institutional logics in developing practices and policies.
Chromosomal Fusions Facilitate Adaptation to Divergent Environments in Threespine Stickleback

Abstract Chromosomal fusions are hypothesized to facilitate adaptation to divergent environments, both by bringing together previously unlinked adaptive alleles and by creating regions of low recombination that facilitate the linkage of adaptive alleles; but, there is little empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. Here, we address this knowledge gap by studying threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), in which ancestral marine fish have repeatedly adapted to freshwater across the northern hemisphere. By comparing the threespine and ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) genomes to a de novo assembly of the fourspine stickleback (Apeltes quadracus) and an outgroup species, we find two chromosomal fusion events involving the same chromosomes have occurred independently in the threespine and ninespine stickleback lineages. On the fused chromosomes in threespine stickleback, we find an enrichment of quantitative trait loci underlying traits that contribute to marine versus freshwater adaptation. By comparing whole-genome sequences of freshwater and marine threespine stickleback populations, we also find an enrichment of regions under divergent selection on these two fused chromosomes. There is elevated genetic diversity within regions under selection in the freshwater population, consistent with a simulation study showing that gene flow can increase diversity in genomic regions associated with local adaptation and our demographic models showing gene flow between the marine and freshwater populations. Integrating our results with previous studies, we propose that these fusions created regions of low recombination that enabled the formation of adaptative clusters, thereby facilitating freshwater adaptation in the face of recurrent gene flow between marine and freshwater threespine sticklebacks.
Perspectives on financial literacy in undergraduate students

Abstract The increasing complexity of financial products and services requires a domain of information and knowledge in the financial area. This study explores the role of financial literacy in undergraduate students at a higher education institution in Portugal. A sample of 196 undergraduate students enrolled in six courses in the fields of engineering and social sciences was considered. The results reveal that the level of knowledge about financial literacy is quite heterogeneous. Formal and informal channels tend to coexist when they perform a financial decision. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the awareness of cryptocurrencies is high, while the adherence to digital platforms for the acquisition of these currencies remains low.
New Insights Into Crustal Properties of Anatolia and Its Surroundings Inferred From P‐Coda Autocorrelation Inversions

Constraints on crustal and uppermost mantle structure provide key information for understanding the geodynamic processes that have shaped the geological expressions and are currently causing deformation in Anatolia. We apply a novel method of Bayesian inversion of autocorrelated teleseismic P‐wave coda data to retrieve the crustal and uppermost mantle structures beneath Anatolia and southeast Europe. Our inversion provides estimates of Moho depth variations and crustal velocity structure (e.g., Vp, Vs, and Vp/Vs ratio). The Moho architecture in the study area can be summarized by (a) an overall west‐to‐east increase in the Moho depth from Greece to eastern Anatolia, (b) a homogeneously thin crustal structure beneath Greece, (c) complex, small‐scale crustal features and variations in western and central Anatolia, and (d) relatively long‐wavelength variations, but overall thick crust in eastern Anatolia. The apparent relation between the Moho depth variations and suture/fault zones implies a dominant control of structural inheritance on the past deformation in Anatolia. The overall Moho architecture appears to correlate well with the topography in Anatolia, although with some exceptions, in particular at smaller wavelength. These local inconsistencies in the topography‐Moho depth relation suggest a more complex, wavelength‐dependent isostatic state compared to what is expected from simple Airy isostasy. The observed deviations may originate from elastic effects, lithospheric density changes, or sub‐lithospheric dynamic effects. Obvious large lateral variations in Vp, Vs and Vp/Vs ratio estimates in our model can relate to such density variations within the crust especially between tectonic domains.
Simple model for proton-induced latch-up

Computer simulations show that the strong angular dependence exhibited by proton-induced single-event latch-up can be explained by a simple mechanism. Latch-up occurs if, and only if, more than some threshold amount of energy is deposited within the sensitive volume. A procedure for determining the SEU (single event upset) parameters by comparing SEU cross sections and CUPID simulations at different incident energies and angles of incidence is described. The thickness of the sensitive volume and the value of the critical charge determined for the NEC 4464, a 64-kb CMOS SRAM (static random-access memory) agrees with the measured thickness of the p-well and the value of the threshold LET (linear energy transfer) determined using heavy ions. >
Growth and behaviour of post-weaned Mérinos d'Arles ewe lambs, as measured by a Walk-over-Weighing system under Mediterranean grazing conditions.

Abstract Liveweight (LW) is a key and conventional indicator for monitoring and assessing overall animal performance and welfare, representing the progress along different physiological stages, while providing close indication of individual physical and health status. Measuring LW in practice is still, however, quite rare and infrequent under commercial sheep farming conditions, mainly because sessions are time-consuming, stressful either for the operator and the animals. A Walk-over-Weighing (WoW) system, already evaluated with other breeds under different conditions, was tested in this experiment lasting 14 weeks (i.e. 3 for acclimation and adaptation and 11 for data collection). We validated its use for routine and frequent monitoring the growth rate in post-weaned Merinos d'Arles ewe lambs, reared under Mediterranean grazing conditions. Similarly to previous work, the necessity for an initial adaptation period of the animals as well as for an essential data cleaning procedure of the raw database automatically collected by the WoW, were corroborated. Adaptation of naive ewe lambs enabled the required voluntary passages across the weigh platform and a high volume of individual and daily data after 2-3 weeks. Close monitoring of individual growth was then possible after performing sound data cleanings. A strong concordance of WoW LW data with the gold standard (a standard static scale) LW reference data was demonstrated. At the individual level, even with the lowest number of LW values collected with WoW, it was possible to monitor variations in LW at daily intervals. The establishment of an early warning system to help farmer decision making could therefore be possible. Our results show interesting perspectives for more precise and frequent monitoring of LW in grazing sheep without human intervention, compared to what is currently carried out on commercial farms.
Safety Culture Assessment: A Mission Impossible?

How, if at all, is it possible to assess aspects of organizational culture and the way culture influences safety? This question concerns the possibility of proactive assessments: whether it is possible to ‘predict’ if an organization is prone to having major accidents on the basis of safety culture assessments. The article presents an empirical analysis of this question by comparing the results of a quantitative safety culture assessment on the Norwegian oil and gas platform Snorre Alpha, with the results of a qualitative investigation after a major incident on the platform. The two descriptions of the same culture are dramatically different. The lack of concurrence between the two descriptions suggests that safety culture surveys may have little predictive value.
Alteration of Salmonella enterica Virulence and Host Pathogenesis through Targeting sdiA by Using the CRISPR-Cas9 System

Salmonella enterica is a common cause of many enteric infections worldwide and is successfully engineered to deliver heterologous antigens to be used as vaccines. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) RNA-guided Cas9 endonuclease is a promising genome editing tool. In the current study, a CRISPR-Cas9 system was used to target S. enterica sdiA that encodes signal molecule receptor SdiA and responds to the quorum sensing (QS) signaling compounds N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs). For this purpose, sdiA was targeted in both S. enterica wild type (WT) and the ΔssaV mutant strain, where SsaV has been reported to be an essential component of SPI2-T3SS. The impact of sdiA mutation on S. enterica virulence was evaluated at both early invasion and later intracellular replication in both the presence and absence of AHL. Additionally, the influence of sdiA mutation on the pathogenesis S. enterica WT and mutants was investigated in vivo, using mice infection model. Finally, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of various antibiotics against S. enterica strains were determined. Present findings show that mutation in sdiA significantly affects S. enterica biofilm formation, cell adhesion and invasion. However, sdiA mutation did not affect bacterial intracellular survival. Moreover, in vivo bacterial pathogenesis was markedly lowered in S. enterica ΔsdiA in comparison with the wild-type strain. Significantly, double-mutant sdiA and ssaV attenuated the S. enterica virulence and in vivo pathogenesis. Moreover, mutations in selected genes increased Salmonella susceptibility to tested antibiotics, as revealed by determining the MICs and MBICs of these antibiotics. Altogether, current results clearly highlight the importance of the CRISPR-Cas9 system as a bacterial genome editing tool and the valuable role of SdiA in S. enterica virulence. The present findings extend the understanding of virulence regulation and host pathogenesis of Salmonella enterica.
Using a Variational Autoencoder in the Task of Overlaying Multiple Images

The possibility and expediency of using variational autoencoders when expanding training datasets of neural networks for cases when the training set consists of several dozen samples is tested. Investigations are carried out on the example of images of «crack»-type defects. Brief information on the theory of variational autoencoders is given. Practical recommendations are given for constructing training sets of variational autoencoders. It is shown that deviation from the suggested recommendations will most likely not allow generating realistic images for the case of a small dataset. For the case of a dataset of eighty images, the distribution of «crack»- type defects in the hidden space after training the variational autoencoder is demonstrated. Examples of images with defects sampled from different parts of the distribution of latent factors are given. For the case of images of cracks, the continuity of the hidden space is demonstrated, when one image is sufficiently smoothly transformed into another on the way through the space of hidden features. A method for obtaining superimposed images based on the use of variational autoencoders is proposed. This method seems to be promising, since it allows automating the process of obtaining superimposed images. Examples of generated cracked superimposed images are shown.
Plug-in Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: A Foundation for Electrified Transportation

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs)--which include all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles--provide a new opportunity for reducing oil consumption by drawing power from the electric grid. To maximize the benefits of PEVs, the emerging PEV infrastructure--from battery manufacturing to communication and control between the vehicle and the grid--must provide access to clean electricity, satisfy stakeholder expectations, and ensure safety. Currently, codes and standards organizations are collaborating on a PEV infrastructure plan. Establishing a PEV infrastructure framework will create new opportunities for business and job development initiating the move toward electrified transportation. This paper summarizes the components of the PEV infrastructure, challenges and opportunities related to the design and deployment of the infrastructure, and the potential benefits.
TECHNOLOGY AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE PRONOUNCIATION

To be a native like in pronunciation, the crucial factor is applying the native like teachers in EFL classes. Unfortunately in some countries like Iran, there is not any availability of the native teacher. For this reason, our teachers should prepare some authentic materials as a proper technology for teaching purposes; this study tries to investigate the effectiveness of technology -based pronunciation instruction to help EFL advanced learners at Zanjan University to understand and learn the stress patterns correctly. I will focus on e communicative approach on “Phonology”. I would like to introduce this software to all instructors for improving EFL pronunciation teaching in our country. This study is carried among 50 EFL learners in advanced level EFL classes in Islamic Azad University of Zanjan. The findings of this study indicated that technology assisted pronunciation instruction is very effective in promoting learner‟s attitudes, perception, learning, and production of correct stress patterns.
Multinational Enterprise Organizational Structures and Subsidiary Role and Capability Development: The Moderating Role of Establishment Mode

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) develop structural configurations for managing their geographically dispersed and disaggregated activities. These structures can be classified as (a) simple headquarters configurations (involves corporate, regional, divisional headquarters and mandated units) involving few direct reporting relationships; (b) network organizations involving no direct reporting relationships; and (c) matrix configurations involving multiple reporting relationships. While these structures are built for handling various complexities and purposes, it is unclear how they influence subsidiary role and capability development. We hypothesize how these structures influence subsidiary development and propose a moderating role of MNE establishment mode on the direct structure-subsidiary development relationship. Based on data from 429 foreign subsidiaries in New Zealand, our results show that subsidiary development varies across the structures such that simple headquarters configurations experience the least opportunities to develop. While the matrix and network structures as complex configurations offer distinct paths to subsidiary development, subsidiaries managed under the former are more likely to follow the developmental path of networking and interunit learning, and the subsidiaries managed under the latter are more likely to follow the path of autonomy and innovation. Furthermore, the positive association of network structure with subsidiary initiatives and autonomy is stronger for greenfield subsidiaries, whereas the positive association of matrix structure with subsidiary mandates is stronger for acquired subsidiaries.
Inferring excitation-inhibition dynamics using a maximum entropy model unifying brain structure and function

Abstract Neural activity coordinated across different scales from neuronal circuits to large-scale brain networks gives rise to complex cognitive functions. Bridging the gap between micro- and macroscale processes, we present a novel framework based on the maximum entropy model to infer a hybrid resting-state structural connectome, representing functional interactions constrained by structural connectivity. We demonstrate that the structurally informed network outperforms the unconstrained model in simulating brain dynamics, wherein by constraining the inference model with the network structure we may improve the estimation of pairwise BOLD signal interactions. Further, we simulate brain network dynamics using Monte Carlo simulations with the new hybrid connectome to probe connectome-level differences in excitation-inhibition balance between apolipoprotein E (APOE)-ε4 carriers and noncarriers. Our results reveal sex differences among APOE-ε4 carriers in functional dynamics at criticality; specifically, female carriers appear to exhibit a lower tolerance to network disruptions resulting from increased excitatory interactions. In sum, the new multimodal network explored here enables analysis of brain dynamics through the integration of structure and function, providing insight into the complex interactions underlying neural activity such as the balance of excitation and inhibition.