Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Epitope-Based Peptide Vaccine against Bombali Ebolavirus Viral Protein 40: An Immunoinformatics Combined with Molecular Docking Studies

Background Bombali Ebolavirus is RNA viruses belong to the Filoviridae family. They are causing lethal hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rate. Despite having available molecular knowledge of this virus, no approved vaccine or antiviral drugs have been developed yet for the eradication of Bombali Ebolavirus infections in humans. Objective the present study described a multi epitope-based peptide vaccine against Bombali Ebolavirus matrix protein VP40, using several immunoinformatics tools. Materials and Methods The six strains of Ebolavirus were retrieved from NCBI and Uniprot databases and submitted to VaxiJen to identify the most antigenic protein among all. Then PSIPRED, SOPMA, QMEAN, and PROCHECK tools were used to check the protein quality. T-cell prediction, population coverage, and molecular docking analysis were achieved to select peptides containing multiple Bombali VP40 epitopes showing interaction with multiple HLA molecules for expected immune response across the world. Result Bombali Ebola (YP_009513276.1) was found to be the most antigenic protein among all. Which it has been used in all required analysis. For T cell three epitopes showed high affinity to MHC class I (YSFDSTTAA, VQLPQYFTF, and MVNVISGPK) and high population coverage against Africa and the world. Furthermore in MHC class II, six promising epitopes that associated with most common MHC class II alleles. Conclusion The above result conclude that, these peptides capable of provoking T-cell response and being interacted with a wide range of HLA molecules have a strong potential to be a vaccine against Bombali Ebolavirus.
Electromechanically Deployable High-Gain Pop-Up Antenna Using Shape Memory Alloy and Kirigami Technology

This paper proposes a low-cost, high-gain, and vertically polarized deployable antenna utilizing kirigami pop-up geometry. It primarily utilizes a foldable polyethylene terephthalate sheet to produce kirigami geometry in association with a rectangular radiating monopole, two reflectors, and a parasitic strip director. The reflectors and director increase the antenna gain and provide a frequency-independent tilted radiated beam with a higher beamwidth in the azimuth plane. In addition, electromechanically excited shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators enable folding and unfolding, make the antenna easily transportable and swiftly deployable. We describe the step-by-step fabrication of the kirigami geometry and shape memory spring actuator characterization. The designed, fabricated, and tested antenna achieves a -10 dB reflection bandwidth of 48.8% (1.7–2.8 GHz) providing a peak gain of more than 10 dBi at 2.45 GHz. The tilted radiated beam has a significantly wider beamwidth (90°) in the azimuth plane, compared to 40° in the elevation plane. The measured results agree well with simulations, verifying the proposed design concept. The fabricated prototype offers cost-effectiveness, more rapid fabrication, unprecedented performance, and significant potential for use in a range of microwave applications.
Fast Corona Discharge Assessment Using FDM integrated With Full Multigrid Method in HVDC Transmission Lines Considering Wind Impact

A novel approach for solving the monopolar corona in high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line systems is proposed by the ﬁnite difference method (FDM) and a full multigrid method (FMG). Speciﬁcally, the FMG is implemented as a fast solver with respect to existing iterative solutions for the FDM to solve the Poisson equation, particularly on ﬁne grids. The advantage features of the proposed approach are that it avoids the hypothesis of a constant electric ﬁeld around the conductor’s surface. Further, it considers the inﬂuence of space charge on both the magnitude and the direction of the electrical ﬁeld. The proposed approach is employed for computing the electric ﬁeld and current density on the ground plane with and without wind effect. Considering the impact of wind in the present study, the ﬁndings conﬁrm that both corona current density and electric ﬁeld on the ground plane are inﬂuenced by the transverse wave. Eventually, the effect of changing the wind speed on the electric ﬁeld proﬁles and the current density is deeply studied in HVDC transmission line systems. To prove the efﬁcacy of the proposed approach, it is compared with previous experimental results where a better agreement is reached rather than other numerical techniques.
Evaluating an Educational Escape Room Conducted Remotely for Teaching Software Engineering

With the rise of distance learning, new challenges have emerged for educators. Among these challenges, developing effective and motivating group activities for students in the remote classroom is one of the top priorities to be addressed. According to existing literature, educational escape rooms have proven to be engaging and effective learning activities when conducted face-to-face. However, no prior research has analyzed the instructional effectiveness of these activities when they are conducted remotely. Furthermore, none of the educational escape rooms reported in the literature has been designed for teaching software modeling. This article analyzes an educational escape room conducted remotely in a software engineering fundamentals course for teaching software modeling. A total of three evaluation instruments were used: a pre-test and a post-test to measure students' learning gains, a questionnaire to collect students’ perceptions, and a web platform for automatically gathering data on students’ interactions. The contribution of this article is two-fold. On the one hand, it provides, for the first time, evidence that remote educational escape rooms can be effective learning activities. On the other hand, it provides, also for the first time, proof that educational escape rooms are effective and engaging activities for teaching software modeling. INDEX TERMS Computer science education, distance learning, educational escape rooms, educational technology, software engineering education.
User Perspectives on Blockchain Technology: User-Centered Evaluation and Design Strategies for DApps

Emerging technologies have played an important role in driving major changes in human society. However, the advent of most technologies is typically initially accompanied by confusion; this is often because technology developers overlook the user perspective. This study was conducted to systematically determine the fundamental causes of problems that users encounter when they interact with blockchain technology, one of the promising emerging technologies today
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Travel Supply Chain: A Literature Review

Traditional travel agencies and tour operators are recognized as relevant stakeholders in the tourism distribution chain, even though their role as transforming agents in the achievement of more sustainable tourism is beginning to be accepted. This study aims at reviewing the main topics and the most recent approaches from the academic literature in its analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices developed by these intermediaries. The work has been structured around six recurring themes in most of the studies carried out: the new intermediaries that operate on the Internet; the role of travel agencies and tour operators in tourism sustainability; the influence of the size of the company; CSR as a disruptive innovation in this sector; the potential of the sustainable tourism supply chain; and the motivations and attitudes of the managers of these businesses when they engage with responsibility. This last topic is developed in greater detail since it is closely linked to the previous ones and dictates, in most cases, the meaning and function of the sustainable performance. The conclusions show how tourism intermediaries have only just begun to develop CSR policies, and those that are committed to their implementation mostly opt for actions aimed at the environment.
Design of High Efficiency Controller for Wide Input Range DC-DC Piezoelectric Transformer Converter

Owing to the increasing demand for low-power electronic devices, the need for miniaturized, light-weight power supplies with a high power density is growing. A piezoelectric transformer, which is a mechanical resonance-based power transformer, can meet these requirements. However, piezoelectric transformers are based on mechanical resonance, and the resonance characteristics depend on the output current, temperature, and other parameters. Thus, their efﬁciency may rapidly reduce with changes in the resonance characteristics under speciﬁc load and temperature conditions. Therefore, this study proposes a technique that estimating the optimal frequency by using the measurements of the input voltage and current phase difference of the piezoelectric transformer and regulating the output voltage using the duty cycle. Modeling and control system analyses are performed to address the control interference problem caused by the plurality of control variables and control outputs. To demonstrate the proposed technique, a 40 W prototype hardware device is developed. The efﬁciency improvement is conﬁrmed, and the analysis is validated.
Project Management in Data Warehouse Implementations: A Literature Review

Project management (PM) is a vital part of any data warehouse (DWH) implementation due to its complexity, time constraints, size, high costs, and importance to business. To help achieve efficient PM, project managers require a source of reference that aggregates the previously acquired body of knowledge (BOK) and presents the discovered findings. Yet, no such resource currently exits. Furthermore, no evaluation of the existing BOK has been made, which obstructs its current understanding and hinders future enhancements in the field. The goal of this paper is to remove these gaps by conducting a systematic review of the literature. The review identified 33 relevant studies. Results show that the current literature mostly covers global considerations and research on DWH requirements analysis techniques and that only a small number of studies were conducted to assist project managers. The review method incorporated two research dimensions used to synthesize, interpret and present the findings: the PMBOK® Guide’s PM knowledge areas (PMKAs) and DWH stage. The majority of identified studies pertained to integration management, followed by scope management PMKAs. The biggest research gap was discovered for procurement management PMKA. The project initiation/planning DWH stage is most frequently analyzed in existing studies, followed by requirement analysis and database design. Findings from the identified studies are incorporated into a reference map in order to serve project managers as a reference point for additional guidance in their projects and an agenda for further research is provided for researchers looking to contribute to the field. INDEX TERMS Agile, data warehouse, literature review, project management, PMBOK guide.
Prediction of Inter-Personal Trust and Team Familiarity From Speech: A Double Transfer Learning Approach

Speech classification is one of the most convenient objective measures of internal state exhibited during a problem-solving task that requires verbal communication. This study investigates the hypothesis of speech acoustic characteristics being indicative of trust between team members and team members' familiarity with each other. Speech recordings from 27 dyadic teams (26 males and 28 females) were made during a distributed threat perception task, determining safe points along a route through the town to be visited by a VIP. Before the threat detection mission, 26 team members knew each other, and the remaining 28 had no prior knowledge of their partners. Two levels (Low Trust and High Trust) of two trust constructs, TTP (Trust, Trustworthiness, Propensity to trust), and RIS (Reliance Intentions Scale), were estimated based on numerical responses to preand post-mission surveys. Speech recordings of individual speakers were divided into 1-second intervals and converted into RGB images of amplitude spectrograms. The images were classified using a pre-trained convolutional neural network ResNet-18 fine-tuned to recognize either the trust level or familiarity. In the baseline classification scenario, the speech was classified using a single transfer learning into Low/High-trust categories separately for RIS and TTP constructs before and after the mission yielding an average classification accuracy of 82%-86%. Single transfer learning classification into Know/Unknown-partners categories led to 85% accuracy. Application of double transfer learning, i.e., first tuning the ResNet-18 on Know/Unknown labels and then on Low/High-trust, increased the trust classification accuracy up to 89%. When tuning the ResNet-18 on Low/High-trust and then on Known/Unknown labels, the accuracy of partner familiarity recognition was also increased up to 89%. These results support the hypothesis of speech acoustics being indicative of trust and familiarity between team members and show that by adding prior related knowledge to the model, more efficient learning can be achieved without increasing the training data size. INDEX TERMS Inter-personal trust prediction, inter-personal familiarity prediction, speech classification, transfer learning, convolutional neural networks.
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Competition Between Subways and Taxis Based on Multi-Source Data

Excessive competition between taxis and subways has eroded the advantages of public transit systems such as worsening road traffic congestion and environment. This study aims to improve the appeal of subways by a comprehensive understating of competition between taxis and subways. We investigate competitive relationship between these two transportation modes by using empirical multi-source data. First, non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithm is used to discover the spatiotemporal travel patterns of subway-competing taxi users (SCTUs). Second, we propose a new index to quantify the competitiveness of subways based on the actual mode choices results. Then, we reveal the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of competitiveness from perspective of subway network. Taking Beijing, China, for a case study, we extract a week’s worth of GPS records on taxi trajectory and smartcard data of subways. Subwaycompeting taxi trips (SCTTs) account for the largest proportion of the total taxi trips. As a result, three basic patterns are found in SCTTs. Subway station pairs with high and less competition are divided according to competitiveness index. Among low competition station pairs, three spatial structures are observed, including low-competition collinearity corridors, radial communities, and links between paralleled subway lines. Combining the distribution results of travel pattern and competitiveness degree, short-term and long-term planning suggestions are recommended respectively for station pairs with high demand but low competitiveness and those with low demand and low competitiveness. These findings provide useful insights into promoting more effective and sensitive policies to balance the competition and attract more taxi passengers to the subway system. INDEX TERMS Subway-competing taxi, sustainable transportation, non-negative matrix factorization, competition, subway planning.
Quantitative Analysis of Energy Storage in Different Parts of Combined Heat and Power Plants

To increase the flexibility of power generation, the coal-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plants should make full use of their own energy storage (ES). Available ES exists mainly in boiler steamwater systems, in units’ condensed water systems (CW), and in district heating networks (DHN). The goal of the paper is to analysis the ES quantitatively. And ES is characterized by ES coefficient, the maximum ES capacity and ES respond speed for power load. ES coefficient, the key parameter of ES capacity, represents the change in ES when unit process variable changes. For pressure, flow, and temperature variables, three kinds of mechanism methods (volume increment method, equivalent enthalpy drop method, and specific enthalpy increment method) are proposed to calculate ES coefficients. Then, the maximum ES capacity can be obtained by the product of ES coefficient and the limit value of the variable. Finally, ES respond speed for power load can be drawn from simulation. Calculation results and simulations show that ES in CW has small capacity 1.2 GJ but fast speed; ES in boiler has larger capacity 2.6 GJ and slower respond speed; ES in DHN is 374 GJ, which is two orders of magnitude larger than the previous two, and the response is relatively fast. Therefore, recommendations to increase power load flexibility are using ES in boiler and DHN to reduce fuel fluctuation when power load change frequently, using ES in CW to reduce load responding time, and using ES in DHN to expand load regulation range. INDEX TERMS coal-fired power plant, boiler, district heating network, condensed water systems, mechanism method, equivalent enthalpy drop method, thermal storage, power flexibility.
Proof complexity of natural formulas via communication arguments

A canonical communication problem Search (φ) is defined for every unsatisfiable CNF φ: an assignment to the variables of φ is partitioned among the communicating parties, they are to find a clause of φ falsified by this assignment. Lower bounds on the randomized k-party communication complexity of Search (φ) in the number-on-forehead (NOF) model imply tree-size lower bounds, rank lower bounds, and size-space tradeoffs for the formula φ in the semantic proof system Tcc (k, c) that operates with proof lines that can be computed by k-party randomized communication protocol using at most c bits of communication [9]. All known lower bounds on Search (φ) (e.g. [1, 9, 13]) are realized on ad-hoc formulas φ (i.e. they were introduced specifically for these lower bounds). We introduce a new communication complexity approach that allows establishing proof complexity lower bounds for natural formulas. First, we demonstrate our approach for two-party communication and apply it to the proof system Res(⊕) that operates with disjunctions of linear equalities over F2 [14]. Let a formula PMG encode that a graph G has a perfect matching. If G has an odd number of vertices, then PMG has a tree-like Res(⊕)-refutation of a polynomial-size [14]. It was unknown whether this is the case for graphs with an even number of vertices. Using our approach we resolve this question and show a lower bound 2Ω(n) on size of tree-like Res(⊕)-refutations of PMKn+2,n. Then we apply our approach for k-party communication complexity in the NOF model and obtain a [EQUATION] lower bound on the randomized k-party communication complexity of Search (BPHPM2n) w.r. t. to some natural partition of the variables, where BPHPM2n is the bit pigeonhole principle and M = 2n + 2n(1--1/k). In particular, our result implies that the bit pigeonhole requires exponential tree-like Th(k) proofs, where Th(k) is the semantic proof system operating with polynomial inequalities of degree at most k and k = O(log1--ϵ n) for some ϵ > 0. We also show that BPHP2n+12n superpolynomially separates tree-like Th(log1--ϵ m) from tree-like Th(log m), where m is the number of variables in the refuted formula.
Major Depression and Brain Asymmetry in a Decision-Making Task with Negative and Positive Feedback

Depressed patients are characterized by hypoactivity of the left and hyperactivity of the right frontal areas during the resting state. Depression is also associated with impaired decision-making, which reflects multiple cognitive, affective, and attentional processes, some of which may be lateralized. The aim of this study was to investigate brain asymmetry during a decision-making task performed in negative and positive feedback conditions in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in comparison to healthy control participants. The electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 60 MDD patients and 60 healthy participants while performing a multi-stage decision-making task. Frontal, central, and parietal alpha asymmetry were analyzed with EEGlab/ERPlab software. Evoked potential responses (ERPs) showed general lateralization suggestive of an initial right dominance developing into a more complex pattern of asymmetry across different scalp areas as information was processed. The MDD group showed impaired mood prior to performance, and decreased confidence during performance in comparison to the control group. The resting state frontal alpha asymmetry showed lateralization in the healthy group only. Task-induced alpha power and ERP P100 and P300 amplitudes were more informative biomarkers of depression during decision making. Asymmetry coefficients based on task alpha power and ERP amplitudes showed consistency in the dynamical changes during the decision-making stages. Depression was characterized by a lack of left dominance during the resting state and left hypoactivity during the task baseline and subsequent decision-making process. Findings add to understanding of the functional significance of lateralized brain processes in depression.
Geographical distribution and volume of Antarctic icebergs derived from ship observation data

ABSTRACT Information on the occurrence, spatial distribution and morphometric characteristics of Antarctic icebergs is needed in a large number of applications including navigation, heat and freshwater balance calculations, biochemistry of the ocean and climatology. Using over 60 000 ship observations of icebergs in the Southern Ocean collected since the end of the 1940s we have produced a detailed map of the distribution of Antarctic icebergs as well as maps of related statistics including the standard deviation, minimum and maximum values of the iceberg concentration and the probability of iceberg-free observations. The study incorporated small and medium-sized icebergs with a length of <10 nautical miles. Most observations were taken during the warm period of the year, from December to April. It is shown that the iceberg distribution across the Southern Ocean is determined by the location of calving regions and peculiarities of the atmospheric circulation and ocean currents. Iceberg concentration data combined with information on the iceberg size and shape distribution have been used to evaluate the area-integrated characteristics of Antarctic icebergs. The instantaneous number of icebergs in the Southern Ocean was estimated as 132 269 with an uncertainty of 7%. The area and volume of icebergs were equal correspondingly to 55 805 km2 and 16 893 km3 with uncertainties of 32–33%.
Cross-Entropy Method for Design and Optimization of Pixelated Metasurfaces

Electromagnetic metasurfaces are planar two-dimensional metamaterials, typically of subwavelength thickness. Unit cell elements of different shapes have been widely explored, including electric and magnetic dipoles, patches, arbitrary geometries and pixelated surfaces. Although pixelated metasurfaces have a great advantage of geometric versatility, their design and analysis requires algorithmic approach. One of the techniques for their design is via evolutionary simulation-driven optimization. Since full-wave electromagnetic simulations are time-consuming, optimization methods with fast convergence properties are preferable. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of the cross-entropy optimization method to design of artiﬁcial magnetic conductors (AMCs) and thin printed phase shifters. Single-frequency AMCs at 10 GHz (X band) and dual-frequency AMCs at 8 and 12 GHz (X and Ku band) were produced that are more manufacturing-friendly, and thus cost effective, than previously reported AMCs. We also show that phase-shifting unit cells with transmission magnitudes over 0.9 (linear) can be designed using the proposed optimization technique. Other potential of these unit cells are in phase-correcting and beam-steering metasurfaces.