Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing photocatalysis by means of up-conversion photonics materials for pollutant degradation and hydrogen generation: “bridge the gap”

Enhancing the efficiency of solar energy harvesting schemes, particularly photocatalytic processes, by means of spectral converting materials stands up as an emerging route not yet fully explored. In this context, there is a growing interest in harvesting energy from the large near-infrared (NIR) range of solar radiation (approx. 60% in terms of the photon number or 40% of the energy from the sun’s total incoming radiation) for various energy and environmental applications. The immediate goal is to bridge the gaps of photocatalysts by shifting NIR photons into UV-VIS ones through up-conversion photonic mechanisms. Here we present different photonic materials (glasses, crystals and solvothermal core-shell nanocrystals) showing high intense NIR-to-UV-VIS upconversion luminescence. Photocatalytic degradation of organic dye methylene blue as a pollutant model has been successfully attained under NIR radiation. We have also successfully achieved hydrogen and oxygen evolution via water-splitting using Al-doped SrTiO3 (STO:Al) photocatalyst, loaded with rhodium-chromium oxide (RhCrOx) as a hydrogen evolution cocatalyst in order to enable the overall water-splitting reaction. Both experiments have been carried out under low-power commercial 980 nm laser irradiation. Up-conversion driven photocatalysis is proved, as a solely photonic effect, converting incident NIR radiation before reaching the contaminated solution. We also explore the implementation of rare-earth doped upconversion materials with the performance of luminescent solar concentrators (LSC), as a promising option for enhancing the efficiency of optical devices
Sensing In-air Signature Motions Using Smartwatch: A High-precision Approach of Behavioral Authentication

By virtue of the stability of signatures and the high difficulty of imitation, handwriting signature, as an important behavioral biometric trait, has been broadly adopted for authorization and identity verification. Nowadays, the emergence of consumer-level wrist-worn devices incorporating rich sensors has profoundly changed the way of human-machine interactions, enabling new observation ways of signature. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of authenticating users by sensing hand motions of signing in the air using fingers. Each signature is represented by the readings of the gyroscope and accelerometer compensated by device attitude readings. A recurrent neural network-based algorithm is proposed to characterize signatures and accurately determine whether a signature is from the claimed genuine user or an imposter. We empirically investigate 22 participants by recording their in-air signing gestures using smartwatch motion sensors. The verification shows that, despite the inevitable variability of repeating genuine signature drawing, forged signatures tend to show more dissimilarity than the variability. The high-precision experimental result (i.e., equal error rate of 0.83%) against insider adversaries not only demonstrates the effectiveness of our proposed approach but also indicates the feasibility of a more user-friendly signature authentication way by signing their names in the air. Moreover, we investigate the impact of properties of motion sensory data on signature authentication. In addition, we include more details of the experiments, validation of the proposed pre-processing method, and analysis of the circumvention as one of the desirable proprieties of biometrics, of signing motions by measuring the skill of forgery.
Inflammatory Biomarkers of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has a complex pathology in which the initial injury releases damage associated proteins that exacerbate the neuroinflammatory response during the chronic secondary injury period. One of the major pathological players in the inflammatory response after TBI is the inflammasome. Increased levels of inflammasome proteins during the acute phase after TBI are associated with worse functional outcomes. Previous studies reveal that the level of inflammasome proteins in biological fluids may be used as promising new biomarkers for the determination of TBI functional outcomes. In this study, we provide further evidence that inflammatory cytokines and inflammasome proteins in serum may be used to determine injury severity and predict pathological outcomes. In this study, we analyzed blood serum from TBI patients and respective controls utilizing Simple Plex inflammasome and V-PLEX inflammatory cytokine assays. We performed statistical analyses to determine which proteins were significantly elevated in TBI individuals. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were determined to obtain the area under the curve (AUC) to establish the potential fit as a biomarker. Potential biomarkers were then compared to documented patient Glasgow coma scale scores via a correlation matrix and a multivariate linear regression to determine how respective biomarkers are related to the injury severity and pathological outcome. Inflammasome proteins and inflammatory cytokines were elevated after TBI, and the apoptosis-associated speck like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC), interleukin (IL)-18, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-4 and IL-6 were the most reliable biomarkers. Additionally, levels of these proteins were correlated with known clinical indicators of pathological outcome, such as the Glasgow coma scale (GCS). Our results show that inflammatory cytokines and inflammasome proteins are promising biomarkers for determining pathological outcomes after TBI. Additionally, levels of biomarkers could potentially be utilized to determine a patient’s injury severity and subsequent pathological outcome. These findings show that inflammation-associated proteins in the blood are reliable biomarkers of injury severity that can also be used to assess the functional outcomes of TBI patients.
Assessment of Cardiac Functions and Arrhythmia in Children with Beta-Thalassemia Major and Beta-Thalassemia Intermedia

BACKGROUND: Heart disease is a major complication in thalassemic patients. Heart injuries in iron overload cases include arrhythmia, pulmonary hypertension, systolic/diastolic dysfunction, and heart failure. AIM: This study aimed to assess cardiac functions and arrhythmia in children with β-thalassemia major (TM) and β-thalassemia intermedia (TI) and its relation to cardiac iron overload. METHODS: Thirty β-TM patients and 30 β-TI patients were evaluated using echocardiography and 24-h ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring (Holter). Among these patients, 15 β-TM and 15 β-TI patients were evaluated using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging T2* by single breath-hold multi-echo technique. RESULTS: Arrhythmia was detected significantly more in β-TM patients than β-TI (p = 0.049). Nine (30%) β-TM and five (16.6%) β-TI patients had Sinus tachycardia. Two (6.7%) β-TM patients compared to one (3.33%) β-TI patient had supraventricular tachycardia runs. Three (10%) β-TM and one (3.33%) β-TI patient had extreme sinus tachycardia. Two (3.3%) β-TI patients had sinus bradycardia, while two (3.3%) β-TM patients had incomplete Right bundle branch block. Regarding echo parameters: Isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT), Left ventricle myocardial performance index (MPI LV), Right ventricle myocardial performance index (MPI RV) and end systolic pulmonary artery pressure, were significantly higher in β-TM than TI group (p < 0.05). Fractional shortening, Ejection fraction were significantly lower in β-TM than TI group (p < 0.001). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between cardiac T2* and each of (IVRT, MPI LV, MPI RV) (p ˂ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Arrhythmias are more common in the β-TM group. Systolic, diastolic dysfunction and high pulmonary pressure are more prevalent in TM than in TI. Global myocardial performance is more impaired in TM than in TI patients. Iron overload has a deleterious effect on cardiac function.
Demystifying tourists’ intention to purchase travel online: the moderating role of technical anxiety and attitude

ABSTRACT This study investigates the influence of consumption value on tourists’ intention to purchase travel products online through the lens of the theory of consumption value framework. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) and a fuzzy set of qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on 559 responses collected using M-Turk. The findings show that price value is the most significant factor and necessary for the purchase intention of tourists’ online travel products. Notably, technical anxiety and attitude moderate the relationship between consumption value and tourists’ purchase intention. This study offers meaningful insights into managers, policy-makers, and practitioners about the roles of various factors of consumption value, vis-avis their relative significance in driving individuals’ decision-making and travel service choices.
Achievable Rates and Resource Allocation for CDMA-Based Overlay Cognitive Radio With RF Energy Harvesting

This article introduced a cognitive wireless powered communication network with an uplink (UL) code-division multiple access (CDMA) scheme consisting of one hybrid access point (H-AP) and multiple energy harvesting secondary users (SUs), which are coexisted with a primary wireless network. The frame structure is coordinated through the two-phase harvest-then-transmit protocol. The energy-limited SUs first harvest wireless energy in the downlink phase and then transmit their information signals simultaneously to H-AP with the CDMA scheme in the UL phase. An overlay spectrum sharing model is also considered where H-AP has access to the primary transmitter's codebook and primary network's channel. Our goal is to maximize the sum-throughput optimization problem of SUs via jointly optimizing power and time allocation. The considered joint optimization problem is generally nonconvex due to coupled variables. As a solution, we first transform it into the equivalent convex form using proper variables and then we solve it using the convex optimization technique. The closed-form solutions for time and power allocations are given. We also confirm from various simulations’ results that our proposed CDMA scheme is superior to the conventional time-division multiple access schemes.
HIV prevalence among oesophageal cancer patients in rural South Africa

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the ninth most common cancer worldwide, with 604,100 new cases each year and ranking sixth in terms of mortality. Individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have a higher prevalence of certain malignancies compared with the general population. There have been reports suggesting an increased risk of EC among people living with HIV infection. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HIV infection among EC patients in rural Africa. This is a records-based retrospective descriptive study of patients presenting with EC referred from surrounding hospitals in the Eastern Cape to Frere Hospital from January 2016 to December 2018. A total of 125 EC cases were recorded during this period. Information collected from patients’ records included age, sex, ethnic group, HIV status, tumour location and stage of the disease. Fourteen patients were diagnosed with HIV, translating to a prevalence of 11% (95% confidence interval (CI): 5–15). There was no relationship between the risk of HIV infection and the stages of EC (p = .122). In addition to this, the risk of HIV infection showed no relationship to tumour location (p = .531). In summary, we found that the overall prevalence of HIV infection in EC patients was 11% and this was not associated with the stage or location of cancer at diagnosis in this rural population.
Sarcopenia is the independent predictor of mortality in critically ill patients with cirrhosis

Background: Sarcopenia is strongly associated with poor outcome in cirrhosis. There are little prospective data that sarcopenia influences outcomes in critically ill cirrhotics (CICs). Computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard for sarcopenia assessment in the intensive care unit (ICU), as it is independent of hydration status. Aim: This study aims to assess the prevalence of sarcopenia and study its impact on clinical outcomes in CICs. Methods: In this prospective observational study, CICs admitted to the liver ICU were enrolled, if meeting inclusion (age 18–70 years, abdominal CT scan within three months before ICU admission) and exclusion criteria (survival likely to be <24 h, coexisting chronic diseases). Clinical, hemodynamic, biochemical, and nutritional parameters, including length of stay (LOS), duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), development of new-onset infections (NOI), incidence of new-onset acute kidney injury (AKI), and overall survival, were recorded. CT images at the L3 level were analyzed using Slice-O-Matic V4.3 software to assess the skeletal muscle index (SMI) expressed as skeletal muscle area (cm2)/height (m2). Sarcopenia was defined if SMI was <50 cm2/m2 – males and <39 cm2/m2 – females. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22. Results: Altogether 111 patients (M-83.8%; age 48.4±11.3 years; etiology: Alcohol – 56 [50.5%], non-alcoholic steatohepatitis – 27 [24.3%], viral – 12 [10.8%], and others – 16 [14.4%]; Child-Turcotte-Pugh – 11.9±1.8; model for end-stage liver disease – 27.8±7.3; sequential organ failure assessment – 10.5±4.1; APACHE – 23±8; and MV – 54 [48.6%]) were enrolled. Of these, 76 (68.5%) were sarcopenic and 35 (31.5%) non-sarcopenic. Sarcopenic CICs had higher overall mortality (72.4%) compared to non-sarcopenics (40%) (P=0.001, OR [95% CI] – 3.93 [1.69–9.12]), and higher prevalence of sepsis at ICU admission (53.9% vs. 31.4%, P=0.027, OR [95% CI] – 1.7 [1.0–2.92]) than non-sarcopenics. LOS, duration of MV, incidence of NOI, and development of new-onset AKI were comparable between groups. Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that sarcopenia, sepsis, and APACHE II score were independently associated with mortality. Conclusion: Two-thirds of CICs have sarcopenia at ICU admission, making them 1.7 times more susceptible to sepsis and increasing the risk of mortality by almost 4-fold in the ICU. Relevance for Patients: Almost 70% of patients with chronic liver disease admitted to the ICU have low muscle mass (sarcopenia). The presence of sarcopenia per se makes them highly prone to infections and increases the chances of death by almost 4-fold; thus, highlighting the importance of nutrition optimization in this patient group.
Targeting the Ezrin Adaptor Protein Sensitizes Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells to Chemotherapy and Reduces Neoadjuvant Therapy–induced Metastasis

The main cause of cancer-associated deaths is the spread of cancer cells to distant organs. Despite its success in the primary tumor setting, modern chemotherapeutic strategies are rendered ineffective at treating metastatic disease, largely due to the development of resistance. The adaptor protein ezrin has been shown to promote cancer metastasis in multiple preclinical models and is associated with poor prognosis in several cancer types, including breast cancer. Ezrin promotes pro-survival signaling, particularly in disseminated cancer cells, to facilitate metastatic outgrowth. However, the role of ezrin in breast cancer chemoresistance is not fully known. In this study, we show that upregulating or downregulating ezrin expression modifies the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to doxorubicin and docetaxel treatment in vitro and is associated with changes in PI3K/Akt and NFκB pathway activation. In addition, we tested the effects of systemic treatment with a small-molecule ezrin inhibitor, NSC668394, on lung metastatic burden in vivo as a monotherapy, or in combination with anthracycline- or taxane-based chemotherapy treatment. We show that anti-ezrin treatment alone reduces metastatic burden and markedly sensitizes metastases to doxorubicin or docetaxel in neoadjuvant as well as neoadjuvant plus adjuvant treatment models. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the impact of anti-ezrin treatment in modulating response to chemotherapy in breast cancer cells as well as the efficacy of anti-ezrin treatment in combination with chemotherapy at reducing metastatic burden. Significance: This work provides preclinical evidence for combining anti-ezrin treatment with chemotherapy as a novel strategy for effectively targeting metastasis, particularly in a neoadjuvant treatment setting.
Comparison of neonatal and maternal outcomes of anti-diabetic drugs in the treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus: Findings from Bayesian network meta-analysis

The safety and efficacy of different anti-diabetic drugs are not clear because of the lack of sufficiently powered clinical trials. This network meta-analysis was conducted to compare the efficacy and safety of three anti-diabetic drugs (insulin, glyburide, and metformin), and rank them as per their efficiency to control glucose levels, pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes. The study design is a systematic review, meta-analysis, and network meta-analysis. After a systematic search of existing databases, 34 randomized controlled trials were selected for inclusion in the analysis. We did pairwise network meta-analysis to calculate standardized mean difference and odds ratio (OR) as the summary measures for numerical and dichotomous variables, respectively, by using random-effects model. Our key outcomes were incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia, respiratory distress syndrome, macrosomia, C-section, admission to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and mean differences in the birth weight of neonates, gestational age at birth, HbA1C levels, fasting blood sugar, large at gestational age, and post-prandial glucose. It was found that metformin significantly lowered the post-prandial levels of glucose as compared with both glyburide and insulin in pairwise analysis (SMD = 14.11 [23–4.8]; SMD = 22.45 [30–14]), respectively. There was a significant reduction in birth weights of babies whose mothers were administered metformin as compared with either glyburide or insulin. The proportion of neonates admission to NICU was significantly lower for metformin when compared with insulin [Log OR = 0.334 (0.0184, 0.6814))]. Large at gestational age was significantly lower for metformin as compared with both glyburide and insulin [log OR = 0.6882 (0.171, 1.329), log OR = 0.393 (0.00179, 0.8218)], respectively. Oral anti-diabetic drugs especially metformin performed better than both glyburide and insulin for all neonatal and maternal outcomes except that it significantly lowered the neonatal birth weight.
Challenges of IFRS implementation in emerging economies: The case of Lebanon

IFRS and their implementation are being associated with globalisation and the increasing influence of global institutions such as the World Bank. This article investigates the challenges of IFRS implementation in Lebanon, an Asian, Middle-Eastern, and an emerging economy. The findings are theoretically framed within the system, society and dominance (SSD) framework. The analysis demonstrates that system and dominance effects have driven the initial phase of IFRS implementation in Lebanon. However, societal factors have created challenges to this implementation. The article proposes a framework that categorises these challenges as schisms within the local field of accounting, associated with practice, education, and regulation.
Simultaneous Dual Sensor Wavefield Separation and Seismic Data Compression Using Parabolic Dictionary Learning

Areas covered by seismic exploration surveys are continuously increasing and the data recorded are becoming of very large size. In addition, conventional seismic processing and imaging is a long meticulous workflow which is time consuming and very expensive in terms of human and computational resources. Consequently, allowing seismic processing steps in a compressed domain can play a key role in the marine seismic industry as it would be a faster and cheaper alternative to the standard seismic processing sequence and would save cost on storage and data transfer. Parabolic dictionary learning has the ability to compress the seismic data by transforming them into an appropriate sparse domain, and also to extract local parameters which relate to the kinematics of the wavefield. In this paper, we use these kinematic parameters to correct for the geophone obliquity problem and thus enable the dual-sensor wavefield separation processing step in the compressed domain. Without the need for data interpolation, our method succeeds in reconstructing aliased events and shows comparable results to an industry-standard FK based algorithm in terms of up- and down-going pressure fields reconstruction. It also comes with the advantage of compressing the data by a factor higher than 10.
Measurement of User Emotion and Experience in Interaction with Space

Designer-oriented space design has been transferred to user-oriented space design that considers users′ emotions as well as the functions of the space, producing a multi-sensory space. Further, with the advent of embedded digital media and information technology in a space, various interface functions of the space have been developed and the user experience in the space has been much extended. This research investigated user experience and emotional aspects of a space′s design, which have been sparsely researched previously. Further, authors emphasize not only the emotion expression of the space, but also the interaction of people and space for the embodiment of the emotions from a wider perspective. Authors reviewed multidisciplinary literatures and compared various methodologies of measurement. Based on the understanding of the studies on the measurement of emotion, authors developed measures of emotion in interaction associated with spaces. The strength of the research is the focus on the integration of the space with technologies and user experiences from a new perspective in emotion research, rather than concentrating only on the architecture components of the buildings themselves. Through empirical studies, the measurements of emotion in architectural spaces can be verified and elaborated.
Transformer Asset Health Review: Does it really work?

SUMMARY This paper describes the historical evolution of the electricity supply industry in Great Britain, and how this led to the development of the transformer asset health review process following privatisation. The purpose of transformer asset health review is to:  Identify short to medium term priorities for transformer replacement planning (individual units that need, or are expected to need, replacement)  Predict long-term transformer replacement volumes (enable early identification of potential peaks in investment requirements)  Provide trend information regarding transformer condition and replacement volumes  Identify issues, risks and opportunities for the management of the transformer fleet This paper suggests that its success can be measured in two different ways. At the level of the population as a whole, the effectiveness of the asset health review can be measured by monitoring the failure rate. At the level of individual transformers, the effectiveness of the asset health review can be measured by investigating the condition of failed or scrapped transformers and comparing the findings of the investigation with what had been expected. Evidence suggests that the asset health review is very successful at the level of the population as a whole, and has prevented a significant number of transformer failures. Evidence suggests that the asset health review is largely successful at the level of individual failed or scrapped transformers. There is some room for improvement, especially in the estimation of solid insulation ageing and the classification of thermal faults.