Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF JOINT ORIENTATION ON FRAGMENTATION MODES AND PENETRATION RATE UNDER TBM DISC CUTTERS

The joint orientation is a crucial factor which influences the penetration rate of TBM tunneling.Based on laboratory test,the effect of joint orientation on the penetration under TBM disc cutter is studied.In the test,two kinds of concrete with different strengths are adopted to simulate rock sample.The angle α between joint plane and tunneling axis varies from 0°,30°,and 60° to 90°. The main conclusions can be drawn as follows:(1) chipping angle β increases with the increment of angle α from 0° to 60°,and is about 33°-50° when α = 90°which agrees with the Hertzian cone crack.The angle Δβ between side crack and joint plane is about 40°-70° whereas α changes from 0° to 90°. The angle Δγ between median crack and joint plane is about 0°-10° as α≤30°,and arises sharply when α≥60° which makes median crack joints with joint plane to cause chipping. (2) The test results show three possible chipping modes of rock fragmentation:first,the side crack initiates beneath the crushed zone and propagates to free surface or joint plane to produce chipping.Second,the median crack propagates downwards to the joint plane to produce chipping as α≥60°. Third,the crack initiates from the joint plane due to joint deformation and propagates to the free surface when α≥30°. (3) The penetration rate achieves the highest value at α= 60° and joint gives more notable effect on fragmentation of the rock with higher strength.
Mental health and quality of life in postmenopausal women as a function of retrospective menopause symptom severity

Abstract Objectives: Perimenopause is commonly viewed as a window of vulnerability for developing psychiatric and eating disorders, especially for women who experience severe symptoms. However, menopausal symptoms may have a lasting effect on older women's mental health and quality of life (QOL) into postmenopause. The current study examined older (60+) postmenopausal women's mental health and QOL as a function of retrospective menopausal symptom severity. Methods: Participants were recruited via public online postings and included 227 postmenopausal women, ages 60 to 94 years old (M = 68.84, SD = 6.53). Participants completed an online questionnaire to assess past menopausal symptoms as well as current depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, binge eating, QOL, and demographics. The relation between the retrospective severity of menopausal symptoms and mental health/QOL was evaluated using linear regressions, while controlling for demographic covariates. Results: Retrospective menopause symptom severity was significantly associated with depression, sleep difficulties, binge eating severity, and most QOL measures. Regarding covariates, having a psychiatric history was significantly associated with all outcome variables, except for anxiety. Time since menopause and body mass index were significantly associated with binge eating severity. Regarding specific symptom subgroups, psychological and somato-vegetative symptoms were most associated with mental health and QOL. Conclusion: The menopausal transition is a significant change in a woman's life and the challenges of menopausal symptoms can have lasting impacts on women's health. It is imperative that future research seeks to further understand the lasting impacts of this transition on the lives of older women to ensure proper interventions are implemented for successful aging.
Does Competence Make Citizens Tolerate Undemocratic Behavior?

Are citizens willing to tolerate violations of democratic rules and norms by competent political leaders? I examine this question employing well-powered conjoint experiments in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and South Korea. The findings yield good as well as bad news for democracy. I find that undemocratic behavior by political candidates decreases voter support, whereas candidate competence increases support. Contrary to expectations, the effects of undemocratic behavior and competence do not interact. This means that competent candidates are sanctioned for violating democratic principles but also that support for undemocratic candidates increases with their competence. These findings can help explain the successes and failures of undemocratic political leaders around the world: although these leaders can gain support by appearing to be competent, competence does not make citizens tolerate undemocratic behavior entirely.
The double-edged sword – abused women’s experiences of digital technology

ABSTRACT Technology has become a vital part of people’s lives. Mobile phones, smart phones, social media platforms, apps and other internet-connected devices and software have changed our way of interacting with each other, as well as managing everyday tasks. In this article, the use of such technology is discussed in relation to its integration in the lives of women who are victims of domestic violence. The study is based on interviews with 21 Swedish women, all abused by their former husband or boyfriend. The empirical data demonstrates how technology is used by the perpetrators as a means of coercive control. The analysis shows that the accessibility of digital media enables the abuser to be constantly present in the woman’s life, even after she has left him. However, the same technology is also important to the women, enabling them to manage victimisation, monitor the perpetrators, store evidence, obtain information, gain support and keep in touch with family and friends. This article reveals the use of technology in IPV as a ‘double-edged sword’; providing the capacity to protect and even to use as a ‘counter-strike’ by victims, as well as enhancing perpetrators’ capacity to harm.
The effects of student s gender and classroom disruptive behaviors and parental income on student s mathematics achievement trajectory

The goal of the study was to examine the role of students’ gender, their disruptive behaviors, and parental income on their mathematics achievement history. Participants included 8,984 individuals aged 12-16 years and the data were collected from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS). The study results showed that there was not any significant gender effect on students’ mathematics achievement trajectories. Furthermore, students with disruptive behaviors were more successful than their peers with less disruptive behaviors. Finally, the latent growth curve model parameter estimates indicated there was not any significant parental earned income impact on students’ mathematics achievement trajectories.
Understanding the Complicated Relationship Between ENSO and Wintertime North Tropical Atlantic SST Variability

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to influence the North Tropical Atlantic (NTA) sea surface temperature (SST) during its decaying spring, providing an essential source of NTA predictability. However, the positive ENSO–NTA SST relationship is absent during boreal winter, impeding accurate anticipation of wintertime NTA SST fluctuations. We find that this absence is mainly due to different NTA preconditions. Taking into account the previous summer NTA SST state as an initial condition, a robust relationship is established between ENSO and wintertime NTA SST variability. Furthermore, we show that the NTA initial conditions are in part traced to the ENSO preconditions. Besides, the simultaneous local atmospheric conditions play a role in shaping the initial NTA SST variabilities, especially in the developing summer of El Niño events. The understanding of the complicated ENSO–wintertime NTA SST relationship has implications for exploring trans‐basin climate interactions and associated climate predictability.
Curriculum Implementation Facilitating and Hindering Factors: The Philippines Context

This study focuses on the perceptions of Filipino teachers and school administrators of the different facilitating and hindering factors in curriculum implementations based on their practices and the challenges they have experienced. Using descriptive research employing quantitative design, 324 respondents were surveyed using self-made questionnaires anchored on Ecological System Theory (EST) by Bronfenbrenner (1979). The respondents from the grade school, junior high school, and senior high school expressed their agreement on the identified factors that facilitate and hinder curriculum implementation in the microsystem and chronosystem, while respondents from the college expressed their strong agreement on the two levels under the mesosystem and exosystem. At the macrosystem level, all of the respondents strongly agreed on all the items, but the highest level of agreement was evident with the respondents from the senior high school. A comparison of one-way ANOVA results revealed the respondents’ level of agreement on the facilitating and hindering factors of curriculum implementation based on the five levels of EST. Scrutiny on the facilitating and hindering factors in the curriculum implementation processes provides a springboard for leaders in the education sector to align programs and policies anchored on experiences and practices in the classroom along with research-based inputs.
The Diverse Gait Dataset: Gait Segmentation Using Inertial Sensors for Pedestrian Localization with Different Genders, Heights and Walking Speeds

Stride length estimation is one of the most crucial aspects of Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR). Due to the measurement noise of inertial sensors, individual variances of pedestrians, and the uncertainty in pedestrians walking, there is a substantial error in the assessment of stride length, which causes the accumulated deviation of Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR). With the help of multi-gait analysis, which decomposes strides in time and space with greater detail and accuracy, a novel and revolutionary stride estimating model or scheme could improve the performance of PDR on different users. This paper presents a diverse stride gait dataset by using inertial sensors that collect foot movement data from people of different genders, heights, and walking speeds. The dataset contains 4690 walking strides data and 19,083 gait labels. Based on the dataset, we propose a threshold-independent stride segmentation algorithm called SDATW and achieve an F-measure of 0.835. We also provide the detailed results of recognizing four gaits under different walking speeds, demonstrating the utility of our dataset for helping train stride segmentation algorithms and gait detection algorithms.
Evaluation of a New Simplified Inertial Sensor Method against Electrogoniometer for Measuring Wrist Motion in Occupational Studies

Wrist velocity is an important risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the elbow/hand, which is also difficult to assess by observation or self-reports. This study aimed to evaluate a new convenient and low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based method using gyroscope signals against an electrogoniometer for measuring wrist flexion velocity. Twelve participants performed standard wrist movements and simulated work tasks while equipped with both systems. Two computational algorithms for the IMU-based system, i.e., IMUnorm and IMUflex, were used. For wrist flexion/extension, the mean absolute errors (MAEs) of median wrist flexion velocity compared to the goniometer were <10.1°/s for IMUnorm and <4.1°/s for IMUflex. During wrist deviation and pronation/supination, all methods showed errors, where the IMUnorm method had the largest overestimations. For simulated work tasks, the IMUflex method had small bias and better accuracy than the IMUnorm method compared to the goniometer, with the MAEs of median wrist flexion velocity <5.8°/s. The results suggest that the IMU-based method can be considered as a convenient method to assess wrist motion for occupational studies or ergonomic evaluations for the design of workstations and tools by both researchers and practitioners, and the IMUflex method is preferred. Future studies need to examine algorithms to further improve the accuracy of the IMU-based method in tasks of larger variations, as well as easy calibration procedures.
Enhancing the solar energy conversion and harvesting characteristics of multiwalled carbon nanotubes‐modified 1‐hexyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium cation ionic liquids

The concept of solar energy absorption or photothermal energy conversion of nanofluids as a working fluid is a promising idea utilized in various applications. However, the lack of diversity of the base agents restricts the usage of solar thermal conversion systems in extreme conditions such as extreme cold or hot environments. The ionic liquids were used as a base agent to broaden the applicable conditions of the solar thermal conversion system considering the remarkable favorable characteristics of ionic liquids. In this study, key factors of solar energy conversion characteristics and performance of the various 1‐hexyl‐3‐methylimidazolium cation‐based ionic liquids and MWCNT nanoparticle‐enhanced ionic liquids (NEILs) were experimentally investigated. This study dives deep into the optical properties of the ionic liquids compared to the previous studies in the open literature. In the manufacturing process, MWCNT nanoparticles are dispersed in various ionic liquids at 20 kHz and coated with the Gum‐Arabic. It was found that 1‐hexyl‐3‐methylimidazolium cation‐based pure room temperature ionic liquids were almost transparent in the visible light spectrum with nearly 0% absorbance; however, adding a small amount of additional MWCNT nanoparticles sharply increased the absorbance rate up to nearly 100% (F ≈ 1). Besides, the transmittance of the MWCNT NEILs decreased with the increasing concentration. Under the simulated solar light, the final temperature of the samples increased with the increasing concentration of MWCNT NEIL. Moreover, the maximum photothermal energy conversion efficiency ( ηPEC ) of each MWCNT NEILs was 38.0%, 40.9%, 40.2%, and 39.8% in the case of [HMIM][Tf2N], [HMIM][TfO], [HMIM][Pf6], and [C12MIM][Tf2N], respectively, at a concentration and operating time of 1 wt% and 7200 seconds. In addition, SER value sharply increased with the increasing nanoparticle concentration, and it almost doubled compared to the base agents. Furthermore, the nanoparticle concentration affects the solar energy absorption capability of ionic liquids more than anions in their chemical structure. This study can deliver the necessary data to design a direct absorption solar thermal collector using ionic liquids, which are new green designer working fluids.
Predictive Factors for Successful Treatment of Deep Incisional Surgical Site Infections following Instrumented Spinal Surgeries: Retrospective Review of 1832 Cases

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is a major complication in spinal instrumentation that is often difficult to treat. The purpose of this study was to identify and determine prognostic indicators for successful treatment of spine instrumentation SSI. Methods: Retrospectively, spine surgery cases were examined on SSI diagnosis. Post-instrumentation SSI patients were categorized as “Successful” if SSI subsided after single debridement. Patients in whom SSI did not subsided and/or required removal of instrumentation were classified as “Challenging”. We investigated the relation of treatment outcomes to patients and treatment factors. Results: A total of 1832 spinal instrumentation cases were recognized with 44 (2.40%) SSI cases. White blood cell count, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, causative bacteria (i.e., S. Aureus or MRSA), trauma injury, and early-stage antimicrobial agent sensitivity correlated with treatment prognosis. Multivariate analysis highlighted CRP levels and applying early-stage sensitive antibiotics as potential impactful predictive factors for successful treatment. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that early selection of sensitive antimicrobial agents is critical and emphasizes the potential for early-stage classification methods such as Gram staining. Additionally, S. Aureus and MRSA SSI formed significantly more challenging infections to treat, thus requiring consideration when deciding on instrumentation retention. These factors offer promising aspects for further large-scale studies.
Ambientes, recipientes e substratos na formação de mudas de pepino híbrido Environments, pots and substrate in production of seedlings hybrid cucumber

The aim of this study was to evaluate the seedlings production for four hybrid cucumber Aladdin F1, Nikkey, Safira e Nobre F1. The experiments was developed in the State University of Mato Grosso do Su, Aquidauana-MS. Six environments were used: plastic greenhouse with height of 2.5m; net nursery with black monofilament, 50% of shade, with height of 2.5m; nursery with screen thermal-reflector aluminum net for 50% of shadow, with height of 2.5m; nursery at ambient with straw coverage of native coconut, with height of 1.8m; plastic greenhouse with height of 4.0m and net nursery with black monofilament, 50% of shade, with height of 3.5m. Three substrates were tested: "50% soil + 50% coconut fiber"; "50% of soil + 50% sawdust" and "50% soil + 50% organic compost" in polystyrene trays of 128 and 72 cells. Each hybrid was evaluated for each tray crossing the environments and substrates. The greenhouses
Early and Late Onset Neonatal Sepsis: Epidemiology and Effectiveness of Empirical Antibacterial Therapy in a III Level Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Bloodstream infections play an important role in neonatal morbidity and mortality. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed etiology and antibiotic resistance profiles of bacteria isolated from blood or Cerebro Spinal Fluid (CSF) cultures to evaluate the appropriateness of initial empirical therapy of neonatal sepsis. Methods: microbiological data from patients admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), from January 2005 to October 2018, were anonymously extracted from the Laboratory of Microbiology database. According to the neonatal sepsis definition for patients admitted to NICU, positive cultures obtained within the first 72 h of life were labeled as Early Onset Sepsis (EOS); and Late Onset Sepsis (LOS) for those obtained later. Results: 859 bacterial strains, 846 from blood and 13 from CSF, were detected in 611 neonates. In EOS, 75 blood cultures were found: 61 yielded Gram-positives and 14 Gram-negatives. Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS) represented the majority (52% n = 39). Streptococcus agalactiae and Escherichia coli were both isolated in 8% (n = 6) of cases. 784 strains were isolated in LOS: 686 (87%) Gram-positives and 98 (13%) Gram-negatives. CoNS represented most pathogens (n = 560, 71.4%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (n = 57, 7.3%) and Enterococcus faecalis (n = 33, 4.2%). Ampicillin/gentamicin therapy resulted effective in 15/20 (75%) of EOS isolates. Internal protocol for LOS initial empirical therapy, calling for piperacillin/tazobactam and vancomycin resulted effective in 98.5% (734/745) of LOS strains. Conclusions: knowledge of local epidemiology of resistant pathogens, both in EOS and LOS, is fundamental to set up an effective empirical therapy in NICU. Aminoglycosides were fundamental in EOS. On the other side, LOS empirical therapy with vancomycin is sustained by the observation of 38% of methicillin resistance among S. aureus and about 95% in CoNS.
Repeated Wildfires in the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao Formation (Aalenian and Bajocian Ages) in Northwestern China

The coal‐bearing strata in the southern Junggar Basin in northwestern China have recently attracted the attention of coal geologists. Its abundance of coal resources is of great interest as there is a potential of unlocking details about the palaeoclimatic information. Coal deposits have the capacity to record wildfire events, even those with inefficient combustions. To characterize wildfire events and palaeoclimatic history of the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao Formation (Aalenian and Bajocian ages), 22 coal samples from borehole cores and coal mines in the southern Junggar Basin were collected and their macerals were analyzed. The results indicated that fusinite and semi‐fusinite were the dominant components of inertinite with proportions of 35.27% and 54.67%, respectively. The presence of inertinite is an indicator that wildfires occurred at the time of peat land development, and the widespread occurrence suggests large scale wildfires during the Middle Jurassic. This study proposes a new parameter for the evaluation of wildfire features by combining burning frequency and burning temperature. The comprehensive evaluation index (CEI) was influenced by the lacustrine basin level and ancient plant types from a sequence framework. During the Middle Jurassic, most wildfires were surface fires with low level and ground fire with high level. High oxygen levels were estimated in the lower, middle, and upper members of the Xishanyao Formation with corresponding to 26.78%, 24.55%, and 23.55%, respectively. The high oxygen levels would be the primary cause of repeated wildfires in the Middle Jurassic. These results are helpful for understanding palaeoclimatic changes in the Middle Jurassic.
Student, parent, and teacher perspectives on reconciliation-related school reforms

ABSTRACT Canadian schools have implemented initiatives in response to the Calls to Action that accompanied the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report. This paper aims to address two questions that speak directly to these calls. How have these initiatives been implemented in Canadian classrooms and affected educational practices? How do education stakeholders perceive and experience these initiatives? We present a study conducted in Alberta to explore these questions, drawing on data from interviews and focus groups conducted with 201 Indigenous youth and teachers and parents of Indigenous children. Findings suggest that schools are engaged in innovative activities to introduce knowledge about Indigenous cultures and experiences. Most participants believed, however, that more work is needed to support teachers’ ability to include Indigenous content in classrooms and to increase awareness about Indigenous peoples’ among non-Indigenous students to prevent discrimination. These tensions can undermine schools’ capacities to advance reconciliation.