Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methods for the design of energy efficient high speed aerospace vehicles

Abstract This paper continues development of the fundamental analytical science, methodology and tools required for the analysis, design, and optimisation of high speed aerospace vehicles in terms of the efficient use of on-board energy. Specifically, it presents the complete second-law characterisation and related system-level energy management effectiveness for high-speed vehicles (coupling both aerodynamic and propulsive subsystems). Modelling of the fluid dynamics utilises high-level (multi-dimensional) flow-fields representative of generic configurations of interest. Capability has been recently developed which allows detailed second-law performance audits in terms of the ‘common currency’ of entropy generation for high-speed vehicles (involving complete synthesis of both internal and external flow-fields, i.e. both aerodynamic and propulsive sub-systems). This capability is now extended to encompass and utilise multi-dimensional flow-fields generated by computational fluid dynamics solvers, including Navier-Stokes solvers. Furthermore, the methodology is shown in this paper to provide insight and fundamental direction for management of onboard energy (‘price paid’) for maximum performance missions.
International comparisons of Josephson array voltage standards

Comparisons of 1-V Josephson array voltage standards provide a good estimate of some of the limiting factors in the uncertainties of such devices. The BIPM has participated in nine such international comparisons. This program was preceded and followed by the comparison of the two BIPM Josephson array devices. A summary of the results, which shows agreement at the level of 1-7 parts in 10/sup 10/, is presented. Some of the problems encountered are discussed. >
Nesfatin-1 alleviates high glucose/high lipid-induced injury of trophoblast cells during gestational diabetes mellitus

ABSTRACT Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common disease in pregnant women, imposing risks on both mother and fetus. Dysregulated nesfatin-1 has been observed in women with GDM, but the specific role of nesfatin-1 underlying the pathological process of GDM is unclear. The main objective of this study is to investigate the role and the molecular mechanism of nesfatin-1 in GDM. HTR-8/SVneo cells were treated with high glucose (HG)/high lipid (HL) to mimic the injured trophoblast of GDM in vitro. Cell viability, cytotoxicity and apoptosis were measured using CCK-8, LDH and TUNEL assays, respectively. The levels of inflammatory cytokines and antioxidant factors were detected using their commercial kits. ATP level and cytochrome c were determined with corresponding detecting kits. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were performed to detect the expression of corresponding genes. The results showed that nesfatin-1 was downregulated upon HG/HL stimulation. Nesfatin-1 treatment greatly alleviated HG/HL-induced cell viability loss, cytotoxicity, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in HTR-8/SVneo cells. In addition, nesfatin-1 promoted ATP generation, reduced the leakage of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytoplasm, and upregulated mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) and nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), alleviating mitochondrial dysfunction. Furthermore, nesfatin-1 inhibited p38 MAPK signaling. p79350, an agonist of p38 MAPK signaling, remarkably hindered the protective role of nesfatin-1 in HG/HL-induced HTR-8/SVneo cells. In conclusion, nesfatin-1 exerted a protective effect on GDM model in vitro, by regulating p38 MAPK signaling pathway, providing novel insights of treating GDM.
Appraisal of New Product Development Success Indicators in the Aerospace Industry

Assessing performance in developing new aerospace products is essential. However,choosing an accurate set of success indicators to measure the performance of complexproducts is a nontrivial task. Moreover, the most useful success indicators can changeover the life of the product; therefore, different metrics need to be used at different phasesof the product lifecycle (PLC). This paper describes the research undertaken to determinesuccess measurement metrics for new product development (NPD) processes. The goal ofthis research was to ascertain an appropriate set of metrics used by aerospace companiesfor assessing success during different phases of the PLC. Furthermore, an evaluation ofthe differences and similarities of NPD success measurement was carried out betweenaerospace companies and the nonaerospace companies practicing in the business-to-business (B2B) market. Practical case studies were carried out for 16 Canadian andDanish companies. Seven companies belong to the aerospace sector, while nine are non-aerospace companies that are in the B2B market. The data were gathered from relevantproduct managers at participating companies. The outcomes of this research indicatethat: (1) the measurement of success of aerospace NPD practices depends on thePLC phase being measured, (2) product and process management performance are themore important indicators of success in the early PLC phases with revenue and marketshare indicators being important during late phases, and (3) there are reasonablesimilarities in success measurement between aerospace and nonaerospace B2Bcompanies. Sets of metrics for measuring success during each PLC phase of aerospaceproducts are proposed, which can guide companies in determining their ideal practices. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4004974]Keywords: new product development (NPD), aerospace industry, business to business(B2B), success metrics, product lifecycle (PLC)
Family Caregivers of People with Dementia Have Poor Sleep Quality: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Previous studies have documented cognitive impairments, psychological stress, and depressive symptoms in family caregivers of people with dementia (PWD), which could be attributed to their sleep disturbances. Notwithstanding the increasing recognition of poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances in family caregivers of PWD, their association has not been tested yet using population-representative samples. We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study using population-based data from the 2018 Korean Community Health Survey. Sociodemographic, mental health-related, and physical health-related variables as well as sleep quality evaluated by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were compared between 2537 cohabitating caregivers of PWD, 8864 noncohabitating caregivers of PWD, and 190,278 non-caregivers. Two sets of multivariable logistic regressions were conducted to examine the associations between dementia caregiving and poor sleep quality in cohabitating and noncohabitating caregivers versus noncaregivers. Both cohabitating and noncohabitating caregivers had higher global PSQI scores and higher prevalence of poor sleep quality (PSQI score > 5) than did noncaregivers. Multivariable logistic regressions adjusted for potential confounders revealed that cohabitating caregivers (odds ratio (OR) 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15–1.38) and noncohabitating caregivers (OR 1.15, CI 1.10–1.21) were significantly associated with poor sleep quality. Our results showed that both cohabitating and noncohabitating caregivers of PWD experienced overall poorer sleep quality compared to noncaregivers, indicating the deleterious effect of dementia caregiving on sleep quality, regardless of living arrangements. Given the high prevalence of poor sleep quality in family caregivers of PWD and the increasing awareness of the serious health consequences of poor-quality sleep, physicians should consider active sleep interventions to promote health and wellbeing not only for the dementia patients but also for family caregivers.
Are Chinese Netizens Willing to Speak Out? The Spiral of Silence in Public Reactions to Controversial Food Safety Issues on Social Media

This study examines the influential factors posited by the Spiral of Silence Theory (SoS) in shaping people’s perceptions of the overall public opinion towards food safety issues in China and their willingness to speak out. Two highly controversial issues, including genetically modified (GM) food and food additives, are examined. Using an online opt-in panel in China, we collected survey responses from a total of 1089 respondents, with a comparable age distribution to that of Chinese netizens, as indicated in the most recent census. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions were conducted to make statistical inferences about the proposed research questions and hypotheses. Findings suggest that perceived opinion incongruence, self-relevance, and self-influence significantly affected the extent to which people were willing to express their opinions on social media for the genetically modified food issue, but not the use of food additive issue. The study provides evidence of the silencing effect on publicly expressing opinions about the food safety related issues in China and clarifies the potential boundary conditions of the SoS mechanism in the context of Chinese social media where the majority of public opinions come into formation.
Constitutive Soil Behavior Representation via Artificial Neural Networks: A Shift from Soil Models to Soil Behavior Data

Over the last decade artificial neural networks (NN) have been proposed as alternatives to more conventional elastoplastic based constitutive models. A NN material model can be used in a similar fashion to conventional models in the solution of boundary value problems. The authors have developed Self Learning in Engineering Simulation analysis framework which extracts relevant soil behavior using boundary measurements of load and displacement, facilitated by use of NN constitutive model. This framework shifts focus from the specific soil model to the stressstrain database used in material model training and development.
Structure-Based Virtual Screening for Ligands of G Protein–Coupled Receptors: What Can Molecular Docking Do for You?

G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute the largest family of membrane proteins in the human genome and are important therapeutic targets. During the last decade, the number of atomic-resolution structures of GPCRs has increased rapidly, providing insights into drug binding at the molecular level. These breakthroughs have created excitement regarding the potential of using structural information in ligand design and initiated a new era of rational drug discovery for GPCRs. The molecular docking method is now widely applied to model the three-dimensional structures of GPCR-ligand complexes and screen for chemical probes in large compound libraries. In this review article, we first summarize the current structural coverage of the GPCR superfamily and the understanding of receptor-ligand interactions at atomic resolution. We then present the general workflow of structure-based virtual screening and strategies to discover GPCR ligands in chemical libraries. We assess the state of the art of this research field by summarizing prospective applications of virtual screening based on experimental structures. Strategies to identify compounds with specific efficacy and selectivity profiles are discussed, illustrating the opportunities and limitations of the molecular docking method. Our overview shows that structure-based virtual screening can discover novel leads and will be essential in pursuing the next generation of GPCR drugs. Significance Statement Extraordinary advances in the structural biology of G protein–coupled receptors have revealed the molecular details of ligand recognition by this large family of therapeutic targets, providing novel avenues for rational drug design. Structure-based docking is an efficient computational approach to identify novel chemical probes from large compound libraries, which has the potential to accelerate the development of drug candidates.
Syntactic and semantic interference in sentence comprehension: Support from English and German eye-tracking data

A long-standing debate in the sentence processing literature concerns the time course of syntactic and semantic information in online sentence comprehension. The default assumption in cue-based models of parsing is that syntactic and semantic retrieval cues simultaneously guide dependency resolution. When retrieval cues match multiple items in memory, this leads to similarity-based interference. Both semantic and syntactic interferencehave been shown to occur in English. However, the relative timing of syntactic vs. semantic interference remains unclear. In this first-ever cross-linguistic investigation of the time course of syntactic vs. semantic interference, the data from two eye-tracking reading experiments (English and German) suggest that the two types of interference can in principle arise simultaneously during retrieval. However, the data also indicate that semantic cues may be evaluated with a small timing lag in German compared to English. This suggests that there may be cross-linguistic variation in how syntactic and semantic cues are used to resolve linguistic dependencies in real-time.
Psychometric Properties of Internet Gaming Motives Scale Gaming Motives as Predictor of Internet Gaming Disorder

Studies of the gaming motives had primarily focused on online gamers. Although there are studies that applied the Online Gaming Motivation Scale in the offline settings, more psychometric evidence in the offline setting is needed to warrant for meaning comparison. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Online Gaming Motivation Scale and to examine the predictive role of gaming motives to internet gaming disorder. A total of 614 adolescent gamers of online and offline games participated in the current study. The confirmatory factor analysis supports the three-factor structure of the Online Gaming Motivation Scale (namely social, immersion, and achievement motives). Pearson correlation, average variance extracted, composite reliability, and reliability analysis support the excellent psychometric properties of the Online Gaming Motivation Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression found gaming motives as significant predictors of internet gaming disorder among adolescent gamers of online and offline games.
Photonic decomposition of ultrafine, rutile phased TiO2 powder in aqueous 4-chlorophenol solutions

The redox properties of a homogeneously precipitated TiO2 rutile powder with a BET surface area of ∼200 m2 g−1, consisting of acicular primary particles, were characterized using a photocatalytic reaction in aqueous 4-chlorophenol, Cu- and Pb-EDTA solutions under ultraviolet irradiation. Results were compared to those of commercial P25 TiO2 powder with spherical primary particles as well as those of home-made anatase TiO2 powder with ∼200 m2 g−1 BET surface area. Here, the anatase powder also includes mainly the primary particles very similar to the acicular shapes of the rutile TiO2 powder. The rutile powder showed the fastest decomposition rate and the largest amount of product in the photoredox, compared with the anatase or P25 powder, while the anatase powder unexpectedly showed the slowest rate and the smallest amount in the same experiments regardless of having almost the same surface area. The excellent photoredox abilities of this rutile powder appear to be due to a specific powder preparation method, for example a homogeneous precipitation leading to direct crystallization from the solution, regardless of their crystalline structures, even when the powders have similar particle shapes and surface areas.
Analyzing the Sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises during Covid-19 Pandemic in Bireuen Regency, Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the effect of product innovation, sales method, technology mastery, market share, and MSME compliance in muamalah on the sustainability of MSME food product during the Covid-19 pandemic in Bireuen Regency. The research method used multiple linear regression analysis method. Respondents in this study were 87 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in food products. The results of the study partially found that the Product Innovation was the most dominant (significant) variable influencing the sustainability of MSMEs. The compliance in muamalah, reflected in sales zakat payment, honesty and transparency as well as product halalness, also had a significant effect on business sustainability. Meanwhile, the variables of sales method, technology mastery and market share expansion had no significant effect on business sustainability. Simultaneously, all independent variables had a significant effect on business sustainability and the ability to affect the independent variables on the dependent variable was 30.40%. The implication of this research is finding a solution to overcome the problem of the sustainability of MSMEs in Bireuen Regency. Whilst the limitation of the research is on collecting MSMEs data from the industry office, even though the conditions in the field are many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises having not been registered and holding no a business license.
Field Measurement and Subjects' Votes Assessment on Thermal Comfort in High-rise Hostels in Malaysia

The need to design for low energy consumption dwellings has induced Malaysian architects to design naturally ventilated high-rise hostels (HH), near the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Objective and subjective measurements for thermal comfort investigations were conducted in two high-rise university hostels located in Universiti Malaya, Petaling Jaya (HH1) and Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang (HH2) from May 12 to June 19 in 2007. Eighteen rooms located at first, fifth, and top floor of each HH were measured for different orientations. The measured rooms were naturally ventilated with ceiling fans. Thermal comfort variables were measured prior to the subjective measurement. A total of 208 student occupants responded to the questionnaire. Subjects with 6 months and over living experience in those HH were selected randomly. This study was aimed: (1) to assess the indoor microclimate of each naturally ventilated HH, (2) to identify student occupants' thermal sensation during rainy and clear day, and (3) to simulate the neutral operating temperature for rooms in naturally ventilated high-rise hostels. Findings revealed that room in HH1 which is located on high land and shaded has a more constant operating temperature distribution than rooms in HH2 that is located on lower land and un-shaded. Operating temperature ranges for HH1 and HH2 were 27—31°C and 26—41°C, respectively. Results suggested that there is also a possibility that thermal comfort is achievable in shaded naturally ventilated hostels with a window-to-wall ratio of 0.35 where the internal—external relative humidity is above 70% RH, especially in south-facing rooms.
Stress–Strain Behavior of Large-Scale Circular Columns Confined with FRP Composites

For a reliable and efficient design of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping reinforcement, an accurate stress–strain prediction of reinforced concrete (RC) columns confined with FRP composites is essential. The stress–strain characteristics of FRP-confined concrete have been extensively studied, testing small-scale cylindrical specimens. In this paper, the stress–strain response of axially loaded large-scale columns confined with FRP wrapping reinforcement is investigated. The effective circumferential FRP failure strain and the effect of increasing confining action on the stress–strain behavior of RC columns confined with FRP are examined. Different models for the prediction of the stress–strain behavior of FRP-confined concrete have been reviewed. The existing stress–strain models are applied to predict the stress–strain response of the experimental results presented in this study. A comparison between the experimental results and those predicted by the existing models are presented. Few of the available models that were derived based on small-size cylinders were found to accurately predict the stress–strain response of large-scale columns.
Multi-stage controllable degradation of strontium-doped calcium sulfate hemihydrate-tricalcium phosphate microsphere composite as a substitute for osteoporotic bone defect repairing: degradation behavior and bone response

Various requirements for the repair of complex bone defects have motivated to development of scaffolds with adjustable degradation rates and biological functions. Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and calcium sulfate are the most commonly used bone repair materials in the clinic, how to better combine TCP and calcium sulfate and play their greatest advantages in the repair of osteoporotic bone defect is the focus of our research. In this study, a series of scaffolds with multistage-controlled degradation properties composed of strontium-doped calcium sulfate (SrCSH) and strontium-doped tricalcium phosphate (Sr-TCP) microspheres scaffolds were prepared, and their osteogenic activity, in vivo degradation and bone regeneration ability in tibia of osteoporotic rats were evaluated. In vitro studies revealed that different components of SrCSH/Sr-TCP scaffolds significantly promoted the proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells, which showed a good osteogenic induction activity. In vivo degradation results showed that the degradation time of composite scaffolds could be controlled in a large range (6–12 months) by controlling the porosity and phase composition of Sr-TCP microspheres. The results of osteoporotic femoral defect repair showed that when the degradation rate of scaffold matched with the growth rate of new bone, the parameters such as bone mineral density, bone volume/total volume ratio, trabecular thickness, angiogenesis marker platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 and new bone formation marker osteocalcin expression were higher, which promoted the rapid repair of osteoporotic bone defects. On the contrary, the slow degradation rate of scaffolds hindered the growth of new bone to a certain extent. This study elucidates the importance of the degradation rate of scaffolds for the repair of osteoporotic bone defects, and the design considerations can be extended to other bone repair materials, which is expected to provide new ideas for the development of tissue engineering materials in the future.
Avaliação do desempenho dos modelos de predição da erosão hídrica USLE, RUSLE e WEPP para diferentes condições edafoclimáticas do Brasil

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of USLE, RUSLE, and WEPP soil loss prediction models for different Brazilian soil and climatic conditions. To achieve this objective, soil losses estimated by the mentioned models in nine locations in Brazil were compared with the losses measured in the field by the following statistical parameters: correlation coefficient, root mean square error, Wilmott concordance index, confidence index, Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient, and efficiency coefficient models. The experimental plots adopted in studies of soil losses used in this study had varied dimensions (38 to 1875 m2) and monitoring times and periods (01 to 07 years). There was a significant difference between the overall average of soil loss estimated by the models and the corresponding values measured in the field. Soil losses estimated by the WEPP model were more accurate in 46% of the cases, followed by RUSLE and USLE models with 42 and 12%, respectively. The statistical indicators showed that the WEPP model had better performance when compared with the other models. Despite the difference between the observed and the measured data for the three models, the WEPP model, which presented highest performance, angular coefficient closer to the unity in the relation between soil losses measured in the field and estimated by the model, and because it is based on physical processes, demonstrates to have higher potential to predict erosion for different Brazilian edaphoclimatic conditions.