Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Biological Activities of Cinnamon, Geranium and Lavender Essential Oils

Acinetobacter sp. represent an important cause of nosocomial infections. Their resistance to some antibiotics, their ability to survive on inanimate surfaces in the hospital environment and their ability to produce biofilms contributes to their virulence. The aim of the study was to determine the antibacterial properties of cinnamon, lavender and geranium essential oils against bacteria of the genus Acinetobacter isolated from several clinical materials and from the hospital environment. A comprehensive evaluation of the susceptibility of Acinetobacter sp. clinical strains to recommended antibiotics was performed. The constituents of cinnamon, lavender and geranium essential oils were identified by GC-FID-MS analysis, and their Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) against tested clinical strains were determined by the micro-dilution broth method. In addition, the effects of essential oils on the viability of human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) and glioblastoma cell line (T98G) were evaluated. Cinnamon bark oil was the most active against clinical and environmental strains of Acinetobacter baumannii with MIC values ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 µL/mL. The MIC values for geranium oil were between 7.5 and 9.5 µL/mL, and between 10.5 and 13.0 µL/mL for lavender oil. These essential oils can be best employed in the fight against infections caused by bacteria from Acinetobacter genus as components of formulations for hygiene and disinfection of hospital environment.
A discrete particle swarm optimization algorithm with fully communicated information

In this paper, a novel discrete particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithm is presented for solving the combinational optimization problems such as knapsack and clustering. The proposed algorithm mainly employs the idea of the information stored and exchanged among particles through Information-Shared Matrix (ISM). There are two reasons for using the idea. To begin with, the mechanism, storing and exchanging information, makes it possible to construct a discrete algorithm to solve combinational problems. Furthermore, the positions of particles in the space are adjusted according to not only historical information and global information current particles left, but also the information the other particles left. Therefore, information can be more sufficiently shared by each particle. The performance of DPSO algorithm is evaluated in comparison with well-known ACO algorithm, TS algorithm and other discrete PSO algorithms. Our computational simulations reveal very encouraging results in terms of the quality of solution found.
Equipping robot control programs with first-order probabilistic reasoning capabilities

An autonomous robot system that is to act in a real-world environment is faced with the problem of having to deal with a high degree of both complexity as well as uncertainty. Therefore, robots should be equipped with a knowledge representation system that is able to soundly handle both aspects. In this paper, we thus introduce an architecture that provides a coupling between plan-based robot controllers and a probabilistic knowledge representation system based on recent developments in statistical relational learning, which possesses the required level of expressiveness and generality. We outline possible applications of the corresponding models in the context of robot control, discussing suitable representation formalisms, inference and learning methods as well as transparent extensions of a robot planning language that allow robot control programs to soundly integrate the results of probabilistic inference into their plan generation process.
Fuzzy Control of Product Quality in a Manufacturing System Modeled with Interval Constrained Petri Net

One of the main aspects of small and medium-sized enterprises is the quality of the products, in a production system several parameters and non-temporal variables must respect very strict variation intervals such as weight measurements, in the chemical industry. This parameter also takes a fundamental part in the quality of the product. The correct production process is based on a given percentage of each material. We chose a food production system where the quality requirements are very high. In this article, we propose a production system modeling by interval constraint Petri net. And we controlled these intervals with a fuzzy type-2 controller for decision making.
Lineage restriction of human hepatic stem cells to mature fates is made efficient by tissue‐specific biomatrix scaffolds

Current protocols for differentiation of stem cells make use of multiple treatments of soluble signals and/or matrix factors and result typically in partial differentiation to mature cells with under‐ or overexpression of adult tissue‐specific genes. We developed a strategy for rapid and efficient differentiation of stem cells using substrata of biomatrix scaffolds, tissue‐specific extracts enriched in extracellular matrix, and associated growth factors and cytokines, in combination with a serum‐free, hormonally defined medium (HDM) tailored for the adult cell type of interest. Biomatrix scaffolds were prepared by a novel, four‐step perfusion decellularization protocol using conditions designed to keep all collagen types insoluble. The scaffolds maintained native histology, patent vasculatures, and ≈1% of the tissue's proteins but >95% of its collagens, most of the tissue's collagen‐associated matrix components, and physiological levels of matrix‐bound growth factors and cytokines. Collagens increased from almost undetectable levels to >15% of the scaffold's proteins with the remainder including laminins, fibronectins, elastin, nidogen/entactin, proteoglycans, and matrix‐bound cytokines and growth factors in patterns that correlate with histology. Human hepatic stem cells (hHpSCs), seeded onto liver biomatrix scaffolds and in an HDM tailored for adult liver cells, lost stem cell markers and differentiated to mature, functional parenchymal cells in ≈1 week, remaining viable and with stable mature cell phenotypes for more than 8 weeks. Conclusion: Biomatrix scaffolds can be used for biological and pharmaceutical studies of lineage‐restricted stem cells, for maintenance of mature cells, and, in the future, for implantable, vascularized engineered tissues or organs. (HEPATOLOGY 2011.)
Improved Organizational Performance by Knowledge Management: The Influence of Employee Perceptions and Variances in Distributed E-Government and E-Business Organizations

We seek to develop eight theoretical propositions relating use of a knowledge management system to improved performance in either the public or private sectors if employee perceptions of an organization's (1) formal incentives, (2) normative values, (3) inter-employee trust, and (4) enabling knowledge technologies cumulatively motivate employees to believe the benefits to knowledge exchange behaviors exceed the costs. Together, these four elements represent an organization's motivational attributes, which indirectly determine the net effect knowledge management has on organizational performance. These motivational attributes influence adoption of an organization's knowledge processes as supported by information systems. Favorable perceptions translate into successful adoption of an organization's knowledge processes. In turn, employee process adoption directly influences the contribution of knowledge management to improved organizational performance, to include organizational efficiency and organizational responsiveness. Either (1) low reports of or (2) large variances in employee perceptions of an organization's motivational attributes may result indirectly in negligible improved organizational performance by knowledge management. Similarly, (1) low reports of or (2) large variances in the adoption of an organization's knowledge processes may result directly in negligible improved organizational performance. We then employ a parsimonious mathematical model to demonstrate our theoretical propositions, recognizing other variables may also influence knowledge exchange behaviors in an organization. Seeking to urge future empirical research to support the theoretical propositions presented herein, our paper's conclusions strongly suggest that knowledge exchange research provides an intriguing venue where variance, not just magnitude, in employee perceptions and process adoption can influence improved or reduced organizational performance.
Attitudes Shaped by Violence

We provide a theory of the spread and decline of violence in a structured population. Engaging in violence towards a particular target group of individuals shapes the attitudes of individuals in the perpetrating group. We focus on situations where violence has private costs and provides local benets to the perpetrating group only socially. The free rider problem is overcome when individuals from the perpetrating group imitate members of their local community who received high payos in the previous period. When the typical benets to violence are high in comparison to the private costs, violence spreads. Violence then begins to decline when these benets become relatively low. Individuals who engage in violence start developing negative attitudes towards the target group, so as to minimize cognitive dissonance. Similarly, individuals who initially hold negative attitudes towards the target group, but do not engage in violence, gradually develop more favorable attitudes. A key prediction of our theory is that the attitudes produced by violence may last longer than the violence itself. We apply our theory to explain how the incentives for labor coercion against newly freed slaves in the postbellum U.S. South produced racially hostile attitudes among Southern whites, and how these attitudes may have been transmitted locally across generations, to present times. We discuss the evidence supporting this theory.
Design of Synchronous Reluctance Motor for Hybrid Electric Vehicles

This paper deals with the design of a synchronous reluctance motor suited for hybrid electric vehicles. The focus is mainly on rotor design: the angles of the flux barrier ends are chosen with the aim of reducing the torque ripple due to the slot harmonics. A comparison among different rotor arrangements (one, two, and three flux barriers per pole) is presented. Furthermore, an improvement in terms of low ripple and high average torque is given owing to the “Machaon” configuration. The current vector control method is used to maximize the torque according to the voltage and current constraints, taking into account the saturation effects. The impact of the electrical design on the mechanical characteristics of the rotor (natural frequencies) is discussed as well. At last, the predicted mechanical characteristics of the reluctance motor are presented: torque versus speed behavior, power losses, and power factor. The efficiency map of the machine is also reported in the whole operating region.
Using context information and local feature points in face clustering for consumer photos

We introduce local feature points to achieve face clustering for consumer photos. After combining eigenfaces with context information like clothes, we further investigate the usage of local feature points to match face images. The relationships between face images are constructed by feature matching and then described as a graph. Outliers in the results of preliminary clustering are detected and are re-clustered according to matching characteristics. We report complete performance comparison for different datasets and show that the proposed method has superior performance than conventional approaches.
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Related Regulatory Mechanisms of Androgenic Gland in Eriocheir sinensis

Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) is one of the most commercially important aquaculture species in China. The androgenic gland (AG) of crustaceans plays pivotal roles in the regulation of male differentiation and in maintaining the male sexual characteristics. In order to reveal related mechanisms in AG, we compared transcriptomes of AG between proliferation and secretion phase. A total of 72,000 unigenes and 4,027 differentially expressed genes were obtained. Gene ontology enrichment analysis indicated that biological processes and metabolic pathways related to protein synthesis and secretion such as transcription, translation, and signal transduction were significantly enriched. Critical genes such as IAG, SXL, TRA-2, SRY, FTZ-F1, FOXL2, and FEM-1 were identified and potentially involved in maintaining the testis development and spermatogenesis. Ribosomes pathway revealed the cause of insulin-like androgenic gland hormone secretion increase. Three insulin-like receptors were thought to be associated with growth and spermatogenesis. In the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway, the expression of octopamine receptor, 5-HT receptor 1, and melatonin receptor was significantly changed, which revealed the key regulation mechanism of aggressive and mating behavior of males. Comparative transcriptome analysis provided new insights into the genome-wide molecular mechanisms of AG development and the regulatory mechanisms of male development.
Measurement of fiber orientation distribution in injection-molded composites with high filler content

Short-fiber-reinforced composites are widely used in a number of industries and applications, including in the transportation industry, and in business machine, durable consumer items, and sporting goods. Properties of fiber-reinforced composite depend on its fiber orientation distribution. Thus, knowing the fiber orientation is of great importance, and a number of researchers have been interested in developing useful and accurate techniques for determining the fiber orientation in injection-molded parts formed from short-fiber composite. However, out-of-plane orientation was preformed manually and difficulties arise when employing the technique in the case of composites with high fiber contents, over 50wt. %. In this research, short-glass fiber-reinforced polyamide 6 specimens produced using two different plate-shaped cavities having three different thicknesses ranging from 2mm to 4mm and with the fiber contents ranging from 30wt. % to 65wt. % are carried out using injection molding. The three-dimensional (.
Briarenolides U–Y, New Anti-Inflammatory Briarane Diterpenoids from an Octocoral Briareum sp. (Briareidae)

Five new 13,14-epoxybriarane diterpenoids, briarenolides U–Y (1–5), were isolated from the octocoral Briareum sp. The structures of briaranes 1–5 were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Briarenolides U–Y (1–5) were found to significantly inhibit the expression of the pro-inflammatory inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells.
Target-Value Search Revisited

This paper addresses the Target-Value Search (TVS) problem, which is the problem of finding a path between two nodes in a graph whose cost is as close as possible to a given target value, T. This problem has been previously addressed only for directed acyclic graphs. In this work we develop the theory required to solve this problem optimally for any type of graphs. We modify traditional heuristic search algorithms for this setting, and propose a novel bidirectional search algorithm that is specifically suited for TVS. The benefits of this bidirectional search algorithm are discussed both theoretically and experimentally on several domains.
Magnetic Microspheres: A Model System for Site Specific Drug Delivery in Vivo 1

Summary A novel carrier system for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents by magnetic means to desired sites has been developed. Results indicate that the carrier, albumin microspheres with entrapped Fe3O4, and adriamycin HCl, can be concentrated at a predetermined site in vivo by a magnetic field. Carrier delivery of adriamycin is supported by the presence of a significant concentration of the drug at the site of carrier localization. This delivery system allows for the accumulation of local adriamycin which is comparable to that achieved by administration of a 100-fold higher dose of the free drug.
A study of the effects of fabric pretreatment on color gamut from inkjet printing on polyester

Abstract This paper pertains to characterizing the effects of a commercial pretreatment agent formulated specifically for digital printing on polyester (PET) fabric using pigment-based inks. Emphasis was placed on evaluating the colorimetric attributes of individual and mixed inks, from color patches generated using Dr Wirth RIPMaster V11 software and on developing an approach to addressing color-bleeding problems that can occur from inkjet printing on PET. In addition, 3-D color gamut analysis was undertaken using Origin software. Results indicated that the pretreatment increased color intensity, improved print quality and enlarged the color gamut. In another set of experiments, the use of different ink limits indicated no obvious change of color gamut using the same print mode, which afforded an opportunity to reduce ink consumption, thus the cost in large-scale production, and minimize color bleeding. To aid the potential commercial utility of the outcomes of this investigation, an industrial scale inkjet printer (MS JP5 evo) was used.
Flexible Path Planning for Nonholonomic Mobile Robots

This work presents a flexible path planning method for nonholonomic mobile robots. An intelligent planner based on a static map of the robot’s environment has been developed. It comprises the possibility to set current robot properties on the fly and can therefore be used for many different mobile robots. The generated path is smoothened and eventually modified in reaction to dynamic obstacles or other external forces, using the method of elastic bands. This common algorithm has been extended for robots meeting the restrictions of a Dubin’s car (nonholonomic robot that can only move forward).
Packet forwarding for heterogeneous technologies for integrated fronthaul/backhaul

To meet the future mobile user demand at a reduced cost, operators are looking at solutions such as C-RAN and different functional splits to decrease the cost of deploying and maintaining cell sites. The use of these technologies forces operators to manage two physically separated networks, one for backhaul and one for fronthaul. To solve this issue, transport networks for 5G will carry both fronthaul and backhaul traffic operating over heterogeneous data plane technologies. Such an integrated fronthaul/backhaul (denoted as 5G-Crosshaul) transport network will be software-controlled to adapt to the fluctuating capacity demand of the new generation air interfaces. Based on a proposed data- and control-plane architecture for 5G-Crosshaul, we propose a frame format common to both fronthaul and backhaul traffic as well as a corresponding abstraction of the forwarding behavior of the network elements. The common frame format and the forwarding abstraction define the information to be exchanged at the southbound interface (SBI) of the 5G-Crosshaul Control Infrastructure (XCI). This paper derives requirements for the SBI from 5G use cases.
Micro-solid-phase extraction (µ-SPE) of organophosphorous pesticides from wheat followed by LC-MS/MS determination

ABSTRACT A rapid, selective and effective method of extraction, clean-up and concentration of organophosphorous pesticides from wheat followed by electrospray (ESI) LC-MS/MS analysis was developed. The μ-SPE (micro-solid-phase extraction) procedure resulted in good analytical performance and reduced at the same time matrix effects, analysis time and solvent consumption. Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were in the range of 0.3–10 and 1–30 μg kg−1, respectively, with good reproducibility (RSD ≤ 13.8) and recoveries between 75% and 109%. Coefficients of determination (r2) were greater than 0.996 for the studied pesticides. Despite the reduced sorbent bed mass of μ-SPE tips (4.2 mg), the analytical data showed that no saturation phenomena occurs in the tested range of concentration both for single compounds and mixtures. Several real samples were analysed and the concentrations of the selected pesticides were found to be below the respective maximum residue limit (MRLs).
Fast and accurate algorithm for the short-pulse electromagnetic scattering from conducting circular plates buried inside a lossy dispersive half-space

The method of moments in the Hankel transform domain is applied to the determination of the fields scattered by a conducting circular plate buried in a lossy dispersive half-space when the plate is illuminated by a plane wave. The scattered fields obtained in the frequency domain are used to model the time-domain short-pulse scattering via the inverse fast Fourier transform. The authors show that the choice of adequate basis functions in the approximation of the current density induced on the plate makes it possible to obtain very accurate results for the scattered fields while using low computer memory requirements and short CPU times. This implies that the algorithm developed for the particular problem treated in this paper provides a good benchmark for the validation of any other numerical algorithms dealing with the analysis of the scattering from buried conducting objects with more complex geometry.
Sequence‐dependent bending propensity of DNA as revealed by DNase I: parameters for trinucleotides.

Structural parameters characterizing the bending propensity of trinucleotides were deduced from DNase I digestion data using simple probabilistic models. In contrast to dinucleotide‐based models of DNA bending and/or bendability, the trinucleotide parameters are in good agreement with X‐ray crystallographic data on bent DNA. This improvement may be due to the fact that the trinucleotide model incorporates more sequence context information than do dinucleotide‐based descriptions.
Calculation of DQ-axis inductances of PM brushless ac machines accounting for skew

In this paper, the influence of skew on the d- and q-axis inductances is investigated by using a hybrid 2-dimensional finite element/analytical technique, with due account for end-effects. In addition, a dc inductance bridge technique [2] is used to measure the d- and q-axis inductances in order to validate predictions for four brushless ac motors having identical stators, which are skewed by one-slot-pitch, but different rotor topologies, viz. with surface-mounted magnets, inset magnets, and interior magnets - both radially and circumferentially magnetised.
Detectability of auditory signals presented without defined observation intervals.

Ability to detect tones in noise was measured without defined observation intervals. Latency density functions were estimated for the first response following a signal and, separately, for the first response following randomly distributed instances of background noise. Detection performance was measured by the maximum separation between the cumulative latency density functions for signal‐plus‐noise and for noise alone. Values of d′, estimated by this procedure, were approximately those obtained with a 2‐dB weaker signal and defined observation intervals. Simulation of defined‐ and nondefined‐interval tasks with an energy detector showed that this device performs very similarly to the human listener in both cases.Subject Classification: [43]65.58, [43]65.75, [43]65.50, [43]65.68.