Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can glycosylated hemoglobin be a job stress parameter?

Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels are evaluated as a possible integrated measure parameter of chronic job stress. HbA1c and fasting blood glucose levels in 100 healthy male printing workers (pressmen) exposed to noise, rotating shifts, and overwork were compared with levels measured in 200 healthy male clerical workers not exposed to those stressors. While blood glucose levels and their variability were found to be approximately the same in both groups, HbA1c levels were found to be 8.64% higher among the pressmen and this difference was significant at p less than . 001. These findings support the hypothesis, and further research to confirm the test is suggested.
Learning Knowledge Graph Embeddings for Natural Language Processing

Knowledge graph embeddings provide powerful latent semantic representation for the structured knowledge in knowledge graphs, which have been introduced recently. Being different from the already widely-used word embeddings that are conceived from plain text, knowledge graph embeddings enable direct explicit relational inferences among entities via simple calculation of embedding vectors. In particular, they are quite effective at highlighting key concepts underlying sophisticated human languages. Therefore knowledge graph embeddings provide potent tools for modern NLP applications, inasmuch as they well-preserve the multi-faceted knowledge and structures of the knowledge graphs. However, recent research efforts have not progressed much beyond representing simple or multi-mapping relations (e.g. one-to-many, many-to-many) for monolingual knowledge graphs. Many crucial problems, including how to preserve important relational properties, and how to characterize both monolingual and cross-lingual knowledge in multiple language-specific versions of the knowledge bases, still remain largely unsolved. Another pressing challenge is, how to incorporate knowledge graph embeddings into NLP tasks which currently rely on word embeddings or other representation techniques. In this prospectus, we first propose new models for encoding the multi-faceted knowledge as stated. We start from investigating the approach that captures cross-lingual transitions across difference language-specific versions of embedding spaces, while in each embedding space the monolingual relations are well-preserved. We then study the approach to retain the important relational properties that commonly exist in domain-specific and ontology-level knowledge graphs, including transitivity, symmetry, and hierarchies. After that, we explore how our new embedding models may be used to improve modern NLP tasks, including relation extraction, knowledge alignment, semantic relatedness analysis, and sentiment analysis.
High CMRR, Low Power and Wideband Current-Mode Instrumentation Amplifier

The current-mode instrumentation amplifier based on second-generation current conveyors (CCII) offers many benefits over conventional instrumentation amplifier architectures. It does not need any matched components to achieve high CMRR and its bandwidth is not gain-bandwidth product limited. Therefore, the wideband CMOS current conveyor has been used in this structure. HSPICE simulations have shown that its performance is quite satisfactory for wideband current-mode signal processing. Furthermore, different CMRR enhancement techniques of current-mode instrumentation amplifiers are discussed. The new simulated instrumentation amplifier provides approximately 40 dB of improvement on the high-frequency CMRR up to the 3-dB corner frequency and even higher. In addition, composite conveyor techniques improving the instrumentation amplifier performance are presented
Behavioural vs. molecular sources of conflict between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA: the role of male‐biased dispersal in a Holarctic sea duck

Genetic studies of waterfowl (Anatidae) have observed the full spectrum of mitochondrial (mt) DNA population divergence, from apparent panmixia to deep, reciprocally monophyletic lineages. Yet, these studies often found weak or no nuclear (nu) DNA structure, which was often attributed to male‐biased gene flow, a common behaviour within this family. An alternative explanation for this ‘conflict’ is that the smaller effective population size and faster sorting rate of mtDNA relative to nuDNA lead to different signals of population structure. We tested these alternatives by sequencing 12 nuDNA introns for a Holarctic pair of waterfowl subspecies, the European goosander (Mergus merganser merganser) and the North American common merganser (M. m. americanus), which exhibit strong population structure in mtDNA. We inferred effective population sizes, gene flow and divergence times from published mtDNA sequences and simulated expected differentiation for nuDNA based on those histories. Between Europe and North America, nuDNA ФST was 3.4‐fold lower than mtDNA ФST, a result consistent with differences in sorting rates. However, despite geographically structured and monophyletic mtDNA lineages within continents, nuDNA ФST values were generally zero and significantly lower than predicted. This between‐ and within‐continent contrast held when comparing mtDNA and nuDNA among published studies of ducks. Thus, male‐mediated gene flow is a better explanation than slower sorting rates for limited nuDNA differentiation within continents, which is also supported by nonmolecular data. This study illustrates the value of quantitatively testing discrepancies between mtDNA and nuDNA to reject the null hypothesis that conflict simply reflects different sorting rates.
A Ka-band multilayer LTCC 4-pole bandpass filter using dual-mode cavity resonators

This paper proposes a Ka-band 4-pole bandpass filter that uses dual-mode substrate integrated cavity resonator in a multilayer low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) structure. Circular-shaped dual-mode cavity resonator comprises metallic via arrays in substrate layer, a coupling via in the cavity, and external input and output feeding slots. Size of cavity and feeding slots determine the resonant frequency and quality factor of the resonator. The position of coupling via can control the coupling amount between two degenerate modes in a single cavity structure. Two dual-mode cavities are vertically laminated for fourth-order filter. Cross-shaped slot is used for coupling between the two laminated dual-mode cavity resonators. The cross-shaped slot can cause a coupling between non-adjacent resonators. Therefore the filter can have quasi-elliptic frequency response and high frequency selectivity. Example filter at Ka-band is designed and presented to demonstrate the validity of the new proposed structure.
Intraocular and Plasma HIV-1 RNA in HIV-infected Patients with CMV Retinitis and HIV-infected Controls

HIV-1 RNA was quantified in intraocular specimens and plasma from AIDS patients with CMV retinitis undergoing therapeutic vitrectomy and in 8 control subjects undergoing cataract surgery using the Amplicor RT-PCR-based assay. The HIV-1 RNA concentration in the intraocular specimens was significantly lower than in plasma. Patients with CMV retinitis and plasma HIV-1 RNA concentrations > 100,000 copies/ml generally had detectable HIV-1 RNA in their intraocular specimens. These findings point to the risk of percutaneous injury from a sharp instrument used in HIV-infected patients during ophthalmic surgery and possible transmission of HIV during such surgery. Prevention of percutaneous contact will require the use of surgical instruments that reduce the likelihood of injury, as well as the wearing of double gloves during surgery.
What Do Others’ Reactions to News on Internet Portal Sites Tell Us? Effects of Presentation Format and Readers’ Need for Cognition on Reality Perception

The present experiment investigated if and how other readers’ reactions to news on Internet portal sites affect individuals’ perceptions of public opinion, assessments of media influence, and their personal opinion. In so doing, others’ responses were shown as either individual comments or aggregate approval ratings of the article, and the individual’s need for cognition (NFC) was considered as a potential moderator of their relative effects. High NFC individuals relied more on the approval ratings than individual postings in estimating media influence on general public, but low NFC individuals’ presumption about media influence remained unaltered, regardless of how others’ reactions were presented. However, exposure to dissenting comments led both high and low NFC individuals to perceive the public opinion as more discrepant from the news position, with no corresponding effect for approval ratings. Others’ comments significantly affected participants’ personal opinion, but only for those less prone to engage in analytical thinking.
Human Cornea Before and After Refractive Surgery Using a New Device: VCH-1

Purpose: To test and measure the refractive index (RI) and to estimate the equivalent percentage of water content (%WC) of the anterior layers of the human cornea before and after excimer laser photoablation using a novel contact device, the VCH-1. Methods: (1) Repeatability was estimated by sequential measurement of the RI of 4 separate hydrogel contact lenses on 2 occasions, 5 and 10 minutes after insertion. (2) Patients preselected for photorefractive keratectomy, laser assisted sub-epithelial keratomileusis, laser assisted in situ keratomileusis, and laser assisted in situ keratomileusis with epithelial flap were enrolled. RI was measured for (a) corneal epithelium after topical anesthesia, (b) Bowman layer where appropriate after either removing epithelium or lifting the epithelial flap and remeasured immediately after excimer laser photoablation, and (c) midstroma after lifting the flap (created using mechanical microkeratome) and immediately after photoablation. Results: (1) Average repeatability of RI measurement was ±0.001 (range 0.000 to ±0.002). (2) Mean RI (±SD) and estimated mean %WC of (a) epithelium were 1.382 (0.006) and 75% (n = 8, age 28-63 years), (b) Bowman layer 1.380 (0.011) and 77% changing to 1.392 (0.010) and 69% after photoablation (n = 11, age 26-40 years, P = 0.005), and (c) midstroma 1.369 (0.007) and 83% changing to 1.385 (0.006) and 74% after photoablation (n = 30, age 22-56 years, P < 0.0001). RI of corneal epithelium and Bowman layer was significantly greater than that of midstroma before photoablation (P < 0.001). Conclusions: (1) VCH-1 can reliably measure RI to within ±0.001 units. This is equivalent to an error in water content estimation of ±0.6%. (2) RI and %WC of the human cornea are not uniform. Intersubject and intracorneal variations in RI and %WC should be considered because these factors will affect optical performance of the eye and photoablation increases RI, presumably by way of tissue dehydration.
Computer Aided Automatic Detection and Classification of EEG Signals for Screening Epilepsy Disorder

Infection in human brain causes brain disorder which is in the form of Epilepsy. The infected area in the brain region generates the irregular pattern signals as focal signals and the other healthy region in the brain generates the regular pattern signals as non-focal signals. Hence, the detection of focal signals from the non-focal signals is important for epileptic surgery in epilepsy patients. This paper proposes a simple and efficient methodology for EEG signals’ classifications using ANFIS classifier. The performance of the proposed EEG signals classification system is evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.
Harmonic resonances in Wind Power Plants: Modeling, analysis and active mitigation methods

This work reviews the state-of-the-art in the field of harmonic resonance problems in Wind Power Plants (WPPs). Firstly, a generic WPP is modeled according to the equivalent circuits of its passive and active components. Main focus is put on modeling active components, i.e. the ones based on power converters. Subsequently, pros and cons of frequency and time domain analysis methods are outlined. The next sections are devoted to mitigation methods implemented in the power electronics converters. From the wind turbine perspective, different techniques to enhance the robustness of the controller are analyzed. Subsequently, the suitability for active damping of harmonics using STATCOM devices is assessed, with focus both on control techniques and power converter technologies.
Long-Term Evaluation of the Effect of Intracochlear Steroid Deposition on Electrode Impedance in Cochlear Implant Patients

Objective To evaluate the long-term effect of intracochlear steroid deposition on electrode impedance in patients with cochlear implants. Study Design A retrospective study was carried out comparing the impedances of cochlear implant electrodes with and without a single application of steroids in the cochlea. Patients Ninety two implanted children with an average age of 5 years (range, 0.7 to 16 years) were divided in four groups according to the type of electrode and the use of steroids or not. In addition, the impedances of five children who required a reimplantation are reported. Main Outcome Measure The impedances of Nucleus electrodes, either straight or Contour, were measured at regular intervals up to 12 months after surgery. Results Two months after surgery, the impedances in the steroid groups were significantly lower than in the nonsteroid groups (straight electrodes, 3.9 versus 4.7 kOhm, respectively; Contour electrodes, 5.4 versus 6.5 kOhm, respectively). This reduction remained stable over time for the straight electrodes, but for the Contour electrodes, it seemed to disappear after 6 months. The impedances after a second implantation were significantly higher than after a first implantation (median value, 8.8 kOhm after 2 months). Conclusions The application of a single dose of a steroid solution reduces the electrode impedances significantly, and, for the straight electrodes, this effect seems to last. It seems justified to reimplant with caution, because this seems to increase the impedances substantially.
Difference LMI'S for robust H∞ control and filtering

A new method is proposed for the solution of linear matrix inequalities over a finite horizon for linear discrete time varying systems with or without uncertainties. The method is used to solve a variety of problems beginning with the standard H∞ discrete-time bounded real lemma and extending through to robust H∞ general-filtering and output-feedback control design of uncertain systems. In the latter case we show, that our design compare favorably, with existing results.
The Importance of Shelf Life for Consumer Valuation of Organic and Conventional Milk

The objective of this study is to assess whether shelf life, as indicated by the processor “sell by” date, influences product attractiveness, willingness to purchase and willingness to pay for organic and conventional milk—controlling for the effect of the milk production system. A completely randomized factorial between-subject design is combined with GLM-based ANOVA to assess mean differences for production systems and shelf life values. Experimental results indicate that consumers value the production system. However, consumers also indicated that they value the length of shelf life only after being prompted. Assessment of this attribute provides information relevant to product development and in-store marketing practices, although additional study of this issue appears merited.
Gravitational wave signatures of the absence of an event horizon: Nonradial oscillations of a thin-shell gravastar

Gravitational waves from compact objects provide information about their structure, probing deep into strong-gravity regions. Here we illustrate how the presence or absence of an event horizon can produce qualitative differences in the gravitational waves emitted by ultracompact objects. In order to set up a straw-man ultracompact object with no event horizon, but which is otherwise almost identical to a black hole, we consider a nonrotating thin-shell model inspired by Mazur and Mottola's gravastar, which has a Schwarzschild exterior, a de Sitter interior and an infinitely thin shell with finite tension separating the two regions. As viewed from the external space-time, the shell can be located arbitrarily close to the Schwarzschild radius, so a gravastar might seem indistinguishable from a black hole when tests are only performed on its external metric. We study the linearized dynamics of the system, and, in particular, the junction conditions connecting internal and external gravitational perturbations. As a first application of the formalism we compute polar and axial oscillation modes of a thin-shell gravastar. We show that the quasinormal mode spectrum is completely different from that of a black hole, even in the limit when the surface redshift becomes infinite. Polar quasinormal modes depend on the equation of state of matter on the shell and can be used to distinguish between different gravastar models. Our calculations suggest that low-compactness gravastars could be unstable when the sound speed on the shell v_s/c ≳ 0.92.
Membrane-triggered plant immunity

Plants have evolved sophisticated defense mechanisms to resist pathogen invasion. Upon the pathogen recognition, the host plants activate a variety of signal transduction pathways, and one of representative defense responses is systemic acquired resistance (SAR) that provides strong immunity against secondary infections in systemic tissues. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that modulation of membrane composition contributes to establishing SAR and disease resistance in Arabidopsis, but underlying molecular mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here, we show that a membrane-bound transcription factor (MTF) is associated with plant responses to pathogen attack. The MTF is responsive to microbe-associated molecular pattern (MAMP)-triggered membrane rigidification at the levels of transcription and proteolytic processing. The processed nuclear transcription factor possibly regulates pathogen resistance by directly regulating PATHOGENESIS-RELATED (PR) genes. Taken together, our results suggest that pathogenic microorganisms trigger changes in physico-chemical properties of cellular membrane in plants, and the MTF conveys the membrane information to the nucleus to ensure prompt establishment of plant immunity.
Regulation of poly(A) site use during mouse B-cell development involves a change in the binding of a general polyadenylation factor in a B-cell stage-specific manner

During the development of mouse B cells there is a regulated shift from the production of membrane to the secretion-specific forms of immunoglobulin (Ig) mRNA, which predominate in the late-stage or plasma B cells. By DNA transfection experiments we have previously shown that there is an increase in polyadenylation efficiency accompanying the shift to secretion-specific forms of Ig mRNA (C. R. Lassman, S. Matis, B. L. Hall, D. L. Toppmeyer, and C. Milcarek, J. Immunol. 148:1251-1260, 1992). When we look in vitro at nuclear extracts prepared from early or memory versus late-stage or plasma B cells, we see cell stage-specific differences in the proteins which are UV cross-linked to the input RNAs. We have characterized one of these proteins as the 64-kDa subunit of the general polyadenylation factor cleavage-stimulatory factor (CstF) by immunoprecipitation of UV-cross-linked material. The amount of 64-kDa protein and its mobility on two-dimensional gels do not vary between the B-cell stages. However, the activity of binding of the protein to both Ig and non-Ig substrates increases four- to eightfold in the late-stage or plasma cell lines relative to the binding seen in the early or memory B-cell lines. Therefore, the binding activity of a constitutive factor required for polyadenylation is altered in a B-cell-specific fashion. The increased binding of the 64-kDa protein may lead to a generalized increase in polyadenylation efficiency in plasma cells versus early or memory B cells which may be responsible for the increased use of the secretory poly(A) site seen in vivo.
Molecular acidity: An accurate description with information‐theoretic approach in density functional reactivity theory

Molecular acidity is one of the important physiochemical properties of a molecular system, yet its accurate calculation and prediction are still an unresolved problem in the literature. In this work, we propose to make use of the quantities from the information‐theoretic (IT) approach in density functional reactivity theory and provide an accurate description of molecular acidity from a completely new perspective. To illustrate our point, five different categories of acidic series, singly and doubly substituted benzoic acids, singly substituted benzenesulfinic acids, benzeneseleninic acids, phenols, and alkyl carboxylic acids, have been thoroughly examined. We show that using IT quantities such as Shannon entropy, Fisher information, Ghosh–Berkowitz–Parr entropy, information gain, Onicescu information energy, and relative Rényi entropy, one is able to simultaneously predict experimental pKa values of these different categories of compounds. Because of the universality of the quantities employed in this work, which are all density dependent, our approach should be general and be applicable to other systems as well. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Job stress: an in-depth investigation based on the HSE questionnaire and a multistep approach in order to identify the most appropriate corrective actions.

BACKGROUND Psychosocial hazards and work-related stress have reached epidemic proportions in Europe. The Italia law introduced in 2008 the obligation for Italian companies to assess work related stress risk in order to protect their workers' safety and health. The purpose of our study was to propose an accurate measurement tool, using the HSE indicator tool, for more appropriate and significant work-related stress' prevention measures. METHODS The study was conducted on 204 visual display unit (VDU) operators: 106 male and 98 female. All subjects were administered the HSE questionnaire. The sample was studied through a 4 step process, using HSE analysis tool and a statistical analysis, based on the odds ratio calculation. RESULTS The assessment model used demonstrated the presence of work related stress in VDU operators and additional "critical" aspects which had failed to emerge by the classical use of HSE analysis tool. DISCUSSION The approach we propose allows to obtain a complete picture of the perception of work-related stress and can point out the most appropriate corrective actions.
Very low friction state of a dodecane film confined between mica surfaces.

The existence of a very low friction state of a lubrication film is demonstrated in nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of a six-layer dodecane film between mica walls. We argue that this low friction state is thermodynamically stable with respect to the well documented high friction film, the latter being a metastable state. These results are in striking accord with the recent report of Zhu and Granick [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 096101 (2004). ]. The extreme low friction is the result, not of wall slip, but of layer sliding throughout the film, a mechanism similar to solid lubrication.