Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Age Factor in the Analysis of Occupational Risks in the Wood Industry

Workers in the wood industry are continually exposed to a wide range of risks. Some risks are potentially high and may lead to serious work-related accidents or occupational diseases. It is a sector where physical work is predominant and where high-risk machinery is used. There is also the age factor, as the age of the workforce increases the risks of loss of skills, particularly physical skills. This study analyses the impact of age on the occupational safety and health management in the wood industry. To this end, a qualitative analysis was carried out through semi-structured in-depth interviews. A total of 52 interviews were conducted with wood-based entrepreneurs, occupational safety technicians and experts from Galicia (Spain). The results show that there is a growing concern to integrate the older group in occupational safety and health management due to the increasing work life. The older group is not the one with the greatest number of occupational accidents (8.3%), but rather the one that needs better working conditions in the face of physical deterioration, considering that a large proportion of senior workers is transferred to administrative tasks. Consequently, the proportion of older workers performing physical tasks, which are the tasks with the highest associated risk, is lower.
Shape Memory Behaviour of PMMA-Coated NiTi Alloy under Thermal Cycle

Both poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and NiTi possess shape memory and biocompatibility behavior. The macroscale properties of PMMA–NiTi composites depend immensely on the quality of the interaction between two components. NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) and superelastic (SE) sheets were spin coated on one side with PMMA. The composite was prepared by the spin coating method with an alloy-to-polymer-thickness ratio of 1:3. The bending stiffness and radius of curvature were calculated by using numerical and experimental methods during thermal cycles. The experimental radius curvatures in actuation have good agreement with the model. The change in shape results from the difference in coefficients of thermal expansion between PMMA and NiTi. Actuation temperatures were between 0 and 100 °C for the SMA–PMMA composite with a change in curvature from 10 to 120 mm with fixed Young’s modulus of PMMA at 3 GPa, and a change in Young’s modulus of NiTi from 30 to 70 GPa. PMMA–NiTi composites are useful as actuators and sensor elements.
Plasmonic Approaches for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Particles

The ongoing highly contagious Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), underlines the fundamental position of diagnostic testing in outbreak control by allowing a distinction of the infected from the non-infected people. Diagnosis of COVID-19 remains largely based on reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), identifying the genetic material of the virus. Molecular testing approaches have been largely proposed in addition to infectivity testing of patients via sensing the presence of viral particles of SARS-CoV-2 specific structural proteins, such as the spike glycoproteins (S1, S2) and the nucleocapsid (N) protein. While the S1 protein remains the main target for neutralizing antibody treatment upon infection and the focus of vaccine and therapeutic design, it has also become a major target for the development of point-of care testing (POCT) devices. This review will focus on the possibility of surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based sensing platforms to convert the receptor-binding event of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles into measurable signals. The state-of-the-art SPR-based SARS-CoV-2 sensing devices will be provided, and highlights about the applicability of plasmonic sensors as POCT for virus particle as well as viral protein sensing will be discussed.
Exhaustion in Healthcare Workers after the First Three Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to identify the determinants of exhaustion of frontline and second-line healthcare workers (HCW) during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A case–control study was conducted based on an anonymously distributed questionnaire, which was completed by 1872 HCW. Exhaustion was assessed with a validated Romanian questionnaire. The Siegrist questionnaire was used to determine workload, reward and overcommitment. Frontline HCW reported significantly more frequent longer working hours (p = 0.0009) and a better perception of the management of the risk for infection (p = 0.0002) than second-line HCW. The effort and overcommitment scores were higher in frontline HCW (9.51 + 1.98 vs. 8.45 + 21, p < 0.001 and 16.34 ± 2.80 vs. 15.24 ± 2.94, p < 0.001, respectively) and the reward scores were lower (5.21 ± 1.522 vs. 5.99 ± 1.44, p < 0.001). In the fully adjusted regression model, age, imbalance between effort and reward, overcommitment and management of the risk of infection in the workplace were associated with the exhaustion score in each category of HCW. The number of working hours was correlated with exhaustion in frontline HCW and occupation in second-line HCW. There were more similarities than differences between frontline and second-line HCW. Even if frontline HCW had a higher risk of exhaustion, the risk was not negligible for all HCW.
The Source Permeator System and Tritium Transport in the TEX PbLi Loop

Abstract Permeation is investigated for the introduction of hydrogen isotopes into lead lithium (PbLi) for the Tritium Extraction eXperiment (TEX). TEX is a forced-convection PbLi loop under construction at Idaho National Laboratory that will test the vacuum permeator (VP) method of tritium extraction from PbLi. The source permeator (SP) delivers atomic hydrogen (H, D, and T) from a gas-phase reservoir into the PbLi via a permeable dense metal membrane. A modular system and a fixed SP system are presented. In the modular design, PbLi flows through the inside of a tubular membrane, and gas-phase hydrogen is introduced on the outside of the membrane. Atomic hydrogen permeates radially inward through the membrane into the PbLi. In the fixed design, PbLi flows into an expansion chamber with closed-ended tubular membranes inserted. Gas-phase hydrogen is introduced on the inside of the closed-ended membranes, and atomic hydrogen permeates radially outward into the flowing PbLi. Hydrogen transport models based on steady-state mass transport through PbLi and permeation through the metal membrane were developed to assess the operation of the SP relative to experimental variables and to allow understanding of uncertain parameter effects, such as PbLi hydrogen transport properties and the effective hydrogen permeability of the VP. This modeling effort considers iron as the SP material and vanadium as the VP material.
Mining Software Information Sites to Recommend Cross-Language Analogical Libraries

Software development is largely dependent on libraries to reuse existing functionalities instead of reinventing the wheel. Software developers often need to find analogical libraries (libraries similar to ones they are already familiar with) as an analogical library may offer improved or additional features. Developers also need to search for analogical libraries across programming languages when developing applications in different languages or for different platforms. However, manually searching for analogical libraries is a time-consuming and difficult task. This paper presents a technique, called XLibRec, that recommends analogical libraries across different programming languages. XLibRec collects Stack Overflow question titles containing library names, library usage information from Stack Overflow posts, and library descriptions from a third party website, Libraries.io. We generate word-vectors for each information and calculate a weight-based cosine similarity score from them to recommend analogical libraries. We performed an extensive evaluation using a large number of analogical libraries across four different programming languages. Results from our evaluation show that the proposed technique can recommend cross-language analogical libraries with great accuracy. The precision for the Top-3 recommendations ranges from 62-81% and has achieved 8-45% higher precision than the state-of-the-art technique.
Economic evaluation of induction motor based on motor’s nameplate data and initial cost

This paper presents a practical approach to calculate the total owning cost (TOC) of a three-phase Induction Motor, which is based on the motor’s nameplate data and the purchasing price. The economic evaluation is performed considering both the induction motor electrical energy losses and its amortized annual capital cost. The proposed technique consists of three stages, where the total power losses are determined analytically in the first stage. The load loss factor (LSF) is statistically obtained to determine the total energy losses in the second stage. In the third stage, the economic evaluation was conducted. The obtained results show that the proposed approach is a helpful tool for the decision-maker when comparing the received offers from different vendors and finding the answer to the question of which offer has less TOC. Finally, the proposed method is illustrated through a numerical example and software using MATLAB was performed. Results and conclusions have been summarized and discussed.
Molecular Assessments, Statistical Effectiveness Parameters and Genetic Structure of Captive Populations of Tursiops truncatus Using 15 STRs

Simple Summary The bottlenose dolphins are one of the most used species in entertainment, assisted therapy, education, and research on welfare. However, their maintenance in captivity requires powerful and sensitive tools for preserving their diversity. The number of genetic markers for this purpose remains controversial, restraining the marine species’ genetic diversity determination. We aimed to select 15 hypervariable molecular markers whose statistical parameters were made in 210 captive dolphins from 18 Mexican centers to support their usefulness. The proposed set of markers allowed us to obtain a genetic fingerprint of each dolphin. Additionally, we identified the structure of the captive population, analyzing the groups according to the capture location. Such characterization is key for maintaining the captive species’ biodiversity rates within conservation and reintroduction programs. However, these 15 genetic markers can also be helpful for small- isolated populations, subspecies and other genera of endangered and vulnerable species. Abstract Genetic analysis is a conventional way of identifying and monitoring captive and wildlife species. Knowledge of statistical parameters reinforcing their usefulness and effectiveness as powerful tools for preserving diversity is crucial. Although several studies have reported the diversity of cetaceans such as Tursiops truncatus using microsatellites, its informative degree has been poorly reported. Furthermore, the genetic structure of this cetacean has not been fully studied. In the present study, we selected 15 microsatellites with which 210 dolphins were genetically characterized using capillary electrophoresis. The genetic assertiveness of this set of hypervariable markers identified one individual in the range of 6.927e13 to 1.806e16, demonstrating its substantial capability in kinship relationships. The genetic structure of these 210 dolphins was also determined regarding the putative capture origin; a genetic stratification (k = 2) was found. An additional dolphin group of undetermined origin was also characterized to challenge the proficiency of our chosen markers. The set of markers proposed herein could be a helpful tool to guarantee the maintenance of the genetic diversity rates in conservation programs both in Tursiops truncatus and across other odontocetes, Mysticeti and several genera of endangered and vulnerable species.
Acute effects of different types of exercises on insulin-like growth factor-1, homocysteine and cortisol levels in veteran athletes

This study aimed to investigate acute effects of table tennis (physical+cognitive exercise), aerobic running (physical exercise), and chess (cognitive exercise) exercise sessions of veteran male athletes in their branches on the serum homocysteine (Hcy), insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and cortisol (Cor) levels. Thirty veteran athletes [10 table tennis players (TT), 10 long-distance runners (LR), 10 chess players (CP)] and 10 sedentary controls (SC) between 50 and 65 years of age participated in the study. Blood samples were obtained before and immediately after exercise to determine serum Hcy, IGF-1, and Cor levels. According to their branch, each veteran athlete performed exercise sessions (70-75% of the participants' heart rate reserve) of 10-min of warm-up followed by 40-min of table tennis, aerobic running, or chess. TT and LR groups demonstrated significant increases in the serum IGF-1, Cor, and Hcy levels from pre to post-exercise (p<0.05). In contrast, the CP group showed significant increases only in the serum Hcy levels (p<0.05). Serum IGF-1 and Hcy, in response to exercise, were not significantly different between exercise groups (p>0.05). LR group had a greater serum Cor increase than all exercise groups (p<0.05). The TT group showed significantly greater changes in serum Cor levels than the CP group (p<0.05). In conclusion, although a single bout of aerobic running and table tennis exercise induces a remarkable increase in all measured biomarkers, chess exercise only elicits an increase in Hcy levels. Although aerobic running is more effective in increasing Cor levels than other types of exercise, the current study's findings suggest that serum Hcy and IGF-1 levels in veteran male athletes are not affected by the type of exercise.
The Threshold Role of FDI Flows in the Energy-Growth Nexus: An Endogenous Growth Perspective

In this paper, we have investigated the implications of the threshold effect of changes in FDI inflows for the nexus between energy consumption and economic growth in eight under-researched sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1971–2016. The countries are Benin, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, and Zambia. Using the lag-augmented VAR (LAVAR) model (corrected for cross-sectional dependence), we develop an empirical framework tightly linked to the endogenous growth model that allows for a threshold effect of changes (strength and weakness) in FDI inflows on the nexus. Our findings show that the FDI inflows matter for the causal link between energy consumption and economic growth in some countries, although, for the cross-section as a whole, our bootstrap simulation supports the neutrality hypothesis. The overall results suggest that an energy demand policy, such as an energy conservation policy, should not cause any significant adverse side-effects to economic growth in those sub-Saharan African countries. Policy implications of the threshold effect for the nexus for individual sub-Saharan African countries are also provided.
Understanding the role of finance in technology adoption among smallholder maize farmers in Nigeria

Maize is an important staple food in Nigeria; however, Nigeria’s local maize production only meets about 60% of its demand due to low yield (t/ha). The low maize yield has been linked to limited technology adoption, while finance has been identified to strongly impact technology adoption. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews to identify the typology of existing practices, the technology used and the role of finance in the degree of adoption by smallholder maize farmers. The results indicated that finance was available in the study area, and the smallholder maize farmers’ ability to adopt and combine varying degrees of technology can be attributed to the accessibility and affordability of finance. The study identified inadequate collateral, timeliness of disbursement and, more importantly, misconception as significant constraints affecting smallholder maize farmers’ financing. Based on the respondents’ preference for government source of finance due to its accessibility and affordability, the government is best placed in providing finance for smallholder maize farmers. The study suggests the need for a mechanism to review collaterals and documentation requested from the smallholder farmers by finance providers and the creation of awareness about finance schemes pre-cultivation season. – 7.2 t/ha. Using this matrix, we explored the relationships between the various combination of technology and maize yield achieved by smallholder maize farmers.
Interval sensitivity analysis of joint dynamics in complex built-up structures

The dynamic properties of joints, or inter-component connections, are a principal source of uncertainty when modelling complex built-up structures. In the present paper, we propose an interval-based sensitivity analysis (SA) to establish the contribution, or influence, of a structure’s uncertain joint dynamics towards the uncertainty of its coupled admittance. We choose an interval SA as it overcomes the limitations of conventional local and global methods; accuracy and computation efficiency, respectively. Furthermore, it avoids the need for detailed probabilistic data to describe each joint, which is often unavailable. The proposed interval SA is based on the dual formulation of the sub-structuring problem and utilises the Sherman–Morrison formula to factor out the contribution of an individual joint. A complex interval is used to represent the uncertain joint stiffness and damping, and precise bounds on the assembly’s complex admittance (also operational response) are determined following an application specific algorithm. The relative change between input (joint stiffness and damping) and output (complex admittance) interval area is chosen as a sensitivity metric and used to rank order the uncertain influence of each joint. The method is illustrated by numerical example.
An Efficient Symbol-by-Symbol Aided Expectation Propagation Detector for OTFS With Index Modulation

In this letter, an efficient symbol-by-symbol aided expectation propagation (SS-EP) detector is designed for orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) with index modulation (IM). Specifically, the null symbol of the OTFS-IM scheme is utilized to the expanded constellation symbol for expectation propagation. A varied zero sequence is designed based on the index mapping principle for our proposed SS-EP detector to improve the performance. Moreover, low-complexity SS-EP (LC-SS-EP) detector is developed, where the successive updating method is designed to update the statistical variables to reduce the operations of matrix inversion in each iteration. The simulated results show that the proposed SS-EP detectors are capable of providing significant performance gains over the existing detectors for both uncoded and coded OTFS-IM system.
Morphological, molecular and phylogenetic characterization of Leptopsylla segnis and Leptopsylla taschenbergi (Siphonaptera)

The taxonomic status of Leptopsyllidae family has remained controversial over the years. Thus, some entomologists placed this group of fleas within Ceratophyllidae family, considering it at level of Leptopsyllinae subfamily or even appearing as a paraphyletic group within Siphonaptera phylogeny. This fact is emphasized by the lack of molecular and phylogenetic data of Leptopsyllidae taxa available in public databases. The aim of this study was to carry out a comparative morphological, phylogenetic and molecular study of two species of Leptopsylla genus with zoonotic relevance (Leptopsylla segnis and Leptopsylla taschenbergi) isolated from rodents collected from different geographical areas of Europe in order to molecularly characterize both taxa and to establish their taxonomic and phylogenetic status within Leptopsyllidae family. For this purpose, we have analysed and compared several morphological traits between L. segnis and L. taschenbergi and compared five different molecular markers (ITS2, EF1‐α, cox1, cox2 and cytb) among these both species and others belonging to Leptopsyllidae family. Based on the morphological results, we found a phenotypic plasticity phenomenon in one female specimen showing morphological characters of L. segnis but molecular sequences distinctive for L. taschenbergi. Furthermore, the molecular and phylogenetic analysis could easily discriminate among both species providing, by the first time, a monophyletic origin of Leptopsyllidae family. Lastly, with this work, we demonstrate one more time, the usefulness of the combination of mitochondrial and nuclear markers to solve taxonomic and phylogenetic issues within Siphonaptera field by the use of concatenated dataset.
Smartphone Data Transfer Protection According to Jurisdiction Regulations

The prevalence of mobile devices and their capability to access high speed Internet have transformed them into a portable pocket cloud interface. The sensitivity of a user’s personal data demands adequate level of protection in the cloud. In this regard, the European Union Data Protection regulations (e.g., article 25.1) restricts the transfer of European users’ personal data to certain locations. The matter of concern, however, is the enforcement of such regulations. Since cloud service provision is independent of physical location and data can travel to various servers, it is a challenging task to determine the location of data and enforce jurisdiction policies. In this dissertation, first we demonstrate how mobile apps mishandle personal data collection and transfer by analyzing a wide range of popular Android apps in Europe. Then we investigate approaches to monitor and enforce the location restrictions of collected personal data. Since there are multiple entities such as mobile devices, mobile apps, data controllers and cloud providers in the process of collecting and transferring data, we study each one separately. We introduce design and prototyping of a suitable approach to perform or at least facilitate the enforcement procedure with respect to the duty of each entity. Cloud service providers, provide their infrastructure to data controllers in form of virtual machines or containers; therefore, we design and implemented a tool, named VLOC, to verify the physical location of a virtual machine in cloud. Since VLOC requires the collaboration of the data controller, we design a framework, called DLOC, which enables the end users to determine the location of their data after being transferred to the cloud and probably replicated. DLOC is a distributed framework which does not need the data controller or cloud provider to participate or modify their systems; thus, it is economical to implement and to be used widely.
Postoperative pain management: Stepping towards newer frontiers

© 2022 Indian Journal of Anaesthesia | Published by Wolters Kluwer Medknow The critical role of pain control after surgery can never be over-emphasised. Adequate postoperative pain control is analogous to improved patient satisfaction and enhanced recovery. Every surgery poses a unique challenge for postoperative pain management. This recognition led to the formation of the PROcedure-SPECific Pain ManagemenT (PROSPECT) group to provide practical and evidence-based recommendations to prevent and treat postoperative pain catering to specific procedures. Depending on the type of surgery, various postoperative pain management regimens using different classes of drugs like opioids, non-opioids such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), paracetamol, alpha-2 agonists along with local anaesthetics, wound infiltrations, regional anaesthetics and nerve blocks are available.