Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Volume computed tomography perfusion as a predictive marker for treatment response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy in cervical cancer: a prospective study

Background Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) can provide information on blood perfusion as a reliable marker of tumor response to therapy. Purpose To assess the role of volume CTP (vCTP) parameters in predicting treatment response to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for cervical cancer. Material and Methods Thirty-three patients with cervical cancer underwent vCTP. Three CTP parameters of cervical cancer—including arterial flow (AF), blood volume (BV), and permeability surface (PS)—were measured in two different ways: the region of interest incorporating the “local hot” with the highest enhancement and “cold spot” with the lowest enhancement; and “whole-tumor” measurements. The patients were divided into non-residual and residual tumor groups according to the short-term response to treatment. The clinical and perfusion parameters were compared between the two groups. Results There was no significant difference in age, body mass index, FIGO stage, pathological grade, or pretreatment tumor size between the two groups (P > 0.05). The non-residual tumor group had higher pretreatment AF in high-perfusion and low-perfusion subregions than the residual tumor group (P <0.05), but the AF in whole-tumor regions was not different between the two groups (P > 0.05). There were no differences in BV and PS between the two groups (P > 0.05). The diagnostic potency of AF in the low-perfusion subregion was higher than that in the high-perfusion subregion. Conclusion vCTP parameters are valuable for the prediction of short-term effects. The AF in the low-perfusion subregion was a more effective index for predicting treatment response to CCRT of cervical cancer.
Optimal Operation of Home Energy Management Systems in the Presence of the Inverter-based Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning System

This paper presents the optimal operation strategy for home energy management system (HEMS) in the presence of the inverter-based heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The main target of this paper is to find the optimal scheduling of the home appliances in line with the optimal operation of the air conditioner system to reduce the daily bills while the end-users discomfort index would be minimized. In this paper, the mathematical formulation is represented in mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework to reduce the computational burden and easily be adapted by hardware for implementation. The HEMS is the main responsible for optimal scheduling of controllable and interruptible loads as well as serving the fixed loads. The electricity tariff is based on time-of-use (TOU) mechanism and three different tariffs have been considered during the daily consumptions. The simulation results for the daily operation of a residential home confirms that the proposed model can effectively reduce the electricity bill while the consumer predefined comfort level is appropriately maintained.
Interannual Subtropical Indian Ocean Variability due to Long Baroclinic Planetary Waves

Low-frequency variability in the south Indian Ocean is studied by analyzing 200 years of output from a fully coupled climate model simulation. At time scales of 2–10 years, the variability is dominated by westward-propagating features that form on the eastern side of the basin. Using feature tracking and clustering, the spatiotemporal characteristics and preferred pathways of the propagating features are identified and studied in detail. By comparison of the phase speed and vertical structure of the propagating anomalies identified by the feature tracking with linear theory, we conclude that these features are likely mode 1 or 2 baroclinic planetary waves. The effects of this low-frequency variability on the climate system is investigated. By analysis of the mixed-layer temperature budget, it is shown that at particular geographic locations, the propagating features can substantially modify the near-surface ocean and induce significant fluxes of heat into the atmosphere. In turn, these heat fluxes can drive a coherent atmospheric response, although this response does not appear to feed back onto the ocean. Finally, we discuss the implications for the interannual climate predictability.
Measuring the implementation of student-centered teaching strategies in lower- and upper-division STEM courses

Abstract Understanding the rate at which STEM faculty move from traditional, lecture-intensive teaching practices to more effective, student-centered practices and the institutional conditions that favor this shift are crucial for supporting faculty change. This study investigated the instructional practices of biology, chemistry, and physics faculty at research-intensive institutions and explored the institutional structures that support student-centered instruction. Faculty members (N = 1,456) from 66 institutions reported on their frequency of use of a variety of instructional practices (at two time points within the last five years) and the support structures present at their institution using the Change in Implementation of Pedagogical Practices (ChIPP) survey. An index was created for measuring use of student-centered instructional strategies at these two time points, providing a measure of change over time. About 30% of all respondents reported increases in the frequency of student-centered teaching strategies over time. For all faculty, participation in institutional faculty communities was predictive of change toward student-centered pedagogies. Faculty teaching lower-division courses were more likely to use at a higher number of student-centered strategies every class, compared to their upper-division colleagues. Factors associated with greater use of student-centered strategies in lower-division courses were institutional financial opportunities for course reform, use of classrooms designed to promote active learning, and engagement in STEM education research. Only one factor, engagement in professional development, was associated with greater use of student-centered strategies in upper-division courses. These findings suggest that pedagogical change is occurring at research-intensive institutions and may be fostered through specific support structures.
La distribution on the crater surface of W‐1%La2O3 produced by a single laser pulse

The W‐1%La2O3 alloy has been irradiated by a single laser pulse (λ = 1064 nm) to simulate transient thermal loads of high energy occurring in a tokamak under operative conditions. A zone with a diameter of ~2 mm, namely, much larger than the focal spot, results to be affected by the pulse, and a crater of about 300 μm is observed in its center. La2O3 particles are not present inside the crater. The change of surface morphology is accompanied by elemental redistribution. Multipoint XPS analysis evidenced that the concentration of La is very low in the crater and increases moving toward the border of the affected zone while that of W shows an opposite trend. The composition changes involve only the outmost 5 nm of the sample: through depth profiling, no differences of chemical composition were detected deeper in the alloy between the center and external border of the affected area.
A graph convolutional network model for evaluating potential congestion spots based on local urban built environments

Automatically identifying potential congestion spots in cities has significant practical implications for efficient urban development and management. It requires the ability to examine the relationships between urban built environment features and traffic congestion situations. This article presents a novel and effective approach for achieving the task based on a machine‐learning technique and publicly available street‐view imagery and point‐of‐interest (POI) data. The proposed multiple‐graph‐based convolutional network architecture can: (a) extract essential urban built environment features from street‐view imagery and neighboring POIs; (b) model the spatial dependencies between traffic congestion on road networks via graph convolution; and (c) evaluate the risk level of road intersections to emerging congestion situations based on local built environment features. We apply the model to Wuhan in China, and predict the potential congestion spots across the city. The results confirm that the model prediction is highly consistent (about 85.5%) when compared to the ground‐truth data based on traffic indices derived from a big taxi GPS trajectory dataset. This research enhances the understanding of traffic congestion situations under various geographic, societal, and economic contexts based on easily accessible road, street‐view, and POI datasets at large spatiotemporal scales.
Characterizing Weekly Cycles of Particulate Matter in a Coastal Megacity: The Importance of a Seasonal, Size‐Resolved, and Chemically Speciated Analysis

We present the first study of the weekly cycles (WCs) of chemically speciated and size‐resolved particulate matter (PM) in Metro Manila, Philippines, a coastal megacity located within a highly complex meteorological environment that is subject to both anthropogenic and natural sources. To measure PM, Micro‐Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactors (MOUDIs) were deployed in Metro Manila from August 2018 to October 2019 and samples were analyzed for ionic and elemental species, including black carbon (BC). The WC in Metro Manila varied remarkably across seasons, linked to shifts in meteorology, transport, and aerosol source. Identified aerosol sources were traffic, local and regional burning, dust, sea salt, and secondary aerosol formation. Direct emissions induced a late workweek peak, while secondary aerosol formation led to a weekend peak in response to precursor buildup mainly from traffic. Seasonal analysis revealed that local burning from solid waste management and agricultural fires induced a strong WC peak while regional burning emissions from the Maritime Continent (MC) and possibly the Asian continent elevated seasonal baseline concentrations of the WC. BC showed a seasonally persistent WC, consistent in magnitude, weekly peak timing, and particle size. The dominant submicrometer WC and the contribution of BC across seasons have important ramifications on public health and policymaking, which are also discussed. As many of the observed WC patterns are undetectable when using only bulk PM, this study demonstrates that a seasonal, size‐resolved, and chemically speciated characterization is required to more fully understand the driving mechanisms governing WCs.
Space Charge-Limited Current Transport Mechanism in Crossbar Junction Embedding Molecular Spin Crossovers

Spin crossover complexes are among the most studied classes of molecular switches and have attracted considerable attention for their potential technological use as active units in multifunctional devices. A fundamental step toward their practical implementation is the integration in macroscopic devices adopting hybrid vertical architectures. First, the physical properties of technological interest shown by these materials in the bulk phase have to be retained once they are deposited on a solid surface. Herein, we describe the study of a hybrid molecular inorganic junction embedding the spin crossover complex [Fe(qnal)2] (qnal = quinoline-naphthaldehyde) as an active switchable thin film sandwiched within energy-optimized metallic electrodes. In these junctions, developed and characterized with the support of state of the art techniques including synchrotron Mössbauer source (SMS) spectroscopy and focused-ion beam scanning transmission electron microscopy, we observed that the spin state conversion of the Fe(II)-based spin crossover film is associated with a transition from a space charge-limited current (SCLC) transport mechanism with shallow traps to a SCLC mechanism characterized by the presence of an exponential distribution of traps concomitant with the spin transition temperature.
Classification d’entités nommées de type film

Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la classification contextuelle d’entités nommées de type film . Notre travail s’inscrit dans un cadre applicatif dont le but est de repérer, dans un texte, un titre de film contenu dans un catalogue (par exemple catalogue de films disponibles en VoD). Pour ce faire, nous combinons deux approches : nous partons d’un système à base de règles, qui présente une bonne précision, que nous couplons avec un modèle de langage permettant d’augmenter le rappel. La génération peu coûteuse de données d’apprentissage pour le modèle de langage à partir de Wikipedia est au coeur de ce travail. Nous montrons, à travers l’évaluation de notre système, la difficulté de classification des entités nommées de type film ainsi que la complémentarité des approches que nous utilisons pour cette tâche.
The complete mitogenome of Habropoda rodoszkowskii (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and phylogenetic analysis

Abstract The mitogenome of Habropoda rodoszkowskii, the first complete mitogenome sequence of the genus Habropoda (hymenoptera: Apidae), was sequenced. The mitogenome is 18,497 bp (The proportion of A + T in 80.7%) long, with 37 classic eukaryotic mitochondrial genes (including 13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs) and an AT-rich region (The proportion of A + T in 78.2%). The Bayesian-inference and Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic relationship was constructed using 15 species from Hymenoptera. According to the phylogenetic tree, Habropoda rodoszkowskii converges with genus Nomada bees (Nomada flava and Nomada flavoguttata) to be supported. In addition, Habropoda rodoszkowskii is more closely related to Apidae than to Megahilidae and Colletidae.
Macronmolecule Synthesis inTemperature-sensitive Mutants ofYeast

mutantsofSaccharomyces cerevisiae were isolated. Themutants were unable toformcolonies on enriched mediaat 36C,butgrew normally, ornearly so,at23C.Themutantswere tested forloss ofviability, change inmorphology, increase incell number, andtheability tosynthesize protein, ribonucleic acid(RNA),anddeoxyribonucleic acid(DNA)after a shift from23to36C.Mutations werefound whichresulted ina preferential loss of ability tocarryoutprotein synthesis, RNA synthesis, DNA synthesis, celldivision, or cell-wall formation. Diploid cellsheterozygous forthetemperature-sensitive mutations wereconstructed andtested fortheir ability toformcolonies at36C. Fourmutations dominant totheir wild-type allele were identified. Horowitz andLeupold (6)first suggested that theisolation oftemperature-sensitive mutants mightprovide atechnique forobtaining mutationsinindispensible (i.e., nonauxotrophic) genes. TheworkofEdgarandco-workers with bacteriophage T4(2,4)demonstrated that temperature-sensitive mutants canbeusedeffectively togaininformation aboutindispensable gene functions. Thesestudies demonstrated that temperature-sensitive mutations canoccurin manydifferent genesinanorganism. Forinstance, 39genes wereidentified inbacteriophage T4byambermutations; 26ofthese wereshown tobeabletocarry mutations leading toatemperature-sensitive phenotype. Neidhardt described theisolation oftemperature-sensitive mutants ofEscherichia coli andsomeofthepatternsofmacromolecule synthesis thatresult whenthemutants areshifted tothenonpermissive temperature (9). Thebiochemical lesion inthree ofthese mutants hasbeenidentified asbeing due tothermolabile valine-activatin
Spatio-Temporal Patterns in the Depredation of Waterfowl Nests and Simulated Nests in the Prairie Pothole Region, USA

Abstract Nest depredation is the leading cause of waterfowl nest failures in much of the Prairie Pothole Region, USA. In 2006 and 2007, spatial and temporal patterns of nest depredation were evaluated on 248 waterfowl nests and 88 simulated waterfowl nests in North Dakota, USA. The hypothesis that predators are able to locate adjacent nests using an area-restricted search once they find the first nest and that ducks will space their nests apart to reduce this from happening was tested. However, no evidence was found to support either part of this hypothesis or that density-dependent depredation was occurring. This lack of support, along with no relationship between nest density and nest success, indicate that density-dependent depredation may not have been a problem in our study area. Artificial nests were used to test the hypothesis that meteorological conditions impact nest depredation rates. Artificial nests were more likely to be depredated when either temperature or dew point was high. It was hypothesized that these meteorological conditions increase the evaporation rate of odorants, and thereby improve the ability of predators to locate food sources by using olfaction. These meteorological conditions could also increase odor release from the surfaces of nests or incubating hens, although additional studies are necessary to determine if the relationship between evaporation rates and foraging efficiency of olfactory predators holds for natural waterfowl nests.
Creating a Map of the Social Functions of Urban Green Spaces in a City with Poor Availability of Spatial Data: A Sociotope for Lodz

Many cities lack complex spatial databases that can answer the question “What does a given green space offer? ” This complicates the lives of inhabitants, planners, and local authorities. One of the ways to obtain a complex picture of urban green spaces is to link multiple data sources. This article presents such an attempt to link multiple data sources to obtain a map of the social functions of urban green spaces in a city without a comprehensive spatial database on urban green spaces. We do so by adapting a method of mapping the social functions of urban green spaces—sociotope mapping—to the Central-Eastern European city of Lodz (Poland). Our results feature a map of the main social functions of urban green spaces (divided into five categories: nature, physical activity, social, play, and aesthetics) and GIS databases, with spatially explicit information on the 48 attributes of 196 urban green spaces in Lodz. According to our results, the greatest effort in sociotope mapping involves collecting data from different sources as it requires collaborating with various stakeholders—the owners of the data. Our study fits into the general trend of linking official data from municipal records with additional data on inhabitants’ preferences for urban green space planning and management.
Evaluation of Antioxidant and Anti-Xanthine Oxidoreductase Activities of Nigella sativa Linn seeds’ extracts

Nigella sativa , one of the most studied medicinal plants over the world, possesses a number of well established pharmacological properties. In this study, we have prepared different extracts from Nigella sativa's seeds. The results show that hexane (HxE), chloroform (ChE) and ethyl acetate (AcE) extracts present an apparent inhibitory effect on both xanthine oxidase (XO) and xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) activities of the enzyme xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR), with a markedly better efficiency for XDH activity . Scavenging power on radical anion superoxide (O2 •¯ ) by different N. sativa extracts has been evaluated using chemiluminescence assay where two extracts, HxE and ChE, exhibited good scavenger activity, with IC 50 of 0.18 µg/ml and 0.3 µg/ml, respectively. Reducing power (RP) of the different obtained extracts has been assessed by the FRAP assay. ChE and AcE showed the highest RP, which is proportional to the polyphenol content. The obtained data revealed that the antioxidant activity of Nigella sativa's seeds resides in the oil fraction of HxE (inhibition of XO and XDH, and scavenging O 2 •¯ ) and in ChE and AcE fractions expressing the most important reducing power.
16S rRNA Identification of Microorganisms and Direct Detection of Functional Genes in Waste Material Generated by an In-Vessel Rotating Compost System

rRNA genes. Characterization of each clone was performed by DNA sequencing. Results: 16S rRNA identification of bacterial isolates showed the phylum Firmicutes with the highest numbers of species, 42%. Lower frequencies of Actinobacteria (26%), Proteobacteria (24%), and Bacteroidetes (8%) were detected. Clone libraries of eubacteria 16S rRNA genes showed the Firmicutes comprising 86% of the sequences while Proteobacteria accounted for 14%. Molds were not culturable from the samples neither any mold ITS sequences were detected in clone libraries. Direct DNA extraction and PCR detection showed that β-glucosidase genes had the highest frequency of all functional genes. Conclusions: The RCS produced finished material with a vigorous heterotrophic bacterial community. However, the absence of mold and other bacterial phyla might indicate that the material produced is not degraded enough to be classified as mature compost and needed further processing. Most of the β-glucosidase sequences were related to members of the phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes while amoA genes were related to Nitrosomonas sp.
Voltage regulation in constrained distribution networks by coordinating electric vehicle charging based on hierarchical ADMM

The charging coordination of large-scale electric vehicles (EVs) for avoiding the voltages at some nodes to drop below feasible ranges in distribution networks, which is formulated as a class of optimisation problems with a certain class of coupled constraints, is studied. Then the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is introduced to obtain the optimal charging strategies. However, due to the non-separable property of the objective function which includes a non-linear term of the total charging power of EV populations, it is difficult to decentralise the update step of the charging strategy in the ADMM method. Consequently, a novel decentralised hierarchical method is proposed by further developing an iterative update of best responses of individual EVs at each iteration step of the proposed ADMM method, such that individual EVs can implement the coordination behaviours locally and simultaneously without sharing any other private information except the charging power. Furthermore, the proposed approach does not require the objective function to be continuously differentiable. The convergence and optimality of the proposed method are verified and some numerical simulations are studied to illustrate the developed results.
Family evaluation for quality traits in South African sugarcane breeding programmes.

Family evaluation involves the selection or rejection of entire families of seedlings based on information derived from replicated family plots, and is widely practised in sugarcane breeding programmes. After family evaluation, individual seedling selection is restricted to the selected elite families. Family evaluation data is also used to determine breeding values of parent populations. The objectives of this study were to determine the effectiveness of family evaluation and determine potential selection gains over time for quality traits across South African Sugarcane Research Institute regional breeding and selection programmes. Data for various quality traits were collected from Stage I (Single Stools) of all the regional breeding programmes and analysed using the Mixed Procedure of the Statistical Analysis System. There were highly significant (P<0.001) differences between families for the effectiveness of family selection. There were increasing family effects differences with advancing series, indicating the cumulative benefits of family selection. Estimated recoverable crystal (ERC) % cane, Pol % cane and Brix % cane produced the largest gains from family selection, indicating that the current approach is effective. Brix % cane, a trait that can be easily measured with a hand held refractometer, could be used to evaluate within-family variability, an important parameter for family evaluation. The 12-month programmes produced larger gains from family selection than the longer cycle programmes. Future studies should determine the breeding values of parent populations.