Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of degradation on the viscosity and molecular mass of poly(lactide acid) biopolymer

In this paper, we present a study on stability of popular biopolymer poly(lactide acid) (PLA) under degradation process. As a main objective of this study we investigate an influence of polymer decomposition on decrease of its two physicochemical parameters – dynamic viscosity and molecular mass. To include the molar mass distribution we calculate three various mass averages: the number, the weight and the viscosity molar mass. To simulate the polylactide behavior at the atomic level we use molecular dynamics method in conjunction with reactive force field ReaxFF. To provide degradation conditions similar to human interior system we operate in the MD-NVT conditions at the temperature 310K. Based on reported in literature values of polylactide density we develop computational model of its amorphous structure. We achieve full compliance with expectations – obtained values of PLA viscosity and mass are steadily dropping. Determined trends confirm progressive polymer decomposition resulting in deterioration of polymer durability. The obtained results may be use in a future to predict a lifetime of biomedical polymer implants.
Expeditious synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of 2-methyl-3-substituted-quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives

Quinazoline and quinazolinone derivatives are well-known bioactive heterocycles owing to their therapeutic diversity and extensive medicinal application in drug design and pharmaceutics. A series of 2-methyl-3-substituted quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives 8a-q was herein synthesized from synthetic conversion of anthranilic acid to 2-methyl-4H-3,1-benzoxazi-4-one, 7 which was subsequently transformed to the targeted 2,3-disubstituted quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives 8a-q by reacting with some notable amino-containing moieties via an ameliorable pathway. The catalyst-free synthesis was successful achieved by careful reaction optimization study using solvent choice and reaction temperature variability as key parameters. The chemical structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by IR, UV, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and DEPT-135 as well as analytical data.
Increasing flow capacity and reducing drag in microtubes using drag-reducing polymer

Decreasing pressure losses in microtubes is an important subject, especially when increase in flow capacity is required. In the same pumping power, decreasing the pressure drops is coincides with increasing the fluid flow rate passing through a microtube. The current study aims to examine how the water pressure drop across a microtube can be affected by the addition of small concentrations of different drag-reducing polymeric agents. A kind of laminarization behaviour was found by the addition of the selected polymer to the turbulent flow. The effect of concentration of drag-reducing agent (DRA) on observed viscosity and drag values are reported. Moreover, the effects of different types of drag-reducing agents on friction factor are obtained at the best concentration in the range of examined concentrations. Under this condition amount of drag reduction percentage and increase in capacity of the flow were respectively 33% and 36%. The obtained results show that more drag reduction occurs at a higher flow rate for 20ppm of high molecular weight polyacrylamide.
N-Aryl 2-Cyanothioacetamide Intermediates in Heterocyclic Synthesis: Synthesis and AntimicrobialEvaluation of 3-Cyano 2(1H)-Pyridineth-Ione, Chromene-3-Carbothioamide and Chromeno[3,4c]Pyridinethione Derivatives

A novel synthesis of 3-cyano-2(1H)-pyridinethiones, chromene-3-carbothioamide and chromeno[3,4-c]pyridines were obtained through interaction of N-aryl cyanothioacetamide derivatives with some electrophilic reagents. Most of the target compounds were then evaluated for their antimicrobial and antifungal activities.
ARL4C is A Key Driver of Gastric Cancer: An Integrative Analysis of ARL Family Members

Background: As small GTP-binding proteins, ARL family members (ARLs) have been proved to regulate the malignant phenotypes of several cancers. However, the exact role of ARLs in gastric cancer (GC) remains elusive.Methods: The expression status, interactive relations, potential pathways and genetic variations of ARLs are analyzed by bioinformatics tools. Machine learning models and enrichment analysis are performed by R platform. The biological functions of ARL4C are demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo experiments. The nomogram is further constructed to validate the prognostic value of ARL4C for GC patients.Results: ARLs are significantly dysregulated in GC and involved in various cancer-related pathways. Subsequently, machine learning models identify ARL4C as one of the two most significant diagnostic and prognostic indicators among ARLs for GC. Furthermore, ARL4C silencing remarkably reverses the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and inhibits the growth and metastasis of GC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, enrichment analysis indicates that TGF-β1 is highly correlated with ARL4C, while ARL4C-related genes are significantly enriched in the TGF-β1 signaling. Correspondingly, we demonstrate that TGF-β1 treatment dramatically increases ARL4C expression, and ARL4C knockdown reverses TGF-β1-induced EMT possibly by inhibiting the expression of Smads, downstream factors of TGF-β1. Meanwhile, the coexpression of ARL4C and TGF-β1 worsens the prognosis of GC patients both in Kaplan-Meier analysis and nomogram model.Conclusion: Our work is of significance for comprehensively understanding the crucial role of ARLs in the carcinogenesis of GC and the specific mechanisms underlying the GC-promoting effects of TGF-β1. More importantly, we uncover the great promise of ARL4C-targeted therapy in improving the efficacy of TGF-β1 inhibitors for GC patients.
Green-fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots for biological imaging and paper-based sensing

Green-fluorescent nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots (N-CDs) have been fabricated by hydrothermal treatment of oolong tea. The as-prepared N-CDs exhibit bright green fluorescence, excellent biocompatibility, low toxicity, and considerable optical stability. By virtue of these outstanding properties, the N-CDs have been utilized for intracellular Cu2+ imaging and paper-based Cu2+ sensing. Confocal fluorescence imaging of HepG2 cells indicates that the obtained N-CDs could visualize Cu2+ fluctuations in living cells without autofluorescence interference based on their highly selective and sensitive detection of Cu2+ ions in aqueous solution with a linear range of 0.01–75 μM and a detection limit of 2 nM. In addition, N-CD stained paper-based sensor strips have been prepared for user-friendly and convenient Cu2+ determination.
Automating Detection of Framing Agency in Design Team Talk

Dr. Ardeshir Raihanian is an assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at University at Buffalo. His research interests include user-centric design, sustainable design, user behavior simulation and agent based modeling. He also researches and publishes in areas surrounding engineering education. He has won multiple awards, including Design for Manufac-ture and the Life Cycle Technical Committee Best Paper(2017) and the International Life Cycle Academy Award for the best paper on Sustainable Consumption (2017). He is also responsible for teaching introduc-tory, intermediate and advanced design related courses in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at University at Buffalo. Dr. Vanessa Svihla is a learning scientist and associate professor at the University of New Mexico in the Organization, Information and Learning Sciences program and in the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department. She served as Co-PI on an NSF RET Grant and a USDA NIFA grant, and is currently co-PI on three NSF-funded projects in engineering and computer science education, including a Revo-lutionizing Engineering Departments project. She was selected as a National Academy of Education / Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow and a 2018 NSF CAREER awardee in engineering education research. Dr. Svihla studies learning in authentic, real world conditions; this includes a two-strand research program focused on (1) authentic assessment, often aided by interactive technology, and (2) design learning, in which she studies engineers designing devices, scientists designing investigations, teachers designing learning experiences and students designing to learn. Abstract Those who teach design contend with issues of authenticity and engagement. A problem that is too narrow or open can be challenging for students, yet finding that Goldilocks middle ground is complicated by many factors. Framing agency—making decisions that are consequential to framing and solving design problems—appears to provide clarity about student engagement with different types of design problems. However, detecting framing agency in design team talk is a labor intensive process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a variety of text mining approaches for suitability in detecting framing agency in transcribed talk. We found no correlation between human-coding and sentiment analysis. However, interestingly, polarity derived from sentiment analysis did differentiate between a team that displayed almost no framing agency and those that did, with the former showing a high level of positivity. This reflects the lack of struggle, high certainty and agreeability the team displayed as they quickly agreed they all had similar and therefore correct answers. We also trained a Regularized Support Vector Machine Classifier to predict levels of framing agency, with the human-coded data as training data. The model showed 89% accuracy in detecting high framing agency. Given the recent increase in quality of auto-transcription tools, such approaches may lead to in-situ detectors in future.
Credit Rating Downgrade Risk on Equity Returns

We develop a four-factor model intended to capture size, value, and credit rating transition patterns in excess returns for a panel of predominantly mid- and large-cap entities. Using credit transition matrices and rating histories from 48 US issuers, we provide evidence to support a statistically significant negative downgrade risk premium in excess returns, suggesting that stocks at higher risk of failure tend to deliver lower returns. The performance of the model remains robust across several estimation methods. Panel Granger causality test results indicate that there indeed is a Granger-causal relationship from credit rating transition probabilities to excess returns. Our paper thus provides a new methodology to generate firm-level downgrade probabilities and the basis for further empirical validation and development of Fama-French-type models under financial distress.
Risks on Global Financial Stability Induced by Climate Change

There is increasing concern among financial regulators that changes in the distribution and frequency of extreme weather events induced by climate change could pose a threat to global financial stability. In order to assess this risk, we develop a simple model of the propagation of climate-induced shocks through financial networks. Weshow that the magnitude of global risks is determined by the interplay between the exposure of countries to climate-related natural hazards and their financial leverage. Climate change induces a shift in the distribution of impacts towards high-income countries and a thus larger amplification of impacts as the financial sectors of high-income countries are more leveraged. Conversely, high-income countries are more exposed to financial shocks. In high-end climate scenarios, this could lead to the emergence of systemic risk as total impacts become commensurate with the capital of the banking sectors of countries that are hubs of the global financial network. Adaptation policy, or the lack thereof, appears to be one of the key risk drivers as it determines the future exposure of high-income countries.
Do Macroeconomic Factors Affect FDI: Evidence from South Asian Countries

There are numerous factors such as absorptive capacity along with other are very important to make foreign direct investment (FDI) more effective for economic growth and development. There are numerous indicators of absorptive capacity such as human capital, technology, infrastructure, institutional quality, GDP per capita, and trade openness. This study determines the effect of absorptive capacity on FDI in South Asian countries over the time period 1984–2017 using system Generalized Method of Moment (GMM). The study found that absorptive indicators such as trade openness, infrastructure, institutional quality, human capital, GDP per capita, and technology are positively related to foreign direct investment in South Asian countries but human capital is the more effective determinant of FDI. Therefore it is necessary to increase human capital, free trade, infrastructure, technological innovations and institutional quality to effectively absorb the benefit and spillover effects of FDI which boosts economic growth and development.
Timing for the ATLAS Phase-II Upgrade

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will deliver an integrated luminosity of up to $4000~{\rm fb}^{-1}$ in the high-luminosity phase (HL) thanks to an increased instantaneous luminosity that will reach up to $7.5 \times 10^{34}~{\rm cm}^{-2}{\rm s}^{-1}$. The ATLAS detector will be upgraded during Long Shutdown periods. This upgrade will allow the detector to cope with the high luminosity that will be accompanied by a high pileup. A powerful new way to mitigate the effects of pileup is to use high-precision timing information to distinguish between collisions occurring close in space but well-separated in time. A High-Granularity Timing Detector, based on low gain avalanche detector technology, is therefore proposed for the ATLAS Phase-II upgrade. This new detector will improve the detector physics performance in the forward region, in a pseudorapidity range of 2.4 to 4.0. Its design was optimised to associate a time to each track with a target average time resolution of $30~{\rm ps}$ for a minimum-ionising particle at the start of the detector lifetime, increasing to $50~{\rm ps}$ at the end of HL-LHC operation.
Human Capital Investment: Case State-Owned Banks and Sharia Banks

The objective of study is to find the influence of company size, human capital investments, and leverage on financial performance. Case studies on State-Owned Banks and State-Owned Sharia Banks in Indonesia for the 2012-2018 period. The number of samples uses in the study were four State-Owned Banks and four State-Owned Sharia Banks in Indonesia. The samples of this study were the financial report that taken from the Indonesia Stock Exchange and the Indonesia Financial Service Authority with period 2012-2018. The analysis method for this research is linear regression methods, test of classic assumption, determinant coefficient, F-test, T-test. The findings show that the size and leverage variables have no significantly effect on financial performance in State-Owned Banks, while the human capital investments have a positive effect and significantly on financial performance. The results also show that human capital and leverage have no impact on financial performance in State-Owned Sharia Banks, but has size have significant effect on financial performance. Human capital investment was most variable that impact financial performance significantly in State-Owned Banks. Otherwise, size was the most significantly variable that effect financial performance in State-Owned Sharia Banks. The results show that the size and leverage variables have no significantly effect on financial performance in State-Owned Banks, while the human capital investments have positive effect and significantly on financial performance. The results also show that human capital and leverage have no significantly effect on financial performance in State-Owned Sharia Banks, but size have significantly effect on financial performance. Human capital investment is the most significant variable that influence financial performance in State-Owned Banks. Otherwise, size is the most significant variable that influence financial performance in State-Owned Sharia Banks.
Dimensionality of forearm muscle activation in transradial amputees

Background Establishing a natural communication interface between the user and the terminal device is one of the central challenges of hand neuroprosthetics research. Surface electromyography (EMG) is the most common source of neural signals for interpreting a user’s intent in these interfaces. However, how the capacity of EMG generation is affected by various clinical parameters remains largely unknown. Methods In this retrospective study using an open source database, we examined the EMG activity of forearm muscles recorded from 11 transradially amputated subjects and 40 able-bodied subjects who performed a wide range of movements. By using non-negative matrix factorization, we extracted the synergistic EMG patterns for each subject to estimate the dimensionality of muscle control, under the framework of motor synergies. Results We found that amputees exhibited less than four synergies (with substantial variability related to the length of remaining limb and age), whereas able-bodied subjects commonly demonstrate five or more synergies. Conclusions The results of this study provide novel insight into the muscle synergy framework and the design of natural myoelectric control interfaces.
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Afghanistan: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The aim of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of diabetes and its associated risk factors in Afghanistan through a systematic review and meta–analysis. Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted using EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Sciences, Google Scholar and the Cochrane library, carried out from inception to April 31 2020, without language restriction. Meta–analysis was performed using DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models with inverse variance weighting. The existence of publication bias was initially assessed by visual inspection of a funnel plot and then tested by the Egger regression test. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were used to explore potential sources of heterogeneity. This systematic review was reported by following the PRISMA guidelines and the methodological quality of each included study was evaluated using the STROBE guidelines. Results Out of 64 potentially relevant studies, only 10 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were considered for meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of diabetes in the general population based on population-based studies were 12.14% (95% CI: 10.06–14.39%), based on a pooled sample of 11,699 individuals. Results of univariate meta-regression analysis revealed that the prevalence of diabetes increased with mean age, hypertension and obesity. There was no significant association between sex (male vs female), smoking, the methodological quality of included articles or education (illiterate vs literate) and the prevalence of diabetes. Conclusions This meta-analysis reports a relatively high prevalence of diabetes in Afghanistan, with the highest prevalence in Kandahar and the lowest in Balkh province. The main risk factors include increasing age, obesity and hypertension. Community-based care and preventive training programmes are recommended. Trial registration: This review was registered on PROSPERO (registration number CRD42020172624).
What ancient climates tell us about high carbon dioxide concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere

During ice ages, when the sea level was around 120m lower than now and global temperature was about 4°C cooler, the CO 2 concentration was as little as 180 parts per million (ppm). Between ice ages, CO 2 concentration increased to around 280ppm and the world warmed to something like our familiar modern climate. The last time Earth had an ice age was 20,000 years ago. It then took 10,000 years for CO 2 to rise from 180ppm to 280ppm, and for most of the ice to melt. In other words, the world experienced significant global warming of 4°C because of an increase in CO 2 concentration of 100ppm over about 10,000 years.
Age determinations by the Lutetium-176/Hafnium-176 method /

3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete.
Synthesis, characterization and biological evaluation of pyrazolones containing multi substituted thiazolidinones and oxadizoles

A series of novel Pyrazolone Schiff bases bearing thiazolidinone and oxadiazoles systems were prepared from ethyl- 2-(4-formyl-3-methyl-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)acetate (4) and substituted amines. All pyrazolone schiff bases were refluxed with mercapto acetic acid in presence of anhydrous zinc chloride and solvent N,N-dimethyl formamide to afforded novel series of Ethyl-2-(4-(3-(4-substitutedphenyl)-4-oxothiazolidin-2-yl)-3-methyl-5-oxo- 4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)acetate [5a-f]. Novel moieties 2-(1-((4-acetyl-5-(4-substituted phenyl)-5-methyl-4,5- dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl) methyl)-3-methyl-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-(4-substituted phenyl) thiazolidin-4-one were synthesized by the condensation of (E)-2-(4-(3-(4-substitutedphenyl)-4-oxothiazolidin-2-yl)- 3-methyl-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-N'-(1-(4-substitutedphenyl)ethylidene)acetohydrazide (6a-f) and substituted ketones (7a-e) afford corresponding (E)-2-(4-(3-(4-substitutedphenyl)-4-oxothiazolidin-2-yl)-3-methyl-5- oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-N'-(1-(4-substitutedphenyl) ethylidene)acetohydrazide (8a-f). This was subjected to cyclization with excess of acetic anhydride to give corresponding congeners 2-(1-((4-acetyl-5-(4- substitutedphenyl)-5-methyl-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)methyl)-3-methyl-5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4- yl)-3-(4-substitutedphenyl) thiazolidin-4-one (9a-j) in excellent yields. The structures of these newly synthesized compounds were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, Mass, IR and elemental analysis. The prepared compounds have been screened on some strains of bacteria and fungi.