Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Approaches about the expression of two MADS-box genes in pear during the seasonal leaf bud-dormancy transitional phases in the subtropical climate

In the last decades, several biochemical and molecular studies in pear (Pyrus spp.) have revealed processes associated with dormancy establishment and release, leading to the identification of several MADS-box family genes related to bud dormancy regulation. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate a preliminary expression pattern of the PpDAM13-1 and PpDAM13-2 MADS-box genes in pear leaf buds (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai, cultivars Hosui and Nijisseiki; and Pyrus communis L., cultivars Rocha and Santa Maria), grown in the subtropical climate of Southern Brazil. Lateral leaf buds were collected from June to September, and RNA was extracted for evaluation of gene expression by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). It was found that these two genes decreased the expression as leaf buds are release from dormancy. The Hosui cultivar for both genes and the Nijisseiki cultivar for PpDAM13-2 gene showed peaks of expression in early June, indicating that leaf buds are in a transition dormancy phase. The two European cultivars showed this transition dormancy phase between the end-July and the mid-August. It was concluded that the expression analysis of PpDAM13-1 and PpDAM13-2 genes can be used as a marker to evaluate changes of dormancy phase in pear trees in subtropical climate conditions, and it can be suitable to assist management strategies for overcoming pears’ bud dormancy.
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IRON STATUS IN APPARENTLY HEALTHY PREGNANT WOMEN WITH NON PREGNANT WOMEN

Iron status in this clinical trial was represented as "Serum Iron, Total iron˗ binding capacity (TIBC), Unsaturated iron˗ binding capacity (UIBC), Transferrin saturation, Packed cell volume (PCV), Hemoglobin (Hb)", were evaluated in the blood of 98 healthy participant women, including 35 healthy non-pregnant women aged between (18-45) years as a control group and 63 healthy pregnant women aged between (15-44) years which divided into two groups depending on gestational age, the first group in the first trimester aged between (15-38) years; the second group in the third trimester aged between (21-44) years; in order to investigate the impacts of pregnancy and gestational period on iron status. The dedication of the contemporary research was to conclude the physiological changes in iron conditions in pregnant women in relation with non-pregnant women. Regarding this results that are recorded in the current research, a great significant drop in the level of the serum iron, transferrin saturation, PCV, Hb in "the first and third trimester" of pregnant women when comparison done with the control cases, while a statistical significance elevation of TIBC and UIBC level in the first and third trimester of pregnancy compared with control groups. Finally, the results of the mean value of iron status showed a meaningful difference between the first and third trimesters of pregnancy.
Theory in praxis: Using the modified version of the Social Network Strategy (mSNS) as a pedagogical tool for understanding

A fundamental challenge for all instructors in higher education is demonstrating the relevance of the material for our students. With the implementation of new technologies, and facing ever-increasing challenges, instructors need to adapt their approach, especially in the teaching of theory. This presentation provides one such approach. Instead of simply “lecturing” on a theory or having a simple exercise, instructors center their curriculum on a semester-long activity requiring students to put the modified version of the Social Network Strategy (mSNS) theory into praxis. As a result, students not only see the value in the activity itself but are able to recognize the theory’s relevance and application in their lives as they commit to using the theory beyond the scope of the classroom. Course Health Communication. Objectives This semester-long activity is designed to provide health communication students with an introduction to delivering community-specific communication interventions. First, principles of health communication are identified and taught to students. Second, students facilitate a community-based health communication intervention.
T-Balance: A Unified Mechanism for Taxi Scheduling in a City-scale Ride-sharing Service

In this paper, we propose a unified mechanism known as T-Balance for scheduling taxis across a city. Balancing the supplies and demands in a city scale is a challenging problem in the field of the ride-sharing service. To tackle the problem, we design a unified mechanism considering two important processes in ride-sharing service: ride-matching and vacant taxi repositioning. For rider-matching, the Scoring Ride-matching with Lottery Selection (SRLS) is proposed. With the help of Lottery Selection (LS) and smoothed popularity score, the Scoring Ride-matching with Lottery Selection (SRLS) can balance supplies and demands well, both in the local neighborhood areas and hot places across the city. In terms of vacant taxi repositioning, we propose Qlearning Idle Movement (QIM) to direct vacant taxis to the most needed places in the city, adapting to dynamic change environments. The experimental results verify that the unified mechanism is effective and flexible.
Chronic Treatment with Metformin Has No Disrupting Effect on the Hepatic Circadian Clock in Mice

Background and Objectives: The antidiabetic agent metformin is known to activate AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in various tissues. Because AMPK can modulate intracellular circadian clocks through regulating the stability of clock components, a single dose of metformin has been reported to affect circadian clocks in the peripheral tissues. In this study, therefore, we investigated whether chronic treatment with metformin causes the impairment of circadian clocks, especially if given at an inappropriate time. Materials and Methods: Non-diabetic C57BL/6J mice were allowed access to food only during 4 h at the beginning of the dark period, and repeatedly i.p. injected with a nearly maximum non-toxic dose of metformin, once daily either at 4 h after the beginning of the dark period or at the beginning of the light period. Diabetic ob/ob mice were given free access to food and treated with metformin in drinking water. Results: Under the controlled feeding regimen, 8-day treatment with metformin did not alter the mRNA expression rhythms of clock genes in both liver and adipose tissue of C57BL/6J mice, regardless of dosing time. In addition, chronic treatment with metformin for 2 weeks affected hepatic AMPK activation rhythm but did not disrupt the circadian clocks in the liver and adipose tissues of the ob/ob mice. Conclusions: These results mitigate concerns that treatment with metformin impairs peripheral circadian clocks, although confirmation is needed in humans.
Nonlinear Model and First Order Approximate Solution of a Free Piston Generator

For the analysis of the dynamic process of free piston generator(FPG),a nonlinear dynamic model that can be solved analytically was proposed,considering the load characteristics of the FPG.Energy equilibrium method was applied to achieve the first order approximate solution of the model and through which,the principle of operation and frequency characteristics of the FPG was disclosed.The FPG is a self-oscillation system with a steady limit cycle and the stable operation frequency of FPG is decided by the nonlinear stiffness and burning energy and speed of the gas in the cylinder.Moreover,the latter is proved to be a more dominant factor.
Musical creativity support tools for bereavement support

ABSTRACT Self-expression is central to mental well-being and mental health therapy. Art therapy offers a wide range of expressive mechanisms, allowing individuals to process their emotions when traditional therapies prove unsuccessful. However, a lack of expertise or comfort with artistic expression, along with cost and waiting times, may hinder one's ability to receive needed mental health support. Creative machines can offer novel therapeutic approaches enabling the bereaved to engage in creative expression as and when needed. In this paper, we apply a co-creative songwriting system, ALYSIA, as a new form of therapy for those who had recently suffered the loss of a loved one. We evaluate the utility of this creative system in aiding bereaved individuals through user testing. The utility of collaborative creative systems for adaptation to bereavement is discussed and may have implications for other therapeutic applications.
Rack Force Estimation for Electric Power Steering

This paper discusses a steering rack force estimation scheme using test-rig generated models. In addition to friction identification, a model of the electric power steering system is identified by the use of the instrumented test-rig. It turns out that the friction in the steering system is highly load-dependent, asymmetric with respect to speed, and shows no Stribeck effects. A LuGre model is adopted and fitted to approximate the measured dynamic friction. Consequently, this model is used in a friction compensator which is combined with a linear disturbance observer to estimate the steering rack force. The proposed estimation scheme is analyzed via evaluated system simulations and experiments on the steering system test-rig. Finally, considering the fact that the friction level varies with each steering device manufactured and installed, the paper discusses algorithms for friction level adaptation.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Unravelling the Affinity of Alkali-Activated Fly Ash Cubic Foams towards Heavy Metals Sorption

In this work, alkali-activated fly ash-derived foams were produced at room temperature by direct foaming using aluminum powder. The 1 cm3 foams (cubes) were then evaluated as adsorbents to extract heavy metals from aqueous solutions. The foams’ selectivity towards lead, cadmium, zinc, and copper ions was evaluated in single, binary, and multicomponent ionic solutions. In the single ion assays, the foams showed much higher affinity towards lead, compared to the other heavy metals; at 10 ppm, the removal efficiency reached 91.9% for lead, 83.2% for cadmium, 74.6% for copper, and 64.6% for zinc. The greater selectivity for lead was also seen in the binary tests. The results showed that the presence of zinc is detrimental to cadmium and copper sorption, while for lead it mainly affects the sorption rate, but not the ultimate removal efficiency. In the multicomponent assays, the removal efficiency for all the heavy metals was lower than the values seen in the single ion tests. However, the superior affinity for lead was preserved. This study decreases the existing knowledge gap regarding the potential of alkali-activated materials to act as heavy metals adsorbents under different scenarios.
Kansei Retrieval Model using a Neural Network

In this paper, we propose a Kansei Retrieval model using a neural network. It is very difficult to design Kansei Retrieval Agent to imitate a user's Kansei. To solve this problem, we use the neural network, which is comparatively easy to design. The neural network is a mathematical model that imitates brain functions. Therefore, we assume that the input of the neural network is a stimulation that a user received, and the output of the neural network is a user's impression of the stimulation. In this paper, the effectiveness of the proposed model was verified by a simulation using an evaluation agent instead of a user.
Development and Characterization of Highly Stable Silver NanoParticles as Novel Potential Antimicrobial Agents for Wound Healing Hydrogels

Recurrent microbial infections are a major cause of surgical failure and morbidity. Wound healing strategies based on hydrogels have been proposed to provide at once a barrier against pathogen microbial colonization, as well as a favorable environment for tissue repair. Nevertheless, most biocompatible hydrogel materials are more bacteriostatic than antimicrobial materials, and lack specific action against pathogens. Silver-loaded polymeric nanocomposites have efficient and selective activity against pathogenic organisms exploitable for wound healing. However, the loading of metallic nanostructures into hydrogels represents a major challenge due to the low stability of metal colloids in aqueous environments. In this context, the aim of the present study was the development of highly stable silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as novel potential antimicrobial agents for hyaluronic acids hydrogels. Two candidate stabilizing agents obtained from natural and renewable sources, namely cellulose nanocrystals and ulvan polysaccharide, were exploited to ensure high stability of the silver colloid. Both stabilizing agents possess inherent bioactivity and biocompatibility, as well as the ability to stabilize metal nanostructures thanks to their supramolecular structures. Silver nitrate reduction through sodium borohydride in presence of the selected stabilizing agents was adopted as a model strategy to achieve AgNPs with narrow size distribution. Optimized AgNPs stabilized with the two investigated polysaccharides demonstrated high stability in phosphate buffer saline solution and strong antimicrobial activity. Loading of the developed AgNPs into photocrosslinked methacrylated hyaluronic acid hydrogels was also investigated for the first time as an effective strategy to develop novel antimicrobial wound dressing materials.
Evaluation of an Intervention Program Based on Mobile Apps to Learn Sexism Prevention in Teenagers

The fight against sexism is nowadays one of the flagship social movements in western countries. Adolescence is a crucial period, and some empirical studies have focused on the socialization of teenagers, proving that the socialization with the surrounding environment prevent sexist practices. In a previous work, we developed and tested the effectiveness of a mobile app, called Liad@s, with the goals of helping teenagers to prevent sexism and build healthy couple relationships. In this article, we carry out a study where (using a real situation) we compare the effectiveness of the Liad@s app in front of traditional interventions like a workshop about sexism for teenagers. Also, we evaluate the usability of the app and the user satisfaction with this application. In this study, our primary hypothesis is that the effectiveness of using our mobile application, in terms of knowledge acquired about sexism, would be at least as good as attending the workshop. Our secondary hypothesis is that the user satisfaction with the mobile application would be higher than the one with the workshop, causing a preference for the app. The results of this study show significant differences in learning appeared between gender and between the two different procedures when separately evaluating the data collected from both hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) questionnaires. These results validate our primary hypothesis. Also, most of the population under study preferred the mobile app in front of the traditional workshop, validating also our secondary hypothesis.
Correcting adversarial errors with generalized regenerating codes

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>Traditional regenerating codes are efficient tools to optimize both storage and repair bandwidth in storing data across a distributed storage system, particularly in comparison to erasure codes and data replication. In traditional regenerating codes, the collection of any <inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$ k $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> nodes can reconstruct all stored information and is called the reconstruction set, <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$ \aleph _R $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. A failed node can be regenerated from any <inline-formula><tex-math id="M3">\begin{document}$ d $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> surviving nodes. These collections of <inline-formula><tex-math id="M4">\begin{document}$ d $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> nodes are called the regeneration sets, <inline-formula><tex-math id="M5">\begin{document}$ \aleph _H $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. The number of reconstruction sets and the number of regeneration sets satisfy <inline-formula><tex-math id="M6">\begin{document}$ |\aleph _R| = C_n^k $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math id="M7">\begin{document}$ |\aleph _H| = C_{n-1}^d $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. In generalized regenerating codes, we will have, <inline-formula><tex-math id="M8">\begin{document}$ 1\le|\aleph_R|\le C^k_n $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><tex-math id="M9">\begin{document}$ 1\le|\aleph_H|\le C_{n-1}^d $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. In this paper, we address the problem of secure generalized regenerating codes and present a coding scheme by focusing on the features of the generalized regenerating codes that protects data in the distributed storage system in presence of an active omniscient adversary. This adversary can maliciously alter the data stored on the nodes under its control and send erroneous outgoing message when contacted for the repair of failed nodes. In our scheme notwithstanding the presence of an adversary in distributed storage system, a data collector can still obtain the original file using a classical minimum distance decoder. </p>
Compromised Effectiveness of Thermal Inactivation of Legionella pneumophila in Water Heater Sediments and Water, and Influence of the Presence of Vermamoeba vermiformis

Intermittent reduction of temperature set-points and periodic shutdowns of water heaters have been proposed to reduce energy consumption in buildings. However, the consequences of such measures on the occurrence and proliferation of Legionella pneumophila (Lp) in hot water systems have not been documented. The impact of single and repeated heat shocks was investigated using an environmental strain of L. pneumophila and a reference strain of V. vermiformis. Heat shocks at temperatures ranging from 50 °C to 70 °C were applied for 1 h and 4 h in water and water heaters loose deposits (sludge). The regrowth potential of heat-treated culturable L. pneumophila in presence of V. vermiformis in water heaters sludges was evaluated. A 2.5-log loss of culturability of L. pneumophila was observed in simulated drinking water at 60 °C while a 4-log reduction was reached in water heaters loose deposits. Persistence of Lp after 4 h at 55 °C was shown and the presence of V. vermiformis in water heater’s loose deposits resulted in a drastic amplification (5-log). Results show that thermal inactivation by heat shock is only efficient at elevated temperatures (50 °C) in both water and loose deposits. The few remaining organisms can rapidly proliferate during storage at lower temperature in the presence of hosts.
Instructing Creativity in Mechanical Engineering Design

Employers depend on certifications to indicate whether or not a new hire has adequate skill levels for a job. From CodeAcademy courses to CAD tool classes, certifications reveal an applicants merit. In Mechanical Design Engineering coursework, representation of research, concept creation, design embodiment, and prototyping skills are often limited to a single project. In these courses, students are tasked with collaborating to produce a technically proficient and well-thought-out design. In order to advance the output quality of Mechanical Engineering Design coursework, I will provide criteria for course certification, and propose a system that can be used by professors to advance design learning, as well as increase the efficiency of design teams and project grading. First, analysis of existing design coursework will be performed. Challenges experienced in existing design curriculum will be compared against researched technical new product design processes and the insights of product designers in industry. Reflections on MEMS 411 design processes will serve as a baseline for embarking on the creation a Mechanical Design Certification tool, relevant to instructing creative design practices into strategic product development.
Sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 Life Cycle to IFN Effects and ACE2 Binding Unveiled with a Stochastic Model

Mathematical modelling of infection processes in cells is of fundamental interest. It helps to understand the SARS-CoV-2 dynamics in detail and can be useful to define the vulnerability steps targeted by antiviral treatments. We previously developed a deterministic mathematical model of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle in a single cell. Despite answering many questions, it certainly cannot accurately account for the stochastic nature of an infection process caused by natural fluctuation in reaction kinetics and the small abundance of participating components in a single cell. In the present work, this deterministic model is transformed into a stochastic one based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. This model is employed to compute statistical characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 life cycle including the probability for a non-degenerate infection process. Varying parameters of the model enables us to unveil the inhibitory effects of IFN and the effects of the ACE2 binding affinity. The simulation results show that the type I IFN response has a very strong effect on inhibition of the total viral progeny whereas the effect of a 10-fold variation of the binding rate to ACE2 turns out to be negligible for the probability of infection and viral production.
2D-DOA estimation of noncircular signals for uniform rectangular array via NC-PARAFAC method

ABSTRACT In this paper, we propose a two-dimensional direction of arrival (2D-DOA) estimation algorithm for uniform rectangular array via noncircular-parallel factor (NC-PARAFAC) method. Compared to the conventional parallel factor (PARAFAC) algorithm, the proposed algorithm exploits the property of noncircular signals to double the array aperture. Therefore, the angle estimation performance of the proposed algorithm is better than the conventional PARAFAC method. The proposed algorithm achieves automatically paired two-dimensional angle estimates, and has better 2D-DOA estimation performance than some conventional algorithms, which include estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance technique (ESPRIT), propagator method (PM), PARAFAC algorithm, noncircular-ESPRIT (NC-ESPRIT) and noncircular-PM (NC-PM). We also derive the Cramér–Rao bound for the 2D-DOA estimation of noncircular signals with uniform rectangular array. Simulation results verify the effectiveness and improvement of the proposed algorithm.