Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Review of Toxicity Mechanism Studies of Electronic Cigarettes on Respiratory System

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have attracted much attention as a new substitute for conventional cigarettes. E-cigarettes are first exposed to the respiratory system after inhalation, and studies on the toxicity mechanisms of e-cigarettes have been reported. Current research shows that e-cigarette exposure may have potentially harmful effects on cells, animals, and humans, while the safety evaluation of the long-term effects of e-cigarette use is still unknown. Similar but not identical to conventional cigarettes, the toxicity mechanisms of e-cigarettes are mainly manifested in oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and DNA damage. This review will summarize the toxicity mechanisms and signal pathways of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes concerning the respiratory system, which could give researchers a better understanding and direction on the effects of e-cigarettes on our health.
Computational and performance studies of Ag2S–Bi2S3 quantum dot-sensitised solar cells

In this work, theoretical and experimental techniques were employed to analyze the feasibility of ‘green’ Ag- and Bi-based QDs as sensitisers in QDSSC. In the computational approach, the geometrical structures and optoelectronic properties of anatase-TiO2 (101) surface sensitised with Ag2S, Bi2S3 and Ag2S–Bi2S3 nanoclusters were investigated by means of density functional theory. In the experimental approach, the performances of the QDSSCs were validated. The properties of the QD-sensitised TiO2 electrode were characterised with FESEM, TEM, EDS, and UV–visible spectroscopy. It was observed that Ag2S–Bi2S3 QDSSC treated with post heat treatment exhibited better efficiency. UV–VIS spectroscopy result showed that the same sample had better absorption below the 570 nm wavelength. Efficiency obtained was at the low side due to charge recombination.
Probabilistic Service Life Model of Pavement Marking by Degradation Data

Pavement markings are important features for improving road safety. As these markings must possess adequate retroreflectivity, road agencies are concerned about retroreflectivity maintenance. Consequently there is an increased focus on modeling the durability of pavement markings. Such models use time-to-failure data from life test experiments. The current study proposes a new method that consists of three steps: (i) designing an accelerated experiment for data collection; (ii) fitting a pavement marking retroreflectivity model using a generalized linear mixed model and the degradation data from the planned experiment, confirming the goodness of fit of the fitted model through the residual analysis; and (iii) conducting Monte Carlo simulation (with at least 10,000 runs of simulated vectors of the fitted model’s coefficients) to obtain the pavement marking service life distribution for a failure retroreflectivity threshold level. The simulation of service life of pavement marking provides relevant information, such as service life expectation and empirical quantities of interest (as median). The proposed method is applied to data on retroreflectivity degradation obtained from an experimental test site, a Brazilian highway with a high traffic volume, with two fixed factors (waterborne paints and glass bead application rates, both with three levels). The model indicates that retroreflectivity decreases at an average rate of 2% per day, and how materials differ from each other. The proposed model is easily implementable and can help management teams to adequately plan the maintenance time for pavement markings.
Real-Life Early Anthropometric, Lipid and Liver Changes after Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy in PLWHIV with HCV Co-Infection

Treatment with interferon-free direct-acting antivirals (DAA) has become the gold standard in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Nevertheless, little research about the metabolic impact of achieving sustained virological response (SVR) is available in HCV/HIV co-infected patients. This research aimed to evaluate early anthropometric, lipid and liver parameters changes after achieving SVR 12 weeks after treatment (SVR12). A real-life retrospective descriptive before-after study assessed 128 DAA treatment episodes from 2015 to 2019 in HCV/HIV co-infected patients. Anthropometric parameters (weight, body mass index), lipid profile, genotype (GT) and viral load, liver data (basics laboratory necroinflammatory parameters and transient elastography (TE)) were collected before treatment with DAA (baseline), and when SVR12 was achieved. Significant increases (p < 0.01) were found in the early lipid profile, measured by LDLc (84.6 ± 35.0 vs. 108.6 ± 35.1 mg/dL) and total cholesterol (161.3 ± 41.0 vs. 183.3 ± 41.6 mg/dL). Significant changes (p < 0.05) were found in liver parameters, measured by ALT (58.2 ± 34.0 vs. 22.0 ± 16.0 U/L), bilirubin (0.8 ± 0.6 vs. 0.6 ± 0.5 mg/dL), albumin (4.2 ± 0.4 vs. 4.3 ± 0.3 g/dL) and liver stiffness (LS) (13.7 ± 13.3 vs. 11.8 ± 12.1 kPa). The main conclusions were that the use of DAA has an early negative impact on lipid metabolism. Achieving SVR12 against HCV leads to an early improvement in liver function and LS in HCV/HIV co-infected patients without interference with antiretroviral treatment (ART) and DAA. Short-term close lipid monitoring may be necessary when combining protease inhibitors. HCV-GT-3/HIV co-infected patients might require further close monitoring for residual fibrosis. These findings can be relevant for actual clinical practice.
Minimally invasive versus open total pancreatectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on the safety and effectiveness regarding outcomes of minimally invasive total pancreatectomy (MITP) versus open total pancreatectomy (OTP). Background: Total pancreatectomy is a complicated operation in abdominal surgery. The flexibility of minimally invasive surgery offers a new surgical approach to this technology. At present, there is little research on MITP, and its advantages over OTP remain uncertain. Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was conducted basing on comparative studies between MITP and OTP from January 1943 to November 2022. Intraoperative outcomes and postoperative outcomes were assessed. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and mean differences with a 95% CI were calculated using fixed-effect or random-effect models under heterogeneity. Results: Seven studies with a total of 4275 patients were included. The major morbidity in the MITP group was significant lower (OR 0.50, 95% CI: 0.30–0.84, P=0.008, I²= 0%) than OTP group. At the same time, comparing with OTP, the MITP group had lower estimated blood loss (MD −362.50, 95% CI −641.34 to −83.66, P=0.01, I²=96%) and lower intraoperative transfusion rate (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.16–0.84, P=0.02, I²=0%). There were no significant differences between the MITP and OTP groups for other outcomes. Conclusions: The results suggested that MITP was associated with lower major morbidity, estimated blood loss, and intraoperative transfusion rate comparing with OTP. However, the further evidence with a better design is required.
Correlation Between Word Frequency and 17 Items of Hamilton Scale in Major Depressive Disorder

Objective To explore the correlation between word frequency and 17 items of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17) in assessing the severity of depression in clinical interviews. Methods This study included 70 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who were hospitalized in the Beijing Anding Hospital. Clinicians interviewed eligible patients, collected general information, disease symptoms, duration, and scored patients with HAMD-17. The words used by the patients during the interview were classified and extracted according to the HowNet sentiment dictionary, including positive evaluation words, positive emotional words, negative evaluation words, negative emotional words. Symptom severity was grouped according to the HAMD-17 score: mild depressive symptoms is 8–17 points, moderate depressive symptoms is 18–24 points and severe depressive symptoms is >24 points. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the four categories of words among the groups, and partial correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the four categories of word frequencies based on HowNet sentiment dictionary and the HAMD-17 scale to evaluate the total score. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to determine meaningful cut-off values. Results There was a significant difference in negative evaluation words between groups (p = 0.032). After controlling for gender, age and years of education, the HAMD-17 total score was correlated with negative evaluation words (p = 0.009, r = 0.319) and negative emotional words (p = 0.027, r = 0.272), as the severity of depressive symptoms increased, the number of negative evaluation and negative emotional words in clinical interviews increased. Negative evaluation words distinguished patients with mild and moderate-severe depression. The area under the curve is 0.693 (p = 0.006) when the cut-off value is 8.48, the Youden index was 0.41, the sensitivity was 55.2%, and the specificity was 85.4%. Conclusion In the clinical interview with MDD patients, the number of word frequencies based on HowNet sentiment dictionary may be beneficial in evaluating the severity of depressive symptoms.
Prediction of blood oxygen saturation based on deep learning

According to the different physiological indexes of medical patients, aiming at the data of blood oxygen saturation level in continuous monitoring period, combined with the booming trend of artificial intelligence and its potential in predicting blood oxygen saturation, this paper quantitatively analyzes the prediction results of different physiological indexes on blood oxygen saturation. First of all, in order not to lose useful information, all the characteristics of patients are taken as the characteristics of the input model. Secondly, in order to find out the internal relationship between different patients' oxygen saturation, we add the previous patients' oxygen saturation data to the input features. Finally, multiple regression model, RNN model, GRU model and LSTM model were established to predict the mean value of blood oxygen saturation. The results show that the deep learning model has faster convergence speed in the training set and better prediction effect in the test set. Compared with other models, LSTM model has the best prediction effect, RMSE = 0.021, MAPE = 0.017%, R2 = 0.99.
Hybrid slime mould - Grey wolf optimization algorithm for efficient feature selection

Selection of features is an effective method for minimizing the amount of data features in order to improve machine learning classification performance. Choosing a set of attributes is a high-level procedure for selecting a collection of relevant features. To boost the classifier's performance, use a dimensional dataset. We outline a typical feature selection problem in this work in order to minimize the amount of role and responsibilities while improving accuracy. Different classification dataset from the Machine learning repository have been used to test SMA with GWO as a feature selection strategy. The feature selections for UCI repository datasets include Bat optimization, Cuckoo search optimization, Slime mould optimization, Whale optimization, Particle swarm optimization, and Grey wolf optimization.
Why Engagement Matters: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives and Innovations on User Engagement with Digital Media

User Engagement (UE) is a complex concept to investigate. The purpose of this book is not to constrain UE to one perspective, but to offer a well-rounded appreciation for UE across various domains and disciplines. The text begins with two foundational chapters that describe theoretical and methodological approaches to user engagement; the remaining contributions examine UE from different disciplinary perspectives and across a range of computer-mediated environments, including social and communications media, online search, eLearning, games, and eHealth. The book concludes by bringing together the cross-disciplinary perspectives presented in each chapter and proposing an agenda for future research in this area. The book will appeal to established and emerging academic and industry researchers looking to pursue research and its challenges. This includes scholars at all levels with an interest in user engagement with digital media, from students to experienced researchers, and professionals in the fields of computer science, web technology, information science, museum studies, learning and health sciences, human-computer interaction, information architecture and design, and creative arts.
High-Speed and High-Temperature Calorimetric Solid-State Thermal Mass Flow Sensor for Aerospace Application: A Sensitivity Analysis

A high-speed and high-temperature calorimetric solid-state thermal mass flow sensor (TMFS) design was proposed and its sensitivity to temperature and airflow speed were numerically assessed. The sensor operates at 573.15 Kelvin (300 °C), measuring speeds up to 265 m/s, and is customized to be a transducer for an aircraft Air Data System (ADS). The aim was to enhance the system reliability against ice accretion on pitot tubes’ pressure intakes, which causes the system to be inoperative and the aircraft to lose protections that ensure its safe operation. In this paper, the authors assess how the distance between heater and thermal sensors affects the overall TMFS sensitivity and how it can benefit from the inclusion of a thermal barrier between these elements. The results show that, by increasing the distance between the heater and temperature sensors from 0.1 to 0.6 mm, the sensitivity to temperature variation is improved by up to 80%, and that to airspeed variation is improved by up to 100%. In addition, adding a thermal barrier made of Parylene-N improves it even further, by nearly 6 times, for both temperature and air speed variations.
MO404: Autophagy and Fibrotic Response is Genetically Determined in Mouse Mesangial Cells

C57Bl6/J (B6) mouse strain is resistant to several experimental models of renal fibrosis. Mesangial cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of glomerulosclerosis. Also, autophagy dysregulation was recently related to fibrosis. However, it is unclear whether autophagy dysregulation could be genetically determined in mice. Thus, we investigated autophagy and fibrotic response in primary mesangial cells isolated from fibrosis resistant (B6) and fibrosis prone (CBA) inbred mouse strains. Primary mesangial cells were isolated from 6-weeks old B6 and CBA male mice via magnetic bead separation technique. Glomerular outgrowths were maintained in RPMI medium for 21 days when cells were subcultured and characterized for mesangial markers. Mesangial cells with passage numbers P5 to P8 were seeded onto 24-well plates. Gene expressions were analyzed after 48-h of PBS (CTL) or TGF-β (10 ng/mL) treatment (n = 6/group). Data (mean ± SD) were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis test. Tgfb1 and Col1a1 expressions increased by 2.5-fold and 8-fold in TGF-β treated CBA cells as compared to B6 (P < 0.01), respectively. The expression of Egr1 (early growth response factor-1) that participates in both fibrosis and autophagy increased by 2-fold in TGF-β treated CBA cells but remained unchanged in B6 cells (P < 0.05). Similarly, the expression of core autophagy molecule Lc3b did not change in TGF-β treated B6 cells, but increased by 60% in CBA cells (P < 0.05), accompanied by 1.5-fold increase of Sqstm1/p62. On the other hand, the expression of Mtmr14 that negatively regulates autophagy decreased by 30% in TGF-β treated CBA cells but remained unchanged in B6. We conclude that genetic background of mice highly influences the TGF-β induced fibrotic and autophagy response of mesangial cells. Our results corroborate previous reports on autophagy dysregulation associated to fibrosis. FUNDING: Hungarian Academy of Sciences BO/00 304/20/5, ÚNKP-21–5-SE-1, NTP-NFTÖ-21-B-0045
Architecting Digital Twins

In 2002, Grieves defined the concept of the digital twin as a virtual instance of physical assets capable of continuously mirroring them. Ever since then, driven by remarkable industrial attention, digital twins flourished and ripened in several sectors. The notable industrial adoption has been sided by a growing interest from the software engineering community in general and the software architecture community in particular as demonstrated by the growing number of published peer-reviewed publications and proposed software architectural solutions for digital twins. In this paper, we report on the planning, execution, and results of a systematic mapping study on architecting digital twins. The study captures crucial aspects of software architectures for digital twins as types of architectural solutions, quality attributes, and architectural patterns. It supports practitioners in creating digital twins tailored to their specific needs and researchers in identifying trends and open challenges. Starting from an initial set of potentially relevant 1630 peer-reviewed publications, we selected 140 primary studies. We analysed the set of primary studies using thorough data extraction, analysis, and synthesis process. To compensate for single method limitations and reduce possible threats to conclusion validity, we discussed the results of our study with experts in the software architecture community. Based on our results, the field of software architecture for digital twins is lively and an increasing number of architectural solutions are being proposed. Although there is a lack of widely accepted reference architectural solutions for digital twins, most of them are built using a combination of the layered and service-oriented patterns and address maintainability, performance efficiency, and compatibility quality attributes.
On void aerodynamics in a porous media of a gob area

On the basis of well known and widely used in mine practice retreat longwall mining system, physical and mathematical models of air leakage dynamics have been created. Flow is assumed viscous-inertial and considering natural anisotropy of porous media of a gob area. As a result of modeling pressure and leakage distribution and velocity field can be defined. Thus the model presented in this paper can be used as aerodynamical prediction of gob area characteristics.
Reviewing culture–innovation relationships: Trends and themes from selected management journals

ABSTRACT This article provides a systematic review of the extant literature aimed at linking culture and innovation in order to investigate the general themes addressing the culture–innovation relationship. We examined 142 articles published in 29 international journals and identified nine main research themes (that is, Innovation Type, Innovation Practices, Technology Issues, Entrepreneurial Aspects, International Strategy, Intercultural Factors, Internal Organizational Mechanisms, External Relationships Governance, and National Systems). The identification of the main themes derived from this study can help cross-cultural and innovation scholars focus their attention on both the main themes, as well as understudied elements of this relationship. In addition, we outline some promising avenues for the application of cross-cultural perspective to innovation studies, such as examining the relationship between national culture and innovation at the individual level of analysis, including a broader set of cultural variables, and investigating the impact of national culture at the different stages of the innovation process.
Digital Twin Concepts in Manufacturing Industries - A Literature Review and Avenues for Further Research

Within the profound digitalization in manufacturing industries, the concept of a virtual, digital equivalent to a physical product has gained increasingly attention. Labeled as digital twin, product avatar, or cyber-physical equivalence, various manifestations in different contexts can be detected in existing literature. Although both practitioners and researchers predict those digital twin concepts a bright future, it is not clear what the current state of research is. Hence, guided by an established literature review methodology and grounded on an in-depth analysis of 38 articles published in the time period from 2001 to 2016, this paper (1) provides an overview on established concepts, (2) classifies the existing body of literature, (3) provides a lifecycle perspective on applications, and (4) suggests directions for further research. With the limitation of the representative and interpretive character, our review contributes by enhancing transparency and understanding of digital twin concepts and supplying ideas and directions for future work.
Production efficiency and cost competitiveness of pulp producers in the Pacific Rim

Using 1994 data from the bleached softwood kraft pulp (BSKP) sector, made up of 70 mills producing market pulp in 10 countries across the Pacific Rim, this paper finds that the most efficient producers have constant returns to scale, and that, in general, mills perform well technically but not allocatively. Mills in interior British Columbia have the highest cost efficiency and mill in Asia and Oceania have the lowest. However, similar cost efficiency does not mean similar cost competitiveness. Variations in fiber price, energy use and price, and labor use and price are the major determ inants of cost positions in BSKP manufacturing. Due to the lowest fiber and laborprices, mills in Latin America enjoy the greatest cost advantage. In contrast, mills in Ontario, Asia, and Oceania are severely disadvantaged due to their higher fiber price and/or labor cost. Mills in coastal British Columbia and the U.S. Southeast have modest degrees of cost advantages.
Multiplexed and distributed optical fibre sensors

This thesis presents three novel optical fibre sensor systems which monitor optical path lengths. The systems have been used to measure strain in an optical fibre. All three systems make several measurements at different locations along a fibre, allowing the spatial distribution of a measurand to be obtained. For the first time, incoherent optical frequency domain reflectometry is used together with time division multiplexing to measure the optical path length of an array of fibre sections. Sensing sections are 5m long and are defined by broadband optical reflectors. A closed loop interrogation system is demonstrated to monitor the sensors in real time with an accuracy of 2. 1µ. epsilon/√Hz, in good agreement with the theoretically predicted value. Simultaneous monitoring of multiple fibre Bragg grating sensors, several millimetres in length, is also demonstrated by simultaneously generating multiple passbands in a single acousto-optic tunable filter. This is the only technique demonstrated to simultaneously monitor multiple gratings using a single wavelength-tunable device. The first distributed Bragg grating sensor to measure arbitrary strain profiles is also demonstrated. Low-coherence interferometry selects the interrogation position and a tunable filter measures the local wavelength. Two configurations of the technique are presented, which have achieved spatial resolutions of 300µm and real-time strain measurements with 5. 4µ. epsilon/√Hz accuracy, showing good agreement with theoretically predicted values. The only grating sensor network to be both distributed and multiplexed is presented together with the first results.