Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of ovine-associated staphylococci by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

The objective of this study was to use matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of ovine-associated staphylococci. Presumptive Staphylococcus isolates were recovered from ovine udder surface (US), individual raw milk, bulk tank milk, and cheese samples and were characterised by conventional phenotypic methods. A total of 69 bacterial isolates were further confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS. Forty-two (60.9%) of 69 isolates were successfully identified on genus and species level. Two thirds (n = 28) of the 42 identified isolates were shown to be Staphylococcus spp. These 28 staphylococcal isolates formed two clusters, one consisting of 22 Staphylococcus aureus strains and the other composed of 6 non-aureus staphylococci, including S. simulans (n = 3), S. auricularis, S. equorum, and S. haemolyticus. MALDI-TOF MS has proven to be a reliable tool for the identification of staphylococci from raw sheep's milk, especially bulk tank milk; however, currently it appears to be less useful for the identification of bacterial isolates originating from ovine US samples. This is the first study to evaluate the applicability of MALDI-TOF MS for identification of Staphylococcus spp. in ovine raw milk, cheese, and US samples in Hungary.
Nitrogen Removal from Oil: A Review

The selective removal of nitrogen-containing compounds from oil and oil fractions is of interest because of the potential deleterious impact of such compounds on products and processes. Problems caused by nitrogen-containing compounds include gum formation, acid catalyst inhibition and deactivation, acid–base pair-related corrosion, and metal complexation. A brief overview of the classes of nitrogen compounds found in oil is provided. The review of processes to remove nitrogen from oil emphasizes studies that investigated denitrogenation of industrial feedstocks, such as refinery fractions, heavy oils, and bitumens. The main topics covered are hydrotreating, liquid–liquid phase partitioning, solvent deasphalting, adsorption, chemical conversion followed by separation, and microbial conversion. Chemical conversion processes include oxidative denitrogenation, N-alkylation, complexation with metal salts, and conversion in high-temperature water. There are many processes for denitrogenation by separation of t.
Extreme heat events from an object viewpoint with application to south‐east Australia

Surface high temperature extremes have a large impact on society and environment, and their relationship to the large‐scale circulation has been explored in detail. However, most of these studies have investigated these relationships in a single location or region, and focused on events that persist at this location sufficiently long to be considered heatwave‐like events. Moreover, few studies have explored the full lifecycle of extreme temperature events. The present study introduces a simple object that can be used to follow areas of extreme temperature that moves through time, and presents a basic global climatology of these objects, showing that shorter high temperature objects are more frequently found in the tropics and longer objects are more likely along the mid‐latitude jet regions. Heatwave‐length (three or more days) high temperature events in the south‐eastern part of Australia are also explored using this object approach, showing that while many shorter length objects in the area form and decay within the region, longer objects tend to first appear along the coast west of much of the south‐east Australian region and decay mostly over the ocean to the south‐east of the region. The area affected by the objects is closely associated to the propagation of circulation anomalies, moving from west to east with surface temperature extremes slightly to the west of upper‐level anticyclonic anomalies and in between a surface high to the east and a trough/low/cold front to the west. The large‐scale circulation anomalies are similar in structure but differ in magnitude for different lengths of objects that affect south‐east Australia, although longer‐lived objects have upper‐level anticyclonic anomalies located further north than the shorter heatwave‐length objects. Objects that affect both far western and south‐eastern Australia closely resemble the longer south‐eastern Australian heatwave‐length objects.
Dihaploidization in Promising Summer Squash Genotypes (Cucurbita pepo L.) via Irradiated Pollen Technique

Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) is one of the important vegetable species preferred by the people of Turkey in terms of their nutritional value. F1 hybrid summer squash varieties are widely used both in the open field and protected cultivation. The majority of these varieties come from abroad, and our dependence on abroad continues. In this study, the effectiveness of the dihaploidization method, which has an important place in variety breeding studies, was investigated to reduce our import dependency and to produce new F1 hybrid varieties that are high yielded, quality, resistant to diseases and pests. In this context, 14 summer squash genotypes were used as plant material. Dihaploidization studies were carried out using the irradiated pollen technique. In total, 165 flowers were pollinated and 64 fruits, 7034 seeds, 521 embryos, and 144 plants were obtained. 111 pants were successfully acclimatized and cultivated in controlled conditions. As a result of ploidy analysis, 28 plants were haploid (2n=x=20), 77 were diploid (2n=2x=40) and 6 were mixoploid (containing diploid and haploid cells). Haploid plants were doubled with 1% olchicines treatment, grown in the greenhouse, selfed, and seeds were obtained.
Determinants and Incidence of Chronic Kidney Disease on Tenofovir-Based Antiretroviral Therapy Regimens: A Cohort Study in HIV-Infected Adults in South China

Background: To evaluate the incidence and risk factors of stage 3 chronic kidney disease (CKD) and rapid kidney function decline (RKFD) among Chinese HIV-1 infected patients starting with tenofovir (TDF)-based regimen.Methods: We enrolled in 797 TDF-initiated HIV-1-infected patients in a Chinese cohort. Kidney dysfunction were defined as stage 3 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 during follow-up) and RKFD (eGFR decline > 10 mL/min/1.73 m2/year). A linear mixed-effects model was used to quantify the average eGFR change per 48 weeks. A generalized estimating equation regression analysis was conducted to determine the risk factors associated with renal dysfunction. The method of multiple imputation was used to reduce bias caused by missing data.Results: In this retrospective study, 14 (2%) patients experienced stage 3 CKD, and 272 (34%) individuals experienced RKFD during a median of 26 (IQR, 4-78; maximum 325) weeks follow-up period. The mean loss in eGFR per 48 weeks increased consistently over time, from -2.59 mL/min/1.73 m2 before 48 weeks to -17.61 mL/min/1.73 m2 after 288 weeks. For every 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 increase of eGFR, the risk of RKFD increased by 29% (95%CI: 18%, 40%). Each 10 years older and every 10 mL/min/1.73 m2 higher in baseline eGFR, the risk of stage 3 CKD increased to 1.56 (95% CI: 1.00, 2.43) and decreased by 65% (95% CI: 48%, 76%), respectively. Anemia and higher viral load were significantly associated with RKFD. The results were robust across a range of multiple imputation analysis.Conclusions: TDF-associated CKD is rare in HIV-1 infected Chinese adults. Longer TDF-exposed patients are more likely to have renal dysfunction, especially those with older age, anemia, lower baseline eGFR and higher viral load.
Evaluation of the Cytotoxic Activity of Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles Using Berberis vulgaris Leaf Extract

Background: Recently, due to the numerous applications of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in industry, various routes to synthesize them have been developed. Objectives: The current study was aimed at synthesizing silver nanoparticles by the leaf extract of Berberis vulgaris and evaluating the cytotoxic effects on human breast cancer MCF-7 cell line. Methods: The leaf extract of Berberis vulgaris and silver nitrate solution were used to synthesize silver nanoparticles. Ultraviolet (UV)-visible, Fourier-transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction analysis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy methods were used to characterize and confirm the nanoparticles’ synthesis. The cytotoxic activity of synthesized nanoparticles (0, 5,10, 20, 40 µg/mL) was also studied by MTT assay. Results: The results showed that Ag nanoparticles were polydisperse and spherical in shape and had a size of about 19.9 nm. Silver nanoparticles reduced the growth of cancerous cells based on time and concentration. The IC50 for MCF-7 cells at 48 hours was 20.27 µg/mL. Conclusions: The findings showed that synthesized nanoparticles have an appropriate cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. This impact may be due to the production of free radicals through the release of Ag ions.
The association between excess weight and body composition measurements in a pediatric population

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity in Greece is among the highest in Europe. Body composition may be used as a screening tool to identify children with excess weight and those at risk for developing metabolic complications. The aim of the study was to provide data on body composition indices from a large Greek pediatric population and investigate the possible association between these indices and obesity.Methods: 1453 schoolchildren, 51.2% males, aged 10-12 years old, were recruited from the third in size city in Greece. Anthropometric and body composition indices (weight, height, body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), FM%, fat mass index (FMI), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), SMM%, skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and muscle-to-fat ratio (MFR)), were assessed.Results: i) The rates of overweight and obesity were 25.9% (Males: 24.4%, females: 27.5%) and 12.6% (males: 13.4%, females: 11.7%), respectively. ii) Males had significantly higher SMM, SMM% and MFR, and lower FM% compared to females. iii) No differences were observed in body composition between younger (10-11-year-old) and older (11-12-year-old) children. iv) Higher FM, FM%, FMI, SMM, SMI and lower SMM% and MFR values were found in children with overweight or obesity.Conclusion: A direct association between excess weight and body composition measurements, such as FM, FM%, FMI, SMM, SMM%, SMI and MFR, was found in a large pediatric school-population. These body composition analysis measurements may potentially serve as a useful screening-tool with both research and clinical applications in assessing obesity, but also for predicting obesity-related complications.
Assessing the effect of lithological setting, block characteristics and slope topography on the runout length of rockfalls in the Alps and on the island of La Réunion

Abstract. In four study areas within different lithological settings and rockfall activity, lidar data were applied for a morphometric analysis of block sizes, block shapes and talus cone characteristics. This information was used to investigate the dependencies between block size, block shape and lithology on the one hand and runout distances on the other hand. In our study, we were able to show that lithology seems to have an influence on block size and shape and that gravitational sorting did not occur on all of the studied debris cones but that other parameters apparently control the runout length of boulders. Such a parameter seems to be the block shape, as it plays the role of a moderating parameter in two of the four study sites, while we could not confirm this for our other study sites. We also investigated the influence of terrain parameters such as slope inclination, profile curvature and roughness. The derived roughness values show a clear difference between the four study sites and seem to be a good proxy for block size distribution on the talus cones and thus could be used in further studies to analyse a larger sample of block size distribution on talus cones with different lithologies.
Surrogate-based sensitivity analysis and finite element model updating of welded plates

Abstract Surrogate-based finite element (FE) model updating of two welded plates is performed using experimental modal parameters in an optimization framework based on a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Since there are some uncertainties in the structure, sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of different geometric and material properties on the modal parameters. Moreover, because the welding process introduces some residual stresses to the plates, the effect of using the pre-stressed modal analysis in the updating process is also investigated. Based on the obtained results, considering the pre-stressed condition reduces the errors of the updated FE model.
Cloud robotic grasping of Gaussian mixture model based on point cloud projection under occlusion

Purpose In multi-robot cooperation, the cloud can share sensor data, which can help robots better perceive the environment. For cloud robotics, robot grasping is an important ability that must be mastered. Usually, the information source of grasping mainly comes from visual sensors. However, due to the uncertainty of the working environment, the information acquisition of the vision sensor may encounter the situation of being blocked by unknown objects. This paper aims to propose a solution to the problem in robot grasping when the vision sensor information is blocked by sharing the information of multi-vision sensors in the cloud. Design/methodology/approach First, the random sampling consensus algorithm and principal component analysis (PCA) algorithms are used to detect the desktop range. Then, the minimum bounding rectangle of the occlusion area is obtained by the PCA algorithm. The candidate camera view range is obtained by plane segmentation. Then the candidate camera view range is combined with the manipulator workspace to obtain the camera posture and drive the arm to take pictures of the desktop occlusion area. Finally, the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is used to approximate the shape of the object projection and for every single Gaussian model, the grabbing rectangle is generated and evaluated to get the most suitable one. Findings In this paper, a variety of cloud robotic being blocked are tested. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can capture the image of the occluded desktop and grab the objects in the occluded area successfully. Originality/value In the existing work, there are few research studies on using active multi-sensor to solve the occlusion problem. This paper presents a new solution to the occlusion problem. The proposed method can be applied to the multi-cloud robotics working environment through cloud sharing, which helps the robot to perceive the environment better. In addition, this paper proposes a method to obtain the object-grabbing rectangle based on GMM shape approximation of point cloud projection. Experiments show that the proposed methods can work well.
Modeling and Estimating Volatility of Day-Ahead Electricity Prices

We model day-ahead electricity prices of the UK power market using skew generalized error distribution This distribution allows us to take into account the features of asymmetry, heavy tails, and a peak higher than in normal or Student’s t distributions The adequacy of the estimated volatility model is verified using various tests and criteria A correctly specified volatility model can be used for analyzing the impact of reforms or other events We find that, after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, price level and volatility increased © 2021 by the author Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
Using Social Media in Tourist Sentiment Analysis: A Case Study of Andalusia during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This paper explores the role of social media in tourist sentiment analysis. To do this, it describes previous studies that have carried out tourist sentiment analysis using social media data, before analyzing changes in tourists’ sentiments and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case study, which focuses on Andalusia, the changes experienced by the tourism sector in the southern Spanish region as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are assessed using the Andalusian Tourism Situation Survey (ECTA). This information is then compared with data obtained from a sentiment analysis based on the social network Twitter. On the basis of this comparative analysis, the paper concludes that it is possible to identify and classify tourists’ perceptions using sentiment analysis on a mass scale with the help of statistical software (RStudio and Knime). The sentiment analysis using Twitter data correlates with and is supplemented by information from the ECTA survey, with both analyses showing that tourists placed greater value on safety and preferred to travel individually to nearby, less crowded destinations since the pandemic began. Of the two analytical tools, sentiment analysis can be carried out on social media on a continuous basis and offers cost savings.
Solution-Processed Organic and ZnO Field-Effect Transistors in Complementary Circuits

The use of high κ dielectrics lowers the operating voltage in organic field-effect transistors (FETs). Polymer ferroelectrics open the path not just for high κ values but allow processing of the dielectric films via electrical poling. Poled ferroelectric dielectrics in p-type organic FETs was seen to improve carrier mobility and reduce leakage current when compared to unpoled devices using the same dielectric. For n-type FETs, solution-processed ZnO films provide a viable low-cost option. UV–ozone-treated ZnO films was seen to improve the FET performance due to the filling of oxygen vacancies. P-type FETs were fabricated using the ferroelectric polymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE) as the dielectric along with a donor–acceptor polymer based on diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP-DTT) as the semiconductor layer. The DPP-DTT FETs yield carrier mobilities upwards of 0.4 cm2/Vs and high on/off ratios when the PVDF-TrFE layer is electrically poled. For n-type FETs, UV–ozone-treated sol–gel ZnO films on SiO2 yield carrier mobilities of 10−2 cm2/Vs. DPP-DTT-based p- and ZnO-based n-type FETs were used in a complementary voltage inverter circuit, showing promising characteristic gain. A basic inverter model was used to simulate the inverter characteristics, using parameters from the individual FET characteristics.
Assessment of Radical Scavenging and Sickling Inhibitory Activities of the Bark of Disthemonanthus Benthamianus (Caesalpiniaceae)

Among the medicinal plants used in the treatment of sickle cell disease in south-east of Côte d'Ivoire is Disthemonanthus benthamianus. This paper focuses on assessing its antioxidant properties and its antisickling activity. The test of inhibition of sodium metabisulfite-induced sickling of the erythrocytes was carried out based on this evaluation. The total phenolic compounds contents were 45 ± 0.64 and 39.84 ± 0.69 mg/g of dry weight for ethanolic extract and the decocted respectively. The DPPH reduction test showed that the decocted (9 μg/mL) had a lower IC50 than the ethanolic extract (16 μg/mL). There was no significant difference between the sickling inhibitory activities of the ethanolic extract (87.00%) and the decocted (81.66%). This study showed that both extracts had sickling inhibitory and antioxidant activities.
Large-Scale Truss-Sizing Optimization with Enhanced Hybrid HS Algorithm

Metaheuristic algorithms currently represent the standard approach to engineering optimization. A very challenging field is large-scale structural optimization, entailing hundreds of design variables and thousands of nonlinear constraints on element stresses and nodal displacements. However, very few studies documented the use of metaheuristic algorithms in large-scale structural optimization. In order to fill this gap, an enhanced hybrid harmony search (HS) algorithm for weight minimization of large-scale truss structures is presented in this study. The new algorithm, Large-Scale Structural Optimization–Hybrid Harmony Search JAYA (LSSO-HHSJA), developed here, combines a well-established method like HS with a very recent method like JAYA, which has the simplest and inherently most powerful search engine amongst metaheuristic optimizers. All stages of LSSO-HHSJA are aimed at reducing the number of structural analyses required in large-scale structural optimization. The basic idea is to move along descent directions to generate new trial designs, directly through the use of gradient information in the HS phase, indirectly by correcting trial designs with JA-based operators that push search towards the best design currently stored in the population or the best design included in a local neighborhood of the currently analyzed trial design. The proposed algorithm is tested in three large-scale weight minimization problems of truss structures. Optimization results obtained for the three benchmark examples, with up to 280 sizing variables and 37,374 nonlinear constraints, prove the efficiency of the proposed LSSO-HHSJA algorithm, which is very competitive with other HS and JAYA variants as well as with commercial gradient-based optimizers.
Self‐training with one‐shot stepwise learning method for person re‐identification

Person re‐identification (Re‐ID) aims at identifying the same person across multiple non‐overlapping camera views. A number of existing methods have been presented for this task in a fully‐supervised manner that requires a large amount of training annotations. However, obtaining high quality labels is extremely time consuming and expensive. In this article, we focus on the semi‐supervised person Re‐ID and propose a one‐shot stepwise learning method to address the above issue. It exploits only one labeled data along with additional unlabeled samples to gradually but steadily improving the discriminative capability of the feature representation. Specifically, we first construct labeled data portion to train Re‐ID model. Then we fine‐tune the overall system by the following two steps iteratively: (1) assigning the estimated labels to the unlabeled portion; (2) updating the network parameters according to the selected data. During the propagation process, different from conventional sampling method, we propose a novel dynamic sampling strategy to enlarge the pseudo‐labeled subset step by step to make the pseudo labels more reliable. On Market‐1501, DukeMTMC‐ReID and MARS datasets, we conducted extensively experiments to demonstrate that our proposed method contributes indispensably and achieves a very competitive Re‐ID performance.
Work reorganization in the neoliberal university: A labour process perspective

This article maps the major changes taking place in academic work within the broader context of the neoliberalisation of universities. Recognising the great variability in the form and pace of neoliberalisation across institutions and national contexts, the article identifies a set of features and indicators to aid in the comparative assessment of the extent and effect of neoliberal processes at different institutions. The authors use conceptual tools from labour process theory to highlight the ways that neoliberalisation has resulted in academic work that is fragmented, deskilled, intensified, and made subject to greater levels of surveillance, hierarchy, and precarity. In doing so, the authors also demonstrate the importance of combining political economy and Foucauldian approaches to neoliberalism, to highlight the way that external structural conditions and subjective processes combine to create new labour processes to which participants find themselves consenting and actively reproducing. JEL Codes: J5, L2