Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conformal Voronoi Metasurface Antenna Embedded in a Composite Structural Laminate

This work presents a comparison between two metasurface antennas operating at 10 GHz utilizing either a conventional hexagonal grid (with a continuous distribution of gap dimensions) or a Voronoi partition (utilizing a constant gap dimension). The Voronoi partition was generated using the point-shifting method (proposed by Lee and Sievenpiper) and is (to the authors’ knowledge) the first demonstration of this approach in the design of a radiating metasurface antenna. The traditional hexagonal artificial impedance surface (H-AIS) and Voronoi artificial impedance surface (V-AIS) antennas are shown to exhibit near identical surface impedance profiles, insertion loss, radiation efficiency, and realized gain. However, the Voronoi partition can be adapted to follow an arbitrary conformal surface, whereas the hexagonal grid is restricted to a 2-D plane. To reinforce this advantage, a third metasurface antenna on an arbitrary conformal geometry is designed utilizing numerically generated “reference” and “objective” fields. Lastly, the fabrication of all three antennas utilized a unique process that is compatible with conventional aerospace glass fiber-reinforced composite manufacturing. Hence, this work represents a significant step forward in the deployment of truly conformal multifunctional composite structures.
High School Principals’ Use of Time in the State of Missouri, USA

Accepting educational responsibility among educators depends on how they use their time. Time management and use among high school principals signals what is valued – and what is not. This study describes how public high school principals in the state of Missouri reported spending their time to various leadership tasks using selected items from International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) survey questionnaire. Design. Principals from all public non-chartered high schools in Missouri were asked to complete either a paper or online survey. Findings. Principals spend more time on management-related activities than curriculum and instruction-related activities. There is a strong association between time-use on curriculum and instruction with both gender and school size. The more leadership experience a principal has, the less time they are likely to spend on school management activities. Time-use on organization management is strongly associated with school size. Conclusion. If instructional leadership is a fundamental priority for principals, then development and support of principals to lead successful schools will require a redesign of their roles to free time for instructional leadership. School districts that hire their principals from a pool of assistant principals or invest in principal pipelines, need to develop a strategy to build the instructional and leadership skills of assistant principals as well.
Sparse SIR: Optimal rates and adaptive estimation

Sliced inverse regression (SIR) is an innovative and effective method for sufficient dimension reduction and data visualization. Recently, an impressive range of penalized SIR methods has been proposed to estimate the central subspace in a sparse fashion. Nonetheless, few of them considered the sparse sufficient dimension reduction from a decision-theoretic point of view. To address this issue, we in this paper establish the minimax rates of convergence for estimating the sparse SIR directions under various commonly used loss functions in the literature of sufficient dimension reduction. We also discover the possible trade-off between statistical guarantee and computational performance for sparse SIR. We finally propose an adaptive estimation scheme for sparse SIR which is computationally tractable and rate optimal. Numerical studies are carried out to confirm the theoretical properties of our proposed methods.
Identification and Comparison of Hyaluronic Acid Biosynthetic Genes from Different Capsular Types of Pasteurella Multocida

BackgroundPasteurella multocida produces a capsule composed of different polysaccharides according to the capsular serotype (A, B, D, E, and F). Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a component of certain capsular types of this bacterium, especially capsular type A. Previously, two HA biosynthetic genes from a capsular type A strain were studied for the industrial-scale improvement of HA production. Molecular comparison of these genes across different capsular serotypes of P. multocida has not been reported. This study aimed to compare nine HA biosynthetic genes (glck, pgi, pgm, galU, hyaC, glmS, glmM, glmU, and hyaD) of eleven P. multocida strains (A:B:D:F = 8:1:1:1) with those of other organisms using sequence and structural bioinformatics analyses.ResultsThese nine genes showed a high level of within-species similarity (98–99%) compared to other organisms. Only the last gene of two strains with capsular type A:3 (PM70 and CRIMBP-0884) and one capsular type F strain (HN07) significantly differed from those of other strains (82%). Analysis of amino acid patterns together with phylogenetic results showed that the HA biosynthetic genes of the type A and D strains were closely related compared to those of the type B and F strains. However, the genes in the capsular type F strain were notably similar to those of the capsular type A:3 strain. Protein structural analysis supported structural similarities of the encoded enzymes between the strains of capsular types A, B, D, and F, except for the Glck, Pgm, GlmU and HyaD proteins.ConclusionOur bioinformatics analyses proposed that variations observed within these genes could be useful for genetic engineering-based improvement of hyaluronic acid production.
Dissipation and risk assessment of lambda cyhalothrin 4.6% + chlorantraniliprole 9.3%zc residues in vegetable cowpea

A field experiment was conducted to study the rate of dissipation of insecticide mixture (lamda cyhalothrin 4.6% + chlorantraniliprole 9.3% zc) in vegetable cowpea. Pods were harvested at 0 (2hr after spraying), 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 days after spraying and residues were estimated. The mean initial residues of lambda cyhalothrin and chlorantraniliprole were found to be 0.12 and 0.21 μg g-1 respectively, and persisted up to three and five days, respectively.
α-Trialkoxysilyl Functionalized Polycyclooctenes Synthesized by Chain-Transfer Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization

Ring-opening metathesis polymerization/cross-metathesis (ROMP/CM) of cyclooctene (COE) or 3-alkyl-substituted COEs (3R-COEs, R = ethyl, n-hexyl) using several trialkoxysilyl monofunctionalized alkenes as chain-transfer agents (CTAs; vinyl trimethoxysilane (1), allyl trimethoxysilane (2), and 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl acrylate (3)) and various Ru–carbene–alkylidene catalysts afforded several trialkoxysilyl mono- and difunctionalized polyolefins. The formation of α-monofunctional (MF), α,ω-difunctional (DF), isomerized α-monofunctional (IMF), linear nonfunctional (LNF), isomerized linear nonfunctional (ILNF), and cyclic nonfunctional (CNF) PCOEs is rationalized by a two-stage mechanism. First, formation of monofunctionalized (MF) and nonfunctionalized (LNF, CNF) macromolecules takes place through a ROMP/CM along with RCM (ring-closing metathesis) process. Subsequently, C═C isomerization (ISOM) combined with a second CM process give isomerized (ILNF, IMF) and difunctionalized (DF) macromolecules. The nonfunc.
Fusion Algorithm for Near-Infrared and Color Visible Images Based on Tetrolet Transform

: To address the problems of low contrast, loss of detail, and color distortion after near-infrared and color visible image fusion, an algorithm for near-infrared and color visible image fusion based on the Tetrolet transform and pulse coupled neural network (PCNN) is proposed. First, the color visible light source image is transformed into a hue saturation intensity space, where each component is relatively independent, and its brightness component is decomposed into a near-infrared image by Tetrolet decomposition. Subsequently, a fusion rule for expectation maximization likelihood estimation of the potential distribution from a given incomplete dataset is proposed. A self-adaptive PCNN model with a Sobel operator that automatically adjusts the threshold is used as a fusion rule, and the processed high-frequency and low-frequency images are fused by Tetrolet inverse transformation as brightness images. An adaptive stretching method for the saturation component is proposed to solve the problem of image saturation decline. The processed components are mapped back to red–green–blue space to complete the fusion. The proposed algorithm was compared with several efficient fusion algorithms. The experimental results show that the image obtained by this method has clear details and improved color contrast. It has obvious advantages in image saturation, color restoration performance, structural similarity, and contrast.
Phase State and Deliquescence Hysteresis of Ammonium-Sulfate-Seeded Secondary Organic Aerosol

The phase state of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) has an impact on its lifetime, composition, and its interaction with water. To better understand the effect of phase state of SOA on climate interactions, we studied the SOA phase state and the effect of its history and report here the phase state and the humidity-induced phase hysteresis of multicomponent-seeded SOA particles produced in a large, continuously stirred tank reactor. We determined the phase state of the particles by their bounced fraction impacting on a smooth substrate in a low-pressure impactor. The particles were composed of ammonium sulfate ([NH4]2SO4) seed and a secondary organic matter (SOM) shell formed from oxidized α-pinene or isoprene. The ammonium sulfate (AS) seed dominated the deliquescence of the α-pinene SOM multicomponent particles, whereas their efflorescence was strongly attenuated by the SOM coating. Particles coated with isoprene SOM showed continuous phase transitions with a lesser effect by the AS seed. The results agree with and independently corroborate contemporary research. Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research
Overexpression of target enzyme gene fabI and efflux pump decrease triclosan susceptibility in Escherichia coli

Background: Escherichia coli isolates, the most opportunistic pathogen in the gut, are responsible for the most acquired infections. Triclosan is an effective disinfectant for inhibits microorganisms, but its widespread use causes its residue in urine, resulting in long-term exposure of E. coli in the intestine to triclosan environment and increasing triclosan resistance. We aim to provide the mechanism of action of E. coli isolates against triclosan and the molecular epidemiological analysis of triclosan-resistant strains.Results: Five triclosan-resistant isolates were screened out from 200 E. coli isolates by agar dilution method by to further study, interestingly, multidrug-resistant and cross-resistance phenotypes were observed in triclosan-resistant strains, but not in susceptible strains, and all except one exhibited an inhibition of efflux pump activity by efflux pump inhibition testing. Furthermore, compared with susceptible E. coli strain ATCC 25922, except fabI, increased expression were also found in efflux pump encoding genes ydcV, ydcU, ydcS, ydcT, cysP, yihV, acrB, acrD and mdfA in studied strains which had different PFGE patterns and STs types.Conclusions: These findings indicated that triclosan resistance in E. coli were mainly involved by overexpression of fabI gene, and there was a close association between overexpression of efflux pump with reducing susceptibility to triclosan. Besides, we described cross-resistance between triclosan and antibiotics may be related to the exposure time of triclosan.
TAXONOMIC NOTES ON FEATHER MITE SPECIES (ACARIFORMES: ANALGOIDEA) DESCRIBED BY ADOLF EDUARD GRUBE

The study presents the results of our re-investigation of feather mite species described by A. E. Grube in 1859 in the genus Dermaleichus Koch, 1841. Grube’s paper has been overlooked by most of the 19th and 20th century acarologists. Based on the study of the syntypes of four Dermaleichus species described by the above author, we provide taxonomic comments on them and new synonymies. We conclude the names of three species are valid (senior) synonyms, while one name is a junior synonym. Alloptes (Alloptes) tringae (Grube, 1859) comb. n. (Alloptidae) from Calidris alpina (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae) is a new senior synonym of Alloptes (s. str.) crassipes (Canestrini, 1878) syn. n. ; Analges tergisetis (Grube, 1859) comb. n. (Analgidae) from Pica pica (Passeriformes: Corvidae) is a new senior synonym of Analges corvinus Robin, 1877 syn. n. ; Picalgoides caudilobus (Grube, 1959) comb. n. (Psoroptoididae) from Dendrocoptes medius (Piciformes: Picidae) is an older synonym of Dermaleichus picimajoris Buchholz, 1869, D. picipubescentis Packard, 1869, Analges serratilobus Giebel, 1871 and Analges socialis Robin, 1877 (synonymized by Oudemans in 1939, but overlooked by subsequent researchers). Dermaleichus albicillae Grube, 1859 syn. n. from Haliaeetus albicilla (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) is a junior synonym of Pandionacarus fuscus (Nitzsch, 1818) (Avenzoariidae), a common parasite of Pandion haliaetus (Accipitriformes: Pandionidae).
Different catalytic systems on hydroxyl-terminated GAP and PET with poly-isocyanate: Curing kinetics study using dynamic in situ IR spectroscopy

ABSTRACT Reactions of hydroxyl-terminated glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) or poly(ethylene oxide-co-tetrahydrofuran) (PET) polymers with poly-isocyanate (N100) were monitored by dynamic in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The influence of catalytic systems on the cure kinetics of polyurethane reaction was investigated. From the comparison between GAP/N100 and PET/N100 systems, it was found that primary and secondary hydroxyl groups were differentiated due to the effects of steric hindrance. Using Arrhenius law and Eyring equation, the activation parameters of polyurethane reaction were calculated at different catalytic systems. The negative value of the activation entropy demonstrated an associative mechanism within the transition state.
A discrete probability model suitable for both symmetric and asymmetric count data

In this paper, an alternative discrete probability model, namely the discrete skew logistic distribution, suitable for both asymmetric and symmetric count data is proposed. Some important properties of the distribution along with the estimation of the parameters are discussed. A detailed Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of the maximum likelihood method and the method of proportion for parameter estimation. Finally, the application of the proposed model is discussed by considering two real-life datasets.
Human Capital Investment and Employment Growth in Nigeria

This paper mainly examines the link between human capital investment and employment growth in Nigeria for the period spanning 1980–2019 using timeseries data. The theoretical model is rooted in the simple theory of investment in human capital based on Ashton and Green (1996) relating to maximization of lifetime earnings and wealth. Diagnostic tests show that the ordinary least square (OLS) estimation technique is plausible. Results show that employment rate can positively induce government expenditure on education and health and secondary school enrollment.Creation of investment opportunities through basic infrastructural facilities – electricity, roads,etc. – is key to employment growth and human capital investment.
[Layout automation in analog IC design with formalized and nonformalized expert knowledge] ; SWARM: a novel methodology for integrated circuit layout automation based on principles of self-organization

After more than three decades of electronic design automation, most layouts for analog integrated circuits are still handcrafted in a laborious manual fashion today. This book presents Self-organized Wiring and Arrangement of Responsive Modules (SWARM), a novel interdisciplinary methodology addressing the design problem with a decentralized multi-agent system. Its basic approach, similar to the roundup of a sheep herd, is to let autonomous layout modules interact with each other inside a successively tightened layout zone. Considering various principles of self-organization, remarkable overall solutions can result from the individual, local, selfish actions of the modules. Displaying this fascinating phenomenon of emergence, examples demonstrate SWARM’s suitability for floorplanning purposes and its application to practical place-and-route problems. From an academic point of view, SWARM combines the strengths of procedural generators with the assets of optimization algorithms, thus p.
Qualitative study on the social meanings of using mask during COVID-19 outbreak: implications for infection control

Background: To analyze the perceptions and behaviors related to mask-using in non-medical staff. To protect against respiratory and provide insights on using mask and provide directions for the prevention of infection and health protection.Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 non-medical staff from various backgrounds to reflect a diversity of viewpoints during the peak season of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) since February to March in 2020. A phenomenological approach was adopted for data analysis.Results: Multiple themes emerged: (1) Effective informs and reporting of disease information had raised public awareness of wearing mask. (2) Shortage of masks and reuse exist in the implementation process. (3) The shortage of masks will be dealt by distribution in unified way and increasing production.Conclusions: This study documented non-medical staff perceptions and experiences using mask before the outbreak and this epidemic period. Participants felt that the most effective approach to solve the problem of mask shortage in China is combine prevention infection measures, uniform distribution of masks, material reserve in public health system.
Meta-analysis: Assocation between promoter hypermethylation of DAPK (Death-Associated Protein Kinase) and cervical cancer

Purpose: Death-associated protein kinase (DAPK or DAPK1) is an important tumor suppressor protein that involved in the regulation of cell activities. The aberrant methylation of DAPK promoter has been reported in patients with cervical cancer. However, the association between of DAPK1 and cervical cancer was not always unification, in previous studies. Therefore, in current study, a meta-analysis was performed for association of between DAPK gene’s promoter hypermethylated and cervical cancer. Methods: A systematic literature analysis was conducted based on the previous studies published in PubMed, PubMed Central (NCBI), Google by using following keywords: cervical cancer, cervical carcinoma, Methylation, by the end of January, 2018. The association between DAPK promoter methylation and cervical cancer was evaluated by odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). To evaluate the potential sources of heterogeneity, the meta-regression analysis and subgroup analysis were conducted. Results: A total of 21 case-control studies which relevant to the association between DAPK1 gene’s promoter methylation frequency and cervical cancer, that including 1600 cancer cases and 1011 control cases (non-cancerous cases). The analysis results indicated that the characteristic of candidate gene’s promoter methylation increased the cervical cancer risk through the calculation of OR value (OR = 21.25; 95% CI = 8.73 – 52.97; p < 0.001; Random effect model). The association between DAPK1 gene’s promoter hypermethylation was confirmed in all the subgroups analyses, including materials and assays methods, ethnicity. Furthermore, this association is higher in cervical squamous cell carcinoma than cervical adenocarcinoma and is a characteristic of late-stage disease. Conclusion: The hypermethylated DAPK1 gene’s promoter was also one of etiological factor, lead to the cervical tumorigenesis.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON PIPE-SOIL INTERACTION USING FIBER OPTIC SENSING AND DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS

In the process of urbanization and industrialization in China, the dependence and demand for underground pipelines are increasing, but a series of catastrophic accidents of underground pipeline have occurred in recent years. Therefore, it is urgent to emphasize the study on pipe-soil interaction and failure mechanism. In this paper, based on the quasi-distributed fiber Bragg grating(FBG)technology, a series of plane-strain model tests are conducted in laboratory. The fiber optic strain sensors are employed to investigate stress and deformation characteristics of buried pipes under the action of surface loading. A calculation method of earth pressures around the pipe is proposed based on fiber optic strain measurements. Meanwhile, the particle image velocimetry(PIV)technique is used to obtain the soil deformation around the pipe. Such deformation results are compared to the fiber optic monitoring results. The test results show that the FBG technology can effectively capture the distribution of earth pressure acting on the buried pipe and the evolution of soil strains. The deformation and failure patterns of soil are quite different for pipes with various burial depths. With the increase of burial depth, the soil arching effect becomes more significant. The conclusions drawn in this paper provide useful reference for evaluating underground pipeline hazards and improving monitoring and early warning levels.
Outlier Detection in Text Data: An Unsupervised Method Based On Text Similarity and Density Peak

Outlier detection is problematic in the text data processing. In this paper, a novel method for detecting outliers in text data is proposed. To recognize the outliers, we concentrate on the similarity between every two documents and the density of similar documents. Afterward, an algorithm, which is based on these two elements, is written. We conducted a series of experiments on real datasets with different volumes to evaluate the performance of our proposed method. Experimental results obviously show that our method outperforms than a few previous methods especially when the volume of a dataset is medium. Furthermore, they represent that, we have no performance in one of the powerful outlier detection algorithms due to small datasets.
Effect of Potash on the Hearts of Rabbits

Effect of potash was carried out on the hearts of rabbits. As a result of the toxicity cases that had been observed in potash intake. The study was done to determine the effect of potash on the hearts of rabbits. Twenty rabbits were used for the study. Animals were grouped into 4 (A, B, C and D). Group A served as the control while groups B, C, and D were the treatment groups. The study revealed that continous consumption of potash resulted to some varying degrees of distortion and disruption of the cytostructure of the heart, as compared to the control group which slow normal cellular and continous consumption of potash on the heart with that of the group D appearing more remarkable.
The Elements of Multi-Variate Analysis for Data Science

These lecture notes provide a quick review of basic concepts in statistical analysis and probability theory for data science. We survey general description of single-and multi-variate data, and derive regression models by means of the method of least squares. As theoretical backgrounds we provide basic knowledge of probability theory which is indispensable for further study of mathematical statistics and probability models. We show that the regression line for a multi-variate normal distribution coincides with the regression curve deﬁned through the conditional density function. In Appendix matrix operations are quickly reviewed. These notes are based on the lectures delivered in Graduate Program in Data Science (GP-DS) and Data Sciences Program (DSP) at Tohoku University in 2018–2020.