Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating real snakebite incidence in Colombia by using mathematical modelling and statistical inference

Snakebite envenoming is a Neglected Tropical Disease affecting mainly deprived populations. Its burden is normally underestimated because patients prefer to seek for traditional medicine. Thus, applying strategies to optimize disease’ management and treatment delivery is difficult. We propose a framework to estimate snakebite incidence at a fine political scale based on available data, testing it in Colombia. First, we produced snakebite fine-scale risk maps based on the most medically important venomous snake species (Bothrops asper and B. atrox). We validated them with reported data in the country. Then, we proposed a generalized mixed effect model that estimates total incidence based on produced risk maps, poverty indexes, and an accessibility score that reflects the struggle to reach a medical center. Finally, we calibrated our model with national snakebite reported data from 2010 to 2019 using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm and estimated underreporting based on the total incidence estimation. Our results suggest that 10.3% of total snakebite cases are not reported in Colombia and do not seek medical attention. The Orinoco and Amazonian regions (east of Colombia) share a high snakebite risk with a high underreporting. Our work highlights the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to face snakebite.
Study on Test Scheme of Shield Tunnel Prestressed Segment Joint

Mechanical property of the segment joint for fabricated shield tunnel lining is the key factor for segment lining design and research. Based on the test prototype of shield tunnel segment lining with about 6m diameter, the test scheme of prestressed segment joint has been studied. On account for the influencing factors of prestressing force, prestressed reinforcement shape, joint shape and bending moment, the test structure and test conditions were designed. And the test content and methods were brought out, the test procedure and notes were discussed.
The polyanionic drug suramin neutralizes histones and prevents endotheliopathy

Drugs are needed to protect against the neutrophil-derived histones responsible for endothelial injury in acute inflammatory conditions such as trauma and sepsis. Heparin and other polyanions can neutralize histones but may cause secondary, deleterious effects such as excessive bleeding. Here, we demonstrate that suramin—a widely available polyanionic drug—completely neutralizes the toxic effects of histones. The sulfate groups on suramin form stable electrostatic interactions with hydrogen bonds in the histone octamer with a dissociation constant of 250 nM. In cultured endothelial cells (Ea.Hy926), histone-induced thrombin generation was significantly decreased by suramin. In isolated murine blood vessels, suramin abolished aberrant endothelial cell calcium signals and rescued impaired endothelial-dependent vasodilation caused by histones. Suramin significantly decreased pulmonary endothelial cell ICAM-1 expression and neutrophil recruitment caused by infusion of sub-lethal doses of histones in vivo. Suramin also prevented lung edema, intra-alveolar hemorrhage and mortality in mice receiving a lethal dose of histones. Protection of vascular endothelial function from histone-induced damage is a novel mechanism of action for suramin with therapeutic implications for conditions characterized by elevated histone levels. Significance Statement Pathologic levels of circulating histones cause acute endotheliopathy, characterized by widespread disruption of critical endothelial functions and thromboinflammation. We discovered that suramin binds histones and prevents histone-induced endothelial dysfunction, thrombin generation, lung injury, and death. Histone binding is a novel mechanism of action for suramin, considered among the safest and most effective drugs by the World Health Organization. These results support the use of suramin for protection of blood vessels in conditions exacerbated by circulating histones including trauma and sepsis.
Effects of Nature Values and Regulatory Fit of Message Framing on Message Evaluation and Actual Pro-Environmental Donations

Messages are often tailored to individual differences, as fit is believed to influence behavior. We examine the effects of regulatory fit (i.e., matching promotion/prevention message framing to people’s promotion/prevention orientation) and the priority that individuals attribute to nature values, on the evaluation of climate change messages and donations to pro-environmental charities. We measured participants’ (n = 570) regulatory focus on ensuring positive outcomes (promotion) versus avoiding negative outcomes (prevention), and nature values. Participants evaluated a promotion- or prevention-framed text (highlighting ensuring the welfare of the environment or avoiding its destruction) and were then invited to donate part of their remuneration to pro-environmental or other charities. Participants who prioritized nature values evaluated the promotion-framed text more favorably the stronger their promotion focus was, but only endorsement of nature values predicted donations. This highlights the importance of measuring actual pro-environmental behavior, as positive message evaluations did not result in donations.
Multivariate fault detection for residential HVAC systems using cloud-based thermostat data, part I: Methodology

Fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) using smart thermostat data is a relatively new field of research, but one with immediate practical application to residential indoor climate control. This two-part article proposes a statistics-based method for using aggregated data from many residential HVAC systems to identify outliers. These outlier systems can then be related to operational problems, such as inadequate capacity, malfunctioning control strategies, or other soft faults. The first part of the article presents the analytical methodology. For this study, historical and real-time data from thousands of cloud-based thermostats are used to extract features during the cooling mode of operation. First, the data are parsed to identify time segments that are characteristic periods of pseudo-steady-state operation. Then, a multistage fault detection method compares the features among all systems to find statistical outliers. Each feature is analyzed independently using kernel density estimation (KDE) methods. Additionally, multiple features are analyzed simultaneously using multivariate statistics and the Mahalanobis distance ( ) to determine outliers. Anomalous systems are sorted heuristically, and information from univariate and multivariate methods is combined to more precisely classify systems exhibiting specific faulty behavior. The second part of this article provides some typical case studies, illustrating how this method can be used to identify aberrant behavior across a large number of monitored systems.
Study the change in the mosquito larvae (Culex pipiens) in water treated with short pulses electric filed

ABSTRACT Electrical Pulsed Field (PEF), of pulse duration in 4 milliseconds, effect on mosquito larvae (Culex pipiens) as aquatic insects is assessed in this work. Mosquito larvae classes have been treated with electric field power values (66.66, 83.33, 100, 116.66 V/cm) with separate pulse number (60) and other classes of various pulse numbers have been treated (20, 40, 60, 80) with power of the electrical field 100 V/cm. The findings revealed that positively significant of increase of the applied electrical field strength or increase of the number of pulses. The rise in both cases leads to an increase in the mortality of 25%, 50%, and 75% of the mosquito larvae (P < .05). The impact was calculated with the bioassay system on mosque larvae, SDS-PAGE for whole body proteins, enzyme analysis and ultrastructural examination using TEM. The current study reveals that a low pulsed electric field can cause mosquito larvae genotoxic, changes in the insect’s body proteins, which may affect the insect’s ability to live. The increase in pulsed electric field parameters also activates oxidative stress in the insect cell by disrupting its secretion of enzymes that could affect the mosquito’s capabilities in the future.
Empirical Studies on Biomass Briquette Production: A Literature Review

The densification of raw material into fuel briquettes is one of the routes to convert biomass into energy. This method provides uniformity to the solid fuel, better physical and energy properties, facilitating its storage and transport, in addition to more homogeneous combustion. Given the importance of these characteristics, this work presents a literature review, emphasizing the experimental levels of the variables of the briquetting process, as well as on the most relevant quality parameters for obtaining briquettes. We also carry out a survey of the main technologies used in the production of briquettes, as well as the experimental methodologies and statistical analysis used in the planning and validation of processes. It was observed among the studies that the raw material granulometry, followed by pressure, initial moisture, compaction time and binder are the most used process variables for the production of briquettes. Other factors, such as the proportion of biomass, process temperature and thermal pre-treatments are used to obtain greater energetic and physical responses. Among the works, divergences were observed regarding the relevance and interaction of some process variables on the quality variables of the briquettes, indicating the need for the experiments to be mathematically modeled.
Behavior of spent nuclear fuel in water pool storage

Storage of irradiated nuclear fuel in water pools (basins) has been standard practice since nuclear reactors first began operation approximately 34 years ago. Pool storage is the starting point for all other fuel storage candidate processes and is a candidate for extended interim fuel storage until policy questions regarding reprocessing and ultimate disposal have been resolved. This report assesses the current performance of nuclear fuel in pool storage, the range of storage conditions, and the prospects for extending residence times. The assessment is based on visits to five U.S. and Canadian fuel storage sites, representing nine storage pools, and on discussions with operators of an additional 21 storage pools. Spent fuel storage experience from British pools at Winfrith and Windscale and from a German pool at Karlsruhe (WAK) also is summarized.
Cathode-Ray Stereovectorscope

Stereoscopic oscilloscope displays have been slow in gaining acceptance due in part to the past scarcity of applications, but perhaps mainly due to the apparent unavailability of a general-purpose instrument. But now the increasing use of computer-generated displays has begun to focus attention on them. The stereovectorscope, developed in our laboratories, is a new stereo oscilloscope with an initial 4-6 month availability. In addition to stereo, it provides linear perspective and two axes of manually-controlled spaceform rotation. Use of a proprietary spaceform rotation mechanism results in a simple, compact, lightweight instrument. One embodiment of the stereovectorscope is as a compact desktop laboratory instrument, designed to be viewed in the same manner as a stereo microscope. It has provisions for connecting a large-screen monoscopic monitor for group viewing. One immediate application is as a device for displaying vectorcardiograms. Another immediate application is as an OEM device for displaying computer-generated spaceforms. In this application, the stereovectorscope frees the computer and programmer from the requirement to provide rotation, perspective, and stereo transformations. In all applications it provides a highly natural man-machine interface for spaceform rotation via its "integrated" rotator.
TOWARDS AN EFFICIENT APPROACH FOR IDENTIFICATION AND SELECTION OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES: A CASE STUDY

The goals and objectives of a project as well as the needs, requirements and expectations of the project stakeholders may contradict or non-fulfillment of them may have different detrimental and negative consequences for the project. Therefore, project stakeholders should be effectively managed, but it is not possible to satisfy all project stakeholders and meet all of their expectations and requirements. As a result, project team must strike a balance between the project goals and objectives and the needs, requirements and expectations of the project stakeholders in order to complete the project successfully. Despite highlighting the significant importance of project stakeholder management, there exists a notable gap in exerting an effective decision support system to adopt stakeholder engagement strategies particularly in oil and gas construction projects. This study proposes a comprehensive framework for the identification, prioritization and selection of the stakeholder engagement strategies in one of the large size oil and gas construction projects in Iran. In this paper, a hybrid method which is the combination of the SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threat) analysis and fuzzy Delphi method is first exploited for identifying the appropriate stakeholder engagement strategies. Subsequently, fuzzy SWARA (Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) is employed to weight the crucial criteria, and finally, fuzzy WASPAS (Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment) is utilized to prioritize the identified stakeholder engagement strategies. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on project stakeholder management by presenting a novel framework for identifying, ranking and selecting the suitable strategies for effective stakeholder engagement considering one of the largest oil and gas construction projects in the country. The value of this study is in applicability of the proposed methodology for project managers and practitioners in other oil and gas construction projects.
Vision-based terrain classification and classifier fusion for planetary exploration rovers

Knowledge of the physical properties of terrain surrounding a planetary exploration rover can be used to allow a rover system to fully exploit its mobility capabilities. Here a study of multi-sensor terrain classification for planetary rovers in Mars and Mars-like environments is presented. Two classification algorithms for color, texture, and range features are presented based on maximum likelihood estimation and support vector machines. In addition, a classification method based on vibration features derived from rover wheel-terrain interaction is briefly described. Two techniques for merging the results of these "low-level" classifiers are presented that rely on Bayesian fusion and meta-classifier fusion. The performance of these algorithms is studied using images from NASA's mars exploration rover mission and through experiments on a four-wheeled test-bed rover operating in Mars-analog terrain. It is shown that accurate terrain classification can be achieved via classifier fusion from visual and tactile features.
Thermal solutions to Pentium processors in TCP in notebooks and sub-notebooks

Less than one year after the introduction of the 90 MHz Pentium Processor in Pin Grid Array (PGA) package, 75 MHz Pentium Processor in Tape Carrier Package (TCP) has been introduced for applications in mobile products. Notebooks and sub-notebooks using the 75 MHz Pentium Processor in TCP are expected to be on the market early 1995. In this paper, we will review the various thermal enhancements from the component, board and system level for the use of the Pentium processor in TCP in notebooks and sub-notebooks. The thermal tests are conducted in one reference notebook and sub-notebook using test boards and thermal test die. Thermal characterizations of the TCP find that with 4 Watts of board power, the TCP can dissipate up to 3.55 Watts of CPU power in the reference notebook and 2.71 Watts in the reference sub-notebook. Various thermal enhancements such as heat sinks, metal plates, are evaluated in the reference notebook. For the design target of 6.5 Watts of CPU power, four solutions are proposed for the reference notebook: the heat sink and aluminum plate solution, heat pipe connected to the keyboard solution, heat pipe connected to the outside aluminum plate solution and fan/heat sink solution. Two solutions are proposed for the reference sub-notebook: the heat pipe connected to the keyboard solution and heat pipe on the bottom chassis solution. Although the study is conducted in the reference notebook and sub-notebook, the thermal design trade offs and relative cooling capabilities are applicable to the general notebook and sub-notebook thermal designs.
Carbonization of Graphene-Doped Isocyanate-Based Polyimide Foams to Achieve Carbon Foams with Excellent Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance

Lightweight carbon foams with excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance were prepared by carbonization process, using isocyanate-based polyimide foams as carbon precursors. The influence of carbonization temperature and graphene-doping on the morphological, electrical and EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of corresponding carbon foams was studied in detail. Results showed that the addition of graphene was beneficial to the improvement of electrical conductivity and EMI shielding performance of carbon foams. The electrical conductivity of carbon foams increased with the carbonization temperature which was related to the increase of graphitization degree. Collapse of foam cells was observed at higher carbonization temperatures, which was detrimental to the overall EMI SE. The optimal carbonization temperature was found at 1100 °C and the carbon foams obtained from 0.5 wt% graphene-doped foams exhibited a specific EMI SE of 2886 dB/(g/cm3), which shows potential applications in fields such as aerospace, aeronautics and electronics.
Promotion of Purbalingga Tourism Object Using Augmented Reality Location Based Service & Virtual Reality 360° Based on Android

One of the technologies that can be used as an attraction in Purbalingga Regency is Augmented Reality (AR) merging virtual objects with real objects, where those objects can be seen in real-time. And using the Location-Based Service (LBS) method, this method is a service with the main parameters being the position and location of the user. LBS Location Based Service will be enhanced with Google Maps and GPS (Global Positioning System) to find its user position and information about several locations to be visited. Virtual Reality (VR) brings users can interact in a virtual world environment simulated by a computer, so that users feel they are inside. The appearance of the Image object using 3600 panoramic so that it can display images indefinitely and not cut and can look around the image. Application creation is done by Multimedia Development Life Cycle (MDLC) and Unity3D. The application has been successfully operated on the Android operating system with minimum specifications of 2GB RAM and KitKat version 4.4 OS. The results of the study have been conducted through a questionnaire to 15 respondents with 15 questions earned an The total value of the frequency of each question gets a score of 1,009 or a percentage of eligibility of 89,68% starting that the application is well worth using. Based on the black-box test, the application has been running properly and can display Location Based Service and 3600 panoramic and its information.
C - core topology for PM wind generators with non-overlap iron-cored stator windings

This paper presents the study of a C-core topology for direct-drive PM synchronous wind generators (PMSGs) with nonoverlap iron-cored stator windings. Some of the most common challenges regarding wind energy converters are first considered, leading to the development of the C-core topology concept and the theory behind it. Results from the finite element (FE) simulations are presented and finally the C-core topology is implemented into a conceptual PMSG and compared, on a 300 kW power level, to a PM conventional synchronous generator manufactured locally. (6 pages)
Driver-like decision-making method for vehicle longitudinal autonomous driving based on deep reinforcement learning

Decision-making is one of the key parts of the research on vehicle longitudinal autonomous driving. Considering the behavior of human drivers when designing autonomous driving decision-making strategies is a current research hotspot. In longitudinal autonomous driving decision-making strategies, traditional rule-based decision-making strategies are difficult to apply to complex scenarios. Current decision-making methods that use reinforcement learning and deep reinforcement learning construct reward functions designed with safety, comfort, and economy. Compared with human drivers, the obtained decision strategies still have big gaps. Focusing on the above problems, this paper uses the driver’s behavior data to design the reward function of the deep reinforcement learning algorithm through BP neural network fitting, and uses the deep reinforcement learning DQN algorithm and the DDPG algorithm to establish two driver-like longitudinal autonomous driving decision-making models. The simulation experiment compares the decision-making effect of the two models with the driver curve. The results shows that the two algorithms can realize driver-like decision-making, and the consistency of the DDPG algorithm and human driver behavior is higher than that of the DQN algorithm, the effect of the DDPG algorithm is better than the DQN algorithm.
Holding beam injection for improving self-induced polarization rotation in a semiconductor optical amplifier

A scheme for improving the self-induced polarization rotation (SPR) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) based on holding beam injection is proposed. Gain recovery of TE and TM modes can be largely accelerated through an appropriate holding beam injection, with which the response of SPR in the SOA for ultrafast signal can be speeded up. Holding beam injection is employed in SPR-based optical power equalization as an example of validation, in which the distortion of RZ (return-to-zero)and the overshoot of NRZ (non-return-to-zero) signal are largely suppressed, and the extension ratio are improved by 10 dB and 7 dB, respectively.
A Survey on Income Inequality in China

After China’s recent great success in eliminating absolute poverty, addressing relative income inequality becomes a more important issue. This survey finds that income inequality rapidly increased in the first three decades since 1978 but stabilized and slightly declined in the past decade, consistent with the well-known Kuznets hypothesis. In addition to documenting the trend and patterns over time and across groups and regions, seven sources of income inequality are systematically discussed with an effort to reconcile and extend the existing literature. Furthermore, a negative correlation is documented between income inequality and intergenerational mobility, consistent with the Great Gatsby curve observed in developed countries. (JEL D31, D63, O15, P36)