Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurements of the charge of streamers propagating along transformer oil-solid interfaces

This paper presents an experimental study of the positive streamer charge in transformer oil and oil-solid interfaces in a point-plane gap (5mm) under impulse voltage 50ns\1800μs (maximum peak voltage 24 kV). The experiment is intended to compare the charge of streamers propagating in transformer oil with and without a solid barrier along their path. The solid barrier constricting the streamer volume consists of two parallel strips of either impregnated pressboard or a polymeric film (PA6) installed at both sides of the point electrode. The maximum cumulative charge of the streamer is found for the case when the impregnated pressboard is used and the minimum cumulative charge for the case of the polymer as a barrier.
Disc extrusions and bulges in nonspecific low back pain and sciatica: Exploratory randomised controlled trial comparing yoga therapy and normal medical treatment.

BACKGROUND Previous trials of yoga therapy for nonspecific low back pain (nsLBP) (without sciatica) showed beneficial effects. OBJECTIVE To test effects of yoga therapy on pain and disability associated with lumbar disc extrusions and bulges. METHODS Parallel-group, randomised, controlled trial. Sixty-one adults from rural population, aged 20-45, with nsLBP or sciatica, and disc extrusions or bulges. Randomised to yoga (n=30) and control (n=31). Yoga: 3-month yoga course of group classes and home practice, designed to ensure safety for disc extrusions. CONTROL normal medical care. OUTCOME MEASURES (3-4 months) Primary: Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ); worst pain in past two weeks. Secondary: Aberdeen Low Back Pain Scale; straight leg raise test; structural changes. RESULTS Disc projections per case ranged from one bulge or one extrusion to three bulges plus two extrusions. Sixty-two percent had sciatica. Intention-to-treat analysis of the RMDQ data, adjusted for age, sex and baseline RMDQ scores, gave a Yoga Group score 3.29 points lower than Control Group (0.98, 5.61; p=0.006) at 3 months. No other significant differences in the endpoints occurred. No adverse effects of yoga were reported. CONCLUSIONS Yoga therapy can be safe and beneficial for patients with nsLBP or sciatica, accompanied by disc extrusions and bulges.
Components of near-surface energy balance derived from satellite soundings – Part 2: Latent heat flux

Abstract. This paper introduces a new method for recovering global fields of latent heat flux. The method focuses on specifying Bowen ratio fields through exploiting air temperature and vapour pressure measurements obtained from infra-red soundings of the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) sensor onboard the NASA-Aqua platform. Through combining these Bowen ratio retrievals with satellite surface net available energy data we have specified estimates of global surface latent heat flux at the 1° by 1° scale. These estimates were evaluated against data from 30 terrestrial tower flux sites covering a broad spectrum of biomes. Taking monthly average 13:30 local time (LT) data for 2003, this revealed a relatively good agreement between the satellite and tower measurements of latent heat flux, with a pooled root mean square deviation of 79 W m −2 , and no significant bias. The results show particular promise for this approach under warm, moist conditions, but weaknesses under arid or semi-arid conditions subject to high radiative loads.
Internet-Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Psychological Distress Experienced by People With Hearing Problems: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

PURPOSE Psychological distress and psychiatric symptoms are prevalent among people with hearing loss or other audiological conditions, but psychological interventions for these groups are rare. This article describes the study protocol for a randomized controlled trial for evaluating the effect of a psychological treatment delivered over the Internet for individuals with hearing problems and concurrent psychological distress. METHOD Participants who are significantly distressed will be randomized to either an 8-week Internet-delivered acceptance-based cognitive behavioral therapy (i.e., acceptance and commitment therapy [ACT]), or wa it-list control. We aim to include measures of distress associated with hearing difficulties, anxiety, and depression. In addition, we aim to measure acceptance associated with hearing difficulties as well as quality of life. CONCLUSION The results of the trial may further our understanding of how to best treat people who present problems with both psychological distress and hearing in using the Internet.
Sox9 Expression during Fracture Repair

The molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in bone development provide an insight into the nature of bone regeneration. Sox9 is a key transcription factor for chondrogenesis and is also expressed in osteochondroprogenitors during embryonic bone development. However, it has not been determined whether Sox9-expressing cells appear during fracture repair other than in the cartilaginous callus. On the other hand, the difference between bone development and repair is that the motion of the fractured segments is associated with the subsequent fate decision of osteochondrogenic precursors between osteogenesis or chondrogenesis, but the underlying mechanism of this still has to be elucidated. We herein evaluate whether Sox9-expressing cells appear during osseous regeneration in the initial stages of fracture healing in vivo. We also investigated the association between Sox9 induction and mechanical stress and the role of Runx1 expression. As a result, Sox9- and Runx1-expressing cells were detected in the periosteal callus together with Runx2 expression. Their expression levels were significantly downregulated during its ossification, as observed in embryonic bone development. The application of cyclic tension to isolated and cultured stromal cells resulted in the upregulation and maintenance of Sox9 mRNA expression in vitro. These results showed that as in early skeletal development, Sox9- and Runx1-expressing precursor cells first appear in the periosteal callus as an early fracture repair response. Our findings also suggested that the mechanical environment modulates Sox9 expression levels in osteochondrogenic precursors and consequently influences their fate decision between osteogenic and chondrogenic lineage commitment.
Protein folding in the hydrophobic-hydrophilic (HP) is NP-complete

One of the simplest and most popular biophysical models of protein folding is the hydrophobic-hydrophilic (HP) model. The HP model abstracts the hydrophobic interaction in protein folding by labeling the amino acids as hydrophobic (H for nonpolar) or hydrophilic (P for polar). Chains of amino acids are configured as self-avoiding walks on the 3D cubic lattice, where an optimal conformation maximizes the number of adjacencies between H's. In this paper, the protein folding problem under the HP model on the cubic lattice is shown to be NP-complete. This means that the protein folding problem belongs to a large set of problems that are believed to be computationally intractable.
Cultural Dimensions Among Malaysian Employees

This study explores the similarities and differences of cultural values among the Malay, Chinese, and Indian management employees in Malaysia, mainly via a case study of Nestle in Malaysia, one of the major multinational organisations in the country. Qualitative approach was taken where 13 management employees were interviewed. This study shows several new patterns of cultural values emerging among the employees of Nestle in Malaysia. Primarily, it extends the literature, by providing further understanding on the issues of cultural values on the Malaysian society.
Analysis of Different Types of Resection for Pediatric Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

OBJECTIVEResection strategies for the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) are a matter of discussion. Few data on the significance of resection type are available for pediatric patients with TLE. METHODSData for a series of 89 children who were surgically treated for TLE were analyzed. A first cohort of patients were mainly surgically treated with anterior temporal lobectomies. For a second cohort, resections were preoperatively “tailored” to the lesion and presumed epileptogenic area. RESULTSThe follow-up period was 46 months (range, 14–118 mo). Seventy-seven patients (87%) attained satisfactory seizure control (82% Engel Class I and 5% Class II). For 12 patients (13%), seizure control was unsatisfactory (8% Class III and 5% Class IV). Anterior temporal lobectomies resulted in 94% satisfactory seizure control (33 patients), whereas the success rates were only 74% (20 patients) for amygdalohippocampectomy (AH) (P = 0.023) and 77% (13 patients) for lesionectomy plus hippocampectomy (not significant). All patients who underwent purely lateral temporal lesionectomies became seizure-free (14 patients). Logistic regression revealed the factors of AH (P = 0.021) and left-side surgery (P = 0.017) as significant predictors of unsatisfactory seizure control. Satisfactory seizure control was not dependent on the histopathological diagnoses. There was a low rate of verbal memory deterioration after left-side operations. Neuropsychological deterioration was rare after right temporal resections. Attentional and contralateral functions improved after surgery. CONCLUSIONSurgery for the treatment of juvenile TLE is successful and safe, but the resection type may influence outcomes. Results after AHs were disappointing, probably because of difficulties in precise localization of the epileptogenic focus among children. Neuropsychological results demonstrated minimal rates of deterioration and significant improvements in contralateral functions. Surgical treatment of juvenile TLE should be encouraged, but the use of especially left AH should possibly be restricted.
Natural Killer (NK)- and T-Cell Engaging Antibody-Derived Therapeutics

Unmodified antibodies (abs) have been successful in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, but less so for the treatment of solid tumors. They trigger anti-tumor effects through their Fc-domains, and one way to improve their efficacy is to optimize their interaction with the effectors through Fc-engineering. Another way to empower abs is the design of bispecific abs and related fusion proteins allowing a narrower choice of effector cells. Here we review frequently chosen classes of effector cells, as well as common trigger molecules. Natural Killer (NK)- and T-cells are the most investigated populations in therapeutical approaches with bispecific agents until now. Catumaxomab, the first bispecific ab to receive drug approval, targets the tumor antigen Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule (EpCAM) and recruits T-cells via a binding site for the cell surface protein CD3. The next generation of recombinant ab-derivatives replaces the broadly reactive Fc-domain by a binding domain for a single selected trigger. Blinatumomab is the first clinically successful member of this class, targeting cancer cells via CD19 and engaging T-cells by CD3. Other investigators have developed related recombinant fusion proteins to recruit effectors, such as NK-cells and macrophages. The first such agents currently in preclinical and clinical development will be discussed.
Upgrading links for performance

The performance of a computer network is commonly measured by the maximum minimum time required to move certain amount of data between any 2 nodes in the network. Due to the advances in technology, links in the network may now be upgraded, for instance to optical fibre links, so that better performance can be achieved. We study the link upgrade problem for networks. We first show that the link upgrade problem is NP-complete. We also show that, a closely related problem, the minimum cost link upgrade problem is NP-complete even if the underlying topology of the network is a linear array. However, for certain classes of networks, the link upgrade problem can be solved in polynomial time. For general networks, we provide effective heuristics for the above problems.
Prologue: Stability and change*

This special feature section of Journal of Management & Organization (Volume 17/1 - March 2011) sets out to widen understanding of the processes of stability and change in today's organizations, with a particular emphasis on the contribution of institutional approaches to organizational studies. Institutional perspectives on organization theory assume that rational, economic calculations, such as the maximization of profits or the optimization of resource allocation, are not sufficient to understand the behavior of organizations and their strategic choices. Institutionalists acknowledge the great uncertainty associated with the conduct of organizations and suggest that taken-for-granted values, beliefs and meanings within and outside organizations also play an important role in the determination of legitimate action.
A variable region in the Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus L segment distinguishes between strains isolated from different geographic regions

Alignment of Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) L genome segment full‐length sequences reveals an overall high level of conservation among strains, with greater than 90% of translated amino acid residues strictly conserved. However, a region of marked variability identified previously, corresponding to L polyprotein amino acid positions 760–810, shares only 40% overall identity between strains. The variable regions sequences of 16 laboratory‐adapted CCHFV strains were determined, including 11 strains from European Russia, one strain from Bulgaria, and four strains from the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates this L segment variable region sequence divides CCHFV strains into similar geographically‐defined groupings observed for S segment‐derived trees, but with higher bootstrap support and a much smaller character set required for analysis. J. Med. Virol. 78:223–228, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Computational Library Design for Increasing Haloalkane Dehalogenase Stability

We explored the use of a computational design framework for the stabilization of the haloalkane dehalogenase LinB. Energy calculations, disulfide bond design, molecular dynamics simulations, and rational inspection of mutant structures predicted many stabilizing mutations. Screening of these in small mutant libraries led to the discovery of seventeen point mutations and one disulfide bond that enhanced thermostability. Mutations located in or contacting flexible regions of the protein had a larger stabilizing effect than mutations outside such regions. The combined introduction of twelve stabilizing mutations resulted in a LinB mutant with a 23 °C increase in apparent melting temperature (Tm,app, 72.5 °C) and an over 200‐fold longer half‐life at 60 °C. The most stable LinB variants also displayed increased compatibility with co‐solvents, thus allowing substrate conversion and kinetic resolution at much higher concentrations than with the wild‐type enzyme.
Mining multilevel association rules with dynamic concept hierarchy

Association rule mining has attracted wide attention in both research and application areas recently. The mining of multilevel association rules is one of the important branches of it. In most of the studies, multilevel rules will be mined through repeated mining from databases or mining the rules at each individually levels, it affects the efficiency, integrality and accuracy. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to improve this situation by analyzing the rules mined from primitive concept level to obtain multilevel rules. The proposed method also supports dynamic concept hierarchies.
New Allometric Scaling Relationships and Applications for Dose and Toxicity Extrapolation

Allometric scaling between metabolic rate, size, body temperature, and other biological traits has found broad applications in ecology, physiology, and particularly in toxicology and pharmacology. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) was observed to scale with body size and temperature. However, the mass scaling exponent was increasingly debated whether it should be 2/3, 3/4, or neither, and scaling with body temperature also attracted recent attention. Based on thermodynamic principles, this work reports 2 new scaling relationships between BMR, size, temperature, and biological time. Good correlations were found with the new scaling relationships, and no universal scaling exponent can be obtained. The new scaling relationships were successfully validated with external toxicological and pharmacological studies. Results also demonstrated that individual extrapolation models can be built to obtain scaling exponent specific to the interested group, which can be practically applied for dose and toxicity extrapolations.
Learning theory: A new perspective for reliability testing evaluation

Software, hardware, and procedure reliability modeling and prediction have received significant attention by the research community over the past decades, but relatively less research has been dedicated to studying the contribution of the human element of reliability engineering. This paper applies several mathematical models from the theory of learning in search of evidence for learning trends during the testing phase. To demonstrate the utility of the approach, the methods are applied to several widely studied historical data sets. In several of these cases, no evidence of learning was detected, suggesting that additional faults may have eluded testers and inadvertently been included in the final product. Thus, the proposed techniques can offer additional guidance to managers concerned with the thoroughness of product and procedure testing.
Nif1, a novel mitotic inhibitor in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the activity of the M‐phase‐inducing Cdc2/Cdc13 cyclin‐dependent kinase is inhibited by Wee1 and Mik1 tyrosine kinases, and activated by Cdc25 and Pyp3 tyrosine phosphatases. Cdc2/Cdc13 activity is also indirectly regulated by the ∼70 kDa Nim1 (Cdr1) serine/threonine kinase, which promotes mitosis by inhibiting Wee1 via direct phosphorylation. To understand better the function and regulation of Nim1, the yeast two‐hybrid system was used to isolate S.pombe cDNA clones encoding proteins that interact with Nim1. Sixteen of the 17 cDNA clones were derived from the same gene, named nif1+ (nim1 interacting factor‐1). Nif1 is a novel ∼75 kDa protein containing a leucine zipper motif. The Nif1–Nim1 interaction requires a small region of Nim1 that immediately follows the N‐terminal catalytic domain. This region is required for Nim1 activity both in vivo and in vitro. Δnif1 mutants are ∼10% smaller than wild type, indicating that Nif1 is involved in inhibiting the onset of mitosis. Consistent with this proposal, overproduction of Nif1 was found to cause a cell elongation phenotype that is very similar to Δnim1 mutants. Nif1 overproduction causes cell cycle arrest in cells that are partly defective for Cdc25 activity, but has no effect in Δnim1 or Δwee1 mutants. Nif1 also inhibits Nim1‐mediated phosphorylation of Wee1 in an insect cell expression system. These observations strongly suggest that Nif1 negatively regulates the onset of mitosis by a novel mechanism, namely inhibiting Nim1 kinase.
Controllable text generation

Since the introduction of deep generative models a few years ago, there was a great advancement in this area, especially in the visual domain. On the contrary, tasks in natural language generating have been less studied. Producing realistic sentences is a challenging task for generative models as they required to capture complex semantic structures within given training text corpus. For controllable text generation, there are additional challenges. First is text samples are discrete and as a result non-differentiable. This doesnt allow the use of global discriminator, which is common in the generative models in the visual domain. For example in generative adversarial networks used for image generation. Another challenge for controllable text generation relates to learning disentangled latent representations. Parts of a latent vector, obtained from encoded text sample or sampled from latent space, are not mutually independent. Additionally, they are hard to relate to semantic properties in generated text samples. Varying individual parts of latent vector representation can cause unpredictable results in the generated text sample. Area of generic and controllable text generation using deep neural models is not very well explored. Recently few approaches were introduced. Researchers use variational autoencoders [1] and generative adversarial networks [8] to solve this task and results were not very good. Recently new advancements in this area were made, with impressive results [3][7]. The [3] proposes a model that addresses issues stated above. The new approach is still based on generative variational autoencoder but uses additional building blocks and advanced training schemes, which allow the model to achieve plausible results with a benefit of semantic property control. In this project, I’m working on implementing models described in [3] with focus on conditional text generation. Specifically, I’m interested in replicating model capable of text generation given a sentiment label. Approach for plausible text generation with predetermined sentiment can have lots of important applications. For example enriching chatbots answers with the sentiment, tense and other semantic properties can drastically improve the experience of interaction with them. Internet companies which rely on humangenerated reviews in their business can enhance interaction of people with their knowledge base. And many others.
DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

The growing competitions among companies intensified by the rapid changes in business environments are forcing them to adopt a new managerial paradigm. The traditional production-oriented management focusing on higher productivity has transformed into the customer-oriented management aiming at achieving customer satisfaction. Under these circumstances, quality management is one of the critical concepts for innovating corporations and improving their competitive edge. Despite the companies’ recognition of the significance of quality, most of them do not have a solid basis for quality management and substantial action programs. In the construction industry, there have been many attempts to adopt quality management as a tool for continuous improvement. They include Six-Sigma which has already been proven to be very useful for fostering quality innovation in the manufacturing industry. But these kinds of efforts are not sufficient enough to achieve organizational goals in quality management. It is essential to also take into consideration the root causes of inefficiency in the quality management. The low level of construction quality is mainly caused by the result-oriented quality management owing to the fact that quality problems can be detected only after they occur. Also, few systems provide the quality managers with numerical objectives or tangible goals. This study suggests a data-based quality management as a solution to the foregoing problems and discusses the methods of measuring and analyzing the performance related to quality in a construction company. It establishes the quality indicators to measure quality performance objectively. The management objectives and CSFs are defined according to the three management levels: strategic level; project level; and operational level, and then the indicators to measure and manage them are listed. The indicators are assigned to each quality management level and the level of quality is expressed with Sigma values. Through this quality performance management, managers will be able to improve the construction quality by monitoring the major indicators of construction project success and ultimately increase the competitiveness of overall construction organization.