Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impacts of Utilitarian and Hedonistic Values of Online Shopping on Preferences and Intentions of Consumers

Given to the ever-increasing development of human societies and necessity of productivity increase in all daily activities, using electronic systems is unavoidable. This is true about the process of shopping and utilizing electronic methods especially internet is increasing day by day. The present survey was formed through the intentions variable as the dependent variable, utilitarian and hedonistic values as independent variables and preferences as the mediating variable. Students of the Islamic Azad University, Tehran Science and Research branch were the statistical population and three-hundred seventy nine persons were selected using stratified random sampling proportional to the sample volume. Obtained results of testing hypotheses through structural equations model using SPSS and PLS software (statistical analysis) reveal that judgments about hedonistic and utilitarian values have a significant relationship with preferences. Also preferences have a significant relationship with future shopping intentions. Generally it can be argued that judgments of hedonistic and utilitarian values have a direct impact on preferences in online retailers and thus on future shopping intentions.
A NOVEL MODEL OF RF MEMS SHUNT SWITCH

The advancement in the Radio Frequency Micro- Electro Mechanical Systems (RF MEMS) switch has enabled new technologies for microwave switching applications. It is the method used for reduction of material used which in turn decreases the cost and the power dissipation. The RF MEMS shunt switch is constructed for high frequency microwave switching. The switch is driven by electrostatic actuation. The contact line and the RF signal line behaves as the parallel plate capacitor. The Switch provides a good isolation in the off state and less insertion loss. The geometry parameters of the switch is chosen such that the switch can be easily integrated. The Switch Niobium metal is used for the contact lines as it has good superconducting characteristics in cryogenic temperature. The performance of the switch is analyzed and the result shows the deformation of the switch with low actuation voltage.
Ergonomically Designed Lift - Assist Device in a EOT Crane

Manual Material Handling (MMH) duringmaintenance activities poses strain to employees and at times it results in injuries. This type of work entails lifting, bending and twisting which can cause great strain to the human body if done improperly. A paradigm shift has taken place in Ergonomics from the narrow to a wide approach dealing with physiological, psychological, technological and organizational aspects of human work environment. This paper analyses the MMH hazards during the replacement of jaw bits in Electrically Operated Tong (EOT) crane in Hot Rolling Mill. Ergonomics risk factors were estimated using Rapid Entire Body Assessment risk assessment (REBA) tool. Based on the analysis, suitable engineering improvement called Lift - Assist Device was developed to reduce extreme range of motion while lifting, moving and inserting and found to be satisfactory.
Improved performance of IR photodetectors with 3D gap engineering

The ultimate signal-to-noise performance of the semiconductor photodetector is limited by the statistical fluctuations of the thermal generation and recombination rates in photodetector material. Cooling is an effective but impractical way of suppression of the thermal processes. The performance of uncooled detectors can be improved by minimizing the thermal generation and recombination rates and reducing the actual volume of photodetector. This can be realized in 3D heterostructure devices. In these devices, the incident radiation is absorbed in small regions of narrow gap semiconductor, buried in wide gap volume and supplied with wide gap electric contacts and radiation concentrators. The practical near room-temperature 1 - 12 micrometers IR heterostructure photodetectors are reported. The devices are based on variable gap Hg1-xCdxTe. The 3D heterostructures have been obtained by Isothermal Vapor Growth Epitaxy in a reusable growth system which enables in situ doping during growth with foreign impurities. Ion milling was extensively used in preparation of the devices. Monolithic optical immersion has been applied for further improvement of performance. The 3D heterostructure devices exhibit performance exceeding that of conventional photodetectors.
Phase-rotation based receive-beamformer for miniaturized volumetric ultrasound imaging scanners using 2-D CMUT-on-ASIC arrays

Up-to-date capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) technologies provide us unique opportunities to minimize the size and cost of ultrasound scanners by integrating front-end circuits into CMUT arrays. We describe a design prototype of a portable ultrasound scan-head probe using 2-D phased CMUT-on-ASIC arrays of 3-MHz 250 micrometer-pitch by fabricating and integrating front-end electronics with 2-D CMUT array elements. One of the objectives of our work is to design a receive beamformer architecture for the smart probe with compact size and comparable performance. In this work, a phase-rotation based receive beamformer using the sampling frequency of 4 times the center frequency and a hybrid beamforming to reduce the channel counts of the system-side are introduced. Parallel beamforming is considered for the purpose of saving power consumption of battery (by firing fewer times per image frame). This architecture has the advantage of directly obtaining I and Q components. By using the architecture, the interleaved I/Q data from the storage is acquired and I/Q demodulation for baseband processing is directly achieved without demodulators including sin and cosine lookup tables and mixers. Currently, we are extending the presented architecture to develop a true smart probe by including lower power devices and cooling systems, and bringing wireless data transmission into consideration.
Demand flexibility potential model for multi-zone commercial buildings using internal HVAC system states

The rapidly changing outlook of the electric grid with growing use of renewable energy imposes additional needs for operational flexibility. An opportunity to fulfill a portion of these grid services can come from the demand flexibility (DF) of commercial buildings. However, the practicality using these systems as grid resources hinges on the development of scalable and accurate load flexibility models. To satisfy both properties, we propose using internal HVAC system states to generate a feature called thermal unloading potential to predict demand flexibility. The proposed feature is designed to capture the balance between internal and external thermal loading. We evaluate this DF estimation framework with simulation experiments using three standard prototype office buildings during cooling operation with five distinct weather scenarios, yielding over 15,000 load shedding events. Subsequently, we fit regression models using our proposed feature and compare it to models that rely on outdoor air temperature (OAT) as predictor variable. Our results show that overall the proposed feature has a 55% reduction in error on average across all simulated events.
Embedded System Based Target Tracking

A mobile robot based on embedded system can meet the requirement of low energy cost and miniaturization. An embedded system for moving target tracking is designed in this paper. By combining with wavelet transmission, an improved algorithm of particle filter with wavelet particles is proposed for tracking maneuver target, and then a scheme of optimization is also proposed to enhance the real-time property of the system. Experimental results show that the system can be suitable for real-time target tracking applications.
Field measurements of perceived air quality and concentration of volatile organic compounds in four offices of the university building

Field measurements of perceived air quality were conducted in four refurbished offices at the Czech Technical University in Prague. The offices were refurbished as part of the research project Clear-up to serve as a field test facility. The present paper describes measurements conducted to investigate the perceived air quality, sensory pollution load and concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the offices. As the refurbishment comprised also installation of demand controlled ventilation (DCV), its influence on the perceived air quality was also tested. Measurements comprised the assessments of perceived air quality and objective measurements of operative temperature, relative humidity, CO2 and VOCs concentrations. Results showed that the mean sensory pollution load in unoccupied offices was 0.09 ± 0.01 olf/m2 (mean ± SEM). This falls into the category of a low-polluting building according to CEN Report CR 1752. The acceptability of the air quality was worst in unoccupied offices ventilated with minimum air change rate (0.4 h-1). Application of DCV decreased the CO2 concentration, but did not result in statistically significant improvement of perceived air quality.
Quasi-Newton Method for DSPSL Bandpass Filter Design

A method based on neural-network is developed and applied to analyze the DSPSL filter design. Through the neural network analysis of nonlinear circuits, it can enhance the efficiency of electro-magnetic (EM) analysis techniques for DSPSL filter design. Quasi-Newton method is adopted, which has shorter training period and the faster convergence. A good agreement between ANN results and EM simulations verifies the validity of this proposed MLPNN model.
Visceral Adiposity Index Plays an Important Role in Prognostic Prediction in Patients With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background: Visceral adiposity index (VAI), a surrogate marker of adiposity and insulin resistance, has been demonstrated to be significantly related to cardiovascular disease. It remains indistinct whether VAI predicts adverse prognosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A total of 798 participants who met the enrollment criteria were finally brought into this study. VAI was determined by waist circumference, body mass index, fasting triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol as previously reported. Adverse prognosis included all-cause death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal ischemic stroke, and ischemia-driven revascularization, the composite of which was defined as the primary endpoint. Results: Higher VAI maintained as a significant and independent risk predictor for the primary endpoint, regardless of the adjustment for the various multivariate models [hazard ratio (95% CI) for fully adjusted model: 2.72 (2.02–3.68), p < 0.001]. The predictive value of VAI was further confirmed in sensitivity analysis where VAI was taken as a continuous variate. There was a dose-response relationship of VAI with the risk of the primary endpoint (p for overall association < 0.001). Moreover, the ability of VAI on the prediction of the primary endpoint was consistent between subgroups stratified by potential confounding factors (all p for interaction > 0.05). VAI exhibited a significant incremental effect on risk stratification for the primary endpoint beyond existing risk scores, expressed as increased Harrell's C-index, significant continuous net reclassification improvement, and significant integrated discrimination improvement. Conclusion: VAI is a significant indicator for predicting worse prognosis and plays an important role in risk stratification among patients with NSTE-ACS and T2DM undergoing elective PCI. The present findings require further large-scale, prospective studies to confirm.
Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance Algorithm for the Mobile Robot Based on Depth Image of Kinect Sensor

In order to solve the problem of the dynamic obstacle avoidance of the mobile robot in indoor environment, a new approach based on depth information is presented in this paper. The depth information of surrounding environment was collected and used to set the robots obstacle avoidance warning area by a Kinect sensor. When the moving obstacle accessed into the warning area, the robots obstacle avoidance direction was determined preliminary by the obstacles position, and then an improved Kalman filter algorithm was used to optimize the avoidance path. Experiments show that this approach can overcome the potential problem of path selection, and realize the mobile robot obstacle avoidance behavior in the dynamic environment.
Synaptic Density and Neuronal Metabolic Function Measured by Positron Emission Tomography in the Unilateral 6-OHDA Rat Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by progressive neurodegeneration and characterised by motor dysfunction. Neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons also causes aberrations within the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit, which has been hypothesised to lead to non-motor symptoms such as depression. Individuals with PD have both lower synaptic density and changes in neuronal metabolic function in the basal ganglia, as measured using [11C]UCB-J and [18F]FDG positron emission tomography (PET), respectively. However, the two radioligands have not been directly compared in the same PD subject or in neurodegeneration animal models. Here, we investigate [11C]UCB-J binding and [18F]FDG uptake in the CSTC circuit following a unilateral dopaminergic lesion in rats and compare it to sham lesioned rats. Rats received either a unilateral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or saline in the medial forebrain bundle and rostral substantia nigra (n = 4/group). After 3 weeks, all rats underwent two PET scans using [18F]FDG, followed by [11C]UCB-J on a separate day. [18F]FDG uptake and [11C]UCB-J binding were both lower in the ipsilateral striatal regions compared to the contralateral regions. Using [11C]UCB-J, we could detect an 8.7% decrease in the ipsilateral ventral midbrain, compared to a 2.9% decrease in ventral midbrain using [18F]FDG. Differential changes between hemispheres for [11C]UCB-J and [18F]FDG outcomes were also evident in the CSTC circuit’s cortical regions, especially in the orbitofrontal cortex and medial prefrontal cortex where higher synaptic density yet lower neuronal metabolic function was observed, following lesioning. In conclusion, [11C]UCB-J and [18F]FDG PET can detect divergent changes following a dopaminergic lesion in rats, especially in cortical regions that are not directly affected by the neurotoxin. These results suggest that combined [11C]UCB-J and [18F]FDG scans could yield a better picture of the heterogeneous cerebral changes in neurodegenerative disorders.
Moral Distress in Hospitals During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Web-Based Survey Among 3,293 Healthcare Workers Within the German Network University Medicine

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between moral distress and mental health symptoms, socio-demographic, occupational, and COVID-19-related variables, and to determine differences in healthcare workers’ (HCW) moral distress during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Data from 3,293 HCW from a web-based survey conducted between the 20th of April and the 5th of July 2020 were analyzed. We focused on moral distress (Moral Distress Thermometer, MDT), depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-2, PHQ-2), anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2, GAD-2), and increased general distress of nurses, physicians, medical-technical assistants (MTA), psychologists/psychotherapists, and pastoral counselors working in German hospitals. Results: The strongest correlations for moral distress were found with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, occupancy rate at current work section, and contact with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Nurses and MTA experienced significantly higher moral distress than physicians, psychologists/psychotherapists, and pastoral counselors. The average level of moral distress reported by nurses from all work areas was similar to levels which before the pandemic were only experienced by nurses in intensive or critical care units. Conclusion: Results indicate that moral distress is a relevant phenomenon among HCW in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of whether they work at the frontline or not and requires urgent attention.
The Association Between Force-Velocity Relationship in Countermovement Jump and Sprint With Approach Jump, Linear Acceleration and Change of Direction Ability in Volleyball Players

The force-velocity (FV) relationship allows the identification of the mechanical capabilities of musculoskeletal system to produce force, power and velocity. The aim of this study was to assess the associations of the mechanical variables derived from the FV relationship with approach jump, linear sprint and change of direction (CoD) ability in young male volleyball players. Thirty-seven participants performed countermovement jumps with incremental loads from bodyweight to 50–100 kg (depending on the individual capabilities), 25-m sprint with split times being recorded for the purpose of FV relationship calculation, two CoD tests (505 test and modified T-test) and approach jump. Results in this study show that approach jump performance seems to be influenced by maximal power output (r = 0.53) and horizontal force production (r = 0.51) in sprinting, as well as force capacity in jumping (r = 0.45). Only the FV variables obtained from sprinting alone contributed to explaining linear sprinting and CoD ability (r = 0.35–0.93). An interesting finding is that sprinting FV variables have similar and some even stronger correlation with approach jump performance than jumping FV variables, which needs to be considered for volleyball training optimization. Based on the results of this study it seems that parameters that refer to horizontal movement capacity are important for volleyball athletic performance. Further interventional studies are needed to check how to implement specific FV-profile-based training programs to improve specific mechanical capabilities that determine volleyball athletic performance and influence the specific physical performance of volleyball players.
DeepCarc: Deep Learning-Powered Carcinogenicity Prediction Using Model-Level Representation

Carcinogenicity testing plays an essential role in identifying carcinogens in environmental chemistry and drug development. However, it is a time-consuming and label-intensive process to evaluate the carcinogenic potency with conventional 2-years rodent animal studies. Thus, there is an urgent need for alternative approaches to providing reliable and robust assessments on carcinogenicity. In this study, we proposed a DeepCarc model to predict carcinogenicity for small molecules using deep learning-based model-level representations. The DeepCarc Model was developed using a data set of 692 compounds and evaluated on a test set containing 171 compounds in the National Center for Toxicological Research liver cancer database (NCTRlcdb). As a result, the proposed DeepCarc model yielded a Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.432 for the test set, outperforming four advanced deep learning (DL) powered quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models with an average improvement rate of 37%. Furthermore, the DeepCarc model was also employed to screen the carcinogenicity potential of the compounds from both DrugBank and Tox21. Altogether, the proposed DeepCarc model could serve as an early detection tool (https://github.com/TingLi2016/DeepCarc) for carcinogenicity assessment.
The Ketogenic Effect of Medium-Chain Triacylglycerides

Medium-chain triacylglycerides (MCTs) are dietary supplements that can induce ketosis without the need for a traditional ketogenic diet or prolonged fasting. They have the potential to marginally delay the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. However, there have been inconsistencies in reports of the MCT dose–response relationship, which may be due to differences in MCT composition, participant characteristics, and other factors that can influence ketone generation. To resolve these discrepancies, we reviewed studies that investigated the ketogenic effect of MCTs in healthy adults. Aside from the treatment dose, other factors that can influence the ketogenic response, such as accompanying meals, fasting duration, and caffeine intake, were assessed. Based on the available literature, four practical recommendations are made to optimize the ketogenic effect of MCTs and reduce unwanted side effects (primarily gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea). First, the starting dose should be either 5 g of octanoic acid [caprylic acid (C8); a component of MCTs] or 5 g of a combination of C8 and decanoic or capric acid (C10; another component of MCTs), and the dose should be progressively increased to 15–20 g of C8. Second, MCTs should be consumed after an overnight fast, without an accompanying meal if tolerable, or with a low-carbohydrate meal. Third, the addition of caffeine may slightly increase the ketogenic response. Fourth, emulsifying the MCTs might increase their ketogenic effect and alleviate side effects.
The Physiological Effect of a Holoparasite Over a Cactus Along an Environmental Gradient

Echinopsis chiloensis is an endemic cactus from Chile, distributed in a temperature and rainfall gradient between 30° and 35° South latitude, with mean temperatures increasing and precipitation decreasing toward the north. It is the main host of the mistletoe Tristerix aphyllus, a holoparasite completely dependent on the cactus for water, carbon, and minerals. In this study, we investigated the consequences of parasitism over the fitness and physiology of this cactus throughout its distribution range and how it is affected by the environment. We measured five functional traits in eight populations latitudinally distributed, the first three only for the host: reproductive fitness, stomatal traits (density and size), and photosynthesis (during winter and summer); and the last two for the host and parasite: stable isotopes (∂13C and ∂15N), and nutrients (carbon and nitrogen content). The results showed a negative effect of parasitism over fitness of infected cacti. However, the higher nitrogen concentrations in cactus tissues toward the south improved overall fitness. Regarding photosynthesis, we only observed a negative effect of parasitism during the dry season (summer), which is also negatively affected by the increase in summer temperatures and decrease in winter rainfall toward the north. There were no differences in nutrient concentration or in the isotopic signature of healthy and infected cacti. Conversely, we observed a higher carbon and lower nitrogen concentration in mistletoes than in cacti regardless of latitude. The loss of temperature seasonality toward the north increases the C:N ratio, and the values between the parasite and its host diverge. ∂15N was similar between parasites and hosts while ∂13C of the parasite was enriched when compared to its host. Overall, the infection by T. aphyllus affects Echinopsis chiloensis fitness but showed no strong effects over the cactus physiology, except for the summer photosynthesis. Therefore, our data revealed that E. chiloensis response to T. aphyllus infection is sensitive to environmental changes in a way that could be strongly impacted by the desertification projected for this area due to climate change.