Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multidimensional analysis of embeddedness and cooperation in a cluster – a literature and empirical study

Cooperation of enterprises within inter-organizational networks is a complex research and cognitive area due to the multidimensional nature of cooperation, which is often a mixture of motives, intentions, goals and operating conditions. Literature studies have revealed the so far very meager and scattered work in the field of embedding cooperation between enterprises in inter-organizational networks, which definitely does not sufficiently describe the impact of the context of collaboration on enterprise cooperation. The main aim of the article was to understand and explain, on the basis of the concept of embeddedness, whether there are relations between the participation of enterprises in a cluster-type inter-organizational network (embeddedness and its dimensions) and their cooperation in the cluster. Implementation of research goals required the development of a research process covering three stages. The essence and dimensions of embeddedness of cooperating enterprises in inter-organizational networks (structural, relational, social, positional, territorial, geographical, spatial, institutional, ecological, political and temporal) were determined. Next, a survey of European cluster managers (study 1) on cooperation in a cluster was carried out in order to better understand the dimensions of embeddedness of enterprises cooperating in clusters (qualitative research, IDI). In the next stage, a survey of cluster enterprises was carried out (study 2) to determine the relations between their embeddedness in the cluster and cooperation with other cluster companies (quantitative research, CAWI). Then, triangulation of data sources, research methods and context was used. As a result, it was established that four dimensions of embeddedness are of key importance for cooperating enterprises embedded in the cluster, namely: structural, geographical, institutional and relational. Moreover, the results of the research show that there is a positive relation between embedding enterprises in the cluster and their cooperation.
Dental Morphological Affinities Among Late-Pleistocene and Recent Humans

The study uses analyses of Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) to assess the affinities of ten populations representing early anatomically modern humans, Upper Paleolithic Europeans, recent modern humans, and Neandertals. The 18-triat MMD analysis demonstrates that, dentally, Neandertals are quite divergent from all modern humans. The results of cluster analyses based on MMD values suggest two major clusters: Neandertals and modern humans. The data also suggest two sub-clusters within the modern human cluster. One links Upper Paleolithic Europeans with recent North Africans and Europeans. The other links early anatomically modern humans with Late Pleistocene Africans and recent Sub-Saharan Africans. These results do not support a close relationship between Neandertals and any modern human groups samples. They also tentatively suggest that, if the two populations were interbreeding, it is not reflected in their dental morphology. The results showing a close affinity between early anatomically modern humans and Sub-Saharan Africans are consist with the Recent African Origin model for modern human origins.
The Effect of Graphene Oxide on Flame Retardancy of Polypropylene and Polystyrene

This study discusses how a graphene oxide (GO) has been developed to improve flame resistance, ignitability, and flame threats of polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP). For reasons where high thermal stability alongside fire-resistant parts for vehicles or airships is essential, the manufacture of lightweight products appears to have promising outcomes. Cone calorimeter and limiting oxygen index experiments were used to measure heat and fire experiments of PS and PP nanocompounds. The incorporation of GO into PS and PP structures has reduced the heat release rate as measured through cone calorimeter. The characterization implied that without clear accumulations, the GO nanolayers were properly distributed throughout the PS structure, resulting in an outstanding upgrade of thermal strength and fire safety characteristics. During the ignition period, GO dispersal in PS and PP accelerated the ignition period and lowered the heat release rate. In addition, the incorporation of GOs reduced the PP’s combustion rate as a result of developing a carbon protective layer that acts as a heat and mass transfer barrier. However, during combustion experiments, nanocompounds PS/GO and PP/GO generate a thermal insulation intumescent that protects the sublayers of the polymer. The peak of the heat release rate was reduced by 23 % for PP/GO and 53 % for PS/GO under flaming circumstances. The maximum thermal release rate indicates a substantial reduction for PP/GO 2.0 weight percent of nanocomposite compared to pure PP. This research shows that even GO inclusion does not change the limiting oxygen index values, but the development of an intumescent char protects the polymer sublayers properly. This feature offers a distinctive modification strategy to enhance GO’s flame-resistant effectiveness. This research offers excellent insights into PP and PS nanocompounds’ ignitability behavior with the inclusion of GO filler. This study delivers an appropriate choice to evaluate the potential for fire safety using graphene in polymers and flame-retarded polymers.
Variations of endoreduplication and its potential contribution to endosperm development in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

ABSTRACT Endoreduplication is the phenomenon by which cells increase their ploidy. Endoreduplication is initiated by the transition from the mitotic cell cycle to the endocycle, in which DNA replication occurs without a subsequent chromosome separation and cytokinesis, and is enhanced by endocycle reiteration. This process appears to play an important role in endosperm development, but the characteristics of endoreduplication in the endosperm of rice (Oryza sativa) remain unclear. To elucidate the features and variations of endoreduplication in rice endosperm, endoreduplication progression in the developing endosperm was compared among 10 cultivars based on flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. The flow cytometric analysis detected significant differences among 10 cultivars in the following three parameters: mean ploidy of all nuclei, the proportion of nuclei ≥6C (%E, an estimate of the initiation of the endocycle), and the mean ploidy of nuclei ≥6C (E6P, an estimate of the reiteration of the endocycle). However, no significant correlation between %E and E6P was observed, suggesting that the initiation and reiteration of the endocycle are independently regulated. Fluorescence microscopy revealed that the ploidy of the nuclei was higher in the intermediate region than in the central and peripheral regions of the endosperm. Cells with a higher ploidy were larger in the developing endosperm. Furthermore, the mean ploidy in the developing endosperm was significantly correlated with the mean cell size in the mature endosperm. These results indicate that endoreduplication progression in the endosperm differed significantly among the 10 rice cultivars and such differences may influence endosperm cell size. Abbreviations Ak: Akitakomachi; DAP: days after pollination; DAPI: 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; E6P: mean ploidy of nuclei ≥ 6C; Ha: Habataki; Ho: Hokuriku193; IR: IR64; Ka: Kasalath; Ki: Kinuhikari; Ko: Koshihikari; Ni: Nipponbare; PEG: polyethylene glycol; Sa: Sasanishiki; Ta: Takanari; %E: proportion of nuclei ≥ 6C.
Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR): Experiments and Performance Analysis in Support of 16-Channel Airborne X-Band SAR Data

In the Earth observation mission of the synthetic aperture radar (SAR), wide swath can be used to complete global monitoring in a short time and high resolution can provide rich detailed information about the feature space and prominent structure and texture. However, the traditional single-channel classical SAR system cannot meet high-resolution and wide-swath (HRWS) imaging demand due to the constraint of minimum antenna area. Fortunately, this fundamental limitation can be overcome by using multiple receive subapertures in combination with advanced digital beamforming (DBF) technique. DBF in elevation can provide high gain and better system performance and has recently gained much attention in the field of SAR imaging. This article presents a 16-channel in elevation airborne X-band DBF-SAR system with 500-MHz bandwidth, characterized by high speed data acquisition and storage, as a test bed to provide the technical reserves and support for a future spaceborne DBF-SAR system in China. The hardware configuration of this system is designed according to a realistic flight mission. To verify the feasibility and operability of this advanced 16-channel DBF-SAR system, an outfield airborne flight experiment was successfully conducted in eastern Guangdong Province in November 2019. Meanwhile, considering the inevitable channel mismatch from airborne system, a precise strategy as well as the underlying signal processing is proposed to process the experiment data. In addition to the channel mismatch due to the topographic height, the Scan-On-Receive (SCORE) pattern loss (SPL) is also an inherent factor, which will deteriorate the output SNR in final SAR images. Therefore, this article also implements a quantitative assessment of SPL combined with the practical flight parameters and the real airborne data. Finally, the corresponding processing results are presented and analyzed in detail. The practical SNR improvement of 11.23 dB emphasize that DBF technology can significantly improve the quality of SAR images and will make an essential contribution to next generation of HRWS technology for environment monitoring.
Epigenetic Studies of Complex Human Disorders and Aging

Aging is a major risk factor for nearly all human illnesses. Several of these have a strong genetic and familial basis, but do not manifest until much later in life. Numerous studies have highlighted the potential of epigenetic studies to help quantify pathological and normal hallmarks of the aging process. In this dissertation, we investigated the role of DNA modification in bipolar disorder and found epigenetic deviations from biological age in individuals with a history of extreme suicidal behaviour. We then studied the simple genetic trait of lactase non-persistence (commonly known as lactose intolerance), the age-related reduction of lactase enzyme production that manifests after weaning in most but not all individuals, as a model to help understand how genotype influences age-related outcomes, and the role that DNA modification plays in mediating this process. Inherited genetic variants near the lactase gene are highlyassociated with lactase persistence, the sustained activation of this gene into adulthood that is exhibited by about 30% of all humans. By performing high-resolution DNA modification profiling at the lactase gene, we found that both the age-related decline in levels of the lactase gene and its escape in persistent individuals occur as a function of genotype-dependent accumulation of epigenetic modifications; thus, possessing a given variant confers a certain “epigenetic aging trajectory”. Further, we identified that the segment-specific expression of the lactase gene in a homogenous population of epithelial cells in mouse small intestine is dependent iii upon DNA modification differences. The insights from these efforts have the potential to reshape the dogma which has to this point comprised solely of genetic factors, and to lay the foundation for standardized comprehensive modelling of the role of aging in human health and disease beyond simple genetic association.
Exosomes in Transmission and Blocking of Arthropod-Borne Flaviviral Infection and Pathogenesis

EXOSOMES IN TRANSMISSION AND BLOCKING OF ARTHROPOD-BORNE FLAVIVIRAL INFECTION AND PATHOGENESIS Wenshuo Zhou Old Dominion University, 2020 Director: Dr. Hameeda Sultana Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are human illnesses that are transmitted by vectors such as ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas. These arthropods transmit infectious pathogens such as viruses, protozoa, and bacteria, to humans during their bloodfeeding. According to the estimation of the WHO, billions of people are affected by VBDs worldwide, and about 700,000 deaths are reported annually. Currently, very few reliable VBDs control approaches and vaccines available to treat various VBDs. Additionally, approaches to control arthropod’ proliferation and migration are difficult to develop. Furthermore, molecular determinants and mechanisms for the transmission are poorly understood. This work describes two studies identifying the novel role for exosomes in facilitating transmission of viral infectious material and viral infections. The first study focused on tick-borne pathogen transmission via exosomes derived from several different cell types. The conclusions suggested that exosomes could protect full-length viral RNA genomes, and viral proteins from host immune surveillance. The results showed the exosomes assistance in the transmission of viral materials from infected cells to naïve cells leading to active viral replication in the recipient cells. The exosomal viral materials were highly infectious and replicative in recipient cells. However, treatment with GW4869, a commercial inhibitor for neutral Sphingomyelinases that mediated-exosome formation and release, resulted in reduced viral transmission via exosomes and affected the viral replication in recipient cells. These findings suggested a novel and promising therapeutic approach to block exosome-mediated viral transmission from arthropods to humans. The second study demonstrated mosquito-borne arboviruses used exosomes for dissemination and infection of recipient vertebrate host cells as well. Results showed that ZIKV uses exosomes as mediators of viral transmission, and readily infected these neuronal cells. Neuronal exosomes enclosed both ZIKV viral RNA and proteins inside. Furthermore, the results addressed ZIKV induced both activity and gene expression of neutral Sphingomyelinase (nSMase)-2/SMPD3, a critical molecule regulates the formation and release of exosomes. The silencing of SMPD3 in neuronal cells resulted in decreased viral burden and dissemination via exosomes. Overall, this research elucidated that ZIKV mediated SMPD3 activity in cortical neurons for its infection and transmission through exosomes, perhaps caused severe neuronal death that result in neurological manifestations.
Securely Outsource Modular Exponentiations With Single Untrusted Cloud Server

Modular exponentiation is one of the most fundamental operations in lots of encryption and signature systems. Due to the heavy computation cost of modular exponentiation, many schemes have been put forward to securely outsource modular exponentiation to cloud. However, most of the existing approaches need two non-colluded cloud servers to securely complete the modular exponentiation, which will result in private data leakage upon the cloud servers collude. Besides, most existing schemes assume both base and exponent in modular exponentiation are private, which does not conform to many real-world applications. For example, in public key encryption system that uses modular exponentiation, one of base and exponent is the public key, and the other is a message. Usually, only the message should be privately protected. In this paper, we propose two secure outsourcing schemes for fixed-base (public base and private exponent) and fixed-exponent (private base and public exponent), respectively. In the proposed schemes, we employ only one cloud server and can thus avoid collusion attack. Further, we achieve an efficient and secure Paillier encryption outsourcing scheme based on our secure modular exponentiation outsourcing methods. Additionally, we theoretically analyze our overheads and leverage simulation experiments to evaluate our proposed solutions, which show our schemes can achieve high efficiency.
Complexity, co-creation and social practices : re-constructing quality improvement : a case study in mental health

The use of research evidence to change clinical practice remains a significant challenge. Quality improvement (QI) offers a methodological approach to support this ‘knowledge to practice’ process. However, most research on QI focuses on the use of knowledge and not its creation to improve practice. This research aimed to address this gap through an exploration of the social process of co-creating knowledge within a QI project. The case study aimed to improve the physical health of people with serious mental illness through the introduction of a physical health ‘pathway’. The QI project used participatory approaches to introduce new evidence-based clinical practices, initially on a single ward, and then scaled-up across five additional wards within an acute mental health unit in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. This four-year study used ethnographically-informed qualitative participatory approaches where the researcher was part of the QI project. Data were generated through participant observations, interviews and documentary analysis. The analysis included generating a narrative of the project, and the use of Knowledge Mobilisation and Implementation Science frameworks. This research offers a window on the social construction of a QI project. Improvement is a socio-technical process that relies on social practices to generate the work required to support the ‘knowledge to practice’ process. QI methods draw on the tacit knowledge and experiences of stakeholders which is codified in outputs from workshops, which in turn can be used in the co-design of interventions. This co-constitutive process of simultaneous knowledge ‘use’ and ‘creation’ contributes to the co-creation of collective understandings and meanings, which compose the social practices of QI. However, issues of responsibility and accountability pose a significant challenge, and a careful balance needs to be found between the use of the data for managing performance and supporting staff to reflect on their practice.
Life in interstitial space: Biocrusts inhibit exotic but not native plant establishment in semi‐arid grasslands

Exotic plant species commonly exploit disturbances more successfully than native plants. This outcome is widely attributed to the fact that disturbance reduces biotic resistance from native plant competitors. However, biocrusts, communities of mosses, lichens, and micro‐organisms, are a prominent component of semi‐arid grasslands occurring in the interstitial spaces between vascular plants. Biocrusts may provide an important source of biotic resistance to invaders, different from native plant competition, but poorly understood. We established a large‐scale field experiment to examine how intact versus disturbed biocrusts influenced the emergence and establishment of four native and four exotic plant species in intermountain bunchgrass systems over 2 years—one wet and one dry. We also conducted a complementary greenhouse experiment to explore how differences in moisture might influence biocrust effects on germination. In the greenhouse, biocrusts inhibited the germination of both native and exotic plants in the high moisture treatment only. In field experiments, biocrusts inhibited the overall emergence of exotic seedlings in the wetter of the 2 years and inhibited the establishment of exotic seedlings in both years, but they had no overall effect on the emergence or establishment of native seedlings. We found that intact biocrusts in intermountain grasslands can suppress the establishment of some exotic plants, but have much weaker effects on natives. They also suggest that water availability may influence biocrust effects on seed germination. Synthesis. Our results indicate that intact biocrusts may provide an important source of biotic resistance to exotic plant invasions in intermountain grasslands. Furthermore, precipitation inputs may mediate biocrust effects on plant establishment.
Global Dimensional Optimization for the Design of Adjusting Mechanism of Variable Stator Vanes

： In order to avoid the problem of compressor surge, the variable stator vane (VSV) needs to follow the rules established by hydromechanics. The VSV is normally composed of several connected stages and actuated by one adjusting mechanism that contains several coupled spatial linkage mechanism units. It is difficult to perform the dimensional synthesis of the VSV adjusting mechanism since this mechanism is a coupled system of the several spatial linkage units and the rules established by hydromechanics are also complicated. Currently, a divide and conquer method is applied to synthesize the dimensions of the VSV adjusting mechanism by synthesizing the spatial linkage mechanism units one by one, hereafter the global optimization is unable to be achieved. In order to improve the VSV’s adjustment accuracy, a novel global dimensional synthesis method is proposed by combining the forward kinematics (FK) and inverse kinematics (IK) considering the analytical solvability of the FK and IK models. An efficiently global optimization is achieved firstly to provide the initial solution by using the analytical IK model and then a global optimization of high accuracy is achieved by searching from the initial solution based on the numerical FK model. A case study is given to demonstrate the proposed method.
Effect of adiabatic heating on microstructure evolution in Ti-6Al-4V during high strain rate forging

The effect of adiabatic heating on microstructure evolution during high strain rate subtransus forging of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy having equiaxed initial microstructure was studied through experiments and modelling. Ø45 × 67.5 mm cylindrical billets with embedded thermocouples were forged at four different α+β temperatures on a Schuler 2100t screw press to evaluate the extent of adiabatic heating in different parts of the billet. In the centre of the billet, the highest temperature increase due to adiabatic heating exceeded the β transus (~1000 °C) during forging. The microstructure of the forged billets was examined for any changes in β phase volume fraction due to adiabatic heating. The forging process was then simulated in Deform 2D/3D software. High strain rate compression testing in the α+β and β temperature fields was carried out using a Phoenix forge simulator to generate input mechanical properties for the model. The effect of the billet size on the α-β phase transformation during forging and post-forge cooling is also discussed.