Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Contribuição dos Programas da Qualidade na Competitividade: Estudo de Caso no Mercado Brasileiro de Polipropileno

Resumo: Quando as empresas brasileiras despertaram para uma busca mais efetiva da competitividade, apos a abertura comercial, os programas da Qualidade tiveram uma grande difusao em muitos setores e a busca da satisfacao do cliente, associada a reducao de custos, tornou-se um objetivo muito importante para as mesmas. Neste trabalho procurou-se investigar a contribuicao dos programas da Qualidade adotados em empresas petroquimicas para a sua competitividade, analisando o caso das resinas e compostos de polipropileno e a relacao entre as fabricantes e transformadoras desses produtos. Os resultados obtidos na pesquisa ampliam o conhecimento das relacoes cliente-fornecedor entre as transformadoras e as petroquimicas e permitem esta- belecer padroes distintos de qualidade para os mercados de compostos e resinas de PP. A satisfacao dos clientes pesquisados foi verificada e, a medida que se conquistou a qualidade assegurada de fornecimento e se direcionaram as estrategias das empresas para a satisfacao dos clientes, identificou-se uma real contribui- cao dos programas da Qualidade para a melhoria da competitividade das empresas. Palavras-chave: Qualidade, competitividade, petroquimica, polipropileno, industria de transformacao. Contribution of Quality Programs for Competitiveness: A Case Study for the Brazilian Market of Polypropylene Abstract: When Brazilian companies became aware of the need to search for competitiveness, after the opening of the National marked in the 1990's, quality programs were widely disseminated in many sectors and customer satisfaction became a very important issue. This study investigates the contribution of quality programs adopted in petrochemical companies for their competitiveness, analysing the case of polypropylene's resins and compounds and the relationship between their producers and processors. The results obtained extend the knowledge about customer-supplier relationship between processor and petrochemical companies. Also, the research findings make it possible to establish two distinct quality patterns for polypropylene's compounds and resins markets. Customer satisfaction was confirmed in the survey. It was observed that quality programs did improve the competitiveness of the companies, after the latter ensured the quality of supply procedures and focused on customer satisfaction.
Enamel fluoride uptake, distribution and retention from topical fluoride agents.

The in vitro fluoride acquired by human enamel after application of APF, Duraphat (a resin varnish) and Fluor Protector (a polyurethane varnish), respectively, and subjected to various procedures was determined. Fluoride acquisition was the greatest in teeth treated with Duraphat and Fluor Protector and the least in APF-treated teeth. Fluoride uptake and distribution were not increased by extending the contact time between the topical fluoride agents and enamel from 4 to 24 h. Reapplication of the topical fluoride agents did not increase fluoride acquisition. Fluorapatite was the predominant reaction product with Duraphat and Fluor Protector and alkali-soluble fluorides with APF application.
In situ Observations and Thermal Analysis of Crystallization Phenomena in Mold Slags

During continuous casting the crystallization behavior of a mold slag has a decisive effect on the lubrication and heat transfer between mold wall and steel strand. By means of the Double Hot Thermocouple Technique the crystallization kinetics of a mold slag could be studied in detail over a wide temperature range. TTT and CCT diagrams were obtained and the crystal morphology was determined at different undercooling or cooling rates. The crystalline phase was determined using X-ray diffraction. Experiments with the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere were also conducted. The presence of water vapor increased the nucleation rate and crystal growth rate significantly when compared to experiments carried out in a dry atmosphere. Precipitation of solid crystals also occurred at a temperature above the equilibrium liquidus temperature (1260°C) that is measured in a dry atmosphere. These results suggest that there is significant interaction between water vapor and liquid slags at high temperatures and that the phase diagram for these slags is very sensitive to the equilibrium partial pressure of water vapor in the surrounding atmosphere. for many steelmaking processes. In the continuous casting of steel, mold powder is added continuously to the top of the mold where it melts to a liquid slag. The slag is then subsequently withdrawn in the gap between the mold wall and the solidifying steel strand working as a medium for both lubrication and heat transfer. The slag film closest to the mold, which experiences the highest cooling rate, freezes initially to a glassy layer. The slag film next to the strand remains liquid and between these two layers crystals will start to precipitate. The presence of crystals has a decisive effect on both the lubrication and the heat transfer between the mold and strand. It is well known from classical nucleation theory that the onset of the formation of solid crystals in slags must be a function of cooling rate and that to determine the true crystallization behavior of a slag one must construct either isothermal time temperature transformation diagrams (TTT curves) or continuous cooling transformation diagrams (CCT curves). In addition, the growth rate, morphology and solidified fraction of the slag under varying thermal conditions are important in the determination of the effect of crystallization of slag on heat transfer and rheology.
Compact Tunable Bandpass Filter With Wide Tuning Range of Centre Frequency and Bandwidth Using Short Coupled Lines

A new compact microstrip tunable bandpass filter with continuous control of center frequency and bandwidth is proposed in the paper. The proposed design is based on short parallel-coupled lines, which are tuned by properly loading varactors. The structure exhibits a pair of transmission poles and one-side passband edge transmission zero that can be flexibly adjusted for required positions. A thorough theoretical analysis is derived to estimate the performance of the proposed filter and verify the initial values of design parameters. To verify the design concept, a prototype is fabricated and measured. The fabricated circuit has an extreme compact size (smaller than $0.03\lambda _{g}\times 0.1\lambda _{g}$ ). The simulated and measured results agree well with the derived theory, and indicate wide tunable center frequencies (0.56–1.15 GHz) and 1-dB bandwidth (65–180 MHz).
Plagiarisms Bypass on the Go

This paper describes a certain way in which a user can bypass the plagiarism check. It focuses on how copied content cannot be detected by a plagiarism checker and the unique content is not affected by much. This idea is implemented as an android application. The paper also includes a case study where a random piece of text is selected; the algorithm is applied and passed though a plagiarism checks. The unique content is still not much affected which is a bad good for those who want to plagiarize.
Risk Allocation and the Costs and Benefits of Public-Private Partnerships

We study the agency costs of delegated public service provision, focusing on the link between organizational forms and uncertainty at project implementation. We consider a dynamic multitask moral hazard environment where the mapping between effort and performance is ex ante uncertain but new information may arise during operations. Our analysis highlights the costs and benefits that bundling planning and implementation--as under public--private partnerships--can bring in terms of project design and operational costs under various scenarios, possibly allowing for asymmetric information, moral hazard and renegotiation. It also shows that relying on private finance enhances the benefits of bundling only if lenders have enough expertise to assess project risks.
The chronic ischaemic cardiovascular disease ESC Pilot Registry: Results of the six-month follow-up

Aim Chronic ischaemic cardiovascular disease (CICD) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The CICD Pilot Registry enrolled 2420 patients across 10 European Society of Cardiology countries prospectively to describe characteristics, management strategies and clinical outcomes in this setting. We report here the six-month outcomes. Methods and results From the overall population, 2203 patients were analysed at six months. Fifty-eight patients (2.6%) died after inclusion; 522 patients (23.7%) experienced all-cause hospitalisation or death. The rate of prescription of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers and aspirin was mildly decreased at six months (all P < 0.02). Patients who experienced all-cause hospitalisation or death were older, more often had a history of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, of chronic kidney disease, peripheral revascularisation and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than those without events. Independent predictors of all-cause mortality/hospitalisation were age (hazard ratio (HR) 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07–1.27) per 10 years, and a history of previous peripheral revascularisation (HR 1.45, 95% CI 1.03–2.03), chronic kidney disease (HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.0–1.68) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.06–1.91, all P < 0.05). We observed a higher rate of events in eastern, western and northern countries compared to southern countries and in cohort 1. Conclusion In this contemporary European registry of CICD patients, the rate of severe clinical outcomes at six months was high and was influenced by age, heart rate and comorbidities. The medical management of this condition remains suboptimal, emphasising the need for larger registries with long-term follow-up. Ad-hoc programmes aimed at implementing guidelines adherence and follow-up procedures are necessary, in order to improve quality of care and patient outcomes.
Comparison of Roles of FRP Sheets, Stirrups, and Steel Fibers in Confining Bond Critical Regions

Based on experimental data of tension lap splices confined with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets in normal and high strength concrete (HSC) specimens, a new FRP confinement parameter, Ktr,f , was recommended. It accounts for the increase in bond strength due to the presence of FRP sheets. In this paper, a correlation is presented between the confining effects of FRP flexible sheets, transverse reinforcement, and steel fibers to improve the bond capacity and ductility of the mode of failure of tension lap splices. The correlation is based on research programs conducted at the American University of Beirut in recent years using identical specimens except for the confinement method used: FRP sheets, transverse steel stirrups, or steel fibers. Other variables included the amount of confinement provided and concrete strength. Analysis of test results indicated that an equivalent improvement in bond strength of tension lap splices in normal and high strength concrete specimens is provided by an amount of F.
Mechanism of fatigue failure in ultralong life regime

The fatigue fracture surfaces of specimens of heat treated hard steels which failed in the regime of N =10 5 to 5 x 10 8 cycles , were investigated by optical microscopy and SEM. Specimens having a longer fatigue life had a particular morphology beside the inclusion at the fracture origin. The particular morphology looked optically dark and in the previous paper it was named the Optically Dark Area, ODA. The roughness inside ODA is larger than outside ODA. The relative size of the ODA to the size of the inclusion at the fracture origin increases with increase in fatigue life. Thus, the ODA is considered to have a crucial role in the mechanism of ultra long life fatigue failure. Direct evidences of existence of hydrogen at the inclusion at fracture origin are presented. It is presumed that the ODA is made by the cyclic stress coupled with the hydrogen which is trapped by the inclusion at the fracture origin. To verify the influence of hydrogen, specimens containing different levels of hydrogen were prepared by different heat treatments. The results obtained by fatigue tests of these specimens suggest that the hydrogen trapped by inclusions is a crucial factor which causes the ultra long fatigue failure of high strength steels. Aspects of the double S-N curve are also discussed in terms of experimental methods, specimen size and statistical distribution of inclusions sizes.
CISD2 promotes the proliferation of glioma cells via suppressing beclin-1-mediated autophagy and is targeted by microRNA-449a

CDGSH iron sulfur domain 2 (CISD2) has been found to be important in carcinogenesis. However, the role of CISD2 in glioma remains to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the role of CISD2 in glioma using the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation assay, immunofluorescence staining and other methods. The results demonstrated that the mRNA and protein levels of CISD2 were found to be upregulated in glioma tissues, compared with the levels in matched normal tissues. Clinical data analysis showed that the level of CISD2 was negatively correlated with the survival rates of patients with glioma. In addition, high levels of CISD2 were associated with advanced clinical stage, relapse, vascular invasion and increased tumor size. The inhibition of CISD2 suppressed the proliferation and survival of glioma cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, it was found that small interfering RNA-induced knock down of CISD2 inhibited the proliferation of glioma cells through activating beclin-1-mediated autophagy. The results also revealed that CISD2 was a target of microRNA (miR)-449a. Together, the results of the present study demonstrated that CISD2 was increased in glioma samples and was associated with poor prognosis and aggressive tumor behavior. The miR-449a/CISD2/beclin-1-mediated autophagy regulatory network contributed to the proliferation of glioma cells. Targeting this pathway may be a promising strategy for glioma therapy.
An Algebraic View on Finite Rank in 2 D-SSA 1

3 The 2D-SSA method provides a decomposition of a 2D-array (a function 4 of two variables, e.g. digital image) into a sum of identifiable components. 5 For the decomposition to be proper, these components should be close to 6 2D-arrays of finite rank. This paper is devoted to study of arrays of finite 7 rank by means of polynomial ideals generated by arrays. The 2D-arrays are 8 considered as functionals of polynomials. A general form of arrays of finite 9 rank is obtained. The structure of finite-rank arrays and their trajectory 10 spaces is investigated. 11
ANALYSIS OF RETINAL CAPILLARIES IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES AND NONPROLIFERATIVE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY USING ADAPTIVE OPTICS IMAGING

Purpose: To illustrate a noninvasive method to analyze the retinal capillary lumen caliber in patients with Type 1 diabetes. Methods: Adaptive optics imaging of the retinal capillaries were acquired in two parafoveal regions of interest in eyes with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy and unaffected controls. Measures of the retinal capillary lumen caliber were quantified using an algorithm written in Matlab by an independent observer in a masked manner. Comparison of the adaptive optics images with red-free and color wide fundus retinography images was also assessed. Results: Eight eyes with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (eight patients, study group), no macular edema, and preserved visual acuity and eight control eyes (eight healthy volunteers; control group) were analyzed. The repeatability of capillary lumen caliber measurements was 0.22 &mgr;m (3.5%) with the 95% confidence interval between 0.12 and 0.31 &mgr;m in the study group. It was 0.30 &mgr;m (4.1%) with the 95% confidence interval between 0.16 and 0.43 &mgr;m in the control group. The average capillary lumen caliber was significantly narrower in eyes with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (6.27 ± 1.63 &mgr;m) than in the control eyes (7.31 ± 1.59 &mgr;m, P = 0.002). Conclusion: The authors demonstrated a noninvasive method to analyze, with micrometric scale of resolution, the lumen of retinal capillaries. The parafoveal capillaries were narrower in patients with Type 1 diabetes and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy than in healthy subjects, showing the potential capability of adaptive optics imaging to detect pathologic variations of the retinal microvascular structures in vaso-occlusive diseases.
Diagnostic challenges and problem cases in salivary gland cytology: A 20‐year experience

Fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) is routinely performed to evaluate salivary gland lesions, and provides valuable information regarding the cytomorphologic features of the lesions. Occasionally, there are overlaps between benign and malignant conditions due to heterogeneity of the cell types, metaplastic changes, and sampling issues. Herein, the authors present a retrospective study of diagnostic pitfalls in salivary gland cytology and the simulating conditions.
Pillar Type PDMS Nanocomposite Optical Sensors for Liquid Detection Systems

In this paper we analyze in details experimentally and numerically an innovative class of sensors for liquids based on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nacomposite material (NM). This material is characterized by gold (Au) nanoparticles which allow efficiently to absorb and guide the light in a bulk type material. We model by the Brendel-Bormann (BB) approach the PDMS-Au (NM), moreover, we design and measure a millimetric sensor able to detect dielectric contrast variations due to deposition of different liquids. A good agreement between numerical and experimental results is observed. Finally, we provide the design criteria concerning a PDMS-Au photonic crystal sensor based on concept of frequency selectivity. The proposed sensor is suitable for robotic and automotive applications.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue syndrome: an explanatory Model

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) often also called chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a common, debilitating, disease of unknown origin. Although a subject of controversy and a considerable scientific literature, we think that a solid understanding of ME/ CFS pathogenesis is emerging. In this study, we compiled recent findings and placed them in the context of the clinical picture and natural history of the disease. A pattern emerged, giving rise to an explanatory model. ME/CFS often starts after or during an infection. A logical explanation is that the infection initiates an autoreactive process, which affects several functions, including brain and energy metabolism. According to our model for ME/CFS pathogenesis, patients with a genetic predisposition and dysbiosis experience a gradual development of B cell clones prone to autoreactivity. Under normal circumstances these B cell offsprings would have led to tolerance. Subsequent exogenous microbial exposition (triggering) can lead to comorbidities such as fibromyalgia, thyroid disorder, and orthostatic hypotension. A decisive infectious trigger may then lead to immunization against autoantigens involved in aerobic energy production and/or hormone receptors and ion channel proteins, producing postexertional malaise and ME/CFS, affecting both muscle and brain. In principle, cloning and sequencing of immunoglobulin variable domains could reveal the evolution of pathogenic clones. Although evidence consistent with the model accumulated in recent years, there are several missing links in it. Hopefully, the hypothesis generates testable propositions that can augment the understanding of the pathogenesis of ME/CFS.
A Novel Service Oriented Model for Query Identification and Solution Development using Semantic Web and Multi Agent System

In this paper, we propose to develop service model architecture by merging multi-agentsystems and semantic web technology. The proposed architecture works in two stages namely, Query Identification and Solution Development. A person referred to as customer will submit the problem details or requirements which will be referred to as a query. Anyone who can provide a service will need to register with the registrar module of the architecture. Services can be anything ranging from expert consultancy in the field of agriculture to academic research, from selling products to manufacturing goods, from medical help to legal issues or even providing logistics. Query submitted by customer is first parsed and then iteratively understood with the help of domain experts and the customer to get a precise set of properties. Query thus identified will be solved again with the help of intelligent agent systems which will search the semantic web for all those who can find or provide a solution. A workable solution workflow is created and then depending on the requirements, using the techniques of negotiation or auctioning, solution is implemented to complete the service for customer. This part is termed as solution development. In this service oriented architecture, we first try to analyze the complex set of user requirements then try to provide best possible solution in an optimized way by combining better information searches through semantic web and better workflow provisioning using multi agent systems.
Increase in Hospital Admissions for Severe Influenza A/B among Travelers on Cruise Ships to Alaska, 2015

An increase in hospital admissions for influenza occurred during the summer of 2015 at an acute care facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Investigation identified 25 patients with recent history of cruise ship travel to Alaska. All characterized influenza A viruses were A(H3N2). We describe patient treatment regimens and outcomes.
Spatial patterns of progressive brain volume loss after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury

Using longitudinal neuroimaging, Cole et al. show that traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in progressive loss of brain tissue that continues for years after an injury. Tissue loss occurs predominantly in cerebral white matter and cortical sulci. Neuroimaging may be a feasible method for evaluating neuroprotective therapies after TBI.
Solution structure of the HMG protein NHP6A and its interaction with DNA reveals the structural determinants for non‐sequence‐specific binding

NHP6A is a chromatin‐associated protein from Saccharomyces cerevisiae belonging to the HMG1/2 family of non‐specific DNA binding proteins. NHP6A has only one HMG DNA binding domain and forms relatively stable complexes with DNA. We have determined the solution structure of NHP6A and constructed an NMR‐based model structure of the DNA complex. The free NHP6A folds into an L‐shaped three α‐helix structure, and contains an unstructured 17 amino acid basic tail N‐terminal to the HMG box. Intermolecular NOEs assigned between NHP6A and a 15 bp 13C, 15N‐labeled DNA duplex containing the SRY recognition sequence have positioned the NHP6A HMG domain onto the minor groove of the DNA at a site that is shifted by 1 bp and in reverse orientation from that found in the SRY–DNA complex. In the model structure of the NHP6A–DNA complex, the N‐terminal basic tail is wrapped around the major groove in a manner mimicking the C‐terminal tail of LEF1. The DNA in the complex is severely distorted and contains two adjacent kinks where side chains of methionine and phenylalanine that are important for bending are inserted. The NHP6A–DNA model structure provides insight into how this class of architectural DNA binding proteins may select preferential binding sites.