Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Advanced transmission electron microscopy studies of semiconductor nanocrystals synthesized by colloidal methods

The investigations of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) led to fascinating scientific results in optoelectronic devices. In order to fulfill certain requirements, i.e. cheaper costs, higher efficiencies, environmental friendly components etc., new methods are explored in solution-processing, band gap and energy level engineering. Particularly, the method of synthesis can alter the optoelectronic properties. Therefore, a better understanding of the intricate factors during synthesis will lead to improved performances. Advanced electron microscopy provides a precise way to gather information about morphology, crystal structure and chemical composition of materials with a spatial resolution down to the atomic level. The first part of this thesis deals with the optimization of the synthesis and sample preparation for high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The second part deals with the growth mechanism of Cu2ZnSnS4 NCs synthesized by a colloidal method. The morphology and stoichiometry of the samples extracted after different time intervals are characterized by HRTEM and electron dispersion spectroscopy (EDS). Two complementary methods, Nanobeam Precession Electron Diffraction (NPED) and High Resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy by High Angle Annular Dark-Field Imaging (HRSTEM-HAADF), provide an in-depth crystal structure characterization.Moreover, the crystal structure of CsPbBr3 NCs is solved by probing STEM-HAADF simulations. This approach is able to differentiate cubic and orthorhombic crystal structures, which is otherwise impossible by diffraction techniques. Finally, the influence of synthesis methods on the morphology and crystal structure of CuFeS2 NCs is investigated by HRTEM for thermoelectric applications.
50th Anniversary Invited Article - City Logistics: Challenges and Opportunities

Today, around 54% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050, this share is expected to go up significantly. As a result, city logistics, which focuses on the efficient and effective transportation of goods in urban areas while taking into account the negative effects on congestion, safety, and environment, is critical to ensuring continued quality of life in cities. We review and discuss a variety of current and anticipated challenges and opportunities of city logistics. We hope this helps shaping an appropriate research agenda and stimulates more researchers to enter this exciting field.
Solving the minimum‐weighted coloring problem

Weighted coloring is a generalization of the well‐known vertex (unweighted) coloring for which a number of exact algorithms have been presented in the literature. We are not aware of any optimal method specifically designed for the minimum‐weighted coloring problem on arbitrary graphs. Only a few heuristics have been developed with the goal of finding tighter upper bounds for the maximum‐weighted clique problem. Moreover, as shown in the paper, a straightforward reduction of a weighted instance into an unweighted one permits us to solve only very small instances. In this paper, we present a branch‐and‐bound algorithm for the weighted case capable of solving random graphs of up to 90 vertices for any edge density with integer weights uniformly drawn from the range [1, …,10]. Likewise, we have used properly modified benchmark instances borrowed from vertex coloring as a further test bed for our algorithm. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vacuum‐assisted closure therapy for deep sternal wound infections: the impact of learning curve on survival and predictors for late mortality

The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible learning curve effects on survival during the introduction of vacuum‐assisted closure (VAC) therapy in patients with deep sternal wound infection (DSWI). Furthermore, predictors of late mortality were analysed and causes of late death were examined. Fifty‐three patients (early Group, n = 26, January 1999 to July 2001 versus late group, n = 27, August 2001 to March 2003) were all treated with VAC for DSWI. A follow‐up was carried out in September 2006. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the predictors of late mortality. The 90‐day mortality was 0% in both groups. The survival rates at 5 years were 69·2 ± 9·1% (early group) versus 58·5 ± 11·7% (late group), P = ns (non significant). The time interval from cardiac surgery to diagnosis of DSWI and prolonged VAC therapy were identified as independent predictors of late mortality. Our concept for VAC therapy in DSWI seems to be readily introduced in clinical practice. There was no difference in survival between our initial cases and later cases. Late diagnosis and prolonged wound therapy were identified as predictors for late mortality.
The innervation of the developing fowl embryo otocyst in vivo and in vitro.

The development of the innervation of the sensory neuro-epithelium of the inner ear has been studied in organ cultures of the chicken-embryo otocyst and in the developing chicken embryo, with particular reference to the origin of the nerve endings and neurones. It is suggested that they originate from their embryonic centres in the mesenchyinatous tissue surrounding the otocyst, and reach the neuro-epithelial cells through gaps in the otic capsule and the basement membrane.
Magnetic field effect on free vibration of smart rotary functionally graded nano/microplates: A comparative study on modified couple stress theory and nonlocal elasticity theory

In this article, free vibration behavior of a rotating nano/microcircular plate constructed from functionally graded magneto-elastic material is simulated with the first-order shear deformation theory. For the sake of comparison, the nonlocal elasticity theory and the modified couple stress theory are employed to implement the small size effect in the natural frequencies behavior of the nano/microcircular plate. The governing equations of motion for functionally graded magneto-elastic material nano/microcircular plates are derived based on Hamilton’s principle; comparing the obtained results with those in the literature, they are in a good agreement. Finally, the governing equations are solved using the differential quadrature method. It is shown that the vibrational characteristics of functionally graded magneto-elastic material nano/microcircular plates are significantly affected by non-dimensional angular velocity, size dependency of the Eringen’s and the modified couple stress theories, and power law index for clamped and hinged boundary conditions. Results show that a critical point occurs by increasing the angular velocity and the effect of several parameters are changed after this point.
Mucosal Healing in Crohn's Disease: A Systematic Review

Abstract:The traditional goals of Crohn's disease therapy, to induce and maintain clinical remission, have not clearly changed its natural history. In contrast, emerging evidence suggests that achieving and maintaining mucosal healing may alter the natural history of Crohn's disease, as it has been associated with more sustained clinical remission and reduced rates of hospitalization and surgical resection. Induction and maintenance of mucosal healing should therefore be a goal toward which therapy is now directed. Unresolved issues pertain to the benefit of achieving mucosal healing at different stages of the disease, the relationship between mucosal healing and transmural inflammation, the intensity of treatment needed to achieve mucosal healing when it has not been obtained using standard therapy, and the means by which mucosal healing is defined using current endoscopic disease activity indices. The main clinical challenge relates to defining the means of achieving high rates of mucosal healing in clinical practice.
A rat model of chronic postinflammatory visceral pain induced by deoxycholic acid.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Chronic visceral hyperalgesia is considered an important pathophysiologic symptom in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); previous gastrointestinal inflammation is a potent etiologic factor for developing IBS. Although there are several animal models of adult visceral hypersensitivity after neonatal perturbation or acute colonic irritation/inflammation, current models of postinflammatory chronic visceral hyperalgesia are unsatisfactory. The aim of this study was to establish a model of chronic visceral hyperalgesia after colonic inflammation in the rat. METHODS Deoxycholic acid (DCA) was instilled into the rat colon daily for 3 days and animals were tested for up to 4 weeks. RESULTS DCA induced mild, transient colonic inflammation within 3 days that resolved within 3 weeks. An exaggerated visceromotor response, referred pain to mechanical stimulation, increased spinal Fos expression, and colonic afferent and dorsal horn neuron activity were apparent by 1 week and persisted for at least 4 weeks, indicating chronic dorsal horn hyperexcitability and visceral hyperalgesia. There was no spontaneous pain, based on open field behavior. There was a significant increase in opioid-receptor activity. CONCLUSIONS DCA induces mild, transient colitis, resulting in persistent visceral hyperalgesia and referred pain in rats, modeling some aspects of postinflammatory IBS.
To the description of the temperature and pressure dependences of the thermal conductivity of sandstone and ceramics

Here we present the results of an experimental study of the temperature and pressure dependences of the heat conductivity of composite compounds. The thermal conductivity of sandstone was measured by the absolute stationary method for pressures up to 400 MPa in the temperature range 273-523 K. From these experimental data we have proposed the equation describing the dependence of the thermal conductivity from the pressure and temperature. We have found that under the action of hydrostatic pressure the intensive growth of the heat-conductivity of gas-saturated sandstone is mainly up to 100 MPa, and then seamlessly switches to saturation. A comparative analysis is carried out with the experimental dependences of the thermal conductivity of ceramics (lanthanum sulfide LaS1.48).
Influence of interleukin-15 polymorphism on the survival of adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Egypt

Abstract The aim of this study was to analyze the association of the rs10519612 and rs17007695 polymorphisms with the risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and also to evaluate their impact on the survival of adult patients with ALL. The study included 164 adult patients with ALL and 158 healthy subjects as a control group who were genotyped for the interleukin-15 (IL-15) gene using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. We observed a higher risk of developing ALL for rs10519612 CC, rs17007695 TC and rs17007695 CC genotype carriers. There was increased risk for T-cell type in patients with the rs10519612 CC genotype. Notably, increased risk to develop B-cell type was found with rs17007695 TC and CC genotypes. There was no impact on overall survival or disease-free survival at 3 years. It is concluded that there is an association between both gene polymorphisms and the risk of ALL and with disease immunophenotype. However, there was no impact on the outcome of patients.
An Asynchronous Routing Algorithm for Clos Networks

Clos networks provide the theoretically optimal solution to build high-radix switches. This paper proposes a novel asynchronous routing algorithm for general asynchronous three-stage Clos networks. As the major sub-algorithm controlling the first two stages, the asynchronous dispatching algorithm outperforms the synchronous concurrent round-robin dispatching algorithm in behaviour level simulations. In a 32-port Clos network utilizing the asynchronous routing algorithm, paths are reserved in 6.2 ns and released in 3.9 ns.
Illusion of Control

The illusion of control consists of overestimating the influence that our behavior exerts over uncontrollable outcomes. Available evidence suggests that an important factor in development of this illusion is the personal involvement of participants who are trying to obtain the outcome. The dominant view assumes that this is due to social motivations and self-esteem protection. We propose that this may be due to a bias in contingency detection which occurs when the probability of the action (i.e., of the potential cause) is high. Indeed, personal involvement might have been often confounded with the probability of acting, as participants who are more involved tend to act more frequently than those for whom the outcome is irrelevant and therefore become mere observers. We tested these two variables separately. In two experiments, the outcome was always uncontrollable and we used a yoked design in which the participants of one condition were actively involved in obtaining it and the participants in the other condition observed the adventitious cause-effect pairs. The results support the latter approach: Those acting more often to obtain the outcome developed stronger illusions, and so did their yoked counterparts.
Byssinosis in the Waste Cotton Industry

This paper is of some historical interest. It describes an investigation to determine whether byssinosis occurred among workers in the waste cotton industry. It was undertaken in 1950 at the instigation of the Minister of National Insurance. The materials used in the industry were (1) cotton that had been previously spun, and (2) waste material discarded during the preparations for spinning higher grades of yarn. A proportion of raw cotton was sometimes blended with the waste. Twenty-two mills, representative of the industry, were surveyed. All the men in these mills, who were over 35 years of age and with at least 10 years' exposure to cotton dust, were seen. The investigations included a work history, a clinical examination, an assessment of effort dyspnoea, and a chest radiograph. There were 140 men who had never been exposed to any dust hazard other than waste cotton. In this group were found seven (5%) men with disabling byssinosis and 35 (25%) men with lesser degrees of the same disease. There were also 15 (11%) men with bronchitis or emphysema without byssinosis. Thus it was established that byssinosis did occur in the waste cotton industry. Insurance cover, under the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act, 1946, was subsequently extended to workers in the waste cotton industry. The survey provided no evidence that either the type of waste cotton processed or an admixture of raw cotton played a significant part in the aetiology or incidence of the disease.
Mechanisms regulating melanogenesis*

Skin pigmentation is an important human phenotypic trait whose regulation, in spite of recent advances, has not yet been fully understood. The pigment melanin is produced in melanosomes by melanocytes in a complex process called melanogenesis. The melanocyte interacts with endocrine, immune, inflammatory and central nervous systems, and its activity is also regulated by extrinsic factors such as ultraviolet radiation and drugs. We have carried out a review of the current understanding of intrinsic and extrinsic factors regulating skin pigmentation, the melanogenesis stages and related gene defects. We focused on melanocyte-keratinocyte interaction, activation of melanocortin type 1 receptor (MC1-R) by peptides (melanocyte-stimulating hormone and adrenocorticotropic hormone) resulting from proopiomelanocortin (POMC) cleavage, and mechanisms of ultraviolet-induced skin pigmentation. The identification and comprehension of the melanogenesis mechanism facilitate the understanding of the pathogenesis of pigmentation disorders and the development of potential therapeutic options.
Resealable, ultra-low leak micro valve using solder sealing

MEMS valves typically actuate a flow-obstructing element to cover or uncover a gas flow path. This approach is prone to leakage, causing incomplete isolation across the valve. As a result, an exceptional open-to-closed flow rate ratio would be on the order of 10. The limited open-to-closed flow rate ratios of conventional MEMS valves limit their utility for higher vacuum systems. One reason for the relatively high leakage in conventional MEMS valves is that the roughness of the valves’ contact surfaces prevents leak-free seals. Liquid-based sealing offers an opportunity for improved sealing. The design, fabrication, and successful demonstration of a microvalve that uses the surface tension of molten solder to make a reversible, ultra low-leak seal are presented. The valve comprises two components: a silicon chip with a solder-ringed flow orifice and integrated heater, and a piezoelectric translational actuator with a solderringed sealing plate. When the valve is open, the solder rings are separated and flow can pass through the orifice. To close the valve, the actuator brings the solder rings into contact while the heater melts the solder and seals the plate over the orifice. The silicon orifice plate builds on a prior valve design, and a new, planar actuator with an Archimedes spiral architecture is created. Actuation, thermal, mechanical, electric, and sealing models predict the system’s performance. The viable ranges of all of the key dimensions and parameters are obtained based on the models, and the design of each iii component is optimized. The actuator’s performance is verified experimentally, and the valve is assembled and tested for opening/closing performance and for sealing function. The highest-performing actuator demonstrates unipolar displacements of 29 μm and blocked forces of 15 mN, in agreement with the analytical and finite element results. Two valves demonstrate the transition from open to closed to open, but both failed to close again. The valve’s open state flow rate is 530 sccm, and the upper bound on the closed state leak rate of the valve itself is 4.5×10 sccm, corresponding to an open-toclosed flow ratio of greater than 10. The valve’s performance is also consistent with a leak-free seal.
Determining radium-226 concentration from radon-222 emanation in building materials: a theoretical model

It was developed an improved theoretical model capable to estimate the radium concentration in building materials solely measuring the radon-222 concentration in a confined atmosphere.This non-destructive technique is not limited by the size of the samples, and it intrinsically includes back diffusion.The resulting equation provides the exact solution for the concentration of radon-222 as a function of time and distance in one dimension.The effective concentration of radium-226 is a fit parameter of this equation.In order to reduce its complexity, this equation was simplified considering two cases:low diffusion in the building material compared to the air, anda building material initially saturated with radon-222.These simplified versions of the exact one dimension solution were used to fit experimental data.Radon-222 concentration was continuously measured for twelve days with an AlphaGUARD detector, located at the Laboratory of Applied Nuclear Physics at Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR). This model was applied to two different materials: cement mortar and concrete, which results were respectively (15.7 +- 8.3) Bq/kg and (10.5 +- 2.4) Bq/kg for the radium-226 effective concentration.This estimation was confronted with the direct measurements of radium in the same materials (same sources) using gamma-ray spectrometry, fulfilled at Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN), which results were respectively (13.81 +- 0.23) Bq/kg and (12.61 +- 0.22) Bq/kg.
On the Generalized Second – Order 2 D System – Model

In this paper a generalized or singular two dimensional system–model of second order, Ex(i1 +2, i2+ 2) = A0x(i1+1, i2+1)+A1x(i1+1, i2)+A2x(i1, i2+1), is introduced. Using this model a technique for computing its transfer function, using the discrete Fourier transform, is given. The algorithm is straight forward and has been implemented using the software package Matlab . One step–by–step example, illustrating the application of the algorithm, is presented.
Polynomial-time perfect matchings in dense hypergraphs

Let H be a k-graph on n vertices, with minimum codegree at least n/k + cn for some fixed c > 0. In this paper we construct a polynomial-time algorithm which finds either a perfect matching in H or a certificate that none exists. This essentially solves a problem of Karpinski, Rucinski and Szymanska, who previously showed that this problem is NP-hard for a minimum codegree of n/k - cn. Our algorithm relies on a theoretical result of independent interest, in which we characterise any such hypergraph with no perfect matching using a family of lattice-based constructions.
Intention-Based Online Consumer Classification for Recommendation and Personalization

Consumers' online shopping behaviors are mostly determined by their intentions. Thus, the knowledge of consumer intention can help online marketers to enhance sales conversion rate and reduce ineffective marketing communications. Current personalization and recommendation techniques do not pay enough attention to various consumer intentions. The taxonomy of online shopping intention and the method to predict intention in real time are yet to be developed. Based on unsupervised and supervised learning techniques, this paper proposes an intention prediction model to fulfill the research gap. Empirical results suggest that the proposed model is able to classify intentions precisely. Accordingly, we discuss the implication and provide some managerial suggestions to online marketers who seek to implement some intention-based personalization methods.
The Intracellular Loop of the Glycine Receptor: It’s not all about the Size

The family of Cys-loop receptors (CLRs) shares a high degree of homology and sequence identity. The overall structural elements are highly conserved with a large extracellular domain (ECD) harboring an α-helix and 10 β-sheets. Following the ECD, four transmembrane domains (TMD) are connected by intracellular and extracellular loop structures. Except the TM3–4 loop, their length comprises 7–14 residues. The TM3–4 loop forms the largest part of the intracellular domain (ICD) and exhibits the most variable region between all CLRs. The ICD is defined by the TM3–4 loop together with the TM1–2 loop preceding the ion channel pore. During the last decade, crystallization approaches were successful for some members of the CLR family. To allow crystallization, the intracellular loop was in most structures replaced by a short linker present in prokaryotic CLRs. Therefore, no structural information about the large TM3–4 loop of CLRs including the glycine receptors (GlyRs) is available except for some basic stretches close to TM3 and TM4. The intracellular loop has been intensively studied with regard to functional aspects including desensitization, modulation of channel physiology by pharmacological substances, posttranslational modifications, and motifs important for trafficking. Furthermore, the ICD interacts with scaffold proteins enabling inhibitory synapse formation. This review focuses on attempts to define structural and functional elements within the ICD of GlyRs discussed with the background of protein-protein interactions and functional channel formation in the absence of the TM3–4 loop.