Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Defect Reporting in New Residential Buildings in New Zealand

The need for defect reporting is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore at handover of new residential buildings. A general review in defect studies has consistently shown that newly built properties can be found to have a significant number of defects. Very often the responsibility for rectifying these common defects is borne by the new homeowner even though house developers are liable. In the current study, survey data is obtained from 216 recent home purchasers/owners across New Zealand urban cities. The intent of the investigation is to show that opportunities exist for defect reporting that will act as a mechanism to measure performance and thus improve the quality of finished construction products in New Zealand. The study found that a significant number (81%) of the participants were involved in the construction of their homes and could influence quality performance if they were proactive enough. The results show that (64.7%) did not engage the service of independent building inspectors for defect reporting on their new homes. Seventy-four percent now agree that independent building inspection was important in hindsight. The study findings are in line with literature on defects and the poor use of defect reporting in new residential buildings. The current challenge for defect rectification by house developers after handover is real and this could increase the confidence that new home owners can have in their developers. Defect reporting could confer benefits to new residential building quality in New Zealand and should be embraced as part of a wider best practice.
Behcet's Disease

Behret (1937) described a chronic, relapsing complex of oral ulceration, genital ulceration, and ocular inflammation. It has been recognized that many other systems may be involved, including the skin, cardiovascular, central nervous, and gastrointestinal systems, and the joints, together with venous thrombosis (Enoch, 1969; Mason and Barnes, 1969; Mowat and Hothersall, 1969); Francis, 1970; Kalbian and Challis, 1970; Haim, Barzilai, and Hazani, 1971). Thus, the findings may vary greatly from the triad originally described. Some authors consider Beh*et's disease a general systemic disease affecting visceral organs on a wide scale, and the literature has been extensively reviewed (Francis, 1970; O'Duffy, Carney, and Deodhar, 1971). Despite the many theories put forward the aetiology remains unknown. Histological changes are not specific and no diagnostic test is available. B0e, Dalgaard, and Scott (1958) described several cases of a mucocutaneous-ocular syndrome with intestinal involvement and said that involvement of the gastrointestinal tract also was not infrequent. Beh9et's disease, which was associated with necrotizing oesophagitis, ulcers of the oesophagus, stomach, jejunum, ileum, or large bowel, or segmental ileitis has been reported (Bechgaard, 1940; Jensen, 1944; Ramsay, 1967; Empey, 1972). However,
The matching polytope has exponential extension complexity

A popular method in combinatorial optimization is to express polytopes P, which may potentially have exponentially many facets, as solutions of linear programs that use few extra variables to reduce the number of constraints down to a polynomial. After two decades of standstill, recent years have brought amazing progress in showing lower bounds for the so called extension complexity, which for a polytope P denotes the smallest number of inequalities necessary to describe a higher dimensional polytope Q that can be linearly projected on P. However, the central question in this field remained wide open: can the perfect matching polytope be written as an LP with polynomially many constraints? We answer this question negatively. In fact, the extension complexity of the perfect matching polytope in a complete n-node graph is 2Ω(n). By a known reduction this also improves the lower bound on the extension complexity for the TSP polytope from 2Ω(√n) to 2Ω(n).
Association between obesity and anemia in an nationally representative sample of United States adults: a cross-sectional study

Introduction Few studies are about the relationship between anemia and obesity, and previous studies have only paid attention to BMI. Methods and Results We first included body fat percentage (BF%) as an assessment indicator and divided it into quartiles, grouped participants into obesity and non-obesity used data from NHANES database. After adjustment for age, gender, ethnicity, education and family income, the level of soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), and incidence of elevated CRP or HsCRP were progressively higher with increased BF%, whereas mean cell volume (MCV), natural logarithm (Ln) serum ferritin (SF), and Ln SF/sTfR were progressively reduced. Although a higher prevalence of anemia and lower hemoglobin was observed with increased BF%, but there was no statistical difference. Women in the highest BF% group demonstrated a significantly higher risk of iron deficiency compared to those in the lowest BF% group. Discussion BF% should be given more attention, and women with high BF% should pay attention to iron deficiency.
Internet Engineering Task Force (ietf)

This document updates RFC 7001 by creating a registry for property types in the Authentication-Results header field, used in email authentication work, rather than limiting participants to using the original, small set of fixed values. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.
Dynamics of entanglement in a dissipative Bose-Hubbard dimer

We study the connection between the semiclassical phase space of the Bose-Hubbard dimer and inherently quantum phenomena in this model, such as entanglement and dissipation-induced coherence. Near the semiclassical self-trapping fixed points, the dynamics of Einstein-Podolski-Rosen (EPR) entanglement and condensatefractionconsistsofbeatsamongjustthreeeigenstates.SincepersistentEPRentangledstatesariseonly intheneighborhoodofthesefixedpoints,ouranalysisexplainsessentiallyalloftheentanglementdynamicsinthe system. We derive accurate analytical approximations by expanding about the strong-coupling limit; surprisingly, their realm of validity is nearly the entire parameter space for which the self-trapping fixed points exist. Finally, we show significant enhancement of entanglement can be produced by applying localized dissipation.
Cross-lingual portability of MLP-based tandem features - a case study for English and Hungarian

One promising approach for building ASR systems for lessresourced languages is cross-lingual adaptation. Tandem ASR is particularly well suited to such adaptation, as it includes two cascaded modelling steps: feature extraction using multi-layer perceptrons (MLPs), followed by modelling using a standard HMM. The language-specific tuning can be performed by adjusting the HMM only, leaving the MLP untouched. Here we examine the portability of feature extractor MLPs between an Indo-European (English) and a Finno-Ugric (Hungarian) language. We present experiments which use both conventional phone-posterior and articulatory feature (AF) detector MLPs, both trained on a much larger quantity of (English) data than the monolingual (Hungarian) system. We find that the cross-lingual configurations achieve similar performance to the monolingual system, and that, interestingly, the AF detectors lead to slightly worse performance, despite the expectation that they should be more language-independent than phone-based MLPs. However, the cross-lingual system outperforms all other configurations when the English phone MLP is adapted on the Hungarian data.
Photorespiratory phenomena in maize: oxygen uptake, isotope discrimination, and carbon dioxide efflux.

Concurrent O(2) evolution, O(2) uptake, and CO(2) uptake by illuminated maize (Zea mays) leaves were measured using (13)CO(2) and (18)O(2). Considerable O(2) uptake occurred during active photosynthesis. At CO(2) compensation, O(2) uptake increased. Associated with this increase was a decrease in O(2) release such that a stoichiometric exchange of O(2) occurred. The rate of O(2) exchange at CO(2) compensation was directly related to O(2) concentration in the atmosphere at least up to 8% (v/v). When illuminated maize leaves were exposed to saturating CO(2) concentrations containing approximately equal amounts of (12)CO(2) and (13)CO(2), the latter was taken up more rapidly, thus depressing the atom% (13)C in the atmosphere. Moreover, upon exposure to CO(2) containing 96 atom% (13)C, there occurred a directly measurable efflux of (12)CO(2) from the leaves for at least 15 minutes. During this period an equimolar evolution of (16)O(2) and uptake of (13)CO(2) was observed. Thereafter, although the rate of (16)O(2) evolution remained unchanged, the rate of (13)CO(2) uptake declined markedly, suggesting continual (13)C enrichment of the photorespiratory substrate.It is concluded that a finite photorespiratory process occurs in maize and that the CO(2) generated thereby is efficiently recycled. Recycling maintains the internal CO(2) concentration at a level difficult to detect by most photorespiratory assays.
Expression and function of the NALP3 inflammasome in rheumatoid synovium

The NACHT, LRR and PYD domains containing protein (NALP3) inflammasome is a key regulator of interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) secretion. As there is strong evidence for a pro‐inflammatory role of IL‐1β in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in murine models of arthritis, we explored the expression of the different components of the NALP3 inflammasome as well as other nucleotide oligomerization domain (NOD)‐like receptors (NLRs) in synovium obtained from patients with RA. The expression of NLRs was also studied in fibroblast lines derived from joint tissue. By immunohistology, NALP3 and apoptosis‐associated speck‐like protein containing a CARD domain (ASC) were expressed in myeloid and endothelial cells and B cells. T cells expressed ASC but lacked NALP3. In synovial fibroblast lines, NALP3 expression was not detected at the RNA and protein levels and stimulation with known NALP3 agonists failed to induce IL‐1β secretion. Interestingly, we were unable to distinguish RA from osteoarthritis synovial samples on the basis of their basal level of RNA expression of known NLR proteins, though RA samples contained higher levels of caspase‐1 assayed by enzyme‐linked immunsorbent assay. These results indicate that myeloid and endothelial cells are the principal sources of inflammasome‐mediated IL‐1β production in the synovium, and that synovial fibroblasts are unable to activate caspase‐1 because they lack NALP3. The NALP3 inflammasome activity does not account for the difference in level of inflammation between RA and osteoarthritis.
Acoustic Signal Analysis for Prediction of Flank Wear During Conventional Milling

In recent years, the investigation of the acoustic signals (AS) produced from different machining processes have primarily focused on the ultrasonic frequency range. The objective of this work is to propose a novel technique for predicting the flank wear condition of a tool and ultimately tool failure (insert chipping) during the process of conventional face milling. Preliminary experiments suggest that the spectral content of audible acoustic emission (AAE) signals could be used to predict the cumulative flank wear in real time for an indexable carbide insert during the milling process. The experiments conducted for this study suggest a strong correlation between the magnitudes of the AAE in the selected frequency range, and the amount of wear on the insert.
Perception or reality: Can thermal perceptions inform management of firefighters in the heat?

ABSTRACT Accurately assessing the physiological status of firefighters during work in the heat is critical to ensuring their safety. Evaluating core temperatures (Tc) in the field is problematic due to cost and limitations in technology and accuracy. As such, fire services rely on individual perceptions of wellbeing. The present study aimed to establish whether perceptual responses measured using the perceptual strain index (PeSI), calculated from rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and thermal sensation (TS), could reliably predict the physiological strain (PSI) encountered by experienced firefighters working in a hot environment. We conducted two firefighting simulations (set-pace and self-paced) in a purposefully built heat chamber (100 ± 5°C) comprised of two 20-min periods separated by a 10-min recovery outside the chamber. Physiological strain was measured via heart rate (HR) and gastrointestinal temperature (Tgi) and compared with PeSI at 5-min intervals. To evaluate the predictive ability of the PeSI for PSI, mean differences and the 95% limits of agreement (LOA) were established, along with correlation coefficients at each 5-min interval. Moderately significant correlations occurred in the second work bout of the self-paced trial only (10 min: r = 0.335, 15 min: r = 0.498, 20 min r = 0.439) with no other correlations observed at any other time during either trial or during the rest periods. Bland-Altman analysis revealed mean differences of −0.74 ± 2.70 (self-paced) and +0.04 ± 2.04 (set-paced) between PeSI and PSI with the 95% LOA being −4.77 to 3.28 (self-paced) and −4.01 to 2.01 (set-paced). The wide LOA and lack of correlations observed between perceptual and physiological strain in both self-paced and set-paced work trials indicate that PeSI is not sufficiently reliable as a sole measure of wellbeing for firefighters working in the heat. Hence, we recommend that fire services prioritise the development of reliable and effective monitoring tools for use in the field.
The t(8;21) translocation converts AML1 into a constitutive transcriptional repressor

The human translocation (t8;21) is associated with ∼12% of the cases of acute myelogenous leukemia. Two genes, AML1 and ETO, are fused together at the translocation breakpoint, resulting in the expression of a chimeric protein called AML1-ETO. AML1-ETO is thought to interfere with normal AML1 function, although the mechanism by which it does so is unclear. Here, we have used Drosophila genetics to investigate two models of AML1-ETO function. In the first model, AML1-ETO is a constitutive transcriptional repressor of AML1 target genes, regardless of whether they are normally activated or repressed by AML1. In the second model, AML1-ETO dominantly interferes with AML1 activity by, for example, competing for a common co-factor. To discriminate between these models, the effects of expressing AML1-ETO were characterized and compared with loss-of-function phenotypes of lozenge (lz), an AML1 homolog expressed during Drosophila eye development. We also present results of genetic interaction experiments with AML1 co-factors that are not consistent with AML1-ETO behaving as a dominant-negative factor. Instead, our data suggest that AML1-ETO acts as a constitutive transcriptional repressor.
Just the Facts: Changes in Older Driver Attitudes After Exposure to Educational Interventions

Objectives: To examine the change in cognitive processing as measured by consciousness raising and attitudes toward driving following educational interventions for older adults. Methods: Older adults who viewed a research-based applied theater production about older driver safety (n = 110) were compared to those who were exposed to a print-based publication available to all drivers (n = 100). Results: After viewing the play developed with input from older adults and others, older adult viewers’ attitudes toward driving shifted in a manner consistent with an increased openness or willingness to consider changing their driving behavior. Conversely, after reading the print-based materials, the older adults felt more empowered to continue drive. Conclusions: Demonstrating that an intervention that takes into account the views of older drivers can lead to attitudinal outcomes that differ from those achieved with typical “just the facts” programs is an important step in understanding how program content and format affect outcomes. Future interdisciplinary work such as this may enhance our capabilities to understand more about the processes involved in influencing change in attitudes and behaviors.
Detection and Tracking of Multiple Moving Objects for Surveillance and Security System

In this paper, detection and tracking of moving object with shadow removal, automated counting and alarm generation was proposed. Improved Gaussian mixture model was used for background subtraction and modeling as it robustly deals with lighting changes, repetitive motions, clutter and slowly moving objects. Shadow detection and removal was performed using improved HSV color space method. Morphological operations were used for noise removal in post processing step. Kalman filter was used for tracking of moving objects with occlusion handling. In the last step, automated counting of moving objects and generation of alarm when motion was detected were performed. Experimental results show that proposed approach was able to detect and track moving objects with effective shadow removal and counting.
Vision servo based Delta robot to pick-and-place moving parts

A vision-servo system is developed to make a Delta robot pick and place parts on a moving conveyer. To achieve motion planning of the Delta robot under a proposed vision servo system, forward and backward kinematics of the Delta robot is derived at first. Then, the vision servo program is developed in C++ to perform the image processing and the image recognition. For the image processing procedures, Canny and Sobel edge detection methods are studied. Based on the experimental results, Canny edge detection is better than the Sobel method in this case. Finally, image processing, image registration and motion controller movements are integrated into one system to perform the vision-servo pick-and-place the parts in the conveyor automatically.
Risk-limiting Audits for Nonplurality Elections

Abstract : Many organizations have turned to alternative voting systems such as instant-runoff voting for determining the outcome of single-winner elections. It is our position in this paper that the increasing deployment of such alternative systems necessitate the study and development of risk-limiting audits for these systems. We initiate this study. We examine several commonly used single-winner voting systems and provide risk-limiting auditing procedures for them. In many cases the methods from auditing plurality contests can be applied with minor changes and little loss in efficiency. For instant-runoff voting (IRV), the situation is markedly different. We describe an algorithm for auditing the candidate elimination order using plurality methods which is risk-limiting. Standard risk-limiting methods can be employed if the margin of the election can be efficiently calculated or bounded. We provide efficiently computable upper and lower bounds on the margin and, when known, compare them to the exact margins. Both auditing algorithms are potentially far less efficient than the methods to audit other types of voting systems.
Effects of Equisetum arvense Ointment on Diabetic Wound Healing in Rats.

UNLABELLED This study is designed to evaluate the effect of Equisetum arvense (EA) ointment on dermal diabetic wound healing in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. METHODS In this study, diabetes was induced via a single intraperitoneal injection of 65 mg/kg streptozotocin in 56 male Wistar rats. After anesthetization, a 15 mm x 15 mm wound for each rat was made by removing skin in a circle on the dorsum. A total of 56 diabetic wounds were studied in 8 groups (n = 7), 4 of which were treated with EA ointment. On the 7th and 14th days after creating the wounds, the state of the diabetic wound healing was evaluated with wound closure ratio and by performing histopathologic studies. RESULTS Groups treated with EA 5%-10% ointment were found to have a statistically higher wound closure ratio than control and petroleum jelly-lanolin groups (P < 0.05). On day 14, groups to which EA 5%-10% ointment was applied showed 99.71% and 99.93% wound closure ratio (P < 0.05) and higher dermal and epidermal regeneration, angiogenesis, and granulation tissue thickness after 14 days than the other groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION These results indicate that EA ointments exhibit significant diabetic wound healing activity in excision wounds. Further clinical and experimental studies are needed to confirm these results.
The role of anti-mullerian hormone in determining ovarian reserve in patients with endometrioma and benign cysts

Objective: Our aim was to determine the effects of endometrioma by itself and its surgery on ovarian reserve via pre-and postoperative serial measurements of Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) in patients with endometrioma and benign cysts. Material and Methods: Our study was conducted at an education and research hospital as a prospective controlled clinical trial. Participants were divided according to their diagnosis into endometrioma and non-endometrioma groups. Serial blood samples of the patients for serum AMH levels were collected preoperatively, and postoperatively at the first week, first month, and third month, respectively. Results: A total of 46 patients (25 for the study and 21 for control groups) were included in the study. The mean age of our patients was 31.8±5.57 in the endometri-oma group and 29.38±8.64 in the control group. The AMH value was lower in the en-dometrioma group, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (p>0.05). However, in the postoperative AMH levels measured at the 1 st week, 1 st month, and 1 st year, the values were significantly higher in the non-endometrioma group compared to the endometrioma group (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to our study, we can conclude that endometrioma surgery affects ovarian reserve significantly and more negatively than benign cystectomies.
A Cross-Sectional Study of the Relationship Between Serum Liver Enzymes Level and the Incidence of Impaired Fasting Glucose in Males and Females

Background The aim of this study was to investigate the possible correlation between levels of serum liver enzymes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in Chinese adults and to provide a new perspective for the prevention of pre-diabetes. Material/Methods Serum liver enzymes of the samples including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), as well as plasma glucose, blood lipids, and insulin, were measured. The cumulative incidences of IFG between different quartiles of liver enzymes were compared by the chi-square test. A logistic regression model (binary regression) was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of IFG with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results The total incidence of IFG was 20.3% and the cumulative incidence of IFG was higher in men compared to women. In both sexes, IFG is more prevalent in higher quartiles of liver enzymes. After adjusting for age, BMI, blood pressure, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and total cholesterol (TC), the cumulative incidences of IFG were significantly higher in the highest quartiles of liver enzymes than in the lowest quartiles. A significantly higher cumulative incidence of IFG was found in the highest GGT quartile than in the lowest quartile for woman. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that serum liver enzymes are related to the risk of IFG in Chinese adults. We infer that preserving the hepatic function may be an efficient way to prevent the development of IFG, especially in males.