Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of ECAE Die Angle on Microstructure Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Behavior of AZ80/91 Magnesium Alloys

Magnesium alloys have poor tensile strength, ductility and corrosion resistance properties associated with other engineering materials like aluminum alloys, steels and superalloys etc. Therefore, many researchers worked on equal channel angular pressing of magnesium alloys to improve the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. In this work, the effect of channel angles on material properties was investigated during equal channel angular pressing of AZ80/91 magnesium alloy using processing route-R at 598 K processing temperature. Channel angles of 900 and 1100, common corner angle of 300 have been considered for the study. It has been revealed that the channel angle has a significant influence on deformation homogeneity, microhardness, ultimate tensile strength, ductility, and corrosion behavior of AZ80/91 magnesium alloys. Specifically, AZ80/91 Mg alloys processed through 900 channel angle i.e. die A is considered as optimal die parameter to improve above-said material properties. Investigation showing concerning as-received AZ80 and AZ91 Mg alloy indicates 11%, 14% improvement of UTS and 69%, 59% enhancement in ductility after processing through 4P through die A (90°) at 598 K respectively. Also, the corrosion rate reduces to 97% and 99% after processing the sample with 4P-ECAP die A (90°) at the same processing temperature for AZ80 and AZ91 Mg alloys respectively. This is mainly due to grain refinement and distribution of Mg17Al12 secondary phase during ECAP.
Bit-serial systolic accelerator design for convolution operations in convolutional neural networks

The accuracy of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) has exceeded the human level in many ﬁelds, but the high computation complexity is one of the main challenges for CNNs applied in the mobile or embedded devices. In this paper, we provide a hardware accelerator scheme for the convolution operations in CNNs, which adopts the bit-serial systolic architecture. Implementation results show that the proposed scheme can reduce the area by about 64%, increase the maximum frequency by about 4.4 times and increase the hardware eﬃciency by about 1.2 times compared with the state-of-the-art Eyeriss architecture.
The impact of corporate governance mechanisms and IFRS on earning management in Saudi Arabia

The current research seeks to assess the influence of corporate governance mechanisms and IFRS adoption on compliance with IFRS, earning management, and financial reporting quality(FRQ). A sample comprises 102 Saudi listed firms for the period spanning from 2014 up to 2019 was used. The study used descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multivariate analysis to estimate the results. The results reveal that while board size, board meeting and foreign ownership had negative effects on compliance with IFRS, board and audit committee independence exhibited a positive effect. Further, the results demonstrate that there was a sign of earning management under IFRS when a performance magnitude was used. The results also indicate that board and audit committee size, audit committee meeting and managerial ownership had significant negative effects on financial reporting quality however, board and audit committee independence showed a significant positive effect. Importantly, the results found that FRQ under IFRS was better than Saudi GAAP. The present research provides practical implications for policy makers, stock market authority, and academicians. More regulatory and disclosure requirements have to be imposed and financial reporting supervisory board need to be formed. The present research provides a novel contribution to IFRS compliance, earning management, financial reporting quality and corporate governance literature. It has a unique contribution as it attempts to investigate this issue in the context of an emerging economy and a recent IFRS adopter; Saudi Arabia that has special country-specific characteristics. The study also provides an evidence by investigating earning management and financial reporting quality under both sets of accounting standards; IFRS and Saudi GAAP.
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS TO OPTIMIZE THE OCCUPATIONAL PERFORMANCE, WELL-BEING, AND HEALTH OF POLICE OFFICERS: AN INTERNATIONAL OVERVIEW

Police officers can suffer from chronic diseases or common disorders, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. The predominantly sedentary nature of the profession, the rapid transition from waiting situations to activities with a high psychophysical impact, the physical inactivity, the work stress, the consumption of tobacco, the sleep disorders and poor eating habits can have a negative effect on the officer’s health and well-being. This review discussed the intervention strategies and programs adopted to optimize work performance, well-being, and health in the international police force. Training programs for the well-being of police officers can reduce social costs and improve the health status, physical and working efficiency and longevity of the worker. However, administrations should invest in facilities and equipment, and physical-motor education and awareness programs to be performed in the workplace by adopting a cultural change to improve the health and well-being of their workers. For this purpose, the various professional figures become of fundamental importance, including that of the Tactical Strength and Conditioning Specialists who have the specific skills to develop, implement and support physical-motor education programs to improve the psychophysical well-being and health of police officers becomes of fundamental importance. Article visualizations:
Adaptive Overhead Transmission Lines Auto-Reclosing Based on Hilbert–Huang Transform

This paper presents a reliable and fast index to detect the instant of arc extinction for adaptive single-pole automatic reclosing (ASPAR). The proposed method is a simple technique for ASPAR on shunt compensated transmission lines using the Hilbert–Huang Transform (HHT). The HHT method is a combination of the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert transform (HT). The first intrinsic mode function (IMF1) decomposed by EMD, which contains high frequencies of the faulty phase voltage, was used to calculate the proposed index. HT calculates the first IMF spectrum in the time-frequency domain. The presented index is the sum of all frequency contents below 55 Hz, which remains very low until the fault clearance. The proposed method uses a global threshold level and therefore no adjustment is needed for different transmission systems. This method is effective for various system configurations including different fault locations, line loading, and various shunt reactor configurations, designs, compensation rates, and placement. The performance of the method was verified using 324 test cases simulated in electromagnetic transient program (EMTP) related to a 345 kV transmission line. For all the test cases, the algorithm successfully operated with an average reclosing time delay of 32 ms.
Reliable Positioning Algorithm Using Two-Stage Adaptive Filtering in GPS-Denied Environments

To overcome the disadvantages of RFID application for outdoor vehicle positioning in completely GPS-denied environment, a fusion vehicle positioning strategy based on the integration of RFID and in-vehicle sensors is proposed. To obtain higher performance, both preliminary and fusion positioning algorithms are studied. First, the algorithm for preliminary positioning is developed in which only RFID is adopted. In the algorithm, through using the received signal strength, range from RFID tags to the reader is estimated by implementing the extreme learning machine algorithm, and then, the first-level adaptive extended Kalman filter (AEKF) which can accommodate the uncertainties in the observation noise description of RFID is employed to compute the vehicle’s location. Further, to compensate the deficiencies of preliminary positioning, the in-vehicle sensors are introduced to fuse with RFID. The second-level adaptive decentralized information filtering (ADIF) is designed to achieve fusion. In the implementation process of ADIF, the improved vehicle motion model is established to accurately describe the motion of the vehicle. To isolate the RFID failure and fuse multiple observation sources with different sample rates, instead of the centralized EKF, the decentralized architecture is employed. Meanwhile, the adaptive rule is designed to judge the effectiveness of preliminary positioning result, deciding whether to exclude RFID observations. Finally, the proposed strategy is verified through field tests. The results validate that the proposed strategy has higher accuracy and reliability than traditional methods.
Agro–industrial residues as alternative sources for cellulases and xylanases production and purification of xylanase produced by Aspergillus flavus AUMC 10331 isolated from extreme habitat

Agro–industrial residues, namely wheat bran (WB), red sawdust (RSD), white sawdust (WSD), corn cobs (CC), rice husk (RH) and sugarcane bagasse (SB) were used as alternatives of pure xylan for production of xylanase, carboxy methyl cellulase (CMCase) and avicellase in solid state (SSF) and submerged (SmF) fermentation using Aspergillus flavus AUMC 10331. In SSF, WB was the most utilizable yielding the highest concentration of xylanase (792.4 IU.gds) and CMCase (101.8 IU.gds) and RH was the best for avicellase (152.4 IU.gds). In SmF, A. flavus regularly utilized all substrates to produce the three enzymes. From the six plant residues, CC was the superior source for xylanase production (9660 IU.gds) and CMCase production (307 IU.gds), while RH registered the highest avicellase (5554 IU.gds). Xylanase from CC was purified using ion exchange (IR–120 EP) and Sephadex G-75 column chromatography. The purified xylanase showed activity of 32.77 IU.ml. min and a specific activity of 273.1 IU.mg proteins. The enzyme was active over a pH range of 4.5–8.0, and its highest activity was detected at pH 7.0 and 65 oC. Xylanase activity was stimulated by FeSO4 up to 121.97 %. Km and Vmax were 12.18 mg.ml 1 and 204.1 IU.min, respectively.
Diabetic retinopathy severity grading employing quadrant‐based Inception‐V3 convolution neural network architecture

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) accounts in eye‐related disorders due to accumulated damage to small retinal blood vessels. Automated diagnostic systems are effective in early detection and diagnosis of severe eye complications by assisting the ophthalmologists. Deep learning‐based techniques have emerged as an advancement over conventional techniques based on hand‐crafted features. The authors have proposed a Quadrant‐based automated DR grading system in this work using Inception‐V3 deep neural network to extract small lesions present in retinal fundus images. The grading efficiency of the proposed architecture is improved utilizing image enhancement and optical disc removal pipeline along with data augmentation stage. The proposed system yields accuracy of 93.33% with minimized cross‐entropy loss of 0.291. Capability of proposed system is demonstrated experimentally to provide efficient DR diagnosis. The diagnosis ability of the proposed architecture is demonstrated by state‐of‐the‐art comparison with other mainstream convolution neural network models and a maximum improvement of 14.33% is observed.
Significant Asia‐Europe divergence in the middle spotted woodpecker (Aves, Picidae)

Population divergence could be strongly affected by species’ ecology and might not be a direct response to climate‐driven environmental change. We tested this in the middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius), a non‐migratory, low‐dispersal habitat specialist associated with old deciduous forests of the Western Palearctic. We present the first phylogeographic study of this species integrating genetic data (three mitochondrial loci, one autosomal and one Z‐linked intron) with species distribution modelling. Based on this species’ ecology, we predicted that the middle spotted woodpecker could have colonized its current range from multiple Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) refugia and that strongly structured populations could be expected. Indeed, we discovered a strong genetic divergence between Asian and European populations, with a split estimated at around one million of years ago. This was surprising given only slight intraspecific variation in plumage and morphology. Although there was no significant phylogeographic structure within the Asian and European groups, we cannot exclude the possibility of multiple refugia within either group during the LGM. This has to be further investigated with more extensive geographic sampling and larger number of variable independently evolving markers. Future studies should also investigate potential differences in vocalizations and ecology between the two groups. Lineages showing similar level of genetic differentiation including woodpeckers are often treated as species‐level taxa. Comparison of our results with the phylogeographic history of other woodpeckers, suggests that sympatric species with similar life‐histories might have idiosyncratic phylogeographic patterns probably resulting from different ecological requirements or historic stochasticity.
Essential Oil from Ether-Containing Plants of Juniper (Juniperus) and Spruce (Picea) Leaves by Distillation

This article is investigating the preparation of essential oil from the ether-containing plants of Juniper (Juniperus) and spruce (Picea) leaves by using the simple water distillation equipment. This water distillation method forms an essential oil with water vapor from plants of Juniper (Juniperus) and spruce (Picea) leaves based on Dalton’s law of partial pressure, applicable for plants containing a large amount of ether oil where distillation temperature is not affecting product quality. Obtained essential oils are widely used in medicine, perfumery, cosmetics, and food industry. In addition, these essential oils possess different activities including antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory, which have different effects such as adaptogenic, antidepressive, disinfection, and wound healing, diuretic, and antipyretic.
Comparative Study on Air Transport Network Structure of China, US and EU

Modern air transport is an important part of national economy, however, the air transport construction of China still lags behind developed countries. Here we construct the air transport networks of China, US and EU by taking cities as nodes and airlines as edges to study their characteristics comparatively. Through observing the statistical results of topological indices included degree, excess average degree and betweenness, we find the less branch airlines and the higher workload of hub cities are the factors restricting the air transport network of China. Then based on the indices sorts, we classify the air transport cities into global hub nodes, regional hub nodes and general nodes to show their different importance in the network. We consider that it is necessary to increase the numbers of global hub nodes and branch airlines, and improve their invulnerable abilities. This paper may provide references for guiding the air transport network construction of China.
SETMAR functions in illegitimate DNA recombination and non-homologous end joining

In anthropoid primates, SETMAR is a fusion between a methyltransferase gene and a domesticated DNA transposase. SETMAR has been found to be involved in several cellular functions including regulation of gene expression, DNA integration and DNA repair. These functions are thought to be mediated through the histone methyltransferase, the DNA binding and the nuclease activities of SETMAR. To better understand the cellular roles of SETMAR, we generated several U2OS cell lines expressing either wild type SETMAR or a truncated or mutated variant. We tested these cell lines with in vivo plasmid-based assays to determine the relevance of the different domains and activities of SETMAR in DNA integration and repair. We found that expressing the SET and MAR domains, but not wild type SETMAR, partially affect DNA integration and repair. The methyltransferase activity of SETMAR is also needed for an efficient DNA repair whereas we did not observe any requirement for the putative nuclease activity of SETMAR. Overall, our data support a non-essential function for SETMAR in DNA integration and repair.
Fatty acid composition of Baranjski kulen from two diverse production systems

Received: 2018-05-07 | Accepted: 2018-05-14 | Available online: 2018-11-26 https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2018. 21.04. 152-154The aim of the present study was to compare the fatty acid composition of dry fermented sausage made from Crna slavonska pig and modern hybrids reared in diverse production systems. The study was performed on Baranjski kulen, a traditional PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) labelled sausage. Baranjski kulen produced from pigs included in the study differed in their fatty acid profile, with kulen made from Crna slavonska pigs having a higher content of MUFA, lower content of PUFA and a more favourable PUFA/SFA ratio. The results of the present study demonstrate that meat originating from breeds raised in specific production system affects the fatty acid composition as one of the major determinants of nutritional product quality. Keywords : autochthonous breed, fatty acids, nutritional quality, pigs References Agostoni, C. , Moreno, L. , Shamir, R. (2015) Palmitic Acid and Health: Introduction. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 12, 141-142. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2015. 1017435 Djurkin Kusec, I. , Buha, I. , Margeta, V. , Gvozdanovic, K. , Radisic, Ž, Komlenic, M. , Kusec, G. (2017) Carcass Composition and Meat Quality of Crna slavonska Pigs from Two Different Housing Conditions. Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, 82 (3), 221-225. Karolyi, D. , Salajpal, K. , Kis, G. , Đikic, M. , Juric, I. (2007) Influence of finishing diet on fatty acid profile of longissimus muscle of Black Slavonian pigs. Poljoprivreda, 13 (1), 176-179. Kasprzyk A. , Tyra M. , Babicz M. (2015) Fatty acid profile of pork from a local and a commercial breed. Archives Animal Breeding, 58, 379–385. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/aab-58-379-2015 Komlenic, M. , Margeta, V. , Djurkin Kusec, I. , Gvozdanovic, K. , Margeta, P., Kusec, G. (2018) Carcass composition and meat quality of pigs from different pork chains in the production of Baranjski kulen (PGI). Archivos de Zootecnia, 209-212. Medic, H. , Djurkin Kusec, I. , Pleadin, J., Kozacinski, L. , Njari, B. , Hengl, B. , Kusec, G. (2018) The impact of frozen storage duration on physical, chemical and microbiological properties of pork, Meat Science, 140, 119-127. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci. 2018.03. 006 Morse, N (2015). Are some health benefits of palmitoleic acid supplementation due to its effects on 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)? Lipid technology, 27 (12), 278-281. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/lite.201500061 Nevrkla, P., Kapelanski, W. , Vaclavkova, E. , Hadas, Z. , Cebulska A. , Horký, P. (2017) Meat quality and fatty acid profile of pork and backfat from an indigenous breed and a commercial hybrid of pigs. Annals of Animal Science, 17 (4), 1215-1227. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/aoas-2017-0014 Parunovic, N. , Radovic, C. , Savic, R. (2017): Sensory properties and fatty acids profiles of fermented dry sausages made of pork meat from various breeds. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Functional Genomics for Cancer Research: Applications In Vivo and In Vitro

Functional genomics holds great promise for the dissection of cancer biology. The elucidation of genetic cooperation and molecular details that govern oncogenesis, metastasis, and response to therapy is made possible by robust technologies for perturbing gene function coupled to quantitative analysis of cancer phenotypes resulting from genetic or epigenetic perturbations. Multiplexed genetic perturbations enable the dissection of cooperative genetic lesions as well as the identification of synthetic lethal gene pairs that hold particular promise for constructing innovative cancer therapies. Lastly, functional genomics strategies enable the highly multiplexed in vivo analysis of genes that govern tumorigenesis as well as of the complex multicellular biology of a tumor, such as immune response and metastasis phenotypes. In this review, we discuss both historical and emerging functional genomics approaches and their impact on the cancer research landscape.
Unintended Short- and Longer-Term Consequences of Assignment to College Readiness Courses: Evidence from Florida

High school course selection can affect student outcomes in high school, college, and beyond. Policymakers therefore must consider whether policies affecting course selection may have unintended consequences for students with different levels of preparation. We use regression discontinuity analysis to examine the impact of Florida’s College and Career Readiness Initiative on high school coursetaking and subsequent success in college-level courses. To determine which students were most likely to comply with and benefit from the FCCRI, we run subgroup analyses based on students’ course-taking histories, finding that the initiative was beneficial for some students but may have had inadvertently harmed others.
Lipid production is more than doubled by manipulating a diacylglycerol acyltransferase in algae

Oleaginous algae have the ability to synthesize a high level of triacylglycerol (TAG) and are considered as the next‐generation feedstock for biofuel production. Manipulating algal lipid biosynthetic pathways has potential to overproduce TAG and represents a feasible way toward bringing down algae‐derived biofuels production cost. Here we dissected functional roles and engineering potential of six diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) genes from the marine alga Phaeodactylum tricornutum. PtDGAT1, PtDGAT2B, and PtDGAT3, residing at the chloroplast endoplasmic reticulum (ER) readily for utilizing both chloroplast‐ and ER‐derived diacylglycerol, were transcriptionally correlated with TAG accumulation. Heterologous expression in yeast, in vitro assay and overexpression in P. tricornutum all supported that PtDGAT1 surpassed the other five PtDGATs in synthesizing TAG. Compared to wild type P. tricornutum, the PtDGAT1‐overexpressing strain produced more than doubled TAG and total lipids, which reached 57% and 73% of dry weight, respectively, record‐high levels ever achieved in this alga. Our results demonstrated the strategy of screening proper engineering targets and manipulating a single gene to pull carbon flux to lipids for TAG hyper‐accumulation without growth compromise. The engineered alga with a great trait improvement may serve as a potent lipid producer for production uses.