Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iconicity and Second Language Visual Perception: A Psycholinguistic Study of English Imitative Words at Different De-iconization Stages

The study of iconicity, i.e., of a link between form and meaning in a word based on similarity, has gained increased attention in recent years. Although recent research has shown an important role of iconicity for first language acquisition, its role for the second language (L2) acquisition is still unclear, neither is it understood how the perception of imitative words depends on their iconic expressiveness. We applied a multivariate experimental plan with repeated measurements and experimental and control stimuli to study visual recognition of English iconic (imitative) words at four stages of de-iconization (SDs) by native speakers of Russian (N = 106) using a lexical decision task. The participants were presented with an experimental stimulus and had to decide as rapidly as possible whether a visually presented letter string was a word or not. The method of diachronic evaluation was used to group the pre-selected imitative words into four categories where SD-1 words are the most vivid imitative words with an evident (iconic) link between form and meaning, and SD-4 words are the words which have lost this link in the course of language (semantic and phonetic) evolution. The findings have revealed that proceeding speed and accuracy rates are strongly connected to SDs: the less iconic (imitative) a word is, the faster and more accurately it is recognized; most iconic words (SD-1) are characterized by the slowest RTs and lowest accuracy rates. The results suggest that iconicity does affect visual recognition of imitative words by second language learners.
A Review on the Preparation of Borazine-Derived Boron Nitride Nanoparticles and Nanopolyhedrons by Spray-Pyrolysis and Annealing Process

Boron nitride (BN) nanostructures (= nanoBN) are structural analogues of carbon nanostructures but display different materials chemistry and physics, leading to a wide variety of structural, thermal, electronic, and optical applications. Proper synthesis routes and advanced structural design are among the great challenges for preparing nanoBN with such properties. This review provides an insight into the preparation and characterization of zero dimensional (OD) nanoBN including nanoparticles and nanopolyhedrons from borazine, an economically competitive and attractive (from a technical point of view) molecule, beginning with a concise introduction to hexagonal BN, followed by an overview on the past and current state of research on nanoparticles. Thus, a review of the spray-pyrolysis of borazine to form BN nanoparticles is firstly presented. The use of BN nanoparticles as precursors of BN nanopolyhedrons is then detailed. Applications and research perspectives for these OD nanoBN are discussed in the conclusion.
Autologous Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Comprehensive Assessment of Circulating Immune Populations Cells

BackgroundIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive pulmonary disease characterized by aberrant tissue remodeling, formation of scar tissue within the lungs and continuous loss of lung function. The areas of fibrosis seen in lungs of IPF patients share many features with normal aging lung with cellular senescence being one. The contribution of the immune system to the etiology of IPF remains poorly understood. Evidence obtained from animal models and human studies suggests that innate and adaptive immune processes can orchestrate existing fibrotic responses. Currently, there is only modestly effective pharmacotherapy for IPF. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based therapies have emerged as a potential option treatment of IPF. This study explores the possibility of using autologous MSCs as an IPF therapy and present an attempt to determine if the disease occurring in the lungs can be reflected on peripheral blood immune status. MethodsComprehensive characterization of autologous adipose derived MSCs (aMSCs) from five IPF patients and five age and gender matched Healthy Controls (HC) was done using flow cytometry, Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR), Multiplex Luminex xMAP technology and confocal microscopy. For assessing the self renewal capacity and osteogenic differentiation IncuCyte Live Cell Imaging technology was used. Multi-parameter quantitative flow cytometry of un-manipulated whole blood of another group of 15 IPF patients and 87 (30 age and gender matched) HC was used to analyze 110 peripheral phenotypes.ResultsThere are no differences between autologous aMSCs from IPF patients and HC in their stem cell properties, self renewal capacity, plasticity for osteogenic differentiation, secretome content, cell cycle inhibitor marker levels and mitochondrial health. IPF patients had altered peripheral blood immunophenotype including reduced B cells subsets, increased T cell subsets, and increased granulocytes among others demonstrating clear and significant differences.ConclusionsOur results indicate that there is no difference in aMSCs properties from IPF patients and HC, suggesting that autologous aMSCs may be an acceptable option for IPF therapy.Characterization of peripheral immune phenotype may be a valuable indicator for successful therapy, and for potentially staging the disease.
Gravitation Theory Based on the Physics of an Absolute Reference System

The study of the effect of the gravitational field on the photons, based on the hypothesis of the absolute reference system, demonstrates the origin of the gravitational force. By studying the propagation of a photon in the gravitational field the change in the estimation of time is determined, resulting from the use of a clock that is affected by the gravitational field. It is proved that in all known experiments, which were carried out in order to confirm the general theory of relativity, the results based on the hypothesis of an absolute reference system agree with the corresponding results of the general theory of relativity, except for the result of the deflection of light in the gravitational field of the sun, where the experimental results confirm the hypothesis of the absolute reference system.
Evaluation of Microbial Contamination of Groundwater under Different Topographic Conditions and Household Water Treatment Systems in Special Region of Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia

Since the coverage of piped water is still only 20.1% in Indonesia, many people rely on groundwater for drinking and daily use, although the quality of the groundwater is not well understood. This study evaluated the influence of the topography, well type, groundwater abstraction depth, sanitation facility type, and distance between the well and the sanitation facility on the groundwater quality. In addition, a possible household treatment system was investigated based on microbial removal efficiency and household acceptance. The results showed the groundwater abstraction depth and well type were the most important factors in controlling microbial contamination. The sanitation facility type, except small-scale sewer systems, and the distance from a well were not significantly correlated with E. coli concentration. A high microbial concentration was found in a flat area with predominantly shallow wells, latrines, and septic tanks because the topographic conditions determined the commonly used well types and groundwater abstraction depth. The RO + UV system was the only system that assured microbial safety of treated water. The chlorination and microfiltration systems had difficulty with chlorine-dosage adjustment and microbial removal, respectively. Raising public awareness of water quality problems was found to be important to improve acceptance of household treatment systems.
Chemical, Structural, Technological Properties and Applications of Andean Tuber Starches: A Review

ABSTRACT Andean tubers are an ancient food crop of the Inca culture, and recently, there has been interested in determining their compounds, which can be applied as ingredients in food preparations. This review aimed to analyze the actual knowledge of the chemical, structural, technological properties and applications of Andean tuber starches reported in scientific journals and propose some end-uses. Andean tuber starches showed amylose contents between 16.5–35.3%, which influenced the physicochemical and functional properties. Few studies have reported structural features such as molecular weight, gyration radius, and amylopectin chains’ chain-length distribution. More studies on structural characteristics are necessary to find structure-function relationships and suggest applications of those starches obtained from underused Andean tubers.
The Effect of Different Concentrations of Halothane Anaesthesia on the Electroencephalograph of Rock Doves (Columba livia)

Anaesthetic agents and doses used can significantly impact cerebrocortical responsiveness as assessed by electroencephalography (EEG). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of three different halothane concentrations on the EEG of Rock Doves using measures of frequency distribution and burst suppression. Eight healthy Rock Doves (Columba livia) were anaesthetized with halothane in oxygen, their tracheas intubated and their lungs mechanically ventilated. Five minutes of EEG were recorded at three multiples of minimum anaesthetic concentration (MAC), 1× MAC (1.6%), 1.5× MAC (2.4%) and 2× MAC (3.2%), presented in ascending then descending order. Fast Fourier transformation of the raw EEG record gave the median frequency (F50), spectral edge frequency (F95) and the total power (Ptot). Burst suppression, expressed as inactive compared to active EEG (%), was calculated on a representative two-minute section of the raw EEG. Data were analysed using repeated-measures one-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc correction for comparison of 1×, 1.5× and 2× MAC. Three of eight birds demonstrated negligible (<1%) burst suppression. No effect of halothane concentration on burst suppression incidence was seen. A significant decrease in all measured frequency variables (F50, p = 0.04; F95p = 0.02; Ptotp < 0.0001) occurred between 1× and 2× MAC. Halothane anaesthesia at MAC multiples of 1×, 1.5× and 2× in the Rock Dove can be considered suitable where cortical responsiveness is desired.
Conceptualizing smart city applications: Requirements, architecture, security issues, and emerging trends

The emergence of smart cities and sustainable development has become a globally accepted form of urbanization. The epitome of smart city development has become possible due to the latest innovative integration of information and communication technology. Citizens of smart cities can enjoy the benefits of a smart living environment, ubiquitous connectivity, seamless access to services, intelligent decision making through smart governance, and optimized resource management. The widespread acceptance of smart cities has raised data security issues, authentication, unauthorized access, device‐level vulnerability, and sustainability. This article focuses on the holistic overview and conceptual development of smart city. Initially, the work discusses the smart city idea and fundamentals explored in various pieces of literature. Further various smart city applications along with notable implementations, are put forth to understand the quality of living standards. Finally, the article depicts a solid understanding of different security and privacy issues, including some crucial future research directions.
Diagnosis and management of limbal stem cell deficiency, challenges, and future prospects

ABSTRACT Introduction: Corneal limbal stem cell deficiency is a multifaceted, sight-threatening disease process that can be challenging to diagnose and treat. Areas covered: This review discusses normal corneal limbal stem cell health, causes and diagnosis of limbal stem cell deficiency, and the medical and surgical management of limbal stem cell deficiency. Expert opinion: Recently established consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and management of limbal stem cell deficiency will help improve the diagnosis, management, and collaborative study design regarding this disease. When medical management fails, a variety of autologous and allogenic limbal stem cell transplant techniques may be tried. However, these treatments potentially have high morbidity and may be short-lived. Newer strategies of ex vivo cell culture and keratoprosthesis implants may help improve visual outcomes in patients faced with bilateral limbal stem cell deficiency.
Activation of Self‐Trapped Emission in Stable Bismuth‐Halide Perovskite by Suppressing Strong Exciton–Phonon Coupling

All‐inorganic bismuth‐halide perovskites are promising alternatives for lead halide perovskites due to their admirable chemical stability and optoelectronic properties; however, these materials deliver inferior photoluminescence (PL) properties, severely hindering their prospects in lighting applications. Here, a novel air‐stable but non‐emissive perovskite Rb3BiCl6 is synthesized, and the material is used as a prototype to uncover origin of the poor optical performance in bismuth‐halide perovskite. It is found that the extremely strong exciton–phonon interactions with a large coupling constant up to 693 meV leads to the seriously nonradiative recombination, which, however, can be effectively suppressed to 347 meV by introducing Sb3+ ions. As a result, Sb3+‐doped Rb3BiCl6 exhibits a stable yellow emission with unprecedented PL quantum yield up to 33.6% from self‐trapped excitons. Systematic spectroscopic characterizations and theoretical calculations are carried out to unveil the intriguing photophysical mechanisms. This work reveals the effect of exciton–phonon interaction, that is often underemphasized, on a material's photophysical properties.
Correct and Crisp Edge Detection Approach Based on Dense Network

Edge detection is a basic problem in computer vision and image processing. The main purpose of edge detection is to identify points with obvious brightness changes in digital images. At present, there are many good detection methods, but most of them do not consider the correctness and crispness of edges at the same time. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a method based on a deep convolution neural network. The method is mainly based on a dense network that is then combined with the single network structure of a backward refinement path module. The former can detect and retain the feature information between different layers in an image. The latter makes full use of the extracted information so that the low-level detail features and high-level abstract features can be better integrated in the final output. We tested the method on the BIPED data set. The results show that the correctness and crispness of the edges can be balanced in the detection process, and the ODS, OIS and AP of this method reach 0.888, 0.893 and 0.916, respectively. Compared with the state-of-the-art approaches, the proposed method improves the standard evaluation by 3%-5%, and the convergence speed is also significantly improved.
Sustainable Allocation Model of Construction Workforce for Work Resumption during COVID-19

COVID-19 has posed challenges for the construction industry, such as precise pandemic control, sustainable labor relations, and loss minimization. In response to these challenges, this study has developed a decision model that optimizes workforce allocation for projects to achieve sustainable workforce management, a tradeoff between pandemic prevention and work resumption. The priority of project resumption was evaluated using basic characteristics, the long- and short-term strategies, and the regional pandemic situation. The energy level of skilled workers was graded according to construction team size, skill level, and experience. Sustainable allocation principles and paths were explored to target four different types of work resumption plans. We used the cellular automaton (CA) technique to simulate the sustainable allocation model. We also analyzed the similarity function of energy levels and the time-cost function of allocation. The case study of the SGJ Construction demonstrates that this allocation model can accurately simulate work resumption and provide a sustainable allocation decisions and tools under pandemic. Also, it implies balanced interests and concerns between construction companies and the society for work resumption during COVID-19.
Charting consumers' continued social commerce intention

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the factors influencing consumers' continued social commerce (s-commerce) intention and its underlying mechanism.Design/methodology/approachThe authors define continued s-commerce intention as consumers' intention to continually participate in s-commerce activities, namely, requesting and sharing commercial information. Grounded in the motivation theory, perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment are identified in this study as the motives behind consumers' continued s-commerce intention. Given the indispensable social facet of s-commerce, the authors include social support as another critical social factor motivating continuance intention. Furthermore, users' perceptions are affected by prior s-commerce outcomes, which concern the effectiveness of the commercial information exchange process. Research suggests that in such a context, the result of communication is jointly determined by source credibility and interactive relationships amongst individuals. Whilst source credibility determines the usefulness of the information transmitted, a social interaction supports this process. Therefore, source credibility and social interactions are crucial to the outcomes of s-commerce, which, in turn, affect consumers' perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and social support in s-commerce. Building on these arguments, the authors propose our research model and then test the hypotheses via a survey.FindingsThe authors find that consumers' perceived usefulness and informational social support of s-commerce directly affect their continued s-commerce intention. Moreover, perceived enjoyment leads to continued s-commerce intention via the mediation of perceived usefulness, whilst emotional social support influences continued s-commerce intention through the mediator of informational social support. In addition, source credibility is a significant antecedent of consumers' usefulness, enjoyment and social support perceptions, whilst a social interaction significantly impacts perceived enjoyment and social support.Originality/valueVarious consumer behaviours in s-commerce have been studied; however, the continuance intention to participate in the s-commerce activity remains unknown. This empirical study fills this research gap. Moreover, the authors initially reveal s-commerce participants' utilitarian orientation in the post-adoption stage: perceived usefulness and informational social support affect continuance intention more directly than perceived enjoyment and emotional social support. Further, prior studies on information systems continuance have mainly focused on technical features. By identifying the influence from social factors, i.e. social support, this work extends the literature on information systems continuance.
Influence of protein content and profile on the processing characteristics and physical properties of model infant formula powders

Formulas were designed and produced with protein contents of 10, 14 and 18 g/100 g and whey protein:casein ratios of 60:40, 40:60 and 20:80. Protein content and whey protein:casein ratio did not signi ﬁ cantly affect the volume mean diameter (D[4,3]) of milk fat globules during processing; however, increasing protein content and decreasing whey protein:casein ratio resulted in increased viscosity during processing. The free fat content of the powders decreased with increasing protein content. Particle and bulk densities of powders with whey protein:casein ratio of 20:80 were higher than that of powders with whey protein:casein ratio of 60:40.
Fragrant Chemicals in the Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extract of Magnolia kobus DC. Flower Buds Increase the Concentration State of Brain Function

Abstract In traditional Korean medicine, flower buds of Magnolia kobus DC. plant is widely used for the treatments of various disorders. Hence, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of supercritical carbon dioxide extract (SFE) of M. kobus flower buds on electroencephalographic (EEG) changes of human brain. The extract from the flower buds of M. kobus was obtained by SFE and the yield was 0.27% at 40°C and 400 bar pressure. Subsequently, GC-MS analysis revealed that the major components of the SFE were caryophyllene (19.93%) and α-terpineol (12.49%). A large proportion of the oil was composed in the groups of hydrocarbons (55.09%) and alcohols (31.21%). In addition, fragrance evaluation of extract of M. kobus flower buds showed the characteristics of balsamic, floral, herbal, medicinal, minty, oily and spicy. In EEG study, the data were observed before and during the inhalation of M. kobus fragrance. During the inhalation of M. kobus fragrance, the EEG power spectrum values of absolute theta and alpha decreased in all the frontal, temporal and parietal regions. A significant decrease (p < 0.05) of absolute alpha wave was observed at left parietal (P3) region. The results reveal that the changes in EEG values to awaken and increase the concentration states of brain. The present investigation clearly suggested that the fragrance of M. kobus flower buds could be attributed to the enhancement of psychophysiological activities of human.
Efficacy of ixazomib-lenalidomide-dexamethasone in high-molecular-risk relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma - case series and literature review.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable condition with variable clinical course. The study included a group of patients with especially poor-prognosis, individuals with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) and specific cytogenetic disorders. Among the currently used therapies the ixazomib-lenalidomid-dexamethasone (IRd) is considered as a candidate to improve outcomes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of IRd regimen in the treatment of patients with RMMM. MATERIAL AND METHODS Nine patients aged 52-82 years who received ixazomib in the early access programme, were included in the study. All patients met the criteria for recurrent/relapsed MM and had high (t(4:14), t(14:16), del17p or +1q21) risk aberrations. Previous chemotherapy regimens included thalidomide and bortezomib. Median duration of exposure to ixazomib was 12 months. RESULTS One patient with multiple cytogenetic aberrations and extramedullary plasmocytoma died because of progression after two months of treatment. In the remaining patients, the objective response to treatment was reached, and in four cases it was qualified as a very good partial response (VGPR). Observed adverse effects included neutropenia, infections, and oedema (in three cases Grade 3). Eight patients continue treatment, in two cases the decision was made to reduce lenalidomide doses. CONCLUSIONS Preliminary results suggest potentially high efficacy and good safety profile of IRd therapy in patients with RRMM and unfavourable cytogenetics.