Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Activity, Stability and Molecular Characterization of Eight Potent Bacteriophages Infecting Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

Background: Members of the genus Klebsiella are among the leading microbial pathogens associated with nosocomial infection. The increased incidence of antimicrobial resistance in these species has propelled the need for alternate/combination therapeutic regimens to aid clinical treatment, including bacteriophage therapy. Bacteriophages are considered very safe and effective in treating bacterial infections. In this study, we characterize eight lytic bacteriophages that were previously isolated by our team against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. Methods: The one-step-growth curves, stability and lytic ability of eight bacteriophages were characterized. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing analysis and protein profiling were used to characterize the microbes at the molecular level. Phylogenetic trees of four important proteins were constructed for the two selected bacteriophages. Results and conclusions: All eight bacteriophages showed high efficiency for reducing bacterial concentration with high stability under different physical and chemical conditions. We found four major protein bands out of at least ten 15–190 KDa bands that were clearly separated by SDS-PAGE, which were assumed to be the major head and tail proteins. The genomes were found to be dsDNA, with sizes of approximately 36–87 Kb. All bacteriophages reduced the optical density of the planktonic K. pneumoniae abruptly, indicating great potential to reduce K. pneumoniae infection. In this study, we have found that tail fiber protein can further distinguished closely related bacteriophages. The characterised bacteriophages showed promising potential as candidates against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae via bacteriophage therapy.
Giving Schools and Teachers Autonomy in Teacher Professional Development Under a Medium-Capability Education System

A mature teacher who continuously seeks improvement should be recognised as a professional who has autonomy in conducting their job and has the autonomy to engage in a professional community of practice (Hyslop-Margison and Sears, 2010). In other words, teachers’ engagement in professional development activities should be driven by their own determination rather than extrinsic sources of motivation. In this context, teachers’ self-determination can be defined as a feeling of connectedness with their own aspirations or personal values, confidence in their ability to master new skills, and a sense of autonomy in planning their own professional development path (Stupnisky et al., 2018; Eyal and Roth, 2011; Ryan and Deci, 2000).
Testing Ground Fault Protection of Generating Units With Frequency-Selective Grounding

This paper experimentally evaluates responses of ground fault protection for synchronous generators, which are grounded using frequency-selective grounding. Frequency-selective grounding is designed to provide a low ground impedance path (similar to solid grounding) for high frequency zero-sequence current components. This grounding system also provides an impedance similar to a low-resistance grounding for low frequency zero-sequence current components. The frequency-dependent equivalent impedance of frequency-selective grounding can affect ground potential and current, which are typically used as inputs for ground fault protective relays. Effects of frequency-selective grounding on ground fault protection are experimentally evaluated using a 7.5 kVA synchronous generator. Experimental tests are conducted for different implementations of ground fault protection, when responding to fault and non-fault events. Evaluation results detailed in this paper demonstrate the negligible effects of frequency-selective grounding on responses of different ground fault protective relays.
Absent left main coronary artery in a case of pulmonary atresia-intact ventricular septum and right ventricle-dependent coronary circulation

Right ventricle-dependent coronary circulation coexisting with left main coronary atresia in the setting of pulmonary atresia-intact ventricular septum is rare. In the case described, the left coronary artery (LCA) origin from the aorta could not be found on conventional angiography or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. During surgery, multiple LCA branches originating from the finger-like continuum of the primitive right ventricular sinusoidal network were observed. A Damus–Kaye–Stansel anastomosis and an aortopulmonary shunt operation were performed. Shunt takedown and a bidirectional Glenn anastomosis followed at 3 months of age. At 18 months follow-up, the child is thriving with stable hemodynamics and a saturation of 85%. Awareness about this rare coronary artery anomaly is necessary to prevent catastrophic consequences. The challenges, complications, and lessons learned while treating this rare variant are discussed.
La rentabilidad del banano y café para exportación de Ecuador desde el período de dolarización hasta el tiempo de COVID-19

La exportación de productos de Ecuador, se analizó bajos dos sucesos diferenciadores, el inicio de la dolarización y pandemia, que constituyeron eventos inesperados que incidieron en los beneficios económicos de los productores de banano y café. Es primordial reconocer que el virus COVID-19 fue el que mayormente afectó a las restricciones sanitarias en la comercialización, que generó para los productores mayores costos de producción y aumento en la inversión de su capital, además las exportaciones disminuyeron para ambos productos, lo cual redujo significativamente los ingresos para los productores. A pesar de ello los resultados obtenidos revelaron que el banano obtuvo un VAN superior de 38.649 mientras que el café reportó 1.047 consiguiendo rentabilidad en el proceso de producción y superando los obstáculos en los escenarios analizados.
A Digital Processing in Memory Architecture Using TCAM for Rapid Learning and Inference Based on a Spike Location Dependent Plasticity

In this paper, we present a digital processing in memory (DPIM) configured as a stride edge-detection search frequency neural network (SE-SFNN) which is trained through spike location dependent plasticity (SLDP), a learning mechanism reminiscent of spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP). This mechanism allows for rapid online learning as well as a simple memory-based implementation. In particular, we employ a ternary data scheme to take advantage of ternary content addressable memory (TCAM). The scheme utilizes a ternary representation of the image pixels, and the TCAMs are used in a two-layer format to significantly reduce the computation time. The first layer applies several filtering kernels, followed by the second layer, which reorders the pattern dictionaries of TCAMs to place the most frequent patterns at the top of each supervised TCAM dictionary. Numerous TCAM blocks in both layers operate in a massively parallel fashion using digital ternary values. There are no complicated multiply operations performed, and learning is performed in a feedforward scheme. This allows rapid and robust learning as a trade-off with the parallel memory block size. Furthermore, we propose a method to reduce the TCAM memory size using a two-tiered minor to major promotion (M2MP) of frequently occurring patterns. This reduction scheme is performed concurrently during the learning operation without incurring a preconditioning overhead. We show that with minimal circuit overhead, the required memory size is reduced by 84.4%, and the total clock cycles required for learning also decrease by 97.31 % while the accuracy decreases only by 1.12%. We classified images with 94.58% accuracy on the MNIST dataset. Using a 100 MHz clock, our simulation results show that the MNIST training takes about 6.3 ms dissipating less than 4 mW of average power. In terms of inference speed, the trained hardware is capable of processing 5,882,352 images per second.
GabROP: Gabor Wavelets-Based CAD for Retinopathy of Prematurity Diagnosis via Convolutional Neural Networks

One of the most serious and dangerous ocular problems in premature infants is retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a proliferative vascular disease. Ophthalmologists can use automatic computer-assisted diagnostic (CAD) tools to help them make a safe, accurate, and low-cost diagnosis of ROP. All previous CAD tools for ROP diagnosis use the original fundus images. Unfortunately, learning the discriminative representation from ROP-related fundus images is difficult. Textural analysis techniques, such as Gabor wavelets (GW), can demonstrate significant texture information that can help artificial intelligence (AI) based models to improve diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, an effective and automated CAD tool, namely GabROP, based on GW and multiple deep learning (DL) models is proposed. Initially, GabROP analyzes fundus images using GW and generates several sets of GW images. Next, these sets of images are used to train three convolutional neural networks (CNNs) models independently. Additionally, the actual fundus pictures are used to build these networks. Using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), texture features retrieved from every CNN trained with various sets of GW images are combined to create a textural-spectral-temporal demonstration. Afterward, for each CNN, these features are concatenated with spatial deep features obtained from the original fundus images. Finally, the previous concatenated features of all three CNN are incorporated using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) to lessen the size of features caused by the fusion process. The outcomes of GabROP show that it is accurate and efficient for ophthalmologists. Additionally, the effectiveness of GabROP is compared to recently developed ROP diagnostic techniques. Due to GabROP’s superior performance compared to competing tools, ophthalmologists may be able to identify ROP more reliably and precisely, which could result in a reduction in diagnostic effort and examination time.
Hydrogen‐assisted nitrogen‐acceptor doping in ZnO

N‐doped ZnO (ZnO:N) thin films were prepared by atmospheric pressure mist chemical vapor deposition. The as‐grown ZnO:N film was of high resistivity with ambiguous carrier type, while the annealed sample showed p‐type conductivity with a resistivity of 22.3 Ω cm and hole concentration of 5.49 × 1017 cm–3. The crystallinity of ZnO films was improved by the annealing treatment. Unintentionally H impurities introduced into the as‐grown film could be annealed out and a near‐edge absorption related to the N states in band gap was present in the annealed sample, which was indicative of the appearance of activated N in ZnO during the annealing process. A hydrogen‐assisted nitrogen‐acceptor doping mechanism was proposed to explain the observation of p‐type ZnO. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Metabolic Disposition and Elimination of Tritum-Labeled Sulfamethoxazole in Pigs, Chickens and Rats

Sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), as a sulfa antibiotic, is often used in the treatment of various infectious diseases in animal husbandry. At present, SMZ still has many unresolved problems in the material balance, metabolic pathways, and residual target tissues in food animals. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, the metabolism, distribution, and elimination of SMZ is investigated in pigs, chickens, and rats by radioactive tracing methods, and the residue marker and target tissue of SMZ in food animals were determined, providing a reliable basis for food safety. After a single administration of [3H]-SMZ (rats and pigs by intramuscular injection and chickens by oral gavage), the total radioactivity was rapidly excreted, with more than 93% of the dose excreted within 14 days in the three species. Pigs and rats had more than 75% of the administered volume recovered by urine. After 7 days of continuous administration, within the first 6 h, radioactivity was found in almost all tissues. The highest radioactivity and longest persistence in pigs was in the liver, while in chickens it was in the liver and kidneys, most of which was removed within 14 days. A total of six, three and three metabolites were found in chickens, rats and pigs, respectively. N4-acetyl-sulfamethoxazole (S1) was the main metabolite of SMZ in rats, pigs and chickens. The radioactive substance with the longest elimination half-life is sulfamethoxazole (S0), so S0 was suggested to be the marker residue in pigs and chickens.
Diagnosis of discrete event systems using labeled Petri nets

In this paper we provide an approach to on-line diagnosis of discrete event systems based on labeled Petri nets. The proposed procedure is based on our previous results on unlabeled Petri nets and allows us to also consider events that are undistinguishable, namely events that produce an output signal that is observable, but that is common to other events. Our approach is based on the notion of basis markings and j-vectors and it is shown that, in the case of bounded Petri nets, the most burdensome part of the procedure may be moved off-line, computing a particular graph that we call Basis Reachability Graph.
Conduction-atomic force microscopy study of H2 sensing mechanism in Pd nanoparticles decorated TiO2 nanofilm

In situ conduction-AFM is used to observe room temperature hydrogen gas response mechanism of Pd nanoparticles decorated TiO2 nanofilm. The response mechanism is due to chemical and electronic sensitization of the nanofilm. The nanofilm with thickness ∼5 nm, in range of the wall thickness of a typical TiO2 nanotube, is prepared by atomic layer deposition. For the mechanism study and also for hydrogen sensor applications, this nanofilm with electrical conduction switching from the order of picoampere in air, to ∼0.30 μA in 1000 ppm H2 is an alternative to TiO2 nanotube/nanostructures.
Percutanous Electrochemotherapy (ECT) in Primary and Secondary Liver Malignancies: A Systematic Review

The aim of the study was to analyse papers describing the use of Electrochemotherapy (ECT) in local treatment of primary and secondary liver tumours located at different sites and with different histologies. Other Local Ablative Therapies (LAT) are also discussed. Analyses of these papers demonstrate that ECT use is safe and effective in lesions of large size, independently of the histology of the treated lesions. ECT performed better than other thermal ablation techniques in lesions > 6 cm in size and can be safely used to treat lesions distant, close, or adjacent to vital structures. ECT spares vessel and bile ducts, is repeatable, and can be performed between chemotherapeutic cycles. ECT can fill the gap in local ablative therapies due to being lesions too large or localized in highly challenging anatomical sites.
RADIATIVE LIFETIMES OF V i AND V ii

New radiative lifetimes are reported for 168 levels of V i ranging in energy from 18086 cm−1 to 47702 cm−1, and for 31 levels of V ii ranging in energy from 34593 cm−1 to 47420 cm−1. These lifetimes are measured using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence on a slow atomic/ionic beam as part of an ongoing study of the radiative properties of the iron group elements. All but two of the V ii lifetimes have been measured before using modern laser-based methods, but a large fraction of the V i lifetimes are reported here for the first time. Comparison to earlier measurements is discussed. These new lifetimes are, for the most part, accurate to ±5%. They will be combined with branching fraction measurements to produce a large set of transition probabilities for V i and V ii which are needed by the astrophysics community for stellar abundance determinations.
An Energy Budget for a Layer of Stratospheric CAT

The energy budget of a patch or layer of severe CAT encountered on one ofthe HICAT flights is analyzed. The shear feeding of energy, the buoyant extraction of energy, and the frictional dissipation are considered, and it is found that the budget balances within about 8% of the total rate of shear production. The cospectra that reveal the wavenumber decomposition of the rates of energy exchange are compared with the spectra for each component.The marked lapses from the spectral behavior expected in isotropic turbulence are in agreement with the calculated spectral fluxes of energy.
An intelligent multi-sensor system for first responder indoor navigation

This paper presents an indoor navigation system based on sensor data from first responder wearable modules. The system combines an inertial measurement unit, a digital camera and a radio frequency identification device in a way that allows the advantages of each sensor to be fully exploited. The key to this synergy is the extracted qualitative criteria which characterize the performance of each sensor subsystem at various first responder activities and operational conditions under certain time intervals. The accuracy of the detected walking pattern through measurements of the acceleration magnitude from the inertial sensor is utilized for the performance evaluation of the dead-reckoning algorithm. The amount of correct feature matches is linked to the three-dimensional scene representation from the camera navigation subsystem and finally, the degree of probability of each radio frequency identification location estimate is exploited as a straightforward qualitative criterion. The final fused location estimation is extracted after applying fuzzy if–then rules at each time interval. Since the inertial sensor suffers from accumulated drift, the rules of the fuzzy inference system drop the measurements from the inertial measurement unit whenever the other two subsystems perform adequately. Extensive comparison and experimental results based on the proposed architecture have shown not only better navigation effectiveness and lower positioning error compared with other first responder navigation systems but also increased accuracy in various and challenging operational conditions.
Optimal Rotated M-PSK Signaling for Multi-User Receive Diversity System Over Correlated Rician Fading Channels

In this letter, a two-user receive diversity non-orthogonal multiple-access (NOMA) wireless communication system is considered with the transmitter utilizing a rotated <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-ary phase-shift keying (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-PSK) modulation for data modulation over correlated Rician fading channels. A maximum ratio combining scheme followed by an optimum maximum-likelihood rule is employed for received data detection at each user end. Further, a simple separation scheme is proposed to eliminate the use of successive interference cancellation at the receiver end of the NOMA system. The receiver structure is utilized to derive a closed-form expression for the symbol error probability which is minimized by obtaining the optimal rotation angle of the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$M$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-PSK constellation. The variations of the optimal rotation angle with system parameters are studied by numerical results which lead to novel modulation schemes for the considered system.
Enhanced UV photosensitivity in boron codoped germanosilicate fibres

Boron codoped germanosilcate fibres are shown to be highly photosensitive. A UV written 1.53 μm Bragg grating with 95% reflectivity and a 1.1nm bandwidth is formed with a UV intensity as low as 1W/cm2 in only 10 min.
PREDICTING THE PENETRATION AND PERFORATION OF TARGETS STRUCK BY PROJECTILES AT NORMAL INCIDENCE*

ABSTRACT Engineering models are presented in this paper to predict the penetration and perforation of a range of targets struck normally by projectiles with different nose shapes over a wide range of impact velocities. The projectiles are either rigid or eroding and the targets are made of metallic materials as well as other materials such as fibre-reinforced plastics and concrete. The approach is based on the assumption that the mean pressure offered by the target materials to resist the projectiles can be decomposed into two parts. The first is a cohesive quasi-static resistive pressure due to the elastic–plastic deformation of the target materials. The second is a dynamic resistive pressure defined as a velocity-dependent enhancement factor applied to the quasi-static resistance. Equations are obtained for predicting the depth of penetration in the targets and the ballistic limits in the case of perforation. It is shown that the model predictions are in good agreement with available experimental data in the case of rigid missiles and that, in the case of eroding projectiles, the model correlates well with the experimental results for the nondimensional parameter (ρ/σ y )1/2 V i ranging from 3 to 7, which corresponds to initial impact velocities ranging from 1 km/s to 2.5 km/s, approximately. *Communicated by Z. Mroz.
Development of a Second-Generation Regional Climate Model (RegCM2). Part I: Boundary-Layer and Radiative Transfer Processes

Abstract During the last few years the development of a second-generation regional climate modeling system (RegCM2) has been completed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Based upon the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Pennsylvania State University Mesoscale Model (MM4), RegCM2 includes improved formulations of boundary layer, radiative transfer, surface physics, cumulus convection, and time integration technique, which make it more physically comprehensive and more computationally efficient than the previous regional climate model version. This paper discusses a number of month-long simulations over the European region that were conducted to test the new RegCM2 boundary-layer parameterization (the scheme developed by Holtsag et al.) and radiative transfer formulation [the package developed for the NCAR Community Climate Model 2 (CCM 2)]. Both schemes significantly affect the model precipitation, temperature, moisture, and cloudiness climatology, leading to overall more realist.
Optimization of 3D Immunofluorescence Analysis and Visualization Using IMARIS and MeshLab

The precision of colocalization analysis is enhanced by 3D and is potentially more accurate than 2D. Even though 3D improves the visualization of colocalization analysis, rendering a colocalization model may generate a model with numerous polygons. We developed a 3D colocalization model of FtMt/LC3 followed by simplification. Double immunofluorescence staining of FtMt and LC3 was conducted, and stacked images were acquired. We used IMARIS to render the 3D colocalization model of FtMt/LC3 and further processed it with MeshLab to decimate and generate a less complex colocalization model. We examined the available simplification algorithm using MeshLab in detail and evaluated the feasibility of each procedure in generating a model with less complexity. The quality of the simplified model was subsequently assessed. MeshLab’s available shaders were scrutinized to facilitate the spatial colocalization determination. Finally, we showed that QECD was the most effective method for reducing the polygonal complexity of the colocalization model without compromising its quality. In addition, we would recommend implementing the x-ray shader, which we found useful for visualizing colocalization. As 3D was found to be more accurate in quantifying colocalization, our study provides a novel and dependable method for rendering 3D models for colocalization analysis.
On the nature of atmospheric waves and turbulence

The basic physical properties of waves and turbulence are reviewed and, in particular, the differences between buoyancy range turbulence (BRT), inertial range turbulence (IRT), and waves are explained. As a result, the “buoyancy length” concept is extended to give the transitional scale between BRT and waves. In addition, the physical nature of BRT is described. Certain practical methods to distinguish between waves and turbulence are considered, and the waves versus two-dimensional turbulence interpretation controversy is viewed in the light of the above considerations.