Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic Values of Inflammation-Based Scores and Fibrosis Markers in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization

Background: Inflammation is a key feature shaping the microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and liver fibrosis is associated with the prognosis of patients with HCC. In this study, we investigated whether baseline inflammation-based scores and serum fibrosis markers can help in predicting the prognosis of HCC patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods: A total of 605 consecutive patients with HCC treated by TACE were included. The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR), FIB-4 index, and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) were analyzed regarding their associations with disease progression and survival. Results: All tested inflammation-based scores and fibrosis markers were significantly associated with tumor progression and overall survival in the univariate analyses. In the multivariate analysis, NLR (hazard ratio [HR], 1.06; p = 0.007) and FIB-4 (HR = 1.02, p = 0.008) were independent risk factors for disease progression, along with α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels, maximum tumor size and number, and presence of vascular invasion. Furthermore, NLR (HR, 1.09; p < 0.001) and FIB-4 (HR, 1.02; p = 0.02) were independent prognostic factors for survival. Conclusions: High baseline NLR and FIB-4 levels might help the prediction of disease progression and death in patients with HCC after TACE.
Smart phones and the sperm: Do smartphones have an effect on semen parameters-An analytical cross-sectional study in an Indian tertiary care centre

Introduction and Aim: Cell phones are an essential part of our daily life. The effect of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by smart phones on male infertility is unclear and subject to debate. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of smartphone devices on semen parameters. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional prospective, analytical study conducted on 145 infertile men attending the Out-patient department of Father Muller Medical College Hospital. The participants were recruited through a questionnaire-based approach following an abstinence of minimum 3 days. A minimum of 1 ml of semen sample was collected by masturbation in a sterile container. The participants were divided into 2 groups (< 2 hours and >2 hours) based on the hours of mobile usage. The main outcome measures analyzed were volume, liquefaction time, pH, viscosity, sperm concentration, motility, viability, and sperm morphology. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 35.31±5.70 years, with primary male infertility being the chief complaint in 96.6% (140 cases). Our study showed a statistically insignificant inverse correlation between the time spent on the phone in hours with sperm concentration and motility. A weak negative correlation was also seen with usage of phone over 5 years and normal morphology. All other parameters did not show any significant difference. Conclusion: Our study failed to show any significant association between semen parameters and smartphone usage. However, a slight reduction in concentration, motility and normal morphology was observed which opens up avenues for future research.
Positioning construction businesses on an ‘evolution‒innovation’ continuum: conceptualization of the ‘equivocal zone’

The concepts of ‘business evolution’ and ‘innovative business endeavour’ are contrasted as bipolar extremes on a theoretical continuum: first in the context of organizations generally and second for construction businesses specifically. This highlights what the authors define as an ‘equivocal zone’ (EZ), which occupies a wide section of the continuum and is positioned approximately equidistant from its extremes. Cogent representation of the zone is based on literature synthesis, emphasizing contemporary and emergent viewpoints in the field; while its conceptualization is achieved using descriptive and graphical models. The study argues that within the EZ, definitions of organizational innovation often become blurred and that the EZ characterizes most construction organizations on the evolution‒innovation continuum. The EZ is a new theoretical concept derived solely from this study.
Detection and Analysis of Oil Spill using Image Processing

—Thousands of oil spills occur every year on offshore oil production platforms. Moreover, ships that crosses rivers to reach the harbor cause spills each year. The current study focuses on IRAQI marine and rivers, especially Al-Bakr, Khor al-Amaya, ABOT oil terminal and SHAT AL-Arab river inside Al Başrah oil terminal. In order to mitigate and manage oil spill impacts, an unmanned aerial vehicle has proven to be a valuable tool in mitigating and managing incidents. To achieve high accuracy, the objective of the current research is to analyze captured images for rivers, identify oil pollution and determine its location. The images were taken from the Iraqi Regional Organization for the Protection, General Company for Ports of Iraq, Iraqi Ministry of Environment and online websites. In the current paper is presented a software framework for detecting oil spills, pollution in rivers and other kinds of garbage. The framework based on artificial intelligence is divided into two parts: a training model and an operational model. In the training model part, a machine learning model is applied, which is one of the fastest and most accurate methods, integrated inside PipelineMLML. Thus, the object detection technique used can identify one or more categories of objects in a picture or video. Furthermore, the locations of objects can be identified with the help of neural networks. In the operational mode, models can identify oil spills in images.
Does Value Lead to Loyalty? Exploring the Important Role of the Tourist–Destination Relationship

The perceived value of a tourist’s trip, representing a trade-off between costs and benefits of travelling to a destination, can exert a significant influence on tourists’ loyalty, which is a main concern for managers of tourist destinations. However, the mechanism between the destination value and tourist loyalty remains unexplored, especially in the new context of relationship marketing. To advance the understanding of the mechanism, we introduced 3 variables of “tourist–destination relationship”, namely place attachment (PA), destination trust (DT) and tourist satisfaction (TS), combined with perceived value (PV) and tourist loyalty (TL), and therefore constructed the conceptual model. Taking the Hangzhou City of China as an example, the conceptual model was fitted and tested using the structural equation model (SEM). The results show that: (1) PV can directly and positively affect TS and DT respectively, while there was no significant effect of PV on PA; (2) TS and DT can directly and positively influence TL, but the effect of PA on TL has not been supported empirically; (3) PV has a significant positive effect on TL; and (4) there are internal relationship among the 3 variables measuring the tourist–destination relationship, in other words, TS can significantly affects PA, DT respectively, and DT has a significant positive effect on PA. The findings of this study provide empirical references for understanding the important role of the tourist–destination relationship.
Workplace Disruption in the Public Sector and HRM Practices to Enhance Employee Resilience

This article aims to analyze workplace dynamics in the public sector under highly disruptive environments. Survey data collected from 1,430 public employees in South Korea reveal that workload and work intensity have increased 13% to 15% on average compared to pre-pandemic conditions. Yet this impact on working conditions seems to be unevenly distributed across the public sector; the proportion of pandemic-affected workforce in each public organization ranged from 10% to 80%. More than 70% reported flexible work arrangements in place to alleviate the disruption, though less than 20% enjoyed access to occupational health and safety consultation to handle this change. We found that baby boomer men, who have the fewest family responsibilities, are most satisfied with flexible work arrangements, while millennial women, with the most domestic commitments, are least satisfied, leaving ample room for improvement. Results of a randomized survey experiment showed that resilience-enhancing Human Resource Management (HRM) practices such as special leave assistance programs influenced civil servants’ perceptions of workload and work intensity. Higher levels of satisfaction with resilience-enhancing HRM were found to be associated with lower levels of turnover intention, though this relationship was weaker among employees whose work became too intense or heavy (“numbing effect”) under the pandemic.
Using binocular pupillometry method for evaluating the functional state of persons

Abstract The method of binocular pupillometry is presented with an application to evaluate the functional state of athletes. The method is based on registration of pupil reaction to a light flash stimulus. The reaction reflects the state of sympathetic–parasympathetic balance of autonomic nervous system and serves as an objective measurement of the body condition. Synchronous binocular registration of pupillograms allows to reveal the asymmetry of the neural system, which manifests hemisphere dominance and provides individual psychic characteristics. Results of the experiments performed with various groups of athletes and control group of non-sportive persons are presented. Comparison with traditional methods of functional state evaluation is done.
On-chip generation, characterization and bandwidth scaling of optical frequency combs

Liu, Yang PhD, Purdue University, December 2015. On-Chip Generation, Characterization and Bandwidth Scaling of Optical Frequency Combs . Major Professor: Andrew M. Weiner. Recently, on-chip comb generation based on high quality factor microresonators has been intensively studied due to its simplicity, small size and low cost fabrication. Frequency combs with free spectral ranges (FSRs) of a few tens of GHz are of specific interest for communication applications. However for silicon nitride resonators in this FSR regime a huge pump power is required which far exceeds the maximum available power from current on-chip laser sources. Meanwhile, most research employs microresonators with anomalous dispersion, for which modulation instability is believed to play a key role in initiation of the comb. Comb generation in normal dispersion microresonators has also been reported but is less well understood. We demonstrate Silicon nitride microresonators with intrinsic Qs up to 17 million at an FSR of 24.7 GHz. These Q values are the highest recorded for Silicon nitride resonators used for comb generation. The frequency comb onset power can be as low as 2.8 mW, within reach of on-chip semiconductor lasers. Furthermore, we report a detailed investigation of few-moded, normal dispersion silicon nitride microresonators, showing that mode coupling can strongly modify the local dispersion, even changing its sign. We demonstrate a link between mode coupling and initiation of comb generation by showing experimentally pinning of one of the initial comb sidebands near a mode crossing frequency. Associated with this route to comb formation, we observe direct generation of coherent, bandwidth-limited pulses at repetition rates down to 75 GHz, without the need to first pass through a chaotic state. Finally we investigate the four-wave mixing (FWM) process in silicon nano-waveguides by demonstrating
On the Pathogenicity of Metarhizium Pemphigi against Ips Typographus L.

Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium pemphigi was evaluated against Ips typographus adults in a laboratory bioassay for the first time. A series of four conidial concentrations (2×104–2×107 conidia/ml) were used. The cumulative mortality caused by M. pemphigi varied between 75% and 100% ten days post-treatment, with LC50 value of 2.9×103 conidia/ml and LC90 value of 6.4×104 conidia/ml. The median lethal time (LT50) of treated beetles depended on conidial concentrations and ranged from 1.78 to 5.98 days. Pathogenicity of M. pemphigi was reported for the first time and the tested strain was found to be promising for further evaluation in terms of management options against the spruce bark beetle.
The Inhibition of LPS-Induced Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Responses Is Associated with the Protective Effect of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate on Bovine Hepatocytes and Murine Liver

This study aimed to evaluate whether (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) alleviates hepatic responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation and oxidation. Isolated bovine hepatocytes and BALB/c mice were used for LPS challenge and EGCG pretreatment experiments in vitro and in vivo. LPS-challenged (6 μg/mL) hepatocytes exhibited increased levels of NF-κB (p65 and IκBα) and MAPK (p38, ERK, JNK) phosphorylation as well as increased binding activity of p65 to target pro-inflammatory gene promoters, and these effects were suppressed by pretreatment with 50 μM EGCG. Moreover, the reduction in Nrf2 signaling and antioxidant enzyme activities induced by LPS stimulation were reversed upon EGCG treatment. In vivo experiments demonstrated the protective role of EGCG in response to GalN/LPS-induced mortality and oxidative damage. Together, our results suggest that EGCG is hepatoprotective via inhibition of MAPK/NF-κB signaling and activation of the Nrf2 cascade. This information might help design strategies for counteracting hepatitis in ruminants and monogastric animals.
Design for Manufacturing Based On oncurrent Engineering

The projectâs aims were to identify the critical constraints with respect to global manufacturing, and to synthesise the best practices of concurrent engineering (CE) in a number of industrial sectors including automotive, aerospace, telecommunication, shipbuilding, and information technology. The consortium was constructed from a cohesive group of world class companies and research institutions from the USA, Canada, and Europe. The research outcome indicated that effective communication, a systematic involvement of customers, suppliers; distributors, powerful information infrastructure, and effective use of modern technology are vital key elements for success
A Framework for Quality Improvement in Weapon System using Post-Logistics Support Data

Although advanced weapon system weapons with high-performance and various functions have been developed, weapon defects can be fatal in the weapons industry. Therefore, the army requires quality improvement to reduce the number of defects which occur during both the development and operation of the weapon system. Recently, many manufacturers, including weapons manufacturers, have conducted analyses using defect related big-data in order to improve the quality. However, there have been few data analyses, because it is difficult to obtain the data required for the analysis of the development phase. Therefore, this study summarizes the pattern of the weapon system, military organization, and defect types using the actual data of the Post-Logistics Support (PLS) phase. The PLS data, which is referred to as the data collected after force integration, includes information on requests for maintenance. Through this information, this study selects key variables and analyzes the selected variables. The analysis results show the critical factors to be considered during the development phase. Finally, this study proposes a framework for advanced PLS systems using the PLS data. The proposed framework enables the development time of weapon systems to be further shortened and their quality to be improved.
Investigation of transdermal permeation of atorvastatinloaded microemulsions

Purpose: To develop microemulsions containing atorvastatin for transdermal application, which will improve the bioavailability and reduce the side effects associated with the oral administration of atorvastatin.Methods: Atorvastatin-loaded microemulsions (MEs) were developed using tween 80 as a nonionic surfactant, isopropyl myristate, polyethylene glycol 400 and dimethyl sulfoxide. Their droplets’ size, and rheological properties were estimated, with the diffusion through the rat’s skin being evaluated using Franz diffusion cells. Furthermore, the in vivo transdermal and oral bioavailability, as well as the toxicity of formulation, were assessed in rats.Results: The results showed that the MEs have a droplet size lower than 100 nm and low Newtonian viscosity. In addition, a flux rate of atorvastatin as high as 10.078 μg/cm2.h was achieved after the loading of the MEs. The in vivo transdermal application maintained a steady state concentration of 1. 02μg/mL for 48 h, in comparison to a maximum concentration of 7.7 μg/mL after 2.74 h following oral administration at the same dosing level. Moreover, the transdermally treated rats did not elicit skin irritation.Conclusion: The developed atorvastatin MEs for transdermal application delivers the drug to achieve a controlled plasma level, as well as reduce dosing frequency and toxicity in rats when compared to oral administration. Therefore, the formulation has a potential for development for use in humans.
Notch2 Blockade Mitigates Methotrexate Chemotherapy-Induced Bone Loss and Marrow Adiposity

Childhood cancer methotrexate (MTX) chemotherapy often causes bone growth impairments, bone loss, and increased risks of fractures during or after treatment, for which the pathobiology is unclear and there is a lack of specific treatment. Our time course analyses of long bones from rats receiving intensive MTX treatment (mimicking a clinical protocol) found decreased trabecular bone volume, increased osteoclast formation and activity, increased adipogenesis in the expense of osteogenesis from the bone marrow stromal cells at days 6 and 9 following the first of five daily MTX doses. For exploring potential mechanisms, PCR array expression of 91 key factors regulating bone homeostasis was screened with the bone samples, which revealed MTX treatment-induced upregulation of Notch receptor NOTCH2, activation of which is known to be critical in skeletal development and bone homeostasis. Consistently, increased Notch2 activation in bones of MTX-treated rats was confirmed, accompanied by increased expression of Notch2 intracellular domain protein and Notch target genes HEY1, HES1 and HEYL. To confirm the roles of Notch2 signalling, a neutralising anti-Notch2 antibody or a control IgG was administered to rats during MTX treatment. Microcomputed tomography analyses demonstrated that trabecular bone volume was preserved by MTX+anti-Notch2 antibody treatment. Anti-Notch2 antibody treatment ameliorated MTX treatment-induced increases in osteoclast density and NFATc1 and RANKL expression, and attenuated MTX-induced bone marrow adiposity via regulating Wnt/β-catenin signalling and PPARγ expression. Thus, Notch2 signalling plays an important role in mediating MTX treatment-induced bone loss and bone marrow adiposity, and targeting Notch2 could be a potential therapeutic option.
Framework for Operational Resilience Management of Critical Infrastructures and Organizations

Progressing digitalization and networking of systems and organizations representing Critical Infrastructures opens promising new potentials and opportunities, which on the downside, are accompanied by rising complexity and increasingly opaque interdependencies. The consequently increasing lack of knowledge leads to uncertainties affecting risk assessment and decision-making in case of adverse events. This trend motivated recent discussions and developments in risk science, emphasizing the need to handle such uncertainties. Complementarily, research in the resilience domain focuses on system capabilities to handle surprising hazardous situations. Several frameworks presented in the literature aim at combining both perspectives but either lack the focus on operational management, have a rather theoretical approach, or are designed for specific applications. Based on this observation, we propose an approach that integrates resilience management into the actual operation of Critical Infrastructure Systems and Organizations by providing an operational process that coordinates the fundamental resilience capabilities of responding, monitoring, anticipation, and learning. Furthermore, we tackle the challenge of uncertainties resulting from a lack of knowledge by aligning the concepts of digital twin and resilience management. The proposed framework is extensively discussed, and required processes are presented in detail. Eventually, its applicability and potential are reviewed by means of a complex hazardous situation at a Bavarian district heating power plant.
Finding the Link between Cyberbullying and Suicidal Behaviour among Adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia

Social media engagement has contributed to the rise of cyberbullying, which has recently triggered tragic suicides among adolescents. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying, suicidal behaviour, and their association among adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia. The study was conducted among 1290 secondary school adolescents aged between 13 and 17 years old in Peninsular Malaysia using a self-administered and anonymous online questionnaire. Our findings reveal that the prevalence of cyberbullying victimization and perpetrator is 13.7% and 3.8%, respectively. The prevalence of suicidal behaviour among adolescents is 17.1%, in which 11.9% had suicidal thoughts, 10.2% had a suicide plan, and 8.4% had made a suicide attempt. Multiple logistic regression shows that adolescents experiencing cyberbullying victimization is a significant risk factor (p < 0.001) for suicidal behaviour after adjusting for other confounders. An alarming number of adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia found to be involved in cyberbullying and its significant association with suicidal behaviour warrant the need to strengthen current interventions. Since the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, our findings make an important contribution in reporting current trends in cyberbullying and suicide among adolescents, especially when they are becoming ever-more present in cyberspaces.
Capture and Quantification of Deterioration Progression in Concrete Bridge Decks through Periodical NDE Surveys

AbstractMonitoring the condition of concrete bridge decks is essential because bridge decks are deteriorating faster than other bridge components. This study concentrated on bridge deck condition assessment using complementary nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. The assessment had three main components: evaluation of the corrosive environment and corrosion processes, concrete degradation evaluation, and assessment with respect to deck delamination. Five NDE techniques were used: impact echo (IE) to detect and characterize delamination, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to describe the corrosive environment, measurement of the concrete cover and description of its overall condition, half-cell potential (HCP) to assess corrosion activity, ultrasonic surface waves (USW) to describe concrete quality, and electrical resistivity (ER) to estimate corrosion rate. The ability of NDE methods to objectively characterize deterioration progression is illustrated by the results from four NDE surveys of a bridge in.