Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A framework for inversion of wavefield spectra in seismic non-destructive testing of pavements

A method for the inversion of wavefield spectra in non-destructive testing of pavements is outlined. Data acquisition and processing is based on the Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) method. The inversion of a vertical-shear wave velocity profile is conducted on the full wave field spectrum using the Fast Simulated Annealing (FSA) algorithm. This procedure avoids dealing with discrete dispersion curves and mode identification for the inversion of surface wave data. The viscoelastic properties of the asphalt layer are included in the forward model, resulting in an inverted mastercurve, showing the asphalt stiffness as a function of frequency. The outlined approach is demonstrated on both synthetic and field data. The main benefit is that the raw field data can be automatically processed and inverted without any subjective user input, while properly accounting for the interference of different modes and types of waves. The main disadvantage at this point of development is an extensive (several hours) computational time for the inversion process. (Less)
Planar Magnetics for Space Applications

The ever increasing demand of miniaturization of DC-DC converters expects for the converters to be designed for higher frequency of operation with better efficiency. The recent developments in high frequency power switches and evolved technologies in magnetic design such as planar magnetics helps to achieve small size and cost effective DC-DC converters and their subsequent usage in space applications. In spacecraft level; the parameters like size, weight and cost of all the hardware plays a vital role. In such applications these low profile, high power density and efficient planar transformers in DC-DC converters realization will have a significant improvement in overall performance. This work deals with tuning free multiple tap planer transformers which enables us to have a broader range of output voltages for the designed configuration. It is highly reproducible with a better regulation, efficiency and less ripple content compared to the existing conventional transformer based DC-DC converters. The salient features of this work are mentioned below. Salient Features: Low profile, Tuning free magnetic, Improved output regulation, High frequency of operation and improved efficiency, Lower ripple, Multiple outputs
Impact of quality decisions on information sharing with supplier encroachment

This study examines a retailer’s decision to share market demand information in a supply chain wherein a supplier sells a product with a certain level of quality to a retailer, who then resells it to the end consumer. It also considers whether a supplier should establish a direct selling channel by incurring a fixed entry cost to compete with the retail channel. Although conventional wisdom indicates that a retailer may voluntarily disclose information under ex-ante supplier encroachment, our results show how and why a retailer may share information with the supplier who encroaches on the retail market with a decision on quality. Specifically, our findings reveal that information sharing is beneficial to the retailer when the quality cost coefficient is low and entry cost is relatively low, even under encroachment by the supplier. Moreover, the retailer may prefer to disclose demand information to the supplier if the quality cost coefficient is low, even when the entry cost is high, under non-encroachment. Interestingly, we found that the supplier prefers to encroach if the retailer shares demand information when the entry cost is moderate. Further, we found that the retailer has a higher incentive to share information under supplier encroachment compared with non-encroachment. These results are in sharp contrast with the extant literature.
Ecofriendly Dyeing of Textiles with Natural Dyes Extracted from Commercial Food Processing Waste Materials

ABSTRACT Textile wet processing industry is one of the dreadful polluters in the world. An alternative to hazardous synthetic dyes could be dyes derived from various natural sources such as plants, insects, and minerals. Additionally, agro-waste and food processing waste could serve as effective sources of natural dyes. The current study focuses on extraction of natural dyes from two commercial food processing waste materials, namely, the spent coffee grounds and the roasted peanut skin. The dyes were found to possess rich tannin content and were applied on silk, cotton, and nylon fabrics with and without the aid of mordants using water bath and ultrasonic bath. The dye exhaustion percentage is better in water bath dyeing for spent coffee grounds dye while its vice versa for the roasted peanut skin dye. Both the dyes show good color fastness to washing with silk and nylon fabrics while the grades are poor in case of cotton. However, the myrobalan and alum mordanted cotton fabrics exhibit very good color fastness to laundering. The color fastness to light is below average as is the case with most natural dyes. The spent coffee grounds dye give yellow to light brown shades while the roasted peanut skin dye give pink shades on cotton, silk, and nylon fabrics. With the use of ferrous sulfate mordant the dyes give different shades of gray color.
Vías moleculares patogénicas del linfoma T/NK extranodal de tipo nasal asociadas con virus de Epstein Barr: Revisión narrativa

El virus de Epstein Barr (VEB) se encuentra presente en el 100% de los casos de linfoma T/NK extranodal de tipo nasal (ENKTL) y juega un papel importante en la etiopatogenia de esta enfermedad. El objetivo de esta revisión es actualizar el conocimiento de las vías moleculares genéticas y epigenéticas utilizadas por el VEB en la oncogenesis del ENKTL. Para ello se realizó una revisión de la literatura, en las bases de datos de PubMed y Google Scholar, sobre los mecanismos que utilizan las proteínas virales como la proteína de membrana latente (LMP1) y el antígeno nuclear Epstein Barr 1 (EBNA1) para activar proteínas antiapoptóticas del huésped y proteínas relacionadas a proliferación celular, a través de las vías moleculares JAK/STAT (Janus quinasas/señales de transducción y activación de proteínas de transcripción), NF-κB (el factor nuclear potenciador de las cadenas ligeras kappa de las células B activadas) EZHZ2 (Enhancer of Zeste 2 Polycomb repressive Complex 2) y PI3K/Akt (Fosfoinositido 3 quinasa/proteína quinasa B); también se revisó el papel de las proteínas virales BNLF2a, BILF y BDLF3 en la evasión inmune del virus. También LMP1 aumenta la expresión de PDL-1 (ligando de la muerte celular programada), contribuyendo a la disminución de la respuesta inmunológica. A nivel epigenético se abordan los cambios del perfil de metilación en las áreas promotoras de genes supresores de tumor y se explica la función de los miARN de VEB que participan inhibiendo genes supresores de tumor o activando genes que aumentan la proliferación.
Investigation of nasal colonization by coagulase-positive staphylococci and methicillin resistance in dogs

This study aimed to determine the presence, rate, and species distribution of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) in nasal swab samples from dogs and to investigate phenotypic and genotypic methicillin resistance. To this end, 21 (10.5%) CPS, including 7 (33.3%) S. aureus and 14 (66.6%) S. intermedius group (SIG), were isolated from nasal swab samples from 200 dogs. A total of 14 SIG members (100%) were also identified as S. pseudintermedius by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (m-PCR). Phenotypic methicillin resistance was observed in 16 (76.19%) of the 21 CPS isolated from 200 dogs from 8 different clinics and shelters. To detect genotypic methicillin resistance, the presence of the mecA and mecC genes, responsible for methicillin resistance, was detected by the multiplex polymerase chain reaction method. The mecA gene was found in 8 (38.09%) of the 21 isolates. The mecC gene was not detected in any of the samples, including isolates showing phenotypic methicillin resistance. It was found that neither the presence of CPS nor the presence of the mecA gene was statistically correlated with age, sex, or antibiotic use in the previous year (p > 0.05). Furthermore, CPS and mecA-positive isolates were evaluated according to whether they were obtained from shelters or clinics. It was concluded that the source of the isolates was not important for our study (p > 0.05). Our findings suggest that phenotypic resistance detected in epidemiological studies should be confirmed by molecular methods. At the same time, the fact that mecC gene-positive staphylococcal isolates were not detected in our study is promising for Turkey.
Fundamentals of apoptosis

Apoptosis is evolutionary conserved, programmed pattern of cell death with an essential role in various physiological processes, such as normal cell turnover and embryonic development, hormone-regulated cell demise, aging, immune system functioning and development and removal of defective and harmful cells. There are two general pathways for activation of apoptosis: the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. While the intrinsic apoptotic pathway can be triggered by a cytotoxic accumulation of intracellular Ca 2+ , followed permeabilization of mitochondrial membrane and release of pro-apoptotic proteins into the cytosol from mitochondria, the extrinsic mechanisms of apoptosis include the participation of death receptors of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), receptor superfamily such as TNFR-1, Fas, and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptors (TRAIL-R) located on the plasma membrane. There is also the perforin-granzyme pathway that involves T-cell mediated cytotoxicity. All three pathways converge on the same execution pathway, resulting in DNA fragmentation, degradation of cytoskeletal and nuclear proteins, cross-linking of proteins, formation of apoptotic bodies, expression of ligands for phagocytic cell receptors and finally uptake by phagocytic cells. In this review we summarize data from recent studies focusing on apoptotic proteins that have been identified and molecular mechanisms of apoptosis. Understanding apoptotic mechanism might provide useful information and a new approach to prevention and development of new therapies for variety of diseases.
The relationship between socio demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and biochemical parameters and nutritional status in patients with coronary heart disease: A cross-sectional study

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of death in the world. The aim of the study was to investigate whether nutritional status, assessed by body mass index (BMI), is related to clinical manifestations of coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as to socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and biochemical parameters of CHD patients. This cross-sectional study included consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome and stable angina pectoris treated at the General Hospital in Pancevo from December 2012 to May 2013. Patients' demographic, anthropometric and clinical data were collected. The study group comprised 300 patients with CHD, 174 (56.8.00%) men and 126 (42.00%) women. Out of them 68 patients (22.7%) had normal weight, 133 (44.3%) were overweight and 99 (33.0%) were obese. Patients with stable angina pectoris and those with acute coronary syndrome did not significantly differ in their BMI. According to the multivariate logistic regression analyses in comparison with normal weight, overweight and obesity were significantly related to increased level of triglycerides, and obesity was also significantly related to diabetes mellitus type 2 and negatively to retirement. The results obtained indicate association of increased BMI with other CHD risk factors and thus suggest the need of health education concerning lifestyle habits in order to prevent overweight and obesity.
Direct strain distribution and finite-element-analysis simulation of the bonding interface of bamboo laminated lumber with ultrasound-treated bamboo strips

An ultrasonic cavitation treatment was used to increase the permeability of phenol formaldehyde resin adhesive on the surface of bamboo strips, and two-ply laminated bamboo lumber was manufactured. The strain distribution along the bamboo interface under stretching conditions was investigated using the digital image correlation technique. The effect of the ultrasonic treatment on the bamboo strips in terms of the shear strain of the laminated bamboo lumber was investigated, and a finite-element analysis for the bonding interface was carried out to evaluate whether the deformation measurement could predict the mechanical behavior differences of the laminated bamboo lumber. The digital image correlation and shear strength results show that the strain was lower in the bamboo bonding interface after ultrasonic treatment and the shear strength was enhanced due to the increased adhesive penetration. The digital image correlation measurement and finite-element analysis simulation both showed that stress was more concentrated, and the strain value and strain zone width was higher in the carbonized bamboo bonding interface than in the bleached bamboo bonding interface. The finite-element analysis results appeared to be in agreement with the digital image correlation test results.
TCRen: predicting TCR recognition of unseen epitopes based on residue-level pairwise statistical potential

Prediction of TCR-peptide interactions has great importance for therapy of cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases, but remains a major challenge, particularly for unseen epitopes. We present a structure-based method that enables scoring of TCR-peptide interactions using an energy potential (TCRen) derived from statistics of TCR-peptide contacts in existing crystal structures. We show that TCRen has high performance in discriminating cognate/unrelated peptides and can facilitate the identification of cancer neoepitopes recognized by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.
ORGANISATIONAL MEMORY IN INNOVATIVE PROJECT-BASED FIRMS - A BOUNDARY OBJECT PERSPECTIVE

This paper provides an exploration of the dynamics of organisational remembering in firms operating through projects. The paper focuses in particular on the deliberate use of experience accumulated in the past in order to sustain innovation in the provision of services. It relies on the notions of boundary objects and brokers to empirically explore how a common memory crossing occupational and organisational boundaries is built. In so doing, it highlights how a boundary object as memory device in a project environment operates at different levels, i.e. personal, project-specific, organisational-specific and occupational specific, and how it takes different formats to perform its roles at each level. Finally, the paper highlights the role of specific communities, beyond that of specific individuals, as boundary brokers.
VERNIER EFFECT BASED TEMPERATURE SENSOR REVEALED ULTRA-SENSITIVITY WITH HIGH-DETECTION RESOLUTION

In this study, a Vernier effect based temperature sensor with ultra-sensitivity and highresolution detection is presented. The structure of the proposed temperature sensor is based on dual cascaded Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPIs), which consists of polymer and air cavity FPIs. The polymer cavity works as the sensing part, whereas the air cavity works as the reference part. The slight difference between the Free Spectral Range (FSR) of the sensing and the reference FPIs can establish the Vernier effect, which improves the sensitivity of the cascaded FPIs structure compared to the single FPI structure. The experimental results show that the proposed structure can provide the ultra-high temperature sensitivity of 67.69 nm/◦C that is 20 times higher than the single FPI, which is 3.36 nm/◦C in the testing range of 26◦C–28◦C. In addition, the structure is simple to fabricate, compact, inexpensive, along with ultra-sensitivity and high-resolution. Therefore, the proposed sensor is a suitable choice for the applications demanding high resolution temperature detection in different fields of engineering and science.
Patient-Specific Statistics-Based Decision Support in Health Monitoring Using Fuzzy Logic

In this paper, the usage possibilities of personal statistics are introduced, which can be applied to improve the patient-specific evaluation in health monitoring systems. The aim of these techniques is to obtain reliable results based on previous measurements. This goal can be achieved by membership function tuning or modification, as well as by a pre-processing method, which is used to judge whether a situation is normal or not. In the latter case, a further requirement, that the appropriate result should be available in time, can also be fulfilled. If the situation is judged to be critical then a reduced model is evaluated instead of the full one.
First comprehensive identification of proteins with increased O-GlcNAc levels during pressure overload hypertrophy

Protein posttranslational modifications (PTMs) by O-GlcNAc globally rise during pressure-overload hypertrophy (POH). However, only a few specific proteins with altered O-GlcNAc levels during POH are known primarily because this PTM is easily lost during standard mass spectrometry (MS) conditions used for protein identification. Methodologies have recently emerged to stabilize the O-GlcNAc moiety for MS analysis. Accordingly, our goal was to determine the proteins undergoing changes in O-GlcNAc levels during POH. We used C57/Bl6 mice subjected to Sham or transverse aortic constriction (TAC) to create POH. From the hearts, we stabilized and labelled the O-GlcNAc moiety with tetramethylrhodamine azide (TAMRA) before enriching by TAMRA immunoprecipitation (IP). We used LC-MS to identify the captured O-GlcNAcylated proteins. We identified a total of 707 O-GlcNAcylated proteins in Sham and POH. Two hundred thirty-three of these proteins were significantly increased in POH over Sham whereas no proteins were significantly decreased in POH. We examined two MS identified proteins, CPT1B and PDH, to validate the MS data by immunoprecipitation. We corroborated increased O-GlcNAc levels during POH for the metabolic enzymes CPT1B and PDH. Enzyme activity assays showed higher O-GlcNAcylation increased CPT1 activity and decreased PDH activity. In summary, we generated the first comprehensive list of proteins with changes in O-GlcNAc levels during POH and, to our knowledge, the largest list for any cardiac pathology. Our results demonstrate the large number of proteins and cellular processes affected by O-GlcNAc during POH and serve as a guide for testing specific O-GlcNAc-regulated mechanisms.
The Effect of Voluntary & Forced Exercises and Different Off-line Periods on Implicit Motor Memory Consolidation

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of voluntary and forced exercise and off-line periods on consolidation of implicit motor memory. This study was a quasi-experimental method and the statistical population consisted of girl students of Shiraz University. So 30 non-athlete girl students with mental health, and without neural disease background or sleep disorders were voluntarily participated in the study. After determining the memory function, they were divided into 3 experimental groups with 6, 24 and 48 hours off-line periods. The research consisted of 2 stages and each stage included of acquisition, physical exercises (first stage voluntary and the second one forced) and retention (memory test) sessions. The intermittent chain reaction time assignment was used to measure motor memory changes. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measure, with the significant level of p≤0.05, was used to answer the questions of research. The results showed that each of the 3 off-line periods had positive effects on consolidation of implicit motor memory, but there were no significant difference among them. The effect of voluntary and forced exercise on implicit motor memory consolidation, showed a significant difference in favor of voluntary exercise. 1. Najmeh Parhiz Meymandi, (M.A) Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. 2. *Majid Chahardah Cherik, (Ph. D) Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. Cheric14@gmail.com 3. Robabeh Rostami, (Ph. D) Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
Diagnostic capability of Pulsar perimetry In early Primary open angle glaucoma

Aim: to assess the ability of Pulsar perimetry in detecting an early glaucomatous visual field damage in comparison with Optic coherent tomography (OCT), in early glaucoma. Material: Cross-sectional case study included 1 eye from 55 consecutive subjects containing: 27 healthy subjects and 28 patients with early Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Only 1 eye per subject was randomly selected, if both eyes met the inclusion criteria. Methods: All the patients underwent OCT and visual field examination in addition to full ophthalmic examinations. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were studied for all parameters. The sensitivity and specificity of the differences between normal and early glaucomatous eyes, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AROC) and positive, negative likelihood ratios were evaluated for all the single parameters and selected combined parameters. Results: Individuals with early POAG had significantly higher values of FLV at GCC, MD and sLV at Pulsar perim-etry compared to healthy individuals. There were 1.84% of cases with early glaucoma FLV, whereas there were 0.5% of cases with healthy eyes. Considering Pulsar perimetry, patients with early glaucoma had higher values of MD (0,23dB) and sLV (1,97dB), compared to MD (0,23dB) and sLV (1,62dB) in healthy individuals (p<0.05). The highest values of AROC had the following parametres: FLV AROC (0,648), MD AROC (0,691), sLV AROC (0,696). According to AROC we combined the best three single parameters, FLV at GCC, MD and sLV at Pulsar perimetry, using a logistical diagnostic model. The largest AROC obtained was at the value of 0.790. Conclusion: In conclusion, parameters obtained by OCT (FLV at GCC), and Pulsar perimetry (MD and sLV) were able to show the significant differences between early POAG patients and normal subjects. Combining parameters of FLV at GCC, MD and sLV at Pulsar perimetry showed higher diagnostic capability with those top three single parameters.
Donald Trump’s Aggressive and Offensive Language Before and After His Inauguration Speeches: A Critical Discourse Analysis

This paper explores selected aggressive and offensive spoken or written discourse material used by the American ex-president Donald Trump at different periods of time during his rule as the United States of America president. The data analysis model will be mainly conducted within the terminology and framework of Van Dijk’s model of critical discourse analysis (henceforth CDA). The research has adopted ten ideological categories to reveal the extent of power, racism and racial discrimination. The current study has mainly investigated how language is structured to show various meanings that indicate the relation of power used in social contexts. The study also tries to show the role of CDA in analyzing elements of power and hegemony and how language users operate them to achieve the goal of successful communication among participants. The abuse is resulted from the use of power as exercised by language users. The way language is perceived and manipulated can identify ideologies imposed by speakers, resulting in controlling addressees through power dominance. The primary objective of this research is to demonstrate the extent to which social power, abuse, and other unpleasant expressions are used in Trump’s political speeches. The research indicates that the majority of Trump’s spoken or written speech methods contain aspects of language that violate social norms and convey a sense of authority and superiority over other addressees.