Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variations temporelles et géographiques des méningites à pneumocoque et effet du vaccin conjugué en France

Streptococcus pneumoniae est une bacterie cocci gram positif commensale de la flore oropharyngee qui colonise le rhinopharynx de l’Homme et dont pres de 100 serotypes sont connus. Les nourrissons et les jeunes enfants representent son reservoir principal. Le pneumocoque peut etre a l’origine d’infections graves, telles que la meningite, les bacteriemies et la pneumonie, et moins graves mais plus courantes comme la sinusite et l’otite moyenne aigue. Deux vaccins anti-pneumococciques conjugues ont ete introduits en France : le PCV7 (couvrant contre 7 serotypes) en 2003 et le PCV13 (couvrant contre 6 serotypes supplementaires) en 2010. L’objectif general de ce travail de these est d’evaluer l’impact des politiques vaccinales sur les infections invasives a pneumocoque en France, en s’interessant principalement aux evolutions temporelles et geographiques des plus graves : les meningites a pneumocoque (MP). Un premier travail a etudie les dynamiques temporelles des MP sur la periode 2001–2014 afin d’identifier l’impact de l’introduction des vaccins conjugues. Des techniques statistiques de modelisations adaptees aux series temporelles ont ete utilisees. Les resultats de ce travail retrouvent des effets rapportes dans la litterature : une reduction des MP a serotypes vaccinaux mais aussi une augmentation des MP dues aux serotypes non inclus dans le vaccin (phenomene de « remplacement serotypique »). Par consequent, le premier benefice, a l’echelle de la population generale, de l’introduction de cette vaccination a ete observe seulement onze ans apres l’introduction du PCV7, et principalement suite a l’introduction du PCV13 en 2010, avec une diminution de 25% du nombre de MP en 2014. La composante geographique a ensuite ete prise en compte afin d’etudier le role de la de couverture vaccinale dans la variabilite des MP annuelles entre les departements sur la periode 2001-2016. Les resultats confirment l’efficacite des deux formulations du vaccin sur les MP dues aux serotypes vaccinaux et suggerent une certaine homogeneite de cet effet entre les differents departements. Inversement, le remplacement serotypique a ete confirme mais uniquement suite a l’introduction de la premiere formulation du vaccin et ces effets presentent une repartition geographique heterogene et variable. La variabilite de la couverture vaccinale entre les departements n’explique pas celle observee dans le nombre de MP, ce qui suggere l’intervention d’autres facteurs tel que la densite geographique. Enfin, une modelisation dynamique, permettant de prendre en compte des aspects fondamentaux des dynamiques de transmission et d’infection du pneumocoque non integres dans les methodes de modelisation statique, a ete proposee afin de predire l’impact de differentes strategies de vaccination pour les adultes de 65 ans et plus et ainsi evaluer leur rapport cout-utilite.
Numerical and Physical Modeling of Cone Penetration in Unsaturated Soils and Numerical Simulation of Fracture Propagation in Shale Rock during Brazilian Test

Partially water saturated condition in soils may change the cone penetration resistance comparing with that of dry or saturated conditions. This effect was investigated in this study using numerical finite element modeling and experimental centrifuge testing. The results showed suction in unsaturated soil significantly influenced the soil resistance to cone penetration. Two approaches were implemented to numerically consider the partially saturated soil condition; i.e. modifying simple constitutive models using an apparent cohesion strategy and implementing Barcelona Basic Model for unsaturated soils. Both successfully captured the cone resistance profiles inside a calibration chamber and also in free field. In addition, details of developing a miniature cone setup capable of for cone penetration inside geotechnical centrifuge was explained. Further, the use of Linear Softening Cohesive Model (LCFM) to predict the fracture growth in shale rocks during Brazilian Test was examined. The application and importance of considering two different compressive and tensile elastic modulus and soil anisotropy during the fracture modeling of shales were demonstrated.
Unraveling 1.5 Ga of brittle deformation history in the Laxemar‐Simpevarp area, southeast Sweden: A contribution to the Swedish site investigation study for the disposal of highly radioactive nuclear waste

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) is undertaking site investigation at two locations in Sweden, Forsmark and Laxemar‐Simpevarp, with the aim of identifying a suitable area for the construction of a deep repository for the disposal of highly radioactive nuclear waste. Fault slip data from outcrops and oriented drill cores were used to compute paleostress states and to unravel the sites' brittle deformation history. Results from the Laxemar‐Simpevarp area show that its suggested brittle history results from multiple reactivation of fracture and fault sets caused by the many orogenic episodes that affected the region during at least 1.5 Ga of geological evolution in the brittle deformational regime. Two compressional, approximately NW/NNW‐SE/SSE and NNE‐SSW oriented shortening events generated sets of conjugate, steep strike‐slip fractures. These sets formed during the late stages of the Svecokarelian and possibly also of the Gothian orogeny, soon after the region entered the brittle deformation domain. The Mesoproterozoic Sveconorwegian orogeny generated fractures and faults that are assigned to a third set of conjugate strike‐slip faults, which constrain an approximately E‐W σ1. The Caledonian shortening, oriented approximately NW‐SE to E‐W, reactivated the latter but also formed a new, similarly oriented set of subvertical strike‐slip fractures. Permian transtension was oriented NW‐SW and caused a prominent set of moderately dipping NW‐SE trending normal faults in the Precambrian basement of the study area. Two other approximately NW‐SW and NW‐SE oriented shortening events are recorded in Ordovician limestones and can be tentatively linked to the far‐field effects of the Laramide and Alpine orogenies.
Carbon Footprint and Life Cycle Assessment of PET Bottle Manufacturing Process

The use of plastics is increasing in modern society. The data shows that packaging is the highet consumer of plastic. Bottle grade PET is one of the most important of plastic packaging. The purposes of this research is to analyze the carbon footprint and the impact contribution of PET bottle water. Life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was used as guidelines framework and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was used to find out the impact of PET bottle water. Electricity has the highest contibution to carbon dioxide emission quantity 1.089E3 m2a. The three highest impact of PET bottle water manufacturing process were global warming quantity 650.1 kg CO2 eq, human toxicity quantity 267 kg 1,4-DB eq and marine aquatic ecotoxicity quantity 16 kg 1,4-DB eq. Then, the scenario of sustainability must be implemented on the production of PET water bottle for decreasing the threat of conventional PET bottle water production.
Life-cycle analysis of geopolymers

Abstract: Geopolymers as alternative binder systems are attracting increasing interest in research and development. They can display outstanding technical properties, such as high strength, high acid resistance, and/or high temperature resistance. It has been documented by several investigations that good performance of geopolymers can also be obtained by the utilisation of secondary raw materials (industrial wastes like fly ash or slag). This explains the strong interest in this technology from countries with growing industrialisation. These countries accumulate large quantities of industrial wastes and do not have a developed recycling pathway. The use of waste for geopolymer production could not only solve a waste problem, but also reduce the consumption of primary raw materials. Nevertheless, only limited knowledge exists about the ecological implications of geopolymer production. In this chapter, the effects of geopolymer production will be investigated from an environmental point of view. Furthermore, the predominant drivers of ecological impacts of geopolymers will be discussed to provide guidance for the development of geopolymer compositions for different applications.
Covid-19 impact on future study choices: Will students consider a tourism qualification post the pandemic?

The Covid-19 pandemic devastated various industries, with the tourism sector suffering the most. The tourism industry, which relies mainly on the movement of people, was interrupted for several months as governments instituted restrictions and regulations to prevent further spread of the virus. These restrictions put the industry at a standstill, putting much strain on the economy. With businesses closing, many people became unemployed, and those who remained had their salaries and wages reduced. The high unemployment rate in the country, worsened by Covid-19 and other external forces, presented challenges to exit-level tourism students. The current study investigated the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the future of studying towards a tourism management qualification. A qualitative research approach was adopted where the exit-level tourism students at a university of technology were purposively selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. Thematic and constant comparative analysis methods were used to analyse the emerging themes and compare the responses from the participants. The study revealed mixed feelings about the tourism management course. While others regretted enrolling to the tourism program, some remained optimistic that the industry would reopen and recover and present better opportunities for them. Prospective tourism industry staff, particularly tourism management students, have become uncertain about the likelihood of getting job opportunities in the industry. This raises a question about how the pandemic has influenced the future of studying tourism management in higher learning institutions. The study contributes to the understudied phenomenon of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on influencing future enrolments in tourism courses.
Analysis of Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Base on Precedent Transaction Analysiss

The global video game industry, with its considerable market share attributed to console games, has long been dominated by three primary players: Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation, and Nintendo's Switch.Three major companies have long controlled the worldwide video game business: Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation, and Nintendo's Switch. Console games account for a large portion of this market. Activision Blizzard, a game publisher, significantly relies on these platforms inside this structure, earning significant income and profit from marquee brands like Call of Duty, Warcraft, and Diablo. In a game-changing move, Microsoft declared its intention to purchase Activision Blizzard in January 2022, a momentous development that may fundamentally alter the gaming industry. The $95 per share acquisition is presently the subject of intense antitrust investigation by international regulatory agencies, with UK's Competition and Markets Authority raising concerns about the merger's impact on both the console and cloud gaming industries. This article uses precedent case analyze method to estimate potential enterprise value post-acquisition. The case being studied is the acquisition of Zynga by Take-two Interactive in January 2022.
Monitoring of wind turbine blades for flutter instability

Classical flutter of wind turbine blades indicates a type of aeroelastic instability with fully attached boundary layer where a torsional blade mode couples to a flapwise bending mode, resulting in a mutual rapid growth of the amplitudes. In this paper the monitoring problem of onset of flutter is investigated from a detection point of view. The criterion is stated in terms of the exceeding of a defined envelope process of a specific maximum torsional vibration threshold. At a certain instant of time, a limited part of the previously measured torsional vibration signal at the tip of blade is decomposed through the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method, and the 1st Intrinsic Mode Function (IMF) is assumed to represent the response in the flutter mode. Next, an envelope time series of the indicated modal response is obtained in terms of a Hilbert transform. Finally, a flutter onset criterion is proposed, based on the indicated envelope process. The proposed online flutter monitoring method provided a practical and direct way to detect onset of flutter during operation. The algorithm has been illustrated by a 907-DOFs aeroelastic model for wind turbines, where the tower and the drive train is modelled by 7 DOFs, and each blade by means of 50 3-D Bernoulli-Euler beam elements.
Potassium silicate enhances drought tolerance of Bellis perennis by improving antioxidant activity and osmotic regulators

Ornamental plants can usually encounter various types of environmental stress, which reduce plant productivity. A proper application of fertilizers can improve plantsʼ tolerance to drought stress. Nutrients such as potassium and silicon are known to have beneficial effects. This study aimed to evaluate the growth of Bellis perennis under drought stress (80, 70, and 60% FC) and with the application of potassium silicate (0, 2, and 4 mM). The results showed that potassium silicate (2 and 4 mM) increased K and Si accumulation in plants under drought stress. Plants treated with potassium silicate under drought stress exhibited a lower degree of electrolyte leakage and less MDA accumulation in the following order: 2 and 4 mM potassium silicate. An increase in relative water content and chlorophyll was observed with application of potassium silicate under drought stress. Regardless of potassium silicate, the plant enzymatic defense system was significantly improved compared to non-stressed plants. Potassium silicate enhanced the amount of osmotic regulators (carbohydrate and proline) and secondary metabolites (flavonoids and phenols) compared to control plants regardless of drought stress. The anthocyanin content in the flowers significantly decreased by 32.2% when the plants were treated with 4 mM potassium silicate at 60% FC, compared to 80% FC. In conclusion, potassium silicate mitigated the effects of drought stress, enhanced plant tolerance to drought stress, increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and improved the amounts of osmotic regulators and secondary metabolites.
Geographic variations in lowermost mantle structure from the ray parameters and decay constants of core‐diffracted waves

We introduce an array‐based approach for constraining seismic velocity structure in the lowermost mantle by measuring the frequency dependence of the ray parameter p and decay constant γ for core‐diffracted waves (Pdiff and SHdiff). The approach uses an iterative multichannel cross‐correlation algorithm that solves for relative arrival times and amplitudes of core‐diffracted waveforms from multiple peaks in normalized correlograms from pairs of coazimuthal stations. The approach is applied to 60 mb ≥ 5.8 earthquakes for Pdiff and 36 for SHdiff during 2001–2002, with nearly 50,000 unique profile station pairs with epicentral‐distance differences of Δd ≥ 10° and azimuth differences of Δφ ≤ 10°, sampling a significant portion of the lowermost mantle. Cap‐averaging the resulting ray parameter estimates produces geographic variations that are largely consistent with the distribution of lowermost mantle large low‐velocity provinces and seismically fast slab‐accumulation regions seen in seismic tomography models, whose locations also strongly influence the geographic distribution of heat flow out of the core. Geographic variations in station‐pair diffracted‐wave decay constants differ from those of the ray parameters, suggesting that variations in the decay of core‐diffracted waves are more linked to lowermost mantle seismic velocity gradients than absolute values of seismic velocity. The ray parameters and decay constants of core‐diffracted waves are strongly frequency‐dependent, and these frequency variations also vary significantly with geographic location. Combining lateral and vertical seismic‐velocity variations with mineral‐physics data on elasticity and conductivity of lowermost mantle species can provide constraints on D″ composition and CMB heat flux.
Recent Progress in Cellulose Hydrophobization by Gaseous Plasma Treatments

Cellulose is an abundant natural polymer and is thus promising for enforcing biobased plastics. A broader application of cellulose fibers as a filler in polymer composites is limited because of their hydrophilicity and hygroscopicity. The recent scientific literature on plasma methods for the hydrophobization of cellulose materials is reviewed and critically evaluated. All authors focused on the application of plasmas sustained in fluorine or silicon-containing gases, particularly tetrafluoromethane, and hexamethyldisiloxane. The cellulose materials should be pre-treated with another plasma (typically oxygen) for better adhesion of the silicon-containing hydrophobic coating. In contrast, deposition of fluorine-containing coatings does not require pre-treatment, which is explained by mild etching of the cellulose upon treatment with F atoms and ions. The discrepancy between the results reported by different authors is explained by details in the gas phase and surface kinetics, including the heating of samples due to exothermic surface reactions, desorption of water vapor, competition between etching and deposition, the influence of plasma radiation, and formation of dusty plasma. Scientific and technological challenges are highlighted, and the directions for further research are provided.
Factors Influencing Exclusive Breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as the practice of providing infants with breast milk as their sole source of nourishment for the first six months of life. This study investigated the factors influencing exclusive breastfeeding practices in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design. Data gathered from 340 mothers attending the Maternity and Childhood Hospital in Makkah provided insights into the demographic profiles and postpartum practices of participants. Results: The study revealed the significance of early breastfeeding initiation and the provision of pre-birth breastfeeding information in extending the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. There was a statistically significant difference between mothers who had Cesarean section deliveries and those who had natural deliveries in terms of exclusive breastfeeding duration. Conclusions: These findings have essential implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and future research endeavors, emphasizing the importance of healthcare education and timely support in promoting extended exclusive breastfeeding practices.
An analysis of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratios with six-month prognosis after cerebral contusions

Background and purpose Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) have been identified as potential prognostic markers in various conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. This study aims to investigate the dynamic changes of NLR and MLR following cerebral contusion and their associations with six-month outcomes. Methods Retrospective data were collected from January 2016 to April 2020, including patients diagnosed with cerebral contusion and discharged from two teaching-oriented tertiary hospitals in Southern China. Patient demographics, clinical manifestations, laboratory test results (neutrophil, monocyte, and lymphocyte counts) obtained at admission, 24 hours, and one week after cerebral contusion, as well as outcomes, were analyzed. An unfavorable outcome was defined as a Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) of 0-3 at six months. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of prognosis, while receiver characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the optimal cutoff values for NLR and MLR. Results A total of 552 patients (mean age 47.40, SD 17.09) were included, with 73.19% being male. Higher NLR at one-week post-cerebral contusion (adjusted OR = 4.19, 95%CI, 1.16 - 15.16, P = 0.029) and higher MLR at admission and at 24 h (5.80, 1.40 - 24.02, P = 0.015; 9.06, 1.45 - 56.54, P = 0.018, respectively) were significantly associated with a 6-month unfavorable prognosis after adjustment for other risk factors by multiple logistic regression. The NLR at admission and 24 hours, as well as the MLR at one week, were not significant predictors for a 6-month unfavorable prognosis. Based on receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the optimal thresholds of NLR at 1 week and MLR at admission after cerebral contusion that best discriminated a unfavorable outcome at 6-month were 6.39 (81.60% sensitivity and 70.73% specificity) and 0.76 (55.47% sensitivity and 78.26% specificity), respectively. Conclusion NLR measured one week after cerebral contusion and MLR measured at admission may serve as predictive markers for a 6-month unfavorable prognosis. These ratios hold potential as parameters for risk stratification in patients with cerebral contusion, complementing established biomarkers in diagnosis and treatment. However, further prospective studies with larger cohorts are needed to validate these findings.
Efficacy and Safety of Q-Switched 1064/532 nm Nd:YAG Lasers on Benign Hypermelanosis in Dark-Skinned Individuals—A Preliminary Study

Background: Facial hypermelanosis is a major cosmetic issue that causes severe social embarrassment and psychological pain, particularly among Asians and dark-skinned individuals. Aim: This study assesses the safety and effectiveness of Q-switched 1064/532 nm nanosecond/picosecond lasers in removing benign hypermelanosis in dark-skinned individuals, evaluating the possible associated side effects. Material and methods: A total of 30 participants (80% females and 20% males) with Fitzpatrick skin types IV–V–VI who presented superficial benign hypermelanoses on the facial and décolleté area were enrolled. All patients underwent to one to two laser treatment sessions with a 1064/532 nm Q-switched laser system. Three months after the final laser session, results were assessed by comparing before- and after-treatment photos and using a quartile scale for lesion clearance (4-point Investigator Global Assessment scale). Results: All patients observed global improvements in their pigmented lesions: 53% of patients achieved excellent clearance, 30% of patients achieved good to moderate clearance, 10% of patients achieved slight clearance, and 7% of patients did not respond to the therapy. No serious adverse event occurred. Photos showed the clinical improvement achieved at 3 months follow-up. Conclusions: The Q-switched 1064/532 nm laser proved to be a key tool for treating benign hypermelanosis in all skin types, including dark-skinned persons.