Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Norwegian Work on Search and Rescue in Barents Sea

Increased shipping and offshore activities in the Barents Sea need improved emergency response capability in Norway and Russia. In both countries there are several projects and initiatives that aim towards mitigating the consequences from small accidents and larger catastrophes, some coordinated across borders, others not.In this paper we aim towards giving an overview of the current and near future state of emergency response in the Barents Sea. First we describe the emergency response preparedness that is fully operational today. Then we give a brief description of operations and activities we see today and in the foreseen future, and discuss types of challenges and risks associated with them in this particular environment. Using this as a background, we look on Norway’s ambitions for future search and rescue preparedness in the Norwegian Arctic waters and the ways emerging technologies can improve emergency response operations.Finally we give some recommendations on what needs to be done by Norway, Russia and the industrial operators in order to achieve an improved level of emergency response preparedness.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Development of a Pressure-Sensitive Conductive Rubber Sensor for Analyzing Meniscal Injury in Porcine Models

The assessment of the distribution of contact pressure on the meniscus is important in the elucidation of kinematics, etiology of joint diseases, and establishment of treatment methods. Compared with sensors widely used in recent years, pressure-sensitive conductive rubber sensors are easy to mold, flexible, durable, and resistant to shearing forces. This study is aimed at developing a rubber sensor for meniscal research and evaluating the pressure distribution after meniscal injury using porcine models. After confirming the reliability of the rubber sensor, contact pressure was obtained from the rubber sensor using the medial meniscus and femur of the porcine knee. Three test conditions of intact meniscus, radial tear, and meniscectomy were prepared, and a compressive load of 100 N was applied. After confirming the high reliability of the rubber sensor, the intact meniscus had the most uniform pressure distribution map, while the pressure in the meniscectomy model was concentrated in the resection region. The high-pressure region was significantly smaller in the intact group than in the radial tear models after 80 and 100 N (P < 0.05). The rubber sensor captured the pressure concentration specific to each examination group and was useful for evaluating the relationship between the pattern of meniscal injury and changes in the biomechanical condition of the knee.
Professional Labor Markets in the Journal of Sports Economics

This article summarises the research findings of papers published in Journal of Sports Economics on the workings of professional sports labor markets. The article covers three main themes: pay and performance, discrimination, and player mobility. The review shows what scholars have found so far and point out various gaps that researchers can fill in future work.
The Spectral Stress VaR (SSVaR)

One of the key lessons of the crisis which began in 2007 has been the need to strengthen the risk coverage of the capital framework. In response, the Basel Committee in July 2009 completed a number of critical reforms to the Basel II framework which will raise capital requirements for the trading book and complex securitisation exposures, a major source of losses for many international active banks. One of the reforms is to introduce a stressed value-at-risk (VaR) capital requirement based on a continuous 12-month period of significant financial stress (Basel III (2011)). However the Basel framework does not specify a model to calculate the stressed VaR and leaves it up to the banks to develop an appropriate internal model to capture material risks they face. Consequently we propose a forward stress risk measure ``spectral stress VaR" (SSVaR) as an implementation model of stressed VaR, by exploiting the asymptotic normality property of the distribution of estimator of VaR_p. In particular to allow SSVaR incorporating the tail structure information we perform the spectral analysis to build it. Using a data set composed of operational risk factors we fit a panel of distributions to construct the SSVaR in order to stress it. Additionally we show how the SSVaR can be an indicator regarding the inner model robustness for the bank.
Simultaneous Determination of Amphenicols and Metabolites in Animal-Derived Foods Using Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Amphenicols are widely used to prevent and treat animal diseases. However, amphenicol residues accumulate in livestock and poultry and harm consumers. We hypothesized that one can combine solid-phase extraction (SPE) with ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) to simultaneously determine amphenicols and metabolites in pork, beef, lamb, chicken, and their products and meet government regulations for maximum residue limits. We extracted crude samples with ethyl acetate and ammonia water (98:2, v/v), purified the samples with a CNW Si SPE column, defatted the samples with acetonitrile-saturated n-hexane, and then determined the resulting analytes by UHPLC-MS/MS. The limit of detection of the analytes in livestock and poultry meat was 0.03–1.50 μg/kg, and the limit of quantification was 0.05–5.00 μg/kg. Measured chloramphenicol, thiamphenicol, and florfenicol concentrations were linear over the range 0.50–50 μg/kg; and the florfenicol amine concentration was linear over the range 5.00–200 μg/kg (all with correlation coefficients >0.9990). The recovery of the spiked samples was between 72% and 120%. The intraday relative standard deviation (RSD) ranged from 1% to 9%, and the interday RSD ranged from 1% to 12%. Based on the above results, the current method is sensitive, accurate, and reproducible with the detection limits being well below the maximum residue limits as per Chinese standard GB 31650-2019, and thus, our research hypothesis could be confirmed.
“You Cannot Get into My Taxi!” Perceptions of a COVID-19-based Rejection Episode Reported in the Newspapers

COVID-19-related incidents of xenophobia have hit the headlines. We asked participants to read about a rejection episode targeting a foreigner and we manipulated whether the rejection was motivated by COVID-19 fears or by no specific reasons. In the COVID-19 condition, the perpetrator was perceived as moral but as experiencing shame and guilt, while the target was seen as experiencing social pain. Helping intentions were predicted by either the perceived victim's social pain or morality and blame associated with the perpetrator.
The Impetus for Making Digital Writing a University Wide GE Requirement: The Process and Outcome

This paper gives an account of how I designed a digital writing course for California State University Northridge’s English Department, and then proposed it as a General Education (GE) course for the university. More importantly, this paper describes what it took me to push the course through multiple stages of curriculum review before its final approval by the university’s Educational Policies Committee (EPC), a faculty senate standing committee, as a GE course. I am sharing this experience to make a case that it’s possible to convince the whole university community on the importance of digital composing, and that is the direction we as a field should be taking moving forward. Digital writing benefits students in writing and rhetoric programs, but it has the potential to benefit the entire student body of any institution of higher education.
Operational experiences with structured plastic media filters: 10 years on

The performance of 10 cross flow structured plastic media trickling filter plants is discussed. The sites are arranged in a number of configurations with the plastic media filters operating as sole secondary process units, in parallel with other process units or in double filtration configuration. Data for 2003 and 2004 show that the plants are performing well. Data are presented for the plastic media filter stream where it is available. Two operational problems are discussed; overgrazing of nitrifying biofilms by excessive populations of snails and loss of nitrification performance in cold weather, particularly on smaller sites. Overgrazing by snails, identified as Lymnaea peregra has been controlled on one site by the annual treatment of an isolated filter with high ammoniacal nitrogen strength sludge dewatering liquors. On a second site suffering a similar problem the plastic media filter duty was changed from single filtration to being the primary filters in a double filtration system with existing stone media filters used for secondary filters. Loss of nitrification performance has been associated with excessive heat loss on some sites. Filters built as tower structures, with typically 4–5 m media depth allow easy control of airflow via restriction of the engineered ventilation openings at the base of the filter. This has been found to have a direct impact on the degree of cooling. However, airflow control on plastic media retrofitted into wide shallow stone media filter shells with 1.6–2 m media depth is more difficult. These structures offer less opportunity for control of airflow and associated heat losses.
Work organisation and skills in ICT professions : the gender dimension

ICT professions constitute a privileged research area for understanding the relationships between ICT, skills and work organisation. Not only there is a close relationship between technology and skills. Moreover, ICT companies are often at the leading edge of organisational changes: flat hierarchies, project work, multi-skills teams, continuous skills update, flexible and extended working time patterns, customers’ pressure, etc. High-tech companies are laboratories of organisational changes, which become widespread in other sectors which are characterised by “informational” activities.
Signal Denoising Based on Slip Threshold Value of Wavelet Packets

The signal obtained through measurement is inevitably with noise and interference. Traditional signal denoising method often takes the threshold way to process the wavelets or wavelet packets of noise signal for the purpose of denoising. Denoising by making use of slip threshold value of wavelet packets is proposed by this paper, to quantize the slip threshold value of wavelet packet decomposition coefficient, so as to obtain the reconstructed signal denoising. It is shown by the computer simulation results that the slip threshold value is with good practical value.
Does moonlight affect movement patterns of a non‐obligate carnivore? Brown bears do not mind that the moon exists

Moonlight plays a signi ﬁ cant role in prey – predator relationships. At full moon, predators ’ hunting success and activity rates generally increase. Even though the analysis of facultative carnivore movement patterns can improve our knowledge of how moonlight can change the behaviour of such a group of species with diverse ecological needs, few studies have been conducted with facultative carnivores and none with telemetric data. Here, we studied whether moonlight in ﬂ uences brown bear, Ursus arctos, movement behaviours. By analysing data collected from 2002 to 2014 for 71 collared individuals inhabiting Finland and Russian Karelia, we found that some internal and external factors are in ﬂ uencing brown bear movement patterns. In particular, this facultative
Adsorption and Release Characteristics of Purified and Non-Purified Clinoptilolite Tuffs towards Health-Relevant Heavy Metals

The occurrence of health-relevant contaminants in water has become a severe global problem. For treating heavy-metal-polluted water, the use of zeolite materials has been extended over the last decades, due to their excellent features of high ion exchange capacity and absorbency. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of heavy metal uptake of one purified (PCT) and two non-purified clinoptilolite tuffs (NPCT1 and NPCT2) in aqueous solutions on monovalent ions Ni+, Cd+, Cs+, Ba+, Tl+, and Pb+. Experiments were furthermore carried out in artificial gastric and intestinal fluids to mimic human digestion and compare removal efficiencies of the adsorbent materials as well as release characteristics in synthetic gastric (SGF) and intestinal fluids (SIF). Batch experiments show low sorption capacities for Ni+ and Cd+ for all studied materials; highest affinities were found for Ba+ (99–100%), Pb+ (98–100%), Cs+ (97–98%), and Tl+ (96%), depending on the experimental setup for the PCT. For the adsorption experiments with SGF, highest adsorption was observed for the PCT for Pb+, with an uptake of 99% of the lead content. During artificial digestion, it was proven that the PCT did not release Ba+ cations into solution, whereas 13574 ng·g−1 and 4839 ng·g−1 of Ba+ were measured in the solutions with NPCT1 and NPCT2, respectively. It was demonstrated that the purified clinoptilolite tuff is most effective in remediating heavy-metal-polluted water, particularly during artificial digestion (99% of Pb+, 95% of Tl+, 93% of Ba+). In addition, it was shown that the released amount of bound heavy metal ions (e.g., barium) from the non-purified clinoptilolite tuffs into the intestinal fluids was significantly higher compared to the purified product.
Passive Control Techniques to Alleviate Supersonic Cavity Flow Oscillation

The effectiveness of two passive control techniques for alleviating the pressure oscillation generated in a supersonic cavity flow was investigated numerically. The control devices suggested in the present study include a triangular bump and a subcavity installed near the leading edge of a rectangular cavity. Time-dependent supersonic cavity flow characteristics with turbulent features were examined by using the three-dimensional, mass-averaged Navier-Stokes computation based on a finite volume scheme and large eddy simulation. The results show that the pressure oscillation near the trailing edge dominates overall time-dependent cavity pressure variations. Such an oscillation can be attenuated more significantly in the presence of the subcavity compared with the bump or blowing, and a larger subcavity leads to better control performance.
Novel Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives: In Vitro and In Silico Evaluation as Potential MAO-B Inhibitors

MAO-B inhibitors are frequently used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Due to the limited number of compounds available in this field, there is a need to develop new compounds. In the recent works, it was shown that various thiosemicarbazone derivatives show hMAO inhibitory activity in the range of micromolar concentration. It is thought that benzofuran and benzothiophene structures may mimic structures such as indane and indanone, which are frequently found in the structures of such inhibitors. Based on this view, new benzofuran/benzothiophene and thiosemicarbazone hybrid compounds were synthesized, characterized and screened for their hMAO-A and hMAO-B inhibitory activity by an in vitro fluorometric method. The compounds including methoxyethyl substituent (2b and 2h) were found to be the most effective agents in the series against MAO-B enzyme with the IC50 value of 0.042 ± 0.002 µM and 0.056 ± 0.002 µM, respectively. The mechanism of hMAO-B inhibition of compounds 2b and 2h was investigated by Lineweaver–Burk graphics. Compounds 2b and 2h were reversible and non-competitive inhibitors with similar inhibition features as the substrates. The Ki values of compounds 2b and 2h were calculated as 0.035 µM and 0.046 µM, respectively, with the help of secondary plots. The docking study of compound 2b and 2h revealed that there is a strong interaction between the active sites of hMAO-B and analyzed compound.
Modified Manouguian technique for aortic root enlargement: A case series

Manouguian aortic root enlargement (ARE) has been a standard root enlargement procedure to assist in patients with a small annular size. We describe a modification to the Manouguian ARE similar to Yang et al. This approach could serve as an alternate technique for performing ARE; to date only case reports have defined this approach and no studies have evaluated its efficacy or safety.
Frequency-dependent response of neurons to oscillating electric fields

Neuronal interactions with electric fields depend on the biophysical properties of the neuronal membrane as well as the geometry of the cell relative to the field vector. Biophysically detailed modeling of these spatial effects is central to understanding neuron-to-neuron electrical (ephaptic) interactions as well as how externally applied electrical fields, such as radio-frequency radiation from wireless devices or therapeutic Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), interact with neurons. Here we examine in detail the shape-dependent response properties of cells in oscillating electrical fields by solving Maxwell's equations for geometrically extended neurons. Early modeling for compact (spherical) cells in alternating fields predicts a smaller effective membrane time constant for the field-cell system compared to direct current injection via whole-cell patch clamp. This result, predicting that cells should respond strongly to field oscillations in the kHz range, was verified later in vitro for murine myeloma cells. However, recent experiments on CA3 pyramidal cells (highly elongated neurons) in the hippocampus do not exhibit this high frequency response. In this thesis we examine the implications of modeling full two-way coupling between three-dimensional cylindrical neurons and the extracellular field utilizing three different methodologies, namely: cable equation, finite-difference and finite-element. Our modeling demonstrates that the electrotonic length and orientation of the cell to the field are key determinants of the neuronal response to oscillating fields. This explains the experimentally observed absence of the high frequency response for pyramidal neurons when the applied field direction is oriented along their dendritic axis. Additionally, we developed biophysically detailed models of neuronal membranes with quasi-active electrical properties stemming from voltage-gated currents. These are known to lead to resonances at characteristic frequencies in the case of current injection via whole-cell patch clamp. Interestingly, in the field-cell system, the resonance was masked in compact, spherical neurons but recovered in elongated neurons. Utilizing our cable and finite-element models, we investigate the effect of point-source stimulation on cylindrical neurons and find a novel type of "passive resonance" not reported before in the literature. We further extend our modeling by incorporating Hodgkin Huxley channels in to the membrane and construct a fully active, spiking model of a neuron, fully coupled to the applied electric fields. We then go on to embed the neuron in to an array of cells to validate our results at the tissue-level. These findings delineate the relationship between neuron shape, orientation and susceptibility to high frequency electric fields, with implications for DBS efficacy, ephaptic coupling in networks and the filtering properties of cortical tissue.
Modular high power conditioning unit

A trends analysis of the spacecraft power demand shows that a bus power capability in excess of 20 kW will be asked by commercial telecommunication satellites in a very near future. Moreover, the components of the Electrical Power Subsystem (E.P.S.) have to be easily adaptable to a wide range of power. The core equipment of the power system is the Power Conditioning Unit. It regulates the solar array power and charge the batteries during sunlight period, and it discharges the batteries during eclipse, in order to always provide the payload with a regulated bus. The Modular High Power Conditioning Unit -M.H. P.C. U that is presented in this paper, gives an ESA-qualified answer to the need of high power and flexibility (6 to 21 kW) for the P. C. U. functions.
A method for identifying specific vehicles using template matching

A countermeasure for relieving traffic congestion is to employ a priority signal control system at the intersection, and in order to effect this signal control, it is essential to identifying public transport vehicles. As for the methods for identifying vehicles, while an image processing method for recognizing vehicles by reading the license plate numbers has already been put into practical use, there is no precedence of its application to priority signal control. Therefore, focusing on priority signal control of route buses, we proposed a method for identifying the individual route numbers of the route buses. Considering the ease of processing, we based this method on a template matching process that targets route numbers. However, with this method, the correlation values fluctuate greatly due to the changes in the external environment, which poses the problem of greatly reducing the judgment precision if simple threshold values are used. This paper describes the identification method using the above-mentioned template matching process and its problems, and proposes an identification method that uses a new recognition algorithm for solving those problems. Furthermore, to verify the recognition precision of this method, we carried out an application on an actual road, which resulted in an accuracy rate of 99.6%, which is sufficient for practical use.
Combination of a new ultrasonic tip with rotary systems for the preparation of flattened root canals

Objectives This study evaluated 2 nickel-titanium rotary systems and a complementary protocol with an ultrasonic tip and a small-diameter instrument in flattened root canals. Materials and Methods Thirty-two human maxillary second premolars with flattened canals (buccolingual diameter ≥4 times larger than the mesiodistal diameter) at 9 mm from the radiographic apex were selected. The root canals were prepared by ProDesign Logic (PDL) 30/0.01 and 30/0.05 or Hyflex EDM (HEDM) 10/0.05 and 25/0.08 (n = 16), followed by application of the Flatsonic ultrasonic tip in the cervical and middle thirds and a PDL 25/0.03 file in the apical third (FPDL). The teeth were scanned using micro-computed tomography before and after the procedures. The percentage of volume increase, debris, and uninstrumented surface area were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn, Wilcoxon, analysis of variance/Tukey, and paired and unpaired t-tests (α = 0.05). Results No significant difference was found in the volume increase and uninstrumented surface area between PDL and HEDM (p > 0.05). PDL had a higher percentage of debris than HEDM in the middle and apical thirds (p < 0.05). The FPDL protocol resulted in less debris and uninstrumented surface area for PDL and HEDM (p < 0.05). This protocol, with HEDM, reduced debris in the middle and apical thirds and uninstrumented surface area in the apical third (p < 0.05). Conclusions High percentages of debris and uninstrumented surface area were observed after preparation of flattened root canals. The HEDM, Flatsonic tip, and 25/0.03 instrument protocol enhanced cleaning in flattened root canals.