Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Listeria monocytogenes Pathogenesis: The Role of Stress Adaptation

Adaptive stress tolerance responses are the driving force behind the survival ability of Listeria monocytogenes in different environmental niches, within foods, and ultimately, the ability to cause human infections. Although the bacterial stress adaptive responses are primarily a necessity for survival in foods and the environment, some aspects of the stress responses are linked to bacterial pathogenesis. Food stress-induced adaptive tolerance responses to acid and osmotic stresses can protect the pathogen against similar stresses in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and, thus, directly aid its virulence potential. Moreover, once in the GIT, the reprogramming of gene expression from the stress survival-related genes to virulence-related genes allows L. monocytogenes to switch from an avirulent to a virulent state. This transition is controlled by two overlapping and interlinked transcriptional networks for general stress response (regulated by Sigma factor B, (SigB)) and virulence (regulated by the positive regulatory factor A (PrfA)). This review explores the current knowledge on the molecular basis of the connection between stress tolerance responses and the pathogenesis of L. monocytogenes. The review gives a detailed background on the currently known mechanisms of pathogenesis and stress adaptation. Furthermore, the paper looks at the current literature and theories on the overlaps and connections between the regulatory networks for SigB and PrfA.
Implantação do Sistema MobiLysa em Espaços Inteligentes Programáveis

O cão-guia robô Lysa foi desenvolvido para auxiliar pessoas com deficiência visual em sua locomoção alertando sobre os obstáculos no caminho. Entretanto este robô ainda não é capaz de guiar a pessoa até um local desejado. Com a premissa de cumprir este objetivo, foi criado o MobiLysa, que é um sistema que integra o processo de localização, controle e navegação da Lysa em ambientes internos, o que é feito por meio de um espaço inteligente programável baseado em visão computacional. Este artigo relata a implantação desse sistema em um espaço inteligente programável e a realização dos primeiros testes experimentais dos serviços de navegação usando um robô móvel para a prova de conceito do sistema.
Electrical conductivity and lattice expansion of β-Ga2O3 below room temperature

The temperature dependence of the electrical properties of β-Ga2O3 is analyzed from liquid helium to room temperature by Hall measurements. Below 100K, the carrier motion takes place within the impurity conduction band and it shows a power-law dependence. An electrostructural coupling is ascertained. Thermal activation in the conduction band is observed above 100K, with an activation energy Ea=7meV. Thermal conductivity is measured to 13Wm−1K−1. Further, it is shown that Ti is a good Ohmic electrode for n-type β-Ga2O3 substrates.
Inverse Reinforcement Learning: A New Framework to Mitigate an Intelligent Backoff Attack

The recent advances in Deep Learning have a significant impact on the security of wireless networks, such as intelligent attackers which are able to successfully exploit a possibly unknown defense mechanism simply by interacting with it. Their capacity of adapting to standard defense mechanisms, such as statistical tests, makes them a significant threat. In this article, we develop two intelligent defense mechanisms using inverse reinforcement learning tools, that can be used to enhance the capabilities of current defense mechanisms. We test our proposal on a backoff attack setup against an intelligent attacker, obtaining very significant gains in the defense performance.
The electron diffusion coeffcient in Jupiter's magnetosphere

A steady state model of Jupiter's electron radiation belt is developed. The model includes injection from the solar wind, radial diffusion, energy degradation by synchrotron radiation, and absorption at Jupiter's surface. A diffusion coefficient of the form DRR/RJ² = kRm is assumed, and then observed data on synchrotron radiation are used to fit the model. The free parameters determined from this fit are m = 1.95 ± 0.5, k = 1.7 ± 0.5 × 109/s, and μ1 (the magnetic moment of injected particles) = 770 ± 300 MeV/G. The value of m shows quite clearly that the diffusion is not caused by magnetic pumping by a variable solar wind or by a fluctuating convection electric field. The process might be field line exchange driven by atmospheric-ionospheric winds; our diffusion coefficient has roughly the same radial dependence but is considerably smaller in magnitude than the upper bound diffusion coefficients recently suggested for this process by Brice and McDonough (1973) and S. A. Jacques and L. Davis, Jr. (unpublished manuscript, 1972).
Preliminary study of hypoxia markers in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

While the association of hypoxia has been established in various types of solid cancers, little is known about its presence and existence in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) in DLBCL and to analyze the association of these factors with several clinical and pathological characteristics. The immunohistochemical protein expression of HIF-1α and VEGF-A was investigated in 34 de novo DLBCL tumor samples from January 2017 to December 2017 from the Department of Hematology/Medical Oncology and Anatomical Pathology at Dr Kariadi Hospital (Semarang, Indonesia). The present study revealed by using immunohistochemistry (IHC), that hypoxic markers were overexpressed (88.2% for both HIF-1α and VEGF-A) in the vast majority of patients with DLBCL. Only in 4 tumors, was HIF-1α expression normal, and interestingly VEGF-A was negative as well. There was a significant correlation in the intensity of staining of HIF-1α and VEGF-A using our custom scoring system in surgically resected tissues (r=0.475; P=0.005). Both HIF-1α and VEGF-A were also associated to serum LDH and tumor diameter. Collectively, HIF-1α and VEGF-A were predominantly expressed in the majority of DLBCL tumor cells. The findings of the present study indicate the existence of hypoxia in DLBCL tumors similar to numerous solid cancers, and thus warrants further investigation to clarify its role as a potential pathogenic or prognostic marker in this type of hematological cancer.
Fast Finite Shearlet Transform

In recent years it has turned out that shearlets have the potential to retrieve directional information so that they became interesting for many applications. Moreover the continuous shearlet transform has the outstanding property to stem from a square integrable group representation. However, to use shearlets and the shearlet transform for reasonable applications one needs fast algorithms to compute a discrete shearlet transform. In this tutorial we present the steps towards an implementation of a fast and finite shearlet transform that is only based on the FFT. Using band-limited shearlets we construct a Parseval frame that provides a simple and straightforward inverse shearlet transform. We provide all proofs and discuss several aspects of our implementation.
Destigmatization Through Visualization: Striving to redefine refugee workers’ worth

Refugee workers struggle to find employment because they are stigmatized. Research suggests that organizations can help destigmatize actors such as refugees by recognizing them and confirming their worth in society. Here, we explore pictures that refugee job-placement organizations in Austria and Germany used to redefine refugees’ moral worthiness – that is, their worth in relation to higher-order normative principles such as civic duty, efficiency and creativity. Analysing images used in organizations’ destigmatization efforts is essential, as pictures visualize and materialize refugees rather than abstractly describing them. Hence, visualization shapes the worthiness of refugee workers in the eyes of prospective employers. Combining social semiotics with the economies of worth framework, we found that job-placement organizations use three visualization practices – professionalizing, domesticizing and stylizing – that draw on distinct moral orders. We found that although these practices were intended to destigmatize, they also – counterintuitively – restigmatize. By leveraging social semiotic studies of visualization, our results advance stigmatization studies by showing how visualization can unintendedly restigmatize and by revealing that the visualization practices we identified are built upon multiple forms of worth. Our analysis also theoretically and methodologically extends studies of organizational morality by explaining how moral dimensions are expressed through visual registers.
Pyroelectrically Charged Flexible Ferroelectret-Based Tactile Sensor for Surface Texture Detection

Texture detection is one of the essential features requested for artificial tactile sensing to push the demand for flexible low-cost tactile sensors in the robotics sector. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the ability of a ferroelectret-based pressure sensor together with a patterned elastomer layer to detect surface textures. The ferroelectret sensor was fabricated using fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) sheets bonded with a patterned adhesive layer to create cavities, integrated with the elastomer bumped surface, and finally charged using a pyroelectric method developed by our group. The ferroelectret-based sensor showed a linear response to the applied force in the range of 0.5 to 2 N, a piezoelectric coefficient of 150.1 ± 3.2 pC/N in the range of 10–80 Hz, and a flat dynamic response in the range of 10–1000 Hz. The tactile sensing characterization of the sensor, performed at different scanning speeds (10 to 30 mm/s) and gratings with different periodicities (0 to 0.8 mm), showed that the fundamental frequencies observed ranged from 12 Hz to 75 Hz, as expected from the model. These results lay the foundation for the adoption of such sensors in different applications that need fine tactile information, such as an autonomous or teleoperated robotic hand, prostheses, and wearable devices.
Bayesian non‐parametric multivariate statistical models for testing association between quantitative traits and candidate genes in structured populations

Summary. Population‐based linkage disequilibrium mapping permits finer scale mapping than linkage analysis. However, the population‐based association mapping is subject to false positive results due to the population structure and the kinship between the samples. Although there is interest in simultaneously testing the association between a candidate gene and the multiple phenotypes of interest, the currently available association mapping methods are limited to univariate traits only. Here we present a new method for population‐based multitrait candidate gene association mapping as a Bayesian semiparametric approach, where the error distribution is flexibly modelled via a multivariate mixture of Polya trees centred on the family of multivariate normal distributions. The method that we develop accounts for the population structure and the complex relatedness between the samples. We compare the new proposal in type I error rate and power with the existing multivariate version of the parametric model of Yu and co‐workers and Li's univariate semiparametric model by using the previously published two type Arabidopsis thaliana flowering data sets of association mapping, as well as simulated data.
Retrospective Analysis of 0.25% Bupivacaine for Ultrasound-Guided Infraclavicular and Supraclavicular Nerve Blocks in an Ambulatory Surgery Center

Bupivacaine hydrochloride 0.5% (5 mg/mL) is commonly utilized for analgesia in brachial plexus blocks. We suggest that ultrasound-guided 0.25% (2.5 mg/mL) bupivacaine can be utilized for effective postoperative analgesia to reduce the effective dose. A total of 126 patients underwent ultrasound-guided brachial plexus blocks with 0.25% bupivacaine. The mean duration of analgesia was 21.95 (σ = 3.93) hours with no complications. Patients that received an infraclavicular block (22.56 σ = 4.02) had a significant increase in analgesia compared to supraclavicular blocks (21.09, σ = 3.69) (p = 0.04). These results suggest that further research is warranted for ultrasound-guided 0.25% bupivacaine in brachial plexus nerve blocks.
A Comprehensive Review on Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer

The discovery of an innovative category of inorganic geopolymer composites has generated extensive scientific attention and the kaleidoscopic development of their applications. The escalating concerns over global warming owing to emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a primary greenhouse gas, from the ordinary Portland cement industry, may hopefully be mitigated by the development of geopolymer construction composites with a lower carbon footprint. The current manuscript comprehensively reviews the rheological, strength and durability properties of geopolymer composites, along with shedding light on their recent key advancements viz., micro-structures, state-of-the-art applications such as the immobilization of toxic or radioactive wastes, digital geopolymer concrete, 3D-printed fly ash-based geopolymers, hot-pressed and foam geopolymers, etc. They have a crystal-clear role to play in offering a sustainable prospect to the construction industry, as part of the accessible toolkit of building materials—binders, cements, mortars, concretes, etc. Consequently, the present scientometric review manuscript is grist for the mill and aims to contribute as a single key note document assessing exhaustive research findings for establishing the viability of fly ash-based geopolymer composites as the most promising, durable, sustainable, affordable, user and eco-benevolent building materials for the future.
Test methods for RFID tags on individual police equipment

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags are applied to individual police equipment to realize its life cycle information management. However, due to the lack of application test methods, the performance changes of RFID tags in practical applications have not been effectively evaluated. This paper introduces the information management process of individual police equipment based on RFID technology and puts forward the application specifications of RFID tags. Air interface protocol compliance defines data coding of stored information in the RFID tag. Application read-write performance is affected by metal, plastic, and nylon materials, equipment structure size limitation, and installation location selection. Collision arbitration of RFID tags at least reaches the packing equipment number. Moreover, the security function protects the application equipment information for an administrative institution. The main test items of these specifications and their test methods are designed based on the analysis of the equipment standards. Therefore, the test results of 10 RFID tags on different new types of individual police equipment are given through experiments.
Effects of simulated flight on the structure and noise of underexpanded jets

Mean plume static and pitot pressures and far-field acoustic pressure were measured for an underexpanded convergent nozzle in simulated flight. Results show that supersonic jet mixing noise behaves in flight in the same way that subsonic jet mixing noise does. Regarding shock-associated noise, the frequencies of both screech and peak broadband shock noise were found to decrease with flight speed. The external flow determines the dominant screech mode over a wide range of nozzle pressure rations. Change in the screech mode strongly affects both the development of the downstream shock structure and the characteristic frequency of the broadband shock-associated noise. When no mode change occurs, the main effect of the external flow is to stretch the axial development of the shock cells.
Fabric defect detection and classification using modified VGG network

Abstract Fabrics and garments are some of the most important utilitarian items for human beings. The textile industry is rapidly growing with various fabric models and different attractive designs. To hold up the development of the textile industry, rigid measures have to be taken to check the quality of fabric during manufacturing. Thus, skilled workers are required to screen the quality of the fabric manually. This paper focuses on designing a deep learning framework to detect various fabric types and classify the defects using artificial intelligence. The proposed work has two phases; in phase 1, the input image is preprocessed with a novel Pseudo–Convolutional Neural Network (P-CNN) having zero tunable parameters. In phase 2, a modified Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is applied to the preprocessed image to detect and classify major fabric defects. The Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) uses appropriate hidden layers to acquire an undeniable degree of accuracy for defect classification using images. The dataset consists of five different fabric defects such as broken pick defects, pattern defects, weft yarn deformity, soiled fabrics, and plain fabric defects that are considered for training and validation of the proposed architecture. The performance of the proposed network is measured using metric parameters such as sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. The proposed technique has high accuracy for different fabric types used for testing the creation network.
Study of Isotherm and Kinetics for Remediation of Congo Red Using Nanocomposite Bead

Cellulose-based nanocomposite (FeCNB) has been synthesized via sol-gel conversion for adsorptive remediation of Congo red, a carcinogenic and mutagenic azo dye, from water. The bead was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of adsorbent dose, pH, contact time, shaking speed, initial dye concentration and temperature was carried out in a batch adsorption study. The maximum removal of Congo red was found at pH 6.0, corresponding to the adsorbent dose of 1.0 gdm-3 and 90 min of contact time. The experimental data were analyzed using different isotherm and kinetic models. The data was fitted best to Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The maximum adsorption capacity evaluated from Langmuir isotherm is 3.52 mgg-1 at 303 K. Thermodynamic study was carried out to evaluate the changes in Gibbs free energy (ΔG0 ), enthalpy (ΔH0 ) and entropy (ΔS0 ) of the dye-adsorbent interaction. The negative ΔG0 values at all temperatures suggested the spontaneous nature; the positive ΔH0 value indicated the endothermic nature and the positive ΔS0 indicated the increased randomness of the adsorption process. Desorption study found 0.1 (M) NaOH as the most suitable eluting agent for dye-loaded adsorbent. The adsorbent can be used up to five successive cycles of adsorption-desorption.
Organisational agility: systematic literature review and future research agenda

ABSTRACT Several studies have addressed the attributes necessary for an organisation to ensure organisational competitiveness, but the literature on organisational agility is fragmented. Therefore, this study aims to identify the contributions of organisational agility, as well as the approaches that facilitate its action for effectiveness among the departments of a company, in order to bridge the gaps identified in previous research. For this purpose, bibliometric analysis was used, which identified four clusters. These clusters revealed that organisational agility is related to various business factors, such as culture and technology, which contribute to achieving organisational goals; its relationship with responsiveness and flexibility in the business environment. Among the contributions of this research is the development of a conceptual model to interpret organisational agility, in addition to the list of organisational competencies. It presents suggestions to optimise quality and organisational productivity, improve interpersonal relationships and make more assertive decisions.
Influence of Sex-Based Differences in Cardiac Phenotype on Atrial Fibrillation Recurrence in Patients Undergoing Pulmonary Vein Isolation

Background Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is a commonly engaged therapy for symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF). Prior studies have documented elevated AF recurrence rates among females vs. males. Sex-specific mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the sex-based differences in cardiac phenotype and their influence on (AF) recurrence following first-time PVI. Methods A total of 204 consecutive patients referred for first-time PVI and 101 healthy subjects were prospectively studied by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. Multi-chamber volumetric and functional measures were assessed by sex-corrected Z-score analyses vs. healthy subjects. Patients were followed for a median of 2.6 years for the primary outcome of clinical AF recurrence. Multivariable analyses adjusting for age and comorbidities were performed to identify independent predictors of AF recurrence. Results AF recurrence following first PVI occurred in 41% of males and 59% of females (p = 0.03). Females were older with higher prevalence of hypertension and thyroid disorders. Z-score-based analyses revealed significantly reduced ventricular volumes, greater left atrial (LA) volumes, and reduced LA contractility in females vs. males. Multivariable analysis revealed each of LA minimum and pre-systolic volumes and booster EF Z-scores to be independently associated with AF recurrence, providing respective hazard ratios of 1.10, 1.19, and 0.89 (p = 0.001, 0.03, and 0.01). Conclusion Among patients referred for first time PVI, females were older and demonstrated significantly poorer LA contractile health vs. males, the latter independently associated with AF recurrence. Assessment of LA contractile health may therefore be of value to identify female patients at elevated risk of AF recurrence. Factors influencing female patient referral for PVI at more advanced stages of atrial disease warrant focused investigation. Graphical Abstract This cohort study examined sex-based differences in cardiac phenotype and atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence following pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). Two-hundred-four patients and 101 healthy volunteers were studied by cardiac MRI to determine z-score based measures of chamber volumes and function. Following a median 932 days of follow-up, AF recurrence occurred in 41% of males and 59% of females (p = 0.03). Markers of left atrial contractile health were significantly reduced in females vs. males, and were found to be independent predictors of AF recurrence.
A discrete on-line monotone estimation algorithm

In the paper Papadaki & Powell (2002) we introduced an adaptive dynamic programming algorithm to estimate the monotone value functions for the problem of batch service of homogeneous customers at a service station. The algorithm uses an updating scheme that takes advantage of the monotone structure of the function by imposing a monotonicity-preserving step. In this paper we introduce an algorithm (DOME) that uses this monotonicity-preserving step to approximate discrete monotone functions. Our algorithm requires sampling a discrete function and using Monte Carlo estimates to update the function. It is a known result that sampling a discrete function on each point of its domain infinitely often converges to the correct function as long as standard requirements on the stepsize are maintained. Imposing a monotonicity-preserving step raises anew the question of convergence. We prove convergence of such an algorithm.