Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agent for Interactive Student Assistance: A Study of an Avatar-Based Conversational Agent's Impact on Student Engagement and Recruitment at BGSU's College of Technology

Dr. Terry Herman, Advisor As the need for educating traditional and non-traditional students increases and budgets decrease, the demand for higher education institutions to implement creative ways to provide effective customer service to students has never been more critical. This research studied the potential implementation of an Agent for Interactive Student Assistance (AISA) application in Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU’s) College of Technology and its impact on student engagement and recruitment. AISA is defined as an interactive, human-like, avatar-based online student assistance application with voice and text recognition that provides answers to students’ administrative-related most frequently asked questions. The avatar-based application would provide cognitive responses using voice and nonverbal communication with a 90% accuracy rate. BGSU College of Technology undergraduate and graduate students during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years were the population of this study consisting of 940 students. The approach of this study was quantitative, post positivist with an expected outcome in the form of an alternate hypothesis tested against a null hypothesis. One survey was administered to the population with a response rate of 9%. Favorable results were found with 91% of students indicating they would or may use an AISA application if provided the opportunity. One proportion z tests showed that, overall, students would not experience a negative impact on engagement and BGSU’s College of Technology would not experience a decrease in new students.
Clinicopathological Features and Clinical Outcomes of Primary Hepatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: Evaluation of a Pooled Case Series

Background: Due to the extremely rare incidence, data of clinicopathological features and prognosis of primary hepatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is limited. Methods: 36 cases of hepatic GISTs were from the literature, PUBMED, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and WANFANG DATA, and 1 case came from our center. Clinicopathological features and outcomes were analyzed between 37 hepatic GISTs and 254 gastric GISTs from our center. Results: A majority of hepatic GISTs exceeded 5 cm (83.7%), displayed mixed density (69.4%) and spindle morphology (74.2%) and were classified as high risk (91.4%). Larger tumors of hepatic GISTs were likely to display mixed lesion and tumors with mixed lesion were prone to be classified as high risk. In comparisons to gastric GISTs, hepatic GISTs differed from gastric GISTs in tumor size, main symptoms, histologic type, mitotic index, CD34 expression, NIH risk classification. In patients with hepatic GISTs, 5-year DFS and DSS rates were 19.4% and 53.7%, which were worse than that of gastric GISTs (P＜ 0.001), especially for those with tumor size exceeding 5 cm or mitotic indices exceeding 5/50 HPF (P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed location and NIH risk classification were independent prognostic factors for DFS in patients with GISTs, and size and location were significantly associated with DSS. Conclusions: Hepatic GISTs distinguished from gastric GISTs in respect to clinicopathological features and outcomes. Mitotic index exceeding 5/50 HPF or tumor size exceeding 5 cm may be important factor to distinguish hepatic GISTs from gastric GISTs in DFS and DSS.
Glycine–Nitrate Combustion Synthesis of Cu-Based Nanoparticles for NP9EO Degradation Applications

Copper-based nanoparticles were synthesized using the glycine–nitrate process (GNP) by using copper nitrate trihydrate [Cu(NO3)2·3H2O] as the main starting material, and glycine [C2H5NO2] as the complexing and incendiary agent. The as-prepared powders were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy analysis. Using Cu(NO3)2·3H2O as the oxidizer (N) and glycine as fuel (G), we obtained CuO, mixed-valence copper oxides (CuO + Cu2O, G/N = 0.3–0.5), and metallic Cu (G/N = 0.7). The XRD and BET results indicated that increasing the glycine concentration (G/N = 0.7) and reducing the particle surface area increased the yield of metallic Cu. The effects of varying reaction parameters, such as catalyst activity, catalyst dosage, and H2O2 concentration on nonylphenol-9-polyethoxylate (NP9EO) degradation, were assessed. With a copper-based catalyst in a heterogeneous system, the NP9EO and total organic carbon removal efficiencies were 83.1% and 70.6%, respectively, under optimum operating conditions (pH, 6.0; catalyst dosage, 0.3 g/L; H2O2 concentration, 0.05 mM). The results suggest that the removal efficiency increased with an increase in H2O2 concentration but decreased when the H2O2 concentration exceeded 0.05 mM. Furthermore, the trend of photocatalytic activity was as follows: G/N = 0.5 > G/N = 0.7 > G/N = 0.3. The G/N = 0.5 catalysts showed the highest photocatalytic activity and resulted in 94.6% NP9EO degradation in 600 min.
Temporal genetic variation and dispersal patterns of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) among three different temperature regions of China

Background Aedes albopictus is an indigenous and primary vector for Dengue and Zika viruses in China. Compare with its insecticide resistance, biology, and vector competence; little was known about its genetic variation, corresponding to environmental variations. Thus, the present study aims to discuss how Ae. albopictus population varies among different temperatures regions of China and decipher its potential dispersal patterns.Methods The genetic variation and population structure of all 17 Ae. albopictus populations, collected from three temperature regions of China, were investigated with 11 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial COI gene.Results 11 pairs out of 44 isolated microsatellite markers were chosen for genotyping analysis with the average PIC value of 0.713, which was high polymorphism. The number of alleles was high for each population, with the ne value increased from the Temperate region (3.876) to the Tropical region (4.144). 25 COI Haplotypes were detected, and the highest diversity was observed among the Tropical region. The mean Ho value (ca. 0.557) of all temperature regions, was significantly lower than the mean He values (ca. 0.684), with nearly all populations significantly departed from the HWE test and displayed significant population expansion ( p-value < 0.05). Two genetically isolated groups and three Haplotype clades were evaluated via STRUCTURE and Haplotype phylogenetic analyses, with Tropical populations isolated from other regions, significantly. Meanwhile, the majority genetic variation of Ae. albopictus populations were detected within populations and individuals at 31.40% and 63.04%, respectively, via AMOVA test, and a relatively significant positive correlation was merely observed among populations from the temperate region via Isolation by distance (IBD) analysis (R2 = 0.6614, p = 0.048). Recent dispersions were observed among different Ae. albopictus populations and a total of four major migration trends were rebuilt between the Tropical and the other two regions with the high genetic flows (Nm>0.5). Environmental factors, especially temperature and rainfall, may be the leading cause of genetic diversity differences of different temperature regions. Conclusions Continuous dispersion contributes to the similarity of Ae. albopictus populations among different temperature regions, and environmental factors, especially temperature and rainfall, may be the leading cause of genetic variation.
Acoustic Variation of Syllable-Initial [ŋ] in Zhengding Chinese

The study explores the acoustic properties of syllable-initial [ŋ] in Zhengding dialect, to see whether the younger generation shows the same pattern with the senior group. 60 items with vowel realizations [ʌ, a, ɑ, ə, ɤ] and [ai, ɑo, ou] in ‘[ŋ]-V’ and ‘[g]-V’ structures are produced by 8 native speakers. Three experiments are conducted. Experiment I compares ‘[ŋ]-V’ and ‘[g]-V’ structures in senior speeches. Three acoustic effects due to the initial [ŋ] are established: vowels become less distinctive from each other by decreasing the first formant (F1), increasing the second formant (F2), and shrinking the gap between the second formant (F2) and the third formant (F3). Experiment II is conducted between ‘[ŋ]-V’ and ‘[g]-V’ in the younger speakers, investigating whether they have a similar pattern with the seniors. Experiment III is supplemented to compare the younger speeches in Zhengding dialect and Mandarin, to explore whether the generational variation in Zhengding dialect is relevant to dialect contact, i.e., whether the younger speakers are largely influenced by Mandarin. The result shows the younger generation does not produce the initial [ŋ] with the vowel realizations [ʌ, a, ɑ, ə, ai, ɑo, ou], which traditionally have an initial [ŋ], with an exception in [ɤ]. A fusion process is assumed in [ɤ] in the younger pattern, in which the initial nasal [ŋ] and the following vowel [ɤ] are combined into the single nasalized vowel [ɤ̃], with the nasal effects remained, but the initial nasal then deleted. From the sociovariationist perspective, the nasal-initial pronunciation is a partial variation in Zhengding dialect. Not all speakers pronounce with the velar-initial [ŋ]. The older generation largely remained the velar-initial variant, but the younger generation preferred the zero-onset, which might be due to the influence of dialect contact with Mandarin.
Characterization of gut microbial community of rhesus macaques under the high-altitude extreme environments

Background: The mammal intestinal microbita involved in various physiological processes in host and play a key role in host environment adaption. However, for non-human primate(NHP), little is known about their gut microbial community in high-altitude extreme environment and much less to their adaption to high-altitude environment. In this study, we want to characterize gut microbial community of rhesus macaques from multiple high-altitude environment and by comparing it to low-altitude control group to reveal the differences between altitudes. Results: we collected the fecal samples of rhesus macaques from four high-altitude populations (above 3000m) and one low-altitude population (below 100m). We first analyzed the overlap of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) between populations and found 27.8% of OTUs (core OTUs) were shared by all five population.The majority of these OTUs have a higher abundance, whereas the unique OTUs have a lower abundance. By calculating alpha diversity index, we found high-altitude populations exhibited higher diversity. Statistical analysis of beta diversity indicated there were significant difference between high and low altitude population. Significant difference in composition were detected at phylum and family. At phylum level, high-altitude gut microbial community were dominanted by Firmicutes(63.7%), but low-altitude were dominated by Bacteroidetes(52.2%). At family level, high-alititude population were dominanted by Ruminococcaceae(36.4%), but low-altitude were dominated by Prevotellaceae(43.9%). Additionally, the abundance of Christensenellaceae are significantly higher in all high-altitude populations(3.33%) than low-altitude population(0.77%), despite a low abundance in two altitudes. Finally, function prediction indicated there was a significant difference in gene copy number of 29 level-2 pathway between high and low altitude population; and 26 of them are higher in high-altitude, especially in membrane transport and carbohydrate metabolism. Conclusions: We found the gut microbial community of high-altitude rhesus macaques is significantly distinct from low-altitude population in diversity, composition and function. High-altitude populations were dominanted by Firmicutes and Ruminococcace, but low-altitude population by Bacteroidetes and Prevotellaceae. The difference in gut microbiota between two altitude macaque populations may be caused by different host diet, environmental temperature and oxygen pressure, and gut microbial microorganisms may play an critical role in adaptive evolution of rhesus macaques to high-altitude environment.
Comparative Studies of Electrostatic Sensors with Circular and Probe Electrodes for Velocity Measurement of Pulverised Coal

This paper presents recent progress on the velocity measurement of pulverised coal in pneumatic pipelines using electrostatic sensors in combination with correlation signal processing techniques. A comparative study of electrostatic sensors with circular and probe electrodes was conducted on a 94 mm bore horizontal pipeline in a 4 MW furnace. The advantages and limitations of both sensors are discussed. Experimental results demonstrate that both sensors are capable of providing pulverised coal velocity measurement with excellent repeatability and dynamic response.
Low Dynamic Range Solutions to the High Dynamic Range Imaging Problem

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging aims at capturing the entir brightness levels of the real world scene using a single image. This is a challenging probl em which is addressed well in the analog photography which uses films for recording the sce ne information. This is achieved as analog cameras enjoy a much higher dynamic range to record the scene information which amounts to capture of an HDR image. A similar argument is not t rue in the case of digital cameras. The real world brightness differences of scenes with b ot rightly and poorly illuminated regions are so high that the digital sensors are incapable of r c rding all the brightness levels. This is due to the limited storage capacity of the digital sen sors. Common digital cameras with low dynamic range (LDR) sensors lead to overor undersatur ation while capturing an HDR scene. Capturing all the brightness levels of the real world scene u sing a single digital HDR image is a very challenging task. As the problem associated w ith HDR image generation is due to the sensor, one can design a specialized sensor with prope r modifications in order to get an HDR image with a single snapshot. There are indeed HDR sensor s which can capture more brightness levels than that of common digital sensors. The d igital cameras which use these sensors are quite expensive at present. The other option is t develop algorithms for processing images captured using digital cameras with LDR sensors and u se them, in turn, to generate the HDR image of the scene. Traditional algorithmic approaches for HDR imaging requir e one to composite multiple differently exposed images of a scene in the irradiance doma in. The multi-exposure images together have information of all the brightness levels of th e scene which are then reproduced in the generated HDR image. We further have to perform tone ma pping of the generated HDR image for displaying on LDR devices such as common displays a nd printers. In this thesis, we consider algorithmic solutions for the HD R imaging problem. We first develop algorithms for directly generating an LDR image cor responding to a static scene given iii
chloroacetic acid

Exposure to chloroacetic acid is most likely to occur in the workplace. Acute (short-term) inhalation or dermal exposure may irritate or cause severe damage to the skin, eyes, respiratory tract, and mucous membranes and cause depression of the central nervous system in humans. No information is available on the chronic (long-term) effects of chloroacetic acid in humans. Damage to the respiratory tract has been observed in rodents chronically exposed to chloroacetic acid by inhalation, orally, and via gavage (experimentally placing the chemical in the stomach). EPA has not classified chloroacetic acid for potential carcinogenicity.
The Cardioprotective Effect of Combined Therapy With α-Lipoic Acid Preconditioning and Ischemic Postconditioning Is Mediated by the Improvement of Autophagy Flux and Mitochondrial Function in Myocardial Reperfusion Injury of Diabetic Rats

Investigating the interaction of diabetes with ischemic postconditioning (IPostC)-associated cardioprotection in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) damage is of great clinical importance. The present work was performed to evaluate the combined effects of α-lipoic acid (LA) and IPostC on autophagy flux and mitochondrial function following myocardial I/R damage in type-II diabetic rats. Diabetes with duration of 12 weeks was induced by high-fat diet/low dose of streptozotocin. LA (500 mg/kg/day) was administered orally in diabetic rats for 5 weeks before I/R. The hearts were removed and mounted on Langendorff apparatus. I/R was induced through the ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery for 35 min and reperfusion for 60 min. IPostC was applied immediately at the onset of the reperfusion. Lastly, myocardial infarct size (IS), autophagy markers at both gene and protein levels, and mitochondrial ROS production and membrane potential were assessed. Combination of LA and IPostC significantly decreased the IS of diabetic hearts (P < 0.05). IPostC alone could not significantly decrease p62 gene and protein expressions, and mitochondrial membrane depolarization in diabetic hearts. However, combination of LA and IPostC more significantly decreased LC3 and p62 gene expressions (P < 0.01), LC3II/LC3I and p62 protein expressions (P < 0.01), and mitochondrial ROS generation and membrane depolarization (P < 0.01) in diabetic hearts. Pretreatment with LA in diabetic rats notably restored cardioprotection by IPostC via modulation of autophagy flux and restoring mitochondrial function. This combined conditioning might be an effective strategy to diminish I/R injury in diabetic hearts.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF FLOW STRUCTURES IN A POOL-WEIR FISHWAY

Fishways can assist fish species to overcome obstacles for performing spawning, feeding and overwintering migrations. Flow structures in a pool-weir fishway were experimentally studied, which mainly contain variation of longitudinal time-averaged velocity along flow direction and its distribution along flow depth, distribution characteristics of vertical time-averaged velocity, flow pattern on longitudinal profile, turbulence intensity distribution and Reynolds stress distribution and their variation in flow rates. The experimentations were carried out in a large scale fishway model in the Hydraulics Laboratory at Zhejiang University of Technology. Two typical flow rates ( Q 1 =20.79L/s, Q 2 =30.04L/s) corresponding to detection and preference velocities of fish species were considered. The 5 different depths for each flow rate were taken, whose spacing was 10cm. The 11 transverse lines with spacing 5cm were arranged for each plane. The 10 measuring points with spacing 5cm were laid along each transverse line. Three-dimensional velocity at each measuring point was measured by acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV). Longitudinal and vertical time-averaged velocity distributions, longitudinal turbulence intensity distribution on different planes of flow depth, vertical turbulent intensity distribution along flow depth, Reynolds stress distributions on different planes of flow depth and on different cross-sections in the pool of fishway were analyzed. The experimental results showed that distribution of longitudinal velocity was characterized by topology, which constituted considerable vertical vortex. Weir flow after plunged the pool flowed along surface layer in the form of skimming flow. Peak-value range of longitudinal turbulent intensity existed. Amplitude of variation in Reynolds stress near surface layer reached the maximum, which provided hydraulic condition for fish that favor jumping near surface layer.
Attitude to Conserve Mangroves and Coral Reefs in Environmental Education: Survey and Analysis in Community

The destruction of coral reefs and mangroves is an urgent problem to be solved together. The purpose of this study was to describe profile of community attitudes in conserve coral reefs and mangroves. The research method used was descriptive method with survey techniques. The study was conducted on July 2019. This research used 214 samples were selected by simple random sampling, which is a community that lives in the city of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi ( Jabodetabek ) and other cities. The instrument used 18 items that measure attitudes. The results showed that the attitude score of the community was 82.40 which is categorized very high. In addition, other findings were that most respondents were from the age range of 16-20 and 21-25 years. High attitude score has not yet determined that their behavior also have a high score. Various efforts to improve indicators that are still low such as regarding community participation in seminars on coral reefs and mangroves that can be done with the Environmental Education Community Network (EECN). The conclusion was that the attitude of the community was already in the very high category, but further efforts need to be made to improve that attitude through environmental education.
What You Say Matters: The Influence Of Alibi Content On Memory And Forensically Relevant Judgments

Discussion of alibi believability has typically focused on the influence of the strength of the corroborating evidence. Little is known about the influence of the content of alibi narratives on legal judgments. The current studies explored the role of moral desirability of alibi activities on judgments about an alibi, the strength of the evidence against a suspect, and the probability of the suspect’s guilt as well as on recall performance. The role of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and the alibi context were also evaluated. Alibi content did not affect judgments about alibis or evidence, but did influence perceptions of probability of suspect guilt. Morally undesirable and desirable alibis were both more memorable than neutral alibis. RWA was related to participants’ decisions regarding the alibi, the physical evidence, and the suspect’s likelihood of guilt. Finally, statements described as alibis were viewed with greater skepticism than statements described as narratives.
Receptivity of a Cryogenic Coaxial Gas-Liquid Jet to Acoustic Disturbances (Briefing Charts)

Abstract : An experimental study has been conducted at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base to explore the receptivity of cryogenic coaxial jet flows to transverse acoustic disturbances. The shear coaxial jet flow employed liquid nitrogen in the inner jet and cooled helium in the outer annular jet to represent the nominal fluid dynamical conditions of an oxygen/hydrogen liquid rocket engine injector. The injector flow is submerged in a chamber that experiences a monotonic transverse acoustic resonance characteristic of a rocket chamber in the presence of combustion instability. The coaxial jet is exposed to a variety of acoustic conditions including different frequencies, amplitudes, and locations within the resonant mode shape. High-speed back-lit images were captured to record the behavior of the natural (unforced) and forced coaxial jets. Proper orthogonal decomposition and spectral analysis were used to extract natural and forced modes. Convective modes are extracted, and a new Strouhal number is used to characterize the dominant natural convective mode that is analogous to the preferred mode in free jets. The threshold of receptivity was found for a number of different injector flows and acoustic forcing conditions. The results indicate that the dimensionless frequency plays an important role, and there exists a finite forcing amplitude at which the threshold of receptivity occurs. The receptivity threshold and post receptivity response provides useful insight on the suitability of a given injector design for specific rocket combustion chamber conditions.