Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multistable Perception

Multistable perception is produced by stimuli that are consistent with two or more different comparably likely perceptual interpretations. After the initial perception is resolved in favor of one of the interpretations, continued viewing leads to fluctuating subjective experience, as perception spontaneously switches between alternative states. Multistable perception occurs for different modalities, including visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory perception and proprioception, and various conflicting sensory representations, such as eye dominance, depth, motion, or meaning. Despite large differences, multistable stimuli produce quantitatively similar perceptual experience with stereotypical distribution of durations of dominance phases, similar dependence on the absolute and relative strength of competing perceptual interpretations, prior perceptual history, presentation method, attention, and volitional control, and so on. Taken together, this shows that multistable perception reflects the action of general canonical perceptual mechanisms whose purpose is to resolve the conflicting evidence and ensure a single dominant perception that can be used for action. Thus, it informs us about mechanisms of perceptual decision making, including the importance of feedback mechanisms in resolving perceptual ambiguity and the role of parietal and frontal regions in facilitating changes in perception. Multistable perception provides useful constraints for models, inspiring a plethora of models of perception that combine neurally plausible mechanisms, such as neural adaptation and inhibition, or are based on the idea of predictive coding. The sensitive nature of multistable perception makes a valuable experimental tool that can reveal even minor differences due to low- or high-level influences, including genetic or clinical cases. As such, it is an important tool in studying neural and behavioral correlates of consciousness as it dissociates perception from the stimulus.
Organizational activity analysis: a methodology for analyzing and improving technical organizations

The role of a technical manager is changing as the skills for success become more managerial, and the technical function becomes more tightly coupled with organizational goals. The purpose of this paper is to suggest an approach to evaluating technical organizations or units in a quantitative way consistent with the needs of many technical managers who increasingly are being asked to make decisions about reorganization, downsizing, and productivity improvement. Organizational activity analysis examines unit mission-related functioning through the use of an activity database. The methodology provides decision makers with reliable information upon which decisions for operations improvement can be made. A description of the methodology, example applications, and implementation strategies are presented. >
Cast away in the Adriatic: Low degree of parallel genetic differentiation in three‐spined sticklebacks

The three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has repeatedly and independently adapted to freshwater habitats from standing genetic variation (SGV) following colonization from the sea. However, in the Mediterranean Sea G. aculeatus is believed to have gone extinct, and thus the spread of locally adapted alleles between different freshwater populations via the sea since then has been highly unlikely. This is expected to limit parallel evolution, that is the extent to which phylogenetically related alleles can be shared among independently colonized freshwater populations. Using whole genome and 2b‐RAD sequencing data, we compared levels of genetic differentiation and genetic parallelism of 15 Adriatic stickleback populations to 19 Pacific, Atlantic and Caspian populations, where gene flow between freshwater populations across extant marine populations is still possible. Our findings support previous studies suggesting that Adriatic populations are highly differentiated (average FST ≈ 0.45), of low genetic diversity and connectivity, and likely to stem from multiple independent colonizations during the Pleistocene. Linkage disequilibrium network analyses in combination with linear mixed models nevertheless revealed several parallel marine–freshwater differentiated genomic regions, although still not to the extent observed elsewhere in the world. We hypothesize that current levels of genetic parallelism in the Adriatic lineages are a relic of freshwater adaptation from SGV prior to the extinction of marine sticklebacks in the Mediterranean that has persisted despite substantial genetic drift experienced by the Adriatic stickleback isolates.
The phonetic boundary between monophthongs and diphthongs in Suzhou Chinese

The dialectologists have argued whether some vowel sounds in Suzhou Chinese were diphthongs or monophthongs for many years. However, there were no objective methods for judging whether a vowel sound was a monophthong or diphthong. This study is addressing my development on an objective method to calculate the degree of vowel quality change (DQC), through which a phonetic boundary between monophthongs and diphthongs can be established. We therefore can easily judge a vowel sound belonging to monophthong or diphthong by its DQC value.
Novel overlapped LSP segment selection schemes for GMPLS-based protection and restoration

Provisioning Protection and Restoration (P&R) capability is a necessity in Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) networks. Label Switched Path (LSP) segment-based recovery is an important P&R type. In this paper, three novel overlapped LSP segment selection schemes are proposed. The near-optimal set of overlapped LSP segments can be obtained by the proposed schemes, which have polynomial time complexity. Differences among the proposed schemes are discussed and compared. Performance comparisons between LSP segment recovery with the proposed schemes and end-to-end LSP recovery are conducted. The results show that the proposed schemes perform very well in LSP segment recovery. With the proposed schemes, the complexity of LSP segment recovery design is decreased considerably. Moreover, the proposed schemes provide flexible choices for GMPLS-based P&R techniques in terms of different failure recovery time and resource utilization constraints.
Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) Use in Wood-Framed Residential Construction: Design Concepts to Avoid Common Moisture Instrusion Problems

During our field observations and water tests of wood-framed houses in North Carolina that are clad with EIFS, we noted common features in their exterior wall construction that caused significant deterioration to the sheathing and stud wall framing. For several reasons, these problems would be less severe or absent if the houses were clad with traditional residential wall systems (i.e., wood shingles or clapboards, brick veneer, or traditional stucco). To define the design “problem” we review issues relevant to the performance of surface-sealed barrier EIFS including common sources of moisture intrusion, the potential for moisture entrapment within the wall system, i.e., the lack of drying capacity of the wall, and the moisture sensitivity of various substrates. We focus on presenting suggestions for resolving the problems and designing a functional EIF system for use on moisture-sensitive substrates such as wood-framed construction, with particular attention to structures in climates with heavy rainfall and high humidity.
BENCHMARKING STUDIES ON CONSTRUCTION SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN CHINA

This paper presents information by which to measure safety management performance on construction sites. In China, the conventional construction safety benchmarking approach is to assess safety performance by evaluating the physical safety conditions on site as well as the accident records, while no attention has been paid to the management factors that influence site safety. This paper is to identify the key factors that influence safety management and to develop a method for measuring safety management performance on construction sites. Based on the survey and interview data collected on safety management factors in 82 construction projects in China, the safety management index as a means to evaluate real-time safety management performance by measuring key management factors was developed. The quantified factors were compared with the commonly accepted physical safety performance index, which was derived from inspection records of physical safety conditions, accident rates, and the satisfaction of the project management team. Multifactor linear regression was conducted and the result indicates that safety management performance on site is closely related to organizational factors, economic factors, and factors related to the relationship between management and labor on site. Based on this benchmarking study, a practical safety assessment method was developed and then implemented on six construction projects. The results show that this method can be an effective tool to evaluate safety management on construction projects.
Impact of Antimicrobial Properties of Some Essential Oils on Cheese Yoghurt Quality

2 Abstract: Cheese yoghurt samples were prepared by using some essential oils as natural anti-microbial agents. Seven various essential oils were extracted from different plant sources and screened for their anti-microbial effect against five strains of gram positive and negative pathogenic bacteria strains. Obtained results indicated that caraway as well as dill seeds oil had the highest anti-bacterial effect. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the two selected oils were determined. A patch of cheese yoghurt was manufactured from milk which previously contaminated by the five strains of pathogens and was incorporated by the two selected essential oils; then stored at 7°C±2 for 14 days. All fresh and stored contaminated cheese yoghurt samples were periodically assayed for their microbiological examinations after 0, 7 and 14 days of cold storage. Data indicated that gram-positive bacteria were more susceptible than gram-negative. The most sensitive microorganism was Listeria monocytogenes which affected by all the seven oils, while the most resistant microorganism: was E. coli O157:H7. It was observed that the two essential oils did not affect the growth of both starter cultures (Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) in contaminated cheese yoghurt samples compared with control one. Fresh curd weight and whey drainage of uncontaminated cheese yoghurt samples were determined as well as the progress in their titratible acidity and pH values through 14 days of cold storage. It could be notice that, control cheese yoghurt drainage more whey either after 2 hrs or after 24 hrs of hanging and it had less weight. The experimental samples fortified with essential oils seemed softer than control. Thus we recommend that, caraway and dill essential oils could be successfully used as natural and safe anti-pathogens source in production of cheese yoghurt.
Formulation and Evaluation of Polyherbal Antiaging Cream

Moringa oleifera family Moringaceae and Ocimum sanctum family Labiatae has been reported to possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Moringa oleifera and Ocimum sanctum extracts have been used to treat antimicrobial infections. The aim of this present study is to formulate and evaluate of polyherbal anti-aging cream by combining the extract of Moringa oleifera with Ocimum sanctum to achieve multipurpose skin effects such as anti-aging, fairness, softening and antiseptic effects.The polyherbal anti-aging cream formulations comprising of hydroalcoholic extract of Moringa oleifera and Ocimum sanctum, carbapol 940, xanthan gum, stearic acid, glycerol monostearate and cetyl alcohol were prepared and evaluated for physicochemical parameters and the results showed the production of stable polyherbal anti-aging cream. The formulated polyherbal anti-aging cream (O/W) was subjected to characterize like visual inspection, pH, viscosity, good spreadability, good consistency, homogeneity, no evidence of phase separation and ease to washable from skin. Formulation (F4) exhibited fulfilled the objectives of the current research and % drug release is 98.78 and exhibit good anti-microbial activity.
Charge measurement circuit for electric vehicle batteries

Calculating the state of charge (SOC) of an electric vehicle (EV) battery is an inherently error prone process that depends on several variables. However, the accuracy of the required charge flow measurements can be greatly improved by using a voltage to frequency (V/F) converter in conjunction with a digital counter to integrate the measured battery current.
Effects of Ultrasound Contrast Agent-Mediated Nerve Growth Factor on Apoptosis of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Mice with Glaucoma

With an increasing incidence in recent years, glaucoma (GL) has gradually become a global public health problem for humans of all ages. Nerve growth factor (NGF) eye drops, with well-documented stable effect in the treatment of GL, can be potentiated by the administration of NGF drugs via ultrasound contrast agent (UCA). This study analyzed the efficacy of NGF+UCA on GL mice and the influencing mechanism on retinal ganglion cells and further explored the pathological changes of GL mice under different UCA irradiation duration. In this study, we established GL mouse models and treated the mouse with NGF+UCA. The effect of NGF+UCA on intraocular pressure in mice was observed; the flash visual evoked potential of mice was compared; the changes of retinal structure, inflammation index, and oxidative stress index were observed, and autophagic protein levels were tested. Finally, the influence of UCA irradiation duration on GL symptoms was observed. The results showed that the intraocular pressure of mice decreased greatly, while their flash visual evoked potential and nervous layer of retina increased, and their ganglion cells showed stronger proliferation activity and weaker apoptosis and autophagy, indicating that UCA-mediated NGF can strongly improve the pathological condition of GL mice. In addition, PI3K/AKT pathway-associated proteins were inhibited in retina under the intervention of NGF+UCA, which further suggests that the influence of UCA-mediated NGF on GL is achieved by inhibiting autophagy of retinal ganglion cells and enhancing their apoptosis via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Moreover, we found that in the treatment of GL, three weeks of UCA irradiation and six weeks caused no significant difference in the pathological manifestations and ganglion cells of mice, while after six weeks of irradiation, the level of NLRP3 in mice increased. In conclusion, UCA-mediated NGF can significantly improve the pathological condition of GL mice and improve the apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells by inhibiting autophagy, which is associated with the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signal pathway. In terms of selection of UCA irradiation duration, three weeks of irradiation is enough to yield good clinical results.
A New Five-level Single-phase Inverter Employing a Space Vector Current Control

Abstract This article introduces a new five-level single-phase voltage source inverter. The proposed configuration employs two bidirectional switches. Since some switches share the same gate signals, the proposed circuit significantly contributed in reducing the utilized power electronics components, gate drive circuits, and system complexity. A novel space vector current control strategy was employed to maintain the desired number of voltage levels based on load current. With the proper selection of the redundant inverter switching states, the deviation in neutral-point voltage was considerably minimized. The proposed work was simulated and its hardware was manufactured.
A de-noising scheme for enhancing wavelet-based power quality monitoring system

By means of the wavelet transform (WT), a power quality (PQ) monitoring system could easily and correctly detect and localize the disturbances in the power systems. However, the signal under investigation is often corrupted by noises, especially the ones with overlapping high-frequency spectrum of the transient signals. The performance of the WT in detecting the disturbance would be greatly degraded, due to the difficulty of distinguishing the noises and the disturbances. To enhance the capability of the WT-based PQ monitoring system, this paper proposes a de-noising approach to detection of transient disturbances in a noisy environment. In the proposed de-noising approach, a threshold of eliminating the influences of noises is determined adaptively according to the background noises. The abilities of the WT in detecting and localizing the disturbances can hence be restored. To test the effectiveness of the developed de-noising scheme, employed were diverse data obtained from the EMTP/ATP programs for the main transient disturbances in the power systems as well as from actual field tests. Using the approach proposed in this paper, remarkable efficiency of monitoring the PQ problems and high tolerance to the noises are approved.
Performance of STBCs with antenna selection: spatial correlation and keyhole effects

Both the spatial fading correlation and keyhole effects can reduce the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless channels. A comprehensive performance analysis of orthogonal space-time block codes with receive antenna selection in the presence of spatial correlation at the receiver and keyhole effects is presented. Assuming one best receive antenna that maximises the instantaneous received signal-to-noise is selected and using ordered statistics, a closed-form expression and an upper bound for the bit-error rate (BER) performance of spatially correlated MIMO channels are derived. The outage probability analysis for spatially correlated MIMO channels is also presented. Furthermore, an approximated BER performance formula for the keyhole MIMO channels is derived. Finally numerical results to verify the analysis are presented.
Characterization of Sustainable Robotic Materials and Finite Element Analysis of Soft Actuators Under Biodegradation

Biodegradability is an important property for soft robots that makes them environmentally friendly. Many biodegradable materials have natural origins, and creating robots using these materials ensures sustainability. Hence, researchers have fabricated biodegradable soft actuators of various materials. During microbial degradation, the mechanical properties of biodegradable materials change; these cause changes in the behaviors of the actuators depending on the progression of degradation, where the outputs do not always remain the same against identical inputs. Therefore, to achieve appropriate operation with biodegradable soft actuators and robots, it is necessary to reflect the changes in the material properties in their design and control. However, there is a lack of insight on how biodegradable actuators change their actuation characteristics and how to identify them. In this study, we build and validate a framework that clarifies changes in the mechanical properties of biodegradable materials; further, it allows prediction of the actuation characteristics of degraded soft actuators through simulations incorporating the properties of the materials as functions of the degradation rates. As a biodegradable material, we use a mixture of gelatin and glycerol, which is fabricated in the form of a pneumatic soft actuator. The experimental results show that the actuation performance of the physical actuator reduces with the progression of biodegradation. The experimental data and simulations are in good agreement (R 2 value up to 0.997), thus illustrating the applicability of our framework for designing and controlling biodegradable soft actuators and robots.
Topoisomerase-Mediated DNA Damage in Neurological Disorders

The nervous system is vulnerable to genomic instability and mutations in DNA damage response factors lead to numerous developmental and progressive neurological disorders. Despite this, the sources and mechanisms of DNA damage that are most relevant to the development of neuronal dysfunction are poorly understood. The identification of primarily neurological abnormalities in patients with mutations in TDP1 and TDP2 suggest that topoisomerase-mediated DNA damage could be an important underlying source of neuronal dysfunction. Here we review the potential sources of topoisomerase-induced DNA damage in neurons, describe the cellular mechanisms that have evolved to repair such damage, and discuss the importance of these repair mechanisms for preventing neurological disorders.
Natural History of Diabetic Retinopathy Through Retrospective Analysis in Type 2 Diabetic Patients—An Exploratory Study

Background and Aims: Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetes-associated microvascular complication and is among the leading causes of vision loss or blindness in the adult population. The present study is a retrospective study that reported the natural history of diabetic retinopathy. Methods: Retrospective medical records of 170 patients aged > 20 years with a confirmed complication of diabetic retinopathy were recruited into the present study. A questionnaire was also sent to each subject for gathering their experiences, and verification was done by the attending medical physicians. The questionnaire was answered by all recruited patients. Results: The results showed that 23 (13.5%) subjects have a family history of diabetic retinopathy with 10 (5.9%) having mild NPDR, 63 (37.1%) with moderate NPDR, 60 (25.3%) have severe NPDR while 37 (21.8%) have PDR complications. The presence of co-morbidities was found in 139 (81.8%) subjects. Patients with PDR reported a significantly longer duration of diabetes mellitus with worse glycemic control. Conclusions: The study revealed and concluded that adherence to the prescribed management regimen is important, for which patient education was the key which was lacking.
Prognostic Significance of PD-L1 Expression In Patients With Primary Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis

Background At present, the prognostic significance of programmed cell death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) patients is still controversial. In this study, we aim to synthesize relevant studies that have assessed the prognostic value of PD-L1 in patients with primary OPSCC treated according to the current standard-of-care. Methods A systematic search of Medline/PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus was conducted to define the prognostic role of PD-L1 expression in OPSCC. All studies published before July 31, 2021 were screened. Summary hazard ratios (sHR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model. Results A total of 1522 OPSCC patients from 12 studies were included. PD-L1 expression in OPSCC tumor cells (TCs) was significantly associated with longer overall survival (sHR=0.63, 95% CI 0.50-0.79), and progression-free survival (sHR=0.62, 95% CI 0.49-0.79). A benefit in survival was also observed in PD-L1-positive OPSCC patients who underwent surgery (sHR=0.34, 95% CI 0.18-0.65). Finally, although PD-L1-positive expression was related to better outcomes both in HPV-negative and HPV-positive OPSCC, the difference reached the statistical significance only in the HPV-positive subgroup (sHR=0.37, 95% CI 0.19-0.73). No heterogeneity emerged between studies for all considered outcomes, with I 2 ranging from 0% for progression-free survival to 11% for overall survival. Conclusions PD-L1 expression on TCs associated with improved survival in OPSCC. In particular, HPV-positive OPSCC most benefited from PD-L1 expression when compared to the PD-L1 negative counterpart. Thus, PD-L1 might represent a useful biomarker to stratify prognosis in OPSCC in addition to HPV status.