LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Optimal acidulated phosphate fluoride gel etching time for surface treatment of feldspathic porcelain: on shear bond strength to resin composite

OBJECTIVES
This in vitro study evaluated the shear bond strength (SBS) of resin composite to feldspathic porcelain after acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) gel treatment over different periods of time.


METHODS
One hundred and fifty-six feldspathic specimens were divided into 12 groups. Group C received no treatment (control group). Groups APF1 through APF10, ten experimental groups, were treated with 1.23% APF gel. Each group obtained 1 to 10 minutes of etching time in 1 minute increments, respectively. Group HF2 was treated with 9.6% hydrofluoric acid (HF) for 2 minutes. All specimens were then bonded to a resin composite cylinder using Adper Scotchbond Multi-purpose (3M ESPE) after silane (Monobond-S, Ivoclar Vivadent AG) application. Specimens were stored at 37ºC for 24 hours before the SBS was performed and were recorded in MPa at fracture. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (α=.05).


RESULTS
HF etching yielded the highest SBS (18.0 ± 1.5 MPa), which was not significantly different from APF gel etching for 6 to 10 minutes (16.0 ± 2.1 to 17.2 ± 1.6 MPa) (P>.05).


CONCLUSIONS
APF gel etching for 6 minutes might be used as an alternative etchant to HF acid for bonding resin composite to silanized feldspathic porcelain.
Wood modification with alkoxysilanes

Wood was treated with three different alkoxysilanes which are able to undergo a sol–gel process: tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), methyl triethoxysilane (MTES) and propyl triethoxysilane (PTEO). Two types of treatments were compared: impregnation of fibre saturated wood with monomeric silane solutions, and impregnation with pre-hydrolysed partly oligomeric silanes. Wood properties such as cell wall bulking, anti-swelling efficiency (ASE), moisture uptake and durability were more significantly improved in samples treated with monomeric silanes than in samples treated with oligomeric silanes. SEM-EDX mapping showed that this treatment resulted in a higher degree of silicon incorporation into the cell wall, although the weight percent gain (WPG) was lower compared to the treatment with pre-hydrolysed partly oligomeric silanes. The resistance against soil micro-organisms was enhanced in the initial phase of incubation especially in those samples treated with organo-functional-alkoxysilanes. In miniaturised block tests with the white-rot basidiomycete Trametes versicolor, an improved durability was observed within the test period. During an air conditioning step, a weight loss of the treated samples occurred which was accompanied by a reduction in bulking and ASE. The initial reduction of moisture uptake observed after treatment diminished almost completely. This effect was explained by an ageing of the gels in the wood cell wall which is a consequence of uncompleted hydrolysis and condensation of the silanes during the treatment.
The Erasure of Ernest Mancoba: Africa and Europe at the Crossroads

Abstract Artist Ernest Mancoba has become, for many scholars, representative of the West’s neglect of Africa. Mancoba left his native South Africa for Paris in 1938 and later became a founding member of the European art movement CoBrA. Yet Mancoba’s relationship to CoBrA has been almost entirely erased from history. This article asks why Mancoba has been excluded from art historical texts on CoBrA, and explores three factors that may have resulted in his exclusion. First, this article argues that Mancoba was marginalised by CoBrA, whose founding ideology would have demanded that they view him as a ‘primitive’ Other. Second, it is likely that Mancoba sought to distinguish himself from the group in order to escape the colonial mentality that drove their artistic inspiration. Finally, the celebration of Mancoba as a pre‐eminent ‘South African artist’ has caused his work to be ghettoised, celebrated as uniquely ‘African’ but denied the possibility of being understood in dialogue not with other African art but...
Life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas emission benefits of lightweighting in automobiles: review and harmonization.

Replacing conventional materials (steel and iron) with lighter alternatives (e.g., aluminum, magnesium, and composites) decreases energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during vehicle use but may increase energy consumption and GHG emissions during vehicle production. There have been many life cycle assessment (LCA) studies on the benefits of vehicle lightweighting, but the wide variety of assumptions used makes it difficult to compare results from the studies. To clarify the benefits of vehicle lightweighting we have reviewed the available literature (43 studies). The GHG emissions and primary energy results from 33 studies that passed a screening process were harmonized using a common set of assumptions (lifetime distance traveled, fuel-mass coefficient, secondary weight reduction factor, fuel consumption allocation, recycling rate, and energy intensity of materials). After harmonization, all studies indicate that using aluminum, glass-fiber reinforced plastic, and high strength steel to replace conventional steel decreases the vehicle life cycle energy use and GHG emissions. Given the flexibility in options implied by the variety of materials available and consensus that these materials have substantial energy and emissions benefits, it seems likely that lightweighting will be used increasingly to improve fuel economy and reduce life cycle GHG emissions from vehicles.
Therapist empathy, combined behavioral intervention, and alcohol outcomes in the COMBINE research project.

OBJECTIVE
Common factors such as therapist empathy play an important role in treatment for addictive behaviors. The present study was a secondary analysis designed to evaluate the relation between therapist empathy and alcohol treatment outcomes in data from a large, multisite, randomized controlled trial.


METHOD
Audio-recorded psychotherapy sessions for 38 therapists and 700 clients had been randomly selected for fidelity coding from the combined behavioral intervention condition of Project COMBINE. Sessions were evaluated by objective raters for both specific content (coping with craving, building social skills, and managing negative mood) and relational components (empathy level of the therapist). Multilevel modeling with clients nested within therapists evaluated drinks per week at the end of treatment.


RESULTS
Approximately 11% of the variance in drinking was accounted for by therapists. A within-therapist effect of empathy was detected (B = -0.381, SE = 0.103, p < .001); more empathy than usual was associated with subsequent decreased drinking. The Social and Recreational Counseling module (B = -0.412, SE = 0.124, p < .001), Coping with Cravings and Urges module (B = -0.362, SE = 0.134, p < .01), and the Mood Management module (B = -0.403, SE = 0.138, p < .01) were also associated with decreased drinking. No between-therapist effect was detected, and the Empathy × Module Content interactions were not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study appear consistent with the hypothesis that skills building and therapist empathy are independent contributions to the overall benefit derived from the combined behavioral intervention.
Design and implementation of software to automate reuse in component-based system engineering

The goal of this thesis is to develop software under the SpecTRM software package for the partial automation of tasks associated with reusing SpecTRM-RL component models. The automation software is designed to aid the application of component-based system engineering in SpecTRM, mainly by reducing the amount of manual work necessary in setting up component models for simulation. My thesis will examine the properties of component models, and the common tasks associated with component-based system engineering, so as to identify areas where automation is possible, and then present the user interfaces and algorithms necessary to achieve automation. The automation software will be implemented in Java under the Eclipse platform, in order to be seamlessly integrated into the SpecTRM software package. Thesis Supervisor: Nancy G. Leveson Title: Professor
Self- and Peer Assessment in Massive Open Online Courses

Open online distance learning in higher education has quickly gained popularity, expanded, and evolved, with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as the most recent development. New web technologies allow for scalable ways to deliver video lecture content, implement social forums and track student progress in MOOCs. However, we remain limited in our ability to assess complex and open-ended student assignments. In this paper, we present a study on the quality of selfand peer assessments in three MOOCs. In general, the quality of self-assessments and peer assessments was low to moderate, suggesting that both self-assessment and peer assessment should be used as assessment for learning instead of assessment of learning. Based on low correlations with final exam grades and other assessment forms, we conclude that self-assessments might not be a valid way to assess students’ performance in MOOCs. Yet the weekly quizzes and peer assessment significantly explained differences in students’ final exam scores, with one of the weekly quizzes as the strongest predictor. Future research on MOOCs implies a reconceptualization of education variables, including the role of assessment of students’ achievements.
Identity-based key agreement protocol for mobile ad-hoc networks using bilinear pairing

As ad hoc wireless networks require less or no fixed infrastructure support, communications among nodes can be quickly and adaptively constructed. This property ensures that ad hoc wireless networks are especially suitable for communications in critical application such as military, emergency and rescue missions. In this paper, we design and evaluate a security framework for multilevel ad hoc wireless networks with unmanned aerial vehicles. Our design, based on identity-based public key infrastructure using bilinear pairing, consists of group key management architecture, static pair-wise communication, tripartite key agreement, and group key agreement. Compared to its counterparts, our design reduces the certificate validation process, improves computational efficiency and reduces storage requirement
Australia and New Zealand are soft theocracies

In trying to find an accurate way to describe the relationship between government and religion, I devised the term 'soft theocracy' and defined it as a 'state where church and government purposes coincide to garnishee taxpayers' money and resources, structurally through tax exemptions and functionally through grants and privileges'.
FIR approximations of inverse filters and perfect reconstruction filter banks

This paper first describes an algorithm that finds the approximate finite impulse response (FIR) inverse of an FIR filter by minimizing the inversion (or reconstruction) error constrained to zero-bias. The generalization of the inverse filtering problem in the two channel case is the design of perfect reconstruction filter banks that use critical sampling. These considerations lead to the derivation of an algorithm that provides a minimum error and unbiased FIR/FIR approximation of a perfect reconstruction IIR/FIR (or FIR/IIR) filter bank. The one-channel algorithm is illustrated with the design of an FIR filter to compute the B-spline coefficients for cubic spline signal interpolation. The two-channel algorithm is applied to the design of a FIR/FIR filter bank that implements the cubic B-spline wavelet transform. Finally, we consider a modification of this technique for the design of modulated-filter banks, which are better suited for subband coding. Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel beschreibt zunfichst einen Algorithmus, der n/iherungsweise die FIR-Inverse eines FIR-Filters durch Minimierung des Inversions-(oder Rekonstruktions-) Fehlers unter der Nebenbedingung eines verschwindenden mittleren Fehlers (Bias) findet. Die Verallgemeinerung des inversen Filterproblems im Zweikanal-Fall ist der Entwurf einer Filterbank mit perfekter Rekonstruktion, die kritische Abtastung ben/itzt. Diese Oberlegungen ftihren zur Ableitung eines Algorithmus, der einen minimalen Fehler und eine biasfreie FIR/FIR N/iherung einer perfekten IIR/FIR (oder FIR/IIR) Rekonstruktionsfilterbank liefert. Der Einkanal-Algorithmus wird mit dem Entwurf eines FIR-Filters veranschaulicht, um die B-Spline Koeffizienten fiir die kubische Spline-Signalinterpolation zu berechnen. Der Zweikanal-Algorithmus wird zum Entwurf einer FIR/FIR Filterbank, die die kubische B-Spline Wavelet-Transformation implementiert, angewendet. Zum SchluB wird eine Modifikation dieser Technik f/Jr den Entwurf von modulierten Filterb/inken betrachtet, die besser geeignet sind f/ir Teilband-Codierung. R~um~ Nous pr~sentons d'abord un algorithme qui calcule une approximation fi r~ponse impulsionnelle finie (FIR) de l'inverse d'un filtre FIR. Cette m6thode se base sur la minimisation de l'erreur de reconstruction sous la contrainte d'un biais nul. La grnrralisation du problrme d'inversion pour deux canaux est la synthrse de bancs de filtres ~t reconstruction parfaite. Ceci mrne 5. la description d'un algorithme pour la determination d'une approximation FIR/FIR aux moindres carrrs d'un banc de filtres IIR/FIR (ou FIR/IIR) h reconstruction parfaite. Le premier algorithme est illustr6 avec la synthrse d'un filtre FIR permettant le calcul directe des coefficients B-splines pour une interpolation du signal par splines cubiques. Le second algorithme est appliqu6 ~ la synthrse d'un banc de filtres FIR/FIR permettant le calcul rapide de la transformation d'ondelettes de type B-spline cubique. Finalement, …
Impact of treatment with oral calcitriol on glucose indices in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

INTRODUCTION
Type 2 diabetes is a major public health problem. Recent epidemiological evidence also points to a potential association of vitamin D insufficiency with adverse metabolic risks, including that for type 2 diabetes.


SUBJECTS AND METHOD
A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial was carried out. Seventy subjects with type 2 diabetes, age 30-75 years old, were randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to two groups. One group received two capsules of calcitriol (0.25 μg 1,25-dihydroxy cholecalciferol per each capsule) per day. The second group received placebo tablets. At the beginning, middle and the end of the 12 week supplementation trial, serum glucose, insulin, calcium and phosphorous, HbA1c and 25(OH) vitamin D were measured.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference between two groups at baseline. At the end of the study, fasting plasma glucose increased in the control group (p=0.038), while it remained unchanged in calcitriol group. Level of insulin and HbA1c increased significantly in both groups (p=0.013 and 0.0004 in treatment and control group). Regarding insulin resistance indices, there was a significant change in HOMA-IR and QUICKI in both groups (p=0.023 and 0.002 in treatment and 0.001 and <0.001 in control group respectively). Insulin secretion as assessed by HOMA-%β, remained relatively unchanged in the control group, while it increased significantly in the treatment group at the end of study (p=0.009).


CONCLUSION
Vitamin D supplementation attenuated the increase in glycemia, and increased insulin secretion, but had no effect on insulin resistance.
How Does Batch Normalization Help Optimization?

2018 How Does Batch Normalization Help Optimization? S. Santurkar*, D. Tsipras*, A. Ilyas*, & A. Mądry NIPS 2018 (Oral presentation) 2018 Adversarially Robust Generalization Requires More Data L. Schmidt, S. Santurkar, D. Tsipras, K. Talwar, & A. Mądry NIPS 2018 (Spotlight presentation) 2018 A Classification–Based Study of Covariate Shift in GAN Distributions S. Santurkar, L. Schmidt, & A. Mądry ICML 2018 2018 Generative Compression S. Santurkar, D. Budden, & N. Shavit PCS 2018 2017 Deep Tensor Convolution on Multicores D. Budden, A. Matveev, S. Santurkar, S. R. Chaudhuri, & N. Shavit ICML 2017
The validity of national hospital discharge register data on dementia: a comparative analysis using clinical data from a university medical centre.

BACKGROUND
Most information on the incidence and prognosis of dementia comes from small studies with limited precision and generalisability. Nationwide registers can be an alternative source of information, but only when the diagnosis is validly recorded. We assessed the validity of the Dutch Hospital Discharge Register (HDR).


METHODS
HDR data on dementia diagnoses (ICD-9 codes 290.0; 290.1; 290.3; 290.4; 294.1; 331.0; 331.1; 331.82) in a university medical centre in the Netherlands were collected. Diagnoses were verified by using hospital medical records. Positive predictive values (PPVs) were calculated. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate determinants of inaccuracy in discharge diagnoses.


RESULTS
A sample of the HDR data was used for this study (n = 340). PPV was 93.2% for overall dementia, indicating confirmation of 93.2% of HDR dementia diagnoses by the medical records. The accuracy of the diagnosis of overall dementia in patients aged ≥ 65 years was significantly higher compared with younger patients (PPV 95.5 % vs. 67.9%; p = 0.0001). There was no difference in the accuracy of the diagnosis between men and women and accuracy was not influenced by type of admission, comorbidity and polypharmacy.


CONCLUSION
The results of this study show a high validity of the diagnosis of overall dementia in the HDR, making this register of great value for further nationwide research on dementia.
Dermoscopy of solitary angiokeratomas: a morphological study.

OBJECTIVES
To describe the dermoscopic structures and patterns associated with solitary angiokeratomas and to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and reproducibility of these dermoscopic features.


DESIGN
Multicenter retrospective study.


SETTING
University hospitals in Spain, Italy, Argentina, New York City, and Austria.


PATIENTS
There were 256 patients total, and 32 specimens each of solitary angiokeratomas, melanocytic nevi, Spitz-Reed nevi, malignant melanomas, pigmented basal cell carcinomas, dermatofibromas, seborrheic keratoses, and other vascular lesions (19 angiomas, 7 pyogenic granulomas, 3 spider nevi, 2 lymphangiomas, and 1 venous lake) were consecutively collected from the laboratories of 8 hospitals. Diagnoses of all patients' lesions were confirmed histopathologically.


INTERVENTION
Dermoscopic examination.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The frequency, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, intraobserver agreement, and interobserver agreement of the different dermoscopic features associated with solitary angiokeratomas were calculated, and the differences were evaluated using the chi(2) or Fisher exact test.


RESULTS
Six dermoscopic structures were evident in at least 50% of the solitary angiokeratomas: dark lacunae (94%), whitish veil (91%), erythema (69%), peripheral erythema (53%), red lacunae (53%), and hemorrhagic crusts (53%). Dark lacunae exhibited a sensitivity of 93.8% and a specificity of 99.1% (P<.001 for both), not being found in malignant melanomas or pigmented basal cell carcinomas. The positive predictive value was 93.8%, and the negative predictive value was 99.1%. The intraobserver agreement was perfect (kappa, 1.00), and the interobserver agreement was excellent (kappa range, 0.83-1.00) (P<.001 for both). Pattern 1, consisting of dark lacunae and whitish veil, exhibited a sensitivity of 84.4% and a specificity of 99.1% and was not found in malignant melanomas or pigmented basal cell carcinomas. The positive predictive value was 93.1%, the negative predictive value was 97.8%, the intraobserver agreement was perfect (kappa, 1.00), and the interobserver agreement was excellent (kappa range, 0.83-1.00) (P<.001 for all). Conclusion Dermoscopy is helpful in improving the diagnostic accuracy of solitary angiokeratomas and allows the observer to differentiate them from other cutaneous tumors such as malignant melanomas and pigmented basal cell carcinomas.
Sympathetic Ink: Intertextual Relations in Northern Irish Poetry

Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction Part I 1. 'As If He's Swallowed a Dictionary': The Oblique Poetry of Paul Muldoon 2. Medbh McGuckian: A Threader of Double-Stranded Words Part II 3. 'Something A Little Nearer Home': The Intersection of Art and Politics 4. Writing in the Shit: The Northern Irish Poet and Authority 5. 'The Eye That Scanned It': The Art of Looking in Northern Irish Poetry 6. 'Roaming Root of Multiple Meanings': Irish Language and Identity Conclusion Select Bibliography Index
Sentence Processing: Linking Language to Motor Chains

A growing body of evidence in cognitive science and neuroscience points towards the existence of a deep interconnection between cognition, perception and action. According to this embodied perspective language is grounded in the sensorimotor system and language understanding is based on a mental simulation process (Jeannerod, 2007; Gallese, 2008; Barsalou, 2009). This means that during action words and sentence comprehension the same perception, action, and emotion mechanisms implied during interaction with objects are recruited. Among the neural underpinnings of this simulation process an important role is played by a sensorimotor matching system known as the mirror neuron system (Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004). Despite a growing number of studies, the precise dynamics underlying the relation between language and action are not yet well understood. In fact, experimental studies are not always coherent as some report that language processing interferes with action execution while others find facilitation. In this work we present a detailed neural network model capable of reproducing experimentally observed influences of the processing of action-related sentences on the execution of motor sequences. The proposed model is based on three main points. The first is that the processing of action-related sentences causes the resonance of motor and mirror neurons encoding the corresponding actions. The second is that there exists a varying degree of crosstalk between neuronal populations depending on whether they encode the same motor act, the same effector or the same action-goal. The third is the fact that neuronal populations' internal dynamics, which results from the combination of multiple processes taking place at different time scales, can facilitate or interfere with successive activations of the same or of partially overlapping pools.
Recensionernas retorik : Om könsroller i kulturjournalistiken

At the centre of this study lies the question if normative gender thinking affects the way poetry gets reviewed and how the reviews are written, this in relation to both the gender of the reviewer ...
Optimization of machining parameters in drilling hybrid aluminium metal matrix composites

Taguchi method with grey relational analysis was used to optimize the machining parameters with multiple performance characteristics in drilling hybrid metal matrix Al356/SiC-mica composites. Experiments were conducted on a computer numerical control vertical machining centre and L18 orthogonal array was chosen for the experiments. The drilling parameters namely spindle speed, feed rate, drill type and mass fraction of mica were optimized based on the multiple performance characteristics including thrust force, surface roughness, tool wear and burr height (exit). The results show that the feed rate and the type of drill are the most significant factors which affect the drilling process and the performance in the drilling process can be effectively improved by using this approach.