Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative study of rapid and conventional tooling for plastics injection molding

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the performance of injection molding inserts produced via rapid and conventional manufacturing techniques considering the mechanical and thermal performance of the tools as well as the resulting molded part quality. Design/methodology/approach Three insert materials and manufacturing techniques were evaluated, jetted photopolymer (PolyJet) 3D printing using digital ABS, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) using bronze and machining using stainless steel. Molding trials were performed, and the insert surface temperature, longevity and part properties were evaluated. Complementary information was acquired using computer simulation. Findings Similar behavior and part quality were observed in machined and DMLS inserts. The latter were used for 500 cycles without any signs of failure. PolyJet inserts had increased cycle time and slower rate of cooling which increased shrinkage and crystallinity in the molded parts. PolyJet inserts could be produced quickly at a lower cost than machined or DMLS inserts. Research limitations/implications Cooling within the insert was not studied; inserts were cooled indirectly by the mold plates behind them. Subsequent studies will incorporate cooling lines directly into the inserts. Originality/value Little research has been done to understand the thermal behavior of inserts manufactured via rapid tooling techniques. This study provides a direct comparison between rapid tooling techniques, which is supported by simulation results and analysis of the actual molding properties.
Activity of human hippocampal and amygdala neurons during retrieval of declarative memories

Episodic memories allow us to remember not only that we have seen an item before but also where and when we have seen it (context). Sometimes, we can confidently report that we have seen something (familiarity) but cannot recollect where or when it was seen. Thus, the two components of episodic recall, familiarity and recollection, can be behaviorally dissociated. It is not clear, however, whether these two components of memory are represented separately by distinct brain structures or different populations of neurons in a single anatomical structure. Here, we report that the spiking activity of single neurons in the human hippocampus and amygdala [the medial temporal lobe (MTL)] contain information about both components of memory. We analyzed a class of neurons that changed its firing rate to the second presentation of a previously novel stimulus. We found that the neuronal activity evoked by the presentation of a familiar stimulus (during retrieval) distinguishes stimuli that will be successfully recollected from stimuli that will not be recollected. Importantly, the ability to predict whether a stimulus is familiar is not influenced by whether the stimulus will later be recollected. We thus conclude that human MTL neurons contain information about both components of memory. These data support a continuous strength of memory model of MTL function: the stronger the neuronal response, the better the memory.
Habitat suitability modelling and niche theory

Summary 1. The concept of the ecological niche relates a set of environmental variables to the fitness of species, while habitat suitability models (HSMs) relate environmental variables to the likelihood of occurrence of the species. In spite of this relationship, the concepts are weakly linked in the literature, and there is a strong need for better integration. 2. We selectively reviewed the literature for habitat suitability studies that directly addressed four common facets of niche theory: niche characteristics, niche interactions, community-wide processes and niche evolution. 3. We found that HSMs have mostly contributed to the study of niche characteristics, but the three other themes are gaining impetus. We discuss three issues that emerge from these studies: (i) commonly used environmental variables and their link with ecological niches; (ii) the causes of false absences and false presences in species data, and associated issues; (iii) the three axes of model generalization (interpolation and extrapolation): environmental, spatial and temporal. Finally, we propose a list of 12 recommendations to strengthen the use of HSMs for wildlife management. 4. Synthesis and applications. This selective review provides conservation biologists with a list of pointers to key niche-theory concepts and a wide palette of related HSM studies. It also brings together frameworks that are often separated: theoretical and applied ecology studies; botany, zoology and parasitology; and different HSM frameworks, such as Resource Selection Functions, Species Distribution Modelling, Ecological Niche Modelling, and Gradient Analysis. We hope that integration of all these slices of knowledge will improve the quality and reliability of HSM predictions.
Hepatitis C virus related cirrhosis: time to occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma and death

BACKGROUND In patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and cirrhosis, long term outcome and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still debated. DESIGN From January 1987 to January 1997, 416 patients (240 male, median age 57 years) with uncomplicated Child-Pugh A HCV related cirrhosis were followed in two Paris area centres from diagnosis of cirrhosis until death or reference date (1 June 1998). The analysis used a three state disability model generalising the Cox model. RESULTS Of the 416 patients, 60 developed HCC with a five year rate of 13.4% (95% confidence interval (CI) 9.0–17.8%) and 83 died (including 34 with HCC), with a five year death rate of 15.3% (95% CI 12.6–18.0%). By multivariable analysis, time to HCC relied on age (hazard ratio (HR) 1.05 per year; p=0.0005), male sex (HR 2.13; p=0.01), oesophageal varices (HR 2.36; p= 0.008), decreased platelet count (HR 0.99; p=0.03), and bilirubin level (HR 1.01; p=0.003), while death after HCC was mainly related to tobacco consumption (HR 1.04; p=0.0006). In contrast, death free of HCC was dependent on age (HR 1.04; p=0.01), oesophageal varices (HR 2.75; p=0.001), low platelet count (HR 0.99; p=0.006), and albumin level (HR 0.90; p=0.0001). CONCLUSION The incidence of HCC and mortality should be higher in these patients than previously stated, and prognostic factors of HCC and death are closely related age and symptoms of portal hypertension.
Antimicrobial Effects of Four Intracanal Medicaments on Enterococcus Faecalis: An in Vitro Study

Introduction: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of four intracanal medicaments on Enterococcus Faecalis (E. Faecalis). Methods and Materials: Fifty extracted single-rooted human teeth were prepared with standard method. After contaminating the canals with E. Faecalis, the samples were divided into one control and four experimental groups (n=10). The teeth in each group were treated with one of the experimental medicaments, including calcium hydroxide (CH), 2% chlorhexidine gel (CHX), triple antibiotic paste (TAP) and nanosilver (NS). In control group, canals were filled with a neutral gel. Microbial samples were obtained from the roots after 7 days and optical density of the cultures was determined after 24 h of incubation. Optical density values were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc tests. Results: CHX gel and TAP were significantly more effective against E. Faecalis than CH, which was also significantly more efficient than NS and normal saline. In the paper cone samples, CHX gel was more effective than TAP; however, samples obtained with sizes 2 and 4 Gate Glidden drills, indicated that TAP was much more efficient than CHX. Normal saline and NS had similar effects on E. Faecalis. Conclusion: NS gel was not efficient enough against E. Faecalis; however, TAP and CHX gel showed better antibacterial efficacy than CH and can be used as an alternative intracanal medicaments in root canal therapies.
Vibration-assisted Compaction of Biomass

The biomass extrusion process for making biomass briquettes or logs normally requires large amounts of energy to overcome the springback of the material and friction with the die surface. Also, the products readily expand and disintegrate because of the retention of internal stresses. In this study, tests on vibration-assisted compaction of biomass were performed as a method to reduce the energy requirement and to improve product quality. An experimental set-up was designed and manufactured by which vibration-assisted compaction was exerted on a die surface. Tests on compaction to form upgraded biomass logs with and without the assistance of vibration were conducted and compared. The results showed that the vibration applied on a die surface can reduce the compression energy requirements and improve product quality.
Framework for community functioning: synthesis of stress gradient and resource partitioning concepts

To understand how communities function and generate abundance, I develop a framework integrating elements from the stress gradient and resource partitioning concepts. The framework suggests that guild abundance depends on environmental and spatial factors but also on inter-guild interactions (competitor or facilitator richness), which can alter the fundamental niche of constituent species in negative (competition) or positive direction (facilitation). Consequently, the environmental and spatial mechanisms driving guild abundance would differ across guilds and interaction modes. Using continental data on stream diatoms and physico-chemistry, the roles of these mechanisms were tested under three interaction modes—shared preference, distinct preference, and facilitative, whereby pairs of guilds exhibited, respectively, a dominance-tolerance tradeoff along a eutrophication gradient, specialization along a pH gradient, or a donor-recipient relationship along a nitrogen gradient. Representative of the shared preference mode were the motile (dominant) and low profile (tolerant) guilds, of the distinct preference mode—the acidophilous and alkaliphilous (low profile) guilds, and of the facilitative mode—nitrogen fixers (donors) and motile species (recipients). In each mode, the influences of environment, space (latitude and longitude), and competitor or facilitator richness on guild density were assessed by variance partitioning. Pure environment constrained most strongly the density of the dominant, the acidophilous, and the recipient guild in the shared preference, distinct preference, and facilitative mode, respectively, while spatial effects were important only for the low profile guild. Higher competitor richness was associated with lower density of the tolerant guild in the shared preference mode, both guilds in the distinct preference mode, and the donor guild in the facilitative mode. Conversely, recipient density in the facilitative mode increased with donor richness in stressful nitrogen-poor environments. Thus, diatom guild abundance patterns were determined primarily by biotic and/or environmental impacts and, with the exception of the low profile guild, were insensitive to spatial effects. This framework identifies major sources of variability in diatom guild abundance with implications for the understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning.
The Dark Recovery Rate in the Photocycle of the Bacterial Photoreceptor YtvA Is Affected by the Cellular Environment and by Hydration

We report thermal recovery kinetics of the lit state into the parental dark state, measured for the blue light-sensing photoreceptor YtvA inside overexpressing E. coli and B. subtilis bacterial cells, performed for the wild type and several mutated proteins. Recovery was followed as a recovery of the fluorescence, as this property is only found for the parental but not for the photochemically generated lit state. When cells were deposited onto a microscope glass plate, the observed thermal recovery rate in the photocycle was found ca. ten times faster in comparison to purified YtvA in solution. When the E. coli or B. subtilis colonies were soaked in an isotonic buffer, the dark relaxation became again much slower and was very similar to that observed for YtvA in solution. The observed effects show that rate constants can be tuned by the cellular environment through factors such as hydration.
A study on the nonlinear stability of orthotropic single-layered graphene sheet based on nonlocal elasticity theory

Recently, graphene sheets have shown significant potential for environmental engineering applications such as wastewater treatment. In the present work, the posbuckling response of orthotropic single-layered graphene sheet (SLGS) is investigated in a closed-form analytical manner using the nonlocal theory of Eringen. Two opposite edges of the plate are subjected to normal stresses. The nonlocality and geometric nonlinearity are taken into consideration, which arises from the nanosized effects and mid-plane stretching, respectively. Nonlinear governing differential equations (nonlocal compatibility and equilibrium equations) are derived and presented for the aforementioned study. Galerkin method is used to solve the governing equations for simply supported boundary conditions. It is shown that the nonlocal effect plays a significant role in the nonlinear stability behavior of orthotropic nanoplates. Unlike first and second postbuckling modes, nonlocal effects decrease with the increase of lateral deflection at higher postbuckling modes. It is also observed that the nonlocality and nonlinearity is more pronounced for higher postbuckling modes.
Search for a Category Target in Clutter

An airport security worker searching a suitcase for a weapon is engaging in an especially difficult search task: the target is not well-specified, it is not salient, and it is not predicted by its context. Under these conditions, search may proceed item-by-item. In the experiment reported here we tested whether the items for this form of search are whole familiar objects. Our displays were composed of color photographs of ordinary objects, that were either uniform in color and texture (simple), or had two or more parts with different colors or textures (compound). The observer's task was to detect the presence of a target belonging to a broad category (food). We found that when the objects were presented in a sparse array, search times to find the target were similar for displays composed of simple and compound objects. But when the same objects were presented as dense clutter, search functions were steeper for displays composed of compound objects. We attribute this difference to the difficulty of segmenting compound objects in clutter: compared with simple objects, compound objects are less likely to be organized into a single object by bottom-up grouping processes. Our results indicate that while search rates in a sparse display may be determined by the number of objects, search rates in clutter are also affected by the number of object parts.
Misperception of tiredness in young adults with insomnia

People with insomnia often exhibit interpretive biases to cues associated with their condition. This study examined whether individuals with insomnia display an interpretive bias, such that they misperceive facial attributes of tiredness in a disorder‐consistent manner. The efficacy of providing feedback related to the accuracy of participants’ perception on later judgements of tiredness was further examined. Forty participants, 20 with DSM‐5‐defined insomnia disorder and 20 normal‐sleepers, participated. The perception of one's own facial appearance of tiredness was assessed twice over two consecutive days using a visual task whereby participants indicated when a morphing image of their face represented their current level of tiredness. Visual and verbal feedback, related to participants’ degree of misperception, was provided on completion of Day 1 testing. Overall, individuals with insomnia perceived their own face as significantly more tired than a baseline neutral photograph was, whereas normal‐sleepers perceived themselves as appearing more alert. This pattern of results was only apparent on Day 1. Although no group × day interaction was established, mean scores suggest an improvement in perception on Day 2 amongst individuals with insomnia only. These findings suggest that individuals with insomnia exhibit a misperception of their facial attributes of tiredness, interpreting them in a disorder‐consistent manner. This finding adds to the body of literature on cognitive models of insomnia, demonstrating more general cognitive biases in the disorder. Further, the results provide suggestive evidence that this misperception may be reformed.
A TorPath to TorCoin: Proof-of-Bandwidth Altcoins for Compensating Relays

Abstract : The Tor network relies on volunteer relay operators for relay bandwidth, which may limit its growth and scaling potential. We propose an incentive scheme for Tor relying on two novel concepts. We introduce TorCoin, an altcoin that uses the Bitcoin protocol to reward relays for contributing bandwidth. Relays mine TorCoins, then sell them for cash on any existing altcoin exchange. To verify that a given TorCoin represents actual bandwidth transferred, we introduce TorPath a decentralized protocol for forming Tor circuits such that each circuit is privately-addressable but publicly veriable. Each circuit's participants may then collectively mine a limited number of TorCoins, in proportion to the end-to-end transmission goodput they measure on that circuit.
Modeling full-length video using Markov-modulated gamma-based framework

Video traffic is expected to be the major source for broadband integrated services digital networks (B-ISDN). In this paper we propose two FSM that generate frame sizes for full-length VBR videos preserving both GOP-periodicity and size-based video-segment transitions. First, two-pass algorithms for analysis of full-length VBR videos are presented. After two-pass analysis these algorithms identify and partition (size-based) classes of video segments. Frames in each segment class produce three datasets one each for I-, B-, and P-type frame. Each of these data-sets is modeled with an axis shifted gamma distribution Markov renewal processes model (size-based) video segment transitions. We have used QQ plots to show visual similarity of model-generated VBR video data-sets with original dataset. A leaky-bucket simulation study is used to show similarity of data and frame loss rates between model-generated VBR videos and original video. Our study of frame-based VBR video revealed even a low data loss rate could affect a large fraction of I frames causing a significant degradation of the quality of transmitted video.
Dual Execution for On the Fly Fine Grained Execution Comparison

Execution comparison has many applications in debugging, malware analysis, software feature identification, and intrusion detection. Existing comparison techniques have various limitations. Some can only compare at the system event level and require executions to take the same input. Some require storing instruction traces that are very space-consuming and have difficulty dealing with non-determinism. In this paper, we propose a novel dual execution technique that allows on-the-fly comparison at the instruction level. Only differences between the executions are recorded. It allows executions to proceed in a coupled mode such that they share the same input sequence with the same timing, reducing nondeterminism. It also allows them to proceed in a decoupled mode such that the user can interact with each one differently. Decoupled executions can be recoupled to share the same future inputs and facilitate further comparison. We have implemented a prototype and applied it to identifying functional components for reuse, comparative debugging with new GDB primitives, and understanding real world regression failures. Our results show that dual execution is a critical enabling technique for execution comparison.
Detection of respiratory syncytial virus in nasopharyngeal secretions by ELISA: Comparison with fluorescent antibody technique

Samples of nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) obtained from 140 infants and children with acute respiratory disease were examined for the presence of respiratory syncytial (RS) virus by ELISA. An antiserum produced in rabbits against RS‐virus polypeptides was used both as the “capture” antibody and as conjugate in a double‐antibody sandwich technique. RS virus was detected by ELISA in specimens of NPS obtained from 72 (51%) of the patients. By comparison RS virus was shown to be present in 86 (61%) of the patients when the immunofluorescent antibody (IF) technique was employed. Samples obtained from 78 of the 140 patients were also examined by inoculation into tissue cultures, and RS‐virus was isolated from 47 patients. RS virus was detected by ELISA in 37 (79%) and by IF technique in 43 (91%) of these 47 patients. The IF technique was found to be more sensitive than ELISA, especially in patients older than 9 months and for the examination of specimens of NPS containing only a small percentage of RS‐virus antigen‐positive cells.
Estrogen replacement therapy in the treatment of major depressive disorder in perimenopausal women.

BACKGROUND Increased vulnerability to mood disorders has been reported during perimenopause. Fluctuating estrogen levels accompany the perimenopausal transition. Thus, estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) has been proposed as a potentially effective treatment for mood disorders occurring during perimenopause. METHOD We examined the efficacy of ERT in the treatment of depression in 16 perimenopausal women with DSM-IV-defined major depressive disorder who were participating in the Mood Disorders Research Program at the Department of Psychiatry of the University of California, Los Angeles. Ten antidepressant- and ERT-naive women received ERT alone. Six women who were nonresponders or partial responders to an antidepressant received ERT in addition to existing treatment with fluoxetine. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) was administered to all patients at baseline and weekly thereafter during the 8-week open-protocol trial. Partial response was operationalized as a final HAM-D score < or = 50% of the baseline score. Remission was defined as a final HAM-D score < or = 7. RESULTS All patients exhibited clinical improvement as measured by HAM-D scores after the first week of treatment. Of the 10 perimenopausal depressed women receiving ERT alone, 6 remitted, 3 partially responded to treatment, and 1 did not respond by the end of the trial. Of the 6 women receiving antidepressant treatment with ERT, 1 patient remitted and 5 had a partial response by the end of the trial. CONCLUSION This small study suggests that for some antidepressant-naive perimenopausal women with clinical depression, ERT may have antidepressant efficacy. In depressed women who have minimal response to a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, ERT may augment response. Further controlled trials are needed.