Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECTS OF CEMENT AND CEMENT KILN DUST AS A FILLER ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COLD BITUMINOUS EMULSION MIXTURES

The application of cold mixes is lagging behind in the research field, which is quite obvious in a developing country. Furthermore, cold mixes have more economic and environmental advantages than hot mixes. This is the principal motivation for the present research, which aims to improve the mechanical properties of cold mix asphalt. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and cement kiln dust (CKD) were used as filler in cold bituminous emulsion mixtures (CBEMs) to compare the obtained results with those for CBEMs with conventional limestone. Indirect Tensile Stiffness Modulus (ITSM), fatigue, and resistance to rutting tests were used in the comparison. The experimental results showed that CBEMs with CKD and OPC had comparative mechanical properties to CBEMs with limestone and hot mix asphalt of the same grading and materials. Thus, this research introduces a new cold mix with CKD or OPC, which is able to meet more than the mechanical characteristics’ requirements, reduce costs, and provide environmental benefits.
Overnesia : an Overlay Network for Virtual Super-Peers

Unstructured P2P networks have been widely used to implement resource location systems that support complex queries semantics. Unfortunately these systems usually rely on blind search algorithms, based on flooding, which generate a significant amount of duplicate messages. An effective way to minimize the cost of query flooding in unstructured P2P networks is the use of super-peers. On the other hand, overloads or unavailability of super-peers have clearly a critical impact on the connectivity of the overlay. These issues may be addressed using the replication of super-peers, for both load balancing and fault-tolerance purposes. This paper proposes a novel algorithm to construct Overnesia, an overlay network connecting replicated super-peers. The paper also proposes techniques to perform query routing based on the unique properties of that overlay, in such a way that query processing load is distributed among replicas.
Severe asthma: definition and mechanisms

The severe asthmatic is easily recognized, but creating an all-encompassing definition of asthma severity has been difficult. Attempts at such definition must acknowledge the impacts of the disease in terms of symptom burden and functional impairment, of which the three key contributors are symptom frequency, impairment of lung function, and treatment requirement for control of asthma symptoms (1). More recently, quality-of-life measures and markers of socio-economic burden, together with noninvasive inflammatory markers, have emerged as additional potential parameters for inclusion. However, the selection, quantitation, method, and timing of application of severity measures remains arbitrary, and there is also a lack of consistency between severity measures established for national and international asthma management guidelines (2–6). The aim of asthma treatment must also be formalized in order to establish realizable and definable outcomes for physicians and patients, so that the physician may clearly define treatment intention. The goals of asthma treatment may be simply stated as the control of asthma symptoms and lung function, with the prevention or minimization of symptoms and exacerbations, and the normalization or maximization of lung function. Surveys of asthma treatment would suggest that these goals are achievable in 80% of asthmatics when treated appropriately. Thus, asthma severity has been considered as the degree to which symptoms and lung function are perturbed and/or the amount of treatment required to control the disease.
Counting Independent Sets Using the Bethe Approximation

We consider the #P-complete problem of counting the number of independent sets in a given graph. Our interest is in understanding the effectiveness of the popular belief propagation (BP) heuristic. BP is a simple iterative algorithm that is known to have at least one fixed point, where each fixed point corresponds to a stationary point of the Bethe free energy (introduced by Yedidia, Freeman, and Weiss [IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, 51 (2004), pp. 2282–2312] in recognition of Bethe’s earlier work in 1935). The evaluation of the Bethe free energy at such a stationary point (or BP fixed point) leads to the Bethe approximation for the number of independent sets of the given graph. BP is not known to converge in general, nor is an efficient, convergent procedure for finding stationary points of the Bethe free energy known. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the Bethe approximation is not well understood. As the first result of this paper we propose a BP-like algorithm that always converges to a stationary point of the Bethe free energy for any graph for the independent set problem. This procedure finds an e-approximate stationary point in O(n^2d^42^de^(-4)log^3(ne^(-1))) iterations for a graph of n nodes with max-degree d. We study the quality of the resulting Bethe approximation using the recently developed “loop series” framework of Chertkov and Chernyak [J. Stat. Mech. Theory Exp. , 6 (2006), P06009]. As this characterization is applicable only for exact stationary points of the Bethe free energy, we provide a slightly modified characterization that holds for e-approximate stationary points. We establish that for any graph on n nodes with max-degree d and girth larger than 8d log^2 n, the multiplicative error between the number of independent sets and the Bethe approximation decays as 1+O(n^(−γ)) for some γ>0. This provides a deterministic counting algorithm that leads to strictly different results compared to a recent result of Weitz [in Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, ACM Press, New York, 2006, pp. 140–149]. Finally, as a consequence of our analysis we prove that the Bethe approximation is exceedingly good for a random 3-regular graph conditioned on the shortest cycle cover conjecture of Alon and Tarsi [SIAM J. Algebr. Discrete Methods, 6 (1985), pp. 345–350] being true.
Knee osteoarthritis after meniscectomy: prevalence of radiographic changes after twenty-one years, compared with matched controls.

OBJECTIVE To study the long-term outcome of surgical removal of a meniscus in the knee with regard to radiographic signs of osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS Of the 123 patients who underwent an open meniscectomy due to an isolated meniscus tear in 1973 at Lund University Hospital, 107 were followed up 21 years later by clinical examination and by review of knee radiographs obtained with weight bearing. Seventy-nine of the 107 patients were men, and the mean age of the total study group at examination was 55 years (range 35-77). Sixty-eight sex- and age-matched individuals with healthy knees served as controls. RESULTS Mild radiographic changes were found in 76 (71%) of the knees, while more advanced changes, comparable with a Kellgren-Lawrence grade of 2 or higher, were seen in 51 (48%). The corresponding prevalence values in the control group were 12 (18%) and 5 (7%), respectively. The relative risk for the presence of the more advanced radiographic changes representing definite radiographic tibiofemoral OA was 14.0 (95% confidence interval 3.5-121.2), using age- and sex-matched pairs for comparison. No correlation with sex, localization to compartment, type of meniscus tear, or work load was found. Knee symptoms were reported twice as often in the study group as in the controls. CONCLUSION Surgical removal of a meniscus following knee injury represents a significant risk factor for radiographic tibiofemoral OA, with a relative risk of 14.0 after 21 years.
Early Onset Adenovirus Infection after Simultaneous Kidney–Pancreas Transplant

Adenoviruses (AdV) are increasingly recognized as important viral pathogens in immunocompromised hosts. The clinical spectrum ranges from asymptomatic viremia to allograft dysfunction, and death. Most of the medical literature is on AdV infection in children and bone marrow transplant recipients. We report a case of AdV in an adult recipient in the first month after simultaneous kidney–pancreas transplant with thymoglobulin induction. This is a rare report of adenovirus infection after multiorgan transplant, and is unique in that it exhibited tissue invasive disease without any localizing signs or allograft dysfunction, while other cases in medical literature had invasive disease of the allograft with allograft dysfunction, failure, or death. In addition, this is the first report of a radiologic presentation of AdV nephritis.
Spinal Cord Sarcoidosis Accompanied with Compressive Cervical Myelopathy

Spinal cord Sarcoidosis was first described by Longcope in 1941 (Longcope, 1941), and since then, spinal cord involvement has been reported in less than 10% of patients with neurosarcoidosis (Bogousslavsky et al., 1982, Fried et al., 1993) Spinal cord sarcoidosis is a chronic, granulomatous, systemic inflammatory disease, although precise understanding of the pathogenesis remains unclear, and most commonly occurs at the cervical level, presenting with subacute or chronic myelopathy frequently progressing to paraplegia (Sauter et al., 1991, Morita et al., 1992). The mainstay of treatment of spinal cord sarcoidosis is high-dose corticosteroid therapy, and surgery is undertaken when suggested by biopsy results and histopathological diagnosis (Jallo et al., 1997). However, since the lower middle cervical segments are more frequently affected (Nagai et al., 1985), it is difficult to differentiate cervical spinal cord sarcoidosis from cervical spondylotic myelopathy when gradually occurring in elderly patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings with high signal intensity on T2 weighted images and vagueness of diffuse enlargement of the spinal cord due to spinal canal stenosis often leads to the surgeons to diagnose spinal cord sarcoidosis only after decompressive surgery has been performed for compressive cervical myelopathy. More than 80 cases of spinal cord sarcoidosis have been reported, most of which were studied using MRI (Kanzaki et al., 2004). There are no papers on the coexistence of compressive cervical myelopathy and cervical spinal cord sarcoidosis, and it is uncertain not only whether compressive cervical myelopathy triggers the development of inflammatory granuloma in spinal cord sarcoidosis but also the effect of decompressive surgery. In this chapter, the outcome of decompressive surgery performed for cervical spinal cord sarcoidosis accompanied with compressive cervical myelopathy and the effect of steroid therapy provided after decompressive surgery is expressed, comparing the outcome of the treatment of spinal cord sarcoidosis with no compressive cervical myelopathy shown by MRI.
External validation of a novel transthoracic echocardiographic tool in predicting left atrial appendage thrombus formation in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND A recent study demonstrated that in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), a ratio of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) to the left atrial volume index (LAVI) of <1.5 has 100% sensitivity for detecting left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombus. We sought to validate this prediction tool in an external cohort. METHODS We conducted a cohort study of consecutive AF patients who underwent transoesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) to 'rule-out' LAA thrombus and had a prior transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). The LAVI and LVEF were measured to calculate LVEF/LAVI ratio. The sensitivity and specificity of LVEF/LAVI <1.5 were calculated. RESULTS Among 215 subjects, 19 (8.8%) had LAA thrombus and also had a higher mean CHADS2 score (2.5 vs. 1.9, P = 0.04), lower mean LVEF (24 vs. 44%, P < 0.001), higher mean LAVI (44 mL/m2 vs. 30 mL/m2, P < 0.001), and higher prevalence of cardiac failure (79 vs. 52%, P = 0.02). The LVEF and LAVI were found to be independent predictors of LAA thrombus (P < 0.05). The LVEF/LAVI ratio diagnosed LAA thrombus with an area under the curve = 0.83 by the receiver operator characteristics curve analysis (P < 0.001). All 19 (100%) subjects with LAA thrombus had LVEF/LAVI <1.5 vs. 87 (44%) among those without LAA thrombus (P < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of LVEF/LAVI <1.5 were 100 and 55.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION This investigation validates a simple TTE prediction rule to exclude the diagnosis of LAA thrombus, which may obviate the need for pre-cardioversion TEE in selected patients with nonvalvular AF.
Intercellular adhesive selectivity. II. Properties of embryonic chick liver cell-cell adhesion

Studies directed at understanding the molecular basis of liver cell homotypic adhesion are presented. An assay which measures the rate of adhesion of isotopically labeled (32PO4) embryonic chick liver cells to liver cell aggregates, described in a companion paper, has been used to investigate the problem of intercellular adhesive selectivity. Cation requirements, the effects of various inhibitors of metabolism and protein synthesis, of chelators (EDTA and EGTA), and the effects of temperature on liver cell adhesion are reported. Two mechanisms of inhibition of liver intercellular adhesion are suggested. One involves destruction of cell-surface adhesion receptors (sensitivity to proteases); the other is an energy-dependent step which may involve alterations in plasma membrane conformation and/or membrane fluidity. Finally, a model is suggested for liver cell-cell adhesion that incorporates the early tissue selectivity of intercellular adhesion previously reported, followed by a multistep process which leads to histogenic aggregation.
Sodium and calcium currents in dispersed mammalian septal neurons

Voltage-gated Na+ and Ca2+ conductances of freshly dissociated septal neurons were studied in the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. All cells exhibited a large Na+ current with characteristic fast activation and inactivation time courses. Half-time to peak current at -20 mV was 0.44 +/- 0.18 ms and maximal activation of Na+ conductance occurred at 0 mV or more positive membrane potentials. The average value was 91 +/- 32 nS (approximately 11 mS cm-2). At all membrane voltages inactivation was well fitted by a single exponential that had a time constant of 0.44 +/- 0.09 ms at 0 mV. Recovery from inactivation was complete in approximately 900 ms at -80 mV but in only 50 ms at -120 mV. The decay of Na+ tail currents had a single time constant that at -80 mV was faster than 100 microseconds. Depolarization of septal neurons also elicited a Ca2+ current that peaked in approximately 6-8 ms. Maximal peak Ca2+ current was obtained at 20 mV, and with 10 mM external Ca2+ the amplitude was 0.35 +/- 0.22 nA. During a maintained depolarization this current partially inactivated in the course of 200-300 ms. The Ca2+ current was due to the activity of two types of conductances with different deactivation kinetics. At -80 mV the closing time constants of slow (SD) and fast (FD) deactivating channels were, respectively, 1.99 +/- 0.2 and 0.11 +/- 0.03 ms (25 degrees C). The two kinds of channels also differed in their activation voltage, inactivation time course, slope of the conductance-voltage curve, and resistance to intracellular dialysis. The proportion of SD and FD channels varied from cell to cell, which may explain the differential electrophysiological responses of intracellularly recorded septal neurons.
A Dominant, Recombination-Defective Allele of Dmc1 Causing Male-Specific Sterility

DMC1 is a meiosis-specific homolog of bacterial RecA and eukaryotic RAD51 that can catalyze homologous DNA strand invasion and D-loop formation in vitro. DMC1-deficient mice and yeast are sterile due to defective meiotic recombination and chromosome synapsis. The authors identified a male dominant sterile allele of Dmc1, Dmc1Mei11, encoding a missense mutation in the L2 DNA binding domain that abolishes strand invasion activity. Meiosis in male heterozygotes arrests in pachynema, characterized by incomplete chromosome synapsis and no crossing-over. Young heterozygous females have normal litter sizes despite having a decreased oocyte pool, a high incidence of meiosis I abnormalities, and susceptibility to premature ovarian failure. Dmc1Mei11 exposes a sex difference in recombination in that a significant portion of female oocytes can compensate for DMC1 deficiency to undergo crossing-over and complete gametogenesis. Importantly, these data demonstrate that dominant alleles of meiosis genes can arise and propagate in populations, causing infertility and other reproductive consequences due to meiotic prophase I defects.
Children's understanding of the relation between delayed video representation and current reality: a test for self-awareness?

This study investigated whether children's ability to recognize themselves in delayed video feedback indicates changes in self-awareness (Povinelli, Landau, & Perilloux, 1996, Child Development, 67, 1540-1554). Children were presented with 3-min-old videos of themselves to test whether they would investigate the current state of affairs upon seeing a surprising element in the video. In one condition, a sticker had been covertly placed into the child's hair, and in another an object had been hidden in a box. Both conditions proved equally difficult and performance correlated. Four-year-olds performed better than 3-year-olds, and children who failed the tasks retrieved the "surprise" item when presented with a mirror. There was no evidence to suggest that children's difficulties were due to immature metarepresentational thinking, lack of experience, problems with the questions, or problems appreciating the correspondence between image and referent. Yet, the parallel results in both conditions and the likelihood of false positives and false negatives indicate that the video test in its present form may not be a valid measure of differences in self-awareness.
Prevalence, natural course and predictors of depression 1 year following traumatic brain injury from a population-based study in New Zealand

Abstract Objective: Depression is common post-TBI, yet has not been studied longitudinally, nor at a population level. This study examined prevalence of depression in a population-based sample across the first year post-TBI. Design and methods: Prospective follow-up of 315 adults (>16 years) with assessments (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, DSM-IV criteria) at 1-, 6- and 12-months post-TBI. Demographic and injury-related predictors of depression at 1-year post-TBI were also explored. Results: The number of individuals identified as depressed reduced significantly between baseline and 12-months post-TBI from 21–12.4% using the HADS and 49–34% using DSM-IV criteria; with only 10 of the 28 individuals initially meeting criteria on the HADS continuing to do so at 12-month follow-up. Meeting HADS depression criteria was linked to pre-morbid depression and/or anxiety; while those meeting DSM-IV criteria were older, but not significantly so. Conclusions: The findings suggest depression is common post-TBI and that clinicians/researchers use caution in its diagnosis, as existing criteria have significant overlap with common TBI sequels.
Restriction Endonuclease DNA Analysis of Leptospira interrogans Serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae and Copenhageni

Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae strains Ictero No. I and RGA and serovar copenhageni strains M20, Shiromizu and Shibaura were examined by restriction endonuclease DNA analysis. Fifteen endonucleases (AluI, BamHI, BglII, EcoRI, HaeIII, HhaI, HindIII, KpnI, PstI, SacI, SalI, SmaI, StyI, XbaI and XhoI) were used as the digesting enzymes.
Natal and neonatal teeth among cleft lip and palate infants

Objective: Natal/neonatal teeth are reported to be more common among clefts and congenital anomalies. Data exclusively among clefts is sparse. The aim was to evaluate prevalence of natal teeth among cleft lip and palate neonates and review the causes, presentation, associated anomalies, complications and management. Materials and Methods: Out of 641operated patients, records of 151 infants with cleft lip and palate with less than three months of age presented to the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery from 2005 to 2011 were reviewed. Out of which 107 were unilateral complete lip and palate (ULCP), 15 bilateral cleft lip and isolated cleft palate constituted 29. Results: Three patients among the studied records showed neonatal teeth. Two had paired central mandibular incisor teeth along with associated other anomalies and one had a single maxillary neonatal tooth. All were present in unilateral cleft lip and none of the bilateral or isolated cleft palate infants showed neonatal teeth. The overall incidence of neonatal teeth was 1.98% and 2.8% in unilateral Cleft lip. Conclusion: Our study supports the incidence of 2% natal teeth among UCLP. Involvement of mandibular central incisors in contrast to the notion that maxillary alveolus is more commonly affected suggest that it is not only the anatomical disturbance but also all those possible common multifactorial etiological factors contributing to the congenital anomalies as such. Natal/neonatal teeth are rather under-diagnosed and reported than a rare phenomenon and the prevalence is higher in certain population. Riga-Fede disease unlikely to be seen in clefts with neonatal teeth due to anatomical factors. The extraction of non mobile tooth if necessary can be done during the primary surgery for the cleft lip.
100 GBd Intensity Modulation and Direct Detection With an InP-Based Monolithic DFB Laser Mach–Zehnder Modulator

We demonstrate 100 GBd operation of an optical transmitter module including a distributed feedback laser monolithically integrated with a Mach–Zehnder modulator (DFB-MZM), to the best of our knowledge for the first time. Combining high-speed optics and electronics with digital signal processing (DSP), different schemes for intensity modulation and direct detection at 100, 200, and 300 Gbit/s are analyzed, using electrical signals from a 100 GSa/s BiCMOS DAC. Due to close-to-zero transmitter chirp, 100 Gbit/s NRZ transmission over 1.8 km and 200 Gbit/s PAM4 transmission over 1.2 km at 1550 nm with a bit error rate (BER) below the 7% overhead forward error correction (FEC) threshold (3.8 × 10<sup>−3</sup>) is achieved. At 200 Gbit/s PAM4, the DFB-MZM module consumes only 0.85 pJ/bit, making it a promising device for attractive dual-lane 400 Gbit/s systems. We also achieve 300 Gbit/s PAM8 transmission over 1.2 km with a BER below the 20% overhead FEC threshold (1.9 × 10<sup>−2</sup>) by implementing advanced DSP based on a pattern-dependent lookup table to mitigate the electrical and optical device bandwidth limitations.
Thermal optimization of composite autoclave molds using the shift factor approach for boundary condition estimation

Thermal optimization of autoclave molds is essential to increase part quality, reduce manufacturing costs and increase autoclave capacity. Previous experience-based tooling designs allowed an optimization only after the mold was manufactured and tested. Manufacturing process simulation provides the capability for virtual tooling optimization within the design phase. Thereby, the range of possible optimizations increases and the tooling cost decreases. In order to use manufacturing process simulation efficiently, fast but accurate simulation methods must be available. The so-called shift factor approach was previously presented by the authors. This paper takes up the given approach and explains different influences on mold heat-up and how they can be covered in a thermal tooling simulation on an industrial scale. Proof of the simulation accuracy under realistic manufacturing conditions is provided together with an example of its application.