Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observed and Predicted Response of Piles Under Dynamic Loads

Vibration tests were conducted on a single pile 450 mm diameter and driven to a depth of 17 m. The dynamic soil properties were also determined by conducting in-situ tests. The response of the pile was calculated using the commonly used approach of Novak (1974, 1977), Novak and El-Sharnouby (1983). The soil-pile stiffness parameters based on strain dependent values of shear modulus were used in the computations, and a comparison with the observed data was made. For the case of single piles and pile groups the available information on their observed and predicted response has also been presented.
Using speculation to reduce server load and service time on the WWW

Abstract Speculative service implies that a client''s request for a document is serviced by sending, in addition to the document requested, a number of other documents that the server speculates will be requested by the client in the near future. This speculation is based on statistical information that the server maintains for each document it serves. The notion of speculative service is analogous to prefetching, which is used to improve cache performance in distributed/parallel shared memory systems, with the exception that servers (not clients) control when and what to prefetch. Using trace simulations based on the logs of our departmental HTTP server http://cs-www.bu. edu, we show that both server load and service time could be reduced considerably, if speculative service is used. This is above and beyond what is currently achievable using client-side caching and server-side dissemination. We identify a number of parameters that could be used to fine-tune the level of speculation performed by the server based on the level of lookahead, the state of the network, the tradeoffs between bulk and individual transmission of documents, and the relative popularity of documents, among other factors.
Perceived Organizational Support, Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance: An Chinese Empirical Study

The study investigated the generalizability of perceived organizational support and job satisfaction as positive correlations of employee performance in China. In a study conducted, 130 matched cases of 130 employees and their 34 immediate supervisors from two large-scale state-owned enterprises (SOE) were selected as participants. Well-established psychological scales measuring perceived organizational support (POS), job satisfaction, and four facets of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) were administered. Data analyzed using zero-order correlation and hierarchical regression analysis showed positive correlations of POS and job satisfaction with work performance, and also showed independent and joint positive associations of POS and job satisfaction with OCB and each of its four dimensions.
Human T Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Tax Inhibits Innate Antiviral Signaling via NF-κB-Dependent Induction of SOCS1

ABSTRACT Human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) inhibits host antiviral signaling pathways although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we found that the HTLV-1 Tax oncoprotein induced the expression of SOCS1, an inhibitor of interferon signaling. Tax required NF-κB, but not CREB, to induce the expression of SOCS1 in T cells. Furthermore, Tax interacted with SOCS1 in both transfected cells and in HTLV-1-transformed cell lines. Although SOCS1 is normally a short-lived protein, in the presence of Tax, the stability of SOCS1 was greatly increased. Accordingly, Tax enhanced the replication of a heterologous virus, vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), in a SOCS1-dependent manner. Surprisingly, Tax required SOCS1 to inhibit RIG-I-dependent antiviral signaling, but not the interferon-induced JAK/STAT pathway. Inhibition of SOCS1 by RNA-mediated interference in the HTLV-1-transformed cell line MT-2 resulted in increased IFN-β expression accompanied by reduced HTLV-1 replication and p19Gag levels. Taken together, our results reveal that Tax inhibits antiviral signaling, in part, by hijacking an interferon regulatory protein.
High Anti-Viral Protection without Immune Upregulation after Interspecies Wolbachia Transfer

Wolbachia, endosymbionts that reside naturally in up to 40–70% of all insect species, are some of the most prevalent intracellular bacteria. Both Wolbachia wAu, naturally associated with Drosophila simulans, and wMel, native to Drosophila melanogaster, have been previously described to protect their hosts against viral infections. wMel transferred to D. simulans was also shown to have a strong antiviral effect. Here we directly compare one of the most protective wMel variants and wAu in D. melanogaster in the same host genetic background. We conclude that wAu protects better against viral infections, it grows exponentially and significantly shortens the lifespan of D. melanogaster. However, there is no difference between wMel and wAu in the expression of selected antimicrobial peptides. Therefore, neither the difference in anti-viral effect nor the life-shortening could be attributed to the immune stimulation by exogenous Wolbachia. Overall, we prove that stable transinfection with a highly protective Wolbachia is not necessarily associated with general immune activation.
Determined Free Serum Testosterone is Better than Total Testosterone as a Predictor of Prostate Cancer Risk

Background: Circulating testosterone remains the main source of androgens, however only 1%-2% circulates as free testosterone (fT), hormone active form. To compare the performance of serum fT and total testosterone (tT) as predictors of prostate cancer (PCa) detection and aggressiveness. Methods: Serum fT (RIA, pg/mL) and tT (LC/MS, ng/dL) were prospectively determined in 3364 consecutive men with PCa suspicion scheduled to TRUS guided biopsy. Tumor aggressiveness was assessed by Gleason grade (8 to 10) and D ́Amico risk (cT3a+ or PSA>20 ng/mL or Gleason 8 to 10). Recodification of fT and tT in four groups according to percentile (ptile) distribution were done. tT/1 (min to 10 ptile): 62-291 ng/dl, tT/2
Reference Photographs for Nasolabial Appearance Rating in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

A popular method for nasolabial rating in unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) is the Asher-McDade system consisting of a 5-point ordinal scale assessing nasal form, nasal symmetry, nasal profile, and vermilion border. The aim of the current study was to identify reference photographs illustrating this scale to facilitate its use. Four observers assessed nasolabial appearance on frontal and profile photographs of the nasolabial area of 42 children of Caucasian origin with a repaired UCLP at age 9 years. Cronbachs &agr;, based on the individual scores of the 4 observers, ranged from 0.73 to 0.82 for the 4 nasolabial ratings, indicating a good reliability. The reliability of the overall score (mean of the 4 component scores) was also high (Cronbachs &agr;, 0.83). Both for the nasolabial component ratings and for the overall score, duplicate measurement errors were small. The reliability for the mean of the 4 observers' scores was good, Spearman rank correlation coefficients ranging from 0.56 to 0.96. Subsequently, photographs were selected that showed the highest agreement among observers. For each of the 4 components (eg, nasal form, nasal deviation, nasal profile, and shape of the vermilion border), 5 photographs were selected to illustrate the whole range of the scale (score, 1-5), resulting in the selection of 20 pictures. It was concluded that nasolabial appearance rating can be performed reliably using a panel of judges and averaging the scores of all observers. Reference photographs, as developed from this study, may facilitate the rating task.
Assessing White Wine Viscosity Variation Using Polarized Laser Speckle: A Promising Alternative to Wine Sensory Analysis

In this paper, we report measurements of wine viscosity, correlated to polarized laser speckle results. Experiments were performed on white wine samples produced with a single grape variety. Effects of the wine making cellar, the grape variety, and the vintage on wine Brix degree, alcohol content, viscosity, and speckle parameters are considered. We show that speckle parameters, namely, spatial contrast and speckle decorrelation time, as well as the inertia moment extracted from the temporal history speckle pattern, are mainly affected by the alcohol and sugar content and hence the wine viscosity. Principal component analysis revealed a high correlation between laser speckle results on the one hand and viscosity and Brix degree values on the other. As speckle analysis proved to be an efficient method of measuring the variation of the viscosity of white mono-variety wine, one can therefore consider it as an alternative method to wine sensory analysis.
Separation of Covariates into Nonparametric and Parametric Parts in High-Dimensional Partially Linear Additive Models

Determining which covariates enter the linear part of a partially linear additive model is always challenging. It is more serious when the number of covariates diverges with the sample size. In this paper, we propose a double penalization based procedure to distin- guish covariates that enter the nonparametric and parametric parts and to identify insignif- icant covariates simultaneously for the "large p small n" setting. The procedure is shown to be consistent for model structure identification, it can identify zero, linear, and nonlinear components correctly. The resulting estimators of the linear coefficients are shown to be asymptotically normal. We discuss how to choose the penalty parameters and provide theo- retical justification. We conduct extensive simulation experiments to evaluate the numerical performance of the proposed methods and analyze a gene data set for an illustration.
Attrition of TCR Vα7.2+ CD161++ MAIT Cells in HIV-Tuberculosis Co-Infection Is Associated with Elevated Levels of PD-1 Expression

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are evolutionarily conserved antimicrobial MR1-restricted CD8+ T cells co-expressing the semi-invariant TCR Vα7. 2, and are numerous in the blood and mucosal tissues of humans. MAIT cells appear to undergo exhaustion in chronic viral infections. However, their role in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) mono-infection and HIV/tuberculosis (TB) co-infection have seldom been elaborately investigated. We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the frequencies and phenotypes of CD161++CD8+ T cells among anti-retroviral therapy (ART)/anti-TB therapy (ATT) treatment-naïve HIV/TB co-infected, ART/TB treated HIV/TB co-infected, ART naïve HIV-infected, ART-treated HIV-infected patients, and HIV negative healthy controls (HCs) by flow cytometry. Our data revealed that the frequency of MAIT cells was severely depleted in HIV mono- and HIV/TB co-infections. Further, PD-1 expression on MAIT cells was significantly increased in HIV mono- and HIV-TB co-infected patients. The frequency of MAIT cells did not show any significant increase despite the initiation of ART and/or ATT. Majority of the MAIT cells in HCs showed a significant increase in CCR6 expression as compared to HIV/TB co-infections. No marked difference was seen with expressions of chemokine co-receptor CCR5 and CD103 among the study groups. Decrease of CCR6 expression appears to explain why HIV-infected patients display weakened mucosal immune responses.
Regulation of kdp operon expression in Escherichia coli: evidence against turgor as signal for transcriptional control

Kdp, an inducible high-affinity K+ transporter in Escherichia coli, is encoded by genes of the kdpABC operon, and its expression is regulated by the products of kdpD and kdpE. Loss of cell turgor has been proposed to be the signal which induces kdp expression (L. A. Laimins, D. B. Rhoads, and W. Epstein, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78:464-468, 1981). We reexamined kdp expression during steady-state growth under a variety of conditions and were able to confirm earlier observations which had indicated that it is primarily affected by the concentration of K+ in the medium and by mutations in genes encoding various K+ transporters in E. coli. Changes in pH of the culture also altered kdp expression. In all of these cases, an increase in [K+] of the medium repressed the operon. Several ionic solutes induced steady-state kdp expression (but to differing extents), whereas nonionic solutes had no effect, indicating that kdp expression is not determined by osmolarity of the growth medium. kdp expression during steady-state growth was shown also to be unaffected by the accumulation of other intracellular compatible solutes such as trehalose or glycine betaine, which would be expected to restore cell turgor during growth in high-osmolarity media. Two mutants that are defective in perception of the signal regulating kdp were isolated, and the mutation in each of them was mapped to the kdpDE regulatory locus. Analysis of kdp expression in one of these mutants provided additional evidence against the turgor regulation model. On the basis of these data, we discuss alternative candidates that might serve as the signal for control of kdp operon transcription.
Model Development for the Wideband Vehicle-to-vehicle 2 . 4 GHz Channel

Statistical channel models are presented for a frequency selective vehicle-to-vehicle or mobile-to-mobile wireless communications link in an expressway environment in Atlanta, Georgia, where both vehicles travel in the same direction. The models were developed from measurements taken using the direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technique at 2.45 GHz. The models imply a non-separable channel with a persistent Rician behavior across multiple model taps. Copyright © 2006 IEEE. This material is posted here with permission of the IEEE. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution must be obtained from the IEEE by sending a blank email message to pubspermissions@ieee.org. By choosing to view this document, you agree to all provisions of the copyright laws protecting it.
Densification of zirconia-based anti-corrosion coatings for application in waste-to-energy plants

Corrosion of functional parts (e.g. boiler tubes) within waste-to-energy (WTE) plants significantly reduces their efficiency with respect to maintenance costs. Currently, nickel based alloy claddings, several millimeters thick, are the state of the art as anti corrosion coating. Another approach is to utilize thermally sprayed multilayer coatings with a zirconia based top coat, e.g. yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ). Lab scale experiments and in situ tests within a WTE plant were conducted by using a multilayer coating of a nickel based bond coat and an YSZ top coat, applied onto a steel substrate. For lab scale experiments WTE plant operation conditions were simulated within a tube furnace through an atmosphere of N2-HCl-O2, enriched with additional volatile gas phases emerging out of an equimolar KCl-K2SO4-ZnCl2-ZnSO4 salt mixture, which was placed beneath the sample in the high temperature zone of the furnace at 500 - 700 °C. Under an atmosphere composition of N2 - 2.1 vol. % HCl - 0.9 vol. % O2, a partially reduced porosity of the zirconia top coat can be achieved, where former pores are filled up with zirconia. The addition of ZrO2 powder into the salts and the use of additional sodium salts enhance the densification of the zirconia top coat. The zirconia top coat of the in situ experiments at 450 °C and 700 °C also show a partial densification, whereas the pores are filled up with newly formed metal (chromium, nickel, iron) oxides. Since the formation of low melting eutectic salt melts on the surface of those boiler tubes is a common process within WTE plants, the performance of YSZ under these conditions was evaluated, too. Multilayer coated samples were impregnated by a salt solution and heat treated under various mixtures of argon, nitrogen, gaseous hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxid and / or oxygen at 700 °C. No densification was observable, but an element migration of mainly iron from the steel substrate into the coating and nickel and chromium from the bond coat into the steel. Furthermore, YSZ beads were embedded in an equimolar mixture of KCl-K2SO4-ZnCl2-ZnSO4. At temperatures of 600 °C and 700 °C under an atmosphere of N2 - 2.55 vol. % HCl - 0.45 vol. % O2, a dissolution and recrystallization of the zirconia was observed. Both processes, the densification of the zirconia top coat after a heat treatment under an HCl-O2 bearing atmosphere and the ability of a zirconia recrystallization within salt melts enables the zirconia based coating to act as a barrier against aggressive gases, hence, to represent a possible anti corrosion coating for steel tubes within WTE plants.
Wideband Power Amplifier Modeling Incorporating Carrier Frequency Dependent AM / AM and AM / PM Characteristics

In this paper, we present a complex baseband model for a wideband power amplifier that incorporates carrier frequency dependent amplitude modulation (AM) and phase modulation (PM) (i.e., AM/AM and AM/PM) characteristics in the design process. The structure used to implement the amplifier model is a Wiener system which accounts for memory effects caused by the frequency selective nature of the amplifier, in addition to the nonlinearities caused by gain compression and saturation. By utilizing piecewise polynomial nonlinearities in the structure, it is shown how to construct the Wiener model to exactly accommodate all given AM/AM and AM/PM measurement constraints. Simulation results using data from a 50 W 32-way Ka-band solid state power amplifier (SSPA) are provided, highlighting the differences in degradation incurred for a wideband input signal as compared with a narrowband input.
Alcohol drinking pattern and subjective health in a population-based study.

AIMS Some patterns of alcohol consumption (e.g. binge drinking, drinking outside of meals) have been associated with detrimental effects on health outcomes. Subjective health provides a global assessment of health status and is a strong predictor of total mortality; however, little is known about its relationship with alcohol drinking pattern. The association between several drinking patterns (i.e. drinking intensity and frequency, frequency of intoxication, drinking outside of meals, and beverage type) and subjective health was examined in a random sample of 3586 women and men. DESIGN A population-based cross-sectional study. METHODS Subjective health was assessed using the physical and mental health component summaries of the Short Form-36 health survey questionnaire. Alcohol consumption refers to the 30 days before the interview. Analysis of covariance compared gender-specific mean scores across alcohol drinking patterns. FINDINGS Overall, non-current drinkers reported poorer physical and mental health than life-time abstainers and current drinkers, while no consistent differences were found between life-time abstainers and current drinkers. In female current drinkers, daily drinking, beer and mixed beverage consumption were associated with better mental health. In male current drinkers, moderate alcohol consumption (2-2.9 drinks per day), wine and mixed beverage consumption were associated with better physical health. Intoxication and liquor consumption were associated with poorer mental health in women and poorer physical health in men. No consistent associations were found for drinking outside meals. CONCLUSIONS Aspects of drinking pattern may affect subjective health differentially in women and men. Overall, intoxication and liquor drinking are associated with poorer self-perceived health status than regular, moderate consumption of other alcoholic beverages.
A Generalization of Majorization that Characterizes Shannon Entropy

We introduce a binary relation on the finite discrete probability distributions, which generalizes notions of majorization that have been studied in quantum information theory. Motivated by questions in thermodynamics, our relation describes the transitions induced by bistochastic maps in the presence of additional auxiliary systems, which may become correlated in the process. We show that this relation is completely characterized by Shannon entropy H, which yields an interpretation of H in resource-theoretic terms, and admits a particularly simple proof of a known characterization of H in terms of natural information-theoretic properties.
Comparison of Variational and Generalized Plane Strain approaches for matrix cracking in general symmetric laminates

The current research work is aimed at comparing a stress-based variational approach with generalized plane strain (GPS) model for predicting stress transfer in cracked general symmetric laminates, subject to general in-plane loading. For each model, the fundamental assumptions made on stress and displacement fields, and also procedures for defining boundary conditions and finding solutions are detailed. Moreover, a numerical comparison has been made between the results obtained from two models with regard to stresses, displacements, and thermo-elastic constants of an unbalanced symmetric cracked laminate. Finally, the accuracy and quality of both approaches are examined by checking the satisfaction of known inter-relationships among thermo-elastic constants of cracked laminates. The paper extends an existing variational model so that the effects of residual thermal stresses can be considered. It has been also shown how the displacement field can be determined for a stress-based variational approach.
Comparison of 2- and 3-category histologic grading systems for predicting the presence of metastasis at the time of initial evaluation in dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors: 386 cases (2009-2014).

OBJECTIVE To compare the Kiupel (2 categories) and Patnaik (3 categories) histologic grading systems for predicting the presence of metastasis at the time of initial examination in dogs with cutaneous mast cell tumors (MCTs). DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS 386 client-owned dogs with cutaneous MCTs. PROCEDURES Medical records of dogs with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed cutaneous MCTs that had undergone complete clinical staging were reviewed for clinical and histopathologic data. RESULTS All Patnaik grade 1 MCTs (n = 52) were classified as Kiupel low-grade MCTs, and all Patnaik grade 3 MCTs (43) were classified as Kiupel high-grade MCTs. Of the 291 Patnaik grade 2 MCTs, 243 (83.5%) were classified as Kiupel low-grade tumors, and 48 (16.5%) were classified as Kiupel high-grade MCTs. Dogs with Patnaik grade 3 MCTs were significantly more likely to have metastases at the time of initial examination than were dogs with grade 1 or 2 MCTs (OR, 5.46), and dogs with Kiupel high-grade MCTs were significantly more likely to have metastases than were dogs with Kiupel low-grade MCTs (OR, 2.54). However, 3 of 52 (5.8%) dogs with Patnaik grade 1 tumors, 48 of 291 (16.5%) dogs with Patnaik grade 2 tumors, and 44 of 295 (14.9%) dogs with Kiupel low-grade tumors had metastatic disease. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Findings indicated that in dogs with cutaneous MCTs, prognostication should not rely on histologic grade alone, regardless of grading system used, but should take into account results of clinical staging.
The use of calcium 47 in diagnostic studies of patients with bone lesions.

Physical aspects of calcium-47 and problems of its production and assay are reviewed. Its energetic gamma spectrum and 4.7 day half-life make it very useful for calcium metabolic studies. Dosimetric considerations in both tracer and therapeutic applications are discussed. Results are reported from kinetic and external counting studies using tracer doses of calcium-47 in patients with a variety of bone lesions. The accretion rate and size of the exchangeable calcium pool were measured tn patients with breast carcinoma. The accretion rate was found to be elevated in patients whose bone metastases were clinically active. A whole-body scanner is described which was developed to improve and extend the clinical uses of calcium-47. (C.H.)