Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Computational Modelling of Fracture in Polycrystalline Materials

Abstract This review provides a brief survey of the computational methods which have been adopted to model fracture in materials, particularly polycrystalline metals and alloys, and considers in greater detail the use of geometrical modelling. The different modes of fracture, transgranular and intergranular brittle and ductile, are discussed, together with the modelling tools adopted for macroscale, microscale and nanoscale applications. The procedures which have been used for creating computer models of two– and three–dimensional polycrystalline materials and for propagating cracks through them are then outlined. Applications of these methods to investigate the propagation of cleavage cracks across grain boundaries, to study the influence of texture, grain shape, impurity segregation and prior creep cavitation, to examine the ductile–to–brittle transition region in ferritic steels and to consider the influence of work hardening on ductile fracture are then presented. The predictions are compared with experimental results and proposals for future studies are discussed.
Systematic approach identifies RHOA as a potential biomarker therapeutic target for Asian gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly heterogeneous disease, in dire need of specific, biomarker-driven cancer therapies. While the accumulation of cancer “Big Data” has propelled the search for novel molecular targets for GC, its specific subpathway and cellular functions vary from patient to patient. In particular, mutations in the small GTPase gene RHOA have been identified in recent genome-wide sequencing of GC tumors. Moreover, protein overexpression of RHOA was reported in Chinese populations, while RHOA mutations were found in Caucasian GC tumors. To develop evidence-based precision medicine for heterogeneous cancers, we established a systematic approach to integrate transcriptomic and genomic data. Predicted signaling subpathways were then laboratory-validated both in vitro and in vivo, resulting in the identification of new candidate therapeutic targets. Here, we show: i) differences in RHOA expression patterns, and its pathway activity, between Asian and Caucasian GC tumors; ii) in vitro and in vivo perturbed RHOA expression inhibits GC cell growth in high RHOA-expressing cell lines; iii) inverse correlation between RHOA and RHOB expression; and iv) an innovative small molecule design strategy for RHOA inhibitors. In summary, RHOA, and its oncogenic signaling pathway, represent a strong biomarker-driven therapeutic target for Asian GC. This comprehensive strategy represents a promising approach for the development of “hit” compounds.
Appropriateness and avoidability of terminal hospital admissions: Results of a survey among family physicians

Background: Although the acute hospital setting is not considered to be an ideal place of death, many people are admitted to hospital at the end of life. Aim: To examine what proportion of terminal hospital admissions among their patients family physicians consider to have been avoidable and/or inappropriate; which patient, family physician and admission factors are associated with the perceived inappropriateness or avoidability of terminal hospital admissions; and which interventions could have prevented them, from the perspective of family physicians. Design: Survey among family physicians, linked to medical record data. Setting: Patients who had died non-suddenly in the acute hospital setting of a university hospital in Belgium between January and August 2014. Results: We received 245 completed questionnaires (response rate 70%) and 77% of those hospital deaths (n = 189) were considered to be non-sudden. Almost 14% of all terminal hospital admissions were considered to be potentially inappropriate, almost 14% potentially avoidable and 8% both, according to family physicians. The terminal hospital admission was more likely to be considered potentially inappropriate or potentially avoidable for patients who had died of cancer, when the patient’s life expectancy at the time of admission was limited, by family physicians who had had palliative care training at basic, postgraduate or post-academic level, and when the admission was initiated by the patient, partner or other family. Conclusion: Timely communication with the patient about their limited life expectancy and the provision of better support to family caregivers may be important strategies in reducing the number of hospital deaths.
Comparative proteomics of a model MCF10A-KRasG12V cell line reveals a distinct molecular signature of the KRasG12V cell surface

Oncogenic Ras mutants play a major role in the etiology of most aggressive and deadly carcinomas in humans. In spite of continuous efforts, effective pharmacological treatments targeting oncogenic Ras isoforms have not been developed. Cell-surface proteins represent top therapeutic targets primarily due to their accessibility and susceptibility to different modes of cancer therapy. To expand the treatment options of cancers driven by oncogenic Ras, new targets need to be identified and characterized at the surface of cancer cells expressing oncogenic Ras mutants. Here, we describe a mass spectrometry–based method for molecular profiling of the cell surface using KRasG12V transfected MCF10A (MCF10A-KRasG12V) as a model cell line of constitutively activated KRas and native MCF10A cells transduced with an empty vector (EV) as control. An extensive molecular map of the KRas surface was achieved by applying, in parallel, targeted hydrazide-based cell-surface capturing technology and global shotgun membrane proteomics to identify the proteins on the KRasG12V surface. This method allowed for integrated proteomic analysis that identified more than 500 cell-surface proteins found unique or upregulated on the surface of MCF10A-KRasG12V cells. Multistep bioinformatic processing was employed to elucidate and prioritize targets for cross-validation. Scanning electron microscopy and phenotypic cancer cell assays revealed changes at the cell surface consistent with malignant epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation secondary to KRasG12V activation. Taken together, this dataset significantly expands the map of the KRasG12V surface and uncovers potential targets involved primarily in cell motility, cellular protrusion formation, and metastasis.
Energy‐Storage Properties of 0.89Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–0.06BaTiO3–0.05K0.5Na0.5NbO3 Lead‐Free Anti‐ferroelectric Ceramics

Energy-storage properties of 0.89Bi0. 5Na0.5TiO3–0.06BaTiO3–0.05K0. 5Na0.5NbO3 (0.89BNT–0.06BT–0.05KNN) lead-free ceramics were first investigated. Measurements of dielectric properties together with switching current curves indicate a rather diffuse ferroelectric (FE) to anti-ferroelectric (AFE) phase transition when heating from 20°C to 90°C. The energy density (W), which was calculated from P–E hysteresis loops, increases linearly with the external electric field when E exceeds AFE-FE transition field. W is independent of temperature and frequency, and maintains around 0.59 J/cm3 under 5.6 kV/mm in the stable AFE phase region. These properties indicate that 0.89BNT–0.06BT–0.05KNN ceramics might be a promising lead-free AFE material for energy-storage capacitor application.
Contributions to Estimation of Polychoric Correlations

ABSTRACT This research concerns the estimation of polychoric correlations in the context of fitting structural equation models to observed ordinal variables by multistage estimation. The first main contribution of this research is to propose and evaluate a Monte Carlo estimator for the asymptotic covariance matrix (ACM) of the polychoric correlation estimates. In multistage estimation, the ACM plays a prominent role, as overall test statistics, derived fit indices, and parameter standard errors all depend on this quantity. The ACM, however, must itself be estimated. Established approaches to estimating the ACM use a sample-based version, which can yield poor estimates with small samples. A simulation study demonstrates that the proposed Monte Carlo estimator can be more efficient than its sample-based counterpart. This leads to better calibration for established test statistics, in particular with small samples. The second main contribution of this research is a further exploration of the consequences of violating the normality assumption for the underlying response variables. We show the consequences depend on the type of nonnormality, and the number and location of thresholds. The simulation study also demonstrates that overall test statistics have little power to detect the studied forms of nonnormality, regardless of the ACM estimator.
Reducing a Barrier to Diabetes Education

Purpose Recent research suggests that hearing loss, a frequent problem for aging adults, is more prevalent in people with diabetes. Hearing impairment affects a patient’s learning. This article reviews the anatomy and physiology involved in hearing, describes common causes of hearing loss in people with diabetes, and describes how hearing loss is diagnosed and treated. Two simple tests the diabetes educator can use to screen for hearing loss are described, and interventions that improve communication with patients with difficulty hearing are explained. Conclusions Hearing loss can negatively affect a patient’s ability to actively participate in diabetes education. Diabetes educators have a responsibility to learn how to communicate better with their patients who have a hearing impairment. Diabetes educators are uniquely positioned to improve the health status of their patients by identifying persons who need referral for further evaluation of their hearing.
FlowFox: a web browser with flexible and precise information flow control

We present FlowFox, the first fully functional web browser that implements a precise and general information flow control mechanism for web scripts based on the technique of secure multi-execution. We demonstrate how FlowFox subsumes many ad-hoc script containment countermeasures developed over the last years. We also show that FlowFox is compatible with the current web, by investigating its behavior on the Alexa top-500 web sites, many of which make intricate use of JavaScript. The performance and memory cost of FlowFox is substantial (a performance cost of around 20% on macro benchmarks for a simple two level policy), but not prohibitive. Our prototype implementation shows that information flow enforcement based on secure multi-execution can be implemented in full-scale browsers. It can support powerful, yet precise policies refining the same-origin-policy in a way that is compatible with existing websites.
Evaluation of efficacy and safety of Reteplase and Alteplase in the treatment of hyper-acute cerebral infarction

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of Reteplase (rPA) and Alteplase (rt-PA) in the treatment of hyper-acute cerebral infarction (CI). Methods: Six hundred and eleven patients with hyper-acute CI selected from September 2014 to September 2016 were assigned into the aspirin, rt-PA, rPA, rt-PA + aspirin, and rPA + aspirin groups based on their willingness. The difference of efficacy in five groups were evaluated with National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), modified rankin scale (mRS), and Barthel Index (BI). Coagulation function, blood lipid, and hemodynamics were analyzed. The safety differences were compared by observing the adverse reactions. Results: Compared with the rt-PA, rPA, and aspirin groups, NIHSS score, mRS score, the incidence of non- and symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage as well as the rate of adverse reactions were decreased, while BI were increased in the rt-PA + aspirin and rPA + aspirin groups after treatment. Compared with the rt-PA and rPA groups, total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were lower, whereas the hematocrit, whole blood high shear viscosity, whole blood low shear viscosity, plasma viscosity, erythrocyte electrophoresis time, fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), K value in blood sedimentation equation, and the comprehensive abnormality degree of blood rheology were higher in the rt-PA + aspirin and rPA + aspirin groups. Conclusion: The efficacy and safety of rt-PA or rPA combined with aspirin in the treatment of hyper-acute CI were better than those of rPA or rt-PA monotherapy.
Short Presburger Arithmetic Is Hard

We study the computational complexity of short sentences in Presburger arithmetic (SHORT-PA). Here by short we mean sentences with a bounded number of variables, quantifiers, inequalities and Boolean operations; the input consists only of the integer coefficients involved in the linear inequalities. We prove that satisfiability of SHORT-PA sentences with m+2 alternating quantifiers is SigmaP_m-complete or PiP_m-complete, when the first quantifier is exists or forall, respectively. Counting versions and restricted systems are also analyzed.
Asymptotically stable adaptive consensus control of multi-agent systems based on H∞ control criterion

Design methodologies of asymptotically stable adaptive H∞ consensus control of multi-agent systems composed of the first-order and the second-order regression models are presented in this paper. The proposed control schemes are derived as solutions of certain H∞ control problems, where estimation errors of tuning parameters and imperfect knowledge of the leader are regarded as external disturbances to the process. It is shown that the resulting control systems are robust to uncertain system parameters and that the desirable consensus tracking is achieved asymptotically via adaptation schemes and L2-gain design parameters together with an introduction of the generating model of the leader.
Sex Differences in the Residual Patellar Tendon After Harvesting Its Central Third for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Some studies have found that sex can affect the clinical results after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. We hypothesized that sex would significantly affect the healing of the postoperative patellar tendon. This study evaluated the patellar tendon after bone–patellar tendon–bone autograft harvest, specifically with regard to sex‐dependent differences.
Method for fabrication of microfluidic systems in glass

In this report we describe a new way of fabricating integrated microfluidic elements in glass. By employing a matrix of underpinning posts and a thin wall, surrounding etched flow channels, an efficient sealing of glass chips substrates to thin cover glass can be accomplished. The use of this arrangement enables the overlay sheath of glass to hermetically close the flow channel by fusion bonding while avoiding problems with void or crack formation that are due to dust particles, non-planarity and differences in thermal coefficient of expansion. As an example a structure with a thin cover glass, useful for studying phenomena in capillary electrophoresis utilizing large numerical aperture microscope lenses, was fabricated.
Long‐Term Outcomes of Patent Foramen Ovale Closure or Medical Therapy after Stroke

BACKGROUND Whether closure of a patent foramen ovale reduces the risk of recurrence of ischemic stroke in patients who have had a cryptogenic ischemic stroke is unknown. METHODS In a multicenter, randomized, open‐label trial, with blinded adjudication of end‐point events, we randomly assigned patients 18 to 60 years of age who had a patent foramen ovale (PFO) and had had a cryptogenic ischemic stroke to undergo closure of the PFO (PFO closure group) or to receive medical therapy alone (aspirin, warfarin, clopidogrel, or aspirin combined with extended‐release dipyridamole; medical‐therapy group). The primary efficacy end point was a composite of recurrent nonfatal ischemic stroke, fatal ischemic stroke, or early death after randomization. The results of the analysis of the primary outcome from the original trial period have been reported previously; the current analysis of data from the extended follow‐up period was considered to be exploratory. RESULTS We enrolled 980 patients (mean age, 45.9 years) at 69 sites. Patients were followed for a median of 5.9 years. Treatment exposure in the two groups was unequal (3141 patient‐years in the PFO closure group vs. 2669 patient‐years in the medical‐therapy group), owing to a higher dropout rate in the medical‐therapy group. In the intention‐to‐treat population, recurrent ischemic stroke occurred in 18 patients in the PFO closure group and in 28 patients in the medical‐therapy group, resulting in rates of 0.58 events per 100 patient‐years and 1.07 events per 100 patient‐years, respectively (hazard ratio with PFO closure vs. medical therapy, 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.31 to 0.999; P=0.046 by the log‐rank test). Recurrent ischemic stroke of undetermined cause occurred in 10 patients in the PFO closure group and in 23 patients in the medical‐therapy group (hazard ratio, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.79; P=0.007). Venous thromboembolism (which comprised events of pulmonary embolism and deep‐vein thrombosis) was more common in the PFO closure group than in the medical‐therapy group. CONCLUSIONS Among adults who had had a cryptogenic ischemic stroke, closure of a PFO was associated with a lower rate of recurrent ischemic strokes than medical therapy alone during extended follow‐up. (Funded by St. Jude Medical; RESPECT ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00465270.)
Optimal Dropbox Deployment Algorithm for Data Dissemination in Vehicular Networks

For vehicular networks, dropboxes are very useful for assisting the data dissemination, as they can greatly increase the contact probabilities between vehicles and reduce the data delivery delay. However, due to the costly deployment of dropboxes, it is impractical to deploy dropboxes in a dense manner. In this paper, we investigate how to deploy the dropboxes optimally by considering the tradeoff between the delivery delay and the cost of dropbox deployment. This is a very challenging issue due to the difficulty of accurate delay estimation and the complexity of solving the optimization problem. To address this issue, we first provide a theoretical framework to estimate the delivery delay accurately. Then, based on the idea of dimension enlargement and dynamic programming, we design a novel optimal dropbox deployment algorithm (ODDA) to obtain the optimal deployment strategy. We prove that ODDA has a fast convergence speed, which is less than <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\kappa$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="cai-ieq1-2733534.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula> (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\kappa < n$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="cai-ieq2-2733534.gif"/> </alternatives></inline-formula>) iterations for convergence. We also prove that the computational complexity of ODDA is <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$O(n \kappa m \;\log m)$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="cai-ieq3-2733534.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>, i.e., ODDA has a polynomial computational complexity for a given <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="cai-ieq4-2733534.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>, the number of dropboxes for deployment. Performance evaluation by simulation demonstrates the superior performance of the proposed strategies compared with the benchmark methods.
Analyzing distributional learning of phonemic categories in unsupervised deep neural networks

Infants' speech perception adapts to the phonemic categories of their native language, a process assumed to be driven by the distributional properties of speech. This study investigates whether deep neural networks (DNNs), the current state-of-the-art in distributional feature learning, are capable of learning phoneme-like representations of speech in an unsupervised manner. We trained DNNs with unlabeled and labeled speech and analyzed the activations of each layer with respect to the phones in the input segments. The analyses reveal that the emergence of phonemic invariance in DNNs is dependent on the availability of phonemic labeling of the input during the training. No increased phonemic selectivity of the hidden layers was observed in the purely unsupervised networks despite successful learning of low-dimensional representations for speech. This suggests that additional learning constraints or more sophisticated models are needed to account for the emergence of phone-like categories in distributional learning operating on natural speech.
Genetic history of the African Sahelian populations

From a biogeographic perspective, Africa is subdivided into distinct horizontal belts. Human populations living along the Sahel/Savannah belt south of the Sahara desert have often been overshadowed by extensive studies focusing on other African populations such as hunter‐gatherers or Bantu in particular. However, the Sahel together with the Savannah bordering it in the south is a challenging region where people had and still have to cope with harsh climatic conditions and show resilient behaviours. Besides exponentially growing urban populations, several local groups leading various lifestyles and speaking languages belonging to three main linguistic families still live in rural localities across that region today. Thanks to several years of consistent population sampling throughout this area, the genetic history of the African Sahelian populations has been largely reconstructed and a deeper knowledge has been acquired regarding their adaptation to peculiar environments and/or subsistence modes. Distinct exposures to pathogens—in particular, malaria—likely contributed to their genetic differentiation for HLA genes. In addition, although food‐producing strategies spread within the Sahel/Savannah belt relatively recently, during the last five millennia according to recent archaeological and archaeobotanical studies, remarkable amounts of genetic differences are also observed between sedentary farmers and more mobile pastoralists at multiple neutral and selected loci, reflecting both demographic effects and genetic adaptations to distinct cultural traits, such as dietary habits.
Ndrg2 deficiency ameliorates neurodegeneration in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

N‐myc downstream‐regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is a differentiation‐ and stress‐associated molecule that is predominantly expressed in astrocytes in the central nervous system. In this study, we examined the expression and role of NDRG2 in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which is an animal model of multiple sclerosis. Western blot and immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the expression of NDRG2 was observed in astrocytes of spinal cord, and was enhanced after EAE induction. A comparative analysis of wild‐type and Ndrg2−/− mice revealed that deletion of Ndrg2 ameliorated the clinical symptoms of EAE. Although Ndrg2 deficiency only slightly affected the inflammatory response, based on the results of flow cytometry, qRT‐PCR, and immunohistochemistry, it significantly reduced demyelination in the chronic phase, and, more importantly, neurodegeneration both in the acute and chronic phases. Further studies revealed that the expression of astrocytic glutamate transporters, including glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST) and glutamate transporter 1, was more maintained in the Ndrg2−/− mice compared with wild‐type mice after EAE induction. Consistent with these results, studies using cultured astrocytes revealed that Ndrg2 gene silencing increased the expression of GLAST, while NDRG2 over‐expression decreased it without altering the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein. The effect of NDRG2 on GLAST expression was associated with the activation of Akt, but not with the activation of nuclear factor‐kappa B. These findings suggest that NDRG2 plays a key role in the pathology of EAE by modulating glutamate metabolism.