Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of structural health assessment capabilities in epoxy - carbon black and epoxy - carbon nanotube nanocomposites

A novel method for comparing structural health of different types of brittle epoxy nanocomposites filled with carbon nanostructured fillers is presented. Epoxy – 0.2 vol% carbon black (CB) and epoxy – 0.2 vol% carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposite bars were prepared by calendering and thermal curing. Nanocomposite bars were subjected to Vickers diamond indentation to produce sub-surface damage. Electrical conductivities were analysed by 4-point method to estimate the structural damage caused by indentation. For comprehensive comparison, fracture toughness and percolation threshold were analysed as well. Because of the systematically induced indentation damage, a sharp decrease of 89% was observed in the electrical conductivity of epoxy – CNT nanocomposite as compared to 25% in the electrical conductivity of epoxy – CB nanocomposite. CNTs impart superior damage sensing capability in brittle nanocomposite structures, in comparison to CB, due to their high aspect ratio (fibrous nature) and high electrical conductivity.
Learning Transliteration Lexicons from the Web

This paper presents an adaptive learning framework for Phonetic Similarity Modeling (PSM) that supports the automatic construction of transliteration lexicons. The learning algorithm starts with minimum prior knowledge about machine transliteration, and acquires knowledge iteratively from the Web. We study the active learning and the unsupervised learning strategies that minimize human supervision in terms of data labeling. The learning process refines the PSM and constructs a transliteration lexicon at the same time. We evaluate the proposed PSM and its learning algorithm through a series of systematic experiments, which show that the proposed framework is reliably effective on two independent databases.
Levenberg-Marquardt Learning Neural Network For Part-of-Speech Tagging of Arabic Sentences

Part-of-speech tagging is usually the first step in linguistic analysis. Also, it is a very important intermediate step to build many natural language processing applications. This paper examines the application of neural networks to the task of tagging Arabic sentences. The network is trained with the help of Levenberg-Marquardt learning algorithm. Corpora of 24,810 words are collected and manually tagged to train the neural networks and to test the performance of the developed POS-Tagger. The developed tagger achieved an accuracy of 98.83% when evaluated on the train set and 90.21% on the test set. The performance of the Levenberg-Marquardt learning algorithm was compared with the performance of the traditional Backpropagation learning algorithm. It was found that the Levenberg-Marquardt Learning neural network is an efficient approach and more effective than the traditional Backpropagation learning algorithm for tagging Arabic words. Key–Words: Part of Speech Tagging, Arabic Language, Neural Networks, Levenberg-Marquardt Learning Algorithm, Backpropagation Learning Algorithm.
The addition of functional task-oriented mental practice to conventional physical therapy improves motor skills in daily functions after stroke*

Background Mental practice (MP) is a cognitive strategy which may improve the acquisition of motor skills and functional performance of athletes and individuals with neurological injuries. Objective To determine whether an individualized, specific functional task-oriented MP, when added to conventional physical therapy (PT), promoted better learning of motor skills in daily functions in individuals with chronic stroke (13±6.5 months post-stroke). Method Nine individuals with stable mild and moderate upper limb impairments participated, by employing an A1-B-A2 single-case design. Phases A1 and A2 included one month of conventional PT, and phase B the addition of MP training to PT. The motor activity log (MAL-Brazil) was used to assess the amount of use (AOU) and quality of movement (QOM) of the paretic upper limb; the revised motor imagery questionnaire (MIQ-RS) to assess the abilities in kinesthetic and visual motor imagery; the Minnesota manual dexterity test to assess manual dexterity; and gait speed to assess mobility. Results After phase A1, no significant changes were observed for any of the outcome measures. However, after phase B, significant improvements were observed for the MAL, AOU and QOM scores (p<0.0001), and MIQ-RS kinesthetic and visual scores (p=0.003; p=0.007, respectively). The significant gains in manual dexterity (p=0.002) and gait speed (p=0.019) were maintained after phase A2. Conclusions Specific functional task-oriented MP, when added to conventional PT, led to improvements in motor imagery abilities combined with increases in the AOU and QOM in daily functions, manual dexterity, and gait speed.
Geographical variation, population structure and gene flow between populations of Chrysophtharta agricola (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a pest of Australian eucalypt plantations

Abstract Chrysophtharta agricola (Chapuis) is a pest of commercial eucalypt plantations in Tasmania and Victoria. Vagility of pest populations may result in difficulty predicting temporal and spatial pest outbreaks, and influence genetic resistance to chemical control. Gene flow in this pest species was estimated to assess predicability of attack, the potential efficacy of natural enemies, and the likelihood of resistance build-up. Ten geographic populations of C. agricola (six from Tasmania, one from the Australian Capital Territory, one from New South Wales and two from Victoria) were examined for genetic variation and gene flow using cellulose acetate allozyme electrophoresis. Six enzyme systems (PGI, PGD, PGM, IDH, HEX and MPI) were consistently polymorphic and scorable and were used to quantify estimated gene flow between populations. FST values and analysis of molecular variance indicated that gene flow was restricted between populations. Chrysophtharta agricola exhibited high levels of heterozygosity, probably because of high allelic diversity, and because all loci examined were polymorphic. The southern-most population was the most genetically different to other Tasmanian populations, and may also have been the most recently colonized. Limited gene flow implies that outbreaks of C. agricola should be spatially predictable and populations susceptible to control by natural enemies. Our results also imply that genetic resistance to chemical control may occur under frequent application of insecticide. However, testing population movement between plantations and native forest also needs to be conducted to assess gene flow between forest types.
Finite temperature Casimir effect for a massless fractional Klein-Gordon field with fractional Neumann conditions

This paper studies the Casimir effect due to fractional massless Klein-Gordon field confined to parallel plates. A new kind of boundary condition called fractional Neumann condition which involves vanishing fractional derivatives of the field is introduced. The fractional Neumann condition allows the interpolation of Dirichlet and Neumann conditions imposed on the two plates. There exists a transition value in the difference between the orders of the fractional Neumann conditions for which the Casimir force changes from attractive to repulsive. Low and high temperature limits of Casimir energy and pressure are obtained. For sufficiently high temperature, these quantities are dominated by terms independent of the boundary conditions. Finally, validity of the temperature inversion symmetry for various boundary conditions is discussed.
Perron's method for nonlocal fully nonlinear equations

This paper is concerned with existence of viscosity solutions of non-translation invariant nonlocal fully nonlinear equations. We construct a discontinuous viscosity solution of such nonlocal equation by Perron's method. If the equation is uniformly elliptic in the sense of \cite{SS}, we prove the discontinuous viscosity solution is H\"older continuous and thus it is a viscosity solution.
Polypropylene-natural fibre composites. Analysis of fibre structure modification during compounding and its influence on the final properties

The final properties of composite materials are highly dependent on the residual geometrical parameters (length, diameter, aspect ratio), orientation and distribution of the fibres in the matrix, which in turn are related to the processing conditions. This study analysed the fibre structure variation during the processing of a polypropylene matrix reinforced with cellulose flax pulp for different reinforcement concentrations. The fibre's geometrical parameters, length, diameter and aspect ratio have been measured and their statistical distributions have been assessed for each concentration. Furthermore, the effect of the microstructure variation on the final mechanical properties was analysed. In particular, changes in the interfacial area were evaluated based on the hypothesis that the fibres were cylindrical in shape and considering the average values of the diameters and the lengths calculated using a statistical distribution approach. The fibre interfacial area after the process decreases as the fibre concentration increases and this evaluation explains how the adhesion methods that are used for fibre surface modification fail because of the decrement in the modifier interfacial density. The Halpin–Tsai approach was used to model the experimental data obtained from tensile tests for different composites, so as to confirm the effect of fibre parameters, such as aspect ratio and interfacial area values, in the PP/cellulose blends final properties.
The Meaning of Size Obtained from Broadened X‐ray Diffraction Peaks

X‐ray diffraction peak profile analysis (DPPA) is a powerful tool for the characterisation of microstructures either in the bulk or in loose powder materials. The evaluation and modelling procedures have been developed together with the experimental techniques. The dislocation density and structure, as obtained from peak profile analysis, is in good correlation with TEM observations. As for the crystallite size, in some cases a good correlation, however, in other cases definite discrepancies with TEM results can be observed. In the present work those literature data are critically reviewed where crystallite size or grain size have been determined by DPPA and TEM simultaneously. The correlation and discrepancies between DPPA and TEM results are discussed in terms of the microstructures in different types of specimens.
Clinical Research

Coronary heart disease Influenza epidemics and acute respiratory disease activity are associated with a surge in autopsy-confirmed coronary heart disease death: results from 8 years of autopsies in 34 892 subjects Aims To determine whether influenza can trigger heart attacks, we investigated the impact of influenza epidemics on autopsy-proven coronary deaths. Methods and results We studied weekly death due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and chronic ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in autopsies conducted in 1993 to 2000 in St Petersburg, Russia. We plotted the weekly acute respiratory disease (ARD) counts and influenza epidemics against AMI and chronic IHD deaths. There were 11 892 subjects dying of AMI and 23 000 subjects dying of chronic IHD. Median age was 75 for women and 65 for men. In every year, a peak of AMI and chronic IHD deaths were present and coincided with the influenza epidemic and peak ARD activity. A similar pattern was seen for each subgroup of men, women, subjects 50 years or older, and subjects 70 years or older. When comparing the average influenza epidemic weeks to average off-season weeks, the odds for AMI and chronic IHD death increased by 1.30 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08–1.56) and 1.10 (95% CI: 0.97–1.26), respectively. Conclusion Influenza epidemics are associated with a rise in autopsy-confirmed coronary deaths. Influenza vaccination should be advocated for patients at high risk of developing cardiovascular events.
Semi-Supervised Single- and Multi-Domain Regression with Multi-Domain Training

We address the problems of multi-domain and single-domain regression based on distinct and unpaired labeled training sets for each of the domains and a large unlabeled training set from all domains. We formulate these problems as a Bayesian estimation with partial knowledge of statistical relations. We propose a worst-case design strategy and study the resulting estimators. Our analysis explicitly accounts for the cardinality of the labeled sets and includes the special cases in which one of the labeled sets is very large or, in the other extreme, completely missing. We demonstrate our estimators in the context of removing expressions from facial images and in the context of audio-visual word recognition, and provide comparisons to several recently proposed multi-modal learning algorithms.
A New Data Processing Inequality and Its Applications in Distributed Source and Channel Coding

In the distributed coding of correlated sources, the problem of characterizing the joint probability distribution of a pair of random variables satisfying an n-letter Markov chain arises. The exact solution of this problem is intractable. In this paper, we seek a single-letter necessary condition for this n-letter Markov chain. To this end, we propose a new data processing inequality on a new measure of correlation through a spectral method. Based on this new data processing inequality, we provide a single-letter necessary condition for the required joint probability distribution. We apply our results to two specific examples involving the distributed coding of correlated sources: multiple-access channel with correlated sources and multiterminal rate-distortion region, and propose new necessary conditions for these two problems.
DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AN ABRASIVE WEAR TESTING EQUIPMENT FOR TILLAGE TOOLS

The wear of tillage tools is a major source of economic constraints to local farmers. Estimating wear in the field is time consuming and expensive. Abrasive wear testing machines developed in advanced countries are not available in Ghana. This makes the study of wear related problems at laboratory levels difficult in the country and most third world research laboratories. The main objective of this study was to develop and evaluate equipment for testing the abrasive wear of tillage tools in the laboratory. The equipment consists of a circular soil bin, support frame, power transmission system and arm-subassemblies. The equipment was evaluated using a caststeel ploughshare in soils from KNUST (Anwomaso Research Farm, 69% sand), Wenchi (67% sand), Ho (73% sand), Mampong (68% sand) and Akatsi (83% sand), all in Ghana. The wear experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with the soils from the five sites as the treatment. Each treatment was replicated five times. The wear rate of soils from Akatsi and Ho showed increasing trend with increasing moisture content while that of Wenchi and Mampong showed a reverse trend up to 13% and 15% moisture content, respectively. The soil from Akatsi produced the highest wear of 4.11g. The wear in the soils from Ho, Mampong, Wenchi and KNUST were 3.16g, 2.90g, 2.88g and 1.36g, respectively with the least wear from the KNUST soil. This confirms the long held belief that the wear rate of tillage tools is directly related to the sand content of the soil. The abrasive wear characteristics of the soils showed strong correlation between mass loss and dimensional loss of the ploughshare. Keywords : Abrasive wear, tillage tool, sand fraction, moisture content
Degradation of Myosin Light Chain in Isolated Rat Hearts Subjected to Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: A New Intracellular Target for Matrix Metalloproteinase-2

Background—Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) contributes to cardiac dysfunction resulting from ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. MMP-2 not only remodels the extracellular matrix but also acts intracellularly in I/R by degrading troponin I. Whether other intracellular targets exist for MMP-2 during I/R is unknown. Methods and Results—Isolated rat hearts were subjected to 20 minutes of ischemia and 30 minutes of reperfusion. The impaired recovery of mechanical function of the heart was attenuated by the MMP inhibitors o-phenanthroline or doxycycline. Quantitative 2D electrophoresis of homogenates of aerobically perfused hearts (control) or those subjected to I/R injury (in the presence or absence of MMP inhibitors) showed 3 low-molecular-weight proteins with levels that were significantly increased upon I/R injury and normalized to control levels by MMP inhibitors. Mass spectrometry analysis identified all 3 proteins as fragments of myosin light chain 1, which possesses theoretical cleavage recognition sequences for MMP-2 and is rapidly degraded by it in vitro. The association of MMP-2 with the thick myofilament in fractions prepared from I/R hearts was observed with immunogold electron microscopy, gelatin zymography for MMP-2 activity, and immunoprecipitation. MMP-2 was found to cleave myosin light chain 1 between tyrosine 189 and glutamine 190 at the C terminus. Conclusions—Our results demonstrate that myosin light chain 1 is another novel substrate for MMP-2 in the cardiomyocyte and that its degradation may contribute to contractile dysfunction resulting from I/R injury to the heart.
Small Punch test for weld heat affected zones

Abstract Small Punch tests (SPT) have been performed on four different zones of P91 welded joint, namely the base metal (BM), the weld metal (WM), the heat affected zone at base metal side (HAZ-BM) and the heat affected zone at weld metal side (HAZ-WM). Besides the creep rupture times, full creep deflection curves are also available from which creep properties of different HAZ zones can be derived. In this paper, an analytic approach, based on Chakrebarty’s membrane stretch model and Kachanov’s creep law, is used to interpret the creep deflection curves of different zones. First, strains and stresses are derived from the observed deflection curves according to the Chakrebarty’s membrane stretch model, then the Kachanov’s parameters are determined by attempting to minimize the sum of the squares of the residuals (difference between derived strains and calculated strains at each time point). With Kachanov’s parameters known, all creep properties can be obtained.
The Performance of Investment Newsletters

This paper analyzes the recommendations of common stocks made by the investment newsletters followed by the Hulbert Financial Digest. We conclude that, taken as a whole, the securities that newsletters recommend do not outperform appropriate benchmarks. Our data provide modest evidence that the future performance of a newsletter is related to its past performance, when performance is measured by raw returns. However, evidence of persistence vanishes when performance is measured by abnormal returns. We find little, if any, evidence of herding, i.e., cross-sectional dependence of recommendations, across newsletters. Newsletters tend to recommend securities that have performed well in the recent past. Finally, newsletters with poor past performance are more likely to go out of business.
Applicability of the MoCA‐S test in populations with little education in Colombia

The objectives of this study were to report on the use of the Spanish version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA‐S) as cognitive screening tool in a population aged 65 to 74 years in the Andes Mountains of Colombia, assessing the influence of education, and to examine its test–retest reliability.
Risk Factors for New Detection of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Acute-Care Hospitals That Employ Strict Infection Control Procedures

ABSTRACT Accurate assessment of the risk factors for colonization with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) among high-risk patients is often confounded by nosocomial VRE transmission. We undertook a 15-month prospective cohort study of adults admitted to high-risk units (hematology, renal, transplant, and intensive care) in three teaching hospitals that used identical strict infection control and isolation procedures for VRE to minimize nosocomial spread. Rectal swab specimens for culture were regularly obtained, and the results were compared with patient demographic factors and antibiotic exposure data. Compliance with screening was defined as “optimal” (100% compliance) or “acceptable” (minor protocol violations were allowed, but a negative rectal swab specimen culture was required within 1 week of becoming colonized with VRE). Colonization with VRE was detected in 1.56% (66 of 4,215) of admissions (0.45% at admission and 0.83% after admission; the acquisition time was uncertain for 0.28%), representing 1.91% of patients. No patients developed infection with VRE. The subsequent rate of new acquisition of VRE was 1.4/1,000 patient days. Renal units had the highest rate (3.23/1,000 patient days; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54 to 6.77/1,000 patient days). vanB Enterococcus faecium was the most common species (71%), but other species included vanB Enterococcus faecalis (21%), vanA E. faecium (6%), and vanA E. faecalis (2%). The majority of isolates were nonclonal by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis. Multivariate analysis of risk factors in patients with an acceptable screening suggested that being managed by a renal unit (hazard ratio [HR] compared to the results for patients managed in an intensive care unit, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.2 to 17.0 [P = 0.02]) and recent administration of either ticarcillin-clavulanic acid (HR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.1 to 11.6 [P = 0.03]) or carbapenems (HR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.0, 8.0 [P = 0.05]), but not vancomycin or broad-spectrum cephalosporins, were associated with acquisition of VRE. The relatively low rates of colonization with VRE, the polyclonal nature of most isolates, and the possible association with the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics are consistent with either the endogenous emergence of VRE or the amplification of previously undetectable colonization with VRE among high-risk patients managed under conditions in which the risk of nosocomial acquisition was minimized.
Characterization and Antibacterial Effect of a Novel Nanocomposite Membrane

In this experiment, un-dried silver-hydroxyapatite-titania nanoparticles slurry was used to make membrane with Polyamide-66 by co-polymerization method. The morphology, chemical components and structures of the membrane were characterized by AAS, XRD, SEM and EDX. S. aureus, E. eoli, P.gingivalis, F.nucleatum and S.mutans were utilized to test the antibacterial effect. XRD results demonstrated that the membrane have characteristic diffraction peaks of pure HA. A homogeneous distribution of the Ca, P, Ti, and Ag element in the membrane was confirmed by EDX. Both surface and section showed porous structure which was confirmed by SEM and the holes size was average 20-30μm. The bacteria assay reflects to the antibacterial effect, 56.31 % of S. aureus and 50.10 % of E. eoli were killed after 24 hours incubation. However, 91.84 % of P. gingivalis, 90.64 % of F. nucleatum and 90.49 % of S. mutans were killed and pictures of SEM showed obviously fewer cells on the surface. So the nanocomposite membrane could be one of the bioactive materials with antibacterial properties for oral GBR technique.