Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Probabilistic Analysis of Pressurized Tunnels against Face Stability Using Collocation-Based Stochastic Response Surface Method

A probabilistic analysis of the face stability of a tunnel driven by a compressed-air pressurized shield is presented. The collocation-based stochastic response surface methodology (CSRSM) is used. The deterministic model employed in the probabilistic analysis is analytical. A translational multiblock collapse mechanism in the framework of the kinematic theorem of limit analysis forms the basis of the analysis. The soil friction angle and cohesion are considered as random variables. CSRSM was first validated by the comparison of the results obtained from the original analytical deterministic model. Then, the influence of the probabilistic characteristics of the uncertain variables was studied. Contrary to the correlation between c and phi and the coefficients of variation of these variables, which have a significant effect on the variability of the critical collapse pressure, the nonnormality of the distributions of the random variables was shown not to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the output.
Dog Ownership during Pregnancy, Maternal Activity, and Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) is an observational study of 14273 UK pregnant singleton mothers in 1990/1991. We examined outcomes of self report of strenuous activity (hours per week) at 18 and 32 weeks of gestation, hours spent in leisure-time physical activities and types, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI); overweight status was defined as pre-pregnancy BMI≥25 and obesity BMI≥30. Pet ownership and activity data were reported for 11,466 mothers. Twenty-five percent of mothers owned at least one dog. There was a positive relationship between participation in activity at least once a week and dog ownership (at 18 weeks, Odds ratio 1.27, 95% confidence interval 1.11–1.44, P<0.001). Dog owners were 50% more likely to achieve the recommended 3 hours activity per week, equivalent to 30 minutes per day, most days of the week (1.53, 1.35–1.72, P<0.001). Dog owners were also more likely to participate in brisk walking activity than those who did not have a dog (compared to no brisk walking 2–6 hrs per week 1.43, 1.23 to 1.67, P<0.001; 7+ hrs per week 1.80, 1.43 to 2.27, P<0.001). However, no association was found with any other types of activities and there was no association between dog ownership and weight status. During the time period studied, pregnant women who had dogs were more active, through walking, than those who did not own dogs. As walking is a low-risk exercise, participation of pregnant women in dog walking activities may be a useful context to investigate as part of a broader strategy to improve activity levels in pregnant women.
Niobium cavity development for the high-energy linac of the Rare Isotope Accelerator

This paper will cover the design of a 6-cell /spl beta//sub g/ = 0.47 cavity for the Rare Isotope Accelerator, as well as the fabrication and RF testing of single-cell prototypes. Single-cell prototypes were chosen as a first step, as they provide a quick and inexpensive way to find out whether the desired field level and Q can be reached, and to check for problems with multipacting. An accelerating gradient of 8 MV/m was chosen as a goal for the /spl beta//sub g/ = 0.47 cavity.
Control of directed formations with a leader-first follower structure

This paper deals with the directed distance-based control of autonomous formations. Unlike most conventional approaches, a graphical model of the formation with a minimally persistent property is used. Any minimally persistent formation can, through agents additions, be re-organized as one with a leader and a first follower. This paper focuses on leader- first-follower formations that may contain cycles. We show how to establish equations of motion, and how to construct a decentralized control law that will recover shape in the presence of small deviations from the nominal. We also list a number of signification open problems in the general area.
Diverticular Disease: An Update on Pathogenesis and Management

Diverticular disease is one of the most common conditions in the Western world and one of the most common findings identified at colonoscopy. Recently, there has been a significant paradigm shift in our understanding of diverticular disease and its management. The pathogenesis of diverticular disease is thought to be multifactorial and include both environmental and genetic factors in addition to the historically accepted etiology of dietary fiber deficiency. Symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD) is currently considered a type of chronic diverticulosis that is perhaps akin to irritable bowel syndrome. Mesalamine, rifaximin and probiotics may achieve symptomatic relief in some patients with SUDD, although their role(s) in preventing complications remain unclear. Antibiotic use for acute diverticulitis and elective prophylactic resection surgery are considered more individualized treatment modalities that take into account the clinical status, comorbidities and lifestyle of the patient. Our understanding of the pathogenesis of diverticular disease continues to evolve and is likely to be diverse and multifactorial. Paradigm shifts in several areas of the pathogenesis and management of diverticular disease are explored in this review.
Usenix Association 2015 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security 39 " My Data Just Goes Everywhere: " User Mental Models of the Internet and Implications for Privacy and Security

Many people use the Internet every day yet know little about how it really works. Prior literature diverges on how people's Internet knowledge affects their privacy and security decisions. We undertook a qualitative study to understand what people do and do not know about the Internet and how that knowledge affects their responses to privacy and security risks. Lay people, as compared to those with computer science or related backgrounds, had simpler mental models that omitted Internet levels, organizations, and entities. People with more articulated technical models perceived more privacy threats, possibly driven by their more accurate understanding of where specific risks could occur in the network. Despite these differences, we did not find a direct relationship between people's technical background and the actions they took to control their privacy or increase their security online. Consistent with other work on user knowledge and experience, our study suggests a greater emphasis on policies and systems that protect privacy and security without relying too much on users' security practices.
Effects of V and Cr on Laser Cladded Fe-Based Coatings

Fe-based coatings with high V and Cr content were obtained by laser cladding using Fe-based powder with different Cr3C2 and FeV50 content. The results showed that Fe-based coatings were uniform and dense. The constituent phases were mainly composed of α-Fe solid solution with the increase of Cr3C2 and FeV50, γ-Fe and V8C7 phases were achieved. The microstructure of the coatings exhibited a typical dendrite structure. The concentration of C, V and Cr were saturated in dendritic areas, and the other alloying elements were mainly dissolved in the interdendritic areas. The hardness and wear resistance of Fe-based coatings were enhanced with the Cr3C2 and FeV50 addition. The specimen with 15% Cr3C2 and 16% FeV50 had the highest hardness of 66.1 ± 0.6 HRC, which was 1.05 times higher than the sample with 4.5% Cr3C2 and 5% FeV50, and the wear resistance of the former was three times greater than the latter.
Intraspecific genetic variation in hosts affects regulation of obligate heritable symbionts

Significance Symbiosis between animals and bacteria enables the exploitation of new ecological niches and promotes diversification. Many insects have obligate heritable bacteria that provision nutrients enabling new lifestyles, such as sap-feeding. A model system for obligate symbiosis is the pea aphid and its heritable bacterial symbiont Buchnera aphidicola. Using this system, we address the extent of variation in host regulation of symbiont populations and find that pea aphids have extensive genetic variation in the ability to regulate Buchnera numbers. In addition, higher abundance of Buchnera is associated with lower reproductive rates in aphid hosts. Thus, we provide experimental evidence demonstrating that genetic variation in hosts affects regulation of symbiosis, suggesting fitness costs and potential negative consequences of obligate symbiosis. Symbiotic relationships promote biological diversification by unlocking new ecological niches. Over evolutionary time, hosts and symbionts often enter intimate and permanent relationships, which must be maintained and regulated for both lineages to persist. Many insect species harbor obligate, heritable symbiotic bacteria that provision essential nutrients and enable hosts to exploit niches that would otherwise be unavailable. Hosts must regulate symbiont population sizes, but optimal regulation may be affected by the need to respond to the ongoing evolution of symbionts, which experience high levels of genetic drift and potential selection for selfish traits. We address the extent of intraspecific variation in the regulation of a mutually obligate symbiosis, between the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) and its maternally transmitted symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola. Using experimental crosses to identify effects of host genotypes, we measured symbiont titer, as the ratio of genomic copy numbers of symbiont and host, as well as developmental time and fecundity of hosts. We find a large (>10-fold) range in symbiont titer among genetically distinct aphid lines harboring the same Buchnera haplotype. Aphid clones also vary in fitness, measured as developmental time and fecundity, and genetically based variation in titer is correlated with host fitness, with higher titers corresponding to lower reproductive rates of hosts. Our work shows that obligate symbiosis is not static but instead is subject to short-term evolutionary dynamics, potentially reflecting coevolutionary interactions between host and symbiont.
The role of learning in social development: Illustrations from neglected children

Abstract Children who experience early caregiving neglect are very likely to have problems developing and maintaining relationships and regulating their social behavior. One of the earliest manifestations of this problem is reflected in indiscriminate behavior, a phenomenon where young children do not show normative wariness of strangers or use familiar adults as sources of security. To better understand the developmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of these problems, this study examined whether institutionally reared children, who experienced early social neglect, had difficulty associating motivational significance to visual stimuli. Pairing stimuli with motivational significance is presumably one of the associative learning processes involved in establishing discriminate or selective relationships with others. We found that early experiences of neglectful caregiving were associated with difficulties in acquiring such associations, and that delays in this developmental skill were related to children's social difficulties. These data suggest a way in which early social learning experiences may impact the development of processes underlying emotional development.
LncRNA CASC2 Interacts With miR‐181a to Modulate Glioma Growth and Resistance to TMZ Through PTEN Pathway

Temozolomide (TMZ)‐based chemotherapy is a standard strategy for glioma, while chemoresistance remains a major therapeutic challenge. Recent evidence highlights the crucial regulatory roles of long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNA) in tumor biology. However, the roles and regulatory mechanisms of lncRNA cancer susceptibility candidate 2 (CASC2), in glioma tumorigenesis and chemoresistance are poorly understood. In this study, CASC2 expression was down‐regulated in glioma tissues and cell lines, and was related to a clinicopathologic features and shorter survival time. Exogenous CACS2 alone was sufficient to inhibit glioma cells’ proliferation and amplified TMZ‐induced repression of cell proliferation, while CACS2 knockdown could reverse this process. CACS2 overexpression could sensitize TMZ‐resistant glioma cells to TMZ, while CACS2 knockdown exerted the opposite function. Moreover, CASC2 could inhibit the miR‐181a expression by direct targeting in TMZ‐resistant glioma cells. CASC2 up‐regulated PTEN protein and down‐regulated p‐AKT protein through regulating miR‐181a, and the effect of CASC2 on PTEN and p‐AKT could be partially restored by miR‐181a. With TMZ‐resistant glioma tissues, miR‐181a was up‐regulated while PTEN was down‐regulated. Taken together, these observations suggest CASC2 up‐regulates PTEN through direct inhibiting miR‐181a and plays an important role in glioma sensitivity to TMZ and may serve as a potential target for cancer diagnosis and treatment. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1889–1899, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Bursts and Isolated Spikes Code for Opposite Movement Directions in Midbrain Electrosensory Neurons

Directional selectivity, in which neurons respond strongly to an object moving in a given direction but weakly or not at all to the same object moving in the opposite direction, is a crucial computation that is thought to provide a neural correlate of motion perception. However, directional selectivity has been traditionally quantified by using the full spike train, which does not take into account particular action potential patterns. We investigated how different action potential patterns, namely bursts (i.e. packets of action potentials followed by quiescence) and isolated spikes, contribute to movement direction coding in a mathematical model of midbrain electrosensory neurons. We found that bursts and isolated spikes could be selectively elicited when the same object moved in opposite directions. In particular, it was possible to find parameter values for which our model neuron did not display directional selectivity when the full spike train was considered but displayed strong directional selectivity when bursts or isolated spikes were instead considered. Further analysis of our model revealed that an intrinsic burst mechanism based on subthreshold T-type calcium channels was not required to observe parameter regimes for which bursts and isolated spikes code for opposite movement directions. However, this burst mechanism enhanced the range of parameter values for which such regimes were observed. Experimental recordings from midbrain neurons confirmed our modeling prediction that bursts and isolated spikes can indeed code for opposite movement directions. Finally, we quantified the performance of a plausible neural circuit and found that it could respond more or less selectively to isolated spikes for a wide range of parameter values when compared with an interspike interval threshold. Our results thus show for the first time that different action potential patterns can differentially encode movement and that traditional measures of directional selectivity need to be revised in such cases.
Physical and antimicrobial properties of quinoa flour‐based films incorporated with essential oil

Films of quinoa flour (Chenopodium quinoa, W) incorporated with oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oils (EOs) at 0.5%, 1%, and 2% p/p were prepared to examine their physical and mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The type of EO was not significant for the physical and barrier parameters of the films. The increase in the EOs concentration led to an increase in the elongation at break, but decrease in the tensile strength, Young's modulus, solubility and water vapor permeability. Films containing 1% and 2% EOs exhibited an inhibitory effect on the growth of S. aureus and E. coli. However, S. aureus was more sensitive to both EOs and the oregano was more efficient in the inactivation to both microorganisms. The incorporation of EOs as natural antibacterial agents may lead to their potential application as active packaging materials to increase food safety. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43311.
Cardiac Arrest and Mortality Related to Intubation Procedure in Critically Ill Adult Patients: A Multicenter Cohort Study

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for cardiac arrest during intubation in ICU, as well as the association of ICU intubation–related cardiac arrest with 28-day mortality. Design: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Setting: Sixty-four French ICUs. Patients: Critically ill patients requiring intubation in the ICU. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: During the 1,847 intubation procedures included, 49 cardiac arrests (2.7%) occurred, including 14 without return of spontaneous circulation (28.6%) and 35 with return of spontaneous circulation (71.4%). In multivariate analysis, the main predictors of intubation-related cardiac arrest were arterial hypotension (systolic blood pressure < 90 mm Hg) prior to intubation (odds ratio = 3.406 [1.797–6.454]; p = 0.0002), hypoxemia prior to intubation (odds ratio = 3.991 [2.101–7.583]; p < 0.0001), absence of preoxygenation (odds ratio = 3.584 [1.287–9.985]; p = 0.0146), overweight/obesity (body mass index > 25 kg/m2; odds ratio = 2.005 [1.017–3.951]; p = 0.0445), and age more than 75 years old (odds ratio = 2.251 [1.080–4.678]; p = 0.0297). Overall 28-day mortality rate was 31.2% (577/1,847) and was significantly higher in patients who experienced intubation-related cardiac arrest than in noncardiac arrest patients (73.5% vs 30.1%; p < 0.001). After multivariate analysis, intubation-related cardiac arrest was an independent risk factor for 28-day mortality (hazard ratio = 3.9 [2.4–6.3]; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: ICU intubation–related cardiac arrest occurs in one of 40 procedures with high immediate and 28-day mortality. We identified five independent risk factors for cardiac arrest, three of which are modifiable, possibly to decrease intubation-related cardiac arrest prevalence and 28-day ICU mortality.
Grain boundaries in CdTe thin film solar cells: a review

The current state of knowledge on the impact of grain boundaries in CdTe solar cells is reviewed with emphasis being placed on working cell structures. The role of the chemical composition of grain boundaries as well as growth processes are discussed, along with characterisation techniques such as electron beam induced current and cathodoluminescence, which are capable of extracting information on a level of resolution comparable to the size of the grain boundaries. Work which attempts to relate grain boundaries to device efficiency is also assessed and gaps in the current knowledge are highlighted.
A clinical spectrum of scalp dermatoses in adults presenting to a tertiary referral care centre.

BACKGROUND: Hair and scalp disorders generally are not associated with significant physical morbidity but the psychological impact of visible scalp problems may be very high. The scalp is unique among skin areas in humans, with high follicular density and a high rate of sebum production. The skin of the scalp has several unique features that aid in its critical role of protecting the head. The follicular density is much higher, creating a dark, warm and moist environment. This provides thermal insulation, but also creates an environment conducive to the superficial mycotic infections that play a role in dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis, and tinea capitis, and for parasitic infestations such as pediculosis capitis. As there is a paucity of studies on scalp dermatoses in the Indian and the Western literature, a clinical spectrum of these scalp dermatoses can unravel the common clinical manifestations in our population. OBJECTIVES: To study the spectrum of scalp dermatoses in adults. To study the various clinical patterns of scalp dermatoses in adults MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was undertaken from January 2012 to June 2013. All adult patients reporting to the Department Of Dermatology, Sri R.L. Jalappa Hospital and Research centre attached to Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Tamaka, Kolar were evaluated for entry into the study and patients having scalp lesions were enrolled. A detailed history of all such patients was taken including general status of the patient, systemic diseases, medications used, precipitating factors such as sunlight, alcohol, smoking, drugs and trauma. Complete clinical and a thorough scalp examination was performed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Scalp dermatoses are common in adult population, with prevalence of 2.85%. Majority of the patients with scalp dermatoses belonged to the age group of 41-50 years (30.9%), followed by 3rd decade (29.8%). Males (60.8%) were affected more than females (39.2%), with a male: female ratio 1.55:1. Scalp was the initial site of involvement in 73.1% of the cases studied. Lesions exclusively over the scalp were seen in 47.3% of adults. Multiple regions of the scalp were affected in 69.6% of the patients, with parietal area being involved in 57.3% of cases. Inflammatory conditions (72.5%) predominated in our study. The most common dermatosis was psoriasis which constituted 33.3% of cases, followed by seborrhoeic dermatitis(18.7%), pityriasis sicca (11.6%) and vitiligo (9.9%).
Mycophenolate Mofetil and Rapamycin Induce Apoptosis in the Human Monocytic U937 Cell Line Through Two Different Pathways

Transplant vasculopathy may be considered as an accelerated form of atherosclerosis resulting in chronic rejection of vascularized allografts. After organ transplantation, a diffuse intimal thickening is observed, leading to the development of an atherosclerosis plaque due to a significant monocyte infiltration. This results from a chronic inflammatory process induced by the immune response. In this study, we investigated the impact of two immunosuppressive drugs used in therapy initiated after organ transplantation, mycophenolate mofetil, and rapamycin, on the apoptotic response of monocytes induced or not by oxidized LDL. Here we show the pro‐apoptotic effect of these two drugs through two distinct signaling pathways and we highlight a synergistic effect of rapamycin on apoptosis induced by oxidized LDL. In conclusion, since immunosuppressive therapy using mycophenolate mofetil or rapamycin can increase the cell death in a monocyte cell line, this treatment could exert similar effects on human monocytes in transplant patients, and thus, prevent transplant vasculopathy, atherosclerosis development, and chronic allograft rejection. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 3480–3487, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.