Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ultrasonic characterization of green and sintered ceramics; 1: Time domain

In situ quality control of ceramic bodies during various stages of manufacture is critical to met quality specifications. Proper monitoring and understanding of the sintering process is generally necessary to obtain a desired ceramic microstructure. Microstructural and mechanical quantification of ceramics by conventional methods is mainly destructive and time consuming. However, on-line process control requires an understanding of microstructural evolution from a porous to a fully densified state. An alternative for porous material characterization is the use of nondestructive techniques, such as ultrasonics. Normal ultrasonic measurements conducted are those of velocity and attenuation. Ultrasonic velocity measurements are discussed to characterize porous, partially sintered and fully dense alumina bodies. Ultrasonic velocity is regarded as more of a macroscopic property and is mainly used for determination of elastic properties, although in many cases it may be used to determine microstructural changes. Monitoring of ultrasonic velocity changes during sintering can serve as an indirect method of determining the densification rate. In the case of green ceramics, it is necessary to use relatively low frequencies (5 MHz) for determining ultrasonic velocities to account for the high attenuation of ultrasound. Although it is generally expected that ultrasonic velocity of a green ceramic is a functionmore » of density, whether the velocity is similar for samples with the same green density but different particle packing needs to be answered. A continuous evaluation of velocity measurements at various stages of densification can provide significant information about the state of microstructural evolution. « less
Generalization and Induction: Misconceptions, Clarifications, and a Classification of Induction

In "Generalizing Generalizability in Information Systems Research," Lee and Baskerville (2003) try to clarify generalization and classify it into four types. Unfortunately, their account is problematic. We propose repairs. Central among these is our balance-of-evidence argument that we should adopt the view that Hume's problem of induction has a solution, even if we do not know what it is. We build upon this by proposing an alternative classification of induction. There are five types of generalization: (1) theoretical, (2) within-population, (3) cross-population, (4) contextual, and (5) temporal, with theoretical generalization being across the empirical and theoretical levels and the rest within the empirical level. Our classification also includes two kinds of inductive reasoning that do not belong to the domain of generalization. We then discuss the implications of our classification for information systems research.
Prospective multicentre study on antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori strains obtained from children living in Europe

Aim: To prospectively assess the antibacterial resistance rate in Helicobacter pylori strains obtained from symptomatic children in Europe. Methods: During a 4-year period, 17 paediatric centres from 14 European countries reported prospectively on patients infected with H pylori, for whom antibiotic susceptibility was tested. Results: A total of 1233 patients were reported from Northern (3%), Western (70%), Eastern (9%) and Southern Europe (18%); 41% originated from outside Europe as indicated by mother’s birth-country; 13% were <6 years of age, 43% 6–11 years of age and 44% >11 years of age. Testing was carried out before the first treatment (group A, n = 1037), and after treatment failure (group B, n = 196). Overall resistance to clarithromycin was detected in 24% (mean, A: 20%, B: 42%). The primary clarithromycin resistance rate was higher in boys (odds ratio (OR) 1.58; 1.12 to 2.24, p = 0.01), in children <6 years compared with >12 years (OR 1.82, 1.10 to 3.03, p = 0.020) and in patients living in Southern Europe compared with those living in Northern Europe (OR 2.25; 1.52 to 3.30, p<0.001). Overall resistance rate to metronidazole was 25% (A: 23%, B: 35%) and higher in children born outside Europe (A: adjusted. OR 2.42, 95% CI: 1.61 to 3.66, p<0.001). Resistance to both antibiotics occurred in 6.9% (A: 5.3%, B: 15.3%). Resistance to amoxicillin was exceptional (0.6%). Children with peptic ulcer disease (80/1180, 6.8%) were older than patients without ulcer (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The primary resistance rate of H pylori strains obtained from unselected children in Europe is high. The use of antibiotics for other indications seems to be the major risk factor for development of primary resistance.
Identification of hardening parameters using finite element models and full-field measurements: some case studies

This paper is focused on the identification of elasto-plastic behaviour parameters of aluminium alloy 2024-T3 using full-field measurements. An orthotropic Hill criterion including an isotropic hardening is considered. Standard tensile tests provide a first set of parameters. Some of these parameters are optimised thanks to an inverse modelling including finite element analysis and experimental full-field displacement measurements. This so-called finite element model updated process is based on different specimen geometries which induced heterogeneous strain fields. Full-field measurements are provided by digital image correlation technique. The aim of this work is to study the impact of the specimen shape that gives the heterogeneous strain fields on the identification of isotropic hardening parameters. Results are compared and discussed.
Meta-analysis of studies of occupational exposure to vinyl chloride in relation to cancer mortality.

OBJECTIVE A meta-analysis was made of studies addressing occupational exposure to vinyl chloride in relation to cancer mortality. METHODS Two recently updated multicenter cohort studies and six smaller studies were identified. For selected neoplasms, standardized mortality ratios (SMR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were abstracted (or calculated from raw data). In cases of lack of heterogeneity (P-value > or = 0.01), meta-analyses were conducted using a random-effects model. RESULTS With SMR values ranging from 1.63 to 57.1, all six studies for which these ratios could be obtained suggested an increased risk of liver cancer. For four of these studies, excesses persisted when known cases of angiosarcoma of the liver (ASL) were excluded. The meta-SMR for liver cancers other than ASL (based on the 2 large cohorts) was 1.35 (95% CI 1.04-1.77). The meta-SMR for lung cancer was 0.90 (95% CI 0.77-1.00, based on 5 studies), although higher SMR values were reported in early studies. The meta-SMR for brain cancer, based on 5 studies, was 1.26 (95% CI 0.98-1.62). For soft tissue sarcomas, the meta-SMR based on 4 studies was 2.52 (95% CI 1.56-4.07). The meta-SMR for lymphatic and hematopoietic neoplasms in the 2 large studies was 0.90 (95% CI 0.75-1.01), although 3 of the smaller studies reported significant excesses. CONCLUSIONS Apart from the known risk of ASL, workers exposed to vinyl chloride may experience an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and soft-tissue sarcoma; however, these results may have been influenced by the underdiagnosis of true ASL. Increased mortality from lung and brain cancers and from lymphatic and hematopoietic neoplasms cannot be excluded; mortality from other neoplasms does not appear to be increased.
Comparison of DNA measurement performed by flow and image cytometry of embedded breast tissue sections.

Tissue sections are important for morphometric studies, such as the analysis of architectural pattern of tissues as well as nuclear morphology and chromatin texture describing DNA distribution in nuclei. Tissue sections are generally not recommended for use in DNA ploidy measurements due to possible errors based on sectioned and overlapped nuclei. However, image cytometry (IC) on tissue sections has the advantage of preserved architecture and selective sampling of nuclei. This is particularly important for the analysis of specimens with small areas of diseases tissue or with a variety of histologic patterns in the same region, such as premalignant changes or in situ tumors. To evaluate the potential of measurements on breast tissue sections in the estimation of DNA ploidy status, we compared IC and flow cytometry (FC) measurements on formalin-fixed breast cancer tissue from 51 paraffin-embedded blocks. For each specimen the DNA index and ploidy were determined by both methods. DNA indices of IC and FC corresponded roughly in 66% of cases. Agreement in ploidy was achieved in about 80% (40/51) of cases, where some of the discrepancies could be explained by the differences between invasive cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) illustrated by IC. Both methods agreed highly in aneuploid cases. However, about 50% of FC diploid cases were aneuploid by IC. Despite significant shortcomings of measurements obtained on archival tissues, meaningful data can be obtained not only by FC but also by IC performed on tissue sections. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Role of Cdk1 in the p53-Independent Abrogation of the Postmitotic Checkpoint by Human Papillomavirus E6

ABSTRACT Specific types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are strongly associated with the development of cervical carcinoma. The HPV E6 oncoprotein from HPV degrades p53 and abrogates cell cycle checkpoints. Nonetheless, functional p53 has been observed in cervical cancer. We have previously identified a p53-independent function of E6 in attenuating the postmitotic G1-like checkpoint that can lead to polyploidy, an early event during cervical carcinogenesis that predisposes cells to aneuploidy. How E6 promotes cell cycle progression in the presence of p53 and its target, p21, remains a mystery. In this study, we examined the expression of cell cycle-related genes in cells expressing wild-type E6 and the mutant that is defective in p53 degradation but competent in abrogating the postmitotic checkpoint. Our results demonstrated an increase in the steady-state levels of G1- and G2-related cyclins/Cdks in E6-expressing keratinocytes. Interestingly, only Cdk1 remained active in E6 mutant-expressing cells while bypassing the postmitotic checkpoint. Furthermore, the downregulation of Cdk1 impaired the ability of both wild-type and mutant E6 to induce polyploidy. Our study thus demonstrated an important role for Cdk1, which binds p21 with lower affinity than Cdk2, in abrogating the postmitotic checkpoint in E6-expressing cells. We further show that E2F1 is important for E6 to upregulate Cdk1. Moreover, reduced nuclear p21 localization was observed in the E6 mutant-expressing cells. These findings shed light on the mechanisms by which HPV induces genomic instability and hold promise for the identification of drug targets. IMPORTANCE HPV infection is strongly associated with the development of cervical carcinoma. HPV encodes an E6 oncoprotein that degrades the tumor suppressor p53 and abrogates cell cycle checkpoints. Nonetheless, functional p53 has been observed in cervical cancer. We have recently demonstrated a p53-independent abrogation of the postmitotic checkpoint by HPV E6 that induces polyploidy. However, the mechanism is not known. In this study, we provide evidence that Cdk1 plays an important role in this process. Previously, Cdk2 was thought to be essential for the G1/S transition, while Cdk1 only compensated its function in the absence of Cdk2. Our studies have demonstrated a novel role of Cdk1 at the postmitotic G1-like checkpoint in the presence of Cdk2. These findings shed light on the mechanisms by which HPV induces genomic instability and hold promise for the identification of drug targets.
ASPHALT RHEOLOGY: EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF DYNAMIC MODULI AT LOW TEMPERATURE

One of the important factors in pavement design is the viscoelastic nature of asphalt. The study uses the term viscoelasticity to mean the mechanical properties of asphalt that at low temperature have the ability to resist shrinkage and rutting at high temperature. The low temperature rheology of asphalt relates to the problem of thermal cracking where the high viscosity of the binder effectively prevents the relief of stresses that develop during the pavement cooling. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of the Rheometrics Mechanical Spectrometer (RMS) that can make accurate low temperature dynamic viscoelastic measurements on asphalt.
18F-THK5351: A Novel PET Radiotracer for Imaging Neurofibrillary Pathology in Alzheimer Disease

Imaging of neurofibrillary pathology in the brain helps in diagnosing dementia, tracking disease progression, and evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of antidementia drugs. The radiotracers used in this imaging must be highly sensitive and specific for tau protein fibrils in the human brain. We developed a novel tau PET tracer, 18F-THK5351, through compound optimization of arylquinoline derivatives. Methods: The in vitro binding properties, pharmacokinetics, and safety of 18F-THK5351 were investigated, and a clinical study on Alzheimer disease (AD) patients was performed. Results: 18F-THK5351 demonstrated higher binding affinity for hippocampal homogenates from AD brains and faster dissociation from white-matter tissue than did 18F-THK5117. The THK5351 binding amount correlated with the amount of tau deposits in human brain samples. Autoradiography of brain sections revealed that THK5351 bound to neurofibrillary tangles selectively and with a higher signal-to-background ratio than did THK5117. THK5351 exhibited favorable pharmacokinetics and no defluorination in mice. In first-in-human PET studies in AD patients, 18F-THK5351 demonstrated faster kinetics, higher contrast, and lower retention in subcortical white matter than18F-THK5117. Conclusion: 18F-THK5351 is a useful PET tracer for the early detection of neurofibrillary pathology in AD patients.
Impact of a Telehealth Program With Voice Recognition Technology in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure: Feasibility Study

Background Despite the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure (HF), the current hospital-oriented framework for HF management does not appear to be sufficient to maintain the stability of HF patients in the long term. The importance of self-care management is increasingly being emphasized as a promising long-term treatment strategy for patients with chronic HF. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a new information communication technology (ICT)–based telehealth program with voice recognition technology could improve clinical or laboratory outcomes in HF patients. Methods In this prospective single-arm pilot study, we recruited 31 consecutive patients with chronic HF who were referred to our institute. An ICT-based telehealth program with voice recognition technology was developed and used by patients with HF for 12 weeks. Patients were educated on the use of this program via mobile phone, landline, or the Internet for the purpose of improving communication and data collection. Using these systems, we collected comprehensive data elements related to the risk of HF self-care management such as weight, diet, exercise, medication adherence, overall symptom change, and home blood pressure. The study endpoints were the changes observed in urine sodium concentration (uNa), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure (MLHFQ) scores, 6-min walk test, and N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as surrogate markers for appropriate HF management. Results Among the 31 enrolled patients, 27 (87%) patients completed the study, and 10 (10/27, 37%) showed good adherence to ICT-based telehealth program with voice recognition technology, which was defined as the use of the program for 100 times or more during the study period. Nearly three-fourths of the patients had been hospitalized at least once because of HF before the enrollment (20/27, 74%); 14 patients had 1, 2 patients had 2, and 4 patients had 3 or more previous HF hospitalizations. In the total study population, there was no significant interval change in laboratory and functional outcome variables after 12 weeks of ICT-based telehealth program. In patients with good adherence to ICT-based telehealth program, there was a significant improvement in the mean uNa (103.1 to 78.1; P=.01) but not in those without (85.4 to 96.9; P=.49). Similarly, a marginal improvement in MLHFQ scores was only observed in patients with good adherence (27.5 to 21.4; P=.08) but not in their counterparts (19.0 to 19.7; P=.73). The mean 6-min walk distance and NT-proBNP were not significantly increased in patients regardless of their adherence. Conclusions Short-term application of ICT-based telehealth program with voice recognition technology showed the potential to improve uNa values and MLHFQ scores in HF patients, suggesting that better control of sodium intake and greater quality of life can be achieved by this program.
Experimental characterization and modeling of the mechanical behavior of filled rubbers under cyclic loading conditions

Rubber-like materials are submitted to cyclic loading conditions in various applications. Fillers are always incorporated within rubber compounds. They improve the mechanical properties but induce a significant stress-softening under cyclic loadings. The physical source of the softening is not yet established and its modeling remains a challenge. For a better understanding of the softening, filled rubbers are submitted to cyclic loadings. In order to quantify the effects of the loading intensity and the number of cycles, original methods are proposed to characterize the softening. To study the influence of the material microstructure on the softening, compounds with various compositions are considered.Non proportional tensile tests including uniaxial and biaxial loading paths are applied in order to highlight the softening induced anisotropy. Such unconventional experimental data are used to provide a general criterion for the softening activation. A constitutive modeling grounded on a thorough analysis of experimental data is proposed. The model is based on a directional approach. The Mullins softening is accounted for by the strain amplification concept and is activated by a directional criterion. The model ability to predict non proportional softened material responses is demonstrated
Some new results on Brownian Directed Polymers in Random Environment

We prove some new results on Brownian directed polymers in random environment recently introduced by the authors. The directed polymer in this model is a d-dimensional Brownian motion (up to finite time $t$ ) viewed under a Gibbs measure which is built up with a Poisson random measure on $\mathbb{R}_{\vdash}\mathrm{x}\mathbb{R}^{d}$ (time $ \mathrm{x}$ space). Here, the Poisson random measure plays the role of the random environment which is independent both in time and in space. We prove that (i)
Reciprocal Regulation of Agonist and Inverse Agonist Signaling Efficacy upon Short-Term Treatment of the Human δ-Opioid Receptor with an Inverse Agonist

Rapid regulation of receptor signaling by agonist ligands is widely accepted, whereas short-term adaptation to inverse agonists has been little documented. In the present study, guanosine 5′-O-(3-[35S]thio)triphosphate ([35S]GTPγS) binding and cAMP accumulation assays were used to assess the consequences of 30-min exposure to the inverse agonist N,N-diallyl-Tyr-Aib-Aib-Phe-Leu-OH (ICI174864) (1 μM) on δ-opioid receptor signaling efficacy. ICI174864 pretreatment increased maximal effect (Emax) for the partial agonist Tyr-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-Phe-Phe-OH (TIPP) at the two levels of the signaling cascade, whereas Emax values for more efficacious agonists like (+)-4-[(αR)-α-((2S,5R)-4-allyl-2,5-dimethyl-1-piperazinyl)-3-methoxybenzyl]-N,N-diethylbenzamide (SNC-80) and bremazocine were increased in [35S]GTPγS binding but not in cAMP accumulation assays. Pre-exposure to ICI174864 also induced a shift to the left in dose-response curves for bremazocine and TIPP. On the other hand, Emax for the inverse agonist H-Tyr-TicΨ[CH2NH]Cha-Phe-OH was reduced in both assays, but no changes in potency were observed. For the weaker inverse agonist naloxone, Emax in [35S]GTPγS binding was drastically modified because the drug turned from inverse agonist to agonist after ICI174864 pretreatment. Likewise, ICI174864 turned from inverse agonist to agonist when tested in cAMP accumulation assays. In both cases, inversion of efficacy was concomitant with marked increase in potency for agonist effects. Together with functional changes, short-term treatment with ICI174864 reduced basal receptor phosphorylation and increased immunoreactivity for Gαi3 in membrane preparations. Functional consequences of ICI174864 pretreatment were simulated in the cubic ternary complex model by increasing receptor/G protein coupling or G protein amount available for interaction with the receptor. Taken together, these data show that inverse agonists may induce rapid regulation in receptor signaling efficacy.
Poisson regression with a surrogate X: an analysis of vitamin A and Indonesian children's mortality.

"A Poisson regression model with a surrogate X variable is proposed to help to assess the efficacy of vitamin A in reducing child mortality in Indonesia. In a recent community trial, the mortality rate in villages receiving vitamin A supplementation was 35% less than in control villages. However, at base-line, control villages were found to have slightly higher rates of xerophthalmia, an ocular disease caused by vitamin A deficiency. It was therefore desirable to adjust the mortality comparison for base-line vitamin A levels as indicated by xerophthalmia prevalence. This paper presents a parametric errors-in-X regression model developed for this purpose. Likelihood methods for fitting and inference are discussed. The model is illustrated on the Indonesian data set. "
Tapia indicators and nite termination ofinfeasible { interior { point methods for degenerate

The convergence of the Tapia indicators for infeasible{interior{point methods for solving degenerate linear complementarity problems is investigated. A new estimate of the rate of convergence of the Tapia indicators for the indices where both primal and dual variables vanish in the solution is obtained, showing that Tapia indicators for these indices converge slower than for other indices. Use of Tapia indicators in a nite termination procedure for infeasible{interior{point algorithms is proposed.
Archive Based Multi-swarm Algorithm for Many-Objective Problems

Multi-Objective Optimization Problems (MOPS) present several challenges. In particular, when the number of objectives is greater than three, they are actually called Many-Objective Optimization Problems (MaOPs). To overcome this limitation, researches are investigating multi-swarm approaches. Multi-swarm is a very interesting approach that allows the decomposition of different aspects of the problem and each swarm could specialize on a dedicate part of the problem. This study explores this idea to create a novel multi-swarm algorithm, called A-Multi, which tackles the main challenge of MaOPs: to convergence towards the true Pareto front and to diversify the obtained solutions covering the entire Pareto front. A-Multi project is based on different swarms use different archiving methods, ones specialized on diversity and others specialized on convergence. The algorithm is evaluated with several MaOPs in terms of both convergence and diversity and the results shows the validity of archive based multi-swarm approach.