Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inverted base pavements: construction and performance

ABSTRACT Inverted base pavements involve a well-compacted granular aggregate base built between a thin asphalt concrete layer and a cement-treated base. Inverted base pavements can be constructed using conventional equipment and procedures but require proper quality control. This study reviews the extensive South African experience and case histories in the USA. Accumulating evidence suggests that inverted base pavements are a viable alternative and can outperform conventional pavements at a lower cost. Inverted base pavements rely on the complementary interaction between layers. The cement-treated base provides a stiff foundation for efficient compaction and constrains the deformation of the stress-sensitive granular aggregate base. The thin asphalt surface layer deforms as a membrane and develops low tensile stress. Additional large-scale field tests should be conducted to assess the performance of inverted base pavement designs in a wide range of conditions relevant to the USA.
Combination of 1H NMR- and GC-MS-Based Metabonomics to Study on the Toxicity of Coptidis Rhizome in Rats

Background Coptidis Rhizome (CR), widely applied to treat with heat and toxicity, is one of the most commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), however, an extensive dosage can induce toxicity. Diarrhea is one of the most frequent side effects of CR treatment. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, metabonomics was combined with the multivariate statistical analysis to discover the endogenous metabolites which related to the diarrheal induced by CR. The male Sprague–Dawley rats were dosed with 4.95 g CR/kg weight. Urine samples were collected at day −1 (before treatment), and days 14 and 21 for NMR analysis. Serum and tissues were collected at day 14 for GC-MS analysis and histopathological examination, respectively. The urine and serum metabolic profiles provided clearer distinction between CR-treated group and control group, which was confirmed by body weight change and diarrhea. Through multivariate statistical analysis, 12 marker metabolites from 1H NMR and 8 ones from GC-MS have been found. Among those metabolites, hippurate, acetate, alanine, glycine and glutamate are likely to break the balance of gut microbiota, whereas, lactate and 2-ketoisovalerate showed association with energy metabolism. Meanwhile, we observed that the CR-induced toxicity will recover when the treatment was stopped. Conclusions/significance These results suggest that the main reason for the CR-associated diarrhea might be disturbance in the normal gut microbiota. This metabonomics approach may provide an effective way to study the alteration of gut microbiota, which is expected to find broader application in other drug-induced gastrointestinal reaction assessment.
MetaBeam: Multi-layer CRLH antennas for 24 GHz sensor applications based on low cost PCBs

We investigate the feasibility of CRLH zeroth-order resonant (ZOR) antennas for the 24 GHz ISM band on Rogers RO4350/4450 multi-layer low-cost technology. This technology is used for the first time to implement metal-insulator-metal (MIM) CRLH antennas with its fine metallization features. The fabricated antennas may find applications in the field of automotive or industrial sensors, since the RO4350/4450 laminates are approved for this purpose. The presented return loss and radiation pattern measurements of several prototypes with different length varying from nearly one up to several free space wavelengths indicate that the proposed low-cost implementation is reliable in terms of fabrication and material parameter tolerances.
Acoustic nonlinearity parameter of tissue on echo mode: review and evaluation of the different approaches for B/A imaging

The nonlinear B/A parameter induces the distortion of ultrasound waves in tissue. Media with different nonlinear parameter differently distort the ultrasound wave. This paper reviews the techniques that allow to compute this parameter in echo mode imaging. For non homogeneous B/A medium, new formulations are proposed. The simulation results show the capacity of all methods to accurately compute the B/A parameter when diffraction effects of the probe are set off, while only the comparative method works nicely when diffraction is taken into account. First experimental results are also presented, confirming the good performance obtainable with such method.
Effect of farming system and cheesemaking technology on the physicochemical characteristics, fatty acid profile, and sensory properties of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese.

Caciocavallo Palermitano is a typical stretched-curd cheese that has been produced over the centuries in Sicily according to traditional cheesemaking technology and using raw milk from autochthonous cow breeds reared at pasture. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of the farming system and processing technology on the characteristics of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese, with particular regard to the fatty acid profile. The farming system was either extensive, using autochthonous cows fed a pasture-based diet, or intensive, with specialized dairy cow breeds fed mainly hay and concentrate. The cheese-processing technology was either artisanal, using traditional wooden tools and endemic lactic bacteria, or advanced, using modern steel equipment and selected lactic bacteria. Twelve Caciocavallo Palermitano cheeses, 3 from each of the 4 experimental theses (2 farming systems × 2 cheesemaking technologies), were obtained and aged for 1, 30, 60, and 120 d. Milk of origin and cheeses were analyzed for the main chemical and rheological parameters. Fatty acids were methylated in lyophilized cheese and analyzed by gas chromatography. Sensory analysis was carried out by trained panelists. The PROC GLM of SAS 9.1. 2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NY) was used for the statistical analysis. The physical, chemical, and sensory characteristics of Caciocavallo Palermitano cheese were influenced more by the farming system than by the cheesemaking technology. Compared with cheese produced through intensive farming, cheese from extensive farming was richer in polyunsaturated, n-3, and odd- and branched-chain fatty acids, as well as in conjugated linoleic acid (cis-9,trans-11 C18:2), with accompanying improved human health benefits. The cheesemaking technology produced variation in the evolution of proteolysis during aging, due presumably to the different active microflora, which influenced the sensory profile of the resulting cheese. Indeed, cheese produced by artisanal manufacturing was described as less "bitter" and more "piquant" than cheese produced through the advanced process.
The primary cilium of telocytes in the vasculature: electron microscope imaging

Blood vessels are highly organized and complex structure, which are far more than simple tubes conducting the blood to almost any tissue of the body. The fine structure of the wall of blood vessels has been studied previously using the electron microscope, but the presence the telocytes associated with vasculature, a specific new cellular entity, has not been studied in depth. Interestingly, telocytes have been recently found in the epicardium, myocardium, endocardium, human term placenta, duodenal lamina propria and pleura. We show the presence of telocytes located on the extracellular matrix of blood vessels (arterioles, venules and capillaries) by immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. Also, we demonstrated the first evidence of a primary cilium in telocytes. Several functions have been proposed for these cells. Here, the telocyte‐blood vessels cell proximity, the relationship between telocytes, exosomes and nervous trunks may have a special significance.
Strand coating for the superconducting cables of the LHC main magnets

The electrical resistance of contacts between strands in the Rutherford type superconducting cables has a major effect on the eddy current loss in cables, and on the dynamic magnetic field error in the LHC main magnets. In order to guarantee the value and constancy of the contact resistance, various metallic coatings were studied from the electrical and mechanical points of view in the past. We report on the molten bath Sn/sub 95wt/Ag/sub 5wt/ coating, oxidized thermally in air after the cabling is completed, that we adopted for the cables of the LHC main magnets. The value of the contact resistance is determined by the strand coating and cabling procedures, oxidation heat treatment, and the magnet coil curing and handling. Chemical analysis helps to understand the evolution of the contacts. We also mention results on two electrolytic coatings resulting in higher contact resistance.
Intravascular Ultrasound Assessment of Ulcerated Ruptured Plaques: A Comparison of Culprit and Nonculprit Lesions of Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes and Lesions in Patients Without Acute Coronary Syndromes

Background—It is not clear why some plaque ruptures lead to acute coronary syndromes (ACS) but others do not. Methods and Results—We analyzed 80 plaque ruptures in 74 patients and compared culprit lesions of ACS patients with nonculprit lesions of ACS patients and lesions of non-ACS patients; both culprit and nonculprit plaque ruptures were studied in 6 of 54 ACS patients. Intravascular ultrasound findings suggesting thrombus were observed more frequently in culprit lesions of ACS patients (n=35) compared with nonculprit lesions of ACS patients (n=19) and lesions of non-ACS patients (n=26): 60% versus 32% versus 8% (P <0.001). At the minimal lumen site, smaller lumen areas (3.3±1.5 versus 5.4±2.6 versus 6.1±2.0 mm2, P <0.001) and greater area stenosis (61±15% versus 50±14% versus 46±18%, P =0.002) and plaque burden (80±8% versus 71±8% versus 69±10%, P <0.001) were observed in culprit lesions of ACS patients compared with nonculprit lesions of ACS patients and lesions of non-ACS patients. Lesions were longer (18.7±6.4 versus 154.9±6.1 versus 12.0±4.9 mm, P <0.001) and rupture site remodeling indices were greater (1.26±0.21 versus 1.24±0.21 versus 1.09±0.05, P =0.002). Independent predictors of culprit plaque ruptures in ACS patients were smaller minimum lumen areas (P =0.02) and presence of thrombus (P =0.01). Conclusions—Ruptured plaques in culprit lesions of ACS patients have smaller lumens; greater plaque burdens, area stenosis, and remodeling indices; and more thrombus. Plaque rupture itself does not lead to symptoms. The association of plaque rupture with a smaller lumen area and/or thrombus formation causes lumen compromise and leads to symptoms.
Feasibility Study of Textureless Object Detection and Pose Estimation Based on a Model with 3D Edgels and Surfaces

Abstract This paper describes a method for the detection of textureless objects. Our target objects include furniture and home appliances, which have no rich textural features or characteristic shapes. Focusing on the ease of application, we define a model that represents objects in terms of three-dimensional edgels and surfaces. Object detection is performed by superimposing input data on the model. A two-stage algorithm is applied to bring out object poses. Surfaces are used to extract candidates fromthe input data, and edgels are then used to identify the pose of a target object using two-dimensional template matching. Experiments using four real furniture and home appliances were performed to show the feasibility of the proposed method.We suggest the possible applicability in occlusion and clutter conditions.
Characterization of Stratum Corneum Molecular Dynamics by Natural-Abundance 13C Solid-State NMR

Despite the enormous potential for pharmaceutical applications, there is still a lack of understanding of the molecular details that can contribute to increased permeability of the stratum corneum (SC). To investigate the influence of hydration and heating on the SC, we record the natural-abundance 13C signal of SC using polarization transfer solid-state NMR methods. Resonance lines from all major SC components are assigned. Comparison of the signal intensities obtained with the INEPT and CP pulse sequences gives information on the molecular dynamics of SC components. The majority of the lipids are rigid at 32°C, and those lipids co-exist with a small pool of mobile lipids. The ratio between mobile and rigid lipids increases with hydration. An abrupt change of keratin filament dynamics occurs at RH = 80–85%, from completely rigid to a structure with rigid backbone and mobile protruding terminals. Heating has a strong effect on the lipid mobility, but only a weak influence on the keratin filaments. The results provide novel molecular insight into how the SC constituents are affected by hydration and heating, and improve the understanding of enhanced SC permeability, which is associated with elevated temperatures and SC hydration.
Importance of Plasma Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMP) and Tissue Inhibitors of Metalloproteinase (TIMP) in development of fibrosis in agnogenic myeloid metaplasia

Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are key elements in the formation, remodeling and degradation of matrix protein. Bone marrow fibrosis in AMM, with deposition, not only of interstitial and basement membrane collagen but also of fibronectin, vitronectin, laminin and proteoglycans, results from a disturbed balance between synthesis and proteolytic degradation of matrix protein. Although TIMP and MMP play important roles in the development of fibrosing diseases of skin, liver and lung, only a few studies of TIMP and MMP in the formation of bone marrow fibrosis in AMM have been published. The literature shows that TIMP-1 (both the total, complex and the free form) is significantly increased in AMM and other myeloproliferative syndromes (including polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocytosis (ET)), while MMP-3 is significantly decreased, and levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 are not different from control values. Variance from control values for both TIMP-1 and MMP-3 is more evident in AMM than in PV and ET, thus further suggesting bone marrow fibrosis in AMM results from enhanced TIMP and decreased MMP activities.
Anxiety, depression, and HIV symptoms among persons living with HIV/AIDS: the role of hazardous drinking

Hazardous drinking is common among persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and associated with numerous negative health consequences. Despite the well-established negative effects of hazardous drinking among PLWHA, scholarly work has neglected to explore the role of such drinking in regard to anxiety/depressive symptoms and HIV symptom expression. The current study investigated associations between hazardous drinking and anxiety/depressive symptoms and HIV symptoms among PLWHA. Participants (n = 94; 88.3% male; Mage = 48.55; SD = 9.15) included PLWHA recruited from AIDS service organizations in the northeast. Hazardous drinking was significantly associated with anxiety/depressive symptoms and HIV symptom expression above and beyond the variance accounted for by sex, race, recruitment site, and CD4 T-Cell count, as well as other cognitive-affective variables (emotion dysregulation, distress intolerance, and anxiety sensitivity). The present results provide empirical support that hazardous drinking is indeed related to depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as HIV symptom distress and that this effect is not attributable to other factors commonly related to both alcohol use problems and emotional distress among PLWHA. Results highlight the importance of alcohol interventions for excessive drinking specifically tailored for PLWHA to facilitate better mental and physical health adjustment.
Nano and microcrystallites of KSbOSiO4 in glass matrix as a source of internal strain and fatal corrosion of historic turquoise glass

Investigating long-term fatal corrosion of turquoise lead-potassium historic glass beads, we have detected micro and nano crystallites of orthorhombic KSbOSiO4 (KSS) in glass. We have come to conclusion that KSS precipitates and their clusters give rise to internal glass corrosion. K and Sb being glass dopants form KSS crystallites during glass melt cooling; tensile strain arising in the glass matrix during cooling gives rise to glass cracking and eventually to its rupture and formation of heterogeneous grains. The strain-induced diffusion of impurities, resembling internal gettering in the Si technology, explains changes in glass color. We have also detected Pb2Fe0.5Sb1. 5O6.5 nano crystallites in stable yellow lead glass beads. The number density and the sizes of these crystallites are much less than those of the KSS crystallites in turquoise lead-potassium glass, they do not form large clusters; internal cracks also has not been observed in this glass. This may explain the stability of yellow lead glass. The study may be useful for predicting long-term stability of technical glasses as well as for synthesis of nano-KSS/glass composites.
Correctness and Completeness of Logic Programs

We discuss proving correctness and completeness of definite clause logic programs. We propose a method for proving completeness, while for proving correctness we employ a method that should be well known but is often neglected. Also, we show how to prove completeness and correctness in the presence of SLD-tree pruning, and point out that approximate specifications simplify specifications and proofs. We compare the proof methods to declarative diagnosis (algorithmic debugging), showing that approximate specifications eliminate a major drawback of the latter. We argue that our proof methods reflect natural declarative thinking about programs, and that they can be used, formally or informally, in everyday programming.
Coordinated Energy Cost Management of Distributed Internet Data Centers in Smart Grid

This paper addresses the problem of electricity cost management for Internet service providers with a collection of spatially distributed data centers. As the demand on Internet services drastically increases in recent years, the electricity consumed by Internet data centers (IDCs) has been skyrocketing. While most existing research focuses on reducing electric energy consumption of IDCs at one specific location, the problem of reducing the total electricity cost has been overlooked. This is an important problem faced by service providers, especially in the present multi-electricity-market environment, where the price of electricity may exhibit temporal and spatial diversities. Further, for these service providers, guaranteeing the quality of service (i.e., service level objectives) such as service delay guarantees to the end users is of critical importance. This paper studies the problem of minimizing the total electricity cost under multiple electricity markets environment while guaranteeing the quality of service geared to the location diversity and time diversity of electricity price. The problem is modeled as a constrained mixed-integer programming and an efficient solution algorithm is proposed. Extensive evaluations based on real-world electricity price data for multiple IDC locations illustrate the efficiency and efficacy of our approach.
Position Estimation of Small Robotic Fish Based on Camera Information and Gyro Sensors

Robotic fish are ideal for surveying fish resources and performing underwater structural inspections. If a robot is sufficiently fishlike in appearance and does not use a screw propeller, real fish will not be easily surprised by it. However, it is comparatively difficult for such a robot to determine its own position in water. Radio signals, such as those used by GPS, cannot be easily received. Moreover, sound ranging is impractical because of the presence of rocks and waterweed in places where fish spend a lot of time. For practical applications such as photographing fish, a robotic fish needs to follow the target fish without losing awareness of its own position, in order to be able to swim autonomously. We have developed a robotic fish named FOCUS (FPGA Offline Control Underwater Searcher) which is equipped with two CMOS cameras and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit board for data processing. The forward-facing camera is used to track red objects, since this is the color of the fish of interest. In addition, using visual information obtained with the bottom-facing camera, the robot can estimate its present position. This is achieved by performing real-time digital image correlation using the FPGA. However, until now, the position estimation accuracy has been poor due to the influence of yaw and roll. In the present study, the position estimation method has been greatly improved by taking into account the yaw and roll values measured using gyro sensors.
Tumor heterogeneity in the recurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer demonstrated by polycomb group proteins

Purpose To investigate tumor heterogeneity in the recurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer demonstrated by polycomb group (PcG) proteins. Methods Tissue microarrays containing matched primary and recurrent ovarian tumors from the same patients were constructed for detection of PcG protein expression. Survival analyses of clinicopathological parameters and expression of PcG proteins were performed on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients. Genetic and epigenetic heterogeneity was explored in aspects of gene copy number and microRNA (miRNA) profiling. Results PcG proteins were heterogeneously expressed in primary versus recurrent tumors (P<0.05). In univariate survival analysis of the ovarian carcinoma cohorts, a significant association of intensive expression of BMI1 and EZH2 in first-onset lymph node metastases with shortened PFS was demonstrated (P=0.010, P=0.019); and a significant association of intensive expression of BMI1 and EZH2 in recurrent tumors with shortened OS was demonstrated (P=0.042, P=0.047). Importantly, BMI1 and EZH2 expression provided significant independent prognostic parameters in multivariate analyses (P<0.05). Gene amplification did not always coincide with PcG protein expression. Eight miRNAs were found to be downregulated in recurrent tumors, among which miR-298 might indirectly regulate the expression of EZH2 through transcription factor ILF3. Conclusion Tumor heterogeneity exists in the recurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer, manifested by PcG protein expression and underlying genetic and epigenetic alterations. Intensive expression of BMI1 and EZH2 are predictors of earlier relapse and shorter OS, independent of grade and chemotherapy sensitivity. EZH2 and miR-298 have great potential to be new targets for treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.