Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term performance of recycled steel fibre reinforced concrete for pavement applications.

Due to environmental concerns and increasing asphalt prices concrete pavements are seen as a sustainable alternative for road construction. Steel fibres are used as reinforcement for concrete pavements due to ease of construction, as well as improvement in the post-cracking, tensile/flexural and fatigue behaviour of the concrete. However, cost and method of construction are two major barriers for their use. Recycled fibres obtained from post-consumer tyres are a new alternative due to their lower cost and potential environmental benefits. The roller compacted concrete technique is also an alternative that enables road construction with the use of conventional asphalt equipment. These were the two main innovations being investigated by the FP6 EU Project Ecolanes. Understanding the durability of recycled steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) is very important before these technologies can be used in real structures. This thesis addresses the issue of long-tenn behaviour of recycled SFRC, based on an experimental programme divided in two main studies: I) the mechanical properties (compressive and flexural behaviour), pore structure (porosity, density and free-shrinkage) and transport mechanisms (penneability, sorptivity and diffusivity) and 2) the main deterioration processes affecting the perfonnance of concrete pavements, corrosion (accelerated by means of wet-dry cycles in chloride solution), freeze-thaw (accelerated by continuous submerged freezing and thawing cycles) and fatigue (accelerated by flexural cyclic loads). A probabilistic analysis in terms of service life design has also been developed. Recycled fibres can increase the flexural strength of the concrete by up to 70% compared to plain concrete and they can significantly enhance the post-cracking behaviour. Recycled fibres, when added 2-6% by mass, do not affect the pore structure and the transport mechanisms of the concrete. Exceptions apply when contents around 6% by mass lead to compaction problems or affect the rheological properties of the concrete. Recycled fibres improve the fatigue resistance by allowing approximately 30% higher stresses than plain concrete for an endurance life of 2 million cycles. Fibres also contribute to slowing down the advanced stage of freeze-thaw degradation of concrete. Both fatigue and freeze-thaw are enhanced since these fibres control different stages of crack propagation. When subjected to wet-dry cycles, the fibres appear to be well protected inside the concrete and the main consequences are only in terms of superficial rust. The coupled benefits of mechanical and long-term performance of recycled SFRC make it a promising alternative for concrete pavements, especially in blends with industrially produced fibres. If these advantages are taken into account in the design of concrete pavements, a 20% reduction in the thickness of the concrete pavements should be expected, leading to less use of natural resources and to a further 10% reduction in costs.
A Toeplitz Formulation of a Real-Time Algorithm for Time Decoding Machines ∗

Time encoding is a real-time asynchronous mechanism for encoding the amplitude information of an analog bandlimited signal into a time sequence, or time codes, based on which the signal can be reconstructed. Using a Toeplitz formulation we propose an efficient real-time reconstruction procedure. As an illustration, time encoding is carried out by an asynchronous sigma-delta modulator. The proposed method is confirmed by numerical simulations.
Reduction of voltage stresses in buck-boost-type power factor correctors operating in boundary conduction mode

In this paper, a new converter is proposed for universal line PFC operated in boundary conduction mode. The proposed modified SEPIC enables the use of lower voltage rated semiconductors compared to other single-switch buck-boost derived topologies with a resulting performance comparable to the boost topology. The operation and the design procedure is described in detail and the proposed converter is experimental verified with a 210 V, 100 W prototype for the universal line input (90 Vac-270 Vac).
1.4-Mb/s White Organic LED Transmission System Using Discrete Multitone Modulation

In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate the discrete multitone (DMT) modulation scheme for organic light emitting diode-based visible light communications (OLED-VLC). DMT is based upon quadrature modulation of orthogonally spaced frequencies, meaning the scheme is extremely spectrally efficient. With this technique, we set a new world record data rate of 1.4 Mb/s, which is far in excess of the previous record of 550 kb/s. We achieve this using a 32-level quadrature amplitude modulation (32-QAM) in conjunction with 1024 subcarriers. We show that it is possible to recover signals up to 1.4 Mb/s with an OLED of bandwidth less than 100 kHz, which is an increase of over 14 times.
Positive pretransplant crossmatches predict early graft loss in liver allograft recipients.

We evaluated the influence of donor-recipient HLA compatibility and recipient pretransplant antidonor sensitization on liver allograft recipient survival. The overall graft survival results for 67 cyclosporine-prednisone treated liver allograft recipients at 3, 6, and 12 months posttransplant were 86%, 83%, and 83%, respectively. No significant differences were observed when comparing the one-year survivals of 81% vs. 85% for men and women or 80% vs. 85% for adult and pediatric patients. Similarly, no differences were observed when comparing one-year graft survivals for well vs. poorly matched recipients of 77% vs. 83% for recipients with < or = 2 HLA A, B vs. > 2 HLA A, B mismatches (MMs) and 82% vs. 82% for recipients with 0-1 HLA-DR MMs vs. 2 HLA-DR MMs, respectively. Pretransplant transfusion history and race also did not influence survival. Standard NIH (long-incubation) and anti-human globulin (AHG) crossmatches were performed. The 12% of recipients (8/67) displaying a positive NIH crossmatch experienced significantly poorer 3-, 6-, and 12-month survivals of 62% vs. 89%, 62% vs. 86%, and 62% vs. 86% (all P < 0.05), respectively, than the 59 NIH-crossmatch negative recipients. Similarly, the 16% (11/67) of recipients displaying a positive AHG crossmatch had significantly poorer 3-, 6-, and 12-month survivals of 63% vs. 91%, 54% vs. 89%, and 54% vs. 89% (all P < 0.05) respectively, than the 56 AHG crossmatch-negative recipients. NIH and AHG crossmatch-positive sera were treated with dithioerythritol (DTE) to establish whether reactivity was due to IgM or IgG immunoglobulin. One-year graft survivals of 65% vs. 30% (P < 0.05) were observed when the crossmatch-positive sera reactivities were due to IgM vs. IgG immunoglobulin. While graft survivals were improved when positive crossmatch serum reactivity was due to IgM, these survivals were still significantly poorer than when the crossmatches were completely negative (86% vs. 60%, P < 0.05 for NIH-negative vs. NIH-positive, but DTE-negative, and 88% vs. 77%, P < 0.05 for AHG-negative vs. AHG-positive, but DTE-negative). Therefore, an NIH- or AHG-positive crossmatch, due either to IgM or IgG reactivity, results in poor early (3- and 6-months) liver allograft survival. Crossmatch-positive recipients experienced significantly (P < 0.05) more rejections and more steroid-resistant rejections (P < 0.05) than crossmatch-negative recipients. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Hydrogen Sulfide Attenuates Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatotoxicity, Liver Cirrhosis and Portal Hypertension in Rats

Background Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) displays vasodilative, anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective activities. Impaired production of H2S contributes to the increased intrahepatic resistance in cirrhotic livers. The study aimed to investigate the roles of H2S in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatotoxicity, cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Methods and Findings Sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), a donor of H2S, and DL-propargylglycine (PAG), an irreversible inhibitor of cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE), were applied to the rats to investigate the effects of H2S on CCl4-induced acute hepatotoxicity, cirrhosis and portal hypertension by measuring serum levels of H2S, hepatic H2S producing activity and CSE expression, liver function, activity of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2E1, oxidative and inflammatory parameters, liver fibrosis and portal pressure. CCl4 significantly reduced serum levels of H2S, hepatic H2S production and CSE expression. NaHS attenuated CCl4-induced acute hepatotoxicity by supplementing exogenous H2S, which displayed anti-oxidative activities and inhibited the CYP2E1 activity. NaHS protected liver function, attenuated liver fibrosis, inhibited inflammation, and reduced the portal pressure, evidenced by the alterations of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hyaluronic acid (HA), albumin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, liver histology, hepatic hydroxyproline content and α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expression. PAG showed opposing effects to NaHS on most of the above parameters. Conclusions Exogenous H2S attenuates CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity, liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension by its multiple functions including anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, cytoprotection and anti-fibrosis, indicating that targeting H2S may present a promising approach, particularly for its prophylactic effects, against liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension.
Close congruence between Barcode Index Numbers (bins) and species boundaries in the Erebidae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract The DNA barcode reference library for Lepidoptera holds much promise as a tool for taxonomic research and for providing the reliable identifications needed for conservation assessment programs. We gathered sequences for the barcode region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene from 160 of the 176 nominal species of Erebidae moths (Insecta: Lepidoptera) known from the Iberian Peninsula. These results arise from a research project which constructing a DNA barcode library for the insect species of Spain. New records for 271 specimens (122 species) are coupled with preexisting data for 38 species from the Iberian fauna. Mean interspecific distance was 12.1%, while the mean nearest neighbour divergence was 6.4%. All 160 species possessed diagnostic barcode sequences, but one pair of congeneric taxa (Eublemma rosea and Eublemma rietzi) were assigned to the same BIN. As well, intraspecific sequence divergences higher than 1.5% were detected in four species which likely represent species complexes. This study reinforces the effectiveness of DNA barcoding as a tool for monitoring biodiversity in particular geographical areas and the strong correspondence between sequence clusters delineated by BINs and species recognized through detailed taxonomic analysis.
Early release of neonatal ureteral obstruction preserves renal function.

The incidence of congenital hydronephrosis is approximately 1% and is often associated with renal insufficiency. It is unknown whether early release is essential to prevent deterioration of renal function. Rats were subjected to partial unilateral ureteral obstruction (PUUO) on postnatal day 2. The obstruction was left in place or released after 1 or 4 wk. Renal blood flow (RBF) and kidney size were measured sequentially over 24 wk using MRI. In rats in which the obstruction was left in place, RBF of the obstructed kidney was progressively reduced to 0.92 +/- 0.17 vs. 1.79 +/- 0.12 ml.min(-1). 100 g body wt(-1) (P < 0.05) after 24 wk. Similarly, glomerular filtration rate of the obstructed kidney was severely reduced at 24 wk: 172 +/- 36 vs. 306 +/- 42 microl.min(-1). 100 g body wt(-1) (P < 0.05). These changes were preceded by development of severe hydronephrosis and obstructive nephropathy with a reduction in total protein content: 45 +/- 3 vs. 58 +/- 4 mg/kidney. Moreover, nonreleased PUUO caused a marked natriuresis (0.32 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.11 +/- 0.02 micromol.min(-1). 100 g body wt(-1), P < 0.05) and impaired solute free water reabsorption (0.47 +/- 0.16 vs. 2.71 +/- 0.67 microl.min(-1). 100 g body wt(-1), P < 0.05), consistent with a significant downregulation of Na-K-ATPase to 62 +/- 7%, aquaporin-1 to 53 +/- 3%, and aquaporin-3 to 53 +/- 7% of sham levels. Release after 1 wk completely prevented development of hydronephrosis, reduction in RBF and glomerular filtration rate, and downregulation of renal transport proteins, whereas release after 4 wk had no effect. These results suggest that early release of neonatal obstruction provides dramatically better protection of renal function than release of obstruction after the maturation process is completed.
Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective

The paper studies how a person's concern for a future career may influence his or her incentives to put in effort or make decisions on the job. In the model, the person's productive abilities are revealed over time through observations of performance. There are no explicit output contingent contracts, but since the wage in each period is based on expected output and expected output depends on assessed ability, an implicit contact' links today's performance to future wages. An incentive problem arises from the person's ability and desire to influence the learning process, and therefore the wage process, by taking unobserved actions that affect today's performance. The fundamental incongruity in preferences is between the individual's concern for human capital returns and the firm's concern for financial returns. The two need to be only weakly related. It is shown that career motives can be beneficial as well as detrimental, depending on how well the two kinds of capital returns are aligned.
A 0.2nJ/pixel 4K 60fps Main-10 HEVC decoder with multi-format capabilities for UHD-TV applications

A first-reported 4K×2K@60fps and Main-10 HEVC video decoder integrating 14 video formats is fabricated in a 28nm CMOS process. It adopts an Adaptive Coding Unit Balance (ACUB) and Data-Sharing Wave-front Dual-core (DSWD) architectures to lower the required working frequency by 65%. A 10-bit Smart Pixel Storage (SPS) scheme is proposed to reduce the frame buffer space by 37.5%. Moreover, a weighted memory management unit (W-MMU) and multi-standard architecture reduce DRAM bandwidth and cost by 43% and 28%, respectively. This 4K Main-10 HEVC video decoder chip integrates 3.4M gate counts with area of 2.86mm2. It achieves 530Mpixels/s throughput which is two times larger than the state-of-the-art HEVC design [6] and consumes 0.2nJ/pixel energy efficiency, enabling real-time 4K video playback for UHD-TV applications.
Influence of Glucose, Insulin, and Potassium on Vulnerability to Ventricular Fibrillation in the Canine Heart

We studied the influence of glucose (G), insulin (I) and potassium (K+) on vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation (VF) of the nonischemic canine myocardium. Vulnerability was assessed by determining VF and repetitive extrasystole (RE) thresholds with a single stimulus applied to the right ventricular endocardium during the vulnerable period. Electrical testing of the heart was performed before and after 1 and 2 hours of infusing G (10 mg/kg per min) and I (0.025 U/kg per min) with and without K+. Infusion of glucose, insulin, and potassium (GIK) in 11 dogs significantly increased both VF (22%) and RE (33%) thresholds within the 1st hour and only the VF threshold (64%) in the 2nd hour. No significant changes in serum K+ concentration occurred. Spontaneous termination of VF was observed in six dogs during GIK infusion. Glucose and insulin infusion increased both VF and RE thresholds within the 1st (17% and 19%) and 2nd hours (43% and 43%). This occurred despite substantial reductions in serum K+ concentration. Lowering serum K+ by hemodialysis in six dogs decreased both VF and RE thresholds within the 1st (33% and 32%) and 2nd hours (35% and 14%). Restoration of the serum K+ concentration by KC1 infusion while maintaining dialysis returned the thresholds to control values. In six dogs, insulin infusion during low K+ dialysis increased the VF and RE thresholds despite a further reduction in serum K+ concentration. We concluded that insulin exerts a protective effect against vulnerability to VF in the normal canine heart. This salutary action is most marked when the drug's hypokalemic effect is prevented by concomitant K+ infusion.
PPARδ preserves a high resistance to fatigue in the mouse medial gastrocnemius after spinal cord transection

Introduction: Skeletal muscle oxidative capacity decreases and fatigability increases after spinal cord injury. Transcription factor peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor δ (PPARδ) promotes a more oxidative phenotype. Methods: We asked whether PPARδ overexpression could ameliorate these deficits in the medial gastrocnemius of spinal cord transected (ST) adult mice. Results: Time‐to‐peak tension and half‐relaxation times were longer in PPARδ‐Con and PPARδ‐ST compared with littermate wild‐type (WT) controls. Fatigue index was 50% higher in PPARδ‐Con than WT‐Con and 70% higher in the PPARδ‐ST than WT‐ST. There was an overall higher percent of darkly stained fibers for succinate dehydrogenase in both PPARδ groups. Conclusions: The results indicate a conversion toward slower, more oxidative, and less fatigable muscle properties with overexpression of PPARδ. Importantly, the elevated fatigue resistance was maintained after ST, suggesting that enhanced PPARδ expression, and possibly small molecule agonists, could ameliorate the increased fatigability routinely observed in chronically paralyzed muscles. Muscle Nerve 53: 287–296, 2016
imMens: Real‐time Visual Querying of Big Data

Data analysts must make sense of increasingly large data sets, sometimes with billions or more records. We present methods for interactive visualization of big data, following the principle that perceptual and interactive scalability should be limited by the chosen resolution of the visualized data, not the number of records. We first describe a design space of scalable visual summaries that use data reduction methods (such as binned aggregation or sampling) to visualize a variety of data types. We then contribute methods for interactive querying (e.g., brushing & linking) among binned plots through a combination of multivariate data tiles and parallel query processing. We implement our techniques in imMens, a browser‐based visual analysis system that uses WebGL for data processing and rendering on the GPU. In benchmarks imMens sustains 50 frames‐per‐second brushing & linking among dozens of visualizations, with invariant performance on data sizes ranging from thousands to billions of records.
Utilization of tinder fungus as filler in manufacture of HDPE composites.

Selected physical and mechanical properties of the high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites filled with various mixtures of the wood flour and the tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius) were investigated. For this aim, the different mixtures of tinder fungus flour and wood flour (0/40, 10/30, 20/20, and 30/10, and 40/0) (by weight) were compounded with HDPE with a coupling agent (maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE)) in a twin screw co-rotating extruder. The test specimens were then produced by injection moulding process. The thickness swelling and water absorption of the HDPE/wood composites significantly decreased with increasing content of the tinder fungus flour. The flexural strength of the HDPE composites filled with tinder fungus flour (10-30 wt%) did not decrease significantly as compared with the HDPE composites filled with wood flour (10-30 wt%). In addition, the tensile and flexural modulus of the HDPE composites filled with tinder fungus (10-40 wt%) did not show significant differences with the values of the HDPE composites filled with wood flour (10-40 wt%). Based on the findings obtained from the present study, the optimum physical and mechanical properties for the filled HDPE composites were found to be a 10/30/60/3 formulation of wood flour, tinder fungus, HDPE, and MAPE, respectively.
Infection with Hymenolepis diminuta Is More Effective than Daily Corticosteroids in Blocking Chemically Induced Colitis in Mice

Purpose. To compare infection with the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, with steroid (dexamethasone) administration in the inhibition of dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid- (DNBS-) induced colitis in mice. Procedures. Mice were treated with DNBS ± infected with H. diminuta or treated with daily dexamethasone (2 mg/Kg, ip.) and were assessed 72 hours post-DNBS by the calculation of disease activity and histological damage scores, and spleen cell cytokine production. Results. H. diminuta-infected mice showed increased IL-4 and IL-10 production by spleen cells compared to other groups and were protected from DNBS-induced colitis. In contrast, there was little benefit of dexamethasone in the treatment of colitis. Collagen deposition in the colon was not different between the groups. Conclusions. H. diminuta was superior to dexamethasone in the prevention of DNBS-induced colitis and did not result in additional side effects (i.e., collagen deposition). Comparisons with current therapeutics and long-term followup to studies are essential if “helminth therapy” is to become a viable treatment for specific inflammatory diseases in the gut or other tissues.
Functional characterization of NTRK1 mutations identified in melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, with a complex and heterogeneous aetiology. Deregulation of the mitogen activated protein kinase cascade is common in melanoma, due to activating mutations in the BRAF and NRAS genes. Genetic studies and high‐throughput screening technologies have recently identified several somatic mutations affecting different receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes. For the majority of these, however, the contribution to the complexity of melanoma biology has not been assessed. Among these, two novel missense somatic mutations (M379I and R577G) have recently been identified in the gene encoding the neurotrophic RTK NTRK1. The NTRK1 melanoma‐associated point mutations were introduced in a NTRK1 expression plasmid. Functional characterization of mutants was assessed after transient and stable transfection in HeLa and NIH3T3 cells, respectively. We showed that M379I and R577G NTRK1 receptors do not display the kinase as constitutively activated and are functionally indistinguishable from the wild‐type NTRK1 receptor. Our results indicate that a causative role for M379I and R577G NTRK1 mutations in melanoma development is highly unlikely. This supports the issue that, in parallel to systematic large scale cancer genome screening, functional studies are required to distinguish between mutations that play a causative role in tumor development and others that may only be passenger changes. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.