Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High-reliability epoxy molding compound for surface mount devices

Surface mounting packages have recently been developed with more and more increasing speed. And surface mounting type molding compounds have also been developed accordingly; compared with conventional molding compounds, new ones have been greatly improved in properties. With the development of surface mounting materials, however, there has occurred great change in the occurrence of soldering cracks. Until now soldering cracks were caused in the following way: the interface between the molding compound and the die-pad delaminated under thermal stress, absorbed moisture expanded suddenly, and stress concentrated at the edge of the die-pad caused cracks. On the other hand, soldering cracks are now caused by the delamination of the interface between the silver paste and the die-pad, not by the delamination of that between the molding compound and the die-pad. We examined what was the cause of the difference in the soldering crack occurrence mode. First we examined the mechanism of a new soldering crack occurrence mode and conducted model experiments for the mechanism, which proved that adhesion; heat strength, water absorption properties, thermal expansion, etc. Had a great influence. Then we determined the material design in R&D and reviewed the properties of hardeners and fillers. After that, we made experiments by using low molecular weight hardeners with a structure in which substituents were combined between phenols in pendant form. These hardeners are distinguished by excellent flexibility, water absorption properties, and curability as well as low viscosity. It was proved that they also showed various properties when changing the molecular weight of substituents. As for properties of fillers, from the matrix of the particle size distribution and the specific surface area we found a close relationship between the n value of the Rosin-Rammler diagram and the spiral flow and optimized properties of fillers. Materials developed in this way prevented not only the conventional crack mode, but also a new crack mode peculiar to compounds subjected to new soldering cracking; they showed excellent resistance to soldering PCT and resistance to temperature cycle. <<ETX>>
EFFECT OF FIBER ORIENTATION ANGLES ON MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF CAR BUMPER COMPOSITE

The present work focused on the effect of glass fiber orientation that reinforced polymeric matrix in car bumper composite to understand the mechanical behavior of these materials during work conditions. Tensile test and bending test were performed and discussed for (0o, 30 o, 45 o, 60 o, and 90 o) angles of fibers orientation. The finite element method by program (ANSYS V.13 software) was used to study the behavior of these compounds. The results showed that the extension and deflection values were higher at (0o) and decreased with increasing fiber angle orientation until reached to a lower value at perpendicular state between fibers and applied loads. The study used to improve the mechanical properties of the composite materials depending on the fiber orientation angle.
60 GHz Indoor Networking through Flexible Beams

60 GHz technology holds tremendous potential to upgrade wireless link throughput to Gbps level. To overcome inherent vulnerability to attenuation, 60 GHz radios communicate by forming highly-directional electronically-steerable beams. Standards like IEEE 802.11ad have tailored MAC/PHY protocols to such flexible-beam 60 GHz networks. However, lack of a reconfigurable platform has thwarted a realistic proof-of-concept evaluation. In this paper, we conduct an in-depth measurement of indoor 60 GHz networks using a first-of-its-kind software-radio platform. Our measurement focuses on the link-level behavior with three major perspectives: (i) coverage and bit-rate of a single link, and implications for 60 GHz MIMO; (ii) impact of beam-steering on network performance, particularly under human blockage and device mobility; (iii) spatial reuse between flexible beams. Our study dispels some common myths, and reveals key challenges in maintaining robust flexible-beam connection. We propose new principles that can tackle such challenges based on unique properties of 60 GHz channel and cognitive capability of 60 GHz links.
Bergmann’s Rule in Ectotherms: A Test Using Freshwater Fishes

Understanding patterns of variation in body size within and among species is a central question in evolutionary ecology (Schlichting and Pigliucci 1998). The most well known pattern of variation in body size is Bergmann’s rule (Bergmann 1847; Mayr 1956). The intraspecific version of Bergmann’s rule holds that within endothermic species, body size increases with increasing latitude (or decreasing temperature; Blackburn et al. 1999; Ashton et al. 2000). In general, mammals conform to this rule (Ashton et al. 2000). Ray (1960) proposed that ectothermic organisms also follow Bergmann’s rule, on the basis of primarily one line of argument. Specifically, ectotherms reared at relatively lower temperatures typically mature later at larger sizes when compared with conspecifics reared at higher temperatures (Atkinson 1994; Sibly and Atkinson 1994). Ray (1960) reasoned that the negative slope of the reaction norm between size at maturity and rearing temperature combined with generally lower temperatures at higher latitudes would produce a cline of increasing body size with increasing latitude. Ray (1960) summarized field data from previous studies to add generality to his claim of ectotherms following Bergmann’s rule. In regard to fishes, he states that “the rule is obeyed by a great number of fishes as shown by numerous reports in the literature” (Ray 1960, p. 93), but he provides no citations related to variation in body size across latitude. All his citations regarding fish apply to meristic counts
Newsprint from NSSC Bagasse Pulp Mixed with Hardwood CMP Pulp and Bleached Softwood Kraft Pulp

In this work, the possibility of using neutral sulfite semi-chemical (NSSC) bagasse pulp mixed with hardwood chemimechanical pulp (CMP) and bleached softwood kraft pulp (BSKP) was investigated with the aim of reducing hardwood and BSKP consumption. The bagasse NSSC pulp had a digester yield of about 73% and was unbleached. It was refined by a PFI mill to 400 mL CSF, but in the case of the hardwood CMP and imported long fiber pulp, the final refined freeness were selected to be 350 and 500 mL CSF. Handsheets were made (60 gm-2), and their strength indices and optical properties were measured. Results of this research on a laboratory scale indicated that using bagasse NSSC pulp mixed with hardwood CMP to make newsprint with acceptable quality is possible, and this process will also noticeably reduce the consumption of imported long fiber pulp and wood for producing the grades of paper usually made from CMP.
Reactivity analysis of different Networked Automation System architectures

The reactivity of Networked Automation Systems (NAS) has direct influence on safety and quality aspects. It can be determined by a response time analysis, which itself can be calculated using probabilistic model checking (PMC). The analysis of a NAS has to account for several coupled components, each of them exhibiting its own behavior. Consequently, in this article the influences of (1) the controllerpsilas execution behavior including its network interface card (cyclic vs. interrupt based) and (2) the communication model (Producer-Consumer vs. Client-Server) on the response time behavior will be analyzed. For this purpose the systems are represented by abstract models using probabilistic timed automata. Probabilistic model checking is used to compare the reactivity of different possible combinations of the basic behaviors.
The Mosquito Melanization Response Is Implicated in Defense against the Entomopathogenic Fungus Beauveria bassiana

Mosquito immunity studies have focused mainly on characterizing immune effector mechanisms elicited against parasites, bacteria and more recently, viruses. However, those elicited against entomopathogenic fungi remain poorly understood, despite the ubiquitous nature of these microorganisms and their unique invasion route that bypasses the midgut epithelium, an important immune tissue and physical barrier. Here, we used the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae as a model to investigate the role of melanization, a potent immune effector mechanism of arthropods, in mosquito defense against the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, using in vivo functional genetic analysis and confocal microscopy. The temporal monitoring of fungal growth in mosquitoes injected with B. bassiana conidia showed that melanin eventually formed on all stages, including conidia, germ tubes and hyphae, except the single cell hyphal bodies. Nevertheless, melanin rarely aborted the growth of any of these stages and the mycelium continued growing despite being melanized. Silencing TEP1 and CLIPA8, key positive regulators of Plasmodium and bacterial melanization in A. gambiae, abolished completely melanin formation on hyphae but not on germinating conidia or germ tubes. The detection of a layer of hemocytes surrounding germinating conidia but not hyphae suggested that melanization of early fungal stages is cell-mediated while that of late stages is a humoral response dependent on TEP1 and CLIPA8. Microscopic analysis revealed specific association of TEP1 with surfaces of hyphae and the requirement of both, TEP1 and CLIPA8, for recruiting phenoloxidase to these surfaces. Finally, fungal proliferation was more rapid in TEP1 and CLIPA8 knockdown mosquitoes which exhibited increased sensitivity to natural B. bassiana infections than controls. In sum, the mosquito melanization response retards significantly B. bassiana growth and dissemination, a finding that may be exploited to design transgenic fungi with more potent bio-control activities against mosquitoes.
Influence of isoflurane on the diastolic pressure-flow relationship and critical occlusion pressure during arterial CABG surgery: a randomized controlled trial

The effects of isoflurane on the determinants of blood flow during Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery are not completely understood. This study characterized the influence of isoflurane on the diastolic Pressure-Flow (P-F) relationship and Critical Occlusion Pressure (COP) during CABG surgery. Twenty patients undergoing CABG surgery were studied. Patients were assigned to an isoflurane or control group. Hemodynamic and flow measurements during CABG surgery were performed twice (15 minutes after the discontinuation of extracorporeal circulation (T15) and again 15 minutes later (T30)). The zero flow pressure intercept (a measure of COP) was extrapolated from a linear regression analysis of the instantaneous diastolic P-F relationship. In the isoflurane group, the application of isoflurane significantly increased the slope of the diastolic P-F relationship by 215% indicating a mean reduction of Coronary Vascular Resistance (CVR) by 46%. Simultaneously, the Mean Diastolic Aortic Pressure (MDAP) decreased by 19% mainly due to a decrease in the systemic vascular resistance index by 21%. The COP, cardiac index, heart rate, Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Pressure (LVEDP) and Coronary Sinus Pressure (CSP) did not change significantly. In the control group, the parameters remained unchanged. In both groups, COP significantly exceeded the CSP and LVEDP at both time points. We conclude that short-term application of isoflurane at a sedative concentration markedly increases the slope of the instantaneous diastolic P-F relationship during CABG surgery implying a distinct decrease with CVR in patients undergoing CABG surgery.
Bimanual input for multiscale navigation with pressure and touch gestures

We explore the combination of touch modalities with pressure-based modalities for multiscale navigation in bifocal views. We investigate a two-hand mobile configuration in which: 1) The dominant hand is kept free for precise touch interaction at any scale of a bifocal view, and 2) The non-dominant hand is used for holding the device in landscape mode, keeping the thumb free for pressure input for navigation at the context scale. The pressure sensor is fixed to the front bezel. Our investigation of pressure-based modalities involves two design options: control (continuous or discrete) and inertia (with or without). The pressure-based modalities are compared to touch-only modalities: the well-known drag-flick and drag-drop modalities. The results show that continuous pressure-based modality without inertia is 1) the fastest one along with the drag-drop touch modality 2) is preferred by the users and 3) importantly minimizes screen occlusion during a phase that requires navigating a large part of the information space.
Patterns of venous reflux in limbs with skin changes associated with chronic venous insufficiency

The distribution of venous reflux in patients with skin changes associated with chronic venous insufficiency presenting to a specialist clinic was assessed. A total of 300 limbs in 153 patients were examined by Doppler ultrasonography with colour‐flow imaging for the presence of venous reflux in superficial veins, deep veins and medial perforating veins, both above and below the knee. Ninety‐eight limbs had skin changes, which included hyperpigmentation, lipodermatosclerosis, atrophie blanche and ulceration. Of this group, 2 per cent had no evidence of venous reflux on duplex scanning, 39 per cent had deep vein incompetence, 57 per cent had superficial vein incompetence and 2 per cent had isolated medial perforating vein reflux. Of 25 limbs with ulceration, 13 had superficial and 12 deep vein reflux. A total of 202 legs, which included 20 normal control limbs, had no skin changes; 22.3 per cent of these had no venous reflux, 8.4 per cent had deep vein incompetence, 65.3 per cent had superficial incompetence and 4.0 per cent had isolated medial calf perforating vein incompetence.
Relationship between Oxidant/Antioxidant Markers and Severity of Microalbuminuria in the Early Stage of Nephropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

A wide range of microalbuminuria cutoff values are currently used for diagnosing the early stage of nephropathy in type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study analyzed the relationships between oxidant and antioxidant markers of nephropathy and the severity of microalbuminuria. The study included 50 healthy controls (Group 1), 50 diabetic patients with no nephropathy (Group 2), 50 diabetic patients with nephropathy and a urinary albumin excretion (UAE) of 30–200 mg/24 h (Group 3), and 50 diabetic patients with UAE 200–300 mg/24 h (Group 4). Serum nitrotyrosine, conjugated dienes, 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels were determined. Oxidative stress is increased in the early stage of nephropathy in patients with T2D. There was a significant correlation between the extent of microalbuminuria and markers of oxidative stress. Multiple linear regression analysis identified lipid oxidative stress as a possible independent marker for evaluating the degree of renal damage in diabetic nephropathy. Stratifying microalbuminuria values during the early stage of nephropathy might be an important factor in facilitating earlier and more specific interventions.
Processing Expectancy Violations during Music Performance and Perception: An ERP Study

Musicians are highly trained motor experts with pronounced associations between musical actions and the corresponding auditory effects. However, the importance of auditory feedback for music performance is controversial, and it is unknown how feedback during music performance is processed. The present study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of auditory feedback manipulations in pianists. To disentangle effects of action-based and perception-based expectations, we compared feedback manipulations during performance to the mere perception of the same stimulus material. In two experiments, pianists performed bimanually sequences on a piano, while at random positions, the auditory feedback of single notes was manipulated, thereby creating a mismatch between an expected and actually perceived action effect (action condition). In addition, pianists listened to tone sequences containing the same manipulations (perception condition). The manipulations in the perception condition were either task-relevant (Experiment 1) or task-irrelevant (Experiment 2). In action and perception conditions, event-related potentials elicited by manipulated tones showed an early fronto-central negativity around 200 msec, presumably reflecting a feedback ERN/N200, followed by a positive deflection (P3a). The early negativity was more pronounced during the action compared to the perception condition. This shows that during performance, the intention to produce specific auditory effects leads to stronger expectancies than the expectancies built up during music perception.
Walnut ingestion in adults at risk for diabetes: effects on body composition, diet quality, and cardiac risk measures

Background Despite their energy density, walnuts can be included in the diet without adverse effects on weight or body composition. The effect of habitual walnut intake on total calorie intake is not well studied. Effects on overall diet quality have not been reported. Methods Randomized, controlled, modified Latin square parallel design study with 2 treatment arms. The 112 participants were randomly assigned to a diet with or without dietary counseling to adjust calorie intake. Within each treatment arm, participants were further randomized to 1 of the 2 possible sequence permutations to receive a walnut-included diet with 56 g (providing 366 kcal) of walnuts per day and a walnut-excluded diet. Participants were assessed for diet quality, body composition, and cardiac risk measures. Results When compared with a walnut-excluded diet, a walnut-included diet for 6 months, with or without dietary counseling to adjust caloric intake, significantly improved diet quality as measured by the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (9.14±17.71 vs 0.40±15.13; p=0.02 and 7.02±15.89 vs -5.92±21.84; p=0.001, respectively). Endothelial function, total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol improved significantly from baseline in the walnut-included diet. Body mass index, percent body fat, visceral fat, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and blood pressure did not change significantly. Conclusions The inclusion of walnuts in an ad libitum diet for 6 months, with or without dietary counseling to adjust calorie intake, significantly improved diet quality, endothelial function, total and LDL cholesterol, but had no effects on anthropometric measures, blood glucose level, and blood pressure. Trial registration number: NCT02330848
Non-thermal cosmic backgrounds from blazars: the contribution to the CMB, X-ray and γ-ray backgrounds

We present a new assessment of the contribution of the blazar population to the extragalactic background radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum. Our calculations rely on deep blazar radio counts that we have derived by combining several radio and multi-frequency surveys. We show that blazar emission integrated over cosmic time gives rise to a considerable broad-band non-thermal cosmic background that in some parts of the electromagnetic spectrum dominates the extragalactic brightness. We confirm that blazars are the main discrete contributors to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), where we estimate that their integrated emission causes an apparent temperature increase of 5-50 μ K in the frequency range 50-250 GHz. The CMB primordial fluctuation spectrum is contaminated starting at multipole $l \approx 300{-}600$, in the case of a completely random source distribution, or at lower $l $ values if spatial clustering is present. We estimate that well over one hundred-thousand blazars will produce a significant signal in the maps of the upcoming Planck CMB anisotropy mission. Because of a tight correlation between the microwave and the X-ray flux, these sources are expected to be X-ray emitters with flux larger than a few 10 -15 erg cm -2 s -1 in the soft X-ray band. A large fraction of the foreground sources in current and near-future CMB anisotropy maps could therefore be identified and removed using a multi-frequency approach, provided that a sufficiently deep all-sky X-ray survey will become available in the near future. We show further that blazars are a major constituent of all high energy extragalactic backgrounds. Their contribution is expected to be 11-12% at X-ray frequencies and possibly 100% in the ∼ 0.5-50 MeV band. At higher energies ($E > 100~$MeV) the estimated blazar collective emission, obtained by extrapolating their integrated micro-wave flux to the γ -ray band using the SED of EGRET detected sources, overestimates the extragalactic background by a large factor, thus implying that not only blazars dominate the γ -ray sky but also that their average duty cycle at these frequencies must be rather low. Finally, we find that blazars of the HBL type may produce a significant amount of flux at TeV energies.
PEEK Primary Crowns with Cobalt-Chromium, Zirconia and Galvanic Secondary Crowns with Different Tapers—A Comparison of Retention Forces

In prosthetic dentistry, double crown systems have proved their suitability as retainers for removable partial dentures. However, investigations in this context, regarding polyetheretherketone, are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the retention force (RF) between polyetheretherketone (PEEK) primary and cobalt-chromium (CoCr), zirconia (ZrO2) and galvanic (GAL) secondary crowns with three different tapers. Primary PEEK-crowns were milled with the tapers 0°, 1°, and 2° (n = 10/taper, respectively). Afterwards, 90 secondary crowns were fabricated: (i) 30 CoCr-crowns milled from Ceramill Sintron (AmannGirrbach, Koblach, Austria) (n = 10/taper), (ii) 30 ZrO2-crowns milled from Ceramill ZI (AmannGirrbach, Koblach, Austria) (n = 10/taper), and (iii) 30 GAL-crowns made using electroforming (n = 10/taper). RF was measured in a pull-off test (20 pull-offs/specimen) and data were analyzed using 2-/1-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey-Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) post hoc test and linear regression analyses (p < 0.05). The measured mean RF values ranged between 9.6 and 38.2 N. With regard to the 0°, 1°, and 2° tapered crowns, no statistically significant differences between CoCr and ZrO2 were observed (p > 0.141). At 0° taper, no differences in retention forces between GAL, CrCr, and ZrO2 crowns were found (p = 0.075). However, at 1° and 2° taper, lower RF for GAL-crowns were observed (p < 0.009, p < 0.001, respectively). According to this laboratory study, PEEK might be a suitable material for primary crowns, regardless of the taper and the material of secondary crown. Long-term results, however, are still necessary.