Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling the microstructure and the viscoelastic behaviour of carbon black filled rubber materials from 3D simulations

Volume fraction and spatial repartition of fillers impact the physical properties of rubber. Extended percolating networks of nano-sized fillers significantly modify the macroscopic mechanical properties of rubbers. Random models that describe the multiscale microstructure of rubber and efficient Fourier-based numerical algorithms are combined to predict the material’s mechanical properties. From TEM image analysis, various types of multiscale models were proposed and validated, accounting for the non-homogeneous distribution of fillers: in the present work, aggregates are located outside of an exclusion polymer simulated by two families of random models. The first model generates the exclusion polymer by a Boolean model of spheres. In the second model, the exclusion polymer is a mosaic model built from a Johnson-Mehl tessellation. Here the exclusion polymer and the polymer containing the filler show a similar morphology, contrary to the Boolean model. Aggregates are then described as the intersection of a Boolean model of spheres and of the complementary of the exclusion polymer. Carbon black particles are simulated by a Cox model of spheres in the aggregates. The models rely on a limited number of parameters fitted from experimental covariance and cumulative granulometry. The influence of the model parameters on percolation properties of the models is studied numerically from 3D simulations. Finally, a novel Fourier-based algorithm is proposed to estimate the viscoelastic properties of linear heterogeneous media, in the harmonic regime. The method is compared to analytical results and to a different, time-discretized FFT scheme. As shown in this work, the proposed numerical method is efficient for computing the viscoelastic response of microstructures containing rubbers and fillers.
Identification of weak buses in a power network using novel voltage stability indicator in radial distribution system

A unique and novel voltage stability indicator derived from voltage equation of radial distribution system has been proposed in this paper. The voltage stability indicator (VSI) can identify the condition of load buses in the voltage collapse point of view. The developed VSI has been tested on a standard 32-bus radial distribution system for reliability test. A comparative study between the test results of proposed VSI and voltage stability index developed by T. K Abdul and G. B. Jasmon shows that proposed VSI is more effective to select the critical bus of the system. A relationship between the proposed indicator and active and reactive losses of different branches of the system is also established here from which the weak branch can be determined easily without detail loss calculation.
Procyclical Leverage and Endogenous Risk

Market volatility reflects traders' actions, while their actions depend on perceptions of risk. Equilibrium volatility is the fixed point of the mapping that takes perceived risk to actual risk. We solve for equilibrium stochastic volatility in a dynamic setting where risk-neutral traders operate under Value-at-Risk constraints. We derive a closed form solution for the stochastic volatility function in the benchmark model with a single risky asset. Even though the underlying fundamental risks remain constant, the resulting dynamics generate stochastic volatility through traders' reactions in equilibrium. Volatilities, expected returns and Sharpe ratios are shown to be countercyclical. If the purpose of financial regulation is to shield the financial system from collapse, then basing regulation on individually optimal risk management may not be enough.
Pricing Damaged Goods

Abstract Companies with market power occasionally engage in intentional quality reduction of a portion of their output as a means of offering two qualities of goods for the purpose of price discrimination, even absent a cost saving. This paper provides an exact characterization in terms of marginal revenues of when such a strategy is profitable, which, remarkably, does not depend on the distribution of customer valuations, but only on the value of the damaged product relative to the undamaged product. In particular, when the damaged product provides a constant proportion of the value of the full product, selling a damaged good is unprofitable. One quality reduction produces higher profits than another if the former has higher marginal revenue than the latter.
Culture-bound syndromes: the story of dhat syndrome

Background Culture-bound syndrome is a term used to describe the uniqueness of some syndromes in specific cultures. Dhat (semen-loss anxiety) has been considered to be an exotic ‘neurosis of the Orient’. Aims To ascertain the presence of similar symptoms and syndromes in different cultures and historical settings. Method Electronic and manual literature searches were used to gather information on the existence and description of semen-loss anxiety in different cultures and settings. Results Most of the empirical studies on dhat syndrome have emerged from Asia, whereas its concepts have been described historically in other cultures, including Britain, the USA and Australia. The different sources indicate the universality of symptoms and global prevalence of this condition, despite its image as a ‘neurosis of the Orient’. Conclusions It appears that dhat (semen-loss anxiety) is not as culture-bound as previously thought. We propose that the concept of culture-bound syndromes should be modified in line with DSM–IV recommendations.
Soluble, dimeric HLA DR4‐peptide chimeras: An approach for detection and immunoregulation of human type‐1 diabetes

Still there are no effective methods to predict or cure type 1 diabetes (T1D) in humans. Soluble, dimeric MHC class II‐peptide (DEF) chimeras have potential for both early diagnosis and immunospecific therapy. DEF chimeras prevent and reverse diabetes in mice by stimulating antigen‐specific type 1 T regulatory cell (Tr1)‐like cells. We also showed that diabetes could be predicted by changes in the phenotype of autoreactive CD4 T cells in peripheral blood. Herein, we demonstrated that human DEF (HLA‐DR*0401/Fcγ1) chimeras expressing peptides of β‐cell antigens stimulate Tr1‐like cells in blood of patients with T1D, non‐diabetic relatives, and controls. Furthermore, the specific and stable binding of DEF chimeras to cognate TCR and CD4 coreceptor allowed quantification and phenotyping of autoreactive CD4 T cells in non‐stimulated blood by FACS. Our results indicate that (1) autoreactive CD4 T cells to GAD65 autoantigen are commonly present in humans expressing diabetes‐susceptible HLA‐DR*0401 molecules; (2) these autoreactive T cells undergo avidity maturation upon encountering the self antigen early in life; (3) the disease is associated with an imbalance between autoreactive CD4+CD25+ and CD4+CD69+ T cells specific for GAD65. Based on this, we propose a model to explain the kinetics of autoreactive CD4 T cells in blood during the natural history of T1D.
Ductility Improvement Mechanism of Ti-6Al-4V + O Sintered Material

567-0047, Japan The previous study indicated powder metallurgy (PM) Ti-64 alloys with oxygen showed the increment of not only their tensile strength but elongation. This study investigated the elongation improvement mechanism of Ti-64 alloys with oxygen atoms. The mix of Ti-64 alloy powder and TiO 2 particles (0 ³ 0.4mass % ) was used as starting materials and consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The following heat treatment in vacuum was applied to sintered materials. ¢ transus temperature increased by oxygen addition because it was one of ¡ -phase stabilizer elements. Prior- ¢ grains size and aspect ratio of ¡ -Ti grains were changed by heat treatment conditions. For example, Ti-64 + O alloys after heat- treated at ¢ -phase temperature range showed acicular ¡ -Ti grains with a large aspect ratio (6.1 ³ 7.0) although those with heat treatment at ¡ + ¢ phase temperature had ¡ -grains with a small aspect ratio of 3.3 ³ 4.0. These grain morphology changes strongly depended on the temperature of heat treatment, not oxygen contents. In addition, the latter materials indicated high elongation (16 ³ 17 % ) compared to the former with 9 ³ 10 % . When Ti-64 + O alloy specimens after tensile test were analyzed by SEM-EBSD, Kernel average misorientation (KAM) maps showed many plastic strains induced in small aspect ratio ¡ -Ti grains. [doi:10.2320
Onion Peel Ethylacetate Fraction and Its Derived Constituent Quercetin 4′-O-β-D Glucopyranoside Attenuates Quorum Sensing Regulated Virulence and Biofilm Formation

The resistance and pathogenesis of bacteria could be related to their ability to sense and respond to population density, termed quorum sensing (QS). Inhibition of the QS system is considered as a novel strategy for the development of antipathogenic agents, especially for combating drug-resistant bacterial infections. In the present study, the anti-QS activity of Onion peel ethylacetate fraction (ONE) was tested against Chromobacterium violaceum CV12472 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. ONE inhibit the QS-mediated virulence factors production such as violacein in C. violaceum and elastase, pyocyanin in P. aeruginosa. Further, the treatment with sub-MICs of ONE significantly inhibited the QS-mediated biofilm formation, EPS (Extracellular polymeric substances) production and swarming motility. Further, quercetin 4′-O-β-D glucopyranoside (QGP) was isolated from ONE and its anti-QS potential was confirmed after observing significant inhibition of QS-controlled virulence factors such as violacein, elastase, pyocyanin and biofilm formation in test pathogens. Molecular docking analysis predicted that QGP should be able to bind at the active sites of Vfr and LasR, and if so blocks the entry of active sites in Vfr and LasR.
Bighorn Ewes Transfer the Costs of Reproduction to Their Lambs

Several studies of large mammals report no direct reproductive costs for females. Individual heterogeneity may hide fitness costs of reproduction, but mothers could also transfer some costs to their offspring. Using data on 442 lambs weaned by 146 bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) ewes at Ram Mountain, Alberta, we studied how reproductive effort varied with environmental and maternal conditions. During summer, lactating ewes should gain enough mass to survive the winter and to support their next gestation, while nursing their current lamb. We measured reproductive effort as summer mass gain by lambs corrected for maternal mass in June and maternal mass gain during summer. Females lowered their reproductive effort when population density increased and if they had weaned a lamb the previous year. A reduction in reproductive effort led to lower winter survival by lambs. Bighorn ewes have a conservative reproductive tactic and always favor their own body condition over that of their lambs. When resources are limited, ewes appear to transfer reproductive costs to their lambs, as expected from the much greater relative fitness consequences of a reduction in maternal than in offspring survival.
Improving GPGPU energy-efficiency through concurrent kernel execution and DVFS

Current generation GPUs can accelerate high-performance, compute-intensive applications by exploiting massive thread-level parallelism. The high performance, however, comes at the cost of increased power consumption. Recently, commercial GPGPU architectures have introduced support for concurrent kernel execution to better utilize the computational/memory resources and thereby improve overall throughput. In this paper, we argue and experimentally validate the benefits of concurrent kernels towards energy-efficient execution. We design power-performance models to carefully select the appropriate kernel combinations to be executed concurrently, the relative contributions of the kernels to the thread mix, along with the frequency choices for the cores and the memory to achieve high performance per watt metric. Our experimental evaluation shows that the concurrent kernel execution in combination with DVFS can improve energy-efficiency by up to 34.5% compared to the most energy-efficient sequential execution.
A randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of a one-step conditioning agent in sealant placement: 6-month results.

AIM The objectives of this study were: to compare the retention of fissure sealants (sealants) placed on occlusal surfaces following the use of a self-etching priming agent and traditional acid etch; to compare the caries incidence of occlusal surfaces sealed using the two techniques; and to compare the ease of placement of sealant following the use of the two techniques, as assessed by subjects and operators. DESIGN The study took the form of a randomized controlled trial conducted in UK National Health Service community dental service and dental hospital clinics. Sixty subjects were recruited to this study by seven dental professionals who placed sealants on lower permanent molar pairs. The technique used for enamel preparation prior to sealant placement on the right and left side of the lower arch was randomized. On one side of the lower arch, Xeno III was used to prepare the occlusal enamel, and on the other, phosphoric acid etch together with Prime & Bond was used. Opaque Delton was used to seal all surfaces. Subjects were blinded to the techniques used. The subjects and operators recorded their impressions of the techniques used on individual questionnaires. RESULTS Forty-six (77%) of the 60 subjects were reviewed by the principal researcher after 6 months. The retention of the acid-etch group was significantly superior (P < 0.01), as was the caries preventive effect (P < 0.01). Subjects tended to report that placement of sealants was easier following enamel preparation with Xeno III (P = 0.085), and in the opinion of the operators, sealants were significantly easier to place when using Xeno III (P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS In view of the findings of this investigation, best practice for the placement of sealants remains enamel preparation with acid etch and the use of an intermediate bonding layer.
Prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome and hyperandrogenemia in female-to-male transsexuals.

INTRODUCTION It has been postulated that the prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in female-to-male transsexuals (FMTs) is higher than normal. AIM The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of PCOS and hyperandrogenemia in FMTs, compared with controls. METHODS Sixty-one FMTs were evaluated using the Rotterdam 2003 criteria and National Institutes of Health 1990 criteria for the diagnosis of PCOS, compared with 94 controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Oligoovulation, anovulation, clinical and biochemical signs of hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovaries, and prevalence of PCOS were measured. RESULTS The prevalence of PCOS was 11.5% in FMTs and 9.6% in controls (not significant) with National Institutes of Health 1990 criteria and 14.8% in FMTs and 12.8% in controls (not significant) with the Rotterdam 2003 criteria. Without adjustments and using multivariate analysis in a logistic regression model with adjustments for age, body mass index, and calculated free testosterone, the odds ratio for the prevalence of PCOS was not found to be significantly increased. However, there was a significantly higher prevalence of biochemical hyperandrogenism in FMTs. Hyperandrogenemia was associated with a moderate increase in the odds ratio for the prevalence of PCOS, at 1.08 and 1.07 (P < 0.001 and P = 0.001), for the two definitions used in this study, respectively. CONCLUSIONS PCOS was not significantly increased in FMTs in comparison with controls. However, FMTs more frequently had biochemical hyperandrogenism.
Cognitive Function in Midlife and Beyond

This study seeks to examine the relationships between physical activity (PA), cognitive activity, and cognitive function for the purpose of developing future brain-fitness programs. A sample of 2,305 participants (age = 50–84, mean age: 63.1 years) was selected from the Midlife in the United States longitudinal study for analysis. The strength of the associations between the dependent variables (episodic memory and executive functions) and independent variables (three domains of PA and cognitive activity) were determined by hierarchical regression. Episodic memory regressed positively on leisure-time PA (LPA) and cognitive activity. Executive functions regressed positively on LPA and Cognitive activity, but negatively on job-related PA (JPA). The interaction effect (JPA × Cognitive activity) was nonsignificant. Community-dwelling participants are encouraged to engage in more LPA and cognitive activity to increase brain fitness. Further research may explore the distinctive effects of JPA.
Daily stressors and negative life events in children at elevated risk of developing schizophrenia

Background Psychological stress is implicated in the development of schizophrenia, but little is known about experiences of stress among children at elevated risk for the disorder. Aims To examine stressor exposure and reactivity in children with different vulnerability profiles for schizophrenia: (a) children presenting multiple antecedents of schizophrenia (ASz group), (b) children with a family history of schizophrenia (FHx group) and (c) typically developing low-risk (TD) children. Method Ninety-five children (ASz = 29; FHx = 19; ASz+FHx = 5; TD = 42), identified aged 9–12 years using a community-based screening procedure or as relatives of individuals with schizophrenia, completed questionnaires assessing environmental stressors and psychopathology at age 11–14 years. Results Relative to their typically developing peers, children in the FHx and ASz groups were exposed to a greater number of negative life events and a higher frequency of daily stressors, respectively; and were more distressed by these experiences. Conclusions Stress exposure and reactivity may constitute useful targets of early intervention for psychosis.
QoS routing for mobile ad hoc networks

A quality-of-service (QoS) routing protocol is developed for mobile ad hoc networks. It can establish QoS routes with reserved bandwidth on a per flow basis in a network employing TDMA. An efficient algorithm for calculating the end-to-end bandwidth on a path is developed and used together with the route discovery mechanism of AODV to setup QoS routes. In our simulations the QoS routing protocol produces higher throughput and lower delay than its best-effort counterpart.
Characterization of a novel insect-specific flavivirus from Brazil: potential for inhibition of infection of arthropod cells with medically important flaviviruses.

In the past decade, there has been an upsurge in the number of newly described insect-specific flaviviruses isolated pan-globally. We recently described the isolation of a novel flavivirus (tentatively designated 'Nhumirim virus'; NHUV) that represents an example of a unique subset of apparently insect-specific viruses that phylogenetically affiliate with dual-host mosquito-borne flaviviruses despite appearing to be limited to replication in mosquito cells. We characterized the in vitro growth potential and 3' untranslated region (UTR) sequence homology with alternative flaviviruses, and evaluated the virus's capacity to suppress replication of representative Culex spp. -vectored pathogenic flaviviruses in mosquito cells. Only mosquito cell lines were found to support NHUV replication, further reinforcing the insect-specific phenotype of this virus. Analysis of the sequence and predicted RNA secondary structures of the 3' UTR indicated NHUV to be most similar to viruses within the yellow fever serogroup and Japanese encephalitis serogroup, and viruses in the tick-borne flavivirus clade. NHUV was found to share the fewest conserved sequence elements when compared with traditional insect-specific flaviviruses. This suggests that, despite apparently being insect specific, this virus probably diverged from an ancestral mosquito-borne flavivirus. Co-infection experiments indicated that prior or concurrent infection of mosquito cells with NHUV resulted in a significant reduction in virus production of West Nile virus (WNV), St Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and Japanese encephalitis virus. The inhibitory effect was most effective against WNV and SLEV with over a 10(6)-fold and 10(4)-fold reduction in peak titres, respectively.
Patients Attending Emergency Departments

Manipulative Handling of Data The authors’ contribution to the topic of emergency departments and overloading them with trivial cases is very important. Yet, closer examination reveals careless and manipulative handling of the collected data (1). Of the 6488 patients who visited the surveyed emergency departments during the observation period, 3396 patients were excluded because they required immediate or very urgent treatment (1842), had no waiting period (1047), were unable to give consent, or communicated too poorly in German or English. This means that 52% of the patients were not included in the evaluation. The excluded patient group with the „very urgent need for treatment“ accounts for 28% of total patients. Yet these are exactly the „real“ emergencies for which the emergency department should be primarily used. Of the remaining 1175 patients who finally answered the questions more than half estimated of their own urgency as low. This means that only onefifth of the total group (21%) had such an assessment. In contrast, the first „key message“ is that more than half of the patients who visited an emergency department rated the urgency of their treatment as low, and that their cases did not fall under the definition of an emergency. Thus, an examined subset is equated with the total. However, good statistics look different. Especially in the age of „alternative facts“, we should focus on sober and honest information. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2018. 0065a
Expression of Transgenes Targeted to the Gt(ROSA)26Sor Locus Is Orientation Dependent

Background Targeting transgenes to a chosen location in the genome has a number of advantages. A single copy of the DNA construct can be inserted by targeting into regions of chromatin that allow the desired developmental and tissue-specific expression of the transgene. Methodology In order to develop a reliable system for reproducibly expressing trangenes it was decided to insert constructs at the Gt(ROSA)26Sor locus. A cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter was used to drive expression of the Tetracycline (tet) transcriptional activator, rtTA2s-M2, and test the effectiveness of using the ROSA26 locus to allow transgene expression. The tet operator construct was inserted into one allele of ROSA26 and a tet responder construct controlling expression of EGFP was inserted into the other allele. Conclusions Expression of the targeted transgenes was shown to be affected by both the presence of selectable marker cassettes and by the orientation of the transgenes with respect to the endogenous ROSA26 promoter. These results suggest that transcriptional interference from the endogenous gene promoter or from promoters in the selectable marker cassettes may be affecting transgene expression at the locus. Additionally we have been able to determine the optimal orientation for transgene expression at the ROSA26 locus.