Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Test Parameters on Friction and Wear Performance of PTFE and PTFE Composites

The friction and wear properties of pure poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE), 35% carbon filled poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE+35%C), and 17% glass fiber-reinforced poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE+17%GFR) sliding against stainless steel under dry sliding conditions were studied by using a pin-on-disc tribometer. The effect of applied pressure and sliding speed on tribological properties of the polymer-stainless steel combination under dry sliding conditions was investigated. Tests were carried out at sliding speeds of 0.32, 0.64, 0.96, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 m/s and under applied pressures of 0.17, 0.34, 0.68, 1.02, 1.76, 3.53, 5.30, and 7.07 MPa. Optical microscopy was utilized to examine the worn surfaces of pure PTFE and it’s composite. The results indicated that, for pure PTFE, carbon-filled PTFE and glass fiber-reinforced PTFE composites are used in this investigation; the friction coefficient decreases with the increase in applied load values. The maximum reduction in wear rate was obtained by glass fiber-reinforced PTFE composite. The specific wear rate for pure PTFE, carbon filled PTFE composite, and glass fiber-reinforced PTFE composite were in the order of 10-13, 10-14, and 10-15 m 2/N, respectively. The wear mechanism include adhesive and abrasive processes.
Liability Associated with Obstetric Anesthesia: A Closed Claims Analysis

Background:Obstetrics carries high medical liability risk. Maternal death and newborn death/brain damage were the most common complications in obstetric anesthesia malpractice claims before 1990. As the liability profile may have changed over the past two decades, the authors reviewed recent obstetric claims in the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims database. Methods:Obstetric anesthesia claims for injuries from 1990 to 2003 (1990 or later claims; n = 426) were compared to obstetric claims for injuries before 1990 (n = 190). Chi-square and z tests compared categorical variables; payment amounts were compared using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Results:Compared to pre-1990 obstetric claims, the proportion of maternal death (P = 0.002) and newborn death/brain damage (P = 0.048) decreased, whereas maternal nerve injury (P < 0.001) and maternal back pain (P = 0.012) increased in 1990 or later claims. In 1990 or later claims, payment was made on behalf of the anesthesiologist in only 21% of newborn death/brain damage claims compared to 60% of maternal death/brain damage claims (P < 0.001). These payments in both groups were associated with an anesthesia contribution to the injury (P < 0.001) and substandard anesthesia care (P < 0.001). Anesthesia-related newborn death/brain damage claims had an increased proportion of delays in anesthetic care (P = 0.001) and poor communication (P = 0.007) compared to claims unrelated to anesthesia. Conclusion:Newborn death/brain damage has decreased, yet it remains a leading cause of obstetric anesthesia malpractice claims over time. Potentially preventable anesthetic causes of newborn injury included delays in anesthesia care and poor communication between the obstetrician and anesthesiologist.
The Radiologic Work-up in Thyroid Surgery: Fine-needle Biopsy versus Scintigraphy and Ultrasound

To compare the effectiveness and predictive value of radiologic studies with fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in correctly diagnosing thyroid lesions, we reviewed the medical records of 441 patients who had been treated surgically for thyroid disease from 1987 through 1999. We compared the results of thyroid scintigraphy, ultrasound, and FNAB with findings on final surgical pathology. The data were analyzed according to the chisquared (χ2) test. Of 189 thyroid scintigraphy scans that showed a hypofunctional (cold) nodule, 52 (27.5%) were found to be cancerous, and of 35 hyperfunctional (hot) nodules, two (5.7%) were malignant (sensitivity = 91 %; specificity = 19%; accuracy = 38%; χ2 = 7.67; p = 0.006). Of 66 ultrasounds that detected a solid or a mixed solid-cystic mass, 16 (24.2%) were cancerous, while none of the eight sonograms that showed a purely cystic lesion was malignant (sensitivity = 100%; specificity = 14%; accuracy = 32%; χ2 = 2.47; p = 0.116 [not statistically significant]). Of the 119 patients whose FNABs were diagnostic, 55 biopsies revealed follicular cells. Of the remaining 64 biopsies, cancer was correctly predicted in 35 of 44 patients (79.5%) and benign disease was correctly diagnosed in 18 of 20 patients (90.0%) (sensitivity = 95%; specificity = 67%; accuracy = 83%; χ2 = 27.3; p = 0.00). We conclude that in the evaluation of thyroid lesions, FNAB is superior to imaging studies, which yield a relatively high rate of false-positive results.
Bohigas-Giannoni-Schmit conjecture

A The chaos hierarchy 12 A.1 Ergodicity . 12 A.2 Mixing . 12 A.3 K Systems (Kolmogorov) . 13 A.4 B-Systems (Bernoulli) . 14 A.5 A-Systems (Anosov) . 14
Computation of circuit waveform envelopes using an efficient, matrix-decomposed harmonic balance algorithm

In this paper we introduce a novel algorithm for numerically computing the "slow" dynamics (envelope) of circuits in which a "fast" varying carrier signal as also present. The algorithm proceeds at the rate of the slow behavior and its computational cost is fairly insensitive to the rate of the fast signals. The envelope computation problem is formulated as a differential-algebraic system of equations (DAEs) in terms of frequency-domain quantities (e.g. amplitudes and phases) that capture the fast varying behavior of the circuit. The solution of this DAE represents the "slow" variation of these quantities, i.e., the envelope. The efficiency of this method is the result of using the most appropriate method for each of the circuit modes: harmonic balance for the fast behavior and time-domain integration of DAEs for the slow behavior. The paper describes the theoretical foundations of the algorithm and presents several circuit analysis examples.
Comparison of the effect of enalapril and losartan in conjunction with surgical coronary revascularisation versus revascularisation alone on systemic endothelial function

Objectives: To investigate the effect of enalapril, losartan, and surgical coronary revascularisation on endothelial function, and the role of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) insertion (I)/deletion (D) polymorphism. Design: Randomised, controlled, blinded end point study. Setting: University tertiary referral cardiac centre. Patients and interventions: 49 men awaiting coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were randomly assigned to treatment with losartan, enalapril, or control for two months before and three months after surgery. Main outcome measures: Endothelial function was blindly analysed by brachial artery flow mediated dilatation (FMD) and ACE I/D genotype was determined. Results: FMD was impaired at baseline (1.0–1.7%) and after five months had improved to 5.2% with enalapril (p = 0.015), 5.0% with losartan (p = 0.0004), and 3.0% with CABG alone (p = 0.05). Patients with the II genotype had lower baseline FMD than those with DI or DD (0.1% v 1.7%, p = 0.038) and after enalapril or losartan treatment had greater improvement in FMD (mean (SEM) 7.1 (1.1)%) than patients with DI (3.1 (1.3)%, p = 0.024) or DD genotype (3.1 (1.1)%, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Enalapril and losartan, with surgical coronary revascularisation, significantly improve systemic endothelial function. Revascularisation alone produces a quantitatively smaller, but still significant, improvement. The ACE genotype significantly modulates this response. Patients with the II genotype have a more pronounced impairment in endothelial function at baseline and a greater improvement in response to treatment with these agents.
A preliminary result on synchronization of heterogeneous agents via funnel control

We propose a new approach to achieve practical synchronization for heterogeneous agents. Our approach is based on the observation that a sufficiently large (but constant) gain for diffusive coupling leads to practical synchronization. In the classical setup of high-gain adaptive control, the funnel controller gained popularity in the last decade, because it is very simple and only structural knowledge of the underlying dynamical system is needed. We illustrate with simulations that “funnel synchronization” may be a promising approach to achieve practical synchronization of heterogeneous agents without the need to know the individual dynamics and the algebraic connectivity of the network (i.e., the second smallest eigenvalue of the Laplacian matrix). For a special case we provide a proof, but the proof for the general case is ongoing research.
ANGIOGENESIS: INITIATION AND CONTROL *

From in vivo experiments using new methods such as the rabbit cornea, it is now becoming clear that the growth of a capillary involves an ordered sequence of events that includes lysis of the basement membrane of a parent venule, directional migration of capillary endothelial cells toward the angiogenic stimulus, lumen formation, development of branches, and anastomosis of the tip of one tube with another to form a loop. It is also clear that diffusible angiogenic stimuli can be released not only from most solid tumors, but also from at least three non-neoplastic cells. These include activated macrophages, sensitized lymphocytes, and adipocytes. Other normal tissues can also stimulate angiogenesis, but the type of cell giving rise to the angiogenic stimulus is unknown, and the period of angiogenic stimulation is brief. With the recent ability to clone capillary endothelial cells and to carry them in long-term culture, it has been possible to further delineate the mechanism of capillary growth. In vitro studies have shown that the mast cell seems to behave as a helper cell for capillary endothelial cells, in some way speeding up their rate of directional migration. At this writing, heparin appears to be the principal mast cell factor responsible for this effect on capillary endothelial cells. One theoretical possibility is that mast cells may prepare the matrix, perhaps by slow release of heparin, so that capillary sprouts can more easily move through it toward their angiogenic target. While the study of angiogenesis as a phenomenon is still in an early phase, it has become possible, by using a combination of in vitro and in vivo techniques, to more thoroughly understand the initiation and control of capillary growth.
An Improved Hierarchical Bayesian Model of Language for Document Classification

This paper addresses the fundamental problem of document classification, and we focus attention on classification problems where the classes are mutually exclusive. In the course of the paper we advocate an approximate sampling distribution for word counts in documents, and demonstrate the model's capacity to outperform both the simple multinomial and more recently proposed extensions on the classification task. We also compare the classifiers to a linear SVM, and show that provided certain conditions are met, the new model allows performance which exceeds that of the SVM and attains amongst the very best published results on the Newsgroups classification task.
Prospective study of fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of lung cancer among men and women.

BACKGROUND Diets high in fruits and vegetables have been shown to be associated with a lower risk of lung cancer. beta-Carotene was hypothesized to be largely responsible for the apparent protective effect, but this hypothesis was not supported by clinical trials. METHODS We examined the association between lung cancer risk and fruit and vegetable consumption in 77 283 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 47 778 men in the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study. Diet was assessed with the use of a food-frequency questionnaire that included 15 fruits and 23 vegetables. We used logistic regression models to estimate relative risks (RRs) of lung cancer within each cohort. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS We documented 519 lung cancer cases among the women and 274 among the men. Total fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with a modestly lower risk of lung cancer among the women but not among the men. The RR for the highest versus lowest quintile of intake was 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59-1.06) among the women and 1.12 (95% CI = 0.74-1.69) among the men after adjustment for smoking status, quantity of cigarettes smoked per day, time since quitting smoking, and age at initiation of smoking. However, total fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with a lower risk of lung cancer among never smokers in the combined cohorts, although the reduction was not statistically significant (RR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.35-1.12 in the highest tertile). CONCLUSION Higher fruit and vegetable intakes were associated with lower risks of lung cancer in women but not in men. It is possible that the inverse association among the women remained confounded by unmeasured smoking characteristics, although fruits and vegetables were protective in both men and women who never smoked.
Relationship between patient response in ovarian and breast cancer and platinum drug-DNA adduct formation.

Nucleated blood cell DNA samples from ovarian (n = 27) and breast (n = 25) cancer patients receiving either cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II (cisplatin) and/or diamminecyclobutanecarboxylatoplatinum II were examined for the presence of platinum drug bound to DNA during several cycles of therapy. Platinum-DNA adducts were quantitated by cisplatin-DNA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and atomic absorbance spectroscopy, techniques that measure either a fraction of the intrastrand cis-diammineplatinum-d(ApG) and -d(GpG) adducts (ELISA) or the total platinum bound to DNA (atomic absorbance spectroscopy), respectively. For either the complete study, or for samples obtained during the early cycles, individuals with progressive disease had severalfold lower overall cisplatin-DNA ELISA-measurable adduct levels than the individuals with more favorable clinical responses (complete response, partial response, or stable disease), who were grouped together and termed nonprogressive disease. In the case of the ovarian cancer patients, who experienced a 59% rate of complete and partial response, the correlation of high adduct values with disease response was statistically significant by the Wilcoxon rank-sum test (P = 0.028). In contrast, the breast cancer patients achieved only an 11.5% rate of complete and partial response, and the correlation of high adduct formation with disease response was not statistically significant. Levels of total DNA-bound platinum, measured by atomic absorbance spectroscopy, showed no correlation with disease response for either cancer by any analysis. The study supports previous observations demonstrating a consistent correlation between high cisplatin-DNA ELISA measurements and positive clinical outcome in ovarian cancer patients. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Declining American representation in leading clinical-research journals.

To determine the national origins of high-quality clinical research we looked at research articles published during the past decade in three leading general clinical-research journals, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, and the Lancet, and in a specialty journal, Blood. We found that the proportion of non-U.S. papers published annually in these journals increased between two- and almost threefold, irrespective of whether the total number published per year rose (the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Blood), fell (the Lancet), or remained constant (the New England Journal of Medicine). Most non-U.S. research published in these periodicals originated in Western Europe or Japan. The limited available data on papers sent to the journals revealed a decline in the number of U.S. papers submitted in recent years (the New England Journal of Medicine) or a slower rate of increase relative to that of non-U.S. submissions (Blood), indicating that the increase in the number of non-U.S. papers published reflects an increase in the amount of high-quality research originating abroad as compared with the amount originating in the United States. The explanation for this phenomenon is unclear, but it coincides with the slowed growth of funding from the National Institutes of Health for U.S. clinical research.
Antenna Selection for MIMO Non-orthogonal Multiple Access Systems

This paper considers the joint antenna selection (AS) problem for a classical two-user MIMO non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) system, where both the base station (BS) and users (UEs) are equipped with multiple antennas. Specifically, several computationally-efficient AS algorithms are developed for two commonly-used NOMA scenarios: fixed power allocation NOMA (F-NOMA) and cognitive radio-inspired NOMA (CR-NOMA). For the F-NOMA system, two novel AS schemes, namely max-max-max AS (A$^3$-AS) and max-min-max AS (AIA-AS), are proposed to maximize the system sum-rate, without and with the consideration of user fairness, respectively. In the CR-NOMA network, a novel AS algorithm, termed maximum-channel-gain-based AS (MCG-AS), is proposed to maximize the achievable rate of the secondary user, under the condition that the primary user's quality of service requirement is satisfied. The asymptotic closed-form expressions of the average sum-rate for A$^3$-AS and AIA-AS and that of the average rate of the secondary user for MCG-AS are derived, respectively. Numerical results demonstrate that the AIA-AS provides better user-fairness, while the A$^3$-AS achieves a near-optimal sum-rate in F-NOMA systems. For the CR-NOMA scenario, MCG-AS achieves a near-optimal performance in a wide SNR regime. Furthermore, all the proposed AS algorithms yield a significant computational complexity reduction, compared to exhaustive search-based counterparts.
Practical smooth minimum time trajectory planning for path following robotic manipulators

Previous computation approaches of smooth minimum time trajectory for path following robotic manipulators either cannot fully utilize the maximum ability of machines, fail to minimum machine time, or cannot be computed efficiently because of the nonlinearity of problem formulations. In this paper, an efficient computation approach is proposed that has been designed as solving a convex optimization problem to generate smooth minimum time trajectory while utilizing the maximum ability of machines.
On Nature’s Strategy for Assigning Genetic Code Multiplicity

Genetic code redundancy would yield, on the average, the assignment of three codons for each of the natural amino acids. The fact that this number is observed only for incorporating Ile and to stop RNA translation still waits for an overall explanation. Through a Structural Bioinformatics approach, the wealth of information stored in the Protein Data Bank has been used here to look for unambiguous clues to decipher the rationale of standard genetic code (SGC) in assigning from one to six different codons for amino acid translation. Leu and Arg, both protected from translational errors by six codons, offer the clearest clue by appearing as the most abundant amino acids in protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interfaces. Other SGC hidden messages have been sought by analyzing, in a protein structure framework, the roles of over- and under-protected amino acids.
Second-order properties of lossy likelihoods and the MLE/MDL dichotomy in lossy compression

This paper develops a theoretical framework for lossy source coding that treats it as a statistical problem, in analogy to the approach to universal lossless coding suggested by Rissanen’s Minimum Description Length (MDL) principle. Two methods for selecting efficient compression algorithms are proposed, based on lossy variants of the Maximum Likelihood and MDL principles. Their theoretical performance is analyzed, and it is shown under appropriate assumptions that the MDL approach to universal lossy coding identifies the optimal model class of lossy codes.
Contrasts in muscle and myofibers of elite male and female bodybuilders.

Muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), fiber area, and fiber number were determined from the biceps brachii of eight elite male bodybuilders (MB) and five elite female bodybuilders (FB) who had similar training characteristics. Biceps CSA was obtained from computer tomographic scanning and corrected for noncontractile tissue. Biceps CSA was twofold greater in MB relative to FB and strongly correlated to lean body mass (R = 0.93). Biceps CSA expressed per kilogram lean body mass (LBM) or per centimeter body height (BH) was 35% greater in MB compared with FB. Most of the gender difference in muscle CSA was because of greater absolute mean fiber areas in MB (9,607 microns2) relative to FB (5,386 microns2); however, MB also had a significantly greater population of small type II fibers (less than 2,000 microns2) compared with FB. Type II fiber area/LBM averaged 1.6-fold greater in MB compared with FB; however, type I fiber area/LBM was similar between groups. Biceps CSA was positively correlated to fiber CSA (R = 0.75) and fiber number (R = 0.55). This suggests that adaptations to resistance training may be complex and involve fiber hypertrophy and fiber number (e.g., proliferation). Alternatively, since the muscle characteristics before training are not known, these apparent adaptations might be genetically determined attributes.
Quality meshing for polyhedra with small angles

We present an algorithm to compute a Delaunay mesh conforming to a polyhedron possibly with small input angles. The radius-edge ratio ofmost output tetrahedra are bounded by a constant, except possibly those that are provably close to small angles. Further, the mesh is graded, that is, edge lengths are at least a constant fraction of the local feature sizes at the edge endpoints. Unlike a previous algorithm, this algorithm is simple to implement as it avoids computing local feature sizes and protective zones explicitly. Our experimental results confirm our claims and show that few skinny tetrahedra remain.
Study of reorientational dynamics during real‐time crystallization of absorbable poly(p‐dioxanone) by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy

The real-time crystallization of absorbable poly(p-dioxanone) (PDS) was studied by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. The dipole dynamic changes in the diminishing amorphous phase were investigated over a wide range of crystallization conditions. The location, shape, and magnitude of the a relaxation and the apparent activation energy were monitored and compared before and after the onset of crystallization. We observed no correlation between the degree of crystallinity and the location (hence, the most probable relaxation time, τ) of the a relaxation from just after the initiation up to the latest stages of the isothermal crystallization. However, an abrupt change in the intensity of the a process and the apparent activation energy allowed for the precise detection of the onset of crystallization. This was probably caused by a reorganization of dipole units occurring a few moments before the crystallization began. As crystallization proceeded, an asymmetric broadening of the a peak was observed that was directly influenced by the appearance of a new lower frequency process that originated in the highly confined amorphous portion located inside the spherulites. Finally, PDS crystallization kinetics determined from the changes of the relaxed permittivity with time are discussed and compared with calorimetric and optical microscopy data.