Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of alkali silica reaction on the mechanical properties of aging mortar bars: Experiments and numerical modeling

Alkali silica reaction and its effect on concrete and mortar have been studied for many years. Several tests and procedures have been formulated to evaluate this reaction, particularly in terms of aggregate reactivity. However, the data given in the literature concerning the mechanical properties of concrete and mortar are scattered and very little information is available for some properties such as fracture energy. In this study, the mechanical behavior of mortar was evaluated and monitored, under normal and accelerated environmental conditions. Fracture energy, compressive strength and tensile strength were measured for mortar specimens, casted with highly reactive Spratt crushed aggregate, at two different storage temperatures (23℃ and 80℃) and at two different alkali concentrations (immersed in water and in 1 N NaOH solution). Moreover, free expansion tests (according to ASTM C1260) and petrographic observations were performed, in order to relate them to the evolution of the mechanical properties of mortar. Results show a decrease of the mechanical properties associated with specimens at 80℃ in alkali solution and that the deterioration due to alkali silica reaction is counter-balanced by the strengthening of mortar resulting from the hydration process. A multi-physics computational framework, based on the Lattice Discrete Particle Model is then proposed. Numerical simulations based on a complete calibration and validation with the obtained experimental data capture the behavior of mortar subjected to the complex coupled effect of strength build-up and alkali silica reaction at different temperatures and alkali contents.
Reassessment and clinicopathological prognostic factors of malignant fibrous histiocytoma of soft parts

Recently, the category of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) has been under discussion and new entities resembling MFH have appeared. To clarify the recent situation regarding MFH, we reassessed previously diagnosed MFH cases in accordance with the most up‐to‐date diagnostic criteria, which included allied tumors. We carefully reassessed 428 cases that had been diagnosed in our institute during the past 28 years. Moreover, we searched for clinicopathological prognostic factors among the cases that were finally diagnosed as MFH. Among the 428 cases, 138 cases had their diagnoses changed. The revised cases included 78 leiomyosarcomas (57%; ordinary leiomyosarcoma, 45 cases; pleomorphic leiomyosarcoma, 23 cases; myxoid leiomyosarcoma, 10 cases), 12 liposarcomas (9%; pleomorphic liposarcoma, 11 cases; dedifferentiated liposarcoma, one case), seven dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (5%), six unclassified sarcomas (4%), five primary or metastatic carcinomas (4%), four low‐grade fibromyxoid sarcomas (3%), four inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (3%), three rhabdomyosarcomas (2%), three malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (2%), three acral myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcomas (2%) and two atypical fibroxanthomas (1.5%). Among the 1974 soft tissue sarcomas registered in our institute, MFH (428 cases) had been the most common sarcoma, followed by liposarcoma, leiomyosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. However, after reassessment, leiomyosarcoma proved to be the most common soft tissue sarcoma (322 cases), followed by 290 MFH, 273 liposarcomas and 202 rhabdomyosarcomas. Among these 290 cases finally diagnosed as MFH, survival data were available in 189 cases. Tumor location in the abdominal cavity, the retroperitoneum or the head and neck (P = 0.0024), tumor size of 5 cm or more (P < 0.0001), deep tumor location (P < 0.0001), high histological grade (grade 3) based on the French Federation of Cancer Centers’ grading system (P = 0.0007), and high stage (stage III or IV) based on the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system (P < 0.0001) were significantly worse prognostic factors by univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, deep tumor location and high AJCC stage were independent adverse prognostic factors. We conclude that leiomyosarcoma is the most important differential diagnosis for MFH, especially pleomorphic leiomyosarcoma from storiform–pleomorphic type and myxoid leiomyosarcoma from myxoid type. Tumor depth and AJCC stage are the most important predictive prognostic factors in MFH.
Massive MIMO or small cell network: Who is more energy efficient?

Energy efficiency (EE) is becoming an important design goal for wireless communication systems providing high spectral efficiency (SE). Both massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) and small cell network (SCN) are expected to achieve high EE for high throughput cellular networks, though using different mechanisms. Massive MIMO improves EE by exploiting a large array gain, while SCN improves EE by deploying a large number of low-power base stations (BSs) to reduce the propagation loss and increase the opportunity of BS sleep. In this paper, we compare the EEs as well as the SEs of Massive MIMO and SCN. For a fair comparison, we consider a multi-cell network with the same user density, antenna density and average cell-edge signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). Perfect channel information is assumed, and three BS sleep strategies are considered. Our analysis shows that the EE of SCN increases with the cell size shrinking, and the achievable SEs of SCN and Massive MIMO increase with the cell-edge SNR. When the number of cells is large, SCN is always more energy efficient than Massive MIMO. On the other hand, when the number of cells is small, Massive MIMO achieves higher EE than SCN when the circuit power consumptions of Massive MIMO are much lower than SCN.
Large-scale replication and heterogeneity in Parkinson disease genetic loci

Objective: Eleven genetic loci have reached genome-wide significance in a recent meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in Parkinson disease (PD) based on populations of Caucasian descent. The extent to which these genetic effects are consistent across different populations is unknown. Methods: Investigators from the Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease Consortium were invited to participate in the study. A total of 11 SNPs were genotyped in 8,750 cases and 8,955 controls. Fixed as well as random effects models were used to provide the summary risk estimates for these variants. We evaluated between-study heterogeneity and heterogeneity between populations of different ancestry. Results: In the overall analysis, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 9 loci showed significant associations with protective per-allele odds ratios of 0.78–0.87 (LAMP3, BST1, and MAPT) and susceptibility per-allele odds ratios of 1.14–1.43 (STK39, GAK, SNCA, LRRK2, SYT11, and HIP1R). For 5 of the 9 replicated SNPs there was nominally significant between-site heterogeneity in the effect sizes (I2 estimates ranged from 39% to 48%). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed significantly stronger effects for the BST1 (rs11724635) in Asian vs Caucasian populations and similar effects for SNCA, LRRK2, LAMP3, HIP1R, and STK39 in Asian and Caucasian populations, while MAPT rs2942168 and SYT11 rs34372695 were monomorphic in the Asian population, highlighting the role of population-specific heterogeneity in PD. Conclusion: Our study allows insight to understand the distribution of newly identified genetic factors contributing to PD and shows that large-scale evaluation in diverse populations is important to understand the role of population-specific heterogeneity. Neurology® 2012;79:659–667
Identification of Plasmalogens in the Cytoplasmic Membrane of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis

ABSTRACT Plasmalogens are ether-linked lipids that may influence oxidative stress resistance of eukaryotic cell membranes. Since bacterial membrane composition can influence environmental stress resistance, we explored the prevalence of plasmalogens in the cytoplasmic membrane of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis. Results showed plasmalogens are a major component of the B. animalis subsp. lactis membrane.
Characterization of Thermal Energy Harvesting Using Pyroelectric Ceramics at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract Energy harvesting has drawn increasing attention due to the fast development of wireless sensors and devices. Most research has been focused on mechanical energy harvesting using piezoelectric ceramics; however, little is known on their experimental capabilities to harvest thermal energy at different temperature ranges and the impact that the temperature range has on the energy conversion efficiency. Majority of piezoelectric ceramics are pyroelectric in nature thus enabling them to couple energy between thermal and electrical domains. This paper demonstrates the use of Lithium Niobate (LNB) as a thermal energy harvesting device for high temperature applications. A custom testing setup was developed to test the LNB sample temperatures up to 225 °C. Pyroelectric coefficient of the material was characterized at different temperature ranges. Pyroelectric coefficient was found to increase with temperature, with a maximum value of −196 μC·m−2 °C−1. Power output of the sample was also characterized in different temperature ranges. A maximum value of over 20.5 μW was found when cycling the sample between 75 °C and 100 °C. Meanwhile, a maximum value of 14.8 μW was found in the 125 °C to 150 °C range. Finally, a peak value of 255 nW was found when cycling the sample in the 200 °C to 225 °C range.
Plasmodium falciparum Expressing Domain Cassette 5 Type PfEMP1 (DC5-PfEMP1) Bind PECAM1

Members of the Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family expressed on the surface of malaria-infected erythrocytes mediate binding of the parasite to different receptors on the vascular lining. This process drives pathologies, and severe childhood malaria has been associated with the expression of particular subsets of PfEMP1 molecules. PfEMP1 are grouped into subtypes based on upstream sequences and the presence of semi-conserved PfEMP1 domain compositions named domain cassettes (DCs). Earlier studies have indicated that DC5-containing PfEMP1 (DC5-PfEMP1) are more likely to be expressed in children with severe malaria disease than in children with uncomplicated malaria, but these PfEMP1 subtypes only dominate in a relatively small proportion of the children with severe disease. In this study, we have characterised the genomic sequence characteristic for DC5, and show that two genetically different parasite lines expressing DC5-PfEMP1 bind PECAM1, and that anti-DC5-specific antibodies inhibit binding of DC5-PfEMP1-expressing parasites to transformed human bone marrow endothelial cells (TrHBMEC). We also show that antibodies against each of the four domains characteristic for DC5 react with native PfEMP1 expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes, and that some of these antibodies are cross-reactive between the two DC5-containing PfEMP1 molecules tested. Finally, we confirm that anti-DC5 antibodies are acquired early in life by individuals living in malaria endemic areas, that individuals having high levels of these antibodies are less likely to develop febrile malaria episodes and that the antibody levels correlate positively with hemoglobin levels.
Clues on regularity in the structure and kinematics of elliptical galaxies from self-consistent hydrodynamical simulations : the dynamical Fundamental Plane

We have analysed the parameters characterizing the mass and velocity distributions of two samples of relaxed elliptical-like objects (ELOs) identified, at z = 0, in a set of self-consistent hydrodynamical simulations operating in the context of a concordance cosmological model. ELOs have a prominent, non-rotating, dynamically relaxed stellar spheroidal component, with very low cold gas content, and sizes of no more than ∼10-40 kpc (ELO or baryonic object scale), embedded in a massive halo of dark matter typically 10 times larger in size (halo scale). They have also an extended halo of hot diffuse gas. The parameters characterizing the mass, size and velocity dispersion both at the baryonic object and at the halo scales have been measured in the ELOs of each sample. At the halo scale, they have been found to satisfy virial relations; at the scale of the baryonic object, the (logarithms of the) ELO stellar masses, projected stellar half-mass radii, and stellar central line-of-sight (LOS) velocity dispersions define a flattened ellipsoid close to a plane (the intrinsic dynamical plane, IDP), tilted relative to the virial one, whose observational manifestation is the observed Fundamental Plane (FP). Otherwise, IDPs are not homogeneously populated, but ELOs, as well as elliptical (E) galaxies in the FP, occupy only a particular region defined by the range of their masses. The ELO samples have been found to show systematic trends with the mass scale in both, the relative content and the relative distributions of the baryonic and the dark mass ELO components, so that homology is broken in the spatial mass distribution (resulting in the IDP tilt), but ELOs are still a two-parameter family where the two parameters are correlated (causing its non-homogeneous population). The physical origin of these trends presumably lies in the systematic decrease, with increasing ELO mass, of the relative amount of dissipation experienced by the baryonic mass component along ELO stellar mass assembly. ELOs also show kinematical segregation, but it does not appreciably change with the mass scale. The non-homogeneous population of IDPs explains the role played by M vir to determine the correlations among intrinsic parameters. In this paper, we also show that the central stellar LOS velocity dispersion of ELOs, σ star los,0 , is a fair empirical estimator of M vir , and this explains the central role played by σ los,0 at determining the observational correlations.
Metacognition in Action: The Importance of Implementation Intentions

When people furnish their goal intentions (“I intend to attain the goal x! ”) with implementation intentions (“I will initiate the goal-directed response y when situation z arises! ”), the initiation of goal-directed responses becomes automatized. As this type of automaticity stems from a single act of will, it is referred to as strategic automaticity. We report various studies demonstrating that strategic automaticity leads to immediate and efficient responding, which does not need a conscious intent. In addition, the situational cues specified in implementation intentions seem to be easily detected and readily attended to. Further research indicates that the strategic automaticity induced by implementation intentions also helps resist temptations and fight bad habits. Following Nelson's (1996; Nelson & Narens, 1994) model of metacognition, we suggest that goal intentions and, in particular, implementation intentions are important components of the metacognitive control of action geared toward its initiation, continuation, and termination.
Self-Assembled Carbon-Polyoxometalate Composites for Electrochemical Capacitors

The development of high performance yet cost effective energy storage devices is critical for enabling the growth of important emerging sectors from the internet of things to grid integration of renewable energy. Material costs are by far the largest contributor to the overall cost of energy storage devices and thus research into cost effective energy storage materials will play an important role in developing technology to meet real world storage demands. In this thesis, low cost high performance composite electrode materials for supercapacitors (SCs) have been developed through the surface modification of electrochemically double layer capacitive (EDLC) carbon substrates with pseudocapacitive Polyoxometalates (POMs). Significant fundamental contributions have been made to the understanding of all components of the composite electrode including the POM active layer, cation linker, and carbon substrate. The interaction of different POM chemistries in solution has been studied to elucidate the novel ways in which these molecules combine and the mechanism underlying this combination. A more thorough understanding regarding the cation linker’s role in electrode fabrication has been developed through examining the linker properties which most strongly affect electrode performance. The development of porosity in biomass derived carbon materials has also been
Two-Level Discretization Techniques for Ground State Computations of Bose-Einstein Condensates

This work presents a new methodology for computing ground states of Bose--Einstein condensates based on finite element discretizations on two different scales of numerical resolution. In a preprocessing step, a low-dimensional (coarse) generalized finite element space is constructed. It is based on a local orthogonal decomposition of the solution space and exhibits high approximation properties. The nonlinear eigenvalue problem that characterizes the ground state is solved by some suitable iterative solver exclusively in this low-dimensional space, without significant loss of accuracy when compared with the solution of the full fine scale problem. The preprocessing step is independent of the types and numbers of bosons. A postprocessing step further improves the accuracy of the method. We present rigorous a priori error estimates that predict convergence rates $H^3$ for the ground state eigenfunction and $H^4$ for the corresponding eigenvalue without pre-asymptotic effects; $H$ being the coarse scale discretization parameter. Numerical experiments indicate that these high rates may still be pessimistic.
Service Dogs: A Compensatory Resource to Improve Function

Objective. This study examined the physical, emotional, social, and economic functions of service dogs, the training methods for service dog/owner teams, and problems encountered with service dogs in relationship to occupational therapy literature and domain of concern. Method. A 31-question survey was developed based on the literature and Uniform Terminology (AOTA, 1994) and was completed by 202 service dog owners from 40 states and Canada. Results. Owners reported that service dogs assisted them in 28 functional tasks, helped them to feel safe, increased their social interaction, and reduced physical assistance by others. Problems with service dogs included difficulty with dog maintenance and public awareness of their role as a worker or assistant to the owner. Over 80% of respondents desired additional training in alternative ways to perform daily living tasks. Conclusion. The use of service dogs is consistent with the occupational therapy domain of concern and practice. Occupational therapists might collaborate with service dog trainers and potential owners in referral, assessment, training, and follow-up services.
Role of connectin in the length-tension relation of skeletal and cardiac muscles.

Resting length-tension relation was studied in glycerinated preparations of frog semitendinosus and atrial muscles. The sarcomere length was measured by using either the light diffraction method or photomicrographs. When the glycerinated preparation was treated with 1 N NaOH solution and subsequently with 2% SDS solution, the resting tension decreased. In glycerinated semitendinosus muscle the resting tension decreased to below 20% of the value before treatment. However, the glycerinated atrial muscle retained more than 50% of its resting tension in spite of such biochemical treatment. The thermoelasticity of the muscle, which was represented by (formula:see text), was determined. Glycerinated semitendinosus and atrial muscles, which were treated with 0.6 M KCl, showed negative beta at all sarcomere lengths. However, when the glycerinated muscle was treated with both alkali (1 N NaOH) and SDS solution, beta at the shorter length became positive (i.e., a rubber-like property). Since connectin survived the biochemical treatment (either NaOH or SDS), it was concluded that the fraction of resting tension, which remained in spite of the biochemical treatments, might be due to the connectin.
Scalable Pattern Sharing on Event Streams*

Complex Event Processing (CEP) has emerged as a technology of choice for high performance event analytics in time-critical decision-making applications. Yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to support high-performance event processing due to the rising number and complexity of event pattern queries and the increasingly high velocity of event streams. In this work we design the SPASS framework that successfully tackles these demanding CEP workloads. Our SPASS optimizer identifies opportunities for effective shared processing among CEP queries by leveraging time-based event correlations among queries. The problem of pattern sharing is shown to be NP-hard by reducing the Minimum Substring Cover problem to our CEP pattern sharing problem. The SPASS optimizer is designed that finds a shared pattern plan in polynomial-time covering all sequence patterns while still guaranteeing an optimality bound. To execute this shared pattern plan, the SPASS runtime employs stream transactions that assure concurrent shared maintenance and re-use of sub-patterns across queries. Our experimental study confirms that the SPASS framework achieves over 16 fold performance improvement for a wide range of experiments compared to the state-of-the-art solution.
Color Doppler imaging evaluation of proximal vertebral artery stenosis.

OBJECTIVE The sonographic diagnostic criteria for vertebral artery stenosis have not been fully investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess hemodynamic parameters at color Doppler imaging and to determine, with digital subtraction angiography as the reference standard, the optimal thresholds for evaluation of proximal vertebral artery stenosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Among 653 patients with symptoms of ischemia of the posterior circulation, 247 subjects with normal arteries or stenosis of the proximal vertebral artery confirmed with digital subtraction angiography were included in the study. Peak systolic velocity at the origin of the vertebral artery (PSV(origin)) and in intervertebral segments of the vertebral artery (PSV(IV)), end-diastolic velocity at the origin and in the intervertebral segments of the vertebral artery, and the diameter of the vascular lumen were measured. The cutoff values for the diagnosis of < 50%, 50-69%, and 70-99% stenosis were determined with receiver operating characteristics analysis. RESULTS The optimal cutoff values of hemodynamic parameters in evaluation of stenosis of the proximal vertebral artery for < 50% stenosis were PSV(origin) >or= 85 cm/s, PSV(origin) / PSV(IV) >or= 1.3, and end-diastolic velocity at the origin >or= 27 cm/s; for 50-69% stenosis were PSV(origin) >or= 140 cm/s, PSV(origin) / PSV(IV) >or/= 2.1, and end-diastolic velocity at the origin >or= 35 cm/s; and for 70-99% stenosis were PSV(origin) >or= 210 cm/s, PSV(origin) / PSV(IV) >or= 4.0, and end-diastolic velocity at the origin >or= 50 cm/s. PSV(origin) was the most useful hemodynamic parameter, having accuracy of 94.5%, 96.2%, and 88.7% for the diagnosis of < 50%, 50-69%, and 70-99% stenosis. CONCLUSION Color Doppler imaging is a reliable method for evaluation of vertebral artery stenosis. The results derived from this study can be used as a reference for establishing sonographic criteria for proximal vertebral artery stenosis.