Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The essential fracture work concept for toughness measurement of ductile polymers

The essential work of fracture method is explored. The method was used to determine the fracture toughness of a series of toughened polymer blends and the crack resistance of a thin ductile polymer film, which could not be tested using the J-integral method. A comparison between J-integral and the specific essential work of fracture was carried out to test the equivalence of the two methods. The effects of geometry on the essential work of fracture and the plane-stress/plane-strain transition were studied. It has been shown that the specific essential work of fracture is a material constant, independent of sample geometry, and equivalent to the critical J-integral. The plane-stress/plane-strain transition is found to depend on the nature of the material tested. The sample thickness requirement for valid plane-strain specific essential work of fracture is discussed, and it Is proposed that the size requirement for the plane-strain specific essential work of fracture may be less rigorous than that for plane-strain J IC measurement.
Tell Me Who You Are and I Will Tell You Where to Go: Use of Travel Personalities in Destination Recommendation Systems

Current efforts in destination recommendation systems research and design are based on the assumption that user preferences have to be captured in the most accurate way possible to be able to provide useful recommendations. However, leading the user through a series of mind-puzzling diagnostic questions is often cumbersome and, therefore, discourages use. This article explores travel personality categories as a possible shortcut to classifying users. The results of this study suggest that travel personality types selected by the survey respondents can, indeed, be matched up with certain travel behaviors. Implications for future research as well as systems design are presented.
GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF INFLUENZA VIRUS. PROPERTIES OF THE INITIAL CELL-VIRUS COMPLEX

The rate has been determined at which the initial stable complex is formed between cells of the chorioallantoic membrane and the PR8 strain of type A influenza virus. Characterization of the complex revealed the following properties: (a) stability to dilution and to simple washing with buffered saline, (b) insensitivity to the action of receptor-destroying enzyme (obtained from cholera vibrio), (c) sensitivity to the inhibitory effect of anti-viral immune serum, (d) formation of the complex at low temperatures, 3°C. , (e) accompanied by a loss of detectable viral infectivity from the reaction mixture, (f) stability at 3°C. but transformation at 37°C. to a state which is resistant to the inhibitory action of a specific anti-viral serum. The rate of this latter transformation has been determined. The infectious process in more than 50 per cent of the cells can be influenced by immune serum 2 hours after the completion of the initial reaction with virus.
Fibrillar Contraction of the Heart

MANY years ago Ludwig and Hoffa' showed that the application of strong constant currents or faradic currents to the ventricles of the dog's heart causes an abolition of the normal beat. The ventricular muscle is thrown into a state of irregular arhythmic contraction, whilst there is a great fall in the arterial blood pressure. Thie ventricles become dilated with blood as the rapid quivering movement of their walls is insufficient to expel their contents; the muscular action partakes of the nature of a rapid incoordinated twitching of the muscular tissue. This condition persists for a very long time in the dog, and as Ludwig showed, it is possible to kill an animal in this way-by applying a faradic current to the ventricles. The auricles go on beating rhythmically; they do not participate in the irregular movement excited in the ventricles. These phenomena are familiar to all who have wvorked much with the mammalian heart; they have been designated by various names-Herz-delirium, Delirium cordis, Fibrillar contraction, Intervermiform movement, &c. During the last two years I have performed a large number of experiments bearing uporn this subject. My earlier investigations were pursued in the Physiological Laboratory of University College, London, and the more recent ones in the Physiological Laboratory of the University of Aberdeen. I have studied the phenomena in question in the hearts of the dog, cat, rabbit, rat, mouse, hedgehog and fowl; both in the young animal and in the adult. The experiments were all conducted on completely anaesthetised animals; artificial respiration was carried on, a cannula being inserted in the trachea; the thorax was opened in many cases and the heart laid bare; the temperature of the animal was kept up by means of a warm pan.
Book Reviews Integrative and Comparative Biology Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology

The Platypus and other monotremes have fascinated, entranced, and puzzled Western biologists since John Hunter, then Governor of a penal colony in New South Wales sent a sketch and skin to the Philosophical Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1798. Neurobiologists are no exception to this. In the Neurobiology of Monotremes, Editor (and author) Ken Ashwell has produced a superb and lucid text that effectively reviews the state of mono-treme neuroscience, articulates current puzzles, and looks toward future experiments. A particular highlight is the final three chapters in which Ashwell, Craig Hardman, and Anne Musser present for the first time atlases for the central and peripheral nervous system of platypus and echidnas using the techniques of Paxinos and Watson (2007). This review will go further into great detail about the book's contents, given its high price (277 US dollars list! ). The bottom line is that the Neurobiology of Monotremes comes highly recommended not only for the specialist, but also for anyone interested in broader questions of the evolution of brain and behavior and of sensory adaptation to the environment. The book is organized into 17 chapters, plus an index, references, glossary, list of abbreviations for the atlas' plates, and of great interest to the specialist, supplementary tables and figures of detailed measurements ranging from the diameters of platypus' eggs to sequences of developmental events. Reminiscent of Ashwell's (2010) book on Marsupials, the book begins in Chapter 1 with a discussion of monotreme evolution and classification by Musser. This is a critical chapter given that monotreme taxonomy and classification has long been debated, given the taxon's sparse fossil record coupled with a remarkable combination of unique specializations and evolutionarily retained features. This chapter, and the Preface preceding it, begins building a central argument of the book, namely, that mono-tremes are not living, primitive fossils but rather highly specialized creatures that show remarkable adaptations. Importantly, Chapter 1 ends with a revised taxonomy of monotremes, although Musser makes a particular point of emphasizing that it is interim. In Chapter 2, Stewart Nicol tackles monotreme' behavior and ecology. This chapter should have particular interest to behavioral neuroendocrinologists and those in related fields, given that monotreme' reproduction, mating system and behavior, and maternal care are well covered, especially when complemented by Griffiths (1999). There are also sections on monotremes' distribution and diet, and short sections on behavioral observations of wild and captive animals and cognition. It ends …
Reflected scatterometry for noninvasive interrogation of bacterial colonies

Abstract. A phenotyping of bacterial colonies on agar plates using forward-scattering diffraction-pattern analysis provided promising classification of several different bacteria such as Salmonella, Vibrio, Listeria, and E. coli. Since the technique is based on forward-scattering phenomena, light transmittance of both the colony and the medium is critical to ensure quality data. However, numerous microorganisms and their growth media allow only limited light penetration and render the forward-scattering measurement a challenging task. For example, yeast, Lactobacillus, mold, and several soil bacteria form colorful and dense colonies that obstruct most of the incoming light passing through them. Moreover, blood agar, which is widely utilized in the clinical field, completely blocks the incident coherent light source used in forward scatterometry. We present a newly designed reflection scatterometer and validation of the resolving power of the instrument. The reflectance-type instrument can acquire backward elastic scatter patterns for both highly opaque media and colonies and has been tested with three different bacterial genera grown on blood agar plates. Cross-validation results show a classification rate above 90% for four genera.
On Determining Deep Holes of Generalized Reed–Solomon Codes

For a linear code, deep holes are defined to be vectors that are further away from codewords than all other vectors. The problem of deciding whether a received word is a deep hole for generalized Reed-Solomon (GRS) codes is proved to be co-NP-complete by Guruswami and Vardy. For the extended Reed-Solomon codes RSq(Fq, k), a conjecture was made to classify deep holes by Cheng and Murray. Since then efforts have been made to prove the conjecture, or its various forms. In this paper, we classify deep holes completely for GRS codes RSp(D, k), where p is a prime, |D| > k ≥ (p - 1)/2. Our techniques are built on the idea of deep hole trees, and several results concerning the Erdös-Heilbronn conjecture.
When Punishment Pays

Explaining cooperation in groups remains a key problem because reciprocity breaks down between more than two. Punishing individuals who contribute little provides a potential answer but changes the dilemma to why pay the costs of punishing which, like cooperation itself, provides a public good. Nevertheless, people are observed to punish others in behavioural economic games, posing a problem for existing theory which highlights the difficulty in explaining the spread and persistence of punishment. Here, I consider the apparent mismatch between theory and evidence and show by means of instructive analysis and simulation how much of the experimental evidence for punishment comes from scenarios in which punishers may expect to obtain a net benefit from punishing free-riders. In repeated games within groups, punishment works by imposing costs on defectors so that it pays them to switch to cooperating. Both punishers and non-punishers then benefit from the resulting increase in cooperation, hence investing in punishment can constitute a social dilemma. However, I show the conditions in which the benefits of increased cooperation are so great that they more than offset the costs of punishing, thereby removing the temptation to free-ride on others' investments and making punishment explicable in terms of direct self-interest. Crucially, this is because of the leveraging effect imposed in typical studies whereby people can pay a small cost to inflict a heavy loss on a punished individual. In contrast to previous models suggesting punishment is disadvantaged when rare, I show it can invade until it comes into a producer-scrounger equilibrium with non-punishers. I conclude that adding punishment to an iterated public goods game can solve the problem of achieving cooperation by removing the social dilemma.
Mass media campaigns to promote smoking cessation among adults: an integrative review

Objective This review summarises the impact of mass media campaigns on promoting quitting among adult smokers overall and for subgroups; the influence of campaign intensity and different channels; the effects of different message types. Methods The present work updates two reviews published in 2008 by searching databases using a standard search string. Articles in languages other than English were excluded, as well as letters and editorials. Screening of abstracts yielded 194 potentially relevant articles. Abstracts were evaluated by 2 authors, excluding articles that focused on populations other than adults and according to other specified criteria, resulting in 26 studies reported in 29 articles. Studies were categorised as (a) population-based studies of campaign effects and (b) studies comparing message types, using either population-based or forced exposure methods. Findings of subgroup differences for each study were noted, as well as study strengths and limitations. Results Overall, the studies have strengthened the evidence that mass media campaigns conducted in the context of comprehensive tobacco control programmes can promote quitting and reduce adult smoking prevalence, but that campaign reach, intensity, duration and message type may influence success. Achievement of sufficient population exposure is vital, especially for lower socioeconomic status smokers, with television remaining the primary channel to effectively reach and influence adult smokers. Studies comparing different message types found negative health effects messages most effective at generating increased knowledge, beliefs, positive perceived effectiveness ratings, or quitting behaviour, while there was more mixed evidence for other message types. A few studies further suggest that negative health effects messages may also contribute to reductions in socioeconomic disparities in smoking. Conclusions Mass media campaigns to promote quitting are important investments as part of comprehensive tobacco control programmes to educate about the harms of smoking, set the agenda for discussion, change smoking attitudes and beliefs, increase quitting intentions and quit attempts, and reduce adult smoking prevalence. Jurisdictions should aim for high reach and consistent exposure over time with preference towards negative health effects messages.
CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF PP IN A NEW GENERATION OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL

The microstructure of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) has been investigated during different steps of the processing of commingled PP/unidirectional glass fiber composites. From wide angle x-ray scattering and differential scanning calorimetry analysis, complemented by density measurements, it can be concluded that the crystalline phase in both un-reinforced PP and composite materials is only constituted of the α phase. The morphology of the crystalline phase and the two-dimensional geometric arrangement of fibers within the matrix of commingled composites reinforced by 45, 60, and 75 wt% of fibers have also been investigated using optical microscopy. The composites exhibit heterogeneous morphology whatever the fiber content is. Moreover, large spherulites can be distinguished, but the presence of a transcrystalline phase around the fibers cannot be detected.
Optimizing the Mapping of Reversible Circuits to Four-Valued Quantum Gate Circuits

This paper considers the optimization of reversible circuits composed of multiple-control Toffoli gates to quantum circuits using the well-known NCV-1 (NCV) library and the recently introduced NCV-v1 library which both use a four-valued model for the quantum gates. The techniques introduced handle positive and negative controls which are central to many reversible circuit synthesis procedures. Experimental results confirm the methods are applicable to circuits obtained by diverse synthesis methods. The results also show the significant advantage of the NCV-v1 library.
Valuation of Pension Liabilities in Incomplete Markets

This paper discusses the valuation of wage-indexed pension liabilities. Valuation of these contingent claims by replication is typically not possible as the wage index cannot be hedged perfectly with financial market instruments. This paper discusses several methods to find a value in such incomplete markets and advocates utility-based valuation. This approach implies a simple adjustment on the discount factor.
A unifying concept for the dependence of whole-crop N : P ratio on biomass: theory and experiment.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Numerous estimates have been made of the concentrations of N and P required for good growth of crop species but they have not been defined by any unifying model. The aim of the present study was to develop such a model for the dependence of the N : P ratio on crop mass, to test its validity and to use it to identify elements of similarity between different crop species and wild plants. METHODS A model was derived between plant N : P ratio (Rw) and its dry biomass per unit area (W) during growth with near optimum nutrition by considering that plants consist of growth-related tissue and storage-related tissue with N : P ratios Rg and Rs, respectively. Testing and calibration against experimental data on different crop species led to a simple equation between Rw and W which was tested against independent experimental data. KEY RESULTS The validity of the model and equation was supported by 365 measurements of Rw in 38 field experiments on crops. Rg and Rs remained approximately constant throughout growth, with average values of 11.8 and 5.8 by mass. The model also approximately predicted the relationships between leaf N and P concentrations in 124 advisory estimates on immature tissues and in 385 wild species from published global surveys. CONCLUSIONS The N : P ratio of the biomass of very different crops, during growth with near optimum levels of nutrients, is defined entirely in terms of crop biomass, an average N : P ratio of the storage/structure-related tissue of the crop and an average N : P ratio of the growth-related tissue. The latter is similar to that found in leaves of many wild plant species, and even micro-organisms and terrestrial and freshwater autotrophs.
Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games be a Force for Good?

Violent video games have been a source of controversy in the United States and elsewhere for several decades. Considerable concern has been raised in the public and scientific communities about the alleged deleterious effects of violent games. These concerns may coincide with periodic moral panics about media's influence, particularly on youth. This paper argues that the negative effects of violent games have been exaggerated by some elements of the scientific community, fitting with past cycles of media-focused moral panics. By contrast, potential positive effects of violent video game play have been ignored in the debate on violent games. The current paper considers research in several areas, including aggression, but also the nascent research fields of visuospatial cognition, social networking, and use as educational tools. It is argued that the debate on video game violence should be broadened to include both potential negative and positive effects.
Isolation and identification of autoagglutinating serogroup O:11 Aeromonas strains in the clinical laboratory

We evaluated the extent to which serogroup O:11 Aeromonas strains could be recovered from both clinical and environmental specimens and the cultural parameters that affected the phenotypic marker (autoagglutination) associated with this group. Of over 200 Aeromonas strains screened, serogroup O:11 was identified only among the phenospecies A. hydrophila and A. sobria and was associated with clinical isolates more frequently than with environmental strains. Blood and wound isolates accounted for almost 50% of all O:11 strains identified. The autoagglutination phenotype associated with O:11 strains could be detected in most commercial liquid media, under a wide range of growth temperatures, and within 15 min of incubation at 100 degrees C. The results suggest that clinical laboratories can recognize this important group of Aeromonas strains by two simple tests.
Hydrogeological Structure Model of the Aquifer in Wushan Mine Based on GMS

There has been a wide range of applications on establishing hydrogeological structure model in nearly horizontal strata. However, application of GMS on hydrogeological structure model in intruded rock-occuring region is rare. The purpose of this study is to establish the hydrogeological structure model with GMS software in Wushan Copper mine in Jiangxi province and explore the application of this model in rock-occuring region. The results indicate that: (1) It's feasible to construct hydrogeologic structure model in intruded rock-occuring strata areas, in which intruded rock’s Horizon ID is set as 7 and inserted between Q and T1d2-T2j strata in Wushan mine ; (2) The model clearly reflects spatial structure relationship among aquifers; (3) Visualization model can depict split and combination of aquifer flexibly, rotation of any section and any direction, cutting section and other functions, and related geological and hydrogeological information.
Long-Term Stability of Improved Language Functions in Chronic Aphasia After Constraint-Induced Aphasia Therapy

Background and Purpose— In response to the established notion that improvement of language functions in chronic aphasia only can be achieved through long-term treatment, we examined the efficacy of a short-term, intensive language training, constraint-induced aphasia therapy (CIAT). This program is founded on the learning principles of prevention of compensatory communication (constraint), massed practice, and shaping (induced). Methods— Twenty-seven patients with chronic aphasia received 30 hours of training over 10 days. Twelve patients were trained with the CIAT program. For 15 patients the training included a module of written language and an additional training in everyday communication, which involved the assistance of family members (CIATplus). Outcome measures included standardized neurolinguistic testing and ratings of the quality and the amount of daily communication. Results— Language functions improved significantly after training for both groups and remained stable over a 6-month follow-up period. Single case analyses revealed statistically significant improvements in 85% of the patients. Patients and relatives of both groups rated the quality and amount of communication as improved after therapy. This increase was more pronounced for patients of the group CIATplus in the follow-up. Conclusions— Results confirm that a short-term intense language training, based on learning principles, can lead to substantial and lasting improvements in language functions in chronic aphasia. The use of family and friends in the training provides an additional valuable element. This effective intervention can be successfully used in the rehabilitation of chronic aphasia patients. Additionally, its short-term design makes it economically attractive for service providers.
Representing nonspeech audio signals through speech classification models

The human auditory system is very well matched to both human speech and environmental sounds. Therefore, the question arises whether human speech material may provide useful information for training systems for analyzing nonspeech audio signals, such as in a recognition task. To find out how similar nonspeech signals are to speech, we measure the closeness between target nonspeech signals and different basis speech categories via a speech classification model. The speech similarities are finally employed as a descriptor to represent the target signal. We further show that a better descriptor can be obtained by learning to organize the speech categories hierarchically with a tree structure. We conduct experiments for the audio event analysis application by using speech words from the TIMIT dataset to learn the descriptors for the audio events of the Freiburg-106 dataset. Our results on the event recognition task outperform those achieved by the best system even though a simple linear classifier is used. Furthermore, integrating the learned descriptors as an additional source leads to improved performance.