Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structure and shear in a cohesive powder

Handling of powders and granular materials is of great importance to industry. However, the knowledge of many powder related processes in industry is poor. In this work, the flow behaviour of powder has been investigated with an advanced tester: the Flexible Wall Biaxial Tester. Flow of powder occurs via the formation of shear planes. For non-cohesive materials one assumes a width of such a shear plane of 10 particle diameters. In this work the Neutron Depolarization technique has been used to investigate the shear region on a microscopic scale. This technique gives direct information of the rotation of the individual particles in the shear region. It appeared that the width of the shear region in cohesive BCR-limestone is much wider than 10 particle diameters. The assumption that the shear region in direct shear testers is a flat plane is incorrect. With the Flexible Wall Biaxial Tester a number of experiments have been performed in order to understand the fundamental flow behaviour of cohesive powder. It has been shown that the flow function is not independent of the intermediate principal stress as is usually assumed. Also anisotropy has a large influence on the behaviour of powder and the measured anisotropic flow function is lower than the regular flow function. These results cannot be explained by the current theory. The reason for these findings is that the particles in the powder form structures that determine the macroscopic behaviour of the powder. This structure is a missing parameter in the current theory. The definition of a structure parameter makes the design of powder with chosen properties possible.
Enoxaparin for prevention of unexplained recurrent miscarriage: a multicenter randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

It is common practice in many centers to offer antithrombotic medications to women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage, in the presence or absence of inherited thrombophilia. Although no benefit of aspirin vs placebo has been clearly demonstrated, a double-blind placebo-controlled trial on the effect of low-molecular-weight heparin is lacking. We enrolled 258 pregnant women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriage (≥2 consecutive miscarriages before 15 weeks' gestation) and a negative thrombophilia workup. They were randomly assigned to receive one daily subcutaneous injection of enoxaparin 40 mg or placebo until 35 weeks' gestation. We included 256 women (mean age 32 years, ≥3 miscarriages: 72%; mean gestational age 39 days of amenorrhea) in the intention-to-treat analysis; 66.6% of 138 who received enoxaparin had a live birth vs 72.9% of 118 who received placebo. The absolute difference was -6% (95% CI, -17.1 to 5.1), excluding a 10% increase in the rate of live-birth on enoxaparin (P = .34). In this first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, enoxaparin (40 mg once daily) did not improve the chance of a live birth in nonthrombophilic women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage. This trial is registered at www.ClinicalTrials. gov as #NCT00740545 and the French National Health and Drug Safety Agency (EudraCT #2006-003350-18).
Nantonac collaborative filtering: recommendation based on order responses

A recommender system suggests the items expected to be preferred by the users. Recommender systems use collaborative filtering to recommend items by summarizing the preferences of people who have tendencies similar to the user preference. Traditionally, the degree of preference is represented by a scale, for example, one that ranges from one to five. This type of measuring technique is called the semantic differential (SD) method. Web adopted the ranking method, however, rather than the SD method, since the SD method is intrinsically not suited for representing individual preferences. In the ranking method, the preferences are represented by orders, which are sorted item sequences according to the users' preferences. We here propose some methods to recommed items based on these order responses, and carry out the comparison experiments of these methods.
Where do young men want to access STI screening? A stratified random probability sample survey of young men in Great Britain

Objectives Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in UK young people remain high in men and women. However, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme has had limited success in reaching men. The authors explored the acceptability of various medical, recreational and sports venues as settings to access self-collected testing kits for STIs and HIV among men in the general population and those who participate in sport. Methods A stratified random probability survey of 411 (weighted n=632) men in Great Britain aged 18–35 years using computer-assisted personal and self-interviews. Results Young men engaged well with healthcare with 93.5% registered with, and 75.3% having seen, a general practitioner in the last year. 28.7% and 19.8% had previously screened for STIs and HIV, respectively. Willingness to access self-collected tests for STIs (85.1%) and HIV (86.9%) was high. The most acceptable pick-up points for testing kits were general practice 79.9%, GUM 66.8% and pharmacy 65.4%. There was a low acceptability of sport venues as pick-up points in men as a whole (11.7%), but this was greater among those who participated in sport (53.9%). Conclusions Healthcare settings were the most acceptable places for accessing STI and HIV self-testing kits. Although young men frequently access general practice, currently little STI screening occurs in this setting. There is considerable potential to screen large numbers of men and find high rates of infection through screening in general practice. While non-clinical settings are acceptable to a minority of men, more research is needed to understand how these venues could be used most effectively.
Her-2 / neu-derived Peptides Are Tumor-associated Antigens Expressed by Human Renal Cell and Colon Carcinoma Lines and Are Recognized by in Vitro Induced Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes 1

The Her-2/neu oncogene encodes a ,U, 185,000 transmembrane protein with homology to the epidermal growth factor receptor. It is overexpressed in 30-40% of breast and ovarian cancers, and this overexpression was shown to correlate with aggressiveness of malignancy and poor prognosis. Using tumor-associated lymphocytes isolated from patients with ovarian or breast cancer, several HLA-A2-restricted, Her-2/neuderived peptides were identified. Further studies revealed that these tu mor-associated CTLs can also lyse other tumors, including non-small cell lung and pancreatic cancer cells, suggesting that Her-2/neu epitopes are shared between several distinct types of epithelial tumors. To analyze whether Her-2/neu epitopes are tumor-associated antigens for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and colon carcinoma, we induced Her-2/neu peptidespecific CTL responses by primary in vitro immunization and used these CTLs to determine the presentation of Her-2/neu epitopes on human tumor lines. Autologous dendritic cells (DCs) generated from peripheral blood monocytes were pulsed with Her-2/neu-derived peptides E75 and GP2 and used as antigen-presenting cells for CTL priming. High CTL activity toward peptide-pulsed targets was obtained after two weekly restimulations. CTLs induced with DCs generated in the presence of I M n elicited a higher cytotoxic activity when they were stimulated with the cognate peptide than did CTLs induced with DCs grown in granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin 4 alone. The cytotoxicity of induced CTLs was antigen specific and HLA-A2 restricted. Furthermore, these CTLs lysed, in a MHCand antigen-restricted fash ion, not only breast cancer cells but also colon carcinoma and RCC cell lines expressing Her-2/neu. The cytotoxic activity against tumor cells was blocked by cold HLA-A2-positive targets pulsed with the cognate peptide in cold target inhibition assay and by anti-HLA-A2 monoclonal Ab. These results suggest that epitopes derived from Her-2/neu protein might be attractive candidates for broadly applicable vaccines and may prove useful for adoptive immunothÃ©rapies designed for colon carcinoma or RCC.
Chapter 10 Frontal Lobe / Executive Functioning

Abstract The frontal lobes represent a large area, consuming approximately one-third of the cortical surface of the brain. This area is involved directly and indirectly across a wide spectrum of human thought, behavior and emotions. The irony of the frontal lobes may best be described as the area of the brain we know the most about but understand the least. For example, frontal lobe functioning involves simple motor skills (both gross and fine), complex motor skills, sequenced motor skills, inhibition of motor skills and automatic motor skills, and these may be the simplest of the functions of the frontal lobes. The frontal lobes also subsume what is collectively referred to as executive skills. These functions include attention, reasoning, judgment, problem solving, creativity, emotional regulation, impulse control and awareness of aspects of one’s and others’ functioning. In this chapter, we will briefly discuss the anatomy of the frontal lobes, the basic and complex functions of the frontal lobes, and the informal assessment of frontal lobe functions.
Effect of Spinal Cord Compression on Local Vascular Blood Flow and Perfusion Capacity

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can induce prolonged spinal cord compression that may result in a reduction of local tissue perfusion, progressive ischemia, and potentially irreversible tissue necrosis. Due to the combination of risk factors and the varied presentation of symptoms, the appropriate method and time course for clinical intervention following SCI are not always evident. In this study, a three-dimensional finite element fluid-structure interaction model of the cervical spinal cord was developed to examine how traditionally sub-clinical compressive mechanical loads impact spinal arterial blood flow. The spinal cord and surrounding dura mater were modeled as linear elastic, isotropic, and incompressible solids, while blood was modeled as a single-phased, incompressible Newtonian fluid. Simulation results indicate that anterior, posterior, and anteroposterior compressions of the cervical spinal cord have significantly different ischemic potentials, with prediction that the posterior component of loading elevates patient risk due to the concomitant reduction of blood flow in the arterial branches. Conversely, anterior loading compromises flow through the anterior spinal artery but minimally impacts branch flow rates. The findings of this study provide novel insight into how sub-clinical spinal cord compression could give rise to certain disease states, and suggest a need to monitor spinal artery perfusion following even mild compressive loading.
Absence of Cyclooxygenase-2 Exacerbates Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension and Enhances Contractility of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Background— Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is upregulated in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) during hypoxia and may play a protective role in the response of the lung to hypoxia. Selective COX-2 inhibition may have detrimental pulmonary vascular consequences during hypoxia. Methods and Results— To investigate the role of COX-2 in the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia, we subjected wild-type and COX-2–deficient mice to a model of chronic normobaric hypoxia. COX-2–null mice developed severe pulmonary hypertension with exaggerated elevation of right ventricular systolic pressure, significant right ventricular hypertrophy, and striking vascular remodeling after hypoxia. Pulmonary vascular remodeling in COX-2–deficient mice was characterized by PASMC hypertrophy but not increased proliferation. Furthermore, COX-2–deficient mice had significant upregulation of the endothelin-1 receptor (ETA) in the lung after hypoxia. Similarly, selective pharmacological inhibition of COX-2 in wild-type mice exacerbated hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and resulted in PASMC hypertrophy and increased ETA receptor expression in pulmonary arterioles. The absence of COX-2 in vascular smooth muscle cells during hypoxia in vitro augmented traction forces and enhanced contractility of an extracellular matrix. Treatment of COX-2–deficient PASMCs with iloprost, a prostaglandin I2 analog, and prostaglandin E2 abrogated the potent contractile response to hypoxia and restored the wild-type phenotype. Conclusions— Our findings reveal that hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension and vascular remodeling are exacerbated in the absence of COX-2 with enhanced ETA receptor expression and increased PASMC hypertrophy. COX-2–deficient PASMCs have a maladaptive response to hypoxia manifested by exaggerated contractility, which may be rescued by either COX-2–derived prostaglandin I2 or prostaglandin E2.
Compensation of Measurement Overhead in Parallel Performance Profiling

Performance profiling generates measurement overhead during parallel program execution. Measurement overhead, in turn, introduces intrusion in a program's runtime performance behavior. Intrusion can be mitigated by controlling instrumentation degree, allowing a tradeoff of accuracy for detail. Alternatively, the accuracy in profile results can be improved by reducing the intrusion error due to measurement overhead. Models for compensation of measurement overhead in parallel performance profiling are described. An approach based on rational reconstruction is used to understand properties of compensation solutions for different parallel scenarios. From this analysis, a general algorithm for on-the-fly overhead assessment and compensation is derived.
Mechanism Design for Decentralized Online Machine Scheduling

Traditional optimization models assume a central decision maker who optimizes a global system performance measure. However, problem data is often distributed among several agents, and agents make autonomous decisions. This gives incentives for strategic behavior of agents, possibly leading to suboptimal system performance. Furthermore, in dynamic environments, machines are locally dispersed and administratively independent. Examples are found both in business and engineering applications. We investigate such issues for a parallel machine scheduling model where jobs arrive online over time. Instead of centrally assigning jobs to machines, each machine implements a local sequencing rule and jobs decide for machines themselves. In this context, we introduce the concept of a myopic best-response equilibrium, a concept weaker than the classical dominant strategy equilibrium, but appropriate for online problems. Our main result is a polynomial time, online mechanism that---assuming rational behavior of jobs---results in an equilibrium schedule that is 3.281-competitive with respect to the maximal social welfare. This is only slightly worse than state-of-the-art algorithms with central coordination.
Effects of Carbohydrate Counting on Glucose Control and Quality of Life Over 24 Weeks in Adult Patients With Type 1 Diabetes on Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion

OBJECTIVE Few studies have assessed the efficacy of carbohydrate counting in type 1 diabetes, and none have validated its efficacy in patients who are treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). The aim of our study was to test the effect of carbohydrate counting on glycemic control and quality of life in adult patients with type 1 diabetes who are receiving CSII. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Sixty-one adult patients with type 1 diabetes treated with CSII were randomly assigned to either learning carbohydrate counting (intervention) or estimating pre-meal insulin dose in the usual empirical way (control). At baseline and 12 and 24 weeks, we measured HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, BMI, waist circumference, recorded daily insulin dose, and capillary glucose data, and administered the Diabetes-Specific Quality-of-Life Scale (DSQOLS) questionnaire. RESULTS Intention-to-treat analysis showed improvement of the DSQOLS score related to diet restrictions (week 24 – baseline difference, P = 0.008) and reduction of BMI (P = 0.003) and waist circumference (P = 0.002) in the intervention group compared with control subjects. No changes in HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, daily insulin dose, and hypoglycemic episodes (<2.8 mmol/L) were observed. Per-protocol analysis, including only patients who continuously used carbohydrate counting and CSII during the study, confirmed improvement of the DSQOLS score and reduction of BMI and waist circumference, and showed a significant reduction of HbA1c (−0.35% vs. control subjects, P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Among adult patients with type 1 diabetes treated with CSII, carbohydrate counting is safe and improves quality of life, reduces BMI and waist circumference, and, in per-protocol analysis, reduces HbA1c.
Investigation of Prolactin Receptor Activation and Blockade Using Time-Resolved Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer

The prolactin receptor (PRLR) is emerging as a therapeutic target in oncology. Knowledge-based drug design led to the development of a pure PRLR antagonist (Del1-9-G129R-hPRL) that was recently shown to prevent PRL-induced mouse prostate tumorogenesis. In humans, the first gain-of-function mutation of the PRLR (PRLRI146L) was recently identified in breast tumor patients. At the molecular level, the actual mechanism of action of these two novel players in the PRL system remains elusive. In this study, we addressed whether constitutive PRLR activation (PRLRI146L) or PRLR blockade (antagonist) involved alteration of receptor oligomerization and/or of inter-chain distances compared to unstimulated and PRL-stimulated PRLR. Using a combination of various biochemical and spectroscopic approaches (co-IP, blue native electrophoresis, BRET1), we demonstrated that preformed PRLR homodimers are altered neither by PRL- or I146L-induced receptor triggering, nor by antagonist-mediated blockade. These findings were confirmed using a novel time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (TR-FRET) technology that allows monitoring distance changes between cell surface tagged receptors. This technology revealed that PRLR blockade or activation did not involve detectable distance changes between extracellular domains of receptor chains within the dimer. This study merges with our previous structural investigations suggesting that the mechanism of PRLR activation solely involves intermolecular contact adaptations leading to subtle intramolecular rearrangements.
Managing evaluation goals for training

goals and are characteristically underresourced. In this article, we describe a framework for managing training evaluation in such contexts. We illustrate by example the feasibility of taking a broad approach toward training evaluation. Scriven [21] introduced the terms formative and summative in his classic work on the objectives and processes of instructional evaluation. Formative evaluation seeks to identify aspects of a design that can be improved. A typical implementation would be having users think aloud as they work through a tutorial to produce a real-time commentary on the nature of the learning experience. Each comment is tightly coupled to a specific design feature, facilitating the identification of problems and reasoning about design solutions. Summative evaluation seeks to gauge a design product. A typical implementation would be measuring time-on-task and error rate to guide decision-making about whether a training system (or the software it supports) should be produced and marketed, or purchased. Formative evaluation work succeeds to the extent that it identifies priorities for redesign and refinement, and all the more to the extent that it provides concrete guidance as to how that redesign and refinement should be executed. Summative evaluation work succeeds to the extent that it allows a design product to be located on various measurement scales with respect to other design products; the stronger the scale (i.e., ratio scale versus interval scale versus ordinal scale versus nominal scale), the better the summative evaluation. Scriven [21] also distinguished two basic types of evaluation method, intrinsic and pay-off :
Learning to Coordinate Behaviors

We describe an algorithm which allows a behavior-based robot to learn on the basis of positive and negative feedback when to activate its behaviors. In accordance with the philosophy of behavior-based robots, the algorithm is completely distributed: each of the behaviors independently tries to sensors find out (i) whether it is relevant (i.e. whether it is at all correlated to positive feedback) and (ii) what the conditions are under which it becomes reliable (i.e. the conditions under which it maximises the probability of receiving positive feedback and minimises the probability of receiving negative feedback). The algorithm has been tested successfully on an autonomous 6-legged robot which had to learn how to coordinate its legs so as to walk forward.
Group communication specifications: a comprehensive study

View-oriented group communication is an important and widely usedbuilding block for many distributed applications. Much currentresearch has been dedicated to specifying the semantics andservices of view-oriented group communication systems (GCSs). However, the guarantees of different GCSs are formulated usingvarying terminologies and modeling techniques, and thespecifications vary in their rigor. This makes it difficult toanalyze and compare the different systems. This survey provides acomprehensive set of clear and rigorous specifications, which maybe combined to represent the guarantees of most existing GCSs. Inthe light of these specifications, over 30 published GCSspecifications are surveyed. Thus, the specifications serve as aunifying framework for the classification, analysis, and comparisonof group communication systems. The survey also discusses over adozen different applications of group communication systems,shedding light on the usefulness of the presented specifications.This survey is aimed at both system builders and theoreticalresearchers. The specification framework presented in this articlewill help builders of group communication systems understand andspecify their service semantics; the extensive survey will allowthem to compare their service to others. Application builders willfind a guide here to the services provided by a large variety ofGCSs, which could help them choose the GCS appropriate for theirneeds. The formal framework may provide a basis for interestingtheoretical work, for example, analyzing relative strengths ofdifferent properties and the costs of implementing them.
Decentralized learning for multi-player multi-armed bandits

We consider the problem of distributed online learning with multiple players in multi-armed bandit models. Each player can pick among multiple arms. As a player picks an arm, it gets a reward from an unknown distribution with an unknown mean. The arms give different rewards to different players. If two players pick the same arm, there is a “collision”, and neither of them get any reward. There is no dedicated control channel for coordination or communication among the players. Any other communication between the users is costly and will add to the regret. We propose an online index-based learning policy called dUCB4 algorithm that trades off exploration v. exploitation in the right way, and achieves expected regret that grows at most near-O(log2 T). The motivation comes from opportunistic spectrum access by multiple secondary users in cognitive radio networks wherein they must pick among various wireless channels that look different to different users.