Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of excess water impact on the structural performance of flexible pavements

Excess water in pavement foundations is one of the major factors contributing to pavements deterioration. In recent years, a number of research studies have been carried out to understand the water movement into pavements and to assess its detrimental effects on the mechanical response of the foundations. However, these studies do not quantify the impact of suction reduction or pore pressure buildup in the foundations on the pavement response. In this paper, coupled finite element analyses are carried out to investigate the effect of the excess water in the granular foundations on the structural performance of flexible pavements. The coupled analyses simulate critical features governing the foundations' hydromechanical response including the transient unsaturated flow and porous nonlinear behaviour of the foundations under moving wheel loads. Furthermore, a parametric study that examines the influences of various loading and foundation parameters on the performance of pavements subjected to excessive moisture scenarios is carried out. The numerical analysis results obtained in this paper are qualitatively in line with the empirical observations reported in the literature.
Discrimination of Timbre in Early Auditory Responses of the Human Brain

Background The issue of how differences in timbre are represented in the neural response still has not been well addressed, particularly with regard to the relevant brain mechanisms. Here we employ phasing and clipping of tones to produce auditory stimuli differing to describe the multidimensional nature of timbre. We investigated the auditory response and sensory gating as well, using by magnetoencephalography (MEG). Methodology/Principal Findings Thirty-five healthy subjects without hearing deficit participated in the experiments. Two different or same tones in timbre were presented through conditioning (S1) – testing (S2) paradigm as a pair with an interval of 500 ms. As a result, the magnitudes of auditory M50 and M100 responses were different with timbre in both hemispheres. This result might support that timbre, at least by phasing and clipping, is discriminated in the auditory early processing. The second response in a pair affected by S1 in the consecutive stimuli occurred in M100 of the left hemisphere, whereas both M50 and M100 responses to S2 only in the right hemisphere reflected whether two stimuli in a pair were the same or not. Both M50 and M100 magnitudes were different with the presenting order (S1 vs. S2) for both same and different conditions in the both hemispheres. Conclusions/Significances Our results demonstrate that the auditory response depends on timbre characteristics. Moreover, it was revealed that the auditory sensory gating is determined not by the stimulus that directly evokes the response, but rather by whether or not the two stimuli are identical in timbre.
Instrumenting AMS assertion verification on commercial platforms

The industry trend appears to be moving towards designs that integrate large digital circuits with multiple analog/RF (radio frequency) interfaces. In the verification of these large integrated circuits, the number of nets that need to be monitored has been growing rapidly. Consequently, the mixed-signal design community has been feeling the need for AMS (Analog and Mixed Signal) assertions that can automatically monitor conformance with expected time-domain behavior and help in debugging deviations from the design intent. The main challenges in providing this support are (a) developing AMS assertion languages or AMS verification libraries, and (b) instrumenting existing commercial simulators to support assertion verification during simulation. In this article, we report two approaches: the first extends the Open Verification Library (OVL) to the AMS domain by integrating a new collection of AMS verification libraries; while the second extends SystemVerilog Assertions (SVA) by augmenting analog predicates into SVA. We demonstrate the use of AMS-OVL on the Cadence Virtuoso environment while emphasizing that our libraries can work in any environment that supports Verilog and Verilog-A. We also report the development of tool support for AMS-SVA using a combination of Cadence NCSIM and Synopsys VCS. We demonstrate the utility of both approaches on the verification of LP3918, an integrated power management unit (PMU) from National Semiconductors. We believe that in the absence of existing EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools for AMS assertion verification, the proposed approaches of integrating our libraries and our tool sets with existing commercial simulators will be of considerable and immediate practical value.
Maximizing Unavailability Interval for Energy Saving in IEEE 802.16e Wireless MANs

This paper presents an energy conservation scheme, Maximum Unavailability Interval (MUI), to improve the energy efficiency for the Power Saving Class of Type II in IEEE 802.16e. By applying the Chinese Remainder Theorem, the proposed MUI is guaranteed to find the maximum Unavailability Interval, during which the transceiver can be powered down. We also propose new mathematical techniques to reduce the computational complexity when solving the Chinese Remainder Theorem problem. Because the computational complexity is reduced significantly, the proposed MUI can be practically implemented in real systems. The proposed MUI is fully compatible with the 802.16e standard. It provides a systematic way to determine the start frame number, one of the important parameters defined in the standard. In addition to analyzing the computational complexity, simulations and experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms.
High pressure phase transitions in NdVO4

Raman-scattering measurements on NdVO4 suggest a pressure-induced zircon to monazite phase transition beyond 5.9 GPa. The monazite phase undergoes a second phase transition to a yet unknown phase at 18.1 GPa. Lattice-dynamics calculations well support the experimental findings and predict a possible orthorhombic structure for the post-monazite structure of NdVO4.
Empty sella syndrome: does it exist in children?

OBJECT The empty sella syndrome (ESS) is well documented in adults, and although the same phenomenon of herniation of the arachnoid space into the enlarged sella turcica has been noted in children, it is not widely known that children suffer from this syndrome. Therefore, the aims of this paper are to increase neurosurgeons' awareness of the existence of this phenomenon in children and to add to the scant body of literature on the subject. METHODS The authors treated 12 children, ranging in age between 2 and 8 years, in whom neuroradiological studies demonstrated an enlarged sella turcica filled with cerebrospinal fluid and herniation of suprasellar and arachnoid spaces. The causes of ESS in these children were high intracranial pressure, neglected or improperly treated hydrocephalus, and suprasellar arachnoid cyst. Primary ESS was found as well. Most of the children presented with headache, abnormal body weight (the majority being underweight), and short stature. The results of hormone assays were normal in all children. CONCLUSIONS If undiagnosed and untreated, ESS in children may lead to serious consequences, including impairment of pituitary and hypothalamic function and damage to the optic chiasm. It is important to raise awareness in the neurosurgical community about the existence of ESS in children so that it can be diagnosed and treated at an early stage. A classification system for the diaphragma sellae is recapitulated.
Association between CD8+ T-cell infiltration and breast cancer survival in 12,439 patients.

BACKGROUND T-cell infiltration in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast tumours has been associated with longer survival. To investigate this association and the potential of tumour T-cell infiltration as a prognostic and predictive marker, we have conducted the largest study of T cells in breast cancer to date. PATIENTS AND METHODS Four studies totalling 12 439 patients were used for this work. Cytotoxic (CD8+) and regulatory (forkhead box protein 3, FOXP3+) T cells were quantified using immunohistochemistry (IHC). IHC for CD8 was conducted using available material from all four studies (8978 samples) and for FOXP3 from three studies (5239 samples)-multiple imputation was used to resolve missing data from the remaining patients. Cox regression was used to test for associations with breast cancer-specific survival. RESULTS In ER-negative tumours [triple-negative breast cancer and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive)], presence of CD8+ T cells within the tumour was associated with a 28% [95% confidence interval (CI) 16% to 38%] reduction in the hazard of breast cancer-specific mortality, and CD8+ T cells within the stroma with a 21% (95% CI 7% to 33%) reduction in hazard. In ER-positive HER2-positive tumours, CD8+ T cells within the tumour were associated with a 27% (95% CI 4% to 44%) reduction in hazard. In ER-negative disease, there was evidence for greater benefit from anthracyclines in the National Epirubicin Adjuvant Trial in patients with CD8+ tumours [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.54; 95% CI 0.37-0.79] versus CD8-negative tumours (HR = 0.87; 95% CI 0.55-1.38). The difference in effect between these subgroups was significant when limited to cases with complete data (P heterogeneity = 0.04) and approached significance in imputed data (P heterogeneity = 0.1). CONCLUSIONS The presence of CD8+ T cells in breast cancer is associated with a significant reduction in the relative risk of death from disease in both the ER-negative [supplementary Figure S1, available at Annals of Oncology online] and the ER-positive HER2-positive subtypes. Tumour lymphocytic infiltration may improve risk stratification in breast cancer patients classified into these subtypes. NEAT ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00003577.
Use of Metformin in the Setting of Mild-to-Moderate Renal Insufficiency

A common clinical conundrum faces all U.S. practitioners treating patients with type 2 diabetes. Today’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration prescribing guidelines for metformin contraindicate its use in men and women with serum creatinine concentrations ≥1.5 and ≥1.4 mg/dL (≥132 and ≥123 µmol/L), respectively. In a patient tolerating and controlled with this medication, should it automatically be discontinued as the creatinine rises beyond these cut points over time? Stopping metformin often results in poorly controlled glycemia and/or the need for other agents with their own adverse-effect profiles. Moreover, is the now widespread use of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in lieu of serum creatinine levels creating even more confusion, especially in those with abnormalities in one but not the other indirect measure of renal function? Indeed, more than a decade and a half after metformin became available in the U.S., debate continues over the best approach in these settings (1–3). How many patients are unable to receive this medication on the basis of guidelines which, although well intentioned, are somewhat arbitrary and outdated based on modern assessments of renal status? There is some evidence that early treatment with metformin is associated with reduced cardiovascular morbidity and total mortality in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients (4). However, the data come from a small subgroup of a much larger trial. In contrast, despite multiple trials of intensive glucose control using a variety of glucose-lowering strategies, there is a paucity of data to support specific advantages with other agents on cardiovascular outcomes (5–7). In the original UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), 342 overweight patients with newly diagnosed diabetes were randomly assigned to metformin therapy (8). After a median period of 10 years, this subgroup experienced a 39% ( P = 0.010) risk reduction for myocardial infarction and a …
Minichromosome maintenance protein 3 elicits a cancer-restricted immune response in patients with brain malignancies and is a strong independent predictor of survival in patients with anaplastic astrocytoma.

PURPOSE The identification of new molecular markers in astrocytic tumors may help to understand the biology of these tumors in more detail. Informative tumor markers may represent prognostic factors for response to therapy and outcome as well as potential targets for novel anticancer therapies. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Tumor-associated antigens were identified by immunoscreening of a human glioma cDNA expression library with allogeneic sera from patients with diffuse astrocytoma (WHO grades 2-4). The expression of one of the identified antigens, the replication licensing factor minichromosome maintenance protein 3 (MCM3), was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in 142 primary and 27 recurrent astrocytomas (WHO grades 2-4). In addition, 98 serum specimens from patients with primary and secondary brain malignancies and 30 serum specimens from healthy controls were examined by serologic immunoscreening for immunoreactivity with MCM3. RESULTS MCM3 is overexpressed in human astrocytic tumors and elicits a cancer-restricted humoral immune response in 9.3% (9 of 97) of patients with brain tumors (n = 95) and brain metastases (n = 2) but not in healthy controls. Expression of MCM3 in diffuse astrocytoma is significantly associated with age (P < 0.001), histologic grade (P < 0.001), time to recurrence (P = 0.01), and expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 (P < 0.001) but not with sex (P = 0.800). Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed MCM3 expression as an independent predictor of poor outcome in astrocytoma patients (P < 0.001 for both). CONCLUSIONS MCM3 may represent a glioma-associated antigen with significant prognostic role as well as have some potential as a target for cancer-directed therapy.
Impact of Treatment of Dyslipidemia on Renal Function, Fat Deposits and Scarring in Patients with Persistent Nephrotic Syndrome

In this study 43 patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome were randomly distributed into 2 age- and sex-matched groups. The first group was given fluvastatin while the second was used as control. The cases in the 2 groups were evaluated clinically, biochemically (creatinine clearance, albumin, 24-hour proteinuria, and lipogram), neurologically, and histopathologically (examination of renal biopsies obtained basally and after 1 year of treatment with fluvastatin). In the fluvastatin-treated group but not in the control group, we observed a significant reduction in cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride. Clinical and laboratory assessment showed satisfactory tolerance of the drug by the patients. Proteinuria, serum albumin and creatinine clearance values were significantly better in the statin-treated patients. There was no difference in glomerular sclerosis between the 2 groups while interstitial fibrosis and renal fat deposits were less in the statin-treated group. The reduction in renal fat deposits in the statin-treated group was highly significant, while that of interstitial fibrosis was not. We conclude that: (1) statin can be safely and effectively used in the treatment of dyslipidemia in patients with persistent idiopathic nephrotic syndrome; (2) control of dyslipidemia in nephrotic patients is associated with better control of proteinuria and creatinine clearance; (3) statin treatment may cause regression of renal fat deposits in patients with nephrotic syndrome, and (4) longer term studies are still required to study further possible beneficial effects on renal histology and disease progression.
Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Golden Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) Reveal Modest Sex Differences and Nonlinear Signals of Sexual Motivation

Vocal signaling is one of many behaviors that animals perform during social interactions. Vocalizations produced by both sexes before mating can communicate sex, identity and condition of the caller. Adult golden hamsters produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) after intersexual contact. To determine whether these vocalizations are sexually dimorphic, we analyzed the vocal repertoire for sex differences in: 1) calling rates, 2) composition (structural complexity, call types and nonlinear phenomena) and 3) acoustic structure. In addition, we examined it for individual variation in the calls. The vocal repertoire was mainly composed of 1-note simple calls and at least half of them presented some degree of deterministic chaos. The prevalence of this nonlinear phenomenon was confirmed by low values of harmonic-to-noise ratio for most calls. We found modest sexual differences between repertoires. Males were more likely than females to produce tonal and less chaotic calls, as well as call types with frequency jumps. Multivariate analysis of the acoustic features of 1-note simple calls revealed significant sex differences in the second axis represented mostly by entropy and bandwidth parameters. Male calls showed lower entropy and inter-quartile bandwidth than female calls. Because the variation of acoustic structure within individuals was higher than among individuals, USV could not be reliably assigned to the correct individual. Interestingly, however, this high variability, augmented by the prevalence of chaos and frequency jumps, could be the result of increased vocal effort. Hamsters motivated to produce high calling rates also produced longer calls of broader bandwidth. Thus, the sex differences found could be the result of different sex preferences but also of a sex difference in calling motivation or condition. We suggest that variable and complex USV may have been selected to increase responsiveness of a potential mate by communicating sexual arousal and preventing habituation to the caller.
Synergy-level Grasp Synthesis Learning

Autonomous grasping is a complex task for robots. It is a high dimensional problem since it involves controlling for the hand position, orientation and joint angles to successfully grasp an object. In order to reduce the control complexity, we adopt a 3-step approach. In the first step, we compute several stable grasps that are adapted to the robotic hand using an optimization technique. In a second step, we extract postural synergies from this grasping data, project the grasps into these synergies subspace, and use this data representation to learn a distribution of the feasible grasps. The third step uses the learned model to generate quickly new grasps for the given object. Our approach was validated on the four degrees of freedom Barrett hand.
Rehabilitation of Walking With Electromyographic Biofeedback in Foot‐Drop After Stroke

Background and Purpose Alterations of gait cycle and foot-drop on the paretic limb are characteristic of stroke patients. Electromyographic biofeedback treatment has been used in rehabilitation of walking, but results are controversial. We performed gait analysis to evaluate the efficacy of electromyographic biofeedback compared with physical therapy. Methods Sixteen patients with ischemic stroke were enrolled in the study. The experimental group (4 men, 4 women) received electromyographic biofeedback treatment together with physical therapy. The control group (5 men, 3 women) was treated with physical therapy only. Clinical and functional evaluations before and after treatment were performed using Canadian Neurological, Adams, Ashworth, Basmajian, and Barthel Index scales. Computerized gait analysis was performed in all patients. Results Electromyographic biofeedback patients showed significantly increased scores on the Adams scale (P<.05) and Basmajian scale (P<.01). Gait analysis in this group showed a recovery of foot-drop in the swing phase (P<.02) after training. Conclusions Our data confirm that the electromyographic biofeedback technique increases muscle strength and improves recovery of functional locomotion in patients with hemiparesis and foot-drop after cerebral ischemia.
Periventricular white matter lucencies relate to low vitamin B12 levels in patients with small vessel stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Blood-brain barrier dysfunction may be an early phenomenon in the development of the small vessel disease, which underlies white matter lesions. Because vitamin B12 plays a role in maintaining the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, we studied serum vitamin B12 level in relation to such lesions. METHODS In 124 patients with first lacunar stroke, we measured serum vitamin B12 level and rated the degree of white matter lesions on MRI. RESULTS Mean vitamin B12 level was 202 pmol/L (SD, 68.9). Thirty-nine patients (31.5%) had a vitamin B12 level less than the lower reference value of 150 pmol/L. Lower vitamin B12 level was (statistically significant) associated with more severe periventricular white matter lesions (odds ratio/100 pmol/L decrease, 1.773; 95% CI, 1.001-3.003), but not with deep white matter lesions (odds ratio/100 pmol/L decrease, 1.441; 95% CI, 0.881-2.358; ordered multivariate regression analysis). CONCLUSIONS More severe periventricular white matter lesions in lacunar stroke patients relate to lower vitamin B12 levels. A possible causal relationship should now be studied prospectively.
Clotting factor VII during pregnancy, delivery and puerperium

Summary. During pregnancy the activity of coagulation factor VII in plasma increases up to 248% (SEM 16) (n=18) at 40 weeks even when all precautions to avoid cold activation are taken. This increase is at all times during pregnancy, delivery and puerperium entirely due to the presence in vivo of what is most likely a phospholipid‐factor VII complex. This complex is sensitive to phospholipase C, so that treatment with the enzyme reduces the activity of pregnant plasma down to that of non‐pregnant controls. When present in the complex factor VII has a higher specific activity and an altered conformation with a more accessible active site as demonstrated by increased susceptibility to inactivation by diisopropylfluorophosphate. Factors II and X are increased to 136% (SEM 4) and 171% (SEM 6) (n=18) without being sensitive to phospholipase C. The increase during pregnancy and the decrease after delivery of the phospholipase‐sensitive factor VII activity have been followed.
A BDDC algorithm with deluxe scaling for H(curl) in two dimensions with irregular subdomains

A bound is obtained for the condition number of a BDDC algorithm for problems posed in H (curl) in two dimensions, where the subdomains are only assumed to be uniform in the sense of Peter Jones. For the primal variable space, a continuity constraint for the tangential average over each interior subdomain edge is imposed. For the averaging operator, a new technique named deluxe scaling is used. Our bound is independent of jumps in the coeﬃcients across the interface between the subdomains and depends only on a few geometric parameters of the decomposition. Numerical results that verify the result are shown, including some with subdomains with fractal edges and others obtained by a mesh partitioner.