Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sillimanite–mullite transformation observed in synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments

High-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were conducted to clarify the transformation of sillimanite to mullite (mullitization) and determine the mullitization temperature (Tc). We were able to distinguish sillimanite and mullite in the XRD patterns, despite their very similar crystallographic parameters, and to detect the appearance of small mullite peaks among sillimanite peaks. Analysis of the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) equation for mullitization ratio (ζ) revealed that at temperatures T ≥1240°C the mullitization had the same kinetics. The activation energy E at T ≥1240°C obtained from the Arrhenius plot was 679.8 kJ mol−1. In analysis using a time–temperature–transformation diagram for mullitization, a mullitization curve of ζ = 1% can be described as $$\hbox{ln } t=({{1}\over{n}}) \hbox{ ln }\hbox{ln} \left( {{1}\over{1-\zeta}} \right)- \hbox{ln }{{k}_{0}}+A/[RT{{\left( T-{{T}_{c}} \right)}^{2}}]+{{E}_{A}}/RT$$ where t is time, n is a reaction-mechanism-dependent parameter determined as 0.324 by JMA-analysis, k0 is the frequency factor, EA is the activation energy for atomic diffusion, and $A/{\left( {{T_c} - T} \right)^2}$. represents the activation energy for nucleation. The results of fitting the data to this equation were Tc = 1199°C, A = 3.9 × 106 kJ mol−1 K−2, EA = 605 kJ mol−1, and k0 = 3.65 × 1015. We conclude that the boundary between sillimanite and mullite + SiO2 in the phase diagram is ~1200°C. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Extending the Use of Inference in Temporal Planning as Forwards Search

PDDL 2.1 supports modelling of complex temporal planning domains in which solutions must exploit concurrency. Few existing temporal planners can solve problems that require concurrency and those that do typically pay a performance price to deploy reasoning machinery that is not always required. In this paper we show how to improve the performance of forward-search planners that attempt to solve the full temporal planning problem, both by narrowing the use of the concurrency machinery to situations that demand it and also by improving the power of inference to prune redundant branches of the search space for common patterns of interaction in temporal domains that do require concurrency. Results illustrate the effectiveness of our ideas in improving the efficiency of a temporal planner that can solve problems with required concurrency, both in domains that exploit this ability and in those that do not.
State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory

The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI; Spielberger, 1988) involves an integration of two previously developed inventories, the State-Trait Anger scale and the Anger Expression (AX) Scale. Five independent subscales comprise the STAXI, including State Anger, Trait Anger, Anger-in, Anger-out, and Anger Control. A sixth scale involves an arithmetic combination of the Anger-in, Anger-out, and Anger Control subscales to provide a general index of the frequency with which anger is expressed.
Relations between Surface Morphology and Dislocations of SiC Crystal

We observed fine surface morphology of silicon carbide wafers using a low energy scanning electron microscope (LESEM). Typical kinds of surface defects were observed by LESEM. After low temperature KOH treatment, it is confirmed that positions of etch pits are the same positions of these defects. Correlation between LESEM imaging and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of the same defects reveals threading dislocations and basal plane dislocations at the core of the defects.
Plant Development, Auxin, and the Subsystem Incompleteness Theorem

Plant morphogenesis (the process whereby form develops) requires signal cross-talking among all levels of organization to coordinate the operation of metabolic and genomic subsystems operating in a larger network of subsystems. Each subsystem can be rendered as a logic circuit supervising the operation of one or more signal-activated system. This approach simplifies complex morphogenetic phenomena and allows for their aggregation into diagrams of progressively larger networks. This technique is illustrated here by rendering two logic circuits and signal-activated subsystems, one for auxin (IAA) polar/lateral intercellular transport and another for IAA-mediated cell wall loosening. For each of these phenomena, a circuit/subsystem diagram highlights missing components (either in the logic circuit or in the subsystem it supervises) that must be identified experimentally if each of these basic plant phenomena is to be fully understood. We also illustrate the “subsystem incompleteness theorem,” which states that no subsystem is operationally self-sufficient. Indeed, a whole-organism perspective is required to understand even the most simple morphogenetic process, because, when isolated, every biological signal-activated subsystem is morphogenetically ineffective.
Higher Order Optimal Stable Digital IIR Filter Design Using Heuristic Optimization

This paper proposes the innovative methodologies for the robust and stable design of optimal stable digital infinite impulse response (IIR) filters using different mutation variants of hybrid differential evolution (HDE). A multivariable optimization is employed as the design criterion to obtain the optimal stable IIR filter that satisfies the different performance requirements like minimizing the magnitude approximation error and minimizing the ripple magnitude. HDE method is undertaken as a global search technique and exploratory search is exploited as a local search technique. The proposed different mutation variants of HDE method enhance the capability to explore and exploit the search space locally as well globally to obtain the optimal filter design parameters. The chance of starting with better solution is improved by comparing the opposite solution. Here HDE has been effectively applied for the design of higher order optimal stable band-pass, and band-stop digital IIR filters. The experimental results depict that proposed HDE methods are superior or at least comparable to other algorithms and can be efficiently applied for higher order IIR filter design.
Analysis of low-density parity-check codes for the Gilbert-Elliott channel

Density evolution analysis of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes in memoryless channels is extended to the Gilbert-Elliott (GE) channel, which is a special case of a large class of channels with hidden Markov memory. In a procedure referred to as estimation decoding, the sum-product algorithm (SPA) is used to perform LDPC decoding jointly with channel-state detection. Density evolution results show (and simulation results confirm) that such decoders provide a significantly enlarged region of successful decoding within the GE parameter space, compared with decoders that do not exploit the channel memory. By considering a variety of ways in which a GE channel may be degraded, it is shown how knowledge of the decoding behavior at a single point of the GE parameter space may be extended to a larger region within the space, thereby mitigating the large complexity needed in using density evolution to explore the parameter space point-by-point. Using the GE channel as a straightforward example, we conclude that analysis of estimation decoding for LDPC codes is feasible in channels with memory, and that such analysis shows large potential gains.
Repetitive learning control: a Lyapunov-based approach

In this paper, a learning-based feedforward term is developed to solve a general control problem in the presence of unknown nonlinear dynamics with a known period. Since the learning-based feedforward term is generated from a straightforward Lyapunov-like stability analysis, the control designer can utilize other Lyapunov-based design techniques to develop hybrid control schemes that utilize learning-based feedforward terms to compensate for periodic dynamics and other Lyapunov-based approaches (e.g., adaptive-based feedforward terms) to compensate for non-periodic dynamics. To illustrate this point, a hybrid adaptive/learning control scheme is utilized to achieve global asymptotic link position tracking for a robot manipulator.
Calcium‐dependent protein kinases play an essential role in a plant defence response

Calcium‐dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) comprise a large family of serine/threonine kinases in plants and protozoans. We isolated two related CDPK cDNAs (NtCDPK2 and NtCDPK3) from Nicotiana tabacum. These CDPK transcripts are elevated after race‐specific defence elicitation and hypo‐osmotic stress. Transiently expressed myc‐epitope‐tagged NtCDPK2 in Nicotiana benthamiana and N.tabacum leaves showed a rapid transient interconversion to an activated form after elicitation and hypo‐osmotic stress. The Avr9 race‐specific elicitor caused a more pronounced and sustained response. This transition is due to phosphorylation of the CDPK. Immuno complex kinase assays with epitope‐tagged NtCDPK2 showed that stress‐induced phosphorylation and interconversion of NtCDPK2 correlates with an increase in enzymatic activity. The function of NtCDPK2 in plant defence was investigated by employing virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) in N.benthamiana. CDPK‐silenced plants showed a reduced and delayed hypersensitive response after race‐specific elicitation in a gene‐for‐gene interaction, and lacked an accompanying wilting phenotype. Silencing correlated with loss of CDPK mRNA, whereas mRNA accumulation of mitogen‐activated protein kinase WIPK remained unaltered.
The Fixation Probability of Rare Mutators in Finite Asexual Populations

A mutator is an allele that increases the mutation rate throughout the genome by disrupting some aspect of DNA replication or repair. Mutators that increase the mutation rate by the order of 100-fold have been observed to spontaneously emerge and achieve high frequencies in natural populations and in long-term laboratory evolution experiments with Escherichia coli. In principle, the fixation of mutator alleles is limited by (i) competition with mutations in wild-type backgrounds, (ii) additional deleterious mutational load, and (iii) random genetic drift. Using a multiple-locus model and employing both simulation and analytic methods, we investigate the effects of these three factors on the fixation probability Pfix of an initially rare mutator as a function of population size N, beneficial and deleterious mutation rates, and the strength of mutations s. Our diffusion-based approximation for Pfix successfully captures effects ii and iii when selection is fast compared to mutation (\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \(\mathrm{{\mu}}/s{\ll}1\) \end{document}). This enables us to predict the conditions under which mutators will be evolutionarily favored. Surprisingly, our simulations show that effect i is typically small for strong-effect mutators. Our results agree semiquantitatively with existing laboratory evolution experiments and suggest future experimental directions.
Composition of poorly and non-coagulating bovine milk and effect of calcium addition

Ninety-nine individual milk samples from 37 cows in lactation week 10–35, selected for producing well or poorly/non-coagulating milk, were compared regarding protein composition, total calcium content, casein micelle size, pH, and coagulating properties after addition of 0·05% CaCl2. The results showed that a low κ-casein concentration in milk was a risk factor for non-coagulation. CaCl2 addition improved coagulating properties (coagulation time, curd firmness) of nearly all samples and eliminated differences between poorly/non-coagulating and well-coagulating milk, particularly regarding curd firmness. A second, independent data set with 18 non-coagulating or well-coagulating milk samples were analysed for protein composition, where indications of a similar association with κ-casein was observed.
Preclinical Evaluation of Novel Triphenylphosphonium Salts with Broad-Spectrum Activity

Background Recently, there has been a surge of interest in developing compounds selectively targeting mitochondria for the treatment of neoplasms. The critical role of mitochondria in cellular metabolism and respiration supports this therapeutic rationale. Dysfunction in the processes of energy production and metabolism contributes to attenuation of response to pro-apoptotic stimuli and increased ROS production both of which are implicated in the initiation and progression of most human cancers. Methodology/Principal Findings A high-throughput MTT-based screen of over 10,000 drug-like small molecules for anti-proliferative activity identified the phosphonium salts TP187, 197 and 421 as having IC50 concentrations in the submicromolar range. TP treatment induced cell cycle arrest independent of p53 status, as determined by analysis of DNA content in propidium iodide stained cells. In a mouse model of human breast cancer, TP-treated mice showed significantly decreased tumor growth compared to vehicle or paclitaxel treated mice. No toxicities or organ damage were observed following TP treatment. Immunohistochemical staining of tissue sections from TP187-treated tumors demonstrated a decrease in cellular proliferation and increased caspase-3 cleavage. The fluorescent properties of analog TP421 were exploited to assess subcellular uptake of TP compounds, demonstrating mitochondrial localization. Following mitochondrial uptake cells exhibited decreased oxygen consumption and concomittant increase in mitochondrial superoxide production. Proteomics analysis of results from a 600 target antibody microarray demonstrated that TP compounds significantly affected signaling pathways relevant to growth and proliferation. Conclusions/Significance Through our continued interest in designing compounds targeting cancer-cell metabolism, the Warburg effect, and mitochondria we recently discovered a series of novel, small-molecule compounds containing a triphenylphosphine moiety that show remarkable activity in a panel of cancer cell lines as well as in a mouse model of human breast cancer. The mechanism of action includes mitochondrial localization causing decreased oxygen consumption, increased superoxide production and attenuated growth factor signaling.
CREEP AND AGEING EFFECTS ON STRESSES AND DEFORMATIONS OF SATURATED CLAYED SOILS ---INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RHEOLOGY AND SOIL MECHANICS, 12-16 SEPTEMBER 1988, COVENTRY, UK

The investigations on one-dimensional time-dependent stress-strain state of nearly saturated clayed soils are presented. Long lasting tests are carried out with samples of different types of soils under compression. Results from the tests in an open (drained) system and a closed (undrained) system under constant instantaneously applied loading are presented. A good agreement between the experimental and theoretical results, obtained with the use of the theory of linear creep and ageing is observed. The following conclusions for clayed soil behavior are drawn: the height of the soil sample (layer thickness) effects on the stress-strain state of clayed soils in an open system, change over time of the pore pressure in a closed system, change over time of the coefficient of earth pressure at rest. (a) for the covering abstract of this conference see IRRD 818664.
Data Center Management Plan in Cloud Computing Environment

Cloud computing environment is a new IT service model to support large-scale computing resources of virtualization, on-demand computing, dynamic deployment and flexible scalability. Cloud computing architecture has fore levels. Fist level is SaaS (Software as Service). The following layer is PaaS (Platform as a service). The third layer is IaaS (Infrastructure as a service). The bottom layer is IT infrastructure (IT Foundation). Cloud computing has dynamic, flexible, elastic, on-demand computing features. It makes particularly suitable for complex and volatile economic environment.
Reconstructing past species assemblages reveals the changing patterns and drivers of extinction through time

Predicting future species extinctions from patterns of past extinctions or current threat status relies on the assumption that the taxonomic and biological selectivity of extinction is consistent through time. If the driving forces of extinction change through time, this assumption may be unrealistic. Testing the consistency of extinction patterns between the past and the present has been difficult, because the phylogenetically explicit methods used to model present-day extinction risk typically cannot be applied to the data from the fossil record. However, the detailed historical and fossil records of the New Zealand avifauna provide a unique opportunity to reconstruct a complete, large faunal assemblage for different periods in the past. Using the first complete phylogeny of all known native New Zealand bird species, both extant and extinct, we show how the taxonomic and phylogenetic selectivity of extinction, and biological correlates of extinction, change from the pre-human period through Polynesian and European occupation, to the present. These changes can be explained both by changes in primary threatening processes, and by the operation of extinction filter effects. The variable patterns of extinction through time may confound attempts to identify risk factors that apply across time periods, and to infer future species declines from past extinction patterns and current threat status.
A Cone-Continuity Constraint Qualification and Algorithmic Consequences

Every local minimizer of a smooth constrained optimization problem satisfies the sequential approximate Karush--Kuhn--Tucker (AKKT) condition. This optimality condition is used to define the stopping criteria of many practical nonlinear programming algorithms. It is natural to ask for conditions on the constraints under which AKKT implies KKT. These conditions will be called strict constraint qualifications (SCQs). In this paper we define a cone-continuity property (CCP) that will be shown to be the weakest possible SCQ. Its relation to other constraint qualifications will also be clarified. In particular, it will be proved that CCP is strictly weaker than the constant positive generator constraint qualification.
An Assessment of the NCEP Operational Global Spectral Model Forecasts and Analyses for Antarctica during FROST

Abstract Analyses and medium-range numerical weather forecasts produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction are evaluated poleward of 50°S during the July 1994 special observing period of the Antarctic First Regional Observing Study of the Troposphere project. Over the Antarctic plateau, the poor representation of the continent’s terrain creates ambiguity in assessing the quality of surface variables. An examination of the vertical temperature profile, however, finds the near-surface temperature inversion strength to be substantially smaller than the observed climatology at the zero forecast hour. This arises from surface temperatures that are warmer than expected. Significant adjustment occurs in a variety of fields over the first few days of the medium-range forecast, which likely results from the initial hour’s suspect temperature profile. A spatially oscillating series of forecast anomalies in the zonally averaged temperature cross section stretches to middle latitudes by day 3. Near-.
Rapid Capture and Analysis of Airborne Staphylococcus aureus in the Hospital Using a Microfluidic Chip

In this study we developed a microfluidic chip for the rapid capture, enrichment and detection of airborne Staphylococcus (S.) aureus. The whole analysis took about 4 h and 40 min from airborne sample collection to loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), with a detection limit down to about 27 cells. The process did not require DNA purification. The chip was validated using standard bacteria bioaerosol and was directly used for clinical airborne pathogen sampling in hospital settings. This is the first report on the capture and analysis of airborne S. aureus using a novel microfluidic technique, a process that could have a very promising platform for hospital airborne infection prevention (HAIP).
Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Women Exposed to Community and Partner Violence

Prior research documents increased trauma symptoms associated with exposure to violence, primarily by examining types of violence separately. This study extends prior research by examining traumatic stress symptoms associated with two types of violence exposure, community violence and partner violence. A sample of 90 lowincome African American women from an urban area completed measures assessing exposure to community violence, partner violence, and trauma symptoms. Exposure to community violence and partner violence were associated with increased reporting of trauma symptoms. Participants who experienced high levels of exposure to both types of violence reported more trauma symptoms than women who were exposed to only one type of violence or neither type of violence. The results suggest that the accumulation of exposures to violence is linked with greater distress. Thus, interventions with women exposed to violence should assess violence exposure in multiple domains and attend to the implications of multiple exposures to violence.
Automatic Service Composition Based on Behavioral Descriptions

This paper addresses the issue of automatic service composition. We first develop a framework in which the exported behavior of a service is described in terms of a so-called execution tree, that is an abstraction for its possible executions. We then study the case in which such exported behavior (i.e. the execution tree of the service) can be represented by a finite state machine (i.e. finite state transition system). In this specific setting, we devise sound, complete and terminating techniques both to check for the existence of a composition, and to return a composition, if one exists. We also analyze the computational complexity of the proposed algorithms. Finally, we present an open source prototype tool, called (E-Service Composer), that implements our composition technique. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first attempt to provide a provably correct technique for the automatic synthesis of service composition, in a framework where the behavior of services is explicitly specified.
Using a Deep Reinforcement Learning Agent for Traffic Signal Control

Ensuring transportation systems are efficient is a priority for modern society. Technological advances have made it possible for transportation systems to collect large volumes of varied data on an unprecedented scale. We propose a traffic signal control system which takes advantage of this new, high quality data, with minimal abstraction compared to other proposed systems. We apply modern deep reinforcement learning methods to build a truly adaptive traffic signal control agent in the traffic microsimulator SUMO. We propose a new state space, the discrete traffic state encoding, which is information dense. The discrete traffic state encoding is used as input to a deep convolutional neural network, trained using Q-learning with experience replay. Our agent was compared against a one hidden layer neural network traffic signal control agent and reduces average cumulative delay by 82%, average queue length by 66% and average travel time by 20%.