Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three-dimensional Buckling Analysis of Thermoplastic Composite Laminated Plates with Single Vertical or Horizontal Strip Delamination

In this study, the effects of the strip vertical or horizontal delamination width on the buckling loads of the simply supported woven steel-reinforced thermoplastic (LDFE, F.2.12) laminated composite plates of four layers have been investigated. Three-dimensional finite element models of the square laminated plates have been established. There are two different delamination shapes, between second and third layers in each of these models. The stacking sequences are chosen as [0]4, [15°/-15°]s, [15°/-15°]2, [30°/-30°]s, [30°/-30°]2, [45°]4, and [45°/-45°]s. Firstly the harmony between theoretical and finite element solutions’ results of the plate without delamination has been shown. Then, the buckling loads have been determined for each models having different delamination width. The results show that important decreases in the buckling loads occur after a certain value of the delamination width. The changing ratios of the results of the symmetric or antisymmetric cases are approximately the same for each angle. For the high values of orientation angles, the values and changing ratios of the buckling loads are also higher than those of the low angles.
Cell-centred model for non-linear tissue rheology and active remodelling

Soft active tissues exhibit softening, hardening, and reversible fluidisation. The result of these non-linear behaviour is due to multiple processes taking part at different scales: active protein motors that actuate at the polymeric structure of the cell, (de)polymerisation and remodelling of the cytoskeleton, and cell-cell connectivity changes that take place at the tissue level.
Note on "An improved model of surface BRDF-atmospheric coupled radiation"

A recent paper, J.V. Martonchik et al., IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, vol.36, p.1212-27 (1998), compared approximate radiative transfer results for top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance, using various algorithms published in the literature. We show that one of the algorithms was used incorrectly, resulting in its poor performance as stated in that paper. Correct usage produces results with errors typically less than 3%, which compares favorably to the other tested algorithms.
Novel library of logic gates with ambipolar CNTFETs: Opportunities for multi-level logic synthesis

This paper exploits the unique in-field controllability of the device polarity of ambipolar carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs) to design a technology library with higher expressive power than conventional CMOS libraries. Based on generalized NOR-NAND-AOI-OAI primitives, the proposed library of static ambipolar CNTFET gates efficiently implements XOR functions, provides full-swing outputs, and is extensible to alternate forms with area-performance tradeoffs. Since the design of the gates can be regularized, the ability to functionalize them in-field opens opportunities for novel regular fabrics based on ambipolar CNTFETs. Technology mapping of several multi-level logic benchmarks - including multipliers, adders, and linear circuits-indicates that on average, it is possible to reduce both the number of gates and area by ~ 38% while also improving performance by 6.9times.
Cardiac Transcriptome Analysis in Obesity-Related Hypertension

Abstract—Obesity is associated with volumetric arterial hypertension and with early increase in heart rate and decreased heart rate variability. The consequences of obesity-related hypertension on heart gene regulation are poorly known and were investigated in a model of obesity-related hypertension induced by high fat diet in dogs. When compared with control animals (n=6), a 9-week high fat diet (n=6) provoked significant weight gain and increased blood pressure load and heart rate but failed to significantly change left ventricular mass assessed by echocardiography. Subtractive hybridization of dog heart cDNA libraries were used to generate sublibraries containing differentially expressed cDNAs that were in turn spotted onto membranes to create custom microarrays. Hybridizations of these microarrays with complex probes representing mRNAs expressed in right atria and left ventricles from obese hypertensive and control dogs were performed. Thirty-eight differentially expressed genes were identified; altered expression was confirmed by Northern blot analysis in 15. In addition, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction confirmed differential expression for 80% of the randomly chosen tested genes. Once identified, transcripts were categorized into groups involved in metabolism, cell signaling, ionic regulation, cell proliferation, protein synthesis, and tissue remodeling. In addition, we found a set of 11 cDNAs encoding proteins with unknown functions. This study clearly shows that obesity-related hypertension, lasting for only 9 weeks, causes marked changes in gene expression in right atrium as well as the left ventricle that may contribute to early functional changes in heart function and to long-term structural changes such as left ventricular hypertrophy and remodeling.
The effects of Vitamin C on sperm quality parameters in laboratory rats following long-term exposure to cyclophosphamide

Cyclophosphamide is a widely used medication and can cause oxidative stress. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Vitamin C on reproductive organs' weight and the quality of sperm parameters in laboratory rats. In this experimental study, 40 rats were randomly assigned into five groups of eight each. Distilled water (DW) group received only food and water, Group 2 was administered with drug solvent (DW) by gavage, Group 3 intraperitoneally administered with 1.6 mg/kg cyclophosphamide, Group 4 gavaged Vitamin C at 0.88 mg/kg, and Group 5 administered with effective doses of Vitamin C and cyclophosphamide by gavage with 1-h intervals. Sperm parameters of the samples were taken from distal epididymis and tissues were studied, and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 22. The lowest weight of testicles and epididymis was seen in cyclophosphamide-exposed rats and the highest weight of testicles and epididymis in Vitamin C-exposed rats (P < 0.05). The highest motility, progression, viability, and count of sperm were seen in the Vitamin C-treated group and the lowest in the cyclophosphamide-exposed group. The highest proportion of sperm anomalies was seen in the cyclophosphamide-exposed group. Vitamin C, as an antioxidant, can be effective on some of the sperm parameters and can reduce cyclophosphamide-induced complications in animal model.
Vitamin E 80th Anniversary: A Double Life, Not Only Fighting Radicals

Recent research on α‐tocopherol has revealed specific cellular functions of this compound belonging to the vitamin E family. α‐Tocopherol can act as a radical scavenger, as a pro‐oxidant, as an anti‐alkylation agent and, most important, by mechanisms that are independent of the above properties. To the last group belong protein kinase C and 5‐lipoxygenase inhibition at post‐translational level, as well as α‐tocopherol activation of protein phosphatase 2A and diacylglycerol kinase. Furthermore, at transcriptional level, several genes (CD36, α‐TTP, α‐tropomyosin, and collagenase) are modulated by α8‐tocopherol. These effects result in inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation, platelet aggregation, and monocyte adhesion and may be related to the alleged protection of atherosclerosis by vitamin E. On the other side, epidemiological and intervention studies have shown some inconsistent results. Rather than disregarding vitamin E as a means to protect against atherosclerosis progression, it would be wiser to better design clinical trials based on current knowledge of the biological properties of the molecule.
Vaginally Administered PEGylated LIF Antagonist Blocked Embryo Implantation and Eliminated Non-Target Effects on Bone in Mice

Female-controlled contraception/HIV prevention is critical to address health issues associated with gender inequality. Therefore, a contraceptive which can be administered in tandem with a microbicide to inhibit sexually transmitted infections, is desirable. Uterine leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is obligatory for blastocyst implantation in mice and associated with infertility in women. We aimed to determine whether a PEGylated LIF inhibitor (PEGLA) was an effective contraceptive following vaginal delivery and to identify non-uterine targets of PEGLA in mice. Vaginally-applied 125I-PEGLA accumulated in blood more slowly (30 min vs 10 min) and showed reduced tissue and blood retention (24 h vs 96 h) compared to intraperitoneal injection in mice. Vaginally-applied PEGLA blocked implantation. PEGLA administered by intraperitoneal injection inhibited bone remodelling whereas vaginally-applied PEGLA had no effect on bone. Further, PEGLA had no effect in an animal model of multiple sclerosis, experimental auto-immune encephalomyelitis, suggesting PEGLA cannot target the central nervous system. Vaginally-administered PEGLA is a promising non-hormonal contraceptive, one which could be delivered alone, or in tandem with a microbicide. Vaginal application reduced the total dose of PEGLA required to block implantation and eliminated the systemic effect on bone, showing the vagina is a promising site of administration for larger drugs which target organs within the reproductive tract.
Competition, Liquidity and Volatility - a Comparative Study of Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange

India currently has two major stock exchanges: The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. There are important differences in ownership structure, geographic reach, internal controls systems and institutionalized risk management facilities between the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. The purpose of this study is to examine if these significant structural differences between these stock exchanges contribute to variations in observed measures of quality of markets. We use a paired comparison approach and document significant differences in liquidity and price volatility between the two markets.
Novel high-resolution characterization of ancient DNA reveals C > U-type base modification events as the sole cause of post mortem miscoding lesions

Ancient DNA (aDNA) research has long depended on the power of PCR to amplify trace amounts of surviving genetic material from preserved specimens. While PCR permits specific loci to be targeted and amplified, in many ways it can be intrinsically unsuited to damaged and degraded aDNA templates. PCR amplification of aDNA can produce highly-skewed distributions with significant contributions from miscoding lesion damage and non-authentic sequence artefacts. As traditional PCR-based approaches have been unable to fully resolve the molecular nature of aDNA damage over many years, we have developed a novel single primer extension (SPEX)-based approach to generate more accurate sequence information. SPEX targets selected template strands at defined loci and can generate a quantifiable redundancy of coverage; providing new insights into the molecular nature of aDNA damage and fragmentation. SPEX sequence data reveals inherent limitations in both traditional and metagenomic PCR-based approaches to aDNA, which can make current damage analyses and correct genotyping of ancient specimens problematic. In contrast to previous aDNA studies, SPEX provides strong quantitative evidence that C > U-type base modifications are the sole cause of authentic endogenous damage-derived miscoding lesions. This new approach could allow ancient specimens to be genotyped with unprecedented accuracy.
Experimental Investigation of Partial Laser Surface Texturing for Piston-Ring Friction Reduction

An experimental study is presented to evaluate the effect of partial laser surface texturing (LST) on friction reduction in piston rings. In a previous study, 30% friction reduction was obtained with full LST where the full width of the piston ring is textured with a very large number of microdimples that act individually as microhydrodynamic bearings. In partial LST, only a portion of the piston-ring width is textured with high dimple density, producing a “collective” effect of the dimples that provides an equivalent converging clearance even with nominally parallel mating surfaces. Experimental results obtained with flat and parallel test specimens with partial LST are presented, confirming a previously published theoretical model and the advantage of partial over full LST. Friction reduction by LST with actual production-crowned piston rings and cylinder liner segments is not straightforward and needs further investigation. Presented at the STLE Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada May 15-19, 2005 Review led by Gray Barber
Highly-resilient, energy-efficient multipath routing in wireless sensor networks

Previously proposed sensor network data dissemination schemes require periodic low-rate flooding of data in order to allow recovery from failure. We consider constructing two kinds of multipaths to enable energy efficient recovery from failure of the shortest path between source and sink. Disjoint multipath has been studied in the literature. We propose a novel braided multipath scheme, which results in several partially disjoint multipath schemes. We find that braided multipaths are a viable alternative for energy-efficient recovery from isolated and patterned failures.
A Publish/Subscribe System Using Causal Broadcast over Dynamically Built Spanning Trees

In this paper we present VCube-PS, a topic-based Publish/Subscribe system built on the top of a virtual hypercubelike topology. Membership information and published messages to subscribers (members) of a topic group are broadcast over dynamically built spanning trees rooted at the message&#x2019;s source. For a given topic, delivery of published messages respects causal order. Performance results of experiments conducted on the PeerSim simulator confirm the efficiency of VCube-PS in terms of scalability, latency, number, and size of messages when compared to a single rooted, not dynamically, tree built approach.
Stimulus‐driven and strategic neural responses to fearful and happy facial expressions in humans

The human amygdala responds selectively to consciously and unconsciously perceived facial expressions, particularly those that convey potential threat such as fear and anger. In many social situations, multiple faces with varying expressions confront observers yet little is known about the neural mechanisms involved in encoding several faces simultaneously. Here we used event‐related fMRI to measure neural activity in pre‐defined regions of interest as participants searched multi‐face arrays for a designated target expression (fearful or happy). We conducted separate analyses to examine activations associated with each of the four multi‐face arrays independent of target expression (stimulus‐driven effects), and activations arising from the search for each of the target expressions, independent of the display type (strategic effects). Comparisons across display types, reflecting stimulus‐driven influences on visual search, revealed activity in the amygdala and superior temporal sulcus (STS). By contrast, strategic demands of the task did not modulate activity in either the amygdala or STS. These results imply an interactive threat‐detection system involving several neural regions. Crucially, activity in the amygdala increased significantly when participants correctly detected the target expression, compared with trials in which the identical target was missed, suggesting that the amygdala has a limited capacity for extracting affective facial expressions.
REGγ modulates p53 activity by regulating its cellular localization

The proteasome activator REGγ mediates a shortcut for the destruction of intact mammalian proteins. The biological roles of REGγ and the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we provide evidence that REGγ regulates cellular distribution of p53 by facilitating its multiple monoubiquitylation and subsequent nuclear export and degradation. We also show that inhibition of p53 tetramerization by REGγ might further enhance cytoplasmic relocation of p53 and reduce active p53 in the nucleus. Furthermore, multiple monoubiquitylation of p53 enhances its physical interaction with HDM2 and probably facilitates subsequent polyubiquitylation of p53, suggesting that monoubiquitylation can act as a signal for p53 degradation. Depletion of REGγ sensitizes cells to stress-induced apoptosis, validating its crucial role in the control of apoptosis, probably through regulation of p53 function. Using a mouse xenograft model, we show that REGγ knockdown results in a significant reduction of tumor growth, suggesting an important role for REGγ in tumor development. Our study therefore demonstrates that REGγ-mediated inactivation of p53 is one of the mechanisms involved in cancer progression.
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DEPENDENCE-BASED COMPLEXITY METRICS FOR DISTRIBUTED PROGRAMS

Software metrics have many applications in software engineering activities including analysis, testing, debugging, and maintenance of programs, and management of project. Until now a number of complexity metrics have been proposed and used for measuring sequential programs, but few could be used for measuring concurrent and distributed programs. Cheng proposed a group of dependence-based complexity metrics for measuring the complexity of a distributed program from various viewpoints. However, Cheng did not show any evaluation results of these metrics. In order to optimize some rational and practical metrics which can be used for measuring the complexity of a distributed program in practical software development process, we evaluate some of these metrics from both experimental and theoretical viewpoints. This paper reports our test and evaluation results.
Transport of protein between cytoplasmic membranes of fused cells: correspondence to processes reconstituted in a cell-free system

Mixed monolayers containing vesicular stomatitis virus-infected Chinese hamster ovary clone 15B cells (lacking UDP-N-acetylglucosamine transferase I, a Golgi enzyme) and uninfected wild-type Chinese hamster ovary cells were formed. Extensive cell fusion occurs after the monolayer is exposed to a pH of 5.0. The vesicular stomatitis virus encoded membrane glycoprotein (G protein) resident in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (labeled with [35S]methionine) or Golgi complex (labeled with [3H]palmitate) of 15B cells at the time of fusion can reach Golgi complexes from wild-type cells after fusion; G protein present in the plasma membrane cannot. Transfer to wild-type Golgi complexes is monitored by the conversion of G protein to an endoglycosidase H-resistant form upon arrival, and also demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy. G protein in the Golgi complex of the 15B cells at the time of fusion exhibits properties vis a vis its transfer to an exogenous Golgi population identical to those found earlier in a cell-free system (Fries, E., and J. E. Rothman. 1981. J. Cell Biol., 90: 697-704). Specifically, pulse-chase experiments using the in vivo fusion and in vitro assays reveal the same two populations of G protein in the Golgi complex. The first population, consisting of G protein molecules that have just received their fatty acid, can transfer to a second Golgi population in vivo and in vitro. The second population, entered by G protein approximately 5 min after its acylation, is unavailable for this transfer, in vivo and in vitro. Presumably, this second population consists of those G-protein molecules that had already been transferred between compartments within the 15B Golgi population, in an equivalent process before cell fusion or homogenization for in vitro assays. Evidently, the same compartment boundary in the Golgi complex is detected by these two measurements. The surprisingly facile process of glycoprotein transit between Golgi stacks that occurs in vivo may therefore be retained in vitro, providing a basis for the cell-free system.
THE PERMANENT DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF A DENSE BITUMEN MACADAM SUBJECTED TO REPEATED LOADING

Experiments were performed on continously graded asphaltic material to check the validity of a procedure which involves the calculation of the vertical and horizontal stress distribution through the pavement using linear or non-linear elastic theory and the evaluation of the corresponding permanent strain distribution from the results of appropriate laboratory tests; summation of the permanent strain with depth gives the permanent deformation of the surface. Dense bitumen macadam made with nominally 100-per bitumen and crushed rock aggregate (porphyry) of 25-mm maximum particle size were used. Repeated load, triaxial tests were used. Tests were conducted under controlled stress conditions, and resilient as well as permanent strains were measured. A series of creep tests were also performed. The six major variables investigated were vertical stress, temperature, confining stress, frequency of the vertical stress pulse, rest periods and binder content. The studies showed that an increase in temperature caused a substantial increase in strain. An increase in vertical stress caused an increase in strain and an increase in confining stress caused a decrease in strain. The level of static confining stress which gave the same strain as the dynamic confining stress was approximately equal to the mean level of that stress. The realistic changes in the relative lengths of vertical and confining stress pulses did not affect the strain. The rate of strain appeared to be time dependent at frequencies above 1 Hz. Rest periods between vertical stress pulses had negligible effect on strain. An optimum binder content of 4 percent existed for maximum resistance to strain between 10 and 30 c. At 40 C, better resistance was achieved with a 3 percent binder content. There was some evidence of a simple relationship between dynamic test results and those from simple creep tests. Interpretation of the results in terms of mix stiffness as a function of bitumen stiffness was encouraging. The results obtained from laboratory tests when applied to the pavement design problem produced reasonable values of rut depth.
Prevalence and etiology of altered liver tests: A population‐based survey in a Mediterranean town

Serum biochemical liver tests (LTs) (ALT, AST, GGT) and platelet counts are often used to screen for chronic liver disease. Population‐based data on abnormal LTs in Mediterranean areas are lacking. The prevalence and etiology of abnormal LTs were assessed from 2002 to 2003 in a 1 in 5 systematic random sample of the general population who were 12 years of age or older in Cittanova, a southern Italian town with 10,600 inhabitants. LTs, indices of metabolism, and markers of HBV and HCV infection were assayed and alcohol intake was recorded in the selected population. In virus‐free individuals with abnormal LTs, LTs were retested, and upper abdominal echography and tests for other causes of liver damage were undertaken. Among the 1,645 individuals screened, the prevalence of anti‐HCV was 6.5%; the prevalence was particularly high in individuals over 50 years of age. The corresponding prevalence for HBsAg was 0.8%. The overall prevalence of individuals with abnormal LTs was 12.7% (95% CI: 11.1‐14.3). The probable cause of abnormal LTs was excessive alcohol in 45.6%, HCV in 18.6%, HBV in 1%, alcohol plus HCV and/or HBV in 8.8%, and rare diseases in 2%. In 24% of individuals with abnormal LTs, the probable cause was nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD); in this subgroup, increased body weight, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperglycemia were common, and 63.3% of them had a bright liver at echography. In conclusion, in southern Italy, a Mediterranean area where dietary habits are different from those in industrialized areas, one eighth of the general population has abnormal LTs suggestive of possible liver damage; NAFLD appears to be emerging as a potentially important etiology of this presumed liver injury. (HEPATOLOGY 2005;41:1151–1159.)