Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Atomic Complexes Formation in Grain Boundaries on Grain Boundary Diffusion

The peculiarities of grain boundary diffusion in Cu connected with the effect of atomic pairs formation in grain boundaries (GB) were studied using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. In present study Cu GB selfdiffusion was simulated with the use of semi-empirical potential. Besides, the ‘heterodiffusion’ simulation was performed with the artificially addеd energy of interaction (E) between identical atoms in arbitrary chosen pairs. To obtain reliable data on the mean square displacements (MSD) the simulation cell, consisted about three hundreds thousands atoms and two symmetrical GBs Σ5 (001)(012), was used. 70 pairs of identical Cu atoms in GBs, bonded into pairs, were chosen as initial state. Energy of interaction was varied between 0 and - 0.5eV/atomThe results obtained for selfdiffusion are in a good agreement with experimental results and other results of computer simulation. Two main effects for heterodiffusion are under discussion. The first is atomic exchange between GB zone and adjacent lattice zone, where the mobility of the atoms decreases significantly. As a result, the MSD decrease. Another effect is connected with attraction between the “marked” atoms, which leads to formation of relatively stable complexes and the MSD also decreases. The results obtained involve also dependence the number of the stable pairs on time and temperature and show the possibility of pairs to condense into ternary, quarterly and more numerous complexes.
Use of Clay Sludge Water Treatment Plant Sludge to Produce Ceramic Brick

In the search for solutions capable of minimizing the environmental impacts from waste water treatment plant (WWTP) and reduce costs related to the final destination of the waste generated, the present work aims to evaluate the potential use of WWTP sludge by incorporating clay slurry to the production of bricks, in order to present an alternative environmentally correct destination for this waste. Sludge and clay underwent chemical and mineralogical characterization, through granulometric distribution, X-ray fluorescence analysis, X-ray diffraction. The samples were homogenized in the proportions of 0%, 12%, 14% and 18% of sludge in red clay, pressed at 25 MPa, and later production of test specimens which were then burned to a temperature of 900oC. After sintering, physical and mechanical tests were performed to evaluate the quality of the final product, by means of analysis of the properties of fire loss, linear retraction, water absorption, apparent specific mass, apparent porosity, flexural rupture stress, moisture and plasticity. The results of the laboratory tests with the residue proportions incorporated in the clay mass demonstrate influence on the physical and mechanical properties of the ceramic material. The results presented show a similarity to that recommended and that despite the 18% (sludge) samples, in relation to the clay showed a variation in the chemical composition due to its high organic matter content, it was observed that both had SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3. Comparing the results with the parameters established in NBR 15270-1, 2 and 3/2005, it was verified that the WWTP sludge can be incorporated in up to 18% in the clay mass for the manufacture of bricks. Keywords— Waste water treatment plant, recycling,
FOXM1 promotes the progression of prostate cancer by regulating PSA gene transcription

Androgen/AR is the primary contributor to prostate cancer (PCa) progression by regulating Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) gene transcription. The disease inevitably evolves to androgen-independent (AI) status. Other mechanisms by which PSA is regulated and develops to AI have not yet been fully determined. FOXM1 is a cell proliferation-specific transcription factor highly expressed in PCa cells compared to non-malignant prostate epithelial cells, suggesting that the aberrant overexpression of FOXM1 contributes to PCa development. In addition to regulating AR gene transcription and cell cycle-regulatory genes, FOXM1 selectively regulates the gene transcription of KLK2 and PSA, typical androgen responsive genes. Screening the potential FOXM1-binding sites by ChIP-PCR, we found that FOXM1 directly binds to the FHK binding motifs in the PSA promoter/enhancer regions. AI C4-2 cells have more FOXM1 binding sites than androgen dependent LNCaP cells. The depletion of FOXM1 by small molecular inhibitors significantly improves the suppression of PSA gene transcription by the anti-AR agent Cadosax. This is the first report showing that FOXM1 promotes PCa progression by regulating PSA gene transcription, particularly in AI PCa cells. The combination of anti-AR agents and FOXM1 inhibitors has the potential to greatly improve therapy for late-stage PCa patients by suppressing PSA levels.
A Framework for Customer Relationship Management

The essence of the information technology revolution and, in particular, the World Wide Web is the opportunity afforded companies to choose how they interact with their customers. The Web allows companies to build better relationships with customers than has been previously possible in the offline world. This revolution in customer relationship management (CRM) has been referred to as the new "mantra" of marketing. However, a problem is that CRM means different things to different people. This article develops a comprehensive CRM model incorporating seven phases: database creation, analysis of the database, customer selection, customer targeting, relationship marketing, privacy issues, and new metrics necessary for evaluating the CRM effort. The article also discusses the implications of CRM for future marketing organizations.
On the Relation between Firm Characteristics and Volatility Dynamics with an Application to the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

Despite the extensive literature on the analysis of firm equity volatility, relatively little is known about the relation between firm characteristics and volatility dynamics. This is partly due to the lack of an appropriate modelling framework in which these research questions can be addressed adequately. This work proposes a Hierarchical Factor GARCH model for multivariate volatility analysis in large panels of assets. The novelty consists of augmenting the dynamic specification with equations that link the volatility dynamics parameters of each firm to observed and unobserved characteristics. The hierarchical approach has features that are useful for both economic and forecasting applications. It permits one to investigate how variation of firm variables explains variation in volatility dynamics. Moreover, it allows for a parsimonious parameterization of a multivariate system that is independent of its dimension, yet capable of retaining flexibility in the individual series dynamics thanks to the random effect structure. The model is estimated via Maximum Likelihood. The proposed methodology is used to analyse the volatility dynamics of top U.S. financial institutions during the 2007-2009 crisis using a financial index as common factor. Dynamics are a function of firm size, leverage, distance to default and liquidity before the beginning of the credit crunch. Results show that leverage is the most influential variable, and firms with high leverage have high factor exposure, high idiosyncratic volatility as well as high sensitivity to temporary idiosyncratic volatility shocks. Factor exposure in the crisis is also high for firms that are large, have a small distance to default and are illiquid. Overall, the model captures a substantial portion of cross sectional variation in volatility dynamics.
In Vivo Development of Quinolone Resistance in Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhimurium DT104

ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium definitive phage type 104 was isolated several times from the same patient over a period of 2 years. The strain developed reduced sensitivity to fluoroquinolones, and a mutation in the gyrA gene that is associated with reduced sensitivity to quinolones was identified.
Can Genetic Factors Explain the Spillover of Warmth and Negativity Across Family Relationships?

Abstract Previous studies indicate that the emotional quality of marital relationships is mirrored in parent–child relationships. We explored the degree to which these associations are explained by genetic and environmental factors. Participants were drawn from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden (TOSS), and included 544 female twin pairs (258 monozygotic [MZ], 286 dizygotic [DZ]), and 311 male twin pairs (128 MZ, 183 DZ). The spouses and one adolescent child of each twin also participated in this study. The twins completed self-report measures that assessed their marital quality and their warmth and negativity towards their children. Observational ratings of marital warmth and negativity, and of maternal warmth and negativity were obtained for a subset of female twin pairs (150 MZ, 176 DZ). Selfreported marital satisfaction was associated with self-reported parental warmth and negativity for mothers (rs = .25, -.36) and fathers (rs = .25, -.44). For the observational measures, marital warmth was associated with maternal warmth (r = .42), while marital negativity was associated with maternal negativity (r = .34). On average genetic factors explained nearly half of the covariance between selfreported marital satisfaction and parenting for mothers (48%) and fathers (47%). Genetic factors explained 21% of the covariance between observed marital and maternal warmth, but did not contribute to associations between marital and maternal negativity. These findings indicate that parents' genetically influenced characteristics help shape the emotional climate of the family.
In situ detection of electrified aerosols in the upper troposphere and in the stratosphere

Electrified aerosols have been observed in the lower troposphere and in the mesosphere, but have never been detected in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. We present measurements of aerosols obtained during a balloon flight to an altitude of ~ 24 km. The measurements were performed with an improved version of the Stratospheric and Tropospheric Aerosol Counter (STAC) aerosol counter dedicated to the search for charged aerosols. It is found that most of the aerosols are charged in the upper troposphere for altitudes below 10 km and in the stratosphere for altitudes above 20 km. Conversely, the aerosols seem to be uncharged between 10 km and 20 km. Model calculations are used to quantify the electrification of the aerosols with a stratospheric aerosol-ion model. The percentages of charged aerosols obtained with model calculations are in excellent agreement with the observations below 10 km and above 20 km. However, the model cannot reproduce the absence of electrification found in the lower stratosphere, as the processes leading to neutralisation in this altitude range are unknown. The presence of sporadic transient layers of electrified aerosol in the upper troposphere and in the stratosphere could have significant implications for sprite formation.
The Minimum Distance of Turbo-Like Codes

Worst-case upper bounds are derived on the minimum distance of parallel concatenated turbo codes, serially concatenated convolutional codes, repeat-accumulate codes, repeat-convolute codes, and generalizations of these codes obtained by allowing nonlinear and large-memory constituent codes. It is shown that parallel-concatenated turbo codes and repeat-convolute codes with sub-linear memory are asymptotically bad. It is also shown that depth-two serially concatenated codes with constant-memory outer codes and sublinear-memory inner codes are asymptotically bad. Most of these upper bounds hold even when the convolutional encoders are replaced by general finite-state automata encoders. In contrast, it is proven that depth-three serially concatenated codes obtained by concatenating a repetition code with two accumulator codes through random permutations can be asymptotically good.
Informal Caregivers of Persons with AIDS

or possibility that caregivers may be Hl'V-positive themselves and thus see their own futures in the eyes of their care recipients. Pearlin and associates (6) have summarized the AIDS caregiver role as increasingly demanding as the disease progresses, as pushing against the limits of energy, as emotionally depleting, and, eventually, as defeating. Due to a lack of research on AIDS caregivers, most of what is currently known about the informal care of chronically-ill adults comes from gerontological research on caregivers of persons with dementing illnesses (7-10) or from oncological nursing studies of cancer home care (11-15). In addition, there is now a growing body of literature describing caregiving experiences in the contexts of stroke, mental illness and mental retardation, and heart disease (16). Although the caregiving experience varies across these illness contexts depending on disease stage and characteristics of patients and caregivers, consensus has been reached that caregiving is highly stressful work associated primarily with negative mental health consequences for the caregiver (17) and secondarily with adverse effects in areas of physical health, social and recreational activities, and financial resources (10). At this time the extent to which these outcomes apply to caregivers of persons with AIDS is not known. Several exploratory studies on the stress of AIDS caregiving offer clues to the unique relationship between persons with AIDS and their caregivers. From intensive interviews with gay men providing in-home care to their partners with AIDS, Pearlin et al. (6) identified three types of stressors: (a) demands associated with housekeeping, nursing care and management of financial and legal affairs; (b) uncertainties concerning their own futures in terms of risk of contracting the disease; and (c) disruption in other life roles, occupational, economic, and social. Raveis and Siegel (3) found that informal caregivers of relatively healthy persons with AIDS provide the majority of total assistance required for instruINTRODUCTION
OPEN SPINA BIFIDA: OUTCOME FOR A COMPLETE COHORT TREATED UNSELECTIVELY AND FOLLOWED INTO ADULTHOOD

Between 1963 and 1970, 117 consecutive cases of open spina bifida were treated unselectively from birth, following a full neurological examination. The author reviews the outcome 16 to 20 years later. 48 died before their sixteenth birthday. Of the 69 survivors, 60 had had a shunt inserted and two were blind following shunt dysfunction; 22 were mentally retarded (IQ<80); 35 were wheelchair‐dependent; 52 were incontinent, and 32 of these continued to need help with its management; nine weighed >75kg; one‐third of both sexes had a precocious puberty; three had insulin‐dependent diabetes; 12 continued to need anticonvulsant drugs; 32 had suffered from pressure sores; 33 were unable to live without help or supervision and only 17 were capable of open employment. These findings demonstrate the wide range of disabilities implied by the diagnosis of open spina bifida. The neurological findings recorded at birth were reflected in the mortality and disability of the survivors. The sensory level represented a yardstick for predicting the likely range of handicap into adult life, provided no additional impairment resulted from serious complications: such damage occurred in seven of the survivors.
CHARACTERISTIC VARIETIES AND CONSTRUCTIBLE SHEAVES

We explore the relation between the positive dimensional irreducible components of the characteristic varieties of rank one local systems on a smooth surface and the associated (rational or irrational) pencils. Our study, which may viewed as a continuation of D. Arapura's paper (1), yields new geometric insight into the translated components relating them to the multiplicities of curves in the associated pencil, in a close analogy to the compact situation treated by A. Beauville (4). The new point of view is the key role played by the constructible sheaves naturally arising from local systems.
Assessment of Thyroid Function in Children Aged 1-13 Years with Beta-Thalassemia Major

Objective Hypothyroidism usually appears in the second decade of life and is thought to be associated with iron overload in patients with thalassemia major. This study aimed to evaluate thyroid dysfunctions in patients with beta-thalassemia major and to see if they appear in the earlier period of life. Methods Thyroid function and iron load status were evaluated in 90 children with a mean age of 7.17±3.78 years with beta-thalassemia major by measuring serum free thyroxin (FT4), serum free triiodothyronine (FT3), total thyroxin (T3), serum total triiodothyronine (T4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and ferritin levels from serum of patients admitted to the Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine University of Dicle between March 2005 and July 2009. A control group formed from an age-sex matched healthy children with a mean age of 6.98±3.66 years was also included. A standard thyrotropin releasing hormone test was applied to 3 patients who had high TSH levels and were classified as subclinical primer hypothyroidism. The study was designed according to the Declaration of Helsinki and informed consent was obtained from the parents of all participants. Findings All thyroid parameters in patients were in the normal ranges compared with the controls except three of them which had high TSH levels. Serum ferritin level (2703±1649 ng/mL) in patients was significantly higher than in controls (81.5±15.5 ng/mL). Conclusion The work implies that hypothyroidism could be even seen in the first decade of life in patients with beta-thalassemia major in spite of improved hematological cares.
Prevalence of Sarcopenia in Healthy Korean Elderly Women

Background We evaluated the prevalence of sarcopenia, presarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia in healthy Korean elderly women. Methods We measured the muscle mass and muscle function of 196 ambulatory women over the age of 65 years who visited the University Hospital Menopause Clinic. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry to measure skeletal muscle mass index (SMI). Assessment of hand grip strength (HGS) of the dominant hand was performed to measure the muscle strength, and 4-m straight on-way path was used to measure gait speed for physical performance. The values used to define the presarcopenia, sarcopenia, and severe sarcopenia were based on the cutoff values proposed by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS). Results The mean age of women was 71.2 years, and the mean SMI in 196 women was 5.94 kg/m2. The average HGS was 20.3 kg, and the mean gait speed was 1.08 m/sec. In 41 out of the 196 women (20.9%), the SMI was reduced to less than 5.4 kg/m2. Fifty-nine women (30.1%) had HGS of less than 18 kg, and gait speed was less than 0.8 m/sec in 12 women (6.1%). Twenty-six women (13.3%) were classified into the presarcopenia stage, and 15 women (7.6%) were classified into the sarcopenia stage. There was no case of severe sarcopenia. Conclusions One out of five relatively healthy women aged more than 65 years showed a decrease in muscle mass, and 7.6% of women showed a decrease in muscle mass and strength. The sarcopenia stage was also intensified with aging.
Ericoid mycorrhizal root fungi and their multicopper oxidases from a temperate forest shrub

Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (ERM) may specialize in capturing nutrients from their host's litter as a strategy for regulating nutrient cycles in terrestrial ecosystems. In spite of their potential significance, we know little about the structure of ERM fungal communities and the genetic basis of their saprotrophic traits (e.g., genes encoding extracellular enzymes). Rhododendron maximum is a model ERM understory shrub that influences the nutrient cycles of montane hardwood forests in the southern Appalachians (North Carolina, USA). We sampled ERM roots of R. maximum from organic and mineral soil horizons and identified root fungi by amplifying and sequencing internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) collected from cultures and clones. We observed 71 fungal taxa on ERM roots, including known symbionts Rhizoscyphus ericae and Oidiodendron maius, putative symbionts from the Helotiales, Chaetothyriales, and Sebacinales, ectomycorrhizal symbionts, and saprotrophs. Supporting the idea that ERM fungi are adept saprotrophs, richness of root-fungi was greater in organic than in mineral soil horizons. To study the genetic diversity of oxidative enzymes that contribute to decomposition, we amplified and sequenced a portion of genes encoding multicopper oxidases (MCOs) from ERM ascomycetes. Most fungi possessed multiple copies of MCO sequences with strong similarities to known ferroxidases and laccases. Our findings indicate that R. maximum associates with a taxonomically and ecologically diverse fungal community. The study of MCO gene diversity and expression may be useful for understanding how ERM root fungi regulate the cycling of nutrients between the host plant and the soil environment.
The Segmentation of the Left Ventricle of the Heart From Ultrasound Data Using Deep Learning Architectures and Derivative-Based Search Methods

We present a new supervised learning model designed for the automatic segmentation of the left ventricle (LV) of the heart in ultrasound images. We address the following problems inherent to supervised learning models: 1) the need of a large set of training images; 2) robustness to imaging conditions not present in the training data; and 3) complex search process. The innovations of our approach reside in a formulation that decouples the rigid and nonrigid detections, deep learning methods that model the appearance of the LV, and efficient derivative-based search algorithms. The functionality of our approach is evaluated using a data set of diseased cases containing 400 annotated images (from 12 sequences) and another data set of normal cases comprising 80 annotated images (from two sequences), where both sets present long axis views of the LV. Using several error measures to compute the degree of similarity between the manual and automatic segmentations, we show that our method not only has high sensitivity and specificity but also presents variations with respect to a gold standard (computed from the manual annotations of two experts) within interuser variability on a subset of the diseased cases. We also compare the segmentations produced by our approach and by two state-of-the-art LV segmentation models on the data set of normal cases, and the results show that our approach produces segmentations that are comparable to these two approaches using only 20 training images and increasing the training set to 400 images causes our approach to be generally more accurate. Finally, we show that efficient search methods reduce up to tenfold the complexity of the method while still producing competitive segmentations. In the future, we plan to include a dynamical model to improve the performance of the algorithm, to use semisupervised learning methods to reduce even more the dependence on rich and large training sets, and to design a shape model less dependent on the training set.