Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Flutter Prediction Based on Fully Coupled Fluid-Structural Interactions

A fully coupled numerical methodology is developed for calculating the o w-structure interaction problems and is used to predict transonic airfoil utter. The Roe scheme is extended to moving grid and used with the nite-v olume method. The unsteady solutions march in time by using a dual-time stepping implicit unfactored Gauss-Seidel iteration. The unsteady Navier-Stokes equations and the linear structural equations are fully coupled implicitly via successive iteration with pseudo time stepping. The moving mesh and mesh deformation strategy is based on two mesh zones, a ne mesh zone surrounding the solid body without mesh deformation and a coarse mesh zone surrounding the ne mesh zone and deforms with the solid object. This mesh deformation strategy can maintain the orthogonality of the mesh near the wall and save CPU time for re-meshing. The study cases presented include a vortexinduced oscillating cylinder, a forced pitching airfoil, and an elastically mounted transonic airfoil. For the elastic transonic airfoil, the utter boundary is calculated. Other phenomena captured include the limit cycle oscillation (LCO) and the steady state o w conditions, under which the aerodynamic forces and moments are balanced by the structure. The computational results agree well with the experiments and the computed results of other researchers. The methodology is demonstrated to be accurate, robust and ecien t.
Fundamental Modeling of the Switching Transition in High-Speed Power Electronics

Recent advances in semiconductor technology have paved the way for ultra-fast switching capabilities. This increase in switching speed enhances efficiency, power density, and frequency but also increases overvoltage oscillations at the switching node. Existing methods that effectively suppress this overvoltage include slower switching and minimisation of inductance, but unfortunately, these methods become very difficult to implement as the switching speed increases. A new oscillation suppression method, Zero Overvoltage Switching (ZOS), has previously been developed in which the overvoltage is suppressed very effectively by increasing both the switching speed and inductance, contrary to mainstream expectation. This is the only oscillation suppression method that becomes more effective as the switching speed increases and is not constrained by the minimisation of inductance, yet this method has not gained widespread recognition. This is expected because Zero Overvoltage Switching is not explained within the context of existing knowledge, and the argument for implementing it is difficult in the very narrow window where the advantages outweigh the effort. This research develops a generalised fundamental model to better understand Zero Overvoltage Switching by describing the mechanics of fast and slow switching events. The model is also able to provide insights that lead to methods to apply Zero Overvoltage Switching over a broader range of voltages and currents.
Applications of Some Properties of the Canonical Module in Computational Projective Algebraic Geometry

Abstract We here develop some new algorithms for computing several invariants attached to a projective scheme (dimension, Hilbert polynomial, unmixed part,. ) that are based on liaison theory and therefore connected to properties of the canonical module. The main features of these algorithms are their simplicity and the fact that their complexity is controlled by the complexity of the output, when it exceeds a linear function on the degrees of the input. We also give bounds for the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity (which controls the complexity of the output) in low dimension, and give a reasonable algorithm to check smoothness of the unmixed part (one case where good bounds are known for complexity).
Effect of Endotoxin on P-Glycoprotein-Mediated Biliary and Renal Excretion of Rhodamine-123 in Rats

ABSTRACT The effects of Klebsiella pneumoniae endotoxin on the biliary excretion and renal handling of rhodamine-123 were investigated in rats at different times after intraperitoneal injection (1 mg/kg of body weight). The typical substrates for P glycoprotein, i.e., cyclosporine, colchicine, and erythromycin, inhibited the biliary clearance of rhodamine-123, whereas a substrate for organic cation transporter, cimetidine, did not inhibit clearance, suggesting that rhodamine-123 is transported mainly by P glycoprotein. The biliary, renal, and tubular secretory clearances of rhodamine-123 and the glomerular filtration rate significantly decreased 6 h after injection of endotoxin but returned to control levels by 24 h. These results suggest that endotoxin-induced decreases in P-glycoprotein-mediated biliary excretion and renal handling of rhodamine-123 were probably due to impairment of P-glycoprotein-mediated transport ability. Pretreatment with pentoxifylline (50 mg/kg) significantly inhibited endotoxin-induced increases in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels in plasma, which ameliorated the endotoxin-induced reduction of the biliary excretion of rhodamine-123. It is likely that endotoxin-induced impairment of the transport of rhodamine-123 is caused, in part, by overproduction of TNF-α. The effect of endotoxin on the expression of P-glycoprotein mRNA in liver and kidneys of rats was investigated by using a reverse transcriptase PCR. The expression of Mdr1a mRNA in both liver and kidney decreased 6 h after endotoxin injection and returned to control levels after 24 h, whereas the expression of Mdr1b mRNA in liver increased at both times and that in kidney decreased at 24 h. These findings suggest that K. pneumoniae endotoxin dramatically decreases P-glycoprotein-mediated biliary and renal excretion of rhodamine-123 probably by decreasing the expression of Mdr1a, which is likely due to increased plasma TNF-α levels.
Temporal Windows in Visual Processing: “Prestimulus Brain State” and “Poststimulus Phase Reset” Segregate Visual Transients on Different Temporal Scales

Dynamic vision requires both stability of the current perceptual representation and sensitivity to the accumulation of sensory evidence over time. Here we study the electrophysiological signatures of this intricate balance between temporal segregation and integration in vision. Within a forward masking paradigm with short and long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA), we manipulated the temporal overlap of the visual persistence of two successive transients. Human observers enumerated the items presented in the second target display as a measure of the informational capacity read-out from this partly temporally integrated visual percept. We observed higher β-power immediately before mask display onset in incorrect trials, in which enumeration failed due to stronger integration of mask and target visual information. This effect was timescale specific, distinguishing between segregation and integration of visual transients that were distant in time (long SOA). Conversely, for short SOA trials, mask onset evoked a stronger visual response when mask and targets were correctly segregated in time. Examination of the target-related response profile revealed the importance of an evoked α-phase reset for the segregation of those rapid visual transients. Investigating this precise mapping of the temporal relationships of visual signals onto electrophysiological responses highlights how the stream of visual information is carved up into discrete temporal windows that mediate between segregated and integrated percepts. Fragmenting the stream of visual information provides a means to stabilize perceptual events within one instant in time.
Fast segment insertion and incremental construction of constrained delaunay triangulations

The most commonly implemented method of constructing a constrained Delaunay triangulation (CDT) in the plane is to first construct a Delaunay triangulation, then incrementally insert the input segments one by one. For typical implementations of segment insertion, this method has a Θ(kn2) worst-case running time, where n is the number of input vertices and k is the number of input segments. We give a randomized algorithm for inserting a segment into a CDT in expected time linear in the number of edges the segment crosses, and demonstrate with a performance comparison that it is faster than gift-wrapping for segments that cross many edges. A result of Agarwal, Arge, and Yi implies that randomized incremental construction of CDTs by our segment insertion algorithm takes expected O(n log n + n log2 k) time. We show that this bound is tight by deriving a matching lower bound. Although there are CDT construction algorithms guaranteed to run in O(n log n) time, incremental CDT construction is easier to program and competitive in practice. Moreover, the ability to incrementally update a CDT by inserting a segment is useful in itself.
Average-Case Lower Bounds and Satisfiability Algorithms for Small Threshold Circuits

We show average-case lower bounds for explicit Boolean functions against bounded-depth threshold circuits with a superlinear number of wires. We show that for each integer d > 1, there is ed > 0 such that Parity has correlation at most 1/nΩ(1) with depth-d threshold circuits which have at most n1+ed wires, and the Generalized Andreev Function has correlation at most 1/2nΩ(1) with depth-d threshold circuits which have at most n1+ed wires. Previously, only worst-case lower bounds in this setting were known [22]. We use our ideas to make progress on several related questions. We give satisfiability algorithms beating brute force search for depth-d threshold circuits with a superlinear number of wires. These are the first such algorithms for depth greater than 2. We also show that Parity cannot be computed by polynomial-size AC0 circuits with no(1) general threshold gates. Previously no lower bound for Parity in this setting could handle more than log(n) gates. This result also implies subexponential-time learning algorithms for AC0 with no(1) threshold gates under the uniform distribution. In addition, we give almost optimal bounds for the number of gates in a depth-d threshold circuit computing Parity on average, and show average-case lower bounds for threshold formulas of any depth. Our techniques include adaptive random restrictions, anti-concentration and the structural theory of linear threshold functions, and bounded-read Chernoff bounds.
Multicenter Randomized Trial of 10-French versus 11.5-French Plastic Stents for Malignant Biliary Obstruction

Background. There is little prospective data on whether bigger plastic stents are better for patients with malignant biliary obstruction with jaundice. Goals. Multicenter prospective study to compare technical success, clinical response, stent occlusion, and patient survival in patients with malignant biliary obstruction randomized to 10-French or 11.5-French plastic stent. Study. Patients with malignant biliary obstruction were randomized to 10-French or 11.5-French biliary stents. Patients were prospectively assessed for stent occlusion, stent-related interventions, hospital stay, and change in bilirubin. Main outcome measurements included technical success, clinical response, rates of stent occlusion, and survival. Results. 234 patients (47 hilar and 187 common bile duct strictures) were randomized. Outcomes were similar for the 10-French and 11.5-French groups (technical success 99.1% versus 97.4%, P = 0.37). Overall, median stent survival was 213 days, but there was no statistically significant difference in stent survival between 10-French and 11.5-French stents (149 versus 258 days, P = 0.16). Stent survival was significantly longer when placed for common bile duct versus hilar strictures (231 versus 115 days, P = 0.049). Conclusions. The theoretical advantage of improved bile flow for the 11.5-French stent does not translate into more prolonged patency, better clinical response, and longer patient survival than the 10-French stent.
Anthropometric and Metabolic Characteristics of Overweight and Normal Weight Preschoolers: a Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: The aims of this study were to determine metabolic characteristics of normal weight and overweight 2-5 year old children and to collect data pertinent to energy intake. Design and methods: Study participants (2-5years) (n=103) were recruited when they arrived for full mouth rehabilitation under general anesthesia. Height and weight were measured. After induction of anesthesia, waist circumference was measured and fasting bloods drawn (lipids, glucose, insulin and CRP). BMI, WCHtR and HOMAIR were calculated. Metabolic and anthropometric characteristics were compared between normal and overweight children. Statistical comparisons were performed using two-sided t-tests or chi-square test. Block food frequency questionnaires were completed by the caretakers. Results: 34.4% (n =33) of participants were overweight. WCHtR was 0.05 units higher and both LDL and total cholesterol were high in the overweight group. WCHtR positively correlated with BMI z-score, WC, HOMA-IR, insulin, glucose, and CRP (r=0.75, 0.67, 0.31, 0.29, 0.25, 0.32, 0.33, respectively) and negatively correlated with HDL (r=-0.30). Conclusions: Among 2-5 year old with poor dental health, the prevalence of BMI ≥ 85th percentile is very high and abnormalities in cardiovascular risk factors are already present. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating an association between waist circumference to height ratio and CRP and insulin resistance in children less than 5 years. Overweight preschoolers should be screened for associated cardiovascular markers such as abnormal lipid profile.
Soluble coxsackievirus adenovirus receptor is a putative inhibitor of adenoviral gene transfer in the tumor milieu.

PURPOSE Several barriers that collectively restrict gene delivery by viral vectors in vivo have been described. Previously, we identified soluble chondroitin sulfate-proteoglycans/glycosaminoglycans in malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) as inhibitors of retroviral vector transduction. Soluble components of MPE also inhibited adenoviral (Ad) gene transfer, and the factors were characteristically filterable, titrable, stable at 56 degrees C, and blocked the binding of Ad to target cells. Depleting immunoglobulin from MPE, partially reversed the block to Ad transduction, instigating a search for additional factors that bound Ad in MPE. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Vector-protein interactions were identified after the resolution of MPE-components by SDS-PAGE. Viral overlays and immunoblots delineated significant interactions, and the potential relevance of those interactions was tested in transduction efficiency bioassays. RESULTS Immunoglobulin is the predominant factor inhibiting Ad gene transfer in MPE. Albumin also interacted with Ad, although at predicted serum concentrations, it did not effect Ad transduction efficiency in vitro. Soluble coxsackievirus-Ad receptor (sCAR) was then identified in MPE. In a survey of 18 MPE, the mean concentration of sCAR was variable and estimated to be 3.51 +/- 5.02 ng/ml by ELISA. The impact of sCAR on transduction efficiency in this milieu was next assessed. Whereas immunodepletion of sCAR from MPE by affinity chromatography resulted in enhanced gene transfer within MPE, the inhibition of adenoviral gene transfer was not evident when the predicted concentrations of recombinant sCAR were added into the transduction medium. CONCLUSIONS These studies indicate that, in addition to anti-Ad antibodies, other specific and nonspecific factors interact with viral vectors and may impair gene transfer in the tumor milieu. The presence of sCAR in MPE puts forward the notion that in certain contexts (e.g., within the extracellular matrix of solid tumors) the concentrations of secreted (or shed) CAR may be high enough to effectively compete with Ad gene delivery.
Ownership: Evolution and Regulation

This article is the first study of long-run evolution of investor protection and corporate ownership in the United Kingdom over the twentieth century. Formal investor protection emerged only in the second half of the century. We assess the influence of investor protection on ownership by comparing cross-sections of firms at different times in the century and the evolution of firms incorporating at different stages of the century. Investor protection had little impact on dispersion of ownership: even in the absence of investor protection, rates of dispersion of ownership were high, associated primarily with mergers. Preliminary evidence suggests that ownership dispersion in the United Kingdom relied more on informal relations of trust than on formal investor protection.
Constant interaction-time scatter/gather browsing of very large document collections

The Scatter/Gather document browsing method uses fast document clustering to produce table-of-contents-like outlines of large document collections. Previous work [1] developed linear-time document clustering algorithms to establish the feasibility of this method over moderately large collections. However, even linear-time algorithms are too slow to support interactive browsing of very large collections such as Tipster, the DARPA standard text retrieval evaluation collection. We present a scheme that supports constant interaction-time Scatter/Gather of arbitrarily large collections after near-linear time preprocessing. This involves the construction of a cluster hierarchy. A modification of Scatter/Gather employing this scheme, and an example of its use over the Tipster collection are presented.
Hysteresis compensation of a piezoactuated XY micropositioning system based on disturbance observer

In this paper, a two-loop controller is proposed to suppress the hysteresis and to achieve a precise motion tracking control for a piezo-driven XY parallel micropositioning system. Specifically, an inner-loop disturbance observer (DOB) is employed to tolerate the unmodeled hysteresis which is treated as a disturbance to the nominal plant model of the system, and an outer-loop feedback controller is used to compensate for the remaining nonlinearities and uncertainties. The effectiveness of the proposed controller over the sole PID controller is demonstrated through experimental studies. Results show that the DOB-based two-loop control can reduce the hysteresis to a negligible level and lead to a motion tracking with submicron accuracy, which provides a sound base of practical control of the micropositioning system for micro/nano scale manipulation.
Development of brown and white adipose tissue.

In this review, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the basic properties of white and brown adipose tissue. The role and metabolic characteristics of both tissues in adult mammals have been adequately and repeatedly reviewed (1-3) and will be mentioned here only insofar as they impinge upon developmental aspects. Macroscopically brown fat is found in particular sites of the body, usually under the skin between the shoulder blades, in the axilla, and surrounding the aorta and the kidneys. It is assumed to have a brown appearance because of its high cytochrome c content. A typical brown adipose tissue cell contains many densely packed mitochondria and several smaller fat vacuoles. A white fat cell during fetal and perinatal development may appear to be very similar under the microscope, and even today it has not been settled definitely whether or not brown fat changes to white fat during ontogeny or whether they are separate tissues. The development (ontogenic) of white adipose tissue is fairly well known with regard to structure, cell size, and some microscopic changes. However, metabolic development has been inadequately described and studied. This is particularly true for mammals other than man. In man, it is now possible to describe in some detail early postnatal changes and to compare them with adult parameters. The opposite is true of brown adipose tissue. This tissue has been examined fairly thoroughly in rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits. However, ontogenetic changes in man are unknown. This is due to the fact that it is relatively easy to obtain samples of white fat from normal newborns but almost impossible to sample brown fat from the same source.
COST OF DEBT AND CREDIT MARKET COMPETITION : A BARGAINING APPROACH

This paper studies the effect of credit market competition, measured by the bargaining power of banks, on the agency costs of debt finance. The threshold of obtaining loan finance is shown to be independent of the relative bargaining power of the financier, while intensified credit market competition leads to lower lending rates and investment return distributions with lower, but less risky returns. Thus, our analysis does not support the view that there would be a trade-off between more intensive credit market competition and higher agency costs of debt finance.
Relatedness of Streptococcus suisIsolates of Various Serotypes and Clinical Backgrounds as Evaluated by Macrorestriction Analysis and Expression of Potential Virulence Traits

ABSTRACT We evaluated the genetic diversity of Streptococcus suis isolates of different serotypes by macrorestriction analysis and elucidated possible relationships between the genetic background, expression of potential virulence traits, and source of isolation. Virulence traits included expression of serotype-specific polysaccharides, muramidase-released protein (MRP), extracellular protein factor (EF), hemolysin activity, and adherence to epithelial cells. Macrorestriction analysis of streptococcal DNA digested with restriction enzymes SmaI and ApaI allowed differentiation of single isolates that could be assigned to four major clusters, named A1, A2, B1, and B2. Comparison of the genotypic and phenotypic features of the isolates with their source of isolation showed that (i) the S. suis population examined, which originated mainly from German pigs, exhibited a genetic diversity and phenotypic patterns comparable to those found for isolates from other European countries; (ii) certain phenotypic features, such as the presence of capsular antigens of serotypes 2, 1, and 9, expression of MRP and EF, and hemolysin activity (and in particular, combinations of these features), were strongly associated with the clinical background of meningitis and septicemia; and (iii) isolates from pigs with meningitis and septicemia showed a significantly higher degree of genetic homogeneity compared to that for isolates from pigs with pneumonia and healthy pigs. Since the former isolates are considered highly virulent, this supports the theory of a clonal relationship among highly virulent strains.
Perceived positive impact of cancer among long‐term survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study

Investigations examining psychosocial adjustment among childhood cancer survivors have focused primarily on negative effects and psychopathology. Emergent literature suggests the existence of positive impact or adjustment experienced after cancer, as well. The purpose of this study is to examine the distribution of Perceived Positive Impact (PPI) and its correlates in young adult survivors of childhood cancer.