Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationship between microstructure and corrosion of pressure vessel cladding materials

Type 347L and Type 309L stainless steels used as weld cladding materials of nuclear reactor pressure vessels were investigated under realistic conditions of fabrication and service. Electron backscatter diffraction and metallographic observations were used in combination with double loop electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (DLEPR) test and ASTM-262-A test to determine the precipitation behaviour and its influence on intergranular corrosion (IGC) resistance as a function of post welding heat treatment (PWHT) time at 600 oC and after simulated service ageing at 425 °C. It was shown that during the first stage of PWHT, M23C6 carbides precipitate in both alloys as a result of δ ferrite decomposition. This increased sensitization of the materials is due to the creation of a chromium-depleted zone, which was found to be replenished after 40 h of treatment, recovering the resistance of the materials to IGC. After combined treatment of PWHT + simulated service, 309L was shown to be re-sensitized whereas 347L remained resistant. Sigma phase was found to precipitate during the last stages of PWHT with a higher tendency on 309L. Two characteristic reactivation potentials were found for both materials. A specific split-cycle DLEPR was applied to show that this technique can be further developed to identify deleterious phases in austenitic stainless steel welds. Micro hardness and Charpy impact tests showed an increase in hardness and a decrease in absorbed energy of materials without PWHT after ageing at 425 oC.
In-situ investigation of notifications in multi-device environments

Smart devices have arrived in our everyday lives. Being able to notify the user about events is a core feature of these devices. Related work investigated interruptions caused by notifications on single devices. In this paper, we investigate notifications in multi-device environments by analyzing the results of a week-long in-situ study with 16 participants. We used the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and recorded the participants' interaction with smartphones, smartwatches, tablets and PCs. Disregarding the type or content of notifications, we found that the smartphone is the preferred device on which to be notified. Further, we found that the proximity to the device, whether it is currently being used and the user's current location can be used to predict if the user wants to receive notifications on a device. The findings can be used to design future multi-device aware smart notification systems.
Evaluation of administration of activated charcoal in the home.

OBJECTIVE Activated charcoal (AC) is recognized as the treatment of choice for gastrointestinal decontamination after many ingestions. AC use in the home has been limited by concerns that parents would not administer it properly and that children would refuse to take AC. Previous descriptions of home administration have reported mixed results. METHODS This was an 18-month consecutive case series of all patients for whom AC administration was recommended in the home. Data collected included AC availability in the home and/or a local pharmacy, success in administration, amount administered, time after ingestion to AC administration, difficulties in administration, adverse effects, age and gender of patient, substance involved in poisoning, and medical outcome. All cases were followed for at least 3 days after the ingestion. Patients who initially had home AC recommendation but who ultimately were treated in the emergency department (ED) served as a comparison group. RESULTS Home administration of AC was recommended in 138 cases. A total of 115 individuals (83%) were treated with AC in the home, with no failures to administer AC. Reasons for failure to manage at home were 1) mother preferred ED (8 cases), 2) could not locate AC (7 cases), 3) pharmacy closed for the night (6 cases) and 4) no home telephone for follow-up (2 cases). Time to AC administration after ingestion was a mean of 38 minutes (+/-18.3) for home treatment and 73 minutes (+/-18.1) for ED treatment. Ninety-five percent of home cases received AC in < or =60 minutes versus 33% for ED management. AC was in the home in 11 cases at the time of recommendation. The amount of AC administered was a mean of 12.1 g (standard deviation: 6.9) and a median of 12 g. Eight children (6.9%) who were treated at home vomited after AC versus 3 (13%) who received ED treatment. No aspirations or complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS AC can be administered successfully by the lay public in the home. Home use of AC significantly reduces the time to AC administration.
Finding Common Ground

To support successful and inclusive community organizing for childhood obesity prevention, this research identified stakeholder perspectives on what communities should do to prevent childhood obesity. It employed factor analysis on statement sorts (Q methodology) conducted by 95 people in an upstate New York community. These participants sorted 36 statements about the issue by how much he or she agreed or disagreed with each. Participants were recruited through strategic snowball sampling to sample a variety of perspectives. The four resulting factors, or perspectives, were interpreted in the context of presort demographic surveys and postsort interviews. This research found one stance that fits the environmental perspective common in public health. The other three factors indicate important variations among perspectives centered on individual responsibility, ranging from libertarian to technocratic views. However, overall, results revealed a substantial degree of agreement among the four perspectives, including on providing access to family activities and on making fruits and vegetables more available and affordable, for example, through subsidies. This article points to common ground for community action on childhood obesity prevention, highlights areas likely to generate considerable contention, and shows whose views are not being accounted for in, at least, this community’s childhood obesity prevention project.
A Comparison of Bayesian and Frequentist Approaches to Incorporating External Information for the Prediction of Prostate Cancer Risk

We present the most comprehensive comparison to date of the predictive benefit of genetics in addition to currently used clinical variables, using genotype data for 33 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 1,547 Caucasian men from the placebo arm of the REduction by DUtasteride of prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE®) trial. Moreover, we conducted a detailed comparison of three techniques for incorporating genetics into clinical risk prediction. The first method was a standard logistic regression model, which included separate terms for the clinical covariates and for each of the genetic markers. This approach ignores a substantial amount of external information concerning effect sizes for these Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS)‐replicated SNPs. The second and third methods investigated two possible approaches to incorporating meta‐analysed external SNP effect estimates – one via a weighted PCa 'risk' score based solely on the meta analysis estimates, and the other incorporating both the current and prior data via informative priors in a Bayesian logistic regression model. All methods demonstrated a slight improvement in predictive performance upon incorporation of genetics. The two methods that incorporated external information showed the greatest receiver‐operating‐characteristic AUCs increase from 0.61 to 0.64. The value of our methods comparison is likely to lie in observations of performance similarities, rather than difference, between three approaches of very different resource requirements. The two methods that included external information performed best, but only marginally despite substantial differences in complexity.
Chronic effects of ACTH and cortisol excess on arterial pressure in normotensive and hypertensive dogs.

The chronic effects of ACTH and cortisol on mean arterial pressure (MAP) and related variables were studied in normotensive dogs and, subsequently, in the same dogs after they had been made hypertensive by chronic infusion of angiotensin II (All). MAP was recorded continuously, 24 hours/day, and sodium intake was 71 mEq/day. In both normotensive and hypertensive dogs, 8 to 10 days of ACTH infusions caused natriuresis, kaliuresis, diuresis, hypernatremia, and hypokalemia; additionally, plasma renin activity (PRA) was suppressed to undetectable levels. During ACTH infusion there was a sustained 12-fold increase in plasma cortisol concentration, but only a transient elevation in plasma aldosterone concentration; this steroidogenic response occurred even in dogs with All hypertension where plasma AH concentration was maintained at elevated levels by infusion. In normotensive dogs, increases in MAP were not consistently observed during ACTH infusion, whereas, in dogs with AH hypertension, ACTH invariably exacerbated the hypertension (AMAP = + 16 mm Hg). Cortisol infusion, like ACTH infusion, caused a 12-fold increase in plasma cortisol concentration, and negative sodium and water balance; however, cortisol did not produce kaliuresis, hypokalemia, suppression of PRA, or hypertension. In fact, cortisol induced chronic hypotension (AMAP = — 7 mm Hg) when infused in normotensive dogs, and in dogs with AH hypertension there were no detectable changes in MAP during cortisol treatment. Thus, the changes in plasma cortisol concentration and PRA that accompany ACTH infusion do not mediate, but seem actually to oppose, the hypertensive effects of ACTH. Indeed, when ACTH was infused in hypertensive dogs with fixed plasma levels of All, the hypertensive effects of ACTH were manifested. Finally, failure of chronic ACTH administration to maintain an elevated secretion rate of aldosterone cannot be attributed to suppression of PRA. (Hypertension 4: 652-661, 1982)
Right Thing at a Wrong Time?. Adenosine A3 Receptors and Cerebroprotection in Stroke

Abstract: The involvement of adenosine A3 receptors in normal and pathologic functions of the brain remains to be defined. Previous studies have shown that chronic preischemic administration of the agonist [N6‐(3‐iodobenzyl)‐5′‐N‐methylcarboxoamidoadenosine or IB‐MECA) results in a significant protection of neurons in selectively vulnerable brain regions and in an equally significant reduction of the subsequent mortality. Acute administration of the drug, on the other hand, resulted in a pronounced worsening of these parameters. We now report that the effect of administration of IB‐MECA depends on the timing of treatment with respect to the onset of the focal insult, and provide the first data supporting speculation that treatment with adenosine A3 receptor agonists may decrease the infarct size following focal brain ischemia. 1,2 Treatment with IB‐MECA administered 20 min prior to transient middle cerebral ischemia (MCAOt= 30 min) resulted in a significant increase of the infarct size (p < 0.01), whereas administration 20 min after ischemia resulted in statistically significant decrease of the infarct volume. Postischemic treatment results in improved neuronal preservation, decreased intensity of reactive gliosis, and pronounced reduction of microglial infiltration. The data indicate that the effects of adenosine A3 receptor stimulation depend on the differential impact of these receptors on both neuronal and non‐neuronal elements of the cerebral tissue, for example, astrocytes, microglia, and vasculature.
Implementing gamification techniques into university study path - A case study

This article describes an attempt to check whether gamification is applicable to different courses in higher education and what are the results of such application. An experiment (involving over 100 students of computer science at Lublin University of Technology) implementing some of the gamification techniques into two different courses - software engineering and service-oriented architecture - was performed during two academic years 2011/2012 and 2012/2013. This article provides the description of the experiment and comparative analysis of its results in both gamified and non-gamified (control) groups.
Biomechanically Optimized Distributed Tactile Transducer Based on Lateral Skin Deformation

In this paper we describe a tactile transducer device that is optimized from biomechanical data and that has a compact, yet modular design. The tactile transducer comprises a 6 × 10 piezoelectric bimorph actuator array with a spatial resolution of 1.8 mm × 1.2 mm and has a wide temporal bandwidth. The actuator mounting method was improved from a conventional cantilever method to a dual-pinned method, giving the actuator the ability to deform the glabrous skin maximally during laterotactile stimulation. The results were validated by asking subjects to detect tactile features under a wide range of operating conditions. The tactile display device is modular, makes use of ordinary fabrication methods, and can be assembled and dismantled in a short time for debugging and maintenance. It weighs 60 g, it is self-contained in a 150 cm 3 volume and may be interfaced to most computers, provided that two analog outputs and six digital I/O lines are available. Psychophysical experiments were carried out to assess its effectiveness in rendering virtual tactile features.
A Prospective Study of Risk-Reducing Salpingo-oophorectomy and Longitudinal CA-125 Screening among Women at Increased Genetic Risk of Ovarian Cancer: Design and Baseline Characteristics: A Gynecologic Oncology Group Study

Background: Women who are genetically predisposed to ovarian cancer are at very high risk of developing this disease. Although risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) and various screening regimens are currently recommended to reduce ovarian cancer risk, the optimal management strategy has not been established nor have multiple additional issues been adequately addressed. We developed a collaboration among the Clinical Genetics Branch (National Cancer Institute's Intramural Research Program), the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), and the Cancer Genetics Network to address these issues. Methods: This is a prospective, international, two-cohort, nonrandomized study of women at genetic risk of ovarian cancer, who chose either to undergo RRSO or screening, at study enrollment. Primary study objectives include quantifying and comparing ovarian and breast cancer incidence in the two study groups, assessing feasibility and selected performance characteristics of a novel ovarian cancer screening strategy (the Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm), evaluating various aspects of quality of life and nononcologic morbidity related to various interventions in at-risk women, and creating a biospecimen repository for subsequent translational research. Results: Study accrual is complete as of November 2006; 2,605 participants enrolled: 1,030 (40%) into the surgical cohort and 1,575 (60%) into the screening cohort. Five years of prospective follow-up ends in November 2011. Verification of BRCA mutation carrier status is under way, either through patient-provided reports from clinical genetic testing done before enrollment or through research-based genetic testing being conducted as part of the protocol. Patient eligibility is currently under evaluation and baseline, surgical, pathology, and outcome data are still being collected. The study design and selected baseline characteristics of cohort members are summarized. Conclusion: This National Cancer Institute intramural/extramural collaboration will provide invaluable prospectively collected observational data on women at high familial ovarian cancer risk, including substantial numbers of women carrying BRCA1/2 mutations. These data will aid in elucidating the effect of RRSO on breast/ovarian cancer risk and the effects of two management strategies, on quality of life and other issues that may influence patient care, as well as providing preliminary estimates of test specificity and positive predictive value of a novel ovarian cancer screening strategy. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(3):594–604)
Subproteomics: Identification of plasma membrane proteins from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

As a consequence of their poor solubility during isoelectric focusing, integral membrane proteins are generally absent from two‐dimensional gel proteome maps. In order to analyze the yeast plasma membrane proteome, a plasma membrane purification protocol was optimized in order to reduce contaminating membranes and cytosolic proteins. Specifically, the new fractionation scheme largely depleted the plasma membrane fraction of cytosolic proteins by deoxycholate stripping and ribosomal proteins by sucrose gradient flotation. The plasma membrane complement was resolved by two‐dimensional electrophoresis using the cationic detergent cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide in the first, and sodium dodecyl sulfate in the second dimension, and fifty spots were identified by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization‐time of flight mass spectometry. In spite of the presence of still contaminating ribosomal proteins, major proteins corresponded to known plasma membrane residents, the ABC transporters Pdr5p and Snq2p, the P‐type H+‐ATPase Pma1p, the glucose transporter Hxt7p, the seven transmembrane‐span Mrh1p, the low affinity Fe++ transporter Fet4p, the twelve‐span Ptr2p, and the plasma membrane anchored casein kinase Yck2p. The four transmembrane‐span proteins Sur7p and Nce102p were also present in the isolated plasma membranes, as well as the unknown protein Ygr266wp that probably contains a single transmembrane span. Thus, combining subcellular fractionation with adapted two‐dimensional electrophoresis resulted in the identification of intrinsic plasma membrane proteins.
Offshoring and the Shortening of the Quality Ladder: Evidence from Danish Apparel

Recently a small and growing empirical literature has attempted to analyze the role that quality plays in our understanding of trade. In particular, the recent work of Khandelwal (2010) has brought the insights of structural IO models of demand to bear into trade data. Our work builds on this new structural literature; we use similar demand estimation techniques on a panel of Danish apparel firms from 1997 to 2010 in order to analyze how firms responded to China's entry to the WTO and the dismantling of the Multi-Fibre Agreement. We explore the implications of offshoring and import competition on the distribution of apparel quality within Denmark, and demonstrate the firm-level mechanisms that induced the observed aggregate changes. In particular, we show that the quality ladder tightens in response to trade shocks as initially low quality firms upgrade their quality relative to other firms while initially middle and high quality downgrade their output quality. An important qualification is that the quality of exports from the source country is a key determinant in both the uptake of offshoring and resultant decisions regarding quality. Finally, import competition appears to spur entry of higher quality firms and exit of lower quality producers. Nevertheless, the reallocation pattern is imperfect, suggesting that two sources of heterogeneity – the productivity and the quality margin - are key to understanding these patterns.
The Oceanic Sink for Anthropogenic CO2

Using inorganic carbon measurements from an international survey effort in the 1990s and a tracer-based separation technique, we estimate a global oceanic anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) sink for the period from 1800 to 1994 of 118 ± 19 petagrams of carbon. The oceanic sink accounts for ∼48% of the total fossil-fuel and cement-manufacturing emissions, implying that the terrestrial biosphere was a net source of CO2 to the atmosphere of about 39 ± 28 petagrams of carbon for this period. The current fraction of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions stored in the ocean appears to be about one-third of the long-term potential.
Plasmonics in Semiconductors.

This thesis establishes a mathematical, physical and experimental framework for description, characterization, and application of semiconductor plasmonic properties. Plasmonic phenomena in semiconductors are found in the Terahertz and far-infrared domain, where they have the potential to improve sensors or be the basis of novel devices. III-V semiconductor samples (GaAs, InP, InSb, and InAs) with various doping were analyzed spectroscopically in broad spectral range. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy together with Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy were used for characterization of the free carrier (plasmonic) and lattice (phononic) optical properties of the samples. The Drude-Lorentz model was used to describe these properties, with the addition of magneto-optical (MO) effects. High mobility semiconductors (InSb and InAs) exhibit huge free carrier magneto-optical effect for small external magnetic field. These measurements were compared to electric Hall effect measurement using Van der Pauw method. Based on the spectroscopic and MO characterization of the samples, the applicability of semiconductor as plasmonic materials is discussed. Huge advantage of semiconductors is the tunability their plasmonic properties. Three methods of controlling the plasmonic behavior of semiconductors were analyzed: Shifting of plasma frequency to higher frequencies by increasing of n-type doping concentration. Modification of the material permittivity (conductivity) tensor spectra by the external magnetic field. Shifting of plasmonic resonance by generation of nanogratings in the material, either by carrier concentration modulation by interference light illumination (sinusoidal grating) or by lithography (lamellar grating). The effective medium approximation of nanogratings was verified using Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis. An experimental application of widely tunable THz surface plasmon resonance sensor on semiconductors is presented. Generation of surface plasmon polariton at the interface between undoped InSb(InAs) and dielectric is experimentally demonstrated. This sensor has the added functionality of strong magnetic tuning. The applicability of this sensor is discussed, along with analysis of different sensor architecture.
Brain and personality bases of insensitivity to infant cues in neglectful mothers: An event-related potential study

Abstract This investigation examined the neural and personality correlates of processing infant facial expressions in mothers with substantiated neglect of a child under 5 years old. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 14 neglectful and 14 control mothers as they viewed and categorized pictures of infant cries, laughs, and neutral faces. Maternal self-reports of anhedonia and empathy were also completed. Early (negative occipitotemporal component peaking at around 170 ms on the scalp [N170] and positive electrical potential peaking at about 200 ms [P200]) and late positive potential (LPP) components were selected. Both groups of mothers showed behavioral discrimination between the different facial expressions via reaction time and accuracy measures. Neglectful mothers did not exhibit increased N170 amplitude at temporal leads in response to viewing crying versus laughing and neutral expressions compared to control mothers. Both groups had greater P200 and LPP amplitudes at centroparietal leads in response to viewing crying versus neutral facial expressions. However, neglectful mothers displayed an overall attenuated brain response in LPP that was related to their higher scores in social anhedonia but not to their empathy scores. The ERP data suggest that the brain's failures in the early differentiation of cry stimuli and in the sustained processing of infant expressions related to social anhedonia may underlie the insensitive responding in neglectful mothers. The implications of these results for the design and evaluation of preventive interventions are discussed.