Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Orientation Angles on Film Cooling Over a Flat Plate: Boundary Layer Temperature Distributions and Adiabatic Film Cooling Effectiveness

Presented are experimental results describing the effects of orientation angle of film cooling holes on boundary layer temperature distributions and film cooling effectiveness. Film flow data were obtained from a row of five film cooling holes on a flat test plate. The inclination angle of the hole was fixed at 35° and four orientation angles of 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° were investigated. The surveyed velocity ratios were 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. The boundary layer temperature distributions were measured at three downstream locations using turn platinum wire. Detailed adiabatic film cooling effectiveness distributions were measured using thermochromic liquid crystal.Results show that the increased lateral momentum in the case of large orientation angle injection strongly affects boundary layer temperature distributions. Temperature distribution characteristics are, in general, explained in the context of the interactions between injectant and free-stream fluid and between injectants issued from adjacent holes. The adiabatic film cooling effectiveness distributions are discussed in connection with the boundary layer temperature distributions. Spanwise-averaged effectiveness distributions and space-averaged effectiveness distributions are also presented with respect to the velocity ratios and the orientation angles.Copyright © 1999 by ASME
Population pharmacokinetics of total and unbound teicoplanin concentrations and dosing simulations in patients with haematological malignancy

Objectives To develop a pharmacokinetic model describing total and unbound teicoplanin concentrations in patients with haematological malignancy and to perform Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate target attainment of unbound trough concentrations with various dose regimens. Methods This was a hospital-based clinical trial (EudraCT 2013-004535-72). The dosing regimen was 600/800 mg q12h for three doses then 600/800 mg daily. Serial total and unbound teicoplanin concentrations were collected. Maximum protein binding was estimated from serum albumin concentration. Population pharmacokinetic analyses and Monte Carlo simulations were conducted using Pmetrics®. Target total and unbound trough concentrations were ≥20 and ≥1.5 mg/L, respectively. Results Thirty adult patients were recruited with a mean (SD) bodyweight of 69.1 (15.8) kg, a mean (SD) CLCR of 72 (41) mL/min and a median (IQR) serum albumin concentration of 29 (4) g/L. A three-compartment complex binding pharmacokinetic model best described the concentration-time data. Total and unbound teicoplanin concentrations were related by serum albumin concentration and a dissociation constant. CLCR and bodyweight were supported as covariates for CL and volume of the central compartment, respectively. Dosing simulations showed that high CLCR was associated with reduced probability of achieving target total and unbound trough concentrations. Low serum albumin concentration was associated with a reduced probability of attaining target total but not unbound trough concentrations. A method to estimate the unbound teicoplanin concentration from the measured total concentration at different serum albumin concentration was demonstrated. Conclusions Standard teicoplanin dosing regimens should be used with caution in patients with haematological malignancy. Bodyweight, CLCR and serum albumin concentration are important considerations for appropriate dosing.
Adenoviral delivery of truncated MMP-8 fused with the hepatocyte growth factor mutant 1K1 ameliorates liver cirrhosis and promotes hepatocyte proliferation

Liver cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease caused by chronic liver injury, which activates hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and the secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM). Cirrhosis accounts for an extensive level of morbidity and mortality worldwide, largely due to lack of effective treatment options. In this study, we have constructed a fusion protein containing matrix metal-loproteinase 8 (MMP-8) and the human growth factor mutant 1K1 (designated cMMP8-1K1) and delivered it into hepatocytes and in vivo and in cell culture via intravenous injection of fusion protein-harboring adenovirus. In doing so, we found that the cMMP8-1K1 fusion protein promotes the proliferation of hepatocytes, likely resulting from the combined inhibition of type I collagen secretion and the degradation of the ECM in the HSCs. This fusion protein was also observed to ameliorate liver cirrhosis in our mouse model. These changes appear to be linked to changes in downstream gene expression. Taken together, these results suggest a possible strategy for the treatment of liver cirrhosis and additional work is warranted.
Characterization of Optical and Flammability Properties of Epoxy/Organo- Montmorillonite Nanocomposites

Epoxy nanocomposites were prepared by the addition of organoclays (1 to 5 wt%) in the epoxy resin by using in-situ polymerization. The optical property of the epoxy nanocomposites was studied quantitatively by measuring the lux value and qualitatively by a color spectral index. The optical transparency of the specimens was found to be notably altered by the inclusion of clay. Though the thickness of layered silicate platelets is only around 1 nm, their micron-sized lateral dimensions could still scatter the incidence light. Besides, both the measurements showed that the light transmittance was inversely proportional to the clay loading due to the increase in particle surface per unit volume. There is about 30% reduction in optical transparency with the incorporation of 5 wt% of clay. On the other hand, it was found that flammability resistant of the resultant epoxy nanocomposites improved by the addition of organoclay owing to the formation of thermal insulating and low permeability char on the underlying specimen.
A note on supervised classification and Nash-equilibrium problems

In this note, we investigate connections between supervised classification and (Generalized) Nash equilibrium problems (NEP & GNEP). For the specific case of support vector machines (SVM), we exploit the geometric properties of class separation in the dual space to formulate a non-cooperative game. NEP and Generalized NEP formulations are proposed for both binary and multi-class SVM problems.
Individual Differences in the Real‐Time Comprehension of Children with ASD

Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate deficits in language comprehension, but little is known about how they process spoken language as it unfolds. Real‐time lexical comprehension is associated with language and cognition in children without ASD, suggesting that this may also be the case for children with ASD. This study adopted an individual differences approach to characterizing real‐time comprehension of familiar words in a group of 34 three‐ to six‐year‐olds with ASD. The looking‐while‐listening paradigm was employed; it measures online accuracy and latency through language‐mediated eye movements and has limited task demands. On average, children demonstrated comprehension of the familiar words, but considerable variability emerged. Children with better accuracy were faster to process the familiar words. In combination, processing speed and comprehension on a standardized language assessment explained 63% of the variance in online accuracy. Online accuracy was not correlated with autism severity or maternal education, and nonverbal cognition did not explain unique variance. Notably, online accuracy at age 5½ was related to vocabulary comprehension 3 years earlier. The words typically learned earliest in life were processed most quickly. Consistent with a dimensional view of language abilities, these findings point to similarities in patterns of language acquisition in typically developing children and those with ASD. Overall, our results emphasize the value of examining individual differences in real‐time language comprehension in this population. We propose that the looking‐while‐listening paradigm is a sensitive and valuable methodological tool that can be applied across many areas of autism research. Autism Res 2013, ●●: ●●–●●. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Learning Cross-View Binary Identities for Fast Person Re-Identification

In this paper, we propose to learn cross-view binary identities (CBI) for fast person re-identification. To achieve this, two sets of discriminative hash functions for two different views are learned by simultaneously minimising their distance in the Hamming space, and maximising the cross-covariance and margin. Thus, similar binary codes can be found for images of a same person captured at different views by embedding the images into the Hamming space. Therefore, person re-identification can be solved by efficiently computing and ranking the Hamming distances between the images. Extensive experiments are conducted on two public datasets and CBI produces comparable results as state-of-the-art re-identification approaches but is at least 2200 times faster.
A New Look at Marital Quality: Can Spouses Feel Positive and Negative About Their Marriage?

Marital quality is examined as a 2-dimensional construct comprising positive and negative evaluations. Assessments of marital quality, behavior, attributions, and general affect were completed by 123 couples. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the existence of positive and negative marital quality dimensions. These dimensions also explained unique variance in reported behavior and attributions beyond that explained by a conventional marital quality measure and by positive and negative affect. Ambivalent (high-positive and high-negative) and indifferent (lowpositive and low-negative) wives differed in reports of behaviors and attributions but did not differ in scores on the conventional marital quality test. The implications of a 2-dimensional analysis of marital quality for theory and research are outlined.
Progressive Delamination Analysis of Stiffened Composite Panels in Post-Buckling

Simple specimens in unidirectional graphite-epoxy material are investigated. They consist of a skin panel with one stiffener, where the stiffener is L-shaped and is bonded to the skin. Two undamaged specimens and three specimens with an initial separation between the stringer flange and the skin in the middle of the stringer are tested under axial compression. The compression load leads the panels to buckle, and the resulting out-of-plane deformation causes progressive debonding between the skin and the stringer. The skin-stringer separation is measured directly during the tests by means of an ultrasonic system obtaining C-scan and B-scan representations at different load steps. The tests are numerically analyzed using the finite element code ABAQUS, modeling the entire stiffened panel by fournodes shell elements, and investigating the progressive delamination by means of the Virtual Crack Closure Technique. The results of the numerical analyses are compared to the experimental ones in terms of load-shortening curves, post-buckling shapes and progressive debonding between the skin and the stringer.
Perceptual Inference in Chronic Pain: An Investigation Into the Economy of Action Hypothesis

Objective:The experience of chronic pain critically alters one’s ability to interact with their environment. One fundamental issue that has received little attention, however, is whether chronic pain disrupts how one perceives their environment in the first place. The Economy of Action hypothesis purports that the environment is spatially scaled according to the ability of the observer. Under this hypothesis it has been proposed that the perception of the world is different between those with and without chronic pain. Such a possibility has profound implications for the investigation and treatment of pain. The present investigation tested the application of this hypothesis to a heterogenous chronic pain population. Methods:Individuals with chronic pain (36; 27F) and matched pain-free controls were recruited. Each participant was required to judge the distance to a series of target cones, to which they were to subsequently walk. In addition, at each distance, participants used Numerical Rating Scales to indicate their perceived effort and perceived pain associated with the distance presented. Results:Our findings do not support the Economy of Action hypothesis: there were no significant differences in distance estimates between the chronic pain and pain-free groups (F1,60=0.927; P=0.340). In addition, we found no predictive relationship in the chronic pain group between anticipated pain and estimated distance (F1,154=0.122, P=0.727), nor anticipated effort (1.171, P=0.281) and estimated distance (F1,154=1.171, P=0.281). Discussion:The application of the Economy of Action hypothesis and the notion of spatial perceptual scaling as a means to assess and treat the experience of chronic pain are not supported by the results of this study.
Computation of Peak Output for Inputs Restricted in L 2 and L ∞ Norms Using Convex Optimization

Control systems design by the principle of matching gives rise to problems of evaluating the peak output. This paper proposes a practical method for computing the peak output of linear time-invariant and non-anticipative systems for a class of possible sets that are characterized with mixed bounding conditions on the twoand/or the infinity-norms of the inputs and their derivatives. The original infinite-dimensional convex optimization problem is approximated as a large-scale convex programme defined in a Euclidean space, which are associated with sparse matrices and thus can be solved efficiently in practice. The numerical results show that the method performs satisfactorily, and that using a possible set with many bounding conditions can help to reduce the design conservatism and thus yields a better match.
Effect of Urea on Hematological and Selected Biochemical Parameters of Growing Somali Lambs

Nine sheep were assigned into three groups to evaluate the effect of urea on their hematology and biochemistry. Sheep of first group received water without urea and served as control group whereas sheep of second and third groups received urea in drinking water at 0.1 and 0.2% respectively for four weeks. The present findings revealed that 0.2% of urea caused significant increase in body weight gain compare to control. Significant decrease was also observed in mean values of neutrophil percentage of sheep received 0.2% urea (48.8 ± 4.1) compare to that of sheep received 0.1% urea (67.7 ± 1.0) and control group (63.3 ± 8.2), respectively. Moreover, percentage of lymphocyte of sheep received 0.2% urea was increased significantly (50.7 ± 4.1) compare to that of sheep received 0.1% urea (31.9 ± 1.00) and control group (36.2 ± 8.2). Serum biochemistry indicated that, sheep received 0.1% and 0.2% of urea dissolved in drinking water caused significant increase in the values of glucose (60 ± 1.1; 62 ± 2.1 mg/dl, respectively), ALT (17 ± 1.1; 18 ± 2.1 U/l), AST (105 ± 1.2; 107 ± 2.1 U/l), creatinine (1.5 ± 0.1; 1.6 ± 0.1 mg/dl) and phosphorus (4.1 ± 1.9; 5.2 ± 0.1 mg/dl) compared to control (50 ± 2.1; 14 ± 1.1; 99 ± 2.1; 1.1 ± 0.1 and 2.0 ± 0.2, respectively). The present study concluded that, urea in drinking water improved body weight gain and blood picture in Somali sheep however, liver and kidney function was disturbed.
Autonomic cardiovascular control and sports classification in Paralympic athletes with spinal cord injury

Abstract Purpose To investigate the relationship between the classification systems used in wheelchair sports and cardiovascular function in Paralympic athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods 26 wheelchair rugby (C3–C8) and 14 wheelchair basketball (T3‐L1) were assessed for their International Wheelchair Rugby and Basketball Federation sports classification. Next, athletes were assessed for resting and reflex cardiovascular and autonomic function via the change (delta) in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) in response to sit-up, and sympathetic skin responses (SSRs), respectively. Results There were no differences in supine, seated, or delta SBP and HR between different sport classes in rugby or basketball (all p > 0.23). Athletes with autonomically complete injuries (SSR score 0‐1) exhibited a lower supine SBP, seated SBP and delta SBP compared to those with autonomically incomplete injuries (SSR score >1; all p < 0.010), independent of sport played. There was no association between self-report OH and measured OH (χ2 = 1.63, p = 0.20). Conclusion We provide definitive evidence that sports specific classification is not related to the degree of remaining autonomic cardiovascular control in Paralympic athletes with SCI. We suggest that testing for remaining autonomic function, which is closely related to the degree of cardiovascular control, should be incorporated into sporting classification. Implications for Rehabilitation Spinal cord injury is a debilitating condition that affects the function of almost every physiological system. It is becoming increasingly apparent that spinal cord injury induced changes in autonomic and cardiovascular function are important determinants of sports performance in athletes with spinal cord injury. This study shows that the current sports classification systems used in wheelchair rugby and basketball do not accurately reflect autonomic and cardiovascular function and thus are placing some athletes at a distinct disadvantage/advantage within their respective sport.
Tailored Additive Release Rates in Extruded Plastic Films Produced With Smart Blending Machines

Smart blenders controllably form multi-component polymer melts into a wide variety of fine-scale structural arrangements that can be retained in extruded plastics. The machines operate on the principle of chaotic advection, a recent subfield of fluid mechanics, and have been used to produce cast film and blown film but can also be used to extrude sheet, rod, tubing, and other products. Because and structure of a composite material influences greatly additive diffusion, and matrix dissolution, this processing method provides a means for producing packaging film, medications, and medical implants with tailored release rates of active compounds. In this article, an ability to alter release rates of tocopherol, a natural antioxidant of importance to food packaging, is specifically investigated via on-line specification of a process parameter governing blend morphology in extruded cast films. Blends of low-density polyethylene and polypropylene, and also low-density polyethylene and high-density polyethylene were used.
Primacy and Recency Effects for Taste

Historically, much of what we know about human memory has been discovered in experiments using visual and verbal stimuli. In two experiments, participants demonstrated reliably high recognition for nonverbal liquids. In Experiment 1, participants showed high accuracy for recognizing tastes (bitter, salty, sour, sweet) over a 30-s delay in a recognition task, even when the probe stimulus was only a different concentration within the same taste. In Experiment 2, participants tasted three liquids and showed both primacy and recency effects in a serial-position recognition task with varying delay lengths (15, 30, 45, 60 s). Recognition for liquids at the end of a list was most evident with shorter delay lengths (i.e., recency). Recognition for liquids at the start of the list was most evident with longer delay lengths (i.e., primacy). These data show that not only is gustatory information stored and maintained in working memory, but that memory for these liquids follow a recency-to-primacy shift in recognition memory.
Descriptive study of burnout, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in undergraduate nursing students at a tertiary education institution in KwaZulu-Natal

Background Studies have investigated burnout and compassion fatigue among nurses and effects in the nursing profession. However, there are limited investigations of burnout and compassion fatigue among undergraduate nursing students in South Africa, as nursing students may experience distressful situations during their nursing education course, which may have an impact during their training and in their profession as they graduate. Purpose The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout among undergraduate nursing students at a tertiary nursing institution. Methods A quantitative descriptive study was conducted to describe compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue and burnout among undergraduate nursing students at a tertiary nursing institution in KwaZulu-Natal. Convenience sampling was used. Results Sixty-seven undergraduate students (26 third-year and 41 fourth-year nursing students) took the self-test Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL). The study results indicate that undergraduate students experienced average levels of compassion fatigue, burnout and compassion satisfaction. Conclusion As shown in the study, some of the undergraduate students are experiencing compassion fatigue and burnout, associated with relieving suffering of others. Therefore, knowledge of compassion fatigue and burnout and the coping strategies should be part of nursing training.
A 0.45-V input on-chip gate boosted (OGB) buck converter in 40-nm CMOS with more than 90% efficiency in load range from 2µW to 50µW

A 0.45-V input, 0.4-V output on-chip gate boosted (OGB) buck converter with clock gated digital PWM controller in 40-nm CMOS achieved the highest efficiency to date with the output power less than 40μW. A linear delay trimming by a logarithmic stress voltage (LSV) scheme to compensate for the die-to-die delay variations of a delay line in the PWM controller with good controllability is also proposed.
Genetic Distinctiveness of the Herdwick Sheep Breed and Two Other Locally Adapted Hill Breeds of the UK

There is considerable interest in locally adapted breeds of livestock as reservoirs of genetic diversity that may provide important fitness traits for future use in agriculture. In marginal areas, these animals contribute to food security and extract value from land unsuitable for other systems of farming. In England, close to 50% of the national sheep flock is farmed on grassland designated as disadvantaged areas for agricultural production. Many of these areas are in the uplands, where some native breeds of sheep continue to be commercially farmed only in highly localised geographical regions to which they are adapted. This study focuses on three of these breeds, selected for their adaptation to near identical environments and their geographical concentration in regions close to one another. Our objective has been to use retrotyping, microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms to explore the origins of the breeds and whether, despite their similar adaptations and proximity, they are genetically distinctive. We find the three breeds each have a surprisingly different pattern of retrovirus insertions into their genomes compared with one another and with other UK breeds. Uniquely, there is a high incidence of the R0 retrotype in the Herdwick population, characteristic of a primitive genome found previously in very few breeds worldwide and none in the UK mainland. The Herdwick and Rough Fells carry two rare retroviral insertion events, common only in Texels, suggesting sheep populations in the northern uplands have a historical association with the original pin-tail sheep of Texel Island. Microsatellite data and analyses of SNPs associated with RXFP2 (horn traits) and PRLR (reproductive performance traits) also distinguished the three breeds. Significantly, an SNP linked to TMEM154, a locus controlling susceptibility to infection by Maedi-Visna, indicated that all three native hill breeds have a lower than average risk of infection to the lentivirus.