Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of the particle size of expandable graphite on the thermal stability, flammability, and mechanical properties of high‐density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl‐acetate/expandable graphite composites

In this article, high-density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl-acetate copolymer (HDPE/EVA) composites filled with two different particle sizes (45 and 150 µm) of expandable graphite (EG) were prepared by using a twin-screw extruder. The thermal stability, flammability, and mechanical properties of HDPE/EVA/EG composites were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), cone calorimeter test (CCT), tensile test, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results from TGA and CCT indicated that EG significantly enhanced the thermal stability and fire resistance of HDPE/EVA blend. The thermal stability and flame retardancy of HDPE/EVA/EG composites were improved with decreasing particle size of EG. Although the onset of weight loss of the flame-retardant composites occurred at a lower temperature than that of HDPE/EVA blend, the flame-retardant composites produced a large amount of char residue at a high temperature. The consolidated char layer formed a barrier, which could reduce heat, low-molecular transfer, and air incursion, and thus enhanced the flame retardancy. The data from the tensile test showed that the addition of EG deteriorated the mechanical properties; however, the tensile stress and strain of HDPE/EVA/EG composites increased with decreasing the particle size of EG owing to the strong interface adhesion between polymer matrix and inorganic particles. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:1162–1169, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers
Joint measurability and the one-way Fubini property for a continuum of independent random variables

April 2000 As is well known, a continuous parameter process with mutually independent random variables is not jointly measurable in the usual sense. This paper proposes using a natural ``one-way Fubini'' property that guarantees a unique meaningful solution to this joint measurability problem when the random variables are independent even in a very weak sense. In particular, if F is the smallest extension of the usual product sigma-algebra such that the process is measurable, then there is a unique probability measure v on F such that the integral of any v-integrable function is equal to a double integral evaluated in one particular order. Moreover, in general this measure cannot be further extended to satisfy a two-way Fubini property. However, the extended framework with the one-way Fubini property not only shares many desirable features previously demonstrated under the stronger two-way Fubini property, but also leads to a new characterization of the most basic probabilistic concept --- stochastic independence in terms of regular conditional distributions.
Quantitative assessment of UML dynamic models

In this work we plan to provide a suite of measures to address mainly two problem areas within contemporary object-oriented software measurement: (i) the lack of measures for the early stages of system development, like conceptual modeling and (ii) the lack of measures for dynamic models of an object-oriented system. Our suite of measures is going to be taken from UML 2.0 diagrams. OCL (Object-Constraint Language) and the UML 2.0 meta-model will be used to formalize and contextualize the definitions.
Heat transfer characteristics of an impingement plate used in a turbine vane cooling system

Detailed heat transfer coefficient distributions have been measured on both surfaces of the impingement plate of an engine-representative impingement cooling system using the thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC) transient technique. The color images of the TLC on the impingement downstream surface provide evidence of a re-impingement flow. The reimpingement flow is found to contribute to local increases in the heat transfer on the impingement plate downstream surface. It was found that the average heat transfer coefficient on the impingement downstream surface is about 50% of the average target surface heat transfer coefficient. The results are compared with a previously reported correlation. Copyright © 2001 by ASME.
JAG2 Induction in Hypoxic Tumor Cells Alters Notch Signaling and Enhances Endothelial Cell Tube Formation

Several studies have revealed links between hypoxia and activation of Notch in solid tumors. While most reports have focused on intracellular domain of the Notch1 receptor (icN1) stabilization by direct interaction with HIF proteins, little attention has been given to Notch ligand regulation during hypoxia. Here we show that the Notch ligand JAG2 is transcriptionally activated by hypoxia in a HIF-1α dependent manner. Hypoxic JAG2 induction resulted in elevated Notch activity in tumor cells, as was measured by increased icN1 levels and induction of the Notch target gene HEY1. In primary tumor material, JAG2 expression correlated with vascular development and angiogenesis gene signatures. In line with this, coculture experiments of endothelial cells with hypoxic breast cancer cells displayed a reduction in number of capillary-like tubes formed upon JAG2 siRNA treatment of the breast cancer cells. Together these results suggest that a hypoxic induction of JAG2 in tumor cells mediates a hypoxia-regulated cross-talk between tumor and endothelial cells. Mol Cancer Res; 9(5); 626–36. ©2011 AACR.
Coordination of distinct but interacting rhythmic motor programs by a modulatory projection neuron using different co-transmitters in different ganglia

SUMMARY While many neurons are known to contain multiple neurotransmitters, the specific roles played by each co-transmitter within a neuron are often poorly understood. Here, we investigated the roles of the co-transmitters of the pyloric suppressor (PS) neurons, which are located in the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) of the lobster Homarus americanus. The PS neurons are known to contain histamine; using RT-PCR, we identified a second co-transmitter as the FMRFamide-like peptide crustacean myosuppressin (Crust-MS). The modulatory effects of Crust-MS application on the gastric mill and pyloric patterns, generated in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), closely resembled those recorded following extracellular PS neuron stimulation. To determine whether histamine plays a role in mediating the effects of the PS neurons in the STG, we bath-applied histamine receptor antagonists to the ganglion. In the presence of the antagonists, the histamine response was blocked, but Crust-MS application and PS stimulation continued to modulate the gastric and pyloric patterns, suggesting that PS effects in the STG are mediated largely by Crust-MS. PS neuron stimulation also excited the oesophageal rhythm, produced in the commissural ganglia (CoGs) of the STNS. Application of histamine, but not Crust-MS, to the CoGs mimicked this effect. Histamine receptor antagonists blocked the ability of both histamine and PS stimulation to excite the oesophageal rhythm, providing strong evidence that the PS neurons use histamine in the CoGs to exert their effects. Overall, our data suggest that the PS neurons differentially utilize their co-transmitters in spatially distinct locations to coordinate the activity of three independent networks.
Consequences of ERp57 Deletion on Oxidative Folding of Obligate and Facultative Clients of the Calnexin Cycle*

Members of the protein-disulfide isomerase superfamily catalyze the formation of intra- and intermolecular disulfide bonds, a rate-limiting step of protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here we compared maturation of one obligate and two facultative calnexin substrates in cells with and without ERp57, the calnexin-associated, glycoprotein-specific oxidoreductase. ERp57 deletion did not prevent the formation of disulfide bonds during co-translational translocation of nascent glycopolypeptides in the ER. It affected, however, the post-translational phases of oxidative influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) folding, resulting in significant loss of folding efficiency for this obligate calnexin substrate. Without ERp57, HA also showed reduced capacity to recover from an artificially induced aberrant conformation, thus revealing a crucial role of ERp57 during post-translational reshuffling to the native set of HA disulfides. ERp57 deletion did not affect maturation of the model facultative calnexin substrates E1 and p62 (and of most cellular proteins, as shown by lack of induction of ER stress). ERp72 was identified as one of the ER-resident oxidoreductases associating with the orphan ERp57 substrates to maintain their folding competence.
Neoalbaconol induces cell death through necroptosis by regulating RIPK-dependent autocrine TNFα and ROS production

Necroptosis/regulated necrosis is a caspase-independent, but receptor interacting protein kinase (RIPK)-dependent form of cell death. In previous studies, neoalbaconol (NA), a constituent extracted from Albatrellus confluens, was demonstrated to induce necroptosis in some cancer cell lines. The molecular mechanism of NA-induced necroptosis is described in this research study. We determined that NA-induced cell death is partly dependent on tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) feed-forward signaling. More importantly, NA abolished the ubiquitination of RIPK1 by down-regulating E3 ubiquitin ligases, cellular inhibitors of apoptosis protein 1/2 (cIAP1/2) and TNFα receptor-associated factors (TRAFs). The suppression of RIPK1 ubiquitination induced the activation of the non-canonical nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway and stimulated the transcription of TNFα. Moreover, we also found that NA caused RIPK3-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and contribution to cell death. Taken together, these results suggested that two distinct mechanisms are involved in NA-induced necroptosis and include RIPK1/NF-κB-dependent expression of TNFα and RIPK3-dependent generation of ROS.
Online QoS Modeling in the Cloud: A Hybrid and Adaptive Multi-learners Approach

Given the on-demand nature of cloud computing, managing cloud-based services requires accurate modeling for the correlation between their Quality of Service (QoS) and cloud configurations/resources. The resulted models need to cope with the dynamic fluctuation of QoS sensitivity and interference. However, existing QoS modeling in the cloud are limited in terms of both accuracy and applicability due to their static and semi-dynamic nature. In this paper, we present a fully dynamic multi-learners approach for automated and online QoS modeling in the cloud. We contribute to a hybrid learners solution, which improves accuracy while keeping model complexity adequate. To determine the inputs of QoS model at runtime, we partition the inputs space into two sub-spaces, each of which applies different symmetric uncertainty based selection techniques, and we then combine the sub-spaces results. The learners are also adaptive, they simultaneously allow several machine learning algorithms to model QoS function and dynamically select the best model for prediction on the fly. We experimentally evaluate our models using RUBiS benchmark and realistic FIFA 98 workload. The results show that our multi-learners approach is more accurate and effective in contrast to the other state-of-the-art approaches.
Nuclear Factor (NF)-κB-dependent Thyroid Hormone Receptor β1 Expression Controls Dendritic Cell Function via Akt Signaling*

Despite considerable progress in our understanding of the interplay between immune and endocrine systems, the role of thyroid hormones and their receptors in the control of adaptive immunity is still uncertain. Here, we investigated the role of thyroid hormone receptor (TR) β1 signaling in modulating dendritic cell (DC) physiology and the intracellular mechanisms underlying these immunoregulatory effects. Exposure of DCs to triiodothyronine (T3) resulted in a rapid and sustained increase in Akt phosphorylation independently of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation, which was essential for supporting T3-induced DC maturation and interleukin (IL)-12 production. This effect was dependent on intact TRβ1 signaling as small interfering RNA-mediated silencing of TRβ1 expression prevented T3-induced DC maturation and IL-12 secretion as well as Akt activation and IκB-ϵ degradation. In turn, T3 up-regulated TRβ1 expression through mechanisms involving NF-κB, suggesting an autocrine regulatory loop to control hormone-dependent TRβ1 signaling. These findings were confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis, which disclosed a new functional NF-κB consensus site in the promoter region of the TRB1 gene. Thus, a T3-induced NF-κB-dependent mechanism controls TRβ1 expression, which in turn signals DCs to promote maturation and function via an Akt-dependent but PI3K-independent pathway. These results underscore a novel unrecognized target that regulates DC maturation and function with critical implications in immunopathology at the cross-roads of the immune-endocrine circuits.
Equation to estimate body weight in elderly Mexican women using anthropometric measurements.

INTRODUCTION Body weight is useful for many medical and nutritional procedures. When it is difficult or impossible to measure body weight in hospitalized/institutionalized elderly, it can be estimated through equations based on anthropometry generated in other countries, although their validity in other contexts has been poorly studied. OBJECTIVES To create and validate an equation for estimating body weight for both, hospitalized and nursing home residents Mexican elderly women (institutionalized) using anthropometric measurements. METHODS A validation study was carried out in elderly women (> or = 60 years old), admitted to the Geriatrics Service of the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara "Fray Antonio Alcalde" during February-April 19th (n = 43) and April 20th-June 2005 (n = 29), and elderly women residing in three nursing homes in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara evaluated during June 2003-June 2004 (n = 23). Subjects were weighed using a scale which was adapted to their clinical situation and were anthropometrically assessed. In the first sample, we generated a new equation using multiple regression analyses. Then, the equation was validated in the other two samples. We also estimated weight using Chumlea's equations: in all samples, estimated and actual weights were compared between each other through a paired t-test. A p < 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS Mean ages in each sample were: 84.3 +/- 7.3, 84.4 +/- 9.1, and 84.2 +/- 8.5 years, respectively. Mean actual weights were: 48.2 +/- 13.5, 48.1 +/- 10.1, and 55.0 +/- 12.3 kg, respectively. The resulting equation was: estimated weight = (1.599* knee height) +(1.135* mid arm circumference) + (0.735*calf circumference) + (0.621* tricipital skinfold thickness)-83.123 (R2 = 0.896, p < 0.001). In hospitalized women, there were no significant differences between estimated and actual weight (sample 1:D-0.02 +/- 4.3 kg, p = 0.976; sample 2: D-0.7 +/- 4.2 kg, p = 0.352). In female nursing homes residents (institutionalized women) weight was significantly overestimated (1.9 +/- 3.2 kg p < 0.01), but the mean difference was smaller than the ones found using Chumlea's equations. CONCLUSIONS The developed equation predicted accurately hospitalized elderly women's body weight in our context. In institutionalized elderly women, weight was significantly overestimated. It would be useful to derive equations for different settings.uals who present normal body weight.
The Neural Bases for Empathy

Human empathy relies on the ability to share emotions as well as the ability to understand the other’s thoughts, desires, and feelings. Recent evidence points to 2 separate systems for empathy: an emotional system that supports our ability to empathize emotionally and a cognitive system that involves cognitive understanding of the other’s perspective. Converging evidence from neuroimaging and lesion studies shows that a neural network that includes the inferior frontal gyrus and the inferior parietal lobule is necessary for emotion recognition and emotional contagion. On the other hand, the involvement of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, and the medial temporal lobe in self-reflection and autobiographical memory places these key regions as necessary for cognitive empathy. The proposed dissociation between these systems is supported by recent neurochemical experiments involving administration of oxytocin as well as by ethological, psychiatric, and developmental studies. Finally, although the emotional and cognitive systems appear to work independently, every empathic response may still evoke both components to some extent, depending on the social context.
Performance trade-offs and individual quality in decathletes

ABSTRACT Many constraints of organismal design at the cell and organ level, including muscle fiber types, musculoskeletal gearing and control-surface geometry, are believed to cause performance trade-offs at the whole-organism level. Contrary to this expectation, positive correlations between diverse athletic performances are frequently found in vertebrates. Recently, it has been proposed that trade-offs between athletic performances in humans are masked by variation in individual quality and that underlying trade-offs are revealed by adjusting the correlations to ‘control’ quality. We argue that quality is made up of both intrinsic components, due to the causal mapping between morpho-physiological traits and performance, and extrinsic components, due to variation in training intensity, diet and pathogens. Only the extrinsic component should be controlled. We also show that previous methods to estimate ‘quality-free’ correlations perform poorly. We show that Wright's factor analysis recovers the correct quality-free correlation matrix and use this method to estimate quality-free correlations among the 10 events of the decathlon using a dataset of male college athletes. We found positive correlations between all decathlon events, which supports an axis that segregates ‘good athletes’ from ‘bad athletes’. Estimates of quality-free correlations are mostly very small (<0.1), suggesting large, quality-free independence between events. Because quality must include both intrinsic and extrinsic components, the physiological significance of these adjusted correlations remains obscure. Regardless, the underlying architecture of the functional systems and the physiological explanation of both the un-adjusted and adjusted correlations remain to be discovered. Summary: Human decathletes that excel in one event excel in all events, which is contrary to the pervasive idea that underlying functional constraints limit the development of a ‘master of all events’.
Clinical and surgical aspects in necrotizing enterocolitis.

BACKGROUND The purpose of the paper is to establish whether clinical and radiological parameters can predict the progression of the pathology, the necessity of performing laparotomy for patients with peritoneal drain and the mortality in surgically treated neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS A number of 51 cases with necrotizing enterocolitis from our institution were reviewed (from 2005 to 2011) and information on patient demographics and data about the clinical and radiological parameters was collected. RESULTS Of the 51 patients, 29 were (56.8%) males and 22 (43.2%) females. Age at presentation ranges between 1 and 87 days, with a mean 18.71 days. Birth weight varies between 400- 4700g (mean 1979.6 g ± 1012.5). The mortality rate in our study was 45% (23 patients out of 51). CONCLUSIONS The mortality rate in our series was 45%. Even though Bell stage III patients have clear indications for surgery, the procedure involves high fatality. Patients who undergo surgery are more likely to die than the ones who do not. We found that a later debut of symptoms should be an alarm sign for both the severity of the condition and for its outcome.
Upper motives of algebraic groups and incompressibility of Severi–Brauer varieties

Abstract Let G be a semisimple affine algebraic group of inner type over a field F. We write 𝔛G for the class of all finite direct products of projective G-homogeneous F-varieties. We determine the structure of the Chow motives with coefficients in a finite field of the varieties in 𝔛G. More precisely, it is known that the motive of any variety in 𝔛G decomposes (in a unique way) into a sum of indecomposable motives, and we describe the indecomposable summands which appear in the decompositions. In the case where G is the group PGL A of automorphisms of a given central simple F-algebra A, for any variety in the class 𝔛G (which includes the generalized Severi–Brauer varieties of the algebra A) we determine its canonical dimension at any prime p. In particular, we find out which varieties in 𝔛G are p-incompressible. If A is a division algebra of degree pn for some n ≧ 0, then the list of p-incompressible varieties includes the generalized Severi–Brauer variety X﻿(pm;﻿ A) of ideals of reduced dimension pm for m = 0, 1, …, n.
Influence of particle shape on balancing the classification products given by hydrocyclones on the basis of the results of laser particle size analysis

Article is the effect of continuation the investigations concerning the usefulness of laser granulometric analyzes to balancing the classification products of fine-grained materials [1, 2]. Previous investigations guided by authors showed, that there is possibility of balancing the products of classification fine-grained materials in hydrocyclones, despite varying accuracy of laser analyzes of respective material streams which resulted first of all with differences in granulation of classification products. Investigations proved that there is no essential influence of material density on precision of the laser analyzes of granulation [2]. In addition, the balance of classification products should be based on percentage parts of the finest grain classes which be determined with high accuracy by laser method. The purpose of the research presented in the paper was to verify the influence of grain’s shape on results of laser analyses, and the same on possibility the accurate balancing products of their classification. As in previous investigations, the accuracy of laser analyses was characterized by the coefficient of variation w for percentages of respective grain classes in classification products.
Cladding embrittlement during postulated loss-of-coolant accidents.

The effect of fuel burnup on the embrittlement of various cladding alloys was examined with laboratory tests conducted under conditions relevant to loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCAs). The cladding materials tested were Zircaloy-4, Zircaloy-2, ZIRLO, M5, and E110. Tests were performed with specimens sectioned from as-fabricated cladding, from prehydrided (surrogate for high-burnup) cladding, and from high-burnup fuel rods which had been irradiated in commercial reactors. The tests were designed to determine for each cladding material the ductile-to-brittle transition as a function of steam oxidation temperature, weight gain due to oxidation, hydrogen content, pre-transient cladding thickness, and pre-transient corrosion-layer thickness. For short, defueled cladding specimens oxidized at 1000-1200 C, ring compression tests were performed to determine post-quench ductility at {le} 135 C. The effect of breakaway oxidation on embrittlement was also examined for short specimens oxidized at 800-1000 C. Among other findings, embrittlement was found to be sensitive to fabrication processes--especially surface finish--but insensitive to alloy constituents for these dilute zirconium alloys used as cladding materials. It was also demonstrated that burnup effects on embrittlement are largely due to hydrogen that is absorbed in the cladding during normal operation. Some tests were also performed with longer, fueled-and-pressurized cladding segments subjected to LOCA-relevant heating and cooling rates. Recommendations are given for types of tests that would identify LOCA conditions under which embrittlement would occur.