Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cyclic Fatigue‐Crack Growth in a SiC‐Whisker‐Reinforced Alumina Ceramic Composite: Long‐ and Small‐Crack Behavior

The ambient-temperature subcritical growth behavior of both long and microstructurally small cracks is investigated during cyclic-fatigue loading in a SiC-whisker-reinforced alumina (Al2O3–SiCw) ceramic composite (fracture toughness, Kc∼ 4.5 MPa · m1/2). Based on long-crack experiments using compact C(T) specimens, cyclic fatigue-crack growth rates (over the range 10−11 to 10−5 m/cycle) are found to be sensitive to the applied stress-intensity range and load ratio, and to show evidence of fatigue crack closure. Similar to other ceramic materials, under tension–tension loading the “long”(>3 mm) crack fatigue threshold, ΔKTH, was found to be on the order of 60% of Kc. Conversely, “small”(1 to 300 μm) cracks grown from micro-indents on the surface of cantilever-beam specimens were observed to grow at applied ΔK levels some 2 to 3 times smaller than ΔKTH. similar to behavior widely reported for metallic materials. The observed small-crack behavior is rationalized in terms of the residual stress field associated with the indent, and the restricted role of crack-tip shielding (from mechanisms such as crack bridging, closure and deflection) with cracks of limited wake, analogous to closure effects with small fatigue cracks in metals. Consistent with the lack of zone-shielding mechanisms in Al2O3–SiCw, under variable-amplitude cyclic loading crack-growth rates do not exhibit the marked transient response following block overload sequences as do transformation-toughened ceramics or ductile metallic materials. Possible mechanisms for cyclic crack advance in reinforced ceramic-matrix composite materials are discussed.
Establishing the role of detoxifying enzymes in field‐evolved resistance to various insecticides in the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) in South India

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is one of the major pests of rice throughout Asia. Extensive use of insecticides for suppressing N. lugens has resulted in the development of insecticide resistance leading to frequent control failures in the field. The aim of the present study was to evaluate resistance in the field populations of N. lugens from major rice growing states of South India to various insecticides. We also determined the activity of detoxifying enzymes (esterases [ESTs], glutathione S‐transferases [GSTs], and mixed‐function oxidases [MFOs]). Moderate levels of resistance were detected in the field populations to acephate, thiamethoxam and buprofezin (resistance factors 1.05–20.92 fold, 4.52–14.99 fold, and 1.00–18.09 fold, respectively) as compared with susceptible strain while there were low levels of resistance to imidacloprid (resistance factor 1.23–6.70 fold) and complete sensitivity to etofenoprox (resistance factor 1.05–1.66 fold). EST activities in the field populations were 1.06 to 3.09 times higher than the susceptible strain while for GST and MFO the ratios varied from 1.29 to 3.41 and 1.03 to 1.76, respectively. The EST activity was found to be correlated to acephate resistance (r = 0.999, P ≥ 0.001). The high selection pressure of organophosphate, neonicotinoid, and insect growth regulator (IGR) in the field is likely to be contributing for resistance in BPH to multiple insecticides, leading to control failures. The results obtained will be beneficial to IPM recommendations for the use of effective insecticides against BPH.
Urinary Bisphenol A Concentration and Risk of Future Coronary Artery Disease in Apparently Healthy Men and Women

Background— The endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in food and beverage packaging. Higher urinary BPA concentrations were cross-sectionally associated with heart disease in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2004 and NHANES 2005–2006, independent of traditional risk factors. Methods and Results— We included 758 incident coronary artery disease (CAD) cases and 861 controls followed for 10.8 years from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer–Norfolk UK. Respondents aged 40 to 74 years and free of CAD, stroke, or diabetes mellitus provided baseline spot urine samples. Urinary BPA concentrations (median value, 1.3 ng/mL) were low. Per-SD (4.56 ng/mL) increases in urinary BPA concentration were associated with incident CAD in age-, sex-, and urinary creatinine–adjusted models (n=1919; odds ratio=1.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–1.24; P=0.017). With CAD risk factor adjustment (including education, occupational social class, body mass index category, systolic blood pressure, lipid concentrations, and exercise), the estimate was similar but narrowly missed 2-sided significance (n=1744; odds ratio=1.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.23; P=0.058). Sensitivity analyses with the fully adjusted model, excluding those with early CAD (<3-year follow-up), body mass index >30, or abnormal renal function or with additional adjustment for vitamin C, C-reactive protein, or alcohol consumption, all produced similar estimates, and all showed associations at P⩽0.05. Conclusions— Associations between higher BPA exposure (reflected in higher urinary concentrations) and incident CAD during >10 years of follow-up showed trends similar to previously reported cross-sectional findings in the more highly exposed NHANES respondents. Further work is needed to accurately estimate the prospective exposure-response curve and to establish the underlying mechanisms.
A robust layer adapted difference method for singularly perturbed two-parameter parabolic problems

A finite difference method for a time-dependent singularly perturbed convection–diffusion–reaction problem involving two small parameters in one space dimension is considered. We use the classical implicit Euler method for time discretization and upwind scheme on the Shishkin–Bakhvalov mesh for spatial discretization. The method is analysed for convergence and is shown to be uniform with respect to both the perturbation parameters. The use of the Shishkin–Bakhvalov mesh gives first-order convergence unlike the Shishkin mesh where convergence is deteriorated due to the presence of a logarithmic factor. Numerical results are presented to validate the theoretical estimates obtained.
The Association of Skin Intrinsic Fluorescence With Type 1 Diabetes Complications in the DCCT/EDIC Study

OBJECTIVE To determine whether skin intrinsic fluorescence (SIF) is associated with long-term complications of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and, if so, whether it is independent of chronic glycemic exposure and previous intensive therapy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We studied 1,185 (92%) of 1,289 active Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT)/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC) participants from 2010 to 2011. SIF was determined using a fluorescence spectrometer and related cross-sectionally to recently determined measures of retinopathy (stereo fundus photography), cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN; R-R interval), confirmed clinical neuropathy, nephropathy (albumin excretion rate [AER]), and coronary artery calcification (CAC). RESULTS Overall, moderately strong associations were seen with all complications, before adjustment for mean HbA1c over time, which rendered these associations nonsignificant with the exception of sustained AER >30 mg/24 h and CAC, which were largely unaffected by adjustment. However, when examined within the former DCCT treatment group, associations were generally weaker in the intensive group and nonsignificant after adjustment, while in the conventional group, associations remained significant for CAN, sustained AER >30 mg/24 h, and CAC even after mean HbA1c adjustment. CONCLUSIONS SIF is associated with T1D complications in DCCT\EDIC. Much of this association appears to be related to historical glycemic exposure, particularly in the previously intensively treated participants, in whom adjustment for HbA1c eliminates statistical significance.
Using FMC for family-based analysis of software product lines

We show how the FMC model checker can successfully be used to model and analyze behavioural variability in Software Product Lines. FMC accepts parameterized specifications in a process-algebraic input language and allows the verification of properties of such models by means of efficient on-the-fly model checking. The properties can be expressed in a logic that allows to correlate the parameters of different actions within the same formula. We show how this feature can be used to tailor formulas to the verification of only a specific subset of products of a Software Product Line, thus allowing for scalable family-based analyses with FMC. We present a proof-of-concept that shows the application of FMC to an illustrative Featured Transition System from the literature.
JF-Cut: A Parallel Graph Cut Approach for Large-Scale Image and Video

Graph cut has proven to be an effective scheme to solve a wide variety of segmentation problems in vision and graphics community. The main limitation of conventional graph-cut implementations is that they can hardly handle large images or videos because of high computational complexity. Even though there are some parallelization solutions, they commonly suffer from the problems of low parallelism (on CPU) or low convergence speed (on GPU). In this paper, we present a novel graph-cut algorithm that leverages a parallelized jump flooding technique and an heuristic push-relabel scheme to enhance the graph-cut process, namely, back-and-forth relabel, convergence detection, and block-wise push-relabel. The entire process is parallelizable on GPU, and outperforms the existing GPU-based implementations in terms of global convergence, information propagation, and performance. We design an intuitive user interface for specifying interested regions in cases of occlusions when handling video sequences. Experiments on a variety of data sets, including images (up to 15 K × 10 K), videos (up to 2.5 K × 1.5 K × 50), and volumetric data, achieve high-quality results and a maximum 40-fold (139-fold) speedup over conventional GPU (CPU-)-based approaches.
ANALYSES OF THE FATIGUE TYPE PROPERTIES OF BITUMINOUS CONCRETE

PROGRESS TO DATE IS REVIEWED ON THE STUDIES OF ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF BITUMINOUS CONCRETE, PARTICULARLY AS RELATED TO FATIGUE OR REPETITIONAL FACTORS. SOME FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS AND BROAD BASIC PRINCIPLES ARE DISCUSSED BRIEFLY, BUT CONCERN IS PRIMARILY CENTERED ON THE BEHAVIOR OF A MATERIAL UNDER STRESS. CONSIDERATIONS ARE GIVEN TO THE STRENGTH, DEFORMATION, AND FATIGUE PROPERTIES OF A GIVEN ASPHALTIC CONCRETE MIX UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS OF LOADING. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE STRESS AND STRAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF ASPHALTIC CONCRETE MIXTURES DEPEND ON SEVERAL VARIABLES, THE MOST IMPORTANT OF WHICH, FOR A GIVEN MIX, ARE THE TEMPERATURE AND THE RATE OF STRAIN. EQUATIONS ARE GIVEN WHICH RELATE THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF ASPHALTIC CONCRETE TO THE TEMPERATURE AND THE RATE OF STRAIN. ASPHALTIC CONCRETE DISPLAYS ELASTIC BEHAVIOR IN THAT AN APPROXIMATE PROPORTIONALITY EXISTS BETWEEN UNIT STRESS AND UNIT STRAIN IN UNCONFINED COMPRESSION. YOUNG'S MODULUS FOR A GIVEN ASPHALTIC CONCRETE IS VARIABLE, DEPENDENT UPON THE RATE OF LOADING AND UPON TEMPERATURE, HOWEVER, THERE SEEMS TO BE A CONSTANT PROPORTIONALITY BETWEEN YOUNG'S MODULUS AND THE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF ASPHALTIC CONCRETE, AT HIGH RATES OF LOADING AND AT LOW OR MODERATE TEMPERATURES, BITUMINOUS CONCRETE POSSESSES CONSIDERABLE FLEXURAL STRENGTH AS MEASURED BY ITS MODULUS OF RUPTURE. HOWEVER, THIS SLAB STRENGTH DECREASES RAPIDLY WITH INCREASING TEMPERATURE AND STATIC CONDITIONS OF LOADING. UNDER REPEATED DYNAMIC LOADING, SEVERAL THOUSAND FLEXURAL STRESSES CAN BE APPLIED TO AN ASPHALTIC CONCRETE BEAM, BEHAVING IN AN ELASTIC FASHION INSOFAR AS LOAD-DEFLECTION CONSIDERATIONS ARE CONCERNED, WITHOUT A RESULTING FAILURE. ASPHALTIC CONCRETE, LIKE OTHER STRUCTURAL MATERIALS, IS SUBJECT TO FATIGUE FAILURE. THE LIMITING FACTOR ON THE CONTROL OF THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PAVEMENT DEFLECTION AND, HENCE, THE STRESS LEVEL IN THE PAVEMENT, IS THE SUBGRADE SUPPORT. BECAUSE OF THE CONFINING NATURE OF THE PAVEMENT, IT MUST BE RECOGNIZED THAT A FAILURE OF THE PAVEMENT (STRESS LEVEL EXCEEDS STRENGTH) MUST DEVELOP BEFORE SHEAR FAILURES OF THE SUBGRADE CAN OCCUR.
Automated Data Quality Assessment of Marine Sensors

The automated collection of data (e.g., through sensor networks) has led to a massive increase in the quantity of environmental and other data available. The sheer quantity of data and growing need for real-time ingestion of sensor data (e.g., alerts and forecasts from physical models) means that automated Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) is necessary to ensure that the data collected is fit for purpose. Current automated QA/QC approaches provide assessments based upon hard classifications of the gathered data; often as a binary decision of good or bad data that fails to quantify our confidence in the data for use in different applications. We propose a novel framework for automated data quality assessments that uses Fuzzy Logic to provide a continuous scale of data quality. This continuous quality scale is then used to compute error bars upon the data, which quantify the data uncertainty and provide a more meaningful measure of the data’s fitness for purpose in a particular application compared with hard quality classifications. The design principles of the framework are presented and enable both data statistics and expert knowledge to be incorporated into the uncertainty assessment. We have implemented and tested the framework upon a real time platform of temperature and conductivity sensors that have been deployed to monitor the Derwent Estuary in Hobart, Australia. Results indicate that the error bars generated from the Fuzzy QA/QC implementation are in good agreement with the error bars manually encoded by a domain expert.
Twist-DNA: computing base-pair and bubble opening probabilities in genomic superhelical DNA

SUMMARY Local opening of the DNA double helix is required in many fundamental biological processes and is, in part, controlled by the degree of superhelicity imposed in vivo by the protein machinery. In particular, positions of superhelically destabilized regions correlate with regulatory sites along the genome. Based on a self-consistent linearization of a thermodynamic model of superhelical DNA introduced by Benham, we have developed a program that predicts the locations of these regions by efficiently computing base-pair and bubble opening probabilities in genomic DNA. The program allows visualization of results in standard genome browsers to compare DNA opening properties with other available datasets. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Source codes freely available for download at http://www.cbp. ens-lyon.fr/doku.php? id=developpement:productions:logiciels:twistdna, implemented in Fortran90 and supported on any Unix-based operating system (Linux, Mac OS X).
Word Problems Solvable in Logspace

Extending a result of Rabin, It Is shown that the word problem for hnear groups (groups of matrices) over a field of characteristic 0 is solvable in (deterministic) logspace As an apphcatlon of this result, it follows that the word problem for free groups and hence the membership problem for the two-sided Dyck language are solvable in logspace
Effect of static, dynamic, thermal, and humidity loading on fatigue life of fiber optic cables

Health monitoring of aircraft structures with optical fiber sensors requires that the fibers remain functional for the lifetime of these structures as repairs are generally very costly and time consuming. Thus, the feasibility of using optical fibers in various aircraft structures depends heavily on the durability of these fibers under adverse loading conditions. It is well known that silica optical fibers are vulnerable to applied mechanical and thermal loads that make flaws grow rapidly and eventually lead to fiber failure. In this paper, we investigate theoretically and experimentally the combined effect of the mechanical, thermal, and moisture loading on the aging process of fiber optic cables in an attempt to assess the expected lifetime of these cables in a naval aviation environment. It is also important to note that there is a pressing need for such an investigation, as all the studies available in the literature address the individual rather than the combined effects of these parameters on the lifetime of the cables.
Drebrin restricts rotavirus entry by inhibiting dynamin-mediated endocytosis

Significance Many clinically significant human viral and bacterial pathogens use dynamin-dependent endocytosis to initiate infection or deliver toxin into host cells. Owing to the complex nature of this cellular process, the molecular mechanisms that regulate this pathway remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we use rotavirus (RV) as a model and identify drebrin as a regulatory protein that restricts the cell entry of multiple viruses. We demonstrate that genetic depletion or chemical inhibition of drebrin leads to enhanced RV infection in vitro and increased diarrhea incidence and virus shedding in vivo. Our current study provides insights into endocytosis regulation in general and highlights the potential broad application of blocking drebrin to augment the uptake of viruses and other dynamin-mediated cargo. Despite the wide administration of several effective vaccines, rotavirus (RV) remains the single most important etiological agent of severe diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide, with an annual mortality of over 200,000 people. RV attachment and internalization into target cells is mediated by its outer capsid protein VP4. To better understand the molecular details of RV entry, we performed tandem affinity purification coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry to map the host proteins that interact with VP4. We identified an actin-binding protein, drebrin (DBN1), that coprecipitates and colocalizes with VP4 during RV infection. Importantly, blocking DBN1 function by siRNA silencing, CRISPR knockout (KO), or chemical inhibition significantly increased host cell susceptibility to RV infection. Dbn1 KO mice exhibited higher incidence of diarrhea and more viral antigen shedding in their stool samples compared with the wild-type littermates. In addition, we found that uptake of other dynamin-dependent cargos, including transferrin, cholera toxin, and multiple viruses, was also enhanced in DBN1-deficient cells. Inhibition of cortactin or dynamin-2 abrogated the increased virus entry observed in DBN1-deficient cells, suggesting that DBN1 suppresses dynamin-mediated endocytosis via interaction with cortactin. Our study unveiled an unexpected role of DBN1 in restricting the entry of RV and other viruses into host cells and more broadly to function as a crucial negative regulator of diverse dynamin-dependent endocytic pathways.
Repeated cold exposures do not improve cooling efficiency and exercise performance

Repeated cold exposures have been shown to lead to minor acclimation effects, including hypothermic adaptation. We hypothesized that such adaptation would potentially improve pre-cooling efficiency, reflected in improved subsequent exercise performance. Eight healthy males were exposed to cooling (ice-vest) for ten consecutive days while resting for 60 min in a climatic chamber at a temperature of 20.8 ± 0.6 °C and 47 ± 2% relative humidity. On the 1 st , 5 th and 10 th day, cooling was followed by i) 30 min submaximal exercise with cycling at 65 % peak 2 O V & and ii) graded exercise test until exhaustion, performed at a temperature of 30.8 ± 0.3 °C and 72 ± 3 % relative humidity. We did not observe any effect of repetitive cooling on skin blood flow or any changes in intestinal or skin temperatures. Consequently, no changes in body heat storage were observed. Nevertheless, on 10 th day the participants felt less cold and felt less thermally uncomfortable (p < 0.05) compared to the 1 st day. For the graded exercise, time to exhaustion was similar for 1 st (14:51 ± 05:25 min), 5 th (15:32 ± 05:27 min) and 10 th day (15:29 ± 05:21 min). It is concluded that although repeated cooling improves thermal sensation and thermal comfort, it does not have any effect on cooling efficiency and exercise performance. Thus, repeated use of an ice-vest does not lead to advantageous or disadvantageous effects on exercise performance in the heat. Repeated cold exposures, cooling efficiency and exercise performance
Extracellular Matrix Markers for Disease Progression and Follow-Up of Therapies in Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy V30M TTR-Related

Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy (FAP) is a disorder characterized by the extracellular deposition of fibrillar Transthyretin (TTR) amyloid, with a special involvement of the peripheral nerve. Several extracellular matrix proteins have been found elevated in tissues from FAP patients, namely metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) and biglycan. In this work we assessed the levels of MMP-9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1), NGAL, biglycan and chondroitin sulphate (CSPG) in an FAP V30M TTR-related transgenic mouse model at different stages of TTR deposition and after two different treatment approaches to remove fibrillar deposits. Immunohistochemistry or RT-PCR analysis showed that biglycan was already increased in animals presenting TTR deposited in a non-fibrillar state, whereas MMP-9, TIMP-1, NGAL and CSPG were elevated only in mice with TTR amyloid deposits. Mice treated with doxycycline, a TTR fibril disrupter, presented lower levels of MMP-9, TIMP-1 and NGAL, suggestive of matrix recovery. Mice immunized with TTR Y78F to remove TTR deposition showed significantly lower levels of all the five tested markers, suggesting removal of fibrillar and non-fibrillar deposits. Cellular studies using oligomeric TTR showed induction of MMP-9 when compared to soluble TTR, large aggregates or fibrils. Furthermore, this induction was neutralized by an anti-receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) antibody, indicating RAGE engagement in this process. Further studies in a larger number of tissue samples will indicate the application of these ECM markers in parallel with Congo Red staining in tissue characterization of pre-clinical and clinical stages in FAP and other amyloidoses.
Optimal Design of Nonlinear-Phase FIR Filters With Prescribed Phase Error

Constrained least-squares design and constrained Chebyshev design of one- and two-dimensional nonlinear-phase FIR filters with prescribed phase error are considered in this paper by a unified semi-infinite positive-definite quadratic programming approach. In order to obtain unique optimal solutions, we propose to impose constraints on the complex approximation error and the phase error. By introducing a sigmoid phase-error constraint bound function, the group-delay error can be greatly reduced. A Goldfarb-Idnani based algorithm is presented to solve the semi-infinite positive-definite quadratic program resulting from the constrained least-squares design problem, and then applied after some modifications to the constrained Chebyshev design problem, which is proved in this paper to be equivalent also to a semi-infinite positive-definite quadratic program. Through design examples, the proposed method is compared with several existing methods. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.