Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Shrinkage Reducing Admixture on Properties of Pumping Concrete

In order to improve the crack resistance of pumping concrete, effect of shrinkage reducing admixture on the performance of pumping concrete was stuied, the results showed that dry shrinkage decreased obviously when shrinkage reducing admixture was added into pump concrete , and 28d shrinkage can be reduced by over 40% when the dosage of shrinkage reducing admixture was 1.5% , while the shrinkage reducing admixture can significantly improve the fresh pumping concrete workability, improve compressive strength of 28d, but the flexura strength decreases slightly.
Atmospheric Moisture Content over Europe and the Northern Atlantic

Water vapor plays a major role in the process of radiation, cloud formation, energy exchange within a system, and remains a key component of the Earth’s atmosphere. The purpose of this study is to examine the water vapor content of the troposphere over Europe and the Northern Atlantic. Both temporal and spatial differences were examined for total column water vapor (TCWV) and vertically integrated water vapor flux (IWVF) based on ERA-Interim reanalysis data. The statistical relationship between circulation patterns, as expressed by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) modes, and TCWV were examined, as were statistical relationships between distinguished advection types and TCWV and IWVF. The study confirmed the significance of atmospheric circulation in the formation of moisture content in the winter season (i.e., January) and its markedly lower impact in other seasons. The relationships noted in the study are characterized by statistically significant spatial differentiation. Spatial pattern analysis was used to identify six regions with different moisture content over the course of the year. The boundaries of the regions confirm the significant role of local factors impacting moisture content.
Sulfate but Not Thiosulfate Reduces Calculated and Measured Urinary Ionized Calcium and Supersaturation: Implications for the Treatment of Calcium Renal Stones

Background Urinary sulfate (SO4 2−) and thiosulfate (S2O3 2−) can potentially bind with calcium and decrease kidney stone risk. We modeled the effects of these species on the concentration of ionized calcium (iCa) and on supersaturation (SS) of calcium oxalate (CaOx) and calcium phosphate (CaP), and measured their in vitro effects on iCa and the upper limit of stability (ULM) of these salts. Methods Urine data from 4 different types of stone patients were obtained from the Mayo Nephrology Clinic (Model 1). A second data set was obtained from healthy controls and hypercalciuric stone formers in the literature who had been treated with sodium thiosulfate (STS) (Model 2). The Joint Expert Speciation System (JESS) was used to calculate iCa and SS. In Model 1, these parameters were calculated as a function of sulfate and thiosulfate concentrations. In Model 2, data from pre- and post STS urines were analyzed. ULM and iCa were determined in human urine as a function of sulfate and thiosulfate concentrations. Results Calculated iCa and SS values for all calcium salts decreased with increasing sulfate concentration. Thiosulfate had no effect on these parameters. In Model 2, calculated iCa and CaOx SS increased after STS treatment, but CaP SS decreased, perhaps due to a decrease in pH after STS treatment. In confirmatory in vitro experiments supplemental sulfate, but not thiosulfate, significantly increased the calcium needed to achieve the ULM of CaP and tended to increase the oxalate needed to reach the ULM of CaOx. Sulfate also significantly decreased iCa in human urine, while thiosulfate had no effect. Conclusion Increasing urinary sulfate could theoretically reduce CaOx and CaP stone risk. Although STS may reduce CaP stone risk by decreasing urinary pH, it might also paradoxically increase iCa and CaOx SS. As such, STS may not be a viable treatment option for stone disease.
Elastic turbulence in curvilinear flows of polymer solutions

Following our first report (A Groisman and V Steinberg 2000 Nature 405 53), we present an extended account of experimental observations of elasticity-induced turbulence in three different systems: a swirling flow between two plates, a Couette–Taylor (CT) flow between two cylinders, and a flow in a curvilinear channel (Dean flow). All three set-ups had a high ratio of the width of the region available for flow to the radius of curvature of the streamlines. The experiments were carried out with dilute solutions of high-molecular-weight polyacrylamide in concentrated sugar syrups. High polymer relaxation time and solution viscosity ensured prevalence of non-linear elastic effects over inertial non-linearity, and development of purely elastic instabilities at low Reynolds number (Re) in all three flows. Above the elastic instability threshold, flows in all three systems exhibit features of developed turbulence. They include: (i) randomly fluctuating fluid motion excited in a broad range of spatial and temporal scales and (ii) significant increase in the rates of momentum and mass transfer (compared with those expected for a steady flow with a smooth velocity profile). Phenomenology, driving mechanisms and parameter dependence of the elastic turbulence are compared with those of the conventional high-Re hydrodynamic turbulence in Newtonian fluids. Some similarities as well as multiple principal differences were found. In two out of three systems (swirling flow between two plates and flow in the curvilinear channel), power spectra of velocity fluctuations decayed rather quickly, following power laws with exponents of about −3.5. It suggests that, being random in time, the flow is rather smooth in space, in the sense that the main contribution to deformation and mixing (and, possibly, elastic energy) is coming from flow at the largest scale of the system. This situation, random in time and smooth in space, is analogous to flows at small scales (below the Kolmogorov dissipation scale) in high-Re turbulence.
Biophysical characterization of human breast tissues by photoluminescence excitation-emission spectroscopy

Abstract Fluorescence excitation-emission spectroscopy was used to investigate specimens of normal and malignant human breast tissues. Measurements were performed in two spectral regions: in the excitation range from 335nm to 400nm and emission range from 430nm to 625 nm, and in the excitation range from 400nm to 470nm and emission range from 500nm to 640 nm. It was found that fluorescence spectra are composed mainly of the emissions of extracellular proteins and that the differences in the intensity of their emissions reveal the changes in the tissue structure and morphology. These differences could be best observed in the emission spectra excited with 370 nm, 425nm and 455nm radiation. Statistical analysis revealed several spectral subregions that exhibited extremely significant statistical difference between normal and malignant breast tissues. The origin of these differences was elaborated, and prospects for optical diagnostics of breast cancer was discussed.
Antiinflammatory effects of aprepitant coadministration with cART regimen containing ritonavir in HIV-infected adults.

BACKGROUND HIV-infected individuals, even well controlled with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART), have systemic inflammation and comorbidities. Substance P (SP) is an undecapeptide, which mediates neurotransmission and inflammation through its cognate neurokinin 1 receptor (NK1R). Plasma SP levels are elevated in HIV-infected individuals. The FDA-approved antiemetic aprepitant, an NK1R antagonist, has anti-HIV effects and antiinflammatory actions. We evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics, and antiinflammatory properties of aprepitant in HIV-positive individuals receiving cART. METHODS We conducted a phase 1B study of 12 HIV-positive individuals on a ritonavir-containing regimen (HIV viral load less than 40 copies/ml and CD4 > 400 cells/μl). Participants received open-label aprepitant 375 mg per day for 28 days and were followed for an additional 30 days. Changes in plasma levels of proinflammatory markers were assessed using flow cytometry, ELISA, luminex, and SOMAscan assays. RESULTS The mean peak aprepitant plasma concentration was 30.7 ± 15.3 μg/ml at day 14 and 23.3 ± 12.3 μg/ml at day 28. Aprepitant treatment resulted in decreased plasma SP levels and affected 176 plasma proteins (56 after FDR) and several metabolic pathways, including inflammation and lipid metabolism. No change in soluble CD163 was observed. Aprepitant treatment was associated with a moderate increases in total and HDL cholesterol and affected select hematologic and metabolic markers, which returned to baseline levels 30 days after aprepitant treatment was stopped. There were 12 mild and 10 moderate adverse events (AE). CONCLUSIONS Aprepitant is safe and well tolerated. The antiinflammatory properties of aprepitant make it a possible adjunctive therapy for comorbid conditions associated with HIV infection. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02154360). FUNDING This research was funded by NIH UO1 MH090325, P30 MH097488, and PO1 MH105303.
Piezoelectric Potential in Single-Crystalline ZnO Nanohelices Based on Finite Element Analysis

Electric potential produced in deformed piezoelectric nanostructures is of significance for both fundamental study and practical applications. To reveal the piezoelectric property of ZnO nanohelices, the piezoelectric potential in single-crystal nanohelices was simulated by finite element method calculations. For a nanohelix with a length of 1200 nm, a mean coil radius of 150 nm, five active coils, and a hexagonal coiled wire with a side length 100 nm, a compressing force of 100 nN results in a potential of 1.85 V. This potential is significantly higher than the potential produced in a straight nanowire with the same length and applied force. Maintaining the length and increasing the number of coils or mean coil radius leads to higher piezoelectric potential in the nanohelix. Appling a force along the axial direction produces higher piezoelectric potential than in other directions. Adding lateral forces to an existing axial force can change the piezoelectric potential distribution in the nanohelix, while the maximum piezoelectric potential remains largely unchanged in some cases. This research demonstrates the promising potential of ZnO nanohelices for applications in sensors, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices, nanorobotics, and energy sciences.
Comparison of the Spatial Characteristics of Four Remotely Sensed Leaf Area Index Products over China: Direct Validation and Relative Uncertainties

Leaf area index (LAI) is a key input for many land surface models, ecological models, and yield prediction models. In order to make the model simulation and/or prediction more reliable and applicable, it is crucial to know the characteristics and uncertainties of remotely sensed LAI products before they are input into models. In this study, we conducted a comparison of four global remotely sensed LAI products—Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS), Global LAI Product of Beijing Normal University (GLOBALBNU), Global LAI Map of Chinese Academy of Sciences (GLOBMAP), and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) LAI, while the former three products are newly developed by three Chinese research groups on the basis of the MODIS land reflectance product over China between 2001 and 2011. Direct validation by comparing the four products to ground LAI observations both globally and over China demonstrates that GLASS LAI shows the best performance, with R2 = 0.70 and RMSE = 0.96 globally and R2 = 0.94 and RMSE = 0.61 over China; MODIS performs worst (R2 = 0.55, RMSE = 1.23 globally and R2 = 0.03, RMSE = 2.12 over China), and GLOBALBNU and GLOBMAP performs moderately. Comparison of the four products shows that they are generally consistent with each other, giving the smallest spatial correlation coefficient of 0.7 and the relative standard deviation around the order of 0.3. Compared with MODIS LAI, GLOBALBNU LAI is the most similar, followed by GLASS LAI and GLOBMAP. Large differences mainly occur in southern regions of China. LAI difference analysis indicates that evergreen needleleaf forest (ENF), woody savannas (SAV) biome types and temperate dry hot summer, temperate warm summer dry winter and temperate hot summer no dry season climate types correspond to high standard deviation, while ENF and grassland (GRA) biome types and temperate warm summer dry winter and cold dry winter warm summer climate types are responsible for the large relative standard deviation of the four products. Our results indicate that although the three newly developed products have improved the accuracy of LAI estimates, much work remains to improve the LAI products especially in ENF, SAV, and GRA regions and temperate climate zones. Findings from our study can provide guidance to communities regarding the performance of different LAI products over mainland China.
On the Optimization of Deep Networks: Implicit Acceleration by Overparameterization

Conventional wisdom in deep learning states that increasing depth improves expressiveness but complicates optimization. This paper suggests that, sometimes, increasing depth can speed up optimization. The effect of depth on optimization is decoupled from expressiveness by focusing on settings where additional layers amount to overparameterization - linear neural networks, a well-studied model. Theoretical analysis, as well as experiments, show that here depth acts as a preconditioner which may accelerate convergence. Even on simple convex problems such as linear regression with $\ell_p$ loss, $p>2$, gradient descent can benefit from transitioning to a non-convex overparameterized objective, more than it would from some common acceleration schemes. We also prove that it is mathematically impossible to obtain the acceleration effect of overparametrization via gradients of any regularizer.
Pediatric National Surgical Quality Improvement Program: Useful for Quality Improvement in Craniosynostosis Surgery?

Abstract The American College of Surgeons and the American Pediatric Surgical Association collaborate to provide pediatric hospitals with multispeciality surgical outcomes data through the Pediatric National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP Peds). The authors used this national multicenter database to describe 30-day outcomes from craniosynostosis surgery and identify associations with perioperative events and blood transfusion. Data from NSQIP Peds were used to describe children undergoing craniosynostosis surgery. The authors examined statistical association of clinical risk factors with the defined end point outcomes of perioperative complications and blood transfusion. Five hundred seventy-two surgeries were included. By Common Procedural Terminology codes, 93 identified as single suture synostosis, the remainder as multiple or unknown suture involvement. Location of the affected suture is not captured. Mean surgical time was 196.84 minutes (SD 113.46). Mean length of stay was 4.22 days (SD 5.04). Sixty-seven percent of patients received blood transfusions. 3.15% were other perioperative occurrences, including infection, wound disruption, unplanned reintubation, stroke/hemorrhage, cardiac arrest, seizures, thromboembolism. 2.8% were readmitted; 2.45% underwent reoperation within 30 days. Duration of surgery and length of hospital stay significantly differed in the presence of blood transfusion versus none. On multivariate analysis, duration from anesthesia start to surgery start, duration from surgery end to anesthesia end, and duration of operation were risk factors for blood transfusion. Pediatric NSQIP gives a national overview of 30-day outcome metrics in craniosynostosis surgery. Perioperative adverse event rate was 3.15%. Duration of surgery and duration of anesthesia were significantly associated with blood transfusion. The authors identified opportunities for pediatric NSQIP database improvement.
Crosslinked Poly(2-oxazoline)s as “Green” Materials for Electronic Applications

Poly(2-nonyl-2-oxazoline)80-stat-poly(2-dec-9′-enyl-2-oxazoline)20 and poly(2-dec-9′-enyl-2-oxazoline)100 can be synthesized from the cationic ring-opening polymerization of monomers that can be derived from fatty acids from renewable resources. These (co)poly(2-oxazoline)s can be crosslinked with di- and trifunctional mercapto compounds using the UV-induced thiol-ene reaction. The complex permittivity of the corresponding networks increases with the temperature and decreases with the network density. In a frequency range from 10−2 to 106 Hz and at temperatures ranging from −20 to 40 °C, the changes of the real part of the complex permittivity as well as the loss factor can be explained by interfacial polarization within the material. At a temperature of 20 °C and a frequency of 50 Hz, the permittivity of the crosslinked (co)poly(2-oxazoline)s covers a range from 4.29 to 4.97, and the loss factors are in the range from 0.030 to 0.093. The electrical conductivities of these polymer networks span a range from 5 × 10−12 to 8 × 10−9 S/m, classifying these materials as medium insulators. Notably, the values for the permittivity, loss factor and conductivity of these copoly(2-oxazoline)s are in the same range as for polyamides, and, hence, these copoly(2-oxazoline)-based networks may be referred to as “green” alternatives for polyamides as insulators in electronic applications.
Trade-Offs and Depletion in Choice

Four experiments examine why choices deplete executive resources. The authors show that the resolution of trade-offs is a driver of depletion effects arising from choice, and the larger the trade-offs, the greater is the depletion effect. The authors also find that choice difficulty not related to trade-offs does not influence the depleting effect of the choices. Finally, the authors find that though people can intuit some depletion effects, they do not intuit that choices or trade-offs within choices might be depleting and therefore fail to predict that larger trade-offs are more depleting.
Localizing Region-Based Active Contours

In this paper, we propose a natural framework that allows any region-based segmentation energy to be re-formulated in a local way. We consider local rather than global image statistics and evolve a contour based on local information. Localized contours are capable of segmenting objects with heterogeneous feature profiles that would be difficult to capture correctly using a standard global method. The presented technique is versatile enough to be used with any global region-based active contour energy and instill in it the benefits of localization. We describe this framework and demonstrate the localization of three well-known energies in order to illustrate how our framework can be applied to any energy. We then compare each localized energy to its global counterpart to show the improvements that can be achieved. Next, an in-depth study of the behaviors of these energies in response to the degree of localization is given. Finally, we show results on challenging images to illustrate the robust and accurate segmentations that are possible with this new class of active contour models.
Managing Market Thickness in Online Business-to-Business Markets

We explore marketplace design in the context of a business-to-business platform specializing in liquidation auctions. Even when the platform’s aggregate levels of supply and demand remain fixed, we establish that the platform’s ability to use its design levers to manage the availability of supply over time yields significant value. We study two such levers, each using the platform’s availability of supply as a means to incentivize participation from buyers who decide strategically when/how often to participate. First, the platform’s listing policy sets the ending times of incoming auctions (hence, the frequency of market clearing). Exploiting a natural experiment, we illustrate that consolidating auctions’ ending times to certain weekdays increases the platform’s revenues by 7.3% mainly by inducing a higher level of bidder participation. The second lever is a recommendation system that can be used to reveal information about real-time market thickness to potential bidders. The optimization of these levers highlights a novel trade-off. Namely, when the platform consolidates auctions’ ending times, more bidders may participate in the marketplace (demand-side competition); but ultimately auctions for substitutable goods cannibalize one another (supply-side competition). To optimize these design decisions, we estimate a structural model that endogenizes bidders’ dynamic behavior, that is, their decisions on whether/how often to participate in the marketplace and how much to bid. We find that appropriately designing a recommendation system yields an additional revenue increase (on top of the benefits obtained by optimizing the platform’s listing policy) by reducing supply-side cannibalization and altering the composition of participating bidders. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.
Analysis of Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors from Clerodendranthus spicatus with Xanthine Oxidase Immobilized Silica Coated Fe3O4 Nanoparticles

In this study, xanthine oxidase immobilized silica coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2-XO) were successfully prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscope, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The average diameter of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles was about 300 nm to 350 nm with a shell thickness of 60 nm. The maximum saturation magnetization of the Fe3O4@SiO2-XO nanoparticles was 44.9 emu/g, which ensured the separation from the medium within one minute by using an ordinary magnet. A xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitor screening method using Fe3O4@SiO2-XO nanoparticles was established and utilized in the extract of Clerodendranthus spicatus. Under the optimized conditions, two compounds were screened out and identified as gardenin B and eupatorin. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of these two compounds were 1.488 μg/mL and 11.197 μg/mL, respectively. The interactions between these two compounds and XO were investigated by the fluorescence spectroscopic method. The results suggested that the quenching effects of gardenin B and eupatorin were due to a static quenching mechanism. Furthermore, gardenin B showed stronger binding capacity than that of eupatorin. In conclusion, this screening method exhibited efficiency and reusability in screening, identification and analysis of enzyme inhibitors from complex mixtures.
Non‐Isothermal Crystallization Kinetics of PA6/Attapulgite Composites Prepared by Melt Compounding

The non‐isothermal crystallization behaviors of neat polyamide 6 (PA6) and PA6/attapulgite (ATB) composites were examined using differential scanning calorimetry. The results show that ATB acts as a nucleator for PA6 matrix, accelerating the crystallization, and simultaneously obstructs the crystallization especially for the composites with higher ATB content. The analysis results using the Jeziorny and Liu equations verify the dual actions of the nucleation and the obstruction of crystallization of the ATB in the PA6 matrix. Kissinger's method is employed to obtain the activation energy of the crystallization processes; the results further indicate that the addition of ATB may also cause the above actions. It is speculated that there is a very complicated crystallization mechanism in the PA6/ATB composites based on the analysis of Avrami exponents obtained by the Jeziorny model.