Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Growth of Small Corrosion Fatigue Cracks in Alloy 7075

Abstract The corrosion fatigue crack growth characteristics of small (>35 μ m) surface and corner cracks in aluminum alloy 7075 is established. The early stage of crack growth is studied by performing in situ long focal length microscope (500×) crack length measurements in laboratory air and 1% sodium chloride (NaCl) environments. To quantify the “small crack effect” in the corrosive environment, the corrosion fatigue crack propagation behavior of small cracks is compared to long through-the-thickness cracks grown under identical experimental conditions. In salt water, long crack constant K max growth rates are similar to small crack da/dN. 1.0 Introduction The propagation of small fatigue cracks from surface defects (5 μm to 10 μm) constitutes a large percentage (50% to 90%) of the total fatigue life of structural components [1]. Thus, accurate prediction of small crack da/dN is required for damage tolerant based life predictions. A problem arises because small cracks propagate at unpredictable accelerated rates compared to long fatigue cracks [2]. The difference in long and small crack growth behavior is due to numerous effects (i.e., diminished crack-tip shielding (closure) effects at small crack sizes). Compounding the small crack problem are complex environmental effects. Research on high strength steels in salt water has shown that chemically short (< 500-μm) cracks propagate 1.5 to 500 times faster than long cracks subjected to the same mechanical driving force [3]. Limited data on 2000 series alloys exposed to deaerated salt water suggest little chemical-crack-length effect [4]. The purpose of this work is to study the chemical crack length effect in environmentally sensitive alloy 7075-T6.
Use of the Centaur TnI-Ultra assay for detection of myocardial infarction and adverse events in patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND We determined the diagnostic accuracy of the Advia Centaur TnI-Ultra assay for detecting myocardial infarction (MI) and assessing risk of adverse events in patients presenting with ischemic symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome. METHODS We measured cardiac troponin I (cTnI) on admission and 6-24 h after admission (follow-up) in plasma specimens from 371 consecutive patients. The end point was the first of cardiac event or death within 60 days. We estimated survival curves using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared groups with the log rank statistic. RESULTS MI was established in 49 patients (13%). Clinical sensitivities and specificities for MI based on the 99th percentile (0.04 microg/L) were 74% and 84%, respectively, on admission and 94% and 81% at follow-up. ROC curves showed significantly higher accuracy for MI in the follow-up specimen compared with admission (P = 0.001). Overall there were 2 cardiac deaths, 1 noncardiac death, 49 MIs, 7 coronary artery bypass grafts, and 36 percutaneous coronary interventions in 59 patients during follow-up. The event rate in those with cTnI <0.006 microg/L was significantly lower than in groups with cTnI 0.006-0.04 microg/L, >0.04-0.10 microg/L, or >0.10 microg/L (2.8% vs 11.1%, 24.1%, 55.1%, respectively; P <0.0001). Relative risks for the increasing cTnI cutoff groups were 3.9 (95% CI 1.2-13), 8.9 (2.4-34), and 25 (7.3-82) after adjustment for age, diabetes, history of hypertension, previous MI, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. CONCLUSIONS The TnI-Ultra assay is a sensitive, early diagnostic biomarker for MI and an independent predictor of adverse events at any measurable cTnI in patients with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome.
Insights into the Genetic Architecture of Early Stage Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Genome-Wide Association Study Meta-Analysis

Genetic factors explain a majority of risk variance for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for late AMD implicate genes in complement, inflammatory and lipid pathways, the genetic architecture of early AMD has been relatively under studied. We conducted a GWAS meta-analysis of early AMD, including 4,089 individuals with prevalent signs of early AMD (soft drusen and/or retinal pigment epithelial changes) and 20,453 individuals without these signs. For various published late AMD risk loci, we also compared effect sizes between early and late AMD using an additional 484 individuals with prevalent late AMD. GWAS meta-analysis confirmed previously reported association of variants at the complement factor H (CFH) (peak P = 1.5×10−31) and age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2 (ARMS2) (P = 4.3×10−24) loci, and suggested Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) polymorphisms (rs2075650; P = 1.1×10−6) associated with early AMD. Other possible loci that did not reach GWAS significance included variants in the zinc finger protein gene GLI3 (rs2049622; P = 8.9×10−6) and upstream of GLI2 (rs6721654; P = 6.5×10−6), encoding retinal Sonic hedgehog signalling regulators, and in the tyrosinase (TYR) gene (rs621313; P = 3.5×10−6), involved in melanin biosynthesis. For a range of published, late AMD risk loci, estimated effect sizes were significantly lower for early than late AMD. This study confirms the involvement of multiple established AMD risk variants in early AMD, but suggests weaker genetic effects on the risk of early AMD relative to late AMD. Several biological processes were suggested to be potentially specific for early AMD, including pathways regulating RPE cell melanin content and signalling pathways potentially involved in retinal regeneration, generating hypotheses for further investigation.
Utility of Ki‐67, p53, Bcl‐2, and Cox‐2 biomarkers for low‐grade endometrial cancer and disordered proliferative/benign hyperplastic endometrium by imprint cytology

In this report, the authors examined the characteristic features of morphology and molecular biology of Ki‐67, p53, Bcl‐2, and cyclooxygenase‐2 (Cox‐2) immunocytochemistry in low‐grade endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (LG‐ENEC) and disordered proliferative (DP)/benign hyperplastic (BH) endometrium. We carried out a prospective study by collecting endometrial imprints from freshly resected uteri over a 20‐month period and finally 104 patients were evaluated with endometrial cytology. We focused on LG‐ENECs, as well as on BH endometrium and its precursor lesion, DP endometrium, firstly because of the overlapping cytomorphology of these pathologic entities and secondly because of the lack of agreement in the differential diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia from complex hyperplasia and well‐differentiated endometrial carcinoma, even in curettage specimens. Ki‐67 expression of LG‐ENEC showed predominance in comparison with DP/BH endometrium. Furthermore, high levels of Bcl‐2 (>50%) were expressed only in DP/BH endometrium. DP/BH endometrium was negative for p53 marker, except from two cases of BH endometrium. Cox‐2 expression ≥50% was found only in LG‐ENECs. Using Ki‐67, Bcl‐2, p53, and Cox‐2 markers, we managed to distinguish fully DP/BH endometrium from LG‐ENEC. Higher Ki‐67%/Bcl‐2% rate and also higher Cox‐2 expression were found in LG‐ENEC cases with FIGO stage ≥ IC, than in cases with FIGO stage < IC. The immunocytochemical findings from a combination of Ki‐67, p53, Bcl‐2, and Cox‐2, may differentiate LG‐ENEC from DP/BH endometrium with overlapping cytomorphology. Immunocytochemistry appeared to be useful also for the correlation between LG‐ENEC and FIGO stage. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2014;42: 134–142. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Response of the Indian Ocean Dipole Asymmetry to Anthropogenic Aerosols and Greenhouse Gases

AbstractThe tropical Indian Ocean has experienced a faster warming rate in the west than in the east over the twentieth century. The warming pattern resembles a positive Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) that is well captured by climate models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), forced with the two main anthropogenic forcings, long-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs), and aerosols. However, much less is known about how GHGs and aerosols influence the IOD asymmetry, including the negative sea surface temperature (SST) skewness in the east IOD pole (IODE). Here, it is shown that the IODE SST negative skewness is more enhanced by aerosols than by GHGs using single-factor forcing experiments from 10 CMIP5 models. Aerosols induce a greater mean zonal thermocline gradient along the tropical Indian Ocean than that forced by GHGs, whereby the thermocline is deeper in the east relative to the west. This generates strong asymmetry in the SST response to thermocline anomalies between warm and cool I.
Pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic integration and modelling of oxytetracycline for the calf pathogens Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida

A calf tissue cage model was used to study the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of oxytetracycline in serum, inflamed (exudate) and noninflamed (transudate) tissue cage fluids. After intramuscular administration, the PK was characterized by a long mean residence time of 28.3 hr. Based on minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for six isolates each of Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida, measured in serum, integration of in vivo PK and in vitro PD data established area under serum concentration-time curve (AUC0-∞ )/MIC ratios of 30.0 and 24.3 hr for M. haemolytica and P. multocida, respectively. Corresponding AUC0-∞ /MIC ratios based on MICs in broth were 656 and 745 hr, respectively. PK-PD modelling of in vitro bacterial time-kill curves for oxytetracycline in serum established mean AUC0-24 hr /MIC ratios for 3log10 decrease in bacterial count of 27.5 hr (M. haemolytica) and 60.9 hr (P. multocida). Monte Carlo simulations predicted target attainment rate (TAR) dosages. Based on the potency of oxytetracycline in serum, the predicted 50% TAR single doses required to achieve a bacteriostatic action covering 48-hr periods were 197 mg/kg (M. haemolytica) and 314 mg/kg (P. multocida), respectively, against susceptible populations. Dosages based on the potency of oxytetracycline in broth were 25- and 27-fold lower (7.8 and 11.5 mg/kg) for M. haemolytica and P. multocida, respectively.
Shaping Senior Leader Officer Talent: Using a multi-dimensional model of talent to analyze the effect of Personnel Management Decisions and attrition on the Flow of Army Officer Talent Throughout the Officer Career Model

Army Officer requirements for operational talent decline precipitously with increasing rank. While 80 percent of Junior Officers serve in operational billets, only 20 percent of Senior Leaders serve in operational billets. Yet despite this operational talent requirement inversion, Army development efforts tend to focus disproportionately on building operational talent. Moreover, career progression through the rank of General Officer tends to excessively favor officers who have spent most of their career in operational billets. By opening additional opportunities for officers who serve outside of operational billets to reach senior leader ranks, and by exposing more officers to opportunities that develop non-operational talents, the Army can mitigate against talent gaps at senior ranks. This analysis employs discrete event simulation to quantify the extent to which attrition, promotion, and the dynamically changing need for two types of talent (operational and non-operational) impact the distribution of talent available across the Army's officer ranks.
Changing Families, Changing Responsibilities: Family Obligations Following Divorce and Remarriage

Changing Families, Changing Responsibilities: Family Obligations Following Divorce and Remarriage. Lawrence H. Ganong & Marilyn Coleman. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. 1999. 203 pp. ISBN 0-8058-2691-2. $45.00 cloth. Marilyn Coleman and Larry Ganong's most recent book is an extensive, empirical exploration designed to investigate normative beliefs about intergenerational obligations. The book is well written, methodologically dependable, and contributes to the literature on caregiving, parenting, and financial responsibility as a function of family structure and transition. A core element of their work centers on how normative beliefs about family obligations are connected to divorce and remarriage. The book integrates a total of 13 related studies and includes the reinterpretation of previously published works, as well as new information and insights that appear in the book for the first time. According to Coleman and Ganong, family responsibilities are viewed as a "hot" political button worthy of inquiry, given the impact that widespread normative obligations have on behavior and policy. After documenting well-known demographic changes in families, as well as changing kinship definitions, the authors emphasize the centrality of parent-child obligations and the need to understand the nature of these obligations in a contemporary context. The idea of studying family obligations across the life span and in varying contexts is worthwhile, and so is Coleman and Ganong's attempt. To assess beliefs about family obligations, the authors employ and present a vignette approach to a randomly selected sample of more than 6,500 adults living in Missouri. The authors are meticulous in describing their approach and honest about what they can and cannot say based on their findings. They are clear that their work only uncovers beliefs, not what study participants would actually do in a given situation. Overall, the study gives empirical grounding to the importance of genetic ties. Chapters 2 through 7 take the reader through various permutations of family structure and obligations. Most interesting were the chapters on parental financial responsibility and obligations after custody and divorce. A finding with particularly interesting implications for families: the effects of divorce may make obligations more conditional between middle-generation parents and their children but connect to receiving greater help from older generations. Subsequent chapters deal with adults' obligations to stepparents and in-laws, filial obligations, and responsibilities to elders and divorce. …
Evaluation of modulation techniques to eliminate neutral point oscillation of the four pole NPC converter

Neutral point potential oscillation at low frequency is an important issue in four pole neutral point clamped converter since this leads to the extra voltage stress on the split DC-link capacitors. The detailed analysis indicates such oscillation is closely associated with the neutral point current at low frequency, so this paper explores their relationship, and presents the modulation techniques to eliminate the neutral point oscillation. This study also evaluates their performance with the conventional modulation techniques. Finally, the laboratory test results are presented to support the analysis.
Topography of the insertion of LamB protein into the outer membrane of Escherichia coli wild-type and lac-lamB cells

The appearance of newly induced LamB protein at the cell surface of Escherichia coli was followed topographically by immuno-electron microscopy. LamB protein was induced in E. coli wild-type or lac-lamB cells for a short period of time (4 to 6 min), such that the overall level of LamB protein in induced cells was at least twofold higher than that in uninduced cells. Antibodies bound to LamB protein exposed at the cell surface were labeled with a protein A-gold probe, and the probe distribution in briefly induced cells was compared to that in uninduced cells. Analysis of large numbers of cells showed that newly inserted LamB protein appeared homogeneously over the entire cell surface, both in wild-type cells and in lac-lamB cells. A peak of insertion which was observed at the division site of the cell was also observed in the absence of induction and in control experiments in which a nonspecific probe was used. It is concluded therefore that insertion of LamB protein into the cell envelope of E. coli occurs at multiple sites over the entire cell surface. The average amount of LamB protein which appeared at the cell surface after induction was determined for various cell size classes. It was found that cells of various size classes all synthesized LamB protein after induction, indicating that synthesis of the protein was not restricted to cells in a particular stage of the cell cycle. However, the rate of LamB synthesis was found to vary during the cell cycle: this rate was constant regardless of cell size in nondividing cells, whereas it increased in dividing cells. It is concluded that the accumulation of newly induced LamB protein follows a linear pattern.
Regional Contrast of Mesoscale Convective System Structure prior to and during Monsoon Onset across South America

AbstractIn this study, a 10-yr (1998–2007) climatology of observations from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite is used to study regional mechanisms of monsoon onset across tropical and subtropical South America. The approach is to contrast regional differences in the structure, intensity, and rainfall of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) prior to and after onset, in the context of thermodynamic conditions from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data. This is accomplished by analyzing the mean annual cycle time series, 10-yr frequency histograms, and 3-month-averaged values prior to and following onset in four regions of distinct rainfall variability. Observed MCS metrics and NCEP variables include lightning flash rate, convective rain fraction, height of the 30-dBZ isosurface, minimum 85-GHz polarization corrected temperature, and the fluxes of sensible and latent heat.The west-central Amazon region had a distinct maximum of MCS intensity 2 months p.
Determination of the Heterotic groups of Maize inbred lines and the Inheritance of their Resistance to the maize Weevil

Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky) is a major maize (Zea mays L) storage insect pest in the tropics. Fifty-two inbred lines developed for weevil resistance were crossed to two testers, A and B, to determine their heterotic groups and inheritance of resistance to maize weevil. For 10 testcrosses selected for performance by tester, the correspondent testcrosses onto the opposite tester and all the parents involved in those crosses, were included in the combining study. Of 52 inbred lines, 7 had significantly positive general combining ability (GCA) for yield, with a maximum GCA effect of 1.24 t ha -1 . Based on the specific combining ability (SCA) effect, 23 inbred lines were assigned to heterotic Group A, 24 to Group B, and 5 to both A and B. The combining ability test for weevil resistance revealed that only one inbred, WL118-9, was classified as moderately resistant with a susceptibility index (SI=5.4), two lines were moderately susceptible; and the remaining inbreds were susceptible to highly susceptible to the maize weevil. Additive and non-additive gene action were important for yield, but for weevil resistance, additive gene action was more important. Weevil resistance exists and is moderately heritable.
Children's understanding of intimate partner violence

CHILDREN’S UNDERSTANDING OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE Renee L. DeBoard-Lucas, B.A., M.S. Marquette University, 2011 There is a clear connection between exposure to interparental aggression and children’s own future episodes of violent behavior. What is significantly less underst ood is why this pattern develops. The current study used quantitative and semi-structured methods to identify factors that shape children’s understanding of intimate par tn r violence. Understanding violence was defined as including causal knowledge (Wh y does violence occur? ) and beliefs about the acceptability of intimate partner violenc e. Fa tors proposed to predict children’s causal attributions included mothers’ perceived causes of interparental aggression and exposure to different forms of violence, including interparental, parent-child, and neighborhood aggression. Perceived causes of intimat e partner violence, mothers’ beliefs about the acceptability of this type of viole nce, and children’s empathy and perspective taking skills were expected to predict children’s beliefs about the acceptability of intimate partner violence. Mothers’ acc eptability beliefs also were expected to moderate the relationship between exposure to violence and children’s own acceptability beliefs. Results suggested that mothers’ and chi ldren’s causal attributions were not related and that violence exposure did not predict their c ausal understanding of intimate partner violence. When children perceived aggression to be committed in self-defense, they found it more acceptable. Few direct relationshi ps were found between violence exposure and children’s acceptability beliefs; however, mothe rs’ beliefs about aggression significantly moderated these relationships. Findings hi ghlight the importance of context in shaping children’s understanding of intimate partne r violence.
Radiative forcing of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide: A significant revision of the methane radiative forcing

New calculations of the radiative forcing (RF) are presented for the three main well‐mixed greenhouse gases, methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. Methane's RF is particularly impacted because of the inclusion of the shortwave forcing; the 1750–2011 RF is about 25% higher (increasing from 0.48 W m−2 to 0.61 W m−2) compared to the value in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2013 assessment; the 100 year global warming potential is 14% higher than the IPCC value. We present new simplified expressions to calculate RF. Unlike previous expressions used by IPCC, the new ones include the overlap between CO2 and N2O; for N2O forcing, the CO2 overlap can be as important as the CH4 overlap. The 1750–2011 CO2 RF is within 1% of IPCC's value but is about 10% higher when CO2 amounts reach 2000 ppm, a value projected to be possible under the extended RCP8.5 scenario.
95-GHz scattering by terrain at near-grazing incidence

This study, consisting of three complimentary topics, examines the millimeter-wave backscattering behavior of terrain at incidence angles extending between 70 and 90/spl deg/, corresponding to grazing angles of 20/spl deg/ to 0/spl deg/. The first topic addresses the character of the statistical variability of the radar backscattering cross section per unit area /spl sigma//sub A/. Based on an evaluation of an extensive data set acquired at 95 GHz, it was determined that the Rayleigh fading model (which predicts that /spl sigma//sub A/ is exponentially distributed) provides an excellent fit to the measured data for various types of terrain covers, including bare surfaces, grasses, trees, dry snow, and wet snow. The second topic relates to the angular variability and dynamic range of the backscattering coefficient /spl sigma//sup 0/, particularly near grazing incidence. We provide a summary of data reported to date for each of several types of terrain covers. The last topic focuses on bare surfaces. A semi-empirical model for /spl sigma//sup 0/ is presented for vertical (VV), horizontal (HH), and cross (HV) polarizations. The model parameters include the incidence angle /spl theta/, the surface relative dielectric constant /spl epsiv/, and the surface roughness ks, where k=2/spl pi///spl lambda/ and s is the surface root mean square (RMS) height.