Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliability of the aging lead free solder joint

Solder materials demonstrate evolving microstructure and mechanical behavior that changes significantly with environmental exposures such as isothermal aging and thermal cycling. These aging effects are greatly exacerbated at higher temperatures typical of thermal cycling qualification tests for harsh environment electronic packaging. In the current study, mechanical measurements of thermal aging effects and material behavior evolution of lead free solders have been performed. Extreme care has been taken so that the fabricated solder uniaxial test specimens accurately reflect the solder materials present in actual lead free solder joints. A novel specimen preparation procedure has been developed where the solder uniaxial test specimens are formed in high precision rectangular cross-section glass tubes using a vacuum suction process. The tubes are then sent through a SMT reflow to re-melt the solder in the tubes and subject them to any desired temperature profile (i.e. same as actual solder joints). Using specimens fabricated with the developed procedure, isothermal aging effects and viscoplastic material behavior evolution have been characterized for 95.5Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC405) and 96.5Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) lead free solders, which are commonly used as the solder ball alloy in lead free BGAs and other components. Analogous tests were performed with 63Sn-37Pb eutectic solder samples for comparison purposes. In our total experimental program, samples have been solidified with both reflowed and water quenching temperature profiles, and isothermal aging has been performed at room temperature (25 degC) and elevated temperatures (100 degC, 125 degC and 150 degC). In this paper, we have concentrated on reporting the results of the room temperature aging experiments. Variations of the temperature dependent mechanical properties (elastic modulus, yield stress, ultimate strength, creep compliance, etc.) were observed and modeled as a function of room temperature aging time. Microstructural changes during room temperature aging have also been recorded for the solder alloys and correlated with the observed mechanical behavior changes
Rationale in Development Chat Messages: An Exploratory Study

Chat messages of development teams play an increasinglysignificant role in software development, having replacedemails in some cases. Chat messages contain informationabout discussed issues, considered alternatives and argumentationleading to the decisions made during software development. These elements, defined as rationale, are invaluable duringsoftware evolution for documenting and reusing developmentknowledge. Rationale is also essential for coping with changesand for effective maintenance of the software system. However, exploiting the rationale hidden in the chat messages is challengingdue to the high volume of unstructured messages covering a widerange of topics. This work presents the results of an exploratorystudy examining the frequency of rationale in chat messages, the completeness of the available rationale and the potential ofautomatic techniques for rationale extraction. For this purpose, we apply content analysis and machine learning techniques onmore than 8,700 chat messages from three software developmentprojects. Our results show that chat messages are a rich source ofrationale and that machine learning is a promising technique fordetecting rationale and identifying different rationale elements.
Development and validation of an immunochromatographic assay for the rapid detection of quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid, the major metabolite of carbadox in the edible tissues of pigs

A new method was developed for the determination of quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid, the marker residue of carbadox, in the edible tissues of food-producing animals using a colloidal gold probe-based immunochromatographic assay. The highly specific polyclonal antibody (PcAb), which was very sensitive to N-butylquinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid (BQCA) with an IC50 value of 2.38 ng ml−1, was selected for the development of an immunochromatographic assay (ICA). Only 5 min were required to perform this assay; it had a visual detection limit of 25 ng g−1 for quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid. The results of the analysis of quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid in animal tissues using the immunochromatographic assay showed good agreement with those obtained by HPLC. In conclusion, the method was rapid and accurate for screening residues of carbadox in the edible tissues of food-producing animals.
A 24 year survey of amputees in Hong Kong

A 24-year retrospective study of amputees was conducted at the Prosthetic and Orthotic Unit of the Kowloon Rehabilitation Centre, the first and largest rehabilitation centre in Hong Kong. A review was made of 1821 patients and a rising trend of amputee population was demonstrated probably related to the population growth. The ratio of lower limb to upper limb amputees was 1.83 to 1. The mean age of the amputees was 39 years. The commonest cause of upper limb amputation was trauma (89%) and of lower limb amputation was infection (35%). Vascular diseases were not as common in Chinese as in Caucasian communities. These patterns of amputee population indicate the demand for prosthetic service and provide guide-lines for future development.
Association mapping for chilling tolerance in elite flint and dent maize inbred lines evaluated in growth chamber and field experiments.

Chilling sensitivity of maize is a strong limitation for its cultivation in the cooler areas of the northern and southern hemisphere because reduced growth in early stages impairs on later biomass accumulation. Efficient breeding for chilling tolerance is hampered by both the complex physiological response of maize to chilling temperatures and the difficulty to accurately measure chilling tolerance in the field under fluctuating climatic conditions. For this research, we used genome-wide association (GWA) mapping to identify genes underlying chilling tolerance under both controlled and field conditions in a broad germplasm collection of 375 maize inbred lines genotyped with 56 110 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). We identified 19 highly significant association signals explaining between 5.7 and 52.5% of the phenotypic variance observed for early growth and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. The allelic effect of several SNPs identified for early growth was associated with temperature and incident radiation. Candidate genes involved in ethylene signalling, brassinolide, and lignin biosynthesis were found in their vicinity. The frequent involvement of candidate genes into signalling or gene expression regulation underlines the complex response of photosynthetic performance and early growth to climatic conditions, and supports pleiotropism as a major cause of co-locations of quantitative trait loci for these highly polygenic traits.
Thickness of Labial Alveolar Bone Overlying Healthy Maxillary and Mandibular Anterior Teeth

Aim This study aimed to measure the thickness of labial bone overlying maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth and the distance between cementoenamel junction and bone crest in a Persian population. Materials & Methods Two calibrated examiners evaluated tomographic data of 152 maxillary and 200 mandibular anterior teeth. Labial bone width was assessed at levels 1.0 to 5.0 mm apical to bone crest. Moreover, the distance between cementoenamel junction and bone crest was measured for both maxillary and mandibular teeth and its potential effect on the amount of labial bone thickness was assessed. Results One hundred-twenty nine maxillary central incisors, 77 lateral incisors, 70 canines, 105 mandibular central incisors, 103 lateral incisors and 81 canines were included for measurements. In maxilla, width of bone averaged 1.08mm, 1.11mm, and 1.3mm for central incisors, lateral incisors, and canines, respectively. Corresponding numbers for mandibular central incisors, lateral incisors, and canines were 0.74mm, 0.66mm and 0.40mm. High variation of cementoenamel junction to bone crest distance (range 0.5 to 5.15 mm) was detected. The mean amount of labial bone width was not statistically different in patients with different distances between cementoenamel junction and bone crest; except for mandibular lateral incisors. Conclusion The mean thickness of the labial alveolar bone overlying maxillary anterior teeth was found to be between 1 to 1.2 mm and between 0.5 to 0.8 mm for mandibular anterior teeth at the first 5 mm from bone crest in a Persian population.
F110I and R278C Troponin T Mutations That Cause Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Affect Muscle Contraction in Transgenic Mice and Reconstituted Human Cardiac Fibers*

We have studied the physiological effects of the troponin T (TnT) F110I and R278C mutations associated with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) in humans. Three to four-month-old transgenic (Tg) mice expressing F110I-TnT and R278C-TnT did not develop significant hypertrophy or ventricular fibrosis even after chronic exercise challenge. The F110I mutation impaired acute exercise tolerance, whereas R278C did not. Skinned papillary muscle fibers from transgenic mice expressing F110I-TnT demonstrated increased Ca2+ sensitivity of force and ATPase activity, and likewise an increased Ca2+ sensitivity of force was observed in F110I-TnT-reconstituted human cardiac muscle preparations. In contrast, no changes in force or the ATPase-pCa dependencies were observed in transgenic R278C fibers or in human fibers reconstituted with the R278C-TnT mutant. The maximal level of force development was dramatically decreased in both transgenic mice. However, the maximal ATPase was not different (R278C-TnT) or only slightly less (F110I-TnT) than that of non-Tg and WT-Tg littermates. Consequently, their ratios of ATPase/force (energy cost) at all Ca2+ concentrations were dramatically higher compared with non-Tg and WT-Tg fibers. This increase in energy cost most likely results from a decrease in force per myosin cross-bridge, because forcing all cross-bridges into the force generating state by substitution of MgADP for MgATP in maximum contracting solutions resulted in the same increase in maximal force (15%) in all transgenic and non-transgenic preparations. The combination of increased Ca2+ sensitivity and energy cost in the F110I hearts may be responsible for the greater severity of this phenotype compared with the R278C mutation.
Articulatory patterns of Russian diphthongized vowels: Pilot MRI investigation

Paper presents main results of a targeted MRIinvestigation of articulatory patterns of the Russian diphthongised (gliding) vowel phonemes, vowel /ɨ/ first and foremost. The investigation‟s relevance is assured by serious general discordance of opinions discussing articulatory patterns of diphthongised Russian vowel /ɨ/. Our research revealed critical differences in the vowel‟s articulatory dynamic patterns caused by specific role of core articulators in formation of heterogeneity of a speech sound. The first articulatory pattern supports gliding articulation of the vowel /ɨ/ through gradual displacement of tongue root and tongue blade/tongue dorsum towards anterior area of the buccal cavity, the other articulatory pattern is spatially and temporary realized through complex interaction of both tongue transformations and a special mandible articulatory gesture. Such exceptional jaw activity being unknown in common descriptions of the Russian articulatory base would make Russian vowel /ɨ/ a singular item within phonetic system of the Russian language.
Glial and Axonal Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis

The major components of the CNS; neurons and neurites, microglias, astrocytes, ependymal cells and oligodendrocytes, establish all an important interrelationship, vital to the brain maintenance homeostasis. Ependymal cells lay around layers of astrocytes, which in turn envelop neurons, neurites and vascular elements. In addition, the normal CNS parenchyma contains blood vessels and resident macrophages. Glial cells, as they possess no conventional synaptic contacts, differ from neurons mainly establishing a rich interrelationship with other CNS components. The neuroglia, brain interstitial element, is recognized as including three groups of glial cells: 1) macroglias, such as astrocytes and oligodendrocytes,2) microglia and 3) ependymal cells.
Opportunistic Scheduling for Uplink Cognitive Cellular Networks with Outage Protection of the Primary User

This letter advocates a novel opportunistic scheduling strategy for an uplink cognitive cellular network, as considered in [1]. Different from previous proposals, the proposed strategy chooses the cognitive user (CU) with the best instantaneous channel quality in addition to guaranteeing the reliable operation of primary user (PU). For such a strategy, it is analytically shown that in comparison with previous proposals, a greater average rate and a lower average bit error rate (BER) can be achieved. Interestingly, it is manifested that with an increase in the number of CUs, both the average rate and the average BER of the proposed strategy are ameliorated. Moreover, it is indicated that under the same outage protection criterion for the PU, a much lower transmit power is sufficient for the proposed strategy to optimize the system performance especially for a large number of CUs , as compared with previous strategies.
Ischemic tolerance preserves propagation of membrane depolarization

The functional integrity of the synaptic connections within the hippocampus in gerbils that had acquired ischemic tolerance was investigated. The propagation of membrane depolarization across the hippocampus in response to electrical stimulation of CAI was monitored with the use of a high speed optical recording technique. In comparison to control slices, propagation was significantly depressed and depolarization was shortened in slices from gerbils subjected to 5 min of ischemia. Hippocampal slices from gerbils who were preconditioned with prior sublethal ischemia demonstrated only a slight reduction in propagation. The duration of depolarization was longer than that of ischemia group. These findings suggest that ischemia induces a functional disturbance of synaptic transmission and membrane depolarization. Ischemic preconditioning significantly reduced the extent of this functional disturbance.
A Data Integration Approach to Predict Host-Pathogen Protein-Protein Interactions: Application to Recognize Protein Interactions between Human and a Malarial Parasite

Lack of large-scale efforts aimed at recognizing interactions between host and pathogens limits our understanding of many diseases. We present a simple and generally applicable bioinformatics approach for the analysis of possible interactions between the proteins of a parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and human host. In the first step, the physically compatible interactions between the parasite and human proteins are recognized using homology detection. This dataset of putative in vitro interactions is combined with large-scale datasets of expression and sub-cellular localization. This integrated approach reduces drastically the number of false positives and hence can be used for generating testable hypotheses. We could recognize known interactions previously suggested in the literature. We also propose new predictions which involve interactions of some of the parasite proteins of yet unknown function. The method described is generally applicable to any host-pathogen pair and can thus be of general value to studies of host-pathogen protein-protein interactions.
Resection with cryotherapy of colorectal hepatic metastases has the same survival as hepatic resection alone.

BACKGROUND Hepatic resection is well established as a potentially curative treatment for hepatic colorectal cancer metastases. However, only a small proportion of patients with liver metastases are suitable for resection because they either have extrahepatic disease, or the extent and/or the distribution of their hepatic disease would make excision impossible. We have previously described the use of cryotherapy for inadequate resection margins and lesions in the remaining lobe of the liver. Combining such cryodestructive techniques with resection offers the possibility of increasing the proportion of patients to whom potentially curative treatment can be offered. The aim of this study was to compare survival in patients treated with resection and cryotherapy against those of patients treated with resection alone. Potential prognostic variables were also examined. METHOD Patients undergoing a hepatic resection with or without cryotherapy at our unit between April 1990 and July 1997 were identified from our database and their notes reviewed. Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the Log rank test. RESULTS One hundred and seven patients were treated in total: 32 underwent resection alone, and 75 underwent resection combined with cryotherapy. There was no significant difference between the survival of patients treated with resection alone and those treated with resection and cryotherapy. CONCLUSIONS Edge and contralobe cryotherapy can be combined with hepatic resection to allow a greater proportion of patients with hepatic colorectal metastases to be offered treatment, and results in similar survival figures comparable to hepatic resection for at least 3 years.
Acute Exertion Elicits a H2O2-Dependent Vasodilator Mechanism in the Microvasculature of Exercise-Trained but Not Sedentary Adults

Brachial artery flow–mediated vasodilation in exercise-trained (ET) individuals is maintained after a single bout of heavy resistance exercise compared with sedentary individuals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether vasodilation is also maintained in the microcirculation of ET individuals. A total of 51 sedentary and ET individuals underwent gluteal subcutaneous fat biopsy before and after performing a single bout of leg press exercise. Adipose arterioles were cannulated in an organ bath, and vasodilation to acetylcholine was assessed±the endothelial nitric oxide inhibitorL-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester, the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin, or the hydrogen peroxide scavenger polyethylene glycol catalase. Separate vessels (isolated from the same groups) were exposed to an intraluminal pressure of 150 mm Hg for 30 minutes to mimic the pressor response, which occurs with isometric exercise. Vasodilation to acetylcholine was reduced in microvessels from sedentary subjects after either a single weight lifting session or exposure to increased intraluminal pressure, whereas microvessels from ET individuals maintained acetylcholine-mediated vasodilation. Before weight lifting, vasodilation of microvessels from ET individuals was reduced in the presence of L-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester and indomethacin. After weight lifting or exposure to increased intraluminal pressure, polyethylene glycol catalase significantly reduced vasodilation, whereas L-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester and indomethacin had no effect. These results indicate that (1) endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the microvasculature is maintained after heavy resistance exercise in ET individuals but not in sedentary subjects and that (2) high pressure alone or during weight lifting may induce a mechanistic switch in the microvasculature to favor hydrogen peroxide as the vasoactive mediator of dilation.
8 Hybrid Genetic Algorithm for Fast Electromagnetic Synthesis

Evolution strategies, implemented in numerical codes, provided researchers with powerful optimization tools capable of finding optimal solutions for a variety of real-world problems. One of the most popular representatives of this family is the Genetic Algorithm (GA) (Barricelli, 1957), which has already been well recognized by the electromagnetic (EM) community (Haupt, 1995; Johnson & Rahmat-Samii, 1997; Weile & Michielssen, 1997; Rahmat-Samii & Michielssen, 1999; Haupt & Werner, 2007; Hoorfar, 2007).
IS THE BRAIN "AN IMMUNOLOGICALLY PRIVILEGED SITE"?I. STUDIES BASED ON INTRACEREBRAL TUMOR HOMOTRANSPLANTATION AND ISOTRANSPLANTATION TO SENSITIZED HOSTS.

Introduction The failure of the brain to respond with a typical immune reaction when challenged by intracerebral implantation of nonisologous tissue has intrigued investigators and led to considerable speculation. Medawar1showed that the brain does not respond with the typical "primary or secondary set reaction" histologically when homologous skin is implanted in the cerebrum. Greene2-4demonstrated that the brain will accept tumor homotransplants or heterotransplants. These phenomena and the failure to demonstrate lymphatic channels in the brain have led to the concept that the brain is "an immunologically privileged site. " The purpose of this report primarily is to present results of some investigations that further examine this concept. However, knowledge of the histologic events which occur when a tumor homotransplant or isotransplant is placed in the brain of the experimental animal may also prove useful in the understanding of the mechanisms by which the human brain reacts to
Intradermal anti-loxosceles Fab fragments attenuate dermonecrotic arachnidism.

OBJECTIVE Bites from the brown recluse spider and other arachnids from the genus Loxosceles frequently induce necrotic skin lesions that can be recalcitrant to treatment and disfiguring. The authors used a rabbit model of dermonecrotic arachnidism to address the therapeutic efficacy of intradermal (id) polyclonal anti-Loxosceles Fab fragments (alphaLoxd Fab) raised against Loxosceles deserta spider venom. METHODS Fab fragments were prepared by papain digestion and affinity chromatography from the IgG fraction of L. deserta antivenom raised in rabbits. Eighteen inbred New Zealand white rabbits were assigned to six groups of three. The rabbits received L. deserta venom (3 microg, id) injections into each flank. Cohorts of rabbits received single id injections (at one venom site/rabbit) of 30 microg alphaLoxd Fab at different times (T = 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 hours) after venom injection. In each rabbit the opposite flank was left untreated. As an additional control, one group of rabbits (T = 0) received nonspecific Fab (30 microg, id) in the opposite flank. Dermal lesions were quantified as a function of time through the use of a series of digital photographs and imaging software. In addition, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, a measure ofneutrophil accumulation, was determined in lesion biopsies. Lesion areas and MPO activities were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS Lesion areas and MPO activity were markedly reduced when alphaLoxd Fab was administered very early after venom injections. As the interval between venom inoculation and antivenom treatment increased, the therapeutic benefit of alphaLoxd Fab decreased. The final time tested that demonstrated therapeutic efficacy of alphaLoxd Fab was T = 4 hours. Lesion attenuation was no longer apparent when alphaLoxd Fab was given 8 hours post inoculation. CONCLUSIONS Intradermal administration of alphaLoxd Fab attenuates Loxosceles-induced dermonecrotic lesion formation when given up to 4 hours after venom inoculation in this rabbit model.