Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tailoring Expansion Coefficients of Laminates : A New General Optimal Approach Based upon the Polar-Genetic Method

This paper deals with the problem of design of composite laminates having zero thermal and hygral expansion and/or curvatures coefficients in one or two directions. The problem is stated as a typical non linear optimization problem in the framework of the polar-genetic approach: the formulation is a function of the laminate polar parameters for the representation of tensor quantities, and a genetic algorithm is the solving technique. It is worth noting that the formulation is quite general, as we avoid to take into account any simplifying hypothesis, namely about the type of stacking sequence which is completely undetermined a priori. In addition, thanks to the very general approach previously proposed by the authors for design of elastic properties, the new design problem of thermo-elastic properties of composite laminates can be stated as a unconstrained optimization problem, being possible to include in several design criteria in a unique expression of the objective function. Therefore, we can perform search for laminates not only respecting the condition of having null thermal/hygral expansion coefficients in some directions, but also other requirements such as bending-extension uncoupling, orthotropy and so on, which are necessary conditions to several applications. In this paper we give a detailed description of the theoretical statement of the problem and we show a great number of numerical results.
Throughput of ideally routed wireless ad hoc networks

We investigate the throughput of ad hoc networks using ideal shortest path routing between randomly selected source-destination pairs. Our results not only confirm the n-1/2 decay of the throughput that was published earlier in the literature, but also provides an approach to acquire the relation of various network parameters. This way the effects of changes in the routing, traffic generation algorithms or other network characteristics can be predicted using a first order approximation.
Status of Testing and Characterization of CMS Alloy 617 and Alloy 230

Status and progress in testing and characterizing CMS Alloy 617 and Alloy 230 tasks in FY06 at ORNL and INL are described. ORNL research has focused on CMS Alloy 617 development and creep and tensile properties of both alloys. In addition to refurbishing facilities to conduct tests, a significant amount of creep and tensile data on Alloy 230, worth several years of research funds and time, has been located and collected from private enterprise. INL research has focused on the creep-fatigue behavior of standard chemistry Alloy 617 base metal and fusion weldments. Creep-fatigue tests have been performed in air, vacuum, and purified Ar environments at 800 and 1000 C. Initial characterization and high-temperature joining work has also been performed on Alloy 230 and CCA Alloy 617 in preparation for creep-fatigue testing.
Visual Guidance of Intercepting a Moving Target on Foot

How do people walk to a moving target, and what visual information do they use to do so? Under a pursuit strategy, one would head toward the target's current position, whereas under an interception strategy, one would lead the target, ideally by maintaining a constant target-heading angle (or constant bearing angle). Either strategy may be guided by the egocentric direction of the target, local optic flow from the target, or global optic flow from the background. In four experiments, participants walked through a virtual environment to reach a target moving at a constant velocity. Regardless of the initial conditions, they walked ahead of the target for most of a trial at a fairly constant speed, consistent with an interception strategy (experiment 1). This behavior can be explained by trying to maintain a constant target-heading angle while trying to walk a straight path, with transient steering dynamics. In contrast to previous results for stationary targets, manipulation of the local optic flow from the target (experiment 2) and the global optic flow of the background (experiments 3 and 4) failed to influence interception behavior. Relative motion between the target and the background did affect the path slightly, presumably owing to its effect on perceived target motion. We conclude that humans use an interception strategy based on the egocentric direction of a moving target.
Combined Effect of CVR and DG Penetration in the Voltage Profile of Low-Voltage Secondary Distribution Networks

In this paper, the voltage profile of secondary networks under conservation voltage reduction and distributed-generation (DG) penetration is studied for the first time. Three networks in New York City, modeled in detail, are used as study cases. Interconnection of DG is proposed to eliminate localized low-voltage violations due to a voltage reduction of 4%, 6%, and 8% from the normal schedule. The selection of the type of DG is based on the requirements imposed by the various interconnection standards, most notably IEEE 1547, public service commission, and local utility regulations. It is found that a small percentage of DG penetration would alleviate voltage violations. The study shows that DGs installed in distributed networks improve voltage regulation, allowing utilities to use deeper voltage reductions during critical conditions. It is also shown that the network power factor is reduced when penetration of DG is high and, thus, the line drop compensation needs to be adjusted for the characteristics of the new power demand.
Testing Method for Multi-UAV Conflict Resolution Using Agent-Based Simulation and Multi-Objective Search

A new approach to testing multi-UAV conflict resolution algorithms is presented. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective search problem with two objectives: finding air traffic encounters that 1) are able to reveal faults in conflict resolution algorithms and 2) are likely to happen in the real world. The method uses agent-based simulation and multi-objective search to automatically find encounters satisfying these objectives. It describes pairwise encounters in three-dimensional space using a parameterized geometry representation, which allows encounters involving multiple UAVs to be generated by combining several pairwise encounters. The consequences of the encounters, given the conflict resolution algorithm, are explored using a fast-time agent-based simulator. To find encounters meeting the two objectives, a genetic algorithm approach is used. The method is applied to test ORCA-3D, a widely cited open-source multi-UAV conflict resolution algorithm, and the method’s performance is compared with .
Improvement of Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Acute Hepatic Failure by Transplantation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells without Reprogramming Factor c-Myc

The only curative treatment for hepatic failure is liver transplantation. Unfortunately, this treatment has several major limitations, as for example donor organ shortage. A previous report demonstrated that transplantation of induced pluripotent stem cells without reprogramming factor c-Myc (3-genes iPSCs) attenuates thioacetamide-induced hepatic failure with minimal incidence of tumorigenicity. In this study, we investigated whether 3-genes iPSC transplantation is capable of rescuing carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced fulminant hepatic failure and hepatic encephalopathy in mice. Firstly, we demonstrated that 3-genes iPSCs possess the capacity to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells (iPSC-Heps) that exhibit biological functions and express various hepatic specific markers. 3-genes iPSCs also exhibited several antioxidant enzymes that prevented CCl4-induced reactive oxygen species production and cell death. Intraperitoneal transplantation of either 3-genes iPSCs or 3-genes iPSC-Heps significantly reduced hepatic necrotic areas, improved hepatic functions, and survival rate in CCl4-treated mice. CCl4-induced hepatic encephalopathy was also improved by 3-genes iPSC transplantation. Hoechst staining confirmed the successful engraftment of both 3-genes iPSCs and 3-genes iPSC-Heps, indicating the homing properties of these cells. The most pronounced hepatoprotective effect of iPSCs appeared to originate from the highest antioxidant activity of 3-gene iPSCs among all transplanted cells. In summary, our findings demonstrated that 3-genes iPSCs serve as an available cell source for the treatment of an experimental model of acute liver diseases.
Can Error Explain Map Differences Over Time?

This paper presents methods to test whether map error can explain the observed differences between two points in time among categories of land cover in maps. Such differences may be due to two reasons: error in the maps and change on the ground. Our methods use matrix algebra: (1) to determine whether error can explain specific types of observed categorical transitions between two maps, (2) to represent visually the differences between the maps that error cannot explain, and (3) to examine how the results are sensitive to possible variation in map error. The methods complement conventional accuracy assessment because they rely on standard confusion matrices that use either a random or a stratified sampling design. We illustrate the methods with maps from 1971 and 1999, which show seven land-cover categories for central Massachusetts. The methods detect four transitions from agriculture, range, forest, and barren in 1971 to built in 1999, which a 15 percent error cannot explain. Sensitivity analysis reveals that if the accuracy of the maps were less than 77 percent, then error could explain virtually all of the observed differences between the maps. The paper discusses the assumptions behind the methods and articulates priorities for future research.
High Accuracy Handwritten Chinese Character Recognition Using Quadratic Classifiers with Discriminative Feature Extraction

We aim to improve the accuracy of handwritten Chinese character recognition using two advanced techniques: discriminative feature extraction (DFE) and discriminative learning quadratic discriminant function (DLQDF). Both methods are based on the minimum classification error (MCE) training method of Juang et al. [7], and we propose to accelerate the training process on large category set using hierarchical classification. Our experimental results on two large databases show that while the DFE improves the accuracy significantly, the DLQDF improves only slightly. Compared to the modified quadratic discriminant function (MQDF) with Fisher discriminant analysis, the error rates on two test sets were reduced by factors of 29.9% and 20.7%, respectively.
Nonrandom aneuploidy of chromosomes 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 21 induced by the benzene metabolites hydroquinone and benzenetriol

The loss and gain of whole chromosomes (aneuploidy) is common in the development of leukemia and other cancers. In acute myeloid leukemia, the loss (monosomy) of chromosomes 5 and 7 and the gain (trisomy) of chromosome 8 are common clonal chromosomal abnormalities. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that metabolites of the human leukemogen benzene cause a higher rate of gain and loss among the chromosomes involved in leukemogenesis and, as such, are nonrandom and selective in their effects. Human peripheral blood was exposed to two metabolites of benzene, namely, hydroquinone (HQ) and benzenetriol (BT), and the ploidy status of nine different chromosomes (1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 21) was examined using fluorescence in situ hybridization of metaphase spreads. Poisson regression was used to provide interpretable incidence rate ratios and corresponding P values for all nine chromosomes. Statistically significant differences were found between the sensitivity of the nine chromosomes to gain or loss. Chromosomes 5 and 7 were highly sensitive to loss following HQ and BT exposure, whereas chromosomes 7, 8, and 21 were highly sensitive to gain in comparison to other chromosomes. Significant support for the a priori hypothesis that chromosomes 5 and 7 are more sensitive to loss induced by HQ and BT than the other seven chromosomes was also obtained. These data support the notion that benzene metabolites affect the ploidy status of specific chromosomes more than others and may initiate or promote leukemia induction through these specific effects. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. , 2005. ©2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Lessons learned from use of web conference in teaching programming

This paper analyses the use of web conference enabled lectures for programming courses within Engineering Informatics study programme, for two different groups of students: regular face-to-face students and blended learning students. Web conference offers the opportunity for the participants in the distance learning environment to be brought into a joint virtual environment regardless of their location, and also offers interactive and collaborative possibilities which facilitate the process of acquiring collective knowledge. The paper presents the comparison of mostly used web conferencing tools nowadays, based on several criteria: functionality, security, software installation, meeting setup and usability. Main aim of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of using web conference in teaching programming, for face-to-face and blended learning students. Web conference lectures were applied in the class on four out of ten courses in total, in the second year of the studies. The summative analysis of the pass rate and the average mark for both groups of students has been carried out in these courses. Then the results that the students achieved in the courses where the web conference was used were compared to the results that they achieved in the courses where the web conference was not used. Based on students' evaluation, the paper also presents formative analysis of efficiency and usefulness in using web conference in the class. Finally, guidelines for the efficient use of web conference in delivering programming courses have been proposed.
Glomerular permeability after surgical trauma in children: Relationship between microalbuminuria and surgical stress score

ObjectivesTo determine whether there is an increase of urinary albumin during and after surgical trauma and investigate a possible relationship between microalbuminuria and the severity of surgical stress. DesignProspective study. SettingUniversity hospital pediatric intensive care unit. PatientsForty consecutive children scheduled for elective surgery. InterventionsNone. Measurements and Main Results Microalbuminuria/urinary creatinine ratio (MACR) was measured before, during, and after elective moderate or major surgical procedures. The Oxford Surgical Stress Score (SSS) was determined for each patient at the end of the operation, and its relationship with maximum deviation of MACR from baseline values was investigated. MACR showed a progressive increase during surgery and a decrease afterward, reaching preoperative values in most cases within 24 hrs after the end of surgery. There was a significant correlation between the increase in MACR and severity of the surgical trauma as measured by SSS. Two patients showed a rise in MACR after the initial postoperative normalization before clinical appearance of a surgical complication and one patient showed a persistent rise in MACR before clinical appearance of a septic complication. None of the other patients showed any rise in MACR after postoperative normalization, and they all had an uneventful recovery. ConclusionsMACR rises during and after major or moderate elective surgery in children. There is a significant positive correlation between severity of surgical trauma and capillary permeability in pediatric patients. Microalbuminuria, as an index of capillary permeability, may be an early sign of incipient complications and assist in the identification of those patients whose condition will deteriorate. The test is a cheap, blood-sparing, easy-to-perform bedside procedure that may have a useful role in clinical practice for evaluating the effect of surgical trauma on capillary permeability in children.
Validation of a method for noninvasive measurement of central arterial pressure.

The goal of this study was to validate a newly improved noninvasive method for calibrated measurement of the ascending portion of the central arterial pressure wave in humans. Noninvasive pressure waveforms were generated by measuring the time delay between the R wave of the electrocardiogram and onset of brachial artery flow (by Doppler) during computer-controlled upper arm cuff deflation. This delay shortens with falling cuff pressure (becoming near constant at and below diastolic pressure), so that a plot of pressure versus time delay yields the ascending portion of the arterial waveform. These waveforms were compared with simultaneous invasive ascending aortic pressures in 57 adult patients (31 by fluid manometer [group A] and 26 by catheter-tipped micromanometer [group B]) during routine cardiac catheterization. Patient age ranged from 26 to 77 years. Eighty percent of group A patients and 40% of group B had coronary artery disease. Noninvasive systolic and diastolic pressures were very similar to invasive values in both groups (Pni = 0.98 x Pi, r = 0.99, p < 0.0001). Instantaneous pressure differences between waveforms were also similar in both groups, averaging between 4.5 and 5.5 mm Hg. Micromanometer and noninvasive pressure data were also obtained before and after intravenous nitroglycerin (n = 5) and isometric handgrip (n = 8) and demonstrated good agreement. A potential application of these pressures is for estimating maximal ventricular power to assess systolic function. This was tested using invasive pressure-volume data from four patients under a variety of conditions (exercise, pacing, etc.). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Neurofascin assembles a specialized extracellular matrix at the axon initial segment

Action potential initiation and propagation requires clustered Na+ (voltage-gated Na+ [Nav]) channels at axon initial segments (AIS) and nodes of Ranvier. In addition to ion channels, these domains are characterized by cell adhesion molecules (CAMs; neurofascin-186 [NF-186] and neuron glia–related CAM [NrCAM]), cytoskeletal proteins (ankyrinG and βIV spectrin), and the extracellular chondroitin-sulfate proteoglycan brevican. Schwann cells initiate peripheral nervous system node formation by clustering NF-186, which then recruits ankyrinG and Nav channels. However, AIS assembly of this protein complex does not require glial contact. To determine the AIS assembly mechanism, we silenced expression of AIS proteins by RNA interference. AnkyrinG knockdown prevented AIS localization of all other AIS proteins. Loss of NF-186, NrCAM, Nav channels, or βIV spectrin did not affect other neuronal AIS proteins. However, loss of NF-186 blocked assembly of the brevican-based AIS extracellular matrix, and NF-186 overexpression caused somatodendritic brevican clustering. Thus, NF-186 assembles and links the specialized brevican-containing AIS extracellular matrix to the intracellular cytoskeleton.
A Low Energy Two-Step Successive Approximation Algorithm for ADC Design

This paper proposes a new method for switching the capacitors in the DAC capacitor array of a successive approximation register (SAR) ADC. By separating the decoding of the most significant bits and the least significant bits, and using two different capacitor arrays with unequal size to determine their values, respectively, the average switching energy of the capacitor arrays can be dramatically reduced compared to the conventional switching methods. The analysis of the switching energy reduction is presented. Experiments were carried out on a 10-bit SAR-ADC designed using a 0.35 mum CMOS process. HSPICE simulations show that significant reduction in energy consumption is achieved using the proposed design.
Activation of Polycystin-1 Signaling by Binding of Stalk-derived Peptide Agonists

Polycystin-1 (PC1) is the membrane protein product of the PKD1 gene whose mutation is responsible for 85% of the cases of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). ADPKD is primarily characterized by the formation of renal cysts and potential kidney failure. PC1 is an atypical G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) consisting of 11 transmembrane helices and an autocatalytic GAIN domain that cleaves PC1 into extracellular N-terminal (NTF) and membrane-embedded C-terminal (CTF) fragments. Recently, signaling activation of the PC1 CTF was shown to be regulated by a stalk tethered agonist (TA), a distinct mechanism observed in the adhesion GPCR family. A novel allosteric activation pathway was elucidated for the PC1 CTF through a combination of Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (GaMD), mutagenesis and cellular signaling experiments. Here, we show that synthetic, soluble peptides with 7 to 21 residues derived from the stalk TA, in particular, peptides including the first 9 residues (p9), 17 residues (p17) and 21 residues (p21) exhibited the ability to re-activate signaling by a stalkless PC1 CTF mutant in cellular assays. To reveal molecular mechanisms of stalk peptide-mediated signaling activation, we have applied a novel Peptide GaMD (Pep-GaMD) algorithm to elucidate binding conformations of selected stalk peptide agonists p9, p17 and p21 to the stalkless PC1 CTF. The simulations revealed multiple specific binding regions of the stalk peptide agonists to the PC1 protein including an “intermediate” bound yet inactive state. Our Pep-GaMD simulation findings were consistent with the cellular assay experimental data. Binding of peptide agonists to the TOP domain of PC1 induced close TOP-putative pore loop interactions, a characteristic feature of the PC1 CTF signaling activation mechanism. Using sequence covariation analysis of PC1 homologs, we further showed that the peptide binding regions were consistent with covarying residue pairs identified between the TOP domain and the stalk TA. Therefore, structural dynamic insights into the mechanisms of PC1 activation by stalk-derived peptide agonists have enabled an in-depth understanding of PC1 signaling. They will form a foundation for development of PC1 as a therapeutic target for the treatment of ADPKD.