Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroprotective effects of dynamic bubble trap use in patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy: a two-arm randomized controlled trial

Background During cardiosurgical procedures that use extracorporeal circulation (ECC), a variety of neurological complications can occur, and postoperative cognitive deficits remain an unsolved problem. Among the sources of these complications are intraoperatively detectable cerebral microemboli, which mainly consist of air. This study’s purpose was to assess neuroprotective effects of reducing these gaseous microemboli using a dynamic bubble trap (DBT) in patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Methods Patients undergoing PEA were randomly assigned to receive either a DBT (n=47) or no additional device (controls, n=46) during ECC. Neuropsychological testing was performed before and 3 months after PEA. The primary endpoint was cognitive improvement in the DBT group (n=29) compared with the control group (n=42). As secondary endpoint, ischemic brain micro-lesions were analyzed on postoperative days 6 through 10 using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results Analysis of interaction effects revealed improved performance in visual long-term memory (P=0.008, η2=0.099), verbal long-term memory (P=0.030, η2=0.067), verbal short-term memory (P=0.014, η2=0.083), and attention and processing speed (P=0.043, η2=0.056) from pre- to post-testing in the DBT group compared to control group. In MRI, postoperative ischemic micro-lesions could only be detected in one patient; another patient suffered a severe bihemispheric embolic stroke. Conclusions DBT positively influences memory function after PEA. This effect is most likely caused by the reduction of gaseous microemboli. Trial Registration This study is registered in the German Clinical Trials Register, ID: DRKS00021499.
Finite element analysis of cyclist lower limb response in car—bicycle accident

Abstract Based on an experimental configuration (lateral impact, flexion angle of the knee: 90°, car velocity 32 km/h), a car—bicycle impact was simulated using a complete finite element model of the lower limb previously validated in various impact conditions. This lower limb was coupled with the upper body of a rigid hybrid III dummy. Models of a car front and a bicycle were added to simulate the global environment of the car—bicycle impact. The simulation was performed with Radioss. A car—bicycle impact test was used for the model validation by comparing global kinematics and recorded data (accelerations). Moreover, the description of numerical joint movements brought insight into injury mechanisms. The injury analysis was quantified by stress levels on the bone structures and by strain for knee ligaments. The simulation was extended by modifying the car velocity, cause of the greatest variation in predicted injury mechanisms.
Comparison of the Standard Floor Impact Sound with Living Impact Source by Subjective Evaluation

In the previous test, the verification of the standard floor impact source was carried out comparing the physical characteristics with living impact sources. The result was appeared the validation of the standard impact source was very low because of differences of physical characteristics. This study aims to evaluate annoyance and loudness of standard impact source which is used for the measurement of floor impact sound, and to compare the annoyance and loudness of living impact sources which are produced in real life. The impact sources considered are tapping machine, tire and impact ball as standard sources, and nine real sources which were chosen from the existing researches. The result showed differences of annoyance and loudness between standard impact sources and living impact sources, which means the standard impact sources may rate the performance of floor system inappropriately. In the future, the rating method should be examined how the standard impact sources are similar with real sources in the point of rating the performance of floor system.
Plug Flow Analysis for the Design of the Compaction Region of a Tapered Screw Extruder Biomass Briquetting Machine

The study of compaction or solids conveying in a screw extruder has been carried out majorly on the straight screws using the plug flow analysis. Despite this, the analysis of the straight screw appears to be complex as contained in existing literatures based on the force and torque balance. The tapered screw, which is considered to be an effective option for biomass compaction, introduces greater complications because the geometry is constantly changing. In this study, a method based on the traction and retardation mechanism of friction is developed for a fully unwound screw channel utilizing only the force balances. The procedure has been used to carry out a parametric analysis of the tapered screw extruder for a screw press biomass briquetting machine. The taper angle was considered to significantly increase the pressure developed in the extruder depending on the length of the compaction zone. The optimum taper angle has also been found to be dependent on the frictional coefficient of the biomass material with enclosing surfaces and ranges between 2 ° and 4 ° . Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:. 0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB; mso-fareast-language:EN-GB;}
Evaluation of an Auditory Hazard Model Using Data from Human Volunteer Studies

Abstract : The auditory hazard assessment algorithm for the human ear computer model developed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, was evaluated using data from human volunteer studies (conducted at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM) sponsored by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Ft Detrick, MD. Measurements of the exposure impulses made under the earmuffs of volunteers and the resulting temporary hearing losses were analyzed using the model. The model predictions were compared to the number of volunteers showing significant threshold shifts. For the six-impulse exposures, the model tended to predict more hazard than the human data showed. This over prediction of hazard at small numbers of impulses was exacerbated at larger numbers of impulses because of a rapid accumulation of predicted hazard with increasing numbers of impulses. The minimum phase procedure of the model for estimating the efficacy of hearing protection from real ear attenuation and insertion loss data was evaluated. The model predictions from the minimum phase calculations indicated higher risk than the measurements under the earmuffs. In general, the model hazard indications, from measured data and minimum phase calculations, were not in agreement with the results of the human studies.
DAMAGE DETECTION AND HEALTH MONITORING OF LARGE SPACE STRUCTURES

This paper describes the development of a damage detection and health monitoring approach for large space structures using on-orbit modal identification. Several existing model updating methods and model reduction/expansion techniques were evaluated. A new approach to match the order of the undamaged analytical model and the damaged test modes was developed. Two numerical simulation models were initially employed to evaluate practical issues in onorbit modal testing such as measurement noise, number of test modes identified, and limited number of measurements. To experimentally validate the proposed damage detection approach, a ten-bay hexagonal truss with limited instrumentation was tested and analyzed. Damage indicators located the general areas of damage to the truss which reduces time required for detailed structural inspection. Procedures developed for the damage detection are also directly applicable to test/dynamic math model correlation.
Evaluation of Energy Maneuverability Procedures in Aircraft Flight Path Optimization and Performance Estimation

Abstract : An assessment is made of the applicability of energy maneuverability techniques (EM) to flight path optimization. A series of minimum time and fuel maneuvers using the F-4C aircraft were established to progressively violate the assumptions inherent in the EM program and comparisons were made with the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory's (AFFDL) Three-Degree-of-Freedom Trajectory Optimization Program and a point mass option of the Six-Degree-of-Freedom flight path program. It was found the EM results were always optimistic in the value of the payoff functions with the optimism increasing as the percentage of the maneuver involving constant energy transitions increases. For the minimum time paths the resulting optimism was less then 2% for the maneuvers where the constant energy percentage was less than 35% followed by a rather steeply rising curve approaching in the limit 100% error for paths which are comprised entirely of constant energy transitions.
BAI1 Acts as a Tumor Suppressor in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via Modulating p73 Transactivation

Background: Brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 1 (BAI1) which belongs to putative G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), has been found down-expressed in various cancers and involved in cancer pathogenesis. However, the role and underlying mechanisms of BAI1 in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) are still unclear. Methods: The expression levels of BAI1 in TNBC samples and cell lines were examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC), quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and western blotting (WB). The functional effects of BAI1 on biological behaviors of TNBC cells were detected using plasmid and siRNA for BAI1 overexpression and knockdown, and the underlying mechanisms were investigated by Immunoprecipitation (IP), immunofluorescence (IF) and luciferase reporter assay. Results: BAI1 was downregulated in TNBC tissues and was significantly associated with poor disease-free survival. Functional experiments indicated that BAI1 inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. Additionally, BAI1 overexpressed cells were more sensitive to cisplatin. Mechanistically, BAI1 interacted with MDM2, thereby enhanced p73 transcriptional activity, then promoted p21and BAX mRNA and protein expression. Overexpression of p73 abolished the BAI1 knockdown induced cell proliferation and the G2 phase cell population of TNBC, the sensitivity to cisplatin also rescued by overregulating p73 in BAI1 knockdown TNBC cells. Conclusions: Our results indicate that BAI1 is a promising prognostic factor in TNBC, and the expression of BAI1 inhibits cell proliferation and induces cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest; Meanwhile, BAI1 increases the sensitivity of TNBC to cisplatin. For the underlying mechanism, BAI1 specifically binds to MDM2, and exerts its anti-tumor function by affecting the transcriptional activity of p73 protein, then inhibits the malignant progression of TNBC. The BAI1/MDM2/p73 axis may represent a potential target in the future research for TNBC.
PREDICTION OF PITTING RATES IN FERROUS METALS FROM SOIL PARAMETERS

FROM A CONSIDERATION OF PIT FORMATION CHEMISTRY, EQUATIONS HAVE BEEN DERIVED THAT CORRESPOND TO EMPIRICAL EQUATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE NBS CORROSION GROUP. THE THEORETICAL EQUATIONS' DERIVATIONS SHOW HOW SOIL RESISTIVITY AND PH AFFECT CORROSION RATES. INTEREST IS FOCUSED ON THE DEPTH OF THE DEEPEST PITS RATHER THAN ON AVERAGE VALUES. THE EMPIRICAL PIT DEPTH-AREA RELATIONSHIP IS COMBINED WITH THEORETICALLY DEVELOPED PIT DEPTH-TIME EQUATION TO FORM A GENERAL EQUATION APPLICABLE TO SOILS OF GOOD, FAIR, OR POOR AERATION HAVING PH VALUES WITHIN THE RANGE 5 TO 9. THE GENERAL EQUATION, WITH APPROPRIATE MODIFICATIONS, IS USEFUL IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES FOR PREDICTING THE LIFE OF STRUCTURES.
What Is the Real State of Single-Atom Catalysts under Electrochemical Conditions—From Adsorption to Surface Pourbaix Plots?

The interest in single-atom catalysts (SACs) is increasing, as these materials have the ultimate level of catalyst utilization, while novel reactions where SACs are used are constantly being discovered. However, to properly understand SACs and to further improve these materials, it is necessary to consider the nature of active sites under operating conditions. This is particularly important when SACs are used as electrocatalysts due to harsh experimental conditions, including extreme pH values or high anodic and cathodic potential. In this contribution, density functional theory-based thermodynamic modelling is used to address the nature of metal centers in SACs formed by embedding single metal atoms (Ru, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Ag, and Au) into graphene monovacancy. Our results suggest that none of these SAC metal centers are clean at any potential or pH in the water thermodynamic stability region. Instead, metal centers are covered with Hads, OHads, or Oads, and in some cases, we observed the restructuring of the metal sites due to oxygen incorporation. Based on these findings, it is suggested that setting up theoretical models for SAC modelling and the interpretation of ex situ characterization results using ultra-high vacuum (UHV) techniques requires special care, as the nature of SAC active sites under operating conditions can significantly diverge from the basic models or the pictures set by the UHV measurements.
Stability Analysis and Design of Composite Structures

AbstractThe direct analysis method is the primary means of assessing system stability within a standard specification. This method, and in particular its use of reduced stiffness, has been thoroughly validated for use in frames consisting of structural steel members. However, appropriate stiffness reductions have not yet been established nor has the method as a whole been validated for frames with steel-concrete composite columns. Through comparisons between second-order inelastic analysis results and results from the design methodology on a parametric suite of small frames, the current design provisions are evaluated in this paper. The results indicate that while the current design provisions are safe and accurate for the majority of common cases, there exist cases in which the current provisions result in high levels of unconservative error. Modifications to the current design provisions are proposed to address these issues.
Scheduling with controllable processing times and compression costs using population-based heuristics

This paper considers the single machine scheduling problem of jobs with controllable processing times and compression costs and the objective to minimise the total weighted job completion time plus the cost of compression. The problem is known to be intractable, and therefore it was decided to be tackled by population-based heuristics namely differential evolution (DE), particle swarm optimisation (PSO), genetic algorithms (GAs), and evolution strategies (ES). Population-based heuristics have found wide application in most areas of production research including scheduling theory. It is therefore surprising that this problem has not yet received any attention from the corresponding heuristic algorithms community. This work aims at contributing to fill this gap. An appropriate problem representation scheme is developed together with a multi-objective procedure to quantify the trade-off between the total weighted job completion time and the cost of compression. The four heuristics are evaluated and compared over a large set of test instances ranging from five to 200 jobs. The experiments showed that a differential evolution algorithm is superior (with regard to the quality of the solutions obtained) and faster (with regard to the speed of convergence) to the other approaches.
Rotating-plate sprinkler spacing on continuous-move irrigation laterals

Understanding the operational characteristics of irrigation sprinklers is necessary before irrigation professionals can make sound recommendations regarding the use of sprinkler technologies for field conditions. Results of laboratory studies regarding rotating plate sprinklers are reported. Uniformity of radial water application from individual sprinklers has a major influence on uniformity of water application under a continuous-move irrigation machine. Nozzle pressure can have a significant effect on radial water application patterns, especially when less than recommended pressures are used. Water application patterns are not as sensitive to changes in nozzle diameters as to nozzle pressures. Uniformity of water application can also be very sensitive to sprinkler spacing. The greater the variation in radial water application intensities for individual sprinklers, the more critical proper sprinkler spacing becomes
Online trajectory planning for UAVs using mixed integer linear programming

This thesis presents a improved path planner using mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) to solve a receding horizon optimization problem for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's). Using MILP, hard constraints for obstacle and multi-vehicle avoidance as well as an approximation of vehicle dynamics are included into the formulation. The complete three dimensional formulation is described. The existing MILP framework has been modified to increase functionality, while also attempting to decrease solution time. A variable time step size, linear interpolation points, and horizon minimization techniques are used to enhance the capability of the online path planner. In this thesis, the concept of variable time steps is extended to the receding horizon, non-iterative MILP formulation. Variable time step sizing allows the simulation horizon time to be lengthened without increasing solve time too dramatically. Linear interpolation points are used to prevent solution trajectories from becoming overly conservative. Horizon minimization decreases solve time by removing unnecessary obstacle constraints from the the problem. Computer simulations and test flights on an indoor quadrotor testbed shows that MILP can be used reliably as an online path planner, using a variety of different solution rates. Using the MILP path planner to create a plan ten seconds into the future, the quadrotor can navigate through an obstacle-rich field with MILP solve times under one second. Simple plans in obstacle-spare environments are solved in less than 50ms. A multi-vehicle test is also used to demostrate non-communicating deconfliction trajectory planning using MILP. Thesis Supervisor: Jonathan P. How Title: Associate Professor
Viabilidade econômica de produção de lenha de eucalipto para secagem de produtos agrícolas

The main objective of this work was to determine the costs and economical feasibility of eucalyptus firewood production for drying of agricultural products. The main technical and economic considerations were: a) use of dried eucalyptus firewood in indirect furnaces; b) costs of manual work, materials, equipments and other inputs; c) interest or opportunity costs 10% per year; d) average land price varying from 500.00 until 2,000.00 US$/hectare; e) forestry management costs 10% per year; f) investment period equal to the eucalyptus production cycle, that is 21 years. It was concluded that the reforestation is feasible economically, when it is implemented on part of the land destined for the agricultural production, furthermore, the land to be used for the forestation for wood production is relatively small, that is 0.50 to 4.23% of the agricultural land for the cultures considered in this study: coffee (natural), corn, beans and soybeans.
Evaluation of Instructional Design of Computer‐Based Teaching Modules for a Manufacturing Processes Laboratory

Studies concerning student preferences and student learning as a function of the instructional design and delivery of a computer‐based teaching (CBT) module are presented. The studies were conducted in conjunction with the development of twenty‐one CBT modules for an Introduction to Manufacturing Processes laboratory that emphasized metal removal. Study results indicate there is no statistically relevant difference in learning between students using material presented with traditional multimedia (35 mm slides and cassette tapes) and the identical material presented with digital multimedia. Engineering students' preferences for interface design and audio‐visual information presentation are also presented. The most important result is that learning outcomes of a reader‐driven CBT module were found to be statistically lower than those associated with author‐driven CBT module, especially for average and below‐average students. These results suggest that if students must absolutely understand material, e.g., laboratory safety, the CBT should be author‐driven. Based on these results, we speculate that average and below average engineering students are more linear learners. A hybrid scheme, where information presentation transitions from an author‐driven to a reader‐driven environment may help weaker students develop better non‐linear, open‐ended problem solving skills.
A COMBINATION OF EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSES TO MEASURE THE COMPRESSIVE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF TENNIS BALL

Tennis is almost a newly born sport (1859) that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each, namely doubles. Materially, tennis balls were made of cloth strips stitched together from thread. They have also been made of hollow rubber with a felt coating appearing in different colors from traditionally white to yellow in the recent years to permit their visibility. Although the most common injuries associated with tennis have been reported to be related to rotator cuff, elbow, wrist, anterior knee pain, and ankle, the injury that a tennis ball can cause, for example, for eye is still not clear. However, as the tennis ball can reach to a speed of 260 km/h, it seems vital to understand its mechanical properties to have a deep insight into the injury that can happen during playing. Therefore, this study aimed to perform an experimental study to evaluate the linear elastic and nonlinear hyperelastic mechanical properties of the tennis ball under compressive loading. To do this, 40 numbers of approved tennis balls by international tennis federation (ITF) were prepared and subjected to a series of compressive loadings. The strain of the balls was measured via a pair of CCD cameras using digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The results revealed the mean elastic modulus, maximum stress, and strain of 336.69 kPa, 410.15 kPa, and 66%, for the tennis balls, respectively. The nonlinear mechanical behavior of the tennis balls were also computationally investigated through a hyperelastic material model, namely Ogden. Finally, a finite element (FE) model was executed to verify the hyperelastic data with that of experimental and, interestingly, the numerical data were in good agreement with experimental ones. The findings of this study may have implications not only for understanding the compressive mechanical properties of the tennis ball, but also for investigating the injury that can occur in the human body by tennis ball, especially the eye.