Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Nonlinear Acoustic Technique for Crack Detection in Metallic Structures

A crack detection technique based on nonlinear acoustics is investigated in this study. Acoustic waves at a chosen frequency are generated using an actuating lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducer, and they travel through the target structure before being received by a sensing PZT wafer. Unlike an undamaged medium, a cracked medium exhibits high acoustic nonlinearity which is manifested as harmonics in the power spectrum of the received signal. Experimental results also indicate that the harmonic components increase nonlinearly in magnitude with increasing amplitude of the input signal. The proposed technique identifies the presence of cracks by looking at the two aforementioned features: harmonics and their nonlinear relationship to the input amplitude. The effectiveness of the technique has been tested on aluminum and steel specimens. The behavior of these nonlinear features as crack propagates in the steel beam has also been studied.
Not so fast: Limited validity of deep convolutional neural networks as in silico models for human naturalistic face processing

Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) trained for face identification can rival and even exceed human-level performance. The relationships between internal representations learned by DCNNs and those of the primate face processing system are not well understood, especially in naturalistic settings. We developed the largest naturalistic dynamic face stimulus set in human neuroimaging research (700+ naturalistic video clips of unfamiliar faces) and used representational similarity analysis to investigate how well the representations learned by high-performing DCNNs match human brain representations across the entire distributed face processing system. DCNN representational geometries were strikingly consistent across diverse architectures and captured meaningful variance among faces. Similarly, representational geometries throughout the human face network were highly consistent across subjects. Nonetheless, correlations between DCNN and neural representations were very weak overall—DCNNs captured 3% of variance in the neural representational geometries at best. Intermediate DCNN layers better matched visual and face-selective cortices than the final fully-connected layers. Behavioral ratings of face similarity were highly correlated with intermediate layers of DCNNs, but also failed to capture representational geometry in the human brain. Our results suggest that the correspondence between intermediate DCNN layers and neural representations of naturalistic human face processing is weak at best, and diverges even further in the later fully-connected layers. This poor correspondence can be attributed, at least in part, to the dynamic and cognitive information that plays an essential role in human face processing but is not modeled by DCNNs. These mismatches indicate that current DCNNs have limited validity as in silico models of dynamic, naturalistic face processing in humans.
Technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate bone scan in evaluation of insufficiency fractures – A pictorial assay and experience from South India

Insufficiency fractures (IFs) can be challenging to diagnose due to varied presentations, and sometimes, it changes the course of treatment, as in cancer patients in whom it has to be differentiated with metastatic disease. We present the role of Technetium 99m methylene diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP) bone scan, which is a low-cost, simple to perform, whole body diagnostic investigation in the diagnosis of IFs. This is a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent a 99mTc-MDP bone scan in a tertiary care teaching hospital during 2013–2017 and were diagnosed as having an IF on bone scan. The bone scans were performed on a dual-head gamma camera using low-energy high-resolution collimators. Of all the bone scan performed during 2013–2017, a total of 138 patients with a mean age of 57.5 ± 14.7 years were diagnosed as having IFs based on bone scan and final clinical diagnosis. Among them, the most common complaint was regional bony pain in 62% of patients, while the most common cause was osteoporosis in 47% of patients, both postmenopausal and senile osteoporosis. In all, 265 sites of fractures were identified with a fracture average of 1.9/patient, the most common site being dorsolumbar vertebrae, followed by ribs and lower limb bones. Many unusual sites were also identified such as talus, sternum, clavicle, and scapula. 99mTc-MDP bone scan, being noninvasive whole-body imaging, is a useful investigation for evaluation of IFs and in correlation with biochemical analysis and other imaging can be used to determine the etiology of IF.
Team interaction space effectiveness for globally dispersed teams : theory and case studies

Groups of geographically and/or organizationally dispersed members are increasingly being assembled to accomplish a wide range of organizational tasks using a combination of telecommunication and information technologies. The emergence of such technologically savvy globally dispersed teams has also heralded a complex and largely uninvestigated area of interaction practices of such team members. By enabling team interactions via non-traditional media, information technologies have actually expanded and transformed the conventional team interaction space. This merger of physical space with digital space has created a new kind of team interaction spaces, one where organizational, technological and spatial dimensions play significant roles. This research assesses the impact of team interaction space on perceived team performance using qualitative and quantitative research techniques. To collect qualitative data, interviews were conducted with 82' members from globally dispersed teams from three Global 500 companies. 45 audio, video and face-to-face team interactions between these team members were observed and analyzed. A survey on team interaction space was administered to the team members to substantiate the research hypotheses with quantitative data. Triangulating the qualitative and quantitative data, the research discovered significant correlation between the effectiveness of the team interaction space and perceived team performance. Factor, path and qualitative analysis demonstrated that organization protocols, communication technologies and spatial setup positively affect interaction space effectiveness. To explain the impact better, statistical evidence indicates that the impact of technology needs to be considered in multiple dimensions: ability, capability, reliability, accessibility and support. The research introduced team interaction space as a mediating variable to explain the role of technology, organizational processes and spatial setup on perceived team performance. The research also developed a team interaction space framework. Thesis Supervisor: Feniosky Pefia-Mora Title: Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
UNIAXIAL COMPRESSION OF RAPESEED USING APPARATUS WITH CUBOID CHAMBER

Ab s t r a c t . A u niaxial compression apparatus was constructed, having a cubical test chamber of adjustable width. The bottom of the chamber and one of its walls were both supported on three load cells to permit determination of vertical and horizontal pressures. Tests were performed with rapeseed to validate the apparatus, to determine mi nimum specimen width, and to determine horizontal to vertical pressure ratio. Specimens 120 mm high (initially) and 120 mm long that had adjustable widths of 8, 14, 21, 27, 33, 39 and 44 mm were tested. Results showed that testing with specimens of width smaller than 10 seed diameters g ave unstable values of pressure ratio. Results of tests with specimens wider than 10 seed mean geometric diameters gave values of pressure ratio consistent with those obtained earlier in cylindric al uniaxial compression apparatus. K e y w o r d s : granular material, minimum specimen dimension, pressure ratio, rapeseed, uniaxial compression, stress transmission
The spotlight of attention turns from rhythmic exploration-exploitation to a stable exploitation state

While traditional studies claim that visuospatial attention stays fixed at one location at a time, recent research has rather shown that attention rhythmically fluctuates between different locations at rates of prominent brain rhythms. However, little is known about the temporal dynamics of this fluctuation and, particularly, whether it changes over time. Thus, we addressed this question by investigating how visuospatial attention behaves over space and time. We recorded electroencephalographic activity of twenty-seven human participants while they performed a visuospatial cueing task, where attention was covertly oriented to the left or right visual field. In order to decode the spatial locus of attention from neural activity, we trained and tested a classifier on every timepoint of the orienting period, from the attentional cue to stimulus onset. This resulted in one temporal generalization matrix per participant, which was time-frequency decomposed to identify the sampling rhythm. Finally, a searchlight analysis was conducted to reveal the brain regions responsible for attention allocation. Our results show a dynamic evolution of the attentional spotlight, distinguishing between two states. In an early time window, attention explored both cued and uncued hemifield rhythmically at ~10 Hz. In a later time window attention focused on the cued hemifield. Classification was driven by occipital sources, while frontal regions exclusively became involved just before the spotlight settled onto the cued location. Together, our results define attentional sampling as a quasi-rhythmic dynamic process characterized by an initial rhythmic exploration-exploitation state, which is followed by a stable exploitation state.
THE ROMAN CERAMIC MATERIAL FROM FIELD WALKING IN THE ENVIRONS OF NEPI

This paper explores the ceramic assemblage of the Nepi Survey Project from the third century bc to the seventh century ad. The surface collection allows the detailed characterization of chronology, ware, fabric supply and functional characteristics. The assemblage shows a settlement explosion in the early second century bc, with another major rise from the Augustan period. The sharp decline in the late second to early third centuries ad is visible here, as it is throughout the region. The later peaks of the late fourth to mid-fifth and the mid-sixth centuries ad conform to the late Roman sequence from Mola di Monte Gelato. The dominant pottery class is oxidized coarse-wares, at 73%. The distribution of the different fabrics, including some of regional supply, suggests a number of different marketing mechanisms. Fine-wares and terra sigillata combined at 3% is what would be expected in the fringes of the Empire. The amphora class makes up over 5% of the assemblage, with the most variety exhibited at large villas and suburban halos. The most important supply originated from North Africa, with fish sauce as the main import. The functional analysis allows the definition of a ritual structure in the proximity of the cemeteries of the Massa area with highly varied types related to eating and drinking. The ceramic building material shows the importance of Campanian contacts, although the lack of imbrices suggests that many tile scatters derive from reused material. L'articolo ha come oggetto il corpus ceramico databile dal III secolo a.C. al VII secolo d.C., rinvenuto durante il progetto Nepi Survey. Il materiale raccolto permette dettagliate caratterizzazioni delle cronologie, delle classi ceramiche, delle origini delle paste e della funzione dei vasi. I reperti mostrano un'esplosione degli insediamenti agli inizi del II secolo a.C. con una crescita maggiore a partire dal periodo augusteo. Il brusco declino nel tardo II e agli inizi del III secolo d.C. è osservato qui come nel resto della regione. Il più tardo picco della metà del IV–metà V e metà VI secolo d.C. è conforme alla sequenza del periodo tardo-romano di Mola di Monte Gelato. La classe ceramica dominante è la ceramica comune ossidata presente con il 73%. La distribuzione delle differenti paste, incluso alcuni rifornimenti regionali, suggerisce un certo numero di differenti meccanismi di mercato. Le ceramiche fini e la terra sigillata costituiscono il 3% del materiale, pari a quanto ci si aspetta ai margini dell'impero. Le anfore coprono il 5% del contesto con la più grande varietà restituita da una grande villa e dalle ‘aureole’ suburbane. I più importanti rifornimenti vengono dal nord Africa, con la salsa di pesce tra le derrate principali. L'analisi funzionale permette di individuare una struttura rituale nei pressi delle necropoli dell'area di Massa con un'alta varietà di tipi legati al consumo di cibo e al bere. I materiali da costruzione mostrano l'importanza dei contatti con la Campania benché l'assenza di imbrici suggerisca che molti frammenti di tegole derivano da materiale riusato.
Empirical Analysis of Commute Stop-Making Behavior

A set of stop frequency models used to predict the number of nonwork activity stops made by individual adult workers on their way to work (home-based morning commute), their way home from work (home-based evening commute), and during their working hours (work-based midday travel) is presented. The ordered probit formulation was used to account for the ordered classification scale of the dependent variable (in this case, number of stops—zero stop, one stop, and two or more stops). With the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council household interview data, the models were used to examine commute stop-making behavior for individual workers residing in New York City (including the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island). The empirical results provide useful insights into the effects of sociodemographics, land use density, transportation service, and work schedule on commute stop-making propensity in a highly urbanized environment. The findings also provide exploratory methodological evidence that could lead to an approach for predicting the change in commute stop-making propensity as a result of the changes in sociodemographic conditions and transportation-land use scenarios.
Adaptive synthesis and design of resonator filters with source/load-multiresonator coupling

The paper presents a universal and comprehensive synthesis technique of coupled resonator filters with source/load-multiresonator coupling. The approach is based on repeated analyses of a circuit with the desired topology; no similarity transformation is needed. Restrictions imposed by the implementation on the coupling coefficients such as signs and orders of magnitudes are straightforwardly handled within this technique. The technique is then used to synthesize and design filters with full or almost full coupling matrices by selecting, among the infinite number of solutions, the matrix that corresponds to the actual implementation. In such cases, analytical techniques and those based on similarity transformations cannot be used since they provide no mechanism to constrain individual coupling coefficients in order to discriminate between two full coupling matrices, which are both solutions to the synthesis problem. Using the technique described in this paper, a filter designer can extract the coupling matrix of a filter of arbitrary order and topology while enforcing relevant constraints. There is no need to master all the different existing similarity-transformation-based techniques and the topologies to which they are applicable. For the first time, detailed investigations of parasitic coupling effects, for either compensation or utilization, are made possible. The method is applied to the synthesis of a variety of filters, some of which are then designed and built and their response measured.
Continuous Tremor Activity With Stable Polarization Direction Following the 2014 Large Slow Slip Event in the Hikurangi Subduction Margin Offshore New Zealand

Many types of slow earthquakes have been discovered at subduction zones around the world. However, the physical process of these slow earthquakes is not well understood. To monitor offshore slow earthquakes, a marine seismic and geodetic experiment was conducted at the Hikurangi subduction margin from May 2014 to June 2015. During this experiment, a large slow slip event (Mw 6.8) occurred directly beneath the ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) network. In this study, S‐wave splitting and polarization analysis methods, which have been previously used on onshore data to investigate tremor and anisotropy, are applied to continuous OBS waveform data to identify tremors that are too small to detect by the envelope cross correlation method. Continuous tremor activity with stable polarization directions is detected at the end of the 2014 slow slip event and continued for about 2 weeks. The tremors are generated around a southwest bend in the slow slip contours and at the landward edge of a subducted seamount. Our findings corroborate a previous interpretation, based on burst‐type repeating earthquakes and intermittent tremor, that localized slow slip and tremor around the seamount was triggered by fluid migration following the large plate boundary slow slip event and indicate tremor occurred continuously rather than as isolated and sporadic individual events.
Evaluation of Dolomite and Related Aggregates Used in Bituminous Overlays for Indiana Pavements

To allow vehicles to stop in a reasonable distance, adequate friction resistance is needed to prevent pavement slipperiness. In stone-masticasphalt surfaces, friction resistance is mainly caused by the interaction between aggregates exposed at the surface and vehicle tires. Performance of aggregates is reduced with time through wear and polishing by vehicular traffic. A method to investigate aggregate performance using physical, chemical, and petrographic factors was evaluated. The objective was to develop a laboratory test for Indiana dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and gravel aggregates to predict field friction resistance and to determine causes for the range of polish resistance of these aggregates. Dolomite and slag are specified aggregates for wearing surfaces for high-traffic roads in Indiana, but some limestones and crushed gravels may prove acceptable. Gravel sources were assessed on the basis of percentages of rock types included in the gravel. Initial friction values and polished values were determined in the laboratory using the British wheel and pendulum procedures, and field values were determined with the towed friction trailer (ASTM E274-97; average friction numbers), which yielded friction number smooth (smooth tire) and friction number ribbed (ribbed tire). Correlations between parameters predict friction resistance from laboratory test data. Also polished values of 25 may be equivalent to a friction number smooth of 27.7 and friction number ribbed of 30.7. Further refinement is required to establish performance specifications for individual aggregate selection.
Identification and Potential Mechanisms of a 7-MicroRNA Signature That Predicts Prognosis in Patients with Lower-Grade Glioma

Background Lower-grade glioma is an intracranial cancer that may develop into glioblastoma with high mortality. The main objective of our study is to develop microRNA for LGG patients which will provide novel prognostic biomarkers along with therapeutic targets. Methods Clinicopathological data of LGG patients and their RNA expression profile were downloaded through The Cancer Genome Atlas Relevant expression profiles of RNA, and clinicopathological data of the LGG patients had been extracted from the database of “The Cancer Genome Atlas. ” Differential expression analysis had been conducted for identification of the differentially expressed microRNAs as well as mRNAs in LGG samples and normal ones. ROC curves and K–M plots were plotted to confirm performance and for predictive accuracy. For the confirmation of microRNAs as an independent prognostic factor, an independent prognosis analysis was conducted. Moreover, target differentially expressed genes of these identified prognostic microRNAs that were extracted and protein-protein interaction networks were developed. Moreover, the biological functions of signature were determined through Genome Ontology analysis, genome pathway analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes. Results 7-microRNA signature was identified that has the ability of categorization of individuals with LGG into high- and low-risk groups on the basis of significant difference in survival during training and testing cohorts (P < 0.001). The 7-microRNA signature had appeared to be robust in predictive accuracy (all AUC> 0.65). It was also approved with multivariate Cox regression along with some traditional clinical practices that we can use 7-microRNA signature for therapeutic purposes as a self-regulating predictive OS factor (P < 0.001). KEGG and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses reported that 7-microRNAs had mainly developed in important pathways related with glioma, e.g., the “cAMP signaling pathway,” “glutamatergic synapses,” and “calcium signaling pathway”. Conclusion A newly discovered 7-microRNA signature could be a potential target for the diagnosis and treatment for LGG patients.
Cancer cells under immune attack acquire CD47-mediated adaptive immune resistance independent of the myeloid CD47-SIRPα axis

ABSTRACT Cancer cells exploit CD47 overexpression to inhibit phagocytic elimination and neoantigen processing via the myeloid CD47-SIRPα axis and thereby indirectly evade adaptive T cell immunity. Here, we report on a hitherto unrecognized direct immunoinhibitory feature of cancer cell-expressed CD47. We uncovered that in response to IFNγ released during cognate T cell immune attack, cancer cells dynamically enhance CD47 cell surface expression, which coincides with acquiring adaptive immune resistance toward pro-apoptotic effector T cell mechanisms. Indeed, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated CD47-knockout rendered cancer cells more sensitive to cognate T cell immune attack. Subsequently, we developed a cancer-directed strategy to selectively overcome CD47-mediated adaptive immune resistance using bispecific antibody (bsAb) CD47xEGFR-IgG2s that was engineered to induce rapid and prolonged cancer cell surface displacement of CD47 by internalization. Treatment of CD47pos cancer cells with bsAb CD47xEGFR-IgG2s potently enhanced susceptibility to cognate CD8pos T cells. Targeting CD47-mediated adaptive immune resistance may open up new avenues in cancer immunotherapy.
A Study of a Mass Casualty Train Crash, Focusing on the Cause of Injuries

This case study includes 73 fatally and nonfatally injured passengers from a level-crossing train crash in Nosaby, Sweden, in 2004. The aim was to identify the injury panorama and the injury objects and to determine the injury-inducing variables. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, quantitative content analysis, and multivariate data analysis. The first carriage overturned, and its occupants were the ones who suffered the most severe and lethal injuries. Injury type and injury location for these passengers also differed significantly from the passengers on the other two carriages. Tables significantly influenced injury type and injury location in all carriages, whereas the injured persons’ seating position had significant effect only in the second and third carriage. Those who had travelled facing forward with a table in front of them in Carriages 2 and 3 were more likely to have sustained injuries to their abdomen or pelvis. Other injury-inducing objects were seats, interior structures, wood pellets from the truck, and other passengers. Neck sprains were significantly more prevalent among those who had travelled facing backward. Improved train crashworthiness also needs to include interior safety, which would have a potential to reduce crash injuries.