Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of the incorporation of low‐molecular‐weight diurethanes on thermal and rheological properties of thermoplastic polyurethane

In this study, two low-molecular-weight diurethanes were synthesized and blended with thermo- plastic polyurethane (TPU). The effects of the incorpora- tion on the thermal and rheological properties of TPU were evaluated. The diurethanes were obtained from the reaction of 4,4 0 -diphenylmethane-diisocyanate (MDI) with 1-butanol (Additive 1) or 1-octanol (Additive 2). Blending of the additives with TPU was carried out in a torque rhe- ometer, and the blends obtained were analyzed by differ- ential scanning calorimetry (DSC), torque rheometry, and capillary rheometry. The torque rheometry showed that an increase in the amount of both additives displaced the charging peaks to longer times and reduced the torque values after melting. The DSC analysis showed that the incorporation of the additives did not affect the glass tran- sition temperature (Tg) of the flexible phase of TPU. How- ever, an increase in the amount of Additive 1 led to a reduction in the Tg of the rigid phase, while increasing the amount of Additive 2 caused an increase in the Tg of this phase. Capillary rheometry results showed that blends with up to 2 wt % of additive led to intrinsic viscosity and melt-flow stability values higher than those of processed
Degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by a Newly Discovered Enteric Bacterium, Leclercia adecarboxylata

ABSTRACT A bacterial strain, PS4040, capable of degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for use as the sole carbon source was isolated from oily-sludge-contaminated soil. The 16S rRNA gene showed 98.8% homology to that of Leclercia adecarboxylata. Comparative molecular typing with the clinical strain of L. adecarboxylata revealed that there were few comigrating and few distinct amplimers among them.
A case study on the impact of scrum on overtime and customer satisfaction

This paper provides results, and experiences from a longitudinal, 2 year industrial case study. The quantitative results indicate that after the introduction of a scrum process into an existing software development organization the amount of overtime decreased, allowing the developers to work at a more sustainable pace while at the same time the qualitative results indicate that there was an increase in customer satisfaction.
Prove it! The ‘tyranny’ of audit and accreditation in the New Zealand outdoors industry

A ‘new’ system of accrediting outdoor programmes, which is similar to regimes in the USA, Australia and England, has been developed in New Zealand. The accreditation system is based on the audit and accreditation of instructors and operators in the outdoors and has grown out of increasing concerns about safety. Initially, the system appears to be appealing, encouraging operators to be ‘transparent’ in their safety operations. Yet the discourses that underpin accreditation are complex and problematic. They are indicative of power relations that undermine operators' and instructors' experiences and abilities in the face of a socially constructed ‘need’ for audit. In this paper, we analyse the discourses that inform the creation and development of the audit and accreditation system, outlining some of its shortcomings and offering some alternatives to the dominant discourses that underpin it.
The Interaction Between Palatalization and Coarticulation in Korean and English

This study investigates phonetic and phonological factors which influence the degree of vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Korean and English, especially around palatalization rules. Two phonetic factors and two phonological factors were examined in investigating the degree of anticipatory or carryover coarticulation in VCV sequences. The phonetic factors were the intervening consonants (alveolar stop vs. (alveo)palatals), and the second vowels (/i/ vs. /a/); the phonological factors were the effect of palatalization, and the lexical status of palatalization (lexical vs. postlexical palatalization). Ultrasound imaging techniques and F2 measurements are employed to see how much further front the articulation of V1 in V1CV2 sequences is due to influence of V2 across the consonants. Ultrasound images of vowels and their F2 values were quantified and statistically analyzed with ANOVA. First, it was found that V1 in V1CV2 sequences in Korean was articulated further front when intervening consonants were palatals than when they were alveolars, while there was no difference in frontness of V1 between two consonantal conditions in English. This indicates that Korean palatals are a stronger barrier to vowel-to-vowel coarticulation, while English alveopalatals are not. Next, V1 in both languages was articulated further front when V2 was /i/ than when V2 was /a/. Third, we had striking findings that palatalization rules caused stronger vowel-to-vowel coarticulation than in nonpalatalized words. Results showed that V1s were articulated further front across derived palatals than across underlying palatals in V1Ci sequences. Last, it was determined that V2 was
Evaluation of wholE-body vibration risk in agricultural tractor drivErs

CVETANOVIC, B. and D. ZLATKOVIC, 2013. Evaluation of whole-body vibration risk in agricultural tractor drivers. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 19: 1161-1166 During their work, agricultural tractor drivers are exposed to various negative influences, among which vibrations are especially harmful. It is about vibrations generated in engine while the tractor is working, which are then transmitted to the driver’s body through the seat, the frame and the controls. Exposure to these vibrations over a longer period can lead to serious health issues. Therefore, measuring and evaluating of vibrations are critical from the aspect of developing safety measures. A measurement of vibrations in older models of IMT tractors shows that more than one-hour work with these models regularly causes a risk of intense daily vibration exposure, with the values much higher than those allowed by law. In these cases, the employer is obliged to take safety and organizational measures to reduce the vibration values to acceptable level.
Photo-Taking Point Recommendation with Nested Clustering

In this paper, we propose a novel recommendation method for photo-taking points from a large amount of social community photo collections. There are many research activities on photo-related recommendations from a lot of photos stored and managed by photo sharing web services, such as Flickr, Picas a and Panoramio, Although some methods, such as landmark recommendation, tag recommendation and photo recommendation have already been proposed, no photo-taking point recommendation methods have been realized yet for social photo collections. In order to realize photo-taking point recommendation, we introduce a novel point and photo selection method based on nested clustering. From our experiments, it is shown that better recommendation accuracy with our proposed method can be attained.
Development of Writing Knowledge in Grades 2–8: A Comparison of Typically Developing Writers and Their Struggling Peers

This study examined student perspectives about writing by interviewing both typically developing and struggling writers in Grades 2 through 8. The findings revealed a progressive developmental pattern of writing knowledge in which novice writers place more emphasis on the physical product and local meaning, while more experienced writers focus on global aspects, such as meaning and communication with an audience. In comparison, struggling writers focus on product over process even at the secondary level. Educational implications are discussed and include careful attention to the developmental level of the students during writing instruction.
Feature generation based on maximum classification probability for improved speech recognition

Feature representation is a very important factor that has great effect on the performance of speech recognition systems. In this paper we focus on a feature generation process that is based on linear transformation of the original log-spectral representation. We first discuss several three popular linear transformation methods, Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). We then propose a new method of linear transformation that maximizes the normalized acoustic likelihood of the most likely state sequences of training data, a measure that directly related to our ultimate objective of reducing Bayesian classification error rate in speech recognition. Experimental results show that the proposed method decreases the relative word error rate by more than 8.8% compared to the best implementation of LDA, and by more than 25.9% compared to MFCC features.
Increased Resting-State Gamma-Band Connectivity in First-Episode Schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia has long been suggested to represent a disorder with prominent neural dysconnectivity. Gamma-band oscillations are highly relevant in this context, due both to their proposed involvement in neuronal synchronization and to their association with neurotransmitter systems relevant for schizophrenia. Several task-related studies have confirmed reduced power and synchronization of gamma-band oscillations in schizophrenia, but it has been suggested that these findings might not apply to the resting state. The present study aimed to investigate resting-state gamma-band connectivity in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS Sixty-four channel resting-state electroencephalography (eyes closed) was recorded in 22 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls matched for age and gender. Orthogonalized power envelope correlation was used as a measure of connectivity across 80 cortical regions at 40 Hz. Mean connectivity at each region was compared across groups using the nonparametric randomization approach. Additionally, the network-based statistic was applied to identify affected networks in patients. RESULTS Patients displayed increased mean functional gamma-band connectivity compared to controls in the left rolandic operculum. Network-based analyses indicated increased connectivity in patients within a strongly lateralized network consisting mainly of left inferior frontal/orbitofrontal, lateral and medial temporal, and inferior parietal areas. Within this network, gamma-band connectivity was higher in patients with low positive and disorganization symptom levels. CONCLUSIONS The present study provides a link between resting-state gamma-band connectivity and the core symptoms of schizophrenia. The observed findings are different than those reported by task-related studies, suggesting that resting-state studies might reveal new aspects in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Making Merit: The Indian Institutes of Technology and the Social Life of Caste

Abstract The politics of meritocracy at the Indian Institutes of Technology illuminates the social life of caste in contemporary India. I argue that the IIT graduate's status depends on the transformation of privilege into merit, or the conversion of caste capital into modern capital. Analysis of this process calls for a relational approach to merit. My ethnographic research on the southeastern state of Tamilnadu, and on IIT Madras located in the state capital of Chennai, illuminates claims to merit, not simply as the transformation of capital but also as responses to subaltern assertion. Analyzing meritocracy in relation to subaltern politics allows us to see the contextual specificity of such claims: at one moment, they are articulated through the disavowal of caste, at another, through caste affiliation. This marking and unmarking of caste suggests a rethinking of meritocracy, typically assumed to be a modernist ideal that disclaims social embeddedness and disdains the particularisms of caste and race. I show instead that claims to collective belonging and to merit are eminently commensurable, and become more so when subaltern assertion forces privilege into the foreground. Rather than the progressive erasure of ascribed identities in favor of putatively universal ones, we are witnessing the re-articulation of caste as an explicit basis for merit and the generation of newly consolidated forms of upper-casteness.
The Convergence of Information Technology, Data, and Management in a Library Imaging Program1

Integrating advanced imaging and processing capabilities in libraries, archives, and museums requires effective systems and information management to ensure that the large amounts of digital data about cultural artifacts can be readily acquired, stored, archived, accessed, processed, and linked to other data. The Library of Congress is developing advanced digital imaging capabilities into effective preservation and verification tools as part of a larger scientific preservation study, processing, and research system for implementation by other institutions. An integrated hyperspectral imaging system provides a critical nondestructive tool for research into paper, parchment, photographic, and other objects within the Library and other cultural heritage institutions. This article addresses the implementation of this capability and appropriate metadata standards and the impact on the development and convergence of information architectures and systems in libraries, archives, and museums.
In Vivo Gene Transfer of the O2-Sensitive Potassium Channel Kv1.5 Reduces Pulmonary Hypertension and Restores Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction in Chronically Hypoxic Rats

Background—Alveolar hypoxia acutely elicits pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV). Chronic hypoxia (CH), despite attenuating HPV, causes pulmonary hypertension (CH-PHT). HPV results, in part, from inhibition of O2-sensitive, voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv) in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). CH decreases Kv channel current/expression and depolarizes and causes Ca2+ overload in PASMCs. We hypothesize that Kv gene transfer would normalize the pulmonary circulation (restore HPV and reduce CH-PHT), despite ongoing hypoxia. Methods and Results—Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to normoxia or CH for 3 to 4 weeks and then nebulized orotracheally with saline or adenovirus (Ad5) carrying genes for the reporter, green fluorescent protein reporter±human Kv1.5 (cloned from normal PA). HPV was assessed in isolated lungs. Hemodynamics, including Fick and thermodilution cardiac output, were measured in vivo 3 and 14 days after gene therapy by use of micromanometer-tipped catheters. Transgene expression, measured by quantitative RT-PCR, was confined to the lung, persisted for 2 to 3 weeks, and did not alter endogenous Kv1.5 levels. Ad5-Kv1.5 caused no mortality or morbidity, except for sporadic, mild elevation of liver transaminases. Ad5-Kv1.5 restored the O2-sensitive K+ current of PASMCs, normalized HPV, and reduced pulmonary vascular resistance. Pulmonary vascular resistance decreased at day 2 because of increased cardiac output, and remained reduced at day 14, at which time there was concomitant regression of right ventricular hypertrophy and PA medial hypertrophy. Conclusions—Kv1.5 is an important O2-sensitive channel and potential therapeutic target in PHT. Kv1.5 gene therapy restores HPV and improves PHT. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first example of K+ channel gene therapy for a vascular disease.
The Redemptive Story: A Requisite for Sustaining Prosocial Behavioral Patterns Following Traumatic Experiences

Trauma exposure has been associated with a host of negative outcomes (e.g., diminished social functioning). Recently, however, trauma has been found to correspond with a small number of positive outcomes, including an increase in prosocial behavior. In this article, we consider how this heightened prosociality is maintained following the initial trauma. We argue that a redemptive narrative, wherein the tragedy experienced is framed as leading to the prosocial behavior in question, is necessary to sustain this prosocial shift. Constructing such a narrative infuses the resulting behavioral pattern with a sense of meaning and purpose. This process is illustrated through examination of a life narrative generated by a highly prosocial individual who, earlier in her life, had suffered the death of her daughter. Discussion concerns the social and personal antecedents of the redemptive story, the applicability of this story to various types of traumas, and the relation between the construction of this story and well being.
The relationship of staff, resident and environmental characteristics to stress experienced by staff caring for the dementing

In a study linked to the examination of the ‘MEAP’ as a measure of environments for the dementing, a procedure for measuring stress in the carers of the dementing was designed and administered to staff caring for the dementing in three different facilities. Stress was attributed primarily to staff, resident, or environmental characteristics. Events were identified to which care staff of the dementing attributed their stress, and variables including types of staff training and experience, levels of dementia in residents and staff levels were discussed as possible contributors to the perception of events as stressful.
Cloning of nisin resistance determinant and replication origin on 7.6-kilobase EcoRI fragment of pNP40 from Streptococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis DRC3

The nisin resistance determinant and an origin of replication on pNP40, a plasmid of about 60 kilobases that is present in Streptococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis DRC3, was cloned on a 7.6-kilobase EcoRI fragment. When self-ligated, this fragment existed as an independent replicon (pFM011) and contained a 2.6-kilobase EcoRI-XbaI fragment encoding nisin resistance.
Power-Line Communication: Channel Characterization and Modeling for Transportation Systems

This article provides an overview of the recent advances in the characterization and modeling of power-line communication (PLC) channels in transportation systems. The salient aspects of the topological and functional features of the data channels using power networks of motor vehicles, spacecraft, and aircraft are presented. This article is tutorial in nature and guides the reader through a selection of recent papers, collecting relevant results needed to assess the feasibility and strengths of PLC for this class of applications.
The Research of MEICSP Model through a REST Web Service

Nowadays, Marine Information Systems play a critical role between users and huge marine environmental information. However, it is not easy to sharing of marine environmental information and integration of marine business systems. To integrate systems and share information, it is of great importance to build an easy-accessible platform in parallel with the continuous development of technology innovation and the growth of business requirements of marine industries. In this paper, Combined with the Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud computing technology, we propose a method for designing a marine environmental information cloud computing services support platform (MEICSP) according to representational state transfer architectural style (REST), and demonstrate the validity of MEICSP through experiments. The contribution of this article is to reveal key aspects of new software architecture for the next generation marine software.
Pathological mechanisms in experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis. I. Immunogenicity of syngeneic muscle acetylcholine receptor and quantitative extraction of receptor and antibody-receptor complexes from muscles of rats with experimental automimmune myasthenia gravis

Immunization of Lewis rats with acetylcholine receptor (AChR) purified from either Electrophorus electricus electric organ or syngeneic rat muscle induced experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG). This was demonstrated by clinical signs of weakness and by electromyographic evidence of imparied neuromuscular transmission. The amount of rat AChR required to induce an autoimmune response was comparable to the amount of eel AChR required. In vitro complexing of rat AChrR with antibody reduced its immunogenicity. Autoantibody to muscle AChR was present in serum and complexed with AChR in muscle. Antibody was not bound to the ACh binding site of AChR, since antibody-AChR complexes extracted from muscle could still bind 125I-alpha-bungarotoxin. The amount of AChR extracted from muscle of rats with EAMG was diminished. The amount of AChR and antibody-AChR complexes in muscle was measured at intervals after immunization with eel AChR. The amount of AChR decreased in rats with acute EAMG, then transiently increased to more than normal amounts during remission, and finally decreased to only about 20% of normal in rats with chronic EAMG. At least half of the AChR remaining in animals with chronic EAMG was complexed with antibody. Thus, both a decrease in amount of AChR and the formation of antibody-AChR complexes contribute to impairment of neuromuscular transmission in rats with EAMG. The possible mechanisms involved in the changes in AChR content are discussed.
Analytic PCA Construction for Theoretical Analysis of Lighting Variability in Images of a Lambertian Object

We analyze theoretically the subspace best approximating images of a convex Lambertian object taken from the same viewpoint, but under different distant illumination conditions. We analytically construct the principal component analysis for images of a convex Lambertian object, explicitly taking attached shadows into account, and find the principal eigenmodes and eigenvalues with respect to lighting variability. Our analysis makes use of an analytic formula for the irradiance in terms of spherical-harmonic coefficients of the illumination and shows, under appropriate assumptions, that the principal components or eigenvectors are identical to the spherical harmonic basis functions evaluated at the surface normal vectors. Our main contribution is in extending these results to the single-viewpoint case, showing how the principal eigenmodes and eigenvalues are affected when only a limited subset (the upper hemisphere) of normals is available and the spherical harmonics are no longer orthonormal over the restricted domain. Our results are very close, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to previous empirical observations and represent the first essentially complete theoretical explanation of these observations.
Interference Aware Routing in Sensor Network

Interference reduction is very crucial in sensor network for the economy of attached battery power. We propose a technique for extracting a backbone network from a given node distribution such that the extracted network exhibits reduced interference property. We describe a centralized algorithm for constructing backbone network which runs in O(n2) time, where n is the number of nodes in the sensor network. Finally we present the results of an experimental investigation of the proposed algorithm. The investigation shows that the proposed backbone network is indeed effective in generating interference reduced routes