Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cracking of porcelain coatings bonded to metal substrates of different modulus and hardness

A preceding study of contact damage in a bilayer system consisting of a porcelain coating on a stiff Pd-alloy substrate is here expanded to investigate the role of substrate modulus and hardness. Bilayers are made by fusing the same dental porcelain onto Co-, Pd-, and Au-alloy metal bases. Indentations are made on the porcelain surfaces using spheres of radii 2.38 and 3.98 mm. Critical loads to initiate cone fracture at the top surface of the porcelain and yield in the substrate below the contact are measured as a function of porcelain thickness. Radial cracks form at the lower surface of the coating once the substrate yield is well developed. By virtue of its controlling role in the metal yield process, substrate hardness is revealed to be a key material parameter—substrate modulus plays a secondary role. A simple elasticitybased analysis for predetermining critical loads for a given brittle/plastic bilayer system is presented.
Changes in detrusor smooth muscle myosin heavy chain mRNA expression following spinal cord injury in the mouse

Smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SMMHC) isoform composition has been shown to be developmentally regulated and to be associated with functional changes in smooth muscle activity. In this study, we sought to determine expression patterns of SMMHC isoforms in a murine model of spinal cord injury (SCI) and to compare these expression patterns to neurologic, cytometric, and morphometric findings.
Evidence of Syndemics and Sexuality-Related Discrimination Among Young Sexual-Minority Women.

PURPOSE Syndemics, or the co-occurrence and interaction of health problems, have been examined extensively among young men who have sex with men, but their existence remain unexamined, to our knowledge, among sexual-minority (i.e., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) women. Thus, we investigated if syndemics were present among young sexual-minority women, and if sexual-orientation discrimination was an independent variable of syndemic production. METHODS A total of 467 sexual-minority women between the ages of 18 and 24 completed a cross-sectional online survey regarding their substance use, mental health, sexual behaviors, height, weight, and experiences of discrimination. We used structural equation modeling to investigate the presence of syndemics and their relationship to sexual-orientation discrimination. RESULTS Heavy episodic drinking, marijuana use, ecstasy use, hallucinogen use, depressive symptoms, multiple sexual partners, and history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) comprised syndemics in this population (chi-square=24.989, P=.201; comparative fit index [CFI]=0.946; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]=0.023). Sexual-orientation discrimination is significantly and positively associated with the latent syndemic variable (unstandardized coefficient=0.095, P<.05), and this model fit the data well (chi-square=33.558, P=.059; CFI=0.914; RMSEA=0.029). The reverse causal model showed syndemics is not an independent variable of sexual-orientation discrimination (unstandardized coefficient=0.602, P>.05). CONCLUSIONS Syndemics appear to be present and associated with sexual-orientation discrimination among young sexual-minority women. Interventions aimed at reducing discrimination or increasing healthy coping may help reduce substance use, depressive symptoms, and sexual risk behaviors in this population.
The role of partnering in the transition to a circular economy in the Dutch infrastructure sector: A case study to the InnovA58

Due to growing prosperity in the world, together with the trend of urbanization, more and more natural resources are needed. However, the earth cannot keep providing us these materials, since many of them are depleting. The concept of circular economy is seen as an opportunity to tackle this problem. However, the infrastructure industry lags behind in this transition. Transition theories state collaboration between stakeholders is the most important factor to transition successfully, and within the construction and infrastructure sector, partnering is seen as the ultimate form of collaboration. However, the role of partnering in the transition to a circular economy has never been studies before within the infrastructure sector. This research will try to fill in this knowledge gap by gaining empirical knowledge from the InnovA58, a highway alteration project in the Netherlands. It was found there is a definite role of partnering on the transition to a circular economy within the infrastructure. Some elements of partnering contribute to the transition, others hamper it. Also, partnering triggers a motor of change in the transition, which acts as a flying wheel to accelerate the transition. Therefore, partnering plays a role in the circular economic transition both directly as well as indirectly. Knowledge of the concept of partnering and the benefits it can bring can be highly positive for projects with a circular economic ambition, therefore, project team members as well as the client of such infrastructure projects should be knowledgeable about this topic. Furthermore, the current focus on the Iron Triangle in infrastructure projects is seen as a threat to the transition to a circular economy; something which will need to change radically, but can only be influenced slowly but steadily.
Joint activity and attenuation reconstruction of listmode TOF-PET data

Different methods have been proposed for simultaneous reconstruction of activity and attenuation from TOF-PET sinogram data. In this work we present the listmode maximum likelihood activity and attenuation reconstruction (MLAA) and the listmode maximum likelihood attenuation correction factors (MLACF) algorithms building on their established sinogram implementation. Our listmode MLAA differs from a recently proposed listmode algorithm by incorporating the maximum likelihood transmission reconstruction (MLTR) algorithm in MLAA. The listmode MLTR algorithm has some similarity to the listmode image based reconstruction algorithm (ISRA), since it reconstructs the image from the backprojection of the acquired data. We investigate the reconstruction results on a scan of the NEMA IEC body phantom.
THE DETERMINATION OF IODINE IN BIOLOGIC MATERIAL.

The chloric acid digestion of serum, followed by the ceric sulfate reduction test for iodine has been shown to give results reproducible to within ± 0.00035 µg. iodine per test sample (1) if the entire digestion tubes are kept hot during the combustion step so that products of incomplete oxidation are vaporized, (2) if the perchloric acid and sulfuric acid concentrations in the final digest are adjusted to 1.64 normal (16.5%) and 0.37 normal, respectively, (3) if attention is paid to the order of addition of the reagents, and (4) if the arsenite reagent is added within a fraction of a second. The method gave values for total serum iodine in 20 healthy subjects between 5 and 10.5 µg. /100 ml.
Characteristics of Young Infants in Whom Human Parechovirus, Enterovirus or Neither Were Detected in Cerebrospinal Fluid During Sepsis Evaluations

Background: Human parechovirus (HPeV) causes central nervous system (CNS) infection in infants. To further understand HPeV CNS infection, we describe its clinical, laboratory and epidemiologic characteristics from a Midwestern US tertiary care center. Because HPeV CNS infections have appeared clinically and seasonally similar to enterovirus (EV) infections, we retrospectively compared characteristics of young infants undergoing sepsis evaluations in whom HPeV, EV or neither were detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Methods: HPeV real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was performed on frozen nucleic acid extracts of CSF specimens submitted for EV RT-PCR assay from children seen at our hospital in 2009. HPeV genotyping was performed by sequencing of the viral protein 1 region. Clinical data were abstracted from medical records retrospectively for EV-positive, HPeV-positive and age-matched controls in whom neither virus was detected from CSF testing. Results: HPeV was detected in 66 of the 388 (17%) CSF specimens whereas EV was detected in 54 of the 388 (14%) from June through October 2009. Genotyping identified HPeV3 in 51 of the 66 (77%) positive CSF specimens. Males predominated (61%) with the most common presenting symptoms (91%) being fever and irritability. All HPeV-positive patients were <5 months of age. Eight required admission to the pediatric intensive care unit. In multivariate analysis, lower peripheral white blood cell counts with lower absolute lymphocyte count values, higher maximum temperatures, longer fever duration, absence of pleocytosis and longer hospitalization were independently associated with HPeV patients compared with patients with EV or patients negative for both HPeV and EV. Conclusions: Our data indicate that HPeV3, an emerging CNS pathogen of infants in the United States, should be considered in sepsis-like presentation even without CSF pleocytosis. Addition of HPeV RT-PCR to EV RT-PCR assay for CSF specimens of patients <6 months of age could reduce hospital stay and costs while improving clinical management
Privileged Account Management for the Financial Services Sector

Privileged account management (PAM) is a domain within identity and access management (IdAM) that focuses on monitoring and controlling the use of privileged accounts. Privileged accounts include local and domain administrative accounts, emergency accounts, application management, and service accounts. These powerful accounts provide elevated, often nonrestricted, access to the underlying IT resources and technology, which is why external and internal malicious actors seek to gain access to them. Hence, it is critical to monitor, audit, control, and manage privileged account usage. Many organizations, including financial sector companies, face challenges in managing privileged accounts.
Is Virtual Reality a Memorable Experience in an Educational Context?

Learning science concepts are very often challenging, especially when complex concepts are involved. Teachers have recourse to many different types of teaching methods which are however limited when it comes to explaining students about three dimensionality concepts. With these limitations, the teaching methods fall short in increasing the interest of students. It is therefore important to understand how the new generation learns and hence to teach them accordingly. Virtual Reality (VR) is an emerging technology which can be used for teaching science concepts. VR is innovative and hence easily captures studentsâ? interest. This paper presents the results of some preliminary studies conducted with a view to showing the extent to which VR is a memorable experience for students, in order to support its use for teaching Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) concepts.
mHealth in Costa Rica: Prescribing Mobile Applications for Health

espanolGlobally, mobile phones have expanded at an unprecedented rate, and mobile phone applications have become increasingly frequent among users, offering portability to access at any time and from anywhere. The objective of this review is to describe the process of adoption and implementation of strategies that promote the use of mobile technologies in public health in Costa Rica. EnglishA nivel global, los telefonos moviles se han expandido a un ritmo sin precedentes, y las aplicaciones de telefonos moviles se han vuelto cada vez mas frecuentes entre los usuarios, ofreciendo portabilidad para acceder en cualquier momento y desde cualquier lugar. La presente revision tiene como objetivo describir el proceso de adopcion e implementacion de estrategias que promuevan el uso de las tecnologias moviles en la salud publica de Costa Rica.
Smooth mode transition of A DC bus voltage controlled PV inverter using a novel phase locked loop method

This paper describes a control algorithm for smooth transition from standalone (SA) to grid connected (GC) mode of a PV connected two stage inverter. High voltage DC bus is obtained by using a frontend boost converter. The DC bus voltage is kept regulated during all the modes of operation. A new phase reference generation method is also described which does not require any lookup table. The PLL synchronization method is also described and verified with experiments. The system runs in voltage control mode during standalone mode of operation keeping output voltage constant irrespective of change in load. If grid becomes available, it performs a smooth transition from stand alone to grid-connected mode. If grid fault occurs grid voltage falls bellow allowable level. In this situation system does a mode transition and goes to SA mode. In GC mode system runs in current control where current reference comes from maximum power point tracking algorithm. The strategy has been verified with experiments, and results are presented in this paper.
MORPHOLOGICAL COLOR PROCESSING BASED ON DISTANCES . APPLICATION TO COLOR DENOISING AND ENHANCEMENT BY CENTRE AND CONTRAST OPERATORS

The extension of mathematical morphology operators to multi-valued functions, and in particular to color images, is neither direct nor general. In this paper is proposed a generalisation of distance-based and lexicographical-based approaches, allowing the extension of morphological operators to color images for any color representation (e.g. RGB, LSH and L*a*b*) and for any metric distance to a reference color. The performance of these morphological color operators is illustrated by means of two applications: color denoising by the centre operator and color enhancement by the contrast mapping.
Characteristic [Beta]-Globin Gene Cluster Haplotypes of Evenkis and Oroqens in North China

Haplotype frequencies of the β-globin gene cluster were estimated for 114 Evenkis and 81 Oroqens from northeast China, and their characteristics were compared with those in Japanese, Koreans, and three Colombian Amerindian groups of South America (Wayuu, Kamsa, and Inga tribes). A major 5' subhaplotype (5' to the δ-globin gene) was + - - - in Evenkis, whereas + - - -, - + + - +, and - + - + + were the major subhaplotypes in Oroqens. One possible candidate for an ancestral 5' subhaplotype, - - - - -, was found in one Evenki (0.5%) and three Oroqen chromosomes (2.0%). They were observed as heterozygous forms for + - - - - and - - - - -. Major haplotypes were + - - - - - +, + - - - - + -, and + - - - - + + in Evenkis, whereas they were + - - - - - +, - + + - + - +, + - - - - + -, and - + - + + - + in Oroqens. The lowest Nei's genetic distance values of Evenkis or Oroqens based on the 5' subhaplotype frequency distributions were observed in relation to the Wayuu or Koreans, respectively, but those of Evenkis and Oroqens based on the haplotype frequency distributions were found in relation to Koreans.
Evaluation of World Wide Web-based Lessons for a First Year Dental Biochemistry Course

Abstract: First year dental students at The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston (Dental Branch) are required to take a basic biochemistry course. To facilitate learning and allow student self-assessment of their progress, WWW-based lessons covering intermediary metabolism were developed as a supplement to traditional lectures. Lesson design combined text, graphics, and animations and included learner control, links to other learning resources, and practice exercises and exams with immediate feedback. Results from an on-line questionnaire completed by students in two different classes showed that they completed 50% of the lessons and spent an average of 4 hrs. online. A majority of the students either agreed or strongly agreed that practice exercises were helpful, that the ability to control the pace of the lessons was important, that the lesson structure and presentation was easy to follow, that the illustrations, animations, and hyperlinks were helpful, and that the lessons were effective as a review. The very positive response to the WWW-based lessons indicates the usefulness of this approach as a study aid for dental students.
TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH: ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Translational research (TR) is a new categorization for the efforts of biomedical research and emphasizes efficiency in achieving population health improvements through the application of basic science knowledge in clinical practice. It will be argued that the current emphasis on speed and collaboration with industry established by national policies provides challenges to maintaining the integrity of scientific research. There is no agreed upon definition of TR and the current standard of judging the success of TR focuses on product production. I propose that the principles of beneficence and responsive justice should be used to inform the values of TR and to produce an agreed upon definition for TR. I will also suggest possible actions and changes to help incorporate the principles of beneficence and responsive justice into the translational framework that include greater reflection throughout the translational process about its priorities, increased role of implementation research, and the communication of negative results in addition to positive results.
Near Infrared Spectroscopy in Optical Coherence Tomography

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a technique that is able to provide cross section views of tissue layers. This fast and non-invasive method is widely used in clinical applications for the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. Although conventional OCT is derived from the theory of interferometric imaging, emerging developments, including spectroscopic OCT and related techniques such as dual-band OCT and Raman spectroscopy–OCT, have resulted in significantly improved clinical capabilities for observing the tissue layers through enhanced tissue definition, image resolution, image contrast and scanning speed. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art developments of OCT. It starts with a general introduction of conventional interferometric OCT imaging methods including the time-domain and frequency-domain techniques. The second section explores the advances introduced from spectroscopy techniques in OCT, especially with spectroscopic OCT, dual-band OCT and Raman spectroscopy combined OCT. The final section discusses the current challenges in the application of approaches based on computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for retinal imaging, for example automated segmentation of tissue layers and tracking disease progression. This task is currently limited by the quality of the recorded data from OCT systems but will be improved by adopting spectroscopic techniques. Finally, we analyse and discuss the improvements that are expected in retinal CAD from the adoption of newly emerging near infrared spectroscopy OCT at multiple wavelengths.
Structure of hot rotating s-d shell nuclei.

Landau theory of phase transitions is used to determine the shape evolution of even-even {ital s}-{ital d} shell nuclei with temperature and spin. Further in this study, the most important statistical thermal shape fluctuations are also incorporated. The constants appearing in the Landau expression for the free energy are determined by using the free energy surfaces at {omega}=0 calculated by the finite temperature Strutinsky and summation methods. The pairing effect is included at ground state but shown to be of minor importance in shape determination. It is seen that the averaged shapes for the above nuclei at different temperatures and spins are mostly triaxial which are quite different from the most probable shapes, prolate or oblate. Only these averaged shapes can be seen through the study of giant dipole resonance decays of highly excited states.
Estimation of Photosynthetic Light Use Efficiency in Semi-Arid Ecosystems with the MODIS-Derived Photochemical Reflectance Index

Direct estimations of light use efficiency from satellite data could reduce the uncertainties in data-oriented models of primary productivity. We analysed the potential of the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) based on MODIS data to approximate LUE of a Mediterranean Quercus ilex forest. Spectal band 1 (620-670 nm) turned out to be the best alternative reference band (the recommended 570 nm band does not exist on MODIS). Radiance correction with standard procedures (6S, dark object subtraction) did not improve the PRI-LUE relationship compared to the at-sensor reflectance version. The influence of surface anisotropy on the PRI signal was much reduced by constraining the observations to satellite data acquisitions with near nadir viewing angles.
Histological and ultrastructural study on the medial canthal ligament of blepharophimosis, ptosis and epicanthus inversus syndrome.

BACKGROUND Blepharophimosis ptosis epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES) is a rare congenital ophthalmic disorder, characterized by congenital eyelid malformation including bilateral ptosis, shortening of the horizontal eyelid fissure, epicanthus inversus, and increased distance between the inner canthi. In this research, we studied the histological structure and ultrastructure of medial canthal ligament of patients with BPES. METHODS Thirty patients with BPES who received plastic surgery at the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from March 2006 to January 2008 were studied. There were 17 males and 13 females with an average age of (8.73 +/- 3.37) years (3 - 31 years). The medial canthal ligaments of patients were collected during the plastic surgery to analyze the histological structure by hematoxylin and eosin (HE), Congo red, van Gieson's (VG), Masson trichrome and aldehyde-fuchsin staining. The ultrastructures of the medial canthal ligaments were also analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fifteen samples of medial canthal ligament from healthy persons with an average age of (9.02 +/- 3.12) years (6 - 30 years) were collected as a control group. RESULTS Morphological and histological study showed that the medial canthal ligaments of BPES patients were composed of collagen fibers, a few elastic fibers and striated muscles. The collagen fibers assemblies were disorganized and the fibrous connective tissues were undergoing hyaline degeneration. The karyopycnosis of fibroblasts was located among the collagen fibrils and the numbers of fibroblasts were decreased. Ultrastructural study with SEM showed that the collagen fibers were larger than normal, irregular and loose. Parts of the collagen fibers were broken and had a coarse surface. Ultrastructural study with TEM showed that the fibroblasts had less cytoplasm, fewer organelles and the nucleus displayed pyknosis. CONCLUSIONS The medial canthal ligament in BPES patients is composed chiefly of collagen fibers. The collagen fibers of medial canthal ligaments in BPES patients are disorganized and hyaline degeneration is present. The study revealed that the medial canthal ligament of BPES patients might have congenital dysplasia.
Cascading Failure in Critical Infrastructure: An Actor-Network Analysis of the 1998 Ice Storm in Ottawa

A 1998 ice storm initiated a cascading failure across several of Ottawa’s critical infrastructure systems, leaving +50,000 people without electricity for prolonged periods as emergency managers failed to grasp the extent of the disaster and initiate a successful coordinated response. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) along with risk and vulnerability principles is used to unpack the complexities contributing to this disaster and explore how Ontario’s 2008 Provincial Emergency Response Plan (PERP) might have altered outcomes. ANT revealed electrical and transportation failures were initially isolated but days three through five in the Storm were characterized by failures transcending the resilience of several infrastructure systems as well as emergency programs, resulting in system-wide, cascading severe disruptions and failures to all infrastructure systems other than sanitation and water. This thesis concludes conditions conducive to a cascading failure persist and that PERP (2008) inadequately prevents the reoccurrence of cascading infrastructure failure during a prolonged ice storm.