Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Temperature Dependence of Density, Viscosity, Thermal Conductivity and Heat Capacity of Vegetable Oils for Their Use as Biofuel in Internal Combustion Engines

This work gives tools to overcome the difficulty to determine experimentally physical properties for vegetable oils within the range of temperature typically observed during the injection phase in a diesel engine. Knowing vegetable oils’ physical properties to these ranges of temperature is of fundamental importance when modeling their combustion in diesel engine. However, vegetable oils’ experimental physical properties data are rare in the literature for temperature above 523 K. This paper describes experimental measurements and estimation methods for density, dynamic viscosity, thermal conductivity and heat capacity of vegetable oils for this particular range of temperature. The methodology uses several correlative methods using group contribution approach for each property and compares experimental data with predicted one to select the more accurate model. This work has shown the rapeseed and jatropha oils’ physical properties can be satisfactorily predicted as a function of temperature using group contribution approach.
Population Pharmacokinetics of Methotrexate in Egyptian Children with Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Background: Individualization of high dose regimen of methotrexate (MTX) in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia based on pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters can help in optimization of the dose and better control of the disease. Building up of a pharmacokinetic model can help dose optimization. Objectives: A NONMEM based population (POP) PK model has been subsequently developed to evaluate the effect of demographics as covariates to address variability in pharmacokinetics of MTX. Method: Forty one patients (24 males & 17 females) with ranges of age, body weight and height of 3 - 15 years, 13 - 54 kg and 100 - 177 cm respectively and diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were involved in the study. MTX was administered as i.v. infusion at a dose of 2 gm/m2 over a period of two hour and its plasma concentrations were determined primarily at 24 hr post-dose to be utilized in the building-up of PK model.The initial/prior estimates of volumes of central (V1) and peripheral compartments (V2) and clearance (CL) and inter-compartmental clearance (Q2) for MTX were extracted from literature. The inter-subject variability was estimated for V1 & CL. The influence of different covariates on model performance and parameter estimates was assessed by evaluating the difference in objective function value. The final POP PK model was validated by bootstrap re-sampling procedures (1000 runs) and the 95% confidence intervals for the estimates were calculated. Results: The POP estimates for CL, V1 and V2 were 2.18 L/h, 5.74 L and 11.2 L respectively. The inter-individual variability for the CL and V1 was 23% and 30% respectively. The covariates analysis showed effect of body surface area and sex on the CL and weight on V1. Conclusions: The POP-PK model developed adequately defines the population PK of MTX in pediatric patients with lymphoblastic leukemia. The model showed effect of body surface area and sex on clearance and weight on volume of distribution of the MTX. Further studies are required on larger number of patients with enrichment of samples for MTX concentrations. The developed PK model should be also investigated in correlation with the genotyping style of different MTX transporters that may affect MTX PK parameters.
Cold compression of 7075 and factors influencing stress relief

The residual stresses in heat-treated 7075 aluminum alloy blocks have been characterized using neutron diffraction, X-ray diffraction, and incremental center-hole drilling. Specimens were quenched to induce high-magnitude residual stresses, which were then stress relieved by the controlled application of plastic deformation using a cold compression technique. The experimental variables investigated were the quench water temperature and the postquench delay. This delay is considered to influence the final residual stress magnitudes because of hardening precipitation occurring by natural aging during the period between quenching and the application of plastic deformation. Cold compression significantly lowered the residual stresses in all specimens. Neutron diffraction measurements demonstrated a benefit to applying plastic deformation as soon as possible after quenching. However, this beneficial effect was not evident when characterizing surface residual stresses using hole drilling or X-ray diffraction.
The Management of Focal Spasticity

Spasticity is commonly defined as a motor disorder characterized by a velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes with exaggerated tendon jerks. However, other clinical components of spasticity include abnormal cutaneous and autonomic reflexes, lack of dexterity, motor paresis, fatigability, and typical patterns of over activity (1,2). However, neither the clinical sign of spasticity nor the symptom of hypertonus necessarily require treatment or therapeutic intervention. Spasticity may be beneficial. Positive aspects of spasticity include improved transfers, standing, and even walking as a result of an increased tone of antigravity muscles. Spasticity may allow the paretic limb to withdraw from potentially dangerous stimuli, may help prevent muscle atrophy and calcium loss from bone, decrease edema, decrease the risk of deep venous thrombosis, and may assist in cardiovascular conditioning. Negative aspects of spasticity interfere with rehabilitation and activities of daily living. Spasticity may produce pain, result in fractures, and may contribute to the development of decubitus skin ulcers. It may also interfere with bladder control by the development of detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia. Other factors that may contribute to the overall disability experienced by a patient include impairment of posture, abnormal quality of movement, painful spasms, abnormal ambulation, poor hygiene, and interference with nursing care (3,4). Even when spasticity appears to be producing a clinical disability, one must be cautious in assuming that relief of that spasticity will lessen the disability. Frequently, the true neurologic deficit is the underlying weakness and lack of voluntary mobility that has been masked by the spasticity. This important concept will be a recurrent one throughout this discussion in understanding the approach to managing spasticity. SPASTICITY MEASUREMENTS AND SCALES
PACP: A Position-Independent Activity Recognition Method Using Smartphone Sensors

Human activity recognition has been a hot topic in recent years. With the advances in sensor technology, there has been a growing interest in using smartphones equipped with a set of built-in sensors to solve tasks of activity recognition. However, in most previous studies, smartphones were used with a fixed position—like trouser pockets—during recognition, which limits the user behavior. In the position-independent cases, the recognition accuracy is not very satisfactory. In this paper, we studied human activity recognition with smartphones in different positions and proposed a new position-independent method called PACP (Parameters Adjustment Corresponding to smartphone Position), which can markedly improve the performance of activity recognition. In PACP, features were extracted from the raw accelerometer and gyroscope data to recognize the position of the smartphone first; then the accelerometer data were adjusted corresponding to the position; finally, the activities were recognized with the SVM (Support Vector Machine) model trained by the adjusted data. To avoid the interference of smartphone orientations, the coordinate system of the accelerometer was transformed to get more useful information during this process. Experimental results show that PACP can achieve an accuracy over 91%, which is more effective than previous methods.
A fast heuristic Cartesian space motion planning algorithm for many-DoF robotic manipulators in dynamic environments

A variety of motion planning algorithms has been developed over the past decades. For robotics, the transformation of the problem from the robot Cartesian space (workspace) to the configuration space (C-space) has been crucial - converting the problem of collision-checking between 3D objects to simpler, point-like, tests in the high-dimensional C-space. However, the C-space map-making is both computationally and memory-intensive and the complexity grows with the C-space dimension. With time-varying environments and many robot DoFs, this soon becomes intractable, as newly appearing and possibly moving obstacles need to be remapped online into the high-dimensional C-space. Therefore, we present a fast heuristic planning method designed for a humanoid robot that employs the sampling-based RRT* algorithm directly in the Cartesian space and in a hierarchical fashion: first, a collision-free path is planned for the end-effector; second, corresponding collision-free points for every via-point are searched for the robot elbow. The resulting path consists of straight-line segments and is only approximate, but the details - a kinematically feasible smooth trajectory for the robot - is offloaded to an online Cartesian solver and controller that is available on our platform. The results demonstrate, first, that our solution delivers real-time performance (plans faster than 1s on a standard PC) in the vast majority of cases in a significantly cluttered environment. Second, the results are suggestive of the fact that asymptotic optimality of the plans is preserved even for the additional control points. Third, a test of state-of-the-art algorithms on the same scenario shows that solutions cannot be found in reasonable time (less than 10s).
ONG TERM EFFECTS ON L IPID METABOLISM IN MINIATURE SWINE ( SUS SCROFA ) OF DIETS ENRICHED IN SATURATED , M ONOUNSATURATED AND POLYUNSATURATED ( N6 AND N-3 ) FATTY ACIDS

Epidemiological and experimental studies show the influences of different kinds of dietary fats on serum lipid levels (Keys et al., 1965a; Hegsted et al., 1965; Keys, 1970; Becker et al., 1983; Harris et al., 1983; Jackson et al., 1984; Mattson & Grundy, 1985; Sirtori et al., 1986; Harris et al., 1990), as well as the association between the plasmatic concentration of these lipids and the incidence of coronary heart disease (Inkeles & Eisenberg, 1981; Assman, 1982). However, not only the amount but also lipidic fraction composition may be indicative of risks of vascular diseases (Lewis, 1983), so that the atherogenicity of circulant cholesterol would depend on its distriL ONG TERM EFFECTS ON L IPID METABOLISM IN MINIATURE SWINE (SUS SCROFA) OF DIETS ENRICHED IN SATURATED , M ONOUNSATURATED AND POLYUNSATURATED (N-6 AND N-3) FATTY ACIDS
Clinical Efficacy and Predictive Molecular Markers of Neoadjuvant Gemcitabine and Pemetrexed in Resectable Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Background: A trial of neoadjuvant gemcitabine and pemetrexed (GP) chemotherapy in patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer was conducted. The goal was to achieve a disease response rate of 50% and to determine if the expression levels of genes associated with GP metabolism are predictive of response. Methods: Patients had staging with a computed tomography scan, whole body F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, and mediastinoscopy. Four biweekly cycles of GP were given. Patients were restaged, and those with resectable stage IB-III disease had thoracotomy. Fresh frozen tumor specimens were collected before and after chemotherapy and the mRNA levels of 14 target genes determined by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Fifty-two patients started therapy. The radiographic disease response rate was 35% (95% confidence interval 21.7-49.6%), and the progression rate was 6%. Forty-six patients had a thoracotomy. The complete tumor resection rate was 77% (40/52). There were no perioperative deaths or deaths related to chemotherapy. Tumor response to chemotherapy was inversely correlated with the level of expression of RRM1 (p < 0.001; regulatory subunit of ribonucleotide reductase) and TS (p = 0.006; thymidylate synthase); i.e., the reduction in tumor size was greater in those with low levels of expression. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant GP is well tolerated and produces an objective response rate of 35%. Tumoral RRM1 and TS mRNA levels are predictive of disease response and should be considered as parameters for treatment selection in future trials with this regimen.
Assessment of the In Vitro Kinetic Activity of Caspofungin against Candida glabrata

ABSTRACT Echinocandins have become the drug of choice in infections caused by Candida glabrata. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro activity of caspofungin alone and in combination against C. glabrata. In vitro assays demonstrated that caspofungin alone showed excellent fungicidal activity against C. glabrata, including fluconazole-resistant strains. The combination of caspofungin and azole antifungals showed potential synergy against C. glabrata. Overall, caspofungin demonstrated excellent in vitro activity, alone and in combination, against strains of C. glabrata.
Alto: Rapid Prototyping for Parsing and Translation

We present Alto, a rapid prototyping tool for new grammar formalisms. Alto implements generic but efficient algorithms for parsing, translation, and training for a range of monolingual and synchronous grammar formalisms. It can easily be extended to new formalisms, which makes all of these algorithms immediately available for the new formalism.
Observation of Crude Oil Spill Off the West Coast of Korea using TerraSAR-X, ENVISAT ASAR and ALOS PALSAR

On December 7th, 2007, more than 10,000 tons of crude oil from a tanker leaked into the Yellow Sea off the west coast of Korean Peninsula. Several SAR images including TerraSAR-X, ENVISAT ASAR, RADARSAT-1, ERS-2 SAR and ALOS PALSAR were acquired over the contaminated area from oil spill. Observed dark patches in SAR images, due to the presence of oil slicks, were extracted using adaptive thresholding methods, and then classified based on field information. The damping ratio, which is a ratio between slick-free and slick-covered sea surface, was analyzed by the SAR radar frequencies and wind condition. With the acquired SAR images in temporal resolutions, the movement of oil slicks was monitored and traced.
Combination of a Bispecific Antibody and Costimulatory Antibody-Ligand Fusion Proteins for Targeted Cancer Immunotherapy

Initiation of a tumor-directed immune response and appropriate modulation of its progress are key issues in cancer immunotherapy. Combinatorial strategies addressing both aspects might therefore be especially suitable. Here, we report a targeted approach combining a bispecific antibody with 2 costimulatory antibody-ligand fusion proteins. According to the concept, the bispecific antibody (scDbFAP×CD3) retargets T cells in a MHC-independent manner to tumor cells, providing an artificial first signal that allows the costimulatory antibody-ligand fusion proteins (B7.2-Db and scFv-4-1BBL) likewise targeted to the tumor cells to modulate the T-cell response. In our model system, the target cells coexpress the fibroblast activation protein (FAP) and endoglin as antigens. ScDbFAPCD3 and B7.2-Db are targeted to FAP although by different antibody moieties, whereas scFv-4-1BBL is directed against endoglin. ScDbFAPCD3-induced T-cell stimulation could be enhanced by the addition of either B7.2-Db or scFv-4-1BBL and even further by the combination of both as shown in terms of cytokine release (interleukin-2/interferon &ggr;), proliferation and activation marker expression (CD25). By combined costimulation, overall T-cell population strongly increased in activation-experienced memory phenotype accompanied by a decrease in naive phenotype. ScFv-4-1BBL-mediated costimulation of naive CD8+ T cells promoted the expansion and development of cytotoxic T cells with strong effector potential. Thus, combining a bispecific antibody with antibody-ligand fusion protein-mediated CD28 and 4-1BB costimulation in a targeted approach shows great potential to generate and shape an immune response at the tumor site. Therefore, the adaptation of this approach to other immune modulatory ligands and tumor-relevant targets seems to be promising.
CUWoodFrame : a heat and mass transfer model for light-frame wood floors exposed to fire

As performance-based techniques become increasingly accepted in the design of fire-safe buildings, the ability to predict the response of light-frame wood assemblies exposed to realistic fire scenarios is needed. This work is part of a larger project at Carleton University to develop a model to predict the risk from fire to occupants and property in multi-storey non-residential buildings of light-frame wood construction. A two-dimensional finite-element model called CUWoodFrame has been developed to simulate the heat and mass transfer in both gypsum board and wood in order to predict the thermal response of a wood-frame floor assembly exposed to fire. The mass transfer analysis considers water vapour in gypsum board and both water vapour and volatile pyrolysis products in wood. Calcination of gypsum board and pyrolysis of wood are predicted using Arrhenius expressions. The evaporation of water is modelled assuming the partial pressure of water vapour is equal to the equilibrium vapour pressure. Comparisons are made to tests conducted using the cone calorimeter, and intermediate-scale and full-scale fire-resistance furnaces. Tests completed using the cone entailed exposing a sample consisting of two layers of gypsum board protecting a layer of wood to three different heat fluxes. The tests completed using the fireresistance furnaces were carried out using two different exposures. One test in each furnace was conducted using the standard temperature-time curve, while the other was subjected to an alternative exposure.
Epidemiology and genetics of common mental disorders in the general population: the PEGASUS-Murcia project

Background Multidisciplinary collaboration between clinicians, epidemiologists, neurogeneticists and statisticians on research projects has been encouraged to improve our knowledge of the complex mechanisms underlying the aetiology and burden of mental disorders. The PEGASUS-Murcia (Psychiatric Enquiry to General Population in Southeast Spain-Murcia) project was designed to assess the prevalence of common mental disorders and to identify the risk and protective factors, and it also included the collection of biological samples to study the gene–environmental interactions in the context of the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Methods and analysis The PEGASUS-Murcia project is a new cross-sectional face-to-face interview survey based on a representative sample of non-institutionalised adults in the Region of Murcia (Mediterranean Southeast, Spain). Trained lay interviewers used the latest version of the computer-assisted personal interview of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0) for use in Spain, specifically adapted for the project. Two biological samples of buccal mucosal epithelium will be collected from each interviewed participant, one for DNA extraction for genomic and epigenomic analyses and the other to obtain mRNA for gene expression quantification. Several quality control procedures will be implemented to assure the highest reliability and validity of the data. This article describes the rationale, sampling methods and questionnaire content as well as the laboratory methodology. Ethics and dissemination Informed consent will be obtained from all participants and a Regional Ethics Research Committee has approved the protocol. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and presented at the national and the international conferences. Discussion Cross-sectional studies, which combine detailed personal information with biological data, offer new and exciting opportunities to study the gene–environmental interactions in the aetiology of common mental disorders in representative samples of the general population. A collaborative multidisciplinary research approach offers the potential to advance our knowledge of the underlying complex interactions and this opens the field for further innovative study designs in psychiatric epidemiology.
Involvement in decision-making and breast cancer survivor quality of life.

OBJECTIVE This study examined the long-term effects on women's health related quality of life (HRQOL) of involvement in decision-making about their treatment for breast cancer and about follow-up care after treatment. METHODS Using a cross-sectional survey design, a sample of breast cancer survivors from Western Washington who were 2, 5, and 10 years postdiagnosis were recruited via a cancer registry and interviewed about their HRQOL and their involvement in decision-making about their cancer treatment and follow-up care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES HRQOL was assessed using the SF-36. RESULTS Multiple regression analyses examining demographic and disease characteristics revealed age, and education, but not stage of cancer at diagnosis, to be significant predictors of perceived involvement in decision-making about cancer treatment and follow-up. Controlling for demographic and disease characteristics, perceived involvement in decision-making about treatment overall, surgery, chemotherapeutic treatment, and follow-up care were each associated with improved HRQOL, including the general health and vitality subscales of the SF-36 (p < .05). Involvement in decision-making about surgery was also associated with better mental health among survivors of breast cancer. Congruence of involvement in decision-making with a patient's preferred level of involvement was also associated with improved survivor HRQOL on several subscales. CONCLUSIONS Perceived involvement in decision-making about breast cancer treatment, and about follow-up care is associated with better HRQOL for survivors 2, 5, and 10 years postdiagnosis. Prospective studies may be warranted to determine the possible mechanisms by which perceived involvement in decision-making about aspects of treatment other than surgery type might influence survivor HRQOL.
Data Currency Quality Factors in Data Warehouse Design

A Data Warehouse (DW) is a large collection of data integrated from multiple distributed autonomous databases and other information sources. A DW can be seen as a set of materialized views defined over the remote source data. Until now research work on DW design is restricted to quantitatively selecting view sets for materialization. However, quality issues in the DW design are neglected. In this paper we suggest a novel statement of the DW design problem that takes into account quality factors. We design a DW system architecture that supports performance and data consistency quality goals. In this framework we present a high level approach that allows to check whether a view selection guaranteeing a data completeness quality goal also satisfies a data currency quality goal. This approach is based on an AND/OR dag representation for multiple queries and views. It also allows determining the minimal change propagation frequencies that satisfy the data currency quality goal along with the the optimal query evaluation and change propagation plans. Our results can be directly used for a quality driven design of a DW. Research supported by the European Commission under the ESPRIT Program LTR project “DWQ: Foundations of Data Warehouse Quality” The copyright of this paper belongs to the paper’s authors. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Design and Management of Data Warehouses (DMDW’99), Heidelberg, Germany, 14. 15.6. 1999 (S. Gatziu, M. Jeusfeld, M. Staudt, Y. Vassiliou, eds.) http://sunsite.informatik. rwth-aachen.de/Publications/CEUR-WS/Vol-19/