Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF ARC PLASMA-GENERATION TECHNOLOGY. PART 2: APPLIED RESEARCH ON ELECTRIC ARC PHENOMENA. VOL. 1: A THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THERMIONIC ARC CATHODES

Abstract : The operating mechanism of thermionic arc cathodes is studied theoretically and experimentally. A theoretical model is formulated including important processes in the plasma of the cathode fall zone, at the plasma cathode interface, and in the cathode interior. In principle, this model permits detailed calculations of cathode performance solely from geometrical considerations and the physical properties of the cathode material and the gas. An approximate analysis indicates that the system has two different types of solution, the occurrence of which depends primarily upon how well the cathode is cooled. Well cooled cathodes tend to operate with a concentrated arc spot, while very poorly cooled cathodes operate without such a spot. Approximate solutions are worked out in numerical detail for spot-mode operation of a semi-infinite cathode and spotless mode operation of a thin rod shaped cathode cooled at one end. The results of a series of experiments on rod shaped thoriated tungsten cathodes are reported. The theory correctly predicts general trends of these data.
Idiopathic hyperphosphatasia and TNFRSF11B mutations: relationships between phenotype and genotype.

UNLABELLED Homozygous mutations in TNFRSF11B, the gene encoding osteoprotegerin, were found in affected members from six of nine families with idiopathic hyperphosphatasia. The severity of the phenotype was related to the predicted effects of the mutations on osteoprotegerin function. INTRODUCTION Idiopathic hyperphosphatasia (IH) is a rare high bone turnover congenital bone disease in which affected children are normal at birth but develop progressive long bone deformities, fractures, vertebral collapse, skull enlargement, and deafness. There is, however, considerable phenotypic variation from presentation in infancy with severe progressive deformity through to presentation in late childhood with minimal deformity. Two recent reports have linked idiopathic hyperphosphatasia with deletion of, or mutation in, the TNFRSF11B gene that encodes osteoprotegerin (OPG), an important paracrine modulator of RANKL-mediated bone resorption. MATERIALS AND METHODS We studied subjects with a clinical diagnosis of IH and unaffected family members from nine unrelated families. Clinical, biochemical, and radiographic data were collected, and genomic DNA examined for mutations in TNFRSF11B. The relationship between the mutations, their predicted effects on OPG function, and the phenotype were then examined. RESULTS Of the nine families studied, affected subjects from six were homozygous for novel mutations in TNFRSF11B. Their parents were heterozygous, consistent with autosomal recessive inheritance. Four of the six mutations occurred in the cysteine-rich ligand-binding domain and are predicted to disrupt binding of OPG to RANKL. Missense mutations in the cysteine residues, predicted to cause major disruption to the ligand-binding region, were associated with a severe phenotype (deformity developing before 18 months age and severe disability), as was a large deletion mutation. Non-cysteine missense mutations in the ligand-binding domain were associated with an intermediate phenotype (deformity recognized around the age of 5 years and an increased rate of long bone fracture). An insertion/deletion mutation at the C-terminal end of the protein was associated with the mildest phenotype. CONCLUSION Mutations in TNFRSF11B account for the majority of, but not all, cases of IH, and there are distinct genotype-phenotype relationships.
Effect of Complex Food Environment on Production of Enteriocin IN 3531 with Enterococcus faecium IN3531 as a Starter in Chinese Fermentation Paocai Making

Enterococcus faecium IN3531 has beensuccessfully confirmed to have no disease-causing factors and antibioticresistance and it had been confirmed that the ability to produce bacteiocins inMRS. In this study, the effects of the complex food environment in Chinese fermentationpaocai making on Enteriocin IN3531 production were studied. It was concludedthat the complex food environment didn’t thoroughly interferes with bacteriocinproduction levels. Results obtained showed that the suitable fermentationconditions for enterocin IN3531 production in Chinese fermentation paocai makingusing Enterococcus faecium IN3531 asa starter were the initial salt concentration of 2%, the inoculum size of 3%,the fermentation temperature of 35 °C, the ratio of material to liquid of 30%, fermentationtime of 108 hours.
Performance Improvement of the One-Dot Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Aflatoxin B1 by Using a Smartphone-Based Reading System

This study was conducted to develop a simple, rapid, and accurate lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) detection method for point-of-care diagnosis. The one-dot LFIA for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was based on the modified competitive binding format using competition between AFB1 and colloidal gold-AFB1-BSA conjugate for antibody binding sites in the test zone. A Smartphone-based reading system consisting of a Samsung Galaxy S2 Smartphone, a LFIA reader, and a Smartphone application for the image acquisition and data analysis. The detection limit of one-dot LFIA for AFB1 is 5 μg/kg. This method provided semi-quantitative analysis of AFB1 samples in the range of 5 to 1,000 μg/kg. Using combination of the one-dot LFIA and the Smartphone-based reading system, it is possible to conduct a more fast and accurate point-of-care diagnosis.
Coarse-to-fine multiscale affine invariant shape matching and classification

A multiscale algorithm for matching and classifying 2-D shapes is developed. The algorithm uses the 1-D dyadic wavelet transform (DWT) to decompose a shape's boundary into multiscale levels. Then the coarse to fine matching and classification are achieved in two stages. In the first stage, the global features are extracted by calculating the curve moment invariants of the approximation coefficients. By calculating the normalized cross correlation of the 1-D triangle area representation of the detail coefficients, the local similarity is achieved by the second stage. The proposed algorithm is invariant to the affine transformation and to the boundary starting point variation. In addition, the results demonstrate that the new algorithm is not sensitive to small boundary deformations.
10—THE DRYING OF TEXTILE FABRICS. PART I: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REGAIN, DEWPOINT TEMPERATURE, AND AIR TEMPERATURE

An account is given of an investigation of the relationship between regain, dewpoint temperature, and air temperature for a range of fabrics at three different air temperatures. The existence of a relationship between the moisture content of a fabric and that of the air in equilibrium with it is demonstrated. This fact will enable a simpler and more accurate control system for fabric-drying in tenters to be devised.
A Reducing Milieu Renders Cofilin Insensitive to Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate (PIP2) Inhibition

Background: Cofilin is a key molecule for actin dynamics whose activity can be locally inhibited by PIP2. Results: Changes in the cofilin structure upon reduction render cofilin insensitive to PIP2 inhibition. Conclusion: Local effects of PIP2 on cofilin activity are determined by the redox microenvironment. Significance: We discovered a mechanism of spatio-microenvironmental control of actin dynamics by cofilin reduction at the plasma membrane. Oxidative stress can lead to T cell hyporesponsiveness. A reducing micromilieu (e.g. provided by dendritic cells) can rescue T cells from such oxidant-induced dysfunction. However, the reducing effects on proteins leading to restored T cell activation remained unknown. One key molecule of T cell activation is the actin-remodeling protein cofilin, which is dephosphorylated on serine 3 upon T cell costimulation and has an essential role in formation of mature immune synapses between T cells and antigen-presenting cells. Cofilin is spatiotemporally regulated; at the plasma membrane, it can be inhibited by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). Here, we show by NMR spectroscopy that a reducing milieu led to structural changes in the cofilin molecule predominantly located on the protein surface. They overlapped with the PIP2- but not actin-binding sites. Accordingly, reduction of cofilin had no effect on F-actin binding and depolymerization and did not influence the cofilin phosphorylation state. However, it did prevent inhibition of cofilin activity through PIP2. Therefore, a reducing milieu may generate an additional pool of active cofilin at the plasma membrane. Consistently, in-flow microscopy revealed increased actin dynamics in the immune synapse of untransformed human T cells under reducing conditions. Altogether, we introduce a novel mechanism of redox regulation: reduction of the actin-remodeling protein cofilin renders it insensitive to PIP2 inhibition, resulting in enhanced actin dynamics.
A pr 2 01 3 How to Approximate A Set Without Knowing Its Size In Advance

The dynamic approximate membership problem asks to represent a set S of size n, whose elements are provided in an on-line fashion, supporting membership queries without false negatives and with a false positive rate at most ǫ. That is, the membership algorithm must be correct on each x ∈ S, and may err with probability at most ǫ on each x / ∈ S. We study a well-motivated, yet insufficiently explored, variant of this problem where the size n of the set is not known in advance. Existing optimal approximate membership data structures require that the size is known in advance, but in many practical scenarios this is not a realistic assumption. Moreover, even if the eventual size n of the set is known in advance, it is desirable to have the smallest possible space usage also when the current number of inserted elements is smaller than n. Our contribution consists of the following results: • We show a super-linear gap between the space complexity when the size is known in advance and the space complexity when the size is not known in advance. When the size is known in advance, it is well-known that Θ(n log(1/ǫ)) bits of space are necessary and sufficient (Bloom ’70, Carter et al. ’78). However, when the size is not known in advance, we prove that at least (1− o(1))n log(1/ǫ) + Ω(n log logn) bits of space must be used. In particular, the average number of bits per element must depend on the size of the set. • We show that our space lower bound is tight, and can even be matched by a highly efficient data structure. We present a data structure that uses (1 + o(1))n log(1/ǫ) + O(n log logn) bits of space for approximating any set of any size n, without having to know n in advance. Our data structure supports membership queries in constant time in the worst case with high probability, and supports insertions in expected amortized constant time. Moreover, it can be “de-amortized” to support also insertions in constant time in the worst case with high probability by only increasing its space usage to O(n log(1/ǫ) + n log logn) bits.
Comparison of stochastic search optimization algorithms for the laminated composites under mechanical and hygrothermal loadings

The aim of the present study is to design the stacking sequence of the laminated composites that have low coefficient of thermal expansion and high elastic moduli. In design process, multi-objective genetic algorithm optimization of the carbon fiber laminated composite plates is verified by single objective optimization approach using three different stochastic optimization methods: genetic algorithm, generalized pattern search, and simulated annealing. However, both the multi- and single-objective approaches to laminate optimization have been used by considerably few authors. Simplified micromechanics equations, classical lamination theory, and MATLAB Symbolic Math toolbox are used to obtain the fitness functions of the optimization problems. Stress distributions of the optimized composites are presented through the thickness of the laminates subjected to mechanical, thermal, and hygral loadings.
Theoretical and Experimental Studies on Filtering Tumor Cells from Blood Cell Mixtures with Dam Structure in Microfluidic Devices

Here, a filter with series of pools and dams structures was designed and fabricated, utilizing size difference between tumor and blood cells. The cell mixtures were successfully filtrated out by the filter, and separation efficiency was up to 99.9%. To evaluate the filter, physical models were made to describe the behaviors of different cells in microfluidic systems. As the ability of cell deformation depends on both cells' size and excess surface index (ESI), we measured the excess membrane area of different cells, and got tumor cell's ESI is 61.7% ~ 81% comparing with red blood cell (RBC) (44%) and white blood cell (WBC) (84%~137%). Then from the formulas we deduced, we get the filtering limitations of RBC, WBC, and tumor cell are respectively, around 1.8 mum, 1.0-1.6 mum and 3.7-4.4 mum for dam structure; and 1.3 mum, 0.9-1.3 mum and 3-3.4 mum radius for pipes, which actually show conditions for separation. The accuracy and high flux of the filter provide possibilities to isolate cancer cells directly from the blood in real-time, which could become a potential therapy to cancers
Università degli Studi di Bologna DEIS On the automatic verification of interaction protocols using g − S CIFF

Interaction protocol verification has been in recent years intensively investigated within and outside multi-agent research. Many techniques and models have been proposed based on a number of assumptions and choices, among which are the kind of knowledge available and the kind of properties that are subject of verification. We focus on interaction protocol verification in open multi-agent systems, where the internal architecture of the individual agents is not known a-priori. In such a setting, while it is not possible to predict the behaviour of individual agents, it is still possible to approach the interaction verification problem either by assuming that agents will indeed comply to the protocols, thus focussing on the study of properties of the interaction protocols, or by assuming that the agent behaviour, if not predictable, is at least observable, and then focussing on the run-time verification of compliant behaviour of interacting agents by reasoning on the messages they exchange with each other. In this article, we build on previous work on logic-based specification and run-time verification of protocol compliance, and we extend the SOCS social framework towards verification of protocol properties. In doing so, we propose a unified formal and computational framework based on abductive logic programming which can be used to (i) design and specify interaction protocols that provably exhibit desirable properties and (ii) verify, at run-time, that agent interaction actually complies to the specified interaction protocols.
Robust decoupled visual servoing based on structured light

This paper focuses on the problem of realizing a plane-to-plane virtual link between a camera attached to the end-effector of a robot and a planar object. In order to do the system independent to the object surface appearance, a structured light emitter is linked to the camera so that 4 laser pointers are projected onto the object. In a previous paper we showed that such a system has good performance and nice characteristics like partial decoupling near the desired state and robustness against misalignment of the emitter and the camera (J. Pages et al., 2004). However, no analytical results concerning the global asymptotic stability of the system were obtained due to the high complexity of the visual features utilized. In this work we present a better set of visual features which improves the properties of the features in (J. Pages et al., 2004) and for which it is possible to prove the global asymptotic stability.
Initial Semantics for Reduction Rules

We give an algebraic characterization of the syntax and operational semantics of a class of simply-typed languages, such as the language PCF: we characterize simply-typed syntax with variable binding and equipped with reduction rules via a universal property, namely as the initial object of some category of models. For this purpose, we employ techniques developed in two previous works: in the first work we model syntactic translations between languages over different sets of types as initial morphisms in a category of models. In the second work we characterize untyped syntax with reduction rules as initial object in a category of models. In the present work, we combine the techniques used earlier in order to characterize simply-typed syntax with reduction rules as initial object in a category. The universal property yields an operator which allows to specify translations---that are semantically faithful by construction---between languages over possibly different sets of types. As an example, we upgrade a translation from PCF to the untyped lambda calculus, given in previous work, to account for reduction in the source and target. Specifically, we specify a reduction semantics in the source and target language through suitable rules. By equipping the untyped lambda calculus with the structure of a model of PCF, initiality yields a translation from PCF to the lambda calculus, that is faithful with respect to the reduction semantics specified by the rules. This paper is an extended version of an article published in the proceedings of WoLLIC 2012.
Perfect interference alignment utilizing channel structure

Interference alignment (IA) is a transmission strategy that attempts to exploit all degrees of freedom available at the transmitter or at the receiver in a multiuser channel. This paper proposes a new scheme named channel aided interference alignment. It makes use of the channel structure beside the linear interference alignment schemes to achieve the optimum degrees of freedom in a K user interference channel. In case the channel matrix does meet the specified structure, the proposed scheme achieves the optimum degrees of freedom at a finite signal to noise ratio and by using limited number of channel realizations; it turns to the usual linear vector interference alignment schemes otherwise. For the case of 3 user interference channel, it would be shown that if only one of interfering channel coefficients can be designed to a specific value, interference would be aligned perfectly at all the receivers.
Monolithic buck converter for CMOS process technologies

Monolithic switching buck (step-down) converter is designed on standard 0.35-mum CMOS process. Different control techniques such as Pulse-Width Modulations (PWM) and Pulse-Frequency Modulations (PFM) are investigated. The received results show that PFM control indicates higher efficiency at light-loads compare to standard constant frequency PWM control. Efficiency of about 76% is achieved for the PWM control at switching frequency of 150 MHz for voltage conversion from 3.6 down to 1.2 V.
Interactive Exploration as a Formal Text Retrieval Method: How Well can Interactivity Compensate for Unsophisticated Retrieval Algorithms

Cet article presente la methode de l'exploration interactive comme une methode formelle de recherche documentaire. Il tente de montrer que le systeme de recherche documentaire ideal allierait deux styles de recherche interactive : a la fois le feuilletage (ou browsing) et l'interrogation. De plus, les resultats et les methodes presentes a la conference TREC-3 sont discutes, et les plans d'avenir concernant l'utilisation en visualisation et d'autres styles de feuilletage pour la recherche d'information sont soulignes
Probabilistic Models of Verb-Argument Structure

We evaluate probabilistic models of verb argument structure trained on a corpus of verbs and their syntactic arguments. Models designed to represent patterns of verb alternation behavior are compared with generic clustering models in terms of the perplexity assigned to held-out test data. While the specialized models of alternation do not perform as well, closer examination reveals alternation behavior represented implicitly in the generic models.
The investigation of corrosion phenomena with high throughput methods: a review

Abstract High throughput screening (HTS) and its associated experimental methods represent an efficient approach to explore multi-variable processes, such as corrosion and corrosion mitigation. The gain in efficiency when using the HTS approach is possible only through the judicious selection and integration of materials, methods, and instrumentation. This paper examines some of the critical topics when developing an HTS corrosion study, such as substrate selection and preparation, sample presentation, electrochemical cell design, instrumentation, electrode design, and assay selection. Due to the similarity between the questions raised within corrosion investigations and within other areas of electrochemistry, the HTS literature will be examined from a broader perspective.
Multi objective optimization of foam-filled circular tubes for quasi-static and dynamic responses

FUEL CONSUMPTION AND SAFETY ARE CURRENTLY KEY ASPECTS IN AUTO-MOBILE DESIGN. THE FOAM-FILLED THIN-WALLED ALUMINIUM TUBE REPRE-SENTS A POTENTIALLY EFFECTIVE MATERIAL FOR USE IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY, DUE TO ITS ENERGY ABSORPTION CAPABILITY AND LIGHT WEIGHT. MULTI-OBJECTIVE CRASHWORTHINESS DESIGN OPTIMIZATION FOR FOAM-FILLED DOUBLE CYLINDRICAL TUBES IS PRESENTED IN THIS PAPER. THE DOUBLE STRUCTURES WERE IMPACTED BY A RIGID WALL SIMULATING QUASI-STATIC AND DYNAMIC LOADINGS. THE OPTIMAL PARAMETERS UNDER CONSIDERATION WERE THE MINIMUM PEAK CRUSHING FORCE AND MAXIMUM SPECIFIC ENERGY ABSORPTION, USING THE NON-DOMINATED SORTING GENETIC ALGORITHM-II (NSGA-II) TECHNIQUE. RADIAL BASIS FUNCTIONS (RBF) AND D-OPTIMAL WERE ADOPTED TO DETERMINE THE MORE COMPLEX CRASHWORTHINESS FUNCTIONAL OBJECTIVES. THE COMPARISON WAS CARRIED OUT BY FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT CRASHWORTHINESS CHARACTERISTICS IN TUBES UNDER STATIC AND DYNAMIC LOADS. FINALLY, THE OPTIMUM CRASHWORTHINESS PERFORMANCE OF EMPTY AND FOAM-FILLED DOUBLE TUBES WAS INVESTIGATED AND COMPARED TO THE TRADITIONAL SINGLE FOAM-FILLED TUBE. CONSEQUENTLY, THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT THE FOAM-FILLED DOUBLE ALUMINIUM CIRCULAR TUBE CAN BE RECOMMENDED FOR CRASHWORTHY STRUCTURES.
Adaptive Sequential Recommendation Using Context Trees

Machine learning is often used to acquire knowledge in domains that undergo frequent changes, such as networks, social media, or markets. These frequent changes pose a challenge to most machine learning methods as they have difficulty adapting. So my thesis topic focus on adaptive machine learning models. At the first step, we consider a forum content recommender system for massive open online courses (MOOCs) as an example of an application where recommendations have to adapt to new items and evolving user preferences. We formalize the recommendation problem as a sequence prediction problem and compare different recommendation methods, including a new method called context tree (CT). The results show that the CT recommender performs much better than other methods. We analyze the reasons for this and demonstrate that it is because of better adaptation to changes in the domain.