Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of filament cross section on the performance of automotive upholstery fabrics

Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of filament cross section on the performance of automotive upholstery fabrics. Thirty-six yarns were produced by changing the cross section of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers (round, octolobal and W-channel) and the air-jet texturing parameters (overfeed and number of core and effect yarns). After heat-setting and dyeing the yarns were woven into fabrics and laminated. Performance tests of both the air-jet textured yarns and the fabrics were carried out. It was observed that W-channel gave the most different air-jet textured yarn structure. It formed a bulky, uneven yarn structure with many open loops. No pronounced difference in the recovery from strain behaviors of the air-jet textured yarns was recorded. For all the cross-section types, increase in the looped structure resulted in higher permanent elongation values. In case of fabrics, all the filament cross sections gave satisfactory results for the light fastness and the abrasion resistance tests. It was concluded that changing filament cross section had the most significant effect on air permeability. W-channel gave the lowest air permeability, while octolobal gave the highest one.
METALLIC PATTERNING USING AN ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE TIP AND LASER-INDUCED LIQUID DEPOSITION

OF THESIS METALLIC PATTERNING USING AN ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE TIP AND LASER-INDUCED LIQUID DEPOSITION The development of nanoscale patterns has a vast variety of applications going from biology to solid state devices. In this research we present a new direct patterning technique in which laser photoreduction of silver from a liquid is controlled by a scanning atomic force microscope tip. While pursuing the formation of patterns using the plasmonic field enhancement of an electromagnetic wave incident on a metallic Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tip, our group discovered that contrary to expectations, the tip suppresses, rather than enhances, deposition on the underlying substrate, and this suppression persists in the absence of the tip. Experiments presented here exclude three potential mechanisms: purely mechanical material removal, depletion of the silver precursor, and preferential photoreduction on existing deposits. An example of a nano-scaled pattern was generated to show the possibilities of this work. These results represent a first step toward direct, negative tone, tip-based patterning of functional materials.
Video Motion Interpolation for Special Effect Applications

Video forgery, also referred as video falsifying, is a technique for generating fake videos by altering, combining, or creating new video contents. For instance, the outcome of a 100 m race in the olympic game is forged as an example in this paper. We track objects and segment motions using a modified mean shift mechanism. The resulting video layers can be played in different speeds and from different reference points with respect to the original video. In order to obtain a smooth movement of target objects, a motion interpolation mechanism is proposed based on reference stick figures (i.e., a structure of human skeleton) and a video inpainting mechanism. The video inpainting mechanism is performed in a quasi-3-D space via guided 3-D patch matching. Interpolated target objects and background layers are then fused. The objective is to create a forged video, which is almost indistinguishable from the original video. We demonstrate the original and the forged videos in our Web site at http://member.mine. tku.edu. tw/www/TSMC09/. Although video forgery may create moral or legal issues, which is beyond the scope of this paper, our intension is to create special effects in video editing applications.
Thioalkalimicrobium cyclicum sp. nov. and Thioalkalivibrio jannaschii sp. nov., novel species of haloalkaliphilic, obligately chemolithoautotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria from hypersaline alkaline Mono Lake (California).

Two strains of haloalkaliphilic, obligately autotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were isolated from the oxygen-sulfide interface water layer of stratified alkaline and saline Mono Lake, California, USA. Strain ALM 1T was a dominant species in enrichment on moderate-saline, carbonate-buffered medium (0.6 M total Na+, pH 10) with thiosulfate as an energy source and nitrate as a nitrogen source. Cells of ALM 1T are open ring-shaped and are non-motile. It has a high growth rate and activity of thiosulfate and sulfide oxidation and very low sulfur-oxidizing activity. Genetic comparison and phylogenetic analysis suggested that ALM 1T (= DSM 14477T = JCM 11371T) represents a new species of the genus Thioalkalimicrobium in the gamma-Proteobacteria, for which the name Thioalkalimicrobium cyclicum sp. nov. is proposed. Another Mono Lake isolate, strain ALM 2T, dominated in enrichment on a medium containing 2 M total Na+ (pH 10). It is a motile vibrio which tolerates up to 4 M Na+ and produces a membrane-bound yellow pigment. Phylogenetic analysis placed ALM 2T as a member of genus Thioalkalivibrio in the gamma-Proteobacteria, although its DNA hybridization with the representative strains of this genus was only about 30%. On the basis of genetic and phenotypic properties, strain ALM 2T (= DSM 14478T = JCM 11372T) is proposed as Thioalkalivibrio jannaschii sp. nov.
Melatonin attenuates inflammation and promotes regeneration in rabbits with fulminant hepatitis of viral origin

Abstract: The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of melatonin on the liver inflammatory and regenerative response in an animal model of fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) of viral origin. Rabbits were experimentally infected with 2 × 104 hemagglutination units of a rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) isolate and received melatonin at two concentrations of 10 or 20 mg/kg at 0, 12 and 24 hr postinfection. RHDV infection induced an inflammatory response, with increased expression of toll‐like receptor 4, high‐mobility group box (HMGB)1, interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐6, tumor necrosis factor‐α, and C‐reactive protein, and decreased expression of decay accelerating factor (DAF/CD55). These effects were significantly reduced by melatonin. Matrix metalloproteinase‐9 expression was also lowered in melatonin‐treated rabbits. RHDV infection inhibited the hepatic regenerative/proliferative response, with a reduced expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), epidermal growth factor, platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF)‐B and vascular endothelial growth factor and their receptors; these responses were prevented by melatonin administration. Melatonin treatment also resulted in reduced expression of phosphorylated Janus kinase and enhanced expression of extracellular mitogen‐activated protein kinase (ERK) and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3. Our findings show that anti‐inflammatory effects and stimulation of regenerative mechanisms contribute to the beneficial effects of melatonin in rabbits with experimental infection by RHDV and support a potential hepatoprotective role of melatonin in FHF.
Metastatic melanoma: lactate dehydrogenase levels and CT imaging findings of tumor devascularization allow accurate prediction of survival in patients treated with bevacizumab.

PURPOSE To predict survival in patients with metastatic melanoma by evaluating a combination of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level and initial computed tomographic (CT) findings of tumor devascularization after antiangiogenic therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Consent was waived for this institutional review board-approved, retrospective, secondary analysis. Forty-four patients with metastatic melanoma received bevacizumab therapy in a randomized prospective phase II trial. Target lesions on the initial posttherapy CT images were evaluated by using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors, the Choi criteria, and Morphology, Attenuation, Size, and Structure (MASS) criteria. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association of baseline clinical variables including serum LDH and imaging findings with progression-free and overall survival. The receiver operating characteristic curve with area under the curve (AUC) was used to evaluate accuracy. RESULTS In multivariate analysis, a high baseline serum LDH level was associated with decreased progression-free survival (hazard ratio = 1.29 for each increase of 100 IU/L; P = .002) and overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.44 for each increase of 100 IU/L; P = .001). Evaluation with MASS criteria of the first CT examination after therapy strongly predicted progression-free (P < .001) and overall (P < .001) survival. Baseline serum LDH level was moderately accurate for predicting progression-free survival at 9 months (AUC = 0.793) and overall survival at 18 months (AUC = 0.689). The combination of baseline serum LDH levels and evaluation with MASS criteria at the first CT examination after therapy had significantly higher accuracy for predicting progression-free survival at 9 months (AUC = 0.969) and overall survival at 18 months (AUC = 0.813) than did baseline serum LDH levels alone for prediction of progression-free survival (P = .020). CONCLUSION A combination of baseline serum LDH levels and evaluation with MASS criteria at the first CT examination after bevacizumab therapy had the highest accuracy for predicting survival in patients with metastatic melanoma.
A low-complexity activity classification algorithm with optimized selection of accelerometric features

Activity classification consists in detecting and classifying a sequence of activities, choosing from a limited set of known activities, by observing the outputs generated by (typically) inertial sensor devices placed over the body of a user. To this end, machine learning techniques can be effectively used to detect meaningful patterns from data without explicitly defining classification rules. In this paper, we present a novel Body Sensor Network (BSN)-based low complexity activity classification algorithm, which can effectively detect activities performed by the user just analyzing the accelerometric signals generated by the BSN. A preliminary (computationally intensive) training phase, performed once, is run to automatically optimize the key parameters of the algorithm used in the following (computationally light) online phase for activity classification. In particular, during the training phase, optimized subsets of nodes are selected in order to minimize the number of relevant features and keep a good compromise between performance and time complexity. Our results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other known activity classification algorithms, especially when using a limited number of nodes, and lends itself to real-time implementation.
Flow cytometric quantitative determination of ingestion by phagocytes needs the distinguishing of overlapping populations of binding and ingesting cells

The use of flow cytometry with fluorescently labeled particles provides the means to examine quantitatively the phagocytotic capacity of an individual phagocyte. This report describes an improved flow cytometric method of analysis for kinetic measurement of phagocytosis of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)–labeled zymosan particles by human leukocytes.
Reactive Content Selection in the Generation of Real-time Soccer Commentary

MIKE is an automatic commentary system that generates a commentary of a simulated soccer game in English, French, or Japanese.One of the major technical challenges involved in live sports commentary is the reactive selection of content to describe complex, rapidly unfolding situation. To address this challenge, MIKE employs importance scores that intuitively capture the amount of information communicated to the audience. We describe how a principle of maximizing the total gain of importance scores during a game can be used to incorporate content selection into the surface generation module, thus accounting for issues such as interruption and abbreviation.Sample commentaries produced by MIKE are presented and used to evaluate different methods for content selection and generation in terms of efficiency of communication.
Ultimate strength of composite box girders in flexure, April 1980

Ultimate strength (load carrying capacity) of rectangular steel-concrete composite box girders under flexural loading (bending and shear) without torsion is examined. Depending on the relative dimensions of the webs and the flanges, the load carrying capacity may be governed by failure of the webs, the flanges, or total plastification of the girder cross section. Interaction between bending and shear is included and both positive and negative bending moment conditions are considered. Detailed (although length) formulas are derived for different failure modes. The computed ultimate strength of two box girders compared well with test results. The procedure of this study is applicable to composite plate girder strength evaluation. TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)
Accepted for Publication in Ieee Transactions on Computer-aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems Test Scheduling for Core-based Systems Using Mixed-integer Linear Programming

We present optimal solutions to the test scheduling problem for core-based systems. Given a set of tasks (test sets for the cores), a set of test resources (e.g. test buses, BIST hardware) and a test access architecture, we determine start times for the tasks such that the total test application time is minimized. We show that the test scheduling decision problem is equivalent to the m-processor open shop scheduling problem and is therefore NP-complete. However, a commonly-encountered instance of this problem (m = 2) can be solved in polynomial time. For the general case (m > 2), we present a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model for optimal scheduling and apply it to a representative core-based system using an MILP solver available in the public domain. We also extend the MILP model to allow optimal test set selection from a set of alternatives. Finally, we present an eecient heuristic algorithm for handling larger systems for which the MILP model may be infeasible.
Post-placement leakage optimization for partially dynamically reconfigurable FPGAs

As technology continues to shrink, leakage power becomes an important issue for modern FPGAs. In this paper, we address the leakage issue of partially dynamical reconfigurable FPGAs. We focus on eliminating leakage waste due to the delay between reconfiguration and task execution. We propose a post-placement leakage-aware scheduling algorithm that refines a placement generated by a performance-driven scheduler such that leakage waste is minimized and performance is not sacrificed. Experimental results on real and synthetic designs demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our algorithm on leakage optimization.
Plateau Potential Fluctuations and Intrinsic Membrane Noise

This thesis focuses on subthreshold membrane potential fluctuations in the plateau potentials of bistable neurons. Research involved with plateau potentials typically finds one of the resting membrane potentials to be more susceptible to voltage fluctuations. This difference in the amplitude of the membrane potential fluctuations is most often attributed to the voltage-dependent membrane conductance. Occasionally, however, the typically quieter resting membrane potential exhibits larger voltage fluctuations than the expected one. It has been proposed that this increased membrane potential noise is the result of the stochastic gating of the voltage-gated ion channels. In this thesis, we use a simple bistable neuron model to show that the increased intrinsic membrane noise in the quieter resting membrane potential is most likely not caused by the random gating of the ion channels.
Pattern Recognition Analysis Reveals Unique Contrast Sensitivity Isocontours Using Static Perimetry Thresholds Across the Visual Field

Purpose To determine the locus of test locations that exhibit statistically similar age-related decline in sensitivity to light increments and age-corrected contrast sensitivity isocontours (CSIs) across the central visual field (VF). We compared these CSIs with test point clusters used by the Glaucoma Hemifield Test (GHT). Methods Sixty healthy observers underwent testing on the Humphrey Field Analyzer 30-2 test grid using Goldmann (G) stimulus sizes I-V. Age-correction factors for GI-V were determined using linear regression analysis. Pattern recognition analysis was used to cluster test locations across the VF exhibiting equal age-related sensitivity decline (age-related CSIs), and points of equal age-corrected sensitivity (age-corrected CSIs) for GI-V. Results There was a small but significant test size–dependent sensitivity decline with age, with smaller stimuli declining more rapidly. Age-related decline in sensitivity was more rapid in the periphery. A greater number of unique age-related CSIs was revealed when using smaller stimuli, particularly in the mid-periphery. Cluster analysis of age-corrected sensitivity thresholds revealed unique CSIs for GI-V, with smaller stimuli having a greater number of unique clusters. Zones examined by the GHT consisted of test locations that did not necessarily belong to the same CSI, particularly in the periphery. Conclusions Cluster analysis reveals statistically significant groups of test locations within the 30-2 test grid exhibiting the same age-related decline. CSIs facilitate pooling of sensitivities to reduce the variability of individual test locations. These CSIs could guide future structure-function and alternate hemifield asymmetry analyses by comparing matched areas of similar sensitivity signatures.
Improving the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of polyimide by incorporating functionalized graphene oxide

In this study, we have developed a facile and effective method for fabricating polyimide (PI)-based nanocomposites incorporating octadecylamine (ODA)-functionalized graphene oxide (ODA-fGO) nanosheets. ODA-fGO sheets exhibit superior dispersibility and compatibility with the PI matrix and are successfully obtained through a chemical reaction between graphene oxide (GO) and ODA. The PI-based composites of various loading content of ODA-fGO sheets were prepared via in situ polymerization and thermal imidization process. The mechanical and electrical properties of the PI/ODA-fGO composites were significantly improved relative to pure PI because of the excellent dispersion of ODA-fGO and the adequate compatibility between fillers and the PI matrix. A 40.7% increase in tensile strength and a 95.5% improvement of Young’s modulus were observed for the 3 wt% ODA-fGO (PI/3 wt% ODA-fGO) loading content composite. The electrical and thermal conductivity of PI/3 wt% ODA-fGO was 3.8 × 10−2 S m−1 and 0.468 W m−1 K−1, respectively, which is more than 1011 times and almost 3 times higher than that of pure PI. The reported approach provides an effective strategy for developing high-performance and multifunctional polymer-based composite materials.
A New Heuristic Approach for Optimal Network Reconfiguration in Distribution Systems

This paper presents a novel approach for optimal reconfiguration of radial distribution systems. Optimal reconfiguration involves the selection of the best set of branches to be opened, one each from each loop, such that the resulting radial distribution system gets the desired performance. In this paper an algorithm is proposed based on simple heuristic rules and identified an effective switch status configuration of distribution system for the minimum loss reduction. This proposed algorithm consists of two parts; one is to determine the best switching combinations in all loops with minimum computational effort and the other is simple optimum power loss calculation of the best switching combination found in part one by load flows. To demonstrate the validity of the proposed algorithm, computer simulations are carried out on 33-bus system. The results show that the performance of the proposed method is better than that of the other methods. Keywords—Distribution system, network reconfiguration, power loss reduction, radial network, heuristic technique.
Towards a Biologically Plausible Backprop

This work contributes several new elements to the quest for a biologically plausible implementation of backprop in brains. We introduce a very general and abstract framework for machine learning, in which the quantities of interest are defined implicitly through an energy function. In this framework, only one kind of neural computation is involved both for the first phase (when the prediction is made) and the second phase (after the target is revealed), like the contrastive Hebbian learning algorithm in the continuous Hopfield model for example. Contrary to automatic differentiation in computational graphs (i.e. standard backprop), there is no need for special computation in the second phase of our framework. One advantage of our framework over contrastive Hebbian learning is that the second phase corresponds to only nudging the first-phase fixed point towards a configuration that reduces prediction error. In the case of a multi-layer supervised neural network, the output units are slightly nudged towards their target, and the perturbation introduced at the output layer propagates backward in the network. The signal 'back-propagated' during this second phase actually contains information about the error derivatives, which we use to implement a learning rule proved to perform gradient descent with respect to an objective cost function.
Exploiting prediction to reduce power on buses

We investigate coding techniques to reduce the energy consumed by on-chip buses in a microprocessor. We explore several simple coding schemes and simulate them using a modified SimpleScalar simulator and SPEC benchmarks. We show an average of 35% savings in transitions on internal buses. To quantify actual power savings, we design a dictionary based encoder/decoder circuit in a 0.13 /spl mu/m process, extract it as a netlist, and simulate its behavior under SPICE. Utilizing a realistic wire model with repeaters, we show that we can break even at median wire length scales of less than 11.5 mm at 0.13 /spl mu/ and project a break-even point of 2.7 mm for a larger design at 0.07 /spl mu/.
Active phased array techniques for high-field MRI

This paper describes recent developments in high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) concerning the application of active phased array techniques. The pulse amplitudes and phases of currents in Antenna (Coil) arrays are adjusted in order to improve the homogeneity of the magnetic flux density distribution inside the inhomogeneous patient's body. This can be realized either by using the antenna elements combined with a Butler matrix which is excited by phase/amplitude steered power amplifiers or by connecting the antenna elements directly to the power amplifiers. An improved system includes a variable power combining stage for maximum utilization of installed transmit power.
First-Order Logic with Counting for General Game Playing

General Game Players (GGPs) are programs which can play an arbitrary game given only its rules and the Game Description Language (GDL) is a variant of Datalog used in GGP competitions to specify the rules. GDL inherits from Datalog the use of Horn clauses as rules and recursion, but it too requires stratification and does not allow to use quantifiers. We present an alternative formalism for game description which is based on first-order logic (FO). States of the game are represented by relational structures, legal moves by structure rewriting rules guarded by FO formulas, and the goals of the players by formulas which extend FO with counting. The advantage of our formalism comes from more explicit state representationcand from the use of quantifiers in formulas. We show how to exploit existential quantification in players' goals to generate heuristics for evaluating positions in the game. The derived heuristics are good enough for a basic alpha-beta agent to win against state of the art GGP.