Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Edentulism, beaks, and biomechanical innovations in the evolution of theropod dinosaurs

Significance Edentulism and beaks (rhamphothecae) are distinguishing features among extant birds and are traditionally regarded as a response to weight-saving demands for the evolution of flight. However, keratin-covered beaks paralleled by edentulism appeared in non-avian theropod dinosaurs and as early as the Early Cretaceous. Here, high-resolution, digital biomechanical models of the skull of the Cretaceous therizinosaur Erlikosaurus andrewsi are used to investigate the functional significance of these morphological specialisations and adaptations occurring in non-avian, maniraptoriform dinosaurs. Results of finite-element analyses provide evidence that keratinous beaks play an important role in enhancing cranial stability by mitigation stress and strain during feeding and represent an evolutionary innovation developed early in derived theropod dinosaurs. Maniraptoriformes, the speciose group of derived theropod dinosaurs that ultimately gave rise to modern birds, display a diverse and remarkable suite of skeletal adaptations. Apart from the evolution of flight, a large-scale change in dietary behavior appears to have been one of the main triggers for specializations in the bauplan of these derived theropods. Among the different skeletal specializations, partial or even complete edentulism and the development of keratinous beaks form a recurring and persistent trend in from the evolution of derived nonavian dinosaurs. Therizinosauria is an enigmatic maniraptoriform clade, whose members display these and other osteological characters thought to be correlated with the shift from carnivory to herbivory. This makes therizinosaurians prime candidates to assess the functional significance of these morphological characters. Based on a highly detailed biomechanical model of Erlikosaurus andrewsi, a therizinosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, different morphological configurations incorporating soft-tissue structures, such as a keratinous rhamphotheca, are evaluated for their biomechanical performance. Our results indicate that the development of beaks and the presence of a keratinous rhamphotheca would have helped to dissipate stress and strain, making the rostral part of the skull less susceptible to bending and displacement, and this benefit may extend to other vertebrate clades that possess rhamphothecae. Keratinous beaks, paralleled by edentulism, thus represent an evolutionary innovation developed early in derived theropods to enhance cranial stability, distinct to postulated mass-saving benefits associated with the origin of flight.
A Post-CMOS Concave-Suspending MEMS Process in Standard Silicon Wafers for High-Performance Solenoidal-DNA-Configured Micro-Transformers

Solenoidal-DNA-configured transformers are fabricated in standard silicon substrate by using a post-CMOS concave-suspending MEMS process. The concavely suspended structure of the transformer effectively depresses the substrate effects including eddy current and capacitive coupling between the coil and the substrate, thereby, achieving both high Q-factor and high resonant frequency for the self-inductors. With broad useable frequency band for high mutual reactive coupling coefficient, high available gain is measured in wide frequency band for high performance radio frequency ICs
Automated Session-Quality Assessment for Human Tutoring Based on Expert Ratings of Tutoring Success

Archived transcripts from tens of millions of online human tutoring sessions potentially contain important knowledge about how online tutors help, or fail to help, students learn. However, without ways of automatically analyzing these large corpora, any knowledge in this data will remain buried. One way to approach this issue is to train an estimator for the learning effectiveness of an online tutoring interaction. While significant work has been done on automated assessment of student responses and artifacts (e.g., essays), automated assessment has not traditionally automated assessments of human-to-human tutoring sessions. In this work, we trained a model for estimating tutoring session quality based on a corpus of 1438 online tutoring sessions rated by expert tutors. Each session was rated for evidence of learning (outcomes) and educational soundness (process). Session features for this model included dialog act classifications, mode classifications (e.g., Scaffolding), statistically distinctive subsequences of such classifications, dialog initiative (e.g., statements by tutor vs. student), and session length. The model correlated more highly with evidence of learning than educational soundness ratings, in part due to the greater difficulty of classifying tutoring modes. This model was then applied to a corpus of 242k online tutoring sessions, to examine the relationships between automated assessments and other available metadata (e.g., the tutor’s self-assessment). On this large corpus, the automated assessments followed similar patterns as the expert rater’s assessments, but with lower overall correlation strength. Based on the analyses presented, the assessment model for online tutoring sessions emulates the ratings of expert human tutors for session quality ratings with a reasonable degree of accuracy.
A low-voltage energy-sampling IR-UWB digital baseband employing quadratic correlation

IR-UWB radios are finding increasing use in low data rate sensing applications, in part because they can be easily duty-cycled to achieve extreme energy efficiency. Within pulsed radios, non-coherent (NC) RF front ends that use simple square-and-integrate samplers offer significant energy-per-bit savings over their coherent counterparts [1]. However, such samplers lose phase information and accumulate squared noise over the integration period. While this increases the SNR required to relay a bit reliably, the greater challenge is achieving signal synchronization. Telemetry applications often have small pay-loads (10 to 100 bits) where synchronization time dominates. Furthermore, synchronization performance is being continually pushed to enable positioning capability. Hence, the ultimate advantage of NC receivers relies on their ability to synchronize efficiently. Previously published NC solutions are deficient in three areas: synchronization algorithms, codes
Signalling of static and dynamic features of muscle spindle input by cuneate neurones in the cat

1 The capacity of cuneate neurones to signal information derived from muscle spindle afferent fibres about static stretch or vibration of forearm extensor muscles was examined electrophysiologically in anaesthetized cats. 2 Static stretch (<= 2 mm in amplitude) and sinusoidal vibration (at frequencies of 50‐800 Hz) were applied longitudinally to individual muscle tendons by means of a feedback controlled mechanical stimulator, and responses were recorded from individual cuneate neurones and from individual spindle afferent fibres. 3 Cuneate neurones sampled were located caudal to the obex and displayed a sensitivity to both vibration and static stretch of forearm muscles that was consistent with their input arising from primary spindle endings. In response to static muscle stretch, they displayed graded and approximately linear stimulus‐response relations, and a stability of response level at fixed lengths that was consistent with these neurones contributing discriminative information about static muscle stretch. 4 In response to sinusoidal muscle vibration the cuneate neurones also showed graded stimulus‐response relations (in contrast to spindle afferents which at low vibration amplitudes attain a plateau response level corresponding to a discharge of 1 impulse on each vibration cycle). Lowest thresholds were at 100‐300 Hz and bandwidths of vibration sensitivity extended up to ∼800 Hz. 5 Temporal precision in cuneate responses to muscle vibration was assessed by constructing phase scatter and cycle histograms from which measures of vector strength could be calculated. Cuneate responses displayed somewhat poorer phase locking (and lower vector strengths) than spindle afferent responses to vibration (a reflection of uncertainties associated with synaptic transmission). Nevertheless, the remarkable feature of cuneate responses to muscle vibration is the preservation of tight phase locking at frequencies up to 400‐500 Hz, which presumably enables these central neurones to contribute accurate temporal information for the kinaesthetic sense in a variety of circumstances involving dynamic perturbations to skeletal muscle.
Concrete Wall Panel From Styrofoam Waste With Wiremesh Reinforcement

Wall is part of the room divider that inlluence the structural aspects of weight and rigidity. BAsed on these reasons we need wall that has some characters such as light but also environmentally friendly. Manufacture of lightweight concrete wall of styrofoam is an effort to utilize waste of styrofoam. Styrofoam concrete wall panel study using specimens measuring length 1000 mm. width 300 mm and 70 mm thick, with the addition of 15 mm thick layer of plaster/mortar on both sides. The composition of 1 m3 styrofoam concrete consisted of 300 kg cement with 0.5 water-cement ratio. 60% styrofoam, and 40 % sand. Testing and research produced the following data : the average of flexural strength specimens without wiremesh : 3,77 MPa. The average flexural strength specimens with wiremesh : 5,84 MPa. The results showed that the strengthening of wiremesh increased the flexural strength of the panel.
Imprinting of the MEDEA Polycomb Gene in the Arabidopsis Endosperm

In flowering plants, two cells are fertilized in the haploid female gametophyte. Egg and sperm nuclei fuse to form the embryo. A second sperm nucleus fuses with the central cell nucleus that replicates to generate the endosperm, which is a tissue that supports embryo development. MEDEA (MEA) encodes an Arabidopsis SET domain Polycomb protein. Inheritance of a maternal loss-of-function mea allele results in embryo abortion and prolonged endosperm production, irrespective of the genotype of the paternal allele. Thus, only the maternal wild-type MEA allele is required for proper embryo and endosperm development. To understand the molecular mechanism responsible for the parent-of-origin effects of mea mutations on seed development, we compared the expression of maternal and paternal MEA alleles in the progeny of crosses between two Arabidopsis ecotypes. Only the maternal MEA mRNA was detected in the endosperm from seeds at the torpedo stage and later. By contrast, expression of both maternal and paternal MEA alleles was observed in the embryo from seeds at the torpedo stage and later, in seedling, leaf, stem, and root. Thus, MEA is an imprinted gene that displays parent-of-origin–dependent monoallelic expression specifically in the endosperm. These results suggest that the embryo abortion observed in mutant mea seeds is due, at least in part, to a defect in endosperm function. Silencing of the paternal MEA allele in the endosperm and the phenotype of mutant mea seeds supports the parental conflict theory for the evolution of imprinting in plants and mammals.
Air Purification by Catalytic Oxidation in a Reactor with Periodic Flow Reversal

The behaviour of an adiabatic packed bed reactor with periodic flow reversal has been studied by means of model calculations. A heterogeneous model as well as a pseudo-homogeneous model have been developed. It is shown that a high degree of conversion can be obtained in an autothermal process even with very low adiabatic temperature rises of some 10 to 20 K. The reactor is insensitive to fluctuations in inlet concentrations and in through-put. Short-cut methods proposed in the literature for calculating the plateau temperature in the pseudo-steady state are studied. The so called countercurrent-flow reactor approach showed reasonable agreement with the plateau temperature obtained by dynamic calculations with the full reactor model.
Autonomy for operational MCM AUVs, based on high resolution sonar

The major concern of Mine Counter Measures (MCM) domain is to keep the men far from the mine threat while having a high level of confidence in the detection and classification of possible threats. The development of unmanned MCM vehicles allows to put away the crew from danger, and giving autonomy to these vehicles both improves their operational efficiency and reduces the post mission residual risk of missing a mine and post mission analysis time. This paper aims to demonstrate how autonomy is an operational need for AUVs, and how we can benefit from real time SAS processing to increase autonomy and reliability of an MCM AUV.
Molecular Dynamics Study of Crack Propagation Behavior and Mechanisms in Nickel

How the microstructure of crystal affects the crack propagation process in ductile material is an important and open problem. Mechanisms, including emission of dislocations, nucleation of micro twin and creation of stacking faults, contribute to the plastic deformation near crack tip and affect the crack behavior. In this thesis, we developed a systematic approach to capture the evolvement of these mechanisms as well as the behavior of crack propagation at sub-micro level. We start from constructing a geometric based method in molecular dynamics (MD) to identify and quantify these deformation mechanisms. Then the parameters of mechanisms quantification obtained from MD simulation are connected with strain gradient plasticity theory, the size effect on dislocation density at crack tip are analyzed. Finally, we propose a method to calculate the plastic dissipation energy release rate.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Is Not Associated with KRAS Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Mutations in epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), as well as in the EGFR downstream target KRAS are frequently observed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an independent risk factor for developing NSCLC, is associated with an increased activation of EGFR. In this study we determined presence of EGFR and KRAS hotspot mutations in 325 consecutive NSCLC patients subjected to EGFR and KRAS mutation analysis in the diagnostic setting and for whom the pulmonary function has been determined at time of NSCLC diagnosis. Information about age at diagnosis, sex, smoking status, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) was collected. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) was defined according to 2013 GOLD criteria. Chi-Square, student t-test and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the data. A total of 325 NSCLC patients were included, 193 with COPD and 132 without COPD. COPD was not associated with presence of KRAS hotspot mutations, while EGFR mutations were significantly higher in non-COPD NSCLC patients. Both female gender (HR 2.61; 95% CI: 1.56–4.39; p<0.001) and smoking (HR 4.10; 95% CI: 1.14–14.79; p = 0.03) were associated with KRAS mutational status. In contrast, only smoking (HR 0.11; 95% CI: 0.04–0.32; p<0.001) was inversely associated with EGFR mutational status. Smoking related G>T and G>C transversions were significantly more frequent in females (86.2%) than in males (61.5%) (p = 0.008). The exon 19del mutation was more frequent in non-smokers (90%) compared to current or past smokers (36.8%). In conclusion, KRAS mutations are more common in females and smokers, but are not associated with COPD-status in NSCLC patients. EGFR mutations are more common in non-smoking NSCLC patients.
Informal caregiving for cancer patients

According to the recent worldwide estimation by the GLOBOCAN project, in total, 12.7 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths occurred in 2008. The worldwide number of cancer survivors within 5 years of diagnosis has been estimated at be almost 28.8 million. Informal caregivers, such as family members and close friends, provide essential support to cancer patients. The authors of this report provide an overview of issues in the study of informal caregivers for cancer patients and long‐term survivors in the United States and Europe, characterizing the caregivers commonly studied; the resources currently available to them; and their unmet needs, their psychosocial outcomes, and the psychosocial interventions tailored to their special circumstances. A broad overview of the state of research and knowledge, both in Europe and the United States, and observations on the directions for future research are provided. Cancer 2013;119(11 suppl):2160‐9. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
A Representation Language for Multimedia Web Semantic

While the extraction of low level multimedia features has been largely studied, the automatic extraction of high level descriptions is still an open research field. Moreover, as semantic Web languages, which are based on description logics, are conceived for describing all kinds of resources, specific extensions of semantic languages for describing multimedia resources are needed. Descriptors offering enough expressivity to represent spatio-temporal constraints are the major needed tools to describe video high level features. Such descriptors should allow to bridge the different semantic levels of descriptions and to narrow the semantic gap. In this paper we present a generic language for the representation and the description of multimedia contents. Based on finite automata and conceptual graphs, this formalism allows to express spatial and temporal constraints, as to define sequences of events in a video and positions of objects in an image. In addition to the description of complex concepts, this formalism allows to monitor behaviors in a video-surveillance context, to detect important highlights in a sport context and also to validate MPEG7-based descriptions.
Experimental and simulation investigations of face milling process of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy

Address: Prof. Wit GRZESIK, Piotr NIESLONY, DSc, En g. , Opole University of Technology, Dept. of Manufacturing Engineering and Process Auto mation, 45-271 Opole, 5 Mikołajczyka Str. , e-mail: w.grzesik@po.opole. pl, C orresponding author: p.nieslony@po.opole. pl, Witold HABRAT, PhD, Eng., Rzeszó w University of Technology, Dept. of Manufacturing Techniques and Automation, 3 5-959 Rzeszów, 12 Powsta ńców Warszawy Ave., e-mail: witekhab@prz.edu. pl EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATION INVESTIGATIONS OF FACE MILLING PROCESS OF Ti-6Al-4V TITANIUM ALLOY
Parameter tuning for decentralized low-order active disturbance rejection control scheme

Many industrial processes are multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems, of which the order and/or the relative degree are uncertain, and the parameters cannot be obtained accurately. In many studies, the decentralized low-order active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) scheme is employed for such MIMO systems. For such cases, a necessary condition for the stability is given based on the relation between the parameter bEi and the numerator's zero-order coefficient (NZC) matrix. It is also proved that the low-order ADRC scheme with proper parameters can reject the interaction disturbance and guarantee the closed-loop stability. Based on the corresponding tuning method, the design procedure is illustrated on the plants with/without the time delay. The simulation results indicate that the tuning method is applicable to the ADRC based on the low-order extended state observer (ESO).
Distinct Effects of Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator and SMTP-7 on Cerebrovascular Inflammation Following Thrombolytic Reperfusion

Background and Purpose— Thrombolysis therapy using tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is occasionally accompanied by harmful outcomes, including intracerebral hemorrhage. We have reported that Stachybotrys microspora triprenyl phenol-7 (SMTP-7), a candidate thrombolytic drug, has excellent therapeutic effect on cerebral infarction in embolic stroke model in mice; however, little is known regarding whether this agent influences cerebrovascular inflammation following thrombolytic reperfusion. The current study aimed to compare the effects of recombinant t-PA (rt-PA) and SMTP-7 on cerebrovascular inflammation. Methods— The impact of rt-PA- and SMTP-7-induced thrombolytic reperfusion on leukocyte dynamics was investigated in a photochemically induced thrombotic middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAo) model in mice. Results— Both rt-PA and SMTP-7 administration in tMCAo mice (each 10 mg/kg) resulted in thrombolytic reperfusion. The SMTP-7-administered mice showed relatively mild rolling and attachment of leukocytes to the vascular wall in the middle cerebral vein, with weak peroxynitrite reactions and proinflammatory gene expression (IL-1&bgr;, TNF-&agr;, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1); thus, a small infarct volume compared with rt-PA-administered mice. In vitro study suggested that rt-PA at 20 &mgr;g/mL, but not SMTP-7 at a similar concentration, promotes cytokine-induced reactive oxygen species generation in cultured endothelial cells; moreover, SMTP-7 suppressed cytokine-induced VCAM-1 induction in the cells and leukocyte/ endothelial cell adhesions. Conclusions— Relatively mild cerebrovascular inflammation and cerebral infarction in the SMTP-7 mice, compared with in rt-PA mice, is thought to be caused at least in part by direct antioxidative actions of SMTP-7 in ECs.
Global inhibition of transcription causes an increase in histone H2A.Z incorporation within gene bodies

Abstract H2A.Z histone variant is an important regulator of gene transcription, which is enriched at regulatory regions but is also found within gene bodies. Recent evidence suggests that active recruitment of H2A.Z within gene bodies is required to induce gene repression. In contrast to this view, we show that global inhibition of transcription results in H2A.Z accumulation at gene transcription start sites, as well as within gene bodies. Our results indicate that accumulation of H2A.Z within repressed genes can also be a consequence of the repression of gene transcription rather than an active mechanism required to establish the repression.
No 782 March 2007 Inflation Premium and Oil Price Volatility

This paper provides a fully micro-founded New Keynesian framework to study the interaction between oil price volatility, pricing behavior of firms and monetary policy. We show that when oil has low substitutability, firms find it optimal to charge higher relative prices as a premium in compensation for the risk that oil price volatility generates on their marginal costs. Overall, in general equilibrium, the interaction of the aforementioned mechanisms produces a positive relationship between oil price volatility and average inflation, which we denominate inflation premium. We characterize analytically this relationship by using the perturbation method to solve the rational expectations equilibrium of the model up to second order of accuracy. The solution implies that the inflation premium is higher when: a) oil has low substitutability, b) the Phillips Curve is convex, and c) the central bank puts higher weight on output fluctuations. We also provide some quantitative evidence showing that a calibrated model for the US with an estimated active Taylor rule produces a sizable inflation premium, similar to the levels observed in the US during the 70s. JEL Classification: E52, E42, E12, C63