Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
System to Measure Thermal Conductivity and Seebeck Coefficient for Thermoelectrics

The Seebeck coefficient, when combined with thermal and electrical conductivity, is an essential property measurement for evaluating the potential performance of novel thermoelectric materials. However, there is some question as to which measurement technique(s) provides the most accurate determination of the Seebeck coefficient at elevated temperatures. This has led to the implementation of nonstandardized practices that have further complicated the confirmation of reported high ZT materials. The major objective of the procedure described is for the simultaneous measurement of the Seebeck coefficient and thermal diffusivity within a given temperature range. These thermoelectric measurements must be precise, accurate, and reproducible to ensure meaningful interlaboratory comparison of data. The custom-built thermal characterization system described in this NASA-TM is specifically designed to measure the inplane thermal diffusivity, and the Seebeck coefficient for materials in the ranging from 73 K through 373 K.
A Mixed Finite Element-Finite Volume Formulation of the Black-Oil Model

In this paper a sequential coupling of mixed finite element and shock-capturing finite volume techniques is proposed, in order to numerically solve the system of partial differential equations arising from the Black-Oil model. The Brezzi--Douglas--Marini space of degree one (BDM1) is used to approximate the Darcy's velocity in the parabolic-type pressure equation, while the system of mass conservation laws is solved by a higher order Godunov-type scheme, here extended to triangle-based unstructured grids. Numerical results on 1-D and 2-D test cases prove the effectiveness and the robustness of the coupling, which seems particularly suited to handling high heterogeneities and at the same time accurately resolving steep gradients without spurious oscillations.
Welding of 3D-printed carbon nanotube–polymer composites by locally induced microwave heating

RF heating of carbon nanotubes enables local welding and increased strength between 3D-printed thermoplastic layers. Additive manufacturing through material extrusion, often termed three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a burgeoning method for manufacturing thermoplastic components. However, a key obstacle facing 3D-printed plastic parts in engineering applications is the weak weld between successive filament traces, which often leads to delamination and mechanical failure. This is the chief obstacle to the use of thermoplastic additive manufacturing. We report a novel concept for welding 3D-printed thermoplastic interfaces using intense localized heating of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by microwave irradiation. The microwave heating of the CNT-polymer composites is a function of CNT percolation, as shown through in situ infrared imaging and simulation. We apply CNT-loaded coatings to a 3D printer filament; after printing, microwave irradiation is shown to improve the weld fracture strength by 275%. These remarkable results open up entirely new design spaces for additive manufacturing and also yield new insight into the coupling between dielectric properties and radio frequency field response for nanomaterial networks.
Skin hydration imaging using a long-wavelength near-infrared digital camera

Skin hydration is a key factor in skin health. Hydration measurements can provide diagnostic information on the condition of skin and can indicate the integrity of the skin barrier function. Near-infrared spectroscopy measures the water content of living tissue by its effect on tissue reflectance at a particular wavelength. Imaging has the important advantage of showing the degree of hydration as a function of location. Short-wavelength (650-1050 nm) near infrared spectroscopic reflectance imaging has previously been used in-vivo to determine the relative water content of skin under carefully controlled laboratory conditions. We have recently developed a novel spectroscopic imaging system to acquire image sets in the long-wavelength region of the near infrared (960 to 1700 nm), where the water absorption bands are more intense. The LW-NIR systems uses a liquid- crystal tunable filter in front of the objective lens and incorporates a 12-bit digital camera with a 320-by-240-pixel indium-gallium arsenide array sensor. Custom software controls the camera and tunable filter, allowing image sets to be acquired and displayed in near-real time. Forearm skin hydration was measured in a clinical context using the long- wavelength imaging system, a short-wavelength imaging system, and non-imaging instrumentation. Among these, the LW-NIR system appears to be the most sensitive at measuring dehydration of skin.
Augmenting Anti-Cancer Natural Products with a Small Molecule Adjuvant

Aquatic microbes produce diverse secondary metabolites with interesting biological activities. Cytotoxic metabolites have the potential to become lead compounds or drugs for cancer treatment. Many cytotoxic compounds, however, show undesirable toxicity at higher concentrations. Such undesirable activity may be reduced or eliminated by using lower doses of the cytotoxic compound in combination with another compound that modulates its activity. Here, we have examined the cytotoxicity of four microbial metabolites [ethyl N-(2-phenethyl) carbamate (NP-1), Euglenophycin, Anabaenopeptin, and Glycolipid 652] using three in vitro cell lines [human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), mouse neuroblastoma cells (N2a), and rat pituitary epithelial cells (GH4C1)]. The compounds showed variable cytotoxicity, with Euglenophycin displaying specificity for N2a cells. We have also examined the modulatory power of NP-1 on the cytotoxicity of the other three compounds and found that at a permissible concentration (125 µg/mL), NP-1 sensitized N2a and MCF-7 cells to Euglenophycin and Glycolipid 652 induced cytotoxicity.
Analysing Student Reflection in The Learning Game

Supporting student reflection is one of the goals of inspectable student models (ISMs). Several researchers have studied student reflection using a variety of strategies to support interaction with the student model. We explore student reflection using a general educational computer game environment called The Learning Game. The Learning Game provides tools to interact with the student model, mechanisms to integrate and propagate evidence, and feedback of different sorts. A taxonomy of reflective actions has been defined and used to examine evidence of student reflection in The Learning Game. Results show the existence of student reflection. Different learning activities can be used to support different degrees of student reflection. High degrees of student reflection are associated with students revisiting concepts and receiving appropriate feedback.
Detecting Negation Scopes for Financial News Sentiment Using Reinforcement Learning

Applying natural language processing to the domain of financial news requires robust methods that process all sentences correctly, including those that are negated. So far, related research commonly utilizes rule-based algorithms to detect negated sentence fragments, named negation scopes. Nonetheless, these methods involve certain limitations when encountering complex language or particularities of the chosen prose. As an alternative, reinforcement learning offers an opportunity to learn suitable negation classifications through trial-and-error experience. This method tries to replicate human-like learning and thus appears well-suited for natural language processing. Its episode-based and flexible structure allows for the handling of even highly complex sentences. Our results provide evidence that reinforcement learning can outperform rule-based approaches from the related literature. The best performing implementation reveals a predictive accuracy of up to 76.37% on a manually-labeled dataset, exceeding the predictive accuracy of rule-based approaches by 2.55 %. When utilizing the already trained reinforcement learning implementation for sentiment analysis, we find a potential subjectivity bias that limits the predictive performance of forecasting stock market returns.
The V.42bis standard for data-compressing modems

The CCITT V.42bis standard for data-compressing modems, a conservative and economically implementable scheme, is discussed from algorithmic, experimental, practical, and marketing standpoints. It is shown that 4.2bis compresses text about as well as the Lempel-Ziv-Welch algorithm of the Berkeley Unix Compress utility. Other Ziv-Lempel variants are discussed briefly. <<ETX>>
A Functional Approach to Data Structures and Its Use in Multidimensional Searching

We establish new upper bounds on the complexity of multidimensional searching. Our results include, in particular, linear-size data structures for range and rectangle counting in two dimensions with logarithmic query time. More generally, we give improved data structures for rectangle problems in any dimension, in a static as well as a dynamic setting. Several of the algorithms we give are simple to implement and might be the solutions of choice in practice. Central to this paper is the nonstandard approach followed to achieve these results. At its root we find a redefinition of data structures in terms of functional specifications.
MulRF: a software package for phylogenetic analysis using multi-copy gene trees

SUMMARY MulRF is a platform-independent software package for phylogenetic analysis using multi-copy gene trees. It seeks the species tree that minimizes the Robinson-Foulds (RF) distance to the input trees using a generalization of the RF distance to multi-labeled trees. The underlying generic tree distance measure and fast running time make MulRF useful for inferring phylogenies from large collections of gene trees, in which multiple evolutionary processes as well as phylogenetic error may contribute to gene tree discord. MulRF implements several features for customizing the species tree search and assessing the results, and it provides a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) with tree visualization. The species tree search is implemented in C++ and the GUI in Java Swing. AVAILABILITY MulRF's executable as well as sample datasets and manual are available at http://genome.cs. iastate.edu/CBL/MulRF/, and the source code is available at https://github.com/ruchiherself/MulRFRepo. CONTACT ruchic@ufl.edu SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Clustering of Microarray Data Reveals Transcript Patterns Associated with Somatic Embryogenesis in Soybean1,212

Globular somatic embryos can be induced from immature cotyledons of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr. cv Jack) placed on high levels of the auxin 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D). Somatic embryos develop from the adaxial side of the cotyledon, whereas the abaxial side evolves into a callus. Using a 9,280-cDNA clone array, we have compared steady-state RNA from the adaxial side from which embryos develop and from the abaxial callus at five time points over the course of the 4 weeks necessary for the development of globular embryos. In a second set of experiments, we have profiled the expression of each clone in the adaxial side during the same period. A total of 495 genes differentially expressed in at least one of these experiments were grouped according to the similarity of their expression profiles using a nonhierarchical clustering algorithm. Our results indicate that the appearance of somatic embryos is preceded by dedifferentiation of the cotyledon during the first 2 weeks on auxin. Changes in mRNA abundance of genes characteristic of oxidative stress and genes indicative of cell division in the adaxial side of the cotyledons suggest that the arrangement of the new cells into organized structures might depend on a genetically controlled balance between cell proliferation and cell death. Our data also suggest that the formation of somatic globular embryos is accompanied by the transcription of storage proteins and the synthesis of gibberellic acid.
Assessing the Quality of Earthquake Catalogues: Estimating the Magnitude of Completeness and Its Uncertainty

We introduce a new method to determine the magnitude of completeness M c and its uncertainty. Our method models the entire magnitude range (emr method) consisting of the self-similar complete part of the frequency-magnitude distribution and the incomplete portion, thus providing a comprehensive seismicity model. We compare the emr method with three existing techniques, finding that emr shows a superior performance when applied to synthetic test cases or real data from regional and global earthquake catalogues. This method, however, is also the most computationally intensive. Accurate knowledge of M c is essential for many seismicity-based studies, and particularly for mapping out seismicity parameters such as the b -value of the Gutenberg-Richter relationship. By explicitly computing the uncertainties in M c using a bootstrap approach, we show that uncertainties in b -values are larger than traditionally assumed, especially when considering small sample sizes. As examples, we investigated temporal variations of M c for the 1992 Landers aftershock sequence and found that it was underestimated on average by 0.2 with former techniques. Mapping M c on a global scale, M c reveals considerable spatial variations for the Harvard Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) (5.3 ≤ M c ≤ 6.0) and the International Seismological Centre (isc) catalogue (4.3 ≤ M c ≤ 5.0).
On The Achievable Rate Region of a New Wiretap Channel With Side Information

A new applicable wiretap channel with separated side information is considered here which consist of a sender, a legitimate receiver and a wiretapper. In the considered scenario, the links from the transmitter to the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper experience different conditions or channel states. So, the legitimate receiver and the wiretapper listen to the transmitted signal through the channels with different channel states which may have some correlation to each other. It is assumed that the transmitter knows the state of the main channel non-causally and uses this knowledge to encode its message. The state of the wiretap channel is not known anywhere. An achievable equivocation rate region is derived for this model and is compared to the existing works. In some special cases, the results are extended to the Gaussian wiretap channel.
Seismic Capacity Requirements for Low-Rise Reinforced Concrete Buildings Controlled by both Shear and Flexure

Lateral-load resisting systems of many low-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings are composed of members that may be vulnerable to pre-emptive shear failures, depending on whether their shear strengths are sufficient to develop their flexural strengths (referred to as dual lateral-load resisting system, subsequently); therefore the buildings have a lateral strength associated with the strengths of the components, and the component strengths may be governed by both shear and flexure (the component strengths are referred to as shear and flexural strengths, subsequently). At present there is no effective ways to assess the component strength and ductility of a RC building having a dual lateral-load resisting system. This paper presents a method for determining required shear and flexural strengths associated with structural damage states for various levels of earthquake demand of low-rise RC buildings having a dual lateral-load resisting system. The interaction curves of the required strengths are derived for various ductility ratios based on nonlinear dynamic analyses of the single-degree-of-freedom system. The structural damage states of RC buildings controlled by both shear and flexure are evaluated in terms of the ductility ratio by the procedure outlined by the Japanese Standard. The proposed method predicts reasonably well damage sustained by actual buildings during an earthquake. The proposed method can be used to develop performance-based seismic evaluation and rehabilitation procedures of low-rise RC buildings having a dual lateral-load resisting system.
EPIYA motif patterns among Cuban Helicobacter pylori CagA positive strains.

INTRODUCTION It is known that polymorphisms in C-terminal region of CagA influence gastric disease development on Helicobacter pylori infection. Additionally, the geographic distribution of these polymorphisms has been associated with the appearance of more severe gastroduodenal pathologies. Objective. To determine the CagA phosphorylation motifs pattern (EPIYA pattern) in Cuban H. pylori isolates, and to study its association with patient´s pathologies. MATERIALS AND METHODS DNAs from 95 H. pylori cagA-positive strains were used to amplify the 3´ variable region of cagA gene by PCR using two different strategies. Additionally, new primers were designed to identify either Western or Eastern CagAEPIYA motiftype by PCR. To confirm the PCR results, PCR products from 14 representative isolates were purified and sequenced. RESULTS The distribution of the EPIYA motif found was: 2 AB (2.1 %), 1 AC (1.1 %), 1 BC (1.1 %), 70 ABC (73.6 %), 19 ABCC (20 %), and 2 ABCCC (2.1 %). Sequencing analysis confirmed the PCR classification in the 14 studied strains and showed three strains with unusual nucleotide sequences, not reported before. Distribution of the EPIYA-ABC pattern was equivalent in all pathologies (78.9 % in gastric ulcer, 72.5 % in duodenal ulcer and 72.2 % in non-ulcer dyspepsia). CONCLUSION The PCR results using the new primers confirmed that all studied strains carried the Western CagA type. No specific EPIYA motif was associated with peptic ulcer. This is the first report that shows EPIYA motif distribution in H. pylori isolates from the Caribbean region.
A simple selection-free method for detecting disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in murine bone marrow

Bone metastasis is a lethal and incurable disease. It is the result of the dissemination of cancer cells to the bone marrow. Due to the difficulty in sampling and detection, few techniques exist to efficiently and consistently detect and quantify disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow of cancer patients. Because mouse models represent a crucial tool with which to study cancer metastasis, we developed a novel method for the simple selection-free detection and quantification of bone marrow DTCs in mice. We have used this protocol to detect human and murine DTCs in xenograft, syngeneic, and genetically engineered mouse models. We are able to detect and quantify bone marrow DTCs in mice that do not have overt bone metastasis. This protocol is amenable not only for detection and quantification purposes but also to study the expression of markers of numerous biological processes or tissue-specificity.
Improved Electroformed Structural Copper and Copper Alloys

Electroforming offers a superior means for fabricating internally cooled heat exchangers and structures subjected to thermal environments. Copper is deposited from many such applications because of the good thermal conductivity. It suffers from mediocre yield strength as a structural material and loses mechanical strength at intermediate temperatures. Mechanical properties similar to those of electroformed nickel are desired. Phase 1 examined innovative means to improve deposited copper structural performance. Yield strengths as high as 483 MPa (70 ksi) were obtained with useful ductility while retaining a high level of purity essential to good thermal conductivity. Phase 2 represents a program to explore new additive combinations in copper electrolytes to produce a more fine, equiaxed grain which can be thermally stabilized by other techniques such as alloying in modest degrees and dispersion strengthening. Evaluation of new technology - such as the codeposition of fullerness (diamond-like) particles were made to enhance thermal conductivity in low alloys. A test fire quality tube-bundle engine was fabricated using these copper property improvement concepts to show the superiority of the new coppers and fabrications methods over competitive technologies such as brazing and plasma deposition.
Linked Open Data Aggregation: Conflict Resolution and Aggregate Quality

The paradigm of publishing governmental data is shifting from data trapped in relational databases, scanned images, or PDF files to open data, or even linked open data, bringing the information consumers (citizens, companies) unrestricted access to the data and enabling an agile information aggregation, which has up to now not been possible. Such information aggregation comes with inherent problems, such as provision of poor quality, inaccurate, irrelevant or fraudulent information. As part of the OpenData.cz initiative, we are developing projects which will enable creation, maintenance, and usage of the data infrastructure formed by the Czech governmental linked open data. In particular, the project ODCleanStore will enable data consumers seamless automated data aggregation to simplify the manual aggregation process, which would have to be performed otherwise, and will also provide provenance tracking and justifications why the aggregated data should be trusted by the consumer in the given situation. In this paper, we describe two crucial aspects of the data aggregation process in ODCleanStore - resolution of data conflicts and computation of aggregate quality helping consumers to decide whether the aggregated data are worth using. Since the data aggregation algorithm is executed during query time, we show that the proposed algorithm is fast enough to work in real-world settings.
Reducing Web Browsing Delay using Profile-Based Prefetching

This paper presents a novel technique for prefetching Web pages using the access patterns captured from the past behavior of the clients. For each page requested, the client also prefetches the relevant pages and downloads them along with the requested page in a batch to save communication overhead. The prefetching of these relevant pages can be done while the user is browsing through the requested page. Since future references to these prefetched pages can be satisfied without further communication to the server, this approach noticeably reduces the amount of time needed to browse the pages. The simulation results presented in this paper confirmed our observation.
The price of validity in dynamic networks

Massive-scale self-administered networks like Peer-to-Peer and Sensor Networks have data distributed across thousands of participant hosts. These networks are highly dynamic with short-lived hosts being the norm rather than an exception. In recent years, researchers have investigated best-effort algorithms to efficiently process aggregate queries (e.g., sum, count, average, minimum and maximum) [6, 13, 21, 34, 35, 37] on these networks. Unfortunately, query semantics for best-effort algorithms are ill-defined, making it hard to reason about guarantees associated with the result returned. In this paper, we specify a correctness condition, single-site validity, with respect to which the above algorithms are best-effort. We present a class of algorithms that guarantee validity in dynamic networks. Experiments on real-life and synthetic network topologies validate performance of our algorithms, revealing the hitherto unknown price of validity.