Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phase Separation in Thin Polymer Films: From Self Stratification to Polymer Blend Lithography

This thesis describes the self-stratification as well as the purely lateral phase separation in a thin polymer blend film during spin coating. The solution system consists of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in methylethylketon (MEK) as the solvent. It is shown that the formation of the morphology during spin-coating is influenced by a variety of parameters. These are the PS/PMMA mass ratio, the evaporation rate of MEK, the molecular weights (of PS and PMMA) and the humidity of the spin casting atmosphere. The dynamic of the layer formation was monitored by optical real-time in-situ reflectometry and the final morphologies were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). According to the model established in this study, the spin-casting humidity is the most important factor in determination of the phase separation ranging from layering to lateral phase separation between the two immiscible polymers. In (dry) nitrogen flow the PS/PMMA/MEK system forms a triple layer film following our „self-stratification model“. The sandwich-like triple layer (PMMA/PS/PMMA) was proven by different techniques including ellipsometry and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). With another model we describe the formation of a purely lateral phase morphology, where PS islands are separated in a PMMA matrix. Here, at a humidity of 40-50 %, this 3-dimensional phase separation occurs, whereby self-stratification was observed at lower humidity. Since the PS islands have contact both to the air and the substrate, this purely lateral morphology can be utilized in a novel lithographic technique, which we named „Polymer Blend Lithography (PBL)“ [1,2]. Using a selective solvent, one or the other polymer can be removed and the remaining one can then be used as a lithographic mask for a subsequent lift off process. If e.g. the PS Islands are removed a perforated PMMA film is left, which we call the “Swiss Cheese Structure”. In this study, two examples of the applications of PBL are demonstrated: 1. The fabrication of nano-patterned organic Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAM) templates, which we call Monolayer PBL and 2. Metal PBL which is specialized for the fabrication of micro/nanosized metal island arrays or perforated metal films with a typical hole density of 1 billion / inch2. These nanopatterned templates can be applied e.g. for surface-selective mineralization of ZnO films. Finally the wavelength-selective transmission of perforated aluminum films, which is based on the surface plasmonic effect, is demonstrated.
Molecular epidemiology of Shiga toxin‐producing O113:H21 isolates from cattle and meat

The serotype O113:H21 is considered one of the relevant non‐O157 STEC serotypes associated with severe human infections. Due to the increased detection of O113 strains and their relationship with clinical cases, which emphasizes the importance of this serogroup as an emerging pathogen, our aim was to determine the characteristics of STEC O113:H21 strains circulating in bovine cattle and retail meat from Argentina. For this purpose, we determined the presence and combinations of various virulence genes (and their variants) related to adhesion and toxicity in a collection of 34 isolates. Their genetic relatedness using multiple‐locus variable‐number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was also studied. Subtyping of stx genes indicated that O113:H21 strains circulating in Argentina mainly present stx2a alone or together with stx2c or, less frequent, with stx2d, all of which are subtypes associated with human disease. We found plasmid markers, such as saa, ehxA and subA, in a higher proportion than previous studies, and five variants of saa, two of which were novel ones. In relation to MLVA subtyping, we detected a limited diversity among the isolates considering that several loci were not discriminative and, that in some farms, the same clone seemed to remain circulating throughout the year. The O113:H21 strains studied harbour several toxin and adhesion genes (saa, espP, fimCD, ehaA, iha, hcpA, elfA, lpfO113, ecpA, subA, cdt‐V) and Stx subtypes associated with human disease. Results also highlighted that subtyping of stx and saa is useful to discriminate O113:H21 strains that share virulence genes. In conclusion, this study shows that a number of O113:H21 strains that occur in foods and bovines could be pathogenic for humans. This situation calls for further attention in the prevention and control of foodborne disease caused by these strains.
Effects of anticholinergic agent on miRNA profiles and transcriptomes in a murine model of allergic rhinitis

Anticholinergic agent, ipratropium bromide (IB) ameliorates symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR) using neuroimmunologic mechanisms. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains largely unclear. In the present study, 27 mice with AR induced by ovalbumin were randomly allocated to one of three groups: Model group, model group with IB treatment for 2 weeks, and model group with IB treatment for 4 weeks. Allergic symptoms were evaluated according to symptoms scores. Differentially expressed genes [microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs)] of nasal mucosa were identified by microarray analysis. The expression levels of candidate genes were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The data indicates that the symptoms scores in allergic mice were significantly reduced by IB treatment. In the nasal mucosa of allergic mice with IB treatment, 207 mRNAs and 87 miRNAs were differentially expressed, when compared with the sham group. IB treatment significantly downregulated the expression levels of interleukin-4Rα and prostaglandin D2 synthase, whereas the leukemia inhibitory factor, A20 and nuclear receptor subfamily 4, group A, member 1 expression levels were upregulated. Similarly, the expression levels of mmu-miR-124-3p/5p, −133b-5p, −133a-3p/5p, −384-3p, −181a-5p, −378a-5p and −3071-5p were significantly increased. RT-qPCR data further validated these mRNA and miRNA expression levels. Thus, IB treatment regulated expression of allergic immune-associated mRNAs and miRNAs of the nasal mucosa in allergic mice, which may be associated with ameliorated nasal allergic symptoms.
A New Approach to Gait Variability Quantification using Cyclograms

Human gait is cyclic movement and its properties are not constant. Gait variability is widely assessed by fluctuation in spatio-temporal parameters. Since this method operate on a single parameter of the gait cycle, the cycle signal in its entirety does not affect the result. The objective of this work is to present new gait variability assessment method. In order to quantify the variability of entire gait cycle, we have proposed and tested the method based on synchronized cyclograms. The novel approach showed the ability to assess gait variability. The method is not restricted to gait variability assessment and would be beneficial in different areas of cyclic movement variability analysis.
A new approach to construct generalized local Voronoi diagrams via digital image processing

A robot navigating in an unknown environment depends on its sensors to obtain distance information of the obstacles with which it encounters. By using the collected distance information, a point robot is able to construct Generalized Local Voronoi Diagram (GLVD) of the area that is lying in vicinity of itself. In this paper, a method is proposed to build GLVDs via processing the digital images captured by a camera attached to a point robot which remains on a constant height platform. The robot under consideration collects several discrete images around itself. These images are processed by an algorithm which extracts the distance information of the three dimensional obstacles around the robot and constructs discrete images which are parts of the top view of the area. The resulting discrete images are then assembled to build a complete image of the top view of the region around the robot, at the center of which the robot is located. This local panoramic image is then used to construct the GLVD of the area under consideration. A case study is presented to demonstrate and verify the capabilities of the approach introduced. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study which employs a camera attached to the robot itself and digital image processing to create Generalized Local Voronoi Diagrams.
Combining Facial Parts For Learning Gender, Ethnicity, and Emotional State Based on RGB-D Information

With the success of emerging RGB-D cameras such as the Kinect sensor, combining the shape (depth) and texture information to improve the quality of recognition became a trend among computer vision researchers. In this work, we address the problem of face classification in the context of RGB images and depth data. Inspired by the psychological results for human face perception, this article focuses on (i) finding out which facial parts are most effective at making the difference for some social aspects of face perception (gender, ethnicity, and emotional state), (ii) determining the optimal decision by combining the decision rendered by the individual parts, and (iii) extracting the promising features from RGB-D faces to exploit all the potential that this data provide. Experimental results on EurecomKinect Face and CurtinFaces databases show that the proposed approach improves the recognition quality in many use cases.
IXA pipeline: Efficient and Ready to Use Multilingual NLP tools

IXA pipeline is a modular set of Natural Language Processing tools (or pipes) which provide easy access to NLP technology. It offers robust and efficient linguistic annotation to both researchers and non-NLP experts with the aim of lowering the barriers of using NLP technology either for research purposes or for small industrial developers and SMEs. IXA pipeline can be used “as is” or exploit its modularity to pick and change different components. Given its open-source nature, it can also be modified and extended for it to work with other languages. This paper describes the general data-centric architecture of IXA pipeline and presents competitive results in several NLP annotations for English and Spanish.
UNIFORMLY HIGH ORDER ACCURATE

In this paper, a third in a series we continue the construction and the analysis of essentially non-oscillatory shock capturing methods for the approximation of hyperbolic conservation laws. We present an hierarchy of uniformly high order accurate schemes which generalizes Godunov's scheme and its second order accurate MUSCL extension to arbitrary order of accuracy. The design involves an essentially non-oscillator-, piecewlse polynomial reconstruction of the solution from its cell averages, time evolution through an approximate solution of the resulting initia] value problem, and averaging of this approximate solution over each cell. The reconstruction algorithm is derived from a new interpolation technique that when applied to piecewise smooth data gives high-order accuracy whenever the function is smooth but avoids a Gibbs phenomenon at discontinuities. Unlike standard finite difference methods this procedure uses an adaptive stencil of grid points and consequently ';he resulting schemes are highly nonlinear. IResearch was supported by NSF Grant No. DMS85-03294, ARO Grant No. DAAG29-85K-OIq0, NASA Consortium Agreement No. NCA2-1R390-403, and NASA l,angley Grant No. :AGI-270. Also, research for the first and third authors was partially supported under NASA Contracts NASI-17070 and NASI-18107 while in residence at the Institute for Computer Applic_tlons in Science and Engineerin_ (iCA_E), NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23665-5225.
In Situ Monitoring of the Thermal-Annealing Effect in a Monolayer of MoS 2

We perform in situ two-cycle thermal-annealing studies for a transferred CVD-grown monolayer MoS2 on a SiO2=Si substrate, using spatially resolved micro-Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The evolution in film morphology and film-substrate bonding is continuously monitored by Raman spectroscopy. After the thermal cycling and being annealed at 305 °C twice, the film morphology and filmsubstrate bonding are significantly modified, which together with the removal of polymer residues causes major changes in the strain and doping distribution over the film, and thus the optical properties. Before annealing, the strain associated with ripples in the transferred film dominates the spatial distributions of the photoluminescence peak position and intensity over the film; after annealing, the variation in film-substrate bonding, affecting both strain and doping, becomes the leading factor. This work reveals that the filmsubstrate bonding, and thus the strain and doping, is nonstationary under thermal stress, which is important for understanding the substrate effects on the optical and transport properties of the 2D material and their impact on device applications.
Trade-off between synergy and efficacy in combinations of HIV-1 latency-reversing agents

Eradicating HIV-1 infection is difficult because of the reservoir of latently infected cells that gets established soon after infection, remains hidden from antiretroviral drugs and host immune responses, and retains the capacity to reignite infection following the cessation of treatment. Drugs called latency-reversing agents (LRAs) are being developed to reactivate latently infected cells and render them susceptible to viral cytopathicity or immune killing. Whereas individual LRAs have failed to induce adequate reactivation, pairs of LRAs have been identified recently that act synergistically and hugely increase reactivation levels compared to individual LRAs. The maximum synergy achievable with LRA pairs is of clinical importance, as it would allow latency-reversal with minimal drug exposure. Here, we employed stochastic simulations of HIV-1 transcription and translation in latently infected cells to estimate this maximum synergy. We incorporated the predominant mechanisms of action of the two most promising classes of LRAs, namely, protein kinase C agonists and histone deacetylase inhibitors, and quantified the activity of individual LRAs in the two classes by mapping our simulations to corresponding in vitro experiments. Without any adjustable parameters, our simulations then quantitatively captured experimental observations of latency-reversal when the LRAs were used in pairs. Performing simulations representing a wide range of drug concentrations, we estimated the maximum synergy achievable with these LRA pairs. Importantly, we found with all the LRA pairs we considered that concentrations yielding the maximum synergy did not yield the maximum latency-reversal. Increasing concentrations to increase latency-reversal compromised synergy, unravelling a trade-off between synergy and efficacy in LRA combinations. The maximum synergy realizable with LRA pairs would thus be restricted by the desired level of latency-reversal, a constrained optimum we elucidated with our simulations. We expect this trade-off to be important in defining optimal LRA combinations that would maximize synergy while ensuring adequate latency-reversal.
Neural responses to linguistic stimuli in children with and without autism spectrum disorder

Atypical neural responses to language have been found in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in their unaffected siblings. However, given that language difficulties are often seen in these children, it is difficult to interpret whether these neural differences are a result of the diagnosis of ASD or impairments in their language abilities. In this study, we recorded event‐related potentials (ERPs) from four groups of 36‐month‐olds: low‐risk control (LRC), high risk for ASD defined as having an older sibling with ASD (HRA) but who do not have ASD or milder autism‐like symptoms (HRA‐Typ), HRA children who do not have ASD but exhibit milder autism‐like symptoms (HRA‐Atyp) and HRA children diagnosed with ASD (ASD). Children listened to words expected to be acquired early (e.g. ball) and words expected to be acquired late (e.g. calf). ERPs were analysed over time windows sensitive to word processing as well as frontal and temporo‐parietal sites over the left and right hemispheres. When controlling for language abilities, there were group differences within the temporo‐parietal sites. Specifically, the HRA‐Atyp group showed a different timed response to late words compared to the ASD and LRC groups. In addition, we found a relation between neural responses in the left frontal sites and ASD severity. Our results suggest that both language abilities and ASD diagnoses are important to consider when interpreting neural differences in lexical processing.
Evaluating How Developers Use General-Purpose Web-Search for Code Retrieval

Search is an integral part of a software development process. Developers often use search engines to look for information during development, including reusable code snippets, API understanding, and reference examples. Developers tend to prefer general-purpose search engines like Google, which are often not optimized for code related documents and use search strategies and ranking techniques that are more optimized for generic, non-code related information. In this paper, we explore whether a general purpose search engine like Google is an optimal choice for code-related searches. In particular, we investigate whether the performance of searching with Google varies for code vs. non-code related searches. To analyze this, we collect search logs from 310 developers that contains nearly 150,000 search queries from Google and the associated result clicks. To di? erentiate between code-related searches and non-code related searches, we build a model which identifies code intent of queries. Leveraging this model, we build an automatic classifier that detects a code and non-code related query. We confirm the e? ectiveness of the classifier on manually annotated queries where the classifier achieves a precision of 87%, a recall of 86%, and an F1-score of 87%. We apply this classifier to automatically annotate all the queries in the dataset. Analyzing this dataset, we observe that code related searching often requires more e? ort (e.g., time, result clicks, and query modifications) than general non-code search, which indicates code search performance with a general search engine is less effective.
Entrainment Maps

Circadian oscillators found across a variety of species are subject to periodic external light-dark forcing. Entrainment to light-dark cycles enables the circadian system to align biological functions with appropriate times of day or night. Phase response curves (PRCs) have been used for decades to gain valuable insights into entrainment; however, PRCs may not accurately describe entrainment to photoperiods with substantial amounts of both light and dark due to their reliance on a single limit cycle attractor. We have developed a new tool, called an entrainment map, that overcomes this limitation of PRCs and can assess whether, and at what phase, a circadian oscillator entrains to external forcing with any photoperiod. This is a 1-dimensional map that we construct for 3 different mathematical models of circadian clocks. Using the map, we are able to determine conditions for existence and stability of phase-locked solutions. In addition, we consider the dependence on various parameters such as the photoperiod and intensity of the external light as well as the mismatch in intrinsic oscillator frequency with the light-dark cycle. We show that the entrainment map yields more accurate predictions for phase locking than methods based on the PRC. The map is also ideally suited to calculate the amount of time required to achieve entrainment as a function of initial conditions and the bifurcations of stable and unstable periodic solutions that lead to loss of entrainment.
Fractional Fourier domain communication system: System structure and signal modeling

In Transform Domain Communication System (TDCS), the traditional methods of spectrum sensing and interference mitigation have some unavoidable shortcomings in the non-stationary scenarios. On this consideration, fractional Fourier transform is introduced into TDCS to obtain a better performance in processing the non-stationary signals, like linear chirp signals. By rotating a certain angle in time-frequency plane, chirp signal will concentrate in the corresponding fractional Fourier domain. This property enhances the non-stationary interference mitigation capability. Meanwhile, by using the fractional domain signal model proposed in this article to synthesize the adaptive fundamental modulation waveform we can integrate the signal design process of different mechanisms in a more general form. One step further, multi-domain communication system might be realized on software designed radio platform, opening up a potential orientation for multi-resource reusing in the signal design level.
Scalable model for dynamic configuration and power management in virtualized heterogeneous web clusters

This paper presents a model for dynamic configuration of Virtualized Application Servers (VAS) based on an algorithm of linear complexity, achieving the scalability needed for big data centers and cloud computing platforms. The goal is to minimize the power consumption of the processing environment and maintenance of the quality of service (QoS) of the applications. The experiments evaluate our model as compared to the Linux CPU governors and a state-of-the-art approach based on optimization. The results show that our model conserves up to 49.6% of the energy required by a cluster designed for peak workload scenario, with a negligible impact on the applications performance.
Gold nanorod‐photosensitizer conjugates with glutathione‐sensitive linkages for synergistic cancer photodynamic/photothermal therapy

Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been intensively investigated as a useful modality for the treatment of various cancers. In addition, near infrared (NIR) photothermal therapy (PTT) using gold nanocarriers has attracted particular interest as a hyperthermia strategy. In this study, gold nanorod (AuNR)‐photosensitizer conjugates with glutathione‐sensitive linkages were designed for PDT and PTT. Several kinds of AuNRs with different aspect ratios were synthesized and modified with FA‐conjugated block copolymers (FA‐PEG‐P(Asp)‐DHLA) and Chlorin e6 (Ce6) as a photosensitizer. The surface‐modified AuNRs showed excellent stability and solubility in aqueous solution. In particular, FA‐PEG‐P(Asp)‐DHLA‐AuNR100‐SS‐Ce6 with a 3.84 aspect ratio exhibited strong photothermal effects, enhanced singlet oxygen generation, and marked phototoxicity. Based on these results, we suggest that AuNR‐photosensitizer conjugates with glutathione‐sensitive linkages have potential application in PDT/PTT for effective clinical treatment of various cancers.
Study of wireless mammography image transmission impacts on robust cyber-aided diagnosis systems

Wireless cyber-mammography is potentially a convenient screening method to be comfortable and effective in community and rural area early detection of breast cancer, but their interpretation is difficult due to the noise and low quality of images. In this paper, we study the accuracy of a Cyber-aided diagnosis system to help physicians to classify the detected regions in wireless mammogram images into malignant or benign categories. In this approach we investigate different sets of features and two classifier methods (SVM and GMM) and perform a comparative study to investigate the accuracy measurements in noisy condition. The results show that without any noise or errors, SVM classifier outperforms GMM; however GMM classifier is more robust and reliable in noisy circumstance especially in detecting malignant cases. The proposed study provides in-depth understanding of the accuracy and reliability of wireless mammography in early breast cancer detection.