Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Engineering Computational Service Grid: A Flexible Engineering Computational Environment Based on Grid Computing

An ideal engineering computational environment for solving design problems should be flexible, which is characterized by helping designers to establish solution strategy conveniently and integrating design resources effectively. In this paper, a flexible engineering computational system called Engineering Computational Service Grid (ECSG) based on Grid portal technology and workflow technology is presented, and the architecture of ECSG is described detailedly. For managing solution strategy of engineering computational job, the structure of BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) based workflow management subsystem is put forward, and an application scenario of ECSG is given. The research results aforementioned can clarify the functional system of engineering computational environment and provide an approach to constructing flexible engineering computational environment.
Optimisation de l'usinage de finition du bois d'épinette noire pour fins d'adhésion

The main objective of this research project was to evaluate the effect of surfacing processes in black spruce wood in relation to surface quality and performance of poly (vynil acetate) glue and water-based coating. First, oblique cutting, peripheral planing, face milling and sanding were used prior to gluing with two-component poly (vinyl acetate) glue. The four machining processes produced surfaces having similar surface roughness and glue line shear strength before and after an accelerated aging treatment. Thus, black spruce wood is relatively easy to glue. Only glue penetration, as well as the level of fibrillation, was affected by the machining processes. In the second part of the project, the objective was to optimize cutting parameters of sanding, oblique cutting, helical planing, peripheral planing and face milling for surface quality and coating performance. In addition, the four planing processes were evaluated in order to evaluate their potential to be used as alternatives to sanding. Sanding with a two-stage program (P100-150-grit) at a feed speed of 17 m/min generated low surface roughness and high wettability and pull-off strength after the accelerated aging treatment. On one hand, face milling induced superior surface roughness and wettability when compared with other studied surfacing processes. These samples were also characterized by the most important coating penetration and level of fibrillation. This contributed to reduce the coating layer protecting the samples during the aging treatment. As a consequence, face-milled samples had a significant lower pull-off strength compared with those prepared by the other four machining processes. On the other hand, oblique cutting with an oblique angle fo 35°, helical planing with a wavelength of 1.43 mm and peripheral planing with a 10 or 20° rake angle all produced surfaces with intermediate surface roughness and wetting properties, but coating performance statistically similar to that of sanded samples. As a result, these three planing processes are to be considered as alternatives to the sanding process.
Analysis of the glucosinolate pattern of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds by capillary zone electrophoresis coupled to electrospray ionization‐mass spectrometry

An easy and rapid method for the analysis of intact, non‐desulfated glucosinolates by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) coupled to electrospray ionization‐time of flight‐mass spectrometry (ESI‐TOF‐MS) is described. Surprisingly, an electrolyte and a sheath liquid based on formic acid provided the best results. In this strongly acidic system, the glucosinolates were separated and detected as anions, resulting in an excellent selectivity. Thus, crude plant extracts could be analyzed without any interference of matrix constituents. The sensitivity together with mass accuracy and true isotopic pattern of the TOF‐MS allowed identification of a broad series of glucosinolates in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds.
Vasomotor control in arterioles of the mouse cremaster muscle

Recent advances in transgenic mouse technology provide novel models to study cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. In light of these developments, there is an increasing need for understanding cardiovascular function and blood flow control in normal mice. To this end we have used intravital microscopy to investigate vasomotor control in arterioles of the superfused cremaster muscle preparation of anesthetized C57Bl6 mice. Spontaneous resting tone increased with branch order and was enhanced by oxygen. Norepinephrine and acetylcholine (ACh) caused concentration‐dependent vasoconstriction and vasodilation, respectively. Microiontophoresis of ACh evoked vasodilation that conducted along arterioles; the local (direct) response was inhibited by N”‐nitro‐L‐argi‐nine (LNA), and both local and conducted responses were inhibited by 17‐octadecynoic acid (17‐ODYA). Microejection of KCl evoked a biphasic response: a transient conducted vasoconstriction (inhibited by nifedipine), followed by a conducted vasodilation that was insensitive to LNA, indomethacin, and 17‐ODYA. Phenylephrine evoked focal vasoconstriction that did not conduct. Perivascular sympathetic nerve stimulation evoked constriction along arterioles that was inhibited by tetrodotoxin. These findings indicate that for arterioles in the mouse cremaster muscle, nitric oxide and endothelial‐derived hyper‐polarizing factor (as shown by LNA and 17‐ODYA interventions, respectively) mediate vasodilatory responses to ACh but not to KCl, and that vasomotor responses spread along arterioles by multiple pathways of cell‐to‐cell communication. Hungerford, J. E. , Sessa, W. C. , Segal, S. S. Vasomotor control in arterioles of the mouse cremaster muscle. FASEB J. 14, 197–207(2000)
In vivo measurement of the brain and skull resistivities using an EIT-based method and the combined analysis of SEF/SEP data

Results of "in vivo" measurements of the skull and brain resistivities are presented for six subjects. Results are obtained using two different methods, based on spherical head models. The first method uses the principles of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to estimate the equivalent electrical resistivities of brain (/spl rho//sub brain/), skull (/spl rho//sub skull/) and skin (/spl rho//sub skin/) according to S. Goncalves et al., Physiol. Meas. , vol. 21, p. 379-93 (2000). The second one estimates the same parameters through a combined analysis of the evoked somatosensory cortical response, recorded simultaneously using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). The EIT results, obtained with the same relative skull thickness (0.05) for all subjects, show a wide variation of the ratio /spl rho//sub skull///spl rho//sub brain/ among subjects (average =72, SD=48%). However, the /spl rho//sub skull///spl rho//sub brain/ ratios of the individual subjects are well reproduced by combined analysis of somatosensory evoked fields (SEF) and somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP). These preliminary results suggest that the /spl rho//sub skull///spl rho//sub brain/ variations over subjects cannot be disregarded in the EEG inverse problem (IP) when a spherical model is used. The agreement between EIT and SEF/SEP points to the fact that whatever the source of variability, the proposed EIT-based method <Au: Addition of "method" O.K? appears to have the potential to reduce systematic errors in EEG IP associated to the misspecification of /spl rho//sub skull///spl rho//sub brain/, /spl rho//sub brain/, /spl rho//sub skull/ and /spl rho//sub skin/.
An encryption scheme for JPEG 2000 codestream based on packets header information and data encryption for confidentential medical images transmission

In this paper, a novel selective encryption scheme for JPEG2000 codestream is proposed. Many of proposals format compliant encryption schemes for JPEG2000 that have been made encrypt packet body data, but leave header packet in plaintext. Our proposed scheme encrypts code-blocks data corresponding to some sensitive precincts. This encryption is combined to a cyclic permutation of all packets headers in the bitstream. Actually, in the JPEG2000 codestream, packet header information is specific to the visual content, and it is can be used as a fingerprint of the codestream. The proposed process doesn’t introduce superfluous JPEG2000 markers in the protected codestream, i.e, the protected codestream format is compliant to JPEG2000 codestream one. It keeps file format and compression ratio unchanged and doesn’t degrade the original error robustness. The proposed scheme works with any standard ciphers and introduces negligible computational cost. Key-Words: Communication system security, Computer applications, Image coding, Biomedical imaging, Cryptography.
Effects of waste chicken fat derived biodiesel on the performance and emission characteristics of a compression ignition engine

ABSTRACT In this investigation, chicken fat methyl ester (CFME) was produced from the waste chicken fat obtained from meat processing industries. Blends were prepared with diesel-CFME, such as DCFME10, DCFME20, DCFME30, and DCFME40. The blends were tested in a direct injection diesel engine to examine the performance and emission characteristics. The results showed that the diesel substitution was attainable with CFME. DCFME30 had excellent performance and emission than other blends, but it was marginally lower than diesel. For the DCFME operation, brake-specific fuel consumption was higher and brake thermal efficiency was lower in comparison with diesel throughout the load spectrum. The CO (carbon monoxide), HC (hydrocarbon), and smoke emissions were reported to be lower for DCFME blends than that of diesel, but the NO (nitric oxide) emission was marginally higher throughout the load spectrum. A maximum of 30% diesel saving was obtained by using CFME, energy from animal residue.
Inference of Inversion Transduction Grammars

We present the first polynomial algorithm for learning a class of inversion transduction grammars (ITGs) that implement context free transducers – functions from strings to strings. The class of transductions that we can learn properly includes all subsequential transductions. These algorithms are based on a generalisation of distributional learning; we prove correctness of our algorithm under an identification in the limit model.
Open-Loop Decoupling of MIMO Plants

The complete set of decoupled forms of a MIMO plant P (which might be non-square and may have unstable pole-zero coincidences) achievable using open-loop precompensation is obtained in terms of certain multiplicities of the poles and zeros of P. This approach, which also yields the precompensator directly, is much simpler than the methods available.
Life and death of a cardiac calcium spark

Calcium sparks in cardiac myocytes are brief, localized calcium releases from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) believed to be caused by locally regenerative calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) via couplons, clusters of ryanodine receptors (RyRs). How such regeneration is terminated is uncertain. We performed numerical simulations of an idealized stochastic model of spark production, assuming a RyR gating scheme with only two states (open and closed). Local depletion of calcium in the SR was inevitable during a spark, and this could terminate sparks by interrupting CICR, with or without assumed modulation of RyR gating by SR lumenal calcium. Spark termination by local SR depletion was not robust: under some conditions, sparks could be greatly and variably prolonged, terminating by stochastic attrition–a phenomenon we dub “spark metastability. ” Spark fluorescence rise time was not a good surrogate for the duration of calcium release. Using a highly simplified, deterministic model of the dynamics of a couplon, we show that spark metastability depends on the kinetic relationship of RyR gating and junctional SR refilling rates. The conditions for spark metastability resemble those produced by known mutations of RyR2 and CASQ2 that cause life-threatening triggered arrhythmias, and spark metastability may be mitigated by altering the kinetics of the RyR in a manner similar to the effects of drugs known to prevent those arrhythmias. The model was unable to explain the distributions of spark amplitudes and rise times seen in chemically skinned cat atrial myocytes, suggesting that such sparks may be more complex events involving heterogeneity of couplons or local propagation among sub-clusters of RyRs.
Common sequence variation in the VEGFA gene predicts risk of diabetic retinopathy.

PURPOSE Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a multifunctional cytokine that plays a role in angiogenesis and microvascular permeability. This study was conducted to determine whether common sequence variation in the VEGFA gene plays a role in the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). METHOD Five hundred fifty-four subjects with diabetes mellitus (DM) including 190 type 1 DM (T1DM) and 364 type 2 DM (T2DM) were recruited. The study group consisted of 235 participants without DR, 158 with nonproliferative DR (NPDR), 132 with proliferative DR (PDR), and 93 with clinically significant macular edema (CSME). Blinding DR was defined as severe NPDR, PDR, or CSME. Fifteen VEGFA tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped in all subjects and tested for association with blinding DR. RESULTS Multiple tag SNPs in the VEGFA gene were associated with blinding DR. After controlling for sex, HbA1c, and duration of disease, in T1DM, the AA genotype of rs699946 (P = 0.007, odds ratio [OR], 4.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-11.4) and the GG genotype of rs833068 (P = 0.017, OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.3-7.2) were most significantly associated. In T2DM, the C allele of rs3025021 (P = 0.002; OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.5-10.0) and the G allele of rs10434 (P = 0.002; OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.3-5.3) were most significantly associated with blinding DR. Haplotype analyses suggested an important role for the haplotype TCCGCG in blinding DR (P = 0.0004). CONCLUSIONS Sequence variation in the VEGFA gene is associated with risk of developing blinding DR in T1DM and T2DM. Identifying specific genetic markers will allow for refined screening algorithms and earlier intervention in patients at highest risk.
Visual Approach for Change Impact Analysis: A Controlled Experiment

In the context of Software Maintenance, when a source code element must be changed, there is the need to identify if other elements will be affected by the change, in order to keep the code consistent. This identification is performed during the activity of change impact analysis. Aiming to support maintainers during this activity, software visualization tools allow a visual exploration of source code elements. In this paper, we present a study aimed at evaluating the support provided to change impact analysis by visual representations of Java program elements and their associations. To this end, we conducted a controlled experiment involving 24 undergraduate students, comparing the visual support approach and an ad hoc approach, where only the source code is analyzed to estimate impact change. Results showed that the effectiveness obtained by using the visual approach is significantly superior. This is an indication that visual support should be considered to change impact analysis aiming at reducing software maintenance costs.
Antiadherent and Antibiofilm Activity of Humulus lupulus L. Derived Products: New Pharmacological Properties

New antimicrobial properties of products derived from Humulus lupulus L. such as antiadherent and antibiofilm activities were evaluated. The growth of gram-positive but not gram-negative bacteria was inhibited to different extents by these compounds. An extract of hop cones containing 51% xanthohumol was slightly less active against S. aureus strains (MIC range 31.2–125.0 μg/mL) than pure xanthohumol (MIC range 15.6–62.5 μg/mL). The spent hop extract, free of xanthohumol, exhibited lower but still relevant activity (MIC range 1-2 mg/mL). There were positive coactions of hop cone, spent hop extracts, and xanthohumol with oxacillin against MSSA and with linezolid against MSSA and MRSA. Plant compounds in the culture medium at sub-MIC concentrations decreased the adhesion of Staphylococci to abiotic surfaces, which in turn caused inhibition of biofilm formation. The rate of mature biofilm eradication by these products was significant. The spent hop extract at MIC reduced biofilm viability by 42.8%, the hop cone extract by 74.8%, and pure xanthohumol by 86.5%. When the hop cone extract or xanthohumol concentration was increased, almost complete biofilm eradication was achieved (97–99%). This study reveals the potent antibiofilm activity of hop-derived compounds for the first time.
A novel real time hand detection based on skin-color

This paper proposes a novel real time hand detection algorithm based on skin-color. The proposed algorithm does not need training data and can be applied in dynamic and complex environments. The proposed method can directly find the palm area and fingers. It needs neither segmenting the wrist nor finding the contour. The detecting procedure is simple and fast. The experimental results show that the proposed method can detect hands in real time with low computing consumption under up to 3 meters of the distance between webcam and hand.
Non-negative Tensor Factorisation for Sound Source Separation

An algorithm for Non-negative Tensor Factorisation is introduced which extends current matrix factorisation techniques to deal with tensors. The effectiveness of the algorithm is then demonstrated through tests on synthetic data. The algorithm is then employed as a means of performing sound source separation on two channel mixtures, and the separation capabilities of the algorithm demonstrated on a two channel mixture containing saxophone, strings and bass guitar. Keywords - Non-negative tensor factorisation, sound source separation.
Interferon-gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) is an angiostatic factor that inhibits human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumorigenesis and spontaneous metastases

The success of solid tumor growth and metastasis is dependent upon angiogenesis. Neovascularization within the tumor is regulated, in part, by a dual and opposing system of angiogenic and angiostatic factors. We now report that IP-10, a recently described angiostatic factor, as a potent angiostatic factor that regulates non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)-derived angiogenesis, tumor growth, and spontaneous metastasis. We initially found significantly elevated levels of IP-10 in freshly isolated human NSCLC samples of squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA). In contrast, levels of IP-10 were equivalent in either normal lung tissue or adenocarcinoma specimens. The neoplastic cells in specimens of SCCA were the predominant cells that appeared to express IP-10 by immunolocalization. Neutralization of IP-10 in SCCA tumor specimens resulted in enhanced tumor-derived angiogenic activity. Using a model of human NSCLC tumorigenesis in SCID mice, we found that NSCLC tumor growth was inversely correlated with levels of plasma or tumor- associated IP-10. IP-10 in vitro functioned as neither an autocrine growth factor nor as an inhibitor of proliferation of the NSCLC cell lines. Reconstitution of intratumor IP-10 for a period of 8 wk resulted in a significant inhibition of tumor growth, tumor-associated angiogenic activity and neovascularization, and spontaneous lung metastases, whereas, neutralization of IP-10 for 10 wk augmented tumor growth. These findings support the notion that tumor-derived IP-10 is an important endogenous angiostatic factor in NSCLC.
Hybrid Three-Dimensional Spiral WSe2 Plasmonic Structures for Highly Efficient Second-Order Nonlinear Parametric Processes

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, with large second-order nonlinear susceptibility, are currently growing as an ideal candidate for fulfilling tunable nanoscale coherent light through the second-order nonlinear optical parametric processes. However, the atomic thickness of 2D layered materials leads to poor field confinement and weak light-matter interaction at nanoscale, resulting in low nonlinear conversion efficiency. Here, hybrid three-dimensional (3D) spiral WSe2 plasmonic structures are fabricated for highly efficient second harmonic generation (SHG) and sum-frequency generation (SFG) based on the enhanced light-matter interaction in hybrid plasmonic structures. The 3D spiral WSe2, with AA lattice stacking, exhibits efficient SH radiation due to the constructive interference of nonlinear polarization between the neighboring atomic layers. Thus, extremely high external SHG conversion efficiency (about 2.437×10−5) is achieved. Moreover, the ease of phase-matching condition combined with the enhanced light-matter interaction in hybrid plasmonic structure brings about efficient SHG and SFG simultaneously. These results would provide enlightenment for the construction of typical structures for efficient nonlinear processes.
Is Major Depression Comorbid with Temporomandibular Pain and Dysfunction Syndrome? A Pilot Study

AbstractThere is a lack of information about the precise strength of the relationship between chronic pain and depression. In a prior study, women with temporomandibular pain and dysfunction syndrome (TMPDS) had much higher scores than did controls on a measure of nonspecific psychological distress. The question arose as to whether rates of clinical depression are also unusually high in TMPDS patients. Their former treating clinician rated cases for likely lifetime presence or absence of depression. A subset of those rated as likely depressed then had their diagnoses verified independently through a structured clinical interview by a psychiatrist and clinical psychologist. Results revealed a minimum lifetime prevalence rate for major depression of 41%. A rate of this magnitude in TMPDS cases is clearly much higher than would be found for women of similar background in the general population.
Noninvasive detection of myocardial ischemia from perfusion reserve based on cardiovascular magnetic resonance.

BACKGROUND Myocardial perfusion reserve can be noninvasively assessed with cardiovascular MR. In this study, the diagnostic accuracy of this technique for the detection of significant coronary artery stenosis was evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS In 15 patients with single-vessel coronary artery disease and 5 patients without significant coronary artery disease, the signal intensity-time curves of the first pass of a gadolinium-DTPA bolus injected through a central vein catheter were evaluated before and after dipyridamole infusion to validate the technique. A linear fit was used to determine the upslope, and a cutoff value for the differentiation between the myocardium supplied by stenotic and nonstenotic coronary arteries was defined. The diagnostic accuracy was then examined prospectively in 34 patients with coronary artery disease and was compared with coronary angiography. A significant difference in myocardial perfusion reserve between ischemic and normal myocardial segments (1.08+/-0.23 and 2.33+/-0.41; P<0.001) was found that resulted in a cutoff value of 1.5 (mean minus 2 SD of normal segments). In the prospective analysis, sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy for the detection of coronary artery stenosis (> or =75%) were 90%, 83%, and 87%, respectively. Interobserver and intraobserver variabilities for the linear fit were low (r=0.96 and 0.99). CONCLUSIONS MR first-pass perfusion measurements yielded a high diagnostic accuracy for the detection of coronary artery disease. Myocardial perfusion reserve can be easily and reproducibly determined by a linear fit of the upslope of the signal intensity-time curves.