Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wear Distribution Detection of Knee Joint Prostheses by Means of 3D Optical Scanners

The objective of this study was to examine total knee polyethylene inserts from in vitro simulation to evaluate and display—using a 3D optical scanner—wear patterns and wear rates of inserts exposed to wear by means of simulators. Various sets of tibial inserts have been reconstructed by using optical scanners. With this in mind, the wear behavior of fixed and mobile bearing polyethylene knee configurations was investigated using a knee wear joint simulator. After the completion of the wear test, the polyethylene menisci were analyzed by an innovative 3D optical scanners in order to evaluate the 3D wear distribution on the prosthesis surface. This study implemented a new procedure for evaluating polyethylene bearings of joint prostheses obtained after in vitro wear tests and the proposed new approach allowed quantification of the contact zone on the geometry of total knee prostheses. The results of the present study showed that mobile TKPs (total knee prosthesis) have lower wear resistance with respect to fixed TKPs.
Mechanical Properties of Epoxy Resin Mortar with Sand Washing Waste as Filler

The objective of this study was to investigate the potential use of sand washing waste as filler for epoxy resin mortar. The mechanical properties of four series of mortars containing epoxy binder at 10, 15, 20, and 25 wt. % mixed with sand blended with sand washing waste filler in the range of 0–20 wt. % were examined. The compressive and flexural strength increased with the increase in epoxy and filler content; however, above epoxy 20 wt. %, slight change was seen in strength due to increase in epoxy and filler content. Modulus of elasticity also linearly increased with the increase in filler content, but the use of epoxy content beyond 20 wt. % decreased the modulus of elasticity of the mortar. For epoxy content at 10 wt. %, poor bond strength lower than 0.8 MPa was observed, and adding filler at 20 wt. % adversely affected the bond strength, in contrast to the mortars containing epoxy at 15, 20, 25 wt. %. The results indicate that the sand washing waste can be used as potential filler for epoxy resin mortar to obtain better mechanical properties by adding the optimum level of sand washing waste filler.
Cationic Liposomes Containing Mycobacterial Lipids: a New Powerful Th1 Adjuvant System

ABSTRACT The immunostimulation provided by the mycobacterial cell wall has been exploited for many decades, e.g., in Freund's complete adjuvant. Recently, the underlying mechanism behind this adjuvant activity, including Toll receptor signaling, has begun to be unraveled, confirming the potential of mycobacterial constituents to act as adjuvants. In this study, the immunostimulatory properties of a Mycobacterium bovis BCG lipid extract were tested for their adjuvant activity. Administration of the lipids in dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide-based cationic liposomes induced a powerful Th1 response characterized by markedly elevated antigen-specific immunoglobulin G2a (IgG2a) isotype antibodies and substantial production of gamma interferon. The adjuvant formulation (designated mycosomes) elicited high levels of gamma interferon both in C57BL/6 as well as in Th2-prone BALB/c mice. Furthermore, the mycosomes induced immune responses to protein antigens from several sources including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Chlamydia muridarum, and tetanus toxoid. In a tuberculosis challenge model, the mycosomes combined with the Ag85B-ESAT-6 fusion protein were demonstrated to have a unique ability to maintain sustained immunological memory at a level superior to live BCG.
A reconfigurable quarter-mode substrate integrated waveguide cavity filter employing liquid-metal capacitive loading

A microfluidically-tunable substrate integrated cavity filter is presented for the first time. Quarter mode cylindrical substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavities are used to design an ultra-compact two-pole filter with a center frequency of ~1.12 GHz. A corner via is connected to a surface ring gap in order to capacitively load each SIW cavity resonator. Frequency tuning of the filter is achieved using the capacitive loading effect of a liquid metal channel placed on top of the surface gap capacitors. The Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structure including the micro-channel is bonded to the SIW circuit board using a unique fabrication technique. Measured results verify a tuning ratio of 1.72;1 and an insertion loss of 2.5 and 3.45 dB at 1.12 and 0.65 GHz, respectively.
DNA binding and alkylation by the "left half" of azinomycin B.

Azinomycin B (also known as carzinophilin A) contains two electrophilic functional groups-an epoxide and an aziridine residue-that react with nucleophilic sites in duplex DNA to form cross-links at 5'-dGNT and 5'-dGNC sequences. Although the aziridine residue of azinomycin is undoubtedly required for cross-link formation, analogues containing an intact epoxide group but no aziridine residue retain significant biological activity. Azinomycin epoxide analogues (e.g., 5 and 6) are of interest due to their potent biological activity and because there is evidence that azinomycin may decompose in vivo to yield such compounds. To investigate the chemical events underlying the toxicity of azinomycin epoxides, DNA binding and alkylation by synthetic analogues of azinomycin B (6, 8, and 9) that comprise the naphthalene-containing "left half" of the antibiotic have been investigated. The epoxide-containing analogue of azinomycin (6) efficiently alkylates guanosine residues in duplex DNA. DNA alkylation by 6 is facilitated by noncovalent binding of the compound to the double helix. The results of UV-vis absorbance, fluorescence spectroscopy, DNA winding, viscometry, and equilibrium dialysis experiments indicate that the naphthalene group of azinomycin binds to DNA via intercalation. Equilibrium dialysis experiments provide an estimated binding constant of (1.3 +/- 0.3) x 10(3) M(-)(1) for the association of a nonalkylating azinomycin analogue (9) with duplex DNA. The DNA-binding and alkylating properties of the azinomycin epoxide 6 provide a basis for understanding the cytotoxicity of azinomycin analogues which contain an epoxide residue but no aziridine group and may provide insight into the mechanisms by which azinomycin forms interstrand DNA cross-links.
Size variation and cell proliferation in chemosensory brain areas of a lizard (Podarcis hispanica): effects of sex and season

Many lizards rely on chemoreception for crucial aspects of their biology, including exploration, prey and predator detection, and intraspecific communication. Here we investigate sex and seasonal variation in size and proliferative activity in chemosensory areas of the lizard brain. We captured adult Iberian wall lizards (Podarcis hispanica) of either sex in the breeding (April) and non‐breeding (November) season, injected them with 5‐bromo‐2′‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) and killed them 3 weeks later. We removed the brains, measured the length of the olfactory bulbs, and counted BrdU‐labelled cells in the main and accessory olfactory bulbs (MOB, AOB), lateral cortex (LC) and nucleus sphericus (NS). Our results show that, relative to body size, males have larger MOBs and AOBs than females; however, relative to brain size, males have larger AOBs, but not larger MOBs than females. Additionally, males produce more new cells than females in the olfactory bulbs, LC and NS. We failed to detect significant seasonal changes or sex × season interaction in size or proliferative activity in these areas. Sex differences in the addition of newly generated cells – mainly neurons – may be partly responsible for the size differences in chemosensory brain areas. The presence of sexual dimorphism in AOB is expected given the available behavioural evidence, which suggests that males of P. hispanica are more responsive than females to socially relevant chemical stimuli. This is the first demonstration of sexual dimorphism in size and proliferative activity in chemosensory areas of a non‐mammalian species.
gfap and nestin reporter lines reveal characteristics of neural progenitors in the adult zebrafish brain

Adult neurogenesis arises from niches that harbor neural stem cells (NSC). Although holding great promise for regenerative medicine, the identity of NSC remains elusive. In mammals, a key attribute of NSC is the expression of the filamentous proteins glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and NESTIN. To assess whether these two markers are relevant in the fish model, two transgenic zebrafish lines for gfap and nestin were generated. Analysis of adult brains showed that the fusion GFAP–green fluorescent protein closely mimics endogenous GFAP, while the nestin transgene recapitulates nestin at the ventricular zones. Cells expressing the two reporters display radial glial morphology, colocalize with the NSC marker Sox2, undergo proliferation, and are capable of self‐renewal within the matrix of distinct thickness in the telencephalon. Together, these two transgenic lines reveal a conserved feature of putative NSC in the adult zebrafish brain and provide a means for the identification and manipulation of these cells in vivo. Developmental Dynamics 238:475–486, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Novel Epibiotic Thiothrix Bacterium on a Marine Amphipod

ABSTRACT Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to identify epibiotic filamentous bacteria living on the marine amphipod crustacean Urothoe poseidonis. The epibionts belong to the gamma proteobacteria and represent a novel marine phylotype within the genus Thiothrix. FISH and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed that the Thiothrix filaments are present on the majority of the amphipods examined.
Nasal Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure Devices (Provent) for OSA: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective. To quantify the effectiveness of nasal expiratory positive airway pressure (nasal EPAP) devices or Provent as treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods. PubMed and six other databases were searched through November 15, 2015, without language limitations. Results. Eighteen studies (920 patients) were included. Pre- and post-nasal EPAP means ± standard deviations (M ± SD) for apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) in 345 patients decreased from 27.32 ± 22.24 to 12.78 ± 16.89 events/hr (relative reduction = 53.2%). Random effects modeling mean difference (MD) was −14.78 events/hr [95% CI −19.12, −10.45], p value < 0.00001. Oxygen desaturation index (ODI) in 247 patients decreased from 21.2 ± 19.3 to 12.4 ± 14.1 events/hr (relative reduction = 41.5%, p value < 0.00001). Lowest oxygen saturation (LSAT) M ± SD improved in 146 patients from 83.2 ± 6.8% to 86.2 ± 11.1%, MD 3 oxygen saturation points [95% CI 0.57, 5.63]. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) M ± SD improved (359 patients) from 9.9 ± 5.3 to 7.4 ± 5.0, MD −2.5 [95% CI −3.2, −1.8], p value < 0.0001. Conclusion. Nasal EPAP (Provent) reduced AHI by 53.2%, ODI by 41.5% and improved LSAT by 3 oxygen saturation points. Generally, there were no clear characteristics (demographic factors, medical history, and/or physical exam finding) that predicted favorable response to these devices. However, limited evidence suggests that high nasal resistance could be associated with treatment failure. Additional studies are needed to identify demographic and polysomnographic characteristics that would predict therapeutic success with nasal EPAP (Provent).
On the threshold of Maximum-Distance Separable codes

Starting from a practical use of Reed-Solomon codes in a cryptographic scheme published in Indocrypt'09, this paper deals with the threshold of linear q-ary error-correcting codes. The security of this scheme is based on the intractability of polynomial reconstruction when there is too much noise in the vector. Our approach switches from this paradigm to an Information Theoretical point of view: is there a class of elements that are so far away from the code that the list size is always superpolynomial? Or, dually speaking, is Maximum-Likelihood decoding almost surely impossible? We relate this issue to the decoding threshold of a code, and show that when the minimal distance of the code is high enough, the threshold effect is very sharp. In a second part, we explicit lower-bounds on the threshold of Maximum-Distance Separable codes such as Reed-Solomon codes, and compute the threshold for the toy example that motivates this study.
Environmental Impact Assessment of Nanoparticles and Nano-enabled Products Using LCA Frameworks

Forecasts show rapid expansion of the nanotechnology industry, with a global annual growth rate of more than 20% through this decade. Despite the performance benefits of using engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) for various applications, the environmental and health implications are not yet fully understood. Uncertainties still exist regarding potential nanomaterial emissions, their fate and transport in the environment, the human or environmental exposure and effects, and their relationship to particle specific characteristics. To address the environmental concerns, this research developed and applied life cycle assessment (LCA) models to evaluate ENMs and nanoenabled products. LCA is a multi-criteria, systems analysis tool for quantifying their ecological and human health impacts of different products and processes during their life cycle, from material extraction to end-of-life. Environmental LCA entails coupled emission inventory, fate and transport, exposure, and effect modeling of pollutants, linking nanomaterials and nano-enabled products to various impact categories, including global warming potential, human health effects, and ecotoxicity. Four core nano-LCA studies were carried out, including: evaluation of a nanosilver-enabled commercial bandage from its material extraction to disposal, comparison of various nanosilver synthesis routes, investigation of contribution from nanosilver to production environmental impacts of various nanosilver containing products, and quantification of life cycle benefits of using nanotechnology as a substitute for conventional systems for a case of carbon nanotube-enabled electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields for satellites. In contrast to the focus on nanomaterial releases in the literature, nanosilver synthesis impacts were shown to be of significance, driven by the upstream indirect impacts from silver extraction, regardless of the nanoparticle synthesis method. Ecotoxicity impacts of ENM manufacturing were found to be several times those of direct particle release during product use and disposal. The contribution of nanosilver to the overall burdens of nano-enabled product manufacturing was shown to be a function of nanosilver loading, product composition, and particle surface area. Finally, net energy benefits were established for the case of carbon nanotube EMI shielding in terms of savings in weight, fuel use and primary energy demand.
Telescoping Languages: A Strategy for Automatic Generation of Scientific Problem-Solving Systems from Annotated Libraries

As machines and programs have become more complex, the process of programming applications that can exploit the power of high-performance systems has become more difficult and correspondingly more labor-intensive. This has substantially widened the software gap? the discrepancy between the need for new software and the aggregate capacity of the workforce to produce it. This problem has been compounded by the slow growth of programming productivity, especially for high-performance programs, over the past two decades. One way to bridge this gap is to make it possible for end users to develop programs in high-level domain-specific programming systems. In the past, a major impediment to the acceptance of such systems has been the poor performance of the resulting applications. To address this problem, we are developing a new compiler-based infrastructure, called TeleGen, that will make it practical to construct efficient domain-specific high-level languages from annotated component libraries. We call these languages telescoping languages, because they can be nested within one another. For programs written in telescoping languages, high performance and reasonable compilation times can be achieved by exhaustively analyzing the component libraries in advance to produce a language processor that recognizes and optimizes library operations as primitives in the language. The key to making this strategy practical is to keep compile times low by generating a custom compiler with extensive built-in knowledge of the underlying libraries. The goal is to achieve compile times that are linearly proportional to the size of the program presented by the user, rather than to the aggregate size of that program plus the base libraries.
A novel metadata management scheme in Cloud Computing

This paper proposes a novel distributed metadata management scheme to efficiently handle different metadata workloads in Cloud Computing. It can deliver high performance and scalable metadata service through following techniques: the metadata distribution method based parent directory path ID, mimic hierarchical directory structure, improved Chord, cooperative double layer cache mechanism, intimacy algorithm, and the application of database to metadata backend. Our metadata management strategy is flexible by adopting an improved Chord and an intimacy algorithm. Using a prototype system, we firstly demonstrate the performance superiority of our strategy compared to other two strategies, and then present the change relation between the performance of metadata access and intimacy value.
The effect of the nanotube oxidation on the rheological and electrical properties of CNT/HDPE nanocomposites

The morphological, rheological and electrical properties of nanocomposites based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and high density polyethylene (HDPE), prepared by melt mixing, have been investigated. The effects of temperature, MWNT concentration and nanotube surface treatment have been analyzed. A good dispersion of oxidized nanotubes in the HDPE matrix was found using electron microscopy investigations, as has also been found in the case of related nonfunctionalized MWNTs. The rheological oscillatory shear tests in the melt state have been carried out with strain amplitude values within the linear viscoelastic region. The rheological measurements on the nonfunctionalized MWNT/HDPEs revealed that the percolation threshold was temperature dependent with lower values at higher temperatures. At low frequencies, the oxidized MWNTs/HDPE composites showed storage modulus and complex viscosity values lower than the corresponding values measured for nanocomposites prepared with nonfunctionalized MWNTs. The conductivity decrease is more than 2 orders of magnitude for the sample with 2.5 wt% oxidized MWNTs, compared to the un-oxidized comparator materials. A constant voltage, long-term stability test allowed to estimate the average number of electrically active percolation paths and showed that stepwise conductivity loss is preceded by a strong increase in the noise amplitude related to the electrical current. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:665–673, 2017. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers
A Sensitive and Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based Cell Free In Vitro Non-Homologous End Joining Assay for Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are responsible for sustaining hematopoietic homeostasis and regeneration after injury for the entire lifespan of an organism. Maintenance of genomic stability is crucial for the preservation of HSCs, which depends on their efficient repair of DNA damage, particularly DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). Because of the paucity of HSCs and lack of sensitive assays, directly measuring the ability of HSCs to repair DSBs has been difficult. Therefore, we developed a sensitive and quantitative cell free in vitro non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) assay using linearized plasmids as the substrates and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique. This assay can sensitively detect DSB repair via NHEJ in less than 1 µg 293T cell nuclear proteins or nuclear extracts from about 5,000 to 10,000 human BM CD34(+) hematopoietic cells. Using this assay, we confirmed that human bone marrow HSCs (CD34(+)CD38(-) cells) are less proficient in the repair of DSBs by NHEJ than HPCs (CD34(+)CD38(+) cells). In contrast, mouse quiescent HSCs (Pyronin-Y(low) LKS(+) cells) and cycling HSCs (Pyronin-Y(hi) LKS(+) cells) repaired the damage more efficiently than HPCs (LKS(-) cells). The difference in the abilities of human and mouse HSCs and HPCs to repair DSBs through NHEJ is likely attributed to their differential expression of key NHEJ DNA damage repair genes such as LIG4. These findings suggest that the qPCR-based cell free in vitro NHEJ assay can be used to sensitively measure the ability of human and mouse HSCs to repair DSBs.
Effect of processing parameters on the synthesis of lignin-based graphene-encapsulated copper nanoparticles

Graphene-encapsulated copper nanoparticles (GECNs) can be applied in the wood protection industry. In this study, a simple thermal treatment was applied to a mixture of kraft lignin and copper sulfate for the synthesis of GECNs. The effect of temperature, duration time, temperature rising ramp, and argon gas flow rate were investigated on the quality of the GECNs. Temperature was found to be the most important factor in the growth of graphene; high temperature was preferred to obtain less defective graphene shells. Gas flow rate, duration time, and temperature rising ramp had less effect. The optimum synthesis parameters were proposed as 1000C, 30-min duration time, 20C/min temperature rising ramp, and 1200-sccm argon gas flow rate. Results showed that postheat treatment was a feasible way to improve the crystallinity of graphite.
Performance enhancement of a vapor compression system by condensate

Air-conditioning systems consume large amount of energy and generate considerable amount of condensate when operated in hot and humid climates. This study considers utilizing the generated condensate to pre-cool the air entering evaporators to improve systems performance. Experimental and analytical investigations are carried out by using an air-conditioning system of 4.75 kW (16207 BTU/h) cooling capacity incorporated with an air pre-cooler and a condensate tank that acts as a thermal storage. During the pre-cooling-on period, the air inlet temperature of the evaporator is decreased by 5.7°C (10.3°F) and the compressor power consumption is reduced by 5.1% because of the decrease in discharge pressure. The coefficient of performance increases by 30.7% and second-law efficiency by 24.2%. The air pre-cooling is practical for 4–5 hours daily during the daytime if a 450–1000 kg of condensate cold thermal storage is employed. The deviation is 6.7% between the analytical and experimental results.
Oxygen Measurement

1) Some basics . 2 Some Definitions . 3 Oxygen Probes . 4 Fish Farming Aquaculture . 5 Waste Water Treatment . 7 Safety Monitoring . 7 Foods and Beverages . 7 Environmental monitoring . 7 Hand Held Oxygen Meters . 7 2) Oxygen Dissolved oxygen what are we measuring? 8 Probe Types . 8 3) Calibration . 9 DO Probe Calibration . 9 % Volume Calibration . 9 Automatic Calibration . 10 4) Maintenance . 10 DO Probe membrane replacement and renovation . 10
Methods for Amharic Part-of-Speech Tagging

The paper describes a set of experiments involving the application of three state-of-the-art part-of-speech taggers to Ethiopian Amharic, using three different tagsets. The taggers showed worse performance than previously reported results for English, in particular having problems with unknown words. The best results were obtained using a Maximum Entropy approach, while HMM-based and SVM-based taggers got comparable results.