Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(ethylene glycol) Polymer Nanocomposites: Effects of Graphene Nanoplatelets

Graphene nanoplatelets (xGnP) were investigated as a novel nano-reinforcement filler in poly(lactic acid)(PLA)/poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG) blends by the melt blending method. PLA was first plasticized by PEG in order to improve its flexibility and thereby overcome its problem of brittleness. Then, xGnP was incorporated into the PLA/PEG blend. The prepared nanocomposites exhibited a significant improvement in tensile properties at a low xGnP loading. The tensile properties demonstrated the addition of 0.3 wt% of xGnP led to an increase of up to 32.7%, 69.5% and 21.9% in tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation at break of the nanocomposites respectively, compared to PLA/PEG blend. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed the presence of a peak around 26.5○ in PLA/PEG/xGnP nanocomposites which corresponds to the characteristic peak of xGnP. The nanocomposites also shows enhanced thermal stability compared with PLA/PEG blend in thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). The enhancement to some extent of the tensile properties of the PLA/PEG/xGnP nanocomposites can be ascribed to the homogeneous dispersion and orientation of the xGnP nanoplatelets in the polymer matrix and strong interfacial interaction between both components. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of PLA/PEG/0.3 wt% xGnP displays good uniformity and more homogenous morphology. Good uniformity of composites indicates a good degree of dispersion of the xGnp and therefore results in good tensile and thermal properties.
Cognitive, sensory, and psychosocial characteristics in patients with Bardet–Biedl syndrome

Forty‐two patients with a clinical diagnosis of Bardet–Biedl syndrome ages 2–61 years were given a neuropsychological test battery to evaluate cognitive, sensory, and behavioral functioning. These tests included the Wechsler scales of intelligence, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Boston Naming Test, D‐KEFS Verbal Fluency Test, D‐KEFS Color‐Word Interference Test, D‐KEFS Sorting Test, Wide Range Achievement Test: Math and Reading Subtests, Purdue Pegboard, The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, Social Communication Questionnaire, Social Responsiveness Scale, and Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition, Parent Rating Scale. On the age appropriate Wechsler scale, the mean Verbal Comprehension was 81 (n = 36), Working Memory was 81 (n = 36), Perceptual Reasoning was 78 (n = 24) and Full Scale IQ was 75 (n = 26). Memory for a word list (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test) was in the average range with a mean of 89 (n = 19). Fine motor speed was slow on the Purdue with mean scores 3–4 standard deviations below norms. All subjects were microsmic on the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test. Of these 42 patients, only 6 were able to complete all auditory and visual tests; 52% were unable to complete the visual tests due to impaired vision. A wide range of behavioral issues were endorsed on questionnaires given to parents. Most had social skill deficits but no pattern of either externalizing or internalizing problems. We identify a characteristic neuro‐behavioral profile in our cohort comprised of reduced IQ, impaired fine‐motor function, and decreased olfaction. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Rate Maximization Based Power Allocation and Relay Selection With IRI Consideration for Two-Path AF Relaying

We consider the power allocation and relay selection for rate maximization in a two-path amplify-and-forward (AF) relay network with inter-relay interference (IRI) consideration. We first investigate the power allocation with only a pair of relays under both the individual and global power constraints. To find the global optimum solution to this nonconvex problem, we develop a three-step approach using the rate-profiling technique together with a reformulation of the sum-rate maximization problem as a set of power-minimization geometric programming problems (GPPs). For reduced complexity, we further convert the optimization problem into a set of GPPs in a single-step by using a high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio approximation. Next, we consider the relay pair selection and propose an algorithm in which the achievable rate of each pair of relays with the proposed power allocation is compared. This selection criterion outperforms the conventional selection scheme in terms of the achievable rate. We further propose two low-complexity selection criteria for low and moderate IRI. For moderate IRI, the ratio of the source-relay and relay-destination channel power product to the square of inter-relay channel power can be used for relay selection to achieve a performance close to that of the selection based on the proposed power allocation.
Pretransplant Serum Hyaluronic Acid Can Be a Biomarker as a Prognostic Predictor in Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation

Objective. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether pretransplant serum hyaluronic acid (HA) levels can predict outcomes after adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Methods. In study I, 21 patients who underwent LDLT (March 2002-February 2004) were divided into 2 groups: the H-I group (HA 500 ng/mL; n 1⁄4 12) and the L-I group (HA <500 ng/mL; n 1⁄4 9). The influence of pretransplantation HA levels on short-term surgical outcome was investigated. In study II, 77 LDLT patients (May 2004-December 2014) were also divided into 2 groups: the H-II group (HA 500 ng/mL; n 1⁄4 40) and the L-II group (HA <500 ng/mL; n 1⁄4 37). We compared long-term survival and investigated prognostic factors. Results. In study I, HA levels significantly decreased after LDLT, and those in the H-I group were significantly higher compared with the L-I group at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after LDLT. There were significant differences in postoperative peak total bilirubin levels (H-I vs L-I, 17.2 vs 6.2 mg/dL; P 1⁄4 .013), peak ascitic fluid volume (1327 vs 697 mL/d; P 1⁄4 .005), and the hepatocyte growth factor levels at 3 days after LDLT (1879 vs 1092 pg/mL; P 1⁄4 .03). In study II, the 1and 5-year survival rates were significantly lower in the H-II group than in the L-II group (H-II vs L-II, 65.0% and 48.5% vs 86.5% and 80.8%; P 1⁄4 .004). In multivariate analysis, significant prognostic factors were preoperative HA 500 ng/mL (P 1⁄4 .004) and graft to recipient body weight ratio <0.8 (P 1⁄4 .042). Conclusions. Preoperative HA level can be a prognostic risk factor. Patients with high HA levels are vulnerable and should be carefully managed after LDLT.
Effect of Passenger Presence on Older Drivers’ Risk of Fatal Crash Involvement

Objective: To determine the association between passenger presence and risk of fatal crash involvement in relation to driver and passenger age and gender, focusing especially on drivers ages 65 and older. Methods: Data on US fatal crashes were obtained for 2002–2009. Using the quasi-induced exposure methodology, logistic regression analysis was used to predict the odds of fatal crash involvement as a function of driver age and gender as well as passenger age and gender. Results: Overall, risk of fatal crash involvement with passengers was 43 percent lower for drivers ages 65–74 and 38 percent lower for drivers 75 and older. Older drivers’ risk of fatal crash involvement was lower with almost all combinations of passenger age and gender; there was no reduction in risk with passengers ages 75 and older. Effects were stronger at nonintersection locations than at intersection locations. Conclusion: Older drivers’ crash risk is lower with almost every combination of passenger age group and gender. It is unclear whether the presence of passengers lowers older driver crash risk or whether safer drivers tend to ride with passengers.
Early adhesion of human mesenchymal stem cells on TiO2 surfaces studied by single‐cell force spectroscopy measurements

Understanding the interactions involved in the adhesion of living cells on surfaces is essential in the field of tissue engineering and biomaterials. In this study, we investigate the early adhesion of living human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on flat titanium dioxide (TiO2) and on nanoporous crystallized TiO2 surfaces with the use of atomic force microscopy‐based single‐cell force spectroscopy measurements. The choice of the substrate surfaces was motivated by the fact that implants widely used in orthopaedic and dental surgery are made in Ti and its alloys. Nanoporous TiO2 surfaces were produced by anodization of Ti surfaces. In a typical force spectroscopy experiment, one living hMSC, immobilized onto a fibronectine‐functionalized tipless lever is brought in contact with the surface of interest for 30 s before being detached while recording force‐distance curves. Adhesion of hMSCs on nanoporous TiO2 substrates having inner pore diameter of 45 nm was lower by approximately 25% than on TiO2 flat surfaces. Force–distance curves exhibited also force steps that can be related to the pulling of membrane tethers from the cell membrane. The mean force step was equal to 35 pN for a given speed independently of the substrate surface probed. The number of tethers observed was substrate dependent. Our results suggest that the strength of the initial adhesion between hMSCs and flat or nanoporous TiO2 surfaces is driven by the adsorption of proteins deposited from serum in the culture media. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Powerful Set‐Based Gene‐Environment Interaction Testing Framework for Complex Diseases

Identification of gene‐environment interaction (G × E) is important in understanding the etiology of complex diseases. Based on our previously developed Set Based gene EnviRonment InterAction test (SBERIA), in this paper we propose a powerful framework for enhanced set‐based G × E testing (eSBERIA). The major challenge of signal aggregation within a set is how to tell signals from noise. eSBERIA tackles this challenge by adaptively aggregating the interaction signals within a set weighted by the strength of the marginal and correlation screening signals. eSBERIA then combines the screening‐informed aggregate test with a variance component test to account for the residual signals. Additionally, we develop a case‐only extension for eSBERIA (coSBERIA) and an existing set‐based method, which boosts the power not only by exploiting the G‐E independence assumption but also by avoiding the need to specify main effects for a large number of variants in the set. Through extensive simulation, we show that coSBERIA and eSBERIA are considerably more powerful than existing methods within the case‐only and the case‐control method categories across a wide range of scenarios. We conduct a genome‐wide G × E search by applying our methods to Illumina HumanExome Beadchip data of 10,446 colorectal cancer cases and 10,191 controls and identify two novel interactions between nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and MINK1 and PTCHD3.
BASIC BEHAVIOUR OF NATURAL BANANA STEM FIBER REINFORCED CONCRETE UNDER UNIAXIAL AND BIAXIAL TENSILE STRESS

In order to study the basic behavior of natural banana stem fiber reinforced concrete, three type of tensile strength test namely split tensile strength, flexural strength and biaxial fatigue flexure strength were conducted. Comparison of these three type of tensile strength, their crack pattern and the way they fails were be analyzed and discussed. Results showed that the flexural strength value of the two type of biaxial tests are higher than the uniaxial test result( ASTM C-1550 have 47.046 % higher than ASTM C-78 and 37.871 % higher than ASTM C-496). The value of tensile strength as measured by ASTM C-1550-02 is slightly higher than the value of the flexural tensile strength as measured by the biaxial flexure test (21.062%). The lines of the crack pattern do not show clear macro fracture cracks before reaching the peak load. As observed, there are two peak load values found were the one occurred at the first cracked, after that the load stress curve decrease for a while and after a few seconds the load increase again to a value smaller than the first peak load value.This is because at the time of the first cracking in three axes symmetry, the load that can be maintained by the concrete specimen had reached its maximum but after that the load increase again because the stress has been transferred to the fiber, so the stress rises again until the fiber break off. This indicates that the fiber plays an important role in holding and redistributed the tensile load.
A Ranking-based Approach to Word Reordering for Statistical Machine Translation

Long distance word reordering is a major challenge in statistical machine translation research. Previous work has shown using source syntactic trees is an effective way to tackle this problem between two languages with substantial word order difference. In this work, we further extend this line of exploration and propose a novel but simple approach, which utilizes a ranking model based on word order precedence in the target language to reposition nodes in the syntactic parse tree of a source sentence. The ranking model is automatically derived from word aligned parallel data with a syntactic parser for source language based on both lexical and syntactical features. We evaluated our approach on large-scale Japanese-English and English-Japanese machine translation tasks, and show that it can significantly outperform the baseline phrase-based SMT system.
The insanity defense.

To the Editor. — Riley and George, 1 in their COMMENTARY, recommend that the special defense of insanity be reformed and not abolished. They believe that a "new test" that "focuses solely on whether a defendant, due to mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her conduct at the time of the offense" would be a solution to the problems created by the insanity defense. As a psychiatrist, I wish to state unequivocally that such a test would be impossible to apply. Any answer to such a test question must be totally arbitrary. Any meaningful understanding of the mental processes of offenders readily reveals that no criminal is able to appreciate meaningfully (ie, appreciate in a way that goes beyond mere lip service) the wrongfulness of his or her behavior. Invariably, offenders have a very large repertoire of rationalizations to justify their behavior. Whether this
A muscle model for animation three-dimensional facial expression

The development of a parameterized facial muscle process, that incorporates the use of a model to create realistic facial animation is described.Existing methods of facial parameterization have the inherent problem of hard-wiring performable actions. The development of a muscle process that is controllable by a limited number of parameters and is non-specific to facial topology allows a richer vocabulary and a more general approach to the modelling of the primary facial expressions.A brief discussion of facial structure is given, from which a method for a simple modelling of a muscle process that is suitable for the animation of a number of divergent facial types is described.
A fast arbitrary downsizing algorithm for video transcoding

Video transmission requires the delivery of video content to a broad range of end users with different bandwidth and resource constraints. One solution to transmitting video over bandwidth-constrained channels is to transmit a low-resolution version of video as a trade off for the bit-rate. In this paper, we proposed an arbitrary downsizing algorithm. This algorithm can downsize the frame to arbitrary size and process it directly in DCT domain. Experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve a comparable performance. Compared with the existing methods, this algorithm is not only applicable to intra coding frame but also inter coding frame. This is one of the crucial features of this method.
Microfluidic Hydrogel Hanging‐Drop Network for Long‐Term Culturing of 3D Microtissues and Simultaneous High‐Resolution Imaging

Three‐dimensional (3D) microtissues, cultured in microfluidic platforms, enable to study complex biological mechanisms that cannot be replicated in two‐dimensional cell cultures. Deeper insights can be obtained if these 3D culture systems are rendered compatible with high‐resolution time‐lapse imaging systems, which requires precise placement and immobilization of the specimen while ensuring high viability and functionality of the 3D cell constructs. This article presents a versatile microfluidic platform for long‐term culturing and analysis of 3D microtissues. The platform is compatible with time‐lapse high‐resolution confocal microscopy. Hanging hydrogel drops enable the precise placement and stable immobilization of the microtissues in the microfluidic chip. The chip includes perfusion capability to apply drugs, staining and clearing solutions. The features of the chip are demonstrated by studying (i) colon cancer microtissues to monitor tissue growth and cell death; on‐chip clearing was used to augment the penetration depth for endpoint imaging; (ii) primary human liver microtissues were exposed to cytochalasin D to observe its effect on the bile canaliculi. The results obtained with both sample types demonstrate the suitability of the system for investigating complex processes in organotypic 3D microtissues, down to single‐cell level, and for observation of physiologically relevant processes at subcellular scale.
Electricity Price and Demand Forecasting in Smart Grids

In future smart grids, consumers of electricity will be enabled to react to electricity prices. The aggregate reaction of consumers can potentially shift the demand curve in the market, resulting in prices that may differ from the initial forecasts. In this paper, a hybrid forecasting framework is proposed that takes such dynamics into account when forecasting electricity price and demand. The proposed framework combines a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) forecasting engine for joint price and demand prediction with data association mining (DAM) algorithms. In this framework, a DAM-based rule extraction mechanism is used to determine and extract the patterns in consumers' reaction to price forecasts. The extracted rules are then employed to fine-tune the initially generated demand and price forecasts of a MIMO engine. Simulation results are presented using Australia's and New England's electricity market data.
Passive reduction of vibrations of building structures by means of synthesis methods

The paper presents a method for determining the vibration-damping elements for the mechanical system under consideration, necessary to obtain the desired amplitude value. The structural and parametric identification was performed by using the method for synthesizing the dynamical distribution in the form of sluggishness and mobility. This paper presents the solution of the problem of passive vibration reduction of discrete mechanical systems to minimize the buildings structure response on the negative impact of external factors.
Anti-JC virus antibody titres increase over time with natalizumab treatment

Background: Anti-JC virus antibody status is a risk factor for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy after natalizumab treatment in multiple sclerosis. Previous studies have used a cross-sectional approach to conclude that the presence and duration of natalizumab treatment does not influence anti-JCV Ab seropositivity. Objectives: Using a longitudinal approach, we measured change in anti-JCV Ab results after natalizumab treatment. Methods: Anti-JCV Ab results (n = 1154) from the second-generation STRATIFY JCV™ DxSelect™ test were analysed from an observational cohort of MS patients on natalizumab (n = 485; n = 340 with repeat testing; n = 657 repeat tests on natalizumab). Results: Across sequential paired tests, seroconversion rate was greater than seroreversion rate (40/364 (11.0%) versus 18/293 (6.1%); p < 0.05). Moreover, anti-JCV Ab index increased across longitudinal paired tests (mA–B 0.102; paired t(656) = 5.0; p < 0.0001). This magnitude of Ab level increase far exceeds that expected due to increasing age alone. Conclusion: Our data suggest that natalizumab therapy is associated with a significant and substantial increase in anti-JCV Ab index over time. Further work should focus on the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon, and the clinical relevance to risk stratification.
Soft-output equalization and TCM for wireless personal communication systems

This paper investigates the use of a maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) algorithm to realize soft-output equalization in a concatenated equalization and trellis-coded modulation (TCM) decoding-based wireless communication system. Specifically, we first begin with a general MAP algorithm and then focus on studying Bahl's (1974) MAP and Lee's (1974) MAP algorithms. We then propose a modified version of Lee's MAP algorithm which is much simpler than the original, in terms of complexity, and is more practical. In particular, a very simple channel estimation method which employs orthogonal training sequences is proposed. In order to improve the system performance, equal-gain combining and selection diversity are also considered. Finally, we compare the performance of the MAP algorithm-based equalization with our previously proposed equalization scheme, which combines decision feedback equalization and TCM.
Stereo Vision based Vehicle Detection

This paper describes a vehicle detection method using 3D data derived from a disparity map available in realtime. The integration of a flat road model reduces the search space in all dimensions. Inclination changes are considered for the road model update. The vehicles, modeled as a cuboid, are detected in an iterative refinement process for hypotheses generation on the 3D data. The detection of a vehicle is performed by a mean-shift clustering of plane fitted segments potentially belonging together in a first step. In the second step a u/v-disparity approach generates vehicle hypotheses covering differently appearing vehicles. The system was evaluated in real-traffic-scenes using a GPS system.
Variation-tolerant ultra low-power heterojunction tunnel FET SRAM design

Steep sub-threshold Interband Tunnel FETs (TFETs) are promising candidates for low supply voltage applications with higher switching performance than traditional CMOS. Unlike CMOS, TFETs exhibit uni-directional conduction due to their asymmetric source-drain architecture, and delayed output saturation characteristics. These unconventional characteristics of TFETs pose a challenge for providing good read/write noise margin characteristics in TFET SRAMs. We provide an analysis of 8T and 10T TFET SRAM cells, including Schmitt-Trigger (ST) based cells, to address these shortcomings. By benchmarking a variety of TFET-based SRAM cells, we show the utility of the Schmitt-Trigger feedback mechanism in improving the read/write noise margins, thus enabling ultra low-VCC operation for TFET SRAMs. We also propose a variation model for studying the impact of device-level variation on TFET SRAM cells. We show that the TFET ST SRAM cell has sufficient variation tolerance to operate at low-VCC, and is a very promising cell to achieve a VCC-min of 124mV. The TFET ST cell operating at its VCC-min provides a 1.2x reduction in dynamic energy and 13x reduction in leakage power compared to the best CMOS-based SRAM implementation operating at it's VCC-min, while giving better performance at the same time.