Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Strengthening of electromechanical properties for poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene) films under tailored electric cycling

Copolymers of polyvinylidene fluoride and trifluorethylene [P(VDF-TrFE)] have potential applications in wearable and implantable electromechanical devices since they are mechanically flexible, and biocompatible. A tailored electric cyclic process is employed to enhance both electrical and mechanical properties in P(VDF-TrFE) 65/35 mol % copolymer films. The films are subjected to lower and higher field magnitude electric cycling successively. For electrical properties, enhancement in remnant polarization, dielectric and piezoelectric constants occurs. From mechanical point of view, strengthening in the fracture strength happens. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction techniques examine changes of the orientation of the molecular chains, grain size, and crystallinity after electric cycling for the copolymer films. Scanning electron microscopy reveals evolutions of the microstructure, including rod-like textures and fractography of the films. The results indicate that electric cycling causes the molecular chains to orient gradually along the direction perpendicular to the applied electric field. Consequently, an enhancement of 12.2% and 45% is realized for the remnant polarization and fracture strength, respectively for P(VDF-TrFE) 65/35 copolymer film. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 135, 45926.
Reduced Expression of Nuclear-Encoded Genes Involved in Mitochondrial Oxidative Metabolism in Skeletal Muscle of Insulin-Resistant Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Insulin resistance in skeletal muscle is a major risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In patients with type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance in skeletal muscle is associated with abnormalities in insulin signaling, fatty acid metabolism, and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). In PCOS patients, the molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance are, however, less well characterized. To identify biological pathways of importance for the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in PCOS, we compared gene expression in skeletal muscle of metabolically characterized PCOS patients (n = 16) and healthy control subjects (n = 13) using two different approaches for global pathway analysis: gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA 1.0) and gene map annotator and pathway profiler (GenMAPP 2.0). We demonstrate that impaired insulin-stimulated total, oxidative and nonoxidative glucose disposal in PCOS patients are associated with a consistent downregulation of OXPHOS gene expression using GSEA and GenMAPP analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis validated these findings and showed that reduced levels of peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ coactivator α (PGC-1α) could play a role in the downregulation of OXPHOS genes in PCOS. In these women with PCOS, the decrease in OXPHOS gene expression in skeletal muscle cannot be ascribed to obesity and diabetes. This supports the hypothesis of an early association between insulin resistance and impaired mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, which is, in part, mediated by reduced PGC-1α levels. These abnormalities may contribute to the increased risk of type 2 diabetes observed in women with PCOS.
Detecting Geographic Community in Mobile Social Network

We propose a new measurement called geographic community, which provides a bridge between spatial proximity and the social nature of individuals in mobile social network. A novel approach for detecting these geographic communities has been proposed. Through developing a spatial proximity matrix, an improved symmetric nonnegative matrix factorization method (SNMF) is used for detecting these geographic communities. Based on several experimental results, the advantages of this proposed measurement have been presented. Finally, several future directions extending from this new measurement have been discussed.
"Fly Me to the Moon": Verification of Aerospace Systems

The safety-critical nature of aerospace systems mandates the development of advanced formal verification techniques that provide desired correctness guarantees. In this paper, we present two inherently different approaches towards achieving this goal. The first approach aims at scaling exhaustive verification techniques by applying divide-and-conquer principles. It involves automated compositional verification algorithms for model checking both finite and infinite-state software components. The second approach does not perform exhaustive verification but it is more versatile. It uses a model checker to automatically generate tests for aerospace algorithms and only requires knowledge of the types of inputs that the algorithms process. We will discuss our experience with formal verification of aerospace systems and analyze the applicability of the two approaches in several settings.
Goal attainment in cognitive rehabilitation in MS patients

The aim of the study was to investigate the predictive value of important disease-related variables on goal attainment in cognitive rehabilitation in multiple sclerosis (MS). The possible predictive value of executive functions, neurological disability, depression and general cognitive ability was assessed, employing Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS). Fifty-seven patients with MS were assessed for executive functions, neurological disability, depression and general cognitive ability, and guided through the process of formulating GAS-goals for coping with cognitive challenges in everyday life during a four week in-patient cognitive rehabilitation programme. GAS-goal attainment was scored during biweekly follow-up calls in the first three months post-discharge from the rehabilitation centre, and finally at seven months after the start of the rehabilitation. Consistent with the first study hypothesis MS patients succeeded in formulating and achieving GAS goals for coping with cognitive problems in everyday life. The patients were able to maintain a satisfactory level of goal attainment from the first measurement point after six weeks to seven months after the start of the rehabilitation. However, contrary to the second hypothesis, attainment of GAS goals was not predicted by executive functions. Neither was it predicted by neurological disability, depression or general cognitive ability. The findings suggest that GAS may be a practical and robust method in cognitive rehabilitation in MS patients, regardless of important disease-related characteristics.
Low Power Wearable Audio Player Using Human Body Communications

This paper presents a prototype wearable audio player system to playback the digital audio signal transmitted through the wearer's body without any wire. To significantly reduce the power consumption of the digital audio transmission, the system exploits a novel wideband signaling human body communication scheme. The transceiver chip designed, fabricated, and assembled on the prototype system shows 5-mW power consumption at 2-Mb/s data rate, better than the Bluetooth transceiver. Real-time audio playing through the human body is successfully demonstrated.
Applicability of forcibly spinning technology to produce a finer silk filament

ABSTRACT Forcibly spinning method has once shown a potential to enhance tensile strength of Bombyx mori silkworm silk fibers to the level of spider dragline silk. Thus, the tensile data for the forcibly spun silk fibers reported so far were compared with the tensile data for the industrially used hybridized F1 Bombyx mori silkworms. The forcibly spinning method may be convenient to produce a finer filament, but it was found to be difficult to produce a long and strong filament comparable to the commercial silk fibers. On the contrary, the breeding technology which can reduce the number of molts from four to three by feeding an imidazole compound appears to be the most practical strategy to obtain a finer and stronger silk filament with a length more than 500 m.
Happiness detection in music using hierarchical SVMs with dual types of kernels

In this paper, we proposed a novel system for detecting happiness emotion in music. Two emotion profiles are constructed using decision value in support vector machine (SVM), and based on short term and long term feature respectively. When using short term feature to train models, the kernel used in SVM is probability product kernel. If the input feature is long term, the kernel used in SVM is RBF kernel. SVM model is trained from a raw feature set comprising the following types of features: rhythm, timbre, and tonality. Each SVM is applied to targeted emotion class with calm emotion as the background class to train hyperplanes respectively. With the eight hyperplanes trained from angry, happy, sad, relaxed, pleased, bored, nervous, and peaceful, each test clip can output four decision values, which are then regarded as the emotion profile. Two profiles are fusioned to train SVMs. The final decision value is then extracted to draw DET curve. The experiment result shows that the proposed system has a good performance on music emotion recognition.
Probing Individual Proteins in Unsupported Membranes

Proteins in biologic membranes perform a large variety of essential functions. The fact that about one third of all genes code for membrane proteins, and that the majority of drugs target these proteins, attest to that fact. However, until now, proteins have been studied under artificial conditions, such as after being crystallized, frozen, or adsorbed to a substrate. Rui Pedro Gonçalves, Guillaume Agnus, Pierre Sens, Christine Houssin, Bernard Bartenlian, and Simon Scheuring have devised a novel setup with the atomic force microscope (AFM) to allow proteins to be probed while they are in unsupported membranes. Their method is similar in principle to methods where a small area of a membrane is sampled, such as when a piece of membrane is examined by patch clamping. The difference is that instead of attaching a membrane to the end of a pipette, it is spread across a piece of perforated Si(001).
Relationship between the COMT-Val158Met and BDNF-Val66Met Polymorphisms, Childhood Trauma and Psychotic Experiences in an Adolescent General Population Sample

Objective Psychotic experiences occur at a much greater prevalence in the population than psychotic disorders. There has been little research to date, however, on genetic risk for this extended psychosis phenotype. We examined whether COMT or BDNF genotypes were associated with psychotic experiences or interacted with childhood trauma in predicting psychotic experiences. Method Psychiatric interviews and genotyping for COMT-Val158Met and BDNF-Val66Met were carried out on two population-based samples of 237 individuals aged 11-15 years. Logistic regression was used to examine for main effects by genotype and childhood trauma, controlling for important covariates. This was then compared to a model with a term for interaction between genotype and childhood trauma. Where a possible interaction was detected, this was further explored in stratified analyses. Results While childhood trauma showed a borderline association with psychotic experiences, COMT-Val158Met and BDNF-Val66Met genotypes were not directly associated with psychotic experiences in the population. Testing for gene x environment interaction was borderline significant in the case of COMT-Val158Met with individuals with the COMT-Val158Met Val-Val genotype, who had been exposed to childhood trauma borderline significantly more likely to report psychotic experiences than those with Val-Met or Met-Met genotypes. There was no similar interaction by BDNF-Val66Met genotype. Conclusion The COMT-Val158Met Val-Val genotype may be a genetic moderator of risk for psychotic experiences in individuals exposed to childhood traumatic experiences.
Long-Term Follow-Up of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivors and Electrophysiologically Guided Antiarrhythmic Therapy

Sudden cardiac arrest survivors have a high risk of suffering from recurrent arrhythmic events. Recent studies have shown that these patients have a significantly decreased mortality rate, if they are supplied with an implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term prognosis of patients with electrophysiologically guided antiarrhythmic drug therapy in comparison to patients with ICD. 204 consecutive survivors of sudden cardiac arrest were enrolled in this study. All patients were examined with an initial electrophysiologic study (EPS) with programmed ventricular stimulation. Patients were treated with antiarrhythmic drugs (if the inducible tachycardia was suppressed) or with the implantation of an ICD. The maximal follow-up period was 120 months, the mean period was 53.3 ± 31.4 months (ICD) versus 60.3 ± 35.5 months (EPS, nonsignificant). Patients with ICD showed an overall mortality rate of 14.6%, whereas EPS-guided patients had a mortality rate of 43.2% (p < 0.001). The cardiac and arrhythmogenic mortality rates were significantly lower in the ICD group (12 vs. 43%, p < 0.01, and 1 vs. 16%, p < 0.001, respectively). A reduction of the mortality risk was observed in the ICD group by up to 61% (all-cause mortality), 52% (cardiac mortality) and 97.2% (arrhythmogenic mortality). In arrhythmic event survivors with ICD, arrhythmic and overall mortality rates are significantly lower compared to patients with an EPS-guided drug therapy. In the secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death, ICD should be the first choice of antiarrhythmic therapy.
Actuating thermo- and photo-responsive tubes from liquid crystalline elastomers

Large (many mm long) closed tubes from liquid crystalline (LC)-elastomers can be prepared in a microfluidic setup by photopolymerization of an LC-monomer mixture. In these tubes, the director of the LC-phase is oriented parallel to their long axes as proven by X-ray measurements, thus leading to shortening at the transition to the isotropic phase while their walls become thicker simultaneously. The process of tube preparation relies on an appropriate choice of 3 immiscible phases in the microfluidic setup (continuous, LC-monomer and inner phase) as well as their interfacial tensions. Water can be used as the inner phase in combination with a selective detergent (an amphiphilic block copolymer from PNIPAM and the LC-polymer) to reduce the LC/water surface tension. In this way, long actuating (up to 50%) tubes can be prepared either from a thermotropic LC-elastomer or from an azo-containing LC-elastomer with the latter being both thermo- and photo-responsive. By irradiation of individual tubes consisting of the azo-system with white (trans–cis) or red light (cis–trans), actuations of up to 29% can be achieved. The contraction (shortening) of the tubes thereby requires about 10 seconds, while the photochemical reisomerization needs about 230 seconds. This sets the time frame for the tubes’ photochemical actuation.
Analytical investigation of interfacial debonding in graphene-reinforced polymer nanocomposites with cohesive zone interface

ABSTRACT A shear-lag analysis is performed to investigate the interfacial debonding in graphene-reinforced polymer nanocomposites. The interface behavior is simulated using a cohesive traction-separation law. The applied stresses which lead to damage and debonding initiation at the interface are obtained. The progression of damage along the interface is investigated by considering the length variation of the damaged and the debonded zone against the applied stress. Also, a parametric study is performed to examine the influences of graphene volume fraction and main interface parameters including the interfacial shear strength and interfacial fracture energy on damage progress at the interface.
Dual function of the NDR-kinase Dbf2 in the regulation of the F-BAR protein Hof1 during cytokinesis

The conserved NDR-kinase Dbf2 plays a critical role in cytokinesis in budding yeast. Among its cytokinesis-related substrates is the F-BAR protein Hof1. Hof1 colocalizes at the cell division site with the septin complex and, as mitotic exit progresses, moves to the actomyosin ring (AMR). Neither the function of Hof1 at the septin complex nor the mechanism by which Hof1 supports AMR constriction is understood. Here we establish that Dbf2 has a dual function in Hof1 regulation. First, we show that the coiled-coil region, which is adjacent to the conserved F-BAR domain, is required for the binding of Hof1 to septins. The Dbf2-dependent phosphorylation of Hof1 at a single serine residue (serine 313) in this region diminishes the recruitment of Hof1 to septins both in vitro and in vivo. Genetic and functional analysis indicates that the binding of Hof1 to septins is important for septin rearrangement and integrity during cytokinesis. Furthermore, Dbf2 phosphorylation of Hof1 at serines 533 and 563 promotes AMR constriction most likely by inhibiting the SH3-domain-dependent interactions of Hof1. Thus our data show that Dbf2 coordinates septin and AMR functions during cytokinesis through the regulation/control of Hof1.
Interactive Voice Response Reminder Effects on Preventive Service Utilization

This study evaluated the effects of interactive voice response (IVR) system reminders to managed care organization (MCO) members to obtain mammograms, Papanicolaou (Pap) tests, and influenza immunizations. The MCO identified 3 member cohorts and sent IVR reminders to get preventive services. Analyses employed claims data to examine relationships between IVR reminders and preventive service use 5 to 9 months postintervention among members without prior utilization. Multivariate logistic regressions controlling for age, gender (for influenza immunizations), and risk stratum confirmed hypothesized relationships between intervention and preventive services: mammograms, odds ratio (OR) = 1.263 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.104, 1.444); Pap tests, OR = 1.241 (1.107, 1.391); influenza immunizations, OR = 2.072 (1.665, 2.580). IVR reminders are associated with higher rates of mammograms, Pap tests, and influenza immunizations. Study limitations include unknown generalizability of results and possible self-selection. There is justification for more IVR interventions and research to enhance MCO members’ preventive service utilization.
Barriers to systematic model transformation testing

Introduction Model Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques support extensive use of models in order to manage the increasing complexity of software systems. Appropriate abstractions of software system elements can ease reasoning and understanding and thus limit the risk of errors in large systems. Automatic model transformations play a critical role in MDE since they automate complex, tedious, error-prone, and recurrent software development tasks. Airbus uses automatic code synthesis from SCADE models to generate the code for embedded controllers in the Airbus A380. Commercial tools for model transformations exist. Objecteering and Together from Borland are tools that can automatically add design patterns in a UML class model. Esterel Technologies have a tool for automatic code synthesis for safety critical systems. Other examples of transformations are refinement of a design model by adding details pertaining to a particular target platform, refactoring a model by changing its structure to enhance design quality, or reverse engineering code to obtain an abstract model. These software development tasks are critical and thus the model transformations that automate them must be validated. A fault in a transformation can introduce a fault in the transformed model, which if undetected and not removed, can propagate to other models in successive development steps. As a fault propagates across transformations, it becomes more difficult to detect and isolate. Since model transformations are meant to be reused, faults present in them may result in many faulty models. Model transformations constitute a class of programs with unique characteristics that make testing them challenging. The complexity of input and output data, lack of model management tools, and the heterogeneity of transformation languages pose special problems to testers of transformations. In this paper we identify current model transformation characteristics that contribute to the difficulty of systematically testing transformations. We present promising solutions and propose possible ways to overcome these barriers.
From Manual Android Tests to Automated and Platform Independent Test Scripts

Because Mobile apps are extremely popular and often mission critical nowadays, companies invest a great deal of resources in testing the apps they provide to their customers. Testing is particularly important for Android apps, which must run on a multitude of devices and operating system versions. Unfortunately, as we confirmed in many interviews with quality assurance professionals, app testing is today a very human intensive, and therefore tedious and error prone, activity. To address this problem, and better support testing of Android apps, we propose a new technique that allows testers to easily create platform independent test scripts for an app and automatically run the generated test scripts on multiple devices and operating system versions. The technique does so without modifying the app under test or the runtime system, by (1) intercepting the interactions of the tester with the app and (2) providing the tester with an intuitive way to specify expected results that it then encode as test oracles. We implemented our technique in a tool named Barista and used the tool to evaluate the practical usefulness and applicability of our approach. Our results show that Barista can faithfully encode user defined test cases as test scripts with built-in oracles, generates test scripts that can run on multiple platforms, and can outperform a state-of-the-art tool with similar functionality. Barista and our experimental infrastructure are publicly available.
Energy Savings and the "Software-Defined" Building

In the US buildings consume 70% of electricity, but the sector exhibits little innovation for reducing its consumption. Efficiency is not yet evaluated to the same standard as comfort and reliability, but with better user input, control policy, and awareness of the building's state, energy consumption can be intelligently reduced. It is argued that what is needed is a shift to Software-Defined Buildings: flexible, multi-service, and open Building Operating System (BOS) that allows third-party applications to run securely and reliably in a sandboxed environment. A BOS is not limited to a single building but distributed among multi-building campuses. It provides the core functionality of sensor and actuator access, access management, metadata, archiving, and discovery. The runtime environment enables multiple simultaneously running programs. As in a computer OS, these run with various privilege levels, with access to different resources, yet are multiplexed on the same physical resources. It can extend to the Cloud or to other buildings, outsourcing expensive or proprietary operations as well as load sharing, but does so safely with fail-over to local systems when connectivity is disrupted. Building operators have supervisory control over all programs, controlling the separation physically (access different controls), temporally (change controls at different times), informationally (what information leaves the building), and logically (what actions or sequences thereof are allowable).