Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polydopamine-decorated boron nitride as nano-reinforcing fillers for epoxy resin with enhanced thermomechanical and tribological properties

Dopamine was polymerized and decorated on surface of the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) to enhance the dispersibility and reactivity of h-BN. The polydopamine-decorated BN nanosheets were identified by Raman spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. BN-based nanocomposites were prepared by curing reaction of epoxy E44, Jeffamine D-230 and polydopamine-decorated BN nanosheets. The thermal, mechanical and wear-resistant performance for nanocomposites with different BN loadings (0.5%, 1%, 2%, 4%) were characterized via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and tribological tests. Results of thermal analysis showed that all BN-based composites possessed the superior thermal stability compared with the pure epoxy resin. The preferable mechanical and wear resistant performance of composites were attributed to the complementary role of mechanical, lubrication and thermal conductivity of BN nanosheets.
Cooperative content analysis agents for online multimedia indexing and filtering

New integrated services are emerging from the rapid technological advances in networking, multi-agents, media and broadcasting technologies. This advancement allows for large amounts of multimedia information to be distributed and shared on the Internet. To fulfill the goal of the efficient searching and effective redistribution of online multimedia, automatic segmentation, efficient content analysis and effective semantic concept interpretation of visual data are required. In this research, we propose a system with cooperative content analysis agents for automatic video analysis to support fast online multimedia indexing and filtering. An independent metadata channel is also proposed as the communication mechanism among the content agents. The proposed system is evaluated and applied to CNN news distribution and sharing over the Mbone Multicast.
Fabrication of seamless roller mould with smooth surface microstructures by rotation lithography and reflow process

In this work, the authors conducted a versatile approach for an innovative fabrication of a seamless micro-stripes array on the roller which is as a mould for roller imprinting lithography. The major steps in the proposed fabrication method include an uniform speed PR-coating process, followed by a digital micromirrors device based maskless lithography projection and an incremental step-and-rotate exposure process. In addition to above-mentioned steps, a following thermal reflow process was performed to transform the micro-stripes into smooth surface microstructures. The study also analysed the mechanism of the reflow process by numerical simulations and experiments. The mechanism includes the gravitational effect and the definition of the four stages of the reflow process. Study results show that the reflow process on the roller is feasible and the proposed method is a promising approach for fabricating three-dimensional smooth surface microstructures on the roller with different requirements.
Chronic heart failure and aging – effects of exercise training on endothelial function and mechanisms of endothelial regeneration: Results from the Leipzig Exercise Intervention in Chronic heart failure and Aging (LEICA) study

Background A reduction in number and function of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) occurs in both physiologic aging and chronic heart failure (CHF). We assessed whether disease and aging have additive effects on EPCs or whether beneficial effects of exercise training are diminished in old age. Methods We randomized 60 patients with stable CHF and 60 referent controls to a training or a control group. To detect possible aging effects we included subjects below 55 (young) and above 65 years (older). Subjects in the training group exercised four times daily at 60% to 70% of VO2max for four weeks under supervision. At baseline and after the intervention the number and function of EPCs were assessed. Results As compared with young referent controls, older referent controls showed at baseline a reduced EPC number (young: 190 ± 37 CD34/KDR positive cells/ml blood; older: 131 ± 26 CD34/KDR positive cells/ml blood; p < 0.05) and function (young: 230 ± 41 migrated cells/1000 plated cells; older: 185 ± 28 cells/1000 plated cells; p < 0.05). In young and older CHF patients EPC-number (young: 85 ± 21 CD34/KDR positive cells/ml blood; older: 78 ± 20 CD34/KDR positive cells/ml blood) and EPC-function (young: 113 ± 26 cells/1000 plated cells; older: 120 ± 27 cells/1000 plated cells) were impaired. As a result of exercise training, EPC function improved by 24% in older referent controls (p < 0.05), while it remained unchanged in young training referent controls and controls respectively. In young and older patients with CHF four weeks of exercise training resulted in a significant improvement in EPC numbers and EPC function (young: number +66% function +43%; p < 0.05; older: number +69% function +36%; p < 0.05). These results were accompanied by a significant increase in flow mediated dilatation in the training groups of young/older CHF patients and in older referent controls. Conclusions Four weeks of exercise training are effective in improving EPC number and EPC function in CHF patients. These training effects were not impaired among older patients, emphasizing the potentials of rehabilitation interventions in a patient group where CHF has a high prevalence.
A Scalable Implementation of the NAS Parallel Benchmark BT on Distributed Memory Systems

In this paper, we describe an efficient and scalable implementation of the NAS Parallel Benchmark BT suitable for distributed memory systems such as the IBM Scalable POWERparallel Systems®. After describing the parallelization and data partitioning methods used, we outline some of the optimization steps used to realize good performance on individual processors and to reduce the communication overheads on the IBM SP1™ and SP2™ systems. We present performance results on up to 128 nodes of the SP1, and on the SP2 with wide nodes. We describe the performance on the standard Class A and Class B problem sets. To show the scalability of our parallelization methods, we present the performance of two additional data sets.
MPEG video decoding with the UltraSPARC visual instruction set

The UltraSPARC microprocessor is equipped with a rich "visual instruction set" (VIS) which can perform ALU and other operations on several pixels in parallel. Significant performance gains are possible in the areas of video compression and decompression, as well as other areas of image processing. In this paper, we present a computational complexity analysis of MPEG video decompression, and derive a quantitative performance bound for software MPEG decoders. Based on this estimate, we show that by combining VIS and a high superscalar instruction rate, UltraSPARC is capable of decoding MPEG digital video at 720/spl times/480/spl times/30 resolution entirely in software. A coding example for the YUV to RGB colorspace conversion is also presented.
Prevalence and comorbidities in adults with psoriasis compared to atopic eczema

Most data suggesting an association between psoriasis and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have come from specialized populations at either low or high risk of CVD. Atopic dermatitis (AD) has been associated with a number of modifiable risk factors, particularly obesity. There has been a recent controversy on the suggestion that associations with comorbidities in psoriasis may be due to overreporting or biased by disease severity and therefore not necessarily representative of the general psoriasis population.
Numerische Mathematik Finite element approximation to the extremal eigenvalue problem for inhomogenous materials

In this paper, an extremal eigenvalue problem corresponding to an inhomogeneous membrane which is composed of two different materials with different densities is investigated. The convergence of the finite element discretization and the error order for the smallest eigenvalue are obtained. A monotonic decreasing algorithm is presented to solve the discretized problem and numerical examples are given to demonstrate the error estimation as well as the efficiency of the method. Mathematics Subject Classification 65N30 · 65K10
Research and Development of High-End Computer Networks at GSFC

Users of computer networks do not always get the throughput performance that they should get or need to get. Various factors affect the throughput performance, including bandwidth limitations in some links in the end-to-end network path between the user’s client workstation and the server and limitations in the throughput performance of the hardware/ software network interface of the client workstation or server. Recent objectives of GSFC’s high-end computer networking research and development are to research, evaluate, demonstrate, and provide new, minimum-cost network technologies that: 1) increase bandwidth to a non-blocking capability in the network links at GSFC and in GSFC’s links with various research-oriented wide area networks, and 2) provide pro-active measures of throughput performance to identify the cause of individual users’ throughput performance limitations and provide network performance assistance to optimize the network interfaces and paths used by those network users.
Assessing the Accuracy of Georeferenced Point Clouds Produced via Multi-View Stereopsis from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Imagery

Sensor miniaturisation, improved battery technology and the availability of low-cost yet advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have provided new opportunities for environmental remote sensing. The UAV provides a platform for close-range aerial photography. Detailed imagery captured from micro-UAV can produce dense point clouds using multi-view stereopsis (MVS) techniques combining photogrammetry and computer vision. This study applies MVS techniques to imagery acquired from a multi-rotor micro-UAV of a natural coastal site in southeastern Tasmania, Australia. A very dense point cloud ( < 1–3 cm point spacing) is produced in an arbitrary coordinate system using full resolution imagery, whereas other studies usually downsample the original imagery. The point cloud is sparse in areas of complex vegetation and where surfaces have a homogeneous texture. Ground control points collected with Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) are identified and used for georeferencing via a Helmert transformation. This study compared georeferenced point clouds to a Total Station survey in order to assess and quantify their geometric accuracy. The results indicate that a georeferenced point cloud accurate to 25–40 mm can be obtained from imagery acquired from ~50 m. UAV-based image capture provides the spatial and temporal resolution required to map and monitor natural landscapes. This paper assesses the accuracy of the generated point clouds based on field survey points. Based on our key findings we conclude that sub-decimetre terrain change (in this case coastal erosion) can be monitored.
3D Human Motion Analysis to Detect Abnormal Events on Stairs

Falls on the stairs are a common cause of accidental injury among the older adults. Understanding the mechanisms leading to such accidents may improve not only the prevention of falls, but also support independent living among elderly. Thus, a method to automatically detect falls and other abnormal events on stairs is presented and empirically validated. Automatic fall detection will also assist in data collection for environmental design improvements and fall prevention. Real-time 3D joint tracking information, provided by a Microsoft Kinect, is used to estimate the walking speed and to extract a set of features that encode human motion during stairway descent. Supervised learning algorithms, trained on manually labelled training data simulated in a home laboratory, obtained a high detection accuracy rate of ~92% in leave-one-subject-out cross validation. In contrast with previous research, which identified visual tracking of the feet as the best indicator of dangerous activity, 3D motion of the hips is experimentally shown to be the most informative component in detecting abnormal events in the 3D tracking data provided by the Kinect.
The ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTORs ERF6 and ERF11 Antagonistically Regulate Mannitol-Induced Growth Inhibition in Arabidopsis1[OPEN]

A negative feedback loop involving two Ethylene Response Factors fine-tunes growth inhibition and stress tolerance activation under mannitol-induced stress. Leaf growth is a tightly regulated and complex process, which responds in a dynamic manner to changing environmental conditions, but the mechanisms that reduce growth under adverse conditions are rather poorly understood. We previously identified a growth inhibitory pathway regulating leaf growth upon exposure to a low concentration of mannitol and characterized the ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (ERF)/APETALA2 transcription factor ERF6 as a central activator of both leaf growth inhibition and induction of stress tolerance genes. Here, we describe the role of the transcriptional repressor ERF11 in relation to the ERF6-mediated stress response in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Using inducible overexpression lines, we show that ERF6 induces the expression of ERF11. ERF11 in turn molecularly counteracts the action of ERF6 and represses at least some of the ERF6-induced genes by directly competing for the target gene promoters. As a phenotypical consequence of the ERF6-ERF11 antagonism, the extreme dwarfism caused by ERF6 overexpression is suppressed by overexpression of ERF11. Together, our data demonstrate that dynamic mechanisms exist to fine-tune the stress response and that ERF11 counteracts ERF6 to maintain a balance between plant growth and stress defense.
Artificial immune system for illicit content identification in social media

Social media is frequently used as a platform for the exchange of information and opinions as well as propaganda dissemination. But online content can be misused for the distribution of illicit information, such as violent postings in web forums. Illicit content is highly distributed in social media, while non-illicit content is unspecific and topically diverse. It is costly and time consuming to label a large amount of illicit content (positive examples) and non-illicit content (negative examples) to train classification systems. Nevertheless, it is relatively easy to obtain large volumes of unlabeled content in social media. In this article, an artificial immune system-based technique is presented to address the difficulties in the illicit content identification in social media. Inspired by the positive selection principle in the immune system, we designed a novel labeling heuristic based on partially supervised learning to extract high-quality positive and negative examples from unlabeled datasets. The empirical evaluation results from two large hate group web forums suggest that our proposed approach generally outperforms the benchmark techniques and exhibits more stable performance. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of crosslink geometry on the elastic properties of nano-structured biopolymer networks

In cells, biopolymer networks play a major role in maintaining the cell shape and conducting the physical or chemical signals. Although it is generally recognised that these semi-flexible biopolymer networks are crucial in different cell functions, their elastic properties are not well understood [1, 2]. Due to the extreme complexity of these networks, using representative volume element (RVE) is found to be an efficient method to probe the elastic properties of these biopolymer network structures [3-5]. In this study, we mainly focus on the mechanical responses of actin filaments (F-actin) networks crosslinked by Filamin-A (FLNA). Thus a three dimensional random network model with periodic boundary conditions (PBC) [6, 7] is developed. In this model, actin filaments are modelled by straight elastic beams, however, filamins are modelled by deformable beams with different geometries. Specific geometry parameters and physical properties of both F-actin and FLNA are adopted according to existing experimental results [8, 9]. Effects of the crosslink geometry on the elasticity of the network are studied, which could give good suggestions for the design of advanced artificial biomedical equipment.
The Anopheles gambiae transcriptome – a turning point for malaria control

Mosquitoes are important vectors of several pathogens and thereby contribute to the spread of diseases, with social, economic and public health impacts. Amongst the approximately 450 species of Anopheles, about 60 are recognized as vectors of human malaria, the most important parasitic disease. In Africa, Anopheles gambiae is the main malaria vector mosquito. Current malaria control strategies are largely focused on drugs and vector control measures such as insecticides and bed‐nets. Improvement of current, and the development of new, mosquito‐targeted malaria control methods rely on a better understanding of mosquito vector biology. An organism's transcriptome is a reflection of its physiological state and transcriptomic analyses of different conditions that are relevant to mosquito vector competence can therefore yield important information. Transcriptomic analyses have contributed significant information on processes such as blood‐feeding parasite–vector interaction, insecticide resistance, and tissue‐ and stage‐specific gene regulation, thereby facilitating the path towards the development of new malaria control methods. Here, we discuss the main applications of transcriptomic analyses in An. gambiae that have led to a better understanding of mosquito vector competence.
Estimation of parameters in non uniform models on permutations

Using large deviation results for a uniformly random permutation in $S_n$, asymptotics of normalizing constants are computed and limits of permutations obtained for some non uniform distributions on $S_n$. A pseudo-likelihood type estimator is shown to be consistent in a class of one parameter exponential families on permutations. A new proof of the large deviation principle of a uniformly random permutation on $S_n$ is given.
Discovering State Invariants

We continue to advocate a methodology that we used earlier for pattern discovery through exhaustive search in selected small domains. This time we apply it to the problem of discovering state invariants in planning domains. State invariants are formulas that if true in a state, will be true in all successor states. In this paper, we consider the following four types of state invariants commonly found in AI planning domains: functional dependency constraints, constraints on mutual exclusiveness of categories, type information constraints, and domain closure axioms. As it turned out, for a class of action theories that include many planning benchmarks, for the first three types of constraints, whether they are state invariants can be verified by considering models whose domains are bounded by a small finite number. This forms the basis for a procedure that tries to discover state invariants by exhaustive search in small finite domains. An implementation of the procedure yields encouraging results in the blocks world and the logistics domain.
Multilocus phylogenetic and geospatial analyses illuminate diversification patterns and the biogeographic history of Malagasy endemic plated lizards (Gerrhosauridae: Zonosaurinae)

Although numerous studies have attempted to find single unifying mechanisms for generating Madagascar's unique flora and fauna, little consensus has been reached regarding the relative importance of climatic, geologic and ecological processes as catalysts of diversification of the region's unique biota. Rather, recent work has shown that both biological and physical drivers of diversification are best analysed in a case‐by‐case setting with attention focused on the ecological and life‐history requirements of the specific phylogenetic lineage under investigation. Here, we utilize a comprehensive analytical approach to examine evolutionary drivers and elucidate the biogeographic history of Malagasy plated lizards (Zonosaurinae). Data from three genes are combined with fossil information to construct time‐calibrated species trees for zonosaurines and their African relatives, which are used to test alternative diversification hypotheses. Methods are utilized for explicitly incorporating phylogenetic uncertainty into downstream analyses. Species distribution models are created for 14 of 19 currently recognized species, which are then used to estimate spatial patterns of species richness and endemicity. Spatially explicit analyses are employed to correlate patterns of diversity with both topographic heterogeneity and climatic stability through geologic time. We then use inferred geographic ranges to estimate the biogeographic history of zonosaurines within each of Madagascar's major biomes. Results suggest constant Neogene and Quaternary speciation with divergence from the African most recent common ancestor ~30 million years ago when oceanic currents and African rivers facilitated dispersal. Spatial patterns of diversity appear concentrated along coastal regions of northern and southern Madagascar. We find no relationship between either topographic heterogeneity or climatic stability and patterns of diversity. Ancestral state reconstructions suggest that western dry forests were important centres of origin with recent invasion into spiny and rain forest. These data highlight the power of combining multilocus phylogenetic and spatially explicit analyses for testing alternative diversification hypotheses within Madagascar's unique biota and more generally, particularly as applied to phylogenetically and biologically constrained systems.
Is the body adiposity index (hip circumference/height1·5) more strongly related to skinfold thicknesses and risk factor levels than is BMI? The Bogalusa Heart Study

Because of its strong association (r 0·85) with percentage of body fat determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, hip circumference divided by height1·5 (the body adiposity index) has recently been proposed as an index of body fatness among adults. We examined whether this proposed index was more strongly associated with skinfold thicknesses and levels of CVD risk factors (lipids, fasting insulin and glucose, and blood pressure) than was BMI among 2369 18- to 49-year-olds in the Bogalusa Heart Study. All analyses indicated that the body adiposity index was less strongly associated with skinfold thicknesses and CVD risk factors than was either waist circumference or BMI. Correlations with the skinfold sum, for example, were r 0·81 (BMI) v.r 0·75 (body adiposity index) among men, and r 0·87 (BMI) v.r 0·80 among women; P< 0·001 for both differences. An overall index of seven CVD risk factors was also more strongly associated with BMI (r 0·58) and waist circumference (r 0·61) than with the body adiposity index (r 0·49). The weaker associations with the body adiposity index were observed in analyses stratified by sex, race, age and year of examination. Multivariable analyses indicated that if either BMI or waist circumference were known, the body adiposity index provided no additional information on skinfold thicknesses or risk factor levels. These findings indicate that the body adiposity index is likely to be an inferior index of adiposity than is either BMI or waist circumference.