Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Focal Depth of HAADF-STEM Imaging on the Solute Enriched Layers in Mg Alloys

This study has found that the Z-contrast of aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark field-scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) images of solute enriched layers in Mg-TM-RE (TM:Zn, RE:Y, Gd) alloys is sensitive to the imaging conditions: the defocus and the focal depth. Consequently, the depth position of solute enriched layers in the projected direction shows strong effect on the Z-contrast around each layer. The blurring of the Z-contrast is preferentially observed in both sides region along (0001)Mg basal planes. The boundary position between HCPand FCC-type stacking sequence at edge regions does not change by defocus. The permissible defocus amount is comparable to the focal depth. The aberration-corrected HAADF-STEM has short focal depth less than 10 nm, so that it is critical for interpreting image contrast that the thin foil thickness and the depth position of the nano-size structure such as the solute enriched layers. In turn, it can be presumed, by the blurring of the Z-contrast, that the depth position of the solute enriched layers in the projected direction. Thus, the focal depth of aberration-corrected HAADF-STEM is quite sensitive to the depth position of solute enriched layers in the thin foil of specimens and the defocus of the electron probe, so that the imaging condition of aberration-corrected HAADF-STEM is critical in order to interpret correctly the Z-contrast of the images. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.MAW201505]
A Review of Service Robots Coping With Uncertain Information in Natural Language Instructions

Intelligent service robots are currently being developed to cater to demands in emerging areas of robotic applications, ranging from entertainment to health care. These service robots are intended to be operated by nonexpert users, and their service tasks involve direct interaction between these robots and their human users. Thus, human-friendly interactive features are generally preferred for such service robots. Humans prefer to use voice instructions, responses, and suggestions to convey ideas to their peers. However, information conveyed through natural language communication is imprecise because it tends to contain uncertain/qualitative information instead of precise quantitative information. Therefore, the ability to cope with uncertain information in natural language instructions is mandatory for human-friendly service robots. This paper presents a review of service robots and systems that can cope with uncertain information in natural language instructions. The available literature has been investigated and analyzed to identify the limitations of the existing methods and possible improvements. The identified limitations and possible improvements are presented as the outcomes of the review.
Strain-Induced Alignment in Collagen Gels

Collagen is the most abundant extracellular-network-forming protein in animal biology and is important in both natural and artificial tissues, where it serves as a material of great mechanical versatility. This versatility arises from its almost unique ability to remodel under applied loads into anisotropic and inhomogeneous structures. To explore the origins of this property, we develop a set of analysis tools and a novel experimental setup that probes the mechanical response of fibrous networks in a geometry that mimics a typical deformation profile imposed by cells in vivo. We observe strong fiber alignment and densification as a function of applied strain for both uncrosslinked and crosslinked collagenous networks. This alignment is found to be irreversibly imprinted in uncrosslinked collagen networks, suggesting a simple mechanism for tissue organization at the microscale. However, crosslinked networks display similar fiber alignment and the same geometrical properties as uncrosslinked gels, but with full reversibility. Plasticity is therefore not required to align fibers. On the contrary, our data show that this effect is part of the fundamental non-linear properties of fibrous biological networks.
Implementation of a Sustainable Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Prevention Protocol in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Managua, Nicaragua

Background:Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common nosocomial infection in pediatric intensive care units (ICUs). Ventilator-associated pneumonia protocols decrease the incidence of VAP; however, many components of these protocols are not feasible in all settings. This study was done in a large pediatric hospital in Nicaragua. Objective:The aim of this study is to implement a sustainable evidence-based VAP protocol, in a different culture, for the purpose of decreasing VAP rates. Methods:This quality improvement study used a bidirectional cohort design with the retrospective group as the control and the prospective group as the experimental population. A daily checklist monitored compliance to the implemented protocol in the prospective group. A 2-sided Fisher exact test compared the differences in VAP rates between the 2 populations. Results:During the 90-day implementation period, 123 ventilated patients in 3 separate ICU wings were evaluated, with 99 included in the final analysis. These data for 2014 were compared with the VAP rates recorded for the same time period in 2013. The highest adherence to the protocol was demonstrated by ICU wing 1, with a 90% decrease in VAP rates. No statistical difference in VAP rates was demonstrated by ICU 2, and ICU 3 demonstrated an increase in both patient acuity and VAP rates. Discussion:Implementation of a sustainable VAP protocol in a pediatric ICU in Nicaragua can reduce the incidence of VAP. Multiple barriers and challenges associated with implementation in a resource-constrained environment are discussed.
Enhanced Moisture-Reactive Hydrophilic-PTFE-Based Flexible Humidity Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring

Flexible sensors connected to cell phones are a promising technology that can aid in continuously monitoring signals in our daily lives, such as an individual’s health status and information from buildings, farms, and industry. Among such signals, real-time humidity monitoring is crucial to a comfortable life, as human bodies, plants, and industrial environments require appropriate humidity to be maintained. We propose a hydrophilic polytetrafluoroethylene (H-PTFE)-based flexible humidity sensor integrated with readout circuitry, wireless communication, and a mobile battery. To enhance its sensitivity, linearity, and reliability, treatment with sodium hydroxide implements additional hydroxyl (OH) groups, which further enhance the sensitivity, create a strong linearity with respect to variations in relative humidity, and produce a relatively free hysteresis. Furthermore, to create robust mechanical stability, cyclic upward bending was performed for up to 3000 cycles. The overall electrical and mechanical results demonstrate that the flexible real-time H-PTFE humidity sensor system is suitable for applications such as wearable smart devices.
Automated detection of alveolar arches for nasoalveolar molding in cleft lip and palate treatment

Abstract Nasoalveolar moulding (NAM) has become a widely accepted and evidence-based treatment strategy for newborns with cleft lip and palate (CLP), attempting to reduce the cleft gap and to form an appropriately shaped alveolar arch by an intraoral patient-specific NAM plate and to erect the usually flattened nostrils towards a natural nose wing occurrence. The generation of such an appropriately shaped NAM plate requires, besides 3d information of the patient’s initially cleft lip and palate, an estimated target model of the maxilla. Previous studies showed the applicability of curve-based approaches to describe the maxilla during early infancy. We have developed an automated algorithm implemented with the programming language Python, describing the alveolar arch by an approximated ellipse. Therefore, the digitalized data sets of human maxillae were aligned to a global coordinate system with a total least square method and subsequently analyzed with the curvature-based algebraic point set surfaces (APSS) algorithm. The gathered information of height ratio and curvature allows the detection of points on the alveolar segments and therewith the fit of an ellipse describing the human maxilla. In 84.5% of 193 maxilla impressions of healthy newborns the fitted ellipses described the course of the maxilla within defined margins. Applying the algorithm to 38 newborns suffering from unilateral cleft lip and palate in 76.3% the fitted ellipses bridge the CLP alveolar segments, so that a harmonic alveolar arch can be deduced. Describing the alveolar arch by one or multiple ellipses allows (i) to automatically measure the dimensions of the maxilla, (ii) to derive a growth model during early infancy, (iii) to derive a healthy harmonic arch from CLP alveolar segments and (iv) to automatically generate a basic NAM device on the basis of the virtually modified maxilla.
Vitamin D levels and menopause-related symptoms

ObjectiveThis study aims to determine whether vitamin D levels are associated with menopause-related symptoms in older women. MethodsA randomly selected subset of 1,407 women, among 26,104 potentially eligible participants of the Women’s Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D trial of postmenopausal women aged 51 to 80 years, had 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels measured at the Women’s Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D trial baseline visit. Information about menopause-related symptoms at baseline was obtained by questionnaire and included overall number of symptoms and composite measures of sleep disturbance, emotional well-being, and energy/fatigue, as well as individual symptoms. After exclusions for missing data, 530 women (mean [SD] age, 66.2 [6.8] y) were included in these analyses. ResultsBorderline significant associations between 25(OH)D levels and total number of menopausal symptoms were observed (with P values ranging from 0.05 to 0.06 for fully adjusted models); however, the effect was clinically insignificant and disappeared with correction for multiple testing. No associations between 25(OH)D levels and composite measures of sleep disturbance, emotional well-being, or energy/fatigue were observed (P’s > 0.10 for fully adjusted models). ConclusionsThere is no evidence for a clinically important association between serum 25(OH)D levels and menopause-related symptoms in postmenopausal women.
A Survey on Compiler Autotuning using Machine Learning

Since the mid-1990s, researchers have been trying to use machine-learning-based approaches to solve a number of different compiler optimization problems. These techniques primarily enhance the quality of the obtained results and, more importantly, make it feasible to tackle two main compiler optimization problems: optimization selection (choosing which optimizations to apply) and phase-ordering (choosing the order of applying optimizations). The compiler optimization space continues to grow due to the advancement of applications, increasing number of compiler optimizations, and new target architectures. Generic optimization passes in compilers cannot fully leverage newly introduced optimizations and, therefore, cannot keep up with the pace of increasing options. This survey summarizes and classifies the recent advances in using machine learning for the compiler optimization field, particularly on the two major problems of (1) selecting the best optimizations, and (2) the phase-ordering of optimizations. The survey highlights the approaches taken so far, the obtained results, the fine-grain classification among different approaches, and finally, the influential papers of the field.
A test automation language framework for behavioral models

Model-based testers design tests in terms of models, such as paths in graphs. This results in abstract tests, which have to be converted to concrete tests because the abstract tests use names and events that exist in the model, but not the implementation. Model elements often appear in many abstract tests, so testers write the same redundant code many times. However, many existing model-based testing techniques are very complicated to use in practice, especially in agile software development. Thus, testers usually have to transform abstract tests to concrete tests by hand. This is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and error-prone. This paper presents a language to automate the creation of mappings from abstract tests to concrete tests. Three issues are addressed: (1) creating mappings and generating test values, (2) transforming graphs and using coverage criteria to generate test paths, and (3) solving constraints and generating concrete tests. Based on the language, we developed a test automation language framework. The paper also presents results from an empirical comparison of testers using the framework with manual mapping on 11 open source and 6 example programs. We found that the automated test generation method took 29.6% of the time the manual method took on average, and the manual tests contained 48 errors in which concrete tests did not match their abstract tests while the automatic tests had zero errors.
Assessing the Genetic Landscape of Animal Behavior

Recent years have seen an increase in studies that associate genomic loci with behavioral variation both within and across animal species. Ryan York compiles and analyzes over 1,000 of these loci, finding that the genetic. Although most animal behaviors are associated with some form of heritable genetic variation, we do not yet understand how genes sculpt behavior across evolution, either directly or indirectly. To address this, I here compile a data set comprised of over 1000 genomic loci representing a spectrum of behavioral variation across animal taxa. Comparative analyses reveal that courtship and feeding behaviors are associated with genomic regions of significantly greater effect than other traits, on average threefold greater than other behaviors. Investigations of whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic data for 87 behavioral traits from the Drosophila Genetics Reference Panel indicate that courtship and feeding behaviors have significantly greater genetic contributions and that, in general, behavioral traits overlap little in individual base pairs but increasingly interact at the levels of genes and traits. These results provide evidence that different types of behavior are associated with variable genetic bases and suggest that, across animal evolution, the genetic landscape of behavior is more rugged, yet predictable, than previously thought.
An accurate finite element method for the numerical solution of isothermal and incompressible flow of viscous fluid, part I: computational analysis

Despite its numerical challenges, finite element method is used to compute viscous fluid flow. A consensus on the cause of numerical problems has been reached; however, general algorithms—allowing a robust and accurate simulation for any process—are still missing. Either a very high computational cost is necessary for a direct numerical solution (DNS) or some limiting procedure is used by adding artificial dissipation to the system. These stabilization methods are useful; however, they are often applied relative to the element size such that a local monotonous convergence is challenging to acquire. We need a computational strategy for solving viscous fluid flow using solely the balance equations. In this work, we present a general procedure solving fluid mechanics problems without use of any stabilization or splitting schemes. Hence, its generalization to multiphysics applications is straightforward. We discuss emerging numerical problems and present the methodology rigorously. Implementation is achieved by using open-source packages and the accuracy as well as the robustness is demonstrated by comparing results to the closed-form solutions and also by solving well-known benchmarking problems.
Non-parametric estimation and correction of non-linear distortion in speech systems

The performance of speech systems such as speaker recognition degrades drastically when there is mismatch between training and testing conditions, caused by non-linear distortion. This paper describes a technique to estimate and correct such non-linear distortion in speech. The focus is on constrained restoration of degraded speech, that is distortion in the test speech is undone relative to the training speech. Restoration is a two step process-estimation followed by inversion. The non-linearity is estimated in the form of a look-up table by a process of statistical matching using a reference speech template. This statistical matching technique provides a very good estimate of the true non-linear characteristic, and the process is robust, computationally efficient, and universally applicable. Speaker-ID experiments, using artificially corrupted test speech, showed significant improvement in performance after the test speech was 'cleaned' using this technique. The restoration process itself does not introduce appreciable distortion.
The Rab11 Effector Protein FIP1 Regulates Adiponectin Trafficking and Secretion

Adiponectin is an adipokine secreted by white adipocytes involved in regulating insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues. Secretion of adiponectin in adipocytes relies on the endosomal system, however, the intracellular machinery involved in mediating adiponectin release is unknown. We have previously reported that intracellular adiponectin partially compartmentalizes with rab 5 and rab11, markers for the early/sorting and recycling compartments respectively. Here we have examined the role of several rab11 downstream effector proteins (rab11 FIPs) in regulating adiponectin trafficking and secretion. Overexpression of wild type rab11 FIP1, FIP3 and FIP5 decreased the amount of secreted adiponectin expressed in HEK293 cells, whereas overexpression of rab11 FIP2 or FIP4 had no effect. Furthermore shRNA-mediated depletion of FIP1 enhanced adiponectin release whereas knock down of FIP5 decreased adiponectin secretion. Knock down of FIP3 had no effect. In 3T3L1 adipocytes, endogenous FIP1 co-distributed intracellularly with endogenous adiponectin and FIP1 depletion enhanced adiponectin release without altering insulin-mediated trafficking of the glucose transporter Glut4. While adiponectin receptors internalized with transferrin receptors, there were no differences in transferrin receptor recycling between wild type and FIP1 depleted adipocytes. Consistent with its inhibitory role, FIP1 expression was decreased during adipocyte differentiation, by treatment with thiazolidinediones, and with increased BMI in humans. In contrast, FIP1 expression increased upon exposure of adipocytes to TNFα. In all, our findings identify FIP1 as a novel protein involved in the regulation of adiponectin trafficking and release.
Compact 3-D-SRAM Memory With Concurrent Row and Column Data Access Capability Using Sequential Monolithic 3-D Integration

This paper proposes the use of monolithic 3-D integration technology in designing a novel two-layer 3-D-static random access memory (3-D-SRAM) cell in standard 6T-SRAM footprint. The proposed 3-D-SRAM cell is capable of data access from both the layers. The cell is designed to retrieve row-wise and column-wise data concurrently from the memory array. This memory design can cater to applications and workloads requiring multidimensional data access for enhancing system performance. The novel 3-D layout technique ensures the same footprint as a 6T-SRAM cell despite enhancing the functionality. The design ensures no degradation in the cell stability and performance. Voltage reduction in layer-2 provides <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$5.4\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> power savings during column-wise data access. We analyze the implications of employing the proposed SRAM to achieve efficient data access for integral image algorithm. We obtain <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.15\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> savings in access time and 7.81% access energy savings while accessing data from a 32-kB memory array to compute integral image for a region of 32 rows and 16 columns.
A Model of Nature Soundscape for Calm Information Display

Calm technology has been stressed in designing the interaction with information, especially in ubiquitous computing, peripheral interaction and ambient display. Inspired by the research on calm technology and model-based sonification, we aim to build a model of nature soundscape for supporting calm information display. A three-layer structure is proposed for construction of the nature soundscape. The structure includes seven acoustic parameters. By setting each of seven acoustic parameters into three levels, seven groups of soundscape samples were created and evaluated in an experiment with 20 participants. Each participant was exposed to 21 soundscape samples to assess each sample regarding seven perceptual attributes through a rating scale. Based on the results, a perceptual model is proposed to link the acoustic parameters of individual nature sounds and the perceptual attributes of the nature soundscape. The developed model offers the designers and practitioners a new tool to utilize nature sounds in the design of the auditory display which could support the calm technology.
Competitive Outcome of Daphnia-Simocephalus Experimental Microcosms: Salinity versus Priority Effects

Competition is a major driving force in freshwaters, especially given the cyclic nature and dynamics of pelagic food webs. Competition is especially important in the initial species assortment during colonization and re-colonization events, which depends strongly on the environmental context. Subtle changes, such as saline intrusion, may disrupt competitive relationships and, thus, influence community composition. Bearing this in mind, our objective was to assess whether low salinity levels (using NaCl as a proxy) alter the competitive outcome (measured as the rate of population biomass increase) of Daphnia-Simocephalus experimental microcosms, taking into account interactions with priority effects (sequential species arrival order). With this approach, we aimed to experimentally demonstrate a putative mechanism of differential species sorting in brackish environments or in freshwaters facing secondary salinization. Experiments considered three salinity levels, regarding NaCl added (0.00, 0.75 and 1.50 g L−1), crossed with three competition scenarios (no priority, priority of Daphnia over Simocephalus, and vice-versa). At lower NaCl concentrations (0.00 and 0.75 g L−1), Daphnia was a significantly superior competitor, irrespective of the species inoculation order, suggesting negligible priority effects. However, the strong decrease in Daphnia population growth at 1.50 g L−1 alleviated the competitive pressure on Simocephalus, causing an inversion of the competitive outcome in favour of Simocephalus. The intensity of this inversion depended on the competition scenario. This salinity-mediated disruption of the competitive outcome demonstrates that subtle environmental changes produce indirect effects in key ecological mechanisms, thus altering community composition, which may lead to serious implications in terms of ecosystem functioning (e.g. lake regime shifts due to reduced grazing) and biodiversity.