Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal change detected by spectral domain optical coherence tomography in the optic nerve head and peripapillary retina in experimental glaucoma.

PURPOSE To investigate whether longitudinal changes deep within the optic nerve head (ONH) are detectable by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) in experimental glaucoma (EG) and whether these changes are detectable at the onset of Heidelberg Retina Tomography (HRT; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany)-defined surface topography depression. METHODS Longitudinal SDOCT imaging (Spectralis; Heidelberg Engineering) was performed in both eyes of nine rhesus macaques every 1 to 3 weeks. One eye of each underwent trabecular laser-induced IOP elevation. Four masked operators delineated internal limiting membrane (ILM), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), Bruch's membrane/retinal pigment epithelium (BM/RPE), neural canal opening (NCO), and anterior lamina cribrosa surface (ALCS) by using custom software. Longitudinal changes were assessed and compared between the EG and control (nonlasered) eyes at the onset of HRT-detected surface depression (follow-up 1; [FU1]) and at the most recent image (follow-up 2; [FU2]). RESULTS Mean IOP in EG eyes was 7.1 to 24.6 mm Hg at FU1 and 13.5 to 31.9 mm Hg at FU2. In control eyes, the mean IOP was 7.2 to 12.6 mm Hg (FU1) and 8.9 to 16.0 mm Hg (FU2). At FU1, neuroretinal rim decreased and ALCS depth increased significantly (paired t-test, P < 0.01); no change in RNFL thickness was detected. At FU2, however, significant prelaminar tissue thinning, posterior displacement of NCO, and RNFL thinning were observed. CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal SDOCT imaging can detect deep ONH changes in EG eyes, the earliest of which are present at the onset of HRT-detected ONH surface height depression. These parameters represent realistic targets for SDOCT detection of glaucomatous progression in human subjects.
Plastic analysis of effective composite beam width

Effective width is usually adopted in design to overcome the difficulty owing to shear lagphenomenon in concrete flange of composite beam under bending loads. The nonlinear finite element method is used to analyze the effective width of composite beams with transverse girders at the end of the main girders. Some dominant parameters are analyzed on the influence of effective width of concrete flange at plastic stage and simplified formulae for effective width at ultimate load are proposed.
Towards the evolution of multi-layered neural networks: a dynamic structured grammatical evolution approach

Current grammar-based NeuroEvolution approaches have several shortcomings. On the one hand, they do not allow the generation of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) composed of more than one hidden-layer. On the other, there is no way to evolve networks with more than one output neuron. To properly evolve ANNs with more than one hidden-layer and multiple output nodes there is the need to know the number of neurons available in previous layers. In this paper we introduce Dynamic Structured Grammatical Evolution (DSGE): a new genotypic representation that overcomes the aforementioned limitations. By enabling the creation of dynamic rules that specify the connection possibilities of each neuron, the methodology enables the evolution of multi-layered ANNs with more than one output neuron. Results in different classification problems show that DSGE evolves effective single and multi-layered ANNs, with a varying number of output neurons.
Effect of Current Density on the Microstructure and Properties of Plated Nickel Coating

At the current density of 1-13 A/dm2,Ni coatings were prepared by moving-cathod electroplating technology.The effects of current density on surface morphology,crystallization orientation,porosity,internal stress and microhardness of Ni electroplating were investigated by scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction analysis(XRD),X-ray stress tester,micro hardness tester,etc.The results show that Ni coatings have different texture and properties at different current densities.When the current density is below 7 A/dm2,the coatings show coarser surface with spherical particles and higher porosity.However,at the current density of 4 A/dm2,Ni electroplating has the lowest tensile stress about 110 MPa.At the current density of 7 A/dm2,the coatings shows uniformity and fine surface spherical particles,and has the lowest surface roughness of Ra 0.69 μm,lowest porosity of 0.08 dot/cm2 and highest microhardness of 330 HV0.1. When the current density is above 7 A/dm2,the surface roughness of Ni coatings increases,and preferred orientation changes from(200) crystal face to(220) crystal face.When the current density attains 13 A/dm2,and the texture coefficient of(220) crystal face reaches 85.4%.
Analysis and Experimental Study on Sound Absorption and Noise Reduction Performance of Some Composite Materials

Two kinds of composite sound absorption materials were prepared using plywood,sponge and foam as main materials.The sound absorption coefficients of these samples were tested through stationary wave tube method and their sound absorption and noise reduction properties were also compared.The results show that the sound absorption performance of the composite materials is remarkably better than those of single materials.In the sound absorption frequency spectrum,the absorption peak of the composite materials is located at 1 000 Hz.The sound absorption performance of the 46-mm thick sample of plywood-foam composite is the best.Its sound absorption coefficient can reach 95.5%. The noise reduction coefficients(NRC) of the composite materials are also obviously superior to those of single materials.The NRC of the three layers sample(36mm thick) of plywood-sponge composite and the NRC of the four layers sample(46mm thick) of plywood-foam composite can reach 0.39 and 0.36 respectively.It is shown that these two composite samples have a good performance in sound absorption and noise reduction.They can meet the needs of modern habitation circumstances.
Incomplete sclerotization and phylogeny: The phylogenetic classification of Plastocerus (Coleoptera: Elateroidea)

The relationships of the monogeneric family Plastoceridae Crowson, 1972 (Coleoptera: Elateroidea) have remained contentious due to its modified morphology, incorrect information on incomplete metamorphosis of females and the absence of molecular data. We produced the sequences for P. angulosus (Germar, 1844) (the type-species of Plastocerus Schaum, 1852) and performed molecular phylogenetic analyses to estimate its position. The analyses of Elateroidea (186 spp.) and Elateridae (110 spp.) molecular datasets of two mitochondrial and two nuclear gene fragments repeatedly placed Plastocerus Schaum, 1852 in relationships with the elaterid genera Oxynopterus Hope, 1842 and Pectocera Hope, 1842. Alternative topologies were rejected by likelihood tests. Therefore, Plastoceridae Crowson, 1972 are down-ranked to the subfamily Plastocerinae in Elateridae Leach, 1815. We suggest that the morphology-based placement and high rank for some elateroid lineages were inferred from the presence of homoplasies which evolved due to incomplete sclerotization. Distantly related soft-bodied elateroids share freely movable and transverse coxae, a shortened prosternum, and a weakly sclerotized abdomen with free ventrites. Importantly, the apomorphic structures characteristic for their closest relatives, such as the prosternal process, mesoventral cavity, and intercoxal keel in the first abdominal ventrite are regularly absent. Consequently, morphology-based phylogenetic analyses suggest deeply rooted positions for lineages without expressed apomorphic character states. Molecular data represent an independent character system that is not affected by the convergent morphological evolution, and therefore molecular phylogenies can elucidate the relationships of incompletely sclerotized lineages.
Implications of rbcL phylogeny for historical biogeography of genus Mercurialis L.: Estimating age and center of origin

The aim of this study was to address questions concerning the historical biogeography of the genus Mercurialis in the subfamily Acalyphoideae. Applying a molecular clock to obtained rbcL phylogeny, we estimated the minimal age of divergence of genus Mercurialis to ~65-66 Ma, placing it at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. We used ancestral area analysis and dispersal-vicariance analysis to infer the center of origin of the genus. Contrary to previous hypothesis, our results show that Mercurialis originated in Indomalaya and migrated westward, while the Mediterranean area was most probably the center of ecological diversification and further speciation. Evolutionary events of vicariance and dispersals were reconstructed in a proposed scenario of divergence of Mercurialis within Acalyphoideae.
Enhanced Oil Recovery Field Case Studies Chapter 11 Foams And Their Applications In Enhancing Oil Recovery

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Estradiol-Related Variations in Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes of Cerebral Lateralization

Objective: Natural fluctuations of sex hormones have been shown to modulate cerebral lateralization in dichotic listening tasks. Two recent studies presented contradictory notions regarding the mechanism of this effect. Specifically, whereas Hjelmervik et al. (2012) suggested that estradiol affects lateralization by enhancing top-down processes, such as cognitive control, Hodgetts, Weis, and Hausmann, (2015) suggested that the effect was attributable to estradiol-related variations in bottom-up aspects of lateralization. Method: The present study used 2 well-established left- and right-lateralized dichotic listening tasks (Grimshaw, Kwasny, Covell, & John, 2003; Grimshaw, Séguin, & Godfrey, 2009; Hugdahl, 1995, 2003), with forced-attention conditions to differentiate between these 2 ideas. Fifty-two naturally cycling women underwent both tasks, during either the menstrual, follicular, or luteal cycle phase. Saliva estradiol and progesterone levels were determined by luminescence immunoassays. Results: The results showed that sex hormones did not affect language lateralization, which may be attributable to the larger degree of lateralization yielded by the task, compared with that shown by Hodgetts et al. (2015). In the emotional prosody task, high levels of estradiol were marginally associated with a reduction in cognitive control, whereas the language task yielded no cycle effects for either top-down or bottom-up processes. Conclusions: In sum, the current study revealed weak support for the idea that estradiol affects top-down control of lateralization, as measured with dichotic listening tasks. Given that the task employed in the present study seemed less cognitively demanding than that used previously, it is suggested that estradiol-related inter- and intraindividual variations in lateralization are small when task demands are low.
A Biological 3D Printer for the Preparation of Tissue Engineering Micro-Channel Scaffold

The clinical applications of tissue engineering are still limited by the lack of a functional vascular supply in tissue-engineered constructs. In order to improve the pre-vascularization of tissue-engineered scaffold during in vitro culture, in this study, based on three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, using the crosslinking effect of coaxial fluids (sodium alginate and CaCl2) to prepare vessel-like hollow gel fibers, then layer by layer overlapping into 3D scaffold. The biological 3D printing platform was successfully developed and a coaxial nozzle module was introduced to generate a CaCl2-in-Alginate coaxial microfluidic. The inner core diameters of the prepared hollow gel fibers were 220~380 micrometers. In addition, the influence of materials concentration and dispensing rates on hollow fiber dimension were investigated, the cell-encapsulated in the printed hollow fibers was realized and the viability of endothelial cells (ECs) was studied with Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and Live-Dead cell staining. The 3D scaffold built by hollow fibers could improve the phenomenon of diffusion constrain and enhance the survival rate of those ECs growing at a greater depth in the construct. This study provides a new theoretical basis for the vascularization of bone scaffold.
Correlations between HER 2 Expression and Other Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer : Inverse Relations with the Ki-67 Index and P 53 Status

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent malignancy among women and can be a leading cause of death through middle-aged women that adjuvant chemotherapy, commonly include alkylating agents and anthracyclines, improves survival rate in operable BC (Payandeh et al., 2015a). Recent attention has been directed singularly at molecular classifications of BC (Carey et al., 2006). Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is a marker of poor prognosis in BC (Ménard et al., 2001). Most studies performed to evaluate the HER2 status were conducted in western countries and compared prognostic value of HER2 in anthracyclines-based to non anthracyclines-based regimens. In different studies performed in a number of countries, HER2 amplification was found in 20-30% of breast malignancies (Fountzilas et al., 2012), but in some countries such as Lebanon the higher percentage was reported (el AT et al., 2000). The factors investigated included the
CRT Sequences With Applications to Collision Channels Allowing Successive Interference Cancellation

Protocol sequences are periodic zero-one sequences for the scheduling of packet transmissions in a time-slotted channel. A special class of protocol sequences, called shift-invariant sequences, plays a key role in achieving the information-theoretic capacity of the collision channel without feedback. This class of shift-invariant protocol sequences has the property that the pairwise Hamming crosscorrelation functions are invariant to relative delay offsets. However, the common period of shift-invariant sequences grows exponentially as a function of the number of supported users. In this paper, we consider a family of protocol sequences, whose period increases roughly as a quadratic function of the number of the users, and show that it is close to shift-invariant by establishing a bound on the pairwise Hamming crosscorrelation. The construction is based on the Chinese remainder theorem (CRT), and hence the constructed sequences are called CRT sequences. Applications to collision channel allowing successive interference cancellation at the receiver are discussed.
Opioid Use Disorders and the Risk of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications

BACKGROUND: As the rate of opioid use disorders continues to rise, perioperative physicians are increasingly faced with the challenge of providing analgesia to these patients after surgery. Due to the likelihood of opioid dose escalation in the perioperative period, we hypothesized that opioid-dependent patients would be at increased risk for postoperative pulmonary complications. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of patients undergoing 6 representative elective surgical procedures was performed using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2002 to 2011. The primary outcome was a composite including prolonged mechanical ventilation, reintubation, and acute respiratory failure. Secondary outcomes were length of stay, in-hospital mortality, and total hospital costs. Both multivariable logistic regression and propensity score matching were used to determine the impact of opioid use disorder on outcomes. RESULTS: The total sample-weighted cohort consisted of 7,533,050 patients. Patients with opioid use disorders were more likely to suffer pulmonary complications, with a frequency of 4.2% compared to 1.6% in the nonopioid-dependent group (P < .001), and had a 1.62 times higher odds (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16–2.27) in multivariable regression analysis. In a secondary subgroup analysis, only patients undergoing a colectomy had a greater odds of suffering pulmonary complications (odds ratio, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.42–4.91; P = .0021). Additionally, patients with an opioid use disorder had a longer length of stay (0.84 days [95% CI, 0.52–1.16; P < .001]) and greater costs ($1816 [95% CI, 935–2698; P < .001]). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that patients with opioid use disorders are at increased risk for postoperative pulmonary complications, and have prolonged length of stay and resource utilization. Further research is needed regarding interventions to reduce the risk of complications in this subset of patients.
Circulating microparticles and the risk of thrombosis in inherited deficiencies of antithrombin, protein C and protein S

Summary Many subjects carrying inherited thrombophilic defects will never experience venous thromboembolism (VTE) while other individuals developed recurrent VTE with no known additional risk factors. High levels of circulating microparticles (MP) have been associated with increased risk of VTE in patients with factor V Leiden and prothrombin G20210A mutation, suggesting a possible contribution of MP in the hypercoagulability of mild genetic thrombophilia. The role of MP as additional risk factor of VTE in carriers of natural clotting inhibitors defects (severe thrombophilia) has never been assessed. Plasma levels of annexin V-MP, endothelial-derived MP (EMP), platelet-derived MP (PMP), tissue factor-bearing MP (TF+) and the MP procoagulant activity (PPL) were measured in 132 carriers of natural anticoagulant deficiencies (25 antithrombin, 63 protein C and 64 protein S defect) and in 132 age and gender-matched healthy controls. Carriers of natural anticoagulant deficiencies, overall and separately considered, presented with higher median levels of annexin V-MP, EMP, PMP, TF+MP and PPL activity than healthy controls (p< 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.01, 0.025 and 0.03, respectively). Symptomatic carriers with a previous episode of VTE had significantly higher median levels of annexin-V MP than those without VTE (p=0.027). Carriers with high levels of annexin V-MP, EMP and PMP had an adjusted OR for VTE of 3.36 (95 % CI, 1.59 to 7.11), 9.26 (95 % CI, 3.55 to 24.1) and 2.72 (95 %CI, 1.16 to 6.38), respectively. Elevated levels of circulating MP can play a role in carriers of mild and severe inherited thrombophilia. The clinical implications of this association remain to be defined.
Bootlegging: multidisciplinary brainstorming with cut-ups

We introduce bootlegging, a structured brainstorming technique particularly suited to multidisciplinary settings. Participants first generate ideas in 2 rough groups, one having to do with users and usage situations and the other pertaining to a specific technology or domain. Results are then randomly combined to form unexpected juxtapositions. These combinations are used as the basis for several quick application brainstorms, after which promising ideas can be fleshed out to complete scenarios. Bootlegging stimulates participants' creativity without abandoning the target domain, and can be run efficiently even without a skilled facilitator. The technique has been successfully used in several thematic workshops.
Memory characteristics studies for large deflections in amorphous polymers: Experiments and numerical simulation

In this work, the shape memory behaviour for large deflections in a ring-shaped epoxy-based shape memory polymer specimen is studied. A thermo-mechanical test setup was built to study the memory characteristics of ring shaped specimens with three different ratios of epoxy resin and hardener. Thermo-mechanical characterizations were also carried out to understand the material behaviour during shape fixing and recovery phases and also to obtain the material parameters for numerical simulations. Numerical simulations are carried out using a model proposed earlier by the authors based on the theory of multiple natural configurations and implemented using the VUMAT feature of ABAQUS commercial software. The simulation results for free shape recovery and constraint load recovery for large deflections confirm that the model performs well especially in relation to the memory dependent characteristics.
Experimental and numerical investigations on historical masonry wall specimens tested in shear-compression configuration

AbstractThe paper presents the experimental investigation carried out on wall specimens reproducing the ancient masonry of several monumental building located in the old city centre of L'Aquila (Italy) and damaged by the April 2009 earthquake. The wall specimens were prepared in accordance with the traditional technique, using original stone elements and typical poor mortar. Subsequently, the specimens were consolidated with mortar injections. Other specimens were also reinforced with Ultra High Tensile Strength Steel wires applied as coating technique (not wrapped). Shear-compression tests were carried out on the wall specimens to evaluate the effects of the reinforcements both in terms of final stiffness and strength of the specimens. A non-linear Finite Element Model (FEM) was developed to reproduce the experimental tests and to better understand the damage phenomena. The load-displacement curves predicted by the FEM compared quite well with the experimental ones. The failure mode of the specimens was .