Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of tricalcium aluminate on the properties of tricalcium silicate-tricalcium aluminate mixtures: setting time, mechanical strength and biocompatibility.

AIM To prepare biphasic mixtures by adding Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) into Ca(3) SiO(5) and to evaluate the effect of Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) on physical and ex vivo biological properties of the Ca(3) SiO(5) /Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) mixtures derived from mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). METHODOLOGY Combinations of Ca(3) SiO(5) and Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) (0, 5%, 10% and 15%) powders were mixed with deionized water. After hydration, setting time, compressive strength, ex vivo bioactivity and biocompatibility of each mixture were investigated and compared to pure Ca(3) SiO(5) . RESULTS With the addition of Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) from 0% to 15%, the initial setting time and final setting time of the Ca(3) SiO(5) /Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) mixtures decreased from 110 to 43min and from 220 to 97min, respectively (P≤0.05). However, the compressive strength increased from 6.75 to 16.20MPa after one day (P≤0.05) and from 17.73 to 29.13 Mpa after 28 days. Furthermore, the mixtures with 10% Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) or less had similar bioactivity and biocompatibility when compared to the pure Ca(3) SiO(5). CONCLUSIONS The addition of Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) into Ca(3) SiO(5) accelerated the hydration process, reduced the setting time and improved the compressive strength. Furthermore, these mixtures were bioactive and biocompatible and had a stimulatory effect on the L929 cell growth when the content of Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) was below 10%. Therefore, the mixtures with 10% Ca(3) Al(2) O(6) produced the best compromise between hydration and ex vivo biological properties.
SPERM COMPETITION AND THE EVOLUTION OF NONFERTILIZING SPERM IN MAMMALS

Nonfertilizing sperm with special morphologies have long been known to exist in invertebrates. Until recently, abnormal sperm in mammals were considered errors in production. Now, however, Baker and Bellis (1988, 1989) have proposed that mammalian sperm, like some invertebrate sperm, are polymorphic and adapted to a variety of nonfertilizing roles in sperm competition, including prevention of passage of sperm inseminated by another male. More specifically, their “kamikaze” sperm hypothesis proposes that deformed mammalian sperm are adapted to facilitate the formation and functioning of copulatory plugs (Baker and Bellis, 1988). Here I argue that most, maybe all, mammals are unlikely to produce nonfertilizing sperm. First, mammals might not be able to afford to evolve nonfertilizing sperm, given that a) fertilization is often unlikely despite the huge numbers of sperm produced; b) production of larger numbers of sperm is constrained, presumably because of metabolic costs, evidence for which includes the fact that in species in which sperm morphology and anatomy of the female reproductive tract increase the probability of fertilization, the numbers of sperm produced is lower than in others; and c) selection appears to act against the production of deformed sperm. Second, some of the evidence advanced for the existence of nonfertilizing sperm does not in fact support the idea. Third, accessory gland secretions are sufficient on their own to coagulate semen and produce fully functioning plugs; thus the male that used accessory gland secretions would be at a clear advantage over the male that diluted his fertilizing sperm with “kamikaze” sperm; and indeed, current evidence indicates selection on accessory glands, not sperm morphology, to enhance coagulation of semen. Fourth, predictions made on the basis of the “kamikaze” sperm hypothesis are not supported by quantitative comparisons of data from polyandrous and monandrous primates (i.e., those in which several males mate with a fertile female, and therefore in which sperm competition should be operating, and those in which only one male mates). Although sperm competition is almost certainly more intense in polyandrous genera than in monandrous genera (as indicated by, e.g., more frequent copulations and the production of more sperm per ejaculate from larger spermatogenic organs), polyandrous genera do not produce a greater proportion of deformed (i.e., nonfertilizing) sperm than do monandrous genera, or even necessarily a greater number of deformed sperm; nor a greater variety of sperm sizes—indeed they might produce fewer; nor fewer motile sperm (as might be expected if sperm are selected to stay behind and compete with sperm from subsequent males); and nor larger sperm (as might be expected if sperm are produced for functions other than to reach the egg). In sum, currently available evidence suggests that the function of all mammalian sperm is to fertilize, and that sperm competition in mammals occurs through scramble competition, not contest competition.
Historical Trends in Base Metal Mining: Backcasting to Understand the Sustainability of Mining

The base metal mining sector has been and continues to remain an important endeavour in many parts of the world. The mining of copper, lead-zinc-silver and nickel has led to social and economic development but has also left significant and sometimes lasting environmental impacts. Metal mining is widely perceived to be unsustainable, often without question, since it is drawing down natural capital (ie. stock) - despite the productive output of mines now being considerably larger than at any time in history. What has underpinned this paradox ? and what are the long term trends in base metal mining ? and how can this knowledge be used to understand the current position and future challenges of base metal mining ? This paper will present long-term data on trends in base metal mining such as production, ore grades and economic resources, focussing on major mining countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States. By looking back to history, or 'backcasting' in sustainability language, we can better understand the historical challenges, patterns or factors that have shaped the base metal mining industry. This then helps us to understand the current and future challenges facing the base metals sector of the global mining industry. An oft-quoted saying for peak oil pundits is that of Saudi's former Oil Minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani: "The Stone Age came to an end not for the lack of stones and the oil age will end, but not for the lack of oil". Will the base metals mining sector go the same way ? That is, what has been the success rate for new technology, exploration, economics or perhaps environmental aspects which may constrain the sector or, conversely, help it to flourish ? This paper presents a unique insight into base metals over time, and provides a range of valuable but rarely compiled historical data.
High-Performance On-Chip Low-Pass Filters Using CPW and Slow-Wave-CPW Transmission Lines on Porous Silicon

We report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of high-performance stepped-impedance filters (SIFs) on a locally formed porous Si layer on the CMOS Si wafer. This technology provides the appropriate platform to reduce the high losses within the Si substrate, along with the possibility to tune the substrate permittivity in order to achieve high characteristic impedance (ZC) transmission lines, which are important for the specific filters and other passive circuits, e.g., power dividers. By combining high-ZC coplanar waveguides (CPWs) and low-ZC slow-wave CPWs (S-CPWs), high-quality SIFs were achieved, with cutoff frequencies at 30 and 60 GHz. These SIFs were characterized in the frequency range of 0-100 GHz and demonstrated an insertion loss lower than 2 dB in the whole passband and a rejection higher than 30 dB in the stopband. The achieved performance is better than that exhibited by SIFs using only S-CPWs.
Design and implementation of a spell checker for Assamese

Spell checkers form a vital ingredient of text processors, character recognition systems, dictionary search engines, language processing software and similar tools. Although considerable work has been done in the area for English and related languages, the Indian language scenario presents a relatively more complex and uphill task. This paper describes strategies involved in the implementation of a spell checker for Assamese, the official language or the North Eastern Indian State of Assam.
Detection and enumeration of viable but non‐culturable transconjugants of Escherichia coli during the survival of recipient cells in river water

Viable but non‐culturable transconjugant cells were detected by a modification of the direct viable count (DVC) method. This modification involved the addition of parental antimicrobial markers (kanamycin and streptomycin) to the elongation medium in order to promote selective elongation of the transconjugant cells. Presence of viable, other than culturable, transconjugants was demonstrated in matings with parental cells from TSB culture as well as with recipient cells from survival in river water (under illuminated and non‐illuminated systems). In matings with a recipient strain from illuminated systems, culturable transconjugants were not detected after the third day of recipient cell survival. In spite of this, viable transconjugants were detected in numbers that exceeded 105cells ml−1. These results clearly show that a fraction of non‐culturable recipient cells is able to receive and express plasmids by conjugation processes and form viable but non‐culturable transconjugant cells.
Patient Deception: Nursing Students’ Beliefs and Attitudes

This study examined nursing students’ beliefs about indicators of deception and their attitudes toward patient deception. Fifty-eight participants from various nursing programs at a southwestern university completed a Detection of Deception Questionnaire and Attitudes Toward Patient Deception Scale. Findings indicated that nursing students have a number of inaccurate beliefs about deception and possess a number of negative attitudes toward patients who lie. Implications for nursing education are discussed.
Performance evaluation of HMM-based style classification with a small amount of training data

This paper describes a classi ﬁ cation technique for emotional expressions and speaking styles of speech using only a small amount of training data of a target speaker. We model spectral and fundamental frequency (F0) features simultaneously using multi-space probability distribution HMM (MSD-HMM), and adapt a speaker-independent neutral style model to a certain target speaker’s style model with a small amount of data us-ing MSD-MLLR which is extended MLLR for MSD-HMM. We perform classi ﬁ cation experiments for professional narra-tors’ speech and non-professional speakers’ speech and evaluate the performance of proposed technique by comparing with other commonly used classi ﬁ ers. We show that the proposed technique gives better result than the other classi ﬁ ers when us-ing a few sentences of target speaker’s style data.
Order within disorder: The atomic structure of ion-beam sputtered amorphous tantala (a-Ta2O5)

Amorphous tantala (a-Ta2O5) is a technologically important material often used in high-performance coatings. Understanding this material at the atomic level provides a way to further improve performance. This work details extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements of a-Ta2O5 coatings, where high-quality experimental data and theoretical fits have allowed a detailed interpretation of the nearest-neighbor distributions. It was found that the tantalum atom is surrounded by four shells of atoms in sequence; oxygen, tantalum, oxygen, and tantalum. A discussion is also included on how these models can be interpreted within the context of published crystalline Ta 2O5 and other a-T2O5 studies.
High throughput structural analysis of yeast ribosomes using hSHAPE

Global mapping of rRNA structure by traditional methods is prohibitive in terms of time, labor and expense. High throughput selective 2’ hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension (hSHAPE) bypasses these problems by using fluorescently labeled primers to perform primer extension reactions, the products of which can be separated by capillary electrophoresis, thus enabling long read lengths in a cost effective manner. The data so generated is analyzed in a quantitative fashion using SHAPEFinder. This approach was used to map the flexibility of nearly the entire sequences of the 3 largest rRNAs from intact, empty yeast ribosomes. Mapping of these data onto near-atomic resolution yeast ribosome structures revealed the binding sites of known trans-acting factors, as well as previously unknown highly flexible regions of yeast rRNA. Refinement of this technology will enable nucleotide-specific mapping of changes in rRNA structure depending on the status of tRNA occupancy, the presence or absence of other trans-acting factors, due to mutations of intrinsic ribosome components or extrinsic factors affecting ribosome biogenesis, or in the presence of translational inhibitors.
Smartness for Railway Transducers: Reliability Experimental Verifications and Accuracy

The development of electrical trains has been requiring advances in the construction of components that are usually supervised by smart systems. Safety aspects are given to redundant capabilities of the new equipments to overcome failures. The new components must obey to internationally recognized standards. For that reason, the electrical supply and the mechanical contacts between train and rails are the key issues to be supervised. The current ISO/IEC/IEEE 1451 is basically helpful for the electrical supply by means of the dedicated transducers. In this paper, a new voltage/current transducer for the train supply is shown and analyzed paying the attention on its reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety approach performed in an innovative way with a specific reference to guidelines of the ISO/IEC/IEEE 1451. At this aim, an extensive theoretical and experimental analysis has been performed using dedicated algorithms developed for the purposes of this research considering reliability aspects according to commercial and defense industry needs.
The impact of sign language on the cognitive development of deaf children: the case of theories of mind.

The ability to attribute false beliefs (i.e., demonstrate theory of mind) by 155 deaf children between 5 and 8 years of age was compared to that of 39 hearing children ages 4 to 6. The hypotheses under investigation were (1) that linguistic features of sign language could promote the development of theories of mind and (2) that early exposure to language would allow an easier access to these theories. Deaf children were grouped according to their communication mode and the hearing status of their parents. The results obtained in three false belief tasks supported the hypotheses: effective representational abilities were demonstrated by deaf children of deaf parents, whereas those born to hearing parents appeared delayed in that regard, with differences according to their communication mode.
A Retrograde Signal from Calsequestrin for the Regulation of Store-operated Ca2+ Entry in Skeletal Muscle*

Calsequestrin (CSQ) is a high capacity Ca2+-binding protein present in the lumen of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in striated muscle cells and has been shown to regulate the ryanodine receptor Ca2+ release channel activity through interaction with other proteins present in the SR. Here we show that overexpression of wild-type CSQ or a CSQ mutant lacking the junction binding region (amino acids 86–191; Δjunc-CSQ) in mouse skeletal C2C12 myotube enhanced caffeine- and voltage-induced Ca2+ release by increasing the Ca2+ load in SR, whereas overexpression of a mutant CSQ lacking a Ca2+ binding, aspartate-rich domain (amino acids 352–367; Δasp-CSQ) showed the opposite effects. Depletion of SR Ca2+ by thapsigargin initiated store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) in C2C12 myotubes. A large component of SOCE was inhibited by overexpression of wild-type CSQ or Δjunc-CSQ, whereas myotubes transfected with Δasp-CSQ exhibited normal function of SOCE. These results indicate that the aspartate-rich segment of CSQ, under conditions of overexpression, can sustain structural interactions that interfere with the SOCE mechanism. Such retrograde activation mechanisms are possibly taking place at the junctional site of the SR.
Lung Dysfunction of Chronic Smokers with No Signs of COPD

Cigarette smoking causes airflow limitation with lung hyperinflation being the primary causes of COPD. Fifty chronic smokers (CSs) with no signs of GOLD-adjusted COPD with smoking habit at least ≥10 pack-years (p/yrs) were divided into CS-mild (n = 24) with smoking history from ≥10 to ≤20 p/yrs and CS-heavy groups (n = 26) with smoking history ≥21 p/yrs. Spirometry, plethysmography and diffusing capacity were measured and lung computed tomography (CT) was performed. Residual volume (RV) (L) and RV/TLC (total lung capacity) ratio were significantly increased in CS-heavy when compared to CS-mild (p = 0.001, p = 0.03). A significant reduction of forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) ratio and airway specific conductance was shown in CS-heavy (p = 0.02, p = 0.03). Lung emphysema signs at CTs were revealed in 17 CSs and ten of them had declined diffusing capacity below 70% of predicted. The percentage of emphysematous lesions inversely and significantly correlated with measured diffusing capacity (p = 0.0009, r = −0.72). Study groups’ smoking intensity inversely correlated the declined airway specific conductance (p = 0.004, r = −0.39) and increase of the RV (L) (p = 0.0004, r = 0.46). Multiple regression analysis determined that smoking intensity regardless of the subjects’ age was significant factor for decline of airway specific conductance and increase of RV (L). Here we conclude that lung function deviation and lung structural changes are present in CSs before the clinical signs of airway obstruction reveal. Body plethysmography and diffusing capacity measurement with routine spirometry can provide valuable information for detection of changes reflecting to the early onset of COPD in CSs.
Thermolysin: kinetic study with oligopeptides.

Thermolysin is a well-known protease which exhibits its specificity against hydrophobic amino acid residues such as l-leucine, l-phenylalanine, etc. whose amino groups donate the susceptible peptide bonds (amino-endopeptidase). The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of neighboring residues surrounding the sensitive amino acid residues at the amino-side in peptide substrates. For the purpose, a kinetic study was made using various synthetic oligopeptides such as Z-A-(Gly)n–Leu-Ala or Z-Gly–Leu-(Gly)n-B (A or B = various d- or l-amino acid residues; n= 0, 1 and/or 2; the arrow shows the bond split) as substrates. Other kinetic or inhibition studies were also made. These studies indicated that the specificity is affected by at least three amino acid residues on the N-terminal side and by two amino acid residues on C-terminal side from the sensitive amino acid residue (at amino-side) in peptide substrates. The effect of each of the five neighboring amino acid residues for appearance of the specificity was similar with that of the corresponding one which had been observed in a neutral protease of Bacillus subtilis, but that was not completely the same.
Memory binding in clinical and non-clinical psychotic experiences: How does the continuum model fare?

Introduction. Both clinical and non-clinical auditory hallucinations (AH) have been associated with source memory deficits, supporting a continuum of underlying cognitive mechanisms, though few studies have employed the same task in patient and nonpatient samples. Recent commentators have called for more debate on the continuum model of psychosis. Consequently, the current study investigated the continuity model of AH with reference to memory binding. Methods. We used an identical voice and word recognition memory task to assess binding in two separate studies of: (1) healthy hallucination-prone individuals and controls (30 high and 30 low scorers on the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale–Revised) and (2) schizophrenia patient samples (32 with AH, 32 without AH) and 32 healthy controls. Results. There was no evidence of impaired binding in high hallucination-prone, compared to low hallucination-prone individuals. In contrast, individuals with schizophrenia (both with and without AH) had difficulties binding (remembering “who said what”), alongside difficulties remembering individual words and voices. Binding ability and memory for voices were also negatively linked to the loudness of hallucinated voices reported by patients with AH. Conclusions. These findings suggest that different mechanisms may exist in clinical and non-clinical hallucinators, adding to the growing debate on the continuum model of psychotic symptoms.
Low-cost mobile personal clouds

We propose a mobile peer to peer personal cloud architecture which allows users to capture, store, analyse, interact with and share different types of personal and context data with no privacy leakage. Our mobile personal cloud can host multiple different services which are intelligent, distributed, dynamic and operate in real time. In this paper we describe one service that we designed and deployed on our mobile personal cloud called Mobile Wellbeing Companion Cloud (MWCC). Using low-cost, off-the-shelf hardware components and open-source software, our MWCC combines several sensor network technologies to allow users to monitor and interact with their personal data and environment in real time without privacy leakage. MWCC augments heterogeneous sensors data with state of the art machine learning algorithms for signal filtering, fast classification and analysis and provides interactive data visualisation for transparent user interaction. We show that our MWCC is easy to use and highly accurate while managing to keep resource costs low.
Document ranking refinement using a Markov random field model*

Abstract This paper introduces a novel ranking refinement approach based on relevance feedback for the task of document retrieval. We focus on the problem of ranking refinement since recent evaluation results from Information Retrieval (IR) systems indicate that current methods are effective retrieving most of the relevant documents for different sets of queries, but they have severe difficulties to generate a pertinent ranking of them. Motivated by these results, we propose a novel method to re-rank the list of documents returned by an IR system. The proposed method is based on a Markov Random Field (MRF) model that classifies the retrieved documents as relevant or irrelevant. The proposed MRF combines: (i) information provided by the base IR system, (ii) similarities among documents in the retrieved list, and (iii) relevance feedback information. Thus, the problem of ranking refinement is reduced to that of minimising an energy function that represents a trade-off between document relevance and inter-document similarity. Experiments were conducted using resources from four different tasks of the Cross Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF) forum as well as from one task of the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) forum. The obtained results show the feasibility of the method for re-ranking documents in IR and also depict an improvement in mean average precision compared to a state of the art retrieval machine.