Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface Features of Recombinant Spider Silk Protein eADF4(κ16)‐Made Materials are Well‐Suited for Cardiac Tissue Engineering

Cardiovascular diseases causing high morbidity and mortality represent a major socioeconomic burden. The primary cause of impaired heart function is often the loss of cardiomyocytes. Thus, novel therapies aim at restoring the lost myocardial tissue. One promising approach is cardiac tissue engineering. Previously, it is shown that Antheraea mylitta silk protein fibroin is a suitable material for cardiac tissue engineering, however, its quality is difficult to control. To overcome this limitation, the interaction of primary rat heart cells with engineered Araneus diadematus fibroin 4 (κ16) (eADF4(κ16)) is investigated here, which is engineered based on the sequence of ADF4 by replacing the glutamic acid residue in the repetitive unit of its core domain with lysine. The data demonstrate that cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells attach well to eADF4(κ16) films on glass coverslips which provide an engineered surface with a polycationic character. Moreover, eADF4(κ16) films have, in contrast to fibronectin films, no hypertrophic effect but allow the induction of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Finally, cardiomyocytes grown on eADF4(κ16) films respond to pro‐proliferative factors and exhibit proper cell‐to‐cell communication and electric coupling. Collectively, these data demonstrate that designed recombinant eADF4(κ16)‐based materials are promising materials for cardiac tissue engineering.
What Do We Know of the Mobility of Research Scientists and of its Impact on Scientific Production

In this chapter we review the literature on the analysis of researcher mobility and productivity highlighting recent changes in the research system - internationalization, inter-sector mobility and collaboration and career diversification which make researcher mobility more relevant for the dynamics of knowledge creation and dissemination. Our review reveals that to date we still know little about the consequences and motivations of increased mobility for individual researchers. We contribute by presenting a typology of researcher mobility, and considering the relevance of multiple mobility events throughout a researcher career. Finally, we review the modeling problems related to analyzing the effect of mobility on academic performance at the individual level, and suggest various solutions.
Upgrading DEMO / PSI Transactions to Asynchronous and Distributed Networks with : Multi-Actor Roles ; Improved Expressiveness ; more Flexibility with Incomplete Requests ; and Handling Change in Cascade of Transaction

This work reports progress in the author’s PhD program. The author aims at contributing to the evolution of Enterprise Engineering (EE) theory, more specifically on DEMO/PSI theory, namely: a) improving the transaction pattern so that it can be used in asynchronous and distributed systems; b) allowing more than two actor roles in the transaction pattern; c) adding expressiveness through the missing conversation patterns that are currently omitted in the transaction pattern (initial agreement; discussion states); d) adding flexibility on the constraint that request act must contain all the required information for the transaction, allowing incomplete requests; e) improving the change problem on a cascade of transactions by reducing its impact. The author presents the identified problems and the research questions that guides this research. The current work is on the development stage for validation purposes. The experiments planned for validation are described in a succinct way, as well as the expected outcomes, based on the chosen research method.
Integrated sequence stratigraphy of the postimpact sediments from the Eyreville core holes, Chesapeake Bay impact structure inner basin

The Eyreville core holes provide the first continuously cored record of postimpact sequences from within the deepest part of the central Chesapeake Bay impact crater. We analyzed the upper Eocene to Pliocene postimpact sediments from the Eyreville A and C core holes for lithology (semiquantitative measurements of grain size and composition), sequence stratigraphy, and chronostratigraphy. Age is based primarily on Sr isotope stratigraphy supplemented by biostratigraphy (dinocysts, nannofossils, and planktonic foraminifers); age resolution is approximately ±0.5 Ma for early Miocene sequences and approximately ±1.0 Ma for younger and older sequences. Eocene-lower Miocene sequences are subtle, upper middle to lower upper Miocene sequences are more clearly distinguished, and upper Miocene- Pliocene sequences display a distinct facies pattern within sequences. We recognize two upper Eocene, two Oligocene, nine Miocene, three Pliocene, and one Pleistocene sequence and correlate them with those in New Jersey and Delaware. The upper Eocene through Pleistocene strata at Eyreville record changes from: (1) rapidly deposited, extremely fi ne-grained Eocene strata that probably represent two sequences deposited in a deep (>200 m) basin; to (2) highly dissected Oligocene (two very thin sequences) to lower Miocene (three thin sequences) with a long hiatus; to (3) a thick, rapidly deposited (43-73 m/Ma), very fi ne-grained, biosiliceous middle Miocene (16.5-14 Ma) section divided into three sequences (V5-V3) deposited in middle neritic paleoenvironments; to (4) a 4.5-Ma-long hiatus (12.8-8.3 Ma); to (5) sandy, shelly upper Miocene to Pliocene strata (8.3-2.0 Ma) divided into six sequences deposited in shelf and shoreface environments; and, last, to (6) a sandy middle Pleistocene paralic sequence (~400 ka). The Eyreville cores thus record the fi lling of a deep impact-generated basin where the timing of sequence boundaries is heavily infl uenced by eustasy. © 2009 The Geological Society of America.
Investigations of transient phase formation in Ti/Si thin film reaction

The analysis of temperature and time dependence of the Ti film microstructure evolution in Ti/Si thin films indicates Si diffusion occurs before any crystal phase is formed. Diffusion occurs first in Ti grain boundaries and then, within the grains. Ti5Si3 has been identified as a transient phase forming before C49 TiSi2 grows. Ti5Si3 only grows in isothermal runs in a narrow range of annealing temperatures (412–434 °C in our study). It has not been observed in temperature runs in which C49 TiSi2 forms. The mechanisms of Ti5Si3 formation and transformation into C49 have been found to be diffusion limited. Phases of alloyed Ti, amorphous silicide, Ti5Si3, and C49 TiSi2 have been simultaneously observed. The lifetime and the volume fraction of the initial metal layer transformed into Ti5Si3 are naturally tightly temperature dependent.
Comparison of wear behaviour and mechanical properties of as-cast Al6082 and Al6082-T6 using statistical analysis

In the present work the wear behavior and mechanical properties of as cast A16082 and A16086-T6 were compared and analyzed using statistical analysis. The as cast Al6082 alloy was solutionized at 550°C, quenched and artificially aged at 170°C for 8hrs. Metallographic examination and XRD analysis revealed the presence of intermetallic compounds Al6Mn.Hardness of heat treated Al6082 was found to be more than as cast sample. Wear tests were carried out using Pin on Disc wear testing machine according to Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Experiments were conducted under normal load 10-30N, sliding speed 1-3m/s, sliding distance 400,800,1200m respectively. Sliding speed was found to be the dominant factor for wear in both as cast and aged Al 6082 alloy. Sliding distance increases the wear rate up to 800m and then after it decreases.
A Space Filling Algorithm for Generating Procedural Geometry and Texture

Here we present an algorithm for procedurally generating a range of digital assets including 2 dimensional textures and 2.5 dimensional texture roughness. The approach involves placing shapes randomly, without overlap and with a monotonically decreasing area, within a region on a plane (the 2 dimensional texture). If the process is continued to infinity then the result is space filling thus providing a variable and potentially infinite degree of visual detail. It will be proposed and illustrated that the process is independent of the actual shape being used and as such can find application to a range of texture effects. As a means of generating texture and form procedurally the result has the other desirable property of being fractal, that is, self similar across scales which is characteristic of many packings that occur in nature.
An improved understanding of the roles of atomic processes and power balance in divertor target ion current loss during detachment

The process of divertor detachment, whereby heat and particle fluxes to divertor surfaces are strongly diminished, is required to reduce heat loading and erosion in a magnetic fusion reactor to acceptable levels. In this paper, the physics leading to the decrease of the total divertor ion current (It), or ‘roll-over’, is experimentally explored on the TCV tokamak through characterization of the location, magnitude and role of the various divertor ion sinks and sources including a complete analysis of particle and power balance. These first measurements of the profiles of divertor ionisation and hydrogenic radiation along the divertor leg are enabled through novel spectroscopic techniques. Over a range in TCV plasma conditions (plasma current and electron density, with/without impurity-seeding) the It roll-over is ascribed to a drop in the divertor ion source; recombination remains small or negligible farther into the detachment process. The ion source reduction is driven by both a reduction in the power available for ionization, Precl, and concurrent increase in the energy required per ionisation, Eion: this effect of power available on the ionization source is often described as ‘power starvation’ (or ‘power limitation’). The detachment threshold is found experimentally (in agreement with analytic model predictions) to be ~Precl/ItEion ~ 2, corresponding to a target electron temperature, Tt ~ Eion/γ where γ is the sheath transmission coefficient. The target pressure reduction, required to reduce the target ion current, is driven both by volumetric momentum loss as well as upstream pressure loss. The measured evolution through detachment of the divertor profile of various ion sources/sinks as well as power losses are quantitatively reproduced through full 2D SOLPS modelling through the detachment process as the upstream density is varied.
ScienceDirect International Conference on Sustainable Design , Engineering and Construction Project Complexity Indicators and Management Strategies-A Delphi Study

Construction industry experts believe that project performance frequently suffers due to construction complexity issues. However, there are limited studies focusing on construction project complexity definition, characteristics and indicators. In this paper, a qualitative Delphi method was applied to identify and validate significant complexity indicators. To fulfill this purpose, ten Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were invited to participate in a complexity assessment and management workshop. Through two rounds of the Delphi study, the top 30 complexity indicators were identified and ranked. It was concluded that “peak number of participants on the Project Management Team during engineering/design phase of the project”, “magnitude of change orders impacting project execution”, and “frequency of the workarounds” are the top three complexity indicators respectively. Furthermore, the impact weight associated with each of the complexity indicators were calculated. In the second part of the workshop, the Delphi methodology was again utilized to capture complexity management strategies and practices. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of the International Conference on Sustainable Design, Engineering and Construction 2015.
Recurrent Convolutions: A Model Compression Point of View

Recurrent convolution (RC) shares the same convolutional kernels and unrolls them multiple times, which is originally proposed to model time-space signals. We suggest that RC can be viewed as a model compression strategy for deep convolutional neural networks. RC reduces the redundancy across layers and is complementary to most existing model compression approaches. However, the performance of an RC network can’t match the performance of its corresponding standard one, i.e. with the same depth but independent convolutional kernels. This reduces the value of RC for model compression. In this paper, we propose a simple variant which improves RC networks: The batch normalization layers of an RC module are learned independently (not shared) for different unrolling steps. We provide insights on why this works. Experiments on CIFAR show that unrolling a convolutional layer several steps can improve the performance, thus indirectly plays a role in model compression.
Adolescent Students ́ Perceived Social Support, Self-Concept and School Engagement // Apoyo social percibido, autoconcepto e implicación escolar de estudiantes adolescentes

El estudio de la implicacion escolar constituye en la actualidad una tematica de gran interes en el ambito de la investigacion psicoeducativa al aportar una renovada vision del desarrollo del alumnado. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar las relaciones entre apoyo social percibido, autoconcepto general e implicacion escolar. Participaron 1250 estudiantes (49% chicos; 51% chicas), de entre 12 y 15 anos ( M =13.72, DT = 1.09), seleccionados aleatoriamente. Se somete a prueba un modelo estructural para analizar los efectos del apoyo social percibido y el autoconcepto general sobre la implicacion escolar. Los resultados aportan evidencias a favor de la influencia que el apoyo familiar y el apoyo de los iguales ejercen sobre la implicacion escolar a traves del autoconcepto general como variable mediadora, mientras que el apoyo del profesorado y de la familia inciden directamente sobre la implicacion escolar. Se discuten los resultados en el marco de la psicologia positiva y las implicaciones para futuras investigaciones.
Gaseous infall triggering starbursts in simulated dwarf galaxies

Using computer simulations, we explored gaseous infall as a possible explanation for the starburst phase in Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies. We simulate a cloud impact by merging a spherical gas cloud into an isolated dwarf galaxy. We investigated which conditions were favourable for triggering a burst and found that the orbit and the mass of the gas cloud play an important role. We discuss the metallicity, the kinematical properties, the internal dynamics and the gas, stellar and dark matter distribution of the simulations during a starburst. We find that these are in good agreement with observations and depending on the set-up (e.g. rotation of the host galaxy, radius of the gas cloud), our bursting galaxies can have qualitatively very different properties. Our simulations offer insight in how starbursts start and evolve. Based on this, we propose what postburst dwarf galaxies will look like.
Gbest Artificial Bee Colony for Non-convex Optimal Economic Dispatch in Power Generation

Non-convex Optimal Economic Dispatch (OED) problem is a complex optimization problem in power system operation that must be optimized economically to meet the power demand and system constraints. The non-convex OED is due to the generator characteristic such as prohibited operation zones, valve point effects (VPE) or multiple fuel options. This paper proposes a Gbest Artificial Bee Colony (GABC) algorithm based on global best particle (gbest) guided of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) in Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for solving non-convex OED with VPE. In order to investigate the effectiveness and performance of GABC algorithm, the IEEE 14-bus 5 unit generators and IEEE 30-bus 6 unit generators test systems are considered. The comparison of optimal solution, convergence characteristic and robustness are also highlighted to reveal the advantages of GABC. Moreover, the optimal results obtained by proposed GABC are compared with other reported results of meta-heuristic algorithms. It found that the GABC capable to obtain lowest cost as compared to others. Thus, it has great potential to be implemented in different types of power system optimization problem.
CD 26 mRNA expression in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease which involves several organs. CD26 is a multifunctional molecule that has an extracellular domain with dipeptidyl peptidase IV activity which digests crucial inflammatory molecules. CD26 plays an important role in T-cell activation and enhances immune responses. This study was carried out to evaluate the level of CD26 gene expression in SLE patients. Forty-six SLE patients and 44 healthy controls voluntarily participated in this study. Based on the SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), the patients were divided into two subgroups, those with active disease (n=24) and those with inactive disease (n=22). Patients were also subgrouped according to renal involvement, as those with lupus nephritis (n=17) and those without lupus nephritis (n=29). Their CD26 mRNA levels in peripheral blood cells were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. CD26 mRNA expression increased 3.6-fold in SLE patients in comparison with the controls (p<0.0001). No difference was found in the level of CD26 mRNA among the subgroups of the SLE patients with the active or inactive form of the disease (p>0.05). Although CD26 mRNA expression in patients with lupus nephritis was 2.76-fold higher than those without nephritis, the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). CD26 gene expression in peripheral blood cells of SLE patients significantly increased over that of the controls. This increase was not affected by the disease activity nor did it show any significant correlation with complications in organs.
Silicon photonics in Pirelli

Silicon is the dominant material in the microelectronic industry and silicon photonics is rapidly gaining importance as a technological platform for a wide range of applications in telecom, and optical interconnect. It allows the implementation of many photonic functions through the use of wafer-scale technologies normally used for advanced CMOS-processing. In this paper some of the most important issues toward a practical implementation of Silicon photonics into an industrial device will be addressed: low loss waveguides, polarization handling, tunability, hitless switching. A tunable Add-Drop multiplexer has been chosen as a case study of a fully integrated device.
Methods for Measuring Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition Inputs in Arid and Montane Ecosystems of Western North America

Measuring atmospheric deposition in arid and snow-dominated regions presents unique challenges. Throughfall, the flux of nutrients transported in solution to the forest floor, is generally the most practical method of estimating below-canopy deposition, particularly when monitoring multiple forest sites or over multiple years. However, more studies are needed to relate throughfall fluxes to total atmospheric deposition, particularly in seasonally dry regions. In seasonally snow-covered regions, the distribution of atmospheric deposition and subsequent nitrogen (N) fluxes are highly sensitive to the temporal and spatial dynamics of snow accumulation and melt. Recent developments in passive monitoring techniques for throughfall and measurement of gaseous pollutants greatly facilitate monitoring of atmospheric deposition and ambient pollutant concentrations over broader spatial scales than was previously possible. Here we focus primarily on N fluxes as N is both a limiting nutrient and a pollutant in many terrestrial ecosystems, and because sulfur (S) deposition is not a widespread problem in the West. Methods suggested for estimating spatially distributed atmospheric deposition in arid and snow-dominated systems include simulation modeling, inferential method, throughfall collection, branch rinsing, N accumulation in surface soils of arid zones, and snowpack sampling methods. Applying more than one approach is often necessary to capture the various atmospheric deposition pathways and the spatial and temporal variability of N deposition. Corresponding author: E-mail: mfenn@fs.fed. us
Pleistocene – Holocene radiolarian paleotemperatures in the Norwegian Sea based on artificial neural networks

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were trained by using an extensive radiolarian census dataset from the Nordic (Greenland, Norwegian, and Iceland) Seas. The regressions between observed and predicted Summer Sea Temperature (SST) indicate that lower error margins and better correlation coefficients are obtained for 100 m (SST100) compared to 10 m (SST10) water depth, and by using a subset of species instead of all species. The trained ANNs were subsequently applied to radiolarian data from two Norwegian Sea cores, HM 79-4 and MD95-2011, for reconstructions of SSTs through the last 15,000 years. The reconstructed SST is quite high during the Bølling–Allerød, when it reaches values only found later during the warmest phase of the Holocene. The climatic transitions in and out of the Younger Dryas are very rapid and involve a change in SST100 of 6.2 and 6.8 8C, taking place over 440 and 140 years, respectively. SST100 remains at a maximum during the early Holocene, and this Radiolarian Holocene Optimum Temperature Interval (RHOTI) predates the commonly recognized middle Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO). During the 8.2 ka event, SST100 decreases by ca. 3 8C, and this episode marks the establishment of a cooling trend, roughly spanning the middle Holocene (until ca. 4.2 ka). Successively, since then and through the late Holocene, SST100 follows instead a statistically significant warming trend. The general patterns of the reconstructed SSTs agree quite well with previously obtained results based on application of Imbrie and Kipp Transfer Functions (IKTF) to the same two cores for SST0. A statistically significant cyclic component of our SST record (period of 278 years) has been recognized. This is close to the de Vries or Suess cycle, linked to solar variability, and documented in a variety of other high-resolution Holocene records. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.