Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A MICROMORPHIC APPROACH TO DISLOCATION THEORY AND ITS RELATION TO SEVERAL EXISTING THEORIES.

Abstract : Two separate continuum dislocation theories are presented; one dealing with static incompatible, micropolar dislocations and disclinations, as encountered in initial stress problems, and the other with a dynamical theory of micromorphic solids containing continuous distributions of dislocations. Relationships between several continuum dislocation theories and micromorphic mechanics are established by providing extensions and new interpretations of the micromorphic theory. First both micromorphic and micropolar theories of elastic solids are summarized, and then the theories of Kroner, Fox, and Berdichevskii and Sedov are discussed in some detail within this framework. In the last section, by use of micromorphic kinematics, dislocation density, strain, and microstrain tensors are introduced and constitutive equations are constructed. Together with the balance laws this constitutes a complete dynamical theory. The theory is intended for predictions of motions and micromotions of a solid containing dislocations undergoing elastic deformations. From the micromotion, the dislocation density and first stress moments can be calculated. (Author)
Association of aging-related genes with prognosis and immune infiltration in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is one of the deadliest malignancies. Aging is described as the degeneration of physiological function, which is complexly correlated with cancer. It is significant to explore the influences of aging-related genes (ARGs) on PAAD. Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) datasets, we used univariate Cox regression analysis and acquired eight differentially expressed ARGs with prognostic values. Two molecular subtypes were identified based on these ARGs to depict PAAD patients’ overall survival (OS) and immune microenvironments preliminarily. Cluster 1 had a poor OS as well as a worse immune microenvironment. Through least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis, we constructed a seven-ARG risk signature based on the TCGA dataset and verified it in Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) to predict the prognoses, immune microenvironments, signal pathways, tumor mutations, and drug sensitivity of PAAD patients. The high-risk group possessed an unfavorable OS compared with that of the low-risk group. We also verified the independence and clinical availability of the risk signature by Cox regression analyses and the establishment of a nomogram, respectively. The higher risk score was associated with several clinical factors such as higher grade and advanced tumor stage as well as lower immunoscore and cluster 1. The negative associations of risk scores with immune, stroma, and estimate scores proved the terrible immune microenvironment in the high-risk group. Relationships between risk score and immune checkpoint gene expression as well as signal pathways provided several therapeutic targets. PAAD patients in the low-risk group possessed lower tumor mutations as well as a higher susceptibility to axitinib and vorinostat. The high-risk group bore a higher TMB and cisplatin and dasatinib may be better options. We used immunohistochemistry and qPCR to confirm the expression of key ARGs with their influences on OS. In conclusion, we identified two ARG-mediated molecular subtypes and a novel seven-ARG risk signature to predict prognoses, immune microenvironments, signal pathways, tumor mutations, and drug sensitivity of PAAD patients.
Effect of corporate social responsibility performance on dividend pay-out: Role of corporate governance quality

The goal of this study was to analyze the influence of corporate social responsibility on dividend pay-out while considering the role of corporate governance quality on mutual funds operating in Pakistan. This study used a two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) to control not only endogeneity problems caused by inclusion of firm-specific variables, but also the endogeneity caused by dividend pay-out selection. The findings are that mutual funds that engage in higher levels of corporate social responsibility pay greater dividends. The quality of corporate governance not only has a strong positive impact on mutual fund’s dividend pay-outs, but also moderates the association between dividend pay-out and corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, differences exist between socially responsible Islamic and conventional mutual funds in terms of dividend pay-out policy. These findings imply that the quality of corporate governance performs a substantial role in dividend decisions. Policymakers and regulators should also encourage asset management firms to improve corporate governance quality and engage in more socially responsible activities, which can lead to improved fund performance and dividend pay-out.
Integrated analysis of anti-tumor roles of BAP1 in osteosarcoma

Background This study aims to screen out differentially expressed genes (DEGs) regulated by BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) in osteosarcoma cells, and to analyze their biological functions. Methods The microarray dataset GSE23035 of BAP1-knockdown osteosarcoma cells was obtained from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, consisting of shControl, shBAP1#1 and shBAP1#2 samples. The DEGs between the BAP1-knockdown osteosarcoma cells and the untreated osteosarcoma cells were screened with limma package, and then subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was also performed for the three groups of samples. Hub genes in a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of DEGs was filtered, and then subjected to prognostic analysis and correlation analysis with BAP1 in Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) database. Besides, the correlation between BAP1 and biological processes/pathways was analyzed by Gene Set Variation Analysis (GSVA) method and the correlation between BAP1 and immune infiltration by CIBERSORT and ESTIMATE methods. The roles of BAP1 in regulating proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) were validated by CCK-8 and western blot. Results 58 upregulated DEGs and 81 downregulated DEGs were obtained with |logFC| ≥ 1 and adj.p < 0.05. Cell cycle, DNA repair, and focal adhesion were associated with BAP1 in datasets. Further, BAP1 was negatively correlated with naïve CD4 T cells infiltration. In vitro, BAP1 inhibited proliferation and EMT. Conclusion BAP1 might be a tumor suppressor in osteosarcoma and a promising therapeutic target.
Computer-assisted design model to evaluate the outcome of combined osteotomies in Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease

Objective The current study aims to conduct a quantitative dynamic analysis of hip morphology using a computer-assisted design (CAD) model to evaluate the combined pelvic and femoral osteotomies in the treatment of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease (LCPD). Materials and methods CAD models of patients with unilateral LCPD treated by combined pelvic and proximal femoral osteotomies were established based on the data of CT scan, on which morphological parameters were measured. Shape difference analysis of normal hips was adopted to locate the most apparent displacement and the main strain on the surface of the proximal femur. Results Fifteen patients were included, and the mean age of receiving operation was 6.63 years old. There were 10 hips rated as Herring type C, and the rest were type B. Compared with the normal side, the affected hip joints have a longer distance between femoral head and acetabular sphere. The difference of coverage area of the femoral head surface and femoral head volume between the affected and normal sides was bigger compared with the preoperative model, respectively. The changes in the acetabular radius and the area of the surface were not apparent, pre-, and post-operatively. The displacement was mainly on superior and lateral superior portions of the femoral head where the stresses were concentrated. Conclusion Combined pelvic and femoral osteotomies could effectively improve the superior and superior–posterior area of acetabulum containment with increased femoral head volume. CAD model and shape difference analysis can provide a better understanding of deformations of LCPD and more information for surgical planning and evaluation of treatment outcomes.
Altered resting state brain metabolic connectivity in dementia with Lewy bodies

Although dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) have Parkinsonism in common with Parkinson's disease (PD) or PD dementia (PDD), they have different neuropathologies that underlie Parkinsonism. Altered brain functional connectivity that may correspond to neuropathology has been reported in PD while never been studied in DLB. To identify the characteristic brain connectivity of Parkinsonism in DLB, we compared the resting state metabolic connectivity in striato-thalamo-cortical (STC) circuit, nigrostriatal pathway, and cerebello-thalamo-cortical motor (CTC) circuit in 27 patients with drug-naïve DLB and 27 age- and sex-matched normal controls using 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose PET. We derived 118 regions of interest using the Automated Anatomical Labeling templates and the Wake Forest University Pick-Atlas. We applied the sparse inverse covariance estimation method to construct the metabolic connectivity matrix. Patients with DLB, with or without Parkinsonism, showed lower inter-regional connectivity between the areas included in the STC circuit (motor cortex–striatum, midbrain–striatum, striatum–globus pallidus, and globus pallidus–thalamus) than the controls. DLB patients with Parkinsonism showed less reduced inter-regional connectivity between the midbrain and the striatum than those without Parkinsonism, and higher inter-regional connectivity between the areas included in the CTC circuit (motor cortex–pons, pons–cerebellum, and cerebellum–thalamus) than those without Parkinsonism and the controls. The resting state metabolic connectivity in the STC circuit may be reduced in DLB. In DLB with Parkinsonism, the CTC circuit and the nigrostriatal pathway may be activated to mitigate Parkinsonism. This difference in the brain connectivity may be a candidate biomarker for differentiating DLB from PD or PDD.
Rapid detection of EBOLA VP40 in microchip immunofiltration assay

In the spring of 2014, the Ebola virus (EBOV) strain Zaire caused a dramatic outbreak in several regions of West Africa. The RT-PCR and antigen capture diagnostic proved to be effective for detecting EBOV in blood and serum. In this paper, we present data of a rapid antigen capture test for the detection of VP40. The test was performed in a microfluidic chip for immunofiltration analysis. The chip integrates all necessary assay components. The analytical sensitivity of the rapid test was 8 ng/ml for recombinant VP40. In serum and whole blood samples spiked with virus culture material, the detection limit was 2.2 x 102 PFU/ml. The performance data of the rapid test (15 min) are comparable to that of the VP40 laboratory ELISA.
Optimization of Wavelength Division Multiplexed Optical Communication Systems at 100 Gb/s Using Multilevel Phase Modulation and Direct Detection

This thesis investigates the performance limits of phase modulated and direct detected WDM systems at 55.5 and 111 Gb/s with 50 GHz channel spacing. Particularly, we are interested in identifying the parameters of the optical link that maximize the performance of a certain transmission format and subsequently analyze different modulation schemes and link configurations at their optimum operation points. For this purpose, a novel optimization algorithm is proposed and extensively used for determining the optimum parameters of the investigated scenarios. Firstly, different "flavors'' of DQPSK at 55.5 Gb/s are compared, such as return and non-return-to-zero pulse shapes using single and dual-carrier implementations. Secondly, we introduce optical DQPSK transmission using Nyquist pulses as a way of minimizing the spectral occupancy of the signals. By means of spectral shaping we attempt to increase the tolerance of the Nyquist signals to transmission impairments. And finally, the transmission of 111 Gb/s encoding 3 bits per transmitted symbol is investigated. Because of the broad spectrum of the signals and small channel separation, transmission suffers from strong performance penalties due to WDM cross-talk and narrow-band filtering. We justify using ASK-DQPSK as the modulation format for such scenario. Transmission performance is quantified by means of simulations, which assess robustness to narrow-band filtering, dispersion and non-linear tolerance, and propagation in non-dispersion and dispersion managed links. The optimum dispersion map parameters, launch powers and an estimation of the maximum transmission distance are given for each of the considered transmission formats.
Using Genetic Algorithms With Multi-Objective Optimization To Adjust Finite Element Models Of Welded Joints

To ensure realistic results when modeling welded joints using the finite element method (FEM), it is essential to appropriately characterize the thermo-mechanical behavior of the elastic-plastic Finite Element (FE) models. This task is complex. Any small differences between the actual welded joints and the welded joints based on FEM can be amplified enormously in the presence of nonlinearities. Due to the intense concentration of heat on a small area to create such joints, the regions near the weld line undergo severe thermal cycles. These generate significant angular distortion due mainly to the residual stresses. This paper proposes a method to determine the parameters that are most appropriate for modeling the Butt joint single V-groove welded joint FE models’ thermo-mechanical behavior that were created by the one-pass Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW). The method is based on experimental data, as well as genetic algorithms (GA) with multi-objective functions. As a practical example, the proposed methodology is validated with three different welded joints specimens that are manufactured by different voltages and currents (26 volts and 140 amps, 28 volts and 210 amps, and 35 volts and 260 amps). The electrode orientation, shielding gas flow rate, distance between nozzle and plate, and welding speed were considered to be constant for all of the specimens that were studied, and their values were 80°, 20.0 L/min, 4.0 mm, and 6 mm/s, respectively. The base material was EN 235JR low carbon steel, whereas the weld bead was ER70S-6 for the three specimens that were welded. An agreement between the temperature field and the angular distortion that was obtained by the adjusted FE models and those that were obtained experimentally demonstrates that the proposed methodology may be valid for automatically determining the most appropriate parameters.
Improving interoperability of AEC collaborative software through the creation of data exchange standards

Today collaborative systems are increasingly being used to manage project information on large and medium sized construction projects. The speed of expansion in use of these systems combined with the lack of consolidation has led to a highly fragmented marketplace for collaborative products. Organisations participating in the construction lifecycle are currently free to select a collaborative system from any of the available providers, but once selected were unable to effectively change service provider until the conclusion of the project. This perceived lock-in along with concerns over the stability of some technology providers has created unease amongst the user community and is hindering the adoption of collaborative tools. Since 2003 the bulk of major UK construction project collaborative software providers have been working together to develop standards that will allow for project data to be transferred between vendor applications. Under the umbrella of the Network of Construction Collaboration Technology Providers (NCCTP), a number of solutions have been designed allowing for project data to be transferred between heterogeneous collaborative systems. Through extensive industry participation, this thesis shows how the theoretical work done in creating representations of collaborative systems can be applied to real world system to allow for data to be transfer in bulk, incrementally or in real time. The findings of work are presented in four peer reviewed papers, three technical reports and a number of supporting documents which comprise the developed data exchange standards. Work in this field is continuing to evolve with the suppliers of collaborative systems seeking to implement additional integration.
Approximations parcimonieuses et problèmes inverses en acoustique

Cette these presente d'une part, la construction d'approximations parcimonieuses de champs acoustiques, d'autre part l'utilisation de ces approximations pour la resolution de problemes inverses. L'approximation de solutions de l'equation d'Helmholtz est etendue a des modeles de vibration de plaques, ce qui, entre autres, permet egalement de concevoir une methode de calcul de mode propres alternative aux methodes de reference. Differents problemes inverses sont ensuite etudies, en se basant sur ces resultats d'approximation. Le premier est l'holographie acoustique en champ propre, pour laquelle nous developpons une nouvelle methode de regularisation, ainsi qu'une antenne aleatoire permettant de reduire le nombre de mesures necessaires a la reconstruction de deformees operationnelles de plaques. Le deuxieme probleme inverse etudie est l'interpolation spatiale de reponses impulsionnelles de plaques, ou nous montrons qu'en mesurant le champ vibratoire sur un ensemble d'echantillons bien choisi (justifie par une analyse theorique), les reponses impulsionnelles d'une plaque peuvent etre obtenues avec moins de mesures que demandees par le theoreme d'echantillonnage de Shannon. Enfin, le probleme de la localisation de sources dans un espace clos reverberant est etudie. Nous montrons qu'en utilisant des modeles parcimonieux d'ondes, la localisation est possible sans connaissances a priori sur les conditions aux limites du domaine de propagation des ondes.
Prediction of free turbulent mixing using a turbulent kinetic energy method

Free turbulent mixing of two-dimensional and axisymmetric one- and two-stream flows is analyzed by a relatively simple turbulent kinetic energy method. This method incorporates a linear relationship between the turbulent shear and the turbulent kinetic energy and an algebraic relationship for the length scale appearing in the turbulent kinetic energy equation. Good results are obtained for a wide variety of flows. The technique is shown to be especially applicable to flows with heat and mass transfer, for which nonunity Prandtl and Schmidt numbers may be assumed.
Effective innate immune response in natural HIV-1 controllers. Can mimicking lead to novel preventive and cure strategies against HIV-1?

Purpose of review HIV-1 controller individuals represents a model that can be useful for the development of novel vaccines and therapies. Initial studies pointed to the involvement of improved adaptive immunity, however, new emerging evidence suggests the contribution of innate cells to effective antiviral responses in spontaneous controllers. Therefore, understanding the alterations on innate cell subsets might be crucial to develop new effective therapeutic strategies. Recent findings Among different innate immune cells, dendritic cell (DC) and natural killer (NK) cell are essential for effective antiviral responses. DC from controllers display improved innate detection of HIV-1 transcripts, higher induction of interferons, higher antigen presenting capacities and increased metabolism and higher capacities to induce polyfunctional CD8+ T-cell responses. Such properties have been mimicked by Toll-like receptor ligands and applied to DC-based immunotherapies in humans and in animal models. NK cells from controllers display higher expression of activating receptors promoting increased antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and natural cytotoxicity activities. Neutralizing antibodies in combination with interleukin-15 superagonist or interferon-α can increase ADCC and cytotoxicity in NK cells from HIV-1 progressors. Summary Mimicking DC and NK cell innate profiles in controllers has become a promising strategy to step forward a novel efficient immunotherapy against the HIV-1 infection.
Electrical Interconnections Through CMOS Wafers

Chips with integrated vias are currently the ultimate miniaturizing solution for 3D packaging of microsystems. Previously the application of vias has almost exclusively been demonstrated within MEMS technology, and only a few of these via technologies have been CMOS compatible. This thesis describes the development of vias through a silicon wafer containing Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry. Two via technologies have been developed and fabricated in blank silicon wafers; one based on KOH etching of wafer through-holes and one based on DRIE of wafer through-holes. The most promising of these technologies — the DRIE based process — has been implemented in CMOS wafers containing hearing aid amplifiers. The main challenges in the development of a CMOS compatible via process depend on the chosen process for etching of wafer through-holes. In the case of KOH etching of wafer through-holes the main challenge is to protect the CMOS wafer during etching. In the case of DRIE etching of the wafer through-holes the main challenges are proper insulation of the wafer through-holes, conformal deposition of via metal and structuring of the deposited metal. This thesis discusses these issues and presents the development leading to applicable technological solutions. The via technology developed in this work enable effective utilization of the available surface area on both sides of the amplifier chip for redistribution as well as placement of passive components and external connections. A process for wafer level packaging and assembly of chips with vias is presented in this thesis. Discrete components, capacitors and resistors, are assembled on the backside of the amplifier chips by screen printing of solder paste, pick and place of components, and reflow soldering. Since the technology facilitates integration of discrete components directly on the surface of the chip, the need for an additional substrate is eliminated. For a single chip solution employing the presented via technology and on-chip integration of components, the total height of the package constituting a complete hearing aid amplifier is smaller than 1 mm, which is smaller than any hearing aid amplifier seen today. The thinner and smaller amplifiers will have a large impact on the fitting rate, and more people will be able to benefit from a modern high performance hearing aid of the CIC type hidden in the ear canal.