Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An investigation into the effect of welding parameters on fatigue crack growth rate and fracture toughness in friction stir welded copper sheets

In the present study, the effect of various factors of friction stir welding including rotational and traverse speeds of tool and in fact, the amount of the heat transferred within welding was evaluated on the resistance to fatigue crack growth and fracture toughness in different zones of welding copper sheets. In order to better assess these two properties, other mechanical properties such as tensile strength and hardness were also studied and the microstructure of different zones of welds was investigated using optic and electron microscopies. By doing this study, it became clear that the less the heat transferred to the plunging during the welding process, the better properties the resulting welds will have which well justifies the use of cooling in this study. Transferring heat to plunging causes the growth of grains in various zones and can cause the fatigue crack growth in heat-affected zone to increase averagely about 4.2 times the base material for different ΔK. In contrast, the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization in the stir zone as well as fragmentizing and alignment of grains in this zone can increase the resistance to fatigue crack growth up to 9-fold the resistance of the base material. The other interesting result of this study was that although the properties of stir zone improve by increasing the number of welding passes, the properties of its weakest zone i.e. the heat-affected zone will decline.
Experiences with starfield visualizations for analysis of library collections

This paper presents a qualitative and formative study of the uses of a starfield-based visualization interface for analysis of library collections. The evaluation process has produced feedback that suggests ways to significantly improve starfield interfaces and the interaction process to improve their learnability and usability. The study also gave us clear indication of additional potential uses of starfield visualizations that can be exploited by further functionality and interface development. We report on resulting implications for the design and use of starfield visualizations that will impact their graphical interface features, their use for managing data quality and their potential for various forms of visual data mining. Although the current implementation and analysis focuses on the collection of a physical library, the most important contributions of our work will be in digital libraries, in which volume, complexity and dynamism of collections are increasing dramatically and tools are needed for visualization and analysis.
Effect of Thymectomy on the Termination of Immunological Tolerance in Rabbits

IT is well established that the thymus plays an important part in the neonatal development of the immune mechanisms. Thymectomy during early life inhibits the rejection of homografts made later1,2. Similarly, animals thymectomized during early life show a decreased ability to produce circulating antibodies, while thymectomy during adult life has no apparent effect on the production of circulating antibodies3–6. Rabbits thymectomized within five days after birth showed either the absence of or greatly reduced response to injections of bovine serum albumin (BSA)7. Although the thymus appears to exert its influence primarily during the neonatal period, it also can function during adult life in that thymectomy pro longs the recovery of immunological capacity following X-radiation8–11. Furthermore, Claman and Talmage12 have shown that adult mice made tolerant by neonatal injection of bovine γ-globulin do not spontaneously lose their tolerant state so rapidly if the thymus is removed. They interpreted their data as supporting the hypothesis that immunological tolerance occurs through irreversible inhibition or death of competent cells and that the loss of tolerance occurs through the development of newly arisen (uninhibited) cells which may originate in the thymus.
Flavoring Chemicals in E-Cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2,3-Pentanedione, and Acetoin in a Sample of 51 Products, Including Fruit-, Candy-, and Cocktail-Flavored E-Cigarettes

Background: There are > 7,000 e-cigarette flavors currently marketed. Flavoring chemicals gained notoriety in the early 2000s when inhalation exposure of the flavoring chemical diacetyl was found to be associated with a disease that became known as “popcorn lung. ” There has been limited research on flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes. Objective: We aimed to determine if the flavoring chemical diacetyl and two other high-priority flavoring chemicals, 2,3-pentanedione and acetoin, are present in a convenience sample of flavored e-cigarettes. Methods: We selected 51 types of flavored e-cigarettes sold by leading e-cigarette brands and flavors we deemed were appealing to youth. E-cigarette contents were fully discharged and the air stream was captured and analyzed for total mass of diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin, according to OSHA method 1012. Results: At least one flavoring chemical was detected in 47 of 51 unique flavors tested. Diacetyl was detected above the laboratory limit of detection in 39 of the 51 flavors tested, ranging from below the limit of quantification to 239 μg/e-cigarette. 2,3-Pentanedione and acetoin were detected in 23 and 46 of the 51 flavors tested at concentrations up to 64 and 529 μg/e-cigarette, respectively. Conclusion: Because of the associations between diacetyl and bronchiolitis obliterans and other severe respiratory diseases observed in workers, urgent action is recommended to further evaluate this potentially widespread exposure via flavored e-cigarettes. Citation: Allen JG, Flanigan SS, LeBlanc M, Vallarino J, MacNaughton P, Stewart JH, Christiani DC. 2016. Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a sample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes. Environ Health Perspect 124:733–739; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1510185
Meso-level manufacturing process simulation of sandwich structures to analyze viscoelastic-dependent residual stresses

This article presents a simulation method to analyze process-induced stresses of a meso-level unit cell of a pin-reinforced sandwich structure (carbon fiber-reinforced plastics/foam). During the manufacturing process, different mechanisms lead to process-induced deformations and stresses. These mechanisms depend on thermal expansion, shrinkage, nonlinear viscoelastic properties of the material, and variation in local temperatures. In critical cases, these residual stresses can lead to initial degradation and up to failure of the material. This article demonstrates a method to perform a sequential coupled thermo-mechanical analysis of the manufacturing process with focus on the correct determination of stresses and description of the viscoelastic relaxation effect. A novel approach to take into account anisotropy of characteristic relaxation times dependent on the cure process is presented.
Characterization of novel designs of Terahertz fibers

This thesis characterizes a range of novel designs of Terahertz (THz) fibers fabricated from photonic crystal fiber’s fabrication techniques. These fibers are characterized using a highly versatile THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz TDS) setup. The coherent THz TDS setup produces a broadband pulse of THz radiation from 0.2 to 1.5 THz frequency range, and measures the electric field of the THz pulse. This allows for direct extraction of amplitude and phase details via Fourier transform of the measured temporal waveform. For all of the fibers, we present, for the first time, the experimentally determined values for the group velocity dispersion β2 parameter in the THz region. We experimentally observed propagation of an HE11 mode in the THz high-index guiding microstructured fiber with a single layer of air-holes as its cladding. The fibers are made of a low loss and a very low dispersion polymer known as Zeonex in the THz spectral range. The fibers are shown to exhibit negligible waveguide loss. We have achieved a high coupling efficiency, close to 80%, using the specially designed symmetric-pass lenses. Our measurements show that low dispersion over a wide range of THz frequencies can be achieved in these fibers. These measured data are in good agreement with the simulation results obtained from the effective index method and the finite-difference frequency domain (FDFD) method. Wideband THz guidance in air-core all-dielectric kagome microstructured fibers is demonstrated in this work. High loss peaks identified in the fibers’ loss spectra are associated with the resonance condition related to the core and cladding modes overlap. The fundamental mode propagated in the fibers shows close-to-zero dispersion characteristic in the THz frequencies. We observed good agreement between our measured data and the results from the simulations using FDFD method. THz propagation in a hollow core fiber with wire inclusions is also investigated. The modes’ evolution in the twoand four-wire configurations are characterized. The two-wire configuration is measured to have lower propagation loss than the four-wire configuration. Close-to-zero dispersion propagation is observed in THz frequencies, and the experimental results are in good agreement with the results from the FDFD simulations.
61.2: Invited Paper: High Performance Organic‐Inorganic Hybrid Plastic Substrate for Flexible Display and Electronics

An inorganic dominated silica/polyimide (PI) hybrid film has been successfully developed for the fabrication of flexible AM‐OLED. The inorganic‐organic hybrid film was achieved in roll type with a variety of attractive properties such as low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE, 33 ppm/°C), high transmittance (within the wavelength range of 400 to 700 nm), excellent flexibility and high Yang's modulus.
VISCOELASTIC CHARACTERIZATION OF RABBIT NUCLEUS PULPOSUS TISSUE IN TORSIONAL CREEP

Recently, molecular therapy approaches have been shown to favorably alter the course of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) in a rabbit model. Typical experimental outcome measures for the rabbit model of IDD include MRI, x-ray, histology, and gene expression. Biomechanical function is another desirable parameter through which to compare treatments, although this is difficult due to limited availability of data for small animal models. In the current study, nucleus pulposus tissue was taken from the healthy rabbit intervertebral disc and tested in torsional creep to establish a database of healthy tissue behavior for future use in assessing the functional efficacy of molecular therapy treatments of IDD. Nucleus pulposus tissue was excised from the L5-L6 intervertebral disc, mounted between the cone and plate of an AR1000 Rheometer, and various torsional creep experiments were performed. Several creep models were fit to the data and modeling analyses were conducted. Of the models compared, the Andrade creep model provides the most reliable data extrapolation. It appears that the tissue is nonlinearly viscoelastic since it does not adhere to the Boltzmann superposition principle. A nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model, derived for Andrade creep and used to predict the strain behavior obtained at higher levels of stress, provides consistent prediction results. The application of this model to degenerated rabbit NP tissue is expected to result in altered model parameters - thus providing quantifiable, functional benchmarks of success for molecular therapy approaches to the treatment of IDD.
Power and Sample Size Determination in the Rasch Model: Evaluation of the Robustness of a Numerical Method to Non-Normality of the Latent Trait

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) have gained importance in clinical and epidemiological research and aim at assessing quality of life, anxiety or fatigue for instance. Item Response Theory (IRT) models are increasingly used to validate and analyse PRO. Such models relate observed variables to a latent variable (unobservable variable) which is commonly assumed to be normally distributed. A priori sample size determination is important to obtain adequately powered studies to determine clinically important changes in PRO. In previous developments, the Raschpower method has been proposed for the determination of the power of the test of group effect for the comparison of PRO in cross-sectional studies with an IRT model, the Rasch model. The objective of this work was to evaluate the robustness of this method (which assumes a normal distribution for the latent variable) to violations of distributional assumption. The statistical power of the test of group effect was estimated by the empirical rejection rate in data sets simulated using a non-normally distributed latent variable. It was compared to the power obtained with the Raschpower method. In both cases, the data were analyzed using a latent regression Rasch model including a binary covariate for group effect. For all situations, both methods gave comparable results whatever the deviations from the model assumptions. Given the results, the Raschpower method seems to be robust to the non-normality of the latent trait for determining the power of the test of group effect.
The NCS code of practice for the quality assurance and control for volumetric modulated arc therapy

In 2010, the NCS (Netherlands Commission on Radiation Dosimetry) installed a subcommittee to develop guidelines for quality assurance and control for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) treatments. The report (published in 2015) has been written by Dutch medical physicists and has therefore, inevitably, a Dutch focus. This paper is a condensed version of these guidelines, the full report in English is freely available from the NCS website www.radiationdosimetry. org. After describing the transition from IMRT to VMAT, the paper addresses machine quality assurance (QA) and treatment planning system (TPS) commissioning for VMAT. The final section discusses patient specific QA issues such as the use of class solutions, measurement devices and dose evaluation methods.
The Performance Of Degradable Polymers Within Wastes Management

The use of degradable polymers for the collection and comporting of organic wastes is explored within this paper. With reference to one trial where the performance of a ‘degradable’ polyethylene based sack for the kerbside collection of organic wastes was investigated. Areas for consideration were the impacts of the degradable polymer on the comporting process and the quality of the finished product. The above trial also included a comparative study of two different types of ‘degradable’ polymer sacks currently on the European market (polyethylene and starch). A number of quantitative tests were conducted on the different polymers to assess the mechanisms of degradation and how this affected their suitability for the treatment of organic wastes. In this comparative study, a designated number of samples of the different polymers were contained within a ‘mesh bag’ and buried one metre into an open windrow comprised of green waste. The samples were extracted and weighed at given intervals. Provisional results have indicated that the polyethylene (PE) sacks are not degrading as anticipated within open windrow conditions, adversely affecting both the comporting process and the quality of the finished compost product. Whilst the degradable starch based sacks appear to actively degrade within compost conditions.
CAR T cell immunotherapy for human cancer

Adoptive T cell transfer (ACT) is a new area of transfusion medicine involving the infusion of lymphocytes to mediate antitumor, antiviral, or anti-inflammatory effects. The field has rapidly advanced from a promising form of immuno-oncology in preclinical models to the recent commercial approvals of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to treat leukemia and lymphoma. This Review describes opportunities and challenges for entering mainstream oncology that presently face the CAR T field, with a focus on the challenges that have emerged over the past several years.
Review on Graphene Based Explosive Sensors

Explosive and its trace detection technology has become one of research hotspots in the field of current international anti-terrorism.All kinds of sensors,such as surface acoustic w ave sensors and ion mobility spectrum sensors,used to detect explosives,can not meet the requirements of practical application in the detection indicators. T he graphene based explosive sensors w ith detection limit by 10- 10have the advantages of fast response and high sensitivity and have gradually become the focus of research. In this paper,the superiorities of graphene in the sensor application w ere briefly analyzed. T he progresses of study about graphene based explosive sensors,including electrochemical,surface enhanced R aman scattering( SER S),fluorescence resonance energy transfer( FR ET),and electrochemical luminescence( EC L) sensors w ere emphatically introduced in recent years. T he technical characteristics of existing grapheme based explosive sensors w ere summarized.C onsidering that the surface modification and functionalization of graphene and graphene oxide( GO),development of graphene hybrid materials w ith excellent performance and improvement of the detection sensitivity are the direction of future research.
Sticky Platelet Syndrome EBERHARD

The sticky platelet syndrome (SPS) is an autosomal dominant platelet disorder associated with arterial and venous thromboembolic events. It is characterized by hyperaggregability of platelets in platelet-rich plasma with adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and epinephrine (type I), epinephrine alone (type II), or ADP alone (type III). Clinically, patients may present with angina pectoris, acute myocardial infarction (MI), transient cerebral ischemic attacks, stroke, retinal thrombosis, peripheral arterial thrombosis, and venous thrombosis, frequently recurrent under oral anticoagulant therapy. Clinical symptoms, especially arterial, often present following emotional stress. Combinations of SPS with other congenital thrombophilic defects have been described. Low-dose aspirin treatment (80 to 100 mg) ameliorates the clinical symptoms and normalizes hyperaggregability. The precise etiology of this defect is at present not known, but receptors on the platelet surface may be involved. Normal levels of platelet factor 4 (PF4) and p-thromboglobulin in plasma suggest that the platelets are not activated at all times; they appear to become hyperactive upon ADP or adrenaline release. In vivo clumping could temporarily or permanently occlude a vessel, leading to the described clinical manifestations. The syndrome appears to be prominent especially in patients with unexplained arterial vascular occlusions.
Temporal Trends in Phthalate Exposures: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001–2010

Background: Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental contaminants. Because of potential adverse effects on human health, butylbenzyl phthalate [BBzP; metabolite, monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP)], di-n-butyl phthalate [DnBP; metabolite, mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP)], and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) are being replaced by substitutes including other phthalates; however, little is known about consequent trends in population-level exposures. Objective: We examined temporal trends in urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites in the general U.S. population and whether trends vary by sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: We combined data on 11 phthalate metabolites for 11,071 participants from five cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001–2010). Percent changes and least square geometric means (LSGMs) were calculated from multivariate regression models. Results: LSGM concentrations of monoethyl phthalate, MnBP, MBzP, and ΣDEHP metabolites decreased between 2001–2002 and 2009–2010 [percent change (95% CI): –42% (–49, –34); –17% (–23, –9); –32% (–39, –23) and –37% (–46, –26), respectively]. In contrast, LSGM concentrations of monoisobutyl phthalate, mono(3-carboxypropyl) phthalate (MCPP), monocarboxyoctyl phthalate, and monocarboxynonyl phthalate (MCNP) increased over the study period [percent change (95% CI): 206% (178, 236); 25% (8, 45); 149% (102, 207); and 15% (1, 30), respectively]. Trends varied by subpopulations for certain phthalates. For example, LSGM concentrations of ΣDEHP metabolites, MCPP, and MCNP were higher in children than adults, but the gap between groups narrowed over time (pinteraction < 0.01). Conclusions: Exposure of the U.S. population to phthalates has changed in the last decade. Data gaps make it difficult to explain trends, but legislative activity and advocacy campaigns by nongovernmental organizations may play a role in changing trends. Citation: Zota AZ, Calafat AM, Woodruff TJ. 2014. Temporal trends in phthalate exposures: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001–2010. Environ Health Perspect 122:235–241; http://dx.doi. org/10.1289/ehp.1306681
Polysaccharide from Fuzi protects against Ox-LDL-induced calcification of human vascular smooth muscle cells by increasing autophagic activity

Polysaccharide from Fuzi (FPS) is a water-soluble polysaccharide isolated from the traditional Chinese herbal medicine Fuzi. It has been demonstrated to protect hepatocytes against ischemia-reperfusion injury through its potent antioxidant effects, and to attenuate starvation-induced cytotoxicity in H9c2 cells by increasing autophagic activity. In the present study, Alizarin Red S staining was used to detect mineral deposition and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the core binding factor α1 and smooth muscle 22α mRNA expression. To analyze autophagic activity, western blotting was used to detect microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B light chain 3 and nucleoporin P62 expression. In addition, green fluorescent protein-LC3 dots-per-cell was observed by fluorescence microscopy. It was demonstrated that oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) could increase the calcification of human vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in a concentration-dependent manner, and that FPS treatment had a significant protective effect against Ox-LDL-induced calcification of human VSMCs. Furthermore, FPS treatment alleviated the Ox-LDL-induced downregulation of autophagic activity, and the protective effect of FPS on Ox-LDL-induced calcification was attenuated by the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated for the first time to the best of the authors' knowledge that FPS can protect against Ox-LDL-induced vascular calcification in human VSMCs, and that this likely occurs via the activation of autophagy. This supports the hypothesis that autophagy may be an endogenous protective mechanism counteracting vascular calcification, and that FPS may be used as a potential therapeutic for vascular calcification.