Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of diffusion phenomena in the processing of ceramics

The role of diffusion in ceramic processing is discussed. The utility of secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) is highlighted for the evaluation of diffusion coefficients in ceramic materials. By comparing diffusion coefficients obtained in this manner with those obtained indirectly from creep measurements, we identified the ion species that govern creep in yttrium aluminum garnet (TAG) ceramics and we showed that diffusion involving metastable defects plays an important role in ceramic processes such as sintering. The oxygen diffusion coefficients of thin films were evaluated, and the defects involved were shown to be metastable, and their origins were clarified. Furthermore, their relationship with reactivity was discussed in thin films.
CS regularized SENSE pMRI reconstruction via interferometric modulation

Compressed Sensing (CS) or Compressive Sampling offers an improved data acquisition rate for Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (pMRI) systems to achieve reduced scanning time. In pMRI, the optimization of image quality is done through appropriate selection/placement of coils according to the anatomy of the object to be imaged. This paper proposes an efficient interferometric modulation scheme for radio frequency (RF) receiver coils of parallel MRI (pMRI) that produces magnetization field over the object. The modulated magnetization field is beneficial for improving estimation accuracy of sensitivity profiles which enhance reconstruction quality at high data acquisition rate. A CS regularized sensitivity encoding approach is used as reconstruction technique in which the required MR image is provided through an iterative optimization process from the under-sampled observed k-space data. Extensive simulation results show a significant reduction in artifacts and thereby consequent visual improvement in the reconstructed MR images are achieved even when a high rate of acceleration factor is used. Simulation results also demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms some state-of-the-art pMRI methods, both in terms of subjective and objective quality assessment for the reconstructed images.
A real-time image mosaicing using FAST detector and FREAK descriptor

Image mosaicing is a technique of combining information of different images of the same scene to obtain more information in a single snap that contains every image data. In this paper a real-time image mosaicing is implemented by capturing multiple images of a continues scene with slight variation in the Field of View (FoV) of a camera sensor. Features from Accelerated Segment Test (FAST) feature detector detects invariant robust feature points of each image and Fast Retina Key point (FREAK) binary descriptor extracts feature vectors for each and every feature point. Feature matching is executed with the computation of the hamming distance between the feature points, hamming distance is high for more discriminative feature elements. Mapping of feature points is achieved with Homography computation. Distortions of an image can be corrected with image warping process. Robust corner points and corner point vectors are calculated for each input image followed by the number of matching points of corresponding consecutive images validate the effectiveness of FAST and FREAK algorithms. A comparison of traditional algorithms like Scale Invariant Features Transform (SIFT), Speed Up Robust Features (SURF) shows that our experimental results with FAST and FREAK are more accurate, faster and robust.
Shape evolution of fcc Co–Fe precipitate particles during coarsening in a Cu matrix

The shape evolution of fcc Co–Fe precipitate particles during coarsening in Cu-1.37 at. % Co-0.83 at. % Fe alloy single crystals has been examined by the transmission electron microscopy observation. Co–Fe particles change from sphere to cuboid and eventually flatten into a plate-like one with increasing particle size. The size-dependent equilibrium shapes of Co–Fe particles were discussed by considering the elastic strain energy of particles together with the interface energy between the particles and the matrix. To evaluate the elastic strain energy, elastically homogeneous but anisotropic particles with purely dilatational misfit strains are taken into account. The experimentally observed shape transition can be satisfactorily explained by the simple energy analysis.
Causality closure for a new class of curves in real-time calculus

Real-Time Calculus (RTC) [14] is a framework to analyze heterogeneous real-time systems that process event streams of data. The streams are characterized by arrival curves which express upper and lower bounds on the number of events that may arrive over any specified time interval. System properties may then be computed using algebraic techniques in a compositional way. The property of causality on arrival curves essentially characterizes the absence of deadlock in the corresponding generator. A mathematical operation called causality closure transforms arbitrary curves into causal ones. In this paper, we extend the existing theory on causality to the class Upac of infinite curves represented by a finite set of points plus piecewise affine functions, where existing algorithms did not apply. We show how to apply the causality closure on this class of curves, prove that this causal representative is still in the class and give algorithms to compute it. This provides the tightest pair of curves among the curves which accept the same sets of streams.
Peripheral facial nerve paralysis secondary to acute otitis media

DOI: 10.4328/JCAM.4725 Received: 30.06. 2016 Accepted: 09.08. 2016 Printed: 01.03. 2017 J Clin Anal Med 2017;8(2): 102-5 Corresponding Author: Ahmet Mutlu, KBB Anabilim Dali, Kocaeli Universitesi Tip Fakultesi, 41380, Umuttepe, Kocaeli, Turkey. GSM: +905355003650 F. : +9
Dynamic Calibration for Permanent Distributed Temperature Sensing Networks

Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) is a technique that uses the interaction of laser pulses with silica to continuously sense temperature along the length of fiber-optic cables. The temporal and spatial resolution of DTS makes it an excellent technique for monitoring the performance of district-scale geothermal exchange borefields. A dynamic, double-ended calibration routine developed in response to site-specific challenges and constraints (i.e., more than 5 km, many splices, different fiber segments, and extended observation periods) is systematically presented and analyzed to provide novel insight on calibration considerations. Results show that different combinations of calibration baths may change calibration accuracy, and over determination in the calculation of calibration parameters provides greater accuracy. Fixing the $\gamma $ calibration parameter does not appreciably change accuracy but does provide a buffer against error from variations in calibration bath temperatures. Differential attenuation varied by up to 25% between discrete fiber sections and should be calculated for each array section to prevent errors generated from applying just one attenuation coefficient value for the entire fiber array. Furthermore, dynamically calculated differential attenuation may vary systematically with time and space. In a double-ended configuration, the consideration of whether the forward, reverse, or some combination of all light data is used will affect the robustness of the calibration over time. Each of these results may assist in thoughtful consideration of calibration design at future DTS installations facing similar challenges.
On-Line Corrosion Monitoring of Plate Structures Based on Guided Wave Tomography Using Piezoelectric Sensors

Corrosion is a major safety and economic concern to various industries. In this paper, a novel ultrasonic guided wave tomography (GWT) system based on self-designed piezoelectric sensors is presented for on-line corrosion monitoring of large plate-like structures. Accurate thickness reconstruction of corrosion damages is achieved by using the dispersive regimes of selected guided waves and a reconstruction algorithm based on full waveform inversion (FWI). The system makes use of an array of miniaturised piezoelectric transducers that are capable of exciting and receiving highly dispersive A0 Lamb wave mode at low frequencies. The scattering from transducer array has been found to have a small effect on the thickness reconstruction. The efficiency and the accuracy of the new system have been demonstrated through continuous forced corrosion experiments. The FWI reconstructed thicknesses show good agreement with analytical predictions obtained by Faraday’s law and laser measurements, and more importantly, the thickness images closely resemble the actual corrosion sites.
Genotype–phenotype variability of retinal manifestation in primary hyperoxaluria type 1

ABSTRACT Background: Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare congenital metabolic disorder of the glyoxylate pathway, which manifests with nephrocalcinosis, urolithiasis, and end-stage renal failure (ESRD) as well as deposition of oxalate crystals within ocular tissues. This report demonstrates classical ocular features of PH1 of the posterior pole and furthermore highlights the ocular genotype–phenotype variability among siblings with identical compound heterozygous alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGXT) mutations. Materials and Methods: Two siblings, an 8-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, with genetically confirmed AGXT mutation (c.364C>T (p.R122X) and c.33dupC), but different renal phenotype underwent an ophthalmic examination, including slit-lamp examination and funduscopy as well as optical coherence tomography (OCT), near-infrared autofluorescence (NIA), and microperimetry examination. Results: The 8-year-old boy presented with a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/630. Fundus examination revealed bilateral, whitish oxalate deposits and prominent fibrotic macular scars. OCT imaging illustrated hyperdense deposits in all retinal layers and the choroid and the vitreous body along with a prominent dome-shaped macular fibrosis. NIA imaging outlined macular retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) atrophy with panretinal hyperreflective material. Bilateral symptomatic epiphora was putatively due to bilateral depositions of palpable nodular oxalate deposits at the level of the lacrimal sac. In contrary, the 18-year-old sister presented without any signs of ocular oxalate deposition and a BCVA of 20/20. Conclusions: PH1 is potentially accompanied with a considerable decline in visual acuity due to macular scaring and fibrosis, whereas a profound variability of ocular manifestations can be observed in PH1 patients with identical genotypes.
Dynamics of a mechanistically derived stoichiometric producer-grazer model

One of the simplest predator-prey models that tracks the quantity and the quality of prey is the one proposed by [I. Loladze, Y. Kuang, and J.J. Elser, Stoichiometry in producer-grazer systems: Linking energy flow with element cycling, Bull. Math. Biol. 62 (2000) pp. 1137–1162. ] (LKE model). In it, the ratio of two essential chemical elements, carbon to phosphorus, C:P, represents prey quality. However, that model does not explicitly track P neither in the prey nor in the media that supports the prey. Here, we extend the LKE model by mechanistically deriving and accounting for P in both the prey and the media. Bifurcation diagrams and simulations show that our model behaves similarly to the LKE model. However, in the intermediate range of the carrying capacity, especially near the homoclinic bifurcation point for the carrying capacity, quantitative behaviour of our model is different. We analyze positive invariant region and stability of boundary steady states. We show that as the uptake rate of P by producer becomes infinite, LKE models become the limiting case of our model. Furthermore, our model can be readily extended to multiple producers and consumers.
Environmental Temperature Controls Accumulation of Transacting siRNAs Involved in Heterochromatin Formation

Genes or alleles can interact by small RNAs in a homology dependent manner meaning that short interfering (siRNAs) can act in trans at the chromatin level producing stable and heritable silencing phenotypes. Because of the puzzling data on endogenous paramutations, their impact contributing to adaptive evolution in a Lamarckian manner remains unknown. An increasing number of studies characterizes the underlying siRNA accumulation pathways using transgene experiments. Also in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia, we induce trans silencing on the chromatin level by injection of truncated transgenes. Here, we characterize the efficiency of this mechanism at different temperatures showing that silencing of the endogenous genes is temperature dependent. Analyzing different transgene constructs at different copy numbers, we dissected whether silencing efficiency is due to varying precursor RNAs or siRNA accumulation. Our data shows that silencing efficiency correlates with more efficient accumulation of primary siRNAs at higher temperatures rather than higher expression of precursor RNAs. Due to higher primary levels, secondary siRNAs also show temperature dependency and interestingly increase their relative proportion to primary siRNAs. Our data shows that efficient trans silencing on the chromatin level in P. tetraurelia depends on environmental parameters, thus being an important epigenetic factor limiting regulatory effects of siRNAs.
Counting Motifs with Graph Sampling

Applied researchers often construct a network from a random sample of nodes in order to infer properties of the parent network. Two of the most widely used sampling schemes are subgraph sampling, where we sample each vertex independently with probability $p$ and observe the subgraph induced by the sampled vertices, and neighborhood sampling, where we additionally observe the edges between the sampled vertices and their neighbors. In this paper, we study the problem of estimating the number of motifs as induced subgraphs under both models from a statistical perspective. We show that: for any connected $h$ on $k$ vertices, to estimate $s=\mathsf{s}(h,G)$, the number of copies of $h$ in the parent graph $G$ of maximum degree $d$, with a multiplicative error of $\epsilon$, (a) For subgraph sampling, the optimal sampling ratio $p$ is $\Theta_{k}(\max\{ (s\epsilon^2)^{-\frac{1}{k}}, \; \frac{d^{k-1}}{s\epsilon^{2}} \})$, achieved by Horvitz-Thompson type of estimators. (b) For neighborhood sampling, we propose a family of estimators, encompassing and outperforming the Horvitz-Thompson estimator and achieving the sampling ratio $O_{k}(\min\{ (\frac{d}{s\epsilon^2})^{\frac{1}{k-1}}, \; \sqrt{\frac{d^{k-2}}{s\epsilon^2}}\})$. This is shown to be optimal for all motifs with at most $4$ vertices and cliques of all sizes. The matching minimax lower bounds are established using certain algebraic properties of subgraph counts. These results quantify how much more informative neighborhood sampling is than subgraph sampling, as empirically verified by experiments on both synthetic and real-world data. We also address the issue of adaptation to the unknown maximum degree, and study specific problems for parent graphs with additional structures, e.g., trees or planar graphs.
E-government adoption: architecture and barriers

Purpose – To provide an integrated architecture framework for e‐government that represents the alignment of IT infrastructure with business process management in public sector organisations and classify the barriers that might complicate the implementation of the proposed architecture framework. The study will help IT practitioners in the public sector learn how to use and manage information technologies to revitalise business processes, improve decision‐making, and gain a competitive advantage from the adoption of e‐government. The proposed architecture framework for e‐government adoption will reduce confusion surrounding e‐government infrastructure in the public sector through understanding the implementation processes, identifying requirements of information and communications technology tools, highlighting the importance of the organisational management resources and the impact of barriers.Design/methodology/approach – A range of earlier studies have been critically examined and analysed to provide an.
Motion Grammars for Character Animation

The behavioral structure of human movements is imposed by multiple sources, such as rules, regulations, choreography, habits, and emotion. Our goal is to identify the behavioral structure in a specific application domain and create a novel sequence of movements that abide by structure‐building rules. To do so, we exploit the ideas from formal language, such as rewriting rules and grammar parsing, and adapted those ideas to synthesize the three‐dimensional animation of multiple characters. The structured motion synthesis using motion grammars is formulated in two layers. The upper layer is a symbolic description that relates the semantics of each individual's movements and the interaction among them. The lower layer provides spatial and temporal contexts to the animation. Our multi‐level MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) algorithm deals with the syntax, semantics, and spatiotemporal context of human motion to produce highly‐structured, animated scenes. The power and effectiveness of motion grammars are demonstrated in animating basketball games from drawings on a tactic board. Our system allows the user to position players and draw out tactical plans, which are animated automatically in virtual environments with three‐dimensional, full‐body characters.
Multigap: Multi-pooled inception network with text augmentation for aesthetic prediction of photographs

With the advent of deep learning, convolutional neural networks have solved many imaging problems to a large extent. However, it remains to be seen if the image “bottleneck” can be unplugged by harnessing complementary sources of data. In this paper, we present a new approach to image aesthetic evaluation that learns both visual and textual features simultaneously. Our network extracts visual features by appending global average pooling blocks on multiple inception modules (MultiGAP), while textual features from associated user comments are learned from a recurrent neural network. Experimental results show that the proposed method is capable of achieving state-of-the-art performance on the AVA / AVA-Comments datasets. We also demonstrate the capability of our approach in visualizing aesthetic activations.
Differential cytoplast requirement for embryonic and somatic cell nuclear transfer in cattle

Effective activation of a recipient oocyte and its compatibility with the nuclear donor are critical to the successful nuclear reprogramming during nuclear transfer. We designed a series of experiments using various activation methods to determine the optimum activation efficiency of bovine oocytes. We then performed nuclear transfer (NT) of embryonic and somatic cells into cytoplasts presumably at G1/S phase (with prior activation) or at metaphase II (MII, without prior activation). Oocytes at 24 hr of maturation in vitro were activated with various combinations of calcium ionophore A23187 (A187) (5 μM, 5 min), electric pulse (EP), ethanol (7%, 7 min), cycloheximide (CHX) (10 μg/ml, 6 hr), and then cultured in cytochalasin D (CD) for a total of 18 hr. Through a series of experiments (Exp. 1–4), an improved activation protocol (A187/EP/CHX/CD) was identified and used for comparison of NT efficiency of embryonic versus somatic donor cells (Exp. 5). When embryonic cells from morula and blastocysts (BL) were used as nuclear donors, a significantly higher rate of blastocyst development from cloned embryos was obtained with G1/S phase cytoplasts than with MII‐phase cytoplasts (36 vs. 11%, P < 0.05). In contrast, when skin fibroblasts were used as donor cells, the use of an MII cytoplast (vs. G1/S phase) was imperative for blastocyst development (30 vs. 6%, P < 0.05). Differential staining showed that parthenogenetic, embryonic, and somatic cloned BL contained 26, 29, and 33% presumptive inner cell mass (ICM) cells, respectively, which is similar to that of frozen‐thawed in vivo embryos at a comparable developmental stage (23%). These data indicate that embryonic and somatic nuclei require different recipient cytoplast environment for remodeling/ reprogramming, and this is likely due to the different cell cycle stage and profiles of molecular differentiation of the transferred donor nuclei Mol. Reprod. Dev. 63: 183–191, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Soft-Decision-Driven Sparse Channel Estimation and Turbo Equalization for MIMO Underwater Acoustic Communications

Multi-input multi-output (MIMO) detection based on turbo principle has been shown to provide a great enhancement in the throughput and reliability of underwater acoustic (UWA) communication systems. Benefits of the iterative detection in MIMO systems, however, can be obtained only when a high quality channel estimation is ensured. In this paper, we develop a new soft-decision-driven sparse channel estimation and turbo equalization scheme in the triply selective MIMO UWA. First, the Homotopy recursive least square dichotomous coordinate descent (Homotopy RLS-DCD) adaptive algorithm, recently proposed for sparse single-input single-output system identification, is extended to adaptively estimate rapid time-varying MIMO sparse channels. Next, the more reliable a posteriori soft-decision symbols, instead of the hard decision symbols or the a priori soft-decision symbols, at the equalizer output, are not only feedback to the Homotopy RLS-DCD-based channel estimator but also to the minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) equalizer. As the turbo iterations progress, the accuracy of channel estimation and the quality of the MMSE equalizer are improved gradually, leading to the enhancement in the turbo equalization performance. This also allows the reduction in pilot overhead. The proposed receiver has been tested by using the data collected from the SHLake2013 experiment. The performance of the receiver is evaluated for various modulation schemes, channel estimators, and MIMO sizes. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed a posteriori soft-decision-driven sparse channel estimation based on the Homotopy RLS-DCD algorithm and turbo equalization offer considerable improvement in system performance over other turbo equalization schemes.
The Major Autolysin of Streptococcus gordonii Is Subject to Complex Regulation and Modulates Stress Tolerance, Biofilm Formation, and Extracellular-DNA Release

ABSTRACT A gene, designated atlS, encoding a major autolysin from Streptococcus gordonii, was identified and characterized. The predicted AtlS protein is 1,160 amino acids and 127 kDa and has a conserved β1,4-N-acetylmuramidase domain. Zymographic analysis of wild-type S. gordonii revealed peptidoglycan hydrolase activities with molecular masses of 130 and 90 kDa that were absent in an atlS deletion mutant. Western blotting revealed that the 90-kDa band was derived from the 130-kDa protein. Inactivation of atlS resulted in formation of long chains by the cells, markedly decreased autolytic capacity, poor biofilm formation, diminished tolerance of acid and oxidative stress, and decreased production of extracellular DNA (eDNA). The biofilm-forming capacity of the atlS mutant could be almost completely restored to that of the wild-type strain by adding purified recombinant AtlA autolysin of S. mutans but was only partially restored by addition of eDNA. Autolysis, eDNA release, and atlS expression increased sharply when cells entered stationary phase and were greatly enhanced in cells growing with aeration. The LytST and VicRK two-component systems were both required for the induction of atlS by aeration, and purified LytT was able to bind to the promoter region of atlS in vitro. Thus, AtlS and its associated regulatory cascade dominantly control phenotypes of S. gordonii that are critical to colonization, persistence, and competition with other commensal and pathogenic oral bacteria in response to the redox environment and growth domain.