Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The assessment of the compressive strength and thickness of concrete structures using nondestructive testing and an artificial neural network

This study focuses on the prediction of concrete compressive strength and the unknown thickness of concrete structures as a partial development of a concrete assessment system. The nondestructive tests (NDTs), impact-echo method and spectral analysis of surface wave method were applied to predict concrete compressive strength for the correlation between NDT results and cylinder tests results. The concrete strength prediction and the measurement of thickness were effectively achieved by using an artificial neural network technology. As actual problems were tested in the neural network system, good agreement between the results from the cylinder test and the results from the neural network run was achieved. The accuracy in measuring the thickness of the specimen was successfully achieved using the same technology. The result of this study is a basic algorithm for the automation of predicting the compressive strength and the thickness of concrete member. Automation of these results can contribute to predict the accurate form removal time and unknown slab thickness in building construction practice.
A Data-Mining Model for Protection of FACTS-Based Transmission Line

This paper presents a data-mining model for fault-zone identification of a flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS)-based transmission line including a thyristor-controlled series compensator (TCSC) and unified power-flow controller (UPFC), using ensemble decision trees. Given the randomness in the ensemble of decision trees stacked inside the random forests model, it provides effective decision on fault-zone identification. Half-cycle postfault current and voltage samples from the fault inception are used as an input vector against target output “1” for the fault after TCSC/UPFC and “ -1” for the fault before TCSC/UPFC for fault-zone identification. The algorithm is tested on simulated fault data with wide variations in operating parameters of the power system network, including noisy environment providing a reliability measure of 99% with faster response time (3/4th cycle from fault inception). The results of the presented approach using the RF model indicate reliable identification of the fault zone in FACTS-based transmission lines.
Contact Forces in Non-bonded Pavement Materials

ABSTRACT We have studied macroscopic stress distributions in horizontal and vertical directions in non-bonded aggregates, as well as the contact forces (local stresses) at the contact areas (“microscopic”). A ring chamber was used to study the horizontal and vertical stresses under static vertical loads, whereas contact area stresses were measured using pressure film placed in different parts of the equipment. The pressure films reveal elevated contact forces at some contact areas in response to the applied load, and the grain size range of the particles also influences the stress (contact force) distribution: fine-grained aggregates distribute forces more evenly than coarse-grained aggregates. When an open fraction of aggregates is used, the coarse-grained aggregates have a greater role in supporting loads, as higher contact forces are transmitted across contact areas between large aggregate particles.
Intratumoral Interleukin-21 Increases Antitumor Immunity, Tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T-cell Density and Activity, and Enlarges Draining Lymph Nodes

Interleukin (IL)-21 is a novel cytokine in clinical development for the treatment of cancer. In this study, we have compared the efficacy of subcutaneous and intratumoral (IT) administration of IL-21 protein in two syngeneic mouse tumor models, RenCa renal cell carcinoma and B16 melanoma, and investigated the mechanisms by which IL-21 enhances CD8+ T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity. We found that in comparison to subcutaneous administration, IT administration of IL-21 more potently inhibited tumor growth and increased survival. This correlated with increased densities of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ and CD4+CD25− T cells, but not CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ T cells. Furthermore, IT administration of IL-21 increased degranulation, and expression of interferon-γ and granzyme B in tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells. Tumors injected with IL-21 grew slower than contralateral tumors, suggesting that the increased efficacy of IT administration of IL-21 was due to a local rather than systemic effect. IT administration of IL-21 led to enlarged tumor-draining lymph nodes (LNs), with increased naive lymphocyte numbers and proliferation of activated lymphocytes, suggesting that local administration of IL-21 generally benefits the tumor microenvironment and activates tumor-draining LNs. Overall, our data suggest that IL-21 augments CD8+ T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity through increased proliferation and effector function and acts both on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells as well as on the draining LNs. IT administration led to superior CD8+ T-cell proliferation, effector function, and antitumor efficacy, suggesting that IT administration of IL-21 may be clinically useful in patients with unresectable tumors.
Photonic crystal assisted ultra-thin silicon photovoltaic solar cell

A new concept of ultra-thin film photovoltaic solar cell including a planar photonic crystal is proposed. The goal is to couple the incident light into broad resonances guided in the absorbing layer. To achieve this, a periodic lattice is patterned within the active layer, for example made of holes in amorphous silicon. By adjusting the pattern dimensions, the spectral position and quality factor of these resonances can be controlled so as to optimise the global absorption. Design details will be discussed in this communication.
New one way hash algorithm using non-invertible matrix

Hash functions are widely used in encryption schemes and security layers of communication protocols for data integrity, digital signature and message authentication codes[18]. Hash function is a well-defined procedure that converts a large data into a small one, The returned value from hash function is called hash code, It is well known that Hash algorithm works in one way and cannot be reversed, In this paper, The new one way hash algorithm will be designed by using two steps. Firstly, we will convert the input data into matrix system by using all necessary conversions to generate the initial hash value. Secondly, use the output of the first step to make a digest for these data and finally generate the secure hash value.
2 OPTIMAL CLASSIFICATION 2 Optimal Classi cation The Optimal Classi

This paper outlines some of the problems with Poole's Optimal Classi cation (OC) algorithm as well as introducing a new approach to the optimal classi cation problem. First, I outline some problems with the Optimal Classi cation algorithm. I then outline an alternative approach to optimal classi cation that has several advantages over Poole's OC algorithm. First, unlike the OC algorithm, this algorithm can be expected to produce optimally classifying ideal point estimates. Second, since an optimally classifying set of ideal points is typically not unique, the algorithm produces several sets of optimally classifying ideal points rather than a single estimate. Next, I discuss how other techniques, such as genetic algorithms, can also be used to increase the e ciency of this algorithm as well as methods to computational e ciency of the algorithm. I also discuss what identi cation restrictions are appropriate for the optimal classi cation setting. Finally, I demonstrates both the application new algorithm as well as some of the problems with Poole's OC algorithm using data from the Supreme Court and other settings.
Adoption of Electronic Health Records in the Presence of Privacy Concerns: The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Individual Persuasion

Within the emerging context of the digitization of health care, electronic health records (EHRs) constitute a significant technological advance in the way medical information is stored, communicated, and processed by the multiple parties involved in health care delivery. However, in spite of the anticipated value potential of this technology, there is widespread concern that consumer privacy issues may impede its diffusion. In this study, we pose the question: Can individuals be persuaded to change their attitudes and opt-in behavioral intentions toward EHRs, and allow their medical information to be digitized even in the presence of significant privacy concerns? To investigate this question, we integrate an individual's concern for information privacy (CFIP) with the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to examine attitude change and likelihood of opting-in to an EHR system. We theorize that issue involvement and argument framing interact to influence attitude change, and that concern for information privacy further moderates the effects of these variables. We also propose that likelihood of adoption is driven by concern for information privacy and attitude. We test our predictions using an experiment with 366 subjects where we manipulate the framing of the arguments supporting EHRs. We find that an individual's CFIP interacts with argument framing and issue involvement to affect attitudes toward the use of EHRs. In addition, results suggest that attitude toward EHR use and CFIP directly influence opt-in behavioral intentions. An important finding for both theory and practice is that even when people have high concerns for privacy, their attitudes can be positively altered with appropriate message framing. These results as well as other theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
In-situ biogas upgrading during anaerobic digestion of food waste amended with walnut shell biochar at bench scale

A modified version of an in-situ CO2 removal process was applied during anaerobic digestion of food waste with two types of walnut shell biochar at bench scale under batch operating mode. Compared with the coarse walnut shell biochar, the fine walnut shell biochar has a higher ash content (43 vs. 36 wt%) and higher concentrations of calcium (31 vs. 19 wt% of ash), magnesium (8.4 vs. 5.6 wt% of ash) and sodium (23.4 vs. 0.3 wt% of ash), but a lower potassium concentration (0.2 vs. 40% wt% of ash). The 0.96–3.83 g biochar (g VSadded)-1 fine walnut shell biochar amended digesters produced biogas with 77.5%–98.1% CH4 content by removing 40%–96% of the CO2 compared with the control digesters at mesophilic and thermophilic temperature conditions. In a direct comparison at 1.83 g biochar (g VSadded)-1, the fine walnut shell biochar amended digesters (85.7% CH4 content and 61% CO2 removal) outperformed the coarse walnut shell biochar amended digesters (78.9% CH4 content and 51% CO2 removal). Biochar addition also increased alkalinity as CaCO3 from 2800 mg L-1 in the control digesters to 4800–6800 mg L-1, providing process stability for food waste anaerobic digestion.
Empirical Text Mining for Genre Detection

In this paper, we report on a preliminary study we carried out for identifying patterns that characterize the genre type of Greek texts. In the course of our study, we address four distinct genre types, we record their observable stylistic elements and we indicate their exploitation for automatic genre-based document classi-fication. The findings of our study demonstrate that texts contain lexical features with discriminative power as far as genre is concerned, however modeling those features so that they can be explored by computer-based applications is still in early stages.
Hepatocyte growth factor may function as a renotropic factor for regeneration in rats with acute renal injury.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a potent mitogen for mature hepatocytes, possesses mitogenic and morphogenic activities for renal epithelial cells. To examine the renotropic function of HGF, we investigated the expression of HGF mRNA and HGF activity in the rat kidney after acute renal failure. When acute renal failure was induced by ischemia or by HgCl2 administration, a DNA synthesis occurred predominantly in the renal tubular cells located in the outer medulla with a peak at 48 h after the treatments. In both renal injuries, HGF mRNA in the kidney increased markedly, reaching a maximum 6 to 12 h after the treatments. HGF activity in the kidney also increased to three- to fourfold higher level than the normal level at 12 h after ischemic treatment or HgCl2 administration. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis indicated that both HGF mRNA and HGF protein were expressed in renal interstitial cells, presumably endothelial cells and macrophages, but not in tubular epithelial cells. In addition, HGF activity in the plasma of rats with renal ischemia or HgCl2 administration rapidly increased, reaching a maximum at 6 h after the treatment. One week after these injuries, HGF mRNA and HGF activity reverted to normal levels, and renal tubular cell regeneration ceased. Moreover, intravenous injection of human recombinant HGF into mice with acute renal failure caused by HgCl2 administration stimulated DNA synthesis of renal tubular cells in vivo. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Phosphoinositide (3,4,5)-Triphosphate Binding to Phosphoinositide-Dependent Kinase 1 Regulates a Protein Kinase B/Akt Signaling Threshold That Dictates T-Cell Migration, Not Proliferation

ABSTRACT The present study explored the consequences of phosphoinositide (3,4,5)-triphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3] binding to the pleckstrin homology (PH) domain of the serine/threonine kinase 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1). The salient finding is that PDK1 directly transduces the PI(3,4,5)P3 signaling that determines T-cell trafficking programs but not T-cell growth and proliferation. The integrity of the PDK1 PH domain thus is not required for PDK1 catalytic activity or to support cell survival and the proliferation of thymic and peripheral T cells. However, a PDK1 mutant that cannot bind PI(3,4,5)P3 cannot trigger the signals that terminate the expression of the transcription factor KLF2 in activated T cells and cannot switch the chemokine and adhesion receptor profile of naïve T cells to the profile of effector T cells. The PDK1 PH domain also is required for the maximal activation of Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) and for the maximal phosphorylation and inactivation of Foxo family transcription factors in T cells. PI(3,4,5)P3 binding to PDK1 and the strength of PKB activity thus can dictate the nature of the T-cell response. Low levels of PKB activity can be sufficient for T-cell proliferation but insufficient to initiate the migratory program of effector T cells.
Model-driven matching and segmentation of trajectories

A fundamental problem in analyzing trajectory data is to identify common patterns between pairs or among groups of trajectories. In this paper, we consider the problem of matching similar portions between a pair of trajectories, each observed as a sequence of points sampled from it. We present new measures of trajectory similarity --- both local and global --- between a pair of trajectories to distinguish between similar and dissimilar portions. We then use this model to perform segmentation of a set of trajectories into fragments, contiguous portions of trajectories shared by many of them. Our model for similarity is robust under noise and sampling rate variations. The model also yields a score which can be used to rank multiple pairs of trajectories according to similarity, e.g. in clustering applications. We present quadratic time algorithms to compute the similarity between trajectory pairs under our measures together with algorithms to identify fragments in a large set of trajectories efficiently using the similarity model. Finally, we present an extensive experimental study evaluating the effectiveness of our approach on real datasets, comparing it with earlier approaches. Our experiments show that our model for similarity is highly accurate in distinguishing similar and dissimilar portions as compared to earlier methods even with sparse sampling. Further, our segmentation algorithm is able to identify a small set of fragments capturing the common parts of trajectories in the dataset.
CO 2 and HCO 3 2 uptake in marine diatoms acclimated to different CO 2 concentrations

Rates of cellular uptake of CO2 and HCO3 during steady-state photosynthesis were measured in the marine diatoms Thalassiosira weissflogii and Phaeodactylum tricornutum, acclimated to CO2 partial pressures of 36, 180, 360, and 1,800 ppmv. In addition, in vivo activity of extracellular (eCA) and intracellular (iCA) carbonic anhydrase was determined in relation to CO2 availability. Both species responded to diminishing CO2 supply with an increase in eCA and iCA activity. In P. tricornutum, eCA activity was close to the detection limit at higher CO2 concentrations. Simultaneous uptake of CO2 and HCO3 was observed in both diatoms. At air-equilibrated CO2 levels (360 ppmv), T. weissflogii took up CO2 and HCO3 at approximately the same rate, whereas CO2 uptake exceeded HCO3 uptake by a factor of two in P. tricornutum. In both diatoms, CO2 : HCO3 uptake ratios progressively decreased with decreasing CO2 concentration, whereas substrate affinities of CO2 and HCO3 uptake increased. Half-saturation concentrations were always #5 mM CO2 for CO2 uptake and ,700 mM HCO3 for HCO3 uptake. Our results indicate the presence of highly efficient uptake systems for CO2 and HCO3 in both diatoms at concentrations typically encountered in ocean surface waters and the ability to adjust uptake rates to a wide range of inorganic carbon supply. Primary production by marine phytoplankton takes place in an environment that is characterized by high and relatively constant HCO3 concentrations (;2 mM) but low and variable concentrations of molecular dissolved CO2 [CO2,aq] (;5–25 mM). Variation in [CO2,aq] of ocean surface waters is mainly caused by intense photosynthesis during phytoplankton blooms, differences in water temperature, or mixing with deep water of different CO2 content. On longer timescales, rising CO2 concentrations in the upper layers of the ocean are expected in response to the present increase in atmospheric CO2 partial pressure (pCO2; Houghton et al. 1996). Because these changes in [CO2,aq] are always accompanied by changes in pH, concentrations of HCO3 vary much less because of concomitant shifts in the relative proportions of the inorganic carbon (Ci) species. The response of phytoplankton growth to changes in CO2 supply is largely determined by the mechanism of Ci uptake. Several studies indicate that both CO2 and HCO3 in the bulk seawater are utilized by marine eukaryotic microalgae (e.g., Colman and Rotatore 1995; Rotatore et al. 1995; Korb et al. 1 Corresponding author (suelteme@rhrk.uni-kl.de).
Digital signal propagation on a wafer-scale smart active programmable interconnect

This paper investigates the signal integrity and performance of a novel programmable interconnect technology called DreamWafertrade. This programmable circuit board uses a wafer-scale circuit with a sea of tiny contacts to adapt to the contact type, size, spacing and alignment of external components. Supporting this ability to adapt requires a dense internal programmable interconnect network to propagate digital signals between arbitrary sets of contacts. The means to propagate the digital signals are described and characterized. Propagation delays of the chain as well as its rise and fall time characteristics are simulated. Preliminary results show that under normal conditions, the links can operate up to 630 MHz and have a mean latency of 0.3 ns/mm. Eye diagrams demonstrate improvements in the signal integrity when a signal is propagated on the DreamWafertrade interconnect compared to when it is propagated on a traditional PCB trace; the eye remains open and neat, independently of the linkpsilas length.
Correlation of Circulating Acid-Labile Subunit Levels with Insulin Sensitivity and Serum LDL Cholesterol in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Findings from a Prospective Study with Rosiglitazone

Silencing of acid-labile subunit (ALS) improved glucose metabolism in animal models. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of rosiglitazone (RSG) on ALS levels in individuals with type 2 diabetes. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted. Subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly distributed to an RSG-treated (n = 30) or a placebo (n = 31) group. Patients were evaluated prior to treatment at baseline and at 12 and 24 weeks after treatment. At baseline, ALS levels were negatively associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) levels and homeostatic model assessment version 2 insulin sensitivity (HOMA2-%S). Over 24 weeks, there was a significantly greater reduction in ALS levels in the nonobese RSG-treated individuals than placebo-treated group. The effect of RSG on ALS was not significant in obese individuals. Fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c were reduced, but total cholesterol and LDLc were increased, in patients on RSG. Change in ALS levels predicted changes in total cholesterol and HOMA2-%S over time. This study suggested a BMI-dependent effect of RSG treatment on ALS levels. Reduction of ALS by RSG increases the risk of atherosclerosis in individuals with type 2 diabetes.
Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma heamatobium Infection and Nutritional Status of Children in the Hydro-Agricultural Complex Zone of Sourou, Burkina Faso

In developing countries, efforts to face food insecurity were revealed by construction of dams and hydro-agricultural managements. This study aimed to establish sanitary consequences in a hydro- agricultural zone. Methods: Data from 1847 children were analysed. Kato-Katz and concentration in MIF were used for intestinal parasites; research of microscopic haematury was used for urinary schistosomiasis. Nutritional status was estimated by WHZ and HAZ indexes. Association between malnutrition and independents variables was measured in univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: Among children, 80.1% were infested by at least one parasite, 30.8% by S. mansoni and 49.6% by S. haematobium. Prevalence of emaciation and prevalence of stunting were respectively, 32.6% and 25.5%. In the multivariate analysis: Age: (1 - 3 y age group, OR = 2.92, 4 - 6 y age group OR = 1.85, p p = 0.008), were associated with emaciation. Age: (4 - 6 y age group, OR = 1.78, 7 - 11 y age group OR = 2.55, p p = 0.005), were associated with emaciation. Conclusion: Development of bilharziasis (urinary and intestinal) with increased morbidity and malnutrition, attenuate benefits expected from hydro-agricultural managements. It is important to invest in the control of water-related diseases, which are amplified by hydro-agricultural managements.