Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Controlling Flow Effects on Corrosion

The effect of flow on corrosion is complex and varied and dependent on both the chemistry and physics of a system.The key variable defining the effect of flow on corrosion is turbulence. High turbulence can result in flow-induced corrosion, erosion–corrosion, or cavitation. Low turbulence can result in corrosion in a separated water phase and allows the occurrence of corrosion under deposits and/or in separated liquid water. Flow-induced corrosion is the term used to describe the increase in corrosion resulting from high fluid turbulence due to the flowof a fluid over a surface in a flowing single or multiphase system. Underdeposit corrosion is the term used to describe the increased corrosion occurring in a separated water phase beneath deposits of nonmetallic solids on a metal surface resulting from low-flow turbulence. The key element in controlling flow-induced corrosion is an understanding of the flow characteristics that can produce conditions that favor specific corrosion mechanisms for specific materials and mitigating those conditions by modifying the flow conditions, thematerial of construction, or the corrosive environment. The concentration of this chapter is on modification of the flow conditions.
Effect of a Quality Improvement Intervention on Clinical Outcomes in Patients in India With Acute Myocardial Infarction: The ACS QUIK Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Wide heterogeneity exists in acute myocardial infarction treatment and outcomes in India. Objective To evaluate the effect of a locally adapted quality improvement tool kit on clinical outcomes and process measures in Kerala, a southern Indian state. Design, Setting, and Participants Cluster randomized, stepped-wedge clinical trial conducted between November 10, 2014, and November 9, 2016, in 63 hospitals in Kerala, India, with a last date of follow-up of December 31, 2016. During 5 predefined steps over the study period, hospitals were randomly selected to move in a 1-way crossover from the control group to the intervention group. Consecutively presenting patients with acute myocardial infarction were offered participation. Interventions Hospitals provided either usual care (control group; n = 10 066 participants [step 0: n = 2915; step 1: n = 2649; step 2: n = 2251; step 3: n = 1422; step 4; n = 829; step 5: n = 0]) or care using a quality improvement tool kit (intervention group; n = 11 308 participants [step 0: n = 0; step 1: n = 662; step 2: n = 1265; step 3: n = 2432; step 4: n = 3214; step 5: n = 3735]) that consisted of audit and feedback, checklists, patient education materials, and linkage to emergency cardiovascular care and quality improvement training. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was the composite of all-cause death, reinfarction, stroke, or major bleeding using standardized definitions at 30 days. Secondary outcomes included the primary outcome’s individual components, 30-day cardiovascular death, medication use, and tobacco cessation counseling. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to account for clustering and temporal trends. Results Among 21 374 eligible randomized participants (mean age, 60.6 [SD, 12.0] years; n = 16 183 men [76%] ; n = 13 689 [64%] with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction), 21 079 (99%) completed the trial. The primary composite outcome was observed in 5.3% of the intervention participants and 6.4% of the control participants. The observed difference in 30-day major adverse cardiovascular event rates between the groups was not statistically significant after adjustment (adjusted risk difference, −0.09% [95% CI, −1.32% to 1.14%]; adjusted odds ratio, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.80-1.21]). The intervention group had a higher rate of medication use including reperfusion but no effect on tobacco cessation counseling. There were no unexpected adverse events reported. Conclusions and Relevance Among patients with acute myocardial infarction in Kerala, India, use of a quality improvement intervention compared with usual care did not decrease a composite of 30-day major adverse cardiovascular events. Further research is needed to understand the lack of efficacy. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02256657
Finite Element Analysis of the Stress on Cylinder of the Fluidized Bed Reactor for Fast Pyrolysis

A new experimental fluidized bed reactor was investigated and designed which has been widely utilized for fast pyrolysis under different temperatures (T=727–973 K). The stresses of the reactor cylinder are analyzed using finite element method(FEM, ANSYS Inc., U.S.A ) based on the safety assessment, and the cylinder is designed for installing scheme. The result of ANSYS analysis shows that the stress unstable positions are nearby both ends of the cylinder. The results of analysis are shown that the designing stresses are not beyond the allow able ones. So the designing parameters can possess sufficient reliability, and the design scheme can completely satisfy the strength requirement. Certainty of the stress could offered the valuable instruction for the application of the equipment on industrial scale-up.
MHOMS: high-speed ACM modem for satellite applications

This article presents the novel FPGA-based 1 Gb/s near-Shannon-limit ACM modem developed within the MHOMS program with particular focus on the advanced modem algorithm solutions devised. A number of powerful FEC schemes have been analyzed as possible candidates for the MHOMS modem, and the final selection is justified in terms of the best tradeoff between complexity and performance. State-of-the-art modulation and demodulation algorithms are also presented, including nonlinearity dynamic precompensation techniques and innovative synchronization strategies required by the selected powerful modulation and coding schemes. Overall modem performances are also shown for a variety of spectral efficiencies.
Vitamin D nutrition in pregnancy: current opinion

There is increasing interest in vitamin D nutrition during pregnancy because of widespread reports of a high prevalence of low vitamin D status in pregnant women. While vitamin D is important for calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and for bone health, it also plays important roles in many other physiologic functions in the body. Consistent with the expanded role of vitamin D, recent observational studies have demonstrated that low vitamin D status in pregnancy is associated with multiple potential adverse maternal, fetal, and infant outcomes and contributes to low vitamin D status in infants at birth. Therefore, an overview of the current understanding of vitamin D nutrition in pregnancy and a review of the results of studies to optimize vitamin D status during pregnancy and in the offspring is of public health importance and timely.
An Experimentation Engine for Data-Driven Fashion Systems

Data-driven fashion systems of the future will revolution- ize the way consumers shop for clothing and choose outﬁts: imagine an automated personal stylist that ships clothes straight to your door based on their compatibility with your existing wardrobe, the upcoming events on your calendar, and style trends learned from the web. To build such systems, we must identify the fashion activities that are the largest con- sumer pain points, the interventions necessary to alleviate those pains, and the computational models that enable those interventions. To guide the design of these next-generation tools, we pro- pose an experimentation engine for fashion interfaces: lever-aging social media platforms to run multivariate design tests with thousands to millions of users. Social platforms are already home to dedicated communities of fashion enthusiasts, and expose programmable agents — chatbots — that can be used to rapidly prototype data-driven design interfaces. Mea- suring the number of followers and user engagement amongst these prototypes can inform the design of future standalone fashion systems. At this workshop, we will sketch the design space of fashion experiments, and present preliminary results from deploying our “fashion bots. ”
The axonal endoplasmic reticulum: One organelle—many functions in development, maintenance, and plasticity

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is highly conserved in eukaryotes and neurons. Indeed, the localization of the organelle in axons has been known for nearly half a century. However, the relevance of the axonal ER is only beginning to emerge. In this review, we discuss the structure of the ER in axons, examining the role of ER‐shaping proteins and highlighting reticulons. We analyze the multiple functions of the ER and their potential contribution to axonal physiology. First, we examine the emerging roles of the axonal ER in lipid synthesis, protein translation, processing, quality control, and secretory trafficking of transmembrane proteins. We also review the impact of the ER on calcium dynamics, focusing on intracellular mechanisms and functions. We describe the interactions between the ER and endosomes, mitochondria, and synaptic vesicles. Finally, we analyze available proteomic data of axonal preparations to reveal the dynamic functionality of the ER in axons during development. We suggest that the dynamic proteome and a validated axonal interactome, together with state‐of‐the‐art methodologies, may provide interesting research avenues in axon physiology that may extend to pathology and regeneration. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 78: 181–208, 2018
The RAX/PACT-PKR stress response pathway promotes p53 sumoylation and activation, leading to G1 arrest

Cellular stresses, including growth factor deprivation, inflammatory cytokines or viral infection promote RAX/PACTdependent activation of the double-stranded RNA-dependent protein kinase, PKR, to phosphorylate eIF2α, resulting in translation inhibition and apoptosis. In addition, PKR has been reported to regulate p53, STAT1 and NFκB. Here, we report that RAX/PACT interacts with the SUMO E2 ligase Ubc9 to stimulate p53-Ubc9 association and reversible p53 sumoylation on lysine 386. In addition, expression of RAX/PACT in a variety of cell lines promotes p53 stability and activity to increase p53 target gene expression. Significantly, while the expression of RAX/PACT, PKR or p53 alone has little effect on the cell cycle of p53-null H1299 cells, co-expression of p53 with either RAX/PACT or PKR promotes a 25–35% increase of cells in G1. In contrast, co-expression of RAX/PACT with the sumoylation-deficient p53(K386R) mutant or with the desumoylase SENP1 fails to induce such a G1 arrest. Furthermore, co-expression of p53, RAX/PACT and the dominantnegative PKR(K296R) mutant inhibits RAX/PACT-induced, p53-dependent G1 growth arrest and expression of RAX/PACT in pkr+/+ but not pkr-/- MEF cells promotes p53 and p21 expression following gamma irradiation. Significantly, p53 stability is decreased in cells with reduced RAX/PACT or PKR following doxorubicin treatment, and expression of exogenous RAX/ PACT promotes phosphorylation of wild-type but not p53(K386R) on serine 392. Collectively, results indicate that, in response to stress, the RAX/PACT-PKR signaling pathway may inhibit p53 protein turnover by a sumoylation-dependent mechanism with promotion of p53 phosphorylation and translational activation leading to G1 cell cycle arrest.
Lightweight Three-Factor Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol for Internet-Integrated Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) will be integrated into the future Internet as one of the components of the Internet of Things, and will become globally addressable by any entity connected to the Internet. Despite the great potential of this integration, it also brings new threats, such as the exposure of sensor nodes to attacks originating from the Internet. In this context, lightweight authentication and key agreement protocols must be in place to enable end-to-end secure communication. Recently, Amin et al. proposed a three-factor mutual authentication protocol for WSNs. However, we identified several flaws in their protocol. We found that their protocol suffers from smart card loss attack where the user identity and password can be guessed using offline brute force techniques. Moreover, the protocol suffers from known session-specific temporary information attack, which leads to the disclosure of session keys in other sessions. Furthermore, the protocol is vulnerable to tracking attack and fails to fulfill user untraceability. To address these deficiencies, we present a lightweight and secure user authentication protocol based on the Rabin cryptosystem, which has the characteristic of computational asymmetry. We conduct a formal verification of our proposed protocol using ProVerif in order to demonstrate that our scheme fulfills the required security properties. We also present a comprehensive heuristic security analysis to show that our protocol is secure against all the possible attacks and provides the desired security features. The results we obtained show that our new protocol is a secure and lightweight solution for authentication and key agreement for Internet-integrated WSNs.
Epidemiology of Constipation in North America: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to systematically review the published literature regarding prevalence, risk factors, incidence, natural history, and the effect on quality of life of constipation in North America.METHODS:A computer-assisted search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Current Contents databases was performed independently by two investigators. Study selection criteria included the following: (1) North American population-based sample of adults with constipation; (2) publication in full manuscript form in English; and (3) report on the prevalence, incidence, and natural history of constipation or impact of constipation on quality of life. Eligible articles were reviewed in a duplicate, independent manner. Data extracted were compiled in tables and presented in descriptive form.RESULTS:The estimates of the prevalence of constipation in North America ranged from 1.9% to 27.2%, with most estimates from 12% to 19%. Prevalence estimates by gender support a female-to-male ratio of 2.2:1. Constipation appears to increase with increasing age, particularly after age 65. No true population-based incidence studies or natural history studies were identified. In one cohort, 89% of patients with constipation still reported constipation at 14.7 months follow-up. From limited data, quality of life appears to be diminished by constipation, but the clinical significance of this is unclear.CONCLUSIONS:Constipation is very common, as approximately 63 million people in North America meet the Rome II criteria for constipation. Minimal data are available regarding incidence, natural history, and quality of life in patients with constipation. Effort should be expended toward the study of these topics, particularly in the elderly, who are disproportionately affected by this condition.
Alcohol and long-term prognosis after a first acute myocardial infarction: the SHEEP study.

CONTEXT Few studies have investigated the relation between alcohol consumption, former drinking, and prognosis after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), particularly for non-fatal outcomes. OBJECTIVE To investigate the prognostic importance of drinking habits among patients surviving a first AMI. DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PATIENTS A total of 1346 consecutive patients between 45-70 years with a first non-fatal AMI underwent a standardized clinical examination and were followed for over 8 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Total and cardiac mortality and hospitalization for non-fatal cardiovascular disease in relation to individual alcoholic beverage consumption at the time of AMI and 5 years before inclusion, assessed by a standardized questionnaire administered during hospitalization. RESULTS We recorded 267 deaths, and 145 deaths from cardiac causes, during the follow-up period. After adjustment for several potential confounders, hazard ratios for total and cardiac mortality were 0.77 (0.51-1.15) and 0.61 (0.36-1.02) for those drinking >0-<5 g per day, 0.77 (0.50-1.18) and 0.62 (0.36-1.07) for those drinking 5-20 g per day, and 0.89 (0.56-1.40) and 0.69 (0.38-1.25) for those drinking over 20 g per day. Risk of hospitalization for recurrent non-fatal AMI, stroke, or heart failure generally showed a similar pattern to that of total and cardiac mortality. Recent quitters at the time of AMI had a hazard ratio of 4.55 (2.03-10.20) for total mortality. Measures of insulin sensitivity appeared to be the strongest mediators of this association. CONCLUSIONS Moderate alcohol drinking might have beneficial effects on several aspects of long-term prognosis after an AMI. Our findings also highlight that former drinkers should be examined separately from long-term abstainers. The potential mechanisms that underlie this association still need to be elucidated.
Preamble Sequence Design for Spectral Compactness and Initial Synchronization in OFDM

Preamble waveforms are commonly adopted to enable initial timing and frequency synchronization in most orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems. To enable initial synchronization on both coarse and fine scales efficiently, these waveforms are constructed from appropriately designed preamble sequences, widely in conjunction with a special repetitive structure of the chosen sequence. The special structure is particularly facilitative to coarse synchronization while the preamble sequence itself affects fine synchronization essentially. Although performance optimality is not thoroughly established for all system setups and channel conditions, Zadoff–Chu and complex pseudorandom (PN) sequences, which possess, respectively, exact and near zero periodic autocorrelation (ZAC) properties, are extensively adopted to achieve robust synchronization while associating preamble waveforms with low peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Unfortunately, preamble waveforms carrying these sequences entail large power spectral sidelobes and are not spectrally compact. In this paper, new ZAC and near-ZAC sequences are developed to construct spectrally compact preamble waveforms adopting a repetitive or nonrepetitive structure. These sequences are shown to endow the corresponding preamble waveforms with high spectral compactness and low waveform PAPR while providing robust initial synchronization performance comparable to conventional ZAC sequences and superior to complex PN sequences.
Fine needle aspiration cytology of palpable breast lesions. Histologic subtype in false negative cases.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the use of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the management of benign and malignant breast disease in an outpatient breast clinic and to determine the guidelines for reporting on FNAC of breast lesions, we evaluated the test results in correlation with the histologic diagnosis. STUDY DESIGN We evaluate the test results of 669 cases of FNAC of the breast in 17 months in our outpatient breast clinic in correlation with the histologic diagnosis, histologic subtype according to the Japan Mammary Cancer Society classification and mammography results in false negative cases. RESULTS Among 669 cases, 25.3% were inadequate for cytologic diagnosis. An analysis of the results using the two-by-four contingency table, including cases with inadequate cytologic diagnosis, showed that 10.6% and 1.0% had false negative and false positive cytologic diagnoses, respectively; sensitivity and specificity were 76.9% and 91.6%, respectively. The false negative rate of 10.6% was higher than expected, and those belonged mostly to the "inadequate" cytologic diagnosis category even though they were discrete, obviously malignant masses clinically. To try to explain this, we compared the cytologic results and histologic subtype according to the Japan Mammary Cancer Society classification and the mammography results. Of 73 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma in which retrospective reexamination of the histology slide was possible, 27 (37.0%) were papillo-tubular type, 11 (15.1%) were solid-tubular type and 35 cases (47.9%) were scirrhous type. Although the scirrhous subtype was only 37.0% in the group in which a cytologic diagnosis of carcinoma was possible, more than two-thirds of the cases of false negative cytology were scirrhous type and had malignant mammographic findings. This finding was statistically significant. CONCLUSION In cases of ductal carcinoma of scirrhous subtype, the FNAC tended to be inadequate and false negative, but mammography showed better discrimination in such cases.
White-coat hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and total mortality

Background: Whether white-coat hypertension (WCH) is an innocent phenomenon is controversial. Method: In this study, we evaluated the association of WCH and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and mortality, stratified by baseline antihypertensive treatment status. Databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, and Google Scholar) were searched for prospective studies with data on CVD and total mortality associated with WCH. The primary outcomes were the risk of CVD and total mortality associated with WCH stratified by antihypertensive treatment status. The relative risks of events compared with normotension were calculated. Results: A total of 23 cohorts (20 445 individuals), 11 cohorts (8656 individuals), and 12 cohorts (21 336 individuals) were included for analysis of cardiovascular risk associated with WCH in patients without baseline antihypertensive treatment (untreated), or under antihypertensive treatment (treated) or mixed population (including both untreated and treated patients), respectively. In untreated cohorts, WCH was associated with a 38 and 20% increased risk of CVD and total mortality compared with normotension, respectively. In the mixed population, WCH was associated with a 19 and 50% increased risk of CVD and total mortality. However, in the treated patients, neither the risk of CVD, nor total mortality was increased in WCH. Meta-regression analyses indicated that neither differences of clinic blood pressure, nor out-of-office blood pressure variables were correlated with risk of CVD in WCH. Conclusion: We concluded that WCH is associated with long-term risk of CVD and total mortality in patients without antihypertensive treatment. Close follow-up should be performed in WCH patients.
Multi-task, multi-label and multi-domain learning with residual convolutional networks for emotion recognition

Automated emotion recognition in the wild from facial images remains a challenging problem. Although recent advances in Deep Learning have supposed a significant breakthrough in this topic, strong changes in pose, orientation and point of view severely harm current approaches. In addition, the acquisition of labeled datasets is costly, and current state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms cannot model all the aforementioned difficulties. In this paper, we propose to apply a multi-task learning loss function to share a common feature representation with other related tasks. Particularly we show that emotion recognition benefits from jointly learning a model with a detector of facial Action Units (collective muscle movements). The proposed loss function addresses the problem of learning multiple tasks with heterogeneously labeled data, improving previous multi-task approaches. We validate the proposal using two datasets acquired in non controlled environments, and an application to predict compound facial emotion expressions.