Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Basics of Metal Matrix Composites

Metal composite materials have found application in many areas of daily life for quite some time. Often it is not realized that the application makes use of composite materials. These materials are produced in situ from the conventional production and processing of metals. Here, the Dalmatian sword with its meander structure, which results from welding two types of steel by repeated forging, can be mentioned. Materials like cast iron with graphite or steel with a high carbide content, as well as tungsten carbides, consisting of carbides and metallic binders, also belong to this group of composite materials. For many researchers the term metal matrix composites is often equated with the term light metal matrix composites (MMCs). Substantial progress in the development of light metal matrix composites has been achieved in recent decades, so that they could be introduced into the most important applications. In traffic engineering, especially in the automotive industry, MMCs have been used commercially in fiber reinforced pistons and aluminum crank cases with strengthened cylinder surfaces as well as particle-strengthened brake disks. These innovative materials open up unlimited possibilities for modern material science and development; the characteristics of MMCs can be designed into the material, custom-made, dependent on the application. From this potential, metal matrix composites fulfill all the desired conceptions of the designer. This material group becomes interesting for use as constructional and functional materials, if the property profile of conventional materials either does not reach the increased standards of specific demands, or is the solution of the problem. However, the technology of MMCs is in competition with other modern material technologies, for example powder metallurgy. The advantages of the composite materials are only realized when there is a reasonable cost – performance relationship in the component production. The use of a composite material is obligatory if a special property profile can only be achieved by application of these materials. The possibility of combining various material systems (metal – ceramic – nonmetal) gives the opportunity for unlimited variation. The properties of these new 1
Stability criteria for unsupervised temporal association networks

A biologically realizable, unsupervised learning rule is described for the online extraction of object features, suitable for solving a range of object recognition tasks. Alterations to the basic learning rule are proposed which allow the rule to better suit the parameters of a given input space. One negative consequence of such modifications is the potential for learning instability. The criteria for such instability are modeled using digital filtering techniques and predicted regions of stability and instability tested. The result is a family of learning rules which can be tailored to the specific environment, improving both convergence times and accuracy over the standard learning rule, while simultaneously insuring learning stability.
Development of the laser shock wave adhesion test on bonded CFRP composite

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a laser shock adhesion test (LASAT) and evaluate its ability to reveal various bond qualities of stuck carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) industrial assemblies. Design/methodology/approach – Four grades of adhesion were prepared by release agent contamination of CFRP prior to assembly. Laser shots were performed at different intensities on these samples. Findings – To characterize and quantify the damage created by the propagation of shock waves in the bonded material, several diagnoses were used (confocal microscopy, ultra-sound inspection and cross-sections microscopy). These three post-mortem techniques are complementary and provide consistent results. Originality/value – The combination of these diagnoses along with the LASAT technique provides relevant information on the bond quality in agreement with GIC values measured by the University of Patras.
From cotton to wearable pressure sensor

In this work, carbon cottons (CC) with moderate electrical conductive (11 S m−1) were prepared from cotton via a simple pyrolysis process. Flexible and electrical conductive CC/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites were fabricated by vacuum assisted infusion of PDMS resin into a CC scaffold. Based on the CC/PDMS composites prepared, a simple yet highly sensitive pressure sensor was developed, which shows a maximum sensitivity of 6.04 kPa−1, a wide working pressure up to 700 kPa, a wide response frequency from 0.01 to 5 Hz, and durability over 1000 cycles. Based on our knowledge, the pressure sensitivity of the CC/PDMS sensor is only next to the record value in a pressure sensor (8.4 kPa−1). By integrating the pressure sensor with a sport shoe and waist belt, we demonstrate that the real time sport performance and health condition could be monitored. Notably, the device fabrication process is simple and scalable with low-cost cotton as raw material. The CC/PDMS composites are believed to have promising potential applications in wearable electronic devices such as, human-machine interfacing devices, prosthetic skins, sport performance, and health monitoring.
Analysis of the nano-deformation fields of micro-crack in silicon by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

A nanoscale experimental study of micro-crack in silicon was presented by using a combination of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and geometric phase analysis. The results show that there is an amorphous phase content in the crack body. The width of the amorphous narrow band which exists within the crack body is 2nm approximately. The geometric phase analysis technology was applied to calculate the strain fields of the crack tip. The trend of the experiment strain value ahead of the crack tip is the same with the trend of the isotropic elastic theory strain value.
Approval summary for imatinib mesylate capsules in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia.

PURPOSE Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) results from the breakpoint cluster region-Abl fusion gene product, a tyrosine kinase involved in cell division and apoptosis. Imatinib, an orally administered inhibitor of the breakpoint cluster region-Abl tyrosine kinase, is capable of blocking proliferation and inducing apoptosis in CML cell lines. In this report, we describe the preclinical profile of imatinib and the data submitted in the New Drug Application that led to its marketing approval. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Chemistry manufacturing and controls, animal toxicology, and biopharmaceutical data are described. Results of Phase I and Phase II clinical studies in patients with CML in blast crisis (CML-BC), in accelerated phase (CML-AP), and in chronic phase disease-resistant or intolerant to IFN-alpha (CML-CP) are summarized. The basis for marketing approval and postmarketing commitments by the pharmaceutical company are discussed. RESULTS Toxicology studies in the rat, dog, and monkey show the hematological, renal, and hepatobiliary toxicity of imatinib. Pharmacokinetic studies in patients with CML demonstrate 98% imatinib bioavailability. The elimination half-lives of the parent drug and the major active metabolite, CGP74588, from plasma are approximately 18 and 40 h, respectively. Approximately 81% of the drug is eliminated in 7 days, 68% in the feces and 13% in the urine. Cytochrome P-450 3A4 is the main enzyme responsible for imatinib metabolism. Phase I and II clinical studies were conducted. The Phase I study, in 83 CML patients, evaluated oral imatinib doses from 25 to 1000 mg/day. Dose-limiting toxicity was not observed. The three Phase II studies, in CML-CP, CML-AP, and CML-BC, enrolled 1027 patients. CML-CP patients received 400 mg/day imatinib, whereas CML-AP and CML-BC patients generally received 600 mg/day imatinib. Primary study endpoints were cytogenetic response rate (CML-CP) and hematological response rate (CML-AP and CML-BC). The cytogenetic response rate for CML-CP patients was 49%. The hematological response rate of CML-AP and CML-BC patients was 63 and 26%, respectively. The most common imatinib adverse events were nausea, vomiting, myalgia, edema, and diarrhea. Elevated liver enzymes and/or bilirubin were reported in 27 patients (2.6%). CONCLUSIONS On May 10, 2001, imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, formerly known as STI-571 and Glivec), manufactured and distributed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of CML in three clinical settings: CML-BC, CML-AP, and CML-CP. This report summarizes the Food and Drug Administration's review of the New Drug Application.
Cell Polarity and PIN Protein Positioning in Arabidopsis Require STEROL METHYLTRANSFERASE1 Function Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.008433.

Plants have many polarized cell types, but relatively little is known about the mechanisms that establish polarity. The orc mutant was identified originally by defects in root patterning, and positional cloning revealed that the affected gene encodes STEROL METHYLTRANSFERASE1, which is required for the appropriate synthesis and composition of major membrane sterols. smt1orc mutants displayed several conspicuous cell polarity defects. Columella root cap cells revealed perturbed polar positioning of different organelles, and in the smt1orc root epidermis, polar initiation of root hairs was more randomized. Polar auxin transport and expression of the auxin reporter DR5-β-glucuronidase were aberrant in smt1orc. Patterning defects in smt1orc resembled those observed in mutants of the PIN gene family of putative auxin efflux transporters. Consistently, the membrane localization of the PIN1 and PIN3 proteins was disturbed in smt1orc, whereas polar positioning of the influx carrier AUX1 appeared normal. Our results suggest that balanced sterol composition is a major requirement for cell polarity and auxin efflux in Arabidopsis.
The Impact of Organic Farming on Quality of Tomatoes Is Associated to Increased Oxidative Stress during Fruit Development

This study was conducted with the objective of testing the hypothesis that tomato fruits from organic farming accumulate more nutritional compounds, such as phenolics and vitamin C as a consequence of the stressing conditions associated with farming system. Growth was reduced in fruits from organic farming while titratable acidity, the soluble solids content and the concentrations in vitamin C were respectively +29%, +57% and +55% higher at the stage of commercial maturity. At that time, the total phenolic content was +139% higher than in the fruits from conventional farming which seems consistent with the more than two times higher activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) we observed throughout fruit development in fruits from organic farming. Cell membrane lipid peroxidation (LPO) degree was 60% higher in organic tomatoes. SOD activity was also dramatically higher in the fruits from organic farming. Taken together, our observations suggest that tomato fruits from organic farming experienced stressing conditions that resulted in oxidative stress and the accumulation of higher concentrations of soluble solids as sugars and other compounds contributing to fruit nutritional quality such as vitamin C and phenolic compounds.
Development and evaluation of anti-biofouling nano-composite coatings

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Functional quality of life in full versus partial posttraumatic stress disorder among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

OBJECTIVE This study assessed mental and health functioning in full versus partial posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among newly returning veterans from Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF]) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF]) who were referred by primary care providers for a behavioral health assessment and reported an emotional trauma. METHOD Participants included OEF/OIF veterans receiving care in 2 veterans' affairs medical centers and affiliated community-based outpatient clinics who reported behavioral health issues to their primary care providers. All veterans underwent a clinical behavioral health assessment of Axis I disorders and functioning via telephone between June 2007 and April 2008. Functioning was measured using the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). Those reporting a previous emotional trauma were subsequently assessed for PTSD using the PTSD Patient Checklist (PCL). RESULTS The final sample (N=201) was 88.1% male with a mean age of 34.2 years (SD=10.1). Individuals with full PTSD (n=120, 59.7%) reported worse mental health functioning compared to those with partial PTSD (n=37, 18.4%). Individuals with partial PTSD reported worse mental health functioning scores than the trauma exposed-only group (n=44, 21.9%). Compared to national norms, patients with partial PTSD reported mental health functioning scores that were worse than 75% of individuals within a similar age range. After controlling for other psychiatric factors, there was no difference between partial PTSD and the trauma-only group. CONCLUSION OEF/OIF veterans with partial PTSD referred for a behavioral health assessment may incur significant problems with functioning. These complaints may be better attributed to psychiatric comorbidity as opposed to symptoms specifically related to trauma.
Noisy Speech Enhancement Based on Multiple Statistical Models

In recent years there has been a great deal of interest in the enhancement of noisy speech for speech coding, recognition, and many other applications. In practice, the presence of noise seriously degrades the performance of the speech coder and recognition system. A number of approaches have been advanced for speech enhancement, e.g., the spectral subtraction, Wiener filtering, soft decision estimation, and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) estimation [1],[10],[21]. Widespread use of these methods is due to the fact that they are fairly straightforward to implement, effective in removing various background noises, and have a low computational load. It has been reported that speech enhancement algorithms based on soft decision gain modification have better performances compared with earlier methods employing hard decision in which each frame is classified into either speech or non-speech using a Voice Activity Detector (VAD) [4]~[6],[8],[14],[18],[23],[24]. The most popular algorithms for the enhancement of noisy speech are based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) [26]. The transformation decorrelates the speech samples and concentrates the energy of different components more efficiently in separate bins within the transform domain, i.e., the transformation approximates the Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT). Almost all of the known speech enhancement algorithms, which operate in the DFT 731
Constrained Capacities for Faster-Than-Nyquist Signaling

This paper deals with capacity computations of faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling. It shows that the capacity of FTN is higher than the orthogonal pulse linear modulation capacity for all pulse shapes except the sinc. FTN signals can in fact achieve the ultimate capacity for the signal power spectral density (PSD). The paper lower- and upper-bounds the FTN capacity under the constraint of finite input alphabet. It is often higher than the capacity for comparable orthogonal pulse systems; sometimes it is superior to all forms of orthogonal signaling with the same PSD.
Interaction and experience in enactive intelligence and humanoid robotics

We overview how sensorimotor experience can be operationalized for interaction scenarios in which humanoid robots acquire skills and linguistic behaviours via enacting a “form-of-life” in interaction games (following Wittgenstein) with humans. The enactive paradigm is introduced which provides a powerful framework for the construction of complex adaptive systems, based on interaction, habit, and experience. Enactive cognitive architectures (following insights of Varela, Thompson and Rosch) that we have developed support social learning and robot ontogeny by harnessing information-theoretic methods and raw uninterpreted sensorimotor experience to scaffold the acquisition of behaviours. The success criterion here is validation by the robot engaging in ongoing human-robot interaction with naive participants who, over the course of iterated interactions, shape the robot's behavioural and linguistic development. Engagement in such interaction exhibiting aspects of purposeful, habitual recurring structure evidences the developed capability of the humanoid to enact language and interaction games as a successful participant.
Leukotriene B4 Receptor-1 Is Essential for Allergen-Mediated Recruitment of CD8+ T Cells and Airway Hyperresponsiveness1

Recent studies in both human and rodents have indicated that in addition to CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells play an important role in allergic inflammation. We previously demonstrated that allergen-sensitized and -challenged CD8-deficient (CD8−/−) mice develop significantly lower airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), eosinophilic inflammation, and IL-13 levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid compared with wild-type mice, and that all these responses were restored by adoptive transfer of in vivo-primed CD8+ T cells or in vitro-generated effector CD8+ T cells (TEFF). Recently, leukotriene B4 and its high affinity receptor, BLT1, have been shown to mediate in vitro-generated TEFF recruitment into inflamed tissues. In this study we investigated whether BLT1 is essential for the development of CD8+ T cell-mediated allergic AHR and inflammation. Adoptive transfer of in vivo-primed BLT1+/+, but not BLT1−/−, CD8+ T cells into sensitized and challenged CD8−/− mice restored AHR, eosinophilic inflammation, and IL-13 levels. Moreover, when adoptively transferred into sensitized CD8−/− mice, in vitro-generated BLT1+/+, but not BLT1−/−, TEFF accumulated in the lung and mediated these altered airway responses to allergen challenge. These data are the first to show both a functional and an essential role for BLT1 in allergen-mediated CD8+ TEFF recruitment into the lung and development of AHR and airway inflammation.
Inverse-Procedural Methods for Urban Models

Procedural modeling is an elegant and fast way to generate huge complex and realistically looking urban sites. Due to its generative nature it can also be referred to as forward-procedural modeling. Its major drawback is the usually quite complicated way of control. To overcome this difficulty a novel modeling paradigm has been introduced: it is commonly referred to as inverse procedural modeling, and its goal is to generate compact procedural descriptions of existing models---in the best case in an automatic manner as possible. These compact procedural representations can be used as a source for the synthesis of identical or similar objects, applied in various simulations and other studies of urban environments. We believe that this technology is still a widely unexplored ground and that it will prove itself as a very important tool in the reconstruction process. In this paper we sketch how inverse procedural modeling can be applied in the urban modeling field.
Measuring Overweight: A Note

The Body Mass Index (BMI) provides a biased assessment of individual weight condition when there are substantial frame and muscle size deviations from the average for a given height. A method for overcoming this problem is presented. It allows an unbiased assessment of the individual level and degree of overweight and of the prevalence and intensity of overweight within the population.
Identifying demand for health resources using waiting times information.

In this paper the differences in average waiting times are utilized to identify the determinants of demand for health services. The equilibrium waiting time framework is used, but the full equilibrium assumption is relaxed by selecting areas with low waiting times and by estimating a (semi-)parametric selection model. Determinants of supply are used as instruments for the endogeneity of waiting times. A model for the demand for acute services at the ward level in the UK is estimated. The model estimates, and their implications for health service allocations in the UK, are contrasted against more standard allocation models. The present results show that it is critically important to account for rationing by waiting times when identifying needs from care utilization data.
The Growth of Palliative Care in U.S. Hospitals: A Status Report

Abstract Background: Palliative care is expanding rapidly in the United States. Objective: To examine variation in access to hospital palliative care. Methods: Data were obtained from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Surveys™ for Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013, the National Palliative Care Registry™, the Dartmouth Atlas of Healthcare, the American Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), web searches, and telephone interviews of hospital administrators and program directors. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine predictors of hospital palliative care programs. Results: Sixty-seven percent of hospitals with 50 or more total facility beds reported a palliative care program. Institutional characteristics were strongly associated with the presence of a hospital palliative care program. Ninety percent of hospitals with 300 beds or more were found to have palliative care programs as compared to 56% of hospitals with fewer than 300 beds. Tax status was also a significant predictor. Not-for-profit hospitals and public hospitals were, respectively, 4.8 times and 7.1 times more likely to have a palliative care program as compared to for-profit hospitals. Palliative care penetration was highest in the New England (88% of hospitals), Pacific (77% of hospitals), and mid-Atlantic (77% of hospitals) states and lowest in the west south central (43% of hospitals) and east south central (42% of hospitals) states. Conclusions: This study demonstrates continued steady growth in the number of hospital palliative care programs in the United States, with almost universal access to services in large U.S. hospitals and academic medical centers. Nevertheless access to palliative care remains uneven and depends on accidents of geography and hospital ownership.
Rendering Primitives for a Virtual Holodeck

The main objective of this research is to implement a “Star Trek”-like holodeck in a computer environment. An experiment to create graphical primitives and images solely out of spheres is being conducted. We investigate several approaches of creating primitives using spheres, and then using these primitives to create images. Initial results of this experiment are presented and we conclude that using spheres to create primitives and images is a viable approach to creating realistic-looking three-dimensional (3D) images.