Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Temperature Tribological Behaviour of Particulate Composites in the System SiC-TiC-TiB₂ during Dry Oscillating Sliding

The tribological behaviour of monolithic SiC as well as SiC-TiC and SiC-TiC-TiB₂ particulate composite materials has been investigated in unlubricated oscillating sliding tests against Al₂O₃ at temperatures in the range from room temperature up to 600℃. At temperatures below 600℃ the wear rate of the systems with the composite materials was up to 20 times lower than the wear of the Al₂O₃/SiC system and was dominated by the oxidation of the titanium phases. At 600℃ the oxidation rate of the TiC and TiB₂ grains becomes predominant resulting in an enhanced wear rate of the composite materials. The coefficient of friction shows similar values for all materials of investigation, increasing from 0.25…0.3 at room temperature to 0.7…0.8 at 600℃. The wear of the Al₂O₃/SiC system is mainly abrasive at temperatures above room temperature and is characterised by an enhanced wear of the alumina ball at 600℃.
Real time measurement of micro changes in dinamic images

A motion analysis which is the topics on video processing, is used for determining an object or a pixel move which direction and how far. During the motion analysis, the pixels sometimes can move less than area of a pixel. In these situations motions should be perceived at micro level. For this, pixels' decimal values which called subpixels must be determined and the motion must be detected in these sub-pixels. Materials science is one of the areas that is used to motion analysis. There are substantial techniques to increase reliability, robustness and practicableness of in the content of each using object in material science. Tensile test is one of these techniques. Tensile test make an inference about general characteristics of material such as stress and elongation at break. In this study, the micro level changes that are performed on subpixel taken real time videos' images during the tensile test determine using adaptive linear regression.
PARAMETER CONVERGENCE FOR EM AND MM ALGORITHMS

It is well known that the likelihood sequence of the EM algorithm is non- decreasing and convergent (Dempster, Laird and Rubin (1977)), and that the limit points of the EM algorithm are stationary points of the likelihood (Wu (1982)), but the issue of the convergence of the EM sequence itself has not been completely settled. In this paper we close this gap and show that under general, simple, veriable conditions, any EM sequence is convergent. In pathological cases we show that the sequence is cycling in the limit among a nite number of stationary points with equal likelihood. The results apply equally to the optimization transfer class of algorithms (MM algorithm) of Lange, Hunter, and Yang (2000). Two dieren t EM algorithms constructed on the same dataset illustrate the convergence and the cyclic behavior. This paper contains new results concerning the convergence of the EM al- gorithm. The EM algorithm was brought into the limelight by Dempster, Laird and Rubin (1977) as a general iterative method of computing the maximum likelihood estimator by maximizing a simpler likelihood on an augmented data space. However, the problem of the convergence of the algorithm has not been satisfactory resolved. Wu (1983), the main theoretical contribution in this area, showed that the limit points of the EM algorithm are stationary points of the likelihood, and that when the likelihood is unimodal, any EM sequence is con- vergent. Boyles (1983) has a number of results along similar lines. These results still allow the possibility of a non-convergent EM sequence when the likelihood is not unimodal. More importantly, the EM algorithm is useful when the likelihood is hard to obtain directly; for these cases, the unimodality of the likelihood is very dicult to verify. Here we give simple, general, veriable conditions for con- vergence: our main result (Theorem 3) is that any EM sequence is convergent, if the maximizer at the M-step is unique. This condition is almost always satis- ed in practice (otherwise the particular EM data augmentation scheme would
Academic detailing to improve use of broad-spectrum antibiotics at an academic medical center.

BACKGROUND Antibiotic misuse is common and costly and may promote antibiotic resistance. We tested the efficacy of a targeted one-on-one educational program ("academic detailing") designed to improve the appropriateness of broad-spectrum antibiotic use. METHODS A randomized controlled trial was conducted in a large US teaching hospital. During an 18-week study period, 17 general medical, oncology, and cardiology services either received academic detailing or did not. The intervention was prompted by an order for either levofloxacin or ceftazidime that led to a computer-based review of data for that patient. Orders for the 2 target antibiotics deemed unnecessary by a priori criteria were included in the study. The primary outcome examined was the number of days that unnecessary levofloxacin or ceftazidime was administered in intervention and control groups. RESULTS Before the trial, intervention and control services had similar prescribing patterns for the target antibiotics; the drugs were used for similar indications throughout the study period. During the intervention, there was a reduction of 37% in days of unnecessary levofloxacin or ceftazidime use per 2-week interval on services randomized to the educational intervention vs control services (P< .001). In multivariable analyses controlling for baseline prescribing and study interval, the rate of unnecessary use of the 2 target antibiotics was reduced by 41% on the intervention services compared with controls (95% confidence interval, 44%-78%; P< .001). Length of stay, intensive care unit transfers, readmission rates, and in-hospital death rates were similar in both groups (P> or =.10 for all). CONCLUSION Targeted one-on-one education is a practical, effective, and safe method for reducing excessive broad-spectrum antibiotic use.
Speed identification about PMSM with MRAS

Speed identification is important to apply the permanent magnet synchronous motor system on the situation that need speed signal but without speed sensor. Taking system dynamic mathematics model as the investigated subject, set up the speed identification adaptive system of the enhanced magnetism motor system on the basic of Model Reference Adaptive System and POPOV's hyperstability theory. Derive the equivalence nonlinear feedback system of the speed identification adaptive system. Prove its stability and dynamic follow character. There is no pure integration, moment of inertia and system load in the speed estimation system. Taking system mechanic model as the verified subject, studied the speed estimation algorithms performance when the system works in drive, regenerative braking operation mode and disturbance happens to the motor system. Bench test verified the speed estimator when the system in acceleration. The results show that the identification speed can follow the real speed quickly in above all operation modes and the estimation error is small. The results of dynamic performance study are the basic of optimization of its control performance.
Flexible and User-Centric Camera Calibration using Planar Fiducial Markers

The benefit of accurate camera calibration for recovering 3D structure from images is a well-studied topic. Recently 3D vision tools for end-user applications have become popular among large audiences, mostly unskilled in computer vision. This motivates the need for a flexible and user-centric camera calibration method which drastically releases the critical requirements on the calibration target and ensures that low-quality or faulty images provided by end users do not degrade the overall calibration and in effect the resulting 3D model. In this paper we present and advocate an approach to camera calibration using fiducial markers, aiming at the accuracy of target calibration techniques without the requirement for a precise calibration pattern, to ease the calibration effort for the end-user. An extensive set of experiments with real images is presented which demonstrates improvements in the estimation of the parameters of the camera model as well as accuracy in the multi-view stereo reconstruction of large scale scenes. Pixel reprojection errors and ground truth errors obtained by our method are significantly lower compared to popular calibration routines, even though paper-printable and easy-to-use targets are employed.
Association between anti-Mullerian hormone and insulin resistance in non-obese adolescent females with polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract Objective: The present study was designed to evaluate the association between anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and insulin resistance (IR) in non-obese adolescent females with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with and without IR. Methods: Seventy-seven consecutive non-obese patients were recruited and distributed into three groups according to diagnoses of PCOS and IR. Group I included 27 females diagnosed with PCOS and IR, group II included 18 females diagnosed with PCOS but without IR, and group III included 32 controls without PCOS. Results: Group I had significantly higher AMH levels compared to group II and group III (p < 0.012 and p < 0.000, respectively). ROC curve analyses demonstrated that the AUC, indicative of the AMH value for discriminating PCOS with IR, was 0.763, with a confidence interval of 0.607–0.920 (p = 0.004). There was a significant positive correlation between serum AMH and HOMA-IR levels in adolescent females with PCOS (p = 0.003). Conclusion: We found that serum AMH levels were higher in non-obese adolescent females with PCOS and IR than in PCOS patients without IR and the healthy controls. There was a significant positive correlation between AMH levels and IR in non-obese adolescent females with PCOS.
Immersive audio and Music in the AlloSphere

The UCSB Allosphere is a 3-story-high spherical instrument in which virtual environments and performances can be experienced in a fully immersive fashion. It is made of a perforated aluminum sphere, ten meters in diameter, suspended inside a quasi-anechoic cube. The space is now being equipped with high-resolution active stereo projectors, a 3D sound system with hundreds of speakers, and with tracking and interaction mechanisms. The Allosphere allows for the exploration of large-scale data sets in an environment that is at the same time multimodal, multimedia, multi-user, immersive, and interactive. This novel and unique instrument will be used for research into scientific visualization/auralization and d ata exploration, and as a research environment for behavioral and cognitive scientists. It will also serve as a research an d performance space for artists exploring new forms of art. In particular, the Allosphere has been carefully designed to allow for immersive music applications. In this paper, we give an overview of the instrument, focusing on the audio subsystem. We present first results and our experiences in developing and using the Allosphere in several prototype projects.
Novel Tfap2-mediated control of soxE expression facilitated the evolutionary emergence of the neural crest

Gene duplication has been proposed to drive the evolution of novel morphologies. After gene duplication, it is unclear whether changes in the resulting paralogs’ coding-regions, or in their cis-regulatory elements, contribute most significantly to the assembly of novel gene regulatory networks. The Transcription Factor Activator Protein 2 (Tfap2) was duplicated in the chordate lineage and is essential for development of the neural crest, a tissue that emerged with vertebrates. Using a tfap2-depleted zebrafish background, we test the ability of available gnathostome, agnathan, cephalochordate and insect tfap2 paralogs to drive neural crest development. With the exception of tfap2d (lamprey and zebrafish), all are able to do so. Together with expression analyses, these results indicate that sub-functionalization has occurred among Tfap2 paralogs, but that neo-functionalization of the Tfap2 protein did not drive the emergence of the neural crest. We investigate whether acquisition of novel target genes for Tfap2 might have done so. We show that in neural crest cells Tfap2 directly activates expression of sox10, which encodes a transcription factor essential for neural crest development. The appearance of this regulatory interaction is likely to have coincided with that of the neural crest, because AP2 and SoxE are not co-expressed in amphioxus, and because neural crest enhancers are not detected proximal to amphioxus soxE. We find that sox10 has limited ability to restore the neural crest in Tfap2-deficient embryos. Together, these results show that mutations resulting in novel Tfap2-mediated regulation of sox10 and other targets contributed to the evolution of the neural crest.
Dynamic walking over rough terrains by nonlinear predictive control of the floating-base inverted pendulum

We present a real-time pattern generator for dynamic walking over rough terrains. Our method automatically finds step durations, a critical issue over rough terrains where they depend on terrain topology. To achieve this level of generality, we consider a Floating-base Inverted Pendulum (FIP) model where the center of mass can translate freely and the zero-tilting moment point is allowed to leave the contact surface. This model is equivalent to a linear inverted pendulum with variable center-of-mass height, but its equations of motion remain linear. Our solution then follows three steps: (i) we characterize the FIP contact-stability condition; (ii) we compute feedforward controls by solving a nonlinear optimization over receding-horizon FIP trajectories. Despite running at 30 Hz in a model-predictive fashion, simulations show that the latter is too slow to stabilize dynamic motions. To remedy this, we (iii) linearize FIP feedback control into a constrained linear-quadratic regulator that runs at 300 Hz. We finally demonstrate our solution in simulations with a model of the HRP-4 humanoid robot, including noise and delays over state estimation and foot force control.
Barcoding Atlantic Canada’s mesopelagic and upper bathypelagic marine fishes

DNA barcode sequences were developed from 557 mesopelagic and upper bathypelagic teleost specimens collected in waters off Atlantic Canada. Confident morphological identifications were available for 366 specimens, of 118 species and 93 genera, which yielded 328 haplotypes. Five of the species were novel to the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). Most of the 118 species conformed to expectations of monophyly and the presence of a “barcode gap”, though some known weaknesses in existing taxonomy were confirmed and a deficiency in published keys was revealed. Of the specimens for which no firm morphological identification was available, 156 were successfully identified to species, and a further 11 to genus, using their barcode sequences and a combination of distance- and character-based methods. The remaining 24 specimens were from species for which no reference barcode is yet available or else ones confused by apparent misidentification of publicly available sequences in BOLD. Addition of the new sequences to those previously in BOLD contributed support to recent taxonomic revisions of Chiasmodon and Poromitra, while it also revealed 18 cases of potential cryptic speciation. Most of the latter appear to result from genetic divergence among populations in different ocean basins, while the general lack of strong horizontal environmental gradients within the deep sea has allowed morphology to be conserved. Other examples of divergence appear to distinguish individuals living under the sub-tropical gyre of the North Atlantic from those under that ocean’s sub-polar gyre. In contrast, the available sequences for two myctophid species, Benthosema glaciale and Notoscopelus elongatus, showed genetic structuring on finer geographic scales. The observed structure was not consistent with recent suggestions that “resident” populations of myctophids can maintain allopatry despite the mixing of ocean waters. Rather, it indicates that the very rapid speciation characteristic of the Myctophidae is both on-going and detectable using barcodes.
Distinct Patterns of Striatal Medium Spiny Neuron Activity during the Natural Sleep–Wake Cycle

Striatal medium-sized spiny neurons (MSNs) integrate and convey information from the cerebral cortex to the output nuclei of the basal ganglia. Intracellular recordings from anesthetized animals show that MSNs undergo spontaneous transitions between hyperpolarized and depolarized states. State transitions, regarded as necessary for eliciting action potential firing in MSNs, are thought to control basal ganglia function by shaping striatal output. Here, we use an anesthetic-free rat preparation to show that the intracellular activity of MSNs is not stereotyped and depends critically on vigilance state. During slow-wave sleep, much as during anesthesia, MSNs displayed rhythmic step-like membrane potential shifts, correlated with cortical field potentials. However, wakefulness was associated with a completely different pattern of temporally disorganized depolarizing synaptic events of variable amplitude. Transitions from slow-wave sleep to wakefulness converted striatal discharge from a cyclic brisk firing to an irregular pattern of action potentials. These findings illuminate different capabilities of information processing in basal ganglia networks, suggesting in particular that a novel style of striatal computation is associated with the waking state.
Hunger, waiting time and transport costs: Time to confront challenges to ART adherence in Africa

Abstract Adherence levels in Africa have been found to be better than those in the US. However around one out of four ART users fail to achieve optimal adherence, risking drug resistance and negative treatment outcomes. A high demand for 2nd line treatments (currently ten times more expensive than 1st line ART) undermines the sustainability of African ART programs. There is an urgent need to identify context-specific constraints to adherence and implement interventions to address them. We used rapid appraisals (involving mainly qualitative methods) to find out why and when people do not adhere to ART in Uganda, Tanzania and Botswana. Multidisciplinary teams of researchers and local health professionals conducted the studies, involving a total of 54 semi-structured interviews with health workers, 73 semi-structured interviews with ARTusers and other key informants, 34 focus group discussions, and 218 exit interviews with ART users. All the facilities studied in Botswana, Tanzania and Uganda provide ARVs free of charge, but ART users report other related costs (e.g. transport expenditures, registration and user fees at the private health facilities, and lost wages due to long waiting times) as main obstacles to optimal adherence. Side effects and hunger in the initial treatment phase are an added concern. We further found that ART users find it hard to take their drugs when they are among people to whom they have not disclosed their HIV status, such as co-workers and friends. The research teams recommend that (i) health care workers inform patients better about adverse effects; (ii) ART programmes provide transport and food support to patients who are too poor to pay; (iii) recurrent costs to users be reduced by providing three-months, rather than the one-month refills once optimal adherence levels have been achieved; and (iv) pharmacists play an important role in this follow-up care.
Geographic strain differentiation of Schistosoma japonicum in the Philippines using microsatellite markers

Background Microsatellites have been found to be useful in determining genetic diversities of various medically-important parasites which can be used as basis for an effective disease management and control program. In Asia and Africa, the identification of different geographical strains of Schistosoma japonicum, S. haematobium and S. mansoni as determined through microsatellites could pave the way for a better understanding of the transmission epidemiology of the parasite. Thus, the present study aims to apply microsatellite markers in analyzing the populations of S. japonicum from different endemic areas in the Philippines for possible strain differentiation. Methodology/ Principal findings Experimental mice were infected using the cercariae of S. japonicum collected from infected Oncomelania hupensis quadrasi snails in seven endemic municipalities. Adult worms were harvested from infected mice after 45 days of infection and their DNA analyzed against ten previously characterized microsatellite loci. High genetic diversity was observed in areas with high endemicity. The degree of genetic differentiation of the parasite population between endemic areas varies. Geographical separation was considered as one of the factors accounting for the observed difference between populations. Two subgroups have been observed in one of the study sites, suggesting that co-infection with several genotypes of the parasite might be present in the population. Clustering analysis showed no particular spatial structuring between parasite populations from different endemic areas. This result could possibly suggest varying degrees of effects of the ongoing control programs and the existing gene flow in the populations, which might be attributed to migration and active movement of infected hosts from one endemic area to another. Conclusions/ Significance Based on the results of the study, it is reasonable to conclude that genetic diversity could be one possible criterion to assess the infection status in highly endemic areas. Genetic surveillance using microsatellites is therefore important to predict the ongoing gene flow and degree of genetic diversity, which indirectly reflects the success of the control program in schistosomiasis-endemic areas.
Cross-Modal Processing in Early Visual and Auditory Cortices depends on Expected Statistical Relationship of Multisensory Information

Previous studies have shown that processing information in one sensory modality can either be enhanced or attenuated by concurrent stimulation of another modality. Here, we reconcile these apparently contradictory results by showing that the sign of cross-modal interactions depends on whether the content of two modalities is associated or not. When concurrently presented auditory and visual stimuli are paired by chance, cue-induced preparatory neural activity is strongly enhanced in the task-relevant sensory system and suppressed in the irrelevant system. Conversely, when information in the two modalities is reliably associated, activity is enhanced in both systems regardless of which modality is task relevant. Our findings illustrate an ecologically optimal flexibility of the neural mechanisms that govern multisensory processing: facilitation occurs when integration is expected, and suppression occurs when distraction is expected. Because thalamic structures were more active when the senses needed to operate separately, we propose them to serve gatekeeper functions in early cross-modal interactions.