Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VLA H53α Radio Recombination Line Observations of the Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy Arp 220

We present high angular resolution (0.″7) observations made with the Very Large Array (VLA) of the radio recombination line (RRL) H53α and radio continuum emission at 43 GHz from the ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) Arp 220. The 43 GHz continuum emission shows a compact structure (~2'') with two peaks separated by ~1'', the east (E) and west (W) components, that correspond to each galactic nucleus of the merger. The spectral indices for both the E and W components, using radio continuum images at 8.3 and 43 GHz are typical of synchrotron emission (α ~ -1.0). Our 43 GHz continuum and H53α line observations confirm the flux densities predicted by the models proposed by Anantharamaiah et al. (2000). This agreement with the models implies the presence of high-density (~105 cm-3) compact H II regions (~0.1 pc) in Arp 220. The integrated H53α line emission is stronger toward the nonthermal radio continuum peaks, which are also coincident with the peaks of molecular emission of the H2CO. The coincidence between the integrated H53α and the H2CO maser line emission suggests that the recent star-forming regions, traced by the high-density gas, are located mainly in regions that are close to the two radio continuum peaks. A velocity gradient of ~0.30 km s-1 pc-1 in the H53α RRL is observed toward the E component, and a second velocity gradient of ~0.15 km s-1 pc-1 is detected toward the W component. The orientations of these velocity gradients are in agreement with previous CO, H I, and OH observations. The kinematics of the high-density ionized gas traced by the H53α line are consistent with two counterrotating disks as suggested by the CO and H I observations.
Implementation of GSM SMS remote control system based on FPGA

A design of a GSM SMS(Short Message Service) remote appliance control system based on FPGA is completed in this paper. The paper based on the original telephone remote control system, mainly designs a remote appliance control system using the GSM SMS to finally achieve the dual-mode control of phone and SMS control, which makes the remote appliance control system more perfect. As the control core, FPGA enables this system to be nimble to dispose and have an extended function. The main works completed in this paper include hardware module design (GSM SMS module, RS232 interface module, and the temperature monitor module), FPGA logic design, and system board-level verification. The testing result indicates that the designed long-distance electrical control system meets the designing goal and has application potential.
General health and state anxiety in patients recovering from colorectal cancer surgery.

AIM To describe and compare general health and state anxiety before surgery and up to 6 months after surgery in patients with colorectal cancer undergoing elective rectal resection, abdominoperineal resection or colonic resection in an enhanced recovery context. BACKGROUND Little is known about patient-reported health and anxiety after colorectal cancer surgery in an enhanced recovery context. DESIGN A prospective cohort study. METHODS Data were collected from October 2011-February 2013. The questionnaires - EuroQol 5-Dimensions 3-Levels and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - were answered before surgery, at discharge and 1 and 6 months after surgery. Data were analysed using inferential statistics to describe differences between groups of patients (Kruskal-Wallis test) and between assessments within groups (Friedman's anova). RESULTS Patients (N = 105), divided into three groups based on surgical procedure, showed a high health index and a low state anxiety in all assessments without differences between the groups. Patients considered for abdominoperineal resection rated their pre-operative health as significantly higher than patients after rectal and colonic resections did. Within groups, patients recovering from abdominoperineal resection and rectal resection deteriorated significantly in health index 1 month after surgery. However, after 6 months they had improved again. After colonic resection, patients improved significantly in self-rated health and anxiety 1 month after surgery with no further discernible improvement after 6 months. CONCLUSION The study showed that patients generally had a high level of health and a low level of anxiety throughout the study period. Only a few differences occurred between assessments within groups.
A BIAXIAL SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY ACTUATED CELL/TISSUE STRETCHING SYSTEM

In this article, we describe the design of a shape memory alloy-based system to stretch cells cultured on top of a flexible membrane in multi-directions (longitudinal and transverse). Mechanical cues (such as strain and force) can affect the state and behavior of cells, such as, morphology, the differentiation process, and apoptosis. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the effects of mechanical perturbations on cells/tissues will have a deep impact in the biological sciences. The proposed design allows application of anisotropic (multi-axial) strain with high-precision. Certain cells, for example endothelial cells that line the inside of blood vessels, experience multi-axial (circumferential and longitudinal) stresses and strains. A cell stretching device that enables controlled application of biaxial strain will allow for systematic and accurate studies of the effects of externally applied mechanical perturbation throughout the cell, tissue, or organ. A preliminary design is proposed that exploits the strain recovery property of the shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. We describe the design of the mechanical system and show experimental results to demonstrate stretching of a thin PDMS membrane in the longitudinal and transverse directions. To account for the inherent nonlinearity of the SMA, a feedback controller is implemented to achieve high-precision control of the stretching process. Additionally, the design can be integrated with an atomic force microscope (AFM) for high spatial and temporal resolution studies.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Design and Fabrication of Helmholtz Coils to Study the Effects of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields on the Healing Process in Periodontitis: Preliminary Animal Results

Background: Effects of electromagnetic fields on healing have been investigated for centuries. Substantial data indicate that exposure to electromagnetic field can lead to enhanced healing in both soft and hard tissues. Helmholtz coils are devices that generate pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF). Objective: In this work, a pair of Helmholtz coils for enhancing the healing process in periodontitis was designed and fabricated. Method: An identical pair of square Helmholtz coils generated the 50 Hz magnetic field. This device was made up of two parallel coaxial circular coils (100 turns in each loop, wound in series) which were separated from each other by a distance equal to the radius of one coil (12.5 cm). The windings of our Helmholtz coil was made of standard 0.95mm wire to provide the maximum possible current. The coil was powered by a function generator. Results: The Helmholtz Coils generated a uniform magnetic field between its coils. The magnetic field strength at the center of the space between two coils was 97.6 μT. Preliminary biological studies performed on rats show that exposure of laboratory animals to pulsed electromagnetic fields enhanced the healing of periodontitis. Conclusion: Exposure to PEMFs can lead to stimulatory physiological effects on cells and tissues such as enhanced healing of periodontitis.
Scalable Approximate Inference for the Bayesian Nonlinear Support Vector Machine

We develop a variational inference (VI) scheme for the recently proposed Bayesian kernel support vector machine (SVM) and a stochastic version (SVI) for the linear Bayesian SVM. We compute the SVM’s posterior, paving the way to apply attractive Bayesian techniques, as we exemplify in our experiments by means of automated model selection.
An electron microscope investigation of the interfacial structure of semi-coherent precipitates

Abstract A transmission electron microscope study of four semi-coherent precipitates (θ’ in Al–Cu, S in Al–Cu–Mg, β’ in Al–Mg–Si and γ’ in Ni–Cr–Ti–Al) has revealed a misfit dislocation structure at their semi-coherent interfaces. The general visibility criteria for interface dislocations are considered and a Burgers vector analysis of the dislocation arrays on each of the precipitates has been carried out. The dislocation structure of γ’ interfaces consists of hexagonal networks of a/2[110] dislocations, the S and β’ needles have arrays of dislocation loops along their length having Burgers vectors of the type a/2[101] for needles with axes parallel to [100], while the misfit across the flat interface of θ’ discs is accommodated by orthogonal sets of dislocation loops having Burgers vectors a[100] and a[010] for an (001) disc. The mechanism of loss of coherency has been studied in each case. The γ', S and β’ precipitates all lose coherency by the attraction of matrix dislocations to the particle/matrix i.
Focusing on the Environment to Improve Youth Participation: Experiences and Perspectives of Occupational Therapists

The environment plays a key role in supporting children’s participation and can serve as a focus of intervention. This study aimed to elicit the perceptions and experiences of occupational therapists who had applied the PREP approach—Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation. PREP is a novel 12-week intervention for youth with physical disabilities, aimed at improving participation in leisure community-based activities by modifying aspects of the environment. Using a qualitative post-intervention only design, 12 therapists took part in individual semi-structured interviews, in which the therapists reflected on their experience using PREP to enable participation. A thematic analysis was conducted. Four themes emerged from the data; two of which were informative in nature, describing elements of the PREP intervention that target multi-layered composition of the environment and use strategies that involve leveraging resources and problem solving. The two remaining themes were reflective in nature, illustrating a new take on the Occupational Therapy role and re-positioning the concept of participation in therapy practices. Results emphasize aspects of the environment that can serve as effective targets of intervention, guided by the PREP approach. Findings can broaden the scope and focus of occupational therapy practice by redefining views on participation and the environment.
Return to Golf After Lumbar Fusion

Background: Spinal fusion surgery is being increasingly performed, yet few studies have focused on return to recreational sports after lumbar fusion and none have specifically analyzed return to golf. Hypothesis: Most golfers successfully return to sport after lumbar fusion surgery. Study Design: Case series. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: All patients who underwent 1- or 2-level primary lumbar fusion surgery for degenerative pathologies performed by a single surgeon between January 2008 and October 2012 and had at least 1-year follow-up were included. Patients completed a specifically designed golf survey. Surveys were mailed, given during follow-up clinic, or answered during telephone contact. Results: A total of 353 patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, with 200 responses (57%) to the questionnaire producing 34 golfers. The average age of golfers was 57 years (range, 32-79 years). In 79% of golfers, preoperative back and/or leg pain significantly affected their ability to play golf. Within 1 year from surgery, 65% of patients returned to practice and 52% returned to course play. Only 29% of patients stated that continued back/leg pain limited their play. Twenty-five patients (77%) were able to play the same amount of golf or more than before fusion surgery. Of those providing handicaps, 12 (80%) reported the same or an improved handicap. Conclusion: More than 50% of golfers return to on-course play within 1 year of lumbar fusion surgery. The majority of golfers can return to preoperative levels in terms of performance (handicap) and frequency of play. Clinical Relevance: This investigation offers insight into when golfers return to sport after lumbar fusion surgery and provides surgeons with information to set realistic expectations postoperatively.
The development of a method for semi-automatic classification of built-up areas from aerial imagery

The identification of built-up areas from aerial imagery is essential for map updating and detecting changes for a national mapping organisation. At the Chief Directorate of National Geospatial Information (CD: NGI), South Africa’s national mapping agency, this process relies on operators to manually digitise features of interest, which is very time consuming and labour intensive. It is therefore necessary to explore methods that will assist in automatic classification of such areas to speed up the process of updating topographic databases. This pilot project attempts to automate the classification of urban built-up areas, which are important as they can grow and change rapidly, and can indicate where other landscape changes may have occurred. The method of classification should be suitable in multiple South African landscapes. This research evaluates various image classification methods, and illustrates the development of the proposed methodology for urban scene land cover classification in South Africa. Three of the methods evaluated were tested and compared, and the results achieved indicate that object-based classifiers are more suitable than pixel-based classifiers in detecting urban built-up areas. The importance of generating suitable image objects in an object-based classification is indicated in this study, and the significance of texture measures used in classifying urban built-up areas is highlighted.
A Strategy to Combine Test-Driven Development and Test Criteria to Improve Learning of Programming Skills

Students usually have difficulties assimilating basic contents of introductory programming disciplines. Test-Driven Development (TDD) is an interesting approach to address this issue, but it does not focus on quality with respect to software testing. This study aims to verify the effectiveness of the use of software testing criteria for producing test cases with higher quality in the context of education with TDD. We used the test-driven development technique with a change in the refactoring step, adding an activity for creating test cases using software testing criteria. We performed two experimental studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the technique. Each study comprised two groups: one using traditional TDD and the other using TDD with test criteria, both having developed the same software. The results showed that groups applying the proposed intervention produced better test cases, with greater coverage, and not disrupting TDD. Moreover, we could observe that, in general, the test set for groups using TDD with criteria was more efficient, getting greater coverage with fewer test cases than groups using plain TDD.
The Effects of Colloid Solutions on Renal Proximal Tubular Cells In Vitro

Renal failure is a common complication of critically ill patients. Colloids such as hydroxyethyl starch (HES), gelatin, or albumin are regularly used for intravascular volume resuscitation, but there are increasing reports about the nephrotoxic side effects of synthetic colloids in septic patients. Therefore, we investigated the influence of colloids (HES130/0.4 (Voluven®), gelatin (Gelafundin®), human albumin, and the crystalloid Sterofundin® ISO on cell viability of human proximal tubular (HK-2) cells. HK-2 cells were incubated with colloids (0.1%–4%) and with equivalent volumes of the crystalloid solution Sterofundin ISO. After 21 hours, cell viability of HK-2 cells was measured by EZ4U assay (dye XTT). Application of HES130/0.4 decreased cell viability significantly in a concentration-dependent manner (86.80% ± 10.79% by 0.5% HES down to 24.02% ± 4.27% by 4% HES). Human albumin (>1.25%) as well as gelatin (>1%) also showed deleterious effects on HK-2 cells. Interestingly, in lower concentrations, human albumin and the crystalloid solution Sterofundin ISO were cytoprotective in comparison with the NaCl control. In conclusion, synthetic and natural colloids showed a harmful impact on HK-2 cells in higher concentrations without any prior proinflammatory stimulus. HES130/0.4 exhibited the most distinctive harmful impact, whereas the application of crystalloid Sterofundin ISO revealed cytoprotective effects.
Wealth Distribution in a Local-World Network

We study the flow of money among agents in the local-world network with yard-sale model and aggressiveness. The system allows money trade between two agents and a time during the evolving of the model, betting a fraction α of the loser’s agent wealth. b parameterizes the significance of the relative wealth of the agents. According to analysis the wealth distribution with b>0,b=0 and bis the most important index of system structure. The computation and simulation results tell us that Gini coefficient is growing up gradually as increasing of . These results can offer effective approaches for our country to establish useful measure and policy to relax the unequal distribution of wealth.
to luteinizing.

The effect of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) on plasma prolactin (PRL) was studied in eight acromegalic patients. After LHRH injection a significant increase in plasma prolactin levels was obtained in three of them. This non specific prolactin response to LHRH represents an additional proof of the well known abnormalities of pituitary hormone response to various stimuli in acromegaly.
Performance of a hexagonal, segmented railgun

The French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis pursues a wide and long-term experimental program for railgun research. One of the accelerators in operation, the SR\3-60 is an experiment to investigate the behavior of a segmented railgun. Due to its special construction, the rails of the three segments can be mounted in different configurations. Here experimental results from two series of shots with different rail configurations are reported. (4 pages)
An In-Depth Look Into Intergenerational Flows

The goal of this paper is to carefully document the characteristics of within-family monetary transfers in the United States, using all nine waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The main purpose of doing so is to summarize the relevant moments that can be used as calibration targets by macro studies. As of now, most macroeconomic models have omitted within-family transfers from their consideration. While this choice is innocuous for many studies, for others, such as those studying public policy reforms, or the effect of demographic changes on macroeconomic outcomes, omitting within-family transfers may significantly bias the results. One reason why it has been difficult to incorporate intergenerational transfers into these frameworks is the lack of well-documented transfer characteristics that could be used as calibration targets. In fact, the existing studies based on HRS usually aim to disentangle transfer motives and focus on just a couple of HRS waves, reporting only the estimated coefficients for their empirical models.
A 400 MHz S/390 microprocessor

A microprocessor implementing IBM S/390 architecture operates in a system at up to 400 MHz (2.5 ns). The microprocessor, initially in IBM CMOS5X technology, migrated to CMOS6S by shrinking the FET length dimensions but not shrinking the interconnect dimensions. The chip is 17.35/spl times/17.30 mm/sup 2/ with about 7.8M transistors. The power supply is 2.5 V and measured power dissipation at 300 MHz is 37 W. The microprocessor features two instruction units, two fixed point units, two floating point units, a buffer control element, and a register unit. It dispatches one instruction per cycle. A PLL provides a processor clock at 2/spl times/ the system bus frequency.
Structural Characterization of Fe_3O_4–NiO Superlattices Using High-reSolution Transmission Electron Microscopy

Superlattices of Fe_3O_4–NiO layers have been studied by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). These superlattices are grown by oxygen-plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) on (001) oriented MgO substrates, and exhibit a high degree of ordering at the interfaces between the interlayers. The lack of misfit dislocations at the Fe_3O_4 –NiO interfaces suggests that lattice strain is largely accommodated by changes in the lattice spacing. By quantitative HRTEM analysis of Fe_3O_4 –NiO interfaces, possible atomic models are discussed, having implications in magnetic ordering and spin exchange mechanisms for such interlayer systems.
$1/f$ Noise and Defects in Microelectronic Materials and Devices

This paper reviews and compares predictions of the Dutta-Horn model of low-frequency excess (1/ f) noise with experimental results for thin metal films, MOS transistors, and GaN/AlGaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). For metal films, mobility fluctuations associated with carrier-defect scattering lead to 1/f noise. In contrast, for most semiconductor devices, the noise usually results from fluctuations in the number of carriers due to charge exchange between the channel and defects, usually at or near a critical semiconductor/insulator interface. The Dutta-Horn model describes the noise with high precision in most cases. Insight into the physical mechanisms that lead to noise in microelectronic materials and devices has been obtained via total-ionizing-dose irradiation and/or thermal annealing, as illustrated with several examples. With the assistance of the Dutta-Horn model, measurements of the noise magnitude and temperature and/or voltage dependence of the noise enable estimates of the energy distributions of defects that lead to 1/f noise. The microstructure of several defects and/or impurities that cause noise in MOS devices (primarily O vacancies) and GaN/AlGaN HEMTs (e.g., hydrogenated impurity centers, N vacancies, and/or Fe centers) have been identified via experiments and density functional theory calculations.
POLYMER RESEARCH IN RAPID RUNWAY REPAIR MATERIALS

Abstract : Low viscosity, two-component epoxy resins were formulated for airless spray application over quartz or dolomite aggregates. The formulation selected for full evaluation was based on mercaptan curing systems. Trifunctional acrylate monomers were used in some formulations as modifiers. The resulting polymer concrete set up within 3 to 4 minutes after mixing at temperatures around 73 degrees F. Good cures within 1/2 hour of mixing can be obtained in wet environments down to 5 degrees C and in dry environments down to -25 degrees C. Good adhesion to wet aggregates requires the use of coupling agents, organofunctional silanes being preferred. Good bonding to asphalt and Portland cement concrete and good wear characteristics were demonstrated. Flexural strength properties are satisfactory after cool down both under dry and wet application conditions. While the polymer concrete is hot due to the exotherm of the curing reaction, flexural strength properties are low. (Author)