Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Model studies of instabilities in heterogeneous materials systems

Heterogeneous materials may become structurally unstable under an applied stress. In this thesis, the effects of two dissimilar stresses are studied. First, the methods of statistical mechanics are used to analyze the effects of mechanical stress on the strength of heterogeneous materials. A phenomenological multi-scale model is presented that analyzes inelastic deformation in a model natural composite, nacre. A kinetic Monte Carlo technique is developed to study the mechanical response of the biopolymer. The results of this model are used to generate a cellular automata model of the composite material. Under certain conditions, the sizes of plastic events in this model follow an apparent power-law distribution. The dynamics are found to be similar to earthquakes, where the slip sizes exhibit a scale-free distribution. Second, a continuum theory is generated to understand how a model microstructure responds to thermal stresses. At elevated temperatures, a structure may spontaneously change shape in order to minimize its overall surface energy. To this end, the stability of a hollow-core dislocation to pearling and coarsening is considered using a linear stability analysis. There is a competition between elastic energy and the anisotropic surface energy. It is shown that sufficiently small hollow-core dislocations are stable with respect to both forms of structural instability, suggesting a route to stabilize nanometer-scale wires.
Capability Stretching in Product Innovation

Product innovation is conventionally treated as a mechanism for organizations to renew their product portfolios. In this paper, we suggest that product innovation not only enables organizations to introduce new products to the market but also challenges organizations to renew their technological capabilities. Capability stretching is the degree to which an organization extends its technological capabilities to bridge the gap between what it has already known and what the development of a new product requires it to know. Capability stretching can be challenging because it involves the acquisition and assimilation of new and distant knowledge. Drawing on a longitudinal study of product introductions in the workstation industry, we find that capability stretching reduces the chance of new product survival. Furthermore, we also find that organizational boundaries moderate the negative relationship between capability stretching and product survival: Vertical integration exacerbates this negative relationship, whereas horizontal boundary mitigates this negative relationship. However, capability stretching can also be rewarding, as it renews technological capabilities and therefore facilitates adaptation to technological changes. We draw implications for the linkages between product innovation and capability development.
A recommended practical approach to the management of target therapy and angiogenesis inhibitors cardiotoxicity: an opinion paper of the working group on drug cardiotoxicity and cardioprotection, Italian Society of Cardiology

The US National Cancer Institute estimates that cardiotoxicity (CTX) from target therapy refers mostly to four groups of drugs: epidermal growth factor receptor 2 inhibitors, angiogenic inhibitors, directed Abelson murine leukemia viral oncogene homolog inhibitors, and proteasome inhibitors. The main cardiotoxic side-effects related to antiepidermal growth factor receptor 2 therapy are left ventricular systolic dysfunction and heart failure. Angiogenesis inhibitors are associated with hypertension, left ventricular dysfunction/heart failure, myocardial ischemia, QT prolongation, and thrombosis. Moreover, other agents may be related to CTX induced by treatment. In this study, we review the guidelines for a practical approach for the management of CTX in patients under anticancer target therapy.
Mathematical analysis for CSI scheme with the interpolation kernel size increased

The cubic-spline interpolation (CSI) scheme is known to be designed to resample the discrete image data based on the least-square method in conjunction with the cubic convolution interpolation (CCI) function. In this CSI scheme, the improved quality of resampling can be achieved as the interpolation kernel size increases. However, the improvement of the performance gets less and less. This means that the performance of the CSI scheme has not been significantly improved and converges toward a constant value when the interpolation kernel size exceeds a certain value. A proof of this result is given in this study and has never been seen in the literature to the authors' knowledge. Moreover, this study analyses the relationship between the performance and computational complexity of the CSI schemes with different interpolation kernel sizes and compares them from a structural point of view. Simulation results indicate that it is in agreement with the theoretic derivations. Since the arithmetic operations required are increasing linearly with the increment of the interpolation kernel size, selecting an interpolation kernel size gives the best trade-off between the performance and computational complexity in practical applications. However, the optimum choice of the interpolation kernel size depends crucially on effective demand.
Evaluating and Emerging Payment Card Fraud Challenges and Resolution

Payment card fraud losses for the card payment industry is generating billions of dollars. In addition to direct damage, the brand name due to fraud can be affected by a lack of customer faith. These cause the deficit is rising, financial institutions and card issuers are constantly new technologies and innovative payment card fraud detection and prevention are demanding. Fraudsters, customers and defense organizations around the world is applied various resolution financial institutions, payment card fraud. The solution is better spent on risk management techniques to predict label use, and customer experience management are designed with the aim of preventing losses. By retaining the right balance between these purposes operational risk management philosophy is driven by a firm. The aim is to protect the gainful customers by delivering them with a stable positive experience. This paper deliberates the solution of payment card fraud and discuss the various attributes of an effective payment card and its applied thoughts. Inspite of this, paper also reviews challenges, the concepts associated to the profiling of cardholder, advanced analytics, metrics to be followed, and mechanisms of the resolution of card fraud. General Terms Fraud resolution, alert, fraudulent, normal.
Polymorphism of OAS‐1 determines liver fibrosis progression in hepatitis C by reduced ability to inhibit viral replication

Background: Progression of disease after hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection differs among individuals, indicating a possibility of participation of host genetic factors. 2′‐5′‐oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS‐1), an important component of the innate immune system, has an antiviral function, and may therefore have a certain relationship with progression of disease.
Enhancing the Performance of Feature Selection using a Hybrid Genetic Algorithm

Information Retrieval (IR) issues have attracted increasing attention due to the growing availability of the documents. The retrieval of web pages is more challenging due to the ambiguous nature of the unstructured information found in these pages. Ontologies help to overcome the disambiguate nature of the natural language by the use of standard terms that relate to specific concepts. Ontology is a hierarchy of concepts with attributes and relations that defines an agreed terminology to describe semantic networks of interrelated information units. Ontology provides a vocabulary of classes and properties to describe a domain, emphasizing the sharing of knowledge and the consensus about its representation. This research focuses on IR systems moving from a lexical to semantic interpretation to match object and queries on a semantic basis. In natural language, many words are ambiguous giving different meanings based on the context and situation. Therefore, development of web directories, classification of web pages and analysis of topic-specific search are useful. Classification of contents makes an important part of most of the content management and retrieval activities. The underlying objective of this research work is to develop an effective and efficient feature selection and classification algorithm that can achieve good accuracy in classifying web pages.
Are platelet volume indices of clinical use? A multidisciplinary review

Abstract Platelet size correlates with platelet activity and can be assessed by platelet volume indices (PVI). The PVI, mean platelet volume (MPV), is universally available with routine blood counts by automated hemograms and therefore is an attractive index to study in clinical scenarios. PVI are useful in assessing the etiology of thrombocytopenia. In addition, a normal platelet distribution width in the setting of thrombocytosis is highly suggestive of a reactive etiology. Higher MPV is also associated with the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, chest pain due to acute coronary syndrome, and adverse outcome after acute coronary syndrome. Results from studies evaluating MPV in patients with peripheral artery disease, unprovoked deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism further advocate a potential role for MPV in identifying patients at high risk of thrombosis. Nevertheless, most of these data come from retrospective studies some of which have small study populations and confounding factors influencing platelet volume. Moreover, the cut-off values derived from these retrospective studies have not been validated prospectively. Despite the potential for clinical utility evident from these studies, the above-mentioned flaws together with technical problems in measuring MPV currently limit its clinical usefulness. Our review provides a perspective on PVI's potential clinical use.
Forced Air Plasma Treatment (FAPT) of Hybrid Wood Plastic Composite (WPC)–Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Surfaces

Forced atmospheric (air) plasma treatment (FAPT) was applied to wood plastic composite (WPC) and continuous glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) surfaces to improve their adhesive bonding properties. The FRP was composed of oriented continuous E-glass fibers in a polypropylene matrix, while the WPC was fabricated using wood flour, polypropylene and additives. The FAPT was applied using two levels of discharge length projected from the discharge head (2.5″ and 1″) to ionize the air, oxidize the surfaces and improve wettability. The treatment was performed by passing the electrode over either surface, five or ten times. Surface characterization consisted of thermodynamic (surface energy determination), chemical (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), mechanical (shear strength) and microscopic (atomic force microscopy (AFM)) analysis. The results indicate that the acid–base component of the surface energy for both WPC and FRP after FAPT correlates with an increase in wettability. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was performed on wood regions and non-wood regions of the WPC surfaces; the oxygen concentration increased to a larger extent in the non-wood regions. Bonding shear strength measurements indicated increases of 50% after FAPT on WPC surfaces (2.5″ discharge length, 1 pass) and up to 200% for the hybrid WPC–FRP. Atomic force microscopy measurements using a silicon tip probe showed increases in adhesive force interactions up to 56% on WPC surfaces post-FAPT.
EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON TH E TENSILE STRENGTH OF SOME FIBER REINFORCEMENTS FOR CERAMIC OR POLYMER MATRICES

Este articulo presenta un estudio de las propiedades termomecanicas de fibras de acero de bajo carbono, de acero inoxidable ASI-SAE 304, de aramida y de carbono. Ademas, se analizo el aspecto superficial de refuerzos de lana mineral de roca y lana de aluminosilicatos antes y despues de someterlos a tratamientos termicos a 1000 oC. La resistencia a la traccion de las fibras se evaluo antes y despues de someterlas a tratamientos termicos a temperaturas de 400, 600, 800 y 1000 oC dependiendo de la degradacion que mostraran. Ademas, se efectuo un analisis termogravimetrico a cada tipo de fibra para determinar los cambios de peso a diferentes temperaturas. Las fibras de acero inoxidable mostraron la mayor estabilidad termomecanica, mientras que las fibras de aramida con tratamientos a 400 oC mostraron propiedades mecanicas practicamente nulas. Abstract: This paper presents a study of the thermomechanical properties of low carbon steel, AISI-SAE 304 stainless steel, aramid and carbon fibers. Moreover, surface aspect of mineral rock wool of and aluminosilicate wool reinforcements was analyzed prior and after submitting to heat treatments at 1000 oC. The tensile resistance of the fibers was evaluated prior and after submitting to heat treatments at temperatures of 400, 600, 800 and 1000 oC depending on the degradation that they showed. Moreover, a thermogravimetric analysis was carried out on each kind of fiber to determine the changes in weight at different temperatures. The stainless steel fibers showed the highest mechanical stability, whereas the aramid fibers with treatments at 400 oC showed practically null mechanical properties .
Computational electromagnetics for design optimisation: the state of the art and conjectures for the future

The paper reviews the state of the art in modern field simulation techniques available to assist in the design and performance prediction of electromechanical and electromagnetic devices. Commercial software packages, usually exploiting finite element and/or related techniques, provide advanced and reliable tools for every-day use in the design office. At the same time Computational Electromagnetics continues to be a thriving area of research with emerging new techniques and methods, in particular for multi-physics applications and in the area of multi-objective optimisation.
Vibration-Based MEMS Piezoelectric Energy Harvester (VMPEH) Modeling and Analysis for Green Energy Source

The wireless sensor network market is growing quickly yet is limited by existing short lifetime batteries. Providing a green, virtually infinite alternative power source to traditional energy sources will significantly expand applications for WSNs and other technologies, the use of piezoelectric materials to capitalize on the ambient vibrations surrounding a system is one method that has seen a dramatic rise in use for power harvesting. The simplicity associated with the piezoelectric micro-generators makes it very attractive for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) applications, in which mechanical vibrations are harvested and converted to electric energy, these micro-generators were designed as an alternative to a battery-based solution especially for remote systems. In this paper we proposed a design and simulation of MEMS-based energy harvested by using ANSYS11 and COVENTORWARE2008 approaches. The improvements in experimental results obtained in the vibration based MEMS piezoelectric energy harvesters show very good scope for MEMS piezoelectric harvesters in the fields of power MEMS and Green Technology in the near future.
Lateral control of a skid-steering mining vehicle

This paper proposes a nonlinear feedback path controller for a skid-steering mining vehicle. The dynamic model of the vehicle is derived using the Boltzmann-Hamel formalism. The control design utilizes the computed torque type technique combined with an auxiliary continuous static state feedback, which involves error coordinates expressed in a moving reference frame partially linked to the vehicle. Assuming that the lateral friction forces caused by the skidding of the wheels are not exactly known, the last part of the paper is centered on the analysis of the effect of Coulomb friction on the behaviour of the system. Asymptotic stabilization of the equilibrium set is achieved for the closed-loop system with discontinuous right-hand side.
Non-headache symptoms in migraine patients

Migraine is one of the most common neurological disorders. In addition to severe headaches, non-headache symptoms associated with migraine attacks as well as co-morbid disorders frequently aggravate the disabling of migraine patients. Some of these symptoms are related to poor outcomes. In this review, we update the advances of studies on certain non-headache symptoms, including visual disturbance, gastrointestinal symptoms, allodynia, vestibular symptoms, and symptoms of co-morbid restless legs syndrome and psychiatric disorders.
PYIN: A fundamental frequency estimator using probabilistic threshold distributions

We propose the Probabilistic YIN (PYIN) algorithm, a modification of the well-known YIN algorithm for fundamental frequency (F0) estimation. Conventional YIN is a simple yet effective method for frame-wise monophonic F0 estimation and remains one of the most popular methods in this domain. In order to eliminate short-term errors, outputs of frequency estimators are usually post-processed resulting in a smoother pitch track. One shortcoming of YIN is that such post-processing cannot fall back on alternative interpretations of the signal because the method outputs precisely one estimate per frame. To address this problem we modify YIN to output multiple pitch candidates with associated probabilities (PYIN Stage 1). These probabilities arise naturally from a prior distribution on the YIN threshold parameter. We use these probabilities as observations in a hidden Markov model, which is Viterbi-decoded to produce an improved pitch track (PYIN Stage 2). We demonstrate that the combination of Stages 1 and 2 raises recall and precision substantially. The additional computational complexity of PYIN over YIN is low. We make the method freely available online1 as an open source C++ library for Vamp hosts.
Direct regulation of hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing-hormone neurons by angiotensin II.

The possible role of angiotensin II (AII) in the control of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis was studied in the rat by examining the regulation and cellular localization of AII receptors in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus and the effect of AII on corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and vasopressin (VP) mRNA levels. In situ hybridization studies using cRNA 35S-labelled probes showed that while type 1 AII receptor (AT1) mRNA levels were high in the periventricular and parvicellular pars of the PVN, only very low levels were present in the magnocellular pars. A similar distribution of AT1 receptor binding in the periventricular, parvicellular and magnocellular divisions of the PVN was observed in autoradiographic studies in hypothalamic sections labelled with 125I[Sar1,Ile8]AII. In addition, AII receptor binding was clearly evident in nerve fibers adjacent to the PVN. Double-labelling hybridization using digoxigenin-labelled CRH, VP and oxytocin probes and 35S-labelled AT1 receptor cRNA probes showed AT1 receptor mRNA in cells stained for CRH mRNA, but not in VP or oxytocin cells. Four hours after a single intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of 50 ng AII in conscious rats, CRH mRNA levels in the PVN were increased by 43%, similar to the increases observed following acute stress by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 1.5 M NaCl (76%). On the other hand, while i.p. hypertonic saline injection increased VP mRNA levels by 29% in the PVN and by 32% in the supraoptic nucleus, i.c. v. AII injection had no significant effect. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Changes in remote myocardial tissue after acute myocardial infarction and its relation to cardiac remodeling: A CMR T1 mapping study

Objectives To characterize the temporal alterations in native T1 and extracellular volume (ECV) of remote myocardium after acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and to explore their relation to left ventricular (LV) remodeling. Methods Forty-two patients with AMI successfully treated with primary PCI underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance after 4–6 days and 3 months. Cine imaging, late gadolinium enhancement, and T1-mapping (MOLLI) was performed at 1.5T. T1 values were measured in the myocardial tissue opposite of the infarct area. Myocardial ECV was calculated from native- and post-contrast T1 values in 35 patients, using a correction for synthetic hematocrit. Results Native T1 of remote myocardium significantly decreased between baseline and follow-up (1002 ± 39 to 985 ± 30ms, p<0.01). High remote native T1 at baseline was independently associated with a high C-reactive protein level (standardized Beta 0.32, p = 0.04) and the presence of microvascular injury (standardized Beta 0.34, p = 0.03). ECV of remote myocardium significantly decreased over time in patients with no LV dilatation (29 ± 3.8 to 27 ± 2.3%, p<0.01). In patients with LV dilatation, remote ECV remained similar over time, and was significantly higher at follow-up compared to patients without LV dilatation (30 ± 2.0 versus 27 ± 2.3%, p = 0.03). Conclusions In reperfused first-time AMI patients, native T1 of remote myocardium decreased from baseline to follow-up. ECV of remote myocardium decreased over time in patients with no LV dilatation, but remained elevated at follow-up in those who developed LV dilatation. Findings from this study may add to an increased understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of cardiac remodeling after AMI.
Biomimetics. Design and Processing of Materials.

Contents: Biomimetics: Natural Materials as Paradigms for Superior Aerospace Systems (F.L. Hedberg and G.K. Haritos). Microstructure of an Insect Cuticle and Its Applications to Advanced Composites (S.L. Gunderson and R.C. Schiavone). Hierarchical Twin Structures and Multiple Tilings in the Nacre of Abalone Shell (M. Sarikaya et al.). The Functions of Biocomposites (S.A. Wainwright). Microstructure- Property Relations in Vertebrate Hard Tissues: Microdamage and Toughness (J.D. Curry). Role of Molecular Genetics in Polymer Materials Science (M.J. Fournier et al.). Molecular Design of Spider Silks (J.M. Gosline et al.). Biomineralization, Inorganic-Organic Interface and Crystal Engineering (S. Mann et al.). Crystal, Protein and Protein-Crystal Composites in Three Biological Materials (A. Berman et al.). Structure and Function of Magnetosomes in Magnetotactic Bacteria (R.B. Frankel). Size-Quantized Particles at Artificial Membrane Interfaces (X.K.Zhao and J.H. Fendler). Hierarchal Structures of Soft Connective Tissues--Relationship to Properties and Function (E. Baer et al.). Biomimetic Ceramics and Hard Composites (P. Calvert and J. Burdon). Processing of Ceramics by Biomimicking (I.
Metabolic plasticity in synthetic lethal mutants: Viability at higher cost

The most frequent form of pairwise synthetic lethality (SL) in metabolic networks is known as plasticity synthetic lethality. It occurs when the simultaneous inhibition of paired functional and silent metabolic reactions or genes is lethal, while the default of the functional partner is backed up by the activation of the silent one. Using computational techniques on bacterial genome-scale metabolic reconstructions, we found that the failure of the functional partner triggers a critical reorganization of fluxes to ensure viability in the mutant which not only affects the SL pair but a significant fraction of other interconnected reactions, forming what we call a SL cluster. Interestingly, SL clusters show a strong entanglement both in terms of reactions and genes. This strong overlap mitigates the acquired vulnerabilities and increased structural and functional costs that pay for the robustness provided by essential plasticity. Finally, the participation of coessential reactions and genes in different SL clusters is very heterogeneous and those at the intersection of many SL clusters could serve as supertargets for more efficient drug action in the treatment of complex diseases and to elucidate improved strategies directed to reduce undesired resistance to chemicals in pathogens.