Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of base and subbase iron and steel slag aggregates causing deposition of calcareous tufa in drains : Subsurface drainage

Tufaceouslike materials are observed clogging pavement drains along highways in northeastern Ohio. These materials have also been found in catch basins and spillways. Previous studies suggest that the original free lime (CaO) in slags used as subbase materials is responsible for the deposition of the tufa. To characterize these slags, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, surface area measurements, CaO solubility in anhydrous ethylene glycol ("sugar test"), and other physicochemical tests were conducted on air-cooled blast furnace (ACBF), open-hearth (OH), and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slags. ACBF iron slag is composed of crystalline akermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7). Results of the sugar test indicate that this slag does not contain any residual or easily available free lime. The ACBF sample exhibited the lowest surface area and therefore is the least reactive with CO2-charged waters. The OH and BOF slags, however, exhibit the presence of CaO or its weathering equivalents such as Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3. All these steel slags exhibit a high tufa-generating potential. Analysis of the physicochemical tests of these steel slags indicates that they are composed mainly of Beta-dicalcium silicate (larnite), calcium ferrites, wustite (FeO), free lime (CaO), periclase (MgO), portlandite [Ca(OH)2], and calcite (CaCO3). These slags also exhibit high surface areas and are more reactive with CO2-charged waters. Most highway departments require that steel slags be aged or cured for at least 6 months before they are used. Sugar tests conducted on samples obtained from different horizontal depths (up to 10 ft) in a stockpile showed that the CaO (free lime) content increases with increasing depth into the stockpile. Evidently some of the free lime is encapsulated by insoluble silicates or is in occluded pores and has not come in contact with CO2-charged porewater. Therefore, aging of slags by exposure to weathering does not necessarily decrease the free lime content enough to prevent the formation of tufa. It is concluded that the presence of CaO, MgO, Ca(OH)2, and CaCO3 in slags is critical in determining their tufa potential for use as base and subbase aggregates.
Proving real-time properties of programs with temporal logic

Wirth [Wi77] categorized programs into three classes. The most difficult type of program to understand and write is a real-time program. Much work has been done in the formal verification of sequential programs, but much remains to be done for concurrent and real-time programs. The critical nature of typical real-time applications makes the validity problem for real-time programs particularly important. Owicki and Lamport [OL80] present a relatively new method for verifying concurrent programs using temporal logic. This paper presents an extension of their work to the area of real-time programs. A model and proof system are presented and their use demonstrated using examples from the literature.
Chart Parsing and Rule Schemata in PSG

In this paper I want to describe how I have used MCHART in beginning to construct a parser for gr-mm-rs expressed in PSG, and how aspects of the chart parsing approach in general and MCHART in particular have made it easy to acco~mmodate two significant aspects of PSG: rule schemata involving variables over categories; and compound category symbols ("slash" categories). To do this I will briefly introduce the basic ideas of chart parsing; describe the salient aspects of MEHART; give an overview of PSG; and finally present the interesting aspects of the parser I am building for PSG using MCHART. Limitations of space, time, and will mean that all of these sections will be brief and sketchy I hope to produce a much expanded version at a later date.
Feedback controller design for T-S fuzzy control systems based on Lyapunov approach

In this paper, the problems of relaxed robust quadratic stability conditions for a class of nonlinear systems described by T-S fuzzy model are proposed. Firstly, new quadratic robust stability condition is obtained by designing state feedback controller for T-S fuzzy systems with uncertainties. The condition is represented in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Secondly, it presents dynamic output feedback control designs of complex nonlinear system which can be represented by T-S fuzzy systems. The new method considers the interactions among all fuzzy subsystems. Finally, the validity and applicability of the proposed approach are successfully demonstrated in the control of a continuous-time nonlinear system.
Knowing where and how criminal organizations operate using web content

We develop a framework that uses Web content to obtain quantitative information about a phenomenon that would otherwise require the operation of large scale, expensive intelligence exercises. Exploiting indexed reliable sources such as online newspapers and blogs, we use unambiguous query terms to characterize a complex evolving phenomena and solve a security policy problem: identifying the areas of operation and modus operandi of criminal organizations, in particular, Mexican drug trafficking organizations over the last two decades. We validate our methodology by comparing information that is known with certainty with the one we extracted using our framework. We show that our framework is able to use information available on the web to efficiently extract implicit knowledge about criminal organizations. In the scenario of Mexican drug trafficking, our findings provide evidence that criminal organizations are more strategic and operate in more differentiated ways than current academic literature thought.
Morphological Evolution of Physical Robots through Model-Free Phenotype Development

Artificial evolution of physical systems is a stochastic optimization method in which physical machines are iteratively adapted to a target function. The key for a meaningful design optimization is the capability to build variations of physical machines through the course of the evolutionary process. The optimization in turn no longer relies on complex physics models that are prone to the reality gap, a mismatch between simulated and real-world behavior. We report model-free development and evaluation of phenotypes in the artificial evolution of physical systems, in which a mother robot autonomously designs and assembles locomotion agents. The locomotion agents are automatically placed in the testing environment and their locomotion behavior is analyzed in the real world. This feedback is used for the design of the next iteration. Through experiments with a total of 500 autonomously built locomotion agents, this article shows diversification of morphology and behavior of physical robots for the improvement of functionality with limited resources.
Thalamic pain alleviated by stellate ganglion block

Rationale: Thalamic pain is a distressing and treatment-resistant type of central post-stroke pain. Although stellate ganglion block is an established intervention used in pain management, its use in the treatment of thalamic pain has never been reported. Patient concerns: A 66-year-old woman presented with a 3-year history of severe intermittent lancinating pain on the right side of the face and the right hand. The pain started from the ulnar side of the right forearm after a mild ischemic stroke in bilateral basal ganglia and left thalamus. Weeks later, the pain extended to the dorsum of the finger tips and the whole palmar surface, becoming more severe. Meanwhile, there was also pain with similar characteristics emerging on her right face, resembling atypical trigeminal neuralgia. Diagnoses: Thalamic pain was diagnosed. Interventions: After refusing the further invasive treatment, she was suggested to try stellate ganglion block. Outcomes: After a 3-day period of pain free (numerical rating scale: 0) postoperatively, she reported moderate to good pain relief with a numerical rating scale of about 3 to 4 lasting 1 month after the first injection. Pain as well as the quality of life was markedly improved with less dose of analgesic agents. Lessons: Stellate ganglion block may be an optional treatment for thalamic pain.
Image set modeling by exploiting temporal-spatial correlations and photo album compression

With the advance of digital photographing technology, large amount of personal photos are created and stored online or in personal computers. To save storage space and transmission bandwidth, we proposed a new photo album compression scheme by using both intra prediction and inter prediction to reduce spatial and temporal redundancy. Specifically, we first cluster the images so that each cluster containing a set of similar images is a group of pictures (GOP) with variable length. A graph framework is proposed then, in which an optimal “IPPP.P” GOP structure is derived from every cluster by finding the minimum spanning tree (MST) at a minimum prediction cost. Finally, the photo album is compressed as a whole like a video sequence, by High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), according to the predictive order of the optimal structures. The experimental results show that our scheme achieves around 60% improvement over only using JPEG compression.
A review of the experience and consequences of self-aspect activation, number, and distinctiveness

Abstract The self-concept is an elaborate memory structure, but it operates under the same basic processes as all cognition. Within the self-concept, self-knowledge (e.g., traits, behavioral representations) is organized into self-aspects. Self-aspects vary in their momentary accessibility, and individual self-aspects can become connected through shared associations (e.g., overlapping traits). This paper reviews the author’s research on (1) the consequences and experience of activating specific self-aspects, and (2) outcomes and correlates of self-complexity, which is the number and interrelatedness of self-aspects. Important self-aspects are easier to activate and harder to inhibit, and active self-aspects moderate the accessibility of related self-knowledge with consequences for social judgment and memory. In addition, self-complexity influences emotions, self-regulation, well-being, and social perceptions, and it varies across cultures.
Respiratory rate of photoplethysmogram signal from anaesthetic patients

This paper presents a novel method in determining the respiratory rate from the photoplethysmogram signal of anaesthetic patients. The respiratory rate is important to be monitored when the patient is in anaesthesia state since the patient loss all sensations during this state. This study compares two methods of determining respiratory rate; peak detection and Fast Fourier Transform. The methods were tested on a set of data from subjects with mean age of 52 years old. Data were recorded using pulse oximeter as it is the best device to take the signal of anaesthetic patient. It was found that there is a small difference in the respiratory between both methods; (0.03-0.53). This indicates that Fast Fourier Transform can be used to determine respiratory rate of photoplethysmogram signal.
Conflict detection via adaptive signature for software transactional memory

Transactional Memory(TM) is a promising way to coordinate concurrent threads in multi-core processors. Software transactional memory (STM) can run on conventional processors without additional hardware support. It is an option before TMs are available in commercial multi-core processors. Several TM systems use signatures to track items read and written during a transaction and to detect conflicts between transactions. Signatures summarize unbounded read/write sets in bounded bit vectors at a cost of false positives (conflicts detected when none exists). Most signatures are implemented in hardware. The size of read/write sets in different applications fluctuates in a wide range which makes it difficult to decide the size signatures. It will waste resources with long signature and cause higher false positive rate with short one. In this paper we present an adaptive signature AdapSig to detect conflicts in STM. The idea is to adapt the number and length of bit vectors to the size of read/write sets keeping an acceptable false positive rate. We implement it in STM which is different from hardware implementation. We evaluate AdapSig with a transactional benchmark suit named STAMP and improve execution time by up to 10% comparing the original one in RSTM.
The effect of the owner’s personality on the behaviour of owner-dog dyads

We describe the relationships between dog owners’ personality attributes (assessed via questionnaire), their behaviours and the dog’s behaviours observed during brief dog-owner and dog-stranger interactions (N = 78). Interactions comprised the owner commanding the dog to sit, and the stranger showing a ball to the restrained dog and then hiding it. Owners scoring higher on neuroticism and openness used more commands (gestural and verbal) when asking the dog to sit, and the dogs of owners higher on neuroticism obeyed with a longer latency and spent more time looking at the stranger. More extraverted owners praised their dog more, and it took longer for their dogs to look at the stranger but they spent more time looking at the stranger, whereas dogs of more agreeable owners spent more time looking at the ball. Based on these results we conclude that some aspects of owners’ personality appear to be tied to their dog’s attentional concerns. Keywords: dog-human interaction; personality; multivariate statistical methods
Ecological Niche Modelling of Bank Voles in Western Europe

The bank vole (Myodes glareolus) is the natural host of Puumala virus (PUUV) in vast areas of Europe. PUUV is one of the hantaviruses which are transmitted to humans by infected rodents. PUUV causes a general mild form of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) called nephropathia epidemica (NE). Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases generally display clear spatial patterns due to different space-dependent factors. Land cover influences disease transmission by controlling both the spatial distribution of vectors or hosts, as well as by facilitating the human contact with them. In this study the use of ecological niche modelling (ENM) for predicting the geographical distribution of bank vole population on the basis of spatial climate information is tested. The Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Prediction (GARP) is used to model the ecological niche of bank voles in Western Europe. The meteorological data, land cover types and geo-referenced points representing the locations of the bank voles (latitude/longitude) in the study area are used as the primary model input value. The predictive accuracy of the bank vole ecologic niche model was significant (training accuracy of 86%). The output of the GARP models based on the 50% subsets of points used for testing the model showed an accuracy of 75%. Compared with random models, the probability of such high predictivity was low (χ2 tests, p < 10−6). As such, the GARP models were predictive and the used ecologic niche model indeed indicates the ecologic requirements of bank voles. This approach successfully identified the areas of infection risk across the study area. The result suggests that the niche modelling approach can be implemented in a next step towards the development of new tools for monitoring the bank vole’s population.
A Fair Routing Algorithm for Wireless Mesh Networks Based on Game Theory

Knowing the capabilities of game theory in analyzing environment consisting of many decision-makers or agents, it has been the goal of many researchers to apply Game Theory analyses in computer and telecommunication networks. One of the main subjects in the networks based on the viewpoint of Game Theory is routing problems in special networks.In this paper, routing in Wireless Mesh Networks, which are growing and developing rapidly, is studied as an example for routing in computer and telecommunication networks and a new model for such networks is proposed based on Non-cooperative Game Theory. It is proposed to solve this model by a heuristic method essentially based on simulated annealing in order to obtain a better routing method than traditional methods. This routing is implemented in OMNET++ simulator and compared with available routing methods in OMNET++.
User-Centric Contexts Sensing for Instant Information Seeking Support

Use of portable devices receives a tremendous growth in recent years. Such device becomes a universal portal, which connects users and the Web together, in addition to its ordinary built purposes. Users tend to share things via available channels (and/or social media as well) with the convenience brought by the device. This phenomenon, however, brings to the publics an open issue about the management of a vast amount of data, or user generated content as its specific term, and its potential usage. So this research, from a perspective of information seeking, attempts to facilitate the process and achieve high return on information in a ubiquitous environment. Beginning with a computational model to efficient management of user-generated contents, a progressive search algorithm is applied to obtain correlated information in accordance with user contexts. The above mentioned process is meanwhile normalized by a dynamic temporal-spatial model, which is primarily proposed to highlight the significance of timely information that matches the ultimate task of users at specific moment. Experiment results demonstrate the performance of proposed model and algorithm, and also the feasibility of this study.
Colonie Epithelial Cell Proliferation in Responders and Nonresponders to Supplemental Dietary Calcium1

Supplemental dietary calcium decreased and normalized hyperproliferation of colonie epithelial cells in individuals in familial colon cancer kindreds, measured by rates and patterns of (3H]thymidine labeling of epithelial cells in colonie crypts. In whole colonie crypts hyperprolifera- tion was decreased to lower levels in over one-half of the subjects individually studied during the course of the calcium supplementation regimen. The remaining familial colon cancer subjects did not show-reductions in cell proliferation measured over the whole crypt. However, when their cell-labeling data were analyzed in regions of the colonie crypt, the size of the proliferate compartment decreased and contracted towards the crypt base after calcium, a pattern typical of individuals at decreased risk for colonie cancer. This contraction of the proliferative region of the crypts occurred through decreased cell labeling in the two crypt compartments closest to the luminal surface and increased cell labeling in the second crypt compartment nearest to the base of the crypt. Following in vitro exposure of colonie epithelial cells to increasing physiological amounts of calcium, cell proliferation in familial colon cancer subjects decreased uniformly and greater heterogeneity in respon siveness was observed in cells from individuals with familial polyposis.
Solidarity with Animals: Assessing a Relevant Dimension of Social Identification with Animals

Interactions with animals are pervasive in human life, a fact that is reflected in the burgeoning field of human-animal relations research. The goal of the current research was to examine the psychology of our social connection with other animals, by specifically developing a measure of solidarity with animals. In 8 studies using correlational, experimental, and longitudinal designs, solidarity with animals predicted more positive attitudes and behaviors toward animals, over and above existing scales of identification, and even when this implied a loss of resources and privileges for humans relative to animals. Solidarity with animals also displayed predicted relationships with relevant variables (anthropomorphism, empathy). Pet owners and vegetarians displayed higher levels of solidarity with animals. Correlational and experimental evidence confirmed that human-animal similarity heightens solidarity with animals. Our findings provide a useful measure that can facilitate important insights into the nature of our relationships with animals.
Mitochondrial activation directly triggers the exocytosis of insulin in permeabilized pancreatic β‐cells

In the pancreatic β‐cell, insulin secretion is stimulated by glucose metabolism resulting in membrane potential‐dependent elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]c). This cascade involves the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) hyperpolarization and elevation of mitochondrial Ca2+ ([Ca2+]m) which activates the Ca2+‐sensitive NADH‐generating dehydrogenases. Metabolism‐secretion coupling requires unidentified signals, other than [Ca2+]c, possibly generated by the mitochondria through the rise in [Ca2+]m. To test this paradigm, we have established an α‐toxin permeabilized cell preparation permitting the simultaneous monitoring of [Ca2+] with mitochondrially targeted aequorin and insulin secretion under conditions of saturating [ATP] (10 mM) and of clamped [Ca2+]c at substimulatory levels (500 nM). The tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate succinate hyperpolarized Δψm, raised [Ca2+]m up to 1.5 μM and stimulated insulin secretion 20‐fold, without changing [Ca2+]c. Blockade of the uniporter‐mediated Ca2+ influx into the mitochondria abolished the secretory response. Moreover, glycerophosphate, which raises [Ca2+]m by hyperpolarizing Δψm without supplying carbons to the TCA cycle, failed to stimulate exocytosis. Activation of the TCA cycle with citrate evoked secretion only when combined with glycerophosphate. Thus, mitochondrially driven insulin secretion at permissive [Ca2+]c requires both a substrate for the TCA cycle and a rise in [Ca2+]m. Therefore, mitochondrial metabolism generates factors distinct from Ca2+ and ATP capable of inducing insulin exocytosis
Epidermal growth factor induces tyrosine hydroxylase in a clonal pheochromocytoma cell line, PC-G2

We have previously described the isolation of a clonal cell line (PC- G2) in which the level of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of the catecholamine neurotransmitters, is induced by nerve growth factor (NGF). We now report that epidermal growth factor (EGF) also induces TH in the PC-G2 cell line. Although EGF has been shown to be mitogenic for many cultured cells, no neuronal function has been previously reported for this protein. The TH response to EGF is elicited in a dose-dependent fashion at concentrations as low as 0.1 ng/ml and is maximal at 10 ng/ml EGF. The maximal response is observed after 3--4 d of exposure to 10 ng/ml EGF. The induction by NGF and EGF is inhibited by their respective antisera. Dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid which we have previously shown modulates the response of PC-G2 cells to NGF, also modulates the TH induction elicited by EGF.