Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High yield dense array of very-high-aspect-ratio micro metal posts by photo-electrochemical etching of silicon and electroplating with vacuum degassing

A high yield fabrication of a dense array of very-high-aspect-ratio (VHAR) freestanding metal posts over a large area is presented. The fabrication is based on photo-electrochemical etching of silicon and bottom-up electroplating of the metal. By using various new techniques, most notably degassing-assisted electroplating, freestanding nickel posts with aspect ratio and height up to 85∶1 and 425 µm, respectively, are realized. While the increase in the aspect ratio of the posts may appear more revealing, the dramatic improvement in yield and uniformity is often more important for applications. The report is over our entire processing area (3 cm2), unlike most others in the literature (1 mm2 – 1 cm2).
The Research and Realization of QOS for Video Surveillance

Video surveillance plays an important role in the industry. The emergence of mobile video surveillance further expands the scope of its application. However, video surveillance suffers many problems such as poor picture quality and long latency due to the network bandwidth and limited device processing capacity. So the application of video surveillance especially through wireless inernert and mobile networks transmission faces many challenges. Quality of Service (QOS) is ability of network supping different traffic with different level of service assurance, A kind of model of QOS -- differentiated service (diffserv) is proposed and applied in video surveillance system, and solves the problem above effectively.
Mechanical properties and processibilty of glass‐fiber‐, wollastonite‐, and fluoro‐rubber‐reinforced silicone rubber composites

The reinforcement of silicone rubber (SR) imparted by different types of fillers was investigated. Glass fiber (GF), wollastonite and fluoro rubber (FR) as nontraditional filler for rubber were compounded SR and mechanical properties of the prepared composites were evaluated. The addition of silane pretreated GF and wollastonite into SR, tensile strength, abrasion resistance and tear strength of the composites improved considerably. The improvement in the properties was assigned to an increased interaction between the filler and the polymer matrix. For the SR/FR composites system, the elongation at break was increase with increasing concentrations of FR due to sponge like structure resulting from poor compatibility between the two components. To investigate the production potential of extrusion processing method, prepared composites were extruded in a rod type sample. During the curing stage, GF, wollastonite and FR lead to the formation of void in the matrix resin. When GF and wollastonite were treated with silane, the void formations were reduced significantly. The silane treatment process improves not only mechanical strength but also processibility of SR composites in dry conditions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007
On the convergence of shock-capturing streamline diffusion finite element methods for hyperbolic conservation laws

We extend our previous analysis of streamline diffusion finite element methods for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws to include a shock-capturing term adding artificial viscosity depending on the local absolute value of the residual of the finite element solution and the meh size. With this term present, we prove a maximum norm bound for finite element solutionsof Burgers' equation an thus complete an earlier convergence proof for this equation. We further prove, using entropy variables, that a strong limit of finite element solutions is a weak solution of the system of conservation laws and satisfies the entropy inequality asociated with the entropy variables. Results of some numerical experiments for the time-dependent compressible Euler equations in two dimensions are also reported.
Corroboration of a multiscale approach with all atom calculations in analysis of dislocation nucleation from surface steps

We present a comparative study of the influence of atomic-scale surface steps on dislocation nucleation at crystal surfaces based on an all atom method and a hierarchal multiscale approach. The multiscale approach is based on the variational boundary integral formulation of the Peiersl–Nabarro dislocation model in which interatomic layer potentials derived from atomic calculations of generalized stacking fault energy surfaces are incorporated. We have studied nucleation of screw dislocations in two bcc material systems, molybdenum and tantalum, subjected to simple shear stress. Compared to dislocation nucleation from perfectly flat surfaces, the presence of atomic scale surface steps rapidly reduces the critical stress for dislocation nucleation by almost an order of magnitude as the step height increases. In addition, they may influence the slip planes on which dislocation nucleation occurs. The results of the all atom method and the multiscale approach are in good agreement, even for steps with height of only a single atomic layer. Such corroboration supports the further use of the multiscale approach to study dislocation nucleation phenomena in more realistic geometries of technological importance, which are beyond the reach of all current atom simulations.
The Distribution of SIgA and IgG Antibody-Secreting Cells in the Small Intestine of Bactrian Camels (Camelus bactrianus) of Different Ages

Secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) are two important cell types in the mucosal immune system. This study aimed to explore the distribution of these ASC populations in the small intestine of Bactrian camels of different ages. Twenty-four Alashan Bactrian camels were divided into the following four age groups: young (1–2 years), pubertal (3–5 years), middle-aged (6–16 years) and old (17–20 years). SIgA and IgG ASCs in the intestinal mucosa lamina propria (LP) were observed and analyzed using immunohistochemcal techniques. The results from all age groups show that both SIgA and IgG ASCs were diffusely distributed in the intestinal LP, and some cells aggregated around the crypts. Moreover, the densities of the two ASC populations gradually increased from the duodenum to the jejunum and then decreased in the ileum. Meanwhile, there were more SIgA ASCs than IgG ASCs in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, and these differences were significant in the young and pubertal groups (P<0.05). In addition, the SIgA and IgG ASC densities increased from the young to the pubertal period, peaked at puberty, and then gradually decreased with age. The results demonstrate that the SIgA and IgG ASC distributions help to form two immunoglobulin barriers in the intestinal mucosa to provide full protection, helping to maintain homeostasis. These findings also underscore the importance of researching the development and degeneration of intestinal mucosal immunity in Bactrian camels.
Domain name registrars: are they part of the domain name fraud problem?

Domain names are a hot commodity. A simple Google search on the phrase "domain name buying and selling" yields 17,000,000 results, with eight sponsored links on the right column. The rise in domain name commerce has resulted in an abundance of frauds targeted towards acquiring domain names from legitimate owners. Some of these methods are legal, others are not. This paper will focus on the role domain name Registrars and their governance play in domain name registration as it applies to ethics.
A measure of Online Social Networks

Online Social Networks(OSN) command a user base of about half a billion users on the Internet. Although the traffic contribution in bytes by OSNs is significantly less than earlier applications responsible for dramatic increase on the Internet (such as peer-to-peer networks), OSNs have already had a profound impact on the Internet. The organic growth in the sheer volume of users, the range and diversity of application run using OSNs as a distribution platform, and the wide range of new technologies underpinning their growth, all portend an enduring effect as well. While there are similarities to earlier phenomena, there are numerous differences due to some properties unique to OSNs. This paper enumerates interesting properties, the methodologies used to study them, and the challenges faced by researchers in measuring ONSs. A few results from resent studies my colleagues and I have been involved in are also presented.
Recent advances in molecular biomarkers for diabetes mellitus: a systematic review

Abstract Context: Diabetes is a growing global metabolic epidemic. Current research is focussing on exploring how the biological processes and clinical outcomes of diabetes are related and developing novel biomarkers to measure these relationships, as this can subsequently improve diagnostic, therapeutic and management capacity. Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the most recent advances in molecular biomarkers of diabetes and directions that warrant further research. Methods: Using a systematic search strategy, the MEDLINE, CINAHL and OVID MEDLINE databases were canvassed for articles that investigated molecular biomarkers for diabetes. Initial selections were made based on article title, whilst final inclusion was informed by a critical appraisal of the full text of each article. Results: The systematic search returned 246 records, of which 113 were unique. Following screening, 29 records were included in the final review. Three main research strategies (the development of novel technologies, broad biomarker panels, and targeted approaches) identified a number of potential biomarkers for diabetes including miR-126, C-reactive protein, 2-aminoadipic acid and betatrophin. Conclusion: The most promising research avenue identified is the detection and quantification of micro RNA. Further, the utilisation of functionalised electrodes as a means to detect biomarker compounds also warrants attention.
Multiple methods of visualizing the yeast vacuole permit evaluation of its morphology and inheritance during the cell cycle

The vacuole of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was visualized with three unrelated fluorescent dyes: FITC-dextran, quinacrine, and an endogenous fluorophore produced in ade2 yeast. FITC-dextran, which enters cells by endocytosis, had been previously developed as a vital stain for yeast vacuoles. Quinacrine, which diffuses across membranes and accumulates in acidic compartments in mammalian cells, can also be used as a marker for yeast vacuoles. ade2 yeast accumulate an endogenous fluorophore in their vacuoles. Using these stains, yeast were examined for vacuole morphology throughout the cell division cycle. In both the parent cell and the bud, a single vacuole was the most common morphology at every stage. Two or more vacuoles could also be found in the mother cell or in the bud; however, this morphology was not correlated with any stage of the cell division cycle. Even small buds (in early S phase) often contained a small vacuole. By the time the bud was half the diameter of the mother cell, it almost always bore a vacuole. This picture of vacuole division and segregation differs from what is seen with synchronized cultures. In ade2 yeast, the bud usually inherits a substantial portion of its vacuole contents from the mother cell. We propose that vacuolar segregation is accomplished by vesicular traffic between the parent cell and the bud.
Comprehensive Performance Evaluation for Hydrological and Nutrients Simulation Using the Hydrological Simulation Program–Fortran in a Mesoscale Monsoon Watershed, China

The Hydrological Simulation Program–Fortran (HSPF) is a hydrological and water quality computer model that was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Comprehensive performance evaluations were carried out for hydrological and nutrient simulation using the HSPF model in the Xitiaoxi watershed in China. Streamflow simulation was calibrated from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2007 and then validated from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2010 using daily observed data, and nutrient simulation was calibrated and validated using monthly observed data during the period from July 2009 to July 2010. These results of model performance evaluation showed that the streamflows were well simulated over the study period. The determination coefficient (R2) was 0.87, 0.77 and 0.63, and the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (Ens) was 0.82, 0.76 and 0.65 for the streamflow simulation in annual, monthly and daily time-steps, respectively. Although limited to monthly observed data, satisfactory performance was still achieved during the quantitative evaluation for nutrients. The R2 was 0.73, 0.82 and 0.92, and the Ens was 0.67, 0.74 and 0.86 for nitrate, ammonium and orthophosphate simulation, respectively. Some issues may affect the application of HSPF were also discussed, such as input data quality, parameter values, etc. Overall, the HSPF model can be successfully used to describe streamflow and nutrients transport in the mesoscale watershed located in the East Asian monsoon climate area. This study is expected to serve as a comprehensive and systematic documentation of understanding the HSPF model for wide application and avoiding possible misuses.
Regulation of Spine Morphology and Synaptic Function by LIMK and the Actin Cytoskeleton

Filamentous actin (F-actin) is highly enriched in the dendritic spine, a specialized postsynaptic structure on which the great majority of the excitatory synapses are formed in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). The protein kinases of the Lim-kinase (LIMK) family are potent regulators of actin dynamics in many cell types and they are abundantly expressed in the CNS, including the hippocampus. Using a combination of genetic manipulations and electrophysiological recordings in mice, we have demonstrated that LIMK-1 signaling is important in vivo in the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton, spine morphology, and synaptic function, including hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), a prominent form of long lasting synaptic plasticity thought to be critical to memory formation. Our results provide strong genetic evidence that LIMK and its substrate ADF/cofilin are involved in spine morphology and synaptic properties and are consistent with the notion that the Rho family small GTPases and the actin cytoskeleton are critical to spine structure and synaptic regulation.
Compound-specific hydrogen isotope analysis of fluorine-, chlorine-, bromine- and iodine-bearing organics using gas chromatography-chromium-based high-temperature conversion (Cr/HTC) isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE The conventional high-temperature conversion (HTC) approach towards hydrogen compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of halogen-bearing (F, Cl, Br, I) organics suffers from incomplete H2 yields and associated hydrogen isotope fractionation due to generation of HF, HCl, HBr, and HI byproducts. Moreover, the traditional off-line combustion of highly halogenated compounds results in incomplete recovery of water as an intermediary compound for hydrogen isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), and hence also leads to isotope fractionation. This study presents an optimized chromium-based high-temperature conversion (Cr/HTC) approach for hydrogen CSIA of various fluorinated, chlorinated, brominated and iodinated organic compounds. The Cr/HTC approach is fast, economical, and not affected by low H2 yields and associated isotope fractionation. METHODS The performance of the modified gas chromatography/chromium-based high-temperature conversion (GC-Cr/HTC) system was monitored and optimized using an ion trap mass spectrometer. Quantitative conversion of organic hydrogen into H2 analyte gas was achieved for all halogen-bearing compounds. The corresponding accuracy of CSIA was validated using (i) manual dual-inlet (DI)-IRMS after off-line conversion into H2 , and (ii) elemental analyzer (EA)-Cr/HTC-IRMS (on-line conversion). RESULTS The overall hydrogen isotope analysis of F-, Cl-, Br- and I-bearing organics via GC-Cr/HTC-IRMS achieved a precision σ ≤ 3 mUr and an accuracy within ±5 mUr along the VSMOW-SLAP scale compared with the measured isotope compositions resulting from both validation methods, off-line and on-line. The same analytical performance as for single-compound GC-Cr/HTC-IRMS was achieved compound-specifically for mixtures of halogenated organics following GC separation to baseline resolution. CONCLUSIONS GC-Cr/HTC technology can be implemented in existing analytical equipment using commercially available materials to provide a versatile tool for hydrogen CSIA of halogenated and non-halogenated organics. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
IP address lookup using a dynamic hash function

The explosive growth of the Internet and of new applications over IP has made Internet routers the bottleneck in enabling higher speed communications. One of the more resource intensive functions of a router is the IP address lookup. This paper proposes a new IP address lookup algorithm that improves the performance and memory requirements of a hash-based lookup by exploiting the statistical repartition of prefixes in the forwarding table. Prototyping has shown that only one main memory access and several fast cache memory accesses are needed to perform a lookup on average. Furthermore, the configuration of the data structures can be tuned to control both memory usage and lookup performance
On the existence of a new family of Diophantine equations for Omega

We show how to determine the $k$-th bit of Chaitin's algorithmically random real number $\Omega$ by solving $k$ instances of the halting problem. From this we then reduce the problem of determining the $k$-th bit of $\Omega$ to determining whether a certain Diophantine equation with two parameters, $k$ and $N$, has solutions for an odd or an even number of values of $N$. We also demonstrate two further examples of $\Omega$ in number theory: an exponential Diophantine equation with a parameter $k$ which has an odd number of solutions iff the $k$-th bit of $\Omega$ is 1, and a polynomial of positive integer variables and a parameter $k$ that takes on an odd number of positive values iff the $k$-th bit of $\Omega$ is 1.
Peer instruction contributes to self-efficacy in CS1

Recent work in computing suggests that Peer Instruction (PI) is a valuable interactive learning pedagogy: it lowers fail rates, increases retention, and is enjoyed by students and instructors alike. While these findings are promising, they are somewhat incidental if our goal is to understand whether PI is "better" than lecture in terms of student outcomes. Only one recent study in computing has made such a comparison, finding that PI students outperform traditionally-taught students on a CS0 final exam. That work was conducted in a CS0, where the same instructor taught both courses, and where the only outcome measure was final exam grade. Here, I offer a study that complements their work in two ways. First, I argue for and measure self-efficacy as a valued outcome, in addition to that of final exam grade. Second, I offer an inter-instructor CS1 study, whose biases differ from those of intra-instructor studies. I find evidence that PI significantly increases self-efficacy and suggestively increases exam scores compared to a traditional lecture-based CS1 class. I note validity concerns of such an in-situ study and offer a synthesis of this work with the extant PI literature.
How to choose a mobile phone for an ICT4D project

At the beginning of an ICT4D project where mobile phones will be used, the question that researchers and practitioners ponder is: what mobile device will be best for the project? In this paper, we present guidelines for making this choice, based on lessons drawn from a review of 30 ICT4D projects, and the reflection of our own work with Community Health Workers in Lesotho in the last four years, during which we used three types of devices in the field. We discuss the considerations that can guide the process of selecting the best device or mobile platform for each project and context, and discuss the recent upsurge of smartphone preference over feature phones in ICT4D projects, and the factors to consider when selecting smartphones for fieldwork.
Sequence variations in PCSK9, low LDL, and protection against coronary heart disease.

BACKGROUND A low plasma level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), but the effect of lifelong reductions in plasma LDL cholesterol is not known. We examined the effect of DNA-sequence variations that reduce plasma levels of LDL cholesterol on the incidence of coronary events in a large population. METHODS We compared the incidence of CHD (myocardial infarction, fatal CHD, or coronary revascularization) over a 15-year interval in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study according to the presence or absence of sequence variants in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 serine protease gene (PCSK9) that are associated with reduced plasma levels of LDL cholesterol. RESULTS Of the 3363 black subjects examined, 2.6 percent had nonsense mutations in PCSK9; these mutations were associated with a 28 percent reduction in mean LDL cholesterol and an 88 percent reduction in the risk of CHD (P=0.008 for the reduction; hazard ratio, 0.11; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.02 to 0.81; P=0.03). Of the 9524 white subjects examined, 3.2 percent had a sequence variation in PCSK9 that was associated with a 15 percent reduction in LDL cholesterol and a 47 percent reduction in the risk of CHD (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.79; P=0.003). CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that moderate lifelong reduction in the plasma level of LDL cholesterol is associated with a substantial reduction in the incidence of coronary events, even in populations with a high prevalence of non-lipid-related cardiovascular risk factors.
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Practice of the Orthopaedic Surgeon: Part-II, certification examination case mix.

The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) is one of the twenty-four separate boards that make up the American Board of Medical Specialties. Of the twenty-four boards, fourteen require an oral examination. At present, the ABOS is the only board with a computerized data collection system that allows for the analysis of the collected information in the database. The ABOS exists to serve the interests of the public and the medical profession by establishing educational standards for orthopaedic residents and by evaluating the initial and continuing qualifications and competence of orthopaedic surgeons. Upon completion of an approved residency program, applicants for board certification must pass a comprehensive, proctored written examination (the Part-I examination). Applicants must then practice orthopaedics for twenty-two months, twelve of which must be in one location. Many elect to begin the practice requirement following a fellowship. The applicants must then satisfactorily complete a thorough credentialing process and pass an oral examination (the Part-II examination) that is based on all of the candidate's operative cases in six consecutive months beginning one year before the oral examination. Before 1998, candidates submitted individual case lists on paper. Beginning in July 1998, candidate case lists were collected as part of a nationwide orthopaedic database as a way of organizing the case lists for review and case selection for oral examination. The computerized lists can be analyzed for the entire candidate group or subgroups. This yields a comprehensive dataset of approximately 700 candidates per year. Candidates for certification enter all operative procedures performed in six consecutive months in the year prior to examination. The candidate's case lists are verified from each hospital or surgical center during the six-month period. The case list from each hospital or surgical center must be notarized by the director of medical records. The ABOS has contracted with …