Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infrared nanospectroscopy and hyperspectral nanoimaging of organic matter

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a highly valuable tool for materials characterization in widely different fields, ranging from polymer sciences to biomedical imaging. However, the diffraction limit prevents nanoscale infrared studies. The IR diffraction limit can be circumvented, among other techniques by infrared scattering type scanning near-field optical microscopy (IR s-SNOM) and its extension to nanoscale Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (nano-FTIR), which enable infrared imaging and spectroscopy with nanoscale spatial resolution, respectively.In this thesis, we introduce mapping of protein structure with 30nm lateral resolution and sensitivity to individual protein complexes by nano-FTIR. We present local broadband spectra of one virus, ferritin complexes, purple membranes and insulin aggregates, which can be interpreted in terms of their ? -helical and/or ? -sheet structure. Applying nano-FTIR for studying insulin fibrils - model system widely used in neurodegenerative disease research - we find clear evidence that 3-nm-thin amyloid-like fibrils contain a large amount of ? -helical structure.To gain further insights into the structure of the samples, spectroscopic information at each pixel of an image is desirable, that is hyperspectral imaging. In this thesis, we introduce hyperspectral infrared nanoimaging based on nano-FTIR with a tunable bandwidth-limited laser continuum. We describe the technical implementations and present hyperspectral infrared near-field images of about 5000 pixel, each one covering the spectral range from 1000 to 1900 cm-1. To verify the technique and to demonstrate its application potential, we imaged a three-component polymer blend and a melanin granule in a human hair cross-section, and demonstrate that multivariate data analysis can be applied for extracting spatially resolved chemical information. Particularly, we demonstrate that distribution and chemical interaction between the polymer components can be mapped with a spatial resolution of about 30 nm. We foresee wide application potential of hyperspectral infrared nanoimaging for valuable chemical materials characterization and quality control in various fields ranging from materials sciences to biomedicine.
Neural gas for surface reconstruction

In this paper we present an adaptation of Neural Gas (NG) for reconstructing 3Dsurfaces from point clouds. NG is based on online adaptation according to given data points and constitutes a neural clustering algorithm that is robust with respect to noisy data and efficient, because the runtime depends solely on the accuracy of the surface reconstruction and is independent of the size of the input data. NG is a mathematically well founded method with guaranteed convergence that provably induces a valid Delaunay triangulation of a given surface of arbitrary genus provided the sampling of the surface is sufficiently dense. To apply NG to surface reconstruction, we extend the basic model by techniques that reconstruct surface triangles from the NG neighborhood graph and repair possible topological defects of the mesh. Moreover, we extend NG by a growing strategy which introduces a dynamic adaptation to the problem complexity such that a fast initial adaptation to the general global shape of the target model is achieved after which the finer details can be extracted.
Novel murine clonal cell lines either express slow or mixed (fast and slow) muscle markers following differentiation in vitro

We have investigated whether the phenotype of myogenic clones derived from satellite cells of different muscles from the transgenic immortomouse depended on muscle type origin. Clones derived from neonatal, or 6‐ to 12‐week‐old fast and slow muscles, were analyzed for myosin and enolase isoforms as phenotypic markers. All clones derived from slow‐oxidative muscles differentiated into myotubes with a preferentially slow contractile phenotype, whereas some clones derived from rapid‐glycolytic or neonatal muscles expressed both fast and slow myosin isoforms. Thus, muscle origin appears to bias myosin isoform expression in myotubes. The neonatal clone (WTt) was cultivated in various medium and substrate conditions, allowing us to determine optimized conditions for their differentiation. Matrigel allowed expressions of adult myosin isoforms, and an isozymic switch from embryonic α‐ toward muscle‐specific β‐enolase, never previously observed in vitro. These cells will be a useful model for in vitro studies of muscle fiber maturation and plasticity. Developmental Dynamics 237:1412‐1423, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Victimization Adults in Colorado : Comparing Rates of Cisgender and Transgender Reporting Among Lesbian , Gay , Bisexual , Transgender , and Queer Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Subsequent Police

Research indicates that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals are at high risk of victimization by others and that transgender individuals may be at even higher risk than their cisgender LGBQ peers. In examining partner violence in particular, extant literature suggests that LGBTQ individuals are at equal or higher risk of partner violence victimization compared with their heterosexual peers. As opposed 1University of Denver, CO, USA 2One Colorado, Denver, USA Corresponding Author: Lisa Langenderfer-Magruder, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, 2148 South High Street, Denver, CO 80208, USA. Email: llangen2@du.edu 556767 JIVXXX10.1177/0886260514556767Journal of Interpersonal ViolenceLangenderfer-Magruder et al. research-article2014 at University of Denver on November 20, 2014 jiv.sagepub. com Downloaded from 2 Journal of Interpersonal Violence to sexual orientation, there is little research on gender identity and partner violence within the LGBTQ literature. In the current study, the authors investigated intimate partner violence (IPV) in a large sample of LGBTQ adults (N = 1,139) to determine lifetime prevalence and police reporting in both cisgender and transgender individuals. Results show that more than one fifth of all participants ever experienced partner violence, with transgender participants demonstrating significantly higher rates than their cisgender peers. Implications focus on the use of inclusive language as well as future research and practice with LGBTQ IPV victims.
Studies of compounds that enhance sphingolipid metabolism in human keratinocytes 1

Several products are known to inhibit the biosynthesis of ceramides and glucosylceramides, but very few stimulate this process. We studied the influence of a hydrolysate of potato proteins (Lipidessence®) in vitro on the sphingolipid metabolism of normal human epidermal keratinocytes. By measuring growth with the thymidine uptake assay, it was seen that Lipidessence®, added in the culture medium up to an 8% concentration, did not change significantly the proliferation rate of keratinocytes, but beyond this concentration a progressive dose‐dependent inhibition of growth was noticeable. Following incubation of cells with the product at 5% and 10% concentrations for 2 days, the lipids were extracted. The different lipid classes were separated by fractionation on columns of aminopropyl silica gel and analyzed by high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography. When keratinocytes were cultivated in the presence of Lipidessence®, the biosynthesis of cholesterol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine and gangliosides was stimulated, and a major increase was noticeable in the biosynthesis of free fatty acids, free ceramides, glucosylceramide and sphingomyelin. Radioactive [14C]‐serine was used as a precursor of sphingoid bases to study sphingolipid biosynthesis. After migration of lipid fractions on thin‐layer plates, autoradiography showed that free ceramides and glucosylceramide were labeled, thus suggesting that de novo biosynthesis was accounting for the increased cellular content in sphingolipids.
In vitro adhesion of fibroblastic cells to titanium alloy discs treated with sodium hydroxide.

OBJECTIVE Adhesion of osteogenic cells on titanium surfaces is a prerequisite for osseointegration. Alkali treatment can increase the hydrophilicity of titanium implant surfaces, thereby supporting the adhesion of blood components. However, it is unclear if alkali treatment also supports the adhesion of cells with a fibroblastic morphology to titanium. MATERIALS AND METHODS Here, we have used a titanium alloy (Ti-6AL-4V) processed by alkali treatment to demonstrate the impact of hydrophilicity on the adhesion of primary human gingival fibroblast and bone cells. Also included were the osteosarcoma and fibroblastoma cell lines, MG63 and L929, respectively. Cell adhesion was determined by scanning electron microscopy. We also measured viability, proliferation, and protein synthesis of the adherent cells. RESULTS Alkali treatment increased the adhesion of gingival fibroblasts, bone cells, and the two cell lines when seeded onto the titanium alloy surface for 1 h. At 3 h, no significant changes in cell adhesion were observed. Cells grown for 1 day on the titanium alloy surfaces processed by alkali treatment behave similarly to untreated controls with regard to viability, proliferation, and protein synthesis. CONCLUSION Based on these preliminary In vitro findings, we conclude that alkali treatment can support the early adhesion of cells with fibroblastic characteristics to a titanium alloy surface.
Joint space-time parameter estimation for wireless communication channels

Joint space-time parameter estimation methods are discussed for time-varying channels in a multipath environment. A spatiotemporal array manifold model is developed that makes it possible to apply traditional parameter estimation techniques for extracting both the angle and delay parameters from the observed data. The conditional Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) is derived for unbiased space-time parameter estimators.
Information risks management in supply chains: an assessment and mitigation framework

Purpose – This paper aims to identify various information risks that could impact a supply chain, and develops a conceptual framework to quantify and mitigate them.Design/methodology/approach – Graph theory has been used to quantify information risks while interpretive structural modelling (ISM) is employed to understand the interrelationships among the enablers of information risks mitigation.Findings – The research presents a classification of the enablers of information risks mitigation according to their driving power and dependence. It also presents a risk index to quantify information risks. The research suggests that management should focus on improving the high driving power enabler variables.Practical implications – The proposed risk index and the hierarchy‐based model would help to develop suitable strategies to manage information risks in supply chains.Originality/value – The major contribution of this paper lies in the development of a framework to quantify information risks and a hierarchy ba.
Visual navigation of roadways

This paper describes ongoing work at the Computer Vision Laboratory, in support of the Autonomous Land Vehicle project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Strategic Computing Program. A visual navigation system is being developed to enable a vehicle to follow roads which, for the time being, are free of obstacles. We have developed an approach which consists of a boot-strap phase and a feed-forward phase. In each phase, visual processing is executed in three modules: an image processing module, a geometry module and a rule-based reasoning module. These modules and their interrelationships are described, with particular detail given to the image processing module.
2+1-Gravity and The Embedding its Dynamiycal Symmetry and Para-Supersymmetry into SO(4,c) Group

Some special solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell action with a non-negative cosmological constant and a very heavy point mass particle have been obtained. The solutions correspond to static spacetime of locally constant curvature in its spatial part and a constant magnetic field of a magnetic monopole together with deficit of angle at the location of point mass. The quantum mechanics of a point particle in these spacetimes in the absence of angular deficit has been solved algebraically both relativistically and non-relativistically. It has been also shown that these 2-dimensional Hamiltonians have the degeneracy group of GL(2,c) type and para-supersymmetry of arbitrary order or shape invariance, which is originated from a SO(4,c) group.
Exploiting digital TV users' preferences in a tourism recommender system based on semantic reasoning

Tourism recommender systems match the user preferences against the huge diversity of tourist resources, helping to decide where to go and what to do. Current approaches require the users to initialize manually their profiles by expressing their interests accurately, which is a very tedious process. We propose a system that automatically infers the users' preferences from their TV viewing histories, i.e., the tourism resources the users might appreciate are selected by considering the TV contents they enjoyed in the past. To this aim, we have developed a context-aware semantics-based recommendation strategy that considers both the users' preferences and the interests of like-minded individuals. The resulting recommendations shape a tailor-made on-move travel plan the users can access via (domestic and) handheld consumer devices.
Solving Some Persistent Presupposition Problems

/Soames 1979/ provides some counterexamples to the theory of natural language presuppositions that is presented in /Gazdar 1979/. /Soames 1982/ provides a theory which explains these counterexamples. /Mercer 1987/ rejects the solution found in /Soames 1982/ leaving these counterexamples unexplained. By reappraising these insightful counterexamples, the inferential theory for natural language presuppositions described in /Mercer 1987, 1988/ gives a simple and straightforward explanation for the presuppositional nature of these sentences.
Microfluidic electromanipulation with capacitive detection for cell diagnostic applications

We are proposing an approach to cell diagnostics that uses a combination of electromanipulation for stimulus and capacitance for sensing. The capacitance sensor consists of a 2 GHz cylindrical cavity resonator coupled to a pair of gold electrodes fabricated in a 25 x 100 x 120 μm waterfilled microfluidic channel. In this channel, the capacitance changes caused by the presence of yeast cells and polystyrene spheres were approximately 10 and 100 aF, respectively, with a capacitance resolution of 2 aF. These capacitance changes are in reasonable agreement with values provided by finite element simulations and the resolution is much better than that previously reported in the literature. We have trapped yeast cells by applying a 3 V, 1 MHz frequency signal and observed capacitance changes associated with the trapping and release of cells.
Dual Band And Dual Polarized Microstrip Patch Antenna

Microstrip antenna is known as single patch which consists of simple dielectric substrate with ground plan that directly contacting an appropriate transmission line. Due to capacity problems in mobile communications system, microstrip patch antenna 1s proposed in order to minimize and solve this problem. This project was designed to investigate the performance of dual band and dual polarized microstrip patch antenna. A new design of a simple dual band and dual polarized microstrip patch antenna was presented with single feeding. Both ' Design 1 · and ' Design 2' was designed, fabricated and tested to be used in a dual frequency bands which is GSM900 and 1800 bands. The calculated results were confirmed by measurement on prototype. Both designs antenna can be operated at frequencies between range 924MHz-l 790MHz for simulation and for measurement 938MHz-1837MHz in antenna ' Design 1· . For antenna 'Design 2' frequencies can operate between 900MHz-I 760MHz for simulation and measurement between 904MHz-l 775MHz. Therefore, both dual band and dual polarized operation has successfully incorporated with single patch and feeding.
A 10Gbps CDR based on phase interpolator for source synchronous receiver in 65nm CMOS

In this paper, a 10Gbps PI-based CDR circuit is presented in 65nm CMOS technology. The circuit is composed of a phase selector, a phase interpolator, a sample unit, a synchronize unit, a phase detector, and CDR logic. Half-rate clock is adopted to lessen the problems caused by high speed clocks and reduce power. The simulated worst phase step of phase interpolator is 26.7% larger than the average phase error. The power consumption is 15mW for 1V supply.
Mechanics at soft interfaces

Most of us have noticed that paperclips, breakfast cereals, and small bubbles tend to float in clusters on a liquid surface. This phenomenon is a classical example of capillary interaction governed by surface tension of the liquid. If we replace the liquid with a bowl of soft solid e.g. jello and place tiny liquid drops on top of it, the drops attract and coalesce. Even though solid by nature, behavior of the soft interface in this case is analogous to a liquid surface. Soft, polymeric solids possess some very exciting properties and that’s why their use in science and technology has seen unprecedented growth over the last decade. These solids can respond to a wide range of external stimulus such as pH, humidity, temperature, electric field or swelling, and consequently act as scaffolds in tissue engineering, valves in microfluidic devices, self-cleaning surfaces, and active components in soft robots and metamaterials. One of the distinguishing features of soft solids is the existence of an interfacial tension strong enough to govern the response of these materials at macroscopic scales, which has traditionally been attributed to elasticity alone. In this thesis, we explored the interaction of a soft interface with liquid drops, solid particles, and liquid flow to understand the wetting, adhesion, lubrication of soft solids. We also brought a new perspective to the classical creasing instability of a compressed soft solid where the interface folds onto itself and creates a self-contact.
An Architecture for Anaphora Resolution

In this paper, we describe the pronominal anaphora resolution module of Lucy, a portable English understanding system. The design of this module was motivated by the observation that, although there exist many theories of anaphora resolution, no one of these theories is complete. Thus we have implemented a blackboard-like architecture in which individual partial theories can be encoded as separate modules that can interact to propose candidate antecedents and to evaluate each other's proposals.
Reversible Denaturation of Ribonuclease in Aqueous Solutions As Influenced by Polyhydric Alcohols and Some Other Additives

SUMMARY Aqueous solutions of polyhydric alcohols protect the native conformation of ribonuclease against denaturation by heat, acid, and urea. The protective effect increases with the length of the molecule of the polyhydric alcohol and with its concentration. This stabilizing effect is explained in terms of a lessened hydrogen bond-rupturing capacity of the medium. Aqueous solutions of monovalent alcohols destabilize ribonuclease at high pH (high T,,) more than at low pH (low T,). At elevated temperatures, at which it is principally hydrophobic bonds that determine the stability of the protein molecule, the interaction between hydrophobic molecules of the medium and the hydrophobic parts of the protein molecule is increased, resulting in a lessened stability of the protein molecule. Divalent alcohols destabilize ribonuclease to a much smaller degree than monovalent alcohols, when equimolar quantities of -CH-and CH3-groups are present. This might be due to the fact that the interaction with water is increased by the second -OH group and hence the potency of the alcohol for weakening the hydrophobic bonds is de-creased. The lowering in T, of ribonuclease caused by urea is, in contrast to that caused by I-propanol, counteracted by glycerol
On validation of cardiovascular risk scores

Damen and colleagues present an interesting overview of prediction models for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, with recommendations for future practice.1 Unfortunately, although they make much of the so called “validation” of these scores in research articles, they say nothing about its relevance to current clinical practice. In predictive modelling, as reviewed by these authors, historical data are used to predict a known future. Each model produces a risk score on a scale of 0-1 (or 0%-100%), but each outcome is either an event or a non-event, so the score …
Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Multiple Myeloma: A Microenvironment Factor Predictive of Response to Treatment?

GDF15, also called MIC-1 (macrophage-inhibitory cytokine 1), is a divergent member of the transforming growth factor (TGF) β superfamily that was first described to be induced in activated macrophages by proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α or interleukin 6 [2] . In fact, GDF15 expression can increase in response to a broad variety of cellular stress signals and it has been described as member of a series of 20 biomarkers that best define the malignant phenotype of numerous solid tumors [3] . GDF15 expression and secretion are increased in many tumors, notably in prostate, colorectal, gastric and pancreatic cancers, oral squamous carcinomas, melanomas and gliomas [4] . In 2007, this list was supplemented by the first hematological malignancy since we showed GDF15 overexpression in myelomas [5] ; in addition, compared with GDF15 expression in solid tumors, GDF15 was not produced by the malignant cells themselves but specifically by cells from the bone marrow microenvironment, in particular mesenchymal stromal cells. Both GDF15 mRNA and protein levels were fourfold higher in mesenchymal stromal cells from patients with myeloma than in normal mesenchymal stromal cells. We then demonstrated that GDF15 produced by the microenvironment is a survival factor for malignant plasma cells and that its plasma concentration at diagnosis is related to initials parameters of the disease and to patient survival [6] . Multiple myeloma accounts for 10–13% of all hematological malignancies and 20% of deaths related to cancers of the blood and bone marrow. In the last decade, treatment has progressed and patient outcome has improved more than in any other cancer. However, the 5-year relative survival rate has only marginally increased and patients eventually relapse. Myeloma is characterized by the proliferation of a malignant plasma cell clone located in the bone marrow microenvironment. The huge differences observed in treatment response and clinical outcome among patients reflect the extraordinary biological and clinical heterogeneity of the disease. To be able to adapt therapy optimally to the patient and to advance personalized medicine, the causes of this heterogeneity have to be identified. Given its pivotal role in the pathophysiology of myelomas, the microenvironment of the tumor is probably a decisive factor. However, none of the many prognostic factors described in myeloma, including factors reflecting tumor burden, tissue damage and genetic alterations, specifically reflects the myeloma microenvironment. In this issue of Acta Haematologica , Tarkun et al. [1] report that the level of serum growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a prognostic factor in multiple myeloma and may predict response to treatment. Received: July 25, 2013 Accepted: July 29, 2013 Published online: November 9, 2013