Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reducing the friction of lubricated nonconformal point contacts by transverse shallow micro-grooves

This study focuses on the effects of transverse shallow micro-grooves on the film thickness and friction of nonconformal contacts under relative motion. Experiments were conducted using a ball-on-disc tribometer equipped with high speed camera and torque sensor. The lubricated contact between the steel ball and glass disc represents a nonconformal point contact with elastohydrodynamic lubrication. The measurements of the film thickness were carried out using the optical interferometry technique while the friction was measured by a torque sensor on the ball shaft. The results reveal that the rubbing surfaces with transverse shallow micro-grooves with a length less than the diameter of the Hertzian contact have an improved tribological performance in comparison with smooth surfaces in the elastohydrodynamic lubrication regime. Indeed, a significant enhancement of film thickness has been observed using such design of micro-grooves. On the other hand, the transverse deep and shallow micro-grooves with a length larger than the diameter of the Hertzian contact suffer from the side leakage and the lubricant is ejected out of the contact by sideways leading to a pressure drop and film thickness collapse. Moreover, the measured friction of surfaces textured with shallow micro-grooves without intersection with the outer Hertzian circle is less than the friction of smooth surfaces in sliding and reversal motion.
Angiotensin-I Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitory and Anti-Oxidant Activities of Sea Cucumber (Actinopyga lecanora) Hydrolysates

In recent years, food protein-derived hydrolysates have received considerable attention because of their numerous health benefits. Amongst the hydrolysates, those with anti-hypertensive and anti-oxidative activities are receiving special attention as both activities can play significant roles in preventing cardiovascular diseases. The present study investigated the angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and anti-oxidative activities of Actinopyga lecanora (A. lecanora) hydrolysates, which had been prepared by alcalase, papain, bromelain, flavourzyme, pepsin, and trypsin under their optimum conditions. The alcalase hydrolysate showed the highest ACE inhibitory activity (69.8%) after 8 h of hydrolysis while the highest anti-oxidative activities measured by 2,2-diphenyl 1-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging (DPPH) (56.00%) and ferrous ion-chelating (FIC) (59.00%) methods were exhibited after 24 h and 8 h of hydrolysis, respectively. The ACE-inhibitory and anti-oxidative activities displayed dose-dependent trends, and increased with increasing protein hydrolysate concentrations. Moreover, strong positive correlations between angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and anti-oxidative activities were also observed. This study indicates that A. lecanora hydrolysate can be exploited as a source of functional food owing to its anti-oxidant as well as anti-hypertension functions.
Modulating Electro-osmotic Flow with Polymer Coatings

We use Molecular Dynamics simulations in order to investigate the time evolution of the effect of adsorbed polymer coatings on the electro-osmotic flow (EOF) in a capillary. Weakly adsorbed coatings show no time-dependent performance, but they do not strongly reduce the EOF. On the other hand, strongly adsorbed coatings made of longer polymer chains are often quenched in non-equilibrium conformations that can strongly reduce the EOF over extremely long periods of time. For intermediate adsorption strengths, we observe that the EOF increases as a function of time due to the relaxation of the coating layer. The concentration of polymers in solution and the length of the polymer chains also affect the time-dependence of the EOF. These results show that the quality of electrophoretic separations can depend on the waiting time between the formation of the coating and the beginning of the separation. We conclude by suggesting experimental tests of our predictions.
Consensus of Multiagent Systems Using Aperiodic Sampled-Data Control

This paper is concerned with the consensus of multiagent systems with nonlinear dynamics through the use of aperiodic sampled-data controllers, which are more flexible than classical periodic sampled-data controllers. By input delay approach, the resulting sampled-data system is reformulated as a continuous system with time-varying delay in the control input. A continuous Lyapunov functional, which captures the information on sampling pattern, together with the free-weighting matrix method, is then used to establish a sufficient condition for consensusability. For a more general case that the sampled-data controllers are subject to constant input delays, a novel discontinuous Lyapunov functional is introduced on the basis of the vector extension of Wirtinger's inequality. This functional can lead to simplified and efficient stability conditions for computation and optimization. Further results on the estimate of maximal allowable sampling interval upper bound is given as well. Numerical example is provided to show the effectiveness and merits of the proposed protocol.
Proteopathic tau seeding predicts tauopathy in vivo

Significance Prion-like propagation of proteopathic seeds may underlie the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including the tauopathies and synucleinopathies. We aimed to construct a versatile and simple cell assay to sensitively and specifically detect proteopathic seeding activity. Using a combination of FRET flow cytometry and a tau monoclonal FRET biosensor cell line, we report seed detection in the femtomolar range. This assay is easily applied to human brain homogenates and selectively responds to Alzheimer's disease but not Huntington's disease brains. By comparing seeding activity in a mouse model of human tauopathy, we demonstrate detection of proteopathic seeding far in advance of standard histopathological markers. Proteopathic seeding is thus an early marker of tauopathy, consistent with a causal role for tau seeds in neurodegeneration. Transcellular propagation of protein aggregates, or proteopathic seeds, may drive the progression of neurodegenerative diseases in a prion-like manner. In tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease, this model predicts that tau seeds propagate pathology through the brain via cell–cell transfer in neural networks. The critical role of tau seeding activity is untested, however. It is unknown whether seeding anticipates and correlates with subsequent development of pathology as predicted for a causal agent. One major limitation has been the lack of a robust assay to measure proteopathic seeding activity in biological specimens. We engineered an ultrasensitive, specific, and facile FRET-based flow cytometry biosensor assay based on expression of tau or synuclein fusions to CFP and YFP, and confirmed its sensitivity and specificity to tau (∼300 fM) and synuclein (∼300 pM) fibrils. This assay readily discriminates Alzheimer’s disease vs. Huntington's disease and aged control brains. We then carried out a detailed time-course study in P301S tauopathy mice, comparing seeding activity versus histological markers of tau pathology, including MC1, AT8, PG5, and Thioflavin S. We detected robust seeding activity at 1.5 mo, >1 mo before the earliest histopathological stain. Proteopathic tau seeding is thus an early and robust marker of tauopathy, suggesting a proximal role for tau seeds in neurodegeneration.
Dopamine D1 receptor involvement in latent inhibition and overshadowing

Latent inhibition (LI) manifests as poorer conditioning to a stimulus that has previously been experienced without consequence. There is good evidence of dopaminergic modulation of LI, as the effect is reliably disrupted by the indirect dopamine (DA) agonist amphetamine. The disruptive effects of amphetamine on LI are reversed by both typical and atypical antipsychotics, which on their own are able to facilitate LI. However, the contribution of different DA receptors to these effects is poorly understood. Amphetamine effects on another stimulus selection procedure, overshadowing, have been suggested to be D1-mediated. Thus, in the current experiments, we systematically investigated the role of D1 receptors in LI. First, we tested the ability of the full D1 agonist SKF 81297 to abolish LI and compared the effects of this drug on LI and overshadowing. Subsequently, we examined whether the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 can lead to the emergence of LI under conditions that do not produce the effect in normal animals (weak pre-exposure). Finally, we tested the ability of SCH 23390 to block amphetamine-induced disruption of LI. We found little evidence that direct stimulation of D1 receptors abolishes LI (although there was some attenuation of LI at 0.4 mg/kg SKF 81297). Similarly, SCH 23390 failed to enhance LI. However, SCH 23390 did block amphetamine-induced disruption of LI. These data indicate that, while LI may be unaffected by selective manipulation of activity at D1 receptors, the effects of amphetamine on LI are to some extent dependent on actions at D1 receptors.
Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy: Prospective Studies on Children

This two-volume publication contains the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Institute, held in April 1978. The material is organized in five sections. In the first section J. Bonner presents a historic review of chromatin research. The following section describes biophysical and chemical methods used in the study of isolated chromatin, such as electron microscopy, circular dichroism, X-ray diffraction, and nuclear magnetic resonance. Several of these chapters are written for the non-specialist and serve as a useful introduction to the methodology; others are quite detailed, and a few are of questionable relevance. The third section describes chromatin organization at different levels, the nucleosome, multimers, chromosomal proteins and their enzymatic modifications, and changes in chromatin structure related to gene expression. This section is uneven in quality, but contains some excellent reviews (e.g., chromatin fractionation and the properties of transcriptionally active regions of chromatin) which compensate for the fact that major contributors to this field of research did not participate in the meeting and, therefore, the collection of papers included does not represent the whole field. Section IV takes the topic of chromatin structure to a higher level of biology and includes papers on cellular aging, transformation, carcinogenesis, DNA repair, and electromagnetic studies of the cell surface. The relationship of these chapters to chromatin structure is often unclear, but they point out interfaces between areas of research for future studies. A discussion between participants at the end of each section and a panel review at the end of the conference (Section V) convey the constructive working atmosphere and illustrate different viewpoints and open questions. These books are recommended as an introductory text for those who want to engage in active research in this field and as a reference source for biomedical libraries.
Acute Ischemic Stroke: Time, Penumbra, and Reperfusion

Current guidelines advocate intravenous thrombolysis for patients with ischemic stroke <4.5 hours from onset without additional imaging beyond noncontrast computed tomography (CT) of the brain.1 Rapid administration of intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) will reduce disability. Treatment of patients within 3 hours has an odds ratio of 1.53 (95% confidence interval, 1.26–1.86) for a favorable outcome (modified Rankin scale [mRS], 0–2) at 3 months.2 However, this represents an absolute increase of 9% compared with placebo and is available to a minority of patients with ischemic stroke because of the rigid time constraints.3 Modern stroke imaging grants unprecedented access to the pathophysiology in individual patients with stroke. Time remains of key importance with respect to patient outcomes. However, it is now possible to not only routinely visualize the causative occlusion, but also estimate the ischemic core, the penumbral tissue at risk if reperfusion does not occur, and the state of the collateral blood supply. The current focus of Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) intervention should be to achieve reperfusion of the penumbra. Recent trials point to potential avenues to improve patient access by imaging-based patient selection and the importance of rapid and complete reperfusion of the penumbra. Three parenchymal vascular states exist in varying proportions in each AIS patient. These are the ischemic core, the penumbra, and a region of benign oligemia.4,5 Separating the penumbra from the ischemic core is of critical importance in guiding stroke therapy. So too is separating the penumbra from the region of benign oligemia. By definition, the penumbra is the region of tissue that is at risk of being recruited into the ischemic core. Thus, the penumbra is the principal target for reperfusion and, therefore, should dictate patient selection. Given the progressive nature of ischemic stroke, establishing the continued existence of …
Flash memories for SoC: an overview on system constraints and technology issues

Flash memories are today one of the fundamental building blocks in modern electronic systems. Their performance (speed, consumption, alterability, nonvolatility) and the increasing importance of system reconfigurability push for flash memory integration in SoC. Unfortunately, flash integration introduces new issues both at system and at circuit/technology levels that need to be deeply investigated. From the system point of view, several aspects are involved in the choice of the flash memory type to be integrated in SoC: the most important ones, depending on the specific applications and requirements (cost, power consumption, reliability and performance requirements), are illustrated. Also circuit-technology issues specific to flash integration with high-speed logic are discussed in depth by analyzing the real case of an embedded 1-T NOR flash memory.
Scheduling in multiprogrammed parallel systems

Processor scheduling on multiprocessor systems that simultaneously run concurrent applications is currently not well-understood. This paper reports a preliminary investigation of a number of fundamental issues which are important in the context of scheduling concurrent jobs on multiprogrammed parallel systems. The major motivation for this research is to gain insight into system behaviour and understand the basic principles underlying the performance of scheduling strategies in such parallel systems. Based on abstract models of systems and scheduling disciplines, several high level issues that are important in this context have been analysed.
Implicit Media Tagging and Affect Prediction from RGB-D Video of Spontaneous Facial Expressions

We present a method that automatically evaluates emotional response from spontaneous facial activity. The automatic evaluation of emotional response, or affect, is a fascinating challenge with many applications. Our approach is based on the inferred activity of facial muscles over time, as automatically obtained from an RGB-D video recording of spontaneous facial activity. Our contribution is two-fold: First, we constructed a database of publicly available short video clips, which elicit a strong emotional response in a consistent manner across different individuals. Each video was tagged by its characteristic emotional response along 4 scales: Valence, Arousal, Likability and Rewatch (the desire to watch again). The second contribution is a two-step prediction method, based on learning, which was trained and tested using this database of tagged video clips. Our method was able to successfully predict the aforementioned 4 dimensional representation of affect, achieving high correlation (0.87-0.95) between the predicted scores and the affect tags. As part of the prediction algorithm we identified the period of strongest emotional response in the viewing recordings, in a method that was blind to the video clip being watched, showing high agreement between independent viewers. Finally, inspection of the relative contribution of different feature types to the prediction process revealed that temporal facets contributed more to the prediction of individual affect than to media tags.
THE EFFECTS OF PARATHYROID HORMONE, COLCHICINE, AND CALCITONIN ON THE ULTRASTRUCTURE AND THE ACTIVITY OF OSTEOCLASTS IN ORGAN CULTURE

The ultrastructure of osteoclasts was examined in fetal rat bones after stimulation or inhibition of resorption in culture. A central ruffled border area completely encircled by a clear zone was considered to represent the resorbing system of the cell. The proportion of ruffled border and clear zone in osteoclast cross sections was compared with changes in bone resorption as measured by the release of previously incorporated radioactive calcium (45Ca). In control cultures 55% of the osteoclast cross sections showed an area closely apposed to bone and this consisted mainly of clear zone; only 11% showed ruffled borders. Treatment with parathyroid hormone (PTH) increased 45Ca release, increased the frequency of finding areas closely apposed to bone (79%), and markedly increased the frequency of the ruffled border area (64%). Colchicine given concurrently with PTH decreased the number of osteoclasts. Colchicine or calcitonin treatment after PTH stimulation decreased the proportion of ruffled border area significantly by 1 h; this was followed by a decrease in 45Ca release. These inhibited osteoclasts resembled osteoclasts from control, unstimulated cultures, suggesting that the cells had returned to their inactive state. Colchicine-treated osteoclasts also showed a loss of microtubules and a massive accumulation of 100 Å filaments, suggesting that synthesis of microtubular subunits had increased.
Countervailing Consequences of Paternal Incarceration for Parenting Quality

To date, research on the linkages between paternal incarceration and family life has taken two forms. On the one hand, quantitative research tends to consider effects on child wellbeing and generally concludes paternal incarceration harms children. Qualitative research, on the other hand, tends to consider how incarceration alters relationships between partners and suggests a nuanced combination of positive, negative, and effects. In this paper, we attempt to rectify these seemingly disparate findings by considering the countervailing consequences of paternal incarceration for both fathers? and mothers? parenting. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and an exceptionally rigorous research design, we find that recent paternal incarceration sharply diminishes the quality of biological fathers? parenting, especially for residential fathers. Furthermore, virtually all of this association can be explained by changes in fathers? relationships with their children? s mothers. Effects on mothers? parenting, however, are more inconsistent, as recent paternal incarceration is not consistently associated with any measure of maternal parenting across all modeling strategies. Our findings also show that recent paternal incarceration sharply increases the probability a mother will repartner, potentially offsetting some losses in the involvement of the biological father. Taken together, the collateral consequences of paternal incarceration for family life are complex and countervailing.
SVD based automated dike monitoring system using DTS data

The detection of water leakages in dikes using distributed temperature sensors is an interesting prospect due to the commercial viability of these optical fiber based sensors. The acquired temperature data, being not directly interpretable, requires intervention of advanced signal processing techniques. In this work, we propose a system for the identification of singularities such as existing dike structures and water leakages. The distances where singularities exist show temperature variations over the course of a day which are different from the nonsingular zones. The different nonsingular zones though show a similar temperature variation trend. The proposed system estimates this reference trend as the most coherent component of the Singular Value Decomposition applied on daily data. The corresponding SVD residue subspace thus represents the deviation from the reference subspace and thus contains information on singularities. The L2 norm of this residue is a good discrimination measure for identification of these singularities.
Representation Learning with Pair-wise Constraints for Collaborative Ranking

Last decades have witnessed a vast amount of interest and research in recommendation systems. Collaborative filtering, which uses the known preferences of a group of users to make recommendations or predictions of the unknown preferences for other users, is one of the most successful approaches to build recommendation systems. Most previous collaborative filtering approaches employ the matrix factorization techniques to learn latent user feature profiles and item feature profiles. Also many subsequent works are proposed to incorporate users' social network information and items' attributions to further improve recommendation performance under the matrix factorization framework. However, the matrix factorization based methods may not make full use of the rating information, leading to unsatisfying performance. Recently deep learning has been approved to be able to find good representations in natural language processing, image classification, and so on. Along this line, we propose a collaborative ranking framework via representation learning with pair-wise constraints (REAP for short), in which autoencoder is used to simultaneously learn the latent factors of both users and items and pair-wise ranked loss defined by (user, item) pairs is considered. Extensive experiments are conducted on five data sets to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
Cooperative opportunistic large array approach for cognitive radio networks

Cognitive Radio (CR) seems to be a promising solution to the radio spectrum congestion problem by opportunistic uses of the spectral holes to achieve efficient use of the frequency resource by allowing the coexistence of licensed (primary) and unlicensed (secondary) users in the same bandwidth. According to the cooperative wireless communication (CWC) concept the active nodes may increase their effective QoS via cooperation. For cognitive radio networks, sharing of primary user's spectrum by secondary user is possible only when the QoS of the primary system is guaranteed. Cooperative diversity is a strong technique which can provide the maximum throughputs. Cooperative Opportunistic Large Array (OLA) algorithms can improve the reliability as well as the energy efficiency of the communication. Power and diversity gains can be exploited with the help of cooperative transmission in the cognitive radio. In this paper, the novel cooperative OLA approach for Cognitive Radio Networks (CRN) is proposed, which is proved to be energy efficient and scalable. With the help of OLAs, the cognitive network can be built without GPS.
Sliding mode control of boost converter: Application to energy storage system via supercapacitors

Sliding mode control of boost converter is studied. In order to improve dynamical performances with static and dynamic specifications, we propose a systematic procedure to compute the gains of the controller based on an optimization scheme. This method is applied to the control of an energy storage system based on supercapacitors technology in order to regulate the output voltage. Given a system with large variations of input voltage and load, it is necessary to guarantee good performance of the controller for large variations of operating point. Our study shows the great influence of the controller gains on the static and dynamic performances of the system. Hence, we point out a methodology for choosing the gains.