Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterisation of solution cast cellulose nanofibre - reinforced poly(lactic acid)

Cellulose nanofibres, 20 nm in diameter and 300 nm long, were prepared by acid hydrolysis of flax yarns. Com- posite films containing 2.5 and 5.0 wt% flax cellulose (FC) fibres were prepared by solution casting of mixtures of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) solution and cellulose nanofibre suspension in chloroform. The resulting composite films and solu- tion cast pure PLA film, with thickness of around 160 μm, showed good transparency. For composites with 2.5 and 5.0 wt% FC, the tensile strength increased by 25 and 59% and tensile modulus by 42 and 47%, respectively, compared to pure PLA film. The composite film with 2.5 wt% FC combined high strength and ductility with tensile strength of 24.3 MPa and 70% elongation at break. Flax cellulose appeared to facilitate nucleation and subsequent crystallisation of PLA more effectively in the amorphous composites than in the crystalline composites.
Whole-body motion planning for manipulation of articulated objects

Humanoid service robots performing complex object manipulation tasks need to plan whole-body motions that satisfy a variety of constraints: The robot must keep its balance, self-collisions and collisions with obstacles in the environment must be avoided and, if applicable, the trajectory of the end-effector must follow the constrained motion of a manipulated object in Cartesian space. These constraints and the high number of degrees of freedom make whole-body motion planning for humanoids a challenging problem. In this paper, we present an approach to whole-body motion planning with a focus on the manipulation of articulated objects such as doors and drawers. Our approach is based on rapidly-exploring random trees in combination with inverse kinematics and considers all required constraints during the search. Models of articulated objects hereby generate hand poses for sampled configurations along the trajectory of the object handle. We thoroughly evaluated our planning system and present experiments with a Nao humanoid opening a drawer, a door, and picking up an object. The experiments demonstrate the ability of our framework to generate solutions to complex planning problems and furthermore show that these plans can be reliably executed even on a low-cost humanoid platform.
Nimodipine in otolaryngology: from past evidence to clinical perspectives

SUMMARY As L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) control Ca2+ influx and depolarisation of cardiac and vascular smooth muscle, they represent a specific therapeutic target for calcium channel blockers (CCBs), which are approved and widely used to treat hypertension, myocardial ischaemia and arrhythmias. L-type currents also play a role in calcium entry in the sensory cells of the inner ear. In hair cells of both cochlea and labyrinth, calcium cytoplasmic influx is the first physiological process that activates complex intracellular enzymatic reactions resulting in neurotransmitter release. Excessive calcium ion entry into sensory cells, as a consequence of L-VGCCs malfunction is responsible for over-activation of phospholipase A2 and C, protein kinase II and C, nitric oxide synthase and both endonucleases and depolymerases, which can cause membrane damage and cellular death if the cytoplasmic buffering capacity is overcome. Nimodipine, a highly lipophilic 1-4 dihydropyridine that easily crosses the brain-blood barrier, is generally used to reduce the severity of neurological deficits resulting from vasospasm in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage. Moreover, due to its selective blocking activity on L-channel calcium currents, nimodipine is also suggested to be an effective countermeasure for cochlear and vestibular dysfunctions known as channelopathies. Indeed, experimental data in amphibians and mammalians indicate that nimodipine has a stronger efficacy than other CCBs (aminopyridine, nifedipine) on voltage-dependent wholecell currents within hair cells at rest and it is the only agent that is also effective during their mechanically induced depolarisation. In humans, the efficacy of nimodipine is documented in the medical management of peripheral vestibular vertigo, sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, even in a pathology as complex as Ménière's disease. Nimodipine is also considered useful in the prophylaxis of damage to the facial and cochlear nerves caused by ablative surgery of cerebellopontine tumours; it has been recently hypothesised to accelerate functional recovery of recurrent nerve lesions during thyroid cancer surgery. Further trials with adequate study design are needed to test the efficacy of nimodipine in the treatment of vertigo due to cerebrovascular disease and vestibular migraine.
Development of Modelling Methods for Materials to be Used as Bone Substitutes

The demand in the medical industry for load bearing materials is ever increasing. The techniques currently used for the manufacture of such materials are not optimized in terms of porosity and mechanical strength. This study adopts a microstructural shape design approach to the production of open porous materials, which utilizes spatial periodicity as a simple way to generate the models. A set of triply periodic surfaces expressed via trigonometric functions in the implicit form are presented. A geometric description of the topology of the microstructure is necessary when macroscopic properties such as mechanical strength, stiffness and isotropy are required to be optimised for a given value of volume fraction. A distinction between the families of structures produced is made on the basis of topology. The models generated have been used successfully to manufacture both a range of structures with different volume fractions of pores and samples of functional gradient material using rapid prototyping.
TIME CONSTRAINED BANDWIDTH SMOOTHING FOR INTERACTIVE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SYSTEMS

The use of a client-side buffer in the delivery of compressed prerecorded video can be an effective tool for removing the burstiness required of the underlying server and network by smoothing the bandwidth requirements for continuous delivery. Given a fixed-size smoothing buffer, several bandwidth smoothing algorithms have been introduced in the literature that are provably optimal under certain constraints, typically requiring large buffer residency times to realize their optimal properties. The large buffer residency times, however, make VCR functions harder to support. In this paper, we introduce the notion of time constrained bandwidth smoothing. Specifically, we introduce two new algorithms that, in addition to the size of the client side buffer, use a time constraint as a parameter in the bandwidth smoothing plan creation, making the plans more amenable to supporting VCR interactivity. Our results show that the buffer residency times can be reduced, while still allowing the bandwidth allocation to be smoothed for continuous video delivery.
Wage Rigidities in Western Germany? Microeconometric Evidence from the 1990s

This paper investigates whether and in what sense the west German wage structure has been 'rigid' in the 1990s. To test the hypothesis that a rigid wage structure has been responsible for rising low-skilled unemployment, I propose a methodology which makes less restrictive identifying assumptions than some previous related work. I find that the relative stability of educational wage premia was justified by market forces. However, relative wages did not respond to negative net demand shocks for young workers, as well as white-collar workers.
Independent sets in random sparse graphs

We consider the problem of finding maximum independent sets on sparse graphs. A probabilistic analysis of this problem is presented, with the main objective being to obtain asymptotic lower and upper bounds on the size of the optimal solution. If we let n be the number of nodes in the graph, we show that with probability tending to 1 as n /rightarrow /infty, this size lies between [D1n] and [D2n], where D1 and D2 are specific functions of the average degree of a node. The lower bound is obtained by examining the behavior of a simple algorithm for constructing independent sets. We then extend our results to the case of random sparse hypergraphs and obtain bounds using similar methods. Finally, we consider the case of Euclidean sparse graphs. Simple asymptotically optimal strategies are presented for this model.
Polymerase chain reaction for detection of Mycobacterium leprae in nasal swab specimens

The polymerase chain reaction based on the selective amplification of a 531-bp fragment of the gene encoding the proline-rich antigen of Mycobacterium leprae was applied to nasal swab specimens from leprosy patients, occupational contacts, and endemic and nonendemic controls. To prevent false-positive amplification, we used dUTP and uracil-DNA-glycosylase in all polymerase chain reactions. False-negative reactions were detected by using a 531-bp modified template as an internal control. Amplification products were found in 55% of untreated patients, in 19% of the occupational contacts, in 12% of endemic controls, and in none of the nonendemic controls. This study strongly suggests that not only leprosy patients but also healthy persons may carry M. leprae. We concluded that polymerase chain reaction is a reliable method to detect M. leprae in nasal specimens. The method holds promise for studying the spread and transmission of M. leprae within a population.
Estimation Of Circuit Activity Considering Signal Correlations And Simultaneous Switching

This paper presents accurate estimation of signal activity at the internal nodes of CMOS combinational logic circuits. The methodology is based on stochastic model of logic signals and takes correlations and simultaneous switching of signals at logic gate inputs into consideration. In combinational logic synthesis, in order to minimize spurious transitions due to finite propagation delays, it is crucial to balance all signal paths and to reduce the logic depth. As a result of balancing delays through different paths, the inputs to logic gates may switch at approximately the same time. We have developed and implemented an technique to calculate signal probability and switching activity of the CMOS combinational logic circuits. Experimental results show that if simultaneous switching is not considered the switching activities of the internal nodes can be off by more than 100% compared to simulation based techniques. In contrast, our technique is on the average within 2% of logic simulation results.
Mutational analysis of the carboxy-terminal phosphorylation site of GLUT-4 in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

The carboxy terminus of GLUT-4 contains a functional internalization motif (Leu-489Leu-490) that helps maintain its intracellular distribution in basal adipocytes. This motif is flanked by the major phosphorylation site in this protein (Ser-488), which may play a role in regulating GLUT-4 trafficking in adipocytes. In the present study, the targeting of GLUT-4 in which Ser-488 has been mutated to alanine (SAG) has been examined in stably transfected 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The trafficking of SAG was not significantly different from that of GLUT-4 in several respects. First, in the absence of insulin, the distribution of SAG was similar to GLUT-4 in that it was largely excluded from the cell surface and was enriched in small intracellular vesicles. Second, SAG exhibited insulin-dependent movement to the plasma membrane (4- to 5-fold) comparable to GLUT-4 (4- to 5-fold). Finally, okadaic acid, which has previously been shown to stimulate both GLUT-4 translocation and its phosphorylation at Ser-488, also stimulated the movement of SAG to the cell surface similarly to GLUT-4. Using immunoelectron microscopy, we have shown that GLUT-4 is localized to intracellular vesicles containing the Golgi-derived γ-adaptin subunit of AP-1 and that this localization is enhanced when Ser-488 is mutated to alanine. We conclude that the carboxy-terminal phosphorylation site in GLUT-4 (Ser-488) may play a role in intracellular sorting at the trans-Golgi network but does not play a major role in the regulated movement of GLUT-4 to the plasma membrane in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
Different reconstruction intervals for exclusion of coronary artery calcifications by retrospectively gated MDCT.

OBJECTIVE Exclusion of coronary artery calcifications has a high negative predictive value for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. However, it is known that significant differences in calcium scoring can occur because of the ECG trigger interval. Thus, the aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of different reconstruction intervals on detection of any coronary calcium by using MDCT and retrospective cardiac gating. CONCLUSION For a true exclusion of coronary artery calcifications, different reconstruction intervals have to be evaluated.
Popularity-based congestion control in named data networking

Named Data Networking (NDN) has some transport characteristics different from those of TCP/IP because it is pull-based, in-path caching, hop-by-hop, and multi-path. For these reasons, it is necessary to adapt a distinguished congestion control mechanism to the NDN environment. Congestion control algorithms based on traditional RTT measurements will not work correctly since the data source may change due to innetwork caching during communication flow. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for developing a congestion control scheme in NDN by predicting content popularity. Performance evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed congestion control scheme using the ns3-based NDN simulator (ndnSIM).
Prevention of Hypertension and Vascular Changes by Captopril Treatment

Treatment of female spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats with captopril was carried out by the addition of the drug in the drinking water throughout pregnancy and lactation and after weaning. At 28 weeks of age, average systolic blood pressure of treated SHR was 113±3 mm Hg, which was below that of control SHR (188±3 mm Hg) and WKY rats (124±3 mm Hg). Body weight and heart rate of the SHR were not affected by the treatment Tissue level of catecholamines was increased by captopril treatment in the superior cervical ganglia but remained unchanged in the plasma, heart, mesenteric arteries, and the adrenal glands of both SHR and WKY rats. Left ventricular weight, wall thickness, and internal diameter of the left ventricle in the SHR were reduced by the treatment Morphometric measurements of the mesenteric arteries showed that vascular alterations present in the control SHR were prevented by the treatment In the superior mesenteric artery and large mesenteric artery, smaller lumen size at maximal relaxation found in the control SHR was normalized to the level of the WKY rats. Hypertrophy of the medial wall in the superior mesenteric, large and small mesenteric arteries, and an increase in the number of smooth muscle cell layers in the large mesenteric artery of the SHR were prevented by the treatment. Perfusion study of the mesenteric vascular bed showed that reactivity of these vessels to norepinephrine was reduced, and sensitivity to norepinephrine (as determined by the effective dose that causes 50% of maximal response) was increased in the SHR by captopril treatment Sensitivity of the tail artery in response to norepinephrine was not altered by the treatment We conclude that long-term treatment with captopril of SHR before and after birth prevented the development of hypertension, structural and functional alterations of the mesenteric arteries, and cardiac hypertrophy.
Digitizing Municipal Street Inspections Using Computer Vision

"People want an authority to tell them how to value things. But they chose this authority not based on facts or results. They chose it because it seems authoritative and familiar. " - The Big Short The pavement condition index is one such a familiar measure used by many US cities to measure street quality and justify billions of dollars spent every year on street repair. These billion-dollar decisions are based on evaluation criteria that are subjective and not representative. In this paper, we build upon our initial submission to D4GX 2015 that approaches this problem of information asymmetry in municipal decision-making. We describe a process to identify street-defects using computer vision techniques on data collected using the Street Quality Identification Device (SQUID). A User Interface to host a large quantity of image data towards digitizing the street inspection process and enabling actionable intelligence for a core public service is also described. This approach of combining device, data and decision-making around street repair enables cities make targeted decisions about street repair and could lead to an anticipatory response which can result in significant cost savings. Lastly, we share lessons learnt from the deployment of SQUID in the city of Syracuse, NY.
Journal of Inform Ation Technology Education a Computer Science Educational Program for Establishing an Entry Point into the Computing Community of Practice the Enrichment Program Background and Motivation

1 il. ac. weizmann @ haberman. bruria Executive Summary The rapid evolvement of the computing domain has posed challenges in attempting to bridge the gap between school and the contemporary world of computing, which is related to content, learning culture, and professional norms. We believe that the interaction of high-school students who major in computer science or software engineering with leading representatives of the computing community of practice may motivate them to pursue their studies further or pursue a career in the field. Accordingly, our program aims at exposing talented high-school students "directly by leading experts" to state-of-the-art computing research, advanced technologies, software engineering methodologies, and professional norms. T he interaction between the students and the experts, who actually become role models for the students, occurs at two levels: (a) during enrichment plenary meetings, and (b) through one-to-one interaction in which students develop software projects under the apprenticeship-based supervision of professionals from the computing community of practice. In the last four years, six hundred students participated in enrichment activities; 86 of these students accomplished high-level software projects under the supervision of experts. A long-term formative evaluation of the program has been conducted regarding: (1) students' attitudes towards the "different-from-school" style of learning that characterizes the program, and (2) students' performance in developing projects. In this paper, we specifically discuss the contribution of resources that students used for various phases of the project development activity. We found that the following categories of resources were employed by the students: self-learning, mentors, bibliographic resources (the Web, professional articles, professional books), school resources (a school teacher, school learning, and materials), and other human resources (i.e., a classmate the student's age, a family member, a grown-up acquaintance). Importantly, the findings indicated that during the entire development process the students exhibited self-efficacy, since they relied more on themselves than on other resources. Interestingly, during the entire development process, the web was perceived as the most significant bibliographic resource. Specifically , regarding the need to achieve Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. P ermission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full …
Topic-centric Classification of Twitter User's Political Orientation

In the recent Scottish Independence Referendum (hereafter, IndyRef), Twitter offered a broad platform for people to express their opinions, with millions of IndyRef tweets posted over the campaign period. In this paper, we aim to classify people's voting intentions by the content of their tweets---their short messages communicated on Twitter. By observing tweets related to the IndyRef, we find that people not only discussed the vote, but raised topics related to an independent Scotland including oil reserves, currency, nuclear weapons, and national debt. We show that the views communicated on these topics can inform us of the individuals' voting intentions ("Yes"--in favour of Independence vs. "No"--Opposed). In particular, we argue that an accurate classifier can be designed by leveraging the differences in the features' usage across different topics related to voting intentions. We demonstrate improvements upon a Naive Bayesian classifier using the topics enrichment method. Our new classifier identifies the closest topic for each unseen tweet, based on those topics identified in the training data. Our experiments show that our Topics-Based Naive Bayesian classifier improves accuracy by 7.8% over the classical Naive Bayesian baseline.
Extending Spatial-Phase-Locked Electron-Beam Lithography to Two Dimensions

The global-fiducial grid mode of spatial-phase-locked electron-beam lithography in two dimensions is investigated. A phase-locking scheme for two-dimensions is proposed and analyzed. An expression for the minimum locking dose is derived. The use of a scintillating grid is proposed, and results from optical detection of a scintillating fiducial grating are reported.
High Temperature Corrosion of Fe-30Cr in Flowing CO2 Gas

A plate of Fe-30Cr (wt%) were subjected to isothermal furnace at 600 °C in flowing CO2 gas at total pressure of approximately 1 atm. The reacted samples morphology and microstructure were characterized by using visual inspection, optical microscope, SEM and EDAX. The weight change measurement showed a fluctuating result during the exposure. The significant weight loss was observed after five hours exposure due to oxide scale exfoliation. Formation of different oxide and element presents on the interface of the specimen such as Cr2O3, C and Fe3C were revealed by X-ray diffraction and with supported by EDAX analysis. This behavior of the high temperature corrosion on Fe-30Cr was discussed based on morphology and microstructure observation.
Starch-based edible film with gum arabic for fruits coating

Packaging waste forms a significant part of municipal solid waste and has caused increasing environmental concerns, resulting in a strengthening of various regulations aimed at reducing the amounts generated. The introduction of biodegradable materials such as edible film and coating which can be disposed directly into the soil, can be one possible solution to this problem. Edible coating is defined as a thin layer of edible material form as a film on the surface of the fruits and vegetables. This coating can affect the respiration and moisture loss. In this study, edible film and coating were used as fruit coating. The edible film were prepared with different ratios which is 2:2, 3:1, and 1:3 of starch and gum Arabic with 10% of glycerol and sorbitol as plasticiser. A study of practical application for the edible film and coating from starch with gum Arabic for fruit coating was conducted. Banana were coated with an aqueous solution of starch with gum Arabic and stored at ambient temperature (26 ± 1°C; 7.
DELETION OF HAPTEN-BINDING CELLS BY A HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE 125I CONJUGATE

Exposure of normal mouse spleen cells in vitro to highly 125I-labeled dinitrophenyl (DNP)-protein carrier conjugates specifically inactivated cells able to mount an immune response to that hapten after in vivo challenge. The deletion was hapten specific and independent of the radioactive carrier to which the hapten was bound. DNP-binding cells were inactivated by radioactivity that was not part of the hapten, but was solely confined to the carrier moiety. The deletion of the anti-DNP response lasted 2–3 wk and could be specifically inhibited.