Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of Na2CO3 on Hydration Resistance of MgO-Al-C Bricks

To improve the hydration resistance of MgO-Al-C bricks, Na2CO3 was chosen as an additive through thermodynamic calculation. MgO-Al-C refractories were prepared by using Si, Na2CO3 or both as additives. The effects of additives on the hydration resistance of specimens were investigated. XRD was conducted to determine the phase composition. The results showed that the hydration resistance of MgO-Al-C bricks would be improved slightly with addition of only Si due to the densification of the structure. When Na2CO3 and Si were added together, the hydration resistance would be improved remarkably. The mechanism is that Na2CO3 could decompose to give off O2 during heating, which could promote the oxidation of Al metal and inhibit the formation of Al4C3 and AlN.
Effects of lipid phase transition of the freeze-cleaved envelope of Escherichia coli

We studied the fine structure of the envelope of Escherichia coli auxotroph K1060 after the cells were grown in the presence of one of the following fatty acids; oleic, palmitelaidic, or elidic acid. The cells were freeze-fractured after exposure to temperatures above and below the lipid phase transition range. As judged by freeze-etching methods, we observed that below the transition range the fracture plane of the inner membrane showed the typical aggregation of intramembranous particles (IMP) and concomitant development of areas devoid of IMP. In these areas we found a regular arrangement of equally spaced ridges, often intersected at 90 degrees by arrays of similar ridges. The ridges were composed of spherical particles measuring 4 to 5 nm in diameter. Formation and melting of these arrays took place within 15 to 30s after temperature shift-down or shift-up, respectively. Fixation in glutaraldehyde prevented these changes. The outer-membrane fracture plane revealed ordered areas to a lesser degree; these were discernible only by the regular arrangement of the IMP of the concave fracture plane. We interpret the data by suggesting that the pattern of ridges in E. coli K1060 is analogous to the band patterns described for artificial liposomes, and that the particles, possibly proteins, are lined up or extruded along the ridges during membrane lipid crystallization.
Susceptibility of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 group O isolates to antiretroviral agents: in vitro phenotypic and genotypic analyses

We investigated the phenotypic and genotypic susceptibility of 11 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) group O strains to nucleoside and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors and protease inhibitors in vitro. Phenotypic susceptibility was determined by using a standardized in vitro assay of RT inhibition, taking into account the replication kinetics of each strain. HIV-1 group M and HIV-2 isolates were used as references. DNA from cocultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells was amplified by using pol-specific group O primers and cloned for sequencing. Group O isolates were highly sensitive to nucleoside inhibitors, but six isolates were naturally highly resistant to all of the nonnucleoside RT inhibitors tested. Phylogenetic analysis of the pol gene showed that these isolates formed a separate cluster within group O, and genotypic analysis revealed a tyrosine-to-cysteine substitution at residue 181. Differences in susceptibility to saquinavir and ritonavir (RTV) were not significant between group O and group M isolates, although the 50% inhibitory concentration of RTV for group O isolates was higher than that for the HIV-1 subtype B strains. The study of HIV-1 group O susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs revealed that the viruses tested had specific phenotypic characteristics contrasting with the group M phenotypic expression.
Analysis of Characteristics of Mg Alloy Welded Joint by Laser Welding

The microstructure, the regular and mechanism of various parameters on formation of weld bead of Mg alloy AMCa403 using a laser welding were investigated. The results show that sound welds without major defects can be produced. Two welding modes of deep penetration welding, heat conduction welding were found, and heat input was found to be the main factor for welding mode and shape. The microstructure of weld metal is significantly finer than the base metal. At the same power, with the increase of welding speed, the microstructure of weld metal is much finer.
Recognition of emotional states using voice, face image and thermal image of face

A new integration method is presented to recognize the emotional expressions. We attempted to use both voices and facial expressions. For voices, we use such prosodic parameters as pitch signals, energy, and their derivatives, which are trained by Hidden Markov Model (HMM) for recognition. For facial expressions, we use feature parameters from thermal images in addition to visible images, which are trained by neural networks (NN) for recognition. The thermal images are observed by infrared ray which is not influenced by lighting conditions. The total recognition rates show better performance than each performance rate obtained from isolated experiment. The results are compared with the recognition by human questionnaire.
Novel Gag-Pol Frameshift Site in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Variants Resistant to Protease Inhibitors

ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) variants resistant to protease inhibitors have been shown to contain a mutation in the p1/p6 Gag precursor cleavage site. At the messenger RNA level, this mutation generates a U UUU UUU sequence that is reminiscent of the U UUU UUA sequence required for ribosomal frameshifting and Gag-Pol synthesis. To test whether the p1/p6 cleavage site mutation was generating a novel frameshift site, HIV sequences were inserted in translation vectors containing a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene requiring −1 frameshifting for expression. All sequences containing the original HIV frameshift site supported the synthesis of CAT but expression was increased 3- to 11-fold in the presence of the mutant p1/p6 sequence. When the original frameshift site was abolished by mutation, expression remained unchanged when using constructs containing the mutant p1/p6 sequence, whereas it was decreased 2- to 4.5-fold when using wild-type p1/p6 constructs. Similarly, when introduced into HIV molecular clones, the p1/p6 mutant sequence supported Gag-Pol synthesis and protease activity in the absence of the original frameshift site, indicating that this sequence could also promote ribosomal frameshifting in virus-expressing cells.
Permeability of Different Experimental Brain Tumor Models to Horseradish Peroxidase

The permeability of different brain tumor models to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was examined by determining the fraction of tumor that contained HRP after intravenous administration. The intracerebral tumor models studied were Avian Sarcoma Virus (ASV)-induced tumors and tumors from transplanted RG-2, S69-C1-5, and 9L cell lines. The average fraction of RG-2 tumors permeable to HRP was . 95; of S69-C1-5 tumors, . 699; of ASV-induced tumors, . 63; and of 9L tumors, . 52. Except for the RG-2 tumors, there was considerable regional variation in HRP permeability, which was most marked in the ASV-induced tumors. In ASV-induced tumors, HRP permeability did not correlate with tumor histo ogical classification, size, or anatomic location within the brain. The subcutaneous tumor models studied were RG-2-, S69-C1-5, and 9L-transplanted tumors in rats, and human glioblastoma cell lines transplanted into nude mice. All were completely permeable to HRP. These results indicate that significant differences in permeability to HRP exist among brain tumor models when the tumors are intracerebral, and that all subcutaneous tumors from transplanted glial cell lines are completely permeable to HRP. These variables must be considered in future studies of permeability in experimental brain tumors. Care must be exercised in extrapolating results about permeability from one brain tumor model to another
Multi-user Searchable Encryption with Coarser-Grained Access Control without Key Sharing

Searchable encryption(SE) schemes allow users to perform keyword search on encrypted data without leakage of the sensitive information. Most of the existing SE schemes are limited to single-user setting where a user acts as both the data owner and the data retriever. However, the data-sharing environment drives multiple users to access the same data sets. To bridge this gap, we consider searchable encryption under multi-user setting in this paper. We focus on tackling the challenge of dynamical user injection and revocation by maintaining a complementary key list in the public cloud. Furthermore, a method based on key relevance to solve the problem of key sharing is present here. Our scheme achieves coarser-grained access control in hybrid cloud, and security analysis shows that our scheme is secure.
Staphylococcus aureus Decolonization Protocol Decreases Surgical Site Infections for Total Joint Replacement

We investigated the effects of implementation of an institution-wide screening and decolonization protocol on the rates of deep surgical site infections (SSIs) in patients undergoing primary knee and hip arthroplasties. 2058 patients were enrolled in this study: 1644 patients in the treatment group and 414 in the control group. The treatment group attended preoperative admission testing (PAT) clinic where they were screened for MSSA and MRSA colonization. All patients were provided a 5-day course of nasal mupirocin and a single preoperative chlorhexidine shower. Additionally, patients colonized with MRSA received Vancomycin perioperative prophylaxis. The control group did not attend PAT nor receive mupirocin treatment and received either Ancef or Clindamycin for perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis. There were a total of 6 deep infections in the control group (1.45%) and 21 in the treatment group (1.28%); this represented a decrease of 13% (P = .809) in the treatment versus control group. This decrease represented a positive trend in favor of staphylococcus screening, decolonization with mupirocin, and perioperative Vancomycin for known MRSA carriers.
Tuberculosis and the risk of infection with other intracellular bacteria: a population-based study

SUMMARY Persons who develop tuberculosis (TB) may have subtle immune defects that could predispose to other intracellular bacterial infections (ICBIs). We obtained data on TB and five ICBIs (Chlamydia trachomatis, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Yersinia spp., Listeria monocytogenes) reported to the Tennessee Department of Health, USA, 2000–2011. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) comparing ICBIs in persons who developed TB and ICBIs in the Tennessee population, adjusted for age, sex, race and ethnicity were estimated. IRRs were not significantly elevated for all ICBIs combined [IRR 0·87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·71–1·06]. C. trachomatis rate was lowest in the year post-TB diagnosis (IRR 0·17, 95% CI 0·04–0·70). More Salmonella infections occurred in extrapulmonary TB compared to pulmonary TB patients (IRR 14·3, 95% CI 1·67–122); however, this appeared to be related to HIV co-infection. TB was not associated with an increased risk of other ICBIs. In fact, fewer C. trachomatis infections occurred after recent TB diagnosis. Reasons for this association, including reduced exposure, protection conferred by anti-TB drugs or macrophage activation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection warrant further investigation.
Variability in Tuberculosis Granuloma T Cell Responses Exists, but a Balance of Pro- and Anti-inflammatory Cytokines Is Associated with Sterilization

Lung granulomas are the pathologic hallmark of tuberculosis (TB). T cells are a major cellular component of TB lung granulomas and are known to play an important role in containment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. We used cynomolgus macaques, a non-human primate model that recapitulates human TB with clinically active disease, latent infection or early infection, to understand functional characteristics and dynamics of T cells in individual granulomas. We sought to correlate T cell cytokine response and bacterial burden of each granuloma, as well as granuloma and systemic responses in individual animals. Our results support that each granuloma within an individual host is independent with respect to total cell numbers, proportion of T cells, pattern of cytokine response, and bacterial burden. The spectrum of these components overlaps greatly amongst animals with different clinical status, indicating that a diversity of granulomas exists within an individual host. On average only about 8% of T cells from granulomas respond with cytokine production after stimulation with Mtb specific antigens, and few “multi-functional” T cells were observed. However, granulomas were found to be “multi-functional” with respect to the combinations of functional T cells that were identified among lesions from individual animals. Although the responses generally overlapped, sterile granulomas had modestly higher frequencies of T cells making IL-17, TNF and any of T-1 (IFN-γ, IL-2, or TNF) and/or T-17 (IL-17) cytokines than non-sterile granulomas. An inverse correlation was observed between bacterial burden with TNF and T-1/T-17 responses in individual granulomas, and a combinatorial analysis of pair-wise cytokine responses indicated that granulomas with T cells producing both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-10 and IL-17) were associated with clearance of Mtb. Preliminary evaluation suggests that systemic responses in the blood do not accurately reflect local T cell responses within granulomas.
Direct, Ca2+-dependent Interaction between Tubulin and Synaptotagmin I

The synaptic vesicle protein synaptotagmin I probably plays important roles in the synaptic vesicle cycle. However, the mechanisms of its action remain unclear. In this study, we have searched for cytoplasmic proteins that interact with synaptotagmin I. We found that the cytoskeletal protein tubulin directly and stoichiometrically bound to recombinant synaptotagmin I. The binding depended on mm Ca2+, and 1 mol of tubulin dimer bound 2 mol of synaptotagmin I with half-maximal binding at 6.6 μm tubulin. The Ca2+ dependence mainly resulted from Ca2+ binding to the Ca2+ ligands of synaptotagmin I. The C-terminal region of β-tubulin and both C2 domains of synaptotagmin I were involved in the binding. The YVK motif in the C2 domains of synaptotagmin I was essential for tubulin binding. Tubulin and synaptotagmin I were co-precipitated from the synaptosome extract with monoclonal antibodies to tubulin and SNAP-25 (synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa), indicating the presence of tubulin/synaptotagmin I complex and tubulin binding to synaptotagmin I in SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) complexes. Synaptotagmin I promoted tubulin polymerization and bundled microtubules in the presence of Ca2+. These results suggest that direct interaction between synaptotagmin I and tubulin provides a mechanism for attaching synaptic vesicles to microtubules in high Ca2+ concentrations.
Risk Selection and Optimal Health Insurance-Provider Payment Systems

This article presents a model of the important health-policy dilemmas of risk selection and moral hazard. When providers can increase revenues by selecting favorable risks, capitation or purely prospective payment is unlikely to be optimal. A second best payment system may involve mixed levels of both demand- and supply-side cost sharing: consumers may prefer to pay deductibles and co-payments rather than to have their healthcare providers receive large financial rewards for skimping on care or discriminating against expensive-to-treat patients. Risk adjustment can improve the terms of the social trade-off between inefficient utilization and inequitable coverage. The role of professional ethics is also considered.
Low Bit Rate Speech Coding via

We present a new Trellis Coded Vector Residual Quantizer (TCVRQ) that combines trellis coding and vector residual quantization. We introduce new methods for computing quantization levels and experimentally analyze the performances of our TCVRQ in the case of speech coding at very low bit rates. The results obtained show that transparent quantization of Linear Prediction (LP) parameters can be performed at a rate of 1.9 bits for parameter. Key-Words: Data Compression, Speech Coding, Trellis Vector Residual Quantization
A Test of the Revenue Equivalence Theorem Using Field Experiments on Ebay

We conducted 80 auctions on eBay. Forty of these auctions were for various popular music CDs while the remaining 40 auctions were for video games for Microsoft's Xbox gaming console. The revenue equivalence theorem states that any auction form having the same effective reserve price yields the same expected revenue. The effective reserve price on eBay consists of three components: the opening bid amount, the secret reserve amount, and the shipping and handling charge to keep the overall reserve level fixed. We set no secret reserve price and varied the opening bid and the shipping and handling charge to keep the overall reserve level fixed. When the effective reserve was $4, auctions with a low opening bid and high shipping charges attracted more bidders, earlier bidding, and yielded higher revenue than those with a high opening bid and low shipping charges. The same results hold only for Xbox games under the $8 effective reserve. Unlike the other treatments, where the reserve represents less than 30% of the retail price of the item, for CDs, the $8 effective reserve represents over 50% of the retail price of the item. In this treatment, we find no systematic difference in the number of bidders attracted to the auction or revenues as a function of how the effective reserve is allocated between opening bid and shipping charges. We show that these results can be accounted for by bounded-rational bidding behavior.
Design of Ring-Oscillator-Based Injection-Locked Frequency Dividers With Single-Phase Inputs

Ring-oscillator-based injection-locked frequency divider has merits of compact and low power. The multi-phase injection can improve its locking range, but it needs specific multi-phase inputs, which limits the application of this technique. We present a symmetrical injection circuit to generate the multi-phase injection with only single-phase input. Two injection-locked frequency dividers, with divide-by-3 and divide-by-5 operations respectively, were fabricated in 0.18 μ m CMOS technology to verify the proposed design. The locking range of divide-by-3 and divide-by-5 dividers are 1.6 GHz and 0.9 GHz, with 0.24 and 0.7 mW power consumption in 1 V supply voltage, respectively.
Depth-layer Architecture Reconstruction From Image Collections

An image-based modeling method is presented to generate a textured 3D model of architecture with a structure of multiple ﬂoors and depth layers. In the domain of image-based architecture modeling, it is still a challenging problem to deal with architecture in multilayered structure. We propose a statistic-based top-bottom segmentation algorithm to divide the 3D point cloud generated by structure-from-motion (SFM) method into different ﬂoors. For each ﬂoor with depth layers, we present a repetition based depth-layer decomposition algorithm to separate the front and back layers. Finally, architecture components are modeled to construct a textured 3D model. Our system has the distinct advantage of producing realistic architecture models with true depth values between front and back layers, which is demonstrated by multiple examples in the paper.
Recent advances in high-k dielectrics and inter layer engineering

State-of-the-art CMOS technology relies on the integration of multi-layer high-k/metal gate stacks in order to achieve high capacitance density while fulfilling the requirements in terms of gate leakage current density, interface state density, channel mobility, threshold voltage and reliability. Conventional SiOx/HfO2 gate dielectric stacks are capable of meeting the performance targets of current technology nodes and have been shown to possess sufficient short-term scalability, but solutions providing enhanced long-term scalability are actively researched, mostly via integration of higher-k oxides or high-k interfacial layers. This paper provides an overview of recent research efforts in this area, focusing on integration of high-k interfacial layers. We then analyze the potential scalability improvement which can be obtained through integration of thulium silicate as interfacial layer and summarize the main results supporting its applicability to future technology nodes.
Feature integration and relevance feedback analysis in image similarity evaluation

In this article we describe the results of a study on simi- larity evaluation in image retrieval using color, object orientation, and relative position as content features, in a framework oriented to image repositories where the semantics of stored images are limited to a specific domain. The focus is not on a complete description of image content, which is supposed to be known to some extent, but on the extraction of simple and immediate features that can assure, through their combination, automated image analysis and efficient retrieval. Relevance feedback is introduced as an effective way to improve retrieval accuracy. A simple prototype system is also intro- duced that computes feature descriptors and allows users to enter queries, browse the retrieved images, and refine the results through relevance feedback analysis. © 1998 SPIE and IS&T. (S1017-9909(98)00502-9)
Using Fuzzy Logic in Automated Vehicle Control

Still, many traffic situations remain complex and difficult to manage, particularly in urban settings. The driving task belongs to a class of problems that depend on underlying systems for logical reasoning and dealing with uncertainty. So, to move vehicle computers beyond monitoring and into tasks related to environment perception or driving, we must integrate aspects of human intelligence and behaviors so that vehicles can manage driving actuators in a way similar to humans. This is the motivation behind the AUTOPIA program, a set of national research projects in Spain. AUTOPIA has two primary objectives. First, we want to implement automatic driving using real, mass-produced vehicles tested on real roads. Although this objective might be called “utopian” at the moment, it’s a great starting point for exploring the future. Our second aim is to develop our automated system using modular components that can be immediately applied in the automotive industry. AUTOPIA builds on the Instituto de Automática Industrial’s extensive experience developing autonomous robots and fuzzy control systems and the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares’s knowledge of artificial vision. (The “Intelligent-vehicle systems” sidebar discusses other such projects.) We’re developing a testbed infrastructure for vehicle driving that includes control-system experimentation, strategies, and sensors. All of our facilities and instruments are available for collaboration with other research groups in this field. So far, we’ve automated and instrumented two Citroën Berlingo mass-produced vans to carry out our objectives.