Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Engineering Properties of Silty Clay Stabilized with Calcium Carbide Residue

Calcium carbide residue (CCR) is a waste product from acetylene gas factories, which is rich in calcium hydroxide (CaðOHÞ2). Because clayey soils contain high amount of natural pozzolanic materials (silica and alumina), CCR can be used as a soil stabilizer. This article presents the engineering properties of CCR-stabilized silty clay to ascertain its performance in pavement base and subbase appli- cations. The input of CCR, which reduces the plasticity index of the clay, increases the optimum water content (OWC) and decreases the maximum dry unit weight (γd;max) of the stabilized clay. The CCR fixation point, simply obtained from the index test, is proved as a practical indicator for determining the CCR content to obtain the required engineering properties at a particular molding water content. The state of water content controls the densification, chemical reaction, and water absorption capacity. The soaked engineering properties are thus de- pendent upon the state of water content. For a particular CCR content, the optimum water content is the most appropriate in terms of strength, swelling and collapse behaviors, and bearing capacity. The lower water content is not sufficient for the chemical reaction, while the higher water content yields a higher water/binder ratio. The water absorption is smallest for the CCR-stabilized samples compacted at the OWC. To conclude, the optimal mix proportion is the CCR fixation point at OWC. CCR stabilization is more effective than lime stabilization in terms of engineering, economic, and environmental viewpoints. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000618. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Calcium; Soil stabilization; Clays; Silts; Material properties. Author keywords: Calcium carbide residue; Engineering properties; Pozzolanic reaction; Soil stabilization.
Cost Effectiveness of Screening Individuals With Cystic Fibrosis for Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Individuals with cystic fibrosis are at increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) compared with the general population, and risk is higher among those who received an organ transplant. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis to determine optimal CRC screening strategies for patients with cystic fibrosis. METHODS We adjusted the existing Microsimulation Screening Analysis-Colon model to reflect increased CRC risk and lower life expectancy in patients with cystic fibrosis. Modeling was performed separately for individuals who never received an organ transplant and patients who had received an organ transplant. We modeled 76 colonoscopy screening strategies that varied the age range and screening interval. The optimal screening strategy was determined based on a willingness to pay threshold of $100,000 per life-year gained. Sensitivity and supplementary analyses were performed, including fecal immunochemical test (FIT) as an alternative test, earlier ages of transplantation, and increased rates of colonoscopy complications, to assess if optimal screening strategies would change. RESULTS Colonoscopy every 5 years, starting at an age of 40 years, was the optimal colonoscopy strategy for patients with cystic fibrosis who never received an organ transplant; this strategy prevented 79% of deaths from CRC. Among patients with cystic fibrosis who had received an organ transplant, optimal colonoscopy screening should start at an age of 30 or 35 years, depending on the patient's age at time of transplantation. Annual FIT screening was predicted to be cost-effective for patients with cystic fibrosis. However, the level of accuracy of the FIT in this population is not clear. CONCLUSIONS Using a Microsimulation Screening Analysis-Colon model, we found screening of patients with cystic fibrosis for CRC to be cost effective. Because of the higher risk of CRC in these patients, screening should start at an earlier age with a shorter screening interval. The findings of this study (especially those on FIT screening) may be limited by restricted evidence available for patients with cystic fibrosis.
Unmet Needs in Schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder that represents a challenge for all clinicians. Although treatment must address both positive and negative symptoms, several authors have reported the importance of managing unmet needs among patients with schizophrenia. Unmet needs in schizophrenia include difficulties at various clinical, psychosocial, relational, economic, and occupational levels. An important unmet need is represented by insight into the illness that is associated with treatment adherence and compliance with medical prescriptions. CONCLUSION In order to improve our understanding and management of schizophrenia, it is critically important to address the complexity of needs among patients with schizophrenia.
Coping Strategies of Family Members of Hospitalized Psychiatric Patients

This exploratory research paper investigated the coping strategies of families of hospitalized psychiatric patients and identified their positive and negative coping strategies. In this paper, the coping strategies of 45 family members were examined using a descriptive, correlational, mixed method research approach. Guided by the Neuman Systems Model and using the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales and semistructured interviews, this paper found that these family members used more emotion-focused coping strategies than problem-focused coping strategies. The common coping strategies used by family members were communicating with immediate family, acceptance of their situation, passive appraisal, avoidance, and spirituality. The family members also utilized resources and support systems, such as their immediate families, mental health care professionals, and their churches.
Corrigendum: Multilayer silicene: clear evidence (2016 2D Mater. 3 031011)

One year after the publication of the seminal paper on monolayer 3  ×  3 reconstructed silicene grown on a silver ( 111 ) substrate, evidence of the synthesis of epitaxial √ 3  ×  √ 3 reconstructed multilayer silicene hosting Dirac fermions was presented. Although a general consensus was immediately reached in the former case, in the latter, the mere existence of multilayer silicene was questioned and strongly debated. Here, we demonstrate by means of a comprehensive x-ray crystallographic study that multilayer silicene is effectively realized upon growth at rather low growth temperatures ( ∼ 200 ° C ) , while three-dimensional growth of silicon crystallites takes place at higher temperatures, ( ∼ 300 ° C ) . This transition to bulk-like silicon perfectly explains the various data presented and discussed in the literature and solves their con ﬂ icting interpretations.
Symptom Severity, Anxiety, Depression, Self- Efficacy and Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer

Background: Despite advances in cancer disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment patients with cancer suffer from a variety of sometimes severe physical and psychological symptoms regardless of the stage of the disease. The aim is to determine the relationship of antecedent factors and mediating variables to the quality of life (QOL) of patients with cancer. Materials and Methods: The study included 341 patients with cancer and symptoms. Data collection used the Cancer Symptom Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Centers for Epidemiologic Study-Depression, Cancer Behavior Inventory, Multidimensional Quality of Life Index, and a Demographic Form. Results: A multiple regression equation containing all the variables explained 68% of the variance in QOL. Overall four variables accounted for the majority of the total variance: anxiety, depression, self-efficacy, and symptom severity. Three of these variables were mediating variables. Of the antecedent factors symptom severity had a significant indirect effect on QOL through the mediating variables. Symptom severity also had direct effect on QOL. Conclusion: Data indicate that anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy play major roles in determining the perception of QOL of cancer patients. These mediating variables either buffered or enhanced the impact of the antecedent factors of symptom severity on QOL. Nursing interventions should focus on enhancing self-efficacy. Nurses can use health promoting programs to assist patients who are physically impaired. Further research should be aimed at identifying other influential variables, with the ultimate goal of developing interventions to aid patients in their efforts to maintain their QOL while living with cancer.
Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma Treated with Lenvatinib.

OBJECTIVE We report a case of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) with local recurrence and distant metastasis that responded very well to treatment with lenvatinib, a new molecular-targeted anticancer drug. CASE REPORT A 91-year-old Japanese woman presented with a 5-month history of a painless mass in her left anterior neck. She had a past history of total thyroidectomy and neck dissection for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Here she underwent neck dissection, and the histopathological diagnosis was lymph node metastasis of papillary carcinoma with anaplastic transformation. Five months later, a cervical lymph node swelled up again. Computed tomography demonstrated an enhanced mass in the neck and multiple nodules in both lungs. Recurrent ATC with multiple lung metastases was diagnosed, and molecular-targeted therapy with lenvatinib was initiated. The neck tumor reduced in 1 week, and the pulmonary nodules became completely hollow within 1 month. However, we had to discontinue lenvatinib because of severe side effects including high blood pressure, hypocalcemia, and hypoalbuminemia. Soon after discontinuation, the side effects subsided, but the tumor rapidly regrew. The patient died of lymphangiosis carcinomatosa 6 days after discontinuation. CONCLUSION Although recent advances in molecular-targeted therapy have provided powerful cancer therapy tools, the negative side of this therapy must be addressed.
Pitfalls in accelerometer‐based measurement of physical activity: The presence of reactivity in an adult population

When a behavior is monitored, it is likely to change, even if no change may be intended. This phenomenon is known as measurement reactivity. We investigated systematic changes in accelerometer‐based measures over the days of monitoring as an indicator of measurement reactivity in an adult population. One hundred seventy‐one participants from the general population (65% women; mean age = 55 years, range: 42‐65 years) wore accelerometers for 7 consecutive days to measure sedentary behavior and physical activity (PA). Latent growth models were used (a) to investigate changes in accelerometer wear time over the measurement days and (b) to identify measurement reactivity indicated by systematic changes in sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Over the measurement days, participants reduced accelerometer wear time by trend (rate of change [b] = −4.7 min/d, P = .051, Cohen's d = .38), increased ST (b = 2.4 min/d, P = .018, d = .39), and reduced LPA (b = −2.4 min/d, P = .015, d = .38). Participants did not significantly reduce MVPA (P = .537). Our data indicated that accelerometry might generate reactivity. Small effects on ST and LPA were found. Thus, the validity of accelerometer‐based data on ST and LPA may be compromised. Systematic changes observed in accelerometer wear time may further bias accelerometer‐based measures. MVPA seems to be less altered due to the presence of an accelerometer.
Top Down Approach to Height Histogram Estimation of Biomass Sorghum in the Field

The rise of cheaper and more accurate genotyping techniques has lead to significant advances in understanding the genotype-phenotype map. However, this is currently bottlenecked by manually intensive or slow phenotype data collection. We propose an algorithm to automatically estimate the canopy height of a row of plants in field conditions in a single pass on a moving robot. A stereo sensor pointed down collects a series of stereo image pairs. The depth images are then converted to height-aboveground images to extract height contours. Separate height contours corresponding to each frame are then concatenated to construct a height contour representing one row of plants in the plot. Since the process is automated, data can be collected throughout the growing season with very little manual labor complementing the already abundantly available genotypic data. Using experimental data from seven plots, we show our proposed approach achieves a height estimation error of approximately 3.3%.
Effects of propentofylline on disorder of learning and memory in rodents.

Effects of a newly synthesized xanthine derivative propentofylline (3,7-dihydro-3-methyl-1-(5-oxohexyl)-7-propyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione) on learning and memory of rodents were examined in the two different paradigms. In a shuttle box active avoidance paradigm, propentofylline (25 mg/kg/day, p.o.) improved the decreased learning ability of 12-month-old spontaneously hypertensive rats. Normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats at a comparable age showed rapid acquisition of avoidance learning, which was not influenced by propentofylline. Step-down passive avoidance task was carried out as the other paradigm. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (CXM) induced amnesia in young adult mice. Propentofylline improved the memory deficit when intraperitoneally administered 30 min before the retention test, and it also prevented the development of amnesia when injected 15 min before CXM. These results suggest that propentofylline ameliorates the disturbed learning and memory.
Optimal transport-based dictionary learning and its application to Euclid-like Point Spread Function representation

Optimal Transport theory enables the definition of a distance across the set of measures on any given space. This Wasserstein distance naturally accounts for geometric warping between measures (including, but not exclusive to, images). We introduce a new, Optimal Transport-based representation learning method in close analogy with the usual Dictionary Learning problem. This approach typically relies on a matrix dot-product between the learned dictionary and the codes making up the new representation. The relationship between atoms and data is thus ultimately linear. By reconstructing our data as Wasserstein barycenters of learned atoms instead, our approach yields a representation making full use of the Wasserstein distance's attractive properties and allowing for non-linear relationships between the dictionary atoms and the datapoints. We apply our method to a dataset of Euclid-like simulated PSFs (Point Spread Function). ESA's Euclid mission will cover a large area of the sky in order to accurately measure the shape of billions of galaxies. PSF estimation and correction is one of the main sources of systematic errors on those galaxy shape measurements. PSF variations across the field of view and with the incoming light's wavelength can be highly non-linear, while still retaining strong geometrical information, making the use of Optimal Transport distances an attractive prospect. We show that our representation does indeed succeed at capturing the PSF's variations.
A Survey on Various Classification Techniques for Clinical Decision Support System

Clinical Decision Support systems link health observations with health knowledge to determine health option by clinicians for improved health care. The main idea of Clinical Decision Support System is a set of rules derived from medical professionals applied on a dynamic knowledge. Data mining is well suited to give decision support for the healthcare. There are several classification techniques available that can be used for clinical decision support system. Different techniques are used for different diagnosis. In this paper, various classification techniques for clinical decision support system are discussed with example.
Lasing in nano-grating with Fano resonance

We propose a new scheme of lasing in a nano-grating with Fano resonance by the independent control of dark and bright modes. The controllability of both dark and bright modes can be achieved by fine-tuning the widths of two kinds of metallic stripes in the nano-grating. It enables the match between resonant frequencies of the nano-grating structure and the absorption and emission frequencies of gain medium. For example, changing the width of the thin strip is to hit the emission peak of the gain medium, while the fat strip corresponds to the absorption peak of the gain medium. We work out an optimal example of silver grating immersing Rhodamine dye, verifying the lasing dynamic process with minimum threshold and maximum output power. It may provide a new way on low-threshold and high-efficient plasmon laser.
Lack of matrix metalloproteinase 3 in mouse models of lung injury ameliorates the pulmonary inflammatory response in female but not in male mice

ABSTRACT Background: The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a complex pulmonary disorder in which the local release of cytokines and chemokines appears central to the pathophysiology. Objective: Based on the known role of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP3) in inflammatory processes, the objective was to examine the role of MMP3 in the pathogenesis of ARDS through the modulation of pulmonary inflammation. Materials and Methods: Female and male, wild type (MMP3+/+) and knock out (MMP3−/−) mice were exposed to two, clinically relevant models of ARDS including (i) lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced lung injury, and (ii) hydrochloric acid-induced lung injury. Parameters of lung injury and inflammation were assessed through measurements in lung lavage including total protein content, inflammatory cell influx, and concentrations of mediators such as TNF-α, IL-6, G-CSF, CXCL1, CXCL2, and CCL2. Lung histology and compliance were also evaluated in the LPS model of injury. Results: Following intra-tracheal LPS instillation, all mice developed lung injury, as measured by an increase in lavage neutrophils, and decrease in lung compliance, with no overall effect of genotype observed. Increased concentrations of lavage inflammatory cytokines and chemokines were also observed following LPS injury, however, LPS-instilled female MMP3−/− mice had lower levels of inflammatory mediators compared to LPS-instilled female MMP3+/+ mice. This effect of the genotype was not observed in male mice. Similar findings, including the MMP3-related sex differences, were also observed after acid-induced lung injury. Conclusion: MMP3 contributes to the pathogenesis of ARDS, by affecting the pulmonary inflammatory response in female mice in relevant models of lung injury.
Biomimetics using electroactive polymers (EAP) as artificial muscles- : A review

Evolution has resolved many of nature's challenges leading to lasting solutions with maximal performance and effective use of resources. Nature's inventions have always inspired human achievements leading to effective materials, structures, tools, mechanisms, processes, algorithms, methods, systems and many other benefits. The field of mimicking nature is known as Biomimetics and one of its topics includes electroactive polymers (EAP) that are also known as artificial muscles. Initially, EAP received relatively little attention due to their limited actuation capability. In the last fifteen years a series of EAP materials have emerged that exhibit a significant shape change in response to electrical stimulation. Using these materials various novel mechanisms and devices were already demonstrated including robot fish, catheter steering element, robotic arm, gripper, loudspeaker, active diaphragm, and dust-wiper. This paper reviews the state of the art, challenges and potential applications of EAP materials.
Neural domain adaptation for Chinese word segmentation

The state-of-the-art Chinese word segmentation systems obtain high accuracy in domains like newswire but suffer a significant performance degradation when they are used in other domains such as patents and literature. In this paper, we propose a neural domain adaptation approach which works through cross-domain embeddings and uses unlabeled target domain data to improve the cross-domain performance. Experiment results show that the proposed method achieves competitive performance with previous Chinese word segmentation domain adaptation methods.
Single photon emission from silicon-vacancy colour centres in chemical vapour deposition nano-diamonds on iridium

We introduce a process for the fabrication of high-quality, spatially isolated nano-diamonds on iridium via microwave-plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition (CVD) growth. We perform spectroscopy of single silicon-vacancy (SiV) centres produced during the growth of the nano-diamonds. The colour centres exhibit extraordinary narrow zero-phonon-lines down to 0.7 nm at room temperature. Single photon count rates up to 4.8 Mcps at saturation make these SiV centres the brightest diamond-based single photon sources to date. We measure for the first time the fine structure of a single SiV centre, thus confirming the atomic composition of the investigated colour centres.
Wireless Networks under a Backoff Attack: A Game Theoretical Perspective

We study a wireless sensor network using CSMA/CA in the MAC layer under a backoff attack: some of the sensors of the network are malicious and deviate from the defined contention mechanism. We use Bianchi’s network model to study the impact of the malicious sensors on the total network throughput, showing that it causes the throughput to be unfairly distributed among sensors. We model this conflict using game theory tools, where each sensor is a player. We obtain analytical solutions and propose an algorithm, based on Regret Matching, to learn the equilibrium of the game with an arbitrary number of players. Our approach is validated via simulations, showing that our theoretical predictions adjust to reality.
Geotechnical Environmental Inhomogeneity Monitoring by Visualization of Surface and Subsurface Electrode Array Resistivity Data: Investigation by Simple

本論文は地盤調査のための地表および地中の電極を利用して得られた電位および比抵抗データ有効利用による地下情報可視化技術に基づいた電気的モニタリングについての基礎的記述である。 とくに, 調査対象物あるいは対象物以外の地下不均質媒質からなる複雑な現地問題の検討のために, 単純なモデルを想定してそれを精度よく予測する研究手法を採用している。 まず, 単一の銅板やプラスチック板による簡単な水槽実験がデータ合成, 構造移動およびデータ密度等の違いで比抵抗情報処理がどうなるか検討した。 つぎに, 地表および地中の電極を利用するボーリング孔立体電極配列に基づく簡単なプリズム構造のシミュレーションデータを有限要素法2D-3Dアルゴリズムによって解析した。 また, 3次元抵抗網数値計算による低比抵抗物質リークモニタリングの地盤調査の単純な問題について考察し, 新しい環境保全的な地球資源開発工学の中核である資源環境システム設計と資源情報システム工学を支援する問題解決の一つの考え方が提案された。