Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Calculation and measurement of electromechanical coupling coefficient of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers

The electromechanical coupling coefficient is an important figure of merit of ultrasonic transducers. The transducer bandwidth is determined by the electromechanical coupling efficiency. The coupling coefficient is, by definition, the ratio of delivered mechanical energy to the stored total energy in the transducer. In this paper, we present the calculation and measurement of coupling coefficient for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). The finite element method (FEM) is used for our calculations, and the FEM results are compared with the analytical results obtained with parallel plate approximation. The effect of series and parallel capacitances in the CMUT also is investigated. The FEM calculations of the CMUT indicate that the electromechanical coupling coefficient is independent of any series capacitance that may exist in the structure. The series capacitance, however, alters the collapse voltage of the membrane. The parallel parasitic capacitance that may exist in a CMUT or is external to the transducer reduces the coupling coefficient at a given bias voltage. At the collapse, regardless of the parasitics, the coupling coefficient reaches unity. Our experimental measurements confirm a coupling coefficient of 0.85 before collapse, and measurements are in agreement with theory.
How to ensure your paper is rejected by the statistical reviewer

It has long been assumed by the medical–scientific fraternitythat the intended end-point of research is publication of resultsin a respected journal, there to be read and examined in perpe-tuity. This has been challenged by a distinguished ex-editor ofthis journal, who concluded that the primary aim of manyauthors was not to have their paper accepted for publication[1]. He outlined numerous creative opportunities in the pres-entation of the manuscript to antagonize the reviewer andeditor. We contend that there are simpler, more compellingand less demanding means of antagonizing the statisticalreviewer, thus ensuring certain rejection of the paper. We haveoutlined some of the possibilities available to the novice andexperienced researcher alike, recognizing that it is never toolate to learn and, indeed, Continuing Professional Developmentrequires you to do so.
On local search and placement of meters in networks

This work is motivated by the problem of placing pressure-meters in fluid networks. The problem is formally defined in graph-theoretic terms as follows. Given a graph, find a cotree (complement of a tree) incident upon the minimum number of vertices. We show that this problem is NP-hard and MAX SNP-hard. We design an algorithm with an approximation factor of $2 + \epsilon$ for this problem for any fixed $\epsilon >0$. This approximation bound comes from the analysis of a local search heuristic, a common practical optimization technique that does not often allow formal worst-case analysis. The algorithm is made very efficient by finding restrictive definitions of the local neighborhoods to be searched. We also exhibit a polynomial time approximation scheme for this problem when the input is restricted to planar graphs.
A 26-Week Carcinogenicity Study of 2-Amino-3-Methylimidazo[4,5-f]Quinoline in rasH2 Mice

To evaluate the carcinogenic susceptibility of rasH2 mice to 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5- f ]quinoline (IQ), 7-week-old rasH2 mice and their wild-type littermates (non-Tg mice) of both the sexes were fed a diet containing 0 or 300 ppm IQ for 26 weeks. Microscopical examinations revealed that the proliferative lesions of the forestomach, including squamous cell hyperplasias, papillomas, and carcinomas, were frequently encountered in male and female rasH2 mice fed with IQ. In non-Tg mice, no significant differences in the incidence of forestomach lesions were observed between the 0 ppm and 300 ppm groups. Histopathological changes such as periportal hepatocellular hypertrophy and oval cell proliferation in the liver were more apparent in female rasH2 and non-Tg mice than in males, and the incidence of hepatocellular altered foci significantly increased in female rasH2 mice in the 300 ppm group as compared to that in the 0 ppm group. These results suggest that the carcinogenic potential of IQ can be detected in rasH2 mice by a 26-week, short-term carcinogenicity test.
Effects of Hypertension and Its Reversal on the Thoracic Aorta of Male and Female Rats: Morphological and Chemical Studies

Effects of hypertension and its reversal on the wall of the thoracic aorta of male and female rats were studied. Hypertension for 10 weeks caused increased diameter, wall thickness, tangential tension, wall stress, and medial area in both sexes. In addition, absolute amounts of elastin, collagen, and noncollagenous, alkali-soluble protein were significantly increased in the walls of all hypertensive vessels. Associated with the decrease of calculated tension and wall stress to normotensive levels after reversal of hypertension, wall thickness and medial area in males remained significantly greater than in controls and similar to the values found in hypertensive vessels, whereas in females these parameters returned fully to control levels. Absolute amounts of noncollagenous, alkali-soluble proteins did return to control levels after hypertension reversal, but elastin and collagen remained elevated in amounts similar to those in vessels with sustained hypertension; in females, this resulted in an above-normal concentration of these fibrous elements in the vessel wall. Compositional changes of the female vessel wall after reversal of hypertension were thus similar to but more clearcut and complete than those found in the male aorta. Recognition of irreversible changes in vessels subjected to hypertension may have implications for the benefits to be gained from blood pressure reduction on the progression of cardiovascular disease.
High-level planning and low-level execution: towards a complete robotic agent

We have been developing Rogue, an architecture that integrates high-level planning with a low-level executing robotic agent. Rogue is designed as the o ce gofer task planner for Xavier the robot. User requests are interpreted as high-level planning goals, such as getting co ee, and picking up and delivering mail or faxes. Users post tasks asynchronously and Rogue controls the corresponding planning and execution continuous process. This paper presents the extensions to a nonlinear state-space planning algorithm to allow for the interaction to the robot executor. We focus on presenting how executable steps are identi ed based on the planning model and the predicted execution performance; how interrupts from users requests are handled and incorporated into the system; how executable plans are merged according to their priorities; and how monitoring execution can add more perception knowledge to the planning and possible needed re-planning processes. The complete Rogue system will learn from its planning and execution experiences to improve upon its own behaviour with time. We nalize the paper by brie y discussing Rogue's learning opportunities. This research is sponsored in part by the Wright Laboratory, Aeronautical Systems Center, Air Force Material Command, USAF, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) under grant number F33615-93-1-1330. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the o cial policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the Wright Laboratory or the U. S. Government. c ACM. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for pro t or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the rst page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior speci c permission and/or a fee.
The Learning Effect in Visual Field Testing of Healthy Subjects Using Frequency Doubling Technology

PurposeTo evaluate the presence, duration and magnitude of a learning effect in serial visual field (VF) testing, using the commercially available frequency doubling technology (FDT) instrument. Patients and Methods21 healthy adults with no prior VF experience underwent 6 serial VF tests, using the full-threshold C-20 program of the Zeiss-Humphrey FDT analyzer, on one randomly chosen eye. Tests were spaced at least two days apart. ResultsThe average mean sensitivity was 32.37 ± 2.6 dB; the average mean deviation (MD) was 1.22 ± 1.8 dB. The MD at the first examination (0.28 ± 2.1 dB) was significantly poorer than at any of the other testing sessions (p<0.003). Similarly, the mean sensitivity at the first examination (31.16 ± 3.0 dB) was significantly lower than any other testing session (p<0.004). The proportion of improvement from the first to the second session was 63% and 65% of the total improvement, for mean sensitivity and MD, respectively. Mean test duration showed a modest reduction, from 4.40 ± 0.3 minutes in the first session to 4.17 ± 0.4 minutes in the last session (p = 0.023). A sub-analysis comparison of the different VF segments showed a more prominent learning effect in the peripheral and nasal visual segments (p<0.0001). ConclusionBaseline measurements should best rely on the second testing session, since MD and mean sensitivity are somewhat poorer when subjects with no prior VF experience are first tested on the FDT instrument. This may be especially true for the purpose of following patients over time.
Real-time dynamic environment perception in driving scenarios using difference fronts

The environment representation is one of the main challenges of autonomous navigation. In the case of complex driving environments such as crowded city traffic scenarios, achieving satisfactory results becomes even more difficult. In this paper we propose a real-time solution for two main issues of advanced driver assistance systems: unstructured environment representation and extraction of dynamic properties of traffic participants. For the real-time environment representation we propose a solution to extract object delimiters from the traffic scenes and represent them as polygonal models. In order to track dynamic entities, an intermediate evidence map named “Stereo Temporal Difference Map” is proposed. This difference map is computed by comparing the occupancy of a cell between two consecutive frames. Based on the Stereo Temporal Difference Map information, difference fronts are extracted and are subjected to a particle based filtering mechanism. Finally, the provided dynamic features are associated to the extracted polygonal models. The result is a more compact representation of the dynamic environment.
Temporal Global Changes in Gene Expression during Temperature Transition in Yersinia pestis

ABSTRACT DNA microarrays encompassing the entire genome of Yersinia pestis were used to characterize global regulatory changes during steady-state vegetative growth occurring after shift from 26 to 37°C in the presence and absence of Ca2+. Transcriptional profiles revealed that 51, 4, and 13 respective genes and open reading frames (ORFs) on pCD, pPCP, and pMT were thermoinduced and that the majority of these genes carried by pCD were downregulated by Ca2+. In contrast, Ca2+ had little effect on chromosomal genes and ORFs, of which 235 were thermally upregulated and 274 were thermally downregulated. The primary consequence of these regulatory events is profligate catabolism of numerous metabolites available in the mammalian host.
A Mathematical Model of Muscle Containing Heterogeneous Half-Sarcomeres Exhibits Residual Force Enhancement

A skeletal muscle fiber that is stimulated to contract and then stretched from L1 to L2 produces more force after the initial transient decays than if it is stimulated at L2. This behavior has been well studied experimentally, and is known as residual force enhancement. The underlying mechanism remains controversial. We hypothesized that residual force enhancement could reflect mechanical interactions between heterogeneous half-sarcomeres. To test this hypothesis, we subjected a computational model of interacting heterogeneous half-sarcomeres to the same activation and stretch protocols that produce residual force enhancement in real preparations. Following a transient period of elevated force associated with active stretching, the model predicted a slowly decaying force enhancement lasting >30 seconds after stretch. Enhancement was on the order of 13% above isometric tension at the post-stretch muscle length, which agrees well with experimental measurements. Force enhancement in the model was proportional to stretch magnitude but did not depend strongly on the velocity of stretch, also in agreement with experiments. Even small variability in the strength of half-sarcomeres (2.1% standard deviation, normally distributed) was sufficient to produce a 5% force enhancement over isometric tension. Analysis of the model suggests that heterogeneity in half-sarcomeres leads to residual force enhancement by storing strain energy introduced during active stretch in distributions of bound cross-bridges. Complex interactions between the heterogeneous half-sarcomeres then dissipate this stored energy at a rate much slower than isolated cross-bridges would cycle. Given the variations in half-sarcomere length that have been observed in real muscle preparations and the stochastic variability inherent in all biological systems, half-sarcomere heterogeneity cannot be excluded as a contributing source of residual force enhancement.
Association of Mean Platelet Volume With Risk of Stroke Among 3134 Individuals With History of Cerebrovascular Disease

Background and Purpose— Mean platelet volume (MPV) is positively associated with measures of platelet activity and may be a useful indicator of the risk of vascular events in a variety of patient groups. Methods— The association of MPV with the risk of stroke was assessed in the Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study (PROGRESS). All participants had a history of cerebrovascular disease at baseline, and analyses were adjusted for the effects of potential confounders. Results— The study followed 3134 individuals for an average of 3.9 years (mean age, 65 years; 71% male; average MPV, 10.0 fL). Three hundred eighty-three individuals had 402 stroke events, and 160 had major coronary events. MPV was positively associated with the risk of stroke, with an 11% increased relative risk (95% CI, 3% to 19%) of stroke per femtoliter greater MPV. There was no clear association of MPV with the risk of major coronary events (9% decreased relative risk; 95% CI, −23% to 7%). Perindopril did not alter MPV. Conclusions— MPV is an independent predictor of the risk of stroke among individuals with a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack. The measurement of MPV may add useful prognostic information for clinicians managing patients with a history of cerebrovascular disease.
An Apparatus Realizing Switch of Computing Device Status

This paper presents an apparatus to facilitate a switch system of the computing device status. The apparatus includes a memory device to store previous and present computer statuses, a requisition device, and switch control device. By achieving and retrieving all the information about alterable status registers, the apparatus can recognize each switch of operating system status. It can also process multioperating systems in a single compute unit. It functions to recognize rapidly and safely status exchanges between internal and external networks
POLYCRYSTALLINE ! ( Ni ) / ! " ( Ni 3 Al )-# ( Ni 3 Nb ) EUTECTIC Ni-BASE SUPERALLOYS : CHEMISTRY , SOLIDIFICATION AND MICROSTRUCTURE

A novel type of ! /! "-# eutectic polycrystalline Ni-base superalloy has been recently demonstrated to possess promising mechanical properties at 700~800 ̊C, yet much of our knowledge regarding this eutectic alloy system is still qualitative in nature. A matrix of alloys spanning a broad range of alloy compositions were examined to improve our understanding of various alloying effects on the solidification behavior and as-cast microstructure of multi-component ! /! "-# eutectic alloys. While the volume fraction of constituent phases was observed to be closely related with the Nb concentration, it could also be effectively modified by additions of other elements. Solidus and liquidus temperatures of these ! /! "-# alloys were also found to vary with different solute concentrations, with a general decrease in solidus temperature as solute content increases. Interestingly, Cr, Mo and W were found to induce similar changes on the solidification and microstructure of this eutectic system. Extensive comparison between these experimental results and Computherm Pandat predictions was carried out, which confirmed the reliability of Pandat in predicting the qualitative trends for this eutectic system. Although satisfactory agreement was found between the measured and calculated solidus temperatures, additional phase equilibria information of multi-component ! /! "-# alloys is required to improve the predictive capability on other properties.
Acceleration-based transparency control framework for wearable robots

To render a wearable robot imperceptible to a user is a very challenging control task. The constant and intrinsic interaction between robot and human, and person-dependent behaviours are the main difficulties when designing such cooperative control. In this contribution we introduce and discuss a novel and promising transparency control framework. The foundation of the framework is to measure the acceleration of the human limbs and to exploit this measurement to generate feedforward control commands by using a rigid body model of the robot. The framework includes also an acceleration feedback controller and a state estimator to enhance the overall performance. We present a simplified stability analysis with different feedback controllers and preliminary experimental data that demonstrate the potential of the proposed method in reducing interaction forces and mimicking human motions.
Tucaresol increases oxygen affinity and reduces haemolysis in subjects with sickle cell anaemia

The primary pathophysiological event in sickling is the intracellular polymerization of deoxygenated haemoglobin S. Tucaresol (589C80;4[2‐formyl‐3‐hydroxy‐phenoxymethyl] benzoic acid), a substituted benzaldehyde, was designed to interact with haemoglobin to increase oxygen affinity and has been shown to inhibit sickling in vitro. We administered tucaresol to sickle cell patients in the steady state to examine the anti‐sickling effect in vivo. Oral doses of tucaresol or placebo were given to nine stable sickle cell patients (aged 17–39 years; tucaresol, six; placebo, three) for 10 d. The first two patients on tucaresol were scheduled to receive a loading dose of 800 mg or 1200 mg (depending on bodyweight) for the first 4 d, followed by maintenance doses of 200 or 300 mg for the next 6 d. Due to concerns over the sharp rise in haematocrit in one patient, subsequent cohorts received 300 mg tucaresol daily throughout the dosing period. The oxygen affinity of haemoglobin S was increased in all patients receiving tucaresol, with between 10% and 24% of the haemoglobin modified, dependent on dose. In all patients on tucaresol, haemolysis was reduced with rises in haemoglobin of 0.9–3.7 g/dl (mean 2.2 g/dl), falls in lactate dehydrogenase of 16–52%, and a halving of the irreversibly sickled cell counts. These effects were apparent within a few days and persisted for 1–2 weeks following discontinuation of the drug. Three of the six patients on tucaresol developed fever and cervical lymphadenopathy, with onset between days 7 and 11 from start of drug. Further evaluation of the tolerability and efficacy of tucaresol in sickle cell patients is necessary.
Collision and Deadlock Avoidance in Multirobot Systems: A Distributed Approach

Collision avoidance is a critical problem in motion planning and control of multirobot systems. Moreover, it may induce deadlocks during the procedure to avoid collisions. In this paper, we study the motion control of multirobot systems where each robot has its own predetermined and closed path to execute persistent motion. We propose a real-time and distributed algorithm for both collision and deadlock avoidance by repeatedly stopping and resuming robots. The motion of each robot is first modeled as a labeled transition system, and then controlled by a distributed algorithm to avoid collisions and deadlocks. Each robot can execute the algorithm autonomously and real-timely by checking whether its succeeding state is occupied and whether the one-step move can cause deadlocks. Performance analysis of the proposed algorithm is also conducted. The conclusion is that the algorithm is not only practically operative but also maximally permissive. A set of simulations for a system with four robots are carried out in MATLAB. The results also validate the effectiveness of our algorithm.
Fractalkine (CX3CL1) and brain inflammation: Implications for HIV-1-associated dementia

Leukocyte migration and activation play an important role in immune surveillance and the pathogenesis of a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-associated dementia (HAD). A novel chemokine named fractalkine (FKN, CX3CL1), which exists in both membrane-anchored and soluble isoforms, has been proposed to participate in the generation and progression of inflammatory brain disorders. Upon binding to the CX3C receptor one (CX3CR1), FKN induces adhesion, chemoattraction, and activation of leukocytes, including brain macrophages and microglia (MP). Constitutively expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), mainly by neurons, FKN is up-regulated and released in response to proinflammatory stimuli. Importantly, FKN is up-regulated in the brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of HAD patients. Together, these observations suggest that FKN and its receptor have a unique role in regulating the neuroinflammatory events underlying disease. This review will examine how FKN contributes to the recruitment and activation of CX3CR1-expressing MP, which are critical events in the neuropathogenesis of HAD.