Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tribological performance of surface texturing in mechanical applications—a review

Surface textures have been of great interest within the tribology community with nearly 1500 papers published on this topic in the past two decades. With the pursuit of low emissions and environmental sustainability, the application of surface texturing to mechanical systems to lower friction and control wear is attracting increasing attention. There is no doubt that certain textured surfaces can have a beneficial effect on tribological performance but it is widely agreed that the optimization of textures should be carried out based on specific requirements of applications. The purpose of this review article is to summarize the current state of the art in surface texturing applied to mechanical applications (cutting tools, piston-ring & cylinder liners, sealing and journal bearings) from the following aspects: application requirements, numerical/experimental testing and validation, and tribological performance of textured surfaces (wear and friction), as well as the limitations in texture designs when applied to certain applications. Patterns/grooves in the micron-scale are the most typical shapes been studied, and benefits of partial texturing are applicable for most of these mechanical applications. Friction reduction of up to 34.5% in cutting tools, 82% in piston-ring & cylinder-liners, 65% in seals and 18% in journal bearings have been observed by experimental tests. Based on primary evidence from the literature, the last section provides general suggestions on current gaps in understanding and modelling and suggestions for future research directions.
Two distinct proprioceptive representations of voluntary movements in primate spinal neurons

When willingly setting our body in motion, we simultaneously know where and how our limbs are moving. While this indicates that proprioceptive information is readily represented in the neurons of the central nervous system, it is still unclear how. We recorded the activity of spinal neurons with direct projections from muscle spindle afferents in four monkeys, while they performed simple wrist movements. Against the assumption that these spinal neurons act as a simple relay of afferent input, we found the majority (56%) of neurons had firing patterns incongruent with a simple representation of spindle activity, and the minority had congruent patterns. Two groups of neurons showed distinct intrinsic characteristics (spike width, base firing rate and firing irregularity), and distinct control of their input-output gain. These results are the first demonstration that proprioceptive representation is achieved by the coordinated activity of distinct groups of neurons during volitional movement.
The effects of increase in threonine to lysine ratio on performance, blood parameters and humoral immune responses of male broiler chickens challenged with Salmonella.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of threonine to lysine (Thr/Lys) ideal ratio for optimum performance, blood parameters and immunity of broiler chicks. Supplemental threonine (equal or 25% more than breed’s threonine/lysine ratio requirement) was added to a control, threonine deficient and high crude fiber diet, then fed to 288 one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks (three treatments and eight replications per treatment). On day 11 and 21 of age, infectious bursal disease virus and infectious bronchitis virus vaccines were orally administered individually, respectively. Then, 21 days after each administration, blood antibody titers against viruses were measured. On day 32 of age, four birds in each treatment group were infected orally with equal numbers of Salmonella Paratyphi A (5×104 cfu/bird). As a result of this study, challenging with Salmonella led to increase in mortality rate and increase in Thr/Lys ratio could not decrease it. Increase in Thr/Lys ratio decreased feed intake and weight gain of ensemble challenged and nonchallenged groups, however improved feed conversion ratio of challenged group in finisher period. Feed consumption cost increased by salmonellosis and increase in Thr/Lys ratio could not improve salmonellosis based economic loss. Salmonellosis increased serum urea, uric acid and AST and decreased serum glucose and cholesterol and increase in Thr/Lys ratio did not alleviate triglyceride. Increase in Thr/Lys ratio improved non-significantly humoral immune response in the challenged and non-challenged groups. These findings indicate that higher Thr/Lys ratio in infected birds improved production performance, however could not be an economical lucrative medicative agent.
Hypoxie und Epithel-Mesenchym-Transition bei der malignen Tumorprogression

Hypoxie hat unmittelbaren Einfluss auf Invasion und Metastasierung von Tumoren. Die molekularen Mechanismen, wie ein Sauerstoffmangel in Tumorgeweben zu einem erhohten Invasionspotential und damit einhergehender Epithel-Mesenchym-Transition (EMT) fuhrt, sind allerdings nur in Ansatzen bekannt. Das Ziel dieser Studie war, Hypoxie-induzierbare EMT-Regulatoren zu identifizieren und in vitro und in vivo zu charakterisieren. Die Ergebnisse aus Zeitreihenversuchen mit verschiedenen Zelllinien, einem Mausmodell und menschlichen Nierenzellkarzinomen legen einen direkten Zusammenhang zwischen Hypoxie und Hif-1α-vermittelter Uberexpression der EMT-assoziierten Transkriptionsfaktoren Snail und Slug nahe.
Modeling of Kidney Stones from Ultrasound Images based on Hybrid Regional Segmentation with Active Contours

Kidney stones (nephrolithiasis) are among the most common kidney diseases. They are solid stones that arise from minerals dissolved in urine. The treatment of kidney stones depends primarily on the position, size and composition of the stones, as well as on the general health condition of the patient. However, early diagnosis is quite complicated. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic hybrid method for identification and features extraction of the kidney stones. Specifically, model is based on the multiregional segmentation and approximation of the kidney stone area. Methods consequently use concept of the active contours which are focused on extraction of the geometrical features. The method remarkably allowing for an objective monitoring and classification of the kidney stones. These results may play a role to overcome conventionally used clinical procedures where clinicians mark kidney stones manually, without software feedback.
Ultrasonography : road to SCIE listing

Ultrasonography is the official journal of the Korean Society of Ultrasound in Medicine (KSUM), and it was listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) in September 2019. It started as a Korean academic journal in Korean, and has long been established as Korea’s leading medical ultrasound journal, but it was quite challenging to develop Ultrasonography into an internationally recognized journal by introducing an internationalized editing system to keep pace with the trends of globalization, including the exclusive use of the English language. Through this essay, I would like to share my experiences with the process as the editorin-chief.
Death is Not the End: The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Driving Apoptosis-induced Proliferation

Apoptosis-induced proliferation (AiP) is a compensatory mechanism to maintain tissue size and morphology following unexpected cell loss during normal development, and may also be a contributing factor to cancer growth and drug resistance. In apoptotic cells, caspase-initiated signaling cascades lead to the downstream production of mitogenic factors and the proliferation of neighboring surviving cells. In epithelial Drosophila tissues, the Caspase-9 homolog Dronc drives AiP via activation of Jun Nterminal kinase (JNK); however, the specific mechanisms of JNK activation remain unknown. Using a model of sustained AiP that produces a hyperplastic phenotype in Drosophila eye and head tissue, I have found that caspase-induced activation of JNK during AiP depends on extracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by the NADPH oxidase Duox. I found these ROS are produced early in the death-regeneration process by undifferentiated epithelial cells that have initiated the apoptotic cascade. I also found that reduction of these ROS by mis-expression of extracellular catalases was sufficient to reduce the frequency of overgrowth associated with our model of AiP. I further observed that extracellular ROS attract and activate Drosophila macrophages (hemocytes), which may in turn trigger JNK activity in epithelial cells by signaling through the TNF receptor Grindelwald. We propose that signaling back and forth between epithelial cells and hemocytes by extracellular ROS and Grindelwald drives compensatory proliferation within the epithelium, and that in cases of persistent signaling, such as in our sustained model of AiP, hemocytes play a tumor promoting role,
Insect wings and body wall evolved from ancient leg segments

Researchers have long debated the origin of insect wings. One theory proposes that the proximal portion of the ancestral crustacean leg became incorporated into the body1–3, which moved the leg’s epipod (multi-functional lobe, e.g. gill) dorsally, up onto the back to form insect wings4. Another theory proposes that the dorsal insect body wall co-opted crustacean epipod genes to form wings5. Alternatively, wings may be derived from both leg and body wall (dual origin)6. To determine whether wings can be traced to ancestral, pre-insect structures, or arose by co-option, comparisons are necessary between insects and arthropods more representative of the ancestral state, where the hypothesized proximal leg region is not fused to the body wall. To do so, we examined the function of five leg gap genes in the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis and compared this to previous functional data from insects. Here we show, using CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis, that leg segment deletion phenotypes of all five leg gap genes in Parhyale align to those of insects only by including the hypothesized fused ancestral proximal leg region. We also argue that possession of eight leg segments is the ancestral state for crustaceans. Thus, Parhyale incorporated one leg segment into the body, which now bears the tergal plate, while insects incorporated two leg segments into the body, the most proximal one bearing the wing. We propose a model wherein much of the body wall of insects, including the entire wing, is derived from these two ancestral proximal leg segments, giving the appearance of a “dual origin” 6–10. This model explains many observations in favor of either the body wall, epipod, or dual origin of insect wings.
Individual trait variation in phytoplankton communities across multiple spatial scales

In the context of maintenance of biodiversity and ecological functions, microbial ecologists face the challenge of linking individual level variability in functional traits to larger scale ecosystem processes. Phytoplankton cell size and shape are key traits under selection by environmental filters and species interactions. Spatial differences in resource availability shape species diversity according to their use efficiency. Niche partitioning promotes plankton diversity. Here, we explore how size and shape enter the diversity game. How does taxonomic and morpho-functional community structure vary at different spatial scales? What are the potential drivers shaping the structure of phytoplankton communities? We explore these questions by looking at the individual level variability in taxonomic and morphological traits in a biogeographical snapshot of natural phytoplankton communities in coastal ecosystems around the globe. We found that taxonomic variability is mainly concentrated at local and regional levels, whereas shape and size variability are mainly concentrated at a local level, despite the environmental heterogeneity of ecosystems. Species diversity was more variable than trait diversity from local to global spatial scales. We suggest that structural organization of phytoplankton communities in coastal ecosystems may follow a hierarchical pattern of trait organization, where a different combination of multiple functional traits may represent effective strategies and promote success under given environmental conditions as a resolution of Hutchinson’s paradox.
Tri-Co Robot: a Chinese robotic research initiative for enhanced robot interaction capabilities

Since the invention of the first industrial robot in 1959, the missions of robots have evolved from basic mechanical transfer or assistance to a diverse range of tasks through close interactions with environment, their human counterparts and robot peers. Through adaptation to uncertain and dynamic environments, legged robots can achieve coordinated locomotion in rough terrain, even at high speed [1]. By interpreting human motives from bio-signals and neuro interfaces and providing sensory feedback to the wearer, robotic prosthetic devices can potentially emulate the missing limb or other body parts [2]. Autonomous robots operated in large groups could cooperate through local interactions governed by collective control algorithms and decentralized information exchange [3]. Those scenarios demonstrate that the functionalities of advanced robotics rely highly on their capabilities of effective interactions with the environment and other agents, either people or robots. Endowing robots with such capabilities will require extensive research efforts in order to develop: (i) sensing techniques and cognitive mechanisms for perceiving and interpreting environment states, human physiology and behavior, and status of other agents in the multi-robot systems; (ii) models and control strategies for robots to be able to recognize, track, infer the task actions and proactively plan their actions for adaptation to task contingencies in collaborative interaction scenarios; (iii) actuation and execution mechanisms and structures for dexterous manipulation and natural interfacing with humans with safety and effectiveness. In seek of research on the fundamental science, technologies and integrated systems required to fulfill this vision, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) has launched the Tri-Co Robot (i.e. the Coexisting-Cooperative-Cognitive Robot) major research program in 2017 (Fig. 1). Coexisting ensures robotics technology to be ubiquitous for enrichment of quality of life and work for human beings in an inherently safe manner. Cooperative enables robots to collaborate and coordinate effectively with other agents (e.g. people or robots) through communication and interplay. Cognitive emphasizes the capabilities of robots to perceive and predict the behavior and intent of the environment and other agents through information gathering, and respond adaptively through machine learning, control and planning algorithms.
Development of Chimeric Cas9 Nucleases for Accurate and Flexible Genome Editing

There has been tremendous amount of effort focused on the development and improvement of genome editing applications over the decades. Particularly, the development of programmable nucleases has revolutionized genome editing with regards to their improvements in mutagenesis efficacy and targeting feasibility. Programmable nucleases are competent for a variety of genome editing applications. There is growing interest in employing the programmable nucleases in therapeutic genome editing applications, such as correcting mutations in genetic disorders. Type II CRISPR-Cas9 bacterial adaptive immunity systems have recently been engineered as RNA-guided programmable nucleases. Native CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases have two stages of sequence-specific target DNA recognition prior to cleavage: the intrinsic binding of the Cas9 nuclease to a short DNA element (the PAM) followed by testing target site complementarity with the programmable guide RNA. The ease of reprogramming CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases for new target sequences makes them favorable genome editing platform for many applications including gene therapy. However, wild-type Cas9 nucleases have limitations: (i) The PAM element requirement restricts the targeting range of Cas9; (ii) despite the presence of two stages of target recognition, wild-type Cas9 can cleave DNA at unintended sites, which is not desired for therapeutic purposes; and (iii) there is a lack of control over the mutagenic editing product that is procuded. In this study, we developed and characterized chimeric Cas9 platforms to provide solutions to these limitations. In these platforms, the DNA-binding affinity of Cas9 protein from S. pyogenes is attenuated such that the target site binding is dependent on a fused
A 45-year follow-up study of adolescent schizophrenia. Part IV: Clinical status and level of social adaptation 5 years after the first hospitalization in the context of illness course and long-term social functioning of patients.

OBJECTIVES Research on predictors of adolescent schizophrenia, especially those based on long-term follow-up studies, is rare in the literature. In our analysis, we examine the relationship of the clinical status and level of social adaptation 5 years after the first hospitalization with clinical and social indicators of the illness course. METHODS 69 patients at the average age of 16 years (time point 0), hospitalized due to schizophrenia (retrospectively re-diagnosed according to ICD-10 criteria) and re-examined 5 years later (time point 1 - personal examination of 41 individuals), were re-evaluated for clinical and social parameters 45 years after their initial hospitalization (time point 2 - personal examination of 21 individuals). In addition to the personal survey, other methods of data collection were used, including hospital queries. RESULTS The clinical picture of schizophrenia 5 years after the first hospitalization described by the severity of psychopathology, as well as other parameters of the clinical status (e.g., insight, clinical improvement, relational abilities, GAF), revealed numerous and various correlations both with the symptomatic picture and clinical course of schizophrenia 45 years after the first hospitalization as well as with distant social functioning of the subjects. In the analyses, high prognostic significance was also revealed by the level of psychotic relapse, the presence of auto-aggressive tendencies, and the quality of school and professional adaptation assessed at time point 1. CONCLUSIONS he level of functioning achieved by the patient in clinical and social areas during the first 5 years after their initial hospitalization proved to be an important prognostic factor in adolescent schizophrenia.
Respuesta hidrológica al cambio climático en regiones áridas: caso de estudio en los Comondú, Baja California Sur, México

Background. Currently, climate change is one of the most relevant phenomena within the scientific environment; this change has been recorded as an increase in temperatures on a global scale. For the central zone of Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico, climate models also indicate an increase in the frequency of extreme precipitation. The study area covers two towns (San Jose and San Miguel de Comondu) whose urban and rural areas are located in a ravine of approximately 16 km in length and up to 800 m in width. Goals. To carry out a historical, statistical analysis of the climatic variability and model the response of the Comondu stream to extreme precipitation events. Methods. Climatic variability was analyzed with databases from the Comondu weather station, operated by the National Meteorological Service (SMN). In addition, the runoff pattern in the Comondu stream was ascertained in the event of extreme precipitation events, similar to or close to events with a return time of 1000 years, using hydrological and hydraulic models of HEC-1 and HEC-RAS software. Results. In the case of Los Comondu, BCS, there is a clear upward trend in the 24-hour extreme precipitation data, which implies that the danger of flooding in populated areas and crops increases considerably. The occurrence of a 1000-year event would affect about 86,864 m2 of the urban area of both towns and 201,570 m2 of the area under cultivation. Conclusions. The results of our modeling indicate an increase in area, depth, and speed of the stream, increasing the risk of flooding in the lower areas of Los Comondu, BCS. Based on our modeling’s results, measures should be promoted to safeguard the population and the economy of Los Comondu.
Data-Intensive Task Scheduling for Heterogeneous Big Data Analytics in IoT System

Efficient big data analysis is critical to support applications or services in Internet of Things (IoT) system, especially for the time-intensive services. Hence, the data center may host heterogeneous big data analysis tasks for multiple IoT systems. It is a challenging problem since the data centers usually need to schedule a large number of periodic or online tasks in a short time. In this paper, we investigate the heterogeneous task scheduling problem to reduce the global task execution time, which is also an efficient method to reduce energy consumption for data centers. We establish the task execution for heterogeneous tasks respectively based on the data locality feature, which also indicate the relationship among the tasks, data blocks and servers. We propose a heterogeneous task scheduling algorithm with data migration. The core idea of the algorithm is to maximize the efficiency by comparing the cost between remote task execution and data migration, which could improve the data locality and reduce task execution time. We conduct extensive simulations and the experimental results show that our algorithm has better performance than the traditional methods, and data migration actually works to reduce th overall task execution time. The algorithm also shows acceptable fairness for the heterogeneous tasks.
Parametric Lyapunov equation based event‐triggered and self‐triggered control of input constrained linear systems

This article studies semiglobal stabilization of input constrained linear systems based on the static and dynamic event‐triggered control (ETC) and self‐triggered control (STC). First, a static ETC based on the parametric Lyapunov equation (PLE) is designed. Then the corresponding dynamic ETC is also proposed. The main advantage of the proposed static and dynamic ETC algorithms is that the minimum interexecution time (MIET) as a decreasing function of the parameter in the PLE is given, which allows us to find easily a trade‐off between the interexecution times (IETs) and the control performance. The fact that the MIET of the dynamic ETC is never less than that of the static ETC is also guaranteed. Next, in order to avoid continuous monitoring of the states, both static and dynamic STC are designed. The influence of the parameters on IETs of the static and dynamic STC is analyzed in detail. The nonoccurrence of the Zeno phenomenon is proved in all the control algorithms. Finally, the proposed algorithms are applied to the design of spacecraft rendezvous. Numerical simulations on the original nonlinear model of the spacecraft rendezvous control system show the control system effectiveness of the algorithms.