Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of the failure and size effect in concrete via a bi-scale damage approach

Simple but also accurate models are needed to predict the failure response of concrete structures. Simplicity involves modelling assumptions while accuracy involves objectivity of both the experimentally identified model parameters and the numerica results. For concrete‐like heterogeneous and brittle materials, the modelling assumptions idealizing the material as a homogeneous continuum with classical linear or non‐linear behaviour, leads to some problems at the identification stage, namely the size effect phenomena. A continuum damage model, representing the non‐linear behaviour due to microcracking, is proposed here for predictive computations of structural responses. A Weibull based theory is used to determine, in a statistical sense, the value of the initial damage threshold. The essential influence of material heterogeneity on the damage evolution, is accounted for with a bi‐scale approach which is based on the idea of the non‐local continuum with local strain. It has already established that the non‐local approaches yield realistic failure predictions and the numerical results are convergent for subsequent mesh refinements. The applications presented here show the ability of the approach to predict the failure response of concrete structures without being obscured by size effect problems.
In Vitro Replication of Swine Hepatitis E Virus (HEV): Production of Cell-Adapted Strains

Simple Summary The zoonotic virus of HEV-3 genotype is further classified in different subtypes whose biological role is still not clear. Most information available on the virus, both on genetic features and on replicative cycle, had been obtained by studying the genome characteristics and by performing in vitro transfection of permissive cells using replicative clones of the viruses. The lack of an efficient cell culture for HEV cultivation has hampered the study of the virus so far. In the present study, the protocol for HEV cultivation on human A549 lung cells previously established was used successfully to cultivate different subtypes of HEV-3 isolated from pig faeces. The different isolates grew similarly. Sequence analyses was performed on isolates, at different days post infection and in the following passages on cells. Analyses excluded the presence of any insertion in the hypervariable region of the genome, as observed in previous studies, and revealed a few mutations acquired in the viral genomes during the growth on cells. The protocol of HEV-3 cell cultivation was used for a quick production of a high amount of the virus in serum free medium, not requiring further purification. The obtained isolates will be used for future experiments of virus infectivity. Abstract The hepatitis E caused by the virus HEV of genotypes HEV-3 and HEV-4 is a zoonotic foodborne disease spread worldwide. HEV is currently classified into eight different genotypes (HEV-1–8). Genotypes HEV-3 and HEV-4 are zoonotic and are further divided into subtypes. Most of the information on HEV replication remains unknown due to the lack of an efficient cell cultivation system. Over the last couple of years, several protocols for HEV cultivation have been developed on different cell lines; even if they were troublesome, long, and scarcely reproducible, they offered the opportunity to study the replicative cycle of the virus. In the present study, we aimed to obtain a protocol ready to use viral stock in serum free medium that can be used with reduced time of growth and without any purification steps. The employed method allowed isolation and cell adaptation of four swine HEV-3 strains, belonging to three different subtypes. Phylogenetic analyses conducted on partial genome sequences of in vitro isolated strains did not reveal any insertion in the hypervariable region (HVR) of the genomes. A limited number of mutations was acquired in the genome during the virus growth in the partial sequences of Methyltransferase (Met) and ORF2 coding genes.
Improving the Security of Audio CAPTCHAs With Adversarial Examples

CAPTCHAs (completely automated public Turing tests to tell computers and humans apart) have been the main protection against malicious attacks on public systems for many years. Audio CAPTCHAs, as one of the most important CAPTCHA forms, provide an effective test for visually impaired users. However, in recent years, most of the existing audio CAPTCHAs have been successfully attacked by machine learning-based audio recognition algorithms, showing their insecurity. In this article, a generative adversarial network (GAN)-based method is proposed to generate adversarial audio CAPTCHAs. This method is implemented by using a generator to synthesize noise, a discriminator to make it similar to the target and a threshold function to limit the size of the perturbation; then, the synthetic perturbation is combined with the original audio to generate the adversarial audio CAPTCHA. The experimental results demonstrate that the addition of adversarial examples can greatly reduce the recognition accuracy of automatic models and improve the robustness of different types of audio CAPTCHAs. We also explore ensemble learning strategies to improve the transferability of the proposed adversarial audio CAPTCHA methods. To investigate the effect of adversarial CAPTCHAs on human users, a user study is also conducted.
Parallel Hub Labeling Maintenance With High Efficiency in Dynamic Small-World Networks

Shortest path computation is a fundamental operation in many application domains and is especially challenging in frequently evolving small-world networks (i.e., graphs in which many nodes can be reached from every other node by a small number of hops). Index-based methods, especially ones based on 2-hop labeling are often used for high query efficiency. However, the evolvements of small-world networks in many realistic scenarios pose the challenge of efficient maintenance of the shortest path index. In this work, we adopt the state-of-the-art Parallel Shortest-distance Labeling (PSL) as the underlying 2-hop labeling construction method, and design algorithms to support its efficient update given edge weight changes (increase and decrease). Specifically, we focus on weighted PSL (WPSL) and propose a propagation-based update mechanism for both synchronous and asynchronous propagation. We also identify the curse of pruning power in the edge weight increase case, and solve it with a balance between index size and effectiveness. Followed by, we extend the asynchronous propagation method to Pruned Landmark Labeling (PLL) for faster index maintenance and query processing with a smaller index size. Finally, we further optimize the index performance by reducing the index size through graph contraction and accelerating the index update through parallelized mix index update. Our experimental results on real-life and synthetic networks demonstrate the superiority of our algorithms over the relevant baselines on index maintenance.
Isotope disorder of phonons in GaN and its beneficial effect on high power field effect transistors

We analyze the influence of isotope disorder on longitudinal optical (LO) phonon modes in GaN and then study the scattering by disordered LO phonons in the channel of high power transistor. Results indicate that as a larger number of LO phonons gets excited, a more efficient cooling of electrons can be accomplished and most of the spurious hot phonon effects can be mitigated leading to significant improvement in the saturation velocity. To the best of our knowledge this is the first ever example of disorder playing constructive role in the performance of room-temperature electronic devices.
The effect of routine experimental procedures on physiological parameters in mice kept under different husbandry conditions

Laboratory animals are frequently subjected to routine procedures, such as injections or the withdrawal of blood samples. Acute stress caused by such procedures is associated with physiological changes that can have a strong impact on experimental results. This study investigated the integrated effects of cage enrichment, social housing and handling on the acute stress response of animals subjected to routine experimental procedures. Female mice of two inbred strains (BALB/c and C57BL/6) were housed under either minimal husbandry conditions (MH: no cage enrichment, infrequent handling and a period of individual housing) or enriched husbandry conditions (EH: with cage enrichment, frequent handling and social housing at all times). One mouse in each cage was implanted with a radio-telemetry transmitter for measuring heart rate (HR) and body temperature (BT). The animals were subjected to intraperitoneal injections or short periods of restraint. In addition to telemetry measurements, thymus weight and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity were assessed. It was found that individual housing under MH conditions, as compared with social housing under EH conditions, elevated both basal HR and BT, and significantly elevated the relative recovery time following routine experimental procedures. Thymus weight and TH activity suggested a long-term stress response under MH conditions following individual housing, although the influence of transmitter implantation and (repeated) acute stress remains to be investigated. The results emphasise that husbandry conditions should be taken into account when evaluating physiological measures after routine procedures.
Neutral-beam-driven tokamak fusion reactors

The ion velocity distributions of tokamak plasmas sustained by injected fast atomic beams fall into three categories, according to the partial pressure of the energetic-ion population, which in turn is determined by the plasma nτE, the injection energy, and the fraction of plasma fuelling performed by the beams. There are correspondingly three regimes of beam-driven reactor operation in D-T or D-D: thermonuclear; beam-target or TCT; and plasmas with ion pressure/electron pressure ≫ 1. This review treats the physical basis and plasma engineering parameters of beam-driven tokamak reactors. The theories of energetic-ion velocity distributions, stability, injection, and orbits are summarized. The many-faceted role of the energetic ions in plasma heating, fuelling, and current maintenance, as well as in the direct enhancement of fusion power multiplication and power density, is discussed in detail for the three reactor types. The relevant implications of recent experimental results from several beam-injected tokamaks are examined. The behaviour of energetic ions is found to be in accordance with classical theory, large total ion energy densities are readily achieved, and plasma equilibrium and gross stability are preserved. The status of neutral-beam injectors and of conceptual design studies of beam-driven reactors is reviewed briefly. The principal plasma-engineering problems are those associated directly with achieving quasi-stationary operation, particularly the problem of high-throughput particle exhaust. An especially attractive feature of beam-driven tokamak plasmas is their capability for useful application in devices of relatively small size.
Recovering 3-D translation of a rigid surface by a binocular observer using moments

This paper presents a novel approach for estimating the 3-D translation of a rigid surface using a binocular observer. The method uses the general theory of moments and is based in the aggregate stereo approach. The computation of a limited set of moments of four images is necessary. Real-time implementation of the algorithm is feasible since image moments can be computed at frame rates very easily using parallel architectures.
ABSOLUTE NATURE OF THE THERMAL AMBIENCE OF ACCELERATED OBSERVERS

The blackbody radiation (thermal ambience) surrounding a linearly and uniformly accelerated observer is shown to be totally isotropic. By contrast, an observer who does not merely have this uniform acceleration into some direction, but also (a) drifts uniformly (according to his own clock) into another, or alternatively (b) orbits uniformly around a fixed axis, will be surrounded by vacuum fluctuations with the spectrum of a blackbody endowed with a chemical potential. This potential is proportional to the drift velocity for one observer, and to the angular velocity for the other. These chemical potentials express an anisotropy of empty flat space relative to these observers.
Human Behavior Identification Based on Graphology Using Artificial Neural Network

Handwriting reflects a person's true nature, phobias, emotional outbursts, honesty, defenses and many more characteristics. Analysis of handwriting, also known as graphology, is a science that uses the strokes and patterns disclosed by handwriting to identify, evaluate, and analyze personality. It is the study of the patterns and physical characteristics of handwriting to identify the author, indicate the author's psychological state while writing, or analyze personality traits. Traditionally, professionals also called graphologists predict the behavior of the writer by analyzing their handwriting, but this procedure is tedious and expensive. Therefore, this paper focuses on developing an application for personality identification that can predict behavioral characteristics directly using a computer without any human involvement. Most of the existing applications use English as the primary language to identify the personality trait of the writer however, our approach uses Devanagari scripts for prediction, thereby eliminating the language barrier. Our proposed method uses a machine learning approach to predict personality by analyzing Devanagari samples using Artificial Neural Network. We have created our own Devanagari word dataset. There are almost 4000 images which belong to 5 classes namely Introvert, Extrovert, Optimistic, Pessimistic and Stable mind-set. The testing accuracy achieved by the proposed method is 94.75%.
Ethics of Bariatric Surgery in Adolescence and Its Implications for Clinical Practice

Obesity is increasingly prevalent among adolescents. Clinical and research data support the use of bariatric surgery (BS) as a treatment option for severely obese adolescents, with good results in terms of weight loss, improvement or resolution of comorbidities, and compliance to follow up. Nevertheless, concerns still remain, with significant disparities among countries and ethical concerns mainly raised by performing an irreversible and invasive procedure in adolescence, with potential life-long alterations. In this context, the purpose of this narrative review was to discuss the main current ethical challenges in performing BS in adolescence and to inform appropriate clinical management in the field. The core ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice were revised in terms of patient-centered healthcare through the lens of psychosocial implications. The review concludes with a discussion regarding the potential directives for future research for effective, patient-centered, and ethical management of obesity in the adolescent population.
On the derivation of the energy flux of linear magnetohydrodynamic waves

Abstract New light is shed on the derivation of the energy flux of the linear MHD waves. It is shown that, according to a suggestion of Lighthill, the usual perturbation procedure, which starts from the general expression for the energy flux, need not be supplemented by an averaging procedure. As a result, it is shown that to second order in the wave amplitude, a quantity identifiable as the wave energy flux is conserved. Some of the subtleties inherent in the derivation of the pertubation energy equation are discussed.
Anomalous heating of the thermal electrons near the focus of the Sq current vortex (Sq focus anomaly).

This paper reports a localized hot electron layer which was discovered in the ionospheric dynamo region over the Kagoshima Space Center, Japan. The appearance of such a layer was restricted to around 11hr in LT in winter. The maximum electron temperature in the layer was controlled by the sunspot number, the intensity of the dynamo current and the location of the focus of the geomagnetic Sq current vortex. In the first half of this paper, the mor-
Analysis of Survival in Complete Pathological Response after Long-Course Chemoradiotherapy in Patients with Advanced Rectal Cancer

Background: Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy prior to surgery is the standard treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer. This consists in the patient’s complete pathological response being achieved with no residual tumor presence in the resected specimen, which results in survival improvement. Methods: This retrospective study aimed to examine the rate of complete pathological response in patients with advanced rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant long-course chemoradiotherapy and to examine the survival differences between the different tumor regression grade (TRG) scores. Results: A total of 154 patients were operated prior to long-course chemoradiotherapy with a total of 50 Gy plus FOLFOX protocol. Complete pathologic response was achieved in 29 (18.8%) patients. There was no statistical difference for the different pathologic responses according to gender, type of surgery, and number of harvested lymph nodes. Mean survival for all the groups was 37.2 months. Survival within a different TRG score exhibited statistical significance (p = 0.006). Overall, the survival rate during the follow-up period was of 81.8%. Conclusions: The complete pathological response rate in this study was of 18.8%. High tumor regression grade scores (TRG0 and TRG1) had a survival rate of over 90% during follow-up. Multivariate analysis identified perineural invasion and tumor regression grade as independent factors that affect survival.
Improved Speed Extension for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generators by Means of Winding Reconfiguration

With the increased development of electrical subsystems onboard modern transportation platforms, e.g., more electric aircrafts or more electric ships, the need for electric generation systems has increased. Since many motors require electric starting capability, the application of the starter/generator has been the focus of several studies. The peculiarity of such a system is its requirement for high torque at low speed (for the starting) as well as an extended operation range during the normal generation operations. This mismatch between maximum torque and speed comes at the expense of the power density of the electronic converter, which needs to be designed for the worst case situation and, due to the electric machine optimization, often requires field weakening operations. A new winding reconfiguration is proposed to achieve speed extension and provide more potentiality for high-speed applications. This work compares different power trains in terms of efficiency current stress for electric machines. Hardware-in-the-loop results are adopted to verify the practical implementation of the control systems.
Lightning Rates Relative to Tornadic Storm Evolution on 22 May 1981

Abstract On 22 May 1981, we acquired lightning and Doppler radar data on two tornadic storms in Oklahoma. Cloud-to-ground lightning flash rates were measured with a magnetic direction-finder network, and total flash rates in the vicinity of the mesocyclone were measured with an L-band radar. In both storms, there was no clear relationship between tornado occurrence and ground flash rates of the storm as a whole, but the stroke rate of each storm was highest after it stopped producing tornadoes. For the second storm, we examined both intracloud and cloud-t-ground lightning rates relative to mesocyclone evolution, analyzing the region within 10 km of the mesocyclone core. Our analysis began during initial stages of the mesocyclone core associated with the fourth and strongest of five tornadoes in the storm and continued until all mesocyclone cores in the storm dissipated. During this period, intracloud lightning flash rates reached a peak of almost 14 min−1 approximately 10 min after the peak in cyclonic sh.
Dynamic Graphics for Statistics

Dynamic Graphics for Data Analysis, Richard A. Becker, William S. Cleveland, and Allan R. Wilks Some Approaches to Interactive Statistical Graphics. PRIM-9: an Interactive Multidimensional Data Display, D.F. Andrews, E.B. Fowlkes, and P.A. Tukey Kinematic Display of Multivariate Data, D.L. Donoho, P.J. Huber, E. Ramos, and H.M. Thoma An Introduction to Real Time Graphical Techniques for Analyzing Multivariate Data, Mary Anne Fisherkeller, Jerome H. Friedman, and John W. Tukey Control and Stash Philosophy for Two-Handed, Flexible, and Immediate Control of a Graphic Display, John W. Tukey Orion I: Interactive Graphics for Data Analysis, John Alan McDonald Brushing Scatterplots, Richard A. Becker and William S. Cleveland Plot Windows, Werner Stuetzle The Use of Brushing and Rotation for Data Analysis, Richard A. Becker, William S. Cleveland, and Gerald Weil Elements of a Viewing Pipeline for Data Analysis, Andreas Buja, Daniel Asminov, Catherine Hurley, and Joh A. McDonald EXPLOR4: A Program for Exploring Four-Dimensional Data Using Stereo-Ray Glyphs, Dimensional Constraints, Rotation, and Masking, D.B. Carr and W.L. Nicholson MACSPIN: Dynamic Graphics on a Desktop Computer, Andrew W. Donoho, David L. Donoho, and Miriam Gasko The Application of Depth Separation to the Display of Large Data Sets, Thomas V. Papathomas and Bela Julesz A High Performance Color Graphics Facility for Exploring Multivariate Data, C. Ming Wand and Harold W. Gugel Dynamic Graphics for Exploring Multivariate Data, Forrest W. Young, Douglas P. Kent, and Warren F. Kuhfeld
Three-dimensional Region-based Filters for Noise Removal in Volumetric Data

We present region-based filters for noise removal in three-dimensional (3D) images in the (x, y, z) domain. The filters start with region growing at each voxel to determine a context-dependent region in 3D. Appropriate selection of region-growing criteria provides regions that approximate 3D objects or features present in the image. Local statistics are then used to filter noise. The method permits adaptive noise removal without degradation of edges, surfaces, or shapes of objects. Results of 3D region-based mean, median, and local linear minimum mean-squared error (LLMMSE) filtering are shown, along with results of two-dimensional (2D) region-based filtering on a slice-by-slice basis, as well as 2D and 3D fixed-neighborhood filtering. Results of 3D region-based filtering possess lower mean-squared errors (MSE) than the results of fixed-neighborhood filters in 3D or 2D. Furthermore, results of 3D region-based filtering possess MSE lower than or equal to the MSE of the results of 2D region-based filtering because 3D filtering exploits the presence of 3D structures in the images. The methods should be applicable in processing of 3D medical images and as a pre-processing step in volume visualization.
Test Design Optimization in CAT Early Stage with the Nominal Response Model

The early stage of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) refers to the phase of the trait estimation during the administration of only a few items. This phase can be characterized by bias and instability of estimation. In this study, an item selection criterion is introduced in an attempt to lessen this instability: the D-optimality criterion. A polytomous unconstrained CAT simulation is carried out to evaluate this criterion's performance under different test premises. The simulation shows that the extent of early stage instability depends primarily on the quality of the item pool information and its size and secondarily on the item selection criteria. The efficiency of the D-optimality criterion is similar to the efficiency of other known item selection criteria. Yet, it often yields estimates that, at the beginning of CAT, display a more robust performance against instability.