gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Towards a Standard for Material Friction Pair Testing to Reduce Automotive Squeaks (2001)

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Today vehicle owners perceive squeaks and itches inside a vehicle cabin as a major negative indicator of vehicle build quality and durability. Manufacturers struggle to bear the high costs of squeak and rattle (S&amp;R) related warranty. Although the benefits of structural integrity and tight manufacturing tolerances with respect to the prevention of S&amp;R are known, today's cost, weight, crash requirements, aesthetic demands and environmental/fire hazard rules quite often dictate the design of S&amp;R prone sub-systems. Even sub-systems with the best possible structural design and manufacturing tolerances are not immune to extreme environmental conditions, and mating materials can initiate contact leading to S&amp;R. One method of minimizing the possibility of squeaks is by the judicious selection of mating material pairs.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper describes a test process aimed at the quantification of material pair compatibility. Also described is a state of the art, flexure-based (virtually frictionless) test instrument that has been developed for such material pair compatibility studies. A group of 17 material pairs with known historical problems were identified by experienced automotive designers and were put through 374 tests encompassing several realistic temperature and humidity extremes in a complex test matrix. Material pair samples were “rubbed together” in an accurately controlled manner. The types of relative displacement that were used were single excursion pull and realistic road inputs in the form of a shaped random profile. The material pairs included combinations of PVC, ABS, TPO, PP and painted metal from sub-systems such as instrument panels, center consoles, body panels, door trim and weather-strips. Instationary Zwicker loudness was used as a metric for quantifying the squeak in addition to classical friction parameters.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">From the test data, a classification of the material pairs was made pertaining to their propensity to generate squeak and itch (S&amp;I). Initial levels of correlation with GM material experts' classifications of the same pairs are promising and are the motivation for further studies.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph"><b>The Team (Defiance, GM and MB Dynamics) feels strongly about the need for a comprehensive materials database that is the result of a uniform experimental procedure to identify pertinent material characteristics in order to understand, verify and significantly reduce stick-slip in automotive applications. The Team feels that the test equipment, test procedures and analysis methods that were developed during this project and that are described in this paper, greatly contribute towards this cause. The Team wants to extend the invitation to other interested parties (tribology researchers, scientists, automotive or other engineers), to bundle efforts, share best practices and lessons learned, and work towards a standard for material friction pair testing.</b></div>
A PLL-based 2.5-Gb/s GaAs clock and data regenerator IC (1991)

A GaAs IC that performs clock recovery and data retiming functions in 2.5-Gb/s fiber-optic communication systems is presented. Rather than using surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter technology, the IC employs a frequency- and phase-lock loop (FPLL) to recover a stable clock from pseudo-random non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data. The IC is mounted on a 1-in*1-in ceramic substrate along with a companion Si bipolar chip that contains a loop filter and acquisition circuitry. At the synchronous optical network (SONET) OC-48 rate of 2.488 Gb/s, the circuit meets requirements for jitter tolerance, jitter transfer, and jitter generation. The data input ambiguity is 25 mV while the recovered clock has less than 2 degrees rms edge jitter. The circuit functions up to 4 Gb/s with a 40-mV input ambiguity and 2 degrees RMS clock jitter. Total current consumption from a single 5.2-V supply is 250 mA.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Grid-based mapping and tracking in dynamic environments using a uniform evidential environment representation (2014)

Mapping and tracking in dynamic environments for autonomously-moving robots is still challenging, despite being essential tasks. They are often done separately using occupancy grids and established object tracking algorithms. In this work, an approach is presented that estimates a uniform, low-level, grid-based world model including dynamic and static objects, their uncertainties, as well as their velocities. It does not require existing object tracks to filter out data points not used for creating and updating the map. Nor does it require that measurements can be classified into belonging to a static or to a moving object. Promising results from experiments with an autonomous vehicle equipped with a laser scanner demonstrate the usefulness of the approach.
Human Lung Innate Immune Response to <i>Bacillus anthracis</i> Spore Infection (2007)

ABSTRACT Bacillus anthracis , the causative agent of inhalational anthrax, enters a host through the pulmonary system before dissemination. We have previously shown that human alveolar macrophages participate in the initial innate immune response to B. anthracis spores through cell signal-mediated cytokine release. We proposed that the lung epithelia also participate in the innate immune response to this pathogen, and we have developed a human lung slice model to study this process. Exposure of our model to B. anthracis (Sterne) spores rapidly activated the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways ERK, p38, and JNK. In addition, an RNase protection assay showed induction of mRNA of several cytokines and chemokines. This finding was reflected at the translational level by protein peak increases of 3-, 25-, 9-, 34-, and 5-fold for interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha, IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein 1α/β, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, respectively, as determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Inhibition of individual pathways by UO126, SP600125, and SB0203580 decreased induction of chemokines and cytokines by spores, but this depended on the pathways inhibited and the cytokines and chemokines induced. Combining all three inhibitors reduced induction of all cytokines and chemokines tested to background levels. An immunohistochemistry analysis of IL-6 and IL-8 revealed that alveolar epithelial cells and macrophages and a few interstitial cells are the source of the cytokines and chemokines. Taken together, these data showed the activation of the pulmonary epithelium in response to B. anthracis spore exposure. Thus, the lung epithelia actively participate in the innate immune response to B. anthracis infection through cell signal-mediated elaboration of cytokines and chemokines.
Apelin-36 Modulates Blood Glucose and Body Weight Independently of Canonical APJ Receptor Signaling (2016)

Apelin-36 was discovered as the endogenous ligand for the previously orphan receptor APJ. Apelin-36 has been linked to two major types of biological activities: cardiovascular (stimulation of cardiac contractility and suppression of blood pressure) and metabolic (improving glucose homeostasis and lowering body weight). It has been assumed that both of these activities are modulated through APJ. Here, we demonstrate that the metabolic activity of apelin-36 can be separated from canonical APJ activation. We developed a series of apelin-36 variants in which evolutionarily conserved residues were mutated, and evaluated their ability to modulate glucose homeostasis and body weight in chronic mouse models. We found that apelin-36(L28A) retains full metabolic activity, but is 100-fold impaired in its ability to activate APJ. In contrast to its full metabolic activity, apelin-36(L28A) lost the ability to suppress blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We took advantage of these findings to develop a longer-acting variant of apelin-36 that could modulate glucose homeostasis without impacting blood pressure (or activating APJ). Apelin-36-[L28C(30kDa-PEG)] is 10,000-fold less potent than apelin-36 at activating the APJ receptor but retains its ability to significantly lower blood glucose and improve glucose tolerance in diet-induced obese mice. Apelin-36-[L28C(30kDa-PEG)] provides a starting point for the development of diabetes therapeutics that are devoid of the blood pressure effects associated with canonical APJ activation.
<scp>PD</scp> ‐L1 blockade enhances response of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma to radiotherapy (2016)

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is considered a non-immunogenic tumor, and immune checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy lacks efficacy in this disease. Radiotherapy (RT) can stimulate the immune system. Here, we show that treatment of KPC and Pan02 murine PDAC cells with RT and gemcitabine upregulated PD-L1 expression in a JAK/Stat1-dependent manner. In vitro, PD-L1 inhibition did not alter radio- and chemosensitivity. In vivo, addition of anti-PD-L1 to high (12, 5 × 3, 20 Gy) but not low (6, 5 × 2 Gy) RT doses significantly improved tumor response in KPC and Pan02 allografts. Radiosensitization after PD-L1 blockade was associated with reduced CD11b<sup>+</sup>Gr1<sup>+</sup> myeloid cell infiltration and enhanced CD45<sup>+</sup>CD8<sup>+</sup> T-cell infiltration with concomitant upregulation of T-cell activation markers including CD69, CD44, and FasL, and increased CD8:Treg ratio. Depletion of CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells abrogated radiosensitization by anti-PD-L1. Blockade of PD-L1 further augmented the effect of high RT doses (12 Gy) in preventing development of liver metastases. Exploring multiple mathematical models reveals a mechanism able to explain the observed synergy between RT and anti-PD-L1 therapy. Our findings provide a rationale for testing the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors with RT in PDAC.
Kinetic and magnetic resonance studies of effects of genetic substitution of a calcium-liganding amino acid in staphylococcal nuclease (1986)

The X-ray structure of staphylococcal nuclease suggests octahedral coordination of the essential Ca2+, with Asp-21, Asp-40, and Thr-41 of the enzyme providing three of the six ligands [Cotton, F. A., Hazen, E. E., Jr., & Legg, M. J. (1979) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 2551-2555]. The Asp-40 codon was mutated to Gly-40 on the gene that had been cloned into Escherichia coli, and the mutant (D40G) and wild-type enzymes were both purified from E. coli by a simple procedure. The D40G mutant forms a (5 +/- 2)-fold weaker binary complex with Ca2+ as found by kinetic analysis and by Ca2+ binding studies in competition with Mn2+, a linear competitive inhibitor. Similarly, as found by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), Mn2+ binds to the D40G mutant with a 3-fold greater KD than that found with the wild-type enzyme. These differences in KD are increased by saturation of staphylococcal nuclease with the DNA substrate such that KmCa is 10-fold greater and KIMn is 15-fold greater for the mutant than for the wild-type enzyme, although KMDNA is only 1.5-fold greater in the mutant. The six dissociation constants of the ternary enzyme-Mn2+-nucleotide complexes of 3',5'-pdTp and 5'-TMP were determined by EPR and by paramagnetic effects on 1/T1 of water protons, and the dissociation constants of the corresponding Ca2+ complexes were determined by competition with Mn2+. Only small differences between the mutant and wild-type enzymes are noted in K3, the dissociation constant of the nucleotides from their respective ternary complexes. 3',5'-pdTp raises the affinities of both wild-type and mutant enzymes for Mn2+ by factors of 47 and 31, respectively, while 5'-TMP raises the affinities of the enzymes for Mn2+ by smaller factors of 6.8 and 4.4, respectively. Conversely, Mn2+ raises the affinities of both wild-type and mutant enzymes for the nucleotides by 1-2 orders of magnitude. Analogous effects are observed in the ternary Ca2+ complexes. Dissociation constants of Ca2+ and Mn2+ from binary and ternary complexes, measured by direct binding studies, show reasonable agreement with those obtained by kinetic analysis. Structural differences in the ternary metal complexes of the D40G mutant are revealed by a 31-fold decrease in Vmax with Ca2+ and by 1.4-3.1-fold decreases in the enhancement of 1/T1 of water protons with Mn2+.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Error analysis of filters implemented with floating point arithmetic (2002)

Discrete time filters widely used in most control applications are usually implemented on finite precision digital devices which employ either fixed point of floating point arithmetic. Large dynamic range and the inherent normalizing characteristic of floating point representations may, in certain cases, make them preferable over other forms of representations. In a general simulation of system response, the effects due to quantization are not usually considered. This study presents a code for emulation of floating point quantization effects in time domain simulation of the system response.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Biodegradable Pela Block Copolymers: In Vitro Degradation and Tissue Reaction (1988)

Degradation of, and tissue reaction elicited by a series of polyethylene oxide (PEO)/polylactic acid (PLA) PELA block copolymers were studied in vitro and in vivo. In particular, the effect of pH, temperature and enzymatic activity was addressed. The mass loss was faster, the more basic the media, while, expectedly, PELA copolymers degraded faster with the higher temperature. The addition of an enzyme (carboxylic ester hydrolase) had no effect. The degradation process strongly affected the mechanical properties of the materials under investigation, the elongation at break dropping drastically after two days of degradation. After seven days, only gross observation of the extensively degraded samples was possible. The in vivo studies compared the tissue reaction elicited by various PELA copolymers to that evoked by PLA. Evaluation of tissue reaction observed with a PELA sample after sterilization with gamma radiation showed acute inflammation with considerable dispersion of the material, 12 days after implantation. The granulomatous reaction observed with PELA copolymers after ethylene oxide sterilization was identical to the reaction observed with PLA.
Multiple determinants of verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 attachment-effacement (1993)

Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli strains of the serotype O157:H7 belong to a class of gastrointestinal pathogens that adhere to epithelial cells in a characteristic pattern known as attaching and effacing. Recent insight into the nature of E. coli O157:H7 adhesion was provided by the cloning and sequencing of the chromosomal eaeA (for E. coli attaching and effacing) gene homolog (G. Beebakhee, M. Louie, J. De Azavedo, and J. Brunton, FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 91:63-68, 1992, and J. Yu and J. B. Kaper, Mol. Microbiol. 6:411-417, 1992) and isolation of a 60-MDa plasmid referred to as pO157 (I. Toth, M. L. Cohen, H. S. Rumschlag, L. W. Riley, E. H. White, J. H. Carr, W. W. Bond, and I. K. Wachsmuth, Infect. Immun. 58:1223-1231, 1990, and S. Tzipori, H. Karch, K. I. Wachsmuth, R. M. Robins-Browne, A. D. O'Brien, H. Lior, M. L. Cohen, J. Smithers, and M. M. Levine, Infect. Immun. 55:3117-3125, 1987) and an approximately 94-kDa outer membrane protein (94-kDa OMP; P. Sherman, F. Cockerill III, R. Soni, and J. Brunton, Infect. Immun. 59:890-899, 1991). In this study, we examined the gene products of both eaeA and pO157 in relation to the 94-kDa OMP and as candidate effectors for O157:H7 attachment-effacement. Peptide sequencing and immunoassay demonstrated that the C. coli O157:H7 eaeA gene product is distinct from the 94-kDa OMP. Using ultrastructural analyses, we found that both parent and pO157 plasmid-cured O157:H7 strains demonstrated attaching and effacing adhesion to host epithelial cells and reacted equally well to rabbit antiserum raised against the 94-kDa OMP. By both transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy, E. coli HB101 transformed separately with the cloned eaeA gene and the pO157 plasmid did not form attaching and effacing lesions on cultured epithelial cells in vitro and rabbit intestinal tissues in vivo. Since additional determinants may mediate the attaching and effacing phenotype, we examined transposon TnphoA mutants constructed from E. coli O157:H7 strain CL8. Two TnphoA mutants were found deficient in bacterial factors that are necessary for O157:H7 attachment-effacement and likely distinct from the eaeA gene product.
Correction of the aberrations in the human eye with a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator: limits to performance (1998)

We evaluated the performance of a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator for static correction of the aberrations in the human eye. By applying phase-retrieval techniques to pairs of double-pass images we first estimated the wave aberration of the eye to be corrected. Then we introduced the opposite phase map in the modulator, which was placed in a plane conjugated with the eye's pupil, and we recorded double-pass images of a point source before and after correction of the aberrations. In a slightly aberrated artificial eye a clear improvement was obtained after correction, and, although diffraction-limited performance was not achieved, the results were close to the theoretical predictions. In the two living eyes that we studied some benefit also appeared in the correction, but the performance was worse than that expected. We evaluated possible explanations for the relatively poor performance that was obtained in the human eye: an incorrect estimate of the ocular aberration, the limited spatial resolution of the modulator, and the dynamic changes in the ocular aberrations. Based on the results in the artificial eye, the first problem was not considered to be a major source of error. However, we showed that the spatial resolution of the liquid-crystal spatial light modulator limits the maximum correction to be attained. In addition, the changes in the ocular optics over time also impose a limit in the performance of static corrections.
Virtual Worlds as a Tool for Enterprise Services (2009)

Online virtual worlds offer exciting new opportunities for enterprises or businesses. To exploit these opportunities enterprises need to find a way to integrate virtual world services with their real-world services, and to exploit virtual worlds rich collaboration environment to offer new or enhanced services. However, there are many challenges to realizing these goals, such as resolving virtual and real identifications, controlling communication sessions between real and virtual world entities, and managing resources in both worlds. In this paper, we study these issues and propose a framework for integrating virtual worlds into enterprise service work flow. We implemented a customer service in a VW contact center that is integrated with corresponding enterprise services. We also present a novel mechanism in virtual worlds that allow users to bring their own resources, along with the contact center resources, and share the resources with other customers or agents to resolve customer issues. Further, we present experiences from our prototype.
Gas sorption and characterization of poly(ether‐b‐amide) segmented block copolymers (1999)

The solubilities of He, H2, N2, O2, CO2, CH4, C2H6, C3H8, and n-C4H10 were determined at 35°C and pressures up to 27 atmospheres in a systematic series of phase separated polyether–polyamide segmented block copolymers containing either poly(ethylene oxide) [PEO] or poly(tetramethylene oxide) [PTMEO] as the rubbery polyether phase and nylon 6 [PA6] or nylon 12 [PA12] as the hard polyamide phase. Sorption isotherms are linear for the least soluble gases (He, H2, N2, O2, and CH4), convex to the pressure axis for more soluble penetrants (CO2, C3H8, and n-C4H10) and slightly concave to the pressure axis for ethane. These polymers exhibit high CO2/N2 and CO2/H2 solubility selectivity. This property appears to derive mainly from high carbon dioxide solubility, which is ascribed to the strong affinity of the polar ether linkages for CO2. As the amount of the polyether phase in the copolymers increases, gas solubility increases. The solubility of all gases is higher in polymers with less polar constituents, PTMEO and PA12, than in polymers with more polar PEO and PA6 units. CO2/N2 and CO2/H2 solubility selectivity, however, are higher in polymers with higher concentrations of polar repeat units. The sorption data are complemented with physical characterization (differential scanning calorimetry, elemental analysis, and wide angle X-ray diffraction) of the various block copolymers. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 37: 2463–2475, 1999
Modelling and analysis of a multilevel voltage source inverter applied as a static var compensator (1993)

A multilevel PWM voltage source inverter, especially a five-level one, is introduced to obtain a static var compensator (SVC) as a large scale power source. The multilevel inverter has many advantages, such as better utilization of the switching devices, lower switching frequency at each semiconductor switch and reduced harmonics. In this paper, the SVC with five-level inverter is modelled using circuit DQ transformation and completely analysed including DC and AC characteristics. It is also pointed out that the modulation indexes depend on the values of the DC side capacitors to meet the DC side voltage balancing, Finally, through the experimental results from a 5kVA SVC, the validity of the analyses and the feasibility of the var compensation system are shown for high power applications.
HKT1;5-Like Cation Transporters Linked to Na<sup>+</sup> Exclusion Loci in Wheat, <i>Nax2</i> and <i>Kna1</i> (2007)

Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) has a greater ability to exclude Na+ from its leaves and is more salt tolerant than durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum [Desf.]). A novel durum wheat, Line 149, was found to contain a major gene for Na+ exclusion, Nax2, which removes Na+ from the xylem in the roots and leads to a high K+-to-Na+ ratio in the leaves. Nax2 was mapped to the distal region on chromosome 5AL based on linkage to microsatellite markers. The Nax2 locus on 5AL coincides with the locus for a putative Na+ transporter, HKT1;5 (HKT8). The Nax2 region on 5AL is homoeologous to the region on chromosome 4DL containing the major Na+ exclusion locus in bread wheat, Kna1. A gene member of the HKT1;5 family colocates to the deletion bin containing Kna1 on chromosome 4DL. This work provides evidence that Nax2 and Kna1 are strongly associated with HKT1;5 genes.
A Survey Analysis of Harvesting Logistics in Tennessee (2015)

TheState of Tennessee is located in the Southeastern part of the United States andis recognized for the production of high quality hardwood lumber used inmultiple pulp, paper and veneer wood industries. To capture the potential growth of forestproducts businesses, the logistics of harvesting and transportation operationswere investigated through pilot meetings with loggers and an in-depth statewide12-page logging and transportation logistics survey. No study prior to this onehas detailed the existing logging logistics and capacity of the state. Theresults explain the critical state of the existing logging and transportationlogistics and operational conditions. It highlights the machine operators’limited compensation. The integrated harvest logistics, operations, workforceand conditions findings demonstrate the importance of understanding the jointoperations and workforce capacity and regulations to develop a betterunderstanding of forest products industries and forest products supply chainsfrom removal to end use.