Statistics and decision making as applied to printing conformity assessment

Conformity assessment, a relatively new activity in the printing industry, is an attestation that specified requirements relating to a product or process have been fulfilled. Printing certification bodies assess printing conformity according to sampling, aim points, tolerances, and decision-making rules that are stipulated by printing standards. However, do we know if: sampling is too large or too small; normative requirements are too many or too few; tolerances are set too tightly or too loosely; and the pass/fail criterion is too stringent or too relaxed? Moreover, how do these factors impact the passing probability of a sample, a job, and the database as a whole? To study inter-dependencies of these factors in production variation conformity, this research assumes that the number of jobs to be assessed for printing conformity is very large and that samples selected from a job are random. Statistical theory is used to study the relation between the passing probabilities of a printing job, a single sheet within each job, and each normative requirement. In our theoretical frame, given the tolerance levels of certain normative requirements, we can determine the passing probabilities of the criteria, the passing probability of a single sheet, and the overall passing probability of a printing job. Given the passing probability of a printing job, we can also determine the tolerance level of each normative requirement by reversing the procedure. This research uses a real-life printing dataset and simulation techniques to determine the passing probabilities of a job as a function of sampling, tolerances, and the pass/fail criterion of a job. This research offers two meaningful inferences: (1) the printing standards development community, i.e., ISO/TC 130, needs to be aware that sampling requirements, the number of normative requirements and their associated tolerances, and the pass/fail criteria impact the passing probability of a job; and (2) printers who are seeking printing certification need to know that, although sampling is random, the passing probability of a job ultimately depends on the process calibration and the effectiveness of local process control

Stretchable and High-Performance Supercapacitors with Crumpled Graphene Papers

Fabrication of unconventional energy storage devices with high stretchability and performance is challenging, but critical to practical operations of fully power-independent stretchable electronics. While supercapacitors represent a promising candidate for unconventional energy-storage devices, existing stretchable supercapacitors are limited by their low stretchability, complicated fabrication process, and high cost. Here, we report a simple and low-cost method to fabricate extremely stretchable and high-performance electrodes for supercapacitors based on new crumpled-graphene papers. Electrolyte-mediated-graphene paper bonded on a compliant substrate can be crumpled into self-organized patterns by harnessing mechanical instabilities in the graphene paper. As the substrate is stretched, the crumpled patterns unfold, maintaining high reliability of the graphene paper under multiple cycles of large deformation. Supercapacitor electrodes based on the crumpled graphene papers exhibit a unique combination of high stretchability (e.g., linear strain ~300%, areal strain ~800%), high electrochemical performance (e.g., specific capacitance ~196 F g[superscript −1]), and high reliability (e.g., over 1000 stretch/relax cycles). An all-solid-state supercapacitor capable of large deformation is further fabricated to demonstrate practical applications of the crumpled-graphene-paper electrodes. Our method and design open a wide range of opportunities for manufacturing future energy-storage devices with desired deformability together with high performance.United States. Office of Naval Research (N00014-14-1-0619)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CMMI-1253495)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (DMR-1121107)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (EECS-1344745

Loss of ATF3 exacerbates liver damage through the activation of mTOR/p70S6K/ HIF-1α signaling pathway in liver inflammatory injury.

Activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) is a stress-induced transcription factor that plays important roles in regulating immune and metabolic homeostasis. Activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) transcription factors are crucial for the regulation of immune cell function. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which the ATF3/mTOR/HIF-1 axis regulates immune responses in a liver ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) model. Deletion of ATF3 exacerbated liver damage, as evidenced by increased levels of serum ALT, intrahepatic macrophage/neutrophil trafficking, hepatocellular apoptosis, and the upregulation of pro-inflammatory mediators. ATF3 deficiency promoted mTOR and p70S6K phosphorylation, activated high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) and TLR4, inhibited prolyl-hydroxylase 1 (PHD1), and increased HIF-1α activity, leading to Foxp3 downregulation and RORγt and IL-17A upregulation in IRI livers. Blocking mTOR or p70S6K in ATF3 knockout (KO) mice or bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) downregulated HMGB1, TLR4, and HIF-1α and upregulated PHD1, increasing Foxp3 and decreasing IL-17A levels in vitro. Silencing of HIF-1α in ATF3 KO mice ameliorated IRI-induced liver damage in parallel with the downregulation of IL-17A in ATF3-deficient mice. These findings demonstrated that ATF3 deficiency activated mTOR/p70S6K/HIF-1α signaling, which was crucial for the modulation of TLR4-driven inflammatory responses and T cell development. The present study provides potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of liver IRI followed by liver transplantation

In-situ study of rules of nanostructure evolution, severe plastic deformations, and friction under high pressure

Severe plastic deformations under high pressure are used to produce nanostructured materials but were studied ex-situ. We introduce rough diamond anvils to reach maximum friction equal to yield strength in shear and perform the first in-situ study of the evolution of the pressure-dependent yield strength and nanostructural parameters for severely pre-deformed Zr. {\omega}-Zr behaves like perfectly plastic, isotropic, and strain-path-independent. This is related to reaching steady values of the crystallite size and dislocation density, which are pressure-, strain- and strain-path-independent. However, steady states for {\alpha}-Zr obtained with smooth and rough anvils are different, which causes major challenge in plasticity theory.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2208.0802

Modeling Count Outcomes from HIV Risk Reduction Interventions: A Comparison of Competing Statistical Models for Count Responses

Modeling count data from sexual behavioral outcomes involves many challenges, especially when the data exhibit a preponderance of zeros and overdispersion. In particular, the popular Poisson log-linear model is not appropriate for modeling such outcomes. Although alternatives exist for addressing both issues, they are not widely and effectively used in sex health research, especially in HIV prevention intervention and related studies. In this paper, we discuss how to analyze count outcomes distributed with excess of zeros and overdispersion and introduce appropriate model-fit indices for comparing the performance of competing models, using data from a real study on HIV prevention intervention. The in-depth look at these common issues arising from studies involving behavioral outcomes will promote sound statistical analyses and facilitate research in this and other related areas

Relationships between central tear film thickness and tear menisci of the upper and lower eyelids

PURPOSE. To investigate the relationship between central tear film thickness (TFT) and tear menisci of the upper and lower eyelids using real-time optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS. Both eyes of healthy subjects were imaged with a real-time OCT to obtain height, curvature, and area of upper and lower tear menisci simultaneously. Central TFT was indirectly measured by calculating the difference between baseline measurements of the central corneal thickness plus tear film and the true corneal thickness obtained after instillation of artificial tears. Results from two normal blinks were obtained from one eye at each visit and repeated the next day. RESULTS. The average central TFT was 3.4 Ϯ 2.6 m. The upper tear meniscus curvature, height, and area were 239 Ϯ 112 m, 268 Ϯ 68 m, and 22,732 Ϯ 11,974 m 2 respectively. There were no significant differences in curvatures, heights, or areas between upper and lower tear menisci, nor were there any differences in measured variables between the two blinks at each visit or between the two repeated visits in the right and left eye groups (P Ͼ 0.05). The upper and lower tear menisci in each eye group on each day correlated strongly with curvature, height, and area (all P Յ 0.03). However, no tear meniscus variable was a significant predictor of TFT (all P Ͼ 0.44). CONCLUSIONS. OCT is a promising tool in the measurements of TFT and dimensional variables of tear menisci. Upper and lower tear menisci have nearly identical dimensions. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006;47:4349 -4355

Transient hypercapnia reveals an underlying cerebrovascular pathology in a murine model for HIV-1 associated neuroinflammation: role of NO-cGMP signaling and normalization by inhibition of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase-5

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is known to be dysregulated in persons with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), for uncertain reasons. This is an important issue because impaired vasoreactivity has been associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke, elevated overall cardiovascular risk and cognitive impairment