Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can Ice-Like Structures Form on Non-Ice-Like Substrates? The Example of the K-feldspar Microcline

Feldspar minerals are the most common rock formers in Earth’s crust. As such they play an important role in subjects ranging from geology to climate science. An atomistic understanding of the feldspar structure and its interaction with water is therefore desirable, not least because feldspar has been shown to dominate ice nucleation by mineral dusts in Earth’s atmosphere. The complexity of the ice/feldspar interface arising from the numerous chemical motifs expressed on the surface makes it a challenging system. Here we report a comprehensive study of this challenging system with ab initio density functional theory calculations. We show that the distribution of Al atoms, which is crucial for the dissolution kinetics of tectosilicate minerals, differs significantly between the bulk environment and on the surface. Furthermore, we demonstrate that water does not form ice-like overlayers in the contact layer on the most easily cleaved (001) surface of K-feldspar. We do, however, identify contact layer structures of water that induce ice-like ordering in the second overlayer. This suggests that even substrates without an apparent match with the ice structure may still act as excellent ice nucleating agents.
Cryopreserved deglycerolized blood is safe and achieves superior tissue oxygenation compared with refrigerated red blood cells: A prospective randomized pilot study

BACKGROUND During preservation, donated liquid red blood cells (RBCs) experience multiple functional and structural changes known as the storage lesion. Increased RBC age is associated with increased infection rates, organ failure, and mortality. METHODS This prospective, randomized, double-blinded pilot study enrolled stable trauma patients who required RBC transfusion. Patients were randomly assigned to receive standard or cryopreserved RBCs. Continuous tissue oxygenation (StO2) monitoring was performed during the peritransfusion period. Hematocrit and thrombelastography before and after transfusion were evaluated. Patients were monitored for transfusion reactions and clinical outcomes. RESULTS Fifty-seven patients were randomized, and groups were well matched for demographics and Injury Severity Score (ISS). No statistically significant differences were noted in hematocrit change, thrombelastography parameters, transfusion reactions, or clinical outcomes. StO2 was found to be higher in the cryopreserved group. CONCLUSION Cryopreserved RBCs are equally safe and efficacious to refrigerated RBCs. This storage technique extends the life span of RBCs to 10 years, potentially preserving a precious resource and preventing the storage lesion. StO2 was superior in patients receiving cryopreserved RBCs. This finding has the potential to drive a paradigm shift in transfusion practices. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, level II.
On SDSI's linked local name spaces

R.L. Rivest and B. Lampson (1996) have recently introduced SDSI, a Simple Distributed Security Infrastructure. One of the important innovations of SDSI is the use of linked local name spaces. The paper suggests a logical explanation of SDSI's local name spaces, as a complement to the operational explanation given in the SDSI definition.
New Insights into the Late Triassic Nadigangri Formation of Northern Qiangtang, Tibet, China: Constraints from U‐Pb Ages and Hf Isotopes of Detrital and Magmatic Zircons

We report here U‐Pb age and in situ Hf isotopic results for detrital and magmatic zircons from one conglomerate and four tuffite samples from the Late Triassic Nadigangri Formation across the North Qiangtang depression, Tibet. Coupled with previously published data in the region, this paper proposes new insights into the geochronological framework for the Nadigangri Formation. The deposition ages of tuffite from top to bottom in the Woruo Mountain, Quem Co and Dongqu River, are 203 Ma, 226 Ma, 221.5 Ma and 221.1 Ma, respectively. The detrital zircons yield a younger cluster of ages of 201.5–225 Ma from the conglomerate of the Quem Co Formation. The Late Triassic Nadigangri Formation defines a temporal range approximately between 201 and 225 Ma (Norian‐Rhaetian), including three predominant groups of 220–225 Ma, 210–217 Ma and 201–205 Ma, which correspond with the three main rifting episodes of initial rifting, further rifting and final rifting. Positive εHf(t) value and low model ages in younger detrital zircons suggests a juvenile character. However, the Hf isotopes of magmatic zircons display the presence of reworked ancient crust with 1.1–1.8 Ga. These results provide strong constraints not only on the temporal range of the Late Triassic Nadigangri Formation, but also on the onset of the Qiangtang Mesozoic rift basin.
Echinococcosis: disease, detection and transmission

Echinococcosis is one of the world's most geographically widespread parasitic zoonoses, with transmission occurring in tropical, temperate and arctic biomes. Most human infections are due to Echinococcus granulosus transmitted between domestic dogs and livestock, but this cosmopolitan species also cycles between wild carnivores (principally canids) and wild ungulates. The other species with significant zoonotic potential is E. multilocularis that occurs naturally in fox definitive hosts and small mammal intermediate hosts. These two species cause human cystic or alveolar echinococcosis respectively, which may be considered serious public health problems in several regions including developed countries. This review provides an introductory overview to the Supplement and summarises the biology and epidemiology of these two related cestodes with an emphasis on applied aspects relating to detection, diagnosis and surveillance in animal and human populations, and includes aspects of transmission ecology, and also considers aspects of community epidemiology and potential for control.
Effects of N‐acetyl‐seryl‐asparyl‐lysyl‐proline on blood pressure, renal damage, and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a high prevalence of hypertension. NZBWF1 (SLE‐Hyp) mice develop hypertension that can be prevented by modulating T cells. The peptide N‐acetyl‐seryl‐aspartyl‐lysyl‐proline (Ac‐SDKP) decreases renal damage and improves renal function in a model of SLE without hypertension (MRL/lpr). However, it is not known whether Ac‐SDKP prevents hypertension in NZBWF1 mice. We hypothesized that in SLE‐Hyp, Ac‐SDKP prevents hypertension and renal damage by modulating T cells. Animals were divided into four groups: (1) control + vehicle, (2) control + Ac‐SDKP, (3) SLE + vehicle, and (4) SLE + Ac‐SDKP. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), albuminuria, renal fibrosis, and T‐cell phenotype were analyzed. SBP was higher in SLE compared to control mice and was not decreased by Ac‐SDKP treatment. Half of SLE mice developed an acute and severe form of hypertension accompanied by albuminuria followed by death. Ac‐SDKP delayed development of severe hypertension, albuminuria, and early mortality, but this delay did not reach statistical significance. Ac‐SDKP prevented glomerulosclerosis, but not interstitial fibrosis in SLE‐Hyp mice. SLE‐Hyp mice showed a decrease in helper and cytotoxic T cells as well as an increase in double negative lymphocytes and T helper 17 cells, but these cells were unaffected by Ac‐SDKP. In conclusion, Ac‐SDKP prevents kidney damage, without affecting blood pressure in an SLE animal model. However, during the acute relapse of SLE, Ac‐SDKP might also delay the manifestation of an acute and severe form of hypertension leading to early mortality. Ac‐SDKP is a potential tool to treat renal damage in SLE‐Hyp mice.
Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing

Jane Waldfogel, Terry-Ann Craigie, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn review recent studies that use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to examine why children who grow up in single-mother and cohabiting families fare worse than children born into married-couple households. They also present findings from their own new research.Analysts have investigated five key pathways through which family structure might influence child well-being: parental resources, parental mental health, parental relationship quality, parenting quality, and father involvement. It is also important to consider the role of the selection of different types of men and women into different family types, as well as family stability. But analysts remain uncertain how each of these elements shapes children's outcomes.In addition to providing an overview of findings from other studies using FFCWS, Waldfogel, Craigie, and Brooks-Gunn report their own estimates of the effect of a consistently defined set of family structure and stability categories on cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes of children in the FFCWS study at age five. The authors find that the links between fragile families and child outcomes are not uniform. Family instability, for example, seems to matter more than family structure for cognitive and health outcomes, whereas growing up with a single mother (whether that family structure is stable or unstable over time) seems to matter more than instability for behavior problems. Overall, their results are consistent with other research findings that children raised by stable single or cohabiting parents are at less risk than those raised by unstable single or cohabiting parents.The authors conclude by pointing to three types of policy reforms that could improve outcomes for children. The first is to reduce the share of children growing up in fragile families (for example, through reducing the rate of unwed births or promoting family stability among unwed parents). The second is to address the pathways that place such children at risk (for example, through boosting resources in single-parent homes or fostering father involvement in fragile families). The third is to address directly the risks these children face (for example, through high-quality early childhood education or home-visiting policies).
In Silico Analysis of the Small Molecule Content of Outer Membrane Vesicles Produced by Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron Indicates an Extensive Metabolic Link between Microbe and Host

The interactions between the gut microbiota and its host are of central importance to the health of the host. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are produced ubiquitously by Gram-negative bacteria including the gut commensal Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. These vesicles can interact with the host in various ways but until now their complement of small molecules has not been investigated in this context. Using an untargeted high-coverage metabolomic approach we have measured the small molecule content of these vesicles in contrasting in vitro conditions to establish what role these metabolites could perform when packed into these vesicles. B. thetaiotaomicron packs OMVs with a highly conserved core set of small molecules which are strikingly enriched with mouse-digestible metabolites and with metabolites previously shown to be associated with colonization of the murine GIT. By use of an expanded genome-scale metabolic model of B. thetaiotaomicron and a potential host (the mouse) we have established many possible metabolic pathways between the two organisms that were previously unknown, and have found several putative novel metabolic functions for mouse that are supported by gene annotations, but that do not currently appear in existing mouse metabolic networks. The lipidome of these OMVs bears no relation to the mouse lipidome, so the purpose of this particular composition of lipids remains unclear. We conclude from this analysis that through intimate symbiotic evolution OMVs produced by B. thetaiotaomicron are likely to have been adopted as a conduit for small molecules bound for the mammalian host in vivo.
Experimental investigation of ion-ion recombination under atmospheric conditions

Abstract. We present the results of laboratory measurements of the ion–ion recombination coefficient at different temperatures, relative humidities and concentrations of ozone and sulfur dioxide. The experiments were carried out using the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets (CLOUD) chamber at CERN, the walls of which are made of conductive material, making it possible to measure small ions. We produced ions in the chamber using a 3.5 GeV c−1 beam of positively charged pions (π+) generated by the CERN Proton Synchrotron (PS). When the PS was switched off, galactic cosmic rays were the only ionization source in the chamber. The range of the ion production rate varied from 2 to 100 cm−3 s−1, covering the typical range of ionization throughout the troposphere. The temperature ranged from −55 to 20 °C, the relative humidity (RH) from 0 to 70 %, the SO2 concentration from 0 to 40 ppb, and the ozone concentration from 200 to 700 ppb. The best agreement of the retrieved ion–ion recombination coefficient with the commonly used literature value of 1.6 × 10−6 cm3 s−1 was found at a temperature of 5 °C and a RH of 40 % (1.5 ± 0.6) × 10−6 cm3 s−1. At 20 °C and 40 % RH, the retrieved ion–ion recombination coefficient was instead (2.3 ± 0.7) × 10−6 cm3 s−1. We observed no dependency of the ion–ion recombination coefficient on ozone concentration and a weak variation with sulfur dioxide concentration. However, we observed a more than fourfold increase in the ion–ion recombination coefficient with decreasing temperature. We compared our results with three different models and found an overall agreement for temperatures above 0 °C, but a disagreement at lower temperatures. We observed a strong increase in the recombination coefficient for decreasing relative humidities, which has not been reported previously.
Elliptic Sombor index of trees and unicyclic graphs

Let G = G ( V, E ) be a simple connected graph with vertex set V and edge set E . The elliptic Sombor index of G is deﬁned as ESO ( G ) = (cid:80) uv ∈ E ( d ( u ) + d ( v )) (cid:112) d 2 ( u ) + d 2 ( v ) , where d ( u ) denotes the degree of vertex u . In this paper, the maximal value of the elliptic Sombor index of trees with a given diameter or matching number or number of pendent vertices is determined. The extremal values of the elliptic Sombor index of unicyclic graphs are also found. Furthermore, those trees and unicyclic graphs that achieve the obtained extremal values are characterized.
Identification des déterminants de la concentration en polluants organiques gazeux dans le bassin méditerranéen Est

Les composes organiques volatils (COV) jouent un role majeur au sein du systeme atmospherique en tant que precurseurs d’ozone tropospherique et d’aerosols organiques (AO) secondaires. En region mediterraneenne, les concentrations en polluants particulaires et gazeux sont generalement plus elevees que dans la plupart des regions d’Europe continentale, en particulier en periode estivale. Cependant, la pollution de l’air dans cette region reste difficile a caracteriser en raison d’un manque de mesures atmospheriques. Cette these permet de mieux comprendre les sources et le devenir des COV en region mediterraneenne orientale. Lors de la campagne de mesure intensive de Mars 2015 realisee sur un site de fond chypriote, des mesures en continu d’un grand nombre de COV ont permis d’evaluer leurs teneurs, de mieux comprendre leurs principales sources dans la region et de decrire leurs variabilites et leurs origines potentielles. Une analyse factorielle a montre que les sources biogeniques et la pollution de fond regionale etaient les plus importants contributeurs aux concentrations en COV observees sur ce site. Beneficiant de mesures d’AO en continu, un parallele entre la composition en aerosol organique et la phase gazeuse a ete realise. Les interactions des COV biogeniques avec des composes anthropiques peuvent influencer la formation et la croissance de nouvelles particules, induisant un renforcement de la fraction d’AO secondaire. Finalement, des mesures en continu de COV primaires ont ete effectuees de Janvier 2015 a Fevrier 2016 afin de mieux caracteriser la variation saisonniere des COV et de leurs sources affectant la region mediterraneenne orientale.
Level of Caregiver Burden in Jamaican Stroke Caregivers and Relationship between Selected Sociodemographic Variables.

OBJECTIVE This study sought to determine the level of caregiver burden present in Jamaican stroke caregivers and to investigate the relationship between caregiver burden and selected sociodemographic variables. METHOD The Bakas Caregiving Outcomes Scale and a demographic sheet were administered to the caregivers. The stroke survivors completed the Barthel Index and the Geriatric Depression Scale. Interview administration was used for all tools. RESULTS A total of 48 caregivers with their stroke survivors participated in this study. Preliminary findings showed that caregivers of stroke survivors in Jamaica are experiencing some level of burden with scores ranging from 21 to 62 (mean = 43.64 ± 8.73). Lower burden scores indicate greater burden. Caregivers of female stroke survivors had significantly greater levels of burden (43.5 ± 8.87) than those caring for male survivors [44.4 ± 8.3] (p = 0.03). There were no significant correlations between caregiver burden and age of the stroke survivor; however, a low correlation was found between depression and caregiver burden (r = -0.33, p = 0.02). Female survivors were found to have significantly higher levels of depression than males (16.72 ± 6.21 vs 11.34 ± 7.31, p < 0.01) and caregivers of survivors who had higher depression scores experienced more burden. CONCLUSION Preliminary findings point to depressive symptoms and functional status in the stroke survivor as being a significant contributor to caregiver burden; however, further data collection and analysis need to be completed before more definitive conclusions can be made.
Clinical, histologic, and bacteriologic findings in dairy cows with digital dermatitis (footwarts) one month after topical treatment with lincomycin hydrochloride or oxytetracycline hydrochloride.

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of lincomycin and oxytetracycline for treatment of digital dermatitis (DD) in dairy cows through gross visual examination, histologic evaluation, and bacteriologic evaluation. DESIGN Randomized controlled clinical trial. ANIMALS 25 cows with DD lesions from a commercial Holstein dairy herd. PROCEDURES Cows with DD lesions were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: topical treatment with 10 g of lincomycin hydrochloride (n = 11), topical treatment with 10 g of oxytetracycline hydrochloride (11), and no treatment (3) on days 1 and 2 (d1). Biopsy specimens were obtained for histologic examination from DD lesions prior to treatment and 28 or 31 days (d30) after treatment for histologic examination. Cows were clinically examined on d1, days 12 or 14 (d14), and d30. RESULTS No difference was evident in clinical responses to lincomycin and oxytetracycline, so data were pooled; at d30, 8 of 11 of lincomycin-treated lesions and 7 of 11 oxytetracycline-treated lesions appeared visually healed, respectively. Gross visual examination suggested 73% (16/22) of treated cows were healed at d14 and 68% (15/22) of treated cows were healed on d30. Of the 15 lesions that appeared healed on d30, 7 of 15 were classified histologically as active (ulceration and bacterial invasion; 2/15) or incipient (5/15). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Clinical responses to lincomycin and oxytetracycline did not differ. Agreement was good between gross visual and histologic assessments of DD lesions before treatment; agreement 1 month after treatment was variable. Histologic evaluation could not distinguish incomplete healing from lesion recurrence.
Process Integration for Graphene Tunnel Field Effect Transistors

CMOS scaling over the years has brought great improvements in the computational speed, density and cost of microprocessors. However, scaling is approaching its limits owing to the difficulty in reducing the supply voltage with conventional MOSFETs having at best a subthreshold swing of 60mv/decade. A possible alternative is Tunnel FETs (TFETs) where carrier transport happens through band-to-band tunneling as opposed to thermal injection in MOSFETs. While silicon and III-V semiconductors have been investigated in this context, carbon-based and the large family of transition metal dichalcogenides offer more material flexibility and better electrostatic control. Bilayer Graphene (BLG) has the interesting property that an appreciable band gap can be induced electrostatically. Additionally, its low effective mass (0.05me), direct bandgap and ultra-thin body make it highly suitable for TFETs. Theoretical studies for BLG TFETs have shown promising results, although practical implementation requires several technical hurdles to be overcome. To address some of these, process modules for realization of BLG TFET have been developed in this dissertation. Channel-Length Scaling: To replace conventional Si MOSFETs, graphene and other 2D materials should demonstrate superior behavior in the short-channel devices. Thus, a recipe for fabricating devices with a channel length down to 40nm was developed and demonstrated in the lab. Also, MoS2 devices were fabricated with this recipe and their electrical properties were compared over a range of channel-lengths. Contact-doping on Single-Layer Graphene (SLG): BLG TFET architectures exploiting the effect of charge transfer between metal and graphene to realize abrupt P-i-N structure has been proposed in literature. An experimental study towards quantifying doping by metal on large area SLG was performed with Transfer Length method (TLM). Coupled with the scaling module, CVD graphene was used to obtain a statistical variation of various electrical parameters crucial for realization of logic devices. Also, an evaluation using a model based on Landauer-Buttiker formalism was performed to understand the electrostatic and geometric factors for designing P-N junctions. Further, suggestions regarding extending the results to BLG has been proposed. Gate-Stack on Graphene: Gate-dielectric scaling is very important for enabling overall device scaling. Due to weak Vander Waals’ interaction between graphene layers, growing a reliable oxide on graphene channel has been a challenge. In this work, a low temperature Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) recipe for high k-dielectrics - Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) - over graphene has been developed and investigated through physical and electrical characterization.
Intratumoral Variations in DNA Ploidy and S-Phase Fraction in Human Breast Cancer

To study intratumoral DNA ploidy heterogeneity and S‐phase fraction (SPF) variability, we prospectively collected five different samples from 48 breast carcinomas and each sample was analysed separately by flow cytometry. Aneuploidy rate was 89.6% after analysis of four or five samples. DNA ploidy heterogeneity, i.e., different samples classified as either DNA euploid or DNA aneuploid in the same tumor was seen in 17%, and DNA index heterogeneity, i.e., tumor populations with different DNA indices (DIs) seen in different samples was 44%. A statistical model defining SPF heterogeneity is proposed. SPF heterogeneity as defined by us was 71%, and as expected the SPF heterogeneity rate increased significantly with increasing number of analysed samples. Four or more samples are needed to detect the most deviant (highest) SPF values. An unrecognized intratumor heterogeneity of DNA ploidy and SPF may partly explain the conflicting results reported in the literature on the above prognostic indicators.