Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling of non-stationary accretion disks in X-ray novae A 0620-00 and GRS 1124-68 during outburst

Aims. We address the task of modeling soft X-ray and optical light curves of X-ray novae in the high/soft state. Methods. The analytic model of viscous evolution of an externally truncated accretion α-disk is used. Relativistic effects near a Kerr black hole and self-irradiation of an accretion disk are taken into account. Results. The model is applied to the outbursts of X-ray nova Monocerotis 1975 (A 0620−00) and X-ray nova Muscae 1991 (GRS 1124−68). Comparison of observational data with the model yields constraints on the angular momentum (the Kerr parameter) of the black holes in A 0620−00 and GRS 1124−68: 0.3−0. 6a nd≤0.4, and on the viscosity parameter α of the disks: 0.7−0.95 and 0.55−0.75. We also conclude that the accretion disks should have an effective geometrical thickness 1.5−2 times greater than the theoretical value of the distance between the photometric layers.
Estimates of Australia's non-heterosexual population

Background Demographers have studied minority populations for many years, but relatively little attention has been paid to sexual minority groups. Population estimates for sexual minorities would be useful as denominators for a range of health and socioeconomic indicators, to monitor representation in employment, assist budget planning and inform the marketing of goods and services. Aim The aim of this paper is to present some approximate estimates of the non-heterosexual adult population of Australia in mid-2016 by sex, broad age group and state and territory. Data and methods Data on sexual identity were sourced from three nationally representative surveys: the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, the second Australian Study of Health and Relationships and the ABS General Social Survey. Use was made also of 2016 ABS Census of Population and Housing (Census) data and Estimated Resident Populations. Prevalence rates of the non-heterosexual population aged 18+ were averaged over the three surveys and multiplied by ERP to obtain national population estimates. Census data on same-sex couples were used to distribute the national estimates by state and territory. Results Australia’s non-heterosexual population aged 18+ in 2016 is estimated to have been 592,000, representing about 3.2% of the adult population. New South Wales is home to the largest non-heterosexual population (about 204,000) and the Northern Territory the smallest (4,700), while the highest prevalence is in the Australian Capital Territory (5.1%). Conclusions Australia’s non-heterosexual population is a relatively small population, but its prevalence varies considerably by age and sex and between states and territories. Estimates of this population should prove useful for monitoring health and wellbeing and for a variety of planning and policy purposes.
Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix : clinicopathological analysis and outcome of 26 cases

To reveal the clinicopathological data and prognostic outcome of 26 cases of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix (SNCUC). In 2004-2014, the cases were retrospective reviewed and clinicopathological data were collected. Survivals were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier methods by SPSS 19.0. The median age of the patients was 42 years. Twenty-one cases (80.8%) were diagnosed as being early stage carcinoma (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I-IIa). Eight cases (30.8%) underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) before surgery. All patients received radical surgery that was followed by adjuvant therapy. The median overall survival period (OS) of all cases was 19.3 months and the median disease-free survival (DFS) time was 16.6 months. SNCUC is rare in female genital tract cancer. Lymph node metastasis and lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) might occur in the early stage. Cases without parametrial involvement (PM) have better survivals periods than those with PM. Multimodality therapeutic methods could promote a patient outcome of suffering from SNCUC of the uterine cervix.
An integrated music recommendation system

In this paper, an integrated music recommendation system is proposed, which contains the functions of automatic music genre classification, automatic music emotion classification, and music similarity query. A novel tempo feature, named as log-scale modulation frequency coefficients, is presented in this paper. With AdaBoost algorithm, the proposed tempo feature is combined with timbre features and improves the performance of music genre and emotion classification. Comparing with the conventional methods based on timbre features, the precision of five-genre classification is enhanced from 86.8% to 92.2% and the accuracy of four-emotion classification is increased from 86.0% to 90.5%. Based on the results of music genre/emotion classification, we design a similarity query scheme, which can speed up the similarity query process without decreasing the precision. Furthermore, all the features employed in this paper are extracted from the data of MP3 partially decoding, which significantly reduces the feature extraction time
Mapping the Shores of the Brown Dwarf Desert. I. Upper Scorpius

We present the results of a survey for stellar and substellar companions to 82 young stars in the nearby OB association Upper Scorpius. This survey used nonredundant aperture mask interferometry to achieve typical contrast limits of Δ K ∼ 5–6 at the diffraction limit, revealing 12 new binary companions that lay below the detection limits of traditional high-resolution imaging; we also summarize a complementary snapshot imaging survey that discovered seven directly resolved companions. The overall frequency of binary companions (~35−4+5% at separations of 6-435 AU) appears to be equivalent to field stars of similar mass, but companions could be more common among lower mass stars than for the field. The companion mass function has statistically significant differences compared to several suggested mass functions for the field, and we suggest an alternate lognormal parameterization of the mass function. Our survey limits encompass the entire brown dwarf mass range, but we only detected a single companion that might be a brown dwarf; this deficit resembles the so-called brown dwarf desert that has been observed by radial velocity planet searches. Finally, our survey’s deep detection limits extend into the top of the planetary mass function, reaching 8-12 MJup for half of our sample. We have not identified any planetary companions at high confidence (≳99.5%), but we have identified four candidate companions at lower confidence (≳97.5%) that merit additional follow-up to confirm or disprove their existence.
In vitro evaluation of T-Scan®III through study of the sensels

Objective: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the T-Scan®III sensors system by measuring force and time in sensels. Methods: In order to evaluate the validity, known forces were applied to 31 sensels selected at random of a T-Scan® III sensor. In order to evaluate the reliability, the existing agreement between two different sensors was measured. Both validity and reliability were assessed using Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). Results: For the totalgroup of sensels, bymeasuring force, a poor level of validitywas obtained (Lin’sCCC:0.698); when measuring time, an almost perfect agreement was obtained (Lin’s CCC: 0.9995). In contrast, the reliability level was poor (Lin’s CCC: 0.099). Discussion: The T-Scan®III system neither shows an appropriate degree of validity when estimating absolute force, nor presents an adequate level of reliability when measuring relative force; however, it presents a high degree of validity when quantifying times.
Airway and tissue behavior during induced constriction in rats: intravenous vs. aerosol administration.

The distribution of contractile agonist during intravenous (i.v.) or aerosol (AR) administration is likely to be different. We questioned whether the different pattern of distribution would result in different effects on lung tissue response. We measured tracheal and alveolar pressure in open-chest mechanically ventilated [frequency 1 Hz, tidal volume 8 ml/kg, positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) 3 cmH2O] rats under control conditions and after i.v. or AR administration of saline or methacholine (MCh; i.v., 50 micrograms.kg-1.min-1; AR, 256 mg/ml). We calculated lung elastance and resistances of lung, tissue, and airway by fitting the equation of motion to changes in tracheal and alveolar pressure. Lungs were then frozen in situ with liquid nitrogen (PEEP=3 cmH2O) and processed via freeze substitution. Airway constriction was assessed by measuring the ratio of airway lumen to ideally relaxed area. Tissue distortion was assessed by measuring mean linear intercept between alveolar walls (Lm), atelectasis index (ATI) derived by calculating ratio of tissue to air space, and SD of Lm and ATI. I.v. and AR MCh increased lung resistance to a similar degree. However, changes in tissue resistance and lung elastance after AR MCh were significantly greater than those after i.v. MCh, whereas the change in airway resistance was significantly less. After i.v. MCh, airway constriction was prominent and evenly distributed. After AR MCh, airway constriction was less prominent and decreased as airway size decreased. Tissue distortion, i.e., SD of Lm and ATI, was significantly greater after AR than i.v. MCh. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The time-course changes of NT-proBNP and tissue Doppler indices in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement

Background In severe mitral regurgitation, a subset of patients who are asymptomatic may develop left ventricular decompensation before changes in echocardiographic parameters become evident. Since N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is used to detect early heart failure, we hypothesised that NT-proBNP would be activated in patients with mitral regurgitation. Methods Patients submitted to surgery were prospectively evaluated over eight months in the Department of Cardiology at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. Control patients with severe mitral regurgitation were obtained from the outpatient clinic. In order to define their value in identifying left ventricular decompensation, NT-proBNP levels and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) indices were simultaneously measured and compared with conventional echocardiographic indices at baseline and this was repeated at one week and at six weeks after valve replacement. Results Mean NT-proBNP levels were markedly elevated pre-operatively in all surgical cases compared to controls (p = 0.0001). The diastolic E-mitral/E-annulus ratio, measured using TDI, was higher in the study group, indicating higher left ventricular filling pressure present in the study group. NT-proBNP levels increased further at one week after surgery and subsided at the six-week follow-up visit to levels similar to the control group. The TDI diastolic ratio also decreased at one week, and increased slightly again at the six-week follow up. These changes were accompanied by significant reduction in left atrium and left ventricular chamber dimensions with an increase in the ejection fraction from one to six weeks. Conclusion Marked differences in mean NT-proBNP levels and TDI ratios between the study and control groups suggest that using TDI and NT-proBNP assays may detect covert left ventricular decompensation.
Phylogeny and evolutionary history of diplobathrid crinoids (Echinodermata)

Order Diplobathrida is a major clade of camerate crinoids spanning the Ordovician–Mississippian, yet phylogenetic relationships have only been inferred for Ordovician taxa. This has hampered efforts to construct a comprehensive tree of life for crinoids and develop a classification scheme that adequately reflects diplobathrid evolutionary history. Here, I apply maximum parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic approaches to the fossil record of diplobathrids to infer the largest tree of fossil crinoids to date, with over 100 genera included. Recovered trees provide a framework for evaluating the current classification of diplobathrids. Notably, previous suborder divisions are not supported, and superfamily divisions will require significant modification. Although numerous revisions are required for families, most can be retained through reassignment of genera. In addition, recovered trees were used to produce phylogeny‐based estimates of diplobathrid lineage diversity. By accounting for ghost lineages, phylogeny‐based richness estimates offer greater insight into diversification and extinction dynamics than traditional taxonomy‐based approaches alone and provide a detailed summary of the ~150 million‐year evolutionary history of Diplobathrida. This study constitutes a major step toward producing a phylogeny of the Crinoidea and documenting crinoid diversity dynamics. In addition, it will serve as a framework for subsequent phylogeny‐based investigations of macroevolutionary questions.
Speed of Visual Search in Old Age: 1950 to 2016.

OBJECTIVES To review work on the effects of old age on speed of visual search and of discriminations between signals and choices of responses between 1950 and 2016. METHODS Literature review and Brain Google. RESULTS Mild existential despondency. DISCUSSION Models for age changes in discrimination between signals and choices of responses have been based on comparisons of speed. The concept of speed has been used in four distinct ways: as a directly measured task performance index, as a hypothetical functional system performance characteristic, as a factor in psychometric models computing mutual variance in calendar age and as a neurophysiological performance characteristic. Since 1950, these measures have, in turn, determined models for speed of perceptual discriminations. Since the 1990s, advances in neuroimaging have not only transformed the data available, but also the nature of the questions that we ask.
Mutations in the Prokaryotic Pathway Rescue the fatty acid biosynthesis1 Mutant in the Cold1[OPEN]

Fatty acid biosynthesis mutants are temperature sensitive, but mutations in any of five genes of the prokaryotic lipid synthesis pathway suppress this low-temperature phenotype and rescue cold tolerance. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) fatty acid biosynthesis1 (fab1) mutant has increased levels of the saturated fatty acid 16:0 due to decreased activity of 3-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthase II. In fab1 leaves, phosphatidylglycerol, the major chloroplast phospholipid, contains up to 45% high-melting-point molecular species (molecules that contain only 16:0, 16:1-trans, and 18:0), a trait associated with chilling-sensitive plants, compared with less than 10% in wild-type Arabidopsis. Although they do not exhibit typical chilling sensitivity, when exposed to low temperatures (2°C–6°C) for long periods, fab1 plants do suffer collapse of photosynthesis, degradation of chloroplasts, and eventually death. A screen for suppressors of this low-temperature phenotype has identified 11 lines, some of which contain additional alterations in leaf-lipid composition relative to fab1. Here, we report the identification of two suppressor mutations, one in act1, which encodes the chloroplast acyl-ACP:glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase, and one in lpat1, which encodes the chloroplast acyl-ACP:lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase. These enzymes catalyze the first two steps of the prokaryotic pathway for glycerolipid synthesis, so we investigated whether other mutations in this pathway would rescue the fab1 phenotype. Both the gly1 mutation, which reduces glycerol-3-phosphate supply to the prokaryotic pathway, and fad6, which is deficient in the chloroplast 16:1/18:1 fatty acyl desaturase, were discovered to be suppressors. Analyses of leaf-lipid compositions revealed that mutations at all four of the suppressor loci result in reductions in the proportion of high-melting-point molecular species of phosphatidylglycerol relative to fab1. We conclude that these reductions are likely the basis for the suppressor phenotypes.
Effect of Intravenous Aminophylline on Plasma Levels of Catecholamines and Related Cardiovascular and Metabolic Responses in Man

Theophylline is thought to act by inhibiting the activity of phosphodiesterase, with a resultant increase in intracellular cyclic AMP. However, this concept is largely based on in vitro studies using concentrations of theophylline which greatly exceed therapeutic plasma concentrations. To investigate the relationship of the cardiovascular and metabolic effects of theophylline to activation of the sympathetic nervous system, i.v. aminophylline was administered to six healthy males under basal conditions. Each subject received four infusions. Mean theophylline concentrations (± SEM) of 4.5 ± 0.2, 10.0 ± 0.5, 14.0 ± 0.5 and 20.0 ± 1.2 μg/ml were achieved. Plasma epinephrine increased 262% (from 29 ± 4 to 105 ± 14 pg/ml, p < 0.01) and plasma norepinephrine increased 64% (from 190 ± 118 to 312 ± 51 pglml, p < 0.05) during the high-dose infusion. The increases in circulating catecholamines were dose-related (p < 0.001 by analysis of variance). Dose-related increases in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, plasma glucose, free fatty acids and insulin were also observed (p < 0.001 by analysis of variance). Although the duration of total electromechanical systole (QS2) and left ventricular ejection time adjusted for heart rate fell during the aminophylline infusions, this positive inotropic response was not influenced by dose, except possibly the high dose. Echocardiographic ejection fraction was not changed by the aminophylline infusions. We conclude that the acute cardiovascular and metabolic effects of theophylline may be mediated in part by stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system.
Survival of bundleless hair cells and subsequent bundle replacement in the bullfrog's saccule.

Our senses of hearing and balance depend upon hair cells, the sensory receptors of the inner ear. Millions of people suffer from hearing and balance deficits caused by damage to hair cells as a result of exposure to noise, aminoglycoside antibiotics, and antitumor drugs. In some species such damage can be reversed through the production of new cells. This proliferative response is limited in mammals but it has been hypothesized that damaged hair cells might survive and undergo intracellular repair. We examined the fate of bullfrog saccular hair cells after exposure to a low dose of the aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin to determine whether hair cells could survive such treatment and subsequently be repaired. In organ cultures of the bullfrog saccule a combination of time-lapse video microscopy, two-photon microscopy, electron microscopy, and immunocytochemistry showed that hair cells can lose their hair bundle and survive as bundleless cells for at least 1 week. Time-lapse and electron microscopy revealed stages in the separation of the bundle from the cell body. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of cultures fixed 2, 4, and 7 days after antibiotic treatment showed that numerous new hair bundles were produced between 4 and 7 days of culture. Further examination revealed hair cells with small repaired hair bundles alongside damaged remnants of larger surviving bundles. The results indicate that sensory hair cells can undergo intracellular self-repair in the absence of mitosis, offering new possibilities for functional hair cell recovery and an explanation for non-proliferative recovery.
Impairment of Speech Production Predicted by Lesion Load of the Left Arcuate Fasciculus

Background and Purpose— Previous studies have suggested that patients' potential for poststroke language recovery is related to lesion size; however, lesion location may also be of importance, particularly when fiber tracts that are critical to the sensorimotor mapping of sounds for articulation (eg, the arcuate fasciculus) have been damaged. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that lesion loads of the arcuate fasciculus (ie, volume of arcuate fasciculus that is affected by a patient's lesion) and of 2 other tracts involved in language processing (the extreme capsule and the uncinate fasciculus) are inversely related to the severity of speech production impairments in patients with stroke with aphasia. Methods— Thirty patients with chronic stroke with residual impairments in speech production underwent high-resolution anatomic MRI and a battery of cognitive and language tests. Impairment was assessed using 3 functional measures of spontaneous speech (eg, rate, informativeness, and overall efficiency) as well as naming ability. To quantitatively analyze the relationship between impairment scores and lesion load along the 3 fiber tracts, we calculated tract–lesion overlap volumes for each patient using probabilistic maps of the tracts derived from diffusion tensor images of 10 age-matched healthy subjects. Results— Regression analyses showed that arcuate fasciculus lesion load, but not extreme capsule or uncinate fasciculus lesion load or overall lesion size, significantly predicted rate, informativeness, and overall efficiency of speech as well as naming ability. Conclusions— A new variable, arcuate fasciculus lesion load, complements established voxel-based lesion mapping techniques and, in the future, may potentially be used to estimate impairment and recovery potential after stroke and refine inclusion criteria for experimental rehabilitation programs.
On the Origin of X-Ray Emission in Some FR I Galaxies: ADAF or Jet?

We investigate the origin of X-ray emission in FR I galaxies using radio, submillimeter, optical, and Chandra X-ray data for a small sample of eight FR I sources. These sources are very dim, with X-ray luminosities LX/LEdd ~ 10-4 to 10-8 (with LX the X-ray luminosity between 2 and 10 keV). We try to fit the multi-wave-band spectra using a coupled accretion-jet model. In this model, the accretion is described by an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF); in the innermost region of the ADAF, a fraction of the flow is transferred into the vertical direction and forms a jet. We find that X-ray emission in the source with the highest LX (~1.8 × 10-4LEdd) is from the ADAF. The results for the four sources with moderate LX (several times 10-6LEdd) are complicated. Two are dominated by the ADAF, one by the jet, and the other by the sum of the jet and ADAF. The X-ray emission in the three least luminous sources (LX ≲ 1.0 × 10-6LEdd) is mainly from the jet, although for one source it can also be interpreted as the ADAF, since the quality of the X-ray data is low. We conclude that these results roughly support the prediction of Yuan & Cui that when the X-ray luminosity of a system is below some critical value, the X-radiation will not be dominated by the emission from the ADAF any longer, but by the jet. We also investigate the fuel supply in these sources. We find that the accretion rate in four of the five sources for which we have good constraints must be higher than the Bondi rate. This implies that another fuel supply, such as gas released by the stellar population inside the Bondi radius, should be important.