Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the formation of dwarf galaxies and stellar haloes

Using analytic arguments and a suite of very high resolution (∼10 3 Mper particle) cosmo- logical hydrodynamical simulations, we argue that high-redshift, z ∼ 10, M ∼ 10 8 Mhaloes, form the smallest 'baryonic building block' (BBB) for galaxy formation. These haloes are just massive enough to efficiently form stars through atomic line cooling and to hold on to their gas in the presence of supernova (SN) winds and reionization. These combined effects, in par- ticular that of the SN feedback, create a sharp transition: over the mass range 3-10 × 10 7 M� , the BBBs drop two orders of magnitude in stellar mass. Below ∼2 × 10 7 M� , galaxies will be dark with almost no stars and no gas. Above this scale is the smallest unit of galaxy formation: the BBB. We show that the BBBs have stellar distributions which are spheroidal, of low rotational velocity, old and metal poor: they resemble the dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) of the Local Group (LG). Unlike the LG dSphs, however, they contain significant gas fractions. We connect these high-redshift BBBs to the smallest dwarf galaxies observed at z = 0 using linear theory. A small fraction (∼100) of these gas-rich BBBs at high redshift fall in to a galaxy the size of the Milky Way (MW). We suggest that 10 per cent of these survive to become the observed LG dwarf galaxies at the present epoch. This is consistent with recent numerical estimates. Those infalling haloes on benign orbits which keep them far away from the MW or Andromeda manage to retain their gas and slowly form stars - these become the smallest dwarf irregular galaxies; those on more severe orbits lose their gas faster than they can form stars and become the dwarf spheroidals. The remaining 90 per cent of the BBBs will be accreted. We show that this gives a metallicity and total stellar mass consistent with the MW old stellar halo.
Stueckelberg massive electromagnetism in curved spacetime: Hadamard renormalization of the stress-energy tensor and the Casimir effect

We discuss Stueckelberg massive electromagnetism on an arbitrary four-dimensional curved spacetime (gauge invariance of the classical theory and covariant quantization; wave equations for the massive spin-1 field $A_\mu$, for the auxiliary Stueckelberg scalar field $\Phi$ and for the ghost fields $C$ and $C^\ast$; Ward identities; Hadamard representation of the various Feynman propagators and covariant Taylor series expansions of the corresponding coefficients). This permits us to construct, for a Hadamard quantum state, the expectation value of the renormalized stress-energy tensor associated with the Stueckelberg theory. We provide two alternative but equivalent expressions for this result. The first one is obtained by removing the contribution of the "Stueckelberg ghost" $\Phi$ and only involves state-dependent and geometrical quantities associated with the massive vector field $A_\mu$. The other one involves contributions coming from both the massive vector field and the auxiliary Stueckelberg scalar field, and it has been constructed in such a way that, in the zero-mass limit, the massive vector field contribution reduces smoothly to the result obtained from Maxwell's theory. As an application of our results, we consider the Casimir effect outside a perfectly conducting medium with a plane boundary. We discuss the results obtained using Stueckelberg but also de Broglie-Proca electromagnetism and we consider the zero-mass limit of the vacuum energy in both theories. We finally compare the de Broglie-Proca and Stueckelberg formalisms and highlight the advantages of the Stueckelberg point of view, even if, in our opinion, the de Broglie-Proca and Stueckelberg approaches of massive electromagnetism are two faces of the same field theory.
Coculture of Synovium-Derived Stem Cells and Nucleus Pulposus Cells in Serum-Free Defined Medium With Supplementation of Transforming Growth Factor-β1: A Potential Application of Tissue-Specific Stem Cells in Disc Regeneration

Study Design. A coculture of synovium-derived stem cells (SDSCs) and nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) in a serum-free pellet system was treated with varying doses of transforming growth factor &bgr; (TGF-&bgr;). Cultures of either SDSCs or NPCs alone served as controls. Objective. The aim was to assess the feasibility of using SDSCs to supplement and replenish NPC population for disc regeneration. Summary of Background Data. SDSCs have been proven to be a tissue-specific type of mesenchymal stem cell capable of chondrogenesis. NPCs are chondrocyte-like cells with a high ratio of aggrecan. However, the capacity of SDSCs to complement the NPC population is not known. Methods. SDSCs were negatively isolated from porcine knee joint synovial tissue and NPCs were isolated from porcine lumbar spines (L1–L5). SDSCs and NPCs were cocultured (50:50) in a serum-free pellet system with the supplementation of varying doses (0, 3, 10, and 30 ng/mL) of TGF-&bgr;1 for 14 days. SDSCs or NPCs cultured alone served as controls. Chondrogenic differentiation markers were evaluated by histology, immunohistochemistry, biochemistry, and TaqMan PCR. Results. The coculture of SDSCs and NPCs in a pellet system displayed comparable differentiation properties (high levels of collagen II, aggrecan and Sox 9, a low level of collagen I, and no collagen X detectable) to NPCs alone when treated with high doses of TGF-&bgr;1. Moreover, the coculture and NPCs alone shared a similar higher ratio of aggrecan to collagen II. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1&agr; (HIF-1&agr;) was also observed to be up-regulated in coculture pellets at day 7 and had decreased at day 14 with the time of pellet tissue maturation. Conclusion. SDSCs may act as a potential mesenchymal stem cell candidate for NP regeneration. Further studies are needed to evaluate the in vivo effect of SDSCs on disc regeneration.
Acoustic Wave Biosensors for Biomechanical and Biological Characterization of Cells

During past decades, interest in development of cell-based biosensors has increased considerably. In this study, two kinds of acoustic wave sensors are adopted as the cell-based biosensors to investigate the biomechanical and biological behaviors of cells, the quartz thickness shear mode (TSM) resonator and Love wave sensor. For the first part, the quartz TSM resonator is applied to detect the structural and mechanical properties of tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSCs), which are one kind of newly discovered adult cells in tendons, and the platelets from blood. Through the TSM resonator, the related viscoelastic properties of cells are extracted, which could indicate the state of cells in different physiological conditions. The TSM resonator sensor is utilized to characterize the aging-related viscoelasticity differences between the aging and young TSCs, and also to monitor the dynamic activation process of platelets. For the second part, a 36˚ YX-LiTaO3 Love wave sensor with a parylene-C wave guiding layer is proposed as a cell-based biosensor. A theoretical model is derived, to describe the Love wave propagation in the wave guiding layer, the adherent cell layer, and penetration into the liquid medium. The Love wave sensor is used to monitor the adhesion process of cells. Compared with TSM resonator, the response of Love wave sensor to the cell adhesion is primarily induced by the formation of bonds between cells and the substrate. The numerical results indicate that the adherent cell layer of various storage or loss shear modulus in certain range can cause evident, characteristic variations in propagation velocity and propagation loss, revealing the potential of Love wave sensors in providing useful quantitative measures on cellular mechanical properties. In addition, a Love wave sensor with a phononic wave guiding layer is introduced for non-operation signal filtering and sensor sensitivity improvement. Both two kinds of acoustic wave sensors present their own advantages as the cell-based biosensors, indicating advisable techniques for investigating cell biology in general and certain physiological processes in particular.
Spatially heterogeneous stochasticity and the adaptive diversification of dormancy

Diversified bet‐hedging, a strategy that leads several individuals with the same genotype to express distinct phenotypes in a given generation, is now well established as a common evolutionary response to environmental stochasticity. Life‐history traits defined as diversified bet‐hedging (e.g. germination or diapause strategies) display marked differences between populations in spatial proximity. In order to find out whether such differences can be explained by local adaptations to spatially heterogeneous environmental stochasticity, we explored the evolution of bet‐hedging dormancy strategies in a metapopulation using a two‐patch model with patch differences in stochastic juvenile survival. We found that spatial differences in the level of environmental stochasticity, restricted dispersal, increased fragmentation and intermediate survival during dormancy all favour the adaptive diversification of bet‐hedging dormancy strategies. Density dependency also plays a major role in the diversification of dormancy strategies because: (i) it may interact locally with environmental stochasticity and amplify its effects; however, (ii) it can also generate chaotic population dynamics that may impede diversification. Our work proposes new hypotheses to explain the spatial patterns of bet‐hedging strategies that we hope will encourage new empirical studies of this topic.
Design and Synthesis of Cross-Linked Copolymer Membranes Based on Poly(benzoxazine) and Polybenzimidazole and Their Application to an Electrolyte Membrane for a High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cell

Elevated-temperature (100~200 °C) polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells have many features, such as their high efficiency and simple system design, that make them ideal for residential micro-combined heat and power systems and as a power source for fuel cell electric vehicles. A proton-conducting solid-electrolyte membrane having high conductivity and durability at elevated temperatures is essential, and phosphoric-acid-containing polymeric material synthesized from cross-linked polybenzoxazine has demonstrated feasible characteristics. This paper reviews the design rules, synthesis schemes, and characteristics of this unique polymeric material. Additionally, a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) utilizing this polymer membrane is evaluated in terms of its power density and lifecycle by an in situ accelerated lifetime test. This paper also covers an in-depth discussion ranging from the polymer material design to the cell performance in consideration of commercialization requirements.
Antiwear and extreme pressure performance of castor oil with nano-additives

The aim of the present study is to examine the antiwear, antifriction, and extreme pressure performance of castor oil with nano-additives by using a four-ball tester. CeO2 (≈90 nm) and polytetrafluroethylene (≈150 nm) nanoparticles were used as an additive in castor oil with four different concentrations in the range of 0.1–1.0% w/v. The suspension stability of the nanoparticles was improved by using sodium dodecyl sulfate as a dispersant. Different analytical tools were used to characterize the nanoparticles parameter (i.e. shape and size) as well as the worn surfaces. The additive concentration was optimized on the basis of tribological performance. The test results of antiwear and extreme pressure property have been reported on the basis of wear scar diameter and weld load, respectively. For the antiwear test, it was observed that the maximum reduction in the wear scar diameter was 37.4 and 35.3% at an optimum concentration of CeO2 and polytetrafluroethylene additive, respectively. Also, antifriction and load carrying properties of castor oil were significantly improved with the addition of nanoparticles as an additive in a small amount. The mechanism for such improvement in the tribological behavior has also been discussed.
An improved algorithm to accelerate regular expression evaluation

Modern network intrusion detection systems need to perform regular expression matching at line rate in order to detect the occurrence of critical patterns in packet payloads. While deterministic finite automata (DFAs) allow this operation to be performed in linear time, they may exhibit prohibitive memory requirements. In [9], Kumar et al. propose Delayed Input DFAs (D2FAs), which provide a trade-off between the memory requirements of the compressed DFA and the number of states visited for each character processed, which corresponds directly to the memory bandwidth required to evaluate regular expressions. In this paper we introduce a general compression technique that results in at most 2N state traversals when processing a string of length N. In comparison to the D2FA approach, our technique achieves comparable levels of compression, with lower provable bounds on memory bandwidth (or greater compression for a given bandwidth bound). Moreover, our proposed algorithm has lower complexity, is suitable for scenarios where a compressed DFA needs to be dynamically built or updated, and fosters locality in the traversal process. Finally, we also describe a novel alphabet reduction scheme for DFA-based structures that can yield further dramatic reductions in data structure size.
Markers of HPV infection and survival in patients with head and neck tumors

The purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA prevalence in oral rinses and/or HPV‐specific antibody levels in the sera of patients with oral/oropharyngeal cancer have prognostic significance. One hundred and forty‐two patients with oral/oropharyngeal tumors were enrolled. The presence of HPV DNA was assayed in tumor tissue and oral rinses and HPV‐specific antibodies were assessed in the sera. Oral rinses were collected before treatment and one year after the treatment. Sera were drawn before treatment, one month, and one year after the end of the treatment. Altogether, 59.2% of tumors were HPV positive. The presence of HPV DNA in the tumors correlated with HPV DNA positivity in oral rinses and with HPV‐specific antibodies in the sera. Out of 66 patients with HPV‐positive oral rinses at enrolment, 84.8% became negative at one‐year follow‐up, while most patients remained seropositive for HPV‐specific antigens. However, the mean titers of HPV16 E6 and/or E7 antibodies at follow‐up were significantly lower. Of 16 patients with recurrences at follow‐up (alive on second sampling), six were positive at enrolment for HPV16 E6 and/or E7 antibodies. In five of these, no decrease in antibody levels was observed. Titers of antibodies specific for HPV16 capsid antigens did not change during the follow‐up. Our data suggest that the detection of antibodies specific for the HPV 16 E6 and E7 oncoproteins may serve not only as a marker of HPV etiology, but also as a marker of recurrence and a prognostic indicator in patients with HPV‐positive tumors.
Transcytosis of the G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus after implantation into the apical plasma membrane of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. I. Involvement of endosomes and lysosomes

The G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus, implanted into the apical plasma membrane of Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, is rapidly transcytosed to the basolateral membrane. In this and the accompanying paper (Pesonen, M., R. Bravo, and K. Simons, 1984, J. Cell Biol. 99:803- 809.) we have studied the intracellular route by which the G protein traverses during transcytosis. Using Percoll density gradient centrifugation and free flow electrophoresis we could demonstrate that the G protein is endocytosed into a nonlysosomal compartment with a density of approximately 1.05 g/cm3, which has many of the characteristics of endosomes. Transcytosis to the basolateral membrane appeared to occur from this compartment. No direct evidence for the involvement of lysosomes in the transcytotic route could be obtained. No G protein was detected in the lysosomes when transcytosis of G protein was occurring. Moreover, at 21 degrees C when passage of G protein to the lysosomes was shown to be arrested, transcytosis of G protein could still be demonstrated.
DeepSketch 2: Deep convolutional neural networks for partial sketch recognition

Freehand sketches are a simple and powerful tool for communication. They are easily recognized across cultures and suitable for various applications. In this paper, we propose a new approach for partial sketch recognition. This could be used to design applications using real-time sketch recognition. We use deep convolutional neural networks (ConvNets), state-of-the-art in the field of sketch recognition. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first ConvNet for partial sketch classification. Our first aim is to build a ConvNet capable of recognizing partial sketches without compromising the accuracy reached for complete sketch recognition. Therefore, we evaluate different approaches and propose an efficient way for partial sketch recognition. Our second aim is improving complete sketch recognition using information about sketching progression. We obtained a ConvNet that outperforms state-of-the-art results in the TU-Berlin sketch benchmark. We reached an accuracy of 77.69%.
Observation of local electroluminescent cooling and identifying the remaining challenges

The cooling of a light emitting diode (LED) by photons carrying out more energy than was used to electrically bias the device, has been predicted decades ago.1, 2 While this effect, known as electroluminescent cooling (ELC), may allow e.g. fabricating thermophotonic heat pumps (THP) providing higher efficiencies than the existing solid state coolers,3 ELC at powers sufficient for practical applications is still not demonstrated. To study high-power ELC we use double diode structures (DDSs), which consist of a double heterojunction (DHJ) LED and a photodiode (PD) grown within a single technological process and, thus, enclosed in a cavity with a homogeneous refractive index.4, 5 The presence of the PD in the structure allows to more directly probe the efficiency of the LED, without the need for light extraction from the system, reducing undesirable losses. Our analysis of experimentally measured I − V curves for both the LED and the PD suggests that the local efficiency of the high-performance LEDs we have fabricated is approximately 110%, exceeding unity over a wide range of injection current densities of up to about 100A/cm2 . At present the efficiency of the full DDS, however, still falls short of unity, not allowing direct evidence of the extraction of thermal energy from the LED. Here we review our previous studies of DDS for high-power EL cooling and discuss in more detail the remaining bottlenecks for demonstrating high-power ELC in the DDS context: the LED surface states, resistive and photodetection losses. In particular we report our first surface passivation measurements. Further optimization therefore mainly involves reducing the influence of the surface states, e.g. using more efficient surface passivation techniques and optimizing the PD. This combined with the optimization of the DDS layer thicknesses and contact metallization schemes is expected to finally allow purely experimental observation of high-power ELC.
Aquaporin-4 antibody titration in NMO patients treated with rituximab

Objective: We undertook an observational retrospective study to investigate the usefulness of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies (Ab) titration in the management of patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) treated with rituximab (RTX) by studying (1) the correlation between AQP4-Ab titer and disease activity, (2) the influence of RTX on antibody levels, and (3) the association between AQP4-Ab levels and responsiveness to RTX. Methods: A cell-based assay was used for AQP4-Ab titration in 322 serum samples from 7 patients with NMO treated with RTX (median follow-up 65 months), according to a treatment-to-target approach. Serum samples were collected every month following standardized procedures. Results: (1) In group analysis, AQP4-Ab titers correlated with the disease activity, showing higher titers during and preceding relapses than during remission. However, in individual analysis, an increase in AQP4-Ab titers and CD19+ B cells did not always precede a relapse. (2) A reduction of AQP4-Ab titers in the short-term and long-term period was observed during RTX treatment. (3) Reduction of AQP4-Ab titers was observed in responder patients both 3 months after RTX infusion and in the long-term follow-up. In one nonresponder patient, AQP4-Ab levels never decreased during the treatment period. Conclusions: Titration of AQP4-Abs could be useful in the clinical management of patients with NMO treated with RTX: titration before each reinfusion and 3 months after each reinfusion may provide information about responsiveness to RTX. Although a relationship among AQP4-Ab levels, disease activity, and response to RTX was observed, the usefulness of AQP4-Ab titration to predict relapses is limited.
When the chips are down: Effects of attributional feedback on self-efficacy and task performance following initial and repeated failure

Abstract In two experiments, we manipulated the controllability and stability of causes of failure and explored the impact of these factors on self-efficacy and performance. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 80; mean age 20.0 years, s = 1.0) were provided with false negative feedback following performance on a blindfolded dart-throwing task. Consistent with theory and recent research, an induced belief that failure was beyond control and unlikely to change led to lower self-efficacy and poorer performance (all F 1,75 > 5.49, all P < 0.05, all η2 = 0.01). A second experiment (N = 80; mean age 22.0 years, s = 2.1) demonstrated that following an induced belief that failure was beyond control and unlikely to change, only new perceptions that a repeated failure was within one's control and likely to change resulted in higher self-efficacy and improved performance (all F 1,75 > 4.53, all P < 0.05, all η2 > 0.004). All effects were mediated by self-efficacy: Sobel's (1982) test, all z > 1.97 (in absolute magnitude), all P < 0.05, all r > 0.22 (in absolute magnitude). These findings suggest that in novel circumstances individuals believe in the best for themselves unless possibilities to self-enhance are explicitly precluded, and only reinvest efforts when opportunities for self-enhancement become clearly admissible.
Internet research needs better models

Networking researchers work from mental models of the Internet’s important properties. The scenarios used in simulations and experiments reveal aspects of these mental models (including our own), often including one or more of the following implicit assumptions: Flows live for a long time and transfer a lot of data. Simple topologies, like a “dumbbell” topology with one congested link, are sufficient to study many traffic properties. Flows on the congested link share a small range of round-trip times. Most data traffic across the link is one-way; reverse-path traffic is rarely congested. All of these modeling assumptions affect simulation and experimental results, and therefore our evaluations of research. But none of them are confirmed by measurement studies, and some are actively wrong. Some divergences from reality are unimportant, in that they don’t affect the validity of simulation results, and simple models help us understand the underlying dynamics of our systems. However, as a community we do not yet understand which aspects of models affect fundamental system behavior and which aspects can safely be ignored. It is our belief that lack of good measurements, lack of tools for evaluating measurement results and applying their results to models, and lack of diverse and well-understood simulation scenarios based on these models are holding back the field. We need a much richer understanding of the range of realistic models, and of the likely relevance of different model parameters to network performance.