Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Composition of AlGaAs

Although the AlxGa1−xAs alloy system has been extensively investigated, there are still considerable uncertainties in measuring the value of x. Here a new AlxGa1−xAs calibration structure, grown by molecular beam epitaxy, has been used to establish unambiguous alloy compositions. Such “standard’’ AlxGa1−xAs layers were measured by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and Raman spectroscopy to determine the compositional variations of the measured physical parameters. The phenomenological equations derived from these measurements can now be used to establish the Al content of unknown alloys with confidence. In addition, the results show that Vegard’s law does not hold for the variation of the AlxGa1−xAs lattice constant with x. The small quadratic term has very important implications for a correct analysis of x-ray results.
An Oxylipin-Related Nutrient Pattern and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes in the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young (DAISY)

Oxylipins, pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediators, are associated with the risk of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and may be influenced by diet. This study aimed to develop a nutrient pattern related to oxylipin profiles and test their associations with the risk of T1D among youth. The nutrient patterns were developed with a reduced rank regression in a nested case-control study (n = 335) within the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young (DAISY), a longitudinal cohort of children at risk of T1D. The oxylipin profiles (adjusted for genetic predictors) were the response variables. The nutrient patterns were tested in the case-control study (n = 69 T1D cases, 69 controls), then validated in the DAISY cohort using a joint Cox proportional hazards model (n = 1933, including 81 T1D cases). The first nutrient pattern (NP1) was characterized by low beta cryptoxanthin, flavanone, vitamin C, total sugars and iron, and high lycopene, anthocyanidins, linoleic acid and sodium. After adjusting for T1D family history, the HLA genotype, sex and race/ethnicity, NP1 was associated with a lower risk of T1D in the nested case-control study (OR: 0.44, p = 0.0126). NP1 was not associated with the risk of T1D (HR: 0.54, p-value = 0.1829) in the full DAISY cohort. Future studies are needed to confirm the nested case-control findings and investigate the modifiable factors for oxylipins.
Detection of Breast Cancer-Specific Extracellular Vesicles with Fiber-Optic SPR Biosensor

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have attracted great attention as potential biomarkers for cancer diagnostics. Although several technologies have been developed for EV detection, many of them are still not applicable to clinical settings as they rely on complex EV isolation processes, while lacking sensitivity, specificity or standardization. To solve this problem, we have developed a sensitive breast cancer-specific EV detection bioassay directly in blood plasma using a fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (FO-SPR) biosensor, previously calibrated with recombinant EVs. First, we established a sandwich bioassay to detect SK-BR-3 EVs by functionalizing the FO-SPR probes with anti-HER2 antibodies. A calibration curve was built using an anti-HER2/Banti-CD9 combination, resulting in an LOD of 2.1 × 107 particles/mL in buffer and 7 × 108 particles/mL in blood plasma. Next, we investigated the potential of the bioassay to detect MCF7 EVs in blood plasma using an anti-EpCAM/Banti-mix combination, obtaining an LOD of 1.1 × 10 8 particles/mL. Finally, the specificity of the bioassay was proven by the absence of signal when testing plasma samples from 10 healthy people unknown to be diagnosed with breast cancer. The remarkable sensitivity and specificity of the developed sandwich bioassay together with the advantages of the standardized FO-SPR biosensor highlight outstanding potential for the future of EV analysis.
On the connection between tropical circulation, convective mixing, and climate sensitivity

The connection between the large‐scale tropical circulation of the atmosphere, convective mixing, and climate sensitivity is explored in a wide range of climates through a perturbed‐parameter ensemble of a comprehensive Earth System Model. Four parameters related to the representation of atmospheric moist convection are found to dominate the response of the model. Their values govern the strength of the tropical circulation, the surface temperature, atmospheric humidity, and the strength of the tropical overturning circulation, largely through their influence on the atmospheric stability. The same convective parameters, albeit in different combinations, also have a strong influence on the equilibrium climate sensitivity of the model, which ranges from a little over 3 °C to more than 10 °C. The importance of the most poorly represented processes in determining important aspects of the behaviour of the model argues for the need to move beyond statistical approaches to estimating climate sensitivity and to focus on the development of a better understanding and representation of convective mixing, particularly in the Tropics.
Evaluation of Tigecycline Utilization and Trends in Antibacterial Resistance from 2018 to 2021 in a Comprehensive Teaching Hospital in China

Purpose Tigecycline, the first glycylcycline antibiotic, which was widely used for off-label indications because of its broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. This study evaluated the indications for clinical use of tigecycline, clinical and microbiological effectiveness, factors associated with in hospital mortality, and bacterial resistance. Methods This retrospective study evaluated all inpatients who received tigecycline treatment for >72 hours between January 2018 and December 2021 in a comprehensive teaching hospital in China. The evaluation included indications, administration regimen, etiology, efficacy and so on. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the risk factors for all-cause mortality. Results There were 203 patients treated with tigecycline. Tigecycline was commonly prescribed for off-label indications (83.25%, 169/203), and hospital-acquired pneumonia ranked first (79.29%, 134/169). The most common pathogen was Acinetobacter baumannii. Clinical and microbiological success was 57.14% (116/203) and 32.28% (41/127), respectively. Fifty-four patients died and all-cause mortality was 26.60%. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed no significant difference in age, gender, off-label indication, duration of treatment, combination with other drugs, multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-resistant infections and tigecycline application scoring with respect to mortality. Conclusion Although detection of A. baumannii has decreased in the past 4 years in our hospital, resistance to tigecycline has increased. For clinical application, physicians attach importance to detection of pathogenic microorganisms, but there is still empirical medication without bacterial culture reports. Therefore, an antibiotic stewardship program oriented toward tigecycline should be strengthened to curb bacterial resistance.
Acceleration of a static observer near the event horizon of a static isolated black hole

The magnitude of the proper acceleration of a static observer (or test particle) in a static, isolated, spherically symmetric space‐time region is compared with the Newtonian result including the situation in the interior of a perfect‐fluid star. The calculation shows that the proper acceleration diverges on the event horizon of a spherically symmetric black hole. The ’surface gravity’ of a spherically symmetric black hole, as used in descriptions of the Hawking radiation, is then explicitly related to the accelerations of such static observers, thus providing a simple physical interpretation of the surface gravity and illustrating the global (nonlocal) nature of the event horizon. The calculations are presented in the SI physical equations used almost exclusively by many students and teachers of physics.
Observation of Pattern Formation in Optical Parametric Oscillators

We have observed transverse pattern formation in a near-confocal, type II, triply resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) operating close to frequency degeneracy for the signal and idler modes. In the region of observation of these patterns, the OPO oscillation threshold increases. Complex ring patterns and latticelike structures are observed. These patterns are due to the nonlinear coupling of many transverse modes (on the order of 25). The transverse distribution of the light is different in the signal, idler, and transmitted pump modes.
Habitat and abundance of cetaceans in Atlantic Ocean continental slope waters off the eastern USA

This study quantifies the abundance and spatial distribution of the cetacean community occupying continental shelf edge and inner continental slope waters along the US southeast Atlantic coast. A shipboard visual line-transect survey was conducted between June and August of 2004 that included effort in waters >50m deep encompassing the shelf break and inner continental slope off the US east coast between 28°N and 38°N latitude. The abundance of nine cetacean taxa was estimated using line-transect distance analysis and an independent observer approach to correct for visibility bias. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to examine the spatial distribution of the cetaceans encountered during the survey as a function of surface temperature, surface salinity, surface fluorescence, bottom depth, and bottom slope. The abundance estimates for most species were much higher than those from a study of the area conducted in 1998. This is primarily due to increased coverage of the shelf-break region and correction for visibility bias. The multivariate analysis indicated four distinct groups of cetaceans that partitioned habitat as a function of salinity, depth, and a latitudinal gradient. These groups were associated with specific water masses and hydrographic features including mid-Atlantic shelf waters (Group I), the shelf break (Group II), mid-Atlantic slope waters (Group III), and south Atlantic slope water (Group IV). Areas where water masses converge such as the continental shelf break along the mid-Atlantic and near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina are therefore areas of both high diversity and density of cetaceans.
Cyanobacteria as cell factories for the photosynthetic production of sucrose

Biofuels and other biologically manufactured sustainable goods are growing in popularity and demand. Carbohydrate feedstocks required for industrial fermentation processes have traditionally been supplied by plant biomass, but the large quantities required to produce replacement commodity products may prevent the long-term feasibility of this approach without alternative strategies to produce sugar feedstocks. Cyanobacteria are under consideration as potential candidates for sustainable production of carbohydrate feedstocks, with potentially lower land and water requirements relative to plants. Several cyanobacterial strains have been genetically engineered to export significant quantities of sugars, especially sucrose. Sucrose is not only naturally synthesized and accumulated by cyanobacteria as a compatible solute to tolerate high salt environments, but also an easily fermentable disaccharide used by many heterotrophic bacteria as a carbon source. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of the current knowledge of the endogenous cyanobacterial sucrose synthesis and degradation pathways. We also summarize genetic modifications that have been found to increase sucrose production and secretion. Finally, we consider the current state of synthetic microbial consortia that rely on sugar-secreting cyanobacterial strains, which are co-cultivated alongside heterotrophic microbes able to directly convert the sugars into higher-value compounds (e.g., polyhydroxybutyrates, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, or dyes) in a single-pot reaction. We summarize recent advances reported in such cyanobacteria/heterotroph co-cultivation strategies and provide a perspective on future developments that are likely required to realize their bioindustrial potential.
Stability of cellular neural networks with time-varying delay

The stability for cellular neural networks (CNNs) with time-varying delay is introduced by using a linear-matrix inequality. A sufficient condition related to the global asymptotic stability for delay CNNs is proposed. It is shown that the condition relies on the dependence of the delay. This condition is less restrictive than that given in the literature.
Variance reduction by the use of common and antithetic random variables

Theoretical and practical aspects of the use of antithetic and common random numbers for variance reduction in simulation are considered. A proof of the optimality of antithetic and common random numbers in estimating the expected value of the response difference of a pair of functions of vector arguments is presented. Their efficiency for variance reduction under different assumptions is proved and applications to reliability, networks and queueing systems are discussed.
Fourier Treatment of Optical Processes

Many optical processes of image formation, image transfer, and image analysis may be represented as one, or a succession of several, linear operations. A linear operation upon a flux distribution function of an n-dimensional argument is defined as one which replaces the value of the function at a point by a linear, weighted average taken over a neighborhood of that point. While such an operation is completely determined by the weighting function used, it is also determined by a “wave-number” spectrum which is a function of an n-dimensional wave-number vector. This wave-number spectrum is the complex conjugate of the n-dimensional Fourier transform of the weighting function. The wave-number spectrum of the flux distribution modified by any number of successive linear operations is the product of the wave-number spectrum of the original distribution, and the wave-number spectra of the several linear operations. An analysis thus performed in wave-number space replaces successive integrations by successive multiplications.This method of analysis is an extension of the usual method of treating filters in electronic circuits, and may be used to solve problems analogous to those treated in circuit theory. These are: (1) to evaluate the performance of a system; (2) to design a process to search an image for a configuration; (3) to reproduce a picture, with discrimination in favor of a configuration desired, and against others; and (4) to equalize a picture, i.e., to remove image degradation.
Regression analysis of panel count data with covariate‐dependent observation and censoring times

Panel count data often occur in a long‐term study where the primary end point is the time to a specific event and each subject may experience multiple recurrences of this event. Furthermore, suppose that it is not feasible to keep subjects under observation continuously and the numbers of recurrences for each subject are only recorded at several distinct time points over the study period. Moreover, the set of observation times may vary from subject to subject. In this paper, regression methods, which are derived under simple semiparametric models, are proposed for the analysis of such longitudinal count data. Especially, we consider the situation when both observation and censoring times may depend on covariates. The new procedures are illustrated with data from a well‐known cancer study.
Socio-Economic Status and Language Development in Hearing Loss: A Critical Appraisal

The impact of language input on children’s speech, language, and brain development was borne out of Hart and Risley’s famous “30-million-word gap”. A perspective bolstered by many studies in the last decade relates higher socio-economic status (SES) to better qualitative and quantitative differences in children’s speech. The logic chains found in these studies suggest that literacy development depends on language and brain development. Thus, brain building develops based on environmental experience and language input depends on the brain’s perception of the auditory information. This essay uses the latest published peer-reviewed research to outline the current landscape of the role of SES in the development of speech and language skills among children with hearing loss (HL) who are enrolled in auditory-driven habilitation programs. This essay argues that low SES families may provide sufficient input for their children. The outcome of auditory-driven programs implemented by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) seems to be detached from SES. The role of SES on this developmental trajectory remains unclear, and clinical practice may be related to other validated and robust parameters related to hearing loss.
Socioeconomic analysis of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L) agroforest in a tropical dry forest

The characterization of production systems is important to determine limitations and potentialities that allow their management. This type of diagnosis has not been carried out in the study region; therefore, there is no information on cocoa-based agroforestry systems. Therefore, traditional cocoa farms in the municipality of Los Andes, department of Nariño (Colombia), were social and economically characterized. Basic information was reviewed and a semi-structured survey was applied to a stratified random sample of 60 cocoa farmers. Eighteen qualitative and 20 quantitative variables were analyzed simultaneously with multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and principal components analysis (PCA). In the PCA, five components explained 58.7% of the variability. The variables with the highest contribution were farm area, income from cocoa yields, income from agricultural production other than cocoa, and family labor. In the MCA, 11 components explained 58.43% of the variability. The most important components were farmers' schooling, transport type, loans, marketing, technical assistance, gender, land tenure, production systems, roads, and domestic animals. Finally, topographic and climatic conditions, inadequate roads and marketing of cocoa and the low adoption of technologies limit the competitiveness of the cocoa farms, hence the need to create favorable conditions to enhance the potential of cocoa agroforests.
Influence of in-plane anisotropy and eddy currents on the frequency spectra of the complex permeability of amorphous CoZr thin films

A broadband method for measuring the complex permeability of magnetic thin films, based on the measurement of the S parameters of a stripline and on the numerical solution of Laplace's equation according to the quasi-TEM (transverse electromagnetic) propagation mode, is presented. The method is applied to determine the permeability spectra of CoZr amorphous thin films in the 3 MHz to 3 GHz frequency range. The influence of the exciting magnetic field orientation with respect to the direction of the easy axis is studied. The influence of eddy current on the cutoff frequency observed for permeability spectra is analyzed. >
Chemical composition, biological activities, and surface tension properties of Melissa officinalis L. essential oil

: Lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis L.) is a plant of the family Lamiaceae. The present study aimed to determine the chemical composition of the lemon balm essential oil grown in Northeastern Bulgaria, to perform a comparative analysis of its antimicrobial activity with that of citral, and to determine its surface tension properties. The main compounds of the essential oil (concentration above 3%) were: β-caryophyllene (20.45%), geranial (19.74%), neral (15.81%), germacrene D (11.50%), (R)-(+)-citronellal (3.07%), and geranyl acetate (3.04%). The antibacterial activity of the essential oil was weak against the tested gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Exceptions were observed for Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica subsp. Enterica serovar Abony. Citral exhibited higher antimicrobial activity against investigated gram-positive bacteria compared to gram-negative. The surface tension of the essential oil was determined at six different temperatures (6, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 3 ℃ ). The energy presented minimal differences from 124.52 to 125.57 mN/m at different temperatures. Surface heat capacity was between 10492.11 and 11394.17 N/(m.K).
Prediction of crack growth based on a hierarchical diffusion model

A general Bayesian approach for stochastic versions of deterministic growth models is presented to provide predictions for crack propagation in an early stage of the growth process. To improve the prediction, the information of other crack growth processes is used in a hierarchical (mixed-effects) model. Two stochastic versions of a deterministic growth model are considered. One is a nonlinear regression setup where the trajectory is assumed to be the solution of an ordinary differential equation with additive errors. The other is a diffusion model defined by a stochastic differential equation (SDE) where increments have additive errors. Six growth models in the two versions are compared with respect to their ability to predict the crack propagation in a large data example. Two of them are based on the classical Paris-Erdogan law for crack growth, and four are other widely used growth models. It turned out that the three-parameter Paris-Erdogan model and the Weibull model provide the best results followed by the logistic model. Suprisingly, the SDE approach has no advantage for the prediction compared with the nonlinear regression setup.
Multicriteria Comparison Among Several Mitigation Strategies for Dangerous Near-Earth Objects

In this paper a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of different deviation methods for Near Earth Objects is presented. Specifically, solar collector, nuclear interceptor, kinetic impactor, low-thrust propulsion, mass driver and gravity tug are modelled and compared. For each method, a mathematical model is developed in order to compute the achievable deviation. A multi-criteria optmization method is then used to construct the set of Pareto optimal solutions, minimizing the mass of the spacecraft at departure from the Earth and the warning time, i.e., the time from launch to the foreseen impact of the asteroid with the Earth, while at the same time maximizing the deviation. A dominance criterion is defined and used to compare all the Pareto sets for all the various mitigation strategies. Finally a Technology Readiness Level factor is associated to each strategy in order to estimate the required technological development.
Neutropenia‐related aspergillosis in non‐transplant haematological patients hospitalised under ambient air versus purified air conditions

To reduce the risk of invasive aspergillosis (IA), air purification by high‐efficiency particulate air filtration and laminar air flow (HEPA/LAF) is standard of care in allogeneic blood stem cell transplantation. Its use in non‐transplant haematological patients is inconsistent.
Sliding mode control for non-linear systems with adaptive sliding surfaces

This study covers the sliding mode control design with adaptive sliding surfaces for a class of affine non-linear systems, which can be described by ẋ = A(x)x + B(x)u + f(x) + d(x,t). The main streamline of the study is the sliding surface design for such systems. The sliding surfaces are designed to be moving with varying slopes and offsets. The varying sliding surface parameters are determined by solving the state-dependent Riccati equations online during the control process. Thus, the sliding surfaces are updated in an adaptive manner to cope with the non-linearities of the system. The adaptive sliding mode control method developed in this study is used to design a longitudinal controller based on the mathematical model of a generic hypersonic aircraft. Then, the successful performance of this controller is demonstrated by means of a simulated manoeuvre of the aircraft.