Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linear inverse problems with discrete data. I. General formulation and singular system analysis

The authors discuss linear methods for the solution of linear inverse problems with discrete data. Such problems occur frequently in instrumental science, e.g. tomography, radar, sonar, optical imaging, particle sizing and so on. They give a general formulation of the problem by extending the approach of Backus and Gilbert (1968) and by defining a mapping from an infinite-dimensional function space into a finite-dimensional vector space. The singular system of this mapping is introduced and used to define natural bases both in the solution and in the data space. They analyse in this context normal solutions, least-squares solutions and generalised inverses. They illustrate the wide applicability of the singular system technique by discussing several examples in detail. Particular attention is devoted to showing the many connections between this method and techniques developed in other topics like the extrapolation of band-limited signals and the interpolation of functions specified on a finite set of points. For example, orthogonal polynomials for least-squares approximation, spline functions and discrete prolate spheroidal functions are particular cases of the singular functions introduced. The problem of numerical stability is briefly discussed, but the investigation of the method developed for overcoming this difficulty, like truncated expansions in the singular bases, regularised solutions, iterative methods, and so on, is deferred to a second part of this work.
Surface-Enhanced Raman Analysis of Uric Acid and Hypoxanthine Analysis in Fractionated Bodily Fluids

In recent years, the disease burden of hyperuricemia has been increasing, especially in high-income countries and the economically developing world with a Western lifestyle. Abnormal levels of uric acid and hypoxanthine are associated with many diseases, and therefore, to demonstrate improved methods of uric acid and hypoxanthine detection, three different bodily fluids were analysed using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Gold nanostar suspensions were mixed with series dilutions of uric acid and hypoxanthine, 3 kDa centrifugally filtered human blood serum, urine and saliva. The results show that gold nanostars enable the quantitative detection of the concentration of uric acid and hypoxanthine in the range 5–50 μg/mL and 50–250 ng/mL, respectively. The peak areas of HPLC and maximum peak intensity of SERS have strongly correlated, notably with the peaks of uric acid and hypoxanthine at 1000 and 640 cm−1, respectively. The r2 is 0.975 and 0.959 for uric acid and hypoxanthine, respectively. Each of the three body fluids has a number of spectral features in common with uric acid and hypoxanthine. The large overlap of the spectral bands of the SERS of uric acid against three body fluids at spectra peaks were at 442, 712, 802, 1000, 1086, 1206, 1343, 1436 and 1560 cm−1. The features at 560, 640, 803, 1206, 1290 and 1620 cm−1 from hypoxanthine were common to serum, saliva and urine. There is no statistical difference between HPLC and SERS for determination of the concentration of uric acid and hypoxanthine (p > 0.05). For clinical applications, 3 kDa centrifugal filtration followed by SERS can be used for uric acid and hypoxanthine screening is, which can be used to reveal the subtle abnormalities enhancing the great potential of vibrational spectroscopy as an analytical tool. Our work supports the hypnosis that it is possible to obtain the specific concentration of uric acid and hypoxanthine by comparing the SER signals of serum, saliva and urine. In the future, the analysis of other biofluids can be employed to detect biomarkers for the diagnosis of systemic pathologies.
Rapid Screening and Comparison of Chimeric Lysins for Antibacterial Activity against Staphylococcus aureus Strains

Chimeric lysins composed of various combinations of cell wall-lysing (enzymatic) and cell-wall-binding (CWB) domains of endolysins, autolysins, and bacteriocins have been developed as alternatives to or adjuvants of conventional antibiotics. The screening of multiple chimeric lysin candidates for activity via E. coli expression is not cost effective, and we previously reported on a simple cell-free expression system as an alternative. In this study, we sufficiently improved upon this cell-free expression system for use in screening activity via a turbidity reduction test, which is more appropriate than a colony reduction test when applied in multiple screening. Using the improved protocol, we screened and compared the antibacterial activity of chimeric lysin candidates and verified the relatively strong activity associated with the CHAP (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase) domain of secretory antigen SsaA-like protein (ALS2). ALS2 expressed in E. coli showed two major bands, and the smaller one (subprotein) was shown to be expressed by an innate downstream promoter and start codon (ATG). The introduction of synonymous mutations in the promoter resulted in clearly reduced expression of the subprotein, whereas missense mutations in the start codon abolished antibacterial activity as well as subprotein production. Interestingly, most of the S. aureus strains responsible for bovine mastitis were susceptible to ALS2, but those from human and chicken were less susceptible. Thus, the simple and rapid screening method can be applied to select functional chimeric lysins and define mutations affecting antibacterial activity, and ALS2 may be useful in itself and as a lead molecule to control bovine mastitis.
Human In Vitro Skin Models for Wound Healing and Wound Healing Disorders

Skin wound healing is essential to health and survival. Consequently, high amounts of research effort have been put into investigating the cellular and molecular components involved in the wound healing process. The use of animal experiments has contributed greatly to the knowledge of wound healing, skin diseases, and the exploration of treatment options. However, in addition to ethical concerns, anatomical and physiological inter-species differences often influence the translatability of animal-based studies. Human in vitro skin models, which include essential cellular and structural components for wound healing analyses, would improve the translatability of results and reduce animal experiments during the preclinical evaluation of novel therapy approaches. In this review, we summarize in vitro approaches, which are used to study wound healing as well as wound healing-pathologies such as chronic wounds, keloids, and hypertrophic scars in a human setting.
HF radars: Multifrequency study of refraction effects and localization of scattering

Monostatic HF radars take advantage of the refraction of radio waves in the ionosphere to achieve perpendicularity between the wave vector and the Earth's magnetic field at high latitude. The location of the backscattering region therefore depends on the horizontal and vertical ionospheric electron density profiles. Multifrequency radar data are used to infer estimates of differences in propagation path introduced by refraction without knowledge of the ionospheric plasma distribution. Because the plasma velocity due to the electric field mapped from the magnetosphere is a specific property of the ionosphere, the Doppler velocity measured on the same field line but at different probing frequencies should be identical. Differences in the radial velocity versus group delay profiles obtained at different frequencies can be attributed to differences in the propagation path. These effects are quantified by computing the correlation function between velocity profiles obtained at different frequencies. The shift corresponding to the maximum of the correlation function is a direct measure of the relative delay introduced by differences in ionospheric propagation between the two correlated frequencies. A statistical study has been conducted for several frequencies pairs using data from the Système HF d'Etude Radar Polaires et Aurorales radar. The statistical differences in group path are respectively 20 km for the 11/12‐MHz pair and 60 km for the 11/14‐MHz pair. The observed distribution of propagation path shifts have also been modeled with a ray‐tracing program. It has been shown that the observed experimental values are overestimating the shift. Computed differences, for example, 10 km for the 11/14‐Mhz pair, are lower than experimental ones. The discrepancy is shown to be a consequence of experimental conditions. Finally, errors on the location of scatters made by assuming straight‐line propagation and fixed altitude are quantified. With a judicious choice of the scattering altitude, the maximum error is of the order of 20 km.
MICROMECHANICAL AND THERMOMECHANICAL STUDY OF A REFRACTORY FIBER/MATRIX/COATING SYSTEM

ABSTRACT Thermomechanical analysis of a refractory single-fiber system made of fiber/matrix/coating was conducted at the microlevel with progressive intralayer sliding failure in the matrix material. The effect of the matrix failure on reduction of coating thermal stress was studied using finite element analysis. The analysis included both transient thermal analysis and steady-state stress analysis in a staggered manner. To incorporate the effect of progressive matrix failure, introduction of an interface element and the matrix condensation technique were utilized. The interface element could effectively represent both reduction in stiffness and increase in thermal resistance for heat conduction as failure occurred in the material. The numerical example showed the effect of matrix failure as well as a series of parametric studies of the material properties on the change of thermal stress in the coating. Furthermore, the effective thermomechanical properties of the refractory fiber system were computed using the successive unit-cell approach. A parametric study of the effective thermomechanical properties was also presented.
Coupled extensional-flexural vibration behaviour of a system of elastically connected functionally graded micro-scale panels

This study is concerned with the free vibration behaviour of a system of elastically connected functionally graded micro-scale panels. The mechanical properties of the micro-panel are assumed to have a through-thickness variation and governed by a power-law relation in terms of the constituents’ volume fractions. The biharmonic equations governing the motion of each micro-panel are formulated through the adoption of the energy method along with the postulates of the Kirchhoff–Love plate theory. Concentrating on the asynchronous motion of the connected micro-panels, the study investigates the shift of the natural frequencies of the system as a result of variation in the: aspect ratio of the micro-panel, span-to-thickness ratio of the micro-panel; gradient index; small-scale effect; and the ratio of the Young’s modulus. Estimates of the natural frequencies, under the assumption of simply-supported edges of the micro-panels, are provided by the Navier’s solution method. The qualitative assessment of the model’s parameters indicates that the effect of the gradient index is stifled by the presence of the size effect. Moreover, it is observed that higher values of the ratio of the constituents’ Young’s modulus generate a stiffer response of the micro-panel than higher values of the connectors’ stiffness and the constituents’ density ratio.
Dynamics of a Laminated Composite Beam on Pasternak-Viscoelastic Foundation Subjected to a Moving Oscillator

Dynamic behavior of a laminated composite beam (LCB) supported by a generalized Pasternak-type viscoelastic foundation, subjected to a moving two-degree-of-freedom (DOFs) oscillator with a constant axial velocity is studied. Analytical solution using the Galerkin method is sought and the couplings of the bending—tension, shear—tension, and bending—twist with the Poisson effect are considered. The possible separation of the moving oscillator from LCB during the course of motion is investigated by monitoring the contact force between the oscillator and LCB. The effects of the non-rigid foundation, oscillator parameters, and the load speed on the separation are also studied. It is found that the separation of the oscillator from the slender LCB will occur with a high stiffness of the oscillator and by having either a low or a high axial momentum of the oscillator. The separation can be suppressed by an elastic foundation with a relatively large stiffness. The bending moment and the beam deflection at the beam center and just below the oscillator due to the load velocity and position are examined and the corresponding velocity for the maximum values of those parameters is determined.
Conspiracy Theory and (or as) Folk Psychology

ABSTRACT One issue within conspiracy theory theory is whether, or to what extent, our central concept – – should map on to the common, lay sense of the term. Some conspiracy theory theorists insist that we use the term as everyday people use it. So, for example, if the term has a pejorative connotation in everyday parlance, then academic work on the concept should reflect that. Other conspiracy theory theorists take a more revisionist approach, arguing instead that while their use of the theoretical concept should bear some relation to its use in natural language, it need not follow it subserviently. I argue that elements of this debate mirror related debates that were prominent in the philosophy of mind in the 1980s over folk psychology and eliminative materialism (debates that continue today, such as within the philosophy of perception and theories over how to individuate the senses). Then, there was a debate over whether the concepts of commonsense psychology, such as or , should be treated as theoretical posits, and hence open to significant revision or elimination, or whether they were instead the targets of explanation. I will argue that an eliminativist approach to has significant merit.
Input-output stability degrees for undamped constant coefficients linear partial differential equations

It is an established fact that systems which have transfer matrices with poles converging to the imaginary axis cannot have exponentially stable time responses. Recently it was proved that for a class of partial differential equations with such a structure of poles it is possible to have a fast decay in time, uniformly in space, as arbitrary polynomials if the initial conditions are smooth enough and with an appropriate decay at infinity. The non-homogeneous version of this result which we present here can be summarized as follows: 'arbitrary regularity in space of the input function leads to arbitrary polynomial convergence in time towards the steady state'. The relation between the properties of the input function and the rate of convergence of the poles to the imaginary axis is quantitative and we indicate methods for computing this rate. We also provide conditions for exponential stability in this context. Due to some limitations in exponential stabilization by feedback a natural alternative to stability enhancement is this polynomial one. Therefore it is useful to investigate when it can be recovered in more practical situations (bounded space, boundary control, etc). Possible applications include the control of distributed oscillatory phenomena (e.g. in large flexible structures, plates), and more recently the control of some advanced materials.
Solar Flare Electron Spectra at the Sun and near the Earth

We compare hard X-ray (HXR) photon spectra observed by the RHESSI with the spectra of the electrons in the associated solar impulsive particle events observed near 1 AU by the WIND 3D Plasma and Energetic Particle (3DP) instrument. For prompt events, where the inferred injection time at the Sun coincides with the HXR burst, the HXR photon power-law spectral index γ and the in situ observed electron spectral index δ measured above 50 keV show a good linear fit, δ = γ + 0.1(±0.1), with correlation coefficient of 0.83, while for delayed events (inferred injection >10 minutes after the HXR burst) only a weak correlation with a coefficient of 0.43 is seen. The observed relationship for prompt events is inconsistent, however, with both the thin target case, where the escaping electrons come from the X-ray-producing electron population, and the thick target case where some of the accelerated source population escapes to 1 AU and the rest produce the HXRs while losing all their energy to collisions. Furthermore, the derived total number of escaping electrons correlates with the number of electrons required to produce observed X-ray flux but is only about ~0.2% of the number of HXR-producing electrons.
COVID‐19 and climate change: The social‐psychological roots of conflict and conflict interventions during global crises

The current study reviews key social psychological mechanisms related to conflict and conflict resolution that manifest within both the coronavirus pandemic and climate change crises. The uncertainty, scale, and nature of both global crises generate various forms of individual‐ and group‐level conflicts that, mediated by psychological and cultural phenomena, impede beneficial action and sustainable adaptation. Specifically, we highlight five social psychological mechanisms (i.e., cognitive dissonance, responsibility diffusion, compassion fatigue, dehumanization, and competitive beliefs) known to interact with, produce, and amplify intrapersonal, interpersonal, and/or intergroup conflicts. We draw attention to how these mechanisms have been activated by the pandemic in ways that share important similarities with climate change and present evidence‐informed approaches to combating their contribution to conflict (i.e., motivating behavior change, implementing accountability mechanisms, creating collective action opportunities, fostering intergroup contact, and promoting perspective‐taking). By engaging social psychological research to better understand both the roots of conflict as well as outline potential individual, community, and societal responses that can help alleviate conflict during these global crises, we can increase our ability to successfully navigate and in some cases avoid future conflicts caused by climate change.
Fungal Diversity Associated with Thirty-Eight Lichen Species Revealed a New Genus of Endolichenic Fungi, Intumescentia gen. nov. (Teratosphaeriaceae)

Fungi from the Teratosphaeriaceae (Mycosphaerellales; Dothideomycetes; Ascomycota) have a wide range of lifestyles. Among these are a few species that are endolichenic fungi. However, the known diversity of endolichenic fungi from Teratosphaeriaceae is far less understood compared to other lineages of Ascomycota. We conducted five surveys from 2020 to 2021 in Yunnan Province of China, to explore the biodiversity of endolichenic fungi. During these surveys, we collected multiple samples of 38 lichen species. We recovered a total of 205 fungal isolates representing 127 species from the medullary tissues of these lichens. Most of these isolates were from Ascomycota (118 species), and the remaining were from Basidiomycota (8 species) and Mucoromycota (1 species). These endolichenic fungi represented a wide variety of guilds, including saprophytes, plant pathogens, human pathogens, as well as entomopathogenic, endolichenic, and symbiotic fungi. Morphological and molecular data indicated that 16 of the 206 fungal isolates belonged to the family Teratosphaeriaceae. Among these were six isolates that had a low sequence similarity with any of the previously described species of Teratosphaeriaceae. For these six isolates, we amplified additional gene regions and conducted phylogenetic analyses. In both single gene and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses using ITS, LSU, SSU, RPB2, TEF1, ACT, and CAL data, these six isolates emerged as a monophyletic lineage within the family Teratosphaeriaceae and sister to a clade that included fungi from the genera Acidiella and Xenopenidiella. The analyses also indicated that these six isolates represented four species. Therefore, we established a new genus, Intumescentia gen. nov., to describe these species as Intumescentia ceratinae, I. tinctorum, I. pseudolivetorum, and I. vitii. These four species are the first endolichenic fungi representing Teratosphaeriaceae from China.
Numerical Research of Double‐Diffusive Natural Convection in Elliptical Cylinders: Influence of Internal Eccentricity

The second part study of this paper is to numerically study the double-diffusive natural convection phenomenon inside a space annulus, situated between two horizontal confocal elliptic cylinders filled with a laminar flow, is presented. The elliptical coordinates do utilize to transform the physical domain into one rectangular. The basic equations are discretized using the finite-volume method. Using a developed code, the study covers a wide range for (103 ≤ Rat ≤105), Le = 2, N = 1, e = 0.52, 0.62, 0.72, 0.82. We have made some detailed studies covering the influence of the internal eccentricity parameter e1 on heat and mass transfer. Results do present in the form of isotherms, streamlines, and heat transfer. The local and average numbers for Sherwood and Nesselt are also displayed.Comparison with the published results showed that there is a good agreement. Keywords:double-diffusive, natural convection, elliptic cylinders, Rayleigh number, Lewis number.
Coupling between electromagnetic and mechanical vibrations of thin‐walled structures

Summary The paper addresses the issue of coupling between the electromagnetic and elastic vibrations and deals with the following three classes of problems: vibration of thin bodies in an electromagnetic field; a coupling that occurs due to perturbation of boundaries within a deformed solid; and a coupling within regions of localized stress in a composite structure with defects. It is shown that the coupling effect is negligibly small in the first case, while it becomes important in the last two classes of problems. For vibrations of thin-walled conducting solids placed in an electromagnetic field we present a systematic new asymptotic scheme. It is observed that the magnetic field induces a 'viscous force', which is similar to certain problems that occur in magnetic fluids flows. When we deal with electromagnetic waves propagating through a thin-walled periodic structure subject to regular perturbation of the boundary, an asymptotic method is applied to derive the effective boundary conditions for the perturbed inclusion within the array. We examine the effect of this perturbation on the dispersion curves for the corresponding spectral problem, and compare the asymptotic results with a finite element modelling of the perturbed structure. Finally, we show exciting results describing coupling between electromagnetic and elastic fields due to the localization associated with a defect mode in a doubly periodic structure.