Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulation of borehole sonic waveforms in dipping, anisotropic, and invaded formations

A numerical simulation study has been made of borehole sonic measurements that examined shoulder-bed, anisotropy, and mud-filtrate invasion effects on frequency-dispersion curves of flexural and Stoneley waves. Numerical simulations were considered for a range of models for fast and slow formations. Computations are performed with a Cartesian 3D finite-difference time-domain code. Simulations show that presence of transverse isotropy (TI) alters the dispersion of flexural and Stoneley waves. In slow formations, the flexural wave becomes less dispersive when the shear modulus (c44) governing wave propagation parallel to the TI symmetry axis is lower than the shear modulus (c66) governing wave propagation normal to the TI symmetry axis; conversely, the flexural wave becomes more dispersive when c44 > c66. Dispersion decreases by as much as 30% at higher frequencies for the considered case where c44 c66 and decrease.
Anatomical and Functional Connectivity of Critical Deep Brain Structures and Their Potential Clinical Application in Brain Stimulation

Subcortical structures, such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and nucleus accumbens (NAcc), play crucial roles in human cognitive, memory, and emotional processing, chronic pain pathophysiology, and are implicated in various psychiatric and neurological diseases. Interventions modulating the activities of these deep brain structures hold promise for improving clinical outcomes. Recently, non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has been applied to modulate brain activity and has demonstrated its potential for treating psychiatric and neurological disorders. However, modulating the above deep brain structures using NIBS may be challenging due to the nature of these stimulations. This study attempts to identify brain surface regions as source targets for NIBS to reach these deep brain structures by integrating functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We used resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and probabilistic tractography (PTG) analysis to identify brain surface stimulation targets that are functionally and structurally connected to the hippocampus, amygdala, and NAcc in 119 healthy participants. Our results showed that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is functionally and anatomically connected to all three subcortical regions, while the precuneus is connected to the hippocampus and amygdala. The mPFC and precuneus, two key hubs of the default mode network (DMN), as well as other cortical areas distributed at the prefrontal cortex and the parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, were identified as potential locations for NIBS to modulate the function of these deep structures. The findings may provide new insights into the NIBS target selections for treating psychiatric and neurological disorders and chronic pain.
A deep learning method trained on synthetic data for digital breast tomosynthesis reconstruction

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) is an X-ray imaging modality enabling the reconstruction of 3D volumes of breasts. DBT is mainly used for cancer screening, and is intended to replace conventional mammography in the coming years. However, DBT reconstructions are impeded by several types of artefacts induced by the geometry of the device itself, degrading the image quality and limiting its resolution along the thickness of the compressed breast. In this study, we propose a deep-learning-based pipeline to address the DBT reconstruction problem, focusing on the removal of sparse-view and limited-angle artefacts. Specifically, this procedure is composed of two steps: a classic reconstruction algorithm is first applied on normalised projections, then a deep neural network is tasked with erasing the artefacts present in the obtained volumes. A major difficulty to solve our problem is the lack of real conditions artefact-free data. To overcome this complication, we resort to a new dataset comprised of synthetic breast texture phantoms. We then show that our training method and database strategy are promising to tackle the problem as they improve the informational value of planes orthogonal to the detector, which are not currently used by radiologists due to their poor quality. Eventually, we assess the impact of removing the bias components from the network and using stacks of slices as inputs, with regard to the generalisation ability of our approach on both synthetic and clinical data.
Home Isolation and Online Support Strategies during Mild COVID-19 Pandemic Waves in Thailand: A Scoping Review

Objectives: In 2021, Thailand experienced its fourth and fifth waves of COVID-19, overwhelming the nation’s public health system. The significant gap between health resources and the demand for services from patients was one of the primary challenges in responding to the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals were inundated with a surge in new patients, leading to a growing backlog of individuals suffering delayed care or even rejection from the healthcare system. To tackle this issue, strategies such as “outpatient self-isolation” (SI), “home-based isolation” (HI), and “community-based isolation” (CI) were implemented to stabilize COVID-19 cases with mild to moderate symptoms. This review aimed to explore the experiences in the management of COVID-19 care in patients with mild to moderate symptoms and identify challenges after the initial response of the Thailand health system to the pandemic. Methods: This study was conducted during the Delta pandemic (June–November 2021) and the Omicron pandemic (December 2021–15 March 2022). We present the lessons learned from the management of the HI system based on experiences gained at a university hospital, which provided remote professional-to-patient support during the pandemic. The study involved retrospective data from electronic medical records and qualitative analysis of responses provided during the pandemic using the HI system. Results: Data from a total of 2704 and 1912 participants were included in the analysis. The vast majority of patients were assigned to HI immediately after being diagnosed with COVID-19. This system facilitated remote consultations, provision of necessary medications, and delivery of survival kits to patients’ homes. Qualitative reviews indicated several key factors that could contribute to successful COVID-19 management under the HI system: (1) effective management and vaccine status, (2) establishment of home isolation using the find-test-trace-isolate-support system, and (3) adherence to home isolation guidelines and system support. Challenges included the digitalization of tools for securing isolation, team preparedness and adequate support system during HI, as well as hospital policies for psychological support for healthcare workers and measures to alleviate their workload. Conclusions: Our investigation suggests that the HI teleconsultation system was an effective approach to managing COVID-19. It allowed for a prompt response to patients’ needs and provided timely access to medical support, particularly for individuals with mild to moderate symptoms.
High Speed Sintering-Early Research into a New Rapid Manufacturing Process

Rapid Manufacturing (the production of end use products by layer manufacturing techniques) has grown significantly in recent years and has started to revolutionise some areas of manufacturing. Among the main drawbacks for commercially available techniques are machine cost and build speed. This paper describes some initial research into a new process called High Speed Sintering. The High Speed Sintering process (UK patent No. 0317387.9) involves the sintering of 2D profiles of layers of powder without the need for a laser. Experiments performed on a simple lab apparatus have shown how the addition of carbon black to standard nylon powder can increase the rate of sintering such that an entire layer may be sintered in 5 seconds using an infra-red lamp. The effects of composition of carbon black on material properties are shown and may be traded off against build speed. Thermal control of the process is vital and the effects of altering the position and power used with an infra-red lamp are presented. Eliminating a laser reduces machine cost and build time, combining these factors will make the High Speed Sintering process suitable for high volume manufacture. Cost predictions show that the process will be viable for the manufacture of standard products in volumes over 100,000. Background A previous study by the Rapid Manufacturing Research Group (then at De Montfort University, UK) in 2000 into the economics of using RP machines for medium to high volume manufacture suggested that selective laser sintering (SLS) machines may be used to produce small components in volumes up to 14,000 more economically than injection moulding (1,2). Since that time SLS has evolved as the most suitable process for Rapid Manufacture (RM) among the current range of available technologies and is used to manufacture products as diverse as bespoke hearing aids, aircraft ducts and parts for formula 1 racing cars (3). Despite these successes, SLS has not been used for medium to high volume series production (hearing aids are produced in high volumes but each one is bespoke so this does not constitute high volume series production). The economic study in 2000 indicated that one of the major sources of cost for parts made in series production on SLS machines was machine cost. Machine cost for parts is dictated by the cost of the equipment required for manufacture and the speed of production achieved. Thus by reducing the cost of a layer manufacturing machine and increasing its throughput, a far more competitive process, suitable for medium to high volume series production may be achieved. The most obvious way to reduce the cost and increase the speed of an SLS machine is to eliminate the requirement for a laser. Eliminating the laser requires an alternative method for selectively sintering powder. The High Speed Sintering (HSS) process works by varying the absorbance of incoming radiant energy such that selected areas
Racial Discrimination and the Social Contract: Evidence from U.S. Army Enlistment during WWII

This paper documents several new facts about the relationship between discrimination and political exclusion and the motivation to fight in wartime. The Pearl Harbor attack triggered a sharp increase in volunteer enlistment rates of American men, the magnitude of the increase was smaller for Black men than for white men and the Black-white gap was larger in counties with higher levels of racial discrimination. Discrimination reduced the quantity and the quality of Black volunteers. The discouraging effects of discrimination were more pronounced in places that were geographically distant from Pearl Harbor and in states that had joined the Union relatively recently. For Japanese-American men, enlistment rates were higher where the Japanese-American community was not interred than where it was interred. These and other results provide empirical support for the theory that discrimination and political exclusion reduce support for the government when it is under threat.
Determinants of government bond spreads in European transition economies and implications for small and medium enterprises

Given the need for transition economies to finance some of the investment required for development through borrowing, this paper empirically examines the determinants of government bond spreads, focusing on institutional quality as a contextual dimension. The literature generally assumes that market assessments of sovereign risk - i.e., the probability of default - and hence the cost of sovereign borrowing over the risk-free rate are based on the borrower’s macroeconomic fundamentals, solvency, and liquidity indicators related to fiscal and financial variables, and indicators of external financial market volatility. Using fixed effect estimation, our findings suggest that government bond spreads in European transition economies are sensitive to domestic macroeconomic fundamentals and global financial market volatility. From macroeconomic fundamentals, fiscal deficit levels, inflation rates, and countries’ effective exchange rates emerge as the leading indicators determining bond spreads over the observed period. Moreover, our results suggest that financial markets consider the quality of institutions when assessing default probabilities; hence, the potential risks arising from the quality of institutions are factored into the cost of sovereign borrowing. These results are robust to various extensions and robustness tests.
Stomatal dynamics: a modeling study revisiting miscellaneous experimental phenomena

Stomata are the key nodes linking photosynthesis and transpiration. By regulating the opening degree of stomata, plants successively achieve the balance between water loss and carbon dioxide acquisition. The dynamic behavior of stomata is an important cornerstone of plant adaptability. Though there have been miscellaneous experimental results on stomata and their constituent cells, the guard cells and the subsidiary cells, current theory of stomata regulation is far from clear and unified. In this work, we develop an integrated model to describe the stomatal dynamics of seed plants based on existing experimental results. The model includes three parts: 1) a passive mechanical model of the stomatal aperture as a bivariate function of the guard-cell and the subsidiary-cell turgor pressures; 2) an active regulation model with a targeted ion-content in guard cells as a function of their water potential; and 3) a dynamical model for the movement of potassium ions and water content. Our model has been used to reproduce different experimental phenomena semi and stomatal responses to environment conditions.
Supporting Visual Comparison and Pattern Identification in Widescale Genomic Datasets

Large-scale linear datasets are often visualized using tables. Visual analysis tasks in such systems involve comparisons and identification of patterns across rows and columns, but these tasks can be hard to perform as the table increases in size because rows and columns of interest can be far apart in the table. This problem is particularly evident in table visualizations of genomic data such as SNPs (which are genetic markers used in comparing different variants of an organism). Visual analysis of SNP datasets has a wide range of applications in plant breeding, genome-wide association studies, and pharmacogenetics. However, current SNP visualizations are limited in their support for complex analytic tasks in wide-scale tables. Through ongoing collaborations with genomic researchers and plant breeders, we have identified a set of new interaction requirements for visual analysis of SNP datasets, and we have developed a new visualization tool with interaction techniques that satisfy the requirements. Our requirements and techniques provide new understanding of how to support complex visual analysis in large-scale table visualizations. *e-mail: venkat.bandi@usask.ca †e-mail:carl.gutwin@usask.ca
The Proteome and Lipidome of Extracellular Vesicles from Haemonchus contortus to Underpin Explorations of Host–Parasite Cross–Talk

Many parasitic worms have a major adverse impact on human and animal populations worldwide due to the chronicity of their infections. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that extracellular vesicles (EVs) are intimately involved in modulating (suppressing) inflammatory/immune host responses and parasitism. As one of the most pathogenic nematodes of livestock animals, Haemonchus contortus is an ideal model system for EV exploration. Here, employing a multi-step enrichment process (in vitro culture, followed by ultracentrifugation, size exclusion and filtration), we enriched EVs from H. contortus and undertook the first comprehensive (qualitative and quantitative) multi-omic investigation of EV proteins and lipids using advanced liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and informatics methods. We identified and quantified 561 proteins and 446 lipids in EVs and compared these molecules with those of adult worms. We identified unique molecules in EVs, such as proteins linked to lipid transportation and lipid species (i.e., sphingolipids) associated with signalling, indicating the involvement of these molecules in parasite-host cross-talk. This work provides a solid starting point to explore the functional roles of EV-specific proteins and lipids in modulating parasite-host cross-talk, and the prospect of finding ways of disrupting or interrupting this relationship to suppress or eliminate parasite infection.
A Parametric Study Examining the Effects of Reshock in RMI

The compression of a cylindrical gas bubble by an imploding molten lead (Pb) shell may be accompanied by the development of the RichtmyerMeshkov (RM) instability at the liquid-gas interface due to the initial imperfection of the interface. A converging pressure wave impinging upon the interface causes a shell of liquid to detach and continue to travel inwards, compressing the gas bubble. The efficiency of compression and collapse evolution can be affected by development of the RM instability. Investigations have been performed in the regime of extreme Atwood number A = −1 with the additional complexity of modeling liquid cavitation in the working fluid. Simulations have been performed using the open source CFD software OpenFOAM on a set of parameters relevant to the prototype compression system under development at General Fusion Inc. for use as a Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) driver. After validating the numerical setup in planar geometry, simulations have been carried out in 2D cylindrical geometry for both initially smooth and perturbed interfaces. Where possible, results have been validated against Email address: victoria.suponitsky@generalfusion.com (Victoria Suponitsky) Preprint submitted to Elsevier November 13, 2013 existing theoretical models and good agreement has been found. While our main focus is on the effects of initial perturbation amplitude and azimuthal mode number, we also address differences between this problem and those usually considered, such as RM instability at an interface between two gases with a moderate density ratio. One important difference is the formation of narrow molten lead jets rapidly propagating inwards during the final stages of the collapse. Jet behaviour has been observed for a range of azimuthal mode numbers and perturbation amplitudes.
Feynman and Wheeler Scalar Field Propagators in the ADS/CFT Correspondence

We discuss in rigorous fashion, without appealing to any conjecture, the boundary-bulk propagators for the scalar field, both in the non-massive and massive cases. Our calculations are carried out in two instances: (i) when the boundary is a Euclidean space and (ii) when it is of Minkowskian nature. In this last case we compute also three propagators: Feynman’s, Anti-Feynman’s, and Wheeler’s (half advanced plus half retarded). For an operator corresponding to scalar field we obtain the two points correlations functions in the three instances above mentioned PACS11.25. -w, 04.60. Cf, 02.30. Sa, 03.65. Db.
Comparison of yield and yield components of Faisalabad originated wheat varieties under coastal environment

Bread Wheat is the one most essential major agricultural grain crop which belongs to family Gramineae. The interaction between genotype and environment are badly effects grain production of bread wheat under rain fed and irrigated condition in central Asia environment. The results showed that maximum seed germination (84 %), (73 %); while maximum number of tillers (305 m -2 ), (276 m -2 ); number of productive spikes (288 m -2 ), (258 m -2 ); number of non-productive spikes (17 m -2 ), (18 m -2 ); plant height at maturity (50.4 cm), (58.5 cm); spike length (11.5 cm), (10.4 cm), number of spikelets spike -1 (14.9), (13.7); number of grains spike -1 (40.9), (37.2); 1000-grain weight (52.2 g), (49.4 g); grain yield (5.3 t ha -1 ), (4.7 t ha -1 ); peduncle length (22.2 cm), (28.8 cm); weight of straw (5.5 t ha -1 ), (4.9 t ha -1 ) were excellent in Ujala and Galaxy variety than Faisalabad 2008. However, the minimum seed germination (64 %), number of tillers (262 m -2 ), number of productive spikes (247 m -2 ), number of non-productive spikes (15 m -2 ), plant height at maturity (51.6 cm), spike length (9.8 cm), number of spikelets spike -1 (13.0), number of grains spike -1 (34.3), 1000-grain weight (49.0 g), grain yield (4.36 t ha -1 ), peduncle length (25.2 cm), weight of straw (4.39 t ha -1 ) was recorded in Faisalabad 2008. The present research elucidated that the Galaxy and Ujala wheat varieties performed better for future wheat growers at coastal environments than Faisalabad 2008.
The Angular Size Distribution of μJy Radio Sources

We made two new sensitive (rms noise μJy beam−1) high-resolution (θ = 3.″0 and θ = 0.″66 FWHM) S-band (2 < ν < 4 GHz) images covering a single JVLA primary beam (FWHM ≈ 14′) centered on J2000 , δ = +59°01′ in the Lockman Hole. These images yielded a catalog of 792 radio sources, 97.7 ± 0.8% of which have infrared counterparts stronger than S ≈ 2 μJy at λ = 4.5 μm. About 91% of the radio sources found in our previously published, comparably sensitive low-resolution (θ = 8″ FWHM) image covering the same area were also detected at 0. ″66 resolution, so most radio sources with S(3 GHz) ≳ 5 μJy have angular structure ϕ ≲ 0. ″66. The ratios of peak brightness in the 0. ″66 and 3″ images have a distribution indicating that most μJy radio sources are quite compact, with a median Gaussian angular diameter FWHM and an rms scatter σϕ ≲ 0. ″3 of individual sizes. Most of our μJy radio sources obey the tight far-infrared/radio correlation, indicating that they are powered by star formation. The median effective angular radius enclosing half the light emitted by an exponential disk is , so the median effective radius of star-forming galaxies at redshifts z ∼ 1 is .
Fused Triazinobenzimidazoles Bearing Heterocyclic Moiety: Synthesis, Structure Investigations, and In Silico and In Vitro Biological Activity

[1,3,5]Triazino[1,2-a]benzimidazole-2-amines bearing heterocyclic moiety in 4-position were synthesized. The compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and HRMS spectroscopy. The molecular geometry and electron structure of these molecules were theoretically studied using density functional theory (DFT) methods. The molecular structure of the synthesized fused triazinobenzimidazole was confirmed to correspond to the 3,4-dihydrotriazinobenzimidazole structure through the analysis of spectroscopic NMR data and DFT calculations. The antinematodic activity was evaluated in vitro on isolated encapsulated muscle larvae (ML) of Trichinella spiralis. The results showed that the tested triazinobenzimidazoles exhibit significantly higher efficiency than the conventional drug used to treat trichinosis, albendazole, at a concentration of 50 μg/mL. The compound 3c substituted with a thiophen-2-yl moiety exhibited the highest anthelmintic activity, with a larvicidal effect of 58.41% at a concentration of 50 μg/mL after 24 h of incubation. Following closely behind, the pyrrole analog 3f demonstrated 49.90% effectiveness at the same concentration. The preliminary structure-anti-T. spiralis activity relationship (SAR) of the analogues in the series was discussed. The cytotoxicity of the benzimidazole derivatives against two normal fibroblast cells (3T3 and CCL-1) and two cancer human cell lines (MCF-7 breast cancer cells and chronic myeloid leukemia cells AR-230) was evaluated using the MTT-dye reduction assay. The screening results indicated that the compounds showed no cytotoxicity against the tested cell lines. An in silico study of the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic characteristics of the novel synthesized fused triazinobenzimidazoles showed that they were characterized by a significant degree of drug-likeness and optimal properties for anthelmintic agents.