Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effectiveness of treadmill and swimming exercise in an animal model of osteoarthritis

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is considered an inflammatory and degenerative joint disease, characterized by loss of hyaline joint cartilage and adjacent bone remodeling with the formation of osteophytes, accompanied by various degrees of functional limitation and reduction in the quality of life of individuals. The objective of this work was to investigate the effects of treatment with physical exercise on the treadmill and swimming in an animal model of osteoarthritis. Methods: Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided (n=12 per group): Sham (S); Osteoarthritis (OA); Osteoarthritis + Treadmill (OA + T); Osteoarthritis + Swimming (OA + S). The mechanical model of OA was induced by median meniscectomy. Thirty days later, the animals started the physical exercise protocols. Both protocols were performed at moderate intensity. Forty-eight hours after the end of the exercise protocols, all animals were anesthetized and euthanized for histological, molecular, and biochemical parameters analysis. Results: Physical exercise performed on a treadmill was more effective in attenuating the action of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL1-β, and IL6) and positively regulating anti-inflammatories such as IL4, IL10, and TGF-β in relation to other groups. Discussion: In addition to maintaining a more balanced oxi-reductive environment within the joint, treadmill exercise provided a more satisfactory morphological outcome regarding the number of chondrocytes in the histological evaluation. As an outcome, better results were found in groups submitted to exercise, mostly treadmill exercise.
High-order harmonic propagation in gases within the discrete dipole approximation

We present an efficient approach for computing high-order harmonic propagation based on the discrete dipole approximation. In contrast with other approaches, our strategy is based on computing the total field as the superposition of the driving field with the field radiated by the elemental emitters of the sample. In this way we avoid the numerical integration of the wave equation, as Maxwell's equations have an analytical solution for an elementary (pointlike) emitter. The present strategy is valid for low-pressure gases interacting with strong fields near the saturation threshold (i.e., partially ionized), which is a common situation in the experiments of high-order harmonic generation. We use this tool to study the dependence of phase matching of high-order harmonics with the relative position between the beam focus and the gas jet.
Logit and Multilevel Logit Modeling of College Graduation for 1984-1985 Freshman Student-Athletes

Abstract This article describes statistical research on the academic performance of student-athletes in college sports programs. We describe several statistical models used in the prediction of academic success defined by college persistence and graduation. Using longitudinal data on the academic performances of about 3,000 student-athletes in NCAA Division I collegiate sports programs, we formulate logit and multilevel logit statistical models for the prediction of graduation rates. These prediction models are based on academic, demographic, and athletic variables, and are used to account for differences in both the students and the colleges. These results show (1) moderate but significant relationships between precollege academic characteristics and college graduation, (2) small but significant differential validity of prediction between major student-athlete groups, (3) notable college-level variance in the average graduation rate, (4) small but significant within-college relationships between precolle.
Effect of multiple firings on the color and translucency of monolithic zirconia

The effects of multiple firings on the color and translucency of monolithic zirconia were investigated in this paper. One hundred specimens were milled using three types of monolithic zirconia: multilayered zirconia (UTML, Katana) (UT), highly translucent zirconia (Organic Translucent, R + K) (OT), and nanosized zirconia (DIAZIR ST9810, Zhong Xin Tang Guo Ye) (ST). The group UT was divided into three subgroups: the incisal (UT-I), middle (UT-M), and cervical (UT-C). After sintering (T0), the specimens of each group (n = 20) were repeatedly fired 3 times. The L *, a *, and b * values were measured by using a spectrophotometer at T0, and after the first (T1), second (T2), and third (T3) firings. The translucency parameter (TP), contrast ratio (CR), opalescence parameter (OP), and color difference (∆E00) were calculated and statistically analyzed (α = 0.05). The surface morphologies of the specimens were observed using SEM. Multiple firings significantly affected the OP and the ∆E00 values of the materials tested (both p < 0.001). The ∆E00 values of group ST at T1-T3 were greater than the 50%:50% acceptability threshold (∆E00 > 1.8). Moreover, multiple firings did not exhibit significant effects on the TP and contrast ratio values of any materials (both p > 0.05). The surface topographies of the specimens after multiple firings were quite similar. Changes in opalescence were found for the multilayered zirconia and nanosized zirconia after multiple firings, but the clinical significance was low. Clinically unacceptable color changes were found in the nanosized zirconia after multiple firings, which were attributed to the higher L* values and the lower b* values after multiple firings. However, the optical properties and composition of surface elements of multilayered 5Y-TZP with over three layers need to be investigated in future studies.
Delay in seeking health care from community residents during a time with low prevalence of COVID-19: A cross-sectional national survey in China

Background The pandemic of COVID-19 has significant implications on health resources allocation and health care delivery. Patients with non-COVID illness may have to change their care seeking behaviors to mitigate the risk of infections. The research aimed to investigate potential delay of community residents in seeking health care at a time with an overall low prevalence of COVID-19 in China. Methods An online survey was conducted in March 2021 on a random sample drawn from the registered survey participants of the survey platform Wenjuanxing. The respondents who reported a need for health care over the past month (n = 1,317) were asked to report their health care experiences and concerns. Logistic regression models were established to identify predictors of the delay in seeking health care. The selection of independent variables was guided by the Andersen's service utilization model. All data analyses were performed using SPSS 23.0. A two-sided p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Key results About 31.4% of respondents reported delay in seeking health care, with fear of infection (53.5%) as a top reason. Middle (31–59 years) age (AOR = 1.535; 95% CI, 1.132 to 2.246), lower levels of perceived controllability of COVID-19 (AOR = 1.591; 95% CI 1.187 to 2.131), living with chronic conditions (AOR = 2.008; 95% CI 1.544 to 2.611), pregnancy or co-habiting with a pregnant woman (AOR = 2.115; 95% CI 1.154 to 3.874), access to Internet-based medical care (AOR = 2.529; 95% CI 1.960 to 3.265), and higher risk level of the region (AOR = 1.736; 95% CI 1.307 to 2.334) were significant predictors of the delay in seeking health care after adjustment for variations of other variables. Medical consultations (38.7%), emergency treatment (18.2%), and obtainment of medicines (16.5%) were the top three types of delayed care, while eye, nose, and throat diseases (23.2%) and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (20.8%) were the top two conditions relating to the delayed care. Self-treatment at home was the most likely coping strategy (34.9%), followed by Internet-based medical care (29.2%) and family/friend help (24.0%). Conclusions Delay in seeking health care remained at a relatively high level when the number of new COVID-19 cases was low, which may present a serious health risk to the patients, in particular those living with chronic conditions who need continuous medical care. Fear of infection is the top reason for the delay. The delay is also associated with access to Internet-based medical care, living in a high risk region, and perceived low controllability of COVID-19.
Mesoscale Convective Systems Defined by Their 85-GHz Ice Scattering Signature: Size and Intensity Comparison over Tropical Oceans and Continents

Abstract This study used the 85-GHz ice scattering signature to describe the size, intensity, and geographic distribution of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) between 35°N and 35°S for January, April, July, and October 1993. An MCS was defined as an area below 250 K of at least 2000 km2, with an enclosed minimum brightness temperature below 225 K. The geographic distribution of MCSs identified by these criteria was consistent with large-scale seasonal dynamics. There was no significant relationship (R2 ≈ 0.05) between the size and intensity for the MCSs in the study database. Tropical South America, tropical Africa, and the oceanic warm pool had the greatest number of MCSs. Equatorial regions such as tropical Africa had the smallest median areas. The subtropical oceans had the largest median areas, about 20% greater than other regions. MCSs in the continental regions tended to have colder minimum brightness temperatures than MCSs in the oceanic regions. The sub-tropical oceans had the warmest median min.
Impacts of Assimilating AMMA Soundings on ECMWF Analyses and Forecasts

The field experiment of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) project during the 2006 wet monsoon season provided an unprecedented amount of radiosonde/dropsonde data over the West African region. This paper explores the usage and impacts of this invaluable dataset in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses and forecasts. These soundings are the only source of data that can provide 3D information on the thermodynamic and dynamic structures of the lower troposphere over continental West Africa. They are particularly important for the Sahel region located between 128 and 208N, which is characterized by large gradients in temperature and moisture in the lower troposphere. An assimilation experiment comparison between the pre-AMMA and AMMA radiosonde networks shows that the extra AMMA soundings have a significant analysis impact on the low-level temperature over the Sahel and on the structure of the African easterly jet. However, the impacts of the extra AMMA data on the forecast disappear after 24 h. The soundings reveal large model biases in boundary layer temperature over the northern and eastern Sahel, which are consistent with the well-known model biases in cloud, rainfall, and radiation. Large analysis increments in temperature lead to increments in divergence and subsidence, which act to suppress convection. Thus, the analysis increments appear to have an undesirable feedback on the cloud and temperature model biases. The impact of the AMMA soundings on the African easterly jet is to enhance and extend the jet streak to 158E, that is, toward the eastern part of the Sahel. No observations are assimilated east of 158E at the level of the African easterly jet to support the jet enhancement farther east. Comparisons with independent atmospheric cloud motion vectors indicate that the African easterly jet in the analysis is too weak over this data-sparse region. This could have implications for the development of African easterly waves in the model forecast. Further experimentation by assimilating atmospheric motion vectors—currently not used—could address this problem.
Modeling of magnetoelastic material

This paper presents a method for modeling magnetoelastic material where magnetic and mechanical (elastic) phenomena are coupled in consequence of magnetic forces and magnetostriction. First, the basic equations and constitutive laws are derived on the basis of a continuum description of magnetoelastic material. Further, the numerical implementation by using the finite-element method is discussed and illustrated by means of an application example.
Evaluation and Analysis of Dietary Essential Mineral Micronutrients in Selected Malaysian Foods Using FAAS and ICP-MS

Food source could provide essential mineral elements necessary for preventing and remedying the cases of Mineral Deficiency Diseases (MDD). This source is cost effective, safe, affordable and accessible. In this study, essential elements: Ca, Mg, P, K, Na, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se and Zn were determined in 126 food samples eaten in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The all-serving-units-inclusive food samples were oven-dried until constant weight, homogenized and wet digested serially with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide mixture. The major and minor elements were respectively determined by FAAS and ICP-MS. The elements showed presence in all foods. The food element/RDA percentage ratios of (Ca: 50.0; P: 322.8) and (Mn: 10.5; P: 177.5) were obtained respectively relative to maximum and minimum Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). The study has proven that the foods could be viable source of the elements choosing appropriate foods. These essential elements containing foods can be exploited for health maintenance, remedy and even cure for MDD.
A New Formulation of State Constraint Problems for First-Order PDEs

The first-order Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman equation associated with the state constraint problem for optimal control is studied. Instead of the boundary condition which Soner introduced, a new and appropriate boundary condition for the PDE is proposed. The uniqueness and Lipschitz continuity of viscosity solutions for the boundary value problem are obtained.
Contour-based iterative pose estimation of 3D rigid object

Estimating pose parameters of a 3D rigid object based on a 2D monocular image is a fundamental problem in computer vision. State-of-the-art methods usually assume that certain feature correspondences are available a priori between the input image and object's 3D model. This presumption makes the problem more algebraically tractable. However, when there is no feature correspondence available a priori, how to estimate the pose of a truly 3D object using just one 2D monocular image is still not well solved. In this article, a new contour-based method which solves both the pose estimation problem and the feature correspondence problem simultaneously and iteratively is proposed. The outer contour of the object is firstly extracted from the input 2D grey-level image, then a tentative point correspondence relationship is established between the extracted contour and object's 3D model, based on which object's pose parameters will be estimated; the newly estimated pose parameters are then used to revise the tentative point correspondence relationship, and the process is iterated until convergence. Experiment results are promising, showing that the authors' method has fast convergence speed and good convergence radius.
Hydrostatic and Geostrophic Adjustment in a Compressible Atmosphere: Initial Response and Final Equilibrium to an Instantaneous Localized Heating

Abstract The initial and steady-state response of a compressible atmosphere to an instantaneous, localized heat source is investigated analytically. Potential vorticity conservation removes geostrophic and hydrostatic degeneracy and provides a direct method for obtaining the steady-state solution. The heat source produces a vertical potential vorticity dipole that induces a hydrostatically and geostrophically balanced cyclone–anticyclone structure in the final state. For a typical deep mesoscale heating, the net displacements required for the adjustment to the final steady state include a small, O(100 m) ascent of the core of the heated air with weak far-field descent and a large, O(10 km) outward/inward lateral displacement at the top/base of the heating. The heating initially generates available elastic and potential energy. The energy is then exchanged between kinetic, elastic, potential, and acoustic and gravity wave energy. In the final state, after the acoustic and gravity wave energy has dispersed,.
Experimental study of flow fields in an airway closure model

The liquid lining in small human airways can become unstable and form liquid plugs that close off the airways. Bench-top experiments have been performed in a glass capillary tube as a model airway to study the airway instability and the flow-induced stresses on the airway walls. A microscale particle image velocimetry system is used to visualize quantitatively the flow fields during the dynamic process of airway closure. An annular film is formed by injecting low-viscosity Si-oil into the glycerol-filled capillary tube. The viscosity ratio between these two fluids is similar to that between water and air. The thickness of the film varies with the infusion rate of the core fluid, which is controlled by a syringe pump. After a uniform film is formed, the syringe pump is shut off so that the core flow speed is close to zero during closure. Instantaneous velocity fields in the annular film at various stages of airway closure are computed from the images and analysed. The wall shear stress at the instant when a liquid plug forms is found to be approximately one order of magnitude higher than the exponential growth period before closure. Within the short time span of the closure process, there are large wall shear stress fluctuations. Furthermore, dramatic velocity changes in the film flow during closure indicate a steep normal stress gradient on the airway wall. The experimental results show that the wall shear stress during closure can be high enough to injure airway epithelial cells. An airway that experiences closure and reopening cyclically during breathing could be injured from fluid forces during both phases of the cycle (i.e. inspiration and expiration).
Flow structures in a two-stage channel with a mobile bed

Abstract A large scale model hydraulic study of inbank and overbank river flow, using a regular sinuous river channel with a mobile bed, was carried out in the UK Flood Channel Facility at Hydraulics Research, Wallingford. The sediment chosen for this investigation had a wide range of particle sizes present, covering the fine sand to coarse sand range. Measurements were made of three-dimensional velocity distributions and bed profiles at cross-sections around the meander. These measurements were used to determine the structure of the flows around the meander and the interaction between main channel and floodplain flows. These flow structures were related to changes in the bed profiles and to bed material sorting.
Study of FHILs in low luminosity AGNs in the optical spectra

Abstract This work presents the main results from a selection of optical spectra of Seyfert and LINER galaxies taken from the 9th release of the SDSS with detectable coronal emission. A catalogue of 345 Seyfert 1 (Sy1) and Seyfert 2 (Sy2) galaxies with Forbidden High Ionization Lines (FHILs) emission is presented. By analysing their spectra as well as utilising data from the literature we found evidence of anisotropy in optical FHIL emissions between Sy1 and Sy2 galaxies for the following lines: [Ne v] λ3426, [Fe vii] λ6087, [Fe x] λ6374 and [Fe xi] λ7892. Results continue indicating that optical FHILs are not observed in LINER type galaxies.
Multiple-composition hyperthermal atomic beams formed by a laser-induced plasma for planetary environmental studies

A multiple-composition beam with a velocity of 8 km s−1 was formed using a laser detonation source in order to simulate the physical and chemical effects of neutral gas collisions on a material in the sub-low earth orbit (LEO). A premixed target gas was applied in the laser detonation beam technique. It was found that atoms of different masses, O and Ar for Ar + O2 target gas, are accelerated to similar velocities, i.e. different translational energies. Promotion of O2 decomposition is confirmed by using a mixed gas target. It is concluded that the multiple-composition beam obtained using a mixed target gas is suitable for simulating a neutral gas environment in the sub-LEO region.
Temperature mass, and luminosity of RR Lyrae stars as functions of metallicity at the blue fundamental edge. II

The observed Oosterhoff period-metallicity effect of d log P/d([Fe/H]) = − 0.122 at the blue fundamental edge (BFE) of the instability strip can be reconciled with predictions from the canonical HB models if the observed period shift is not only a luminosity shift but a temperature shift as well. If so, predictions from models should not be made at constant temperature but at a temperature that varies with [Fe/H]. The sense is that low metallicity RR Lyraes have lower temperatures than those of higher metallicity by Δ log T e = 0.012 ± 0.006 per dex in [Fe/H], determined from observations of field RR Lyraes
Recognition of partially occluded objects using correlation filters with training

One of the main problems in visual signal processing is incomplete information owing an occlusion of objects by other objects. It is well known that correlation filters mainly use contour information of objects to carry out pattern recognition. However, in real applications object contours are often disappeared. In these cases conventional correlation filters without training yield a poor performance. In this paper two novel methods based on correlation filters with training for recognition of partially occluded objects are proposed. The methods improve significantly discrimination capability of conventional correlation filters. The first method performs training of a correlation filter with both a target and objects to be rejected. In the second proposal two different correlation filters are designed. They deal independently with contour and texture information to improve recognition of partially occluded objects. Computer simulation results for various test images are provided and discussed.
Investigation of the effect of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators on the radar cross section of an object

The application of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma as an electromagnetic absorber was investigated by determining the radar cross section (RCS) of a rectangular, flat plate with a DBD plasma actuator array installed on one of its sides. In order to justify the experimental results, the expected effect of plasma actuation on RCS was analysed by determining the attenuation effect of the plasma with the Lorentz model. Due to the very limited life time of the free electrons and the small extent of the plasma sheath, the attenuation was found to be only minimal. The theoretical results have been verified by comparing the measured RCS values of a plate with and without plasma actuation applied on it in a high-frequency anechoic lab. As expected, no significant influence of DBD plasma on RCS was detected. In addition, it was found that the high voltage power supply used as a part of DBD circuitry produced a high level of disturbance even in the microwave range.