Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
White dwarfs as dark matter detectors

Dark matter that is capable of sufficiently heating a local region in a white dwarf will trigger runaway fusion and ignite a type Ia supernova. This was originally proposed in Graham et al. (2015) and used to constrain primordial black holes which transit and heat a white dwarf via dynamical friction. In this paper, we consider dark matter (DM) candidates that heat through the production of high-energy standard model (SM) particles, and show that such particles will efficiently thermalize the white dwarf medium and ignite supernovae. Based on the existence of long-lived white dwarfs and the observed supernovae rate, we derive new constraints on ultra-heavy DM which produce SM particles through DM-DM annihilations, DM decays, and DM-SM scattering interactions in the stellar medium. As a concrete example, we rule out supersymmetric Q-ball DM in parameter space complementary to terrestrial bounds. We put further constraints on DM that is captured by white dwarfs, considering the formation and self-gravitational collapse of a DM core which heats the star via decays and annihilations within the core. It is also intriguing that the DM-induced ignition discussed in this work provide an alternative mechanism of triggering supernovae from sub-Chandrasekhar, non-binary progenitors.
Chondrogenic Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells via SOX9 Delivery in Cationic Niosomes

Gene transfer to mesenchymal stem cells constitutes a powerful approach to promote their differentiation into the appropriate cartilage phenotype. Although viral vectors represent gold standard vehicles, because of their high efficiency, their use is precluded by important concerns including an elevated immunogenicity and the possibility of insertional mutagenesis. Therefore, the development of new and efficient non-viral vectors is under active investigation. In the present study, we developed new non-viral carriers based on niosomes to promote the effective chondrogenesis of human MSCs. Two different niosome formulations were prepared by varying their composition on non-ionic surfactant, polysorbate 80 solely (P80), or combined with poloxamer 407 (P80PX). The best niosome formulation was proven to transfer a plasmid, encoding for the potent chondrogenic transcription factor SOX9 in hMSC aggregate cultures. Transfection of hMSC aggregates via nioplexes resulted in an increased chondrogenic differentiation with reduced hypertrophy. These results highlight the potential of niosome formulations for gene therapy approaches focused on cartilage repair.
Validation of intra-operative scoring system for difficult laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the procedure of choice for most patients with gallbladder disease. The key, as in open surgery, is the identification and safe dissection of Calot’s triangle. Surgeons performing laparoscopic cholecystectomy should not think of conversion to open operation as a complication, but rather a sound clinical judgment.Methods: This is an observational, single center study. The scoring system included five aspects; appearance and adhesion of gall bladder (GB), distension or contracture degree of GB, ease in access, local or septic complications, and time required for cystic artery and duct identification. A score of <2 would imply mild difficulty, 2–4 moderate, 5–7 severe and 8–10 extreme. The scores were compared in each patient to conclude the practicality of intra operative predictive score.Results: The most common reason for conversion to open surgery was found to be difficulties in dissection of cystic duct and artery in Calot’s triangle. The moderate and severe category was found to be statistically insignificant to predict the conversion, therefore, one can consider to merge these 2 categories into a single category to forfeit the prediction for conversion.Conclusions: The extreme category was found to be statistically significant for prediction of conversion, therefore, the patients falling into this category forfeits the chances of increased risk of injury and therefore, should be converted early.
The IACOB project V. Spectroscopic parameters of the O-type stars in the modern grid of standards for spectral classification

This research is partially supported by the Spanish Government Ministerio de Economia y Competitivad (MINECO/FEDER) under grants AYA2015-68012-C1-1-P, AYA2015-68012-C2-2-P and SEV2015-0548. Financial support by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under the project AYA2008-06166-C03-01. J. M. A. acknowledges support from the Spanish Government Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) through grants AYA2013-40 611-P and AYA2016-75 931-C2-2-P. M. G. acknowledges funding by the Spanish MINECO via grants FIS2012-39162-C06-01, ESP2013-47809-C3-1-R and ESP2015-65597-C4-1-R. C. S. -S. acknowledges support from CONICYT-Chile through the FONDECYT Postdoctoral Project No. 3170778.
Revisiting the maximum mass of differentially rotating neutron stars in general relativity with realistic equations of state

We study the solution space of general relativistic, axisymmetric, equilibria of differentially rotating neutron stars with realistic, nuclear equations of state. We find that different types of stars, which were identified by earlier works for polytropic equations of state, arise for realistic equations of state, too. Scanning the solution space for the sample of realistic equations of state we treat, we find lower limits on the maximum rest masses supported by cold, differentially rotating stars for each type of stars. We often discover equilibrium configurations that can support more than 2 times the mass of a static star. We call these equilibria "\"ubermassive", and in our survey we find \"ubermassive stars that can support up to 2.5 times the maximum rest mass that can be supported by a cold, non-rotating star with the same equation of state. This is nearly two times larger than what previous studies employing realistic equations of state had found, and which did not uncover \"ubermassive neutron stars. Moreover, we find that the increase in the maximum rest mass with respect to the non-spinning stellar counterpart is larger for moderately stiff equations of state. These results may have implications for the lifetime and the gravitational wave and electromagnetic counterparts of hypermassive neutron stars formed following binary neutron star mergers.
Stagnation-point flow in colliding-wind binary systems

The low X-ray temperatures and luminosities of colliding wind binaries compared to theoretical expectations has been a long standing problem. As a potential solution to this problem we present quantitative calculations of the radiation hydrodynamics in colliding wind binary systems, accounting for the effect of two radiation fields on the dynamics of both winds, using a formulation similar to that of Castor et al. (1975, ApJ 195, 157). A more detailed description of this work can be found in Stevens & Pollock (1994, MNRAS in press). Consider only the WR wind being driven under the influence of the WR and O-star radiation fields and motion only on the line-of-centers. Near the WR-star, its own radiation field dominates, and the mass-loss rate will be largely unaffected by the presence of the companion. However, moving towards the O-star, the O-star radiation field becomes a significant fraction of the total flux. As the O-star radiation field is opposed to the WR radiation field the radiative line-force will be diminished and the wind acceleration diminished. This will lead to the WR star wind colliding with the O-star wind at a lower velocity than would be expected from single star models. This mechanism will only be at work in close binary systems. In wide binaries both winds will be at terminal velocity before the other radiation field makes a difference. Results for a sample calculation are shown in Fig 1, using parameters for V444 Cyg from Schmutz et al. (1989, A&A 210, 236).
Highly Ionized Gas Surrounding High-Velocity Cloud Complex C

We present Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer and Hubble Space Telescope observations of high-, intermediate-, and low-ion absorption in high-velocity cloud (HVC) Complex C along the lines of sight toward five active galaxies. Our purpose is to investigate the idea that Complex C is surrounded by an envelope of highly ionized material, arising from the interaction between the cloud and a hot surrounding medium. We measure column densities of high-velocity high-ion absorption and compare the kinematics of low-, intermediate-, and high-ionization gas along the five sight lines. We find that in all five cases, the H I and O VI high-velocity components are centered within 20 km s-1 of one another, with an average displacement of = 3 ± 12 km s-1. In those directions where the H I emission extends to more negative velocities (the so-called high-velocity ridge), so does the O VI absorption. The kinematics of Si II is also similar to that of O VI, with = 0 ± 15 km s-1. We compare our high-ion column density ratios to the predictions of various models, adjusted to account for both recent updates to the solar elemental abundances and relative elemental abundance ratios in Complex C. Along the PG 1259+593 sight line, we measure N(Si )/N(O ) = 0.10 ± 0.02, N(C )/N(O ) = 0.35, and N(N )/N(O ) < 0.07 (3 σ). These ratios are inconsistent with collisional ionization equilibrium at one kinetic temperature. Photoionization by the extragalactic background is ruled out as the source of the high ions since the path lengths required would make HVCs unreasonably large; photoionization by radiation from the disk of the Galaxy also appears unlikely since the emerging photons are not energetic enough to produce O VI. By themselves, ionic ratios are insufficient to discriminate between various ionization models, but by considering the absorption kinematics as well, we consider the most likely origin for the highly ionized high-velocity gas to be at the conductive or turbulent interfaces between the neutral/warm ionized components of Complex C and a surrounding hot medium. The presence of interfaces on the surface of HVCs provides indirect evidence for the existence of a hot medium in which the HVCs are immersed. This medium could be a hot (T ≳ 106 K) extended Galactic corona or hot gas in the Local Group.
The galaxy luminosity function in the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area at the Southern Galactic Cap

We present optical luminosity functions (LFs) of galaxies in the 0.1g, 0.1r, 0.1i bands, calculated using data in ∼ 40 deg 2 sky area of the LAMOST Complete Spectroscopic Survey of Pointing Area (LaCoSSPAr) in the Southern Galactic Cap. Redshifts for galaxies brighter than r = 18.1 were obtained mainly with LAMOST. In each band, LFs derived using both parametric and non-parametric maximum likelihood methods agree well with each other. In the 0.1r band, our fitting parameters of the Schechter function are ϕ * = ( 1.65 ± 0.36 ) × 10 − 2 h 3 Mpc − 3 , M * = − 20.69 ± 0.06 mag and α = − 1.12 ± 0.08 , which agree with previous studies. Separate LFs are also derived for emission line galaxies and absorption line galaxies. The LFs of absorption line galaxies show a dip at 0.1r** ∼ 18.5 and can be fitted well by a double-Gaussian function, suggesting a bimodality in passive galaxies.
Wrist Rigidity Evaluation in Parkinson’s Disease: A Scoping Review

(1) Background: One of the main cardinal signs of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is rigidity, whose assessment is important for monitoring the patient’s recovery. The wrist is one of the joints most affected by this symptom, which has a great impact on activities of daily living and consequently on quality of life. The assessment of rigidity is traditionally made by clinical scales, which have limitations due to their subjectivity and low intra- and inter-examiner reliability. (2) Objectives: To compile the main methods used to assess wrist rigidity in PD and to study their validity and reliability, a scope review was conducted. (3) Methods: PubMed, IEEE/IET Electronic Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, Bireme, Google Scholar and Science Direct databases were used. (4) Results: Twenty-eight studies were included. The studies presented several methods for quantitative assessment of rigidity using instruments such as force and inertial sensors. (5) Conclusions: Such methods present good correlation with clinical scales and are useful for detecting and monitoring rigidity. However, the development of a standard quantitative method for assessing rigidity in clinical practice remains a challenge.
GHASP: an H α kinematics survey of spiral galaxies – XII. Distribution of luminous and dark matter in spiral and irregular nearby galaxies using Rc-band photometry

Mass models of 100 nearby spiral and irregular galaxies, covering morphological types from Sa to Irr, are computed using Hα rotation curves and R c-band surface brightness profiles. The kinematics was obtained using a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer. One of the aims is to compare our results with those from Korsaga et al. (2018), which used mid-infrared (MIR) WISE W1 (3.4 µm) photometric data. For the analysis, the same tools were used for both bands. Pseudo-Isothermal (ISO) core and Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) cuspy models have been used. We test Best Fit Models (BFM), Maximum Disc Models (MDM) and models for which M/L is fixed using the B-V colors. Similarly to what was found in the MIR 3.4 µm band, most of the observed rotation curves are better described by a central core density profile (ISO) than a cuspy one (NFW) when using the optical R c-band. In both bands, the dispersion in the (M/L) values is smaller for the fixed M/L fits. As for the W1 photometry, the derived DM halos' parameters depend on the morphological types. We find similar relations than those in the literature, only when we compare our results for the bulge-poor sub-sample because most of previous results were mainly based on late-type spirals. Because the dispersion in the model parameters is smaller and because stellar masses are better defined in that band, MIR photometry should be preferred, when possible, to the optical bands. It is shown that for high-z galaxies, sensible results can still be obtained without full profile decomposition.
A unified treatment of Ising model magnetizations

We show how the spontaneous bulk, surface and corner magnetizations in the square lattice Ising model can all be obtained within one approach. The method is based on functional equations which follow from the properties of corner transfer matrices and vertex operators and which can be derived graphically. In all cases, exact analytical expressions for general anisotropy are obtained. Known results, including several for which only numerical computation was previously possible, are verified and new results related to general anisotropy and corner angles are obtained.
Excess Galactic Molecular Absorption Toward the Radio Galaxy 3C 111

We show the combined spectral analysis of Chandra high-energy transmission grating and XMM-Newton reflection-grating spectrometer observations of the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 111. This source is known to show excess neutral absorption with respect to the one estimated from 21 cm radio surveys of atomic H i in the Galaxy. However, previous works were not able to constrain the origin of such an absorber as local to our Milky Way or intrinsic to the source (z = 0.0485). The high signal-to-noise grating spectra allow us to constrain the excess absorption as being due to intervening gas in the Milky Way, and we estimate a time-averaged total column density of cm−2, a factor of two higher than the tabulated H i value. We recommend using the total average Galactic column density estimated here when studying 3C 111. The origin of the extra Galactic absorption of cm−2 is likely due to molecular gas associated with the Taurus molecular cloud complex toward 3C 111, which is our nearest star-forming region. We also detect a weak (EW = 16 ± 10 eV) and narrow (FWMH < 5500 km s−1, consistent with optical Hα) Fe Kα emission line at E = 6.4 keV, likely from the torus in the central regions of 3C 111, and we place an upper limit on the column density of a possible intrinsic warm absorber of NH < 2.5 × 1020 cm−2. These complexities make 3C 111 a very promising object for studying both the intrinsic properties of this active radio galaxy and the Galactic interstellar medium, if used as a background source.
Pulse-to-pulse wavelength switching of diode based fiber laser for multi-color multi-photon imaging

We present an entirely fiber based laser source for non-linear imaging with a novel approach for multi-color excitation. The high power output of an actively modulated and amplified picosecond fiber laser at 1064 nm is shifted to longer wavelengths by a combination of four-wave mixing and stimulated Raman scattering. By combining different fiber types and lengths, we control the non-linear wavelength conversion in the delivery fiber itself and can switch between 1064 nm, 1122 nm, and 1186 nm on-the-fly by tuning the pump power of the fiber amplifier and modulate the seed diodes. This is a promising way to enhance the applicability of short pulsed laser diodes for bio-molecular non-linear imaging by reducing the spectral limitations of such sources. In comparison to our previous work [1, 2], we show for the first time two-photon imaging with the shifted wavelengths and we demonstrate pulse-to-pulse switching between the different wavelengths without changing the configuration.
Efficient and accurate machine-learning interpolation of atomic energies in compositions with many species

Author(s): Artrith, N; Urban, A; Ceder, G | Abstract: © 2017 us. Published by the American Physical Society. Machine-learning potentials (MLPs) for atomistic simulations are a promising alternative to conventional classical potentials. Current approaches rely on descriptors of the local atomic environment with dimensions that increase quadratically with the number of chemical species. In this paper, we demonstrate that such a scaling can be avoided in practice. We show that a mathematically simple and computationally efficient descriptor with constant complexity is sufficient to represent transition-metal oxide compositions and biomolecules containing 11 chemical species with a precision of around 3 meV/atom. This insight removes a perceived bound on the utility of MLPs and paves the way to investigate the physics of previously inaccessible materials with more than ten chemical species.
Three Weeks of Pulmonary Rehabilitation Do Not Influence Oscillometry Parameters in Postoperative Lung Cancer Patients

Simple Summary Forced oscillation technique allows assessment of the respiratory system impedance, free from patient-dependent factors. Our study is the first to evaluate whether the implementation of physical activity has an influence on oscillometric results in patients after thoracic surgery due to lung cancer. The results indicate that despite the 6-min walking test and hand strength improvements, pulmonary rehabilitation has no impact on oscillometric values in this group of patients. Abstract Background: Thoracic surgery is a recommended treatment option for non-small cell lung cancer patients. An important part of a patient’s therapy, which helps to prevent postoperative complications and improve quality of life, is pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). The aim of this study was to assess whether the implementation of physical activity has an influence on forced oscillation technique (FOT) values in patients after thoracic surgery due to lung cancer. Methods: In this observational study, we enrolled 54 patients after thoracic surgery due to lung cancer, 49 patients with idiopathic interstitial fibrosis (IPF), and 54 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma–COPD overlap (COPD/ACO). All patients were subjected to three weeks of in-hospital PR and assessed at the baseline as well as after completing PR by FOT, spirometry, grip strength measurement, and the 6-min walk test (6MWT). Results: We observed differences between FOT values under the influence of physical activity in studied groups, mostly between patients after thoracic surgery and COPD/ACO patients; however, no significant improvement after completing PR among FOT parameters was noticed in any group of patients. Improvements in the 6MWT distance, left hand strength, and right hand strength after PR were noticed (p < 0.001, 0.002, and 0.012, respectively). Conclusions: Three weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation had no impact on FOT values in patients after thoracic surgery due to lung cancer. Instead, we observed improvements in the 6MWT distance and the strength of both hands. Similarly, no FOT changes were observed in IPF and COPD/ACO patients after completing PR.
Factors Associated with Functional Constipation among Students of a Chinese University: A Cross-Sectional Study

Functional constipation (FC) is prevalent worldwide and is an increasingly prominent problem among university students. However, there is a paucity of research on FC in university students. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of FC among Chinese university students by the Rome III criteria and investigate its associated factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted by online questionnaires among 929 university students at a Chinese university. Food consumption was assessed with the Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQFFQ) and dietary patterns were analyzed using factor analysis. A binary logistic regression model was applied to clarify FC-associated factors. The prevalence of FC among university students was 5.1%. Interestingly, among university students, the prevalence of FC with “complex” dietary pattern was significantly higher than those with “vegetable, fruit, egg and milk-based” and “livestock and aquatic product-based” dietary pattern (9.9% vs. 3.1% vs. 2.8%, p < 0.001). The prevalence of FC was significantly higher among university students with moderate to severe sleep disorders than those with the other sleep status (χ2 = 18.100, p < 0.001). Furthermore, after adjusting the covariates, “complex” dietary pattern (OR = 4.023, p < 0.001), moderate to severe sleep disorders (OR = 3.003, p = 0.006), overeating (OR = 2.502, p = 0.032), long mealtime (>30 min) (OR = 6.001, p = 0.007), and poor defecation habits (OR = 3.069, p = 0.042) were positively associated with FC among university students. Based on the above-associated factors for FC, improving dietary patterns and sleep status and developing good bowel and dietary habits are essential to prevent and alleviate university students’ FC.