Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic performance of different anthropometric indices among Iranian adolescents for intima media thickness in early adulthood: A prospective study and literature review

Background There is debate regarding which anthropometric indices is the most appropriate predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in adolescents with high carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in early adulthood, as the surrogate marker of CVD in a cohort study. Methods A total of 875 Iranian adolescents (female = 421) aged 10–17 years old were entered the study. The cIMT was measured in early adulthood (20–38 years old) after 18.2 (median) years of follow-up and defined as > 90th percentile for sex and age groups. The gender specific association between a 1-SD increase in each anthropometric measures with high cIMT was examined using multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, smoking, family history of CVD, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting blood sugar. In the multivariable analysis, the interaction between sex and age groups with anthropometric measures were significant (all p-values < 0.05). Results Among males, all anthropometric measures including BMI, WC, WHR, and WHtR were associated with high cIMT; the corresponding odds ratios were 1.43 (1.05–1.94), 1.63 (1.22–2.19), 1.33 (1.03–1.71), and 1.41 (1.07–1.87), respectively. However, after considering the related adulthood anthropometric measurements, the association remained significant for WC 1.48 (1.04–2.10) and WHR [1.28 (0.99–1.66), P = 0.06]. Moreover, among early adolescent boys aged 10–14 years, all of the anthropometric measures were significantly associated with high cIMT in the multivariate analysis that included the related adulthood anthropometric measures. The area under the curve (AUC) for the anthropometric measurements among males ranged from 0.576 for WHtR up to 0.632 for WC, without any superiority between them. Among females, only in linear regression analysis, a significant association were found between the higher value of WC and WHtR with cIMT measurement in adulthood; however, the risk reached to null after considering adult anthropometric measures. Conclusion General and central obesity measures were significantly associated with high cIMT only among Iranian male adolescents, the relationship that were more prominent among pre-pubertal males.
Transpolar potential and reconnection voltage of the Earth from global MHD simulations

[1] The ionospheric transpolar potential (Vpc) and the magnetospheric reconnection voltage (Vr) of the Earth are investigated in terms of global MHD simulations of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere (SMI) system. A spherical shell approximation is used for the ionosphere with a uniform Pedersen conductance and a zero Hall conductance, the interplanetary magnetic field is due southward, and quasi-steady solutions are obtained for the system. Each solution is characterized by the following four parameters: the ionospheric Pedersen conductance ΣP, the solar wind electric field Esw, ram pressure Psw, and Alfven Mach number MA. More than 100 cases are treated separately and Vpc and Vr are calculated in each case. It is found that both Vpc and Vr increase monotonically with increasing Psw and decreasing MA regardless of the magnitude of Esw. The simulation results are well organized by a combined parameter f = EswPswMA−1/2 and approximately fitted by functions of f and ΣP. When the units are S for ΣP, kV for Vpc and Vr, mV/m for Esw, and nPa for Psw, the functions are found to be Vpc = 2.3 × 103 (f + 0.8)(ΣP + 2)−1/(f + 8.2) and Vr = 1.8 × 103[f + 0.45(ΣP1/2 + 1.2)] (ΣP1/2 + 0.45)−1/(f + 15.5). Three conclusions are made as follows: (1) Both Vpc and Vr saturate with respect to the increase of f; any variation of the interplanetary conditions in favor of the increase of f may cause the saturation. (2) The saturation point is found to be fc = 6.6 for Vpc and fc = 14.4 − 0. 9ΣP1/2 for Vr, whereas the value of ΣP controls the saturation levels. (3) The two potentials, Vpc and Vr, stem from the SMI coupling and exhibit similar saturation behaviors. They are positively correlated because of sharing the same driving source and the close coupling between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere.
Boosting With the L2 Loss

This article investigates a computationally simple variant of boosting, L2Boost, which is constructed from a functional gradient descent algorithm with the L2-loss function. Like other boosting algorithms, L2Boost uses many times in an iterative fashion a prechosen fitting method, called the learner. Based on the explicit expression of refitting of residuals of L2Boost, the case with (symmetric) linear learners is studied in detail in both regression and classification. In particular, with the boosting iteration m working as the smoothing or regularization parameter, a new exponential bias-variance trade-off is found with the variance (complexity) term increasing very slowly as m tends to infinity. When the learner is a smoothing spline, an optimal rate of convergence result holds for both regression and classification and the boosted smoothing spline even adapts to higher-order, unknown smoothness. Moreover, a simple expansion of a (smoothed) 0–1 loss function is derived to reveal the importance of the decision boundary, bias reduction, and impossibility of an additive bias-variance decomposition in classification. Finally, simulation and real dataset results are obtained to demonstrate the attractiveness of L2Boost. In particular, we demonstrate that L2Boosting with a novel component-wise cubic smoothing spline is both practical and effective in the presence of high-dimensional predictors.
Efficiency Enhancement Using Fault-Tolerant Sliding Mode Control for the PMVG-Based WTS Under Actuator Faults

This article focuses on the efficiency enhancement using fault-tolerant sliding mode control (SMC) for permanent-magnet vernier generator (PMVG)-based wind turbine system (WTS) under actuator faults. To do this, the dynamical model of the WTS is constructed with the actuator fault model. Next, the optimum tip speed ratio-based SMC method is proposed to calculate the optimum speed reference of the maximum power point tracking controller that achieves the maximum power capture of the WTS. And then, to effectively track the optimum rotor speed under actuator faults, a disturbance attenuation-based sliding surface is proposed with a novel time-varying exponential reaching law. At the same time, the stability conditions of the SMC are also derived using the appropriate Lyapunov function. Finally, the resilient performance and superiority of the proposed control method are demonstrated through simulation for 5-kW PMVG-based and 4.8-MW benchmark WTSs and its applicability is proven through an experimental prototype for the 5-kW PMVG-based WTS.
Verification of TIGGE Multimodel and ECMWF Reforecast-Calibrated Probabilistic Precipitation Forecasts over the Contiguous United States*

AbstractProbabilistic quantitative precipitation forecasts (PQPFs) were generated from The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX) Interactive Grand Global Ensemble (TIGGE) database from July to October 2010 using data from Europe (ECMWF), the United Kingdom [Met Office (UKMO)], the United States (NCEP), and Canada [Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC)]. Forecasts of 24-h accumulated precipitation were evaluated at 1° grid spacing within the contiguous United States against analysis data based on gauges and bias-corrected radar data.PQPFs from ECMWF’s ensembles generally had the highest skill of the raw ensemble forecasts, followed by CMC. Those of UKMO and NCEP were less skillful. PQPFs from CMC forecasts were the most reliable but the least sharp, and PQPFs from NCEP and UKMO ensembles were the least reliable but sharper.Multimodel PQPFs were more reliable and skillful than individual ensemble prediction system forecasts. The improvement was larger for heavier precipitation eve.
Inner-truncated Disks in Galaxies

We present an analysis of the disk brightness profiles of 218 spiral and lenticular galaxies. At least 28% of disk galaxies exhibit inner truncations in these profiles. There are no significant trends of truncation incidence with Hubble type, but the incidence among barred systems is 49%, more than 4 times that for nonbarred galaxies. However, not all barred systems have inner truncations, and not all inner-truncated systems are currently barred. Truncations represent a real dearth of disk stars in the inner regions and are not an artifact of our selection or fitting procedures nor the result of obscuration by dust. Disk surface brightness profiles in the outer regions are well represented by simple exponentials for both truncated and nontruncated disks. However, truncated and nontruncated systems have systematically different slopes and central surface brightness parameters for their disk brightness distributions. Truncation radii do not appear to correlate well with the sizes or brightnesses of the bulges. This suggests that the low angular momentum material apparently missing from the inner disk was not simply consumed in forming the bulge population. Disk parameters and the statistics of bar orientations in our sample indicate that the missing stars of the inner disk have not simply been redistributed azimuthally into bar structures. The sharpness of the brightness truncations and their locations with respect to other galactic structures suggest that resonances associated with disk kinematics, or tidal interactions with the mass of bulge stars, might be responsible for this phenomenon.
Characterization of semiconductor lasers by spontaneous emission measurements

The measurement of spontaneous emission is a powerful characterization technique of semiconductor lasers, which has been developed with the fabrication of the first lasers. It allows the determination of both material and structural parameters such as gain, refractive index, longitudinal effects, etc. Significant advance has been made recently on the understanding of material properties and lasing characteristics by using spontaneous emission measurements. In particular, the effect of spatial hole burning in phase-shifted distributed feedback lasers has been investigated quantitatively. The main origins of the gain suppression in both bulk and quantum-well structures have been identified by observing the evolution of spontaneous emission spectrum with output power. The paper presents the underlying principles of such a technique and gives a summary of these recent achievements as well as the main results.
Immunocyte Infiltration Analysis and Immunohistochemistry Identify EVL as a Potential Prognostic Biomarker for Pancreatic Cancer

Ena-VASP-like (EVL), a member of the Enabled/vasodilator stimulated phosphoprotein family, is functionally expressed in various cancers. This study explored the prognostic value and potential mechanism of EVL in pancreatic cancer (PC). RNA-seq obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases were used to evaluate EVL expression differences, and clinical samples were collected for validation. The prognostic value of EVL was evaluated by survival data obtained from TCGA and clinical samples. The biological pathways involved in EVL were evaluated by functional enrichment analysis such as GO, KEGG, and GSEA. We used immune infiltration analysis to estimate the correlation between EVL and tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs). The expression of EVL is down-regulated in PC tissues, which is an independent factor affecting survival time. Survival analysis suggested EVL-high expression was associated with good prognosis in PC patients. The results of the enrichment analysis suggested that the biological function of EVL was closely related to the immune mechanism. Tumor immune infiltration analysis showed that high expression of EVL was accompanied by high levels of immune infiltration. Furthermore, EVL was strongly correlated with the content of immune cells such as CD8+ T cells, B cells, regulatory T cells, CD4+ Tem cells, and follicular Th cells. EVL is a potential independent prognostic marker and immunotherapy target for PC. Mechanistically, EVL may affect the prognosis by extensively promoting immune cell infiltration, including strengthening the anti-tumor immune response of CD8+ T cells.
P‐wave transmission across fractures with nonlinear deformational behaviour

Stress wave attenuation across fractured rock masses is a great concern of underground structure safety. When the wave amplitude is large, fractures experience nonlinear deformation during the wave propagation. This paper presents a study on normal transmission of P‐wave across parallel fractures with nonlinear deformational behaviour (static Barton–Bandis model). The results show that the magnitude of transmission coefficient is a function of incident wave amplitude, nondimensional fracture spacing and number of fractures. Two important indices of nondimensional fracture spacing are identified, and they divide the area of nondimensional fracture spacing into three parts (individual fracture area, transition area and small spacing area). In the different areas, the magnitude of transmission coefficient has different trends with nondimensional fracture spacing and number of fractures. In addition, the study reveals that under some circumstances, the magnitude of transmission coefficient increases with increasing number of fractures, and is larger than 1. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Deep Learning Algorithms for Screening and Diagnosis of Systemic Diseases Based on Ophthalmic Manifestations: A Systematic Review

Deep learning (DL) is the new high-profile technology in medical artificial intelligence (AI) for building screening and diagnosing algorithms for various diseases. The eye provides a window for observing neurovascular pathophysiological changes. Previous studies have proposed that ocular manifestations indicate systemic conditions, revealing a new route in disease screening and management. There have been multiple DL models developed for identifying systemic diseases based on ocular data. However, the methods and results varied immensely across studies. This systematic review aims to summarize the existing studies and provide an overview of the present and future aspects of DL-based algorithms for screening systemic diseases based on ophthalmic examinations. We performed a thorough search in PubMed®, Embase, and Web of Science for English-language articles published until August 2022. Among the 2873 articles collected, 62 were included for analysis and quality assessment. The selected studies mainly utilized eye appearance, retinal data, and eye movements as model input and covered a wide range of systemic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and systemic health features. Despite the decent performance reported, most models lack disease specificity and public generalizability for real-world application. This review concludes the pros and cons and discusses the prospect of implementing AI based on ocular data in real-world clinical scenarios.
A spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation anomalies using rainfall Gini index between 1980 and 2022

As a reaction to the expanding challenges associated with social susceptibility and their interconnection to diverse environmental threats, parametric insurance plays a key role as an innovation tool in the insurance sector to enhance social resilience to natural disasters and extreme climatic conditions, which can tremendously impact several economic sectors, including agriculture and as a result food security. In this context, this research investigates the association between rainfall Gini index and drought events in Western Europe. For this purpose, we acquired ERA5 data for daily precipitation for five locations from 1980 to 2022. Gini index (GI) values were calculated and analyzed for each location with the Mann–Kendall test at a 5% significance level. As expected, a minimal decreasing trend has been observed for daily precipitation, while an increasing trend was recorded for Gini index. In addition, data on the soil moisture index (SMI) and top drought events were extracted from the European Drought Observatory (EDO) to explore their potential connection with the Gini index over time and space. Although a moderately low to negligible correlation, ranging between −0.27 and 0.02, was found between SMI and GI, a qualitative comparison between major drought episodes and Gini index anomaly showed that similar spatiotemporal patterns are present across the region, particularly for extreme drought events in 1996–1997 and 2003. The current study elucidates the rainfall Gini index's efficiency as a drought indicator for qualitative analysis, yet more work must be conducted to quantitatively evaluate its association with drought magnitude.
Age-Related In Vivo Structural Changes in the Male Mouse Olfactory Bulb and Their Correlation with Olfactory-Driven Behavior

Simple Summary In humans and mice, the olfactory system is linked to areas of the brain that modulate behavior. Malfunctions of the olfactory system were described in many neurological and psychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, depression, and mood disorders. Some of these diseases are common in aging persons; hence, it is relevant to know how the olfactory bulb, the first olfactory center in the brain, changes with age in its structure, and how these changes may be related to behavioral modifications. Since most of the experimental work is performed in mice, we studied young and elderly mice with a battery of behavioral tests to describe the differences in motor, olfactory, cognitive, and emotional performance. Then, mice underwent magnetic resonance imaging to describe the differences between olfactory bulbs of young and elderly mice. Lastly, we selected the behavioral variables more predictive of the differences between young and elderly mice and correlated them with the most predictive magnetic resonance variables. Elderly mice were less scared than young mice by new environments, and their olfactory bulb differed in two structural variables, which correlated with three anxiety measures. These data suggest a new direction for human aging studies, on the link between the olfactory bulb and behavior. Abstract Olfactory areas in mammalian brains are linked to centers that modulate behavior. During aging, sensitivity to odors decreases and structural changes are described in olfactory areas. We explored, in two groups of male mice (young and elderly, 6 and 19 months old, respectively), the link between the changes in olfactory bulb structure, detected with magnetic resonance imaging, and behavioral changes in a battery of tests on motor, olfactory, cognitive performance, and emotional reactivity. The behavioral pattern of elderly mice appears less anxious, being less scared by new situations. Additionally, the olfactory bulb of young and elderly mice differed in two variables derived from magnetic resonance imaging (fractional anisotropy and T2 maps). A random forest approach allowed to select the variables most predictive of the differences between young and elderly mice, and correlations were found between three behavioral variables indicative of anxious behavior and the two magnetic resonance variables mentioned above. These data suggest that in the living mouse, it is possible to describe co-occurring age-related behavioral and structural changes in the olfactory bulb. These data serve as a basis for studies on normal and pathological aging in the mouse, but also open new opportunities for in vivo human aging studies.
The spreading of thin liquid films on a water-air interface

The spreading on a water–air interface of a thin liquid film is examined for the situation in which surface tension gradients drive the motion. A similarity solution is obtained numerically for unidirectional spreading when some general restrictions concerning the form of the liquid film constitutive relation is made. This solution gives the size of the film as a function of time and also the velocity and thickness distribution along the spreading film. Experiments are performed which show good agreement with the theory.
Extended Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov theory for degenerate Bose systems

An extension of the Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov (HFB) theory of degenerate Bose systems in which the coupling between one and two quasi-particles is taken into account is developed. The excitation operators are written as linear combinations of one and two HFB quasi-particles. Excitation energies and quasi-particle amplitudes are given by generalized Bogoliubov equations. The excitation spectrum has two branches. The first one is a discrete branch which is gapless and has a phonon character at large wavelength and, contrarily to HFB, is always stable. This branch is detached from a second, continuum branch whose threshold, at fixed total momentum, coincides with the two quasi-particle threshold of the HFB theory. The gap between the two branches at P = 0 is twice the HFB gap, which thus provides for the relevant energy scale. Numerical results for a specific case are given.
Time Dilation in the Light Curve of the Distant Type Ia Supernova SN 1995K

The light curve of a distant Type Ia supernova acts like a clock that can be used to test the expansion of the universe. SN 1995K, at a spectroscopic redshift of z = 0.479, provides one of the first meaningful data sets for this test. We find that all aspects of SN 1995K resemble local Type Ia supernova events when the light curve is dilated by (1 + z), as prescribed by cosmological expansion. In a static, nonexpanding universe, SN 1995K would represent a unique object with a spectrum identifying it as a regular Type Ia supernova but with a light-curve shape and luminosity that do not follow the well-established relations for local events. We conclude that SN 1995K provides strong evidence for an interpretation of cosmological redshifts as being due to universal expansion. Theories in which photons dissipate their energy during travel are excluded as are age-redshift dependencies.
Heterogeneity of Phenotypic and Functional Changes to Porcine Monocyte-Derived Macrophages Triggered by Diverse Polarizing Factors In Vitro

Swine are attracting increasing attention as a biomedical model, due to many immunological similarities with humans. However, porcine macrophage polarization has not been extensively analyzed. Therefore, we investigated porcine monocyte-derived macrophages (moMΦ) triggered by either IFN-γ + LPS (classical activation) or by diverse “M2-related” polarizing factors: IL-4, IL-10, TGF-β, and dexamethasone. IFN-γ and LPS polarized moMΦ toward a proinflammatory phenotype, although a significant IL-1Ra response was observed. Exposure to IL-4, IL-10, TGF-β, and dexamethasone gave rise to four distinct phenotypes, all antithetic to IFN-γ and LPS. Some peculiarities were observed: IL-4 and IL-10 both enhanced expression of IL-18, and none of the “M2-related” stimuli induced IL-10 expression. Exposures to TGF-β and dexamethasone were characterized by enhanced levels of TGF-β2, whereas stimulation with dexamethasone, but not TGF-β2, triggered CD163 upregulation and induction of CCL23. Macrophages stimulated with IL-10, TGF-β, or dexamethasone presented decreased abilities to release proinflammatory cytokines in response to TLR2 or TLR3 ligands: IL-10 showed a powerful inhibitory activity for CXCL8 and TNF release, whereas TGF-β provided a strong inhibitory signal for IL-6 production. While our results emphasized porcine macrophage plasticity broadly comparable to human and murine macrophages, they also highlighted some peculiarities in this species.