Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of Alpha Particle Impact Double Ionization Cross Sections of Cu Atom

Semi-classical binary encounter approximation has been used for the study of ionization cross sections of Cu atom at ground state. Projectile, alpha particle, with energy varying from threshold to 360 keV/amu are considered for direct double ionizations cross section. Out of the two path ways of ionization we have ruled out the indirect process (like excitation-auto ionization, Auger effect) of double ionization. We considered direct - ionization of outer shells of Cu atom. Vriens accurate expression of cross section for energy transfer ΔE(σΔE ) and Hertree-Fock velosity distribution function for the target electrons are used. The theoretical value of double ionization cross sections at impact energy 300 keV/amu is 0.98 x 10-16 cm2 which is same as experimental values at that impact energy. Above energy of 300 keV/amu, the calculated results underestimates the experimental data and at 360 keV/amu their magnitude are 0.77 x 10-16 and 1.0 x 10-16 respectively. Above impact energy of 75keV/amu, all the theoretical results have ratio factor within 2. Out of the total number of theoretical data 75% are under valid range of ratio factor 2 and among the valid range 41% have ratio factor below 1.325 and hence calculated results of double ionization cross section lie in the acceptable range. The linear correlation coefficient (R square) and standard deviation (SD) of linear fit are 0.6984 and 0.7883 respectively. In low energy range the theoretical results are more apart from corresponding experimental values and possess relatively more error compared to intermediate and higher energy region. Calculated results are in satisfactory agreement with experiment in intermediate and high energy range.
The effect of telerehabilitation on early outcomes in patients undergoing primary total knee replacement: A prospective randomized study

Background/Aim: The continuity of rehabilitation is a problem after arthroplasty operations. There is a need for accessible rehabilitation programs for patients. The purpose of this study is to determine the difference in knee functions and patients' quality of life between patients doing home telerehabilitation and home rehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 90 patients, between June 2019 and January 2021. Patients are divided into three groups. Patients in group 1 are told to continue with the daily routine exercises which began in hospital. Group 2 patients got an information message to their mobile phones every day for the first month, reminding them of their postoperative exercises, whereas patients in group 3 are called by mobile phone for the same reminding. All patients participating in the study were evaluated by completing the Universities of Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores, the Knee Society Clinical Evaluation System (KSS), the Barthel Index (BI) and the Quality of Life Scale Short Form 36 (SF-36) preoperatively and in the first and third months postoperatively, and the differences between the groups based on these scores were evaluated. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in WOMAC between the groups regarding first-month and third-month postoperatively ( P= 0.004 and P< 0.001, respectively), as well as in KSS values between the same groups ( P= 0.048 and P= 0.036, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding postoperative first-month BI ( P= 0.826) and SF-36 values ( P= 0.264). There was a statistically significant difference between the groups regarding postoperative third-month BI and SF-36 values ( P= 0.035 and P< 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: The telerehabilitation therapy appears to be more effective and successful than the control group, as shown by improvements in overall physical functions.
The Volumetric Changes of the Pineal Gland with Age: An Atlas-based Structural Analysis

ABSTRACT Introduction There are numerous reports on the facilitatory role of the pineal gland (PG) in brain function, and the size this structure is suggested to be associated with its proper functionality. Previous works which studied the volume of the PG were mostly based on manual delineation of this region. In a recent work, we developed an MRI atlas for the PG in the standard space, with one of its applications being in volumetric studies. Methods In this study, using structural MRI data from 295 healthy participants in the age range of 19 to 76 years old, and using robust volumetric methods which included the above-mentioned atlas, we estimated the association of ageing with the changes of the PG volume, along with the volume of 48 other brain structures. Results We observed a linear decline (r= -0.42) over this age range for the PG volume, which showed similarity to the ageing profile of most of the other brain structures. Also, the PG volume showed significant associations with the scores of 9 cognitive tests. Conclusion This study is the first work with an automated approach to estimate the PG volume, and could be a help to better understand the functionality of the PG in older ages.
EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF LEARNERS’ DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ON COURSE COMPLETION AND DROPOUT IN MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have the potential to change education by offering high-quality online courses in a variety of disciplines. However, just a few studies have investigated the impact of MOOC students' demographics on their completion rates. In this research, we investigate the impact of demographic features of learners in the completion and dropping rate of MOOCs. The data from a survey is used in this study to determine which learner demographic features may have an impact on MOOC completion and dropout. The data was analyzed using Chi-square test.The findings demonstrate that four factors, including gender, marital status, age, and educational level, have no impact on degree of MOOC completion. It was also discovered that marital status, age, and educational level, have no effect on MOOC dropout. However, we discovered a statistically significant link between gender and MOOC dropout (χ2 = 6.347, df = 1, p = 0.012). These results can be considered in future instructional initiatives.
Assessment of cure cycle shortening for advanced composites via ultrasonics and dynamic mechanical analysis

Composite materials are incorporated in various applications and their industry is widely growing. They offer cost savings and are more environmentally friendly than conventional metal structures. Some of the concerns this industry faces are the energy and time spent on long curing cycles to achieve permanent bonding between the matrix and fibers. In our previous work, a reusable sensing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) system that can monitor the degree of cure of the composite while curing was developed and tested through Lamb waves analysis. This thin film is now used to monitor the same cure parameters for a shorter curing cycle than that suggested by the CFRP manufacturer. The results show that the three cure parameters: Minimum viscosity, full gelation, and vitrification are offset by the same time deducted from the cycle, highlighting the feasibility of using such technology. To verify the viability of this approach, tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis are performed on these composites. Tensile testing results show that the average tensile modulus for the shortened cycle is of similar values if not slightly higher than that of the normal cycle. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results verify both previous conclusions: Time shift of cure parameters and enhanced mechanical properties of the shortened cycle.
Evaluation of the Dietary Pattern of Rural Residents in the South of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Objective: We tried to learn about the eating habits and their possible consequences on the health of rural residents in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil in view of the importance of knowing dietary habits in the face of globalization and the risk of developing chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Methods: For this, 1344 people were stratified and interviewed between January 2015 and November 2019, individuals aged 18 years or over, working or residing in the rural area of ​​the micro-region studied were included. Epidemiological, anthropometric and clinical data and assessment of dietary pattern were collected. A survey built and validated by Vigitel was used, and the interviewees received scores referring to food consumption in recent weeks. Thus, they were divided into 3 groups, according to their score, with the highest scoring tertile classified as “adequate”, the medium tertile as “intermediate” and the lowest as “inadequate”. Results: As a result, most interviewees were men (62.7%), overweight (54.03%), between 44.1 years old, and the average educational level of 6.64 years. Women had higher averages of schooling time and higher values ​​of BMI and waist circumference when compared to males. In addition, a higher percentage of women fit the high dietary pattern when compared to men. Most respondents (54.03%) were classified as overweight, followed by normal weight (41.8%) and underweight (4.06%) when assessing BMI. Older age and level of education varied and were associated to a better quality of diet. It is remarkable that the eating habits of the rural population are increasingly like those in urban areas. Even with better food quality, women have worse anthropometric indices than men. Even though food consumption has changed, it does not appear in the habits of older people. Conclusion: However, it is concluded that public policies that promote healthy eating for rural residents are needed.
Species-Specific Interferon-Gamma Release Assay for the Diagnosis of Mycobacterium abscessus Complex Infection

Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC) infection has a devastating impact on the course of cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF lung disease. Diagnosis of MABC pulmonary disease is challenging, and current diagnostic approaches lack accuracy, especially in CF. In this study, we aimed to establish an MABC-specific interferon-γ release assay to detect host immune responses to MABC and improve diagnostics of MABC infection by the detection of antigen-specific T cells. Four species-specific proteins of MABC were overexpressed in an Escherichia coli expression system. Purified proteins were used to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells of study subjects in an ELISpot assay. Interferon-γ response of 12 subjects with established diagnosis of MABC infection (10 CF and two non-CF) was compared with 35 controls (22 CF and 13 non-CF) distributed to three control groups, 17 CF subjects without NTM infection, nine subjects with NTM infection other than MABC, and nine subjects with tuberculosis. Cellular in vitro responses in the MABC group were stronger than in the control groups, especially toward the protein MAB_0405c (39 vs. 4 spots per 300,000 PBMC, p = 0.004; data represent mean values) in all patients and also in the subgroup of CF subjects (39 spots vs. 1 spot, p = 0.003). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that spot numbers of at least 20 were highly predictive of MABC infection (all patients: area under curve 0.773, sensitivity 58%, and specificity 94%; CF patients: area under curve 0.818, sensitivity 60%, and specificity 100%). In conclusion, we identified MAB_0405c as a protein that may stimulate MABC-specific interferon-γ secretion and may add to the diagnosis of MABC infection in affected patients.
Ecological Observations Based on Functional Gene Sequencing Are Sensitive to the Amplicon Processing Method

Several analysis pipelines are available to microbial ecologists to process amplicon sequencing data, yet to date, there is no consensus as to the most appropriate method, and it becomes more difficult for genes that encode a specific function (functional genes). Standardized approaches need to be adopted to increase the reliability and reproducibility of environmental amplicon-sequencing-based data sets. ABSTRACT Until recently, the de facto method for short-read-based amplicon reconstruction was a sequence similarity threshold approach (operational taxonomic units [OTUs]). This has changed with the amplicon sequence variant (ASV) method where distributions are fitted to abundance profiles of individual genes using a noise-error model. While OTU-based approaches are still useful for 16S rRNA/18S rRNA genes, where thresholds of 97% to 99% are used, their use for functional genes is still debatable as there is no consensus on clustering thresholds. Here, we compare OTU- and ASV-based reconstruction approaches and taxonomy assignment methods, the naive Bayesian classifier (NBC) and Bayesian lowest common ancestor (BLCA) algorithm, using a functional gene data set from the microbial nitrogen-cycling community in the Brouage mudflat (France). A range of OTU similarity thresholds and ASVs were used to compare amoA (ammonia-oxidizing archaea [AOA] and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria [AOB]), nxrB, nirS, nirK, and nrfA communities between differing sedimentary structures. Significant effects of the sedimentary structure on weighted UniFrac (WUniFrac) distances were observed for AOA amoA when using ASVs, an OTU at a threshold of 97% sequence identity (OTU-97%), and OTU-85%; AOB amoA when using OTU-85%; and nirS when using ASV, OTU-90%, and OTU-85%. For AOB amoA, significant effects of the sedimentary structures on UniFrac distances were observed when using OTU-97% but not ASVs, and the inverse was found for nrfA. Interestingly, conclusions drawn for nirK and nxrB were consistent between amplicon reconstruction methods. We also show that when the sequences in the reference database are related to the environment in question, the BLCA algorithm leads to more phylogenetically relevant classifications. However, when the reference database contains sequences more dissimilar to the ones retrieved, the NBC obtains more information. IMPORTANCE Several analysis pipelines are available to microbial ecologists to process amplicon sequencing data, yet to date, there is no consensus as to the most appropriate method, and it becomes more difficult for genes that encode a specific function (functional genes). Standardized approaches need to be adopted to increase the reliability and reproducibility of environmental amplicon-sequencing-based data sets. In this paper, we argue that the recently developed ASV approach offers a better opportunity to achieve such standardization than OTUs for functional genes. We also propose a comprehensive framework for quality filtering of the sequencing reads based on protein sequence verification.
Effects of Prone Position on Lung Recruitment and Ventilation-Perfusion Matching in Patients With COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Combined CT Scan/Electrical Impedance Tomography Study*

OBJECTIVES: Prone positioning allows to improve oxygenation and decrease mortality rate in COVID-19–associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (C-ARDS). However, the mechanisms leading to these effects are not fully understood. The aim of this study is to assess the physiologic effects of pronation by the means of CT scan and electrical impedance tomography (EIT). DESIGN: Experimental, physiologic study. SETTING: Patients were enrolled from October 2020 to March 2021 in an Italian dedicated COVID-19 ICU. PATIENTS: Twenty-one intubated patients with moderate or severe C-ARDS. INTERVENTIONS: First, patients were transported to the CT scan facility, and image acquisition was performed in prone, then supine position. Back to the ICU, gas exchange, respiratory mechanics, and ventilation and perfusion EIT-based analysis were provided toward the end of two 30 minutes steps (e.g., in supine, then prone position). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Prone position induced recruitment in the dorsal part of the lungs (12.5% ± 8.0%; p < 0.001 from baseline) and derecruitment in the ventral regions (–6.9% ± 5.2%; p < 0.001). These changes led to a global increase in recruitment (6.0% ± 6.7%; p < 0.001). Respiratory system compliance did not change with prone position (45 ± 15 vs 45 ± 18 mL/cm H2O in supine and prone position, respectively; p = 0.957) suggesting a decrease in atelectrauma. This hypothesis was supported by the decrease of a time-impedance curve concavity index designed as a surrogate for atelectrauma (1.41 ± 0.16 vs 1.30 ± 0.16; p = 0.001). Dead space measured by EIT was reduced in the ventral regions of the lungs, and the dead-space/shunt ratio decreased significantly (5.1 [2.3–23.4] vs 4.3 [0.7–6.8]; p = 0.035), showing an improvement in ventilation-perfusion matching. CONCLUSIONS: Several changes are associated with prone position in C-ARDS: increased lung recruitment, decreased atelectrauma, and improved ventilation-perfusion matching. These physiologic effects may be associated with more protective ventilation.
Age-Related Differences of Frequency-Dependent Functional Connectivity in Brain Networks and Their Link to Motor Performance

BACKGROUND Aging affects the brain at the anatomical and functional levels, resulting in a decline in motor and cognitive performance. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies documented lower connectivity within brain networks and higher connectivity between them, for older as compared to young adults. However, it is still unclear whether the reduced segregation between networks, as observed with fMRI, has neurophysiological underpinnings. METHODS We collected high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG) data in 24 young and 24 older adults at rest. Bimanual coordination performance was also measured in the same participants, using a computerized test. Using the hdEEG data, we reconstructed oscillatory power and functional connectivity for six large-scale brain networks, in delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma frequency bands. We evaluated age-related differences in network power and connectivity between young and older participants, and their possible relationships with bimanual coordination performance. RESULTS We observed that the level of network segregation generally decreased with age, in line with fMRI findings. However, there was a relatively strong dependence on the frequency band and the brain network being considered. EEG connectivity in the sensorimotor network predicted motor performance differences across older individuals, particularly when neural oscillations in the beta frequency band were considered. DISCUSSION Our study provides electrophysiological evidence in support of the 'de-differentiation hypothesis' for the aging brain, and for the existence of a clear link between the strength of EEG connectivity at rest and motor performance.
Preventive Maintenance for Mortgage Loans of Low-Income Borrowers

For borrowers with financial troubles in the mortgage market, current practice is to offer loss mitigation options only after mortgage defaults occur. Researches in this area focused on borrower’s post-default options and the effectiveness of different mitigation tools and servicers’ practices to prevent foreclosure. Same as researchers, practitioners and policy makers are interested mainly in determining when and how to provide interventions for delinquent loans. Some studies pointed out the cost saving effect by providing preventive services to borrowers in early delinquency stage, while others claimed the effects from altering the terms of modifying the loan contracts. In this paper, we present preventive loan maintenance models and argue that it is more cost effective by applying pre-default mitigation strategies before a borrower becomes delinquent and before the occurrence of defaults from a specific proportion of loans in a mortgage pool.
Dynamic parameter identification techniques and test structures for microsystems characterization on wafer level

In this work a method for the characterization of microsystems with movable components is presented. The method allows to determine the relevant parameters and their variations on wafer level if the nominal shape of the structure and the type of deviations are known. The method is based on a comparison of the numerically calculated and experimentally measured Eigenfrequencies of the microsystems. For that purpose, the relationships between various Eigenfrequencies and the searched parameters are calculated by parameter variation analysis and the results of this analysis are approximated with appropriate functions. A Laser Doppler vibrometer based motion analyzer is used to determine the frequency response function of the micromechanical structure and extract Eigenfrequencies. The comparison of the measured and the calculated frequencies provides values for the searched parameters. The key element of the developed method is the measurement on special test structures that are placed in the wafer layout next to the actual microsystems and processed in the same technological process parallel to the actual microsystems. Algorithms for designing the test structures and their placement in the wafer layout are shown, taking into account the design of the actual microsystems and the function parameters of the technological process as well as material characteristics. As a result, a library of standard test structures for function relevant parameters is available. A general guideline for the measurement on the test structures is presented. The presented method is verified on various microsystems and extended to a whole class of microsystems with movable components. Symbols and Abbreviations 9 Symbols and abbreviations
Distributed Event-Triggered Control for Multiagent Systems Under Denial-of-Service Attacked Topology: Secure Mode Strategy

In this article, the secure event-triggered control problem is investigated for multiagent systems (MASs) compromised by Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks with multiple modes. With the rapid development of information technology, DoS attacks against communication topologies are more and more common in MASs with cyber-physical features. To actively reduce the influences caused by DoS attacks, a secure mode strategy is proposed to make agents switch into the secure mode when attacks occur. In this strategy, each agent accesses or terminates the secure mode with bounded time delays after DoS attacks begin or end. Based on the switched system theory, the secure mode strategy against DoS attacks is modeled as the asynchronous switching between agent models and topologies. Finally, we obtain the sufficient conditions on the frequency and duration of DoS attacks, under which the designed controller can guarantee the consensus of MASs. By practical examples, the MASs with the secure mode strategy are illustrated to have better attack-resistant effectiveness than the ones without the secure mode strategy.