Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speckle Structure in Small-Angle Coherent X-ray Scattering

Small-angle coherent X-ray scattering measurements on a polymer gel and on a single crystal of Al–9at. % Li are reported. Speckle structures were recorded using a direct-illumination CCD camera. A speckle intensity fluctuation of ~20% was observed. Time and space statistics for the signal provided estimates of the coherence effects and the measurements demonstrate the wavevector dependence of the coherence effects. Preliminary intensity-fluctuation spectroscopy was performed for Al–Li.
Ruellia whitneyana, a New Species of Acanthaceae from Bolivia

Abstract We here describe a new species of flowering plant to science, Ruellia whitneyana (Acanthaceae), so far known only from Bolivia. This species occupies wet forest understories associated with steep slopes and riparian environments, where plants grow directly atop slate rocks or among rocky soils. We postulate that this new species is of hybrid origin between Ruellia brevifolia and Ruellia puri based on recurrent sympatry and simultaneous co-flowering, intermediate vegetative and floral morphological features, and evidence from genomic and palynological data.
The Phylogeny of Errazurizia (Fabaceae: Amorpheae) and Description of the New Monotypic Genus Pictarena

Abstract Errazurizia (Fabaceae) is a genus comprised of four species of New World desert shrubs with an ambiguous evolutionary history. Prior studies determined the North American species of Errazurizia were polyphyletic and the relationship of E. rotundata with other genera in the tribe Amorpheae remained undetermined. The sole South American species, which is also the type species, has never been included in a molecular study. We inferred the phylogenetic relationships of Errazurizia and six closely related genera using data from the cpDNA genome and nrDNA cistron from reference guided assemblies. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses found two of the North American and the South American species were a monophyletic group, but that E. rotundata was sister to the monotypic genus Parryella. Gland and pollen surface characters confirm the close relationship between P. filifolia and E. rotundata. Cytonuclear discordance yielded partially incongruent tree topologies, and while the cpDNA phylogeny indicated a monophyletic Amorpha was sister to the E. rotundata and P. filifolia clade, the nrDNA cistron phylogeny recovered a paraphyletic Amorpha, with A. californica sister to the E. rotundata and P. filifolia clade. Molecular and morphological evidence support the elevation of E. rotundata to its own monotypic genus, Pictarena. The new genus Pictarena is defined by subsessile, suborbicular leaflets, mammiform leaflet glands, spicate inflorescences, and flowers with either all petals absent or rarely with a banner petal. Elevating E. rotundata to Pictarena resolves the confusing classification of the species, an imperiled endemic known only from four localities in northern Arizona and lends support for continued conservation.
Photometric and spectroscopic analysis of the eclipsing binary DS Andromedae - a member of NGC 752

Complete BVRI light curves and radial-velocity curves of both components of the 1.01 d period eclipsing binary DS And are presented. The Wilson-Devinney synthetic light curve program is used to determine the absolute parameters of this system, and it is confirmed that the primary component is nearly filling its Roche lobe. The distance modulus and systemic velocity conclusively establish cluster membership. The age of NGC 752, determined by fitting the theoretical isochrones of VandenBerg (1985) to the C-M diagram of Cannon (1970), is assigned to DS And. This enables a showing that, although the primary component is nearly filling its Roche lobe, it has thus far evolved as a single isolated star. 54 references.
Structured time-delay systems: A graph approach

In this paper, linear structured systems with delays are defined and a simple graph representation for these systems is given. Then, the generic controllability of time-delay systems is introduced and a graph criterion for controllability is provided. The generic row-by-row decoupling problem without prediction of such systems is then studied and graphical necessary and sufficient solvability conditions for this problem is derived.
A review on cybersecurity in railways

Digitalisation is transforming the railway globally. One of the major considerations in digital transformation of any industry including the railway is the increased exposure to cyberattacks. The railway industry is vulnerable to these attacks because since the number of digital items and also number of interfaces between digital and physical components in the railway systems keep increasing. Increased number of items and interfaces require new frameworks, concepts and architectures to ensure the railway system’s resilience with respect to cybersecurity challenges, such as lack of proactiveness, lack of holistic perspective and obsolescence of safety systems exposed to current and future cyber threats landscape. To this date, there are several works carried out in the literature that studied the cybersecurity aspects and its application on railway infrastructure. However, to develop and implement an appropriate roadmap to cybersecurity in railways, there is a need of describing emerging challenges, and approaches to deal with these challenges and the possibilities and benefits of these. Hence, the objective of this paper is to provide a systematic review and outline cybersecurity emerging trends and approaches, and also to identify possible solutions by querying literature, academic and industrial, for future directions. The authors of this paper conducted separate searches through four popular databases, that is, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science and IEEE explore. For the screening process, authors have used keywords with Boolean operators and database filters and identified 90 articles most relevant to the study domain. The analysis of 90 articles shows that majority of the cybersecurity studies lies within the railways are conceptual and lags in application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based security. Like other industries, it is very important that railways should also follow latest security technologies, trends and train their workforce for cyber hygiene since railways are already in digitalization transition mode.
Effectiveness of grouted layer in the mitigation of subway-induced vibrations

As a practical countermeasure against generally destructive subway-induced vibrations, the injection of a continuous thin layer of soft materials into the soil under adjacent receivers is investigated in this paper for the first time. To this aim, simulations were carried out using a finite/infinite element model of a railway track, tunnel, and surrounding soil. A straightforward analytical approach was implemented to model the dynamic excitation of the moving train. In addition, the effect of a soft V-shaped grouted layer on vibration mitigation on the ground was evaluated via a parametric analysis that determined the impacts of soil type, grout specifications, and train speed. The obtained results clearly indicated that a softer isolator (i.e., the grouted layer) in combination with a stiffer soil provides the best configuration for attenuating the subway-induced vibrations. Furthermore, the injection angle and train speed were shown to have minimal impacts on the isolator performance. Other contributions of the present paper include developing a simple equation to estimate the grouted layer effectiveness and describing how the isolator works in layered soils.
The Unusual Midwinter Warming in the Southern Hemisphere Stratosphere 2002: A Comparison to Northern Hemisphere Phenomena

A strong midwinter warming occurred in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) stratosphere in September 2002. Based on experiences from the Northern Hemisphere (NH), this event can be defined as a major warming with a breakdown of the polar vortex in midwinter, which has never been detected so far in the SH since observations began at the earliest in the 1940s. Minor midwinter warmings occasionally occurred in the SH, but a strong interannual variability, as is present in winter and spring in the NH, has been explicitly associated with the spring reversals. A detailed analysis of this winter reveals the dominant role of eastward-traveling waves and their interaction with quasi-stationary planetary waves forced in the troposphere. Such wave forcing, finally leading to the sudden breakdown of the vortex, is a familiar feature of the northern winter stratosphere. Therefore, the unusual development of this Antarctic winter is described in the context of more than 50 Arctic winters, concentrating on winters with similar wave perturbations. The relevance of preconditioning of major warmings by traveling and quasi-stationary planetary waves is discussed for both hemispheres.
Precession-driven flows in stress-free ellipsoids

Abstract Motivated by modelling rotating turbulence in planetary fluid layers, we investigate precession-driven flows in ellipsoids subject to stress-free boundary conditions (SF-BC). The SF-BC could indeed unlock numerical constraints associated with the no-slip boundary conditions (NS-BC), but are also relevant for some astrophysical applications. Although SF-BC have been employed in the pioneering work of Lorenzani & Tilgner (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 492, 2003, pp. 363–379), they have scarcely been used due to the discovery of some specific mathematical issues associated with angular momentum conservation. We revisit the problem using asymptotic analysis in the low-viscosity regime, which is validated with numerical simulations. First, we extend the reduced model of uniform-vorticity flows in ellipsoids to account for SF-BC. We show that the long-term evolution of angular momentum is affected by viscosity in triaxial geometries, but also in axisymmetric ellipsoids when the mean rotation axis of the fluid is not the symmetry axis. In a regime relevant to planets, we analytically obtain the primary forced flow in triaxial geometries, which exhibits a second inviscid resonance. Then, we investigate the bulk instabilities existing in precessing ellipsoids. We show that using SF-BC would be useful to explore the non-viscous instabilities (e.g. Kerswell, Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., vol. 72, 1993, pp. 107–144), which are presumably relevant for planetary applications but are often hampered in experiments or simulations with NS-BC.
GASEOUS HALOS OF LATE-TYPE SPIRAL GALAXIES

This article reviews the most recent observational results on disk-halo interactions in nearby galaxies. The implications of these results on our understanding of the structure of the interstellar medium (ISM) in our Galaxy and external spiral galaxies, with particular emphasis on the halo ISM, are discussed. Disk-halo interactions occur only above the brightest \hii\ regions, which are found almost exclusively in late-type spirals and dwarf and irregular galaxies. Circumnuclear starbursts are the most energetic flavor of this phenomenon. The existence, the shapes, and the properties of gaseous halos depend on the level of energy input into the disk ISM per unit surface area, i.e. on the feedback of mass, momentum, and energy produced by vigorous star formation. Thus, current theoretical models of the ISM take into account that gaseous halos are natural extensions of disk ISMs and are heated by the winds and ionizing radiation of massive stars, and by the shock waves of supernovae and their remnants. Observationally, this is reflected by the fact that all phases of the ISM known to exist in galaxy disks have also been detected in halos. Disk-halo interactions are a very effective way of redistributing energy, metals, and magnetic fields in galaxies and of expelling them into intergalactic space when outflows reach escape velocit.
Modulated stagnation-point flow and steady streaming

Plane stagnation-point flow is modulated in the free stream so that the velocity components are proportional to KH + K cosωt. Similarity solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are examined using high-frequency asymptotics for K and KH of unit order. Special attention is focused on the steady streaming generated in this flow with strongly non-parallel streamlines. For small modulation amplitude K [les ] KH, unique self-similar streaming flows exist. For large modulation amplitude K > KH, if (K/ω) (K/KH) [ges ] 1.661 no self-similar streaming is possible, while if 4/3 [les ] (K/ω) (K/KH) [les ] 1.661, then multiple steady solutions occur.
Radiative Transfer, Excitation, and Cooling of Molecular Emission Lines (co and Cs)

We consider the radiative transfer of molecular Unes in interstellar clouds having flow velocities large compared with random motions. The equilibrium level populations of CO and CS are calculated including the effects of both self-radiation (radiative trapping) and collisions with hydrogen molecules (using recently measured cross-sections). Analytic expressions are also developed for the excitation of a two-level molecule. Because of the velocity gradients in the cloud, the observed emission will originate not only from the near boundary but also from interior regions where excitation is greatly enhanced by scattered photons. This ability to see into the clouds quahtatively accounts for the general similarities of the different line profiles in individual clouds and considerably reduces the density of coflisional particles needed to account for the observed excitation. Remarkably, even if A > C but r > 1, the excitation temperature (and the observed intensity) depends on the molecular density but is totally independent of the spontaneous rate A. The rate of gas cooling by CO molecules in clouds of moderate density (mh 2 ^ 10 8 cm -3 ) is high (^10 -22 ergs cm -3 s -1 ) even when the important cooling transitions (/ = 3 — ► 2 and higher) are optically thick. These results are applicable to either cloud collapse or expansion.
Optical and Infrared Imaging of Stars in the Metal-rich Globular Clusters NGC 6304 and NGC 6316

V and K images of NGC 6304 and NGC 6316 are used to investigate the properties of giants and horizontal branch stars in these metal-rich clusters. Previous reddening estimates are confirmed for NGC 6304, which indicate that E(B-V) ∼ 0.5; however, for NGC 6316, these data indicate that E(B-V) ∼ 0.6, higher than most previous values. In order to assess the relative metallicities of NGC 6304 and NGC 6316 the quantity Δ(V-K) is defined, which measures the slope of the upper giant branch. The result suggest that NGC 6304 and NGC 6316 have similar metallicities, and are slightly more metal-rich than 47 Tuc, a conclusion consistent with previous metallicity estimates
HDAC1 PREDICTOR: a simple and transparent application for virtual screening of histone deacetylase 1 inhibitors

ABSTRACT Histone deacetylases play an important role in regulating gene expression by modifying histones and changing chromatin conformation. HDAC dysregulation is involved in many diseases, such as cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases. Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) inhibitors represent an important class of drugs. Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) classification models were developed using 2D RDKit molecular descriptors; ECPF4 (Extended Connectivity Fingerprint) circular fingerprints; and the Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and Support Vector Machine methods. The developed models were integrated into the HDAC1 PREDICTOR application, which is freely available at the link https://ovttiras-hdac1-inhibitors-hdac1-predictor-app-z3mrbr.streamlitapp. com. The HDAC1 PREDICTOR web application allows one to reveal the compounds for which the predicted activity to inhibit HDAC1 is higher than that of the reference Vorinostat compound (IC50 = 11.08 nM). The algorithm implemented in HDAC1 PREDICTOR for determining the contributions of molecular fragments to the inhibitory activity can be used to find the molecule segments that increase or decrease the activity, enabling the researcher to conduct a rational molecular design of new highly active HDAC1 inhibitors. The developed QSAR models and the code for their construction in the Python programming language are freely available on the GitHub platform at https://github.com/ovttiras/HDAC1-inhibitors.
Time dependence of heart rate variability during treadmill running

To investigate the time dependence of the heart rate variability (HRV) during treadmill running, a feedback control loop was implemented to eliminate the potentially confounding influence of cardiovascular drift. Without cardiovascular drift, observed changes in HRV can be directly attributed to time only and not to drift-related increases in heart rate. To quantify the time-dependence of HRV, standard HRV metrics for two consecutive windows of equal duration (12.5 min) were computed and compared. Eight participants were included. The outcome measures showed an overall tendency to decrease over time. Seven of the 10 HRV metrics were significantly lower (p<0.05); three HRV metrics showed moderate evidence of decrease over time, viz. average control power (p = 0.053), very-low frequency power (VLF) of the RR-signal (p = 0.072) and low frequency power (LF) of the RR-signal (p = 0.12). Taken together, these results provide evidence of a decrease in HRV over time during treadmill running; the employment of feedback control of heart rate is important as cardiovascular drift was eliminated. Further work is required to optimize the experimental design and to use a larger sample size to improve the statistical power of the results.
Surveillance and the ecology of frictions in platform urbanism: the case of delivery workers in Santiago de Chile

ABSTRACT Digital platforms have quickly become popular thanks to the algorithms that have made it possible to work from a smartphone. The potential benefits of job flexibility and easy complementary income for “delivery partners” have been highlighted. However, work through tasks precariously paid, the impossibility of organizing in a labor union and the constant monitoring of labor performance has put platforms to the test. Despite these working conditions, delivery staff are not passively under surveillance, but rather the platforms are a space of frictions. In this article, we seek to abandon the idea of delivery platforms as objectified entities that are the natural/universal result of technological progress in the city by adressing the frictions and local practices of reproduction of the platform. Through a 6-month fieldwork consisting of interviews with Uber Eats delivery workers in Santiago de Chile, this article seeks to describe and delve into practices of subversion that delivery staff use to resist excessive surveillance at work, where indicators such as rating are essential to avoid being “deactivated”. Our findings indicate that Uber Eats’ platform deploys various strategies that we will call friendly surveillance, which operates as veiled nudges in which the system seeks to keep delivery staff engaged through incentives and promotions. At the same time, the platform collects data and defines what it means to be an efficient delivery partner.
Loneliness and mobile phone addiction in Chinese college students: a moderated mediation model

This study aimed to investigate (i) the relationship between loneliness and mobile phone addiction; (ii) the mediating role of negative affect in the association between loneliness and mobile phone addiction; and (iii) the moderating effect of perceived stress in the relationship between loneliness and mobile phone addiction. A total of 359 Chinese college students were recruited (female = 216; mean age = 19.56 years, SD = 1.61 years). Results showed that loneliness was associated with risk for mobile phone addiction. Mediation analysis highlighted that negative affect fully mediated the association between loneliness and increased mobile phone addiction. Moreover, moderated mediation analysis indicated that the association between negative affect and mobile phone addiction was moderated by perceived stress, so that risk for mobile phone addiction was higher when perceived stress was increased. In conclusion, our findings revealed that risk for mobile phone addiction was higher with loneliness and mood disorder indicators of negative affect and perceived stress.
Enhancing the internal curing process of self-compacting concrete containing lightweight aggregate and chemical additives

Abstract Internal curing is an important process for high strength concretes such as self-compacting concrete (SCC). A wide range of additives is considered for improving this process and provides necessary water for hydration. Pozzolans such as microsilica and zeolite also can increase the strength and durability. In this study, a range of SAP (0.1%, 0.3% and 0.5% (wt. of cement)) contents were used along with zeolite and microsilica pozzolans. The results implied that 0.1% SAP used in SCC reduced drying shrinkage up to 72.7%. Specimens containing microsilica had the compressive strength increase up to 2.7% and highest durability in terms of conductivity decrease up to 61.3%. In addition, using SAP as a single additive proved to be effective in reducing chloride-ion penetration into the specimens in terms of electrical resistivity increase up to 25.2%. Specimens including both SAP and microsilica had the lowest permeability. Zeolite had a negative effect on permeability compared to the control specimen which SAP reduced this effect by increasing the amount. Microstructure analysis revealed that specimens containing SAP presented a more smooth morphology than the control specimen did. Specimens containing microsilica provided more compact matrix and higher CSH gel development compared to specimens containing zeolite.
Adenoviral-Based Vaccine Elicits Robust Systemic and Mucosal Cross-Reactive Responses in African Green Monkeys and Reduces Shedding after SARS-CoV-2 Challenge

As new SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to emerge and impact communities worldwide, efforts to develop next generation vaccines that enhance mucosal immunity would be beneficial for protecting individuals and reducing community transmission. We have developed a non-replicating recombinant adenovirus vector (rAd5) vaccine delivered by mucosal administration engineered to express both a protein antigen and a novel molecular adjuvant in the same cell. Here we describe the immunogenicity of three unique SARS-CoV-2 rAd5 vaccine preclinical candidates and their efficacy following viral challenge in African green monkeys. Animals were prime and boost immunized intranasally twenty-nine days apart with rAd5 vaccine candidates containing viral SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone or in combination with viral nucleocapsid. Mucosal immunization elicited significant increases in antigen-specific serum antibody responses and functional neutralizing activity against multiple variants of concern. Robust antigen specific mucosal IgA responses were observed after a single administration of rAd5 and generated strong cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies against multiple variants including delta. Importantly, all vaccinated animals exhibited a significant reduction in viral loads and infectious particle shedding in both the nasal passages and lower airways compared to unvaccinated controls following challenge with SARS-CoV-2. These findings demonstrate that mucosal immunization using rAd5 is highly immunogenic, confers protective cross-reactive humoral responses in both the circulation and mucosa, and reduces viral loads and shedding upon challenge with multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants.