Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dangerous Side of Being a Predator: Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in Birds of Prey

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are apicomplexan protozoa of major concern in livestock and T. gondii is also considered one of the major threats and a public health concern. These protozoa have a wide range of intermediate hosts, including birds. The present work aimed to assess the prevalence of these cyst-forming parasites in migratory and sedentary birds of prey. The skeletal muscle and myocardium of 159 birds of prey from Central Italy, belonging to 19 species and recovered across 6 Wildlife Recovery Centers/Care structures along the Italian migratory route, were collected specifically for molecular (PCR) and for histopathological analysis to detect T. gondii and N. caninum. For the molecular analysis, genomic DNA was extracted. The DNA was tested by sequence typing, targeting GRA6, 529 bp repeated element, B1, PK1, BTUB, SAG2, alt.SAG2, and APICO genes for T. gondii and to end-point PCR targeting NC5 gene for N. caninum. Thirty-seven out of the one hundred and fifty-nine analyzed samples tested positive for T. gondii with a prevalence of 23.27% and nine for N. caninum, with a prevalence of 5.66%. Thirty-two sequences were obtained from the thirty-seven isolates of T. gondii. Among these, 26 presented alleles compatible with type I strain in 1 or more loci, 4 with type II strain and 2 consisted of atypical strains. Toxoplasma gondii genetic variability in birds of prey confirms previous findings of wildlife as reservoirs of atypical strains. Results from the histology showed few protozoal tissue cysts in skeletal muscle (n. 4) and hearts (n. 2).
Amplitude modulation of velocity fluctuations in the atmospheric flows over real urban morphology

Amplitude modulation (AM) quantifies the top-down interactions between the large-scale motions (LSMs) in the outer layer and the near-ground turbulence structures. They are important to the momentum transport and pollutant dispersion in urban atmospheric surface layers (ASLs). The dataset of large-eddy simulation over a densely built region in Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong, therefore, is adopted to investigate the AM of small-scale eddies by LSMs in the ASL over real urban morphology. Alike its smooth-wall counterpart, the small-scale eddies are (positively) amplitude modulated by the LSMs in most regions of the roughness sublayer (RSL). However, negative AM is unexpectedly found in the RSL on the building windward side in this study, illustrating the heterogeneity of the urban surface and the flow dynamics being affected aloft. In addition, strong sweep ( u′ > 0 and w′ < 0) and ejection ( u′ < 0 and w′ > 0) dominate the flows, respectively, in the positive and negative AM zones. In the positive AM zones, the large-scale sweep ( uL′ > 0) leads to the surplus in the small-scale turbulence kinetic energy (TKE), while the large-scale ejection ( uL′ < 0) brings a TKE deficit to the small-scale eddies. By contrast, the large-scale sweeps result in a TKE deficit to the small-scale eddies and the large-scale ejections result in a TKE surplus in the negative AM zones. These findings could help elucidate the AM over different building designs and urban morphology in cities, promoting the momentum transport and pollutant dispersion via proper city planning.
Prognostic Prediction Model for Glioblastoma: A Ferroptosis-Related Gene Prediction Model and Independent External Validation

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant intracranial tumor with a poor prognosis. Ferroptosis is a newly discovered, iron-dependent, regulated cell death, and recent studies suggest its close correlation to GBM. The transcriptome and clinical data were obtained for patients diagnosed with GBM from TCGA, GEO, and CGGA. Ferroptosis-related genes were identified, and a risk score model was constructed using Lasso regression analyses. Survival was evaluated by univariate or multivariate Cox regressions and Kaplan–Meier analyses, and further analyses were performed between the high- and low-risk groups. There were 45 ferroptosis-related different expressed genes between GBM and normal brain tissues. The prognostic risk score model was based on four favorable genes, CRYAB, ZEB1, ATP5MC3, and NCOA4, and four unfavorable genes, ALOX5, CHAC1, STEAP3, and MT1G. A significant difference in OS between high- and low-risk groups was observed in both the training cohort (p < 0.001) and the validation cohorts (p = 0.029 and 0.037). Enrichment analysis of pathways and immune cells and functioning was conducted between the two risk groups. A novel prognostic model for GBM patients was developed based on eight ferroptosis-related genes, suggesting a potential prediction effect of the risk score model in GBM.
Potential Beneficial Effects of Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles on Caries Lesions In Vitro—A Review of the Literature

Dental caries is one of the most common human diseases which can occur in both primary and permanent dentitions throughout the life of an individual. Hydroxyapatite is the major inorganic component of human teeth, consequently, nanosized hydroxyapatite (nHAP) has recently attracted researchers’ attention due to its unique properties and potential for caries management. This article provides a contemporary review of the potential beneficial effects of nHAP on caries lesions demonstrated in in vitro studies. Data showed that nHAP has potential to promote mineralization in initial caries, by being incorporated into the porous tooth structure, which resulted from the caries process, and subsequently increased mineral content and hardness. Notably, it is the particle size of nHAP which plays an important role in the mineralization process. Antimicrobial effects of nHAP can also be achieved by metal substitution in nHAP. Dual action property (mineralizing and antimicrobial) and enhanced chemical stability and bioactivity of nHAP can potentially be obtained using metal-substituted fluorhydroxyapatite nanoparticles. This provides a promising synergistic strategy which should be explored in further clinical research to enable the development of dental therapeutics for use in the treatment and management of caries.
Growth rate dependence of nitrogen incorporation in reactively sputtered FeAlN films for recording head poles

In this paper we show that the efficiency of nitrogen incorporation in reactively sputtered FeAlN and FeN films is strongly dependent on the growth rate of the films. Efficiency is defined as the amount of nitrogen incorporated for a given ratio of arriving iron atoms to arriving nitrogen atoms. These findings are in contrast to previous work, which has suggested the amount of nitrogen incorporated in the films should be determined by this arrival flux ratio alone, and independent of growth rate. This difference may be due to the larger range of deposition rates explored in this work. A simple and phenomenological kinetic model of the deposition process is used to rationalize the observed behavior. This behavior has important consequences for scaling the deposition of FeXN up to commercial deposition rates while maintaining soft magnetic properties. This is because the amount of nitrogen incorporated has a strong effect on the soft properties of these pole materials.
Nonlinear Disturbance Observer Based Robust Tracking Control of Pneumatic Muscle

Presently pneumatic muscles (PMs) are used in various applications due to their simple construction, lightweight, and high force-to-weight ratio. However, pneumatic muscles are facing various problems due to their nonlinear characteristics and various uncertainties in real applications. To cope with the uncertainties and strong nonlinearity of a PM model, a nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) is designed to estimate the lumped disturbance. Based on the disturbance observer, the tracking control of PM is studied. Stability analysis based on Lyapunov method with respect to our proposed control law is discussed. The simulation results show the validity, effectiveness, and enhancing robustness of the proposed methods.
Do Surgeons Anticipate Women’s Hopes and Fears Associated with Prolapse Repair? A Qualitative Analysis in the PROSPERE Trial

Women’s preoperative perceptions of pelvic-floor disorders may differ from those of their physicians. Our objective was to specify women’s hopes and fears before cystocele repair, and to compare them to those that surgeons anticipate. We performed a secondary qualitative analysis of data from the PROSPERE trial. Among the 265 women included, 98% reported at least one hope and 86% one fear before surgery. Sixteen surgeons also completed the free expectations-questionnaire as a typical patient would. Women’s hopes covered seven themes, and women’s fears eleven. Women’s hopes were concerning prolapse repair (60%), improvement of urinary function (39%), capacity for physical activities (28%), sexual function (27%), well-being (25%), and end of pain or heaviness (19%). Women’s fears were concerning prolapse relapse (38%), perioperative concerns (28%), urinary disorders (26%), pain (19%), sexual problems (10%), and physical impairment (6%). Surgeons anticipated typical hopes and fears which were very similar to those the majority of women reported. However, only 60% of the women reported prolapse repair as an expectation. Women’s expectations appear reasonable and consistent with the scientific literature on the improvement and the risk of relapse or complication related to cystocele repair. Our analysis encourages surgeons to consider individual woman’s expectations before pelvic-floor repair.
Factors Influencing Dropout Students in Higher Education

Dropout students are a severe problem in higher education (HE) in many countries. Student dropout has a tremendous negative impact not only on individuals but also on universities and socioeconomic. Consequently, preventing educational dropouts is a considerable challenge for HE’s institutions. Therefore, knowing the factors influencing student dropout is an essential first step in preventing students from dropping out. This study uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches. To determine what variables affect student dropout, we use a qualitative approach, after which the variables found will be validated by the public and stakeholders using a quantitative approach. Then, the next step is to classify variables using a quantitative approach. This study observes dropout students at private universities in Central Java, Indonesia. The findings reveal that personal economic factors, academic satisfaction, academic performance, and family economics are the most influential. The results of this paper are significant for universities in Indonesia, especially Central Java, to overcome the problem of student dropouts, so that they are more precise in making decisions. In addition, the results of this study are also helpful for further research as a basis for predicting students dropping out of university.
Survey of the numerical characterisation of 2-D complex clusters

The study of cluster format ion is common in many fields of science and technology (aerosols, colloidal suspensions, hetero-disperse particulate systems in general, growth processes far from equilibrium, etc.). The term "cluster" is a general word indicating an object consisting of a set of elementary unit es organised with a certain structure. In our research, a cluster is an aggregate (floc) of cohesive sediments formed in a turbulent environment from a number of primary particles consisting of clay minerals. The geometric characterisation of a cluster is important to distinguish different features of the object under study. One of the most important aspects of real and artificial clusters is their fractal nature, that is their capability to occupy their own volume. From this point of view, many investigations have been performed about geometrical features (size, volume, density, permeability and porosity properties, etc.) and dynamical features (growth processes, pattern formation, equilibrium). The most important issues highlighted within this survey are: - A hierachical classification tree of fractals on the basis of the large-scales properties that fractals show. - The capacity dimension of a set of testing fractals is computed in order to indicate dimensional length scales different from the support size. - The multifractal approach is applied to characterise the geometrical structure of fractals in general. - A thermodynamic approach is applied to study the complexity of fractal flocs by means of the state variable entropy. - Complex flocs are charactised by means of the traditional Euclidian tools (shape factor, porosity and eccentricity).
Mosquito Diversity between Logged and Unlogged Forest Areas in Kalabakan Forest Reserve, Sabah

Mosquitoes were sampled in an undisturbed area within the trail in the forest near the Maliau Basin Conservation Area (MBCA) and in a disturbed area within the Logged Forest Experimental (LFE) area near the SAFE Project camp site. A total of 48 days of sampling was done in both areas in a bi-monthly sampling starting June 2016 to April 2017. The aims of this study were to investigate the species diversity and peak biting hours of mosquitoes in both sites. A total of 807 individuals from 17 species were caught using manual collection method of Human Landing Catch (HLC). 15 species were collected in MBCA while only 9 species were collected in LFE. Based on Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM), there was a significant difference of mosquito abundance between LFE and MBCA (p<0.05) and mosquito day biting time (p<0.05). Also, based on Independent T-test analysis, there was a significance difference in terms of mosquito diversity level and abundance (p<0.05). In this study, LFE had higher mosquito abundance with a total of 563 mosquito individuals caught compared to MBCA with 244 mosquito individuals. In both areas, more species were recorded during day time samplings than night time samplings. Anopheles balabacensis, Aedes albopictus, Heizmannia scintillans and Culex vishnui were among the predominant species collected in LFE while in MBCA species collected were Heizmannia scintillans, Anopheles umbrosus, Aedes albopictus and Armigeres jugraensis. LFE had peak biting hours around 2:00 p.m. , 5:00 p.m. , 7.00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. while for MBCA, the peak biting hours were between 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m.
Efficiency of Longitudinal Composite Fins With Thermal Interface Studied Through Plane Thermal Nondimensional Finite Element

The use of dimensional analysis and dimensionless parameters is very common in the field of heat transfer; nevertheless, the concept of dimensionless finite element formulation has been applied to a limited type of thermofluid problems. This article uses a nondimensional finite element formulation for studying longitudinal composite fins with interface resistance. Two nondimensional governing parameters have been identified, one each for coating and interface, that completely govern the coating and interface resistance effects. The presented results, for the considered range of geometric, material, and operating conditions, permit identification of the limiting values of the two nondimensional parameters for which the coating and interface effects become negligible. It is found that the coating and interface effects are similar for considered constant- and variable-thickness profile longitudinal composite fins over the studied range of nondimensional material, geometry, and operating condition parameters.
A full-Eulerian approach for simulation of a system of fluid–rigid–elastic structure interaction based on the vorticity-stream function formulation

A monolithic mathematical framework for understanding the fluid–rigid–elastic structure interaction problem is proposed. A numerical method in a secondary formulation of the Navier–Stokes equations accompanying a technique for imposing the rigid boundaries is applied. The one-fluid formulation of the incompressible Navier–Stokes equation, containing the terms governing the elastic structure, is transformed into the vorticity-stream function formulation. The rigid structure is imposed in the flow field based on the velocity–vorticity kinematic relation and harmonic function theorem. The vorticity, level-set function, and left Cauchy–Green deformation tensor are updated utilizing three transport equations to investigate the evolution of the velocity field, elastic structure(s) configuration, and elastic stress tensor. The method is implemented to solve three challenging problems, and the results show its capabilities in proper imposing the rigid structures in the flow field and also the simultaneous modeling the rigid and elastic structure interactions with incompressible fluid flow.
Periodic subwavelength ripples on lithium niobate surfaces generated by tightly focused sub-15 femtosecond sub-nanojoule pulsed near-infrared laser light

On exposure to 85 MHz sub-15 fs pulsed 800 nm Ti:sapphire laser light in the focal spot of a high-numerical aperture oil immersion objective, characteristic periodic nanostructures emerged on the surface of z-cut congruent LiNbO3 crystals. Close to the ablation threshold shallow ripples oriented parallel to the laser polarization appeared on the surface at a periodicity Λ∥ ≈ 200 nm as well as ripples running perpendicular to the laser polarization at almost the same period (Λ⊥ ≈ 190 nm). Nanostructure formation involved melting and resolidification of LiNbO3 as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy images of structural peculiarities. Micro-Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that the resolidified material crystallized in the original structural phase. Ripple formation is attributed to plasma wave interference patterns that arise in the electron–hole plasma generated by multiphoton and avalanche collisional excitation.
A General Measure for the Relative Efficiency of Any Two Scoring Systems

Miles (1984) developed a very elegant theory for the relative efficiency of different scoring systems at correctly identifying the better player, assuming points were independent. This earlier work was limited to those situations in which the underlying probability structures of the game being modelled had certain restrictive characteristics. Using those underlying characteristics it was possible to use interpolation methods to derive efficiency measures in a restricted number of practical situations. The major objective of this research was to investigate whether Miles’ work on the efficiency of scoring systems could be extended to more general situations. Games that do not possess the restrictive probability structures noted above have been considered, and it has been shown that an extrapolation method for deriving efficiency measures can be developed and applied. In doing so the efficiency of nested scoring systems has been studied. It turns out that this extrapolation method can be used in any scoring system situation, even where the outcome is win/draw/loss rather than win/loss. It produces exactly the same efficiency formula as that produced by the interpolated method. Thus, the method for measuring efficiency has been extended to a wider range of practical scoring systems situations.
Some turbulent/non-turbulent properties of the outer intermittent region of a boundary layer

A detailed study of the intermittency in the outer region of a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer has been carried out using digital sampling and processing techniques. Conditional averages are used to generate mean and fluctuating components for the turbulent and non-turbulent zones of fluid. More particularly, point averages of these variables, taken with reference to the instantaneous position of the turbulent/non-turbulent interface, have been made to show the distribution of various quantities through the turbulent front. The results indicate that significant differences exist at leading and trailing edges of the turbulent bursts and a more complete picture of the motion of an average large eddy is deduced.
Turbulent thermal convection in a rotating stratified fluid

Turbulent convection induced by heating the bottom boundary of a horizontally homogeneous, linearly (temperature) stratified, rotating fluid layer is studied using a series of laboratory experiments. It is shown that the growth of the convective mixed layer is dynamically affected by background rotation (or Coriolis forces) when the parameter R = (h2Ω3/q0)2/3 exceeds a critical value of Rc ≈ 275. Here h is the depth of the convective layer, Ω is the rate of rotation, and q0 is the buoyancy flux at the bottom boundary. At larger R, the buoyancy gradient in the mixed layer appears to scale as (db/dz)ml = CΩ2, where C ≈ 0.02. Conversely, when R < Rc, the buoyancy gradient is independent of Ω and approaches that of the non-rotating case. The entrainment velocity, ue, for R > Rc was found to be dependent on Ω according to E = [Ri(1 + CΩ2/N2)]−1, where E is the entrainment coefficient based on the convective velocity w∗ = (q0h)1/3, E = ue/w∗, Ri is the Richardson number Ri = N2h2/w2∗, and N is the buoyancy frequency of the overlying stratified layer. The results indicate that entrainment in this case is dominated by non-penetrative convection, although the convective plumes can penetrate the interface in the form of lenticular protrusions.
Nondestructive position-resolved measurement of the zero-dispersion wavelength in an optical fiber

We describe a new technique for mapping the distribution of the zero-dispersion wavelength in a span of optical fiber. With this technique, which is based on four-wave mixing of short pulses, we obtained a spectral accuracy of /spl plusmn/0.2 nm and a spatial resolution of 700 m. Theoretical analysis agrees well with experimental results and points to an order of magnitude improvement in spatial resolution using shorter pulses. Spatial resolutions less than 100 m may be necessary because we find, by destructive measurements, variations in lambda-zero by as much as 0.5 nm over spans of 500 m.
Sensitivity of tropospheric forecasts to stratospheric initial conditions

A number of recent papers in the atmospheric science literature have suggested that a dynamical link exists between the stratosphere and troposphere. Numerical modelling studies have shown that the troposphere has a time‐mean response to changes to the stratospheric climatological state. In this study the response of the troposphere to an imposed transient stratospheric change is examined.
Communication in discrete action-response games

Abstract I present a simple game, the Basic Action-Response game, which allows investigation of the claim that signals must be costly to be reliable. The Basic Action-Response game is the simplest communication game possible, by investigating its parameters we are able to define clearly “conflict”, “handicap”, “communication” and other relevant concepts. I explore the conditions on the magnitude of the stabilizing cost and handicap that must hold in order to maintain the evolutionary stability of signalling. It will be demonstrated that stable communication need not make use of costly signals at ESS, not even “on average”, and that “negative handicaps” can be stable as long as the stabilizing cost is large enough.