Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Latiné, Latinx, Latina, Latino, or Hispanic: Problematizing terms often used in engineering education

In this guest editorial, we problematize the terms Latiné, Latinx, Latina, Latino, and Hispanic used to describe people with Latin American ancestry in the United States to better inform engineering education scholarship and practice. As members of communities that have been classified as Latiné/x/a/o or Hispanic, we are always challenged with the questions: What term should be used in our research, and why? As scholars who are also members of these communities, we bridge the contradictions emerging from our lived experiences and imposed realities while seeking to engage in a critical conversation emerging from our “theory in the flesh” (Moraga & Anzaldua, 1981). While we situate the terms historically in this guest editorial, as an act of resistance, our title places the most recent term (Latiné) first to continue to challenge historical terminologies that demoralize and oppress our communities (Revelo et al., 2022). At the same time, we recognize that for some cultures, choosing to identify by one term over another has real-life implications and consequences, such as being the targets of discrimination and oppression and being seen as transgressors (Mejia et al., 2022), or being perceived as insiders or outsiders.
Meeting the Challenges of Myocarditis: New Opportunities for Prevention, Detection, and Intervention—A Report from the 2021 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Workshop

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a workshop of international experts to discuss new research opportunities for the prevention, detection, and intervention of myocarditis in May 2021. These experts reviewed the current state of science and identified key gaps and opportunities in basic, diagnostic, translational, and therapeutic frontiers to guide future research in myocarditis. In addition to addressing community-acquired myocarditis, the workshop also focused on emerging causes of myocarditis including immune checkpoint inhibitors and SARS-CoV-2 related myocardial injuries and considered the use of systems biology and artificial intelligence methodologies to define workflows to identify novel mechanisms of disease and new therapeutic targets. A new priority is the investigation of the relationship between social determinants of health (SDoH), including race and economic status, and inflammatory response and outcomes in myocarditis. The result is a proposal for the reclassification of myocarditis that integrates the latest knowledge of immunological pathogenesis to refine estimates of prognosis and target pathway-specific treatments.
An Electromagnetic Simulator for Sentinel-3 SAR Altimeter Waveforms Over Land—Part I: Bare Soil

ALtimetry for BIOMass (ALBIOM) is a Permanent Open Call Project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to explore the possibility of forest biomass retrieval by using Copernicus Sentinel-3 (S-3) Synthetic aperture Radar ALtimeter (SRAL) in low- and high-resolution mode at Ku- and C-bands. It represents an original work in the research of new techniques for vegetation observation using altimetry data. Because of the complexity of the land surfaces, no algorithm has been developed for a specific retracking of the altimetric land waveform. This calls for the development of a model able to reproduce the acquisition system and the target scattering phenomena to simulate the interaction of the radar pulse with the land. In this first work, we present the electromagnetic simulator of S-3 SRAL altimeter measurements over bare soil scenarios realized through a modification of the Soil and Vegetation Reflection Simulator (SAVERS) simulator developed by the team for Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) over land. The impact of topography has also been taken into account. We demonstrate that SAVERS for S-3 SRAL proved its capability to reproduce altimeter waveforms’ main attributes for both flat and topography scenarios.
Physical and Digital Infrastructure Readiness Index for Connected and Automated Vehicles

In this paper, we present an assessment framework that can be used to score segments of physical and digital infrastructure based on their features and readiness to expedite the deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). We discuss the equipment and methodology applied for the collection and analysis of required data to score the infrastructure segments in an automated way. Moreover, we demonstrate how the proposed framework can be applied using data collected on a public transport route in the city of Zilina, Slovakia. We use two types of data to demonstrate the methodology of the assessment-connectivity and positioning data to assess the connectivity and localization performance provided by the infrastructure and image data for road signage detection using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The core of the research is a dataset that can be used for further research work. We collected and analyzed data in two settings—an urban and suburban area. Despite the fact that the connectivity and positioning data were collected in different days and times, we found highly underserved areas along the investigated route. The main problem from the point of view of communication in the investigated area is the latency, which is an issue associated with infrastructure segments mainly located at intersections with heavy traffic or near various points of interest. The low accuracy of localization has been observed mainly in dense areas with large buildings and trees, which decrease the number of visible localization satellites. To address the problem of automated assessment of the traffic sign recognition precision, we proposed a CNN that achieved 99.7% precision.
Light curve analysis and orbital period change of the extreme mass-ratio overcontact binary AW CrB

Extreme mass-ratio contact binaries with a high degree of overcontact may be in the late evolutionary stages of the contact phase. Detailed photometric analyses and orbital period studies of those systems can provide invaluable information for the coalescence scenario of close binary systems, as recently observed in V1309 Sco. In this paper the first light curve analysis and period study for the totally eclipsing contact binary AW CrB is presented. The V RcIc CCD photometric light curves are analysed by means of the WD code. The asymmetry of the light curves is modelled by a cool star spot on the primary component. It is shown that AW CrB has a high degree of overcontact f = 75 % and an extreme mass-ratio of q = 0.10, placing it among the few contact binaries with the lowest known mass-ratios. The mean density of the primary component suggest that it has evolved away from the ZAMS. Eighty-four times of minimum light are reported, derived from observations available in public archives, the literature, and the observations presented in this paper. The orbital period study shows a continuously increasing period, at a rate of dP/dt = 3.58 × 10 7 d yr 1 , suggesting a mass transfer from the secondary component to the primary one, implying a further decreasing mass-ratio.
On the low-temperature performances of THGEM and THGEM/G-APD multipliers in gaseous and two-phase Xe

The performances of THGEM multipliers in two-phase Xe avalanche mode are presented for the first time. Additional results on THGEM operation in gaseous Xe at cryogenic temperatures are provided. Stable operation of a double-THGEM multiplier was demonstrated in two-phase Xe with gains reaching 600. These are compared to existing data, summarized here for two-phase Ar, Kr and Xe avalanche detectors incorporating GEM and THGEM multipliers. The optical readout of THGEMs with Geiger-mode Avalanche Photodiodes (G-APDs) has been investigated in gaseous Xe at cryogenic temperature; avalanche scintillations were recorded in the Near Infrared (NIR) at wavelengths of up to 950 nm. At avalanche charge gain of 350, the double-THGEM/G-APD multiplier yielded 0.07 photoelectrons per initial ionization electron, corresponding to an avalanche scintillation yield of 0.7 NIR photons per avalanche electron over 4pi. The results are compared with those of two-phase Ar avalanche detectors. The advantages, limitations and possible applications are discussed.
Arsenic-bridged antiferromagnetic superexchange interactions in LaFeAsO

From the first-principles calculations, we have studied the electronic and magnetic structures of LaFeAsO. It is found that a large magnetic moment of similar to 2.6 mu(B) is located around each Fe ion, embedded in the environment of itinerant electrons. In the ground state, these local Fe moments are in collinearly antiferromagnetic order, resulting from the interplay between the strong nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor superexchange antiferromagnetic interactions bridged by As atoms. The structure transition observed by the neutron scattering is shown to be magnetically driven. Our study suggests that the antiferromagnetic fluctuation plays an important role in Fe-based superconductors. This sheds light on the understanding of the pairing mechanism in these materials.
Active solar collector located on roof ridge assisted Chinese solar greenhouse for thermal environment enhancement

ABSTRACT Maximizing the use of solar energy to increase the indoor temperature of greenhouse is of great significance to the green and energy-saving intensive greenhouse production in China. In this study, an active solar heating system (ASHS) was developed and analyzed, consisting of five solar water heaters equipped with vacuum tube solar collectors, one heat storage tank and heating system including booster pump and heating pipes. During the day, the water was heated in the solar collectors and stored in tanks before being placed into circulation in the heating pipes to distribute the heat to the aerial and root zones of plants. To evaluate the performance of ASHS and the feasibility of practical application, climate and plant growth parameters were monitored in two Chinese Solar Greenhouses (CSGs) located in Yangling, China. Results revealed that under the operating condition with the flow rate of 5.4 L/min, the effective heat collection, average heat collection efficiency and energy-saving efficiency of ASHS were 1.9 MJ/(m2•h), 64% and 84%, respectively. The coefficient of performance (COP) was between 4.5 and 6.2, and the payback period was 12.0 years. Furthermore, the results revealed that the ASHS successfully provided 76% of its annual heating needs, heated the CSG for 4 months and maintained the nocturnal temperature above 8 ℃. The actual application effect proved that it increased average indoor air temperature by 2.2 ℃ and substrate temperature by 3.3 ℃ in heated greenhouse. The growth rate of tomato plant height in the heated greenhouse was 0.7427 cm/d, greater than that in the unheated greenhouse (0.6 cm/d). The novel system proposed in this study adopting particular location enables the rise of the ambient and the substrate temperatures with lower energy consumption, improvement of the environmental conditions in CSG, and a more suitable growing environment for plants in the cold season.
METALLICITY-DEPENDENT QUENCHING OF STAR FORMATION AT HIGH REDSHIFT IN SMALL GALAXIES

The star formation rates (SFRs) of low-metallicity galaxies depend sensitively on the gas metallicity, because metals are crucial to mediating the transition from intermediate-temperature atomic gas to cold molecular gas, a necessary precursor to star formation. We study the impact of this effect on the star formation history of galaxies. We incorporate metallicity-dependent star formation and metal enrichment in a simple model that follows the evolution of a halo main progenitor. Our model shows that including the effect of metallicity leads to suppression of star formation at redshift z > 2 in dark halos with masses ≲ 1011 M☉, with the suppression becoming near total for halos below ∼109.5–1010 M☉. We find that at high redshift, until z ∼ 2, the SFR cannot catch up with the gas inflow rate (IR), because the SFR is limited by the free-fall time, and because it is suppressed further by a lack of metals in small halos. As a result, in each galaxy the SFR is growing in time faster than the IR, and the integrated cosmic SFR density is rising with time. The suppressed in situ SFR at high-z makes the growth of stellar mass dominated by ex situ SFR, meaning stars formed in lower mass progenitor galaxies and then accreted, which implies that the specific SFR (sSFR) remains constant with time. The intensely accreted gas at high-z is accumulating as an atomic gas reservoir. This provides additional fuel for star formation in 1010–1012 M☉ halos at z ∼ 1–3, which allows the SFR to exceed the instantaneous IR, and may enable an even higher outflow rate. At z < 1, following the natural decline in IR with time due to the universal expansion, the SFR and sSFR are expected to drop. We specify the expected dependence of sSFR and metallicity on stellar mass and redshift. At a given z, and below a critical mass, these relations are predicted to be flat and rising, respectively. Our model predictions qualitatively match some of the puzzling features in the observed star formation history.
A prototype quantum computer using nuclear spins in liquid solution

Quantum computers can potentially solve real and relevant mathematical and physical problems that are intractable using classical machines. However, the experimental realization of quantum computers represents a significant challenge, because several opposing experimental requirements must be met. A set of coupled quantum bits must be manipulated and measured while coherently retaining entangled quantum states. Yet the manipulation and measurement processes almost inevitably lead to the decay of these fragile states. This thesis work takes significant steps towards building a practical quantum computer using nuclear spins and liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. I present experimental results for proof of principle of quantum computing in a series of small implementations of quantum algorithms, culminating in the implementation of an adiabatic quantum optimization algorithm. The performance of adiabatic algorithms compared with classical optimization methods is unknown, but small quantum computers could provide crucial insight into answering this question. Furthermore, adiabatic algorithms also shed new light on the usefulness of quantum resources for computational tasks and hence they represent an important class of algorithms. The second part of this thesis presents several methods developed for improving the control over NMR quantum computing experiments. Even though liquid state NMR quantum computers have well known and accepted scaling limitations, the developed tools are of general use. I will show how several tools are directly transferable to two other implementations of quantum computers; one using optical methods and the other using loops of superconducting material. This work provides insight into what is needed to build a practical quantum computer, and delivers several tools and techniques that will be useful in future large-scale implementations of quantum computers.
Graph-based interpretation of the molecular interstellar medium segmentation

We present a generalization of the Giant Molecular Cloud (GMC) identification problem based on cluster analysis. The method we designed, SCIMES (Spectral Clustering for Interstellar Molecular Emission Segmentation) considers the dendrogram of emission in the broader framework of graph theory and utilizes spectral clustering to find discrete regions with similar emission properties. For Galactic molecular cloud structures, we show that the characteristic volume and/or integrated CO luminosity are useful criteria to define the clustering, yielding emission structures that closely reproduce "by-eye" identification results. SCIMES performs best on well-resolved, high-resolution data, making it complementary to other available algorithms. Using 12CO(1-0) data for the Orion-Monoceros complex, we demonstrate that SCIMES provides robust results against changes of the dendrogram-construction parameters, noise realizations and degraded resolution. By comparing SCIMES with other cloud decomposition approaches, we show that our method is able to identify all canonical clouds of the Orion-Monoceros region, avoiding the over-division within high resolution survey data that represents a common limitation of several decomposition algorithms. The Orion-Monoceros objects exhibit hierarchies and size-line width relationships typical to the turbulent gas in molecular clouds, although "the Scissors" region deviates from this common description. SCIMES represents a significant step forward in moving away from pixel-based cloud segmentation towards a more physical-oriented approach, where virtually all properties of the ISM can be used for the segmentation of discrete objects.
Mutational Signatures as Sensors of Environmental Exposures: Analysis of Smoking-Induced Lung Tissue Remodeling

Smoking is a widely recognized risk factor in the emergence of cancers and other lung diseases. Studies of non-cancer lung diseases typically investigate the role that smoking has in chronic changes in lungs that might predispose patients to the diseases, whereas most cancer studies focus on the mutagenic properties of smoking. Large-scale cancer analysis efforts have collected expression data from both tumor and control lung tissues, and studies have used control samples to estimate the impact of smoking on gene expression. However, such analyses may be confounded by tumor-related micro-environments as well as patient-specific exposure to smoking. Thus, in this paper, we explore the utilization of mutational signatures to study environment-induced changes of gene expression in control lung tissues from lung adenocarcinoma samples. We show that a joint computational analysis of mutational signatures derived from sequenced tumor samples, and the gene expression obtained from control samples, can shed light on the combined impact that smoking and tumor-related micro-environments have on gene expression and cell-type composition in non-neoplastic (control) lung tissue. The results obtained through such analysis are both supported by experimental studies, including studies utilizing single-cell technology, and also suggest additional novel insights. We argue that the study provides a proof of principle of the utility of mutational signatures to be used as sensors of environmental exposures not only in the context of the mutational landscape of cancer, but also as a reference for changes in non-cancer lung tissues. It also provides an example of how a database collected with the purpose of understanding cancer can provide valuable information for studies not directly related to the disease.
NSAID Hypersensitivity in the Pediatric Population: Classification and Diagnostic Strategies

Abstract Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most frequently administered drugs, mainly for their anti-pyretic, but also for pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects in children. NSAIDs are composed of structurally divergent subgroups of drugs with similar pharmacological and adverse effects. Aspirin originates from salicin and was the first synthesized analgesic. As a prototype of NSAIDs; aspirin-induced hypersensitivity reactions were first reported, but subsequently, other phenotypes of hypersensitivity reactions were also described with aspirin and other NSAIDs. There are certain challenging aspects of NSAID-hypersensitivity in the pediatric population that need to be further investigated. These include the effect of age on drug metabolism and the natural history of the various phenotypes of NSAID-hypersensitivity, the effect of certain co-factors (infections, exercise) on NSAID-hypersensitivity, and diagnostic clinical and laboratory biomarkers clarifying the endotypes. In recent years, a non-negligible number of case series, studies and expert panel reports have been published in this field with some novel features and diagnostic modalities in the pediatric population. With the current review; the clinical phenotypes and diagnostic and management modalities of suspected NSAID-induced hypersensitivity reactions in childhood and adolescence were explained and updated by examining past and current publications.
Measuring coherent motions in the universe

We present new measurements of the coherent motion of galaxies based on observations of the large-scale redshift-space distortions seen in the two-dimensional two-point correlation function of Luminous Red Galaxies in Data Release Seven of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We have developed a new methodology for estimating these coherent motions, which is less dependent on the details of galaxy bias and of the cosmological model to explain the late-time acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. We measure a one-dimensional velocity dispersion of galaxies on large-scales of σv = h-1 Mpc and σv = h-1 Mpc at a mean redshift of z = 0.25 and 0.38 respectively. These values are fully consistent with predictions for a WMAP7-normalised ΛCDM Universe and inconsistent at confidence of 3. 8σ with a Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) model for the Universe. We can convert the units of these σv measurements to km/s and km/s respectively (assuming a ΛCDM universe), which are lower that expected based on recent low redshift (z < 0.2) measurements of the peculiar velocity field (or "bulk flows"). It is difficult to directly compare these measurements as they cover different redshift ranges and different areas of the sky. However, one possible cosmological explanation for this discrepancy is that our Galaxy is located in unusually over, or under, dense region of the Universe.