Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hybrid Mapping of the Black Hole Shadow in M87

We present a reanalysis of the Event Horizon Telescope 228 GHz observations of M87. We apply traditional hybrid mapping techniques to the publicly available network-calibrated data. We explore the impact on the final image of different starting models, including the following: a point source, a disk, an annulus, a Gaussian, and an asymmetric double Gaussian. The images converge to an extended source with a size ∼44 μas. Starting with the annulus and disk models leads to images with the lowest noise, smallest off-source artifacts, and better closure residuals. The source appears as a ring, or edge-brightened disk, with higher surface brightness in the southern half, consistent with previous results. Starting with the other models leads to a surface brightness distribution with a similar size, and an internal depression, but not as clearly ringlike. A consideration of visibility amplitudes versus UV-distance argues for a roughly circularly symmetric structure of ∼50 μas scale, with a sharp edge, based on a prominent minimum in the UV-distribution, and the amplitude of the secondary peak in the UV-plot is more consistent with an annular model than a flat disk model. With further processing, we find a possible modest extension from the ring toward the southwest, in a direction consistent with the southern limb of the jet seen on 3mm VLBI images on a factor of few larger scales. However, this extension appears along the direction of one of the principle sidelobes of the synthesized beam, and hence requires testing with better UV-coverage.
p-winds: An open-source Python code to model planetary outflows and upper atmospheres

Atmospheric escape is considered to be one of the main channels for evolution in sub-Jovian planets, particularly in their early lives. While there are several hypotheses proposed to explain escape in exoplanets, testing them with atmospheric observations remains a challenge. In this context, high-resolution transmission spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets for the metastable helium triplet (He 23S) at 1083 nm has emerged as a reliable technique for observing and measuring escape. To aid in the prediction and interpretation of metastable He transmission spectroscopy observations, we developed the code p-winds. This is an open-source, fully documented, scalable Python implementation of the one-dimensional, purely H+He Parker wind model for upper atmospheres coupled with ionization balance, ray-tracing, and radiative transfer routines. We demonstrate an atmospheric retrieval by fitting p-winds models to the observed metastable He transmission spectrum of the warm Neptune HAT-P-11 b and take the variation in the in-transit absorption caused by transit geometry into account. For this planet, our best fit yields a total atmospheric escape rate of approximately 2.5 × 1010 g s−1 and an outflow temperature of 7200 K. The range of retrieved mass loss rates increases significantly when we let the H atom fraction be a free parameter, but its posterior distribution remains unconstrained by He observations alone. The stellar host limb darkening does not have a significant impact on the retrieved escape rate or outflow temperature for HAT-P-11 b. Based on the non-detection of escaping He for GJ 436 b, we are able to rule out total escape rates higher than 3.4 × 1010 g s−1 at 99.7% (3σ) confidence.
Dynamic modeling and control of a conveyance microrobotic system using active friction drive

Presents a new generation of compliant multidegree of freedom piezoelectric microconveyer for microobjects based on the cooperation of arrayed direct-drive micro standing-wave ultrasonic actuators (microSWUMs). Their operating driving principles based on active frictional contact forces offer direct-drive and low-speed characteristics at the microscale. The tradeoff, however, is the complexity of dynamic modeling and control to cope with the optimization of the intermittent friction drive mechanism. A method using an equivalent electromechanical circuit is proposed for estimating and analyzing the optimum driving force, including the dynamic electrical and the mechanical energy conversions. On the basis of the proposed method, the friction drive optimization of the microrobot is performed through the implementation of different controllers: 1) an electromagnetic-field-based preload controller ensuring optimal preload; 2) an open-loop piecewise-modulated controller for self locking and driving force control; and 3) a resonant frequency compensation. Finally, an experimental investigation has been performed on a prototype of ultrasonic microconveyer incorporating 48 arrayed microSWUMs whose overall dimensions are 47 /spl times/ 29 mm/sup 2/ in order to demonstrate the proposed optimized friction drive.
Sliver Cells: The Low cost PV Electricity Alternative

SLIVER cells are thin, single-crystal silicon solar cells fabricated using standard fabrication technology. SLIVER modules, composed of several thousand individual SLIVER cells, can be efficient, low cost, bifacial, transparent, flexible, shadow-tolerant and lightweight. Compared with current conventional PV technology, mature SLIVER Technology will need less than 10% of the pure silicon, and fewer than 5% of the wafer starts per MWp of factory output. There are two distinct challenges for SLIVER technology: devising a robust cell fabrication method for high yield, high efficiency SLIVER cells, suitable for transfer to industry; and handling, electrically interconnecting, and encapsulating billions of SLIVER cells at low cost. We have recently fabricated SLIVER cells with efficiencies exceeding 20% using an optimised process. We believe this is the first commercial thin crystalline-type technology to reach 20% efficiency. We believe there is a path to laboratory cell efficiencies of 22% and commercially-produced cell efficiencies of 21%. A 100 MWp SLIVER factory will produce several billion individual SLIVER cells annually. We have developed a sub-module technology for rapid, reliable, and low-cost assembly of arrays of SLIVER cells to form two main types of conventional solar cell analogues that, because of their appearance, we call “Rafts” and “Sheets”. Using our invention, Rafts and Sheets can be reliably produced at high speed using low-cost equipment and entirely conventional materials, and can be assembled into solar power modules using simple adaptations of conventional solar cell handling and stringing equipment.
Parallel generation of extensive vascular networks with application to an archetypal human kidney model

Given the relevance of the inextricable coupling between microcirculation and physiology, and the relation to organ function and disease progression, the construction of synthetic vascular networks for mathematical modelling and computer simulation is becoming an increasingly broad field of research. Building vascular networks that mimic in vivo morphometry is feasible through algorithms such as constrained constructive optimization (CCO) and variations. Nevertheless, these methods are limited by the maximum number of vessels to be generated due to the whole network update required at each vessel addition. In this work, we propose a CCO-based approach endowed with a domain decomposition strategy to concurrently create vascular networks. The performance of this approach is evaluated by analysing the agreement with the sequentially generated networks and studying the scalability when building vascular networks up to 200 000 vascular segments. Finally, we apply our method to vascularize a highly complex geometry corresponding to the cortex of a prototypical human kidney. The technique presented in this work enables the automatic generation of extensive vascular networks, removing the limitation from previous works. Thus, we can extend vascular networks (e.g. obtained from medical images) to pre-arteriolar level, yielding patient-specific whole-organ vascular models with an unprecedented level of detail.
Simplified method to calculate the band bending and the subband energies in MOS capacitors

A simplified method is introduced to calculate the band bending, the charge densities, and the quantum mechanical fingerprint of the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor in depletion and inversion. The model features self-consistency of the main quantum mechanical parameters of the system with a low numerical effort in the computation. Example computations are presented, the results of which are close to those obtained from much more complicated, fully self-consistent calculations.
The Influence of in-VR Questionnaire Design on the User Experience

Researchers study the user experience in Virtual Reality (VR) typically by collecting either sensory data or using questionnaires. While traditional questionnaire formats present it through web-based survey tools (out-VR), recent studies investigate the effects of presenting questionnaires directly in the virtual environment (in-VR). The in-VR questionnaire can be defined as an implemented user-interface object that allows interaction with questionnaires in VR that do not break the immersion. Integrating questionnaires directly into the virtual environment, however, also challenges design decisions. While most previous research presents in-VR questionnaires in the form of 2D panels in the virtual environment, we want to investigate the difference from such traditional formats to a presentation of a questionnaire format in the form of an interactive object as part of the environment. Accordingly, we evaluate and compare two different in-VR questionnaire designs and a traditional web-based form (out-VR) to assess user experience, the effect on presence, duration of completing the questionnaires, and users’ preferences. As the means for achieving this goal, we developed an immersive questionnaire toolkit that provides a general solution for implementing in-VR questionnaires and exchanging data with popular survey services. This toolkit enables us to run our study both on-site and remotely. As a first small study, 16 users, either on-site or remotely, attended by completing the System Usability Scale, NASA TLX, and the iGroup Presence Questionnaire after a playful activity. The first results indicate that there is no significant difference in the case of usability and presence between different design layouts. Furthermore, we could not find a significant difference also for the task load except between 2D and web-based layout for mental demand and frustration as well as the duration of completing the questionnaire. The results also indicate that users generally prefer in-VR questionnaire designs to the traditional ones. The study can be expanded to include more participants in user studies as a means of gaining more concrete results. Furthermore, additional questionnaire design alternatives can also help to provide us with a more usable and accurate questionnaire design in VR.
Enhancing In-game Immersion Using BCI-controlled Mechanics

Due to multimodal approach, the virtual reality experiences become increasingly more immersive and entertaining. New control modalities, such as brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), enable the players to engage in the game with both their bodies and minds. In our work, we investigate the influence of employing BCI-driven mechanics on player’s in-game immersion. We designed and implemented an escape room-themed game which employed player’s mental states of focus and relaxation as input for selected game mechanisms. Through a between-subject user study, we found that controlling the game with mental states enhances the in-game immersion and attracts the player’s engagement. At the same time, using BCIs did not impose additional cognitive workload. Our work contributes qualitative insights on psychocognitive effects of using BCIs in gaming and describing immersive gaming experiences.
Actionable Feature Discovery in Counterfactuals using Feature Relevance Explainers

@rgu.ac. uk Abstract. Counterfactual explanations focus on “actionable knowledge” to help end-users understand how a Machine Learning model outcome could be changed to a more desirable outcome. For this purpose a counterfactual explainer needs to be able to reason with similarity knowledge in order to discover input dependencies that relate to outcome changes. Identifying the minimum subset of feature changes to action a change in the decision is an interesting challenge for counterfactual explainers. In this paper we show how feature relevance based explainers (i.e. LIME, SHAP), can inform a counterfactual explainer to identify the minimum subset of “actionable features”. We demonstrate our DisCERN (Discov-ering Counterfactual Explanations using Relevance Features from Neigh-bourhoods) algorithm on three datasets and compare against the widely used counterfactual approach DiCE. Our preliminary results show that DisCERN to be a viable strategy that should be adopted to minimise the actionable
Growth patterns by sex and age among under-5 children from 87 low-income and middle-income countries

Introduction Although boys tend to be more affected by linear growth faltering than girls, little is known about sex differences across distinct age groups. We aimed to compare sex differences in linear growth throughout the first 5 years of life among children from low-income and middle-income countries. Methods We analysed 87 cross-sectional Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Cluster Indicator Surveys (2010–2019). Growth was expressed as height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) based on the 2006 WHO Growth Standards. Sex-specific means were estimated for each country and results were pooled through random-effects meta-analysis for all children and by 12-month age groups. Using linear regression, we assessed the association between sex differences in HAZ and gross domestic product as a proxy for national economic development. Results Boys presented lower mean HAZ than girls in the first 30 months. Sex differences were mostly absent between 30 and 45 months, and in several countries, girls had lower HAZ at ages over 45 months. The pooled sex difference (boys minus girls) for the whole sample was −0.10 (95% CI −0.12 to −0.08). The difference was −0.17 (95% CI −0.20 to −0.14) at 0–11 months and −0.22 (95% CI −0.25 to −0.19) at 12–23 months. This was followed by a narrowing of the sex gap to −0.10 (95% CI −0.13 to −0.07) and −0.04 (95% CI −0.07 to −0.01) among children aged 24–35 and 36–47 months, respectively. At 48–59 months, there was evidence of female disadvantage; the mean height-for-age of boys was 0.02 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.05) SDs higher than for girls. Ecological analyses showed that in all age groups, male disadvantage decreased with increasing national income, and this was no longer present for the 4-year-old children, particularly in wealthier countries. Conclusion Male disadvantage in linear growth is most evident in the first years, but by the age of 4 years, the sex gap has mostly disappeared, and in some countries, the gap has been reversed.
Intrathecal sc-AAV9-CB-GFP: Systemic Distribution Predominates Following Single-Dose Administration in Cynomolgus Macaques

Biodistribution of self-complementary adeno-associated virus-9 (scAAV9)–chicken β-actin promoter–green fluorescent protein (GFP) was assessed in juvenile cynomolgus macaques infused intrathecally via lumbar puncture or the intracisterna magna (1.0×1013 or 3.0×1013 vg/animal), with necropsy 28 days later. Our results characterized central nervous system biodistribution compared with systemic organs/tissues by droplet digital polymerase chain reaction for DNA and in situ hybridization. Green fluorescent protein expression was characterized by Meso Scale Discovery electrochemiluminescence immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Biodistribution was widespread but variable, with vector DNA and GFP expression greatest in the spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and certain systemic tissues (e.g., liver), with low concentrations in many brain regions despite direct cerebrospinal fluid administration. Transduction and expression were observed primarily in perivascular astrocytes in the brain, with a paucity in neurons. Greater GFP expression was observed in hepatocytes, striated myocytes, cardiomyocytes, spinal cord lower motor neurons, and DRG sensory neurons by IHC. These results should be considered when evaluating scAAV9-based intrathecal delivery with the current expression cassette as a modality for neurologic diseases that require widespread brain neuronal expression. This capsid/expression cassette combination may be better suited for diseases that express a secreted protein and/or do not require widespread brain neuronal transduction.
Structural Performance of Bridges in the Tohoku-Oki Earthquake

Including minor nonstructural damage, over 1,500 highway bridges and numerous rail bridges were damaged during the Tohoku-oki earthquake of 11 March 2011. The causes of this damage can be broadly classified in two categories: ground shaking, including ground failure (liquefaction); and tsunami inundation. Damage included span unseating, column shear and flexural failures, approach fill erosion, liquefaction induced settlement, and failed steel and elastomeric bearings. Since many bridges in the north Miyagi-ken and south Iwate-ken suffered extensive damage during the 1978 Miyagi-ken-oki earthquake, bridge performance during the 2011 earthquake is of particular interest. Advances in design and retrofit may be assessed by looking at the performance of bridges designed to post-1990 codes and those retrofitted since the Kobe earthquake in 1995. In both categories, bridge damage due to ground shaking was minor, thus validating the provisions in the post-1990 codes and the Japan bridge retrofit program. Damage that did occur due to ground shaking was mainly to bridges not yet retrofitted or only partly so. Tsunami-related damage included complete loss of span and erosion of backfills. However, many bridges survived, despite being totally submerged, and their performance gives insight into the potential design of tsunami-resistant bridges.
Popular Matchings in the Hospital-Residents Problem with Two-Sided Lower Quotas

We consider the hospital-residents problem where both hospitals and residents can have lower quotas. The input is a bipartite graph G = ( R ∪ H , E ), each vertex in R ∪ H has a strict preference ordering over its neighbors. The sets R and H denote the sets of residents and hospitals respectively. Each hospital has an upper and a lower quota denoting the maximum and minimum number of residents that can be assigned to it. Residents have upper quota equal to one, however, there may be a requirement that some residents must not be left unassigned in the output matching. We call this as the residents’ lower quota. We show that whenever the set of matchings satisfying all the lower and upper quotas is non-empty, there always exists a matching that is popular among the matchings in this set. We give a polynomial-time algorithm to compute such a matching.
On (Simple) Decision Tree Rank

In the decision tree computation model for Boolean functions, the depth corresponds to query complexity, and size corresponds to storage space. The depth measure is the most well-studied one, and is known to be polynomially related to several non-computational complexity measures of functions such as certificate complexity. The size measure is also studied, but to a lesser extent. Another decision tree measure that has received very little attention is the minimal rank of the decision tree, first introduced by Ehrenfeucht and Haussler in 1989. This measure is closely related to the logarithm of the size, but is not polynomially related to depth, and hence it can reveal additional information about the complexity of a function. It is characterised by the value of a Prover-Delayer game first proposed by Pudl\'ak and Impagliazzo in the context of tree-like resolution proofs. In this paper we study this measure further. We obtain an upper bound on depth in terms of rank and Fourier sparsity. We obtain upper and lower bounds on rank in terms of (variants of) certificate complexity. We also obtain upper and lower bounds on the rank for composed functions in terms of the depth of the outer function and the rank of the inner function. This allow us to easily recover known asympotical lower bounds on logarithm of the size for Iterated AND-OR and Iterated 3-bit Majority. We compute the rank exactly for several natural functions and use them to show that all the bounds we have obtained are tight. We also show that rank in the simple decision tree model can be used to bound query complexity, or depth, in the more general conjunctive decision tree model. Finally, we improve upon the known size lower bound for the Tribes function and conclude that in the size-rank relationship for decision trees, obtained by Ehrenfeucht and Haussler, the upper bound for Tribes is asymptotically tight.
Distributed Approximations of f-Matchings and b-Matchings in Graphs of Sub-Logarithmic Expansion

We give a distributed algorithm which given ϵ > 0 finds a (1 − ϵ )-factor approximation of a maximum f -matching in graphs G = ( V, E ) of sub-logarithmic expansion. Using a similar approach we also give a distributed approximation of a maximum b -matching in the same class of graphs provided the function b : V → Z + is L -Lipschitz for some constant L . Both algorithms run in O (log ∗ n ) rounds in the LOCAL model, which is optimal.
Mindfulness Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Intervention: Effects on Palliative Cancer Care Professionals

Objective Being a palliative cancer care professional is challenging and stressful. In recent decades, there has been more interest in mindfulness to improve overall well-being of healthcare professionals. Mindfulness integrated cognitive behavioural interventions (MICBI) are more practical, flexible and understandable than traditional psychological therapies alone. There is a dearth of studies in India with no psychological intervention in palliative cancer care professionals to date. The aim was to examine the effects of MICBI for professional care workers at palliative cancer care centres in Bengaluru city of Southern India. Methods A single group study design was adopted with pre, post and 3-month follow-up assessment with a sample of 25 participants working full-time at a hospice. The MICBI programme was for six sessions, once a week for 2–2.5 hours. Outcome variables were professional quality of life measures (burnout, secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction), psychological well-being score and mindfulness skills score (assessed using Professional Quality of Life Scale-V.5, Psychological Well-Being Scale and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire). Wilcoxon signed rank test and Friedman test analysed differences between pre, post and follow-up data. Results The MICBI could significantly reduce burnout and secondary traumatic stress; it improved compassion satisfaction, psychological well-being and mindfulness skills; treatment gains were maintained at 3 months follow-up. Conclusions MICBI was feasible and effective for palliative cancer care professionals with implications for training, practice and future research. PROSPERO registration number The study was registered under the Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI) (number: CTRI/2018/03/019170).