Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modafinil-excipient compatibility study using differential scanning calorimetry

Drug excipient compatibility studies are considered important in successful formulation of drug products. Suggested methods for this purpose are thermal techniques under isothermal or nonisothermal conditions. In this study, modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting drug, was investigated under nonisothermal conditions using differential scanning calorimetry. Four different heating rates, 5, 10, 15, and 20°C/min, were performed for modafinil pure material and its physical mixtures with magnesium stearate (MgSt) or Gelucire 48/16. Activation energy (Ea) was calculated from the straight line of plotting a function of heating rate versus temperature and found that modafinil-Gelucire physical mixture increased Ea. This indicates drug-excipient interaction, supported by evidence from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. No significant interaction was detected with MgSt.
Yield stress and work hardening behavior of extruded AA6082 profiles under different homogenization and extrusion conditions

Abstract. The mechanical properties of extruded AlMgSi alloys are affected by the applied thermo-mechanical parameters employed during the entire production process. In the following, the effect of different extrusion speeds and homogenization conditions paired with either air or water quenching, is examined on four different sets of rectangular hollow AA6082-T4 profiles. These profiles were fabricated and extruded under industrial conditions and selected cross sections of each profile were examined by optical microscopy to determine the microstructure and level of recrystallization. Uniaxial tension testing was used to explore the effect of homogenization conditions and extrusion cooling rate on mechanical properties. Tensile tests showed that the water-quenched extrusions had a higher yield and ultimate strength compared to air-quenched extrusions. Moreover, samples that had a recrystallized microstructure typically showed a larger standard deviation of mechanical properties, which may lead to product quality and consistency issues for metal forming operations. Overall, the present work provides a more in-depth understanding of how the selected thermo-mechanical parameters affect the resulting properties of such profiles. This can further contribute to expanding the potential for effective accommodation of extrusion parameters for zero-defect products.
Thinking outside the black box: are the brain endothelial cells the new main target in Alzheimer’s disease?

The blood-brain barrier is the interface through which the brain interacts with the milieu and consists mainly of a sophisticated network of brain endothelial cells that forms blood vessels and selectively moves molecules inside and outside the brain through multiple mechanisms of transport. Although brain endothelial cell function is crucial for brain homeostasis, their role in neurodegenerative diseases has historically not been considered with the same importance as other brain cells such as microglia, astroglia, neurons, or even molecules such as amyloid beta, Tau, or alpha-synuclein. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and brain endothelial cell dysfunction has been reported by several groups. However, its impairment has barely been considered as a potential therapeutic target. Here we review the most recent advances in the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and brain endothelial cells commitment and analyze the possible mechanisms through which their alterations contribute to this neurodegenerative disease, highlighting their inflammatory phenotype and the possibility of an impaired secretory pattern of brain endothelial cells that could contribute to the progression of this ailment. Finally, we discuss why shall brain endothelial cells be appreciated as a therapeutic target instead of solely an obstacle for delivering treatments to the injured brain in Alzheimer’s disease.
Autoimmune Thyroiditis Shifting from Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis to Graves’ Disease

In 15–20% of cases, Graves’ disease (GD) shifts to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), while the shift from HT to GD is rare. We present a case of a patient in whom HT shifted to GD, along with a literature review. A 50-year-old woman with myxedema was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease due to hypothyroidism and the presence of antibodies against thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin (TgAb); she also had thyroid stimulating antibodies (TSAb) without any signs of GD. Although thyroid hormone replacement therapy improved her thyroid function, 2 months later, hyperthyroidism appeared and did not improve after discontinuation of the replacement therapy. The patient was diagnosed with GD, which improved with antithyroid agent administration. To date, only 50 cases regarding conversion from HT to GD have been reported. The median age is 44 years (range, 23–82 years), and the median time of conversion is 7 years (range, 0.1–27 years). The male-to-female ratio of HT conversion to GD is 1:9, closer to that of regular GD (1:10) than that of general HT (1:18). All patients received thyroid hormone replacement therapy for hypothyroidism due to HT. Continuous evaluation of TSAb levels is recommended in HT, particularly in cases of TSAb-positive and those under replacement, since it may help predict conversion to GD. Evaluating the clinical characteristics of patients with HT preceding GD is crucial to ensure appropriate treatment and reduce the risk of adverse events.
Correlation between the macroscopic ferroelectric material properties of Si:HfO2 and the statistics of 28 nm FeFET memory arrays

ABSTRACT With the discovery of ferroelectric hafnium oxide (FE-HfO2), the ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET), a long-term contender for non-volatile data storage, has finally managed to scale to the 2× nm technology node. Here for the first time, we correlate the thickness dependent ferroelectric properties of Si:HfO2 with the memory characteristics of small (56 bit) FeFET arrays. First, an electrical and structural analysis of metal-ferroelectric-metal capacitors is given. Even though possessing room-temperature deposited top electrodes, TiN / Si:HfO2 (20 nm) / TiN capacitors are showing deteriorated polarization characteristics as compared to their 10 nm Si:HfO2 counterparts. This could be attributed to an increased monoclinic phase fraction, as indicated by small-signal capacitance voltage and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements. Identical Si:HfO2 thin films with thicknesses of 10 nm and 20 nm respectively, were utilized in a 28 nm high-k metal-gate CMOS flow to form small FeFET memory arrays of AND architecture. After extracting the most suitable operating conditions from erase matrix, single cell evaluation was performed by standard VP/3 program and a novel VP/3 positive-source drain erase scheme. Array cells incorporating 10 nm Si:HfO2 films showed a maximum memory window of 1.03 V whereas cells incorporating 20 nm Si:HfO2 films could reach up to 1.57 V. Moreover, in accordance to the basic material properties, the previously observed increased monoclinic phase fraction in 20 nm Si:HfO2 thin films correlate well with a reduced number of functional FeFET cells.
Volumes of Generalized Unit Balls

Diamonds, cylinders, squares, stars, and balls. These geometric figures are familiar to undergraduate students, but what could they possibly have in common? One answer is: They are generalized balls. The standard Euclidean ball can be distorted into a variety of strange-shaped balls by linear and nonlinear transformations. The purpose of this note is to give a unified formula for computing the volumes of generalized unit balls in n-dimensional spaces. A generalized unit ball in Rn is described by the set
Research on the Influence and Mechanism of Cross-Border E-Commerce on the Quality of Agricultural Products Exported by China

From the perspective of the implementation of China's cross-border e-commerce industrial policy, this study empirically tests the impact of cross-border e-commerce industrial policy on the quality of agricultural products exported by China through using the HS6-digit export data in CEPII-BACI database from 2006 to 2020 and adopting the Difference-in-Difference method. The research shows that the cross-border e-commerce industrial policy has a significant positive impact on the quality of agricultural products exported by China. The study also found that there is significant heterogeneity in the impact on agricultural products exported from different regions and with different quality levels. Finally, the mechanism test conclusion shows that cross-border e-commerce mainly promotes the improvement of export quality of agricultural products exported by China through export competition effect and export learning effect.
Geostatistical Analysis of the Spatial Variation of Chrysolina aeruginosa Larvae at Different Stages in Desert Ecosystems

Simple Summary The spatial distribution of pests is a prominent topic of research in population ecology. Knowledge of pest distribution patterns (including the specific plant segments that are most heavily infested) is of utmost significance in devising appropriate monitoring programs that will effectively reduce the utilization of pesticides. Geostatistical analysis, which reveals spatial correlations and dependencies, is vital in achieving an accurate comprehension of the disparities in pest spatial distribution. In this study, we utilized geostatistical methods to identify the spatial distribution of Chrysolina aeruginosa, a commonly occurring pest that attacks Artemisia ordosica in desert ecosystems of Ningxia, at various developmental stages. Our results indicated differences in the vertical distribution of larvae at distinct stages of growth. The number of larvae varies in relation to the height of the plants, and various morphological characteristics such as crown width and ground diameter. Furthermore, the larvae exhibit an inclination to aggregate. Abstract Chrysolina aeruginosa is a major pest of Artemisia ordosica, and knowledge of the spatial distribution pattern of its larvae in their natural habitat is crucial for the implementation of effective control measures. This study employed geostatistical methods to investigate the damage caused by larvae of different age groups and their spatial distribution pattern. The distribution of C. aeruginosa larvae, which cause damage to A. ordosica, differed significantly according to their age. Younger larvae were predominantly found in the middle and upper parts of the plant, whereas older larvae were mainly distributed in the middle and lower parts, with significant differences in distribution location. A generalized linear model analysis revealed that the height of the plant, and plant morphological characteristics such as height, crown width, and ground diameter were significantly correlated with the number of larvae present. Furthermore, the interaction of age with other variables had an impact on the number of larvae. Kriging interpolation showed that C. aeruginosa larvae were distributed in aggregated patches with strong spatial heterogeneity. The younger larvae were more abundant in the center of the sample site, while the older larvae tended to be distributed toward the edges. These findings provide valuable information for designing effective control programs.
Current Progress on Predictive Biomarkers for Response to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Gastric Cancer: How to Maximize the Immunotherapeutic Benefit?

Simple Summary The landscape of gastric cancer treatment has changed owing to the widespread use of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Only a subset of patients, though, have reaped substantial benefits. One of the crucial issues in current research is seeking efficacious biomarkers to identify favorable populations for immunotherapy. In this review, we present a summary of the predictive biomarkers that have lately been exploited or investigated in clinical studies. Abstract Gastric cancer is the fifth most prevalent cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer death globally. Delayed diagnosis and pronounced histological and molecular variations increase the complexity and challenge of treatment. Pharmacotherapy, which for a long time was systemic chemotherapy based on 5-fluorouracil, is the mainstay of management for advanced gastric cancer. Trastuzumab and programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors have altered the therapeutic landscape, contributing to noticeably prolonged survivorship in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. However, research has revealed that immunotherapy is only beneficial to some individuals. Biomarkers, such as programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), microsatellite instability (MSI), and tumor mutational load (TMB), have been shown to correlate with immune efficacy in numerous studies and are increasingly employed for the selection of patients most likely to respond to immunotherapy. Gut microorganisms, genetic mutations like POLE/POLD1 and NOTCH4, tumor lymphoid infiltrating cells (TILs), and other novel biomarkers have the potential to develop into new predictors. Prospective immunotherapy for gastric cancer should be guided by a biomarker-driven precision management paradigm, and multidimensional or dynamic marker testing could be the way to go.
Developing a Place–Time-Specific Transmissibility Index to Measure and Examine the Spatiotemporally Varying Transmissibility of COVID-19

The transmission rate of COVID-19 varies by location and time. A proper measure of the transmissibility of an infectious disease should be place- and time-specific, which is currently unavailable. This research aims to better understand the spatiotemporally changing transmissibility of COVID-19. It contributes to COVID-19 research in three ways. First, it presents a generally applicable modeling framework to estimate the transmissibility of COVID-19 in a specific place and time based on daily reported case data, called space-time effective reproduction number, denoted as Then, the developed model is used to create a spatiotemporal data set of values at the county level in the United States. Second, it investigates relationships between and dynamically changing context factors with multiple machine learning and spatial modeling techniques. The research examines the relationships from a cross-sectional perspective and a longitudinal perspective separately. The longitudinal view allows us to understand how local human dynamics and policy factors influence changes in over time in the place, whereas the cross-sectional view sheds light on the demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors behind spatial variations of at a specific time slice. Some general trends of the relationships are found, but the level of impact by each context factor varies geographically. Third, the best performing local longitudinal models have promising potential to simulate or forecast future transmissibility. The random forest and the exponential regression models based on time-series data gave the best performances. These models were further evaluated against ground truth data of county-level reported cases. Their good prediction accuracies in the case study prove that these machine learning models are promising in their ability to predict transmissibility in hypothetical or foreseeable scenarios.
Infection Induced Fetal Inflammatory Response Syndrome (FIRS): State-of- the-Art and Medico-Legal Implications—A Narrative Review

Fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS) represents the fetal inflammatory reaction to intrauterine infection or injury, potentially leading to multiorgan impairment, neonatal mortality, and morbidity. Infections induce FIRS after chorioamnionitis (CA), defined as acute maternal inflammatory response to amniotic fluid infection, acute funisitis and chorionic vasculitis. FIRS involves many molecules, i.e., cytokines and/or chemokines, able to directly or indirectly damage fetal organs. Therefore, due to FIRS being a condition with a complex etiopathogenesis and multiple organ dysfunction, especially brain injury, medical liability is frequently claimed. In medical malpractice, reconstruction of the pathological pathways is paramount. However, in cases of FIRS, ideal medical conduct is hard to delineate, due to uncertainty in diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of this highly complex condition. This narrative review revises the current knowledge of FIRS caused by infections, maternal and neonatal diagnosis and treatments, the main consequences of the disease and their prognoses, and discusses the medico-legal implications.
Thermal buckling and natural vibration of a rectangular thin plate with in-plane stick-slip-stop boundaries

This study is devoted to analyzing the thermal buckling behavior and natural vibration characteristics of a uniformly heated rectangular thin plate with two adjacent in-plane frictional sliding edges. These sliding edges are initially at a stick status under the friction forces, and may slightly slip due to the thermal expansion of the plate until the sliding edges contact the stops, i.e. the bounds of the clearances. In the study, both temperature dependencies of material properties and friction coefficients are taken into consideration. For each case, the explicit equations for the buckling temperature rise and the natural frequencies of the plate are derived. Then, some parametric studies are made to reveal the influences of both normal forces and clearances on the critical buckling temperature rise and the natural vibration characteristics of the plate. The results show that both normal forces and clearances have significant influences on the critical buckling temperature rise and the natural frequencies of the plate, especially for the square plate, which has repeated natural frequencies. These results enable one to adjust the normal forces and the clearances in design in order to improve the mechanical performance of a heated rectangular thin plate.
Molecular Understanding of the Interfacial Interaction and Corrosion Resistance between Epoxy Adhesive and Metallic Oxides on Galvanized Steel

The epoxy adhesive-galvanized steel adhesive structure has been widely used in various industrial fields, but achieving high bonding strength and corrosion resistance is a challenge. This study examined the impact of surface oxides on the interfacial bonding performance of two types of galvanized steel with Zn–Al or Zn–Al–Mg coatings. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the Zn–Al coating was covered by ZnO and Al2O3, while MgO was additionally found on the Zn–Al–Mg coating. Both coatings exhibited excellent adhesion in dry environments, but after 21 days of water soaking, the Zn–Al–Mg joint demonstrated better corrosion resistance than the Zn–Al joint. Numerical simulations revealed that metallic oxides of ZnO, Al2O3, and MgO had different adsorption preferences for the main components of the adhesive. The adhesion stress at the coating–adhesive interface was mainly due to hydrogen bonds and ionic interactions, and the theoretical adhesion stress of MgO adhesive system was higher than that of ZnO and Al2O3. The corrosion resistance of the Zn–Al–Mg adhesive interface was mainly due to the stronger corrosion resistance of the coating itself, and the lower water-related hydrogen bond content at the MgO adhesive interface. Understanding these bonding mechanisms can lead to the development of improved adhesive-galvanized steel structures with enhanced corrosion resistance.
Asynchronous Quantized Control of Piecewise-Affine Systems

This technical note proposes a novel asynchronous control approach for discrete-time piecewise-affine (PWA) systems with logarithmic quantization of both multiple inputs and multiple state measurements. Since the actual system state and the quantized state may not always be in the same operating region due to quantization-induced uncertainties, the operating modes of the PWA system and the controller that depends on the quantized states may be asynchronous. Aiming at reducing the computational cost and the conservatism of the results, a mapping region-based algorithm is first proposed to determine the reachable dwelling regions for the quantized state. By using a convex combination model to approximate the quantization-induced uncertainties, a novel piecewise Lyapunov function taking into consideration the uncertainties is then proposed. It is shown that with the newly proposed Lyapunov function, the desired asynchronous controller can be obtained and the resulting closed-loop system is asymptotically stable. A simulated chemical reactor example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed asynchronous control approach.
Photofabrication of chiral plasmonic nanospiroids

Nanofabrication of three-dimensional chiral plasmonic structures has been a challenging research topic. In the present study, we shaped dielectric caps on plasmonic gold nanocubes (AuNCs) into three-dimensional nanospiroids by circularly polarized light (CPL) as the chirality source, without using lithographic methods or chiral molecules. AuNCs adsorbed on a TiO2 substrate were irradiated with right or left CPL in the presence of Pb2+ for the deposition of PbO2 on AuNCs. The Au–PbO2 nanocomposites, thus, obtained are the first spiral plasmonic nanostructures prepared by CPL. They exhibit strong and sharp signals of circular dichroism, and the signs of the signals are reversed by changing the rotation direction of the CPL used. Their g-factor values are highest among the chiral plasmonic nanostructures fabricated by CPL.
Approximation for convex functionals on non-positively curved spaces and the Trotter–Kato product formula

Abstract. We study the validity of the Trotter–Kato product formula in the setting of gradient flows on CAT(0) metric spaces. We follow the strategy of the proof of the Hilbert space version of this theorem given by Kato–Masuda, but instead of the linear structure and inner product we have only geodesics and the CAT(0) inequality available. Thus we construct a counterpart of the approximation semigroups and their resolvents in CAT(0) spaces. We show that the convergence of the approximated resolvents to the resolvents of the sum functional implies convergence of the approximation semigroups to the semigroup associated to the sum functional. We also show that this resolvents convergence implies the product Trotter–Kato formula in CAT(0) spaces. These approximation theorems are of independent interest. A major difficulty compared to the linear theory is the lack of an appropriate notion of weak convergence on such spaces. This difficulty is successfully overcome with the aid of an ultra-filters technique. The main results of our investigation are various versions of the Trotter–Kato product formula in CAT(0) spaces.