Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Studies of Pegylated Magnetite Nanoparticles in a Cellular Model of Viral Oncogenesis: Initial Studies to Evaluate Their Potential as a Future Theranostic Tool

Magnetic nanosystems represent promising alternatives to the traditional diagnostic and treatment procedures available for different pathologies. In this work, a series of biological tests are proposed, aiming to validate a magnetic nanoplatform for Kaposi’s sarcoma treatment. The selected nanosystems were polyethylene glycol-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (MAG.PEG), which were prepared by the hydrothermal method. Physicochemical characterization was performed to verify their suitable physicochemical properties to be administered in vivo. Exhaustive biological assays were conducted, aiming to validate this platform in a specific biomedical field related to viral oncogenesis diseases. As a first step, the MAG.PEG cytotoxicity was evaluated in a cellular model of Kaposi’s sarcoma. By phase contrast microscopy, it was found that cell morphology remained unchanged regardless of the nanoparticles’ concentration (1–150 µg mL−1). The results, arising from the crystal violet technique, revealed that the proliferation was also unaffected. In addition, cell viability analysis by MTS and neutral red assays revealed a significant increase in metabolic and lysosomal activity at high concentrations of MAG.PEG (100–150 µg mL−1). Moreover, an increase in ROS levels was observed at the highest concentration of MAG.PEG. Second, the iron quantification assays performed by Prussian blue staining showed that MAG.PEG cellular accumulation is dose dependent. Furthermore, the presence of vesicles containing MAG.PEG inside the cells was confirmed by TEM. Finally, the MAG.PEG steering was achieved using a static magnetic field generated by a moderate power magnet. In conclusion, MAG.PEG at a moderate concentration would be a suitable drug carrier for Kaposi’s sarcoma treatment, avoiding adverse effects on normal tissues. The data included in this contribution appear as the first stage in proposing this platform as a suitable future theranostic to improve Kaposi’s sarcoma therapy.
Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli from Houseflies in Commercial Turkey Farms Are Frequently Resistant to Multiple Antimicrobials and Exhibit Pronounced Genotypic Diversity

Campylobacter is a leading foodborne pathogen, and poultry are a major vehicle for infection. Houseflies play important roles in colonization of broiler flocks with Campylobacter but comparable information for turkey farms is limited. Here, we investigated houseflies as potential vectors for Campylobacter in 28 commercial turkey flocks. We characterized species, genotypes, and the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of Campylobacter from turkey feces and houseflies in the same turkey house. Of the 28 flocks, 25 yielded Campylobacter from turkey droppings and houseflies, with an average of 6.25 and 3.11 Campylobacter log CFU/g feces and log CFU/fly, respectively. Three flocks were negative for Campylobacter both in turkey feces and in houseflies. Both C. coli and C. jejuni were detected in turkey feces and houseflies, with C. coli more likely to be recovered from houseflies than feces. Determination of Campylobacter species, genotypes, and AMR profiles revealed up to six different strains in houseflies from a single house, including multidrug-resistant strains. For the predominant strain types, presence in houseflies was predictive of presence in feces, and vice versa. These findings suggest that houseflies may serve as vehicles for dissemination of Campylobacter, including multidrug-resistant strains, within a turkey house, and potentially between different turkey houses and farms in the same region.
Decadal precipitation variability over Europe and its relation with surface atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperature

The relationships between decadal (>5‐year period) observed winter precipitation (PP) variability over Europe and atmospheric circulation and sea surface temperature (SST) during the period 1950–1995 are investigated. More than 48% of the decadal precipitation variability is described by two modes: a meridional dipolar pattern (high PP over northern Europe and low over southern Europe, the Mediterranean and most of central Europe) explaining about 32% of the variance, and an alternating pattern in latitude over Europe (high in central Europe and low in far north‐western Europe and the Mediterranean) explaining about 16% of the variance. The first mode is strongly related to the North Atlantic Oscillation.
Compression Behavior of Concrete Columns Strengthened with Fiber-Reinforced Inorganic Composites Based on Magnesium Phosphate Cement

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have become attractive for strengthening and repairing deteriorated concrete structures. However, their poor high-temperature resistance and durability in some extreme environments, such as frequent water-vapor erosion and temperature changes, limit their application. Magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) has been used to repair damaged concrete due to its excellent high-temperature resistance and durability. Therefore, this paper aims to study the compressive behavior of concrete columns strengthened with fiber-reinforced inorganic polymer (FRiP) composites based on magnesium phosphate cement so as to evaluate the confinement effect. Twenty-one cylindrical specimens were prepared to examine the axial compressive behavior of carbon-fiber-reinforced inorganic polymer (CFRiP) specimens based on magnesium phosphate cement confined by one to three layers of carbon-fiber fabrics. They are compared with concrete specimens strengthened with epoxy-based FRP and unconfined concrete specimens. The test results show that compared with the unconfined concrete specimen, the strength of the CFRiP-strengthened specimens based on magnesium phosphate increases by 1.69–2.50 times, and their ultimate strain is enlarged by 1.83–3.50 times. The strength and ultimate strain of the CFRiP-strengthened specimens based on magnesium phosphate are approximately 95% and 60% of those of the specimens strengthened with epoxy-based FRP, respectively. A semiempirical model of concrete confined by the CFRiP system based on magnesium phosphate cement is also proposed. The theoretical prediction is finally compared with the experimental results, indicating that the developed model provides a prediction close to the test results.
Predicting the occurrence of stress urinary incontinence after prolapse surgery: a machine learning-based model

Background Previous prediction models for postoperative stress urinary incontinence (SUI) cannot be applied to patients receiving transvaginal mesh (TVM) surgery and colpocleisis or those with preoperative subject urinary incontinence. This study aimed to develop and validate a new machine learning model and compare it to previous models. Methods Female patients who underwent prolapse surgeries for stage 2–4 anterior or apical prolapse between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019, at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled. Prolapse surgeries included native tissue repair, LeFort/colpocleisis, sacrocolpopexy, and TVM surgery. The existing models to predict postoperative SUI were externally validated. Subsequently, the dataset was randomly divided into 2 sets in a 4:1 ratio. The larger group was used to construct and internally validate models of logistic regression, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), which were then externally validated. The discrimination of the prediction models was evaluated using the area under the curve, while the calibration of the models was measured using the Spiegelhalter z test, mean absolute error (MSE), and calibration curves. Results Overall, 555 patients were enrolled, and 116 experienced SUI 1 year postoperatively. Previous logistic models had poor performance, with areas under the curve of 0.544 and 0.586. In the model construction, the areas under the curve were 0.595, 0.842, and 0.714 for the logistic, random forest, and XGBoost models, respectively. However, only the XGBoost model exhibited good discrimination and calibration for both internal and external validations. Body mass index (BMI), C point of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) quantification stage, age, Aa point of POP quantification stage, and TVM surgery were the 5 most important predictors of postoperative SUI in the XGBoost model. Conclusions Previous models had poor discrimination and calibration among a Chinese population. Hence, we developed and validated an XGBoost model, which performed well irrespective of the preoperative subjective urinary incontinence (preUI) and surgical methods. Further validation is still required.
How is HOTS integrated into the Indonesian high school English textbook?

This study aims at analyzing the integration of higher-order thinking skills, specifically the level of analysis (C4), the level of evaluation (C5), and the level of creation (C6), in reading comprehension questions found in senior high school textbook ‘Bahasa Inggris SMA/MA/SMK/MAK for Grade 12’. This study employed critical content analysis to analyze and interpret textual material to draw valid inferences. The researchers examined the reading comprehension questions to find out how the integration of HOTS in the questions. Using a checklist table, the researchers collected, listed, and analyzed the questions according to the cognitive domain of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. After examining and determining the cognitive level of each question, the researchers categorized them into two groups, namely higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) questions. The result showed that the distribution of HOTS-level questions was lower than that of LOTS questions. The data show that the number of HOTS questions got 13 out of 67 questions or 19.4%, while LOTS questions reached 54 out of 67 questions or 80.6%. These results imply that this textbook needed to provide an adequate number of higher-level thinking questions that could enhance students’ HOTS. To sum up, HOTS questions were not sufficiently integrated into the reading comprehension questions of the textbook. Thus, it is expected that the findings of this study motivate education stakeholders, including teachers, textbook authors, and publishing houses to make more effort to foster and develop HOTS in textbooks.
Review of Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for Rangefinders

Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT) rangefinders have been rapidly developed in the last decade. With high output pressure to enable long-range detection and low power consumption (16 μW for over 1 m range detection has been reported), pMUT rangefinders have drawn extensive attention to mobile range-finding. pMUT rangefinders with different strategies to enhance range-finding performance have been developed, including the utilization of pMUT arrays, advanced device structures, and novel piezoelectric materials, and the improvements of range-finding methods. This work briefly introduces the working principle of pMUT rangefinders and then provides an extensive overview of recent advancements that improve the performance of pMUT rangefinders, including advanced pMUT devices and range-finding methods used in pMUT rangefinder systems. Finally, several derivative systems of pMUT rangefinders enabling pMUT rangefinders for broader applications are presented.
Improving HPC Security with Targeted Syscall Fuzzing

All modern computer systems, including supercomputers, are vulnerable to a wide variety of security exploits. Performance analysis tools are an often overlooked source of vulnerabilities. Performance measurement interfaces can have security issues that lead to information leakage, denial of service attacks, and possibly even full system compromise. Desktop systems can mitigate risk by disabling performance interfaces, but that is not always possible on HPC systems where performance (and thus measurement) is paramount. We investigate various ways of finding security issues in the performance measurement stack. We introduce the perf_fuzzer, a tool that methodically finds bugs in the Linux perf_event_open () system call. We also discuss the perf_data_fuzzer which looks for userspace bugs in the perf analysis tool. We describe the development of the fuzzing tools, examine the bugs found, and discuss ways to prevent such bugs from occurring in the future.
Dispersion effects in the miscible displacement of two fluids in a duct of large aspect ratio

We study miscible displacements in long ducts in the dispersive limit of small $\varepsilon \hbox{\it Pe}$, where $\varepsilon \,{\ll}\, 1$ is the inverse aspect ratio and $\hbox{\it Pe}$ the Péclet number. We consider the class of generalized Newtonian fluids, with specified closure laws for the fluid properties of the concentration-dependent mixture. Regardless of viscosity ratio and the constitutive laws of the pure fluids, for sufficiently small $\varepsilon \hbox{\it Pe}$ these displacements are characterized by rapid cross-stream diffusion and slow streamwise dispersion, i.e. the concentration appears to be near-uniform across the duct and spreads slowly as it translates. Using the multiple-scales method we derive the leading-order asymptotic approximation to the average fluid concentration $\bar{c}_0$. We show that $\bar{c}_0$ evolves on the slow timescale $t \sim (\varepsilon \hbox{\it Pe})^{-1}$, and satisfies a nonlinear diffusion equation in a frame of reference moving with the mean speed of the flow. In the case that the two fluids have identical rheologies and the concentration represents a passive tracer, the diffusion equation is linear. For Newtonian fluids we recover the classical results of Taylor (l953), Aris (1956), and for power-law fluids those of Vartuli et al. (1995). In the case that the fluids differ and/or that mixing is non-passive, $\bar{c}_0$ satisfies a nonlinear diffusion equation in the moving frame of reference. Given a specific mixing/closure law for the rheological properties, we are able to compute the dispersive diffusivity $D_T(\bar{c}_0)$ and predict spreading along the channel. We show that $D_T(\bar{c}_0)$ can vary significantly with choice of mixing law and discuss why. This also opens the door to possibilities of controlling streamwise spreading by the rheological design of reactive mixtures, i.e. including chemical additives such that the rheology of the mixture behaves very differently to the rheology of either pure fluid. Computed examples illustrate the potential effects that might be achieved.
Modeling and analysis of frequency-variable 2–2 cement-based piezoelectric transducers

The 2–2 cement-based piezoelectric transducers can be used as high-performance actuators and sensors. However, the existing designs with fixed electromechanical properties cannot meet some special application requirements, such as the tuning working frequency to achieve high precision monitoring purpose. To address this issue, a type of frequency-variable 2–2 cement-based piezoelectric transducers is proposed in this paper. Theoretical models of the proposed transducer are established, and the analytical solutions of its longitudinal vibration are obtained. The theoretical models are verified by comparing their results with those of the existing literature for some special examples, and with the finite element results for a special case. In addition, the effects of the tuning resistance, the ratio of piezoelectric layer numbers between the active and passive elements, the electrical connections of piezoelectric layers, and the total number of piezoelectric layers on the electromechanical properties of transducer are discussed. It is demonstrated that the proposed frequency-variable 2–2 cement-based piezoelectric transducers can obtain a large tunable bandwidth by adjusting the appropriate ratio of piezoelectric layer numbers between the active and passive elements and their electrical connections, which provides a theoretical basis for designing and optimizing this type of transducers.
A Measurement of the Density Parameter Derived from the Evolution of Cluster X-Ray Temperatures

We have, for the first time, determined the cluster X-ray temperature function at a redshift other than zero. The observed evolution of the temperatures is mild to a redshift of one-third. The normalization of the luminosity-temperature relation is 0.92 ± 0.07 of the low-redshift relation (1 σ error), assuming that its shape is the same. Such behavior occurs when clusters form with constant central entropy. The evolution of the temperature function implies that Ω0 is 0.50 ± 0.14 assuming an open universe, or 0.55 ± 0.17 assuming that a cosmological constant produces a flat universe (1 σ symmetrized errors). A closed universe, Ω0≥1, is excluded at greater than 99% confidence. The amplitude of the mass density fluctuations averaged over 8 h-1 Mpc spheres, σ8, is 0.66−0.08+0.22 and 0.66−0.17+0.34 (1 σ errors) for the open and flat models, respectively.
A Comprehensive Analysis of Smartphone GNSS Range Errors in Realistic Environments

Precise positioning using smartphones has been a topic of interest especially after Google decided to provide raw GNSS measurement through their Android platform. Currently, the greatest limitations in precise positioning with smartphone Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors are the quality and availability of satellite-to-smartphone ranging measurements. Many papers have assessed the quality of GNSS pseudorange and carrier-phase measurements in various environments. In addition, there is growing research in the inclusion of a priori information to model signal blockage, multipath, etc. In this contribution, numerical estimation of actual range errors in smartphone GNSS precise positioning in realistic environments is performed using a geodetic receiver as a reference. The range errors are analyzed under various environments and by placing smartphones on car dashboards and roofs. The distribution of range errors and their correlation to prefit residuals is studied in detail. In addition, a comparison of range errors between different constellations is provided, aiming to provide insight into the quantitative understanding of measurement behavior. This information can be used to further improve measurement quality control, and optimize stochastic modeling and position estimation processes.
Fictive temperature-independent density and minimum indentation size effect in calcium aluminosilicate glass

Using the calcium aluminosilicate system a glass was developed that exhibits fictive temperature-independent density by creating an intermediate glass between normal and anomalous glasses. Normal glass, such as soda-lime silicate glass, exhibits decreasing density with increasing fictive temperature while anomalous glass, such as silica glass, exhibits increasing density with increasing fictive temperature. This intermediate glass composition was found to exhibit the minimum indentation size effect during indentation hardness testing. It appears that the indentation size effect is correlated with a deformation-induced fictive temperature increase, which is accompanied by a density change and hardness change in the vicinity of the indentation. It is suggested from these observations that indentation size effect originates from the energy required to create interfaces and defects such as shear bands, subsurface cracks, and point defects near the indenter-specimen boundary, which accompany the volume change.
Age Related Functional Connectivity Signature Extraction Using Energy-Based Machine Learning Techniques

The study of brain connectivity plays an important role in understanding the functional organizations of the brain. It also helps to identify connectivity signatures that can be used for evaluating neural disorders and monitoring treatment efficacy. In this work, age-related changes in brain connectivity are studied to obtain aging signatures based on various modeling techniques. These include an energy-based machine learning technique to identify brain network interaction differences between two age groups with a large (30 years) age gap between them. Disconnectivity graphs and activation maps of the seven prominent resting-state networks (RSN) were obtained from functional MRI data of old and young adult subjects. Two-sample t-tests were performed on the local minimums with Bonferroni correction to control the family-wise error rate. These local minimums are connectivity states showing not only which brain regions but also how strong they are working together. They work as aging signatures that can be used to differentiate young and old groups. We found that the attention network’s connectivity signature is a state with all the regions working together and young subjects have a stronger average connectivity among these regions. We have also found a common pattern between young and old subjects where the left and right brain regions of the frontal network are sometimes working separately instead of together. In summary, in this work, we combined machine learning and statistical approaches to extract connectivity signatures, which can be utilized to distinguish aging brains and monitor possible treatment efficacy.
Examining the Factor Structure of Short Grit Scale (8 items) among University Students in a Collectivist Society - Pakistan

Pakistan's education ministry correctly identified management problems in its latest policy but paid no attention to helping students improve their psychological mindset. It is necessary to develop programs to help children raise their psychological outlook to bear the rigors of 21st-century education. This study examined grit that has the potential to be part of any developmental program. In particular, we focused on examining the factor structure of the short grit scale among university students using optimal strategies. Additionally, we provided cultural interpretations of the results. Our EFA result on polychoric data (n=268) in the R program revealed a two-factor solution: consistency of interest (4 items) and perseverance (3 items). The mean interitem correlation reliability was within the range (.29 to .34), and ordinal alpha was significant (.65) in both dimensions. Further, the CFA on polychoric data (n=269) displayed good fit indices for a two-factor solution with high reliabilities for both dimensions (Coefficient H > .80). Our first MGCFA exhibited metric-level measurement invariance across gender. Similarly, the second MGCFA between groups (n=41) separated by 4.5 months displayed metric-level measurement invariance. The cultural interpretations of the results surmise that a two-factor solution exists among the sample students. However, these facets might act independently, and a high score on both dimensions might imply a gritty person. Though additional dimensions to define grit in collectivist societies have emerged, they require further validation.