Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Deep Learning-Based Framework for Retinal Disease Classification

This study addresses the problem of the automatic detection of disease states of the retina. In order to solve the abovementioned problem, this study develops an artificially intelligent model. The model is based on a customized 19-layer deep convolutional neural network called VGG-19 architecture. The model (VGG-19 architecture) is empowered by transfer learning. The model is designed so that it can learn from a large set of images taken with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and classify them into four conditions of the retina: (1) choroidal neovascularization, (2) drusen, (3) diabetic macular edema, and (4) normal form. The training datasets (taken from publicly available sources) consist of 84,568 instances of OCT retinal images. The datasets exhibit all four classes of retinal disease mentioned above. The proposed model achieved a 99.17% classification accuracy with 0.995 specificities and 0.99 sensitivity, making it better than the existing models. In addition, the proper statistical evaluation is done on the predictions using such performance measures as (1) area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, (2) Cohen’s kappa parameter, and (3) confusion matrix. Experimental results show that the proposed VGG-19 architecture coupled with transfer learning is an effective technique for automatically detecting the disease state of a retina.
Hierarchies of difference boundary value problems continued

This paper continues the work done in [7] in which, for eigenparameter-dependent boundary conditions, it was shown how, by making use of a Crum-type transformation, it is possible to go up and down a hierarchy of difference boundary value problems. In particular, in [7], the terminal end boundary condition is assumed to be of the formwhere is the eigenparameter and is a negative Nevanlinna function with g < 0 and for . In this work the case of g = 0 and consequently of h = 0 or is considered. It is shown how many eigenvalues such a boundary value problem will have and in addition the resulting transformed boundary value problem together with its spectrum is given.
Drift‐parallax determination of the altitude of traveling ionospheric disturbances observed with the Los Alamos radio‐beacon interferometer

From 1993 to 1997, the Los Alamos very long baseline interferometer was routinely employed to detect traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID) and inner plasmaspheric irregularities by measuring the change in the electrical phase of several satellite beacon signals that backlit the inner plasmasphere and ionosphere from geosynchronous orbit. The fortuitous placement of two satellite beacons nearly in the Los Alamos geographic meridian, in late 1995, permits us to infer the nominal altitude of each TID event by employing a novel parallax ranging technique. In the context of this paper, the nominal altitude of a TID refers to the altitude at which the slant‐path averaged, amplitude‐weighted phase perturbation existed along the lines of sight from the interferometer to the satellite. In this paper, we outline the method and present validation results.
Reference-Based RADseq Unravels the Evolutionary History of Polar Species in ‘the Crux Lichenologorum’ Genus Usnea (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)

Nearly 90% of fungal diversity, one of the most speciose branches in the tree of life, remains undescribed. Lichenized fungi as symbiotic associations are still a challenge for species delimitation, and current species diversity is vastly underestimated. The ongoing democratization of Next-Generation Sequencing is turning the tables. Particularly, reference-based RADseq allows for metagenomic filtering of the symbiont sequence and yields robust phylogenomic trees of closely related species. We implemented reference-based RADseq to disentangle the evolution of neuropogonoid lichens, which inhabit harsh environments and belong to Usnea (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota), one of the most taxonomically intriguing genera within lichenized fungi. Full taxon coverage of neuropogonoid lichens was sampled for the first time, coupled with phenotype characterizations. More than 20,000 loci of 126 specimens were analyzed through concatenated and coalescent-based methods, including time calibrations. Our analysis addressed the major taxonomic discussions over recent decades. Subsequently, two species are newly described, namely U. aymondiana and U. fibriloides, and three species names are resurrected. The late Miocene and Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary is inferred as the timeframe for neuropogonoid lichen diversification. Ultimately, this study helped fill the gap of fungal diversity by setting a solid backbone phylogeny which raises new questions about which factors may trigger complex evolutionary scenarios.
The Median Is the Message: Wilson and Hilfertys Experiments on the Law of Errors

Data are reanalyzed from an important series of 19th century experiments conducted by C. S. Peirce and designed to study the plausibility of the Gaussian law of errors for astronomical observations. Contrary to the findings of Peirce, but in accordance with subsequent analysis by Frchet and Wilson and Hilferty, we find normality implausible and medians an attractive alternative to means for the analysis. One of the first necessities of the discussion of any statistical problem is to study the data themselves. E.B. Wilson (1923)
Bounded Multipliers of Bounded A-Statistically Convergent Sequences

Abstract In this paper we provide an alternate proof of a result of Kline. It claims that the set of all A -statistically convergent sequences cannot be given a locally convex FK topology where A is a nonnegative regular matrix whose rows spread. We also study the bounded multiplier space of all bounded A -statistically convergent sequences, and using the “β N program ” we give an analogue of a result of Fridy and Miller for bounded multipliers.
Detection of deuterated cyanodiacetylene (DC 5 N) in Taurus Molecular Cloud 1.

Deuterated cyanodiacetylene (DC/sub 5/N) has been observed for the first time in an interstellar cloud. The J = 10. -->. 9 and J = 9. -->. 8 transitions have been detected in emission in TMC 1. The abundance ratio DC/sub 5/N/HC/sub 5/N is found to lie in the range 0.006--0.016 overlapping the range 0.013--0.017 observed for DCO/sup +//HCO/sup +/, but somewhat less than the range 0.02--0.08 determined for DC/sub 3/N/HC/sub 3/N. From these observations, it is not possible to rule out the formation of HC/sub 5/N on grain surfaces or by dissociation of larger molecules.
Vorticity amplification in stagnation-point flow and its effect on heat transfer

Recently a mathematical model was proposed (Sutera, Maeder & Kestin 1963) to demonstrate that vorticity amplification by stretching was an important mechanism underlying the sensitivity of stagnation-point heat transfer on cylinders to free-stream turbulence. According to the model, vorticity of a scale larger than a certain neutral scale and appropriately oriented can undergo amplification as it is convected towards the boundary layer. Such vorticity, present in the oncoming flow with small intensity, can reach the boundary layer with a greatly magnified intensity and induce substantial three-dimensional effects therein. The mean temperature profile was shown to be much more responsive to these effects than the mean velocity profile and very large increases in the wall-heat-transfer rate were calculated for Prandtl numbers 0·74 and 7·0. In this work a second, more general, case is treated in which the approaching flow carries vorticity of scale 1·5 times the neutral. By means of iterative procedures applied on an electronic analogue computer, an approximate solution to the full Navier–Stokes equation is generated. The heat-transfer problem is solved simultaneously for Pr = 0·70, 7·0 and 100. It is found that a vorticity input which increases the wall-shear rate by less than 3% is capable of increasing the wall-heat-transfer rate by as much as 40%. The sensitivity of the thermal boundary layer depends on Prandtl number. In the three cases investigated it is greatest for Pr = 7·0 and least for Pr = 100.
Mesoscale Influences on Nocturnal Valley Drainage Winds in Western Colorado Valleys

Abstract The mesoalpha-scale upper-level sounding network data collected during the 1984 ASCOT meteorological and tracer experiments provided a unique opportunity to analyze the nocturnal drainage wind in four different valleys in western Colorado, and to examine the effects of the synoptic-and mesoscale ambient conditions on these valley drainage winds. The six experimental periods, although biased because of a “fair weather” selection process, provided an additional opportunity to examine “good” and “poor” drainage scenarios. The results show that drainage winds fill all four valleys up to 80%–l00% of their valley depths under favorable nocturnal radiative longwave cooling (1.0°–1.5°C h−1) and light (<5 m s−1) ambient winds. Valley drainage, once established, is rather resistant to erosion from above because of the large source regions of these valleys, their large volume fluxes and inertia, and the persistent stable conditions inside these valleys. Wind erosion was observed on three nights when the dra.
Star formation in radio galaxies at large redshift

Numerical simulations of high-energy radio jets passing through a dense protogalactic gas have been performed, with subsequent cooling and collapse to star formation. The resulting distribution of stars is elongated along the axis of the radio source but is also always highly limb-brightened in the direction normal to the radio axis. With a star-formation efficiency of 10 percent, simulations for different jet velocities, densities, and star-formation thresholds show that about 10 to the 10th solar masses of stars can be formed by this process over 100 Myr. 21 refs.
Harmonic mode competition in a terahertz gyrotron backward-wave oscillator

Electron cyclotron maser interactions at terahertz (THz) frequencies require a high-order-mode structure to reduce the wall loss to a tolerable level. To generate THz radiation, it is also essential to employ cyclotron harmonic resonances to reduce the required magnetic field strength to a value within the capability of the superconducting magnets. However, much weaker harmonic interactions in a high-order-mode structure lead to serious mode competition problems. The current paper addresses harmonic mode competition in the gyrotron backward wave oscillator (gyro-BWO). We begin with a comparative study of the mode formation and oscillation thresholds in the gyro-BWO and gyromonotron. Differences in linear features result in far fewer “windows” for harmonic operation of the gyro-BWO. Nonlinear consequences of these differences are examined in particle simulations of the multimode competition processes in the gyro-BWO, which shed light on the competition criteria between modes of different as well as the sam.
The NIG-S&ARCH model: a fat-tailed, stochastic, and autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic volatility model

This paper examines the capabilities of the Normal Inverse Gaussian distribu-tion as a model for stock returns. We extend the model of Barndorff-Nielsen (1997) to allow for a richer volatility structure and compare with the existing GARCH-type models. We conclude that the proposed model outperforms some of the most praised GARCH-M models. In particular, we make a big gain in modelling the skewness of equity returns.
Photoionization of the Diffuse Interstellar Medium and Galactic Halo by OB Associations

Assuming smoothly varying H I distributions in te Galactic disk, we have calculated the geometry of diffuse II regions due to OB associations in the Galactic plane. Near the solar circle, OB associations with a Lyman continuum (Lyc) photon luminosity Psi(sub Lyc) = 3.3 x 10(exp 7) cm(exp -2) s(exp -1), produce H II regions that are density bounded in the vertical direction (H II chimneys) allowing Lyc to escape the gaseous disk and penetrate into the Galactic halo. We provide analytic formulae for the Lyc escape fraction as functions of S(sub 0) O-star catalog of Garmany and a new Lyc stellar stellar Lyc stellar flux calibration, we find a production rate of Lyc photons by OB associations within 2.5 kpc of Psi(sub Lyc) = 3.3 x 10(exp 7) cm(exp -2) s(exp -1). Integrating the fraction of Lyc photons that escape the disk over our adopted luminosity function of OB associations, we estimate that approximately 7% of the ionizing photons, or Phi(sub Lyc) = 2.3 x 10(exp 6) cm(exp -2) s(exp -1), escape each side of the H I disk layer and penetrate the diffuse ionized medium ('Reynolds layer'). This flux is sufficient to explain the potoionization of this, although we have not constructed a model for the observed H-alpha emission and pulsar dispersion measures that is fully consistent with the absorption rate of Lyc in the H II layer. Since our quiescent model does not account for the effects of dynamic chimneys and superbubbles, which should enhance Lyc escape, we conclude the O stars are the probable source of ionizing radiation for the Reynolds layer. For a random distribution of OB associations throughout the disk, the Lyc flux is nearly uniform for heights Z is greater than approximately 0.8 kpc above the midplane.
The Filament-Moreton Wave Interaction of 2006 December 6

We utilize chromospheric observations obtained at MLSO of the 2006 December 6 Moreton wave, which exhibits two distinct fronts, and subsequent filament activation to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the wave-filament interaction. By determining the period, amplitude, and evolution of the oscillations in the activated filament, we make certain inferences regarding the physical properties of both the wave and the filament. The large-amplitude oscillations induced in the filament by the wave passage last on the order of 180 minutes and demonstrate a complicated mixture of transverse and perpendicular motion with respect to the filament spine. These oscillations are predominantly along the filament axis, with a period of ~29 minutes and maximum line-of-sight velocity amplitude of ~41 km s−1. A careful examination of the complex oscillatory response of the filament elucidates some of the fundamental characteristics of the related Moreton wave. Specifically, we infer the maximum total kinetic energy involved in the interaction, the structure and topology of the passing wave, and discuss implications for the topology of the responding magnetic structure supporting the filament. The results of this observational study equip us with a better understanding of how filaments become activated and the nature of their responses to large propagating disturbances.
Remote analysis of cleft ion acceleration using thermal plasma measurements from Interball Auroral Probe

Three dimensional distributions of low energy (0–80 eV) ions have been obtained in the high‐latitude dayside sector between 10,000 and 20,000 km by the Hyperboloid experiment onboard Interball‐Auroral Probe. H+, He+ and O+ ions exhibit a latitude‐energy dispersion characteristic of the cleft fountain. Test particle simulations are used to investigate the properties of the outflowing ion source region. Regardless of ion mass, it is shown that the bulk of the outflowing population originates from a narrow (< 2°) latitudinal interval inside the dayside cleft. Ion acceleration in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field is shown to occur at all altitudes at least up to 10,000 km, that is, higher than previously reported in cleft fountain studies. The simulations clearly display a gradual decrease of the heating efficiency with increasing altitude and suggest a weaker gradient for O+ than for H+. Parallel acceleration at low altitudes also appears to contribute to the net ion energization within the cleft.
Analysis and finite element simulations of a second‐order fluid model in a bounded domain

This article is concerned with the equations governing the steady motion of a viscoelastic incompressible second‐order fluid in a bounded domain. A new proof of existence and uniqueness of strong solutions is given. In addition, using appropriate finite element methods to approximate a coupled equivalent problem, sharp error estimates are obtained using a fixed point argument. The method is applied to the two‐dimensional lid‐driven cavity problem, at low Reynolds number and in a certain range of values of the viscoelastic parameters, to analyze the combined effects of inertia and viscoelasticity on the flow. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007
Primitive permutation groups with a doubly transitive subconstituent

Abstract Let Gbe a primitive permutation group on a finite set Ω. We investigate the subconstitutents of G, that is the permutation groups induced by a point stabilizer on its orbits in Ω, in the cases where Ghas a diagonal action or a product action on Ω. In particular we show in these cases that no subconstituent is doubly transitive. Thus if G has a doubly transitive subconstituent we show that G has a unique minimal normal subgroup N and either N is a nonabelian simple group or N acts regularly on Ω: we investigate further the case where N is regular on Ω.
Monitoring and responding to emerging infectious diseases in a university setting: A case study using COVID-19

Emerging infection diseases (EIDs) are an increasing threat to global public health, especially when the disease is newly emerging. Institutions of higher education (IHEs) are particularly vulnerable to EIDs because student populations frequently share high-density residences and strongly mix with local and distant populations. In fall 2020, IHEs responded to a novel EID, COVID-19. Here, we describe Quinnipiac Universitys response to SARS-CoV-2 and evaluate its effectiveness through empirical data and model results. Using an agent-based model to approximate disease dynamics in the student body, the University established a policy of dedensification, universal masking, surveillance testing via a targeted sampling design, and app-based symptom monitoring. After an extended period of low incidence, the infection rate grew through October, likely due to growing incidence rates in the surrounding community. A super-spreader event at the end of October caused a spike in cases in November. Student violations of the Universitys policies contributed to this event, but lax adherence to state health laws in the community may have also contributed. The model results further suggest that the infection rate was sensitive to the rate of imported infections and was disproportionately impacted by non-residential students, a result supported by the observed data. Collectively, this suggests that campus-community interactions play a major role in campus disease dynamics. Further model results suggest that app-based symptom monitoring may have been an important regulator of the Universitys incidence, likely because it quarantined infectious students without necessitating test results. Targeted sampling had no substantial advantages over simple random sampling when the model incorporated contact tracing and app-based symptom monitoring but reduced the upper boundary on 90% prediction intervals for cumulative infections when either was removed. Thus, targeted sampling designs for surveillance testing may mitigate worst-case outcomes when other interventions are less effective. The results implications for future EIDs are discussed.
ATR inhibition overcomes platinum tolerance associated with ERCC1- and p53-deficiency by inducing replication catastrophe

Abstract ERCC1/XPF is a heterodimeric DNA endonuclease critical for repair of certain chemotherapeutic agents. We recently identified that ERCC1- and p53-deficient lung cancer cells are tolerant to platinum-based chemotherapy. ATR inhibition synergistically re-stored platinum sensitivity to platinum tolerant ERCC1-deficient cells. Mechanistically we show this effect is reliant upon several functions of ATR including replication fork protection and altered cell cycle checkpoints. Utilizing an inhibitor of replication protein A (RPA), we further demonstrate that replication fork protection and RPA availability are critical for platinum-based drug tolerance. Dual treatment led to increased formation of DNA double strand breaks and was associated with chromosome pulverization. Combination treatment was also associated with increased micronuclei formation which were capable of being bound by the innate immunomodulatory factor, cGAS, suggesting that combination platinum and ATR inhibition may also enhance response to immunotherapy in ERCC1-deficient tumors. In vivo studies demonstrate a significant effect on tumor growth delay with combination therapy compared with single agent treatment. Results of this study have led to the identification of a feasible therapeutic strategy combining ATR inhibition with platinum and potentially immune checkpoint blockade inhibitors to overcome platinum tolerance in ERCC1-deficient, p53-mutant lung cancers.
An experimental counter‐example to the local transport paradigm

The response of a tokamak discharge to a sharp drop in edge temperature differs significantly from that expected from typical local transport models in several important respects. Laser ablation of carbon induces large (ΔT/T≤70%), rapid (<200 μs) electron temperature drops in the outermost region of the plasma, r/a≥0.9. This cold pulse proceeds through the outer plasma (r/a≥0.75), rapidly compared with power balance or sawtooth predictions. However, the pulse shrinks markedly thereafter, disappearing near r/a∼0.5. Within r/a∼0.3, the temperature rises promptly. The results are inconsistent with conventional local transport models; a nonlocal phenomenology, in which transport coefficients increase in the edge and decrease in the core, is suggested. The turbulence levels measured with a heavy ion beam probe increase near the edge but are unchanged in the core.
Prevalence of Frontotemporal Dementia in Females of 5 Hispanic Families With R159H VCP Multisystem Proteinopathy

Background and Objectives Missense variants of the valosin-containing protein (VCP) gene cause a progressive, autosomal dominant disease termed VCP multisystem proteinopathy (MSP1). The disease is a constellation of clinical features including inclusion body myopathy (IBM), Paget disease of bone (PDB), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), typically reported at a frequency of 90%, 42%, 30%, and 9%, respectively. The Hispanic population is currently underrepresented in previous reports of VCP myopathy. We expand our genotype-phenotype studies in 5 Hispanic families with the c.476G>A, p.R159H VCP variant. Methods We report detailed clinical findings of 11 patients in 5 Hispanic families with the c.476G > A, p.R159H VCP variant. In addition, we report frequencies of the main manifestations in 28 additional affected members of the extended family members. We also compared our findings with an existing larger cohort of patients with VCP MSP1. Results FTD was the most prevalent feature reported, particularly frequent in females. PDB was only seen in 1 patient in contrast to the earlier reported cohorts. The overall frequency of the different manifestations: myopathy, PDB, FTD, and ALS in these 5 families was 39%, 3%, 72%, and 8%, respectively. The atypical phenotype and later onset of manifestations in these families resulted in a noticeable delay in the diagnosis of VCP disease. Discussion Studying each VCP variant in the context of ethnic backgrounds is pivotal in increasing awareness of the variability of VCP-related diseases across different ethnicities, enabling early diagnosis, and understanding the mechanism for these genotype-phenotype variations.