Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High Albedos of Cirrus in the Tropical Pacific Warm Pool: Microphysical Interpretations from CEPEX and from Kwajalein, Marshall Islands

Abstract Recent studies suggest that extensive shields of cirrus clouds over the equatorial Pacific “warm pool” may have a significant influence on the global climate, yet details of the links between cloud microphysical properties, upper-tropospheric latent and radiative heating rates, and climate are poorly understood. This study addresses whether relatively reflective ice crystals with dimensions smaller than about 100 µm near the tops of tropical cirrus clouds, produced by deep convection when the sea surface temperature exceeds 300 K, are principally responsible for the high albedos observed in this region. In situ measurements of ice crystal size distributions and shapes, acquired during the Central Equatorial Pacific Experiment (CEPEX), are used to derive cloud ice water content (IWC), particle cross-sectional area (A), and other microphysical and optical properties from particles with sizes down to 5 µm. These measurements are needed to ascertain the microphysical properties primarily responsible .
Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiles Provide Insights into the Red-Stipe Symptom of Morel Fruiting Bodies

The cultivation of true morels (Morchella spp., Morchellaceae, Ascomycota) has rapidly expanded in recent years, especially in China. Red stipe is a symptom wherein the stipe of morel fruiting bodies becomes red–gray, resulting in the gradual death of the affected fruiting bodies. The impact of red-stipe symptom occurrence on the development and nutritional quality of morel fruiting bodies remains unclear. Herein, morel ascocarps with the red-stipe symptom (R) and normal (N), artificially cultivated in the Fujian Province of China, were selected for the transcriptome and metabolome analysis to study the physiological and biochemical responses of morel fruiting bodies to the red-stipe symptom. Transcriptome data revealed several differentially expressed genes between the R and N groups significantly enriched in the tyrosine, riboflavin, and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways. Similarly, the differentially accumulated metabolites were mainly assigned to metabolic pathways, including tyrosine, the biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites, and the biosynthesis of amino acids. Moreover, the transcriptome and metabolome data combination revealed that tyrosine metabolism was the most enriched pathway, which was followed by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transport, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. Overall, the integration of transcriptomic and metabolomic data of M. sextelata affected by red-stipe symptoms identified several important genes, metabolites, and pathways. These findings further improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the red-stipe symptom development of M. sextelata and provide new insights into how to optimize its cultivation methods.
Boundary control of a nonlinear Stefan problem

The classical Stefan problem is a linear one-dimensional heat equation with a free boundary at one end, modelling a column of liquid (e.g. water) in contact with an infinite strip of solid (ice). Given the fixed boundary conditions, the column temperature and free boundary motion can be uniquely determined. In the inverse problem, one specifies the free boundary motion, say from one steady-state length to another, and seeks to determine the column temperature and fixed boundary conditions, or boundary control. This motion planning problem is a simplified version of a crystal growth problem. In this paper, we consider motion planning of the free boundary (Stefan) problem with a quadratic nonlinear reaction term. The treatment here is a first step towards treating higher order nonlinearities as observed in crystal growth furnaces. Convergence of a series solution is proven and a detailed parametric study on the series radius of convergence given. Moreover, we prove that the parametrization can indeed be used for motion planning purposes; computation of the open loop motion planning is straightforward and we give simulation results.
Fecundity traits of young ovigerous females of yellow-line-arrow spider crab Stenorhynchus debilis (Brachyura: Inachoididae) in Bahía de La Paz Baja California Sur, México

The southwestern Gulf of California is an important source of ornamental marine species traded worldwide, wherein spider crabs Stenorhynchus debilis are popular items. However, little is known about species biology and ecology. This study involves young ovigerous females (28 in total) recollected at Bahía de La Paz, Mexico, into bivalve mariculture devices cleaned every 3-4 months. Total carapace length (TL) and carapace width (CW), weight without eggs (TW), and fecundity (F, number of eggs) were analyzed for multiple relationships. F varied into 162 and 2205 eggs (x̄ = 1171 ± 689 eggs), their diameter into 0.38 to 0.45 mm (x̄ = 0.396 ± 0.027 mm). Three persistent and interactive modes were detected: low/moderate/high F, small/medium/large size (TL and CW), and light/middle/heavy TW. Log-linearized allometric regressions were applied to determine the relative fecundity constants (RFC) by body complexion, finding high parallelism between TL and CW related to step-wise growth and size categorization upon the isosceles-shaped carapace. In contrast, TW denoted an increase in body complexion across intermolt phases. S. debilis likely completes three maturation/molt cycles within 3-4 months after the first crab instar. RFC values confirmed positive trends by body complexion where egg size and F are related to species size and shape, establishing the trade-off proportions in this study case.
Separating the Precipitation‐ and Non‐Precipitation‐ Driven Water Storage Trends in China

Terrestrial water storage (TWS) is a critical component for sustainable societal development and ecosystem cycles. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites have tracked changes in global TWS under the combined effects of various factors with unprecedented accuracy since 2002. In this study, we separate the trends in TWS driven by precipitation and non‐precipitation factors for the Chinese mainland from 2003 to 2016 based on the statistical reconstruction method and linear regression and analyze the driving mechanisms combining with multi‐source data. The results show that: (a) during the study period, TWS shows different degrees of increase in most of the Yangtze River basin, the northern part of the Tibetan Plateau, and part of the Heilongjiang Province, while TWS shows a significant decrease in the Tien Shan Mountains, the southeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, and the North China Plain; (b) precipitation is one of the dominant factors leading to the rise of TWS, and the construction of reservoirs and dams also contributes. In contrast, anthropogenic activities (agricultural irrigation, industrial water use, etc.) and accelerated glacial melting due to global warming are the dominant factors in the decline of water storage; (c) the contribution of long‐term precipitation change to water storage is significantly larger in the northern China region (north of the 800 mm isopleth). This study provides a feasible method for quantifying the contribution of precipitation and non‐precipitation factors to TWS, which is meaningful for understanding the impact of climate change and anthropogenic factors on water resources.
A High-Quality Landmarked Infrared Eye Video Dataset (IREye4Task): Eye Behaviors, Insights and Benchmarks for Wearable Mental State Analysis

Sensing the mental state induced by different task contexts, where cognition is a focus, is as important as sensing the affective state where emotion is induced in the foreground of consciousness, because completing tasks is part of every waking moment of life. However, few datasets are publicly available to advance mental state analysis, especially those using the eye as the sensing modality with detailed ground truth for eye behaviors. In this study, we contribute a high-quality publicly accessible eye video dataset, IREye4Task, where the eyelid, pupil and iris boundary are annotated for each frame to obtain eye behaviors as responses to four different task contexts and two load levels of tasks, over more than a million frames. Meanwhile, we propose a series of eye behavior representations to provide insights into how the eye behaves during different mental states. Finally, we benchmark three mental-state recognition tasks for this dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness of the eye behavior representations. This is the first public wearable eye video dataset for mental state analysis with high quality eye landmarks and a variety of mental states, and is the first study analyzing comprehensive eye behaviors far beyond using pupil size and blink in previous studies.
Cutoff scores for the “Interest game”, an application for the assessment of diminished interest in neurocognitive disorders

Diminished interest is a core feature of apathy that shows high prevalence in people with Mild and Major Neurocognitive disorders (NCD). In the clinical setting, apathy is mainly assessed using clinical scales and questionnaires, but new technologies are starting to be employed to complement classical instruments. Here, we explored the performance of the “Interest game,” a ludic application that assesses personal interests, in discriminating between persons with and without diminished interest based on the Apathy Diagnostic Criteria. Two hundred and twenty-seven elderly participants (56 healthy controls, 118 persons with mild-NCD, and 53 with major-NCD) completed the Interest game and were assessed by clinicians concerning the presence and the severity of apathy. Results showed that the application scores varied with the presence of apathy, the type of disorder, and the education level. Cutoff scores calculated for persons with Mild-NCD resulted in a sensitivity of 0.68 and a specificity of 0.65 for the main score index, suggesting the interest of employing this application in the clinical setting to complement the classical assessment.
Topical Administration of Gardenia jasminoides Extract Regulates Th2 Immunity in OVA-Induced Mice

A key feature of an allergic immune response is a T helper type 2 (Th2)-mediated response with production of allergen-specific IgE antibodies. Gardenia jasminoides extract with the crocin removed (GJExCR) has been shown to inhibit IgE-mediated allergic disease. To evaluate the efficacy and mechanism-of-action of this inhibition, GJExCR was used in an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergy model in BALB/C mice. Sensitization of BALB/C mice with OVA and aluminum hydroxide was performed on days 1 and 14 by intraperitoneal injection, followed by OVA challenge to the dorsal skin for 2 weeks before removal. Seven days post-challenge, mice were treated with GJExCR topically every day for 11 days. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, flow cytometry analysis, real-time PCR, and western blot were performed to determine IgE and Th2 cytokine levels. Following OVA challenge, Th2 cytokine expression and both total and OVA-specific serum IgE levels increased, of which OVA-specific IgE and Th2 cytokine levels decreased after GJExCR treatment. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that GJExCR treatment decreased CD4+ and CD8+ T cell populations in the spleen and lymph nodes. In addition, treatment with GJExCR downregulated signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) activation and Th2 cytokine levels as compared to control. GJExCR containing geniposide downregulated STAT1 activation in HaCaT cells. These findings demonstrate that GJExCR exerts its anti-allergy effect via inhibition of STAT1 activation, thus regulating the immune response via modulation of Th2 cytokine release and IgE levels. Therefore, we propose GJExCR as a potential treatment for allergic hypersensitivity reactions.
THE FUNCTIONAL CENTRAL LIMIT THEOREM AND WEAK CONVERGENCE TO STOCHASTIC INTEGRALS I

This paper gives new conditions for the functional central limit theorem, and weak convergence of stochastic integrals, for near-epoch-dependent functions of mixing processes. These results have fundamental applications in the theory of unit root testing and cointegrating regressions. The conditions given improve on existing results in the literature in terms of the amount of dependence and heterogeneity permitted, and in particular, these appear to be the first such theorems in which virtually the same assumptions are sufficient for both modes of convergence.
Adolescents’ enjoyment in face-to-face physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the routines of children and adolescents and on their level of involvement in physical activity (PA). The restrictive rules applied in this period affected the functioning of physical education (PE) classes in Portugal, and strongly limited student participation. The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the affective attitude (enjoyment) of adolescents during face-to-face PE lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic (from September 2020), according to sex, education, and PA levels. The study included 1369 students (621 boys and 748 girls), aged 12–18 years, Mage: 14.4; SD: 1.74. A validated online questionnaire was distributed between November and December 2020, and the data were analyzed for positive and negative affective attitude, using MANCOVAs (multivariate analysis of covariance) adjusted for sociodemographic and behavioral variables. The results showed higher negative affective attitudes in younger boys when compared to older boys and to girls in the same education level. Younger less active boys also showed higher negative affective attitudes than less active girls.
Impact of Economic Growth on Human Capital, Work Participation, and Emission Reductions: Case Study in Indonesia

Investments are influenced by the level of education and work participation in Indonesia; this happens the same with Human Capital. The importance of human capital and investment can have an impact on economic growth and emission reductions. Based on the results of previous studies, the demand for studies on economic growth, human capital, labor participation, and emission reductions is increasing. To determine the causal link between variables, this study used "autoregressive vectors" modeling across 21 years from 2000 to 2020. World Bank’s data with the Kementerian Lingkungan
The Charge Distribution, Seebeck Coefficient, and Carrier Concentration of CuCr0.99Ln0.01S2 (Ln = Dy–Lu)

The atom oxidation states were determined using the binding energies of the core S2p-, Cu2p-, Cr2p-, and Ln3d-levels in CuCr0.99Ln0. 01S2 (Ln = Dy–Lu) solid solutions. The charge distribution on the matrix elements (Cu, Cr, and S) remained unaffected after cationic substitution. The sulfur atoms were found to be in the S2− oxidation state, the copper–Cu+, and the chromium–Cr3+. The cationic substitution of the initial CuCrS2-matrix occurred via the isovalent mechanism. The obtained results were compared with the electrophysical properties for CuCr0.99Ln0. 01S2. The measured carrier concentration was from 1017 to 1018 cm−3. The largest Seebeck coefficient value of 157 µV/K was measured for CuCr0.99Yb0. 01S2 at 500 K. The cationic substitution with lanthanides allowed one to enhance the Seebeck coefficient of the initial CuCrS2-matrix.
A Class of Modified Ratio Estimators for Estimation of Population Variance

Abstract In this paper we have proposed a class of modified ratio type variance estimators for estimation of population variance of the study variable using the known parameters of the auxiliary variable. The bias and mean squared error of the proposed estimators are obtained and also derived the conditions for which the proposed estimators perform better than the traditional ratio type variance estimator and existing modified ratio type variance estimators. Further we have compared the proposed estimators with that of the traditional ratio type variance estimator and existing modified ratio type variance estimators for certain natural populations.
Model Formulations for Pickup and Delivery Problems in Designated Driver Services

Designated driver services use company vehicles to deliver drivers to customers. The drivers then drive the customers from their origins to their destinations in the customers’ own cars; at the destinations the drivers are picked up by a company vehicle. We typically see teams of drivers assigned to company vehicles serving customers. When, however, the drivers may be dropped off by one vehicle and picked up by another, a challenging, novel pick-up and delivery problem arises. In this paper, we introduce two formulations to solve this problem to optimality using a general purpose solver. In particular, we present a three-index and a twoindex mixed integer program formulation to generate optimal, least-cost routes for the company vehicles and drivers. Using these MIPs, we find that the two-index formulation outperforms the three-index formulations by solving more instances to optimality within a given run time limit. Our computational experiments also show that up to 60% cost savings are possible from using a flexible operating strategy as compared to a strategy in which drivers and company vehicles stay together throughout a shift.
The directivity of high-energy emission from solar flares - Solar Maximum Mission observations

The data base consisting of flares detected by the gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) on board the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) satellite is used to study the directivity of high-energy radiation. A number of observations strongly indicate that the high-energy emission from flares is anisotropic. They are the following: the fraction of events detected at energies > 300 keV near the limb is higher than is expected for isotropically emitting flares; there is a statistically significant center-to-limb variation in the 300-keV to 1-MeV spectra of flares detected by the SMM GRS; the 25-200 keV hard x-ray spectra measured during the impulsive phase by the SMM GRS show a center-to-limb variation; and nearly all of the events detected at > 10 MeV are located near the limb. Then these observations are best explained by models in which nonthermal electrons radiate in a thick-target emission region lower in the atmosphere. To produce the observed center-to-limb variations, one needs an electron distribution that has an intensity which increases with angle from the outward normal. Candidate distributions are downwardly directed Gaussian beams and pancake distributions that peak in directions parallel to the photosphere. During the impulsive phase of the flare this nonthermal component seems to bemore » visible down to energies less than 40 keV. These results imply that the procedure normally used to deduce the properties of flare-accelerated electrons from hard x-ray and gamma-ray observations an substantially underestimate the spectral hardness and number of high-energy electrons. Another consequence is that, on the average, disk flares should appear to be richer in nuclear emission than limb flares. « less
SOME NEW PROPERTIES OF THE KINETIC EQUATION FOR THE CONSISTENT BOLTZMANN ALGORITHM

We study properties of the consistent Boltzmann algorithm for dense gases, using its limiting kinetic equation. First, we derive an H-theorem for this equation. Then, following the classical derivation by Chapman and Cowling, we find approximations to the equations of continuity, momentum, and energy. The first order correction terms with respect to the particle diameter turn out to be the same as for the Enskog equation. These results confirm previous derivations, based on the virial, of the corresponding equation of state.
Convectively coupled equatorial‐wave diagnosis using three‐dimensional normal modes

A new methodology for the diagnosis of convectively coupled equatorial waves (CCEWs) is presented. It is based on a pre‐filtering of the geopotential and horizontal wind, using three‐dimensional (3D) normal mode functions of the adiabatic linearized equations of a resting atmosphere, followed by a space–time spectral analysis to identify the spectral regions of coherence.
Regulation of Aqueous Humor Secretion by Melatonin in Porcine Ciliary Epithelium

Secretion of melatonin, a natural hormone whose receptors are present in the ciliary epithelium, displays diurnal variation in the aqueous humor (AH), potentially contributing to the regulation of intraocular pressure. This study aimed to determine the effects of melatonin on AH secretion in porcine ciliary epithelium. The addition of 100 µM melatonin to both sides of the epithelium significantly increased the short-circuit current (Isc) by ~40%. Stromal administration alone had no effect on the Isc, but aqueous application triggered a 40% increase in Isc, similar to that of bilateral application without additive effect. Pre-treatment with niflumic acid abolished melatonin-induced Isc stimulation. More importantly, melatonin stimulated the fluid secretion across the intact ciliary epithelium by ~80% and elicited a sustained increase (~50–60%) in gap junctional permeability between pigmented ciliary epithelial (PE) cells and non-pigmented ciliary epithelial (NPE) cells. The expression of MT3 receptor was found to be >10-fold higher than that of MT1 and MT2 in porcine ciliary epithelium. Aqueous pre-treatment with MT1/MT2 antagonist luzindole failed to inhibit the melatonin-induced Isc response, while MT3 antagonist prazosin pre-treatment abolished the Isc stimulation. We conclude that melatonin facilitates Cl− and fluid movement from PE to NPE cells, thereby stimulating AH secretion via NPE-cell MT3 receptors.
Polycrystalline Diamond as a Potential Material for the Hard-on-Hard Bearing of Total Hip Prosthesis: Von Mises Stress Analysis

Due to polymeric wear debris causing osteolysis from polymer, metal ions causing metallosis from metal, and brittle characteristic causing fracture failure from ceramic in the application on bearing of total hip prosthesis requires the availability of new material options as a solution to these problems. Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) has the potential to become the selected material for hard-on-hard bearing in view of its advantages in terms of mechanical properties and biocompatibility. The present study contributes to confirming the potential of PCD to replace metals and ceramics for hard-on-hard bearing through von Mises stress investigations. A computational simulation using a 2D axisymmetric finite element model of hard-on-hard bearing under gait loading has been performed. The percentage of maximum von Mises stress to respective yield strength from PCD-on-PCD is the lowest at 2.47%, with CoCrMo (cobalt chromium molybdenum)-on-CoCrMo at 10.79%, and Al2O3 (aluminium oxide)-on-Al2O3 at 13.49%. This confirms that the use of PCD as a hard-on-hard bearing material is the safest option compared to the investigated metal and ceramic hard-on-hard bearings from the mechanical perspective.