Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Lattice-Boltzmann / Finite-Difference Hybrid Simulation of Transonic Flow

A lattice-Boltzmann / flnite-difierence hybrid method has been developed for transonic ∞ow. In the method, we introduce an interaction force to reduce the speed of sound so that high Mach number ∞ows can be simulated. In this model, the conservation of mass and momentum is represented by a lattice-Boltzmann model while the energy dynamics is described by a flnite difierence scheme. It has been a challenge problem for a long time to couple between a complete energy equation and a lattice-Boltzmann model. The proposed hybrid scheme has been used to simulate ∞ows past a wedge and ∞ows past an airfoil. The results are consistent with theoretic or experimental results.
Potential Anti-Amnesic Activity of a Novel Multimodal Derivative of Salicylamide, JJGW08, in Mice

Memory impairments constitute a significant problem worldwide, and the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the prevalence of cognitive deficits. Patients with cognitive deficits, specifically memory disturbances, have underlying comorbid conditions such as schizophrenia, anxiety, or depression. Moreover, the available treatment options have unsatisfactory effectiveness. Therefore, there is a need to search for novel procognitive and anti-amnesic drugs with additional pharmacological activity. One of the important therapeutic targets involved in the modulation of learning and memory processes are serotonin receptors, including 5-HT1A, 5-HT6, and 5-HT7, which also play a role in the pathophysiology of depression. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the anti-amnesic and antidepressant-like potential of JJGW08, a novel arylpiperazine alkyl derivative of salicylamide with strong antagonistic properties at 5-HT1A and D2 receptors and weak at 5-HT2A and 5-HT7 receptors in rodents. First, we investigated the compound’s affinity for 5-HT6 receptors using the radioligand assays. Next, we assessed the influence of the compound on long-term emotional and recognition memory. Further, we evaluated whether the compound could protect against MK-801-induced cognitive impairments. Finally, we determined the potential antidepressant-like activity of the tested compound. We found that JJGW08 possessed no affinity for 5-HT6 receptors. Furthermore, JJGW08 protected mice against MK-801-induced recognition and emotional memory deficits but showed no antidepressant-like effects in rodents. Therefore, our preliminary study may suggest that blocking serotonin receptors, especially 5-HT1A and 5-HT7, might be beneficial in treating cognitive impairments, but it requires further investigation.
A Comprehensive Empirical Study of Heterogeneity in Federated Learning

Federated learning (FL) is becoming a popular paradigm for collaborative learning over distributed, private data sets owned by nontrusting entities. FL has seen successful deployment in production environments, and it has been adopted in services, such as virtual keyboards, auto-completion, item recommendation, and several IoT applications. However, FL comes with the challenge of performing training over largely heterogeneous data sets, devices, and networks that are out of the control of the centralized FL server. Motivated by this inherent challenge, we aim to empirically characterize the impact of device and behavioral heterogeneity on the trained model. We conduct an extensive empirical study spanning nearly 1.5K unique configurations on five popular FL benchmarks. Our analysis shows that these sources of heterogeneity have a major impact on both model quality and fairness, causing up to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4.6\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2.2\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> degradation in the quality and fairness, respectively, thus shedding light on the importance of considering heterogeneity in FL system design.
Effects of sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate injection on inflammatory factors and vascular endothelial function in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Background: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) therapy may experience further damage to the vascular endothelium, leading to increased inflammatory response and in-stent thrombosis. In many clinical studies, sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate injection (STS) has been found to reduce inflammatory factors and enhance vascular endothelial function in patients with ACS while improving the prognosis of PCI. However, to date, there has been no systematic review assessing the effectiveness and safety of STS on inflammatory factors and vascular endothelial function. Purpose: The aim of this study is to systematically review the effects of STS on inflammatory factors and endothelial function in patients with ACS treated with PCI. Methods: Until October 2022, eight literature databases and two clinical trial registries were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating STS treatment for ACS patients undergoing PCI. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk Assessment Tool 2.0. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. Results: Seventeen trials met the eligibility criteria, including 1,802 ACS patients undergoing PCI. The meta-analysis showed that STS significantly reduced high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels (mean difference [MD = −2.35, 95% CI (−3.84, −0.86), p = 0.002], tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels (standard mean difference [SMD = −3.29, 95%CI (−5.15, −1.42), p = 0,006], matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels [MD = −16.24, 95%CI (−17.24, −15.24), p < 0.00001], and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels [MD = −2.32, 95%CI (−2.70, −1.93), p < 0.00001], and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels [SMD = 1.46, 95%CI (0.43, 2.49), p = 0,006] in patients with ACS. In addition, STS significantly decreased the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (relative risk = 0.54, 95%CI [0.44, 0.66], p < 0.00001). The quality of evidence for the outcomes was assessed to be very low to medium. Conclusion: STS can safely and effectively reduce the levels of hs-CRP, TNF-α, MMP-9, and LPO and increase the level of SOD in patients with ACS treated with PCI. It can also reduce the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events. However, these findings require careful consideration due to the small number of included studies, high risk of bias, and low to moderate evidence. In the future, more large-scale and high-quality RCTs will be needed as evidence in clinical practice.
Ceria Nanoparticles Alleviated Osteoarthritis through Attenuating Senescence and Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype in Synoviocytes

Accumulation of senescent cells is the prominent risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), accelerating the progression of OA through a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Recent studies emphasized the existence of senescent synoviocytes in OA and the therapeutic effect of removing senescent synoviocytes. Ceria nanoparticles (CeNP) have exhibited therapeutic effects in multiple age-related diseases due to their unique capability of ROS scavenging. However, the role of CeNP in OA remains unknown. Our results revealed that CeNP could inhibit the expression of senescence and SASP biomarkers in multiple passaged and hydrogen-peroxide-treated synoviocytes by removing ROS. In vivo, the concentration of ROS in the synovial tissue was remarkably suppressed after the intra-articular injection of CeNP. Likewise, CeNP reduced the expression of senescence and SASP biomarkers as determined by immunohistochemistry analysis. The mechanistic study showed that CeNP inactivated the NFκB pathway in senescent synoviocytes. Finally, safranin O–fast green staining showed milder destruction of articular cartilage in the CeNP-treated group compared with the OA group. Overall, our study suggested that CeNP attenuated senescence and protected cartilage from degeneration via scavenging ROS and inactivating the NFκB signaling pathway. This study has potentially significant implications in the field of OA as it provides a novel strategy for OA treatment.
Short-pulse grating formation in photorefractive materials

Solutions are obtained for the refractive index grating in a photorefractive material in which the writing or erasing beams are short-pulse (less than tens of nanoseconds), high-irradiance (greater than kW/cm2) lasers. The response of the photorefractive material is modeled using the continuity equation for the charge carriers, a rate equation for the ions, a current equation, and Poisson's equation for the space charge field. Two cases are discussed in detail: 1) the time for recombination of carriers with ions is much less than the pulse length of the laser; and 2) the recombination, drift, and diffusion times are all much longer than the pulse length. The energy requirements for short-pulse writing and erasing are greater than or equal to those obtained for typical CW lasers in all cases investigated. Application to previous observations in BaTiO 3 , Bi 12 SiO 20 , and LiNbO 3 is discussed.
Comparison of Dexmedetomidine Versus Fentanyl-Based Anesthetic Protocols Under Patient State Index Guidance in Patients Undergoing Elective Neurosurgical Procedures with Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring

Objectives The study was designed to elucidate the effects of dexmedetomidine as an anesthetic adjunct to propofol in total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) on anesthetic dose reduction, the quality of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) recordings, analgesic requirements, and recovery parameters in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures with neurophysiological monitoring. Methods A total of 54 patients for elective neurosurgical procedures with IONM were randomized to group D (dexmedetomidine) and group F (fentanyl). A loading dose of the study drug of 1µg/kg followed by 0.5 µg/kg/h infusion was used in two groups. Propofol-based TIVA with a Schneider target-controlled infusion model was used for induction and maintenance with effect site concentration of 4-5 and 2.5-4 µg/mL, respectively, titrated to a Patient State Index (PSI) of 25-40. Baseline IONM recordings were obtained after induction. The mean propofol consumption, number of patient movements, quality of IONM recordings, number of fentanyl boluses, hemodynamic characteristics, and recovery parameters were recorded. Results The mean propofol consumption was significantly lower in group D when compared to group F (101.4 ± 13.5 µg/kg/min vs 148.0 ± 29.8 µg/kg/min). Baseline IONM recordings were acquired in all patients without any difficulty. The two groups were comparable with respect to the number of additional boluses of fentanyl, patient movements, and recovery characteristics. Conclusion Dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to propofol in TIVA reduces the requirement of the latter, without affecting the IONM recordings. The addition of dexmedetomidine also ensures stable hemodynamics and decreases the requirement of opioids with similar recovery characteristics.
The bolometric light curve of SN 1987A. I. Results from ESO and CTIO U to Q0 photometry

The UV, optical, and IR (UVOIR) bolometric luminosity curve of SN 1987A was derived from ESO, CTIO, and NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory spectrophotometry for days 1-903 since outburst. It is found that the sum of this UVOIR flux and the high-energy flux predicted by models is consistent with the energy liberated by 0.071 solar mass of Co-56, with no need for additional energy sources for days 126-903 since outburst. By day 400, the flux at wavelegths larger than 5 microns was found to increase rapidly, and by day 650, the UVOIR flux shifted from the optical to a thermal IR source with a temperature of 200-300 K. The optical colors began to fade more rapidly at the time the FIR flux increased, consistent with dust formation local to the supernova. 61 refs.
Origin and radio pulse properties of millisecond pulsars

Millisecond pulsars may be formed by the accretion induced collapse of massive white dwarfs or from neutron stars spun-up by accretion from low-mass companions. Because the solid crust of a neutron star is expected to be moved by strong stresses which build up during spin-up or spin-down, the expected surface magnetic field structures are quite different for millisecond pulsars formed in these two different scenarios. During prolonged spin-up the moving crust compresses all stellar surface magnetic field into a small region around the spin axis
Comparison of the carrier induced refractive index, gain, and linewidth enhancement factor in quantum dot and quantum well lasers

The spectral dependence of the modal gain and linewidth enhancement factor is measured in an InAs/GaInAs/AlGaAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) laser and a GaInAs/AlGaAs/GaAs quantum well laser of the same design lacking only the quantum dots. The material differential gain and material differential carrier induced refractive index are found to be about three times smaller in the quantum dot laser than in the quantum well laser. The linewidth enhancement factor is smaller in the QD laser and exhibits considerably less dispersion.
Perceptual differentiation of spontaneous and read utterances after resynthesis with monotone fundamental frequency

Our prior research revealed that naive listeners can differentiate spontaneous speech and read speech even when lexical, syntactic, and semantic components are equated in the two modes of production. On a typical trial in our tests, a listener hears a pair of excerpts identical in these three levels of description, taken from a spontaneous and a read monologue produced by the same talker. The perceptual task is to identify the spontaneously produced member of the pair. In the present case, LPC resynthesis was employed to create constant F0 versions of highly differentiable pairs of sentences, to test our working hypothesis that the variation of F0 serves as the most reliable index of perceptual performance. Three conditions were tested: whole sentence comparisons, initial‐half‐sentence comparisons, and final‐half‐sentence comparisons. Subjects performed above chance when listening to whole sentences only, indicating the existence of residual information for production mode in the absence of F0 variation.
Maternal Immune Activation Induces Adolescent Cognitive Deficits Preceded by Developmental Perturbations in Cortical Reelin Signalling

Exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) in utero significantly elevates the risk of developing schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. To understand the biological mechanisms underlying the link between MIA and increased risk, preclinical animal models have focussed on specific signalling pathways in the brain that mediate symptoms associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as cognitive dysfunction. Reelin signalling in multiple brain regions is involved in neuronal migration, synaptic plasticity and long-term potentiation, and has been implicated in cognitive deficits. However, how regulation of Reelin expression is affected by MIA across cortical development and associated cognitive functions remains largely unclear. Using a MIA rat model, here we demonstrate cognitive deficits in adolescent object-location memory in MIA offspring and reductions in Reln expression prenatally and in the adult prefrontal cortex. Further, developmental disturbances in gene/protein expression and DNA methylation of downstream signalling components occurred subsequent to MIA-induced Reelin dysregulation and prior to cognitive deficits. We propose that MIA-induced dysregulation of Reelin signalling contributes to the emergence of prefrontal cortex-mediated cognitive deficits through altered NMDA receptor function, resulting in inefficient long-term potentiation. Our data suggest a developmental window during which attenuation of Reelin signalling may provide a possible therapeutic target.
Information conveyed by f0 for vowel identification

Our recent experiments with vocoded natural speech, wherein the spectral envelope and fundamental frequency are manipulated independently, have confirmed that some coordination of f0 and formant patterns are beneficial to vowel identification by humans. In an effort to model the perceptual dependency more precisely, we have investigated the performance of several alternative pattern recognition models on natural speech samples. This paper reports on several quite distinct methods of exploiting statistical relations between formant frequencies and f0 for recognition. Many of these methods yield quite similar results on the classic Peterson and Barney data and on larger, more recently collected data sets. Methods involving indirect normalization whereby the f0 of a single token is restricted to the role of estimating the formant frequency average of a speaker’s entire vowel system perform well. Indeed, they are often better than a method where the role of f0 is unconstrained, thus accommodating inherent pit.
Migration of the Shear Margins at Thwaites Glacier: Dependence on Basal Conditions and Testability Against Field Data

Projections of global sea level depend sensitively on whether Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, will continue to lose ice rapidly. Prior studies have focused primarily on understanding the evolution of ice velocity and whether the reverse‐sloping bed at Thwaites Glacier could drive irreversible retreat. However, the overall ice flux to the ocean and the possibility of irreversible retreat depend not only on the ice speed but also on the width of the main ice trunk. Here, we complement prior work by focusing specifically on understanding whether the lateral boundaries of the main ice trunk, termed shear margins, might migrate over time. We hypothesize that the shear margins at Thwaites Glacier will migrate on a decadal timescale in response to continued ice thinning and surface steepening. We test this hypothesis by developing a depth‐averaged, thermomechanical free‐boundary model that captures the complex topography underneath the glacier and solves for both the ice velocity and for the position of the shear margins. We find that both shear margins are prone to migration in response to ice thinning with basal strength and surface slope steepening determining their relative motion. We construct four end‐member cases of basal strength that represent different physical properties governing friction at the glacier bed and present two cases of ice thinning to contrast the effects of surface steepening and ice thinning. We test our model by hindcasting historic data and discuss how data from ongoing field campaigns could further be used to test our model.
Mycobacterial Heat Shock Proteins in Sarcoidosis and Tuberculosis

Pathological similarities between sarcoidosis (SA) and tuberculosis (TB) suggest the role of mycobacterial antigens in the etiopathogenesis of SA. The Dubaniewicz group revealed that not whole mycobacteria, but Mtb-HSP70, Mtb-HSP 65, and Mtb-HSP16 were detected in the lymph nodes, sera, and precipitated immune complexes in patients with SA and TB. In SA, the Mtb-HSP16 concentration was higher than that of Mtb-HSP70 and that of Mtb-HSP65, whereas in TB, the Mtb-HSP16 level was increased vs. Mtb-HSP70. A high Mtb-HSP16 level, induced by low dose-dependent nitrate/nitrite (NOx), may develop a mycobacterial or propionibacterial genetic dormancy program in SA. In contrast to TB, increased peroxynitrite concentration in supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures treated with Mtb-HSP may explain the low level of NOx detected in SA. In contrast to TB, monocytes in SA were resistant to Mtb-HSP-induced apoptosis, and CD4+T cell apoptosis was increased. Mtb-HSP-induced apoptosis of CD8+T cells was reduced in all tested groups. In Mtb-HSP-stimulated T cells, lower CD8+γδ+IL-4+T cell frequency with increased TNF-α,IL-6,IL-10 and decreased INF-γ,IL-2,IL-4 production were present in SA, as opposed to an increased presence of CD4+γδ+TCR cells with increased TNF-α,IL-6 levels in TB, vs. controls. Mtb-HSP modulating the level of co-stimulatory molecules, regulatory cells, apoptosis, clonal deletion, epitope spread, polyclonal activation and molecular mimicry between human and microbial HSPs may also participate in the induction of autoimmunity, considered in SA. In conclusion, in different genetically predisposed hosts, the same antigens, e.g., Mtb-HSP, may induce the development of TB or SA, including an autoimmune response in sarcoidosis.
Are common bean traders efficient? An empirical evidence from Malawi

Efficient agricultural markets can be a bedrock for diverse economy-wide benefits ranging from improvements in resource use to price stabilisation. However, as is the case with most developing and agrarian countries, Malawi's agricultural markets are still developing. This is mainly the case in the country's legume markets, especially the bean marketing system. The current study assessed the market efficiency of common bean traders in Malawi using a multiple linear regression model. By focusing on the bean traders in the major markets in Malawi, the study departs from earlier research on bean marketing, which has placed greater emphasis on the farmer. The findings reveal that traders in bean markets mostly use informal sources of market information. Again, transaction costs such as transportation, storage, handling and distance to sources of bean reduce marketing efficiency. The scale of the operation portrayed a positive influence on marketing efficiency. Access to credit significantly increased marketing efficiency for both wholesalers and retailers. In addition, markets that are located in rural areas had a negative effect on marketing efficiency as compared to markets in urban areas, further agreeing with the focus of the National Agriculture Policy (NAP) to introduce structured markets in rural areas. The study recommends adjustments in policies in the NAP that would promote smooth access to reliable market information, especially in rural areas. The upgrading of the rural road system and warehousing facilities should be promoted in order to lower transaction costs. This will enable bean traders to expand their operations on a larger scale while also lowering expenses and increasing profits.
Simple-cubic–simple-hexagonal transition in phosphorus under pressure

By using an angle dispersive powder x-ray-diffraction technique with a synchrotron radiation source at the SPring-8, lattice compression of the simple cubic (sc) structure of phosphorus and its phase stability have been studied up to 151 GPa. A phase transition from the sc to the simple hexagonal (sh) structure was observed at 137 GPa via an intermediate phase. In spite of the low packing fraction of atoms, the sc structure was stable over a wide pressure range from 10 to 103 GPa at 300 K and the equation of state of the phase was precisely determined.