Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnetoelectric Effect in Bi5Ti3FeO15 Ceramics Obtained by Molten Salts Synthesis

The synthesis and magnetoelectric characterization of multiferroic Bi 5 Ti 3 FeO 15 is presented. Samples were obtained by the molten-salts method. Structural analysis was performed by means of electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The increase of plate-like crystallites' dimensions with increasing reaction temperature is characterized. Magnetoelectric parameters are measured under a pulsed magnetic field of 2 · 10 4 Oe amplitude. Textured polycrystalline ceramics are property cut and electrically polarized. Longitudinal and transversal magnetoelectric voltages are sensed, from liquid-nitrogen to room temperatures. Only low-temperature transverse magnetoelectric effect is observed as significant.
Electron energy distributions in silicon structures at low applied voltages and high electric fields

In this article a quantitative study of the electron energy distribution in silicon devices at low applied voltages is carried out by means of Monte Carlo simulations including the main mechanisms involved in the process of carrier heating. We present a clear‐cut interpretation of the build up of the electron distribution at energies higher than what is provided by the applied electric field. The influence of different boundary conditions on the simulation results is analyzed in detail. As a consequence, the hypothesis that the high energy tail simply represents the memory of the initial distribution at the injecting boundary due to ballistic transport is ruled out, even for highly inhomogeneous field profiles, such as in very short metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors, for which a ballistic transport regime had been stated. In addition, the effect of short‐range electron‐electron interaction is examined and shown to be an effective process for the enhancement of the high‐energy electron population.
First trimester serum apolipoproteins in the prediction of late-onset preeclampsia

Abstract Late-onset preeclampsia occurring after 34 weeks of gestation is the most common form of preeclampsia, but little is known about either etiology or prevention. Current detection methods for preeclampsia in early pregnancy have not shown promising results in detecting late-onset preeclampsia. The aim of this study was to assess whether apolipoproteins in combination with maternal medical history and biophysical factors can be used as an early detection method for late-onset preeclampsia. This nested case-cohort study was based at Odense University Hospital, Denmark. Women attending their first trimester scan were invited to participate if they understood Danish or English, were above the age of 18, and had singleton pregnancies. Blood pressure, maternal medical history, uterine artery pulsatility indices, and blood samples were collected at inclusion. Outcome data were collected from participants’ medical files postpartum, and cases were selected when preeclampsia diagnostics were present. Serum samples were analyzed by targeted mass spectrometry using a biomarker panel consisting of 12 apolipoproteins. Logistic regression analyses were performed and finally receiver operating curves were completed. The cohort consisted of 27 cases and 194 normotensive controls, randomized from 340 eligible participants. Significant differences were found between the two groups’ baseline characteristics but none of the apolipoproteins showed significant difference (p < 0.05). The ROC-curve combining maternal characteristics, mean arterial pressure and two apolipoproteins showed the best sensitivity of 55.5% at a 10% false-positive rate and an area under the curve of 0.873. In conclusion, apolipoproteins did not improve the detection of late-onset preeclampsia in a combined screening model.
Effective collision strengths for Si III

Collision strengths are presented for electron impact excitation among the eight lowest LS states (corresponding to 15 levels including the splitting of the doublet and quartet terms) of Si II calculated using the R-matrix method. These collision strengths are used to deduce effective collision strengths, adopting a Maxwellian electron energy distribution for electron temperatures (T e ) between log T e = 3.6 and 4.6. Results are presented for all transitions amongst the seven lowest levels and also for transitions from the ground state 3s 2 3p 2 P J levels to more excited states.
Propagation invariance and self-imaging in variable-coherence optics

The concept of propagation invariance in partially coherent optics is introduced. Explicit expressions are given for the cross-spectral density and the angular correlation function (cross-angular spectrum) characterizing a class of fields that are propagation invariant in the sense that their correlation properties in the space-frequency domain are exactly the same in every transverse plane. The so-called diffraction-free beams are shown to be members of this new, wider class of wave fields, which itself is a subset of a generalized class of partially coherent self-imaging fields. The existence of partially coherent propagation-invariant fields with a sharp correlation peak is verified experimentally by considering radiation from a planar J0 Bessel-correlated source.
Mesh Stiffness Variation Instabilities in Two-Stage Gear Systems

Mesh stiffness variation, the change in stiffness of meshing teeth as the number of teeth in contact changes, causes parametric instabilities and severe vibration in gear systems. The operating conditions leading to parametric instability are investigated for two-stage gear chains, including idler gear and countershaft configurations. Interactions between the stiffness variations at the two meshes are examined. Primary, secondary, and combination instabilities are studied. The effects of mesh stiffness parameters, including stiffness variation amplitudes, mesh frequencies, contact ratios, and mesh phasing, on these instabilities are analytically identified. For mesh stiffness variation with rectangular waveforms, simple design formulas are derived to control the instability regions by adjusting the contact ratios and mesh phasing. The analytical results are compared to numerical solutions.
The love of pets in managing remote work challenges during Covid-19

Abstract In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a large number of employed individuals all over the world were obliged to work remotely during lockdown. This article focuses on the coping mechanisms which individuals used to manage this difficult situation, specifically the impact which loving and caring for pets had on the way in which people dealt with the challenges of the remote-working environment. Methodologically, this qualitative study used a phenomenological research design to understand the lived experience of the participants in the study. Ten qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with pet owners during the Covid-19 lockdown period in South Africa. The sample was recruited using purposeful and snowball sampling techniques. Data were analysed through content analysis while qualitative quality criteria were applied. Findings show pets supported their owners in many different ways during the pandemic and only the animal’s presence supported the owners at home physically, psychologically and emotionally. They helped to reduce the stress of their owners and create a homely atmosphere. Pets played a specific role in providing love, companionship, strong emotional and affective bonds and by creating experiences of comfort, positive as well as negative distraction from work, and physical presence. The experience of love was one major aspect of the relationships between pets and humans. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are given with regard to future research, highlighting how organisations and consultants can use the positive influences of pets in remote-working scenarios.
Effect of Home-based Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program on Anxiety and Depression in COVID-19 Patients

Background: Respiratory failure caused by pneumonia is the leading cause of death in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients; furthermore, anxiety and depression caused by this disease and its complications, as the most common psychological disorders might harm the mental health of COVID-19 patients. Objectives: This study aimed to look into the effect of a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (HBPR) program on anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 70 COVID-19 patients in Kerman, Iran, in 2021, randomly allocated into 2 equal groups of control (n = 35) and intervention (n = 35). In the control group, the patients received only routine post-discharge care, and in the intervention group, the patients received HBPR procedures based on the “Guide to Restoring Movement COVID-19 Protocol” by John Hopkins University, the United States, that teaches to patients after discharge. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to determine anxiety and depression status and scores before and after 4-week procedures. Additionally, the chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare anxiety and depression status and scores between the 2 groups. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The median score of anxiety (5 vs. 14, P < 0.0001) and depression (6 vs. 10, P < 0.0001), 4 weeks after discharge from the hospital in the intervention group, was significantly lower than in the control group based on the Mann-Whitney U test (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: This rehabilitation procedure is effective in the reduction of anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients and their pulmonary status. Therefore, it can be used as a treatment procedure for mental recovery in these patients.
Duration of operation and diagnosis of hepatitis B (HBV) is an independent risk factor for surgical site infections after liver transplantation.

Objectives Surgical site infections (SSI) are the most common complications after liver transplantation (LT). Although there are some risk factors known in the literature after LT, the available data is insufficient for routine use. In the present study, it was aimed to define the parameters that may be used to clearly determine the risk of SSI after LT in our clinic. Material and Methods In the present study, we evaluated 329 patients who underwent liver transplantation with regard to risk factors for surgical site infections. The relation between demographic data and SSI was evaluated using SPSS, Graphpad, and Medcalc statistical programs. Results In a total of 329 patients, SSIs were determined in 37 (11.24%). Among the 37 patients, 24 were classified as organ space (64.9%) and 13 as deep SSI (35.1%). None of these patients developed superficial incisional infection. SSI showed statistically significant relation with operation time (p= 0.008), diabetes (p= 0.004), and cirrhosis due to hepatitis B (p <0.001). Conclusion As a result, deep and organ space infections are much more observed in patients undergoing liver transplantation with hepatitis B, diabetes mellitus and prolonged surgery. This is thought to have developed because of chronic irritation and increased inflammation. Since data on hepatitis B and duration of surgery are limited in the literature, this study is considered to be a contribution to the literature.
Statistical modelling of air quality impacts from individual forest fires in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract. Wildfires and hazard reduction burns produce smoke that contains pollutants including particulate matter. Particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter (PM2.5) is harmful to human health, potentially causing cardiovascular and respiratory issues that can lead to premature deaths. PM2.5 levels depend on environmental conditions, fire behaviour and smoke dispersal patterns. Fire management agencies need to understand and predict PM2.5 levels associated with a particular fire so that pollution warnings can be sent to communities and/or hazard reduction burns can be timed to avoid the worst conditions for PM2.5 pollution. We modelled PM2.5, measured at air quality stations in New South Wales (Australia) from ∼ 1400 d when individual fires were burning near air quality stations, as a function of fire and weather variables. Using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite hotspots, we identified days when one fire was burning within 150 km of at least 1 of 48 air quality stations. We extracted ERA5 gridded weather data and daily active fire area estimates from the hotspots for our modelling. We created random forest models for afternoon, night and morning PM2.5 levels to understand drivers of and predict PM2.5. Fire area and boundary layer height were important predictors across the models, with temperature, wind speed and relative humidity also being important. There was a strong increase in PM2.5 with decreasing distance, with a sharp increase when the fire was within 20 km. The models improve our understanding of the drivers of PM2.5 from individual fires and demonstrate a promising approach to PM2.5 model development. However, although the models predicted well overall, there were several large under-predictions of PM2.5 that mean further model development would be required for the models to be deployed operationally.
Prognostic value of RILPL2 and its correlation with tumor immune microenvironment and glycolysis in non-small cell lung cancer

ABSTRACT Rab-interacting lysosomal protein – like 2 (RILPL2) has been reported to be associated with prognosis and tumor biological functions in breast cancer and endometrial carcinoma. However, its expression and functional role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain unclear. The expression and clinical data of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC) were downloaded from the TCGA database. The expression of RILPL2 in NSCLC cell lines was verified by the Western blot. We used online databases and bioinformatics analysis tools to explore its prognostic value, potential biological functions, and correlations with tumor immune microenvironment.The expression of RILPL2 was significantly lower in NSCLC compared with adjacent normal tissues. Low RILPL2 expression was associated with worse overall survival (OS) in NSCLC. The GO analysis showed RILPL2 was comprehensively involved in immune activity. RILPL2 expression was significantly positively correlated with the infiltration levels of B cells, CD8+T cells, CD4+T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells (P < 0.001), and it was also significantly positively correlated with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1/CD274) (P < 0.001). High RILPL2 expression could predict better immunotherapy response and prognosis in the immunotherapy cohort. The GSEA analysis showed low RILPL2 expression was associated with glycolysis process in LUAD, which was verified in vitro.These results showed RILPL2 expression was correlated with prognosis, tumor microenvironment, and immunotherapy response in NSCLC. Besides, RILPL2 may regulate glycolysis in LUAD.
Inappropriate gestational weight gain impact on maternofetal outcomes in gestational diabetes

Abstract Objective To evaluate the association between the dimension of deviation from appropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) and adverse maternofetal outcomes in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods We performed a multicentric retrospective study based on the Portuguese GDM Database. Women were classified as within GWG, insufficient (IGWG) or excessive (EGWG) than the Institute of Medicine recommendations. EGWG and IGWG were calculated for each prepregnancy BMI category. Large-for-gestational-age (LGA) and macrosomia were defined as a birthweight more than the 90th percentile for the gestational age and newborn weight greater than 4000 g, respectively. Logistic regression models (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] plus 95% confidence interval [95%CI]) were derived to evaluate the association between EGWG or IGWG and adverse maternofetal outcomes. Results A total of 18961 pregnant women were included: 39.7% with IGWG and 27.8% with EGWG. An EGWG over 3 kg was associated with a higher risk of LGA infants (aOR 1.95, 95%CI 1.17–3.26) and macrosomia (aOR 2.01, 95%CI 1.23–3.27) in prepregnancy normal weight women. An EGWG greater than 4 kg was associated with a higher risk of LGA infants (aOR 1.67, 95%CI 1.23–2.23) and macrosomia (aOR 1.90, 95%CI 1.38–2.61) in obese women. In overweight women, an EGWG above 3.5 kg was associated with a higher risk of LGA infants (aOR 1.65, 95%CI 1.16–2.34), macrosomia (aOR 1.85, 95%CI 1.30–2.64), preeclampsia (aOR 2.40, 95%CI 1.45–3.98) and pregnancy-induced hypertension (aOR 2.21, 95%CI 1.52–3.21). An IGWG below −3.1 kg or −3kg was associated with a higher risk of small-for-gestational-age [SGA] infants in women with normal (OR 1.40, 95%CI 1.03–1.90) and underweight (OR 2.29, 95%CI 1.09–4.80), respectively. Conclusions Inappropriate gestational weight gain seems to be associated with an increased risk for adverse maternofetal outcomes, regardless of prepregnancy BMI. Beyond glycemic control, weight management in women with GDM must be a focus of special attention to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes. KEY MESSAGES The dimension of deviation from appropriate gestational weight gain was associated with an increased risk for adverse maternofetal outcomes among women with gestational diabetes. Weight management must be a focus of special attention in women with gestational diabetes to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Gendered play behaviours in autistic and non-autistic children: A population-based cohort study

Gender-typical play is observed throughout childhood for non-autistic children. However, there has been limited research into the gender typicality of autistic children’s play compared to that of non-autistic children. In a longitudinal population-based cohort, we compared gendered play behaviours in autistic and non-autistic children using standardised parent-report (30, 42 and 57 months) and child-report (8 years) data (N = 11,251). We observed no difference in gendered play behaviours between girls with or without autism at any time point. Autistic and non-autistic boys did not differ in the gender typicality of their play when aged 30 months, but the play of autistic boys appeared less masculine than that of non-autistic boys (β = −1.1, 95% confidence interval = −2.1 to −0.2; and β = −2.6, 95% confidence interval = −4.7 to −0.5) at 42 and 57 months. Autistic boys also self-reported less masculine play behaviours than non-autistic boys at 8 years of age (β = −3.4, 95% confidence interval = −6.6 to −0.2). We found that autistic boys’ play was less gender typical than that of non-autistic boys in middle and later childhood. Our findings highlight the importance of examining gendered play behaviours in a developmental context and have relevance for understanding the development of gender identity in autism. Lay abstract Non-autistic children tend to show gendered patterns of play behaviours – boys are more likely to play with ‘masculine’ toys, and girls are more likely to play with ‘feminine’ toys. However, little is known about whether autistic children follow these patterns as well. We looked at the masculinity and femininity of autistic and non-autistic children’s play behaviours at multiple time points. Parents reported their children’s play behaviours at ages 30, 42 and 57 months, and children reported their own play behaviours at 8 years old. We found no difference between autistic and non-autistic girls, who both showed more feminine play behaviours as they got older. Autistic boys’ play behaviours were reported as less masculine than non-autistic boys at 42 and 57 months, and at 8 years old. We also found that non-autistic boys’ play tended to become more masculine as they got older, but this was not the case for autistic boys. Our findings suggest that differences in autistic and non-autistic boys’ play behaviours may develop at around 42 months old.
Application of the Generalized Impulse–Momentum Balance Equations to Impacts with Friction in Planar Flexible Multibody Dynamics

Abstract Most formulations on normal impacts of rigid multibody systems use the momentum balance equations. Newton's hypothesis is usually employed, where the restitution coefficient is defined by the relative normal velocities of the impacting bodies before and after the collision. When friction is present in the impact, the process becomes more complicated. Different impact modes are possible: sliding, sticking or reverse sliding. The variables in the momentum balance equations are the changes in the velocity and the two components of the impulse, one in the normal direction to the common tangent of the contact surfaces and other in the tangent direction. To solve the equations two additional conditions are needed, one comes from the Coulomb law, and the other from the definition of the restitution coefficient. The use of the Newton hypothesis leads to wrong results. Therefore, it is necessary to use the Poisson hypothesis. The restitution coefficient is defined through the normal impulses of the compression and restitution periods. In this paper a formulation of impacts with friction of planar flexible multibody systems is presented. The floating frame of reference formulation is used to model the flexible bodies. The normal and tangential impulses in the contact point are calculated by a computational algorithm based on the graphics techniques developed by Routh.
Lasing Characteristics in a Degraded GaAs–AlxGa1-xAs Double Heterostructure Laser

Formation of “dark lines”, which are crystalline defects observed in degraded GaAs-AlxGa1-xAs DH lasers, introduce degradation of lasing characteristics such as increase of the threshold current density, and decrease of the spontaneous emission intensity and of the external differential quantum efficiency. The number of dark lines increases with the progress of degradation. In this paper the dark line is taken as the nonradiative short life time region having an effective absorption width of∼5 µm, an effective absorption coefficient of∼200 cm-1 and a current density of about twice as much as that in the undegraded region. Under this assumption, the lasing characteristics in degraded lasers are explained as a function of the number of dark lines. In degradation, the increase of the threshold current density is due to an increase of the cavity loss and an decrease of the gain coefficient attributed to dark lines.
Adaptive gradient-assisted robust design optimization under interval uncertainty

Robust optimization techniques attempt to find a solution that is both optimum and relatively insensitive to input uncertainty. In general, these techniques are computationally more expensive than their deterministic counterparts. In this article two new robust optimization methods are presented. The first method is called gradient-assisted robust optimization (GARO). In GARO, a robust optimization problem is first converted to a deterministic one by using a gradient-based approximation technique. After solving this deterministic problem, the solution robustness and the accuracy of the approximation are checked. If the accuracy meets a threshold, a robust optimum solution is found; otherwise, the approximation is adaptively modified until the threshold is met and a solution, if it exists, is obtained. The second method is a faster version of GARO called quasi-concave gradient-assisted robust optimization (QC-GARO). QC-GARO is for problems with quasi-concave objective and constraint functions. The difference between GARO and QC-GARO is in the way that they check the approximation accuracy. Both GARO and QC-GARO methods are applied to a set of six engineering design test problems and the results are compared with a few related previous methods. It was found that, compared to the methods considered, GARO could solve all test problems but with a higher computational effort compared to QC-GARO. However, QC-GARO was computationally much faster when it was able to solve the problems.