Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lipschitz Maps in Metric Spaces

In this dissertation we study Lipschitz and bi-Lipschitz mappings on abstract, non-smooth metric measure spaces. The dissertation consists of two separate parts.The first part considers a well-known class of questions that ask the following: If X and Y are metric measure spaces and f is a Lipschitz mapping from X to Y whose image has positive measure, then must f have large pieces on which it is bi-Lipschitz? Building on methods of David (who is not the present author) and Semmes, we answer this question in the affirmative for Lipschitz mappings between certain types of Ahlfors regular topological manifolds. In general, these manifolds need not admit bi-Lipschitz embeddings into any Euclidean space. To prove the result, we use some facts on the Gromov-Hausdorff convergence of manifolds and a topological theorem of Bonk and Kleiner. This also yields a new proof of the uniform rectifiability of some metric manifolds.In the second part, we study the class of ``Lipschitz differentiability spaces'' introduced by Cheeger. These are spaces on which an appropriate version of Rademacher's theorem holds. We show that if an Ahlfors regular Lipschitz differentiability space has a differentiable structure of maximal dimension, then at almost every point all its tangents are uniformly rectifiable. In particular, it admits Euclidean tangents at almost every point. Conversely, we show that if the dimension of the differentiable structure is not extremal, then the space is strongly unrectifiable, in the sense of Ambrosio-Kirchheim. In proving these results, we generalize some results of Cheeger from the setting of doubling spaces with Poincare inequalities (PI spaces) to general doubling Lipschitz differentiability spaces. The starting point is a result of Bate on the local structure of these spaces.
Cosmic star formation probed via parametric stack-fitting of known sources to radio imaging

The promise of multi-wavelength astronomy has been tempered by the large disparity in sensitivity and resolution between different wavelength regimes. Here we present a statistical approach which attempts to overcome this by fitting parametric models directly to image data. Specifically, we fit a model for the radio luminosity function (LF) of star-forming galaxies to pixel intensity distributions at 1.4 GHz coincident with near-IR selected sources in COSMOS. Taking a mass-limited sample in redshift bins across the range $0<z<4$ we are able to fit the radio LF with ~0.2 dex precision in the key parameters (e.g. Phi*,L*). Good agreement is seen between our results and those using standard methods at radio and other wavelengths. Integrating our luminosity functions to get the star formation rate density we find that galaxies with a stellar mass greater than $10^{9.5}\,$M$_{\odot}$ contribute at least 50 per cent of cosmic star formation at since $z=4$. The scalability of our approach is empirically estimated, with the precision in LF parameter estimates found to scale with the number of sources in the stack as $\sqrt{N}$. This type of approach will be invaluable in the multi-wavelength analysis of upcoming surveys with the SKA pathfinder facilities; LOFAR, ASKAP and MeerKAT.
Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide on In Vitro Cultures of Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) Grown in the Dark and in the Light: Morphology, Content of Malondialdehyde, and Accumulation of Various Polyphenols

Tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.) are phenol-accumulating crops that are widely used for public health. The healing effect of tea leaf products is due to the biosynthesis of such phenolic compounds (PCs) as flavans, which have P-vitamin capillary-strengthening activity. Due to their limited habitat and the value of their specialized metabolites of a phenolic nature, a promising approach is to establish in vitro cultures from them that retain the ability to form PCs, which is characteristic of ex vivo tea plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exogenic H2O2 (0.01 mM; 0.1 mM; 1 mM) on the growth, morphology, degree of stress response, and accumulation of various phenolic compounds in tea plant callus cultures of different ages (24 or 36 days) grown under different cultivation conditions (darkness or light). According to the results obtained, the H2O2 effect on tea callus cultures of different ages did not cause changes in their morphophysiological characteristics, both after 2 h of exposure (rapid response of callus culture, RRCC) and after 48 h (delayed response of callus culture, DRCC). The determination of the malondialdehyde (MDA) content, which serves as an indicator of changes in the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and the presence of stress responses in plant cells, indicated either its maintenance at the control level, a decrease, or an increase. All these effects depended on the growth conditions of the tea callus cultures (darkness or light), their age, the duration of exposure (rapid or delayed response), and the H2O2 concentration. Similar trends were noted for the total content of PCs as well as the amount of flavans, proanthocyanidins (soluble and insoluble forms), and lignin. The plant cell responses reflected changes in its adaptation programs, when specialized metabolites act as a target for the action of H2O2, thereby contributing to an increase in their resistance.
EVIDENCE FOR MULTIPLE PATHWAYS TO DEUTERIUM ENHANCEMENTS IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

The distributions of deuterated molecules in protoplanetary disks are expected to depend on the molecular formation pathways. We use observations of spatially resolved DCN emission from the disk around TW Hya, acquired during ALMA science verification with a ∼3″ synthesized beam, together with comparable DCO+ observations from the Submillimeter Array, to investigate differences in the radial distributions of these species and hence differences in their formation chemistry. In contrast to DCO+, which shows an increasing column density with radius, DCN is better fit by a model that is centrally peaked. We infer that DCN forms at a smaller radii and thus at higher temperatures than DCO+. This is consistent with chemical network model predictions of DCO+ formation from H2D+ at T < 30 K and DCN formation from additional pathways involving CH2D+ at higher temperatures. We estimate a DCN/HCN abundance ratio of ∼0.017, similar to the DCO+/HCO+ abundance ratio. Deuterium fractionation appears to be efficient at a range of temperatures in this protoplanetary disk. These results suggest caution in interpreting the range of deuterium fractions observed in solar system bodies, as multiple formation pathways should be taken into account.
Asteroseismology of solar-type stars with Kepler: II. Stellar modeling

stars: individual (KIC 11026764) – stars: interiors – stars: late-type – stars: oscillationsObservations from the Kepler satellite were recently published for three bright G-type stars, which were monitored duringthe ﬁrst 33.5 days of science operations. One of these stars, KIC11026764, exhibits a characteristic pattern of oscilla-tion frequencies suggesting that the star has evolved signiﬁcantly. We have derived initial estimates of the properties ofKIC11026764 from the oscillation frequencies observed by Kepler, combined with ground-based spectroscopic data. Wepresent preliminary results from detailed modeling of this star, employing a variety of independent codes and analyses thatattempt to match the asteroseismic and spectroscopic constraints simultaneously.
Global dynamics and inflationary center manifold and slow-roll approximants

We consider the familiar problem of a minimally coupled scalar field with quadratic potential in flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmology to illustrate a number of techniques and tools, which can be applied to a wide range of scalar field potentials and problems in, e.g., modified gravity. We present a global and regular dynamical systems description that yields a global understanding of the solution space, including asymptotic features. We introduce dynamical systems techniques such as center manifold expansions and use Pade approximants to obtain improved approximations for the “attractor solution” at early times. We also show that future asymptotic behavior is associated with a limit cycle, which shows that manifest self-similarity is asymptotically broken toward the future and gives approximate expressions for this behavior. We then combine these results to obtain global approximations for the attractor solution, which, e.g., might be used in the context of global measures. In addition, we elucidate the connection between slow-roll based approximations and the attractor solution, and compare these approximations with the center manifold based approximants.
Testing maser-based evolutionary schemes: a new search for 37.7-GHz methanol masers

We have used the Australia Telescope National Facility Mopra 22-m antenna to search for 37.7-GHz (7 −2 → 8 −1 E ) methanol masers towards a sample of 36 Class II methanol masers. The target sources are the most luminous Class II methanol masers not previously searched for this transition, with isotropic peak 12.2-GHz maser luminosity greater than 250 Jy kpc 2 and isotropic peak 6.7-GHz maser luminosity greater than 800 Jy kpc 2 . Seven new 37.7-GHz methanol masers were detected as a result of the search. The detection rate for 37.7-GHz methanol masers towards a complete sample of all such Class II methanol maser sites south of declination −20° is at least 30 per cent. The relatively high detection rate for this rare methanol transition is in line with previous predictions that the 37.7-GHz transition is associated with a late stage of the Class II methanol maser phase of high-mass star formation. We find that there is a modest correlation between the ratio of the 6.7- and 37.7-GHz maser peak intensity and the 6.7- and 12.2-GHz maser peak intensity (correlation coefficient 0.63 in a log–log plot). We detected one new 38.3-GHz (6 2 → 5 3 A − ) methanol maser towards G 335.789 + 0.174. This is only the fourth source for which maser emission has been detected in this transition and it is the only one for which emission is not also observed in the 38.5-GHz 6 2 → 5 3 A + transition.
PAIR-INSTABILITY SUPERNOVAE IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE

The discovery of 150–300 M ☉ stars in the Local Group and pair-instability supernova candidates at low redshifts has excited interest in this exotic explosion mechanism. Realistic light curves for pair-instability supernovae at near-solar metallicities are key to identifying and properly interpreting these events as more are found. We have modeled pair-instability supernovae of 150–500 M ☉ Z ∼ 0.1–0.4 Z ☉ stars. These stars lose up to 80% of their mass to strong line-driven winds and explode as bare He cores. We find that their light curves and spectra are quite different from those of Population III pair-instability explosions, which therefore cannot be used as templates for low-redshift events. Although non-zero metallicity pair-instability supernovae are generally dimmer than their Population III counterparts, in some cases they will be bright enough to be detected at the earliest epochs at which they can occur, the formation of the first galaxies at z ∼ 10–15. Others can masquerade as dim, short duration supernovae that are only visible in the local universe and that under the right conditions could be hidden in a wide variety of supernova classes. We also report for the first time that some pair-instability explosions can create black holes with masses of ∼100 M ☉.
Characteristics of initial symptoms in patients with dementia with Lewy body disease

Background Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia. Although DLB is characterized by fluctuating cognitive impairment, some symptoms may appear before cognitive impairment, including rapid eye movement, sleep behavior disorder (RBD), psychiatric symptoms, autonomic symptoms, Parkinson's symptoms, etc. Therefore, DLB may be misdiagnosed as other diseases in its early stage. Objective This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of initial symptoms of DLB, which could potentially offer essential clues for the earliest diagnosis of this disorder. Methods A total of 239 patients with probable DLB who visited the cognitive impairment outpatient department of Tianjin Huanhu Hospital from September 2015 to March 2021 were consecutively enrolled. We retrospectively evaluated the initial symptoms of all included participants. The time of onset of initial symptoms was also assessed. Results The most frequent initial symptom was memory loss (53.9%), followed by psychiatric symptoms (34.7%), RBD (20.9%), parkinsonism (15.1%), and autonomic symptoms (10.1%). Significant gender and age differences existed in the initial symptoms of patients with DLB. Conclusions Our study elucidated the initial symptoms in patients with probable DLB. RBD was significantly more reported by men than by women, whereas women showed a higher incidence of visual and auditory hallucinations. A better understanding of the initial symptoms of DLB could lead to a more accurate diagnosis.
Parenting and mobile phone addiction tendency of Chinese adolescents: The roles of self-control and future time perspective

Previous studies examined the impact of parenting on adolescents' mobile phone addiction tendencies. However, relatively few studies examined the potential mechanism underlying such a relationship. Thus, the present study further explored the mediation effect of self-control and the moderating effect of future time perspective between parenting and mobile phone addiction tendencies of Chinese adolescents. A sample of 1,349 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 15. 22 years, SD = 0.79) responded to the anonymous questionnaires regarding parenting, including parental control and parental care, self-control, future time perspective, and mobile phone addiction tendency. The results showed that (1) parental control was positively related to adolescents' mobile phone addiction tendencies, while parental care was negatively related to adolescents' mobile phone addiction tendencies; (2) self-control could mediate the pathway from both parental control and parental care to adolescents' mobile phone addiction tendencies; and (3) the indirect pathway could be moderated by future time perspective. Specifically, a high future time perspective combined with high self-control predicted a low level of mobile phone addiction tendency. In contrast, low self-control was associated with a high tendency toward mobile phone addiction, regardless of their future time perspective. The present study revealed a complex interplay between family and individual factors contributing to adolescents' mobile phone addiction tendencies.
Alternative splicing reprogramming in fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum at different infection stages on Brassica napus

Alternative splicing (AS) is an important post-transcriptional mechanism promoting the diversity of transcripts and proteins to regulate various life processes in eukaryotes. Sclerotinia stem rot is a major disease of Brassica napus caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, which causes severe yield loss in B. napus production worldwide. Although many transcriptome studies have been carried out on the growth, development, and infection of S. sclerotiorum, the genome-wide AS events of S. sclerotiorum remain poorly understood, particularly at the infection stage. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was performed to systematically explore the genome-scale AS events of S. sclerotiorum at five important infection stages on a susceptible oilseed rape cultivar. A total of 130 genes were predicted to be involved in AS from the S. sclerotiorum genome, among which 98 genes were differentially expressed and may be responsible for AS reprogramming for its successful infection. In addition, 641 differential alternative splicing genes (DASGs) were identified during S. sclerotiorum infection, accounting for 5.76% of all annotated S. sclerotiorum genes, and 71 DASGs were commonly found at all the five infection stages. The most dominant AS type of S. sclerotiorum was found to be retained introns or alternative 3′ splice sites. Furthermore, the resultant AS isoforms of 21 DASGs became pseudogenes, and 60 DASGs encoded different putative proteins with different domains. More importantly, 16 DASGs of S. sclerotiorum were found to have signal peptides and possibly encode putative effectors to facilitate the infection of S. sclerotiorum. Finally, about 69.27% of DASGs were found to be non-differentially expressed genes, indicating that AS serves as another important way to regulate the infection of S. sclerotiorum on plants besides the gene expression level. Taken together, this study provides a genome-wide landscape for the AS of S. sclerotiorum during infection as well as an important resource for further elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms of S. sclerotiorum.
Self-loading microfluidic platform with ultra-thin nanoporous membrane for organ-on-chip by wafer-level processing

Embedded porous membranes are a key element of various organ-on-chip systems. The widely used commercial polymer membranes impose limits with regard to chip integration and thinness. We report a microfluidic chip platform with the key element of a monolithically integrated, ultra-thin (700 nm) nanoporous membrane made of ultra-low-stress ( < 35 MPa) SixNy for culturing and testing reconstructed tissue. The membrane is designed to support various in vitro tissues including co-cultures and to allow passage of molecules but not of cells. A digital laser write method was used to produce nanopores with deterministic but highly flexible positioning within the membrane. A thin layer of photoresist was exposed by accumulation of femtosecond pulses for local two-photon polymerization, which allowed nanopores as small as 350 nm in diameter to be generated through the membranes in a subsequent plasma etch process. The fabricated membranes were used to separate a microfluidic chip into two compartments, which are connected to the outside by microchannel structures. With unique side inlets for fluids, all cells are exposed to identical flow velocities and shear stresses. With the hydrophilic nature of chip materials the self-loading seeding is controlled bottom-up by capillary forces, which makes the seeding procedure homogeneous and less dependent on the operator. The chip is designed to allow fabrication by wafer-level MEMS manufacturing technologies without critical assembly steps, thereby promoting reproducibility and scale-up of fabrication. In order to establish a fully functional test system to be used in a lab incubator, a holder for the bare chip was designed and 3D-printed with additional elements for gravity driven pumping. In order to mimic physiological conditions, the holder was designed to provide not only media delivery but also appropriate shear stress to the tissue. To prove usability, murine microvascular endothelial cells (muMEC) were seeded on the membrane within the chip. Cell compatibility was confirmed after 3 days of dynamic cultivation using fluorescence live/dead assays. Cultivation proved to be reproducible and led to confluent layers with cells preferentially grown on nanoporous areas. The system can in future be cost effectively manufactured in larger quantities in MEMS foundries and can be used for a wide variety of in vitro tissues and test scenarios including pumpless operation within cell incubator cabinets.
Targeting the inflammasome in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in which neuroinflammation plays pivotal roles. An important mechanism of neuroinflammation is the NLRP3 inflammasome activation that has been implicated in PD pathogenesis. In this perspective, we will discuss the relationship of some key PD-associated proteins including α-synuclein and Parkin and their contribution to inflammasome activation. We will also review promising inhibitors of NLRP3 inflammasome pathway that have potential as novel PD therapeutics. Finally, we will provide a summary of current and potential in vitro and in vivo models that are available for therapeutic discovery and development.
Role of cytokinins in seed development in pulses and oilseed crops: Current status and future perspective

Cytokinins constitutes a vital group of plant hormones regulating several developmental processes, including growth and cell division, and have a strong influence on grain yield. Chemically, they are the derivatives of adenine and are the most complex and diverse group of hormones affecting plant physiology. In this review, we have provided a molecular understanding of the role of cytokinins in developing seeds, with special emphasis on pulses and oilseed crops. The importance of cytokinin-responsive genes including cytokinin oxidases and dehydrogenases (CKX), isopentenyl transferase (IPT), and cytokinin-mediated genetic regulation of seed size are described in detail. In addition, cytokinin expression in germinating seeds, its biosynthesis, source-sink dynamics, cytokinin signaling, and spatial expression of cytokinin family genes in oilseeds and pulses have been discussed in context to its impact on increasing economy yields. Recently, it has been shown that manipulation of the cytokinin-responsive genes by mutation, RNA interference, or genome editing has a significant effect on seed number and/or weight in several crops. Nevertheless, the usage of cytokinins in improving crop quality and yield remains significantly underutilized. This is primarily due to the multigene control of cytokinin expression. The information summarized in this review will help the researchers in innovating newer and more efficient ways of manipulating cytokinin expression including CKX genes with the aim to improve crop production, specifically of pulses and oilseed crops.
Blastocyst quality and perinatal outcomes of frozen-thawed single blastocyst transfer cycles

Objective To investigate the effects of blastocyst quality and morphological grade on the perinatal outcomes in patients undergoing frozen-thawed single blastocyst transfer cycles. Methods This single-center retrospective cohort study included 2648 singleton neonates resulting from frozen-thawed single blastocyst transfers performed between January 2017 and September 2021. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate perinatal outcomes for their association with blastocyst quality and morphological parameters. Result Transfer of a good-quality blastocyst in a frozen-thawed cycle was associated with a lower rate of preterm delivery (PTD, adjusted OR =0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9; P=0.020) and a higher likelihood of a male neonate (adjusted OR =1.2, 95%CI 1.0-1.5; P=0.048). Compared with grade C inner cell mass (ICM) blastocyst transfer, grade B ICM (adjusted OR =0.5, 95%CI 0.2-0.9; P=0.027) and grade A ICM (adjusted OR =0.6, 95%CI 0.3-1.5; P=0.290) blastocyst transfers were associated with a lower rate of PTD, which was more evident for grade B ICM. After adjusting for confounders, the likelihood of a male neonate (grade B TE, OR =1.2, 95%CI 1.0-1.5, P=0.037; grade A TE OR =1.9, 95%CI 1.3-28, P=0.002) increased with increasing trophectoderm (TE) quality. Compared with expansion stage 4, the likelihood of a male neonate was 1.5 times greater with transfer of a stage 6 blastocyst (OR =1.5, 95%CI 1.0-2.3; P=0.06), and the risk of small for gestational age (SGA) was greater with transfer of a stage 5 blastocyst (adjusted OR =3.5, 95%CI 1.5-8.0; P=0.004). The overall grading of the blastocyst, expansion stage, ICM grade, and TE grade were not associated with length at birth, birthweight, large for gestational age (LGA), or birth defects (all P>0.05). Conclusions In frozen-thawed single blastocyst transfer cycles, transfer of a good-quality blastocyst was associated with a lower rate of PTD and a greater likelihood of a male neonate. Transfer of grade B ICM blastocysts decreased the rate of PTD, and TE quality was positively correlated with the likelihood of a male neonate.