Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oort cloud formation at various Galactic distances

In this study we present the results from numerical simulations of the formation of the Oort comet cloud where we positioned the Sun in various parts of the disc of the Galaxy, starting at 2 kpc up to 20 kpc from the Galactic centre. All simulations were run for 4 Gyr. We report that the final trapping efficiency of comets in the Oort cloud is approximately 4% and is almost independent of the solar distance from the Galactic centre. This efficiency is not enough to explain the flux of long-period comets and be consistent with the mass of the protoplanetary disc. In addition, the population ratio between the Oort clouds and their corresponding scattered discs is at least two orders of magnitude lower than observed today. Solar migration from the inner regions of the Galaxy – where the initial trapping efficiency is higher – to farther regions – where the retention is higher – does not add enough of an effect to increase the efficiency to the necessary value of approximately 20%, so that other mechanisms for forming the Oort cloud need to be investigated.
Trends in the sample size, statistics, and contributions to the BrainMap database of activation likelihood estimation meta‐analyses: An empirical study of 10‐year data

The literature of neuroimaging meta‐analysis has been thriving for over a decade. A majority of them were coordinate‐based meta‐analyses, particularly the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. A meta‐evaluation of these meta‐analyses was performed to qualitatively evaluate their design and reporting standards. The publications listed from the BrainMap website were screened. Six hundred and three ALE papers published during 2010–2019 were included and analysed. For reporting standards, most of the ALE papers reported their total number of Papers involved and mentioned the inclusion/exclusion criteria on Paper selection. However, most papers did not describe how data redundancy was avoided when multiple related Experiments were reported within one paper. The most prevalent repeated‐measures correction methods were voxel‐level FDR (54.4%) and cluster‐level FWE (33.8%), with the latter quickly replacing the former since 2016. For study characteristics, sample size in terms of number of Papers included per ALE paper and number of Experiments per analysis seemed to be stable over the decade. One‐fifth of the surveyed ALE papers failed to meet the recommendation of having >17 Experiments per analysis. For data sharing, most of them did not provide input and output data. In conclusion, the field has matured well in terms of rising dominance of cluster‐level FWE correction, and slightly improved reporting on elimination of data redundancy and providing input data. The provision of Data and Code availability statements and flow chart of literature screening process, as well as data submission to BrainMap, should be more encouraged.
Regimes of leakage current in ALD-processed Al2O3 thin-film layers

A recently known phenomenon of thin oxide layers with thicknesses below approximately 40 nm is the increase in their breakdown electric field, called disruptive strength, towards lower thicknesses. This offers the possibility of examining the current–electric field characteristics at higher electric field strengths without an early electric breakdown. In this paper, we report on the identification of a current regime of trap-free square law and the buildup of an S-shaped current–electric field characteristic curve. This observation for atomic layer deposition (ALD)-processed Al2O3 layers has not been mentioned in the literature so far. Additionally, a modern model of space charge limited current is used to fit the S-shaped characteristic and extract the associated parameters, such as mobility, density of states, and the energy band gap between the conduction band and the trap state. In this context, the Poole–Frenkel effect is neglected in the model to fit our measurements towards the current increase after the trap filled limit.
Non-Kolmogorov-Avrami switching kinetics in ferroelectric thin films

The switching kinetics in ferroelectric thin films has been intensively studied during the past decade. It is widely accepted that this kinetics is basically governed by the dynamics of domain coalescence (the Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi model). This conclusion is mainly supported by fitting the time dependence of the switching currents to that predicted by this model, the fit being typically performed in a 1-2 decade interval of time. The present paper reports on a study of the switching kinetics in modified Pt/Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3/Pt thin films as a function of time and applied voltage, performed in time intervals from 10 ns to 1s. Our experimental data show that both the time and applied field dependences of the switching polarization (when monitored over a wide enough time interval) are in a strong qualitative disagreement with the predictions of the Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi approach. For the interpretation of our result, an alternative approach is forwarded. In contrast to Kolmogorov-Avrami-Ishibashi approach, we assume that the film consists of many areas, which have independent switching dynamics. The switching in an area is considered to be triggered by an act of the reverse domain nucleation. The switching kinetics is described in terms of the distribution function of the nucleation probabilities in these areas. The developed approach enables a good description of the polarization dynamics in typical ferroelectric thin films for memory applications.
Snake Venomics and Antivenomics of Cape Cobra (Naja nivea) from South Africa: Insights into Venom Toxicity and Cross-Neutralization Activity

Naja nivea (Cape Cobra) is endemic to southern Africa. Envenoming by N. nivea is neurotoxic, resulting in fatal paralysis. Its venom composition, however, has not been studied in depth, and specific antivenoms against it remain limited in supply. Applying a protein decomplexation approach, this study unveiled the venom proteome of N. nivea from South Africa. The major components in the venom are cytotoxins/cardiotoxins (~75.6% of total venom proteins) and alpha-neurotoxins (~7.4%), which belong to the three-finger toxin family. Intriguingly, phospholipase A2 (PLA2) was undetected—this is a unique venom phenotype increasingly recognized in the African cobras of the Uraeus subgenus. The work further showed that VINS African Polyvalent Antivenom (VAPAV) exhibited cross-reactivity toward the venom and immunorecognized its toxin fractions. In mice, VAPAV was moderately efficacious in cross-neutralizing the venom lethality with a potency of 0.51 mg/mL (amount of venom completely neutralized per milliliter of antivenom). In the challenge-rescue model, VAPAV prevented death in 75% of experimentally envenomed mice, with slow recovery from neurotoxicity up to 24 h. The finding suggests the potential para-specific utility of VAPAV for N. nivea envenoming, although a higher dose or repeated administration of the antivenom may be required to fully reverse the neurotoxic effect of the venom.
A marching cubes based failure surface propagation concept for three‐dimensional finite elements with non‐planar embedded strong discontinuities of higher‐order kinematics

This paper presents an advanced failure surface propagation concept based on the marching cubes algorithm initially proposed in the field of computer graphics and applies it to the embedded finite element method. When modeling three‐dimensional (3D) solids at failure, the propagation of the failure surface representing a crack or shear band should not exhibit a strong sensitivity to the details of the finite element discretization. This results in the need for a propagation of the discrete failure zone through the individual finite elements, which is possible for finite elements with embedded strong discontinuities. Whereas for two‐dimensional calculations the failure zone propagation location is easily predicted by the maximal principal stress direction, more advanced strategies are needed to achieve a smooth failure surface in 3D simulations. An example for such method is the global tracking algorithm, which predicts the crack path by a scalar level set function computed on the basis of the solution of a simplified heat conduction like problem. Its prediction may though lead to various scenarios on how the failure surface may propagate through the individual finite elements. In particular, for a hexahedral eight‐node finite element, 256 such cases exist. To capture all those possibilities, the marching cubes algorithm is combined with the global tracking algorithm and the finite elements with embedded strong discontinuities in this work. In addition, because many of the possible cases result in non‐planar failure surfaces within a single finite element and because the local quantities used to describe the kinematics of the embedded strong discontinuities are physically meaningful in a strict sense only for planar failure surfaces, a remedy for such scenarios is proposed. Various 3D failure propagation simulations outline the performance of the proposed concept. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Equilibrium and catastrophe of coronal flux ropes in axisymmetrical magnetic field

[1] Using a 2.5-dimensional, time-dependent ideal magnetohydrodynamic model in spherical coordinates, we present a numerical study of the property of magnetostatic equilibria associated with a coronal magnetic flux rope embedded in an axisymmetrical background magnetic field. The background field is potential (either closed or partly opened), a magnetic flux rope emerges out of the solar surface, and the resultant system is allowed to relax to equilibrium through numerical simulation. It is shown that the flux rope either sticks to the solar surface so that the whole magnetic configuration stays in equilibrium or escapes from the top of the computational domain, leading to the opening of the background field. Whether the rope remains attached to the solar surface or escapes to infinity depends on the magnetic energy of the system. The rope sticks to the solar surface when the magnetic energy of the system is less than a certain threshold, and it escapes otherwise. The threshold is slightly larger than the open limit, i.e., the magnetic energy of the corresponding fully opened field. The gravity, say, associated with the prominence mass, will raise the threshold by an amount that is approximately equal to the magnitude of the excess gravitational energy associated with the prominence. It implies that a catastrophe occurs when the magnetic energy of the system exceeds the threshold. The implication of such a catastrophe in coronal mass ejections is briefly discussed.
Stability of fictitious Trojan planets in extrasolar systems

Our work deals with the dynamical possibility that in extrasolar planetary systems a terrestrial planet may have stable orbits in a 1:1 mean motion resonance with a Jovian like planet. We studied the motion of fictitious Trojans around the Lagrangian points L4/L5 and checked the stability and/or chaoticity of their motion with the aid of the Lyapunov Indicators and the maximum eccentricity. The computations were carried out using the dynamical model of the elliptic restricted three-body problem that consists of a central star, a gas giant moving in the habitable zone, and a massless terrestrial planet. We found 3 new systems where the gas giant lies in the habitable zone, namely HD99109, HD101930, and HD33564. Additionally we investigated all known extrasolar planetary systems where the giant planet lies partly or fully in the habitable zone. The results show that the orbits around the Lagrangian points L4/L5 of all investigated systems are stable for long times (107 revolutions). (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Rapid Transient Expression of Receptor-Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Conserved M2e Peptide of Influenza A Virus Linked to Flagellin in Nicotiana benthamiana Plants Using Self-Replicating Viral Vector

The development of recombinant vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A is an important task. The combination of the conserved influenza A antigen, the extracellular domain of the transmembrane protein M2 (M2e), and the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (RBD) provides the opportunity to develop a bivalent vaccine against these infections. The fusion of antigens with bacterial flagellin, the ligand for Toll-like receptor 5 and potent mucosal adjuvant, may increase the immunogenicity of the candidate vaccines and enable intranasal immunization. In this study, we report the transient expression of RBD alone, RBD coupled with four copies of M2e, and fusions of RBD and RBD-4M2e with flagellin in Nicotiana benthamiana plants using the self-replicating potato virus X-based vector pEff. The yields of purified recombinant proteins per gram of fresh leaf tissue were about 20 µg for RBD, 50–60 µg for RBD-4M2e and the fusion of RBD with flagellin, and about 90 µg for RBD-4M2e fused to flagellin. Targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum enabled the production of glycosylated recombinant proteins comprising RBD. Our results show that plant-produced RBD and RBD-4M2e could be further used for the development of subunit vaccines against COVID-19 and a bivalent vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza A, while flagellin fusions could be used for the development of intranasal vaccines.
Early Outcomes of COVID-19 Lung Transplantation Recipients in Korea: A Single-Center Study

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been found to cause life-threatening respiratory failure, which can progress to irreversible lung damage. Lung transplantation can be a life-saving treatment in patients with terminal lung disease (e.g., acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by infection). This study aimed to present the clinical course and results after initial lung transplantation in patients with severe COVID-19 who did not recover even with optimal medical care. Methods From August 2019 to February 2022, this study enrolled 10 patients with COVID-19 (5 men; median age, 55.7 years) who underwent lung transplantation at a single center in Korea. All patients’ characteristics, clinical pathway, overall survival, complications, and operative data were collected and analyzed. Results Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or an oxygenator in a right ventricular assist device circuit was applied to 90% of the patients, and the median length of extracorporeal life support before operation was 48.5 days. There were no cases of mortality after a median follow-up of 372.8 days (interquartile range, 262.25–489 days). The major complications included the requirement for postoperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support in 2 cases (20%), re-transplantation in 1 case (10%), and re-exploration due to bleeding in 2 cases (20%). During the follow-up period, 3 out of 10 patients died. Conclusion Excellent early outcomes were observed for patients who underwent lung transplantation. Thus, lung transplantation can be an effective and feasible treatment for patients with end-stage lung disease caused by COVID-19.
Investigation of MicroRNA Biomarkers in Equine Distal Interphalangeal Joint Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis of the equine distal interphalangeal joint is a common cause of lameness. MicroRNAs from biofluids are promising biomarkers and therapeutic candidates. Synovial fluid samples from horses with mild and severe equine distal interphalangeal joint osteoarthritis were submitted for small RNA sequencing. The results demonstrated that miR-92a was downregulated in equine synovial fluid from horses with severe osteoarthritis and there was a significant increase in COMP, COL1A2, RUNX2 and SOX9 following miR-92a mimic treatment of equine chondrocytes in monolayer culture. This is the first equine study to evaluate the role of miR-92a in osteoarthritic chondrocytes in vitro.
The Carbon Emission Characteristics and Reduction Potential in Developing Areas: Case Study from Anhui Province, China

Global warming and world-wide climate change caused by increasing carbon emissions have attracted a widespread public attention, while anthropogenic activities account for most of these problems generated in the social economy. In order to comprehensively measure the levels of carbon emissions and carbon sinks in Anhui Province, the study adopted some specific carbon accounting methods to analyze and explore datasets from the following suggested five carbon emission sources of energy consumption, food consumption, cultivated land, ruminants and waste, and three carbon sink sources of forest, grassland and crops to compile the carbon emission inventory in Anhui Province. Based on the compiled carbon emission inventory, carbon emissions and carbon sink capacity were calculated from 2000 to 2019 in Anhui Province, China. Combined with ridge regression and scenario analysis, the STIRPAT model was used to evaluate and predict the regional carbon emission from 2020 to 2040 to explore the provincial low-carbon development pathways, and carbon emissions of various industrial sectors were systematically compared and analyzed. Results showed that carbon emissions increased rapidly from 2000 to 2019 and regional energy consumption was the primary source of carbon emissions in Anhui Province. There were significant differences found in the increasing carbon emissions among various industries. The consumption proportion of coal in the provincial energy consumption continued to decline, while the consumption of oil and electricity proceeded to increase. Furthermore, there were significant differences among different urban and rural energy structures, and the carbon emissions from waste incineration were increasing. Additionally, there is an inverted “U”-shape curve of correlation between carbon emission and economic development in line with the environmental Kuznets curve, whereas it indicated a “positive U”-shaped curve of correlation between carbon emission and urbanization rate. The local government should strengthen environmental governance, actively promote industrial transformation, and increase the proportion of clean energy in the energy production and consumption structures in Anhui Province. These also suggested a great potential of emission reduction with carbon sink in Anhui Province.
A direct analytical method to extract mixed‐mode components of strain energy release rates from Irwin's integral using extended finite element method

A new analytical approach, within the extended finite element framework, is proposed to compute mixed‐mode components of strain energy release rates directly from Irwin's integral. Crack tip enrichment functions in extended FEM allow for evaluation of integral quantities in closed form (for some crack configurations studied) and therefore resulting in a simple and accurate method.
Evaluation of Oral Health Related Quality of Life and patient satisfaction in three implant retained mandibular overdentures: A randomized cross-over clinical trial.

PURPOSE To assess oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and patient satisfaction with a three-implant-retained mandibular overdenture. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this randomized crossover clinical trial, 20 edentulous patients received a new set of conventional complete dentures (baseline). Subsequently, three implants were placed in the anterior mandible; two of these were placed in the canine regions bilaterally, and one was placed in the midline. After successful osseointegration, complete dentures were attached to the implants using resilient attachments. The overdenture was retained either by three implants (test group) or two implants (control group). The sequence of treatment was randomized such that each patient experienced both treatment options for 6 months each. OHRQoL was assessed at baseline and after 6 months of function for each treatment option using Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and visual analog scale scores. Statistical analyses were performed using Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. RESULTS Conventional dentures resulted in significantly higher OHIP-14 and VAS scores (25.25 + 6.42; 8.55 + 1.73) compared to both the control group (11.15 + 5.39; 4 + 2) (P < .001) and the test group (6.25 + 4.02/2.06 + 1.48) (P < .001). Similarly, significantly higher mean OHIP-14 and VAS scores were noted for the control group compared to the test group (P < .001). CONCLUSION Overdentures retained by three implants resulted in better OHRQoL scores and higher patient satisfaction compared to overdentures retained by two implants and conventional complete dentures.
Generation of fast propagating combustion and shock waves with copper oxide/aluminum nanothermite composites

Nanothermite composites containing metallic fuel and inorganic oxidizer are gaining importance due to their outstanding combustion characteristics. In this paper, the combustion behaviors of copper oxide/aluminum nanothermites are discussed. CuO nanorods were synthesized using the surfactant-templating method, then mixed or self-assembled with Al nanoparticles. This nanoscale mixing resulted in a large interfacial contact area between fuel and oxidizer. As a result, the reaction of the low density nanothermite composite leads to a fast propagating combustion, generating shock waves with Mach numbers up to 3.
Vitamin D, Calcium and Phosphorus Status Involvement during COVID-19 Infection

Background: COVID-19 is associated with a weak immune system in the human body. Vitamin D plays a role in the body’s immune system and is known to enhance the function of immune cells. In this case, vitamin D inhibits some of the inflammation that can make COVID-19 more severe. The is study aims to determine the serum levels of vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus in COVID-19 patients. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted during the period from January 2021 to July 2021. 50 COVID-19 patients as a case study and 50 healthy individuals as a control group were included in this study. Blood samples were collected from the study group and measured for vitamin D using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Calcium and phosphate were measured by the Cobas 6000 fully automated analyzer (Roche, Germany). Results: The study result showed that in COVID-19 patients, vitamin D (27 ± 5 ng/mL), p-value = 0.000, and calcium (10.2 ± 4 mg/dL), p-value = 0.000, in comparison with control. There was a correlation between vitamin D (r = -.771; p =.000) and calcium (r = -.752; p =.000) and the severity of disease. Conclusions: According to our research, vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of developing COVID-19 and the risk of developing severe illnesses.
Finite-dimensional approximation of the self-diffusion coefficient for the exclusion process

We show that for the symmetric simple exclusion process on Z d the self-diffusion coefficient of a tagged particle is stable when approximated by simple exclusion processes on large periodic lattices. The proof depends on a similar stability property of the asymptotic variance of additive functionals of mean 0. This requires establishing a property for the Dirichlet space known as the Liouville-D property.