Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrogen non-equilibrium ionisation effects in coronal mass ejections

Context. A new generation of coronagraphs used to study solar wind and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are being developed and launched. These coronagraphs will heavily rely on multi-channel observations where visible light (VL) and UV-EUV (ultraviolet-extreme ultraviolet) observations provide new plasma diagnostics. One of these instruments, Metis on board ESA-Solar Orbiter, will simultaneously observe VL and the UV Lyman-α line. The number of neutral hydrogen atoms (a small fraction of coronal protons) is a key parameter for deriving plasma properties, such as the temperature from the observed Lyman-α line intensity. However, these measurements are significantly affected if non-equilibrium ionisation effects occur, which can be relevant during CMEs. Aims. The aim of this work is to determine if non-equilibrium ionisation effects are relevant in CMEs and, in particular, when and in which regions of the CME plasma ionisation equilibrium can be assumed for data analysis. Methods. We used a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of a magnetic flux rope ejection to generate a CME. From this, we then reconstructed the ionisation state of hydrogen atoms in the CME by evaluating both the advection of neutral and ionised hydrogen atoms and the ionisation and recombination rates in the MHD simulation. Results. We find that the equilibrium ionisation assumption mostly holds in the core of the CME, which is represented by a magnetic flux rope. In contrast, non-equilibrium ionisation effects are significant at the CME front, where we find about 100 times more neutral hydrogen atoms than prescribed by ionisation equilibrium conditions. We find this to be the case even if this neutral hydrogen excess might be difficult to identify due to projection effects. Conclusions. This work provides key information for the development of a new generation of diagnostic techniques that aim to combine visible light and Lyman-α line emissions. The results show that non-equilibrium ionisation effects need to be considered when we analyse CME fronts. Incorrectly assuming equilibrium ionisation in these regions would lead to a systematic underestimate of plasma temperatures.
Relationships between rational extended thermodynamics and extended irreversible thermodynamics

We consider a few conceptual questions on extended thermodynamics, with the aim to contribute to a higher contact between rational extended thermodynamics and extended irreversible thermodynamics. Both theories take a number of fluxes as independent variables, but they differ in the formalism being used to deal with the exploitation of the second principle (rational thermodynamics in the first one and classical irreversible thermodynamics in the second one). Rational extended thermodynamics is more restricted in the range of systems to be analysed, but it is able to obtain a wider number of restrictions and deeper specifications from the second law. By contrast, extended irreversible thermodynamics is more phenomenological, its mathematical formalism is more elementary, but it may deal with a wider diversity of systems although with less detail. Further comparison and dialogue between both branches of extended thermodynamics would be useful for a fuller deployment and deepening of extended thermodynamics. Besides these two approaches, one should also consider the Hamiltonian approach, formalisms with internal variables, and more microscopic approaches, based on kinetic theory or on non-equilibrium ensemble formalisms. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fundamental aspects of nonequilibrium thermodynamics’.
Phenology of Coquillettidia perturbans and Culiseta melanura (Diptera: Culicidae) in East-Central Georgia, USA: Implications for the Ecology of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus

Abstract We sampled mosquito larvae and adult females in east-central Georgia (Screven County), where two species of mosquitoes, Coquillettidia perturbans (Walker) and Culiseta melanura (Coquillett), believed to be important in the epidemiology of eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEv) were common. The study site, being a wildlife management area, supported large numbers of birds and snakes that are believed to harbor EEEv, and EEEv had been historically reported from wild birds from Screven County. Thus, the location was conducive to studying aspects of the sylvatic cycle of EEEv. Adult traps (CO2 baited) indicated that Cs. melanura adult females were only common in midsummer. In contrast, Cq. perturbans adult females were common for almost the entire summer, and this combined with larval sampling in local wetlands suggested that Cq. perturbans was bivoltine in east-central Georgia, which is much farther north than previously suspected. We did not detect EEEv in any mosquito samples, but the phenology of Cq. perturbans suggests that only the second generation of these mosquitoes would play an important role as bridge vectors of EEEv to humans and horses in eastern Georgia.
Robust ECG R-peak detection using LSTM

Detecting QRS complexes or R-peaks from the electrocardiogram (ECG) is the basis for heart rate determination and heart rate variability analysis. Over the years, multiple different methods have been proposed as solutions to this problem. Vast majority of the proposed methods are traditional rule based algorithms that are vulnerable to noise. We propose a new R-peak detection method that is based on the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network. LSTM networks excel at temporal modelling tasks that include long-term dependencies, making it suitable for ECG analysis. Additionally, we propose data generator for creating noisy ECG data that is used to train the robust R-peak detector. Our initial testing shows that the proposed method outperforms traditional algorithms while the greatest competitive edge is achieved with the noisy ECG signals.
The CMMI-Dev Implementation Factors for Software Quality Improvement: A Case of XYZ Corporation

Refer to CMMI-Institute Appraisal result, there are 6 (six) companies in Indonesia that have achieved CMMI-Dev v1.3 maturity level 3, one of them is XYZ Corporation. Initially, XYZ Corporation has set a target to achieve CMMI-Dev level 2. As advised by the consultant, XYZ Corporation has a possibility to achieve level 3 by completing several parts of level 3 requirements that had not been met yet. XYZ Corporation faced a significant problem in progress implementation, particularly in documents standardization. This is due to each division has a different document format. XYZ Corporation also needs to improve its current processes that are still in ongoing phase of improvement process to achieve better standardized. This research aims to find out "The factors that affects the success of CMMI-Dev implementation based on its Current Conditions of XYZ Corporation". The approach of this research in finding the factors that influence the implementation of CMMI-Dev by means Qualitative and Quantitative approach. A qualitative method, by means of questionnaires, is used to prioritize the main factor. A quantitative method is used to get ranking of the factors that affecting successfulness of CMMI-Dev implementation in which has been validated by questionnaire's results. This research finding expects that the factors could be applied by other companies which desire to implement CMMI-Dev.
A Survey of Attack Instances of Cryptojacking Targeting Cloud Infrastructure

Cryptojacking is the act of using an individual's or an organization's computational power in order to mine cryptocurrency. In some scenarios, this can be considered as a monetization strategy, very much similar to advertisements. But to do so without the explicit consent of the computer owners is considered illegitimate. During previous years, attackers' focus was heavily laid on browser-based cryptojacking. However, it was noted that the attackers are now shifting their attention to more robust, more superior targets, such as cloud servers and cloud infrastructure. This paper analyses 11 forms of practical scenarios of cryptojacking attacks that are targeted towards cloud infrastructure. We carefully look at their similarities and properties, comparing those features with the limitations of existing literature regarding the detection systems. In this paper, we survey the attack forms, and we also survey the limitations of existing literature as an attempt to outline the research gap between the practical scenarios and existing work.
Fast journaling made simple with NVM

Journaling file systems (JFS), which base their architecture on traditional database logging, write journals sequentially through a form of centralized logging, primarily to restore file systems in the face of an unexpected failure. Due to the extra write operations required for journaling, the performance of the JFS is negatively impacted, thus suffering performance degradation. The fast non-volatile memory (NVM) was expected to easily address such performance issues by providing NVM space as storage for journals. However, we observe that replacing disk space with NVM for journaling naively would inevitably face a scalability problem inherent in the transaction management of journaling file systems, even if we are able to use byte-addressable NVM. To address this problem, we propose a scalable file system that manages file system transactions using concurrent data structures combined with NVM-based decentralized journaling for scalable performance. In addition, we enable multiple I/O requests to be issued to high-performance storage devices supporting multiple I/O channels. We evaluate our file system on a multicore server with high-performance storage. Evaluation results demonstrate that our file system exhibits better performance by a wide margin than the vanilla ext4 file system and a recent NVM-based journaling file system.
Anterior Acromioplasty for the Chronic Impingement Syndrome in the Shoulder

Impingement of the rotator cuff beneath the coraco-acromial arch has been recognized as one of the causes of chronic disability of the shoulder 1.5,6 7,9, 10 Cornplete acromionectonly 1,5,10 and lateral acromionectomy 6.9 at various levels have been advocated for the condition. Disappointment with the results of these procedunes, because of weakening of the leverage of the deltoid muscle, displacement of the attachments of the origin of the deltoid, formation of sinuses with bursal or joint fluid draining through the skin, deep scars, and, in the case of lateral acroniionectomy, the persistence of symptoms because of residual impingement, stimulated us to a new study of the role, in the impingement syndrome, of the undersurface of the acrom ion. This paper describes relevant anatomical findings and the rationale, the indications, the technique, and the preliminary results ofanterior acromioplasty, which has
Theoretical Analysis of Dynamics of Kinesin Molecular Motors

Kinesin is a typical molecular motor that can step processively on microtubules powered by hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules, playing a critical role in intracellular transports. Its dynamical properties such as its velocity, stepping ratio, run length, dissociation rate, etc. as well as the load dependencies of these quantities have been well documented through single-molecule experimental methods. In particular, the run length shows a dramatic asymmetry with respect to the direction of the load, and the dissociation rate exhibits a slip–catch–slip bond behavior under the backward load. Here, an analytic theory was provided for the dynamics of kinesin motors under both forward and backward loads, explaining consistently and quantitatively the diverse available experimental results.
Identification of Key Gene and Pathways for the Prediction of Peritoneal Metastasis of Gastric Cancer by Co-expression Analysis

Peritoneal metastasis is the most common pattern in advanced gastric cancer and can predict poor disease prognosis. Early detection of peritoneal tumor dissemination is restricted by small peritoneal deposits. Therefore, it is critical to identify a novel predictive marker and to explore the potential mechanism associated with this process. In the present study, one module that correlated with peritoneal metastasis was identified. Enrichment analysis indicated that the Focal adhesion and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway were the most significant pathways. Following network and Molecular Complex Detection (MCODE) analysis, the hub-gene cluster that consisted of 19 genes was selected. Methionine sulfoxide reductase B3 (MSRB3) was identified as a seed gene. Survival analysis indicated that high expression levels of MSRB3 were independent predictors of peritoneal disease-free survival (pDFS) as determined by univariate (HR 8.559, 95% CI; 3.339-21.937; P<.001) and multivariate Cox analysis (HR 3.982, 95% CI; 1.509-10.509; P=.005). Furthermore, patients with high levels of MSRB3 exhibited a significantly lower Overall Survival (OS) (log-rank P = 0.007). The external validation was performed by the (The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)) (log-rank P = 0.037) and Kaplan Meier-plotter (KMplotter) (log-rank P = 0.031) data. In vitro experiments confirmed that MSRB3 was a critical protein in regulating gastric cancer cell proliferation and migration. In conclusion, High expression levels of MSRB3 in GC can predict peritoneal metastasis and recurrence as well as poor prognosis. Furthermore, MSRB3 was involved in the regulation of the proliferation and migration of GC cells.
Vitamin D level and it is association with the severity of pulmonary tuberculosis in patients attended to Kosti Teaching Hospital, Sudan

Globally, tuberculosis is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in many countries. Previous studies suggest that the incidence and severity of tuberculosis are associated with low levels of vitamin D (Vit D). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the occurrence and associated factors of vitamin D3 deficiency in pulmonary tuberculosis patients at White Nile State, Sudan. 101 individuals of diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients (71 males and 30 females) and 100 non-TB controls (58 males and 42 females) were included in this study. Sputum samples were obtained from TB patients and subjected to examination for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain and Gene Xpert analysis. Blood samples were collected from both groups and Serum 25(OH)-vitamin D3 was determined by an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. HIV infection in Tuberculosis (TB) group was also investigated using the immunochromatographic test. In our study, the majority of TB patients were suffered from TB relapse (36.6%); non-HIV infected individuals (99.1%) or showed a positive result for AFB (61.4%) in Gene Xpert analysis. Moreover, there is a significant difference in microscopy findings and bacillary levels of AFB, and Rifampicin (RIF) susceptibility pattern of M. tuberculosis strain among sputum samples of TB patients, P-values less 0.0001. Furthermore, we found that TB patients were suffered from vitamin D deficiency. In particular, the mean of vitamin D level was significantly much lower in TB patients (26.7 ± 1.6) compared to non-TB controls (117.3 ± 3.2), P-value equal 0.0001. Likewise, it's much lower in females, individuals of 21–40 years old, and patients with high bacillary levels or those infected by Rifampicin resistance strain. Accordingly, our study was highlighted the TB and Vit D deficiency relationship and showed the need for further studies to a better understanding of the impact of TB on Vit D level and investigate whether vitamin D supplementation can have a role in the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis.
Siamese-rPPG network: remote photoplethysmography signal estimation from face videos

Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) is a contactless method for heart rate (HR) estimation from face videos. In this paper, we propose to estimate rPPG signals directly from input video sequences in an end-to-end manner. We propose a novel Siamese-rPPG network to simultaneously learn the heterogeneous and homogeneous features from two facial regions. Furthermore, to analyze the temporal periodicity of rPPG signals, we construct the network with 3D CNNs and jointly train the two-branch model under the negative Pearson loss function. Experimental results on three benchmark datasets: COHFACE, UBFC, and PURE, show that our method significantly outperforms existing methods with a large margin.
Etherolic: a practical security analyzer for smart contracts

In recent years we have seen a great deal of attention to the topic of security analysis in smart contracts, especially those developed for the Ethereum blockchain. As a result, there seems to be an evergrowing demand for secure smart contracts to protect what could potentially be worth billions. In this paper, we introduce Etherolic as a robust, scalable and efficient fuzzing tool based on concolic testing for performing security analysis on smart contracts. Our approach works based on a successful combination of dynamic taint tracking (DTA) and concolic testing that allows users to analyze the bytecode of smart contracts being run on the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Moreover, Etherolic is not only able to identify a wide spectrum of recent vulnerabilities in smart contracts, but also it generates exploits to trigger unknown errors in the code. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of our approach, we evaluated Etherolic on a crafted benchmark suite, comprising several real-world and synthetic smart contracts along with 98 safety features. The result of our preliminary evaluation reveals 204 security violations in the benchmarks.
Wide-spectrum characterization of long-running political phenomena on social media: the brexit case

In this study, we propose a wide-spectrum analysis of long-running political events on social media, with reference to an interesting real-world international case: the so-called Brexit, the process through which the United Kingdom activated the option of leaving the European Union. In this study, we model the users participating in 33 months of Twitter debate, covering their behaviour and demographics. By using publicly shared tweets, we developed a stance classification model to evaluate the change of stance over time. We also extracted the key topics of the long-running debate, studying which political side have discussed them most and what is the general sentiment on each. We also revealed the participation of bot accounts, and we found that the higher the bot score, the more likely the account is in a pro-Leave position. We conclude our study with a temporal and comparative analysis of politicians' social media accounts.
Comparison of simulators for fog computing

Fog computing is gaining popularity as a new distributed computing paradigm. Several simulators have been proposed for the evaluation of new approaches for fog computing. This paper compares four simulators for fog computing: iFogSim, MyiFogSim, EdgeCloudSim, and YAFS. The comparison is based on both publicly available information about the simulators, and on our experience with their practical use. The results show strengths and weaknesses of the simulators, and also some potentially anomalous behaviors.
Teaching and the Case Method. Text, Cases, and Readings. Third Edition.

Teaching and the Case Method delves into the special role of teacher and students in the case method learning process. Schools that want to use the case method more effectively can use this book to teach groups of faculty how to apply case method techniques. For the first time, too, a book about case method teaching attempts to show how the method can be applied in a liberal arts setting. A liberal arts module in the book presents an innovative program for instructors who want to experiment with discussion teaching in traditional arts and science areas. The book focuses on a wide range of knotty problems faced by most instructors, experienced or new, creating an opportunity for them to learn from each other. It's main purpose is to provide a rich opportunity for both professional school and liberal arts instructors to develop their own discussion leadership skills, and to further the process of learning for both themselves and their students.
The dose of robot-assisted gait therapy may influence functional recovery in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program: an exploratory retrospective study

Robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) has been introduced in clinical practice to increase training intensity in patients with neurological disorders. In this observational study, we investigated the effect of the number of RAGT sessions on functional recovery in a heterogeneous cohort of patients. We included patients with a diagnosis of gait impairment due to a neurological disease. A set of demographic, clinical, functional and training parameters was collected for each participant. Each patient received RAGT with an exoskeleton (Lokomat; Hocoma, Volketswil, Switzerland) as part of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. We stratified the patients as good responders and poor responders and investigated the effect of varying the number of RAGT sessions with a series of logistic regression models. A total of 143 patients were included in this analysis (good responders = 65, poor responders = 78). Good responder patients spent more days in the hospital (P < 0.01) and underwent a higher number of RAGT sessions (P = 0.04) compared to poor responder patients. Logistic regression models estimated that adding six RAGT sessions mildly increased (by approximately 4%) the probability of a patient becoming a good responder. The rehabilitation phase (subacute/chronic) appeared to be the main determinant of the probability of being a good responder, and stroke patients appeared to be more sensitive to changes in the number of RAGT sessions. Our results seem to confirm previous observations that robotic therapy increases the intensity of rehabilitation, possibly leading to a greater functional recovery in subacute patients with greater impairment.
Effects of Low-Energy Diet or Exercise on Cardiovascular Function in Working-Age Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective, Randomized, Open-Label, Blinded End Point Trial

OBJECTIVE To confirm the presence of subclinical cardiovascular dysfunction in working-age adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and determine whether this is improved by a low-energy meal replacement diet (MRP) or exercise training. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This article reports on a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded end point trial with nested case-control study. Asymptomatic younger adults with T2D were randomized 1:1:1 to a 12-week intervention of 1) routine care, 2) supervised aerobic exercise training, or 3) a low-energy (∼810 kcal/day) MRP. Participants underwent echocardiography, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) at baseline and 12 weeks. The primary outcome was change in left ventricular (LV) peak early diastolic strain rate (PEDSR) as measured by CMR. Healthy volunteers were enrolled for baseline case-control comparison. RESULTS Eighty-seven participants with T2D (age 51 ± 7 years, HbA1c 7.3 ± 1.1%) and 36 matched control participants were included. At baseline, those with T2D had evidence of diastolic dysfunction (PEDSR 1.01 ± 0.19 vs. 1.10 ± 0.16 s−1, P = 0.02) compared with control participants. Seventy-six participants with T2D completed the trial (30 routine care, 22 exercise, and 24 MRP). The MRP arm lost 13 kg in weight and had improved blood pressure, glycemia, LV mass/volume, and aortic stiffness. The exercise arm had negligible weight loss but increased exercise capacity. PEDSR increased in the exercise arm versus routine care (β = 0.132, P = 0.002) but did not improve with the MRP (β = 0.016, P = 0.731). CONCLUSIONS In asymptomatic working-age adults with T2D, exercise training improved diastolic function. Despite beneficial effects of weight loss on glycemic control, concentric LV remodeling, and aortic stiffness, a low-energy MRP did not improve diastolic function.