Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biopolymer manufacturing from pectin extraction of jackfruit waste to increase oil production in EOR

This research was conducted with the aim of making an alternative, nature-based biopolymer formed from the extraction of jackfruit peel pectin as a substitute for commercial polymers. The manufacture of this biopolymer is carried out by means of laboratory tests using conventional methods with a chemical extraction process on jackfruit skin. The raw material used is jackfruit skin (Artocarpus integer). Processing of jackfruit skin into pectin is carried out by several procedures such as extraction using citric acid, purification of pectin with 96% ethanol, FTIR characterization test, density test, viscosity test, shear rate test, and the effect of salinity. The FTIR test showed that pectin was formed after the extraction step, as evidenced by the structure of the pectin-forming groups which was similar to commercial pectin. The deposition of impurity particles contained in the pectin content is evidenced by the lack of optimal pectin to increase the viscosity of water. The increase in viscosity will occur as the concentration of pectin increases. Jackfruit pectin is able to survive in solutions that have high salinity, as evidenced by the higher the salinity of the solution, the thickening process continues.
Object Detection from Point Clouds for Driverless Vehicles

Point clouds offer the advantage of providing direct access to 3D data. So, utilizing solely point clouds, we present an object detection technique for driverless vehicles in this study. In this method, a graph is first constructed using the k-nearest neighbour (KNN) method, and then a graph neural network module is proposed for local information extraction. Then, depending on the coordinates of points, we utilize a pillar-based projection approach to project the locally informative feature into bird’s-eye-view (BEV). After that, residual-based networks with attention mechanisms are used for the BEV features processing. The attention system is capable of assigning appropriate weights to several nearby points, hence improving detection performance. The proposed work achieves 58.49 percent and 67.90 percent mAP (mean Average Precision) for 3D Object detection and BEV detection, respectively, on the KITTI 3D object detection benchmark. We also tested the proposed method on our driverless vehicle in our campus, and we compared it to the prior method we utilized. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods (about 2% higher than PointPillars in BEV detection) and gives more accurate information.
Exploring Proxies for the Supermassive Black Hole Mass Function: Implications for Pulsar Timing Arrays

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) reside at the center of every massive galaxy in the local universe with masses that closely correlate with observations of their host galaxy, implying a connected evolutionary history. The population of binary SMBHs, which form following galaxy mergers, is expected to produce a gravitational-wave background (GWB) detectable by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). PTAs are starting to see hints of what may be a GWB, and the amplitude of the emerging signal is toward the higher end of model predictions. Simulated populations of binary SMBHs can be constructed from observations of galaxies and are used to make predictions about the nature of the GWB. The greatest source of uncertainty in these observation-based models comes from the inference of the SMBH mass function, which is derived from observed host galaxy properties. In this paper, I undertake a new approach for inferring the SMBH mass function, starting from a velocity dispersion function rather than a galaxy stellar mass function. I argue that this method allows for a more direct inference by relying on a larger suite of individual galaxy observations as well as relying on a more “fundamental” SMBH mass relation. I find that the resulting binary SMBH population contains more massive systems at higher redshifts than previous models. Additionally, I explore the implications for the detection of individually resolvable sources in PTA data.
Comparison of mortality and hospitalizations of older adults living in residential care facilities versus nursing homes or the community. A systematic review

Residential care facility may provide a transition between living at home and a nursing home for dependent older people or an alternative to nursing homes. The objective of this review was to compare mortality and hospitalizations of older adults living in residential care facilities with those living in nursing homes or in the community. We searched Medline, Scopus and Web of Science from inception to December 2022. Fifteen cohort studies with 6 months to 10 years of follow-up were included. The unadjusted relative risk (RR) of mortality was superior in nursing homes than in residential care facilities in 6 of 7 studies (from 1.3 to 1.68). Conversely, the unadjusted relative risk of hospitalizations was higher in residential care facilities in 6 studies (from 1.3 to 3.37). Studies conducted on persons with dementia found mixed results, the only study adjusted for co-morbidities observing no difference on these two endpoints. Compared with home, unadjusted relative risks were higher in residential care facilities for mortality in 4 studies (from 1.34 à 10.1) and hospitalizations in 3 studies (from 1.12 to 1.62). Conversely, the only study that followed older adults initially living at home over a 10-year period found a reduced risk of heavy hospital use (RR = 0.68) for those who temporarily resided in a residential care facilities. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether residential care facilities might be an alternative to nursing homes for older people with similar clinical characteristics (co-morbidities and dementia). Nevertheless, given the high rate of hospitalizations observed in residential care facilities, the medical needs of residents should be better explored.
Blue-light stimulation of the blind-spot constricts the pupil and enhances contrast sensitivity

Short- and long-wavelength light can alter pupillary responses differently, allowing inferences to be made about the contribution of different photoreceptors on pupillary constriction. In addition to classical retinal photoreceptors, the pupillary light response is formed by the activity of melanopsin-expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC). It has been shown in rodents that melanopsin is expressed in the axons of ipRGCs that bundle at the optic nerve head, which forms the perceptual blind-spot. Hence, the first aim of this study was to investigate if blind-spot stimulation induces a pupillary response. The second aim was to investigate the effect of blind-spot stimulation by using the contrast sensitivity tests. Fifteen individuals participated in the pupil response experiment and thirty-two individuals in the contrast sensitivity experiment. The pupillary change was quantified using the post-illumination pupil response (PIPR) amplitudes after blue-light (experimental condition) and red-light (control condition) pulses in the time window between 2 s and 6 s post-illumination. The contrast sensitivity was assessed using two different tests: the Freiburg Visual Acuity Test and Contrast Test and the Tuebingen Contrast Sensitivity Test, respectively. Contrast sensitivity was measured before and 20 minutes after binocular blue-light stimulation of the blind-spot at spatial frequencies higher than or equal to 3 cycles per degree (cpd) and at spatial frequencies lower than 3 cpd (control condition). Blue-light blind-spot stimulation induced a significantly larger PIPR compared to red-light, confirming a melanopsin-mediated pupil-response in the blind-spot. Furthermore, contrast sensitivity was increased after blind-spot stimulation, confirmed by both contrast sensitivity tests. Only spatial frequencies of at least 3 cpd were enhanced. This study demonstrates that stimulating the blind-spot with blue-light constricts the pupil and increases the contrast sensitivity at higher spatial frequencies.
Radiation from an aperture in a coated plane

In this paper the method developed by J. R. Wait to determine th e fi elds produced by an aperture in an infinite coated-metal cylinder is extended to obtain the solution for the fields produced by an aperture in an infinite coated-m etal plane. Although t he fi elds at any point can be found by this method, this paper treats only the radi rLt ion fi elds (a future paper is planned which will treat the near fields and input admittance of the aperture). It is shown that the radiation fields produced by a given aperture for t he coated case are related to those of the uncoated case, for the same apertu re excitation , by simp le multiplicative functions which depend only on the parameters of the coating and the off-axis angle. These findin gs, combined with experim ental results for finite s ize uncoated and coated plates in conjullction with se mi-empirical a nd empirical tlleories, respectively, are then ge nera lized to obtain the radiation fi elds produced b.v a slot in a coated finite metal p late . Th e sha rpening a nd broade ning effects on the radiation pa tterns due to a losslesl; plasma coating are a lso obtained from the general solution.
Exploring the prevalence of antibiotic resistance patterns and drivers of antibiotics resistance of Salmonella in livestock and poultry-derived foods: a systematic review and meta-analysis in Bangladesh from 2000 to 2022

Abstract Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a severe public health problem that Bangladeshis are dealing with nowadays. However, we wanted to investigate the pooled prevalence of Salmonella and AMR in Salmonella strains isolated from livestock- and poultry-derived foods between 1 January 2000 and 31 August 2022. Methods The metafor and metareg packages in the R programming language were used to conduct all analyses. We used a random-effect or fixed-effect model for pooled prevalence of Salmonella and AMR to Salmonella, depending on the heterogeneity test for each antibiotic. The heterogeneity was examined using stratified analyses, the meta-regression approach and sensitivity analysis. Results The combined prevalence of Salmonella in livestock and poultry-derived food in Bangladesh is 37%, according to the 12-research considered (95% CI: 23%–52%). According to subgroup analysis, neomycin had the lowest prevalence of resistance (4%, 95% CI: 1%–13%), whereas tetracycline had the highest prevalence of resistance (81%, 95% CI: 53%–98%). According to univariate meta-analysis and correlation analysis, the prevalence of Salmonella increased with the study period (β = 0.0179; 95% CI: 0.0059–0.0298, P = 0.0034; R2 = 46.11%) and without this, none of aforementioned variables was significantly associated with the detected heterogeneity and there was a positive relationship (r = 0.692, P = 0.001) between the Salmonella prevalence and study period. Conclusions AMR is rising alarmingly in Bangladesh by livestock-derived food consumption. However, monitoring and evaluating antibiotic sensitivity trends and developing effective antibiotic regimens may improve Salmonella infection inhibition and control in Bangladesh. Policymakers should be concerned about food handling practices. Doctors should be concerned when using prescribing antibiotics.
Preparing for the next viral threat with broad-spectrum antivirals

There is a large global unmet need for the development of countermeasures to combat hundreds of viruses known to cause human disease and for the establishment of a therapeutic portfolio for future pandemic preparedness. Most approved antiviral therapeutics target proteins encoded by a single virus, providing a narrow spectrum of coverage. This, combined with the slow pace and high cost of drug development, limits the scalability of this direct-acting antiviral (DAA) approach. Here, we summarize progress and challenges in the development of broad-spectrum antivirals that target either viral elements (proteins, genome structures, and lipid envelopes) or cellular proviral factors co-opted by multiple viruses via newly discovered compounds or repurposing of approved drugs. These strategies offer new means for developing therapeutics against both existing and emerging viral threats that complement DAAs.
Exploring the benefits of full-time hospital facility dogs working with nurse handlers in a children’s hospital

Objective To examine the benefits of full-time hospital facility dogs (HFDs) working with qualified nurse handlers for inpatients in a pediatric medical facility. Methods A questionnaire survey on the evaluation of HFD activities was conducted in a hospital that had introduced HFDs for the first time in Japan and has been using them for 9 years. Of the 626 full-time medical staff, 431 responded, of which 270 who observed HFD activities were included in the analysis. The Questionnaire contained 20 questions, and nine questions were selected for presentation in this paper because they focused on the situations in which HFD activities were thought to have a strong impact on inpatients. A comparison of the respondents’ evaluations for each question was made, and differences in the respondents’ attributes (such as profession, length of clinical experience and experience of dog ownership) for those items were examined. Results The impact of HFDs in terminal care was ranked highest among the respondents. Similarly, HFDs increased patient cooperation for clinical procedures. The responses to these two items did not differ statistically depending on the respondents’ attributes. The results imply that patients were more cooperative even for highly invasive examinations and procedures with the support of HFD activities. Conclusions Healthcare providers considered that HFDs were useful, especially for providing support during the terminal phase and for gaining patients’ cooperation for procedures. The fact that the handler was a nurse and the HFD team worked full-time may have enhanced the effectiveness of the program.
Cubic and orthorhombic SnS thin‐film absorbers for tin sulfide solar cells

The tin sulfide solar cell has acquired prominence in recent years. We present the characteristics of two polymorphs of SnS and their perspectives in thin‐film solar cells. Thin‐film SnS with cubic crystalline structure (SnS‐CUB) was obtained via two chemical routes. This semiconductor is distinct from the more common SnS thin films of orthorhombic crystalline structure (SnS‐ORT), also obtained by chemical routes. The SnS‐CUB reported here with a lattice constant a of 11.587 Å replaces the zinc blende structure previously reported for this material with a of 5.783 Å. Thin films of SnS‐CUB have an optical bandgap (Eg) of 1.66–1.72 eV and electrical conductivity (σ) of 10−6 Ω−1 cm−1. These characteristics distinguish them from SnS‐ORT presented here with an Eg of 1.1 eV and σ typically higher by two orders of magnitude. We discuss the uncertainties that have prevailed in the assignment of crystalline structure for SnS‐CUB and SnS‐ORT. The optical and electrical properties of these two polymorphs of SnS are contrasted in the context of light‐generated current density in solar cells. We conclude that the two SnS polymorphs when considered together as optical absorbers offer wider prospects for tin sulfide thin‐film solar cells.
Intimate but not intimate: The perils of workplace romance in fostering knowledge sabotage

Extant research on workplace ostracism has investigated a victimization perspective to understand ostracism at the cost of examining the perpetrator-centric view of ostracism. The current study draws on the self-categorization theory and the social exchange theory to investigate the harmful effects of workplace romance in cultivating workplace ostracism from the perpetrator’s perspective to combat concerns for victim blaming. The study further proposes that workplace ostracism triggered by workplace romance provokes knowledge sabotage. Besides, the study investigates the moderating role of parochial altruism in the underlying linkages. The study utilizes a multisource, time-lagged research design to collect data from employees working in service sector organizations in Pakistan. The study analyzes 343 responses using SmartPLS (v 4.0). The findings of this study reveal that workplace romance elicits workplace ostracism, which, in turn, fosters knowledge sabotage. In addition, the study finds that parochial altruism strengthens the associations between (a) workplace romance and workplace ostracism and (b) workplace romance and knowledge sabotage, mediated by workplace ostracism such that the associations are more potent at higher levels of parochial altruism and vice versa. This is the first study that examines workplace romance as the perpetrator-centric antecedent of workplace ostracism, and parochial altruism exaggerates outgroup ostracism and knowledge sabotage.
General approach to the critical phase with coupled quasiperiodic chains

In disordered systems, wave functions in the Schr\"{o}dinger equation may exhibit a transition from the extended phase to the localized phase, in which the states at the boundaries or mobility edges may exhibit multifractality. Meanwhile, the Critical Phase (CP), where all states exhibit multifractal structures, has also attracted much attention in the past decades. However, a generic way to construct the CP on demand still remains elusive. Here, a general approach for this phase is presented using two coupled quasiperiodic chains, where the chains are chosen so that before coupling one of them has extended states while the other one has localized states. We demonstrate the existence of CP in the overlapped spectra in the presence of inter-chain coupling using fractal dimension and minimal scaling index based on multifractal analysis. Then we examine the generality of this physics by changing the forms of inter-chain coupling and quasiperiodic potential, where the CP also emerges in the overlapped spectra. We account for the emergence of this phase as a result of effective unbounded potential, which yields singular continuous spectra and excludes the extended states in the overlapped regimes. Finally, the realization of this CP in the continuous model using ultracold atoms with bichromatic incommensurate optical lattice is also discussed. Due to the tunability of the two chains, this work provides a general approach to realizing the CP in a tunable way. This approach may have wide applications in the experimental detection of CP and can be generalized to much more intriguing physics in the presence of interaction for the many-body CP.
One-dimensional Dexter-type excitonic topological phase transition

Recently topogical excitons have attracted much attention. However, studies on the topological properties of excitons in one dimension are still rare. Here we have computed the Zak phase for a generic one-dimensional dimerised excitonic model. Tuning relevant hopping parameters gives rise to a rich spectrum of physics, including non-trivial topological phase in uniform chain unlike the conventional Su-Shcrieffer-Heeger model, topologically nontrivial flat bands, and exotic fractional phase. a new concept of ``composite chiral site"was developed to interpret the Zak phase of $\pi$ in our calculations. Our finite-chain calculations substantiate topological edge states, providing more information about their characteristics. Most importantly, in the first time, a topological phase transition assisted by the Dexter electron exchange process has been found.
What model does MuZero learn?

Model-based reinforcement learning has drawn considerable interest in recent years, given its promise to improve sample efficiency. Moreover, when using deep-learned models, it is potentially possible to learn compact models from complex sensor data. However, the effectiveness of these learned models, particularly their capacity to plan, i.e., to improve the current policy, remains unclear. In this work, we study MuZero, a well-known deep model-based reinforcement learning algorithm, and explore how far it achieves its learning objective of a value-equivalent model and how useful the learned models are for policy improvement. Amongst various other insights, we conclude that the model learned by MuZero cannot effectively generalize to evaluate unseen policies, which limits the extent to which we can additionally improve the current policy by planning with the model.
NLTGCR: A class of Nonlinear Acceleration Procedures based on Conjugate Residuals

This paper develops a new class of nonlinear acceleration algorithms based on extending conjugate residual-type procedures from linear to nonlinear equations. The main algorithm has strong similarities with Anderson acceleration as well as with inexact Newton methods - depending on which variant is implemented. We prove theoretically and verify experimentally, on a variety of problems from simulation experiments to deep learning applications, that our method is a powerful accelerated iterative algorithm.
Efficient and Robust Bayesian Selection of Hyperparameters in Dimension Reduction for Visualization

We introduce an efficient and robust auto-tuning framework for hyperparameter selection in dimension reduction (DR) algorithms, focusing on large-scale datasets and arbitrary performance metrics. By leveraging Bayesian optimization (BO) with a surrogate model, our approach enables efficient hyperparameter selection with multi-objective trade-offs and allows us to perform data-driven sensitivity analysis. By incorporating normalization and subsampling, the proposed framework demonstrates versatility and efficiency, as shown in applications to visualization techniques such as t-SNE and UMAP. We evaluate our results on various synthetic and real-world datasets using multiple quality metrics, providing a robust and efficient solution for hyperparameter selection in DR algorithms.
Quantum radiation by moving mirrors

The quantum radiation of scalar particles by a moving mirror is discussed. A perturbation method is developed which allows one to calculate the radiation produced by a boundary of arbitrary shape in the nonrelativistic limit. It is applied to the case of a mirror in two-dimensional spacetime and reproduces the results of Fulling and Davies. It is also applied to the case of a plane mirror in four-dimensional spacetime, and a formula is obtained for the total energy radiated by an arbitrary nonrelativistic motion.