Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the interplay between phonon-boundary scattering and phonon-point-defect scattering in SiGe thin films

This paper provides theoretical understanding of the interplay between the scattering of phonons by the boundaries and point-defects in SiGe thin films. It also provides a tool for the design of SiGe-based high-efficiency thermoelectric devices. The contributions of the alloy composition, grain size, and film thickness to the phonon scattering rate are described by a model for the thermal conductivity based on the single-mode relaxation time approximation. The exact Boltzmann equation including spatial dependence of phonon distribution function is solved to yield an expression for the rate at which phonons scatter by the thin film boundaries in the presence of the other phonon scattering mechanisms. The rates at which phonons scatter via normal and resistive three-phonon processes are calculated by using perturbation theories with taking into account dispersion of confined acoustic phonons in a two dimensional structure. The vibrational parameters of the model are deduced from the dispersion of confined a.
Pattern formation in rapidly oscillating peculiar A stars

Peculiar A stars harbour pairs of antipodal spots, detectable in magnetic-field variation and chemical-abundance anomalies, and which are inclined from the axis of rotation. Many of the stars are observed to oscillate nonradially with frequencies of high-order acoustic modes. The oscillations appear to be dipolar, with axes that are almost always more-or-less aligned with the spots. It is known theoretically that when the spots produce the dominating aspherical influence on the dynamics of the oscillations, there is always an oscillation eigenmode that is constrained to be aligned with the spots, in accord with the observations. But under some circumstances the spots may not have complete dynamical dominance, and Coriolis precession can prevent a pure mode from remaining aligned. Yet, the oscillations appear to be aligned. Here I investigate the proposal that in such circumstances what is being observed is not a single oscillation eigenmode, stationary with respect to the rotating star, but an ensemble of precessing modes whose envelope is almost stationary, and almost aligned with the spots. I present a one-dimensional toy model of a slowly drifting (standing) acoustic mode in a medium with thermal “spots”, and show that under appropriate conditions stationary, non-precessing, mode envelopes are possible.
The properties of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei. II - A deeper look at the cosmological evolution

A detailed study of the cosmological properties of X-ray selected AGN is presented. The data are analyzed within the framework of a pure luminosity evolution (PLE) model and the two most population evolutionary forms. Evidence is found for luminosity-dependent luminosity evolution if the evolution function has the exponential form. The simpler PLE model is more acceptable if the data are fitted with a power-law evolution function. Similar results are obtained in the optical domain from an analysis of a sample of optically selected QSOs with z less than 2.2 and B less than 20.
Some smooth maps with infinitely many hyperbolic periodic points

If a smooth map of the two-disk to itself has only hyperbolic periodic points and has no source or sink whose period is a power of two then it has infinitely many periodic points. This and similar results are proved. In this note we give a Lefschetz fixed point type argument to show that certain smooth maps with only hyperbolic peridoic points must have infinitely many periodic points. Surprisingly, this works even for such homologically simple spaces as the two-dimensional disk and the unit interval. A C1 map/: M -* M is said to have hyperbolic peridoic points provided that, for each x E M and each integer n > 0 such that/"(.>c) = x, the derivative map Df" : TMX -» TMX has no eigenvalues of absolute value one. For our purposes below it is quite acceptable that 0 be an eigenvalue of Df", i.e. that there be periodic singular points, as long as there are no eigenvalues of absolute value one. A periodic point x for which all eigenvalues of Df" are less than one in absolute value (including perhaps 0) will be called a sink. If all eigenvalues of Df" are greater than one in absolute value then x is called a source. In the following theorem S and S denote the circle and two-sphere respectively, while D2 is the two-dimensional disk and 7 is the unit interval [0,1]. For D2 and 7 we assume that no boundary points are periodic. Theorem. If the following types of C maps have only hyperbolic periodic points then they have infinitely many periodic points: (a) Anyfi.S -* S of degree 1 which has at most one source or sink with least period a power of 2. (b) Anyf: S2 -* S2 of degree 0 or -1, or any g: D2 -* D2 which has no source or sink with least period a power of 2. Received by the editors November 3, 1975. AMS (MOS) subject classifications (1970). Primary 58F20; Secondary 55C20. (l)The author would like to thank the Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada do C. N. de Pq of Brazil and the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques for their hospitality during the preparation of this article. Research supported in part by NSF Grant GP 42329X. © American Mathematical Society 1977 175 License or copyright restrictions may apply to redistribution; see http://www.ams. org/journal-terms-of-use
Modeling the influence of nitrogen rate and plant density on seed yield, yield components and seed quality of safflower.

To study the effect of nitrogen rate and plant density at different levels on yield, yield components and quality traits of safflower (cv. Giza 1) an experiment was conducted as split plot design in randomized complete block design arrangement with three replications, during the successive seasons 2010/11 and 2011/12. The factors consisted of four levels of nitrogen (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg N ha -1 ) and four different densities (80,000, 100,000, 133,000 and 200,000 plants ha -1 ). Different statistical analyses such as ANOVA, polynomial regression, correlation, and stepwise multiple linear regression were used. The multiple statistical procedures showed that the main effects of nitrogen rate and plant density levels were significant ( P = 0.01) for yield and yield components studied. A rise in nitrogen rate and plant density increased seed and oil yield, whereas plant height, number of branches plant -1 , number of heads plant
Hankel transform domain analysis of open circular microstrip radiating structures

A full-wave analysis of a circular disk conductor printed on a dielectric substrate backed by a ground plane is presented. The method is based on the Galerkin's method applied in the Hankel transform domain and is numerically quite efficient. Several numerical examples are compared with available experimental data. The agreement is found to be quite good and the validity of the present method is confirmed.
Further Study of Terrain Effects on the Mesoscale Spectrum of Atmospheric Motions

Abstract Wind and temperature data collected on commercial airliners are used to investigate the effects of underlying terrain on mesoscale variability. These results expand upon those of Nastrom et al., by including all available data from the Global Atmospheric Sampling Program (GASP) and by more closely focusing on the coupling of variance with the roughness of the underlying terrain over mountainous regions. The earlier results, showing that variances are larger over mountains than over oceans or plains, with greatest increases at wavelengths below about 80 km, are confirmed. Statistical tests are used to confirm that these differences are highly significant. Over mountainous regions the roughness of the underlying terrain was parameterized from topographic data and it was found that variances are highly correlated with roughness and, in the troposphere, with background wind speed. Average variances over the roughest terrain areas range up to about ten times larger than those over the oceans. These re.
Loudness level versus sound-pressure level: A comparison of musical instruments

Loudness levels (LL) of musical scale segments played pianissimo and fortissimo were predicted for 11 orchestral instruments, using Zwicker’s and Stevens’ Mark VI procedures for loudness calculation. The results show that the dynamic LL range of musical instruments depends not only on the dynamic sound‐pressure level range, but is also influenced by changes in the spectral envelope that accompany the dynamic gradations of sound. As the sound is played louder, its bandwidth extends to high frequencies, and the increase in sound‐pressure level (SPL) is greater for the high partials than for the low ones. Due to spectral loudness summation, the changes in spectral envelope with playing level enhance the dynamic LL range of the sound. As a consequence, for most instruments the dynamic LL range in a given pitch register is larger than the dynamic SPL range in that register. The difference between the two ranges was found to be greatest for brass instruments and for the clarinet, and approached about 6 dB in certain pitch registers.
Sulfidogenic Bioreactor-Mediated Formation of ZnS Nanoparticles with Antimicrobial and Photocatalytic Activity

The use of sulfidogenic bioreactors is a biotechnology trend to recover valuable metals such as copper and zinc as sulfide biominerals from mine-impacted waters. In the present work, ZnS nanoparticles were produced using “green” H2S gas generated by a sulfidogenic bioreactor. ZnS nanoparticles were physico-chemically characterized by UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, TEM, XRD and XPS. The experimental results showed spherical-like shape nanoparticles with principal zinc-blende crystalline structure, a semiconductor character with an optical band gap around 3.73 eV, and fluorescence emission in the UV-visible range. In addition, the photocatalytic activity on the degradation of organic dyes in water, as well as bactericidal properties against several bacterial strains, were studied. ZnS nanoparticles were able to degrade methylene blue and rhodamine in water under UV radiation, and also showed high antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains including Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The results open the way to obtain valorous ZnS nanoparticles from the use of dissimilatory reduction of sulfate using a sulfidogenic bioreactor.
Current and future concepts for the generation and application of genetically engineered CAR-T and TCR-T cells

Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) has seen a steep rise of new therapeutic approaches in its immune-oncology pipeline over the last years. This is in great part due to the recent approvals of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies and their remarkable efficacy in certain soluble tumors. A big focus of ACT lies on T cells and how to genetically modify them to target and kill tumor cells. Genetically modified T cells that are currently utilized are either equipped with an engineered CAR or a T cell receptor (TCR) for this purpose. Both strategies have their advantages and limitations. While CAR-T cell therapies are already used in the clinic, these therapies face challenges when it comes to the treatment of solid tumors. New designs of next-generation CAR-T cells might be able to overcome these hurdles. Moreover, CARs are restricted to surface antigens. Genetically engineered TCR-T cells targeting intracellular antigens might provide necessary qualities for the treatment of solid tumors. In this review, we will summarize the major advancements of the CAR-T and TCR-T cell technology. Moreover, we will cover ongoing clinical trials, discuss current challenges, and provide an assessment of future directions within the field.
Socioeconomic Status and Quality of Life: An Assessment of the Mediating Effect of Social Capital

Socioeconomic status has been found to be a significant predictor of quality of life, with individuals of higher socioeconomic status reporting better quality of life. However, social capital may play a mediating role in this relationship. This study highlights the need for further research on the role of social capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and quality of life, and the potential implications for policies aimed at reducing health and social inequalities. The study used a cross-sectional design with 1792 adults 18 and older from Wave 2 of the Study of Global AGEing and Adult Health. We employed a mediation analysis to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status, social capital, and quality of life. The results showed that socioeconomic status was a strong predictor of social capital and quality of life. In addition to this, there was a positive correlation between social capital and quality of life. We found social capital to be a significant mechanism by which adults’ socioeconomic status influences their quality of life. It is crucial to invest in social infrastructure, encourage social cohesiveness, and decrease social inequities due to the significance of social capital in the connection between socioeconomic status and quality of life. To improve quality of life, policymakers and practitioners might concentrate on creating and fostering social networks and connections in communities, encouraging social capital among people, and ensuring fair access to resources and opportunities.
Role of ellipticity in high-order harmonic generation by homonuclear diatomic molecules

We present a theory of high-order harmonic generation by diatomic molecules exposed to an elliptically polarized laser field. This theory is based on the molecular strong-field approximation with the laser-field-dressed initial bound state and the undressed final state. The interference minima, observed for linear polarization, are blurred with the increase of the laser-field ellipticity. The $n$th harmonic emission rate has contributions of the components of the $T$-matrix element in the direction of the laser-field polarization and in the direction perpendicular to it. We analyze the destructive interference condition for this perpendicular component. Taking into account that the aligned molecules are an anisotropic medium for high-harmonic generation, we introduce elliptic dichroism as a measure of this anisotropy and discuss possibilities of its use for determining the molecular structure.
Gastrointestinal Histoplasmosis: A Descriptive Review, 2001–2021

Gastrointestinal histoplasmosis (GIH) is infrequently described in people without underlying HIV infection. We aimed to compare the clinical presentation of GIH in people with and without HIV infection. We conducted a literature search of published cases of GIH from 2001–2021 and found 212 cases. Of these, 142 (67.0%) were male, and 124 (58.5%) had HIV infection. Most cases were from North America (n = 88, 41.5%) and South America (n = 79, 37.3%). Of the 212 cases, 123 (58.0%) were included in both clinical and pathological analyses. The remainder were excluded as details about clinical and pathological findings were not available. Of the 123 cases, 41 had HIV infection while 82 were without HIV infection. The diagnosis was predominantly by histopathology (n = 109, 88.6%). A significant proportion of people with HIV infection had abdominal pain as the most predominant symptom of GIH compared to those without HIV infection (65.9% versus 41.9%, p < 0.05). The colon was the most affected site with a slightly higher proportion in those with HIV infection compared with cases without HIV infection (46.3% versus 42.7%). The commonest pathologic findings were caecal and ileal ulcers. Caecal ulcers were significantly more frequent in cases with HIV infection compared to those without HIV (32.1% versus 7.1%, p < 0.05). Despite being more common in people with HIV infection, GIH also affects people without HIV infection with similar clinical presentations.
Transition probabilities of molecular systems in presence-of-time-dependent electric fields

Transition probabilities between quantum states of a molecular system interacting with a low intensity time dependent field were obtained. The molecular system is modeled as a quartic anharmonic oscillator, whereas the interaction with the electric field is described by the electric-dipole approximation. We apply Lie algebraic techniques and make use of iterative Bogoliubov transformations to derive an approximate expression for the evolution operator. The methodological procedure proposed by Yuen allows us to evaluate the final time evolution operator in a closed for, using the optical properties of the two- photon coherent state of the radiation field.
Reliability of procedures used for scaling loudness

In this study, 16 normally-hearing listeners judged the loudness of 1000-Hz sinusoids using magnitude estimation (ME), magnitude production (MP), and categorical loudness scaling (CLS). Listeners in each of four groups completed the loudness scaling tasks in a different sequence on the first visit (ME, MP, CLS; MP, ME, CLS; CLS, ME, MP; CLS, MP, ME), and the order was reversed on the second visit. This design made it possible to compare the reliability of estimates of the slope of the loudness function across procedures in the same listeners. The ME data were well fitted by an inflected exponential (INEX) function, but a modified power law was used to obtain slope estimates for both ME and MP. ME and CLS were more reliable than MP. CLS results were consistent across groups, but ME and MP results differed across groups in a way that suggested influence of experience with CLS. Although CLS results were the most reproducible, they do not provide direct information about the slope of the loudness function because the numbers assigned to CLS categories are arbitrary. This problem can be corrected by using data from the other procedures to assign numbers that are proportional to loudness. [Supported by NIH]
Compact ultrashort-pulse laser-driven hard-x-ray tube

A compact indirect laser-driven ultrashort electron and hard-x-ray source based on the combination of a high-repetition rate femtosecond laser system with a conventional x-ray tube is demonstrated. The influence of laser parameters on thermionic electron emission and on the hard-x-ray generation efficiency is studied. This source has an outstanding performance in terms of average power, simplicity, handling, and applicability as compared to the sources based on high-power laser-produced plasmas.
Differentiate responses of soil nutrient levels and enzymatic activities to freeze-thawing cycles in different layers of moss-dominated biocrusts in a temperate desert

Introduction The biological soil crust, a widespread phenomenon in arid and semi-arid regions, influences many ecological functions, such as soil stability, surface hydrology, and biogeochemical cycling. Global climate change has significantly altered winter and spring freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) in mid and high-latitude deserts. However, it is unclear how these changes will affect the biological soil crust and its influence on nutrient cycling and soil enzyme activity. Methods We conducted this study in the Gurbantunggut Desert, a typical temperate desert, using the moss crust as an example of an evolved biological soil crust. Simulating the effects of different FTC frequencies (0, 5, and 15 times) on soil carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus-related nutrients, and extracellular enzyme activities allowed us to understand the relationship between soil environmental factors and nutrient multifunctionality during FTC changes. Results The results showed that recurrent FTCs significantly increased the accumulation of carbon and phosphorus nutrients in the soil and decreased the effectiveness of nitrogen nutrients. These changes gradually stabilized after 15 FTCs, with available nutrients showing greater sensitivity than the previous full nutrient level. FTCs inhibited carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycle-related hydrolase activities and promoted carbon cycle-related oxidase activities in the crust layer. However, in the 0–3 cm layer, the carbon and phosphorus cycle-related hydrolase activities increased, while peroxidase and urease activities decreased. Overall, the nutrient contents and enzyme activities associated with the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles were lower in the 0–3 cm layer than in the crust layer. In addition, the multifunctionality of nutrients in the soil decreased after 15 FTCs in the crust layer and increased after 5 FTCs in the 0–3 cm layer. Structural equation modeling showed that FTC, soil water content, pH, available nutrients, and extracellular enzyme activity had opposite effects on nutrient multifunctionality in different soil layers. The change in nutrient multifunctionality in the crust layer was primarily caused by changes in total nutrients, while soil water content played a greater role in the 0–3 cm layer. Regardless of the soil layer, the contribution of total nutrients was much higher than the contribution of available nutrients and extracellular enzyme activity. In conclusion, it is essential to consider different soil layers when studying the effects of global climate change on the nutrient cycling of the biological soil crust.
The Impact of Health Education on the Quality of Life of Patients Hospitalized in Forensic Psychiatry Wards

Purpose: An original health education program, developed for a group of patients of forensic psychiatry wards, was the basis for conducting a study on the impact of educational influences on the quality of life of patients long-term isolated from their natural environment. The main aim of the study was to answer the question: Does health education affect the quality of life of patients in forensic psychiatry wards and is educational activity effective? Methods: The study was conducted at the State Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases in Rybnik, Poland, in the forensic psychiatry wards, and lasted from December 2019 to May 2020. During the study, patients gained knowledge in the field of broadly understood health education. The study group consisted of 67 men, aged 22–73, diagnosed with schizophrenia. The method of double measurements (before and after the health education cycle) was applied, using the WHOQOL-BREF scale of quality of life and the first author’s questionnaire of patients’ knowledge, from the educational program used. Results: Health education does not significantly affect the overall quality of life of patients staying in forensic psychiatry wards, but it does affect their somatic condition. The proprietary health education program is effective because the patients’ knowledge has significantly improved. Conclusions: The quality of life of interned patients with schizophrenia is not significantly related to educational activities, however, psychiatric rehabilitation through educational activities effectively increases the level of patients’ knowledge.
Refinement of Transition-Edge Sensor Dimensions for the X-Ray Integral Field Unit on ATHENA

At NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, we have previously demonstrated a kilo-pixel array of transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters capable of meeting the energy resolution requirements of the future X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) instrument that is being developed for the Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA) observatory satellite. The TES design in this array was a square device with side length of 50 μm. Here, we describe studies of TES designs with small variations of the dimensions, exploring lengths, parallel to the current direction, ranging from 75 μm to 50 μm and widths, perpendicular to the current direction, ranging from 50 μm to 15 μm. We describe how these changes impact transition properties, thermal conductance and magnetic field sensitivity. In particular, we show that using a TES with a length of 50 μm and width of 30 μm may be a promising route to reduce the maximum time-derivative of the TES current in an X-ray pulse and reduce the sensitivity of the TES to magnetic field.