Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards emulating cosmic shear data: revisiting the calibration of the shear measurements for the Kilo-Degree Survey

Exploiting the full statistical power of future cosmic shear surveys will necessitate improvements to the accuracy with which the gravitational lensing signal is measured. We present a framework for calibrating shear with image simulations that demonstrates the importance of including realistic correlations between galaxy morphology, size, and more importantly, photometric redshifts. This realism is essential to ensure that selection and shape measurement biases can be calibrated accurately for a tomographic cosmic shear analysis. We emulate Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS) observations of the COSMOS field using morphological information from Hubble Space Telescope imaging, faithfully reproducing the measured galaxy properties from KiDS observations of the same field. We calibrate our shear measurements from lensfit, and find through a range of sensitivity tests that lensfit is robust and unbiased within the allowed two per cent tolerance of our study. Our results show that the calibration has to be performed by selecting the tomographic samples in the simulations, consistent with the actual cosmic shear analysis, because the joint distributions of galaxy properties are found to vary with redshift. Ignoring this redshift variation could result in misestimating the shear bias by an amount that exceeds the allowed tolerance. To improve the calibration for future cosmic shear analyses, it will also be essential to correctly account for the measurement of photometric redshifts, which requires simulating multi-band observations.
Orbital and physical parameters of eclipsing binaries from the ASAS catalogue – V. Investigation of subgiants and giants: the case of ASAS J010538−8003.7, ASAS J182510−2435.5 and V1980 Sgr

We present absolute physical and orbital parameters for three double-lined detached eclipsing binary systems from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) catalogue with subgiant and giant components. These parameters were derived from archival V-band ASAS photometry and new radial velocities. The radial velocities were calculated from high quality optical spectra we obtained with the 8.2 m Subaru/HDS, ESO 3.6 m/HARPS, 1.9 m Radcliffe/GIRAFFE, CTIO 1.5 m/CHIRON, and 1.2 m Euler/CORALIE using the two-dimensional cross-correlation technique (TODCOR) and synthetic template spectra chosen for every system separately as references. The physical and orbital parameters of the systems were derived with the phoebe and jktebop codes. We checked the evolutionary status of the systems with several sets of isochrones and determined distances for each system. The derived uncertainties for individual masses of ASAS J010538-8003.7, ASAS J182510-2435.5, and V1980 Sgr components vary from 0.7% to 3.6% while the radii are in the range 1% to 24% . For all of the investigated systems such a detailed orbital and physical analysis is presented for the first time.
JC Polyoma Virus as a Possible Risk Factor for Prostate Cancer Development - Immunofluorescence and Molecular Based Case Control Study

Background In vitro studies have produced conflicting results about the significance of the JC Polyoma Virus (JCV) in the human cancers. Objectives Our study aims to detect the presence of JCV Large T antigen (LTag) together with viral load quantitation in the prostate tumor samples to assess if JCV harbors risk factor for prostate cancer (PCa). Method This was a case control-based study. A total of 110 patients participated in this study, including 55 patients with PCa and another 55 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) as cases and controls, respectively. Tissue, blood and urine samples were collected from each participant. Tissues samples were analyzed for the presence of JCV Ltag using a direct immunofluorescence assay (IF). Only positive IF tested samples were subjected to viral quantitation assay. Data were collected and managed using SPSS version 20. Result The JCV LTag in the cases group was 23.63% (13/55) which was higher than that of the controls group 5.45% (3/55) with a P. value of . 006 and O.R of 5.76. The mean of viral load was significantly higher among cases tissue specimens 20156 ± 5450 copies/ml compared to controls group 6378 ± 2456copies/ml with P-value of . 002. The virus was detected in 11/13 (84.6%) urine samples of cases with a mean viral load of 14068 ± 4590 copies/ml compared to 2/3 (66.6%) of controls viral load 2534 ± 1267 copies/ml. Conclusion In conclusion, a higher JCV LTag with more viral load were detected in cases group compared to controls. Our findings support a strong relationship between JCV infection and the probability of developing PCa.
Ang II acutely stimulates Na,K‐pump in cells from proximal tubules by increasing its phosphorylation at S938 via a PI3K/AKT pathway

Angiotensin II (Ang II)‐dependent stimulation of the AT1 receptor in proximal tubules increases sodium reabsorption and blood pressure. Reabsorption is driven by the Na,K‐pump that is acutely stimulated by Ang II, which requires phosphorylation of serine‐938 (S938). This site is present in humans and only known to phosphorylated by PKA. Yet, activation of AT1 decreases cAMP required to activate PKA and inhibiting PKA does not block Ang II‐dependent phosphorylation of S938. We tested the hypothesis that Ang II‐dependent activation is mediated via increased phosphorylation at S938 through a PI3K/AKT‐dependent pathway. Experiments were conducted using opossum kidney cells, a proximal tubule cell line, stably co‐expressing the AT1 receptor and either the wild‐type (α‐1.wild‐type) or an alanine substituted (α‐1.S938A) form of rat kidney Na,K‐pump. A 5‐min exposure to 10 pM Ang II significantly activated Na,K‐pump activity (56%) measured as short‐circuit current across polarized α‐1.wild‐type cells. Wortmannin, at a concentration that selectively inhibits PI3K, blocked that Ang II‐dependent activation. Ang II did not stimulate Na,K‐pump activity in α‐1.S938A cells. Ang II at 10 and 100 pM increased phosphorylation at S938 in α‐1.wild‐type cells measured in whole cell lysates. The increase was inhibited by wortmannin plus H‐89, an inhibitor of PKA, not by either alone. Ang II activated AKT inhibited by wortmannin, not H‐89. These data support our hypothesis and show that Ang II‐dependent phosphorylation at S938 stimulates Na,K‐pump activity and transcellular sodium transport.
The Diversity of Thick Galactic Discs

Although thick stellar discs are detected in nearly all edge-on disc galaxies, their formation scenarios still remain a matter of debate. Due to observational difficulties, there is a lack of information about their stellar populations. Using the Russian 6m telescope BTA we collected deep spectra of thick discs in three edge-on S0-a disc galaxies located in different environments: NGC4111 in a dense group, NGC4710 in the Virgo cluster, and NGC5422 in a sparse group. We see intermediate age (4 5 Gyr) metal rich ([Fe/H] � 0.2.0.0 dex) stellar populations in NGC4111 and NGC4710. On the other hand, NGC5422 does not harbour young stars, its disc is thick and old (10 Gyr), without evidence for a second component, and its α-element abundance suggests a 1.5 2 Gyr long formation epoch implying its formation at high redshift. Our results suggest the diversity of thick disc formation scenarios.
On conjugacy of maximal abelian subalgebras and the outer automorphism group of the Cuntz algebra

We investigate the structure of the outer automorphism group of the Cuntz algebra and the closely related problem of conjugacy of maximal abelian subalgebras in . In particular, we exhibit an uncountable family of maximal abelian subalgebras, conjugate to the standard maximal abelian subalgebra via Bogolubov automorphisms, that are not inner conjugate to .
Genome-Wide Analysis of Gene Expression Noise Brought About by Transcriptional Regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The phenotypic diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is frequently observed in research, suggesting that bacteria adopt strategies such as bet-hedging to survive ever-changing environments. Gene expression noise (GEN) is the major source of phenotypic diversity. ABSTRACT The part of expression noise that is brought about by transcriptional regulation (represented here as NTR) is an important criterion for estimating the regulatory mode of a gene. However, characterization of NTR is an under-explored area, and there is little knowledge regarding the genome-wide NTR in the model pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, with a library of dual-color transcriptional reporters, we estimated the NTR for over 90% of the promoters in P. aeruginosa. Most promoters exhibit low NTR, while 42 and 115 promoters with high NTR were screened out in the exponential and the stationary growth phases, respectively. Specifically, a rearrangement of NTR was found in promoters involved in amino acid metabolism when bacteria enter the exponential phase. In addition, during the stationary phase, high NTR was found in a wide range of iron-related promoters involving siderophore synthesis and heme uptake, ExsA-regulated promoters involving bacterial virulence, and FleQ-regulated promoters involving biofilm development. We also found a large-scale negative dependence of transcriptional regulation between high-NTR promoters belonging to different functional categories. Our findings offer a global view of transcriptional heterogeneity in P. aeruginosa. IMPORTANCE The phenotypic diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is frequently observed in research, suggesting that bacteria adopt strategies such as bet-hedging to survive ever-changing environments. Gene expression noise (GEN) is the major source of phenotypic diversity. Large GEN from transcriptional regulation (represented as NTR) represent an evolutionary necessity to maintain the copy number diversity of certain proteins in the population. Here, we provide a system-wide view of NTR in P. aeruginosa under nutrient-rich and stressed conditions. High NTR was found in genes involved in flagella biosynthesis and amino acid metabolism under both conditions. Specially, iron acquisition genes exhibited high NTR in the stressed condition, suggesting a great diversity of iron physiology in P. aeruginosa. We further revealed a global negative dependence of transcriptional regulation between those high-NTR genes under the stressed condition, suggesting a mutually exclusive relationship between different bacterial survival strategies.
Eclipse timing variations to detect possible Trojan planets in binary systems

This paper is devoted to study the circumstances favourable to detect Trojan planets in close binary-star-systems by the help of eclipse timing variations (ETVs). To determine the probability of the detection of such variations with ground based telescopes and space telescopes (like former missions CoRoT and Kepler and future space missions like Plato, Tess and Cheops), we investigated the dynamics of binary star systems with a planet in tadpole motion. We did numerical simulations by using the full three-body problem as dynamical model. The stability and the ETVs are investigated by computing stability/ETV maps for different masses of the secondary star and the Trojan planet. In addition we changed the eccentricity of the possible Trojan planet. By the help of the libration amplitude $\sigma$ we could show whether or not all stable objects are moving in tadpole orbits. We can conclude that many amplitudes of ETVs are large enough to detect Earth-like Trojan planets in binary star systems. As an application, we prepared a list of possible candidates.
De novo sequencing and construction of a unique antibody for the recognition of alternative conformations of cytochrome c in cells

Significance Cytochrome c (cyt c) is an abundant heme protein that, in its native conformation, plays essential roles in mitochondrial bioenergetics and apoptotic signaling in mammalian cells. The dynamic properties of cyt c confers substantial plasticity to produce alternative conformations in vitro, but their detection in cellula remains essentially unexplored. We have restored by de novo sequencing a unique monoclonal antibody (R1D3) recognizing conformationally altered cyt c proteoforms. R1D3 application to different cell models showed that alternative cyt c conformers are translocated from mitochondria to the nuclei without triggering apoptosis. R1D3 represents a unique immunochemical tool for mitochondrial and cell biology, encompassing knowledge of protein dynamics and plasticity with the identification of noncanonical structures and functions of cyt c in vivo.
HESS J1943+213: a candidate extreme BL Lacertae object

We report on a newly detected point-like source, HESS J1943+213 located in the Galactic plane. This source coincides with an unidentified hard X-ray source IGR J19443+2117, which was proposed to have radio and infrared counterparts. HESS J1943+213 is detected at the significance level of 7.9 \sigma (post-trials) at RA(J2000)=19h 43m 55s +- 1s (stat) +- 1s (sys), DEC(J2000) = +21deg 18' 8" +- 17" (stat) +- 20" (sys). The source has a soft spectrum with photon index Gamma = 3.1 +- 0.3 (stat) +- 0.2 (sys) and a flux above 470 GeV of 1.3 +- 0.2 (stat) +- 0.3 (sys) x 10^{-12} cm^{-2} s^{-1}. There is no Fermi/LAT counterpart down to a flux limit of 6 x 10^{-9} cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 0.1-100 GeV energy range (95% confidence upper limit calculated for an assumed power-law model with a photon index Gamma=2.0). The data from radio to VHE gamma-rays do not show any significant variability. We combine new H.E. S.S. , Fermi/LAT and Nancay Radio Telescope observations with pre-existing non-simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of IGR J19443+2117 and discuss the likely source associations as well as the interpretation as an active galactic nucleus, a gamma-ray binary or a pulsar wind nebula. The lack of a massive stellar counterpart disfavors the binary hypothesis, while the soft VHE spectrum would be very unusual in case of a pulsar wind nebula. In addition, the distance estimates for Galactic counterparts places them outside of the Milky Way. All available observations favor an interpretation as an extreme, high-frequency peaked BL Lac object with a redshift z>0.14. This would be the first time a blazar is detected serendipitously from ground-based VHE observations, and the first VHE AGN detected in the Galactic Plane.
Substance use and psychotic-like experiences in young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract This study aimed to systematically review and synthesise the available evidence on the prevalence and associations between psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and substance use in children and adolescents aged ⩽17 years, prior to the typical age of development of prodromal symptoms of psychosis. As substance use has been associated with earlier age of psychosis onset and more severe illness, identifying risk processes in the premorbid phase of the illness may offer opportunities to prevent the development of prodromal symptoms and psychotic illness. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched for chart review, case-control, cohort, twin, and cross-sectional studies. Study reporting was assessed using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist, and pooled evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Searches identified 55 studies that met inclusion criteria. Around two-in-five substance users reported PLEs [rate = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.32–0.51; low quality evidence], and one-in-five with PLEs reported using substances (rate = 0.19, 95% CI 0.12–0.28; moderate-to-high quality evidence). Substance users were nearly twice as likely to report PLEs than non-users [odds ratio (OR) 1.77, 95% CI 1.55–2.02; moderate quality evidence], and those with PLEs were twice as likely to use substances than those not reporting PLEs (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.55–2.41; very low quality evidence). Younger age was associated with greater odds of PLEs in substance users compared to non-users. Young substance users may represent a subclinical at-risk group for psychosis. Developing early detection and intervention for both substance use and PLEs may reduce long-term adverse outcomes.
Boundary Behavior of Subelliptic Parabolic Equations on Time-Dependent Domains

In this paper we study the boundary behavior of solutions of a divergence-form subelliptic heat equation in a time-varying domain \Omega in R^{n+1}, structured on a set of vector fields X = (X_1, . X_m) with smooth coefficients satisfying H\"ormander's finite rank condition. Assuming that \Omega is an X-NTA domain, we first prove a Dahlberg type estimate comparing the X-caloric measure of \Omega and the Green function of the subelliptic heat operator. We then prove a backward Harnack inequality, the doubling property for the X-caloric measure of \Omega, the H\"older continuity at the boundary for quotients of solutions of H, and a Fatou theorem.
Rapid readout of a register of qubits using open-loop quantum control

Measurements are a primitive for characterizing quantum systems. Reducing the time taken to perform a measurement may be beneficial in many areas of quantum information processing. We show that permuting the eigenvalues of the state matrix in the logical basis, using open-loop control, provides an O(n) reduction in the measurement time, where n is the number of qubits in the register. This reduction is of the same order as the (previously introduced) locally optimal feedback protocol. The advantage of the open-loop protocol is that it is far less difficult experimentally. Because the control commutes with the measured observable at all times, our rapid measurement protocol could be used for characterizing a quantum system, by state or process tomography, or to implement measurement-based quantum error correction.
Lower bounds for the index of compact constant mean curvature surfaces in $\mathbb R^3$ and $\mathbb S^3$

Let $M$ be a compact constant mean curvature surface either in $\mathbb{S}^3$ or $\mathbb{R}^3$. In this paper we prove that the stability index of $M$ is bounded below by a linear function of the genus. As a by product we obtain a comparison theorem between the spectrum of the Jacobi operator of $M$ and those of Hodge Laplacian of $1$-forms on $M$.
High incidence of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and other autoimmune diseases after SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to COVID-19 vaccination in children and adolescents in south central Europe.

OBJECTIVES To estimate the incidence and describe the spectrum of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination in children from two neighbouring south central European countries. METHODS We performed a multi-centre prospective cohort study of children under 18 years diagnosed with inflammatory/autoimmune diseases linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 vaccination, who were admitted to the paediatric tertiary care hospitals in Slovenia and Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021. Disease incidence was calculated based on laboratory-confirmed cases only. RESULTS Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases linked to SARS-CoV-2 were diagnosed in 192 children (127 laboratory-confirmed), of whom 112 had multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), followed by vasculitis, neurological and cardiac diseases. Calculated risk of MIS-C was 1 in 860 children after SARS-CoV-2 infection and cumulative incidence of MIS-C was 18.3/100,000 of all children. Fifteen children had severe COVID-19. Two patients with MIS-C and a patient with myositis presented after COVID-19 vaccination. All 3 had at presentation also a serologically proven recent SARS-CoV-2 infection. After MIS-C, nine patients were vaccinated against COVID-19 and 25 patients had a SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, without recurrence of MIS-C. CONCLUSIONS Autoimmune diseases following SARS-CoV-2 infection in children were 8.5 times as common as severe COVID-19. MIS-C was the most common manifestation and its incidence in this predominantly white population was higher than previously reported. MIS-C does not seem to recur after SARS-CoV-2 reinfection or COVID-19 vaccination. Autoimmune diseases were much more common after SARS-CoV-2 infection than after COVID-19 vaccination.
Serotype 19A and 6C Account for One-Third of Pneumococcal Carriage Among Belgian Day-Care Children Four Years After a Shift to a Lower-Valent PCV

Abstract Background Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) effectively reduce infection and asymptomatic carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine serotypes. In 2016, Belgium replaced its infant PCV13 program by a 4-year period of PCV10. Concomitantly, S. pneumoniae serotype carriage was monitored together with the carriage of other nasopharyngeal pathogens in children attending day-care centers. Methods From 2016 to 2019, a total of 3459 nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from children aged 6–30 months. Culture and qPCR were used for the identification of S. pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Staphylococcus aureus and for serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility assessment of S. pneumoniae strains. Results S. pneumoniae colonization was frequent and stable over the study years. H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis were more frequently carried (P < .001) than S. pneumoniae, by, respectively, 92.3% and 91.0% of children. Prevalence of all PCV13 serotypes together increased significantly over time from 5.8% to 19.6% (P < .001) and was attributable to the increasing prevalence of serotype 19A. Coincidently, non-vaccine serotype 6C increased (P < .001) and the overall pneumococcal non-susceptibility to tetracycline and erythromycin. Non-susceptibility to cotrimoxazole decreased (P < .001). Conclusions The switch to a PCV program no longer covering serotypes 19A, 6A, and 3 was associated with a sustained increase of serotypes 19A and 6C in healthy children, similarly as in invasive pneumococcal disease. This resulted in a re-introduction of the 13-valent conjugate vaccine during the summer of 2019.
A multigrid algorithm for the $p$-version of the Virtual Element Method

We present a multigrid algorithm for the solution of the linear systems of equations stemming from the $p-$version of the Virtual Element discretization of a two-dimensional Poisson problem. The sequence of coarse spaces are constructed decreasing progressively the polynomial approximation degree of the Virtual Element space, as in standard $p$-multigrid schemes. The construction of the interspace operators relies on auxiliary Virtual Element spaces, where it is possible to compute higher order polynomial projectors. We prove that the multigrid scheme is uniformly convergent, provided the number of smoothing steps is chosen sufficiently large. We also demonstrate that the resulting scheme provides a uniform preconditioner with respect to the number of degrees of freedom that can be employed to accelerate the convergence of classical Krylov-based iterative schemes. Numerical experiments validate the theoretical results.
The impact of economic policy uncertainty on firms’ investment in innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms

This paper uses data of Chinese listed enterprises and economic policy uncertainty index for empirical analysis, and conducts a study through three channels of monetary policy uncertainty affecting enterprise innovation investment, and finds that economic policy uncertainty has a positive promotion effect on enterprise R&D investment, and its increase in tension is instead a clear signal that can effectively increase enterprise R&D investment, this promotion effect seems unexpected, this paper Through theoretical analysis and combined with the actual practice, this incentive effect is found to be in line with reality. However, in the subsequent heterogeneity analysis, this paper finds that it positively promotes R&D investment when economic policy uncertainty is low and may have a suppressive effect on R&D investment when monetary policy uncertainty is high.