Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role Models of Aging among Older Men: Strategies for Facilitating Change and Implications for Health Promotion

Understanding later-life role model choice and motivations, particularly for older men in sport, exercise, and health contexts, is complex and heterogenous, making it difficult for health and exercise promotion initiatives. This qualitative study examined: (1) whether older men have aging role models, and if so, their characteristics; and (2) older men’s reasons for role model choice, or lack thereof, and how role models can influence meaningful change in perceptions and practices associated with aging, sport, exercise, and health. Through in-depth interviews and photo-elicitation with 19 Canadian men aged 75 years and over, thematic analysis determined two key themes: Role model choice, and Processes of role models facilitating change. Four key strategies for role models facilitating change in older men were determined: elite (biomedical) transcendence; valued exemplary endeavours; alliance connections; and disconnect and caveats. Ultimately, while promoting the biomedical achievements of role models may resonate with many older men, when applied too closely in sport or exercise contexts (e.g., using Masters athletes as role models), there is potential for unrealistic standards and overmedicalization that could miss uncovering the latent importance that older men place on the diverse experiences and perspectives of aging that go beyond traditional masculine ideals.
Quantitative pupillary light reflex assessment for prognosis of carbon monoxide poisoning

Background A non-reactive pupil in standard pupillary light reflex (sPLR) is regarded as a factor predicting neurological sequelae at 1-month after carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. An automated pupillometer is used in the intensive care unit to quantitatively assess PLR. Quantitative PLR (qPLR) was superior to sPLR using penlight for prognosis of various neurological diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze whether quantitative pupillary variables (neurological Pupil index [NPi] and qPLR) are superior to sPLR in predicting 1-month neurocognitive sequelae after acute CO poisoning. Methods We performed a prospective observational study of consecutive patients with acute CO poisoning admitted to an emergency department (ED) between August 2019 and December 2020 in a single academic medical center. sPLR and pupillometer examinations (qPLR and NPi) were performed by emergency physicians at the ED on hospital days 0–2. The lowest values among those recorded within 24 h and during the total measurement period were considered the 24-h and total lowest values, respectively. Global Deterioration Scale scores were measured at 1 month as an outcome and were dichotomized into favorable (1–4) or poor (5–7) outcomes. Results We analyzed the data of 104 adult patients with acute CO poisoning. qPLR was significantly higher in the favorable outcome group than in the poor outcome group 24-h and total lowest values (21.2% vs. 15.0%, p = 0.006 and 21.0% vs. 14.8%, p = 0.006). qPLR <18% had fair predictive power for poor neurocognitive outcomes [area under the curve (AUC), 0.70; 95% confidence interval (0.60–0.78)]. Among the patients with decreased mental status (Glasgow Coma Scale ≤12), the power of NPi and qPLR increased [AUC, 0.72 and AUC, 0.80]. NPi < 1 and qPLR <18% showed sensitivity (9.5% vs. 76.2%) and specificity (98.8% vs. 67.5%) for the prediction of poor outcomes. qPLR was significantly superior to sPLR in predicting poor neurocognitive outcomes at 1 month after CO poisoning (p = 0.007). Conclusion qPLR and NPi were superior to sPLR in terms of predicting poor neurocognitive outcomes. qPLR and NPi measured from hospital days 0–2 may be valuable in predicting neurocognitive outcome.
Diagnostic Performance of Metagenomic Next⁃Generation Sequencing in the Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infection Using Tissue Specimens

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) diagnosing prosthetic joint infection (PJI) using tissue from hip/knee rapidly and precisely, especially in patients who had received antibiotic treatment within the preceding two weeks. Methods From May 2020 to March 2022, 52 cases with suspected PJI were enrolled. mNGS was performed on surgical tissue samples. The sensitivity and specificity of mNGS in diagnosis was evaluated using culture in conjunction with MSIS criteria. This study also looked at how antibiotic use affected culture and mNGS efficacy. Results According to MSIS criteria, 31 of the 44 cases had PJI, and 13 were classified in the aseptic loosening group. Sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative predictive value (PPV/NPV), positive/negative likelihood ratio (PLR/NLR), and area under the curve (AUC) of mNGS assay were 80.6% (71.9–91.8%), 84.6 (73.7–97.9%), 92.6 (84.2–98.7%), 64.7 (58.6–74.7%), 5.241 (4.081–6.693), 0.229 (0.108–0.482) and 0.826 (0.786–0.967), respectively, with MSIS as a reference. When MSIS was used as a reference, the results of culture assay were 45.2% (40.8–51.5%), 100 (100.0–100.0%), 100 (100.0–100.0%), 43.3 (39.1–49.5%), +∞, 0.548 (0.396–0.617) and 0.726 (0.621–0.864), respectively. The AUC values for mNGS and culture were 0.826 and 0.731, respectively, and the differences were insignificant. mNGS demonstrated higher sensitivity than culture in PJI subjects who had previously received antibiotic treatment within 2 weeks (69.5% vs 23.1%, P = 0.03). Conclusion In our series, mNGS yield a higher sensitivity for diagnosis and pathogen detection of PJI compared to microbiological culture. Additionally, mNGS is less affected by prior antibiotic exposure.
Solution Strategies of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Models

DSGE models are the main tool for analysing various questions in problems of monetary, business cycle theory and fiscal policy problems, growth and other fields in international macroeconomics and macroeconomics. Many macroeconomic publications use the DSGE framework. A consensus has been reached on the methodology for using such kind of model. The resolution of DSGE models remains an area of ongoing interest. This paper provides an overview of the available solution techniques. Linear approximation methods and perturbation methods have been explored in detail. Solving strategies such as the eigenvalue auto-decomposition of Blanchard and Kahn (1980) or the method of indefinite coefficients are explained. A Bayesian estimate is drawn shortly. The evaluation methods are briefly described. Finally, the paper provides some useful resources for practical implementation.
Effective-focal-length calculations and measurements for a radial diffraction grating

As the technology for manufacturing radial diffraction gratings improves, there will be increasing interest in using high-groove-density radial gratings as scales for precision interferometer-type rotary encoders. If efficiency in optical designs is to be optimized, the focusing properties of these gratings must be understood. We use analytical geometry to investigate the focusing properties of a radial diffraction grating illuminated by laser light diverging from a pointlike source. We compare the results with experiments that we performed with a state-of-the-art custom radial grating, and we obtain excellent agreement with our calculations, which improve on earlier analytical work.
Applications of Time Series Analysis in Astronomy and Meteorology

Part 1 Time series - theory and methodology: A short history of time series, M.B. Priestley Frequency estimation, E.J. Hannan et al Asymptotic expansion of estimators for diffusions with small noises, N. Yoshida Spatial-temporal spectral analysis with random sampling, I-Shang Chow, Ken-Shin Lii Detection of periodicities, M.B. Priestley Spectral and multivariate probability density estimation of continuous time stationary processes from randomly sampled data, Elias Masry Minimum distance approach in parametric estimation for diffusion processes, Yu. Kutoyants From data to models, D. Guegan Filtering of spatial-time series, G. Cariolaro Time-domain and frequency-domain analysis of non linear astronomical time series, T. Subba Rao. Part 2 Applications to astronomy: Time series problems in astronomy: an introduction, Eric D. Feigelson Time delay estimates for Q0957+561A,B , David J. Thomson, Rudy Schild Continuum power spectrum components in x-ray sources: detailed modelling and search for coherent periodicities, L. Stella et al Wavelet methods in the astronomical time series analysis, Jeffrey D. Scargle Non parametric methods for shift and periodicity detection in irregular measured data, Jaan Pelt A multi-channel, cross-spectral technique for calculating best-fit time-delay spectra, Brian Vaughan Period analysis of variable stars, J. Cuypers Change analysis of astronomical data, F. Lombard, C. Koen Doppler tomography of starspot distributions on stellar surfaces, a.C. Cameron Nowcasting astronomical seeing and forecasting telescope environment for the ESO VLT, Fionn Murtagh, Marc Sarazin Linear and non linear modelling of the geomagnetic aa indices, Gy Terdik A sample of astronomical time series, Paul Hertz, Eric D. Feigelson. Part 3 Applications to meteorology and climatology: Problems and examples in the estimation of fractal dimension from meteorological and earthquake data, D. Vere-Jones et al Characterizing trends in climatological time series: an application to Brera Observatory (Milan) rainfall series, R. Sneyers et al Applications of singular spectrum analysis to climatological time series, R. Vautard, C.A. Pires Change points in hydrometeorlogical time series, Pierre Hubert Detection of pollution signals in tree-ring series using AR processes and neural networks, J. Guiot, L. Tessier Statistical verification studies and future scenarios of modelled climate change due to the "greenhouse effect", Christian D. Schonwiese Controlling the homogeneity of a long meterological series: the series of Padova (1725 - today), Dario Camuffo, Franco Zardini.
Characterization of a Prefilming Airblast Atomizer in a Strong Swirl Flow Field

Most gas turbine engines in service use a prefilming airblast atomizer in combination with strong swirling flow. An experimental investigation of the characteristics of a hollow cone prefilming airblast atomizer in a strong swirling air flow is presented in this paper. The measured quantities include the spray cone angle by planar imaging, pattemation using planar laser-induced fluorescence, planar droplet velocity field using two-component particle image velocimetry, and droplet size and velocity distributions using a phase Doppler particle-size analyzer and laser Doppler velocimetry. Patternation of the spray field showed regions of high droplet concentration and volume flux fluctuations in various cross-sectional planes. The investigation revealed the presence of droplets of narrow size range up to 25 μ around the axis of the atomizer in the central toroidal recirculation zone of the swirler. The presence of vortical structures entraining the droplets is observed from the instantaneous velocity vector fields. The velocity data shows entrainment of the droplets in the central toroidal recirculation zone. Examining the size and the velocity data reveals that the centrifugal action of the swirling air flowfield from the atomizer carries the bigger droplets outward, toward the periphery of the spray.
Global and local priming in a multi-modal context

Perceptual information can be processed at many different scales, from featural details to entire scenes. Attentional selection of different scales has been studied using hierarchical stimuli, with research elucidating a variety of biases in local and global attentional selection (due to, e.g., stimulus properties, brain injury, and experience). In this study, the emphasis is on biases produced through recent experience, or level-specific priming effects, which have been demonstrated within both the visual and auditory modalities. Namely, when individuals attend to local information, they are subsequently biased to attend locally (and similarly so with global attention). Here, these level-specific priming effects are investigated in a multi-modal context to determine whether cross-modal interactions occur between visual and auditory modalities during hierarchical processing. Specifically, the study addresses if attentional selection of local or global information in the visual modality subsequently biases auditory attentional selection to that level, and vice versa (i.e., level-priming). Though expected identity priming effects emerged in the study, no cross-modal level-priming effects manifested. Furthermore, the multi-modal context eliminated the well-established within-modality level-specific priming effects. Thus, though the study does reveal a multi-modal effect, it was not a level-based effect. Instead, paradoxically, the multi-modal context eliminated attentional scope biases (i.e., level-priming) within uni-modal transitions. In other words, when visual and auditory information are equally likely require attention, no persistence emerges for processing local or global information over time, even within a single modality.
Doxorubicin-Loaded Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Capsules Modified with Antitumor DR5-Specific TRAIL Variant for Targeted Drug Delivery to Tumor Cells

Recently, biodegradable polyelectrolyte multilayer capsules (PMC) have been proposed for anticancer drug delivery. In many cases, microencapsulation allows to concentrate the substance locally and prolong its flow to the cells. To reduce systemic toxicity when delivering highly toxic drugs, such as doxorubicin (DOX), the development of a combined delivery system is of paramount importance. Many efforts have been made to exploit the DR5-dependent apoptosis induction for cancer treatment. However, despite having a high antitumor efficacy of the targeted tumor-specific DR5-B ligand, a DR5-specific TRAIL variant, its fast elimination from a body limits its potential use in a clinic. A combination of an antitumor effect of the DR5-B protein with DOX loaded in the capsules could allow to design a novel targeted drug delivery system. The aim of the study was to fabricate PMC loaded with a subtoxic concentration of DOX and functionalized with the DR5-B ligand and to evaluate a combined antitumor effect of this targeted drug delivery system in vitro. In this study, the effects of PMC surface modification with the DR5-B ligand on cell uptake both in 2D (monolayer culture) and 3D (tumor spheroids) were studied by confocal microscopy, flow cytometry and fluorimetry. Cytotoxicity of the capsules was evaluated using an MTT test. The capsules loaded with DOX and modified with DR5-B demonstrated synergistically enhanced cytotoxicity in both in vitro models. Thus, the use of the DR5-B-modified capsules loaded with DOX at a subtoxic concentration could provide both targeted drug delivery and a synergistic antitumor effect.
Instability mechanisms in buoyant‐thermocapillary liquid pools

A cylindrical volume of fluid, with a free surface on top, is heated by a parabolic heat flux from above. Two physical effects drive a flow: thermocapillary effects due to free‐surface temperature gradients introduced by the non‐uniform heat flux and buoyancy forces due to gravity. The basic axisymmetric flow is computed by finite volumes and its stability is investigated by a linear‐stability analysis. It is found that the critical stability boundaries and modes are similar to those known from the half‐zone model of crystal growth. For low Prandtl numbers the critical mode is steady and three‐dimensional. We find an asymptotic critical value in the limit of vanishing Prandtl number. For increasing Prandtl number the critical Reynolds number increases. Near unit Prandtl number no threshold could be found with the present computational limitations. For Prandtl numbers larger than unity, the critical mode is oscillatory and the critical Reynolds number decreases with the Prandtl number. We present evidence that the low‐ and high‐Prandtl‐number instabilities are essentially centrifugal respectively due to the hydrothermal‐wave mechanism. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Rational Coformer Selection in the Development of 6-Propyl-2-thiouracil Pharmaceutical Cocrystals

Pharmaceutical multicomponent solids have proved to efficiently modulate the physicochemical properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients. In this context, polyphenols are interesting coformers for designing pharmaceutical cocrystals due to their wide safety profile and interesting antioxidant properties. The novel 6-propyl-2-thiouracil multicomponent solids have been obtained by mechanochemical synthesis and fully characterized by powder and single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The analysis of supramolecular synthons has been further performed with computational methods, with both results revealing a robust supramolecular organization influenced by the different positions of the hydroxyl groups within the polyphenolic coformers. All novel 6-propyl-2-thiouracil cocrystals show an enhanced solubility profile, but unfortunately, their thermodynamic stability in aqueous media is limited to 24 h.
Simulating the First Galaxies

Abstract The formation of the first galaxies marks the end of the cosmic dark ages, initiating the prolonged process of reionization and enriching the pristine intergalactic medium with the first heavy chemical elements. It is now possible to simulate this process with ever greater detail of physical realism, while still considering the proper cosmological context. The simulations have taught us that the feedback from Population III stars is vital in shaping the properties of early galaxies. We are close in pushing ab initio simulations to the point where future instruments, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, can directly test theoretical predictions.
Refined Modeling and Compensation of Current Transformers Behavior for Line Parameters Estimation Based on Synchronized Measurements

Nowadays, in modern management and control applications, line parameters need to be known more accurately than in the past to achieve a reliable operation of the distribution grids. Phasor measurement units (PMUs) may improve line parameter estimation processes, but the accuracy of the result is affected by all the elements of the PMU-based measurement chain, in particular by the instrument transformers. Current transformers (CTs) are nonlinear and, therefore, their behavior is not easily described: their models cannot be straightforwardly included in the estimation problem. In this regard, this article refines modeling and compensation of CT systematic errors in line parameter estimation processes, based on different methods to describe the transformer behavior under various operating conditions. As the main result, the systematic errors of CTs are remarkably identified and mitigated. Moreover, the estimation of shunt susceptance values is significantly improved.
Photoelectron spectroscopic study of CdS nanocrystallites

Nanocrystallites of semiconductors, especially those belonging to II-VI and III-V groups, show size-dependent optical and electrical properties. In this paper we report on x-ray photoemission results of CdS nanocrystallites of two different sizes and compare these results with bulk CdS. The S 2p and 2s core levels of the nanocrystallites reveal three different types of sulfur, unlike bulk CdS, which shows only one kind of sulfur species. Details of the spectroscopic results provide estimates of the size of the nanocrystallites, while also indicating the origin of the stability of such small clusters. [S0163-1829(99)03811-4].
Theory of beam induced current characterization of grain boundaries in polycrystalline solar cells

A theoretical analysis is given of the induced current profiles at grain boundaries in polycrystalline solar cells, as obtained by light or electron beam excitation. The area A and the variance σ2 of the contrast profile of a grain boundary are calculated for realistic generations as functions of the interface recombination velocity vs and the minority carrier diffusion length L. A graphical new procedure is proposed which allows the simultaneous determination of vs and L from the measured values of A and σ. The evaluation of an experimental electron beam induced current profile illustrates the applicability of the theory.
BORON CHANNELING IMPLANTATIONS IN SILICON : MODELING OF ELECTRONIC STOPPING AND DAMAGE ACCUMULATION

Channeling implantations of 20 keV boron into silicon have been performed with doses between 1013 and 1016 cm−2 in the [100], [110], and [211] direction, and parallel to a (111) plane. Simulations using an empirical electronic stopping model agree very well with the experimental results. The model has been obtained considering a large number of random and channeling implantations published in the literature. It contains a nonlocal and an impact parameter dependent part with the nonlocal fraction increasing with energy. Moreover, a computationally efficient damage accumulation model is presented which takes point defect recombination into account. It is found that due to interactions within a recoil cascade only 1/8 of the generated damage is stable, and that damage saturation takes place at a concentration of 4×1021 cm−3. Comparison of simulations and experiments indicates that displaced atoms reside on random positions rather than on tetrahedral interstitial sites in the silicon lattice.
On the solutions of the nonlinear fractional differential equations via the modified trial equation method

In this study, the nonlinear fractional partial differential equations have been defined by the modified Riemann–Liouville fractional derivative. By using this fractional derivative and traveling wave transformation, the nonlinear fractional partial differential equations have been converted into nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The modified trial equation method is implemented to obtain exact solutions of the nonlinear fractional Klein–Gordon equation and fractional clannish random walker's parabolic equation. As a result, some exact solutions including single kink solution and periodic and rational function solutions of these equations have been successfully obtained. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Network Coding Approaches for Distributed Computation over Lossy Wireless Networks

In wireless distributed computing systems, worker nodes connect to a master node wirelessly and perform large-scale computational tasks that are parallelized across them. However, the common phenomenon of straggling (i.e., worker nodes often experience unpredictable slowdown during computation and communication) and packet losses due to severe channel fading can significantly increase the latency of computational tasks. In this paper, we consider a heterogeneous, wireless, distributed computing system performing large-scale matrix multiplications which form the core of many machine learning applications. To address the aforementioned challenges, we first propose a random linear network coding (RLNC) approach that leverages the linearity of matrix multiplication, which has many salient properties, including ratelessness, maximum straggler tolerance and near-ideal load balancing. We then theoretically demonstrate that its latency converges to the optimum in probability when the matrix size grows to infinity. To combat the high encoding and decoding overheads of the RLNC approach, we further propose a practical variation based on batched sparse (BATS) code. The effectiveness of our proposed approaches is demonstrated by numerical simulations.