Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Acute Beetroot Juice Ingestion on Reactive Agility Performance

Beetroot juice (BRJ) is high in inorganic nitrate (NO3) which has been shown to enhance vascular function, cognition, and physical performance. Acute BRJ supplementation has been reported to enhance explosive resistance exercise performance and simple reaction time in diseased populations. However, it remains unknown if acute BRJ supplementation can enhance agility and reactive drills in healthy individuals, which are relevant to many sports. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute BRJ supplementation on simple reaction time and reactive agility performance. In a counterbalanced double-blinded manner, physically active males completed two trials each with a differing single-dose treatment: (1) Placebo (PL), (2) BRJ. Each treatment was consumed 2-hrs before experimental testing. Plasma Nitrate (NO3) and Nitrite (NO2) were measured via capillary blood sampling and colorimetric assay. Reaction time was assessed using a simple reaction time light test. Reactive agility was measured via a semi-circle drill and a get-up-and-go drill. All tests used FITLIGHT LED sensors to record response time. Each visit was separated by a 72-h washout period. Acute BRJ ingestion resulted in significantly greater plasma NO3 (p < 0.001) and NO2 (p = 0.008) compared to PL. BRJ significantly improved response time during the semi-circle drill (p = 0.011) and get-up and go drill (p = 0.027) compared to PL. No differences between treatments were observed for simple reaction time (p = 0.279). Collectively, these findings suggest that acute BRJ ingestion may improve reactive agility performance likely mediated by systemic increases in NO3/NO2. Future research is needed to investigate how these findings translate to game-play and sports competition.
Structure and Kinematics of Molecular Disks in Fast-Rotator Early-Type Galaxies

We present interferometric observations resolving the CO emission in the four gas-rich lenticular galaxies NGC 3032, NGC 4150, NGC 4459, and NGC 4526, and we compare the CO distribution and kinematics to those of the stars and ionized gas. Counterrotation documents an external origin for the gas in at least one case (NGC 3032), and the comparisons to stellar and ionized gas substructures in all four galaxies offer insights into their formation histories. The molecular gas is found in kpc-scale disks with mostly regular kinematics and average surface densities of 100-200 M☉ pc−2. The disks are well aligned with the stellar photometric and kinematic axes. In the two more luminous Virgo Cluster members NGC 4459 and NGC 4526 the molecular gas shows excellent agreement with circular velocities derived independently from detailed modeling of stellar kinematic data. There are also two puzzling instances of disagreements between stellar kinematics and gas kinematics on subkiloparsec scales. In the inner arcseconds of NGC 3032 the CO velocities are significantly lower than the inferred circular velocities, and the reasons may possibly be related to the external origin of the gas but are not well understood. In addition, the very young population of stars in the core of NGC 4150 appears to have the opposite sense of rotation from the molecular gas.
Quantum phase transitions detected by a local probe using time correlations and violations of Leggett-Garg inequalities

C.T. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish MINECO under contracts MAT2011-22997 and MAT2014-53119-C2-1-R. F.J.G.R acknowledges financial support from Proyectos Semilla-Facultad de Ciencias at Universidad de los Andes (2015). F.J.G.R, F.J.R. , and L.Q. acknowledge financial support from Facultad de Ciencias at UniAndes-2015 project “Quantum control of nonequilibrium hybrid systems-Part II. ”
ORIGIN OF MULTI-BAND EMISSION FROM THE MICROQUASAR CYGNUS X–1

We study the origin of non-thermal emissions from the Galactic black hole X-ray binary Cygnus X–1, which is a confirmed high-mass microquasar. By analogy with the methods used in studies of active galactic nuclei, we propose a two-dimensional, time-dependent radiation model from the microquasar Cygnus X–1. In this model, the evolution equation for relativistic electrons in a conical jet are numerically solved by including escape, adiabatic, and various radiative losses. The radiative processes involved are synchrotron emission, its self-Compton scattering, and inverse Compton scatterings of an accretion disk and its surrounding stellar companion. This model also includes an electromagnetic cascade process of an anisotropic γ–γ interaction. We study the spectral properties of electron evolution and its emission spectral characteristic at different heights of the emission region located in the jet. We find that radio data from Cygnus X–1 are reproduced by the synchrotron emission, the Fermi Large Area Telescope measurements by the synchrotron emission and Comptonization of photons of the stellar companion, and the TeV band emission fluxes by the Comptonization of the stellar photons. Our results show the following. (1) The radio emission region extends from the binary system scales to the termination of the jet. (2) The GeV band emissions should originate from the distance close to the binary system scales. (3) The TeV band emissions could be inside the binary system, and these emissions could be probed by the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array. (4) The MeV tail emissions, which produce a strongly linearly polarized signal, are emitted inside the binary system. The location of the emissions is very close to the inner region of the jet.
Comparative Analysis of Social Economic and Ecological Progress of “Oil Palm Village” and “Non-Oil Palm Village” Communities

This study aimed to analyze the level of social, economic, and ecological progress of the Oil Palm Village communities and compare the level of social, economic, and ecological progress between the Oil Palm Village and Non-Oil Palm Village communities. Indonesia is one of the major palm oil-producing countries in the world. Palm oil has brought economic benefits nationally and also to local communities. However, in its development, there has been a controversy surrounding the palm oil commodity, namely in the case of Indonesian palm oil which is related to the issues of deforestation and territorialization due to the economic interests of palm oil versus the existence of forest areas. This study used a Quantitative Approach with Secondary Data Methods from primary sources (Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantage Region, and Transmigration, BPS, and Directorate General of Plantation) with the village communities as the unit of analysis. As many as 524 village communities were selected from the population of Oil Palm Villages and Non-Oil Palm Villages in eight provinces of Indonesia’s oil palm centers with a combination of Purposive Multistage Sampling and Propensity Score Matching methods. Descriptive analysis, comparative analysis, analysis of the difference in progress using the Difference in Difference (DID) model, and the binary logistic regression method were carried out in this study. The results of the study revealed the facts that there has been an increase in social, economic, and ecological progress in various Oil Palm Village communities. The level of social, economic, and ecological progress of Oil Palm Village communities is higher than that of Non-Oil Palm Village communities. These facts indicate that the community sustainability level of the Oil Palm Village communities is superior to that of the Non-Oil Palm Village communities.
Maintaining fixation by children in a virtual reality version of pupil perimetry

The assessment of the visual field in young children continues to be a challenge. Children often do not sit still, fail to fixate stimuli for longer durations, and have limited verbal capacity to report visibility. Therefore, we introduced a head-mounted VR display with gazecontingent flicker pupil perimetry (VRgcFPP). We presented large flickering patches at different eccentricities and angles in the periphery to evoke pupillary oscillations, and three fixation stimulus conditions to determine best practices for optimal fixation and pupil response quality. A total of twenty children (3-11y) passively fixated a dot, counted the repeated appearance of an animated character (counting task), and watched an animated movie in separate trials of 80s each (20 patch locations, 4s per location). The results showed that gaze precision and accuracy did not differ significantly across the fixation conditions but pupil amplitudes were strongest for the dot and count task. The VR set-up appears to be an ideal apparatus for children to allow free range of movement, an engaging visual task, and reliable eye measurements. We recommend the use of the fixation counting task for pupil perimetry because children enjoyed it the most and it achieved strongest pupil responses.
Bayesian Approach to Find a Long-Term Trend in Erratic Polarization Variations Observed in Blazars

We developed a method of separating a long-term trend from observed temporal variations of polarization in blazars using a Bayesian approach. The temporal variation of the polarization vector is apparently erratic in most blazars, while several objects have occasionally exhibited systematic variations, for example an increase of the polarization degree associated with a flare of the total flux. We assume that the observed polarization vector is a superposition of two distinct components: a long-term trend and a short-term variation component responsible for short flares. Our Bayesian model estimates a long-term trend that satisfies the condition that the total flux correlates with the polarized flux of the short-term component. We demonstrate that assumed long-term polarization components are successfully separated by the Bayesian model for artificial data. We applied this method to the three photopolarimetric data of OJ 287, S5 0716+714, and S2 0109+224. Simple and systematic long-term trends were obtained in OJ 287 and S2 0109+224, while no such trend was confirmed in S5 0716+714. We propose that the apparently erratic variations of polarization in OJ 287 and S2 0109+224 are due to the presence of the long-term polarization component. The behavior of polarization in S5 0716+714 during the period of observation implies the presence of a number of polarization components showing variations on a quite short time-scale.
THE PROPERTIES OF MASSIVE, DENSE CLUMPS: MAPPING SURVEYS OF HCN AND CS

We have mapped over 50 massive, dense clumps with four dense gas tracers: HCN J = 1–0 and 3–2; and CS J = 2–1 and 7–6 transitions. Spectral lines of optically thin H13CN 3–2 and C34S 5–4 were also obtained toward the map centers. These maps usually demonstrate single well-peaked distributions at our resolution, even with higher J transitions. The size, virial mass, surface density, and mean volume density within a well-defined angular size (FWHM) were calculated from the contour maps for each transition. We found that transitions with higher effective density usually trace the more compact, inner part of the clumps but have larger linewidths, leading to an inverse linewidth–size relation using different tracers. The mean surface densities are 0.29, 0.33, 0.78, 1.09 g cm−2 within FWHM contours of CS 2–1, HCN 1–0, HCN 3–2, and CS 7–6, respectively. We find no correlation of LIR with surface density and a possible inverse correlation with mean volume density, contrary to some theoretical expectations. Molecular line luminosities L′mol were derived for each transition. We see no evidence in the data for the relation between L′mol and mean density posited by modelers. The correlation between L′mol and the virial mass is roughly linear for each dense gas tracer. No obvious correlation was found between the line luminosity ratio and infrared luminosity, bolometric temperature, or the LIR/MVir ratio. A nearly linear correlation was found between the infrared luminosity and the line luminosity of all dense gas tracers for these massive, dense clumps, with a lower cutoff in luminosity at LIR = 104.5 L☉. The LIR–L′HCN1–0 correlation agrees well with the one found in galaxies. These correlations indicate a constant star formation rate per unit mass from the scale of dense clumps to that of distant galaxies when the mass is measured for dense gas. These results support the suggestion that starburst galaxies may be understood as having a large fraction of gas in dense clumps.
MK2 Promotes the Development and Progression of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Mediated by Macrophages and Metabolomic Factors

Cases of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNETs) are growing in number, and new treatment options are needed in order to improve patient outcomes. The mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2) is a crucial regulator of cytokine/chemokine production. The significance of MK2 expression and signaling pathway mediated by MK2 in PNETs has not been investigated. To characterize the impact of MK2 on PNET growth, we used the RipTag2 transgenic murine model of PNETs, and we developed a primary PNET cell line for both in vitro and in vivo studies. In the transgenic murine model of PNETs, we found that MK2 inhibition improves survival of mice and prevents PNET progression. MK2 blockade abolished cytokine/chemokine production, which was related to macrophage function. A role for MK2 in the regulation of metabolic factor secretion in PNETs was identified, making this the first study to identify a potential role for the MK2 pathway in regulation of tumor metabolism. Moreover, using an in vitro approach and allograft model of PNETs, we were able to show that macrophages with MK2 depletion exhibit increased cytotoxicity against PNET cells and substantially decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, as well as metabolic factors. Taken together, our work identifies MK2 as a potent driver of immune response and metabolic effectors in PNETs, suggesting it is a potential therapeutic target for patients with PNETs.
Single-photon double ionization: renormalized-natural-orbital theory versus multi-configurational Hartree–Fock

The N-particle wavefunction has too many dimensions for a direct time propagation of a many-body system according to the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). On the other hand, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) tells us that the single-particle density is, in principle, sufficient. However, a practicable equation of motion for the accurate time evolution of the single-particle density is unknown. It is thus an obvious idea to propagate a quantity which is not as reduced as the single-particle density but less dimensional than the N-body wavefunction. Recently, we have introduced time-dependent renormalized-natural-orbital theory (TDRNOT). TDRNOT is based on the propagation of the eigenfunctions of the one-body reduced density matrix, the so-called natural orbitals. In this paper we demonstrate how TDRNOT is related to the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree–Fock (MCTDHF) approach. We also compare the performance of MCTDHF and TDRNOT versus the TDSE for single-photon double ionization (SPDI) of a 1D helium model atom. SPDI is one of the effects where TDDFT does not work in practice, especially if one is interested in correlated photoelectron spectra, for which no explicit density functional is known.
On the Motion of Falling Leaves

This paper investigates the motion of falling leaves through modeling using papers and the corresponding data collected from more than four thousands experiments. Two series of experiments were designed in order to study the relationship between different parameters which can affect different paths of motion in leaves. In the first series of experiments, the shapes of the potential paths that falling papers can take were investigated as a whole. A new classification scheme was derived from these experiments, categorizing the motion of falling sheets of paper based on the deviation from the original point of release and the shape of the path they take on their descending journey. We believe this new classification scheme can be very useful with potential applications in various fields such as biology, meteorology, etc.; it can also build a foundation for further experiments. The second set of experiments was focused on the dynamics and shape of the motion of the falling paper itself. It was observed from these experiments that there should be two critical values for Froude number in the falling paper motion in regards to the rotational motion. We also found that the most stable and dominant rotational motions are those observed around the length axis as well as the ones along the diagonal axis.
The Ages and Masses of a Million Galactic-disk Main-sequence Turnoff and Subgiant Stars from the LAMOST Galactic Spectroscopic Surveys

We present estimates of stellar age and mass for 0.93 million Galactic-disk main-sequence turnoff and subgiant stars from the LAMOST Galactic Spectroscopic Surveys. The ages and masses are determined by matching with stellar isochrones using a Bayesian algorithm, utilizing effective temperature , absolute magnitude , metallicity [Fe/H], and α-element to iron abundance ratio [α/Fe] deduced from the LAMOST spectra. Extensive examinations suggest the age and mass estimates are robust. Overall, the sample stars have a median error of 34% for the age estimates, and half of the stars older than 2 Gyr have age uncertainties of only 20%–30%. The median error for the mass estimates of the whole sample of stars is ∼8%. The huge data set demonstrates good correlations among stellar age, [Fe/H] ([α/H]), and [α/Fe]. Particularly, double-sequence features are revealed in both the age–[α/Fe] and age–[Fe/H]([α/H]) spaces. In the [Fe/H]–[α/Fe] space, stars of 8–10 Gyr exhibit both the thin and thick disk sequences, while younger (older) stars show only the thin (thick) disk sequence, indicating that the thin disk became prominent 8–10 Gyr ago, while the thick disk formed earlier and was almost quenched 8 Gyr ago. Stellar ages exhibit positive vertical and negative radial gradients across the disk, and the outer disk of R ≳ 9 kpc exhibits a strong flare in stellar age distribution.
An observer's view of simulated galaxies: disc-to-total ratios, bars and (pseudo-)bulges

We use cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of the formation of Milky Way-mass galaxies to study the relative importance of the main stellar components, i.e. discs, bulges and bars, at redshift zero. The main aim of this Letter is to understand if estimates of the structural parameters of these components determined from kinematics (as is usually done in simulations) agree well with those obtained using a photometric bulge/disc/bar decomposition (as done in observations). To perform such a comparison, we have produced synthetic observations of the simulation outputs with the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code sunrise and used the budda code to make 2D photometric decompositions of the resulting images (in the i and g bands). We find that the kinematic disc-to-total (D/T) ratio estimates are systematically and significantly lower than the photometric ones. While the maximum D/T ratios obtained with the former method are of the order of 0.2, they are typically >0.4, and can be as high as 0.7, according to the latter. The photometric decomposition shows that many of the simulated galaxies have bars, with Bar/T ratios in the range 0.2–0.4, and that bulges have in all cases low Sersic indices, resembling observed pseudo-bulges instead of classical ones. Simulated discs, bulges and bars generally have similar g−i colours, which are in the blue tail of the distribution of observed colours. This is not due to the presence of young stars, but rather due to low metallicities and poor gas content in the simulated galaxies, which makes dust extinction low. Photometric decompositions thus match the component ratios usually quoted for spiral galaxies better than kinematic decompositions, but the shift is insufficient to make the simulations consistent with observed late-type systems.
Worldline Approach to Few-Body Physics on the Lattice

We study the physics of two species of non-relativistic hard-core bosons with attractive or repulsive delta function interactions on a spacetime lattice using the worldline formulation. By tuning the chemical potential carefully we show that worm algorithms can efficiently sample the worldline configurations in any fixed particle-number sector. Since fermions can be treated as hard-core bosons up to a permutation sign, we also apply this approach to non-relativistic fermions. The fermion permutation sign is treated as an observable in this approach and can be used to extract energies for each particle-number sector. Since in one dimension non-relativistic fermions can only permute due to boundary effects, unlike the auxiliary field method, in many cases our approach does not suffer from sign problems. Using our method we discover limitations of the recently proposed complex Langevin calculations in one dimension.
Remarks on the Standard Model predictions for $R(D)$ and $R(D^*)$

Semileptonic $b \to c$ transitions, and in particular the ratios $R(D^{(*)}) = \frac{\Gamma(B \rightarrow D^{(*)} \tau \nu )}{\Gamma(B \rightarrow D^{(*)} \ell \nu )}$, can be used to test the universality of the weak interactions. In light of the recent discrepancies between the experimental measurements of these observables by BaBar, Belle and LHCb and the Standard Model predicted values, we study the robustness of the latter. Our analysis reveals that $R(D)$ might be enhanced by lepton mass effects associated to the mostly unknown scalar form factor. In constrast, the Standard Model prediction for $R(D^*)$ is found to be more robust, since possible pollutions from $B^*$ contributions turn out to be negligibly small, which indicates that $R(D^*)$ is a promising observable for searches of new physics.
The initial mass function of early-type galaxies

We determine an absolute calibration of the initial mass function (IMF) of early-type galaxies, by studying a sample of 56 gravitational lenses identified by the SLACS Survey. Under the assumption of standard Navarro, Frenk & White dark matter halos, a combination of lensing, dynamical, and stellar population synthesis models is used to disentangle the stellar and dark matter contribution for each lens. We define an “IMF mismatch” parameter α ≡M ∗,Ein/M SPS ∗,Einas the ratio of stellar mass inferred by a joint lensing and dynamical models (M ∗,Ein) to the current stellar mass inferred from stellar populations synthesis models (M ∗,Ein). We find that a Salpeter IMF provides stellar masses in agreement with those inferred by lensing and dynamical models (〈log α〉 = 0.00 ± 0.03 ± 0.02), while a Chabrier IMF underestimates them (〈log α〉 = 0.25± 0.03± 0.02). A tentative trend is found, in the sense that α appears to increase with galaxy velocity dispersion. Taken at face value, this result would imply a non universal IMF, perhaps dependent on metallicity, age, or abundance ratios of the stellar populations. Alternatively, the observed trend may imply non-universal dark matter halos with inner density slope increasing with velocity dispersion. While the degeneracy between the two interpretations cannot be broken without additional information, the data imply that massive early-type galaxies cannot have both a universal IMF and universal dark matter halos. Subject headings: gravitational lensing — galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD — galaxies: evolution — galaxies: formation — galaxies: structure